Under some leaders we should most certainly have come to grief; but the colonel's cheery, smiling face kept the men at their posts. Drawing them up in a strong position, he awaited the attack calmly.
"If you try to run away, my lads," he said pleasantly, "the Spaniards will make mincemeat of you; so it is wisest to stand firm."
We watched three battalions come down from the height and halt just beyond musket-range.
"I don't believe they're going to attack, after all!" exclaimed O'Brien excitedly.
"Not until we move," answered the colonel, "and then they'll fall on us tooth and nail. I expect they are just gaining time while the main body gets away. It's aggravating, too, because they have the whip hand of us. We aren't strong enough to turn them out."
O'Brien shook his head, saying, "If the provisions would last, we might stand here staring at each other till doomsday."
Darkness found the position unchanged, while numerous watch-fires gleamed fitfully through the gloom.
"I wonder," said the colonel thoughtfully, "if Canterac intends keeping his men there all night? Those fires may be just a blind; he's quite equal to a dodge of that sort."
"Let me find out," said O'Brien.—"Crawford, do you feel in trim for a stroll?"
"Oh, thanks! it's very kind of you to think of me."