They were riding their horses slowly, as though they deplored this retreat.

They kept looking behind, carbine in hand, ready to halt and shoot.

The others who had been occupying the barricade were already on their mounts.

The division reformed, the commands of the officers were heard and a quick trot, accompanied by the clanking of metal, told Don Marcelo that the last of the army had left.
He remained near the barricade in a solitude of intense silence, as though the world were suddenly depopulated.

Two dogs, abandoned by the flight of their masters, leaped and sniffed around him, coaxing him for protection.