Then In
The Evening Came The Tidings Of The Overthrow Of The Defending Army,
And Of The March Of The Enemy On Buenos Ayres City!
On the following
day, from dawn to dark, we were in the midst of an incessant stream of
the
Defeated men, flying to the south, in small parties of two or
three to half a dozen men, with some larger bands, all in their
scarlet uniforms and armed with lances and carbines and broadswords,
many of the bands driving large numbers of horses before them.
My father was warned by the neighbours that we were in great danger,
since these men were now lawless and would not hesitate to plunder and
kill in their retreat, and that all riding-horses would certainly be
seized by them. As a precaution he had the horses driven in and
concealed in the plantation, and that was all he would do. "Oh no," he
said, with a laugh, "they won't hurt us," and so we were all out and
about all day with the front gate and all doors and windows standing
open. From time to time a band on tired horses rode to the gate and,
without dismounting, shouted a demand for fresh horses. In every case
he went out and talked to them, always with a smiling, pleasant face,
and after assuring them that he had no horses for them they slowly and
reluctantly took their departure.
About three o'clock in the afternoon, the hottest hour of the day, a
troop of ten men rode up at a gallop, raising a great cloud of dust,
and coming in at the gate drew rein before the verandah. My father as
usual went out to meet them, whereupon they demanded fresh horses in
loud menacing voices.
Indoors we were all gathered in the large sitting-room, waiting the
upshot in a state of intense anxiety, for no preparations had been
made and no means of defence existed in the event of a sudden attack
on the house. We watched the proceedings from the interior, which was
too much in shadow for our dangerous visitors to see that they were
only women and children there and one man, a visitor, who had
withdrawn to the further end of the room and sat leaning back in an
easy chair, trembling and white as a corpse, with a naked sword in his
hand. He explained to us afterwards, when the danger was all over,
that fortunately he was an excellent swordsman, and that having found
the weapon in the room, he had resolved to give a good account of the
ten ruffians if they had made a rush to get in.
My father replied to these men as he had done to the others, assuring
them that he had no horses to give them. Meanwhile we who were indoors
all noticed that one of the ten men was an officer, a beardless young
man of about twenty-one or two, with a singularly engaging face.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 67 of 186
Words from 35579 to 36081
of 98444
