she gave me and the eagerness with
which she waved her scarf.

We had occasionally, also, real sport in hunting wild boars in the part
of the forest frequented by those animals. The first day I went out I
killed a boar, after narrowly escaping, by a dexterous turn of my horse,
being killed myself. We killed a bear, too, and a puma, or South
American lion--which, next to the jaguar, is the most savage animal in
that continent; and I had the satisfaction of presenting the skin to
Donna Isabella.

But our visit was at last to come to an end. Very unwillingly, so far
as I was concerned, did we bid our friends good-bye, and mount our
horses to commence our journey.

"I shall expect to hear great things of you, Senor Barry," said Donna
Isabella, as I bade her farewell. "The next campaign undertaken by
Bolivar will, it is hoped, complete the overthrow of the Spaniards, I am
told."

"The noble sentiments you hold will inspire me, Donna Isabella," I
answered; "and if you will give me that feather from your hat, I will
ever wear it in battle, and promise that it shall never be seen in
flight."

She, smiling, instantly gave it me, and I fixed it securely in my hat.
We were very young, and I had of late become more romantic than I had
ever before been.

At last we had to ride forward, two of our cousins accompanying us to
the borders of the estate. As we were well-mounted, instead of taking
the rougher but shorter road across the spurs of the mountains, we had
settled to strike down into the plain, where we could gallop for a
considerable distance, and then, keeping by the borders of a long lake,
return towards our own home. Gerald, who knew the way well, said there
were no insuperable difficulties to overcome, though we might have to
swim a stream or two. "But that," as he observed, "is nothing when one
is accustomed to it; and you, Barry, will have many a river to cross and
many a marsh to wade through, as well as mountains to climb, and
hundreds of miles to gallop over the prairie, when you take service with
General Bermudez."

He was right; and I was glad to gain some experience as to the varieties
of country I might have ere long to traverse.

We were armed with pistols, carbines, and lances, though Gerald's arm
was not strong enough to wield the latter with much effect; but he could
skilfully use his carbine when going at full gallop. We trusted,
however, to the speed of our horses, should we come in sight