de Lara as commander of this fort, with a garrison of one hundred and
twenty men.

These historical details are important, as a necessary setting for the
love-romance which followed the founding of this fort. Lara, being left
with his handful of men as the only whites in a vast territory peopled
with Indians, felt strongly that in his situation prudence was the better
part of valor, and strove to cultivate friendly relations with the nearest
and most powerful of these tribes, the Timbuez. His success in this
brought about, in an unexpected manner, his death and the loss of the
fort, with other evils in their train.

[Illustration: COFFEE PLANT IN BLOSSOM.]

COFFEE PLANT IN BLOSSOM.

The tragedy came on in this way: Sebastian Hurtado, one of Lara's
principal officers, had brought with him his wife, Lucia Miranda, a
Spanish lady of much beauty and purity of soul. During the frequent visits
which Mangora, the cacique of the Timbuez, paid to the fort, he saw this
lady and became enamoured of her charms, so deeply that he could not
conceal the evidence of his love.

Miranda was not long in observing the ardent looks of the Indian chief and
in understanding their significance, and the discovery filled her with
dread and alarm. Knowing how important it was for the commandant to keep
on good terms with this powerful chief, and fearing that she might be
sacrificed to this policy, she did her utmost to keep out of his sight,
and also to guard against any surprise or violence, not knowing to what
extremes the passion of love might lead an Indian.

Mangora, on his part, laid covert plans to get the fair lady out of the
fort, and with this in view pressed Hurtado to pay him a visit and bring
his wife with him. This the Spaniard was loath to do, for Miranda had told
him of her fears, and he suspected the Indian's design. With a policy
demanded by the situation, he declined the invitations of the chief, on
the plea that a Castilian soldier could not leave his post of duty without
permission from his commander, and that honor forbade him to ask that
permission except to fight his enemies.

The wily chief was not duped by this reply. He saw that Hurtado suspected
his purpose, and the removal of the husband seemed to him a necessary step
for its accomplishment. While seeking to devise a plan for this, he
learned, to his great satisfaction, that Hurtado and another officer, with
fifty sol