ad of letting us surprise him he would surprise us."

"_Caramba!_ So he would. And Griscelli is an enterprising general. We must
mention this to Mejia when we get back, _amigo mio_."

"You may, if you like. I am tired of giving advice which is never heeded,"
I said, rather bitterly.

"I will, certainly, and then whatever befalls I shall have a clear
conscience. Mejia is one of the bravest men I know. It is a pity he is so
self-opinionated."

"Yes, and to make a general a man must have something more than bravery.
He must have brains."

Carmen knew the country we were in thoroughly, and at his suggestion we
went a roundabout way through the woods in order to avoid coming in
contact with any of Griscelli's people. On reaching a hill overlooking San
Felipe we tethered our horses in a grove of trees where they were well
hidden, and completed the ascent on foot. Then, lying down, and using a
field-glass lent us by Mejia, we made a careful survey of the place and
its surroundings.

San Felipe, a picturesque village of white houses with thatched roofs, lay
in a wide well-cultivated valley, looking south, and watered by a shallow
stream which in the rainy season was probably a wide river. At each corner
of the village, well away from the houses, was a large block-house, no
doubt pierced for musketry. From one block-house to another ran an earthen
parapet with a ditch, and on each parapet were mounted three guns.

"Well, what think you of San Felipe, and our chances of taking it?" asked
Carmen, after a while.

"I don't think its defences are very formidable. A single mortar on that
height to the east would make the place untenable in an hour; set it on
fire in a dozen places. It is all wood. But to attempt its capture with a
force of infantry numerically inferior to the garrison will be a very
hazardous enterprise indeed, and barring miraculously good luck on the one
side or miraculously ill luck on the other cannot possibly succeed, I
should say. No, Carmen, I don't think we shall be in San Felipe to-morrow
night, or any night, just yet."

"But how if a part of the garrison be absent? Hist! Did not you hear
something?"

"Only the crackling of a branch. Some wild animal, probably. I wonder
whether there are any jaguars hereabout--"

"Oh, if the garrison be weak and the sentries sleep it is quite possible
we may take the place by a rush. But, on the other hand, it is equally
possible that Griscelli may have got wind