by G. A. Henty
By midday, all the defenders of the forest were assembled in thesemi-circular plateau on the face of the hill; and, scouts havingbeen placed near the entrance, they awaited the coming of theenemy. So far as possible, every means had been taken to preventthe access to their place of retreat being discovered. A stream hadbeen turned, so as to run down a small ravine, leading to itsapproach. Trees which had been blown down by the wind had beenpreviously brought, from a considerable distance; and these werepiled in careless confusion across the gorge, so as to look as ifthey had fallen there, and give an idea that no one could havepassed that way.
For the next two days, all was quiet. A scout upon the hilltop, andothers who were told off to watch the Spaniards, reported that thewoods below were being thoroughly searched; that the enemy wereacting in the most methodical way, the columns being now in closeconnection with each other, the intermediate forest being searchedfoot by foot; and that all were converging towards the centralmountains of the position. The dogs had proved valuable assistants,and these were tracking the paths used by them, and steadilyleading them towards the stronghold.
That they would finally escape detection none of the defenders hadmuch hope. The Spaniards would be sure that they must be somewherewithin their line; and after the loss suffered, and the immensepreparations made, it was certain that they would not retire untilthey had solved the mystery, and, if possible, annihilated theforest bands.
On the fourth day after entering the wood, the Spaniards came tothe point where the barricade of trees had been erected. Soskilfully had this been constructed that they would have retired,believing that there was no path beyond this little gorge; however,the restlessness and anger of the dogs convinced them that theremust be something behind. Slowly a passage was cut, with axes,through the virgin forest on either side; for the lesson they hadreceived had checked their impetuosity. They came down at the sideof the barricade, and thus having passed it, pressed forward insteady array until they came to the foot of the great cliff. Herethe dogs were not long before they pointed out to the assailantsthe narrow path, scarce visible, running along its face; and ashout of satisfaction from the Spaniards testified that they nowfelt certain that they had caught their enemies in a trap.
Parties were sent off to positions whence they could obtain a goodview of the place, and these soon reported that the ledge continuedto a great opening in the face of the precipice; that in someplaces logs had been fixed to widen the path; and that there wasplenty of room, on the plateau formed by the retirement of the hillface, for a large body to have taken refuge. They also reportedthat the cliffs rose behind this amphitheater almost, if not quiteperpendicularly for a great height; and that, still higher, thebare rock fell away at so steep an angle that it would bedifficult, in the extreme, to take up such a position from above aswould enable them to keep up a musquetry fire, or to hurl rocksupon the defenders of the amphitheater.
When the reports were considered by the Spanish leader, he saw atonce that this was not an enterprise to be undertaken rashly. Menwere sent down to the plain below to reconnoiter; while others weredispatched round the mountain, to see whether the path extendedacross the whole face of the precipice, and also to discover, ifpossible, whether the recess was commanded from above.
Both reports were unfavorable From the valley the great naturalstrength of the position was manifest, for half a dozen men coulddefend such a path as this against a thousand, by placingthemselves behind an angle and shooting down all who turned thecorner; while the men from above reported that the peak shelved sorapidly towards the top of the sheer precipice, that it would beimpossible to get near enough to the edge to see down into theamphitheater They reported, however, that stones and rocks setgoing would dash down below, and that points could be gained fromwhich these missiles could be dispatched on their errand.
A council of war was held; and it was determined, in the firstplace, to endeavor to force the position by direct attack. Some menof approved courage were chosen to lead the forlorn hope; a numberof marksmen, with arrows and firearms, were placed in the valley tokeep up a fire upon any who might show themselves on the path,while above, several hundreds of men were sent up, with crowbars,to loosen and hurl down rocks.
The defenders, on their part, were not idle. Two spots had beenchosen in the pathway for the defense At each of these the face ofthe cliff extended sharply out in an angle, and it was on the sideof this angle next to the amphitheater that the preparations weremade. Here barricades of stones were heaped up on the path, whichat this point was some three yards wide. Six of the steadiest andmost courageous negroes were placed here, with muskets and pikes.Two of them were to lie with their guns pointed at the protectingangle so that, the instant anyone showed himself round the corner,they could open fire upon him. The others were lying in readinessto assist, or to relieve those on guard. Either Gerald or Nedremained with them, always.
A few stones were thrown up on the outside edge of the path, toprotect the defenders from the shots of those in the valley below;not indeed that the danger from this source was very great, for theface of the precipice was some eight hundred feet high, and thepath ran along some four hundred from the bottom. With the clumsyarms in use, in those days, the fear of any one being struck frombelow was by no means great.
