At this moment it was no longer a fight but a horrible butchery. The peons, in spite of their entreaties, were seized by the conquerors, stabbed, and hurled through the windows into the courtyard. The guerilleros soon poured through all the buildings, pursuing the wretched peons from room to room, and pitilessly massacring them. They thus reached a large drawing room, whose large folding doors were wide open; but on arriving there they not merely stopped, but recoiled with an instinctive movement of terror before the terrible spectacle that was presented to them. This room was splendidly lit up by a number of candles, placed in all the chandeliers and on the various articles of furniture. In one corner of the room a barricade had been erected by piling up the furniture: behind this barricade, doña Dolores had sought shelter with all the wives and children of the hacienda peons, two paces in front of the barricade, four men were standing erect with a gun in one hand and a pistol in the other. These four men were don Andrés, the count, Dominique and Leo Carral: two barrels of gunpowder with the heads knocked out were placed near them.
"Halt," the count said in a jeering voice, "halt, I request, caballeros; one step further, and we blow up the house. Do not pass the threshold, if you please."
The guerilleros were careful not to disobey this courteous hint, for at the first glance they recognized with whom they had to deal. Don Melchior stamped his foot savagely on seeing himself thus rendered powerless.
"What do you want?" he asked in a strangled voice.
"Nothing of you; we are men of honour, and will not parley with a scoundrel of your stamp."
"You shall be shot like dogs, accursed Frenchmen."
"I defy you to put your threat in execution," said the count, as he coolly cocked the revolver he held in his hand and pointed it at the barrel of gunpowder by his side.
The guerilleros recoiled, uttering shrieks of terror.
"Do not fire, do not fire," they exclaimed; "here is the colonel."
In fact, Cuéllar arrived. Cuéllar is a frightful bandit, this statement will surprise nobody, but we must do him the justice of stating that he possesses unparalleled bravery. He forced his way through his soldiers, and soon found himself standing alone in front of them. He bowed gracefully to the four men, and examined them craftily, and while idly rolling a cigarette.