the search sooner. Hurrah!
the ground's getting firmer at every step. I believe we're out of the
morass."

The words were hardly spoken, when, my foot catching in some coarse
grass, I fell sprawling, face downwards.

"Not quite," observed Alzura, pulling me up, while I tried to get the
mud from my mouth and eyes. "It's a lucky thing you didn't try that
trick before. Faith, Juan, you do look a picture! I'd willingly give
a hundred dollars to be able to pop you down in Lima!"

"Come along, and don't be idiotic, or we shall find ourselves back on
the islet."

"Yes," said he, still grinning all over his face; "we can't stay here
laughing all day."

"I'm not laughing," I cried indignantly.

"Aren't you? Well, you see, old fellow, it's rather difficult to tell
what you're doing through that black mask. I shouldn't try to rub it
off. Let it cake, and we'll chip it off with a stone."

"This way," said I gruffly, taking no notice of his attempts to be
funny. "We'd better make straight for the mountains and hide
ourselves."

"We've need to," he replied, with a meaning laugh.

We were now in a wide plain, dotted with numerous hillocks, and a good
deal cut up by streams from the overflow of the lake. The ground was
damp, while here and there we plumped straight into a marsh. By this
time, however, we were in such a state that nothing mattered, and being
unwilling to lose time, we took the shortest though not the most
pleasant route.

We had a good start of the soldiers, who, as it happened, were
completely thrown off the scent through finding Alzura's bundle.
Knowing the terrible nature of the morass, they concluded we were both
dead, and returned to the island with the tidings.

We learned this long afterwards from Barriero, who told us how he had
mourned our sad fate, and blamed himself repeatedly for having let us
go. At the time, however, we expected every moment to hear the patter
of feet behind us, and raced on till, breathless and panting, we
reached the base of the mountain.

Here we stopped a few moments to recover breath, and then, climbing
some distance, proceeded to search for a cavern.

"There ought to be several," said Alzura, "for the mountain has been
mined. Didn't you notice the _rodados_ as we came down?"

"Those heaps of rubbish?"

"Yes. All that refuse has been taken out of the mountain. Here's a
heap, and the mouth of the tunnel won't be far away. Now, keep your
eyes open."