Chap. IX. THE AUTHOR HASTENS TO LEON. 151 
approaching ; on the other it was asserted that General 
Guardiola — the tiger of Honduras, as he had been called 
— was coming in aid of Granada, though his Indian cut- 
throats were feared more, even as friends, than the Leonese 
as enemies. Barricades were erected in the streets. One 
of my German friends who, when emigrating to Nicaragua, 
had taken with him a flag with the old German colours, 
striped black, red and gold — an ideal banner of German 
nationality — hoisted it over the gate of his house. Who 
would believe it, that the colours of the German empire, 
past or future, could have inspired some ladies of Granada 
with absolute confidence, and that soon the rooms of my 
friend were filled with cases and boxes containing the more 
valuable portion of the moveable property of the good 
senoras ! 
Such was the state of things at Granada, when, to hold 
a conversation with General Munoz, I started on a hasty 
trip to Leon. A young German accompanied me. It 
was in the evening of the 21st of August, and just in the 
very moment when we mounted our horses a drummer was 
beating through the streets, and an order issued that no one 
should leave the city without a special permission and pass- 
port from the " Comandante." We set spurs to our 
horses and never drew rein till we had reached Masaya. 
To protect Granada against a sudden attack of the 
Leonese, the Granadinos under Chamorro had taken pos- 
session of Managua. The " army " .consisted of 200 men, 
at the utmost ; but the road was covered with soldiers and 
recruits hastening to join him. We had taken our break- 
fast at Managua the next morning, and were ready to 
proceed, when a man in a dressing-gown and nightcap, 
followed by an officer in uniform, appeared, and subjected 
us to an interrogatory in reference to our journey. We 
