ia, Don Esteban's daughter, a most lovely young woman of
about seventeen years of age, exquisitely fair, and with a pair of
melting blue eyes. They all acknowledged the introduction with that
stately courtesy which seems natural to the Spaniard; and then, as Don
Esteban began his brief story, I had time to take a good look at them
all. It was easy enough to see that they had risen from their beds and
fled in the utmost haste, for the toilette of each had been very
inadequately performed; but despite this the predominating impression
which they produced upon me was distinctly favourable. Indeed, the only
thing of which I in the least disapproved was the demeanour of Don Pedro
de Mendouca, which struck me as being a good deal more haughty and
arrogant than there was any excuse for. The circumstance that, I think,
surprised me most was that these people should have fled in such
apparent unreasoning panic, abandoning a fine property and absolutely
all that they possessed, excepting the horses they had ridden and the
clothes they stood up in, to a parcel of lawless negroes. I was soon to
learn, however, that it was not lack of courage that had inspired their
flight.

"I have no doubt, Don Luis," began Don Esteban, "that you, like myself,
have heard rumours of late that the negroes up in the mountains were
again beginning to show signs of unrest. But, so far at least as I was
concerned, those rumours have been so exceedingly vague and
contradictory that I paid little or no attention to them; for, as you
are, of course, aware, scarcely a month passes over our heads but some
story of an impending outbreak reaches us. Yet it has never come, and I
think we have at last all grown to regard the rumours as mere idle talk,
without foundation or justification. Consequently I was not only very
greatly surprised, but also distinctly incredulous, when one of my house
boys aroused me shortly after midnight to-night with the intelligence
that the negroes were actually out, and that practically all my own
people had abandoned their huts and gone forth to join them! It was
this latter circumstance which alarmed me; and when, a little later, I
had verified the statement I came to the conclusion that the time for
action had arrived, and accordingly we saddled up and came away without
further ado. As we came along my sons and I discussed the situation,
and ultimately decided that the proper thing, and also the best thing,
would be to