self an ugly fall, for the grass under-foot was matted and tangled,
interspersed with marshy pools of brackish water, amid which
innumerable projecting roots spread snares for the feet. The sun, now
well advanced, gave me the points of the compass, and, holding the
rifle-stock before my face, I cleared a path through the dense growth,
and emerged from the low marsh land upon smooth turf, where some brush
found foothold, yet not so thickly as to impede the walking.

I discovered myself near the bottom of a steep bank, which, curving
with the line of the shore, extended forward for probably fifty feet,
crowned along its ridge with numerous stunted trees. Trusting thus to
obtain a firmer foothold and more extended view, I breasted the steep
ascent and found the summit a narrow plateau, only a few yards in
width, with a still more extensive morass upon the opposite side, which
stretched away some distance in a desolate sea of cane and drooping
grass. Fortunately it proved easy travelling along the ridge, which
appeared of stone formation, probably having a terminus at the big
rock, toward which I proposed extending my investigation.

I moved forward slowly and with caution, not because I expected to meet
enemies in this lonely spot, but rather from an instinct of long
frontier training. I had advanced possibly a hundred yards, when I
approached a small clump of stunted evergreens, so closely woven
together I could not wedge a passage between. Rounding their outer
edge, my footsteps noiseless on ground thickly strewn with their soft
needles, I came to a sudden halt within five paces of a man.

CHAPTER XV

A PASSAGE AT ARMS

He stood motionless, one hand grasping the limb of a tree, leaning far
out so as to gaze up the river, totally unconscious of my approach.
The fellow was tall, yet heavily built, wearing a great leather helmet
with brass facings, his body encased in a slashed doublet, the strap
fastenings of a steel breastplate showing at waist and shoulders, while
high boots of yellow cordovan leather extended above his knees. I
noticed also the upward curve of a huge gray moustache against the
stern profile of his face, while a long straight sword dangled at his
side. Evidently the stranger was a soldier, and one not to be despised
in feats at arms, although in what service I might merely conjecture,
as his dress was not distinctive. Yet it was small likelihood any
other nation than Spain had armed me