s
trained on the European model is worth ten of the Brazilian product.
The remaining twenty were hillmen, good riders, excellent shots, and
acquainted with every yard of the wild country within a radius of a
hundred miles. They would fight anybody if well led, and here it may
be observed that when Philip called on them to storm the ballroom, he
said, "Come on!"; between which curt command and its congener, "Go on!"
these half-breed warriors drew a fine distinction. The language
difficulty was surmounted partly by an interpreter in the person of one
of the Germans, who spoke English and had lived in Bahia, partly by
signs, and largely by Philip's methods as a leader.

He never asked his men to do anything that he did not do himself, and
they were never dubious as to his tactics, since he invariably closed
with any Nationalist detachment met during the day's operations.

About mid-day, then, they came upon the advance guard of a column sent
off a week earlier by the expert at Pesqueira with instructions to
arrive at Las Flores before sunset that very day. Instantly the
twenty-nine charged; with equal celerity the advance guard bolted.
From the crest of a rocky pass Philip looked down on a column of fully
a thousand men. The situation was critical. It called for prompt
handling. Five men held the horses; twenty-three spread themselves
among the rocks; Philip unslung his carbine; and twenty-four rifles
indulged in long-range practice on a narrow mountain path crowded with
men and animals.

Nothing more was needed. It has been noted already that the Brazilians
disliked long-range shooting. There was a stampede. The scouts
occupied the ridge until sundown, and were returning leisurely to
report the presence of the column, when they fell in with the first
batch of fugitives from the valley. Forthwith, Philip became a general
and each scout an officer. They reasoned and whacked the runaways into
obedience, picked up quite a number of men who were willing enough to
fight if told what was expected of them--and the rest was a matter of
simple strategy such as Macaulay's schoolboy would exhibit in the
escalade of a snow fort. But it was a near thing. Five minutes later,
and Hozier might have seized the presidency himself.

And now, as to the night, and the next day.

Russo and his diminished staff took Philip's little army as a nucleus.
Brazil had duly elected Dom Corria, as provided by the statute, and the
news