Part 58 (1/2)
CHAPTER SEVENTY ONE.
THE CAPTURE OF SAN CARLOS.
A few minutes sufficed for the performance of his sacred duty; and Don Rafael, returning to the courtyard, placed himself at the head of his troopers--already in their saddles. There were eighty in all ordered upon the expedition--only a small garrison of twenty men being left-- just sufficient to defend the fortress. Two pack-mules accompanied the party--one carrying a small howitzer, while the other was laden with the necessary _caisson_ of ammunition.
At a given signal the great gate of the hacienda was thrown open, and the troopers filing through, pa.s.sed on down the avenue at a rapid trot, and in silence.
A dozen or so of light cavalry went in advance of the main body--for the purpose of reconnoitring the ground--and at the head of these was Don Rafael himself with the Lieutenant Veraegui.
On the way the Lieutenant, in brief language, rendered an account to his superior of the events that had happened since his last despatch to him--to all of which Don Rafael listened far from attentively. Absorbed in his thoughts, he sat abstractedly in his saddle until after they had forded the Ostuta.
On the other side of the river the advance guard halted to give the main body time to come up; and here Don Rafael ordered the domestic of Don Fernando to be brought into his presence.
”Do you know,” said he, addressing the man, ”if there be any road by which we can get round the hacienda, and approach it from the opposite side?”
The domestic replied in the affirmative. He knew a path by which he could conduct the troopers to the rear of the building, and by which they might advance up to the very walls without their approach being discovered.
”Go ahead then along with the scouts!” directed Don Rafael. ”It is necessary we take these robbers by surprise, else they may get off from us as they have done before.”
The guide obeyed the order, and placing himself at the head of the advance guard, the march was resumed.
The path by which the domestic conducted them made a detour round the foot of the hill, upon which the hacienda stood, and where, but a few hours earlier, Don Cornelio Lantejas had seen the flames s.h.i.+ning so brightly through the windows. All was now silent as the tomb; and no sound of any kind announced that the approach of the a.s.sailing party was suspected.
A little further on the guide halted and pointed out to Don Rafael several paths that branched off from the one they were following, and by which the party, separating into several detachments, might completely encompa.s.s the hacienda. This was exactly what Don Rafael wanted.
Reserving to himself the command of the main body, he detached three smaller parties by these paths--one under the direction of Veraegui, the others each commanded by an alferez. These, at a given signal, were to attack on right, left, and in the rear; while Don Rafael himself with the howitzer would storm the building in front. Each party was provided with a supply of hand-grenades, to be thrown into the courtyard of the hacienda, or into such other places as the enemy might seek refuge in.
So long as the a.s.sailants were sheltered from view by the trees and shrubs that skirted the hill, they approached without being discovered: but the moment they became uncovered, on getting nearer to the walls, shouts of alarm and shots fired by the sentries summoned the garrison to the defence; and an irregular fusillade was commenced from the azotea of the building.
The different parties of the attacking force, without heeding this, kept on throwing their grenades as they advanced; while the party of Don Rafael, on arriving in front of the building, at once mounted the howitzer upon its carriage, and opened fire upon the main gateway.
The first shot crushed through the heavy timbers, carrying away one of the posterns of the gate.
Meanwhile, the grenades, falling within the courtyard began to burst upon the pavement--frightening the horses of the guerilleros to such an extent, that the animals broke from their fastenings, and galloped about, causing the greatest confusion. The shouts of alarm, the groans of the wounded, and the furious imprecations of the bandits, was for a time the only answer made to the reports of the bursting grenades, which were making such havoc in their ranks.
The loud explosion of the howitzer proclaimed a second discharge; and this time the shot penetrated into the courtyard, and cut its way through a ma.s.s of insurgents crowded near the further end of it.
”Once more! once more!” cried Don Rafael. ”Batter down the other wing of the gate, and then, sword in hand, let us enter!”
So quickly did the practised artillerists of Veraegui handle their piece, that almost on the instant it was loaded and discharged for the third time. The ball pa.s.sed once more through the heavy door; the leaf gave way and fell back with a crash, leaving the entrance open.
Tres-Villas, sword in hand, rushed into the gateway, followed by his faithful adherents.
”Where is the dog Arroyo?” cried he, bounding forward among the thick of the brigands, and cutting down every one within reach of his sword before an answer could be given. ”On, my men!” he continued, ”neither prisoners nor quarter!”
”I shall hang by the feet all who surrender!” thundered the voice of the Catalan from behind.
But despite this moderate promise of mercy, not one of the bandits offered to deliver himself up; and very soon the courtyard contained only a pile of dead bodies of the insurgents--the few who still lived having betaken themselves to the upper rooms of the building, where they secured themselves from present death by barricading the doors.
”Where is the dog Arroyo? A thousand pesos to the man who can lead me to the presence of the monster!” cried Don Rafael, vainly searching for the guerilla leader.