re my aid," he answered, "so I
intend to form one of your party. If there is any fighting, you shall
see that I can wield a sword or lance as well as my reverend friend
here. Ah, senor padre! you did wonderful execution among the enemy
yesterday."

"Heaven forgive me for the deaths I caused!" answered the padre, with a
sigh. "My blood was up, and I fought for liberty and my country. I
thought of nothing else; and where the odds were so much against us, I
knew that no true man could be spared."

Carlos and I, with our two stalwart friends, set off without loss of
time at the head of our brave llaneros. Caution was necessary, however.
The banditti might not have heard of the defeat of the Spaniards; and
should we discover and attack them, they might retaliate on my hapless
sister.

We pushed forward as rapidly as we could, eager to release her; and as
we proceeded we sent out scouts, to ascertain, if possible, the position
of Aqualonga and his band of cut-throats. Though we took a wide range,
we could nowhere hear of them, and were satisfied therefore that they
had not passed us. Night and day we were on the watch, whether resting
in camp or galloping forward; and relying on the hardihood of our
steeds, we advanced at a rate that no ordinary cavalry could have done.

One day, about noon, we reached a slight elevation of the ground,
scarcely to be called a hill, to the top of which we rode, that we might
obtain a wider look-out over the country ahead of us. Near at hand was
a stream, bordered by a thick copse of a height sufficient, when we
dismounted, to conceal us and our horses. It was a spot well suited for
an ambush. Scarcely had we gained the top of the hillock, when we saw
in the far distance what appeared to us the leading files of a party of
horsemen. Both the doctor and the padre declared that this must be
Aqualonga's party, and advised that we should conceal ourselves behind
the brushwood, and rush out upon them as they passed by.

Supposing that the approaching strangers were enemies, the suggestion
was a good one: we therefore ordered our men to ride round the foot of
the mount, while we, hoping that we had not been seen, descended and
joined them.

For some time we did not regain sight of the strangers; but at length we
observed, instead of the large body we expected to see, two figures
galloping across the savannah, while behind them came a number of
Indians on foot, running at headlong spe