“Still there is a way,” said Villa.
The general regarded him with considerable surprise.
“How?” he asked.
“By the bed of the river.”
“What do you mean?”
“The river,” explained Pancho, “runs right beside the walls of the barracks. The water on this side is not so deep but that it is possible for men to march right up to the walls of the barracks, if they know the channel. I know it. If I had a hundred men who were not afraid I could carry the barracks.
“But,” he continued, “in order to lead this force to the barracks unobserved, it would be necessary for you first to attack the city from the opposite side. While the fighting is going on fiercely over there and the revolutionists are striving to prevent you from entering the city on the east, I will lead this hundred men into the barracks. As soon as we have rescued the Americans we will attack the revolutionists in the rear! You know what the result will be?”
“Undoubtedly!”
“Then you agree?”
“Yes; but I hardly know how to withdraw a hundred men from any one place on our attacking line. Our force is small as it is.”