The arrieros, though decimated by the bullets fired at them, did not the less eagerly continue their task; the crowbar scarce fell from the hand of one shot down, ere another seized the heavy iron mass, and the chests of money toppled uninterruptedly over the precipice, in spite of the yells of fury, and gigantic efforts of the enemy, who exhausted themselves in vain to breach the human wall that barred their passage.
'Twas a fearfully grand sight, this obstinate struggle, this implacable combat which these men carried on, by the brilliant light of a burning forest.
The cries had ceased, the butchery went on silently and terribly, and at times the Captain could be heard sharply repeating—
"Close up there, close up!"
And the ranks closed, and the men fell without a murmur, having sacrificed their lives, and only fighting now to gain the few moments indispensable to prevent their sacrifice being sterile.
In vain did the border rifles, excited by the desire of gain, try to crush this energetic resistance offered them by a handful of men; the heroic soldiers, supporting one another, with their feet pressed against the corpses of those who had preceded them to death, seemed to multiply themselves in order to bar the gorge on all sides at once.
The fight, however, could not possibly last much longer; ten men only were left of the Captain's detachment; the others had fallen, but every man with his face to the foe.
All the arrieros were dead; two chests still remained on the edge of the precipice; the Captain looked hurriedly around.
"One more effort, lads!" he shouted, "We only want five minutes to finish our task."
"Dios y libertad!" the soldiers shouted; and, although exhausted with fatigue, they threw themselves resolutely into the thickest part of the crowd that surrounded them.