was the only man wounded. As soon as we got clear
of the shot from the boat, I called a halt to examine his hurt. It was
merely a slight flesh wound from a bullet in the leg, and a handkerchief
bound round it enabled him to walk on. It was now time to return on
board, so we made the best of our way to the boat, not without some
considerable risk of being shot by our own sentries. On my stepping on
deck I found several officers round the captain. Mr Heron was among
them.

"The rascally rebels can't stand us for a moment, sir," he was saying.
"A whole gang of them hove in sight as I was pulling along-shore--a
hundred at least--and stood hallooing to me and daring me to come after
them. I let fly among them, sent them scampering away like a flock of
sheep, knocking over a good dozen or more, I should think. It was rare
fun, sir."

"Very good fun for you, Mr Heron," said I, turning round; "but I beg to
assure you, sir, that there were not a dozen of us altogether."

"You! what do you mean?" he asked, with a look of surprise.

"Why, that I was one of the body of supposed rebels, and though we
shouted to you and begged you not to fire, you banged at us so furiously
that we had to throw away a whole heap of things we had collected, and
to run for our lives."

Captain Hudson and the other officers laughed not a little at this
exploit of Mr Heron's, for he was notorious for his boasting. He bore
me a grudge about it ever after.

"Well, Mr Hurry," said the captain good-naturedly, "you shall go on
shore in the afternoon with Mr Heron, and try to recover some of your
treasures."

Away we went in the afternoon accordingly in high glee, Mr Heron
expecting to pick up all sorts of things, and I hoping to recover those
I had lost. We soon reached the field on which Mr Heron boasted to
have gained his hard-won victory; but the swords and all the things of
value were gone, picked up by the plundering-parties who invariably
issue forth over the scene where the strife has been hottest, as birds
of prey gather on the carcase just fallen in the desert. I looked about
for the poor fellow I had assisted in the morning. He was gone. He
had, I concluded, either been taken prisoner, or had managed to crawl
off and rejoin his friends. We went on much farther than we had been in
the morning, picking up some drums and a few similar bulky articles,
which others had not thought worth collecting. We picked up in all nine
drums, o