Year: 1876

"Lead the way" aid the General, grimly,
"and you shall discover whether mind these
difficulties or not"


The whole party now quickly re-mounted,
with the exception of two of the men, who
furnished the General and his previous COM
panion with their own horses, and remained
for the present in charge Of their worn.out
steeds; Juan, escorted by couple of soldiers
armed to the teeth, his bride fastened to
theirs, being placed in the centre of the cav
alcade, which at once moved of:


"How many of your gang are theref" ask
/ ed the General of bis prisoner as they rode
along. .....


"About dozen altogether" was the reply,
"but not more than half that number are at
headquarters at present"


"And the rest; where are they3"


"That I cannot tell, your excellency. They
come and go on various errands, and are
sometimes absent for weeks, and even months,
at time"


An hours riding brought them to mar
row, dark defile, through what at short dis
tance had seemed an impenetrable wall Of
rock. Here they were forced to dismount
and lead their horses the roof of the passage.
way being too low to admit of any other mode
of proceeding. Every man now held bis
weapon in readiness and the General, laying
an iron hand on Juan's arm, muttered in his
ear


"Look you, villain, if you are guilty Of any
foul play will shoot you down like dog.
Do you swear that you are guiding US hon.
estlyr


"By all the saints in heaven, your excel
lency, swear I have no thought of playing
you FALSE" was the emphatic reply. ut is
no ambush l am leading you into. This is our
only available way of reaching our destina-
ton. The path will widen after time."


Such was the the case, the dark wall on
either side presently sloping away, and the
light of day once more breaking upon them.
Steep rugged rocks, however, were piled in
masses all around, and the only road to open
to them wound along the very brink of
frightful chasm, which echoed with the noise
of roaring water below.


1--WE shall have to cross dangerous bridge,
your excellency," said the Mexican, pointing
as he spoke to a break in the road traversed
by a couple of time-worn logs, which did not
promise very secure footing to man or beast.
II doubt if you can get the horses over"


"How far are we now from the place ?"
asked the General. ...... .a.....


"Not above half mile"


"We can walk that; but I am unwilling
to leave the horses behind"


"You will find it to your advantage to pro.
ceed without Them" rejoined the other, "and
I can show you place where you can leave
them in security. 1t is but few yards from
ugrs-a 1frCfg IN the rocks whore rhey VIII
be in no danger Of hurting themselves"


This suggestion was accordingly accepted,
and the animals having been secured, the
party proceeded on foot


1t was no child's play which they had in
prospect, and they all felt it. Bound to the
retreat of crew of rufians, who were pro-
vided with every means of defense, and who
would fight, doubtless, when attacked, with
the ferocity of tigers in their lair, with one Of
these very rufians for guide, with only the
assurance of his word that their number was
small one, and that he was not leading them
into some snare from which escape would be
impossible, each member of the little troop,
though not one faint heart beat among them,
felt the seriousness of the situation, and the
necessity of keeping their GOODNESS and watch
fulness at the highest possible pitch, to be
ready in any emergency which might call for
action.


Presently the pathway, after gradually mar
rowing more and more, lost itself entirely in
the thick underground, and our party found
themselves in a tangled maze of grass and
bushes, through which, however, their guide
led them with an ease and precision which
denoted that he was quite familiar with the
locality.


ave are near the spot now" he whispered,
at length, to the General. 81 am carrying
you round to the rear, go we may not be dis
covered until close at hand. You had better
order your men to hold themselves in readl-
ness. We may be met before we arrive there


Each member of the party speedily obeyed
the Injunction; and thus on the qus vive, pro-
ceeded cautiously few yards farther, when
Juan once more spoke.


"Here is the place, General. The entrance
is on the opposite side.'


A mass Of huge stones, piled together,
formed what seemed barrier to their farther
progress; but the Mexican led them around
by narrow path at the base, and brought
them in view of partially cleared space,
around which arose natural wall of rocks
and hick.growing trees, completely interwo-
ven with briers, and impenetrable to the eye
A refuge more secure from discovery could
scarcely be imagined. Pedro and his follow
ers had chosen their lair we'll.


At this instant, loud shout gave notice
that they were perceived. The shout was
echoed by the advancing band, who rushed
forward, and we're met by some six or eight
outlaws, who leaped up, as it seemed, almost
from the ground beneath their feet, so instan-
taneously did they swarm together from un-
perceived outlets around. In the midst ap-
peared the gigantic form of their leader, who
with the fury of tiger sprang at the officer
in command. The veterans trusty sword
served him in good stead. Alasquez received