Contrary to the habits of Mexican general officers, who, under all circumstances, make a great display of embroidery, and are gilded and plumed like charlatans, his uniform had a simplicity and severity which added to his military appearance, and gave him that aspect of reflection and majesty which is so befitting the chief of an army. A sabre and a pair of holster pistols were carelessly thrown across a map on the table in the centre of the room, over which the General frequently bent in his agitated walk. The gallop of a horse, at first distant, but which rapidly drew nearer, was heard. The sentinel outside the tent challenged, "Who goes there?" The horseman stopped, leapt to the ground, and a moment later the curtain of the tent was thrust aside, and a man appeared. It was Captain Don Juan Melendez. "Here you are, at last!" the General exclaimed, as his countenance grew brighter. But on noticing the impression of sorrow spread over the officer's features, the General, who had walked two steps toward him, stopped, and his face again assumed an anxious look. "Oh, oh!" he said, "What can have happened? Captain, has any mishap occurred to the conducta?" The officer bowed his head. "What is the meaning of this, Caballero?" the General continued, angrily; "Have you suddenly grown dumb?" The Captain made an effort. "No, General," he answered. "The conducta! Where is the conducta?" he went on, violently. "Captured!" Don Juan replied, in a hollow voice. "Viva Dios!" the General shouted, as he gave him a terrible glance, and stamped his foot: "The conducta captured, and yourself alive to bring me the news?" "I could not get myself killed." "I really believe, Heaven pardon me!" the General said, ironically, "that you have not even received a scratch." "It is true." The General walked up and down the tent in the utmost agitation. "And your soldiers, Caballero," he went on, a minute later, stopping before the officer, "I suppose they fled at the first shot?" "My soldiers are dead, General." "What do you say?" "I say, General, that my soldiers fell to the last man defending the trust confided to their honour." "Hum, hum!" the General remarked, "Are they all dead?" "Yes, General, all lie in a bloody grave; I am the only survivor of fifty brave and devoted men." There was a second silence. The General knew the Captain too well to doubt his courage and honour. He began to suspect a mystery. "But I sent you a guide," he at length said. "Yes, General, and it was that guide who led us into the trap laid by the insurgents." "A thousand demons! If the scoundrel----" "He is dead," the Captain interrupted him, "I killed him." "Good. But there is something about the affair I cannot understand." "General," the young man exclaimed, with some animation, "though the conducta is lost, the fight was glorious for the Mexican name. Our honour has not suffered; we were crushed by numbers."