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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Pirates of the Prairies, by Gustave Aimard
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
+
+
+Title: The Pirates of the Prairies
+       Adventures in the American Desert
+
+Author: Gustave Aimard
+
+Translator: Lascelles Wraxall
+
+Release Date: February 17, 2013 [EBook #42117]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PIRATES OF THE PRAIRIES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Camilo Bernard and Marc D'Hooghe at
+http://www.freeliterature.org (Scans at the Internet
+Archive-by Google)
+
+
+
+
+
+THE PIRATES OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+ADVENTURES IN THE AMERICAN DESERT,
+
+BY
+
+GUSTAVE AIMARD
+
+
+AUTHOR OF "THE TRAIL HUNTER," "THE TIGER SLAYER," "THE INDIAN CHIEF," ETC.
+
+
+LONDON
+
+WARD AND LOCK
+
+158, FLEET STREET
+
+
+MDCCCLXII
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+The present is the second of the series of Indian tales, commencing with
+the "Trail-Hunter," and which will be completed in one more volume,
+entitled the "Trapper's Daughter." It must be understood, however, that
+each of these volumes is complete in itself, although the characters
+already introduced to the reader are brought on the stage again, and
+continue their surprising adventures through succeeding works. For this,
+Gustave Aimard can quote the example of his predecessor, Fenimore
+Cooper, whose "Deer Slayer," appears in a long succession of volumes,
+not necessarily connected, but which all repay perusal. I believe that
+few who have commenced with one volume of Cooper's Indian tales, but
+have been anxious to follow the hero through the remainder of his
+adventures; and I sincerely trust that a perusal of the "Pirates of the
+Prairies" may lead to a demand for the other volumes by the same author,
+which have already appeared, and for those which have still to follow.
+
+                                                    LASCELLES WRAXALL.
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+         I. The Cache
+        II. The Ambuscade
+       III. An Old Acquaintance of the Reader
+        IV. Red Cedar at Bay
+         V. The Grotto
+        VI. The Proposition
+       VII. Ellen and Dona Clara
+      VIII. The Flight
+        IX. The Teocali
+         X. The White Gazelle
+        XI. The Apaches
+       XII. Black Cat
+      XIII. The Great Medicine
+       XIV. The Succour
+        XV. On the Island
+       XVI. Sunbeam
+      XVII. Indian Hospitality
+     XVIII. Love!
+       XIX. The Dance of the Old Dogs
+        XX. A Hand-to-Hand Fight
+       XXI. The Avenger
+      XXII. Explanatory
+     XXIII. Apaches and Comanches
+      XXIV. The Scalp-Dance
+       XXV. The Torture
+      XXVI. Two Women's Hearts
+     XXVII. Shaw
+    XXVIII. The Departure
+      XXIX. The Ambuscade
+       XXX. The Pirate's Confession
+      XXXI. The Rivals
+     XXXII. Fray Ambrosio
+    XXXIII. The Trail
+     XXXIV. The Hunt
+      XXXV. The Combat
+     XXXVI. The Earthquake
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE CACHE.
+
+
+Two months have elapsed since we left the Trail-Hunter commencing his
+adventurous journey, and we are in the heart of the desert. Before us
+immensity is unfolded. What pen, however eloquent, would venture to
+describe those illimitable oceans of verdure to which the North
+Americans have in their imagery, given the poetic and mysterious name of
+the Far West? That is to say, the truly unknown region, with its scenes
+at once grand and striking, soft and terrible; unbounded prairies in
+which may be found that rich and luxuriant Flora, against whose magic
+growth only the Indian can successfully struggle.
+
+These plains, at the first glance, offer the dazzled eye of the rash
+traveller who ventures on them a vast carpet of verdure embossed with
+flowers, furrowed by large streams; and they appear of a desperate
+regularity, mingling in the horizon with the azure of the sky.
+
+It is only by degrees, when the sight grows accustomed to the picture,
+that, gradually mastering the details, the visitor notices here and
+there rather lofty hills, the escarped sides of the water courses, and a
+thousand unexpected accidents which agreeably break that monotony by
+which the eye is at first saddened, and which the lofty grass and the
+giant productions of the Flora completely conceal.
+
+How can we enumerate the products of this primitive nature, which form
+an inextricable confusion and interlacement, describing majestic curves,
+producing grand arcades, and offering, in a word, the most splendid and
+sublime spectacle it was ever given to man to admire through its eternal
+contrasts and striking harmony?
+
+Above the gigantic ferns, the _mezquite_, the cactuses, nopales,
+larches, and fruit-laden arbutuses, rise the mahogany tree with its
+oblong leaves, the _moriche_, or pine tree, the _abanijo_, whose wide
+leaves are shaped like a fan, the _pirijao_, from which hang enormous
+clusters of golden fruit, the royal palm whose stem is denuded of
+foliage, and balances its majestic and tufted head at the slightest
+breath; the Indian cane, the lemon tree, the guava, the plantain, the
+_chinciroya_, or intoxicating fruit, the oak, the pine tree, and the wax
+palm, distilling its resinous gum.
+
+Then, there are immense fields of dahlias, flowers whiter than the snows
+of the Caffre de Perote or the Chimborazo, or redder than blood, immense
+lianas twining and circling round the stems of trees and vines
+overflowing with sap; and in the midst of this inextricable chaos fly,
+run, and crawl, in every direction, animals of all sorts and sizes,
+birds, quadrupeds, reptiles, amphibious, singing, crying, howling and
+roaring with every note of the human gamut, some mocking and menacing,
+others soft and melancholy.
+
+The stags and deer bounding timidly along, with ear erect and eye on the
+watch, the bighorn leaping from rock to rock, and then resting
+motionless on the verge of a precipice, the heavy and stupid buffaloes
+with their sad eyes; the wild horses, whose numerous _manadas_ make the
+earth re-echo in their purposeless chase; the alligator, with its body
+in the mud, and sleeping in the sun; the hideous _iguana_ carelessly
+climbing up a tree; the puma, that maneless lion; the panther and jaguar
+cunningly watch their prey as it passes; the brown bear, that gluttonous
+honey-hunter; the grizzly, the most formidable denizen of these
+countries; the _cotejo_, with its venomous bite; the chameleon, whose
+skin reflects every hue; the green lizard, and the basilisk crawling
+silent and sinister beneath the leaves; the monstrous boa, the coral
+snake, so small and yet so terrible; the _cascabel_, the _macaurel_, and
+the great striped serpent.
+
+The feathered flock sing and twitter on the branches, hidden beneath the
+dense foliage; the tanagers, the curassos, the chattering _lloros_, the
+_haras_, the flycatcher, the toucans, with their enormous beaks, the
+pigeons, the _trogons_, the elegant rose flamingos, the swans balancing
+and sporting in the streams, and the light and graceful gray squirrels
+leaping with unimaginable speed from creeper to creeper, from shrub to
+shrub.
+
+In the highest regions of air, hovering in long circles over the
+prairie, the eagle of the Sierra Madre, with wide-spread wings, and the
+bald-headed vulture, select the prey on which they dart with the
+rapidity of lightning.
+
+Then, suddenly, crushing under his horse's hoofs the sand and
+gold-studded pebbles sparkling in the sun, appears, as if by
+enchantment, an Indian, with his red skin glistening like new copper,
+robust limbs, gestures stamped with majesty and grace, and a commanding
+eye; a Navajo, Pawnee, Comanche, Apache or Sioux, who, whirling his
+lasso or _lakki_ round his head, drives before him a herd of startled
+buffaloes or wild horses, or else a panther, ounce, or jaguar, that fly
+his presence with hoarse roars of rage and terror.
+
+This child of the desert, so grand, so noble, and so disdainful of
+peril, who crosses the prairies with incredible speed, and knows its
+thousand turnings, is truly the king of this strange country, which he
+alone can traverse night and day, and whose countless dangers he does
+not fear. He struggles inch by inch with that European civilisation
+which is slowly advancing, driving him into his last intrenchments and
+invading his lands on all sides.
+
+Hence, woe to the trapper or hunter who ventures to traverse these
+prairies alone! His bones will bleach on the plain, and his scalp adorn
+the shield of an Indian chief, or the mane of his horse.
+
+Such is the sublime, striking, and terrible spectacle the Far West
+offers even at the present day.
+
+The day on which we resume our story, at the moment when the sun
+attained its zenith, the mournful silence brooding over the desert was
+suddenly troubled by a slight sound, which was heard in the tufted
+clumps that border the Rio Gila, in one of the most unknown districts of
+this solitude.
+
+The branches were cautiously parted, and amid the leaves and creepers a
+man displayed his face dripping with perspiration, and marked with an
+expression of terror and despair.
+
+This man, after looking around him anxiously, and assuring himself that
+no one was on the watch, slowly disengaged his body from the grass and
+shrubs that conceal it, walked a few steps in the direction of the
+river, and fell to the ground, uttering a profound sigh.
+
+Almost simultaneously an enormous mastiff, with a cross of the wolf and
+Newfoundland, bounded from the shrubs and lay down at his feet.
+
+The man who appeared so unexpectedly on the banks of the Rio Gila was
+Red Cedar.[1]
+
+His position appeared most critical, for he was alone in the desert,
+without weapons or provisions. We say without weapons, for the long
+knife passed through his deerskin girdle was almost useless to him.
+In the Far West, that infinite ocean of verdure, an unarmed man is a
+dead man!
+
+The struggle becomes impossible for him with the numberless enemies who
+watch his passing, and only await a favourable moment to catch him. Red
+Cedar was deprived of those inestimable riches of the hunter, a rifle
+and a horse. Moreover he was alone!
+
+Man, so long as he can see his fellow, even though that fellow be an
+enemy, does not believe himself abandoned. In his heart there remains a
+vague hope for which he cannot account, but which sustains and endows
+him with courage.
+
+But, so soon as every human form has disappeared, and man, an
+imperceptible grain of dust in the desert, finds himself face to face
+with God, he trembles, for the feeling of his weakness is then revealed
+to him; he comprehends how insignificant he is before these colossal
+works of nature, and how insensate is the struggle he must carry on, in
+order to raise only a corner of the winding sheet of sand gradually
+settling down on him, and which assails him from all sides at once.
+
+Red Cedar was an old wood ranger. Many times, during his excursions in
+the prairies, he had found himself in almost desperate situations, and
+he had always got out of them by his boldness, patience, and above all,
+his firm will.
+
+Still, he had never before been so denuded of everything as he was at
+this moment.
+
+Still, he must make up his mind to something. He arose, stifling an
+oath, and whistling to his dog, the only being that remained faithful in
+his misfortunes, he set out, not even taking the trouble to find out his
+direction. In fact, what need had he to choose one? Were not all good
+for him, and would they not all lead within a given period to the same
+end--death?
+
+He walked on thus for several hours with drooping head, seeing the
+bighorns and asshatas bounding round, as if mocking him. The buffaloes
+scarce deigned to raise their heads as he passed, and looked at him with
+their large melancholy eyes, as if comprehending that their implacable
+foe was disarmed, and they had nothing to fear from him. The elks,
+balanced on the points of the rocks, leaped and sported round him, while
+his dog, who did not at all comprehend this very novel affair, looked at
+its master, and seemed to ask him what it all meant.
+
+The day passed thus, without producing the least change for the better
+in the squatter's position; but, on the contrary, aggravating it. At
+nightfall he fell on the sand, exhausted by fatigue and hunger. The sun
+had disappeared, and the darkness was already invading the prairie. The
+howling of the wild beasts could be heard as they emerged from their
+lair to quench their thirst and go in search of food. The disarmed
+squatter could not light a fire to keep them at bay.
+
+He looked around him; a last instinct of preservation, perhaps, or the
+final gleam of hope, that divine spark which is never extinguished in
+the heart of the most unfortunate man, urged him to seek a shelter. He
+climbed up a tree, and after tying himself securely, through fear of a
+fall, if, as was very improbable, he fell asleep, he closed his eyes and
+sought slumber, in order to cheat for a few moments, at any rate, that
+hunger which devoured him, and forget his deplorable position.
+
+But sleep does not thus visit the unfortunate, and obstinately refused
+to come, when most earnestly invoked. No one, who has not experienced
+it, can imagine the horror of a sleepless night in the desert! The
+darkness is peopled with mournful spectres, the wild beasts roar, the
+serpents twine round the trees, and at times clasp in their cold and
+viscous coils the wretched man half-dead with terror.
+
+No one can say of how many centuries a minute is composed in this
+terrible situation, or the length of this nightmare, during which the
+sickly mind creates the most monstrous lucubrations. Especially when the
+stomach is empty, and, through that very circumstance, the brain is more
+easily invaded by delirium.
+
+At sunrise the squatter breathed a sigh of relief. And yet, of what
+consequence to him was the appearance of light, for it was only the
+beginning of a day of intolerable suffering and frightful torture? But,
+at any rate, he could see, he could notice, what went on around him; the
+sun warmed and restored him some slight strength. He came down from the
+tree in which he had passed the night, and continued his journey.
+
+Why did he go on? He did not know himself; still, he walked as if he had
+a point to reach, although he was perfectly well aware he had no help to
+expect from anyone, and that, on the contrary, the first face he
+perceived would be that of an enemy.
+
+But the man whose mind is powerfully constituted is so. He never gives
+up; he struggles to the last moment, and if he cannot trust to
+Providence, he hopes in accident, without daring to confess it to
+himself.
+
+It would be impossible for us to explain the thoughts that crossed the
+squatter's brain while, with uncertain step he crossed silently and
+sadly the vast solitudes of the prairie.
+
+Toward midday, the heat became so intense, that, overcome by so much
+moral and physical suffering, he sank exhausted at the foot of a tree.
+He remained for a long time extended on the ground; but, at length,
+impelled by want, he rose with an effort, and sought for roots and herbs
+which might lull the hunger that gnawed his vitals. His search was long
+in vain, but at last he found a species of _yucca_, a pasty root
+somewhat like manioc, which he devoured with delight. He laid in a stock
+of this root, which he shared with his dog, and, after a deep draught
+from the stream, he prepared to continue his journey, slightly
+re-invigorated by this more than frugal meal; when all at once his eye
+emitted a flash, his face grew animated, and he murmured in a voice
+trembling with emotion:
+
+"Suppose it was one!"
+
+This is what had caused Red Cedar's exclamation. At the moment he was
+setting out again after looking mechanically around him, he fancied he
+noticed at a certain spot that the grass was closer and taller than
+anywhere else. This difference, visibly only to a man long accustomed to
+the prairie, did not escape him.
+
+The Indians and hunters, often compelled to make a hurried journey,
+either to avoid a hostile ambuscade or follow up the game, are
+necessitated to abandon a large portion of their plunder or merchandise
+they carry with them for trading purposes. As they are not at all
+inclined to lose it, however, they make what is called in trapper
+language a _cache_.
+
+It is effected in the following way.
+
+They begin by spreading blankets and buffalo skins round the spot where
+they intend making the cache: then they remove large sods of grass,
+square, round, or oval, and dig out the soil, being careful to lay it on
+the blankets or skins. When the hole is deep enough, the sides are lined
+with buffalo hides, for fear of damp, and the articles are laid in it:
+the soil is then put in again, and the grass laid over it, which is
+watered to make it grow, and the rest of the earth is carried to the
+river, into which every particle is thrown, in order to hide any trace
+of the cache, which is so closely concealed, that a man must have an
+extraordinary skilful eye to discover one, and he often only finds old
+caches which have been ransacked and have nothing left in them.
+
+The objects placed in the caches will keep for five or six years without
+deteriorating. How many things concealed in this way have been lost
+through the death of their owners who bear with them in the tomb the
+secret of the spot where they have deposited their wealth!
+
+We have said, that the squatter imagined he had found such a cache. In
+his position, such a discovery was of inestimable value to him: it might
+offer him articles of primary necessity he wanted, and restore him, as
+it were, to life, by supplying him with means to recommence his
+existence of hunting, plunder, and vagabondage.
+
+He stood for some minutes with his eye fixed on the spot where he
+suspected the cache, his mind agitated by undefinable feelings. At
+length he moderated his emotion, and his heart palpitating with fear and
+hope, carefully laid his blanket and buffalo robe by the cache to hold
+the earth, with that honesty innate in men accustomed to a prairie life,
+who, though they may be bandits and plunder the property of others
+unscrupulously, still consider it a point of honour not to squander it,
+or deprive the legal owner of anything but what is absolutely necessary
+to themselves; then he knelt down and with his knife removed a sod of
+grass.
+
+It is impossible to describe the quiver and anxiety of this man when he
+first plunged his knife into the ground. He then carefully removed all
+the turf that seemed to him to form the outline of the cache. This first
+task ended, he rested for a moment to take breath, and at the same time
+to indulge in that emotion so full of pleasure and pain felt on
+accomplishing an act from which life or death depends.
+
+After a quarter of an hour, he passed his hand over his dank forehead,
+and set to work resolutely, digging up the ground with his knife, and
+removing it with his hands to the blanket. It was really a rude task,
+especially for a man exhausted by fatigue and weakened by privations.
+Several times he was compelled to stop through the exhaustion of his
+strength: the work advanced slowly, and no sign as yet corroborated the
+squatter's belief.
+
+Several times he was on the point of abandoning this vain search, but it
+was his only chance of safety; there alone, if he succeeded, would he
+find the means to become once more a wood ranger: hence he clung to this
+last plank of safety which chance offered him, with all the energy of
+despair, that Archimedean lever, which finds nothing impossible.
+
+Still, the unhappy wretch had been digging for a long time; a large hole
+was gaping before him, but nothing offered him a prospect of success;
+hence, in spite of the invincible energy of his character, he felt
+despair invading his mind once again. A tear of impotent rage brooded in
+his fever-inflamed eyelids, and he hurled his knife into the hole,
+uttering an oath, and giving heaven a bitter look of defiance.
+
+The knife sprung back with a metallic sound; the squatter seized it and
+examined it closely--the point was broken clean off.
+
+He began digging again frenziedly with his nails, like a wild beast,
+disdaining the use of his knife any longer, and he soon laid bare a
+buffalo hide. Instead of lifting this skin at once, which doubtless
+covered all the treasures whose possession he coveted, he began gazing
+at it with terrible anxiety.
+
+Red Cedar had not deceived himself: he had really discovered a cache.
+But what did it contain? Perhaps it had already been ransacked, and was
+empty. When he had only one movement to make, in order to assure
+himself, he hesitated--he was afraid!
+
+During the three hours he had been toiling to reach this point, he had
+formed so many chimeras, that he instinctively feared to see them vanish
+suddenly, and fall back rudely into the frightful reality which held him
+in its iron claws.
+
+For a long time he hesitated in this way; at length suddenly forming a
+resolve, with hands trembling with emotion, palpitating heart and
+bloodshot eye, he tore away the buffalo skin, with a movement rapid as
+thought. He felt dazzled, and uttered a roar like a wild beast--he had
+hit upon a thorough hunter's cache!
+
+It contained iron traps of every description, rifles, double and single
+pistols, powder horns, bags filled with bullets, knives, and the
+thousand objects suitable for wood rangers.
+
+Red Cedar felt himself born again: a sudden change took place in him, he
+became again the implacable and indomitable being he had been prior to
+the catastrophe, without fear or remorse, ready to recommence the
+struggle with all nature, and laughing at the perils and snares he might
+meet with on the road.
+
+He selected the best rifle, two pairs of double-barrelled pistols, and a
+knife with a blade fifteen inches in length. He also took the necessary
+harness for a horse; two powder horns, a bag of bullets, and an elk skin
+game pouch richly embroidered in the Indian fashion, containing a
+tinderbox and all the necessaries for bivouacking. He also found pipes
+and tobacco, which he eagerly clutched, for his greatest privation had
+been the inability to smoke.
+
+When he had loaded himself with all he thought he needed, he restored
+all to its primitive condition, and skilfully removed the traces which
+might have revealed to others the cache which had been so useful to
+himself. This duty of an honest man performed, Red Cedar threw his rifle
+over his shoulder, whistled to the dog, and went off hurriedly
+muttering:
+
+"Ah, ah! You fancied you had forced the boar in its lair; we shall see
+whether it can take its revenge."
+
+By what concourse of extraordinary events was the squatter, whom we saw
+enter the desert at the head of a numerous and resolute troop, reduced
+to such a state of urgent peril?
+
+
+[1] See the Trail-hunter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE AMBUSCADE.
+
+
+We said at the close of the "Trail-Hunter," that another band entered
+the desert at the heels of the troop commanded by Red Cedar. This band,
+guided by Valentine Guillois, was composed of Curumilla, General Ibanez,
+Don Miguel Zarate, and his son. These men were not seeking a placer, but
+vengeance.
+
+On reaching the Indian territory, the Frenchman looked inquiringly round
+him, and stopping his horse, turned to Don Miguel.
+
+"Before going further," he said, "I think we had better hold a council,
+and settle a plan of campaign from which we will not deviate."
+
+"My friend," the hacendero answered "you know that all our hopes rest
+on you: act, therefore, as you think advisable."
+
+"Good," Valentine said; "this is the hour when the heat compels all
+living creatures in the desert to seek shelter under the shade of the
+trees, so we will halt; the spot where we now are is admirably suited
+for a day's bivouac."
+
+"Be it so," the hacendero answered laconically.
+
+The horsemen dismounted, and removed their horses' bits, so that the
+poor creatures might obtain a little nourishment by nibbling the scanty
+and parched grass which grew on this ungrateful soil. The spot was
+really admirably chosen: it was a large clearing traversed by one of
+those many nameless streams which intersect the prairie in every
+direction, and which, after a course of a few miles, go to swell the
+rivers in which they are lost. A dense dome of foliage offered the
+travellers an indispensable shelter against the burning beams of a
+vertical sun. Although it was about midday, the air in the clearing,
+refreshed by the exhalations of the stream, invited them to enjoy that
+day sleep so well called the siesta.
+
+But the travellers had something more serious to attend to than sleep.
+As soon as all the precautions were taken against any possible attack,
+Valentine sat down at the foot of a tree, making his friends a sign to
+join him. The three whites immediately acquiesced, while Curumilla,
+according to his wont, went rifle in hand to the skirt of the clearing,
+to watch over the safety of all. After a few moments' reflection,
+Valentine took the word:
+
+"Caballeros," he said, "the moment has arrived for a frank explanation:
+we are at present on the enemy's territory; the desert extends for more
+than two thousand miles around us. We shall have to fight not only with
+the white men or redskins we meet on our road, but also contend with
+hunger, thirst, and wild beasts of every description. Do not try to give
+my words any other meaning than that I myself attach to them. You have
+known me a long time, Don Miguel, and the friendship I have vowed to
+you."
+
+"I know it, and thank you," Don Miguel said, gratefully.
+
+"In short," Valentine continued, "no obstacle, of whatever nature it may
+be, will be powerful enough to check me in the mission I have undertaken."
+
+"I am convinced of it, my friend."
+
+"Good, but I am an old wood ranger; desert life, with its privations and
+perils, is perfectly familiar to me; the trail I am about to follow will
+only be child's play to me and the brave Indian, my companion."
+
+"What are you coming to?" Don Miguel interrupted him anxiously.
+
+"To this," the hunter frankly answered. "You caballeros, accustomed to a
+life of luxury and ease, will perchance not be able to endure the rude
+existence to which you are about to be condemned: in the first moment of
+grief you bravely rushed, without reflecting, in pursuit of the
+ravishers of your daughter, and without calculating the consequences of
+your deed."
+
+"That is true," Don Miguel murmured.
+
+"It is, therefore, my duty," Valentine went on, "to warn you: do not be
+afraid to withdraw; but be frank with me as I am with you: Curumilla and
+myself will suffice to carry out the task we have undertaken. The
+Mexican frontier stretches out about ten miles behind you; return to it,
+and leave to us the care of restoring your child to you, if you do not
+feel capable of braving, without giving way, the innumerable dangers
+that menace us. A sick man, by delaying our pursuit, would not only
+render it impossible for us to succeed, but might expose us all to the
+risk of being killed and scalped. Hence, reflect seriously, my friend,
+and putting away any question of self-esteem, give me an answer that
+allows me full liberty of action."
+
+During this species of sermon, whose justice he recognised in his heart,
+Don Miguel had remained with his head bowed on his chest, and with
+frowning eyebrows. When Valentine ceased, the hacendero drew himself up
+and took the hunter's hand, which he pressed warmly, as he said--
+
+"My friend, what you have said to me it was your duty to say: your
+remarks do not at all offend me, because they were dictated by the
+friendship you bear me. The observations you have made to me, I had
+already made to myself; but, whatever may happen, my resolution is
+immovable. I shall not turn back till I have found my daughter again."
+
+"I knew that such would be your reply, Don Miguel," the hunter said. "A
+father cannot consent to abandon his daughter in the hands of bandits,
+without attempting all means to deliver her; still, it was my duty to
+make the remark I did. Hence we will not speak about it again, but
+prepare on the spot to draw up our plans of action."
+
+"Oh, oh," the general said, with a laugh, "I am anxious to hear that."
+
+"You will excuse me, general," Valentine answered; "but the war we carry
+on is completely different from that of civilised people; in the desert
+craft alone can triumph."
+
+"Well, let us be crafty: I ask nothing better, especially as, with the
+slight forces we have at our disposal, I do not see how we could act
+otherwise."
+
+"That is true," the hunter continued, "There are only five of us; but,
+believe me, five determined men are more dangerous than might be
+supposed, and I soon hope to prove it to our enemies."
+
+"Well spoken, friend," Don Miguel said, gladly. "_Cuerpo de Dios_, those
+accursed Gringos shall soon realise that fact."
+
+"We have," Valentine continued, "allies who will second us valiantly
+when the moment arrives: the Comanche nation proudly calls itself the
+'Queen of the Prairies,' and its warriors are terrible enemies. Unicorn
+will not fail us, with his tribe; and we have also a friend in the
+enemy's camp in the Chief of the Coras."
+
+"What are you saying?" the General gaily remarked. "Why, our success is
+insured."
+
+Valentine shook his head.
+
+"No," he said; "Red Cedar has allies too: the Pirates of the Prairies
+and the Apaches will join him, I feel convinced."
+
+"Perhaps so," Don Miguel observed.
+
+"Doubt is not admissible under the circumstances; the scalp hunter is
+too well used to a desert life not to try and get all the chances of
+success on his side."
+
+"But, if that happen, it will be a general war," the hacendero said.
+
+"Doubtless," Valentine continued; "that is what I wish to arrive at. Two
+days' march from where we now are there is a Navajo village; I have done
+some slight services to Yellow Wolf, the principal chief; we must
+proceed to him before Red Cedar attempts to see him, and insure his
+alliance at all risks. The Navajos are prudent and courageous warriors."
+
+"Do you not fear the consequences of this delay?"
+
+"Once for all, caballeros," Valentine answered, "remember that in the
+country where we now are the straight line is ever the longest."
+
+The three men bowed resignedly.
+
+"Yellow Wolf's alliance is indispensable to us: with his support it will
+be easy for us to--"
+
+The sudden appearance of Curumilla interrupted the hunter.
+"What is the matter now?" he asked him.
+
+"Listen!" the chief answered laconically.
+
+The four men anxiously stopped talking.
+
+"By Heavens!" Valentine said, as he hurriedly arose, "What is the matter
+here?"
+
+And, followed by his comrades, he stepped into the thicket. The
+Mexicans, whose senses were dulled, had heard nothing at the first
+moment; but the noise which had struck the hunter's practised ear now
+reached them. It was the furious galloping of several horses, whose
+hoofs re-echoed on the ground with a noise resembling that of thunder.
+Suddenly, ferocious yells were heard, mingled with shots.
+
+The five travellers, hidden behind trees, peered out, and soon noticed a
+man mounted on a horse lathered with foam, who was pursued by some
+thirty mounted Indians.
+
+"To horse!" Valentine commanded in a low voice. "We cannot let this man
+be assassinated."
+
+"Hem!" the general muttered, "We are playing a dangerous game, for they
+are numerous."
+
+"Do you not see that the man is of our own colour?" Valentine went on.
+
+"That is true," said Don Miguel. "Whatever happens, we must not allow
+him to be massacred in cold blood by those ferocious Indians."
+
+In the meanwhile, the pursuers and pursued had come nearer the spot
+where the hunters were ambushed behind the trees. The man the Indians
+were so obstinately following drew himself up haughtily in his saddle,
+and, while galloping at full speed, turned from time to time to fire his
+rifle into the thick of his enemies. At each discharge a warrior fell;
+his comrades then uttered fearful yells, and answered by a shower of
+arrows and bullets. But the stranger shook his head disdainfully, and
+continued his career.
+
+"_Caspita!_" the general said with admiration; "That is a brave fellow."
+
+"On my soul," Don Pablo exclaimed, "it would be a pity to see him
+killed."
+
+"We must save him," Don Miguel could not refrain from saying.
+
+Valentine smiled gently.
+
+"I will try it," he said. "To horse!"
+
+Each leaped into the saddle.
+
+"Now," Valentine continued, "remain invisible behind the shrubs. These
+Indians are Apaches; when they come within range, you will all fire
+without showing yourselves."
+
+Each set his rifle, and held in readiness. There was a moment of supreme
+expectation, and the hunters' hearts beat violently.
+
+The Indians still approached, bowed over the necks of their panting
+steeds, brandishing their weapons furiously, and uttering at intervals
+their formidable war cry. They came up at headlong speed, preceded about
+one hundred yards by the man they were pursuing, whom they must soon
+catch up, for his wearied horse stumbled continually, and was sensibly
+diminishing its speed.
+
+At length the stranger passed with lightning speed the thicket which
+concealed those who were about to try a diversion in his favour, that
+might ruin them.
+
+"Attention," Valentine commanded in a low voice. The rifles were lowered
+on the Apaches.
+
+"Aim carefully," the Trail-hunter added. "Every bullet must, kill its
+man."
+
+A minute elapsed--a minute an age in length.
+
+"Fire!" the hunter suddenly shouted; "Fire now."
+
+Five shots were discharged, and the same number of Apaches fell.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE OF THE READER.
+
+
+On this unforeseen attack the Apaches uttered a yell of terror; but,
+before they could pull up their horses, a second discharge made four
+fresh victims in their ranks. A mad terror then seized on the Indians,
+and they turned and fled in every direction; ten minutes later they had
+disappeared. The hunters did not dream for a moment of pursuing them;
+but Curumilla had dismounted, and crawling out to the scene of action,
+conscientiously finished and scalped the Apaches who had fallen under
+his comrades' bullets. At the same time he lassoed a riderless horse
+which passed a few paces from him, and then rejoined his friends.
+
+"To what tribe do those dogs belong?" Valentine asked him.
+
+"The Buffalo," Curumilla made answer.
+
+"Oh, oh," the hunter went on; "we were in luck's way then. Stanapat, I
+believe, is the chief of the Buffalo tribe."
+
+Curumilla nodded an assent; and after hobbling the horse he had lassoed
+by the side of the others, quietly seated himself on the river bank.
+
+The stranger had been quite as much surprised as the Apaches by the
+unforeseen help that had so providentially arrived at the moment when he
+believed himself hopelessly lost. At the sound of the firing he checked
+his horse, and, after a moment's hesitation, slowly turned back.
+
+Valentine watched all his movements. The stranger, on reaching the
+thicket, dismounted, pulled back with a firm hand the brambles that
+barred his way, and boldly proceeded to the clearing where the hunters
+were ambushed. This man, whom the reader already knows, was no other
+than the person Red Cedar called Don Melchior, and of whom he seemed so
+terribly afraid.
+
+When he found himself in the presence of the Mexicans, Don Melchior took
+off his hat and bowed courteously; the others politely returned his
+salute.
+
+"_Viva Dios!_" he exclaimed. "I do not know who you are, caballeros; but
+I thank you sincerely for your interference just now. I owe my life to
+you."
+
+"In the Far West," Valentine answered nobly, "an invisible bond connects
+all the individuals of one colour, who only form a single family."
+
+"Yes," the stranger said, with a thoughtful accent, "it should be so;
+but unfortunately," he added, shaking his head in denial, "the worthy
+principles you enunciate, caballero, are but very slightly put in
+practice: but I ought not at this moment to complain of them being
+neglected, as it is to your generous intervention that I owe my being
+among the living."
+
+The listeners bowed, and the stranger went on:
+
+"Be kind enough to tell me who you are, gentlemen, that I may retain in
+my heart names which will ever be dear to me."
+
+Valentine fixed on the man who thus spoke a piercing glance, that seemed
+to be trying to read his most secret thoughts. The stranger smiled sadly.
+
+"Pardon," he then said, "any apparent bitterness in my words: I have
+suffered much, and, in spite of myself, gloomy thoughts often rise from
+my heart to my lips."
+
+"Man is sent on the earth to suffer," Valentine gravely replied. "Each
+of us has his cross to bear here: Don Miguel de Zarate, his son and
+General Ibanez are a proof of my assertion."
+
+At the name of Don Miguel, a vivid blush purpled the stranger's cheeks,
+and his eye flashed, despite all his efforts to remain unmoved.
+
+"I have often heard of Don Miguel de Zarate," he said, with a bow. "I
+have been informed of the dangers he has incurred--dangers from which he
+only escaped by the aid of a man--an honest hunter."
+
+"That hunter is before you," Don Miguel said. "Alas! We have other and
+greater dangers still to incur."
+
+The stranger looked at him attentively for an instant--then stepped
+forward, and crossed his arms on his chest.
+
+"Listen!" he said, in a deep voice. "It was truly Heaven that inspired
+you to come to my help--for from this moment I devote myself, body and
+soul, to your service; and I belong to you as the haft does to the
+blade. I know the reason that compelled you to break up all old habits
+to visit the frightful solitudes of the Far West."
+
+"You know it?" the hunter exclaimed, in surprise.
+
+"Everything," the stranger firmly answered. "I know the treachery which
+cast you into the power of your enemies. I know, too, that your daughter
+has been carried off by Red Cedar."
+
+"Who are you, then, to be so well informed?" Valentine asked.
+
+A sad smile played for a second round the stranger's lips.
+
+"Who am I?" he said in a melancholy voice. "What matters, since I wish
+to serve you?"
+
+"Still, as we answered your questions, we have a right to expect the
+same from you."
+
+"That is just," the stranger said, "and you shall be satisfied. I am the
+man with the hundred names: in Mexico I am called Don Luis Arroyal,
+partner in the firm of Simpson, Carvalho, and Company--in the northern
+provinces of Mexico, where I have long rendered myself popular by
+foolish squandering, El Gambusino--on the coasts of the United States,
+and in the Gulf of Mexico, where I sometimes command a cutter, and chase
+the slavers, I am called the Unknown--among the North Americans, the Son
+of Blood--but my real name, and the one men give me who know the little
+about me I think proper to tell them--it is la Venganza (Vengeance). Are
+you satisfied now, gentlemen?"
+
+No one replied. The hunters had all heard of this extraordinary man,
+about whom the strangest rumours were rife in Mexico, the United States,
+and even on the prairie. By the side of heroic deeds, and acts of
+kindness deserving all praise, he was branded with crimes of unheard-of
+cruelty and unexampled ferocity. He inspired a mysterious terror in the
+whites and redskins, who equally feared to come in contact with him,
+though no proof had ever yet been brought forward of the contradictory
+stories told about him.
+
+Valentine and his comrades had frequently heard talk of Bloodson; but
+this was the first time they had found themselves face to face with him;
+and, in spite of themselves, they were surprised to see so noble and
+handsome a man. Valentine was the first to regain his coolness.
+
+"For a long time," he said, "your name has been familiar to me. I was
+anxious to know you. The opportunity offers, and I am pleased with it,
+as I shall be at length able to judge you, which was hitherto
+impossible, through the exaggerated stories told about you. You say that
+you can be useful to us in the enterprise we are meditating, and we
+accept your offer as frankly as you make it. On an expedition like this,
+the help of a brave man must not be despised--the more so, as the man we
+wish to force in his lair is dangerous."
+
+"More than you imagine," the stranger interrupted him in a gloomy voice.
+"I have been struggling with Red Cedar for twenty years, and have not
+yet managed to crush him. Ah! He is a rough adversary! I know it, for I
+am his most implacable enemy, and have in vain tried all the means at my
+command to take an exemplary vengeance on him."
+
+While uttering these words, the stranger's face had assumed a livid
+tint; his features were contracted, and he seemed to be suffering from
+an extraordinary emotion. Valentine looked at him for an instant with a
+mingled feeling of pity and sympathy. The hunter, who had suffered so
+much, knew, like all wounded souls, how to feel for the grief of men
+who, like himself, bore their adversity worthily.
+
+"We will help you," he said, as he cordially offered him his hand,
+"Instead of five, we shall be six, to fight him."
+
+The stranger's eye flashed forth a strange gleam. He squeezed the
+offered hand, and answered in a dull voice, but with an expression
+impossible to render:
+
+"We shall be fifty; for I have comrades in the desert."
+
+Valentine bent a joyous glance on his companions at this news, which
+announced to him a valuable support, that he was far from anticipating.
+
+"But fifty men are not sufficient to contend against this demon, who is
+associated with the Pirates of the Prairies, and allied with the most
+dangerous Indians."
+
+"Do not trouble yourself about that," Valentine observed. "We will also
+ally ourselves with Indian tribes. But I swear to you that I shall not
+quit the prairie till I have seen the last drop of that villain's blood
+run out."
+
+"May heaven hear you!" the stranger muttered. "If my horse were not so
+tired, I would ask you to follow me; for we have not a moment to lose if
+we wish to force the wild beast. Unfortunately, we are compelled to wait
+some hours."
+
+Curumilla stepped forward. "Here is a horse for my pale brother," he
+said, as he pointed to the animal he had lassoed a few minutes
+previously.
+
+The stranger uttered a cry of joy.
+
+"To horse!" he loudly exclaimed, "To horse!"
+
+"Where are you taking us?" Valentine asked.
+
+"To join my comrades in the hiding place I have selected for them. Then
+we will arrange the means we must employ to destroy our common enemy."
+
+"Good," Valentine remarked, "that is excellent reasoning. Are we far
+from the place?"
+
+"No, twenty to twenty-five miles at the most; we shall be there by
+sunset."
+
+"We will start then," Valentine added.
+
+The gentlemen leaped into their saddles, and started at a gallop in the
+direction of the mountains. A few minutes later, the spot had returned
+to its usual calmness and silence. Nothing was left to prove that man
+had passed that way, save a few mutilated corpses over which the
+vultures were already beginning to circle with hoarse croaking before
+they settled upon them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+RED CEDAR AT BAY.
+
+
+The six men rode one after the other, following one of those
+inextricable tracks made by the wild beasts, which cross the desert in
+every direction. Bloodson served as guide to the little party, followed
+immediately by Curumilla. The Indian chief, with the genius peculiar to
+his race, advanced silently as usual, but casting right and left peering
+glances, which nothing escaped, and which render the redskins peculiar
+beings.
+
+All at once Curumilla dismounted, and bent over the ground, uttering an
+exclamation of surprise. This was so extraordinary a fact, and so
+contrary to the habits of the Ulmen of the Araucanos, that Valentine
+hurried up to enquire what had happened.
+
+"What's the matter with you, chief?" he asked, as soon as he came up
+with him.
+
+"My brother can look," Curumilla said simply.
+
+Valentine dismounted and stooped to the ground. The Indian showed him a
+half-effaced footstep, which still bore, however, the shape of a
+horseshoe. The hunter looked at it for some time with the utmost
+attention, then began walking cautiously in the direction the hoof marks
+seemed to go. Others soon presented themselves to him. His comrades had
+stopped, and silently awaited his explanation.
+
+"Well!" Don Miguel at length said.
+
+"There is no doubt possible," Valentine answered, as if speaking to
+himself, "Red Cedar has passed along here."
+
+"What," the general observed, "do you believe it?"
+
+"I am sure of it. The chief has just shown me the perfectly formed mark
+of his horse's hoof."
+
+"Oh! Oh!" Don Miguel objected, "a horseshoe is a very slight sign; all
+are alike."
+
+"Yes, as one tree resembles the other," Valentine answered quickly.
+"Listen: the chief has observed that the squatter, I know not by what
+accident, is mounted on a horse shod on all four feet, while the men
+composing his band have theirs only shod on the front feet; in addition,
+this horse in stepping throws back its feet, which causes the mark to be
+indistinct."
+
+"In truth," Bloodson remarked, "the observation is correct, and only an
+Indian could make it; but Red Cedar is at the head of a numerous party,
+which cannot have passed along this way, or we should notice the trail."
+
+"That is true," the general said; "what do you conclude from that?"
+
+"A very simple thing; it is probable that Red Cedar has, for reasons
+unknown to us, left his men encamped some miles from here, and has
+ridden this way alone."
+
+"I have it," Bloodson said; "not far from the spot where we now are,
+there is a nest of pirates, and Red Cedar has probably gone to ask their
+assistance in case of need."
+
+"That's it," Valentine added; "the track is quite fresh, so our man
+cannot be far from us."
+
+"We must pursue him," Don Pablo quickly said, who had, till this moment,
+maintained a gloomy silence.
+
+"What do you say, gentlemen?" Valentine asked, turning to the rest.
+
+"Pursue him," they answered unanimously.
+
+Then, without further deliberation, they began following the trail,
+under the guidance of Valentine and Curumilla.
+
+What the hunter stated had really happened. Red Cedar, when he entered
+the desert, after installing his band in a strong position, remounted
+his horse and set out, warning all his comrades that he should return
+within four days at the most, and leaving them temporarily under the
+orders of the monk.
+
+Red Cedar did not fancy himself so closely pursued by Valentine, and
+hence had taken but slight precautions to conceal his track.
+
+As he proceeded alone, in spite of the trail found by Curumilla, he
+would doubtless have escaped pursuit, had not a dog followed him from
+camp without his knowledge. The track left by that animal served as a
+guide to the pursuers at the moment when they had completely lost his
+trail. Valentine and Curumilla had dismounted, and were advancing slowly
+and examining the sand and soil over which they passed.
+
+"Take care," the Trail-hunter said to his comrades, who followed him
+step by step; "do not come on so quickly; when picking up a trail you
+must mind where you put your foot down, and not look on both sides.
+Stay," he added, suddenly stooping and stopping Don Pablo; "here are
+traces you were just about to efface. Let us have a look at this: they
+are the marks of the horseshoe we have lost for some time. Red Cedar's
+horse has a peculiar way of putting down its feet, which I guarantee to
+recognise at the first glance. Hum, hum," he continued, "now I know
+where to find him."
+
+"You are sure of it?" Don Miguel interrupted.
+
+"It is not difficult, as you shall see."
+
+"Forward, forward!" Don Pablo and the general shouted.
+
+"Caballeros," the hunter observed, "be good enough to remember that on
+the prairies you must never raise your voice. The branches have eyes and
+the leaves ears here. Now, to remount and cross the river."
+
+The six men, combined in a compact body, in order to afford a greater
+resistance to the current, which was very powerful at this spot, forced
+their horses into the Gila. The passage was executed without any
+obstacle, and the horses soon landed on the other bank.
+
+"Now," Valentine said, "open your eyes, for the hunt begins here."
+
+Don Pablo and the general remained on the bank to guard the horses, and
+the remainder of the party set out, forming a line of tirailleurs sixty
+feet long. Valentine had recommended his companions to concentrate their
+researches on a space of one hundred and fifty yards at most, in a
+semicircle, so as to reach an almost impenetrable thicket, situated at
+the foot of the hill by the riverside.
+
+Each man advanced cautiously, with his gun thrust forward, looking on
+all sides at once, and not leaving a bush, a pebble, or a blade of grass
+unexamined. Suddenly Curumilla imitated the cry of the jay, the signal
+for assembling in the event of any important discovery. All rushed
+toward the spot whence the signal came; in the midst of the lofty grass,
+the ground was trampled and the lower branches broken.
+
+"Red Cedar's horse was tied up here," Valentine said. "Attention! We are
+about to catch the bear in his den. You know with what sort of men we
+have to deal; be prudent: if not, there will soon be broken bones and
+punctured skins among us."
+
+Without adding a word further, the hunter again took the head of the
+file. He carefully parted the bushes, and unhesitatingly entered the
+thicket. At this moment the furious barking of a dog could be heard.
+
+"Hilloh!" a rough voice shouted: "What's the matter, Black? Did not the
+redskins have a sufficient lesson last night, that they want to try it
+again?"
+
+These words were followed by the grating sound of a rifle being cocked.
+Valentine made his comrades a sign to stop, and boldly advanced.
+
+"They are not Indians," he said, in a loud and firm voice: "it is I,
+Koutonepi, an old acquaintance, who wishes to have a chat with you."
+
+"I have nothing to say to you," Red Cedar, still invisible, answered. "I
+know not why you have followed me to this place: we never were such good
+friends, I fancy, that you should desire the pleasure of my company."
+
+"That's true," the hunter remarked: "you may be fully assured that we
+were always very bad friends: but no matter; call off your dog."
+
+"If your intentions are good, and you are alone, you can advance, and
+will be received as a friend."
+
+And he whistled to his dog, which rejoined him.
+
+"As regards my intentions, I can assure you that they are good," the
+Trail-hunter replied, as he drew back the branches.
+
+He suddenly found himself in front of Red Cedar, who was standing, rifle
+in hand, in the narrow entrance of a grotto. The two men were scarce
+fifteen yards apart, examining each other suspiciously. This is,
+however, the custom of the prairies, where all meetings are the same:
+distrust always holds the first place.
+
+"Stop," the squatter shouted. "For what we have to say to each other, we
+need not be ear to ear. What do we care if the birds and serpents hear
+our conversation? Come, speak! What have you come here for? Empty your
+wallet, and make haste about it; for I have no time to listen to your
+stories."
+
+"Hum!" the other answered; "my stories are as good as yours, and perhaps
+you would have done better by spending your time in listening to them,
+rather than acting as you have done."
+
+"What do you mean?" Red Cedar said, as he struck the ground with the
+butt of his rifle: "You know I am not fond of sermons. I am a free
+hunter, and act as I think proper."
+
+"Come, come," the huntsman went on in a conciliatory tone, while quietly
+drawing nearer; "do not take up that tone: all may be arranged. Hang it,
+what is the question, if we come to that? Only about a woman you have
+carried off!"
+
+The bandit listened to Valentine without attaching much importance to
+his remarks. For some instants his attentive ear appeared to be catching
+vague sounds; his eye sounded the depth of the woods; his nostrils
+dilated; and all the instincts of the wild beast were revealed. A
+presentiment told him that he was incurring some unknown danger.
+
+On his side, the hunter watched the slightest movements of his
+adversary: not one of the changes on his face had escaped him, and
+though apparently unmoved, he kept on his guard.
+
+"Traitor!" the squatter suddenly shouted, as he raised his rifle to his
+shoulder; "You shall die!"
+
+"What a fellow you are!" Valentine retorted, as he dodged behind a tree.
+"Not yet, if you please."
+
+"Surrender, Red Cedar!" Don Miguel shouted, as he appeared, followed by
+the stranger and Curumilla: "Surrender!"
+
+"What do you say? I surrender! First try and force me to do so. I swear
+that I will kill you first," the bandit answered with a terrible accent:
+"I hold your life in my hands. Are you aware of that?"
+
+"Come," Valentine retorted, "don't be so rough! There are four of us,
+and I suppose you do not intend to kill us all."
+
+"For the last time, will you retire?" the bandit said, with a furious
+gesture.
+
+"Come, come," Bloodson shouted in a loud voice, "do not attempt any
+useless resistance. Red Cedar, your hour has arrived."
+
+At the sound of this voice, the bandit's face was suddenly covered by a
+livid pallor, and a convulsive tremor passed over his limbs.
+
+"Look out, he is going to fire!" Valentine shouted.
+
+Two shots were fired so closely together, that they sounded as one. The
+squatter's gun, shattered in his hands, fell to the ground. Valentine,
+who wished to capture the bandit alive, could only hit on this way of
+turning his bullet, which, in fact, whistled harmlessly past his ear.
+
+"_Con mil demonios!_" the scalp hunter yelled, as he rushed madly into
+the grotto, closely followed by his enemies, with the exception of
+Curumilla.
+
+There they found him armed with his pistols, like a boar tracked to its
+lair. The bandit struggled with all the frenzy of despair, not yet
+giving up the hope of escape. His dog, standing by his side, with
+bloodshot eyes and open jaws, only awaited a signal from its master to
+rush on the assailants. The squatter suddenly fired four shots, but too
+hurriedly to wound anybody. He then hurled the useless weapons at his
+foemen's heads, and, bounding like a panther, disappeared at the end of
+the grotto, shouting with a sinister grin:--
+
+"I am not caught yet!"
+
+During all the incidents of this scene, the bandit had preserved his
+coolness; calculating the chances of safety left him, so that he might
+profit by them immediately. While occupying his enemies, he remembered
+that the grotto had a second outlet.
+
+Suddenly he stopped, uttering a ghastly oath: he had forgotten that the
+swollen Gila at the moment inundated this issue. The villain walked
+several times round the grotto with the impotent rage of a wild beast
+that has fallen into a trap. He heard, in the windings of the cavern,
+the footsteps of his pursuers drawing closer. The sands were counted for
+him. One minute later, and he was lost.
+
+"Malediction!" he said, "All fails me at once."
+
+He must escape at all risks, and try to reach his horse, which was
+fastened up a short distance off on a small islet of sand, which the
+water, continually rising, threatened soon to cover. The bandit took a
+parting look round, bounded forward, and plunged into the abyss of
+waters, which hoarsely closed over him.
+
+Valentine and his comrades almost immediately appeared, bearing torches;
+but the bandit had wholly disappeared. All was silent in the grotto.
+
+"The villain has committed suicide," the hacendero said.
+
+The hunter shook his head.
+
+"I doubt it," he said.
+
+"Listen!" the stranger hurriedly interrupted.
+
+A shot echoed through the cave, and the three men rushed forward. This
+is what had happened:--
+
+Instead of following his comrades, the Indian chief, certain that the
+bandit had not been such a fool as to enter a cave without an outlet,
+preferred watching the banks of the river, in case Red Cedar tried to
+escape in that way. The chiefs previsions were correct. Red Cedar, as we
+have seen, attempted to fly by the second outlet of the grotto. After
+swimming for some distance, the squatter landed on a small islet, and
+almost immediately disappeared in a dense clump of trees.
+
+Not one of his movements had escaped Curumilla, who was hidden behind a
+projecting rock. Red Cedar reappeared on horseback. The Indian chief
+took a careful aim at him, and at the moment the animal put its hoof in
+the water it fell back, dragging down its rider with it. Curumilla had
+put a bullet through the horse's skull. Red Cedar rose with the rapidity
+of lightning, and dashed into the water. The hunters looked at each
+other for a moment in disappointment.
+
+"Bah!" Valentine said, philosophically. "That bandit is not to be feared
+now; we have clipped his nails."
+
+"That is true," said Bloodson; "but they will grow again!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE GROTTO.
+
+
+We will now resume our narrative at the point where we left it at the
+end of our first chapter, and rejoin Red Cedar, who thanks to the
+weapons found in the cache, had regained all his ferocity and was
+already dreaming of revenge.
+
+The bandit's position, however, was still very perplexing, and would
+have terrified any man whose mind was not so strong as his own. However
+large the desert may be--however perfect a man's knowledge may be of the
+prairie refuges--it is impossible for him, if alone, to escape for any
+length of time the search of persons who have an interest in catching
+him.
+
+This had just been proved to Red Cedar in a peremptory way: he did not
+conceal from himself the numberless difficulties that surrounded him,
+and could not dream of regaining his encampment. The enemies on his
+track would not fail to catch him, and this time they would not allow
+him to escape so easily.
+
+This position was intolerable, and it must be put an end to at all
+risks. But Red Cedar was not the man to remain crushed by the blow that
+had struck him: he drew himself together again, in order to prepare his
+vengeance promptly. Like all evil natures, Red Cedar regarded as an
+insult all attempts persons made to escape from his perfidity. At this
+moment he had a rude account to settle with whites and redskins. Alone
+as he was, he could not think of rejoining his comrades and attacking
+the enemies, who would have crushed him under their heel like a venomous
+serpent: he needed allies.
+
+His hesitation was but short, and his plan was formed in a few minutes.
+He resolved to carry out the project for which he had left his comrades,
+and proceeded toward an Apache village, situate a short distance off.
+
+Still, he did not intend to go there, for the present at least, for,
+after a rapid walk of more than three hours, he suddenly turned to his
+right, and retiring from the banks of the Gila, which he had hitherto
+followed, he left the road to the village, and entered a mountainous
+region, differing entirely in its character from the plains he had
+hitherto traversed.
+
+The ground rose perceptibly, and was intersected by streams that ran
+down to the Gila. Clumps of the ferns, drawing closer together, served
+as the advanced guard of a gloomy virgin forest on the horizon. The
+landscape gradually assumed a more savage and abrupt aspect, and spurs
+of the imposing Sierra Madre displayed here and there their desolate
+peaks.
+
+Red Cedar walked along with that light and springy step peculiar to men
+accustomed to cover long distances on foot, looking neither to the right
+nor left, and apparently following a direction he was perfectly
+acquainted with. Smiling at his thoughts, he did not seem to notice that
+the sun had almost entirely disappeared behind the imposing mass of the
+virgin forest, and that night was falling with extreme rapidity.
+
+The howling of the wild beasts could be heard echoing in the depths of
+the ravines, mingled with the miauwling of the carcajous and the barking
+of the prairie wolves--bands of which were already prowling at a short
+distance from the bandit. But he, apparently insensible to all these
+hints about getting a resting place for the night, continued his advance
+in the mountains, among which he had entered some time previously.
+
+On reaching a species of crossroad, if such a term can be employed in
+speaking of a country where no roads exist, he stopped and looked all
+around him. After a few moments' hesitation, he buried himself in a
+narrow path running between two hills, and boldly climbed up a very
+steep ascent. At length, after a fatiguing climb, that lasted nearly
+three-quarters of an hour, he reached a spot where the path, suddenly
+interrupted, only presented a gulf, in the bottom of which the murmurs
+of invisible waters could be just heard.
+
+The precipice was about twenty yards in width, and over it lay an
+enormous log, serving as a bridge. At the end of this was the entrance
+of a natural grotto, in which the flames of a fire flashed up at
+intervals. Red Cedar stopped--a smile of satisfaction curled his thin
+lips at the sight of the flames reflected on the walls of the grotto.
+
+"They are there," he said, in a low voice, and as if speaking to
+himself.
+
+He then put his fingers in his mouth, and imitated with rare skill the
+soft and cadenced note of the _maukawis_. An instant after, a similar
+cry was heard from the grotto; and Red Cedar clapped his hands thrice.
+
+The gigantic shadow of a man, reflected by the light of the fire,
+appeared in the entrance of the grotto, and a rude and powerful voice
+shouted in the purest Castilian--
+
+"Who goes there?"
+
+"A friend," the bandit answered.
+
+"Your name, _caray_," the stranger continued; "there are no friends in
+the desert at this hour of the night."
+
+"Oh, oh!" Red Cedar continued; bursting into a hoarse laugh, "I see that
+Don Pedro Sandoval is as prudent as ever."
+
+"Man or demon, as you know me so well," the stranger said, in a somewhat
+softer tone, "tell me what your name is, I say once again, or, by
+heaven, I'll lodge a couple of slugs in your skull. So do not let me run
+the risk of killing a friend."
+
+"Come, come, calm yourself, hidalgo; did you not recognise my voice, and
+have you so short a memory that you have already forgotten Red Cedar."
+
+"Red Cedar!" the Spaniard repeated in surprise, "then you are not hung
+yet, my worthy friend?"
+
+"Not yet; to my knowledge, gossip. I hope to prove it to you ere long."
+
+"Come across, in the devil's name; do not let us go on talking at this
+distance."
+
+The stranger left the bridgehead, where he had stationed himself,
+probably to dispute the passage in case of necessity, and drew off,
+uncocking his rifle. Not waiting for a second invitation, Red Cedar
+bounded on to the tree and crossed it in a few seconds; he
+affectionately shook the Spaniard's hand, and then they entered the
+grotto together.
