General Whitelock held a council of war that afternoon, all his superior officers being present. The council was held in the dining-room of Mr White's house; on the table in this room lay a map of the city, on which most of the churches and public buildings were clearly marked, but which was full of inaccuracies.
The council had now sat for nearly an hour; the general, seated in an arm-chair at the head of the table, seemed somewhat ruffled at what had passed. On the faces of many of his officers there was an evident gloom; they had not approved of the plan of attack which had been disclosed to them, but their advice had not been asked, they had been merely summoned to have the plan explained to them and to receive instructions. The troops had been under arms all the morning, General Whitelock having at first contemplated making the assault at midday, but the constant fire kept up upon his advanced posts had decided him to postpone it until the next morning; even he saw the danger of advancing in broad daylight down those long, narrow streets.
But on the faces of some younger officers there sat the smile of undoubting confidence, and many a gay jest passed among them at the expense of the runaway Frenchman and his Creole troops, who, after the signal proof of incapacity which they had given two days before, had yet dared to return a defiant answer to a second summons to surrender their city.
At this moment the door opened, and a tall man with stern, sallow features entered the room.
"Excuse me, General," said he in very good English, but with a foreign accent, "I knew not that you were engaged, I will retire."
"By no means, Señor," said General Whitelock. "Come in and sit down, I thought we had left you in Monte Video."
"I landed at Quilmes this morning, and Colonel Mahon informed me where I should find you."
"Craddock," said the general to an aide-de-camp, "a chair for the Señor Evaña."
"Have you heard of the answer I have received from these citizens of Buenos Aires to my summons?" asked the general as Evaña seated himself.
"I have heard that they refuse to surrender," answered Evaña coldly.
"Refuse! Yes, and in terms which would come well from a victorious army, but not from a defeated mob of militia. See there, read for yourself," added the general, handing an open despatch to Evaña.