A similar barricade was erected behind, and the negroes were, incase of extreme necessity, to fall back from their first position.At the second point an equal number of men were placed.
Lastly, where the path ended at the amphitheater, strong barricadeshad been erected in a sort of semicircle; so that anyone, afterhaving forced the first defenses, would, as he showed himself atthe entrance to the amphitheater, be exposed to the fire of thewhole of its defenders.
The position was so strong that Ned and Gerald had no fear,whatever, of its being forced. As the time approached when Nedexpected an attack, the defenders of the farthest barricade werestrengthened by a considerable number, lying down upon the path;for it was certain that, for the first two or three assaults, theSpaniards would push matters to the utmost; and that they would notbe repulsed, without severe fighting.
So indeed it proved. Advancing with great caution along the narrowpath, which was sometimes seven or eight feet wide, sometimesnarrowing to a few inches, the leaders of the party of attack madetheir way along, until they turned the projecting point. Then theguns of the two men on guard spoke out, and the two leaders fell,shot through the body, over the precipice. Now that they knew theposition of their enemy, the Spaniards prepared for a rush.Gathering themselves as closely as they could together, theypressed round the corner. Shot after shot rang out from thedefenders, as they turned it; but although many fell, the otherspressed forward so numerously, and bravely, that they could be saidfairly to have established themselves round the corner.
The barricade now, however, faced them; and behind this weregathered the bravest of the negroes, led by the boys. Thebarricade, too, had been covered with thorny branches, as had thatwhich they had defended before; and the Spaniards, of whom onlysome ten or twelve could find fighting room round the corner, wereshot down before they could make any impression, whatever.
Bravely as they fought, it was impossible for men to maintain sounequal and difficult a fight as this; and after trying for an hourto storm the barricade, the Spaniards fell back, having lost overfifty of the best of their men.
In the meantime, with a thundering sound, the rocks were rollingdown from the summit of the mountain. The greater portion of themdid not fall in the amphitheater at all; but, from the impetus oftheir descent down the sloping rocks above, shot far out beyond itsedge. Others, however, crashed down on to the little plateau; butall who were there were lying so close to the face of the rock,that the missiles from above went far beyond them.
From below in the valley a constant fire was kept up, but this wasas innocuous as the bombardment from above; and when the Spaniardsfell back, only three of the defenders had been in any way injured,and these were hit by t
he pistol balls, fired by the assailants ofthe barricade.
When the Spaniards retired, all, except the men told off for theposts at the barricades, fell back to the amphitheater The negroesand natives were, both alike, delighted with the success of thedefense; and were now perfectly confident of their ability to holdout, as long as their provisions lasted. There was no fear of wantof water, for from the face of the hill a little stream trickledout. Piles of yams, bananas, sweet potatoes, and other tropicalfruit had been collected, and a score of sheep; and with care, theboys calculated that for five weeks they could hold out.
The Spaniards were furious at the non-success of their enterprise,but after reconnoitering the position in every way, the commanderscame to the conclusion that it was absolutely impregnable, and thatthe only plan was to starve out the besieged. It did not appearthat there could be any other way of retreat, and a small forcecould watch the path; as it would be as difficult for the besiegedto force their way back by it, as for the besiegers to find anentry. The greater portion of the force was, therefore, marchedhome; a guard of two hundred men being set, to watch the pointwhere the path along the precipice started.
The incidents of the five weeks which elapsed after the siege beganwere not important. It was soon found that the Spaniards hadabandoned the notion of attack; but the vigilance of the defenderswas never relaxed, for it was possible, that at any moment theenemy, believing that they had been lulled into carelessness, mightrenew their attack.
Twice, indeed, at nightfall the Spaniards advanced and crept roundthe point of defense; but were each time received so quickly, bythe fire of the defenders of the barricade, that they were finallyconvinced that there was no hope, whatever, of catching themnapping.
At the end of five weeks it was determined that the time hadarrived when they should leave their fortress. The Spaniards hadplaced a guard of fifty men near the foot of the precipice, toprevent any attempt of the besieged to descend its face by means ofropes; but above no precautions had been taken, as it appearedimpossible, to anyone looking at the face of the cliff from adistance, that a human being could scale it.
