mysterious in his look and manner; and at first the horrid idea occurred
to me that he had by some means contrived to poison the Spaniards, for
otherwise I could not account for the confidence with which he
pronounced his prediction. However, I endeavoured to banish the
suspicion as too dreadful to be entertained. At length the commanding
officer seemed to recollect that he had duties to attend to. Fresh
guards were set over the prisoners and the horses, wood was collected
and the fires were made up, and a sentinel was posted near the spot,
under shelter of a wall, which we had selected for our place of rest.
Ithulpo got leave to bring us our saddles and horse-trappings to serve
us for beds, and he likewise brought us our portmanteaus and
saddle-bags, which he placed near us. The soldiers threw themselves on
the ground, and were very soon fast asleep. Our sentry also, from the
manner his head every now and then gave a sharp nod, was evidently very
drowsy. The heat of the weather, the exertion he had undergone, and the
wine he had drunk, were quite enough to account for this. I also at
last fell asleep. My eyes had been closed for about a couple of hours,
when I was awakened by Ithulpo touching my shoulder. I sat up, and
observed that he had the wine-skins emptied by the soldiers hanging on
his arm.

"Follow me," he whispered. "We are not going to escape; but you are
thirsty, and I will show you a pure spring, where you may drink your
fill, and you will be better able to endure the heat of to-morrow's
sun."

Silently following him, as he led the way among the ruins, I found that
we had reached a thick and apparently impenetrable wood. Without
stopping, however, he went direct to a spot where the branches yielded
easily to his hand. A winding path appeared before us, proceeding along
which, we arrived in an open forest glade. On one side rose a high
rock, which seemed part of a range of cliffs forming the side of a
mountain. The murmuring sound of water met my ear, and by the faint
starlight I discovered a stream gushing forth from the rock, and finding
its way in a narrow rivulet through the glade.

"The white man thinks that the discovery of a gold mine will bring him
all the wealth he can desire; but the time has come when he would gladly
exchange all the gold and silver hidden within yon mountains for one
draught of that pure stream," muttered Ithulpo, as I stooped my head to
drink at the fountain.