He could feel his fingers slipping--slipping. It was
agony. He summoned his last atom of determination, but to no
avail. He gave up finally, and felt himself propelled dizzily
outward into immeasurable voids. His last thought, as he went
whirling end over end through space, was of his sister. She would
never know how hard he had tried to reach her.
XIII
CAPITULATION
Late on the second day after the battle Asensio returned to his
bohio. Rosa and Evangelina, already frantic at the delay, heard
him crying to them while he was still hidden in the woods, and
knew that the worst had happened. There was little need for him to
tell his story, for he was weaponless, stained, and bloody. He had
crossed the hills on foot after a miraculous escape from that
ravine of death. Of his companions he knew nothing whatever; the
mention of Esteban's name caused him to beat his breast and cry
aloud. He was weak and feverish, and his incoherent story of the
midnight encounter was so highly colored that Rosa nearly swooned
with horror.
The girl stood swaying while he told how the night had betrayed
them, how he had wrought incredible feats of valor before the
shifting tide of battle had spewed him out the end of the sunken
road and left him half dead in the grass. Asensio had lain there
until, finding himself growing stronger, he had burrowed into a
tangle of vines at the foot of a wall, where he had remained until
the fighting ceased.
Pages:
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196