200 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



shots ; and we saw through our loopholes some Spanish 

 soldiers running backwards and forwards on the crest 

 of the slope on which our houses stood. Suddenly 

 a great pillar of smoke arose, then a second, then a 

 third. 



" ' God be good to us ! ' cried Rachel, ' they are 

 burning our houses.' We were all trembling and quite 

 pale with rage. Harkye, stranger, when men have 

 been slaving and sweating for four or five months to 

 build houses for their wives and for the poor worms of 

 children, and then a parcel of devils from hell come 

 and burn them down like maize-stalks in a stubble- 

 field, it is no wonder that their teeth should grind 

 together, and their fists clench of themselves. So it 

 was with us ; but we said nothing, for our rage would 

 not let us speak. But presently as Ave strained our eyes 

 through the loopholes, the Spaniards showed them- 

 selves at the opening of the forest yonder, coming 

 towards the blockhouse. We tried to count them, 

 but at first it was impossible, for they came on in 

 a crowd without any order. They thought lightly 

 enough of those they were seeking, or they would 

 have been more prudent. However, when they came 

 within five hundred paces, they formed ranks, and 

 we were able to count them. There were eighty-two 

 foot soldiers with muskets and carbines, and three 

 officers on horseback, with drawn swords in their 

 hands. The latter dismounted, and their example was 

 followed by seven other horsemen, amongst whom 



