ntained by a few bands of irregulars, who were
waging a desperate and almost hopeless contest in the forests and on the
llanos of the interior.

My sympathies were on the popular side, and I might have joined the
volunteer force which was being raised in England for service with the
insurgents. But this did not suit my purpose. If I accepted a commission
in the Legion I should have to go where I was ordered. I preferred to go
where I listed. I had no objection to fighting, but I wanted to do it in
my own way and at my own time, and rather in the ranks of the rebels
themselves than as officer in a foreign force.

This view of the case I represented to Senor Morena, one of the "patriot"
agents in London, and asked his advice.

"Why not go to Caracas?" he said.

"What would be the use of that? Caracas is in the hands of the Spaniards."

"You could get from Caracas into the interior, and do the cause an
important service."

"How?"

Senor Morena explained that the patriots of the capital, being sorely
oppressed by the Spaniards, were losing courage, and he wished greatly to
send them a message of hope and the assurance that help was at hand. It
was also most desirable that the insurgent leaders on the field should be
informed of the organization of a British liberating Legion, and of other
measures which were being taken to afford them relief and turn the tide of
victory in their favor.

But to communicate these tidings to the parties concerned was by no means
easy. The post was obviously quite out of the question, and no Spanish
creole could land at any port held by the Royalists without the almost
certainty of being promptly strangled or shot. "An Englishman,
however--especially an Englishman who had fought under Wellington in
Spain--might undertake the mission with comparative impunity," said Senor
Morena.

"I understand perfectly," I answered. "I have to go in the character of an
ordinary travelling Englishman, and act as an emissary of the insurgent
junta. But if my true character is detected, what then?"

"That is not at all likely, Mr. Fortescue."

"Yet the unlikely happens sometimes--happens generally, in fact. Suppose
it does in the present instance?"

"In that case I am very much afraid that you would be shot."

"I have not a doubt of it. Nevertheless, your proposal pleases me, and I
shall do my best to carry out your wishes."

Whereupon Senor Morena expressed his thanks in sonorous Castilian,
pro