Chapter 17: Aquidaban River Summary

Franco escapes with the fall of Piribebuy and manages to stay just ahead of the Brazilians for several days. His ragtag army numbers approximately one thousand troops. He drinks heavily, acting impulsively and irrationally. One day, he hands out improvised medals, and the next, he orders random beatings.

Franco drinks himself to impotency, and even Ella cannot arouse him. There is a lightning storm, and she fights to keep their tent upright. Rosaria goes out in the storm to get the children's clothes and is struck by lightening, but she survives. Venancio Lopez, Franco's last surviving brother, dies in a prison cart en route to Curuguaty. Ella is despondent that her aging horse Mathilde is decrepit, nearly a skeleton and covered with sores. She walks with him and strokes his neck.

By the time Franco reaches the Aquidaban River...