+
+This grotto or cavern, whichever you please to call it, was wide and
+lofty, divided into several compartments by large frames of reeds,
+rising to a height of at least eight feet, and forming ten rooms or
+cells, five on either side the grotto, beginning at about twenty paces
+from the entrance--a space left free to act as kitchen and dining room.
+The entrance to each cell was formed by a zarape, which descended to the
+ground after the fashion of a curtain door.
+
+At the extremity of the passage that ran between the two rows of cells
+was another compartment, serving as storehouses; and beyond this a
+natural passage ran through the mountain, and terminated almost a league
+off, in an almost inaccessible ravine.
+
+All proved that this grotto was not a bivouac chosen for a night or two,
+but an abode adopted for many years past, in which all the comfort had
+been collected which it is possible to procure in these regions remote
+from any centre of population.
+
+Round the fire, over which an enormous quarter of elk meat was roasting,
+nine men, armed to the teeth, were sitting and smoking in silence. On
+Red Cedar's entrance, they rose and came up to shake his hand eagerly,
+and with a species of respect. These men wore the garb of hunters or
+wood rangers: their marked features, their ferocious and crafty faces,
+on which the traces of the most disgraceful and ignoble passions were
+marked in indelible characters, strongly lighted up by the fantastic
+flashes of the fire, had something strange and gloomy about them, which
+inspired terror and revulsion.
+
+It could be guessed at the first glance that these men, the unclean scum
+of adventurers of all nations, lost in sin and compelled to fly to the
+desert to escape the iron hand of justice, had declared an obstinate war
+against those who had placed them beyond the pale of the common law of
+nations, and were, in a word, what are called, by common consent,
+pirates of the prairies.
+
+Pitiless men, a hundredfold more ruffianly than the most ferocious
+redskins, who conceal a soul of mud and a tiger's heart under a human
+appearance, and who, having adopted the savage life of the Far West,
+have assumed all the vices of the white and red races, without retaining
+one of their qualities. Villains, in a word, who only know murder and
+robbery, and for a little gold are capable of the greatest crimes. Such
+was the company Red Cedar had come so far to seek.
+
+We are bound to add, and the reader will easily believe it, that he was
+not out of his place, and that his antecedents, on the contrary, gained
+him a certain degree of consideration from these bandits, with whom he
+had been long acquainted.
+
+"Caballeros," Sandoval said, bowing with exquisite politeness to the
+brigands, his comrades, "our friend, Red Cedar, has returned among us;
+let us greet him like a jolly companion whom we have missed too long,
+and whom we are delighted to see again."
+
+"Senores," Red Cedar answered, as he took a seat by the fire, "I thank
+you for your cordial reception, and hope soon to prove to you that I am
+not ungrateful."
+
+"Well!" one of the bandits said, "Has our friend any good news to impart
+to us? It would be welcome, deuce take me! For a whole month we have had
+to scheme a living."
+
+"Are you really in that state?" the squatter asked, with interest.
+
+"Quite so," Sandoval confirmed him; "and Perico has only spoken the
+exact truth."
+
+"Hang it all!" Red Cedar went on, "I have come at the right moment,
+then."
+
+"Eh?" the bandits said, pricking up their ears.
+
+"And yet I fancy that, for some time past, caravans have been becoming
+more numerous in the desert: there is no lack of white or red trappers,
+who every now and then can be saved the trouble of carrying their beaver
+skins. I have even heard speak of several parties of gambusinos."
+
+"The gambusinos are as badly off as ourselves," Sandoval replied; "and
+as for trappers, they are the very men who injure us. Ah! My friend, the
+desert is not worth a hang now; the white men are drawing too close
+together, they are gradually invading the territory of the redskins, and
+who knows whether, in ten years from this time, we shall not have towns
+all round the spot where we now are?"
+
+"There is some truth in your remark," Red Cedar observed, as he shook
+his head thoughtfully.
+
+"Yes," Perico said; "and, unfortunately, the remedy is difficult, if not
+impossible to find."
+
+"Perhaps so," Red Cedar went on, tossing his head in a way which caused
+the Pirates to wonder what he was driving at. "In the meanwhile," he
+added, "as I have made a long journey, feel very tired, and have a
+tremendous appetite, I will feed, with your permission, especially as it
+is late, and the meal is admirably cooked."
+
+Without further ceremony, Red Cedar cut a large slice of elk, which he
+placed before him, and began incontinently devouring. The pirates
+followed his example, and for some time the conversation was naturally
+suspended. A hunter's meal is never long; the present one was soon over,
+owing to the impatience of the band, whose curiosity was aroused to the
+highest degree by the few words dropped by the squatter.
+
+"Well," Sandoval began again, as he lit a cigarette, "now that supper is
+over, suppose we have a chat. Are you agreeable, comrade?"
+
+"Willingly," Red Cedar replied, as he settled himself comfortably, and
+filled his pipe.
+
+"You were saying then--" Sandoval remarked.
+
+"Pardon me," the squatter interrupted him; "I was saying nothing. You
+were complaining, I believe, about the whites destroying your trade by
+coming closer and closer to your abode."
+
+"Yes, that was what I was saying."
+
+"You added, if my memory serves me right, that the remedy was impossible
+to find?"
+
+"To which you answered, perhaps."
+
+"I said so, and repeat it."
+
+"Explain yourself, then."
+
+"The affair I have come to propose to you is extremely simple: For some
+years past the whites have been gradually invading the desert, which, in
+a given time which is not remote, will end by disappearing before the
+incessant efforts of civilisation."
+
+"It is true."
+
+"Well, if you like, within a month you shall be rich men."
+
+"We will, _caray_," the bandits exclaimed in a formidable voice.
+
+"I will tell you the affair in two words: I have discovered a placer of
+incalculable wealth; twenty leagues from here, I have left one hundred
+men devoted to my fortunes. Will you imitate them and follow me? I
+promise each of you more gold than he ever saw in his life or ever
+dreamed of possessing."
+
+"Hum!" said Sandoval; "It is tempting."
+
+"I thought of you, my old comrades," Red Cedar continued with
+hypocritical simplicity, "and have come. Now, you know my plan; reflect
+on what I have said to you; tomorrow, at sunrise, you will give me your
+answer."
+
+And, without mingling further in the conversation, Red Cedar rolled
+himself up in a zarape, and fell asleep, leaving the bandits to discuss
+among themselves the chance of success his magnificent proposal offered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE PROPOSITION.
+
+
+Red Cedar, immediately that he entered the Far West, had, with the
+experience of old wood rangers which he possessed in the highest degree,
+chosen a suitable site for his band to encamp. He did not wish to enter
+the desert without ensuring allies on whom he could count, in the event
+of his being attacked.
+
+The Pawnee ambuscade, prepared with the skill characteristic of the
+savages, which had been on the point of succeeding, and from which he
+had only escaped by accident, was a warning to him of the snares that
+would be laid for him, and the dangers that would menace him at every
+step daring the long journey he was about to undertake across the
+prairies.
+
+Red Cedar was one of those men who make it a principle to neglect
+nothing that can insure the success of their plans; he, therefore,
+resolved to protect himself from any attack as speedily as possible. His
+first care was to choose a spot where he could encamp his band, so as to
+be protected from all Indian marauders, and offer an advantageous
+resistance, in the case of a serious attack.
+
+The Rio Gila forms a multitude of wooded islets, some of which rising
+in a conical form, are very difficult of access owing to the escarpment
+of their banks, and especially through the rapidity of the current.
+It was on one of these islands that Red Cedar bivouacked his men.
+Peru trees, mezquites, and cottonwood trees, which grew abundantly on
+this island, mingled with creepers that twined round their stems in
+inextricable confusion, formed an impenetrable thicket, behind which
+they could boldly sustain a siege, while offering the immense advantage
+of forming a wall of verdure, through whose openings it was easy to
+watch both banks of the river, and any suspicious movements on the
+prairie.
+
+So soon as the gambusinos had landed on the island, they glided like
+serpents into the interior, dragging their horses after them, and being
+careful to do nothing that might reveal their encampment to the
+sharp-sighted Indians. So soon as the camp was established, and Red
+Cedar believed that, temporarily at least, his band was in safety, he
+assembled the principal leaders, in order to communicate his intentions
+to them.
+
+They were, first, Fray Ambrosio, then Andres Garote, Harry and Dick, the
+two Canadian hunters, and, lastly, the squatter's two sons, Nathan and
+Sutter, and the Chief of the Coras. Several trees had been felled to
+form a suitable site for the fires and the tents of the women, and Red
+Cedar, mounted on his steed, was soon in the centre of the chiefs
+collected around him.
+
+"Senores," he said to them, "we have at length entered the Far West: our
+expedition now really commences, and I count on your courage, and, above
+all, your experience, to carry it out successfully; but prudence demands
+that on the prairies, where we run the risk of being attacked by enemies
+of every description at any moment, we should secure allies who, in case
+of need, could protect us efficiently. The ambuscade we escaped, scarce
+eight and forty hours ago, renders it a duty to redouble our vigilance,
+and, above all, hasten to enter into communication with the friends we
+possess in the desert."
+
+"Yes," said the monk; "but I do not know these friends."
+
+"But I know them, and that is enough," Red Cedar replied.
+
+"Very good," Fray Ambrosio went on; "but where are they to be found?"
+
+"I know where to find them. You are here in an excellent position, where
+you can hold your own for a long time, without any fear of it being
+carried. This is what I have resolved on."
+
+"Come, gossip, explain yourself; I am anxious to know your plans," said
+the monk.
+
+"You shall be satisfied: I am going to start at once in search of my
+friends, whom I am certain of finding within a few hours: you will not
+stir from here till my return."
+
+"Hum! And will you be long absent?"
+
+"Two days, then, at the most."
+
+"That is a long time," Garote remarked.
+
+"During that period you will conceal your presence as far as possible.
+Let no one suspect you are encamped here. I will bring you the ten best
+rifles in the Far West, and with their protection, and that of Stanapat,
+the great Apache Chief of the Buffalo tribe, whom I expect to see also,
+we can traverse the desert in perfect safety."
+
+"But who will command the band in your absence?" Fray Ambrosio asked.
+
+"You, and these caballeros. But remember this: you will under no pretext
+leave the island."
+
+"'Tis enough, Red Cedar, you can start; we shall not stir till you
+return."
+
+After a few more words of slight importance, Red Cedar left the
+clearing, swam his horse over the river, and on reaching firm ground,
+buried himself in the tall grass, where he soon disappeared.
+
+It was about six in the evening, when the squatter left his comrades, to
+go in search of the men whom he hoped to make his allies. The gambusinos
+had paid but slight attention to the departure of their chief, the cause
+of which they were ignorant of, and which they supposed would not last
+long. The night had completely fallen. The gambusinos, wearied by a long
+journey, were sleeping, wrapped in their zarapes, round the fire, while
+two sentries alone watched over the common safety. They were Dick and
+Harry, the two Canadian hunters, whom chance had so untowardly brought
+among these bandits.
+
+Three men leaning against the trunk of an enormous ungquito were
+conversing in a low voice. They were Andres Garote, Fray Ambrosio, and
+Eagle-wing. A few paces from them was the leafy cabin, beneath whose
+precarious shelter reposed the squatter's wife, her daughter Ellen, and
+Dona Clara.
+
+The three men, absorbed in the conversation, did not notice a white
+shadow emerge from the cabin, glide silently along, and lean against the
+very tree, at the foot of which they were.
+
+Eagle-wing, with that penetration which distinguishes the Indians, had
+read the hatred which existed between Fray Ambrosio and Red Cedar; but
+the Coras had kept this discovery in his heart, intending to take
+advantage of it when the opportunity presented itself.
+
+"Chief," the monk said, "do you suspect who the allies are Red Cedar has
+gone to seek?"
+
+"No," the other replied, "how should I know?"
+
+"Still it must interest you, for you are not so great a friend of the
+Gringo as you would like to appear."
+
+"The Indians have a very dense mind; let my father explain himself so
+that I may understand him, and be able to answer him."
+
+"Listen," the monk continued, in a dry voice and with a sharp accent, "I
+know who you are: your disguise, clever and exact though it be, was not
+sufficient to deceive me: at the first glance I recognised you. Do you
+believe that if I had said to Red Cedar, this man is a spy or a traitor;
+he has crept among us to make us tall into a trap prepared long
+beforehand: in a word, this man is no other than Moukapec, the
+principal Cacique of the Coras? Do you believe, I say, that Red Cedar
+would have hesitated to blow out your brains, eh, chief? Answer."
+
+During these words whose significance was terrible to him, the Coras had
+remained unmoved; not a muscle of his face had quivered. When the monk
+ceased speaking, he smiled disdainfully, and contented himself with
+replying in a haughty voice, while looking at him fixedly:
+
+"Why did not my father tell this to the scalp hunter? He was wrong."
+
+The monk was discountenanced by this reply, which he was far from
+expecting; he understood that he had before him one of those energetic
+natures over which threats have no power. Still he had advanced too far
+to draw back: he resolved to go on to the end, whatever might happen.
+
+"Perhaps," he said, with an evil smile, "at any rate, I have it in my
+power to warn our chief in his return."
+
+"My father will act as he thinks proper," the chief replied drily,
+"Moukapec is a renowned warrior, the barking of the coyotes never
+terrified him."
+
+"Come, come, Indian, you are wrong," Garote interposed, "you are
+mistaken as to the Padre's intentions with respect to you; I am
+perfectly convinced that he does not wish to injure you in any way."
+
+"Moukapec is not an old woman who can be cheated with words," the Coras
+said; "he cares little for the present intentions of the man, who,
+during the burning of his village, and the massacre of his brothers,
+excited his enemies to murder and arson. The chief follows his vengeance
+alone, he will know how to attain it without allying himself to one of
+his foes to get it. I have spoken."
+
+After uttering these words, the Indian chief rose, dressed himself in
+his buffalo robe, and withdrew, leaving the two Mexicans disconcerted by
+this resistance which they were far from anticipating. Both looked after
+him for a while with admiration mingled with anger.
+
+"Hum!" the monk at length muttered; "Dog of a savage, Indian, brute,
+beast, he shall pay me for it."
+
+"Take care, senor Padre," the Gambusino said, "we are not in luck at
+this moment. Let us leave this man with whom we can effect nothing, and
+seek something else. Every man reaches his point who knows how to wait,
+and the moment will arrive to avenge ourselves on him; till then, let us
+dissimulate--that is the best thing, I believe, for us to do."
+
+"Did you notice that, on leaving us, Red Cedar did not say a syllable
+about his prisoner?"
+
+"For what good? He knows she is in perfect safety here, any flight from
+this island is impossible."
+
+"That is true; but why did he carry off this woman?"
+
+"Who knows? Red Cedar is one of those men whose thoughts it is always
+dangerous to sound. Up to the present, we cannot read his conduct
+clearly enough; let him return, perhaps then the object he has in view
+will be unfolded to us."
+
+"That woman annoys me here," the monk said in a hollow voice.
+
+"What's to be done? Down there at Santa Fe I did not hesitate to serve
+you in trying to get rid of her; but now it is too late--it would be
+madness to dream of it. What matter to us, after all, whether she be
+with us, or not? Believe me, make up your mind to it, and speak no more
+about it. Bah! She will not prevent us reaching the placer."
+
+The monk shook his head with a dissatisfied air, but made no reply. The
+Gambusino wrapped himself in his zarape, lay down on the ground, and
+fell asleep. Fray Ambrosio, for his part, remained plunged in gloomy
+thoughts. What was he thinking of? Some treachery, doubtless.
+
+When the woman who had been leaning against the tree, perceived that the
+conversation was at an end, she glided softly away, and re-entered the
+cabin.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+ELLEN AND DONA CLARA.
+
+
+Since she had fallen again into the power of Red Cedar, Dona Clara, a
+prey to a gloomy sorrow, had yielded unresistingly to her abductors,
+despairing ever to escape from them; especially since she had seen the
+men in whose power she was, definitely take the road to the desert.
+
+For a maiden, accustomed to all the refinements of luxury, and all those
+little attentions which a father's love continually lavished on her, the
+new existence commencing was an uninterrupted succession of tortures,
+among half savage ruffians, whose brutal ways and coarse language
+constantly made her fear insults she would have been too weak to
+repulse.
+
+Still, up to this moment, Red Cedar's conduct had been--we will not say
+respectful, for the squatter was ignorant of such refinements--but, at
+any rate, proper, that is to say, he had affected to pay no attention to
+her while ordering his men not to trouble her in any way.
+
+Dona Clara had been entrusted by the scalp hunter to his wife Betsy and
+his daughter Ellen.
+
+The Megera, after giving the maiden an ugly look, had turned her back on
+her, and did not once address her--conduct which was most agreeable to
+the young Mexican. As for Ellen, she had constituted herself, on her
+private authority, the friend of the prisoner, to whom she rendered all
+those small services her position allowed her, with a delicacy and tact
+little to be expected from a girl educated in the desert by a father
+like hers.
+
+At the outset, Dona Clara, absorbed in her grief, had paid no attention
+to Ellen's kindness, but gradually, in spite of herself, the young
+American's unchanging gentleness, and her patience, which nothing
+rebuffed, affected her; she had felt the services which the other
+occasionally rendered her, and had gradually learned to feel for the
+squatter's daughter a degree of gratitude which presently ripened into
+friendship.
+
+Youth is naturally confiding; when a great grief oppresses it, the need
+of entrusting that grief to a person who seems to sympathise with it,
+renders it expansive. Alone among the bandits, to whom chance had handed
+her over, Dona Clara must inevitably--so soon as the first paroxysm of
+suffering had passed--seek for someone to console her, and help her in
+enduring the immense misfortune that crushed her.
+
+And this had occurred much more rapidly than under ordinary
+circumstances, thanks to the sympathising kindness of the young
+American, who had in a few hours found the way to her heart.
+
+Red Cedar, whom nothing escaped, smiled cunningly at the friendship of
+the two maidens, which, however, he feigned not to perceive. It was a
+strange thing, but this scalp hunter, this man that seemed to have
+nothing human about him, who perspired crime at every pore, whose
+ferocity was unbounded, had in his heart one feeling which attached him
+victoriously to the human family, a profound, illimitable love for
+Ellen--the love of the tiger for its cubs.
+
+This frail girl was the sole creature for whom his heart beat more
+violently. How great, how powerful was the love Red Cedar experienced
+for this simple child! It was a worship, an adoration. A word from her
+little mouth caused the ferocious bandit to feel indescribable delight;
+a smile from her rosy lips overwhelmed him with happiness. By her
+charming caresses, her gentle and insinuating words, Ellen had power to
+govern despotically that gathering of birds of prey which was her
+family. The chaste kiss his daughter gave him every morning, was the
+sunbeam that for the whole day warmed the heart of the terrible bandit,
+before whom everybody trembled, and who himself trembled at a slight
+frown from her, who combined all the joy and happiness of his life.
+
+It was with extreme satisfaction that he saw his daughter become his
+innocent accomplice by acquiring the confidence of his prisoner, and
+gaining her friendship. This gentle girl was in his sight the securest
+gaoler he could give Dona Clara. Hence, in order, to facilitate, as far
+as possible, all that could enhance the friendship, he had completely
+closed his eyes, and feigned to be ignorant of the approximation between
+the two girls.
+
+It was Ellen who had listened to the conversation between the monk and
+the Gambusino. At the moment she was re-entering the hut, the stifled
+sound of voices induced her to listen. Dona Clara was speaking in a low
+voice to a man, and that man was the Sachem of the Coras. Ellen,
+surprised in the highest degree, listened anxiously to their
+conversation, which soon greatly interested her.
+
+After leaving the two Mexicans, Eagle-wing had, for some minutes, walked
+about the camp with an affected carelessness, intended to remove the
+suspicions of any who might have been tempted to watch his movements.
+
+When he fancied he had dispelled any suspicions, the Indian chief
+insensibly drew nearer to the cabin, which served as a refuge to the
+maidens, and entered it, after assuring himself by a glance, that no one
+was watching.
+
+Dona Clara was alone, at this moment. We have told the reader where
+Ellen was; as for the squatter's wife, faithful to her husband's
+instructions not to annoy the prisoner in any way, she was quietly
+asleep by the fire, in the clearing.
+
+The maiden, with her head bowed on her bosom, was plunged in deep and
+sad thought. At the sound of the Indian's steps, she raised her head,
+and could not restrain a start of terror on seeing him.
+
+Eagle-wing immediately perceived the impression he produced on her, he
+stopped on the threshold of the cabin, folded his arms on his chest, and
+bowed respectfully.
+
+"My sister need not be alarmed," he said in a gentle and insinuating
+voice, "it is a friend who is speaking to her."
+
+"A friend!" Dona Clara murmured, as she took a side glance at him; "the
+unfortunate have no friends."
+
+The Indian drew a few steps nearer to her, and went on, as he bent over
+her:
+
+"The jaguar has been forced to put on the skin of the crafty serpent, in
+order to introduce himself among his enemies, and gain their confidence.
+Does not my sister recognise me?"
+
+The Mexican girl reflected for a moment, and then answered with
+hesitation, and looking at him attentively:
+
+"Although the sound of your voice is not unfamiliar to me, I seek in
+vain to remember where, and under what circumstances I have already seen
+you."
+
+"I will help my sister to remember," Eagle-wing continued. "Two days
+ago, at the passage of the ford, I tried to save her, and was on the
+point of succeeding, but before that my sister had seen me several
+times."
+
+"If you will mention a date and a circumstance, I may possibly succeed
+in remembering."
+
+"My sister need not seek, it will be useless; I prefer telling her my
+name at once, for moments are precious. I am Moukapec, the great Chief
+of the Coras, of the Del Norte. My sister's father and my sister herself
+often helped the poor Indians of my tribe."
+
+"That is true," the maiden said, sadly. "Oh! I remember now. Poor
+people! They were pitilessly massacred, and their village fired by the
+Apaches. Oh! I know that horrible story."
+
+A sardonic smile played round the chief's lips at these words.
+
+"Coyote does not eat coyote," he said, in a hollow voice; "the jaguars
+do not wage war on jaguars. They were not Indians who assassinated the
+Coras, but scalp hunters."
+
+"Oh!" she said, in horror.
+
+"Let my sister listen," the Coras continued quickly; "now that I have
+told her my name, she must place confidence in me."
+
+"Yes," she answered, eagerly, "for I know the nobility of your
+character."
+
+"Thanks! I am here for my sister's sake alone. I have sworn to save her,
+and restore her to her father."
+
+"Alas!" she murmured sadly, "that is impossible. You are alone, and we
+are surrounded by enemies. The bandits who guard us are a hundredfold
+more cruel than the ferocious beasts of the desert."
+
+"I do not know yet in what way I shall set about saving my sister," the
+chief said, firmly; "but I shall succeed if she is willing."
+
+"Oh!" she exclaimed with febrile energy, "If I am willing! Whatever
+requires to be done, I will do without hesitation. My courage will not
+fail me, be assured of that, chief."
+
+"Good!" the Indian said with joy; "My sister is truly a daughter of the
+Mexican kings. I count on her when the moment arrives. Red Cedar is
+absent for a few days; I will go and prepare everything for my sister's
+flight."
+
+"Go, chief; at the first sign from you I shall be ready to follow you."
+
+"Good! I retire; my sister can take courage, she will soon be free."
+
+The Indian bowed to the maiden, and prepared to leave the hut. Suddenly,
+a hand was laid on his shoulder. At this unexpected touch, in spite of
+his self-command, the chief could not repress a start of terror. He
+turned, and Red Cedar's daughter stood before him, with a smile on her
+lips. "I have heard all," she said in her pure and melodious voice.
+
+The chief bent a long and sad look on Dona Clara.
+
+"Why this emotion," Ellen continued, "which I read on your features? I
+do not mean to betray you, for I am a friend of Dona Clara. Reassure
+yourself; if accident has made me mistress of your secret, I will not
+abuse it--on the contrary, I will help your flight."
+
+"Can it be so? You would do that?" Dona Clara exclaimed, as she threw
+her arms round her neck, and buried her face in her bosom.
+
+"Why not?" she simply answered; "You are my friend."
+
+"Oh! Oh! I love you, for you are good. You had pity on my grief, and
+wept with me." Eagle-wing fixed on the maiden a glance of undefinable
+meaning.
+
+"Listen," Ellen said; "I will supply you with the means you lack. We'll
+leave the camp this very night."
+
+"We?" Dona Clara asked; "What do you mean?"
+
+"I mean," Ellen continued, quickly, "that I shall go with you."
+
+"Can it be possible?"
+
+"Yes," she said, in a melancholy voice; "I cannot remain here longer."
+
+On hearing these words, the Coras Chief quivered with joy; a sinister
+ray flashed from his dark eyes; but he immediately resumed his stoical
+appearance, and the maidens did not notice his emotion.
+
+"But what shall we do to procure means of flight?"
+
+"That is my affair, so do not trouble yourself about it. This very
+night, I repeat, we shall start."
+
+"May Heaven grant it!" Dona Clara sighed.
+
+Ellen turned to the chief and said:
+
+"Does my brother know, at a short distance from the spot where we now
+are, any Indian pueblo where we can seek shelter?"
+
+"Two suns from here, in a northwestern direction, there is a pueblo,
+inhabited by a tribe of my nation. It was thither I intended to lead my
+white father's daughter after her escape."
+
+"And we shall be in safety with that tribe?"
+
+"The daughter of Acumapicthzin will be as safe as in her father's
+hacienda," the Indian answered, evasively.
+
+"Good! Can my father leave the camp?"
+
+"Who is strong enough to arrest the flight of the condor? Moukapec is a
+warrior, nothing stops him."
+
+"My brother will set out."
+
+"Good!"
+
+"He will proceed by the shortest road to the pueblo of his nation, then
+he will return to meet us with the warriors he has collected, in order
+that we may defend ourselves, in the event of being followed by the
+Gambusinos."
+
+"Very good," the Indian answered joyfully. "My sister is young, but
+wisdom dwells in her heart; I will do what she desires--when may I
+start?"
+
+"At once."
+
+"I go. What hour will my sister quit the camp?"
+
+"At the hour when the owl sings its first hymn to the rising sun."
+
+"My sister will meet me at the most four hours after her departure. She
+must remember in her flight always to go in a northwestern direction."
+
+"I will do so."
+
+Eagle-wing bowed to the maidens and left the cabin.
+
+The gambusinos were in a deep sleep round the fire; only Dick and Harry
+were awake. The Coras glided like a phantom through the trees, and
+reached the edge of the water unnoticed, which was the more easy to
+effect, because the Canadians were not watching the island, from which
+they had no danger to apprehend, but had their eyes fixed on the
+prairie. The chief took off his clothes and made them into a parcel,
+which he fastened on his breast; he slipped into the water, and swam
+silently in the direction of the mainland.
+
+So soon as the Indian left the cabin Ellen bent over Dona Clara, gave
+her a loving kiss on the forehead, and said softly--"Try to sleep for a
+few hours, while I prepare everything for our flight."
+
+"Sleep!" the Mexican answered, "How can I with the restlessness that
+devours me."
+
+"You must!" Ellen insisted, "For we shall have great fatigue to endure
+tomorrow."
+
+"Well," Dona Clara said, softly, "I will try, as you wish it."
+
+The maidens exchanged a kiss and a shake of the hand, and Ellen left the
+hut in her turn, smiling to her friend, who followed her with an anxious
+glance. When left alone, Dona Clara fell on her knees, clasped her
+hands, and addressed a fervent prayer to God. Then, slightly
+tranquilised by her appeal to Him, who is omnipotent, she fell back on
+the pile of dry leaves that served as her bed, and, as she had promised
+Ellen, attempted to sleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE FLIGHT.
+
+
+The night covered the tranquil desert with its dark blue sky, studded
+with dazzling stars. A majestic silence brooded over the prairie; all
+were asleep in the island save the two Canadian sentries, who, leaning
+on their rifles, followed with absent eye the tall shadows of the wild
+beasts that slowly came down to drink in the river.
+
+At times a mysterious quiver ran over the trees, and shook their tufted
+crests, whose leaves rustled with a strange sound.
+
+Dick and Harry, the two worthy hunters, interchanged a few words in a
+low voice to while away the tedium of their long sentry go, to which
+they were condemned, when suddenly a white shadow glided through the
+trees, and Ellen stood by their side.
+
+The young men started on seeing her; but the maiden greeted them with a
+smile, sat down on the grass, and with a graceful gesture made them a
+sign to seat themselves by her side. They hastened to obey her.
+
+The hunters looked at the maiden, who smiled on them with that infantile
+grace which no expression can render.
+
+"You were talking when I came up."
+
+"Yes," Harry answered, "we were talking of you."
+
+"Of me?" she said.
+
+"Was it not for your sake alone that we joined this troop of bandits?"
+Dick said, in an ill-humoured tone.
+
+"Do you regret being here?" she asked, with a soft smile.
+
+"I did not say that," the young man continued; "but we are not in our
+place among these villains. We are free and loyal hunters, honourable
+wood rangers; the life we lead oppresses us."
+
+"Were you not talking of that when my presence interrupted you?"
+
+They remained silent.
+
+"Answer boldly!" she went on.
+
+"Good heavens! You know that such a life is as oppressive to me as it
+is to you."
+
+"What do I know?" Harry said. "Many times I have proposed to you to fly,
+and leave these men whose hands are constantly polluted with blood, but
+you have ever refused."
+
+"That is true," she said sadly; "alas! Although these men are criminal,
+one of them is my father."
+
+"For two years that we have been following you everywhere, you have
+given us the same answer."
+
+"It was because I hoped that my father and brother would abandon this
+career of crime."
+
+"And now?"
+
+"I have no hope left."
+
+"In that case?" Harry exclaimed sharply.
+
+"I am ready to follow you," she answered, sharply.
+
+"Is that the truth? Is it your heart that is speaking, Ellen? Do you
+really consent to abandon your family and trust to our honour?"
+
+"Listen," she answered, sorrowfully; "for two years I have thought
+deeply, and the more I reflect the more does it appear to me that Red
+Cedar is not my father."
+
+"Can it be possible?" the hunter exclaimed, in amazement.
+
+"I can say nothing certain; but when I go back I fancy (though this is
+vague and surrounded by shadows in my mind) I can remember another
+existence, very different from the one I am leading at present."
+
+"You can remember nothing positive?"
+
+"Nothing: I see pass, as in a vision, a lovely pale lady, a man with a
+proud glance, and of tall stature, who takes me in his arms, and covers
+me with kisses, and then--"
+
+"Well, and then?" the hunters exclaimed, in a panting voice.
+
+"And then I see flames, blood, and nothing more, but a man carrying me
+off through the night on an impetuous steed."
+
+The maiden, after uttering these words in a broken voice, hid her head
+in her hands. There was a lengthened silence, during which the Canadians
+attentively observed her: at length they drew themselves up, and Harry
+laid his hand on her shoulder: she raised her head.
+
+"What would you of me?" she said.
+
+"Ask you a question."
+
+"Speak!"
+
+"Since you have grown up have you never tried to clear up your doubts by
+questioning Red Cedar?"
+
+"Yes," she answered, "once."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"He listened to me attentively, let me say all I had to say, and then
+gave me a glance of undefinable meaning, shrugged his shoulders, and
+answered, 'You are silly, Ellen; you must have had a bad dream. That
+story is absurd.' Then he added, in an ironical voice, 'I feel sorry for
+you, poor creature, but you are really my daughter.'"
+
+"Well," Dick said, in a tone of conviction, as he struck the butt of his
+rifle fiercely on the ground, "I tell you that he lied, and that man is
+not your father."
+
+"Doves do not lay their eggs in the nests of vultures," Harry added.
+"No, Ellen, no, you are not that man's daughter."
+
+The maiden rose, seized each of the hunters by the arm, and, after
+looking at them for a moment, said:
+
+"Well, and I believe so too. I know not why, but for some days past a
+secret voice has cried in my heart and told me that this man cannot be
+my father; that is why I, who, up to this day, have always refused your
+offers, have come to trust myself to your honour, and ask you if you will
+protect my flight."
+
+"Ellen," Harry answered in a grave voice, and with an accent full of
+respect, "I swear to you before that God who hears us, that my companion
+and myself will risk death to protect or defend. You shall always be a
+sister to us, and in that desert we are about to traverse in order to
+reach civilised countries, you shall be as safe and treated with as much
+respect as if you were in Quebec Cathedral, at the foot of the high
+altar."
+
+"I swear that I will do all Harry has just said; and that you can, in
+all confidence, place yourself under the safeguard of our honour," Dick
+added, raising his right hand to Heaven.
+
+"Thanks, my friends," the maiden answered. "I know your honour. I accept
+without reservation, persuaded as I am that you will fulfil your
+promise."
+
+The two men bowed.
+
+"When shall we start?" Harry asked.
+
+"It will be better to take advantage of Red Cedar's absence to fly,"
+said Dick.
+
+"That thought is mine, too," Ellen remarked, but added, with some
+hesitation, "I should not like to fly alone."
+
+"Explain yourself," Dick said.
+
+"It is needless," Harry quickly interrupted him. "I know what you
+desire. Your thought is an excellent one, Ellen, and we gladly assent to
+it. The young Mexican lady can accompany you. If it be possible for us
+to restore her to her family, who must feel in despair about her, we
+will do it."
+
+Ellen gave the young man a look, and slightly blushed.
+
+"You are a noble-hearted fellow, Harry," she replied. "I thank you for
+having guessed what I did not know how to ask of you."
+
+"Is there anything else you want of us?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Good! Then bring your companion here as speedily as possible, and, when
+you return, we shall be ready. The gambusinos are asleep. Red Cedar is
+absent. We have nought to fear, but you had better make haste, so that
+before sunrise we may be far enough from here not to fear those who will
+doubtless pursue us when they observe your flight."
+
+"I only ask you for a few minutes," the maiden said, and soon
+disappeared in the shrubs.
+
+In vain had Dona Clara sought sleep, in obedience to her friend's
+recommendations. Her mind, agitated by hopes and fears, had not allowed
+her to enjoy a moment's rest. With eye and ear on the watch, she
+listened to the voices of the night, and strove to distinguish, in the
+gloom, the shadows that at times glided through the trees.
+
+Ellen found her awake, and ready to start. The maidens' preparations for
+flight were not lengthy, for they only took with them a few
+indispensable articles.
+
+In rummaging an old box, which Red Cedar and his family employed to keep
+their clothes in, Ellen discovered a small coffer, about the size of her
+hand, of carved rosewood, inlaid with silver, which the squatter hardly
+ever left out of his possession, but which he had not thought it
+necessary to take with him on the present expedition.
+
+The maiden examined this coffer for a moment, but it was closed. By an
+intuitive movement, for which she could not account, but which
+completely mastered her, she seized it, and put it in her bosom.
+
+"Let us go," she said to Dona Clara.
+
+"I am ready," the young Mexican replied, laconically, though her heart
+bounded.
+
+The maidens left the hut, holding each other's hand. They crossed the
+clearing, and proceeded in the direction of the Canadians. The
+gambusinos lying ground the fire did not stir. They were all fast
+asleep.
+
+For their part, the two hunters had made their preparations for flight.
+While Dick fetched out to the riverside the four sturdiest horses he
+could find, Harry collected the saddles and bridles of the other horses,
+and threw them into the river, where they immediately disappeared in the
+current. The Canadian had reflected that the time the gambusinos would
+occupy in making up their loss would be so much gained to them.
+
+The maidens reached the riverbank at the moment when Dick and Harry were
+finishing saddling the horses. They mounted at once, the Canadians
+placed themselves at their side, and the fugitives forced their horses
+into the river. Fortunately, the water was low; and hence, although the
+current was rather powerful in the centre, the horses managed to cross
+the Gila without obstacle.
+
+It was about eleven in the evening when the fugitives landed. So soon
+as they were concealed in the tall grass, so as not to be seen from the
+island, they drew bridle to let their horses breathe after the rude
+passage they had just made.
+
+"Let us profit by the hours we have before us to travel the whole
+night," Harry said, in a low voice.
+
+"Our absence will not be observed till sunrise," Dick observed. "The
+time spent in seeking us on the island, and in providing some substitute
+for the bridles, will give us twelve or fourteen hours which we must
+profit by to get away as far as possible."
+
+"I ask nothing better," Harry said; "but, before starting, we must
+choose our road."
+
+"Oh!" Ellen said, "the direction we must follow is easily settled: we
+must only go straight to the northwest."
+
+"Be it so," the hunter went on; "one direction is as good as another.
+Our principal object is to get off as soon as possible: but why
+northwest rather than any other quarter of the wind?"
+
+Ellen smiled.
+
+"Because," she said, "a friend you know--the Indian chief who formed
+part of the band--left the camp before us, in order to warn his
+warriors, and bring us help in the event of an attack."
+
+"Well thought of," the hunter said. "Let us be off, and not spare our
+horses, for on their speed our safety depends."
+
+Each bowed over the neck of the horses. The little party started with
+the speed of an arrow in a northwestern direction, as had been agreed
+on. The four riders soon disappeared in the darkness; the footsteps of
+their horses ceased to re-echo on the hardened ground, and all fell back
+into silence.
+
+The gambusinos were peacefully sleeping on the island.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE TEOCALI.
+
+
+We will now return to Valentine and his companions.
+
+The six horsemen were still galloping in the direction of the mountains;
+and, about midnight, they stopped at the base of an enormous granite
+mass, which rose solitary and glowing in the prairie.
+
+"This is the spot," said Bloodson, as he dismounted. His companions
+followed his example, and Valentine took a scrutinising glance around.
+
+"If what I suppose be true," he said, "your dwelling might be an eagle
+nest."
+
+"Or a vulture's," the stranger hoarsely answered. "Wait a few seconds."
+
+He then imitated the cry of the tiger-serpent. Suddenly, as if by
+enchantment, the mass of granite was illumined from top to bottom, and
+torches, shaken by vague and indistinct forms, ran rapidly along the
+slopes, bounding with extreme velocity until they arrived close to the
+astonished travellers, who found themselves all at once surrounded by
+some fifty men in strange garbs and with sinister faces, rendered even
+more sinister by the reflection of the torches which the wind drove in
+every direction.
+
+"These are my men," the stranger said, laconically.
+
+"Hum!" Valentine remarked, "You have a formidable army."
+
+"Yes," Bloodson went on; "for all these men are devoted to me. On many
+occasions, I have put their attachment to rude trials. They will let
+themselves be killed at a signal from me."
+
+"Oh, ho!" the hunter went on, "The man who can speak thus is very
+strong, especially if he wish to gain an honourable end."
+
+The stranger made no answer, but turned his head away.
+
+"Where is Shaw?" he asked.
+
+"Here I am, master," the man he had asked after said as he showed
+himself.
+
+"What!" Valentine exclaimed, "Red Cedar's son!"
+
+"Yes: did I not save his life which his brother sought to take? By that
+title he belongs to me. Now," he added "come, my guests, do not remain
+any longer outside. I will show you my domain. Shaw, do you take the
+horses."
+
+The travellers followed the stranger, who, preceded by several
+torch-bearers, was already escalading the abrupt sides of the granite
+block. The ascent was ruder still. It was easy to recognise the steps of
+a staircase, beneath the roots, creepers, and brambles that overgrew
+them. The travellers were plunged in the utmost astonishment. Valentine
+and Curumilla alone affected an indifference which caused their host to
+ponder.
+
+When about one-third up the mountain, Bloodson stopped before an
+excavation made by human hands, through whose gaping entrance a thread
+of light emerged.
+
+"You did not, perhaps, expect," said Bloodson, as he turned to his
+friends, "to find in the Far West a keep as strong as this."
+
+"I confess, Don Miguel, that I did not expect it."
+
+"Oh, my friends, your memory fails you, I fancy," Valentine said with a
+smile; "this mountain, if I am not mistaken, is nothing but a Teocali."
+
+"It is true," Bloodson said, with an air of annoyance he tried in vain
+to hide, "I have placed my abode in the interior of an ancient Teocali."
+
+"There are a good many about here, history relates that it was in this
+country the Aztecs assembled before finally invading the plateau of
+Anahuac."
+
+"For a stranger, Don Valentine," Bloodson remarked, "you were well
+acquainted with the history of this country."
+
+"And with that of its inhabitants; yes, senor caballero," the hunter
+replied.
+
+They went in, and found themselves in an immense hall, with white walls,
+loaded with sculpture, which, as Valentine had stated, must date back to
+the epoch of the Aztecs. A great number of torches, fixed in iron
+sockets, spread a fairylike light over this hall. Bloodson did the
+honours of this strange abode, as a man perfectly versed in the habits of
+civilised life. A few minutes after their arrival, the hunters enjoyed a
+meal which, though served in the desert, left nothing to be desired as
+regarded the delicacy of the dishes or the order in which it was served.
+
+The sight of Shaw had involuntarily inspired Valentine with a secret
+distrust of their host; the latter, with the penetration and knowledge
+of mankind he possessed, at once noticed it, and resolved to get rid of
+it by a frank explanation between the hunter and himself.
+
+As for Curumilla, the worthy Indian ate with good appetite, as was his
+wont, not uttering a word, though he did not lose a syllable of what was
+said around him, and his piercing eye had already scrutinised the most
+secret nooks of the spot where he was.
+
+When the supper was ended, Bloodson gave a signal, and his comrades
+suddenly disappeared at the end of the hall, where they stretched
+themselves on piles of dry leaves which served them as beds. The hunters
+remained alone with their host, and at a sign from the latter, Shaw took
+a place by his side. For some time they smoked in silence, until
+Bloodson threw far from him the end of the cigarette he had been
+smoking, and took the word.
+
+"Senores caballeros," he said, with a tone of frankness that pleased his
+hearers, "all that you see here may reasonably surprise you, I allow.
+Still, nothing is more simple; the men you, have seen belong to all the
+Indian tribes that traverse the desert; only one of them is a white man,
+and that is Shaw. If Don Pablo will be kind enough to reflect, he will
+tell you that the man found in the streets of Santa Fe with a knife in
+his chest was saved by me."
+
+"In truth," the young man said, "Father Seraphin and myself picked up
+the poor wretch, who gave no sign of life. You only could recall him to
+existence."
+
+"All the others are in the same case; proscribed by tribes, menaced with
+instant death by their enemies, they have sought a refuge with me.
+There is now another point, I desire to clear up, in order that no cloud
+may exist between us, and that you may place the most perfect confidence
+in me."
+
+His hearers bowed respectfully.
+
+"For what good?" Valentine said; "Every man in this world has his
+secret, caballero, and we do not ask for yours. We are connected by the
+strongest bond that can attach men, a common hatred for the same
+individual, and the desire to take a striking revenge on him--what more
+do we want?"
+
+"Pardon me, in the desert, as in the civilised life of towns," Bloodson
+said with dignity, "men like to know those with whom accident has
+brought them into relationship. I am anxious you should know that the
+force I have at my service, and which is really formidable, Don
+Valentine, as you were good enough to observe, is employed by me to act
+as the police of the desert; repulsed by the world, I resolved to
+revenge myself on it by pursuing and destroying those pirates of the
+prairies who attack and plunder the caravans that cross the desert. It
+is a rude task I have undertaken, I assure you, for the villainies are
+numerous in the Far West, but I wage an obstinate war on them, and so
+long as Heaven permits, I will carry it on without truce or mercy."
+
+"I have already heard what you say spoken of," Valentine replied, as he
+held out his hand sympathisingly; "the man who thus comprehends his
+mission on earth must be one in a thousand, and I shall ever be happy to
+be counted in the number of his friends."
+
+"Thanks," Bloodson answered with emotion, "thanks for your remark, which
+compensates me for many insults and much miscomprehension. And now,
+caballeros, I place at your disposal the men who are devoted to me; do
+with them whatever you please, and I will be the first to offer the
+example of obedience."
+
+"Listen," Valentine replied, after a moment's reflection; "we have to
+deal with a thorough-paced villain, whose principal weapon is cunning,
+and we shall only succeed in conquering him by employing the same. A
+considerable party is soon tracked on the prairie; Red Cedar has the eye
+of a vulture and the scent of a dog; the more we are, the less chance we
+have of catching him."
+
+"What is to be done then, my friend?" Don Miguel asked.
+
+"This," Valentine went on: "surround him, that is to say, enclose him in
+a circle whence he cannot emerge, by securing allies among all the
+desert Indians; but it is understood that these allies will act
+separately, until we have so well succeeded in tracking the villain that
+he must surrender."
+
+"Yes, your idea is good, though difficult and dangerous in its
+execution."
+
+"Not so much as you suppose," Valentine responded warmly. "Listen to me:
+tomorrow, at daybreak, Curumilla and myself will go in search of Red
+Cedar's trail, and I swear to you that we shall find it again."
+
+"Good," said Don Miguel; "and afterwards?"
+
+"Wait; while one of us remains to watch the bandit, the other will
+return to warn you of the spot where he is. During that time you will
+have formed alliances with the _pueblos_ Indians, and be in a condition to
+force the boar in its lair."
+
+"Yes," Bloodson remarked, "that plan is simple, and for that very reason
+must succeed. It is a struggle of cunning, that is all."
+
+"Yes," General Ibanez objected; "but why should we not go on his trail
+also?"
+
+"Because," Valentine answered, "though you are as brave as your sword,
+general, you are a soldier--that is to say, you understand nothing of
+the Indian warfare we are about to carry on, a war composed entirely of
+ambushes and treachery. You and our friends, in spite of your well-known
+courage, and I might almost say, on account of it, would prove more
+injurious than useful, owing to your ignorance of the country in which
+we are, and the manners of the men we have to fight."
+
+"That is true," Don Miguel said; "our friend is in the right, leave him
+to act; I am convinced that he will succeed."
+
+"And so am I," Valentine exclaimed, with an accent of conviction; "that
+is why I wish to be free, so that I may act as I please."
+
+"In short," the general went on, "in a game so serious as that we are
+playing with men so clever and determined as those we have to fight
+with, nothing must be left to accident. I resign myself to inaction;
+carry out your schemes as you think proper, Don Valentine."
+
+"Pardon me," Don Pablo exclaimed, hotly. "My father and you may consent
+to remain here, for I can understand that your age and habits render you
+but little fitting for the life you would be obliged to lead; but I am
+going. I am strong, able to stand fatigue, and long accustomed by
+Valentine himself to the terrible demands of the desert life you are
+ignorant of. My sister's safety is at stake: we wish to rescue her from
+the hands of her ravishers; and hence I must join the men who are going
+in search of her."
+
+Valentine gave him a glance full of tenderness. "Be it so," he said to
+him. "You will come with us, Pablo: this will complete your initiation
+into desert life."
+
+"Thanks, my friend, thanks," the young man said gladly. "You have
+removed an immense weight from my heart. Poor sister! I shall
+cooeperate, then, in her deliverance!"
+
+"There is another man you must take with you, Don Valentine," Bloodson
+said.
+
+"Why so?" Valentine asked.
+
+"Because," the other answered, "as soon as you have departed, I shall go
+and visit the Indian villages: when the moment arrives, we must know
+where to meet."
+
+"Yes, but how is it to be managed?"
+
+"Shaw will accompany you."
+
+A flash of joy passed into the young man's eye, although his face
+remained unmoved.
+
+"So soon as you have found the trail, Shaw, who knows my hiding places,
+will be sent off by you to advise me, and he will find me, wherever I
+may be."
+
+"Yes," the squatter's son said, laconically. Valentine examined him for
+a moment attentively, and then turned to Bloodson:
+
+"Be it so," he said; "he shall come. I am greatly mistaken, or this
+young man has a greater interest than we suppose in the success of our
+plans; and we can trust entirely to him."
+
+Shaw lowered his eyes with a blush.
+
+"And now," Bloodson said, "it is late: we have hardly four hours of
+night left. I believe that we have come to a perfect understanding, and
+that we shall do well to sleep. We do not know what the morrow reserves
+for us."
+
+"Yes, let us sleep," Valentine said, "for I intend starting at sunrise."
+
+"Will your horses be rested?"
+
+"Let them rest, for we do not want them; a trail can only be properly
+followed on foot."
+
+"You are right; a man on foot can pass anywhere."
+
+After exchanging a few more words, each rose to go and throw himself on
+a pile of dry leaves.
+
+Don Miguel seized Valentine's arm and clutched it firmly, as he said,
+with tears in his voice,--
+
+"Friend, restore me my daughter."
+
+"I will do so," the hunter said, with emotion, "or die."
+
+The hacendero went away a few paces, but then hurriedly returned to the
+Frenchman's side.
+
+"Watch over my son," he said in a choking voice.
+
+"Do not be alarmed, my friend," the hunter answered.
+
+Don Miguel warmly pressed the hunter's hand, uttered a sigh, and
+retired.
+
+A few moments later, and all were sound asleep in the Teocali, with the
+exception of the sentries that watched over the common safety.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE WHITE GAZELLE.
+
+
+Red Cedar's proposition was too advantageous for the Pirates to hesitate
+about accepting it. This was the reason:--
+
+For some years past a man had appeared on the prairies, at the head of
+fifty or sixty determined companions, and had waged such a rude war on
+the adventurers or pirates, that it had become almost impossible to
+carry on their old trade with impunity.
+
+On his private authority, this man had constituted himself the defender
+of the caravans that crossed the desert, and protector of the trappers
+and hunters, whom they no longer dared plunder, through fear of being
+attacked by this unknown redressor of grievances.
+
+This existence was growing insupportable, and an end must be put to it.
+Unfortunately the means had hitherto failed the pirates to deal a heavy
+blow, and free themselves from the crushing yoke Bloodson bowed them
+under. Hence they did not hesitate, as we have seen, to accept Red
+Cedar's proposition.
+
+These men had been acquainted with the bandit for several years: he had,
+indeed, been their chief for some time; but at that period they were
+still civilised brigands, if we may employ that expression when speaking
+of such fellows, prowling along the frontiers of the American Union,
+assaulting isolated farms, and plundering and killing the defenceless
+inhabitants.
+
+This band, which was at that time composed of about fifty, was gradually
+driven back on the desert, where Bloodson, who hunted them like wild
+beasts, had decimated them so thoroughly in many a fight, that the band,
+now reduced to only ten persons, was literally at bay, and compelled to
+live on the produce of the chase, or the rare occasions for plunder
+offered by isolated travellers, whom their unlucky star brought into the
+vicinity of the pirates' lair.
+
+As they were perfectly concealed by the Indian garb they wore, the few
+travellers who escaped them fancied they had been plundered by redskins.
+This disguise caused their security, and allowed them to go at times and
+sell the produce of their plunder in the seaport towns.
+
+We have said that the bandit band was composed of ten men, but we were
+incorrect; for one of them was a woman.
+
+There was a strange anomaly in this creature, scarce twenty years of
+age, with delicate features, a tall and lithe form, living among these
+ruffians whom she ruled over with all the force of a vast mind,
+indomitable courage, and an iron will. The brigands had a superstitious
+adoration for her which they could not exactly account for; obeying her
+slightest caprices without a murmur, and ready to let themselves be
+killed at the least sign from her rosy fingers.
+
+She was, as it were, their palladium. The girl was perfectly well aware
+of the uncontrolled power she exercised over her terrible guardians, and
+abused it constantly, while they never attempted resistance. The Indians
+themselves, seduced by the grace, vivacity, and sympathetic charms of
+the young creature, had christened her the White Gazelle; a name
+harmonising so well with her character, that she was known by no other.
+
+She wore a fanciful costume of extraordinary wildness and eccentricity,
+which was admirably suited to the gentle, though decided, and slightly
+dreamy expression of her face. It was composed of loose Turkish
+trousers, made of Indian cashmere, fastened at the knees with diamond
+garters; while boots of stamped deer hide protected her leg, and
+imprisoned her little foot. To her heels were fastened heavy gold
+Mexican spurs; double-barrelled pistols and a dagger were passed through
+her China crape girdle, which confined her delicate waist. A jacket of
+violet velvet, buttoned over the bosom with a profusion of diamonds,
+displayed her exquisite bust. A brilliant-hued Navajo zarape, fastened
+at the neck with a clasp of rubies, served as her cloak, and a Panama
+hat of extreme fineness (_doble paja_), decorated with an eagle plume,
+covered her head, while allowing tresses of jet black hair to fall in
+disorder on her neck, and which, had they not been bound by a ribbon,
+would have trailed on the ground.
+
+This girl was asleep when Red Cedar entered the cavern, and the pirates
+were accustomed to do nothing without her assent.
+
+"Red Cedar is a man in whom we can place entire confidence," Pedro
+Sandoval said, as he summed up the affair, "but we cannot give him
+answer till we have consulted the _nina_."
+
+"That is true," a second confirmed him--"hence, as any discussion will
+be useless, I think the best thing we can do, is to follow Red Cedar's
+example, and go to rest."
+
+"Powerfully reasoned," said one of the bandits, called Orson; a little
+man with ignoble features, grey eyes, and a mouth extending from ear to
+ear, while laughing so as to display two rows of white teeth, wide and
+sharp as those of a wild beast; "so shall I say good night."
+
+The other pirates did the same, and in a few minutes the deepest silence
+prevailed in the grotto, whose inhabitants, secure in the strength of
+their position, slept peacefully.
+
+At daybreak Red Cedar opened his eyes, and rose from the hard bed on
+which he had rested, in order to stretch his limbs, and restore the
+circulation of the blood.
+
+"Up already!" Sandoval said, as he emerged, cigarette in mouth, from one
+of the sleeping cells.
+
+"My bed was not so attractive as to keep me longer," Red Cedar answered
+with a smile.
+
+"Bah!" the other said, "'Tis the fortune of war; therefore I do not
+complain about it:" the squatter continued, drawing his comrade to the
+entrance of the grotto. "And now, gossip, answer me, if you please; what
+do you think of my proposal? You have had time for reflection, I
+suppose?"
+
+"_Cascaras!_--it did not require much reflection to see that it was a
+good bargain."
+
+"You accept," Red Cedar said, with a movement of joy.
+
+"If I were to be master, I should not make the slightest difficulty,
+but--"
+
+"Hang it, there is a but."
+
+"You know very well there always is one."
+
+"That is true; and what is the but?"
+
+"Oh, less than nothing; we must merely submit the question to the Nina."
+
+"That is true: I did not think of that."
+
+"You see now."
+
+"_Cristo!_ She will accept."
+
+"I am certain of it. Still, we must lay it before her."
+
+"Of course. Stay, comrade, I prefer you should undertake it: while you
+are doing it, I will go and kill some game for breakfast. Does that suit
+you?"
+
+"Very well."
+
+"Good-bye for the present, then."
+
+Red Cedar threw his rifle over his shoulder and left the grotto,
+whistling to his dog.
+
+Sandoval, when left alone, prepared to discharge his commission, while
+saying to himself in an aside--
+
+"That devil of a Red Cedar is always the same, as timid as he used to
+be: that results from not having been used to the society of ladies.
+
+"Good morning, Sandoval," a gentle and melodious voice breathed in his
+ear.
+
+And the White Gazelle tapped the shoulder of the old bandit, while
+smiling kindly on him. The girl was really a ravishing creature. She
+wore the costume we just now described; but she held in her hand a
+rifle, damascened with silver. Sandoval gazed on her for a moment with
+profound admiration, and then answered in a trembling voice--
+
+"Good morning, child; did you have a good night?"
+
+"I could not have had a better; I feel in glorious spirits this
+morning."
+
+"All the better, dear girl, all the better; for I have to present to you
+an old comrade, who ardently desires to see you again."
+
+"I know whom you are alluding to, father," the girl replied. "I was not
+asleep last night when he arrived, and even supposing I had been so the
+noise you made would have awakened me."
+
+"You heard our conversation, then?"
+
+"From one end to the other."
+
+"And what is your advice?"
+
+"Before answering, tell me who are the people we are to attack."
+
+"Do you not know?"
+
+"No; since I ask you."
+
+"Hang it; they are Americans, I believe."
+
+"But what sort of Americans? Are they Gringos or Gachupinos?"
+
+"I did not inquire into such details; to me all Americans are alike; and
+provided they are attacked, I ask for nothing more."
+
+"That is possible, old father," the girl answered, with a little pout;
+"but I make a grand difference between them."
+
+"I do not exactly see the use of it."
