Marcelino and Evaña then went to the barracks of the Patricios, where they found the troops under arms, and all the junior officers of the regiment collected in the guard-room, debating whether they should not at once march upon the fort and put an end by force to the authority of Don Baltazar de Cisneros. The great majority were in favour of this step and received Marcelino with shouts of welcome, calling upon him, as an officer of higher rank than any there present, to put himself at their head. Marcelino acceded to their request, but proposed the postponement of any active step to the next day, as night was already closing in, and it was necessary to concert measures with the rest of the native troops. After some warm discussion, the young officers consented to wait until Marcelino and Evaña could consult with the other members of the revolutionary committee.
Meantime the committee, convened at the house of the Señor Rodriguez Peña, also discussed the proceedings of the Cabildo with great warmth and indignation. Opinions were divided, but the great majority were in favour of an appeal to arms. As Marcelino and Evaña entered the room where they were assembled, the Señor Peña was speaking, calmly advocating the employment of all other means to procure the peaceful resignation of the Viceroy.
"But if he will not resign?" said Evaña.
Don Manuel Belgrano, wearied out with the anxieties of several days, lay on a sofa in an adjoining room; as Evaña repeated his question in a loud voice, Don Manuel, who was dressed in uniform as a Major of the Patricios, sprang from his sofa, and standing in the open doorway, his face flushed with indignation, his eyes flashing, laid his hand upon the hilt of his sword.
"I swear to my country and my comrades," he exclaimed, "that if by three o'clock in the afternoon the Viceroy has not resigned we will cast him out from the windows of the fort."
"Leave that to us, Don Manuel," said Marcelino, laying his hand upon the shoulder of Valentin Lopez y Viana, who had come with him from the barracks of the Patricios, and who with several other young officers there present had grasped the hilts of their swords as Belgrano spoke. "Leave that to us, the Patricios wait but the word and are ready to storm the fort at once, if it appear to the committee that such a measure is advisable."
There was great confusion and excitement as Marcelino told of what was occurring at the barracks of the Patricios, but the committee had already learned one thing, of which Marcelino was yet ignorant, which was that Don Cornelio Saavedra had reconsidered his hasty acquiescence in the decree of the Cabildo, and that they could count upon his support to a "Representation," which they had resolved to present to the Cabildo on the following day. Don Nicholas Rodriguez Peña had with some difficulty succeeded in calming the excitement, and proposed that they should send a deputation to the Patricios, informing them of the change in the ideas of their commandant, and asking for their support to the "Representation."
This proposal was agreed to; two members of the committee left at once for the barracks of the Patricios, where they arranged that the men should remain in the barracks all night, and that the entire regiment should be under arms next day, at an early hour, in readiness to support the people in case the Cabildo refused to listen to their demands.
After the departure of this deputation most of the members of the committee retired to their homes to recruit their strength for the next day; Marcelino Ponce de Leon threw himself upon the sofa where Don Manuel Belgrano had been lying as he entered, and fell at once into a sound sleep, but Don Carlos Evaña and a few others remained together and passed the night in endeavouring to draw up a list of names for the Junta, which should meet with general acceptation. All agreed that Don Cornelio Saavedra was the best man they could appoint as President, but, as the original members of the secret committee refused to allow their names to be proposed, there was great difficulty in deciding upon his colleagues. The discussion lasted till nearly dawn, many lists had been made out, but to all there were objections. Then Evaña, rising from his seat, went into the next room, and shook Marcelino by the shoulder.
"I am going home to sleep for an hour or two," said he. "Come with me."