"So I marched my men back to the town.
"After a few days, order having been re-established, all the principal
families, including my own, left for Santiago. We had a fine house
there. At the same time the division of Robles was moved to new
cantonments near the capital. This change suited very well the state of
my domestic and amorous feelings.
"One night, rather late, I was called to my chief. I found General
Robles in his quarters, at ease, with his uniform off, drinking neat
brandy out of a tumbler--as a precaution, he used to say, against the
sleeplessness induced by the bites of mosquitoes. He was a good soldier,
and he taught me the art and practice of war. No doubt God has been
merciful to his soul; for his motives were never other than patriotic,
if his character was irascible. As to the use of mosquito nets, he
considered it effeminate, shameful--unworthy of a soldier. I noticed at
the first glance that his face, already very red, wore an expression of
high good-humour.
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