And with that Carmen slipped from his horse and picked up the lance of the fallen guerilla.

“Do you prefer a spear to a sword?” I asked, as we rode on.

“I like both, but in a charge on the llanos I prefer a spear decidedly.  Yet I dare say you will do better with the weapon to which you have been most accustomed.  If you ward off or evade the first thrust and get to your opponent’s left rear you will have him at your mercy.  Our llaneros are indifferent swordsmen; but once turn your back and you are doomed.  Hurrah!  There is Mejia, leading his fellows on.  Don’t you see him?  The tall man on the big horse.  Forward, senors!  We may be in time for the encounter even yet.”

CHAPTER XIV.

CAUGHT.

A smart gallop of a few minutes brought us near enough to see what was going on, though as we had to make a considerable detour in order to avoid the Spaniards, we were just too late for the charge, greatly to Carmen’s disappointment.

In numbers the two sides were pretty equal, the strength of each being about a thousand men.  Their tactics were rather those of Indian braves than regular troops.  The patriots were, however, both better led and better disciplined than their opponents, and fought with a courage and a resolution that on their native plains would have made them formidable foes for the “crackest” of European cavalry.

The encounter took place when we were within a few hundred yards of Mejia’s left flank.  It was really a charge in line, albeit a very broken line, every man riding as hard as he could and fighting for his own land.  All were armed with spears, the longest, as I afterward learned, being wielded by Colombian gauchos.  These portentous weapons, fully fourteen feet long, were held in both hands, the reins being meanwhile placed on the knees, and the horses guided by voice and spur.  The Spaniards seemed terribly afraid of them, as well they might be, for the Colombian spears did dire execution.  Few missed their mark, and I saw more than one trooper literally spitted and lifted clean out of his saddle.

Mejia, distinguishable by his tall stature, was in the thick of the fray.  After the first shock he threw away his spear, and drawing a long two-handed sword, which he carried at his back, laid about like a coeur-de-lion.  The combat lasted only a few minutes, and though we were too late to contribute to the victory we were in time to take part in the pursuit.

It was a scene of wild confusion and excitement; the Spaniards galloping off in all directions, singly and in groups, making no attempt to rally, yet when overtaken, fighting to the last, Mejia’s men following them with lowered lances and wild cries, managing their fiery little horses with consummate ease, and making no prisoners.