It would have fared ill with the licentiate, in this
emergency, but fortunately a small party of troopers on the other
side, who had watched the chase, now galloped briskly forward to
the rescue, and, beating off his pursuers, they recovered Cepeda
from the mire, and bore him to the president's quarters.
[Footnote 27: Ibid., ubi supra.]
He was received by Gasca with the greatest satisfaction, - so
great, that, according to one chronicler, he did not disdain to
show it by saluting the licentiate on the cheek. *28 The anecdote
is scarcely reconcilable with the characters and relations of the
parties, or with the president's subsequent conduct. Gasca,
however, recognized the full value of his prize, and the effect
which his desertion at such a time must have on the spirits of
the rebels. Cepeda's movement, so unexpected by his own party,
was the result of previous deliberation, as he had secretly given
assurance, it is said, to the prior of Arequipa, then in the
royal camp, that, if Gonzalo Pizarro could not be induced to
accept the pardon offered him, he would renounce his cause. *29
The time selected by the crafty counsellor for doing so was that
most fatal to the interests of his commander.
[Footnote 28: "Gasca abraco, i beso en el carrillo a Cepeda,
aunque lo llevaba encenagado, teniendo por vencido a Picarro, con
su falta." Gomara, Hist. de las Indias, cap. 185.]
[Footnote 29: "Ca, segun parecio, Cepeda le huvo avisado con Fr.
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