"Why, wretch!" cried he, after a moment, "If you are not a traitor, you are grossly deceived."
"As you please, my lord."
"It is a manada of wild horses."
"Exactly so, my lord," answered the captain, with a smile of disdain; "you have not the least experience of the style in which the Guaycurus fight, nor of life in the desert. This is probably the last thing I shall teach you, but it is well you should know it. The Guaycurus are the best horsemen in the world. This is the ruse they employ to surprise the enemy. They send in advance a troop of wild horses, in order to conceal their number; then in the rear they follow, lying on their sides on their horses, the left hand on the mane, and the right foot supported by the stirrup."
We have said that all the Brazilians were lying behind the bodies of their horses, ready to fire at the word of command.
About them the vultures and the urubus, attracted by the smell of blood, were wheeling in large circles, uttering harsh and discordant cries.
At a half league off, on the plain, a herd of horses was running with extreme rapidity.
The Brazilians were sorrowful and silent; they believed themselves lost.
"Boys," cried Diogo, "spare your munitions; do not fire but when you are sure. You know that we have no more powder."
All of a sudden the wild horses came down like a thunderbolt on the entrenchments, and notwithstanding a murderous discharge close to their breasts, leaped them with an irresistible spring.