r any one else to venture on the
bridge, but, in spite of that, Pedro, the soldier I told you of, crawled
along, and, says he in his own language, `Give me the child, my lady,
and I'll take care of it;' and crawling along with it in his arms, he
placed it in safety. Then he went back, and helped Lady Cochrane
across. Just then the advance guard of the enemy's troops appeared,
winding down the sides of the mountains. Pedro and the other men hacked
away at the bridge; the ropes parted and fell into the torrent, and her
ladyship was safe, while the Spaniards ground their teeth in vain. On
she pushed, till she reached the coast, and there she found the
admiral's ship, and came on board. We were all proud to have her; for
you see, with all her beauty, there wasn't a bit of vanity or nonsense
about her, and she would speak kind-like to any one of us, just as if we
was her equal. Soon after she came on board, the admiral heard that
there was a rich Spanish ship just about putting to sea, and a very good
sailer. He knew if she once got ahead of us we should never catch her
up, so, without waiting to land Lady Cochrane, we slipped our cables and
made sail up to where the treasure-ship and several others of the
enemy's vessels lay at anchor. We beat to quarters, and got up to them
about midnight all ready for action. We were not long in beginning the
sport, nor they in returning the compliments we paid them; for, besides
the treasure-ship, the Spaniards had some gun-boats moored under their
forts. While we were firing away, the mother, just like her little son,
wouldn't leave the deck, but stood there like any hero, animating the
men.

"After some time one of the crew of a gun, a Chilian, seemed to be
afraid of firing. What does her ladyship do, but, seizing his arm, and
guiding the match to the touch-hole, fire the gun! She thought maybe
that the man would be punished if he was observed. However, the effort
was too much for her, for you see she was but a young woman, and she
sank down on deck in a fainting fit. We thought she was wounded, and
several of us ran forward to lift her up and carry her below. It did
our hearts good to find that there was nothing really the matter with
her. When the action was over, and we had pretty well knocked the
treasure-ship and gun-boats to pieces, we returned in the morning to our
former anchorage. As we were furling sails, her ladyship came on deck
to show us she was all to ri