+
+"I am free to think as I please, I suppose," she interrupted him, as she
+stamped her foot impatiently.
+
+"Yes, my child, yes--do not be angry, I entreat you."
+
+"Very good; but pay attention to what I am going to tell you. Red Cedar
+is a man on whom I do not put the slightest trust. He is ever accustomed
+to pursue a gloomy object, which escapes his partners; they only serve
+him as a cat's paw in all his undertakings; and he abandons them
+unblushingly so soon as they are of no further use to him. The affair
+Red Cedar proposes to you is magnificent at the first glance; but, on
+reflecting, far from offering us profits, it may bring a multitude of
+annoyances on us, and bring us into a wasp's nest, whence we cannot
+emerge."
+
+"Then, your opinion is to decline?"
+
+"I do not say that; but I wish to know what you intend doing, and what
+our chances of success are?"
+
+During this conversation, the other bandits had left their cells and
+ranged themselves round the speakers, whose discussion they followed
+with the deepest interest.
+
+"On my word, my dear child, I do not know what answer to make you. Last
+evening Red Cedar spoke to me of the affair, and it appeared to us
+grand; but if it does not please you we will give it up. We will not
+mention it again; and that's all about it."
+
+"That is how you always are, Sandoval; it is impossible to discuss any
+point with you. At the slightest objection offered you flare up, and
+will not listen to the reasons which may be given to you."
+
+"I am not so, my child; I only state facts. However, here is Red Cedar;
+have it out with him."
+
+"That will not take long," the girl answered; and turning to the
+squatter, who entered the grotto, bearing on his shoulders a magnificent
+elk he had shot, and which he threw on the ground, she said--
+
+"Answer me a single question, Red Cedar."
+
+"Twenty, if it be agreeable to you, charming Gazelle," the bandit said,
+with a constrained smile, which rendered him hideous.
+
+"No, one will be sufficient. Who are the people you are engaged with?"
+
+"A Mexican family."
+
+"I want to know their name."
+
+"I will tell it you. It is the Zarate family, one of the most
+influential in New Mexico."
+
+At this answer a vivid flush ran over the girl's face, and she displayed
+marks of profound emotion.
+
+"I also propose," the bandit continued, whose notice this flush had not
+escaped, "to finish with that demon, Bloodson, on whom we have so many
+insults to avenge."
+
+"Good!" she said with increasing emotion.
+
+The astounded brigands gazed anxiously on the girl. At length, by a
+violent effort, the Gazelle succeeded in reassuming an air of coolness;
+and, addressing the Pirates, said to them, in a voice whose accent
+revealed a great internal agitation--
+
+"That entirely changes the question. Bloodson is our most cruel enemy.
+If I had known that at first, I should not have opposed the enterprise
+as I did."
+
+"Then--?" Sandoval ventured to interrupt. "I consider the idea excellent;
+and the sooner we put it in execution, the better."
+
+"Very good," Red Cedar exclaimed. "I felt sure that the nina would
+support me."
+
+The Gazelle smiled on him.
+
+"Whoever could understand women?" Sandoval muttered in his moustache.
+
+"Now," the young girl added, with extraordinary animation, "let us
+hasten to make our preparations for departure, as we have not an instant
+to lose."
+
+"Caspita! I am glad we are going to do something at last," said Orson,
+as he prepared to cut up the elk brought in by Red Cedar: "we were
+beginning to moulder in this damp hole."
+
+"Leonard," Sandoval said, "look after the horses; fetch them from the
+corral, and bring them to the subterraneous passage."
+
+"Hang it all," said Red Cedar; "talking about horses, I haven't one."
+
+"That is true," Sandoval replied; "you arrived on foot yesterday; but I
+fancied you had left your horse in the chaparral."
+
+"No, it was killed in an ambuscade, where I all but left my hide. Since
+then, my dog has carried the saddle."
+
+"We have more horses than we want, so Leonard shall bring one to you."
+
+"Thanks, I will make it up to you."
+
+Leonard and another bandit collected the harness and went off. When the
+meal was finished, which did not take long, as the Pirates were anxious
+to start, the separations forming the rooms were taken down, and two or
+three Pirates, arming themselves with powerful levers, moved an enormous
+rock, under which was the hole, serving as cache to the band, when
+obliged to leave its den temporarily. In this hole they placed any
+objects of value which the grotto contained, and the rock was then
+returned to its place.
+
+This duty accomplished, Sandoval shouted as he proceeded to the mouth of
+the grotto--
+
+"Some men to help."
+
+At a sign from Sandoval, half a dozen men seized the end of a tree
+serving as a bridge, lifted it, balanced it for a moment in the air, and
+hurled it into the precipice, down which it rolled, with a sound
+resembling the discharge of a park of artillery. The exterior of the
+grotto was then covered with shrubs, in order to conceal it as far as
+possible.
+
+"Ouf," Sandoval said, "at present all is in order; we will start when
+you please."
+
+"At once!" the girl said, who seemed a prey to a great impatience, and
+who during all these lengthened preparations had not ceased to, scold
+the Pirates for their delay.
+
+The band entered the passage without further delay; and, after a march
+of about half an hour, entered a ravine, where the horses, under the
+guard of a Pirate, were nibbling the pea vines and young tree shoots.
+
+All mounted. The White Gazelle allowed her comrades to pass, and managed
+to remain a little in the rear. Then, approaching Red Cedar, she looked
+at him in a peculiar way, and laid her dainty hand on his shoulder.
+
+"Tell me, scalp hunter," she muttered, in a low and concentrated voice,
+"it is really Don Miguel de Zarate, the father of Don Pablo, whom you
+wish to crush?"
+
+"Yes, senorita," the squatter answered, feigning astonishment at this
+question. "Why do you ask me that?"
+
+"Nothing," she said, with a shrug of her shoulders; "merely an idea."
+
+And, spurring her horse, which bounded forward with a snort of pain, she
+rejoined the band, which started at a long trot.
+
+"Why does she take such interest in Don Pablo?" Red Cedar asked himself,
+so soon as he was alone. "I must know that! Perhaps it may help me
+to--"
+
+A sinister smile curled the corners of his thin lips, and he added, as
+he watched the girl gallop on--
+
+"You fancy your secret well kept. Poor fool! I shall soon know it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE APACHES.
+
+
+The little band galloped silently through one of those primitive
+landscapes which owe nothing to art, and whose imposing and grand aspect
+makes us understand the infinite power of the Creator, and plunges the
+soul into a gentle reverie. It was one of those fresh, but lovely autumn
+mornings, on which travelling is so pleasant. The sun, gently rising in
+the horizon, spread its vivifying heat over nature, which seemed smiling
+on it. When you look around you in the valleys, all seemed spotted with
+white and blackish gray. The hills bore on their crests enormous
+mushrooms of granite, which affected the quaintest shapes. The soil of
+these hills was grayish white, and was only covered with a few faded
+plants already in seed.
+
+In the plain the vegetation was yellow; here and there in the distance a
+few male buffaloes were scattered over the prairie like black dots. The
+flying locusts, some with brown wings, but the majority of a light
+yellow colour, were so numerous, that they literally covered the earth at
+certain spots.
+
+At a slight distance off rose the lofty Bears-hand mountain, whose crest
+was already covered by a slight layer of snow. The crows formed vast
+circles in the air, and the buffaloes, elks, asshatas, and bighorns ran
+and bounded in every direction, bellowing and lowing.
+
+The pirates, insensible to the charms of the scenery, and having no
+other moving principle than greed, galloped in the direction of the
+village of the Buffalo tribe, of which Stanapat (the handful of blood)
+was the Sachem, gradually approaching the banks of the Gila, which was
+still invisible, but whose course could now soon be traced, owing to the
+mass of vapour that rose from its bosom, and floated majestically over
+it, incessantly drawn up by the sunbeams.
+
+Toward midday the band stopped to let the horses breathe, but, owing to
+the impatience of Red Cedar, and specially of the White Gazelle, soon
+started again. After descending a very steep hill, and marching for some
+distance in a deep ravine, that formed a species of canyon, the band at
+length debouched on the banks of the Gila.
+
+A strange spectacle was the result: on both sides the stream a number of
+Indians apparently encamped at the spot, although their village stood a
+little distance off at the top of a hill, in accordance with the fashion
+of the Pueblos, to convert their habitations into little fortresses,
+were running and seeking in every direction, shrieking, gesticulating,
+and making the most fearful disturbances.
+
+So soon as they perceived strangers advancing in a straight line toward
+them, and not attempting to conceal themselves, but marching in perfect
+order, they uttered frenzied yells, and rushed to meet them, brandishing
+their weapons, and making ready for a fight.
+
+"Confound it!" said Sandoval, "the Indians do not seem in a good temper.
+Perhaps we do wrong in accosting them at this moment: from their present
+appearance they may play us a trick, so we will keep on our guard."
+
+"Bah! Let me act. I take everything on myself," Red Cedar answered, with
+assurance.
+
+"I ask for nothing better, my friend," Sandoval remarked; "do exactly
+what you please; deuce take me if I try to interfere. _Caray_, I know
+those demons too well to get into trouble with them rashly."
+
+"Very good! That is agreed; do not trouble yourself any further."
+
+At a sign from Red Cedar the Pirates stopped, waiting impatiently what
+was going to happen, and resolved, at any rate, with that brutal egotism
+characteristic of scamps of that sort, to remain unmoved spectators.
+The squatter, not displaying the slightest trepidation, threw back his
+rifle on its sling, and taking off his buffalo robe which he waved
+before him, advanced towards the Apaches.
+
+The latter, seeing the strangers halt with their hands on their guns,
+and this man advancing alone as ambassador, hesitated for a moment.
+They formed a group, and consulted; after a hurried deliberation, two
+men moved forward, and also waving their buffalo robes, stood about ten
+paces in front of the hunter.
+
+"What does my brother want of the warriors of my nation?" one of the
+Indians said, in a haughty voice; "Does he not know that the hatchet has
+been dug up between the palefaces and redskins, or has he brought us his
+scalp, to save us the trouble of going to fetch it?"
+
+"Is my brother a chief?" the Pirate answered, displaying no emotion.
+
+"I am a chief," the Indian replied--"my brothers call me Black Cat."
+
+"Very good," Red Cedar continued. "I will therefore answer my brother
+that I have known for a long time that the hatchet has been dug up for a
+long time between the 'Great hearts of the East' and the Apaches. As for
+my scalp, I am weak enough to set an enormous value on it, gray as it
+is, and I have no intention of letting it be raised."
+
+"In that case my brother acted very imprudently in coming to deliver
+himself up."
+
+"The future will prove the truth of that. Will my brother hear the
+propositions I am commissioned to make him?"
+
+"My brother can speak, but he must be brief, for my sons are impatient."
+
+"What I have to say only concerns Black Cat."
+
+"My ears are open."
+
+"I have come to offer my brother the help of my comrades and my
+own--that is to say, the eleven best rifles in the prairie. By the
+council fire, I will explain to the chiefs what we can do to deliver
+them from their implacable enemy, Bloodson."
+
+"Bloodson is a cowardly dog," the chief answered; "the Indian women
+despise him. My brother has spoken well, but the whites have a forked
+tongue: what proof will my brother give me of his sincerity?"
+
+"This," the Pirate intrepidly answered, as he approached near enough to
+touch the Indian, "I am Red Cedar, the scalp hunter."
+
+"Wah!" the chief said, his eyes flashing.
+
+The squatter continued, without displaying any emotion--
+
+"I have to avenge myself on Bloodson--to succeed in it I have come to
+you, who, till this day, have been my enemies, and on whom I have
+inflicted so many injuries, and I place myself in your hands, with my
+comrades, frankly and unreservedly, bringing you as proof of my
+sincerity a skin full of firewater, three plugs of tobacco, and two
+female buffalo-robes, white as the snows of the Bears-hand. My brother
+will decide--I await his answer."
+
+The Indians, who display extraordinary temerity, are good judges of
+courage. A bold action always pleases them, even from an enemy; on the
+other hand, a present of firewater makes them forget the deepest
+insults.
+
+In the meanwhile Black Cat consulted for some minutes with the chief who
+accompanied him. After a very long discussion, cupidity doubtless gained
+the victory in the Apache's mind over the desire for vengeance, as his
+countenance brightened up, and he held out his hand to the squatter,
+saying--
+
+"The chiefs of my tribe will smoke the calumet with my brother and his
+companions."
+
+Then, taking off his cap of antelope hide, adorned with feathers, he
+placed it himself on Red Cedar's head, adding--"My brother is now
+sacred; he and his companions can follow me without fear--no insult will
+be offered them."
+
+The Pirates had anxiously watched the phases of this conversation.
+Though too far off to overhear it, they followed all the gestures of the
+speakers. When Black Cat placed his cap on their comrade's head, they
+immediately advanced, without waiting for him to give them the signal.
+They knew that from this moment they had nothing to fear; but, on the
+contrary, they would be treated with the greatest respect and utmost
+consideration by all the members of the tribe.
+
+A strange fact, worthy of remark, is the way in which the American races
+understand and practice hospitality. The most ferocious tribes, and
+those most addicted to pillage, respect in the highest degree the
+stranger who takes a seat at their fire. This man may have killed one of
+the members of the family which shelters him; he may have the most
+precious articles about him, and be alone, but no one will dare to
+insult him; everyone will strive to do him all sorts of services, and
+supply him with everything that may be useful to him, reserving the
+right of mercilessly killing him a week later, if they meet him on the
+prairie.
+
+The Pirates were, consequently, received with open arms by the Apaches;
+a tent was put up expressly for them, and they were supplied with
+everything they could want.
+
+The first care of Red Cedar was to carry out his bargain with Black Cat,
+and pay him what he had promised. The chief was delighted; his little
+eyes sparkled like carbuncles, he leaped, gesticulated, and was half out
+of his mind. The squatter had paid him a royal ransom, which he was far
+from expecting ever to receive. Hence he did not leave his new friend
+again, whom he overwhelmed with attentions.
+
+When the Pirates had rested and had their food, Red Cedar turned to
+Black Cat.
+
+"When the council assembles," he said, "I will point out to the chief
+the spot where Bloodson now is."
+
+"My brother knows it?"
+
+"I suspect it."
+
+"In that case I will warn the _hachesto_, that he may assemble the
+chiefs round the council fire."
+
+"Why not light the fire here, instead of returning to the village, which
+will occasion a great loss of time?"
+
+"My brother is right," the chief answered.
+
+He rose, and immediately quitted the tent. A few moments after, the
+hachesto of the hill mounted a species of hillock, and shaking his
+_chichikoui_ with all his strength, invited the chiefs of the nation to
+assemble in council. The same announcement was made in the camp on the
+other side of the Gila.
+
+An hour later, the principal Apache chiefs were crouching round the
+council fire, lit in the prairie at a short distance from the tent of
+the white men.
+
+At the moment when Black Cat rose and was preparing to utter a few
+words, probably with the intention of explaining the reason of the
+meeting, a great noise was heard, and a mounted Indian galloped up,
+shouting--
+
+"The Buffaloes! Stanapat, Stanapat!"
+
+Another Indian arriving at equal speed from the opposite direction,
+shouted at the same time:
+
+"The Siksekai! The Siksekai!"
+
+"Here are our allies," Black Cat then said; "my sons will prepare to
+receive them."
+
+The council was broken up. The warriors hurriedly assembled, formed in
+two large bands, flanked on the wings by horsemen, and ranged themselves
+for battle in the two directions indicated by the scouts.
+
+The war detachment of the Buffaloes appeared descending a hill, and
+advancing in good order. It was composed of about five hundred warriors,
+perfectly armed and painted for war, and looking most martial.
+
+A detachment of the Siksekai of about equal strength appeared
+immediately after, marching in good order.
+
+So soon as the four Indian bands saw each other, they uttered their war
+cry, discharged their muskets and brandished their lances, while the
+horsemen, starting at full speed, executed the most singular evolutions,
+rushing on each other as if charging, turning and curvetting round the
+detachments which marched on at quick step, singing, shouting, firing
+their guns, rattling their chichikouis, blowing their shells, and
+incessantly sounding their war whistles.
+
+There was something really imposing in the aspect of these savage
+warriors, with their stern faces, clothed in fantastic costumes, and
+covered with feathers and hair, which the wind blew in every direction.
+
+When the four parties arrived at a short distance from each other, they
+stopped and the noise ceased. Then the principal chiefs, holding in
+their hand the totem of their tribe, left the ranks, followed by the
+pipe-bearer, carrying a great sacred calumet; they walked a few paces
+toward each other, and planted the totem on their right.
+
+The pipe-bearers filled the calumets, lighted them, bowed to the four
+cardinal points, and handed them in turn to the chief, while holding the
+bowls in their hands, and being careful that no one was passed over.
+
+This preliminary ceremony accomplished, the principal sorcerer of the
+Buffaloes placed himself between the totems, and turned to the sun.
+
+"Home of light!" he said, "thou who vivifiest everything in nature,
+servant and visible representative of the Great Invisible Spirit who
+governs the world which he has created, thy children long separated are
+assembling today to defend their villages and hunting grounds, unjustly
+and incessantly attacked by men without faith or country, whom Niang,
+the Spirit of Evil, has let loose upon them. Smile on their efforts, O
+Sun, and grant them the scalps of their enemies! Grant that they be
+victorious, and accept this offering made thee by thy most fervent
+adorer, to render thee favourable to thy sons, and make thy Apache
+children invincible!"
+
+While uttering these words, he seized a light stone axe hanging at his
+girdle, and placing his left arm on a rock, laid open his wrist with one
+blow.
+
+The blood poured profusely from this horrible wound; but the sorcerer,
+impassive and apparently insensible to pain, drew himself up with an eye
+flashing with enthusiasm and religious fanaticism, and shaking his arm
+in every direction, sprinkled the chiefs with his blood, while shouting
+in a loud voice:
+
+"Sun, Sun, grant us our enemies, as I have given thee my hand!"
+
+All the Indians repeated the same prayer.
+
+The yells recommenced, and in an instant the redskins, seized with a
+spirit of frenzy, rushed upon each other, brandishing their weapons to
+the sound of the chichikouis and war whistles, and imitating all the
+evolutions of a real battle.
+
+The sorcerer, still stoical, wrapped up his mutilated arm in grass, and
+retired with a slow and measured step, saluted on his passage by the
+Indians whom his action had electrified. When the tumult was slightly
+calmed, the chiefs assembled for the second time round the council fire,
+whose circle had been enlarged to make room for the allies.
+
+The newly arrived warriors were mingled with those of Black Cat, and the
+greatest cordiality prevailed among those ferocious men, whose number
+amounted at this moment to nearly two thousand, and who only dreamed of
+blood, murder, and pillage.
+
+"Confederate sachems of the powerful nation of the Apaches," Stanapat
+said, "you know the cause which once again draws us up arms in hand
+against the perfidious white men. It is, therefore, useless to enter
+into details you know; still, I believe, that since the hatchet has been
+dug up, we ought to use it till it is completely blunted. The palefaces
+daily invade our territory more and more; they respect none of our laws;
+they kill us like wild beasts. Let us forget our personal habits for an
+instant, to combine against the common foe, that Bloodson, whom the
+genius of evil has created for our ruin. If we can manage to remain
+united, we shall exterminate him, for we shall be the stronger! When we
+have conquered, we will share the spoils of our enemy. I have spoken."
+
+Stanapat sat down again, and Black Cat rose in his turn. "We are
+unanimous enough to commence the war with advantage; within a few days
+other auxiliaries will have found us. Why wait longer? Ten white hunters
+of the prairies, our allies, offer to surrender to us the den of the
+long knives of the East, in which they tell me they have friends. What
+do we wait for? Let us utter our war cry and start at once; any delay
+may be deadly for us, by giving our enemies time to prepare a desperate
+resistance, against which all our efforts will be broken. Let my
+brothers reflect. I have spoken."
+
+"My brother has spoken well," Stanapat answered; "we must fall like
+lightning on our enemy, who will be terrified by an unexpected attack;
+but we should not be imprudent. Where are the white hunters?"
+
+"Here," Black Cat replied.
+
+"I ask," the sachem continued, "that they be heard by the council."
+
+The other chiefs bowed their heads in assent, and Black Cat rose and
+went to the Pirates, who were impatiently awaiting the result of the
+deliberation of the sachems.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+BLACK CAT.
+
+
+In order to understand the ensuing incidents, we are compelled to return
+to the maidens whom we left at the moment when they escaped from Red
+Cedar's camp, escorted by the Canadian hunters.
+
+The fugitives stopped a few moments before sunrise on a little tongue of
+sand forming a species of promontory a few yards in length on the waters
+of Gila, which were rather deep at this point, whence the river or
+prairie could be surveyed.
+
+All was calm and tranquil in the desert. The impetuous Gila rolled along
+its yellowish stream between two banks clothed with wood and thick
+chaparral. Amid the dark green branches thousands of birds were striking
+up a concert, with which was mingled at intervals the lowing of the
+buffaloes.
+
+The first care of the hunters was to kindle a fire and prepare the
+morning meal, while their hobbled horses nibbled the young tree shoots.
+
+"Why breakfast already, Harry?" Ellen asked, "When we have been
+travelling hardly four hours."
+
+"We do not know what await us in an hour, Miss Ellen," the hunter
+answered; "hence we must profit by the moment of respite Providence
+grants us to restore our strength."
+
+The maiden let her head droop. The meal was soon ready, and when it was
+over they remounted and the flight commenced.
+
+All at once, a shrill and peculiar whistle was heard in the tall grass,
+and some forty Indians, as if emerging from the ground, surrounded the
+party. At the first moment, Ellen fancied that these men were the Coras
+warriors Eagle-wing was to bring up; but the illusion lasted a very
+short while, and a glance sufficed for them to recognise Apaches.
+
+Dona Clara, at first alarmed by this unexpected attack, almost
+immediately regained her coolness, and saw that any resistance was
+impossible.
+
+"You would sacrifice yourselves in vain for me," she said to the
+Canadians; "leave me temporarily in the hands of these Indians, whom I
+fear less than Red Cedar's gambusinos. Fly, Ellen--fly, my friends."
+
+"No!" the American girl exclaimed, passionately; "I will die with you,
+my friend."
+
+"The two women will follow us, as well as the paleface hunters," one of
+the Indians commanded.
+
+"For what purpose?" Dona Clara asked, softly.
+
+At a sign from the chief, two men seized the young Mexican lady, and
+tied her to her horse, though not employing any violence.
+
+With a movement swifter than thought, Harry lifted Ellen from her
+saddle, threw her across his horse's neck, and trying a desperate
+effort, threw himself, followed by Dick, into the thick of the redskins.
+Employing their rifles like clubs, they began felling the Apaches. There
+was, for a moment, a terrible contest, but at length Harry succeeded,
+after desperate efforts, in forcing his way, and set off at full speed,
+bearing with him Red Cedar's daughter, who had fainted from terror.
+
+Less lucky than he, Dick, after felling two or three Indians, was hurled
+from his horse, and nailed to the ground by a lance. The young man, in
+falling, cast a despairing glance at her whom he had been unable to
+save, and for whom he died. An Indian leaped on his body, raised his
+scalp, and brandished it, all blood dripping, with cries of ferocious
+laughter, before the eyes of Dona Clara, who was half dead with terror
+and pain. The redskins then started at a gallop, carrying off their prey
+with them.
+
+The Indians are not in the habit now-a-days of ill-treating their
+prisoners as they used to do, especially if they are women. Hence Dona
+Clara's abductors had not made her endure any unkind treatment.
+
+These Indians formed part of an Apache war party, about one hundred
+strong, and commanded by a renowned chief, called Black Cat. All these
+warriors were well armed, and mounted on handsome and good horses.
+
+Immediately after capturing the maiden, they started at a gallop across
+the prairie for nearly six hours, in the hope of outstripping any party
+that might start in pursuit, and toward nightfall they halted on the
+banks of the Gila. At this spot the river flowed majestically between
+two escarped banks, bordered by lofty rocks carved in the strangest
+fashion. The ground was still covered by a grass at least three feet
+high, and a few clumps of trees scattered over the plain agreeably
+diversified the landscape, which was enlivened by flocks of buffaloes,
+elks, and bighorns, which could be seen feeding in the distance.
+
+The Indians raised their tents on a hill, from the top of which a very
+extensive view could be enjoyed. They lit several fires, and prepared to
+pass the night in waiting for the other warriors to join them. Dona
+Clara was placed by herself in a tent of buffalo skins, in which a fire
+was lighted, as at this advanced season the nights are cold in the Far
+West.
+
+Accustomed to desert life, and familiarised with Indian customs, Dona
+Clara would have patiently supported her position, had it not been for
+the thought of the misfortunes which had so long crushed her, and of her
+father's fate of which she was ignorant.
+
+Seated on buffalo skins by the fire, she had just finished eating a few
+mouthfuls of roast elk, washed down with smilax water, and was
+reflecting deeply on the strange and terrible events which had marked
+this day, when the curtain of the tent was raised, and Black Cat
+appeared.
+
+The chief was a man of lofty stature. He was upwards of sixty years of
+age, but his hair was still black. He enjoyed in his tribe a reputation
+for courage and wisdom, which he justified in every respect. A cloud of
+sorrow veiled his naturally soft and placid features. He walked slowly
+in, and took a seat by the side of Dona Clara, whom he regarded for some
+moments with interest.
+
+"My daughter is afflicted," he said, "she is thinking of her father, her
+heart is with her family; but my daughter will take courage, and not be
+cast down. Natosh (God) will come to her, and dry her tears."
+
+The young Mexican shook her head sadly, but made no reply; the chief
+continued--
+
+"I also suffer: a cloud is very heavy on my mind. The paleface warriors
+of her nation wage an obstinate war with us, but I know the way to make
+them assume the feet of antelopes, to fly far from our hunting grounds.
+Tomorrow, on reaching the village of my tribe, I will have recourse to a
+great medicine. My daughter will console herself; no harm will happen to
+her among us; I will be her father."
+
+"Chief," Dona Clara answered, "lead me back to Santa Fe, and I promise
+you my father will give you as many rifles, powder, bullets, and looking
+glasses as you like to ask of him."
+
+"That is not possible; my daughter is too precious a hostage for me to
+think of surrendering her. My daughter must forget the whites, whom she
+will never see again, and prepare to become the wife of a chief."
+
+"I!" the maiden exclaimed in terror, "Become the wife of an Indian?
+Never!--make me undergo all the tortures you please to inflict on me,
+instead of condemning me to such a punishment."
+
+"My daughter will reflect," Black Cat answered, "of what does the White
+Lily of the Valley complain? We are only doing to her what has been done
+to us frequently--that is the law of the prairies."
+
+Black Cat rose, giving Dona Clara a mingled glance of tenderness and
+pity, and slowly left the tent.
+
+After his departure the poor girl fell into a state of utter
+prostration; the horror of her position appeared before her in all its
+truth.
+
+The night passed then for her, weeping and sobbing, alone, amid the
+laughter and songs of the Apaches, who were celebrating the arrival of
+the warriors of their detachment.
+
+The next morning, at daybreak, the warriors started again, several men
+watching the movements of the prisoner; but Black Cat kept aloof from
+her.
+
+The Indians marched along the Gila, through a yellowish prairie.
+Gloomy lines of chaparral, intersected by trees, whose red or
+grayish-brown colour contrasted with the yellow frondage of the poplars,
+bordered the road; on the horizon rose grand hills of a whitish grey,
+covered with patches of coloured grass and dark green cedar.
+
+The band undulated like an immense serpent in this grand desert,
+proceeding towards the village, whose approaches could already be
+detected by the mephitic miasmas, exhaling from scaffoldings, seen in
+the distance, on which the Indians keep their dead, and let them
+decompose, and dry in the sun, instead of burying them.
+
+At about two o'clock the warriors entered the village, amid the shouts
+of inhabitants, and the sound of the chichikouis, mingled with the
+furious barking of the dogs.
+
+This village, built on the top of a hill, formed a tolerably regular
+circle. It was a considerable number of earth huts, built without order
+or symmetry. Wooden palisades, twelve feet high, served it as ramparts,
+and at equal distances four bastions of earth supplied with loopholes,
+and covered inside and outside with intertwined willow branches,
+completed the system of defence. In the centre of the village was a
+vacant space, of about forty feet in diameter, in the centre of which
+was the "ark of the first man," a species of small round cylinder,
+formed of wide planks, four feet high, round which creepers twined. To
+the west of the spot we have just described was the medicine lodge,
+where the festivals and religious rites of the Apaches were celebrated.
+A mannikin made of animal skins, with a wooden head, painted black, and
+wearing a fur cap, decorated with plumes, was fixed on a tall pole, to
+represent the spirit or genius of evil. Other quaint figures of the same
+nature were dispersed in various squares of the village, and were
+offerings made to the lord of life.
+
+Between the huts was a great number of several storied scaffoldings, on
+which the maize, wheat, and vegetables of the tribe were drying.
+
+Black Cat ordered Dona Clara to be conducted to a _calli_ he had
+inhabited for a long time, and whose position, in the centre of the
+village, offered sufficient guarantee for the security of the prisoner.
+He then went to prepare himself for the great magical conjuration, by
+which he hoped to destroy the palefaces, his enemies.
+
+When Dona Clara found herself alone, she fell despondingly on a pile of
+leaves, and burst into tears. The cabin serving her as a prison was like
+all the rest in the village; it was round, and slightly arched at the
+top; the entrance was protected by a species of porch, closed with a
+dried skin, stretched on the cross sticks. In the centre of the roof was
+an orifice, intended to let the smoke out, and covered with a sort of
+rounded cap made of sticks and branches. The interior of the hut was
+large, clean, and even rather light.
+
+The mode of building these abodes is extremely simple. They consist of
+eleven to fifteen stakes, four or five feet in length, between which
+shorter ones are placed very closely together. Upon the higher poles
+rest long beams, inclining to the centre, and which, placed very close
+to each other, support the roof. Externally, they are covered with a
+sort of trellis work, made of branches, fastened together with bark;
+straw is laid over them, and earth on the top of that again.
+
+The maiden, although she was so wearied, did not feel the slightest
+inclination to repose on the bed prepared for her. It was formed of a
+long parchment box, with a square entrance; the interior was lined with
+several bears' skins, on which she could have stretched herself
+comfortably, but she preferred crouching in the centre of the hut, near
+the hole in which the fire, lit to protect her from the cold, was on the
+point of expiring.
+
+Toward midnight, at the moment when, despite her firm resolution to keep
+awake, she was beginning to doze, Dona Clara heard a slight sound at the
+entrance of her hut. She ran hastily, and by the dying flashes of the
+fire, perceived an Indian warrior.
+
+It was Eagle-wing. The maiden suppressed with difficulty a cry of joy at
+the sudden appearance of the Coras Chief. The latter laid a finger on
+his lip; then, after looking scrutinisingly around, he walked up to the
+maiden, and said in a voice soft as a sigh:
+
+"Why did not the Lily follow the road laid down Eagle-wing? Instead of
+being at this hour the prisoner of the Apache dogs, the pale virgin
+would be by her father's side."
+
+At this remark a heart-rending sob burst from Dona Clara's bosom, and
+she hid her face in her hands.
+
+"The Apaches are cruel, they sell women. Does my sister know the fate
+that threatens her?"
+
+"Too well, alas!"
+
+"What will my sister the Lily do?" the Indian asked.
+
+"What I will do?" the Mexican girl answered, her eye suddenly gleaming
+with a dark flash; "A daughter of my race will never be the slave of an
+Apache; if my father will give me his knife, he will see whether I fear
+death."
+
+"It is well," the sachem continued; "my sister is brave; great courage
+and cunning will be needed to succeed in what I am about to attempt."
+
+"What does my brother mean?" the maiden asked, with a lively movement of
+hope.
+
+"My sister will listen; the moments are precious; has the Lily
+confidence in me?"
+
+Dona Clara looked the Indian in the face; she regarded his honest
+countenance for a moment, then, seizing the warrior's hand and pressing
+it in hers, said warmly:
+
+"Yes, yes, I have confidence in you, Eagle-wing; speak, what do you ask
+of me?"
+
+"To save you, I, an Indian, am about to betray the men of my race," the
+sachem proceeded sadly; "I do not say this to heighten the value of my
+deed, sister; I will restore you to your father. Tomorrow Black Cat will
+undergo, in the presence of the whole tribe, the great medicines of the
+sweating cabin, in order that Bloodson may fall into his hands with all
+the warriors he commands."
+
+"I know it."
+
+"My sister will be present at the ceremony. She must pay attention to my
+slightest signs, but, above all, must be careful that none of the Apache
+warriors notice the glances she exchanges with me, or we shall both be
+lost. Till tomorrow."
+
+Then, bowing with a respect blended with tenderness, Eagle-wing left the
+calli. Dona Clara fell on her knees, clasped her trembling hands, and
+addressed a fervent prayer to Heaven. Without, the barking of the dogs
+could be heard, mingled with the howls of the coyotes, and the measured
+steps of the Apache warriors watching the hut.
+
+Moukapec was one of the sentinels.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE GREAT MEDICINE.
+
+
+Before going further we will give some indispensable information
+respecting the Pueblos Indians, who are destined to play a great part in
+this story, which, we believe, through its novelty, will interest the
+reader.
+
+These Indians hold the centre between the redskins of North America, and
+that race of Toltecs, on whom were grafted all the branches whose
+amalgamation composes the great indigenous nation of Mexico. Though
+living chiefly by trade and agriculture, they have not resigned all
+their warlike tastes.
+
+The Pueblos are established all along the northern line of Mexico, the
+principal tribes being the Navajos, Apaches, Yutas, Caignas, and
+Comanches. The Apaches differ a little from the redskins properly so
+called, with whom they have a common character, however; and so do the
+Comanches.
+
+The latter tribe is the most redoubtable in the desert, and calls itself
+proudly the Queen of the Prairies. The Comanches alone of all the
+Indians have managed to shield themselves from a taste for strong
+liquors, which are so pernicious to the red race. The Comanches possess
+a haughty and independent character, as the reader will be enabled to
+judge in the progress of our story. We will only mention here one of
+their customs, which will be sufficient to let them be appreciated at
+their full value.
+
+Polygamy is allowed among the Comanches; each chief has six, eight or
+ten wives; but, among this people a marriage is arranged neither by soft
+words nor presents; the Comanche warrior reaches a surer and more solemn
+pledge. This is how he acts:
+
+So soon as he fancies himself beloved by a woman, he kills one of his
+horses, plucks out its heart, and nails it all bleeding to the door of
+the girl he is courting. She takes it down, roasts it, and then divides
+it equally, giving one half to her lover, eating the other herself, and
+the marriage is concluded.
+
+Up to the present, none have been able to enslave this nation, which is
+the terror of all the Mexican frontiers. After this explanation, we will
+go on with our story.
+
+Dona Clara was aroused at an early hour by the sound of the chichikouis
+and other Indian instruments, with which was incessantly mingled the
+barking of the countless pack of dogs that always accompanies the
+redskins. At sunrise Black Cat entered the prisoner's cabin, and, after
+bowing to her, told her in his honeyed voice, while gazing eagerly at
+her, that he was about to make the great medicine of the Bah-oh-akan-es,
+in order to obtain from the Master of Life the surrender of his enemy
+into his hands; and that if, instead of remaining alone with her grief,
+she desired to witness the ceremony, she could follow him.
+
+The young Mexican, not wishing the chief to notice the delight she
+experienced at this proposal, appeared to submit, and not to accept his
+offer.
+
+The whole population of the village was astir, the women and children
+running in all directions, uttering deafening yells. Even the warriors
+and old men seemed to have forgotten the Indian stoicism. In a few
+minutes the village was deserted, so eager were all to proceed to a vast
+plain running along the banks of the Gila, where the great medicine
+talisman was to be accomplished.
+
+Black Cat, cunning as he was, was deceived by the apparent weakness of
+his prisoner, and her feigned despondency. After giving her a piercing
+glance to assure himself that she was not playing with him, he made her
+a sign to leave the hut and mix with the aged women, who, like all the
+rest, wished to witness the ceremony; and he then retired, without
+having the slightest suspicion.
+
+Dona Clara placed herself at the foot of a tree, whose tufted branches
+bent over the river; and there, with palpitating heart, restless mind,
+and eye and ears on the watch, she impatiently awaited the hour of her
+deliverance, although feigning to be attracted by all that went on
+around her.
+
+The Indians had built a small hut, covered externally with buffalo
+robes, and having a low and narrow door. In order to reach this hut, a
+path forty feet long and one wide had been traced, crossing the village
+road at right angles. The grass had been torn up all along this path,
+and collected at its termination opposite the hut. Forty pair of
+moccasins had also been placed, one behind the other, in two rows, all
+the extent of the path.
+
+By the side of the mound of grass burned a fire, in which the flat
+stones were heated. When they were red hot, they were carried into the
+hut, and placed on a hearth made for the purpose.
+
+The entire population of the village, with the exception of a few women,
+whom their age kept apart, were seated along the two sides of the path,
+with a large number of dishes of Indian corn, broth, grease, and meat
+before them. The sorcerer was standing on the mound of grass.
+
+At a signal he rose, and proceeded to the sweating lodge, being careful
+always to place his feet on the moccasins. At the door of the lodge
+Black Cat was standing, naked to the waist. The sorcerer, after
+remaining a few minutes in the lodge, came out again, holding a cutlass
+in his hand. He walked silently towards Black Cat, who, on seeing him,
+rose and stretched his left hand, saying:
+
+"I gladly give the first joint of the forefinger of this hand to Natosh,
+if he will surrender my enemy to me, and allow me to lift his scalp."
+
+"Natosh has heard thee: he accepts," the sorcerer replied, laconically.
+
+With a blow of his cutlass he cut off the joint, which he threw over his
+head, uttering some mysterious words; while Black Cat, apparently
+insensible to the pain, continued his prayers. This operation
+terminated, the sorcerer took a rod made of willow branches and fastened
+by the tail of a prairie wolf: he dipped it in each of the dishes, and
+scattered the contents in the direction of the four winds, while
+invoking the Lord of life, fire, water, and air. These dishes, which no
+one had yet touched, were then divided among the spectators, who
+devoured them in a twinkling.
+
+After this, the oldest warriors entered the medicine lodge: the women
+carefully covered them, and threw over the red-hot stones water which
+they drew from the sacred vessels, with sprigs of wormwood. After this
+ceremony, all the inhabitants began dancing round the hut, accompanying
+themselves with their chichikouis. During this time, he had placed on
+the pile of grass in front of the lodge, a buffalo head with its muzzle
+to the wind: then, taking a long pole covered with a brand new red
+blanket, which he offered to the Master of Life, he proceeded, followed
+by his relations and friends, to plant it before the sweating lodges.
+
+The songs and dances continued. The sounds of the chichikouis became
+more animated. A species of frenzy seemed to seize on all the Indians,
+and the old women, who, till this moment, had remained passive
+spectators of the ceremony, rushed in disorder towards the lodge,
+uttering loud yells, and mingled with the noisy crowd.
+
+Dona Clara remained alone at the foot of the tree, near the riverbank.
+No one paid any further attention to her. It seemed as if she had been
+forgotten in the general excitement. She took an anxious glance around:
+by a species of intuition she felt that the help she expected would
+arrive from the direction of the river. Carelessly and slowly, stooping
+every second to cull one of the charming flowers--something like our
+violets--which are the last to enamel the prairie, she approached the
+bank. All at once she felt herself pulled back by the skirt of her
+dress, and felt terribly alarmed. At the same time as this mysterious
+hand seized her, a voice whispered the simple words:
+
+"To the right, and stoop."
+
+The maiden guessed, rather than heard the words; but she obeyed without
+hesitation. Two minutes after, following a small path that opened before
+her, she found herself sheltered behind an enormous rock, on the
+riverbank. Two horses, saddled in the Indian fashion, were fastened to a
+picket near the rock. At a sign from Eagle-wing, Dona Clara leaped on to
+one of the horses, while the Indian bestrode the other.
+
+"Good," he said, in his sympathising voice; "brave heart!" And letting
+loose the bridles of both horses, he said:
+
+"Quicker than the storm!"
+
+The half-tamed mustangs started more rapidly than the wind, making the
+pebbles strike fire under their hoofs. It was broad day, the prairie
+extended for an enormous distance, flat, naked, and undiversified; and
+at only a few paces off, the whole population of the village would not
+fail soon to notice them. The position was most perilous and critical;
+the two fugitives knew it, and redoubled their ardour, boldly braving
+danger. All at once a yell of rage vibrated in the air.
+
+"Courage!" the chief said.
+
+"I have it," the girl replied, with clenched teeth, as she urged her
+horse to increased speed. "They shall never capture me alive."
+
+The Apaches, who had left their village for a religious festival, had
+not brought their arms with them, and their horses naturally remained in
+the stables. This was an hour's respite granted the fugitives.
+
+So soon as the Indians had perceived Dona Clara's flight, the ceremony
+was interrupted, and all rushed tumultuously toward the village, noisily
+demanding their weapons and horses. Within a few minutes the most active
+were in the saddle, and galloping in the traces of Dona Clara and
+Eagle-wing.
+
+The most celebrated European riders can form no idea of what a pursuit
+is on the prairies. The Indians are the finest horsemen in the world.
+Riveted to their steeds, which they squeeze and hold up between their
+nervous knees, they become identified with them, communicating their
+passions to them, as it were, by an electric fluid, and, like the
+Centaurs in the fable, they perform prodigies on horseback; rocks,
+ravines, hedges, currents--nothing stops or checks this furious race
+which is allied to madness: a living whirlwind, they fly through space
+with headlong speed, enveloped in a halo of dust.
+
+Two hours passed thus, and the fugitives, bent over their horses' necks,
+were unable to take a moment's rest. Their half-maddened steeds, with
+their coats white with foam, and bleeding nostrils, reeled with fatigue
+and terror; their trembling sinews scarce supported them, and yet, urged
+on by their riders, they devoured the space, guessing instinctively that
+the furious band of Indians was pursuing them at a short distance.
+
+Scarce a thousand yards separated the two parties. Black Cat, furious at
+having been cheated by a woman, was two horses' length in advance, and
+was followed by seven or eight Indians, whose horses, fresher than those
+of the others, had forged ahead. Eagle-wing turned round, and saw four
+warriors a hundred paces from him.
+
+"Forward!" he shouted to the maiden, as he struck her horse's croup with
+his whip; and it bounded forward, with a supreme effort, uttering a
+snort of pain.
+
+At the same time the Coras turned back, and rushing like lightning on
+his enemies, ere they had time to place themselves in a posture of
+defence, he discharged his rifle at them. An Apache fell dead. The
+sachem, whose horse was exhausted, felled a second foe with the butt of
+his gun; then, with extraordinary skill, he leaped onto the steed of the
+first warrior he had killed, caught the other by the bridle, and went
+off again, leaving the Apaches astounded by this act of boldness.
+
+Ten minutes later he rejoined Dona Clara, who had seen with a terror,
+mingled with admiration, the heroic action of her defender. The maiden,
+beneath her apparent weakness, concealed a thoroughly manly soul. With
+her cheeks slightly tinged, her eyebrows contracted, her teeth clenched,
+and animated by the fixed idea of escaping her ravishers, fatigue seemed
+to have no mastery over her. It was with a feeling of indescribable joy
+that she mounted the fresh steed the Indian brought her.
+
+Owing to Eagle-wing's bold stroke, the fugitives had a considerable
+advance on their pursuers; for the Apaches, as they came up to the spot
+where their two companions had been killed, leaped off their horses, and
+surrounded their corpses with lamentations.
+
+Eagle-wing understood that this flight could not last, and that sooner
+or later they must die or yield; he therefore altered his tactics.
+
+At a little distance from the spot where they now were the Gila was
+contracted; the river, reduced to a width of one hundred and fifty yards
+at the most, ran between two wooded hills.
+
+"We are lost," he hurriedly said to his companion, "if we continue to
+fly thus. A desperate resolve can alone save us."
+
+"Let us try it at all risks," the maiden answered, intrepidly, with
+quivering lip and flashing eye.
+
+"Come!" he continued.
+
+Dona Clara followed him without hesitation to the rugged bank of the
+river, when the warrior stopped.
+
+"There," he said, hoarsely, as he pointed with a gesture full of
+nobility to the Apaches coming up at full speed, "slavery, infamy, and
+death. Here," he continued, as he pointed to the river, "death, perhaps,
+but liberty."
+
+"Let us be free or die!" she replied.
+
+As we have said, the river ran between two elevated banks, and the
+fugitives were now standing like two equestrian statues on the top of a
+hillock twenty or five-and-twenty feet in height, from which they must
+throw themselves into the river, an enormous leap for the horses which
+ran a risk of being crushed in falling, and dragging their riders down
+with them. But any other means of flight had become impossible.
+
+The Apaches, spread all over the plain, had succeeded in surrounding the
+fugitives.
+
+"Has my sister decided?" the Indian asked.
+
+Dona Clara took a glance around her.
+
+The redskins, headed by Black Cat, were scarce one hundred and fifty
+yards distant.
+
+"Let us go, in Heaven's name," she said.
+
+"May Natosh protect us!" the Indian said.
+
+They energetically pressed the flanks of their horses, lifting them at
+the same moment, and the two noble animals leaped into the river,
+uttering a snort of terror. The Apaches arrived at this moment on the
+brow of the hill, and could not restrain a yell of disappointment and
+wrath at the sight of the desperate act.
+
+The waters had closed over the fugitives, sending up to heaven a cloud
+of spray, but the horses soon reappeared swimming vigorously toward the
+other bank. The Indians had halted on the hill, insulting by their yells
+and threats the victims who escaped by such a prodigy of daring. One of
+them, urged by his fury, and unable to pull up his horse in time,
+plunged into the Gila; but, having taken his precautions badly, the fall
+was mortal to the horse.
+
+The Indian slipped off, and began striking out for the bank. Instead of
+continuing his flight, as he should have done, Eagle-wing, impelled by
+that spirit of bravado natural to the redskins, re-entered the river
+without hesitation, and, at the moment when the Apache warrior
+reappeared on the surface, he bent over, seized him by his long hair,
+and buried his knife in his throat. Then, turning to his enemies, who
+watched with a shudder this terrible drama, he drew up the wretch to his
+saddle-bow, scalped him, and brandishing this sanguinary trophy with an
+air of triumph, he uttered his war yell.
+
+The Apaches poured a shower of bullets and arrows round the Coras
+Sachem, who, standing motionless in the middle of the river, still waved
+his horrible trophy. At length he turned his horse's head, and rejoined
+his companion, who was awaiting him timorously on the bank.
+
+"Let us go," he said, as he fastened the scalp to his waist belt. "The
+Apaches are dogs, who can do nought but bark."
+
+"Let us go," she replied, as she turned her head away in horror.
+
+At the moment when they started again without troubling themselves about
+their enemies, who, scattered along the other bank, were eagerly seeking
+a ford, Eagle-wing perceived a cloud of dust, which, on dissipating,
+permitted him to see a party of horsemen galloping up at lightning
+speed.
+
+"There is no hope left," he muttered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE SUCCOUR.
+
+
+We will leave Eagle-wing and Dona Clara for a moment, and return to
+Bloodson's Teocali.
+
+A few minutes before sunrise, Valentine awoke. "Up," he said to his
+companions, "it is the hour for starting."
+
+Don Pablo and Shaw opened their eyes and got ready; but Curumilla was
+not there.
+
+"Oh, oh," the hunter said; "the chief is up already, I fancy. Let us go
+down to the plain. We shall probably soon come across him."
+
+The three men left the grotto, and began, by the uncertain rays of the
+moon, sliding down the abrupt sides of the Teocali, leaving their
+comrades asleep. A few minutes later, they reached the plain, where
+Curumilla was waiting for them, holding four horses by the bridle.
+Valentine gave a start of surprise.
+
+"We had agreed to go on foot, chief," he said. "Have you forgotten
+that?"
+
+"No," the other replied, laconically.
+
+"Then, why the deuce did you saddle these horses, which are useless to
+us?"
+
+The Indian shook his head.
+
+"We shall be better on horseback," he said.
+
+"Still," Don Pablo observed, "I fancy that it's better to follow a trail
+on foot, as you said yourself yesterday, Don Valentine."
+
+The latter reflected for an instant; then, turning to the young man, he
+answered him with a significant toss of the head:
+
+"Curumilla is a prudent man. We have lived together for nearly fifteen
+years, and I have always found it best to follow his advice. Only once I
+wanted to have my own way, and then I all but lost my scalp. We will
+mount, Don Pablo. The chief has his reasons for acting as he is now
+doing, as the result will in all probability prove."
+
+The hunters leaped into the saddle, and, after a farewell glance at the
+Teocali, where their friends were resting, they let their horses feel
+the spur.
+
+"In what direction are we going?" Don Pablo asked.
+
+"Let us first gain the riverbank," Valentine answered. "So soon as we
+have got there, we shall see what we have to do. But, mind we do not
+separate; for in the darkness it will be almost impossible to find each
+other."
+
+On the prairies, the only roads that exist, and can be followed, are
+paths traced for ages by buffaloes, elks, and wild beasts. These paths
+form labyrinths; of which the Indians alone hold the thread; hunters,
+however well acquainted they may be with the prairies, only enter them
+with the utmost precautions. When they fancy they recognise a path, they
+will not leave it under any pretext, certain that if they Were so
+imprudent as to turn to the right or left, they would not fail to lose
+themselves, and have infinite difficulty in finding their road again.
+
+Valentine was, perhaps, the only white hunter on the prairies who, owing
+to the profound knowledge he possessed of the desert, could enter this
+maze with impunity. However, as all the paths inevitably lead to the
+banks of rivers, and this direction was the one the little party was to
+follow, Valentine's remark was only intended to moderate Don Pablo's
+ardour, and compel him to march at his side.
+
+After a hurried ride of two hours, the hunters at length found
+themselves on the banks of the Gila, which rolled its yellow and turbid
+waters along beneath them. At the moment when they reached the river,
+the sun rose majestically on the horizon in a mist of purpled clouds.
+
+"Let us stop here a moment," Valentine said, "in order to form our plan
+of action."
+
+"We do not need a long discussion for that." Don Pablo replied.
+
+"You think so?"
+
+"Hang it all, the only thing to be done, I fancy, is to follow Red
+Cedar's trail."
+
+"True: but to follow it we must first find it."
+
+"Granted: so let us look for it."
+
+"That is what we are about to do."
+
+At this moment furious yells were heard not far from them. The hunters,
+surprised, looked about them anxiously, and soon saw a band of Indians
+running in every direction along the river bank. These were not more
+than half a league distant.
+
+"Oh, oh," Valentine said, "what's the meaning of this?"
+
+"They are Apaches," Shaw remarked.
+
+"I can see that," the Frenchman said. "But what the deuce is the matter
+with those devils? On my honour, they seem mad."
+
+"Wah!" Curumilla suddenly exclaimed, who was also looking, though not
+speaking, as was his wont.
+
+"What's, the matter now?" Valentine asked, as he turned to the chief.
+
+"Look," the latter replied, as he stretched out his arm, "Dona Clara!"
+
+"What, Dona Clara!" the hunter exclaimed, with a start of surprise.
+
+"Yes," Curumilla observed, "my brother must look."
+
+"It is, in truth, Dona Clara," Valentine said after a minute; "what on
+earth can she be doing here?"
+
+And without caring for the Indians, who, on seeing him, would not fail
+to start in pursuit, he hurried at full gallop in the direction of the
+maiden. His comrades followed him; not caring for the width of the
+stream at this spot, they plunged in, resolved to reach the other bank,
+and fly to the help of the maiden, under a shower of arrows which the
+Indians fired at them, while uttering yells of rage at these new
+enemies, who rose as if by enchantment before them.
+
+Eagle-wing and Dona Clara were still flying, unheeding the shouts of the
+hunters; the horsemen the Coras had perceived were Apache warriors
+returning to their village from a buffalo hunt. Although they were
+ignorant of what had happened, the sight of their friends galloping
+along the river bank, and the two riders escaping at full speed,
+revealed the truth to them, that is to say, that prisoners had escaped,
+and warriors of their tribe were in pursuit of them.
+
+The river was soon crowded with Apache warriors, who crossed it to catch
+up with the fugitives. The pursuit was beginning to reassume alarming
+proportions for Eagle-wing and Dona Clara, in spite of the considerable
+advance they still had on their enemies.
+
+The Gila is one of the largest and most majestic rivers in the Far West;
+its course is winding and capricious--it is full of rapids, cataracts,
+and islets formed by the change of bed which it effects when, by an
+abundant overflow of water, it spreads far and wide over the country,
+inundating it for four or five leagues around.
+
+Eagle-wing had seen that the only chance of safety left him was not on
+the prairie, where he had, not a single covert to attempt a desperate
+resistance, but on one of those little islets of the Gila, whose rocks
+and thick scrubs would offer a temporary shelter, that could not be
+violated with impunity. His vagabond course had, therefore, no other
+object but to return to the river by a zigzag route.
+
+Valentine and his comrades had not lost one of the fugitive's movements;
+although they were themselves hotly pursued, they anxiously followed the
+incidents of this terrible struggle.
+
+"They are lost!" Don Pablo suddenly shouted. "That Indian is mad, on my
+soul. See, he is trying to turn back in this direction--it is running
+into the wolf's throat!"
+
+"You are mistaken," Valentine answered; "the tactics of that man are, on
+the contrary, extremely simple, and at the same time most clever. The
+Apaches have guessed them; for look, they are trying to cut him off from
+the river as far as they can."
+
+"'Tis true, by heavens!" Shaw said; "We must help that man in his
+manoeuvre."
+
+"That depends on ourselves," Valentine answered, quickly; "let us turn
+and suddenly attack the Apaches; perhaps that diversion will enable our
+friends to succeed."
+
+"Well, that is an excellent idea," remarked Don Pablo; "how wise it was
+of Curumilla to make us ride."
+
+"What did I say to you?" Valentine said with a smile. "Oh! the chief is
+an invaluable man."
+
+Curumilla smiled proudly, but maintained silence.
+
+"Are you ready to follow me and be killed, if necessary to save Dona
+Clara?" Valentine went on.
+
+"_Cascaras!_" the hunters answered.
+
+"Forward, then, in heaven's name! Each of us must be worth ten men!" the
+Frenchman shouted, as he suddenly turned his horse on its hind legs. The
+four men rushed at full speed on the Apaches, uttering a formidable
+yell. On arriving within range they discharged their rifles, and four
+Apaches fell.
+
+The Indians, intimidated by this sudden attack, which they were far from
+anticipating, dispersed in every direction to avoid the shock of their
+daring adversaries; then, collecting in a compact mass, they charged in
+their turn, uttering their war cry, and brandishing their weapons. But
+the hunters received them with a second discharge, which hurled four
+more Indians on the sand, and then started in different directions to
+collect again, one hundred and fifty yards further on.
+
+"Courage, my friends!" Valentine cried, "Those scoundrels do not know
+how to use their weapons; if we liked We could hold them in check the
+whole day."
+
+"That will not be necessary," Don Pablo remarked; "look there!"
+
+In fact, the fugitives, profiting by the moment's respite which the
+hunters' attack on the Apaches granted them, had reached an islet about
+one hundred yards in circumference, in the middle of the stream, where
+they were temporarily in safety.
+
+"It is now our turn," Valentine loudly shouted; "a final charge to drive
+those devils back, and then to the islet!"
+
+"Hurrah! Hurrah!" the hunters then shouted, and they rushed on the
+Apaches.
+
+There were a few minutes of hand-to-hand fighting, but the Apaches at
+length broke, and the hunters, freed by prodigies of valour, retreated to
+the riverbank, from which they were not more than twenty yards distant.
+The others plunged into the river, but suddenly Valentine's horse stood
+up, gave a prodigious bound, and fell back on its rider--the noble
+animal was literally riddled with arrows.
+
+The Apaches uttered a formidable yell of joy, on seeing one of their
+enemies rolling on the ground, and they rushed up to scalp him. But
+Valentine had risen to his feet immediately; kneeling behind the body of
+his horse, which he converted into a breastwork, he discharged at the
+Indians first his rifle, and then his pistols, being supported by the
+fire of the hunters, who had reached the islet.
