Wild with rage and pain, I scrambled to my feet, and, drawing my knife,
threatened to stab the first man who approached me; and then, in
unmeasured language, I abused Alday for his cowardice and brutality.
He only smiled and replied that he considered my youth, and therefore
felt no resentment against me for using such intemperate words.
"And now, my friend," he continued, after picking up my revolver and
remounting his horse, "let us waste no more time, but hasten on to El
Molino, where you can state your case to the General."
As I did not wish to be tied on to my horse and carried in that
unpleasant and ignominious manner, I had to obey. Climbing into the
saddle with some difficulty, we set out towards the village of El
Molino at a swinging gallop. The rough motion of the horse I rode
increased the pain in my arm till it became intolerable; then one of
the men mercifully bound it up in a sling, after which I was able to
travel more comfortably, though still suffering a great deal.
The day was excessively warm, and we did not reach our destination
till about three o'clock in the afternoon. Just before entering the
town we rode through a little army of gauchos encamped on the adjacent
plain. Some of them were engaged cooking meat, others were saddling
horses, while others, in bodies of twenty or thirty, were going through
cavalry exercises, the whole making a scene of wonderful animation.
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