Thanks, however, to the pains which had been taken previously, theway was open. In most places, rough steps had been cut; in others,where this was impossible, short stakes had been driven intocrevices of the rock to form steps; and although the ascent wasdifficult, it was quite possible, to lightly clad and active men.
The time chosen for the attempt was just after dusk had fallen,when it was still light enough to see close at hand, but darkenough to prevent those in the valley observing what was passing. Ayoung moon was already up, giving sufficient light to aid theenterprise. Some of the most active of the natives first ascended.These were provided with ropes which, at every bend and turn of theascent, they lowered so as to give assistance to those mountingbehind. The strictest silence was enforced, and the arms were allwrapped up, so as to avoid noise should they strike the rock.
One by one the men mounted, in a steady stream. All werebarefooted, for Ned and Gerald had imitated the example of thenatives; and upon such a task as this, the bare foot has aninfinitely safer hold than one shod with leather. Although thecliff looked quite precipitous, from a distance; in reality itsloped gently backwards, and the task was far less difficult thanit appeared to be.
The most dangerous part, indeed, was that which followed thearrival at the top. The mountain sloped so steeply back that it waslike climbing the roof of a very steep house, and hand and footwere, alike, called into requisition to enable them to get forward;indeed, to many it would have been impossible, had not the leaderslowered their ropes down from above, affording an immenseassistance to those following.
At last, the whole body reached the top and, descending upon theother side, plunged into the forest. They directed their course toa valley, ten miles distant, where considerable supplies ofprovisions had been stored up; and where some of their crops hadbeen planted, a few weeks before the arrival of the Spaniards. Herefor two days they feasted, secure that a considerable time mightelapse, before the Spaniards discovered that they had vanished fromthe fortress.
Then they prepared to put into execution the plan upon which theyhad resolved. They knew that in the town, there would be no watchof any sort kept; for all believed them cooped up, without a chanceof escape. The four troops then, commanded as before, issued fromthe forest as the sun went down, and marched towards the town. Itwas soon after midnight when they entered the streets and,proceeding noiselessly through them, advanced to the spot assignedto each.
One was to attack the governor's house, and to make him a prisoner;two others were to fall upon the barracks, and to do as much harmas possible; while the fourth was to proceed to the governmentmagazines of stores and munitions, to fire these at a great manyplaces.
This programme was carried out successfully. The guards at thegovernor's house were overpowered in an instant and, as it had beensurrounded, all the inmates were captured. Those of the men whodefended themselves were cut down, but Gerald and Ned had insistedthat no unnecessary slaughter should take place.
The party attacking the barracks had no such instructions. It waslegitimate for them to inflict as much loss as possible upon thesoldiers; and when, with terrible shouts, the negroes broke in uponthem, the Spaniards, taken by surprise, offered but a feebleresistance. Large numbers of them were cut down, before they couldrally or open fire upon their enemies. As soon as the resistancebecame serious, the negroes and Indians vanished, as quickly asthey had come.
In the meantime, the whole of the town was lit up by sheets offire, rising from the government magazines. The alarm bells of thechurches tolled out, the shouts of the frightened inhabitantsmingled with the yells of the natives, and the report of firearms,from all parts of the town; and the townspeople thought that ageneral sack and slaughter was at hand.
The negroes, however, entered no private house, but in an hour fromtheir first appearance they had retired beyond the town; and weremaking their way, in a solid and well-ordered mass, for the forest,bearing in their center the governor and two of his sons.
The success of the enterprise had been complete. They were now, Nedthought, in a position, if not to dictate terms to the enemy, atleast to secure for themselves an immunity from attacks. Day wasbreaking when they entered the hills and, an hour later, one of thesons of the governor was sent to the party still besieging theirformer stronghold, to inform them that the besieged had allescaped, had made a raid upon the city, and had carried off thegovernor; whose instructions to them was that they were to at oncefall back, to avoid being attacked by the negroes.
The officer commanding the besiegers was glad enough to call hismen together, and to retire unharmed from the forest; which nowbegan to inspire an almost superstitious fear in the Spaniards, sounexpected and mysterious had been the defeats inflicted upon themthere. The governor's son accompanied the troops back to the city,and was the bearer of a missive from Ned to the officer commandingthe troops, and to the inhabitants. Ned offered, upon the part ofthe forest men, that if the Spaniards would consent to leave themunmolested in their forest; they upon their part would, in thefirst place, release the governor, and in the second, promise thatno acts of violence, or raids of any kind, should be made beyondits boundaries. The question of fugitive slaves, who might seekrefuge among them, was to be discussed at a meeting between theheads of each party, should the proposal be accepted. The governorsent a line, on his part, to say that he was well treated, that heauthorized them to enter into any negotiations which they mightthink fit; adding that, in case they should decide to refuse theoffer made them, no thought of his safety should be allowed, for aninstant, to sway their notions.
