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diff --git a/44375-0.txt b/44375-0.txt index f001820..590d490 100644 --- a/44375-0.txt +++ b/44375-0.txt @@ -1,4 +1,4 @@ -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44375 *** +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44375 *** THE BEE HUNTERS @@ -9809,5 +9809,4 @@ THE END. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bee Hunters, by Gustave Aimard - *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44375 *** diff --git a/44375-h/44375-h.htm b/44375-h/44375-h.htm index 9926bb6..cd88b19 100644 --- a/44375-h/44375-h.htm +++ b/44375-h/44375-h.htm @@ -90,9 +90,9 @@ v:link {color: #800000; text-decoration: none; } </style> </head> <body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44375 ***</div> -<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44375 ***</div> <h1>THE BEE HUNTERS</h1> @@ -9929,7 +9929,7 @@ occurrence of the circumstances narrated by Don Estevan Diaz.</p> -<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44375 ***</div> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44375 ***</div> </body> </html> diff --git a/44375.json b/44375.json deleted file mode 100644 index 38b4543..0000000 --- a/44375.json +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5 +0,0 @@ -{
- "DATA": {
- "CREDIT": "Produced by Camille Bernard and Marc D'Hooghe (Images generously made available by the Oxford Bodleian Library)"
- }
-}
diff --git a/old/44375-8.txt b/old/44375-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 7d47e91..0000000 --- a/old/44375-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10200 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bee Hunters, 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 - - -Title: The Bee Hunters - A Tale of Adventure - -Author: Gustave Aimard - -Translator: Lascelles Wraxall - -Release Date: December 6, 2013 [EBook #44375] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BEE HUNTERS *** - - - - -Produced by Camille Bernard and Marc D'Hooghe at -http://www.freeliterature.org (Images generously made -available by the Oxford Bodleian Library) - - - - - -THE BEE HUNTERS - -A TALE OF ADVENTURE - -BY - -GUSTAVE AIMARD - - -AUTHOR OF "STONEHEART," "SMUGGLER CHIEF," ETC., ETC. - - -LONDON: - -CHARLES HENRY CLARKE, 13 PATERNOSTER ROW. - -1865 - - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - I. A MEETING IN THE FAR WEST - II. IN THE FOREST - III. THE CALLI - IV. SUPERFICIAL REMARKS - V. CONFIDENTIAL CHAT - VI. THE JOURNEY - VII. THE SKIRMISH - VIII. THE PUEBLO (THE TOWN) - IX. DOÑA HERMOSA - X. EL AS DE COPAS (THE ACE OF HEARTS) - XI. THE RANCHO - XII. THE REDSKINS - XIII. THE MIDNIGHT MEETING - XIV. DON ESTEVAN DIAZ - XV. DON GUZMAN DE RIBERA - XVI. THE POST HOUSE IN THE PAMPAS - XVII. A DELICATE FEDERAL ATTENTION - XVIII. TREACHERY - XIX. THE END OF THE STORY - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -A MEETING IN THE FAR WEST. - - -Since the discovery of the goldfields in California and on the -Fraser River, North America has entered into a phase of such active -transformation, civilisation has advanced with such giant strides, -that only one region is still extant--a region of which very little -is known--where the poet, or the dreamer who delights in surrounding -himself with the glories of nature, can revel in the grandeur and -majesty, which are the great characteristics of the mysterious -savannahs. - -It is the only country, nowadays, where such men can sate themselves -with the contemplation of those immense oceans of alternate verdure and -sand, which spread themselves out in striking contrast, yet wonderful -harmony,--expanding, boundless, solemn, silent, and threatening, under -the eye of the omnipotent Creator. - -This region, in which the sound of the squatter's axe has not yet -roused the slumbering echoes, is called the Far West. - -Here the Indians still reign as masters, tracing paths on rapid -mustangs, as untamed as their riders, through the vast solitudes, whose -mysteries are known only to themselves; hunting the bison and wild -horse, waging war with each other, or pursuing with deadly enmity, the -white hunters and trappers daring enough to venture into this last -formidable refuge of the redskins. - -On the 27th July, 1858, about three hours before sunset, a cavalier, -mounted on a magnificent mustang, was carelessly following the banks of -the Rio Bermejo, a tributary of the Rio Grande del Norte, into which -it falls after a course of from seventy to eighty leagues across the -desert. - -This cavalier, clad in the leather dress worn by Mexican hunters, was, -as far as one could judge, a man not more than thirty years of age, -of tall and well-knit frame, and graceful in manner and action. His -face was proud and determined; and his hardy features, stamped with -an expression of frankness and good nature, inspired, at first sight, -respect and sympathy. - -His blue eyes, soft and mild as a woman's; the thick curls of blonde -hair, which escaped in masses from under the brim of his cap of vicuña -skin, and wantoned in disorder on his shoulders; the sallowish white -of his skin, very different from the olive tint, approaching to bronze, -peculiar to the Mexicans,--all these would lead one to surmise that he -had not first seen the light under the hot sun of Spanish America. - -This man, who was to all appearance so peaceable and so little to be -dreaded, concealed, under a slightly effeminate exterior, a courage -which nothing could daunt, nor even startle: the delicate and almost -diaphanous skin of his white hands, with their rosy nails, served as a -covering to nerves of steel. - -At the moment of which we speak this personage seemed to be half-asleep -in his saddle, and allowed his mustang to choose his own pace; and the -beast, profiting by a liberty to which he was not accustomed, nibbled -off with the tips of his lips the blades of sun-dried grass he met with -on his road. - -The place where our cavalier found himself was a plain of tolerable -extent, cut into two nearly equal parts by the Rio Bermejo, whose banks -were steep, and here and there strewn with bare, gray rocks. - -This plain was enclosed between two chains of hills, rising to right -and left in successive undulations, until they formed at the horizon -high peaks covered with snow, on which the purple splendours of sunset -were playing. - -However, in spite of the real or pretended somnolence of the cavalier, -his eyes half opened occasionally and, without turning his head, -he cast a searching glance around him, but betrayed no symptom of -apprehension, which nevertheless would have been quite pardonable in a -district where the jaguar is the least formidable of man's enemies. - -The traveller, or hunter,--for as yet we do not know who he -is,--continued his road at a pace which became more and more slow and -careless; he was on the point of passing at about a hundred yards' -distance from a rock which rose like a solitary watchtower on the bank -of the Rio Bermejo, when, from behind the mass, where he had probably -lain in ambuscade, there half emerged a man, armed with an American -rifle. - -This individual for a moment examined the traveller with the minutest -attention: then, levelling his rifle, he pressed the trigger, and fired. - -The cavalier, bounding in his saddle, and uttering a suppressed scream, -flung up his arms, lost his stirrups, and rolled on the turf, where, -after a few convulsive movements, he remained motionless. - -The horse, in alarm, reared, lashed out wildly with his heels, and -started off at full speed in the direction of the woods scattered over -the hills, in the midst of which he soon disappeared. - -Having thus cleverly knocked over his man, the assassin dropped the -butt of his weapon on the ground, and, doffing his cap of vicuña skin, -dried his forehead, while he murmured expressions of gratified vanity. - -"_¡Canarios!_ This time I don't think my marauding friend will come to -life again; I must have broken his backbone for him. What a glorious -shot! What will those fools say who wanted to make me believe at the -venta that he was a sorcerer, who could not be hit without putting a -silver ball into my rifle, if they could see him now, stretched out in -that way? Capital! I have loyally earned my hundred piastres. It's not -bad luck. I had lots of trouble in succeeding. May the holy Virgin be -blessed for the protection she has deigned to grant me! I will take -care not to be ungrateful to her for it." - -All the time he was muttering thus, the worthy fellow was reloading his -rifle with the most scrupulous care. - -"Well," continued he, seating himself on a clod of turf, "I am knocked -up with having had to watch so long. Suppose I were to go and convince -myself of his death? By Heaven, no; he might still be breathing, and -treat me to a thrust of the knife. I'm no such fool. I prefer sitting -here in peace, and smoking a cigarette. If, within an hour, he has not -stirred, all will be over, and then I'll run the risk. And indeed I'm -in no sort of hurry," he added, with a sinister smile. - -Upon that, with an air of the greatest coolness, he took the tobacco -from his pouch, twisted a _pajillo_ (straw cigarette), lit it, and -commenced smoking with immense _sangfroid_, never ceasing to watch, out -of the corner of his eye, the corpse lying a few yards from him. - -Let us profit by this moment of respite to make the reader a little -better acquainted with this interesting personage. - -He was a man a little below the average height, but the breadth of -his shoulders and bigness of his limbs showed him to be endowed with -immense muscular power; his forehead was low and receding like that -of a wild beast; his nose, long and hooked, bent down over a mouth -immense in size, but with thin lips, and garnished with long pointed -and irregular teeth; gray eyes, with squinting pupils, stamped his -physiognomy with a sinister expression. - -The man was dressed in a hunter's garb, similar to that of the -cavalier. _Calzoneras_ (loose trousers) of leather, bound about at -the hips with a _faja_, or sash of silk, and falling as low as the -knee, were fastened under _botas vaqueras_ (heavy boots), intended to -preserve the legs. A kind of half-jacket, half-blouse, also of leather, -covered the upper part of his body, which garment, open in front like -a shirt, had sleeves reaching to the elbow; a _machete_ or straight -sword, passed without sheath through an iron ring, hung on his left -hip; and a game bag, apparently well supplied was slung to his right -side by a strip of bison hide worn across the shoulder; a _zarapé_, or -Indian blanket, motley with brilliant colours, lay on the earth beside -him. - -In the meanwhile time was passing; an hour and a half had already -elapsed without our friend, who smoked cigarette after cigarette, -appearing to be able to decide upon going to convince himself of the -death of him on whom he had treacherously drawn trigger from behind the -rock. - -During all this time, the cavalier, after he fell, had preserved -the most complete immobility; attentively watched by the assassin, -the latter had not been able to perceive the slightest motion. The -_zopilotes_ (turkey buzzards) and the condors, in all probability -attracted by the scent of the corpse, were beginning to circle in wide -rings over it, uttering their rough and discordant cries; the sun, on -the point of disappearing, had assumed the shape of a globe of fire on -the edge of the horizon. It became necessary to act. - -The assassin rose, greatly against his will. - -"Pooh!" he murmured, "The man must be dead enough by this time, or -if not his soul has turned to ashes in his heart. Let's go and look. -Nevertheless, as prudence is the mother of safety, let us be prudent." - -And in accordance with this reasoning, he drew from his garter the -sharp-pointed knife which every Mexican carries for the purpose of -cutting the thong if an enemy happens to cast the lasso round his neck. -Having tried the spring of the blade against a stone, and convinced -himself that the point was not broken, he made up his mind, at last, -to approach the body, still lying motionless on the spot where it had -fallen. But in the American deserts there is an axiom the justice of -which is acknowledged by all. It is this: That the shortest road from -one point to another is a curve. Our friend took good care to put it in -practice on this occasion. Instead of advancing straight to the object -of his visit, he made a long circuit, drawing nearer little by little, -stealing along softly, stopping at intervals to examine the body, and -ready to fly at the slightest movement he might see, and with his knife -ready to strike. - -But these precautions were useless; the corpse preserved the immobility -of a statue, and our man stopped almost within reach without -discovering a single thing to betray an atom of life in the unhappy -wretch stretched upon the ground before him. - -The murderer crossed his arms over his chest, and contemplated the -body, whose face was turned to the ground. - -"By my faith, he is dead indeed. It is a pity; for he was a formidable -fellow. I should never have dared to attack him face to face. But a -man must stick to his word. I had been paid; I was bound to fulfil my -engagement. Curious! I see no blood! Pooh! It is a case of internal -bleeding. So much the better for him, for his sufferings will have been -less. However, to make doubly sure, I'll plant my knife between his two -shoulders: in that way I shall be sure of my bird, although there is no -danger of his coming to life again. You see, one must not deceive those -who pay us; a man must stick to his word." - -After this soliloquy he knelt down, bent over the body, supporting -himself by one hand on its shoulders, and lifted his knife; but -suddenly, by a movement of unexampled rapidity, the supposed corpse -rose with a bound like a jaguar, and oversetting the stupefied -assassin, seized him by the throat, pinned him to the earth, planted -his knee on his chest, and deprived him of his knife before his brains -could render an account of what was happening. - -"Hulloa, _compadre!_" (comrade) said the cavalier in a jeering tone; -"One moment, if you please, _¡cuerpo de Cristo!_" - -All this passed in much less time than we have taken to write it. - -However, sudden and unexpected as the attack had been, the other -was too much accustomed to strange vicissitudes in somewhat similar -situations not to recover his presence of mind almost immediately. - -"Well, comrade," resumed the cavalier, "what have you got to say to all -this?" - -"I?" replied the other, with a sneer; "_¡Caray!_ I say the game has -been well played." - -"Then it is one you are acquainted with?" - -"A little," was the modest reply. - -"I have been a little sharper than you." - -"Yes, sharper; yet I certainly thought I had killed you. Curious," he -continued, as if talking to himself, "the others were right; it is -I who have been a fool. I will take a silver ball next time; it is -surer." - -"What are you saying?" - -"Nothing." - -"Pardon me, you did say something." - -"Are you very anxious to know?" - -"Apparently, since I have asked the question." - -"Very well. I said I would take a silver bullet next time." - -"What for?" - -"Why, to kill you." - -"To kill me? Go to; you are a fool! Do you fancy I will let you escape?" - -"I do not fancy anything of the kind, the more so as you could not do -anything worse." - -"Because you would kill me?" - -"By Heavens! Yes, as soon as possible." - -"Then you hate me?" - -"I? Not the least in the world." - -"Well, then, if not, what is your motive?" - -"Confound it! A man must stick to his word." - -The cavalier cast a long look upon him, shaking his head the while with -a thoughtful air. - -"H'm," said he, at last, "promise me not to attempt to escape if I -leave you free for a time." - -"I promise, with so much the more pleasure, since I am obliged to -confess that I find myself in a most fatiguing posture, and am very -anxious to change it." - -"Rise," said the cavalier, helping him up. - -The other did not wait for the mandate to be repeated: in an instant he -was on his legs. - -"Ah," he replied, with a grunt of satisfaction, "liberty is a blessing!" - -"Is it not? Now shall we talk a little?" - -"I desire nothing better, _caballero_. I can only be the gainer by your -conversation," replied the other, bowing, with an insinuating smile. - -The two enemies placed themselves side by side, as if nothing -extraordinary had happened between them. - -This is one of the distinctive traits of Mexican character: murder -amongst these people has grown so thoroughly into a habit, that it -never astonishes anyone; and it often happens that the man just escaped -falling a victim to an ambuscade, does not scruple to press the hand -extended by his would-be assassin, foreseeing that someday or other he -too will be called on to play in his turn the part of murderer. - -In the present circumstances it was certainly not this consideration -which induced the cavalier to act as he was doing. He had a powerful -motive, with which we shall become acquainted presently; for, in spite -of his feigned indifference, it was only with a sentiment of lively -disgust that he seated himself beside the bandit. - -As to the latter, we feel ourselves bound in justice to state that he -had only one feeling of regret--the shame of having missed his blow; -but he promised himself, _in petto_, to take his revenge as soon as -possible, and this time to take such sure precautions that he must -succeed. - -"What are you thinking of?" demanded the cavalier, all of a sudden. - -"I? On my honour, nothing," was the ingenuous reply. - -"You would deceive me. I know what you are thinking of at this very -moment." - -"Oh, as for that, permit me to tell you--" - -"You were thinking of killing me," said the cavalier, interrupting him -abruptly. - -The other returned no answer; he contented himself with muttering -between his teeth-- - -"What a devil! He reads the most hidden thoughts. One is not safe -beside him." - -"Will you answer honestly, and frankly, the questions I am about to put -to you?" resumed the cavalier, after a time. - -"Yes; as well as lies in my power." - -"That is to say, just so far as your interest does not lead you to lie." - -"Confound it, señor, no one likes to make war upon oneself! No one -ought to force me to speak ill of myself." - -"You are right. Who are you?" - -"Señor," replied the other, raising himself proudly, "I have the -honour to be a Mexican, My mother was an Opata Indian; my father a -_caballero_ (gentleman) of Guadalupe." - -"Very well; but I learn nothing from this about yourself." - -"Alas, señor!" was the reply, given in that whining tone the Mexicans -know so well how to adopt, "I have been unfortunate." - -"Oh, you have met with misfortunes! Well, pardon me once more. You have -forgotten to mention your name." - -"It is a very obscure one, señor; but since you desire to know it, here -it is: I am called Tonillo el Zapote--at your service, señor." - -"Thanks, Señor Zapote. Now proceed; I am listening." - -"I have followed many trades in my day. I have been by turns _lepero_ -(vagabond), muleteer, husbandman, soldier. Unhappily, I am of a quick -temper: when I am in a passion, my hand is very ready." - -"And heavy," said the cavalier, with a smile. - -"It is all the same; so much so, that I have had the misfortune to -_bleed_ five or six individuals who had the imprudence to pick a -quarrel with me. The _Juez de letras_ (magistrate) was annoyed; and -under the pretence that I was guilty of six murders, he asserted I -deserved the garotte; so, seeing my fellow citizens misapprehended -me--that society would not appreciate me at my real value--I took -refuge in the desert, and turned hunter." - -"Of men?" interrupted the cavalier in a tone of sarcasm. - -"By Heavens! Señor, times are hard: the Gringos pay twenty dollars for -a scalp. It is a pretty sum; and, on my honour, particularly so when -want presses. But I never have recourse to these means except in the -direst extremity." - -"It is well. And now tell me, do you know me?" - -"Very well by report; personally, not at all." - -"Have you any reasons for hating me?" - -"I have already the honour to tell you--none." - -"In that case, why have you attempted to assassinate me?" - -"I, señor?" cried he, showing signs of the utmost astonishment; "I -assassinate you? Never!", - -"What, fool!" exclaimed the cavalier, lowering his brows, "Dare you -maintain such an imposture? Four times have I served as a target to -your rifle. You have drawn trigger upon me this very day, and--" - -"Oh! By your leave, señor," said El Zapote with warmth, "that is quite -a different thing. True, I fired at you; it is even likely I shall fire -at you again; but never, as I hoped for Paradise, have I dreamed of -assassinating you. For shame!--I, a _caballero_! How could you form so -bad an opinion of me, señor?" - -"Then what was your intention in firing at me?" - -"To kill you, señor; nothing more." - -"Then in this case murder is not assassination?" - -"Not in the slightest degree, señor; this was business." - -"What! Business?--The rogue will make me go mad, upon my soul!" - -"By Heaven, señor, an honest man must stick to his word." - -"If it is to kill me?" - -"Exactly so," answered El Zapote. "You can understand that, under the -conditions, I was compelled to keep my engagement." - -There was a moment of silence; evidently the reasoning did not seem so -conclusive to the cavalier as to the _lepero_. - -Then said the former: - -"Enough; let us have done with this." - -"I ask no better of your seigneurie." - -"You acknowledge, I suppose, that you are in my power?" - -"It would be difficult to assert the contrary." - -"Good! As, according to your own confession you have fired on me with -the evident intention of killing me--" - -"I cannot deny it, señor." - -"In killing you, now you are in my power, I should only be making use -of reprisals?" - -"That is perfectly true, _caballero_, I must even confess that you -could not possibly have a stronger reason for doing so." - -His companion gazed at him in surprise. - -"Then you are content to die?" said he. - -"Let us understand each other," replied the _lepero_ with avidity. -"I am not at all content. On the contrary, I only know that I am a -thorough gambler, that is all. I played; I lost; I have to pay. It is -reasonable." - -The cavalier seemed to reflect. - -"And if, instead of planting my knife in your throat, even as you -yourself acknowledge I have the right to do--" - -El Zapote made a sign of assent. - -"I were to restore you to liberty," continued the cavalier, "leaving -you the power of acting according to your own impulse?" - -The bandit shook his head sorrowfully. - -"I repeat," he said, "that I would kill you. A man must stick to his -word. I cannot betray the confidence of my employers; it would ruin my -reputation." - -The cavalier burst out laughing. - -"I suppose you have been well paid for this undertaking?" said he. - -"Not a great deal; but want makes many things be done. I have received -a hundred piastres." - -"No more?" exclaimed the stranger, with a gesture of disdain; "It is -very little; I thought myself worth more than that." - -"A great deal more, particularly as the undertaking was difficult; but -next time I will take a silver bullet." - -"You are an idiot, comrade. You will not kill me the next, any more -than you did the other times. Think of what has occurred up to today. -I have already heard your balls whistle four times about my ears: that -annoyed me. At last I wished to find out who you were: you see I have -succeeded." - -"It is the truth. Now, after all, were you not aware of my being close -to you?" - -The cavalier shrugged his shoulders. - -"I will not even demand of you," he said, "the name of him who has -ordered you to compass my death. Here, take your knife, and begone. I -despise you too much to fear you. Adieu!" - -Speaking thus, the cavalier rose, and dismissed the bandit with a -gesture full of majesty and disdain. - -The _lepero_ remained an instant motionless, then bowed profoundly -before his generous adversary. - -"Thanks, your worship," said he, in a voice exhibiting some emotion; -"you are better than I. Never mind; I will prove to you that I am not -the scoundrel you fancy me, and that there is still something within me -which has not been utterly corrupted." - -The cavalier's only answer was to turn his back upon him, with a shrug -of the shoulders. - -The _lepero_ gazed after his retiring form with a look of which his -savage features would have seemed incapable: a mixture of sorrow and -gratitude impressed on his countenance a stamp very different to their -customary expression. - -"He does not believe me," he muttered--we have already seen that he had -a decided taste for soliloquy--"he does not believe me. Why, indeed, -should he trust my words? It is sad; but an honest man must stick to -his word, and I will prove to him that he does not yet know me. Let me -begone." - -Comforting himself with these words, the bandit returned to the rock -behind which he had originally hidden; there he picked up his rifle, -then from the other side of the rock he brought his horse, which he had -concealed in a hollow, replaced the bridle, and departed at a gallop, -after casting a glance behind him, and murmuring, in a tone of sincere -admiration: - -"_¡Caray!_ What a tremendous fellow! What natural power! What a pity it -would be to knock him over like an antelope, from behind a bush! _¡Viva -Dios!_ That shall not happen, if I can hinder it, on the honour of a -Zapote." - -He forded the Rio Bermejo, and speedily disappeared amongst the tall -grasses that bordered the opposite bank. - -As soon as the unknown had assured himself of the _lepero's_ departure, -he began to calculate the time by the enormously lengthened shadows of -the trees; and, after looking about him attentively, gave a whistle, -sharp and prolonged, which, although restrained, was nevertheless -repeated by all the echoes of the river, so powerful was its tone. - -At the end of a few seconds a distant neighing made itself audible, -followed almost immediately after by the sound of precipitate -galloping, resembling the rolling of distant thunder. - -Little by little the sound grew nearer, the branches crashed, the -underwood was violently dashed aside, and the unknown's mustang made -his appearance on the skirt of a wood at a little distance. - -When there, the noble animal paused, snuffed the air vigorously, -turning his head and neck in all directions; then starting off, with a -thousand capers he made the best of his way, till he halted before his -master, and gazed upon him with eyes full of intelligence. - -The latter patted him gently, talking to him in a caressing voice; -then, having made quite sure that the _lepero_ was gone, and that he -was assuredly alone, he readjusted the trappings of his horse, which -had become slightly disordered, vaulted into the saddle and in his turn -departed. - -But instead of continuing to follow the course of the Rio Bermejo, he -turned his back upon it, and rode in the direction of the mountains. - -The bearing of the unknown had undergone a complete change; it was no -longer the man whom we formerly presented to our readers, half asleep, -swaying in the saddle, and leaving his horse to wander at leisure. -No; now he held himself firm and upright on his mustang, with limbs -closely pressing its flanks; his face was overcast with dark shades -of thought; his glances wandered about as if they would pierce the -mysteries of the thick forest with which he was surrounded; with head -slightly bent forward, he listened with strained attention to the most -trifling noise; and his rifle, placed across the saddlebow, had the -lock exactly under his right hand, in such a fashion that he could fire -instantaneously, if circumstances required. - -One might have said, so suddenly had the man changed, that the strange -scene to which we have just introduced our reader was for him only one -of those thousand accidents, without consequences, to which his desert -life exposed him, but that now he was preparing to battle with dangers -which might really prove serious. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -IN THE FOREST. - - -The unknown had struck into a dense forest, the last skirts of which -dwindled away close to the banks of the Rio Bermejo. - -American forests have little resemblance to those of the Old World: in -the former, the trees shoot up hap-hazard, crossing and interlacing -each other, and sometimes leaving large spaces completely open, strewn -with dead trees, uprooted, and piled on each other in the strangest -manner. - -Some trees, partially or wholly withered, show in their hollow remnants -of the strong and fruitful soil; others, equally ancient, are supported -by the entangled creepers, which, in process of time, have almost -attained the size of their former props--the diversity of foliage -forming here the most agreeable contrast; others, concealing within -their hollow trunks a hotbed, formed from the remains of their leaves -and half-dead branches, which has promoted the germination of the seed -that fell from them, seem to promise an indemnification for the loss of -the parent trees in the saplings they nourish. - -One could imagine that nature had determined to put beyond the ravages -of time some of these old trees, when sinking under the weight of ages, -by clothing them in a mantle of gray moss, which hangs in long festoons -from the topmost branches to the ground. This moss, called _barbe -d'Espagnol_, gives to the trees a most fantastic aspect. - -The ground of these forests, formed from the remains of trees falling, -in successive generations, for centuries, is most eccentric: sometimes -raising itself in the shape of a mountain, to descend suddenly into -a muddy swamp, peopled by hideous alligators wallowing in the green -slime, and by millions of mosquitoes swarming amidst the fetid vapours -exhaled, sometimes extending itself endlessly in plains of a monotony -and regularity truly depressing. - -Rivers, without a name, traverse these unknown deserts, bearing nothing -on their silent waters save the black swans, which let themselves -carelessly float down the currents; while rosy flamingoes, posted -along the banks, fish philosophically for their dinners, with eyes -half-closed and sanctimonious air. - -Even where the view seems most contracted, sudden clearings sometimes -open out prospects picturesque in the extreme and deliciously -fortuitous. - -Incessant noises, nameless sounds, make themselves heard without -a break in these mysterious regions--the grand voices of the -solitude--the solemn hymn of the invisible world, created by the -Almighty. - -In the bosom of these redoubtable forests the wild beasts and reptiles, -which abound in Mexico, find refuge; here and there one meets with -paths incessantly trodden for centuries by jaguars and bisons, and -which, after countless meanderings, all debouch on unknown drinking -holes. - -Woe to the daring mortal who, without a guide ventures to tempt the -inextricable mazes of these immense seas of verdure! After ineffable -tortures, he succumbs, and falls a prey to the savage beasts. How -many hardy pioneers have died thus, without the possibility of the -veil being lifted which shrouds their miserable end! Their blanched -bones, discovered at the foot of some tree, alone can teach those who -come upon them that on that spot men have died, a prey to infinite -suffering, and that the same fate, perchance, awaits the finders. - -The stranger must have been the constant guest of the forest into which -he had so audaciously plunged at the moment when the sun, quitting the -horizon, had left the earth to darkness--darkness rendered still denser -in the covert, in which the light even at midday could only struggle in -at intervals through the tufted branches. - -Bending a little forward, eye and ear on the watch, the unknown -advanced as rapidly as the nature of the ground under his horse's hoofs -would let him, following unhesitatingly the capricious deviations of a -wild animal's path, whose traces were scarcely discoverable amidst the -tall grasses which strove continually to efface it. - -He had already ridden for several hours without having slackened the -pace of his horse, plunging deeper and deeper into the forest. - -He had forded several rivers, scaled many a steep ravine, hearing at a -short distance, on right and left, the hoarse growlings of the jaguar -and the mocking wailing of the tiger cat, which seemed to follow him -with their menacing yells. - -Taking no heed of roar or tumult, he continued his route, although the -forest assumed a more dreary aspect at every step. - -The bushes and trees of low growth had disappeared, to make room for -gigantic mahogany trees, century old cork trees, and the acajou, whose -sombre branches formed a vaulted roof of green eighty feet above his -head. The path had grown wider, and stretched, in a gentle incline, -towards a hillock of moderate height, entirely free from trees. - -Arrived at the base of the hillock, the stranger halted; then, without -dismounting, cast a searching glance on all around. - -The stillness of death pervaded everything; the howling of the wild -beasts was lost in the distance; no noise was audible, save that caused -by a slender stream of water, which, trickling through the crevices of -a rock, fell from a height of three or four yards into a natural basin. - -The sky, of the deepest blue, was spangled with an infinite number -of brilliant stars; and the moon, sailing amidst a sea of whitish -clouds, cast her silvery rays in profusion on the hillock, whose sides, -fantastically lighted up, formed a striking contrast with the rest of -the landscape, merged, as it was, in the deepest obscurity. - -During several minutes the unknown remained motionless as a statue, -listening to the faintest sound, ready to fire at the slightest -appearance of danger. - -Convinced, at last, that all around was peaceful, and that nothing -unusual disturbed the silence of the solitude, he prepared to dismount, -when suddenly his horse threw up his head, laid back his ears, and -snorted loudly. - -A moment more, and a violent crashing was heard among the underwood; a -noble moose deer rose from amidst the bushes, and, bounding to within a -short distance from the cavalier, rapidly traversed the path, tossing -his antlers in terror, and vanished in the darkness. - -For a time the noise of its headlong course resounded over the dry -leaves, crushed under its feet in the constantly increasing speed of -its flight. - -The cavalier, with a scarcely perceptible motion of the hand, backed -his horse gradually to the foot of the hillock, with his head always -turned in the direction of the forest, like a vidette who retires -before a superior force. - -As soon as he reached the spot he had selected, the unknown leaped -lightly to the ground; and, making a rampart of his horse's body, -levelled his rifle, steadied the barrel across the saddle, and waited -patiently. - -He had not to wait long: after a while the tread of several persons was -heard approaching his place of ambush. - -Most likely the unknown had already divined who these persons might be, -even before he saw them; for he quitted his temporary shelter, passed -his arm through his horse's reins, and, uncocking his rifle, let the -butt drop on the ground, with every symptom of complete security, while -a smile of indefinable expression played about his lips. - -At last the branches parted, and five persons appeared on the scene. - -Of these five persons, four were men; two of them supported the -tottering form of a woman, whom they almost carried in their arms. And, -what was most wonderful in these regions, the strangers, whom it was -easy to recognise as white men by their dress and the colour of their -skin, had no horses with them. - -They continued to advance without being aware of the presence of the -unknown, who, still motionless, marked their approach with mingled pity -and sadness. - -Suddenly one of the strangers happened to lift his eyes. - -"Praise be to God!" cried he, in Mexican, with lively satisfaction; -"We are saved. Here is a human being at last." - -The five stopped. The one who had first observed the unknown came -rapidly towards him, and exclaimed, with a graceful inclination: - -"Caballero, I entreat you to grant, what is seldom refused in the -wilderness, aid and protection." - -The unknown, before he replied, threw a searching look at the speaker. - -The latter was a man of some fifty years; his manner was polished, his -features noble, although his hair was growing white about his temples; -his figure, upright and compact, had no more bent an inch, nor his -black eyes lost a particle of their fire, than if he had been only -thirty. His rich dress and the ease of his manner clearly proved him to -belong to the highest grade of Mexican society. - -"You have committed two grave errors in as many minutes, caballero," -answered the unknown: "the first, in approaching me without precaution; -the second, in demanding aid and protection without knowing who I am." - -"I do not understand you, señor," replied the stranger, with -astonishment. "Do not all men owe mutual assistance to each other?" - -"In the civilised world it may be so," said the unknown, with a sneer; -"but in the wilderness, the sight of a man always forebodes danger: we -are savages here." - -The stranger recoiled in astonishment. - -"And thus," said be, "you would leave your fellow creatures to perish -in these horrible solitudes without stretching forth a hand to help -them?" - -"My fellow creatures!" cried the unknown, with biting irony; "My fellow -creatures are the wild beasts of the prairie. What have I in common -with you men of towns and cities, natural enemies of every being that -breathes the pure air of liberty? There is nothing in common between -you and me. Begone, and weary me no more." - -"Be it so," was the stranger's haughty answer. "I would not importune -you much longer; were it only a question of myself, I would not have -uttered a single prayer to you. Life is not so dear to me, that I -should seek to prolong it on terms repugnant to my honour; but it is -not a question of myself alone; here is a female, still almost a child, -my daughter who is in want of prompt assistance, and will die if it is -not rendered." - -The unknown made no reply; he had turned away, as if reluctant to carry -on any further conversation. - -The stranger slowly rejoined his companions, who had halted at the edge -of the forest. - -"Well?" he asked uneasily. - -"The señorita has fainted," sorrowfully replied one of the men. - -The stranger uttered an exclamation of grief. He remained for some -moments fixing his eyes on the girl, with an indescribable expression -of despair. - -All of a sudden he turned abruptly, and rushed towards the unknown. - -The latter had mounted, and was on the point of retiring. - -"Stop!" called the stranger. - -"What is it you want with me?" replied the unknown once more. Then -he added fiercely, "Let me begone; and thank God that our unforeseen -meeting in this forest has not been productive of graver consequences -to you." - -The menace contained in these enigmatical words disturbed the stranger -in spite of himself. However, he would not be discouraged. - -"It is impossible," he resumed vehemently, "that you can be as cruel as -you wish us to believe. You are too young for all feeling to have died -out of your heart." - -The unknown laughed strangely. - -"I have no heart," he said. - -"I implore you, in the name of your mother, not to abandon us!" - -"I have no mother." - -"Then I beseech you in the name of the being you love most upon earth, -whoever that may be." - -"I love no one." - -"No one?" repeated the stranger, shuddering; "Then I pity you, for you -must be most unhappy." - -The unknown trembled; a feverish glow stole over his face; but soon -recovering himself, he exclaimed: - -"Now let me go." - -"No; not before I learn who you are." - -"Who I am! Have I not already told you? A wild beast; a being with only -the semblance of humanity, with a hatred towards all men which nothing -can ever appease. Pray to God you may never again encounter me on your -path. I am like the raven--the sight of me foretells evil. Adieu!" - -"Adieu!" murmured the stranger; "And may God have mercy on you, and not -visit your cruelty upon you!" - -Just at this moment a voice, feeble, but in its sad modulations -sweet and melodious as the notes of the _centzontle_, the American -nightingale, rose through the stillness. - -"My father, my dear father!" it uttered. "Where are you? Do not abandon -me." - -"I am here, I am here," exclaimed the stranger tenderly, as he turned -quickly to run to her who thus called him. - -A cloud passed over the face of the unknown at the sound of these -melodious accents; his blue eye flashed like the lightning. He placed -his hand on his heart, trembling as if he had received an electric -shock. - -After a short hesitation, he forced his horse to make a sudden bound -forward, and placing his hand on the stranger's shoulder: - -"Whose voice is that?" he asked in singular accents. - -"The voice of my daughter, who is dying, and calls me." - -"Dying?" stammered the unknown, strangely moved. "She!" - -"My father, my father!" repeated the girl in a voice which grew weaker -and weaker. - -The unknown raised himself to his full height; his face assumed an -expression of indomitable energy. - -"She shall not die!" said he in a low voice. "Come!" - -They rejoined the group. - -The young girl was stretched upon the ground, with her eyes closed, her -face pale as a corpse; the feeble gasps of her breathing alone evincing -that life had not completely left her. - -The persons surrounding her watched her in profound sadness, while -tears rolled silently down their bronzed cheeks. - -"Oh!" cried the father, falling on his knees beside the young girl, -seizing her hand and covering it with kisses, while his face was -inundated with tears; "My fortune--my life--to him who will save my -cherished child!" - -The unknown had dismounted, and observed the girl with sombre and -pensive eye. At last, after several minutes of this mute contemplation, -he turned towards the stranger. - -"What ails this girl?" he asked abruptly. - -"Alas! An incurable ailment: she has been bitten by a grass snake." - -The unknown frowned till his eyebrows nearly met together. - -"Then she is lost indeed," said his deep voice. - -"Lost! O Heavens! My daughter, my dearest daughter!" - -"Yes; unless--" then, arousing himself: "How long is it since she was -bitten?" - -"Scarcely an hour." - -The face of the unknown lighted up. He remained silent for a moment, -during which the bystanders anxiously bent towards him, awaiting with -impatience the opinion he would probably pronounce. - -"Scarcely an hour?" said he at last. "Then she may be saved." - -The stranger uttered a sigh of joy. - -"You will answer for it?" he cried. - -"I?" returned the unknown, shrugging; his shoulders; "I will answer for -nothing, except that I will attempt impossibilities for the chance of -restoring her to you." - -"Oh, save her, save her!" eagerly exclaimed the father; "And, whoever -you may be, I will bless you." - -"It matters not to me what you may do. I do not try to save this girl -for your sake; and, whatever may be the motives inducing me, I exempt -you from all feelings of gratitude." - -"You may possibly harbour such thoughts; but for myself--" - -"Enough," rudely broke in the unknown; "we have already lost too much -time in idle words; let us make haste, if we would not be too late." - -All were silent. - -The unknown looked around. - -We have already said that the strangers had halted at the edge of the -forest; over their heads the last trees of the covert expanded their -mighty branches. - -Approaching the trees, the unknown examined them carefully, apparently -in search of something he could not find. - -All of a sudden, he uttered a cry of joy; and, unsheathing the long -knife fastened to his right knee, he cut a branch from a creeper, and -returned to the strangers, who were anxiously watching his proceedings. - -"Here," said he to one of the party, who looked like a _peon_ (a serf), -"strip all the leaves from this branch, and pound them. Be quick; every -second is worth a century to her whom we wish to save." - -The _peon_ set himself actively to the allotted task. - -Then the unknown turned to the father: - -"In what part of the body has this child been bitten?" - -"A little below the left ankle." - -"Has she much courage?" - -"Why do you ask?" - -"Answer! Time presses." - -"The poor child is quite worn out; she is very weak." - -"Then we must hesitate no longer; the operation must be performed." - -"An operation!" cried the stranger, affrighted. - -"Would you rather she should die?" - -"Is this operation indispensable?" - -"It is: we have already lost too much time." - -"Then perform it. God grant you may succeed!" - -The girl's leg was horribly swollen; the part round the serpent's bite, -terribly tumefied, was already taking a greenish hue. - -"Alas," muttered the unknown, "there is not a moment to spare. Hold the -child so that she cannot stir while I perform the operation." - -In these last words the voice of the unknown had assumed such an accent -of command, that the strangers obeyed without hesitation. - -The former seated himself on the ground, took the limb of the girl -upon his knee, and made his preparations. Luckily the moon shone at -this moment so clearly, that her vivid rays flooded the landscape, and -everything was almost as visible as in broad daylight. - -When the girl had first felt the bite, she had immediately, and happily -for herself, torn off her silk stocking. The unknown grasped the blade -of his knife an inch from the point, and, lowering his brow with -terrible determination, buried the point in the wound, and made a -cruciform incision about six lines deep, and more than an inch long. - -The poor child must have felt terrible anguish; for she gave utterance -to a dreadful scream, and twisted herself about nervously. - -"Hold her tight, _cuerpo de Cristo!_" shouted the unknown in a voice of -thunder, while with admirable coolness and skill he pressed the lips -of the wound, so as to force out the black and decomposing blood it -contained; "And now the leaves--the leaves!" - -The _peon_ ran up. - -The unknown took the leaves, parted asunder the lips of the wound, -and gently, carefully expressed their juice on the palpitating flesh. -Making a kind of plaster of the same leaves, he applied it to the -wound, tied it down firmly with a bandage, placed the foot carefully on -the ground, and rose. - -As soon as a certain quantity of the sap of the creeper had fallen -upon the wound, the girl had seemed to experience a sensation of great -relief; the nervous spasms began to abate; she closed her eyes; and -finally she leaned back without attempting to struggle any longer with -the persons who held her in their arms. - -"You may leave her now," whispered the unknown; "she is asleep." - -In fact, the regular though feeble breathing of the patient proved her -to be plunged in a profound slumber. - -"God be praised!" exclaimed the poor father, clasping his hands in -ecstasy; "Then she is really saved?" - -"She is," answered the unknown leisurely; "bating unforeseen accidents, -she has nothing more to fear." - -"But what is the extraordinary remedy you have employed to obtain such -a happy result?" - -The unknown smiled with disdain, and did not seem willing to reply; -however, after a short hesitation, yielding perhaps to that secret -vanity which induces us all to make a parade of our wisdom, he decided -upon giving the information demanded. - -"The pettiest things astonish you fellows who dwell in cities," said he -ironically; "the man who has passed his whole life in the wilderness -knows many things of which the inhabitants of your brilliant towns -are ignorant, although, with the sole aim of humiliating, they take -pleasure in parading their false science before us poor savages. -Nature hides not the secret of her mysterious harmonics from him who -ceaselessly pries into the darkness of night and the brightness of -day, with a patience beyond proof, without suffering himself to be -discouraged by failure. The sublime Architect, when he had created -this immense universe, did not let it fall from his omnipotent hands -until it had been made perfect, nor till the amount of good should -counterbalance everywhere the amount of evil--placing, so to say, the -antidote side by side with the poison." - -The stranger listened with increasing surprise to the words of this -man, whose real character was an enigma to him, and who at every -moment showed himself in lights diametrically opposed, and under forms -entirely distinct. - -"But," continued the unknown, "pride and presumption make man blind. -Accustomed to make all things bear upon himself, imagining that all -existence has been specially created for his convenience, he takes no -pains to study the secrets of nature further than they seem to have a -direct influence on his personal welfare, not caring to make inquiry -into her simplest actions. So, for instance, the region in which we -now are, being low and marshy, is naturally infested with reptiles, -which are so much the more dangerous and to be dreaded, because they -are half-calcined and rendered furious by the rays of a torrid sun. -Therefore provident nature has produced in abundance throughout -these same regions a creeper called _mikania_--the one I have just -used--which is an infallible remedy for the bites of serpents." - -"I cannot doubt it, after having witnessed its efficacy; but how -were the virtues of this creeper discovered?" said the stranger, -involuntarily interested in the highest degree. - -"A hunter of the woods," continued the unknown, with a certain -self-complacency, "observed that the black falcon, better known as -the _guaco_, a bird which feeds chiefly upon reptiles, takes special -delight in exterminating serpents. This hunter had also observed that -if, during the struggle, the serpent contrived to wound the _guaco_, -the latter immediately retired from the combat, and flying to the -_mikania_, tore off a few leaves, which it bruised in its beak. It -afterwards returned to the fight more resolute than ever, until it had -vanquished its redoubtable enemy. The hunter was an astute man, and of -great experience; one who knew that animals, being devoid of reason, -are more especially under the providence of God, and that all their -actions proceed from laws laid down at the beginning. After mature -reflection, he resolved to test his experience upon himself." - -"And did he execute his project?" cried the stranger. - -"He did. He let a coral snake bite him, the deadliest of all; but, -thanks to the _mikania_, the bite proved as harmless to him as the -prick of a thorn. That is the manner in which this precious remedy was -discovered. But," added the unknown, suddenly changing his tone, "I -have complied with your wishes in bringing help to your daughter; she -is safe. Adieu! I may stay no longer." - -"You must not go before you have told me your name." - -"What good will this pertinacity do you?" - -"I wish to embalm the name in my memory as that of a man to whom I have -vowed a gratitude which will only end with my life." - -"You are mad!" rudely answered the unknown. "It is useless to pronounce -to you a name which you will very likely learn but too soon." - -"Let it be so; I will not persist, nor ask the reasons which compel -you to act thus. I will not seek to learn it in despite of you; but, -if you refuse to teach me your name, you cannot prevent my making you -acquainted with my own--I am called Don Pedro de Luna. Although until -today I have never penetrated thus far into the prairies, my residence -is not very far off. I am proprietor of the Hacienda de las Norias -de San Antonio, close to the frontiers of the Despoblado, near the -_embouchure_ of the Rio San Pedro." - -"I know the Hacienda de las Norias de San Antonio. Its owner ought to -belong to the happy ones of earth, according to the opinion of those -who dwell in cities. So much the better: if it does belong to you, I do -not envy riches with which I should not know what to do. Now, you have -nothing more to say, have you? Well, then, adieu!" - -"What! Adieu! You will leave us?" - -"Certainly; do you think I intend to remain all night with you?" - -"I hoped, at least, you would not leave unfinished the work you have -undertaken." - -"I do not understand you; caballero." - -"Will you abandon us thus? Will you leave my daughter in her present -state, lost in the wilderness, without the means of escape,--in the -depths of this forest, which has been so nearly fatal to her?" - -The unknown frowned several times, then cast a stolen look on the girl. -A violent struggle seemed to commence in his bosom; he remained silent -for several minutes, uncertain how to decide. At last he raised his -head. - -"Listen," said he in a constrained voice; "I have never learnt to lie. -At a short distance I have a _jacal_ (hovel), as you would call the -miserable _calli_ (cottage) which shelters me; but, believe me, it is -better for you to remain here than to follow me there." - -"And why?" said the stranger, surprised. - -"I have no explanation to give you, and I will not lie. I only repeat: -believe me, and remain here. Nevertheless, if you persist in following -me, I will not oppose it; I will be your faithful guide." - -"Danger menace us under your roof? I will not stop on such an -hypothesis: hospitality is sacred in the prairies." - -"Perhaps so; I will neither answer yes nor no. Do you decide; only make -your resolve quickly, for I am in haste to have the matter decided." - -Don Pedro de Luna threw a sorrowful look at his daughter; then -addressing the unknown-- - -"Whatever may happen," said he, "I will follow you. My daughter cannot -stay here; you have done too much for her not to wish to save her. I -confide in you; show me the way." - -"Agreed," replied the unknown laconically. "I have warned you; take -care you are on your guard." - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -THE CALLI. - - -Much as the unknown had hesitated in offering shelter to Don Pedro -de Luna and his daughter,--and we know in what terms the offer had -been finally made,--he showed himself equally anxious, as soon as -his decision was made, to quit that part of the forest where the -scene passed which we have recorded in our preceding chapter. His -eyes wandered about continually with a disquietude he took no pains -to conceal. He turned his head repeatedly towards the hillock, as if -he expected to see some horrible apparition suddenly rising from its -summit. - -In the state the girl was in, to awaken her would have been to commit -a grave imprudence, seriously compromising her health. In accordance -with orders delivered in a dry tone by the unknown, the _peones_ of Don -Pedro, and the _hacendero_ himself, hastened to cut down some branches, -in order to fashion a litter, which they covered with dry leaves. Over -these they spread their _zarapés_, of which they deprived themselves in -order to make a softer couch for their young mistress. - -These preparations finished, the girl was raised with great -precaution, and gently placed upon the litter. - -Of the three men who accompanied Don Pedro, two were _peones_, or -domestic Indians; the third was the _capataz_ (bailiff) of the -_hacendero_. - -The _capataz_ was an individual of about five feet eight, with broad -shoulders, and legs bowed by the constant habit of riding. He was -extraordinarily thin; but one could truly say of him, he was nothing -but muscle and sinew. His strength was wonderful. This man, called -Luciano Pedralva, was devoted, body and soul, to his master, whom, and -his family, he and his had served for nearly two centuries. - -His features, bronzed by the vicissitudes of the weather, although -not striking, had an expression of intelligence and astuteness, to -which his eyes, black and well opened, added an appearance of energy -and courage beyond the common. Don Pedro de Luna had the greatest -confidence in this man, whom he considered more in the light of a -friend than a servitor. - -When the girl had been placed upon the litter, the _peones_ lifted it; -while Don Pedro and the _capataz_ placed themselves one on the right, -the other on the left of the patient, in order to guard her from the -branches of trees and creepers. - -At a mute sign from the unknown, who had remounted, the little troop -leisurely began its march. - -Instead of reentering the forest, the unknown continued to advance -towards the hillock, the base of which was speedily attained. A narrow -pathway serpentined along its side in an incline sufficiently gentle. -The little troop entered upon it without hesitation. - -They ascended in this manner fur some minutes, following ten or a dozen -yards behind the unknown, who rode on in front by himself. Suddenly, on -arriving at an angle of the road, round which their guide had already -disappeared, a whistle rent the air, so sharp that the Mexicans halted -involuntarily, not knowing whether to advance or retreat. - -"What is the meaning of this?" murmured Don Pedro anxiously. - -"Treachery, without a doubt," said the _capataz_ casting his eyes -searchingly around. - -But all remained quiet about them; no change was perceptible in the -landscape, which looked as lonely as ever. - -Nevertheless, in a few minutes, more whistling, similar to the first -they had heard, was audible in different directions at the same lime, -answering evidently to a signal which had been made. - -At that moment the unknown reappeared; his face pale, his gestures -constrained, and a prey to the most vivid emotion. - -"It is you who have willed this," said he; "I wash my hands of what may -happen." - -"Tell us, at all events, what peril threatens us," replied Don Pedro, -in agitation. - -"Ah!" said the other, in a voice of subdued passion, - -"Do I know it myself? And what would it aid you to know? Would you be -the less lost for that? You refused to believe me. Now, pray to God to -help you; for never danger threatened you more terrible than that which -hangs over your head!" - -"But why these perpetual reservations? Be frank; we are men, _vive -Dios_, and, great as the peril may be, we shall know how to meet it -bravely." - -"You are mad! Can one man oppose a hundred? You will fall, I tell you; -but it is to yourself alone you must address your reproaches; it is -yourself who have persisted in braving the _Tigercat_ in his lair." - -"Alas," cried the _hacendero_ in accents of horror, "what name is that -you have uttered?" - -"The name of the man in whose clutches you are at this very moment." - -"What! the Tigercat? That redoubtable bandit, whose numberless crimes -have shocked the land for so long; that man who seems endowed with -a diabolical power to accomplish the atrocious deeds with which he -incessantly sullies himself;--is that monster near us?" - -"He is; and I warn you to be prudent, for perhaps he hears you at this -moment, although invisible to your eyes and mine." - -"What do I care?" energetically exclaimed Don Pedro. "Away with -caution, since we are once in the power of this demon; he is a man -devoid of pity, and my life is no longer my own." - -"What do you know about it, Señor Don Pedro de Luna?" answered a -mocking voice. - -The _hacendero_ trembled, and recoiled a step, uttering a stifled cry. - -The Tigercat, bounding with the agility of the animal from which he -took his name, had leaped upon the summit of an elevated rock which -overhung the pathway some distance off, and now dropped lightly on the -ground two paces from Don Pedro. - -There was an instant of terrible silence. The two men, thus placed face -to face, their eyes flashing, their lips compressed with rage, examined -each other with ardent curiosity. It was the first time the _hacendero_ -had seen the terrible partisan, the fame of whose thirst for blood had -reached the most ignorant villagers in the land, and who for thirty -years had spread terror over the Mexican frontiers. - -We will give, in a few words, the portrait of this man, who is destined -to play an important part in our history. - -The Tigercat was a species of Colossus, six feet high; his broad -shoulders and limbs, from which the muscles stood out in marble -rigidity, showed that, though long past the prime of life, his strength -still existed in all its integrity; his long locks, white as the snows -on Coatepec, fell in disorder on his shoulders, and mingled with the -grizzly beard that covered his breast. His forehead was broad and -open; he had the eye of the eagle, under the brows of the lion; his -whole person offered, in a word, a complete type of the man of the -desert,--grand, strong, majestic, and implacable. Although his skin was -stained by every inclemency of weather till it had almost acquired the -colour of brick, it was nevertheless easy to recognise, in the clearly -defined lines of his face, that this man belonged to the race of whites. - -His dress lay midway between that of the Mexican and of the redskin; -for although he wore the _zarapé_, his mitasses, in two pieces, worked -with hairs attached here and there, and his moccasins of different -colours, embroidered with porcupine quills and ornamented with glass -beads and hawks' bells, showed his preference for the Indians, to whose -customs, by the by, he seemed to have entirely adapted his mode of life. - -A large scalping knife, a hatchet, a bullet bag, and powder horn, were -slung from a girdle of wild beast's skin, drawn tightly above his hips. - -One thing must not be forgotten,--a singularity in a white man,--a -white-headed eagle's plume was placed above his right ear, as if this -man arrogated to himself the dignity of chief of an Indian tribe. - -Lastly, he held in his hand a magnificent American rifle, damaskeened, -and most skilfully inlaid with silver. - -Such is the physical portrait of the man to whom white hunters and -redskins had given the name of Tigercat; a name he deserved in every -respect, if hearsay had not belied him, and if only half the stories -reported of him were true. - -As to the character of this strange being, we will abstain from -dwelling upon it for the present. We are persuaded the scenes which -follow will enable us to appreciate it correctly. - -Although struck with surprise at the apparition--as sudden as it was -unexpected--of the dreaded freebooter, Don Pedro was not long in -recalling his presence of mind. - -"You appear to know me much better than I know you," replied he coolly; -"but if half the things I have heard reported about you be true, I can -only expect, on your part, treatment similar to that which all unhappy -persons encounter who fall into your hands." - -The Tigercat smiled sarcastically. - -"And do you not dread this treatment?" he asked. - -"For myself, personally, no!" answered Don Pedro disdainfully. - -"But," continued the freebooter, with a glance towards the wounded -lady, "for the young girl?" - -The _hacendero_ trembled; a livid pallor overspread his features. - -"You cannot mean what you are saying," was his answer; "for the honour -of humanity, I will not think so. The Apaches themselves, fierce as -they are, feel their rage vanish before the feebleness of woman." - -"Have I not among the dwellers in cities the reputation of being -fiercer than the fierce Apaches,--even than the very beasts?" - -"Let us end this," replied Don Pedro haughtily; "since I have been fool -enough, in spite of repeated warnings, to place myself in your hands, -dispose of me as you think fit; but deliver me from the torture I -undergo in conversing with you." - -The Tigercat frowned; he struck the ground forcibly with the butt of -his rifle, muttering some unintelligible words; but, by an extreme -effort of his will, his features instantaneously resumed their habitual -imperturbability, every trace of emotion vanished from his voice, and -he answered, in the calmest tone: - -"In beginning the conversation, about which you seem to care so little, -_caballero_, I said to you, 'What do you know about it?'" - -"Well?" said the _hacendero_, surprised and overcome, in spite of his -efforts, by the strange change in the dreaded speaker. - -"Well," replied the latter, "I repeat the phrase, not, as you may -suppose, in mockery, but simply to elicit your frank opinion of me." - -"That opinion can be of little value to you, I presume." - -"More than you may imagine. But why these words? Answer me!" - -The _hacendero_ remained mute for a time. The Tigercat, his eyes fixed -steadily upon him, watched him attentively. - -As to the hunter who had been almost forced to consent to serve Don -Pedro de Luna as guide, his astonishment was extreme. Believing himself -to be thoroughly acquainted with the character of the freebooter, he -could not understand the scene at all, and inwardly asked himself what -this feigned courtesy of the Tigercat would end in. - -Don Pedro himself argued quite differently on the bandit's sentiments; -right or wrong, he fancied he had perceived an accent of sad sincerity -in the tone in which the last words had been addressed to him. - -"Since you absolutely desire it," said he, "I will reply frankly: I -believe your heart to be not so cruel as you would have it supposed; -and I imagine that this conviction, which you inwardly possess, makes -you extremely unhappy; for, notwithstanding the barbarous acts with -which they reproach you, other crimes have entered your thoughts, -before the execution of which you have recoiled, in spite of the -pitiless ferocity they attribute to you." - -The Tigercat seemed about to speak. - -"Do not interrupt me," continued the _hacendero_ hastily; "I know that -I am treading upon a volcano; but you have my promise to speak frankly, -and, willing or not willing, you must hear me to the end. Most of -mankind are the architects of their own fortunes in this world; you -have not escaped the common lot. Gifted with an energetic character, -with vivid passions, you have not sought to overcome these passions; -you have suffered yourself to be overcome by them, and thus, fall -after fall, you have reached that depth in which you are now lost; and -yet all good feeling is not utterly dead in you." - -A smile of contempt flickered over the lips of the old man. - -"Do not smile at me," the _hacendero_ went on; "the very question you -have put proves my assertion. Leading in the wilderness the life of -the plundering savage, hating society, which has cast you off, you -still hanker after the opinion the world forms of you. And why? Because -that sentiment of justice, which God has planted in the hearts of all, -revolts in you at the universal reprobation heaped upon your name. It -has roused your shame. The man who can still be ashamed of himself, -criminal as he may be, is very close to repentance; for the voice that -cries aloud in his heart is the voice of awakening remorse." - -Although Don Pedro had ceased speaking for some time, the Tigercat -still seemed to be listening to his words; but suddenly lifting his -head proudly, he cast a mocking glance around him, and burst into a -laugh, dry and hard as that which Goethe ascribes to Mephistopheles. - -This laugh cut the _hacendero_ to the heart. He comprehended that the -evil instincts of the freebooter had resumed their sway over the better -thoughts which, for a moment, had seemed to assert their mastery. - -After this bout of laughter, the countenance of the Tigercat resumed -its usual rigid immobility. - -"Good!" cried he in a tone of apparent glee, which did by no means -deceive Don Pedro; "I expected a sermon, and find I was not mistaken. -Well, at the risk of sinking in your estimation,--or, to speak more -truly, in order to flatter your self-esteem by leaving you in the -belief that you judge my feelings correctly,--I decree that you and -your followers return to your Hacienda de las Norias de San Antonio, -not only without the loss of a hair, but even as partakers of my -hospitality. Does not this decision astonish you? You were far from -expecting it." - -"Not so; it is exactly what I anticipated." - -"Indeed!" said he, with astonishment; "Then if I offer you the -hospitality of my _calli_, you will accept it?" - -"And why not, if the offer is made in good faith?" - -"Then come without fear; I pledge you my word that you nor yours need -fear any injury on my part." - -"I follow you," said Don Pedro. - -But the unknown had watched with increasing anxiety the erratic course -of this conversation, and advancing abruptly in front of, and extending -his arms towards, the _hacendero_-- - -"Stop, as you value your life!" he cried in a voice trembling with -secret emotion. "Stop! Do not let yourself be deceived by the assumed -benevolence of this man; he is spreading a snare for you; his offer -conceals a treason." - -The Tigercat drew himself up to his full height, stared disdainfully -at the speaker, and replied, in an accent of supreme majesty: - -"Your senses wander, boy; this man runs no risk in confiding in me. -Granted that there are many things I do not respect in this world, -still there is at least one which I have always respected, and have -suffered no one to doubt,--my word,--my word, which I have given to -this _caballero_. Come! Let us pass; the young woman whom you have -succoured so opportunely is not yet out of danger; her state demands -attentions which are beyond your power to afford." - -The unknown trembled; his dark-blue eyes flashed, his lips parted as if -to answer; but he remained silent, and retired a few paces, knitting -his brow in concentrated passion. - -"Moreover," imperturbably continued the freebooter, "whatever force -may lie at your disposal in other parts of the wilderness, you know -that here I am all-powerful, and that here my will is law. Leave me to -act as I please. Do not force me to measures I should abhor; for if I -raised but a finger I could tame your fool's pride." - -"I know," said the young man, "that I am powerless; but beware how you -treat these strangers, who placed themselves under my protection; for I -shall know how to take my revenge." - -"Yes, yes," said the Tigercat drearily; "I know you would not hesitate -to revenge yourself even on me, if you fancied you had a cause. But I -care not; I am master here." - -"I shall follow you even into your haunt; think not I intend to desert -these strangers now they are in your hands." - -"As you please; I do not forbid you to accompany them; on the contrary, -I should regret your leaving them." - -The unknown held his peace, smiling disdainfully. - -"Come," resumed the Tigercat, turning to the _hacendero_. - -The troop began again to ascend the hillock, following in the footsteps -of the old freebooter, close to whom rode their former guide. - -After some turnings and windings in the path, of more or less -abruptness, some of which caused the Mexicans no little difficulty, the -Tigercat turned towards the _hacendero_, and addressed him in a voice -perfectly free from embarrassment: - -"I beg you to excuse my guiding you over such villainous roads; -unfortunately they are the only ones leading to my dwelling. It is at -hand; in a few minutes we shall be there." - -"But I see no traces of habitation," replied Don Pedro, vainly, -scanning the country in all directions. - -"True," said the Tigercat, with a smile; "nevertheless, we are hardly -an hundred paces from the end of our journey; and I can assure you the -abode to which I am leading you would harbour a hundred times our -present numbers." - -"I have not much idea where this dwelling is to be found, unless it be -subterranean, as I begin to suspect." - -"You have almost guessed it. The place I inhabit, if not subterranean -in the strict sense of the word, is at least a dwelling covered by the -ground. Few have entered it to leave it again safe and sound, as you -shall." - -"So much the worse," retorted roundly the _hacendero;_ "so much the -worse for them--and for you." - -The Tigercat frowned, but immediately replied, in the light and -careless tone he had affected for the last few minutes: - -"Look you, I will clear up this mystery. Listen; the story is -interesting enough. When the Aztecs quitted Azlin, which signifies -'the country of herons,' to conquer Anahuac, or 'the country between -the waters,' their peregrinations were long, extending over several -centuries. Disheartened at times by long travel, they halted, founded -cities, in which they installed themselves as if they never intended -to abandon the place they had chosen; and, perhaps with the object -of leaving behind them ineffaceable traces of their passage through -the wild countries they traversed, they constructed pyramids. Hence -the numerous ruins littering the soil of Mexico, and the _teocalis_ -one meets with occasionally,--last and mournful vestiges of a people -that has disappeared. These _teocalis_ built on a system of incredible -solidity far from crumbling under the strenuous embrace of time, have -ended in becoming a part of the ground which supported them, and so -completely, that there is often difficulty in recognising them. I can -give you no better proof of my assertion than what you have now before -you. The elevation you are now ascending is not, as you might suppose, -a hill caused by some perturbation of the earth,--it is an Aztec -_teocali_." - -"A _teocali!_" exclaimed Don Pedro, in astonishment. - -"It is, indeed," continued the freebooter; "but so many centuries have -elapsed since the day it was built, that, thanks to the vegetable -matter incessantly conveyed by the winds, nature has apparently resumed -her rights, and the Aztec watchtower has become a green hill. You are -doubtless aware that the _teocalis_ are hollow?" - -"I am aware of it," answered the _hacendero_. - -"It is in the interior of this one I have fixed my dwelling. See, we -have reached it. Allow me to show you the way into it." - -In fact, the travellers had arrived at a kind of coarse portal--a -Cyclopean construction--which gave admittance to a subterranean -building, in which a profound obscurity prevailed, forbidding any -estimate of its dimensions. - -The Tigercat stopped, and gave a peculiar whistle. Immediately a -dazzling light broke forth from the interior, and illuminated it in all -its vastness. - -"Let us enter," said the freebooter, preceding his companions. - -Without hesitation Don Pedro prepared to follow, after making a sign to -his attendants, warning them to conceal their rising fears. - -For a moment the unknown found himself, so to speak, alone with the -_hacendero_, and bending swiftly down, whispered softly in his ear, "Be -prudent; you are entering the tiger's den." - -Saying this, he rapidly left them, as he feared the freebooter might -perceive that he was giving a last word of warning to the stranger. - -But, good or bad, the advice came too late: hesitation would have been -folly, for flight was impossible. - -On all sides, on every jutting rock, appeared as by enchantment, the -dark shadows of a host of persons, who had started up around the -strangers without their understanding whence they came, so stealthy had -been their approach. - -The Mexicans entered, then, although not without feelings of dread, -into the terrible cavern, whose mouth opened yawning before them. The -building was vast, the walls were lofty. - -After proceeding for about ten minutes, the Mexicans found themselves -in a species of rotunda, in the centre of which a huge brazier was -flaming; four long corridors crossed the rotunda at right angles. The -Tigercat, still followed by the travellers, entered one of these. He -stopped on reaching a door formed of a reed hurdle. - -"Make yourselves at home," said he; "your lodgings consists of two -chambers, which have no communication with the rest of the cave. By my -orders you will be supplied with food, with wood to make a fire, and -torches of ocote to give you light." - -"I thank you for these attentions," replied Don Pedro. "I had little -reason to expect them." - -"And why not? Do you think that I do not know how to practise Mexican -hospitality, in its fullest extent, whenever it suits me?" - -"Sir!" said the _hacendero_, with a gesture of deprecation. - -"Silence!" said the bandit, interrupting him; "You are my guests for -the night. Sleep in peace; nothing shall disturb your rest. In an hour -I will send you a potion for the lady to drink. We shall meet again -tomorrow." And, bowing with an ease and courtesy little expected by -Don Pedro from such a man, the Tigercat took his leave and quitted the -chamber. - -For a few seconds the step resounded under the dark vault of the -corridor; then it was silenced. The travellers were alone, and the -_hacendero_ determined to investigate the chambers prepared for them. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -SUPERFICIAL REMARKS. - - -The _haciendas_ of Spanish America were never feudal tenures, -whatever certain badly informed authors may assert, but simply large -agricultural holdings, as their name clearly indicates. - -These _haciendas_, scattered over Mexico at great distances from each -other, and surrounded by vast stretches of country, for the greater -part uninhabited, are generally situated on the top of abruptly rising -hills, in positions easy of defence. - -As the _hacienda_, properly so called,--_i.e._ the habitation of the -proprietor of the estate,--forms the nucleus of the colony, and, in -addition to the barns and stables, contains also the out houses, the -lodgings of the _peones_, and, above all, the chapel, its walls are -high, massive, and surrounded by a ditch, so as to put it out of danger -from a _coup-de-main._ - -These numerous _haciendas_ frequently maintain from six to seven -hundred individuals of all trades, the lands belonging to a farm of -this description being often of greater extent than a whole province in -France. - -They are the wholesale breeding places of the wild horses and cattle -that graze at freedom in the prairies, watched over at a distance by -_peones vaqueros_ as untamed as themselves. - -The Hacienda de las Norias de San Antonio--_i.e._ St. Anthony's -Wells--rose gracefully from the summit of a hill covered with thick -groves of mahogany, Peru trees and _mesquites_, forming a belt of -evergreen foliage, the palish green of which contrasted agreeably with -the dead white of the lofty walls, crowned with _almenas_, a kind of -battlement intended to announce the nobility of the proprietor of the -holding. - -In fact, Don Pedro de Luna was what is called a _cristiano viejo_ (old -Christian), and descended in a direct line from the first Spanish -conquerors, without a single drop of Indian blood having been infused -into the veins of his ancestors. So, although after the Declaration of -Independence the ancient customs began to fall into disuse, Don Pedro -de Luna was proud of his nobility, and clung to the _almenas_ as marks -of distinction which only noblemen were allowed to adopt in the time of -the Spanish rule. - -Since the period when, in the suite of that genial adventurer, Fernando -Cortez, a Lopez de Luna had first put foot in America, the fortunes of -this family, very poor and much reduced at that time--for Don Lopez -literally possessed nothing but his cloak and sword,--the fortunes -of this family, we say, had taken an incredible flight upwards, and -entered on a career of prosperity that nothing in time's course could -trammel. Thus Don Pedro de Luna, the actual representative of this -ancient house, was in the enjoyment of wealth, the amount of which -it would certainly have puzzled him to state,--wealth which had been -increased still more by the property of Don Antonio de Luna, his elder -brother, who had disappeared more than twenty-five years after events -to which we shall have to revert, and who it was supposed had perished -miserably in the mysterious wilderness in the neighbourhood of the -_hacienda_. It was likely that he had fallen a victim to the horrible -pangs of hunger, or more probably into the hands of the Apaches, those -implacable enemies of the whites, on whom they ceaselessly wage an -inveterate war. - -In short Don Pedro was the sole representative of his name, and his -fortune was immense. No one who has not visited the interior of Mexico -can figure to himself the riches buried in these almost unknown -regions, where certain land owners, if they would only take the trouble -to put their affairs in order, would find themselves five or six times -more wealthy than the greatest capitalists of the old world. - -Now, although everything seemed to smile on the opulent _hacendero_, -and although, to the world that looks beyond the surface, he seemed -to enjoy, with every appearance of reason, an unalloyed happiness, -nevertheless the deep wrinkles channelled in the forehead of Don Pedro, -the mournful severity of his face, and his gaze often turned to heaven -with an expression of sombre despair, might give rise to the surmise -that the life all thought so happy was secretly agitated by a profound -sorrow, which the years, as they rolled on, augmented instead of -solacing. - -And what was the sorrow? What storms had troubled the course of a life -so calm on the surface? - -The Mexicans are the most forgetful people on earth. This certainly -arises from the nature of their climate, which is incessantly -distracted by the most frightful cataclysms. The Mexican, whose life is -passed on a volcano, who feels the soil incessantly trembling under his -feet, only cares to live for today. For him yesterday no longer exists; -tomorrow he may never see the sun rise; today is his all, for today is -his own. - -The inhabitants of the Hacienda de las Norias, incessantly exposed to -the inroads of their redoubtable neighbours the redskins, constantly -occupied in defending themselves from their attacks and depredations, -were still more forgetful than the rest of their countrymen of a past -in which they took no interest. - -The secret of Don Pedro's grief, if really such a secret existed, was, -therefore, confined pretty nearly to his own breast; and as he never -complained,--never made allusion to the earlier years of his life, ---surmise was impossible, and the ignorance of everyone on the subject -complete. - -One single being had the privilege of smoothing the anxious brow of -the _hacendero_, and of bringing a languid and fleeting smile to his -lips. - -It was his daughter. Doña Hermosa at sixteen was dazzlingly beautiful. -The jet black arches of her brow, finely traced as with a pencil, -enhanced the beauty of a forehead not too high and of a creamy white. -Her large eyes, blue and pensive, contrasted harmoniously with hair of -ebon hue, which curled about the delicate neck, and on which the sweet -jasmines died away with pleasure. - -Short, like all Spanish women of her race, her figure was slender but -well knit. No smaller feet had ever pressed in the dance the greensward -of Mexico; no more delicate hand ever ransacked the dahlias of a -garden. Her walk, easy, like that of all Creoles, was a serpentine -and undulating motion, full of grace and of _salero_, as they say in -Andalusia. - -This exquisite girl scattered mirth and joy over the _hacienda_, -whose echoes from morning to night repeated lovingly the melodious -modulations of her pellucid notes, the pure and fresh qualities of -which made the birds die of envy as they hid themselves under the -foliage of the _puerta_ (open court). - -Don Pedro idolised his daughter; he felt for her that passionate and -boundless affection the immense power of which can only be understood -by those who are fathers in the true sense of the word. - -Hermosa, brought up at the _hacienda_, had only paid a few short -visits, at long intervals, to the great centers of the Mexican -Confederation. Their manners were entirely strange to her. Accustomed -to lead the free and untrammelled life of a bird, and to express her -thoughts aloud, her frankness and innocent simplicity were extreme, -while her sweetness of temper made her adored by all the inhabitants of -the _hacienda_, over whose welfare she watched with constant care. - -Nevertheless, owing to the peculiar kind of education she had -received,--exposed on this distant frontier to the frequent sound of -the frightful war whoop of the redskins, and to be present during -horrible scenes of carnage,--she had accustomed herself from an early -age to look perils in the face, if not coldly, at all events with a -courage and strength of mind scarcely to be expected in so delicate a -child. - -In conclusion, the influence she exercised over all who approached her -was incomprehensible: it was impossible to know her without loving her, -or without feeling a wish to lay down one's life for her. - -On several occasions, in the attacks made on the _hacienda_ by those -ferocious plunderers of the desert the Apaches and Comanches, some -wounded Indians had fallen into the hands of the Mexicans. Doña -Hermosa, far from suffering these wretches to be maltreated, had -ordered every care to be taken of them, and restored them to liberty as -soon as their wounds were healed. - -From this course of action it resulted that the redskins by degrees -renounced their attacks upon the _hacienda_, and that the girl, -attended by only one man--with whom we shall soon make the reader -acquainted--unconcernedly took long rides in the wilderness, and -often, carried away by the ardour of the chase, rambled off to a great -distance from the _hacienda;_ while the Indians who saw her pass not -only abstained from injuring her, but laid no obstacles in her way. On -the contrary, these primitive beings, having conceived a superstitious -veneration for her, contrived, while remaining out of sight themselves, -to remove from her path any dangers she might otherwise have -encountered. - -The redskins, with that natural tone of poetry which distinguishes -them, had called her "the White Butterfly," so light and fragile did -she seem to them as she bounded like a frightened fawn through the tall -prairie grasses, which hardly bent under her weight. - -One of her most favourite resting places in these excursions was a -_rancho_, (a farm) seven or eight miles from the _hacienda._ The -_rancho_, built in a charming situation and surrounded by fields well -looked after and carefully cultivated, was inhabited by a woman of -fifty and her son, a tall and handsome man of twenty-five or twenty-six -with a proud eye and a warm heart, named Estevan Diaz. Na Manuela, as -they called the old woman, and Estevan had an affection for the girl -which knew no bounds. Manuela had nursed Hermosa when an infant, and -the foster mother almost looked upon her young mistress as her own -child, so deep was the love she bore her. The woman belonged to a class -of domestics, now unhappily extinct in Europe, who form, as it were -a part of the family, and are looked upon by their masters more as -friends than servants. - -It was under Estevan's escort that Hermosa took those long rides of -which we spoke above. These continual _têtes-à-têtes_ between a girl of -sixteen and a man of twenty-five, which in our hypocritical and prudish -world would be considered compromising, seemed very natural to the -inhabitants of the _hacienda._ They knew the profound respect and loyal -affection which bound Estevan to his mistress, whom he had dandled -on his knees when a child, and whose first steps he had supported. -Hermosa, who was as laughing, playful, and teasing as most girls of her -age, took very great pleasure in being with Estevan, whom she could -torment and plague to her heart's delight without his ever attempting -to turn restive at the capricious vagaries of his young mistress. Did -he not endure all her caprices with a patience beyond praise? - -Don Pedro manifested an affectionate esteem for Manuela and her son. He -had great confidence in both, and for the last two years had entrusted -Estevan with the important post of _major-domo_--a post he shared, as -far as the land was concerned, with Luciano Pedralva, who, however, was -placed under his orders. - -Thus Estevan Diaz and his mother were, next to the proprietor, the -persons of greatest account at the _hacienda_, where they were treated -with infinite respect, not only on account of the post they occupied, -but also for the sake of their character, which was duly appreciated by -all. - -The Mexican _hacenderos_, whose properties are of immense extent, have -a practice at certain times of the year of making a progress through -their estates, in order to cast over their holding that "eye of the -master" which, according to the favourite saying in Southern America, -makes the crops ripen and the cattle fatten. Don Pedro never failed -to undertake these tours, on which he was anxiously expected by the -inferior persons in his employ, and by the _peones_ of the _haciendas_, -to whom the casual presence of their master brought some temporary -alleviation of their miserable lives. - -In Mexico slavery, abolished in principle by the Declaration of -Independence, no longer exists by right; but it exists _de facto_ -through the whole extent of the Confederation; and the following is -the adroit manner in which the law is eluded by the rich owners of -the soil:--Every _hacienda_ necessarily employs a great number of -individuals as _peones, vaqueros, tigreros,_ (herdsmen, hunters), &c. -All these people are _Indios mansos_, or civilized Indians--that is to -say, they have been baptised, and practise, after their own fashion, a -religion they will not take the trouble to understand, and which they -mix up with most absurd and ridiculous customs derived from their old -creeds. - -Brutalised by misery, the _peones_ hire themselves, at very moderate -wages, to the _hacenderos_, for the sake of satisfying their two -chief vices,--gambling and drunkenness. But as Indians are the most -thriftless beings in creation, their petty wages never suffice to feed -and clothe them; and every day they are liable to die of hunger, if -they cannot contrive to procure the ordinary necessaries of life from -some source independent of their pay. It is when they have reached this -climax that the rich proprietors trap them. - -The _capataz_ and _major-domo_ keep in every _hacienda_, by order of -their master, stores filled with clothing, arms, household utensils, -and so forth, which are open to the _peones_, who pawn their labour for -the needful articles advanced to them; the prices of the articles being -always ten times their value. - -It follows, from this simple combination, that the poor devils of -_peones_ not only never touch an infinitesimal fraction of the nominal -wages allotted to them, but find themselves always on the debit side -of the _hacendero's_ balance sheet; and in a few months owe sums they -could not possibly pay off in a lifetime. As the law is positive in -these cases, the _peones_ are compelled to remain in the service -of their masters until, by their labour, this debt is liquidated. -Unfortunately for them, their necessities are so imperious at all -times, their position so precarious, that, after a life spent in -incessant toil, the _peones_ die insolvent. They have lived as slaves, -fatally, _adscripti glebæ_, shamelessly worked, without mercy, down -to their latest sigh, by men whom their sweat and their labour have -enriched tenfold. - -Doña Hermosa, good natured, as girls usually are when brought up in -the bosom of their families, generally accompanied her father in these -annual progresses, and pleased herself by leaving bounteous marks of -her welcome visit with the poor _peones_. - -This year, as in the preceding ones, she had attended Don Pedro de -Luna, signalizing her visit to each _rancho_ by relieving, in some way -or other, the infirm, the old, and the children. - -About forty-eight hours before the day on which our story commences, -Don Pedro had left a silver mine he was working some leagues off in -the desert, and set off for Las Norias de San Antonio. When he had got -within twenty leagues of the _hacienda_, he felt convinced that his -escort was not needed so near his own property, and sent forward Don -Estevan and the armed retainers to announce his return, keeping with -him only the _capataz_, Luciano Pedralva, and three or four _peones_. - -Don Estevan had tried to dissuade his master from remaining in the -desert almost single-handed, pointing out to him that the Indian -frontiers were infested by freebooters and marauders of the vilest -kind, who, skulking among the thickets, would be upon the watch for an -opportunity of attacking his little band; but, by a singular fatality, -Don Pedro, convinced that he had nothing to fear from these vagabonds, -who had never exhibited signs of hostility towards him, had insisted on -the _major-domo's_ departure, and the latter had been forced to obey, -although with reluctance. - -The escort rode off; the _hacendero_ quietly continued his road, -chatting with his daughter, and laughing at the sinister presentiments -clouding the face of the _major-domo_ when he took leave of his master. - -The day slipped away without anything happening to confirm the -misgivings of Don Estevan; no accident interrupting the monotonous -regularity of the march; no suspicious sign excited the fears of the -travellers. The desert was at peace; as far as the eye could reach, -nothing was to be seen but some straggling herds of elks and antelopes, -browsing on the tall and tufted grasses of the prairie. - -At sunset Don Pedro and his companions had reached the outskirts of an -immense virgin forest, part of which they would have to cross to reach -the _hacienda_, now about a dozen leagues off. - -The _hacendero_ resolved to encamp for the night at the edge of the -covert, hoping to reach Las Norias early on the morrow, before the -great heat of the day set in. - -In a short time everything was arranged; a hut of branches was put -together for Doña Hermosa; fires were lit, and the horses securely -tethered, to prevent their straying during the night. - -The travellers supped gaily; after which everyone laid down to sleep as -comfortably as he could manage. - -However, the _capataz_, a man trained to Indian artifices, thought it -prudent not to neglect a single precaution to secure the repose of -his companions. He placed a sentry, to whom he recommended the utmost -vigilance, and saddled his horse, with the intention of making a -reconnaissance round the camp. - -Don Pedro, already half asleep, raised his head, and asked Don -Luciano what he intended to do. When the _capataz_ had explained, the -_hacendero_ burst out laughing, and peremptorily ordered him to leave -his horse to feed in peace, and to lay himself down by the fire, in -order to be ready to resume the journey at break of day. The _capataz_ -shook his head, but obeyed; he could not understand the conduct of his -master, who was usually so prudent and circumspect. - -The truth was, that Don Pedro, impelled by one of those inexplicable -fatalities which, without apparent reason, often make the most -intelligent blind, was convinced that he had nothing to fear so -near his home, and almost on his own territory, from the rovers and -marauders of the frontiers, who would think twice before they attacked -a man of his importance, having the means in his power to make them pay -dearly for any attempt upon his person. Nevertheless, the _capataz_, -agitated by a secret uneasiness, which kept him awake in spite of -his efforts to sleep, determined to keep good watch during the night, -notwithstanding the injunctions of his master. - -As soon as he saw Don Pedro decidedly asleep, he rose softly, took his -rifle, and crept stealthily towards the forest to reconnoitre; but he -had scarcely quitted the circle of light formed by the watch fire, and -advanced a few paces into the covert, than he was suddenly and rudely -seized by invisible hands, thrown on the ground, gagged, and bound with -cords; and with such expedition, that he could neither use his arms nor -utter a cry of warning to his companions. - -But, in strange contrariety to the tragical usages of the prairie, the -persons who had so abruptly mastered the _capataz_ subjected him to no -ill usage, contenting themselves with binding him firmly, so as to put -the possibility of the slightest resistance out of the question, and -leaving him stretched upon the ground. - -"My poor mistress!" sighed the worthy fellow as he fell, without -indulging a thought for himself. - -He remained in this position for a length of time, listening greedily -to every sound in the desert, expecting every instant to hear cries -of distress from Don Pedro and Doña Hermosa. But not a cry was heard: -nothing disturbed the calm of the wilderness, over which the silence of -death seemed brooding. - -At last, after twenty or twenty-five minutes, someone threw a _zarapé_ -over his face, most likely with the intention of preventing any -recognition of his assailants; he was lifted from the ground with a -certain degree of precaution, and two men carried him in their arms to -some considerable distance. - -The situation became more complicated every moment. In vain the -_capataz_ racked his mind to divine the intentions of his captors. The -latter uttered not a word, and glided over the ground with light and -noiseless steps, as if they were spectres. The generality of Mexicans -are fatalists. The _capataz_, recognizing the futility of a struggle, -philosophically consoled himself for what had happened, and patiently -awaited the result of this singular scene. - -He had not long to wait for the issue. His unknown captors, having -probably reached the intended spot, halted and laid the _capataz_ on -the ground, after which everything round him grew calm and silent again. - -At the end of several minutes he determined on an attempt to recover -his liberty, and made a desperate effort to break his bonds. But here -again a fresh surprise was reserved for him: the cords which bound him, -and which were so fast a minute before, broke after a slight resistance. - -The _capataz's_ first impulse was to lift the _zarapé_ which covered -his face, and free himself from the gag. He next looked about him to -reconnoitre, and to find out what had become of his companions, and -uttered a cry of astonishment and fright on seeing Doña Hermosa, her -father, and the _peones_ stretched on the ground close by, gagged as he -had been, and their heads muffled in _zarapés_. - -The _capataz_ hastened to the relief of his mistress and Don Pedro, -after which he severed the cords which bound the _peones_. - -The place to which the travellers had been transported by their -invisible aggressors was completely dissimilar to the site chosen for -the camp. They were in the midst of a thick forest, where at an immense -height above their heads, the gigantic trees formed a green vault, -almost impenetrable to the light of day. The horses and baggage of the -travellers had vanished. Their position was frightful, deserted as they -were in the virgin forest without provisions or horses. Every hope of -safety was gone, and a terrible death, after horrible sufferings stared -them in the face. - -It is impossible to describe the despair of Don Pedro. He acknowledged, -when it was too late, the folly of his conduct. He fixed his weeping -eyes on his daughter with an expression of unspeakable tenderness -and sorrow, accusing himself as the sole cause of the evil that had -overwhelmed them. Doña Hermosa was the only one who did not give way -to despair in these critical circumstances. After trying to raise the -courage of her father by tender and consoling words, she was the first -to speak of quitting the place and endeavouring to find the road they -had lost. - -The courage which sparkled in the eye of the daughter reanimated the -energy of her father and the rest. If she did not succeed in reviving -hope in their breasts, at all events she aroused in them sufficient -spirit to encounter the necessary struggle before them. The final words -of this young creature put a stop to all hesitation, and completed the -happy reaction she had excited in their minds. - -"Our friends," said she, "on finding we do not arrive, will suspect -our misfortune, and devote themselves immediately to a search for us. -Don Estevan, to whom all the secrets of the wilderness are known, will -infallibly recover our trail. Our position, therefore, is far from -desperate. Let us not abandon ourselves, if we do not wish God to -abandon us. Let us go: soon I hope we shall find our way out of the -forest, and see the sun once more." - -So they began their march. - -Unfortunately it is impossible to find the right direction in a virgin -forest, unless we are well acquainted with the localities,--the -forests, where all the trees are alike, where there is no visible -horizon, and where the only available knowledge is the instinct of the -brute, not the reason of man. Thus the travellers wandered at random -the whole day long, always turning, without knowing it, in the same -circle, travelling far without advancing, and vainly seeking to find a -road which was not in existence. - -Don Pedro endeavoured to discover a reason why the men who had -stolen their horses should have abandoned them in this inextricable -labyrinth; why they had been thus callously condemned to an agonising -death; and who the enemy might be who had cruelly conceived a plan of -such atrocious revenge. But the _hacendero_ racked his brains in vain -for even a surmise. His mind suggested no one on whom suspicion could -rest as the probable author of this unqualified crime. - -All the morning the travellers continued their devious course: the sun -went down, the day gave way to night, and they were still toiling on, -wandering mechanically without any fixed direction, now to the right, -now to the left; struggling on more in the endeavour to escape from -their thoughts by physical fatigue, than in the hope of emerging from -the forest--their horrible prison. - -Doña Hermosa uttered no complaint. Cool and resolute, she pushed -forward with a firm step, encouraging her companions by voice and -gesture, and still finding spirit enough to chide and shame them for -their want of perseverance. - -All of a sudden she uttered a cry of pain. She had been bitten by a -snake. This fresh misfortune, which should have apparently completed -the travellers' despair, on the contrary, excited them to such a pitch, -that they forgot all else, except how to think for and to save her whom -they called their guardian angel. - -But human strength has limits, beyond which it may not go. The -travellers, overcome by fatigue and their poignant emotions during -their wanderings, and convinced, besides, of the inutility of their -efforts, were on the point of yielding to their despair, when God -placed them suddenly face to face with the hunter. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -CONFIDENTIAL CHAT. - - -After conducting his guests to the compartment of the _teocali_ which -he had appointed for them, the Tigercat retraced his steps, and turned -in the direction of a sufficiently ample excavation, which served for -his own particular abode. - -The old man walked at a slow pace, with his head raised, and his brow -wrinkled under the tension of mighty thoughts. The flame of the torch -he held in his right hand played capriciously over his countenance, -revealing a strange expression on his features, where hate, joy, and -uneasiness reflected themselves by turns. - -When he arrived at his _cuarto_ (bedchamber),--if it is right to give -the name chamber to a kind of hole ten feet square by seven feet high, -which contained as furniture a few skulls of the bison dispersed here -and there, with a handful of maize-straw negligently thrown into a -corner, and serving, no doubt, as couch for the inhabitants of this -sorry refuge,--the Tigercat fixed his _ocote_ torch in a bracket of -iron made fast to the wall, crossed his arms on his breast, lifted his -eyes with an air of defiance, and muttered the words: - -"At last!" - -Doubtless these words summed up in his thoughts a long series of dark -and bold combinations. - -After pronouncing these words, the old man cast a searching glance -around him, as if he dreaded having been overheard. A mocking smile -passed across his pale lips; he sat down on a bison's skull, and, -burying his face in his hands, plunged into profound meditation. - -A long time elapsed before he changed his position. At last, a slight -noise fell on his ear: he lifted his head with a start, and turned -towards the entrance to his cell. - -"Come in!" he shouted. "I have waited for you with impatience." - -"I think not!" replied a powerful voice; and the young hunter appeared -at the threshold, where he stopped, holding his head erect, and looking -proud and daring. - -A shade crossed the forehead of the Tigercat. - -"Ah, ha!" cried he, with pretended gaiety. "In truth, I was not -expecting you, _muchacho_ (boy); but never mind; you are welcome." - -"Is that wish truly in your thoughts at this moment?" sneered the other. - -"And why should it not be in my thoughts? Am I in the habit of -disguising them?" - -"It is a useful habit under particular circumstances." - -"A truth I do not deny; but not in this case. Come in; sit down, and -let us talk." - -"I comply," answered the hunter, taking a few steps forward, -"particularly as I have to demand an explanation from you." - -The Tigercat frowned, and replied, with rising and ill-suppressed anger: - -"Is it to me you speak thus? Have you forgotten who I am?" - -"I forget nothing that I ought to remember," concisely replied the -other. - -"Boy! Have you forgotten that I am your father?" - -"My father! Who will prove it?" - -"You are over-venturesome," cried the old man in ire. - -"After all," said the hunter scornfully, "it is nothing to me whether -you be my father or not. What does it matter? Have you not told me a -thousand times over, that bonds of relationship do not exist in nature; -that they are only a factitious sentiment, invented by human egotism -for the profit of the petty exigencies of debased society? Here, we are -only two men, equals in strength and courage; of whom the one comes to -demand from the other a clear and unvarnished explanation." - -While the hunter was speaking, the old man fixed upon him a look which -flashed fire from under his half-closed eyelids. When he ceased, the -Tigercat smiled ironically. - -"The wolf's cub feels he is cutting his teeth, and wants to bite his -fosterer." - -"He will devour him without hesitation, if it be needful," fiercely -replied the hunter, as he let the butt end of the heavy rifle he -carried in his hand fall violently on the ground. - -Instead of being lashed into a fury by a menace uttered so -peremptorily, the Tigercat suddenly became calm. His austere features -lighted up with an expression of good nature which rarely visited them. -Clapping his large hands together gaily, he exclaimed, with an air of -lively satisfaction: - -"Well roared, my lion's whelp! _¡Vive Dios!_ You deserve your name, -Stoneheart! The more I see of you, the more I love you. I am proud of -you, _muchacho;_ for you are my handiwork, and I congratulate myself on -my success in producing so complete a monster. Go on as you have begun, -my son: I prophesy, you will go far." - -The tone in which these words were pronounced by the Tigercat clearly -proved that they were in reality the unreserved expression of his -thoughts. - -Stoneheart--for at last we know the name of this man--listened to his -father with a shrug of his shoulders, and an affectation of disdain. -When the latter ceased, the son replied as follows: - -"Will you listen to me or not?" - -"Certainly, my darling child. Speak! Tell me what frets you." - -"Seek not to dupe me, gray-haired demon. I know your hellish malignity, -and your unmatchable knavery." - -"You are complimentary, _muchacho._" - -"Answer frankly and categorically the questions I will put to you!" - -"Bah, Bah! Go on, go on. What are you afraid of?" - -"Of nothing, I tell you; but my time is short: I have no leisure to -follow you through all the Indian circumlocutions it may be your -pleasure to invent. That is why I listen to nothing but the plain -truth." - -"I cannot bind myself to that until I hear the questions you wish to -put." - -"Take heed, father! If you deceive me, I shall find it out, and then--" - -"And then?" repeated the old man mockingly. - -"May the devil take my soul, if I do not plant my bowie knife between -your two shoulders." - -"You forget that two can play at that game." - -"So much the better; it will be a strife and I prefer it." - -"You are not fastidious. But proceed; speak, or may the pestilence -stifle you! I am listening. I, too, have no more time to lose than you." - -Stoneheart, who up to this moment had been standing erect in the middle -of the cell, seated himself on a bison's skull, and rested his rifle -across his knees. - -"Did you not expect to see Zopilote when I burst into your cell?" - -"I did expect Zopilote: you have guessed it, _muchacho._" - -"Having finished, with his assistance, the ruffianly deeds of yesterday -and today, you two are anxious to concoct the treason you meditate -tomorrow." - -"On my soul, _muchacho_, you are incomprehensible!" - -"The devil I am! Then your apprehension is dull today." - -"Perhaps it is: but oblige me by explaining your meaning." - -"I will; however, attempt no denial: only a few minutes ago I learned -the whole story through the gossiping of the very men who were with -you." - -"If you know all, why do you come here to question me?" - -"In the first place, to ascertain if they spoke truly." - -"They could not speak more truly: you see, I am frank." - -"Then you really did surprise these travellers in their sleep?" - -"Yes, _muchacho_, like a litter of prairie dogs in their earth." - -"You stole their horses and baggage?" - -"In good truth, I did all that." - -"Afterwards, you had them carried into the thick of the forest, to die -a frightful death?" - -"I did have them carried to the forest; but not, as you pretend to -believe, for the purpose of leaving them to starve." - -"For what other purpose, then? I cannot suppose it was with the -intention of effacing all traces of the robbery. You care little about -such precautions, and do not stick at a knife thrust." - -"Admirably reasoned, _muchacho_. I had no intention to do these -travellers the least harm in the world." - -"Then what did you want from them? I cannot understand your conduct. It -is marvellous." - -"Confess that it mystifies you, my son." - -"It does; but will you explain?" - -"That depends upon circumstances. But now promise, in your turn, to -answer a single question." - -"One? I will answer it. Ask; I am listening." - -"What do you think of Doña Hermosa? Has she not beautiful eyes! One -would think she had stolen a piece of the sky, they are so blue." - -At this home-thrust Stoneheart recoiled; a sudden flush tinted his -features. - -"Why do you ask me?" said he hesitatingly. - -"What does that matter? Answer, as you have promised." - -"I have scarcely looked at her," he replied, with increasing -embarrassment. - -"You lie, my son: you have looked at her often enough; or young men -in these days are changed from what they were in my time--which I can -hardly believe." "Well, then, I have; and I care not who knows it," -said Stoneheart, in a voice in which embarrassment was mingled with ill -humour. "I have looked at Doña Hermosa, if that is her name, and have -found her beautiful. Are you satisfied?" - -"Almost. Has this charming creature had no other effect upon you?" - -"I am not bound to answer you, father: that is a second question." - -"You are right; nevertheless, I know what your reply would be. I can -dispense with it." - -Stoneheart turned away his head to escape the searching look of the -Tigercat. - -"But now," said he, after a momentary silence, "let us return to your -explanation." - -"You are an ingrate, who will not understand. Have you not already -discovered that all this business has been undertaken for your sake -alone?" - -Stoneheart started with surprise. - -"For my sake? Is there anything in common between this girl and me? You -are laughing at me!" - -"Not in the least; on the contrary, I am speaking seriously." - -"Even if you do, I confess I am still in the dark." - -"Aha! You are laughing now at my expense. Throughout the whole of this -comedy I assign you a capital part to play: I make you interesting; I -introduce you as the deliverer; are you still in the dark?" - -"I myself assumed the character which you say you assigned me; I -adopted it myself, alone, without any interference of yours." - -"Do you believe that, my son?" said the bandit, with a grin. - -Stoneheart, not thinking it necessary to insist on this point, answered: - -"I will admit that you may have arranged all that happened; but -what are your intentions towards the travellers now they are in the -_teocali?_" - -"On my honour, _muchacho_, I confess that it is not settled yet; it -depends entirely on yourself." - -"On me?" stammered the other. - -"Yes; on my honour. Reflect; decide what you wish me to do: I give you -my word that I will conform to your wishes." - -"Will you swear so, father,--solemnly swear?" - -"Oh, yes. You see, I am very accommodating." - -"It is exactly this pliancy, so foreign to your character and habits, -which makes me tremble." - -"Folly! What more unjust suspicion! It happens one day that I remember -I am man; that it is my duty to succour my fellow creatures: and you -give me no credit for it!" - -"_¡Caspita!_ How could it be otherwise? Your intrigues are so dark, -the means you employ are so utterly at variance with common usage in -similar cases, that, in spite of my knowledge of your character, the -real object of your machinations perpetually eludes me." - -The visage of the Tigercat lighted up once more with a smile of -triumph; but he repressed it immediately, and assumed a look of -paternal benevolence. - -"In spite of all you say," he answered, "my object in this case is so -plain that a child might see it." - -"Then I must be an idiot, for I cannot divine it; on which account, I -must beg you to explain your wishes frankly." - -"To make you adore the little one, _¡vive Cristo!_" - -"Me!" exclaimed the hunter, astounded at the proposition, and purple -with blushes. - -"And whom else, if not you?--unless it were myself." - -"No, no," said the other, shaking his head mournfully; "that is -impossible: everything separates us. You have forgotten who she is; you -have forgotten what I am--I, Stoneheart, the man whose name, pronounced -to an inhabitant of the borders, makes him thrill with terror. No; it -is the dream of a fool: a love like that would be monstrous. I repeat, -it is impossible." - -The Tigercat coolly shrugged his shoulders. - -"My son," said he, "you have yet much to learn concerning that -many-sided being, that graceful compound of angel and devil, that -whimsical mixture of all good qualities and all vices, the world calls -woman. Be quite sure, my son, that since the time of mother Eve, woman -has never changed; there are the same treasons, the same perfidies, -still the same feline nature of the tiger, mingled with the no less -tortuous ways of the serpent. Woman must be quelled by the bold, or -she will busy herself with the hope of quelling him; she will always -despise the man for whom, in her secret heart, she feels no fear, and -for whom she entertains no involuntary respect. Your chances of winning -the heart of Hermosa, and installing yourself therein as master, are -numberless; you are proscribed, and your name is a name of terror. Oh, -my boy, love lives upon contrasts, knows no disparities, and despises -the barrier raised by human vanity. The man most sure to succeed with -a woman is precisely the only one whom, in the eyes of the world, she -ought to repel the most." - -"Enough of this theme!" cried the hunter violently; "Your horrible -theories have already troubled my soul, and harrowed my heart. Let us -stop this conversation, of which I am weary. Again, I ask, what are -your intentions towards your prisoners?" - -"I repeat, that it depends entirely upon yourself; they are in your -hands." - -"If that be the case, they shall not stay long in your hideous lair; -tomorrow, at daybreak, they shall go." - -"Just what I wish, my son." - -"I myself will be their guide. You will restore everything you have -taken from them--horses and baggage." - -"You shall restore them yourself; you can easily invent a story for -returning what belongs to them which shall not compromise me." - -"Compromise you!" sneered Stoneheart. - -"By our Lady," replied the Tigercat, with a hideous smile, "I stick to -the only good deed of my life; I will not lose the credit of it." - -"Then all is agreed between us; you will not break your word to me?" - -"Rest in peace; I will not break it." - -"Then, good-bye, till tomorrow. I go to make everything ready." - -"Good night, my son. Do not take that trouble; I take it upon myself." - -And the two men separated. - -The Tigercat listened attentively to the sound of his son's footsteps -as they died away in the distance. When silence was completely -re-established, he shook his head more than once with a preoccupied air. - -"Love makes him shrewd," he murmured in a suppressed voice. "I will not -leave him leisure to divine my plans, or, at the moment it is within my -reach, he would frustrate the vengeance I have been so many years in -preparing." - -Instead of retiring to his couch, the old man seized the torch, and -went forth from his cell. - -In the meanwhile, in spite of the fears naturally caused by their -precarious position in the midst of people whose ferocious looks and -brutal manners spoke little in their favour, the travellers had passed -the night in tranquillity. No sound of evil augury had disturbed -their repose; and, worn out by fatigue, and wearied with the various -emotions of this day of misfortunes, after a short conversation, they -settled themselves to sleep. - -Doña Hermosa, on waking at daybreak, found herself perfectly free from -the sufferings of the preceding day. Thanks to the remedy applied by -the hunter to the wound, the place where she was bitten, now the venom -was expressed, began to heal; she felt sufficient strength to resume -her journey on horseback, and would be able to travel without too -much fatigue. These good news dispersed the clouds which obscured the -forehead of the _hacendero_, and he awaited, with lively impatience, -the meeting with his host, which he had no doubt would not be long -deferred. In fact, as soon as the Tigercat supposed that those to whom -he had afforded shelter were awake, he presented himself before them to -inquire how they had passed the night. - -The _hacendero_ thanked him warmly, assured him they were quite well, -and that Doña Hermosa herself felt almost restored to health. - -"So much the better," replied the Tigercat, casting a glance of fire at -the girl. "It were a pity so charming a creature should perish in such -a miserable manner. And now, what are your intentions? Be not offended -at this question; I shall be happy to keep you at my side; and the -longer you remain here, the greater my pleasure." - -"Thanks for your gracious offer," said Don Pedro; "unfortunately, -I dare not accept it: they will be uneasy on our account at the -_hacienda_, and I must hasten in person to put an end to their alarm." - -"You are right. Then you intend to depart?" - -"As soon as I can; unhappily, I have no horses for the few leagues of -the journey. I must put your hospitality still further to the test, -although I hardly know how to thank you for what you have done already, -by requesting you to sell me the animals I require to return home; -at the same time, I would also crave a guide, to lead us through the -forest which had nearly proved our tomb, and to put us once more on our -right road. You see, _caballero_, that I make great demands on your -courtesy." - -"You only ask of me what is your right, señor; I will exert myself to -fulfil your wishes. But how did it happen that you found yourself on -foot in the virgin forest, so far from any habitations?" - -The _hacendero_ cast a furtive glance over the speaker; but the -features of the latter continued immovable. Don Pedro then recounted -all the details of the strange attack of which he had been the victim. - -The Tigercat listened calmly, without interrupting him, saying, as soon -as the recital was finished: - -"All this seems very incomprehensible. I am annoyed at not having -received this information yesterday evening. It is very late, now; -but leave me to do what I can. Perhaps I may be able to cause your -lost property to be restored to you; at all events I will furnish you -with the means of reaching your _hacienda_. Entertain no fears on that -score. I presume you would not like to leave this place before you have -broken your fast; you can begin your journey as soon after breakfast as -you please. I must leave you for a short time, to give the necessary -orders for your departure. Excuse me. In an hour's time you shall hear -from me again." - -Having said this, he retired; leaving the travellers in astonishment, -and perplexed as to his true character so easily did this man vary both -manner and language. - -An hour and a half passed over without Don Pedro receiving any news -of his host. At the end of that time an Indian appeared, and without -uttering a word, made a sign to the travellers to follow him. They -obeyed without hesitation. - -After following him for some minutes, they found themselves on the -summit of the _teocali_ which the evening before, under the silver rays -of the moon, they had taken for a hill. - -From this elevation the travellers commanded an immense extent of -horizon, and enjoyed a magnificent landscape, still partially veiled -by the mists of morning, but illumined here and there by the dazzling -sunbeams, which produced the most striking effects amongst this chaos -of trees and mountains intersecting the boundless prairies. - -The morning repast was prepared on a mound of turf, covered over with -the large leaves of the mahogany. - -The Tigercat standing by the mound, was waiting for his guests. Some -redskins, few in number, and scattered here and there about the -platform, all armed, and in their war paint, were walking about with -seeming indifference, and taking no apparent note of the presence of -the strangers. - -"I have preferred to have the meal served here," said the Tigercat, -"where you can enjoy the magnificent prospect." - -Don Pedro thanked him; and, at his repeated invitation, sat down by the -mound with his daughter and Don Luciano. The _peones_ ate by themselves. - -The repast was frugal. It consisted of fritters, with red pepper, -_tasajo_ (sun-dried beef), a few slices of venison, and rolls made -of maize flour, the whole washed down with _eau de smilax_ and -_pulque_,--a spirit prepared from a species of aloe. It was a true -hunter's meal. - -"Eat and drink," said the Tigercat; "you have a long journey before -you." - -"Will you not honour us by partaking of the repast you have gallantly -offered us?" said Don Pedro, seeing that the old man continued standing. - -"You must excuse me, _caballero_," replied the Tigercat civilly, but -peremptorily. "I broke my fast long ago." - -"Indeed!" said the _hacendero_, not content with the answer; "Then, at -least, you will consent to empty this horn of _pulque_ to my health." - -"It grieves me to refuse you, señor; but it is impossible!" and he -bowed. - -These repeated refusals caused a sudden coolness between the guests -and their host, in spite of the apparent graciousness of the old man's -hospitality,--for the Americans of New Spain resemble the Arabs in -this, that they only consent to eat and drink with those towards whom -their intentions are friendly. - -A vague suspicion crossed the mind of Don Pedro; and he looked -inquiringly at his host, but could see nothing in the smiling face of -the old man to justify his apprehension. - -The repast was eaten silently. At its termination, Doña Hermosa, after -thanking the Tigercat for his profuse hospitality, asked him if, before -she left, she could not see the hunter who had rendered her such -invaluable service the evening before. - -"He is absent at present, señorita,--absent in your service; but I -expect him to return immediately." - -The doña was about to ask for an explanation of these words, when a -sound, resembling distant thunder, arose in the forest, and grew louder -and louder every minute. - -"And here," continued the Tigercat, "comes the very man whom you -desired to see; he will be with you directly. The noise you hear is -caused by the galloping of the horses he brings with him." - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -THE JOURNEY. - - -In a very short time after the occurrences related in the preceding -chapter, the travellers saw a tolerably numerous troop of riders emerge -from the forest. - -Stoneheart rode at their head, and Don Pedro discovered, with feelings -of lively satisfaction, that the horses and mules so audaciously stolen -from him were in the rear of the troop. - -"Ha!" said he, "The robbers have been compelled to disgorge their prey." - -"It would appear so," answered the old man, with a scarcely perceptible -smile. - -Meanwhile, the hunter had halted the troop at a little distance from -the _teocali._ He himself had dismounted, and was now coming towards -the travellers. He soon reached them. - -"I perceive that you have succeeded in your enterprise," the Tigercat -said to him in a tone of raillery. - -"I have," answered the hunter laconically, and turning from him. - -"I am rejoiced at this circumstance," resumed the old man, addressing -Don Pedro; "thanks to it, you will reach your home on your own horses, -and without the loss of anything belonging to you." - -"How shall I ever repay all the obligations I owe you, señor?" said the -_hacendero_, with great emotion. - -"By not thanking me for them: my conduct towards you has been very -simple, and solely dictated by the interest I took in your unlucky -position." - -Although nothing could be more evident than the Tigercat's intention -to make a courteous answer, his words were uttered with such a hissing -accent, his voice was so ironical, and his tone so sarcastic, that the -effect produced was quite contrary to what he intended. Without exactly -comprehending the reason, Don Pedro felt he had met with an insult -instead of a compliment. - -"Let us end this," said Stoneheart abruptly. "The sun is already -high; and it is time to set out, if you would cross the forest before -nightfall." - -"In all sincerity," said the Tigercat, "notwithstanding the chagrin I -feel at seeing you depart, it is my duty to warn you that, if nothing -detains you here, you will do well to commence your journey." - -Don Pedro and his companions rose, and, accompanied by the two hunters, -descended into the plain. - -During the words which had been exchanged on the _teocali_, the mounted -Indians had disappeared, leaving the animals of the Mexicans at the -place where they had first halted. - -The _hacendero_, before he mounted, turned his head several times in -the direction in which the Indian's had vanished. - -"What are you looking for?" asked the old man, uneasy at this repeated -movement. - -"You will excuse me," answered Don Pedro; "but I am afraid to enter -without a guide into that pathless forest; and I do not see the one you -were good enough to promise me." - -"Nevertheless he stands before you, señor," said the Tigercat, pointing -to the hunter. - -"Yes," said the latter, looking defiantly at the old man, "it is I who -am to be your guide; and I give you my sacred word, that in despite of -savages, be they beasts or men, I will conduct you in safety to your -_hacienda._" - -The Tigercat made no answer to these words, which were evidently spoken -for his behoof; he contented himself by shrugging his shoulders, while -an indefinable expression settled on his mocking lips. - -"Oh!" said the _hacendero_, "We have indeed nothing to fear if you are -to be our guide, señor; the generosity of your late conduct is a sure -guarantee for the future." - -"Let us go," said the hunter briefly, "we have already lost too much -time." - -The travellers mounted without replying. - -"Adieu! And good luck," said the Tigercat, when he saw them ready to -start. - -"One word, if you please, caballero," exclaimed the _hacendero_, bowing -slightly to his host. - -"Speak, señor," said the latter; "is there any further service I can -render you?" - -"No," replied the Mexican; "I owe you too many favours already; only, -before I leave you, perhaps forever, I wish to tell you, without -desiring to pry too closely into the motives which prompted your -actions towards me, your conduct has apparently been so cordial and -noble, that I must try to express to you the extent of my gratitude. -Whatever may happen, señor, and until evident proof to the contrary, I -consider myself indebted to you; and if occasion offers, I shall know -how to cancel the debt I owe you." - -And before the Tigercat, stupefied by this adieu, which proved that -the _hacendero_ was not quite his dupe, had recovered, the Mexican -had given both spurs to his horse, and galloped off to rejoin his -companions who had already advanced some little way. - -The old man remained motionless, his eyes fixed on the travellers, -until they had finally disappeared within the forest; then he regained -the _teocali_, muttering in a low voice: - -"Has he foreseen my purpose? No, it is impossible; but his suspicion is -aroused, and I must have been less prudent than my wont." - -In the meantime the travellers had entered upon the forest, under the -guidance of Stoneheart, who rode alone in advance, with drooping head, -and apparently plunged in sombre thought. - -For two hours they progressed without exchanging a word. The hunter -rode on as if he were alone, without troubling himself in the least -about those who followed him; without even turning his head in their -direction, to see whether they were behind him. - -This behaviour only moderately astonished the _hacendero_, who, -recollecting the manner in which he had made acquaintance with the -hunter the day before, was expecting a certain oddness of character on -his part. Nevertheless, he was hurt by the coldness and indifference -displayed by the man whose good will he had sought to conciliate. So -he made no attempt to engage him to break the silence and become more -sociable. - -A little before midday the travellers reached a tolerably large -clearing, in the centre of which there gushed forth, from the fissures -of a rock, which rose to a grand height in the form of a pyramid, a -spring of water, as clear and limpid as crystal, which ran off in a -narrow stream through thick tufts of gladiolus. - -This clearing, shaded by a leafy vault of gigantic trees surrounding -it, offered a delicious spot for repose to the weary travellers. - -"We will wait here until the greatest heat of the day is over," said -the guide, breaking silence for the first time since they had left the -_teocali._ - -"Content," said the _hacendero_, smiling; "indeed, you could not have -chosen a fitter spot." - -"One of the baggage mules carries food and other refreshment, of which -you may avail yourself, if you choose; they have been provided for your -use." - -"And you--will you not join us?" asked the _hacendero_. - -"I am neither hungry nor thirsty; do not trouble yourself about me; -other duties claim my attention." - -Thinking it useless to insist, Don Pedro dismounted, lifted his -daughter from her saddle, and placed her on the turf beside the brook. -The horses were tethered, and all settled themselves to snatch a few -moments of repose. - -Stoneheart, after silently helping the _peones_ to unload the mule -which carried the provisions, and spreading them out before Don Pedro -and his daughter, absented himself with hasty strides, and was soon -lost in the forest. - -"What a strange fellow!" said the _capataz_, while doing honour to the -food before him. - -"His conduct is incomprehensible," answered Don Pedro. - -"But I believe him honest, in spite of his rough manner," said Doña -Hermosa; "up to the present his proceedings towards us have been -irreproachable." - -"Very true," said her father; "yet he seems to display a coldness -which, I confess, makes me uneasy." - -"It is impossible to think ill of a man who, in spite of all, has shown -us nothing but kindness hitherto," replied Doña Hermosa, with a certain -degree of warmth of manner; "we owe him our lives, especially myself, -whom he saved from a certain and horrible death." - -"Very true, my daughter; yet all this is most difficult to account for." - -"Not the least in the world, father: this man, accustomed to live -amongst Indians, has unconsciously adopted their sententiousness, and -the reserve of their manners. What you consider coldness, is probably -no more than bashfulness in the presence of a class of persons he is -not accustomed to; and his want of knowledge of our habits prevents his -speaking." - -"It is not impossible that you may be right, my child; however, I -intend to ease my mind of this anxiety; and I will not leave him till I -have made an effort to loosen his tongue." - -"Why should you distress him, father? We cannot exact anything from -him, beyond leading us in safety to the _hacienda._ Let him do as he -likes, if he only fulfils the promise he made us." - -"All very well, señorita," objected the _capataz_; "but you must -confess that we should be seriously at a loss if he takes it into his -head not to come back." - -"That supposition is inadmissible, Don Luciano: his horse is feeding -with ours; besides, for what purpose should he commit such an -unwarrantable treason." - -"This man, in spite of the whiteness of his skin, is more an Indian -than an individual of our colour; and, right or wrong, señorita, I -distrust the redskins amazingly." - -"Moreover," added Don Pedro, "I cannot see what urgent business could -induce him to leave us all alone, and to plunge into the forest." - -"Who can tell, father?" said the girl shrewdly; "It may be he is gone -to do us some further service." - -"At all events, señorita," resumed the _capataz_, "I see one thing -very clearly, which is, that if this man does not come back again, our -position is still more frightful than it was yesterday, for then we had -our rifles. Today we are completely without weapons, and incapable of -defending ourselves if attacked by man or beast." - -"It is too true," cried the _hacendero_, turning pale; "our arms were -taken from us while we slept. I never thought of them before. What can -be the meaning of all this? Have we again fallen into a snare, and is -this man really a traitor?" - -"No, my father," replied the girl, with spirit; "he is innocent; I am -sure of it. You will soon acknowledge the injustice of your suspicions." - -"God grant it!" said Don Pedro, with a sigh. - -At this moment a sharp and prolonged whistle was heard at a distance. -At the sound the hunter's horse, which had been browsing peaceably, -pricked up his ears, and darting in the direction whence the whistle -was heard, gave a neigh of pleasure, and galloped off into the forest. - -"What did I tell you, señorita?" cried the _capataz_. "Do you believe -me now?" - -"No," she replied energetically; "I do not believe this man to be a -traitor. Strong as appearances may be against him, you will soon see -the injustice of your suspicions." - -"For this once, my daughter, I concur with Don Luciano; it is evident -that, for reasons of his own the miscreant has abandoned us." - -His daughter shook her head, but said nothing. - -The _hacendero_ continued: - -"What shall we do? We must decide upon something or other; we cannot -stop here and wait for night." - -"It is my opinion," said the _capataz_, "that we have no other -alternative than to leave this place directly. Who knows whether the -wretch is not preparing to swoop down upon us this very moment, at the -head of a band of robbers like himself?" - -"Yes; but where are we to go? None of us knows the road," interposed -the _hacendero_. - -"Horses have an infallible instinct which never fails to direct them to -inhabited places. Let us throw the reins on their necks, and leave them -to choose their road." - -"It is a chance we might try; it might succeed. Let us set to work -without delay." - -"Father! In the name of Heaven," entreated Doña Hermosa, "Think of what -you are about to do. Do not act with a precipitation you would soon -regret. Wait a little while yet; it is scarcely midday, and an hour -more or less is of little importance." - -"I will not wait a minute, not a second!" violently exclaimed the -_hacendero_, rising to his feet. "Here, _muchachos!