"'Away now,' said I, pointing to the wood; 'vayan usted con Dios, or demonic, if it suits you better; and see, villain, that we meet no more!'
"With a dark gleam in his eye the disarmed robber slunk away, and I saw that his face, where not streaked with blood from Darby's sword cut, was ghastly pale with hate, fear, and fury.
"We placed the ladies in their antique caravan-looking coach; buckled their baggage on the pyramidal top thereof; furnished Pedro and another servant with the arms and ammunition of the two robbers; promised to see the unfortunate escudero interred, a promise which we never performed; and after escorting them some miles beyond the cork wood, bade them adieu, receiving a pressing invitation to visit them at Ciudad Real, 'where every one knew Donna Emerenciana de Alcala-de-los-Gazules,' which name I give myself no small credit for remembering. We then returned to La Guardia, and for a time thought no more of the affair.
"I had ordered the drum to be beaten before daylight, but it was not until two hours after it that the whole of the sick and wounded were again stowed into their waggons, and en route; for in the back-garden of the convent we had to bury those whom we found dead.
"Then again began that melancholy chorus of groans and cries of pain, mingled with curses in English and Spanish, the cracking of whips, and jingle of bells, as the obstinate mules and lazy bullocks, which drew the rude cars, were urged to motion; and over wretched roads we departed from La Guardia, towards the mountains.
"Passing over the ground of the last night's adventure, Crogan picked up something which glittered amongst the grass; it proved to be the portrait of a young lady, in a veil, flowing over a high comb; and in her well-arched eyebrows, fine dark eyes, roguish mouth, and fascinating smile, I recognised Donna Estella.
"'Bravo! a delightful souvenir of La Guardia,' said I; and, after admiring it for a time, consigned it to my breast-pocket. 'Darby, I will owe you a dollar for this when I draw on the paymaster.' I gazed at it frequently on the march, and every time I did so ray interest in the original increased (but bah! do not think I was fool enough to fall in love with a mere miniature), and I resolved that if she was to be found in Ciudad Real I would certainly discover and visit her.
"Again a black cloud of flies covered the whole of us; several cars broke down; and such was the terrible nature of the road that one fell entirely over a precipice, bullocks, wounded, and all; and then so great was the delay occasioned by the various casualties, that evening came on before we reached Mora, which is only ten miles from La Guardia. So the reader may have some idea of the tedium of our progress.
"Mora I found also abandoned by its inhabitants, who fled at our approach, carrying with them all provisions and everything else which could be borne away. Many of the houses appeared to have been recently burned, for flames were yet smouldering in three of them, and in another two men were lying dead; one shot, the other bayoneted. Being certain that there were no French in the neighbourhood, or nearer than Burgos and Navarre, I was at a loss to comprehend the source of this terror and outrage: but, influenced by anxiety to be nearer Ciudad Real, and to have my defenceless detachment disposed of for that night, I pushed on, in hope of reaching a small village, which, as my 'route' indicated, lay about ten miles further off.
"Descending from Mora, we traversed a plain which lies between two sierras that terminate at Porzuna, in La Mancha: and if our progress was slow by day, it was slower still by night. The heat was yet excessive; a thick impalpable dust floated about us; the air was close and still; there was not a breath of wind. Our thirst was intense, and a murmur of satisfaction arose from my mournful cavalcade when the blackened sky, and the croaking of the frogs, announced rain; and when it did come, it came in torrents. Then, raising the covers of the waggons, the wretched patients thrust out their pallid faces and trembling hands to catch the heavy drops. The dusty plain soon became transformed into a sea of mud, and the poor convalescent guard sank above their ankles at every step, while, deeper still, the mules went above their fetlocks.