I was in dread of Cockney Spider, and, in my determination to escape,
I became a stowaway on a coast steamer and landed at Arica, with a few
dollars in my pocket, paid to me by Spider.

When I arrived at Mollendo in company with Mr. John L. Thorndike, he
introduced me to Mr. Hill, his general manager, as his "boy protector"
and told him to give me employment and see that I was well provided
for.

In a short while I was in the railway shops, learning the trade of
machinist, and later I was engineer on the railroad running from the
sea port of Mollendo to Arequipa, more than one hundred miles in the
interior. The city is situated in a beautiful and fertile valley in
the heart of the Andes. The majestic volcanic mountain Misti some
miles away rises nearly four miles above the sea and smoke still
issues from its crater.

I had lately been transferred from the shops in Mollendo to Arequipa,
when, hearing fabulous stories of rich gold finds in the Andes, and
being imbued with an adventurous spirit, I resolved to try my fortune
in the new El Dorado.

V.

FAIREST FLOWER OF THE CORDILLERAS.

I was in the heart of the Cordilleras, weary, footsore and alone. I
was descending a rocky cliff a few hundred feet from a plateau, while
the thunders roared with terrific crash. The rain fell in sheets,
plunging in wild fury in cataracts down the mountain side. There was
desolation and terror unutterable. I leaned close to a shelving rock,
and as I thought of once happy days in Aberdeen, of the love bestowed
upon me by my dear mother--gone forever from this world--my own
condition, now a homeless wanderer in a foreign land, perhaps to soon
meet death and my body be devoured by condors, I laid my head on my
arms and wept bitterly.

I am not superstitious, neither do I believe that my condition at that
time caused my mind to wander; a peaceful calm came over me; it
seemed as if some loving one was near, fear vanished, and I looked up
but beheld nothing. The storm raged with even greater fury. I walked
and even began to sing the "Garb of Old Gaul." I ignored the elements
in their war and had almost reached the plateau when the storm ceased
and the sun suddenly appeared. Calm and warmth came from what a few
minutes before had seemed death and destruction.

A sudden turn in the trail and I beheld a child seated beneath the
thick, spreading branches of a tree, her white apron filled with
alpine flowers. "How came she here," I