Page:Neuroomia.djvu/248

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236
NEUROOMIA: A NEW CONTINENT.

to my surprise, all the leading journals not only printed the address, but criticised my attempt in a very favourable manner. This, more than anything else, gave me encouragement, and in the end induced me to yield to the solicitations of my friends by promising to give a second lecture.

Onneyubla, and those who came with him, re-remained for a while in Tehana, and were, with myself, the guests of Yeyema. In the meantime I made arrangements to return with them to Atazatlan, where the next address was to be delivered.

We were a merry lot that stepped on board the Omardanhkk, bound for the capital city of Neuroomia. Smiling faces were seen on every side, but none brighter than that of the beautiful Alvarez, who kept me company during the greater part of the voyage. She referred to my lecture and the war almost as soon as we met, and said she felt horrified to think that in future she should be compelled to look upon me as a slayer of my fellow-men—one who had actually taken away human life. I told her that I was by no means certain that such was the case; for although I had served in the war, and many lives were lost, yet I was by no means positively certain that I had, directly or indirectly, caused the death of one individual; for