Excerpt: ...two in the morning took up a comfortable position on the hillside above the junction of the roads. At dawn we shifted into better shelter-a shepherd's hut, dilapidated and roofless-and eked out a long day with tobacco and a greasy pack of cards. A few bullock carts passed along the road below us, the most of them bound westward, and perhaps half-a-dozen peasants on mule-back. At about four in the afternoon a French patrol trotted by. As the evening drew on I began to feel anxious. A little before sunset I sent ...
Read More
Excerpt: ...two in the morning took up a comfortable position on the hillside above the junction of the roads. At dawn we shifted into better shelter-a shepherd's hut, dilapidated and roofless-and eked out a long day with tobacco and a greasy pack of cards. A few bullock carts passed along the road below us, the most of them bound westward, and perhaps half-a-dozen peasants on mule-back. At about four in the afternoon a French patrol trotted by. As the evening drew on I began to feel anxious. A little before sunset I sent off one of my ruffians-Alonso something-or-other (I forget his magnificent surname)-to scout along the road. He had been gone half-an-hour when his fellow, Juan Gallegos, flung down his cards in the dusk-the more readily perhaps because he held a weak hand-and pricked up his ears. "Horses!" he whispered, and after a pause nodded confidently. "Three horses!" We picked up our muskets and crept down towards the road. Halfway down we met Alonso ascending with the news. Yes, there were three horsemen on this side of Zumarraga and coming at a trot. One of them wore a red coat. "Be careful, then, how you pick them off. The man in red must not be hurt; the money depends on that." They nodded. Night was now falling fast, yet not so fast but that as the horsemen came up I could distinguish Captain Alan. He was riding on the left beside the young French officer, the orderly about six yards behind. As they came abreast of us Juan let fly, and the orderly's horse pitched forward at once and fell, flinging his man, who struck the road and lay either stunned or dead. At the noise of the report the other horses shied violently and separated, thus giving us our chance without danger to the prisoner. Alonso and I fired together, and rushed out upon the officer, who groaned in the act of wheeling upon us. One of the bullets had shattered his sword arm. Within the minute we had him prisoner, the captain not helping us at all. "What is this?" he...
Read Less
