Silence was only disturbed by the deafening cries of the birds of prey, that continued their cannibal banquet, quarrelling with ferocious inveteracy over the fragments of flesh which they tore from the dead bodies.
The general, with a heart deeply moved by this spectacle, when he reflected that Captain Aguilar, a man whose heroic devotion had saved them all, was exposed to this horrible profanation, resolved not to abandon his body, and, cost what it might, to go and bring it in, in order to give it sepulture,—a last homage due to the young man who had not hesitated to sacrifice himself for him.
Doña Luz, to whom he communicated his intention, although perfectly sensible of the danger, had not the heart to oppose it.
The general selected four resolute men, and scaling the entrenchments, he advanced at their head towards the spot where the body of the unfortunate captain lay.
The lanceros left in the camp kept a watchful eye upon the plain, ready to protect their bold companions with energy, if they were interrupted in their pious task.
The pirates concealed in the clefts of the rocks did not lose one of their movements, but were most careful not to betray their presence.
The general was able, therefore, to accomplish unmolested the duty he had imposed upon himself.
He had no difficulty in finding the body of the young man.
He lay half prostrate at the foot of a tree, holding a pistol in one hand and his machete in the other, his head elevated, his look fixed, and a smile upon his lips, as if even after death he still defied those who had killed him.
His body was literally covered with wounds; but, by a strange chance, which the general remarked with joy, up to that moment the birds of prey had respected it.