_ Saddle the horses -quickly; we will be off." - -The _peones_ hastened to obey. - -"Be careful, father," said the girl; "I hear the sound of a horse's -hoofs in the thicket; our guide is returning." - -The convictions of the _hacendero_ were shaken by his daughter's -earnest appeal. He dropped on the turf again, making a sign to his -companion to do the like. - -Doña Hermosa had not deceived herself. The noise she had heard was -certainly the step--not perhaps of a horse, for it was slow and -heavy, but at all events of an animal of great size. It was obviously -approaching. - -"Perhaps it is a grizzly bear," muttered the _hacendero_. - -"Or a jaguar in search of prey," added the _capataz_ in a low voice. - -The anxiety of the travellers was intense. Abandoned in the forest, -without arms to defend themselves, it was clear that they were lost if -a wild beast should really attack them; for flight was impossible, as -they knew not where to fly to. - -"You are mistaken," said Doña Hermosa, who alone had preserved her -presence of mind; "no danger threatens us. Look! The horses continue -feeding without showing the least alarm." - -"You are right," said Don Pedro; "they would have perceived the scent -of a wild beast--have been mad with fear, and taken to flight before -this." - -Suddenly the bushes parted, and the hunter made his appearance, leading -his horse by the bridle. - -"I was sure of it," cried Doña Hermosa in triumph; while her father and -the _capataz_ cast down their eyes, blushing for shame. - -The features of the hunter were as cold and impassive as they had -been when he quitted the clearing, only their expression was more -sombre. His horse carried on his back a heavy bundle, oblong in shape, -carefully corded, and wrapped up in buffalo hide. - -"You must excuse me for having left you," he said in a voice that -sounded rather sadly; "I only perceived, when it was too late, that -you had been deprived of your weapons,--at least I suppose that to be -the case; for you cannot have forgotten to take them when you left the -_teocali_; and as it is more than probable you will have to defend -yourselves before you leave the wilderness, I have been to find arms -for you." - -"Is that the reason why you left us?" - -"Why I left you!" he answered quietly. "I brought you to this place -because a few paces off I have one of those _caches_ (hiding places) -which we hunters fashion, here and there in the desert, to serve us in -time of need. But," he added in a bitter tone, "it has been discovered -and pillaged. On that account I whistled for my horse, whose help had -become indispensable; for I was obliged to go to another _cache_ at -some distance. If it had not been for this mishap, I should have been -back at least half an hour ago." - -This explanation was given by the hunter without emphasis, and in the -tone of a man conscious he was merely relating a simple fact. - -He unloaded his horse, and opened the bale. It contained five American -rifles, knives, straight swords called _machetes_, powder, balls, and -hatchets. - -"Arm yourselves. The rifles are good; they will not fail you when the -time to use them arrives." - -The Mexicans did not wait to be asked twice; they were soon armed to -the teeth. - -"Now, at least," said the hunter, "you can defend yourselves like men, -instead of letting yourselves be butchered like deer." - -"Ah," sighed Doña Hermosa, "I was convinced he would act like this." - -"Thanks, señorita," was his response; "thanks for your trust in me." - -While he spoke these words, his features became animated, and his eyes -flashed; but he soon resumed the impassiveness of marble. - -"I promised to conduct you in safety to your home," he said, "and I -will do so." - -"Is there any danger to be feared?" inquired Don Pedro. - -"There is always danger," he replied bitterly, "in the desert more than -elsewhere." - -"Are we threatened with treachery?" - -"Ask me no questions; I will not reply to them. Listen to my words, and -profit by them. If you wish to preserve your scalps, you must place -implicit confidence in me, whatever I may do, and obey me, without fear -or hesitation, in everything I may order. All I shall do will be done -with but one aim--your safety. Do you consent to these conditions?" - -"We do," exclaimed Doña Hermosa fervently; "we will not doubt your -loyalty, and will act entirely according to your council." - -"I swear it," said the _hacendero_. - -"It is well; now I will be answerable for everything. Put aside all -anxiety. Do not speak to me; I have need to collect my thoughts." - -Bowing carelessly, he betook himself to a little distance, and seated -himself at the foot of a tree. - -In the meantime the curiosity of the Mexicans was strongly excited. -They comprehended that serious danger was impending, and that the -hunter was planning means to avert it; but now that they had excellent -weapons, horns full of powder, and balls, they looked at their position -in a new light, and, although their anxiety was still great, they did -not despair of being able to escape from the snares laid for their -feet. - -The hunter, after remaining motionless as a statue for nearly half an -hour, raised his head, calculated the time by the shadows of the trees, -and said, rising with some impetuosity, - -"To horse; it is time to go." - -The horses were soon saddled, and the travellers in their seats. - -"You will march in Indian file," continued the hunter; "follow exactly -in my steps." - -Instead of advancing in the direction he had taken hitherto, he rode -his horse into the rivulet, the course of which he followed until -he reached a spot where two other brooks contributed their waters. -Stoneheart chose the left hand brook, and followed its windings. The -Mexicans closely imitated this manoeuvre, riding in Indian file--the -head of each horse at the crupper of the one in front of him. - -The heat was stifling in the covert, where the circulation of the air, -impeded by the foliage, was scarcely perceptible. The deepest calm -prevailed through the forest; the birds, nestled under the leaves, had -ceased their songs; and nothing was heard but the monotonous humming of -innumerable myriads of mosquitoes hovering about the marshes. - -In the meantime the brook they were following increased by degrees till -it assumed the character of a river. Here and there, already, black -_chicots_ (trees uprooted and carried down by the rivers, often forming -serious obstacles to navigation) began to make their appearance, on -which rosy flamingoes and herons stood on one leg; the banks right and -left became steeper, and the horses for some time past had been obliged -to swim. - -This unknown river, whose blue waters had never reflected anything -but the azure of the skies and the green dome formed by the trees -capriciously bending over its banks, presented to the eye a grand and -majestic sight, impressing the mind with a kind of melancholy calm and -religious awe. - -The travellers, silent as phantoms, continued their journey, swimming -slowly down the middle of the river, close at the heels of their guide, -whose eagle glance explored its banks. Arriving at a place where an -immense rock rose like a solitary watchtower, and formed an immense -vault overhanging the stream, Stoneheart slipped from his horse, whose -bridle he gave to Don Pedro, and swam under the arch, making a sign to -the others to pursue their course. He soon reappeared in one of those -Indian canoes which are built of birch bark, detached by means of -boiling water, and whose lightness is unequalled. With a few strokes -of the paddle he reached the travellers; the latter climbed into the -canoe, and their horses, relieved from the weight of their riders, were -able to swim with greater ease. - -Doña Hermosa was very glad of the change. Still suffering from her -wound, she began to feel much difficulty in keeping her seat on her -horse, although she exerted herself to the utmost to conceal her -fatigue. But the quick eye of the hunter had noticed her lassitude, and -he had brought the canoe for her relief. - -They still continued to advance in this manner for nearly an hour, -without any occurrence to disturb their tranquillity or make them -suspect the vicinity of an enemy. At last they reached a turn of the -river where the banks rose, for a considerable space, to a prodigious -height, and hemmed in the stream between two walls of rock terminating -in peaks. In the centre of the river arose a block of grayish granite, -about sixty yards in circumference, and towards it the hunter guided -the canoe. The Mexicans, at first astonished at this manoeuvre, were -not long before they comprehended it; for, when close in upon the rock, -they discovered that one of its faces sloped down in a gentle incline, -and in this face there yawned the mouth of a cavern. - -The canoe touched the ground; the travellers disembarked, and hastened -to bring the horses to land: the poor animals were spent with fatigue. - -"Come," said the hunter, shouldering the canoe; and the Mexicans -followed him. - -The cavern was spacious, and seemed to extend under water to a great -distance. The horses were stabled in a corner, and supplied with -provender. - -"Here," said the hunter, "we are as much in safety as it is possible -to be in the desert. If nothing comes to trouble us, we will pass the -night here, in order to give our horses the rest of which they stand -so much in need. You can light a fire without hesitation; the fissures -in the rock, which afford you light, will divide the smoke, and render -it invisible. Although I believe I have hidden our trail from those in -pursuit of us, it is still incumbent on me to make a reconnaissance -outside. Be not uneasy; present or absent, I watch over you. I will -return in an hour. But take heed not to show yourselves; in the virgin -forest, who can tell what eyes may be upon him? Adieu for a time." - -He went out, leaving his companions a prey to anxiety, which was -the more lively because, although well aware that some great danger -threatened, they could not foresee either whence or in what manner it -would fall on them, and because they were completely at the mercy of -a man whose character and ultimate intentions it was impossible to -divine. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE SKIRMISH. - - -Nature has rights she always enforces: whatever the anxiety of the -Mexicans, the fatigues they had endured during the whole of that -long day made them feel the imperious necessity of recruiting their -strength; so, after a few gloomy reflections on their critical and -almost desperate situation, Don Pedro ordered the _peones_ to light a -fire and prepare the evening meal. - -Men whose physical faculties are more frequently called into exertion -than their minds, never forget to eat and sleep, whatever situation -chance may place them in; appetite and sleep never fail them. The -reason is simple: constantly exposed to Titanic struggles with man or -the elements, their natural forces must be maintained in an equal ratio -with the efforts they have to make to surmount the obstacles which -oppose, or the perils which threaten them. - -The meal was sad and silent; the Mexicans were too deeply impressed by -the approach of night, the time habitually chosen by the redskins for -their attacks, to care for exchanging many words. - -The hunter's absence was protracted; already, for more than two hours, -the sun had disappeared behind the high mountaintops; thick darkness -enveloped the earth as with a shroud; not a star twinkled in the sky; -and great black clouds coursed through space, completely veiling the -orb of the moon. - -The _hacendero_ would not resign to any other the duty of watching -over the common safety. Lying face downwards on the platform, so -that he might not be visible if an unseen enemy were lying in wait, -he anxiously scanned the dark line of the water. At his side lay the -_capataz_, who, equally with himself, had no wish to attempt a repose -which he knew to be impossible. - -The high cliffs of the banks were bare and deserted; only at one place, -where the shore was accessible, they saw black shapes moving for a few -seconds, with hoarse and angry growls, and then disappearing. These -black forms were evidently wild animals, slaking their thirst in the -river before repairing to their layers. - -"Come!" suddenly exclaimed a deep and determined voice in the ear of -the Mexican. - -Don Pedro turned round, repressing a cry of astonishment; the hunter -stood by him, leaning on his rifle. - -The three men entered the cavern. The remains of the fire which had -been lighted for the evening meal diffused light enough to distinguish -objects. - -"You are very late," said the _hacendero_. - -"I have traversed six leagues since I left you," replied the hunter; -"but that is no matter. A man, whose name you need not know at present, -has resolved to prevent your reaching the _hacienda._ A party of -Apaches is on our trail. All my precautions have not availed to conceal -our tracks from these cunning demons, whose piercing eyes would detect -in the air the trail of the eagle's flight. They are encamped close by; -they are preparing rafts and canoes to attack you." - -"Are there many of them?" inquired the _hacendero_. - -"No; not above a score at most, of whom only six or seven are armed -with rifles; the rest have but bows and lances. Knowing you to be -without arms, or at least believing so, they count upon carrying you -off without striking a blow." - -"Who is the man who is so inveterate against us?" - -"What is that to you? He is a strange and mysterious being, whose life -is one continual round of dark conspiracies; his mind is an abyss which -no one has dared to sound, the depths of which even he himself, who -fears nothing in the world, would dread to fathom. But enough of him. -You are to be attacked in two hours; three chances of escape from the -fate prepared for you are open to you." - -"And what are these chances?" said the _hacendero_. - -"The first is, to remain here, await the attack, and make a vigorous -resistance. The Apaches, alarmed at finding armed and on their guard -the men whom they hoped to surprise weaponless and defenceless, may -lose courage, and retreat." - -Doña Hermosa, aroused by the sound of voices, had approached, and was -listening attentively. - -The _hacendero_ shook his head. "The chance seems hazardous," he said; -"for if our enemies succeeded in setting foot on the rock, they would -overpower us by dint of numbers, and make themselves masters of our -persons." - -"That would most probably be the case," said the hunter, coolly. - -"Let us hear the second chance; the one already proposed seems -impracticable." - -"This rock communicates, by a subterraneous passage under the bed of -the river, with another rock, a good distance from the place where -we now are. I will lead you to that rock; when we get there, we will -embark in the canoe; having reached the opposite bank of the river, we -will mount, and trust our safety to the speed of our horses." - -"I should prefer this chance, if our horses were not so worn out that a -night flight across the wilderness would be almost an impossibility." - -"The redskins know as well as I do all the outlets from the rock on -which we have taken refuge. Most likely they have already guarded the -passage by which we might hope to escape." - -"Alas!" said the _hacendero_, sorrowfully, "With all your good -intention to help us, the chances you propose are against us." - -"I know it; unfortunately, it does not depend upon me to make them -otherwise." - -"And lastly," resumed Don Pedro, with much resignation, "what is the -third chance?" - -"I am afraid you will find the last more desperate than the other two. -It is a rash and dangerous undertaking, which might perhaps offer a -hope of success if we had not with us a woman, whom we must not expose -to one peril in order to save her from another." - -"Then it is useless to name it," said the _hacendero_, with a mournful -look at his daughter. - -"You are wrong, father," said Doña Hermosa, with much animation; "let -us hear, at least, what this chance is. Perhaps it is the only good -one. Explain, señor," continued she, addressing the hunter. "After all -you have done for us, we should be ungrateful not to listen to your -counsel. I am convinced that what you hesitate to propose, for my sake, -is the only means of safety open to us." - -"That may be," answered the hunter; "but I repeat, señorita, that the -means are impracticable--you being with us." - -The girl drew herself up, a gay smile played about her rosy lips, and, -commencing her speech in a voice slightly ironical, she said: - -"You surely think me very weak and pusillanimous, señor, since you dare -not speak out. I am but a woman, it is true, and feeble, as we all are; -but I think I have proved to you, in the few hours during which we have -travelled together, that my heart is above vulgar fears; and that if -my physical strength is not equal to my moral energy, my will triumphs -over my woman's weakness, and makes me superior to circumstances, let -them be what they will." - -Stoneheart listened attentively to the beautiful girl. The mask of -impassiveness which covered his features melted away at the sound of -that melodious voice, and a deep blush suffused his face. - -"Pardon me, señorita," he said in a voice which the secret feelings -agitating him caused to waver; "I was wrong; I will speak out." - -"Good!" said she, with a pleasant smile; "I knew what your answer would -be." - -"The Apaches," began the hunter, "are encamped, as I have told you, at -a short distance from the bank of the river. Certain that they will -not be molested, they keep no watch; they sleep, drink the firewater, -and await the time for attacking you. We are six men, well armed and -determined; we know that our safety depends on the success of our -expedition. Let us land on the island, surprise the redskins, and fall -on them boldly. Perhaps we may succeed in opening ourselves a passage, -and in that case we shall be saved, for they will not pursue us after -they have been defeated. This is my proposal." - -There was a long silence; it was Doña Hermosa who broke it. - -"You were wrong in hesitating to acquaint us with this project," said -she, fervently; "it is the only one practicable. It is better to meet -danger halfway than to tremble in cowardly expectation of its advent. -Let us go! Let us go! We have not a minute to lose." - -"Daughter," exclaimed Don Pedro, "you are mad! Remember, we are going -to expose ourselves to almost certain death." - -"Be it so, my father," she replied, with feverish energy; "our fate is -in the hands of God, whose protection has been so evident thus far, -that I believe He will not abandon us now." - -"The señorita is right," cried the _capataz_; "let us smoke these -demons out of their lair. This hunter, to whom I make my most humble -apologies for having suspected his loyalty for an instant, will supply -us with the means of arriving, without being discovered, at the camp of -the Apaches." - -"I can but do my best," said the hunter modestly. - -"Let us go, then, since needs must," said the _hacendero_, with a sigh. - -The _peones_, who had not mingled in the conversation, seized their -rifles with an air of determination which proved them resolved to do -their duty. - -"Follow me," said the hunter, lighting a torch of _ocote_ wood, to show -the way. - -Without another word, the Mexicans plunged into the depth of the -cavern, taking with them the horses whose strength had been thoroughly -recruited by their rest of so many hours. - -They continued pushing their way through the subterranean passage. -Overhead they heard the dull and ceaseless noise of the waters; -thousands of night birds, dazzled by the unwonted light of the torch, -awoke from their slumbers, and wheeled around, uttering mournful and -discordant cries. - -At the end of half an hour's rapid march, the hunter halted. - -"Wait for me here," he said, and passed on rapidly, after delivering -the torch to the _capataz_. - -Shortly after, he returned. - -"Come," said he, "all goes well." - -They followed him anew. Suddenly a fresh, cool breeze met their faces, -and through the obscurity before them they saw two or three points of -light glittering. They had reached the other rock. - -"We must now redouble our caution," said the hunter; "those points -of light you see shining through the mist are the campfires of the -Apaches. Their ear is fine; the least noise would betray our presence." - -The canoe was launched again; the Mexicans embarked, the _capataz_, at -the stern of the frail bark, holding the reins of the horses, which -followed swimming. - -Crossing occupied only a few minutes, and the canoe soon grated against -the sandy beach. - -Nothing could be better than the place chosen by the hunter. A high -rock threw over the water, to a considerable distance, so dark a -shadow, that it was impossible to distinguish the travellers ten paces -off. - -The forest, scarcely twenty yards from the shore, offered, amongst its -thickets, immediate protection to the fugitives. - -"The señorita will remain here, with one _peon_ to guard the horses," -said the hunter; "we others will attempt the surprise." - -"Not so," exclaimed the girl resolutely. "I want no one here. You would -miss the man you wish to leave with me. Give me a pistol, to defend -myself in case of attack, and go." - -"Nevertheless, señorita--" - -"It is my will," she peremptorily exclaimed. "Go, and God be with you!" - -The _hacendero_ convulsively pressed his daughter to his bosom. - -"Courage, my father!" she cried, while she embraced him; "Courage; all -will end well." - -She took a pistol from him, and left him, waving her adieu. - -The hunter for the last time warned his companions to be cautious; and -the men set off, following his exact footsteps in the forest. - -After marching half an hour in Indian file, they saw the fires of the -Apaches glimmering close by. - -At a sign from the hunter, the Mexicans threw themselves on the -ground, and began to crawl forward in silence, advancing with extreme -precaution inch by inch, their ears on the watch, and ready to fire at -the first suspicious movement of the enemy. - -But nothing stirred: most of the Apaches slept, plunged, as Stoneheart -had asserted, in the brutal drunkenness caused by the abuse of the -firewater. - -Only three or four warriors, easily recognised as chiefs by the vulture -plumes they wore in their hair, were squatting around the fire, smoking -with the mechanical gravity characteristic of the Indian. - -By the hunter's order, the Mexicans slowly arose, and each man -sheltered himself behind the trunk of a tree. - -"I leave you here," whispered Stoneheart. "I am going to enter the -camp. Keep still as death; and, whatever may happen, do not fire before -you see me throw my cap on the ground." - -He disappeared among the underwood. - -From the spot where the travellers were hidden, they could easily see -all that took place in the camp of the redskins, and even hear what was -said; for only a few yards separated them from the fire round which the -_sachems_ crouched. - -With bodies ensconced behind the trees, their fingers on the triggers -of their rifles, their eyes fixed in feverish impatience on the camp, -the Mexicans awaited the signal to give fire. - -The few minutes preceding a night attack are very solemn. A man left -alone with his thoughts on such an occasion, about to risk his life -in pitiless strife, however brave he may be, feels himself seized by -an instinctive dread, which sends a cold shudder thrilling through -his frame. In that supreme hour he sees his whole life pass, as in -a dream, with giddy rapidity before him, and the most abiding and -predominant sensation is the thought of that which is to happen beyond -the grave,--the dread unknown. - -Some ten minutes had elapsed since the departure of the hunter, when -a slight noise was heard in the brushwood on the opposite side of the -camp to that where the Mexicans lay in ambush. - -The Apache chiefs turned their heads negligently, the bushes parted, -and Stoneheart made his appearance in the circle of light caused by the -watch fires. - -The hunter slowly approached the chiefs. When close to them, he -stopped, and bowed ceremoniously, but without speaking. - -The _sachems_ returned the salute with the innate good breeding of the -redskins. - -"My brother is welcome," said a chief. "Will he sit by the council -fire?" - -"No," said the hunter; "my time is short." - -"My brother is prudent," resumed the chief; "he has abandoned the -palefaces, because he knows that the Tigercat has delivered them over -to the barbed arrows of the Apache warriors." - -"I have not abandoned the palefaces: my brother deceives himself. I -have sworn to defend them; I will do so." - -"That is against the orders of the Tigercat." - -"I take no orders from him. I hate treachery. I will not let the -redskin braves accomplish what they meditate." - -"Oh!" grunted the _sachem;_ "My brother lifts his voice very high. I -have heard the hawk mock at the eagle, but a blow of its mighty wing -crushed the hawk to powder." - -"A truce to sarcasm, chief. You are one of the most renowned braves -of your tribe, and cannot consent to become the agent of an infamous -treachery. The Tigercat has received these travellers in his _calli;_ -he has treated them with hospitality. Is not hospitality sacred in the -desert?" - -The Apache burst into a laugh. - -"The Tigercat is a great chief; he would neither eat nor drink with the -palefaces." - -"It is an unworthy artifice." - -"The palefaces are thievish dogs. The Apaches will take their scalps." - -"Wretch!" cried the hunter; "I too am a paleface. Come and take my -scalp." - -And, rapid as thought, he cast on the ground the cap of fur which -covered his head, and at the same instant precipitated himself on the -Indian chief, and plunged his knife into his heart. - -Five shots were heard simultaneously with this action, and the -remaining chiefs sitting round the fire rolled to the ground in their -death agony. - -The _sachems_ were the only Indians with rifles. - -"Forward! Forward!" shouted the hunter; and seizing his rifle by the -muzzle, he hurled himself into the midst of the panic-stricken Apaches. - -The Mexicans after their first fire, rushed into the camp to reinforce -the guide. - -Then a terrible struggle commenced--six men against fifteen--a struggle -all the more fierce and desperate because each man knew he could expect -no mercy. - -Happily for themselves, the whites were armed with pistols. These they -discharged point-blank in the face of their opponents, attacking them -afterwards with the sabre. - -The Indians had been so completely surprised--they had so little -expected to have to sustain such a vigorous onslaught from men who -seemed to have emerged from the earth, and whose numbers they were far -from suspecting--that half of them had been killed before the rest -could recover from their fright, or attempt serious resistance. When at -last they essayed an organised defence, it was too late. The Mexicans -pressed them so hard, that a longer resistance was impossible. - -"Hold!" shouted the hunter. - -Whites and redskins lowered their arms at once. - -The hunter continued: "Warriors of the Apaches, throw down your arms!" - -They obeyed; and at a signal from the guide, the Mexicans bound their -opponents without further difficulty. - -As soon as the redskins acknowledged their defeat, they awaited, with -complete apathy and their usual fatalism, the doom their victors might -think fit to impose upon them. - -Out of twenty Apache braves, only eight remained alive: the rest had -fallen. - -"At sunrise," said the hunter, "I will come and release you from your -bonds. Till then, stir not! I pardon once; never a second time." - -The Mexicans collected all the arms, freed all the horses tethered at -one side of the camp, drove them into the forest, where they were soon -lost to sight, and left the Apaches. - -"And now," exclaimed the hunter, "let us return to the señorita." - -"But," enquired Don Pedro, "is it really your intention to restore -these men to liberty?" - -"Assuredly. Would you have me leave them to be devoured by wild beasts?" - -"It would be no great misfortune," answered the rancorous _capataz_. - -"Are they not men, like ourselves?" - -"They are so little like ourselves, that it is hardly worth mention," -said the _capataz_. - -"And will you really dare to place yourself in the power of these -ferocious beings, exasperated as they are by defeat?" asked the -_hacendero_. "Do you not fear they will assassinate you?" - -"These men!" replied the hunter in disdain; "They would not dare." - -Don Pedro could not repress his amazement. - -"The redskins are the most vindictive of men," said he. - -"True," was the reply; "but I am not a man in their eyes." - -"What then?" - -"An evil spirit," murmured the hunter in a hoarse whisper. - -By this time they had reached the place where they had left their -horses. - -The noise of the combat had extended itself to the spot where Doña -Hermosa was waiting; but that courageous girl, far from suffering -herself to be overcome by the very natural fear she experienced, -understood the importance of the post confided to her, and remained -firmly on her guard, a pistol in each hand, attentively listening to -every sound in the forest, ready to defend herself, and resolute to die -sooner than fall into the hands of the Indians. - -Her father having explained to her what had occurred, they began their -journey at the best speed of their horses. - -The whole night passed without slackening their pace. At sunrise they -had cleared the forest, and there lay the bare wilderness, extending to -the horizon. - -They continued their route for two more hours, when they halted. - -The hunter addressed them: "We must part here." He spoke in a firm, -voice, yet unable completely to conceal the feeling of sorrow which -pervaded him. - -"So soon!" said the girl naively - -"Thanks for that expression of regret, señorita; but I must go. You are -but a few miles from your _hacienda:_ the road is easy; my help is no -longer needful." - -"We must not part thus, señor," said the _hacendero_, holding out his -hand; "I owe you too many obligations." - -"Forget them, _caballero_," vehemently exclaimed the young hunter; -"forget me too: we must never meet again. You return to civilised life, -I to the desert. Our roads are far apart; for your sake and for mine, -pray that we never again stand face to face. Only," he added, lifting -his eyes to the señorita, "I carry with me a memory of you which can -never be effaced. And now, farewell! Yonder are the _vaqueros_ of your -_hacienda_ approaching to meet you. You are in safety." - -He bent his head to his saddlebow, tuned his horse, and began to gallop -away. But, looking back, he perceived Doña Hermosa riding after him. - -"Stay," she exclaimed. - -He obeyed mechanically. - -"Look," said she, presenting to him a slender gold ring; "of all my -possessions, I value this ring the most; it belonged to my mother whom -I never knew. Keep it in memory of me, señor." - -The señorita rode off, leaving the ring in his hand without giving him -time to reply. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -THE PUEBLO (THE TOWN). - - -After the Spanish rule had been firmly established in the New -World, the government, to hold the Indians, in cheek, constructed -fortified posts, at certain distances, on the extreme limits of their -possessions. These posts were called _presidios_, and were peopled by -criminals of every degree of whom it was deemed prudent to clear the -mother country. The _presidio_ of San Lucar, on the Rio Bermejo, was -one of the first established. - -At the epoch of the foundation of this _presidio_, the post consisted -solely of a fort built on the north bank, on a steep cliff which -commands the river, the plains to the south, and the surrounding -country. - -It is square in form, built with very thick walls of hewn stone, and -flanked by three bastions,--two on the river, to east and west, the -third in the plain. - -The interior contains the chapel, priest's house and the powder -magazine; on the other sides are the old dwelling places of the -prisoners, spacious buildings for the commandant, the treasurer, and -officers of the garrison, and likewise a small hospital. - -All these buildings, only one story high, were finished off with -flat Italian roofs. Outside, the government had also constructed vast -granaries, a bakery, a mill, two workshops for saddlers and carpenters, -and two _ranchos_ appropriated to the horses and cattle. - -In these days the fort is almost in ruins the walls, for want of -repair, are crumbling in all directions; only the dwellings are kept in -tolerable condition. - -The _presidio_ of San Lucar is divided into three sections,--two to -the north, the third to the south of the river. - -Its general aspect is melancholy. A few sparse trees grow here and -there, in close contiguity to the river, manifesting, by their want -of vitality, how ungrateful is the soil from which they draw their -existence. The roads are covered with a pulverulent sand, throwing up -clouds of dust at the least motion in the atmosphere. - -Three days after the events recorded in our last chapter, at about -two o'clock in the afternoon, five or six _vaqueros_ and _leperos_ -were seated at a table in the drinking room of a _pulquería_ (a public -house) of New San Lucar, which is situated on the south bank of the -river, and disputed vehemently, while they emptied, at long draughts, -the _pulque_ in the cups which circulated among them. - -"_¡Canarios!_" exclaimed a tall and meagre fellow, with the mien and -air of a brazen-faced scoundrel, "Are we not free men? If Señor Don -Louis Pedrosa, our governor, persist in fleecing us in this fashion, -the Tigercat is not too far off for a man to come to an understanding -with him. Though he chooses to be an Indian chief today, he is a white -man without alloy, and a _caballero_ to the tips of his fingers." - -"_¡Calla la voz!_ be silent, Pablito!" said another; "You had better -swallow your words with your _pulque_ than utter such folly." - -"I will speak!" said Pablito, who was washing the inside of his throat -more than the others. - -"Do you not know that invisible eyes are watching us from the shade, -and that ears are open to gather up our words, and profit by them?" - -"There you are again," replied the first speaker: "always in fear, -Carlocho! I have no more respect for a spy than for an old _cuarta_" -(hag). - -"Pablito!" exclaimed the other, placing his finger on his lips. - -"What! Am I not right? Why does Don Louis bear us so much malice?" - -"You are wrong," interrupted a third, with a laugh. "Don Louis, on the -contrary, is only too fond of you so he always keeps you under his -thumb." - -"This devil of a _verado_ has a wit fit for such a rascal as he," -roared Pablito, with shouts of laughter. - -"Well, after us the end of the world." - -"In the meantime let us drink," said the _verado_. - -"Good! Let us drink, and drown care. Have we not Don Fernando Carril -to help us when our purses run dry?" - -"Another name which ought to have stuck in your throat," said Carlocho, -striking the table in his irritation with his fist. "Can you never hold -your tongue, cursed dog?" - -Pablito frowned, and, looking angrily across the table, exclaimed: "Do -you pretend to give me a lesson, _amigo? ¡Canarios!_ You begin to put -my blood up." - -"A lesson? And why not, when you deserve it?" replied the other, -without stirring. "_Caray_ these two hours you have been drinking like -a sponge; you are full as a vat, and talk as wildly as an old woman. -Hold your tongue, or go to sleep." - -"_Mil rayos_," growled Pablito, sticking his knife violently into the -table; "You shall answer for this!" - -"_¡Vive Dios!_ A blood-letting will do you good. My hand itches to give -you a _navajada_ (a stroke with a knife) across your hideous snout." - -"Hideous snout, did you say?" and Pablito threw himself upon Carlocho, -who awaited his onset firmly. - -The other _vaqueros_ and _leperos_ threw themselves between the pair, -to prevent the meeting. - -"¡Halloa, _caballeros!_" cried the _pulquero_ (innkeeper), thinking it -necessary to interfere. "Peace! in the name of God or the devil! No -quarrels in my house: if you wish for satisfaction, the street is free." - -"The _pulquero_ is right!" screamed Pablito. "Come, if you are a man!" - -"Gladly!" cried Carlocho; and the two _vaqueros_ rushed into the street. - -As to the worthy _pulquero_, he stood at his door, his hands in the -pockets of his _calzoneras_ (loose trousers), and whistled a _jarana_ -(a dance tune), while expecting the fight. - -Pablito and Carlocho wrapped the left arm in the _zarapé_ for a shield, -took off their hats and saluted with much affectation, drew their long -knives from their girdles, and, without exchanging a word, stood on -their guard with remarkable coolness. - -In this kind of duel--the only one, by the by, known in -Mexico--satisfaction consists in slashing the adversary in the face. -A blow delivered below the girdle would be considered a piece of -treachery unworthy of a true _caballero._ - -The two opponents, firmly planted with legs apart, bodies inclined, and -heads thrown back, watched each other fixedly, in order to forestall a -movement, parry a blow, or inflict a wound. The rest of the _vaqueros_, -with their delicate maize cigarettes in their mouths, looked on -composedly, and applauded every adroit thrust or parry. - -The fight was continued for some minutes, with equal success on -either side, when Pablito, whose sight was most likely obfuscated by -his copious potations, came to the parry a second too late, and felt -the point of Carlocho's knife rip the skin of his face from chin to -forehead. - -"Bravo! Bravo!" exclaimed all the _vaqueros_ at once. "Well hit!" - -The combatants, flattered by this approbation, stepped away from each -other, bowed to the spectators, sheathed their knives, saluted one -another with exquisite courtesy, and having first shaken hands, went -into the _pulquería_ once more. - -The _vaqueros_ are a peculiar race of men, whose ways and manners are -quite distinct from the customs known in Europe. Those of San Lucar -may serve as a type. Born on the Indian frontiers they have contracted -sanguinary habits, and their disregard of life is remarkable. -Inveterate gamblers, the cards are never out of their hands; and play -is a fruitful source of quarrels, in which the knife is constantly -called into requisition. Careless of the future, little heedful of -present trouble, and enduring physical suffering hardily, they look -upon death with as much contempt as on life, and recoil before no -danger. - -These men--who often abandon their families in order to live a life -of greater license among the savage hordes of the desert; who, in -shear wantonness, spill the blood of their fellow creatures; who are -implacable in their hate--these men are capable of ardent friendship, -and of extraordinary devotedness and self-denial. Their character -presents a curious mixture of good and evil, of unbridled vice and -sterling qualities. They are at one and the same time idle, gamblers, -quarrelsome, drunkards, ferocious, brave to rashness and devoted heart -and soul to a friend, or the patron of their choice. From infancy blood -runs like water from their hands during the period of the _matanza -del ganado_ (slaughtering the cattle); and this familiarity with the -crimson stains hardens them to the sight of human gore. Lastly, their -jokes are as coarse as their habits, the threat of using the knife on -quite frivolous occasions being the most delicate and the most common. - -While the _vaqueros_, reseated at the table in the _pulquería_, were -pouring libations to their reconciliation, and drowning the remembrance -of the petty incident in floods of _pulque_ and _mezcal_ (a coarse kind -of brandy), a man entered, muffled in the folds of a thick cloak, and -with the wide brim of his hat pulled over his eyes. Approaching the -table without uttering a word, he cast a look of seeming indifference -around, lighted a cigarette at the brazier, and struck three blows upon -it with a large piastre he held between his fingers. - -The noise, which appeared to be a signal, startled the three -_vaqueros_. They dropped the noisy conversation they were engaged in, -as if suddenly struck by an electric shock, and became as still as -death. Pablito and Carlocho began to tremble, seeking all the while to -discover the features of the new arrival under the folds of his cloak; -while the _verado_ turned his head on one side to hide his crafty -smiles. - -The stranger cast his half-consumed cigar into the brazier, and -retired from the filthy room in the same silence in which he came. - -An instant later, Pablito, who was stanching his bleeding cheek, -and Carlocho, making a pretence of important business, quitted the -_pulquería_. The _verado_ glided along the wall to the door, and -followed at their heels. - -"Holloa!" muttered the _pulquero_, "Here are three _pícaros_ -(villains), who seem to be concocting some devil's job, in which more -broken heads than _duros_ (dollars) are to be gained. _¡Caray!_ That is -their lookout." - -The remaining _vaqueros_, completely absorbed in a game at _monte_, -and bending over their cards, appeared scarcely to have noticed the -departure of their comrades. - -At some little distance from the _pulquería_ the stranger looked back. -The two _vaqueros_ were walking close behind him, talking carelessly, -as if they were two idlers strolling along. The _verado_ was not to be -seen. - -The stranger went on his way again, after making a scarcely perceptible -sign to the two men, and pursued a road which, in a gentle curve, -gradually retired from the river, and led, little by little, into the -fields. At the exit from the _pueblo_ this road took a sharp angle, and -narrowed suddenly into a path, which lost itself in the plain among -many more. - -Just at the bend in the road, a cavalier, trotting hurriedly in the -direction of the _presidio_, passed close to the three men; but, -immersed in their thoughts, neither stranger nor _vaqueros_ took -notice of him. As to the cavalier, he darted a rapid and piercing look -at them, and gradually slackened his horse's speed, which he stopped -altogether a few yards further on. - -"God forgive me!" he said to himself; that is Don Fernando Carril, or -else the devil in flesh and bone. That fool, Zapote, has missed him -again, then! What business can he have out here, in company with those -two bandits, who look like agents of Satan? May I never be Torribio -Quiroga if I don't find out, and if I do not put myself on their traces. - -Señor Don Torribio Quiroga was an individual of not more than -thirty-five, with a rather stout figure, under the middle height. But -to make up for it, the squareness of his shoulders, and thick-set -limbs, gave unmistakable evidence of great muscular power. Little grey -eyes, lively, and sparkling with malice and audacity, lit up a face -which was perhaps somewhat vulgar. He was dressed in the costume of all -Mexicans of a certain rank. - -He dismounted, and looked about for somebody to hold his horse, -but could see no one; for, at San Lucar, and especially in the new -_pueblo_, it was almost a miracle to meet two persons passing through -the streets at the same time. He stamped in anger, threw the reins over -his arm, and led his horse to the _pulquería_ whence the _vaqueros_ had -come, confiding him to the care of the landlord. - -Having carefully completed this duty--for the Mexican's dearest friend -is his horse--Don Torribio retraced his steps with the most minute -precaution, like a man who wishes to see without himself being seen. - -The _vaqueros_ had gained considerably upon him, and disappeared behind -a hillock of shifting sand just at the moment when he turned the angle -of the lane: however, he soon saw them again as they were toiling up a -steep and rough path leading to a clump of trees, which by chance or -some caprice of nature had shot up among the arid sands. - -Sure of finding them now, Don Torribio began to walk more slowly, and -lit a cigar, to keep himself in countenance in case of surprise, or to -prevent any casual suspicion of his intentions. Luckily, the _vaqueros_ -never looked back once, but entered the wood close upon the heels of -the man recognised by Don Torribio as Don Fernando Carril. - -When, in his turn, Don Torribio arrived at the margin of the wood, he -took good care not to walk straight into it. He first made a slight -_détour_ to the right; then, bending down to the ground, he commenced -crawling on hands and knees, taking special care to avoid any noise -that might excite the attention of the _vaqueros_. - -The sound of voices soon reached him. Gently raising his head, he -perceived, in a small clearing close at hand, the figures of the three -men, who had stopped, and were engaged in a lively conversation. He -rose from the ground, and hid himself behind a maple tree. - -Don Fernando Carril had dropped his cloak, leaning with his shoulders -against a tree, and, with his legs crossed, he was listening with -visible impatience to what Pablito was saying. - -The hands of Don Fernando were small, and delicately gloved; his feet, -showing the nobility of his blood by their diminutive size, were -encased in varnished boots,--a luxury unheard of in these distant -regions. His costume, of amazing richness, was absolutely identical in -shape with that of the _vaqueros_. A diamond of immense value fastened -the collar of his shirt; and his _zarapé_ was worth more than five -hundred piastres. For the present, we will conclude the portrait here. - -Two years before our narrative commences, Don Fernando Carril had -arrived at San Lucar, knowing nobody; and everyone had asked, Who -is he? Where does he come from? Whence does he derive his riches? -And where do his estates lie? Don Fernando bought a _hacienda_ a few -leagues from San Lucar. Under pretence of defending it against the -Indians, he fortified it, surrounded it with palisades and a moat, -and furnished it with two small pieces of cannon. In this way he had -kept his doings secret, and curiosity at bay. Although he never opened -his _hacienda_ to receive a guest, he was himself received by the -first inhabitants of San Lucar, whom he visited most assiduously, till -suddenly, to the great amazement of all, he disappeared for several -months. - -The ladies missed their practice in smiles and ogling, the men their -occupation of contriving adroit questions to entrap Don Fernando. -Don Louis Pedrosa, whose post as governor gave him a right to be -inquisitive, could not help feeling uneasy about the stranger; but, -wearied with conjecture, he was obliged to trust to time, which, sooner -or later, reveals all mysteries. Nothing more was known of the man who -was standing in the clearing, listening to Pablito. - -"Enough!" said this personage, interrupting Pablito, in a fit of -passion; "You are a dog, and a dog's son." - -"Señor!" exclaimed the latter. - -"I feel inclined to crush you, wretch!" - -"A threat! And to me!" shouted the _vaquero_ white with fury, and -unsheathing his knife. - -Don Fernando seized the man's fist with his gloved hand, and gave it -such a sudden and violent wrench, that the _vaquero_ dropped his weapon -with a groan. - -"Down on your knees, and ask for pardon!" the don went on, hurling the -wretch to the ground. - -"No! I will die first!" - -"Begone! You are a brute beast!" - -The _vaquero_ staggered as he rose; his eyes were bloodshot, his lips -blue; his whole body trembled. He picked up his knife, and approached -Don Fernando, who stood there with folded arms. - -"It is true; yes, I am a brute beast; but, nevertheless, I am devoted -to you. Forgive me, or kill me, but do not bid me begone." - -"Go! I tell you." - -"And you have no more to say to me?" - -"It is my last word; vex me no more." - -"Your last word to me? Then I go--to the devil!" And he raised his -weapon to kill himself. - -Don Fernando arrested the stroke. "I forgive you," said he: "but, if -you still wish to remain in my service, be mute as a corpse." - -The _vaquero_ fell at his feet, and covered with kisses the hand -extended to him. It was like a dog licking the hand of the master who -has beaten him. - -Carlocho had taken no part in this scene, but remained a calm and -unmoved spectator. - -"What charm has this mysterious stranger," muttered Don Torribio behind -his maple, "to make himself beloved like this?" - -After a short silence, Don Fernando again spoke. - -"I know you are devoted to me. I have great confidence in your -fidelity; but you are a drunkard, and drink is an evil counsellor." - -"I will drink no more," replied the _vaquero_. - -Don Fernando smiled in disdain. - -"Drink, but do not drown your reason. Drunkenness such as yours lets -fall words for which there is no remedy,--words more murderous than -the dagger. It is not the master, it is the friend who speaks to you. -Can I count on you both?" - -"You can." - -"I leave this place for a few days; you will remain in the -neighbourhood. At a short distance from the _pueblo_ is the Hacienda de -las Norias de San Antonio; do you know it?" - -"Who does not know Don Pedro de Luna?" - -"Watch that _hacienda_ carefully, both without and within. If anything -extraordinary befalls Don Pedro or his daughter, Doña Hermosa, one of -you will come and acquaint me with it. You know where to find me?" - -The men bowed their heads. - -"Will you execute all my orders, however incomprehensible, with -promptitude and accuracy?" - -"We swear so, master." - -"Good! One word more; attach to yourselves as many _vaqueros_ as you -can; strive to gather together a body of men to be depended on. Do this -without exciting suspicion; she never sleeps with both eyes closed. -Stay! I remember! Put no faith in the _verado;_ he is a traitor--a spy -upon me, in the service of the Tigercat." - -"Shall we kill him?" coolly asked Carlocho. - -"It might be, prudent; only rid yourselves of him quietly." - -The two _vaqueros_ looked at each other furtively. - -Don Fernando seemed not to remark what happened. - -"Do you want money?" he asked. - -"No, master; we have still some." - -"Nevertheless, take this as well: better to have too much than too -little." - -He placed in the hands of Carlocho a long netted purse, across the -meshes of which a goodly number of gold pieces glittered. - -"Now, Pablito, my horse." - -The _vaquero_ led from the recesses of the wood a magnificent charger. -Don Fernando vaulted into the saddle. - -"Remember," said he, "prudence and fidelity; one indiscretion would -cost you your lives." - -He waved his hand to the _vaqueros_, gave his horse the spur, and rode -off in the direction of the _presidio_. The two men resumed the road to -the _pueblo._ - -When they were a good way off, the brushwood at one corner of the -clearing began to shake, and a human head slowly emerged, the face -blanched with terror. - -The head was succeeded by the body of the _verado_ who had risen to -his feet, his knife in one hand, a pistol in the other, and now looked -about him with his hair standing on end. - -"_¡Canarios!_" he cried in a low tone; "rid themselves of me quietly! -We shall see! we shall see, _¡Santa Virgen del Pilar!_ What demons! -Aha! I was right to listen." - -"It is the only way to hear," said a mocking voice. - -"Who goes there?" roared the _verado_, as he jumped to one side. - -"A friend," replied Don Torribio, leaving his hiding place and -advancing into the open. - -"What! You, Señor Don Torribio Quiroga? You are welcome. Then you -listened too?" - -"_¡Cuerpo de Cristo!_ Didn't I listen! I think I have profited by it, -to get edifying news about Don Fernando." - -"Since you overheard the conversation, what do you think of it?" - -"This _caballero_ seems to me a black villain enough; but we will -thwart his infamous plans." - -"God grant we may!" muttered the _verado_, with a sigh. - -"And now, what are your own intentions?" - -"Mine! I swear I do not know. I know nothing, except that my head -swims. Did you hear? They want to rid themselves of me quietly! In my -opinion, they are the greatest wretches in the prairie." - -"Pooh! I have known them a long time; they give me very little -uneasiness." - -"And I, on the contrary, am very uneasy." - -"What the devil! You are not dead yet!" - -"_¡Vive Dios!_ I am little better off; I am literally between death and -the devil." - -"How can you be afraid--you, the most daring hunter of the jaguar I -know?" - -"A jaguar is but a jaguar, after all; one can talk reason to him with -a ball. But these two _birbones_ (rascals), whom Don Fernando has -maliciously set upon my trail, are veritable demons, without faith -or law, who would bleed their own fathers for a small measure of -_pulque._" ("To bleed" is the common Mexican expression for "to stab.") - -"True; but time presses. For reasons with which I need not acquaint -you, I take enormous interest in Don Pedro de Luna, and more in his -lovely daughter. Don Fernando Carril, as we have just learnt, is -concocting some infernal plot against this family. I mean to frustrate -it. Will you assist me? Two men can do a great deal, if they work with -a will." - -"Do you propose a partnership with me, Don Torribio?" - -"Call it what you will; but answer promptly." - -"In that case, sincerity for sincerity, Don Torribio. This morning -I would have refused your proposal: tonight I accept it; for I have -done with soft-heartedness. My position is completely changed. Rid -themselves of me quietly! _¡Vive Dios!_ I will have my revenge. I am -yours, as my knife is to the sheath. I am yours, body and soul, on the -word of a _vaquero_." - -"I see we shall easily come to an understanding." - -"Say, rather, we understand each other already." - -"Good! But we must be cautious, if we wish to succeed: the game we -are about to chase is wily. Do you know a _lepero_ named Tonillo el -Zapote?" - -"Know Tonillo! He is my bosom friend." - -"So much the better. This Tonillo is a resolute fellow, on whom one can -fearlessly depend." - -"That is holy truth. Moreover, he is a _caballero_ of excellent -principle." - -"He is: find him out, and bring him one hour after sunset to the -Callejou de las Minas" (the pass of the mines). - -"It shall be done; I understand perfectly. We will be there." - -"And then, we three will arrange our counterplot." - -"Yes; and set your heart at rest. We will find a way to deliver you -from this man, who wishes to rid himself of me quietly." - -"That seems to lie heavily on your mind." - -"_¡Caray!_ Just put yourself in my place. After all, the longest liver -will see. Don Fernando has not got quite so far with me as he fancies." - -"Then you will bring Tonillo?" - -"Were I to bring him by force, we would both be there." - -"Now, we have nothing more to do than to go about our separate affairs." - -"Which road do you take?" - -"I am going direct to the _hacienda_ of Don Pedro." - -"Listen to me, Don Torribio: do not broach this matter to him." - -"What is your reason for saying so, _verado?_" - -"Because Don Pedro, excellent man and perfect _caballero_ as he is, -has old-fashioned ideas, and would probably attempt to dissuade you -from your plan." - -"Perhaps you may be right; he had better know nothing of the service I -wish to render him." - -"It will be better. Now Don Torribio, good-bye till evening." - -"Good-bye; and good luck!" - -The two men separated. Don Torribio Quiroga ran hastily down the road -leading to the _pueblo_, to regain his horse from the _pulquero_; while -the _verado_, whose horse had been hidden somewhere about, jumped into -the saddle, and galloped off in a fury still muttering between his -teeth: - -"Rid themselves of me quietly! Was there ever such an idea? But we -shall see. _¡Mil rayos!_" (a thousand thunders). - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -DOÑA HERMOSA. - - -Stoneheart was not mistaken in declaring that the dust, rising far away -in the desert, was caused by the servants of the _hacienda_; in fact, -the hunter had scarcely left the persons he was guiding, when the cloud -of sand was blown away by the breeze, disclosing a numerous party of -_vaqueros_ and _peones_, well armed, who were approaching at the top of -their speed. - -Two horses' length in front galloped Don Estevan Diaz, chiding his -companions, and urging them to increase their pace. - -The two parties soon met, and mingled with each other. - -Estevan Diaz, as Don Pedro had foreseen, had grown anxious at his -master's lengthened absence. Fearing lest some accident might have -occurred, he had assembled all the most resolute men belonging to the -_hacienda_, and placing himself at their head, commenced his search at -once, scouring the wilderness in all directions. - -But had it not been for the lucky chance which led to the meeting with -Stoneheart, in the very moment when the strength and courage of the -little party were oozing away together, it is probable that the search -would have been without result, and another mournful and horrible -tragedy registered in the annals of the prairies. - -The joy of Don Estevan and his party was great at recognising those -whom they had scarcely hoped to see again, and the whole company gaily -took the road to the _hacienda_, where they arrived in safety a couple -of hours later. - -Doña Hermosa retired to her apartment as soon as she had dismounted, -excusing herself on account of the fatigue she had endured. - -She reached her cool maiden chamber, which looked so calm and pleasant, -cast a glance of delight at the cherished appurtenances, and then threw -herself with a feeling of instinctive gratitude, at the knees of the -Virgin, whose image, crowned with flowers, was placed in a corner of -the chamber, and seemed to watch over her. - -Her prayer addressed to the Virgin was long, very long. For more than -an hour she remained on her knees, murmuring words which none save God -could hear. - -At last she rose, slowly, and as it were with reluctance, made a final -sign of the cross, and, traversing the room, cast herself on a couch, -where she nestled in a flood of drapery, like the Bengali in its bed of -moss. - -Then she gave herself up to thought. - -What power could thus profoundly occupy the mind, hitherto so gay and -cheerful, of this young creature, whose life from infancy had been -one unbroken succession of gentle joys,--for whom the sky had had no -cloud, the past no regrets, and the future no apprehensions Why did she -frown so heavily, tracing, on her pure forehead, lines at first hardly -perceptible, but deepening with her deepening thoughts? - -None could tell. Hermosa herself could not, perhaps, have given an -explanation. - -This was the reason: without accounting to herself for the change she -was undergoing, Hermosa awoke as from a long slumber; her heart beat -more quickly, her blood coursed more rapidly in her veins, a flood of -unknown thoughts rushed from her heart to her brain, making it whirl. -In one word, the girl felt she had become a woman. - -A vague uneasiness without apparent cause, a feverish irritability, -agitated her by turns; sometimes a stifled sob would rend her bosom, -and a burning tear show like a pearl on her eyelashes; then her purple -lips would part under the influence of a charming smile, the reflection -of thoughts she could not define, beseeching her to drive them away, -and return to the calm and heedless joys she was losing forever. - -"Yes!" she cried suddenly, bounding from her couch with the grace of a -startled fawn; "Yes: I will discover who he is." - -Hermosa had involuntarily allowed the key of the riddle to escape her. -Possessed by the spirit whose voice was evoking her inward agitation, -she loved--or at least Love was on the point of revealing himself to -her. - -Scarcely had she uttered the words we have reported, than she blushed -deeply, and, urged by a charming impulse of maiden modesty, ran to draw -before the image of the Virgin the curtain used to conceal it. - -The Virgin, the habitual confidante of the girl, was not to know the -secrets of the woman. Full of holy fervour, Hermosa had immediately -seized upon this delicate distinction; perhaps she mistrusted herself; -perhaps the feeling which had been so suddenly and violently awakened -in her heart did not seem pure enough to be confided, with all its -longings and desires, to her at whose feet she had hitherto deposited -all her hopes and aspirations. - -Feeling calmer after this action, which, in her superstitious -ignorance, she fancied would shroud her from the piercing eye of her -heavenly protectress, Doña Hermosa regained her couch, and touched a -silver bell standing beside her. At the sound, the door softly opened -half way, and the arch face of a charming _chola_ (maid) appeared at -the opening with a look of inquiry. - -"Come in, _chica_" (girl), said her mistress, making a sign for her to -approach. - -The _chola_, a slim maiden, of lithe figure, and whose skin was -slightly tawny, like that of all half-breeds kneeled gracefully at -the feet of her mistress, fixed her great black eyes upon her, and -smilingly asked what she wanted. - -"Nothing," was the evasive answer, "only to see and talk to you a -little." - -"How glad I am!" said the girl, passionately clasping her hands -together; "It is so long since I have seen you, _niña_" (a term of -endearment). - -"Did my absence distress you much, Clarita?" - -"What a question to ask, señorita! Do I not love you like a sister? Do -they not say you have been in great danger?" - -"Who says that?" asked Hermosa carelessly. - -"Everyone; they talk of nothing but your adventures in the prairie. All -the _peones_ have left their work to hear the news; the _hacienda_ is -in an uproar." - -"Indeed!" - -"For the two whole days of your absence, we did not know what saint to -commend you to; I vowed a gold ring to my good patroness Santa Clara." - -"Thank you," said she, with a smile. - -"But you should only have seen Don Estevan! He would not be comforted; -the poor fellow was like a madman, accusing himself as the cause of all -that had happened: he tore his hair, asserting that he ought to have -disobeyed your father, and to have remained with you in defiance of his -orders." - -"Poor Estevan!" said the lady, whose thoughts were elsewhere, and who -began to get weary of the chattering of her maid; "Poor Estevan! He -loves me like a brother." - -"Yes, he does; so he has sworn by his head that such a thing shall not -happen to you again, and that from henceforth he will never lose sight -of you." - -"Was he really in such alarm about me?" - -"You cannot imagine how dreadfully frightened he was, particularly as -they said you had fallen into the hands of the most ferocious robber in -the prairie." - -"Yet, I can assure you, _chica_, that the man who gave us shelter -overwhelmed us with civility and attention." - -"Exactly what your father says; but Don Estevan maintains he has known -this man for a long time; that his kindness was feigned, and intended -to conceal some monstrous treachery." - -Doña Hermosa had suddenly become thoughtful. - -"Don Estevan has gone mad," she said; "his friendship for me bewilders -his brains; I am sure he is mistaken. But you remind me that I escaped -from him the moment after my arrival without offering him a word of -thanks. I must make reparation for this involuntary forgetfulness; is -he still in the _hacienda?_" - -"I think he is, señorita." - -"Go and find out, and ask him to come here, if he has not gone already." - -The maid rose and left her. - -"As he knows him," said Hermosa, as soon as she was alone, "I will -make him speak, and teach me what I want to learn." - -So she awaited impatiently the return of her messenger. - -The latter seemed to have divined the anxiety of her mistress, and made -such haste to execute her commission that scarcely ten minutes elapsed -before she announced Don Estevan. - -We have already said that Don Estevan was a handsome man; he had the -heart of a lion, the eye of an eagle; his carriage full of grace and -suppleness, betrayed his race. He entered, saluting the lady with a -winning familiarity authorised by his long and intimate connection with -one whom he had known from her cradle. - -"Dear Estevan," said she, stretching out her hand gaily, "how happy I -am to see you! Sit down here and let us talk." - -"Yes; let us have some chat," answered Don Estevan, gladly entering -into the spirit of Hermosa's gaiety. - -"Give Estevan a chair, _chica_, and then go; I do not want you any -longer." - -The maid obeyed without replying. - -"What a number of things I have to tell you, my friend!" resumed the -doña. "But first excuse me for running away from you. My sole thought -was to be alone, and put my ideas into a little order." - -"I can easily understand that, dear Hermosa." - -"Then you are not angry with me, Estevan?" - -"Not the least in the world, I assure you." - -"Are you quite sure?" said she, pouting half seriously. - -"Do not talk about it anymore, my dear child; one cannot encounter such -dangers as you have been exposed to without feeling their effect upon -the mind for a long time afterwards." - -"But it is all over now, believe me; yet, between ourselves, my dear -Estevan, these dangers have not been so great as your affection for me -led you to suppose." - -The other shook his head in token of his want of conviction, and -replied: - -"On the contrary, _niña_, these dangers have been much more serious -than you choose to believe." - -"No, they were not Estevan; the people we met treated us with the most -cordial hospitality." - -"I admit it; but will reply with one question." - -"Ask it; and I will answer it, if I can." - -"Do you know the name of the man who treated you with this cordial -hospitality?" And he laid considerable stress on the last words. - -"I confess that I not only do not know it, but that I did not even take -the pains to ask him." - -"You were wrong, señorita: for he would have answered that his name was -'the Tigercat.'" - -"The Tigercat!" she exclaimed, turning deadly pale; "The execrable -miscreant who for years has spread terror over the frontiers! You are -wrong, Estevan; it could not be he." - -"No, señorita, I am not wrong; I know the truth of my assertion. I can -have no doubt, after what I have gathered from your father." - -"But how did it happen that this man should have received us so kindly, -and that he should have profited by the accident which placed us in his -power?" - -"No one can penetrate into the dark windings of that man's heart. -Besides, who can prove he was not laying a snare for you? Were you not -pursued by the redskins?" - -"We were; but we escaped from them, thanks to the devotion of our -guide." And she spoke with a little uncertainty of voice. - -"You are right again," said Don Estevan ironically "But the guide -himself--do you know who he is?" - -"He constantly refused to tell us his name, in spite of the pressing -entreaties of my father." - -"He had good reasons for doing so, _niña;_ the name would have filled -you with horror." - -"Then who and what is this man?" - -"He is the son of the Tigercat; he is called Stoneheart." - -Hermosa recoiled with instinctive terror, and hid her face in her hands. - -"It is impossible," she cried: "this man cannot be a monster; this man -who proved himself so faithful, so loyal--who saved my life, too." - -"What!" exclaimed Don Estevan: "He saved your life?" - -"Have you not heard it? Has not my father told you the story?" - -"No; Don Pedro did not say anything about it." - -"Then I will tell you, Estevan; for whatever this man may be, I must -render him justice. I owe it to him, to him alone, that I did not die -in horrible agony." - -"In the name of Heaven, explain yourself, Hermosa." - -"While we were wandering in the forest, a prey to despair," she -replied, in extreme agitation--"while we were expecting the death that -could not be long in coming,--I felt my foot bitten by a snake of -the most venomous kind. At first I overcame my pain, in order not to -increase the discouragement of my companions." - -"How well I recognise your strength and courage there, _niña!_" - -"Let me continue," said she, with a sad smile. "The pain soon became so -piercing, that my strength failed me, in spite of my courage. At that -moment God sent to our aid, him whom you call Stoneheart. The first -thought of that man was to help me." - -"It is wonderful!" said Don Estevan Diaz. - -"By the use of some sort of leaf, he managed to neutralise the effect -of the poison, so that, shortly after having been bitten, I felt no -pain from the wound, and am quite recovered today. Can you now deny -that I owe him my life?" - -"No," said he frankly; "for he saved you indeed. Yet for what purpose? -That is what puzzles me." - -"For the sake of saving me,--for humanity's sake; his after conduct -sufficiently proves it. It is to him alone we owe our subsequent escape -from the Apaches, who were on our trail." - -"All you say, _niña_, appears like an incomprehensible dream; I do not -know whether I am asleep or awake while I listen to you." - -"But has this man really been guilty of the infamous actions which -excite your indignation?" - -Estevan Diaz did not answer: he seemed embarrassed; and there was a -short silence. - -"I will be frank with you, Hermosa," said he, at last. "It is necessary -that you should know who your deliverer is. I will tell you all I -know of him myself; and perhaps this knowledge may be useful to you -hereafter, should fate ever again bring you into the presence of this -extraordinary man." - -"I am listening attentively; proceed." - -"Be on your guard, Hermosa; do not let the impulse of your heart -carry you away too far; do not expose yourself to future heartache. -Stoneheart is, as I told you, the son of the Tigercat. I need tell you -nothing about his father; that monster with a human face has built up -for himself an infamous notoriety, too well known for me to enter into -its details. The infamy of the father has reflected on the son, and -enveloped him in a halo of murder and rapine which makes him almost -as much dreaded as his father. However, in justice to the man, I must -confess that, although he is accused of a thousand evil deeds and -odious crimes, it has been impossible hitherto to obtain positive proof -of any accusation preferred against him. All they say of him is wrapped -up in impenetrable mystery; yet everyone relates the most horrible -tales of him, although nobody can speak with certainty as to the truth -of one of them." - -"They are not true," said Hermosa. - -"Do not be too eager to pronounce him innocent, _niña;_ recollect that -a modicum of truth is to be found at the bottom of every suspicion; -and, strictly speaking, this man's trade would of itself suffice as -proof against him, and bear testimony to his natural ferocity." - -"I cannot understand you, Estevan. What dreadful trade is it?" - -"Stoneheart is a bee-hunter." - -"A bee-hunter!" she exclaimed, with a burst of laughter. "Truly there -is nothing offensive in that?" - -"The word is pleasant to the ear; the trade itself one of the most -inoffensive; but the bees, those advanced sentinels of civilisation, -who, in proportion as the whites push forward in America, bury -themselves deeper in the prairies, and take refuge in more inaccessible -wildernesses, require a special organism in the men who hunt them,--a -heart of bronze in a body of steel, a fortitude beyond proof, -indomitable courage, and unswerving will." - -"Excuse me for the interruption, Estevan; but in all you have told me, -there seems nothing that is not highly honourable to the men who devote -themselves to this perilous trade." - -"Your observation would be just, if these men--half savages from the -life they lead, ceaselessly exposed to most serious danger, constantly -obliged to strive, in defence of their lives, against the wild beast -and the redskin, by whom they are perpetually threatened--had not -contracted, perhaps in spite of themselves, the habit of shedding -blood; a habit of such cold-blooded cruelty, in a word, that they set -no value on human life,--kill a man with the same indifference as they -smoke the bees from the tree, and often, for mere pastime, fire on the -approaching stranger, white or redskin. For this reason, the Indians -dread them more than the fiercest animals, and, unless they happen to -be in force, fly before a bee-hunter with more terror and precipitation -than from the grizzly bear, that redoubtable inhabitant of our American -forests. Believe me, _niña_, I am not exaggerating. It results from -what I have related, that when these men reappear upon the frontiers, -their arrival creates a general panic; for their road is a bloody one, -marked by the corpses of those whom they have slain under the most -frivolous pretexts. In one word, _niña_, the bee-hunters are completely -beyond the pale of humanity,--beings with all the vices of whites and -redskins, and without the virtues of either: both races abjure and -repudiate them with horror." - -"Estevan," gravely replied Doña Hermosa, "I have listened seriously to -what you have said. I thank you; but, in my opinion, it proves nothing -either for or against the person about whom I questioned you. I grant -you that the bee-hunters maybe semi-savages, of profound cruelty; yet, -are there no noble and loyal hearts, no generous spirits, among them? -You have spoken of the rule; who will tell me that Stoneheart is not -the exception? His conduct compels me to think so. I am only a young, -ignorant, and inexperienced girl; but were I bidden to open my heart, -and speak frankly, I should answer: 'My friend, this man, condemned -from infancy to a life of shame and trial, has striven valiantly -against the current which was dragging him away, and the force of -bad example assailing him on every side. Son of a criminal father, -associated, against his will, with bandits to whom every restraint -is an abomination, and by whom every sentiment of honour has been -trodden under foot, this man, far from imitating their actions,--far -from burning, pillaging and assassinating as they do,--has preferred -to adopt a career of perpetual peril. His heart has remained pure; and -when chance offered him an opportunity of doing a good deed, he seized -it eagerly and gladly.' This is what I should say to you, Estevan,--and -if, like me, you had studied this strange man for two whole days, -you would be of my opinion,--which is, that he is more to be pitied -than blamed; for, placed among ferocious brutes, he has retained his -humanity." - -Don Estevan remained for a time lost in thought; then he turned towards -the girl, took her hand, pressed it in his own, and looked at her with -tender compassion. - -"I pity and admire you, Hermosa. You are just what I thought you--I, -who have watched the development of your character from your infancy. -The woman fulfils all the promise held out by the child and the girl. -Your heart is noble, your sentiments are exalted; you are indeed -perfect--a chosen soul. I do not blame you for following the impulse of -your heart--you are only obeying the instinct for good or evil which -sways you in spite of yourself; but, alas! Dear child, I am your elder -brother, and my experience is larger than your own. To me, the horizon -seems to be clouding over. Without prejudging what the future may be -preparing for us, let me prefer one entreaty." - -"An entreaty! You, Estevan! Oh, speak; I shall be so happy to do -anything to please you." - -"Thanks, Hermosa; but the entreaty has no connection with myself--it -concerns you alone." - -"So much the greater reason for my granting it," she said with a -gracious smile. - -"Listen, child: the events of the last two days have completely -changed your life, and feelings have germinated in your mind of which -you ignored the existence until now. You have always placed entire -confidence in me: I demand the continuance of that confidence. My only -desire is to see you happy; all my thoughts, all my actions, tend to -that goal. Never believe that I dream of betraying you or thwarting -your projects. If I am tenacious on this point, it is to aid you with -my counsel and experience; it is to save you even from yourself; to -insure your escape from the snares which the future may lay for your -innocent frankness. Do you promise what I entreat?" - -"Yes," she replied, without hesitation, and looking firmly in his face; -"I promise, Estevan, my brother--for you are in truth a brother to -me--whatever may happen, I will have no secrets from you." - -"I thank you, Hermosa," said the young man, rising, "I hope soon to -prove myself worthy of the name of brother. Come tomorrow, in the -afternoon, to my mother's _rancho_ (farmhouse); I shall be there, and -most likely able to clear up certain matters which are so obscure -today." - -"What do you mean?" cried she, in great agitation. - -"Nothing at present, dear child; leave me to take my own measures." - -"What are your projects? What do you intend to do? Oh, do not attach -more importance to my words than I attach to them myself. Involuntarily -I have been constrained to utter words from which you would be wrong to -draw conclusions--" - -"Be calm, Hermosa," said he, interrupting her, with a smile. "I -have drawn no conclusion derogatory to you from our conversation. I -understand that you have avowed an immense amount of gratitude to the -man who saved your life. I see it would make you happy to know that -this man is not unworthy of the feelings he has inspired. I draw no -other conclusion." - -"It is exactly what I feel, Estevan; and I think the wish natural, and -one to which no blame can be attached." - -"Certainly, my dear child. I do not blame the feeling in the least; -only, as I am a man, and can do many things interdicted to a woman, I -will try if I can lift the mysterious, veil which conceals the life of -your liberator, so as to tell you positively whether he is or is not -worthy of the interest you take in him." - -"Do that, Estevan, and I will thank you from the bottom of my heart." - -The young man only replied by a smile to this passionate outbreak: he -saluted Hermosa, and retired. - -As soon as he was gone, she hid her face in her hands and burst into -tears. Did she regret the confidence into which she had been led, or -was she afraid of herself? Only women can decide the question, and only -Spanish-American women, who are so impressionable, and through whose -veins rushes the lava of their native volcanoes. - -Don Fernando Carril, as we have already related, after his conversation -with the _vaqueros_, had taken, at a gallop the route to the _pueblo;_ -but when he was within a hundred yards of the first houses, he -slackened his pace to a walk, and cast glances right and left, as if in -the expectation of meeting some person he wished to see. But if such -were his thoughts, it seemed as if he were doomed to disappointment; -for the road was completely deserted in all directions as far as his -eye could reach. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -EL AS DE COPAS (THE ACE OF HEARTS). - - -Don Fernando checked his steed, and remained motionless as an -equestrian statue on a marble pedestal. - -"He will not come," he muttered, after a while. - -"Can he have deceived me?--It is impossible." - -Casting, as a last hope, one more look around him, he dropped the -reins, but seized them again an instant later with a suddenness which -made his horse perform a curvette and wince with pain. Don Fernando had -just seen two cavaliers advancing towards him--one approaching from the -_pueblo_, the other riding down the road he had himself taken. - -"Come, come, it is all right," he said to himself; "This one is Don -Torribio Quiroga. But who is this other cavalier?" he added, turning to -the man who had just left the _pueblo_. - -He frowned, seemed to hesitate for an instant, but soon formed his -decision, smiled ironically, and saying half-aloud, "It is better as -it is," made his horse execute a traverse, and placed himself exactly -across the middle of the road, so as to bar the passage completely. - -The two arrivals, who greedily watched all his motions, took good note -of the hostile appearance of Don Fernando's position: neither seemed to -feel alarm, and both advanced at the same speed as before. The cavalier -coming from the _pueblo_ was much nearer Don Fernando than Don Torribio -was, and was soon close to him. - -Mexicans, of all ranks and however little education, have an -instinctive knowledge of social decorum, which never deceives them, and -a refined politeness which would astonish the inhabitants of the Old -World. - -As soon as Don Fernando found the stranger within reach of his voice, -he slightly altered the position of his horse, doffed his hat, and -said, with a low bow: - -"Señor _caballero_, permit me to ask you a question." - -"_Caballero_," replied the stranger, with no less politeness, "it will -be an honour to me." - -"My name is Don Fernando Carril." - -"And mine, Don Estevan Diaz." - -"Señor Don Estevan, I am happy to make your acquaintance. Would you -throw away ten minutes in my company?" - -"Señor Don Fernando, however pressed for time I might be, I would stop -to enjoy your society." - -"You are excessively kind; accept my thanks. I will explain in half a -dozen words. The _caballero_ who is approaching is Señor--" - -"Don Torribio Quiroga," interposed Don Estevan; "I know him." - -"So much the better; the matter is simplified. That honourable -personage, as I found out by a strange chance is my bitter enemy." - -"That is a pity." - -"It is; but what shall I say? He is so thoroughly my enemy, that he has -tried four times to have me assassinated; has made me serve as a target -to banditti." - -"It is grievous. He plays an evil game with you, Don Fernando." - -"The very reflection I made myself; so, as I wish to have done with -him, I have resolved to offer him the means of getting out of the -scrape." - -"It is the act of a true _caballero_." - -"_¡Caray!_ I can fancy how furious he will be. I am charmed at your -consenting to be witness of the transaction." - -"With pleasure, _caballero_." - -"A thousand thanks; I will gladly return the compliment. But here is -our man." - -Don Torribio had continued to advance during this short conversation, -and was now only a short distance from the speakers. - -"_¡Válgame Dios!_" he cried gaily; "If I do not mistake, it is my -admirable friend, Don Fernando Carril, whom I have the good fortune to -meet." - -"Himself, my dear friend; and as happy as you can be at the chance -which has thrown us together." - -"_¡Vive Dios!_ Since I have got you, I will not let you go; we will -ride together as far as the _pueblo_." - -"I should like it, Don Torribio; but first of all, with your -permission, I have a few words to say which may upset that plan." - -"Speak then, señor; you can only utter words I shall be happy to hear -in Don Estevan's presence." - -"In fact, Don Fernando has requested me to be present at the -conversation," said the latter. - -"Nothing could be better! Let us hear, señor." - -"Suppose we dismount," said Don Estevan; "the conversation may be a -long one." - -"Well observed, _caballero_," replied Don Fernando; "I know a grotto -where we shall be quite at our ease. It is close at hand." - -"Let us go there at once," said Don Torribio. - -The three cavaliers left the beaten track, took a turn to the right, -and directed their steps towards a little wood of plane trees and -mahoganies, which stood at a short distance. - -Anyone who had seen them thus, riding side by side, chatting and -smiling to each other, would have incontestably believed them to be -intimate friends, delighted at having met. However it was, nothing of -the kind, as our readers will soon see. - -Exactly as Don Fernando had predicted, they soon gained the wood, and -found the natural grotto of which he had spoken. - -The grotto was in the side of a hill of no great elevation, and its -proportions were scanty enough. Carpeted with verdure inside and out, -it was a charming place of repose for passing away the stifling heat of -the sun at midday. - -The cavaliers dismounted, took the bridle from their horses, leaving -them to graze at will. They entered the grotto, and inhaled with -ineffable delight the freshness caused by a slender stream of water -which ran between its banks with a melancholy murmur, forming a -pleasant contrast with the burning atmosphere to which they were -recently exposed. They threw their _zarapés_ on the ground, stretched -themselves out comfortably, and lit their maize _pajillos_ (cigarettes). - -"I am greatly obliged to you, Don Fernando, for thinking of this -delicious retreat," said Don Torribio; "now, if it is your pleasure to -speak, it will be an honour to me to listen." - -"Señor Don Torribio, you really overwhelm me by so much courtesy. -Heaven bear witness, that if I were not your most implacable enemy, I -could be your dearest friend." - -"Alas!" said Don Torribio, "Heaven has disposed otherwise." - -"I know it, my good señor, and regret it with all my soul." - -"Not more than I do, I swear." - -"Well, as that is the case, we must act accordingly," - -"Alas! That is just what I mean to do." - -"I thought so. Then, in your interest and mine, I have resolved to make -an end of it." - -"I do not exactly see how we can get at that result, unless one of us -consents to kill the other." - -"I presume this hatred of yours has cost you a round sum of money?" - -"Four hundred piastres, which the rascals have stolen from me, as you -are still alive; to say nothing of two hundred others I propose to -present to a _pícaro_ who has sworn to kill you tonight." - -"It is perfectly distressing! If this goes on, you will ruin yourself." - -Don Torribio sighed, but made no reply. - -Don Fernando resumed, while he threw away his cigarette and occupied -himself in rolling another: - -"For my part, señor, I confess that, in spite of the lamentable -clumsiness of the people you employ, I begin to be tired of serving as -a target at moments when I least expect it." - -"I can understand that; it must be very disagreeable." - -"It is. Well, then, wishing to reconcile our mutual interests, and -to put an end to it, once for all, I have racked my brains until I -think I have hit on a method of arranging these matters to our mutual -satisfaction." - -"Well, let us hear this method; I know you to be a man of imagination, -Don Fernando. It is doubtless ingenious." - -"Oh, no; on the contrary, it is quite simple. Do you ever play?" - -"So seldom, that it is hardly worth mentioning." - -"Precisely the case with me. This is the proposal I have to make: it is -evident you will not succeed in assassinating me." - -"Do you think so, señor?" said Don Torribio, still smiling. - -"I am sure of it, else you would have succeeded already." - -"I will admit it: what, then, do you propose?" - -"This: we will have a game at cards--the first to whom _el as de copas_ -(the ace of hearts) falls shall win, and be master over the life of his -opponent, who shall be bound to blow out his brains as he sits there." - -"Not so bad; the idea is ingenious." - -"And why not señor?--It is just like a common game, only the loser -cannot have his revenge. Now, where are the cards?" - -It was then discovered that these three gallant _caballeros_, who never -played, had each a pack of cards in his pocket. They produced them -with such spontaneousness, that all three could not help bursting into -Homeric laughter. - -We have already said, somewhere, that in Mexico the passion for -gambling is carried beyond the verge of madness; so that the facility -with which Don Torribio accepted the game proposed by his foe has -nothing in it to astonish those who know the character of those -strange Mexicans, who carry everything to extremes, and for whom -anything unexpected and extraordinary has always an irresistible -attraction. - -"One moment, señores," said Don Estevan, who had hitherto listened -without joining in the conversation; "perhaps there might still be -another way." - -"What other?" exclaimed Don Fernando and Don Torribio, turning briskly -to him. - -"Is your mutual hatred so great, that in reality it can only be -satisfied by the death of one or the other?" - -"It is," said Don Torribio hoarsely. - -Don Fernando merely replied by a nod. - -"In that case," continued Don Estevan, "instead of having recourse to -blind chance, why cannot you fight it out with each other?" - -Both men made a gesture of disdain. - -"What!" exclaimed Don Torribio, "Fight like wretched _leperos_, at the -risk of disfiguring or crippling ourselves, which would be worse than -death! No! I will never consent to that." - -"Nor I; it is better that chance shall decide." - -"As you please, _caballeros_; do as you like." - -"But," said Don Torribio, "who is to deal?" - -"The devil!" said Don Fernando; "that is a good remark: I never thought -of that." - -"I will, if you have no objection," said Don Estevan; "and so much -the more readily, as my friendship for both of you señores, makes me -perfectly disinterested." - -"It will do," said Don Torribio; "only, to avoid all cause for dispute, -you must choose at hap-hazard the pack you are to use." - -"Very well: place the three packs under a hat; I will take the first I -touch." - -"That will do. What a pity you did not think of this game sooner, Don -Fernando!" - -"What could I do, señor?--I have only just hit upon the idea." - -Don Estevan rose and left the grotto, to afford the two foes every -facility for arranging the three packs under the hat. He was very soon -recalled. - -"So," said he, "you are determined to play out this game?" - -"We are, they replied." - -"You swear, by all the world holds most holy, and whichever of you it -may be whom fortune favours, to submit yourselves to the fiat of fate -in all its entirety?" - -"We swear, Don Estevan, by the word of _caballeros_." - -"Enough, señores," he replied, passing his Hand under the hat and -drawing out a pack of cards. "And now recommend your souls to God; for -a few minutes hence, one of you will be in his presence." - -The two men crossed themselves devoutly, and fixed their eyes anxiously -on the pack of cards. - -Don Estevan shuffled the cards with the greatest care, and then made -each of the adversaries cut them in turn. - -"Attention, señores," said he; "I am going to begin." - -The two, negligently leaning on their elbows, smoked their _pajillos_ -with a perfect assumption of indifference, which was only belied by the -flashing of their eyes. - -Meanwhile the cards continued to fall on the _zarapé_: Don Estevan held -only about a dozen more in his hand, when he paused. - -"_Caballeros_," said he, "for the last time--reflect." - -"Go on, go on!" cried Don Torribio excitedly; "the first card belongs -to me." - -"Look at it," said Don Estevan, turning it up. - -"Oh," said Don Fernando, throwing away his cigarette, "_el as de -copas_. Look, Don Torribio; it is curious. _¡Vive Dios!_ you can -reproach no one; you are the author of your own death." - -Don Torribio made a violent gesture, which he repressed immediately, -and resumed the tone of affected civility which had characterised the -conversation. - -"Upon my honour, it is true," said he. "I must confess, Don Fernando, I -have no chance with you in anything." - -"I am quite in despair, dear Don Torribio." - -"Never mind; it was a capital game; I never felt so interested." - -"Nor I either. Unfortunately, I cannot give you your revenge." - -"Right! And now I must pay my debt." - -Don Fernando bowed without answering. - -"Be quite easy, dear señor; I will only keep you waiting such time as -is absolutely necessary. If I could have foreseen this, I would have -brought my pistols." - -"I have brought mine; they are perfectly at your service." - -"Then pray be kind enough to lend me one." - -Don Fernando rose, took a pistol from his holsters, and offered them to -Don Torribio. - -"It is primed and loaded; the trigger is a little stiff." - -"What a capital man of business you are, Don Fernando! You provide for -everything; no detail escapes you." - -"My traveller's habits, Don Torribio,--nothing more." - -Don Torribio took the pistol and cocked it. - -"Señores," said he, "I beg you not to leave my body to the mercy of the -wild beasts; it would distress me dreadfully to become their food when -I am dead." - -"Set your mind at rest, dear señor; we will carry you home across your -own horse. We should be in despair if the body of so accomplished a -_caballero_ were thus profaned." - -"That is all I have to request of you, señores; now accept my thanks, -and farewell." - -After this he cast one last look around him, and coolly placed the -muzzle of the pistol against his right temple. - -Don Fernando suddenly arrested his hand. - -"I have one remark to make," he said. - -"Upon my honour, you are only just in time," said Don Torribio, without -exhibiting emotion: "two seconds more, and it would have been too late. -But let us hear this remark. Is it of much interest?" - -"You yourself shall judge. You have lost your life fairly to me." - -"As fairly as possible." - -"Well, then, it belongs to me. You are dead; I have the right of -disposing of you as I think fit." - -"I cannot deny it. You will observe that I am ready to pay my losses -like a _caballero_." - -"I render you full justice, dear señor; therefore if I allow you to -live for the present, you are bound to kill yourself at my first -requisition, and to employ the life I leave you (which I could deprive -you of at this very moment) solely in my interest, and at my good -pleasure." - -"Then you offer me a bargain?" said Don Torribio. - -"Yes, you have hit the word; it is a bargain." - -"H'm!" said Don Torribio; "That requires consideration. What would you -do, if you were in my place, Don Estevan?" - -"I?" replied he; "I would accept without hesitation. Life is so -beautiful, take it all in all, it is best to enjoy it as long as -possible." - -"There is something true about what you say; but recollect I should -become Don Fernando's slave as I could only employ my life in his -service, and should be bound to kill myself whenever he gives the -word." - -"True; but Don Fernando is a _caballero_ who will only exact this -sacrifice in so far as to protect his own life." - -"I will even go further," broke in Don Fernando; "I will limit the -duration of our bargain to ten years. If by that time Don Torribio is -not dead, he will again enter upon his rights in all their plenitude, -and can dispose of his life after his own fashion." - -"That really touches me to the heart! You are a perfect _caballero_, -señor; and I accept the life you offer me so gracefully. A thousand -thanks!" added he, uncocking the pistol. "I have no further use for -this weapon." - -"One thing more, Don Torribio. As no one can read the future, you will -not object to have this bond drawn up in writing?" - -"Certainly not; but where shall we get the paper?" - -"I think I can find the writing materials in my _alforjas_." - -"How right I was in pronouncing you a perfect man of business, whom -nothing escapes, dear señor!" - -Don Fernando, without answering, went to fetch his _alforjas_, a kind -of double pocket, which is fastened behind the saddle, to hold the -necessary articles for travelling, and used throughout the whole of -Spanish America instead of the common European valise. - -Don Fernando took out pens, ink, and paper, and laid them in order -before Don Torribio. - -"Now," said he, "write as I shall dictate." - -"Proceed, my dear señor; I will write." - -Don Fernando began: - -"I, the undersigned, Don Torribio Quiroga y Carvajal y Flores del -Cerro, acknowledge that I have fairly lost my life to Don Fernando -Carril, in a game played with the aforesaid señor; I acknowledge that -the life belongs henceforth to Don Fernando, who shall have the right -to dispose of it as he thinks fit, without my having power to raise -objection in any case, or to refuse obedience to the orders he may give -me, whether they be to kill myself before his eyes, or to risk in any -perilous adventure the life I have lost, and which I acknowledge to -hold only at his pleasure. I farther acknowledge that all sentiments -of hatred to the aforesaid Don Fernando Carril are extinguished in my -heart, and that I will never seek to injure him directly or indirectly. -I enter into this bond for the space of ten years, beginning from the -day on which this deed is signed; it being formally stipulated by -me, that at the end of the aforesaid ten years I shall resume all my -rights in full, with the entire possession of my life, and that from -thenceforth I shall not be responsible to Don Fernando Carril for any -account of it." - -"Written and signed by me, this 17th March 18--, and subscribed, as -witness, by Señor Don Estevan Diaz y Morelos." - -"Now," said Don Fernando, "sign: pass the paper to Don Estevan, for his -signature; then give it to me." Don Torribio signed with the greatest -good humour, added a tremendous flourish to his signature, and gave the -pen to Don Estevan, who affixed his name without making the slightest -objection to this strange arrangement. - -When all this was over, Don Torribio scattered a little sand over the -paper, to dry the ink, folded it neatly in four, and placed it in the -hands of Don Fernando, who read it attentively, and put it in his bosom. - -"There, that is finished," said Don Torribio. "Now señor, if you have -no commands for me, I ask your permission to retire." - -"I should be distressed to detain you longer, _caballero_; go where -your engagements call you; may they be pleasant ones!" - -"Thanks for the wish, though I fear it will scarcely be fulfilled; I -have had bad luck for some time past." - -He saluted the others once more, put the bridle on his horse, and -departed at a gallop. - -"Do you really intend to demand the execution of this bond?" asked Don -Estevan, as soon as he found himself alone with Don Fernando. - -"Most certainly," replied the other; "you forget that this man is my -mortal foe. But I must leave you, Don Estevan; I must be today at Las -Norias de San Antonio, and it is growing late." - -"Are you going to the _hacienda_ of Don Pedro de Luna?" - -"Not exactly to the _hacienda_, but to the neighbourhood." - -"Then we can ride together; for I, too, am going in that direction." - -"You," said he, looking at him inquisitively. - -"I am the _major-domo_ of the _hacienda_," replied Don Estevan. - -The two men left the grotto, and mounted their horses. Don Fernando -rode pensively by the side of his companion, only replying in -monosyllables. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -THE RANCHO. - - -The road the two men had to travel together was tolerably long. Don -Estevan would not have been sorry to shorten it by talking to Don -Fernando, particularly as the manner in which he had made acquaintance -with the latter, and the light in which he had shown himself, excited -the curiosity of the former in the highest degree. Unfortunately, -Don Fernando did not seem in the least inclined to keep up the -conversation; and, in spite of all his efforts, the _major-domo_ found -himself obliged to conform to his companion's state of mind, and -imitate his taciturnity. - -They had already left the village a long way behind them, and were -cantering along the undulating banks of the Rio Bermejo, when they -heard, at a short distance in front of them, the sound of a horse at -full gallop. We say, they heard; for, shortly after leaving the grotto, -the sun had finally disappeared below the horizon, and there had been a -sudden transition from the glorious light of day to thick darkness. - -In Mexico, where there is no police, or, at all events, only a nominal -one, every man is obliged to take care of himself. Two men, meeting on -a road after nightfall, cannot accost each other without the greatest -precaution, nor approach each other until fully assured they have -nothing to fear. - -"Keep your distance!" shouted Don Fernando, as soon as he thought the -person approaching was within reach of his voice. - -"And why so? You know you have nothing to fear from me," answered -somebody; the sound caused by the horse's hoofs ceasing at the same -time, denoting that the rider had halted. - -"I know that voice," said the Mexican. - -"And the man, too, Señor Don Fernando, for it is not very long since we -met; I am El Zapote." - -"Aha!" laughed Don Fernando; "Is it you, Tonillo? Come on, _muchacho_." - -The latter rode up directly. - -"What the devil are you doing on this road, at this hour of the night?" - -"I am coming from a rendezvous, and returning to the pueblo." - -"I fancy that rendezvous has been a slippery affair." - -"You insult me, Don Fernando. I am an honourable man." - -"I have no doubt of it. Moreover, your affairs are not mine; and I do -not choose to be mixed up with them. Come, adieu, Tonillo." - -"A moment if you please. Since I have been lucky enough to meet you, -grant me five minutes: I was going to look for you." - -"You! Is it a case like the last? I thought you had had enough of that -speculation, which hardly succeeds with me." - -"Here is the matter in two words, Don Fernando. After what happened the -other day, I considered that I owed you my life, and, consequently, -had not full liberty of action where you are concerned. But you know, -señor, I am a _caballero_; and as an honest man can but stick to his -word, I resolved to see the person who had paid me to kill you, and -return him the money. It was hard to disburse so large a sum; but I did -not hesitate. One may well say, a good action always brings its own -recompense." - -"You ought to know that better than anyone else," laughed Don Fernando. - -"You laugh! Very well; judge for yourself. I sought this person, whose -name it is needless to mention." - -"So much the more so, as I know it already." - -"You do? Very well, then. This morning a _caballero_, one of my -friends, gave me notice that the person in question also wished to -speak to me. All was working wonderfully. But guess my amazement when, -just as I was going to refund the money and throw up my engagement, -this personage announced to me that he had been reconciled to you, that -you were the best friends, and begged me to keep the hundred piastres -as an indemnification for the damage he had caused me." - -"Was it this person, then, whom you went to meet tonight?" - -"The same. I have only just left him." - -"Very well: go on, _compadre_" (comrade). - -"Well, _caballero_, since this affair has ended in a manner honourable -to me, as I flatter myself, I am at liberty to follow my own -inclinations, and am quite at your service, if you will do me the -honour to employ me." - -"I will not say no; perhaps in a day or two I may find a use for your -services." - -"You will not repent having employed me, señor. You will be always sure -to find me at--" - -"Not a word on that subject," said Don Fernando, interrupting him -suddenly; "when the time comes, I shall find you." - -"As you please, señor. Now permit me to take leave of you and this -honourable _caballero_, your friend." - -"Adieu, Zapote. A happy journey." - -The _lepero_ joyfully took to his road again. - -"Señor," said Don Estevan, as soon as the latter had gone, "in a short -time we shall reach the _rancho_ (farmhouse) I inhabit with my mother; -it would glad me to offer you shelter for the night." - -"Thanks for your courtesy, which I gratefully accept. Is the _rancho_ -far from Las Norias?" - -"Hardly a league. Were it daylight, you would be able to see from hence -the tall walls of the _hacienda._ Permit me to be your guide on the -road to my poor dwelling." - -The cavaliers then bent to the left, entering a broad path lined with -aloes. Very soon the barking of several watchdogs, and two or three -specks of light which twinkled through the darkness, apprised them -that it would not be long before they reached the end of their tedious -journey. In fact, after riding some ten minutes longer, they found -themselves in front of a house, small, but apparently comfortable, -under the _zaguán_ (veranda) of which several persons, provided with -torches, seemed to be expecting their arrival. - -They stopped before the porch, dismounted, gave their horses to a -_peon_, who led them away, and entered the dwelling, Don Estevan -preceding his guest in order to do the honours of his house. - -They found themselves in a chamber of good dimensions, furnished with -sundry chairs, a few armchairs, and a massive table, on which the -cloth was laid for several persons. The whitewashed walls of the room -were adorned with prints, frightfully coloured, representing the four -seasons, the five quarters of the globe, &c. - -A woman, no longer young, dressed with a certain degree of refinement, -and whose features, although marked by age, still preserved traces of -great beauty, stood in the middle of the room. - -"Mother," said Don Estevan, bowing respectfully before her, "permit me -to present to you Don Fernando Carril, an honourable _caballero_, who -consents to be our guest tonight." - -"He is welcome," answered Doña Manuela, with a gracious smile; "this -house and all that is in it is at his disposal." - -"Many thanks, señora, for this kind reception." - -At first sight of the stranger Doña Manuela had begun to tremble, -and had scarcely repressed an exclamation of surprise. The sound of -his voice struck her no less, and she cast a profoundly scrutinising -look over him; but after a moment she shook her head gently, as if -mistrusting the thought which had arisen. - -"Be seated, señor," she said, pointing to the table with great -cordiality; "the supper shall be served directly. Your long ride will -have sharpened your appetite, and will make the frugality of the viands -less distasteful." - -In fact, the meal was frugal, consisting of beans with red pepper, beef -dried in the sun, a fowl boiled in rice, rolls of maize, with _pulque_ -and _mezcal_ to drink With great pleasure Doña Manuela watched the -viands disappear with which she loaded their plates. She encouraged -them by all the means in her power to satisfy their hunger. - -When supper was over, they passed into an inner chamber, more -comfortably furnished, which appeared to be the reception room. - -The conversation, which had naturally been rather languid at dinner, -now, little by little, grew more animated, and soon reached, thanks to -the efforts of Doña Manuela, that tone of pleasant familiarity which -banishes every constraint, and doubles the charms of familiar chat. - -Don Fernando seemed to enter with all his heart into the desultory -conversation, which leaped without ceasing from one subject to another; -listening with complacency to the long stories of Doña Manuela, and -answering with apparent rankness the questions she asked him. - -"Are you a _costeño_" (an inhabitant of the sea border), "or a _tierras -a dentro_" (one of those who dwell inland), "_caballero?_" the good -dame suddenly asked her guest. - -"By my faith, señora," replied he, laughing, "I confess I feel some -difficulty in replying." - -"Why so, señor?" - -"For the simple reason that I have no idea where I was born." - -"But you are _hijo del país_" (literally, a son of the country),--"a -Mexican, at all events?" - -"Everything leads me to think so, señora; but I would not swear it." - -"That is very singular. Does not your family reside in the province?" - -A shadow crossed the face of Don Fernando. "No, señora," he replied -dryly. - -The mistress of the house perceived she had touched a tender chord, and -hastened to turn the conversation. - -"Of course you know Don Pedro de Luna?" - -"Very little, señora; accident threw us together once. It is true the -circumstances were too singular for him to forget them easily; but it -remains to be seen whether I ever set foot in his _hacienda._" - -"You are wrong, _caballero_; Don Pedro is a _cristiano Viejo_" (an old -Christian, i.e. a descendant of the early conquerors), "who exercises -hospitality after the fashion of old times: nothing makes him happier -than to practise it." - -"Most unfortunately, important affairs call me to some distance, and I -fear I shall have no time to stop at his _hacienda._" - -"Forgive the question," said Don Estevan; "but have you really the -intention of entering the prairie?" - -"Why do you ask, _caballero?_" - -"Because we are here on the extreme Indian frontier; and unless you -retrace your steps, it is only towards the wilderness you can bend -them." - -"Well, then, it is my intention to go into the desert." - -Don Estevan made a gesture of surprise. - -"Forgive my pertinacity," said he; "but without doubt you must be -acquainted with the desert you intend to enter?" - -"By your leave, señor, I am thoroughly acquainted with it." - -"And knowing its dangers, dare you enter it alone?" - -"I thought I had given you a proof today," said he, with an indefinable -smile, "that I dare many things." - -"Yes, yes; I know your courage carries you on to rashness: but what you -would undertake is worse than temerity--it is madness!" - -"Madness, señor! The word is too strong. Can a resolute man, well armed -and mounted, have anything to fear from the Indians?" - -"If you had nothing to do but defend yourself against Indians and -wild beasts. I should be somewhat in your way of thinking, señor: a -determined white can make head against twenty redskins. But how will -you escape from the Tigercat?" - -"From the Tigercat? Excuse me, _caballero_, but I do not understand you -at all." - -"I will soon explain, señor. The Tigercat is a white. This man, from -reasons unknown to all, has joined the Apaches, has become one of their -chiefs, and sworn implacable hatred to all men of his own colour." - -"I have heard vaguely of the man you mention; but, after all, he is the -only one of his race among the Indians. Redoubtable as he may be, he is -not invulnerable, I suppose; and a brave man might kill him." - -"Unfortunately you are mistaken, _caballero_; this man is not the only -one of his race among the Indians; other bandits of his class are with -him." - -"Yes," cried Doña Manuela; "his son among the rest, who, they say, is -as fierce a bandit as his father." - -"Mother, that is only a surmise. If you come to proof, nothing can be -affirmed against Stoneheart." - -"Who is the man of whom you speak?" - -"His son, as people say; but one cannot be sure of it." - -"And you call this man Stoneheart?" - -"Yes, señor. For my own part, I know several instances of his -generosity, which indicate, on the contrary, a heart in its right -place, and an ardent spirit capable of noble deeds." - -A slight blush overspread the face of Don Fernando. - -"Let us return to the Tigercat," said he. "What have I to dread from -this man?" - -"Everything. Concealed in the prairie, like a hideous _zopilote_ -(vulture) on its point of rock, this wretch pounces upon the caravans, -whatever their strength, and pillages them; he murders in cold blood -the solitary travellers whom their evil destiny delivers into his -hands: his nets are stretched with such cruel skill, that none may -escape him. Listen to me, _caballero_: give up this journey, or you are -a lost man." - -"I thank you for your advice, which, I know, is prompted by the -interest you take in me; nevertheless, I cannot follow it. But it is -too late; allow me to retire. I observed a hammock under the _zaguán_, -in which I could pass the night admirably." - -"I will give orders to have my son's chamber prepared for you." - -"I could not allow anyone to be disturbed on my account, señora; I am -an old traveller. Moreover, the night is already far gone. I swear you -would disoblige me by forcing me to accept the chamber of Don Estevan." - -"Do as you think proper, _caballero_. A guest is one sent from God; -he ought to be master in the house he inhabits, as long as he chooses -to honour it with his presence. May the Lord watch over your repose -and bless your slumbers! My son shall show you the _corral_ (outhouse) -where your horse has been stabled, in case you should wish to depart -before the household is awake." - -"Many thanks, once more, señorita. I hope to pay my respects to you -before I go." - -Having exchanged a few more compliments with his hostess, Don Fernando -rose and left the room, accompanied by Don Estevan. The wish he -expressed, to sleep in a hammock under the _zaguán_, was not at all -extraordinary, and perfectly in accordance with the customs of a -country where the nights, by their beauty and freshness, compensate the -inhabitants for the overpowering heat of the day. - -The American _ranchos_ all have a porch, formed by four, and often six -columns, outside the house, and which support an _azotea_ (flat roof). -In the large space between these columns, which are placed on either -side of the main entrance, hammocks are slung, in which the owners of -the dwellings themselves often pass the night, preferring to sleep -in the open air rather than endure the torrid heat which literally -converts into a stove the interior of the houses. - -Don Estevan led his guest to the _corral_, explained to him the -mechanism of the lock, asked if he could be of any further service, -wished him good night, and retired into the house, leaving the door -open, so that Don Fernando might enter if he thought fit. - -Doña Manuela awaited her son's return in the apartment where he had -left her. The old lady seemed restless. - -"Well," she asked, immediately her son made his appearance, "what do -you think of this man, Estevan?" - -"I, mother!" he answered, looking astonished; "What can I think of him? -I saw him today for the first time." - -The old señora shook her head impatiently. - -"You have been side by side for many hours; such a long _tête-à-tête_ -should have given you an opportunity of studying and forming an opinion -of him." - -"That man, my dear mother, during the short time I have been with -him, has appeared under so many different aspects, that it has been -altogether an impossibility, I will not say to form an opinion, but -even to gain a ray of light by means of which I could direct my study -of him. I believe his to be a strong nature, full of nerve, capable of -good or evil, accordingly as he follows the impulse of his heart or the -calculations of his egotism. At San Lucar everyone seems to dread him -instinctively,--for nothing ostensible in his conduct justifies the -repulsion he inspires; no one can say positively who he is: his life is -an impenetrable mystery." - -"Estevan," said his mother, placing her hand heavily on his arm, -as if to lend force to the words she was about to utter, "a secret -presentiment warns me that the presence of this man in these parts -presages great misfortune. I cannot explain why. The moment he entered, -his features recalled a confused recollection of events that happened -long ago. I saw in his face points of resemblance with that of a -person dead, alas! How long?" She sighed. "When he spoke, the tone -of his voice sounded mournfully on my ear; for the voice completed -the likeness I had found in his face. Whoever this man may be, I am -convinced there is trouble, perhaps danger, in store for us. I am old, -my son; I have much experience; and, you know, one is seldom mistaken -at my age. Presentiments come from God; we must have faith in them. -Watch that man's doings as long as he remains here. I could wish you -had never brought him under our roof." - -"What could I do, mother? Hospitality is a duty from which no one -should shrink." - -"I do not reproach you, Estevan; you have acted according to your -conscience." - -"God grant that you delude yourself, mother! After all, whatever the -man's intentions may be, if he seeks to injure us, as you suppose, we -can but countermine his machinations." - -"No, Estevan; it is not exactly for ourselves I fear." - -"For whom, then, mother?" - -"Cannot you understand me?" said she, with, a mournful smile. - -"_¡Vive Dios,_ mother! Let him beware. But no, it is impossible. -Nevertheless, I will go to the _hacienda_ at daybreak, and put Don -Pedro on his guard." - -"Do not say a word to them, Estevan; but watch over them like a -faithful friend." - -"Yes, mother, you are right," said Estevan, who had suddenly become -thoughtful. "I will surround Hermosa with a vigilant protection, so -secret that no one shall suspect it. I swear it, _¡vive Dios!_ I would -a thousand times rather die under the most atrocious torture, than see -her exposed anew to dangers like those of the last few days. And now, -mother, give me your blessing, and let me go." - -"Go, my son; and God protect you!" - -Don Estevan bent respectfully before his mother, and retired; but -before seeking repose, he made a minute examination of the house, and -did not extinguish his lamp till after he had convinced himself that -all was in perfect order. - -As soon as Don Estevan had left him, Don Fernando threw himself into -the hammock, and closed his eyes. The night was calm and beautiful; the -stars studded the heavens with an infinite number of diamonds; the moon -spread her silver rays over the landscape; at intervals, the prolonged -baying of the watchdogs mingled with the abrupter bark of the _coyotes_ -(prairie-wolves), whose sinister forms were often perceptible in the -distance, the transparency of the atmosphere permitting remote objects -to be easily distinguished. - -All slept, or seemed to sleep. - -Suddenly Don Fernando raised his head, and peered cautiously over -the edge of his hammock. Thoroughly convinced that silence reigned -throughout the house, he slipped to the ground; after carefully -listening, and prying into the darkness in all directions, he placed on -his head the accoutrements of his horse, and turned his steps towards -the _corral_. - -Opening the door noiselessly, he whistled gently. At the signal, the -horse raised his head, and walked up to his master, who was holding the -door half open. - -The latter caught him by the mane, caressed him playfully, and then -saddled and bridled him with the dexterity and speed only acquired by -constant habit. The task over, his master wrapped his hoofs in four -pieces of sheepskin, to deaden the sound of his steps, vaulted into the -saddle, and bending over the neck of the noble brute: "Santiago!" cried -he, "now is the time to prove your mettle." - -The horse, as if he understood his master, dashed off into the -darkness, and took the direction of the river at the top of his speed. - -Meanwhile the greatest silence pervaded the _rancho_, none of the -inhabitants of which seemed to be aware of this sudden flight. