’Señor Carlo, wait a moment. How I have looked for you!’ And then Harry Fenn, with greater skill than Carlo deemed possible, scrambled down from a point above him, and having joined him whispered anxiously, seizing him by the arm-- ’Now, Señor, don’t waste a moment: it is your only chance of safety. They know you have been fighting, and the castle and all the ammunition are now in the hands of the pirates.’ Carlo said nothing till both had reached the bottom; then, showing Harry his letter, he said his uncle had bade him deliver it. Before reaching the fort, however, they both saw that any message was now useless, for the Spaniards were already scrambling for the boats in order to fly up the river into the interior. ’Then I must return to my uncle, Harry,’ said Carlo. ’I promised to go to the Corps du Garde after I had given up my letter; but do not wait for me, for now is your chance of escape.’ ’He does not want you now, Señor Carlo: he died at his post as a brave soldier should. I will tell you about it presently, for now we have not a moment to waste: if you are found, or indeed if I am found helping you, we shall both be shot without more ado, for the men are in wild excitement.’ Carlo was speechless. The whole events of the last twelve hours seemed too terrible to believe, and he followed Harry in total silence. The latter, having now reached the bank of the river, was looking eagerly about for a boat. ’Where can we go if you find a boat?’ said Carlo at last very sadly. ’It would be better for me to stay and die with my uncle.’ ’No; indeed, I am sure he meant you to be saved by his sending you down here; he must have known when he did so that all was lost, and the letter to the officer was an excuse to induce you to leave him.’ ’But my Aunt Elena--what will become of her? Alack! Heaven is altogether against us!’ ’Do not distress yourself about her: she is of too great importance to come to any harm; they will make her pay a heavy ransom--and, anyhow, they will treat her well till Captain Morgan comes. Look, Señor, there is a small boat with one Indian in it. Have you any gold about you? We might perhaps bribe him.’ But Carlo was penniless; only, being able to make himself understood, he began trying to strike a bargain for the canoe, which appeared now their only chance of safety. The fort was quite evacuated, and so terrified were the Spaniards now escaping up the river, that, in spite of signals from Carlo, not one would return. So, after some delay, during which Harry became every minute more impatient, knowing how great the danger was, the boys squeezed themselves into the small canoe, and, crouching down, bade the Indian paddle out to sea.