+
+The Apaches, exasperated at being held in check by one man, rushed upon
+him, as if to crush him beneath their weight. Valentine, to whom his
+firearms were now useless, seized his rifle by the barrel, and employed
+it like a mace, falling back step by step, but always keeping his front
+to the enemy.
+
+By a prodigious chance, Valentine had not yet received a wound, save a
+few unimportant scratches, for the Indians were so close together that
+they could not use their arms for fear of wounding one another. But
+Valentine felt his strength deserting him, his ears buzzed, his temples
+throbbed as if bursting; a veil was gradually spread over his eyes, and
+his wearied arms only dealt uncertain blows.
+
+Human strength has its limits, and however great the energy and will of
+a man may be, the moment arrives when further fighting becomes
+impossible, his strength betrays his courage, and he is forced to
+confess himself vanquished.
+
+Valentine was reduced to this supreme point. His rifle broke in his
+hands; he was disarmed, and at the mercy of his ferocious enemies. All
+was over with the gallant Frenchman.
+
+But the hunters, whom the Indians had forgotten in the heat of the
+action, seeing the imminent peril of their companion, resolutely hurried
+to his aid. While Eagle-wing, Don Pablo, and Shaw attacked the Indians
+and compelled them to fall back, Curumilla carried off his friend on his
+shoulders.
+
+The contest began again, more obstinate and terrible than before, but,
+after extraordinary efforts, the hunters succeeded in regaining the
+islet, in spite of the stubborn resistance of the redskins.
+
+Valentine had fainted, and Curumilla carried him to a perfectly
+sheltered spot, and silently busied himself with recalling him to life.
+But fatigue alone had produced the hunter's syncope, so he soon reopened
+his eyes, and ten minutes later he was perfectly restored.
+
+When the Apaches saw their enemies in safety, they ceased a contest
+henceforth useless, and retired out of rifle range. The day passed
+without fresh incidents, and the hunters were able to intrench
+themselves as well as they could on the islet, which they had succeeded
+in reaching with so much toil.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+ON THE ISLAND.
+
+
+The sun had descended on the horizon, and darkness was invading the sky;
+ere long a dense veil of gloom was spread over the entire face of
+nature. The Indians seemed to have given up all idea of attacking the
+whites, but did not leave the riverbank; on the contrary, their number
+momentarily increased. On either bank of the Gila they had lit large
+fires, and put up their tents.
+
+The situation of the fugitives was far from reassuring; sheltered on an
+island, whence they could not escape without being seen by their
+vigilant enemies, their provisions were reduced to a few handfuls of
+maize boiled in water, and a little pemmican. Their ammunition consisted
+of twenty charges of powder at the most.
+
+The hunters lit no fire, for fear of letting the Apaches know the exact
+spot where they were; collected in the middle of the island in a dense
+thicket, they watched over Dona Clara, who, overwhelmed by the terrible
+emotions of the day, had yielded to sleep, and was lying on a bed of dry
+leaves.
+
+Valentine and his friends watched the movements of the enemy by the
+light of their bivouac fires. Opposite the island, and round a fire
+larger than the rest, several chiefs, among whom Black Cat could be
+clearly distinguished, appeared engaged in a lively discussion. At
+length, two men rose and advanced slowly to the water's edge; on
+reaching it, they took off their buffalo robes, raised them above their
+heads, and let them float in the breeze.
+
+"Do you see that?" Don Pablo said to Valentine. "The redskins wish to
+parley with us."
+
+"What the deuce can they have to say to us?" the hunter answered; "the
+demons must know in what extremities we are."
+
+"No matter. I fancy we shall do well by receiving them.
+
+"What does Eagle-wing think of it?" Valentine asked the Coras, who,
+crouched near them with his head resting on the palms of his hands, was
+reflecting deeply.
+
+"The Apaches are foxes without courage," the sachem answered; "let us
+hear what they want."
+
+"And you, _penni_, what is your opinion?" the hunter said, turning to
+Curumilla.
+
+"My brother is prudent," the Aucas Ulmen replied; "we can hear the
+propositions of the Apaches."
+
+"Well, as you all wish it, I consent; but I feel certain that no good
+will come of this interview."
+
+"Perhaps so," Shaw remarked.
+
+"That is not my opinion," Don Pablo said.
+
+"Koutonepi must not receive them here," Curumilla went on. "The Apache
+are very crafty; they have an extremely forked tongue, and the eyes of
+tiger cats."
+
+"That is true," said Valentine; "let us go and see what they want."
+
+He rose, making Curumilla a sign to follow him; and after assuring
+himself that his arms were in good condition, he walked to the end of
+the island. The Indians were still continuing their signals, and
+Valentine raised his hands to his mouth in the shape of a speaking
+trumpet.
+
+"What do the Buffalo Apaches want?" he shouted.
+
+"The chiefs have to speak with the palefaces, but they cannot hear them
+at such a distance. Will the palefaces promise them safety if the
+warriors come to them?"
+
+"Come," Valentine replied, "but mind, only two of you."
+
+"Good," the chief said, "two warriors will come."
+
+The Apaches consulted for an instant together, and then took from among
+the lofty grass in which it was concealed a light raft, which the
+hunters had not noticed, and prepared to gain the island.
+
+The whites awaited them, resting on their rifles, apparently careless,
+but anxiously watching the shrubs on the bank, behind which the Apache
+warriors were doubtless hidden, and watching them in their turn.
+
+The Indians landed and walked toward the hunters with all the etiquette
+prescribed by the law of the prairies. On seeing that the Indians were
+unarmed, Valentine handed his rifle to Don Pablo, who laid it a few
+paces behind him.
+
+"Good," Black Cat muttered, with a smile; "my brother acts loyally. I
+expected that from him."
+
+"Hum, chief!" Valentine answered, sharply; "Enough of compliments--what
+have you to say to me?"
+
+"My pale brother does not like to lose time in vain words," the Indian
+said; "he is a wise man. I bring him the propositions of the principal
+chiefs of the tribe."
+
+"Let us hear them, chief. If they are just, although we are not in so
+bad a position as you may suppose, we may possibly accept them, merely
+for the sake of saving bloodshed."
+
+"There are at this moment more than two hundred warriors assembled on
+the riverbank; tomorrow there will be five hundred. Now, as the
+palefaces have no canoes, as they are not otters to plunge unseen into
+the 'endless river,' or birds to soar in the air--"
+
+"What next?" Valentine interrupted him impertinently.
+
+"How will my brothers eat, when the little provision they have is
+exhausted? With what will my brothers defend themselves when they have
+burnt all their powder?"
+
+"I presume that is of little consequence to you, chief," the hunter
+answered, with ill-concealed impatience. "You did not ask the interview
+I have granted to talk nonsense, so I must ask you to come to facts."
+
+"I only wished to prove to my brother that we are well-informed, and
+know that the palefaces have no means of flight or safety. If, then, my
+brothers are willing, they can rejoin their nations, without being
+impeded by us in their retreat."
+
+"Ah, ah! And in what way, chief, if you please?"
+
+"By delivering to us immediately two persons who are here."
+
+"Only think of that! And who may these two persons be?"
+
+"The White Lily and the Coras Chief."
+
+"Listen, chief: if you took the trouble to come here in order to make me
+such a proposal, you were wrong to leave your comrades," Valentine said,
+with a grin.
+
+"My brother will reflect," the Apache said, with perfect calmness.
+
+"I never reflect when the question is the commission of an act of
+cowardice, chief," Valentine answered sharply. "We have known each
+other for a long time; many of your warriors have been sent by me to the
+happy hunting grounds. I have often fought against you, and never on the
+desert have you or your brothers had to reproach me with an action
+unworthy of an honest hunter."
+
+"That is true," the two chiefs answered, with a deferential bow; "my
+brother is beloved and esteemed by all the Apaches."
+
+"Thanks. Now listen to me: the maiden you call White Lily, and whom you
+made prisoner, is free by right and in fact, and you know very well that
+you have no right to ask her of me."
+
+"Several of our brothers, the most valiant warriors of our tribe, have
+gone to the happy hunting grounds before their hour marked by the
+Wacondah: their blood cries for vengeance."
+
+"That does not concern me; these were killed fighting like brave men,
+and those are the chances of war."
+
+"My brother has spoken well," Black Cat said. "The Lily is free; she can
+remain with the warriors of her nation. I consent to it. But my brother
+cannot refuse to give up to me the Indian hidden in his camp."
+
+"That Indian is my friend," the hunter answered nobly; "he is not my
+prisoner, that I can deliver him up. I have no right to compel him to
+leave me. If he prefers to remain with us, the chief knows that
+hospitality is sacred on the prairie; if Moukapec wishes to return to
+his brothers, he is free. But what interest have the Apaches in my
+giving this man into their hands?"
+
+"He has betrayed his nation, and must be punished."
+
+"Do you imagine, chief, that I should deliberately, and stifling every
+feeling of gratitude within me, place in your hands a man I love, whose
+devotion is known to me, in order that you may kill him with horrible
+torture? On my soul, chief, you must be mad."
+
+"You must do it, or woe to you!" Black Cat said with a degree of heat he
+could not repress.
+
+"It shall not be," Valentine answered coldly.
+
+"It shall be!" a calm and haughty voice said.
+
+And Eagle-wing suddenly appeared in the midst of the group.
+
+"What!" Valentine exclaimed with amazement, "you would give yourself up
+to torture? I will not suffer it, chief: remain with your friends, we
+will save you, or perish together."
+
+The Coras shook his head sadly.
+
+"No!" he said, "I cannot do that, it would be cowardly. The White Lily
+of the Valley must be saved. I have sworn to her father to devote myself
+to her, and my brother Koutonepi must let me accomplish my promise."
+
+"But these men," Valentine continued to urge, "have no claim on you."
+
+Moukapec let his head sink.
+
+"By Nuestra Senora del Pilar," Don Pablo interrupted him with emotion,
+"we cannot thus abandon a man who has done us many services."
+
+Valentine, with his eyes fixed on the ground, was reflecting.
+
+"Good," Black Cat went on; "Eagle-wing is here, the palefaces are free:
+they will return to their great lodges whenever they please: they will
+find the roads open. The Apaches have only one word; let the warrior
+follow me."
+
+The Indian took a parting glance at his friends, and a sigh escaped from
+his chest; but with a superior effort he overcame the sorrow that choked
+him, his face assumed its usual mask of stoicism, and turning to the two
+Apache chiefs, he said in a firm voice--
+
+"I am ready: let us go."
+
+The hunters exchanged a glance of discouragement, but they made no
+attempt to oppose the Coras' resolution, for they knew that it would be
+futile. But at this moment Dona Clara suddenly appeared, walked boldly
+up to the Indian, and touched him lightly on the shoulder.
+
+"Stay!" she exclaimed. "I will not have you go, chief."
+
+Eagle-wing turned as if he had received an electric shock, and gave the
+maiden a glance of undefinable expression; but he overcame this emotion,
+and reassumed his apparent coolness.
+
+"I must go," he said softly, "the Lily must not restrain me; she is
+doubtless ignorant that her safety depends on my departure."
+
+"I have heard everything," she quickly retorted. "I know the odious
+propositions these men have dared to make, and the condition they had
+audacity to insist on."
+
+"Well, why then does my sister wish to stop me?"
+
+"Because," the maiden energetically exclaimed, "I will not accept that
+condition."
+
+"By Heavens! That is fine," Valentine said joyfully; "that is what I
+call speaking."
+
+"Yes," the young lady continued, "in my father's name I order you not to
+leave this island, chief--in my father's name, who, were he here, would
+order you as I do."
+
+"I answer for that," Don Pablo said; "my father has too noble a heart to
+assent to an act of cowardice."
+
+The maiden turned to the Indian chief, who had been stoically witnessing
+the scene.
+
+"Begone, redskins," she went on with a majestic accent, impossible to
+render, "you see that all your victims escape you."
+
+"Honour bids me go," the warrior murmured feebly.
+
+Dona Clara took his hand between hers, and looked at him softly.
+
+"Moukapec!" she said to him, in her melodious and pure voice, "do you
+not know that yours would be a useless sacrifice? The Apaches are only
+striving to deprive us of our most devoted defender, that they may make
+an easier conquest of us. They are very treacherous Indians; remain with
+us."
+
+Eagle-wing hesitated for a moment, and the two chiefs tried in vain to
+read on his face the feelings that affected him. During several seconds,
+a leaden silence weighed on this group of men, whose hearts could be
+heard beating. At length the Coras raised his head, and answered with an
+effort--
+
+"You insist; I remain here."
+
+Then he turned to the chief, who was waiting anxiously.
+
+"Go," he said to them in a firm voice, "return to the tents of your
+tribe. Tell your brothers, who were never mine, but who at times have
+granted me a cordial hospitality, that Moukapec, the great Sachem of the
+Coras of the lakes, takes back his liberty: he gives up all claim to
+fire and water in their villages; he wishes to have nothing more in
+common with them; and if the Apache dogs prowl round him, and seek him,
+they will find him ever ready to meet them face to face on the warpath.
+I have spoken."
+
+The Buffalo chiefs had listened to these words with that calmness which
+never abandons the Indians; not a feature on their faces had quivered.
+When the Coras warrior finished speaking, Black Cat looked at him
+fixedly, and replied to him with a cold and cutting accent--
+
+"I have heard a crow, the Coras are cowardly squaws, to whom the Apache
+warriors will give petticoats. Moukapec is a prairie dog, the sunbeams
+hurt his eyes, he will make his lair with the paleface hares, my nation
+no longer knows him."
+
+"Much good may it do him," Valentine remarked with a smile, while
+Eagle-wing shrugged his shoulders at this outburst of insults.
+
+"I retire," Black Cat continued; "ere the owl has twice saluted the sun,
+the scalps of the palefaces will be fastened to my girdle."
+
+"And," the second chief added, "the young men of my tribe will make war
+whistles of the white thieves' bones."
+
+"Very good," Valentine replied, with a crafty smile; "try it, we are
+ready to receive you, and our rifles carry a long distance."
+
+"The palefaces are boasting and yelping dogs," Black Cat said again. "I
+shall soon return."
+
+"All the better," said Valentine; "but in the meanwhile, as I suppose
+you have nothing more to say to us, I fancy it is time for you to rejoin
+your friends, who must be growing impatient at your absence."
+
+Black Cat gave a start of anger at this parting sarcasm; but repressing
+the passion that inflamed him, he folded himself haughtily in his
+buffalo robe, remounted the raft with his comrade, and they rapidly
+retired from the island.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+SUNBEAM.
+
+
+The situation of the fugitives was most critical, as the Indians had
+stated; the number of their warriors hourly increased, and on both sides
+of the island there were large encampments, indicated by numerous fires.
+
+The day passed in this way, and there was no attack. No incident even
+disturbed the tranquillity of the robbers till about the middle of the
+following night. At this moment the darkness was thick, and not a star
+glistened in the sky; the moon, obscured by clouds, only displayed her
+pallid disc at intervals.
+
+One of those intense fogs which frequently prevail at this season on the
+Rio Gila, had fallen, and ended by confusing all objects; the banks of
+the river had disappeared from sight, and even the Indian campfires were
+no longer visible. The hunters, seated in a circle, maintained the
+deepest silence; each was yielding to the flood of bitter thoughts that
+rose from his heart. All at once, amid the silence of the night, a
+confused and indistinct sound was audible, like that of a paddle
+striking the side of a canoe.
+
+"Hilloh! what's the meaning of this?" Valentine said. "Can the Apaches
+be dreaming of surprising us?"
+
+"Let us have a look, at any rate," Don Pablo remarked.
+
+The five men rose, and glided silently through the bushes, in the
+direction of the sound which had aroused them. After proceeding a
+certain distance, Valentine stopped to listen.
+
+"I am certain I was not mistaken," he said to himself; "it was the sound
+produced by a paddle falling in a canoe that I heard. Who can have come
+to visit us? Perhaps it is some Indian deviltry."
+
+And the hunter sounded the darkness around him with his piercing and
+unerring eye. All at once, he fancied he saw an object moving in the
+fog. He went on; then after carefully examining this person, who grew
+every moment more and more distinct, he drew himself up, and leant on
+his rifle.
+
+"What the deuce do you want here at this hour, Sunbeam, my dear child?"
+he asked in a low voice.
+
+The young Indian squaw, for it was really she whom the hunter had
+addressed, laid a finger on her lip as if recommending prudence.
+
+"Follow me, Koutonepi," she said to him so softly that her voice
+resembled a sigh.
+
+After going a few yards, the girl stooped, and made the hunter a sign to
+follow her example.
+
+"Look," she said, pointing to one of those long and light canoes which
+the Indians hollow out of enormous trees, and which carry ten persons
+with ease. "Look."
+
+Valentine, in spite of his self-command, had difficulty in suppressing a
+cry of joy. He held out his hand, saying with considerable emotion:
+
+"My brave girl!"
+
+"Sunbeam remembers," the Indian girl replied with a smile, "that
+Koutonepi saved her; the heart of the white lady is kind, Sunbeam wishes
+to save them all."
+
+The first moment of emotion past, the hunter, who was thoroughly
+acquainted with the cunning and roguery of the redskins, bent a
+scrutinising gaze on the girl. The Indian's face had an expression of
+honesty which commanded confidence, and Valentine entered the canoe.
+
+It contained paddles, provisions, and, what caused him more pleasure
+than all else, six large buffalo horns, full of gunpowder, and two bags
+of bullets.
+
+"Good!" he said, "my daughter is grateful, Wacondah will protect her."
+
+Sunbeam's face expanded at these words.
+
+At this moment Don Pablo and the other hunters rejoined Valentine, and
+learned with delight what had happened; the sight of the canoe restored
+them all their energy. Shaw remained on guard, while Valentine,
+accompanied by the others, and Sunbeam, returned to Dona Clara, whom
+anxiety had aroused.
+
+"Here is a new friend I present to you," the hunter said, pointing to
+the young Indian, who stood timidly behind him.
+
+"Oh! I know her," Dona Clara replied, as she embraced the girl, who was
+quite confused by these caresses.
+
+"But tell me, Sunbeam," Valentine said, after the expiration of a
+moment, "how comes it that you arrived here?"
+
+The Indian girl smiled haughtily.
+
+"Unicorn is a great warrior," she answered; "he has the glance of the
+eagle, he knows all that happens in the prairie; he saw the danger his
+brother, the great paleface hunter, ran, and his heart trembled with
+sadness."
+
+"Yes," Valentine said, "the chief loves me."
+
+The Indian continued.
+
+"Unicorn sought a mode of coming to his brother's assistance; he was
+wandering along the riverbank when the fog supplied him with the means
+he so greatly desired; he placed Sunbeam in a canoe, ordered her to
+come, and she came with joy, laughing at the Apache dogs, whose mole
+eyes could not perceive her, when she passed in front of them."
+
+"Yes, it must be so," Valentine said, "but why did not the chief come
+himself with his warriors, instead of sending you?"
+
+"Unicorn is a sachem," the squaw answered, "he is wise and prudent as he
+is brave. The warriors had remained in the village; the chief was alone
+with Sunbeam."
+
+"May heaven grant that your words be sincere, and that we may not have
+cause to repent having placed confidence in you," Don Pablo said.
+
+"Sunbeam is a Comanche woman," the Indian replied haughtily; "her heart
+is red, and her tongue is not forked."
+
+"I answer for her," Dona Clara said, impetuously; "she would not deceive
+us."
+
+"I believe it," Valentine said; "but, at any rate, we shall see. There
+is some honour among the redskins; besides, we shall be prudent. Now, I
+presume that, like myself, you are all anxious to quit this island? My
+advice is, that we should at once take advantage of the canoe this young
+woman has brought us."
+
+"It is true, then," Dona Clara said joyfully, as she sprang up.
+
+"Yes," Valentine answered, "a magnificent canoe, in which we shall be
+perfectly at our ease; and, better still, it is capitally found in food
+and ammunition. Still, I think we should not do wrong by taking
+advantage of the fog to escape, without giving the Indians a chance of
+seeing us."
+
+"Be it so," Don Pablo said; "but once on firm ground, what road shall we
+follow, as we have no horses? Come, Sunbeam, can you give us any advice
+on that head?"
+
+"Listen," the young squaw said; "the Apaches are preparing for a great
+expedition. They have called under arms all their brethren; and more
+than three thousand warriors are traversing the prairie in every
+direction at this moment. Their war parties hold all the paths. Two
+nations alone would not respond to the invitation of the Apaches: they
+are the Comanches and the Navajos. The villages of my tribe are not far
+off, and I can try to lead you to them."
+
+"Very good," Don Pablo answered. "From what you tell us, the riverbanks
+are guarded. Going up the Gila in a canoe is impossible, because within
+two hours we should be inevitably scalped. I am therefore of opinion
+that we should proceed by the shortest road to the nearest Comanche or
+Navajo village. But, to do that, we require horses, for we must let no
+grass grow under our feet."
+
+"Only one road is open," Sunbeam said, firmly.
+
+"Which?" Don Pablo asked.
+
+"The one that crosses the Apache camp."
+
+"Hum!" Valentine muttered, "That seems to me very dangerous. We are
+only seven, and two of them are women."
+
+"That is true," Eagle-wing remarked, who had hitherto been silent; "but
+it is, at the same time, the road which offers the best chances of
+success."
+
+"Let us hear your plan, then," Valentine asked.
+
+"The Apaches," the sachem went on, "are numerous; they believe us
+crushed and demoralised by the critical position in which we are. They
+will never suppose that five men will have the audacity to enter their
+camp; and their security is our strength."
+
+"Yes, but horses! Horses!" the hunter objected.
+
+"The Wacondah will provide them," the chief replied. "He never abandons
+brave men, who place their confidence in him."
+
+"Well, let us trust in Heaven!" Valentine said.
+
+"I believe," said Dona Clara, who had listened to the conversation with
+deep attention, "that the advice of our friend, the Indian warrior, is
+good, and we ought to follow it."
+
+Eagle-wing bowed, while a smile of satisfaction played over his face.
+
+"Let it be as you desire," the hunter said, turning to the young Mexican
+girl, "we will start without further delay."
+
+The cry of the jay was heard twice.
+
+"Hilloh!" the hunter went on, "What is going on now? That is Shaw's
+signal."
+
+Everybody seized his weapon, and proceeded at full speed in the
+direction whence the signal came; Dona Clara and Sunbeam remaining
+behind, concealed in a thicket.
+
+Though unable to guess the motive which had caused Sunbeam to act in the
+way she had done, Dona Clara had however, understood at the first word,
+with that intuition which women possess, that Sunbeam was to be
+trusted--that in the present case she was acting under the impression of
+a good thought, and was entirely devoted to them for some reason or
+another. Hence she bestowed the most affectionate caresses on her.
+
+Knowing, besides, the desire for rapine and the avarice which are the
+foundation of the redskin character generally, she took off a gold
+bracelet she wore on her right arm, and fastened it on the Indian's,
+whose joy and happiness were raised to their acme by this pretty
+present.
+
+Seduced by this unexpected munificence, although already devoted to
+Valentine by the services he had rendered her, she attached herself
+unreservedly to Dona Clara.
+
+"The pale virgin need not feel alarmed," she said in her soft and
+musical voice; "she is my sister. I will save her, with the warriors who
+accompany her."
+
+"Thanks," Dona Clara answered, "my sister is good; she is the wife of a
+great chief; I shall ever be her friend. So soon as I have rejoined my
+father, I will make her presents far more valuable than this."
+
+The young Indian clapped her dainty little hands, in sign of joy.
+
+"What is the matter there?" Valentine asked, on reaching Shaw, who,
+lying on the ground with his rifle thrust forward, seemed trying to
+pierce the darkness.
+
+"On my honour, I do not know," the latter replied simply, "but it seems
+as if something extraordinary were going on around us. I see shadows
+moving about the river, but can distinguish nothing, owing to the fog; I
+hear dull sounds, and plashing in the water, and I fancy that the
+Indians are going to attack us."
+
+"Yes," Valentine muttered, as if speaking to himself, "these are their
+favourite tactics. They like to surprise their enemies, so let us look
+out for the canoe."
+
+At this instant, a black mass pierced the fog, advancing slowly and
+noiselessly up to the island.
+
+"Here they are," Valentine said, in a low voice. "Attention! Do not let
+them land."
+
+The hunters hid themselves behind the shrubs. Valentine was not
+mistaken: it was a raft loaded with Indian warriors coming up. So soon
+as the Apaches were only a few yards from the island, five shots were
+fired simultaneously, which spread death and disorder among them.
+
+The Apaches believed they should surprise their enemies asleep, and were
+far from expecting so rough a reception. Seeing their plans foiled, and
+that the enemy were ready for action, there was a momentary hesitation;
+still, shame gained the victory over prudence, and they continued to
+advance.
+
+This raft was the vanguard of some dozen others, still hidden in the
+fog, awaiting the result of the reconnoissance made by the first. If the
+hunters were awake, they had orders to return without attacking them,
+which they obeyed. The first raft had the same instructions, but it had
+either got into a current which urged it on, or, as was more probable,
+the Indians wished to avenge their comrades, and they consequently
+advanced.
+
+This time the word of command was given by Valentine, and the Apaches
+landed without being disturbed. They all rushed forward brandishing
+their clubs, and uttering their war yell, but were received with clubbed
+rifles, felled or drowned, ere they had scarce time to walk a couple of
+paces on land.
+
+"Now," Valentine said coldly, "we shall be quiet the whole night. I know
+the Indians, they will not recommence the attack. Don Pablo, be so good
+as to warn Dona Clara: Shaw and the Coras warrior will get the canoe
+ready, and, if you think proper, we will start at once."
+
+Curumilla had already prepared to pull the canoe into a more suitable
+spot for embarking than the mass of tall grass and shrubs in which it
+was concealed, but, as he was about to leap into it, he fancied he saw
+that it was sensibly moving from the bank.
+
+Curumilla, much surprised, stepped into the river, in order to discover
+the cause of this unusual movement. The canoe was moving further and
+further, and was already three or four yards from the bank. Completely
+liberated from the reeds, it was cutting the current at right angles,
+with a continuous and regular movement, which proved that it was obeying
+some secret and intelligent influence.
+
+Curumilla, more and more surprised, but determined to know the truth,
+proceeded silently to the bow of the boat, and then all was explained.
+An end of rope, intended to tie up the canoe and prevent it from
+drifting, was hanging over; an Apache was holding this end between his
+teeth, and swimming vigorously in the direction of the camp, dragging
+the canoe with him.
+
+"My brother is fatigued," Curumilla said, ironically; "he must let me in
+my turn direct the canoe."
+
+"Ouchi!" the Indian exclaimed, in his alarm; and, letting loose the
+rope, he dived. Curumilla dived upon him. For some minutes the river was
+agitated by a submarine shock, and then the two men reappeared on the
+surface. Curumilla held the Apache tightly by the throat.
+
+He then drew his knife, buried it twice in the Indian's heart and lifted
+his scalp, and letting go of the corpse, which floated swiftly on the
+river, he leaped into the canoe, which during the short struggle had
+continued to drift, and brought it back to the isle.
+
+"Hilloh!" Valentine said, laughing; "Where on earth do you come from,
+chief? I thought you were lost." Without uttering a syllable, Curumilla
+showed him the bloody scalp hanging from his girdle.
+
+"Good," said Valentine; "I comprehend; my brother is a great warrior,
+nothing escapes him."
+
+The Araucano smiled proudly. The little party had collected; the
+embarkation took place at once, and the men, each seizing a paddle,
+began crossing the river slowly and silently, thanks to Curumilla's
+precaution of muffling the paddles with leaves.
+
+The hearts of these men, brave as they were, palpitated with fear, for
+they did not yet dare believe in the success of their daring project.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+INDIAN HOSPITALITY.
+
+
+Not only was the attempt of the hunters to escape not so desperate as
+the reader might be inclined to suppose, but it even offered, up to a
+certain point, great chances of success.
+
+The Apaches, when encamped in sight of an enemy, never keep watch,
+unless they form a weak detachment of warriors, and find themselves
+opposed to a far superior force; but even in that case these sentries
+are so careless that it is extremely easy to surprise them, which often
+happens, by the way, without rendering them any the more cautious.
+
+In the case of which we write, hardly a few miles from their village,
+and having an effective strength of nearly eight hundred bold warriors,
+they could not suppose that five men, who had sought shelter in an
+island, without the means of quitting it, would attempt such a daring
+stroke.
+
+Hence, after their attempted surprise of the whites had failed, they
+returned to sleep, some round the fires, others in the tents erected by
+their wives, waiting patiently for the morrow to attack their foes from
+all sides at once, which offered a certain chance of success.
+
+In the meanwhile the hunters advanced toward the bank, concealed by the
+fog that enfolded them like a winding sheet, and hid their movements
+from the eyes interested in spying them. In this way they arrived in
+sight of the fires, whose uncertain gleams became weaker and weaker, and
+they saw their enemies lying down asleep.
+
+Eagle-wing, at a hint from Sunbeam, steered the canoe to the foot of a
+rock, whose commanding mass stood about thirty feet over the river, and
+offered them under its flank a propitious shelter to disembark in
+security.
+
+So soon as they landed, the hunters took Indian file, and with their
+rifles ready, they stealthily marched toward the camp, stopping at
+intervals to look anxiously around them, or listen to any suspicious
+sound.
+
+Then, when all became quiet again, they resumed their venturesome march,
+gliding past tents and at times stepping over the sleepers at the fire,
+whom the slightest badly-calculated movement would have aroused.
+
+It is impossible to form a correct idea of such a march unless you have
+made one yourself. A man gifted with the most energetic mind could not
+endure its terrible emotions for an hour. With oppressed chest, haggard
+eyes, and limbs agitated by a feverish and convulsive motion, the
+hunters passed through the midst of their ferocious enemies, knowing
+perfectly well that, if they were discovered, it would be all over with
+them, and that they would perish in the most horrible agony.
+
+On reaching almost the extreme limit of the camp, an Indian, lying
+across the path they were following, suddenly made a movement and sat
+up, instinctively seizing his lance. One shout and the hunters were
+lost! Curumilla walked straight up to the Indian, who was stupefied by
+the sight of this funereal and fantastic procession, which he could not
+comprehend, and was followed by his comrades, whose step was so light
+that they seemed to glide over the ground without touching it.
+
+The Apache, terrified by this apparition, which, in his superstitious
+belief, he attributed to the heavenly powers, crossed his arms on his
+chest and silently bowed his head. The band passed, the Indian not
+making a sigh or uttering a word. The hunters had scarce disappeared
+behind some rising ground, when the Apache ventured to lift his eyes; he
+was then convinced that he had had a vision, and without trying to
+account for what he had seen, he lay down and went quietly to sleep
+again. By this time the hunters had emerged from the camp.
+
+"Now," said Valentine, "the worst is over."
+
+"On the contrary," Don Pablo observed, "our position is more precarious
+than ever, since we are in the midst of our enemies, and have no
+horses."
+
+Curumilla laid his hand on his shoulder, and looked at him softly. "My
+brother will be patient," he said, "he will soon have them."
+
+"How so?" the young man asked.
+
+"Sunbeam," the Aucas Chief continued, "must know where the horses of the
+tribe are."
+
+"I know it," she replied, laconically.
+
+"Very good; my sister will guide me."
+
+"Chief, one moment: the deuce!" Valentine exclaimed, "I will not let you
+run this new danger alone; it would be a dishonour to my white skin."
+
+"My brother can come."
+
+"That is exactly what I mean to do. Don Pablo will remain here with Shaw
+and Eagle-wing near Dona Clara, while we attempt this new expedition.
+What do you think of it, Don Pablo?"
+
+"That your plan, my friend, is worth nothing."
+
+"Why so?"
+
+"For this reason: we are here two paces from the Apaches, and one of
+them may awake at any moment. Just now we escaped only by a miracle; who
+knows how our enterprise will turn? If we separate, perhaps we may never
+come together again. My opinion is, that we should all go together to
+look for the horses; we should then save time in useless coming and
+going, and this will give us a considerable advantage."
+
+"That is true," Valentine answered; "let us go together, and in that way
+we shall have finished sooner."
+
+Sunbeam then began guiding the little party, but instead of re-entering
+the camp, as the hunters feared, she skirted it for some distance; then,
+making a sign to her companions to stop and wait, she advanced alone.
+Within five minutes she returned.
+
+"The horses are there," she said, pointing to a spot in the fog; "they
+are hobbled, and guarded by a man walking up and down near them. What
+will my pale brothers do?"
+
+"Kill the man, and seize the horses we want," Don Pablo said; "we are
+not in such a situation that we can be fastidious."
+
+"Why kill the poor man, if he can be got rid of otherwise?" Dona Clara
+said, softly.
+
+"That is true," Valentine supported her, "we are not wild beasts, hang
+it all!"
+
+"The warrior shall not be killed," Curumilla said, in his grave voice;
+"my pale brothers must wait."
+
+And seizing the lasso he always carried about him, the Aucas lay down on
+the ground, and began crawling through the tall grass. He soon
+disappeared in the fog.
+
+The Apache sentry was strolling carelessly along, when Curumilla
+suddenly rose behind him, and seizing his neck in both his hands, he
+squeezed it with such force that the Apache, taken unawares, had not
+time to utter a cry.
+
+In a turn of the hand he was thrown down, and garotted, and that so
+promptly that he was choked as much by the sudden attack as by the
+terror that had seized on him. The chief put his prisoner on his
+shoulders, and deposited him at Dona Clara's feet, saying--"My sister's
+wishes are accomplished, this man is safe and sound."
+
+"Thank you," the maiden answered, with a charming smile.
+
+Curumilla turned red with delight.
+
+Without loss of time, the hunters seized the seven best horses they came
+across, which they saddled, and then shod with _parfleche_ to avoid the
+sound of their hoofs on the sand.
+
+This time, Valentine assumed the command of the party. So soon as the
+horses were urged into a gallop, all their chests, oppressed by the
+moving interludes of the struggle which had continued so long, dilated,
+and hope returned to their hearts. The hunters were at length in the
+desert; before them they had space, good horses, arms and ammunition.
+They fancied themselves saved, and were so to a certain extent, as
+their enemies still slept, little suspecting their daring escape.
+
+The night was half spent, and the fog covered the fugitives. They had at
+least six hours before them, and they profited by them.
+
+The horses, urged to their utmost speed, went two leagues without
+stopping. At sunrise the fog was dissipated by the first beams; and the
+hunters instinctively raised their heads. The desert was calm, nothing
+disturbed its majestic solitude; in the distance a few elks and
+buffaloes were browsing on the prairie grass, a sure sign of the absence
+of Indians, whom these intelligent animals scent at great distances.
+
+Valentine, in order to let the horses breathe awhile, as well as draw
+breath himself, checked the headlong speed, which had no further object.
+The region on which the hunters found themselves in no way resembled
+that they had quitted a few hours previously; here and there, the
+monotony of the landscape was broken by lofty trees; on either side
+stretched out high hills. At times they forded some of the innumerable
+streams which fall from the mountains, and, after the most capricious
+windings, are swallowed up in the Gila.
+
+At about eight o'clock Valentine noticed, a little to the left, a light
+cloud of bluish smoke rising in a spiral to the sky.
+
+"What is that?" Don Pablo asked, anxiously.
+
+"A hunter's encampment, doubtless," Valentine answered.
+
+"No," Curumilla said; "that is not a paleface, but an Indian, fire."
+
+"How the deuce can you see that, chief? I fancy all fires are the same,
+and produce smoke," Don Pablo said.
+
+"Yes," Valentine remarked, "all fires produce smoke; but there is a
+difference in smoke--is there not, chief?" he added, addressing
+Curumilla.
+
+"Yes," the latter answered laconically.
+
+"All that is very fine," Don Pablo went on; "but can you explain to me,
+chief, by what you see, that the smoke is produced by a redskin fire?"
+
+Curumilla shrugged his shoulders without replying--Eagle-wing took the
+word.
+
+"The whites, when they light fires," he said, "take the first wood to
+hand."
+
+"Of course," said Don Pablo.
+
+"Most frequently they collect green wood: in that case the wood, which
+is damp, produces in burning a white thick smoke, very difficult to hide
+on the prairie; while the Indians only employ dry wood, whose smoke is
+light, thin, almost impalpable, and soon becomes confused with the sky."
+
+"Decidedly, on the desert," Don Pablo said, with an air of conviction,
+"the Indians are better than us; we shall never come up to them."
+
+"Humph!" said Valentine; "If you were to live with them a while, they
+would teach you plenty more things."
+
+"Look," Eagle-wing continued; "what did I tell you?"
+
+In fact, during this conversation the hunters had continued their
+journey, and at this moment were not more than a hundred yards from the
+spot where the fire burned which had given rise to so many comments.
+Two Indians, completely armed and equipped for war, were standing in
+front of the travellers, waving their buffalo robes in sign of peace.
+
+Valentine quivered with joy on recognising them; these men were
+Comanches, that is to say, friends and allies, since the hunter was an
+adopted son of that nation. Valentine ordered his little party to halt,
+and carelessly throwing his rifle on his back, he pushed on, and soon
+met the still motionless Indians.
+
+After exchanging the different questions always asked in such cases on
+the prairie, as to the state of the roads and the quantity of game, the
+hunter, though he was well aware of the fact, asked the Indians to what
+nation they belonged.
+
+"Comanches," one of the warriors answered, proudly. "My nation is the
+Queen of the Prairies."
+
+Valentine bowed, as if fully convinced. "I know," he said, "that the
+Comanches are invincible warriors. Who can resist them?"
+
+It was the Indian's turn to bow, with a smile of satisfaction at this
+point-blank compliment.
+
+"Is my brother a chief?" Valentine again asked.
+
+"I am Pethonista (the Eagle)," the Indian said, regarding the hunter
+like a man persuaded that he was about to produce a profound sensation.
+
+He was not mistaken; for the name was that of one of the most venerated
+chiefs of the Comanche nation.
+
+"I know my brother," Valentine answered; "I am very happy to have met
+him."
+
+"Let my brother speak; I am listening to him: the great white hunter is
+no stranger to the Comanches, who have adopted him."
+
+"What?" the hunter exclaimed; "Do you know me too, chief?"
+
+The warrior smiled.
+
+"Unicorn is the most powerful Sachem of the Comanches," he said. "On
+leaving his village twelve hours ago, he warned his brother Pethonista
+that he expected a great white warrior adopted by the tribe."
+
+"It is him," said Valentine. "Unicorn is a part of myself, and the sight
+of him dilates my heart. Personally, I have nothing to say to you,
+chief, since the sachem has instructed you; but I bring with me friends
+and two females--one is Sunbeam, the other the White Lily of the
+Valley."
+
+"The White Lily is welcome among my people: my sons will make it a duty
+to serve her," the Indian answered nobly.
+
+"Thanks, chief. I expected nothing less from you. Permit me to rejoin my
+companions, who are doubtless growing impatient, to tell them of the
+fortunate meeting with which the Master of Life has favoured me."
+
+"Good. My brother can return to his friends, and I shall go before him
+to the village, in order to warn my young men of the arrival of a
+warrior of our nation."
+
+Valentine smiled at this remark.
+
+"My brother is the master," he said.
+
+After bowing to the Indian chief, he returned to his companions, who did
+not know to what circumstance they should attribute his lengthened
+absence.
+
+"They are friends," Valentine said, pointing to Pethonista, who had
+leaped on a mustang, and started at full speed. "Unicorn, on leaving his
+village, ordered the chief I have been speaking to, to do us the honours
+until his return. So look, Don Pablo, how he hurries to announce our
+arrival to the warriors of his tribe."
+
+"Heaven be praised!" the young man said, "For ease and rest in safety.
+Suppose we push on?"
+
+"Do not do so, my friend. On the contrary, if you will take my advice,
+we shall reduce our pace. The Comanches are doubtless preparing us a
+reception, and we should annoy them by arriving too soon."
+
+"I do not wish that," Don Pablo replied. "In fact, we have nothing to
+fear now, so we can continue our journey at a trot."
+
+"Yes; for nothing presses on us. In an hour at the most we shall have
+arrived."
+
+"May Heaven be thanked for the protection it has deigned to grant us,"
+the young man said, looking up with a glance of gratitude.
+
+The little party continued to advance in the presumed direction of the
+village.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+LOVE!
+
+
+An hour later, the hunters, on reaching the top of a hill, perceived,
+about a mile ahead of them, a large village, before which three hundred
+Indian warriors were ranged in battle array.
+
+At the sight of the whites the warriors advanced at a gallop, making
+their horses curvet and dance, and discharging their muskets in the air.
+They uttered their war cry, and unfolded their buffalo robes,
+performing, in a word, all the usual evolutions in a friendly reception.
+
+Valentine made his companions to imitate the Indians; and the hunters,
+who asked nothing better than to display their skill, descended the hill
+at headlong speed, shouting and discharging their rifles, amid the yells
+of joy from the redskins, who were delighted at this triumphal arrival
+among them.
+
+After the usual salutations and expressions of welcome, the Comanches
+formed a semicircle round the hunters, and Pethonista advanced to
+Valentine, and held out his hand, saying:--
+
+"My brother is an adopted son of the nation. He is at home. The
+Comanches are happy to see him. The longer he remains among them with
+the persons who accompany him, the more pleasure he will cause them. A
+calli is prepared for my brother, and a second for the White Lily of the
+Valley; a third for his friends. We have killed many buffaloes; my
+brothers will eat their meat with us. When our brother leaves us, our
+hearts will be swollen with sorrow. Hence my brother must remain as long
+as possible with his Comanche friends, if he wishes to see them happy."
+
+Valentine, well versed in Indian customs, replied graciously to this
+harangue, and the two bands, smiling, made their entry into the village
+to the sound of the chichikouis, conches, and Indian instruments,
+mingled with the voices of the women and children, and the barking of
+the dogs, which produced the most horrible row imaginable.
+
+On reaching the village square, the chief conducted the guests to the
+huts prepared to receive them, which stood side by side, after which he
+invited them to rest, with a politeness that a man more civilised than
+him might have envied, after telling them at twelve o'clock they would
+be summoned to the meal.
+
+Valentine thanked Pethonista for the kind attention he displayed to him
+and his comrades: then, after installing Dona Clara in a hut with
+Sunbeam, he entered his own, after recommending the hunters to display
+the greatest prudence toward the Comanches, who, like all Indians, are
+punctilious, irascible, and susceptible to the highest degree.
+
+Curumilla lay down without saying a word, like a good watchdog, across
+the door of the lodge inhabited by Dona Clara. So soon as the two
+females were alone, Sunbeam seated herself at the Mexican lady's feet,
+and, fixing on her a bright glance, full of tenderness, she said, in a
+soft and caressing voice--
+
+"Is my sister, the White Lily of the Valley, satisfied with me? Have I
+faithfully fulfilled the obligation I contracted toward her?"
+
+"What obligation was that, child?" the girl said, as she passed her hand
+through the Indian's long hair which she began plaiting.
+
+"That of saving you, my sister, and conducting you in safety to the
+callis of my nation."
+
+"Yes, yes, poor girl," she said, tenderly, "your devotion to me has been
+unbounded, and I know not how I can ever requite it."
+
+"Do not speak of that," the Indian said, with a charming pout. "Now that
+my sister has nothing more to fear, I will leave her."
+
+"You would leave me, Sunbeam?" Dona Clara exclaimed anxiously. "Why so?"
+
+"Yes," the young woman answered, as she frowned, and her voice became
+stern, "I have a duty to accomplish. I have taken an oath, and my sister
+well knows that is sacred. I must go."
+
+"But where are you going, my poor child? Whence arises this sudden
+thought of leaving me? What do you intend? Where are you about to
+proceed?"
+
+"My sister must not ask me. Her questions would only grieve me, for I
+cannot answer her."
+
+"Then you have secrets from me, Sunbeam. You will not give me your
+confidence? Fool! Do you fancy I do not know what you intend doing?"
+
+"My sister knows my plan!" The Indian interrupted her with flashing eye,
+while a convulsive tremor passed over her limbs.
+
+"Yes, I do," the other answered with a smile. "Unicorn is a renowned
+warrior, and my sister is doubtless anxious to rejoin him?"
+
+The Indian shook her head in denial.
+
+"No," she said, "Sunbeam is following her vengeance."
+
+"Oh, yes, poor child," Dona Clara said, as she pressed the young squaw
+to her heart, "I know from what a fearful catastrophe Don Valentine
+saved you."
+
+"Koutonepi is a great warrior. Sunbeam loves him; but Stanapat is a dog,
+son of an Apache devil."
+
+The two women wept for several minutes, silently mingling their tears,
+but the Indian, overcoming grief, dried her red eyes with a passionate
+gesture, and tore herself from the arms that held her.
+
+"Why weep?" she said. "Only cowards and weak people groan and lament.
+Indian squaws do not weep. When they are insulted they avenge
+themselves," she added, with an accent full of strange resolution. "My
+sister must let me depart! I can no longer be useful to her, and other
+cares claim my attention."
+
+"Go, then, poor girl. Act as your heart orders you. I have no right
+either to retain you or prevent you acting as you please."
+
+"Thanks," the Indian said. "My sister is kind. The Wacondah will not
+desert her."
+
+"Cannot you tell me what you intend doing?"
+
+"I cannot."
+
+"At any rate, tell me in what direction you are going?"
+
+The girl shook her head with discouragement.
+
+"Does the leaf detached from the tree by a high wind know in what
+direction it will be carried? I am the leaf. So my sister must ask me no
+more."
+
+"As you wish it, I will be silent; but before we separate, perhaps
+forever, let me make you a present, which will recall me to mind when I
+am far from you."
+
+Sunbeam laid her hand on her heart with a charming gesture.
+
+"My sister is there," she said, with emotion.
+
+"Listen," the maiden continued: "last night I gave you a bracelet; here
+is another. These ornaments are useless to me, and I shall be happy if
+they please you."
+
+She unfastened the bracelet, and fastened it on the Indian's arm. The
+latter allowed her to do it, and, after kissing the pearl several times,
+she raised her head and held out her hand to the young Mexican.
+
+"Farewell!" she said to her, with a shaking voice. "My sister will pray
+to her God for me: He is said to be powerful, perhaps He will come to my
+help."
+
+"Hope, poor child!" Dona Clara said, as she held her in her arms.
+
+Sunbeam shook her head sadly, and, making a last sign of farewell to her
+companion, she bounded like a startled fawn, rushed to the door, and
+disappeared.
+
+The young Mexican remained for a long time pensive after Sunbeam's
+departure; the Indian's veiled words and embarrassed countenance had
+excited her curiosity to the highest degree. On the other hand, the
+interest she could not forbear taking in this extraordinary woman, who
+had rendered her a signal service, or, to speak more correctly, a gloomy
+presentiment warned her that Sunbeam was leaving her to undertake one of
+those dangerous expeditions which the Indians like to carry out without
+help of any soul.
+
+About two hours elapsed. The maiden, with her head bowed on her bosom,
+went over in her mind the strange events which had led her, incident by
+incident, to the spot where she now was. All at once a stifled sigh
+reached her ear; she raised her head with surprise, and saw a man
+standing before her, humbly leaning against a beam of the calli, and
+gazing on her with a strange meaning in his glance. It was Shaw, Red
+Cedar's son.
+
+Dona Clara blushed and looked down in confusion; Shaw remained silent,
+with his eyes fixed on her, intoxicating himself with the happiness of
+seeing and contemplating her at his ease. The girl, seated alone in this
+wretched Indian hut, before the man who so many times had nobly risked
+his life for her, fell into profound and serious thought.
+
+A strange trouble seized upon her--her breast heaved under the pressure
+of her emotion. She did not at all comprehend the delicious sensations
+which at times made her quiver. Her eye, veiled with a soft languor,
+rested involuntarily on this man, handsome as an ancient Antinous, who
+with his haughty glance, his indomitable character, whom a frown from
+her made tremble--the wild son of the desert, who had hitherto known no
+will but his own!
+
+On seeing him, so handsome and so brave, she felt herself attracted to
+him by all the strength of her soul. Though she was ignorant of the word
+love, for some time an unconscious revolution had taken place in her
+mind: she now began to understand that divine union of two souls, which
+are commingled in one, in an eternal communion of thoughts of joy and
+suffering.
+
+In a word, she was about to love!
+
+"What do you want with me, Shaw?" she asked, timidly.
+
+"I wish to tell you, senorita," he answered, in a rough voice, marked,
+however, with extraordinary tenderness, "that, whatever may happen,
+whenever you have need of a man to die for you, you will have no
+occasion to seek him for I will be there."
+
+"Thanks," she answered, smiling, in spite of herself, at the strangeness
+of the offer and the way in which it was made; "but here we have nothing
+to fear."
+
+"Perhaps," he went on. "No one knows what the morrow has in store."
+
+Women have a decided taste for taming ferocious animals: like all
+natures essentially nervous, woman is a creature of feeling, whose
+passion dwells in her head rather than in her heart. Love with a woman
+is only an affair of pride or a struggle to endure: as she is weak, she
+always wishes to conquer, and above all dominates at the outset, in
+order to become presently more completely the slave of the man she
+loves, when she has proved her strength, by holding him panting at her
+feet.
+
+Owing to that eternal law of contrasts which governs the world, a woman
+will never love any man but him who, for some reason or another,
+flatters her pride. At any rate, it is so in the desert. I do not
+pretend to speak for our charming European ladies, who are a composite
+of grace and attraction, and who, like the angels, only belong to
+humanity, by the tip of their little wing, which scarce grazes the
+earth.
+
+Dona Clara was a Mexican. Her exceptional position among Indians, the
+dangers to which she had been exposed, the weariness that undermined
+her--all these causes combined must dispose her in favour of the young
+savage, whose ardent passion she divined, with that intuition peculiar
+to all women.
+
+She yielded so far as to answer him, and encourage him to speak. Was it
+sport, or did she act in good; faith? No one could say: woman's heart is
+a book, in which man has never yet been able to construe a word.
+
+One of those long and pleasant conversations now begun between the two
+young people, during which, though the word "love" is not once uttered,
+it is expressed at every instant on the lips, and causes the heart to
+palpitate, which it plunges into those divine ecstacies, forgotten by
+ripe age, but which render those who experience them so happy.
+
+Shaw, placed at his ease by the complacent kindness of Dona Clara, was
+no longer the same man. He found in his heart expressions which, in
+spite of herself made the maiden quiver, and put her into a confusion
+she could not understand.
+
+At the hour indicated by Pethonista, a Comanche warrior appeared at the
+door of the calli, and broke off the conversation. He was ordered to
+lead the strangers to the meal prepared for them in the chief's lodge.
+Dona Clara went out at once, followed by Shaw, whose heart was ready to
+burst with joy.
+
+And yet what had Dona Clara said to him? Nothing. But she had let him
+speak, and listened to him with interest, and at times smiled at his
+remarks. The poor young man asked no more to be happy, and he was so,
+more than he had ever been before.
+
+Valentine, Don Pablo, and the two Indians were awaiting Dona Clara. So
+soon as she appeared, all proceeded to the calli of the chief, preceded
+by the Comanche warrior, who served as guide.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+THE DANCE OF THE OLD DOGS.
+
+
+Pethonista received his guests with all the refinements of Indian
+courtesy, obliging them to eat when he fancied he noticed that what was
+placed before them pleased their taste.
+
+It is not always agreeable to a white man to be invited to an Indian
+dinner; for, among the redskins, etiquette prescribes that you should
+eat everything offered you without leaving a mouthful. Acting otherwise
+would greatly offend the Anfitryon. Hence the position of small eaters
+is very disagreeable at times: owing to the vast capacity of Indian
+stomachs, they find themselves under the harsh necessity of undergoing
+an attack of indigestion, or attract on themselves a quarrel which must
+have serious consequences.
+
+Fortunately nothing of this sort occurred on the present occasion, and
+the repast terminated satisfactorily to all. When dinner was over,
+Valentine rose, and bowing thrice to the company, said to the chief--
+
+"I thank my brother, in the name of my comrades and myself, for his
+gracious reception. In a thousand moons the recollection of it will not
+be effaced from my mind. But warriors have something else to do than to
+eat, when serious interests claim their attention. Will my brother
+Pethonista hear the news I have to impart to him?"
+
+"Has my brother a secret communication to make to me, or does his
+message interest the whole tribe?"
+
+"My message concerns all."
+
+"Wah! my brother must be patient, then. Tomorrow--perhaps in a few
+hours--Unicorn, our great sachem, will have returned, and my brother can
+then speak with him."
+
+"If Unicorn were here," Valentine said quickly, "two words would
+suffice; but he is absent, and time presses. For a second time I ask my
+brother to listen to me."
+
+"Good; as my brother wishes it, in an instant all the chiefs shall be
+assembled in the great audience lodge, above the vault in which burns
+the fire of Montecuhzoma."
+
+Valentine bowed in acquiescence.
+
+We will say something here about the fire of Montecuhzoma, which is not
+without interest to the reader.
+
+This singular custom has been handed down from age to age, especially
+among the Comanches. They state that, at the period of the conquest, and
+a few days prior to his death, Montecuhzoma,[1] having a presentiment of
+the fate that surely awaited him, lit a sacred fire and ordered their
+ancestors to keep it up, never allowing it to expire until the day when
+he returned to deliver his people from the Spanish yoke.
+
+The guard of this sacred fire was confided to picked warriors; it was
+placed in a vault, in a copper basin, on a species of small altar, where
+it constantly smoulders under a dense layer of ashes.
+
+Montecuhzoma announced at the same time that he would return with the
+Sun, his father; hence, at the first hour of day, many Indians mount on
+the roof of their callis, in the hope of seeing their well-beloved
+sovereign reappear, accompanied by the day planet. These poor Indians,
+who constantly maintain in their hearts the hope of their future
+regeneration, are convinced that this event, will be accomplished,
+unless the fire go out, through some reason impossible to foresee.
+
+Scarce fifty years ago, the persons appointed to maintain the secret
+fire were relieved every two days, thus passing eight-and-forty hours
+without eating, drinking or sleeping. It frequently happened that these
+poor wretches, asphyxiated by the carbonic gas in the narrow space where
+they stopped, and weakened by the long fast, succumbed to their
+religious devotion. Then, according to the Indians, the bodies were
+thrown into the den of a monstrous serpent, which devoured them.
+
+At the present day this strange belief is beginning to die out, although
+the fire of Montecuhzoma may be found in nearly all the pueblos; but the
+old custom is not kept up so vigorously, and the serpent is obliged to
+obtain his food in a different fashion.
+
+I knew at the Paso del Norte a rich hacendero of Indian origin, who,
+though he would not confess it, and asserted a very advanced degree of
+belief, preciously kept up the fire of Montecuhzoma, in a vault he made
+for this express purpose, at a considerable expense.
+
+The Comanches are divided into a number of small tribes, all placed
+under the orders of a special chief. When this chief is old or infirm,
+he surrenders the military command to the one of his sons most
+distinguished by his bravery, only retaining the civil jurisdiction; on
+the father's death, the son attains the complete sovereignty.
+
+The chief summoned an old Indian who was leaning against the wall of the
+lodge, and bade him assemble the council. In the Comanche villages the
+old men incapable for active service, and whom their merits have not
+raised to the rank of chief, perform the office of crier. They undertake
+to announce the news to the population, transmit the orders of the
+sachem, organise the ceremonies, and convene the council. They are all
+men gifted with powerful voices; they mount on the roof of a calli, and
+from this improvised pulpit perform those duties, with an extraordinary
+quantity of shouts and gestures.
+
+When the chiefs were assembled, Pethonista humbly led his guests to the
+council lodge, called the great medicine lodge. It was a large cabin,
+completely without furniture, in the midst of which an enormous fire
+burned. Some twenty chiefs were assembled, and gravely crouched in a
+circle; they maintained the most profound silence.
+
+Ordinarily, no stranger is admitted to the council; but on this occasion
+this was departed from, owing to Valentine's quality as an adopted son
+of the tribe. The newcomers took their place. A chair of sculptured
+nopal was placed in a corner for Dona Clara, who, by a privilege
+unprecedented in Indian manners, and through her double quality of white
+woman and stranger, was present at the council, which is never permitted
+a squaw, except in the rare instance when she holds the rank of warrior.
