Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/696

680 done your duty," exclaimed the exasperated general to his officers, "the men would have done theirs, and Guanajuato would have been ours." He thereupon dismissed them with a censure to their respective districts, on guerrilla duty, and rode away with about a hundred followers.

He required rest and consultation before deciding on future movements, and withdrew to the rancho del Venadito, belonging to a devoted revolutionist and friend named Maríano Herrera, Pursuers were believed to be far away, and so Mina for once, after a long interval, abandoned himself to repose within the house, instead of staying as usual with his men. It so happened that this very day the watchful Orrantia came by accident to Silao, twenty miles off, seeking for traces of the general, and there received the desired information. Tired as he was, Orrantia pushed onward during the night, and with the first streaks of light on the morning of October 27th he rushed upon the farm. The startled sentries gave one shout of alarm and turned in flight, and the rest hurried after them as best they could, many being overtaken and killed, including Moreno, lately commandant of Sombrero. The noise roused Mina, who rushed out half