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -THE REDSKINS. - - -We must now return to the Far West. - -On the banks of the Rio Grande del Norte, about ten leagues' distance -from the _presidio_ of San Lucar stood the _atepelt_, or temporary -village, of Des Venados. - -The _atepelt_, a simple camp, like most of the Indian villages, -consisted of about a hundred _callis_, or huts, irregularly grouped -near each other. - -Each _calli_ was built of about a dozen stakes driven into the ground, -four or five feet high at the sides, and six or seven in the centre, -with an aperture towards the east, for the master of the _calli_ to -throw water in the direction of the rising sun--a ceremony by which -the Indians conjure the Wacondah to befriend their families during the -course of the day just breaking. - -These _callis_ were covered with bison hides sewn together, with a hole -in the centre to admit the exit of the smoke of the fires kindled in -the interior,--fires which equal in number the wives of the owner, each -wife having a right to a fire of her own. - -The hides which formed the outer walls were carefully dressed, -and painted of divers colours; the painting, by its extravagance, -enlivening the aspect of the _atepelt._ - -The lances of the fighting men were planted upright in the ground in -front of the entrance to the _calli._ These light lances, made of -flexible reed, sixteen or eighteen feet long, and armed at one end with -a long grooved iron, forged by the Indians themselves, are the most -redoubtable weapons of the Apaches. - -The liveliest joy seemed to animate the _atepelt._ In some _callis_ the -women were spinning the wool of their flocks with their spindles; in -others they wove those _zarapés_, so renowned for their fineness and -the perfection of the work, at looms of primitive simplicity. - -The young people of the tribe, assembled in the centre of the -_atepelt_,--a large open space,--were playing at _milt_ (an Indian word -signifying "arrow") a singular game, to which the Indians are greatly -addicted. - -The players trace a large circle on the ground, into which they step, -arranging themselves in two opposite rows. The leader of one row, -holding a ball filled with air in the right hand, the leader of the -other in the left, they throw their balls backwards with a motion which -brings them in front again. The left leg is then lifted, the ball -caught and hurled at the opposite player, whose body it must touch, -under penalty of losing a point. A thousand extravagant contortions -ensue on the part of the latter, in order to avoid the ball: he stoops, -he rises, bends himself backwards or forwards, jumps up where he -stands, or bounds to one side. If the ball quits the ring, the first -player loses two points and runs after it; if, on the contrary, the -second is struck, he must seize the ball and throw it back at his -opponent, whom it must hit, or he loses a point. The next in order, at -the opposite side of the ring, begins the game again; and so on, till -the close of the sport. - -One can understand what shouts of laughter arise from the grotesque -attitudes into which the players fall as the game goes on. - -Other Indians of riper age, were gravely playing with curious packs -of cards, made of squares of hide, coarsely painted with figures of -different animals. - -In a _calli_ larger and better painted than the other huts of the -_atepelt_--the dwelling of the _sachem_, or principal chief, whose -lances, ornamented at the foot with pieces of skin-dyed red, were the -distinguishing badge of power--three men, crouched round the embers -of a fire, were, talking, heedless of the uproar without. They were -the Tigercat, the Zopilote, and the _amantzin_, or the sorcerer of the -tribe. - -The Zopilote was a half-breed, who had taken refuge with the Apaches -long ago, and been adopted by them. This man, every way worthy of the -name he bore, was a wretch whose cold and malignant cruelty revolted -the very Indians, who are themselves not delicate in matters of this -kind. The Tigercat had made this ferocious miscreant, who was devoted -to him, prime-minister of his vengeance, and the docile instrument -of his will. His latest wife, to whom he had been married a year, -had given birth to a boy that morning--hence the rejoicings of the -Indians; and he had come to take the orders of the Tigercat--the great -chief of the tribe--with respect to the ceremonies usual on the like -occasions. - -The Zopilote left the _calli_, to which he speedily returned, followed -by his wives and all his friends, one of whom held the infant in his -arms. The Tigercat, placing himself between the Zopilote and the -_amantzin_ at the head of the party, led them towards the Rio Grande -del Norte. - -The procession halted on the bank of the river; the _amantzin_ took -a little water in the hollow of his hand, and threw it into the -air, muttering a prayer to _the Master of the life of men._ He next -proceeded to _the great medicine;_ that is, the newborn child, wrapped -in his woollen swaddling bands, was five times plunged into the waters -of the river, while the _amantzin_ repeated, in a loud voice: - -"Master of life, look upon this young warrior with favourable eye; -remove from him all evil influences; protect him, Wacondah!" - -At the termination of this part of the ceremony, the procession -returned to the _atepelt_, and arranged itself in a circle in front -of the Zopilote's _calli_, at the entrance of which lay a young -mare on her back, with her four feet tied together. A new _zarapé_ -was stretched under the belly of the animal, on which relations and -friends deposited, one after the other, the gifts intended for the -child--spurs, arms, and clothing. The Tigercat, out of friendship for -the Zopilote, had consented to act as godfather to the infant. He -placed it in the midst of the various gifts which filled the _zarapé_. - -Then the Zopilote seized his scalping knife, opened at one slash the -flanks of the mare, tore out the heart, and gave it, bleeding as it -was, to the Tigercat, who made a cross with it on the forehead of the -child, addressing him thus: - -"Young warrior of the tribe of Apache-Bisons, be brave and cunning. I -name thee _Mixcoatzin_--Cloud-Serpent." - -The father took the child, and the chief, raising the bleeding heart -above his head, shouted thrice: - -"Long live the Cloud-Serpent!" - -The cry was enthusiastically repeated by the bystanders. The _amantzin_ -then commended the child to the Spirit of Evil, praying him to make the -young warrior brave, eloquent, and cunning; terminating his prayer in -these words, which found an ardent response in the hearts of all those -fierce beings: - -"Above all, may he never be a slave!" - -Thus terminated the ceremony: every religious rite had been performed. -The poor mare, the victim of this stupid superstition, was cut into -pieces; a great fire was kindled; friends and relations took their -seats at a feast, which was intended to last until nothing was left of -the mare. - -The Zopilote was about to seat himself, and feast with the others; -but, at a sign from the Tigercat, he followed the great chief to -his _calli_, where they once more took their seats by the fire. The -_amantzin_ was also with them. - -The Tigercat waved his band to his wives, who left the _calli_, and -after a short meditation, spoke as follows: - -"I trust my brothers, and my heart opens before them like a -_chirimoya_" (a kind of American pear), "to show them my secret -thoughts: I have sorrowed for many days." - -"My father sorrows for his son Stoneheart," said the _amantzin._ - -"No; I care not where he is now; I can find him again when I want -him. But I have a secret mission to confide to a safe man. Till this -morning, I hesitated to open my heart to you." - -"Let my father speak; his sons listen." - -"To hesitate longer would be to compromise things sacred. You will to -horse, Zopilote; I have no words for you: you know where I send you. -Induce these men to aid our enterprise; it will be a notable service." - -"I will do it. Do I go at once?" - -"Without delay." - -"In ten minutes I shall be far hence;" and, saluting the chiefs, he -went out. - -A few minutes later, the sound of a horse's hoofs fading away in the -distance announced his departure. - -Tigercat gave a sigh of satisfaction. - -"Let my brother, the _amantzin_ open his ears," said he. "I am about -to leave the _atepelt_, I hope to be back tonight; but my absence may -be for two or three days. I leave my brother in my stead and place; -he will command the warriors, and will forbid them to go far from the -village, or approach the frontiers of the palefaces. It is important -that the Gachupinos (Mexicans) should not learn that we are so near -them; to do so would mar our plan. Does my brother understand?" - -"The Tigercat has no forked tongue; the words breathed from his mouth -are clear. His son understands." - -"Good. I can go in peace: my brother will watch over the tribe." - -"I will obey the orders of my father. If he is absent many suns, he -will not have to reproach his son." - -"Ugh! My son's words lift the skin that covered my heart and filled it -with sorrow. The Master of Life watch over him! I go." - -"Ugh! My brother is a sage warrior. The Wacondah will protect him on -his road; he will succeed." - -The two men gravely saluted each other. The _amantzin_ remained by the -fire; the chief departed. - -It is probable that, if the old _sachem_ had remarked the expression of -knavish hate on the face of the sorcerer at the moment they parted, he -would not have quitted the village. - -As the Tigercat threw himself into the saddle with a lightness hardly -to be expected at his years, the sun disappeared behind the mountains, -and night enveloped the prairie. - -The old man, without seeming to care for the darkness, pressed his -horse with his knees, gave him his head, and galloped off. - -The sorcerer, with bent person and head stretched forward, listened -anxiously to the lessening sound of the chief's rapid course. When all -was still again, he raised himself erect, a smile of triumph played -across his thin and livid lips, and he uttered triumphantly the words, -"At last!"--a summary of the thoughts secreted in his heart. - -Then he arose, left the _calli_, seated himself a few paces from it, -crossed his arms over his chest, and chanted, in a deep bass and a -mournful and monotonous rhythm, the Apache lament, beginning with the -following verse, which we reproduce as a specimen of the language of -this barbarous people: - -"El mebin ni tlacaelantey -Tuz apan Pilco payentzin -Ancu maguida coaltzin -Ay guinchey ni polio menchey." - -[I have lost my _tlacaelantey_ in the country of Pilco. Oh, murderous -knives, which have changed him into shades and flies!] - -As the sorcerer went on with his song, his voice became by degrees -louder and more confident. In a short time, warriors, wrapped in their -bison robes, issued from several of the huts, and, with furtive steps, -approached the sorcerer, and entered the _calli._ At the close of the -lament, the sorcerer rose, ascertained that no other person was coming -towards him, that no laggard was loitering at his call, and in his turn -entered the _calli_, to join those whom he had convoked thus singularly. - -There were twenty men in all; they stood silent and motionless, like -bronze statues, round the fire, whose flames, revived by the draught -caused by their entrance, threw sinister shadows over their stern and -determined features. The _amantzin_ placed himself in the midst, and -said: - -"Let my brothers sit at the council fire." - -The warriors squatted down in a circle. - -The sorcerer then took from the hands of the _hachesto_, or public -crier, the great calumet, the bowl of which was of red clay, and the -tube six feet long, of aloes wood, garnished with feathers and hawks' -bells. He filled it with a washed tobacco, called _morriche_, which -is never used except upon great occasions, lighted it with a medicine -stick, and having drawn a long breath of more than a minute, and -discharged the smoke through mouth and nose, presented the calumet -to the warrior on his right. The latter followed his example; and -the calumet passed thus from hand to hand, till it returned to the -_amantzin._ - -The latter shook the ashes into the fire, muttering, in a low voice, a -few unintelligible words; after which, be restored the calumet to the -_hachesto_, who went out to watch, in order to ensure secrecy to the -deliberations of the council. - -There was a long silence; the profoundest calm brooded over the -village; no sound disturbed the tranquillity of the _atepelt;_ and one -might have thought oneself a hundred leagues from a human dwelling. - -At length the _amantzin_ rose, cast a searching look over the assembly, -and spoke. - -"Let my brothers open their ears," he said in measured tones. "The -spirit of the Master of Life has entered into my body; it is he -who dictates the words which spring from my lips. Chiefs of the -Bison-Apaches! The spirit of your ancestors has ceased to animate your -souls. You are no longer the terrible warriors, who declared war, -without truce or mercy, against the palefaces--those cowards, and -hateful despoilers of your hunting grounds; you are only antelopes, who -fly with faltering feet from the distant sound of an _erupha_ (gun) of -the palefaces; you are old women, to whom the _Yorris_ (Spanish) give -their petticoats; your blood no longer runs bright in your veins, -and a skin stretches over your heart and covers it completely. You, -formerly so brave and terrible, have made yourselves the coward slaves -of a dog of a paleface, who chases you like frightened rabbits, and -holds you trembling under his eye. Thus speaks the Master of Life. What -do you answer, warriors of the Apaches?" - -He ceased, and waited for one of the chiefs to take up the word. During -this insulting speech, a tremor of indignation agitated the Indians; it -was only by great efforts they obtained the mastery over their passion. -But when the _amantzin_ ceased, a chief rose. - -"Is the sorcerer of the Apaches-Bisons mad," said he in a voice of -thunder, "that he should speak thus to the chiefs of his nation? He who -counts the foxes' tails attached to our heels will see if we are women, -and if the courage of our ancestors is dead in our hearts. What if the -Tigercat is a paleface?--His heart is Apache. The Tigercat is wise; he -has seen many things; the counsels he gives are good." - -The _amantzin_ smiled with disdain. - -"My brother the White-Eagle speaks well; it is not for me to answer -him." - -He struck his hands thrice. A warrior appeared. - -"Let my brother," said the _amantzin_ to him, "tell the council the -mission with which he was charged by the Tigercat." - -The redskin advanced to the circle, and bowed low before the chiefs, -who were all gazing at him. - -"The Tigercat," spoke a deep and mournful voice, "had ordered the -Black-Falcon to form an ambush with twenty warriors on the path of the -palefaces, whom Stoneheart pretended to guide to their big stone huts. -The Black-Falcon followed the palefaces a long time in the prairie. -Their trail was clear; they had no arms; nothing seemed more easy than -to seize them. An hour before the time fixed for the attack, Stoneheart -appeared alone in the camp of the warriors. The Black-Falcon received -him with the signs of friendship and praise, because he had abandoned -the _Yorris._ But Stoneheart replied, that Tigercat forbade the attack -on the palefaces, and, throwing himself on the Black-Falcon, thrust -the knife into his heart; while the _Yorris_, who had stolen upon the -camp, surprised the warriors, and massacred them with _eruphas_ given -by Tigercat himself. This treachery was done to put Black-Falcon out of -his path, whose fame he envied. Twenty warriors followed the war path; -six returned with me to the _atepelt:_ the others have been slain by -the Tigercat. I have said." - -This astonishing revelation created a stern silence of amazement and -rage. It was the calm that harbours the tempest. The chiefs looked from -one to the other with eyes of wrath. - -Of all races, the redskins are the most remarkable for the rapidity -with which their moods change, and are most easily led away by feelings -of rage. The _amantzin_ was aware of this; therefore he was sure of -his triumph, after the terrible impression made by the recital of the -warrior. - -"Ugh!" said he, "What do my brothers think now of the counsels of the -Tigercat? Does the White-Eagle still think he has the heart of an -Apache? Who will avenge the death of the Black-Falcon?" - -Most of the chiefs rose at once, brandishing their scalping knives. - -"The Tigercat is a thieving dog, and a coward!" they shouted. "The -Apache warriors will tie his scalp to their girdles." - -Only two or three of the _sachems_ attempted to protest; they knew the -_amantzin's_ inveterate and long-standing hatred of Tigercat; they knew -the knavish character of the sorcerer; and suspected that, in this -affair, the truth had been disguised and garbled in order to serve the -vengeance of the man who had vowed the death of a foe whom he would -never dare to face openly. - -But the voices of these chiefs were soon stifled by the clamorous -ire of the other Indians. Renouncing, for the present, a useless -discussion, they withdrew from the circle, and grouped themselves in -a corner of the _calli_, resolved to remain the impassive, if not -indifferent, witnesses of the resolutions to be taken by the council. - -The Indians are grown-up children, who lash themselves into fury with -the sound of their own words and, when excited by their passions, -forget all prudence and moderation. - -However, in the present case, although they felt the fiercest desire -to avenge themselves on the Tigercat,--whom at this moment they -hated so much the more because they had loved and respected him so -highly,--although the most violent measures were proposed against him, -still it was not without some degree of hesitation that they proceeded -to act against their aged chief. The reason was simple enough: these -primitive beings recognised only one kind of superiority,--that of -brute strength; and the Tigercat, in spite of his great age, enjoyed -among them a reputation for strength and courage, too well established -for them not to look forward with a certain degree of fear to the -consequences of the action they meditated. - -The _amantzin_ tried in vain, by all the means in his power, to -convince them how easy it would be to seize Tigercat on his return -to the village. The sorcerer's project was excellent; if the chiefs -chose to avail themselves of it, it would be impossible to fail. The -plan was this: the Apaches were to feign ignorance of the death of -the Black-Falcon; they were to receive him on his return with the -greatest protestations of joy, in order to lull the suspicions he -might entertain, and seize him while he slept; they were to bind him -securely, and tie him to the torture stake. One sees that the plan was -extremely simple; but the Apaches would not listen to it, so great was -the dread they felt for their foe. - -Finally, after a discussion which lasted the greater part of the night, -it was definitely settled that the tribe should strike their camp, and -bury themselves in the desert, without troubling themselves with any -further thought of their old leader. - -But just at that moment the dissentient chiefs who, up to that time, -had taken no part in what was going on, left the corner of the _calli_ -to which they had retired, and one of them, called Fire-Eye, taking -up the word in the name of his companions, observed that those of the -_sachems_ who wished to depart might do so, but could not impose their -will on others; that the tribe had no great chief legally chosen; that -each was at liberty to act as he pleased; and that, as for themselves, -they were resolved not to repay with black ingratitude the eminent -services the Tigercat had rendered the tribe for many years past; and -they would not quit the village before his return. - -This determination gave great anxiety to the _amantzin_, who vainly -sought to overcome it: the chiefs would listen to nothing, and adhered -firmly to their determination. - -At sunrise, by order of the sorcerer, who already acted from that time -forward as if he was the recognised grand chief of the tribe, the -_hachesto_ summoned the warriors to the open space of the village, -by the ark of the first man, and orders were given to the women to -pull down the _callis_, and harness and load the dogs, that they -might depart as soon as possible. The order was promptly executed; -the pickets were drawn, the bison hides folded, household utensils -carefully packed, and placed on sledges, to be drawn by the dogs. - -But the dissentient chiefs had not been idle on their side: they had -managed to win over to their opinion several renowned warriors of the -people, so that only about three-quarters of the tribe prepared to -emigrate, while the other quarter remained stoical spectators of the -arrangements for travel which were going on before them. - -At last the _hachesto_, at the order of the _amantzin_, gave the signal -to march. - -Then a long line of sledges drawn by dogs, and of women laden with -children, quitted the village, escorted by a numerous band of warriors, -and was soon winding its way, like a great serpent, through the prairie. - -When their brothers had disappeared in the depths of the wilderness, -the warriors who had remained faithful to the Tigercat assembled to -deliberate on the measures to be taken until his return. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -THE MIDNIGHT MEETING. - - -In the meantime Don Fernando Carril, bending over his horse's mane, was -gliding through the night like a phantom. - -Thanks to the precaution he had taken of wrapping pieces of sheepskin -round the hoofs of the horse, he passed on silently and rapidly as the -spectre-horseman of the German ballad, making the frightened packs of -_coyotes_ fly before his career. - -Gradually he neared the banks of the river, which he forded without -slackening his speed; inciting his steed by voice and gesture, and -throwing sharp glances to right and left, before and behind him. - -His flight lasted full three hours, during which the Mexican never -allowed his favourite a moment's respite to fetch his breath and rest -his tired limbs. - -But when at last he arrived at a spot on the narrow river, where it -rolled its muddy waters between low banks lined with tufted cotton -trees, he alighted in a thick coppice, and, having convinced himself he -was alone, plucked a handful of grass, and rubbed his horse down with -that care, and solicitude of which those alone are capable whose lives -may at any moment depend on the speed of their faithful and devoted -companion. Then taking off the bridle, and leaving him to graze on -the tall and abundant grasses, the Mexican spread his _zarapé_ on the -ground, and closed his eyes. - -Nothing troubled the silence of the night; no sound arose in the -desert. Don Fernando lay motionless as a corpse, his eyes still closed, -and his head supported by his left arm; and thus he lay for two hours. - -Did he sleep? Did he wake? None could say. Suddenly the hooting of an -owl arose on the air. In an instant Don Fernando half-raised himself, -bent his head forward, and listened, with his eyes fixed on the heavens. - -It was deep in the night; the stars were shedding on the earth their -obscure and doubtful light; nothing foretold the approach of day. - -It was scarcely two o'clock in the morning; the owl is the first bird -to announce the approach of the sun, but owls do not proclaim the day -three hours before it breaks. Notwithstanding the perfection of the -imitation, the Mexican hesitated. Soon a second hoot, followed by -a third, dispersed the doubts of Don Fernando; he rose, and thrice -repeated the cry of the water hawk. - -A similar cry issued immediately from the opposite bank of the river. - -Don Fernando bridled his horse, cast his _zarapé_ over his shoulders, -examined his weapons to ensure their efficacy, flung himself into the -saddle without touching stirrup, and crossed the river. - -A short distance in front of him lay an islet, covered with poplars -and cotton trees, towards which he bent his steps. The approach to -the islet was easy; the horse, recruited by his two hours' rest, swam -strongly, and touched the ground nearly in a straight line from the -spot where he had plunged in. - -Scarcely had the Mexican reached the land, when a rider emerged from -the thicket, and halting some twenty paces off, exclaimed, in a loud -voice, and an accent of great discontent: - -"You were late in replying to my signal. I was on the point of leaving." - -"Perhaps it would have been better had you done so," sharply replied -Don Fernando. - -"Aha!" said the other mockingly, "Does the wind blow from that quarter?" - -"Never mind whence it blows, if I do not sail before it. I am here; -what do you want with me? Be short; for I have no time to give you." - -"_¡Vive Dios!_ Something very interesting must entice you to the place -whence you came, if you are so anxious to be there again." - -"Listen, Tigercat," roundly and sharply replied the Mexican; "if you -have summoned me here so urgently merely to chafe and laugh at me, it -is useless to stay longer; so, adieu!" - -As he said this, Don Fernando turned as if to retire and quit the -island. - -The Tigercat--for his interlocutor was no other than that extraordinary -personage--quickly seized a pistol, and cocked it. - -"_¡Rayo de Dios!_" said he; "if you stir a foot, I will blow your -brains out!" - -"Pooh!" replied the other, with a sneer; "What should I be doing in the -meanwhile? A truce to threats, or I kill you like a dog." - -With action as prompt as the Tigercat's, he too had drawn a pistol, -cocked, and presented it at his opponent. - -"You would not dare to do it." - -"You know I dare all," said the Mexican. - -"We have lost time enough; let us proceed to business," said the old -man, alighting from his horse. - -"Well, let us proceed to business. What is it you want with me?" -replied Don Fernando, also dismounting. - -"Why have you deceived and turned against me, instead of serving me, as -you are bound?" - -"I was bound to nothing with you; on the contrary, I roundly refused -the mission which you persisted in forcing upon me." - -"Could you not have remained neuter, and allowed these people to fall -into my hands again?" - -"No; my honour compelled me to defend them." - -"Your honour!" burst out the Tigercat, with a cynical laugh. - -The Mexican was confused: he frowned, but recovered himself, and -continued: - -"Hospitality is sacred in the prairie; its rights are indefeasible. The -people I guided had placed themselves, of their own accord, under my -protection: to abandon, or refuse to defend them, would have been to -betray them. You yourself would have done as I did." - -"It is useless to recur any more to this, or to discuss a deed that is -done. Why did you not return to me?" - -"Because I preferred to stay at San Lucar." - -"Yes; civilized life is sure to attract you; I can understand that this -double part you are playing, at your own risk and peril, has charms for -you. Don Fernando Carril is received with open arms in the circles of -the highest Mexican society. But believe me, boy, you had better take -heed lest your adventurous spirit lead you into some false steps, from -which not all the courage of Stoneheart could save you." - -"I did not come here to listen to sermons." - -"True; but it is my duty to read you the sermons you did not come to -hear. As long as I remain in the desert, I will not lose sight of -you for a moment. I know all your doings; I am ignorant of nothing -regarding you." - -"And why have you surrounded me with spies?" said Don Fernando -haughtily. - -"In order to know if I could still repose the same confidence in you." - -"And what have you learned from your spies?" - -"Nothing but what is satisfactory; only I insist on knowing how we -stand towards each other." - -"Do not your spies make you aware of my slightest doings?" - -"Yes, of all that concerns you personally: thus I know you have not yet -ventured to present yourself to Don Pedro de Luna;" and he sneered. - -"True; but I intend to see him tomorrow." - -The Tigercat shrugged his shoulders in disdain. - -"Let us speak of more serious matters," said he. "How do we stand?" - -"I have followed your instructions in everything. For two years, since -the time I first made my appearance in San Lucar, I have lost no single -opportunity of forming connections, which will, I hope be of service to -you later on. Although my appearance at the _pueblo_ is rare, and my -visits are short, I still think I have attained the object you proposed -to yourself when you gave me my orders. The mystery with which I -surround myself has been of more use to me than I dared to hope. I have -attached to myself the greater number of the _vaqueros_ and _leperos_ -in the _presidio_--gallows birds, but I can count upon them; they are -devoted to me. These fellows only know me as Don Fernando Carril." - -"Ah, I know all that," said the Tigercat. - -"You do?" said the Mexican, looking at the old man with a glance of -anger. - -"Have I not told you I never left you out of my sight?" - -"Yes--as far as my personal affairs are concerned." - -"Well, the hour is come to gather the harvest we have sown among these -villains. They will serve me better against their countrymen than -the redskins in whom I dare not place perfect confidence. They are -acquainted with Spanish tactics, and accustomed to firearms. Now that -your part with the _pícaros_ is over, I shall begin to play mine. I -must enter into direct relation with them." - -"As you please; I thank you for releasing me from the responsibility -of an affair the object of which you have never thought fit to confide -to me. I shall be glad to procure you the means of treating personally -with the rascals I have engaged in your service." - -"I understand your longings to be free, and approve them the more, -since it was I who first inspired you with the wish to become better -acquainted with the charming daughter of Don Pedro de Luna." - -"Not a word of her," said Don Fernando fiercely. "If, up to the present -time, I have consented to be guided by you, and to obey your orders -without discussing them, the time has now come to place the question -clearly and categorically before us, so that no misunderstanding may -arise between us in the future. It is this reason alone which had -weight enough to bring me tonight in answer to your summons." - -The Tigercat looked at the Mexican long and fixedly; then he replied: - -"Speak, then, madman, who do not see the gulf which yawns at your feet: -speak; I listen." - -Don Fernando remained some time lost in thought, leaning against the -knotted trunk of a poplar, and with his eyes cast on the ground. - -"Tigercat," said he at length, "I know not who you are, nor the motives -which have induced you to renounce civilisation, to take refuge in -the desert, and adopt the life of the Indian; I do not wish to know -them. Every man is responsible for his own actions, and must render an -account of them to his own conscience. As to myself, never has a word -from your mouth taught me in what place I was born, or to what family -I belong. Although you brought me up--although, as far back as my -memory carries me, I have seen no one belonging to me but yourself--yet -I cannot think you are my father. Had I been your son, or even only -a distant relative, it is evident my training would have been widely -different to that which I received at your express commands." - -"What are those words your bold lips utter?--How dare you venture -to fling reproaches at me?" said the old man, bursting into a fit of -passion. - -"Interrupt me not, Tigercat; let me open my thoughts to you entirely," -sadly replied the Mexican. "I do not reproach you; but from the time -when, under the name of Don Fernando Carril, you forced me into the -whirl of civilised life, in spite of myself, and no doubt in spite of -you, I have learned two things, and my eyes have been opened. I have -comprehended the meaning of two words, the significance of which was -unknown to me till then. These two words have changed not only my -character, but the light in which I used to look at things; for, with a -purpose I cannot divine, you applied yourself from my infancy to foster -every evil sentiment germinating within me, while you carefully stifled -the few good qualities which my heart might haply have possessed, had -it not been for the system you adopted. In a word, I have now arrived -at the knowledge of good and evil. I know all your efforts have been -exerted to make me a human wild beast. Have you succeeded? The future -shall show. To judge by the feelings that are surging in my heart -while I speak to you, you have not reached the result you aimed at; -be that as it may, I am no longer your slave. I have served too long -as the instrument in your hands of deeds whose aim I cannot see. You -have yourself taught me that family bonds do not exist in nature; -that they are absurd prejudices, trammels invented by civilisation; -that no man has a right to impose his will as law on others; that the -real man is he who walks free through life, unincumbered by relation -or friend, recognising no master but his own desires. Well, then, I -will now put in practice these precepts you have so long and steadily -inculcated. What matters to me whether I be Don Fernando Carril, or -Stoneheart the Bee-hunter? Following the law laid down by yourself, and -elevating ingratitude into a virtue, I take back my own free liberty -and independence of you, recognising no claim of yours to influence my -life for good or for evil, and assuming from henceforth the right to -walk after my own impulses, whatever may happen in consequence of my -resolve." - -"Go, my child," said the Tigercat, with his mocking sneer; "go, act as -you think fit; but, in spite of all your efforts, you will soon come -back to me; for say what you will, you belong to me, and will soon -know it. But it does not rouse my ire to hear you speak thus; it is -not you who speak--it is love. I am very old, Fernando, but not so old -as to have lost all recollections of my youth. Love has mastered your -heart; when he has utterly burnt it up, you will return to the desert; -for then you will have learnt what that life is into which you, poor, -ignorant child, are just plunging. You will have learnt that life in -this world is but a feather blown hither and thither by every varying -breeze; and that at the breath of love, the man who thinks himself the -strongest becomes more feeble than the weakest and most wretched of -created beings. But let us break off: it is your will to be free; be -so. First of all, however, you have to render me an account of the -mission with which I charged you." - -"I will do so. Present yourself to the _vaqueros_ in my name; this -diamond"--and he drew one from his finger--"will be your passport. They -have been warned: show it to them, and they will obey you as they would -myself." - -"Where do these men meet?" - -"You will find most of them at a low _pulquería_ in the new Pueblo de -San Lucar. But do you really intend to venture within the _presidio?_" - -"Assuredly. Now, one word more: can I count upon you when the hour for -action arrives?" - -"You can, if what you purpose is right." - -"Aha! You are already beginning to impose conditions." - -"Have I not told you so?--Or shall I remain neuter?" - -"No; I have need of you. You will, I suppose, inhabit the house you -bought? Every day a trusty person shall inform you of the course of -events; and when the proper moment comes, I know you will be with me." - -"Perhaps I may; but happen what will, do not depend too much upon it." - -"I do depend upon it, nevertheless, and I will tell you why. At present -you are under the impulse of love, and naturally your reasoning -succumbs to the influence of the passion that masters you. But before -a month is over, see what will inevitably happen. Either you will -succeed,--and satiety, following on the heels of sated passion, will -make you glad to return to the wilderness,--or you will fail, and -jealousy and wounded pride will inspire the lust for vengeance, and you -will seize with joy the opportunity I shall offer you to glut it." - -"I see clearly that very shortly we shall not understand each other at -all," said the Mexican with a melancholy smile. "You always reason from -your evil passions, so great is your hatred of men, and the contempt -you feel for the human race; while I only listen to my good feelings, -and suffer myself to be guided by them." - -"Well, well, child; I give you a month to finish your caterwauling. -That time passed, we will resume our conversation. Adieu." - -"Adieu. Are you bound for the _presidio?_" - -"No; I return to my village, where, too, I have a little matter of -business; for, unless I am mistaken, curious things have happened since -I left it." - -"Do you dread a revolt there against your power?" - -"I do not dread, I wish it," was the enigmatical answer. - -The old man then bid the Mexican farewell, mounted his horse, and rode -into the thicket. - -Don Fernando stood there some time, plunged in serious thought, -listening mechanically to the sound of the horse's hoofs as they died -away in the distance. When he could no longer hear them, he turned his -head in the direction Tigercat had taken. - -"Go," said he hoarsely; "go, savage, in the belief that I have not -discovered your project. I will dig a mine under your feet to explode -and crush you. I will foil your attempt. I would dare more than man -dares to baffle your machinations. It is three o'clock," he continued, -after looking at the sky, from which the stars were fading out; "I -shall have time." - -He called his horse and mounted, took the direction of Don Estevan's -_rancho_, and recommenced his headlong course across the wilderness. - -The horse, fresh from his long rest, stretched himself out freely; and -daylight was just beginning to appear when they reached the _rancho._ - -Don Fernando gave a sigh of satisfaction. All was quiet about the -dwelling; all the inhabitants seemed wrapped in repose. The secret of -his nocturnal excursion was safe. - -He unsaddled his horse, groomed him carefully,--so as to leave no signs -of his ride,--and led him to the _corral_, where he carefully divested -his hoofs of the pieces of sheepskin, turned him in, closed the door, -and softly returned to the zaguán. - -Just as he was about to climb into his hammock, he observed a man, who, -leaning against the doorpost with his legs crossed, was calmly smoking -his _pajillo._ - -Don Fernando recoiled on recognising his host; it was, in fact, Estevan -Diaz. - -The latter, without the slightest semblance of surprise, took the -cigarette from his mouth, blew out an enormous mouthful of smoke, and -addressed his guest in a tone of the most polished courtesy. - -"You must be greatly fatigued with your long ride tonight, _caballero._ -Will you have anything to restore you?" - -Don Fernando, horrified at the coolness with which this was uttered, -hesitated for a moment. - -"How am I to understand you, _caballero?_" said he. - -"How?" said the other. "Pooh! What is the use of dissembling? I assure -you, it is useless to attempt to blind me: I know all." - -"You know all! What do you know?" replied the Mexican, anxious to -ascertain how far Don Estevan was acquainted with what had occurred. - -"I know," replied the _major-domo_, "that you rose, that you saddled -your horse, and that you went to meet one of your friends who was -waiting for you at the Isle de los Pavos." - -"What!" cried Don Fernando, scarcely repressing his rage; "You dared to -follow me?" - -"_¡Vive Dios!_ I should think so; it is my way of thinking to fancy -that a man who has been all day long on horseback does not take -another ride through the whole of the following night for mere -pleasure, particularly in a country like this, which, dangerous enough -by daylight, is doubly so when night has fallen. Moreover, I am -inquisitive by nature--" - -"You are a spy!" broke in Don Fernando, in a fury. - -"Fie, _caballero!_ What a strange expression you use! I a spy! No, -no; only as the simplest way of learning what I wanted to know was to -listen, I listened." - -"Then you were present at the conversation on the Isle de los Pavos?" - -"I will not deny it, caballero; indeed, I was very close to you." - -"And heard everything that was said there?" - -"To be sure; yes, very nearly all," replied Don Estevan, still smiling. - -Don Fernando threw himself upon the _major-domo_, but was stopped by -him with a strength the former hardly expected to meet with. - -Don Estevan continued, in the same placid tone in which he had hitherto -spoken: - -"_¡Cuerpo de Cristo!_ you are my guest. Wait a little; we shall have -time to finish this matter here, after, if it must be." - -The Mexican, overwhelmed by these words, stepped back from him, crossed -his arms, and, looking him full in the face, replied, "I will wait." - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -DON ESTEVAN DIAZ. - - -For some little time the two men stood thus face to face, looking at -each other with the dogged resolution of two duellists who are watching -an opportunity to close. - -The eyes of Don Estevan, whose face was in other respects impassive, -betrayed a sorrow which he could not dissemble. - -Don Fernando, with folded arms, his head erect, his forehead frowning, -and his lips livid with the fury that boiled within him, waited for the -words that were to fall from Don Estevan's mouth, in order to decide -whether he should attack him at once, or pretend to be satisfied with -the excuses the latter would probably utter. - -By degrees the darkness had become less palpable: the sky decked itself -in iris colours, the horizon grew red, the sun, although not yet -visible, gave tokens that it would not be long ere he rose, to replace -with floods of dazzling light the pale rays of the few stars still -visible in the profound blue of heaven. - -A thousand pungent odours rose from the earth; and the morning breeze, -passing over the foliage of the trees, made it tremble and murmur, -while it twisted the mists hanging over the river into the most -fantastic folds. - -At length Don Estevan, to whom the pause was becoming as embarrassing -as it was to the other, determined to break the silence. - -"I will be frank with you, _caballero_," said he. "I heard everything -that passed in your conversation with the Tigercat; not a word escaped -me. This will show you that I know all, and am aware that Don Fernando -Carril and Stoneheart are one and the same person." - -"Yes," said the Mexican, bitterly, "I see you are an excellent spy. You -have chosen a sorry trade, _caballero._" - -"Who can tell? Perhaps, before we have finished our conversation, you -may be of a different opinion, señor." - -"I doubt it. But allow me to remark, that you have a singular mode of -showing hospitality towards the guests God sends you." - -"Let me explain first; then, after you have heard what I have to tell -you, I shall be ready, _caballero_, to give you the satisfaction you -demand--if you still insist on it." - -"Speak, then; and let us finish this somehow or other," replied -Don Fernando impatiently. "The sun has already risen; I hear them -moving and talking in the _rancho;_ the people will soon make their -appearance, and hinder, by their presence, any explanation between us." - -"You are right; we must settle this; and as I have as little -inclination to be interrupted as you, follow me. What I have to say is -too long to be spoken here." - -Don Fernando complied. They entered the corral, and saddled their -horses. - -"Now mount and be off," said Don Estevan, as he vaulted into the -saddle; "there is plenty of room for talk in the desert." - -The plan proposed was very acceptable to the Mexican, as it gave him -freedom of action, and the means of hurling consummate vengeance at -the head of the _major-domo_, if the latter wished, as he fancied, to -betray him. - -It was a splendid morning: a dazzling sun showered down his hot rays in -profusion over the country, making the stones glitter like diamonds; -the birds warbled gaily among the leaves; _vaqueros_ and _peones_ began -to disperse themselves in all directions, urging on to the pasturage -the horses and cattle of the _hacienda;_ the landscape increased in -beauty every moment, and bore a smiling aspect, very different to the -one it wore under the terrors of darkness. - -The two men rode on for an hour, when they came to a half-ruined and -uninhabited _rancho_, which, covered with climbing plants, and almost -hidden under their leaves and flowers, offered an excellent refuge -from the heat; for, though the day was still young, the sultriness of -the air was overpowering. - -"Let us stop here," said Don Estevan, breaking silence for the first -time since they left his home; "we shall scarcely find a fitter place." - -"Stop, if it suits you," said Don Fernando, carelessly; "to me all -places are alike, provided you give me the explanation I demand; only, -let it be short and frank." - -"Frank it shall be, I give you my honour; short I cannot say, for I -have a long and sad tale to relate." - -"To me? And for what purpose, pray? Must I hear it? Tell me only--" - -"Most surely," said Don Estevan, as he dismounted, "what I have to say -will touch you very nearly. You will shortly see the proof." - -Don Fernando shrugged his shoulders, and alighted in his turn. - -"You are mad, _Dios me libre_," (God forgive me), said he. "Since -you overheard our conversation so clearly, you must know that I am -a foreigner, and anything that occurs in this country can be but of -slight importance to me." - -"_¿Quién sabe?_" (Who can tell?) replied Don Estevan, sententiously, -throwing himself on the floor of the _rancho_ with great content. - -Don Fernando followed his example, his curiosity beginning to get the -better of him. - -When the two men were comfortably stretched opposite each other, Don -Estevan turned his face to the Mexican: - -"I am going to talk of Doña Hermosa," said he of a sudden. - -Surprised by these words, the Mexican blushed deeply. He tried in vain -to conceal his emotion. - -"Ah!" said he in a stifled voice, "Doña Hermosa! You mean the daughter -of Don Luna?" - -"The same. In a word, the very girl you saved a few days ago." - -"Why recur to that event? Everyone else in my place would have done the -same." - -"It may be so. I do not wish to appear sceptical, but I think you are -mistaken there. However, that is not our question. I say, you saved -Doña Hermosa from a frightful death. At the first impulse, yielding to -your feelings of pride, you left her abruptly, determined to return -to the desert, never again to see the face of her who would have -overwhelmed you with gratitude." - -Don Fernando, astonished and galled at finding his feelings so well -understood, briskly interrupted the speaker. - -"To our business, if it so please you, _caballero_," he said sharply; -"it is better to begin your explanation at once than launch out into -suppositions which may be very ingenious, but have the one fault of -being erroneous." - -"Look, Don Fernando," replied the other, "you will try in vain to -lead me on a false trail; so all denial is useless. You are young and -handsome. Passing your life among savages, you are utterly ignorant -of the great key to human passions. You could not see Doña Hermosa -with impunity. As soon as you saw her, your heart trembled; new ideas -developed themselves; and, forgetting all else, despising every other -consideration, you have retained only one object, one desire,--that of -seeing this girl, who appeared to you as a dream, and brought trouble -into a heart so calm before. You have longed to see her, if only for a -minute--for a second." - -"You are right," cried Don Fernando, carried away by the force of -truth; "I feel all you describe. I would joyfully give my life to see -but a corner of her _rebozo_ (veil). But why is it so? I seek in vain -to understand it." - -"It is what you would never understand if I did not come to -your aid. A man brought up like you, beyond the pale of social -considerations,--whose life as yet has only been one long strife -with the imperious necessity of each day; who has never employed his -physical powers except in the cares of the chase or the struggles of -war,--your moral faculties lay dormant within you; you were ignorant -of their power. Love brought about the transformation, the effects of -which are now confounding you. You love Doña Hermosa." - -"Do you think so?" said he simply. "Is this what is called love? In -that case," he added, speaking more to himself than to Don Estevan, -"its pains are cruel." - -The latter looked at him with a mingling of pity and sorrow, and -continued: - -"I followed you last night because your actions seemed suspicious, and -a vague fear led me to distrust you. Concealed in a bush only a yard or -two from the spot where you were talking to the Tigercat, I overheard -all you said. I changed my opinion of you; I recognised--forgive me if -I speak frankly--that you were better than report would make you, and -that it would be wrong to take you for such a man as the one you spoke -to. The peremptory manner with which you repulsed his insinuations -proved that you have a heart. Upon that I determined to support you in -the strife for which you are preparing against this man, who has ever -been your evil genius, and whose pernicious influence has so malignly -brooded over your youth. These are the reasons why I have spoken thus; -these the reasons why I brought you here for an explanation. Now, here -is my hand; will you take it? It is that of a friend and brother." - -Don Fernando rose, and eagerly seizing the hand so frankly held out to -him, pressed it again and again. - -"Thanks," said he; "thanks, and forgive me. Truly I am, as you say, a -savage, taking offence at every trifle. I did not recognise your noble -character." - -"Do not say a word on that subject. Listen to me: I do not know whence -my idea springs, but I suspect that the Tigercat is the implacable -enemy of Don Pedro de Luna; his purpose is to make you the instrument -of some devilish attempt upon the family at the _hacienda._" - -"It is just what I thought myself," said Don Fernando. "The Tigercat's -strange conduct during the time they were his guests, and the deception -practised upon them, which would have been successful but for my -intervention, roused my suspicions. You yourself heard last night the -obloquy he heaped on me. Let him beware." - -"Let us not be too precipitate," said Don Estevan; "we cannot be too -prudent. On the contrary, let us leave the Tigercat to develop his -schemes, that we may check them the more readily." - -"That, perhaps, would be the better plan. He is going to San Lucar -shortly: it will be easy to watch all his steps and counteract his -projects. Although this man is subtle, and his cunning and knavery -astute, I swear to God I will be no less wily than he." - -"More so, as I shall be in the background to support you, and be at -your side in the hour of need." - -"It is Doña Hermosa who must be specially guarded." - -"Alas, Don Estevan, how happy you will be in having it in your power to -watch over her hourly." - -"Nonsense, my friend; I hope to take you to her in the course of an -hour or two." - -"Can such a thing be possible?" cried Don Fernando, rapturously. - -"Of course it can; particularly as you ought to be placed on a certain -footing of intimacy with those at the _hacienda_, that we may the -better mislead the Tigercat. Have you forgotten his sarcasms and -insinuations apropos of the love he fancies you feel for the charming -girl,--the love he boasts of having instigated himself, by throwing her -into your way without your suspecting it?" - -"True; the man has certainly some hideous project concerning her." - -"Be not alarmed; with God's help, we will checkmate him. Now, two words -more. Do you really believe this wretch to be your father? The question -is one of more importance than you imagine." - -Don Fernando became restless; his forehead clouded over with thought; -he remained some time in profound meditation. At last he raised his hat -and replied: - -"I have often asked myself the question you have propounded without -ever coming to a satisfactory conclusion. Nevertheless, I am almost -certain he is not my father; I cannot be his son. His conduct towards -me, the cruel care with which he inspired me with thoughts of evil, -and developed in me all the bad instincts of nature,--prove to me that, -if any relationship exists between us, it can only be a distant one. -It is not to be imagined that a father could take absolute pleasure in -thus perverting his own son. Nature revolts so utterly against such a -proposition, that the mind cannot accept it. On the other hand, I have -always felt for this man a secret repulsion and invincible dislike -approaching to hatred. This repulsion increased instead of diminishing -with time, a rapture became daily more imminent, and only a pretext was -wanting to bring it about. This pretext has been unconsciously found -by the Tigercat; and now I am hugging myself with joy at finding my -freedom restored, and myself eased of the heavy burden of subjection -which weighed me down so long." - -"I am quite of your opinion; the man cannot be your father. We shall -shortly find that we are right in our conviction; and this moral -certainty will allow us to take any measures we please to counteract -and foil his machinations." - -"In what way do you intend to introduce me to Doña Hermosa, my friend?" - -"I will tell you directly. But first I must relate a long and mournful -tale, requisite for you to know in all its details, lest, in your -intercourse with Don Pedro, you should unwittingly touch upon a wound -still secretly bleeding in his heart. This dark and mysterious affair -happened long ago. I was hardly born at the time of its occurrence; -yet my mother has so often told me the details, that they present -themselves to my memory as if I had been an actor in the terrible -drama. Listen attentively, my good friend. Who knows whether God, -who has inspired me with the wish to tell you the tale, may not have -reserved for you the elucidation of its mysteries." - -"Does this tale relate to Doña Hermosa?" - -"Indirectly it does. Doña Hermosa was not born at the time, and her -father did not inhabit the _hacienda_, which he purchased subsequently. -At that time the family lived in retirement at a town in the Banda -Oriental; for you must know that Don Pedro de Luna is not a Mexican, -and the name by which you know him is not his; at least he has only -adopted it, the name belonging to the original branch of his family in -Mexico. He did not assume it till after the occurrence of the events -I am about to relate, when he came to settle here, having bought Las -Norias de San Antonio from his relations, who, established for many -years in Mexico, only occasionally, and at long intervals, paid a visit -of a few days to this distant _hacienda._ The people at San Lucar, and -the other inhabitants of the province, knowing Don Pedro de Luna under -no other name, imagined it was really that person who had chosen to -retire to his estate. My master, when he came here, cared the less to -disabuse them, as, when he bought the _hacienda_, he had stipulated -with his relations for the right to bear their name. The latter -naturally found nothing extraordinary in this; and now that, after -a lapse of twenty years, Don Pedro, by the death of his relations, -has become the head of the family, this borrowed name has become -effectually his own, and none can dispute his right to bear it." - -"You excite my curiosity to the utmost; and I wait with impatience for -the beginning of your tale." - -The two men seated themselves as comfortably as they could in the -_rancho;_ and Don Estevan Diaz, without farther digression, commenced -his long-deferred story. He spoke the whole day long, and when night -fell was still speaking. - -Don Fernando, his eyes eagerly fixed on the narrator, his heart -palpitating, and his eyebrows compressed, listened with liveliest -interest to the tale, the strange events of which, as they were -unrolled before him, made him shudder with emotions of mingled rage and -horror. - -Taking Don Estevan's place, we will ourselves recount to the reader -this mournful history. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -DON GUZMAN DE RIBERA. - - -In the year 1515 Juan Diaz de Solis discovered the Rio de la Plata,--a -discovery which cost him his life. - -According to Herrera, this river to which Solis had first given his own -name, took the one it now bears from the fact that the first silver -brought from America was shipped at this point for Spain. - -In 1535 Don Pedro de Mendoza, appointed _adelantado_, or governor -general, of the country between the Rio de la Plata and the Straits of -Magellan, founded on the right bank of the river, opposite the mouth -of the Uruguay, a town called at first Nuestra Señora de Buenos Aires; -later, La Trinidad de Buenos Aires; and finally, Buenos Aires,--a name -it has since retained. - -The history of this town would be a curious study, full of interesting -particulars, as from its earliest days it seems stamped with the seal -of fatality. - -One should read, in the narrative of Ulrich Schmidel, a German -adventurer, and one of the original founders of Buenos Aires, to what -depths of misery the wretched conquerors of the country were reduced: -how they were constrained by famine to devour the dead bodies of their -companions, who had been killed by the Corendian Indians, whom their -exactions and cruelties had driven to exasperation; and who, believing -the white men who had landed amongst them in such an extraordinary way -to be evil genii, had sworn their extermination. - -The destiny of this town is a singular one, condemned, as it has been, -to an unceasing strife, sometimes with enemies from without, at others, -with more formidable foes from within; and which, in spite of these -ceaseless struggles, is still one of the richest and most flourishing -cities of Spanish America. - -Like all the towns founded by the Castilian adventurers in the New -World, Buenos Aires is placed in a lovely situation. Its streets are -broad, laid out by rule and line; the houses are well built, with a -garden to each, thus affording a pleasant prospect. It contains many -public buildings, among which we may name the Bazaar de la Recoba. At -intervals vast squares occur, well furnished with magnificent shops, -which give it an appearance of life and prosperity unhappily too rare -in this unfortunate country, so long distracted by civil wars. - -Taking an immense leap backwards, we will now introduce our readers -to Buenos Aires at a time about twenty years previous to the period -to which our story belongs. It is ten o'clock in the night of one of -the last; days of September 1839, _i.e._ at the time the tyranny of -that extraordinary man who, for twenty years, subjected the Argentine -provinces to a yoke of iron, had reached its climax. - -Nobody in these days could imagine the hideous tyranny which the -Government of Rosas inflicted on this beautiful country, nor the -frightful system of terrorism organized by the Dictator from one -extremity to the other of the Banda Oriental. - -Although it was only ten o'clock, as we said above, a deathlike silence -hovered over the town. All the shops were shut, all the streets dark -and deserted, save when, at long intervals, they were traversed by -strong patrols, whose heavy footsteps resounded on the pavement; or -by a few solitary _serenos_ (watchmen), who, in fear and trembling, -shambled through their duty as guardians of the night. - -The inhabitants, shut up in their dwellings, had timidly extinguished -their lights, for fear of exciting the suspicions of a police ever -ready to take offence, and had sought a temporary refuge in slumber -from the evils of the day. - -On this particular night Buenos Aires was more desolate-looking than -usual. The wind had blown, in a storm from the Pampas during the whole -of the day, and filled the atmosphere with an icy chill. Large vivid -clouds, laden with electricity, were moving heavily through the sky; -and the hoarse rumbling of distant thunder, and the nearer and nearer -approaching flashes of lightning, gave warning that a fearful storm -was on the point of breaking over the city. - -Nearly in the centre of the Calle Santa Trinidad, one of the finest -streets in the city, which it traverses almost from end to end, a -feeble light, placed behind the muslin curtain of a window on the -ground floor, twinkled, like a star in a dark sky, through the tufted -branches of some trees planted in front of a noble mansion. - -This light seemed to be a blot upon the universal obscurity; for every -patrol that passed, every _sereno_ whom chance brought to the spot, -could not refrain from pausing, and observing it with an expression -of anger and ill-dissembled fear: after which they would resume their -march, the soldiers growling, in a tone of ill humour boding no good: - -"There is that traitor, Don Guzman de Ribera, hatching some new -conspiracy against his Excellency the Dictator." - -The others saying, in a tone of subdued pity: - -"Don Guzman will go on till he gets himself arrested some day." - -It is into this house, and into the room itself where the light is -shining, which gave rise to so many surmises, that we will introduce -our readers. - -After having crossed the garden and cleared the _zaguán_, we find on -our right hand a massive door of walnut, fastened simply by a latch, -on lifting which we enter a large room, well lighted by three windows -opening on the street. - -The furniture of this apartment was of the greatest simplicity. The -whitewashed walls were decorated with a few of those abominable -coloured prints which the trade of Paris has exported into all regions -of the globe, and which are supposed to represent the death of -Poniatowski, the seasons, &c. The inevitable Soufleto's piano--which -in all Spanish-American houses one sees thrust forward into the most -conspicuous place, but which is happily beginning to be replaced by the -Alexandre harmonium--a dozen chairs, a round table covered with a green -cloth, two armchairs, and a clock with alabaster columns, on a pier -table, completed the inventory. - -In this room a man, dressed in a travelling costume, with _poncho_ -(cloak) and _polenas_ (boots), was striding up and down, casting -impatient and restless looks at the clock every time he passed the -table. - -Sometimes he paused, lifted the curtain of a window, and tried to -pierce the obscurity of night and see into the street; but in vain; the -darkness was too great for him to distinguish objects. Sometimes he -listened attentively, as if amongst the noises of the town the breeze -had brought him the distant echo of a sound significant to him; then -he resumed, with a gesture of ill humour and increasing agitation, the -walk he had so often interrupted. - -This man was Don Guzman de Ribera. - -Belonging to one of the best families in the country, and descending -in a direct line from the first conquerors, Don Guzman, when still -very young, had served a rude apprenticeship in arms under his father. -During the war of independence, as aide-de-camp to San Martin, he had -followed that general when he crossed the Cordilleras at the head of -his army, and revolutionised Chili and Peru. - -Since that period he had served continually, sometimes under one chief, -sometimes under another; always striving, to the best of his ability, -to avoid ranging himself under a flag hostile to the true interests -of his country--a difficult task amidst those perpetual convulsions -caused by the petty ambition of men without real importance, who were -contending for power amongst themselves. Nevertheless, thanks to his -dexterity, and still more to the uprightness of his character, Don -Guzman had managed to keep himself stainless: yet two years previously, -suspected by Rosas, to whom his ideas of true liberality were odious, -he had retired from the service, and settled himself at home. - -Don Guzman, a true soldier in the most honourable acceptation of the -word, although never ostensibly meddling with politics, was greatly -dreaded by the Dictator, on account of the influence his loyal and -resolute character gave him over his countrymen, who felt for him -a sympathy so profound, and a devotedness so complete, that more -than once General Rosas, a man of few scruples, had been forced to -relinquish the idea of ridding himself, by exile or worse means, of a -man whose seclusion and noble pride seemed to cast a shadow over the -actions of the Dictator. - -At the moment we bring him before our readers, Don Guzman had just -reached his fortieth year; but notwithstanding the countless fatigues -he had undergone, and which had only hardened him, age seemed to have -taken no hold of his vigorous organism. - -His tall and muscular figure was as upright, the expression of his -face as full of calm intelligence, his eye as brilliant as ever. A few -silver threads among his hair, and one or two wrinkles, written on his -forehead more by thought than by time, were the only signs that he had -already attained middle age. - -The clock had struck half past ten some minutes ago, when several rude -blows were struck on the door, making Don Guzman tremble. - -He stopped and listened. - -A lively altercation appeared to be taking place under the _zaguán_ -of the house. Unfortunately, the room being too far from the porch, -Don Guzman could only hear a confused uproar, without being able to -distinguish the sounds. But in a short time the noise ceased, the door -of the room was opened, and a domestic entered. We must suppose him to -be a confidential servant, judging by the manner in which his master -spoke to him. - -"Well, Diego, what is it? What is the meaning of all this noise at such -an hour?" - -The servant approached his master before he answered, and bowing, -whispered in his ear: "Don Diego Pedrosa." - -"He!" said the master, frowning. "Is he alone?" - -"I do not think he has more than two or three soldiers with him." - -"Which means," said Don Guzman, looking more and more gloomy-- - -"That he has another score or two concealed close at hand." - -"What does the man want with me? It is hardly the hour for a visit. -Don Bernardo is scarcely so intimate with me," he added, with a bitter -smile, "that he would act with so little ceremony towards me without an -urgent reason." - -"Exactly what I did myself the honour to remark to him, your -Excellency." - -"And he persists?" - -"Yes, Excellency. He tells me he has business of the utmost importance -to communicate." - -Don Guzman strode up and down with a pensive air. - -"Listen, Diego," said he, at last; "see that the servants arm -themselves quietly, and be ready at the first signal; but act -prudently, so as to avoid suspicion." - -"Trust me, Excellency," said the old servitor, with a smile of -intelligence. - -For thirty years Diego had been in the service of the Ribera family; -many a time had he given his master proof of his boundless attachment. - -"Ah, well," replied Don Guzman good humouredly; "I know pretty well -what you can do." - -"And the horses?" continued the servant. - -"Let them stay where they are." - -"Even if we are to be off directly?" said Diego, in amazement. - -"We shall be off so much the sooner, _muchacho_," said the don, -whispering to his servant, "if they do not think we have seen their -trap and are about to throw dust in their eyes." - -Diego nodded. - -"And Don Bernardo?" he asked. - -"Admit him. I had rather know the worst at once." - -"Is it quite prudent for your Excellency to see this man alone?" - -"No fear, Diego; he is not so terrible as you think. Are my pistols in -my _poncho?_" - -The old servant, probably tranquillised by these words, left the room -without replying; but returned almost immediately, showing in a man -of about thirty, dressed in the uniform of a staff officer of the -Argentine army. - -At sight of the stranger, Don Guzman smiled pleasantly, and advancing -a few steps towards him, said: - -"You are welcome, Colonel Pedrosa"--he made a sign to Diego to -retire--"although the hour is rather late for a visit. I am delighted -to see you. Pray be seated." - -"Your Excellency will excuse me, on account of the business which -brings me here," replied the colonel, with a polished bow. - -Here Diego, obeying the reiterated signs of his master, left the room, -although much against his will. - -The two men, seated face to face, looked at each other much like two -duellists about to cross their blades. - -Don Diego was a handsome man, of slender and upright figure, all -whose movements betrayed his noble birth, and were marked by the most -consummate elegance. - -His face, a perfect oval, was embellished by two large black and -sparkling eyes, from which, when he grew excited, fire seemed to flash, -possessing an electric power so potent, that few could support their -dazzling effulgence. His straight nose, with its open and flexible -nostrils; his well-formed mouth, with its astute and sarcastic outline, -and its set of brilliant teeth, surmounted by an ebon and well-trimmed -moustache; his open forehead, and his complexion slightly tanned by -exposure to the sun,--gave to his face, which was encircled by long -silky curls of magnificent black hair,--a haughty and commanding -expression, inspiring an instinctive repulsion by its frigid energy. - -His bands, ensconced in admirably fitting gloves, and his varnished -boots, were of wonderfully small size,--in fact, his whole person was a -type of his race. - -Such was the personage who, at eleven o'clock at night, knocked at -Don Guzman's door, and insisted on admittance, under the pretext of -important business. As for his moral qualities, the progress of our -story will exhibit them so perfectly, that it would be useless to enter -into the details at present. - -However, as the silence between these two personages threatened to -prolong itself indefinitely, Don Guzman, in his quality of host, -thought it incumbent on him to put an end to a situation which began to -be embarrassing to both; so he broke it. - -Bowing with courtesy, he said: - -"_Caballero_, I am waiting for what you may please to communicate to -me. It grows late." - -"Aha! You wish to get rid of me," said the colonel, with a sardonic -smile. "Is that what you wish me to understand?" - -"It is always my aim to make my speech so clear and open, colonel, -that there may be no possibility of my words bearing a double -interpretation." - -Don Bernardo's cheeks, which had flushed up when Don Guzman spoke, -resumed their natural colour, and assuming a tone of pleasantry, he -said: - -"Look you, Don Guzman; we will put away all idea of sparring with each -other. I have a great desire to serve you." - -"Me!" said Don Guzman, with a look of ironical amazement; "Are you -quite sure of that?" - -"If we continue in this strain, _caballero_, we shall only envenom our -discussion, without coming to an understanding." - -"Alas, colonel, we live in an era (and you know it better than most -men) in which the most innocent actions are so often made to look -like guilt, that no one dares to take a step or hazard a word without -dreading to excite the suspicions of a power that broods darkly over us -all. How can I put faith in the words you have just spoken, when your -whole conduct towards me has hitherto been that of an inveterate enemy?" - -"Allow me to waive for the present the discussion of the question -whether I have acted for or in opposition to your interests. The day -will come, _caballero_--at least I hope so--when you will judge me -according to my deserts. My present hope is, that you will lay aside -all prejudice as regards the step I am now taking." - -"If that be the case, have the goodness to explain your intentions, -that I may act accordingly." - -"Certainly, _caballero._ I have just left Palermo." - -"Palermo, indeed!" said Don Guzman, shuddering imperceptibly. - -"I have; and do you know what they are doing at Palermo tonight?" - -"By my faith, I confess I trouble myself very little about the -Dictator, especially when he is busy at his _quinta_ (country house). -They are dancing, or otherwise amusing themselves there, I suppose?" - -"Quite right: they are dancing and amusing themselves." - -"By heavens!" said the other, "I did not think I was so good a diviner." - -"Well, you have guessed a part of their occupation, but not the whole." - -"The devil! You puzzle one," replied Don Guzman laughing sardonically. -"I do not see too clearly what his Excellency can have to do beyond -dancing, unless he amuses himself with signing warrants against the -suspected. His Excellency is endowed with great capabilities for -business." - -"This time you have divined the whole, _caballero_," said the colonel, -without appearing to notice the ironical tone of the speaker. - -"And amongst these warrants there is, I dare say, one which concerns me -more particularly." - -"Precisely so," replied the colonel, with a bland smile. - -"Very good. What follows is quite simple: you are charged to put it in -execution." - -"Just so," said the colonel coolly. - -"I would have laid a hundred to one on it! And this warrants enjoins -you--" - -"To put you under arrest, _caballero._" - -No sooner had the colonel uttered these words with the most charming -indifference, than Don Guzman was standing before him, a pistol in each -hand. - -"By heavens!" said he resolutely, "Such an order is easier given than -executed when the person to be arrested is Don Guzman de Ribera!" - -The colonel had not stirred; he had remained lounging in his armchair, -in the attitude of a man quite at home with his host. He made a sign to -the _caballero_ to be seated again. - -"You are quite mistaken," said he coolly. "Nothing would have been -easier for me than to execute the warrant, if I had any intention to -carry it out, especially as you yourself have furnished me with the -means." - -"I!" said Don Guzman. - -"Yourself: you are a resolute man; you would have resisted it, as you -have just proved. Now, what would have happened? I should have killed -you. General Rosas, in spite of the interest he feels for you, has not -absolutely ordered me to take you alive." - -The reasoning was brutal, but perfectly logical. Don Guzman bowed his -head: he felt he was in this man's power. - -"Nevertheless, you are my foe," he said. - -"¿Quién sabe?" (who can tell?) "Señor, in times such as we live in, no -one can say who is friend or who is foe." - -"But finally, what are your intentions?" exclaimed Don Guzman, in a -state of nervous excitement, increased by the necessity of dissembling -the fury that was raging in his mind. - -"I will tell you; but I beg you will not interrupt me. We have -already lost much time--which is valuable just now, more especially -to yourself, as you ought to know. At the very moment when I came to -disturb you, you were giving orders to your confidential servant Diego -to get ready your horses." - -"Indeed!" said Don Guzman. - -"It is the fact. You were only deferring your flight till the arrival -of a certain _guacho_" (Mexican inhabitant of the prairies) "to guide -you through the Pampas." - -"Do you know that too?" - -"We know everything. As for the rest, judge for yourself. Your brother, -Don Leoncio de Ribera, a refugee with his family for many years in -Chili, is to arrive this very night within a few leagues of Buenos -Aires. You have been advised of his coming for some days. It was your -intention to repair to the Hacienda del Pico, where he was to expect -you; then to introduce him surreptitiously into the city, where you -have prepared what you fancied would be a safe hiding place for him. Is -this the whole, or have I forgotten any minor particulars?" - -Don Guzman covered his face with his hands, discouraged, -thunderstricken by what he had just heard. - -A horrible gulf yawned before his eyes. If Rosas was master of his -secret--and that he was, the revelations of the colonel left no room to -doubt--his death and that of his brother had been sworn by the ruthless -Dictator. Hope would have been a folly. - -"Good God!" cried he; "My brother--my poor brother!" - -The colonel seemed to enjoy for a moment the effect produced by his -words; then he resumed, in a quiet and insinuating manner: - -"Calm yourself, Don Guzman; all is not yet lost. The details I have -mentioned, and which you thought such a profound secret, are known to -me alone. The order for your arrest does not come into execution before -sunrise tomorrow. The stop I have taken should prove to you that I have -no wish to make an unfair use of the advantage chance has placed in my -hands." - -"But again I say, What is your intention? In the name of the devil, -what are you?" - -"What am I?--Your enemy. My intention?--To save you." - -Don Guzman did not reply. A prey to the most violent emotion, his -whole body trembled with agitation. The colonel shrugged his shoulders -impatiently. - -"Let us understand each other," said he. "You wait in vain for the -_guacho_ on whom you reckoned: he is dead." - -"Dead!" cried Don Guzman, struck with astonishment. - -"The man," continued Don Bernardo, "was a traitor. He had hardly -entered Buenos Aires, before he attempted to make money by the sale of -the secret confided to him by your brother. Chance would have it that -he should apply to me, in preference to anyone else, on account of the -hatred I seemed to entertain for your family." - -"That you seemed to entertain!" bitterly repeated Don Guzman. - -"Yes, that I seemed to entertain," Don Bernardo went on, laying great -stress upon the words. "In short, this man revealed everything. I paid -him well, and let him go." - -"What an imprudence!" exclaimed Don Guzman, highly interested. - -"Was it not?" said the colonel quickly. "But what could I do? For the -first moment I was so thunderstruck by the news, that I did not think -of detaining the fellow. I was on the point of sending in search of -him, when I heard an uproar in the street. I inquired the cause; I -confess I was not quite satisfied with what was told me. It appears -that the fool had hardly put foot in the street before he began to -quarrel with another _pícaro_ of his own kind; that the latter, in a -fit of impatience, had given him a _navaja_" (a cut with the knife) -"across his belly, and, luckily for you, killed him outright. It is -miraculous, is it not?" - -The colonel had related this strange tale with the same negligent -indifference he had exhibited during the whole meeting, and which he -had not dropped for an instant. Don Guzman cast a penetrating glance at -him, which he bore with the greatest unconcern. Then all irresolution -seemed to vanish. He raised himself to his full height, and made a -courteous inclination to Don Bernardo. - -"Excuse me, colonel," said he fervently, "for having mistaken your -character; but up to this day everything seemed to justify my conduct; -only, in the name of Heaven, if you are my foe--if you have a hate to -satisfy--take your revenge on me--on me alone--and spare my brother, -against whom you can have no cause for animosity." - -Don Bernardo frowned, but replied quickly: - -"_Caballero_, order your servants to bring round your horses; I myself -will escort you out of the city. You could not possibly quit it without -me; you are so thoroughly surrounded by spies. You have nothing to fear -from the men who are with me; they are trusty and faithful, and I chose -them on purpose. Besides, they shall leave us a few paces hence." - -Don Guzman hesitated for a while. He watched Don Bernardo with anxious -eyes. At last he seemed to have formed his resolve; for he rose, and -said, looking the colonel full in the face: - -"No; whatever may happen, I will not take your advice." - -The colonel suppressed his feeling of dissatisfaction. - -"Are you mad?" said he; "Remember--" - -Don Guzman interrupted him: - -"My decision is made," said he dryly. "I will not leave this room -without a perfect knowledge of the reason of this strange conduct on -your part. I have tried to overcome it, but a secret presentiment -assures me that you are still my foe; and if you now utter a feigned -wish to serve me, colonel, it is only with the purpose of carrying out -some diabolical plan against me and mine." - -"Beware, _caballero_! When I came here, my purpose was friendly. Your -obstinacy will compel me to break off a colloquy which we can never -resume. I have but one thing to add: whatever the reason for my actions -may be, I have only one wish--to save you. This is the sole explanation -I have the right to give." - -"But that will not suffice, _caballero._" - -"And why, if it please you?" said the colonel haughtily. - -"Because matters have occurred between you and a certain member of my -family which give me a right to look upon any intentions of yours as -hostile." - -The colonel trembled; a livid pallor stole over his countenance. - -"Indeed!" said he hoarsely. "So you know that, Señor Don Guzman?" - -"I will answer you in the exact words in which you replied to me a few -minutes ago; I know all!" - -Don Bernardo cast down his eyes, and clenched his hands in concentrated -rage. - -There was silence for a time. - -Just at this moment a _sereno_ passed through the street, paused close -to the walls of the house, and cried, in a cracked and drunken voice, -the hour of the night: - -"_¡Ave, María purísima! Las doce han dado y sereno!_" ("Hail, purest -Mary! Twelve o'clock, and a fine night!") - -Then his heavy step was heard as he went on his rounds, until it -gradually died away in the distance. - -The two men shuddered, thus suddenly aroused from their preoccupation. - -"Midnight already!" muttered Ribera in a tone of mingled regret and -anxiety. - -"Let us end this," resolutely exclaimed Don Bernardo. "Since nothing -will convince you of the honesty of my intentions; since you exact from -me revelations which concern myself alone--" - -"And one other person," supplied Don Guzman. - -"I will admit it," continued the colonel impatiently. - -"Well, are you satisfied now? It is solely because I know I shall meet -this person at the Hacienda del Pico, that I wish to accompany you. I -must have an interview. Do you understand me now?" - -"Yes; I understand you perfectly." - -"Then what are your objections?" - -"You are deceiving yourself, _caballero_," answered Don Guzman coolly. - -"Oh! This time I swear you are mistaken." - -"Then I shall go alone!--That is all." - -"Beware, once more!" said the colonel; "My patience is exhausted." - -"And mine, colonel! Yes, I repeat, I scorn your threats! Do what you -think fit, _caballero._ God will aid me." - -At these words a disdainful smile passed over the lips of the colonel; -he rose, and planted himself before Don Guzman, who was standing in the -middle of the room. - -"Are those your last words, señor?" said he. - -"The last." - -"Your blood be upon your own head! It is you who have willed it so," -shouted the colonel, casting on him a glance of fury. - -And without taking any further notice of his foe, who remained -apparently cold and impassive, he turned to leave the chamber, a prey -to the most violent emotion. - -Don Guzman, profiting by this movement of the colonel, dexterously -threw off his _poncho_, cast it over the head of Don Bernardo, muffling -him up in it in such a manner that he was bound and gagged before he -could attempt to defend himself. - -"For one trump a higher!" laughed Don Ribera. - -"As you are determined to go with me, you shall, but in a different -fashion to what you expected." - -For answer, the colonel made a vain but desperate effort to free -himself from his bonds. - -"And now for the others!" exclaimed Don Guzman, with a triumphant look -at his enemy, who was rolling on the floor in a paroxysm of impotent -rage. - -Five minutes later, the few soldiers who had been left in the _zaguán_ -were disarmed by the servants, bound with cords they had themselves -brought for a far different purpose, and deposited on the steps of the -neighbouring cathedral, where they were left to their fate. - -As to the colonel, the old soldier, who had just shown so much presence -of mind, had no idea as he had said himself, of leaving him behind. On -the contrary, he had weighty reasons for taking him with him in the -hazardous adventure he was about to undertake. So, as soon as he was on -horseback, he threw his prisoner across the pummel of his saddle, and -left the house attended by several trusty servants, well mounted, and -armed to the teeth. - -"Speed! Speed!" he cried, as soon as the door was closed. "Who knows -but that this traitor may have sold us beforehand?" - -The little party started at a gallop, and traversed the city--deserted -at that time of night--with the speed of a storm wind. - -But as soon as the riders reached the commencement of the suburbs, -they gradually slackened their pace, and finally halted, at a sign from -Don Guzman. - -That gentleman had totally forgotten one thing, and a very important -one. It was, that during the time the city was suffering under the rule -of Rosas, it was under martial law; and consequently, after a certain -hour, it was impossible to pass out without the watchword, which was -changed every night, and given by the Dictator himself. It was an -embarrassing situation. Don Guzman's looks fell upon the prisoner in -front of him; for a single moment he thought of liberating his head, -and demanding the watchword, which he would certainly know. But another -moment's reflection made him relinquish the idea of trusting to a man -to whom he had just offered a mortal insult, and who would certainly -embrace the first opportunity that offered for revenge. He determined, -therefore, to trust to audacity, and act according to circumstances. -Consequently, having warned his servants to look to their arms, and -be in readiness to use them at his first signal, he gave the order to -advance. - -They had ridden a few hundred paces farther, when they heard the sound -of a musket being cocked, followed immediately by the words, "Who goes -there?" lustily halloaed. - -Luckily, the night was intensely dark. The moment for audacity had come. - -Don Guzman responded, in a sharp and firm voice: - -"Colonel Pedrosa! _¡Ronde mashorca!_"[1] - -"Where are you going?" said the sentry. - -"To Palermo," replied Ribera, "by orders of the well-beloved General -Rosas." - -"Pass!" said the sentry. - -The little party was swallowed up in the jaws of the ponderous gate; it -galloped through, and was soon lost in the darkness. - -Thanks to his audacity, Don Guzman had escaped from utmost peril. - -The _serenos_ were chanting the half-hour after midnight when the -travellers left the last houses of Buenos Aires behind them. - - - -[1] The "mashorca rounds,"--a nickname given to the bodyguards of the -Dictator; literally, "more gallows." - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -THE POST HOUSE IN THE PAMPAS. - - -The Pampas are the _Steppes_ of South America, with this difference, -that these immense plains, which extend from Buenos Aires, as far as -San Luis de Mendoza, to the foot of the Cordilleras, are clothed with -a thick carpet of long grass, undulating with the softest breath of -the wind, and are intersected by numerous water courses, some of great -magnitude, which cut it up in every direction. - -The aspect of the Pampas is desperately monotonous and mournful. There -is neither wood nor mountain; not a single break of ground to form an -oasis of sand or granite, on which to rest the eye in the midst of this -ocean of green. - -Only two roads traverse the Pampas, and connect the Atlantic with the -Pacific. - -The first leads to Chili, passing by Mendoza; the second to Peru, by -Tucumen and Salta. - -These vast solitudes are infested by two races of men, perpetually at -war with each other: the Indian Bravos, or Pampas, and the Guachos. - -The Guachos, a caste peculiar to the Argentine provinces, are not to be -met elsewhere. - -These men, charged with the supervision of the wild cattle and horses -which range at large through the whole extent of these wide plains, -are, for the most part, whites by race; but, crossed in blood with the -aborigines for many years, they have in time become almost as barbarous -as the Indians themselves, from whom they have learnt their cunning and -cruelty. - -They live on horseback, lie in the bare sun, support themselves on the -flesh of their beasts when unlucky in the chase, and only approach the -towns and _haciendas_ for the purpose of exchanging their skins, their -_ñandú_ (the ostrich of the Pampas) plumes, and furs, for spirits, -silver spurs, powder, knifes, and the cloths of gaudy colours with -which they delight to adorn their persons. - -The true Centaurs of the New World, as rapid as the Tartar riders of -the _Steppes_ of Siberia, they transport themselves with prodigious -speed from one extremity of the Banda Oriental to the other. They -recognise no law beyond the whim of the moment; no master but their -will. For the most part, they do not know the proprietor who employs -them, and whom they only see at rare intervals. - -The Guachos are almost as much to be dreaded as the Indians by -travellers, who dare not venture upon the Pampas except in considerable -numbers, so as to afford mutual protection against the aggressions to -which they are constantly exposed, either from Indians or from the wild -beasts. - -The caravans are usually composed of fifteen, or even twenty, wagons, -or _galeras_, drawn by six or eight oxen apiece. Their drivers, -crouching under the hide covering of the _galeras_, urge them on with -long goads, slung over their heads, with which they can easily reach -the leading oxen of the team. - -A _capataz_, or _major-domo_,--a resolute man, thoroughly acquainted -with the Pampas,--commands the caravan, having under his orders some -thirty _peones_, who, like himself, are mounted, and gallop around the -convoy, watch the relief cattle, and, in case of attack, defend the -travellers of every age whom they escort. - -Nothing can be seen at once so picturesque and sad as the aspect the -caravans present as they extend themselves in a long serpentine line -over the Pampas, advancing at a slow and regular pace along roads full -of quagmires, over which the immense _galeras_ roll, groaning on their -croaking and massive wheels, tottering with indescribable swayings and -joltings along ruts, out of which the oxen, lowing and stretching their -smoking nostrils to the ground, can hardly drag them. - -Ofttimes these heavy caravans are passed by _arrieros_ (muleteers), -whose _recua_ (string of mules) trots gaily on, to the tinkling -of a silver bell attached to the neck of the _yegua madrina_ (the -leading mule), and to the sound of "_Arrea, mulos_" (Get on mules), -incessantly repeated, in all notes of the gamut, by the _arriero_ chief -and his _peones_ who gallop about the mules to prevent their straying -to right or left. - -When night comes, the muleteers and ox drivers find precarious shelter -in the post houses--a kind of _tambas_ or _caravanseries_, built, at -considerable distances apart, in the Pampas. The _galeras_, detached -from the oxen, are ranged in single file; the burdens of the mules are -piled up in a circle; then, if the _corral_ (stables) be full, if there -be many travellers at the post house, beasts and men encamp together, -and spend the night under the open sky,--a mode of sleeping which is no -hardship in a country where cold is almost unknown. Then commence, by -the fantastic light of the bivouac fires, the long tales of the Pampas, -interspersed with joyous bursts of laughter, with songs, and words of -love uttered in whispers. - -Yet it is rare for the night to pass over without a quarrel of some -sort arising between the muleteers and the drivers, who are by nature -jealous of each other, and enemies by profession. Then blood flows, the -consequence of a _navajada_ or two; for the knife always plays a too -active part among these men, whom no fear of consequences restrains in -their unbridled frenzy. - -Now, on the night of the day on which our story begins, the last -post house on the Portillo road, when you leave the Pampas, going to -Buenos Aires, was overfilled with travellers. Two numerous _recuas de -mulas_ (strings of mules), which a month before had crossed the Alto -de Cumbre, and encamped on the Rio de la Cucoa, close to the Inca's -Bridge, one of the most singular natural curiosities in the country, -had lighted their fires before the post house, close to two or three -convoys of _galeras_, whose oxen were quietly lying in the interior of -the circle formed by the wagons. - -The post house was a building of considerable extent, constructed -of _adobas_ (sundried bricks.) The entrance was furnished with a -portico--a species of peristyle formed of the trunks of four large -trees, planted in the ground in lieu of pillars, and supporting a -veranda broad enough to afford shelter from the piercing rays of the -sun. - -In the interior of the _toldo_, as they call these miserable hovels, -resounded the songs and laughter of the drivers and muleteers, mingling -with the notes of a _vihuela_ (Spanish guitar), scraped with the -knuckles of the hand in a manner sufficient to drive one to despair, -and with the sharp and clamorous outcry of the postmaster, whose -squeaking voice strove in vain to quell the uproar, and regulate the -disorder. - -Just at this moment the rapid gallop of many horses was heard; and two -parties of riders, coming from points diametrically opposite, stopped, -as with one accord, before the porch of the _toldo_, after passing with -great dexterity through the encampments before the post house, the -approaches to which were vastly obstructed by the _galeras_. - -The first of these parties, consisting of only six riders, came from -the direction of Mendoza; the second from the opposite side, from the -heart of the Pampas: the latter comprised some thirty individuals at -least. - -The unexpected arrival of the newcomers stopped, as by enchantment, the -clamour which the _ranchero_, or owner of the house, had been unable to -still, and a sudden silence seized on the company, which had been so -joyously uproarious a few minutes before. - -The muleteers and drivers glided like shadows out of the house, and, -with furtive steps, regained their respective encampments, exchanging -uneasy looks amongst themselves; so that the room was empty in a -twinkling, and the _ranchero_ was able to come forward and receive the -guests who had arrived so unexpectedly. But he had scarcely reached the -threshold, and cast a glance outside, when a mortal pallor overspread -his visage, a convulsive shudder shook his frame, and his tones were -almost unintelligible, as he managed to stutter forth the essential -phrase of welcome in South America; "_¡Ave, María purísima!_" (Hail, -purest Mary!) - -"_¡Sin pecado concebida!_" (immaculately conceived) answered the rough -voice of a tall cavalier, with harsh features and a ferocious eye, who -seemed to be the leader of the more numerous party. - -We must observe that the second party appeared in some degree to share -the terror felt by the inhabitants of the post house; and having -perceived the others before their own presence was remarked, the six -cavaliers had prudently reined in their horses, and thrown themselves -into the shade as far as possible, being little desirous, in all -probability, of being inadvertently seen by the dangerous fellow -travellers amongst whom chance or ill luck had unfortunately thrown -them. - -Now, who were these persons, the sight of whom sufficed of itself to -inspire a general panic and womanly consternation in the breasts of the -hardy explorers of the wilderness--of men whose life was a perpetual -struggle against the wild beasts, and who had so often confronted death -without blenching, that they almost fancied they were beyond his grasp? - -At the time in which this story happens, the hateful and bloody tyranny -of that half-breed--that Nero who had nothing belonging to humanity -but its semblance, that ignorant and brutal _guacho_, that man-faced -tiger, in a word, Don Juan Manuel de Rosas--which had so long crushed -the Argentine provinces, was still all-powerful; and these men were -_federales_, hired assassins of that butcher in cold blood, whose name -is now damned by the execration of the world; in short, they were -members of that horrible _restauradora_ (regeneratory) society, better -known under the name of _mashorca_ (_mashorca_ signifies literally -"more gallows"), which for several years filled all Buenos Aires with -mourning. Constrained by public indignation, the Dictator, later on, -had made a pretence of dissolving this society; but he did nothing -of the sort, in reality; and up to the final fall of the unclean -tyrant, it existed _de facto_, and at the slightest sign of its master -scattered murder, violation, and fire through the length and breadth of -the confederation. - -The reader can now understand the terror which seized upon the careless -and peaceable travellers assembled in the _toldo_, at the appearance of -the ominous uniforms of these hired ruffians, to whom pity was unknown. - -Compelled by one of these instinctive presentiments which are seldom -fallacious, they felt that some misfortune threatened them. They crept -out with slouching heads, and hiding themselves behind their bales, -began to shudder in the darkness, without attempting to prepare for -resistance, which they knew would be futile. - -In the meantime, the _colorados_, or _federales_, had dismounted, and -entered the _rancho_, marching on their toes, on account of their -enormous spur rowels, and allowing their heavy iron scabbards to trail -beside them: The clang made by these in their contact with the flooring -seemed a sound of evil augury to the terrified listeners. - -"Halloa!" cried the leader, in a harsh voice; "_¡rayo de Dios!_ What -does this mean, _Caballeros?_ Does our arrival banish all pleasure from -this dwelling?" - -The _ranchero_ multiplied his obeisances till he addled his brains with -bowing, and twisted his shapeless hat in both hands without finding -a word to say. At the bottom of his heart, this worthy man, who was -acquainted with the expeditious habits of his unwelcome guests, had the -greatest dread of being hanged forthwith; a thought which by no means -helped him to recover his presence of mind, and the coolness required -by circumstances. - -The large room was barely lighted by a single smoky candle, shedding -a yellow and doubtful light. The _colorado_, coming from the open, -his eyes still clouded with the thick darkness on the Pampas, had -not been able to distinguish objects at first; but as soon as he had -got accustomed to the semi-obscurity which reigned around him, and -perceived that, with the exception of the _ranchero_, the place was -empty, he frowned, and stamped on the ground in ire. - -"_¡Válgame Dios!_" he exclaimed, looking furiously at the poor devil -perspiring with fear before him, "Have I fallen unawares into a nest -of serpents? Is this miserable hut the meeting place of _salvajes -unitarios?_ Answer, wretch, or I will have your tongue torn out and -thrown to the dogs!" - -The post master grew green with fear when he heard this menace,--a -threat he well knew these men capable of executing. He was still more -frightened at the expression _salvajes unitarios_, an epithet used to -designate the enemies of Rosas, and generally the prelude to a massacre. - -"Señor General," cried he, with an heroic effort to utter a few words. - -"I am not a general," broke in the _colorado_ in a somewhat smoother -tone, for his pride was secretly flattered by the sonorous title; -"I am not a general yet, though I hope to be one someday. I am only -_teniente_ (lieutenant), which is already a pretty step; so call me -nothing else for the present. Now, go on." - -"Señor _Teniente,_" replied the _ranchero_, a little comforted, "there -is nobody here except good friends of the well beloved General Rosas; -we are all federals." - -"Ha! I doubt that," said the terrible lieutenant. "You are too close to -Monte Video to be thorough Rosistas." - -We must state here that throughout the Argentine provinces there was -only one town which had the noble courage to oppose itself to the -savage tyranny of the ruthless Dictator. This town, whose devotion to -the sacred cause of liberty has made it celebrated throughout both the -Old and New Worlds, is Monte Video. Resolute to perish, if it must be, -in the holy cause it bad embraced, it heroically sustained a siege of -nine years against the troops of Rosas, whose impotent efforts were -repeatedly shattered against its walls. - -"Señor _Teniente_," replied the _ranchero_ obsequiously, "the people -who meet here are solely _arrieros_ and wagoners, who are only -passers-by, and never meddle with politics." - -This explanation, which the postmaster thought most adroit, had no -influence on the _colorado._ - -"_¡Vive Dios!_" he cried, with haughty voice, "We will see; and woe to -the traitor I discover! Luco," he continued addressing his _cabo_, or -corporal, "just step and rouse up those brute beasts, and bring them -hither. If any sleep too soundly, stir them up with the point of the -sabre; it will exhilarate them and induce them to move more quickly." - -The _cabo_ gave a malicious grin, and went out immediately to execute -his orders. - -The lieutenant, after addressing a few more questions of minor -importance to the _ranchero_, at last thought fit to seat himself -on the bench which ran round the room, and, to enliven the time of -the corporal's absence, set himself to consume the liquor and food -assiduously placed before him by the host, who was swearing to himself -all the while at being obliged to find drink gratis for so many. He -knew well that, though the consumption of liquors by the soldiers would -be enormous, he would never see the colour of their money, and might -think himself happy if he escaped without other damage. - -The soldiers, except five or six who remained without in charge of the -horses, seated themselves by their officer, and followed his example in -drinking like sponges. - -The corporal's task was easier than he expected, for the poor devils of -muleteers and drivers had overheard the peremptory order of the leader. -Comprehending that resistance would not only be useless, but make their -situation worse, they obeyed their officer's orders with resignation, -and came back again into the room, attempting to hide their fright with -ill-counterfeited smiles. - -"Aha!" cried the lieutenant; "I knew we should find some malcontents -here,--ay, good people?" - -The peasants multiplied their excuses and protestations, to which the -lieutenant listened with the greatest indifference, taking all the -while short sips from an enormous goblet, filled to the brim with -_refino de Catalonia_, the strongest spirit known. - -"There, that will do," said he at last, making the steel scabbard of -his sword rattle against the bench; "let us reconnoitre a little; and -first of all, for whom are you, in the devil's name?" - -The travellers, terrified by this demonstration, answered the question -by hastening to shout at the top of their voices, and with an -enthusiasm the more demonstrative the less it was real: - -"_Viva el benemérito General Rosas, Viva el libertador, Vivan los -federales, Mueren los salvajes unitarios. A degüello, a degüello con -ellos._"[1] - -These well-known federal cries, which served as rallying calls in their -bloody expeditions, dispelled the doubts of the officer. He deigned to -smile; but it was a tiger's smile, exposing the white fangs ready to -bite. - -"_Bravos, Bravos_," he cried: "that is right at all events. These are -true Rosistas. Come, _ranchero, trago de aguardiente_" (a draught of -brandy) "for these worthy people. I intend to treat them." - -The _ranchero_ could have easily dispensed with this factitious -generosity of the officer, the cost of which he well knew he should -have to pay out of his own pocket. However, he executed the order, -hiding the chagrin he felt under the most gracious air he could assume. -The cries and protestations of federalism were renewed with redoubled -ardour: the brandy circulated, and joy seemed to have reached a climax. - -The lieutenant next took a guitar, which happened to lie beside him. - -"Come, _muchachos_," said he; "a _zambacueca_" (a Mexican dance). -"_Voto a Dios_, Room for the dance." - -There was no refusing. Whatever the secret fears of those present, -the gracious invitation of the _colorado_ was so neatly put, that they -were obliged to take heart of grace, as the saying is, and play their -parts to the end. It was the best plan to resign themselves to their -lot. They were in the claws of the tiger, who might devour them at any -moment if the fancy seized him. - -The middle of the room was cleared; the dancers, male and female, took -their places, their eyes fixed on the officer, in expectation of his -signal. - -They had not long to wait; as soon as the lieutenant saw his victims -prepared, he swallowed an enormous bumper of _refino_, and set himself -to rattle on the guitar with his knuckles; while he sang, or rather -screeched, in a shaky voice, the gay _zambacueca_ so well known in the -Argentine provinces, and which begins with the following charming verse: - - "Para que vas y vienes, - Vienes y vas. - Si otros andar menos, - Consiguen más?"[2] - -It has been truly said that the Spaniards are excessively fond of -dancing; but in this, as in many other matters, the South Americans -have left them far behind They have carried this passion to such a -pitch, that it reaches the limits of folly. The scene we are about to -describe will prove the truth of our assertion. - -These very men, who had only consented to dance because, as one may -say, the knife was at their throats, and were still under the influence -of extreme terror, had scarcely heard for a few minutes the groaning -chords of the guitar, and the words which marked the time, than they -immediately forgot their precarious position, and gave themselves up -heart and soul, in a sort of savage frenzy, to their favourite pastime. - -Those who at first had prudently kept themselves within bounds, in -consequence of their anxiety, were soon fascinated by the bounds of the -dancers, and leaped and stamped, howling, like the others, with all the -strength of their lungs. - -Thus at the close of a few minutes all constraint had vanished, and the -noise had again grown as deafening, and the uproar as stunning, as it -had been when the federals arrived. - -Meanwhile the corporal had diligently carried out the orders he had -received from his superior; but, as we said above, the muleteers and -wagoners, having accidentally stopped in front of the _rancho_, and -then entered the room of their own accord, had materially lightened -his task. But that worthy officer, zealous in the performance of his -duty, had taken half a dozen soldiers with him, and scoured the several -encampments, passing the blades of their swords between the bales, -looking into the insides of the _galeras,_--in a word, ferreting -about everywhere, with the sagacity of an old bloodhound which it is -impossible to baffle. - -Persuaded at last, after the most minute search, that all those whom -he thus looked after had entered the _rancho_, he determined to follow -them. But the uproar he heard inside convincing him that all was going -right, for the time at least, he changed his mind, and dismissing the -soldiers who were with him, and who desired nothing better than to join -the merriment, remained outside. - -As soon as he found himself alone, the corporal's whole demeanour -changed. He first satisfied himself that no indiscreet eye observed his -motions; he then rolled a cigarette between his fingers, lit it, and, -walking backwards and forwards with the air of an idler enjoying his -leisure, gradually increased his distance from the porch. - -After some ten minutes of this manoeuvring, which bore no bad -resemblance to a ship tacking against a contrary breeze in her -endeavours to get away from her port, he found he had passed beyond the -wagoners' camps, and was so far from the _rancho_, that, thanks to the -obscurity of the night, it was impossible to see him from thence. He -immediately stopped, looked once more round him, and threw the lighted -cigar in the air. - -The light _pajillo_ described a brilliant parabola against the sky, and -then fell to the ground, when the corporal extinguished it with his -foot. - -At the same moment a slender line of fire sparkled in the obscurity a -little way off. - -"Good," growled the corporal; "see what it is to be prudent." - -A second time he scanned the neighbourhood narrowly; then, reassured by -the obscurity which reigned around, he resolutely turned aside into the -darkness, humming under his breath these three verses of a song well -known in the Pampas: - -"O Libertad preciosa No comparado al oro Ni al bien mayor de la -espaciosa tierra."[3] - -Directly, a voice, low as a whisper, took up the subsequent verses: - -"Más rica y más gozosa Que el más precioso tesoro."[4] - -At this response, which he doubtless expected, the corporal stopped -short. He struck the end of his scabbard on the ground, rested himself -on the hilt, and said aloud, as if talking to himself: - -"I should like to know why the _ñandús_ (ostriches) have so suddenly -taken themselves off into the Pampas?" - -"Because," answered the voice which had continued the song, "they -smelt the odour of dead bodies." - -"That may be true," said the corporal, without seeming astonished at -the answer which came so oddly; "but then the _condors_ would come down -from the Cordilleras." - -"It is already twenty-one days since they passed the Alto de Cumbre." - -"The sunset yesterday was red." - -"His rays reflected the light of the conflagrations caused by the -_mashorca_," said the voice again. - -The corporal hesitated no longer. - -"Approach, Don Leoncio," cried he; "you and your companions." - -"We are here, Luco;" and the corporal was immediately surrounded by six -persons, armed to the teeth. - -It is useless to say that these men were the six persons who an -hour before had arrived at the post house simultaneously with the -_colorados_, and whom prudence had induced to remain concealed. - -The dancing and shouting in the _rancho_ still went on. The merriment -was gradually growing into a gigantic orgy. - -Consequently the strangers were sure they should not be disturbed. -Moreover, although the moon had now risen, and gave a certain amount -of light, the little group, sheltered by the wagons behind which they -stood, was in no danger of discovery; while, thanks to its position, -nobody could leave the _rancho_, without being seen directly by those -composing it. - -We will profit by the moonbeams to depict in a few words these fresh -personages; a task made more easy by the fact that they had dismounted, -and were holding their horses by the bridles. - -We said they were six in number: the first three were evidently -_peones_; but their heavy silver spurs, their _tirador_, or girdle -of embroidered velvet, their beautifully chased weapons, their rich -_ponchos_ of fine Bolivian vicuña wool, and, above all, the respectful -familiarity which they used towards their masters, indicated that they -had earned for themselves a certain degree of consideration. - -These _peones_ were, in fact, not only servants, but friends; humble -ones, it is true, but devoted ones, tried many a time in scenes of -frightful danger. - -Of the masters, two were men of about thirty-five, in all the vigour of -their age and strength. Their dress, similar in cut to that of their -servants, was only distinguished from it by the superior richness and -fineness of its texture. - -The foremost was a tall and well-built person, with graceful manners -and elegant gestures. The outline of his face was proud and decided, -and his hardy features expressed a kindness and frankness which, at -first sight, won the sympathy and regard of all. - -His name was Don Leoncio de Ribera. - -His companion, of the same size and figure, and endowed with the same -manners, formed, nevertheless, a perfect contrast to Don Leoncio. - -His soft blue eyes; the thick curls of blonde hair, which escaped in -large masses from under his Panama hat, and flowed in disorder on his -shoulders; the cream-coloured skin, which contrasted with the olive -and slightly bronzed complexion of Don Leoncio,--seemed to indicate -that he was not born under the burning sun of South America. Yet this -cavalier could proudly claim, even more than the latter, the quality -of a veritable _hijo del país_[5] since he descended in a direct line -from the brave and unhappy Tupac Amaru, the last Inca, so basely -assassinated by the Spaniards. - -He was called Manco Amaru, Diego de Solis y Villas Reales; and we beg -our reader's pardon for this litany of names. - -Don Diego de Solis concealed the courage of the lion under the -effeminacy of a woman, and nerves of steel under the skin of his soft -white hands. - -As to the third cavalier, who kept himself modestly retired behind the -others, he had wrapped himself up so carefully in the voluminous folds -of his _poncho_, and the rim of his hat was so well pulled down over -his countenance, that is was impossible to distinguish any part of him -except two large black eyes, which flashed forth flames of fire. His -small size, delicate limbs, and a certain soft smoothness about his -movements, would lead one to suppose that he was still a youth, if this -masculine attire did not conceal a woman, which seemed more probable. - -However that may be, no sooner did the corporal find himself in the -presence of the persons we have described, than there was a complete -metamorphosis in his whole appearance. His rough and fierce demeanour -was exchanged for a flattering obsequiousness, denoting complete -devotedness; and his countenance lost its mocking expression, to take -that of decided pleasure. - -Don Leoncio had difficulty in moderating the outbursts of foolish joy -to which the soldier gave vent, with the unconstraint of a man who at -length enjoys a happiness he has long been vainly expecting. - -"There, there, Luco," said he; "be calm. You see it is I. There, -there; be moderate, _muchacho_ this is not the time for outpourings of -affection." - -"It is true, _mi amo_" (my master); "but I am so happy to see you again -after such a length of time," and he brushed away the tears which -rolled down his bronzed cheeks. - -Don Leoncio felt deeply moved by the affection of his old servant, and -replied: - -"Thanks, Luco; you are indeed a good and trusty fellow." - -"And yet, in spite of the happiness I feel in seeing you once more, -I wish you had not returned at such an unlucky moment. _Mi amo_, the -times are bad; the tyrant is more powerful than ever in Buenos Aires." - -"I know. Unfortunately, I could not postpone my journey, in spite of -the perils to which I should be exposed." - -"_¡Válgame Dios_, señor! This is a terrible life we are now leading." - -"What is to be done? We must all take our share of the unavoidable. Are -my orders fulfilled?" - -"Yes, all, _mi amo:_ your brother is forewarned. Unluckily, I could not -go myself to inform him: I was forced to send a _guacho_, of whom I -knew little. But do not be uneasy, señor; your brother will not fail to -be here in a few hours." - -"Good; but you seem to have come here in considerable numbers." - -"Alas, it could not be helped; I am so spied after, _mi amo._ I was -obliged to use the most extraordinary efforts to induce the lieutenant -to bring so few." - -"We had very nearly run into his arms." - -"Yes; and I was in a dreadful fright at the moment, for I had -recognised you already, señor: God knows what would have happened had -you met." - -"And now, is this lieutenant to be trusted?" - -Luco shook his head sorrowfully. - -"He! _Mi amo_, take heed. He is one of the most ferocious -_mashorqueras_ of that evil dog Rosas." - -"The devil he is!" said Don Leoncio, with a troubled look. "I fear, my -poor Luco, your too great confidence has led us into a hornet's nest, -out of which we shall have some trouble to escape safe and sound." - -"It is a difficult case--I will not attempt to deny it. You must be -very cautious, and let no one strike your trail. The principal thing is -to gain time." - -"True," said Don Leoncio, plunging into a reverie. - -"How many are there of you?" said Don Diego, mixing in the conversation -for the first time. - -"Thirty-five, counting the lieutenant, señor; but he is a devil -incarnate, and counts for four at least." - -"Pooh!" replied Don Diego carelessly, while he stroked his blonde -moustache; "we are seven when we count you, my good fellow." - -"Who is this lieutenant?" - -"Don Torribio, formerly a _guacho._" - -"Oh," said Don Leoncio, disgusted, "Torribio _Degüello!_" (literally, -Torribio the Butcher). - -"_¡Voto a brios!_" replied Don Diego; "How I should like to plant my -knee on the breast of that wretch! Well, what are we to do?" - -"You forget who is with us," said Don Leoncio, quickly, casting a -glance at the motionless figure behind. - -"It is true," said the young man; "I am mad. Forgive me, friend; we -cannot be too cautious." - -"It is lucky," observed Luco, "that you have not brought Doña Antonia -with you. Poor dear niña! she would die here, were she exposed to the -devils in whose midst we are." - -All of a sudden before Don Leoncio had time to reply, a horrible -clamour arose in the _rancho_, several shots were heard, and a score of -men and women, frantic with fear, rushed into the open with shouts of -terror, and dispersed in all directions. - -"Hide yourselves!" cried Luco. "Good God! What can this mean? I will be -back directly; but, for God's sake, do not let them see you. Farewell -for a time! I must go and see what is the matter." - -Leaving Don Leoncio and his companions in dreadful anxiety, the -corporal ran towards the house, where the tumult was increasing every -minute. - - - -[1] "Long live the well-beloved General Rosas! Long live the liberator! -Long live the federals! Death to the unitarian savages! Slay them! Slay -them!" - -[2] These words will hardly bear translation Their general meaning is -this: Why do you go and return, return and go; if others go less far, -they gain more by it. - -[3] "O precious Liberty! One cannot compare you to gold nor to the -greatest riches in the spacious world." - -[4] "More rich and more cherished than the most precious treasure." - -[5] Child of the country; a very common expression in South America. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -A DELICATE FEDERAL ATTENTION. - - -We will run before the corporal, in order to explain to the reader what -had happened in the _rancho._ - -At first everything went off well. After the first moment of distrust -and fear, the muleteers and wagoners, involuntarily submitting to the -influence of their favourite pastime, had utterly forgotten their -apprehensions, and fraternised with the soldiers. The _aguardiente_ -went round uninterruptedly from one end of the room to the other; the -merriment increased in proportion to the draughts, which, by frequent -repetition, began to heat the brains of the drinkers, among whom the -first symptoms of drunkenness were showing themselves here and here. - -Nevertheless the lieutenant, Don Torribio, his eyes sparkling and his -countenance excited, continued to sing, to torture the guitar, and -specially to drink, without any signs of meditated evil; and perhaps -all might have ended well, but for an incident which suddenly changed -the aspect of things, and turned a scene of joy into a spectacle of -terror. - -One of the best and most brilliant dancers of the _zambacueca_ was a -young muleteer of from twenty to twenty-five, with fine and intelligent -features, well-knit figure, and easy manner, who distinguished -himself greatly by the lightness and grace of his dancing. The women -crowded round him, cast the most killing looks at him, and applauded -extravagantly the eccentric steps it was his pleasure to execute. - -Among these females were two, both girls of sixteen, radiant with the -beauty peculiar to South America, and which finds no equivalent in -Europe. The black eyes, shaded by long silken lashes; the mouth, with -lips red as the fruit of the _chirimoya_ (Mexican pear); the face, -slightly bronzed by the heat of a tropical sun, over which fell the -long tresses of bluish-black hair; the rounded figure, supple and -slender; the wavy movements, full of inimitable grace; all these charms -united constituted that intoxicating and voluptuous kind of beauty, -which it is impossible to analyse, but of which the most frigid mortal -cannot resist the magnetic influence and fascinating spell. - -These two females made themselves conspicuous by the exuberant praises -they showered on the object of their predilection. The latter, we -must do him the justice to say, seemed to take very little notice of -the enthusiasm he excited. He was a good fellow, whose heart, if not -his head, was perfectly free; who danced for dancing's sake, because -it pleased him, and because the rough life he led rarely afforded an -opportunity for enjoying his favourite amusement; moreover, he was -totally indifferent about inspiring either one or the other of his -admirers with any kind of passion whatever. The two latter, although -with a woman's innate instinct they understood his indifference, and -were secretly hurt at it, nevertheless continued to lavish on him the -most passionate expressions of admiration of which the Spanish language -is capable, as a means of evincing the interest they took in his -proceedings. - -These demonstrations grew at last so lively and pointed, that the -greater number of the men present--who would each, in his secret -heart, have given a good deal for the preference of either of these -beautiful creatures--began, as is generally the case, to hate the -muleteer for the indifference he displayed, and to upbraid him for -serious want of politeness and unpardonable ignorance of good manners, -in showing no gratitude for such enthusiastic praise. - -The muleteer, embarrassed by the position in which he had involuntarily -been placed while he was only laudably endeavouring to amuse -himself, and compelled, as we may say, by his companions' murmurs of -disapprobation, to re-establish his impugned reputation for courtesy, -decided on finding some means or other of withdrawing honourably from -his disagreeable situation, and with that purpose determined to ask the -two girls to dance with him one after the other. - -Full of these good intentions, as soon as the lieutenant--who had -temporarily interrupted his inharmonious strumming to help himself -to an immense goblet of _aguardiente_--began to rattle a fresh -_zambacueca_ on his guitar, the _arriero_ advanced with a smile on his -lips, and graciously saluted the two girls. - -"Señorita," said he, to the one who chance to bed nearest, "will you -make me happy by dancing this _zambacueca_ with your humble servant?" - -The girl, all rosy with delight at what she imagined the preference -of the handsome dancer, was coming forward with outstretched hand, -and beginning to reply, when suddenly her companion, who had turned -pale on hearing the _arriero's_ invitation, bounded between them like -a tigress, and, with trembling lips and flaming eyes, confronted the -young couple. - -"You shall not dance together!" she cried in menacing tones. - -The spectators of this extraordinary and unexpected scene recoiled in -amazement: they were unable to comprehend this sudden burst of anger. -The two would-be dancers exchanged looks of astonishment. - -The situation grew intolerable, and the _arriero_ determined to put an -end to it. - -The second girl was still standing right in front of him, her figure -slightly thrown back, and firmly planted on her feet, her head erect, -her cheeks inflamed, her nostrils quivering like those of a wild beast, -and her arm extended in an attitude of menace and defiance. - -The _arriero_ took a step forward, and made a very respectful bow to -the damsel. - -"Señorita," said he, "allow me to remark--" - -"_Calle Vd. la boca_" (hold your tongue), "Don Pablo!" she angrily -exclaimed, interrupting him in the middle of his speech; "I have -nothing to say against you; but look at this _chola sin vergüenza_" -(shameless hussy), "who, knowing you to be the best dancer in the -_rancho_, wants to monopolise you for her own benefit." - -On hearing the insult her companion had thus boldly cast in her teeth, -the other damsel hastily shook off Don Pablo, and placed herself face -to face before her assailant. - -"You lie, Manonga!" cried she: "It is jealousy that made you utter -these words; you are furious at the preference with which this -_caballero_ honours me." - -"I!" said the other disdainfully; "You are a fool, Clarita; I care no -more for the _caballero_ than for a sour orange." - -"Indeed!" sneered Clarita; "Then, pray what may be the reason of this -sudden fury?" - -"Because," sharply retorted Manonga, "I have known you for a long time; -you want a lesson, and I am going to give you one." - -"You, indeed!" said the other, shrugging her shoulders; "Take care lest -you get one yourself!" - -"_Ojalá_; add another word, and, by my soul, I will knife you!" - -"Pooh! you don't even know how to handle a navaja" (knife). - -"_A ver;_" (we will see), shouted Manonga, beside herself with rage; -and, bounding back, she drew a knife from her bosom, wrapped her -_rebozo_ (veil) round her left arm, and threw herself on guard. - -"_A ver;_" screamed Clarita, echoing the words, and taking up her -position with the same celerity as her adversary. - -A duel between the two girls was imminent. - -Don Pablo, the innocent cause of this combat, had several times vainly -tried to mediate between the two females. Neither one nor the other -would listen to his speech, nor attend to his remonstrances. When -matters had reached this point, he wanted to make a fresh effort: but -this time he was more sharply repulsed than before; for the bystanders, -interested in the dispute, and infinitely attracted by the longing -to see a duel with knives between two women, turned against him, and -peremptorily bade him be quiet, and leave the _niñas_ (darlings) to -amuse themselves as they thought fit. - -The _arriero_, thoroughly satisfied that he could wash his hands of the -consequences, and whose good nature alone had induced him to attempt -to prevent an explosion, saw that his mediation was looked upon with -an unfavourable eye, so thought he had said his say; and, folding his -arms, prepared to be, if not an indifferent, at least a disinterested -spectator of the coming struggle. - -It was, indeed, a singular and striking spectacle to see, in this dimly -lighted room, amidst the crowd of strange costumes, these two girls, -fiercely and resolutely standing two paces apart, ready to come to -knife thrusts, while the music and the dance continued as if nothing -was the matter, while the _aguardiente_ was poured forth in floods, and -while the merriest and maddest songs were shouted out around them. - -"_¡Vaya pués!_" (now for the sport!) cried Clarita: "With how many -inches do we fight, _querida?_" (my darling). - -"With the whole length of the blade, _alma mía_" (my soul), answered -Manonga; "I mean to leave my handwriting on your face!" - -"Ah, _puñaladas!_ We shall see. Are you ready, my dear?" - -"As soon as you like, my pet!" - -A ring was formed round the damsels, who, with bodies bent forward, -left arms extended, and eye watching eye, waited, with feline -impatience, for a propitious moment to rush upon each other. - -They seemed well matched, both being young, active, and full of nerve. -The _connoisseurs_ in those matters, of whom there were many in the -attentive crowd of bystanders, could form no opinion on the result of -the combat, which threatened, for the matter of that, to be desperate, -such flashes of ire sparkled from the wild eyes of the duellists. - -After a moment or two of hesitation, or more properly speaking of -gathering themselves up, Clarita and Manonga began to clack their -tongues against their palates, producing a series of sharp smacking -sounds; their blue gleaming knives glittered, and they darted upon each -other. - -But if the attack was lively, the defence and the parry was not less -so. Both simultaneously bounded back, and fell into guard again. Each -stroke had told; the battle had begun bravely, and either combatant had -her face furrowed by a bleeding double cut. Neither one nor the other -had predicted falsely: each bore the handwriting of the other on her -countenance. The bystanders trembled with joy and admiration: never -before had they been spectators of such a splendid _navajada._ - -After taking breath for a while, the damsels were preparing to -recommence the fight, this time with the determined purpose of making -the bout decisive, when, all of a sudden, the ranks of the onlookers -were shouldered right and left, and a man resolutely thrust himself -between the two adversaries, and confronted them with a look of scorn. - -"Hearken, _demonios!