is mistress, to see what she thought of it all.

It was hard work, pushing through the jungle. The girls' hands were
scratched and torn with brambles; Rita's delicate shoes were in a sad
condition; her dress began to show more than one jagged rent. Still she
made her way forward, with undaunted zeal, cheering the weary Manuela
with jest and story. Indeed, the girl seemed thoroughly transformed, and
her Northern cousins, who had known and loved her even in her wilful
indolence, would hardly have recognised their Rita in this valiant
maiden, who made nothing of heat, dust, or even scorpions, and pressed
on and on in her quest of her brother.

After an hour of weary walking, the girls came to a road, or something
that passed for a road. There was no sign of life on it, but there was
something that made them start, then stop and look at each other. Beside
the rough path, in a tangle of vines and thorny cactus, stood the ruin
of a tiny chapel. A group of noble palms towered above it; from the
stony bank behind it bubbled a little fountain. The door of the chapel
was gone; it was long since there had been glass in the windows, and the
empty spaces showed only emptiness within; yet the bell still hung in
the mouldering belfry; the bell-rope trailed above the sunken porch, its
whole length twined with flowering creepers. It was a strange sight.

"Manuela!" cried Rita; "do you see?"

"I see the holy chapel," said Manuela, who was a good Catholic. "Some
saintly man lived here in old times. Pity, that the altar is gone. It
must have been a pretty chapel, senorita."

"The bell!" cried Rita. "Do you see the bell, Manuela? what if we rang
it, to let Carlos know that we are near? It is a good idea, a superb
idea!"

"Senorita, I implore you not to touch it! For heaven's sake, senorita!
Alas, what have you done?"

Manuela clasped her hands, and fairly wailed in terror, for Rita had
grasped the bell-rope, and was pulling it with right good will. Ding!
ding! the notes rang out loud and clear. The rock behind caught up the
echo, and sent it flying across to the hill beyond. Ding! ding! The
parrot screamed, and Rita herself, after sounding two or three peals,
dropped the rope, and stood with parted lips and anxious eyes, waiting
to see what would come of it.

CHAPTER IV.

THE CAMP AMONG THE HILLS.

A sound of voices! eager voices of men, calling to one another. The
tread of hasty feet, the noise of breaking bushes, of me