DEPARTURE. 



57 



gle. At twelve o'clock the city was as still as death. 

 I lounged on the shady side of the plaza, and the 

 quiet was fearful. At two o'clock intelligence was re- 

 ceived that the troops of San Vicente had fallen back 

 upon Cojutepeque, and that the Honduras troops had 

 not yet come up. An order was immediately issued to 

 make this the rallying-place, and to send thither the 

 mustering of the city. About two hundred lancers set 

 off from the plaza with a feeble shout, under a burning 

 sun, and I returned to the house. The commotion sub- 

 sided ; my excitement died away, and I regretted that 

 I had not set out with the captain, when, to my surpr^e, 

 he rode into the courtyard. On the road he thought 

 that he had left me in the lurch, and that, as a travel- 

 ling companion, he ought to have remained with me. 

 I had no such idea, but I was glad of his return, and 

 mounted, and left my capital to its fate, even yet uncer- 

 tain whether I had any government. 

 Vol. II.— H 



