not forgotten his native
tongue, he assured me--an assertion not in the slightest degree
necessary. He at once launched forth in praise of General Bermudez,
whom he asserted to be, next to Bolivar, the best and bravest man and
truest patriot in the country; and from what I afterwards heard of the
general, I am convinced that he was right.

After a short time the whole party collected in the supper-room, but did
not take the seats which the padre requested them to occupy. Their
eyes, I saw, were frequently turned towards the door. At length it
opened, and Donna Paola entered the room with that grace which Spanish
women so generally possess. She looked even more beautiful than at
first; her raven hair, secured by a circlet of gold, contrasting with
the delicate colour of her complexion, which was fairer than that of
Spanish women generally. Her figure was slight, and she appeared
scarcely so tall as I had supposed when I had first seen her in her
riding habit. She was followed by a black damsel,--her constant
attendant, I found,--who stood behind the chair she occupied on the
right of the general. He desired my uncle and me to take the seats on
the other side.

I confess that, interested though I had been, I had become very hungry,
and was glad to fall to on the viands which the good padre had provided.
There were a variety of dishes: fish and fowl predominating, an
olla-podrida, omelets, and puddings. There was flesh too,--some small
animals, which I strongly suspected were monkeys.

The party were evidently too much interested in talking of affairs of
importance to pay much attention to the nature of the provisions set
before them. The young and handsome officer--a colonel, I judged, by
his uniform--sat next to Donna Paola; and from the tender way in which
he addressed her, and the looks she gave him in return, I suspected that
her patriotic enthusiasm had not steeled her heart against all softer
influences. Such I afterwards found to be the case. She had promised
to marry the colonel as soon as the patriots had triumphed, and the
liberties they had been struggling for had been established.

It was important to gain exact information as to the intended movements
of the Royalists; and Donna Paola, I found, had undertaken the hazardous
duty of visiting Bogota and other cities, and from thence transmitting
intelligence to the patriot leaders. The young colonel looked grave
when the subject was mentioned, an