+
+So soon as each was comfortably settled, the pipe bearer entered the
+circle, holding the calumet, which he presented ready-lighted to
+Pethonista. The chief pointed it to the four cardinal points, and smoked
+for a few seconds; then, holding the bowl in his hand, he offered the
+stem to all present in turn, who imitated him. When all had smoked, the
+chief returned the pipe to the bearer, who emptied it into the fire,
+while pronouncing some mysterious words addressed to the Sun, that great
+dispenser of all the good things of this world, and walked backward out
+of the circle.
+
+"Our ears are open, my brother; the great pale hunter can take the word.
+We have removed the skin from our heart, and the words his bosom
+breathes will be carefully received by us. We impatiently await the
+communications which he has to make us," the chief said, bowing
+courteously to Valentine.
+
+"What I have to say will not take long," the hunter answered. "Are my
+brothers still the faithful allies of the palefaces?"
+
+"Why should we not be so?" the chief sharply interrupted him. "The great
+pale hearts have been constantly good to us; they buy of our beaver
+skins and buffalo robes, giving us in exchange gunpowder, bullets, and
+scalping knives. When we are ill, our pale friends nurse us, and give us
+all we need. When the winter is severe--when the buffaloes are gone,
+and famine is felt in the villages--the whites come to our help. Why,
+then, shall we no longer be their allies? The Comanches are not
+ungrateful; they have a noble and generous heart; they never forget a
+kindness. We shall be the friend of the whites so long as the sun lights
+the universe."
+
+"Thanks, chief," the hunter answered; "I am glad you have spoken in that
+way, for the hour has come to prove your friendship to us."
+
+"What does my brother mean?"
+
+"The Apaches have dug up the hatchet against us: their war parties are
+marching to surround our friend, Bloodson. I have come to ask my
+brothers if they will help us to repulse and beat back our enemies."
+
+There was a moment's silence, and the Indians seemed to be seriously
+reflecting on the hunter's words. At length, Pethonista said, after
+giving the members of the council a glance--
+
+"The enemies of Bloodson and of my brother are our enemies," he said, in
+a loud and firm voice. "My young men will go to the help of the
+palefaces. The Comanches will not suffer their allies to be insulted. My
+brother may rejoice at the success of his mission. Unicorn, I feel
+convinced, would not have answered differently from me, had he been
+present at the council. Tomorrow, at sunrise, all the warriors of my
+tribe will set out to the assistance of Bloodson. I have spoken. Have I
+said well, powerful chiefs?"
+
+"Our father has spoken well," the chiefs replied, with a bow. "What he
+desires shall be done."
+
+"Wah!" Pethonista went on; "my sons will prepare to celebrate worthily
+the arrival of our white friends in their village, and prove that we are
+warriors without fear. The Old Dogs will dance in the medicine lodge."
+
+Shouts of joy greeted these words. The Indians, who are supposed to be
+so little civilised, have a number of associations, bearing a strong
+likeness to Freemasonry. These associations are distinguished by their
+songs, dances, and certain signs. Before becoming a member, the novice
+has certain trials to undergo, and several degrees to pass through. The
+Comanches have eleven associations for men and three for women, the
+scalp dance not included.
+
+We will allude here solely to the Band of the Old Dogs, an association
+which only the most renowned warriors of the nation can join, and whose
+dance is only performed when an expedition is about to take place, in
+order to implore the protection of Natosh.
+
+The strangers mounted on the roof of the medicine lodge with a multitude
+of Indians, and when all had taken their places, the ceremony commenced.
+Before the dancers appeared, the sound of their war whistles,--made of
+human thigh bones, could be heard; and at length ninety "Old Dogs" came
+up, attired in their handsomest dresses.
+
+A portion were clothed in gowns or shirts of bighorn leather; others had
+blouses of red cloth, and blue and scarlet uniforms the Americans had
+given them, on their visits to the frontier forts. Some had the upper
+part of the body naked, and their exploits painted in reddish brown on
+their skin; others, and those the most renowned, wore a colossal cap of
+raven plumes, to the ends of which small tufts of down were fastened.
+This cap fell down to the loins, and in the centre of this shapeless
+mass of feathers were the tail of a wild turkey and that of a royal
+eagle.
+
+Round their necks the principal Old Dogs wore a long strip of red cloth,
+descending behind to their legs, and forming a knot in the middle of the
+back. They had on the right side of the head a thick tuft of screech owl
+feathers, the distinctive sign of the band. All had round their necks
+the long _ihkochekas_, and on the left arm their fusil, bow, or club,
+while in their right hand they held the chichikoui.
+
+This is a stick adorned with blue and white glass beads, completely
+covered with animals' hoofs, having at the upper end an eagle's feather,
+and at the lower a piece of leather embroidered with beads and decorated
+with scalps.
+
+The warriors formed a wide circle, in the centre of which was the drum,
+beaten by five badly dressed men. In addition to these, there were also
+two others, who played a species of tambourine. When the dance began,
+the Old Dogs let their robes fall behind them, some dancing in a
+circle, with the body bent forward, and leaping in the air with both
+feet at once.
+
+The other Dogs danced without any order, their faces turned to the
+circle, the majority collected in a dense mass, and bending their heads
+and the upper part of the body simultaneously. During this period, the
+war whistles, the drums, and chichikouis made a fearful row. This scene
+offered a most original and interesting sight--these brown men, their
+varied costumes, their yells, and the sounds of every description
+produced by the delighted spectators, who clapped their hands with
+grimaces and contortions impossible to describe, in the midst of the
+Indian village, near a gloomy and mysterious virgin forest, a few paces
+from the Rio Gila; in this desert where the hand of God is marked in
+indelible characters--all this affected the mind, and plunged it into a
+melancholy reverie.
+
+The dance had lasted some time, and would have been probably prolonged,
+when the fierce and terrible war cry of the Apaches re-echoed through
+the air. Shots were heard, and Indian horsemen rushed like lightning on
+the Comanches, brandishing their weapons, and uttering terrible yells.
+Black Cat, at the head of more than five hundred warriors, had attacked
+the Comanches.
+
+There was a frightful disorder and confusion. The women and children ran
+frantically in every direction, pursued by their ferocious enemies, who
+pitilessly scalped and massacred them, while the warriors collected,
+mostly badly armed, in order to attempt a desperate, but almost
+impossible, resistance.
+
+The hunters, stationed, as we have said, on the top of the hut whence
+they had witnessed the dance, found themselves in a most critical
+position. Fortunately for them, thanks to their old habit as wood
+rangers, they had not forgotten their weapons.
+
+Valentine understood the position at the first glance. He saw that,
+unless a miracle occurred, they were all lost. Placing himself with his
+comrades before the terrified maiden, to make her a rampart of his body,
+he resolutely cocked his rifle, and said to his friends, in a firm
+voice:--
+
+"Lads, the question is not about conquering, but we must all prepare to
+die here!"
+
+"We will," Don Pablo said haughtily.
+
+And with his clubbed rifle he killed an Apache who was trying to
+escalade the hut.
+
+
+[1] And not Montezuma, as ordinarily written. All Mexican names had, and
+still have, a meaning. Montecuhzoma means the "severe Lord." It is also
+sometimes written in old Mexican MSS. of the time of the conquest
+Moctecuhzoma, but never Montezuma, which has no meaning.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+A HAND-TO-HAND FIGHT.
+
+
+In order to explain thoroughly to our readers the sudden attack on the
+Comanche village, we are compelled to return to Red Cedar.
+
+Black Cat had left the council to proceed to the pirates, who were ready
+to follow him; but as Red Cedar had noticed that the agitation
+prevailing in the camp on his arrival had increased instead of
+diminishing, he could not refrain from asking the chief what it all
+meant, and what had happened.
+
+Black Cat had hastened to satisfy him by narrating the miraculous flight
+of Dona Clara, who had disappeared with her companions, and no one could
+imagine what had become of them. Since the morning, the most experienced
+warriors of the tribe had been on the search, but had discovered
+nothing. Red Cedar was far from suspecting that the maiden he had left
+in his camp was the one so eagerly sought by the Apaches. He reflected
+for some moments.
+
+"How many white men were there?" he asked.
+
+"Three."
+
+"Was there no one else with them?"
+
+"Yes," the chief said, frowning, and his eyes flashing with fury. "There
+were also two redskin warriors, one of them a cowardly Coras, a renegade
+of his nation."
+
+"Very good," Red Cedar answered. "The chief will lead me to the
+council, and I will tell them where the prisoners are."
+
+"My brother knows it, then?" Black Cat asked, quickly.
+
+Red Cedar threw his rifle on his back, whistled softly, but gave no
+answer.
+
+They reached the council lodge. Red Cedar, taking the responsibility on
+himself, undertook to answer the questions addressed to him by the
+Indians. Since Black Cat's departure, not a word had been uttered in the
+council. The Indians were patiently awaiting the result of the promises
+made by the chief. The latter resumed his place at the council fire;
+and, addressing the other sachem, said--
+
+"Here are the white hunters."
+
+"Very good," an old warrior answered, "let them speak, we hear."
+
+Red Cedar advanced, and, leaning on his rifle, he took the word, at a
+sign from Black Cat.
+
+"My red brothers," he said, in a clear and marked voice, "are all as
+wearied as ourselves by the continual attacks of that coyote who belongs
+to no nation, or no colour, and who is called the Son of Blood. If they
+will allow themselves to be guided by the experience of a man who has,
+for many years, been thoroughly acquainted with tricks and villany of
+which that man is capable, before long, in spite of the imposing force
+he has at his command, they will have driven him disgracefully from the
+prairies, and compelled him to recross the frontier, abandoning forever
+the rich hunting grounds over which he pretends to reign as a master."
+
+"We await till our brother has explained himself more clearly, with
+frankness, and without equivocation," Black Cat interrupted him.
+
+"That is what I am about to do," the squatter went on. "The prisoners
+you made were precious to you, because there was a white woman among
+them. You allowed them to escape, and must capture them again. They will
+be important hostages for you."
+
+"My brother does not tell us where these prisoners have sought shelter."
+
+Red Cedar shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"That is, however, very easy to know. The prisoners had only one spot
+where they could obtain a refuge, before reaching the frontier."
+
+"And that is?" Black Cat asked.
+
+"The great summer village of the Comanches of the mountains, the most
+faithful allies of Bloodson, the sons of Unicorn, that nation which has
+renounced the faith of its fathers, to become completely dependent on
+the whites, and to whom you ought to send petticoats. Hence you need not
+seek your prisoners elsewhere, for they are there."
+
+The Indians, struck by the correctness of this reasoning, gave
+unequivocal marks of approval, and prepared to listen with greater
+interest to what the hunter had still to say to them.
+
+"My brother must, therefore, do two things," the squatter continued;
+"first, surprise the Comanches' village, and, secondly, march
+immediately against Bloodson."
+
+"Good," Stanapat said, "my brother is a wise man; I have known him a
+long time; his advice is good; but the Teocali inhabited by Bloodson is
+well defended. In what way will my brother set about seizing it?"
+
+"My brother will listen," Red Cedar continued. "I have ten bold hunters
+with me; but I have left eighty, all armed with good rifles, on an
+island of the endless river where they are encamped, which are awaiting
+my return. The detachment intended to attack the Teocali will invest it
+on all sides, though the warriors will not let themselves be seen;
+during that time I will accompany Black Cat and his tribe to the
+Comanche village. As soon as the prisoners have fallen into our hands, I
+will go and fetch my young men from the island where I left them, and
+return with them and Black Cat to help my brother in seizing the
+Teocali, which cannot resist us."
+
+This promise, made in a loud and firm voice, produced all the effect the
+squatter expected. The Indians, dreaming of the immense pillage they
+could indulge in, and the incalculable wealth collected at the spot,
+had only one desire: to seize the Teocali as soon as possible. Still,
+through the Indian stoicism, none of the passions boiling in their veins
+were displayed in their faces, and it was in a cold and calm voice that
+Black Cat thanked Red Cedar and told him he could withdraw while the
+chiefs deliberated on what he had brought before them. The squatter
+bowed and left the council, followed by his companions.
+
+"Well," the Gazelle asked him, "what do you fancy the redskins will do?"
+
+"Do not be uneasy, senorita," the squatter answered, with a most meaning
+smile, "I know the Indians; the plan I have submitted to them is too
+simple, and offers too many advantages for them to decline it; I can
+assure you beforehand that they will follow it exactly."
+
+"Is it far from here to the Comanche village?"
+
+"No," the other said, emphatically; "by starting at once we should reach
+it this evening."
+
+The girl gave vent to a sigh of satisfaction, and a vivid blush suffused
+her charming face. Red Cedar, who was watching her aside, could not
+refrain from muttering to himself:
+
+"I must have the solution of the enigma ere long."
+
+They returned to the tent.
+
+In the Council of the Chiefs all happened as Red Cedar had foreseen:
+after a short deliberation, referring more to the mode of execution than
+to the plan itself, it was adopted unanimously.
+
+An hour later, all was movement in the camp; the warriors rose to join
+the detachments and form squadrons; there was an indescribable
+confusion. At length, calm was gradually restored, the two war parties
+started in the directions proposed by Red Cedar, and soon, of the crowd
+of warriors who had been yelling and dancing in the camp, only thirty
+remained to receive the warriors as they arrived.
+
+Black Cat placed himself at the head of his band, followed by the
+Pirates. The Apaches started for the Comanche village in Indian file, at
+their peculiar pace, which a trotting horse finds difficulty in keeping
+up with. The greatest silence and caution prevailed in the ranks, and it
+seemed as if the Apaches did not wish to be heard even by the birds.
+
+With extraordinary dexterity, of which the Indians alone are capable,
+each marched in the other's footsteps so exactly that it looked as if
+only one person had gone along the path, carrying their care to such an
+extent as to stoop for fear of grazing the branches, and avoiding any
+contact with the shrubs. They marched as far as was possible on broken
+earth or rocks, that their traces might be less visible, making detours
+after detours, and returning a dozen times to the same spot, for the
+purpose of so thoroughly confusing their trail that it would be
+impossible to discover it.
+
+When they reached the bank of a stream, instead of crossing it at right
+angles, they followed or went up it for a considerable distance, not
+landing again till the soil was hard enough to take the marks of their
+footsteps. They did all this with exemplary patience, without checking
+their speed, and still advancing to the object they had chosen.
+
+They found themselves at about half past six in the evening at the top
+of a hill, whence the summer village of the Comanches could be perceived
+scarce two miles distant. The sound of the songs and chichikouis reached
+the Apaches at intervals, thus telling them that their enemies were
+rejoicing and celebrating some ceremony without any suspicion of a
+sudden attack. The Indians halted and consulted as to their final
+measures.
+
+The Comanches have two sorts of villages, summer and winter. The latter
+are built with care, and some regularity. Their houses are of two
+stories, well arranged, light, and even elegant. But the Comanches are
+birds of prey, continually exposed to invasions, and menacing their
+enemies with them: hence they construct their villages on the point of
+rocks, exactly like eagles' nests, and seek all means to render them
+impregnable. The most curious village we have seen is formed by two
+lofty pyramids, standing on either side of a ravine, and connected by a
+bridge some distance up. These pyramids are about four hundred and
+twenty-five feet long by one hundred and forty-eight wide; as they rise
+this width diminishes, and the total height is about eighty-six feet.
+These two villages, divided into eight floors, contain five hundred
+inhabitants, who are enabled to defend themselves against a swarm of
+enemies from these extraordinary fortresses.
+
+In the Comanche winter villages the door is not on the ground floor, as
+in Europe and civilised countries. The Comanche, when he wishes to enter
+his house, places a ladder against the side, mounts on the roof, and
+thence descends by a trap to the lower floors. When the ladder is once
+drawn up, it is impossible to enter the house.
+
+The Pueblo of Aronco is situated on the summit of a scarped rock, over a
+precipice several hundred feet in depth. The inhabitants only enter by
+means of ladders, as is the case in some Swiss villages; but in time of
+war the ladders disappear, and the pueblo can only be reached by notches
+cut at regular distances in the rock.
+
+The summer villages are only constructed for habitation in fine weather,
+or peace times, to facilitate getting in the crops and the chase; so
+soon as the first frost arrives, or a sound of war is heard, they are
+immediately deserted.
+
+All the summer villages are alike; the one to which we allude here was
+surrounded by palisades and a wide ditch, but the fortifications, which
+had not been kept up, were in a complete state of dilapidation; the
+ditch was filled up at several spots, and the palisades, torn down by
+the squaws to light fires, offered, at many places, a convenient passage
+for assailants.
+
+The Apaches wished to descend into the plain, unnoticed by the
+inhabitants; which would have been difficult, almost impossible, for
+European troops; but the Indians, whose wars are only one succession of
+surprises and ambushes, know how to surmount such difficulties.
+
+It was arranged that the band, divided into three detachments, the first
+commanded by Black Cat, the second by another chief, and the third by
+Red Cedar, should crawl down the hillside, while the few men left to
+guard the horses would come up when the village was invaded.
+
+This settled, Black Cat had torches prepared. When all was ready, the
+three detachments lay down on the ground, and the descent of the hill
+began. Assuredly, a man standing sentry in the place could not have
+suspected that more than five hundred warriors were marching on the
+village, crawling in the lofty grass like serpents, not even making the
+branches or leaves under which they crept oscillate, and keeping such
+order in their march that they always formed front.
+
+The descent had lasted more than an hour, and as soon as the plain was
+reached the greatest difficulty was surmounted; for owing to the height
+of the plants and bushes, it was almost impossible for them to be
+perceived. At length, gaining ground inch by inch, after surmounting
+enormous obstacles and difficulties, they reached the palisade.
+
+The first to arrive was Black Cat, who imitated the barking of the
+coyote. Two similar signals answered him, uttered by the chiefs of the
+other detachments, who had also arrived. Black Cat, now confident of
+being vigorously supported by his friends, seized his war whistle, and
+produced from it a shrill and piercing sound.
+
+All the Indians rose as one man, and, bounding like tigers, rushed on
+the village, uttering their formidable war cry. They entered the village
+by three sides simultaneously, driving before them the terrified
+population; who, taken unawares, fled in every direction, howling with
+terror.
+
+Some of the Apaches, as soon as they got in, lit their torches, and
+threw them on the straw roofs of the callis. The huts immediately
+caught, and the fire spreading around, served as the vanguard of the
+Apaches, who excited it with everything they could lay hands on.
+
+The unhappy Comanches, surprised in the middle of a ceremony, surrounded
+by a belt of fire, and attacked on all sides by their ferocious enemies,
+who were killing and scalping women and children, suffered from the most
+profound despair, and only offered a weak resistance to this fierce
+assault. In the meanwhile the fire spread further. The village became a
+burning furnace--the heated air was oppressive to breathe, and masses of
+sparks and of smoke, driven by the wind, blinded and burnt the eyes.
+
+The hunters, on the roof of the calli, defended themselves vigorously,
+not hoping to escape, but wishing, at least, to sell their lives dearly.
+They were already surrounded by the flames which met over their heads,
+and yet they did not dream of giving ground.
+
+Still, when the first moment of terror had passed, a band of Comanche
+warriors had succeeded in uniting, and offered a most obstinate
+resistance to the Apaches. All at once, White Gazelle, with flashing
+eye, suffused face, clenched teeth, and blanched lips, rushed forward,
+followed by Red Cedar and the Pirates, who followed at her heels.
+
+"Surrender!" she cried to Valentine.
+
+"Coward!" the latter replied, who took her for a man; "here is my
+answer!"
+
+And he fired a pistol at the girl. The bullet passed through Orson's
+arm, who uttered a yell of pain, and rushed madly into the medley.
+
+"Surrender! I say again," the girl went on, "you must see that you will
+be killed."
+
+"No! A hundred times no," Valentine shouted. "I will not surrender."
+
+The Gazelle, by a prodigious effort, reached the wall of the calli, and
+by the help of her hands and feet, succeeded in reaching the roof before
+her intention was suspected. With the energy and fierceness of a tiger,
+she bounded on Dona Clara, seized her round the waist, and put a pistol
+to her forehead.
+
+"Now, will you surrender?" she said furiously.
+
+"Take care, Nina; take care," Sandoval shouted.
+
+It was too late: Curumilla had felled her with the butt end of his
+rifle. The pirates rushed to her aid, but Valentine and his friends
+repulsed them. A horrible hand-to-hand combat began over the body of the
+girl, who lay senseless on the ground.
+
+Valentine took a scrutinising glance around him; with a movement swift
+as thought he caught up Dona Clara, and, leaping from the calli, he fell
+into the midst of a detachment of Comanches, who welcomed him with
+shouts of joy. Without loss of time the hunter laid the maiden, who was
+half dead with terror, on the ground, and placing himself at the head of
+the warriors, he made so successful a charge, that the Apaches,
+surprised in their turn, were compelled to give ground. Don Pablo and
+the others then rejoined the hunters.
+
+"By Jove! It is warm work," said the Frenchman, whose hair and eyebrows
+were scorched. "Our friend, Red Cedar, has brought this on us. I was
+decidedly wrong in not killing him."
+
+In the meanwhile the Comanches had recovered from their terror; the
+warriors had found arms and assumed the offensive. Not only did the
+Apaches no longer advance, but at various points they began falling
+back, inch by inch, it is true but it was already a retreat. The
+pirates, rendered desperate by the wound of their darling child,
+surrounded her, and tried in vain to recall her to life. Red Cedar alone
+fought at the head of the Apaches, and performed prodigies of valour.
+
+Night had set in, and the combat was still going on by the sinister
+glare of the fire. Valentine took Pethonista aside, and whispered a few
+words.
+
+"Good," the chief answered; "my brother is a great warrior: he will
+save my nation."
+
+And he straightway disappeared, making some of his men a sign to follow
+him.
+
+Dona Clara was not long despondent; when the first effect of terror had
+passed she rose and seized a pistol.
+
+"Do not trouble yourself about me," she said to Valentine and her
+brother. "Do your duty as brave hunters: if I am attacked, I can defend
+myself."
+
+"I will remain by your side," said Shaw, giving her a passionate glance.
+
+"Be it so," she answered with a kind smile; "henceforth I shall be in
+safety."
+
+The Comanches had entrenched themselves with their squaws in the great
+square of the village, where the flames did not affect them greatly.
+Indeed, the wretched callis had not taken long to burn; the fire was
+already expiring for lack of nourishment, and they were fighting on a
+heap of cinders.
+
+Valentine, while fighting in the first ranks of his allies, contented
+himself with holding the positions he had succeeded in occupying, and
+did not attempt to repulse the Apaches. All at once the war cry of the
+Comanches, mingled with a formidable hurrah, sounded in the rear of the
+Apaches, who were attacked with incredible fury.
+
+"Bloodson! Bloodson!" the Apaches shouted, attacked with extraordinary
+terror.
+
+It was, in truth, the stranger, who, followed by Don Miguel, General
+Ibanez, Unicorn, and all his comrades, rushed like a whirlwind on the
+Apaches. Valentine gave vent to a shout of joy in response to the hurrah
+of his friends, and rushed forward at the head of his warriors. From
+this moment the medley became horrible: it was no longer a combat, but a
+butchery, an atrocious carnage!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+THE AVENGER.
+
+
+In order fully to comprehend the ensuing facts, we are constrained to
+relate here an event which occurred about twenty years before our story
+commences.
+
+At that remote period Texas belonged, if not _de facto_, still _de
+jure_, to Mexico. Marvellously situated on the Mexican Gulf, endowed
+with a temperate climate and a fertile soil, which, if tickled with a
+spade, laughs with a harvest, Texas is assuredly one of the richest
+countries in the New World. Hence, the Government, foreseeing the future
+of this province, did all in its power to populate it.
+
+Unfortunately, it effected very little, incapable as it was of
+populating even Mexico. Still, a considerable number of Mexicans went
+across and settled in Texas.
+
+Among the men who let themselves be tempted by the magic promises of
+this virgin soil were two brothers, Don Stefano and Don Pacheco de
+Irala, of the best families in the province of Nuevo-Leon. The active
+part they played in the war of independence had ruined them, and not
+obtaining from the liberals, after the triumph of their cause, the
+reward they had a right to expect for the services they had
+rendered--Don Gregorio, their father, having even paid with his life for
+his attachment to the party--they had no other resource but settling in
+Texas, a new country, in which they had hopes of speedily
+re-establishing their fortunes.
+
+Owing to their thorough knowledge of agriculture, and their
+intelligence, they soon gave a considerable extension to their
+settlement, which they had the pleasure of seeing daily grow more
+prosperous, in defiance of Indians, buffaloes, tempests, and illness.
+The Hacienda del Papagallo (Parrot farm), inhabited by the two brothers,
+was, like all the houses in this country, which are continually exposed
+to the inrods of the savages, a species of fortress built of carved
+stone and surrounded by a thick and embrasured wall, with a gun at each
+corner: it stood on the top of a rather lofty hill, and commanded the
+plain for a considerable distance.
+
+Don Pacheco, the elder of the two brothers, was married and had two
+daughters, little creatures scarce three years of age, whose joyous
+cries and ravishing smiles filled the interior of the hacienda with
+gaiety. Hardly three leagues from the farm was another, occupied by
+Northern Americans, adventurers of more than dubious conduct, who had
+come to the country no one knew how, and who, since they inhabited it,
+led a mysteriously problematical existence, which gave birth to the
+strangest and most contradictory reports about them.
+
+It was whispered that, under the guise of peaceful farmers, these men
+maintained relations with the bandits who flocked into the country from
+every side, and that they were the secret chiefs of a dangerous
+association of malefactors, who had ravaged the country for several
+years past with impunity. On several occasions the two brothers had
+disputes with these unpleasant neighbours about cattle that had
+disappeared and other pecadillos of the same nature. In a word, they
+lived with them on the footing of an armed peace.
+
+A few days previous to the period to which this chapter refers, Don
+Pacheco had a sharp altercation with one of these Americans of the name
+of Wilkes, about several slaves the fellow tried to seduce from
+hacienda, and the result was, that Don Pacheco, naturally hot-tempered,
+gave him a tremendous horsewhipping. The other swallowed the insult
+without making any attempt to revenge himself; but he had withdrawn,
+muttering the most terrible threats against Don Pacheco.
+
+Still, as we have said, the affair had no further consequences. Nearly a
+month had passed, and the brothers had heard nothing from their
+neighbours. On the evening of the day which we take up our narrative, Don
+Stefano, mounted on a mustang, was preparing to leave the hacienda, to
+ride to Nacogdoches, where important business called him.
+
+"Then, you are really going?" Don Pacheco said.
+
+"At once: you know that I put off the journey as long as I could."
+
+"How long do you expect to be absent?"
+
+"Four days, at the most."
+
+"Good: we shall not expect you, then, before."
+
+"Oh, it is very possible I may return sooner."
+
+"Why so?"
+
+"Shall I tell you? Well, I do not feel easy in mind."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"I am anxious, I know not why. Many times I have left you, brother, for
+longer journeys than this--"
+
+"Well!" Don Pacheco interrupted him.
+
+"I never felt before as I do at this moment."
+
+"You startle me, brother. What is the matter with you?"
+
+"I could not explain it to you. I have a foreboding of evil. In spite of
+myself, my heart is contracted on leaving you."
+
+"That is strange," Don Pacheco muttered, suddenly becoming thoughtful.
+"I do not dare confess it to you, brother; but I have just the same
+feeling as yourself, and am afraid I know not why."
+
+"Brother," Don Stefano replied in a gloomy voice, "you know how we love
+each other. Since our father's death, we have constantly shared
+everything--joy and sorrow, fortune or reverses. Brother, this
+foreboding is sent us from Heaven. A great danger threatens us."
+
+"Perhaps so," Don Pacheco said sadly.
+
+"Listen, brother," Don Stefano remarked, resolutely. "I will not go."
+
+And he made a movement to dismount, but his brother checked him.
+
+"No," he said, "we are men. We must not, then, let ourselves be
+conquered by foolish thoughts, which are only chimeras produced by a
+diseased imagination."
+
+"No. I prefer to remain here a few days longer."
+
+"You told me yourself that your interests claim your presence at
+Nacogdoches. Go, but return as soon as possible."
+
+There was a silence, during which the brothers reflected deeply. The
+moon rose pallid and mournful on the horizon.
+
+"That Wilkes is a villain," Don Stefano went on; "who knows whether he
+is not waiting my departure to attempt on the hacienda one of those
+terrible expeditions of which he is accused by the public voice?"
+
+Don Pacheco began laughing, and, stretching out his hand in the
+direction of the farm, whose white walls stood out clearly on the dark
+blue sky, he said:--
+
+"The Papagallo has too hard sides for those bandits. Go in peace,
+brother, they will not venture it."
+
+"May Heaven grant it!" Don Stefano murmured.
+
+"Oh, those men are cowards, and I inflicted a well-merited punishment on
+the scoundrel."
+
+"Agreed."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"It's precisely because those men are cowards that I fear them.
+Canarios! I know as well as you that they will not dare openly to attack
+you."
+
+"What have I to fear, then?" Don Pacheco interrupted him.
+
+"Treachery, brother."
+
+"Why, have I not five hundred devoted peons on the hacienda? Go without
+fear, I tell you."
+
+"You wish it?"
+
+"I insist on it."
+
+"Good-bye, then," Don Stefano said, stifling a sigh. "Good-bye, brother,
+till we meet again."
+
+Don Stefano dug his spurs into his horse's flanks and started at full
+speed. For a long time his brother followed the rider's outline on the
+sandy road, till he turned a corner, and Don Pacheco re-entered the
+hacienda with an anxious heart.
+
+Don Stefano, stimulated by the vague alarm that oppressed him, only
+stopped the absolutely necessary period at Nacogdoches to finish his
+business, and hurried back scarce two days after his departure.
+Strangely enough, the nearer he drew to the farm, the greater his
+anxiety grew, though it was impossible for him to explain the causes of
+the feeling.
+
+Around home all was tranquil--the sky, studded with an infinite number
+of glistening stars, spread over his head its dome of azure; at
+intervals, the howling of the coyote was mingled with the hoarse lowing
+of the buffaloes, or the roars of the jaguars in quest of prey.
+
+Don Stefano still advanced, bowed over his horse's neck, with pale
+forehead and heaving chest, listening to the numerous sounds of the
+solitude, and trying to pierce with vivid glance the darkness that hid
+from him the point to which he was hurrying with the speed of a tornado.
+
+After a ride of six hours, the Mexican suddenly uttered a yell of agony,
+as he violently pulled up his panting steed. Before him the Hacienda del
+Papagallo appeared, surrounded by a belt of flames. The magnificent
+building was now only a shapeless pile of smoking ruins, reflecting its
+ruddy flames on the sky for a considerable distance.
+
+"My brother! My brother!" Don Stefano shrieked in his despair.
+
+And he rushed into the furnace.
+
+A mournful silence brooded over the hacienda. At every step the Mexican
+stumbled over corpses half-consumed by the flames and horribly
+mutilated. Mad with grief and rage, with his hair and clothes burned by
+the flames that enveloped him, Don Stefano continued his researches.
+
+What was he seeking in this accursed charnel house? He did not himself
+know, but still he sought. Not a shriek, not a sigh! On all sides the
+silence of death!--that terrible silence which makes the heart leap, and
+ices the bravest man with fear!
+
+What had taken place during Don Stefano's absence?--What enemy had
+produced these ruins in a few short hours?
+
+The first beams of dawn were beginning to tinge the horizon with their
+fugitive opaline tints, and the sky gradually assumed that ruddy hue
+which announces sunrise. Don Stefano had passed the whole night in vain
+and sterile researches, and though he had constantly interrogated the
+ruins, they remained dumb.
+
+The Mexican, overcome by grief, and compelled to acknowledge his own
+impotence, gave Heaven a glance of reproach and despair, and throwing
+himself on the calcined ground, he hid his face in his hands, and wept!
+The sight of this young, handsome, brave man weeping silently over the
+ruins whose secret he had been unable to discover must have been
+heartrending.
+
+Suddenly, Don Stefano started up, with flashing eye, and a face on which
+indomitable energy was imprinted.
+
+"Oh!" he shouted, in a voice that resembled the howl of a wild beast,
+"vengeance! Vengeance!"
+
+A voice that seemed to issue from the tomb answered his, and Don Stefano
+turned round with a shudder. Two yards from him, his brother, pale,
+mutilated, and bleeding, was leaning against a fallen wall, like a
+spectre.
+
+"Ah!" the Mexican exclaimed, as he rushed toward him.
+
+"You come too late, brother," the wounded man murmured, in a voice
+choking with the death rattle.
+
+"Oh! I will save you, brother," Don Stefano said, desperately.
+
+"No," Don Pacheco replied sadly, shaking his head, "I am dying, brother;
+your foreboding did not deceive you."
+
+"Hope!"
+
+And, raising his brother in his powerful arms, he prepared to pay him
+that attention which his condition seemed to demand.
+
+"I am dying, I tell you--all is useless," Don Pacheco continued, in a
+voice that momentarily grew weaker. "Listen to me."
+
+"Speak!"
+
+"Say that you will avenge me, brother?" the dying man asked, his eye
+emitting a fierce flash.
+
+"I will avenge you," Don Stefano answered; "I swear it by our Saviour!"
+
+"Good! I have been assassinated by men dressed as Apache Indians, but
+among them I fancied I recognised--"
+
+"Whom?"
+
+"Wilkes the squatter, and Samuel, his accomplice."
+
+"Enough! Where is your wife?"
+
+"Dead! My daughters, save them!" Don Pacheco murmured.
+
+"Where are they?"
+
+"Carried off by the bandits."
+
+"Oh! I will discover them, even if hidden in the bowels of the earth!
+Did you not recognise anyone else?"
+
+"Yes, yes, one more," the dying man said, in an almost unintelligible
+voice.
+
+Don Stefano bent over his brother in order to hear more distinctly.
+
+"Who? Tell me--brother, speak in Heaven's name!"
+
+The wounded man made a supreme effort.
+
+"There was another man, formerly a peon of ours."
+
+"His name?" Don Stefano asked eagerly.
+
+Don Pacheco was growing weaker, his face had assumed an earthy hue, and
+his eyes could no longer distinguish objects.
+
+"I cannot remember," he sighed rather than said.
+
+"One word, only one, brother."
+
+"Yes, listen--it is Sand--ah!"
+
+He suddenly fell back, uttering a terrible cry, and clutching at his
+brother's arm; he writhed in a final convulsion, and all was over.
+
+Don Stefano knelt by his brother's corpse, embraced it tenderly, piously
+closed its eyes, and then got up. He dug a grave with his machete among
+the smoking ruins of the hacienda, in which he laid his brother's body.
+When this sacred duty was performed, he addressed an ardent prayer to
+the Deity in behalf of the sinful man who was about to appear before His
+judgment seat, and then, stretching out his arms over the grave, he said
+in a loud, distinct voice--
+
+"Sleep in peace, brother, sleep in peace. I promise you a glorious
+revenge."
+
+Don Stefano slowly descended the hill, found his horse, which had spent
+the night in nibbling the young tree shoots, and started at a gallop,
+after giving a parting glance to these ruins, under which all his
+happiness lay buried.
+
+No one ever heard of Don Stefano again in Texas: was he dead too,
+without taking that vengeance which he had sworn to achieve? No one
+could say. The Americans had also disappeared since that awful night and
+left no sign. In these primitive countries things are soon forgotten:
+life passes away there so rapidly, and is so full of strange incidents,
+that the events of the morrow obliterate the remembrances of those of
+the eve. Ere long the population of Texas had completely forgotten this
+terrible catastrophe.
+
+Every year, however, a man appeared on the hill where the hacienda once
+stood, whose ruins the luxuriant vegetation of the country had long ago
+overgrown; this man seated himself on the silent ruins, and passed the
+whole night with his face buried in his hands.
+
+"What did he there?"
+
+"Whence did he come?"
+
+"Who was he?"
+
+These three questions ever remained unanswered, for at daybreak the
+stranger rode off again, not to return till the following year on the
+anniversary of the frightful tragedy. One strange fact was proved
+however, after every visit paid by this man--one, two, or even sometimes
+three horribly mutilated human heads were found lying on the hill.
+
+What demoniac task was this incomprehensible being performing? Was it
+Don Stefano pursuing his vengeance?
+
+We shall probably see presently.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+EXPLANATORY.
+
+
+We are compelled to retrograde a short distance in our story, in order
+to explain to the reader the arrival of that help which in an instant
+altered the face of the fight, and saved Valentine and his friends from
+captivity, probably from death.
+
+Unicorn carefully watched the movements of Red Cedar and his band; since
+the Pirate's arrival on the desert he had not once let him out of sight.
+Hidden in the chaparral on the riverbank, he had been an unseen
+spectator of the bandit's fight with the hunters; but, with that caution
+which forms the basis of the Indian character, he had left his friends
+perfect liberty to act as they thought proper, with the design of
+interfering when necessary.
+
+When he saw the Pirates disarmed, and reduced to his last shifts, he
+considered it useless to follow him longer, and proceeded in the
+direction of his village, to assemble his warriors, and go at their head
+to attack the camp of the scalp hunters.
+
+The Comanche chief was alone with his squaw, from whom he scarcely ever
+separated; they were both galloping along the bank of the Gila, being
+careful to hide themselves among the brushwood, when suddenly deafening
+cries, mingled with shots, and the hasty gallop of a horse, struck his
+ears.
+
+Unicorn made his companion a signal to halt, and dismounted; then,
+cautiously crawling among the trees, he glided like a serpent through
+the tall grass to the skirt of the chaparral which sheltered him. On
+reaching this point he cautiously rose on his knees and looked out.
+
+A man, bearing a fainting woman across his saddle-bow, was coming up at
+full speed; in the distance several Indian warriors, doubtless wearied
+of an useless pursuit, were slowly retiring, while the fugitive rapidly
+drew nearer Unicorn.
+
+The chief perceived at the first glance that he was a white. On arriving
+within a short distance of the spot where he lay in ambush, the newcomer
+looked round several times nervously; then he dismounted, took the
+female in his arms, laid her tenderly on the grass, and ran to the river
+to fill his hat with water. It was Harry, the Canadian hunter, and the
+female was Ellen.
+
+So soon as he had gone off, Unicorn started from his hiding place,
+giving his wife a sign to follow him, and both approached the maiden,
+who was lying senseless on the ground. Sunbeam knelt by the side of the
+American girl, gently raised her head, and began paying her those
+delicate attentions of which women alone possess the secret. Almost
+immediately after, Harry ran up; but at the sight of the Indian he
+hurriedly dropped his hat, and drew a pistol from his girdle.
+
+"Wah!" Unicorn said quickly, "My pale brother need not pull out his
+weapons--I am a friend."
+
+"A friend?" Harry replied, ill-humouredly; "Can a redskin warrior be the
+friend of a white man?"
+
+The chief crossed his arms on his broad chest, and boldly walked up to
+the hunter.
+
+"I was hidden ten paces from you," he said; "had I been an enemy, the
+paleface would have been dead ere now."
+
+The Canadian shook his head.
+
+"That is possible," he said; "may heaven grant that you speak frankly,
+for the struggle I have gone through in saving this poor girl has so
+exhausted me that I could not defend her against you."
+
+"Good!" the Indian continued, "She has nothing to fear; Unicorn is chief
+of his nation, when he gives his word he must be believed."
+
+And he honestly offered his hand to the hunter. The latter hesitated for
+a moment, then suddenly forming a resolution, he cordially pressed the
+hand, saying--
+
+"I believe you, chief; your name is known to me; you have the reputation
+of a wise man and brave warrior, so I trust to you; but I implore you to
+help me in recovering this unhappy girl."
+
+Sunbeam gently raised her head, and gave the hunter a glance of tender
+sympathy, as she said in her harmonious voice--
+
+"The pale virgin runs no danger, in a few minutes she will come to
+herself again; my brother may be at his ease."
+
+"Thanks, thanks, young woman," the Canadian said, warmly; "the hope you
+give me fills me with joy; I can now think about avenging my poor Dick."
+
+"What does my brother mean?" the chief asked, surprised at the flash of
+fury from the hunter's dark eye.
+
+The latter, reassured as to the state of his companion, and attracted by
+the open and honest reception the Indian gave him, did not hesitate to
+confide to him not only what had occurred to himself, but also the
+causes which had brought him into this deserted country.
+
+"Now," he said in the close, "I have only one desire--to place this girl
+in security, and then avenge my friend."
+
+The Indian has listened unmoved and without interruption to the hunter's
+long story. When he had finished he seemed to reflect for some minutes,
+and then answered the Canadian, as he laid his hand on his shoulder--
+
+"Then my brother wishes to take vengeance on the Apaches?"
+
+"Yes!" the hunter exclaimed; "So soon as this girl is in a safe place I
+will go on their trail."
+
+"Ah!" the Indian said, as he shook his head, "One man cannot fight with
+fifty."
+
+"I do not care for the number of my enemies so long as I can come up
+with them."
+
+Unicorn gave the daring young man an admiring glance.
+
+"Good!" he said, "My brother is brave--I will help him to his
+vengeance."
+
+At this moment Ellen partly opened her eyes.
+
+"Where am I?" she murmured.
+
+"Reassure yourself, Ellen," the hunter replied; "for the moment at least
+you have nothing to fear as you are surrounded by friends."
+
+"Where is Dona Clara? I do not see her," she continued, in a weak voice.
+
+"I will tell you presently, Ellen, what has happened to her," the hunter
+remarked.
+
+Ellen sighed and was silent; she understood that Harry would not tell
+her fresh misfortune in her present state of weakness. Owing to
+Sunbeam's increasing attentions she, however, soon completely regained
+her senses.
+
+"Does my sister feel her strength returned?" the squaw asked her
+anxiously.
+
+"Oh," she said, "I am quite well now."
+
+Unicorn looked fixedly at her.
+
+"Yes," he said, "my sister is at present in a condition to travel. It is
+time to start, our road is long; Sunbeam will give her horse to the pale
+virgin, that she may be able to follow us."
+
+"Where do you intend taking us, chief?" the hunter asked, with
+badly-veiled anxiety.
+
+"Did not my brother say that he wished to avenge himself?"
+
+"Yes, I did."
+
+"Well, he can follow me, and I will lead him to those who will help
+him."
+
+"Hum!" the Canadian muttered, "I require nobody for that."
+
+"My brother is mistaken; he requires allies, for the enemy he will have
+to fight is powerful."
+
+"That is possible. But I should like to know these allies, at any rate;
+I am not inclined to league myself with the villainous bandits, who
+flock to the desert and dishonour our colour. I am a frank and honest
+hunter, for my part."
+
+"My brother has spoken well," the chief answered, with a smile; "he can
+be at rest, and place entire confidence in those to whom I am about to
+lead him."
+
+"Who are they, then?"
+
+"One is the father of the maiden the Apaches have carried off, the
+others--"
+
+"Stay, chief," the hunter quickly exclaimed, "that is sufficient, I do
+not want to know the rest. We will start when you please, and I will
+follow you anywhere."
+
+"Good; my brother will get the horses ready, while I give some
+indispensable orders to my squaw."
+
+Harry bowed in sign of acquiescence, and deftly accomplished the task,
+while the Comanche took his wife aside, and conversed with her in a
+whisper.
+
+"Now we will go," the Comanche said, as he returned to the hunter.
+
+"Does not Sunbeam accompany us?" Ellen asked.
+
+"No," the chief answered laconically.
+
+The young Indian woman smiled pleasantly on the squatter's daughter and
+gliding swiftly among the trees, disappeared almost instantaneously.
+The others mounted and started at a gallop in the opposite direction.
+
+The Comanche warrior fancied he knew where to find Valentine and his
+comrades, and hence went in a direct line to the Teocali.
+
+After the Trail-hunter's departure, Don Miguel and the other characters
+of our story, who remained in Bloodson's fortress, continued to sleep
+peaceably for several hours, and when they awoke the sun was already
+high on the horizon. The hacendero and the general, fatigued by the
+emotions of the preceding day, and but little accustomed to desert life,
+had yielded to sleep like men who require to regain their strength; when
+they opened their eyes, a plentiful meal awaited them.
+
+Several days passed without any incident. The stranger, in spite of the
+cordiality of his reception, maintained a certain degree of reserve with
+his guests, only speaking to them when it was absolutely necessary, but
+never seeking to begin with them one of those conversations in which
+people gradually forget themselves, and insensibly glide into
+confidential talk. There was something frigid about the manner of this
+strange man, which could not be explained, but which prevented any
+friendly relations.
+
+One evening, at the moment when Don Miguel and the general were
+preparing to lie down on the skins of wild beasts, which served as their
+bed, their host approached them. Through the day the two gentlemen had
+noticed a certain agitation among the denizens in the Teocali. An
+unusual excitement had prevailed, and it was plain that Bloodson was
+about to attempt one of those daring expeditions to which he was
+accustomed.
+
+Although the two Mexicans eagerly desired to know their host's projects,
+they were too much men of the world to question him, and restrained
+their curiosity while patiently awaiting an explanation which he would
+not fail soon to give them.
+
+"Good news, caballeros," he said, as he joined them.
+
+"Oh, oh!" the general muttered, "That's novel fruit here."
+
+Don Miguel awaited their host's explanation.
+
+"One of my friends," Bloodson continued, "arrived here this morning,
+accompanied by a Canadian hunter and Red Cedar's daughter."
+
+At this unexpected good news the Mexicans started with joy and surprise.
+
+"Ah," Don Miguel said, "she will be a precious hostage for us."
+
+"That is what I thought," Bloodson continued; "however, the poor child
+is perfectly innocent of her father's crimes; and if she is at this
+moment in our power, it is only because she wished to save your
+daughter, Don Miguel."
+
+"What do you mean?" the hacendero asked, with an internal tremor.
+
+"You shall understand it," Bloodson answered.
+
+And without any further preamble, he told his listeners all the details
+connected with the flight of the girls, which the reader already knows.
+
+When he had finished his narrative there was a moment's silence.
+
+"The position is a serious one," the general said, shaking his head.
+
+"We must save our friends, at all risks," Don Miguel exclaimed,
+impetuously.
+
+"That is my intention," said Bloodson; "at present the position of
+affairs is improved."
+
+"How so?" the hacendero asked.
+
+"Because it is better for Dona Clara to be a prisoner with the Apaches
+than with Red Cedar."
+
+"That is true," Don Miguel observed.
+
+"How can we get her out of their clutches?" asked the general.
+
+"That does not embarrass me," Bloodson said; "tomorrow, at daybreak, we
+will start with all our people, and go to Unicorn's village, who will
+join his warriors to ours, and then we will attack the Apaches in their
+village."
+
+"Very good; but shall we be sure of finding my daughter at the village?"
+
+"In the desert everything is seen and known. Do you fancy that Don
+Valentine has remained inactive since he left us? You may feel assured
+that he has long been on the trail of the young lady, if he has not
+already liberated her."
+
+"May heaven grant it," the father remarked with a mournful sigh; "but
+who will advise us of what he has done?"
+
+"Himself, you may be convinced of that. Still, as we are a very long
+distance from the village where your daughter is probably confined, we
+must hasten to get nearer to her; hence, my guests, get up your
+strength, for tomorrow will be a tiring day, I warn you. Now, permit me
+to wish you good night, and leave you, in order to give my final
+orders."
+
+"One word more, I beg of you."
+
+"Speak."
+
+"What do you intend doing with the girl whom a strange accident has
+thrown into your power?"
+
+"I do not know; events will decide her fate; I shall regulate my conduct
+by that of our common enemy."
+
+"You said yourself," Don Miguel continued, "that the girl is innocent of
+her father's crimes."
+
+Bloodson gave him a peculiar glance
+
+"Do you not know, Don Miguel," he answered, in a hollow voice, "that in
+this world the innocent always suffer for the guilty?"
+
+And, not adding a word further, he gave the Mexicans a profound bow, and
+slowly retired.
+
+The two gentlemen looked after him, as he gradually disappeared in the
+gloom of the Teocali; then they fell back on their beds despondingly,
+not daring to impart to each other the sorrowful thoughts that oppressed
+them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+APACHES AND COMANCHES.
+
+
+At daybreak some forty horsemen, at whose head rode Bloodson, Don
+Miguel Zarate, and General Ibanez, started in the direction of the
+Comanche village, guided by Unicorn. In the midst of the band rode
+Ellen, closely watched, and Harry, who would not leave her for a moment,
+galloped by her side.
+
+The maiden had guessed, in spite of the attentions offered her, or
+perhaps through them, that she was regarded rather as a prisoner than a
+friend by the men who surrounded her. Hence, on leaving the Teocali, she
+had given Harry a suppliant glance to remain by her side. The hunter had
+understood this glance, and, in spite of all that Bloodson urged to
+induce him to ride with him at the head of the party, he obstinately
+remained by Ellen's side.
+
+By a strange coincidence, at the very moment when the partisans, guided
+by Unicorn, were leaving the Teocali to go in search of news of their
+friends at the Comanche village, the latter were executing their
+miraculous flight, had left the islet on which they had defended
+themselves so bravely, and, after boldly crossing the Apache camp, were
+also proceeding, though by a different route, to the same village.
+
+The march of a numerous party in the desert is generally less rapid than
+that of a few men, and it is easy of explanation. Two or three men
+proceeding together pass without difficulty anywhere, gliding through
+the chaparral, and following the track of wild beasts; but some forty
+persons compelled to adopt the Indian file, that is to say, march one
+after the other, along these problematical paths, scarce wide enough for
+one horseman, are constrained to cheek their pace, and advance with
+extreme precaution, especially on an expedition of the sort the
+partisans were now undertaking.
+
+Hence, in spite of all the diligence they displayed, they advanced but
+slowly. The ruddy disc of the sun was rapidly descending on the horizon,
+the shadow of the lofty trees was lengthening more and more, the evening
+breeze was beginning to sough through the virgin forest, which extended
+for an enormous distance on the right of the travellers, while on the
+riverbank the alligators were clumsily leaving the bed of mud in which
+they had been slothfully wallowing, and were regaining the deep waters
+of the Gila.
+
+The horses and riders, harassed by the fatigues of a long journey, were
+slowly dragging along, when Unicorn, who was about one hundred yards
+ahead, suddenly turned back and rejoined his comrades, who at once
+halted.
+
+"What is the matter?" Bloodson asked, so soon as the chief found him;
+"Has my brother seen anything that alarms him?"
+
+"Yes," the Indian laconically replied.
+
+"I am waiting for my brother to explain."
+
+"The desert is not quiet," the chief went on in a grave voice; "the
+vultures and white-headed eagles are flying in long circles, the deer
+and buffaloes are restless, the asshatas are bounding in every
+direction, and the antelopes flying with all the speed of their limbs
+northward."
+
+Bloodson frowned and waited a moment ere he replied. The Mexicans
+examined him anxiously, but at length he raised his head.
+
+"What do you conclude from these signs?"
+
+"This: the Apaches are crossing the prairie; they are numerous, for the
+desert is disturbed for a very considerable extent."
+
+"Why the Apaches sooner than others?" Bloodson answered. "Cannot wood
+rangers have produced the excitement you have noticed, as well as the
+Indians?"
+
+The Comanche warrior shook his head in contradiction.
+
+"They are Apaches," he said, peremptorily. "This is not the season of
+the great hunts, the animals are not troubled by man at this period of
+the year. They know it, and do not desperately fly from him, as they are
+certain of not being pursued. The wood rangers march alone, or only
+three or four together, employing precautions not to startle the game.
+But the Apaches are ignorant dogs, who, like the coyotes they resemble,
+continually assemble in large parties, and, instead of marching like men
+or warriors, pass like a hurricane over the prairie, burning,
+destroying, and devastating everything in their passage."
+
+"That is true," Bloodson muttered; "your sagacity has not deceived you,
+chief; only the Apaches can be near here."
+
+"Good; and what will my brother do?" the Comanche asked.
+
+The stranger's eye flashed fire.
+
+"We will fight them," he said.
+
+The Indian gave an almost imperceptible shrug of his shoulders.
+
+"No," he said; "that is no good; we must not fight at this moment."
+
+"Speak then, in the devil's name," the stranger exclaimed, impatiently,
+"and explain your plan to us."
+
+The Indian smiled.
+
+"My brother is quick," he said.
+
+Bloodson, ashamed of having given way to his temper, had already
+regained his coolness.
+
+"Pardon me, chief; I was wrong."
+
+And he held out his hand, which Unicorn took and pressed warmly.
+
+"My brother is wise," he replied; "I know that he did not wish to insult
+a friend."
+
+"Speak, chief; time is slipping away; explain your plan to me."
+
+"Behind that hill is Unicorn's village; the warriors will remain here
+while he advances alone, in order to know what is going on."
+
+"Good; my brother can go; we will wait."
+
+In the desert, long conversations are not the fashion; moments are too
+precious to be lost in words. The Indian set spurs to his horse and went
+off, and he soon disappeared from their sight.
+
+"What do you think of what the chief has just told us?" the general
+asked.
+
+"It is very serious," the stranger answered. "The Indians have an
+extraordinary skill for discovering what goes on in the desert--they
+have an infallible instinct which never deceives them. This man is one
+of the most intelligent I know. I am only acquainted with two men in the
+world capable of contending with him--that frightful scoundrel, Red
+Cedar, and Don Valentine, that French hunter whom the Indians themselves
+have surnamed the Trail-Hunter."
+
+"Ah!" Don Miguel said, "Then your opinion is--"
+
+"That we must await the result of the step Unicorn is taking at this
+moment; his village is only an hour's march at the most from the spot
+where we now are."
+
+"But, in that case, why stop us?"
+
+"An Indian never returns home till he has assured himself that all is in
+order. Who can foresee what has happened during his absence?"
+
+"That is true; let us wait, then," the hacendero said, stifling a sigh.
+
+Nearly an hour passed thus. All the partisans seated on their horses,
+with their finger on the trigger of their rifle, remained motionless as
+bronze statues. In the meanwhile the sun had set in a mist of vapour, the
+shadow spread gradually over the desert like a thick winding sheet, and
+the stars were slowly lit up in the dark blue sky. Still Unicorn did not
+return.
+
+The hunters did not exchange a word; each, persuaded in his heart that
+the position was a serious one, was reflecting deeply. Not a sound was
+audible, save the hoarse and continuous rustling of the Rio Gila over
+the pebbles and rocks that border its banks.
+
+Suddenly, Bloodson, whose eye had been obstinately fixed in the
+direction where the Comanche Chief had disappeared, gave a slight start
+and whispered in Don Miguel's ear:
+
+"Here he is."
+
+In fact, the gallop of a horse was heard gradually drawing nearer till
+the chief reappeared.
+
+"Well?" the stranger shouted to him.
+
+"Koutonepi and the pale virgin are in the village," he said; "the hunter
+has delivered the maiden."
+
+"May Heaven be praised!" Don Miguel said, fervently.
+
+Unicorn looked at him sadly.
+
+"The Apaches are pursuing them," he added; "at this moment the village
+is being attacked, but our friends defend themselves bravely."
+
+"Let us fly to their help," the Mexicans shouted.
+
+Bloodson turned to them.
+
+"Patience," he said; "let the chief explain."
+
+"My pale brother," the Comanche continued, "with one-half of the
+warriors, will turn the hill and enter the village by the north, while
+I, with the other half, will enter by the south."
+
+"Good," said Bloodson; "but we are far off yet; perhaps our friends will
+be unable to hold out till our arrival."
+
+Unicorn smiled scornfully.
+
+"The Apaches are cowardly dogs," he said. "The Comanches will defend
+themselves: they know not flight."
+
+Without replying, the partisan divided his band, taking the command of
+one party, and entrusting the other to the Comanche warrior. All these
+men were Indians, long habituated to a war of ambushes and surprises:
+this bold stroke was a Godsend to them: with flashing eyes and quivering
+lips, though apparently unmoved, they impatiently awaited the signal for
+departure.
+
+"Let us go," Bloodson vociferated, brandishing his rifle over his head.
+
+All bent over their horses manes and started forward. On reaching the
+foot of the hill one band went to the right, the other to the left,
+Ellen remaining behind, under the guard of a few warriors and the
+Canadian hunter, who would not leave her. This little band moved forward
+gently as a rearguard.
