Realizing that Colonel Marchand had affairs that needed his attention, Ronie and Jack asked if they might look about the town, and the simple request being granted, they passed the next few hours in exploring the place, though finding little to interest them. The regular inhabitants had nearly all fled, and those who had remained appeared ill at ease under the existing conditions, as they might have been expected to be.
"I tell you what it is, Jack," said Ronie, "it looks to me as if these revolutions are sapping the very life out of the country."
"Ay, lad; and now it looks as if you and I were to become actors in one of them. I wonder what is going on yonder."
These words were spoken by Jack as their attention was caught by the sight of a group of people gathered near the building where they had been lodged. As they advanced with quickening steps, it became evident that a fight or street brawl was in process. Around this a couple of dozen or more civilians had clustered, and by the way they encircled the combatants it looked as if they were trying to shield them from the gaze of the soldiers, should any of these happen to come that way. For a wonder not one of these was in sight at that moment, though the steady tread of the sentry within the building could be heard as he paced back and forth with measured step.
"Better give them a wide berth," declared Jack. "It never does any one good to get mixed up in one of these senseless encounters. Why, if you should go to the assistance of one of them, thinking he was being abused, the chances are more than even he would join with the other in abusing you. By the horn of rock—Gibraltar, if you please! this does not seem to be a fight by common brawlers, for their mantas show they belong to the better class of civilians."
The garment which had attracted the attention of Jack was the manta or poncho made of white linen, which has the quality of repelling the heat of the sun on a warm day. These garments are worn almost continually by certain classes, among them the vaqueros, or riders of the pampas. That of the latter consists of two blankets sewed together, one of a dark blue color and the other of a bright red. These hues are universally selected for a purpose, as they receive light and heat differently, and are used so as to afford the best results. Thus in dark and cloudy days the dark side of the blanket is turned outward; on other days this is reversed. The double blanket thus formed is quite two yards square, with a hole in the center to admit the head of the owner. Its purpose is two-fold, to protect the rider from the heavy dews and showers of the tropics, and to spread under him at night when there is no place to sling up his hammock. But the effect of this linen manta worn by these street fighters was even better than that of the woolen cobija of the vaqueros. These mantas worn by this twain were fancifully embroidered, and showed that they were expensive garments. At a distance they would present a striking, picturesque appearance.
Our heroes found it difficult to get near enough to obtain a view of the stirring scene in the little opening made by the encircling on-lookers, and, caring little for the affair, anyway, quietly retreated. Then, the alarm having been spread, no doubt, the soldiers began to appear in sight, and a squad led by an orderly started in to disperse the crowd. But the spectators seemed too earnest to be easily driven off, while the soldiers themselves quickly became so interested in the contest that they tried little more than to get a good look at the tableau.
"I never saw a Venezuelan yet who didn't relish a good fight," remarked Jack.
"But look there, Jack!" exclaimed Ronie. "What is going on that way?"
As Ronie pointed toward the rear of the building already mentioned, Jack saw half a dozen loungers hanging along in a manner suspiciously like a row of loafers, and not in knots, as men of this kind usually congregate.