_" he cried in a sharp tone, and with accents of -indescribable mockery. - -The two women lowered their knives, and stood motionless, with eyes -abashed, but head erect, their foreheads frowning, and preserving their -attitude--the haughty expression of two foes who long to tear each -other to pieces, and unwillingly succumb to commands, which they dare -not disobey, though they curse them. - -In spite of the deafening uproar the federalist lieutenant made with -his guitar, he could not help hearing, at last, what was going on in -the room. At the first impulse, he had placed his hand on the pistols -which hung at his girdle; but an instant afterwards his anger grew, not -calm, but cold and concentrated, instead of furious. - -Don Torribio had risen from his seat, left the bench on which he sat -enthroned, and furtively approached the combatants. He had attentively -watched the different phases of the fight, and when he thought proper -to interfere, had suddenly interposed between the duellists. - -The soldiers had silently advanced behind their officer; they were now -close at his heels, their hands on their weapons, ready for action at -the first signal, foreseeing that Don Torribio's interference in this -quarrel would speedily bring about another, in which they would have to -take part. - -Intuitively, the ring formed by the _arrieros_ and wagoners had -extended itself, and a large space was left open in the middle of the -room. The two girls stood in the centre of the circle, knife in hand; -and the lieutenant, with his arms crossed, amused himself by examining -them narrowly, with a cynical sneer on his lips. - -"Holloa, my chickens!" said he; "What! Are you ruffling your feathers -for a cock? Is there only one on the perch? _¡Rayo de Dios!_ What -splendid St. Andrew's crosses you have dug in each other's faces! Are -you both mad for love of this _pícaro?_" (ragamuffin). - -Neither spoke; and the lieutenant continued his sarcastic speech: - -"But where is this valiant champion, who lets the women fight for him? -Does his modesty make him hide himself?" - -Don Pablo came forward, looked the lieutenant straight in the face, and -answered firmly: "Here I am." - -"Aha!" said Don Torribio, staring at him for some time; "You are in -truth a handsome fellow. I do not wonder at their passion for you." - -The _arriero_ remained mute, fully understanding the irony of the -compliment. - -"There, _niñas_," the lieutenant went on speaking to the damsels, -"which of you is the chosen one of this breaker of hearts? _¡Mil -rayos!_ Speak out!" - -There was an interval of silence. - -"Oh, that is it!" resumed Don Torribio; "You do not exactly know. Come, -young fellow, do you speak, and tell me which of the two you prefer." - -"I have no preference for either," said the _arriero_ coolly. - -"_¡Caramba!_" exclaimed the lieutenant, with pretended admiration; -"_que gusto_" (what good taste.) "So I am to understand you love them -both alike?" - -"No; you are mistaken, señor. I love neither one nor the other." - -"_¡Rayas pués!_ That is a puzzler; and yet you let them fight for you. -That is conduct worthy of chastisement, my master! As that is the -case, I shall reconcile you two señoritas, and give a lesson to the -discourteous _caballero_ who flouts at the power of your black eyes. -Upon my soul, such an insult calls for vengeance." - -The spectators of the scene felt their hearts sink within them, while -the soldiers laughed and jested among themselves. - -On pronouncing his last words, the lieutenant drew a pistol from -his belt, cocked it, and presented the muzzle at the breast of the -_arriero_, who, motionless as ever, had made no gesture to escape the -fate that threatened him. - -But the two girls were roused. With the velocity of thought, they both -at once threw themselves before him. - -Manonga felt her breast pierced by the ball. "Alas!" she cried; "You -despise me! What does it matter? I die for you! Clarita, I forgive you!" - -Don Pablo bounded over the body of the luckless wretch, whose dying -eyes still sought his, and threw himself, knife in hand, on the -lieutenant. The latter hurled his heavy pistol at his head; but the -_arriero_ avoided the weapon, seized the officer round the body, and -a deadly fray began. Clarita, with flaming eyes, eagerly watched the -struggle between the two, ready to interfere as soon as an opportunity -offered in favour of her beloved. - -The bystanders were horrified; the dread inspired by the soldiers was -so great, that although many more in number, and all armed, they dared -not go to the assistance of their comrade. - -In the meantime, the soldiers, more than half-drunk, seeing their -officer struggling with a stranger, unsheathed their swords, and struck -right and left among the crowd, shouting out their dreaded cry: - -"_¡A degüello! ¡A degüello! los salvajes unitarios_" (Death, death to -the savage Unitarians!) - -Then ensued a scene of horror in the room, which was crowded with human -beings. - -The _arrieros_, pursued by the soldiers, who were pitilessly cutting -them down, and calling to each other to slay, thronged towards the door -to escape impending death. The disorder was at its height; all wanted -to escape at once through the too narrow outlet. Made selfish by fear, -and in the blind instinct of self-preservation, they stifled each other -against the walls, crushed each other underfoot, and struck blindly -with their knives, in order to hew themselves a passage through the -human barrier that checked them. - -Fear, when self-preservation is uppermost, makes man more cruel and -cowardly than the wild beasts. That hideous egotism, which lurks at -the bottom of the human heart, starts up when its bonds are suddenly -broken. Man has then neither parents nor friends; he is deaf to every -prayer; and, shutting his eyes, plunges forward with the blind and -stupid ferocity of the maddened bull. - -Blood soon flowed in torrents, and the victims increased in number, -while the fury grew no less; nor did the assailed attempt to defend -themselves. - -At last the barrier gave way, and the wretches rushed out of doors, -flying straight on, without knowing whither, in the sole thought of -escaping from the butchery. - -At this moment the corporal entered the room. A lamentable spectacle -met his eyes: the floor was strewn with dead bodies, and wounded men -weltering in their blood. - -But he could not restrain a cry of horror when his eyes fell on Don -Torribio. The lieutenant was tying the head of Don Pablo, which he had -hacked off with his sword, to the long tresses of the fainting Clarita. -The officer had been slightly wounded by the girl in the hip and arm, -and blood was flowing from his garments. - -"There," said he, having finished to his satisfaction the knot that -bound Clarita's tresses to the long locks of the _arriero;_ "since she -loves him so dearly, when she comes to herself she can admire him at -leisure, he is all her own now; no one will take him from her." - -Then he looked for a time at the pale and fainting girl, with an -expression of lust impossible to describe. - -"Pooh!" said he, with a shrug of the shoulders; "Why should I? Let us -wait till she opens her eyes. I shall have plenty of time to make love -to her; and I want to enjoy her surprise when she wakes up." - -And without another look at his victims, he set himself to help his -soldiers in the massacre. - -The first step he took, he encountered Luco. - -"Halloa!" cried he; "where have you been, while we have been cutting -up the _salvajes unitarios?_ God take me! Here you come quietly; your -sword in the sheath, and not a drop of blood on your clothes! What is -the meaning of this conduct, comrade? Are you turned traitor, too, by -chance?" - -At this accusation the corporal feigned immense indignation. He -frowned, bit his lip, and drew his sword, which he brandished -menacingly. - -"What words are those, lieutenant?" cried he. "Do you address such -an insult to me? Do you call me, the most devoted partisan of our -well-beloved General Rosas, a _salvaje unitario? ¡Vive Dios!_" - -"Come, come; calm yourself," answered the lieutenant, who, like all men -of his calibre, was as cowardly as he was cruel, and was intimidated by -the pretended anger of the corporal; "I did not mean to insult you! I -know you are to be trusted." - -"It is well you say so," replied Luco; "for I have no mind to listen -patiently to unjust reproach." - -"Lose no more time in talking," said a soldier, interfering; "_¡rayo de -Dios!_ I have a capital idea." - -"What is it?" asked Don Torribio. "Out with it, Eusebio, or it will -blow you up." - -The soldier laughed. - -"This old hovel," said he, "is full of forage. Let us set fire to it, -and roast in the flames all the _salvajes unitarios_ who are here." - -"_¡Vive Dios!_" cried Don Torribio, in high glee; "that is a capital -idea. We will set about it at once. The general will be pleased enough -when he knows we have rid him so expeditiously of a harbour for -his enemies. Two of you arrange the straw properly, while we mount -and chase those rascals back here. Not a soul of these _malvados_ -(malicious rogues) shall escape the punishment he richly deserves." - -The lieutenant then signed to the soldiers to leave. - -"I," said Luco, "will keep the door, so that no one inside can come -out." - -"That will do, my good fellow," answered Don Torribio. "Ah!" he added -suddenly, as his eye fell on the poor girl extended on the floor, with -the head of him she loved tied to her tresses; "here Eusebio! do not -forget to place two or three bundles of straw under that sweet child. -The dirty floor is a hard couch for her, and I want her to sleep -sweetly." - -He left the room, grinning like a demon. - -He had scarcely got outside, before the corporal, without uttering a -word, raised his sword, and, with one blow, cleft Eusebio to the chine. -The wretch fell without a cry, like an ox that is slaughtered. - -The second soldier who was present exhibited no signs of emotion. - -"That was a pretty blow, Luco," said he, twisting his long gray -moustache; "but are you not a little too precipitate?" - -The corporal made him a sign to be silent, and, peering out of doors, -listened attentively. A cry, low as the softest breath of the wind, met -his ear. - -"No Muñoz," he answered, "I am not too hasty; for there is the signal." - -Then, putting the first finger of each hand into his mouth, he gave a -whistle, so sharp and prolonged, that those present crouched against -the walls, and trembled with fear, not knowing what new evil this -portentous signal might bring upon them. - -"_¡Sangre de Cristo!_" cried Luco, addressing the terrified _arrieros_, -crouching on the floor, "Are you going to stay here and be massacred -like stupid ostriches? Take courage _caray!_ seize your weapons, and -range yourselves by the side of those who have come to save you!" - -The poor devils shook their heads in despair. Terror had deprived -them of all energy, and they were incapable of organizing the least -resistance. - -The shouting of the soldiery was heard on every side, as they excited -each other in their human chase; and each moment, wretches who had been -hunted up from all corners, rushed in to seek a precarious refuge in -the room whence they had escaped a few minutes previously. - -Don Torribio, almost certain that he had driven all his game into the -net, signalled to his soldiers to leave off, and ordered them to enter -the _rancho._ - -All of a sudden the galloping of several horses was heard; six -cavaliers rode fiercely up, and ranged themselves in battle array -before the door of the house. - -The lieutenant started when he saw them, went to his horse, and made as -if he would mount. - -"Who are you, _caballeros?_" said he in menacing tones; "And how dare -you dispute my passage?" - -"You shall soon know, Don Torribio the Butcher," said a voice, whose -mocking accent made the lieutenant turn pale. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -TREACHERY. - - -There is one remark which has been often made. It is this: That, -generally speaking, men who delight to dabble in gore--who -unhesitatingly commit the most atrocious cruelties, and exercise their -powers in exciting the terror they love to inspire--are cowards; and -when they happen to meet with effective resistance, their cowardice -falls to a baseness beyond comparison. Jackals and hyenas are ferocious -and cowardly; men are jackals and hyenas--the thing is explained. - -At the answer of the leader of the strangers, the _mashorqueras_ became -convulsed with terror. They comprehended that they were face to face -with resolute foes, without having it in their power to retreat an -inch. They crowded close to each other, and fixed their eyes in fright -and amazement on the six men who, sitting calmly and impassively before -them, bid them defiance. - -Don Torribio alone felt no fear. The man was a savage brute, whom -the smell of blood intoxicated, and who could only breathe freely -in an atmosphere of carnage. Crossing his arms and raising his head -defiantly, he answered the words of the unknown with a long laugh of -contempt; then, turning to his terror-stricken soldiers: - -"Will you suffer yourselves to be intimidated by six men?" he cried. -"Come, my children; face about. _¡Vive Dios!_ these _pícaros_ dare not -stand against us." - -The soldiers, aroused by the tones of the voice they had so long -obeyed, and ashamed of their hesitation, fell in as well as they could, -and formed a line in front of the _rancho._ The lieutenant, putting -spurs to his horse, made him execute a _demivolte_, and resolutely -placed himself at the head of his troop. The strangers, notwithstanding -the inequality of numbers, did not hesitate a moment, but charged -the federalists sword and pistol in hand. Don Torribio received them -bravely without retreating a foot. Having discharged their pistols, -they took to the sword, and in an instant the _mêlée_ grew terrible. In -spite of their prodigies of valour and gigantic efforts, the strangers -would, in all probability, have had the worst of it, when suddenly -Corporal Luco, who had remained spectator of the fight, with four or -five of his comrades, made his horse bound to the front, and, instead -of ranging himself on the side of the federalists, attacked them -vigorously in flank, and came with his comrades to place himself beside -Don Leoncio. - -This defection of a party of his soldiers raised Don Torribio's ire -to seething point--the more so, as the _mashorqueras_, not knowing -to what cause to attribute the strange conduct of the corporal and -his comrades, began to suspect treason, to lose courage, and to reply -but feebly to the blows of the assailants; who, seeing them falter, -redoubled their efforts for victory. - -The _arrieros_ and wagoners, having in some measure recovered from -their fright, and seeing the favourable opportunity of avenging the -insults and villainies the hirelings of Rosas had so long heaped -upon them, armed themselves with anything that fell in their way, -and, burning to make up for lost time, rushed headforemost on their -ferocious enemies. - -But at this very moment loud cries reached their ears. Some forty -mounted men entered at full gallop the zone of light proceeding from -the post house, and, deploying with amazing dexterity and despatch, -surrounded the _rancho_ on all sides. - -The riders who had galloped up so opportunely for the assailants and so -inopportunely for the _colorados_, were Don Guzman de Ribera and his -_peones_. - -Having left Buenos Aires several hours ago, they ought long before this -to have reached the _rancho_, which lay on the road they had to follow -in order to get to the _hacienda_ where Don Guzman hoped to meet his -brother. But at a little distance from the town, Don Bernardo Pedrosa -had managed somehow or other to cut his bonds; he slipped off the horse -on which he had been placed, threw himself among the tall grasses, and -disappeared before anyone suspected his flight. - -Don Guzman had lost a good deal of time in marching for the fugitive, -whose traces he could not find, and had only abandoned the pursuit -when convinced that all his efforts to recover his prisoner were in -vain. Recalling his _peones_, who were scattered right and left, he had -resumed the road to the _hacienda_, feeling extremely uneasy for the -consequences of his prisoner's escape; for he knew Don Bernardo too -well to suppose for an instant that he would not strain every nerve to -avenge the insult he had met with at his hands. - -When Don Guzman was still about half a league from the _rancho_, some -fugitives, escaped from the massacre, had run blindly among his men, -and warned him of what was going on. Without suspecting how important -these news might be to himself, his natural generosity excited the wish -to assist, if possible, the persons engaged in this terrible affray; -so Don Guzman, well acquainted with the ferocity of the Buenos-Airean -tyrant ruffians, had increased the pace of his horses, and galloped in -to aid the unfortunate people in their contest with the _mashorqueras._ -His unexpected arrival decided the affair. - -The lieutenant, finding flight impossible, retired step by step, -fighting like a lion, and withdrew all his men into the _rancho_, -himself remaining last in order to secure their retreat. - -Don Torribio--the Butcher, as he was called--scorned to ask quarter. -He himself had never granted it to a soul. The extremity to which he -found himself reduced, far from diminishing his courage, had increased -it tenfold. Feeling his last hour was come--that no human aid could -save him--he resolved to fight to the last breath, and sell his life as -dearly as possible. - -The _mashorqueras_, following the example of their leader, drew fresh -courage from the depths of their despair, and once within the _rancho_, -busied themselves in fortifying it, so as to carry on the strife as -long as they could, and to fall after an heroic resistance. - -The doors and windows were barricaded with the utmost care; holes were -knocked in the walls; and the ruffians, half-intoxicated with previous -and still-continued libations, waited firmly for the attack, determined -to die bravely in the assault their enemies would soon make on the -_rancho._ - -However contrary to their expectations, a long time elapsed without -their adversaries commencing the attack. This suspension of -hostilities, which was incomprehensible,--for they were ignorant of all -that was going on outside,--gave them great uneasiness, and made the -bravest of them tremble. - -Man is so constituted that, however firmly he may have made up his -mind to face death--however convinced he may be that his last hour is -come--however prepared for the struggle, the consequences of which he -knows and accepts beforehand--if that final struggle is delayed, his -resolution fades, the fever that sustained him dies out, and he begins -to fear, not death, for that he knows to be inevitable, but the agonies -which he fancies may precede death. He creates a thousand sinister -chimeras; and the unknown danger which threatens him, without his being -able to divine how or whence it will come, appears to him a thousand -times more terrible than that which he was prepared to face bravely and -with a resolute heart. - -The _mashorqueras_ vainly sought, in copious draughts of _aguardiente_, -a remedy for the wild terror which gradually overcame them. The -mournful silence which reigned around them, the obscurity, wrapping -them up as in a shroud, and the forced inaction to which they were -condemned, concurred, in spite of their efforts, to increase the -invincible terror that had seized upon them. The lieutenant alone -preserved his ferocious energy, and awaited patiently the striking of -the hour for his last battle. - -Let us see what was passing among the assailants, and what had -occasioned the delay in the assault. - -Don Guzman de Ribera, as soon as the soldiers had shut themselves up in -the _rancho_, wished to know, before he finished with the latter, who -the persons were to whom his providential arrival had done such good -service. - -It was not long before his curiosity was satisfied; his brother Don -Leoncio, who had recognised him from the first, rushed forward to -offer his thanks. - -The two brothers, who had been so long separated, threw themselves -into each other's arms with tears of joy, and for some time forgot -everything but themselves in the unexpected happiness of meeting. - -When the first shock of their sudden reunion was over, Don Guzman took -his brother's hand, and, leading him apart, uttered the single word, -"Well?" with a smile which was intended to be gay. - -"She is here," said Don Leoncio, trying to stifle a sigh. - -"Did she consent to come?" - -"It was she who wished it." - -"That is indeed astonishing," said Don Guzman. - -"Why so? Doña Antonia is one of those rare spirits who never recoil -before an obligation, however hard it may be, when they know that -honour binds them." - -"True. Well, be it so; it is perhaps better as it is and that she is -with you." - -"Have you forgotten, brother, what occurred exactly a year ago today, -at sunrise, between you and me, when, in a moment of folly, I confessed -to you my love for Doña Antonia de Solis?" - -"What is the good of recurring to it, brother? We are reconciled now, -thank God; and I hope nothing may happen to separate us again." - -"Do not hope so, brother," replied Don Leoncio in melancholy accents. - -"What do you mean, brother? My wife--" - -"Your wife has never ceased to be worthy of you; you will go and see -her?" - -Don Guzman hesitated. - -"No," said he, at length; "not now; let us first finish with these -rascals; then I will give myself up to happiness." - -"Let it be so," said Don Leoncio, rejoiced. - -Two persons now made their appearance; they were Don Diego de Solis, -and Doña Antonia, his sister, and the wife of Don Guzman. - -On seeing his wife, who had been compelled to withdraw from Buenos -Aires in order to escape from the pursuit of Don Bernardo Pedrosa, Don -Guzman, notwithstanding his resolve not to make himself known to her -for the present, could not resist the temptation of pressing her to his -heart. - -The lady uttered a cry of joy on finding herself once more in her -husband's arms. - -Don Leoncio, a few months after the confession he had made to his -brother, seemed to have forgotten his passion, and had espoused the -second sister of Don Diego de Solis, four months prior to the day the -events of which we are now recording. - -So when Don Guzman was forced into a temporary separation from his -wife, he had not hesitated to confide her to his brother, convinced -that the latter's love for Doña Antonia had changed into honourable and -lasting friendship. - -"Why have you returned?" said Don Guzman, kissing his wife. - -"It was necessary," she replied in a low voice, and suppressing a -gesture of fear; "my sister herself recommended me to do so." - -"It was very imprudent, my darling." - -"Oh! I have no fears at your side. Will you not embrace your son, too?" - -"Have you brought him with you?" - -"I will not leave you again, whatever may happen." Then, bending to her -husband's ear she whispered: "Your brother is as much in love with me -as ever; his wife discovered his passion for me, and it is she and Don -Diego who advised my return, as my position was growing intolerable." - -Don Guzman's eyes flashed fire. - -"They did well," said he; "but silence: my brother is watching us." - -In fact, Don Leoncio, uneasy at this conversation apart, had guessed, -with the intuition peculiar to the guilty, that he was the subject of -their discussion, and exhibited signs of restlessness which all his -efforts could not conceal. At last, unable to bear the suspense any -longer, he approached his brother, and said to him curtly: - -"What are we to do now?" - -"Whatever you please," answered Don Guzman, who had been disagreeably -affected by the sound of his voice after what his wife had told him. - -Don Leoncio perceived the aversion his brother felt for him; he bit his -lips, but dissembled his resentment. - -"It is for you to decide," said he, "since it is you who have rescued -us." - -"I am at your service, brother. Don Diego," he continued, turning to -the young man, "I trust my wife to your care. We shall most likely -commence the assault at once. She and her infant must not be exposed to -danger." - -"Set your heart at rest: I will be answerable for them," said Diego, -pressing his hand. - -Before he left her, Doña Antonia threw herself once more on her -husband's breast. - -"Beware!" she whispered in his ear; "Don Leoncio is meditating treason -against you." - -"He would not dare!" firmly replied Don Guzman. - -"Go; and fear not." - -The lady, only half-consoled, followed her brother, and the two soon -disappeared behind the bales and wagons. - -The two brothers were left alone, and there was a long silence between -them. - -Don Guzman, with his arms crossed, and his head bent down, was in deep -meditation. - -Don Leoncio was watching his brother intently, with a strange -expression on his countenance, and a sardonic smile on his lips. - -At last Don Guzman raised his head. - -"Enough of this," he said, "it has lasted too long." Don Leoncio -started: he fancied these words were addressed to him; but his brother -continued: - -"Before attacking these ruffians we must summon them to surrender." - -"Can you think of such a thing, brother. These men are _mashorqueras!_" - -"So much the greater reason to prove to them that we are not rascals of -their own kind, and that we practise the laws of warfare, which they -glory in setting at nought." - -"I submit, brother; although I know we are only losing valuable time." - -Don Leoncio immediately ordered torches of resinous wood to be lighted, -so that the besieged might clearly see him; and, tying his handkerchief -to the point of his sword, resolutely advanced towards the _rancho._ - -When Don Torribio saw the light of the torches, he comprehended that -the assailants wished to enter into communication with him, and -unbarred a window, holding himself in readiness for the parley. - -As soon as Don Leoncio got within a pace or two of the door, he halted. - -"Flag of truce!" said he. - -A window was thrown open, at which the burly figure of the lieutenant -made its appearance. - -"What is it you want?" he replied, carelessly leaning his elbows on the -windowsill. - -"We demand that you surrender," said Don Leoncio. - -"Do you, really?" said Don Torribio, bursting into a laugh; "And why do -you want us to surrender?" - -"Because all resistance is futile." - -"You think so, do you?" replied the officer, with another laugh; "Try -and dislodge us, and see what it will cost you!" - -"Much less than you think." - -"Pooh! I should be glad to know how." - -"Enough! Will you surrender, or not?" - -"It is ridiculous! May the devil embrace me, if you know with whom you -have to deal! Do we ever demand quarter--we, _mashorqueras?_ If we -surrender, you will kill us, that is all. What is the good of it?" - -"Then you are determined not to listen to terms?" - -"Upon my soul, this is growing too tiresome!" - -"You are resolved to defend yourself to the last?" - -"_Canarios_, comrade! I should think so; tooth and nail. I will not -stay any longer. Be off!" - -"Well, we shall have you all soon." - -"Try it, _compadre;_ try it. In the meantime, as your conversation has -little attraction for me, I shall take the liberty of breaking it off. -Good luck!" - -Saying this, he closed the window abruptly. - -Don Leoncio turned to his brother, who had advanced to his side. - -"Did I not tell you so?" said he, with a shrug; "Was I mistaken?" - -"No; I admit it. Now, having saved our honour, we can act as we please." - -Don Guzman leaned towards his brother, and spoke a few words in his -ear; the latter smiled, and left him. - -The _peones, arrieros_, and wagoners were posted behind the _galeras_, -so as to be sheltered from the balls of the besieged. There they -awaited the signal for the assault. - -Don Leoncio busied himself during all this time in heaping dry grass -and branches around the _rancho._ When sufficient had been collected, -he set fire to it, and his men cast their burning torches on the roof. - -The fire, fed by the wind, soon extended itself; and in a very short -time the _rancho_ was enveloped in flames. - -The besieged gave vent to a cry of horror; the besiegers replied by a -shout of triumph. - -After all, the _mashorqueras_ had no reason to complain; it was meted -to them as they would have meted to others: they were undergoing the -_lex talionis._ - -In the meanwhile, the position of the besieged grew intolerable. -Blinded by the smoke and scorched by the fire, which ran up the walls -in long tongues of flame, calcining as they licked them, a sortie -became inevitable, if they would not be burnt alive. - -The lieutenant ordered the door to be unfastened: he opened it -suddenly, and threw himself, followed by his men, into the thickest -ranks of the assailants. - -The latter opened their ranks to receive them, then closed in upon -them, and surrounded them with a circle of steel. - -At the moment when the last morsel of wall crashed into the fiery -furnace, the last _mashorquera_ fell, with his head cloven to the -chine. All had fallen around Don Torribio, who had fought to the last -moment with the desperate frenzy which makes a man almost invincible. - -The sun rose in his majesty, illumining the savage depths of the Pampas. - -The _arrieros_ and wagoners, cowed by the night's work, and dreading -the consequences, hastened to span the oxen to the heavy _galeras_, and -load their mules. Anxious to quit the place, they were soon dispersing -in all directions. Don Guzman and his _peones_ remained masters of the -field. - -Soon after the attack commenced, Don Guzman was surprised that he did -not see his brother near him; but he did not attach much importance to -the fact, being more seriously occupied with other matters. Now, when -the affray was over, he burned with desire to see his wife. He was -amazed that Don Diego had not brought her to him as soon as all danger -for her was over. - -But he was not very anxious. Don Diego had probably not wished to -expose the lady to the horror of crossing the field of battle, and -soiling her feet with the blood in which the earth was soaked. He -applauded his delicacy, and waited a few minutes, during which he -repaired the disorder of his dress, and removed the traces of the -combat. - -At last he determined to look for his wife, whose long absence began to -make him very uneasy. - -Corporal Luco, as anxious as himself, undertook to guide him; he had a -faint recollection of seeing Don Diego, accompanied by Doña Antonia, -the nurse, and two or three more, going in the direction of a hollow in -the ground at a little distance. - -All of a sudden, the two men uttered a shout of sorrow, and recoiled in -horror from the dreadful spectacle before their eyes. - -Don Diego was lying on the ground, his chest pierced through and -through. He was dead; and close to him Doña Antonia and the nurse were -lying senseless. The nurse was Corporal Luco's wife. - -Don Guzman fell on his knees beside his wife; he then perceived a -paper, which she was clutching convulsively in her right hand. - -The unhappy man had great difficulty in releasing it from her grasp; -some words were written on it. Don Guzman cast his eyes over the lines, -and threw himself on the ground with an agonising cry of despair. - -The paper contained these words: - -"Brother,--You have deprived me of the woman I love; I deprive you of -your son: we are quits." - -"DON LEONCIO DE RIBERA." - -No doubts were possible after reading this: Don Leoncio was really the -author of this odious abduction. He had contrived this horrible piece -of treachery while his brother was coming, in all his confidence, to -meet him. With an incredible refinement of wickedness, and in order to -enjoy his revenge to the utmost, he had delayed the stroke, with the -determination to make it fall on his brother's head like a thunderbolt. - -For a long time, Don Guzman remained crouching on the Pampas, holding -in his arms the lifeless body of his wife, whom he tried in vain to -resuscitate. He lay there, absorbed in doubts, and trembling; seeing -nothing; hearing nothing; lamenting the death of his wife; deprived of -his child. - -He was suddenly roused by a heavy stroke on his shoulder. He raised his -head. A man was standing before him, with a smile on his lips. - -"Don Guzman de Ribera," said he, with a mocking salutation, "you are my -prisoner." - -It was Don Bernardo Pedrosa, with a numerous escort of soldiers. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -THE END OF THE STORY. - - -Here Don Estevan paused in his recital. - -"All this is frightful!" exclaimed Don Fernando, in accents of mingled -anger and pity. - -"It is not all," replied the other. - -"But what connection has this horrible story with Don Pedro de Luna?" - -"Did I not tell you when I first began that the history was his?" - -"You did; but, carried away by the dreadful incidents of your -narrative, I lost sight of the personages. My whole mind was so -excited, that I fancied myself a spectator of the scenes that passed -before me with such giddy rapidity, and did not recollect that one of -the actors was so close to us. But how does it happen that you are so -well acquainted with the details of this miserable tragedy?" - -"I have heard them told many and many a day, from infancy till now -that I am a man. My father was the Corporal Luco, whom you have seen -so devoted to the Ribera family. My poor mother was the nurse, and I -am foster brother to Don Guzman's child; for we were born about the -same date, and my mother, who was brought up in the family, was very -anxious to nurse us both, insisting that, in imbibing the same milk as -my young master, my devotion to him would be endless. Alas! God has -decided otherwise; he is dead." - -"Who can tell?" said Don Fernando, with gentle pity; "Perhaps he may -make his appearance again some day." - -"Alas! We have no longer any hope. More than twenty years have elapsed -since the frightful catastrophe, and during all that time no efforts, -however active, have sufficed to lift a corner of the mysterious veil -which conceals the fate of the poor child." - -"His poor mother must have suffered dreadfully." - -"She went mad. But the sun is rapidly sinking to the horizon, and night -will be here before two hours have passed. Let me finish my tale, by -telling you what happened after the arrest of Don Guzman." - -"Go on, my friend; I am anxious to know the end of this dark story." - -Don Guzman replied by a smile of contempt to the summons of Colonel -Bernardo Pedrosa. He raised his wife in his arms, and prepared to -follow his enemy. Notwithstanding his hatred of Don Guzman, Don -Bernardo was a man of the world; the misery which overwhelmed the man -he had so long persecuted touched his heart. His pity was aroused, and -on his way back to Buenos Aires he showed the greatest consideration, -treating him with all the respect his unhappy position demanded. - -The Dictator was furious at the massacre of his hirelings. Rejoiced at -finding a plausible pretext to free himself from a man whom, on account -of his great reputation and influence amongst the highest classes of -society, he had hitherto dreaded to attack, Rosas determined to make a -terrible example of him. Rudely separated from his wife, the prisoner -was cast into one of those horrible dungeons in which the tyrant's -victims languished, awaiting the tortures he prepared for them. - -But the Dictator's vengeance was not destined to be as complete as he -hoped. The French and English consuls, moved by pity for the miserable -state to which Doña Antonia was reduced, made energetic remonstrances -to the tyrant, and even went several times to Palermo to hunt up the -savage in his lair In short, by dint of prayers and menaces, they -obtained the release of the poor woman, and her restoration to her -family; Rosas gnashing his teeth and foaming with rage when he granted -the favour. But he did not dare to brave the consuls, and felt his want -of power to cope with them. Thanks to this beneficent intervention, and -the mighty power they exercised in her behalf, Doña Antonia, at least, -escaped the tortures the tyrant was preparing to inflict. - -As to Don Guzman, all attempts in his favour were unsuccessful. Rosas -not only refused to release him, but even to mitigate the terrible -treatment to which he was ordered to be subjected in prison. - -Unfortunately, Don Guzman was guilty in the eye of the law. The consuls -could take no official steps and were obliged to desist, for fear of -exasperating the tiger to heap greater injuries on the man in whom they -took such lively interest. - -Six months had elapsed since Don Guzman was arrested. Thanks to the -care with which Doña Antonia was surrounded, she recovered her reason. -But her position was thereby rendered worse; for she was now able to -appreciate her calamity to its fullest extent. She comprehended how -great was her misfortune; and her despair reduced her to such utter -prostration, that her life was in danger. - -While this was going on, the rumour was spread abroad that Don Guzman, -who had seemed forgotten in his dungeon, was to be brought up for -judgment, and shortly to appear before a court martial. - -Rosas eagerly seized the opportunity of giving all publicity to a trial -for high treason, hoping to make men forget the murders committed -in his name, in the interest of the discussion which would arise -concerning the trial. - -The report was soon officially confirmed; the day was named on which -Don Guzman was to appear before his judges. - -But there is one person of whom we have not spoken for some time, and -to whom we must now recur,--no other than Corporal Luco. - -The worthy corporal, when he saw the _arrieros_ and wagoners go off, -and that Don Leoncio had abandoned his brother with the greater number -of _peones_, did not attempt to deceive himself as to his own position. -A traitor and deserter, the least that could happen to him would be to -be shot. So when, by the first rays of the rising sun, he saw a cloud -of dust rising afar off in the Pampas, he concluded that soldiers -must be hidden by it; that these soldiers were coming to avenge their -comrades, whom he, Luco, had helped to slay with so much good will; and -that if they caught him, they would instantly shoot him. The prospect -was not pleasant to the corporal; at the same time he loved his master, -and could not resolve to leave him. He was thus in great perplexity, -and unable to come to a decision, though time pressed. - -Luckily his wife came to the rescue, and made him comprehend that any -attempt, in Don Guzman's present state, to induce him to fly must fail; -that, after all, it was better to preserve his freedom, in order to use -it hereafter to obtain his master's; and lastly, that he too, Luco, was -a father, who ought to save his life for his child's sake. - -All these reasons conquered the corporal's hesitation. He seized one -horse, his wife another; and both vanished on one side, while the -soldiers came up on the other. - -When he arrived at Buenos Aires, a bright idea struck him. Excepting -Muñoz and three other soldiers who had taken his part and fought with -him against their former comrades, all the _mashorqueras_ had been -slain. Not one remained to accuse the corporal of the treason of which -he felt himself guilty. Muñoz, whom he encountered strutting before -the gates of Buenos Aires waiting for his arrival, banished all his -scruples. - -Taking up his part directly, the worthy corporal accompanied by his -confederates, went straight to his colonel, to whom he told his -own version of what had happened at the _rancho_, launching out in -invectives and threats of vengeance against Don Guzman, for whom he -expressed the utmost abhorrence. - -His artifice succeeded beyond his expectations. The colonel charmed -with his conduct, and trusting to his tale, made him a sergeant, and -gave the corporal's stripe to Muñoz. The brave _colorados_ overwhelmed -the colonel with thanks and protestations of devotion to Rosas, and -retired, laughing in their sleeve. - -Luco managed so well during the six months before Don Guzman's trial, -and gave such convincing proofs of his attachment to the cause of -the Dictator, that the latter, deceived in turn, although, like all -other tyrants, he made a virtue of distrust, reposed the greatest -confidence in him; and when the sergeant asked to command the guard -which was to take charge of Don Guzman during the trial, not the least -objection was made. This was exactly what the sergeant wanted: all his -machinations during these six months tended to this one aim; so, when -the day for the trial was named, he prepared his batteries, and kept -himself ready for action when the critical moment should come. Luco -had sworn to save his master; and what the sergeant once resolved, he -carried out, let the consequences be what they would. - -Unhappily, the greatest obstacles in the way of the sergeant under -these circumstances came from Don Guzman himself. The prisoner wished -to die. For a long time Luco racked his brain in vain attempts at -finding some means to persuade him to relinquish the feeling. To all -his arguments Don Guzman replied, that his cup was full; that life was -a burden to him; and that death was the only good he could henceforth -look for. - -The sergeant shook his head, and retired, perfectly convinced of the -fallacy of the arguments. At length he arrived one day at the dungeon, -and opened the door with a countenance so radiant with joy, that his -master could not help remarking it, and asking what had made him so -happy. - -"Ah," replied the sergeant, "at last I have found out the way to -convince you." - -"You are dreadfully tenacious of your plan to save me," said Don -Guzman, with a mournful smile. - -"More so than ever, _¡canarios!_ This time there will be no doubt -about your compliance. In two days you shall judge for yourself." - -"So much the better," said Don Guzman, sighing; "it will be over the -sooner." - -"Good! We are not so badly off for friends as you think, señor--amongst -others, the French and English consuls. There is a fine French schooner -in the harbour, which only waits for your presence on board to sail -directly." - -"Then she runs the risk of never leaving Buenos Aires." - -"Pooh! pooh! I am of a different opinion--I think quite the contrary. -I have come to an understanding with the French consul. The day after -tomorrow the schooner will set sail: she will send a boat to fetch you, -and will hug the coast till you come. Once under the protection of the -French flag, who will dare to touch you?" - -"For the last time, listen to me, Luco," said Don Guzman firmly: "I -will not--understand me--I will not be saved. I intend that the infamy -of my death shall cover the Dictator with confusion. I thank you for -your devotion, my good old servant; but I demand that you cease to -compromise yourself by your efforts for me. Let us speak no more of it." - -"Then," said the sergeant, "your mind is quite made up? Nothing can -change your determination?" - -"Alas! One single person might have that influence over me; but that -person is in ignorance of all that happens around her. Happily -for her, she has lost her reason, and with reason her memory--that -incurable cancer of a broken heart." - -The sergeant smiled, and, opening his uniform produced a letter from -his breast, and, without a word, handed it to Don Guzman. - -"What is this, Luco?" said the latter, as he hesitated to take the -letter. - -"Read it, _mi amo_," replied the sergeant. "I wanted to give you a -complete surprise; but you are so obstinate, I am obliged to deploy my -forces." - -Don Guzman opened the letter with trembling hands, and rapidly ran -through it. - -"Almighty Father!" he exclaimed, "Is it possible? Doña Antonia has -recovered her reason, and bids me live!" - -"Will you obey this time, _mi amo?_" - -"Do what you will, Luco; I will obey you in all things. Oh, how I wish -to live now!" - -"_¡Cuerpo de Cristo!_ You shall live, _mi amo_. I swear it to you." - -With this consoling promise, Luco quitted the prison. - -The day of Guzman's trial arrived at last. The Dictator, who knew how -much sympathy the prisoner excited, considered it prudent to make -a grand military display on the occasion. The city was literally -crammed with troops, the precautions being taken more for the purpose -of intimidating the friends of the prisoner, than as precautionary -measures against an escape, which he deemed impossible. - -The French schooner, as Luco had predicted, sent a boat's crew ashore, -on the pretence of closing the agent's accounts; she then weighed -anchor, and stood on and off in the river expecting her boat. - -The detachment detailed to escort the prisoner was strong, and composed -entirely of _colorados_, Rosa's most devoted troops. It was placed -under the command of Colonel Don Bernardo de Pedrosa; the special -platoon in charge of the prisoner was under the orders of Sergeant Luco -and Corporal Muñoz. - -Twenty minutes before the specified time for commencing the march -to the court, Luco entered his master's dungeon, and had a final -conversation with him. He then gave him two pairs of pistols and a -poniard, and left him, saying; - -"Remember _mi amo_, to keep quite quiet till you hear the words, never -mind from whom: 'To the devil with the sun! It blinds one!'--that is -your signal." - -"Make yourself easy; I will not forget. Remember your promise to kill -me, rather than to let me fall again into the hands of the tyrant." - -"Enough, _mi amo._ Pray God to help us; we stand in great need of Him." - -"Farewell, Luco: you are right; I will pray." - -The two men parted, not to meet again till the decisive moment. - -However, the sergeant grew more anxious as that moment approached. -The formidable preparations of the Dictator raised his secret -apprehensions. But he gave no signs of his perturbation, for fear of -discouraging his accomplices; on the contrary, he affected an air of -perfect confidence, though he kept grumbling under his moustache: -"Never mind, it will be a hard tussle; we shall have plenty of firing." - -Soon after, the clock of the cabildo (court of justice) struck ten. The -drum called the soldiers to arms; the gossips in the street stretched -their heads forward, murmuring an "Ah!" of satisfaction: all eyes were -fixed on the prison. - -They had not long to wait. At the close of a few minutes, the prison -door opened, and the prisoner came forth. His face was pale, calm, and -stamped with indomitable resolution. He marched quietly in the middle -of a dozen soldiers commanded by Sergeant Luco. The latter, as if -wishing to be specially careful of his prisoner, strode on his right, -Muñoz on his left, almost side by side with Don Guzman. - -The platoon was preceded by a strong detachment of _colorados_, at the -head of which curveted Colonel Don Bernardo de Pedrosa on a magnificent -coal-black stallion; in rear of the prisoner there was a second -detachment, as strong as the one in advance. The procession advanced -slowly between two mournful and silent crowds of people, who were with -difficulty kept down by two lines of sentries. - -It was one of those magnificent spring mornings which South America -alone has the privilege of producing. The fresh breeze from the Pampas, -laden with odoriferous scents, rustled in the leaves and branches of -the gardens attached to the houses, and cooled the air heated by the -beams of the tropical sun. - -The procession still continued its march. In spite of the danger -which lay in any exhibition of sympathy for the prisoner, the crowd -respectfully uncovered as he passed. He, calm and dignified as at -the moment he quitted the prison, marched on, his hat in his hand, -saluting, right and left, the people who were not afraid of testifying -their respect. - -Two-thirds of the road had already been travelled; a few minutes more, -and the prisoner would reach the tribunal, when, in the Calle de la -Federación, several spectators, no doubt too rudely pushed back by -the soldiers lining the road, resisted the pressure to which they -were subjected, drove back the sentries, and, for a moment, almost -broke their line. As the procession approached, this tumult gradually -increased: cries, recriminations, and threats were bandied about with -the vivacity and rapidity peculiar to the races of the South, until -what seemed at first sight to be a squabble of no importance, began to -assume the dimensions of a veritable riot. - -Don Bernardo, uneasy at the noise he heard, left the head of the -escort, and came galloping back to ascertain what was going on, and to -pacify the tumult. - -Unluckily, the popular feeling had risen with so much rapidity, that -at several points the ranks had been broken, the soldiers isolated, -and--how it happened no one could say--disarmed, with unexampled -celerity, by persons of whom they had no knowledge. In short the -procession was cut in two. - -Don Bernardo saw at a glance the gravity of the situation. Making way, -with considerable difficulty, through the crowd, he rode up to the -sergeant, who, cool and imperturbable, still stuck to his prisoner. - -"Aha!" said the colonel, with a sigh of satisfaction, "Take me good -care of the prisoner. Close up! I fear you will be obliged to open a -passage by main force." - -"We will open one, do not you be alarmed, colonel. But to the devil -with the sun! It blinds one." - -The moment he uttered these words, a soldier who was close at hand -seized the colonel's leg, and threw him from his horse on the ground. -In the same instant, Luco caught hold of the bridle, while Don Guzman, -rapid as thought vaulted into the saddle. - -What we have related took place so suddenly, and the whole was done so -adroitly, that Don Bernardo, completely confounded, was nailed to the -ground by a bayonet before he could comprehend what was happening: it -is even probable that he died without guessing the cause of the riot. - -In the meantime, the twelve riders of the platoon had closed around -their ex-prisoner, and started at full speed through the thickest of -the throng. - -Then a curious thing occurred: these inquisitive gapers, who were an -instant before so crowded and compact that they had broken through the -line of soldiery, open right and left before the fugitives, shouted -their joy at their success, and, the moment they had passed, closed up -the breach they had themselves made, and again presented an impassable -human barrier to the rearguard, which vainly strove to break it. - -Armed men seemed to start suddenly out of the ground, gave the soldiers -back blow for blow, and offered a resistance sufficiently energetic to -allow time for the fugitives to secure their safety. - -Then, suddenly as if by enchantment, these menacing crowds, which had -so lately disputed the ground, retreated, melted away, in some manner -or another; and that so speedily, that when the soldiers, recovered -from their surprise, were prepared for a vigorous defence, there was no -one in front of them: the insurgents had disappeared, without leaving -any traces behind them. - -This audacious affray might almost have passed for a dream, were it not -that, on one side, the prisoner had escaped, and, that on the other, -Colonel Pedrosa, and five or six soldiers, lay weltering in their blood -on the ground; proving the reality of the daring _coup-de-main_ which -had been executed with such remarkable audacity and success. - -Don Guzman and his companions found refuge in the boat which was -waiting for them. Five minutes later, they were on board the French -ship; and when pursuit was ordered, the schooner could only be seen on -the horizon, like a halcyon's wing balanced on the breeze. - -On board the schooner Don Guzman found his wife. The schooner sailed -for Veracruz. - -We have already related the decision which Don Guzman had made, and in -what manner he carried it out. - -In order to insure the success of the researches he was about to make -to find his son, and to secure his own tranquillity, Don Guzman, on -setting foot in Mexico, resigned his own name for that of Don Pedro de -Luna, to which he had a right, and under which we shall still continue -to designate him.[1] He hoped by these means to escape the persecutions -of Don Leoncio, whose hatred, still unsatiated by the abduction of the -child, might possibly lead him to attempt to add his brother as another -victim. - -Don Guzman's calculations were correct, or seemed so. Since his -departure from Buenos Aires, he had never heard of his brother: no one -knew what had become of him, nor whether he were alive or dead. - -Five years after his arrival at the _hacienda_, a fresh misfortune -overtook the poor exile. Doña Antonia, who had never completely -recovered the shock to her mind, the consequences of the terrible -occurrences in the Pampas, and whose health had always languished -since, had expired in his arms, after giving birth to a daughter. - -This daughter was the charming girl whom we have presented to our -readers under the name of Doña Hermosa. - -From that time forth, Don Pedro concentrated his affections on this -delicate creature, the only bond which attached him to an existence -which might have been so happy, and which, struck by the cold breath of -adversity, had suddenly become so miserable. - -Of all those who had accompanied him into exile, he alone remained. All -the rest were dead: he had seen them sink, one after another, into the -tomb. Manuela, Luco's wife, the confidante of her master's sorrows, was -charged with the education of his daughter; a charge she executed with -care and devotion beyond praise. - -Such was the tale related by the _major-domo._ In order that the reader -may fully understand the events recorded in subsequent chapters, -it is necessary to remind him that Doña Hermosa was sixteen at the -commencement of our story, and that four years intervened between the -retirement of Don Pedro to the Hacienda de las Norias and the birth -of his daughter. Consequently twenty years had elapsed since the -occurrence of the circumstances narrated by Don Estevan Diaz. - - -[1] See "Stoneheart," the companion volume. - -THE END. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bee Hunters, by Gustave Aimard - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BEE HUNTERS *** - -***** This file should be named 44375-8.txt or 44375-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/3/7/44375/ - -Produced by Camille Bernard and Marc D'Hooghe at -http://www.freeliterature.org (Images generously made -available by the Oxford Bodleian Library) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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 - - -Title: The Bee Hunters - A Tale of Adventure - -Author: Gustave Aimard - -Translator: Lascelles Wraxall - -Release Date: December 6, 2013 [EBook #44375] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BEE HUNTERS *** - - - - -Produced by Camille Bernard and Marc D'Hooghe at -http://www.freeliterature.org (Images generously made -available by the Oxford Bodleian Library) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<h1>THE BEE HUNTERS</h1> - -<h4>A TALE OF ADVENTURE</h4> - -<h3>BY</h3> - -<h2>GUSTAVE AIMARD</h2> - - -<h4>AUTHOR OF "STONEHEART," "SMUGGLER CHIEF," ETC., ETC.</h4> - - -<h5>LONDON:</h5> - -<h5>CHARLES HENRY CLARKE, 13 PATERNOSTER ROW.</h5> - -<h5>1865</h5> - - - - -<hr class="full" /> -<h4>CONTENTS.</h4> - - -<div class="center" style="font-size: 0.8em;"> -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">I.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">A MEETING IN THE FAR WEST</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">II.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">IN THE FOREST</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">III.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">THE CALLI</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">IV.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">SUPERFICIAL REMARKS</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">V.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CONFIDENTIAL CHAT</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">VI.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">THE JOURNEY</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">VII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">THE SKIRMISH</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">VIII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">THE PUEBLO (THE TOWN)</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">IX.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">DOÑA HERMOSA</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">X.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">EL AS DE COPAS (THE ACE OF HEARTS)</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XI.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">THE RANCHO</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">THE REDSKINS</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XIII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">THE MIDNIGHT MEETING</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XIV.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">DON ESTEVAN DIAZ</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XV.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">DON GUZMAN DE RIBERA</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XVI.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">THE POST HOUSE IN THE PAMPAS</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XVII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">A DELICATE FEDERAL ATTENTION</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XVIII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">TREACHERY</a></td></tr> -<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XIX.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">THE END OF THE STORY</a></td></tr> -</table></div> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></h4> - -<h3>A MEETING IN THE FAR WEST.</h3> - -<hr class="r5" /> -<p>Since the discovery of the goldfields in California and on the -Fraser River, North America has entered into a phase of such active -transformation, civilisation has advanced with such giant strides, -that only one region is still extant—a region of which very little -is known—where the poet, or the dreamer who delights in surrounding -himself with the glories of nature, can revel in the grandeur and -majesty, which are the great characteristics of the mysterious -savannahs.</p> - -<p>It is the only country, nowadays, where such men can sate themselves -with the contemplation of those immense oceans of alternate verdure and -sand, which spread themselves out in striking contrast, yet wonderful -harmony,—expanding, boundless, solemn, silent, and threatening, under -the eye of the omnipotent Creator.</p> - -<p>This region, in which the sound of the squatter's axe has not yet -roused the slumbering echoes, is called the Far West.</p> - -<p>Here the Indians still reign as masters, tracing paths on rapid -mustangs, as untamed as their riders, through the vast solitudes, whose -mysteries are known only to themselves; hunting the bison and wild -horse, waging war with each other, or pursuing with deadly enmity, the -white hunters and trappers daring enough to venture into this last -formidable refuge of the redskins.</p> - -<p>On the 27th July, 1858, about three hours before sunset, a cavalier, -mounted on a magnificent mustang, was carelessly following the banks of -the Rio Bermejo, a tributary of the Rio Grande del Norte, into which -it falls after a course of from seventy to eighty leagues across the -desert.</p> - -<p>This cavalier, clad in the leather dress worn by Mexican hunters, was, -as far as one could judge, a man not more than thirty years of age, -of tall and well-knit frame, and graceful in manner and action. His -face was proud and determined; and his hardy features, stamped with -an expression of frankness and good nature, inspired, at first sight, -respect and sympathy.</p> - -<p>His blue eyes, soft and mild as a woman's; the thick curls of blonde -hair, which escaped in masses from under the brim of his cap of vicuña -skin, and wantoned in disorder on his shoulders; the sallowish white -of his skin, very different from the olive tint, approaching to bronze, -peculiar to the Mexicans,—all these would lead one to surmise that he -had not first seen the light under the hot sun of Spanish America.</p> - -<p>This man, who was to all appearance so peaceable and so little to be -dreaded, concealed, under a slightly effeminate exterior, a courage -which nothing could daunt, nor even startle: the delicate and almost -diaphanous skin of his white hands, with their rosy nails, served as a -covering to nerves of steel.</p> - -<p>At the moment of which we speak this personage seemed to be half-asleep -in his saddle, and allowed his mustang to choose his own pace; and the -beast, profiting by a liberty to which he was not accustomed, nibbled -off with the tips of his lips the blades of sun-dried grass he met with -on his road.</p> - -<p>The place where our cavalier found himself was a plain of tolerable -extent, cut into two nearly equal parts by the Rio Bermejo, whose banks -were steep, and here and there strewn with bare, gray rocks.</p> - -<p>This plain was enclosed between two chains of hills, rising to right -and left in successive undulations, until they formed at the horizon -high peaks covered with snow, on which the purple splendours of sunset -were playing.</p> - -<p>However, in spite of the real or pretended somnolence of the cavalier, -his eyes half opened occasionally and, without turning his head, -he cast a searching glance around him, but betrayed no symptom of -apprehension, which nevertheless would have been quite pardonable in a -district where the jaguar is the least formidable of man's enemies.</p> - -<p>The traveller, or hunter,—for as yet we do not know who he -is,—continued his road at a pace which became more and more slow and -careless; he was on the point of passing at about a hundred yards' -distance from a rock which rose like a solitary watchtower on the bank -of the Rio Bermejo, when, from behind the mass, where he had probably -lain in ambuscade, there half emerged a man, armed with an American -rifle.</p> - -<p>This individual for a moment examined the traveller with the minutest -attention: then, levelling his rifle, he pressed the trigger, and fired.</p> - -<p>The cavalier, bounding in his saddle, and uttering a suppressed scream, -flung up his arms, lost his stirrups, and rolled on the turf, where, -after a few convulsive movements, he remained motionless.</p> - -<p>The horse, in alarm, reared, lashed out wildly with his heels, and -started off at full speed in the direction of the woods scattered over -the hills, in the midst of which he soon disappeared.</p> - -<p>Having thus cleverly knocked over his man, the assassin dropped the -butt of his weapon on the ground, and, doffing his cap of vicuña skin, -dried his forehead, while he murmured expressions of gratified vanity.</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Canarios!</i> This time I don't think my marauding friend will come to -life again; I must have broken his backbone for him. What a glorious -shot! What will those fools say who wanted to make me believe at the -venta that he was a sorcerer, who could not be hit without putting a -silver ball into my rifle, if they could see him now, stretched out in -that way? Capital! I have loyally earned my hundred piastres. It's not -bad luck. I had lots of trouble in succeeding. May the holy Virgin be -blessed for the protection she has deigned to grant me! I will take -care not to be ungrateful to her for it."</p> - -<p>All the time he was muttering thus, the worthy fellow was reloading his -rifle with the most scrupulous care.</p> - -<p>"Well," continued he, seating himself on a clod of turf, "I am knocked -up with having had to watch so long. Suppose I were to go and convince -myself of his death? By Heaven, no; he might still be breathing, and -treat me to a thrust of the knife. I'm no such fool. I prefer sitting -here in peace, and smoking a cigarette. If, within an hour, he has not -stirred, all will be over, and then I'll run the risk. And indeed I'm -in no sort of hurry," he added, with a sinister smile.</p> - -<p>Upon that, with an air of the greatest coolness, he took the tobacco -from his pouch, twisted a <i>pajillo</i> (straw cigarette), lit it, and -commenced smoking with immense <i>sangfroid</i>, never ceasing to watch, out -of the corner of his eye, the corpse lying a few yards from him.</p> - -<p>Let us profit by this moment of respite to make the reader a little -better acquainted with this interesting personage.</p> - -<p>He was a man a little below the average height, but the breadth of -his shoulders and bigness of his limbs showed him to be endowed with -immense muscular power; his forehead was low and receding like that -of a wild beast; his nose, long and hooked, bent down over a mouth -immense in size, but with thin lips, and garnished with long pointed -and irregular teeth; gray eyes, with squinting pupils, stamped his -physiognomy with a sinister expression.</p> - -<p>The man was dressed in a hunter's garb, similar to that of the -cavalier. <i>Calzoneras</i> (loose trousers) of leather, bound about at -the hips with a <i>faja</i>, or sash of silk, and falling as low as the -knee, were fastened under <i>botas vaqueras</i> (heavy boots), intended to -preserve the legs. A kind of half-jacket, half-blouse, also of leather, -covered the upper part of his body, which garment, open in front like -a shirt, had sleeves reaching to the elbow; a <i>machete</i> or straight -sword, passed without sheath through an iron ring, hung on his left -hip; and a game bag, apparently well supplied was slung to his right -side by a strip of bison hide worn across the shoulder; a <i>zarapé</i>, or -Indian blanket, motley with brilliant colours, lay on the earth beside -him.</p> - -<p>In the meanwhile time was passing; an hour and a half had already -elapsed without our friend, who smoked cigarette after cigarette, -appearing to be able to decide upon going to convince himself of the -death of him on whom he had treacherously drawn trigger from behind the -rock.</p> - -<p>During all this time, the cavalier, after he fell, had preserved -the most complete immobility; attentively watched by the assassin, -the latter had not been able to perceive the slightest motion. The -<i>zopilotes</i> (turkey buzzards) and the condors, in all probability -attracted by the scent of the corpse, were beginning to circle in wide -rings over it, uttering their rough and discordant cries; the sun, on -the point of disappearing, had assumed the shape of a globe of fire on -the edge of the horizon. It became necessary to act.</p> - -<p>The assassin rose, greatly against his will.</p> - -<p>"Pooh!" he murmured, "The man must be dead enough by this time, or -if not his soul has turned to ashes in his heart. Let's go and look. -Nevertheless, as prudence is the mother of safety, let us be prudent."</p> - -<p>And in accordance with this reasoning, he drew from his garter the -sharp-pointed knife which every Mexican carries for the purpose of -cutting the thong if an enemy happens to cast the lasso round his neck. -Having tried the spring of the blade against a stone, and convinced -himself that the point was not broken, he made up his mind, at last, -to approach the body, still lying motionless on the spot where it had -fallen. But in the American deserts there is an axiom the justice of -which is acknowledged by all. It is this: That the shortest road from -one point to another is a curve. Our friend took good care to put it in -practice on this occasion. Instead of advancing straight to the object -of his visit, he made a long circuit, drawing nearer little by little, -stealing along softly, stopping at intervals to examine the body, and -ready to fly at the slightest movement he might see, and with his knife -ready to strike.</p> - -<p>But these precautions were useless; the corpse preserved the immobility -of a statue, and our man stopped almost within reach without -discovering a single thing to betray an atom of life in the unhappy -wretch stretched upon the ground before him.</p> - -<p>The murderer crossed his arms over his chest, and contemplated the -body, whose face was turned to the ground.</p> - -<p>"By my faith, he is dead indeed. It is a pity; for he was a formidable -fellow. I should never have dared to attack him face to face. But a -man must stick to his word. I had been paid; I was bound to fulfil my -engagement. Curious! I see no blood! Pooh! It is a case of internal -bleeding. So much the better for him, for his sufferings will have been -less. However, to make doubly sure, I'll plant my knife between his two -shoulders: in that way I shall be sure of my bird, although there is no -danger of his coming to life again. You see, one must not deceive those -who pay us; a man must stick to his word."</p> - -<p>After this soliloquy he knelt down, bent over the body, supporting -himself by one hand on its shoulders, and lifted his knife; but -suddenly, by a movement of unexampled rapidity, the supposed corpse -rose with a bound like a jaguar, and oversetting the stupefied -assassin, seized him by the throat, pinned him to the earth, planted -his knee on his chest, and deprived him of his knife before his brains -could render an account of what was happening.</p> - -<p>"Hulloa, <i>compadre!</i>" (comrade) said the cavalier in a jeering tone; -"One moment, if you please, <i>¡cuerpo de Cristo!</i>"</p> - -<p>All this passed in much less time than we have taken to write it.</p> - -<p>However, sudden and unexpected as the attack had been, the other -was too much accustomed to strange vicissitudes in somewhat similar -situations not to recover his presence of mind almost immediately.</p> - -<p>"Well, comrade," resumed the cavalier, "what have you got to say to all -this?"</p> - -<p>"I?" replied the other, with a sneer; "<i>¡Caray!</i> I say the game has -been well played."</p> - -<p>"Then it is one you are acquainted with?"</p> - -<p>"A little," was the modest reply.</p> - -<p>"I have been a little sharper than you."</p> - -<p>"Yes, sharper; yet I certainly thought I had killed you. Curious," he -continued, as if talking to himself, "the others were right; it is -I who have been a fool. I will take a silver ball next time; it is -surer."</p> - -<p>"What are you saying?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing."</p> - -<p>"Pardon me, you did say something."</p> - -<p>"Are you very anxious to know?"</p> - -<p>"Apparently, since I have asked the question."</p> - -<p>"Very well. I said I would take a silver bullet next time."</p> - -<p>"What for?"</p> - -<p>"Why, to kill you."</p> - -<p>"To kill me? Go to; you are a fool! Do you fancy I will let you escape?"</p> - -<p>"I do not fancy anything of the kind, the more so as you could not do -anything worse."</p> - -<p>"Because you would kill me?"</p> - -<p>"By Heavens! Yes, as soon as possible."</p> - -<p>"Then you hate me?"</p> - -<p>"I? Not the least in the world."</p> - -<p>"Well, then, if not, what is your motive?"</p> - -<p>"Confound it! A man must stick to his word."</p> - -<p>The cavalier cast a long look upon him, shaking his head the while with -a thoughtful air.</p> - -<p>"H'm," said he, at last, "promise me not to attempt to escape if I -leave you free for a time."</p> - -<p>"I promise, with so much the more pleasure, since I am obliged to -confess that I find myself in a most fatiguing posture, and am very -anxious to change it."</p> - -<p>"Rise," said the cavalier, helping him up.</p> - -<p>The other did not wait for the mandate to be repeated: in an instant he -was on his legs.</p> - -<p>"Ah," he replied, with a grunt of satisfaction, "liberty is a blessing!"</p> - -<p>"Is it not? Now shall we talk a little?"</p> - -<p>"I desire nothing better, <i>caballero</i>. I can only be the gainer by your -conversation," replied the other, bowing, with an insinuating smile.</p> - -<p>The two enemies placed themselves side by side, as if nothing -extraordinary had happened between them.</p> - -<p>This is one of the distinctive traits of Mexican character: murder -amongst these people has grown so thoroughly into a habit, that it -never astonishes anyone; and it often happens that the man just escaped -falling a victim to an ambuscade, does not scruple to press the hand -extended by his would-be assassin, foreseeing that someday or other he -too will be called on to play in his turn the part of murderer.</p> - -<p>In the present circumstances it was certainly not this consideration -which induced the cavalier to act as he was doing. He had a powerful -motive, with which we shall become acquainted presently; for, in spite -of his feigned indifference, it was only with a sentiment of lively -disgust that he seated himself beside the bandit.</p> - -<p>As to the latter, we feel ourselves bound in justice to state that he -had only one feeling of regret—the shame of having missed his blow; -but he promised himself, <i>in petto</i>, to take his revenge as soon as -possible, and this time to take such sure precautions that he must -succeed.</p> - -<p>"What are you thinking of?" demanded the cavalier, all of a sudden.</p> - -<p>"I? On my honour, nothing," was the ingenuous reply.</p> - -<p>"You would deceive me. I know what you are thinking of at this very -moment."</p> - -<p>"Oh, as for that, permit me to tell you—"</p> - -<p>"You were thinking of killing me," said the cavalier, interrupting him -abruptly.</p> - -<p>The other returned no answer; he contented himself with muttering -between his teeth—</p> - -<p>"What a devil! He reads the most hidden thoughts. One is not safe -beside him."</p> - -<p>"Will you answer honestly, and frankly, the questions I am about to put -to you?" resumed the cavalier, after a time.</p> - -<p>"Yes; as well as lies in my power."</p> - -<p>"That is to say, just so far as your interest does not lead you to lie."</p> - -<p>"Confound it, señor, no one likes to make war upon oneself! No one -ought to force me to speak ill of myself."</p> - -<p>"You are right. Who are you?"</p> - -<p>"Señor," replied the other, raising himself proudly, "I have the -honour to be a Mexican, My mother was an Opata Indian; my father a -<i>caballero</i> (gentleman) of Guadalupe."</p> - -<p>"Very well; but I learn nothing from this about yourself."</p> - -<p>"Alas, señor!" was the reply, given in that whining tone the Mexicans -know so well how to adopt, "I have been unfortunate."</p> - -<p>"Oh, you have met with misfortunes! Well, pardon me once more. You have -forgotten to mention your name."</p> - -<p>"It is a very obscure one, señor; but since you desire to know it, here -it is: I am called Tonillo el Zapote—at your service, señor."</p> - -<p>"Thanks, Señor Zapote. Now proceed; I am listening."</p> - -<p>"I have followed many trades in my day. I have been by turns <i>lepero</i> -(vagabond), muleteer, husbandman, soldier. Unhappily, I am of a quick -temper: when I am in a passion, my hand is very ready."</p> - -<p>"And heavy," said the cavalier, with a smile.</p> - -<p>"It is all the same; so much so, that I have had the misfortune to -<i>bleed</i> five or six individuals who had the imprudence to pick a -quarrel with me. The <i>Juez de letras</i> (magistrate) was annoyed; and -under the pretence that I was guilty of six murders, he asserted I -deserved the garotte; so, seeing my fellow citizens misapprehended -me—that society would not appreciate me at my real value—I took -refuge in the desert, and turned hunter."</p> - -<p>"Of men?" interrupted the cavalier in a tone of sarcasm.</p> - -<p>"By Heavens! Señor, times are hard: the Gringos pay twenty dollars for -a scalp. It is a pretty sum; and, on my honour, particularly so when -want presses. But I never have recourse to these means except in the -direst extremity."</p> - -<p>"It is well. And now tell me, do you know me?"</p> - -<p>"Very well by report; personally, not at all."</p> - -<p>"Have you any reasons for hating me?"</p> - -<p>"I have already the honour to tell you—none."</p> - -<p>"In that case, why have you attempted to assassinate me?"</p> - -<p>"I, señor?" cried he, showing signs of the utmost astonishment; "I -assassinate you? Never!",</p> - -<p>"What, fool!" exclaimed the cavalier, lowering his brows, "Dare you -maintain such an imposture? Four times have I served as a target to -your rifle. You have drawn trigger upon me this very day, and—"</p> - -<p>"Oh! By your leave, señor," said El Zapote with warmth, "that is quite -a different thing. True, I fired at you; it is even likely I shall fire -at you again; but never, as I hoped for Paradise, have I dreamed of -assassinating you. For shame!—I, a <i>caballero</i>! How could you form so -bad an opinion of me, señor?"</p> - -<p>"Then what was your intention in firing at me?"</p> - -<p>"To kill you, señor; nothing more."</p> - -<p>"Then in this case murder is not assassination?"</p> - -<p>"Not in the slightest degree, señor; this was business."</p> - -<p>"What! Business?—The rogue will make me go mad, upon my soul!"</p> - -<p>"By Heaven, señor, an honest man must stick to his word."</p> - -<p>"If it is to kill me?"</p> - -<p>"Exactly so," answered El Zapote. "You can understand that, under the -conditions, I was compelled to keep my engagement."</p> - -<p>There was a moment of silence; evidently the reasoning did not seem so -conclusive to the cavalier as to the <i>lepero</i>.</p> - -<p>Then said the former:</p> - -<p>"Enough; let us have done with this."</p> - -<p>"I ask no better of your seigneurie."</p> - -<p>"You acknowledge, I suppose, that you are in my power?"</p> - -<p>"It would be difficult to assert the contrary."</p> - -<p>"Good! As, according to your own confession you have fired on me with -the evident intention of killing me—"</p> - -<p>"I cannot deny it, señor."</p> - -<p>"In killing you, now you are in my power, I should only be making use -of reprisals?"</p> - -<p>"That is perfectly true, <i>caballero</i>, I must even confess that you -could not possibly have a stronger reason for doing so."</p> - -<p>His companion gazed at him in surprise.</p> - -<p>"Then you are content to die?" said he.</p> - -<p>"Let us understand each other," replied the <i>lepero</i> with avidity. -"I am not at all content. On the contrary, I only know that I am a -thorough gambler, that is all. I played; I lost; I have to pay. It is -reasonable."</p> - -<p>The cavalier seemed to reflect.</p> - -<p>"And if, instead of planting my knife in your throat, even as you -yourself acknowledge I have the right to do—"</p> - -<p>El Zapote made a sign of assent.</p> - -<p>"I were to restore you to liberty," continued the cavalier, "leaving -you the power of acting according to your own impulse?"</p> - -<p>The bandit shook his head sorrowfully.</p> - -<p>"I repeat," he said, "that I would kill you. A man must stick to his -word. I cannot betray the confidence of my employers; it would ruin my -reputation."</p> - -<p>The cavalier burst out laughing.</p> - -<p>"I suppose you have been well paid for this undertaking?" said he.</p> - -<p>"Not a great deal; but want makes many things be done. I have received -a hundred piastres."</p> - -<p>"No more?" exclaimed the stranger, with a gesture of disdain; "It is -very little; I thought myself worth more than that."</p> - -<p>"A great deal more, particularly as the undertaking was difficult; but -next time I will take a silver bullet."</p> - -<p>"You are an idiot, comrade. You will not kill me the next, any more -than you did the other times. Think of what has occurred up to today. -I have already heard your balls whistle four times about my ears: that -annoyed me. At last I wished to find out who you were: you see I have -succeeded."</p> - -<p>"It is the truth. Now, after all, were you not aware of my being close -to you?"</p> - -<p>The cavalier shrugged his shoulders.</p> - -<p>"I will not even demand of you," he said, "the name of him who has -ordered you to compass my death. Here, take your knife, and begone. I -despise you too much to fear you. Adieu!"</p> - -<p>Speaking thus, the cavalier rose, and dismissed the bandit with a -gesture full of majesty and disdain.</p> - -<p>The <i>lepero</i> remained an instant motionless, then bowed profoundly -before his generous adversary.</p> - -<p>"Thanks, your worship," said he, in a voice exhibiting some emotion; -"you are better than I. Never mind; I will prove to you that I am not -the scoundrel you fancy me, and that there is still something within me -which has not been utterly corrupted."</p> - -<p>The cavalier's only answer was to turn his back upon him, with a shrug -of the shoulders.</p> - -<p>The <i>lepero</i> gazed after his retiring form with a look of which his -savage features would have seemed incapable: a mixture of sorrow and -gratitude impressed on his countenance a stamp very different to their -customary expression.</p> - -<p>"He does not believe me," he muttered—we have already seen that he had -a decided taste for soliloquy—"he does not believe me. Why, indeed, -should he trust my words? It is sad; but an honest man must stick to -his word, and I will prove to him that he does not yet know me. Let me -begone."</p> - -<p>Comforting himself with these words, the bandit returned to the rock -behind which he had originally hidden; there he picked up his rifle, -then from the other side of the rock he brought his horse, which he had -concealed in a hollow, replaced the bridle, and departed at a gallop, -after casting a glance behind him, and murmuring, in a tone of sincere -admiration:</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Caray!</i> What a tremendous fellow! What natural power! What a pity it -would be to knock him over like an antelope, from behind a bush! <i>¡Viva -Dios!</i> That shall not happen, if I can hinder it, on the honour of a -Zapote."</p> - -<p>He forded the Rio Bermejo, and speedily disappeared amongst the tall -grasses that bordered the opposite bank.</p> - -<p>As soon as the unknown had assured himself of the <i>lepero's</i> departure, -he began to calculate the time by the enormously lengthened shadows of -the trees; and, after looking about him attentively, gave a whistle, -sharp and prolonged, which, although restrained, was nevertheless -repeated by all the echoes of the river, so powerful was its tone.</p> - -<p>At the end of a few seconds a distant neighing made itself audible, -followed almost immediately after by the sound of precipitate -galloping, resembling the rolling of distant thunder.</p> - -<p>Little by little the sound grew nearer, the branches crashed, the -underwood was violently dashed aside, and the unknown's mustang made -his appearance on the skirt of a wood at a little distance.</p> - -<p>When there, the noble animal paused, snuffed the air vigorously, -turning his head and neck in all directions; then starting off, with a -thousand capers he made the best of his way, till he halted before his -master, and gazed upon him with eyes full of intelligence.</p> - -<p>The latter patted him gently, talking to him in a caressing voice; -then, having made quite sure that the <i>lepero</i> was gone, and that he -was assuredly alone, he readjusted the trappings of his horse, which -had become slightly disordered, vaulted into the saddle and in his turn -departed.</p> - -<p>But instead of continuing to follow the course of the Rio Bermejo, he -turned his back upon it, and rode in the direction of the mountains.</p> - -<p>The bearing of the unknown had undergone a complete change; it was no -longer the man whom we formerly presented to our readers, half asleep, -swaying in the saddle, and leaving his horse to wander at leisure. -No; now he held himself firm and upright on his mustang, with limbs -closely pressing its flanks; his face was overcast with dark shades -of thought; his glances wandered about as if they would pierce the -mysteries of the thick forest with which he was surrounded; with head -slightly bent forward, he listened with strained attention to the most -trifling noise; and his rifle, placed across the saddlebow, had the -lock exactly under his right hand, in such a fashion that he could fire -instantaneously, if circumstances required.</p> - -<p>One might have said, so suddenly had the man changed, that the strange -scene to which we have just introduced our reader was for him only one -of those thousand accidents, without consequences, to which his desert -life exposed him, but that now he was preparing to battle with dangers -which might really prove serious.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></h4> - -<h3>IN THE FOREST.</h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>The unknown had struck into a dense forest, the last skirts of which -dwindled away close to the banks of the Rio Bermejo.</p> - -<p>American forests have little resemblance to those of the Old World: in -the former, the trees shoot up hap-hazard, crossing and interlacing -each other, and sometimes leaving large spaces completely open, strewn -with dead trees, uprooted, and piled on each other in the strangest -manner.</p> - -<p>Some trees, partially or wholly withered, show in their hollow remnants -of the strong and fruitful soil; others, equally ancient, are supported -by the entangled creepers, which, in process of time, have almost -attained the size of their former props—the diversity of foliage -forming here the most agreeable contrast; others, concealing within -their hollow trunks a hotbed, formed from the remains of their leaves -and half-dead branches, which has promoted the germination of the seed -that fell from them, seem to promise an indemnification for the loss of -the parent trees in the saplings they nourish.</p> - -<p>One could imagine that nature had determined to put beyond the ravages -of time some of these old trees, when sinking under the weight of ages, -by clothing them in a mantle of gray moss, which hangs in long festoons -from the topmost branches to the ground. This moss, called <i>barbe -d'Espagnol</i>, gives to the trees a most fantastic aspect.</p> - -<p>The ground of these forests, formed from the remains of trees falling, -in successive generations, for centuries, is most eccentric: sometimes -raising itself in the shape of a mountain, to descend suddenly into -a muddy swamp, peopled by hideous alligators wallowing in the green -slime, and by millions of mosquitoes swarming amidst the fetid vapours -exhaled, sometimes extending itself endlessly in plains of a monotony -and regularity truly depressing.</p> - -<p>Rivers, without a name, traverse these unknown deserts, bearing nothing -on their silent waters save the black swans, which let themselves -carelessly float down the currents; while rosy flamingoes, posted -along the banks, fish philosophically for their dinners, with eyes -half-closed and sanctimonious air.</p> - -<p>Even where the view seems most contracted, sudden clearings sometimes -open out prospects picturesque in the extreme and deliciously -fortuitous.</p> - -<p>Incessant noises, nameless sounds, make themselves heard without -a break in these mysterious regions—the grand voices of the -solitude—the solemn hymn of the invisible world, created by the -Almighty.</p> - -<p>In the bosom of these redoubtable forests the wild beasts and reptiles, -which abound in Mexico, find refuge; here and there one meets with -paths incessantly trodden for centuries by jaguars and bisons, and -which, after countless meanderings, all debouch on unknown drinking -holes.</p> - -<p>Woe to the daring mortal who, without a guide ventures to tempt the -inextricable mazes of these immense seas of verdure! After ineffable -tortures, he succumbs, and falls a prey to the savage beasts. How -many hardy pioneers have died thus, without the possibility of the -veil being lifted which shrouds their miserable end! Their blanched -bones, discovered at the foot of some tree, alone can teach those who -come upon them that on that spot men have died, a prey to infinite -suffering, and that the same fate, perchance, awaits the finders.</p> - -<p>The stranger must have been the constant guest of the forest into which -he had so audaciously plunged at the moment when the sun, quitting the -horizon, had left the earth to darkness—darkness rendered still denser -in the covert, in which the light even at midday could only struggle in -at intervals through the tufted branches.</p> - -<p>Bending a little forward, eye and ear on the watch, the unknown -advanced as rapidly as the nature of the ground under his horse's hoofs -would let him, following unhesitatingly the capricious deviations of a -wild animal's path, whose traces were scarcely discoverable amidst the -tall grasses which strove continually to efface it.</p> - -<p>He had already ridden for several hours without having slackened the -pace of his horse, plunging deeper and deeper into the forest.</p> - -<p>He had forded several rivers, scaled many a steep ravine, hearing at a -short distance, on right and left, the hoarse growlings of the jaguar -and the mocking wailing of the tiger cat, which seemed to follow him -with their menacing yells.</p> - -<p>Taking no heed of roar or tumult, he continued his route, although the -forest assumed a more dreary aspect at every step.</p> - -<p>The bushes and trees of low growth had disappeared, to make room for -gigantic mahogany trees, century old cork trees, and the acajou, whose -sombre branches formed a vaulted roof of green eighty feet above his -head. The path had grown wider, and stretched, in a gentle incline, -towards a hillock of moderate height, entirely free from trees.</p> - -<p>Arrived at the base of the hillock, the stranger halted; then, without -dismounting, cast a searching glance on all around.</p> - -<p>The stillness of death pervaded everything; the howling of the wild -beasts was lost in the distance; no noise was audible, save that caused -by a slender stream of water, which, trickling through the crevices of -a rock, fell from a height of three or four yards into a natural basin.</p> - -<p>The sky, of the deepest blue, was spangled with an infinite number -of brilliant stars; and the moon, sailing amidst a sea of whitish -clouds, cast her silvery rays in profusion on the hillock, whose sides, -fantastically lighted up, formed a striking contrast with the rest of -the landscape, merged, as it was, in the deepest obscurity.</p> - -<p>During several minutes the unknown remained motionless as a statue, -listening to the faintest sound, ready to fire at the slightest -appearance of danger.</p> - -<p>Convinced, at last, that all around was peaceful, and that nothing -unusual disturbed the silence of the solitude, he prepared to dismount, -when suddenly his horse threw up his head, laid back his ears, and -snorted loudly.</p> - -<p>A moment more, and a violent crashing was heard among the underwood; a -noble moose deer rose from amidst the bushes, and, bounding to within a -short distance from the cavalier, rapidly traversed the path, tossing -his antlers in terror, and vanished in the darkness.</p> - -<p>For a time the noise of its headlong course resounded over the dry -leaves, crushed under its feet in the constantly increasing speed of -its flight.</p> - -<p>The cavalier, with a scarcely perceptible motion of the hand, backed -his horse gradually to the foot of the hillock, with his head always -turned in the direction of the forest, like a vidette who retires -before a superior force.</p> - -<p>As soon as he reached the spot he had selected, the unknown leaped -lightly to the ground; and, making a rampart of his horse's body, -levelled his rifle, steadied the barrel across the saddle, and waited -patiently.</p> - -<p>He had not to wait long: after a while the tread of several persons was -heard approaching his place of ambush.</p> - -<p>Most likely the unknown had already divined who these persons might be, -even before he saw them; for he quitted his temporary shelter, passed -his arm through his horse's reins, and, uncocking his rifle, let the -butt drop on the ground, with every symptom of complete security, while -a smile of indefinable expression played about his lips.</p> - -<p>At last the branches parted, and five persons appeared on the scene.</p> - -<p>Of these five persons, four were men; two of them supported the -tottering form of a woman, whom they almost carried in their arms. And, -what was most wonderful in these regions, the strangers, whom it was -easy to recognise as white men by their dress and the colour of their -skin, had no horses with them.</p> - -<p>They continued to advance without being aware of the presence of the -unknown, who, still motionless, marked their approach with mingled pity -and sadness.</p> - -<p>Suddenly one of the strangers happened to lift his eyes.</p> - -<p>"Praise be to God!" cried he, in Mexican, with lively satisfaction; -"We are saved. Here is a human being at last."</p> - -<p>The five stopped. The one who had first observed the unknown came -rapidly towards him, and exclaimed, with a graceful inclination:</p> - -<p>"Caballero, I entreat you to grant, what is seldom refused in the -wilderness, aid and protection."</p> - -<p>The unknown, before he replied, threw a searching look at the speaker.</p> - -<p>The latter was a man of some fifty years; his manner was polished, his -features noble, although his hair was growing white about his temples; -his figure, upright and compact, had no more bent an inch, nor his -black eyes lost a particle of their fire, than if he had been only -thirty. His rich dress and the ease of his manner clearly proved him to -belong to the highest grade of Mexican society.</p> - -<p>"You have committed two grave errors in as many minutes, caballero," -answered the unknown: "the first, in approaching me without precaution; -the second, in demanding aid and protection without knowing who I am."</p> - -<p>"I do not understand you, señor," replied the stranger, with -astonishment. "Do not all men owe mutual assistance to each other?"</p> - -<p>"In the civilised world it may be so," said the unknown, with a sneer; -"but in the wilderness, the sight of a man always forebodes danger: we -are savages here."</p> - -<p>The stranger recoiled in astonishment.</p> - -<p>"And thus," said be, "you would leave your fellow creatures to perish -in these horrible solitudes without stretching forth a hand to help -them?"</p> - -<p>"My fellow creatures!" cried the unknown, with biting irony; "My fellow -creatures are the wild beasts of the prairie. What have I in common -with you men of towns and cities, natural enemies of every being that -breathes the pure air of liberty? There is nothing in common between -you and me. Begone, and weary me no more."</p> - -<p>"Be it so," was the stranger's haughty answer. "I would not importune -you much longer; were it only a question of myself, I would not have -uttered a single prayer to you. Life is not so dear to me, that I -should seek to prolong it on terms repugnant to my honour; but it is -not a question of myself alone; here is a female, still almost a child, -my daughter who is in want of prompt assistance, and will die if it is -not rendered."</p> - -<p>The unknown made no reply; he had turned away, as if reluctant to carry -on any further conversation.</p> - -<p>The stranger slowly rejoined his companions, who had halted at the edge -of the forest.</p> - -<p>"Well?" he asked uneasily.</p> - -<p>"The señorita has fainted," sorrowfully replied one of the men.</p> - -<p>The stranger uttered an exclamation of grief. He remained for some -moments fixing his eyes on the girl, with an indescribable expression -of despair.</p> - -<p>All of a sudden he turned abruptly, and rushed towards the unknown.</p> - -<p>The latter had mounted, and was on the point of retiring.</p> - -<p>"Stop!" called the stranger.</p> - -<p>"What is it you want with me?" replied the unknown once more. Then -he added fiercely, "Let me begone; and thank God that our unforeseen -meeting in this forest has not been productive of graver consequences -to you."</p> - -<p>The menace contained in these enigmatical words disturbed the stranger -in spite of himself. However, he would not be discouraged.</p> - -<p>"It is impossible," he resumed vehemently, "that you can be as cruel as -you wish us to believe. You are too young for all feeling to have died -out of your heart."</p> - -<p>The unknown laughed strangely.</p> - -<p>"I have no heart," he said.</p> - -<p>"I implore you, in the name of your mother, not to abandon us!"</p> - -<p>"I have no mother."</p> - -<p>"Then I beseech you in the name of the being you love most upon earth, -whoever that may be."</p> - -<p>"I love no one."</p> - -<p>"No one?" repeated the stranger, shuddering; "Then I pity you, for you -must be most unhappy."</p> - -<p>The unknown trembled; a feverish glow stole over his face; but soon -recovering himself, he exclaimed:</p> - -<p>"Now let me go."</p> - -<p>"No; not before I learn who you are."</p> - -<p>"Who I am! Have I not already told you? A wild beast; a being with only -the semblance of humanity, with a hatred towards all men which nothing -can ever appease. Pray to God you may never again encounter me on your -path. I am like the raven—the sight of me foretells evil. Adieu!"</p> - -<p>"Adieu!" murmured the stranger; "And may God have mercy on you, and not -visit your cruelty upon you!"</p> - -<p>Just at this moment a voice, feeble, but in its sad modulations -sweet and melodious as the notes of the <i>centzontle</i>, the American -nightingale, rose through the stillness.</p> - -<p>"My father, my dear father!" it uttered. "Where are you? Do not abandon -me."</p> - -<p>"I am here, I am here," exclaimed the stranger tenderly, as he turned -quickly to run to her who thus called him.</p> - -<p>A cloud passed over the face of the unknown at the sound of these -melodious accents; his blue eye flashed like the lightning. He placed -his hand on his heart, trembling as if he had received an electric -shock.</p> - -<p>After a short hesitation, he forced his horse to make a sudden bound -forward, and placing his hand on the stranger's shoulder:</p> - -<p>"Whose voice is that?" he asked in singular accents.</p> - -<p>"The voice of my daughter, who is dying, and calls me."</p> - -<p>"Dying?" stammered the unknown, strangely moved. "She!"</p> - -<p>"My father, my father!" repeated the girl in a voice which grew weaker -and weaker.</p> - -<p>The unknown raised himself to his full height; his face assumed an -expression of indomitable energy.</p> - -<p>"She shall not die!" said he in a low voice. "Come!"</p> - -<p>They rejoined the group.</p> - -<p>The young girl was stretched upon the ground, with her eyes closed, her -face pale as a corpse; the feeble gasps of her breathing alone evincing -that life had not completely left her.</p> - -<p>The persons surrounding her watched her in profound sadness, while -tears rolled silently down their bronzed cheeks.</p> - -<p>"Oh!" cried the father, falling on his knees beside the young girl, -seizing her hand and covering it with kisses, while his face was -inundated with tears; "My fortune—my life—to him who will save my -cherished child!"</p> - -<p>The unknown had dismounted, and observed the girl with sombre and -pensive eye. At last, after several minutes of this mute contemplation, -he turned towards the stranger.</p> - -<p>"What ails this girl?" he asked abruptly.</p> - -<p>"Alas! An incurable ailment: she has been bitten by a grass snake."</p> - -<p>The unknown frowned till his eyebrows nearly met together.</p> - -<p>"Then she is lost indeed," said his deep voice.</p> - -<p>"Lost! O Heavens! My daughter, my dearest daughter!"</p> - -<p>"Yes; unless—" then, arousing himself: "How long is it since she was -bitten?"</p> - -<p>"Scarcely an hour."</p> - -<p>The face of the unknown lighted up. He remained silent for a moment, -during which the bystanders anxiously bent towards him, awaiting with -impatience the opinion he would probably pronounce.</p> - -<p>"Scarcely an hour?" said he at last. "Then she may be saved."</p> - -<p>The stranger uttered a sigh of joy.</p> - -<p>"You will answer for it?" he cried.</p> - -<p>"I?" returned the unknown, shrugging; his shoulders; "I will answer for -nothing, except that I will attempt impossibilities for the chance of -restoring her to you."</p> - -<p>"Oh, save her, save her!" eagerly exclaimed the father; "And, whoever -you may be, I will bless you."</p> - -<p>"It matters not to me what you may do. I do not try to save this girl -for your sake; and, whatever may be the motives inducing me, I exempt -you from all feelings of gratitude."</p> - -<p>"You may possibly harbour such thoughts; but for myself—"</p> - -<p>"Enough," rudely broke in the unknown; "we have already lost too much -time in idle words; let us make haste, if we would not be too late."</p> - -<p>All were silent.</p> - -<p>The unknown looked around.</p> - -<p>We have already said that the strangers had halted at the edge of the -forest; over their heads the last trees of the covert expanded their -mighty branches.</p> - -<p>Approaching the trees, the unknown examined them carefully, apparently -in search of something he could not find.</p> - -<p>All of a sudden, he uttered a cry of joy; and, unsheathing the long -knife fastened to his right knee, he cut a branch from a creeper, and -returned to the strangers, who were anxiously watching his proceedings.</p> - -<p>"Here," said he to one of the party, who looked like a <i>peon</i> (a serf), -"strip all the leaves from this branch, and pound them. Be quick; every -second is worth a century to her whom we wish to save."</p> - -<p>The <i>peon</i> set himself actively to the allotted task.</p> - -<p>Then the unknown turned to the father:</p> - -<p>"In what part of the body has this child been bitten?"</p> - -<p>"A little below the left ankle."</p> - -<p>"Has she much courage?"</p> - -<p>"Why do you ask?"</p> - -<p>"Answer! Time presses."</p> - -<p>"The poor child is quite worn out; she is very weak."</p> - -<p>"Then we must hesitate no longer; the operation must be performed."</p> - -<p>"An operation!" cried the stranger, affrighted.</p> - -<p>"Would you rather she should die?"</p> - -<p>"Is this operation indispensable?"</p> - -<p>"It is: we have already lost too much time."</p> - -<p>"Then perform it. God grant you may succeed!"</p> - -<p>The girl's leg was horribly swollen; the part round the serpent's bite, -terribly tumefied, was already taking a greenish hue.</p> - -<p>"Alas," muttered the unknown, "there is not a moment to spare. Hold the -child so that she cannot stir while I perform the operation."</p> - -<p>In these last words the voice of the unknown had assumed such an accent -of command, that the strangers obeyed without hesitation.</p> - -<p>The former seated himself on the ground, took the limb of the girl -upon his knee, and made his preparations. Luckily the moon shone at -this moment so clearly, that her vivid rays flooded the landscape, and -everything was almost as visible as in broad daylight.</p> - -<p>When the girl had first felt the bite, she had immediately, and happily -for herself, torn off her silk stocking. The unknown grasped the blade -of his knife an inch from the point, and, lowering his brow with -terrible determination, buried the point in the wound, and made a -cruciform incision about six lines deep, and more than an inch long.</p> - -<p>The poor child must have felt terrible anguish; for she gave utterance -to a dreadful scream, and twisted herself about nervously.</p> - -<p>"Hold her tight, <i>cuerpo de Cristo!</i>" shouted the unknown in a voice of -thunder, while with admirable coolness and skill he pressed the lips -of the wound, so as to force out the black and decomposing blood it -contained; "And now the leaves—the leaves!"</p> - -<p>The <i>peon</i> ran up.</p> - -<p>The unknown took the leaves, parted asunder the lips of the wound, -and gently, carefully expressed their juice on the palpitating flesh. -Making a kind of plaster of the same leaves, he applied it to the -wound, tied it down firmly with a bandage, placed the foot carefully on -the ground, and rose.</p> - -<p>As soon as a certain quantity of the sap of the creeper had fallen -upon the wound, the girl had seemed to experience a sensation of great -relief; the nervous spasms began to abate; she closed her eyes; and -finally she leaned back without attempting to struggle any longer with -the persons who held her in their arms.</p> - -<p>"You may leave her now," whispered the unknown; "she is asleep."</p> - -<p>In fact, the regular though feeble breathing of the patient proved her -to be plunged in a profound slumber.</p> - -<p>"God be praised!" exclaimed the poor father, clasping his hands in -ecstasy; "Then she is really saved?"</p> - -<p>"She is," answered the unknown leisurely; "bating unforeseen accidents, -she has nothing more to fear."</p> - -<p>"But what is the extraordinary remedy you have employed to obtain such -a happy result?"</p> - -<p>The unknown smiled with disdain, and did not seem willing to reply; -however, after a short hesitation, yielding perhaps to that secret -vanity which induces us all to make a parade of our wisdom, he decided -upon giving the information demanded.</p> - -<p>"The pettiest things astonish you fellows who dwell in cities," said he -ironically; "the man who has passed his whole life in the wilderness -knows many things of which the inhabitants of your brilliant towns -are ignorant, although, with the sole aim of humiliating, they take -pleasure in parading their false science before us poor savages. -Nature hides not the secret of her mysterious harmonics from him who -ceaselessly pries into the darkness of night and the brightness of -day, with a patience beyond proof, without suffering himself to be -discouraged by failure. The sublime Architect, when he had created -this immense universe, did not let it fall from his omnipotent hands -until it had been made perfect, nor till the amount of good should -counterbalance everywhere the amount of evil—placing, so to say, the -antidote side by side with the poison."</p> - -<p>The stranger listened with increasing surprise to the words of this -man, whose real character was an enigma to him, and who at every -moment showed himself in lights diametrically opposed, and under forms -entirely distinct.</p> - -<p>"But," continued the unknown, "pride and presumption make man blind. -Accustomed to make all things bear upon himself, imagining that all -existence has been specially created for his convenience, he takes no -pains to study the secrets of nature further than they seem to have a -direct influence on his personal welfare, not caring to make inquiry -into her simplest actions. So, for instance, the region in which we -now are, being low and marshy, is naturally infested with reptiles, -which are so much the more dangerous and to be dreaded, because they -are half-calcined and rendered furious by the rays of a torrid sun. -Therefore provident nature has produced in abundance throughout -these same regions a creeper called <i>mikania</i>—the one I have just -used—which is an infallible remedy for the bites of serpents."</p> - -<p>"I cannot doubt it, after having witnessed its efficacy; but how -were the virtues of this creeper discovered?" said the stranger, -involuntarily interested in the highest degree.</p> - -<p>"A hunter of the woods," continued the unknown, with a certain -self-complacency, "observed that the black falcon, better known as -the <i>guaco</i>, a bird which feeds chiefly upon reptiles, takes special -delight in exterminating serpents. This hunter had also observed that -if, during the struggle, the serpent contrived to wound the <i>guaco</i>, -the latter immediately retired from the combat, and flying to the -<i>mikania</i>, tore off a few leaves, which it bruised in its beak. It -afterwards returned to the fight more resolute than ever, until it had -vanquished its redoubtable enemy. The hunter was an astute man, and of -great experience; one who knew that animals, being devoid of reason, -are more especially under the providence of God, and that all their -actions proceed from laws laid down at the beginning. After mature -reflection, he resolved to test his experience upon himself."</p> - -<p>"And did he execute his project?" cried the stranger.</p> - -<p>"He did. He let a coral snake bite him, the deadliest of all; but, -thanks to the <i>mikania</i>, the bite proved as harmless to him as the -prick of a thorn. That is the manner in which this precious remedy was -discovered. But," added the unknown, suddenly changing his tone, "I -have complied with your wishes in bringing help to your daughter; she -is safe. Adieu! I may stay no longer."</p> - -<p>"You must not go before you have told me your name."</p> - -<p>"What good will this pertinacity do you?"</p> - -<p>"I wish to embalm the name in my memory as that of a man to whom I have -vowed a gratitude which will only end with my life."</p> - -<p>"You are mad!" rudely answered the unknown. "It is useless to pronounce -to you a name which you will very likely learn but too soon."</p> - -<p>"Let it be so; I will not persist, nor ask the reasons which compel -you to act thus. I will not seek to learn it in despite of you; but, -if you refuse to teach me your name, you cannot prevent my making you -acquainted with my own—I am called Don Pedro de Luna. Although until -today I have never penetrated thus far into the prairies, my residence -is not very far off. I am proprietor of the Hacienda de las Norias -de San Antonio, close to the frontiers of the Despoblado, near the -<i>embouchure</i> of the Rio San Pedro."</p> - -<p>"I know the Hacienda de las Norias de San Antonio. Its owner ought to -belong to the happy ones of earth, according to the opinion of those -who dwell in cities. So much the better: if it does belong to you, I do -not envy riches with which I should not know what to do. Now, you have -nothing more to say, have you? Well, then, adieu!"</p> - -<p>"What! Adieu! You will leave us?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly; do you think I intend to remain all night with you?"</p> - -<p>"I hoped, at least, you would not leave unfinished the work you have -undertaken."</p> - -<p>"I do not understand you; caballero."</p> - -<p>"Will you abandon us thus? Will you leave my daughter in her present -state, lost in the wilderness, without the means of escape,—in the -depths of this forest, which has been so nearly fatal to her?"</p> - -<p>The unknown frowned several times, then cast a stolen look on the girl. -A violent struggle seemed to commence in his bosom; he remained silent -for several minutes, uncertain how to decide. At last he raised his -head.</p> - -<p>"Listen," said he in a constrained voice; "I have never learnt to lie. -At a short distance I have a <i>jacal</i> (hovel), as you would call the -miserable <i>calli</i> (cottage) which shelters me; but, believe me, it is -better for you to remain here than to follow me there."</p> - -<p>"And why?" said the stranger, surprised.</p> - -<p>"I have no explanation to give you, and I will not lie. I only repeat: -believe me, and remain here. Nevertheless, if you persist in following -me, I will not oppose it; I will be your faithful guide."</p> - -<p>"Danger menace us under your roof? I will not stop on such an -hypothesis: hospitality is sacred in the prairies."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps so; I will neither answer yes nor no. Do you decide; only make -your resolve quickly, for I am in haste to have the matter decided."</p> - -<p>Don Pedro de Luna threw a sorrowful look at his daughter; then -addressing the unknown—</p> - -<p>"Whatever may happen," said he, "I will follow you. My daughter cannot -stay here; you have done too much for her not to wish to save her. I -confide in you; show me the way."</p> - -<p>"Agreed," replied the unknown laconically. "I have warned you; take -care you are on your guard."</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></h4> - -<h3>THE CALLI.</h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>Much as the unknown had hesitated in offering shelter to Don Pedro -de Luna and his daughter,—and we know in what terms the offer had -been finally made,—he showed himself equally anxious, as soon as -his decision was made, to quit that part of the forest where the -scene passed which we have recorded in our preceding chapter. His -eyes wandered about continually with a disquietude he took no pains -to conceal. He turned his head repeatedly towards the hillock, as if -he expected to see some horrible apparition suddenly rising from its -summit.</p> - -<p>In the state the girl was in, to awaken her would have been to commit -a grave imprudence, seriously compromising her health. In accordance -with orders delivered in a dry tone by the unknown, the <i>peones</i> of Don -Pedro, and the <i>hacendero</i> himself, hastened to cut down some branches, -in order to fashion a litter, which they covered with dry leaves. Over -these they spread their <i>zarapés</i>, of which they deprived themselves in -order to make a softer couch for their young mistress.</p> - -<p>These preparations finished, the girl was raised with great -precaution, and gently placed upon the litter.</p> - -<p>Of the three men who accompanied Don Pedro, two were <i>peones</i>, or -domestic Indians; the third was the <i>capataz</i> (bailiff) of the -<i>hacendero</i>.</p> - -<p>The <i>capataz</i> was an individual of about five feet eight, with broad -shoulders, and legs bowed by the constant habit of riding. He was -extraordinarily thin; but one could truly say of him, he was nothing -but muscle and sinew. His strength was wonderful. This man, called -Luciano Pedralva, was devoted, body and soul, to his master, whom, and -his family, he and his had served for nearly two centuries.</p> - -<p>His features, bronzed by the vicissitudes of the weather, although -not striking, had an expression of intelligence and astuteness, to -which his eyes, black and well opened, added an appearance of energy -and courage beyond the common. Don Pedro de Luna had the greatest -confidence in this man, whom he considered more in the light of a -friend than a servitor.</p> - -<p>When the girl had been placed upon the litter, the <i>peones</i> lifted it; -while Don Pedro and the <i>capataz</i> placed themselves one on the right, -the other on the left of the patient, in order to guard her from the -branches of trees and creepers.</p> - -<p>At a mute sign from the unknown, who had remounted, the little troop -leisurely began its march.</p> - -<p>Instead of reentering the forest, the unknown continued to advance -towards the hillock, the base of which was speedily attained. A narrow -pathway serpentined along its side in an incline sufficiently gentle. -The little troop entered upon it without hesitation.</p> - -<p>They ascended in this manner fur some minutes, following ten or a dozen -yards behind the unknown, who rode on in front by himself. Suddenly, on -arriving at an angle of the road, round which their guide had already -disappeared, a whistle rent the air, so sharp that the Mexicans halted -involuntarily, not knowing whether to advance or retreat.</p> - -<p>"What is the meaning of this?" murmured Don Pedro anxiously.</p> - -<p>"Treachery, without a doubt," said the <i>capataz</i> casting his eyes -searchingly around.</p> - -<p>But all remained quiet about them; no change was perceptible in the -landscape, which looked as lonely as ever.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, in a few minutes, more whistling, similar to the first -they had heard, was audible in different directions at the same lime, -answering evidently to a signal which had been made.</p> - -<p>At that moment the unknown reappeared; his face pale, his gestures -constrained, and a prey to the most vivid emotion.</p> - -<p>"It is you who have willed this," said he; "I wash my hands of what may -happen."</p> - -<p>"Tell us, at all events, what peril threatens us," replied Don Pedro, -in agitation.</p> - -<p>"Ah!" said the other, in a voice of subdued passion,</p> - -<p>"Do I know it myself? And what would it aid you to know? Would you be -the less lost for that? You refused to believe me. Now, pray to God to -help you; for never danger threatened you more terrible than that which -hangs over your head!"</p> - -<p>"But why these perpetual reservations? Be frank; we are men, <i>vive -Dios</i>, and, great as the peril may be, we shall know how to meet it -bravely."</p> - -<p>"You are mad! Can one man oppose a hundred? You will fall, I tell you; -but it is to yourself alone you must address your reproaches; it is -yourself who have persisted in braving the <i>Tigercat</i> in his lair."</p> - -<p>"Alas," cried the <i>hacendero</i> in accents of horror, "what name is that -you have uttered?"</p> - -<p>"The name of the man in whose clutches you are at this very moment."</p> - -<p>"What! the Tigercat? That redoubtable bandit, whose numberless crimes -have shocked the land for so long; that man who seems endowed with -a diabolical power to accomplish the atrocious deeds with which he -incessantly sullies himself;—is that monster near us?"</p> - -<p>"He is; and I warn you to be prudent, for perhaps he hears you at this -moment, although invisible to your eyes and mine."</p> - -<p>"What do I care?" energetically exclaimed Don Pedro. "Away with -caution, since we are once in the power of this demon; he is a man -devoid of pity, and my life is no longer my own."</p> - -<p>"What do you know about it, Señor Don Pedro de Luna?" answered a -mocking voice.</p> - -<p>The <i>hacendero</i> trembled, and recoiled a step, uttering a stifled cry.</p> - -<p>The Tigercat, bounding with the agility of the animal from which he -took his name, had leaped upon the summit of an elevated rock which -overhung the pathway some distance off, and now dropped lightly on the -ground two paces from Don Pedro.</p> - -<p>There was an instant of terrible silence. The two men, thus placed face -to face, their eyes flashing, their lips compressed with rage, examined -each other with ardent curiosity. It was the first time the <i>hacendero</i> -had seen the terrible partisan, the fame of whose thirst for blood had -reached the most ignorant villagers in the land, and who for thirty -years had spread terror over the Mexican frontiers.</p> - -<p>We will give, in a few words, the portrait of this man, who is destined -to play an important part in our history.</p> - -<p>The Tigercat was a species of Colossus, six feet high; his broad -shoulders and limbs, from which the muscles stood out in marble -rigidity, showed that, though long past the prime of life, his strength -still existed in all its integrity; his long locks, white as the snows -on Coatepec, fell in disorder on his shoulders, and mingled with the -grizzly beard that covered his breast. His forehead was broad and -open; he had the eye of the eagle, under the brows of the lion; his -whole person offered, in a word, a complete type of the man of the -desert,—grand, strong, majestic, and implacable. Although his skin was -stained by every inclemency of weather till it had almost acquired the -colour of brick, it was nevertheless easy to recognise, in the clearly -defined lines of his face, that this man belonged to the race of whites.</p> - -<p>His dress lay midway between that of the Mexican and of the redskin; -for although he wore the <i>zarapé</i>, his mitasses, in two pieces, worked -with hairs attached here and there, and his moccasins of different -colours, embroidered with porcupine quills and ornamented with glass -beads and hawks' bells, showed his preference for the Indians, to whose -customs, by the by, he seemed to have entirely adapted his mode of life.</p> - -<p>A large scalping knife, a hatchet, a bullet bag, and powder horn, were -slung from a girdle of wild beast's skin, drawn tightly above his hips.</p> - -<p>One thing must not be forgotten,—a singularity in a white man,—a -white-headed eagle's plume was placed above his right ear, as if this -man arrogated to himself the dignity of chief of an Indian tribe.</p> - -<p>Lastly, he held in his hand a magnificent American rifle, damaskeened, -and most skilfully inlaid with silver.</p> - -<p>Such is the physical portrait of the man to whom white hunters and -redskins had given the name of Tigercat; a name he deserved in every -respect, if hearsay had not belied him, and if only half the stories -reported of him were true.</p> - -<p>As to the character of this strange being, we will abstain from -dwelling upon it for the present. We are persuaded the scenes which -follow will enable us to appreciate it correctly.</p> - -<p>Although struck with surprise at the apparition—as sudden as it was -unexpected—of the dreaded freebooter, Don Pedro was not long in -recalling his presence of mind.</p> - -<p>"You appear to know me much better than I know you," replied he coolly; -"but if half the things I have heard reported about you be true, I can -only expect, on your part, treatment similar to that which all unhappy -persons encounter who fall into your hands."</p> - -<p>The Tigercat smiled sarcastically.</p> - -<p>"And do you not dread this treatment?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"For myself, personally, no!" answered Don Pedro disdainfully.</p> - -<p>"But," continued the freebooter, with a glance towards the wounded -lady, "for the young girl?"</p> - -<p>The <i>hacendero</i> trembled; a livid pallor overspread his features.</p> - -<p>"You cannot mean what you are saying," was his answer; "for the honour -of humanity, I will not think so. The Apaches themselves, fierce as -they are, feel their rage vanish before the feebleness of woman."</p> - -<p>"Have I not among the dwellers in cities the reputation of being -fiercer than the fierce Apaches,—even than the very beasts?"</p> - -<p>"Let us end this," replied Don Pedro haughtily; "since I have been fool -enough, in spite of repeated warnings, to place myself in your hands, -dispose of me as you think fit; but deliver me from the torture I -undergo in conversing with you."</p> - -<p>The Tigercat frowned; he struck the ground forcibly with the butt of -his rifle, muttering some unintelligible words; but, by an extreme -effort of his will, his features instantaneously resumed their habitual -imperturbability, every trace of emotion vanished from his voice, and -he answered, in the calmest tone:</p> - -<p>"In beginning the conversation, about which you seem to care so little, -<i>caballero</i>, I said to you, 'What do you know about it?'"</p> - -<p>"Well?" said the <i>hacendero</i>, surprised and overcome, in spite of his -efforts, by the strange change in the dreaded speaker.</p> - -<p>"Well," replied the latter, "I repeat the phrase, not, as you may -suppose, in mockery, but simply to elicit your frank opinion of me."</p> - -<p>"That opinion can be of little value to you, I presume."</p> - -<p>"More than you may imagine. But why these words? Answer me!"</p> - -<p>The <i>hacendero</i> remained mute for a time. The Tigercat, his eyes fixed -steadily upon him, watched him attentively.</p> - -<p>As to the hunter who had been almost forced to consent to serve Don -Pedro de Luna as guide, his astonishment was extreme. Believing himself -to be thoroughly acquainted with the character of the freebooter, he -could not understand the scene at all, and inwardly asked himself what -this feigned courtesy of the Tigercat would end in.</p> - -<p>Don Pedro himself argued quite differently on the bandit's sentiments; -right or wrong, he fancied he had perceived an accent of sad sincerity -in the tone in which the last words had been addressed to him.</p> - -<p>"Since you absolutely desire it," said he, "I will reply frankly: I -believe your heart to be not so cruel as you would have it supposed; -and I imagine that this conviction, which you inwardly possess, makes -you extremely unhappy; for, notwithstanding the barbarous acts with -which they reproach you, other crimes have entered your thoughts, -before the execution of which you have recoiled, in spite of the -pitiless ferocity they attribute to you."</p> - -<p>The Tigercat seemed about to speak.</p> - -<p>"Do not interrupt me," continued the <i>hacendero</i> hastily; "I know that -I am treading upon a volcano; but you have my promise to speak frankly, -and, willing or not willing, you must hear me to the end. Most of -mankind are the architects of their own fortunes in this world; you -have not escaped the common lot. Gifted with an energetic character, -with vivid passions, you have not sought to overcome these passions; -you have suffered yourself to be overcome by them, and thus, fall -after fall, you have reached that depth in which you are now lost; and -yet all good feeling is not utterly dead in you."</p> - -<p>A smile of contempt flickered over the lips of the old man.</p> - -<p>"Do not smile at me," the <i>hacendero</i> went on; "the very question you -have put proves my assertion. Leading in the wilderness the life of -the plundering savage, hating society, which has cast you off, you -still hanker after the opinion the world forms of you. And why? Because -that sentiment of justice, which God has planted in the hearts of all, -revolts in you at the universal reprobation heaped upon your name. It -has roused your shame. The man who can still be ashamed of himself, -criminal as he may be, is very close to repentance; for the voice that -cries aloud in his heart is the voice of awakening remorse."</p> - -<p>Although Don Pedro had ceased speaking for some time, the Tigercat -still seemed to be listening to his words; but suddenly lifting his -head proudly, he cast a mocking glance around him, and burst into a -laugh, dry and hard as that which Goethe ascribes to Mephistopheles.</p> - -<p>This laugh cut the <i>hacendero</i> to the heart. He comprehended that the -evil instincts of the freebooter had resumed their sway over the better -thoughts which, for a moment, had seemed to assert their mastery.</p> - -<p>After this bout of laughter, the countenance of the Tigercat resumed -its usual rigid immobility.</p> - -<p>"Good!" cried he in a tone of apparent glee, which did by no means -deceive Don Pedro; "I expected a sermon, and find I was not mistaken. -Well, at the risk of sinking in your estimation,—or, to speak more -truly, in order to flatter your self-esteem by leaving you in the -belief that you judge my feelings correctly,—I decree that you and -your followers return to your Hacienda de las Norias de San Antonio, -not only without the loss of a hair, but even as partakers of my -hospitality. Does not this decision astonish you? You were far from -expecting it."</p> - -<p>"Not so; it is exactly what I anticipated."</p> - -<p>"Indeed!" said he, with astonishment; "Then if I offer you the -hospitality of my <i>calli</i>, you will accept it?"</p> - -<p>"And why not, if the offer is made in good faith?"</p> - -<p>"Then come without fear; I pledge you my word that you nor yours need -fear any injury on my part."</p> - -<p>"I follow you," said Don Pedro.</p> - -<p>But the unknown had watched with increasing anxiety the erratic course -of this conversation, and advancing abruptly in front of, and extending -his arms towards, the <i>hacendero</i>—</p> - -<p>"Stop, as you value your life!" he cried in a voice trembling with -secret emotion. "Stop! Do not let yourself be deceived by the assumed -benevolence of this man; he is spreading a snare for you; his offer -conceals a treason."</p> - -<p>The Tigercat drew himself up to his full height, stared disdainfully -at the speaker, and replied, in an accent of supreme majesty:</p> - -<p>"Your senses wander, boy; this man runs no risk in confiding in me. -Granted that there are many things I do not respect in this world, -still there is at least one which I have always respected, and have -suffered no one to doubt,—my word,—my word, which I have given to -this <i>caballero</i>. Come! Let us pass; the young woman whom you have -succoured so opportunely is not yet out of danger; her state demands -attentions which are beyond your power to afford."</p> - -<p>The unknown trembled; his dark-blue eyes flashed, his lips parted as if -to answer; but he remained silent, and retired a few paces, knitting -his brow in concentrated passion.</p> - -<p>"Moreover," imperturbably continued the freebooter, "whatever force -may lie at your disposal in other parts of the wilderness, you know -that here I am all-powerful, and that here my will is law. Leave me to -act as I please. Do not force me to measures I should abhor; for if I -raised but a finger I could tame your fool's pride."