life was sublime, and elevated above the habit of vulgar dogs.  He allowed no man to think himself his master, or attach him individually by liberal feeding or kind treatment, but quartered indiscriminately amongst the foot, sometimes with one company, sometimes with another,—­taking food from whoever gave it, but showing little gratitude, and despising caresses or attempts at familiarity.  He seemed, indeed, to consider himself one amongst the rest,—­one and somewhat, as they say; and his sole apparent tie with his human friends seemed to be the delight which he took in seeing them kill or killed.  With this penchant, it was said, he never missed a battle, and went out with every detachment that left the camp to see that none should escape him unaware.—­But enough of him,—­strange dog, or devil.

The withdrawal from Obraja was opposed, so rumor said, by Henningsen and other officers; and it certainly had a most depressing effect upon the men, whilst it elated the enemy correspondingly, giving them a degree of confidence which they had never attained to before.  It was agreed on all hands, by all critics whom I heard, that, having once begun this attempt, General Walker should have carried it through successfully, even if it required his whole force.  However, as only part of the enemy’s force was on land, the other part being supposed to be still aboard the steamers or on the island, General Walker possibly feared an attack on Rivas, should he send out a very large detachment,—­remembering, too vividly, a former blunder, when he left Granada with all his army to attack the enemy at Masaya, and the enemy, making a detour, came upon his camp in Granada, and destroyed baggage, ammunition, and all it contained.

The next day the foot lay quiet in Rivas, and had rest.  The rangers, however, were in the saddle almost continuously, and, what with foraging, broken sleep, and expeditions by day and night, those of us who had garrisoned Virgin Bay were become worried nearly past grumbling.  On this day our own company rode out to Obraja, to visit the enemy’s picket again, and afterwards to San Jorge on the lake, to guard the transportation of a row-boat thence to Rivas.  The boat was one of those borrowed from the vessels in San Juan harbor for the purpose of retaking the steamers, and had been rowed up to San Jorge, and was now removed to Rivas, to prevent its seizure by the enemy,—­the garrison at Virgin Bay having burnt the brig, and marched to Rivas, when the enemy first appeared on land at Obraja.  So that the whole American force (except the crew of the little schooner in which General Walker and his fifty original followers first came to Nicaragua, and which was lying at this time in San Juan harbor) was now concentrated at Rivas; the enemy being eight or nine miles behind them at Obraja, or on the lake with the two steamers.  As we rode through the town of San Jorge, the place seemed almost deserted, and I remember lingering with others to haversack some bunches of yellow plantains which hung in an empty house on the plaza.  The delay may have come near being fatal to us, for we heard afterwards that we had been gone but a little while, when a troop of the enemy’s horse rode into the place, reconnoitred, and returned in the direction in which they came.  Their reconnoissance in San Jorge was explained soon afterwards.