“Who is here?”
“A traveller,” answered a sleepy voice.
Another horseman rode up saying—
“Be careful; this is not an enemy, but an Englishman on his way to Paraguay.”
The traveller put his head out of one of the windows of the coach, and thinking he recognized the figure and voice, said:—
“Surely you are Colonel San Martin?”
“If so, you have a friend here, Mr. Robertson,” answered the other.
And so it was; this was the well-known traveller, William Parish Robertson, who was destined to witness the memorable events of the next day, and to record what he saw.
The two friends laughed together at their unexpected meeting in the dark, and San Martin spoke of his project.
“The enemy has double the number of men that we have, but I doubt if they get the better of us.”