sied truly, then was our little force in sad straits. Burdened
with sick, hampered by fleeing patriots, encumbered by prisoners, with
half his troops weakened as usual by ague, the English colonel could
neither fight nor flee. What, then, could he do? By this time every
one knew him too well to dream he would surrender.

"Castro," said I, "we carry bad news, and bad news flies apace. Let us
keep up the reputation of the old proverb. Half an hour or so may make
all the difference in the world."

He made a grimace as if to say that a few minutes more or less would
matter little; but he saddled his horse promptly, nevertheless, and was
ready to start as soon as I.

"I reckon," he said, "that we may strike the road from Tacna to Arica
by midnight to-morrow, unless our animals founder by the way. Can you
trust your horse?"

"The colonel selected him."

"That ought to be sufficient warrant. The chief knows a horse, though
he will ride in the absurd English style."

There were few men in the country who would have cared to cut
themselves adrift as Castro did on this ride of ours to intercept the
marching Patriots. His only guides were those he could interpret from
nature. While daylight lasted, he steered by the sun; at night, by the
stars and the faint wind that fanned our faces.

For twenty-four hours, during which time we rested, of course, both for
our own sakes and for the sakes of our animals, not one human being
crossed our path, or even came within sight of us. And during that
time, also, we saw neither bird nor beast, nor any manner of living
thing, save only ourselves and our animals.

And then, quite unexpectedly to me, we came upon an oasis in the dreary
desert--a little hamlet with mud-walled hovels, but better than those
at Ilo, and having patches of cultivated ground enclosed. The natives
had reclaimed this piece of land by means of the waters of a
moderate-sized stream, and lived in almost as great isolation as if
they had been on Robinson Crusoe's island.

They were neither Patriots nor Royalists, and I doubt much whether they
knew of the struggle going forward; but they had kind hearts, and gave
us a warm welcome, pressing upon us gifts of fruits and vegetables to
the limits of their scanty stock. They found ample forage, too, for
the weary animals, and we stayed there a matter of three hours to rest
Castro's horse, which had shown symptoms of breaking down.

I seized this opportunity