+
+In the meanwhile, the partisans reached the village at headlong speed;
+and it was high time for them to arrive, for the huts, enveloped in
+flames, resembled a volcano. By the gleam of the fire, shadows could be
+seen darting hither and thither; and shouts of pain and rage, mingled
+with the discharge of firearms, incessantly rose from this burning mass.
+
+The partisans rushed into this horrible furnace, uttering their war yell
+and brandishing their arms, and the medley became frightful. The
+Apaches, thus attacked on two sides simultaneously, underwent a
+momentary stupor, which soon changed into a panic and utter rout, at the
+sight of these new opponents, who seemed to rise from the ground to
+crush them, and change their triumph into a defeat.
+
+But flight was not easy. The entire population of the village was under
+arms: women and children, electrified by their example, and joining the
+warriors, rushed madly on the Apaches, who, seeing their surprise
+foiled, only tried to reach the open country again.
+
+For a quarter of an hour the massacre was fearful. At length the
+Apaches, led by Stanapat and Black Cat, who vainly performed prodigies
+of valour in order to restore the chances of the fight, succeeded in
+clearing a gap through their enemies, and rushed in every direction,
+closely followed by the Comanches, who felled them with their war clubs
+and pitilessly scalped them.
+
+Only one band still resisted.
+
+Leaning against the palisades, which they had not yet found time to
+cross, the pirates, bearing in their midst the body of their beloved
+Gazelle, had recoiled inch by inch before the enemies who enveloped them
+on all sides, dashing forward every now and then, and compelling their
+foes to give ground in their turn.
+
+But the struggle was too unequal, and a long resistance soon became
+impossible. The pirates, skilfully profiting by a moment of disorder,
+started to fly each in a different direction, hoping to escape more
+easily in this way. Sandoval had taken on his robust shoulders the body
+of the girl, and with an extraordinary effort, which despair alone made
+successful, had leaped out on the plain, where he hoped to conceal
+himself in the grass.
+
+He would have probably succeeded in this, but he had to do with four
+men, who seemed to have made up their minds to hunt him down. At the
+moment he drew himself up after his leap, Valentine and his comrades
+threw themselves upon him, without giving him time to defend himself,
+and, in spite of his desperate resistance and furious yells, tied him
+securely.
+
+The old pirate, on finding himself a prisoner, let his head sink on his
+chest, and giving a sad glance at the girl he had been unable to save,
+he gave vent to a deep sigh, and a burning tear silently coursed down
+his furrowed cheeks. At the same moment Ellen entered the village, in
+the middle of her escort: on seeing her, Valentine started.
+
+"Oh!" he muttered; "Where is Dona Clara?"
+
+"My daughter, my daughter!" the hacendero exclaimed, suddenly appearing
+before the hunter, with his clothes disordered and his brow pale with
+fear. The unhappy father, since he had entered the village, had only
+attended to one thing--seeking his daughter.
+
+Followed step by step by the general, he entered the thickest of the
+fight, asking after his daughter of all those he met, thrusting aside
+the weapons that menaced him, and not thinking of the death which at
+every moment rose before him, under every shape. Protected, as it were,
+by an invisible talisman, he had traversed the whole village and entered
+every hut the fire had spared, Seeing nothing, hearing nothing, having
+only one object--that of finding his child. Alas! His search had been
+in vain.
+
+Dona Clara had disappeared: although Valentine had intrusted her to
+Shaw, no one knew what had become of her. The hacendero fell into his
+friend's arms, and burst into heartrending sobs.
+
+"My daughter," he groaned. "Valentine, restore my daughter to me!"
+
+The hunter pressed him to his manly breast.
+
+"Courage, poor father," he said to him. "Courage!"
+
+But the hacendero no longer heard him; grief had at length overpowered
+him, and he fainted away.
+
+"Oh!" Valentine said, "Red Cedar, you viper, shall I never succeed in
+putting my heel on your chest!"
+
+Aided by the general and Don Pablo, he carried Don Miguel to the
+medicine lodge, which the flames had not reached, and laid him a bed of
+dry leaves.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+THE SCALP-DANCE.
+
+
+When the combat was at an end, the Comanches busied themselves in
+repairing the ravages caused by the Apache attack. Though their losses
+were great, they were not so serious as might be supposed; because, as
+the season was already far advanced, they had sent the larger portion of
+their property to the winter village. This accidental circumstance saved
+the greater part of their wealth.
+
+On the other hand, the Apaches had been in such haste, and the defence
+had been so promptly organised and obstinate, that they had found no
+time to plunder. Although all the callis were reduced to ashes, that
+damage was trifling, and could be repaired in a few days.
+
+The most serious part of the affair was the loss of some twenty
+warriors, who had courageously fallen in the defence of their homes.
+Several women and children had also fallen; but the Apaches had suffered
+a far more considerable loss. Without counting more than eighty warriors
+killed during the rout, Black Cat and six other Apache warriors had
+fallen alive into the power of their adversaries, and a terrible fate
+awaited them.
+
+"What does my brother intend to do with his prisoners?" Unicorn asked
+Valentine.
+
+"My brother need not feel anxious about them," the latter answered;
+"they are whites, and I intend disposing of them as I think proper."
+
+"It shall be done as my brother desires."
+
+"Thanks, chief; I should feel obliged, however, by your lending me two
+or three warriors to guard them."
+
+"It is unnecessary," Sandoval interrupted. "I pledge my word of honour
+and that of my comrade not to try and escape for the next twenty-four
+hours."
+
+Valentine fixed on him a glance that seemed trying to read his most
+secret thoughts.
+
+"It is well," he said presently. "I accept your parole."
+
+"Are you going to leave this poor creature without help?"
+
+"You love him?"
+
+"As my son; had it not been so, you would not have captured me."
+
+"Very good. We will try to save him; but, perhaps, it would be better
+for him to die at once."
+
+"Perhaps so," the old Pirate said, shaking his head, and speaking, as it
+seemed, to himself.
+
+"In a few moments the scalp dance will begin; will my brothers be
+present at it?" Unicorn asked.
+
+"I will," Valentine replied, who, although caring very little for this
+ceremony, understood that it would be impolitic not to appear at it.
+
+We have already said that Ellen had reached the village by this time. On
+seeing her, Don Pablo felt his heart quiver with emotion, and he
+trembled in all his limbs. Ellen, whose glance was idly wandering
+around, let her eyes settle accidentally on him; she suddenly blushed,
+and let her eyelashes droop to hide her look of pleasure.
+
+Instinctively she felt reassured on finding she had near her this young
+man, whom, however, she hardly knew, and who had only addressed her once
+or twice. A cry of joy died away on her lips. Don Pablo walked up to
+her. He had already learned by what a concourse of singular events she
+had fallen into the hands of the partisans.
+
+"You are free, senorita," he said to her; "henceforth you have nothing
+more to fear here, for you are under my protection."
+
+"And mine," Harry said, roughly, as he hastily surveyed Don Pablo. "I
+alone am sufficient to defend Miss Ellen from any insult."
+
+The two young men exchanged a very significant glance: at the first word,
+each recognised in the other a rival.
+
+"I have no desire to withdraw Miss Ellen from your protection,
+caballero," the Mexican said coldly. "Still, as you are a stranger in
+this village, where I am among devoted friends, I fancy that my support
+will not be useless to her, and offer it--that is all."
+
+"I gratefully accept, caballero," she replied with a charming smile. "Be
+kind enough to employ your influence in procuring me some shelter, where
+I can take a few minutes' repose, which I so greatly need."
+
+"Be good enough to follow me," the young man answered, with a bow; "your
+wishes shall be immediately satisfied."
+
+Ellen then turned to Harry.
+
+"Thanks, brother," she said to him, cordially offering her hand. "Now,
+think of yourself; we shall meet again soon."
+
+Then she added, addressing Don Pablo:
+
+"I follow you, caballero."
+
+The Canadian hunter stood for a moment abashed by this hurried
+leave-taking, but soon raised his head again.
+
+"Hum!" he muttered, "that's the way she leaves me, is it? But why be
+angry with her, all women are alike--and, then, I have sworn to defend
+her! Can I compel her to love me?"
+
+And after these philosophical reflections, which restored him all his
+tranquillity of mind, he threw his rifle over his shoulder, and quietly
+mixed among Bloodson's partisans.
+
+Don Pablo, in the meanwhile, had conducted the maiden to a cabin
+miraculously preserved from the flames. At the moment they entered, they
+were joined by Valentine.
+
+"Ah, a woman," he said, gaily, "all the better."
+
+And laying White Gazelle on the buffalo hides, he added with a smile:
+
+"Permit me, madam, to entrust to your care this young person, whom my
+friend Curumilla has half killed. We must do all our best to restore
+life."
+
+Pedro Sandoval, so soon as he had pledged his word, had been freed from
+his ligatures, though his weapons were taken from him.
+
+"Companero," he said, "let the senorita do what is necessary; she will
+manage better than we can."
+
+"Poor child!" Ellen murmured, sympathisingly. "Be assured, gentlemen,
+that I will take care of her."
+
+"Thanks, madam, thanks," the old Pirate said, as he several times kissed
+the maiden's hands. "I would give my last drop of blood to see her smile
+on me again."
+
+"Is she your daughter?" Ellen asked with interest.
+
+The Pirate shook his head sadly.
+
+"We have no children or family, we the accursed ones of civilisation,"
+he said, in a hollow voice; "but, as I have watched over this poor girl
+almost since her birth, I love her as we are capable of loving. I have
+always acted as her father, and my greatest grief today is to see her
+suffering and be unable to relieve her."
+
+"Leave that care to me; I hope you will soon hear her voice and see her
+smile on you."
+
+"Oh, do that, madam," he exclaimed, "and I, who never yet blessed
+anything, will worship you as an angel."
+
+The maiden, affected by such devoted love in a nature so rough as that
+of the Pirate, renewed her assurance of giving the prisoner all the care
+her position demanded, and the two women remained alone in the tent.
+
+In the meanwhile, a new village had risen, as if by enchantment, on the
+ruins of the old one. Within a few hours, buffalo skin tents were
+erected in every direction, and only a few traces remained of the
+sanguinary contest of which the spot had been the scene on that same
+day.
+
+A fire was kindled in the public square, and the Apache prisoners,
+fastened to stakes put up expressly for them, were stoically awaiting
+the decision on their fate.
+
+All were getting ready for the scalp dance, and a great number of men,
+tall, handsome, and well dressed, soon invaded every corner of the
+square. Their faces were blackened, as were those of Unicorn and
+Pethonista, who led them; after these the old women and children came up
+in procession, and ranged themselves behind the men. Last of all, the
+other females came up in close column, two by two, and occupied the
+centre of the square.
+
+Seven warriors belonging to the Old Dogs formed the band; they, too, had
+blackened their faces, and three of them carried drums; the other four,
+chichikouis. The warriors, wrapped in their buffalo robes, had their
+heads uncovered, and generally adorned with feathers, which fell down
+behind. The women's faces were also painted, some black, others red;
+they wore buffalo robes, or blankets dyed of different colours. Two or
+three, the wives of the principal chiefs, had on white buffalo robes,
+and wore on their heads an eagle plume, placed perpendicularly.
+
+As Sunbeam, Unicorn's squaw, was absent, the first wife of Pethonista
+took her place, and, alone, wore the grand sacred cap of feathers. All
+the other women held in their hands war clubs or muskets, decorated with
+red cloth and small feathers, the butt of which they struck on the
+ground while dancing.
+
+We will remark here, that in the scalp dance the women carry arms, and
+put on the war costume, to the exclusion of the men.
+
+The chieftainess stood at the right extremity of the band. She had in
+her hand a long wand, from whose upper end were suspended four scalps,
+still dripping with blood, surmounted by a stuffed jay, with
+outstretched wings; a little lower, on the same staff, were five more
+scalps. Opposite her stood another woman, carrying eight scalps in the
+same way, while the majority of the rest had either one or two.
+
+The women formed a semicircle; the musicians, placed on the right, began
+their deafening noise, beating the drums with all their strength,
+singing their exploits, and shaking the chichikouis. The squaws then
+began dancing. They took little steps, balancing to the right and left;
+the two ends of the semicircle advanced and fell back in turn; the
+dancers shrieked at the top of their lungs, and produced a fearful
+concert, which can only be compared to the furious miauwling of a
+multitude of cats.
+
+The Apache prisoners were fastened to stakes in the centre of the
+circle. Each time the women approached them in their evolutions, they
+overwhelmed them with insults, spat in their faces, and called them
+cowards, hares, rabbits, and dogs without hearts.
+
+The Apaches smiled at these insults, to which they replied by
+enumerating the losses they had entailed on the Comanches, and the
+warriors they had killed. When the dance had lasted more than an hour,
+the women, exhausted with fatigue, were compelled to rest, and the men
+advanced in their turn, and stood before the prisoners.
+
+Among them was one Valentine would have liked to save--it was Black Cat.
+The hunter therefore resolved to interfere, and employ all his influence
+with Unicorn to obtain the life of the Apache chief.
+
+Valentine did not conceal from himself the difficulty of such an
+undertaking with men to whom vengeance is the first duty, and whose good
+will he was, above all, afraid of alienating. But powerful reasons
+compelled him to act thus, and he resolved to attempt it. He therefore
+advanced without hesitation to Unicorn, who was preparing the punishment
+of the prisoners, and touched him lightly on the arm.
+
+"My brother is the first sachem of the Comanches," he said to him.
+
+The chief bowed silently.
+
+"His calli," Valentine continued, in an insinuating voice, "disappears
+under the scalps of his enemies, so numerous are they, for my brother is
+more terrible than lightning in combat."
+
+The Indian regarded the hunter with a proud smile.
+
+"What does my brother want?" he asked.
+
+"Unicorn," Valentine continued, "is no less wise at the council fire
+than he is intrepid in battle. He is the most experienced and revered of
+the warriors of his nation."
+
+"My brother, the great pale hunter, must explain himself clearly, in
+order that I may understand him," the sachem answered, with a shade of
+impatience.
+
+"My brother will listen to me for a moment," Valentine continued, quite
+unmoved. "Several Apache warriors have fallen alive into his hands."
+
+"They will die!" the chief said, hoarsely.
+
+"Why kill them? Would it not be better to set a ransom on them and send
+them back to their tribe, thus proving to the Apaches that the Comanches
+are great warriors, who do not fear them?"
+
+"The palefaces understand nothing about war: a dead man is no longer to
+be feared. If you pardon an enemy, you run the risk of him taking your
+scalp on the morrow. The Apaches must die. They have burnt my village,
+killed the squaws and children of my young men. Blood demands blood.
+They have an hour to live!"
+
+"Very good," the hunter replied, who understood that if he attempted to
+save all the prisoners he should not succeed, and was therefore
+compelled, much against the grain, to compromise; "the warriors must
+die; that is the law of war, and I do not seek to oppose it; but among
+them there is one for whom my heart swells with pity."
+
+"The Apache prisoners are mine," Unicorn objected.
+
+"I do not deny it, and my brother has the right to dispose of them as he
+pleases, and I cannot object; hence I ask a favour of my brother."
+
+The chief frowned slightly, but Valentine went on without seeming to
+notice the tacit dissatisfaction of the Comanche:
+
+"I have a great interest in saving this man."
+
+"My brother is white. The palefaces have a gilded tongue; they know how
+to find words which say all they wish. My brother is aware that I can
+refuse him nothing. Who is the warrior he desires to save?"
+
+"Does my brother promise me that the man shall not perish, whoever it
+may be, whose life I may demand?"
+
+The Comanche Chief was silent for a moment, looking fixedly at the
+hunter, who watched him with equal attention.
+
+"Unicorn is my friend," Valentine continued. "I have a perfectly new
+rifle: if it pleases my brother, I will give it to him."
+
+At this insinuation a slight smile enlivened the chief's face.
+
+"Good: I accept the rifle," he answered. "It is a proper weapon for a
+sachem. My brother has my word. Who is the warrior he wishes to save?"
+
+"Black Cat."
+
+"Wah! I suspected it: however, no matter, my brother, can be at his
+ease. Black Cat shall be saved."
+
+"I thank my brother," Valentine said warmly. "I see that his heart is
+noble! He is a great warrior!"
+
+Then, alter affectionately pressing the chief's hand, Valentine returned
+to his station, suppressing a sigh of satisfaction.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+THE TORTURE.
+
+
+The Apaches, who had been fastened for a long time to the stakes at
+which they would be tortured, regarded the terrible preparations for
+their atrocious punishment with a calm eye, and not a muscle quivering
+in their stoical and indifferent faces. So great was their carelessness,
+or, at any rate, it appeared so, that you might have fancied that they
+were merely about to figure as spectators in the gloomy tragedy
+preparing, although they were destined to play so terrible a part in it.
+
+So soon as Valentine left him, Unicorn ordered the torture to commence,
+but he suddenly altered his mind.
+
+"My sons," he said, addressing the Comanche warriors, and pointing to
+Black Cat; "this man is a chief, and as such can claim an exceptional
+death, in which he can prove to us his constancy and courage under
+suffering. Send him to the happy hunting grounds in such a way that the
+warriors of his nation whom he meets in another life may give him a
+reception worthy of him. Tomorrow the old men and chiefs will assemble
+round the council fire, to invent a punishment meet for him. Take him
+from the stake."
+
+The Indians frenziedly applauded these words, which promised them so
+attractive a spectacle for the morrow.
+
+"The Comanches are boasting and cowardly women," Black Cat broke out;
+"they do not know how to torture warriors. I defy them to make me utter
+a groan, if the punishment lasted a whole day."
+
+"The Apache dogs can bark," Unicorn said coldly; "but if their tongue is
+long, their courage is short; tomorrow, Black Cat will weep like a
+daughter of the palefaces."
+
+Black Cat shrugged his shoulders contemptuously, and the Comanches
+repeated their frenzied applause.
+
+"Unfasten him," Unicorn commanded a second time.
+
+Several warriors approached the Apache chief, cut the cords that bound
+him to the stake, and then secured his limbs and threw him at the foot
+of a tree, Black Cat not deigning to make a sign evidencing the
+slightest irritation. After exchanging a glance with Valentine, Unicorn
+placed himself at the head of a band of warriors, who formed a
+semicircle round the prisoners. The chieftainess placed herself
+opposite to him, with the women; the band struck up more noisily than
+ever, and the torture began.
+
+The squaws and warriors danced round the prisoners, and in passing
+before them, each, whether a man or woman, cut off a strip of flesh with
+long, sharp scalping knives. In making these wounds, the Comanches
+employed the utmost precaution to prevent the knives running too deep
+into the flesh, lest the victims should run the chance of dying at once,
+which would have unpleasantly modified the intention of the Indians, by
+depriving them of a sight from which they promised themselves so much
+pleasure.
+
+The Apaches smiled on their torturers, and excited them still more by
+telling them that they did not know how to treat their prisoners; that
+their wounds were only so many mosquito stings; that the Apaches were
+far more skilful; and that the many Comanche prisoners they had made
+endured in their tribe much more atrocious sufferings.
+
+The unfortunate men were in a pitiable state: their bodies were only one
+wound, from which the blood streamed. The Comanches grew excited and
+rage seized upon them, on hearing the insults of their enemies. A woman
+rushed all at once on one of the prisoners whose words were the
+bitterest, and with her sharp and curved talons tore out his eyes, which
+she swallowed on the spot, saying to him--
+
+"Dog, you shall not see the sun again."
+
+"You have torn out my eyes, but left me my tongue," the prisoner
+replied, with a smile rendered more hideous by the two empty and
+bleeding sockets. "'Twas I who devoured the quivering heart of your son,
+Running-water, when he entered my calli to steal horses. Do what you
+please, I am revenged beforehand!"
+
+The woman, exasperated by this last insult, rushed upon him and buried
+her knife in his heart. The Apache burst into a hoarse laugh, which
+suddenly changed into the death rattle, and fell a corpse while uttering
+the words--
+
+"I said truly that you do not know how to torture your prisoners--dogs,
+rabbits, thieves!"
+
+The Comanches doubled their fury on the wretched victims, incessantly
+hacking and stabbing them, and though the majority were dead already,
+they did not leave off till they had destroyed all appearance of
+humanity. The scalps were then raised, and the victims thrown into the
+fire prepared for them.
+
+The Comanches danced and howled round this fire until their voice and
+strength failed them, and they fell exhausted, in spite of the drums and
+chichikouis. The men and women, stretched on the ground pell-mell, soon
+fell asleep, in that strange state of intoxication produced by the odour
+of the blood shed during this atrocious butchery.
+
+Valentine, despite the almost insurmountable disgust this scene had
+occasioned him, did not wish to retire, as he feared lest Black Cat
+might be massacred by the Comanches in a moment of mad fury. This
+precaution was not vain: several times, had he not resolutely
+interfered, the Apache chief would also have been sacrificed to the
+hatred of his enemies, who had attained a paroxysm of fury impossible to
+describe.
+
+When the camp was plunged in silence, and everybody asleep, Valentine
+proceeded cautiously in the direction where the Apache chief lay bound,
+who watched him come up with a very peculiar glance. Not saying a word,
+the hunter, after assuring himself that nobody was watching his
+movements, cut all the cords that bound him. The Apache bounded like a
+jaguar, but fell back again on the ground; the cords had been tied so
+securely that they had entered into his flesh.
+
+"My brother must be prudent," the Frenchman said gently. "I wish to save
+him."
+
+He then took his flask and poured a few drops of brandy on the pallid
+lips of the chief, who gradually recovered, and at length stood on his
+feet. Bending a searching glance on the man who so generously paid him
+attentions he was far from expecting, he asked in a hoarse voice--
+
+"Why does the pale hunter wish to save me?"
+
+"Because," Valentine answered, without hesitation, "my brother is a
+great warrior in his nation, and must not die. He is free."
+
+And holding out his hand to the chief, he helped him to walk.
+The Indian followed him unresistingly, but without a word. On reaching
+the spot where the horses of the tribe were picketed, Valentine selected
+one, saddled it, and led it to the Apache, who, during the hunter's
+short absence, had remained motionless on the same spot.
+
+"My brother will mount," he said.
+
+The warrior was still so weak that Valentine was compelled to help him
+into the saddle.
+
+"Can my brother keep on his horse?" he asked, with tender solicitude.
+
+"Yes," the Apache answered, laconically.
+
+The hunter took the gun, bow, and panther skin quiver of the chief which
+he handed to him, saying gently--
+
+"My brother will take back his arms. A great warrior as he is must not
+return to his tribe like a timid woman; he should be able to kill a
+stag, if he met one on the road."
+
+The Indian seized the weapons; a convulsive tremor ran over his limbs,
+and joy gained the victory over Indian stoicism. This man, who had faced
+a horrible death without change of countenance, was conquered by the
+Frenchman's noble conduct; his granite heart was softened; a tear,
+doubtless the first he had ever shed, escaped from his fever parched
+eyes, and a sob burst from his overcharged breast.
+
+"Thanks," he said, in a choking voice, so soon as words could find their
+way to to his lips; "thanks, my brother is good, he has a friend."
+
+"My brother owes me nothing," the hunter replied, simply; "I act as my
+heart and my religion order me."
+
+The Indian remained pensive for a moment, then he muttered, shaking his
+head dubiously:
+
+"Yes, I have heard that said before, by Father Seraphin, the Chief of
+Prayer of the palefaces. Their God is omnipotent, He is before all
+merciful; is not that a blessing?"
+
+"Remember, chief," Valentine quietly interrupted him, "that I save your
+life in the name of Father Seraphin, whom you seem to know."
+
+The Apache smiled softly.
+
+"Yes," he said, "these are his words, 'Requite good for evil.'"
+
+"Remember those divine precepts which I put in practice today,"
+Valentine exclaimed, "and they will support you in suffering."
+
+Black Cat shook his head.
+
+"No," he said, "the desert has its own laws, which are immutable; the
+red skins are of a different nature from the palefaces: their law is one
+of blood, and they cannot alter it. Their law says: 'Eye for eye, and
+tooth for tooth.' The maxim is derived from their fathers, and they are
+obliged to submit to it, and follow it; but the redskins never forget an
+insult or a kindness. Black Cat has a great memory."
+
+There was a silence of some minutes, during which the two men regarded
+each other attentively. At length the Apache spoke again.
+
+"My brother will lend me his gourd."
+
+The hunter gave it to him; the Apache quickly raised it to his lips, and
+took a mouthful. Then, bending down to Valentine, he placed his hands on
+his shoulders, and kissed him on the lips, while allowing a portion of
+the fluid he held in his mouth to pass into the hunter's.
+
+On the prairies of the Far West this ceremony is a species of mysterious
+initiation, and the greatest mark of attachment one man can give
+another. When two men have embraced in this way, they are henceforth
+friends, whom nothing can separate save death, and they help one another
+without hesitation under all circumstances.
+
+Valentine knew this, and hence, in spite of the disgust he internally
+experienced, he did not oppose the action of the Apache chief. On the
+contrary, he yielded to it joyfully, comprehending the immense
+advantages he should, at a later date, derive from this indissoluble
+alliance with one of the most influential Apache sachems, those allies
+of Red Cedar, on whom he had sworn to take an exemplary revenge.
+
+"We are brothers," Black Cat said, gravely. "Henceforth, by day or
+night, wherever the great pale hunter may direct his footsteps, a friend
+will constantly watch over him."
+
+"We are brothers," the hunter replied; "Black Cat will ever find me
+ready to come to his assistance."
+
+"I know it," said the warrior. "Farewell; I will return to the warriors
+of my tribe."
+
+"Farewell," Valentine said.
+
+And vigorously lashing his horse, the Apache Chief started at full
+speed, and soon disappeared in the darkness. Valentine listened for a
+moment to the echo of his horse's hoofs on the hardened ground, and then
+returned thoughtfully to the calli, in which Ellen was nursing White
+Gazelle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+TWO WOMEN'S HEARTS.
+
+
+Ellen felt moved with pity at the sight of this young and lovely woman,
+who lay on the floor of the hut, and whom life seemed to have quitted
+forever. She felt for her, although she never remembered to have seen
+her before, a sympathy for which she could not account, and which
+instinctively attracted her.
+
+Who was this woman? How had she, still so young, become mixed up in
+these scenes of murder and associated with these savage prairie men, to
+whom every human being is an enemy, every valuable article a booty?
+Whence arose this strange ascendancy which she exerted over outlaws,
+whom she made cry like children?
+
+All these thoughts crossed Ellen's mind, and heightened, were that
+possible, the interest she felt in the stranger. And yet, in her heart,
+a vague fear, an undefinable presentiment warned her to be on her guard,
+and that this woman, gifted with, a strange character and fatal beauty,
+was an enemy, who would destroy her happiness forever.
+
+As Ellen was one of those rare women for whom evil sentiments did not
+exist, and who made it a principle to obey, under all circumstances, the
+impulse of her heart, without reflecting on the consequences that might
+result from it, she silenced the feeling of revolt within her, and bent
+over White Gazelle.
+
+And with that exquisite tact, innate in the female heart, she sat down
+by the side of the sufferer, laid her beautiful head on her knees,
+loosened her vest, and gave her that busy attention of which the other
+sex alone possess the secret.
+
+The two maidens, thus grouped on the uneven floor of a wretched Indian
+hut, offered an exquisite picture. Both deliciously lovely, though of
+different beauty--for Ellen had the most lovely golden locks ever seen,
+while the Gazelle, on the contrary, had the warm tint of the Spanish
+woman, and hair of a bluish black--presented the complete type, in two
+different races, of the beau-ideal of woman, that misunderstood and
+incomprehensible being, the fallen angel in whose heart God seems to
+have let fall a glorious beam of His divinity, and who retains a vague
+reminiscence of that Eden which she made us lose.
+
+The American woman, that perfect whole, a composition of graces,
+volcanic and raging passions, angel and demon, who loves and hates
+simultaneously, and who makes the man she prefers feel in the same
+second the joys of paradise and the nameless tortures of the Inferno!
+Who could even analyze this impossible nature, in which virtue and
+vices, strangely amalgamated, seem to personify the terrible convulsions
+of the soil on which she lives, and which has created her?
+
+For a long time, Ellen's cares were thrown away. White Gazelle remained
+pale and cold in her arms. The maiden began to grow alarmed. She knew
+not to what she should have recourse, when the stranger made a slight
+movement, and a faint ruddiness tinged her cheeks. She uttered a
+profound sigh, and her eyelids painfully rose. She looked round her in
+amazement, and then closed her eyes again.
+
+After a moment, she opened them once more, raised her hand to her brow
+as if to dissipate the clouds that obscured her mind, fixed her eyes on
+the person who was attending to her, and then, with a frown and
+quivering lips, she, tore herself from the arms that entwined her, and,
+bounding like a panther, sought shelter in one of the corners of the
+hut, without ceasing to gaze fixedly at the young American, who was
+startled at this strange conduct, and could not understand it.
+
+The two girls remained thus for a few seconds, face to face, devouring
+each other with their eyes, but not exchanging a syllable. No other
+sound could be heard in the hut, save the panting respiration of the two
+females.
+
+"Why do you shun me?" Ellen at length asked in her harmonious voice,
+soft as the cooing of a dove. "Do I frighten you?" she added, with a
+smile.
+
+The Spaniard listened to her as if she did not catch her meaning, and
+shook her head so passionately that she broke the ribbon confining her
+hair, which fell in thick ringlets over her white shoulders, and veiled
+them.
+
+"Who are you?" she asked, impetuously, with an accent of menace and
+anger.
+
+"Who am I?" Ellen replied, in a firm voice, in which a slight tinge of
+reproach was perceptible. "I am the woman who has just saved your life."
+
+"And who told you I wished it to be saved?"
+
+"In doing so, I only consulted my own heart."
+
+"Oh, yes, I understand," the Gazelle said, ironically. "You are one of
+those women called in your country Quakeresses, who spend their life in
+preaching."
+
+"I am nothing of the sort," Ellen said, softly. "I am a woman who
+suffers like yourself, and whom your misfortunes affect."
+
+"Yes, yes," the Spaniard shrieked, as she writhed her hands
+despairingly, and burst into tears--"I suffer all the torments of hell."
+
+Ellen regarded her for a moment with compassion, and walked towards her.
+"Do not cry, poor girl!" she said to her, mistaking the cause that made
+her shed tears. "You are in safety here. No one will do you any harm."
+
+The Spaniard threw up her head haughtily.
+
+"Nay!" she said, impetuously. "Do you fancy, then, that I am not in a
+condition to defend myself, were I insulted? What need have I of your
+protection?"
+
+And, roughly seizing Ellen's arm, she shook her passionately as she
+said:--
+
+"Who are you? What are you doing here? Answer!"
+
+"You, who were with the bandits when they attacked this village, should
+know me," Ellen replied, drily.
+
+"Yes, I know you," the Spaniard said presently, in a hoarse voice. "You
+are the woman whom the genius of evil brought across my path to rob me
+of all my happiness! I did not expect to find you here, but I am
+delighted at doing so, for I can at length tell you how I hate you," she
+added, stamping her foot passionately. "Yes, I hate you!"
+
+Ellen, in her heart, was alarmed at the stranger's violence; she tried
+in vain to explain her incomprehensible words.
+
+"You hate me!" she replied, softly. "For what reason? I do not know you.
+This is the first time that accident has brought us together. Up to this
+day, we never had any relations together, near or remote."
+
+"Do you think so?" the Spaniard continued, with a cutting smile. "In
+truth," she added, "we never had any relations together. You are right,
+and yet I know you thoroughly. Miss Ellen, daughter of the squatter, the
+scalp hunter, the bandit, in a word, Red Cedar, and who dares to love
+Don Pablo de Zarate, as if you did not belong to an accursed race. Have
+I forgotten aught--are those all your titles? Answer, will you?" she
+said, thrusting her face, inflamed with passion, close to Ellen's, and
+shaking her violently by the arm.
+
+"I am, indeed, Red Cedar's daughter," Ellen answered, coldly; "but I do
+not understand what you mean by your allusion to Don Pablo de Zarate."
+
+"Do you not, innocent lamb!" the Spaniard retorted with irony.
+
+"And supposing it were so," the American answered with some haughtiness,
+"what does it concern you? By what right do you cross-question me?"
+
+"By what right?" the Spaniard said, violently, but suddenly checked
+herself, and, biting her lips till the blood came, she folded her hands
+on her breast, and, surveying Ellen with a glance full of the utmost
+contempt, she continued:--
+
+"In truth, you are an angel of purity and gentleness; your life has
+passed calmly and softly at the hearth of honest and respectable
+parents, who inculcated in you at an early age all the virtues they
+practice so well--ah, ah! Is not that what you meant to say to me?--
+while I, who am an associate of brigands, who have spent my whole life
+on the prairie, who understand nothing of the narrow exigencies of your
+paltry civilisation, who have always breathed the sharp and savage air
+of liberty--by what right should I come to interfere in your family
+arrangements, and interfere in your chaste loves, whose sentimental and
+insipid incidents are so well regulated by feet and inches? You are
+right, I cannot, with my savage manner, and burning heart, cross your
+love, and destroy for a caprice all your combinations--I am, indeed,
+mad," she added, as she rudely repulsed the maiden.
+
+She folded her arms on her chest, and leant against the wall of the hut
+in silence. Ellen looked at her for a while, and then said, in a soft
+and conciliating voice--
+
+"I try in vain to understand your allusions, but if they refer to any
+fact effaced from my mind, if, under any circumstance, I may have
+unconsciously offended you, I am ready to offer you all the apologies
+you may require. Our position among these ferocious Indians is too
+critical for me not to try, by all means in my power, to draw more
+closely together the bonds of friendship between ourselves, the only
+representatives of the white race here, which alone can enable us to
+escape the snares laid for us, and resist the attacks that threaten us."
+
+The Spaniard's face had gradually lost the hateful and wicked expression
+that disfigured it, and her features had become calmer. Now that she had
+reflected, she repented the imprudent words she had uttered on the first
+outburst of passion. She would have liked to recall her secret; still she
+hoped that it was not too late to do so; and with that craft innate in
+woman, and which renders her so dangerous under certain circumstances,
+she resolved to deceive her companion, and efface from her mind the bad
+impression which her foolish words must have left there.
+
+Hence it was with a smile, and in her softest voice, that she answered
+the American--
+
+"You are good-hearted; I am not worthy of the attention you have paid
+me, or of the gentle words you address to me, after what I dared to say
+to you. But I am more unfortunate than wicked. Abandoned when a child,
+and adopted by the bandits with whom you saw me, the first sounds that
+struck my ear were cries of death, the first light I saw was the glare
+of incendiary fires. My life has been passed in the desert, far from the
+towns, where people learn to grow better. I am an impetuous and
+obstinate girl; but, believe me, my heart is good; I can appreciate a
+kindness, and remember it. Alas! A girl in my position is more to be
+pitied than blamed."
+
+"Poor child!" Ellen said, with involuntary emotion, "So young, and
+already so unhappy."
+
+"Oh, yes, most unhappy," the Spaniard went on; "I never knew the
+sweetness of a mother's caresses, and the only family I have had is
+composed of the brigands, who accompanied the Apaches when they attacked
+you."
+
+The girls remained seated side by side, with their arms intertwined and
+head on each other's shoulder, like two timid doves. They talked for a
+long time, describing their past life. Ellen, with the candour and
+frankness that formed the basis of her character, allowed her companion
+to draw from her all her secrets, harmless as they were, not perceiving
+that the dangerous woman who held her beneath the charm of her
+blandishments, continually excited her to confidence, while herself
+maintaining the utmost reserve.
+
+The hours passed thus rapidly, nearly the whole night slipped away in
+their confessions, which did not terminate till sleep, which never
+surrenders its sway over young and animated people, closed the drooping
+eyelids of the American girl.
+
+The Spaniard did not sleep; when the other maiden's head fell on her
+chest she raised it cautiously, and laid it delicately on the skins and
+furs arranged to act as a bed; then, by the flickering and uncertain
+light of the pinewood torch fixed in the ground, which lit up the hut,
+she gazed long and attentively on the squatter's daughter.
+
+Her face had lost its placid mask and assumed an expression of hatred of
+which such lovely features would have been thought incapable; with
+frowning brow, clenched teeth, and pallid cheeks, as she stood before
+the maiden, she might have been taken for the genius of evil, preparing
+to seize the victim which it holds fascinated and gasping beneath its
+deadly glance.
+
+"Yes," she said, in a hollow voice, "this woman is lovely; she has all
+needed to be beloved by a man. She told me the truth--he loves her! And
+I," she added, with a movement of rage, "why does he not love me? I am
+lovely too--more lovely than this one, perhaps. How is it that he has
+been at least twenty times in my presence, and his heart has never been
+warmed by the fire that flashed from my eyes? Whence comes it that he
+has never noticed me, that all my advances to make him love me have
+remained futile, and that he has never thought of anyone but the woman
+lying asleep there, who is in my power, and whom I could kill if I
+pleased?"
+
+While uttering these words she had drawn from her girdle a small
+stiletto, with a blade sharp as the tongue of a cascabel.
+
+"No!" she added, after a moment's reflection, "No, it is not thus that
+she must die! She would not suffer enough. Oh, no! I mean her to endure
+all the sufferings that are lacerating me. Jealousy shall torture her
+heart as it has done mine for so long. _Voto a Dios!_ I will avenge
+myself as a Spanish woman should do. If he despise me, if he will not
+love me, neither of us shall have him; we shall both suffer, and her
+torture will alleviate mine. Oh! Oh!" she said, with a smile, as she
+walked round the sleeping girl with the muffled tread of a wild beast;
+"fair-haired girl, with lily complexion, your cheeks covered with the
+velvety down of a peach, will ere long be as pale as mine, and your
+eyes, red with fever, will no longer find tears to soothe them."
+
+She bent over Ellen, attentively listened to her regular breathing, and
+certain that she was plunged in a deep sleep, she walked toward the
+curtain door of the hut, raised it cautiously, and after looking around
+her in the obscurity, feeling assured by the calmness that surrounded
+her, she stepped over the body of Curumilla, who was lying across the
+door, and started off hurriedly, but with such light steps that the most
+practised ear could not have noticed the sound.
+
+The Indian warrior had taken on himself the duty of watching over the
+two women. When the scalp dance was ended he returned to install himself
+at the spot he had selected, and, in spite of the remarks of Valentine
+and Don Pablo, who assured him that they were in safety, and it was
+unnecessary for him to remain there, nothing could make him give up his
+resolution.
+
+Phlegmatically shaking his head at his friend's remarks, he took off his
+buffalo robe without any further response; he stretched it on the
+ground, and lay down on it, wishing them good night with a brief but
+peremptory nod. The others, seeing the Araucano's immoveable resolve,
+philosophically went away, shaking their heads.
+
+Curumilla was not asleep--not one of the Spanish girl's movements
+escaped him; and she had scarce gone ten yards when he was already on
+her trail, watching her carefully. Why he did so he was himself
+ignorant; but a secret foreboding warned him to follow the stranger, and
+try to learn for what reason, instead of sleeping, she traversed at so
+late an hour the camp in which she was a prisoner, and where she
+consequently exposed herself to come in contact at each step with a
+ferocious enemy, who would have killed her with delight.
+
+The reason that made her brave so imminent a danger must be very
+powerful, and that reason the Indian chief determined on knowing.
+
+The girl had difficulty in finding her way through this inextricable
+labyrinth of huts and tents, against which she stumbled at every step.
+The night was dark; the moon, veiled under a dense mass of clouds, only
+displayed its sickly disc at lengthened intervals; not a star gleamed in
+the sky.
+
+At times the girl halted on her journey, stretching forth her hand to
+listen to any suspicious sound, or else returned hurriedly on her
+footsteps, turning in the same circle, while careful not to go far from
+Ellen's hut.
+
+It was evident to Curumilla that the prisoner was seeking, though unable
+to find, a tent that contained the person she wished to speak with. At
+length, despairing probably of ever succeeding in this search of which
+she did not hold the thread, the girl stopped and imitated twice the
+snapping bark of the white coyote of the Far West. This signal, for it
+was evidently one, succeeded better than she expected, for two similar
+barks, uttered at points diametrically opposed, answered her almost
+immediately. The girl hesitated for a second; a dark flush passed over
+her face, but recovering at once, she repeated the signal.
+
+Two men appeared simultaneously at her side--one, who seemed to rise out
+of the ground, was Red Cedar, the second, Pedro Sandoval.
+
+"Heaven be praised!" the Spaniard said, as he pressed the girl's hand,
+"You are saved, Nina, and I fear nothing more now. _Canarios!_ You may
+flatter yourself with having caused me a terrible fright."
+
+"Here I am," said Red Cedar; "can I be of any service to you? We are
+ambushed a few steps from here, with two hundred Apaches; speak, what is
+to be done?"
+
+"Nothing at present," the Gazelle said, as she returned the pressure of
+her two friends' hands. "After our ill success of this evening, any
+attempt would be premature, and fail. At daybreak, from what I have
+heard, the Comanches will set out to take up your trail. Do not let
+their war party out of sight. It is possible that I may require your
+help on the way; but till then do not show yourself; act with the
+greatest prudence, and before all try to keep your enemies in ignorance
+of your movements."
+
+"You have no other recommendations to give me?"
+
+"None; so retire; the Indians will soon wake up, and it would not be
+well for you if they surprised you."
+
+"I obey."
+
+"Above all, do what I told you."
+
+"That is agreed," Red Cedar repeated.
+
+He glided into the gloom and disappeared among the tents. Curumilla was
+inclined to follow him and kill him as he fled; but after a short
+hesitation he allowed him to escape.
+
+"It is now your turn," the Gazelle continued, addressing Sandoval; "I
+have a service to ask of you."
+
+"A service, Nina; say rather an order to give me; do you not know that I
+am happy to please you in everything?"
+
+"I am aware of it, and feel grateful to you, Pedro; but this time what I
+have to ask of you is so important and so serious, that, in spite of
+myself, I hesitate to tell you what I expect from you."
+
+"Speak without fear, my child, and whatever it may be, I swear to you to
+do it."
+
+"Even if the life of a person were at stake?" she said, with a bright
+and fixed glance, resembling that of a wild beast.
+
+"All the worse for him: I would kill him."
+
+"Without hesitation?"
+
+"Yes. Has anyone insulted you, my child? If so, point him out to me,
+that you may be the sooner avenged."
+
+"What I would ask of you is worse than killing a man."
+
+"I do not understand you."
+
+"I wish--you understand me clearly, my dear Pedro?--I wish that on the
+road we should escape--"
+
+"If it is only that, it is easy."
+
+"Perhaps so! But that is not all."
+
+"I am listening."
+
+"When we escape, you must carry off and take with us the girl to whom
+you entrusted me last evening."
+
+"What the deuce would you do with her?" the pirate exclaimed, astonished
+at this singular proposition, which he was far from expecting.
+
+"That is my business," the Gazelle answered rudely.
+
+"Of course, still it seems to me--"
+
+"After all, why should I not tell you? There is, I think, in a country a
+long distance from here, a savage and ferocious race called the Sioux?"
+
+"Yes, and they are precious scoundrels, I can assure you, senorita; but
+I do not see what connection there is--"
+
+"You shall see," she sharply interrupted him. "I wish that the girl you
+carry off tomorrow shall be handed over as a slave to the Sioux."
+
+This proposition was so monstrous, that Pedro Sandoval could not refrain
+from a glance of stupefaction at the young Spaniard.
+
+"You have heard me," she continued.
+
+"Yes, but I should prefer killing her: it would be sooner done, and the
+poor girl would suffer less."
+
+"Ah, you pity her!" she said with a demoniac smile; "the fate I reserve
+for her, then is very atrocious? Well, that is exactly what I want; she
+must live and suffer for a long time."
+
+"This woman must have terribly insulted you?"
+
+"More than I can tell you."
+
+"Reflect on the horrible punishment to which you condemn her."
+
+"All my reflections are made," the girl replied in a sharp voice; "I
+insist on it."
+
+The Pirate hung his head silently.
+
+"Will you obey me?" she asked.
+
+"I must, for am I not your slave?"
+
+She smiled proudly.
+
+"Take care, Nina! I know not what has happened between this girl and
+yourself, but I am conscious that vengeance often produces very bitter
+fruits, Perhaps you will repent hereafter what you do today?"
+
+"What matter? I shall be avenged. That thought will render me strong,
+and give me the courage to suffer."
+
+"Then, you are quite resolved?"
+
+"Irrevocably."
+
+"I will obey."
+
+"Thanks, my kind father," she said, eagerly; "thanks for your devotion."
+
+"Do not thank me," the Pirate said, sadly; "perhaps you will curse me
+some day."
+
+"Oh, never!"
+
+"May Heaven grant it!"
+
+With these words, the accomplices separated.
+
+Pedro re-entered the tent allotted to him, while the Gazelle rejoined
+Ellen, who was still sleeping her untroubled sleep, smiling at the
+pleasant dreams that lulled her.
+
+Curumilla lay down again at the entrance of the lodge.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+SHAW.
+
+
+We have said that Dona Clara had disappeared.
+
+At the moment when the struggle was most obstinate, Valentine, taking
+Dona Clara in his arms, leaped from the top of the lodge on which he had
+hitherto been fighting, intrusted the maiden to Shaw, and rushed back
+into the fight at the head of the Comanches, who, recovering from the
+terror caused by the unforeseen attack of their implacable foes the
+Apaches, gradually assembled to the powerful war cry of their chief,
+Pethonista.
+
+"Watch over her," Valentine said to Red Cedar's son; "watch over her,
+and, whatever may happen, save her."
+
+Shaw took the maiden in his powerful arms, threw her over his shoulder,
+and with flashing eye and quivering lip, he brandished his axe, that
+fearful squatter's instrument he never laid aside, and rushed head
+foremost among the Apaches, resolved to die or break the human barrier
+that rose menacingly before him.
+
+Like a boar at bay, he dashed madly forward, felling and trampling
+mercilessly on all who attempted to bar his progress. A living catapult,
+he advanced step by step over a pile of corpses, incessantly dropping
+his axe, which he raised again dripping with blood. He had only one
+thought left--to save Dona Clara or die!
+
+In vain did the Apaches collect around him; like an implacable reaper,
+he cut them down as ripe corn, while laughing that dry and hoarse grin,
+a nervous contraction which affects a man who has reached the last
+stage of rage or madness.
+
+In fact, at this moment, Shaw was no longer a man, but a demon.
+Trampling over the quivering bodies that fell beneath the terrible blows
+of his axe, feeling the body of her for whose safety he fought trembling
+on his shoulder, he struggled without stopping in his impossible task,
+but resolved to cut a hole, at all risks, through the human wall
+constantly arising before him.
+
+Shaw was a man of tried courage, long habituated to fighting, and
+pitiless to the redskins. But alone, on this night, only illumined by
+the blood-red hue of the fire, and confined in a fatal circle, he felt a
+great fear involuntarily coming over him; he breathed with difficulty,
+his teeth were clenched, an icy perspiration ran down his body, and he
+felt on the point of succumbing.
+
+Falling would have been death. He would have immediately disappeared
+under the avalanche of ferocious Indians yelling around him.
+
+This discouragement did not last so long as a lightning flash. The young
+man, sustained by that hope which springs eternal in the human breast,
+as well as by his love for Dona Clara, prepared to continue the unequal
+contest.
+
+Bounding like a jaguar, he hurled himself into the thick of the fight.
+This contest of a single man against a swarm of enemies had something
+grand and startling about it. Shaw, as if under the influence of a
+horrible nightmare, struggled in vain against the incessantly renewed
+cloud of foemen; in him every feeling of self had vanished, he no longer
+reflected, his life had become entirely physical, his movements were
+automatic, his arms rose and fell with the rigid regularity of a
+pendulum.
+
+He had managed, without knowing how, to clear the fortifications of the
+village; at a few paces from him the Gila flowed silently on, and
+appeared to him in the moonlight like an immense silver ribbon. Could he
+reach the river, he was saved; but there is a limit which human
+strength, however great it may be, cannot go beyond, and Shaw felt that
+he was reaching this limit.
+
+He took an anxious glance around; Apaches hemmed him in on all sides! He
+uttered a sigh, for he thought that he was about to die. At this solemn
+moment, when all was about to fail him, a final shriek burst from his
+chest. A cry of agony and despair, of terrifying meaning, and re-echoed
+for a second far and wide, so that it drowned all the battle sounds; it
+was the parting protest of a man who at length confesses himself
+conquered by fatality, and who, before succumbing, summons his fellow
+men to his aid, or implores the succour of Heaven.
+
+A cry answered his! Shaw, astonished, unable to count on a miracle, as
+his friends were too far off and themselves too busy to help him,
+fancied himself the victim of a dream or hallucination; still,
+collecting all his strength, feeling hope well up again in his heart, he
+gave vent to a more startling shout than the former.
+
+"Courage!"
+
+This time, it was not echo that answered him.
+
+Courage! This word alone was borne on the wings of the wind, weak as a
+sigh, and, in spite of the horrible yells of the Apaches, was distinctly
+heard by Shaw.
+
+In moments of frenzy, or when a man is at bay, the senses acquire a
+perfection for which it is impossible otherwise to account. Like the
+giant Antaeus, Shaw drew himself up, and seemed restored to that life
+which was on the point of leaving him. He redoubled his blows on his
+innumerable enemies, and at length succeeded in breaking through the
+barrier they opposed to him.
+
+Several horsemen appeared galloping over the plain; shots illumined the
+darkness with their transient flash, and men, or rather demons, rushed
+suddenly on the throng of the Apaches, and commenced a frightful
+carnage. The redskins, surprised by their unexpected attack, rushed
+toward the village, uttering yells of terror: their prey had escaped
+them.
+
+Shaw had fought bravely and firm as a rock up to the last moment; but
+when his enemies disappeared, he sank to the ground in a state of
+unconsciousness.
+
+How long did he remain in this state? He could not say: but when he
+recovered his senses it was night. He fancied at first, that only a few
+hours had elapsed since the terrible struggle he had undergone, and he
+looked inquiringly around him. He was lying by a fire in the centre of a
+clearing; Dona Clara was a few paces from him, weak and pale as a
+spectre.
+
+Shaw uttered a cry of surprise and terror on recognising the men who
+surrounded him, and who had probably saved him by answering his final
+shout. They were his two brothers, Fray Ambrosio, Andres Garote, and a
+dozen Gambusinos.
+
+By what strange accident had he rejoined his comrades at the moment when
+he had so great interest in shunning them? What evil chance had brought
+them across his path?
+
+The young man let his head sink on his chest, and fell into a sad and
+gloomy reverie. His comrades, lying like him by the fire, maintained the
+most obstinate silence, and did not seem at all eager to cross-question
+him.
+
+We will take advantage of the momentary respite allowed Shaw, to explain
+what had taken place on the island since we quitted it to follow Dona
+Clara, Ellen, and the two Canadian hunters.
+
+Until sunrise no one perceived the flight of the girls. At breakfast,
+Nathan and Sutter, amazed at not seeing their sister appear, ventured on
+entering the hut of branches that served as shelter to the two females,
+and then all was explained. They went in a furious rage to Fray Ambrosio
+to tell him what had happened, and the monk completed the news they gave
+him by announcing in his turn the flight of Eagle-wing, Dick, and Harry.
+
+The fury of the two brothers was unbounded, and they proposed to raise
+the camp at once, and go in pursuit of, the fugitives. Fray Ambrosio and
+his worthy friend Garote had infinite difficulty in making them
+understand that this would lead to no result; that, moreover, they had
+as guide an Indian thoroughly acquainted with the topography of the
+country, and the hiding places, and that it would be folly to suppose
+that the persons who had escaped had not so arranged their flight as to
+foil all attempts made to seize them again.
+
+Another and more powerful reason obliged them to remain on the island,
+to which the squatter's sons were compelled to yield. Red Cedar, on
+going away, ordered that under no pretext should they quit the post he
+had selected; he had moreover promised to join his band again there, and
+if they left it, it would be impossible for him to find them, as he
+would not know in what direction they had gone.
+
+The young men were forced to allow that Fray Ambrosio was right; but, in
+order to satisfy their conscience, they placed themselves at the head of
+a few resolute men, crossed the river, and beat up the neighbourhood. We
+need scarcely say that they found nothing, for at about a league from
+the Gila the traces were finally lost.
+
+The young men were in despair; but Fray Ambrosio, on the other hand, was
+delighted. He had only one desire, that of seeing the band quit of Dona
+Clara, who, according to his views, impeded its progress and prevented
+it marching with the speed circumstances required; and now, instead of
+one woman, two had gone!
+
+The worthy monk could scarce contain himself for joy; he, listened with,
+a sympathising air and expressions of condolence to the advice and
+complaints of his comrades at this extraordinary flight; but in his
+heart he was delighted.
+
+Still, as there was no perfect happiness in this world, and wormwood
+must always be mixed with the honey of life, an unexpected incident
+suddenly troubled the beatitude of Fray Ambrosio.
+
+At starting, Red Cedar, while concealing the object of his journey, had
+dropped hints to his comrades that he would bring them allies; moreover,
+he informed them, that his excursion would not last more than three or
+four days at the most. In the desert, especially in the Far West, there
+is no regular road; travellers are compelled, for the greater part of
+the time, to march axe in hand, and cut a path by force. The gambusinos
+knew this by experience, and hence were not surprised, because Red Cedar
+did not return at the period he had fixed.
+
+They were patient, and as their provisions were beginning to give out,
+they scattered on either side the river, and organised great hunting
+expeditions to renew their stock. But days had slipped away, and Red
+Cedar did not return: a month had already passed, and no news or sign
+arrived to tell the gambusinos that he would come soon. Another
+fortnight also passed, and produced no change in the position of the
+gold-seekers.
+
+By degrees the band began to grow discouraged, and soon, without anyone
+knowing how, the most sinister news circulated at first in a whisper,
+but then they acquired the almost certainty, that the squatter,
+surprised in an ambuscade by the redskins, had been massacred, and that,
+consequently, it was useless waiting for him any longer.
+
+These rumours, to which Fray Ambrosio attached but slight importance at
+the outset, became presently so strong that he grew anxious in his turn,
+and tried to dissipate them; but this was difficult, not to say
+impossible. Fray Ambrosio knew no more than the rest about Red Cedar's
+movements; his fears were, at least, as great as those of his comrades;
+and whatever he might do, he was compelled to allow that he had no valid
+reason to offer them, and was completely ignorant of the fate of their
+common chief.
+
+One morning the gambusinos, instead of setting out to hunt as they did
+daily, assembled tumultuously before the _jacal_, which served as
+headquarters for the monk and the squatter's sons, and told them plainly
+that they had waited long enough for Red Cedar: as he had given them no
+news of his movements for upwards of two months, he must be dead: that
+consequently the expedition was a failure; and as they had no
+inclination to fall, some fine morning, into the power of their foes,
+the redskins, they were going to return at once to Santa Fe.
+
+Fray Ambrosio in vain told them that, even supposing Red Cedar was
+dead--which was not proved--although it was a misfortune, it did not
+cause the expedition to fail, as he alone held the secret of the placer,
+and promised to lead them to it. The gambusinos, who placed no
+confidence in his talents as guide, or in his courage as a partisan,
+would not listen to anything; and, whatever he might do to check them,
+they mounted their horses, and rode off from the island, where he
+remained with the squatter's sons, Andres Garote, and five or six other
+men still faithful to him. Fray Ambrosio saw them land, and spur their
+horses into the tall grass, where they speedily disappeared. The monk
+fell to the ground in despair; he saw his plans for a fortune
+irredeemably ruined; plans which he had fostered so long, and which were
+crushed at the very moment when they seemed on the point of realisation.
+
+Any other man than Fray Ambrosio, after such a disaster, would have
+yielded to despair; but he was gifted with one of those energetic
+natures which difficulties arouse instead of crushing; and, in lieu of
+renouncing his schemes, he resolved, as Red Cedar did not return, to go
+in search of him, and leave the island at once. An hour later, the
+little party set out on its march.
+
+By an extraordinary coincidence, they set out on the very day when the
+Apaches started to attack the Comanche village; and as when accident
+interposes it does not do things by halves, it led them to the vicinity
+of the village at the moment when the desperate contest was going on
+which we have described in a previous chapter.
