Note 1. A similar disaster, accompanied by dreadful scenes of lawlessness and horror, occurred in 1861, when the city of Mendoza was totally destroyed by an earthquake, and nine-tenths of the inhabitants perished.
Chapter Eleven.
Outwitted by a Bandit.
Early next morning Pedro went round and quietly roused his friends.
“We must start at once,” he said in a low voice to Lawrence, when the wearied youth was sufficiently awake to understand. “Your wounded arm is better, I hope?”
“It is only stiff and painful; happily, no bones are injured. But why such haste? I don’t like to leave my poor patients in this fashion.”
“Will any of them die if you don’t stay to nurse them?” asked the guide, with a grave, almost stern, expression.