Guyana related to me as having happened to
him be a common occurrence. He said he was
somewhere in the environs of Angostura, and
had gone to sleep in his hammock, with his
slippers on the ground within easy reach.
Being an unconscionably early riser, he essayed
to get up at the first faint streak of light, and
before he could well see; so putting his foot
out of the hammock, he felt with his great toe
for his slipper, and, having found it, was about
to thrust his foot into it when he found it was
full of something odiously cold and slimy.
Snatching back his foot, he made the same
attempt at the other slipper, and with the same
result, on which he was fain to ensconce
himself under the clothes again till it was light,
when, to his horror, he discovered a small rattlesnake
curled up in each slipper!"

"Your example is un peu fort" quoth the
major, "but still queer things do happen in
Guyana. It is a fact that when the river has
been in flood, people have been taken away
from their own doors in Angostura by alligators.
But, to return to my story, a day
sufficed to exhaust the lions of the town.
"Well! when all other amusements had been
used up, no resource was left me but to fall
in love with one of the señoritas in whose
father's house I was living. The family of
Señor Rivas consisted only of these two daughters,
of whom the elder was nearly nineteen,
the younger seventeen, and of one son,
Francisco, who went by the familiar name of
Panchito, a little boy of seven, a regular pickle,
who, as the manner is in Venezuela, was
generally running about naked. After a few weeks
I picked up enough Spanish to let the tongue
assist the eyes in tender expressions to the
girls. The opportunities, however, of saying
sweet things were rare, for in Venezuela the
ladies of a family keep so much together, that,
to use a sporting phrase, there is no getting
single shots at them. For some time, too, I
was in doubt as to which of the two sisters
was to have my heart. Luisa was very fair,
quiet, with brown hair, an unusual thing among
Spanish creoles. Helena was bright, sparkling,
roguish, a very pretty brunette, and, altogether,
very charming. Upon the whole, my thoughts
rather inclined to Luisa, and on one occasion,
having caught her for a moment unguarded by
the maternal dragon, I went so far as to ask
if she would grant me an interview alone. She
said she was never left by herself, and I had
only just time to say I hoped I might have
one kiss before I left Angostura, and to hear
her reply in the shape of an intimation,
accompanied by a faint blush, that it was not the
custom in Venezuela, when her mother rejoined
us. Meantime, Power, though he was so busy
with drill and the other duties of an adjutant,
did not fail to observe what was going on, and
took me to task more than once about it.

"'Charley, my boy,' said he, 'what on earth
are you after with those girls? If you don't
mean to marry one of them, it's not fair to
the old Don, who has been so hospitable to
us, to give one of his little beauties a sore
heart. And as for marriage, it's out of the
question. We may get the route to-morrow,
and have to join Bolivar, and who knows how
many of us will come back? Besides, you have
no cash, and at all events I hope you don't mean
to settle down here and turn cane-planter.'

"I said that several officers who had been in
the country before our arrival had married, and
seemed to be very happy; and I instanced
O'Halloran, who had been made a captain in our corps.

"'Pooh! nonsense, Charley,' replied Power,
'where's the happiness of having to leave your
wife for months in places which are just as likely
as not to fall into the enemy's hands? And as
for O'Halloran, his example proves my case.
O'Halloran has married a very pretty woman,
who is about the most spiteful little devil I
ever met, and gives him no end of trouble.'

"Power's remarks made an impression on me,
and for some weeks I rather shunned than
sought the ladies. But living in the same
house with them, and being young, idle, and
impulsive, it was not easy to be on cool terms
with two young beauties, whose looks showed
they were vexed at my assumed indifference.
My self-imposed restraint increased the warmth
of the feelings it concealed. In short, my
liking for Luisa was fast ripening into love,
when one morning Power came hurriedly into
the room where I was sitting, and, slapping
me on the shoulder, cried out:

"'Hurra! the route has come, my boy! We
are to join Bolivar in the Apure. We march in
ten days, and in less than a month we shall
see, I expect, what the Spaniards are made of.'

"This glorious news made me jump up and
shout, 'Viva el liberador!' at the same time
that, I threw the book I was reading up to
the ceiling. The report soon spread, and
now all was bustle and excitement in place
of the ennui that reigned before. We all set
to work to buy horses and mules, and to
prepare for the expedition, while the principal
inhabitants vied with one another in entertaining
us. In particular, the commandant of the
garrison sent out invitations to every officer in
the place to a ball for the night but one before
our departure. Rumour said this entertainment
was to be on a scale quite unique for Angostura.
The only difficulty was to find a place
large enough to hold the numbers invited, for
even the town-hall was too small; but, by dint
of certain contrivances in the shape of
temporary pavilions, this was got over.

"Meantime, what with the gaieties going on
in all directions, preparations for the march,
and the anticipations of a first campaign, my
pulse was up to fever heat. All my good
resolutions went off to the place where good
resolutions have been going for so many ages.
Fortune generally favours the audacious, and
my excitement seemed to make me worthy of
the smiles of the fickle goddess. I resolved,
therefore, somehow or other, to have a stolen
interview with Luisa, and I thought only of the
pleasure of a conversation with her alone, without