</p> - -<p>"I know," said the young man, "that I am powerless; but beware how you -treat these strangers, who placed themselves under my protection; for I -shall know how to take my revenge."</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes," said the Tigercat drearily; "I know you would not hesitate -to revenge yourself even on me, if you fancied you had a cause. But I -care not; I am master here."</p> - -<p>"I shall follow you even into your haunt; think not I intend to desert -these strangers now they are in your hands."</p> - -<p>"As you please; I do not forbid you to accompany them; on the contrary, -I should regret your leaving them."</p> - -<p>The unknown held his peace, smiling disdainfully.</p> - -<p>"Come," resumed the Tigercat, turning to the <i>hacendero</i>.</p> - -<p>The troop began again to ascend the hillock, following in the footsteps -of the old freebooter, close to whom rode their former guide.</p> - -<p>After some turnings and windings in the path, of more or less -abruptness, some of which caused the Mexicans no little difficulty, the -Tigercat turned towards the <i>hacendero</i>, and addressed him in a voice -perfectly free from embarrassment:</p> - -<p>"I beg you to excuse my guiding you over such villainous roads; -unfortunately they are the only ones leading to my dwelling. It is at -hand; in a few minutes we shall be there."</p> - -<p>"But I see no traces of habitation," replied Don Pedro, vainly, -scanning the country in all directions.</p> - -<p>"True," said the Tigercat, with a smile; "nevertheless, we are hardly -an hundred paces from the end of our journey; and I can assure you the -abode to which I am leading you would harbour a hundred times our -present numbers."</p> - -<p>"I have not much idea where this dwelling is to be found, unless it be -subterranean, as I begin to suspect."</p> - -<p>"You have almost guessed it. The place I inhabit, if not subterranean -in the strict sense of the word, is at least a dwelling covered by the -ground. Few have entered it to leave it again safe and sound, as you -shall."</p> - -<p>"So much the worse," retorted roundly the <i>hacendero;</i> "so much the -worse for them—and for you."</p> - -<p>The Tigercat frowned, but immediately replied, in the light and -careless tone he had affected for the last few minutes:</p> - -<p>"Look you, I will clear up this mystery. Listen; the story is -interesting enough. When the Aztecs quitted Azlin, which signifies -'the country of herons,' to conquer Anahuac, or 'the country between -the waters,' their peregrinations were long, extending over several -centuries. Disheartened at times by long travel, they halted, founded -cities, in which they installed themselves as if they never intended -to abandon the place they had chosen; and, perhaps with the object -of leaving behind them ineffaceable traces of their passage through -the wild countries they traversed, they constructed pyramids. Hence -the numerous ruins littering the soil of Mexico, and the <i>teocalis</i> -one meets with occasionally,—last and mournful vestiges of a people -that has disappeared. These <i>teocalis</i> built on a system of incredible -solidity far from crumbling under the strenuous embrace of time, have -ended in becoming a part of the ground which supported them, and so -completely, that there is often difficulty in recognising them. I can -give you no better proof of my assertion than what you have now before -you. The elevation you are now ascending is not, as you might suppose, -a hill caused by some perturbation of the earth,—it is an Aztec -<i>teocali</i>."</p> - -<p>"A <i>teocali!</i>" exclaimed Don Pedro, in astonishment.</p> - -<p>"It is, indeed," continued the freebooter; "but so many centuries have -elapsed since the day it was built, that, thanks to the vegetable -matter incessantly conveyed by the winds, nature has apparently resumed -her rights, and the Aztec watchtower has become a green hill. You are -doubtless aware that the <i>teocalis</i> are hollow?"</p> - -<p>"I am aware of it," answered the <i>hacendero</i>.</p> - -<p>"It is in the interior of this one I have fixed my dwelling. See, we -have reached it. Allow me to show you the way into it."</p> - -<p>In fact, the travellers had arrived at a kind of coarse portal—a -Cyclopean construction—which gave admittance to a subterranean -building, in which a profound obscurity prevailed, forbidding any -estimate of its dimensions.</p> - -<p>The Tigercat stopped, and gave a peculiar whistle. Immediately a -dazzling light broke forth from the interior, and illuminated it in all -its vastness.</p> - -<p>"Let us enter," said the freebooter, preceding his companions.</p> - -<p>Without hesitation Don Pedro prepared to follow, after making a sign to -his attendants, warning them to conceal their rising fears.</p> - -<p>For a moment the unknown found himself, so to speak, alone with the -<i>hacendero</i>, and bending swiftly down, whispered softly in his ear, "Be -prudent; you are entering the tiger's den."</p> - -<p>Saying this, he rapidly left them, as he feared the freebooter might -perceive that he was giving a last word of warning to the stranger.</p> - -<p>But, good or bad, the advice came too late: hesitation would have been -folly, for flight was impossible.</p> - -<p>On all sides, on every jutting rock, appeared as by enchantment, the -dark shadows of a host of persons, who had started up around the -strangers without their understanding whence they came, so stealthy had -been their approach.</p> - -<p>The Mexicans entered, then, although not without feelings of dread, -into the terrible cavern, whose mouth opened yawning before them. The -building was vast, the walls were lofty.</p> - -<p>After proceeding for about ten minutes, the Mexicans found themselves -in a species of rotunda, in the centre of which a huge brazier was -flaming; four long corridors crossed the rotunda at right angles. The -Tigercat, still followed by the travellers, entered one of these. He -stopped on reaching a door formed of a reed hurdle.</p> - -<p>"Make yourselves at home," said he; "your lodgings consists of two -chambers, which have no communication with the rest of the cave. By my -orders you will be supplied with food, with wood to make a fire, and -torches of ocote to give you light."</p> - -<p>"I thank you for these attentions," replied Don Pedro. "I had little -reason to expect them."</p> - -<p>"And why not? Do you think that I do not know how to practise Mexican -hospitality, in its fullest extent, whenever it suits me?"</p> - -<p>"Sir!" said the <i>hacendero</i>, with a gesture of deprecation.</p> - -<p>"Silence!" said the bandit, interrupting him; "You are my guests for -the night. Sleep in peace; nothing shall disturb your rest. In an hour -I will send you a potion for the lady to drink. We shall meet again -tomorrow." And, bowing with an ease and courtesy little expected by -Don Pedro from such a man, the Tigercat took his leave and quitted the -chamber.</p> - -<p>For a few seconds the step resounded under the dark vault of the -corridor; then it was silenced. The travellers were alone, and the -<i>hacendero</i> determined to investigate the chambers prepared for them.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></h4> - -<h3>SUPERFICIAL REMARKS.</h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>The <i>haciendas</i> of Spanish America were never feudal tenures, -whatever certain badly informed authors may assert, but simply large -agricultural holdings, as their name clearly indicates.</p> - -<p>These <i>haciendas</i>, scattered over Mexico at great distances from each -other, and surrounded by vast stretches of country, for the greater -part uninhabited, are generally situated on the top of abruptly rising -hills, in positions easy of defence.</p> - -<p>As the <i>hacienda</i>, properly so called,—<i>i.e.</i> the habitation of the -proprietor of the estate,—forms the nucleus of the colony, and, in -addition to the barns and stables, contains also the out houses, the -lodgings of the <i>peones</i>, and, above all, the chapel, its walls are -high, massive, and surrounded by a ditch, so as to put it out of danger -from a <i>coup-de-main.</i></p> - -<p>These numerous <i>haciendas</i> frequently maintain from six to seven -hundred individuals of all trades, the lands belonging to a farm of -this description being often of greater extent than a whole province in -France.</p> - -<p>They are the wholesale breeding places of the wild horses and cattle -that graze at freedom in the prairies, watched over at a distance by -<i>peones vaqueros</i> as untamed as themselves.</p> - -<p>The Hacienda de las Norias de San Antonio—<i>i.e.</i> St. Anthony's -Wells—rose gracefully from the summit of a hill covered with thick -groves of mahogany, Peru trees and <i>mesquites</i>, forming a belt of -evergreen foliage, the palish green of which contrasted agreeably with -the dead white of the lofty walls, crowned with <i>almenas</i>, a kind of -battlement intended to announce the nobility of the proprietor of the -holding.</p> - -<p>In fact, Don Pedro de Luna was what is called a <i>cristiano viejo</i> (old -Christian), and descended in a direct line from the first Spanish -conquerors, without a single drop of Indian blood having been infused -into the veins of his ancestors. So, although after the Declaration of -Independence the ancient customs began to fall into disuse, Don Pedro -de Luna was proud of his nobility, and clung to the <i>almenas</i> as marks -of distinction which only noblemen were allowed to adopt in the time of -the Spanish rule.</p> - -<p>Since the period when, in the suite of that genial adventurer, Fernando -Cortez, a Lopez de Luna had first put foot in America, the fortunes of -this family, very poor and much reduced at that time—for Don Lopez -literally possessed nothing but his cloak and sword,—the fortunes -of this family, we say, had taken an incredible flight upwards, and -entered on a career of prosperity that nothing in time's course could -trammel. Thus Don Pedro de Luna, the actual representative of this -ancient house, was in the enjoyment of wealth, the amount of which -it would certainly have puzzled him to state,—wealth which had been -increased still more by the property of Don Antonio de Luna, his elder -brother, who had disappeared more than twenty-five years after events -to which we shall have to revert, and who it was supposed had perished -miserably in the mysterious wilderness in the neighbourhood of the -<i>hacienda</i>. It was likely that he had fallen a victim to the horrible -pangs of hunger, or more probably into the hands of the Apaches, those -implacable enemies of the whites, on whom they ceaselessly wage an -inveterate war.</p> - -<p>In short Don Pedro was the sole representative of his name, and his -fortune was immense. No one who has not visited the interior of Mexico -can figure to himself the riches buried in these almost unknown -regions, where certain land owners, if they would only take the trouble -to put their affairs in order, would find themselves five or six times -more wealthy than the greatest capitalists of the old world.</p> - -<p>Now, although everything seemed to smile on the opulent <i>hacendero</i>, -and although, to the world that looks beyond the surface, he seemed -to enjoy, with every appearance of reason, an unalloyed happiness, -nevertheless the deep wrinkles channelled in the forehead of Don Pedro, -the mournful severity of his face, and his gaze often turned to heaven -with an expression of sombre despair, might give rise to the surmise -that the life all thought so happy was secretly agitated by a profound -sorrow, which the years, as they rolled on, augmented instead of -solacing.</p> - -<p>And what was the sorrow? What storms had troubled the course of a life -so calm on the surface?</p> - -<p>The Mexicans are the most forgetful people on earth. This certainly -arises from the nature of their climate, which is incessantly -distracted by the most frightful cataclysms. The Mexican, whose life is -passed on a volcano, who feels the soil incessantly trembling under his -feet, only cares to live for today. For him yesterday no longer exists; -tomorrow he may never see the sun rise; today is his all, for today is -his own.</p> - -<p>The inhabitants of the Hacienda de las Norias, incessantly exposed to -the inroads of their redoubtable neighbours the redskins, constantly -occupied in defending themselves from their attacks and depredations, -were still more forgetful than the rest of their countrymen of a past -in which they took no interest.</p> - -<p>The secret of Don Pedro's grief, if really such a secret existed, was, -therefore, confined pretty nearly to his own breast; and as he never -complained,—never made allusion to the earlier years of his life, -—surmise was impossible, and the ignorance of everyone on the subject -complete.</p> - -<p>One single being had the privilege of smoothing the anxious brow of -the <i>hacendero</i>, and of bringing a languid and fleeting smile to his -lips.</p> - -<p>It was his daughter. Doña Hermosa at sixteen was dazzlingly beautiful. -The jet black arches of her brow, finely traced as with a pencil, -enhanced the beauty of a forehead not too high and of a creamy white. -Her large eyes, blue and pensive, contrasted harmoniously with hair of -ebon hue, which curled about the delicate neck, and on which the sweet -jasmines died away with pleasure.</p> - -<p>Short, like all Spanish women of her race, her figure was slender but -well knit. No smaller feet had ever pressed in the dance the greensward -of Mexico; no more delicate hand ever ransacked the dahlias of a -garden. Her walk, easy, like that of all Creoles, was a serpentine -and undulating motion, full of grace and of <i>salero</i>, as they say in -Andalusia.</p> - -<p>This exquisite girl scattered mirth and joy over the <i>hacienda</i>, -whose echoes from morning to night repeated lovingly the melodious -modulations of her pellucid notes, the pure and fresh qualities of -which made the birds die of envy as they hid themselves under the -foliage of the <i>puerta</i> (open court).</p> - -<p>Don Pedro idolised his daughter; he felt for her that passionate and -boundless affection the immense power of which can only be understood -by those who are fathers in the true sense of the word.</p> - -<p>Hermosa, brought up at the <i>hacienda</i>, had only paid a few short -visits, at long intervals, to the great centers of the Mexican -Confederation. Their manners were entirely strange to her. Accustomed -to lead the free and untrammelled life of a bird, and to express her -thoughts aloud, her frankness and innocent simplicity were extreme, -while her sweetness of temper made her adored by all the inhabitants of -the <i>hacienda</i>, over whose welfare she watched with constant care.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, owing to the peculiar kind of education she had -received,—exposed on this distant frontier to the frequent sound of -the frightful war whoop of the redskins, and to be present during -horrible scenes of carnage,—she had accustomed herself from an early -age to look perils in the face, if not coldly, at all events with a -courage and strength of mind scarcely to be expected in so delicate a -child.</p> - -<p>In conclusion, the influence she exercised over all who approached her -was incomprehensible: it was impossible to know her without loving her, -or without feeling a wish to lay down one's life for her.</p> - -<p>On several occasions, in the attacks made on the <i>hacienda</i> by those -ferocious plunderers of the desert the Apaches and Comanches, some -wounded Indians had fallen into the hands of the Mexicans. Doña -Hermosa, far from suffering these wretches to be maltreated, had -ordered every care to be taken of them, and restored them to liberty as -soon as their wounds were healed.</p> - -<p>From this course of action it resulted that the redskins by degrees -renounced their attacks upon the <i>hacienda</i>, and that the girl, -attended by only one man—with whom we shall soon make the reader -acquainted—unconcernedly took long rides in the wilderness, and -often, carried away by the ardour of the chase, rambled off to a great -distance from the <i>hacienda;</i> while the Indians who saw her pass not -only abstained from injuring her, but laid no obstacles in her way. On -the contrary, these primitive beings, having conceived a superstitious -veneration for her, contrived, while remaining out of sight themselves, -to remove from her path any dangers she might otherwise have -encountered.</p> - -<p>The redskins, with that natural tone of poetry which distinguishes -them, had called her "the White Butterfly," so light and fragile did -she seem to them as she bounded like a frightened fawn through the tall -prairie grasses, which hardly bent under her weight.</p> - -<p>One of her most favourite resting places in these excursions was a -<i>rancho</i>, (a farm) seven or eight miles from the <i>hacienda.</i> The -<i>rancho</i>, built in a charming situation and surrounded by fields well -looked after and carefully cultivated, was inhabited by a woman of -fifty and her son, a tall and handsome man of twenty-five or twenty-six -with a proud eye and a warm heart, named Estevan Diaz. Na Manuela, as -they called the old woman, and Estevan had an affection for the girl -which knew no bounds. Manuela had nursed Hermosa when an infant, and -the foster mother almost looked upon her young mistress as her own -child, so deep was the love she bore her. The woman belonged to a class -of domestics, now unhappily extinct in Europe, who form, as it were -a part of the family, and are looked upon by their masters more as -friends than servants.</p> - -<p>It was under Estevan's escort that Hermosa took those long rides of -which we spoke above. These continual <i>têtes-à-têtes</i> between a girl of -sixteen and a man of twenty-five, which in our hypocritical and prudish -world would be considered compromising, seemed very natural to the -inhabitants of the <i>hacienda.</i> They knew the profound respect and loyal -affection which bound Estevan to his mistress, whom he had dandled -on his knees when a child, and whose first steps he had supported. -Hermosa, who was as laughing, playful, and teasing as most girls of her -age, took very great pleasure in being with Estevan, whom she could -torment and plague to her heart's delight without his ever attempting -to turn restive at the capricious vagaries of his young mistress. Did -he not endure all her caprices with a patience beyond praise?</p> - -<p>Don Pedro manifested an affectionate esteem for Manuela and her son. He -had great confidence in both, and for the last two years had entrusted -Estevan with the important post of <i>major-domo</i>—a post he shared, as -far as the land was concerned, with Luciano Pedralva, who, however, was -placed under his orders.</p> - -<p>Thus Estevan Diaz and his mother were, next to the proprietor, the -persons of greatest account at the <i>hacienda</i>, where they were treated -with infinite respect, not only on account of the post they occupied, -but also for the sake of their character, which was duly appreciated by -all.</p> - -<p>The Mexican <i>hacenderos</i>, whose properties are of immense extent, have -a practice at certain times of the year of making a progress through -their estates, in order to cast over their holding that "eye of the -master" which, according to the favourite saying in Southern America, -makes the crops ripen and the cattle fatten. Don Pedro never failed -to undertake these tours, on which he was anxiously expected by the -inferior persons in his employ, and by the <i>peones</i> of the <i>haciendas</i>, -to whom the casual presence of their master brought some temporary -alleviation of their miserable lives.</p> - -<p>In Mexico slavery, abolished in principle by the Declaration of -Independence, no longer exists by right; but it exists <i>de facto</i> -through the whole extent of the Confederation; and the following is -the adroit manner in which the law is eluded by the rich owners of -the soil:—Every <i>hacienda</i> necessarily employs a great number of -individuals as <i>peones, vaqueros, tigreros,</i> (herdsmen, hunters), &c. -All these people are <i>Indios mansos</i>, or civilized Indians—that is to -say, they have been baptised, and practise, after their own fashion, a -religion they will not take the trouble to understand, and which they -mix up with most absurd and ridiculous customs derived from their old -creeds.</p> - -<p>Brutalised by misery, the <i>peones</i> hire themselves, at very moderate -wages, to the <i>hacenderos</i>, for the sake of satisfying their two -chief vices,—gambling and drunkenness. But as Indians are the most -thriftless beings in creation, their petty wages never suffice to feed -and clothe them; and every day they are liable to die of hunger, if -they cannot contrive to procure the ordinary necessaries of life from -some source independent of their pay. It is when they have reached this -climax that the rich proprietors trap them.</p> - -<p>The <i>capataz</i> and <i>major-domo</i> keep in every <i>hacienda</i>, by order of -their master, stores filled with clothing, arms, household utensils, -and so forth, which are open to the <i>peones</i>, who pawn their labour for -the needful articles advanced to them; the prices of the articles being -always ten times their value.</p> - -<p>It follows, from this simple combination, that the poor devils of -<i>peones</i> not only never touch an infinitesimal fraction of the nominal -wages allotted to them, but find themselves always on the debit side -of the <i>hacendero's</i> balance sheet; and in a few months owe sums they -could not possibly pay off in a lifetime. As the law is positive in -these cases, the <i>peones</i> are compelled to remain in the service -of their masters until, by their labour, this debt is liquidated. -Unfortunately for them, their necessities are so imperious at all -times, their position so precarious, that, after a life spent in -incessant toil, the <i>peones</i> die insolvent. They have lived as slaves, -fatally, <i>adscripti glebæ</i>, shamelessly worked, without mercy, down -to their latest sigh, by men whom their sweat and their labour have -enriched tenfold.</p> - -<p>Doña Hermosa, good natured, as girls usually are when brought up in -the bosom of their families, generally accompanied her father in these -annual progresses, and pleased herself by leaving bounteous marks of -her welcome visit with the poor <i>peones</i>.</p> - -<p>This year, as in the preceding ones, she had attended Don Pedro de -Luna, signalizing her visit to each <i>rancho</i> by relieving, in some way -or other, the infirm, the old, and the children.</p> - -<p>About forty-eight hours before the day on which our story commences, -Don Pedro had left a silver mine he was working some leagues off in -the desert, and set off for Las Norias de San Antonio. When he had got -within twenty leagues of the <i>hacienda</i>, he felt convinced that his -escort was not needed so near his own property, and sent forward Don -Estevan and the armed retainers to announce his return, keeping with -him only the <i>capataz</i>, Luciano Pedralva, and three or four <i>peones</i>.</p> - -<p>Don Estevan had tried to dissuade his master from remaining in the -desert almost single-handed, pointing out to him that the Indian -frontiers were infested by freebooters and marauders of the vilest -kind, who, skulking among the thickets, would be upon the watch for an -opportunity of attacking his little band; but, by a singular fatality, -Don Pedro, convinced that he had nothing to fear from these vagabonds, -who had never exhibited signs of hostility towards him, had insisted on -the <i>major-domo's</i> departure, and the latter had been forced to obey, -although with reluctance.</p> - -<p>The escort rode off; the <i>hacendero</i> quietly continued his road, -chatting with his daughter, and laughing at the sinister presentiments -clouding the face of the <i>major-domo</i> when he took leave of his master.</p> - -<p>The day slipped away without anything happening to confirm the -misgivings of Don Estevan; no accident interrupting the monotonous -regularity of the march; no suspicious sign excited the fears of the -travellers. The desert was at peace; as far as the eye could reach, -nothing was to be seen but some straggling herds of elks and antelopes, -browsing on the tall and tufted grasses of the prairie.</p> - -<p>At sunset Don Pedro and his companions had reached the outskirts of an -immense virgin forest, part of which they would have to cross to reach -the <i>hacienda</i>, now about a dozen leagues off.</p> - -<p>The <i>hacendero</i> resolved to encamp for the night at the edge of the -covert, hoping to reach Las Norias early on the morrow, before the -great heat of the day set in.</p> - -<p>In a short time everything was arranged; a hut of branches was put -together for Doña Hermosa; fires were lit, and the horses securely -tethered, to prevent their straying during the night.</p> - -<p>The travellers supped gaily; after which everyone laid down to sleep as -comfortably as he could manage.</p> - -<p>However, the <i>capataz</i>, a man trained to Indian artifices, thought it -prudent not to neglect a single precaution to secure the repose of -his companions. He placed a sentry, to whom he recommended the utmost -vigilance, and saddled his horse, with the intention of making a -reconnaissance round the camp.</p> - -<p>Don Pedro, already half asleep, raised his head, and asked Don -Luciano what he intended to do. When the <i>capataz</i> had explained, the -<i>hacendero</i> burst out laughing, and peremptorily ordered him to leave -his horse to feed in peace, and to lay himself down by the fire, in -order to be ready to resume the journey at break of day. The <i>capataz</i> -shook his head, but obeyed; he could not understand the conduct of his -master, who was usually so prudent and circumspect.</p> - -<p>The truth was, that Don Pedro, impelled by one of those inexplicable -fatalities which, without apparent reason, often make the most -intelligent blind, was convinced that he had nothing to fear so -near his home, and almost on his own territory, from the rovers and -marauders of the frontiers, who would think twice before they attacked -a man of his importance, having the means in his power to make them pay -dearly for any attempt upon his person. Nevertheless, the <i>capataz</i>, -agitated by a secret uneasiness, which kept him awake in spite of -his efforts to sleep, determined to keep good watch during the night, -notwithstanding the injunctions of his master.</p> - -<p>As soon as he saw Don Pedro decidedly asleep, he rose softly, took his -rifle, and crept stealthily towards the forest to reconnoitre; but he -had scarcely quitted the circle of light formed by the watch fire, and -advanced a few paces into the covert, than he was suddenly and rudely -seized by invisible hands, thrown on the ground, gagged, and bound with -cords; and with such expedition, that he could neither use his arms nor -utter a cry of warning to his companions.</p> - -<p>But, in strange contrariety to the tragical usages of the prairie, the -persons who had so abruptly mastered the <i>capataz</i> subjected him to no -ill usage, contenting themselves with binding him firmly, so as to put -the possibility of the slightest resistance out of the question, and -leaving him stretched upon the ground.</p> - -<p>"My poor mistress!" sighed the worthy fellow as he fell, without -indulging a thought for himself.</p> - -<p>He remained in this position for a length of time, listening greedily -to every sound in the desert, expecting every instant to hear cries -of distress from Don Pedro and Doña Hermosa. But not a cry was heard: -nothing disturbed the calm of the wilderness, over which the silence of -death seemed brooding.</p> - -<p>At last, after twenty or twenty-five minutes, someone threw a <i>zarapé</i> -over his face, most likely with the intention of preventing any -recognition of his assailants; he was lifted from the ground with a -certain degree of precaution, and two men carried him in their arms to -some considerable distance.</p> - -<p>The situation became more complicated every moment. In vain the -<i>capataz</i> racked his mind to divine the intentions of his captors. The -latter uttered not a word, and glided over the ground with light and -noiseless steps, as if they were spectres. The generality of Mexicans -are fatalists. The <i>capataz</i>, recognizing the futility of a struggle, -philosophically consoled himself for what had happened, and patiently -awaited the result of this singular scene.</p> - -<p>He had not long to wait for the issue. His unknown captors, having -probably reached the intended spot, halted and laid the <i>capataz</i> on -the ground, after which everything round him grew calm and silent again.</p> - -<p>At the end of several minutes he determined on an attempt to recover -his liberty, and made a desperate effort to break his bonds. But here -again a fresh surprise was reserved for him: the cords which bound him, -and which were so fast a minute before, broke after a slight resistance.</p> - -<p>The <i>capataz's</i> first impulse was to lift the <i>zarapé</i> which covered -his face, and free himself from the gag. He next looked about him to -reconnoitre, and to find out what had become of his companions, and -uttered a cry of astonishment and fright on seeing Doña Hermosa, her -father, and the <i>peones</i> stretched on the ground close by, gagged as he -had been, and their heads muffled in <i>zarapés</i>.</p> - -<p>The <i>capataz</i> hastened to the relief of his mistress and Don Pedro, -after which he severed the cords which bound the <i>peones</i>.</p> - -<p>The place to which the travellers had been transported by their -invisible aggressors was completely dissimilar to the site chosen for -the camp. They were in the midst of a thick forest, where at an immense -height above their heads, the gigantic trees formed a green vault, -almost impenetrable to the light of day. The horses and baggage of the -travellers had vanished. Their position was frightful, deserted as they -were in the virgin forest without provisions or horses. Every hope of -safety was gone, and a terrible death, after horrible sufferings stared -them in the face.</p> - -<p>It is impossible to describe the despair of Don Pedro. He acknowledged, -when it was too late, the folly of his conduct. He fixed his weeping -eyes on his daughter with an expression of unspeakable tenderness -and sorrow, accusing himself as the sole cause of the evil that had -overwhelmed them. Doña Hermosa was the only one who did not give way -to despair in these critical circumstances. After trying to raise the -courage of her father by tender and consoling words, she was the first -to speak of quitting the place and endeavouring to find the road they -had lost.</p> - -<p>The courage which sparkled in the eye of the daughter reanimated the -energy of her father and the rest. If she did not succeed in reviving -hope in their breasts, at all events she aroused in them sufficient -spirit to encounter the necessary struggle before them. The final words -of this young creature put a stop to all hesitation, and completed the -happy reaction she had excited in their minds.</p> - -<p>"Our friends," said she, "on finding we do not arrive, will suspect -our misfortune, and devote themselves immediately to a search for us. -Don Estevan, to whom all the secrets of the wilderness are known, will -infallibly recover our trail. Our position, therefore, is far from -desperate. Let us not abandon ourselves, if we do not wish God to -abandon us. Let us go: soon I hope we shall find our way out of the -forest, and see the sun once more."</p> - -<p>So they began their march.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately it is impossible to find the right direction in a virgin -forest, unless we are well acquainted with the localities,—the -forests, where all the trees are alike, where there is no visible -horizon, and where the only available knowledge is the instinct of the -brute, not the reason of man. Thus the travellers wandered at random -the whole day long, always turning, without knowing it, in the same -circle, travelling far without advancing, and vainly seeking to find a -road which was not in existence.</p> - -<p>Don Pedro endeavoured to discover a reason why the men who had -stolen their horses should have abandoned them in this inextricable -labyrinth; why they had been thus callously condemned to an agonising -death; and who the enemy might be who had cruelly conceived a plan of -such atrocious revenge. But the <i>hacendero</i> racked his brains in vain -for even a surmise. His mind suggested no one on whom suspicion could -rest as the probable author of this unqualified crime.</p> - -<p>All the morning the travellers continued their devious course: the sun -went down, the day gave way to night, and they were still toiling on, -wandering mechanically without any fixed direction, now to the right, -now to the left; struggling on more in the endeavour to escape from -their thoughts by physical fatigue, than in the hope of emerging from -the forest—their horrible prison.</p> - -<p>Doña Hermosa uttered no complaint. Cool and resolute, she pushed -forward with a firm step, encouraging her companions by voice and -gesture, and still finding spirit enough to chide and shame them for -their want of perseverance.</p> - -<p>All of a sudden she uttered a cry of pain. She had been bitten by a -snake. This fresh misfortune, which should have apparently completed -the travellers' despair, on the contrary, excited them to such a pitch, -that they forgot all else, except how to think for and to save her whom -they called their guardian angel.</p> - -<p>But human strength has limits, beyond which it may not go. The -travellers, overcome by fatigue and their poignant emotions during -their wanderings, and convinced, besides, of the inutility of their -efforts, were on the point of yielding to their despair, when God -placed them suddenly face to face with the hunter.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></h4> - -<h3>CONFIDENTIAL CHAT.</h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>After conducting his guests to the compartment of the <i>teocali</i> which -he had appointed for them, the Tigercat retraced his steps, and turned -in the direction of a sufficiently ample excavation, which served for -his own particular abode.</p> - -<p>The old man walked at a slow pace, with his head raised, and his brow -wrinkled under the tension of mighty thoughts. The flame of the torch -he held in his right hand played capriciously over his countenance, -revealing a strange expression on his features, where hate, joy, and -uneasiness reflected themselves by turns.</p> - -<p>When he arrived at his <i>cuarto</i> (bedchamber),—if it is right to give -the name chamber to a kind of hole ten feet square by seven feet high, -which contained as furniture a few skulls of the bison dispersed here -and there, with a handful of maize-straw negligently thrown into a -corner, and serving, no doubt, as couch for the inhabitants of this -sorry refuge,—the Tigercat fixed his <i>ocote</i> torch in a bracket of -iron made fast to the wall, crossed his arms on his breast, lifted his -eyes with an air of defiance, and muttered the words:</p> - -<p>"At last!"</p> - -<p>Doubtless these words summed up in his thoughts a long series of dark -and bold combinations.</p> - -<p>After pronouncing these words, the old man cast a searching glance -around him, as if he dreaded having been overheard. A mocking smile -passed across his pale lips; he sat down on a bison's skull, and, -burying his face in his hands, plunged into profound meditation.</p> - -<p>A long time elapsed before he changed his position. At last, a slight -noise fell on his ear: he lifted his head with a start, and turned -towards the entrance to his cell.</p> - -<p>"Come in!" he shouted. "I have waited for you with impatience."</p> - -<p>"I think not!" replied a powerful voice; and the young hunter appeared -at the threshold, where he stopped, holding his head erect, and looking -proud and daring.</p> - -<p>A shade crossed the forehead of the Tigercat.</p> - -<p>"Ah, ha!" cried he, with pretended gaiety. "In truth, I was not -expecting you, <i>muchacho</i> (boy); but never mind; you are welcome."</p> - -<p>"Is that wish truly in your thoughts at this moment?" sneered the other.</p> - -<p>"And why should it not be in my thoughts? Am I in the habit of -disguising them?"</p> - -<p>"It is a useful habit under particular circumstances."</p> - -<p>"A truth I do not deny; but not in this case. Come in; sit down, and -let us talk."</p> - -<p>"I comply," answered the hunter, taking a few steps forward, -"particularly as I have to demand an explanation from you."</p> - -<p>The Tigercat frowned, and replied, with rising and ill-suppressed anger:</p> - -<p>"Is it to me you speak thus? Have you forgotten who I am?"</p> - -<p>"I forget nothing that I ought to remember," concisely replied the -other.</p> - -<p>"Boy! Have you forgotten that I am your father?"</p> - -<p>"My father! Who will prove it?"</p> - -<p>"You are over-venturesome," cried the old man in ire.</p> - -<p>"After all," said the hunter scornfully, "it is nothing to me whether -you be my father or not. What does it matter? Have you not told me a -thousand times over, that bonds of relationship do not exist in nature; -that they are only a factitious sentiment, invented by human egotism -for the profit of the petty exigencies of debased society? Here, we are -only two men, equals in strength and courage; of whom the one comes to -demand from the other a clear and unvarnished explanation."</p> - -<p>While the hunter was speaking, the old man fixed upon him a look which -flashed fire from under his half-closed eyelids. When he ceased, the -Tigercat smiled ironically.</p> - -<p>"The wolf's cub feels he is cutting his teeth, and wants to bite his -fosterer."</p> - -<p>"He will devour him without hesitation, if it be needful," fiercely -replied the hunter, as he let the butt end of the heavy rifle he -carried in his hand fall violently on the ground.</p> - -<p>Instead of being lashed into a fury by a menace uttered so -peremptorily, the Tigercat suddenly became calm. His austere features -lighted up with an expression of good nature which rarely visited them. -Clapping his large hands together gaily, he exclaimed, with an air of -lively satisfaction:</p> - -<p>"Well roared, my lion's whelp! <i>¡Vive Dios!</i> You deserve your name, -Stoneheart! The more I see of you, the more I love you. I am proud of -you, <i>muchacho;</i> for you are my handiwork, and I congratulate myself on -my success in producing so complete a monster. Go on as you have begun, -my son: I prophesy, you will go far."</p> - -<p>The tone in which these words were pronounced by the Tigercat clearly -proved that they were in reality the unreserved expression of his -thoughts.</p> - -<p>Stoneheart—for at last we know the name of this man—listened to his -father with a shrug of his shoulders, and an affectation of disdain. -When the latter ceased, the son replied as follows:</p> - -<p>"Will you listen to me or not?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly, my darling child. Speak! Tell me what frets you."</p> - -<p>"Seek not to dupe me, gray-haired demon. I know your hellish malignity, -and your unmatchable knavery."</p> - -<p>"You are complimentary, <i>muchacho.</i>"</p> - -<p>"Answer frankly and categorically the questions I will put to you!"</p> - -<p>"Bah, Bah! Go on, go on. What are you afraid of?"</p> - -<p>"Of nothing, I tell you; but my time is short: I have no leisure to -follow you through all the Indian circumlocutions it may be your -pleasure to invent. That is why I listen to nothing but the plain -truth."</p> - -<p>"I cannot bind myself to that until I hear the questions you wish to -put."</p> - -<p>"Take heed, father! If you deceive me, I shall find it out, and then—"</p> - -<p>"And then?" repeated the old man mockingly.</p> - -<p>"May the devil take my soul, if I do not plant my bowie knife between -your two shoulders."</p> - -<p>"You forget that two can play at that game."</p> - -<p>"So much the better; it will be a strife and I prefer it."</p> - -<p>"You are not fastidious. But proceed; speak, or may the pestilence -stifle you! I am listening. I, too, have no more time to lose than you."</p> - -<p>Stoneheart, who up to this moment had been standing erect in the middle -of the cell, seated himself on a bison's skull, and rested his rifle -across his knees.</p> - -<p>"Did you not expect to see Zopilote when I burst into your cell?"</p> - -<p>"I did expect Zopilote: you have guessed it, <i>muchacho.</i>"</p> - -<p>"Having finished, with his assistance, the ruffianly deeds of yesterday -and today, you two are anxious to concoct the treason you meditate -tomorrow."</p> - -<p>"On my soul, <i>muchacho</i>, you are incomprehensible!"</p> - -<p>"The devil I am! Then your apprehension is dull today."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps it is: but oblige me by explaining your meaning."</p> - -<p>"I will; however, attempt no denial: only a few minutes ago I learned -the whole story through the gossiping of the very men who were with -you."</p> - -<p>"If you know all, why do you come here to question me?"</p> - -<p>"In the first place, to ascertain if they spoke truly."</p> - -<p>"They could not speak more truly: you see, I am frank."</p> - -<p>"Then you really did surprise these travellers in their sleep?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, <i>muchacho</i>, like a litter of prairie dogs in their earth."</p> - -<p>"You stole their horses and baggage?"</p> - -<p>"In good truth, I did all that."</p> - -<p>"Afterwards, you had them carried into the thick of the forest, to die -a frightful death?"</p> - -<p>"I did have them carried to the forest; but not, as you pretend to -believe, for the purpose of leaving them to starve."</p> - -<p>"For what other purpose, then? I cannot suppose it was with the -intention of effacing all traces of the robbery. You care little about -such precautions, and do not stick at a knife thrust."</p> - -<p>"Admirably reasoned, <i>muchacho</i>. I had no intention to do these -travellers the least harm in the world."</p> - -<p>"Then what did you want from them? I cannot understand your conduct. It -is marvellous."</p> - -<p>"Confess that it mystifies you, my son."</p> - -<p>"It does; but will you explain?"</p> - -<p>"That depends upon circumstances. But now promise, in your turn, to -answer a single question."</p> - -<p>"One? I will answer it. Ask; I am listening."</p> - -<p>"What do you think of Doña Hermosa? Has she not beautiful eyes! One -would think she had stolen a piece of the sky, they are so blue."</p> - -<p>At this home-thrust Stoneheart recoiled; a sudden flush tinted his -features.</p> - -<p>"Why do you ask me?" said he hesitatingly.</p> - -<p>"What does that matter? Answer, as you have promised."</p> - -<p>"I have scarcely looked at her," he replied, with increasing -embarrassment.</p> - -<p>"You lie, my son: you have looked at her often enough; or young men -in these days are changed from what they were in my time—which I can -hardly believe." "Well, then, I have; and I care not who knows it," -said Stoneheart, in a voice in which embarrassment was mingled with ill -humour. "I have looked at Doña Hermosa, if that is her name, and have -found her beautiful. Are you satisfied?"</p> - -<p>"Almost. Has this charming creature had no other effect upon you?"</p> - -<p>"I am not bound to answer you, father: that is a second question."</p> - -<p>"You are right; nevertheless, I know what your reply would be. I can -dispense with it."</p> - -<p>Stoneheart turned away his head to escape the searching look of the -Tigercat.</p> - -<p>"But now," said he, after a momentary silence, "let us return to your -explanation."</p> - -<p>"You are an ingrate, who will not understand. Have you not already -discovered that all this business has been undertaken for your sake -alone?"</p> - -<p>Stoneheart started with surprise.</p> - -<p>"For my sake? Is there anything in common between this girl and me? You -are laughing at me!"</p> - -<p>"Not in the least; on the contrary, I am speaking seriously."</p> - -<p>"Even if you do, I confess I am still in the dark."</p> - -<p>"Aha! You are laughing now at my expense. Throughout the whole of this -comedy I assign you a capital part to play: I make you interesting; I -introduce you as the deliverer; are you still in the dark?"</p> - -<p>"I myself assumed the character which you say you assigned me; I -adopted it myself, alone, without any interference of yours."</p> - -<p>"Do you believe that, my son?" said the bandit, with a grin.</p> - -<p>Stoneheart, not thinking it necessary to insist on this point, answered:</p> - -<p>"I will admit that you may have arranged all that happened; but -what are your intentions towards the travellers now they are in the -<i>teocali?</i>"</p> - -<p>"On my honour, <i>muchacho</i>, I confess that it is not settled yet; it -depends entirely on yourself."</p> - -<p>"On me?" stammered the other.</p> - -<p>"Yes; on my honour. Reflect; decide what you wish me to do: I give you -my word that I will conform to your wishes."</p> - -<p>"Will you swear so, father,—solemnly swear?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes. You see, I am very accommodating."</p> - -<p>"It is exactly this pliancy, so foreign to your character and habits, -which makes me tremble."</p> - -<p>"Folly! What more unjust suspicion! It happens one day that I remember -I am man; that it is my duty to succour my fellow creatures: and you -give me no credit for it!"</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Caspita!</i> How could it be otherwise? Your intrigues are so dark, -the means you employ are so utterly at variance with common usage in -similar cases, that, in spite of my knowledge of your character, the -real object of your machinations perpetually eludes me."</p> - -<p>The visage of the Tigercat lighted up once more with a smile of -triumph; but he repressed it immediately, and assumed a look of -paternal benevolence.</p> - -<p>"In spite of all you say," he answered, "my object in this case is so -plain that a child might see it."</p> - -<p>"Then I must be an idiot, for I cannot divine it; on which account, I -must beg you to explain your wishes frankly."</p> - -<p>"To make you adore the little one, <i>¡vive Cristo!</i>"</p> - -<p>"Me!" exclaimed the hunter, astounded at the proposition, and purple -with blushes.</p> - -<p>"And whom else, if not you?—unless it were myself."</p> - -<p>"No, no," said the other, shaking his head mournfully; "that is -impossible: everything separates us. You have forgotten who she is; you -have forgotten what I am—I, Stoneheart, the man whose name, pronounced -to an inhabitant of the borders, makes him thrill with terror. No; it -is the dream of a fool: a love like that would be monstrous. I repeat, -it is impossible."</p> - -<p>The Tigercat coolly shrugged his shoulders.</p> - -<p>"My son," said he, "you have yet much to learn concerning that -many-sided being, that graceful compound of angel and devil, that -whimsical mixture of all good qualities and all vices, the world calls -woman. Be quite sure, my son, that since the time of mother Eve, woman -has never changed; there are the same treasons, the same perfidies, -still the same feline nature of the tiger, mingled with the no less -tortuous ways of the serpent. Woman must be quelled by the bold, or -she will busy herself with the hope of quelling him; she will always -despise the man for whom, in her secret heart, she feels no fear, and -for whom she entertains no involuntary respect. Your chances of winning -the heart of Hermosa, and installing yourself therein as master, are -numberless; you are proscribed, and your name is a name of terror. Oh, -my boy, love lives upon contrasts, knows no disparities, and despises -the barrier raised by human vanity. The man most sure to succeed with -a woman is precisely the only one whom, in the eyes of the world, she -ought to repel the most."</p> - -<p>"Enough of this theme!" cried the hunter violently; "Your horrible -theories have already troubled my soul, and harrowed my heart. Let us -stop this conversation, of which I am weary. Again, I ask, what are -your intentions towards your prisoners?"</p> - -<p>"I repeat, that it depends entirely upon yourself; they are in your -hands."</p> - -<p>"If that be the case, they shall not stay long in your hideous lair; -tomorrow, at daybreak, they shall go."</p> - -<p>"Just what I wish, my son."</p> - -<p>"I myself will be their guide. You will restore everything you have -taken from them—horses and baggage."</p> - -<p>"You shall restore them yourself; you can easily invent a story for -returning what belongs to them which shall not compromise me."</p> - -<p>"Compromise you!" sneered Stoneheart.</p> - -<p>"By our Lady," replied the Tigercat, with a hideous smile, "I stick to -the only good deed of my life; I will not lose the credit of it."</p> - -<p>"Then all is agreed between us; you will not break your word to me?"</p> - -<p>"Rest in peace; I will not break it."</p> - -<p>"Then, good-bye, till tomorrow. I go to make everything ready."</p> - -<p>"Good night, my son. Do not take that trouble; I take it upon myself."</p> - -<p>And the two men separated.</p> - -<p>The Tigercat listened attentively to the sound of his son's footsteps -as they died away in the distance. When silence was completely -re-established, he shook his head more than once with a preoccupied air.</p> - -<p>"Love makes him shrewd," he murmured in a suppressed voice. "I will not -leave him leisure to divine my plans, or, at the moment it is within my -reach, he would frustrate the vengeance I have been so many years in -preparing."</p> - -<p>Instead of retiring to his couch, the old man seized the torch, and -went forth from his cell.</p> - -<p>In the meanwhile, in spite of the fears naturally caused by their -precarious position in the midst of people whose ferocious looks and -brutal manners spoke little in their favour, the travellers had passed -the night in tranquillity. No sound of evil augury had disturbed -their repose; and, worn out by fatigue, and wearied with the various -emotions of this day of misfortunes, after a short conversation, they -settled themselves to sleep.</p> - -<p>Doña Hermosa, on waking at daybreak, found herself perfectly free from -the sufferings of the preceding day. Thanks to the remedy applied by -the hunter to the wound, the place where she was bitten, now the venom -was expressed, began to heal; she felt sufficient strength to resume -her journey on horseback, and would be able to travel without too -much fatigue. These good news dispersed the clouds which obscured the -forehead of the <i>hacendero</i>, and he awaited, with lively impatience, -the meeting with his host, which he had no doubt would not be long -deferred. In fact, as soon as the Tigercat supposed that those to whom -he had afforded shelter were awake, he presented himself before them to -inquire how they had passed the night.</p> - -<p>The <i>hacendero</i> thanked him warmly, assured him they were quite well, -and that Doña Hermosa herself felt almost restored to health.</p> - -<p>"So much the better," replied the Tigercat, casting a glance of fire at -the girl. "It were a pity so charming a creature should perish in such -a miserable manner. And now, what are your intentions? Be not offended -at this question; I shall be happy to keep you at my side; and the -longer you remain here, the greater my pleasure."</p> - -<p>"Thanks for your gracious offer," said Don Pedro; "unfortunately, -I dare not accept it: they will be uneasy on our account at the -<i>hacienda</i>, and I must hasten in person to put an end to their alarm."</p> - -<p>"You are right. Then you intend to depart?"</p> - -<p>"As soon as I can; unhappily, I have no horses for the few leagues of -the journey. I must put your hospitality still further to the test, -although I hardly know how to thank you for what you have done already, -by requesting you to sell me the animals I require to return home; -at the same time, I would also crave a guide, to lead us through the -forest which had nearly proved our tomb, and to put us once more on our -right road. You see, <i>caballero</i>, that I make great demands on your -courtesy."</p> - -<p>"You only ask of me what is your right, señor; I will exert myself to -fulfil your wishes. But how did it happen that you found yourself on -foot in the virgin forest, so far from any habitations?"</p> - -<p>The <i>hacendero</i> cast a furtive glance over the speaker; but the -features of the latter continued immovable. Don Pedro then recounted -all the details of the strange attack of which he had been the victim.</p> - -<p>The Tigercat listened calmly, without interrupting him, saying, as soon -as the recital was finished:</p> - -<p>"All this seems very incomprehensible. I am annoyed at not having -received this information yesterday evening. It is very late, now; -but leave me to do what I can. Perhaps I may be able to cause your -lost property to be restored to you; at all events I will furnish you -with the means of reaching your <i>hacienda</i>. Entertain no fears on that -score. I presume you would not like to leave this place before you have -broken your fast; you can begin your journey as soon after breakfast as -you please. I must leave you for a short time, to give the necessary -orders for your departure. Excuse me. In an hour's time you shall hear -from me again."</p> - -<p>Having said this, he retired; leaving the travellers in astonishment, -and perplexed as to his true character so easily did this man vary both -manner and language.</p> - -<p>An hour and a half passed over without Don Pedro receiving any news -of his host. At the end of that time an Indian appeared, and without -uttering a word, made a sign to the travellers to follow him. They -obeyed without hesitation.</p> - -<p>After following him for some minutes, they found themselves on the -summit of the <i>teocali</i> which the evening before, under the silver rays -of the moon, they had taken for a hill.</p> - -<p>From this elevation the travellers commanded an immense extent of -horizon, and enjoyed a magnificent landscape, still partially veiled -by the mists of morning, but illumined here and there by the dazzling -sunbeams, which produced the most striking effects amongst this chaos -of trees and mountains intersecting the boundless prairies.</p> - -<p>The morning repast was prepared on a mound of turf, covered over with -the large leaves of the mahogany.</p> - -<p>The Tigercat standing by the mound, was waiting for his guests. Some -redskins, few in number, and scattered here and there about the -platform, all armed, and in their war paint, were walking about with -seeming indifference, and taking no apparent note of the presence of -the strangers.</p> - -<p>"I have preferred to have the meal served here," said the Tigercat, -"where you can enjoy the magnificent prospect."</p> - -<p>Don Pedro thanked him; and, at his repeated invitation, sat down by the -mound with his daughter and Don Luciano. The <i>peones</i> ate by themselves.</p> - -<p>The repast was frugal. It consisted of fritters, with red pepper, -<i>tasajo</i> (sun-dried beef), a few slices of venison, and rolls made -of maize flour, the whole washed down with <i>eau de smilax</i> and -<i>pulque</i>,—a spirit prepared from a species of aloe. It was a true -hunter's meal.</p> - -<p>"Eat and drink," said the Tigercat; "you have a long journey before -you."</p> - -<p>"Will you not honour us by partaking of the repast you have gallantly -offered us?" said Don Pedro, seeing that the old man continued standing.</p> - -<p>"You must excuse me, <i>caballero</i>," replied the Tigercat civilly, but -peremptorily. "I broke my fast long ago."</p> - -<p>"Indeed!" said the <i>hacendero</i>, not content with the answer; "Then, at -least, you will consent to empty this horn of <i>pulque</i> to my health."</p> - -<p>"It grieves me to refuse you, señor; but it is impossible!" and he -bowed.</p> - -<p>These repeated refusals caused a sudden coolness between the guests -and their host, in spite of the apparent graciousness of the old man's -hospitality,—for the Americans of New Spain resemble the Arabs in -this, that they only consent to eat and drink with those towards whom -their intentions are friendly.</p> - -<p>A vague suspicion crossed the mind of Don Pedro; and he looked -inquiringly at his host, but could see nothing in the smiling face of -the old man to justify his apprehension.</p> - -<p>The repast was eaten silently. At its termination, Doña Hermosa, after -thanking the Tigercat for his profuse hospitality, asked him if, before -she left, she could not see the hunter who had rendered her such -invaluable service the evening before.</p> - -<p>"He is absent at present, señorita,—absent in your service; but I -expect him to return immediately."</p> - -<p>The doña was about to ask for an explanation of these words, when a -sound, resembling distant thunder, arose in the forest, and grew louder -and louder every minute.</p> - -<p>"And here," continued the Tigercat, "comes the very man whom you -desired to see; he will be with you directly. The noise you hear is -caused by the galloping of the horses he brings with him."</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></h4> - -<h3>THE JOURNEY.</h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>In a very short time after the occurrences related in the preceding -chapter, the travellers saw a tolerably numerous troop of riders emerge -from the forest.</p> - -<p>Stoneheart rode at their head, and Don Pedro discovered, with feelings -of lively satisfaction, that the horses and mules so audaciously stolen -from him were in the rear of the troop.</p> - -<p>"Ha!" said he, "The robbers have been compelled to disgorge their prey."</p> - -<p>"It would appear so," answered the old man, with a scarcely perceptible -smile.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, the hunter had halted the troop at a little distance from -the <i>teocali.</i> He himself had dismounted, and was now coming towards -the travellers. He soon reached them.</p> - -<p>"I perceive that you have succeeded in your enterprise," the Tigercat -said to him in a tone of raillery.</p> - -<p>"I have," answered the hunter laconically, and turning from him.</p> - -<p>"I am rejoiced at this circumstance," resumed the old man, addressing -Don Pedro; "thanks to it, you will reach your home on your own horses, -and without the loss of anything belonging to you."</p> - -<p>"How shall I ever repay all the obligations I owe you, señor?" said the -<i>hacendero</i>, with great emotion.</p> - -<p>"By not thanking me for them: my conduct towards you has been very -simple, and solely dictated by the interest I took in your unlucky -position."</p> - -<p>Although nothing could be more evident than the Tigercat's intention -to make a courteous answer, his words were uttered with such a hissing -accent, his voice was so ironical, and his tone so sarcastic, that the -effect produced was quite contrary to what he intended. Without exactly -comprehending the reason, Don Pedro felt he had met with an insult -instead of a compliment.</p> - -<p>"Let us end this," said Stoneheart abruptly. "The sun is already -high; and it is time to set out, if you would cross the forest before -nightfall."</p> - -<p>"In all sincerity," said the Tigercat, "notwithstanding the chagrin I -feel at seeing you depart, it is my duty to warn you that, if nothing -detains you here, you will do well to commence your journey."</p> - -<p>Don Pedro and his companions rose, and, accompanied by the two hunters, -descended into the plain.</p> - -<p>During the words which had been exchanged on the <i>teocali</i>, the mounted -Indians had disappeared, leaving the animals of the Mexicans at the -place where they had first halted.</p> - -<p>The <i>hacendero</i>, before he mounted, turned his head several times in -the direction in which the Indian's had vanished.</p> - -<p>"What are you looking for?" asked the old man, uneasy at this repeated -movement.</p> - -<p>"You will excuse me," answered Don Pedro; "but I am afraid to enter -without a guide into that pathless forest; and I do not see the one you -were good enough to promise me."</p> - -<p>"Nevertheless he stands before you, señor," said the Tigercat, pointing -to the hunter.</p> - -<p>"Yes," said the latter, looking defiantly at the old man, "it is I who -am to be your guide; and I give you my sacred word, that in despite of -savages, be they beasts or men, I will conduct you in safety to your -<i>hacienda.</i>"</p> - -<p>The Tigercat made no answer to these words, which were evidently spoken -for his behoof; he contented himself by shrugging his shoulders, while -an indefinable expression settled on his mocking lips.</p> - -<p>"Oh!" said the <i>hacendero</i>, "We have indeed nothing to fear if you are -to be our guide, señor; the generosity of your late conduct is a sure -guarantee for the future."</p> - -<p>"Let us go," said the hunter briefly, "we have already lost too much -time."</p> - -<p>The travellers mounted without replying.</p> - -<p>"Adieu! And good luck," said the Tigercat, when he saw them ready to -start.</p> - -<p>"One word, if you please, caballero," exclaimed the <i>hacendero</i>, bowing -slightly to his host.</p> - -<p>"Speak, señor," said the latter; "is there any further service I can -render you?"</p> - -<p>"No," replied the Mexican; "I owe you too many favours already; only, -before I leave you, perhaps forever, I wish to tell you, without -desiring to pry too closely into the motives which prompted your -actions towards me, your conduct has apparently been so cordial and -noble, that I must try to express to you the extent of my gratitude. -Whatever may happen, señor, and until evident proof to the contrary, I -consider myself indebted to you; and if occasion offers, I shall know -how to cancel the debt I owe you."</p> - -<p>And before the Tigercat, stupefied by this adieu, which proved that -the <i>hacendero</i> was not quite his dupe, had recovered, the Mexican -had given both spurs to his horse, and galloped off to rejoin his -companions who had already advanced some little way.</p> - -<p>The old man remained motionless, his eyes fixed on the travellers, -until they had finally disappeared within the forest; then he regained -the <i>teocali</i>, muttering in a low voice:</p> - -<p>"Has he foreseen my purpose? No, it is impossible; but his suspicion is -aroused, and I must have been less prudent than my wont."</p> - -<p>In the meantime the travellers had entered upon the forest, under the -guidance of Stoneheart, who rode alone in advance, with drooping head, -and apparently plunged in sombre thought.</p> - -<p>For two hours they progressed without exchanging a word. The hunter -rode on as if he were alone, without troubling himself in the least -about those who followed him; without even turning his head in their -direction, to see whether they were behind him.</p> - -<p>This behaviour only moderately astonished the <i>hacendero</i>, who, -recollecting the manner in which he had made acquaintance with the -hunter the day before, was expecting a certain oddness of character on -his part. Nevertheless, he was hurt by the coldness and indifference -displayed by the man whose good will he had sought to conciliate. So -he made no attempt to engage him to break the silence and become more -sociable.</p> - -<p>A little before midday the travellers reached a tolerably large -clearing, in the centre of which there gushed forth, from the fissures -of a rock, which rose to a grand height in the form of a pyramid, a -spring of water, as clear and limpid as crystal, which ran off in a -narrow stream through thick tufts of gladiolus.</p> - -<p>This clearing, shaded by a leafy vault of gigantic trees surrounding -it, offered a delicious spot for repose to the weary travellers.</p> - -<p>"We will wait here until the greatest heat of the day is over," said -the guide, breaking silence for the first time since they had left the -<i>teocali.</i></p> - -<p>"Content," said the <i>hacendero</i>, smiling; "indeed, you could not have -chosen a fitter spot."</p> - -<p>"One of the baggage mules carries food and other refreshment, of which -you may avail yourself, if you choose; they have been provided for your -use."</p> - -<p>"And you—will you not join us?" asked the <i>hacendero</i>.</p> - -<p>"I am neither hungry nor thirsty; do not trouble yourself about me; -other duties claim my attention."</p> - -<p>Thinking it useless to insist, Don Pedro dismounted, lifted his -daughter from her saddle, and placed her on the turf beside the brook. -The horses were tethered, and all settled themselves to snatch a few -moments of repose.</p> - -<p>Stoneheart, after silently helping the <i>peones</i> to unload the mule -which carried the provisions, and spreading them out before Don Pedro -and his daughter, absented himself with hasty strides, and was soon -lost in the forest.</p> - -<p>"What a strange fellow!" said the <i>capataz</i>, while doing honour to the -food before him.</p> - -<p>"His conduct is incomprehensible," answered Don Pedro.</p> - -<p>"But I believe him honest, in spite of his rough manner," said Doña -Hermosa; "up to the present his proceedings towards us have been -irreproachable."</p> - -<p>"Very true," said her father; "yet he seems to display a coldness -which, I confess, makes me uneasy."</p> - -<p>"It is impossible to think ill of a man who, in spite of all, has shown -us nothing but kindness hitherto," replied Doña Hermosa, with a certain -degree of warmth of manner; "we owe him our lives, especially myself, -whom he saved from a certain and horrible death."</p> - -<p>"Very true, my daughter; yet all this is most difficult to account for."</p> - -<p>"Not the least in the world, father: this man, accustomed to live -amongst Indians, has unconsciously adopted their sententiousness, and -the reserve of their manners. What you consider coldness, is probably -no more than bashfulness in the presence of a class of persons he is -not accustomed to; and his want of knowledge of our habits prevents his -speaking."</p> - -<p>"It is not impossible that you may be right, my child; however, I -intend to ease my mind of this anxiety; and I will not leave him till I -have made an effort to loosen his tongue."</p> - -<p>"Why should you distress him, father? We cannot exact anything from -him, beyond leading us in safety to the <i>hacienda.</i> Let him do as he -likes, if he only fulfils the promise he made us."</p> - -<p>"All very well, señorita," objected the <i>capataz</i>; "but you must -confess that we should be seriously at a loss if he takes it into his -head not to come back."</p> - -<p>"That supposition is inadmissible, Don Luciano: his horse is feeding -with ours; besides, for what purpose should he commit such an -unwarrantable treason."</p> - -<p>"This man, in spite of the whiteness of his skin, is more an Indian -than an individual of our colour; and, right or wrong, señorita, I -distrust the redskins amazingly."</p> - -<p>"Moreover," added Don Pedro, "I cannot see what urgent business could -induce him to leave us all alone, and to plunge into the forest."</p> - -<p>"Who can tell, father?" said the girl shrewdly; "It may be he is gone -to do us some further service."</p> - -<p>"At all events, señorita," resumed the <i>capataz</i>, "I see one thing -very clearly, which is, that if this man does not come back again, our -position is still more frightful than it was yesterday, for then we had -our rifles. Today we are completely without weapons, and incapable of -defending ourselves if attacked by man or beast."</p> - -<p>"It is too true," cried the <i>hacendero</i>, turning pale; "our arms were -taken from us while we slept. I never thought of them before. What can -be the meaning of all this? Have we again fallen into a snare, and is -this man really a traitor?"</p> - -<p>"No, my father," replied the girl, with spirit; "he is innocent; I am -sure of it. You will soon acknowledge the injustice of your suspicions."</p> - -<p>"God grant it!" said Don Pedro, with a sigh.</p> - -<p>At this moment a sharp and prolonged whistle was heard at a distance. -At the sound the hunter's horse, which had been browsing peaceably, -pricked up his ears, and darting in the direction whence the whistle -was heard, gave a neigh of pleasure, and galloped off into the forest.</p> - -<p>"What did I tell you, señorita?" cried the <i>capataz</i>. "Do you believe -me now?"</p> - -<p>"No," she replied energetically; "I do not believe this man to be a -traitor. Strong as appearances may be against him, you will soon see -the injustice of your suspicions."</p> - -<p>"For this once, my daughter, I concur with Don Luciano; it is evident -that, for reasons of his own the miscreant has abandoned us."</p> - -<p>His daughter shook her head, but said nothing.</p> - -<p>The <i>hacendero</i> continued:</p> - -<p>"What shall we do? We must decide upon something or other; we cannot -stop here and wait for night."</p> - -<p>"It is my opinion," said the <i>capataz</i>, "that we have no other -alternative than to leave this place directly. Who knows whether the -wretch is not preparing to swoop down upon us this very moment, at the -head of a band of robbers like himself?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; but where are we to go? None of us knows the road," interposed -the <i>hacendero</i>.</p> - -<p>"Horses have an infallible instinct which never fails to direct them to -inhabited places. Let us throw the reins on their necks, and leave them -to choose their road."</p> - -<p>"It is a chance we might try; it might succeed. Let us set to work -without delay."</p> - -<p>"Father! In the name of Heaven," entreated Doña Hermosa, "Think of what -you are about to do. Do not act with a precipitation you would soon -regret. Wait a little while yet; it is scarcely midday, and an hour -more or less is of little importance."</p> - -<p>"I will not wait a minute, not a second!" violently exclaimed the -<i>hacendero</i>, rising to his feet. "Here, <i>muchachos!</i> Saddle the horses -quickly; we will be off."</p> - -<p>The <i>peones</i> hastened to obey.</p> - -<p>"Be careful, father," said the girl; "I hear the sound of a horse's -hoofs in the thicket; our guide is returning."</p> - -<p>The convictions of the <i>hacendero</i> were shaken by his daughter's -earnest appeal. He dropped on the turf again, making a sign to his -companion to do the like.</p> - -<p>Doña Hermosa had not deceived herself. The noise she had heard was -certainly the step—not perhaps of a horse, for it was slow and -heavy, but at all events of an animal of great size. It was obviously -approaching.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps it is a grizzly bear," muttered the <i>hacendero</i>.</p> - -<p>"Or a jaguar in search of prey," added the <i>capataz</i> in a low voice.</p> - -<p>The anxiety of the travellers was intense. Abandoned in the forest, -without arms to defend themselves, it was clear that they were lost if -a wild beast should really attack them; for flight was impossible, as -they knew not where to fly to.</p> - -<p>"You are mistaken," said Doña Hermosa, who alone had preserved her -presence of mind; "no danger threatens us. Look! The horses continue -feeding without showing the least alarm."</p> - -<p>"You are right," said Don Pedro; "they would have perceived the scent -of a wild beast—have been mad with fear, and taken to flight before -this."</p> - -<p>Suddenly the bushes parted, and the hunter made his appearance, leading -his horse by the bridle.</p> - -<p>"I was sure of it," cried Doña Hermosa in triumph; while her father and -the <i>capataz</i> cast down their eyes, blushing for shame.</p> - -<p>The features of the hunter were as cold and impassive as they had -been when he quitted the clearing, only their expression was more -sombre. His horse carried on his back a heavy bundle, oblong in shape, -carefully corded, and wrapped up in buffalo hide.</p> - -<p>"You must excuse me for having left you," he said in a voice that -sounded rather sadly; "I only perceived, when it was too late, that -you had been deprived of your weapons,—at least I suppose that to be -the case; for you cannot have forgotten to take them when you left the -<i>teocali</i>; and as it is more than probable you will have to defend -yourselves before you leave the wilderness, I have been to find arms -for you."</p> - -<p>"Is that the reason why you left us?"</p> - -<p>"Why I left you!" he answered quietly. "I brought you to this place -because a few paces off I have one of those <i>caches</i> (hiding places) -which we hunters fashion, here and there in the desert, to serve us in -time of need. But," he added in a bitter tone, "it has been discovered -and pillaged. On that account I whistled for my horse, whose help had -become indispensable; for I was obliged to go to another <i>cache</i> at -some distance. If it had not been for this mishap, I should have been -back at least half an hour ago."</p> - -<p>This explanation was given by the hunter without emphasis, and in the -tone of a man conscious he was merely relating a simple fact.</p> - -<p>He unloaded his horse, and opened the bale. It contained five American -rifles, knives, straight swords called <i>machetes</i>, powder, balls, and -hatchets.</p> - -<p>"Arm yourselves. The rifles are good; they will not fail you when the -time to use them arrives."</p> - -<p>The Mexicans did not wait to be asked twice; they were soon armed to -the teeth.</p> - -<p>"Now, at least," said the hunter, "you can defend yourselves like men, -instead of letting yourselves be butchered like deer."</p> - -<p>"Ah," sighed Doña Hermosa, "I was convinced he would act like this."</p> - -<p>"Thanks, señorita," was his response; "thanks for your trust in me."</p> - -<p>While he spoke these words, his features became animated, and his eyes -flashed; but he soon resumed the impassiveness of marble.</p> - -<p>"I promised to conduct you in safety to your home," he said, "and I -will do so."</p> - -<p>"Is there any danger to be feared?" inquired Don Pedro.</p> - -<p>"There is always danger," he replied bitterly, "in the desert more than -elsewhere."</p> - -<p>"Are we threatened with treachery?"</p> - -<p>"Ask me no questions; I will not reply to them. Listen to my words, and -profit by them. If you wish to preserve your scalps, you must place -implicit confidence in me, whatever I may do, and obey me, without fear -or hesitation, in everything I may order. All I shall do will be done -with but one aim—your safety. Do you consent to these conditions?"</p> - -<p>"We do," exclaimed Doña Hermosa fervently; "we will not doubt your -loyalty, and will act entirely according to your council."</p> - -<p>"I swear it," said the <i>hacendero</i>.</p> - -<p>"It is well; now I will be answerable for everything. Put aside all -anxiety. Do not speak to me; I have need to collect my thoughts."</p> - -<p>Bowing carelessly, he betook himself to a little distance, and seated -himself at the foot of a tree.</p> - -<p>In the meantime the curiosity of the Mexicans was strongly excited. -They comprehended that serious danger was impending, and that the -hunter was planning means to avert it; but now that they had excellent -weapons, horns full of powder, and balls, they looked at their position -in a new light, and, although their anxiety was still great, they did -not despair of being able to escape from the snares laid for their -feet.</p> - -<p>The hunter, after remaining motionless as a statue for nearly half an -hour, raised his head, calculated the time by the shadows of the trees, -and said, rising with some impetuosity,</p> - -<p>"To horse; it is time to go."</p> - -<p>The horses were soon saddled, and the travellers in their seats.</p> - -<p>"You will march in Indian file," continued the hunter; "follow exactly -in my steps."</p> - -<p>Instead of advancing in the direction he had taken hitherto, he rode -his horse into the rivulet, the course of which he followed until -he reached a spot where two other brooks contributed their waters. -Stoneheart chose the left hand brook, and followed its windings. The -Mexicans closely imitated this manoeuvre, riding in Indian file—the -head of each horse at the crupper of the one in front of him.</p> - -<p>The heat was stifling in the covert, where the circulation of the air, -impeded by the foliage, was scarcely perceptible. The deepest calm -prevailed through the forest; the birds, nestled under the leaves, had -ceased their songs; and nothing was heard but the monotonous humming of -innumerable myriads of mosquitoes hovering about the marshes.</p> - -<p>In the meantime the brook they were following increased by degrees till -it assumed the character of a river. Here and there, already, black -<i>chicots</i> (trees uprooted and carried down by the rivers, often forming -serious obstacles to navigation) began to make their appearance, on -which rosy flamingoes and herons stood on one leg; the banks right and -left became steeper, and the horses for some time past had been obliged -to swim.</p> - -<p>This unknown river, whose blue waters had never reflected anything -but the azure of the skies and the green dome formed by the trees -capriciously bending over its banks, presented to the eye a grand and -majestic sight, impressing the mind with a kind of melancholy calm and -religious awe.</p> - -<p>The travellers, silent as phantoms, continued their journey, swimming -slowly down the middle of the river, close at the heels of their guide, -whose eagle glance explored its banks. Arriving at a place where an -immense rock rose like a solitary watchtower, and formed an immense -vault overhanging the stream, Stoneheart slipped from his horse, whose -bridle he gave to Don Pedro, and swam under the arch, making a sign to -the others to pursue their course. He soon reappeared in one of those -Indian canoes which are built of birch bark, detached by means of -boiling water, and whose lightness is unequalled. With a few strokes -of the paddle he reached the travellers; the latter climbed into the -canoe, and their horses, relieved from the weight of their riders, were -able to swim with greater ease.</p> - -<p>Doña Hermosa was very glad of the change. Still suffering from her -wound, she began to feel much difficulty in keeping her seat on her -horse, although she exerted herself to the utmost to conceal her -fatigue. But the quick eye of the hunter had noticed her lassitude, and -he had brought the canoe for her relief.</p> - -<p>They still continued to advance in this manner for nearly an hour, -without any occurrence to disturb their tranquillity or make them -suspect the vicinity of an enemy. At last they reached a turn of the -river where the banks rose, for a considerable space, to a prodigious -height, and hemmed in the stream between two walls of rock terminating -in peaks. In the centre of the river arose a block of grayish granite, -about sixty yards in circumference, and towards it the hunter guided -the canoe. The Mexicans, at first astonished at this manoeuvre, were -not long before they comprehended it; for, when close in upon the rock, -they discovered that one of its faces sloped down in a gentle incline, -and in this face there yawned the mouth of a cavern.</p> - -<p>The canoe touched the ground; the travellers disembarked, and hastened -to bring the horses to land: the poor animals were spent with fatigue.</p> - -<p>"Come," said the hunter, shouldering the canoe; and the Mexicans -followed him.</p> - -<p>The cavern was spacious, and seemed to extend under water to a great -distance. The horses were stabled in a corner, and supplied with -provender.</p> - -<p>"Here," said the hunter, "we are as much in safety as it is possible -to be in the desert. If nothing comes to trouble us, we will pass the -night here, in order to give our horses the rest of which they stand -so much in need. You can light a fire without hesitation; the fissures -in the rock, which afford you light, will divide the smoke, and render -it invisible. Although I believe I have hidden our trail from those in -pursuit of us, it is still incumbent on me to make a reconnaissance -outside. Be not uneasy; present or absent, I watch over you. I will -return in an hour. But take heed not to show yourselves; in the virgin -forest, who can tell what eyes may be upon him? Adieu for a time."</p> - -<p>He went out, leaving his companions a prey to anxiety, which was -the more lively because, although well aware that some great danger -threatened, they could not foresee either whence or in what manner it -would fall on them, and because they were completely at the mercy of -a man whose character and ultimate intentions it was impossible to -divine.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></h4> - -<h3>THE SKIRMISH.</h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>Nature has rights she always enforces: whatever the anxiety of the -Mexicans, the fatigues they had endured during the whole of that -long day made them feel the imperious necessity of recruiting their -strength; so, after a few gloomy reflections on their critical and -almost desperate situation, Don Pedro ordered the <i>peones</i> to light a -fire and prepare the evening meal.</p> - -<p>Men whose physical faculties are more frequently called into exertion -than their minds, never forget to eat and sleep, whatever situation -chance may place them in; appetite and sleep never fail them. The -reason is simple: constantly exposed to Titanic struggles with man or -the elements, their natural forces must be maintained in an equal ratio -with the efforts they have to make to surmount the obstacles which -oppose, or the perils which threaten them.</p> - -<p>The meal was sad and silent; the Mexicans were too deeply impressed by -the approach of night, the time habitually chosen by the redskins for -their attacks, to care for exchanging many words.</p> - -<p>The hunter's absence was protracted; already, for more than two hours, -the sun had disappeared behind the high mountaintops; thick darkness -enveloped the earth as with a shroud; not a star twinkled in the sky; -and great black clouds coursed through space, completely veiling the -orb of the moon.</p> - -<p>The <i>hacendero</i> would not resign to any other the duty of watching -over the common safety. Lying face downwards on the platform, so -that he might not be visible if an unseen enemy were lying in wait, -he anxiously scanned the dark line of the water. At his side lay the -<i>capataz</i>, who, equally with himself, had no wish to attempt a repose -which he knew to be impossible.</p> - -<p>The high cliffs of the banks were bare and deserted; only at one place, -where the shore was accessible, they saw black shapes moving for a few -seconds, with hoarse and angry growls, and then disappearing. These -black forms were evidently wild animals, slaking their thirst in the -river before repairing to their layers.</p> - -<p>"Come!" suddenly exclaimed a deep and determined voice in the ear of -the Mexican.</p> - -<p>Don Pedro turned round, repressing a cry of astonishment; the hunter -stood by him, leaning on his rifle.</p> - -<p>The three men entered the cavern. The remains of the fire which had -been lighted for the evening meal diffused light enough to distinguish -objects.</p> - -<p>"You are very late," said the <i>hacendero</i>.</p> - -<p>"I have traversed six leagues since I left you," replied the hunter; -"but that is no matter. A man, whose name you need not know at present, -has resolved to prevent your reaching the <i>hacienda.</i> A party of -Apaches is on our trail. All my precautions have not availed to conceal -our tracks from these cunning demons, whose piercing eyes would detect -in the air the trail of the eagle's flight. They are encamped close by; -they are preparing rafts and canoes to attack you."</p> - -<p>"Are there many of them?" inquired the <i>hacendero</i>.</p> - -<p>"No; not above a score at most, of whom only six or seven are armed -with rifles; the rest have but bows and lances. Knowing you to be -without arms, or at least believing so, they count upon carrying you -off without striking a blow."</p> - -<p>"Who is the man who is so inveterate against us?"</p> - -<p>"What is that to you? He is a strange and mysterious being, whose life -is one continual round of dark conspiracies; his mind is an abyss which -no one has dared to sound, the depths of which even he himself, who -fears nothing in the world, would dread to fathom. But enough of him. -You are to be attacked in two hours; three chances of escape from the -fate prepared for you are open to you."</p> - -<p>"And what are these chances?" said the <i>hacendero</i>.</p> - -<p>"The first is, to remain here, await the attack, and make a vigorous -resistance. The Apaches, alarmed at finding armed and on their guard -the men whom they hoped to surprise weaponless and defenceless, may -lose courage, and retreat."</p> - -<p>Doña Hermosa, aroused by the sound of voices, had approached, and was -listening attentively.</p> - -<p>The <i>hacendero</i> shook his head. "The chance seems hazardous," he said; -"for if our enemies succeeded in setting foot on the rock, they would -overpower us by dint of numbers, and make themselves masters of our -persons."</p> - -<p>"That would most probably be the case," said the hunter, coolly.</p> - -<p>"Let us hear the second chance; the one already proposed seems -impracticable."</p> - -<p>"This rock communicates, by a subterraneous passage under the bed of -the river, with another rock, a good distance from the place where -we now are. I will lead you to that rock; when we get there, we will -embark in the canoe; having reached the opposite bank of the river, we -will mount, and trust our safety to the speed of our horses."</p> - -<p>"I should prefer this chance, if our horses were not so worn out that a -night flight across the wilderness would be almost an impossibility."</p> - -<p>"The redskins know as well as I do all the outlets from the rock on -which we have taken refuge. Most likely they have already guarded the -passage by which we might hope to escape."</p> - -<p>"Alas!" said the <i>hacendero</i>, sorrowfully, "With all your good -intention to help us, the chances you propose are against us."</p> - -<p>"I know it; unfortunately, it does not depend upon me to make them -otherwise."</p> - -<p>"And lastly," resumed Don Pedro, with much resignation, "what is the -third chance?"</p> - -<p>"I am afraid you will find the last more desperate than the other two. -It is a rash and dangerous undertaking, which might perhaps offer a -hope of success if we had not with us a woman, whom we must not expose -to one peril in order to save her from another."</p> - -<p>"Then it is useless to name it," said the <i>hacendero</i>, with a mournful -look at his daughter.</p> - -<p>"You are wrong, father," said Doña Hermosa, with much animation; "let -us hear, at least, what this chance is. Perhaps it is the only good -one. Explain, señor," continued she, addressing the hunter. "After all -you have done for us, we should be ungrateful not to listen to your -counsel. I am convinced that what you hesitate to propose, for my sake, -is the only means of safety open to us."</p> - -<p>"That may be," answered the hunter; "but I repeat, señorita, that the -means are impracticable—you being with us."</p> - -<p>The girl drew herself up, a gay smile played about her rosy lips, and, -commencing her speech in a voice slightly ironical, she said:</p> - -<p>"You surely think me very weak and pusillanimous, señor, since you dare -not speak out. I am but a woman, it is true, and feeble, as we all are; -but I think I have proved to you, in the few hours during which we have -travelled together, that my heart is above vulgar fears; and that if -my physical strength is not equal to my moral energy, my will triumphs -over my woman's weakness, and makes me superior to circumstances, let -them be what they will."</p> - -<p>Stoneheart listened attentively to the beautiful girl. The mask of -impassiveness which covered his features melted away at the sound of -that melodious voice, and a deep blush suffused his face.</p> - -<p>"Pardon me, señorita," he said in a voice which the secret feelings -agitating him caused to waver; "I was wrong; I will speak out."</p> - -<p>"Good!" said she, with a pleasant smile; "I knew what your answer would -be."</p> - -<p>"The Apaches," began the hunter, "are encamped, as I have told you, at -a short distance from the bank of the river. Certain that they will -not be molested, they keep no watch; they sleep, drink the firewater, -and await the time for attacking you. We are six men, well armed and -determined; we know that our safety depends on the success of our -expedition. Let us land on the island, surprise the redskins, and fall -on them boldly. Perhaps we may succeed in opening ourselves a passage, -and in that case we shall be saved, for they will not pursue us after -they have been defeated. This is my proposal."</p> - -<p>There was a long silence; it was Doña Hermosa who broke it.</p> - -<p>"You were wrong in hesitating to acquaint us with this project," said -she, fervently; "it is the only one practicable. It is better to meet -danger halfway than to tremble in cowardly expectation of its advent. -Let us go! Let us go! We have not a minute to lose."</p> - -<p>"Daughter," exclaimed Don Pedro, "you are mad! Remember, we are going -to expose ourselves to almost certain death."</p> - -<p>"Be it so, my father," she replied, with feverish energy; "our fate is -in the hands of God, whose protection has been so evident thus far, -that I believe He will not abandon us now."</p> - -<p>"The señorita is right," cried the <i>capataz</i>; "let us smoke these -demons out of their lair. This hunter, to whom I make my most humble -apologies for having suspected his loyalty for an instant, will supply -us with the means of arriving, without being discovered, at the camp of -the Apaches."</p> - -<p>"I can but do my best," said the hunter modestly.</p> - -<p>"Let us go, then, since needs must," said the <i>hacendero</i>, with a sigh.</p> - -<p>The <i>peones</i>, who had not mingled in the conversation, seized their -rifles with an air of determination which proved them resolved to do -their duty.</p> - -<p>"Follow me," said the hunter, lighting a torch of <i>ocote</i> wood, to show -the way.</p> - -<p>Without another word, the Mexicans plunged into the depth of the -cavern, taking with them the horses whose strength had been thoroughly -recruited by their rest of so many hours.</p> - -<p>They continued pushing their way through the subterranean passage. -Overhead they heard the dull and ceaseless noise of the waters; -thousands of night birds, dazzled by the unwonted light of the torch, -awoke from their slumbers, and wheeled around, uttering mournful and -discordant cries.</p> - -<p>At the end of half an hour's rapid march, the hunter halted.</p> - -<p>"Wait for me here," he said, and passed on rapidly, after delivering -the torch to the <i>capataz</i>.</p> - -<p>Shortly after, he returned.</p> - -<p>"Come," said he, "all goes well."</p> - -<p>They followed him anew. Suddenly a fresh, cool breeze met their faces, -and through the obscurity before them they saw two or three points of -light glittering. They had reached the other rock.</p> - -<p>"We must now redouble our caution," said the hunter; "those points -of light you see shining through the mist are the campfires of the -Apaches. Their ear is fine; the least noise would betray our presence."</p> - -<p>The canoe was launched again; the Mexicans embarked, the <i>capataz</i>, at -the stern of the frail bark, holding the reins of the horses, which -followed swimming.</p> - -<p>Crossing occupied only a few minutes, and the canoe soon grated against -the sandy beach.</p> - -<p>Nothing could be better than the place chosen by the hunter. A high -rock threw over the water, to a considerable distance, so dark a -shadow, that it was impossible to distinguish the travellers ten paces -off.</p> - -<p>The forest, scarcely twenty yards from the shore, offered, amongst its -thickets, immediate protection to the fugitives.</p> - -<p>"The señorita will remain here, with one <i>peon</i> to guard the horses," -said the hunter; "we others will attempt the surprise."</p> - -<p>"Not so," exclaimed the girl resolutely. "I want no one here. You would -miss the man you wish to leave with me. Give me a pistol, to defend -myself in case of attack, and go."</p> - -<p>"Nevertheless, señorita—"</p> - -<p>"It is my will," she peremptorily exclaimed. "Go, and God be with you!"</p> - -<p>The <i>hacendero</i> convulsively pressed his daughter to his bosom.</p> - -<p>"Courage, my father!" she cried, while she embraced him; "Courage; all -will end well."</p> - -<p>She took a pistol from him, and left him, waving her adieu.</p> - -<p>The hunter for the last time warned his companions to be cautious; and -the men set off, following his exact footsteps in the forest.</p> - -<p>After marching half an hour in Indian file, they saw the fires of the -Apaches glimmering close by.</p> - -<p>At a sign from the hunter, the Mexicans threw themselves on the -ground, and began to crawl forward in silence, advancing with extreme -precaution inch by inch, their ears on the watch, and ready to fire at -the first suspicious movement of the enemy.</p> - -<p>But nothing stirred: most of the Apaches slept, plunged, as Stoneheart -had asserted, in the brutal drunkenness caused by the abuse of the -firewater.</p> - -<p>Only three or four warriors, easily recognised as chiefs by the vulture -plumes they wore in their hair, were squatting around the fire, smoking -with the mechanical gravity characteristic of the Indian.</p> - -<p>By the hunter's order, the Mexicans slowly arose, and each man -sheltered himself behind the trunk of a tree.</p> - -<p>"I leave you here," whispered Stoneheart. "I am going to enter the -camp. Keep still as death; and, whatever may happen, do not fire before -you see me throw my cap on the ground."</p> - -<p>He disappeared among the underwood.</p> - -<p>From the spot where the travellers were hidden, they could easily see -all that took place in the camp of the redskins, and even hear what was -said; for only a few yards separated them from the fire round which the -<i>sachems</i> crouched.</p> - -<p>With bodies ensconced behind the trees, their fingers on the triggers -of their rifles, their eyes fixed in feverish impatience on the camp, -the Mexicans awaited the signal to give fire.</p> - -<p>The few minutes preceding a night attack are very solemn. A man left -alone with his thoughts on such an occasion, about to risk his life -in pitiless strife, however brave he may be, feels himself seized by -an instinctive dread, which sends a cold shudder thrilling through -his frame. In that supreme hour he sees his whole life pass, as in -a dream, with giddy rapidity before him, and the most abiding and -predominant sensation is the thought of that which is to happen beyond -the grave,—the dread unknown.</p> - -<p>Some ten minutes had elapsed since the departure of the hunter, when -a slight noise was heard in the brushwood on the opposite side of the -camp to that where the Mexicans lay in ambush.</p> - -<p>The Apache chiefs turned their heads negligently, the bushes parted, -and Stoneheart made his appearance in the circle of light caused by the -watch fires.</p> - -<p>The hunter slowly approached the chiefs. When close to them, he -stopped, and bowed ceremoniously, but without speaking.</p> - -<p>The <i>sachems</i> returned the salute with the innate good breeding of the -redskins.</p> - -<p>"My brother is welcome," said a chief. "Will he sit by the council -fire?"</p> - -<p>"No," said the hunter; "my time is short."</p> - -<p>"My brother is prudent," resumed the chief; "he has abandoned the -palefaces, because he knows that the Tigercat has delivered them over -to the barbed arrows of the Apache warriors."</p> - -<p>"I have not abandoned the palefaces: my brother deceives himself. I -have sworn to defend them; I will do so."</p> - -<p>"That is against the orders of the Tigercat."</p> - -<p>"I take no orders from him. I hate treachery. I will not let the -redskin braves accomplish what they meditate."</p> - -<p>"Oh!" grunted the <i>sachem;</i> "My brother lifts his voice very high. I -have heard the hawk mock at the eagle, but a blow of its mighty wing -crushed the hawk to powder."</p> - -<p>"A truce to sarcasm, chief. You are one of the most renowned braves -of your tribe, and cannot consent to become the agent of an infamous -treachery. The Tigercat has received these travellers in his <i>calli;</i> -he has treated them with hospitality. Is not hospitality sacred in the -desert?"</p> - -<p>The Apache burst into a laugh.</p> - -<p>"The Tigercat is a great chief; he would neither eat nor drink with the -palefaces."</p> - -<p>"It is an unworthy artifice."</p> - -<p>"The palefaces are thievish dogs. The Apaches will take their scalps."</p> - -<p>"Wretch!" cried the hunter; "I too am a paleface. Come and take my -scalp."</p> - -<p>And, rapid as thought, he cast on the ground the cap of fur which -covered his head, and at the same instant precipitated himself on the -Indian chief, and plunged his knife into his heart.</p> - -<p>Five shots were heard simultaneously with this action, and the -remaining chiefs sitting round the fire rolled to the ground in their -death agony.</p> - -<p>The <i>sachems</i> were the only Indians with rifles.</p> - -<p>"Forward! Forward!" shouted the hunter; and seizing his rifle by the -muzzle, he hurled himself into the midst of the panic-stricken Apaches.</p> - -<p>The Mexicans after their first fire, rushed into the camp to reinforce -the guide.</p> - -<p>Then a terrible struggle commenced—six men against fifteen—a struggle -all the more fierce and desperate because each man knew he could expect -no mercy.</p> - -<p>Happily for themselves, the whites were armed with pistols. These they -discharged point-blank in the face of their opponents, attacking them -afterwards with the sabre.</p> - -<p>The Indians had been so completely surprised—they had so little -expected to have to sustain such a vigorous onslaught from men who -seemed to have emerged from the earth, and whose numbers they were far -from suspecting—that half of them had been killed before the rest -could recover from their fright, or attempt serious resistance. When at -last they essayed an organised defence, it was too late. The Mexicans -pressed them so hard, that a longer resistance was impossible.</p> - -<p>"Hold!" shouted the hunter.</p> - -<p>Whites and redskins lowered their arms at once.</p> - -<p>The hunter continued: "Warriors of the Apaches, throw down your arms!"</p> - -<p>They obeyed; and at a signal from the guide, the Mexicans bound their -opponents without further difficulty.</p> - -<p>As soon as the redskins acknowledged their defeat, they awaited, with -complete apathy and their usual fatalism, the doom their victors might -think fit to impose upon them.</p> - -<p>Out of twenty Apache braves, only eight remained alive: the rest had -fallen.</p> - -<p>"At sunrise," said the hunter, "I will come and release you from your -bonds. Till then, stir not! I pardon once; never a second time."</p> - -<p>The Mexicans collected all the arms, freed all the horses tethered at -one side of the camp, drove them into the forest, where they were soon -lost to sight, and left the Apaches.</p> - -<p>"And now," exclaimed the hunter, "let us return to the señorita."</p> - -<p>"But," enquired Don Pedro, "is it really your intention to restore -these men to liberty?"</p> - -<p>"Assuredly. Would you have me leave them to be devoured by wild beasts?"</p> - -<p>"It would be no great misfortune," answered the rancorous <i>capataz</i>.</p> - -<p>"Are they not men, like ourselves?"</p> - -<p>"They are so little like ourselves, that it is hardly worth mention," -said the <i>capataz</i>.</p> - -<p>"And will you really dare to place yourself in the power of these -ferocious beings, exasperated as they are by defeat?" asked the -<i>hacendero</i>. "Do you not fear they will assassinate you?"</p> - -<p>"These men!" replied the hunter in disdain; "They would not dare."</p> - -<p>Don Pedro could not repress his amazement.</p> - -<p>"The redskins are the most vindictive of men," said he.</p> - -<p>"True," was the reply; "but I am not a man in their eyes."</p> - -<p>"What then?"</p> - -<p>"An evil spirit," murmured the hunter in a hoarse whisper.</p> - -<p>By this time they had reached the place where they had left their -horses.</p> - -<p>The noise of the combat had extended itself to the spot where Doña -Hermosa was waiting; but that courageous girl, far from suffering -herself to be overcome by the very natural fear she experienced, -understood the importance of the post confided to her, and remained -firmly on her guard, a pistol in each hand, attentively listening to -every sound in the forest, ready to defend herself, and resolute to die -sooner than fall into the hands of the Indians.</p> - -<p>Her father having explained to her what had occurred, they began their -journey at the best speed of their horses.</p> - -<p>The whole night passed without slackening their pace. At sunrise they -had cleared the forest, and there lay the bare wilderness, extending to -the horizon.</p> - -<p>They continued their route for two more hours, when they halted.</p> - -<p>The hunter addressed them: "We must part here." He spoke in a firm, -voice, yet unable completely to conceal the feeling of sorrow which -pervaded him.</p> - -<p>"So soon!" said the girl naively</p> - -<p>"Thanks for that expression of regret, señorita; but I must go. You are -but a few miles from your <i>hacienda:</i> the road is easy; my help is no -longer needful."</p> - -<p>"We must not part thus, señor," said the <i>hacendero</i>, holding out his -hand; "I owe you too many obligations."</p> - -<p>"Forget them, <i>caballero</i>," vehemently exclaimed the young hunter; -"forget me too: we must never meet again. You return to civilised life, -I to the desert. Our roads are far apart; for your sake and for mine, -pray that we never again stand face to face. Only," he added, lifting -his eyes to the señorita, "I carry with me a memory of you which can -never be effaced. And now, farewell! Yonder are the <i>vaqueros</i> of your -<i>hacienda</i> approaching to meet you. You are in safety."</p> - -<p>He bent his head to his saddlebow, tuned his horse, and began to gallop -away. But, looking back, he perceived Doña Hermosa riding after him.</p> - -<p>"Stay," she exclaimed.</p> - -<p>He obeyed mechanically.</p> - -<p>"Look," said she, presenting to him a slender gold ring; "of all my -possessions, I value this ring the most; it belonged to my mother whom -I never knew. Keep it in memory of me, señor."</p> - -<p>The señorita rode off, leaving the ring in his hand without giving him -time to reply.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a></h4> - -<h3>THE PUEBLO (THE TOWN).</h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>After the Spanish rule had been firmly established in the New -World, the government, to hold the Indians, in cheek, constructed -fortified posts, at certain distances, on the extreme limits of their -possessions. These posts were called <i>presidios</i>, and were peopled by -criminals of every degree of whom it was deemed prudent to clear the -mother country. The <i>presidio</i> of San Lucar, on the Rio Bermejo, was -one of the first established.</p> - -<p>At the epoch of the foundation of this <i>presidio</i>, the post consisted -solely of a fort built on the north bank, on a steep cliff which -commands the river, the plains to the south, and the surrounding -country.</p> - -<p>It is square in form, built with very thick walls of hewn stone, and -flanked by three bastions,—two on the river, to east and west, the -third in the plain.</p> - -<p>The interior contains the chapel, priest's house and the powder -magazine; on the other sides are the old dwelling places of the -prisoners, spacious buildings for the commandant, the treasurer, and -officers of the garrison, and likewise a small hospital.</p> - -<p>All these buildings, only one story high, were finished off with -flat Italian roofs. Outside, the government had also constructed vast -granaries, a bakery, a mill, two workshops for saddlers and carpenters, -and two <i>ranchos</i> appropriated to the horses and cattle.</p> - -<p>In these days the fort is almost in ruins the walls, for want of -repair, are crumbling in all directions; only the dwellings are kept in -tolerable condition.</p> - -<p>The <i>presidio</i> of San Lucar is divided into three sections,—two to -the north, the third to the south of the river.</p> - -<p>Its general aspect is melancholy. A few sparse trees grow here and -there, in close contiguity to the river, manifesting, by their want -of vitality, how ungrateful is the soil from which they draw their -existence. The roads are covered with a pulverulent sand, throwing up -clouds of dust at the least motion in the atmosphere.</p> - -<p>Three days after the events recorded in our last chapter, at about -two o'clock in the afternoon, five or six <i>vaqueros</i> and <i>leperos</i> -were seated at a table in the drinking room of a <i>pulquería</i> (a public -house) of New San Lucar, which is situated on the south bank of the -river, and disputed vehemently, while they emptied, at long draughts, -the <i>pulque</i> in the cups which circulated among them.</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Canarios!</i>" exclaimed a tall and meagre fellow, with the mien and -air of a brazen-faced scoundrel, "Are we not free men? If Señor Don -Louis Pedrosa, our governor, persist in fleecing us in this fashion, -the Tigercat is not too far off for a man to come to an understanding -with him. Though he chooses to be an Indian chief today, he is a white -man without alloy, and a <i>caballero</i> to the tips of his fingers."</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Calla la voz!</i> be silent, Pablito!" said another; "You had better -swallow your words with your <i>pulque</i> than utter such folly."</p> - -<p>"I will speak!" said Pablito, who was washing the inside of his throat -more than the others.</p> - -<p>"Do you not know that invisible eyes are watching us from the shade, -and that ears are open to gather up our words, and profit by them?"</p> - -<p>"There you are again," replied the first speaker: "always in fear, -Carlocho! I have no more respect for a spy than for an old <i>cuarta</i>" -(hag).</p> - -<p>"Pablito!" exclaimed the other, placing his finger on his lips.</p> - -<p>"What! Am I not right? Why does Don Louis bear us so much malice?"</p> - -<p>"You are wrong," interrupted a third, with a laugh. "Don Louis, on the -contrary, is only too fond of you so he always keeps you under his -thumb."</p> - -<p>"This devil of a <i>verado</i> has a wit fit for such a rascal as he," -roared Pablito, with shouts of laughter.</p> - -<p>"Well, after us the end of the world."</p> - -<p>"In the meantime let us drink," said the <i>verado</i>.</p> - -<p>"Good! Let us drink, and drown care. Have we not Don Fernando Carril -to help us when our purses run dry?"</p> - -<p>"Another name which ought to have stuck in your throat," said Carlocho, -striking the table in his irritation with his fist. "Can you never hold -your tongue, cursed dog?"</p> - -<p>Pablito frowned, and, looking angrily across the table, exclaimed: "Do -you pretend to give me a lesson, <i>amigo? ¡Canarios!</i> You begin to put -my blood up."</p> - -<p>"A lesson? And why not, when you deserve it?" replied the other, -without stirring. "<i>Caray</i> these two hours you have been drinking like -a sponge; you are full as a vat, and talk as wildly as an old woman. -Hold your tongue, or go to sleep."</p> - -<p>"<i>Mil rayos</i>," growled Pablito, sticking his knife violently into the -table; "You shall answer for this!"</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Vive Dios!</i> A blood-letting will do you good. My hand itches to give -you a <i>navajada</i> (a stroke with a knife) across your hideous snout."</p> - -<p>"Hideous snout, did you say?" and Pablito threw himself upon Carlocho, -who awaited his onset firmly.</p> - -<p>The other <i>vaqueros</i> and <i>leperos</i> threw themselves between the pair, -to prevent the meeting.</p> - -<p>"¡Halloa, <i>caballeros!</i>" cried the <i>pulquero</i> (innkeeper), thinking it -necessary to interfere. "Peace! in the name of God or the devil! No -quarrels in my house: if you wish for satisfaction, the street is free."</p> - -<p>"The <i>pulquero</i> is right!" screamed Pablito. "Come, if you are a man!"</p> - -<p>"Gladly!" cried Carlocho; and the two <i>vaqueros</i> rushed into the street.</p> - -<p>As to the worthy <i>pulquero</i>, he stood at his door, his hands in the -pockets of his <i>calzoneras</i> (loose trousers), and whistled a <i>jarana</i> -(a dance tune), while expecting the fight.</p> - -<p>Pablito and Carlocho wrapped the left arm in the <i>zarapé</i> for a shield, -took off their hats and saluted with much affectation, drew their long -knives from their girdles, and, without exchanging a word, stood on -their guard with remarkable coolness.</p> - -<p>In this kind of duel—the only one, by the by, known in -Mexico—satisfaction consists in slashing the adversary in the face. -A blow delivered below the girdle would be considered a piece of -treachery unworthy of a true <i>caballero.</i></p> - -<p>The two opponents, firmly planted with legs apart, bodies inclined, and -heads thrown back, watched each other fixedly, in order to forestall a -movement, parry a blow, or inflict a wound. The rest of the <i>vaqueros</i>, -with their delicate maize cigarettes in their mouths, looked on -composedly, and applauded every adroit thrust or parry.</p> - -<p>The fight was continued for some minutes, with equal success on -either side, when Pablito, whose sight was most likely obfuscated by -his copious potations, came to the parry a second too late, and felt -the point of Carlocho's knife rip the skin of his face from chin to -forehead.</p> - -<p>"Bravo! Bravo!" exclaimed all the <i>vaqueros</i> at once. "Well hit!"</p> - -<p>The combatants, flattered by this approbation, stepped away from each -other, bowed to the spectators, sheathed their knives, saluted one -another with exquisite courtesy, and having first shaken hands, went -into the <i>pulquería</i> once more.</p> - -<p>The <i>vaqueros</i> are a peculiar race of men, whose ways and manners are -quite distinct from the customs known in Europe. Those of San Lucar -may serve as a type. Born on the Indian frontiers they have contracted -sanguinary habits, and their disregard of life is remarkable. -Inveterate gamblers, the cards are never out of their hands; and play -is a fruitful source of quarrels, in which the knife is constantly -called into requisition. Careless of the future, little heedful of -present trouble, and enduring physical suffering hardily, they look -upon death with as much contempt as on life, and recoil before no -danger.</p> - -<p>These men—who often abandon their families in order to live a life -of greater license among the savage hordes of the desert; who, in -shear wantonness, spill the blood of their fellow creatures; who are -implacable in their hate—these men are capable of ardent friendship, -and of extraordinary devotedness and self-denial. Their character -presents a curious mixture of good and evil, of unbridled vice and -sterling qualities. They are at one and the same time idle, gamblers, -quarrelsome, drunkards, ferocious, brave to rashness and devoted heart -and soul to a friend, or the patron of their choice. From infancy blood -runs like water from their hands during the period of the <i>matanza -del ganado</i> (slaughtering the cattle); and this familiarity with the -crimson stains hardens them to the sight of human gore. Lastly, their -jokes are as coarse as their habits, the threat of using the knife on -quite frivolous occasions being the most delicate and the most common.</p> - -<p>While the <i>vaqueros</i>, reseated at the table in the <i>pulquería</i>, were -pouring libations to their reconciliation, and drowning the remembrance -of the petty incident in floods of <i>pulque</i> and <i>mezcal</i> (a coarse kind -of brandy), a man entered, muffled in the folds of a thick cloak, and -with the wide brim of his hat pulled over his eyes. Approaching the -table without uttering a word, he cast a look of seeming indifference -around, lighted a cigarette at the brazier, and struck three blows upon -it with a large piastre he held between his fingers.</p> - -<p>The noise, which appeared to be a signal, startled the three -<i>vaqueros</i>. They dropped the noisy conversation they were engaged in, -as if suddenly struck by an electric shock, and became as still as -death. Pablito and Carlocho began to tremble, seeking all the while to -discover the features of the new arrival under the folds of his cloak; -while the <i>verado</i> turned his head on one side to hide his crafty -smiles.</p> - -<p>The stranger cast his half-consumed cigar into the brazier, and -retired from the filthy room in the same silence in which he came.</p> - -<p>An instant later, Pablito, who was stanching his bleeding cheek, -and Carlocho, making a pretence of important business, quitted the -<i>pulquería</i>. The <i>verado</i> glided along the wall to the door, and -followed at their heels.</p> - -<p>"Holloa!" muttered the <i>pulquero</i>, "Here are three <i>pícaros</i> -(villains), who seem to be concocting some devil's job, in which more -broken heads than <i>duros</i> (dollars) are to be gained. <i>¡Caray!</i> That is -their lookout."</p> - -<p>The remaining <i>vaqueros</i>, completely absorbed in a game at <i>monte</i>, -and bending over their cards, appeared scarcely to have noticed the -departure of their comrades.</p> - -<p>At some little distance from the <i>pulquería</i> the stranger looked back. -The two <i>vaqueros</i> were walking close behind him, talking carelessly, -as if they were two idlers strolling along. The <i>verado</i> was not to be -seen.</p> - -<p>The stranger went on his way again, after making a scarcely perceptible -sign to the two men, and pursued a road which, in a gentle curve, -gradually retired from the river, and led, little by little, into the -fields. At the exit from the <i>pueblo</i> this road took a sharp angle, and -narrowed suddenly into a path, which lost itself in the plain among -many more.</p> - -<p>Just at the bend in the road, a cavalier, trotting hurriedly in the -direction of the <i>presidio</i>, passed close to the three men; but, -immersed in their thoughts, neither stranger nor <i>vaqueros</i> took -notice of him. As to the cavalier, he darted a rapid and piercing look -at them, and gradually slackened his horse's speed, which he stopped -altogether a few yards further on.</p> - -<p>"God forgive me!" he said to himself; that is Don Fernando Carril, or -else the devil in flesh and bone. That fool, Zapote, has missed him -again, then! What business can he have out here, in company with those -two bandits, who look like agents of Satan? May I never be Torribio -Quiroga if I don't find out, and if I do not put myself on their traces.</p> - -<p>Señor Don Torribio Quiroga was an individual of not more than -thirty-five, with a rather stout figure, under the middle height. But -to make up for it, the squareness of his shoulders, and thick-set -limbs, gave unmistakable evidence of great muscular power. Little grey -eyes, lively, and sparkling with malice and audacity, lit up a face -which was perhaps somewhat vulgar. He was dressed in the costume of all -Mexicans of a certain rank.</p> - -<p>He dismounted, and looked about for somebody to hold his horse, -but could see no one; for, at San Lucar, and especially in the new -<i>pueblo</i>, it was almost a miracle to meet two persons passing through -the streets at the same time. He stamped in anger, threw the reins over -his arm, and led his horse to the <i>pulquería</i> whence the <i>vaqueros</i> had -come, confiding him to the care of the landlord.</p> - -<p>Having carefully completed this duty—for the Mexican's dearest friend -is his horse—Don Torribio retraced his steps with the most minute -precaution, like a man who wishes to see without himself being seen.</p> - -<p>The <i>vaqueros</i> had gained considerably upon him, and disappeared behind -a hillock of shifting sand just at the moment when he turned the angle -of the lane: however, he soon saw them again as they were toiling up a -steep and rough path leading to a clump of trees, which by chance or -some caprice of nature had shot up among the arid sands.</p> - -<p>Sure of finding them now, Don Torribio began to walk more slowly, and -lit a cigar, to keep himself in countenance in case of surprise, or to -prevent any casual suspicion of his intentions. Luckily, the <i>vaqueros</i> -never looked back once, but entered the wood close upon the heels of -the man recognised by Don Torribio as Don Fernando Carril.</p> - -<p>When, in his turn, Don Torribio arrived at the margin of the wood, he -took good care not to walk straight into it. He first made a slight -<i>détour</i> to the right; then, bending down to the ground, he commenced -crawling on hands and knees, taking special care to avoid any noise -that might excite the attention of the <i>vaqueros</i>.</p> - -<p>The sound of voices soon reached him. Gently raising his head, he -perceived, in a small clearing close at hand, the figures of the three -men, who had stopped, and were engaged in a lively conversation. He -rose from the ground, and hid himself behind a maple tree.</p> - -<p>Don Fernando Carril had dropped his cloak, leaning with his shoulders -against a tree, and, with his legs crossed, he was listening with -visible impatience to what Pablito was saying.</p> - -<p>The hands of Don Fernando were small, and delicately gloved; his feet, -showing the nobility of his blood by their diminutive size, were -encased in varnished boots,—a luxury unheard of in these distant -regions. His costume, of amazing richness, was absolutely identical in -shape with that of the <i>vaqueros</i>. A diamond of immense value fastened -the collar of his shirt; and his <i>zarapé</i> was worth more than five -hundred piastres. For the present, we will conclude the portrait here.</p> - -<p>Two years before our narrative commences, Don Fernando Carril had -arrived at San Lucar, knowing nobody; and everyone had asked, Who -is he? Where does he come from? Whence does he derive his riches? -And where do his estates lie? Don Fernando bought a <i>hacienda</i> a few -leagues from San Lucar. Under pretence of defending it against the -Indians, he fortified it, surrounded it with palisades and a moat, -and furnished it with two small pieces of cannon. In this way he had -kept his doings secret, and curiosity at bay. Although he never opened -his <i>hacienda</i> to receive a guest, he was himself received by the -first inhabitants of San Lucar, whom he visited most assiduously, till -suddenly, to the great amazement of all, he disappeared for several -months.</p> - -<p>The ladies missed their practice in smiles and ogling, the men their -occupation of contriving adroit questions to entrap Don Fernando. -Don Louis Pedrosa, whose post as governor gave him a right to be -inquisitive, could not help feeling uneasy about the stranger; but, -wearied with conjecture, he was obliged to trust to time, which, sooner -or later, reveals all mysteries. Nothing more was known of the man who -was standing in the clearing, listening to Pablito.</p> - -<p>"Enough!" said this personage, interrupting Pablito, in a fit of -passion; "You are a dog, and a dog's son."</p> - -<p>"Señor!" exclaimed the latter.</p> - -<p>"I feel inclined to crush you, wretch!"</p> - -<p>"A threat! And to me!" shouted the <i>vaquero</i> white with fury, and -unsheathing his knife.</p> - -<p>Don Fernando seized the man's fist with his gloved hand, and gave it -such a sudden and violent wrench, that the <i>vaquero</i> dropped his weapon -with a groan.</p> - -<p>"Down on your knees, and ask for pardon!" the don went on, hurling the -wretch to the ground.</p> - -<p>"No! I will die first!"</p> - -<p>"Begone! You are a brute beast!"</p> - -<p>The <i>vaquero</i> staggered as he rose; his eyes were bloodshot, his lips -blue; his whole body trembled. He picked up his knife, and approached -Don Fernando, who stood there with folded arms.</p> - -<p>"It is true; yes, I am a brute beast; but, nevertheless, I am devoted -to you. Forgive me, or kill me, but do not bid me begone."</p> - -<p>"Go! I tell you."</p> - -<p>"And you have no more to say to me?"</p> - -<p>"It is my last word; vex me no more."</p> - -<p>"Your last word to me? Then I go—to the devil!" And he raised his -weapon to kill himself.</p> - -<p>Don Fernando arrested the stroke. "I forgive you," said he: "but, if -you still wish to remain in my service, be mute as a corpse."</p> - -<p>The <i>vaquero</i> fell at his feet, and covered with kisses the hand -extended to him. It was like a dog licking the hand of the master who -has beaten him.</p> - -<p>Carlocho had taken no part in this scene, but remained a calm and -unmoved spectator.</p> - -<p>"What charm has this mysterious stranger," muttered Don Torribio behind -his maple, "to make himself beloved like this?"</p> - -<p>After a short silence, Don Fernando again spoke.</p> - -<p>"I know you are devoted to me. I have great confidence in your -fidelity; but you are a drunkard, and drink is an evil counsellor."</p> - -<p>"I will drink no more," replied the <i>vaquero</i>.</p> - -<p>Don Fernando smiled in disdain.</p> - -<p>"Drink, but do not drown your reason. Drunkenness such as yours lets -fall words for which there is no remedy,—words more murderous than -the dagger. It is not the master, it is the friend who speaks to you. -Can I count on you both?"</p> - -<p>"You can."</p> - -<p>"I leave this place for a few days; you will remain in the -neighbourhood. At a short distance from the <i>pueblo</i> is the Hacienda de -las Norias de San Antonio; do you know it?"</p> - -<p>"Who does not know Don Pedro de Luna?"</p> - -<p>"Watch that <i>hacienda</i> carefully, both without and within. If anything -extraordinary befalls Don Pedro or his daughter, Doña Hermosa, one of -you will come and acquaint me with it. You know where to find me?"</p> - -<p>The men bowed their heads.</p> - -<p>"Will you execute all my orders, however incomprehensible, with -promptitude and accuracy?"</p> - -<p>"We swear so, master."</p> - -<p>"Good! One word more; attach to yourselves as many <i>vaqueros</i> as you -can; strive to gather together a body of men to be depended on. Do this -without exciting suspicion; she never sleeps with both eyes closed. -Stay! I remember! Put no faith in the <i>verado;</i> he is a traitor—a spy -upon me, in the service of the Tigercat."</p> - -<p>"Shall we kill him?" coolly asked Carlocho.</p> - -<p>"It might be, prudent; only rid yourselves of him quietly."</p> - -<p>The two <i>vaqueros</i> looked at each other furtively.</p> - -<p>Don Fernando seemed not to remark what happened.</p> - -<p>"Do you want money?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"No, master; we have still some."</p> - -<p>"Nevertheless, take this as well: better to have too much than too -little."</p> - -<p>He placed in the hands of Carlocho a long netted purse, across the -meshes of which a goodly number of gold pieces glittered.</p> - -<p>"Now, Pablito, my horse."</p> - -<p>The <i>vaquero</i> led from the recesses of the wood a magnificent charger. -Don Fernando vaulted into the saddle.</p> - -<p>"Remember," said he, "prudence and fidelity; one indiscretion would -cost you your lives."</p> - -<p>He waved his hand to the <i>vaqueros</i>, gave his horse the spur, and rode -off in the direction of the <i>presidio</i>. The two men resumed the road to -the <i>pueblo.</i></p> - -<p>When they were a good way off, the brushwood at one corner of the -clearing began to shake, and a human head slowly emerged, the face -blanched with terror.</p> - -<p>The head was succeeded by the body of the <i>verado</i> who had risen to -his feet, his knife in one hand, a pistol in the other, and now looked -about him with his hair standing on end.</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Canarios!</i>" he cried in a low tone; "rid themselves of me quietly! -We shall see! we shall see, <i>¡Santa Virgen del Pilar!</i> What demons! -Aha! I was right to listen."</p> - -<p>"It is the only way to hear," said a mocking voice.</p> - -<p>"Who goes there?" roared the <i>verado</i>, as he jumped to one side.</p> - -<p>"A friend," replied Don Torribio, leaving his hiding place and -advancing into the open.</p> - -<p>"What! You, Señor Don Torribio Quiroga? You are welcome. Then you -listened too?"</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Cuerpo de Cristo!</i> Didn't I listen! I think I have profited by it, -to get edifying news about Don Fernando."</p> - -<p>"Since you overheard the conversation, what do you think of it?"</p> - -<p>"This <i>caballero</i> seems to me a black villain enough; but we will -thwart his infamous plans."</p> - -<p>"God grant we may!" muttered the <i>verado</i>, with a sigh.</p> - -<p>"And now, what are your own intentions?"</p> - -<p>"Mine! I swear I do not know. I know nothing, except that my head -swims. Did you hear? They want to rid themselves of me quietly! In my -opinion, they are the greatest wretches in the prairie."</p> - -<p>"Pooh! I have known them a long time; they give me very little -uneasiness."</p> - -<p>"And I, on the contrary, am very uneasy."</p> - -<p>"What the devil! You are not dead yet!"</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Vive Dios!</i> I am little better off; I am literally between death and -the devil."</p> - -<p>"How can you be afraid—you, the most daring hunter of the jaguar I -know?"</p> - -<p>"A jaguar is but a jaguar, after all; one can talk reason to him with -a ball. But these two <i>birbones</i> (rascals), whom Don Fernando has -maliciously set upon my trail, are veritable demons, without faith -or law, who would bleed their own fathers for a small measure of -<i>pulque.</i>" ("To bleed" is the common Mexican expression for "to stab.")</p> - -<p>"True; but time presses. For reasons with which I need not acquaint -you, I take enormous interest in Don Pedro de Luna, and more in his -lovely daughter. Don Fernando Carril, as we have just learnt, is -concocting some infernal plot against this family. I mean to frustrate -it. Will you assist me? Two men can do a great deal, if they work with -a will."</p> - -<p>"Do you propose a partnership with me, Don Torribio?"</p> - -<p>"Call it what you will; but answer promptly."</p> - -<p>"In that case, sincerity for sincerity, Don Torribio. This morning -I would have refused your proposal: tonight I accept it; for I have -done with soft-heartedness. My position is completely changed. Rid -themselves of me quietly! <i>¡Vive Dios!</i> I will have my revenge. I am -yours, as my knife is to the sheath. I am yours, body and soul, on the -word of a <i>vaquero</i>."</p> - -<p>"I see we shall easily come to an understanding."</p> - -<p>"Say, rather, we understand each other already."</p> - -<p>"Good! But we must be cautious, if we wish to succeed: the game we -are about to chase is wily. Do you know a <i>lepero</i> named Tonillo el -Zapote?"</p> - -<p>"Know Tonillo! He is my bosom friend."</p> - -<p>"So much the better. This Tonillo is a resolute fellow, on whom one can -fearlessly depend."</p> - -<p>"That is holy truth. Moreover, he is a <i>caballero</i> of excellent -principle."</p> - -<p>"He is: find him out, and bring him one hour after sunset to the -Callejou de las Minas" (the pass of the mines).</p> - -<p>"It shall be done; I understand perfectly. We will be there."</p> - -<p>"And then, we three will arrange our counterplot."</p> - -<p>"Yes; and set your heart at rest. We will find a way to deliver you -from this man, who wishes to rid himself of me quietly."</p> - -<p>"That seems to lie heavily on your mind."</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Caray!</i> Just put yourself in my place. After all, the longest liver -will see. Don Fernando has not got quite so far with me as he fancies."