Meanwhile, Quiroga sped onward more at ease toward Tucuman. Arrived there,
he speedily arranged the matters in dispute, and was entreated by the
governors of that province and of Santiago to accept of an escort on his
return; he was besought to avoid Cordova, to avoid Buenos Ayres; he was
counselled to throw off the mask of subservience, and to rally his
numerous adherents in La Rioja and San Juan;--but remonstrance and advice
were alike thrown away upon him. In vain was the most circumstantial
account of the preparations for his murder sent by friends from Cordova;
he appeared as foolhardy now in February as in December he had been panic-
stricken. "To Cordova!" he shouted, as he entered his _galera_; and for
Cordova the postilions steered.
At the little post-hut of Ojos del Agua, in the State of Cordova, Quiroga,
with his secretary, Ortiz, halted one night on the homeward journey.
Shortly before reaching the place, a young man had mysteriously stopped
the carriage, and had warned its hurrying inmates that at a spot called
Barranca Yaco a _partida_, headed by one Santos Perez, was awaiting the
arrival of Quiroga. There the massacre was to take place. The youth, who
had formerly experienced kindness at the hands of Ortiz, begged him to
avoid the danger. The unhappy secretary was rendered almost insane with
terror, but his master sternly rebuked his fears.
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