vance of them.
I held my breath as they leaped into the throng and were swallowed up.
We were not near enough to distinguish the flag amidst the flashing
sabres and the long-handled lances, but I feared it had fallen with its
daring protector.

The tumult showed that some of the brave few still lived, and suddenly
I heard General Miller, as if his feelings had surprised him into
speech, say in English,--

"By Jove, he's through!"

It was true. There in the distance rode a man bare-headed, waving a
flag defiantly, and for all we knew cheering for the king. One by one
four others joined him, and continued the gallop: their comrades lay
dead on the plain.

Had half the Royalist cavalry possessed Santiago's pluck, the story of
this affair at Junin would have had a different ending.

As it was, the Spaniards began to waver. They could barely hold their
own against the reassembled squadrons from the defile, and our arrival
had turned the scale. They began to give ground slowly but surely, in
spite of their officers' appeals. I saw Santiago again; indeed he was
the most conspicuous man, though not the highest officer, on the field.
Wherever the troops seemed weakest, there he was, flag in hand,
cheering them on and fighting desperately.

When at last they could stand it no longer, but broke and fled, he got
together another little band to protect the retreat. But for him, I
doubt whether Canterac would have saved a quarter of his cavalry.
Once, when turning at bay to repel a fiercer rush than usual, he caught
sight of me, and his face lit up with a smile. He had been wounded,
but not dangerously, and his sword-arm was vigorous as ever.

Again and again, with the aid of his choicest troopers, he stemmed the
onset; but his efforts were vain--we were too many. His men dropped
one after another, and he was forced to continue the retreat, till the
remnant of the Royalist horsemen found shelter behind the lines of
their infantry, who greeted us with a scattering fire.

It was now growing dusk, and we could not attack an army, though
General Miller decided to hang on a little longer. In the long pursuit
our men had become scattered over the plain, and he dispatched various
officers to collect them. Then turning to me, he said,--

"Crawford, ride back, find General Bolivar, and tell him the Royalists
are in full retreat. If followed up strongly, I believe they would
disperse."

Saluting, I turned my horse and r