n Paez returned home after his
outing, he was told that armed men had visited the house and taken away
his sword and pistols.

Incensed by this act of ill-faith, he boldly sought the governor's house
and angrily charged him with breaking his word. He had come to Barinas, he
said, trusting in the offer of amnesty, and vigorously demanded that his
arms should be restored--not for use against the Spaniards, but for his
personal security. His tone was so firm and indignant, and his request so
reasonable under the circumstances, that the governor repented of his
questionable act, and gave orders that the arms should be returned.

On hearing this, the whole garrison of Barinas assailed the governor with
reproaches, impetuously demanding that the guerilla chief should be
arrested and confined in irons. The versatile governor again gave way, and
that night the Paez mansion was entered and he taken from his bed, put in
irons, and locked up in prison. It was no more than he might have
expected, if he had known as much of the Spanish character then as he was
afterwards to learn.

But Paez was not an easy captive to hold. In the prison he found about one
hundred and fifty of his fellow rebels, among them his friend Garcia, an
officer noted for strength and courage. On Garcia complaining to him of
the weight of his irons and the miserable condition of the prisoners, Paez
accused him of cowardice, and offered to exchange fetters with him. To
keep his word he broke his own chains by main strength and handed them to
his astonished friend.

Paez now spoke to the other prisoners and won their consent to a concerted
break for liberty. Freed from his own fetters, he was able to give
efficient service to the others, and before morning nearly the whole of
them were free. When the jailor opened the door in the morning he was
promptly knocked down by Paez and threatened with instant death if he made
a sound. Breaking into the guard-room, they seized the arms of the guard,
set free those whose irons were not yet broken, and marched from the
prison, with Paez at their head, upon the Spanish garrison, two hundred in
number. Many of these were killed and the rest put to rout, and Barinas
was once more in patriot hands.

This anecdote will serve to show, better than pages of description, the
kind of man that Paez was. When the act became known to the llaneros they
proclaimed Paez their general, and were ready to follow him to the death.
These