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182 terror,—it was his talisman, his palladium. He would sacrifice everything rather than this weapon. On arriving at the city, he presented himself at the court of Rosas; there he happened to meet General Guido, the most courteous and ceremonious of the generals who have made their way in the world by compliments in the antechamber; he offered one of his very best to Quiroga, who replied surlily, "Am I a dog, for you to laugh at? You people here sent a nice set of doctors (Cavia and Cernadas) to get me into trouble with General Paz. Paz beat me according to rule." He often regretted not having listened to the proposals of Major Pawnero.

Facundo soon merged in the crowd of the great city, and was only occasionally heard of at the gaming-table. General Mancilla once threatened to throw a candlestick at his head, saying, "Do you think you are still in the provinces?" His gaucho dress at first attracted much attention—the poncho, and the long beard which he had sworn never to cut until he had wiped out the disgrace of the defeat at Tablada; but after a little while he was scarcely noticed.

A great expedition against Cordova was then in preparation, and six thousand men from Buenos Ayres and Santa Fé had enlisted for the enterprise. Lopez was the commander-in-chief, with Balcarce, Enrique Martinez, and other officers under him. Facundo undertook a desperate attack upon Rioja or Mendoza. He received for the purpose two hundred criminals from the prisons, collecting in addition sixty men in the city, and with this company began his march.

At Pavon, Rosas was collecting his red cavalry;