"A prisoner? I don't believe it."
"It's true, nevertheless. His scouting party has returned without him. From what I can hear, we're in a tight fix."
According to rumour, Alzura was right; but after a long and wearisome march we reached Lambrama, where General Sucre halted. During the afternoon, while we rested in the valley, a great shout from the troops on our right brought us to our feet, and we saw a soldier on a beautiful white horse descending a pass into the valley.
"That's General Miller's horse!" I cried excitedly.
"And the general's on its back!" said Plaza. "Viva! viva Miller!" And the cry was taken and repeated by thousands of lusty throats.
I had witnessed San Martin's brilliant reception, and had seen Bolivar fêted by his admirers; but this outburst was the most remarkable of all. One would have thought the general was a personal friend of every man in the army.
Each battalion, as he passed it, broke into renewed cheering, the men flung their caps into the air, and the whole scene was one of amazing enthusiasm. The general rode along slowly, and his smiling face showed how greatly he was touched by his reception.
"The man's a marvel!" exclaimed Plaza admiringly. "Look at him! One would think he had just come from a pleasure-trip instead of being hunted through the mountains. I warrant the viceroy would count his capture cheap at half a million dollars."
"Say a million, and it would still be cheap," said Alzura; and most of us agreed with him.
General Miller apparently brought important information, as, shortly after his arrival, orders were issued for a fresh start. I need not dwell long upon our sufferings during that disastrous retreat. The Royalists had outmarched us, and, hoping to stop our advance, closed many of the defiles and destroyed the bridges by which we should have crossed the numerous rivers.