Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1856-12-04


which strew the way, i, Is only to curse them
= for having neither boots nor clothes which he
: can carry away with him But on entering
Il deserted aud haIi.burnt town, one is always
seized with lcclIng of gloon aud terror
Ine absence Of all liie-the utter solitude
amidst the streets of IA city and lis multitude
of buildings, Is strange aud solemn! The
) wontcd silence Of the tomb IS less dismal than
the echo of the horses hoots along the de-
e serted strcct-amid this unnatural solitude
prefer the groans of the wounded on the field
OF battle why? Were poet | could
, tell the reason!
entered by chance into a house, which
supposed to be uninhabied like the rest
High aud low, not II piece Of furniture left
Ihe French had bvouacked in tle hall, if
, might judge from some inscriptions in char
coal on the walls, and by painting Of the
Virgin, with black mustache and pipe in her
mouth. On penetrating into room on the
ground floor, which doubt css served for IL
kitchen, as it had IA chimney. the only thing
which indicates Il kitchen in Spain, what was
my surprise to fad two old men, aud boy
about twelve years of age, covering over the
fire AT tho sound OF my sabre trailing
along tho icdnoor, the boy crossed himself
as If he had seen the devil, aud ran to conceal
himself behind large oakcn armchair, lust
beneath IL picture Of the Madonna.
One OF the men looked sernly at me,
and, without rising or even taking of his hat,
said:
Sir Officer, my name is Antonio Nunez
This Is my brulhrr the old Acaid OF the town.
Too old and too nIirm to follow his fellow
citizens, he has preferred TO perish here III his
own house have remained to take care oi
hun, and this boy to wait upon us
Why did not the other inhabitants of the
town remain lIkcwIso;
L know not-lhey love the mountains
when the nights are fair Aud smile
frightened the Iank and yellow countenance
OF the sick man.
Al this moment loud noise called me INTO
the street, aud bcheld in the public square,
surrounded by n group Of soIdIeI- IA capuchIl
tIlar on horseback, swearing III good French,
and dHmuing Spain and Spaniars IN terms
anything but Catholic. The IN INKS hood
disguised an ud-Lc-camp OF General VI haud.
| conducted him to the Colonel, whom we
found iAs. asleep on pallet Of straw. After
a few Questions 10 the alddecamp:
The devIl take the devil, cried he. they
want us towards PaIuncla. To horse! RAJ
patere will remain here with twenty y-hvr men
to protect the cata!ettes
Rapaticr shrugged hi, shoulders; lie was
the old quartermaster, and had strong dis
like to burnt citles.
Land Of wo!' repeated he, curling his
grey mu>tache; there is not even water here
to drnk. Aud he pointed to the dry and
sandy bed oi tue PlsneSra, whose water he
SAID had hsen sold to pay for the bridge. |
showed him the house OF the aIcald und has
tened to JOIN my regiment, which was already
gaIloping Oh towards PaIencia; and, guided
by the SQUAD of tae cannonrdc, wa moved
on with greater speed than we Ind done Tia,
night before. under the sharp. shooting OF the
sucTilas.
We arrived, however, too late; the affair
wh- no"Iiy over. Towards the lett, three
regiments Of Spanish infantry, formed into
squares, still held out. Fine troops were
lhcy-nt IL distance they might have been
taken tor our veteran guard, thought the
onset would be bloody. AT length they were
driven back; we followed with dreadful havoc
to the extremity of the plain. Tncre walI
four feet high, with deep ravinc behind 1t,
offered ii barrier to the purSners, and shelter
to the pursued. They all disappeared, and
left Us astonlshed at our victory.
One occurrence, however, amply redeemed
III my opInion the tarnIshed glory OF Spaln,
A young drummer, who could not run So fast
as the rest, iindIng Us close upon him with
our sabIcs, stopped, and in order to save his
life, swung his hat IN the air. aud shouted,
Fira Napoleon" At this, an officer OF the
regiment "i Cordova, cnnsee him now who
was already aStrdc OF tie wall aud ou, Of
danger. sprang back into tue field, aud pass
ng his sword through the drummers body,
shouted muera al Hadorn (dcalh to the
trato'r) and was Instantly cut to pieces by
our saUreS.
Such is the character of this people; at
times whole regiment would behave IN like
manner. We had soon af er another oppor-
tunIly of witnessing the moral courage and
coGtcmpt for death winch Spauiurd can cx-
hblt, when acting alone and for himself.
When we returned to Torqucmada, Rnpa-
ticrc was no longer there. The Colonel,
.upposlng he had gone with his twenty five
drag ICONS, to escort some convoy, retired to
bed. | went into the chamber of the old
Alcald
Where ure our dragoons;'
Far away, all trgcther,' replied Nunez,
with IN emphatic tone. And then, as If 10
avoid all further questions, he has,cncd to
pass the usual Spanish complimcnt:-' The
whole house is at your disposal but there
Is nothing in IT,.
Luckily, French soldiers are endowed with
a marvellous instinct tor finding something in
houses where there is nothing. They had
already spread like swarm0 OF ants into every
corner Of the town, expiring cellars and
garrets, and ierretlng out the most sccre,
hooks. From the kitchen where | was,
could see them in the garden, marching round
and round, aud sounding the earth with the
rods of their carbincs. Suddenly one of
them paused noar tho window, in cornor