ot so much as a chair was left,
although its owners had certainly not taken any furniture away with them
in their hasty escape by night, with Ned and Zuroaga. It looked a little
queer, to say the least, and, as he went on from room to room, he found
precisely such a state of things everywhere else.

"I declare!" said Ned. "Either their friends or some robbers have
cleaned this place of all there was in it that was worth stealing. Not
so much as a bed left. I'll go and take a look at my old room. It was a
cubby-hole of a place, but it would do first-rate for me now."

Perhaps it was so small and so out of the way that Ned had an agreeable
surprise ready for him when he reached it, for there still hung his
hammock, and nothing else in the room had been molested.

"Hurrah!" he shouted. "I've looked into every other room in the house,
and this is the only one they didn't finish. I guess I'll camp here
to-night, after I've been out to get something to eat."

It was true that he had orders for army rations, if he had known where
to find them, but he was also able to purchase whatever he might need,
and he preferred to do so. At the same time, he had a clear
understanding that, if he expected to ever see the United States again,
he had better not show a great deal of cash in the city of Vera Cruz
just now.

"There are plenty of fellows here," he remarked, "who would cut my
throat for a silver dollar, let alone a gold piece."

He sheathed his machete peaceably, and went out by the back door,
determining to let as few people as possible suspect that the Tassara
mansion contained a boarder,--or it was more nearly correct to say
lodger. This was a wise decision to make, but he was not to hunt far for
his supplies that evening. Hardly had he gone a hundred paces from the
Tassara place before he was unceremoniously halted, and it was not by a
lancer this time. Before him, blocking his way, stood a very fat and
apparently much astonished woman.

"Madre de Dios!" she loudly exclaimed. "Senor Carfora! Santa Maria!
Santa Catarina! San Jago! Diablos! Where did you come from?"

Ned had never before heard himself called by all those pet names, but he
knew at a glance that this was no other than Anita, formerly the cook
of Senora Tassara, and believed to be a devoted friend of the family.

"Anita!" he exclaimed. "I'll tell you!" and he proceeded to do so, to
her great gratification, for she was as hungry for news as he was for
his