ng friend, you can have your choice," he said; "but I
don't think you will wish just now to bathe in this place."

I assured him I did not; and he having lighted a big meerschaum pipe
which he drew from his pocket, we returned to the fort. I inquired
whether he was the surgeon of the forces stationed there.

"Such an occupation would not suit my fancy," he answered, shrugging his
shoulders; "though, while I am here, I willingly cooper up those who
require my services. I am a traveller and naturalist, desirous of
seeing the country and the strange creatures it contains, and in search
of adventures, which I may perhaps some day narrate for the
enlightenment of the world."

I, of course, replied that I hoped he would do so, as I should like to
read the work of one who had rendered me so essential a service; and I
added that I felt deeply grateful to him, as he had certainly saved my
life by preventing me from venturing into the water.

"It was at no great cost to myself," he answered; "but I should have
grieved to see one so young swallowed by a saurian, and who is, at all
events, capable of becoming food for powder, if for nothing else--eh?
What do you say, my young friend?"

Somewhat uncertain whether or not the doctor was quizzing me, I replied
that I hoped I might some day become fit for a better fate than he
suggested.

"Yet such has been the lot of many a fine man with a head on his
shoulders, who has run it into a quarrel not his own," he observed. "I
know what war is--a horrible, detestable affair at the best. Take my
advice: Have nothing to do with it. Both parties now striving for the
mastery are savages. You will find that out before long--though do not
tell the commandant what I say, or he may chance to order me out to be
shot, as a traitor to the cause of liberty. Bah!--there is only liberty
where good laws exist, which all obey! Here, the only laws obeyed are
those administered at the point of the bayonet. But don't repeat this,"
he added, putting his finger to his lips and turning away.

After parting from the doctor, I returned to the house of the
commandant, whom, with my uncle, I found at breakfast. I at once made
inquiries about my friend of the morning.

"He is a wonderful man--a genius, a philosopher, a professor of
astrology, a magician," answered the commandant, shrugging his
shoulders. "More I cannot say; he is a wonder--a mystery; but he
understands the art of brewing punch to p