We pressed forward at a rate which none but light horsemen such as ours could have kept up. Nothing stopped us: up hills and across valleys we scampered; pushed through forests, or waded over marshes; forded or swam rivers when they crossed our way, without a moment’s hesitation. We ran, indeed, a regular steeplechase. We were obliged to camp at night, however, to rest and feed our horses; but during the day we halted not a moment longer than was absolutely necessary. Hardy as were our steeds, they at length began to show signs of fatigue, but Juan encouraged the men to proceed.
“They will have time enough to rest when they get to the fort,” he said,—“provided the enemy are not there before us.”
We had gone on all day, and were still about four leagues from our destination when night overtook us. The road ahead, our guide informed us, was worse than any we had yet passed over, and that had been bad enough. It would be dangerous, he said, if not altogether impossible, to get our weary steeds over the ground in the dark. Still Juan, obedient to orders, would have continued the route, when a thunderstorm, which had been for some time gathering in the sky, burst over our heads. We were, fortunately, near a farm with a number of outbuildings and sheds about it, beneath which we took shelter. The rain fell literally in sheets of water, which quickly flooded the road; the lightning flashed with a vividness I had seldom before seen; and the thunder rattled and crashed as if huge rocks, rather than impalpable clouds, were being hurled against each other.
Juan now saw that it would be impracticable to advance until daylight; but he also knew that the enemy would not venture to march, so that, even if they were at an equal distance from the fort, we should get there first. He accordingly announced that he should remain during the night; so the men employed themselves in cooking their supper, rubbing down their horses, and in other ways, until they lay down to sleep in the driest spot they could find. The officers occupied one of the rooms of the house.
It was somewhere about two or three o’clock in the morning when Juan roused me up.
“I intend to ride on ahead of the party, in order to reach an elevated spot by daybreak, from whence I can take a survey of the fort and the surrounding country, and therefore learn the ground on which we may possibly have to operate,” said he. “You will come with me, Duncan?”
I sprang to my feet. “I am ready to set out immediately,” I answered, giving myself a shake.
Juan’s servant brought us some cups of coffee, which we drank while our horses were being got ready, and in less than five minutes we had mounted. The storm had passed away, and innumerable stars shone out in the blue sky with wonderful brilliancy. We were obliged, however, to walk our horses, as it was with difficulty we could in many places see the road. Our last day’s journey had been over ground of a considerable elevation, and we were still ascending.
Daylight broke while we were still on the road, and pushing on our horses, we reached the spot for which we were aiming. It was a lofty bluff with precipitous cliffs below us, beneath which there were several lesser elevations, and beyond, a wide valley opening into a vast plain. We here found ourselves far above the clouds, which spread like a canopy over the scene at our feet—a few tree-tops, the tower of a
