them,
and reached the first navigable portion, no canoe was forthcoming.
However, I was able at last to embark, having engaged two faithful
fellows who promised to pilot me to the ocean, if I wished to go as far.
So you see me here: and if General Bermudez is still willing to accept
my services, I will remain with him."

I replied that, as we were about to recommence operations against the
enemy, I was sure that the general would be glad that he should remain.
I then eagerly inquired about my family.

"They are living in a cottage hastily put up near your old house, which
your father is engaged in rebuilding," answered the doctor; "and I
understand that your uncles are re-roofing and repairing Castle
Concannan."

I asked him if my father had received any intelligence from Don Fernando
Serrano--whether his house had escaped an attack from Aqualonga.

"Yes," he said. "The very day before I left, a messenger arrived from
Don Fernando, bringing an invitation to the ladies of your family to
stay with him while your house is rebuilding; and I believe it was
accepted by your sister Norah, though your mother preferred remaining
with the children in their present abode. The messenger told us that
they had been greatly alarmed by the near approach of the bandit chief;
but that, happily, he was encountered by some of the patriot troops and
put to flight--though he is supposed to be still in arms in the
mountains. Our friend Kanimapo has returned to his tribe, many of his
people, influenced by Spanish emissaries, being in a state of
insubordination."

"I trust that Norah will have a good escort, if she undertakes the
journey," I observed. "I wish that I could have been at home to
accompany her; for with these banditti still in arms on the one side,
and the wild Indians on the other, she would run a greater risk than I
should like her to be exposed to."

The doctor laughed at what he called my brotherly anxiety, and remarked
that the distance was but short; that my father would certainly send
Tim, and probably Gerald, with two or three trustworthy, well-armed
blacks to escort her.

On reaching the pongo, the doctor directed his men to remain where they
were while he accompanied me to the camp. The general was pleased to
see him, and at once sent a mule to bring back his portmanteau,
medicine-chest, and surgical instruments; giving him a free pass for his
men, with a letter to a store-keeper at Angostura, to whom he
re