ive begged the chief for his
life, promising to leave Chili with all his Spaniards. Seeing Lantaro, his
late page, he asked him to intercede with the chief, and this the generous
boy did. But the Araucanians had little faith in Spanish promises, and an
old warrior who stood near ended the matter by raising his war-club and
dashing out the captive's brains. Thus tragically ended the career of one
of the least cruel of the Spanish conquerors. He paid the penalty of his
disdain of Indian courage.

Lantaro, the boy hero, had the blood of chiefs in his veins, and was
endowed by nature with beauty of person, nobleness of character, and
intrepidity of soul. His people honored him highly in the festival with
which they celebrated their victory, and Caupolican appointed him his
special lieutenant, raising him to a rank in the army nearly equal to his
own.

There was fighting still to be done. The leader of the Spaniards was dead,
but he had left many behind him, and there were still strongholds in the
Indian country held by Spanish arms. On hearing of the terrible disaster
to their cause, the Spaniards hastily evacuated their forts beyond the
Biobio and retired to the towns of Imperial and Valdivia. Here they were
besieged by Caupolican, while Lantaro was given the difficult task of
defending the border-land about the frontier stream. The youthful general
at once fortified himself on the steep mount of Mariguenu, a fort made
very strong by nature.

Meanwhile, the two Indians who had escaped from Tucapel brought the news
of the disaster to Concepcion, filling the minds of the people with
terror. The tidings of an attack on a party of fourteen horsemen, of whom
seven were slain, added to the dismay. The fact that they were now dealing
with a foe to whom artillery and cavalry had lost their terrors was not
reassuring to the invaders of the land. Evidently their position was
hazardous; they must fight to win or retreat.

Villagrau, who was chosen to succeed Valdivia, decided to fight. With a
small army of Spaniards and a strong body of Indians he crossed the Biobio
and marched upon Lantaro and his men, ascending Mount Mariguenu to attack
the stronghold on its top.

Boy as Lantaro was, he showed the skill of an old soldier in dealing with
his well-armed foe. While the Spaniards were toiling up a narrow pass of
the mountain a strong force of Araucanians fell upon them, and for three
hours gave them as sharp a fight as they had ye