"To Lima, sir?" and I let the pen fall in my eagerness; "why, I'd give anything to go there!" "Well, you can go for nothing, my boy, in a day or two. Of course you know our friends have been for some time now in possession of the capital, and that San Martin is Protector of Peru?" "Yes, sir, though I think 'tis but an empty title until the Royalists are thoroughly beaten." "All in good time," said he pleasantly. "That will come some day. We shall be masters of Callao shortly; which will be a great step forward. I have received news this afternoon which impels me to make the journey to Lima; so if you think you're strong enough--" "I'm sure I am," I cried eagerly. "I haven't an ache or pain in my whole body now, and--" "All right!" interrupted the colonel; "I'll take you. Now finish your copying, and don't fling the ink all over the place; it's wasteful." It was not only wasteful, but it gave me extra work, the copy being so smeared and blotted that I had to write it again on a fresh sheet. "Lima in a day or two!" I said softly to myself as my pen drove along the paper. The words sounded like sweetest music to me, and I hummed them to myself over and over again. I pictured the dear old home, the park, the pony I had ridden so often, the silvery pond, and the boats I had fashioned to sail on its waters. But above and beyond all I saw my mother, with eyes aglint and face suffused with joy. The vision was so real that I stopped in my writing to view it more closely. And when the colonel presently gave me leave for the remainder of the day, I rushed off to find Jose, hardly knowing whether I ran or flew. "What is it, Jack?" he exclaimed. "Has Captain Plaza promised to take you on another trip?" He laughed at his own joke, and I laughed too, being in the humour to see fun in anything. "You aren't far out, Jose," I replied, slapping him on the shoulder out of pure good humour. "I am going on a trip, but not with Plaza!" "Then it must be with the colonel." "Right this time. But where are we going, Jose? can you tell me that, eh? No, you'll never guess, so I will tell you. To _Lima_, my boy! what do you think of that?" "I think that your mother will be very pleased to see you." "Fancy seeing her again, Jose, after all these weary months!" "She will hardly know you," said he. "You have grown so tall and strong and manly. You are the image of what your father was at your age, Jack. Are all the troops to be moved up?" "I think not. As far as I know, the colonel's only paying a flying visit to the capital. Why are you laughing?" "Because I'm rather doubtful of that. If Miller goes to Lima, it's a proof there are hard knocks about. And high time too! According to the talk, the war should have been done with long ago."