+
+Their predacious instincts invited them to draw nearer the village
+under the protection of the darkness, in the hope of obtaining some
+Indian scalps, which were very valuable to them. It was then that the
+gambusinos heard Shaw's cry for help, to which they responded by
+hurrying up at full speed.
+
+They rushed boldly into the medley, and saved the young man and the
+precious burthen he still held enclasped; then, after cutting the
+throats of several Indians, whom they conscientiously scalped, as they
+considered it imprudent to venture further, they started off again as
+quickly as they had come, and reached a forest where they concealed
+themselves, intending to ask Shaw, when he regained his senses, how he
+happened to be at the entrance of this village, holding Dona Clara in
+his arms, and fighting alone against a swarm of Indians.
+
+The young man remained unconscious the whole day. Although the wounds he
+had received were not dangerous, the great quantity of blood he had
+lost, and the extraordinary efforts he had been obliged to make, plunged
+him into such a state of prostration, that several hours still elapsed
+after he had regained his senses before he seemed to have restored
+sufficient order in his ideas to be able to give an account of the
+events in which he had played so important a part.
+
+It was, therefore, Fray Ambrosio's advice to grant time to recall his
+thoughts before beginning to cross-question him, and hence the affected
+indifference of the gambusinos toward him, an indifference which he
+profited by, to seek in his mind the means to part company with them,
+carrying off for the second time Dona Clara, who had so unhappily fallen
+into their hands again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+THE DEPARTURE.
+
+
+On the day after the battle, at sunrise, there was a busy scene in the
+Comanche village. The criers or hachestos mounted on the piles of ruins,
+summoned the warriors, who arrived one after the other, still fatigued
+by the dances and combats of the previous night. The war whistles, the
+shells, the drums and chichikouis, made an infernal disturbance, and
+hence the entire population was speedily assembled.
+
+Unicorn was a chief of great prudence. Being on the point of undertaking
+an expedition which might separate him for a long time from his friends,
+he did not wish to leave the women and children exposed defencelessly to
+an attack like that of the previous evening. As the season was advanced,
+he resolved to abandon the village definitively, and escort those who
+were not selected to accompany him, to the winter village of the nation,
+situated at no great distance off, in a virgin forest, and in an
+impregnable position.
+
+The appearance of the village was most picturesque; the warriors,
+painted and armed for war, formed two companies of one hundred men each,
+collected on the square, having on each flank a squadron of twenty-five
+horsemen. Between the two detachments the women, children, and old men
+placed themselves, with the dogs fastened to the sledges, which bore all
+their valuable property, such as furniture, furs, &c.
+
+Unicorn, surrounded by his staff, composed of the subordinate chiefs of
+the tribe, held in his hands the totem, and gave his orders with a word
+or a gesture, which were immediately executed with an intelligence and
+dexterity that would have done honour to the most civilised nation.
+
+Valentine was also on the public square, with his comrades and
+prisoners. The two maidens, calm and smiling, were side by side,
+conversing together, while Curumilla was holding his head down, and
+frowning.
+
+Bloodson had gone off at daybreak, with his band, to try and surprise,
+in his turn, the Apache village, which was no great distance off. It was
+a strange fact, but the hunters and Mexicans felt an extraordinary
+pleasure at the departure of this man, who had, however, rendered them
+an immense service. Certainly, it would have been impossible for them to
+explain this feeling, which all experienced. Still, when he was no
+longer among them, their chests expanded, and they breathed with greater
+ease; in a word, it seemed as if an immense weight had been suddenly
+removed.
+
+And yet, we repeat, the hunters and Mexicans had only terms of praise in
+which to allude to this man's treatment of them. Whence came this
+instinctive repulsion with which he inspired them?--the truth was, that
+Bloodson had something about him which caused those to whom accident
+brought into contact with him to feel disgust mingled with fear.
+
+A great noise was suddenly heard in the square, and two or three Indians
+came up to speak to the chief. Unicorn uttered an exclamation of anger
+and feigned the greatest disappointment.
+
+"What is the matter, chief?" Valentine asked, with the most indifferent
+air he could assume.
+
+"Our most valuable Apache prisoner," Unicorn said, "has found means to
+escape, I do not know how."
+
+"That is a misfortune," Valentine said: "still, it may not be
+irreparable."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"Who knows? Perhaps he may have escaped very recently; if you were to
+send couriers in every direction, it is possible that he may be
+recaptured. Besides, if that measure did not produce the anticipated
+result," he added, as he gave the young Spaniard a cold and stern
+glance, which made her start, "it would, at any rate, tell us what has
+become of our Apache enemies, and if they have not left round the
+village spies ordered to watch our movements."
+
+The sachem smiled at this proposal; he made a sign, and a dozen horsemen
+galloped out in the plain. While awaiting the return of the scouts, the
+final preparations for departure were made.
+
+After overhearing the conversation between the Gazelle and the Pirates,
+Curumilla repeated it to Valentine. The latter thanked him, and begged
+him to watch the movements of the girl and Pedro Sandoval. The advice
+Valentine gave the chief, and which he readily followed was intended to
+unmask the Apaches, compel them to retire, and hence deprive the Pirate
+of the assistance he expected in effecting his escape.
+
+In fact the Apaches on seeing their enemies spread all over the plain,
+not knowing their intentions, but fearing lest they should be surprised
+by them, fell back, and that so rapidly, that the scouts returned to the
+village without seeing anything, after a two hours' ride.
+
+On the report they delivered of all being quiet in the neighbourhood and
+the road quite clear, Unicorn gave the signal for departure: the immense
+caravan slowly set out to the sound of musical instruments, mingled with
+the yells of the warriors and the barking of the dogs. Valentine, for
+greater security, placed the two females at the head of the column, in
+the group of horsemen formed by the subordinate chiefs.
+
+The day had opened with a pure sky and dazzling sun; the atmosphere,
+perfumed by the exhalations from the prairie flowers, pleasantly dilated
+the lungs, and caused the hunters to feel in the highest spirits. The
+caravan was unfolded like an immense serpent on the prairie, advancing
+in good order through an enchanting landscape.
+
+The hunters were crossing at this moment the spot called the Bad Lands,
+a continuation of the Black Coast, which the Gila intersects. The
+prairie extended along the river, then gradually ascended in rollers
+toward the mountains, and was covered with blocks of greyish-brown
+granite, displaying various strata. All around rose a marvellous chain
+of tall greyish and barren mountains, with extraordinarily shaped
+summits, and spotted with dark patches of conifera.
+
+The Rio Gila, which was rather narrow found its way with difficulty
+through the lofty crests of schist, granite, and clay, and the nude and
+dead scenery that surrounded it was but slightly animated on the banks
+by the poplars and pine bushes that bordered it.
+
+To the right was a village of prairie dogs: these pretty little animals,
+which are not at all savage, were seated on the flattened roofs of their
+house, watching the caravan, as they shook their tails rapidly and
+uttered their shrill cry, which is not a perfect bark; then they
+disappeared in the ground.
+
+The caravan rapidly advanced toward a virgin forest, whose gloomy spurs
+stretched out nearly to the river's bank, and which they reached after
+two hours' march. On reaching the first trees, the caravan halted for a
+while, in order to make the final arrangements, before burying itself
+beneath the gloomy dome which would serve as its shelter for several
+months.
+
+Before leaving his friends, the white hunters, the Comanche Chief had
+the neighbourhood beaten up, but no trail was visible; the Apaches seemed
+to have definitely declined further fighting, and gone off. In fact, it
+would have been signal folly for them to try and attack the Comanches,
+thrice as strong as themselves, rendered haughty by their last victory,
+and who, before entering the forest, would have liked nothing better
+than to have a parting fight with their implacable enemies. But nothing
+disturbed the calmness of the prairie.
+
+"My brother can continue his journey," Unicorn said to Valentine; "the
+Apache dogs have fled with the feet of antelopes."
+
+"Oh, we do not fear them," the hunter replied, disdainfully.
+
+"Before the eighth sun, my brother will see me again," the chief
+continued.
+
+"Good."
+
+"Farewell."
+
+And they separated. The Comanche warriors entered the forest; for a
+while the sound of their footsteps and the tinkling of the bells
+fastened to their dogs' necks re-echoed under the gloomy arcades of the
+forest; then silence was gradually re-established, and the hunters found
+themselves alone. They were six resolute and well-armed men, who feared
+no danger; they could continue their journey in perfect safety.
+
+"Are we still far from the island where Red Cedar's band is encamped?"
+Valentine asked the Sachem of the Coras.
+
+"Scarce four leagues," Eagle-wing answered. "Were it not for the
+countless turnings we shall have to take, we should reach it in an hour;
+but we shall not arrive till the last song of the _maukawis_."
+
+"Good; you and Don Pablo will go on ahead with the squarer's daughter."
+
+"Do you fear anything?" Don Pablo asked.
+
+"Nothing; but I wish to speak a few minutes with the Spanish girl."
+
+"All right."
+
+The two men pushed on with the maiden, and Valentine took his place on
+the right of the Gazelle, who was riding thoughtfully, without paying
+any attention to her horse.
+
+The revelations made by Curumilla had the more struck Valentine, because
+he did not at all comprehend the Gazelle's hatred of Ellen. Every
+feeling must have its reason, every hatred a cause; and both these
+escaped him. In vain did he seek in his memory a fact which might
+account for, if not excuse, the strange conduct of White Gazelle; he
+found nothing that would put him on the right track.
+
+He recalled to mind that he had seen the girl several times in the
+vicinity of Don Miguel de Zarate's hacienda, at the Paso del Norte; he
+also remembered that Don Pablo had done her a slight service, when she
+craved his help, but her relations with the hacendero's son had
+terminated there.
+
+He believed it certain that, although Red Cedar's daughter lived near
+the hacienda, the Gazelle had never seen her before they met at the
+Indian village. Still, as he knew Don Pablo's love for Ellen, a love of
+which the young man had never spoken to him, but which he had long seen;
+as, too, the position was grave, and Ellen might at any moment fall
+into danger, which must be avoided at any cost, Valentine resolved to
+have a conversation with the Spanish girl, and try to read clearly in
+her heart, were that possible.
+
+But if gentle means failed, he would show her no indulgence, or let a
+gentle and unoffending creature be exposed to the perfidy of a cruel
+woman, whom no consideration seemed to arrest in her sinister plans.
+
+Valentine looked round. Ellen was about two hundred yards ahead, between
+Eagle-wing and Don Pablo. Temporarily reassured, he turned to the
+Spanish girl, who at this moment was talking eagerly, and in a loud
+voice, with Pedro Sandoval. The girl blushed, and ceased speaking.
+Valentine, not appearing to notice the confusion his presence caused the
+speakers, bowed slightly to the Spaniard, and addressed her in a calm
+voice:--
+
+"I beg your pardon," he said, "if I interrupt a doubtless interesting
+conversation; but I wish to have a few words with you."
+
+The girl blushed still more deeply. Her black eye flashed fire under the
+long lash that veiled it, but she answered in a trembling voice, as she
+stopped her horse--
+
+"I am ready to listen to you, senor caballero."
+
+"Do not stop, I beg, senora," Valentine said. "This worthy man, who
+doubtless shares all your secrets," he added, with an ironical smile,
+"can hear our conversation, which, indeed, will relate to him."
+
+"In truth," the girl answered, in a firmer voice, as she let her horse
+proceed, "I have nothing hidden from this worthy man, as you do him the
+honour of calling him."
+
+"Very good, senora," the hunter continued with equal coldness. "Now, be
+good enough not to take in ill part what I am about to say to you, and
+answer a question I shall take the liberty of asking you."
+
+"I presume you intend me to undergo an interrogation?"
+
+"That is not my intention, at least at this moment; it will depend on
+you, madam, that we do not pass the limits of a friendly conversation."
+
+"Speak, sir. If the question you ask me is one of those a woman may
+answer, I will satisfy you."
+
+"Be good enough to tell me, madam, whether you found us cruel enemies
+last night?"
+
+"Why this question?"
+
+"Be so kind as to answer it first."
+
+"I can only speak in terms of praise of your conduct."
+
+"I thank you. And how did Miss Ellen treat you?"
+
+"Admirably."
+
+"Good. You are not ignorant, I think, that through your yesterday's
+aggression, an aggression which may be regarded as attempted murder and
+robbery, since, as you are not at war with the Indians, and as,
+belonging to our race, should regard us as friends--you are not
+ignorant, I say, that you have rendered yourself amenable to the prairie
+law, which says, 'an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.'"
+
+"What do you wish to arrive at?"
+
+"Pardon me. You are not ignorant, I assume, that, instead of treating
+you as I did, with the most perfect respect, I should have been quite
+justified in passing a rope round your neck, and hanging you, with your
+worthy friend, to the branches of the first tree: and there are some
+magnificent specimens in these parts!"
+
+"Sir!" the girl exclaimed, as she drew herself up, and became livid with
+fury.
+
+"Pardon me," Valentine continued impressively. "I am alluding here to an
+incontestable right, which you cannot deny: do not get in a passion, but
+answer me categorically, yes, or no."
+
+"Well, sir, yes; you had that right, and you still have it. What checks
+you? Why do you not use it?" she added, as she gave him a defiant look.
+
+"Because it does not suit me to do so at this moment," Valentine said,
+coldly and drily.
+
+These stern words suddenly checked the passion that was boiling in the
+girl's heart: she let her eyes fall, and replied:--
+
+"Is that all you have to say to me?"
+
+"No, it is not all; and I have a final question to ask you."
+
+"Speak, sir, as I am condemned to listen to you."
+
+"I will not occupy much of your time."
+
+"Oh, sir," she answered ironically, "my time cannot be employed better
+than in conversing with so polished a gentleman as yourself."
+
+"I thank you for the good opinion you are kind enough to have of a poor
+hunter like myself," he replied, with a tinge of sarcasm; "and I now
+reach the second question I wished to ask you."
+
+"In truth, it seems, sir, that like the _juces de letras_, your
+accomplices," she added bitterly, "you have classified in your head the
+questions that compose my examination: for, in spite of what you did me
+the honour of telling me, I persist in seeing only an examination in what
+it pleases you to call our conversation."
+
+"As you please, madam," Valentine replied with imperturbable coolness.
+"Will you explain to me how it is, that, after having been treated,
+according to your own statement, by us so kindly, you laid aside all
+gratitude and feelings of honour last night, to join two villains in a
+plot for carrying off a girl to whom you owe your life, and handing her
+over as a slave to the most ferocious Indians on the prairies--the
+Sioux?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+THE AMBUSCADE.
+
+
+If the lightning had struck the ground at the Spanish girl's feet, it
+would not have caused her greater terror than this revelation, which she
+was far from expecting, made in a dear, dry, and unmoved voice.
+
+Her features were contracted--the blood mounted to her head--she
+tottered on her horse, and would have fallen off, had not Valentine held
+her. But overcoming by the strength of her will the terrible emotion
+that troubled her, she repulsed the young man, saying in a firm voice,
+and with an implacable accent:
+
+"You are well informed, sir; such is my intention."
+
+Valentine felt momentarily stupefied. He regarded this woman, who had
+hardly emerged from childhood, whose lovely features, distorted by the
+passions that agitated them, had become almost hideous: he recalled, as
+in a dream, another woman nearly as cruel whom he had once known. An
+indescribable feeling of sorrow pervaded his heart at the terrible
+reminiscence thus suddenly evoked. So much perfidity seemed to him to go
+beyond the limits of human wickedness; and for an instant he almost
+fancied himself in the presence of a demon.
+
+"And you dare confess it to me?" he at length said, with badly concealed
+terror.
+
+"And why not? What can you do to me? Kill me! A glorious revenge for a
+brave man! And, besides, what do I care for life? Who knows? perhaps,
+without wishing it, and fancying you are punishing me, you would do me
+an uncommon service by killing me."
+
+"Kill you? Nonsense," the hunter said, with a smile of contempt.
+"Creatures of your kind are not killed. In the first flush of passion we
+crush them under our boot heel, like venomous reptiles: but, on
+reflection, we prefer plucking out their teeth. That is what I have
+done, viper? Now bite if you dare!"
+
+A fearful rage took possession of the Spanish girl; she raised her whip,
+and with a movement more rapid than thought struck Valentine across the
+face, merely hissing the word:
+
+"Coward!"
+
+At this insult the hunter lost his coolness. He drew a pistol and fired
+it point blank at this woman, who sat before him motionless, and
+smiling. But she had not lost one of the Frenchman's movements out of
+sight. She made her horse leap on one side, and the bullet whistled
+inoffensively past her ear.
+
+At the sound of the firing, the hunters felt alarmed, and they galloped
+up to the spot, to inquire what had occurred. The shot had been scarce
+fired ere Pedro Sandoval, who had hitherto listened with apparent
+indifference to the conversation, dashed at Valentine, brandishing a
+long knife which he had managed to conceal.
+
+The hunter, who had regained his presence of mind, awaited him firmly;
+and as the pirate came up to him, he stopped him short with a bullet
+through his body. The villain rolled on the ground with a yell of
+disappointed rage.
+
+The Spanish girl looked around her disdainfully, made her horse bound,
+and started at an incredible pace amidst the bullets that whizzed round
+her from all sides, crying in a hoarse voice:--
+
+"We shall meet again, soon, Valentine. Till then, farewell."
+
+The hunter would not allow her to be pursued, and she soon disappeared
+in the tall grass.
+
+"Oh, oh, this scamp seems to me very ill," the general said, after
+dismounting. "What the deuce shall we do with him?"
+
+"Hang him!" Valentine observed, drily.
+
+"Well," the general continued, "that is not such a bad idea. In that
+way, we shall get rid of one of the villains, and, on reflection, that
+will prevent him feeling the pain of his wound."
+
+"Let us finish with him," Don Miguel interrupted.
+
+"_Caspita!_ what a hurry you are in, my friend," the general answered.
+"Hum! I am certain he is not in such haste--are you, my good fellow?"
+
+"Come," Valentine said, with that mocking expression he had through his
+Parisian birth, and which broke out at intervals--"our friend is in
+luck. He has fallen at the foot of a splendid tree, which will form an
+observatory whence he can admire the landscape at his ease. Curumilla,
+my worthy fellow, climb up the tree, and bend down that branch as much
+as you can."
+
+Curumilla, according to his laudable habit, executed immediately the
+order given him, though without uttering a word.
+
+"Now, my good fellow," the hunter continued, addressing the wounded man,
+"if you are not a thorough Pagan, and can recollect any prayer, I should
+recommend you to repeat it, for it will do you more good than ever it
+did."
+
+And, raising Sandoval in his arms, who maintained a gloomy silence, he
+passed the cord round his neck.
+
+"One moment," Curumilla remarked, as he seized with his left hand the
+bandit's thick hair.
+
+"That is true," said the hunter. "It is your right, chief, so make use
+of it."
+
+The Indian did not wait for this to be repeated. In a second he had
+scalped the Spaniard, who looked at him with flashing eyes, and coldly
+placed the dripping scalp in his girdle. Valentine turned away his head
+in disgust at this hideous sight, but the Spaniard did not give vent to
+a groan.
+
+As soon as he had placed the running noose round the bandit's neck,
+Valentine threw the cord to Curumilla, who attached it firmly to the
+branch, and then came down again.
+
+"Now that justice is done, let us go," said Valentine.
+
+The witnesses of the execution remounted. The branch which had been held
+down flew back, bearing with it the body of the pirate.
+
+Pedro Sandoval remained alone, quivering in the last convulsions of
+death.
+
+So soon as Valentine and his comrades were out of sight, several
+Apaches, at the head of whom were Red Cedar and the White Gazelle,
+started out of a thicket. An Indian climbed up the tree, cut the rope,
+and the body of the Spaniard was gently laid on the ground. He did not
+give a sign of existence.
+
+The girl and Red Cedar hastened to give him help, in order to recall
+life, were it possible, to this poor and fearfully mutilated body; but
+all their efforts seemed futile. Pedro Sandoval remained cold and inert
+in the arms of his friends. In vain had they removed the slip knot
+which pressed his throat--his swollen and blue veins would not diminish
+in size, or his blood circulate. All seemed over.
+
+As a last chance, an Apache took a skinful of water, and poured the
+contents on the bare and bleeding skull of the Spaniard. At the contact
+of this cold shower, his whole body trembled, a deep sigh burst with an
+effort from his oppressed chest, and the dying man painfully opened his
+eyes, fixing a sad and languishing glance on those who surrounded him.
+
+"Heaven be praised!" said the girl; "He is not dead."
+
+The bandit looked at the girl with that glassy and wandering stare which
+is the infallible sign of a speedy death; a smile played round his
+violet lips, and he muttered in a low and inarticulate voice:
+
+"No, I am not dead, but I shall soon be so."
+
+Then he closed his eyes again, and fell back, apparently in his former
+state of insensibility. The spectators anxiously followed the progress
+of this frightful agony: White Gazelle frowned, and, bending over the
+dying man, put her mouth to his ear.
+
+"Do you hear me, Sandoval?" she said to him.
+
+The bandit suddenly quivered, as if he had received an electric shock.
+He turned toward the speaker, and partially opened his eyes.
+
+"Who is near me?" he asked.
+
+"I, Pedro. Do you not recognise me, old comrade?" Red Cedar said.
+
+"Yes," the Pirate said, peevishly, "I recognise you; but it was not you
+I wished to see."
+
+"Whom do you mean?"
+
+"The Nina. Has she abandoned me too--she, for whom I am dying!"
+
+"No, I have not abandoned you," the girl quickly interrupted him; "your
+reproach is unjust--for it was I who succoured you. Here I am, father."
+
+"Ah," he said, with a sigh of satisfaction, "you are there, Nina; all
+the better. God, if there be a God, will reward you for what you have
+done."
+
+"Do not speak of that, but tell me why you asked for me, father."
+
+"Do not give me that name," the bandit said violently; "I am not your
+father!"
+
+There was a moment's silence; at length the Pirate continued, in an
+almost indistinct voice, and as if speaking to himself--
+
+"The hand of God is in this--it was He who decreed that at the last
+moment the daughter of the victim should see one of the principal
+assassins die."
+
+He shook his head piteously, sighed and added, mournfully--
+
+"That is the hand of God."
+
+His hearers looked at each other silently; an instinctive fear, a
+species of superstitious terror had seized upon them, and they did not
+dare question this man. A few minutes elapsed.
+
+"Oh, how I suffer!" he suddenly muttered; "my head is a red-hot
+furnace--give me drink."
+
+Water was quickly brought him, but he repulsed it, saying--
+
+"No, not water--I want to regain my strength."
+
+"What will you have, then?" Red Cedar asked him.
+
+"Give me aguardiente."
+
+"Oh!" the girl said imploringly; "do not drink spirits--they will kill
+you."
+
+The bandit grinned horribly.
+
+"Kill me?" he said, "Why, am I not a dead man already, poor fool?"
+
+The White Gazelle gave Red Cedar a glance.
+
+"Let us do what he wishes," the latter whispered; "he is a lost man."
+
+"Aguardiente," the sufferer said again; "make haste, if you do not wish
+me to die ere I have spoken."
+
+Red Cedar seized his gourd, and in spite of the girl's entreaties,
+thrust the neck between the pirate's lips. Sandoval drank deeply.
+
+"Ah!" he said, with a sigh of satisfaction; "at present I feel strong. I
+did not believe that it was so difficult to die. Well, if there be a
+God, may His will be done. Red Cedar, give me one of your pistols, and
+leave me your gourd."
+
+The squatter did as his comrade requested.
+
+"Very good," he went on; "now, retire all of you; I have to speak with
+the Nina."
+
+Red Cedar could not conceal his dissatisfaction.
+
+"Why weary yourself?" he said; "it would be better for you to let us pay
+you that attention your condition demands."
+
+"Oh!" the bandit said, with a grin, "I understand you; you would sooner
+see me die like a dog, without uttering a syllable, for you suspect what
+I am about to say--well, I feel sorry for you, gossip, but I must and
+will speak."
+
+The squatter shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"What do I care for your wanderings?" he said; "It is only the interest
+I feel in you that--"
+
+"Enough!" Sandoval interrupted him, sharply. "Silence! I will speak! no
+human power can force me in my dying hours to keep the secret longer; it
+has been rankling in my bosom too long already."
+
+"My good father--" the girl murmured.
+
+"Peace," the bandit went on authoritatively, "do not oppose my will,
+Nina. You must learn from me certain things before I render my accounts
+to Him who sees everything."
+
+Red Cedar fixed a burning glance on the dying man, as he convulsively
+clutched the butt of a pistol; but he suddenly loosed his hold, and
+smiled ironically.
+
+"What do I care?" he said; "It is too late now."
+
+Sandoval heard him.
+
+"Perhaps so," he replied; "Heaven alone knows."
+
+"We shall see," the squatter retorted, sarcastically.
+
+He made a signal; the Apaches retired silently with him, and the girl
+remained alone near the dying man.
+
+White Gazelle was a prey to an extraordinary emotion, for which she
+could not account; she experienced a curiosity mingled with terror, that
+caused her a strange oppression and trouble. She regarded the man lying
+half dead at her feet, and who while writhing in atrocious pain, fixed
+on her a glance full of indescribable pity and irony.
+
+She feared, and yet desired that the bandit should make to her the
+gloomy confession she expected. Something told her that on this man her
+life and future fortune depended. But he remained gloomy and dumb.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+THE PIRATE'S CONFESSION.
+
+
+A few moments passed, during which the Pirate seemed painfully
+collecting his thoughts before speaking. White Gazelle, with her eyes
+fixed on him, waited with anxious curiosity.
+
+At length, the bandit seized the gourd, raised it to his lips a second
+time, and after drinking heartily, replaced it by his side. A feverish
+flush immediately spread over his cheeks, his eyes grew brighter, and he
+said, in a firmer voice than might have been expected--
+
+"Listen to me attentively, child, and profit by what you are about to
+hear. I am dying and men do not lie at such a moment. The words I shall
+utter are true. You well know me."
+
+He stopped for some seconds, and then continued with an effort--
+
+"I have not always been a pirate of the prairies, or tiger with a human
+face--one of those wretches whom it is permissible to hunt like wild
+beasts. No! there was a time when I was young, handsome, and rich; at
+that remote period I was called Walter Stapleton, and was so rich that I
+did not know the amount of my fortune. Like everyone else you fancied me
+a Spaniard, and have been equally deceived--I am a citizen of the United
+States, descended from an old puritan family, long settled at New York.
+My parents died before I was twenty years of age; master of an immense
+fortune, I had become connected with all the scamps in the city; two
+especially became my intimate friends, and succeeded in a short time in
+getting such a hold on me, that I only acted on their impulses and by
+their suggestions. One of them was born in New York like myself, the
+other was a Mexican. Both were, like myself, young, good-looking, and
+rich, or, at least, they appeared so, for they squandered enormous sums.
+Their names were--but why tell you them?" he added, "I am not speaking
+of them here, but only of myself. One day the Mexican came to me with a
+letter in his hand; his family called him home, for he was to enter the
+church; but he would not, or, at least, could not leave New York at the
+moment. I never knew the reason; but one month later we were all three
+compelled to seek a refuge in Mexico, after a mournful tragedy, in which
+my two friends played the chief part, leaving behind them a trail of
+blood. I repeat to you that I never learned the circumstances."
+
+At this moment a rustling was audible in the bushes against which the
+bandit was leaning; but the Gazelle, overcome by the increasing interest
+of the story, did not notice it. There was an interruption for some
+minutes. Pedro Sandoval was growing perceptibly weaker.
+
+"I must finish, however," he said; and making an effort, he continued:
+--"We were at Mexico, where we lived nobly. In a short time I gained the
+reputation of a finished gentleman. A great gambler, and adored by
+women, shall I repeat to you the follies and extravagances that filled
+my days? What good would it be? Suffice it for you to know that I
+deserved this reputation in every respect. One day, a stranger arrived
+in Mexico. He was, it was said, a caballero from an upcountry province,
+enormously rich, and travelling for his pleasure. This man in a short
+time displayed such recklessness, that his reputation soon equalled and
+even surpassed mine. I, who had always been the first in every wild
+scheme, was placed in the second rank. My friends laughed at the sudden
+change effected, and by this incessant raillery augmented my anger and
+detestation of this Don Pacheco de Tudela, as the man was called.
+Several times already we had met face to face at the tertulias, and each
+time our glances crossed like sword blades. I comprehended that this man
+hated me. For my part, a dull jealousy devoured me when his name was
+mentioned in my presence.
+
+"A crisis was imminent, and we both sought it. One evening, when we were
+both at the tertulia of the Governor of Arispe, a game of monte was
+arranged. You know that game, which is the ruling passion of the
+Mexicans. I had held the bank for some hours, and an incredible run of
+luck had made me gain immense sums, which were piled up before me, and
+covered nearly the whole of the table. The gamblers, terrified by this
+constant good luck, retired in terror. I was about to collect and send
+off my money, when I heard a few paces from me Don Pacheco saying
+ironically to a party of friends:--'I am not jealous of senor
+Stapleton's good luck. I have allowed him to win that he may repair his
+ruined fortune, and stop the cries of his creditors, who have been
+yelping for a long time at his heels.'
+
+"These words wounded me the more because they were true. My fortune,
+mortgaged beyond its value, only existed on paper, and numerous
+creditors incessantly pursued me. I walked up to Don Pacheco, and looked
+him boldly in the face.
+
+"'To prove to you that I do not fear losing,' I said to him, 'I offer to
+stake on one hand with you all it has taken me so many hours to win.'
+
+"The stranger looked at me in his turn; then he said, in his cutting
+voice, and with the sarcastic accent habitual to him:--
+
+"'You are wrong, my dear sir. This money is very necessary to you; and,
+if I were mad enough to play with you, I warn you that you would lose.'
+
+"He laughed in my face, and turned his back on me.
+
+"'Oh!' I said to him, 'you are afraid--and then, again, you probably do
+not possess one quarter the sum there, and that is why you dare not
+play.'
+
+"Don Pacheco shrugged his shoulders without replying to me, and
+addressed the richest banker of Arispe, who was standing near him:--
+
+"'Senor Don Julio Baldomero,' he said to him, 'how much do you think
+there is on that table?'
+
+"The banker took a glance in my direction, and then answered:--
+
+"'Six hundred thousand piastres, or nearly so, senor.'
+
+"'Very good,' the other said. 'Don Julio, be good enough to give me a
+bill for twelve hundred thousand piastres, payable at sight, on your
+bank.'
+
+"The banker bowed, took out his pocketbook, and wrote a few words on a
+leaf which he tore out, and handed to Don Pacheco.
+
+"'Do you believe, sir,' the Mexican said to me, 'that this bill
+represents the sum before you?'
+
+"These words were accompanied by the sarcastic smile this man constantly
+had on his lips, and which drove me wild.
+
+"'Yes,' I replied haughtily, 'and I am awaiting your determination.'
+
+"'It is formed,' he said. 'Ask for new cards, and let us begin. Still,
+you can recall your word, if you like.'
+
+"'Nonsense,' I said, as I undid a fresh pack of cards.
+
+"Although our altercation had been short, as everybody knew our feelings
+toward each other, the conversation had broken off, and all the guests
+at the tertulia had collected around us. A profound silence prevailed in
+the room, and the faces expressed the curiosity and interest aroused by
+this strange scene. After shuffling the cards for some time, I handed
+them to my opponent to cut. The stranger laid his right hand on the
+pack, and said to me impertinently:--
+
+"'There is yet time.'
+
+"I shrugged my shoulders as reply. He cut, and I began dealing. At the
+fourth hand I had lost, and was ruined!"
+
+The pirate stopped. For some time his voice had been growing weaker, and
+it was only by making extreme efforts that he succeeded in speaking
+distinctly.
+
+"Drink!" he said so softly that the girl scarce heard him. She caught up
+a skin of water.
+
+"No," he said, "brandy."
+
+White Gazelle obeyed him.
+
+The pirate eagerly drank two or three mouthfuls.
+
+"All was over," he continued, in a firm voice, with sparkling eye, and
+face flushed by the fever preying on him. "Concealing my rage in my
+heart, I prepared to leave the table with a smile on my lips.
+
+"'One moment, sir,' my opponent said. 'The game is not over yet.'
+
+"'What do you want more?' I answered him. 'Have you not won?'
+
+"'Oh!' he said, with a gesture of supreme contempt: 'That is true. I
+have won this wretched sum. But you have a stake still to risk.'
+
+"'I do not understand you, sir.'
+
+"'Perhaps so! Listen to me. There are on this table eighteen hundred
+thousand piastres, that is to say, a fabulous fortune, which would form
+the happiness of a dozen families.'
+
+"'Well?' I answered in a surprise.
+
+"'Well, I will play you for them, if you like. Hang it, my dear sir, I
+am in luck at this moment, and I will not let fortune escape me while I
+hold her.'
+
+"'I have nothing more to stake, sir, and you know it,' I said in a loud
+and haughty voice. 'I do not understand what you are alluding to.'
+
+"To this he replied, without seeming in the least disconcerted, 'You
+love Dona Isabella Izaguirre?'
+
+"'How does that concern you?'
+
+"'If I may believe public rumour, you are to marry her in a few days,' he
+continued calmly. 'Well, I too love Dona Isabel, and I have made up my
+mind she shall be mine by fair means or foul.'
+
+"'And?' I interrupted him violently.
+
+"'And, if you like, I will stake these eighteen hundred thousand
+piastres against her hand. You see that I appreciate her value,' he
+added, as he carelessly lit his panatellas.
+
+"'_Canario!_ A splendid game! What a magnificent stake! A man cannot act
+more gallantly!' Such were the remarks made around me by the witnesses
+of this scene.
+
+"'You hesitate?' Don Pacheco asked me in his ironical way.
+
+"I looked defiantly round me, but no one accepted my challenge.
+
+"'No,' I answered in a hollow voice, my teeth clenched with rage. 'I
+accept.'
+
+"The audience uttered a cry of admiration. Never in the memory of
+players at Arispe, had a game of monte afforded such interest, and all
+eagerly collected round the table. I felt for Dona Isabel that profound
+love which constitutes a man's existence.
+
+"'Who is to deal?' I asked my adversary.
+
+"'You!' he replied, with his infernal smile.
+
+"Five minutes later, I had lost my mistress!"
+
+There was a moment's silence; a nervous tremor had assailed the pirate,
+and for some instants it was only by an extraordinary effort that he had
+been enabled to utter the words that seemed to choke him. It was evident
+that the wound in his heart was as vivid as on the day when he received
+it, and that only a strong interest induced him to refer to it.
+
+"At length," he continued with a certain volubility, as he wiped away
+the cold perspiration that beaded on his forehead, and mingled with the
+blood that oozed from his wound, "the stranger approached me.
+
+"'Are you satisfied?' he said.
+
+"'Not yet,' I replied in a gloomy voice: 'we have still one game to play
+out.'
+
+"'Oh,' he said, ironically, 'I fancied you had nothing more to lose.'
+
+"'You were mistaken. You have still my life to gain from me.'
+
+"'That is true,' he said, 'and by heaven, I will win it from you. I wish
+to cover your stake to the end, so let us go out.'
+
+"'Why do that?' I said to him. 'This table served as the arena for the
+first two games, and the third shall be decided upon it.'
+
+"'Done!' he said. 'By Jupiter! You are a fine fellow! I may kill you,
+but I shall be proud of my victory.'
+
+"People attempted in vain to prevent the duel; but neither the stranger
+nor myself would listen to it. At length they consented to give us the
+weapons we asked for; and then, moreover, this strange combat in the
+flower-adorned room, on the table covered with gold, among lovely young
+women, whose freshness and beauty the lights heightened, had something
+fatal about it which inflamed the imagination. The two heroes of Arispe,
+the men who had for so long a time formed the sole topic of
+conversation, had at length decided to settle which should definitely
+hold the palm.
+
+"I leaped on the table, and my opponent at once followed my example. I
+enjoyed the reputation of being a fine swordsman, and yet, at the second
+pass, I fell with my chest pierced through and through. For three months
+I hovered between life and death, and when my youth and powerful
+constitution at length triumphed over my horrible wound, and I was
+approaching convalescence, I inquired about my adversary. On the day
+after our duel, this man had married Dona Isabel; a week later, both
+disappeared, and no one could tell me in what direction they had gone.
+
+"I had only one object, one desire--to revenge myself on Don Pacheco.
+So soon as I was sufficiently recovered to leave the house, I sold the
+little left me, and quitted Arispe in my turn, followed by my friends,
+who were as poor as myself, for the blow that had struck me had struck
+them too, and, like myself, they only desired revenge on Don Pacheco.
+For a long time our researches were vain, and many years elapsed ere I
+grew weary of seeking their trail. There were only two of us now to do
+it, for the third had left us.
+
+"What had become of him? I do not know, but one day, by chance, at an
+American frontier village where I had gone to sell my peltry, Satan
+brought me face to face with this friend, whom I never expected to meet
+again. He wore a monk's gown, and so soon as he perceived me, walked up
+to me. The first words he addressed to me after our lengthened
+separation were:
+
+"'I have found them again.'
+
+"I understood without it being necessary for him to make any further
+explanation, for my hatred had taken such deep root in my heart. What
+more shall I tell you, Nina?" he added, with an effort, while a fearful
+smile crisped his blue lips. "I took my revenge. Oh! This vengeance was
+long in coming, but it was terrible!... Our foe had become one of the
+richest hacenderos in Texas; he lived happily with his wife and
+children, respected and loved by all who surrounded him. I bought a farm
+near his, and then, on the watch, like a jaguar with its prey, I
+followed his every movement, and introduced myself into his house. So
+lengthened a period had elapsed since our last meeting, that he did not
+recognise me, although a foreboding seemed from the outset to warn him
+that I was his enemy.
+
+"One night, at the head of a band of pirates and Apaches, my two friends
+and myself, after assuring ourselves that all were quietly sleeping in
+Don Pacheco's hacienda, glided like serpents through the darkness; the
+walls were escaladed, and our vengeance began. The hacienda was given up
+to the flames; Don Pacheco and his wife, surprised in their sleep, were
+pitilessly massacred, after undergoing atrocious tortures. I tore both
+yourself and your sister from the arms of your dying mother, who sobbed
+at our feet, imploring me to spare you in memory of my old love for her.
+
+"I swore it, and kept my promise. I do not know what became of your
+sister; I did not even trouble myself about her. As for you, Nina, have
+you had ever any cause to reproach me?"
+
+The girl had listened to this fearful revelation with frowning eyebrows
+and livid cheeks. When the bandit stopped, she said harshly:
+
+"Then you are the murderer of my father and mother?"
+
+"Yes," he replied, "but not alone; there were three of us, and we took
+our revenge."
+
+"Wretch!" she burst forth; "Vile assassin!"
+
+The girl uttered these words with such an implacable accent, that the
+bandit shuddered.
+
+"Ah!" he said, "I recognise the lioness. You are truly my enemy's
+daughter. Courage, child, courage. Assassinate me in your turn. What
+restrains you? Rob me of the short span of life still left me, but make
+haste, or Heaven will prevent your vengeance."
+
+And he fixed on her his eye, which was still proud, but already clouded
+by the hand of death. The girl gave no answer.
+
+"You prefer seeing me die; well, receive this last present," he said,
+plucking from his bosom a bag, suspended from a steel chain; "in it you
+will find two letters, one from your father, the other from your mother;
+you will learn who you are, and what name you should bear in the world,
+for the one I mentioned is false; I wished to deceive you to the end.
+That name is my last vengeance.... Nina, you will remember me."
+
+The girl bounded on to the bag and seized it.
+
+"Now, good-bye," the Pirate said; "my work is accomplished on this
+earth."
+
+And seizing the pistol Red Cedar had left him, he blew out his brains,
+fixing on the girl a glance of strange meaning. But she did not seem to
+notice this tragical end, for she was tearing the bag with her teeth.
+When she succeeded in opening it, she unfolded the papers it contained,
+and hurriedly perused them. Suddenly she uttered a shriek of despair,
+and fell back, clutching the letters in her hand.
+
+The Indians and pirates ran up to help her, but, quicker than lightning,
+a horseman darted from the chaparral, reaching the girl without checking
+the speed of his horse; he bent down, raised her up in his powerful
+arms, threw her across his saddle-bow, and passed like a tornado through
+the astounded spectators.
+
+"We shall meet again soon, Red Cedar," he said in a loud voice, as he
+passed the squatter.
+
+Before the latter and his comrades could recover from their surprise,
+the horseman had disappeared in the distance in a cloud of dust.
+
+The horseman was Bloodson!
+
+Red Cedar shook his head sadly.
+
+"Can what the priests say be true?" he muttered; "Is there really a
+Providence?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+THE RIVALS.
+
+
+After the tragic execution of the Pirate, the hunters slowly continued
+their journey. The scenes we have described in previous chapters had
+spread over them a gloom which nothing could dissipate. Since his
+daughter's disappearance, Don Miguel Zarate, who had been suddenly
+hurled from the height of his hopes, maintained a gloomy and stern
+silence. This man, so strong and energetic, at length conquered by
+misfortune, marched silently by the side of his comrades, who respected
+his grief, and offered him those little attentions to which suffering
+minds are so sensitive.
+
+Valentine and General Ibanez were holding an animated conversation, the
+two Indians, Curumilla and Moukapec, going in front and serving as
+guides. Don Pablo and Ellen rode side by side; they alone of the small
+party seemed happy, and a smile now and then played over their faces.
+Alone of the little band the two young people had the faculty of
+forgetting past sufferings through the present joy.
+
+During Sandoval's execution Ellen had been kept aloof, hence she was
+ignorant of what had occurred; and nothing happened to dull the pleasure
+she experienced at seeing herself reunited to the man to whom she had
+mentally given her heart.
+
+One of the privileges of love is forgetting; the two young people,
+absorbed in their passion, remembered nothing, but the happiness of
+meeting again. The word "love" had not been uttered; still, it was so
+fully reflected in their glances and smiles, that they understood each
+other perfectly.
+
+Ellen was describing to Don Pablo how Dona Clara and herself escaped
+from Red Cedar's camp, protected by the two Canadian hunters.
+
+"Ah!" Don Pablo said, "talking of those hunters, what has become of
+them?"
+
+"Alas!" Ellen replied, "One of them was killed by the Apaches, and the
+other--"
+
+"Well and the other?"
+
+"There he is," she said; "oh, he is devoted to me body and soul."
+
+Don Pablo turned round with an angry movement, and a dull jealousy was
+inflamed in him. He looked at the hunter who rode a few paces in the
+rear, but at the sight of this open, honest face, over which a tinge of
+melancholy was spread, the young man seriously upbraided himself for his
+apprehensions. He quickly went up to the hunter, while Ellen regarded
+them with a smile; when he was at the Canadian's side, he offered him
+his hand.
+
+"Thanks," he said to him simply, "for what you did for her."
+
+Harry pressed the hand, and answered sadly but nobly: "I did my duty; I
+swore to defend her and die for her: when the hour arrives, I will keep
+my oath."
+
+Don Pablo smiled gracefully,
+
+"Why do you not ride by our side?"
+
+"No," Harry answered with a sigh, as he shook his head; "I ought not,
+and do not wish to be the third in your conversation. You love each
+other, and be happy. It is my duty to watch over your happiness; leave
+me in my place and remain in yours."
+
+Don Pablo thought for a moment over these words, then pressed the
+hunter's hand a second time.
+
+"You have a noble heart," he said to him; "I understand you;" and he
+rejoined his companion. A smile played round the hunter's pallid lips.
+
+"Yes," he muttered so soon as he was alone; "yes, I love her. Poor
+Ellen! She will be happy, and if so, what matter what becomes of me?"
+
+He then reassumed his indifferent look; but at times he gazed with a
+feeling of sorrowful pleasure on the young people who had renewed their
+conversation.
+
+"Is he not a glorious fellow?" Ellen said to the young man as she
+pointed to the hunter.
+
+"I think so."
+
+"And I have been certain of it for a long time. Harry watches over me; I
+have always found him at my side in the hour of danger: to follow me he
+has abandoned everything, country, friends, family, without hesitation
+or reflection, and has done it without any hope of ever being rewarded
+for such abnegation and devotion."
+
+Don Pablo sighed.
+
+"You love him," he murmured.
+
+The maiden smiled.
+
+"If you mean by those words that I place an unbounded confidence in him,
+that I feel a sincere and deep affection for him, in that sense, yes, I
+do love him."
+
+Don Pablo shook his head.
+
+"That is not what I mean," he said.
+
+She gazed on him fixedly, and remained silent for some minutes, the
+Mexican not daring to question her. At length she turned to him, and
+laid her hand on his shoulder; at this touch the young man started, and
+quickly raised his head.
+
+"Listen, Don Pablo," she said, in her clear and harmonious voice.
+
+"I am listening," he answered.
+
+"Accident one day brought us together," she continued, with a sort of
+feverish animation, "under extraordinary circumstance. On seeing you, I
+felt a sensation at once sweet and painful: my heart contracted, and
+when, after defying my brothers, you set off, I looked after you so long
+as I could perceive you through the trees. At length I returned dreamily
+to our cabin, for I felt that my fate was decided; your words echoed in
+my ears, your image was in my heart, and yet you had appeared to me as
+an enemy: the words you uttered in my presence were threats. Whence
+arose the strange emotion that agitated me?"
+
+She stopped.
+
+"Oh, you loved me!" the young man exclaimed impetuously.
+
+"Yes, did I not?" she continued. "It is what is called love," she added,
+in a quivering voice, while two tears fell from her long lashes and
+coursed down her pale cheeks; "in what will that love result? The
+daughter of a proscribed race, I am not so much your friend as your
+prisoner, or, at any; rate, your hostage. I inspire your comrade with
+contempt, perhaps with hatred; for I am the daughter of their implacable
+foe--of the man whom they have sworn to sacrifice to their vengeance."
+
+Don Pablo bowed his head, with a sigh.
+
+"What I say is true, is it not?" she continued; "you are forced to allow
+it."
+
+"Oh, I will protect--I will save you," he exclaimed impetuously.
+
+"No," she said firmly; "no, Don Pablo, for you must defend me against
+your own father; you would not dare do it; and if you did," she added,
+with a flashing eye, "I would not suffer it."
+
+There was a moment's silence: then Ellen continued--
+
+"Leave me to accomplish my destiny, Don Pablo; renounce this love, which
+can have only one result--our mutual wretchedness: forget me!"
+
+"Never," he exclaimed; "never! I love you, Ellen, so greatly as to
+sacrifice all for you--my life, if you order it."
+
+"And I," she replied--"do you fancy that I do not love you?--have I not
+given you sufficient proof of that love?--I who betrayed my father for
+your sake. But you see, I am strong; imitate me, and do not enter on a
+mad struggle."
+
+"Whatever happens, I shall ever love you. Ellen! What do I care for your
+family! Children are not responsible for the faults of their parents.
+You are noble, you are holy: I love you, Ellen, I love you!"
+
+"And do you think I doubt it?" she replied. "Yes, you love me, Don
+Pablo; I know it; I am sure of it; and, shall I confess it? This love,
+which causes my despair, renders me at the same time happy. Well, you
+must forget me; it must be so."
+
+"Never," he repeated wildly.
+
+"Listen, Don Pablo; you and your comrades are on my father's trail; if,
+as is almost certain, you find him, nothing will save him, neither tears
+nor entreaties, but you will kill him."
+
+"Alas!" the young man murmured.
+
+"You understand," she said, with great agitation, "that I cannot be an
+unmoved witness of the death of the man to whom I owe my life. This man,
+whom you hate, on whom you wish to revenge yourself, is my father; he
+has always been kind to me. Be merciful, Don Pablo!"
+
+"Speak, Ellen; whatever you may ask I will swear to do."
+
+Ellen fixed on him a glance of strange meaning.
+
+"Is it true? Can I really trust to your word?" she said, with marked
+hesitation.
+
+"Order, and I will obey."
+
+"This evening, when we reach the spot where we are to bivouac, when your
+comrades are asleep--"
+
+"Well?" he said, seeing that she stopped.
+
+"Let me fly, Don Pablo, I implore you."
+
+"Oh, my poor child," he exclaimed; "let you fly! But what will become of
+you alone, and lost in this desert?"
+
+"Heaven will guard me."
+
+"Alas! It is death that you ask."
+
+"What matter, if I have done my duty."
+
+"Your duty, Ellen?"
+
+"Must I not save my father?"
+
+Don Pablo made no reply.
+
+"You hesitate--you refuse," she said, bitterly.
+
+"No," he answered. "You ask, and your will shall be accomplished; you
+shall go."
+
+"Thanks," she said, joyfully, as she offered the young man her hand,
+which he pressed to his lips.
+
+"And now," she said, "one last service."
+
+"Speak, Ellen."
+
+She drew a small box from her bosom and handed it to her companion.
+
+"Take this, box," she continued. "I know not what it contains; but I
+took it from my father before escaping from his camp with your sister.
+Keep it preciously, in order that, if Heaven allow us ever to meet
+again, you may restore it to me."
+
+"I promise it."
+
+"Now, Don Pablo, whatever may happen, know that I love you, and that
+your name will be the last word that passes my lips."
+
+"Oh! Let me believe, let me hope that one day perhaps--"
+
+"Never!" she exclaimed, in her turn, with an accent impossible to
+describe. "However great my love may be, my father's blood will separate
+us eternally."
+
+The young man bowed his head in despair at these words--a gloomy
+malediction, which enabled him to measure the depth of the abyss into
+which he had fallen. They continued their journey silently, side by side.
+
+The Sachem of the Coras, as we said, acted as guide to the little party.
+On reaching a spot where the path he followed took a sudden bend in the
+river bank, he stopped, and imitated the cry of the jay. At this signal,
+Valentine dug his spurs into his horse and galloped up to him.
+
+"Is there anything new?" he asked.
+
+"Nothing, except that in a few minutes we shall be opposite the islet
+where Red Cedar established his camp."
+
+"Ah, ah!" said Valentine; "In that case we will halt."
+
+The hunters dismounted, and concealed themselves in the shrubs; the
+utmost silence prevailed on the riverbank.
+
+"Hum!" Valentine muttered; "I believe the bird has flown."
+
+"We shall soon know," Eagle-wing replied.
+
+Then, with that prudence characteristic of the men of his race, he
+stepped cautiously from tree to tree, and soon disappeared from his
+comrades' sight.
+
+The latter awaited him motionless, and with their eyes fixed on the spot
+where he had vanished, as it were. They had long to wait, but at the
+end of an hour a slight rustling was audible in the shrubs, and the
+Indian rose before them. It was easy to see that he had emerged from the
+water, for his clothes were dripping.
+
+"Well?" said Valentine.
+
+"Gone!"
+
+"All?"
+
+"All."
+
+"How long?"
+
+"Two days at least! the fires are cold."
+
+"I suspected it," said the hunter, as if speaking to himself.
+
+"Oh!" Don Miguel exclaimed, "this demon will constantly escape us."
+
+"Patience," Valentine replied. "Unless he has glided through the river
+like a fish, or risen in the air like a bird, we shall find his trail
+again--I swear it."
+
+"But what shall we do?"
+
+"Wait," said the hunter. "It is late, we will pass the night here;
+tomorrow, at daybreak, we will start in pursuit of our enemy."
+
+Don Miguel sighed, and made no answer. The preparations for a hunter's
+bivouac are not lengthy. Harry and Eagle-wing lit a fire, unsaddled and
+hobbled the horses, and then the supper was got ready. With the
+exception of Don Miguel and his son, who ate but little, though for
+different reasons, the hunters did honour to the frugal meal, which the
+fatigues of the day caused them to find delicious. So soon as the supper
+was over, Valentine threw his rifle on his shoulder, and gave Curumilla
+a sign to follow him.
+
+"Where are you going?" Don Miguel asked.
+
+"To the isle where the gambusinos' camp was."
+
+"I will go with you."
+
+"Hang it all! And so will I," said the general.
+
+"Very good."
+
+The four men set out, and only Don Pablo, Ellen, the Chief of the Coras,
+and Harry were left in the encampment. So soon as the footsteps of the
+hunters had died out in the distance, Ellen turned to Don Pablo.
+
+"The time has arrived," she said.
+
+The Mexican could not repress a nervous start.
+
+"You wish it?" he answered her, sadly.
+
+"It must be," she continued, stifling a sigh.
+
+She rose and walked up to Harry.
+
+"Brother, I am going," she said.
+
+"It is well," the hunter replied.
+
+Without any further explanation, he saddled two horses, and waited with
+apparent indifference. Moukapec slept, or feigned to sleep. Ellen
+offered her hand to Don Pablo, and said, in a trembling voice--
+
+"Farewell!"
+
+"Oh!" the young man exclaimed, "Remain, Ellen, I implore you!"
+
+The squatter's daughter shook her head sadly.
+
+"I must rejoin my father," she murmured; "Don Pablo, let me go."
+
+"Ellen! Ellen!"
+
+"Farewell, Don Pablo!"
+
+"Oh!" he said, in his despair, "Can nothing move you?"
+
+The maiden's face was inundated with tears, and her bosom heaved.
+
+"Ungrateful man," she said, with an accent of bitter reproach, "he does
+not understand how much I love him."
+
+Don Pablo made a final effort; he overcame his grief, and said, in a
+stammering voice--
+
+"Go, then, and may Heaven protect you!"
+
+"Farewell!"
+
+"Oh! Not farewell--we shall meet again."
+
+The girl shook her head sadly, and leaped on the horse the Canadian held
+ready for her.
+
+"Harry," said Don Pablo, "watch over her."
+
+"As over my sister," the Canadian answered, in a deep voice.
+
+Ellen gave a parting signal of farewell to Don Pablo, and loosened the
+bridle. The young man fell on the ground in despair.
+
+"Oh! All my happiness has fled me!" he muttered, in a broken voice.
+
+Moukapec had not made a move; his sleep must have been very sound. Two
+hours later, Valentine and his friends returned from their trip to the
+island, and Don Miguel at once noticed the absence of the squatter's
+daughter.
+
+"Where is Ellen?" he asked, quickly.
+
+"Gone!" Don Pablo muttered.
+
+"And you allowed her to fly?" the hacendero exclaimed.
+
+"She was not a prisoner, hence I had no right to oppose her departure."
+
+"And the Canadian hunter?"
+
+"Gone too."
+
+"Oh!" Don Miguel exclaimed, "We must start in pursuit of them without
+the loss of a moment."
+
+A shudder of terror and joy ran over the young man's body, as he turned
+pale at this proposition. Valentine gave him a searching glance, and
+then laid his hand on his friend's shoulder.
+
+"We will do nothing of the sort," he said, with a meaning smile; "on the
+contrary, we will allow Red Cedar's daughter to withdraw unimpeded."
+
+"But--" Don Miguel objected.
+
+Valentine bent down and whispered a few words in his ear. The hacendero
+started.
+
+"You are right," he muttered.
+
+"Now," the hunter went on, "let us sleep, for I promise you a hard day's
+work tomorrow."
+
+Everyone seemed to acknowledge the justice of this remark, and scarce a
+quarter of an hour after it had been made, the hunters were lying asleep
+round the fire. Curumilla alone was leaning against a larch tree, of
+which he seemed to form part, watching over the common safety.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+FRAY AMBROSIO.
+
+
+We will now return to the gambusinos.
+
+Sutter and Nathan had not said a word to their brother; while he, for
+his part, did not appear to have recognised them. When all were
+preparing to sleep, Shaw also laid himself on the ground, while
+imperceptibly approaching Dona Clara.
+
+The maiden, with her head buried in her hands, and her elbows supported
+on her knees, was weeping silently. These tears broke Shaw's heart, and
+he would have laid down his life to stop their flow.
+
+In the meanwhile, the night grew more and more dark; the moon, veiled by
+thick clouds which passed incessantly over its pale disc, only cast
+forth dim rays, too weak to pierce the dome of foliage under which the
+gambusinos had sought shelter. Shaw, reassured by the complete
+immobility of his comrades and the mournful silence that brooded over
+the clearing, ventured slightly to touch the young lady's arm.
+
+"What do you want with me?" she asked in a mournful voice.
