midnight
There was little need for him to tell his story , for he was weaponless , stained , and bloody . He had crossed the hills on foot after a miraculous escape from that ravine of death . Of his companions he knew nothing whatever ; the mention of Esteban 's name caused him to beat his breast and cry aloud . He was weak and feverish , and his incoherent story of the midnight encounter was so highly colored that Rosa nearly swooned with horror . The girl stood swaying while he told how the night had betrayed them , how he had wrought incredible feats of valor before the shifting tide of battle had spewed him out the end of the sunken road and left him half dead in the grass . Asensio had lain there until , finding himself growing stronger , he had burrowed into a tangle of vines at the foot of a wall , where he had remained until the fighting ceased . When the Spaniards had finally discovered their mistake and had ceased riding one another down , when lights came and he heard Colonel Cobo cursing them like one insane , he had wriggled away , crossed the calzada , and hidden in the woods until dawn .