</p> - -<p>"Then you will bring Tonillo?"</p> - -<p>"Were I to bring him by force, we would both be there."</p> - -<p>"Now, we have nothing more to do than to go about our separate affairs."</p> - -<p>"Which road do you take?"</p> - -<p>"I am going direct to the <i>hacienda</i> of Don Pedro."</p> - -<p>"Listen to me, Don Torribio: do not broach this matter to him."</p> - -<p>"What is your reason for saying so, <i>verado?</i>"</p> - -<p>"Because Don Pedro, excellent man and perfect <i>caballero</i> as he is, -has old-fashioned ideas, and would probably attempt to dissuade you -from your plan."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps you may be right; he had better know nothing of the service I -wish to render him."</p> - -<p>"It will be better. Now Don Torribio, good-bye till evening."</p> - -<p>"Good-bye; and good luck!"</p> - -<p>The two men separated. Don Torribio Quiroga ran hastily down the road -leading to the <i>pueblo</i>, to regain his horse from the <i>pulquero</i>; while -the <i>verado</i>, whose horse had been hidden somewhere about, jumped into -the saddle, and galloped off in a fury still muttering between his -teeth:</p> - -<p>"Rid themselves of me quietly! Was there ever such an idea? But we -shall see. <i>¡Mil rayos!</i>" (a thousand thunders).</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a></h4> - -<h3>DOÑA HERMOSA.</h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>Stoneheart was not mistaken in declaring that the dust, rising far away -in the desert, was caused by the servants of the <i>hacienda</i>; in fact, -the hunter had scarcely left the persons he was guiding, when the cloud -of sand was blown away by the breeze, disclosing a numerous party of -<i>vaqueros</i> and <i>peones</i>, well armed, who were approaching at the top of -their speed.</p> - -<p>Two horses' length in front galloped Don Estevan Diaz, chiding his -companions, and urging them to increase their pace.</p> - -<p>The two parties soon met, and mingled with each other.</p> - -<p>Estevan Diaz, as Don Pedro had foreseen, had grown anxious at his -master's lengthened absence. Fearing lest some accident might have -occurred, he had assembled all the most resolute men belonging to the -<i>hacienda</i>, and placing himself at their head, commenced his search at -once, scouring the wilderness in all directions.</p> - -<p>But had it not been for the lucky chance which led to the meeting with -Stoneheart, in the very moment when the strength and courage of the -little party were oozing away together, it is probable that the search -would have been without result, and another mournful and horrible -tragedy registered in the annals of the prairies.</p> - -<p>The joy of Don Estevan and his party was great at recognising those -whom they had scarcely hoped to see again, and the whole company gaily -took the road to the <i>hacienda</i>, where they arrived in safety a couple -of hours later.</p> - -<p>Doña Hermosa retired to her apartment as soon as she had dismounted, -excusing herself on account of the fatigue she had endured.</p> - -<p>She reached her cool maiden chamber, which looked so calm and pleasant, -cast a glance of delight at the cherished appurtenances, and then threw -herself with a feeling of instinctive gratitude, at the knees of the -Virgin, whose image, crowned with flowers, was placed in a corner of -the chamber, and seemed to watch over her.</p> - -<p>Her prayer addressed to the Virgin was long, very long. For more than -an hour she remained on her knees, murmuring words which none save God -could hear.</p> - -<p>At last she rose, slowly, and as it were with reluctance, made a final -sign of the cross, and, traversing the room, cast herself on a couch, -where she nestled in a flood of drapery, like the Bengali in its bed of -moss.</p> - -<p>Then she gave herself up to thought.</p> - -<p>What power could thus profoundly occupy the mind, hitherto so gay and -cheerful, of this young creature, whose life from infancy had been -one unbroken succession of gentle joys,—for whom the sky had had no -cloud, the past no regrets, and the future no apprehensions Why did she -frown so heavily, tracing, on her pure forehead, lines at first hardly -perceptible, but deepening with her deepening thoughts?</p> - -<p>None could tell. Hermosa herself could not, perhaps, have given an -explanation.</p> - -<p>This was the reason: without accounting to herself for the change she -was undergoing, Hermosa awoke as from a long slumber; her heart beat -more quickly, her blood coursed more rapidly in her veins, a flood of -unknown thoughts rushed from her heart to her brain, making it whirl. -In one word, the girl felt she had become a woman.</p> - -<p>A vague uneasiness without apparent cause, a feverish irritability, -agitated her by turns; sometimes a stifled sob would rend her bosom, -and a burning tear show like a pearl on her eyelashes; then her purple -lips would part under the influence of a charming smile, the reflection -of thoughts she could not define, beseeching her to drive them away, -and return to the calm and heedless joys she was losing forever.</p> - -<p>"Yes!" she cried suddenly, bounding from her couch with the grace of a -startled fawn; "Yes: I will discover who he is."</p> - -<p>Hermosa had involuntarily allowed the key of the riddle to escape her. -Possessed by the spirit whose voice was evoking her inward agitation, -she loved—or at least Love was on the point of revealing himself to -her.</p> - -<p>Scarcely had she uttered the words we have reported, than she blushed -deeply, and, urged by a charming impulse of maiden modesty, ran to draw -before the image of the Virgin the curtain used to conceal it.</p> - -<p>The Virgin, the habitual confidante of the girl, was not to know the -secrets of the woman. Full of holy fervour, Hermosa had immediately -seized upon this delicate distinction; perhaps she mistrusted herself; -perhaps the feeling which had been so suddenly and violently awakened -in her heart did not seem pure enough to be confided, with all its -longings and desires, to her at whose feet she had hitherto deposited -all her hopes and aspirations.</p> - -<p>Feeling calmer after this action, which, in her superstitious -ignorance, she fancied would shroud her from the piercing eye of her -heavenly protectress, Doña Hermosa regained her couch, and touched a -silver bell standing beside her. At the sound, the door softly opened -half way, and the arch face of a charming <i>chola</i> (maid) appeared at -the opening with a look of inquiry.</p> - -<p>"Come in, <i>chica</i>" (girl), said her mistress, making a sign for her to -approach.</p> - -<p>The <i>chola</i>, a slim maiden, of lithe figure, and whose skin was -slightly tawny, like that of all half-breeds kneeled gracefully at -the feet of her mistress, fixed her great black eyes upon her, and -smilingly asked what she wanted.</p> - -<p>"Nothing," was the evasive answer, "only to see and talk to you a -little."</p> - -<p>"How glad I am!" said the girl, passionately clasping her hands -together; "It is so long since I have seen you, <i>niña</i>" (a term of -endearment).</p> - -<p>"Did my absence distress you much, Clarita?"</p> - -<p>"What a question to ask, señorita! Do I not love you like a sister? Do -they not say you have been in great danger?"</p> - -<p>"Who says that?" asked Hermosa carelessly.</p> - -<p>"Everyone; they talk of nothing but your adventures in the prairie. All -the <i>peones</i> have left their work to hear the news; the <i>hacienda</i> is -in an uproar."</p> - -<p>"Indeed!"</p> - -<p>"For the two whole days of your absence, we did not know what saint to -commend you to; I vowed a gold ring to my good patroness Santa Clara."</p> - -<p>"Thank you," said she, with a smile.</p> - -<p>"But you should only have seen Don Estevan! He would not be comforted; -the poor fellow was like a madman, accusing himself as the cause of all -that had happened: he tore his hair, asserting that he ought to have -disobeyed your father, and to have remained with you in defiance of his -orders."</p> - -<p>"Poor Estevan!" said the lady, whose thoughts were elsewhere, and who -began to get weary of the chattering of her maid; "Poor Estevan! He -loves me like a brother."</p> - -<p>"Yes, he does; so he has sworn by his head that such a thing shall not -happen to you again, and that from henceforth he will never lose sight -of you."</p> - -<p>"Was he really in such alarm about me?"</p> - -<p>"You cannot imagine how dreadfully frightened he was, particularly as -they said you had fallen into the hands of the most ferocious robber in -the prairie."</p> - -<p>"Yet, I can assure you, <i>chica</i>, that the man who gave us shelter -overwhelmed us with civility and attention."</p> - -<p>"Exactly what your father says; but Don Estevan maintains he has known -this man for a long time; that his kindness was feigned, and intended -to conceal some monstrous treachery."</p> - -<p>Doña Hermosa had suddenly become thoughtful.</p> - -<p>"Don Estevan has gone mad," she said; "his friendship for me bewilders -his brains; I am sure he is mistaken. But you remind me that I escaped -from him the moment after my arrival without offering him a word of -thanks. I must make reparation for this involuntary forgetfulness; is -he still in the <i>hacienda?</i>"</p> - -<p>"I think he is, señorita."</p> - -<p>"Go and find out, and ask him to come here, if he has not gone already."</p> - -<p>The maid rose and left her.</p> - -<p>"As he knows him," said Hermosa, as soon as she was alone, "I will -make him speak, and teach me what I want to learn."</p> - -<p>So she awaited impatiently the return of her messenger.</p> - -<p>The latter seemed to have divined the anxiety of her mistress, and made -such haste to execute her commission that scarcely ten minutes elapsed -before she announced Don Estevan.</p> - -<p>We have already said that Don Estevan was a handsome man; he had the -heart of a lion, the eye of an eagle; his carriage full of grace and -suppleness, betrayed his race. He entered, saluting the lady with a -winning familiarity authorised by his long and intimate connection with -one whom he had known from her cradle.</p> - -<p>"Dear Estevan," said she, stretching out her hand gaily, "how happy I -am to see you! Sit down here and let us talk."</p> - -<p>"Yes; let us have some chat," answered Don Estevan, gladly entering -into the spirit of Hermosa's gaiety.</p> - -<p>"Give Estevan a chair, <i>chica</i>, and then go; I do not want you any -longer."</p> - -<p>The maid obeyed without replying.</p> - -<p>"What a number of things I have to tell you, my friend!" resumed the -doña. "But first excuse me for running away from you. My sole thought -was to be alone, and put my ideas into a little order."</p> - -<p>"I can easily understand that, dear Hermosa."</p> - -<p>"Then you are not angry with me, Estevan?"</p> - -<p>"Not the least in the world, I assure you."</p> - -<p>"Are you quite sure?" said she, pouting half seriously.</p> - -<p>"Do not talk about it anymore, my dear child; one cannot encounter such -dangers as you have been exposed to without feeling their effect upon -the mind for a long time afterwards."</p> - -<p>"But it is all over now, believe me; yet, between ourselves, my dear -Estevan, these dangers have not been so great as your affection for me -led you to suppose."</p> - -<p>The other shook his head in token of his want of conviction, and -replied:</p> - -<p>"On the contrary, <i>niña</i>, these dangers have been much more serious -than you choose to believe."</p> - -<p>"No, they were not Estevan; the people we met treated us with the most -cordial hospitality."</p> - -<p>"I admit it; but will reply with one question."</p> - -<p>"Ask it; and I will answer it, if I can."</p> - -<p>"Do you know the name of the man who treated you with this cordial -hospitality?" And he laid considerable stress on the last words.</p> - -<p>"I confess that I not only do not know it, but that I did not even take -the pains to ask him."</p> - -<p>"You were wrong, señorita: for he would have answered that his name was -'the Tigercat.'"</p> - -<p>"The Tigercat!" she exclaimed, turning deadly pale; "The execrable -miscreant who for years has spread terror over the frontiers! You are -wrong, Estevan; it could not be he."</p> - -<p>"No, señorita, I am not wrong; I know the truth of my assertion. I can -have no doubt, after what I have gathered from your father."</p> - -<p>"But how did it happen that this man should have received us so kindly, -and that he should have profited by the accident which placed us in his -power?"</p> - -<p>"No one can penetrate into the dark windings of that man's heart. -Besides, who can prove he was not laying a snare for you? Were you not -pursued by the redskins?"</p> - -<p>"We were; but we escaped from them, thanks to the devotion of our -guide." And she spoke with a little uncertainty of voice.</p> - -<p>"You are right again," said Don Estevan ironically "But the guide -himself—do you know who he is?"</p> - -<p>"He constantly refused to tell us his name, in spite of the pressing -entreaties of my father."</p> - -<p>"He had good reasons for doing so, <i>niña;</i> the name would have filled -you with horror."</p> - -<p>"Then who and what is this man?"</p> - -<p>"He is the son of the Tigercat; he is called Stoneheart."</p> - -<p>Hermosa recoiled with instinctive terror, and hid her face in her hands.</p> - -<p>"It is impossible," she cried: "this man cannot be a monster; this man -who proved himself so faithful, so loyal—who saved my life, too."</p> - -<p>"What!" exclaimed Don Estevan: "He saved your life?"</p> - -<p>"Have you not heard it? Has not my father told you the story?"</p> - -<p>"No; Don Pedro did not say anything about it."</p> - -<p>"Then I will tell you, Estevan; for whatever this man may be, I must -render him justice. I owe it to him, to him alone, that I did not die -in horrible agony."</p> - -<p>"In the name of Heaven, explain yourself, Hermosa."</p> - -<p>"While we were wandering in the forest, a prey to despair," she -replied, in extreme agitation—"while we were expecting the death that -could not be long in coming,—I felt my foot bitten by a snake of -the most venomous kind. At first I overcame my pain, in order not to -increase the discouragement of my companions."</p> - -<p>"How well I recognise your strength and courage there, <i>niña!</i>"</p> - -<p>"Let me continue," said she, with a sad smile. "The pain soon became so -piercing, that my strength failed me, in spite of my courage. At that -moment God sent to our aid, him whom you call Stoneheart. The first -thought of that man was to help me."</p> - -<p>"It is wonderful!" said Don Estevan Diaz.</p> - -<p>"By the use of some sort of leaf, he managed to neutralise the effect -of the poison, so that, shortly after having been bitten, I felt no -pain from the wound, and am quite recovered today. Can you now deny -that I owe him my life?"</p> - -<p>"No," said he frankly; "for he saved you indeed. Yet for what purpose? -That is what puzzles me."</p> - -<p>"For the sake of saving me,—for humanity's sake; his after conduct -sufficiently proves it. It is to him alone we owe our subsequent escape -from the Apaches, who were on our trail."</p> - -<p>"All you say, <i>niña</i>, appears like an incomprehensible dream; I do not -know whether I am asleep or awake while I listen to you."</p> - -<p>"But has this man really been guilty of the infamous actions which -excite your indignation?"</p> - -<p>Estevan Diaz did not answer: he seemed embarrassed; and there was a -short silence.</p> - -<p>"I will be frank with you, Hermosa," said he, at last. "It is necessary -that you should know who your deliverer is. I will tell you all I -know of him myself; and perhaps this knowledge may be useful to you -hereafter, should fate ever again bring you into the presence of this -extraordinary man."</p> - -<p>"I am listening attentively; proceed."</p> - -<p>"Be on your guard, Hermosa; do not let the impulse of your heart -carry you away too far; do not expose yourself to future heartache. -Stoneheart is, as I told you, the son of the Tigercat. I need tell you -nothing about his father; that monster with a human face has built up -for himself an infamous notoriety, too well known for me to enter into -its details. The infamy of the father has reflected on the son, and -enveloped him in a halo of murder and rapine which makes him almost -as much dreaded as his father. However, in justice to the man, I must -confess that, although he is accused of a thousand evil deeds and -odious crimes, it has been impossible hitherto to obtain positive proof -of any accusation preferred against him. All they say of him is wrapped -up in impenetrable mystery; yet everyone relates the most horrible -tales of him, although nobody can speak with certainty as to the truth -of one of them."</p> - -<p>"They are not true," said Hermosa.</p> - -<p>"Do not be too eager to pronounce him innocent, <i>niña;</i> recollect that -a modicum of truth is to be found at the bottom of every suspicion; -and, strictly speaking, this man's trade would of itself suffice as -proof against him, and bear testimony to his natural ferocity."</p> - -<p>"I cannot understand you, Estevan. What dreadful trade is it?"</p> - -<p>"Stoneheart is a bee-hunter."</p> - -<p>"A bee-hunter!" she exclaimed, with a burst of laughter. "Truly there -is nothing offensive in that?"</p> - -<p>"The word is pleasant to the ear; the trade itself one of the most -inoffensive; but the bees, those advanced sentinels of civilisation, -who, in proportion as the whites push forward in America, bury -themselves deeper in the prairies, and take refuge in more inaccessible -wildernesses, require a special organism in the men who hunt them,—a -heart of bronze in a body of steel, a fortitude beyond proof, -indomitable courage, and unswerving will."</p> - -<p>"Excuse me for the interruption, Estevan; but in all you have told me, -there seems nothing that is not highly honourable to the men who devote -themselves to this perilous trade."</p> - -<p>"Your observation would be just, if these men—half savages from the -life they lead, ceaselessly exposed to most serious danger, constantly -obliged to strive, in defence of their lives, against the wild beast -and the redskin, by whom they are perpetually threatened—had not -contracted, perhaps in spite of themselves, the habit of shedding -blood; a habit of such cold-blooded cruelty, in a word, that they set -no value on human life,—kill a man with the same indifference as they -smoke the bees from the tree, and often, for mere pastime, fire on the -approaching stranger, white or redskin. For this reason, the Indians -dread them more than the fiercest animals, and, unless they happen to -be in force, fly before a bee-hunter with more terror and precipitation -than from the grizzly bear, that redoubtable inhabitant of our American -forests. Believe me, <i>niña</i>, I am not exaggerating. It results from -what I have related, that when these men reappear upon the frontiers, -their arrival creates a general panic; for their road is a bloody one, -marked by the corpses of those whom they have slain under the most -frivolous pretexts. In one word, <i>niña</i>, the bee-hunters are completely -beyond the pale of humanity,—beings with all the vices of whites and -redskins, and without the virtues of either: both races abjure and -repudiate them with horror."</p> - -<p>"Estevan," gravely replied Doña Hermosa, "I have listened seriously to -what you have said. I thank you; but, in my opinion, it proves nothing -either for or against the person about whom I questioned you. I grant -you that the bee-hunters maybe semi-savages, of profound cruelty; yet, -are there no noble and loyal hearts, no generous spirits, among them? -You have spoken of the rule; who will tell me that Stoneheart is not -the exception? His conduct compels me to think so. I am only a young, -ignorant, and inexperienced girl; but were I bidden to open my heart, -and speak frankly, I should answer: 'My friend, this man, condemned -from infancy to a life of shame and trial, has striven valiantly -against the current which was dragging him away, and the force of -bad example assailing him on every side. Son of a criminal father, -associated, against his will, with bandits to whom every restraint -is an abomination, and by whom every sentiment of honour has been -trodden under foot, this man, far from imitating their actions,—far -from burning, pillaging and assassinating as they do,—has preferred -to adopt a career of perpetual peril. His heart has remained pure; and -when chance offered him an opportunity of doing a good deed, he seized -it eagerly and gladly.' This is what I should say to you, Estevan,—and -if, like me, you had studied this strange man for two whole days, -you would be of my opinion,—which is, that he is more to be pitied -than blamed; for, placed among ferocious brutes, he has retained his -humanity."</p> - -<p>Don Estevan remained for a time lost in thought; then he turned towards -the girl, took her hand, pressed it in his own, and looked at her with -tender compassion.</p> - -<p>"I pity and admire you, Hermosa. You are just what I thought you—I, -who have watched the development of your character from your infancy. -The woman fulfils all the promise held out by the child and the girl. -Your heart is noble, your sentiments are exalted; you are indeed -perfect—a chosen soul. I do not blame you for following the impulse of -your heart—you are only obeying the instinct for good or evil which -sways you in spite of yourself; but, alas! Dear child, I am your elder -brother, and my experience is larger than your own. To me, the horizon -seems to be clouding over. Without prejudging what the future may be -preparing for us, let me prefer one entreaty."</p> - -<p>"An entreaty! You, Estevan! Oh, speak; I shall be so happy to do -anything to please you."</p> - -<p>"Thanks, Hermosa; but the entreaty has no connection with myself—it -concerns you alone."</p> - -<p>"So much the greater reason for my granting it," she said with a -gracious smile.</p> - -<p>"Listen, child: the events of the last two days have completely -changed your life, and feelings have germinated in your mind of which -you ignored the existence until now. You have always placed entire -confidence in me: I demand the continuance of that confidence. My only -desire is to see you happy; all my thoughts, all my actions, tend to -that goal. Never believe that I dream of betraying you or thwarting -your projects. If I am tenacious on this point, it is to aid you with -my counsel and experience; it is to save you even from yourself; to -insure your escape from the snares which the future may lay for your -innocent frankness. Do you promise what I entreat?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," she replied, without hesitation, and looking firmly in his face; -"I promise, Estevan, my brother—for you are in truth a brother to -me—whatever may happen, I will have no secrets from you."</p> - -<p>"I thank you, Hermosa," said the young man, rising, "I hope soon to -prove myself worthy of the name of brother. Come tomorrow, in the -afternoon, to my mother's <i>rancho</i> (farmhouse); I shall be there, and -most likely able to clear up certain matters which are so obscure -today."</p> - -<p>"What do you mean?" cried she, in great agitation.</p> - -<p>"Nothing at present, dear child; leave me to take my own measures."</p> - -<p>"What are your projects? What do you intend to do? Oh, do not attach -more importance to my words than I attach to them myself. Involuntarily -I have been constrained to utter words from which you would be wrong to -draw conclusions—"</p> - -<p>"Be calm, Hermosa," said he, interrupting her, with a smile. "I -have drawn no conclusion derogatory to you from our conversation. I -understand that you have avowed an immense amount of gratitude to the -man who saved your life. I see it would make you happy to know that -this man is not unworthy of the feelings he has inspired. I draw no -other conclusion."</p> - -<p>"It is exactly what I feel, Estevan; and I think the wish natural, and -one to which no blame can be attached."</p> - -<p>"Certainly, my dear child. I do not blame the feeling in the least; -only, as I am a man, and can do many things interdicted to a woman, I -will try if I can lift the mysterious, veil which conceals the life of -your liberator, so as to tell you positively whether he is or is not -worthy of the interest you take in him."</p> - -<p>"Do that, Estevan, and I will thank you from the bottom of my heart."</p> - -<p>The young man only replied by a smile to this passionate outbreak: he -saluted Hermosa, and retired.</p> - -<p>As soon as he was gone, she hid her face in her hands and burst into -tears. Did she regret the confidence into which she had been led, or -was she afraid of herself? Only women can decide the question, and only -Spanish-American women, who are so impressionable, and through whose -veins rushes the lava of their native volcanoes.</p> - -<p>Don Fernando Carril, as we have already related, after his conversation -with the <i>vaqueros</i>, had taken, at a gallop the route to the <i>pueblo;</i> -but when he was within a hundred yards of the first houses, he -slackened his pace to a walk, and cast glances right and left, as if in -the expectation of meeting some person he wished to see. But if such -were his thoughts, it seemed as if he were doomed to disappointment; -for the road was completely deserted in all directions as far as his -eye could reach.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a></h4> - -<h3>EL AS DE COPAS (THE ACE OF HEARTS).</h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>Don Fernando checked his steed, and remained motionless as an -equestrian statue on a marble pedestal.</p> - -<p>"He will not come," he muttered, after a while.</p> - -<p>"Can he have deceived me?—It is impossible."</p> - -<p>Casting, as a last hope, one more look around him, he dropped the -reins, but seized them again an instant later with a suddenness which -made his horse perform a curvette and wince with pain. Don Fernando had -just seen two cavaliers advancing towards him—one approaching from the -<i>pueblo</i>, the other riding down the road he had himself taken.</p> - -<p>"Come, come, it is all right," he said to himself; "This one is Don -Torribio Quiroga. But who is this other cavalier?" he added, turning to -the man who had just left the <i>pueblo</i>.</p> - -<p>He frowned, seemed to hesitate for an instant, but soon formed his -decision, smiled ironically, and saying half-aloud, "It is better as -it is," made his horse execute a traverse, and placed himself exactly -across the middle of the road, so as to bar the passage completely.</p> - -<p>The two arrivals, who greedily watched all his motions, took good note -of the hostile appearance of Don Fernando's position: neither seemed to -feel alarm, and both advanced at the same speed as before. The cavalier -coming from the <i>pueblo</i> was much nearer Don Fernando than Don Torribio -was, and was soon close to him.</p> - -<p>Mexicans, of all ranks and however little education, have an -instinctive knowledge of social decorum, which never deceives them, and -a refined politeness which would astonish the inhabitants of the Old -World.</p> - -<p>As soon as Don Fernando found the stranger within reach of his voice, -he slightly altered the position of his horse, doffed his hat, and -said, with a low bow:</p> - -<p>"Señor <i>caballero</i>, permit me to ask you a question."</p> - -<p>"<i>Caballero</i>," replied the stranger, with no less politeness, "it will -be an honour to me."</p> - -<p>"My name is Don Fernando Carril."</p> - -<p>"And mine, Don Estevan Diaz."</p> - -<p>"Señor Don Estevan, I am happy to make your acquaintance. Would you -throw away ten minutes in my company?"</p> - -<p>"Señor Don Fernando, however pressed for time I might be, I would stop -to enjoy your society."</p> - -<p>"You are excessively kind; accept my thanks. I will explain in half a -dozen words. The <i>caballero</i> who is approaching is Señor—"</p> - -<p>"Don Torribio Quiroga," interposed Don Estevan; "I know him."</p> - -<p>"So much the better; the matter is simplified. That honourable -personage, as I found out by a strange chance is my bitter enemy."</p> - -<p>"That is a pity."</p> - -<p>"It is; but what shall I say? He is so thoroughly my enemy, that he has -tried four times to have me assassinated; has made me serve as a target -to banditti."</p> - -<p>"It is grievous. He plays an evil game with you, Don Fernando."</p> - -<p>"The very reflection I made myself; so, as I wish to have done with -him, I have resolved to offer him the means of getting out of the -scrape."</p> - -<p>"It is the act of a true <i>caballero</i>."</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Caray!</i> I can fancy how furious he will be. I am charmed at your -consenting to be witness of the transaction."</p> - -<p>"With pleasure, <i>caballero</i>."</p> - -<p>"A thousand thanks; I will gladly return the compliment. But here is -our man."</p> - -<p>Don Torribio had continued to advance during this short conversation, -and was now only a short distance from the speakers.</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Válgame Dios!</i>" he cried gaily; "If I do not mistake, it is my -admirable friend, Don Fernando Carril, whom I have the good fortune to -meet."</p> - -<p>"Himself, my dear friend; and as happy as you can be at the chance -which has thrown us together."</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Vive Dios!</i> Since I have got you, I will not let you go; we will -ride together as far as the <i>pueblo</i>."</p> - -<p>"I should like it, Don Torribio; but first of all, with your -permission, I have a few words to say which may upset that plan."</p> - -<p>"Speak then, señor; you can only utter words I shall be happy to hear -in Don Estevan's presence."</p> - -<p>"In fact, Don Fernando has requested me to be present at the -conversation," said the latter.</p> - -<p>"Nothing could be better! Let us hear, señor."</p> - -<p>"Suppose we dismount," said Don Estevan; "the conversation may be a -long one."</p> - -<p>"Well observed, <i>caballero</i>," replied Don Fernando; "I know a grotto -where we shall be quite at our ease. It is close at hand."</p> - -<p>"Let us go there at once," said Don Torribio.</p> - -<p>The three cavaliers left the beaten track, took a turn to the right, -and directed their steps towards a little wood of plane trees and -mahoganies, which stood at a short distance.</p> - -<p>Anyone who had seen them thus, riding side by side, chatting and -smiling to each other, would have incontestably believed them to be -intimate friends, delighted at having met. However it was, nothing of -the kind, as our readers will soon see.</p> - -<p>Exactly as Don Fernando had predicted, they soon gained the wood, and -found the natural grotto of which he had spoken.</p> - -<p>The grotto was in the side of a hill of no great elevation, and its -proportions were scanty enough. Carpeted with verdure inside and out, -it was a charming place of repose for passing away the stifling heat of -the sun at midday.</p> - -<p>The cavaliers dismounted, took the bridle from their horses, leaving -them to graze at will. They entered the grotto, and inhaled with -ineffable delight the freshness caused by a slender stream of water -which ran between its banks with a melancholy murmur, forming a -pleasant contrast with the burning atmosphere to which they were -recently exposed. They threw their <i>zarapés</i> on the ground, stretched -themselves out comfortably, and lit their maize <i>pajillos</i> (cigarettes).</p> - -<p>"I am greatly obliged to you, Don Fernando, for thinking of this -delicious retreat," said Don Torribio; "now, if it is your pleasure to -speak, it will be an honour to me to listen."</p> - -<p>"Señor Don Torribio, you really overwhelm me by so much courtesy. -Heaven bear witness, that if I were not your most implacable enemy, I -could be your dearest friend."</p> - -<p>"Alas!" said Don Torribio, "Heaven has disposed otherwise."</p> - -<p>"I know it, my good señor, and regret it with all my soul."</p> - -<p>"Not more than I do, I swear."</p> - -<p>"Well, as that is the case, we must act accordingly,"</p> - -<p>"Alas! That is just what I mean to do."</p> - -<p>"I thought so. Then, in your interest and mine, I have resolved to make -an end of it."</p> - -<p>"I do not exactly see how we can get at that result, unless one of us -consents to kill the other."</p> - -<p>"I presume this hatred of yours has cost you a round sum of money?"</p> - -<p>"Four hundred piastres, which the rascals have stolen from me, as you -are still alive; to say nothing of two hundred others I propose to -present to a <i>pícaro</i> who has sworn to kill you tonight."</p> - -<p>"It is perfectly distressing! If this goes on, you will ruin yourself."</p> - -<p>Don Torribio sighed, but made no reply.</p> - -<p>Don Fernando resumed, while he threw away his cigarette and occupied -himself in rolling another:</p> - -<p>"For my part, señor, I confess that, in spite of the lamentable -clumsiness of the people you employ, I begin to be tired of serving as -a target at moments when I least expect it."</p> - -<p>"I can understand that; it must be very disagreeable."</p> - -<p>"It is. Well, then, wishing to reconcile our mutual interests, and -to put an end to it, once for all, I have racked my brains until I -think I have hit on a method of arranging these matters to our mutual -satisfaction."</p> - -<p>"Well, let us hear this method; I know you to be a man of imagination, -Don Fernando. It is doubtless ingenious."</p> - -<p>"Oh, no; on the contrary, it is quite simple. Do you ever play?"</p> - -<p>"So seldom, that it is hardly worth mentioning."</p> - -<p>"Precisely the case with me. This is the proposal I have to make: it is -evident you will not succeed in assassinating me."</p> - -<p>"Do you think so, señor?" said Don Torribio, still smiling.</p> - -<p>"I am sure of it, else you would have succeeded already."</p> - -<p>"I will admit it: what, then, do you propose?"</p> - -<p>"This: we will have a game at cards—the first to whom <i>el as de copas</i> -(the ace of hearts) falls shall win, and be master over the life of his -opponent, who shall be bound to blow out his brains as he sits there."</p> - -<p>"Not so bad; the idea is ingenious."</p> - -<p>"And why not señor?—It is just like a common game, only the loser -cannot have his revenge. Now, where are the cards?"</p> - -<p>It was then discovered that these three gallant <i>caballeros</i>, who never -played, had each a pack of cards in his pocket. They produced them -with such spontaneousness, that all three could not help bursting into -Homeric laughter.</p> - -<p>We have already said, somewhere, that in Mexico the passion for -gambling is carried beyond the verge of madness; so that the facility -with which Don Torribio accepted the game proposed by his foe has -nothing in it to astonish those who know the character of those -strange Mexicans, who carry everything to extremes, and for whom -anything unexpected and extraordinary has always an irresistible -attraction.</p> - -<p>"One moment, señores," said Don Estevan, who had hitherto listened -without joining in the conversation; "perhaps there might still be -another way."</p> - -<p>"What other?" exclaimed Don Fernando and Don Torribio, turning briskly -to him.</p> - -<p>"Is your mutual hatred so great, that in reality it can only be -satisfied by the death of one or the other?"</p> - -<p>"It is," said Don Torribio hoarsely.</p> - -<p>Don Fernando merely replied by a nod.</p> - -<p>"In that case," continued Don Estevan, "instead of having recourse to -blind chance, why cannot you fight it out with each other?"</p> - -<p>Both men made a gesture of disdain.</p> - -<p>"What!" exclaimed Don Torribio, "Fight like wretched <i>leperos</i>, at the -risk of disfiguring or crippling ourselves, which would be worse than -death! No! I will never consent to that."</p> - -<p>"Nor I; it is better that chance shall decide."</p> - -<p>"As you please, <i>caballeros</i>; do as you like."</p> - -<p>"But," said Don Torribio, "who is to deal?"</p> - -<p>"The devil!" said Don Fernando; "that is a good remark: I never thought -of that."</p> - -<p>"I will, if you have no objection," said Don Estevan; "and so much -the more readily, as my friendship for both of you señores, makes me -perfectly disinterested."</p> - -<p>"It will do," said Don Torribio; "only, to avoid all cause for dispute, -you must choose at hap-hazard the pack you are to use."</p> - -<p>"Very well: place the three packs under a hat; I will take the first I -touch."</p> - -<p>"That will do. What a pity you did not think of this game sooner, Don -Fernando!"</p> - -<p>"What could I do, señor?—I have only just hit upon the idea."</p> - -<p>Don Estevan rose and left the grotto, to afford the two foes every -facility for arranging the three packs under the hat. He was very soon -recalled.</p> - -<p>"So," said he, "you are determined to play out this game?"</p> - -<p>"We are, they replied."</p> - -<p>"You swear, by all the world holds most holy, and whichever of you it -may be whom fortune favours, to submit yourselves to the fiat of fate -in all its entirety?"</p> - -<p>"We swear, Don Estevan, by the word of <i>caballeros</i>."</p> - -<p>"Enough, señores," he replied, passing his Hand under the hat and -drawing out a pack of cards. "And now recommend your souls to God; for -a few minutes hence, one of you will be in his presence."</p> - -<p>The two men crossed themselves devoutly, and fixed their eyes anxiously -on the pack of cards.</p> - -<p>Don Estevan shuffled the cards with the greatest care, and then made -each of the adversaries cut them in turn.</p> - -<p>"Attention, señores," said he; "I am going to begin."</p> - -<p>The two, negligently leaning on their elbows, smoked their <i>pajillos</i> -with a perfect assumption of indifference, which was only belied by the -flashing of their eyes.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the cards continued to fall on the <i>zarapé</i>: Don Estevan held -only about a dozen more in his hand, when he paused.</p> - -<p>"<i>Caballeros</i>," said he, "for the last time—reflect."</p> - -<p>"Go on, go on!" cried Don Torribio excitedly; "the first card belongs -to me."</p> - -<p>"Look at it," said Don Estevan, turning it up.</p> - -<p>"Oh," said Don Fernando, throwing away his cigarette, "<i>el as de -copas</i>. Look, Don Torribio; it is curious. <i>¡Vive Dios!</i> you can -reproach no one; you are the author of your own death."</p> - -<p>Don Torribio made a violent gesture, which he repressed immediately, -and resumed the tone of affected civility which had characterised the -conversation.</p> - -<p>"Upon my honour, it is true," said he. "I must confess, Don Fernando, I -have no chance with you in anything."</p> - -<p>"I am quite in despair, dear Don Torribio."</p> - -<p>"Never mind; it was a capital game; I never felt so interested."</p> - -<p>"Nor I either. Unfortunately, I cannot give you your revenge."</p> - -<p>"Right! And now I must pay my debt."</p> - -<p>Don Fernando bowed without answering.</p> - -<p>"Be quite easy, dear señor; I will only keep you waiting such time as -is absolutely necessary. If I could have foreseen this, I would have -brought my pistols."</p> - -<p>"I have brought mine; they are perfectly at your service."</p> - -<p>"Then pray be kind enough to lend me one."</p> - -<p>Don Fernando rose, took a pistol from his holsters, and offered them to -Don Torribio.</p> - -<p>"It is primed and loaded; the trigger is a little stiff."</p> - -<p>"What a capital man of business you are, Don Fernando! You provide for -everything; no detail escapes you."</p> - -<p>"My traveller's habits, Don Torribio,—nothing more."</p> - -<p>Don Torribio took the pistol and cocked it.</p> - -<p>"Señores," said he, "I beg you not to leave my body to the mercy of the -wild beasts; it would distress me dreadfully to become their food when -I am dead."</p> - -<p>"Set your mind at rest, dear señor; we will carry you home across your -own horse. We should be in despair if the body of so accomplished a -<i>caballero</i> were thus profaned."</p> - -<p>"That is all I have to request of you, señores; now accept my thanks, -and farewell."</p> - -<p>After this he cast one last look around him, and coolly placed the -muzzle of the pistol against his right temple.</p> - -<p>Don Fernando suddenly arrested his hand.</p> - -<p>"I have one remark to make," he said.</p> - -<p>"Upon my honour, you are only just in time," said Don Torribio, without -exhibiting emotion: "two seconds more, and it would have been too late. -But let us hear this remark. Is it of much interest?"</p> - -<p>"You yourself shall judge. You have lost your life fairly to me."</p> - -<p>"As fairly as possible."</p> - -<p>"Well, then, it belongs to me. You are dead; I have the right of -disposing of you as I think fit."</p> - -<p>"I cannot deny it. You will observe that I am ready to pay my losses -like a <i>caballero</i>."</p> - -<p>"I render you full justice, dear señor; therefore if I allow you to -live for the present, you are bound to kill yourself at my first -requisition, and to employ the life I leave you (which I could deprive -you of at this very moment) solely in my interest, and at my good -pleasure."</p> - -<p>"Then you offer me a bargain?" said Don Torribio.</p> - -<p>"Yes, you have hit the word; it is a bargain."</p> - -<p>"H'm!" said Don Torribio; "That requires consideration. What would you -do, if you were in my place, Don Estevan?"</p> - -<p>"I?" replied he; "I would accept without hesitation. Life is so -beautiful, take it all in all, it is best to enjoy it as long as -possible."</p> - -<p>"There is something true about what you say; but recollect I should -become Don Fernando's slave as I could only employ my life in his -service, and should be bound to kill myself whenever he gives the -word."</p> - -<p>"True; but Don Fernando is a <i>caballero</i> who will only exact this -sacrifice in so far as to protect his own life."</p> - -<p>"I will even go further," broke in Don Fernando; "I will limit the -duration of our bargain to ten years. If by that time Don Torribio is -not dead, he will again enter upon his rights in all their plenitude, -and can dispose of his life after his own fashion."</p> - -<p>"That really touches me to the heart! You are a perfect <i>caballero</i>, -señor; and I accept the life you offer me so gracefully. A thousand -thanks!" added he, uncocking the pistol. "I have no further use for -this weapon."</p> - -<p>"One thing more, Don Torribio. As no one can read the future, you will -not object to have this bond drawn up in writing?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly not; but where shall we get the paper?"</p> - -<p>"I think I can find the writing materials in my <i>alforjas</i>."</p> - -<p>"How right I was in pronouncing you a perfect man of business, whom -nothing escapes, dear señor!"</p> - -<p>Don Fernando, without answering, went to fetch his <i>alforjas</i>, a kind -of double pocket, which is fastened behind the saddle, to hold the -necessary articles for travelling, and used throughout the whole of -Spanish America instead of the common European valise.</p> - -<p>Don Fernando took out pens, ink, and paper, and laid them in order -before Don Torribio.</p> - -<p>"Now," said he, "write as I shall dictate."</p> - -<p>"Proceed, my dear señor; I will write."</p> - -<p>Don Fernando began:</p> - -<p>"I, the undersigned, Don Torribio Quiroga y Carvajal y Flores del -Cerro, acknowledge that I have fairly lost my life to Don Fernando -Carril, in a game played with the aforesaid señor; I acknowledge that -the life belongs henceforth to Don Fernando, who shall have the right -to dispose of it as he thinks fit, without my having power to raise -objection in any case, or to refuse obedience to the orders he may give -me, whether they be to kill myself before his eyes, or to risk in any -perilous adventure the life I have lost, and which I acknowledge to -hold only at his pleasure. I farther acknowledge that all sentiments -of hatred to the aforesaid Don Fernando Carril are extinguished in my -heart, and that I will never seek to injure him directly or indirectly. -I enter into this bond for the space of ten years, beginning from the -day on which this deed is signed; it being formally stipulated by -me, that at the end of the aforesaid ten years I shall resume all my -rights in full, with the entire possession of my life, and that from -thenceforth I shall not be responsible to Don Fernando Carril for any -account of it."</p> - -<p>"Written and signed by me, this 17th March 18—, and subscribed, as -witness, by Señor Don Estevan Diaz y Morelos."</p> - -<p>"Now," said Don Fernando, "sign: pass the paper to Don Estevan, for his -signature; then give it to me." Don Torribio signed with the greatest -good humour, added a tremendous flourish to his signature, and gave the -pen to Don Estevan, who affixed his name without making the slightest -objection to this strange arrangement.</p> - -<p>When all this was over, Don Torribio scattered a little sand over the -paper, to dry the ink, folded it neatly in four, and placed it in the -hands of Don Fernando, who read it attentively, and put it in his bosom.</p> - -<p>"There, that is finished," said Don Torribio. "Now señor, if you have -no commands for me, I ask your permission to retire."</p> - -<p>"I should be distressed to detain you longer, <i>caballero</i>; go where -your engagements call you; may they be pleasant ones!"</p> - -<p>"Thanks for the wish, though I fear it will scarcely be fulfilled; I -have had bad luck for some time past."</p> - -<p>He saluted the others once more, put the bridle on his horse, and -departed at a gallop.</p> - -<p>"Do you really intend to demand the execution of this bond?" asked Don -Estevan, as soon as he found himself alone with Don Fernando.</p> - -<p>"Most certainly," replied the other; "you forget that this man is my -mortal foe. But I must leave you, Don Estevan; I must be today at Las -Norias de San Antonio, and it is growing late."</p> - -<p>"Are you going to the <i>hacienda</i> of Don Pedro de Luna?"</p> - -<p>"Not exactly to the <i>hacienda</i>, but to the neighbourhood."</p> - -<p>"Then we can ride together; for I, too, am going in that direction."</p> - -<p>"You," said he, looking at him inquisitively.</p> - -<p>"I am the <i>major-domo</i> of the <i>hacienda</i>," replied Don Estevan.</p> - -<p>The two men left the grotto, and mounted their horses. Don Fernando -rode pensively by the side of his companion, only replying in -monosyllables.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a></h4> - -<h3>THE RANCHO.</h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>The road the two men had to travel together was tolerably long. Don -Estevan would not have been sorry to shorten it by talking to Don -Fernando, particularly as the manner in which he had made acquaintance -with the latter, and the light in which he had shown himself, excited -the curiosity of the former in the highest degree. Unfortunately, -Don Fernando did not seem in the least inclined to keep up the -conversation; and, in spite of all his efforts, the <i>major-domo</i> found -himself obliged to conform to his companion's state of mind, and -imitate his taciturnity.</p> - -<p>They had already left the village a long way behind them, and were -cantering along the undulating banks of the Rio Bermejo, when they -heard, at a short distance in front of them, the sound of a horse at -full gallop. We say, they heard; for, shortly after leaving the grotto, -the sun had finally disappeared below the horizon, and there had been a -sudden transition from the glorious light of day to thick darkness.</p> - -<p>In Mexico, where there is no police, or, at all events, only a nominal -one, every man is obliged to take care of himself. Two men, meeting on -a road after nightfall, cannot accost each other without the greatest -precaution, nor approach each other until fully assured they have -nothing to fear.</p> - -<p>"Keep your distance!" shouted Don Fernando, as soon as he thought the -person approaching was within reach of his voice.</p> - -<p>"And why so? You know you have nothing to fear from me," answered -somebody; the sound caused by the horse's hoofs ceasing at the same -time, denoting that the rider had halted.</p> - -<p>"I know that voice," said the Mexican.</p> - -<p>"And the man, too, Señor Don Fernando, for it is not very long since we -met; I am El Zapote."</p> - -<p>"Aha!" laughed Don Fernando; "Is it you, Tonillo? Come on, <i>muchacho</i>."</p> - -<p>The latter rode up directly.</p> - -<p>"What the devil are you doing on this road, at this hour of the night?"</p> - -<p>"I am coming from a rendezvous, and returning to the pueblo."</p> - -<p>"I fancy that rendezvous has been a slippery affair."</p> - -<p>"You insult me, Don Fernando. I am an honourable man."</p> - -<p>"I have no doubt of it. Moreover, your affairs are not mine; and I do -not choose to be mixed up with them. Come, adieu, Tonillo."</p> - -<p>"A moment if you please. Since I have been lucky enough to meet you, -grant me five minutes: I was going to look for you."</p> - -<p>"You! Is it a case like the last? I thought you had had enough of that -speculation, which hardly succeeds with me."</p> - -<p>"Here is the matter in two words, Don Fernando. After what happened the -other day, I considered that I owed you my life, and, consequently, -had not full liberty of action where you are concerned. But you know, -señor, I am a <i>caballero</i>; and as an honest man can but stick to his -word, I resolved to see the person who had paid me to kill you, and -return him the money. It was hard to disburse so large a sum; but I did -not hesitate. One may well say, a good action always brings its own -recompense."</p> - -<p>"You ought to know that better than anyone else," laughed Don Fernando.</p> - -<p>"You laugh! Very well; judge for yourself. I sought this person, whose -name it is needless to mention."</p> - -<p>"So much the more so, as I know it already."</p> - -<p>"You do? Very well, then. This morning a <i>caballero</i>, one of my -friends, gave me notice that the person in question also wished to -speak to me. All was working wonderfully. But guess my amazement when, -just as I was going to refund the money and throw up my engagement, -this personage announced to me that he had been reconciled to you, that -you were the best friends, and begged me to keep the hundred piastres -as an indemnification for the damage he had caused me."</p> - -<p>"Was it this person, then, whom you went to meet tonight?"</p> - -<p>"The same. I have only just left him."</p> - -<p>"Very well: go on, <i>compadre</i>" (comrade).</p> - -<p>"Well, <i>caballero</i>, since this affair has ended in a manner honourable -to me, as I flatter myself, I am at liberty to follow my own -inclinations, and am quite at your service, if you will do me the -honour to employ me."</p> - -<p>"I will not say no; perhaps in a day or two I may find a use for your -services."</p> - -<p>"You will not repent having employed me, señor. You will be always sure -to find me at—"</p> - -<p>"Not a word on that subject," said Don Fernando, interrupting him -suddenly; "when the time comes, I shall find you."</p> - -<p>"As you please, señor. Now permit me to take leave of you and this -honourable <i>caballero</i>, your friend."</p> - -<p>"Adieu, Zapote. A happy journey."</p> - -<p>The <i>lepero</i> joyfully took to his road again.</p> - -<p>"Señor," said Don Estevan, as soon as the latter had gone, "in a short -time we shall reach the <i>rancho</i> (farmhouse) I inhabit with my mother; -it would glad me to offer you shelter for the night."</p> - -<p>"Thanks for your courtesy, which I gratefully accept. Is the <i>rancho</i> -far from Las Norias?"</p> - -<p>"Hardly a league. Were it daylight, you would be able to see from hence -the tall walls of the <i>hacienda.</i> Permit me to be your guide on the -road to my poor dwelling."</p> - -<p>The cavaliers then bent to the left, entering a broad path lined with -aloes. Very soon the barking of several watchdogs, and two or three -specks of light which twinkled through the darkness, apprised them -that it would not be long before they reached the end of their tedious -journey. In fact, after riding some ten minutes longer, they found -themselves in front of a house, small, but apparently comfortable, -under the <i>zaguán</i> (veranda) of which several persons, provided with -torches, seemed to be expecting their arrival.</p> - -<p>They stopped before the porch, dismounted, gave their horses to a -<i>peon</i>, who led them away, and entered the dwelling, Don Estevan -preceding his guest in order to do the honours of his house.</p> - -<p>They found themselves in a chamber of good dimensions, furnished with -sundry chairs, a few armchairs, and a massive table, on which the -cloth was laid for several persons. The whitewashed walls of the room -were adorned with prints, frightfully coloured, representing the four -seasons, the five quarters of the globe, &c.</p> - -<p>A woman, no longer young, dressed with a certain degree of refinement, -and whose features, although marked by age, still preserved traces of -great beauty, stood in the middle of the room.</p> - -<p>"Mother," said Don Estevan, bowing respectfully before her, "permit me -to present to you Don Fernando Carril, an honourable <i>caballero</i>, who -consents to be our guest tonight."</p> - -<p>"He is welcome," answered Doña Manuela, with a gracious smile; "this -house and all that is in it is at his disposal."</p> - -<p>"Many thanks, señora, for this kind reception."</p> - -<p>At first sight of the stranger Doña Manuela had begun to tremble, -and had scarcely repressed an exclamation of surprise. The sound of -his voice struck her no less, and she cast a profoundly scrutinising -look over him; but after a moment she shook her head gently, as if -mistrusting the thought which had arisen.</p> - -<p>"Be seated, señor," she said, pointing to the table with great -cordiality; "the supper shall be served directly. Your long ride will -have sharpened your appetite, and will make the frugality of the viands -less distasteful."</p> - -<p>In fact, the meal was frugal, consisting of beans with red pepper, beef -dried in the sun, a fowl boiled in rice, rolls of maize, with <i>pulque</i> -and <i>mezcal</i> to drink With great pleasure Doña Manuela watched the -viands disappear with which she loaded their plates. She encouraged -them by all the means in her power to satisfy their hunger.</p> - -<p>When supper was over, they passed into an inner chamber, more -comfortably furnished, which appeared to be the reception room.</p> - -<p>The conversation, which had naturally been rather languid at dinner, -now, little by little, grew more animated, and soon reached, thanks to -the efforts of Doña Manuela, that tone of pleasant familiarity which -banishes every constraint, and doubles the charms of familiar chat.</p> - -<p>Don Fernando seemed to enter with all his heart into the desultory -conversation, which leaped without ceasing from one subject to another; -listening with complacency to the long stories of Doña Manuela, and -answering with apparent rankness the questions she asked him.</p> - -<p>"Are you a <i>costeño</i>" (an inhabitant of the sea border), "or a <i>tierras -a dentro</i>" (one of those who dwell inland), "<i>caballero?</i>" the good -dame suddenly asked her guest.</p> - -<p>"By my faith, señora," replied he, laughing, "I confess I feel some -difficulty in replying."</p> - -<p>"Why so, señor?"</p> - -<p>"For the simple reason that I have no idea where I was born."</p> - -<p>"But you are <i>hijo del país</i>" (literally, a son of the country),—"a -Mexican, at all events?"</p> - -<p>"Everything leads me to think so, señora; but I would not swear it."</p> - -<p>"That is very singular. Does not your family reside in the province?"</p> - -<p>A shadow crossed the face of Don Fernando. "No, señora," he replied -dryly.</p> - -<p>The mistress of the house perceived she had touched a tender chord, and -hastened to turn the conversation.</p> - -<p>"Of course you know Don Pedro de Luna?"</p> - -<p>"Very little, señora; accident threw us together once. It is true the -circumstances were too singular for him to forget them easily; but it -remains to be seen whether I ever set foot in his <i>hacienda.</i>"</p> - -<p>"You are wrong, <i>caballero</i>; Don Pedro is a <i>cristiano Viejo</i>" (an old -Christian, i.e. a descendant of the early conquerors), "who exercises -hospitality after the fashion of old times: nothing makes him happier -than to practise it."</p> - -<p>"Most unfortunately, important affairs call me to some distance, and I -fear I shall have no time to stop at his <i>hacienda.</i>"</p> - -<p>"Forgive the question," said Don Estevan; "but have you really the -intention of entering the prairie?"</p> - -<p>"Why do you ask, <i>caballero?</i>"</p> - -<p>"Because we are here on the extreme Indian frontier; and unless you -retrace your steps, it is only towards the wilderness you can bend -them."</p> - -<p>"Well, then, it is my intention to go into the desert."</p> - -<p>Don Estevan made a gesture of surprise.</p> - -<p>"Forgive my pertinacity," said he; "but without doubt you must be -acquainted with the desert you intend to enter?"</p> - -<p>"By your leave, señor, I am thoroughly acquainted with it."</p> - -<p>"And knowing its dangers, dare you enter it alone?"</p> - -<p>"I thought I had given you a proof today," said he, with an indefinable -smile, "that I dare many things."</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes; I know your courage carries you on to rashness: but what you -would undertake is worse than temerity—it is madness!"</p> - -<p>"Madness, señor! The word is too strong. Can a resolute man, well armed -and mounted, have anything to fear from the Indians?"</p> - -<p>"If you had nothing to do but defend yourself against Indians and -wild beasts. I should be somewhat in your way of thinking, señor: a -determined white can make head against twenty redskins. But how will -you escape from the Tigercat?"</p> - -<p>"From the Tigercat? Excuse me, <i>caballero</i>, but I do not understand you -at all."</p> - -<p>"I will soon explain, señor. The Tigercat is a white. This man, from -reasons unknown to all, has joined the Apaches, has become one of their -chiefs, and sworn implacable hatred to all men of his own colour."</p> - -<p>"I have heard vaguely of the man you mention; but, after all, he is the -only one of his race among the Indians. Redoubtable as he may be, he is -not invulnerable, I suppose; and a brave man might kill him."</p> - -<p>"Unfortunately you are mistaken, <i>caballero</i>; this man is not the only -one of his race among the Indians; other bandits of his class are with -him."</p> - -<p>"Yes," cried Doña Manuela; "his son among the rest, who, they say, is -as fierce a bandit as his father."</p> - -<p>"Mother, that is only a surmise. If you come to proof, nothing can be -affirmed against Stoneheart."</p> - -<p>"Who is the man of whom you speak?"</p> - -<p>"His son, as people say; but one cannot be sure of it."</p> - -<p>"And you call this man Stoneheart?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, señor. For my own part, I know several instances of his -generosity, which indicate, on the contrary, a heart in its right -place, and an ardent spirit capable of noble deeds."</p> - -<p>A slight blush overspread the face of Don Fernando.</p> - -<p>"Let us return to the Tigercat," said he. "What have I to dread from -this man?"</p> - -<p>"Everything. Concealed in the prairie, like a hideous <i>zopilote</i> -(vulture) on its point of rock, this wretch pounces upon the caravans, -whatever their strength, and pillages them; he murders in cold blood -the solitary travellers whom their evil destiny delivers into his -hands: his nets are stretched with such cruel skill, that none may -escape him. Listen to me, <i>caballero</i>: give up this journey, or you are -a lost man."</p> - -<p>"I thank you for your advice, which, I know, is prompted by the -interest you take in me; nevertheless, I cannot follow it. But it is -too late; allow me to retire. I observed a hammock under the <i>zaguán</i>, -in which I could pass the night admirably."</p> - -<p>"I will give orders to have my son's chamber prepared for you."</p> - -<p>"I could not allow anyone to be disturbed on my account, señora; I am -an old traveller. Moreover, the night is already far gone. I swear you -would disoblige me by forcing me to accept the chamber of Don Estevan."</p> - -<p>"Do as you think proper, <i>caballero</i>. A guest is one sent from God; -he ought to be master in the house he inhabits, as long as he chooses -to honour it with his presence. May the Lord watch over your repose -and bless your slumbers! My son shall show you the <i>corral</i> (outhouse) -where your horse has been stabled, in case you should wish to depart -before the household is awake."</p> - -<p>"Many thanks, once more, señorita. I hope to pay my respects to you -before I go."</p> - -<p>Having exchanged a few more compliments with his hostess, Don Fernando -rose and left the room, accompanied by Don Estevan. The wish he -expressed, to sleep in a hammock under the <i>zaguán</i>, was not at all -extraordinary, and perfectly in accordance with the customs of a -country where the nights, by their beauty and freshness, compensate the -inhabitants for the overpowering heat of the day.</p> - -<p>The American <i>ranchos</i> all have a porch, formed by four, and often six -columns, outside the house, and which support an <i>azotea</i> (flat roof). -In the large space between these columns, which are placed on either -side of the main entrance, hammocks are slung, in which the owners of -the dwellings themselves often pass the night, preferring to sleep -in the open air rather than endure the torrid heat which literally -converts into a stove the interior of the houses.</p> - -<p>Don Estevan led his guest to the <i>corral</i>, explained to him the -mechanism of the lock, asked if he could be of any further service, -wished him good night, and retired into the house, leaving the door -open, so that Don Fernando might enter if he thought fit.</p> - -<p>Doña Manuela awaited her son's return in the apartment where he had -left her. The old lady seemed restless.</p> - -<p>"Well," she asked, immediately her son made his appearance, "what do -you think of this man, Estevan?"</p> - -<p>"I, mother!" he answered, looking astonished; "What can I think of him? -I saw him today for the first time."</p> - -<p>The old señora shook her head impatiently.</p> - -<p>"You have been side by side for many hours; such a long <i>tête-à-tête</i> -should have given you an opportunity of studying and forming an opinion -of him."</p> - -<p>"That man, my dear mother, during the short time I have been with -him, has appeared under so many different aspects, that it has been -altogether an impossibility, I will not say to form an opinion, but -even to gain a ray of light by means of which I could direct my study -of him. I believe his to be a strong nature, full of nerve, capable of -good or evil, accordingly as he follows the impulse of his heart or the -calculations of his egotism. At San Lucar everyone seems to dread him -instinctively,—for nothing ostensible in his conduct justifies the -repulsion he inspires; no one can say positively who he is: his life is -an impenetrable mystery."</p> - -<p>"Estevan," said his mother, placing her hand heavily on his arm, -as if to lend force to the words she was about to utter, "a secret -presentiment warns me that the presence of this man in these parts -presages great misfortune. I cannot explain why. The moment he entered, -his features recalled a confused recollection of events that happened -long ago. I saw in his face points of resemblance with that of a -person dead, alas! How long?" She sighed. "When he spoke, the tone -of his voice sounded mournfully on my ear; for the voice completed -the likeness I had found in his face. Whoever this man may be, I am -convinced there is trouble, perhaps danger, in store for us. I am old, -my son; I have much experience; and, you know, one is seldom mistaken -at my age. Presentiments come from God; we must have faith in them. -Watch that man's doings as long as he remains here. I could wish you -had never brought him under our roof."</p> - -<p>"What could I do, mother? Hospitality is a duty from which no one -should shrink."</p> - -<p>"I do not reproach you, Estevan; you have acted according to your -conscience."</p> - -<p>"God grant that you delude yourself, mother! After all, whatever the -man's intentions may be, if he seeks to injure us, as you suppose, we -can but countermine his machinations."</p> - -<p>"No, Estevan; it is not exactly for ourselves I fear."</p> - -<p>"For whom, then, mother?"</p> - -<p>"Cannot you understand me?" said she, with, a mournful smile.</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Vive Dios,</i> mother! Let him beware. But no, it is impossible. -Nevertheless, I will go to the <i>hacienda</i> at daybreak, and put Don -Pedro on his guard."</p> - -<p>"Do not say a word to them, Estevan; but watch over them like a -faithful friend."</p> - -<p>"Yes, mother, you are right," said Estevan, who had suddenly become -thoughtful. "I will surround Hermosa with a vigilant protection, so -secret that no one shall suspect it. I swear it, <i>¡vive Dios!</i> I would -a thousand times rather die under the most atrocious torture, than see -her exposed anew to dangers like those of the last few days. And now, -mother, give me your blessing, and let me go."</p> - -<p>"Go, my son; and God protect you!"</p> - -<p>Don Estevan bent respectfully before his mother, and retired; but -before seeking repose, he made a minute examination of the house, and -did not extinguish his lamp till after he had convinced himself that -all was in perfect order.</p> - -<p>As soon as Don Estevan had left him, Don Fernando threw himself into -the hammock, and closed his eyes. The night was calm and beautiful; the -stars studded the heavens with an infinite number of diamonds; the moon -spread her silver rays over the landscape; at intervals, the prolonged -baying of the watchdogs mingled with the abrupter bark of the <i>coyotes</i> -(prairie-wolves), whose sinister forms were often perceptible in the -distance, the transparency of the atmosphere permitting remote objects -to be easily distinguished.</p> - -<p>All slept, or seemed to sleep.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Don Fernando raised his head, and peered cautiously over -the edge of his hammock. Thoroughly convinced that silence reigned -throughout the house, he slipped to the ground; after carefully -listening, and prying into the darkness in all directions, he placed on -his head the accoutrements of his horse, and turned his steps towards -the <i>corral</i>.</p> - -<p>Opening the door noiselessly, he whistled gently. At the signal, the -horse raised his head, and walked up to his master, who was holding the -door half open.</p> - -<p>The latter caught him by the mane, caressed him playfully, and then -saddled and bridled him with the dexterity and speed only acquired by -constant habit. The task over, his master wrapped his hoofs in four -pieces of sheepskin, to deaden the sound of his steps, vaulted into the -saddle, and bending over the neck of the noble brute: "Santiago!" cried -he, "now is the time to prove your mettle."</p> - -<p>The horse, as if he understood his master, dashed off into the -darkness, and took the direction of the river at the top of his speed.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the greatest silence pervaded the <i>rancho</i>, none of the -inhabitants of which seemed to be aware of this sudden flight.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a></h4> - -<h3>THE REDSKINS.</h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>We must now return to the Far West.</p> - -<p>On the banks of the Rio Grande del Norte, about ten leagues' distance -from the <i>presidio</i> of San Lucar stood the <i>atepelt</i>, or temporary -village, of Des Venados.</p> - -<p>The <i>atepelt</i>, a simple camp, like most of the Indian villages, -consisted of about a hundred <i>callis</i>, or huts, irregularly grouped -near each other.</p> - -<p>Each <i>calli</i> was built of about a dozen stakes driven into the ground, -four or five feet high at the sides, and six or seven in the centre, -with an aperture towards the east, for the master of the <i>calli</i> to -throw water in the direction of the rising sun—a ceremony by which -the Indians conjure the Wacondah to befriend their families during the -course of the day just breaking.</p> - -<p>These <i>callis</i> were covered with bison hides sewn together, with a hole -in the centre to admit the exit of the smoke of the fires kindled in -the interior,—fires which equal in number the wives of the owner, each -wife having a right to a fire of her own.</p> - -<p>The hides which formed the outer walls were carefully dressed, -and painted of divers colours; the painting, by its extravagance, -enlivening the aspect of the <i>atepelt.</i></p> - -<p>The lances of the fighting men were planted upright in the ground in -front of the entrance to the <i>calli.</i> These light lances, made of -flexible reed, sixteen or eighteen feet long, and armed at one end with -a long grooved iron, forged by the Indians themselves, are the most -redoubtable weapons of the Apaches.</p> - -<p>The liveliest joy seemed to animate the <i>atepelt.</i> In some <i>callis</i> the -women were spinning the wool of their flocks with their spindles; in -others they wove those <i>zarapés</i>, so renowned for their fineness and -the perfection of the work, at looms of primitive simplicity.</p> - -<p>The young people of the tribe, assembled in the centre of the -<i>atepelt</i>,—a large open space,—were playing at <i>milt</i> (an Indian word -signifying "arrow") a singular game, to which the Indians are greatly -addicted.</p> - -<p>The players trace a large circle on the ground, into which they step, -arranging themselves in two opposite rows. The leader of one row, -holding a ball filled with air in the right hand, the leader of the -other in the left, they throw their balls backwards with a motion which -brings them in front again. The left leg is then lifted, the ball -caught and hurled at the opposite player, whose body it must touch, -under penalty of losing a point. A thousand extravagant contortions -ensue on the part of the latter, in order to avoid the ball: he stoops, -he rises, bends himself backwards or forwards, jumps up where he -stands, or bounds to one side. If the ball quits the ring, the first -player loses two points and runs after it; if, on the contrary, the -second is struck, he must seize the ball and throw it back at his -opponent, whom it must hit, or he loses a point. The next in order, at -the opposite side of the ring, begins the game again; and so on, till -the close of the sport.</p> - -<p>One can understand what shouts of laughter arise from the grotesque -attitudes into which the players fall as the game goes on.</p> - -<p>Other Indians of riper age, were gravely playing with curious packs -of cards, made of squares of hide, coarsely painted with figures of -different animals.</p> - -<p>In a <i>calli</i> larger and better painted than the other huts of the -<i>atepelt</i>—the dwelling of the <i>sachem</i>, or principal chief, whose -lances, ornamented at the foot with pieces of skin-dyed red, were the -distinguishing badge of power—three men, crouched round the embers -of a fire, were, talking, heedless of the uproar without. They were -the Tigercat, the Zopilote, and the <i>amantzin</i>, or the sorcerer of the -tribe.</p> - -<p>The Zopilote was a half-breed, who had taken refuge with the Apaches -long ago, and been adopted by them. This man, every way worthy of the -name he bore, was a wretch whose cold and malignant cruelty revolted -the very Indians, who are themselves not delicate in matters of this -kind. The Tigercat had made this ferocious miscreant, who was devoted -to him, prime-minister of his vengeance, and the docile instrument -of his will. His latest wife, to whom he had been married a year, -had given birth to a boy that morning—hence the rejoicings of the -Indians; and he had come to take the orders of the Tigercat—the great -chief of the tribe—with respect to the ceremonies usual on the like -occasions.</p> - -<p>The Zopilote left the <i>calli</i>, to which he speedily returned, followed -by his wives and all his friends, one of whom held the infant in his -arms. The Tigercat, placing himself between the Zopilote and the -<i>amantzin</i> at the head of the party, led them towards the Rio Grande -del Norte.</p> - -<p>The procession halted on the bank of the river; the <i>amantzin</i> took -a little water in the hollow of his hand, and threw it into the -air, muttering a prayer to <i>the Master of the life of men.</i> He next -proceeded to <i>the great medicine;</i> that is, the newborn child, wrapped -in his woollen swaddling bands, was five times plunged into the waters -of the river, while the <i>amantzin</i> repeated, in a loud voice:</p> - -<p>"Master of life, look upon this young warrior with favourable eye; -remove from him all evil influences; protect him, Wacondah!"</p> - -<p>At the termination of this part of the ceremony, the procession -returned to the <i>atepelt</i>, and arranged itself in a circle in front -of the Zopilote's <i>calli</i>, at the entrance of which lay a young -mare on her back, with her four feet tied together. A new <i>zarapé</i> -was stretched under the belly of the animal, on which relations and -friends deposited, one after the other, the gifts intended for the -child—spurs, arms, and clothing. The Tigercat, out of friendship for -the Zopilote, had consented to act as godfather to the infant. He -placed it in the midst of the various gifts which filled the <i>zarapé</i>.</p> - -<p>Then the Zopilote seized his scalping knife, opened at one slash the -flanks of the mare, tore out the heart, and gave it, bleeding as it -was, to the Tigercat, who made a cross with it on the forehead of the -child, addressing him thus:</p> - -<p>"Young warrior of the tribe of Apache-Bisons, be brave and cunning. I -name thee <i>Mixcoatzin</i>—Cloud-Serpent."</p> - -<p>The father took the child, and the chief, raising the bleeding heart -above his head, shouted thrice:</p> - -<p>"Long live the Cloud-Serpent!"</p> - -<p>The cry was enthusiastically repeated by the bystanders. The <i>amantzin</i> -then commended the child to the Spirit of Evil, praying him to make the -young warrior brave, eloquent, and cunning; terminating his prayer in -these words, which found an ardent response in the hearts of all those -fierce beings:</p> - -<p>"Above all, may he never be a slave!"</p> - -<p>Thus terminated the ceremony: every religious rite had been performed. -The poor mare, the victim of this stupid superstition, was cut into -pieces; a great fire was kindled; friends and relations took their -seats at a feast, which was intended to last until nothing was left of -the mare.</p> - -<p>The Zopilote was about to seat himself, and feast with the others; -but, at a sign from the Tigercat, he followed the great chief to -his <i>calli</i>, where they once more took their seats by the fire. The -<i>amantzin</i> was also with them.</p> - -<p>The Tigercat waved his band to his wives, who left the <i>calli</i>, and -after a short meditation, spoke as follows:</p> - -<p>"I trust my brothers, and my heart opens before them like a -<i>chirimoya</i>" (a kind of American pear), "to show them my secret -thoughts: I have sorrowed for many days."</p> - -<p>"My father sorrows for his son Stoneheart," said the <i>amantzin.</i></p> - -<p>"No; I care not where he is now; I can find him again when I want -him. But I have a secret mission to confide to a safe man. Till this -morning, I hesitated to open my heart to you."</p> - -<p>"Let my father speak; his sons listen."</p> - -<p>"To hesitate longer would be to compromise things sacred. You will to -horse, Zopilote; I have no words for you: you know where I send you. -Induce these men to aid our enterprise; it will be a notable service."</p> - -<p>"I will do it. Do I go at once?"</p> - -<p>"Without delay."</p> - -<p>"In ten minutes I shall be far hence;" and, saluting the chiefs, he -went out.</p> - -<p>A few minutes later, the sound of a horse's hoofs fading away in the -distance announced his departure.</p> - -<p>Tigercat gave a sigh of satisfaction.</p> - -<p>"Let my brother, the <i>amantzin</i> open his ears," said he. "I am about -to leave the <i>atepelt</i>, I hope to be back tonight; but my absence may -be for two or three days. I leave my brother in my stead and place; -he will command the warriors, and will forbid them to go far from the -village, or approach the frontiers of the palefaces. It is important -that the Gachupinos (Mexicans) should not learn that we are so near -them; to do so would mar our plan. Does my brother understand?"</p> - -<p>"The Tigercat has no forked tongue; the words breathed from his mouth -are clear. His son understands."</p> - -<p>"Good. I can go in peace: my brother will watch over the tribe."</p> - -<p>"I will obey the orders of my father. If he is absent many suns, he -will not have to reproach his son."</p> - -<p>"Ugh! My son's words lift the skin that covered my heart and filled it -with sorrow. The Master of Life watch over him! I go."</p> - -<p>"Ugh! My brother is a sage warrior. The Wacondah will protect him on -his road; he will succeed."</p> - -<p>The two men gravely saluted each other. The <i>amantzin</i> remained by the -fire; the chief departed.</p> - -<p>It is probable that, if the old <i>sachem</i> had remarked the expression of -knavish hate on the face of the sorcerer at the moment they parted, he -would not have quitted the village.</p> - -<p>As the Tigercat threw himself into the saddle with a lightness hardly -to be expected at his years, the sun disappeared behind the mountains, -and night enveloped the prairie.</p> - -<p>The old man, without seeming to care for the darkness, pressed his -horse with his knees, gave him his head, and galloped off.</p> - -<p>The sorcerer, with bent person and head stretched forward, listened -anxiously to the lessening sound of the chief's rapid course. When all -was still again, he raised himself erect, a smile of triumph played -across his thin and livid lips, and he uttered triumphantly the words, -"At last!"—a summary of the thoughts secreted in his heart.</p> - -<p>Then he arose, left the <i>calli</i>, seated himself a few paces from it, -crossed his arms over his chest, and chanted, in a deep bass and a -mournful and monotonous rhythm, the Apache lament, beginning with the -following verse, which we reproduce as a specimen of the language of -this barbarous people:</p> - -<p> -"El mebin ni tlacaelantey<br /> -Tuz apan Pilco payentzin<br /> -Ancu maguida coaltzin<br /> -Ay guinchey ni polio menchey."<br /> -</p> - -<p>[I have lost my <i>tlacaelantey</i> in the country of Pilco. Oh, murderous -knives, which have changed him into shades and flies!]</p> - -<p>As the sorcerer went on with his song, his voice became by degrees -louder and more confident. In a short time, warriors, wrapped in their -bison robes, issued from several of the huts, and, with furtive steps, -approached the sorcerer, and entered the <i>calli.</i> At the close of the -lament, the sorcerer rose, ascertained that no other person was coming -towards him, that no laggard was loitering at his call, and in his turn -entered the <i>calli</i>, to join those whom he had convoked thus singularly.</p> - -<p>There were twenty men in all; they stood silent and motionless, like -bronze statues, round the fire, whose flames, revived by the draught -caused by their entrance, threw sinister shadows over their stern and -determined features. The <i>amantzin</i> placed himself in the midst, and -said:</p> - -<p>"Let my brothers sit at the council fire."</p> - -<p>The warriors squatted down in a circle.</p> - -<p>The sorcerer then took from the hands of the <i>hachesto</i>, or public -crier, the great calumet, the bowl of which was of red clay, and the -tube six feet long, of aloes wood, garnished with feathers and hawks' -bells. He filled it with a washed tobacco, called <i>morriche</i>, which -is never used except upon great occasions, lighted it with a medicine -stick, and having drawn a long breath of more than a minute, and -discharged the smoke through mouth and nose, presented the calumet -to the warrior on his right. The latter followed his example; and -the calumet passed thus from hand to hand, till it returned to the -<i>amantzin.</i></p> - -<p>The latter shook the ashes into the fire, muttering, in a low voice, a -few unintelligible words; after which, be restored the calumet to the -<i>hachesto</i>, who went out to watch, in order to ensure secrecy to the -deliberations of the council.</p> - -<p>There was a long silence; the profoundest calm brooded over the -village; no sound disturbed the tranquillity of the <i>atepelt;</i> and one -might have thought oneself a hundred leagues from a human dwelling.</p> - -<p>At length the <i>amantzin</i> rose, cast a searching look over the assembly, -and spoke.</p> - -<p>"Let my brothers open their ears," he said in measured tones. "The -spirit of the Master of Life has entered into my body; it is he -who dictates the words which spring from my lips. Chiefs of the -Bison-Apaches! The spirit of your ancestors has ceased to animate your -souls. You are no longer the terrible warriors, who declared war, -without truce or mercy, against the palefaces—those cowards, and -hateful despoilers of your hunting grounds; you are only antelopes, who -fly with faltering feet from the distant sound of an <i>erupha</i> (gun) of -the palefaces; you are old women, to whom the <i>Yorris</i> (Spanish) give -their petticoats; your blood no longer runs bright in your veins, -and a skin stretches over your heart and covers it completely. You, -formerly so brave and terrible, have made yourselves the coward slaves -of a dog of a paleface, who chases you like frightened rabbits, and -holds you trembling under his eye. Thus speaks the Master of Life. What -do you answer, warriors of the Apaches?"</p> - -<p>He ceased, and waited for one of the chiefs to take up the word. During -this insulting speech, a tremor of indignation agitated the Indians; it -was only by great efforts they obtained the mastery over their passion. -But when the <i>amantzin</i> ceased, a chief rose.</p> - -<p>"Is the sorcerer of the Apaches-Bisons mad," said he in a voice of -thunder, "that he should speak thus to the chiefs of his nation? He who -counts the foxes' tails attached to our heels will see if we are women, -and if the courage of our ancestors is dead in our hearts. What if the -Tigercat is a paleface?—His heart is Apache. The Tigercat is wise; he -has seen many things; the counsels he gives are good."</p> - -<p>The <i>amantzin</i> smiled with disdain.</p> - -<p>"My brother the White-Eagle speaks well; it is not for me to answer -him."</p> - -<p>He struck his hands thrice. A warrior appeared.</p> - -<p>"Let my brother," said the <i>amantzin</i> to him, "tell the council the -mission with which he was charged by the Tigercat."</p> - -<p>The redskin advanced to the circle, and bowed low before the chiefs, -who were all gazing at him.</p> - -<p>"The Tigercat," spoke a deep and mournful voice, "had ordered the -Black-Falcon to form an ambush with twenty warriors on the path of the -palefaces, whom Stoneheart pretended to guide to their big stone huts. -The Black-Falcon followed the palefaces a long time in the prairie. -Their trail was clear; they had no arms; nothing seemed more easy than -to seize them. An hour before the time fixed for the attack, Stoneheart -appeared alone in the camp of the warriors. The Black-Falcon received -him with the signs of friendship and praise, because he had abandoned -the <i>Yorris.</i> But Stoneheart replied, that Tigercat forbade the attack -on the palefaces, and, throwing himself on the Black-Falcon, thrust -the knife into his heart; while the <i>Yorris</i>, who had stolen upon the -camp, surprised the warriors, and massacred them with <i>eruphas</i> given -by Tigercat himself. This treachery was done to put Black-Falcon out of -his path, whose fame he envied. Twenty warriors followed the war path; -six returned with me to the <i>atepelt:</i> the others have been slain by -the Tigercat. I have said."</p> - -<p>This astonishing revelation created a stern silence of amazement and -rage. It was the calm that harbours the tempest. The chiefs looked from -one to the other with eyes of wrath.</p> - -<p>Of all races, the redskins are the most remarkable for the rapidity -with which their moods change, and are most easily led away by feelings -of rage. The <i>amantzin</i> was aware of this; therefore he was sure of -his triumph, after the terrible impression made by the recital of the -warrior.</p> - -<p>"Ugh!" said he, "What do my brothers think now of the counsels of the -Tigercat? Does the White-Eagle still think he has the heart of an -Apache? Who will avenge the death of the Black-Falcon?"</p> - -<p>Most of the chiefs rose at once, brandishing their scalping knives.</p> - -<p>"The Tigercat is a thieving dog, and a coward!" they shouted. "The -Apache warriors will tie his scalp to their girdles."</p> - -<p>Only two or three of the <i>sachems</i> attempted to protest; they knew the -<i>amantzin's</i> inveterate and long-standing hatred of Tigercat; they knew -the knavish character of the sorcerer; and suspected that, in this -affair, the truth had been disguised and garbled in order to serve the -vengeance of the man who had vowed the death of a foe whom he would -never dare to face openly.</p> - -<p>But the voices of these chiefs were soon stifled by the clamorous -ire of the other Indians. Renouncing, for the present, a useless -discussion, they withdrew from the circle, and grouped themselves in -a corner of the <i>calli</i>, resolved to remain the impassive, if not -indifferent, witnesses of the resolutions to be taken by the council.</p> - -<p>The Indians are grown-up children, who lash themselves into fury with -the sound of their own words and, when excited by their passions, -forget all prudence and moderation.</p> - -<p>However, in the present case, although they felt the fiercest desire -to avenge themselves on the Tigercat,—whom at this moment they -hated so much the more because they had loved and respected him so -highly,—although the most violent measures were proposed against him, -still it was not without some degree of hesitation that they proceeded -to act against their aged chief. The reason was simple enough: these -primitive beings recognised only one kind of superiority,—that of -brute strength; and the Tigercat, in spite of his great age, enjoyed -among them a reputation for strength and courage, too well established -for them not to look forward with a certain degree of fear to the -consequences of the action they meditated.</p> - -<p>The <i>amantzin</i> tried in vain, by all the means in his power, to -convince them how easy it would be to seize Tigercat on his return -to the village. The sorcerer's project was excellent; if the chiefs -chose to avail themselves of it, it would be impossible to fail. The -plan was this: the Apaches were to feign ignorance of the death of -the Black-Falcon; they were to receive him on his return with the -greatest protestations of joy, in order to lull the suspicions he -might entertain, and seize him while he slept; they were to bind him -securely, and tie him to the torture stake. One sees that the plan was -extremely simple; but the Apaches would not listen to it, so great was -the dread they felt for their foe.</p> - -<p>Finally, after a discussion which lasted the greater part of the night, -it was definitely settled that the tribe should strike their camp, and -bury themselves in the desert, without troubling themselves with any -further thought of their old leader.</p> - -<p>But just at that moment the dissentient chiefs who, up to that time, -had taken no part in what was going on, left the corner of the <i>calli</i> -to which they had retired, and one of them, called Fire-Eye, taking -up the word in the name of his companions, observed that those of the -<i>sachems</i> who wished to depart might do so, but could not impose their -will on others; that the tribe had no great chief legally chosen; that -each was at liberty to act as he pleased; and that, as for themselves, -they were resolved not to repay with black ingratitude the eminent -services the Tigercat had rendered the tribe for many years past; and -they would not quit the village before his return.</p> - -<p>This determination gave great anxiety to the <i>amantzin</i>, who vainly -sought to overcome it: the chiefs would listen to nothing, and adhered -firmly to their determination.</p> - -<p>At sunrise, by order of the sorcerer, who already acted from that time -forward as if he was the recognised grand chief of the tribe, the -<i>hachesto</i> summoned the warriors to the open space of the village, -by the ark of the first man, and orders were given to the women to -pull down the <i>callis</i>, and harness and load the dogs, that they -might depart as soon as possible. The order was promptly executed; -the pickets were drawn, the bison hides folded, household utensils -carefully packed, and placed on sledges, to be drawn by the dogs.</p> - -<p>But the dissentient chiefs had not been idle on their side: they had -managed to win over to their opinion several renowned warriors of the -people, so that only about three-quarters of the tribe prepared to -emigrate, while the other quarter remained stoical spectators of the -arrangements for travel which were going on before them.</p> - -<p>At last the <i>hachesto</i>, at the order of the <i>amantzin</i>, gave the signal -to march.</p> - -<p>Then a long line of sledges drawn by dogs, and of women laden with -children, quitted the village, escorted by a numerous band of warriors, -and was soon winding its way, like a great serpent, through the prairie.</p> - -<p>When their brothers had disappeared in the depths of the wilderness, -the warriors who had remained faithful to the Tigercat assembled to -deliberate on the measures to be taken until his return.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a></h4> - -<h3>THE MIDNIGHT MEETING.</h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>In the meantime Don Fernando Carril, bending over his horse's mane, was -gliding through the night like a phantom.</p> - -<p>Thanks to the precaution he had taken of wrapping pieces of sheepskin -round the hoofs of the horse, he passed on silently and rapidly as the -spectre-horseman of the German ballad, making the frightened packs of -<i>coyotes</i> fly before his career.</p> - -<p>Gradually he neared the banks of the river, which he forded without -slackening his speed; inciting his steed by voice and gesture, and -throwing sharp glances to right and left, before and behind him.</p> - -<p>His flight lasted full three hours, during which the Mexican never -allowed his favourite a moment's respite to fetch his breath and rest -his tired limbs.</p> - -<p>But when at last he arrived at a spot on the narrow river, where it -rolled its muddy waters between low banks lined with tufted cotton -trees, he alighted in a thick coppice, and, having convinced himself he -was alone, plucked a handful of grass, and rubbed his horse down with -that care, and solicitude of which those alone are capable whose lives -may at any moment depend on the speed of their faithful and devoted -companion. Then taking off the bridle, and leaving him to graze on -the tall and abundant grasses, the Mexican spread his <i>zarapé</i> on the -ground, and closed his eyes.</p> - -<p>Nothing troubled the silence of the night; no sound arose in the -desert. Don Fernando lay motionless as a corpse, his eyes still closed, -and his head supported by his left arm; and thus he lay for two hours.</p> - -<p>Did he sleep? Did he wake? None could say. Suddenly the hooting of an -owl arose on the air. In an instant Don Fernando half-raised himself, -bent his head forward, and listened, with his eyes fixed on the heavens.</p> - -<p>It was deep in the night; the stars were shedding on the earth their -obscure and doubtful light; nothing foretold the approach of day.</p> - -<p>It was scarcely two o'clock in the morning; the owl is the first bird -to announce the approach of the sun, but owls do not proclaim the day -three hours before it breaks. Notwithstanding the perfection of the -imitation, the Mexican hesitated. Soon a second hoot, followed by -a third, dispersed the doubts of Don Fernando; he rose, and thrice -repeated the cry of the water hawk.</p> - -<p>A similar cry issued immediately from the opposite bank of the river.</p> - -<p>Don Fernando bridled his horse, cast his <i>zarapé</i> over his shoulders, -examined his weapons to ensure their efficacy, flung himself into the -saddle without touching stirrup, and crossed the river.</p> - -<p>A short distance in front of him lay an islet, covered with poplars -and cotton trees, towards which he bent his steps. The approach to -the islet was easy; the horse, recruited by his two hours' rest, swam -strongly, and touched the ground nearly in a straight line from the -spot where he had plunged in.</p> - -<p>Scarcely had the Mexican reached the land, when a rider emerged from -the thicket, and halting some twenty paces off, exclaimed, in a loud -voice, and an accent of great discontent:</p> - -<p>"You were late in replying to my signal. I was on the point of leaving."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps it would have been better had you done so," sharply replied -Don Fernando.</p> - -<p>"Aha!" said the other mockingly, "Does the wind blow from that quarter?"</p> - -<p>"Never mind whence it blows, if I do not sail before it. I am here; -what do you want with me? Be short; for I have no time to give you."</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Vive Dios!</i> Something very interesting must entice you to the place -whence you came, if you are so anxious to be there again."</p> - -<p>"Listen, Tigercat," roundly and sharply replied the Mexican; "if you -have summoned me here so urgently merely to chafe and laugh at me, it -is useless to stay longer; so, adieu!"</p> - -<p>As he said this, Don Fernando turned as if to retire and quit the -island.</p> - -<p>The Tigercat—for his interlocutor was no other than that extraordinary -personage—quickly seized a pistol, and cocked it.</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Rayo de Dios!</i>" said he; "if you stir a foot, I will blow your -brains out!"</p> - -<p>"Pooh!" replied the other, with a sneer; "What should I be doing in the -meanwhile? A truce to threats, or I kill you like a dog."</p> - -<p>With action as prompt as the Tigercat's, he too had drawn a pistol, -cocked, and presented it at his opponent.</p> - -<p>"You would not dare to do it."</p> - -<p>"You know I dare all," said the Mexican.</p> - -<p>"We have lost time enough; let us proceed to business," said the old -man, alighting from his horse.</p> - -<p>"Well, let us proceed to business. What is it you want with me?" -replied Don Fernando, also dismounting.</p> - -<p>"Why have you deceived and turned against me, instead of serving me, as -you are bound?"</p> - -<p>"I was bound to nothing with you; on the contrary, I roundly refused -the mission which you persisted in forcing upon me."</p> - -<p>"Could you not have remained neuter, and allowed these people to fall -into my hands again?"</p> - -<p>"No; my honour compelled me to defend them."</p> - -<p>"Your honour!" burst out the Tigercat, with a cynical laugh.</p> - -<p>The Mexican was confused: he frowned, but recovered himself, and -continued:</p> - -<p>"Hospitality is sacred in the prairie; its rights are indefeasible. The -people I guided had placed themselves, of their own accord, under my -protection: to abandon, or refuse to defend them, would have been to -betray them. You yourself would have done as I did."</p> - -<p>"It is useless to recur any more to this, or to discuss a deed that is -done. Why did you not return to me?"</p> - -<p>"Because I preferred to stay at San Lucar."</p> - -<p>"Yes; civilized life is sure to attract you; I can understand that this -double part you are playing, at your own risk and peril, has charms for -you. Don Fernando Carril is received with open arms in the circles of -the highest Mexican society. But believe me, boy, you had better take -heed lest your adventurous spirit lead you into some false steps, from -which not all the courage of Stoneheart could save you."</p> - -<p>"I did not come here to listen to sermons."</p> - -<p>"True; but it is my duty to read you the sermons you did not come to -hear. As long as I remain in the desert, I will not lose sight of -you for a moment. I know all your doings; I am ignorant of nothing -regarding you."</p> - -<p>"And why have you surrounded me with spies?" said Don Fernando -haughtily.</p> - -<p>"In order to know if I could still repose the same confidence in you."</p> - -<p>"And what have you learned from your spies?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing but what is satisfactory; only I insist on knowing how we -stand towards each other."</p> - -<p>"Do not your spies make you aware of my slightest doings?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, of all that concerns you personally: thus I know you have not yet -ventured to present yourself to Don Pedro de Luna;" and he sneered.</p> - -<p>"True; but I intend to see him tomorrow."</p> - -<p>The Tigercat shrugged his shoulders in disdain.</p> - -<p>"Let us speak of more serious matters," said he. "How do we stand?"</p> - -<p>"I have followed your instructions in everything. For two years, since -the time I first made my appearance in San Lucar, I have lost no single -opportunity of forming connections, which will, I hope be of service to -you later on. Although my appearance at the <i>pueblo</i> is rare, and my -visits are short, I still think I have attained the object you proposed -to yourself when you gave me my orders. The mystery with which I -surround myself has been of more use to me than I dared to hope. I have -attached to myself the greater number of the <i>vaqueros</i> and <i>leperos</i> -in the <i>presidio</i>—gallows birds, but I can count upon them; they are -devoted to me. These fellows only know me as Don Fernando Carril."</p> - -<p>"Ah, I know all that," said the Tigercat.</p> - -<p>"You do?" said the Mexican, looking at the old man with a glance of -anger.</p> - -<p>"Have I not told you I never left you out of my sight?"</p> - -<p>"Yes—as far as my personal affairs are concerned."</p> - -<p>"Well, the hour is come to gather the harvest we have sown among these -villains. They will serve me better against their countrymen than -the redskins in whom I dare not place perfect confidence. They are -acquainted with Spanish tactics, and accustomed to firearms. Now that -your part with the <i>pícaros</i> is over, I shall begin to play mine. I -must enter into direct relation with them."</p> - -<p>"As you please; I thank you for releasing me from the responsibility -of an affair the object of which you have never thought fit to confide -to me. I shall be glad to procure you the means of treating personally -with the rascals I have engaged in your service."</p> - -<p>"I understand your longings to be free, and approve them the more, -since it was I who first inspired you with the wish to become better -acquainted with the charming daughter of Don Pedro de Luna."</p> - -<p>"Not a word of her," said Don Fernando fiercely. "If, up to the present -time, I have consented to be guided by you, and to obey your orders -without discussing them, the time has now come to place the question -clearly and categorically before us, so that no misunderstanding may -arise between us in the future. It is this reason alone which had -weight enough to bring me tonight in answer to your summons."</p> - -<p>The Tigercat looked at the Mexican long and fixedly; then he replied:</p> - -<p>"Speak, then, madman, who do not see the gulf which yawns at your feet: -speak; I listen."</p> - -<p>Don Fernando remained some time lost in thought, leaning against the -knotted trunk of a poplar, and with his eyes cast on the ground.</p> - -<p>"Tigercat," said he at length, "I know not who you are, nor the motives -which have induced you to renounce civilisation, to take refuge in -the desert, and adopt the life of the Indian; I do not wish to know -them. Every man is responsible for his own actions, and must render an -account of them to his own conscience. As to myself, never has a word -from your mouth taught me in what place I was born, or to what family -I belong. Although you brought me up—although, as far back as my -memory carries me, I have seen no one belonging to me but yourself—yet -I cannot think you are my father. Had I been your son, or even only -a distant relative, it is evident my training would have been widely -different to that which I received at your express commands."</p> - -<p>"What are those words your bold lips utter?—How dare you venture -to fling reproaches at me?" said the old man, bursting into a fit of -passion.</p> - -<p>"Interrupt me not, Tigercat; let me open my thoughts to you entirely," -sadly replied the Mexican. "I do not reproach you; but from the time -when, under the name of Don Fernando Carril, you forced me into the -whirl of civilised life, in spite of myself, and no doubt in spite of -you, I have learned two things, and my eyes have been opened. I have -comprehended the meaning of two words, the significance of which was -unknown to me till then. These two words have changed not only my -character, but the light in which I used to look at things; for, with a -purpose I cannot divine, you applied yourself from my infancy to foster -every evil sentiment germinating within me, while you carefully stifled -the few good qualities which my heart might haply have possessed, had -it not been for the system you adopted. In a word, I have now arrived -at the knowledge of good and evil. I know all your efforts have been -exerted to make me a human wild beast. Have you succeeded? The future -shall show. To judge by the feelings that are surging in my heart -while I speak to you, you have not reached the result you aimed at; -be that as it may, I am no longer your slave. I have served too long -as the instrument in your hands of deeds whose aim I cannot see. You -have yourself taught me that family bonds do not exist in nature; -that they are absurd prejudices, trammels invented by civilisation; -that no man has a right to impose his will as law on others; that the -real man is he who walks free through life, unincumbered by relation -or friend, recognising no master but his own desires. Well, then, I -will now put in practice these precepts you have so long and steadily -inculcated. What matters to me whether I be Don Fernando Carril, or -Stoneheart the Bee-hunter? Following the law laid down by yourself, and -elevating ingratitude into a virtue, I take back my own free liberty -and independence of you, recognising no claim of yours to influence my -life for good or for evil, and assuming from henceforth the right to -walk after my own impulses, whatever may happen in consequence of my -resolve."</p> - -<p>"Go, my child," said the Tigercat, with his mocking sneer; "go, act as -you think fit; but, in spite of all your efforts, you will soon come -back to me; for say what you will, you belong to me, and will soon -know it. But it does not rouse my ire to hear you speak thus; it is -not you who speak—it is love. I am very old, Fernando, but not so old -as to have lost all recollections of my youth. Love has mastered your -heart; when he has utterly burnt it up, you will return to the desert; -for then you will have learnt what that life is into which you, poor, -ignorant child, are just plunging. You will have learnt that life in -this world is but a feather blown hither and thither by every varying -breeze; and that at the breath of love, the man who thinks himself the -strongest becomes more feeble than the weakest and most wretched of -created beings. But let us break off: it is your will to be free; be -so. First of all, however, you have to render me an account of the -mission with which I charged you."</p> - -<p>"I will do so. Present yourself to the <i>vaqueros</i> in my name; this -diamond"—and he drew one from his finger—"will be your passport. They -have been warned: show it to them, and they will obey you as they would -myself."</p> - -<p>"Where do these men meet?"</p> - -<p>"You will find most of them at a low <i>pulquería</i> in the new Pueblo de -San Lucar. But do you really intend to venture within the <i>presidio?</i>"</p> - -<p>"Assuredly. Now, one word more: can I count upon you when the hour for -action arrives?"</p> - -<p>"You can, if what you purpose is right."</p> - -<p>"Aha! You are already beginning to impose conditions."</p> - -<p>"Have I not told you so?—Or shall I remain neuter?"</p> - -<p>"No; I have need of you. You will, I suppose, inhabit the house you -bought? Every day a trusty person shall inform you of the course of -events; and when the proper moment comes, I know you will be with me."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps I may; but happen what will, do not depend too much upon it."</p> - -<p>"I do depend upon it, nevertheless, and I will tell you why. At present -you are under the impulse of love, and naturally your reasoning -succumbs to the influence of the passion that masters you. But before -a month is over, see what will inevitably happen. Either you will -succeed,—and satiety, following on the heels of sated passion, will -make you glad to return to the wilderness,—or you will fail, and -jealousy and wounded pride will inspire the lust for vengeance, and you -will seize with joy the opportunity I shall offer you to glut it."</p> - -<p>"I see clearly that very shortly we shall not understand each other at -all," said the Mexican with a melancholy smile. "You always reason from -your evil passions, so great is your hatred of men, and the contempt -you feel for the human race; while I only listen to my good feelings, -and suffer myself to be guided by them."</p> - -<p>"Well, well, child; I give you a month to finish your caterwauling. -That time passed, we will resume our conversation. Adieu."</p> - -<p>"Adieu. Are you bound for the <i>presidio?</i>"</p> - -<p>"No; I return to my village, where, too, I have a little matter of -business; for, unless I am mistaken, curious things have happened since -I left it."</p> - -<p>"Do you dread a revolt there against your power?"</p> - -<p>"I do not dread, I wish it," was the enigmatical answer.</p> - -<p>The old man then bid the Mexican farewell, mounted his horse, and rode -into the thicket.</p> - -<p>Don Fernando stood there some time, plunged in serious thought, -listening mechanically to the sound of the horse's hoofs as they died -away in the distance. When he could no longer hear them, he turned his -head in the direction Tigercat had taken.</p> - -<p>"Go," said he hoarsely; "go, savage, in the belief that I have not -discovered your project. I will dig a mine under your feet to explode -and crush you. I will foil your attempt. I would dare more than man -dares to baffle your machinations. It is three o'clock," he continued, -after looking at the sky, from which the stars were fading out; "I -shall have time."</p> - -<p>He called his horse and mounted, took the direction of Don Estevan's -<i>rancho</i>, and recommenced his headlong course across the wilderness.</p> - -<p>The horse, fresh from his long rest, stretched himself out freely; and -daylight was just beginning to appear when they reached the <i>rancho.</i></p> - -<p>Don Fernando gave a sigh of satisfaction. All was quiet about the -dwelling; all the inhabitants seemed wrapped in repose. The secret of -his nocturnal excursion was safe.</p> - -<p>He unsaddled his horse, groomed him carefully,—so as to leave no signs -of his ride,—and led him to the <i>corral</i>, where he carefully divested -his hoofs of the pieces of sheepskin, turned him in, closed the door, -and softly returned to the zaguán.</p> - -<p>Just as he was about to climb into his hammock, he observed a man, who, -leaning against the doorpost with his legs crossed, was calmly smoking -his <i>pajillo.</i></p> - -<p>Don Fernando recoiled on recognising his host; it was, in fact, Estevan -Diaz.</p> - -<p>The latter, without the slightest semblance of surprise, took the -cigarette from his mouth, blew out an enormous mouthful of smoke, and -addressed his guest in a tone of the most polished courtesy.</p> - -<p>"You must be greatly fatigued with your long ride tonight, <i>caballero.</i> -Will you have anything to restore you?"</p> - -<p>Don Fernando, horrified at the coolness with which this was uttered, -hesitated for a moment.</p> - -<p>"How am I to understand you, <i>caballero?</i>" said he.</p> - -<p>"How?" said the other. "Pooh! What is the use of dissembling? I assure -you, it is useless to attempt to blind me: I know all."</p> - -<p>"You know all! What do you know?" replied the Mexican, anxious to -ascertain how far Don Estevan was acquainted with what had occurred.</p> - -<p>"I know," replied the <i>major-domo</i>, "that you rose, that you saddled -your horse, and that you went to meet one of your friends who was -waiting for you at the Isle de los Pavos."</p> - -<p>"What!" cried Don Fernando, scarcely repressing his rage; "You dared to -follow me?"</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Vive Dios!</i> I should think so; it is my way of thinking to fancy -that a man who has been all day long on horseback does not take -another ride through the whole of the following night for mere -pleasure, particularly in a country like this, which, dangerous enough -by daylight, is doubly so when night has fallen. Moreover, I am -inquisitive by nature—"</p> - -<p>"You are a spy!" broke in Don Fernando, in a fury.</p> - -<p>"Fie, <i>caballero!</i> What a strange expression you use! I a spy! No, -no; only as the simplest way of learning what I wanted to know was to -listen, I listened."</p> - -<p>"Then you were present at the conversation on the Isle de los Pavos?"</p> - -<p>"I will not deny it, caballero; indeed, I was very close to you."</p> - -<p>"And heard everything that was said there?"</p> - -<p>"To be sure; yes, very nearly all," replied Don Estevan, still smiling.</p> - -<p>Don Fernando threw himself upon the <i>major-domo</i>, but was stopped by -him with a strength the former hardly expected to meet with.</p> - -<p>Don Estevan continued, in the same placid tone in which he had hitherto -spoken:</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Cuerpo de Cristo!</i> you are my guest. Wait a little; we shall have -time to finish this matter here, after, if it must be."</p> - -<p>The Mexican, overwhelmed by these words, stepped back from him, crossed -his arms, and, looking him full in the face, replied, "I will wait."</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a></h4> - -<h3>DON ESTEVAN DIAZ.</h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>For some little time the two men stood thus face to face, looking at -each other with the dogged resolution of two duellists who are watching -an opportunity to close.</p> - -<p>The eyes of Don Estevan, whose face was in other respects impassive, -betrayed a sorrow which he could not dissemble.</p> - -<p>Don Fernando, with folded arms, his head erect, his forehead frowning, -and his lips livid with the fury that boiled within him, waited for the -words that were to fall from Don Estevan's mouth, in order to decide -whether he should attack him at once, or pretend to be satisfied with -the excuses the latter would probably utter.</p> - -<p>By degrees the darkness had become less palpable: the sky decked itself -in iris colours, the horizon grew red, the sun, although not yet -visible, gave tokens that it would not be long ere he rose, to replace -with floods of dazzling light the pale rays of the few stars still -visible in the profound blue of heaven.</p> - -<p>A thousand pungent odours rose from the earth; and the morning breeze, -passing over the foliage of the trees, made it tremble and murmur, -while it twisted the mists hanging over the river into the most -fantastic folds.</p> - -<p>At length Don Estevan, to whom the pause was becoming as embarrassing -as it was to the other, determined to break the silence.</p> - -<p>"I will be frank with you, <i>caballero</i>," said he. "I heard everything -that passed in your conversation with the Tigercat; not a word escaped -me. This will show you that I know all, and am aware that Don Fernando -Carril and Stoneheart are one and the same person."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said the Mexican, bitterly, "I see you are an excellent spy. You -have chosen a sorry trade, <i>caballero.</i>"</p> - -<p>"Who can tell? Perhaps, before we have finished our conversation, you -may be of a different opinion, señor."</p> - -<p>"I doubt it. But allow me to remark, that you have a singular mode of -showing hospitality towards the guests God sends you."</p> - -<p>"Let me explain first; then, after you have heard what I have to tell -you, I shall be ready, <i>caballero</i>, to give you the satisfaction you -demand—if you still insist on it."</p> - -<p>"Speak, then; and let us finish this somehow or other," replied -Don Fernando impatiently. "The sun has already risen; I hear them -moving and talking in the <i>rancho;</i> the people will soon make their -appearance, and hinder, by their presence, any explanation between us."</p> - -<p>"You are right; we must settle this; and as I have as little -inclination to be interrupted as you, follow me. What I have to say is -too long to be spoken here."</p> - -<p>Don Fernando complied. They entered the corral, and saddled their -horses.</p> - -<p>"Now mount and be off," said Don Estevan, as he vaulted into the -saddle; "there is plenty of room for talk in the desert."</p> - -<p>The plan proposed was very acceptable to the Mexican, as it gave him -freedom of action, and the means of hurling consummate vengeance at -the head of the <i>major-domo</i>, if the latter wished, as he fancied, to -betray him.</p> - -<p>It was a splendid morning: a dazzling sun showered down his hot rays in -profusion over the country, making the stones glitter like diamonds; -the birds warbled gaily among the leaves; <i>vaqueros</i> and <i>peones</i> began -to disperse themselves in all directions, urging on to the pasturage -the horses and cattle of the <i>hacienda;</i> the landscape increased in -beauty every moment, and bore a smiling aspect, very different to the -one it wore under the terrors of darkness.</p> - -<p>The two men rode on for an hour, when they came to a half-ruined and -uninhabited <i>rancho</i>, which, covered with climbing plants, and almost -hidden under their leaves and flowers, offered an excellent refuge -from the heat; for, though the day was still young, the sultriness of -the air was overpowering.</p> - -<p>"Let us stop here," said Don Estevan, breaking silence for the first -time since they left his home; "we shall scarcely find a fitter place."</p> - -<p>"Stop, if it suits you," said Don Fernando, carelessly; "to me all -places are alike, provided you give me the explanation I demand; only, -let it be short and frank."</p> - -<p>"Frank it shall be, I give you my honour; short I cannot say, for I -have a long and sad tale to relate."</p> - -<p>"To me? And for what purpose, pray? Must I hear it? Tell me only—"</p> - -<p>"Most surely," said Don Estevan, as he dismounted, "what I have to say -will touch you very nearly. You will shortly see the proof."</p> - -<p>Don Fernando shrugged his shoulders, and alighted in his turn.</p> - -<p>"You are mad, <i>Dios me libre</i>," (God forgive me), said he. "Since -you overheard our conversation so clearly, you must know that I am -a foreigner, and anything that occurs in this country can be but of -slight importance to me."</p> - -<p>"<i>¿Quién sabe?</i>" (Who can tell?) replied Don Estevan, sententiously, -throwing himself on the floor of the <i>rancho</i> with great content.</p> - -<p>Don Fernando followed his example, his curiosity beginning to get the -better of him.</p> - -<p>When the two men were comfortably stretched opposite each other, Don -Estevan turned his face to the Mexican:</p> - -<p>"I am going to talk of Doña Hermosa," said he of a sudden.</p> - -<p>Surprised by these words, the Mexican blushed deeply. He tried in vain -to conceal his emotion.</p> - -<p>"Ah!" said he in a stifled voice, "Doña Hermosa! You mean the daughter -of Don Luna?"</p> - -<p>"The same. In a word, the very girl you saved a few days ago."</p> - -<p>"Why recur to that event? Everyone else in my place would have done the -same."</p> - -<p>"It may be so. I do not wish to appear sceptical, but I think you are -mistaken there. However, that is not our question. I say, you saved -Doña Hermosa from a frightful death. At the first impulse, yielding to -your feelings of pride, you left her abruptly, determined to return -to the desert, never again to see the face of her who would have -overwhelmed you with gratitude."</p> - -<p>Don Fernando, astonished and galled at finding his feelings so well -understood, briskly interrupted the speaker.</p> - -<p>"To our business, if it so please you, <i>caballero</i>," he said sharply; -"it is better to begin your explanation at once than launch out into -suppositions which may be very ingenious, but have the one fault of -being erroneous."</p> - -<p>"Look, Don Fernando," replied the other, "you will try in vain to -lead me on a false trail; so all denial is useless. You are young and -handsome. Passing your life among savages, you are utterly ignorant -of the great key to human passions. You could not see Doña Hermosa -with impunity. As soon as you saw her, your heart trembled; new ideas -developed themselves; and, forgetting all else, despising every other -consideration, you have retained only one object, one desire,—that of -seeing this girl, who appeared to you as a dream, and brought trouble -into a heart so calm before. You have longed to see her, if only for a -minute—for a second."</p> - -<p>"You are right," cried Don Fernando, carried away by the force of -truth; "I feel all you describe. I would joyfully give my life to see -but a corner of her <i>rebozo</i> (veil). But why is it so? I seek in vain -to understand it."</p> - -<p>"It is what you would never understand if I did not come to -your aid. A man brought up like you, beyond the pale of social -considerations,—whose life as yet has only been one long strife -with the imperious necessity of each day; who has never employed his -physical powers except in the cares of the chase or the struggles of -war,—your moral faculties lay dormant within you; you were ignorant -of their power. Love brought about the transformation, the effects of -which are now confounding you. You love Doña Hermosa."</p> - -<p>"Do you think so?" said he simply. "Is this what is called love? In -that case," he added, speaking more to himself than to Don Estevan, -"its pains are cruel."</p> - -<p>The latter looked at him with a mingling of pity and sorrow, and -continued:</p> - -<p>"I followed you last night because your actions seemed suspicious, and -a vague fear led me to distrust you. Concealed in a bush only a yard or -two from the spot where you were talking to the Tigercat, I overheard -all you said. I changed my opinion of you; I recognised—forgive me if -I speak frankly—that you were better than report would make you, and -that it would be wrong to take you for such a man as the one you spoke -to. The peremptory manner with which you repulsed his insinuations -proved that you have a heart. Upon that I determined to support you in -the strife for which you are preparing against this man, who has ever -been your evil genius, and whose pernicious influence has so malignly -brooded over your youth. These are the reasons why I have spoken thus; -these the reasons why I brought you here for an explanation. Now, here -is my hand; will you take it? It is that of a friend and brother."</p> - -<p>Don Fernando rose, and eagerly seizing the hand so frankly held out to -him, pressed it again and again.</p> - -<p>"Thanks," said he; "thanks, and forgive me. Truly I am, as you say, a -savage, taking offence at every trifle. I did not recognise your noble -character."</p> - -<p>"Do not say a word on that subject. Listen to me: I do not know whence -my idea springs, but I suspect that the Tigercat is the implacable -enemy of Don Pedro de Luna; his purpose is to make you the instrument -of some devilish attempt upon the family at the <i>hacienda.</i>"</p> - -<p>"It is just what I thought myself," said Don Fernando. "The Tigercat's -strange conduct during the time they were his guests, and the deception -practised upon them, which would have been successful but for my -intervention, roused my suspicions. You yourself heard last night the -obloquy he heaped on me. Let him beware."</p> - -<p>"Let us not be too precipitate," said Don Estevan; "we cannot be too -prudent. On the contrary, let us leave the Tigercat to develop his -schemes, that we may check them the more readily."</p> - -<p>"That, perhaps, would be the better plan. He is going to San Lucar -shortly: it will be easy to watch all his steps and counteract his -projects. Although this man is subtle, and his cunning and knavery -astute, I swear to God I will be no less wily than he."</p> - -<p>"More so, as I shall be in the background to support you, and be at -your side in the hour of need."</p> - -<p>"It is Doña Hermosa who must be specially guarded."</p> - -<p>"Alas, Don Estevan, how happy you will be in having it in your power to -watch over her hourly."</p> - -<p>"Nonsense, my friend; I hope to take you to her in the course of an -hour or two."</p> - -<p>"Can such a thing be possible?" cried Don Fernando, rapturously.</p> - -<p>"Of course it can; particularly as you ought to be placed on a certain -footing of intimacy with those at the <i>hacienda</i>, that we may the -better mislead the Tigercat. Have you forgotten his sarcasms and -insinuations apropos of the love he fancies you feel for the charming -girl,—the love he boasts of having instigated himself, by throwing her -into your way without your suspecting it?"</p> - -<p>"True; the man has certainly some hideous project concerning her."</p> - -<p>"Be not alarmed; with God's help, we will checkmate him. Now, two words -more. Do you really believe this wretch to be your father? The question -is one of more importance than you imagine."</p> - -<p>Don Fernando became restless; his forehead clouded over with thought; -he remained some time in profound meditation. At last he raised his hat -and replied:</p> - -<p>"I have often asked myself the question you have propounded without -ever coming to a satisfactory conclusion. Nevertheless, I am almost -certain he is not my father; I cannot be his son. His conduct towards -me, the cruel care with which he inspired me with thoughts of evil, -and developed in me all the bad instincts of nature,—prove to me that, -if any relationship exists between us, it can only be a distant one. -It is not to be imagined that a father could take absolute pleasure in -thus perverting his own son. Nature revolts so utterly against such a -proposition, that the mind cannot accept it. On the other hand, I have -always felt for this man a secret repulsion and invincible dislike -approaching to hatred. This repulsion increased instead of diminishing -with time, a rapture became daily more imminent, and only a pretext was -wanting to bring it about. This pretext has been unconsciously found -by the Tigercat; and now I am hugging myself with joy at finding my -freedom restored, and myself eased of the heavy burden of subjection -which weighed me down so long."</p> - -<p>"I am quite of your opinion; the man cannot be your father. We shall -shortly find that we are right in our conviction; and this moral -certainty will allow us to take any measures we please to counteract -and foil his machinations."</p> - -<p>"In what way do you intend to introduce me to Doña Hermosa, my friend?"</p> - -<p>"I will tell you directly. But first I must relate a long and mournful -tale, requisite for you to know in all its details, lest, in your -intercourse with Don Pedro, you should unwittingly touch upon a wound -still secretly bleeding in his heart. This dark and mysterious affair -happened long ago. I was hardly born at the time of its occurrence; -yet my mother has so often told me the details, that they present -themselves to my memory as if I had been an actor in the terrible -drama. Listen attentively, my good friend. Who knows whether God, -who has inspired me with the wish to tell you the tale, may not have -reserved for you the elucidation of its mysteries."</p> - -<p>"Does this tale relate to Doña Hermosa?"</p> - -<p>"Indirectly it does. Doña Hermosa was not born at the time, and her -father did not inhabit the <i>hacienda</i>, which he purchased subsequently. -At that time the family lived in retirement at a town in the Banda -Oriental; for you must know that Don Pedro de Luna is not a Mexican, -and the name by which you know him is not his; at least he has only -adopted it, the name belonging to the original branch of his family in -Mexico. He did not assume it till after the occurrence of the events -I am about to relate, when he came to settle here, having bought Las -Norias de San Antonio from his relations, who, established for many -years in Mexico, only occasionally, and at long intervals, paid a visit -of a few days to this distant <i>hacienda.</i> The people at San Lucar, and -the other inhabitants of the province, knowing Don Pedro de Luna under -no other name, imagined it was really that person who had chosen to -retire to his estate. My master, when he came here, cared the less to -disabuse them, as, when he bought the <i>hacienda</i>, he had stipulated -with his relations for the right to bear their name. The latter -naturally found nothing extraordinary in this; and now that, after -a lapse of twenty years, Don Pedro, by the death of his relations, -has become the head of the family, this borrowed name has become -effectually his own, and none can dispute his right to bear it."</p> - -<p>"You excite my curiosity to the utmost; and I wait with impatience for -the beginning of your tale."</p> - -<p>The two men seated themselves as comfortably as they could in the -<i>rancho;</i> and Don Estevan Diaz, without farther digression, commenced -his long-deferred story. He spoke the whole day long, and when night -fell was still speaking.</p> - -<p>Don Fernando, his eyes eagerly fixed on the narrator, his heart -palpitating, and his eyebrows compressed, listened with liveliest -interest to the tale, the strange events of which, as they were -unrolled before him, made him shudder with emotions of mingled rage and -horror.</p> - -<p>Taking Don Estevan's place, we will ourselves recount to the reader -this mournful history.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</a></h4> - -<h3>DON GUZMAN DE RIBERA.</h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>In the year 1515 Juan Diaz de Solis discovered the Rio de la Plata,—a -discovery which cost him his life.</p> - -<p>According to Herrera, this river to which Solis had first given his own -name, took the one it now bears from the fact that the first silver -brought from America was shipped at this point for Spain.</p> - -<p>In 1535 Don Pedro de Mendoza, appointed <i>adelantado</i>, or governor -general, of the country between the Rio de la Plata and the Straits of -Magellan, founded on the right bank of the river, opposite the mouth -of the Uruguay, a town called at first Nuestra Señora de Buenos Aires; -later, La Trinidad de Buenos Aires; and finally, Buenos Aires,—a name -it has since retained.</p> - -<p>The history of this town would be a curious study, full of interesting -particulars, as from its earliest days it seems stamped with the seal -of fatality.