By degrees, however, her manner changed: the ill-humour wore off, and she became quite a Patriot, saying she would willingly lose her mules if the Royalists were hunted down.
However, about nine o'clock in the morning I left the good lady to pour her grievances into more sympathetic ears, being ordered to push on with a small detachment of cavalry, guided by Castro. José was lucky enough to stay with the main body. Captain Plaza was in command of our party, and he rode with the guide and me. Our course to Ica, the first village on our route, lay over a burning desert of very loose sand, dotted at great intervals by clumps of stunted palms. It was a horrible ride, and when we reached Ica, about four in the afternoon, neither men nor animals could go a step further.
The people received us kindly, provided food and drink, and fresh horses in place of our wearied animals. Then we slept for an hour, and, thus refreshed, resumed the pursuit. I have often wondered since how any of us survived the hardships of the next few days.
Now and again we obtained an hour's rest, but our leader halted only when our animals showed signs of exhaustion. The Spaniards must have suffered as much as, if not more than, ourselves, as occasionally we came upon a dead horse or a dead man, killed by sheer fatigue.
On the third night after leaving lea we had ample proof of their desperate straits. We had left the sandy deserts behind, and were toiling along painfully, sustained only by Castro's assurance that he knew of a capital camping-ground.
"A fine wooded place," said he, "with grass for the horses, and a clear stream of water. You will be tempted to stay there all night, captain."
"Three hours," replied Plaza, "not a moment more. We must be close on their heels now, and I don't mean Santalla to escape if I can help it."
Santalla was a Royalist colonel of whose cruelty I had heard many times. He was a gigantic fellow, of enormous strength; but, according to all accounts, a pitiful coward in spite of his boasting. Indeed, any leader of average bravery would have turned and struck a blow at the handful of tired riders which now pursued him.
"Here we are!" exclaimed Castro presently, and I saw with satisfaction the trees on our left hand to which he pointed. Every bone in my body was racked with pain, my lips were parched, my eyes ached, and for the last hour I had scarcely been able to keep my seat.
Halting his men, Plaza sent me on with the guide to investigate. Leaving our horses, we moved forward swiftly but quietly; there was just the possibility of a trap. The place was almost like an enclosure on a large hacienda, but the fence was composed of trees, and we could hear the plashing waters of a stream.