In the midst of this perplexity intelligence was received of a
disagreement between the governments of Salta, Tucuman, and Santiago,
provinces of the interior, which threatened to expand into warlike
proceedings. Rosas sent for Quiroga. No one but the hero of La Rioja, he
insinuated, had sufficient influence to bring about a settlement of these
disputes; no one but he had power to prevent a war; would he not,
therefore, hasten to Tucuman, and obviate so dire a calamity? Quiroga
hesitated, refused, consented, wavered, and again declined the task. With
a vacillation to which he had hitherto been a stranger, he remained for
many days undecided; a suspicion of deceit appears to have presented
itself to his mind; but at length he resolved to accept the commission.
His hesitation, meanwhile, had completed his ruin; it had given time for
the maturing of deadly plans.
In midsummer, 1835, (December 18th,) the Gaucho chieftain commenced his
fateful journey. As he entered the carriage which was to be his home for
many days, and bade farewell to the adherents who were assembled to
witness his departure, he turned toward the city with a wild expression
and words that were remembered afterwards. _Si salgo bien_, he said, _te
volevre a ver; si no, adios para siempre!_ "If I succeed, I shall see thee
again; if not, farewell forever!" Was it a presentiment of the truth which
came upon him, like that which clouded the great mind of the first
Napoleon as he left the Tuileries when the Hundred Days were running out?
One hour before his departure, a mounted messenger had been dispatched
from Buenos Ayres in the same direction as that he was about to follow;
and the city was scarcely out of sight when Quiroga manifested the most
feverish anxiety to overtake this man.
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