+
+"Speak low," he replied; "in Heaven's name, speak low, senora, or one of
+the men lying there may overhear us. These villains have so fine an ear,
+that the slightest sighing of the wind through the leaves is sufficient
+to awake them and put them on their guard."
+
+"Why should I care whether they awake?" she continued, reproachfully
+"Thanks to you, in whom I trusted, have I not fallen into their hands
+again?"
+
+"Oh!" he said, writhing his hands in despair, "you cannot believe me
+capable of such odious treachery."
+
+"Still, you see where we are."
+
+"Alas! I am not to blame for it; fatality has done it all."
+
+An incredulous smile hovered round the maiden's pallid lips.
+
+"Have at least the courage to defend your bad deed, and confess you are
+a bandit like the men sleeping there. Oh," she added, bitterly, "I have
+no right to reproach you; on the contrary, I ought to admire you; for
+though you are still very young, you have displayed, under present
+circumstances, a degree of skill and cunning I was far from suspecting
+in you: you have played your part with consummate talent."
+
+Each of these cruel words entered the unhappy young man's heart like a
+dagger, and made him endure atrocious torture.
+
+"Yes," he said sadly, "appearances are against me; in vain should I try
+to persuade you of my innocence, for you would not believe me; and yet
+Heaven is my witness that I attempted all it was humanly possible to do,
+in order to save you."
+
+"You were very unfortunate then, sir," she continued sarcastically; "for
+it must be allowed that all these attempts of which you boast strangely
+turned against you."
+
+Shaw uttered a deep sigh.
+
+"Good Heaven!" he said, "What proof can I give you of my devotion?"
+
+"None," she replied coldly.
+
+"Oh! madam."
+
+"Sir," she interrupted him in a firm and ironical voice, "spare me, I
+beg of you, your lamentations, in whose sincerity I cannot believe, as
+there are too many undeniable proofs against you; even more odious than
+treachery are the hypocritical protestations of a traitor. You have
+succeeded, so what more do you want? Enjoy your triumph. I repeat to you
+that I do not reproach you, for you have acted as your instincts and
+training urged you to do; you have been true to yourself and faithful to
+your antecedents: I need say no more. Now, if I may be allowed to ask a
+favour of you, let us break off a conversation no longer possessing any
+interest, as you will not succeed in destroying my impressions about
+you: imitate the example of your comrades, and let me indulge in my
+grief without any obstacle."
+
+Shaw thunderstruck by these words, pronounced in a tone that admitted of
+no reply; he saw the fearful position he was in, and a mad fury seized
+on him. Dona Clara had left her head fall again in her hands and was
+weeping: The young man felt a sob choking him.
+
+"Oh!" he said, "What pleasure you take in torturing my heart. You say I
+betrayed you, I who loved you so!"
+
+Dona Clara drew herself up, haughty and implacable.
+
+"Yes," she answered ironically, "you love me, sir, but it is after the
+fashion of wild beasts, that carry off their prey to their den to rend
+it at their pleasure; yours is a tiger's love."
+
+Shaw seized her arm violently, and looked firmly in her eyes.
+
+"One word more, one insult further, madam," he gasped, "and I stab
+myself at your feet: when you see my corpse writhing on the ground,
+possibly you may then believe in my innocence."
+
+Dona Clara, surprised, gazed at him fixedly.
+
+"What do I care?" she then said, coldly.
+
+"Oh!" the young man exclaimed in his despair, "You shall be satisfied."
+
+And with a movement rapid as thought, he drew his dagger. Suddenly a
+hand was roughly laid on his arm; but Dona Clara had not stirred.
+
+Shaw turned round. Fray Ambrosio was standing behind him, smiling, but
+not relaxing his grasp.
+
+"Let me go," the young man said, in a hollow voice.
+
+"Not so, my son," the monk said gently, "unless you first promise to
+give up your homicidal project."
+
+"Do you not see," Shaw exclaimed passionately, "that she believes me
+guilty?"
+
+"It must be so: leave it to me to persuade her of the contrary."
+
+"Oh! if you did that?" the young man muttered, with an accent of doubt.
+
+"I will do it, my son," Fray Ambrosio said, still smiling; "but you must
+first be reasonable."
+
+Shaw hesitated for a moment, then let fall the weapon, as he muttered--
+
+"There will still be time."
+
+"Excellently reasoned," said the monk. "Now, sit down, and let us talk.
+Trust to me: the senora ere long will not feel the slightest doubt about
+your innocence."
+
+During this scene Dona Clara had remained motionless as a statue of
+grief, apparently taking no interest in what passed between the two men.
+
+"This young man has told you the perfect truth," he said; "it is a
+justice I take pleasure in rendering him. I know not what cause urged
+him to act so, but, in order to save you, he achieved impossibilities;
+holding you in his arms, he fought with a cloud of redskins thirsting
+for his blood. When Heaven sent us so miraculously to his assistance, he
+was about to succumb, and he rolled unconscious under our horses' hoofs,
+still holding against his bleeding breast the precious burthen which had
+doubtless been confided to him, and from which he had sworn only death
+should separate him. That is the real truth, madam: I swear it on my
+honour."
+
+Dona Clara smiled bitterly.
+
+"Oh," she answered, "keep these deceitful and useless protestations to
+yourself, father; I have learned to know you too, thanks be to Heaven,
+for some time past, and am aware what faith can be placed in your word."
+
+The monk bit his lips spitefully.
+
+"Perhaps, you are mistaken, madam," he answered, with a humble bow, "and
+too readily put faith in false appearances."
+
+"Very false, in truth," the girl exclaimed, "since your conduct, up to
+this day, has only proved their correctness."
+
+A flash shot from the monk's savage eye, which expired as soon as it
+burst forth; he composed his countenance, and continued with immoveable
+gentleness--
+
+"You judge me wrongly too, senorita; misfortune renders you unjust. You
+forget that I owe all to your father."
+
+"It is not I, but you, who have forgotten it," she said, sharply.
+
+"And who tells you, madam," he said, with a certain degree of animation,
+"that if I am in the ranks of your enemies, it is not to serve you
+better?"
+
+"Oh!" she answered, ironically; "it would be difficult for you to supply
+me with proofs of such admirable devotion."
+
+"Not so much as you suppose; I have at this moment one at my service,
+which you cannot doubt."
+
+"And that proof is?" she asked with a sneer.
+
+"This, madam. My comrades are asleep; two horses have been tied up by
+myself fifty paces from here in the forest; I will lead you to them, and
+guided by this unhappy young man, who is devoted to you, although you
+have been cruel to him, after the perils to which he has exposed himself
+for your sake--it will be easy for you to get out of our reach in a few
+hours, and foil any pursuit. That is the proof, madam; can you now say
+it is false?"
+
+"And who will guarantee me," she replied, "that this feigned solicitude
+you take in me, and which, I fancy, is very sudden, does not conceal a
+new snare?"
+
+"Moments are precious," the monk said again, still imperturbable; "every
+second that slips away is a chance of safety you are deprived of. I will
+not argue with you, but limit myself to saying--of what use would it be
+to me to pretend to let you escape?"
+
+"How do I know? Can I guess the causes on which you act?"
+
+"Very good, madam, do as you think proper; but Heaven is my witness that
+I have done all in my power to save you, and that it was you who
+refused."
+
+The monk uttered these words with such an accent of conviction, that, in
+spite of herself, Dona Clara felt her suspicions shaken. Fray Ambrosio's
+last observation was correct: why feign to let her escape, when he had
+her in his power? She reflected for a moment.
+
+"Listen," she said to him, "I have sacrificed my life; I know not if you
+are sincere; I should like to believe so; but as nothing can happen to
+me worse than what threatens me here, I confide in you; lead on,
+therefore, to the horses you have prepared for me, and I shall soon know
+whether your intentions are honest, and I have been deceived in my
+opinion of you."
+
+A furtive smile lit up the monk's face, and he uttered a sigh of
+satisfaction.
+
+"Come," he said, "follow me; but walk cautiously, so as not to arouse my
+comrades, who are probably not so well disposed towards you as I am."
+
+Dona Clara and Shaw rose and noiselessly followed the monk, the
+squatter's son walking before the maiden and removing all the obstacles
+to her passage. The darkness was thick, hence it was difficult to walk
+through the thickets, interlaced as they were with creepers and
+parasitical plants; Dona Clara stumbled at every step.
+
+At the expiration of half an hour, they reached the skirt of the forest,
+where two horses, fastened to trees, were quietly nibbling the young
+tree shoots.
+
+"Well," the monk said, with a triumphant accent, "do you believe me now,
+senora?"
+
+"I am not saved yet," she sadly answered; and she prepared to mount.
+Suddenly, the branches and shrubs were violently parted, six or eight
+men rushed forward, and surrounded the three, ere it was possible for
+them to attempt a defence. Shaw, however, drew a pistol, and prepared to
+sell his life dearly.
+
+"Stop, Shaw," Dona Clara said to him, gently; "I now see that you were
+faithful, and I pardon you. Do not let yourself be uselessly killed; you
+see that it would be madness to resist!"
+
+The young man let his head droop, and returned the pistol to his girdle.
+
+"Hilloh!" a rough voice shouted, which caused the fugitives to tremble,
+"I felt sure that these horses belonged to somebody. Let us see what we
+have here. A torch here, Orson, to have a look at them."
+
+"It is unnecessary, Red Cedar, we are friends."
+
+"Friends," Red Cedar answered, hesitating, for it was really he; "that
+is possible; still, I would sooner be convinced of it. Light the torch,
+lad, all the same."
+
+There was a moment's silence, during which Orson lit a branch of candle
+wood tree.
+
+"Ah, ah," the squatter said, with a grin; "in truth, we are among
+friends. But where the deuce were you going at this hour of the night,
+senor Padre?"
+
+"We were returning to the camp, after a ride, in which we have lost our
+way," the monk answered, imperturbably.
+
+Red Cedar gave him a suspicious glance.
+
+"A ride!" he growled between his teeth; "It is a singular hour for that.
+But there is Shaw. You are welcome, my boy, though I little expected to
+meet you, especially in the company of that charming dove," he added,
+with a sarcastic smile.
+
+"Yes, it is I, father," the young man answered in a hollow voice.
+
+"Very good; presently you shall tell me what has become of you for so
+long, but this is not the moment. Did you not say that your camp was
+near here, senor Padre? Although, may the devil twist my neck, if I can
+understand how that is, as I was going to seek you on the isle where I
+left you."
+
+"We were compelled to leave it."
+
+"All right; we have no time to lose in chattering. Lead me to the camp,
+my master; at a later date, all will be cleared up, never fear."
+
+Guided by the monk, and followed by the pirates, who had Shaw and Dona
+Clara in their midst, Red Cedar entered the forest. This unforeseen
+meeting once again robbed the poor girl of a speedy deliverance. As for
+Fray Ambrosio, he walked along apparently as calmly as if nothing
+extraordinary had happened to him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+THE TRAIL.
+
+
+The dawn was just commencing to overshadow the horizon with transient
+opaline tints; a few stars were still glistening in the dark blue sky.
+The wild beasts were leaving their watering places, and slowly retiring
+to their dens, disturbing at intervals the solemn silence of the desert
+with their sinister howling.
+
+Valentine opened his eyes, looked around him anxiously, and after
+employing a few seconds in shaking off his drowsiness, he rose slowly
+and awoke his comrades, who were still sleeping, rolled up in their
+blankets.
+
+Soon, the whole little party were collected round the fire, on which the
+hunter had thrown a few armfuls of dry wood, and in whose brilliant
+flames the breakfast was now preparing.
+
+The Mexicans, with their eyes fixed Valentine, silently awaited his
+explanation, for they guessed that he had important communications to
+make to them. But their expectations were foiled, at least for the
+present, and the Frenchman remained quite silent.
+
+When the meal was ready, Valentine made his comrades a signal to eat;
+and for some twenty minutes no other sound could be heard save that
+caused by the formidable appetites of the hunters. When they had
+finished, Valentine quietly lit his Indian pipe, and indicated to his
+companions that he wished to speak. All turned toward him.
+
+"My friends," he said, in his sympathetic voice, "what I feared has
+happened. Red Cedar has left his island camp; he has, if I am not
+mistaken, several days' start of us, and in vain did I try last night to
+take up his trail: it was impossible. Red Cedar is a villain, endowed
+with a fortunately far from common ferocity, whose destruction we have
+sworn, and I hope we shall keep our word. But I am compelled to do him
+the justice of saying, that he is one of the most experienced hunters in
+the Far West; and no one, when he pleases, can more cleverly hide his
+own trail, and discover that of others. We are, therefore, about to have
+a trial of patience with him, for he has learned all the stratagems of
+the redskins, of whom, I am not ashamed to say, he is the superior in
+roguery."
+
+"Alas!" Don Miguel muttered.
+
+"I have sworn to restore your daughter to you, my friend," Valentine
+continued, "with the help of heaven. I shall keep my oath, but I am
+about to undertake a gigantic task: hence I ask of you all the most
+perfect obedience. Your ignorance of the desert might, under certain
+circumstances, cause us serious injury, and make us lose in a few
+minutes the fruit of lengthened researches: hence I ask of your
+friendship that you will let yourselves be entirely guided by my
+experience."
+
+"My friend," Don Miguel replied, with an accent full of majesty,
+"whatever you may order, we will do; for you alone can successfully
+carry out the difficult enterprise in which we are engaged."
+
+"Good! I thank you for the obedience you promise me, my friend: without
+it, it would be impossible to succeed. Now leave me to arrange with the
+Indian chiefs."
+
+Valentine rose, made a sign to Curumilla and Eagle-wing, and the three
+sat down a short distance off. Valentine passed his calumet to the
+Araucano, who took a few whiffs and then handed it to Eagle-wing, and
+he, after smoking also, returned it to the hunter.
+
+"My brothers know why I have convened them in council," Valentine said
+presently.
+
+The two chiefs bowed in reply.
+
+"Very good," he continued; "now what is the advice of my brother? Let
+the Sachem of the Coras speak first. He is a wise chief, whose counsels
+can only be good for us."
+
+"Why does Koutonepi ask the advice of his red brothers?" he said.
+"Koutonepi is a great warrior: he has the eye of the eagle, the scent of
+the dog, the courage of the lion, and the prudence of the serpent. No
+one can discover better than him a trail lost in the sand: what
+Koutonepi does is well done: his brothers will follow him."
+
+"Thanks, chief," Valentine continued; "but in what direction should we
+proceed?"
+
+"Red Cedar is the friend of Stanapat: after his defeat the scalp hunter
+will have sought a refuge with his friend."
+
+"That is also my opinion," the hunter remarked. "What do you think,
+chief?" he said, turning to Curumilla.
+
+The Araucano shook his head.
+
+"No," he said, "Red Cedar loves gold."
+
+"That is true," said Valentine: "besides, the Apaches are too near us.
+You are right, chief: we must therefore proceed northward?"
+
+Curumilla nodded an assent.
+
+"No horses," he said, "they destroy a trail."
+
+"We will go on foot. Have you Red Cedar's measure?"
+
+Curumilla fumbled in his medicine bag, and produced an old worn
+moccasin.
+
+"Oh!" Valentine said eagerly; "that is better still: let us be off at
+once."
+
+They broke up the conference.
+
+"My friends," the hunter said to the Mexicans, "this is what we have
+resolved on: you three, alone, will be mounted. Each of you will lead
+one of our horses, so that we may mount at the first signal. The two
+chiefs and myself will march on foot, in order to let no sign escape us.
+You will keep two hundred yards, behind us: and as I noticed that there
+are at this moment a great many trumpeter swans in the river, that will
+be our rallying cry. All this is arranged?"
+
+"Yes," the three gentlemen answered unanimously.
+
+"Good! now to set out, and try never to let us out of sight."
+
+"Be at your ease, my friend, about that," the general said; "we have too
+great an interest in not quitting you. _Canarios!_ what would become of
+us alone, lost in this confounded desert?"
+
+"Come, come, something tells me that we shall succeed," Valentine said
+gaily, "so we will have courage."
+
+"May heaven grant you are not mistaken, my friend," Don Miguel said
+sadly. "My poor child!"
+
+"We will deliver her. I have followed a more difficult trail before
+now."
+
+With these consolatory words, the two Indians and the hunter set out.
+Instead of taking Indian file, as ordinarily adopted on the prairie, and
+marching one after the other, they spread like a fan, in order to have a
+greater space to explore, and not lose the slightest indication. So soon
+as the scouts were at the arranged distance, the Mexicans mounted and
+followed them, being careful not to let them out of sight, as far as was
+possible.
+
+When Valentine told Don Miguel that he had followed more difficult
+trails, he was either boasting, or, as is more probable, judging from
+his frank character, he wished to restore hope to his friend.
+
+In order to follow a trail, it must exist. Red Cedar was too old a wood
+ranger to neglect the slightest precaution, for he knew too well that,
+however large the desert may be, a man habituated to cross it always
+Succeeds in finding the man he is pursuing.
+
+He knew, too, that he was followed by the most experienced hunter of the
+Far West, whom, by common accord, white and half-breed trappers, and the
+redskins themselves, had surnamed "The Trail-hunter." Hence he surpassed
+himself, and nothing was to be seen.
+
+Although Valentine and his two comrades might interrogate the desert, it
+remained dumb and indecipherable as a closed book. For five hours they
+had been walking, and nothing had given an embodiment to their
+suspicions, or proved to them that they were on the right track.
+
+Still, with that patience which characterises men accustomed to prairie
+life, and whose tenacity no word can express, the three men marched on,
+advancing, step by step, with their bodies bent, their eyes fixed on the
+ground, never yielding to the insurmountable difficulties that opposed
+them, but, on the contrary, excited by these very difficulties, which
+proved that they had an adversary worthy of them.
+
+Valentine walked in the centre, with Curumilla on his right and
+Eagle-wing on his left. They were crossing at this moment a level plain,
+where a considerable view could be enjoyed; on one side stood the
+outposts of the virgin forest, on the other was the Gila, running over a
+sand bed. On reaching the bank of a small stream, obstructed with
+shrubs, Valentine noticed all at once that two or three small branches
+were broken a few inches from the ground.
+
+The hunter stopped, and in order to examine more closely, lay down on
+the ground, carefully regarding the fracture of the wood, as he thrust
+his head into the copse. Suddenly he started up on his knees, uttering a
+cry of joy: his comrades ran up to him.
+
+"Ah, by Heaven," Valentine exclaimed; "now I have him. Look, look!"
+
+And he showed the Indians a few horse's hairs he held in his hand.
+Curumilla examined them attentively, while Eagle-wing, without saying a
+word, formed with earth and stones a dyke across the bed of the stream,
+which was only a few yards in width.
+
+"Well, what do you say to that, chief?" Valentine asked. "Have I guessed
+it?"
+
+"Wah," the Indian replied, "Koutonepi has good eyes; these hairs come
+from Red Cedar's horse."
+
+"I noticed that the horse he rode was iron grey."
+
+"Yes; but it halts."
+
+"I know it, with the off foreleg."
+
+At this moment the Coras summoned them: he had turned the course of the
+stream, and the traces of a horse's hoofs could be distinctly traced in
+the sand.
+
+"Do you see?" said Valentine.
+
+"Yes," Curumilla remarked; "but he is alone."
+
+"Hang it, so he is."
+
+The two warriors looked at him in amazement.
+
+"Listen," Valentine said, after a moment's reflection, "this is a false
+trail. On reaching this stream, where it was impossible for him not to
+leave signs, Red Cedar, supposing that we should look for them in the
+water, crossed the stream alone, although it would be easy for men less
+accustomed to the desert than ourselves to suppose that a party had
+crossed here. Look down there on the other side, at a horse's marks. Red
+Cedar wanted to be too clever; showing us a trail at all has ruined him.
+The rest of the band, which he joined again presently, instead of
+crossing, descended the bed of the stream to the Gila, where they
+embarked and passed to the other side of the river."
+
+The two Indians, on hearing this clear explanation, could not repress a
+cry of admiration. Valentine burst the dyke, and with their help formed
+another one hundred yards below, a short distance from the Gila. The bed
+of the stream was hardly dry, ere the two Indians clapped their hands,
+while uttering exclamations of delight.
+
+Valentine had guessed aright: this time they had discovered the real
+trail, for the bed of the stream had been trampled by a large band of
+horses.
+
+"Oh, oh," Valentine said; "I fancy we are on the right road."
+
+He then imitated the cry of a swan, and the Mexicans, who had been
+puzzled by the movements of the hunters, and were anxious to hear the
+news, galloped up.
+
+"Well?" Don Miguel shouted.
+
+"Good news," said Valentine.
+
+"You have the trail?" the general asked, hurriedly.
+
+"I think so," the hunter modestly replied.
+
+"Oh!" said Don Pablo, joyously; "In that case we shall soon catch the
+villain."
+
+"I hope so. We must now cross the river; but let us three go first."
+
+The three hunters leaped on their horses and crossed the river, followed
+at a distance by the others. On reaching the other side of the Gila,
+instead of ascending the bank, they followed the current for some
+distance, carefully examining the ground.
+
+"Ah!" Valentine suddenly exclaimed, as he stopped his horse. "I think
+the men we are pursuing landed here."
+
+"That is the place," said Curumilla, with a nod.
+
+"Yes," Moukapec confirmed him; "it is easy to see."
+
+In fact, the spot was admirably adapted for landing without leaving any
+signs. The bank was bordered for nearly one hundred yards with large
+flat rocks, shaped like tombstones, where the horses could rest their
+hoofs without any fear of leaving a mark. These atones extended for a
+considerable distance into the plain, and thus formed a species of
+natural highway, nearly half a mile in width.
+
+Still, a thing had happened which no one could have foreseen, and which
+would have passed unnoticed, save for Valentine's watchful eye. One of
+the horses, in climbing on to the rock, had miscalculated its distance
+and slipped, so that an almost imperceptible graze, left by its hoof on
+the stone, showed the quick-sighted hunter where the party struck the
+bank.
+
+The hunters followed the same road; but, so soon as they had landed, the
+trail disappeared anew. Although the scouts looked around with the most
+minute attention, they found nothing that would indicate to them the
+road followed by the enemy on leaving the water.
+
+Valentine, with his hands resting on the muzzle of his rifle, was
+thinking deeply, at one moment looking on the ground, at another raising
+his eyes to the sky, like a man busied with the solution of a problem
+which seems to him impossible, when suddenly he perceived a white headed
+eagle soaring in long circles over a mass of rocks, situated a little to
+the right of the spot where he was standing.
+
+"Hum," the hunter said to himself, as he watched the eagle, whose
+circles were growing gradually smaller, "what is the matter with that
+bird? I am curious to know."
+
+Summoning his two comrades, he threw his rifle on his back, and hurried
+toward the spot above which the bird of prey still continued to hover.
+Valentine imparted to the Indians the suspicions that had sprung up in
+his mind, and the three men began painfully climbing up the mass of
+rocks strangely piled up one on the other, and which rose like a small
+hill in the middle of the prairie.
+
+On reaching the top the hunters stopped to pant; the eagle, startled by
+their unexpected appearance, had flown reluctantly away. They found
+themselves on a species of platform, which must infallibly have once
+served as a sepulchre to some renowned Indian warrior, for several
+shapeless fragments lay here and there, near a rather wide cavity, some
+ten yards in width.
+
+Valentine bent over the edge of this hole, but the obscurity was so
+dense, owing to the shape of the cavity, that he could perceive nothing,
+though his sense of smell was most disagreeably assailed by a fetid odour
+of decaying flesh.
+
+"Hilloah! what is this?" he asked.
+
+Without speaking, Curumilla had lit a candle wood torch which he handed
+the hunter. Valentine bent over again and looked in.
+
+"Ah!" he exclaimed, "Red Cedar's horse--I have you now, my fine fellow!
+but how the deuce did he manage to get the animal up here without
+leaving any trail?" After a moment he added: "Oh, what a goose I am! The
+horse was not dead, he led it up here, and then forced it into the hole.
+By Jove! It is a good trick: I must confess that Red Cedar is a very
+remarkable rogue, and had it not been for the eagle, I should not have
+discovered the road he took--but now I have him! Were he ten times as
+cunning he would not escape me."
+
+And, all delighted, Valentine rejoined the Mexicans, who were anxiously
+awaiting the result of his researches.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+THE HUNT.
+
+
+"Then," Don Miguel asked the hunter, "you believe, my friend, that we are
+on the right track, and that the villain cannot escape us."
+
+"I am convinced," Valentine replied, "that we have followed his trail up
+to the present. As for assuring you that he will not escape us, I am
+unable to say that; I can only assert that I shall discover him."
+
+"That is what I meant," the hacendero remarked, with a sigh.
+
+They started once more. The prairie became more broken, here and there
+clumps of trees diversified the landscape, and in the distance rose
+hills, the first spires of the Sierra Madre, which jagged the blue
+horizon, and undulated the soil. The hunters reached at about an hour
+before sunset the first trees of an immense virgin forest, which
+stretched out like a curtain of verdure, and completely hid the prairie
+from their sight.
+
+"Wah!" said Curumilla, suddenly stooping and picking up an object which
+he handed Valentine.
+
+"Hilloah!" the latter exclaimed, "if I am not mistaken, it is Dona
+Clara's cross."
+
+"Give it me, my friend," Don Miguel said, hurriedly advancing.
+
+He seized the article the hunter handed him; it was, in truth, a small
+diamond cross, which the maiden constantly wore. The hacendero raised
+it to his lips, with a joy mingled with sorrow.
+
+"Oh, heavens!" he exclaimed, "What has happened to my poor girl?"
+
+"Nothing," Valentine replied; "reassure yourself, my friend. The chain
+has probably broken, and Dona Clara lost it--that is all."
+
+Don Miguel sighed, two tears burst from his eyes, but he did not utter a
+word; at the entrance of the forest Valentine halted.
+
+"It is not prudent," he said, "to go among these large trees by night;
+perhaps those we seek may be waiting here to attack us under covert. If
+you will listen to me, we will bivouac here."
+
+No one objected to this proposal, and consequently the encampment was
+formed. Night had completely set in, and the hunters, after eating their
+super, had rolled themselves up in their blankets, and were sleeping.
+Valentine, Curumilla, and Eagle-wing, gravely seated around the fire,
+were conversing in a low voice, while watching the neighbourhood.
+
+All at once Valentine sharply seized the Ulmen by the collar, and pulled
+him to the ground; at the same moment a shot was fired, and a bullet
+struck the logs, producing myriads of sparks. The Mexicans, startled by
+the shot, sprung up and seized their arms, but the hunters had
+disappeared.
+
+"What is the meaning of this?" Don Miguel asked, looking round vainly in
+the darkness.
+
+"I am greatly mistaken," said the general, "if we are not attacked."
+
+"Attacked!" the hacendero continued; "By whom?"
+
+"By enemies, probably," the general remarked; "but who those enemies are
+I cannot tell you."
+
+"Where are our friends?" Don Pablo asked.
+
+"Hunting, I suppose," the general replied.
+
+"Stay, here they come," said Don Miguel.
+
+The hunters returned; but not alone; they had a prisoner with them, and
+the prisoner was Orson, the pirate. So soon as he had him in the
+bivouac, Valentine bound him securely, and then examined him for some
+minutes with profound attention. The bandit endured this examination
+with a feigned carelessness, which, well played though it was, did not
+quite deceive the Frenchman.
+
+"Hum!" the latter said to himself, "this seems to me a cunning scamp;
+let me see if I am wrong--who are you, ruffian?" he roughly asked him.
+
+"I?" the other said with a silly air.
+
+"Yes, you."
+
+"A hunter."
+
+"A scalp hunter, I suppose?" Valentine went on.
+
+"Why so?" the other asked.
+
+"I suppose you did not take us for wild beasts?"
+
+"I do not understand you," the bandit said, with a stupid look.
+
+"That is possible," said Valentine, "what is your name?"
+
+"Orson."
+
+"A pretty name enough. And why were you prowling round our bivouac?"
+
+"The night is dark, and I took you for Apaches."
+
+"Is that why you fired at us?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I suppose you did not expect to kill us all six?"
+
+"I did not try to kill you."
+
+"Ah, ah! You wished to give us a salute, I suppose?" the hunter
+remarked, with a laugh.
+
+"No, but I wished to attract your attention."
+
+"Well, you succeeded; in that case, why did you bolt?"
+
+"I did not do so--I let you catch me."
+
+"Hum," Valentine said again; "well, no matter, we have got you and
+you'll be very clever if you escape."
+
+"Who knows?" the pirate muttered.
+
+"Where were you going?"
+
+"To join my friends on the other bank of the river."
+
+"What friends?"
+
+"Friends of mine."
+
+"I suppose so."
+
+"The man is an idiot," Don Miguel said, with a shrug of his shoulders.
+
+Valentine gave him a significant look.
+
+"Do you think so?" he said.
+
+As the hacendero made no reply, Valentine continued his
+cross-questioning.
+
+"Who are the friends you were going to join?"
+
+"I told you--hunters."
+
+"Very well--but those hunters have a name."
+
+"Have you not one, too?"
+
+"Listen, scamp," Valentine said, whom the Pirate's evasions were
+beginning to make angry, "I warn you that, if you do not answer my
+questions simply, I shall be forced to blow out your brains."
+
+Orson started back.
+
+"Blow out my brains!" he exclaimed. "Nonsense, you would not dare."
+
+"Why not, mate?"
+
+"Because Red Cedar would avenge me."
+
+"Ah ah, you know Red Cedar?"
+
+"Of course I do, as I was going to join him."
+
+"Hilloh!" Valentine said distrustfully. "Where, then?"
+
+"Wherever he may be."
+
+"That is true--then you know where Red Cedar is?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"In that case you will guide us to him."
+
+"I shall be delighted," the Pirate said quickly.
+
+Valentine turned to his friend.
+
+"This man is a traitor," he said. "He was sent to draw us into a snare,
+in which we will not let ourselves be caught. Curumilla, fasten a rope
+to a branch of that oak tree."
+
+"What for?" Don Miguel asked.
+
+"To hang this scamp, who fancies we are fools."
+
+Orson trembled.
+
+"One moment," he said.
+
+"What for?" the hunter asked.
+
+"Why, I do not wish to be hanged."
+
+"And yet, it will happen to you within ten minutes, my good fellow--so
+you had better make up your mind to it."
+
+"Not at all, since I offer to lead you to Red Cedar."
+
+"Very good--but I prefer going alone."
+
+"As you please. In that case, let me go."
+
+"That is not possible, unfortunately."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"I will tell you: because, if you were set at liberty, you would go
+straight and tell the man who sent you what you have seen, and I do not
+wish that. Besides, I know at present as well as you do, where Red Cedar
+is."
+
+"Red Cedar does not hide himself, and can always be found."
+
+"Very good. You have five minutes to recommend your soul to Heaven, and
+that is more than you deserve."
+
+Orson understood from the hunter's accent that he was lost. Hence he
+made up his mind bravely.
+
+"Bravo!" he said, "well-played."
+
+Valentine looked at him.
+
+"You are a plucky fellow," he said to him, "and I will do something for
+you. Curumilla, unfasten his arms."
+
+The Indian obeyed.
+
+"Look here," said Valentine, offering him a pistol. "Blow out your
+brains, it will be sooner over, and you will suffer less."
+
+The bandit seized the weapon with a diabolical grin, and, with a
+movement swift as thought, fired at the hunter. But Curumilla was
+watching him, and cleft his skull with his tomahawk. The bullet whistled
+harmlessly past Valentine's ear.
+
+"Thanks," said the bandit, as he rolled on the ground.
+
+"What men!" Don Miguel exclaimed.
+
+"_Canarios_, my friend," the general said, "you had a narrow escape."
+
+The three men dug a hole into which they threw the bandit's body. The
+rest of the night passed without incident, and at daybreak the hunt
+recommenced. About midday, the hunters found themselves again on the
+river bank, and saw two Indian canoes drifting down with the current.
+
+"Back, back!" Valentine suddenly shouted.
+
+All lay down on the grass, and at the same instant bullets ricochetted
+from the rocks, and arrows whizzed through the leaves, but no one was
+wounded. Valentine disdained to reply.
+
+"They are Apaches," he said. "Let us not waste our powder; besides, they
+are out of range."
+
+They set out again. Gradually, the forest grew clearer, the trees became
+rare, and they at length entered a vast prairie.
+
+"Stop," said Valentine, "we must be approaching. I believe we shall do
+well, now that we have an expanse before us, to examine the horizon."
+
+He stood upright in his saddle, and began looking carefully around.
+Presently, he got down.
+
+"Nothing," he said.
+
+At this moment, he saw something glistening in the grass, on the river
+bank.
+
+"What is that?" he asked himself, and bent down. But, instead of rising
+again, he bent lower still, and in a second turned to Curumilla.
+
+"The moccasin," he said, sharply.
+
+The Indian handed it to him.
+
+"Look!" the hunter said.
+
+At this spot the sand was damp, and, under a pile of leaves, there
+appeared clearly and distinctly the trace of a man's foot, with the toes
+in the water.
+
+"They are only two hours ahead of us," said Valentine. "One of them lost
+a horse bell here."
+
+"They have crossed the river," said Eagle-wing.
+
+"That is easy to see," the general remarked.
+
+Valentine smiled, and looked at Curumilla, who shook his head.
+
+"No," the hunter said. "It is a trick, but they shall not catch me."
+
+Making his comrades a signal not to stir, Valentine turned his back to
+the river, and walked rapidly toward a tree covered hill a short
+distance off.
+
+"Come!" he shouted, so soon as he reached the top. Several dead trees
+lay scattered in an open space. Aided by Curumilla, Valentine began
+removing them. The Mexicans, whose curiosity was aroused to an eminent
+degree, also lent a hand.
+
+In a few minutes, several trees were rolled on one side. Valentine then
+removed the leaves, and discovered the remains of a fire, with the ashes
+still warm.
+
+"Come, come," he said, "Red Cedar is not so clever as I thought."
+
+Don Miguel, his son, and the general were astounded, but the hunter only
+smiled.
+
+"It is nothing," he said. "But the shadow of the sun is already
+lengthening on the horizon, within three hours, it will be night; so
+remain here. When the gloom is thick, we will start again."
+
+They bivouacked.
+
+"Now, sleep," Valentine bade them. "I will awake you when necessary, for
+you will have smart work tonight."
+
+And joining example to precept, Valentine lay down on the ground, closed
+his eyes, and slept. At about an hour after sunset, he woke again; he
+looked around, his comrades were still asleep, but one was
+absent--Curumilla.
+
+"Good," Valentine thought; "the chief has seen something, and gone to
+reconnoitre."
+
+He had scarce finished this aside, when he noticed two shadows standing
+out vaguely in the night; the hunter darted behind a tree, and cocked
+his rifle. At the same instant, the cry of the swan was audible a short
+distance off.
+
+"Halloh!" said Valentine, as he withdrew his rifle, "Can Curumilla have
+made another prisoner? Let me have a look."
+
+A few minutes later, Curumilla arrived, closely followed by an Indian
+warrior, who was no other than Black Cat. On seeing him, Valentine
+repressed with difficulty a cry of surprise.
+
+"My brother is welcome," he said.
+
+"I was expecting my brother," the Apache chief said, simply.
+
+"How so?"
+
+"My brother is on the trail of Red Cedar?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Red Cedar is there," said Black Cat, pointing in the direction of the
+river.
+
+"Far?"
+
+"About half an hour."
+
+"Good. How does my red brother know it?" the hunter asked, with
+ill-concealed suspicion.
+
+"The great pale warrior is the brother of Black Cat; he saved his life.
+The redskins have a long memory. Black Cat assembled his young men, and
+followed Red Cedar to deliver him to his brother Koutonepi."
+
+Valentine did not for an instant doubt the good faith of the Apache
+Chief; he knew how religiously the Indians keep their oaths. Black Cat
+had formed an alliance with him, and he could place implicit confidence
+in his words.
+
+"Good," he said, "I will wake the pale warriors; my brother will guide
+us."
+
+The Indian bowed and folded his arms on his chest. A quarter of an hour
+later, the hunters reached the encampment of the redskins, when they
+found that Black Cat had spoken the truth, for he had one hundred picked
+warriors with him, so cleverly concealed in the grass that ten paces off
+it was impossible to perceive them.
+
+Black Cat drew Valentine aside, and led him a short distance from the
+bivouac.
+
+"Let my brother look," he said.
+
+The hunter then saw, a little way off, the fires of the gambusinos. Red
+Cedar had placed his camp against a hillside, which prevented the
+hunters seeing it. The squatter fancied he had thrown Valentine out, and
+this night, for the first time since he knew he was pursued, he allowed
+his people to light a fire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+THE COMBAT.
+
+
+Red Cedar's camp was plunged in silence; all were asleep, save three or
+four gambusinos who watched over the safety of their comrades, and two
+persons who, carelessly reclining before a tent erected in the centre of
+the camp, were conversing in a low voice. They were Red Cedar and Fray
+Ambrosio.
+
+The squatter seemed suffering from considerable anxiety; with his eye
+fixed on space, he seemed to be sounding the darkness and guessing the
+secrets which the night that surrounded him bore in its bosom.
+
+"Gossip," the monk said, "do you believe that we have succeeded in
+hiding our trail from the white hunters?"
+
+"Those villains are dogs at whom I laugh; my wife would suffice to drive
+them away with a whip," Red Cedar replied, disdainfully; "I know all the
+windings of the prairie, and have acted for the best."
+
+"Then, we are at length freed from our enemies," the monk said, with a
+sigh of relief.
+
+"Yes, gossip," the squatter remarked with a grin; "now you can sleep
+calmly."
+
+"Ah," said the monk, "all the better."
+
+At this moment, a bullet whistled over the Spaniard's head, and
+flattened against one of the tent poles.
+
+"Malediction!" the squatter yelled, as he sprang up; "those mad wolves
+again. To arms, lads; here are the redskins."
+
+Within a few seconds, all the gambusinos were alert and ambuscaded
+behind the bales that formed the wall of the camp. At the same moment,
+fearful yells, followed by a terrible discharge, burst forth from the
+prairie.
+
+The squatter's band comprised about twenty resolute men, with the
+pirates he had enlisted. The gambusinos did not let themselves be
+terrified; they replied by a point-blank discharge at a numerous band
+of horsemen galloping at full speed on the camp. The Indians rode in
+every direction, uttering ferocious yells, and brandishing burning
+torches which they constantly hurled into the camp.
+
+The Indians, as a general rule, only attack their enemies by surprise;
+when they have no other object in view but pillage, as soon as they are
+discovered and meet with a vigorous resistance, they cease a combat
+which has become objectless to them. But on this occasion the redskins
+seemed to have given up their ordinary tactics, so obstinately did they
+assail the gambusino intrenchments; frequently repulsed, they returned
+with renewed ardour, fighting in the open and trying to crush their
+enemies by their numbers.
+
+Red Cedar, terrified by the duration of a combat in which his bravest
+comrades had perished, resolved to attempt a final effort, and conquer
+the Indians by daring and temerity. By a signal he collected his three
+sons around him, with Andres Garote and Fray Ambrosio; but the Indians
+did not leave them the time to carry out the plan they had formed; they
+returned to the charge with incredible fury, and a cloud of incendiary
+arrows and lighted torches fell on the camp from all sides at once.
+
+The fire added its horrors to those of the combat, and ere long the camp
+was a burning fiery furnace. The redskins, cleverly profiting by the
+disorder the fire caused among the gambusinos, escaladed the bales,
+invaded the camp, rushed on the whites, and a hand-to-hand fight
+commenced. In spite of their courage and skill in the use of arms, the
+gambusinos were overwhelmed by the masses of their enemies; a few
+minutes longer, and all would be over with Red Cedar's band.
+
+The squatter resolved to make a supreme effort to save the few men still
+left him; taking Fray Ambrosio aside, who, since the beginning the
+action, had constantly fought by his side, he explained his intentions
+to him; and when he felt that the monk would certainly carry out his
+plans, he rushed with incredible fury into the thickest of the fight,
+and felling or stabbing the redskins who stood in his way, succeeded in
+entering the tent.
+
+Dona Clara, with her head stretched forward, seemed to be anxiously
+listening to the noises outside. Two paces from her, the squatter's wife
+was dying; a bullet had passed through her skull. On seeing Red Cedar,
+the maiden folded her arms on her bosom, and wailed.
+
+"_Voto a Dios!_" the brigand exclaimed. "She is still here. Follow me,
+senora, we must be off."
+
+"No," the Spaniard answered, resolutely. "I will not go."
+
+"Come, child, obey; do not oblige me to employ violence; time is
+precious."
+
+"I will not go, I tell you," the maiden repeated.
+
+"For the last time, will you follow me--yes or no?"
+
+Dona Clara shrugged her shoulders. The squatter saw that any discussion
+was useless, and he must settle the question by force; so, leaping over
+the corpse of his wife, he tried to seize the girl. But the latter, who
+had watched all his movements, bounded like a startled fawn, drew a
+dagger from her breast, and with flashing eye, quivering nostrils, and
+trembling lips, she prepared to go through a desperate struggle.
+
+There must be an end of this, so the squatter raised his sabre, and with
+the flat dealt such a terrible blow on the girl's delicate arm, that she
+let the dagger fall, and uttered a shriek of pain. But the unhappy girl
+stooped at once to pick up her weapon with her left hand; Red Cedar took
+advantage of this movement, bounded upon her, and made her a girdle of
+his powerful arms. The maiden, who had hitherto resisted in silence,
+shrieked with all the energy of despair--
+
+"Help, Shaw, help!"
+
+"Ah!" Red Cedar howled; "he, then, was the traitor! Let him come, if he
+dare."
+
+And, raising the girl in his arms, he ran toward the entrance of the
+hut, but he fell back suddenly, with a ghastly oath: a man barred his
+passage, and that man was Valentine.
+
+"Ah, ah!" the hunter said, with a sarcastic smile; "There you are again,
+Red Cedar. _Caray_, my master, you seem in a hurry."
+
+"Let me pass," the squatter yelled, as he cocked a pistol.
+
+"Pass?" Valentine repeated, with a laugh, while carefully watching the
+bandit's movements. "You are in a great haste to leave our company.
+Come, no threats, or I kill you like a dog."
+
+"I shall kill you, villain," Red Cedar exclaimed, pulling with a
+convulsive movement the trigger of the pistol.
+
+But, although the squatter had been so quick, Valentine was not less so;
+he stooped smartly to escape the bullet, which did not strike him, and
+raised his rifle, but did not dare fire, for Red Cedar had fallen back
+to the end of the tent, and employed the maiden as a buckler. At the
+sound of the shot Valentine's comrades hurried up to the tent, which was
+simultaneously invaded by the Indians.
+
+The few gambusinos who survived their companions, about seven or eight,
+whom Fray Ambrosio had collected by the squatter's orders, guessing what
+was occurring, and desiring to aid their chief, crept stealthily up, and
+seizing the tent ropes, cut them all at once.
+
+The mass of canvas, no longer supported, fell in, burying and dragging
+down with it all who were beneath it. There was a moment of terrible
+confusion among the Indians and hunters, which Red Cedar cleverly
+employed to step out of the tent and mount a horse Fray Ambrosio held in
+readiness for him. But, at the moment he was going to dash off, Shaw
+barred his passage.
+
+"Stop, father," he shouted, as he boldly seized the bridle, "give me
+that girl."
+
+"Back, villain, back," the squatter howled, grinding his teeth; "back!"
+
+"You shall not pass," Shaw continued. "Give me Dona Clara!"
+
+Red Cedar felt that he was lost: Valentine, Don Miguel, and their
+comrades, at length freed from the tent, were hurrying up at full speed.
+
+"Wretch!" he exclaimed.
+
+And, making his horse bound, he cut his son down with his sabre. The
+witnesses uttered a cry of horror, while the gambusinos, starting at
+full speed, passed like a whirlwind through the dense mass of foes.
+
+"Oh!" Don Miguel shrieked, "I will save my daughter."
+
+And leaping on a horse, he rushed in pursuit of the bandits; the hunters
+and Indians, leaving the burning camp to a few plunderers, also started
+after them. But suddenly an incomprehensible thing occurred: a terrible,
+superhuman noise was heard; the horses, going at full speed, stopped,
+neighing with terror; and the pirates, hunters, and redskins,
+instinctively raising their eyes to Heaven, could not restrain a cry of
+horror.
+
+"Oh!" Red Cedar shouted, with an accent of rage impossible to render; "I
+will escape in spite of Heaven and Hell!"
+
+And he buried his spurs in his horse's flanks; the animal gave vent to a
+snort of agony, but remained motionless.
+
+"My daughter, my daughter!" Don Miguel shouted, striving in vain to
+reach the Pirate.
+
+"Come and take her, dog," the bandit yelled; "I will only give her to
+you dead."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+THE EARTHQUAKE.
+
+
+A frightful change had suddenly taken place in Nature. The heavenly
+vault had assumed the appearance of a vast globe of yellow copper: the
+pallid moon emitted no beams; and the atmosphere was so transparent,
+that the most distant objects were visible. A stifling heat weighed on
+the earth, and there was not a breath in the air to stir the leaves. The
+Gila had ceased to flow.
+
+The hoarse roar which had been heard before was repeated with tenfold
+force: the river, lifted bodily, as if by a powerful and invisible hand,
+rose to an enormous height, and suddenly descended on the plain, over
+which it poured with incredible rapidity: the mountains oscillated on
+their base, hurling on to the prairie enormous blocks of rock, which
+fell with a frightful crash: the earth, opening on all sides, filled up
+valleys, levelled hills, poured from its bosom torrents of sulphurous
+water, which threw up stones and burning mud, and then began to heave
+with a slow and continuous movement.
+
+"_Terremoto!_ (earthquake)," the hunters and gambusinos exclaimed, as
+they crossed themselves and recited all the prayers that recurred to
+their mind.
+
+It was, in truth, an earthquake--the most fearful scourge of these
+regions. The ground seemed to boil, if we may employ the
+expression--rising and falling incessantly, like the waves of the sea
+during a tempest. The bed of the rivers and streams changed at each
+instant, and gulfs of unfathomable depth opened beneath the feet of the
+terrified men.
+
+The wild beasts, driven from their lairs and repulsed by the river,
+whose waters constantly rose, came, mad with terror, to join the men.
+Countless herds of buffaloes traversed the plain, uttering hoarse
+lowings, dashing against each other, turning back suddenly to avoid the
+abysses that opened at their feet, and threatening in their furious
+course to trample under everything that offered an obstacle.
+
+The jaguars, panthers, cougars, grizzly bears, and coyotes, pell-mell
+with the deer, antelopes, elks, and asshatas, uttered howls and
+plaintive yells, not thinking of attacking each other, so thoroughly had
+fear paralysed their bloodthirsty instincts.
+
+The birds whirled round, with wild croakings in the air impregnated with
+sulphur and bitumen, or fell heavily to the ground, stunned by fear,
+with their wings outstretched, and feathers standing on end.
+
+A second scourge joined the former, and added, were it possible, to the
+horror of this scene. The fire lit in the gambusino camp by the Indians
+gradually gained the tall prairie grass; suddenly it was revealed in its
+majestic and terrible splendour, kindling all in its sparks with a
+whizzing sound.
+
+A person must have seen a fire on the prairies of the Far West to form
+an idea of the splendid horror of such a sight. Virgin forests are burnt
+to the ground, their aged trees writhing, and uttering complaints and
+cries like human beings. The incandescent mountains resemble ill-omened
+light-houses, whose immense flames rise as spirals to the sky, which
+they colour for a wide distance with their blood-red hue.
+
+The earth continued at intervals to suffer violent shocks; to the
+northwest the waters of the Gila were bounding madly forward; in the
+south-west, the fire was hurrying on with sharp and rapid leaps.
+The unhappy redskins, the hunters, and the pirates their enemies, saw
+with indescribable terror the space around them growing momentarily
+smaller, and every chance of safety cut off in turn.
+
+In this supreme moment, when every feeling of hatred should have been
+extinguished in their hearts, Red Cedar and the hunters, only thinking
+of their vengeance, continued their rapid hunt, racing like demons
+across the prairie, which would soon doubtless serve as their sepulchre.
+
+In the meanwhile, the two scourges marched towards one another, and the
+whites and redskins could already calculate with certainty how many
+minutes were left them, in their last refuge, ere they were buried
+beneath the waters, or devoured by the flames. At this terrible moment
+the Apaches all turned to Valentine as the only man who could save them;
+and at this supreme appeal, the hunter gave up for a few seconds his
+pursuit of Red Cedar.
+
+"What do my brothers ask?" he said.
+
+"That the great Hunter of the palefaces should save them," Black Cat
+said without hesitation.
+
+Valentine smiled mournfully, as he took a look at all these men who
+awaited their safety from him.
+
+"God alone can save you," he said, "for He is omnipotent; His hand has
+weighed heavily on us. What can I, a poor creature, do?"
+
+"The pale hunter must save us," the Apache chief repeated.
+
+The hunter gave a sigh.
+
+"I will try," he said.
+
+The Indians eagerly collected around him. The simple men considered that
+this hunter, whom they were accustomed to admire, and whom they had seen
+do so many surprising deeds, had a superhuman power at his command: they
+placed a superstitious faith in him.
+
+"My brothers will listen;" Valentine went on: "only one chance of safety
+is left them--a very weak one, but it is at present the only one they
+can attempt. Let each take his arms, and without loss of time kill the
+buffaloes madly running about the prairie; their skins will serve as
+canoes to fly the fire that threatens to devour everything."
+
+The Indians gave vent to a shout of joy and hope, and without further
+hesitation attacked the buffaloes, which, half mad with terror, let
+themselves be killed without offering the slightest resistance.
+
+So soon as Valentine saw that his allies were following his advice, and
+were busily engaged in making their canoes, he thought once more of the
+pirates, who, for their part, had not remained idle. Directed by Red
+Cedar, they had collected some uprooted trees, attached them together
+with their lassos, and after this, forming a raft which would bear them
+all, they thrust it into the water, and entrusted themselves to the
+current.
+
+Don Pablo, seeing his enemy on the point of escaping him a second time,
+did not hesitate to cover him with his rifle. But Andres Garote had a
+spite on the Mexican, and taking advantage of the opportunity he quickly
+raised his rifle, and fired. The bullet, disturbed by the oscillation of
+the raft, did not hit the young man, but hit his rifle in his hands, at
+the moment he was pulling the trigger.
+
+The pirates uttered a shout of triumph which was suddenly changed into a
+cry of anger. Senor Andres Garote fell into their arms with a bullet
+through his chest, presented to him by Curumilla.
+
+Just at this moment the sun rose gloriously on the horizon, lighting up
+the magnificent picture of travailing nature, and restoring a little
+courage to the men.
+
+The redskins, after making, with their peculiar quickness and skill,
+some twenty canoes, were already beginning to launch them. The hunters
+tried to lasso the raft, and draw it to them, while the pirates on the
+other hand, employed the utmost efforts to keep it in the current.
+Curumilla had succeeded in throwing his lasso so as to entangle it in
+the trees, but Red Cedar cut it twice with his knife.
+
+"We must finish with that bandit," Valentine said, "kill him at all
+risks."
+
+"One moment, I implore you," Don Miguel entreated, "let me first speak
+to him, perhaps I may move his heart."
+
+"Humph!" the hunter muttered, as he rested his rifle on the ground, "it
+would be easier to move a tiger."
+
+Don Miguel walked a few paces forward. "Red Cedar," he exclaimed, "have
+pity on me--give me back my daughter."
+
+The pirate grinned, but gave no answer.
+
+"Red Cedar," Don Miguel went on, "have pity on me, I implore you, I will
+pay any ransom you ask; but in the name of what there is most sacred on
+earth, restore me my daughter; remember that you owe your life to me."
+
+"I owe you nothing," the squatter said brutally; "the life you saved you
+tried to take from me again; we are quits."
+
+"My daughter! Give me my daughter."
+
+"Where is mine? Where is Ellen? restore her to me; perhaps, after that,
+I will consent to give you your daughter."
+
+"She is not with us, Red Cedar, I swear it to you; she went away to join
+you."
+
+"A lie!" the Pirate yelled, "A lie!"
+
+At this moment, Dona Clara, whose movements nobody was watching, boldly
+leaped into the water. But, at the sound of the dive, Red Cedar turned
+and plunged in after her. The hunters began firing again on the Pirate,
+who, as if he had a charmed life, shook his head with a sarcastic laugh
+at every bullet that struck the water near him.
+
+"Help!" the maiden cried in a panting voice; "Valentine, my father, help
+me!"
+
+"I come," Don Miguel answered: "courage, my child, courage!"
+
+And, only listening to paternal love, Don Miguel bounded forward, but,
+at a sign from Valentine, Curumilla and Eagle-wing stopped him, in spite
+of all his efforts to tear himself from their grasp. The hunter took his
+knife in his teeth and leaped into the river.
+
+"Come, father!" Dona Clara repeated--"Where are you? Where are you?"
+
+"Here I am!" Don Miguel shrieked.
+
+"Courage! Courage!" Valentine shouted.
+
+The hunter made a tremendous effort to reach the maiden, and the two
+enemies found themselves face to face in the agitated waters of the
+Gila. Forgetting all feeling of self preservation they rushed on each
+other knife in hand.
+
+At this moment a formidable sound, resembling the discharge of a park of
+artillery, burst from the entrails of the earth, a terrible shock
+agitated the ground, and the river was forced back into its bed with
+irresistible force. Red Cedar and Valentine, seized by the colossal wave
+produced by this tremendous clash, turned round and round for some
+moments, but were then hastily separated, and an impassible gulf opened
+between them. At the same instant a cry of horrible pain echoed through
+the air.
+
+"There!" Red Cedar yelled, "I told you I would only give you your
+daughter dead--come and take her!"
+
+And with a demoniac laugh, he buried his knife in Dona Clara's bosom.
+The poor girl fell on her knees, clasped her hands, and expired, crying
+for the last time--
+
+"Father! Father!"
+
+"Oh!" Don Miguel shrieked--"Woe! Woe!" and he fell unconscious on the
+ground.
+
+At the sight of this cowardly act, Valentine, rendered powerless,
+writhed his hands in despair. Curumilla raised his rifle, and ere Red
+Cedar could start his horse at a gallop, fired; but the bullet, badly
+aimed, did not strike the bandit, who uttered a yell of triumph, and
+started at full speed.
+
+"Oh!" Valentine shouted, "I swear by Heaven I will have that monster's
+life!"
+
+The shock we just alluded to was the last effort of the earthquake,
+though there were a few more scarcely felt oscillations, as if the earth
+were seeking to regain its balance, which it had momentarily lost.
+
+The Apaches, carried away in their canoes, had already gained a
+considerable distance; the fire was expiring for want of nourishment on
+the ground, which had been inundated by the waters of the river.
+
+In spite of the help lavished on him by his friends, Don Miguel did not
+return to life for a long time. The general approached the hunter, who
+was leaning, gloomy and pensive, on his rifle, with his eyes fixed on
+space.
+
+"What are we doing here?" he said to him; "Why do we not resume our
+pursuit of that villain?"
+
+"Because," Valentine replied, in a mournful voice, "We must pay the last
+duties to his victim."
+
+The general bowed, and an hour later the hunters placed Dona Clara's
+body in the ground. Don Miguel, supported by the general and his son,
+wept over the grave which contained his child.
+
+When the Indian Chief had filled up the hole, and rolled onto it rocks,
+lest it might be profaned by wild beasts, Valentine seized his friend's
+hand, and pressed it forcibly.
+
+"Don Miguel," he said to him, "women weep, men avenge themselves."
+
+"Oh, yes!" the hacendero cried, with savage energy; "Vengeance!
+Vengeance!"
+
+But, alas! This cry, uttered over a scarce-closed tomb, died out without
+an echo. Red Cedar and his companions had disappeared in the
+inextricable windings of the desert. Many days must yet elapse before
+the so greatly desired hour of vengeance arrived, for God, whose designs
+are inscrutable, had not yet said Enough!
+
+
+[The further adventures of the hunters and the fate of Red Cedar have
+yet to be described, in the last volume of this series, entitled "THE
+TRAPPER'S DAUGHTER," which will speedily appear.]
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Pirates of the Prairies, by Gustave Aimard
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