At the Point of the Sword

A youth born near Lima recounts his coming-of-age through perilous seafaring and inland adventures beginning just before his fourteenth birthday. A voyage on the schooner the Aguila becomes a desperate struggle for survival marked by thirst, fever, and a storm that alters the crew's fate. Rescues, captures, and escapes lead to a hidden valley and to a recurring mystery surrounding a silver key. The narrative then follows hazardous journeys, divided loyalties, cavalry actions and a disastrous retreat, culminating in a decisive engagement between rival commanders and the protagonist's eventual return home.