Mejia is one of the bravest men I know.

It is a pity he is so self-opinionated." "Yes, and to make a general a man must have something more than bravery.
He must have brains." Carmen knew the country we were in thoroughly, and at his suggestion we went a roundabout way through the woods in order to avoid coming in contact with any of Griscelli's people.

On reaching a hill overlooking San Felipe we tethered our horses in a grove of trees where they were well hidden, and completed the ascent on foot.

Then, lying down, and using a field-glass lent us by Mejia, we made a careful survey of the place and its surroundings.
San Felipe, a picturesque village of white houses with thatched roofs, lay in a wide well-cultivated valley, looking south, and watered by a shallow stream which in the rainy season was probably a wide river.

At each corner of the village, well away from the houses, was a large block-house, no doubt pierced for musketry.