It was two days before the messenger returned. Several stormymeetings had taken place in the town. The officers were, for themost part, anxious to renew the fighting. They were intenselymortified at the idea of the forces of Spain being compelled totreat, upon something like even terms, with a handful of escapedslaves; and w
ould have again marched the troops into the forest,and renewed the war. The townspeople, however, were stronglyopposed to this. They had suffered immensely, already, by thedestruction of the outlying plantations and haciendas; and theevents of the attack upon the town showed that there was no littledanger of the whole place being burnt to the ground. They were,therefore, eager in the extreme to make terms with this active andubiquitous enemy. The troops, too, were by no means eager toattempt another entry into the forest. They had fared so ill,heretofore, that they shrank from another encounter. There wasneither glory nor booty to be obtained, and warfare such as thiswas altogether unsuited to their habits. Their discipline wasuseless, and they were so bewildered, by the tactics of theiractive foes, that there was a very strong feeling among them infavor of making terms. The council sat the whole day, and finallythe pacific party prevailed.
The deputation, consisting of the officer commanding the troops, ofthe ecclesiastic of highest rank in the town, and of one of theprincipal merchants, proceeded to the forest. When they were seenby the lookout to be approaching, Ned and Gerald, with the leadingnative and negro, proceeded to meet them. The details were soonarranged, upon the basis which had been suggested. The forest menwere to enjoy their freedom, unmolested. They were to be allowed tocultivate land on the edge of the forest, and it was forbidden toany Spaniard to enter their limits, without previously applying fora pass. They, on their part, promised to abstain from allaggression, in any shape.
The question of runaways was then discussed. This was by far themost difficult part of the negotiations. The Spaniards urged thatthey could not tolerate that an asylum should be offered, to allwho chose to desert from the plantations. The boys saw the justiceof this, and finally it was arranged that the case of every slavewho made for the forest should be investigated; that the ownersshould, themselves, come to lay a formal complaint of their case;that the slave should reply; and each might produce witnesses. Thenegro was to be given up, unless he could prove that he had beentreated with gross cruelty, in which case he was to be allowedprotection in the forest.
These preliminaries settled, a short document embodying them wasdrawn up, in duplicate, and these treaties were signed, by thethree Spaniards who formed the deputation and by the governor onthe one side, and by the four representatives of the forest men onthe other.
Thus ended the first successful resistance, to Spanish power, amongthe islands of the western seas.
The governor and his son then left for the city, and the forest menretired to what was now their country. Ned and Gerald impressedupon their allies the importance of observing, strictly, theconditions of peace; and at the same time of continuing theirexercises in arms, and maintaining their discipline. They pointedout to them that a treaty of this kind, extorted as it were fromone, and that the strongest of the contracting powers, was certainnot to have long duration. The Spaniards would smart at thehumiliation which had, in their opinion, befallen them; andalthough the fugitive clause might for some time act favorably, itwas sure, sooner or later, to be a bone of contention. Theyimpressed upon them also that although they might, as had beenshown, achieve successes for a time, yet that in the long run thepower of the Spaniards must prevail, and that nothing short ofextermination awaited them; therefore he urged the strictestadherence to the treaty, and at the same time a preparedness forthe recommencement of hostilities.
Some months passed without incident, and the relations between thelittle community in the mountains and the Spaniards became morepacific. The latter found that the natives, if left alone, did themno damage. Bad masters learned that a course of ill treatment oftheir slaves was certain to be followed by their flight, and uponthe bad treatment being proved, these found shelter among themountains. Upon the other hand, the owners who treated their slaveswith kindness and forbearance found that, if these took to themountains in a fit of restlessness, a shelter there was refusedthem. Upon the edge of the forest, patches of plantation groundmade their appearance; and the treaty was, upon the whole, wellobserved on both sides.
It was about a year after they had taken to the hills that newsreached the boys that an English ship had come into those waters.It was brought them across at an island?? by some Simeroons who hadbeen where the English ship anchored. They said that it wascommanded by Master John Oxenford. The boys knew him, as he hadbeen on board Captain Francis Drake's ship during the lastexpedition, and they determined to make an effort to join him. Hehad, however, left the island before the natives started with thenews; and they made an arrangement with them, to convey them acrossto that place, when it should be learned that the vessel wasreturning, or was again there.
