about nine o'clock in the morning
I am not stern enough . But fancy '' -- and here she went all over her calculations again , winding up with the assertion that we were a set of common thieves and rogues . By degrees , however , her manner changed : the ill-humour wore off , and she became quite a Patriot , saying she would willingly lose her mules if the Royalists were hunted down . However , about nine o'clock in the morning I left the good lady to pour her grievances into more sympathetic ears , being ordered to push on with a small detachment of cavalry , guided by Castro . José was lucky enough to stay with the main body . Captain Plaza was in command of our party , and he rode with the guide and me . Our course to Ica , the first village on our route , lay over a burning desert of very loose sand , dotted at great intervals by clumps of stunted palms .