&ldquo;&lsquo;Yes, it is all over now,&rsquo; she repeated. Then, after a time: &lsquo;Senor officer, what will your Government do with me?&rsquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;&lsquo;I do not know, senora,&rsquo; I said. &lsquo;They will treat you well, no doubt. We republicans are not savages and take no vengeance on women.&rsquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;She gave me a look at the word &lsquo;republicans&rsquo; which I imagined full of undying hate. But an hour or so afterwards, as we drew up to let the baggage mules go first along a narrow path skirting a precipice, she looked at me with such a white, troubled face that I felt a great pity for her. </p> <p> &ldquo;&lsquo;Senor officer,&rsquo; she said, &lsquo;I am weak, I tremble. It is an insensate fear.&rsquo; And indeed her lips did tremble while she tried to smile, glancing at the beginning of the narrow path which was not so dangerous after all. &lsquo;I am afraid I shall drop the child. Gaspar saved your life, you remember. . . . Take her from me.&rsquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;I took the child out of her extended arms. &lsquo;Shut your eyes, senora, and trust to your mule,&rsquo; I recommended. </p> <p> &ldquo;She did so, and with her pallor and her wasted, thin face she looked deathlike. At a turn of the path where a great crag of purple porphyry closes the view of the lowlands, I saw her open her eyes. I rode just behind her holding the little girl with my right arm. &lsquo;The child is all right,&rsquo; I cried encouragingly. </p> <p> &ldquo;&lsquo;Yes,&rsquo; she answered, faintly; and then, to my intense terror, I saw her stand up on the foot-rest, staring horribly, and throw herself forward into the chasm on our right. </p> <p> &ldquo;I cannot describe to you the sudden and abject fear that came over me at that dreadful sight. It was a dread of the abyss, the dread of the crags which seemed to nod upon me. My head swam. I pressed the child to my side and sat my horse as still as a statue. I was speechless and cold all over. Her mule staggered, sidling close to the rock, and then went on. My horse only pricked up his ears with a slight snort. My heart stood still, and from the depths of the precipice the stones rattling in the bed of the furious stream made me almost insane with their sound. </p> <p> &ldquo;Next moment we were round the turn and on a broad and grassy slope. And then I yelled. My men came running back to me in great alarm. It seems that at first I did nothing but shout, &lsquo;She has given the child into my hands! She has given the child into my hands!&rsquo; The escort thought I had gone mad.&rdquo; </p> <p> General Santierra ceased and got up from the table. &ldquo;And that is all,