It was not long before they were filled with grief at the news thatreached them, although they felt not a little thankful that theyhad not been able to join Captain Oxenford, when he first reachedthe islands. This adventurous seaman had, after the return toEngland of Captain Francis Drake's expedition, waited for some timeon shore; and then, fretting under forced inactivity--for CaptainDrake had, for the time, abandoned any project which he hadentertained of a return to the Spanish seas, and had engaged in awar in Ireland--determined to equip an expedition of his own, withthe assistance of several of those who had sailed in the lastvoyage with him, and of some Devonshire gentlemen who thought thata large booty might be made out of the venture.
He equipped a sloop of 140 tons burden, and sailed for Darien. Whenhe arrived at this isthmus, he laid up his ship and marched inland,guided by Indians. After traveling twelve leagues among themountains, he came to a small river running down into the Pacific.Here he and his comrades built a boat, launched it in the stream,and dropped down into the bay of Panama. Then he rowed to the Isleof Pearls, and there captured a small barque, from Quito, withsixty pounds of gold. This raised the spirits of the adventurers,and six days later they took another barque, with a hundred andsixty pounds of silver. They then set off in quest of pearls. Theysearched for a few days, but did not find them in proportion totheir expectations. They therefore determined to return, andre-entered the mouth of the river they had descended. Here theyloosed the prizes they had taken, and let them go.
The delay at Pearl Island was a mistake, and a misfortune. CaptainOxenford should have known that the Spanish authorities of themainland would, when they heard that a single boat's load ofEnglishmen was ravaging their commerce, make a great effort tocapture him; and his attack should have been swift and determined,and his retreat made without a halt. The fortnight which had beenallowed to slip away caused his ruin. The news of their presencespeedily arrived at Panama. Captain Ortuga was dispatched with fourbarques in search of them and, falling in with the liberatedprizes, learned the course that the English had taken. The riverhad three branches, and the Spaniard would have been much puzzledto know which to ascend; but the carelessness of the adventurersgave him a clue; for, as he lay with his boats, wondering whichriver he should ascend, he saw floating on the water largequantities of feathers. These were sufficient indications of a campon the banks, and he at once followed that branch of the stream.
In four days he came upon the boat, which was hauled upon the sand,with only six men with her. They were lying asleep on the bank, andthe coming of the Spaniards took them completely by surprise, andone of them was killed before he could make his escape into thewoods. The rest got off. The Spaniards left twenty men to guard theboat, and with eighty others went up the country. Half a leagueaway they found some huts, and in these the treasures of gold andsilver which the English had captured were discovered.
Satisfied with having recovered these, Captain Ortuga was about toreturn to the river with his men; when Oxenford, with the Englishand two hundred Simeroons, attacked them. The Spaniards foughtbravely, and the Simeroons would not stand against their fire. TheEnglish struggled desperately. Eleven of these were killed, and theSimeroons took to their heels. Oxenford and a few of his companionsescaped, and made their way back towards the spot where they hadleft their ship.
News of what was goin
g on had, however, been sent across fromPanama to Nombre de Dios, and four barques from that port had putout, and had found and taken Oxenford's ship. A band of a hundredand fifty men scoured the mountains, and into the hands of theseCaptain Oxenford and his companions fell. All of them were executedon the spot; except Oxenford, the master, the pilot, and five boys.These were taken to Panama, where the three men were executed, thelives of the five boys being spared.
This news was a sore blow to the lads, who had hoped much to beable to reach the ship, and to return to England in her. The delay,however, was not long, for a few weeks afterwards came the newsthat another English ship was in those waters. A party of Simeroonsoffered to take Ned and Gerald thither in their boat, and theydetermined to avail themselves of the offer.