</p> - -<p>One should read, in the narrative of Ulrich Schmidel, a German -adventurer, and one of the original founders of Buenos Aires, to what -depths of misery the wretched conquerors of the country were reduced: -how they were constrained by famine to devour the dead bodies of their -companions, who had been killed by the Corendian Indians, whom their -exactions and cruelties had driven to exasperation; and who, believing -the white men who had landed amongst them in such an extraordinary way -to be evil genii, had sworn their extermination.</p> - -<p>The destiny of this town is a singular one, condemned, as it has been, -to an unceasing strife, sometimes with enemies from without, at others, -with more formidable foes from within; and which, in spite of these -ceaseless struggles, is still one of the richest and most flourishing -cities of Spanish America.</p> - -<p>Like all the towns founded by the Castilian adventurers in the New -World, Buenos Aires is placed in a lovely situation. Its streets are -broad, laid out by rule and line; the houses are well built, with a -garden to each, thus affording a pleasant prospect. It contains many -public buildings, among which we may name the Bazaar de la Recoba. At -intervals vast squares occur, well furnished with magnificent shops, -which give it an appearance of life and prosperity unhappily too rare -in this unfortunate country, so long distracted by civil wars.</p> - -<p>Taking an immense leap backwards, we will now introduce our readers -to Buenos Aires at a time about twenty years previous to the period -to which our story belongs. It is ten o'clock in the night of one of -the last; days of September 1839, <i>i.e.</i> at the time the tyranny of -that extraordinary man who, for twenty years, subjected the Argentine -provinces to a yoke of iron, had reached its climax.</p> - -<p>Nobody in these days could imagine the hideous tyranny which the -Government of Rosas inflicted on this beautiful country, nor the -frightful system of terrorism organized by the Dictator from one -extremity to the other of the Banda Oriental.</p> - -<p>Although it was only ten o'clock, as we said above, a deathlike silence -hovered over the town. All the shops were shut, all the streets dark -and deserted, save when, at long intervals, they were traversed by -strong patrols, whose heavy footsteps resounded on the pavement; or -by a few solitary <i>serenos</i> (watchmen), who, in fear and trembling, -shambled through their duty as guardians of the night.</p> - -<p>The inhabitants, shut up in their dwellings, had timidly extinguished -their lights, for fear of exciting the suspicions of a police ever -ready to take offence, and had sought a temporary refuge in slumber -from the evils of the day.</p> - -<p>On this particular night Buenos Aires was more desolate-looking than -usual. The wind had blown, in a storm from the Pampas during the whole -of the day, and filled the atmosphere with an icy chill. Large vivid -clouds, laden with electricity, were moving heavily through the sky; -and the hoarse rumbling of distant thunder, and the nearer and nearer -approaching flashes of lightning, gave warning that a fearful storm -was on the point of breaking over the city.</p> - -<p>Nearly in the centre of the Calle Santa Trinidad, one of the finest -streets in the city, which it traverses almost from end to end, a -feeble light, placed behind the muslin curtain of a window on the -ground floor, twinkled, like a star in a dark sky, through the tufted -branches of some trees planted in front of a noble mansion.</p> - -<p>This light seemed to be a blot upon the universal obscurity; for every -patrol that passed, every <i>sereno</i> whom chance brought to the spot, -could not refrain from pausing, and observing it with an expression -of anger and ill-dissembled fear: after which they would resume their -march, the soldiers growling, in a tone of ill humour boding no good:</p> - -<p>"There is that traitor, Don Guzman de Ribera, hatching some new -conspiracy against his Excellency the Dictator."</p> - -<p>The others saying, in a tone of subdued pity:</p> - -<p>"Don Guzman will go on till he gets himself arrested some day."</p> - -<p>It is into this house, and into the room itself where the light is -shining, which gave rise to so many surmises, that we will introduce -our readers.</p> - -<p>After having crossed the garden and cleared the <i>zaguán</i>, we find on -our right hand a massive door of walnut, fastened simply by a latch, -on lifting which we enter a large room, well lighted by three windows -opening on the street.</p> - -<p>The furniture of this apartment was of the greatest simplicity. The -whitewashed walls were decorated with a few of those abominable -coloured prints which the trade of Paris has exported into all regions -of the globe, and which are supposed to represent the death of -Poniatowski, the seasons, &c. The inevitable Soufleto's piano—which -in all Spanish-American houses one sees thrust forward into the most -conspicuous place, but which is happily beginning to be replaced by the -Alexandre harmonium—a dozen chairs, a round table covered with a green -cloth, two armchairs, and a clock with alabaster columns, on a pier -table, completed the inventory.</p> - -<p>In this room a man, dressed in a travelling costume, with <i>poncho</i> -(cloak) and <i>polenas</i> (boots), was striding up and down, casting -impatient and restless looks at the clock every time he passed the -table.</p> - -<p>Sometimes he paused, lifted the curtain of a window, and tried to -pierce the obscurity of night and see into the street; but in vain; the -darkness was too great for him to distinguish objects. Sometimes he -listened attentively, as if amongst the noises of the town the breeze -had brought him the distant echo of a sound significant to him; then -he resumed, with a gesture of ill humour and increasing agitation, the -walk he had so often interrupted.</p> - -<p>This man was Don Guzman de Ribera.</p> - -<p>Belonging to one of the best families in the country, and descending -in a direct line from the first conquerors, Don Guzman, when still -very young, had served a rude apprenticeship in arms under his father. -During the war of independence, as aide-de-camp to San Martin, he had -followed that general when he crossed the Cordilleras at the head of -his army, and revolutionised Chili and Peru.</p> - -<p>Since that period he had served continually, sometimes under one chief, -sometimes under another; always striving, to the best of his ability, -to avoid ranging himself under a flag hostile to the true interests -of his country—a difficult task amidst those perpetual convulsions -caused by the petty ambition of men without real importance, who were -contending for power amongst themselves. Nevertheless, thanks to his -dexterity, and still more to the uprightness of his character, Don -Guzman had managed to keep himself stainless: yet two years previously, -suspected by Rosas, to whom his ideas of true liberality were odious, -he had retired from the service, and settled himself at home.</p> - -<p>Don Guzman, a true soldier in the most honourable acceptation of the -word, although never ostensibly meddling with politics, was greatly -dreaded by the Dictator, on account of the influence his loyal and -resolute character gave him over his countrymen, who felt for him -a sympathy so profound, and a devotedness so complete, that more -than once General Rosas, a man of few scruples, had been forced to -relinquish the idea of ridding himself, by exile or worse means, of a -man whose seclusion and noble pride seemed to cast a shadow over the -actions of the Dictator.</p> - -<p>At the moment we bring him before our readers, Don Guzman had just -reached his fortieth year; but notwithstanding the countless fatigues -he had undergone, and which had only hardened him, age seemed to have -taken no hold of his vigorous organism.</p> - -<p>His tall and muscular figure was as upright, the expression of his -face as full of calm intelligence, his eye as brilliant as ever. A few -silver threads among his hair, and one or two wrinkles, written on his -forehead more by thought than by time, were the only signs that he had -already attained middle age.</p> - -<p>The clock had struck half past ten some minutes ago, when several rude -blows were struck on the door, making Don Guzman tremble.</p> - -<p>He stopped and listened.</p> - -<p>A lively altercation appeared to be taking place under the <i>zaguán</i> -of the house. Unfortunately, the room being too far from the porch, -Don Guzman could only hear a confused uproar, without being able to -distinguish the sounds. But in a short time the noise ceased, the door -of the room was opened, and a domestic entered. We must suppose him to -be a confidential servant, judging by the manner in which his master -spoke to him.</p> - -<p>"Well, Diego, what is it? What is the meaning of all this noise at such -an hour?"</p> - -<p>The servant approached his master before he answered, and bowing, -whispered in his ear: "Don Diego Pedrosa."</p> - -<p>"He!" said the master, frowning. "Is he alone?"</p> - -<p>"I do not think he has more than two or three soldiers with him."</p> - -<p>"Which means," said Don Guzman, looking more and more gloomy—</p> - -<p>"That he has another score or two concealed close at hand."</p> - -<p>"What does the man want with me? It is hardly the hour for a visit. -Don Bernardo is scarcely so intimate with me," he added, with a bitter -smile, "that he would act with so little ceremony towards me without an -urgent reason."</p> - -<p>"Exactly what I did myself the honour to remark to him, your -Excellency."</p> - -<p>"And he persists?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Excellency. He tells me he has business of the utmost importance -to communicate."</p> - -<p>Don Guzman strode up and down with a pensive air.</p> - -<p>"Listen, Diego," said he, at last; "see that the servants arm -themselves quietly, and be ready at the first signal; but act -prudently, so as to avoid suspicion."</p> - -<p>"Trust me, Excellency," said the old servitor, with a smile of -intelligence.</p> - -<p>For thirty years Diego had been in the service of the Ribera family; -many a time had he given his master proof of his boundless attachment.</p> - -<p>"Ah, well," replied Don Guzman good humouredly; "I know pretty well -what you can do."</p> - -<p>"And the horses?" continued the servant.</p> - -<p>"Let them stay where they are."</p> - -<p>"Even if we are to be off directly?" said Diego, in amazement.</p> - -<p>"We shall be off so much the sooner, <i>muchacho</i>," said the don, -whispering to his servant, "if they do not think we have seen their -trap and are about to throw dust in their eyes."</p> - -<p>Diego nodded.</p> - -<p>"And Don Bernardo?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Admit him. I had rather know the worst at once."</p> - -<p>"Is it quite prudent for your Excellency to see this man alone?"</p> - -<p>"No fear, Diego; he is not so terrible as you think. Are my pistols in -my <i>poncho?</i>"</p> - -<p>The old servant, probably tranquillised by these words, left the room -without replying; but returned almost immediately, showing in a man -of about thirty, dressed in the uniform of a staff officer of the -Argentine army.</p> - -<p>At sight of the stranger, Don Guzman smiled pleasantly, and advancing -a few steps towards him, said:</p> - -<p>"You are welcome, Colonel Pedrosa"—he made a sign to Diego to -retire—"although the hour is rather late for a visit. I am delighted -to see you. Pray be seated."</p> - -<p>"Your Excellency will excuse me, on account of the business which -brings me here," replied the colonel, with a polished bow.</p> - -<p>Here Diego, obeying the reiterated signs of his master, left the room, -although much against his will.</p> - -<p>The two men, seated face to face, looked at each other much like two -duellists about to cross their blades.</p> - -<p>Don Diego was a handsome man, of slender and upright figure, all -whose movements betrayed his noble birth, and were marked by the most -consummate elegance.</p> - -<p>His face, a perfect oval, was embellished by two large black and -sparkling eyes, from which, when he grew excited, fire seemed to flash, -possessing an electric power so potent, that few could support their -dazzling effulgence. His straight nose, with its open and flexible -nostrils; his well-formed mouth, with its astute and sarcastic outline, -and its set of brilliant teeth, surmounted by an ebon and well-trimmed -moustache; his open forehead, and his complexion slightly tanned by -exposure to the sun,—gave to his face, which was encircled by long -silky curls of magnificent black hair,—a haughty and commanding -expression, inspiring an instinctive repulsion by its frigid energy.</p> - -<p>His bands, ensconced in admirably fitting gloves, and his varnished -boots, were of wonderfully small size,—in fact, his whole person was a -type of his race.</p> - -<p>Such was the personage who, at eleven o'clock at night, knocked at -Don Guzman's door, and insisted on admittance, under the pretext of -important business. As for his moral qualities, the progress of our -story will exhibit them so perfectly, that it would be useless to enter -into the details at present.</p> - -<p>However, as the silence between these two personages threatened to -prolong itself indefinitely, Don Guzman, in his quality of host, -thought it incumbent on him to put an end to a situation which began to -be embarrassing to both; so he broke it.</p> - -<p>Bowing with courtesy, he said:</p> - -<p>"<i>Caballero</i>, I am waiting for what you may please to communicate to -me. It grows late."</p> - -<p>"Aha! You wish to get rid of me," said the colonel, with a sardonic -smile. "Is that what you wish me to understand?"</p> - -<p>"It is always my aim to make my speech so clear and open, colonel, -that there may be no possibility of my words bearing a double -interpretation."</p> - -<p>Don Bernardo's cheeks, which had flushed up when Don Guzman spoke, -resumed their natural colour, and assuming a tone of pleasantry, he -said:</p> - -<p>"Look you, Don Guzman; we will put away all idea of sparring with each -other. I have a great desire to serve you."</p> - -<p>"Me!" said Don Guzman, with a look of ironical amazement; "Are you -quite sure of that?"</p> - -<p>"If we continue in this strain, <i>caballero</i>, we shall only envenom our -discussion, without coming to an understanding."</p> - -<p>"Alas, colonel, we live in an era (and you know it better than most -men) in which the most innocent actions are so often made to look -like guilt, that no one dares to take a step or hazard a word without -dreading to excite the suspicions of a power that broods darkly over us -all. How can I put faith in the words you have just spoken, when your -whole conduct towards me has hitherto been that of an inveterate enemy?"</p> - -<p>"Allow me to waive for the present the discussion of the question -whether I have acted for or in opposition to your interests. The day -will come, <i>caballero</i>—at least I hope so—when you will judge me -according to my deserts. My present hope is, that you will lay aside -all prejudice as regards the step I am now taking."</p> - -<p>"If that be the case, have the goodness to explain your intentions, -that I may act accordingly."</p> - -<p>"Certainly, <i>caballero.</i> I have just left Palermo."</p> - -<p>"Palermo, indeed!" said Don Guzman, shuddering imperceptibly.</p> - -<p>"I have; and do you know what they are doing at Palermo tonight?"</p> - -<p>"By my faith, I confess I trouble myself very little about the -Dictator, especially when he is busy at his <i>quinta</i> (country house). -They are dancing, or otherwise amusing themselves there, I suppose?"</p> - -<p>"Quite right: they are dancing and amusing themselves."</p> - -<p>"By heavens!" said the other, "I did not think I was so good a diviner."</p> - -<p>"Well, you have guessed a part of their occupation, but not the whole."</p> - -<p>"The devil! You puzzle one," replied Don Guzman laughing sardonically. -"I do not see too clearly what his Excellency can have to do beyond -dancing, unless he amuses himself with signing warrants against the -suspected. His Excellency is endowed with great capabilities for -business."</p> - -<p>"This time you have divined the whole, <i>caballero</i>," said the colonel, -without appearing to notice the ironical tone of the speaker.</p> - -<p>"And amongst these warrants there is, I dare say, one which concerns me -more particularly."</p> - -<p>"Precisely so," replied the colonel, with a bland smile.</p> - -<p>"Very good. What follows is quite simple: you are charged to put it in -execution."</p> - -<p>"Just so," said the colonel coolly.</p> - -<p>"I would have laid a hundred to one on it! And this warrants enjoins -you—"</p> - -<p>"To put you under arrest, <i>caballero.</i>"</p> - -<p>No sooner had the colonel uttered these words with the most charming -indifference, than Don Guzman was standing before him, a pistol in each -hand.</p> - -<p>"By heavens!" said he resolutely, "Such an order is easier given than -executed when the person to be arrested is Don Guzman de Ribera!"</p> - -<p>The colonel had not stirred; he had remained lounging in his armchair, -in the attitude of a man quite at home with his host. He made a sign to -the <i>caballero</i> to be seated again.</p> - -<p>"You are quite mistaken," said he coolly. "Nothing would have been -easier for me than to execute the warrant, if I had any intention to -carry it out, especially as you yourself have furnished me with the -means."</p> - -<p>"I!" said Don Guzman.</p> - -<p>"Yourself: you are a resolute man; you would have resisted it, as you -have just proved. Now, what would have happened? I should have killed -you. General Rosas, in spite of the interest he feels for you, has not -absolutely ordered me to take you alive."</p> - -<p>The reasoning was brutal, but perfectly logical. Don Guzman bowed his -head: he felt he was in this man's power.</p> - -<p>"Nevertheless, you are my foe," he said.</p> - -<p>"¿Quién sabe?" (who can tell?) "Señor, in times such as we live in, no -one can say who is friend or who is foe."</p> - -<p>"But finally, what are your intentions?" exclaimed Don Guzman, in a -state of nervous excitement, increased by the necessity of dissembling -the fury that was raging in his mind.</p> - -<p>"I will tell you; but I beg you will not interrupt me. We have -already lost much time—which is valuable just now, more especially -to yourself, as you ought to know. At the very moment when I came to -disturb you, you were giving orders to your confidential servant Diego -to get ready your horses."</p> - -<p>"Indeed!" said Don Guzman.</p> - -<p>"It is the fact. You were only deferring your flight till the arrival -of a certain <i>guacho</i>" (Mexican inhabitant of the prairies) "to guide -you through the Pampas."</p> - -<p>"Do you know that too?"</p> - -<p>"We know everything. As for the rest, judge for yourself. Your brother, -Don Leoncio de Ribera, a refugee with his family for many years in -Chili, is to arrive this very night within a few leagues of Buenos -Aires. You have been advised of his coming for some days. It was your -intention to repair to the Hacienda del Pico, where he was to expect -you; then to introduce him surreptitiously into the city, where you -have prepared what you fancied would be a safe hiding place for him. Is -this the whole, or have I forgotten any minor particulars?"</p> - -<p>Don Guzman covered his face with his hands, discouraged, -thunderstricken by what he had just heard.</p> - -<p>A horrible gulf yawned before his eyes. If Rosas was master of his -secret—and that he was, the revelations of the colonel left no room to -doubt—his death and that of his brother had been sworn by the ruthless -Dictator. Hope would have been a folly.</p> - -<p>"Good God!" cried he; "My brother—my poor brother!"</p> - -<p>The colonel seemed to enjoy for a moment the effect produced by his -words; then he resumed, in a quiet and insinuating manner:</p> - -<p>"Calm yourself, Don Guzman; all is not yet lost. The details I have -mentioned, and which you thought such a profound secret, are known to -me alone. The order for your arrest does not come into execution before -sunrise tomorrow. The stop I have taken should prove to you that I have -no wish to make an unfair use of the advantage chance has placed in my -hands."</p> - -<p>"But again I say, What is your intention? In the name of the devil, -what are you?"</p> - -<p>"What am I?—Your enemy. My intention?—To save you."</p> - -<p>Don Guzman did not reply. A prey to the most violent emotion, his -whole body trembled with agitation. The colonel shrugged his shoulders -impatiently.</p> - -<p>"Let us understand each other," said he. "You wait in vain for the -<i>guacho</i> on whom you reckoned: he is dead."</p> - -<p>"Dead!" cried Don Guzman, struck with astonishment.</p> - -<p>"The man," continued Don Bernardo, "was a traitor. He had hardly -entered Buenos Aires, before he attempted to make money by the sale of -the secret confided to him by your brother. Chance would have it that -he should apply to me, in preference to anyone else, on account of the -hatred I seemed to entertain for your family."</p> - -<p>"That you seemed to entertain!" bitterly repeated Don Guzman.</p> - -<p>"Yes, that I seemed to entertain," Don Bernardo went on, laying great -stress upon the words. "In short, this man revealed everything. I paid -him well, and let him go."</p> - -<p>"What an imprudence!" exclaimed Don Guzman, highly interested.</p> - -<p>"Was it not?" said the colonel quickly. "But what could I do? For the -first moment I was so thunderstruck by the news, that I did not think -of detaining the fellow. I was on the point of sending in search of -him, when I heard an uproar in the street. I inquired the cause; I -confess I was not quite satisfied with what was told me. It appears -that the fool had hardly put foot in the street before he began to -quarrel with another <i>pícaro</i> of his own kind; that the latter, in a -fit of impatience, had given him a <i>navaja</i>" (a cut with the knife) -"across his belly, and, luckily for you, killed him outright. It is -miraculous, is it not?"</p> - -<p>The colonel had related this strange tale with the same negligent -indifference he had exhibited during the whole meeting, and which he -had not dropped for an instant. Don Guzman cast a penetrating glance at -him, which he bore with the greatest unconcern. Then all irresolution -seemed to vanish. He raised himself to his full height, and made a -courteous inclination to Don Bernardo.</p> - -<p>"Excuse me, colonel," said he fervently, "for having mistaken your -character; but up to this day everything seemed to justify my conduct; -only, in the name of Heaven, if you are my foe—if you have a hate to -satisfy—take your revenge on me—on me alone—and spare my brother, -against whom you can have no cause for animosity."</p> - -<p>Don Bernardo frowned, but replied quickly:</p> - -<p>"<i>Caballero</i>, order your servants to bring round your horses; I myself -will escort you out of the city. You could not possibly quit it without -me; you are so thoroughly surrounded by spies. You have nothing to fear -from the men who are with me; they are trusty and faithful, and I chose -them on purpose. Besides, they shall leave us a few paces hence."</p> - -<p>Don Guzman hesitated for a while. He watched Don Bernardo with anxious -eyes. At last he seemed to have formed his resolve; for he rose, and -said, looking the colonel full in the face:</p> - -<p>"No; whatever may happen, I will not take your advice."</p> - -<p>The colonel suppressed his feeling of dissatisfaction.</p> - -<p>"Are you mad?" said he; "Remember—"</p> - -<p>Don Guzman interrupted him:</p> - -<p>"My decision is made," said he dryly. "I will not leave this room -without a perfect knowledge of the reason of this strange conduct on -your part. I have tried to overcome it, but a secret presentiment -assures me that you are still my foe; and if you now utter a feigned -wish to serve me, colonel, it is only with the purpose of carrying out -some diabolical plan against me and mine."</p> - -<p>"Beware, <i>caballero</i>! When I came here, my purpose was friendly. Your -obstinacy will compel me to break off a colloquy which we can never -resume. I have but one thing to add: whatever the reason for my actions -may be, I have only one wish—to save you. This is the sole explanation -I have the right to give."</p> - -<p>"But that will not suffice, <i>caballero.</i>"</p> - -<p>"And why, if it please you?" said the colonel haughtily.</p> - -<p>"Because matters have occurred between you and a certain member of my -family which give me a right to look upon any intentions of yours as -hostile."</p> - -<p>The colonel trembled; a livid pallor stole over his countenance.</p> - -<p>"Indeed!" said he hoarsely. "So you know that, Señor Don Guzman?"</p> - -<p>"I will answer you in the exact words in which you replied to me a few -minutes ago; I know all!"</p> - -<p>Don Bernardo cast down his eyes, and clenched his hands in concentrated -rage.</p> - -<p>There was silence for a time.</p> - -<p>Just at this moment a <i>sereno</i> passed through the street, paused close -to the walls of the house, and cried, in a cracked and drunken voice, -the hour of the night:</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Ave, María purísima! Las doce han dado y sereno!</i>" ("Hail, purest -Mary! Twelve o'clock, and a fine night!")</p> - -<p>Then his heavy step was heard as he went on his rounds, until it -gradually died away in the distance.</p> - -<p>The two men shuddered, thus suddenly aroused from their preoccupation.</p> - -<p>"Midnight already!" muttered Ribera in a tone of mingled regret and -anxiety.</p> - -<p>"Let us end this," resolutely exclaimed Don Bernardo. "Since nothing -will convince you of the honesty of my intentions; since you exact from -me revelations which concern myself alone—"</p> - -<p>"And one other person," supplied Don Guzman.</p> - -<p>"I will admit it," continued the colonel impatiently.</p> - -<p>"Well, are you satisfied now? It is solely because I know I shall meet -this person at the Hacienda del Pico, that I wish to accompany you. I -must have an interview. Do you understand me now?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; I understand you perfectly."</p> - -<p>"Then what are your objections?"</p> - -<p>"You are deceiving yourself, <i>caballero</i>," answered Don Guzman coolly.</p> - -<p>"Oh! This time I swear you are mistaken."</p> - -<p>"Then I shall go alone!—That is all."</p> - -<p>"Beware, once more!" said the colonel; "My patience is exhausted."</p> - -<p>"And mine, colonel! Yes, I repeat, I scorn your threats! Do what you -think fit, <i>caballero.</i> God will aid me."</p> - -<p>At these words a disdainful smile passed over the lips of the colonel; -he rose, and planted himself before Don Guzman, who was standing in the -middle of the room.</p> - -<p>"Are those your last words, señor?" said he.</p> - -<p>"The last."</p> - -<p>"Your blood be upon your own head! It is you who have willed it so," -shouted the colonel, casting on him a glance of fury.</p> - -<p>And without taking any further notice of his foe, who remained -apparently cold and impassive, he turned to leave the chamber, a prey -to the most violent emotion.</p> - -<p>Don Guzman, profiting by this movement of the colonel, dexterously -threw off his <i>poncho</i>, cast it over the head of Don Bernardo, muffling -him up in it in such a manner that he was bound and gagged before he -could attempt to defend himself.</p> - -<p>"For one trump a higher!" laughed Don Ribera.</p> - -<p>"As you are determined to go with me, you shall, but in a different -fashion to what you expected."</p> - -<p>For answer, the colonel made a vain but desperate effort to free -himself from his bonds.</p> - -<p>"And now for the others!" exclaimed Don Guzman, with a triumphant look -at his enemy, who was rolling on the floor in a paroxysm of impotent -rage.</p> - -<p>Five minutes later, the few soldiers who had been left in the <i>zaguán</i> -were disarmed by the servants, bound with cords they had themselves -brought for a far different purpose, and deposited on the steps of the -neighbouring cathedral, where they were left to their fate.</p> - -<p>As to the colonel, the old soldier, who had just shown so much presence -of mind, had no idea as he had said himself, of leaving him behind. On -the contrary, he had weighty reasons for taking him with him in the -hazardous adventure he was about to undertake. So, as soon as he was on -horseback, he threw his prisoner across the pummel of his saddle, and -left the house attended by several trusty servants, well mounted, and -armed to the teeth.</p> - -<p>"Speed! Speed!" he cried, as soon as the door was closed. "Who knows -but that this traitor may have sold us beforehand?"</p> - -<p>The little party started at a gallop, and traversed the city—deserted -at that time of night—with the speed of a storm wind.</p> - -<p>But as soon as the riders reached the commencement of the suburbs, -they gradually slackened their pace, and finally halted, at a sign from -Don Guzman.</p> - -<p>That gentleman had totally forgotten one thing, and a very important -one. It was, that during the time the city was suffering under the rule -of Rosas, it was under martial law; and consequently, after a certain -hour, it was impossible to pass out without the watchword, which was -changed every night, and given by the Dictator himself. It was an -embarrassing situation. Don Guzman's looks fell upon the prisoner in -front of him; for a single moment he thought of liberating his head, -and demanding the watchword, which he would certainly know. But another -moment's reflection made him relinquish the idea of trusting to a man -to whom he had just offered a mortal insult, and who would certainly -embrace the first opportunity that offered for revenge. He determined, -therefore, to trust to audacity, and act according to circumstances. -Consequently, having warned his servants to look to their arms, and -be in readiness to use them at his first signal, he gave the order to -advance.</p> - -<p>They had ridden a few hundred paces farther, when they heard the sound -of a musket being cocked, followed immediately by the words, "Who goes -there?" lustily halloaed.</p> - -<p>Luckily, the night was intensely dark. The moment for audacity had come.</p> - -<p>Don Guzman responded, in a sharp and firm voice:</p> - -<p>"Colonel Pedrosa! <i>¡Ronde mashorca!</i>"<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> - -<p>"Where are you going?" said the sentry.</p> - -<p>"To Palermo," replied Ribera, "by orders of the well-beloved General -Rosas."</p> - -<p>"Pass!" said the sentry.</p> - -<p>The little party was swallowed up in the jaws of the ponderous gate; it -galloped through, and was soon lost in the darkness.</p> - -<p>Thanks to his audacity, Don Guzman had escaped from utmost peril.</p> - -<p>The <i>serenos</i> were chanting the half-hour after midnight when the -travellers left the last houses of Buenos Aires behind them.</p> - - - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The "mashorca rounds,"—a nickname given to the bodyguards -of the Dictator; literally, "more gallows."</p></div> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</a></h4> - -<h3>THE POST HOUSE IN THE PAMPAS.</h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>The Pampas are the <i>Steppes</i> of South America, with this difference, -that these immense plains, which extend from Buenos Aires, as far as -San Luis de Mendoza, to the foot of the Cordilleras, are clothed with -a thick carpet of long grass, undulating with the softest breath of -the wind, and are intersected by numerous water courses, some of great -magnitude, which cut it up in every direction.</p> - -<p>The aspect of the Pampas is desperately monotonous and mournful. There -is neither wood nor mountain; not a single break of ground to form an -oasis of sand or granite, on which to rest the eye in the midst of this -ocean of green.</p> - -<p>Only two roads traverse the Pampas, and connect the Atlantic with the -Pacific.</p> - -<p>The first leads to Chili, passing by Mendoza; the second to Peru, by -Tucumen and Salta.</p> - -<p>These vast solitudes are infested by two races of men, perpetually at -war with each other: the Indian Bravos, or Pampas, and the Guachos.</p> - -<p>The Guachos, a caste peculiar to the Argentine provinces, are not to be -met elsewhere.</p> - -<p>These men, charged with the supervision of the wild cattle and horses -which range at large through the whole extent of these wide plains, -are, for the most part, whites by race; but, crossed in blood with the -aborigines for many years, they have in time become almost as barbarous -as the Indians themselves, from whom they have learnt their cunning and -cruelty.</p> - -<p>They live on horseback, lie in the bare sun, support themselves on the -flesh of their beasts when unlucky in the chase, and only approach the -towns and <i>haciendas</i> for the purpose of exchanging their skins, their -<i>ñandú</i> (the ostrich of the Pampas) plumes, and furs, for spirits, -silver spurs, powder, knifes, and the cloths of gaudy colours with -which they delight to adorn their persons.</p> - -<p>The true Centaurs of the New World, as rapid as the Tartar riders of -the <i>Steppes</i> of Siberia, they transport themselves with prodigious -speed from one extremity of the Banda Oriental to the other. They -recognise no law beyond the whim of the moment; no master but their -will. For the most part, they do not know the proprietor who employs -them, and whom they only see at rare intervals.</p> - -<p>The Guachos are almost as much to be dreaded as the Indians by -travellers, who dare not venture upon the Pampas except in considerable -numbers, so as to afford mutual protection against the aggressions to -which they are constantly exposed, either from Indians or from the wild -beasts.</p> - -<p>The caravans are usually composed of fifteen, or even twenty, wagons, -or <i>galeras</i>, drawn by six or eight oxen apiece. Their drivers, -crouching under the hide covering of the <i>galeras</i>, urge them on with -long goads, slung over their heads, with which they can easily reach -the leading oxen of the team.</p> - -<p>A <i>capataz</i>, or <i>major-domo</i>,—a resolute man, thoroughly acquainted -with the Pampas,—commands the caravan, having under his orders some -thirty <i>peones</i>, who, like himself, are mounted, and gallop around the -convoy, watch the relief cattle, and, in case of attack, defend the -travellers of every age whom they escort.</p> - -<p>Nothing can be seen at once so picturesque and sad as the aspect the -caravans present as they extend themselves in a long serpentine line -over the Pampas, advancing at a slow and regular pace along roads full -of quagmires, over which the immense <i>galeras</i> roll, groaning on their -croaking and massive wheels, tottering with indescribable swayings and -joltings along ruts, out of which the oxen, lowing and stretching their -smoking nostrils to the ground, can hardly drag them.</p> - -<p>Ofttimes these heavy caravans are passed by <i>arrieros</i> (muleteers), -whose <i>recua</i> (string of mules) trots gaily on, to the tinkling -of a silver bell attached to the neck of the <i>yegua madrina</i> (the -leading mule), and to the sound of "<i>Arrea, mulos</i>" (Get on mules), -incessantly repeated, in all notes of the gamut, by the <i>arriero</i> chief -and his <i>peones</i> who gallop about the mules to prevent their straying -to right or left.</p> - -<p>When night comes, the muleteers and ox drivers find precarious shelter -in the post houses—a kind of <i>tambas</i> or <i>caravanseries</i>, built, at -considerable distances apart, in the Pampas. The <i>galeras</i>, detached -from the oxen, are ranged in single file; the burdens of the mules are -piled up in a circle; then, if the <i>corral</i> (stables) be full, if there -be many travellers at the post house, beasts and men encamp together, -and spend the night under the open sky,—a mode of sleeping which is no -hardship in a country where cold is almost unknown. Then commence, by -the fantastic light of the bivouac fires, the long tales of the Pampas, -interspersed with joyous bursts of laughter, with songs, and words of -love uttered in whispers.</p> - -<p>Yet it is rare for the night to pass over without a quarrel of some -sort arising between the muleteers and the drivers, who are by nature -jealous of each other, and enemies by profession. Then blood flows, the -consequence of a <i>navajada</i> or two; for the knife always plays a too -active part among these men, whom no fear of consequences restrains in -their unbridled frenzy.</p> - -<p>Now, on the night of the day on which our story begins, the last -post house on the Portillo road, when you leave the Pampas, going to -Buenos Aires, was overfilled with travellers. Two numerous <i>recuas de -mulas</i> (strings of mules), which a month before had crossed the Alto -de Cumbre, and encamped on the Rio de la Cucoa, close to the Inca's -Bridge, one of the most singular natural curiosities in the country, -had lighted their fires before the post house, close to two or three -convoys of <i>galeras</i>, whose oxen were quietly lying in the interior of -the circle formed by the wagons.</p> - -<p>The post house was a building of considerable extent, constructed -of <i>adobas</i> (sundried bricks.) The entrance was furnished with a -portico—a species of peristyle formed of the trunks of four large -trees, planted in the ground in lieu of pillars, and supporting a -veranda broad enough to afford shelter from the piercing rays of the -sun.</p> - -<p>In the interior of the <i>toldo</i>, as they call these miserable hovels, -resounded the songs and laughter of the drivers and muleteers, mingling -with the notes of a <i>vihuela</i> (Spanish guitar), scraped with the -knuckles of the hand in a manner sufficient to drive one to despair, -and with the sharp and clamorous outcry of the postmaster, whose -squeaking voice strove in vain to quell the uproar, and regulate the -disorder.</p> - -<p>Just at this moment the rapid gallop of many horses was heard; and two -parties of riders, coming from points diametrically opposite, stopped, -as with one accord, before the porch of the <i>toldo</i>, after passing with -great dexterity through the encampments before the post house, the -approaches to which were vastly obstructed by the <i>galeras</i>.</p> - -<p>The first of these parties, consisting of only six riders, came from -the direction of Mendoza; the second from the opposite side, from the -heart of the Pampas: the latter comprised some thirty individuals at -least.</p> - -<p>The unexpected arrival of the newcomers stopped, as by enchantment, the -clamour which the <i>ranchero</i>, or owner of the house, had been unable to -still, and a sudden silence seized on the company, which had been so -joyously uproarious a few minutes before.</p> - -<p>The muleteers and drivers glided like shadows out of the house, and, -with furtive steps, regained their respective encampments, exchanging -uneasy looks amongst themselves; so that the room was empty in a -twinkling, and the <i>ranchero</i> was able to come forward and receive the -guests who had arrived so unexpectedly. But he had scarcely reached the -threshold, and cast a glance outside, when a mortal pallor overspread -his visage, a convulsive shudder shook his frame, and his tones were -almost unintelligible, as he managed to stutter forth the essential -phrase of welcome in South America; "<i>¡Ave, María purísima!</i>" (Hail, -purest Mary!)</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Sin pecado concebida!</i>" (immaculately conceived) answered the rough -voice of a tall cavalier, with harsh features and a ferocious eye, who -seemed to be the leader of the more numerous party.</p> - -<p>We must observe that the second party appeared in some degree to share -the terror felt by the inhabitants of the post house; and having -perceived the others before their own presence was remarked, the six -cavaliers had prudently reined in their horses, and thrown themselves -into the shade as far as possible, being little desirous, in all -probability, of being inadvertently seen by the dangerous fellow -travellers amongst whom chance or ill luck had unfortunately thrown -them.</p> - -<p>Now, who were these persons, the sight of whom sufficed of itself to -inspire a general panic and womanly consternation in the breasts of the -hardy explorers of the wilderness—of men whose life was a perpetual -struggle against the wild beasts, and who had so often confronted death -without blenching, that they almost fancied they were beyond his grasp?</p> - -<p>At the time in which this story happens, the hateful and bloody tyranny -of that half-breed—that Nero who had nothing belonging to humanity -but its semblance, that ignorant and brutal <i>guacho</i>, that man-faced -tiger, in a word, Don Juan Manuel de Rosas—which had so long crushed -the Argentine provinces, was still all-powerful; and these men were -<i>federales</i>, hired assassins of that butcher in cold blood, whose name -is now damned by the execration of the world; in short, they were -members of that horrible <i>restauradora</i> (regeneratory) society, better -known under the name of <i>mashorca</i> (<i>mashorca</i> signifies literally -"more gallows"), which for several years filled all Buenos Aires with -mourning. Constrained by public indignation, the Dictator, later on, -had made a pretence of dissolving this society; but he did nothing -of the sort, in reality; and up to the final fall of the unclean -tyrant, it existed <i>de facto</i>, and at the slightest sign of its master -scattered murder, violation, and fire through the length and breadth of -the confederation.</p> - -<p>The reader can now understand the terror which seized upon the careless -and peaceable travellers assembled in the <i>toldo</i>, at the appearance of -the ominous uniforms of these hired ruffians, to whom pity was unknown.</p> - -<p>Compelled by one of these instinctive presentiments which are seldom -fallacious, they felt that some misfortune threatened them. They crept -out with slouching heads, and hiding themselves behind their bales, -began to shudder in the darkness, without attempting to prepare for -resistance, which they knew would be futile.</p> - -<p>In the meantime, the <i>colorados</i>, or <i>federales</i>, had dismounted, and -entered the <i>rancho</i>, marching on their toes, on account of their -enormous spur rowels, and allowing their heavy iron scabbards to trail -beside them: The clang made by these in their contact with the flooring -seemed a sound of evil augury to the terrified listeners.</p> - -<p>"Halloa!" cried the leader, in a harsh voice; "<i>¡rayo de Dios!</i> What -does this mean, <i>Caballeros?</i> Does our arrival banish all pleasure from -this dwelling?"</p> - -<p>The <i>ranchero</i> multiplied his obeisances till he addled his brains with -bowing, and twisted his shapeless hat in both hands without finding -a word to say. At the bottom of his heart, this worthy man, who was -acquainted with the expeditious habits of his unwelcome guests, had the -greatest dread of being hanged forthwith; a thought which by no means -helped him to recover his presence of mind, and the coolness required -by circumstances.</p> - -<p>The large room was barely lighted by a single smoky candle, shedding -a yellow and doubtful light. The <i>colorado</i>, coming from the open, -his eyes still clouded with the thick darkness on the Pampas, had -not been able to distinguish objects at first; but as soon as he had -got accustomed to the semi-obscurity which reigned around him, and -perceived that, with the exception of the <i>ranchero</i>, the place was -empty, he frowned, and stamped on the ground in ire.</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Válgame Dios!</i>" he exclaimed, looking furiously at the poor devil -perspiring with fear before him, "Have I fallen unawares into a nest -of serpents? Is this miserable hut the meeting place of <i>salvajes -unitarios?</i> Answer, wretch, or I will have your tongue torn out and -thrown to the dogs!"</p> - -<p>The post master grew green with fear when he heard this menace,—a -threat he well knew these men capable of executing. He was still more -frightened at the expression <i>salvajes unitarios</i>, an epithet used to -designate the enemies of Rosas, and generally the prelude to a massacre.</p> - -<p>"Señor General," cried he, with an heroic effort to utter a few words.</p> - -<p>"I am not a general," broke in the <i>colorado</i> in a somewhat smoother -tone, for his pride was secretly flattered by the sonorous title; -"I am not a general yet, though I hope to be one someday. I am only -<i>teniente</i> (lieutenant), which is already a pretty step; so call me -nothing else for the present. Now, go on."</p> - -<p>"Señor <i>Teniente,</i>" replied the <i>ranchero</i>, a little comforted, "there -is nobody here except good friends of the well beloved General Rosas; -we are all federals."</p> - -<p>"Ha! I doubt that," said the terrible lieutenant. "You are too close to -Monte Video to be thorough Rosistas."</p> - -<p>We must state here that throughout the Argentine provinces there was -only one town which had the noble courage to oppose itself to the -savage tyranny of the ruthless Dictator. This town, whose devotion to -the sacred cause of liberty has made it celebrated throughout both the -Old and New Worlds, is Monte Video. Resolute to perish, if it must be, -in the holy cause it bad embraced, it heroically sustained a siege of -nine years against the troops of Rosas, whose impotent efforts were -repeatedly shattered against its walls.</p> - -<p>"Señor <i>Teniente</i>," replied the <i>ranchero</i> obsequiously, "the people -who meet here are solely <i>arrieros</i> and wagoners, who are only -passers-by, and never meddle with politics."</p> - -<p>This explanation, which the postmaster thought most adroit, had no -influence on the <i>colorado.</i></p> - -<p>"<i>¡Vive Dios!</i>" he cried, with haughty voice, "We will see; and woe to -the traitor I discover! Luco," he continued addressing his <i>cabo</i>, or -corporal, "just step and rouse up those brute beasts, and bring them -hither. If any sleep too soundly, stir them up with the point of the -sabre; it will exhilarate them and induce them to move more quickly."</p> - -<p>The <i>cabo</i> gave a malicious grin, and went out immediately to execute -his orders.</p> - -<p>The lieutenant, after addressing a few more questions of minor -importance to the <i>ranchero</i>, at last thought fit to seat himself -on the bench which ran round the room, and, to enliven the time of -the corporal's absence, set himself to consume the liquor and food -assiduously placed before him by the host, who was swearing to himself -all the while at being obliged to find drink gratis for so many. He -knew well that, though the consumption of liquors by the soldiers would -be enormous, he would never see the colour of their money, and might -think himself happy if he escaped without other damage.</p> - -<p>The soldiers, except five or six who remained without in charge of the -horses, seated themselves by their officer, and followed his example in -drinking like sponges.</p> - -<p>The corporal's task was easier than he expected, for the poor devils of -muleteers and drivers had overheard the peremptory order of the leader. -Comprehending that resistance would not only be useless, but make their -situation worse, they obeyed their officer's orders with resignation, -and came back again into the room, attempting to hide their fright with -ill-counterfeited smiles.</p> - -<p>"Aha!" cried the lieutenant; "I knew we should find some malcontents -here,—ay, good people?"</p> - -<p>The peasants multiplied their excuses and protestations, to which the -lieutenant listened with the greatest indifference, taking all the -while short sips from an enormous goblet, filled to the brim with -<i>refino de Catalonia</i>, the strongest spirit known.</p> - -<p>"There, that will do," said he at last, making the steel scabbard of -his sword rattle against the bench; "let us reconnoitre a little; and -first of all, for whom are you, in the devil's name?"</p> - -<p>The travellers, terrified by this demonstration, answered the question -by hastening to shout at the top of their voices, and with an -enthusiasm the more demonstrative the less it was real:</p> - -<p>"<i>Viva el benemérito General Rosas, Viva el libertador, Vivan los -federales, Mueren los salvajes unitarios. A degüello, a degüello con -ellos.</i>"<a name="FNanchor_1_2" id="FNanchor_1_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_2" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> - -<p>These well-known federal cries, which served as rallying calls in their -bloody expeditions, dispelled the doubts of the officer. He deigned to -smile; but it was a tiger's smile, exposing the white fangs ready to -bite.</p> - -<p>"<i>Bravos, Bravos</i>," he cried: "that is right at all events. These are -true Rosistas. Come, <i>ranchero, trago de aguardiente</i>" (a draught of -brandy) "for these worthy people. I intend to treat them."</p> - -<p>The <i>ranchero</i> could have easily dispensed with this factitious -generosity of the officer, the cost of which he well knew he should -have to pay out of his own pocket. However, he executed the order, -hiding the chagrin he felt under the most gracious air he could assume. -The cries and protestations of federalism were renewed with redoubled -ardour: the brandy circulated, and joy seemed to have reached a climax.</p> - -<p>The lieutenant next took a guitar, which happened to lie beside him.</p> - -<p>"Come, <i>muchachos</i>," said he; "a <i>zambacueca</i>" (a Mexican dance). -"<i>Voto a Dios</i>, Room for the dance."</p> - -<p>There was no refusing. Whatever the secret fears of those present, -the gracious invitation of the <i>colorado</i> was so neatly put, that they -were obliged to take heart of grace, as the saying is, and play their -parts to the end. It was the best plan to resign themselves to their -lot. They were in the claws of the tiger, who might devour them at any -moment if the fancy seized him.</p> - -<p>The middle of the room was cleared; the dancers, male and female, took -their places, their eyes fixed on the officer, in expectation of his -signal.</p> - -<p>They had not long to wait; as soon as the lieutenant saw his victims -prepared, he swallowed an enormous bumper of <i>refino</i>, and set himself -to rattle on the guitar with his knuckles; while he sang, or rather -screeched, in a shaky voice, the gay <i>zambacueca</i> so well known in the -Argentine provinces, and which begins with the following charming verse:</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 35%;"> -"Para que vas y vienes,<br /> -Vienes y vas.<br /> -Si otros andar menos,<br /> -Consiguen más?"<a name="FNanchor_2_3" id="FNanchor_2_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_3" class="fnanchor">[2]</a><br /> -</p> - -<p>It has been truly said that the Spaniards are excessively fond of -dancing; but in this, as in many other matters, the South Americans -have left them far behind They have carried this passion to such a -pitch, that it reaches the limits of folly. The scene we are about to -describe will prove the truth of our assertion.</p> - -<p>These very men, who had only consented to dance because, as one may -say, the knife was at their throats, and were still under the influence -of extreme terror, had scarcely heard for a few minutes the groaning -chords of the guitar, and the words which marked the time, than they -immediately forgot their precarious position, and gave themselves up -heart and soul, in a sort of savage frenzy, to their favourite pastime.</p> - -<p>Those who at first had prudently kept themselves within bounds, in -consequence of their anxiety, were soon fascinated by the bounds of the -dancers, and leaped and stamped, howling, like the others, with all the -strength of their lungs.</p> - -<p>Thus at the close of a few minutes all constraint had vanished, and the -noise had again grown as deafening, and the uproar as stunning, as it -had been when the federals arrived.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the corporal had diligently carried out the orders he had -received from his superior; but, as we said above, the muleteers and -wagoners, having accidentally stopped in front of the <i>rancho</i>, and -then entered the room of their own accord, had materially lightened -his task. But that worthy officer, zealous in the performance of his -duty, had taken half a dozen soldiers with him, and scoured the several -encampments, passing the blades of their swords between the bales, -looking into the insides of the <i>galeras,</i>—in a word, ferreting -about everywhere, with the sagacity of an old bloodhound which it is -impossible to baffle.</p> - -<p>Persuaded at last, after the most minute search, that all those whom -he thus looked after had entered the <i>rancho</i>, he determined to follow -them. But the uproar he heard inside convincing him that all was going -right, for the time at least, he changed his mind, and dismissing the -soldiers who were with him, and who desired nothing better than to join -the merriment, remained outside.</p> - -<p>As soon as he found himself alone, the corporal's whole demeanour -changed. He first satisfied himself that no indiscreet eye observed his -motions; he then rolled a cigarette between his fingers, lit it, and, -walking backwards and forwards with the air of an idler enjoying his -leisure, gradually increased his distance from the porch.</p> - -<p>After some ten minutes of this manoeuvring, which bore no bad -resemblance to a ship tacking against a contrary breeze in her -endeavours to get away from her port, he found he had passed beyond the -wagoners' camps, and was so far from the <i>rancho</i>, that, thanks to the -obscurity of the night, it was impossible to see him from thence. He -immediately stopped, looked once more round him, and threw the lighted -cigar in the air.</p> - -<p>The light <i>pajillo</i> described a brilliant parabola against the sky, and -then fell to the ground, when the corporal extinguished it with his -foot.</p> - -<p>At the same moment a slender line of fire sparkled in the obscurity a -little way off.</p> - -<p>"Good," growled the corporal; "see what it is to be prudent."</p> - -<p>A second time he scanned the neighbourhood narrowly; then, reassured by -the obscurity which reigned around, he resolutely turned aside into the -darkness, humming under his breath these three verses of a song well -known in the Pampas:</p> - -<p>"O Libertad preciosa No comparado al oro Ni al bien mayor de la -espaciosa tierra."<a name="FNanchor_3_4" id="FNanchor_3_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_4" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> - -<p>Directly, a voice, low as a whisper, took up the subsequent verses:</p> - -<p>"Más rica y más gozosa Que el más precioso tesoro."<a name="FNanchor_4_5" id="FNanchor_4_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_5" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> - -<p>At this response, which he doubtless expected, the corporal stopped -short. He struck the end of his scabbard on the ground, rested himself -on the hilt, and said aloud, as if talking to himself:</p> - -<p>"I should like to know why the <i>ñandús</i> (ostriches) have so suddenly -taken themselves off into the Pampas?"</p> - -<p>"Because," answered the voice which had continued the song, "they -smelt the odour of dead bodies."</p> - -<p>"That may be true," said the corporal, without seeming astonished at -the answer which came so oddly; "but then the <i>condors</i> would come down -from the Cordilleras."</p> - -<p>"It is already twenty-one days since they passed the Alto de Cumbre."</p> - -<p>"The sunset yesterday was red."</p> - -<p>"His rays reflected the light of the conflagrations caused by the -<i>mashorca</i>," said the voice again.</p> - -<p>The corporal hesitated no longer.</p> - -<p>"Approach, Don Leoncio," cried he; "you and your companions."</p> - -<p>"We are here, Luco;" and the corporal was immediately surrounded by six -persons, armed to the teeth.</p> - -<p>It is useless to say that these men were the six persons who an -hour before had arrived at the post house simultaneously with the -<i>colorados</i>, and whom prudence had induced to remain concealed.</p> - -<p>The dancing and shouting in the <i>rancho</i> still went on. The merriment -was gradually growing into a gigantic orgy.</p> - -<p>Consequently the strangers were sure they should not be disturbed. -Moreover, although the moon had now risen, and gave a certain amount -of light, the little group, sheltered by the wagons behind which they -stood, was in no danger of discovery; while, thanks to its position, -nobody could leave the <i>rancho</i>, without being seen directly by those -composing it.</p> - -<p>We will profit by the moonbeams to depict in a few words these fresh -personages; a task made more easy by the fact that they had dismounted, -and were holding their horses by the bridles.</p> - -<p>We said they were six in number: the first three were evidently -<i>peones</i>; but their heavy silver spurs, their <i>tirador</i>, or girdle -of embroidered velvet, their beautifully chased weapons, their rich -<i>ponchos</i> of fine Bolivian vicuña wool, and, above all, the respectful -familiarity which they used towards their masters, indicated that they -had earned for themselves a certain degree of consideration.</p> - -<p>These <i>peones</i> were, in fact, not only servants, but friends; humble -ones, it is true, but devoted ones, tried many a time in scenes of -frightful danger.</p> - -<p>Of the masters, two were men of about thirty-five, in all the vigour of -their age and strength. Their dress, similar in cut to that of their -servants, was only distinguished from it by the superior richness and -fineness of its texture.</p> - -<p>The foremost was a tall and well-built person, with graceful manners -and elegant gestures. The outline of his face was proud and decided, -and his hardy features expressed a kindness and frankness which, at -first sight, won the sympathy and regard of all.</p> - -<p>His name was Don Leoncio de Ribera.</p> - -<p>His companion, of the same size and figure, and endowed with the same -manners, formed, nevertheless, a perfect contrast to Don Leoncio.</p> - -<p>His soft blue eyes; the thick curls of blonde hair, which escaped in -large masses from under his Panama hat, and flowed in disorder on his -shoulders; the cream-coloured skin, which contrasted with the olive -and slightly bronzed complexion of Don Leoncio,—seemed to indicate -that he was not born under the burning sun of South America. Yet this -cavalier could proudly claim, even more than the latter, the quality -of a veritable <i>hijo del país</i><a name="FNanchor_5_6" id="FNanchor_5_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_6" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> since he descended in a direct line -from the brave and unhappy Tupac Amaru, the last Inca, so basely -assassinated by the Spaniards.</p> - -<p>He was called Manco Amaru, Diego de Solis y Villas Reales; and we beg -our reader's pardon for this litany of names.</p> - -<p>Don Diego de Solis concealed the courage of the lion under the -effeminacy of a woman, and nerves of steel under the skin of his soft -white hands.</p> - -<p>As to the third cavalier, who kept himself modestly retired behind the -others, he had wrapped himself up so carefully in the voluminous folds -of his <i>poncho</i>, and the rim of his hat was so well pulled down over -his countenance, that is was impossible to distinguish any part of him -except two large black eyes, which flashed forth flames of fire. His -small size, delicate limbs, and a certain soft smoothness about his -movements, would lead one to suppose that he was still a youth, if this -masculine attire did not conceal a woman, which seemed more probable.</p> - -<p>However that may be, no sooner did the corporal find himself in the -presence of the persons we have described, than there was a complete -metamorphosis in his whole appearance. His rough and fierce demeanour -was exchanged for a flattering obsequiousness, denoting complete -devotedness; and his countenance lost its mocking expression, to take -that of decided pleasure.</p> - -<p>Don Leoncio had difficulty in moderating the outbursts of foolish joy -to which the soldier gave vent, with the unconstraint of a man who at -length enjoys a happiness he has long been vainly expecting.</p> - -<p>"There, there, Luco," said he; "be calm. You see it is I. There, -there; be moderate, <i>muchacho</i> this is not the time for outpourings of -affection."</p> - -<p>"It is true, <i>mi amo</i>" (my master); "but I am so happy to see you again -after such a length of time," and he brushed away the tears which -rolled down his bronzed cheeks.</p> - -<p>Don Leoncio felt deeply moved by the affection of his old servant, and -replied:</p> - -<p>"Thanks, Luco; you are indeed a good and trusty fellow."</p> - -<p>"And yet, in spite of the happiness I feel in seeing you once more, -I wish you had not returned at such an unlucky moment. <i>Mi amo</i>, the -times are bad; the tyrant is more powerful than ever in Buenos Aires."</p> - -<p>"I know. Unfortunately, I could not postpone my journey, in spite of -the perils to which I should be exposed."</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Válgame Dios</i>, señor! This is a terrible life we are now leading."</p> - -<p>"What is to be done? We must all take our share of the unavoidable. Are -my orders fulfilled?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, all, <i>mi amo:</i> your brother is forewarned. Unluckily, I could not -go myself to inform him: I was forced to send a <i>guacho</i>, of whom I -knew little. But do not be uneasy, señor; your brother will not fail to -be here in a few hours."</p> - -<p>"Good; but you seem to have come here in considerable numbers."</p> - -<p>"Alas, it could not be helped; I am so spied after, <i>mi amo.</i> I was -obliged to use the most extraordinary efforts to induce the lieutenant -to bring so few."</p> - -<p>"We had very nearly run into his arms."</p> - -<p>"Yes; and I was in a dreadful fright at the moment, for I had -recognised you already, señor: God knows what would have happened had -you met."</p> - -<p>"And now, is this lieutenant to be trusted?"</p> - -<p>Luco shook his head sorrowfully.</p> - -<p>"He! <i>Mi amo</i>, take heed. He is one of the most ferocious -<i>mashorqueras</i> of that evil dog Rosas."</p> - -<p>"The devil he is!" said Don Leoncio, with a troubled look. "I fear, my -poor Luco, your too great confidence has led us into a hornet's nest, -out of which we shall have some trouble to escape safe and sound."</p> - -<p>"It is a difficult case—I will not attempt to deny it. You must be -very cautious, and let no one strike your trail. The principal thing is -to gain time."</p> - -<p>"True," said Don Leoncio, plunging into a reverie.</p> - -<p>"How many are there of you?" said Don Diego, mixing in the conversation -for the first time.</p> - -<p>"Thirty-five, counting the lieutenant, señor; but he is a devil -incarnate, and counts for four at least."</p> - -<p>"Pooh!" replied Don Diego carelessly, while he stroked his blonde -moustache; "we are seven when we count you, my good fellow."</p> - -<p>"Who is this lieutenant?"</p> - -<p>"Don Torribio, formerly a <i>guacho.</i>"</p> - -<p>"Oh," said Don Leoncio, disgusted, "Torribio <i>Degüello!</i>" (literally, -Torribio the Butcher).</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Voto a brios!</i>" replied Don Diego; "How I should like to plant my -knee on the breast of that wretch! Well, what are we to do?"</p> - -<p>"You forget who is with us," said Don Leoncio, quickly, casting a -glance at the motionless figure behind.</p> - -<p>"It is true," said the young man; "I am mad. Forgive me, friend; we -cannot be too cautious."</p> - -<p>"It is lucky," observed Luco, "that you have not brought Doña Antonia -with you. Poor dear niña! she would die here, were she exposed to the -devils in whose midst we are."</p> - -<p>All of a sudden before Don Leoncio had time to reply, a horrible -clamour arose in the <i>rancho</i>, several shots were heard, and a score of -men and women, frantic with fear, rushed into the open with shouts of -terror, and dispersed in all directions.</p> - -<p>"Hide yourselves!" cried Luco. "Good God! What can this mean? I will be -back directly; but, for God's sake, do not let them see you. Farewell -for a time! I must go and see what is the matter."</p> - -<p>Leaving Don Leoncio and his companions in dreadful anxiety, the -corporal ran towards the house, where the tumult was increasing every -minute.</p> - - - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_2" id="Footnote_1_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_2"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> "Long live the well-beloved General Rosas! Long live the -liberator! Long live the federals! Death to the unitarian savages! Slay -them! Slay them!"</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_3" id="Footnote_2_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_3"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> These words will hardly bear translation Their general -meaning is this: Why do you go and return, return and go; if others go -less far, they gain more by it.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_4" id="Footnote_3_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_4"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> "O precious Liberty! One cannot compare you to gold nor to -the greatest riches in the spacious world."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_5" id="Footnote_4_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_5"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> "More rich and more cherished than the most precious -treasure."</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_6" id="Footnote_5_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_6"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Child of the country; a very common expression in South -America.</p></div> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</a></h4> - -<h3>A DELICATE FEDERAL ATTENTION.</h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>We will run before the corporal, in order to explain to the reader what -had happened in the <i>rancho.</i></p> - -<p>At first everything went off well. After the first moment of distrust -and fear, the muleteers and wagoners, involuntarily submitting to the -influence of their favourite pastime, had utterly forgotten their -apprehensions, and fraternised with the soldiers. The <i>aguardiente</i> -went round uninterruptedly from one end of the room to the other; the -merriment increased in proportion to the draughts, which, by frequent -repetition, began to heat the brains of the drinkers, among whom the -first symptoms of drunkenness were showing themselves here and here.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless the lieutenant, Don Torribio, his eyes sparkling and his -countenance excited, continued to sing, to torture the guitar, and -specially to drink, without any signs of meditated evil; and perhaps -all might have ended well, but for an incident which suddenly changed -the aspect of things, and turned a scene of joy into a spectacle of -terror.</p> - -<p>One of the best and most brilliant dancers of the <i>zambacueca</i> was a -young muleteer of from twenty to twenty-five, with fine and intelligent -features, well-knit figure, and easy manner, who distinguished -himself greatly by the lightness and grace of his dancing. The women -crowded round him, cast the most killing looks at him, and applauded -extravagantly the eccentric steps it was his pleasure to execute.</p> - -<p>Among these females were two, both girls of sixteen, radiant with the -beauty peculiar to South America, and which finds no equivalent in -Europe. The black eyes, shaded by long silken lashes; the mouth, with -lips red as the fruit of the <i>chirimoya</i> (Mexican pear); the face, -slightly bronzed by the heat of a tropical sun, over which fell the -long tresses of bluish-black hair; the rounded figure, supple and -slender; the wavy movements, full of inimitable grace; all these charms -united constituted that intoxicating and voluptuous kind of beauty, -which it is impossible to analyse, but of which the most frigid mortal -cannot resist the magnetic influence and fascinating spell.</p> - -<p>These two females made themselves conspicuous by the exuberant praises -they showered on the object of their predilection. The latter, we -must do him the justice to say, seemed to take very little notice of -the enthusiasm he excited. He was a good fellow, whose heart, if not -his head, was perfectly free; who danced for dancing's sake, because -it pleased him, and because the rough life he led rarely afforded an -opportunity for enjoying his favourite amusement; moreover, he was -totally indifferent about inspiring either one or the other of his -admirers with any kind of passion whatever. The two latter, although -with a woman's innate instinct they understood his indifference, and -were secretly hurt at it, nevertheless continued to lavish on him the -most passionate expressions of admiration of which the Spanish language -is capable, as a means of evincing the interest they took in his -proceedings.</p> - -<p>These demonstrations grew at last so lively and pointed, that the -greater number of the men present—who would each, in his secret -heart, have given a good deal for the preference of either of these -beautiful creatures—began, as is generally the case, to hate the -muleteer for the indifference he displayed, and to upbraid him for -serious want of politeness and unpardonable ignorance of good manners, -in showing no gratitude for such enthusiastic praise.</p> - -<p>The muleteer, embarrassed by the position in which he had involuntarily -been placed while he was only laudably endeavouring to amuse -himself, and compelled, as we may say, by his companions' murmurs of -disapprobation, to re-establish his impugned reputation for courtesy, -decided on finding some means or other of withdrawing honourably from -his disagreeable situation, and with that purpose determined to ask the -two girls to dance with him one after the other.</p> - -<p>Full of these good intentions, as soon as the lieutenant—who had -temporarily interrupted his inharmonious strumming to help himself -to an immense goblet of <i>aguardiente</i>—began to rattle a fresh -<i>zambacueca</i> on his guitar, the <i>arriero</i> advanced with a smile on his -lips, and graciously saluted the two girls.</p> - -<p>"Señorita," said he, to the one who chance to bed nearest, "will you -make me happy by dancing this <i>zambacueca</i> with your humble servant?"</p> - -<p>The girl, all rosy with delight at what she imagined the preference -of the handsome dancer, was coming forward with outstretched hand, -and beginning to reply, when suddenly her companion, who had turned -pale on hearing the <i>arriero's</i> invitation, bounded between them like -a tigress, and, with trembling lips and flaming eyes, confronted the -young couple.</p> - -<p>"You shall not dance together!" she cried in menacing tones.</p> - -<p>The spectators of this extraordinary and unexpected scene recoiled in -amazement: they were unable to comprehend this sudden burst of anger. -The two would-be dancers exchanged looks of astonishment.</p> - -<p>The situation grew intolerable, and the <i>arriero</i> determined to put an -end to it.</p> - -<p>The second girl was still standing right in front of him, her figure -slightly thrown back, and firmly planted on her feet, her head erect, -her cheeks inflamed, her nostrils quivering like those of a wild beast, -and her arm extended in an attitude of menace and defiance.</p> - -<p>The <i>arriero</i> took a step forward, and made a very respectful bow to -the damsel.</p> - -<p>"Señorita," said he, "allow me to remark—"</p> - -<p>"<i>Calle Vd. la boca</i>" (hold your tongue), "Don Pablo!" she angrily -exclaimed, interrupting him in the middle of his speech; "I have -nothing to say against you; but look at this <i>chola sin vergüenza</i>" -(shameless hussy), "who, knowing you to be the best dancer in the -<i>rancho</i>, wants to monopolise you for her own benefit."</p> - -<p>On hearing the insult her companion had thus boldly cast in her teeth, -the other damsel hastily shook off Don Pablo, and placed herself face -to face before her assailant.</p> - -<p>"You lie, Manonga!" cried she: "It is jealousy that made you utter -these words; you are furious at the preference with which this -<i>caballero</i> honours me."</p> - -<p>"I!" said the other disdainfully; "You are a fool, Clarita; I care no -more for the <i>caballero</i> than for a sour orange."</p> - -<p>"Indeed!" sneered Clarita; "Then, pray what may be the reason of this -sudden fury?"</p> - -<p>"Because," sharply retorted Manonga, "I have known you for a long time; -you want a lesson, and I am going to give you one."</p> - -<p>"You, indeed!" said the other, shrugging her shoulders; "Take care lest -you get one yourself!"</p> - -<p>"<i>Ojalá</i>; add another word, and, by my soul, I will knife you!"</p> - -<p>"Pooh! you don't even know how to handle a navaja" (knife).</p> - -<p>"<i>A ver;</i>" (we will see), shouted Manonga, beside herself with rage; -and, bounding back, she drew a knife from her bosom, wrapped her -<i>rebozo</i> (veil) round her left arm, and threw herself on guard.</p> - -<p>"<i>A ver;</i>" screamed Clarita, echoing the words, and taking up her -position with the same celerity as her adversary.</p> - -<p>A duel between the two girls was imminent.</p> - -<p>Don Pablo, the innocent cause of this combat, had several times vainly -tried to mediate between the two females. Neither one nor the other -would listen to his speech, nor attend to his remonstrances. When -matters had reached this point, he wanted to make a fresh effort: but -this time he was more sharply repulsed than before; for the bystanders, -interested in the dispute, and infinitely attracted by the longing -to see a duel with knives between two women, turned against him, and -peremptorily bade him be quiet, and leave the <i>niñas</i> (darlings) to -amuse themselves as they thought fit.</p> - -<p>The <i>arriero</i>, thoroughly satisfied that he could wash his hands of the -consequences, and whose good nature alone had induced him to attempt -to prevent an explosion, saw that his mediation was looked upon with -an unfavourable eye, so thought he had said his say; and, folding his -arms, prepared to be, if not an indifferent, at least a disinterested -spectator of the coming struggle.</p> - -<p>It was, indeed, a singular and striking spectacle to see, in this dimly -lighted room, amidst the crowd of strange costumes, these two girls, -fiercely and resolutely standing two paces apart, ready to come to -knife thrusts, while the music and the dance continued as if nothing -was the matter, while the <i>aguardiente</i> was poured forth in floods, and -while the merriest and maddest songs were shouted out around them.</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Vaya pués!</i>" (now for the sport!) cried Clarita: "With how many -inches do we fight, <i>querida?</i>" (my darling).</p> - -<p>"With the whole length of the blade, <i>alma mía</i>" (my soul), answered -Manonga; "I mean to leave my handwriting on your face!"</p> - -<p>"Ah, <i>puñaladas!</i> We shall see. Are you ready, my dear?"</p> - -<p>"As soon as you like, my pet!"</p> - -<p>A ring was formed round the damsels, who, with bodies bent forward, -left arms extended, and eye watching eye, waited, with feline -impatience, for a propitious moment to rush upon each other.</p> - -<p>They seemed well matched, both being young, active, and full of nerve. -The <i>connoisseurs</i> in those matters, of whom there were many in the -attentive crowd of bystanders, could form no opinion on the result of -the combat, which threatened, for the matter of that, to be desperate, -such flashes of ire sparkled from the wild eyes of the duellists.</p> - -<p>After a moment or two of hesitation, or more properly speaking of -gathering themselves up, Clarita and Manonga began to clack their -tongues against their palates, producing a series of sharp smacking -sounds; their blue gleaming knives glittered, and they darted upon each -other.</p> - -<p>But if the attack was lively, the defence and the parry was not less -so. Both simultaneously bounded back, and fell into guard again. Each -stroke had told; the battle had begun bravely, and either combatant had -her face furrowed by a bleeding double cut. Neither one nor the other -had predicted falsely: each bore the handwriting of the other on her -countenance. The bystanders trembled with joy and admiration: never -before had they been spectators of such a splendid <i>navajada.</i></p> - -<p>After taking breath for a while, the damsels were preparing to -recommence the fight, this time with the determined purpose of making -the bout decisive, when, all of a sudden, the ranks of the onlookers -were shouldered right and left, and a man resolutely thrust himself -between the two adversaries, and confronted them with a look of scorn.</p> - -<p>"Hearken, <i>demonios!</i>" he cried in a sharp tone, and with accents of -indescribable mockery.</p> - -<p>The two women lowered their knives, and stood motionless, with eyes -abashed, but head erect, their foreheads frowning, and preserving their -attitude—the haughty expression of two foes who long to tear each -other to pieces, and unwillingly succumb to commands, which they dare -not disobey, though they curse them.</p> - -<p>In spite of the deafening uproar the federalist lieutenant made with -his guitar, he could not help hearing, at last, what was going on in -the room. At the first impulse, he had placed his hand on the pistols -which hung at his girdle; but an instant afterwards his anger grew, not -calm, but cold and concentrated, instead of furious.</p> - -<p>Don Torribio had risen from his seat, left the bench on which he sat -enthroned, and furtively approached the combatants. He had attentively -watched the different phases of the fight, and when he thought proper -to interfere, had suddenly interposed between the duellists.</p> - -<p>The soldiers had silently advanced behind their officer; they were now -close at his heels, their hands on their weapons, ready for action at -the first signal, foreseeing that Don Torribio's interference in this -quarrel would speedily bring about another, in which they would have to -take part.</p> - -<p>Intuitively, the ring formed by the <i>arrieros</i> and wagoners had -extended itself, and a large space was left open in the middle of the -room. The two girls stood in the centre of the circle, knife in hand; -and the lieutenant, with his arms crossed, amused himself by examining -them narrowly, with a cynical sneer on his lips.</p> - -<p>"Holloa, my chickens!" said he; "What! Are you ruffling your feathers -for a cock? Is there only one on the perch? <i>¡Rayo de Dios!</i> What -splendid St. Andrew's crosses you have dug in each other's faces! Are -you both mad for love of this <i>pícaro?</i>" (ragamuffin).</p> - -<p>Neither spoke; and the lieutenant continued his sarcastic speech:</p> - -<p>"But where is this valiant champion, who lets the women fight for him? -Does his modesty make him hide himself?"</p> - -<p>Don Pablo came forward, looked the lieutenant straight in the face, and -answered firmly: "Here I am."</p> - -<p>"Aha!" said Don Torribio, staring at him for some time; "You are in -truth a handsome fellow. I do not wonder at their passion for you."</p> - -<p>The <i>arriero</i> remained mute, fully understanding the irony of the -compliment.</p> - -<p>"There, <i>niñas</i>," the lieutenant went on speaking to the damsels, -"which of you is the chosen one of this breaker of hearts? <i>¡Mil -rayos!</i> Speak out!"</p> - -<p>There was an interval of silence.</p> - -<p>"Oh, that is it!" resumed Don Torribio; "You do not exactly know. Come, -young fellow, do you speak, and tell me which of the two you prefer."</p> - -<p>"I have no preference for either," said the <i>arriero</i> coolly.</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Caramba!</i>" exclaimed the lieutenant, with pretended admiration; -"<i>que gusto</i>" (what good taste.) "So I am to understand you love them -both alike?"</p> - -<p>"No; you are mistaken, señor. I love neither one nor the other."</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Rayas pués!</i> That is a puzzler; and yet you let them fight for you. -That is conduct worthy of chastisement, my master! As that is the -case, I shall reconcile you two señoritas, and give a lesson to the -discourteous <i>caballero</i> who flouts at the power of your black eyes. -Upon my soul, such an insult calls for vengeance."</p> - -<p>The spectators of the scene felt their hearts sink within them, while -the soldiers laughed and jested among themselves.</p> - -<p>On pronouncing his last words, the lieutenant drew a pistol from -his belt, cocked it, and presented the muzzle at the breast of the -<i>arriero</i>, who, motionless as ever, had made no gesture to escape the -fate that threatened him.</p> - -<p>But the two girls were roused. With the velocity of thought, they both -at once threw themselves before him.</p> - -<p>Manonga felt her breast pierced by the ball. "Alas!" she cried; "You -despise me! What does it matter? I die for you! Clarita, I forgive you!"</p> - -<p>Don Pablo bounded over the body of the luckless wretch, whose dying -eyes still sought his, and threw himself, knife in hand, on the -lieutenant. The latter hurled his heavy pistol at his head; but the -<i>arriero</i> avoided the weapon, seized the officer round the body, and -a deadly fray began. Clarita, with flaming eyes, eagerly watched the -struggle between the two, ready to interfere as soon as an opportunity -offered in favour of her beloved.</p> - -<p>The bystanders were horrified; the dread inspired by the soldiers was -so great, that although many more in number, and all armed, they dared -not go to the assistance of their comrade.</p> - -<p>In the meantime, the soldiers, more than half-drunk, seeing their -officer struggling with a stranger, unsheathed their swords, and struck -right and left among the crowd, shouting out their dreaded cry:</p> - -<p>"<i>¡A degüello! ¡A degüello! los salvajes unitarios</i>" (Death, death to -the savage Unitarians!)</p> - -<p>Then ensued a scene of horror in the room, which was crowded with human -beings.</p> - -<p>The <i>arrieros</i>, pursued by the soldiers, who were pitilessly cutting -them down, and calling to each other to slay, thronged towards the door -to escape impending death. The disorder was at its height; all wanted -to escape at once through the too narrow outlet. Made selfish by fear, -and in the blind instinct of self-preservation, they stifled each other -against the walls, crushed each other underfoot, and struck blindly -with their knives, in order to hew themselves a passage through the -human barrier that checked them.</p> - -<p>Fear, when self-preservation is uppermost, makes man more cruel and -cowardly than the wild beasts. That hideous egotism, which lurks at -the bottom of the human heart, starts up when its bonds are suddenly -broken. Man has then neither parents nor friends; he is deaf to every -prayer; and, shutting his eyes, plunges forward with the blind and -stupid ferocity of the maddened bull.</p> - -<p>Blood soon flowed in torrents, and the victims increased in number, -while the fury grew no less; nor did the assailed attempt to defend -themselves.</p> - -<p>At last the barrier gave way, and the wretches rushed out of doors, -flying straight on, without knowing whither, in the sole thought of -escaping from the butchery.</p> - -<p>At this moment the corporal entered the room. A lamentable spectacle -met his eyes: the floor was strewn with dead bodies, and wounded men -weltering in their blood.</p> - -<p>But he could not restrain a cry of horror when his eyes fell on Don -Torribio. The lieutenant was tying the head of Don Pablo, which he had -hacked off with his sword, to the long tresses of the fainting Clarita. -The officer had been slightly wounded by the girl in the hip and arm, -and blood was flowing from his garments.</p> - -<p>"There," said he, having finished to his satisfaction the knot that -bound Clarita's tresses to the long locks of the <i>arriero;</i> "since she -loves him so dearly, when she comes to herself she can admire him at -leisure, he is all her own now; no one will take him from her."</p> - -<p>Then he looked for a time at the pale and fainting girl, with an -expression of lust impossible to describe.</p> - -<p>"Pooh!" said he, with a shrug of the shoulders; "Why should I? Let us -wait till she opens her eyes. I shall have plenty of time to make love -to her; and I want to enjoy her surprise when she wakes up."</p> - -<p>And without another look at his victims, he set himself to help his -soldiers in the massacre.</p> - -<p>The first step he took, he encountered Luco.</p> - -<p>"Halloa!" cried he; "where have you been, while we have been cutting -up the <i>salvajes unitarios?</i> God take me! Here you come quietly; your -sword in the sheath, and not a drop of blood on your clothes! What is -the meaning of this conduct, comrade? Are you turned traitor, too, by -chance?"</p> - -<p>At this accusation the corporal feigned immense indignation. He -frowned, bit his lip, and drew his sword, which he brandished -menacingly.</p> - -<p>"What words are those, lieutenant?" cried he. "Do you address such -an insult to me? Do you call me, the most devoted partisan of our -well-beloved General Rosas, a <i>salvaje unitario? ¡Vive Dios!</i>"</p> - -<p>"Come, come; calm yourself," answered the lieutenant, who, like all men -of his calibre, was as cowardly as he was cruel, and was intimidated by -the pretended anger of the corporal; "I did not mean to insult you! I -know you are to be trusted."</p> - -<p>"It is well you say so," replied Luco; "for I have no mind to listen -patiently to unjust reproach."</p> - -<p>"Lose no more time in talking," said a soldier, interfering; "<i>¡rayo de -Dios!</i> I have a capital idea."</p> - -<p>"What is it?" asked Don Torribio. "Out with it, Eusebio, or it will -blow you up."</p> - -<p>The soldier laughed.</p> - -<p>"This old hovel," said he, "is full of forage. Let us set fire to it, -and roast in the flames all the <i>salvajes unitarios</i> who are here."</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Vive Dios!</i>" cried Don Torribio, in high glee; "that is a capital -idea. We will set about it at once. The general will be pleased enough -when he knows we have rid him so expeditiously of a harbour for -his enemies. Two of you arrange the straw properly, while we mount -and chase those rascals back here. Not a soul of these <i>malvados</i> -(malicious rogues) shall escape the punishment he richly deserves."</p> - -<p>The lieutenant then signed to the soldiers to leave.</p> - -<p>"I," said Luco, "will keep the door, so that no one inside can come -out."</p> - -<p>"That will do, my good fellow," answered Don Torribio. "Ah!" he added -suddenly, as his eye fell on the poor girl extended on the floor, with -the head of him she loved tied to her tresses; "here Eusebio! do not -forget to place two or three bundles of straw under that sweet child. -The dirty floor is a hard couch for her, and I want her to sleep -sweetly."</p> - -<p>He left the room, grinning like a demon.</p> - -<p>He had scarcely got outside, before the corporal, without uttering a -word, raised his sword, and, with one blow, cleft Eusebio to the chine. -The wretch fell without a cry, like an ox that is slaughtered.</p> - -<p>The second soldier who was present exhibited no signs of emotion.</p> - -<p>"That was a pretty blow, Luco," said he, twisting his long gray -moustache; "but are you not a little too precipitate?"</p> - -<p>The corporal made him a sign to be silent, and, peering out of doors, -listened attentively. A cry, low as the softest breath of the wind, met -his ear.</p> - -<p>"No Muñoz," he answered, "I am not too hasty; for there is the signal."</p> - -<p>Then, putting the first finger of each hand into his mouth, he gave a -whistle, so sharp and prolonged, that those present crouched against -the walls, and trembled with fear, not knowing what new evil this -portentous signal might bring upon them.</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Sangre de Cristo!</i>" cried Luco, addressing the terrified <i>arrieros</i>, -crouching on the floor, "Are you going to stay here and be massacred -like stupid ostriches? Take courage <i>caray!</i> seize your weapons, and -range yourselves by the side of those who have come to save you!"</p> - -<p>The poor devils shook their heads in despair. Terror had deprived -them of all energy, and they were incapable of organizing the least -resistance.</p> - -<p>The shouting of the soldiery was heard on every side, as they excited -each other in their human chase; and each moment, wretches who had been -hunted up from all corners, rushed in to seek a precarious refuge in -the room whence they had escaped a few minutes previously.</p> - -<p>Don Torribio, almost certain that he had driven all his game into the -net, signalled to his soldiers to leave off, and ordered them to enter -the <i>rancho.</i></p> - -<p>All of a sudden the galloping of several horses was heard; six -cavaliers rode fiercely up, and ranged themselves in battle array -before the door of the house.</p> - -<p>The lieutenant started when he saw them, went to his horse, and made as -if he would mount.</p> - -<p>"Who are you, <i>caballeros?</i>" said he in menacing tones; "And how dare -you dispute my passage?"</p> - -<p>"You shall soon know, Don Torribio the Butcher," said a voice, whose -mocking accent made the lieutenant turn pale.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</a></h4> - -<h3>TREACHERY.</h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>There is one remark which has been often made. It is this: That, -generally speaking, men who delight to dabble in gore—who -unhesitatingly commit the most atrocious cruelties, and exercise their -powers in exciting the terror they love to inspire—are cowards; and -when they happen to meet with effective resistance, their cowardice -falls to a baseness beyond comparison. Jackals and hyenas are ferocious -and cowardly; men are jackals and hyenas—the thing is explained.</p> - -<p>At the answer of the leader of the strangers, the <i>mashorqueras</i> became -convulsed with terror. They comprehended that they were face to face -with resolute foes, without having it in their power to retreat an -inch. They crowded close to each other, and fixed their eyes in fright -and amazement on the six men who, sitting calmly and impassively before -them, bid them defiance.</p> - -<p>Don Torribio alone felt no fear. The man was a savage brute, whom -the smell of blood intoxicated, and who could only breathe freely -in an atmosphere of carnage. Crossing his arms and raising his head -defiantly, he answered the words of the unknown with a long laugh of -contempt; then, turning to his terror-stricken soldiers:</p> - -<p>"Will you suffer yourselves to be intimidated by six men?" he cried. -"Come, my children; face about. <i>¡Vive Dios!</i> these <i>pícaros</i> dare not -stand against us."</p> - -<p>The soldiers, aroused by the tones of the voice they had so long -obeyed, and ashamed of their hesitation, fell in as well as they could, -and formed a line in front of the <i>rancho.</i> The lieutenant, putting -spurs to his horse, made him execute a <i>demivolte</i>, and resolutely -placed himself at the head of his troop. The strangers, notwithstanding -the inequality of numbers, did not hesitate a moment, but charged -the federalists sword and pistol in hand. Don Torribio received them -bravely without retreating a foot. Having discharged their pistols, -they took to the sword, and in an instant the <i>mêlée</i> grew terrible. In -spite of their prodigies of valour and gigantic efforts, the strangers -would, in all probability, have had the worst of it, when suddenly -Corporal Luco, who had remained spectator of the fight, with four or -five of his comrades, made his horse bound to the front, and, instead -of ranging himself on the side of the federalists, attacked them -vigorously in flank, and came with his comrades to place himself beside -Don Leoncio.</p> - -<p>This defection of a party of his soldiers raised Don Torribio's ire -to seething point—the more so, as the <i>mashorqueras</i>, not knowing -to what cause to attribute the strange conduct of the corporal and -his comrades, began to suspect treason, to lose courage, and to reply -but feebly to the blows of the assailants; who, seeing them falter, -redoubled their efforts for victory.</p> - -<p>The <i>arrieros</i> and wagoners, having in some measure recovered from -their fright, and seeing the favourable opportunity of avenging the -insults and villainies the hirelings of Rosas had so long heaped -upon them, armed themselves with anything that fell in their way, -and, burning to make up for lost time, rushed headforemost on their -ferocious enemies.</p> - -<p>But at this very moment loud cries reached their ears. Some forty -mounted men entered at full gallop the zone of light proceeding from -the post house, and, deploying with amazing dexterity and despatch, -surrounded the <i>rancho</i> on all sides.</p> - -<p>The riders who had galloped up so opportunely for the assailants and so -inopportunely for the <i>colorados</i>, were Don Guzman de Ribera and his -<i>peones</i>.</p> - -<p>Having left Buenos Aires several hours ago, they ought long before this -to have reached the <i>rancho</i>, which lay on the road they had to follow -in order to get to the <i>hacienda</i> where Don Guzman hoped to meet his -brother. But at a little distance from the town, Don Bernardo Pedrosa -had managed somehow or other to cut his bonds; he slipped off the horse -on which he had been placed, threw himself among the tall grasses, and -disappeared before anyone suspected his flight.</p> - -<p>Don Guzman had lost a good deal of time in marching for the fugitive, -whose traces he could not find, and had only abandoned the pursuit -when convinced that all his efforts to recover his prisoner were in -vain. Recalling his <i>peones</i>, who were scattered right and left, he had -resumed the road to the <i>hacienda</i>, feeling extremely uneasy for the -consequences of his prisoner's escape; for he knew Don Bernardo too -well to suppose for an instant that he would not strain every nerve to -avenge the insult he had met with at his hands.</p> - -<p>When Don Guzman was still about half a league from the <i>rancho</i>, some -fugitives, escaped from the massacre, had run blindly among his men, -and warned him of what was going on. Without suspecting how important -these news might be to himself, his natural generosity excited the wish -to assist, if possible, the persons engaged in this terrible affray; -so Don Guzman, well acquainted with the ferocity of the Buenos-Airean -tyrant ruffians, had increased the pace of his horses, and galloped in -to aid the unfortunate people in their contest with the <i>mashorqueras.</i> -His unexpected arrival decided the affair.</p> - -<p>The lieutenant, finding flight impossible, retired step by step, -fighting like a lion, and withdrew all his men into the <i>rancho</i>, -himself remaining last in order to secure their retreat.</p> - -<p>Don Torribio—the Butcher, as he was called—scorned to ask quarter. -He himself had never granted it to a soul. The extremity to which he -found himself reduced, far from diminishing his courage, had increased -it tenfold. Feeling his last hour was come—that no human aid could -save him—he resolved to fight to the last breath, and sell his life as -dearly as possible.</p> - -<p>The <i>mashorqueras</i>, following the example of their leader, drew fresh -courage from the depths of their despair, and once within the <i>rancho</i>, -busied themselves in fortifying it, so as to carry on the strife as -long as they could, and to fall after an heroic resistance.</p> - -<p>The doors and windows were barricaded with the utmost care; holes were -knocked in the walls; and the ruffians, half-intoxicated with previous -and still-continued libations, waited firmly for the attack, determined -to die bravely in the assault their enemies would soon make on the -<i>rancho.</i></p> - -<p>However contrary to their expectations, a long time elapsed without -their adversaries commencing the attack. This suspension of -hostilities, which was incomprehensible,—for they were ignorant of all -that was going on outside,—gave them great uneasiness, and made the -bravest of them tremble.</p> - -<p>Man is so constituted that, however firmly he may have made up his -mind to face death—however convinced he may be that his last hour is -come—however prepared for the struggle, the consequences of which he -knows and accepts beforehand—if that final struggle is delayed, his -resolution fades, the fever that sustained him dies out, and he begins -to fear, not death, for that he knows to be inevitable, but the agonies -which he fancies may precede death. He creates a thousand sinister -chimeras; and the unknown danger which threatens him, without his being -able to divine how or whence it will come, appears to him a thousand -times more terrible than that which he was prepared to face bravely and -with a resolute heart.</p> - -<p>The <i>mashorqueras</i> vainly sought, in copious draughts of <i>aguardiente</i>, -a remedy for the wild terror which gradually overcame them. The -mournful silence which reigned around them, the obscurity, wrapping -them up as in a shroud, and the forced inaction to which they were -condemned, concurred, in spite of their efforts, to increase the -invincible terror that had seized upon them. The lieutenant alone -preserved his ferocious energy, and awaited patiently the striking of -the hour for his last battle.</p> - -<p>Let us see what was passing among the assailants, and what had -occasioned the delay in the assault.</p> - -<p>Don Guzman de Ribera, as soon as the soldiers had shut themselves up in -the <i>rancho</i>, wished to know, before he finished with the latter, who -the persons were to whom his providential arrival had done such good -service.</p> - -<p>It was not long before his curiosity was satisfied; his brother Don -Leoncio, who had recognised him from the first, rushed forward to -offer his thanks.</p> - -<p>The two brothers, who had been so long separated, threw themselves -into each other's arms with tears of joy, and for some time forgot -everything but themselves in the unexpected happiness of meeting.</p> - -<p>When the first shock of their sudden reunion was over, Don Guzman took -his brother's hand, and, leading him apart, uttered the single word, -"Well?" with a smile which was intended to be gay.</p> - -<p>"She is here," said Don Leoncio, trying to stifle a sigh.</p> - -<p>"Did she consent to come?"</p> - -<p>"It was she who wished it."</p> - -<p>"That is indeed astonishing," said Don Guzman.</p> - -<p>"Why so? Doña Antonia is one of those rare spirits who never recoil -before an obligation, however hard it may be, when they know that -honour binds them."</p> - -<p>"True. Well, be it so; it is perhaps better as it is and that she is -with you."</p> - -<p>"Have you forgotten, brother, what occurred exactly a year ago today, -at sunrise, between you and me, when, in a moment of folly, I confessed -to you my love for Doña Antonia de Solis?"</p> - -<p>"What is the good of recurring to it, brother? We are reconciled now, -thank God; and I hope nothing may happen to separate us again."</p> - -<p>"Do not hope so, brother," replied Don Leoncio in melancholy accents.</p> - -<p>"What do you mean, brother? My wife—"</p> - -<p>"Your wife has never ceased to be worthy of you; you will go and see -her?"</p> - -<p>Don Guzman hesitated.</p> - -<p>"No," said he, at length; "not now; let us first finish with these -rascals; then I will give myself up to happiness."</p> - -<p>"Let it be so," said Don Leoncio, rejoiced.</p> - -<p>Two persons now made their appearance; they were Don Diego de Solis, -and Doña Antonia, his sister, and the wife of Don Guzman.</p> - -<p>On seeing his wife, who had been compelled to withdraw from Buenos -Aires in order to escape from the pursuit of Don Bernardo Pedrosa, Don -Guzman, notwithstanding his resolve not to make himself known to her -for the present, could not resist the temptation of pressing her to his -heart.</p> - -<p>The lady uttered a cry of joy on finding herself once more in her -husband's arms.</p> - -<p>Don Leoncio, a few months after the confession he had made to his -brother, seemed to have forgotten his passion, and had espoused the -second sister of Don Diego de Solis, four months prior to the day the -events of which we are now recording.</p> - -<p>So when Don Guzman was forced into a temporary separation from his -wife, he had not hesitated to confide her to his brother, convinced -that the latter's love for Doña Antonia had changed into honourable and -lasting friendship.</p> - -<p>"Why have you returned?" said Don Guzman, kissing his wife.</p> - -<p>"It was necessary," she replied in a low voice, and suppressing a -gesture of fear; "my sister herself recommended me to do so."</p> - -<p>"It was very imprudent, my darling."</p> - -<p>"Oh! I have no fears at your side. Will you not embrace your son, too?"</p> - -<p>"Have you brought him with you?"</p> - -<p>"I will not leave you again, whatever may happen." Then, bending to her -husband's ear she whispered: "Your brother is as much in love with me -as ever; his wife discovered his passion for me, and it is she and Don -Diego who advised my return, as my position was growing intolerable."</p> - -<p>Don Guzman's eyes flashed fire.</p> - -<p>"They did well," said he; "but silence: my brother is watching us."</p> - -<p>In fact, Don Leoncio, uneasy at this conversation apart, had guessed, -with the intuition peculiar to the guilty, that he was the subject of -their discussion, and exhibited signs of restlessness which all his -efforts could not conceal. At last, unable to bear the suspense any -longer, he approached his brother, and said to him curtly:</p> - -<p>"What are we to do now?"</p> - -<p>"Whatever you please," answered Don Guzman, who had been disagreeably -affected by the sound of his voice after what his wife had told him.</p> - -<p>Don Leoncio perceived the aversion his brother felt for him; he bit his -lips, but dissembled his resentment.</p> - -<p>"It is for you to decide," said he, "since it is you who have rescued -us."</p> - -<p>"I am at your service, brother. Don Diego," he continued, turning to -the young man, "I trust my wife to your care. We shall most likely -commence the assault at once. She and her infant must not be exposed to -danger."</p> - -<p>"Set your heart at rest: I will be answerable for them," said Diego, -pressing his hand.</p> - -<p>Before he left her, Doña Antonia threw herself once more on her -husband's breast.</p> - -<p>"Beware!" she whispered in his ear; "Don Leoncio is meditating treason -against you."</p> - -<p>"He would not dare!" firmly replied Don Guzman.</p> - -<p>"Go; and fear not."</p> - -<p>The lady, only half-consoled, followed her brother, and the two soon -disappeared behind the bales and wagons.</p> - -<p>The two brothers were left alone, and there was a long silence between -them.</p> - -<p>Don Guzman, with his arms crossed, and his head bent down, was in deep -meditation.</p> - -<p>Don Leoncio was watching his brother intently, with a strange -expression on his countenance, and a sardonic smile on his lips.</p> - -<p>At last Don Guzman raised his head.</p> - -<p>"Enough of this," he said, "it has lasted too long." Don Leoncio -started: he fancied these words were addressed to him; but his brother -continued:</p> - -<p>"Before attacking these ruffians we must summon them to surrender."</p> - -<p>"Can you think of such a thing, brother. These men are <i>mashorqueras!</i>"</p> - -<p>"So much the greater reason to prove to them that we are not rascals of -their own kind, and that we practise the laws of warfare, which they -glory in setting at nought."</p> - -<p>"I submit, brother; although I know we are only losing valuable time."</p> - -<p>Don Leoncio immediately ordered torches of resinous wood to be lighted, -so that the besieged might clearly see him; and, tying his handkerchief -to the point of his sword, resolutely advanced towards the <i>rancho.</i></p> - -<p>When Don Torribio saw the light of the torches, he comprehended that -the assailants wished to enter into communication with him, and -unbarred a window, holding himself in readiness for the parley.</p> - -<p>As soon as Don Leoncio got within a pace or two of the door, he halted.</p> - -<p>"Flag of truce!" said he.</p> - -<p>A window was thrown open, at which the burly figure of the lieutenant -made its appearance.</p> - -<p>"What is it you want?" he replied, carelessly leaning his elbows on the -windowsill.</p> - -<p>"We demand that you surrender," said Don Leoncio.</p> - -<p>"Do you, really?" said Don Torribio, bursting into a laugh; "And why do -you want us to surrender?"</p> - -<p>"Because all resistance is futile."</p> - -<p>"You think so, do you?" replied the officer, with another laugh; "Try -and dislodge us, and see what it will cost you!"</p> - -<p>"Much less than you think."</p> - -<p>"Pooh! I should be glad to know how."</p> - -<p>"Enough! Will you surrender, or not?"</p> - -<p>"It is ridiculous! May the devil embrace me, if you know with whom you -have to deal! Do we ever demand quarter—we, <i>mashorqueras?</i> If we -surrender, you will kill us, that is all. What is the good of it?"</p> - -<p>"Then you are determined not to listen to terms?"</p> - -<p>"Upon my soul, this is growing too tiresome!"</p> - -<p>"You are resolved to defend yourself to the last?"</p> - -<p>"<i>Canarios</i>, comrade! I should think so; tooth and nail. I will not -stay any longer. Be off!"</p> - -<p>"Well, we shall have you all soon."</p> - -<p>"Try it, <i>compadre;</i> try it. In the meantime, as your conversation has -little attraction for me, I shall take the liberty of breaking it off. -Good luck!"</p> - -<p>Saying this, he closed the window abruptly.</p> - -<p>Don Leoncio turned to his brother, who had advanced to his side.</p> - -<p>"Did I not tell you so?" said he, with a shrug; "Was I mistaken?"</p> - -<p>"No; I admit it. Now, having saved our honour, we can act as we please."</p> - -<p>Don Guzman leaned towards his brother, and spoke a few words in his -ear; the latter smiled, and left him.</p> - -<p>The <i>peones, arrieros</i>, and wagoners were posted behind the <i>galeras</i>, -so as to be sheltered from the balls of the besieged. There they -awaited the signal for the assault.</p> - -<p>Don Leoncio busied himself during all this time in heaping dry grass -and branches around the <i>rancho.</i> When sufficient had been collected, -he set fire to it, and his men cast their burning torches on the roof.</p> - -<p>The fire, fed by the wind, soon extended itself; and in a very short -time the <i>rancho</i> was enveloped in flames.</p> - -<p>The besieged gave vent to a cry of horror; the besiegers replied by a -shout of triumph.</p> - -<p>After all, the <i>mashorqueras</i> had no reason to complain; it was meted -to them as they would have meted to others: they were undergoing the -<i>lex talionis.</i></p> - -<p>In the meanwhile, the position of the besieged grew intolerable. -Blinded by the smoke and scorched by the fire, which ran up the walls -in long tongues of flame, calcining as they licked them, a sortie -became inevitable, if they would not be burnt alive.</p> - -<p>The lieutenant ordered the door to be unfastened: he opened it -suddenly, and threw himself, followed by his men, into the thickest -ranks of the assailants.</p> - -<p>The latter opened their ranks to receive them, then closed in upon -them, and surrounded them with a circle of steel.</p> - -<p>At the moment when the last morsel of wall crashed into the fiery -furnace, the last <i>mashorquera</i> fell, with his head cloven to the -chine. All had fallen around Don Torribio, who had fought to the last -moment with the desperate frenzy which makes a man almost invincible.</p> - -<p>The sun rose in his majesty, illumining the savage depths of the Pampas.</p> - -<p>The <i>arrieros</i> and wagoners, cowed by the night's work, and dreading -the consequences, hastened to span the oxen to the heavy <i>galeras</i>, and -load their mules. Anxious to quit the place, they were soon dispersing -in all directions. Don Guzman and his <i>peones</i> remained masters of the -field.</p> - -<p>Soon after the attack commenced, Don Guzman was surprised that he did -not see his brother near him; but he did not attach much importance to -the fact, being more seriously occupied with other matters. Now, when -the affray was over, he burned with desire to see his wife. He was -amazed that Don Diego had not brought her to him as soon as all danger -for her was over.</p> - -<p>But he was not very anxious. Don Diego had probably not wished to -expose the lady to the horror of crossing the field of battle, and -soiling her feet with the blood in which the earth was soaked. He -applauded his delicacy, and waited a few minutes, during which he -repaired the disorder of his dress, and removed the traces of the -combat.</p> - -<p>At last he determined to look for his wife, whose long absence began to -make him very uneasy.</p> - -<p>Corporal Luco, as anxious as himself, undertook to guide him; he had a -faint recollection of seeing Don Diego, accompanied by Doña Antonia, -the nurse, and two or three more, going in the direction of a hollow in -the ground at a little distance.</p> - -<p>All of a sudden, the two men uttered a shout of sorrow, and recoiled in -horror from the dreadful spectacle before their eyes.</p> - -<p>Don Diego was lying on the ground, his chest pierced through and -through. He was dead; and close to him Doña Antonia and the nurse were -lying senseless. The nurse was Corporal Luco's wife.</p> - -<p>Don Guzman fell on his knees beside his wife; he then perceived a -paper, which she was clutching convulsively in her right hand.</p> - -<p>The unhappy man had great difficulty in releasing it from her grasp; -some words were written on it. Don Guzman cast his eyes over the lines, -and threw himself on the ground with an agonising cry of despair.</p> - -<p>The paper contained these words:</p> - -<blockquote> -<p>"Brother,—You have deprived me of the woman I love; I deprive you of -your son: we are quits."</p> - -<p style="margin-left: 70%; font-size: 0.8em;">"DON LEONCIO DE RIBERA."</p> -</blockquote> - -<p>No doubts were possible after reading this: Don Leoncio was really the -author of this odious abduction. He had contrived this horrible piece -of treachery while his brother was coming, in all his confidence, to -meet him. With an incredible refinement of wickedness, and in order to -enjoy his revenge to the utmost, he had delayed the stroke, with the -determination to make it fall on his brother's head like a thunderbolt.</p> - -<p>For a long time, Don Guzman remained crouching on the Pampas, holding -in his arms the lifeless body of his wife, whom he tried in vain to -resuscitate. He lay there, absorbed in doubts, and trembling; seeing -nothing; hearing nothing; lamenting the death of his wife; deprived of -his child.</p> - -<p>He was suddenly roused by a heavy stroke on his shoulder. He raised his -head. A man was standing before him, with a smile on his lips.</p> - -<p>"Don Guzman de Ribera," said he, with a mocking salutation, "you are my -prisoner."</p> - -<p>It was Don Bernardo Pedrosa, with a numerous escort of soldiers.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.</a></h4> - -<h3>THE END OF THE STORY.</h3> -<hr class="r5" /> - -<p>Here Don Estevan paused in his recital.</p> - -<p>"All this is frightful!" exclaimed Don Fernando, in accents of mingled -anger and pity.</p> - -<p>"It is not all," replied the other.</p> - -<p>"But what connection has this horrible story with Don Pedro de Luna?"</p> - -<p>"Did I not tell you when I first began that the history was his?"</p> - -<p>"You did; but, carried away by the dreadful incidents of your -narrative, I lost sight of the personages. My whole mind was so -excited, that I fancied myself a spectator of the scenes that passed -before me with such giddy rapidity, and did not recollect that one of -the actors was so close to us. But how does it happen that you are so -well acquainted with the details of this miserable tragedy?"</p> - -<p>"I have heard them told many and many a day, from infancy till now -that I am a man. My father was the Corporal Luco, whom you have seen -so devoted to the Ribera family. My poor mother was the nurse, and I -am foster brother to Don Guzman's child; for we were born about the -same date, and my mother, who was brought up in the family, was very -anxious to nurse us both, insisting that, in imbibing the same milk as -my young master, my devotion to him would be endless. Alas! God has -decided otherwise; he is dead."</p> - -<p>"Who can tell?" said Don Fernando, with gentle pity; "Perhaps he may -make his appearance again some day."</p> - -<p>"Alas! We have no longer any hope. More than twenty years have elapsed -since the frightful catastrophe, and during all that time no efforts, -however active, have sufficed to lift a corner of the mysterious veil -which conceals the fate of the poor child."</p> - -<p>"His poor mother must have suffered dreadfully."</p> - -<p>"She went mad. But the sun is rapidly sinking to the horizon, and night -will be here before two hours have passed. Let me finish my tale, by -telling you what happened after the arrest of Don Guzman."</p> - -<p>"Go on, my friend; I am anxious to know the end of this dark story."</p> - -<p>Don Guzman replied by a smile of contempt to the summons of Colonel -Bernardo Pedrosa. He raised his wife in his arms, and prepared to -follow his enemy. Notwithstanding his hatred of Don Guzman, Don -Bernardo was a man of the world; the misery which overwhelmed the man -he had so long persecuted touched his heart. His pity was aroused, and -on his way back to Buenos Aires he showed the greatest consideration, -treating him with all the respect his unhappy position demanded.</p> - -<p>The Dictator was furious at the massacre of his hirelings. Rejoiced at -finding a plausible pretext to free himself from a man whom, on account -of his great reputation and influence amongst the highest classes of -society, he had hitherto dreaded to attack, Rosas determined to make a -terrible example of him. Rudely separated from his wife, the prisoner -was cast into one of those horrible dungeons in which the tyrant's -victims languished, awaiting the tortures he prepared for them.</p> - -<p>But the Dictator's vengeance was not destined to be as complete as he -hoped. The French and English consuls, moved by pity for the miserable -state to which Doña Antonia was reduced, made energetic remonstrances -to the tyrant, and even went several times to Palermo to hunt up the -savage in his lair In short, by dint of prayers and menaces, they -obtained the release of the poor woman, and her restoration to her -family; Rosas gnashing his teeth and foaming with rage when he granted -the favour. But he did not dare to brave the consuls, and felt his want -of power to cope with them. Thanks to this beneficent intervention, and -the mighty power they exercised in her behalf, Doña Antonia, at least, -escaped the tortures the tyrant was preparing to inflict.</p> - -<p>As to Don Guzman, all attempts in his favour were unsuccessful. Rosas -not only refused to release him, but even to mitigate the terrible -treatment to which he was ordered to be subjected in prison.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately, Don Guzman was guilty in the eye of the law. The consuls -could take no official steps and were obliged to desist, for fear of -exasperating the tiger to heap greater injuries on the man in whom they -took such lively interest.</p> - -<p>Six months had elapsed since Don Guzman was arrested. Thanks to the -care with which Doña Antonia was surrounded, she recovered her reason. -But her position was thereby rendered worse; for she was now able to -appreciate her calamity to its fullest extent. She comprehended how -great was her misfortune; and her despair reduced her to such utter -prostration, that her life was in danger.</p> - -<p>While this was going on, the rumour was spread abroad that Don Guzman, -who had seemed forgotten in his dungeon, was to be brought up for -judgment, and shortly to appear before a court martial.</p> - -<p>Rosas eagerly seized the opportunity of giving all publicity to a trial -for high treason, hoping to make men forget the murders committed -in his name, in the interest of the discussion which would arise -concerning the trial.</p> - -<p>The report was soon officially confirmed; the day was named on which -Don Guzman was to appear before his judges.</p> - -<p>But there is one person of whom we have not spoken for some time, and -to whom we must now recur,—no other than Corporal Luco.</p> - -<p>The worthy corporal, when he saw the <i>arrieros</i> and wagoners go off, -and that Don Leoncio had abandoned his brother with the greater number -of <i>peones</i>, did not attempt to deceive himself as to his own position. -A traitor and deserter, the least that could happen to him would be to -be shot. So when, by the first rays of the rising sun, he saw a cloud -of dust rising afar off in the Pampas, he concluded that soldiers -must be hidden by it; that these soldiers were coming to avenge their -comrades, whom he, Luco, had helped to slay with so much good will; and -that if they caught him, they would instantly shoot him. The prospect -was not pleasant to the corporal; at the same time he loved his master, -and could not resolve to leave him. He was thus in great perplexity, -and unable to come to a decision, though time pressed.</p> - -<p>Luckily his wife came to the rescue, and made him comprehend that any -attempt, in Don Guzman's present state, to induce him to fly must fail; -that, after all, it was better to preserve his freedom, in order to use -it hereafter to obtain his master's; and lastly, that he too, Luco, was -a father, who ought to save his life for his child's sake.</p> - -<p>All these reasons conquered the corporal's hesitation. He seized one -horse, his wife another; and both vanished on one side, while the -soldiers came up on the other.</p> - -<p>When he arrived at Buenos Aires, a bright idea struck him. Excepting -Muñoz and three other soldiers who had taken his part and fought with -him against their former comrades, all the <i>mashorqueras</i> had been -slain. Not one remained to accuse the corporal of the treason of which -he felt himself guilty. Muñoz, whom he encountered strutting before -the gates of Buenos Aires waiting for his arrival, banished all his -scruples.</p> - -<p>Taking up his part directly, the worthy corporal accompanied by his -confederates, went straight to his colonel, to whom he told his -own version of what had happened at the <i>rancho</i>, launching out in -invectives and threats of vengeance against Don Guzman, for whom he -expressed the utmost abhorrence.</p> - -<p>His artifice succeeded beyond his expectations. The colonel charmed -with his conduct, and trusting to his tale, made him a sergeant, and -gave the corporal's stripe to Muñoz. The brave <i>colorados</i> overwhelmed -the colonel with thanks and protestations of devotion to Rosas, and -retired, laughing in their sleeve.</p> - -<p>Luco managed so well during the six months before Don Guzman's trial, -and gave such convincing proofs of his attachment to the cause of -the Dictator, that the latter, deceived in turn, although, like all -other tyrants, he made a virtue of distrust, reposed the greatest -confidence in him; and when the sergeant asked to command the guard -which was to take charge of Don Guzman during the trial, not the least -objection was made. This was exactly what the sergeant wanted: all his -machinations during these six months tended to this one aim; so, when -the day for the trial was named, he prepared his batteries, and kept -himself ready for action when the critical moment should come. Luco -had sworn to save his master; and what the sergeant once resolved, he -carried out, let the consequences be what they would.</p> - -<p>Unhappily, the greatest obstacles in the way of the sergeant under -these circumstances came from Don Guzman himself. The prisoner wished -to die. For a long time Luco racked his brain in vain attempts at -finding some means to persuade him to relinquish the feeling. To all -his arguments Don Guzman replied, that his cup was full; that life was -a burden to him; and that death was the only good he could henceforth -look for.</p> - -<p>The sergeant shook his head, and retired, perfectly convinced of the -fallacy of the arguments. At length he arrived one day at the dungeon, -and opened the door with a countenance so radiant with joy, that his -master could not help remarking it, and asking what had made him so -happy.</p> - -<p>"Ah," replied the sergeant, "at last I have found out the way to -convince you."</p> - -<p>"You are dreadfully tenacious of your plan to save me," said Don -Guzman, with a mournful smile.</p> - -<p>"More so than ever, <i>¡canarios!</i> This time there will be no doubt -about your compliance. In two days you shall judge for yourself."</p> - -<p>"So much the better," said Don Guzman, sighing; "it will be over the -sooner."</p> - -<p>"Good! We are not so badly off for friends as you think, señor—amongst -others, the French and English consuls. There is a fine French schooner -in the harbour, which only waits for your presence on board to sail -directly."</p> - -<p>"Then she runs the risk of never leaving Buenos Aires."</p> - -<p>"Pooh! pooh! I am of a different opinion—I think quite the contrary. -I have come to an understanding with the French consul. The day after -tomorrow the schooner will set sail: she will send a boat to fetch you, -and will hug the coast till you come. Once under the protection of the -French flag, who will dare to touch you?"</p> - -<p>"For the last time, listen to me, Luco," said Don Guzman firmly: "I -will not—understand me—I will not be saved. I intend that the infamy -of my death shall cover the Dictator with confusion. I thank you for -your devotion, my good old servant; but I demand that you cease to -compromise yourself by your efforts for me. Let us speak no more of it."</p> - -<p>"Then," said the sergeant, "your mind is quite made up? Nothing can -change your determination?"</p> - -<p>"Alas! One single person might have that influence over me; but that -person is in ignorance of all that happens around her. Happily -for her, she has lost her reason, and with reason her memory—that -incurable cancer of a broken heart."</p> - -<p>The sergeant smiled, and, opening his uniform produced a letter from -his breast, and, without a word, handed it to Don Guzman.</p> - -<p>"What is this, Luco?" said the latter, as he hesitated to take the -letter.</p> - -<p>"Read it, <i>mi amo</i>," replied the sergeant. "I wanted to give you a -complete surprise; but you are so obstinate, I am obliged to deploy my -forces."</p> - -<p>Don Guzman opened the letter with trembling hands, and rapidly ran -through it.</p> - -<p>"Almighty Father!" he exclaimed, "Is it possible? Doña Antonia has -recovered her reason, and bids me live!"</p> - -<p>"Will you obey this time, <i>mi amo?</i>"</p> - -<p>"Do what you will, Luco; I will obey you in all things. Oh, how I wish -to live now!"</p> - -<p>"<i>¡Cuerpo de Cristo!</i> You shall live, <i>mi amo</i>. I swear it to you."</p> - -<p>With this consoling promise, Luco quitted the prison.</p> - -<p>The day of Guzman's trial arrived at last. The Dictator, who knew how -much sympathy the prisoner excited, considered it prudent to make -a grand military display on the occasion. The city was literally -crammed with troops, the precautions being taken more for the purpose -of intimidating the friends of the prisoner, than as precautionary -measures against an escape, which he deemed impossible.</p> - -<p>The French schooner, as Luco had predicted, sent a boat's crew ashore, -on the pretence of closing the agent's accounts; she then weighed -anchor, and stood on and off in the river expecting her boat.</p> - -<p>The detachment detailed to escort the prisoner was strong, and composed -entirely of <i>colorados</i>, Rosa's most devoted troops. It was placed -under the command of Colonel Don Bernardo de Pedrosa; the special -platoon in charge of the prisoner was under the orders of Sergeant Luco -and Corporal Muñoz.</p> - -<p>Twenty minutes before the specified time for commencing the march -to the court, Luco entered his master's dungeon, and had a final -conversation with him. He then gave him two pairs of pistols and a -poniard, and left him, saying;</p> - -<p>"Remember <i>mi amo</i>, to keep quite quiet till you hear the words, never -mind from whom: 'To the devil with the sun! It blinds one!'—that is -your signal."</p> - -<p>"Make yourself easy; I will not forget. Remember your promise to kill -me, rather than to let me fall again into the hands of the tyrant."</p> - -<p>"Enough, <i>mi amo.</i> Pray God to help us; we stand in great need of Him."</p> - -<p>"Farewell, Luco: you are right; I will pray."</p> - -<p>The two men parted, not to meet again till the decisive moment.</p> - -<p>However, the sergeant grew more anxious as that moment approached. -The formidable preparations of the Dictator raised his secret -apprehensions. But he gave no signs of his perturbation, for fear of -discouraging his accomplices; on the contrary, he affected an air of -perfect confidence, though he kept grumbling under his moustache: -"Never mind, it will be a hard tussle; we shall have plenty of firing."</p> - -<p>Soon after, the clock of the cabildo (court of justice) struck ten. The -drum called the soldiers to arms; the gossips in the street stretched -their heads forward, murmuring an "Ah!" of satisfaction: all eyes were -fixed on the prison.</p> - -<p>They had not long to wait. At the close of a few minutes, the prison -door opened, and the prisoner came forth. His face was pale, calm, and -stamped with indomitable resolution. He marched quietly in the middle -of a dozen soldiers commanded by Sergeant Luco. The latter, as if -wishing to be specially careful of his prisoner, strode on his right, -Muñoz on his left, almost side by side with Don Guzman.</p> - -<p>The platoon was preceded by a strong detachment of <i>colorados</i>, at the -head of which curveted Colonel Don Bernardo de Pedrosa on a magnificent -coal-black stallion; in rear of the prisoner there was a second -detachment, as strong as the one in advance. The procession advanced -slowly between two mournful and silent crowds of people, who were with -difficulty kept down by two lines of sentries.</p> - -<p>It was one of those magnificent spring mornings which South America -alone has the privilege of producing. The fresh breeze from the Pampas, -laden with odoriferous scents, rustled in the leaves and branches of -the gardens attached to the houses, and cooled the air heated by the -beams of the tropical sun.</p> - -<p>The procession still continued its march. In spite of the danger -which lay in any exhibition of sympathy for the prisoner, the crowd -respectfully uncovered as he passed. He, calm and dignified as at -the moment he quitted the prison, marched on, his hat in his hand, -saluting, right and left, the people who were not afraid of testifying -their respect.</p> - -<p>Two-thirds of the road had already been travelled; a few minutes more, -and the prisoner would reach the tribunal, when, in the Calle de la -Federación, several spectators, no doubt too rudely pushed back by -the soldiers lining the road, resisted the pressure to which they -were subjected, drove back the sentries, and, for a moment, almost -broke their line. As the procession approached, this tumult gradually -increased: cries, recriminations, and threats were bandied about with -the vivacity and rapidity peculiar to the races of the South, until -what seemed at first sight to be a squabble of no importance, began to -assume the dimensions of a veritable riot.