"No, no, by no means. I pray you rest your arm here," said Isabella
Gonzales, as she offered her rebosa supported in part by her own
person!

"You are too kind-far too kind to me," said the wounded officer,
faintly; for he was now really very weak from loss of blood and the
pain of his wounds.

"Speak not, I beseech of you, but strive to keep your courage up
till we can gain the aid of some experienced surgeon," she said,
supporting him tenderly.

Thus the party drove on towards the city, by easy stages, where they
arrived in safety, and left Captain Bezan to pursue his way to his
barracks, which he did, not, however, until he had, like a faithful
courier, reported to the governor-general the safe result of his
mission to the south of the island.

The story of the gallant rescue was the theme of the hour for a
period in Havana, but attacks from robbers on the road, under
Tacon's governorship, were too common an occurrence to create any
great wonder or curiosity among the inhabitants of the city. But
Captain Bezan had got wounds that would make him remember the
encounter for life, and now lay in a raging fever at his quarters in
the infantry barracks of the Plaza des Armes.