We were walking in a grove beneath the swift glimmer of the tropical twilight, when I told her that I felt it my duty to fight for the land that had been the home of my youth for so many years, and showed her a letter in which I was offered an officer's commission on the Huascar. She laid her hand on my arm and said, "There are nobler things in life than the shedding of the blood of fellow men. The youth of the world goes out to fight for the empty glory of another's crown. It is not on the field of carnage that greatest honors are won, but in the nobler, more peaceful pursuits of life, doing good and becoming leaders of men and preventing war, that one wins the royal diadem of him who said, 'peace on earth, good will to men.'" As she spoke in earnest eloquence, I could have knelt and worshipped her. Her delicate cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were filled with tears. No words of love had yet been spoken, but the Barbarian knew and felt that he had met his Ingomar. XVIII. ON SUNNY SEAS BOUND NORTH. I met Mr. Robinson on the street one day, bleeding from a wound on his face. He said that Mr. Wood, superintendent of our railway, had struck him. Two of Mr. Wood's children were attending Miss Judson's school, and on account of the official position of their father, behaved in an ugly manner. Miss Judson made complaint to the school board, which exasperated Mr. Wood and he demanded her resignation. This the board would not permit. He called Mr. Robinson to his office and dismissed him from the service of the company. Being requested by Mr. Robinson to give his reasons for his dismissal, he struck him. I was angry to think a young man would so brutally use a man of Mr. Robinson's age, and, too, in a strange country. Before I could restrain myself I demanded his reason for striking Mr. Robinson. Mr. Wood replied in a haughty manner that he was not accustomed to account for his acts. I replied: "Perhaps not, but when one of your position and age so far forgets himself as to strike an old man, any respect you may be entitled to is dispelled by your cowardly act." For a moment it looked serious. He raised his hand as if to strike me. I said: "Mr. Wood, if you attempt to go any farther I will certainly be a far different antagonist than Mr. Robinson, and teach you that some of your acts, at least, will be rewarded in a manner not to your liking." He knew he had gone too far, and said in a quieter tone, that he did not consider the affair any of my business. "Mr. Robinson is an American; let his countrymen investigate this matter. I will deal with them." "Mr. Wood," I replied, "I hope the time will never come when a Briton will so far forget his duty as not to go to the assistance of any family, irrespective of nationality."