message
he immediately gave orders to retire, and about seven o'clock we
reached our camping-ground.

Fortunately we managed to collect a little fuel, for the night was so
intensely cold that few of the seriously wounded, though receiving
every possible attention, survived its rigours. Even lying close to
the fire and enveloped in our ponchos we shivered.

A surgeon had sewn up the cut in Alzura's face, and we gave him the
most sheltered place, and the one nearest the fire. There was not much
sleep for any of us that night; we were far too excited, and spent most
of the time fighting the battle over again.

To my delight, every one talked of Santiago and his magnificent bravery.

"Didn't we take him prisoner once, down south?" asked Plaza. "His face
seemed familiar to me."

"Yes," said I: "his name is Santiago Mariano, and at that time he was a
major."

"Faith," observed Alzura, looking up, "as far as fighting goes, he
ought to be a commander-in-chief! A wounded Colombian told me the
fellow sprang on them like a lion falling on a herd of deer. A lucky
thing for us that the Marianos are in a minority among the Royalists."

"Canterac nearly did the trick though," growled the major. "I thought
he would drop on us in that defile. I tell you what it is: Bolivar can
thank our colonel that he has any cavalry left."

"Bravo, major! I heard this evening that we saved the army."

"So we did," chuckled Plaza; "and we can say it without a word of
boasting. I don't care about praising my own men." But the rest was
drowned in good-humoured laughter, as every one knew that the finest
troop in South America--and the world, too, for that matter--was
Plaza's.

However, it appeared that we really had done a smart thing: for the
next morning Bolivar held a grand parade, and in presence of the whole
army ordered that henceforth the regiment of which we formed part
should be known as the "Hussars of Junin;" and General Miller publicly
said that we deserved the honour.

After the parade we marched into the town of Reyes, which had been
sacked by the Royalists. Bolivar occupied the only hut that had a
roof, the rest consisting of nothing but bare walls. The inhabitants
had fled into the surrounding country, but now they returned, and did
all they could to assist us, lighting fires, cooking our scanty
rations, and erecting sheds to shelter us from the cold.

"I suppose it's all right," said Alzura; "but I can't help t