The American commander had not the slightest idea of doing anything of the kind, but there had been almost continuous fighting in the days following the termination of the armistice. Perhaps the hardest of it had been at Molino del Rey, and the defences there had been carried by the assailants. There appeared now to be but the one barrier of the Chapultepec hill between them and a final victory. A hand was on Ned's shoulder, and a trembling voice said to him: "Oh, Senor Carfora! Where have you been? I'm so frightened! Are those cannon coming right on into the city?" "No," said Ned, "but I have been out all day. I went almost everywhere, and it seems as if the city were full of wounded men. The soldiers are crowding in. Oh, how I wish I knew how things are going!" There was a sound of sobbing behind them, and in a moment more the arms of Senora Paez were around Felicia. "My darling! My dear little girl!" she exclaimed. "Senor Carfora, too! The end has come. The Americans have stormed Chapultepec, and the city is at their mercy. Alas, for me! General Bravo was taken prisoner, and my beloved old friend, Zuroaga, was killed at the head of his regiment. We shall never see him again!" Ned felt as if somebody had struck him a heavy blow. He could not say a word for a moment, and then he whispered: "Poor General Zuroaga! Why, I had no idea that he would be killed!" That is always so after a battle. Those who read the lists of the killed and wounded expect to find the names of other people's friends there, and not the names of those from whom they were hoping to hear an account of the victory. "Felicia," said the senora, "your father and mother are in their room. Do not go there just now. You must not go out again, Senor Carfora. You have been running too many risks. Talk with me for awhile." Whether or not he had been in any danger, it had been impossible for Ned to remain in the house during an entire week of military thunder storm, and he had ventured out almost recklessly. There had, indeed, been so much confusion that little attention had generally been paid to him, and he had even gone out through the gates to use his telescope upon the distant clouds of smoke and the movements of marching men. He had seen, therefore, the steady, irresistible advances of the American troops, and he had almost understood that to General Scott the capture of the city was merely a matter of mathematical calculation, like an example in arithmetic. He went into the parlor with Senora Paez and Felicia, and there they sat, almost in silence, until long after their usual bedtime, but the sound of guns had ceased, for the siege of Mexico was ended.