Great was the lamentation, among the community in the forest, whenthe news that their leaders were about to leave became known. Thesimple Indians assembled around them, and wept, and used everyentreaty and prayer, to change their resolution. However, the boyspointed out to them that they had already been absent near threeyears from home; and that, as the settlers were now able to defendthemselves, and had earned the respect of the Spaniards, theywould, if they continued their present course of avoiding givingany cause of complaint to the whites, no doubt be allowed to livein peace. They had, too, now learned the tactics that should bepursued, in case of difficulty; and by adhering to these, the boysassured them that they might rely upon tiring out the Spaniards.Some of the negroes were in favor of retaining the English leadersby force, but this was objected to by the majority. Many of theIndians possessed gold, which had been the property of theirancestors before the arrival of the Spaniards; and some of thesetreasures were now dug up, and the boys were presented with a greatstore of pretty ornaments, and other workmanship of the natives.Much rough gold was also placed on board their canoe, and a greatportion of the dwellers of the hills marched down at night withthem to the point of embarkation, a lonely creek far from thesettlement of the Spaniards, to bid them farewell.
The boys, themselves, were affected by the sorrow of their friends,and by the confidence which these had placed in them; and theypromised that, should they return to those parts, they wouldassuredly pay a visit to them, again, in the hills. Before leaving,they had seen that two of the worthiest and wisest of the nativeswere chosen as leaders, and to these all the rest had sworn anoath, promising to obey their orders in all respects. They hadconstantly acted with the boys; and had, indeed, been their chiefadvisers in the matters internal to the tribe; and the lads hadlittle doubt that, for some time at least, things would go well inthe mountains. As to the ultimate power of the refugees to maintaintheir independence, this must, they felt, depend upon events beyondthem. If the Spaniards were left at peace, and undisturbed byEnglish adventurers or other troubles, there was little doubt,sooner or later, they would destroy the whole of the natives ofthis island, as they had destroyed them in almost every place wherethey had come in contact with them. However, the boys had thesatisfaction of knowing that they had been the means of, at least,prolonging the existence of this band, and of putting off the evilday, perhaps for years to come.
The Simeroons paddled out from the creek and, hoisting the sail,the boat merrily danced over the water; and the boys felt theirspirits rise, at the hope of seeing their countrymen, and hearingtheir native tongue again, after eighteen months passed, absolutelyseparate from all civilized communion.
After two days sailing and paddling, they reached the bay where thenatives had reported the English ship to be lying; and here, totheir great delight, they found the Maria, Captain Cliff, lying atanchor.
Ned and Gerald, when they explained who they were, were receivedwith great joy and amazement. The story of their loss had beentold, in England; and the captain, who came from the neighborhoodwhere Gerald's father dwelt, reported that the family had longmourned him as dead. He himself was bent, not upon a buccaneeringvoyage--although, no doubt, if a rich ship had fallen into hishands he would have made no scruple in taking it--but his objectwas to trade with the natives, and to gather a store of such goodsas the islands furnished, in exchange for those of English make. Hehad, too, fetched slaves from the western coast of Africa, and haddisposed of them to much advantage; and the ship was now about toproceed on her way home, each man's share, of the profits of theexpedition, amounting to a sum which quite answered hisexpectations.
It was two months later before the boys, to their great delight,again saw the hills behind Plymouth. None who had seen them embarkin the Swanne would have recognized, in the stalwart young fellowswho now stepped ashore on the hove, the lads who then set sail.Nearly three years had passed. The sun of the tropics had burnttheir faces almost to a mahogany color Their habit of command,among the natives, had given them an air and bearing beyond theiryears; and though Ned was but eighteen, and Gerald a little older,they carried themselves like men of mature years.
It had been, indeed, no slight burden that they had endured. Thefighting which had formed the first epoch of their stay in theisland, serious as it had been, had been less wearing to them thanthe constant care and anxiety of the subsequent quiet time. Thearrival of each fugitive slave was a source of fresh danger, and ithad often needed all their authority to prevent the younger, andwilder, spirits of their little community from indulging in raidsupon the crops of the Spaniards.
Once in Plymouth, the lads said goodbye to each other, promising tomeet again in a few days. Each then proceeded to his home. Ned,indeed, found that he had a home no longer; for on reaching thevillage he found that his father had died, a few months after hisdeparture; and a new pedagogue had taken his place, and occupiedthe little cottage.
The shock was a great one, although hardly unexpected, for hisfather's health had not been strong; and the thought that he wouldnot be alive, when he returned, had often saddened Ned's mindduring his absence. He found, however, no lack of welcome in thevillage. There were many of his school friends still there, andthese looked with astonishment and admiration on the bronzed,military-looking man, and could scarce believe that he was theirplaymate, the Otter.
Here Ned tarried a few days, and then, according to his promise toGerald, started for the part of the country where he lived, andreceived a most cordial welcome from the father and family of hisfriend.
Chapter 10: Southward Ho!