I am not, indeed, under his command--being what you may
call a sort of freelance--but I work with him chiefly, that is, under
his directions, for he and I hold much the same ideas in regard to most
things, and have a common desire to see something like solid peace in
the land. Look, do you see that villa with the rustic porch on the
cliff; just beyond the town?"

"Yes--it is so conspicuous and so beautifully situated that one cannot
help seeing and admiring it."

"That is where the friend lives with whom I shall leave Manuela."

"Indeed," said Lawrence, whose interest in the villa with the rustic
porch was suddenly intensified, "and shall we find her there on our
return?"

"I was not aware that Senhor Armstrong intended to return!" said Pedro,
with a look of surprise.

Lawrence felt somewhat confused and taken aback, but his countenance was
not prone to betray him.

"Of course I mean, will _you_ find her there when you return? Though,
as to my returning, the thing is not impossible, when one considers that
the wreck of part of my father's property lies on the western side of
the Andes."

"Ah! true. I forgot that for a moment. Well, I suppose she will remain
here till my return," said Pedro, "unless the Indians make a successful
raid and carry her off in the meantime!" he added, with a quick glance
at his companion.

"And are we to stay to-night at the same villa?"

"No, we shall stay at the inn to which we are now drawing near. I am
told that the Colonel has his headquarters there."

The conversation closed abruptly at this point, for they had reached the
inn referred to. At the door stood a tall, good-looking young man,
whose shaven chin, cut of whisker, and Tweed shooting costume, betokened
him an Englishman of the sporting class.

Addressing himself to this gentleman with a polite bow, Pedro asked
whether Colonel Marchbanks was staying there.

"Well--aw--I'm not quite sure, but there is--aw--I believe, a military
man of--aw--some sort staying in the place."

Without meaning to be idiotic, this sporting character was one of those
rich, plucky, languid, drawly-wauly men, who regard the world as their
special hunting-field, affect free-and-easy nonchalance, and interlard
their ideas with "aw" to an extent that is absolutely awful.

The same question, put to a waiter who immediately appeared, elicited
the fact that the Colonel did reside there, but was absent at the
moment.

"Well, then," said