The Colorados made
the Orientals sick of it, when that arch-traitor and chief of
cut-throats, General Rivera, desolated the Banda for ten years. We
must ride on to Montevideo soon. As for the character of my force,
that is a matter it would perhaps be useless to discuss, my young
friend. If I could import a well-equipped and disciplined army from
Europe to do my fighting, I should do so. The Oriental farmer, unable
to send to England for a threshing-machine, is obliged to go out and
gather his wild mares from the plain to tread out his wheat, and I,
in like manner, having only a few scattered _ranchos_ to draw my
soldiers from, must be satisfied to do what I can with them. And now
tell me, are you anxious to see something done at once--a fight, for
instance, in which we might possibly be the losers?"
"Yes, that would be better than standing still. If you are strong, the
best thing you can do is to show your strength."
He laughed. "Richard, you were made for an Oriental," he said, "only
nature at your birth dropped you down in the wrong country. You are
brave to rashness, abhor restraint, love women, and have a light heart;
the Castilian gravity you have recently assumed is, I fancy, only a
passing mood."
"Your words are highly complimentary and fill me with pride," I
answered, "but I scarcely see their connection with the subject of our
conversation.
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