In New Granada; Or, Heroes and Patriots

by William Henry Giles Kingston

village church, and here and there, perched on heights, the roofs of some farmhouses. Immediately below us was the fort we were to occupy. It seemed as if we could almost leap down into it; though it was in reality too far off to be commanded from the height on which we stood, even had the enemy dragged up guns; but the path by which we had come was altogether impracticable for artillery, so we had no fear on that score. A short distance beyond the fort ran a rapid stream, which, descending from the mountains on our left, passed through the valley, and contributed materially to the strength of the position, as troops marching to the attack would have to ford it in face of the fire from the garrison. As far as we could see, the fort was still unoccupied; but the mist prevented us ascertaining positively if this was the case.

“I would that the clouds were away,” said Juan, “to learn whether they are now concealing our approaching foes!”

Here and there the mist appeared to be breaking or rising, and we watched eagerly for the moment when the whole face of the country would be exposed to view.

“Our men ought by this time to have got nearly round to the fort,” observed Juan, looking at his watch; “and once inside, I hope that we shall be able to defend it against the Spaniards, though they may come only a few minutes after we have taken possession.”

The sun now rose over the mountain-tops, his beams gradually dispelling the mists which had obscured the view. Still they hung over the valley, and we remained uncertain as to whether the enemy had had time to reach the fort below us. While we were thus eagerly watching, we caught sight of the head of our column rounding the foot of the mountain; but though visible to us, it could not as yet be seen by any one in the fort, and we were thus still in doubt as to the important fact we wished to ascertain.

“I gave directions to Captain Laffan to send forward and find out whether the fort was occupied, before exposing the troop to view,” said Juan.

As he spoke we saw two of the horsemen ride forward, and Juan resolved to remain until the result was known. We now took a careful survey of the country before us.

“I can nowhere see a body moving which has the appearance of troops,” observed Juan. “But there are so many woods and inequalities in the ground by which they might be concealed, that we must not trust to that. If, however, they have not already got possession of the fort, we shall have ample time to make such preparations as may be required for our defence. Duncan, take you the glass and see if you can discover anything which may have escaped my eye.”

I did as he requested, and swept the surrounding country again and again. At last I saw what I thought looked like a dark shadow creeping slowly along over the brow of a hill from the westward, and descending towards us. Here and there was a slight glitter, as if the sun’s rays were playing on polished steel.

I handed the glass to Juan, who was soon satisfied that what we saw was a body of troops. As, however, they were still some leagues away, and as they had a river to cross and some heights to climb, it would be several hours before they could reach the fort. We now felt sure that it, at all events, was not yet occupied. Dismounting, therefore, we led our horses down a steep path, by which we were at length able to rejoin our regiment. About the same time the scouts came back with the information that the fort was unoccupied. We accordingly rode forward and took possession.