Fell and relentless purpose in this cavalier; his arm nerved and strength doubled by thought of Rava. The nearest troopers, dismayed and disordered, opposed feeble resistance to the furious onslaught of Cristoval and his comrade; while those behind, aware of a new check to the advance, the cause of which they could not see, raised the cry, "To the rear!" It was caught up at once; and now, panic and disorder tenfold.
As Cristoval fought he heard a cry rising shrill, "Allah il Allah! Allah il Allah!" and Abul Hassan was beside him, mounted on the steed of some fallen Spaniard. Into the fray the Morisco, reckless of want of armor, fighting with the ferocity of a demon.
The retreat was more disastrous than the advance; but slowly the troop fought back to the open street, shook itself free, and fled. The jaunty sorties were to be made no more.
At Hernando's council that night, once more glum taciturnity. From dawn there has been, on every hand, sharp repulse unexampled since the siege began: many saddles empty for result, and a general call for surgery. Every street by which many a brisk sally has been made in previous weeks, now impassable for cavalry; and barricades pushed within bowshot of the square. The abrupt change in the tactics of the besiegers is ominous. The presence of Peralta—for the identity of the cavalier seen, and felt, fighting among the Antis, is not doubted—is significant, and the price on his head is doubled.
Toward evening Cristoval was joined by Pedro at the edge of the barricade. The cavalier had laid off his helmet and was begrimed to the roots of his hair with ashes and black dust from the charred timbers, his face streaked with perspiration, his reddened eyes gleaming strangely through their surrounding sootiness. He turned to his comrade and said with a grim smile:—
"Aha! Pedro, we seem to have put them on the defensive, yonder in the square. What sayst thou?"
"Why, I say first," returned Pedro, eying him sharply, "that if I caught myself with a grin as weird as that of thine, I'd wear a wooden face as well as a wooden leg. Untwist thy features, man! Thou hast the look of a devil. Ah! Now, I'll reply to thine observation by saying that I'm hungry; and as for those knaves in the square, we have them where they will stay for a spell, or longer, without being told. So let us go and eat."
Cristoval, about to reply, noted a sudden silence among the Antis. Every one of them was on his knees and bending toward the three or four nobles who had just drawn near.
"Madre! The Inca!" exclaimed Pedro, then he growled beneath his breath, "Now look at these pagans! Every man doubled up like a razor, and everything dropped without a word of warning! Suppose the Inca had come about this morning, Cristoval! We had been undone."
Cristoval made no answer, for an officer recognized as Quehuar was beckoning.