</p> - -<p>Don Bernardo, uneasy at the noise he heard, left the head of the -escort, and came galloping back to ascertain what was going on, and to -pacify the tumult.</p> - -<p>Unluckily, the popular feeling had risen with so much rapidity, that -at several points the ranks had been broken, the soldiers isolated, -and—how it happened no one could say—disarmed, with unexampled -celerity, by persons of whom they had no knowledge. In short the -procession was cut in two.</p> - -<p>Don Bernardo saw at a glance the gravity of the situation. Making way, -with considerable difficulty, through the crowd, he rode up to the -sergeant, who, cool and imperturbable, still stuck to his prisoner.</p> - -<p>"Aha!" said the colonel, with a sigh of satisfaction, "Take me good -care of the prisoner. Close up! I fear you will be obliged to open a -passage by main force."</p> - -<p>"We will open one, do not you be alarmed, colonel. But to the devil -with the sun! It blinds one."</p> - -<p>The moment he uttered these words, a soldier who was close at hand -seized the colonel's leg, and threw him from his horse on the ground. -In the same instant, Luco caught hold of the bridle, while Don Guzman, -rapid as thought vaulted into the saddle.</p> - -<p>What we have related took place so suddenly, and the whole was done so -adroitly, that Don Bernardo, completely confounded, was nailed to the -ground by a bayonet before he could comprehend what was happening: it -is even probable that he died without guessing the cause of the riot.</p> - -<p>In the meantime, the twelve riders of the platoon had closed around -their ex-prisoner, and started at full speed through the thickest of -the throng.</p> - -<p>Then a curious thing occurred: these inquisitive gapers, who were an -instant before so crowded and compact that they had broken through the -line of soldiery, open right and left before the fugitives, shouted -their joy at their success, and, the moment they had passed, closed up -the breach they had themselves made, and again presented an impassable -human barrier to the rearguard, which vainly strove to break it.</p> - -<p>Armed men seemed to start suddenly out of the ground, gave the soldiers -back blow for blow, and offered a resistance sufficiently energetic to -allow time for the fugitives to secure their safety.</p> - -<p>Then, suddenly as if by enchantment, these menacing crowds, which had -so lately disputed the ground, retreated, melted away, in some manner -or another; and that so speedily, that when the soldiers, recovered -from their surprise, were prepared for a vigorous defence, there was no -one in front of them: the insurgents had disappeared, without leaving -any traces behind them.</p> - -<p>This audacious affray might almost have passed for a dream, were it not -that, on one side, the prisoner had escaped, and, that on the other, -Colonel Pedrosa, and five or six soldiers, lay weltering in their blood -on the ground; proving the reality of the daring <i>coup-de-main</i> which -had been executed with such remarkable audacity and success.</p> - -<p>Don Guzman and his companions found refuge in the boat which was -waiting for them. Five minutes later, they were on board the French -ship; and when pursuit was ordered, the schooner could only be seen on -the horizon, like a halcyon's wing balanced on the breeze.</p> - -<p>On board the schooner Don Guzman found his wife. The schooner sailed -for Veracruz.</p> - -<p>We have already related the decision which Don Guzman had made, and in -what manner he carried it out.</p> - -<p>In order to insure the success of the researches he was about to make -to find his son, and to secure his own tranquillity, Don Guzman, on -setting foot in Mexico, resigned his own name for that of Don Pedro de -Luna, to which he had a right, and under which we shall still continue -to designate him.<a name="FNanchor_1_7" id="FNanchor_1_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_7" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> He hoped by these means to escape the persecutions -of Don Leoncio, whose hatred, still unsatiated by the abduction of the -child, might possibly lead him to attempt to add his brother as another -victim.</p> - -<p>Don Guzman's calculations were correct, or seemed so. Since his -departure from Buenos Aires, he had never heard of his brother: no one -knew what had become of him, nor whether he were alive or dead.</p> - -<p>Five years after his arrival at the <i>hacienda</i>, a fresh misfortune -overtook the poor exile. Doña Antonia, who had never completely -recovered the shock to her mind, the consequences of the terrible -occurrences in the Pampas, and whose health had always languished -since, had expired in his arms, after giving birth to a daughter.</p> - -<p>This daughter was the charming girl whom we have presented to our -readers under the name of Doña Hermosa.</p> - -<p>From that time forth, Don Pedro concentrated his affections on this -delicate creature, the only bond which attached him to an existence -which might have been so happy, and which, struck by the cold breath of -adversity, had suddenly become so miserable.</p> - -<p>Of all those who had accompanied him into exile, he alone remained. All -the rest were dead: he had seen them sink, one after another, into the -tomb. Manuela, Luco's wife, the confidante of her master's sorrows, was -charged with the education of his daughter; a charge she executed with -care and devotion beyond praise.</p> - -<p>Such was the tale related by the <i>major-domo.</i> In order that the reader -may fully understand the events recorded in subsequent chapters, -it is necessary to remind him that Doña Hermosa was sixteen at the -commencement of our story, and that four years intervened between the -retirement of Don Pedro to the Hacienda de las Norias and the birth -of his daughter. Consequently twenty years had elapsed since the -occurrence of the circumstances narrated by Don Estevan Diaz.</p> - - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_7" id="Footnote_1_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_7"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> See "Stoneheart," the companion volume.</p></div> - -<h4>THE END.</h4> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bee Hunters, by Gustave Aimard - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BEE HUNTERS *** - -***** This file should be named 44375-h.htm or 44375-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/3/7/44375/ - -Produced by Camille Bernard and Marc D'Hooghe at -http://www.freeliterature.org (Images generously made -available by the Oxford Bodleian Library) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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 - - -Title: The Bee Hunters - A Tale of Adventure - -Author: Gustave Aimard - -Translator: Lascelles Wraxall - -Release Date: December 6, 2013 [EBook #44375] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BEE HUNTERS *** - - - - -Produced by Camille Bernard and Marc D'Hooghe at -http://www.freeliterature.org (Images generously made -available by the Oxford Bodleian Library) - - - - - -THE BEE HUNTERS - -A TALE OF ADVENTURE - -BY - -GUSTAVE AIMARD - - -AUTHOR OF "STONEHEART," "SMUGGLER CHIEF," ETC., ETC. - - -LONDON: - -CHARLES HENRY CLARKE, 13 PATERNOSTER ROW. - -1865 - - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - I. A MEETING IN THE FAR WEST - II. IN THE FOREST - III. THE CALLI - IV. SUPERFICIAL REMARKS - V. CONFIDENTIAL CHAT - VI. THE JOURNEY - VII. THE SKIRMISH - VIII. THE PUEBLO (THE TOWN) - IX. DONA HERMOSA - X. EL AS DE COPAS (THE ACE OF HEARTS) - XI. THE RANCHO - XII. THE REDSKINS - XIII. THE MIDNIGHT MEETING - XIV. DON ESTEVAN DIAZ - XV. DON GUZMAN DE RIBERA - XVI. THE POST HOUSE IN THE PAMPAS - XVII. A DELICATE FEDERAL ATTENTION - XVIII. TREACHERY - XIX. THE END OF THE STORY - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -A MEETING IN THE FAR WEST. - - -Since the discovery of the goldfields in California and on the -Fraser River, North America has entered into a phase of such active -transformation, civilisation has advanced with such giant strides, -that only one region is still extant--a region of which very little -is known--where the poet, or the dreamer who delights in surrounding -himself with the glories of nature, can revel in the grandeur and -majesty, which are the great characteristics of the mysterious -savannahs. - -It is the only country, nowadays, where such men can sate themselves -with the contemplation of those immense oceans of alternate verdure and -sand, which spread themselves out in striking contrast, yet wonderful -harmony,--expanding, boundless, solemn, silent, and threatening, under -the eye of the omnipotent Creator. - -This region, in which the sound of the squatter's axe has not yet -roused the slumbering echoes, is called the Far West. - -Here the Indians still reign as masters, tracing paths on rapid -mustangs, as untamed as their riders, through the vast solitudes, whose -mysteries are known only to themselves; hunting the bison and wild -horse, waging war with each other, or pursuing with deadly enmity, the -white hunters and trappers daring enough to venture into this last -formidable refuge of the redskins. - -On the 27th July, 1858, about three hours before sunset, a cavalier, -mounted on a magnificent mustang, was carelessly following the banks of -the Rio Bermejo, a tributary of the Rio Grande del Norte, into which -it falls after a course of from seventy to eighty leagues across the -desert. - -This cavalier, clad in the leather dress worn by Mexican hunters, was, -as far as one could judge, a man not more than thirty years of age, -of tall and well-knit frame, and graceful in manner and action. His -face was proud and determined; and his hardy features, stamped with -an expression of frankness and good nature, inspired, at first sight, -respect and sympathy. - -His blue eyes, soft and mild as a woman's; the thick curls of blonde -hair, which escaped in masses from under the brim of his cap of vicuna -skin, and wantoned in disorder on his shoulders; the sallowish white -of his skin, very different from the olive tint, approaching to bronze, -peculiar to the Mexicans,--all these would lead one to surmise that he -had not first seen the light under the hot sun of Spanish America. - -This man, who was to all appearance so peaceable and so little to be -dreaded, concealed, under a slightly effeminate exterior, a courage -which nothing could daunt, nor even startle: the delicate and almost -diaphanous skin of his white hands, with their rosy nails, served as a -covering to nerves of steel. - -At the moment of which we speak this personage seemed to be half-asleep -in his saddle, and allowed his mustang to choose his own pace; and the -beast, profiting by a liberty to which he was not accustomed, nibbled -off with the tips of his lips the blades of sun-dried grass he met with -on his road. - -The place where our cavalier found himself was a plain of tolerable -extent, cut into two nearly equal parts by the Rio Bermejo, whose banks -were steep, and here and there strewn with bare, gray rocks. - -This plain was enclosed between two chains of hills, rising to right -and left in successive undulations, until they formed at the horizon -high peaks covered with snow, on which the purple splendours of sunset -were playing. - -However, in spite of the real or pretended somnolence of the cavalier, -his eyes half opened occasionally and, without turning his head, -he cast a searching glance around him, but betrayed no symptom of -apprehension, which nevertheless would have been quite pardonable in a -district where the jaguar is the least formidable of man's enemies. - -The traveller, or hunter,--for as yet we do not know who he -is,--continued his road at a pace which became more and more slow and -careless; he was on the point of passing at about a hundred yards' -distance from a rock which rose like a solitary watchtower on the bank -of the Rio Bermejo, when, from behind the mass, where he had probably -lain in ambuscade, there half emerged a man, armed with an American -rifle. - -This individual for a moment examined the traveller with the minutest -attention: then, levelling his rifle, he pressed the trigger, and fired. - -The cavalier, bounding in his saddle, and uttering a suppressed scream, -flung up his arms, lost his stirrups, and rolled on the turf, where, -after a few convulsive movements, he remained motionless. - -The horse, in alarm, reared, lashed out wildly with his heels, and -started off at full speed in the direction of the woods scattered over -the hills, in the midst of which he soon disappeared. - -Having thus cleverly knocked over his man, the assassin dropped the -butt of his weapon on the ground, and, doffing his cap of vicuna skin, -dried his forehead, while he murmured expressions of gratified vanity. - -"_iCanarios!_ This time I don't think my marauding friend will come to -life again; I must have broken his backbone for him. What a glorious -shot! What will those fools say who wanted to make me believe at the -venta that he was a sorcerer, who could not be hit without putting a -silver ball into my rifle, if they could see him now, stretched out in -that way? Capital! I have loyally earned my hundred piastres. It's not -bad luck. I had lots of trouble in succeeding. May the holy Virgin be -blessed for the protection she has deigned to grant me! I will take -care not to be ungrateful to her for it." - -All the time he was muttering thus, the worthy fellow was reloading his -rifle with the most scrupulous care. - -"Well," continued he, seating himself on a clod of turf, "I am knocked -up with having had to watch so long. Suppose I were to go and convince -myself of his death? By Heaven, no; he might still be breathing, and -treat me to a thrust of the knife. I'm no such fool. I prefer sitting -here in peace, and smoking a cigarette. If, within an hour, he has not -stirred, all will be over, and then I'll run the risk. And indeed I'm -in no sort of hurry," he added, with a sinister smile. - -Upon that, with an air of the greatest coolness, he took the tobacco -from his pouch, twisted a _pajillo_ (straw cigarette), lit it, and -commenced smoking with immense _sangfroid_, never ceasing to watch, out -of the corner of his eye, the corpse lying a few yards from him. - -Let us profit by this moment of respite to make the reader a little -better acquainted with this interesting personage. - -He was a man a little below the average height, but the breadth of -his shoulders and bigness of his limbs showed him to be endowed with -immense muscular power; his forehead was low and receding like that -of a wild beast; his nose, long and hooked, bent down over a mouth -immense in size, but with thin lips, and garnished with long pointed -and irregular teeth; gray eyes, with squinting pupils, stamped his -physiognomy with a sinister expression. - -The man was dressed in a hunter's garb, similar to that of the -cavalier. _Calzoneras_ (loose trousers) of leather, bound about at -the hips with a _faja_, or sash of silk, and falling as low as the -knee, were fastened under _botas vaqueras_ (heavy boots), intended to -preserve the legs. A kind of half-jacket, half-blouse, also of leather, -covered the upper part of his body, which garment, open in front like -a shirt, had sleeves reaching to the elbow; a _machete_ or straight -sword, passed without sheath through an iron ring, hung on his left -hip; and a game bag, apparently well supplied was slung to his right -side by a strip of bison hide worn across the shoulder; a _zarape_, or -Indian blanket, motley with brilliant colours, lay on the earth beside -him. - -In the meanwhile time was passing; an hour and a half had already -elapsed without our friend, who smoked cigarette after cigarette, -appearing to be able to decide upon going to convince himself of the -death of him on whom he had treacherously drawn trigger from behind the -rock. - -During all this time, the cavalier, after he fell, had preserved -the most complete immobility; attentively watched by the assassin, -the latter had not been able to perceive the slightest motion. The -_zopilotes_ (turkey buzzards) and the condors, in all probability -attracted by the scent of the corpse, were beginning to circle in wide -rings over it, uttering their rough and discordant cries; the sun, on -the point of disappearing, had assumed the shape of a globe of fire on -the edge of the horizon. It became necessary to act. - -The assassin rose, greatly against his will. - -"Pooh!" he murmured, "The man must be dead enough by this time, or -if not his soul has turned to ashes in his heart. Let's go and look. -Nevertheless, as prudence is the mother of safety, let us be prudent." - -And in accordance with this reasoning, he drew from his garter the -sharp-pointed knife which every Mexican carries for the purpose of -cutting the thong if an enemy happens to cast the lasso round his neck. -Having tried the spring of the blade against a stone, and convinced -himself that the point was not broken, he made up his mind, at last, -to approach the body, still lying motionless on the spot where it had -fallen. But in the American deserts there is an axiom the justice of -which is acknowledged by all. It is this: That the shortest road from -one point to another is a curve. Our friend took good care to put it in -practice on this occasion. Instead of advancing straight to the object -of his visit, he made a long circuit, drawing nearer little by little, -stealing along softly, stopping at intervals to examine the body, and -ready to fly at the slightest movement he might see, and with his knife -ready to strike. - -But these precautions were useless; the corpse preserved the immobility -of a statue, and our man stopped almost within reach without -discovering a single thing to betray an atom of life in the unhappy -wretch stretched upon the ground before him. - -The murderer crossed his arms over his chest, and contemplated the -body, whose face was turned to the ground. - -"By my faith, he is dead indeed. It is a pity; for he was a formidable -fellow. I should never have dared to attack him face to face. But a -man must stick to his word. I had been paid; I was bound to fulfil my -engagement. Curious! I see no blood! Pooh! It is a case of internal -bleeding. So much the better for him, for his sufferings will have been -less. However, to make doubly sure, I'll plant my knife between his two -shoulders: in that way I shall be sure of my bird, although there is no -danger of his coming to life again. You see, one must not deceive those -who pay us; a man must stick to his word." - -After this soliloquy he knelt down, bent over the body, supporting -himself by one hand on its shoulders, and lifted his knife; but -suddenly, by a movement of unexampled rapidity, the supposed corpse -rose with a bound like a jaguar, and oversetting the stupefied -assassin, seized him by the throat, pinned him to the earth, planted -his knee on his chest, and deprived him of his knife before his brains -could render an account of what was happening. - -"Hulloa, _compadre!_" (comrade) said the cavalier in a jeering tone; -"One moment, if you please, _icuerpo de Cristo!_" - -All this passed in much less time than we have taken to write it. - -However, sudden and unexpected as the attack had been, the other -was too much accustomed to strange vicissitudes in somewhat similar -situations not to recover his presence of mind almost immediately. - -"Well, comrade," resumed the cavalier, "what have you got to say to all -this?" - -"I?" replied the other, with a sneer; "_iCaray!_ I say the game has -been well played." - -"Then it is one you are acquainted with?" - -"A little," was the modest reply. - -"I have been a little sharper than you." - -"Yes, sharper; yet I certainly thought I had killed you. Curious," he -continued, as if talking to himself, "the others were right; it is -I who have been a fool. I will take a silver ball next time; it is -surer." - -"What are you saying?" - -"Nothing." - -"Pardon me, you did say something." - -"Are you very anxious to know?" - -"Apparently, since I have asked the question." - -"Very well. I said I would take a silver bullet next time." - -"What for?" - -"Why, to kill you." - -"To kill me? Go to; you are a fool! Do you fancy I will let you escape?" - -"I do not fancy anything of the kind, the more so as you could not do -anything worse." - -"Because you would kill me?" - -"By Heavens! Yes, as soon as possible." - -"Then you hate me?" - -"I? Not the least in the world." - -"Well, then, if not, what is your motive?" - -"Confound it! A man must stick to his word." - -The cavalier cast a long look upon him, shaking his head the while with -a thoughtful air. - -"H'm," said he, at last, "promise me not to attempt to escape if I -leave you free for a time." - -"I promise, with so much the more pleasure, since I am obliged to -confess that I find myself in a most fatiguing posture, and am very -anxious to change it." - -"Rise," said the cavalier, helping him up. - -The other did not wait for the mandate to be repeated: in an instant he -was on his legs. - -"Ah," he replied, with a grunt of satisfaction, "liberty is a blessing!" - -"Is it not? Now shall we talk a little?" - -"I desire nothing better, _caballero_. I can only be the gainer by your -conversation," replied the other, bowing, with an insinuating smile. - -The two enemies placed themselves side by side, as if nothing -extraordinary had happened between them. - -This is one of the distinctive traits of Mexican character: murder -amongst these people has grown so thoroughly into a habit, that it -never astonishes anyone; and it often happens that the man just escaped -falling a victim to an ambuscade, does not scruple to press the hand -extended by his would-be assassin, foreseeing that someday or other he -too will be called on to play in his turn the part of murderer. - -In the present circumstances it was certainly not this consideration -which induced the cavalier to act as he was doing. He had a powerful -motive, with which we shall become acquainted presently; for, in spite -of his feigned indifference, it was only with a sentiment of lively -disgust that he seated himself beside the bandit. - -As to the latter, we feel ourselves bound in justice to state that he -had only one feeling of regret--the shame of having missed his blow; -but he promised himself, _in petto_, to take his revenge as soon as -possible, and this time to take such sure precautions that he must -succeed. - -"What are you thinking of?" demanded the cavalier, all of a sudden. - -"I? On my honour, nothing," was the ingenuous reply. - -"You would deceive me. I know what you are thinking of at this very -moment." - -"Oh, as for that, permit me to tell you--" - -"You were thinking of killing me," said the cavalier, interrupting him -abruptly. - -The other returned no answer; he contented himself with muttering -between his teeth-- - -"What a devil! He reads the most hidden thoughts. One is not safe -beside him." - -"Will you answer honestly, and frankly, the questions I am about to put -to you?" resumed the cavalier, after a time. - -"Yes; as well as lies in my power." - -"That is to say, just so far as your interest does not lead you to lie." - -"Confound it, senor, no one likes to make war upon oneself! No one -ought to force me to speak ill of myself." - -"You are right. Who are you?" - -"Senor," replied the other, raising himself proudly, "I have the -honour to be a Mexican, My mother was an Opata Indian; my father a -_caballero_ (gentleman) of Guadalupe." - -"Very well; but I learn nothing from this about yourself." - -"Alas, senor!" was the reply, given in that whining tone the Mexicans -know so well how to adopt, "I have been unfortunate." - -"Oh, you have met with misfortunes! Well, pardon me once more. You have -forgotten to mention your name." - -"It is a very obscure one, senor; but since you desire to know it, here -it is: I am called Tonillo el Zapote--at your service, senor." - -"Thanks, Senor Zapote. Now proceed; I am listening." - -"I have followed many trades in my day. I have been by turns _lepero_ -(vagabond), muleteer, husbandman, soldier. Unhappily, I am of a quick -temper: when I am in a passion, my hand is very ready." - -"And heavy," said the cavalier, with a smile. - -"It is all the same; so much so, that I have had the misfortune to -_bleed_ five or six individuals who had the imprudence to pick a -quarrel with me. The _Juez de letras_ (magistrate) was annoyed; and -under the pretence that I was guilty of six murders, he asserted I -deserved the garotte; so, seeing my fellow citizens misapprehended -me--that society would not appreciate me at my real value--I took -refuge in the desert, and turned hunter." - -"Of men?" interrupted the cavalier in a tone of sarcasm. - -"By Heavens! Senor, times are hard: the Gringos pay twenty dollars for -a scalp. It is a pretty sum; and, on my honour, particularly so when -want presses. But I never have recourse to these means except in the -direst extremity." - -"It is well. And now tell me, do you know me?" - -"Very well by report; personally, not at all." - -"Have you any reasons for hating me?" - -"I have already the honour to tell you--none." - -"In that case, why have you attempted to assassinate me?" - -"I, senor?" cried he, showing signs of the utmost astonishment; "I -assassinate you? Never!", - -"What, fool!" exclaimed the cavalier, lowering his brows, "Dare you -maintain such an imposture? Four times have I served as a target to -your rifle. You have drawn trigger upon me this very day, and--" - -"Oh! By your leave, senor," said El Zapote with warmth, "that is quite -a different thing. True, I fired at you; it is even likely I shall fire -at you again; but never, as I hoped for Paradise, have I dreamed of -assassinating you. For shame!--I, a _caballero_! How could you form so -bad an opinion of me, senor?" - -"Then what was your intention in firing at me?" - -"To kill you, senor; nothing more." - -"Then in this case murder is not assassination?" - -"Not in the slightest degree, senor; this was business." - -"What! Business?--The rogue will make me go mad, upon my soul!" - -"By Heaven, senor, an honest man must stick to his word." - -"If it is to kill me?" - -"Exactly so," answered El Zapote. "You can understand that, under the -conditions, I was compelled to keep my engagement." - -There was a moment of silence; evidently the reasoning did not seem so -conclusive to the cavalier as to the _lepero_. - -Then said the former: - -"Enough; let us have done with this." - -"I ask no better of your seigneurie." - -"You acknowledge, I suppose, that you are in my power?" - -"It would be difficult to assert the contrary." - -"Good! As, according to your own confession you have fired on me with -the evident intention of killing me--" - -"I cannot deny it, senor." - -"In killing you, now you are in my power, I should only be making use -of reprisals?" - -"That is perfectly true, _caballero_, I must even confess that you -could not possibly have a stronger reason for doing so." - -His companion gazed at him in surprise. - -"Then you are content to die?" said he. - -"Let us understand each other," replied the _lepero_ with avidity. -"I am not at all content. On the contrary, I only know that I am a -thorough gambler, that is all. I played; I lost; I have to pay. It is -reasonable." - -The cavalier seemed to reflect. - -"And if, instead of planting my knife in your throat, even as you -yourself acknowledge I have the right to do--" - -El Zapote made a sign of assent. - -"I were to restore you to liberty," continued the cavalier, "leaving -you the power of acting according to your own impulse?" - -The bandit shook his head sorrowfully. - -"I repeat," he said, "that I would kill you. A man must stick to his -word. I cannot betray the confidence of my employers; it would ruin my -reputation." - -The cavalier burst out laughing. - -"I suppose you have been well paid for this undertaking?" said he. - -"Not a great deal; but want makes many things be done. I have received -a hundred piastres." - -"No more?" exclaimed the stranger, with a gesture of disdain; "It is -very little; I thought myself worth more than that." - -"A great deal more, particularly as the undertaking was difficult; but -next time I will take a silver bullet." - -"You are an idiot, comrade. You will not kill me the next, any more -than you did the other times. Think of what has occurred up to today. -I have already heard your balls whistle four times about my ears: that -annoyed me. At last I wished to find out who you were: you see I have -succeeded." - -"It is the truth. Now, after all, were you not aware of my being close -to you?" - -The cavalier shrugged his shoulders. - -"I will not even demand of you," he said, "the name of him who has -ordered you to compass my death. Here, take your knife, and begone. I -despise you too much to fear you. Adieu!" - -Speaking thus, the cavalier rose, and dismissed the bandit with a -gesture full of majesty and disdain. - -The _lepero_ remained an instant motionless, then bowed profoundly -before his generous adversary. - -"Thanks, your worship," said he, in a voice exhibiting some emotion; -"you are better than I. Never mind; I will prove to you that I am not -the scoundrel you fancy me, and that there is still something within me -which has not been utterly corrupted." - -The cavalier's only answer was to turn his back upon him, with a shrug -of the shoulders. - -The _lepero_ gazed after his retiring form with a look of which his -savage features would have seemed incapable: a mixture of sorrow and -gratitude impressed on his countenance a stamp very different to their -customary expression. - -"He does not believe me," he muttered--we have already seen that he had -a decided taste for soliloquy--"he does not believe me. Why, indeed, -should he trust my words? It is sad; but an honest man must stick to -his word, and I will prove to him that he does not yet know me. Let me -begone." - -Comforting himself with these words, the bandit returned to the rock -behind which he had originally hidden; there he picked up his rifle, -then from the other side of the rock he brought his horse, which he had -concealed in a hollow, replaced the bridle, and departed at a gallop, -after casting a glance behind him, and murmuring, in a tone of sincere -admiration: - -"_iCaray!_ What a tremendous fellow! What natural power! What a pity it -would be to knock him over like an antelope, from behind a bush! _iViva -Dios!_ That shall not happen, if I can hinder it, on the honour of a -Zapote." - -He forded the Rio Bermejo, and speedily disappeared amongst the tall -grasses that bordered the opposite bank. - -As soon as the unknown had assured himself of the _lepero's_ departure, -he began to calculate the time by the enormously lengthened shadows of -the trees; and, after looking about him attentively, gave a whistle, -sharp and prolonged, which, although restrained, was nevertheless -repeated by all the echoes of the river, so powerful was its tone. - -At the end of a few seconds a distant neighing made itself audible, -followed almost immediately after by the sound of precipitate -galloping, resembling the rolling of distant thunder. - -Little by little the sound grew nearer, the branches crashed, the -underwood was violently dashed aside, and the unknown's mustang made -his appearance on the skirt of a wood at a little distance. - -When there, the noble animal paused, snuffed the air vigorously, -turning his head and neck in all directions; then starting off, with a -thousand capers he made the best of his way, till he halted before his -master, and gazed upon him with eyes full of intelligence. - -The latter patted him gently, talking to him in a caressing voice; -then, having made quite sure that the _lepero_ was gone, and that he -was assuredly alone, he readjusted the trappings of his horse, which -had become slightly disordered, vaulted into the saddle and in his turn -departed. - -But instead of continuing to follow the course of the Rio Bermejo, he -turned his back upon it, and rode in the direction of the mountains. - -The bearing of the unknown had undergone a complete change; it was no -longer the man whom we formerly presented to our readers, half asleep, -swaying in the saddle, and leaving his horse to wander at leisure. -No; now he held himself firm and upright on his mustang, with limbs -closely pressing its flanks; his face was overcast with dark shades -of thought; his glances wandered about as if they would pierce the -mysteries of the thick forest with which he was surrounded; with head -slightly bent forward, he listened with strained attention to the most -trifling noise; and his rifle, placed across the saddlebow, had the -lock exactly under his right hand, in such a fashion that he could fire -instantaneously, if circumstances required. - -One might have said, so suddenly had the man changed, that the strange -scene to which we have just introduced our reader was for him only one -of those thousand accidents, without consequences, to which his desert -life exposed him, but that now he was preparing to battle with dangers -which might really prove serious. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -IN THE FOREST. - - -The unknown had struck into a dense forest, the last skirts of which -dwindled away close to the banks of the Rio Bermejo. - -American forests have little resemblance to those of the Old World: in -the former, the trees shoot up hap-hazard, crossing and interlacing -each other, and sometimes leaving large spaces completely open, strewn -with dead trees, uprooted, and piled on each other in the strangest -manner. - -Some trees, partially or wholly withered, show in their hollow remnants -of the strong and fruitful soil; others, equally ancient, are supported -by the entangled creepers, which, in process of time, have almost -attained the size of their former props--the diversity of foliage -forming here the most agreeable contrast; others, concealing within -their hollow trunks a hotbed, formed from the remains of their leaves -and half-dead branches, which has promoted the germination of the seed -that fell from them, seem to promise an indemnification for the loss of -the parent trees in the saplings they nourish. - -One could imagine that nature had determined to put beyond the ravages -of time some of these old trees, when sinking under the weight of ages, -by clothing them in a mantle of gray moss, which hangs in long festoons -from the topmost branches to the ground. This moss, called _barbe -d'Espagnol_, gives to the trees a most fantastic aspect. - -The ground of these forests, formed from the remains of trees falling, -in successive generations, for centuries, is most eccentric: sometimes -raising itself in the shape of a mountain, to descend suddenly into -a muddy swamp, peopled by hideous alligators wallowing in the green -slime, and by millions of mosquitoes swarming amidst the fetid vapours -exhaled, sometimes extending itself endlessly in plains of a monotony -and regularity truly depressing. - -Rivers, without a name, traverse these unknown deserts, bearing nothing -on their silent waters save the black swans, which let themselves -carelessly float down the currents; while rosy flamingoes, posted -along the banks, fish philosophically for their dinners, with eyes -half-closed and sanctimonious air. - -Even where the view seems most contracted, sudden clearings sometimes -open out prospects picturesque in the extreme and deliciously -fortuitous. - -Incessant noises, nameless sounds, make themselves heard without -a break in these mysterious regions--the grand voices of the -solitude--the solemn hymn of the invisible world, created by the -Almighty. - -In the bosom of these redoubtable forests the wild beasts and reptiles, -which abound in Mexico, find refuge; here and there one meets with -paths incessantly trodden for centuries by jaguars and bisons, and -which, after countless meanderings, all debouch on unknown drinking -holes. - -Woe to the daring mortal who, without a guide ventures to tempt the -inextricable mazes of these immense seas of verdure! After ineffable -tortures, he succumbs, and falls a prey to the savage beasts. How -many hardy pioneers have died thus, without the possibility of the -veil being lifted which shrouds their miserable end! Their blanched -bones, discovered at the foot of some tree, alone can teach those who -come upon them that on that spot men have died, a prey to infinite -suffering, and that the same fate, perchance, awaits the finders. - -The stranger must have been the constant guest of the forest into which -he had so audaciously plunged at the moment when the sun, quitting the -horizon, had left the earth to darkness--darkness rendered still denser -in the covert, in which the light even at midday could only struggle in -at intervals through the tufted branches. - -Bending a little forward, eye and ear on the watch, the unknown -advanced as rapidly as the nature of the ground under his horse's hoofs -would let him, following unhesitatingly the capricious deviations of a -wild animal's path, whose traces were scarcely discoverable amidst the -tall grasses which strove continually to efface it. - -He had already ridden for several hours without having slackened the -pace of his horse, plunging deeper and deeper into the forest. - -He had forded several rivers, scaled many a steep ravine, hearing at a -short distance, on right and left, the hoarse growlings of the jaguar -and the mocking wailing of the tiger cat, which seemed to follow him -with their menacing yells. - -Taking no heed of roar or tumult, he continued his route, although the -forest assumed a more dreary aspect at every step. - -The bushes and trees of low growth had disappeared, to make room for -gigantic mahogany trees, century old cork trees, and the acajou, whose -sombre branches formed a vaulted roof of green eighty feet above his -head. The path had grown wider, and stretched, in a gentle incline, -towards a hillock of moderate height, entirely free from trees. - -Arrived at the base of the hillock, the stranger halted; then, without -dismounting, cast a searching glance on all around. - -The stillness of death pervaded everything; the howling of the wild -beasts was lost in the distance; no noise was audible, save that caused -by a slender stream of water, which, trickling through the crevices of -a rock, fell from a height of three or four yards into a natural basin. - -The sky, of the deepest blue, was spangled with an infinite number -of brilliant stars; and the moon, sailing amidst a sea of whitish -clouds, cast her silvery rays in profusion on the hillock, whose sides, -fantastically lighted up, formed a striking contrast with the rest of -the landscape, merged, as it was, in the deepest obscurity. - -During several minutes the unknown remained motionless as a statue, -listening to the faintest sound, ready to fire at the slightest -appearance of danger. - -Convinced, at last, that all around was peaceful, and that nothing -unusual disturbed the silence of the solitude, he prepared to dismount, -when suddenly his horse threw up his head, laid back his ears, and -snorted loudly. - -A moment more, and a violent crashing was heard among the underwood; a -noble moose deer rose from amidst the bushes, and, bounding to within a -short distance from the cavalier, rapidly traversed the path, tossing -his antlers in terror, and vanished in the darkness. - -For a time the noise of its headlong course resounded over the dry -leaves, crushed under its feet in the constantly increasing speed of -its flight. - -The cavalier, with a scarcely perceptible motion of the hand, backed -his horse gradually to the foot of the hillock, with his head always -turned in the direction of the forest, like a vidette who retires -before a superior force. - -As soon as he reached the spot he had selected, the unknown leaped -lightly to the ground; and, making a rampart of his horse's body, -levelled his rifle, steadied the barrel across the saddle, and waited -patiently. - -He had not to wait long: after a while the tread of several persons was -heard approaching his place of ambush. - -Most likely the unknown had already divined who these persons might be, -even before he saw them; for he quitted his temporary shelter, passed -his arm through his horse's reins, and, uncocking his rifle, let the -butt drop on the ground, with every symptom of complete security, while -a smile of indefinable expression played about his lips. - -At last the branches parted, and five persons appeared on the scene. - -Of these five persons, four were men; two of them supported the -tottering form of a woman, whom they almost carried in their arms. And, -what was most wonderful in these regions, the strangers, whom it was -easy to recognise as white men by their dress and the colour of their -skin, had no horses with them. - -They continued to advance without being aware of the presence of the -unknown, who, still motionless, marked their approach with mingled pity -and sadness. - -Suddenly one of the strangers happened to lift his eyes. - -"Praise be to God!" cried he, in Mexican, with lively satisfaction; -"We are saved. Here is a human being at last." - -The five stopped. The one who had first observed the unknown came -rapidly towards him, and exclaimed, with a graceful inclination: - -"Caballero, I entreat you to grant, what is seldom refused in the -wilderness, aid and protection." - -The unknown, before he replied, threw a searching look at the speaker. - -The latter was a man of some fifty years; his manner was polished, his -features noble, although his hair was growing white about his temples; -his figure, upright and compact, had no more bent an inch, nor his -black eyes lost a particle of their fire, than if he had been only -thirty. His rich dress and the ease of his manner clearly proved him to -belong to the highest grade of Mexican society. - -"You have committed two grave errors in as many minutes, caballero," -answered the unknown: "the first, in approaching me without precaution; -the second, in demanding aid and protection without knowing who I am." - -"I do not understand you, senor," replied the stranger, with -astonishment. "Do not all men owe mutual assistance to each other?" - -"In the civilised world it may be so," said the unknown, with a sneer; -"but in the wilderness, the sight of a man always forebodes danger: we -are savages here." - -The stranger recoiled in astonishment. - -"And thus," said be, "you would leave your fellow creatures to perish -in these horrible solitudes without stretching forth a hand to help -them?" - -"My fellow creatures!" cried the unknown, with biting irony; "My fellow -creatures are the wild beasts of the prairie. What have I in common -with you men of towns and cities, natural enemies of every being that -breathes the pure air of liberty? There is nothing in common between -you and me. Begone, and weary me no more." - -"Be it so," was the stranger's haughty answer. "I would not importune -you much longer; were it only a question of myself, I would not have -uttered a single prayer to you. Life is not so dear to me, that I -should seek to prolong it on terms repugnant to my honour; but it is -not a question of myself alone; here is a female, still almost a child, -my daughter who is in want of prompt assistance, and will die if it is -not rendered." - -The unknown made no reply; he had turned away, as if reluctant to carry -on any further conversation. - -The stranger slowly rejoined his companions, who had halted at the edge -of the forest. - -"Well?" he asked uneasily. - -"The senorita has fainted," sorrowfully replied one of the men. - -The stranger uttered an exclamation of grief. He remained for some -moments fixing his eyes on the girl, with an indescribable expression -of despair. - -All of a sudden he turned abruptly, and rushed towards the unknown. - -The latter had mounted, and was on the point of retiring. - -"Stop!" called the stranger. - -"What is it you want with me?" replied the unknown once more. Then -he added fiercely, "Let me begone; and thank God that our unforeseen -meeting in this forest has not been productive of graver consequences -to you." - -The menace contained in these enigmatical words disturbed the stranger -in spite of himself. However, he would not be discouraged. - -"It is impossible," he resumed vehemently, "that you can be as cruel as -you wish us to believe. You are too young for all feeling to have died -out of your heart." - -The unknown laughed strangely. - -"I have no heart," he said. - -"I implore you, in the name of your mother, not to abandon us!" - -"I have no mother." - -"Then I beseech you in the name of the being you love most upon earth, -whoever that may be." - -"I love no one." - -"No one?" repeated the stranger, shuddering; "Then I pity you, for you -must be most unhappy." - -The unknown trembled; a feverish glow stole over his face; but soon -recovering himself, he exclaimed: - -"Now let me go." - -"No; not before I learn who you are." - -"Who I am! Have I not already told you? A wild beast; a being with only -the semblance of humanity, with a hatred towards all men which nothing -can ever appease. Pray to God you may never again encounter me on your -path. I am like the raven--the sight of me foretells evil. Adieu!" - -"Adieu!" murmured the stranger; "And may God have mercy on you, and not -visit your cruelty upon you!" - -Just at this moment a voice, feeble, but in its sad modulations -sweet and melodious as the notes of the _centzontle_, the American -nightingale, rose through the stillness. - -"My father, my dear father!" it uttered. "Where are you? Do not abandon -me." - -"I am here, I am here," exclaimed the stranger tenderly, as he turned -quickly to run to her who thus called him. - -A cloud passed over the face of the unknown at the sound of these -melodious accents; his blue eye flashed like the lightning. He placed -his hand on his heart, trembling as if he had received an electric -shock. - -After a short hesitation, he forced his horse to make a sudden bound -forward, and placing his hand on the stranger's shoulder: - -"Whose voice is that?" he asked in singular accents. - -"The voice of my daughter, who is dying, and calls me." - -"Dying?" stammered the unknown, strangely moved. "She!" - -"My father, my father!" repeated the girl in a voice which grew weaker -and weaker. - -The unknown raised himself to his full height; his face assumed an -expression of indomitable energy. - -"She shall not die!" said he in a low voice. "Come!" - -They rejoined the group. - -The young girl was stretched upon the ground, with her eyes closed, her -face pale as a corpse; the feeble gasps of her breathing alone evincing -that life had not completely left her. - -The persons surrounding her watched her in profound sadness, while -tears rolled silently down their bronzed cheeks. - -"Oh!" cried the father, falling on his knees beside the young girl, -seizing her hand and covering it with kisses, while his face was -inundated with tears; "My fortune--my life--to him who will save my -cherished child!" - -The unknown had dismounted, and observed the girl with sombre and -pensive eye. At last, after several minutes of this mute contemplation, -he turned towards the stranger. - -"What ails this girl?" he asked abruptly. - -"Alas! An incurable ailment: she has been bitten by a grass snake." - -The unknown frowned till his eyebrows nearly met together. - -"Then she is lost indeed," said his deep voice. - -"Lost! O Heavens! My daughter, my dearest daughter!" - -"Yes; unless--" then, arousing himself: "How long is it since she was -bitten?" - -"Scarcely an hour." - -The face of the unknown lighted up. He remained silent for a moment, -during which the bystanders anxiously bent towards him, awaiting with -impatience the opinion he would probably pronounce. - -"Scarcely an hour?" said he at last. "Then she may be saved." - -The stranger uttered a sigh of joy. - -"You will answer for it?" he cried. - -"I?" returned the unknown, shrugging; his shoulders; "I will answer for -nothing, except that I will attempt impossibilities for the chance of -restoring her to you." - -"Oh, save her, save her!" eagerly exclaimed the father; "And, whoever -you may be, I will bless you." - -"It matters not to me what you may do. I do not try to save this girl -for your sake; and, whatever may be the motives inducing me, I exempt -you from all feelings of gratitude." - -"You may possibly harbour such thoughts; but for myself--" - -"Enough," rudely broke in the unknown; "we have already lost too much -time in idle words; let us make haste, if we would not be too late." - -All were silent. - -The unknown looked around. - -We have already said that the strangers had halted at the edge of the -forest; over their heads the last trees of the covert expanded their -mighty branches. - -Approaching the trees, the unknown examined them carefully, apparently -in search of something he could not find. - -All of a sudden, he uttered a cry of joy; and, unsheathing the long -knife fastened to his right knee, he cut a branch from a creeper, and -returned to the strangers, who were anxiously watching his proceedings. - -"Here," said he to one of the party, who looked like a _peon_ (a serf), -"strip all the leaves from this branch, and pound them. Be quick; every -second is worth a century to her whom we wish to save." - -The _peon_ set himself actively to the allotted task. - -Then the unknown turned to the father: - -"In what part of the body has this child been bitten?" - -"A little below the left ankle." - -"Has she much courage?" - -"Why do you ask?" - -"Answer! Time presses." - -"The poor child is quite worn out; she is very weak." - -"Then we must hesitate no longer; the operation must be performed." - -"An operation!" cried the stranger, affrighted. - -"Would you rather she should die?" - -"Is this operation indispensable?" - -"It is: we have already lost too much time." - -"Then perform it. God grant you may succeed!" - -The girl's leg was horribly swollen; the part round the serpent's bite, -terribly tumefied, was already taking a greenish hue. - -"Alas," muttered the unknown, "there is not a moment to spare. Hold the -child so that she cannot stir while I perform the operation." - -In these last words the voice of the unknown had assumed such an accent -of command, that the strangers obeyed without hesitation. - -The former seated himself on the ground, took the limb of the girl -upon his knee, and made his preparations. Luckily the moon shone at -this moment so clearly, that her vivid rays flooded the landscape, and -everything was almost as visible as in broad daylight. - -When the girl had first felt the bite, she had immediately, and happily -for herself, torn off her silk stocking. The unknown grasped the blade -of his knife an inch from the point, and, lowering his brow with -terrible determination, buried the point in the wound, and made a -cruciform incision about six lines deep, and more than an inch long. - -The poor child must have felt terrible anguish; for she gave utterance -to a dreadful scream, and twisted herself about nervously. - -"Hold her tight, _cuerpo de Cristo!_" shouted the unknown in a voice of -thunder, while with admirable coolness and skill he pressed the lips -of the wound, so as to force out the black and decomposing blood it -contained; "And now the leaves--the leaves!" - -The _peon_ ran up. - -The unknown took the leaves, parted asunder the lips of the wound, -and gently, carefully expressed their juice on the palpitating flesh. -Making a kind of plaster of the same leaves, he applied it to the -wound, tied it down firmly with a bandage, placed the foot carefully on -the ground, and rose. - -As soon as a certain quantity of the sap of the creeper had fallen -upon the wound, the girl had seemed to experience a sensation of great -relief; the nervous spasms began to abate; she closed her eyes; and -finally she leaned back without attempting to struggle any longer with -the persons who held her in their arms. - -"You may leave her now," whispered the unknown; "she is asleep." - -In fact, the regular though feeble breathing of the patient proved her -to be plunged in a profound slumber. - -"God be praised!" exclaimed the poor father, clasping his hands in -ecstasy; "Then she is really saved?" - -"She is," answered the unknown leisurely; "bating unforeseen accidents, -she has nothing more to fear." - -"But what is the extraordinary remedy you have employed to obtain such -a happy result?" - -The unknown smiled with disdain, and did not seem willing to reply; -however, after a short hesitation, yielding perhaps to that secret -vanity which induces us all to make a parade of our wisdom, he decided -upon giving the information demanded. - -"The pettiest things astonish you fellows who dwell in cities," said he -ironically; "the man who has passed his whole life in the wilderness -knows many things of which the inhabitants of your brilliant towns -are ignorant, although, with the sole aim of humiliating, they take -pleasure in parading their false science before us poor savages. -Nature hides not the secret of her mysterious harmonics from him who -ceaselessly pries into the darkness of night and the brightness of -day, with a patience beyond proof, without suffering himself to be -discouraged by failure. The sublime Architect, when he had created -this immense universe, did not let it fall from his omnipotent hands -until it had been made perfect, nor till the amount of good should -counterbalance everywhere the amount of evil--placing, so to say, the -antidote side by side with the poison." - -The stranger listened with increasing surprise to the words of this -man, whose real character was an enigma to him, and who at every -moment showed himself in lights diametrically opposed, and under forms -entirely distinct. - -"But," continued the unknown, "pride and presumption make man blind. -Accustomed to make all things bear upon himself, imagining that all -existence has been specially created for his convenience, he takes no -pains to study the secrets of nature further than they seem to have a -direct influence on his personal welfare, not caring to make inquiry -into her simplest actions. So, for instance, the region in which we -now are, being low and marshy, is naturally infested with reptiles, -which are so much the more dangerous and to be dreaded, because they -are half-calcined and rendered furious by the rays of a torrid sun. -Therefore provident nature has produced in abundance throughout -these same regions a creeper called _mikania_--the one I have just -used--which is an infallible remedy for the bites of serpents." - -"I cannot doubt it, after having witnessed its efficacy; but how -were the virtues of this creeper discovered?" said the stranger, -involuntarily interested in the highest degree. - -"A hunter of the woods," continued the unknown, with a certain -self-complacency, "observed that the black falcon, better known as -the _guaco_, a bird which feeds chiefly upon reptiles, takes special -delight in exterminating serpents. This hunter had also observed that -if, during the struggle, the serpent contrived to wound the _guaco_, -the latter immediately retired from the combat, and flying to the -_mikania_, tore off a few leaves, which it bruised in its beak. It -afterwards returned to the fight more resolute than ever, until it had -vanquished its redoubtable enemy. The hunter was an astute man, and of -great experience; one who knew that animals, being devoid of reason, -are more especially under the providence of God, and that all their -actions proceed from laws laid down at the beginning. After mature -reflection, he resolved to test his experience upon himself." - -"And did he execute his project?" cried the stranger. - -"He did. He let a coral snake bite him, the deadliest of all; but, -thanks to the _mikania_, the bite proved as harmless to him as the -prick of a thorn. That is the manner in which this precious remedy was -discovered. But," added the unknown, suddenly changing his tone, "I -have complied with your wishes in bringing help to your daughter; she -is safe. Adieu! I may stay no longer." - -"You must not go before you have told me your name." - -"What good will this pertinacity do you?" - -"I wish to embalm the name in my memory as that of a man to whom I have -vowed a gratitude which will only end with my life." - -"You are mad!" rudely answered the unknown. "It is useless to pronounce -to you a name which you will very likely learn but too soon." - -"Let it be so; I will not persist, nor ask the reasons which compel -you to act thus. I will not seek to learn it in despite of you; but, -if you refuse to teach me your name, you cannot prevent my making you -acquainted with my own--I am called Don Pedro de Luna. Although until -today I have never penetrated thus far into the prairies, my residence -is not very far off. I am proprietor of the Hacienda de las Norias -de San Antonio, close to the frontiers of the Despoblado, near the -_embouchure_ of the Rio San Pedro." - -"I know the Hacienda de las Norias de San Antonio. Its owner ought to -belong to the happy ones of earth, according to the opinion of those -who dwell in cities. So much the better: if it does belong to you, I do -not envy riches with which I should not know what to do. Now, you have -nothing more to say, have you? Well, then, adieu!" - -"What! Adieu! You will leave us?" - -"Certainly; do you think I intend to remain all night with you?" - -"I hoped, at least, you would not leave unfinished the work you have -undertaken." - -"I do not understand you; caballero." - -"Will you abandon us thus? Will you leave my daughter in her present -state, lost in the wilderness, without the means of escape,--in the -depths of this forest, which has been so nearly fatal to her?" - -The unknown frowned several times, then cast a stolen look on the girl. -A violent struggle seemed to commence in his bosom; he remained silent -for several minutes, uncertain how to decide. At last he raised his -head. - -"Listen," said he in a constrained voice; "I have never learnt to lie. -At a short distance I have a _jacal_ (hovel), as you would call the -miserable _calli_ (cottage) which shelters me; but, believe me, it is -better for you to remain here than to follow me there." - -"And why?" said the stranger, surprised. - -"I have no explanation to give you, and I will not lie. I only repeat: -believe me, and remain here. Nevertheless, if you persist in following -me, I will not oppose it; I will be your faithful guide." - -"Danger menace us under your roof? I will not stop on such an -hypothesis: hospitality is sacred in the prairies." - -"Perhaps so; I will neither answer yes nor no. Do you decide; only make -your resolve quickly, for I am in haste to have the matter decided." - -Don Pedro de Luna threw a sorrowful look at his daughter; then -addressing the unknown-- - -"Whatever may happen," said he, "I will follow you. My daughter cannot -stay here; you have done too much for her not to wish to save her. I -confide in you; show me the way." - -"Agreed," replied the unknown laconically. "I have warned you; take -care you are on your guard." - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -THE CALLI. - - -Much as the unknown had hesitated in offering shelter to Don Pedro -de Luna and his daughter,--and we know in what terms the offer had -been finally made,--he showed himself equally anxious, as soon as -his decision was made, to quit that part of the forest where the -scene passed which we have recorded in our preceding chapter. His -eyes wandered about continually with a disquietude he took no pains -to conceal. He turned his head repeatedly towards the hillock, as if -he expected to see some horrible apparition suddenly rising from its -summit. - -In the state the girl was in, to awaken her would have been to commit -a grave imprudence, seriously compromising her health. In accordance -with orders delivered in a dry tone by the unknown, the _peones_ of Don -Pedro, and the _hacendero_ himself, hastened to cut down some branches, -in order to fashion a litter, which they covered with dry leaves. Over -these they spread their _zarapes_, of which they deprived themselves in -order to make a softer couch for their young mistress. - -These preparations finished, the girl was raised with great -precaution, and gently placed upon the litter. - -Of the three men who accompanied Don Pedro, two were _peones_, or -domestic Indians; the third was the _capataz_ (bailiff) of the -_hacendero_. - -The _capataz_ was an individual of about five feet eight, with broad -shoulders, and legs bowed by the constant habit of riding. He was -extraordinarily thin; but one could truly say of him, he was nothing -but muscle and sinew. His strength was wonderful. This man, called -Luciano Pedralva, was devoted, body and soul, to his master, whom, and -his family, he and his had served for nearly two centuries. - -His features, bronzed by the vicissitudes of the weather, although -not striking, had an expression of intelligence and astuteness, to -which his eyes, black and well opened, added an appearance of energy -and courage beyond the common. Don Pedro de Luna had the greatest -confidence in this man, whom he considered more in the light of a -friend than a servitor. - -When the girl had been placed upon the litter, the _peones_ lifted it; -while Don Pedro and the _capataz_ placed themselves one on the right, -the other on the left of the patient, in order to guard her from the -branches of trees and creepers. - -At a mute sign from the unknown, who had remounted, the little troop -leisurely began its march. - -Instead of reentering the forest, the unknown continued to advance -towards the hillock, the base of which was speedily attained. A narrow -pathway serpentined along its side in an incline sufficiently gentle. -The little troop entered upon it without hesitation. - -They ascended in this manner fur some minutes, following ten or a dozen -yards behind the unknown, who rode on in front by himself. Suddenly, on -arriving at an angle of the road, round which their guide had already -disappeared, a whistle rent the air, so sharp that the Mexicans halted -involuntarily, not knowing whether to advance or retreat. - -"What is the meaning of this?" murmured Don Pedro anxiously. - -"Treachery, without a doubt," said the _capataz_ casting his eyes -searchingly around. - -But all remained quiet about them; no change was perceptible in the -landscape, which looked as lonely as ever. - -Nevertheless, in a few minutes, more whistling, similar to the first -they had heard, was audible in different directions at the same lime, -answering evidently to a signal which had been made. - -At that moment the unknown reappeared; his face pale, his gestures -constrained, and a prey to the most vivid emotion. - -"It is you who have willed this," said he; "I wash my hands of what may -happen." - -"Tell us, at all events, what peril threatens us," replied Don Pedro, -in agitation. - -"Ah!" said the other, in a voice of subdued passion, - -"Do I know it myself? And what would it aid you to know? Would you be -the less lost for that? You refused to believe me. Now, pray to God to -help you; for never danger threatened you more terrible than that which -hangs over your head!" - -"But why these perpetual reservations? Be frank; we are men, _vive -Dios_, and, great as the peril may be, we shall know how to meet it -bravely." - -"You are mad! Can one man oppose a hundred? You will fall, I tell you; -but it is to yourself alone you must address your reproaches; it is -yourself who have persisted in braving the _Tigercat_ in his lair." - -"Alas," cried the _hacendero_ in accents of horror, "what name is that -you have uttered?" - -"The name of the man in whose clutches you are at this very moment." - -"What! the Tigercat? That redoubtable bandit, whose numberless crimes -have shocked the land for so long; that man who seems endowed with -a diabolical power to accomplish the atrocious deeds with which he -incessantly sullies himself;--is that monster near us?" - -"He is; and I warn you to be prudent, for perhaps he hears you at this -moment, although invisible to your eyes and mine." - -"What do I care?" energetically exclaimed Don Pedro. "Away with -caution, since we are once in the power of this demon; he is a man -devoid of pity, and my life is no longer my own." - -"What do you know about it, Senor Don Pedro de Luna?" answered a -mocking voice. - -The _hacendero_ trembled, and recoiled a step, uttering a stifled cry. - -The Tigercat, bounding with the agility of the animal from which he -took his name, had leaped upon the summit of an elevated rock which -overhung the pathway some distance off, and now dropped lightly on the -ground two paces from Don Pedro. - -There was an instant of terrible silence. The two men, thus placed face -to face, their eyes flashing, their lips compressed with rage, examined -each other with ardent curiosity. It was the first time the _hacendero_ -had seen the terrible partisan, the fame of whose thirst for blood had -reached the most ignorant villagers in the land, and who for thirty -years had spread terror over the Mexican frontiers. - -We will give, in a few words, the portrait of this man, who is destined -to play an important part in our history. - -The Tigercat was a species of Colossus, six feet high; his broad -shoulders and limbs, from which the muscles stood out in marble -rigidity, showed that, though long past the prime of life, his strength -still existed in all its integrity; his long locks, white as the snows -on Coatepec, fell in disorder on his shoulders, and mingled with the -grizzly beard that covered his breast. His forehead was broad and -open; he had the eye of the eagle, under the brows of the lion; his -whole person offered, in a word, a complete type of the man of the -desert,--grand, strong, majestic, and implacable. Although his skin was -stained by every inclemency of weather till it had almost acquired the -colour of brick, it was nevertheless easy to recognise, in the clearly -defined lines of his face, that this man belonged to the race of whites. - -His dress lay midway between that of the Mexican and of the redskin; -for although he wore the _zarape_, his mitasses, in two pieces, worked -with hairs attached here and there, and his moccasins of different -colours, embroidered with porcupine quills and ornamented with glass -beads and hawks' bells, showed his preference for the Indians, to whose -customs, by the by, he seemed to have entirely adapted his mode of life. - -A large scalping knife, a hatchet, a bullet bag, and powder horn, were -slung from a girdle of wild beast's skin, drawn tightly above his hips. - -One thing must not be forgotten,--a singularity in a white man,--a -white-headed eagle's plume was placed above his right ear, as if this -man arrogated to himself the dignity of chief of an Indian tribe. - -Lastly, he held in his hand a magnificent American rifle, damaskeened, -and most skilfully inlaid with silver. - -Such is the physical portrait of the man to whom white hunters and -redskins had given the name of Tigercat; a name he deserved in every -respect, if hearsay had not belied him, and if only half the stories -reported of him were true. - -As to the character of this strange being, we will abstain from -dwelling upon it for the present. We are persuaded the scenes which -follow will enable us to appreciate it correctly. - -Although struck with surprise at the apparition--as sudden as it was -unexpected--of the dreaded freebooter, Don Pedro was not long in -recalling his presence of mind. - -"You appear to know me much better than I know you," replied he coolly; -"but if half the things I have heard reported about you be true, I can -only expect, on your part, treatment similar to that which all unhappy -persons encounter who fall into your hands." - -The Tigercat smiled sarcastically. - -"And do you not dread this treatment?" he asked. - -"For myself, personally, no!" answered Don Pedro disdainfully. - -"But," continued the freebooter, with a glance towards the wounded -lady, "for the young girl?" - -The _hacendero_ trembled; a livid pallor overspread his features. - -"You cannot mean what you are saying," was his answer; "for the honour -of humanity, I will not think so. The Apaches themselves, fierce as -they are, feel their rage vanish before the feebleness of woman." - -"Have I not among the dwellers in cities the reputation of being -fiercer than the fierce Apaches,--even than the very beasts?" - -"Let us end this," replied Don Pedro haughtily; "since I have been fool -enough, in spite of repeated warnings, to place myself in your hands, -dispose of me as you think fit; but deliver me from the torture I -undergo in conversing with you." - -The Tigercat frowned; he struck the ground forcibly with the butt of -his rifle, muttering some unintelligible words; but, by an extreme -effort of his will, his features instantaneously resumed their habitual -imperturbability, every trace of emotion vanished from his voice, and -he answered, in the calmest tone: - -"In beginning the conversation, about which you seem to care so little, -_caballero_, I said to you, 'What do you know about it?'" - -"Well?" said the _hacendero_, surprised and overcome, in spite of his -efforts, by the strange change in the dreaded speaker. - -"Well," replied the latter, "I repeat the phrase, not, as you may -suppose, in mockery, but simply to elicit your frank opinion of me." - -"That opinion can be of little value to you, I presume." - -"More than you may imagine. But why these words? Answer me!" - -The _hacendero_ remained mute for a time. The Tigercat, his eyes fixed -steadily upon him, watched him attentively. - -As to the hunter who had been almost forced to consent to serve Don -Pedro de Luna as guide, his astonishment was extreme. Believing himself -to be thoroughly acquainted with the character of the freebooter, he -could not understand the scene at all, and inwardly asked himself what -this feigned courtesy of the Tigercat would end in. - -Don Pedro himself argued quite differently on the bandit's sentiments; -right or wrong, he fancied he had perceived an accent of sad sincerity -in the tone in which the last words had been addressed to him. - -"Since you absolutely desire it," said he, "I will reply frankly: I -believe your heart to be not so cruel as you would have it supposed; -and I imagine that this conviction, which you inwardly possess, makes -you extremely unhappy; for, notwithstanding the barbarous acts with -which they reproach you, other crimes have entered your thoughts, -before the execution of which you have recoiled, in spite of the -pitiless ferocity they attribute to you." - -The Tigercat seemed about to speak. - -"Do not interrupt me," continued the _hacendero_ hastily; "I know that -I am treading upon a volcano; but you have my promise to speak frankly, -and, willing or not willing, you must hear me to the end. Most of -mankind are the architects of their own fortunes in this world; you -have not escaped the common lot. Gifted with an energetic character, -with vivid passions, you have not sought to overcome these passions; -you have suffered yourself to be overcome by them, and thus, fall -after fall, you have reached that depth in which you are now lost; and -yet all good feeling is not utterly dead in you." - -A smile of contempt flickered over the lips of the old man. - -"Do not smile at me," the _hacendero_ went on; "the very question you -have put proves my assertion. Leading in the wilderness the life of -the plundering savage, hating society, which has cast you off, you -still hanker after the opinion the world forms of you. And why? Because -that sentiment of justice, which God has planted in the hearts of all, -revolts in you at the universal reprobation heaped upon your name. It -has roused your shame. The man who can still be ashamed of himself, -criminal as he may be, is very close to repentance; for the voice that -cries aloud in his heart is the voice of awakening remorse." - -Although Don Pedro had ceased speaking for some time, the Tigercat -still seemed to be listening to his words; but suddenly lifting his -head proudly, he cast a mocking glance around him, and burst into a -laugh, dry and hard as that which Goethe ascribes to Mephistopheles. - -This laugh cut the _hacendero_ to the heart. He comprehended that the -evil instincts of the freebooter had resumed their sway over the better -thoughts which, for a moment, had seemed to assert their mastery. - -After this bout of laughter, the countenance of the Tigercat resumed -its usual rigid immobility. - -"Good!" cried he in a tone of apparent glee, which did by no means -deceive Don Pedro; "I expected a sermon, and find I was not mistaken. -Well, at the risk of sinking in your estimation,--or, to speak more -truly, in order to flatter your self-esteem by leaving you in the -belief that you judge my feelings correctly,--I decree that you and -your followers return to your Hacienda de las Norias de San Antonio, -not only without the loss of a hair, but even as partakers of my -hospitality. Does not this decision astonish you? You were far from -expecting it." - -"Not so; it is exactly what I anticipated." - -"Indeed!" said he, with astonishment; "Then if I offer you the -hospitality of my _calli_, you will accept it?" - -"And why not, if the offer is made in good faith?" - -"Then come without fear; I pledge you my word that you nor yours need -fear any injury on my part." - -"I follow you," said Don Pedro. - -But the unknown had watched with increasing anxiety the erratic course -of this conversation, and advancing abruptly in front of, and extending -his arms towards, the _hacendero_-- - -"Stop, as you value your life!" he cried in a voice trembling with -secret emotion. "Stop! Do not let yourself be deceived by the assumed -benevolence of this man; he is spreading a snare for you; his offer -conceals a treason." - -The Tigercat drew himself up to his full height, stared disdainfully -at the speaker, and replied, in an accent of supreme majesty: - -"Your senses wander, boy; this man runs no risk in confiding in me. -Granted that there are many things I do not respect in this world, -still there is at least one which I have always respected, and have -suffered no one to doubt,--my word,--my word, which I have given to -this _caballero_. Come! Let us pass; the young woman whom you have -succoured so opportunely is not yet out of danger; her state demands -attentions which are beyond your power to afford." - -The unknown trembled; his dark-blue eyes flashed, his lips parted as if -to answer; but he remained silent, and retired a few paces, knitting -his brow in concentrated passion. - -"Moreover," imperturbably continued the freebooter, "whatever force -may lie at your disposal in other parts of the wilderness, you know -that here I am all-powerful, and that here my will is law. Leave me to -act as I please. Do not force me to measures I should abhor; for if I -raised but a finger I could tame your fool's pride." - -"I know," said the young man, "that I am powerless; but beware how you -treat these strangers, who placed themselves under my protection; for I -shall know how to take my revenge." - -"Yes, yes," said the Tigercat drearily; "I know you would not hesitate -to revenge yourself even on me, if you fancied you had a cause. But I -care not; I am master here." - -"I shall follow you even into your haunt; think not I intend to desert -these strangers now they are in your hands." - -"As you please; I do not forbid you to accompany them; on the contrary, -I should regret your leaving them." - -The unknown held his peace, smiling disdainfully. - -"Come," resumed the Tigercat, turning to the _hacendero_. - -The troop began again to ascend the hillock, following in the footsteps -of the old freebooter, close to whom rode their former guide. - -After some turnings and windings in the path, of more or less -abruptness, some of which caused the Mexicans no little difficulty, the -Tigercat turned towards the _hacendero_, and addressed him in a voice -perfectly free from embarrassment: - -"I beg you to excuse my guiding you over such villainous roads; -unfortunately they are the only ones leading to my dwelling. It is at -hand; in a few minutes we shall be there." - -"But I see no traces of habitation," replied Don Pedro, vainly, -scanning the country in all directions. - -"True," said the Tigercat, with a smile; "nevertheless, we are hardly -an hundred paces from the end of our journey; and I can assure you the -abode to which I am leading you would harbour a hundred times our -present numbers." - -"I have not much idea where this dwelling is to be found, unless it be -subterranean, as I begin to suspect." - -"You have almost guessed it. The place I inhabit, if not subterranean -in the strict sense of the word, is at least a dwelling covered by the -ground. Few have entered it to leave it again safe and sound, as you -shall." - -"So much the worse," retorted roundly the _hacendero;_ "so much the -worse for them--and for you." - -The Tigercat frowned, but immediately replied, in the light and -careless tone he had affected for the last few minutes: - -"Look you, I will clear up this mystery. Listen; the story is -interesting enough. When the Aztecs quitted Azlin, which signifies -'the country of herons,' to conquer Anahuac, or 'the country between -the waters,' their peregrinations were long, extending over several -centuries. Disheartened at times by long travel, they halted, founded -cities, in which they installed themselves as if they never intended -to abandon the place they had chosen; and, perhaps with the object -of leaving behind them ineffaceable traces of their passage through -the wild countries they traversed, they constructed pyramids. Hence -the numerous ruins littering the soil of Mexico, and the _teocalis_ -one meets with occasionally,--last and mournful vestiges of a people -that has disappeared. These _teocalis_ built on a system of incredible -solidity far from crumbling under the strenuous embrace of time, have -ended in becoming a part of the ground which supported them, and so -completely, that there is often difficulty in recognising them. I can -give you no better proof of my assertion than what you have now before -you. The elevation you are now ascending is not, as you might suppose, -a hill caused by some perturbation of the earth,--it is an Aztec -_teocali_." - -"A _teocali!_" exclaimed Don Pedro, in astonishment. - -"It is, indeed," continued the freebooter; "but so many centuries have -elapsed since the day it was built, that, thanks to the vegetable -matter incessantly conveyed by the winds, nature has apparently resumed -her rights, and the Aztec watchtower has become a green hill. You are -doubtless aware that the _teocalis_ are hollow?" - -"I am aware of it," answered the _hacendero_. - -"It is in the interior of this one I have fixed my dwelling. See, we -have reached it. Allow me to show you the way into it." - -In fact, the travellers had arrived at a kind of coarse portal--a -Cyclopean construction--which gave admittance to a subterranean -building, in which a profound obscurity prevailed, forbidding any -estimate of its dimensions. - -The Tigercat stopped, and gave a peculiar whistle. Immediately a -dazzling light broke forth from the interior, and illuminated it in all -its vastness. - -"Let us enter," said the freebooter, preceding his companions. - -Without hesitation Don Pedro prepared to follow, after making a sign to -his attendants, warning them to conceal their rising fears. - -For a moment the unknown found himself, so to speak, alone with the -_hacendero_, and bending swiftly down, whispered softly in his ear, "Be -prudent; you are entering the tiger's den." - -Saying this, he rapidly left them, as he feared the freebooter might -perceive that he was giving a last word of warning to the stranger. - -But, good or bad, the advice came too late: hesitation would have been -folly, for flight was impossible. - -On all sides, on every jutting rock, appeared as by enchantment, the -dark shadows of a host of persons, who had started up around the -strangers without their understanding whence they came, so stealthy had -been their approach. - -The Mexicans entered, then, although not without feelings of dread, -into the terrible cavern, whose mouth opened yawning before them. The -building was vast, the walls were lofty. - -After proceeding for about ten minutes, the Mexicans found themselves -in a species of rotunda, in the centre of which a huge brazier was -flaming; four long corridors crossed the rotunda at right angles. The -Tigercat, still followed by the travellers, entered one of these. He -stopped on reaching a door formed of a reed hurdle. - -"Make yourselves at home," said he; "your lodgings consists of two -chambers, which have no communication with the rest of the cave. By my -orders you will be supplied with food, with wood to make a fire, and -torches of ocote to give you light." - -"I thank you for these attentions," replied Don Pedro. "I had little -reason to expect them." - -"And why not? Do you think that I do not know how to practise Mexican -hospitality, in its fullest extent, whenever it suits me?" - -"Sir!" said the _hacendero_, with a gesture of deprecation. - -"Silence!" said the bandit, interrupting him; "You are my guests for -the night. Sleep in peace; nothing shall disturb your rest. In an hour -I will send you a potion for the lady to drink. We shall meet again -tomorrow." And, bowing with an ease and courtesy little expected by -Don Pedro from such a man, the Tigercat took his leave and quitted the -chamber. - -For a few seconds the step resounded under the dark vault of the -corridor; then it was silenced. The travellers were alone, and the -_hacendero_ determined to investigate the chambers prepared for them. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -SUPERFICIAL REMARKS. - - -The _haciendas_ of Spanish America were never feudal tenures, -whatever certain badly informed authors may assert, but simply large -agricultural holdings, as their name clearly indicates. - -These _haciendas_, scattered over Mexico at great distances from each -other, and surrounded by vast stretches of country, for the greater -part uninhabited, are generally situated on the top of abruptly rising -hills, in positions easy of defence. - -As the _hacienda_, properly so called,--_i.e._ the habitation of the -proprietor of the estate,--forms the nucleus of the colony, and, in -addition to the barns and stables, contains also the out houses, the -lodgings of the _peones_, and, above all, the chapel, its walls are -high, massive, and surrounded by a ditch, so as to put it out of danger -from a _coup-de-main._ - -These numerous _haciendas_ frequently maintain from six to seven -hundred individuals of all trades, the lands belonging to a farm of -this description being often of greater extent than a whole province in -France. - -They are the wholesale breeding places of the wild horses and cattle -that graze at freedom in the prairies, watched over at a distance by -_peones vaqueros_ as untamed as themselves. - -The Hacienda de las Norias de San Antonio--_i.e._ St. Anthony's -Wells--rose gracefully from the summit of a hill covered with thick -groves of mahogany, Peru trees and _mesquites_, forming a belt of -evergreen foliage, the palish green of which contrasted agreeably with -the dead white of the lofty walls, crowned with _almenas_, a kind of -battlement intended to announce the nobility of the proprietor of the -holding. - -In fact, Don Pedro de Luna was what is called a _cristiano viejo_ (old -Christian), and descended in a direct line from the first Spanish -conquerors, without a single drop of Indian blood having been infused -into the veins of his ancestors. So, although after the Declaration of -Independence the ancient customs began to fall into disuse, Don Pedro -de Luna was proud of his nobility, and clung to the _almenas_ as marks -of distinction which only noblemen were allowed to adopt in the time of -the Spanish rule. - -Since the period when, in the suite of that genial adventurer, Fernando -Cortez, a Lopez de Luna had first put foot in America, the fortunes of -this family, very poor and much reduced at that time--for Don Lopez -literally possessed nothing but his cloak and sword,--the fortunes -of this family, we say, had taken an incredible flight upwards, and -entered on a career of prosperity that nothing in time's course could -trammel. Thus Don Pedro de Luna, the actual representative of this -ancient house, was in the enjoyment of wealth, the amount of which -it would certainly have puzzled him to state,--wealth which had been -increased still more by the property of Don Antonio de Luna, his elder -brother, who had disappeared more than twenty-five years after events -to which we shall have to revert, and who it was supposed had perished -miserably in the mysterious wilderness in the neighbourhood of the -_hacienda_. It was likely that he had fallen a victim to the horrible -pangs of hunger, or more probably into the hands of the Apaches, those -implacable enemies of the whites, on whom they ceaselessly wage an -inveterate war. - -In short Don Pedro was the sole representative of his name, and his -fortune was immense. No one who has not visited the interior of Mexico -can figure to himself the riches buried in these almost unknown -regions, where certain land owners, if they would only take the trouble -to put their affairs in order, would find themselves five or six times -more wealthy than the greatest capitalists of the old world. - -Now, although everything seemed to smile on the opulent _hacendero_, -and although, to the world that looks beyond the surface, he seemed -to enjoy, with every appearance of reason, an unalloyed happiness, -nevertheless the deep wrinkles channelled in the forehead of Don Pedro, -the mournful severity of his face, and his gaze often turned to heaven -with an expression of sombre despair, might give rise to the surmise -that the life all thought so happy was secretly agitated by a profound -sorrow, which the years, as they rolled on, augmented instead of -solacing. - -And what was the sorrow? What storms had troubled the course of a life -so calm on the surface? - -The Mexicans are the most forgetful people on earth. This certainly -arises from the nature of their climate, which is incessantly -distracted by the most frightful cataclysms. The Mexican, whose life is -passed on a volcano, who feels the soil incessantly trembling under his -feet, only cares to live for today. For him yesterday no longer exists; -tomorrow he may never see the sun rise; today is his all, for today is -his own. - -The inhabitants of the Hacienda de las Norias, incessantly exposed to -the inroads of their redoubtable neighbours the redskins, constantly -occupied in defending themselves from their attacks and depredations, -were still more forgetful than the rest of their countrymen of a past -in which they took no interest. - -The secret of Don Pedro's grief, if really such a secret existed, was, -therefore, confined pretty nearly to his own breast; and as he never -complained,--never made allusion to the earlier years of his life, ---surmise was impossible, and the ignorance of everyone on the subject -complete. - -One single being had the privilege of smoothing the anxious brow of -the _hacendero_, and of bringing a languid and fleeting smile to his -lips. - -It was his daughter. Dona Hermosa at sixteen was dazzlingly beautiful. -The jet black arches of her brow, finely traced as with a pencil, -enhanced the beauty of a forehead not too high and of a creamy white. -Her large eyes, blue and pensive, contrasted harmoniously with hair of -ebon hue, which curled about the delicate neck, and on which the sweet -jasmines died away with pleasure. - -Short, like all Spanish women of her race, her figure was slender but -well knit. No smaller feet had ever pressed in the dance the greensward -of Mexico; no more delicate hand ever ransacked the dahlias of a -garden. Her walk, easy, like that of all Creoles, was a serpentine -and undulating motion, full of grace and of _salero_, as they say in -Andalusia. - -This exquisite girl scattered mirth and joy over the _hacienda_, -whose echoes from morning to night repeated lovingly the melodious -modulations of her pellucid notes, the pure and fresh qualities of -which made the birds die of envy as they hid themselves under the -foliage of the _puerta_ (open court). - -Don Pedro idolised his daughter; he felt for her that passionate and -boundless affection the immense power of which can only be understood -by those who are fathers in the true sense of the word. - -Hermosa, brought up at the _hacienda_, had only paid a few short -visits, at long intervals, to the great centers of the Mexican -Confederation. Their manners were entirely strange to her. Accustomed -to lead the free and untrammelled life of a bird, and to express her -thoughts aloud, her frankness and innocent simplicity were extreme, -while her sweetness of temper made her adored by all the inhabitants of -the _hacienda_, over whose welfare she watched with constant care. - -Nevertheless, owing to the peculiar kind of education she had -received,--exposed on this distant frontier to the frequent sound of -the frightful war whoop of the redskins, and to be present during -horrible scenes of carnage,--she had accustomed herself from an early -age to look perils in the face, if not coldly, at all events with a -courage and strength of mind scarcely to be expected in so delicate a -child. - -In conclusion, the influence she exercised over all who approached her -was incomprehensible: it was impossible to know her without loving her, -or without feeling a wish to lay down one's life for her. - -On several occasions, in the attacks made on the _hacienda_ by those -ferocious plunderers of the desert the Apaches and Comanches, some -wounded Indians had fallen into the hands of the Mexicans. Dona -Hermosa, far from suffering these wretches to be maltreated, had -ordered every care to be taken of them, and restored them to liberty as -soon as their wounds were healed. - -From this course of action it resulted that the redskins by degrees -renounced their attacks upon the _hacienda_, and that the girl, -attended by only one man--with whom we shall soon make the reader -acquainted--unconcernedly took long rides in the wilderness, and -often, carried away by the ardour of the chase, rambled off to a great -distance from the _hacienda;_ while the Indians who saw her pass not -only abstained from injuring her, but laid no obstacles in her way. On -the contrary, these primitive beings, having conceived a superstitious -veneration for her, contrived, while remaining out of sight themselves, -to remove from her path any dangers she might otherwise have -encountered. - -The redskins, with that natural tone of poetry which distinguishes -them, had called her "the White Butterfly," so light and fragile did -she seem to them as she bounded like a frightened fawn through the tall -prairie grasses, which hardly bent under her weight. - -One of her most favourite resting places in these excursions was a -_rancho_, (a farm) seven or eight miles from the _hacienda._ The -_rancho_, built in a charming situation and surrounded by fields well -looked after and carefully cultivated, was inhabited by a woman of -fifty and her son, a tall and handsome man of twenty-five or twenty-six -with a proud eye and a warm heart, named Estevan Diaz. Na Manuela, as -they called the old woman, and Estevan had an affection for the girl -which knew no bounds. Manuela had nursed Hermosa when an infant, and -the foster mother almost looked upon her young mistress as her own -child, so deep was the love she bore her. The woman belonged to a class -of domestics, now unhappily extinct in Europe, who form, as it were -a part of the family, and are looked upon by their masters more as -friends than servants. - -It was under Estevan's escort that Hermosa took those long rides of -which we spoke above. These continual _tetes-a-tetes_ between a girl of -sixteen and a man of twenty-five, which in our hypocritical and prudish -world would be considered compromising, seemed very natural to the -inhabitants of the _hacienda._ They knew the profound respect and loyal -affection which bound Estevan to his mistress, whom he had dandled -on his knees when a child, and whose first steps he had supported. -Hermosa, who was as laughing, playful, and teasing as most girls of her -age, took very great pleasure in being with Estevan, whom she could -torment and plague to her heart's delight without his ever attempting -to turn restive at the capricious vagaries of his young mistress. Did -he not endure all her caprices with a patience beyond praise? - -Don Pedro manifested an affectionate esteem for Manuela and her son. He -had great confidence in both, and for the last two years had entrusted -Estevan with the important post of _major-domo_--a post he shared, as -far as the land was concerned, with Luciano Pedralva, who, however, was -placed under his orders. - -Thus Estevan Diaz and his mother were, next to the proprietor, the -persons of greatest account at the _hacienda_, where they were treated -with infinite respect, not only on account of the post they occupied, -but also for the sake of their character, which was duly appreciated by -all. - -The Mexican _hacenderos_, whose properties are of immense extent, have -a practice at certain times of the year of making a progress through -their estates, in order to cast over their holding that "eye of the -master" which, according to the favourite saying in Southern America, -makes the crops ripen and the cattle fatten. Don Pedro never failed -to undertake these tours, on which he was anxiously expected by the -inferior persons in his employ, and by the _peones_ of the _haciendas_, -to whom the casual presence of their master brought some temporary -alleviation of their miserable lives. - -In Mexico slavery, abolished in principle by the Declaration of -Independence, no longer exists by right; but it exists _de facto_ -through the whole extent of the Confederation; and the following is -the adroit manner in which the law is eluded by the rich owners of -the soil:--Every _hacienda_ necessarily employs a great number of -individuals as _peones, vaqueros, tigreros,_ (herdsmen, hunters), &c. -All these people are _Indios mansos_, or civilized Indians--that is to -say, they have been baptised, and practise, after their own fashion, a -religion they will not take the trouble to understand, and which they -mix up with most absurd and ridiculous customs derived from their old -creeds. - -Brutalised by misery, the _peones_ hire themselves, at very moderate -wages, to the _hacenderos_, for the sake of satisfying their two -chief vices,--gambling and drunkenness. But as Indians are the most -thriftless beings in creation, their petty wages never suffice to feed -and clothe them; and every day they are liable to die of hunger, if -they cannot contrive to procure the ordinary necessaries of life from -some source independent of their pay. It is when they have reached this -climax that the rich proprietors trap them. - -The _capataz_ and _major-domo_ keep in every _hacienda_, by order of -their master, stores filled with clothing, arms, household utensils, -and so forth, which are open to the _peones_, who pawn their labour for -the needful articles advanced to them; the prices of the articles being -always ten times their value. - -It follows, from this simple combination, that the poor devils of -_peones_ not only never touch an infinitesimal fraction of the nominal -wages allotted to them, but find themselves always on the debit side -of the _hacendero's_ balance sheet; and in a few months owe sums they -could not possibly pay off in a lifetime. As the law is positive in -these cases, the _peones_ are compelled to remain in the service -of their masters until, by their labour, this debt is liquidated. -Unfortunately for them, their necessities are so imperious at all -times, their position so precarious, that, after a life spent in -incessant toil, the _peones_ die insolvent. They have lived as slaves, -fatally, _adscripti glebae_, shamelessly worked, without mercy, down -to their latest sigh, by men whom their sweat and their labour have -enriched tenfold. - -Dona Hermosa, good natured, as girls usually are when brought up in -the bosom of their families, generally accompanied her father in these -annual progresses, and pleased herself by leaving bounteous marks of -her welcome visit with the poor _peones_. - -This year, as in the preceding ones, she had attended Don Pedro de -Luna, signalizing her visit to each _rancho_ by relieving, in some way -or other, the infirm, the old, and the children. - -About forty-eight hours before the day on which our story commences, -Don Pedro had left a silver mine he was working some leagues off in -the desert, and set off for Las Norias de San Antonio. When he had got -within twenty leagues of the _hacienda_, he felt convinced that his -escort was not needed so near his own property, and sent forward Don -Estevan and the armed retainers to announce his return, keeping with -him only the _capataz_, Luciano Pedralva, and three or four _peones_. - -Don Estevan had tried to dissuade his master from remaining in the -desert almost single-handed, pointing out to him that the Indian -frontiers were infested by freebooters and marauders of the vilest -kind, who, skulking among the thickets, would be upon the watch for an -opportunity of attacking his little band; but, by a singular fatality, -Don Pedro, convinced that he had nothing to fear from these vagabonds, -who had never exhibited signs of hostility towards him, had insisted on -the _major-domo's_ departure, and the latter had been forced to obey, -although with reluctance. - -The escort rode off; the _hacendero_ quietly continued his road, -chatting with his daughter, and laughing at the sinister presentiments -clouding the face of the _major-domo_ when he took leave of his master. - -The day slipped away without anything happening to confirm the -misgivings of Don Estevan; no accident interrupting the monotonous -regularity of the march; no suspicious sign excited the fears of the -travellers. The desert was at peace; as far as the eye could reach, -nothing was to be seen but some straggling herds of elks and antelopes, -browsing on the tall and tufted grasses of the prairie. - -At sunset Don Pedro and his companions had reached the outskirts of an -immense virgin forest, part of which they would have to cross to reach -the _hacienda_, now about a dozen leagues off. - -The _hacendero_ resolved to encamp for the night at the edge of the -covert, hoping to reach Las Norias early on the morrow, before the -great heat of the day set in. - -In a short time everything was arranged; a hut of branches was put -together for Dona Hermosa; fires were lit, and the horses securely -tethered, to prevent their straying during the night. - -The travellers supped gaily; after which everyone laid down to sleep as -comfortably as he could manage. - -However, the _capataz_, a man trained to Indian artifices, thought it -prudent not to neglect a single precaution to secure the repose of -his companions. He placed a sentry, to whom he recommended the utmost -vigilance, and saddled his horse, with the intention of making a -reconnaissance round the camp. - -Don Pedro, already half asleep, raised his head, and asked Don -Luciano what he intended to do. When the _capataz_ had explained, the -_hacendero_ burst out laughing, and peremptorily ordered him to leave -his horse to feed in peace, and to lay himself down by the fire, in -order to be ready to resume the journey at break of day. The _capataz_ -shook his head, but obeyed; he could not understand the conduct of his -master, who was usually so prudent and circumspect. - -The truth was, that Don Pedro, impelled by one of those inexplicable -fatalities which, without apparent reason, often make the most -intelligent blind, was convinced that he had nothing to fear so -near his home, and almost on his own territory, from the rovers and -marauders of the frontiers, who would think twice before they attacked -a man of his importance, having the means in his power to make them pay -dearly for any attempt upon his person. Nevertheless, the _capataz_, -agitated by a secret uneasiness, which kept him awake in spite of -his efforts to sleep, determined to keep good watch during the night, -notwithstanding the injunctions of his master. - -As soon as he saw Don Pedro decidedly asleep, he rose softly, took his -rifle, and crept stealthily towards the forest to reconnoitre; but he -had scarcely quitted the circle of light formed by the watch fire, and -advanced a few paces into the covert, than he was suddenly and rudely -seized by invisible hands, thrown on the ground, gagged, and bound with -cords; and with such expedition, that he could neither use his arms nor -utter a cry of warning to his companions. - -But, in strange contrariety to the tragical usages of the prairie, the -persons who had so abruptly mastered the _capataz_ subjected him to no -ill usage, contenting themselves with binding him firmly, so as to put -the possibility of the slightest resistance out of the question, and -leaving him stretched upon the ground. - -"My poor mistress!" sighed the worthy fellow as he fell, without -indulging a thought for himself. - -He remained in this position for a length of time, listening greedily -to every sound in the desert, expecting every instant to hear cries -of distress from Don Pedro and Dona Hermosa. But not a cry was heard: -nothing disturbed the calm of the wilderness, over which the silence of -death seemed brooding. - -At last, after twenty or twenty-five minutes, someone threw a _zarape_ -over his face, most likely with the intention of preventing any -recognition of his assailants; he was lifted from the ground with a -certain degree of precaution, and two men carried him in their arms to -some considerable distance. - -The situation became more complicated every moment. In vain the -_capataz_ racked his mind to divine the intentions of his captors. The -latter uttered not a word, and glided over the ground with light and -noiseless steps, as if they were spectres. The generality of Mexicans -are fatalists. The _capataz_, recognizing the futility of a struggle, -philosophically consoled himself for what had happened, and patiently -awaited the result of this singular scene. - -He had not long to wait for the issue. His unknown captors, having -probably reached the intended spot, halted and laid the _capataz_ on -the ground, after which everything round him grew calm and silent again. - -At the end of several minutes he determined on an attempt to recover -his liberty, and made a desperate effort to break his bonds. But here -again a fresh surprise was reserved for him: the cords which bound him, -and which were so fast a minute before, broke after a slight resistance. - -The _capataz's_ first impulse was to lift the _zarape_ which covered -his face, and free himself from the gag. He next looked about him to -reconnoitre, and to find out what had become of his companions, and -uttered a cry of astonishment and fright on seeing Dona Hermosa, her -father, and the _peones_ stretched on the ground close by, gagged as he -had been, and their heads muffled in _zarapes_. - -The _capataz_ hastened to the relief of his mistress and Don Pedro, -after which he severed the cords which bound the _peones_. - -The place to which the travellers had been transported by their -invisible aggressors was completely dissimilar to the site chosen for -the camp. They were in the midst of a thick forest, where at an immense -height above their heads, the gigantic trees formed a green vault, -almost impenetrable to the light of day. The horses and baggage of the -travellers had vanished. Their position was frightful, deserted as they -were in the virgin forest without provisions or horses. Every hope of -safety was gone, and a terrible death, after horrible sufferings stared -them in the face. - -It is impossible to describe the despair of Don Pedro. He acknowledged, -when it was too late, the folly of his conduct. He fixed his weeping -eyes on his daughter with an expression of unspeakable tenderness -and sorrow, accusing himself as the sole cause of the evil that had -overwhelmed them. Dona Hermosa was the only one who did not give way -to despair in these critical circumstances. After trying to raise the -courage of her father by tender and consoling words, she was the first -to speak of quitting the place and endeavouring to find the road they -had lost. - -The courage which sparkled in the eye of the daughter reanimated the -energy of her father and the rest. If she did not succeed in reviving -hope in their breasts, at all events she aroused in them sufficient -spirit to encounter the necessary struggle before them. The final words -of this young creature put a stop to all hesitation, and completed the -happy reaction she had excited in their minds. - -"Our friends," said she, "on finding we do not arrive, will suspect -our misfortune, and devote themselves immediately to a search for us. -Don Estevan, to whom all the secrets of the wilderness are known, will -infallibly recover our trail. Our position, therefore, is far from -desperate. Let us not abandon ourselves, if we do not wish God to -abandon us. Let us go: soon I hope we shall find our way out of the -forest, and see the sun once more." - -So they began their march. - -Unfortunately it is impossible to find the right direction in a virgin -forest, unless we are well acquainted with the localities,--the -forests, where all the trees are alike, where there is no visible -horizon, and where the only available knowledge is the instinct of the -brute, not the reason of man. Thus the travellers wandered at random -the whole day long, always turning, without knowing it, in the same -circle, travelling far without advancing, and vainly seeking to find a -road which was not in existence. - -Don Pedro endeavoured to discover a reason why the men who had -stolen their horses should have abandoned them in this inextricable -labyrinth; why they had been thus callously condemned to an agonising -death; and who the enemy might be who had cruelly conceived a plan of -such atrocious revenge. But the _hacendero_ racked his brains in vain -for even a surmise. His mind suggested no one on whom suspicion could -rest as the probable author of this unqualified crime. - -All the morning the travellers continued their devious course: the sun -went down, the day gave way to night, and they were still toiling on, -wandering mechanically without any fixed direction, now to the right, -now to the left; struggling on more in the endeavour to escape from -their thoughts by physical fatigue, than in the hope of emerging from -the forest--their horrible prison. - -Dona Hermosa uttered no complaint. Cool and resolute, she pushed -forward with a firm step, encouraging her companions by voice and -gesture, and still finding spirit enough to chide and shame them for -their want of perseverance. - -All of a sudden she uttered a cry of pain. She had been bitten by a -snake. This fresh misfortune, which should have apparently completed -the travellers' despair, on the contrary, excited them to such a pitch, -that they forgot all else, except how to think for and to save her whom -they called their guardian angel. - -But human strength has limits, beyond which it may not go. The -travellers, overcome by fatigue and their poignant emotions during -their wanderings, and convinced, besides, of the inutility of their -efforts, were on the point of yielding to their despair, when God -placed them suddenly face to face with the hunter. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -CONFIDENTIAL CHAT. - - -After conducting his guests to the compartment of the _teocali_ which -he had appointed for them, the Tigercat retraced his steps, and turned -in the direction of a sufficiently ample excavation, which served for -his own particular abode. - -The old man walked at a slow pace, with his head raised, and his brow -wrinkled under the tension of mighty thoughts. The flame of the torch -he held in his right hand played capriciously over his countenance, -revealing a strange expression on his features, where hate, joy, and -uneasiness reflected themselves by turns. - -When he arrived at his _cuarto_ (bedchamber),--if it is right to give -the name chamber to a kind of hole ten feet square by seven feet high, -which contained as furniture a few skulls of the bison dispersed here -and there, with a handful of maize-straw negligently thrown into a -corner, and serving, no doubt, as couch for the inhabitants of this -sorry refuge,--the Tigercat fixed his _ocote_ torch in a bracket of -iron made fast to the wall, crossed his arms on his breast, lifted his -eyes with an air of defiance, and muttered the words: - -"At last!" - -Doubtless these words summed up in his thoughts a long series of dark -and bold combinations. - -After pronouncing these words, the old man cast a searching glance -around him, as if he dreaded having been overheard. A mocking smile -passed across his pale lips; he sat down on a bison's skull, and, -burying his face in his hands, plunged into profound meditation. - -A long time elapsed before he changed his position. At last, a slight -noise fell on his ear: he lifted his head with a start, and turned -towards the entrance to his cell. - -"Come in!" he shouted. "I have waited for you with impatience." - -"I think not!" replied a powerful voice; and the young hunter appeared -at the threshold, where he stopped, holding his head erect, and looking -proud and daring. - -A shade crossed the forehead of the Tigercat. - -"Ah, ha!" cried he, with pretended gaiety. "In truth, I was not -expecting you, _muchacho_ (boy); but never mind; you are welcome." - -"Is that wish truly in your thoughts at this moment?" sneered the other. - -"And why should it not be in my thoughts? Am I in the habit of -disguising them?" - -"It is a useful habit under particular circumstances." - -"A truth I do not deny; but not in this case. Come in; sit down, and -let us talk." - -"I comply," answered the hunter, taking a few steps forward, -"particularly as I have to demand an explanation from you." - -The Tigercat frowned, and replied, with rising and ill-suppressed anger: - -"Is it to me you speak thus? Have you forgotten who I am?" - -"I forget nothing that I ought to remember," concisely replied the -other. - -"Boy! Have you forgotten that I am your father?" - -"My father! Who will prove it?" - -"You are over-venturesome," cried the old man in ire. - -"After all," said the hunter scornfully, "it is nothing to me whether -you be my father or not. What does it matter? Have you not told me a -thousand times over, that bonds of relationship do not exist in nature; -that they are only a factitious sentiment, invented by human egotism -for the profit of the petty exigencies of debased society? Here, we are -only two men, equals in strength and courage; of whom the one comes to -demand from the other a clear and unvarnished explanation." - -While the hunter was speaking, the old man fixed upon him a look which -flashed fire from under his half-closed eyelids. When he ceased, the -Tigercat smiled ironically. - -"The wolf's cub feels he is cutting his teeth, and wants to bite his -fosterer." - -"He will devour him without hesitation, if it be needful," fiercely -replied the hunter, as he let the butt end of the heavy rifle he -carried in his hand fall violently on the ground. - -Instead of being lashed into a fury by a menace uttered so -peremptorily, the Tigercat suddenly became calm. His austere features -lighted up with an expression of good nature which rarely visited them. -Clapping his large hands together gaily, he exclaimed, with an air of -lively satisfaction: - -"Well roared, my lion's whelp! _iVive Dios!_ You deserve your name, -Stoneheart! The more I see of you, the more I love you. I am proud of -you, _muchacho;_ for you are my handiwork, and I congratulate myself on -my success in producing so complete a monster. Go on as you have begun, -my son: I prophesy, you will go far." - -The tone in which these words were pronounced by the Tigercat clearly -proved that they were in reality the unreserved expression of his -thoughts. - -Stoneheart--for at last we know the name of this man--listened to his -father with a shrug of his shoulders, and an affectation of disdain. -When the latter ceased, the son replied as follows: - -"Will you listen to me or not?" - -"Certainly, my darling child. Speak! Tell me what frets you." - -"Seek not to dupe me, gray-haired demon. I know your hellish malignity, -and your unmatchable knavery." - -"You are complimentary, _muchacho._" - -"Answer frankly and categorically the questions I will put to you!" - -"Bah, Bah! Go on, go on. What are you afraid of?" - -"Of nothing, I tell you; but my time is short: I have no leisure to -follow you through all the Indian circumlocutions it may be your -pleasure to invent. That is why I listen to nothing but the plain -truth." - -"I cannot bind myself to that until I hear the questions you wish to -put." - -"Take heed, father! If you deceive me, I shall find it out, and then--" - -"And then?" repeated the old man mockingly. - -"May the devil take my soul, if I do not plant my bowie knife between -your two shoulders." - -"You forget that two can play at that game." - -"So much the better; it will be a strife and I prefer it." - -"You are not fastidious. But proceed; speak, or may the pestilence -stifle you! I am listening. I, too, have no more time to lose than you." - -Stoneheart, who up to this moment had been standing erect in the middle -of the cell, seated himself on a bison's skull, and rested his rifle -across his knees. - -"Did you not expect to see Zopilote when I burst into your cell?" - -"I did expect Zopilote: you have guessed it, _muchacho._" - -"Having finished, with his assistance, the ruffianly deeds of yesterday -and today, you two are anxious to concoct the treason you meditate -tomorrow." - -"On my soul, _muchacho_, you are incomprehensible!" - -"The devil I am! Then your apprehension is dull today." - -"Perhaps it is: but oblige me by explaining your meaning." - -"I will; however, attempt no denial: only a few minutes ago I learned -the whole story through the gossiping of the very men who were with -you." - -"If you know all, why do you come here to question me?" - -"In the first place, to ascertain if they spoke truly." - -"They could not speak more truly: you see, I am frank." - -"Then you really did surprise these travellers in their sleep?" - -"Yes, _muchacho_, like a litter of prairie dogs in their earth." - -"You stole their horses and baggage?" - -"In good truth, I did all that." - -"Afterwards, you had them carried into the thick of the forest, to die -a frightful death?" - -"I did have them carried to the forest; but not, as you pretend to -believe, for the purpose of leaving them to starve." - -"For what other purpose, then? I cannot suppose it was with the -intention of effacing all traces of the robbery. You care little about -such precautions, and do not stick at a knife thrust." - -"Admirably reasoned, _muchacho_. I had no intention to do these -travellers the least harm in the world." - -"Then what did you want from them? I cannot understand your conduct. It -is marvellous." - -"Confess that it mystifies you, my son." - -"It does; but will you explain?" - -"That depends upon circumstances. But now promise, in your turn, to -answer a single question." - -"One? I will answer it. Ask; I am listening." - -"What do you think of Dona Hermosa? Has she not beautiful eyes! One -would think she had stolen a piece of the sky, they are so blue." - -At this home-thrust Stoneheart recoiled; a sudden flush tinted his -features. - -"Why do you ask me?" said he hesitatingly. - -"What does that matter? Answer, as you have promised." - -"I have scarcely looked at her," he replied, with increasing -embarrassment. - -"You lie, my son: you have looked at her often enough; or young men -in these days are changed from what they were in my time--which I can -hardly believe." "Well, then, I have; and I care not who knows it," -said Stoneheart, in a voice in which embarrassment was mingled with ill -humour. "I have looked at Dona Hermosa, if that is her name, and have -found her beautiful. Are you satisfied?" - -"Almost. Has this charming creature had no other effect upon you?" - -"I am not bound to answer you, father: that is a second question." - -"You are right; nevertheless, I know what your reply would be. I can -dispense with it." - -Stoneheart turned away his head to escape the searching look of the -Tigercat. - -"But now," said he, after a momentary silence, "let us return to your -explanation." - -"You are an ingrate, who will not understand. Have you not already -discovered that all this business has been undertaken for your sake -alone?" - -Stoneheart started with surprise. - -"For my sake? Is there anything in common between this girl and me? You -are laughing at me!" - -"Not in the least; on the contrary, I am speaking seriously." - -"Even if you do, I confess I am still in the dark." - -"Aha! You are laughing now at my expense. Throughout the whole of this -comedy I assign you a capital part to play: I make you interesting; I -introduce you as the deliverer; are you still in the dark?" - -"I myself assumed the character which you say you assigned me; I -adopted it myself, alone, without any interference of yours." - -"Do you believe that, my son?" said the bandit, with a grin. - -Stoneheart, not thinking it necessary to insist on this point, answered: - -"I will admit that you may have arranged all that happened; but -what are your intentions towards the travellers now they are in the -_teocali?_" - -"On my honour, _muchacho_, I confess that it is not settled yet; it -depends entirely on yourself." - -"On me?" stammered the other. - -"Yes; on my honour. Reflect; decide what you wish me to do: I give you -my word that I will conform to your wishes." - -"Will you swear so, father,--solemnly swear?" - -"Oh, yes. You see, I am very accommodating." - -"It is exactly this pliancy, so foreign to your character and habits, -which makes me tremble." - -"Folly! What more unjust suspicion! It happens one day that I remember -I am man; that it is my duty to succour my fellow creatures: and you -give me no credit for it!" - -"_iCaspita!_ How could it be otherwise? Your intrigues are so dark, -the means you employ are so utterly at variance with common usage in -similar cases, that, in spite of my knowledge of your character, the -real object of your machinations perpetually eludes me." - -The visage of the Tigercat lighted up once more with a smile of -triumph; but he repressed it immediately, and assumed a look of -paternal benevolence. - -"In spite of all you say," he answered, "my object in this case is so -plain that a child might see it." - -"Then I must be an idiot, for I cannot divine it; on which account, I -must beg you to explain your wishes frankly." - -"To make you adore the little one, _ivive Cristo!_" - -"Me!" exclaimed the hunter, astounded at the proposition, and purple -with blushes. - -"And whom else, if not you?--unless it were myself." - -"No, no," said the other, shaking his head mournfully; "that is -impossible: everything separates us. You have forgotten who she is; you -have forgotten what I am--I, Stoneheart, the man whose name, pronounced -to an inhabitant of the borders, makes him thrill with terror. No; it -is the dream of a fool: a love like that would be monstrous. I repeat, -it is impossible." - -The Tigercat coolly shrugged his shoulders. - -"My son," said he, "you have yet much to learn concerning that -many-sided being, that graceful compound of angel and devil, that -whimsical mixture of all good qualities and all vices, the world calls -woman. Be quite sure, my son, that since the time of mother Eve, woman -has never changed; there are the same treasons, the same perfidies, -still the same feline nature of the tiger, mingled with the no less -tortuous ways of the serpent. Woman must be quelled by the bold, or -she will busy herself with the hope of quelling him; she will always -despise the man for whom, in her secret heart, she feels no fear, and -for whom she entertains no involuntary respect. Your chances of winning -the heart of Hermosa, and installing yourself therein as master, are -numberless; you are proscribed, and your name is a name of terror. Oh, -my boy, love lives upon contrasts, knows no disparities, and despises -the barrier raised by human vanity. The man most sure to succeed with -a woman is precisely the only one whom, in the eyes of the world, she -ought to repel the most." - -"Enough of this theme!" cried the hunter violently; "Your horrible -theories have already troubled my soul, and harrowed my heart. Let us -stop this conversation, of which I am weary. Again, I ask, what are -your intentions towards your prisoners?" - -"I repeat, that it depends entirely upon yourself; they are in your -hands." - -"If that be the case, they shall not stay long in your hideous lair; -tomorrow, at daybreak, they shall go." - -"Just what I wish, my son." - -"I myself will be their guide. You will restore everything you have -taken from them--horses and baggage." - -"You shall restore them yourself; you can easily invent a story for -returning what belongs to them which shall not compromise me." - -"Compromise you!" sneered Stoneheart. - -"By our Lady," replied the Tigercat, with a hideous smile, "I stick to -the only good deed of my life; I will not lose the credit of it." - -"Then all is agreed between us; you will not break your word to me?" - -"Rest in peace; I will not break it." - -"Then, good-bye, till tomorrow. I go to make everything ready." - -"Good night, my son. Do not take that trouble; I take it upon myself." - -And the two men separated. - -The Tigercat listened attentively to the sound of his son's footsteps -as they died away in the distance. When silence was completely -re-established, he shook his head more than once with a preoccupied air. - -"Love makes him shrewd," he murmured in a suppressed voice. "I will not -leave him leisure to divine my plans, or, at the moment it is within my -reach, he would frustrate the vengeance I have been so many years in -preparing." - -Instead of retiring to his couch, the old man seized the torch, and -went forth from his cell. - -In the meanwhile, in spite of the fears naturally caused by their -precarious position in the midst of people whose ferocious looks and -brutal manners spoke little in their favour, the travellers had passed -the night in tranquillity. No sound of evil augury had disturbed -their repose; and, worn out by fatigue, and wearied with the various -emotions of this day of misfortunes, after a short conversation, they -settled themselves to sleep. - -Dona Hermosa, on waking at daybreak, found herself perfectly free from -the sufferings of the preceding day. Thanks to the remedy applied by -the hunter to the wound, the place where she was bitten, now the venom -was expressed, began to heal; she felt sufficient strength to resume -her journey on horseback, and would be able to travel without too -much fatigue. These good news dispersed the clouds which obscured the -forehead of the _hacendero_, and he awaited, with lively impatience, -the meeting with his host, which he had no doubt would not be long -deferred. In fact, as soon as the Tigercat supposed that those to whom -he had afforded shelter were awake, he presented himself before them to -inquire how they had passed the night. - -The _hacendero_ thanked him warmly, assured him they were quite well, -and that Dona Hermosa herself felt almost restored to health. - -"So much the better," replied the Tigercat, casting a glance of fire at -the girl. "It were a pity so charming a creature should perish in such -a miserable manner. And now, what are your intentions? Be not offended -at this question; I shall be happy to keep you at my side; and the -longer you remain here, the greater my pleasure." - -"Thanks for your gracious offer," said Don Pedro; "unfortunately, -I dare not accept it: they will be uneasy on our account at the -_hacienda_, and I must hasten in person to put an end to their alarm." - -"You are right. Then you intend to depart?" - -"As soon as I can; unhappily, I have no horses for the few leagues of -the journey. I must put your hospitality still further to the test, -although I hardly know how to thank you for what you have done already, -by requesting you to sell me the animals I require to return home; -at the same time, I would also crave a guide, to lead us through the -forest which had nearly proved our tomb, and to put us once more on our -right road. You see, _caballero_, that I make great demands on your -courtesy." - -"You only ask of me what is your right, senor; I will exert myself to -fulfil your wishes. But how did it happen that you found yourself on -foot in the virgin forest, so far from any habitations?" - -The _hacendero_ cast a furtive glance over the speaker; but the -features of the latter continued immovable. Don Pedro then recounted -all the details of the strange attack of which he had been the victim. - -The Tigercat listened calmly, without interrupting him, saying, as soon -as the recital was finished: - -"All this seems very incomprehensible. I am annoyed at not having -received this information yesterday evening. It is very late, now; -but leave me to do what I can. Perhaps I may be able to cause your -lost property to be restored to you; at all events I will furnish you -with the means of reaching your _hacienda_. Entertain no fears on that -score. I presume you would not like to leave this place before you have -broken your fast; you can begin your journey as soon after breakfast as -you please. I must leave you for a short time, to give the necessary -orders for your departure. Excuse me. In an hour's time you shall hear -from me again." - -Having said this, he retired; leaving the travellers in astonishment, -and perplexed as to his true character so easily did this man vary both -manner and language. - -An hour and a half passed over without Don Pedro receiving any news -of his host. At the end of that time an Indian appeared, and without -uttering a word, made a sign to the travellers to follow him. They -obeyed without hesitation. - -After following him for some minutes, they found themselves on the -summit of the _teocali_ which the evening before, under the silver rays -of the moon, they had taken for a hill. - -From this elevation the travellers commanded an immense extent of -horizon, and enjoyed a magnificent landscape, still partially veiled -by the mists of morning, but illumined here and there by the dazzling -sunbeams, which produced the most striking effects amongst this chaos -of trees and mountains intersecting the boundless prairies. - -The morning repast was prepared on a mound of turf, covered over with -the large leaves of the mahogany. - -The Tigercat standing by the mound, was waiting for his guests. Some -redskins, few in number, and scattered here and there about the -platform, all armed, and in their war paint, were walking about with -seeming indifference, and taking no apparent note of the presence of -the strangers. - -"I have preferred to have the meal served here," said the Tigercat, -"where you can enjoy the magnificent prospect." - -Don Pedro thanked him; and, at his repeated invitation, sat down by the -mound with his daughter and Don Luciano. The _peones_ ate by themselves. - -The repast was frugal. It consisted of fritters, with red pepper, -_tasajo_ (sun-dried beef), a few slices of venison, and rolls made -of maize flour, the whole washed down with _eau de smilax_ and -_pulque_,--a spirit prepared from a species of aloe. It was a true -hunter's meal. - -"Eat and drink," said the Tigercat; "you have a long journey before -you." - -"Will you not honour us by partaking of the repast you have gallantly -offered us?" said Don Pedro, seeing that the old man continued standing. - -"You must excuse me, _caballero_," replied the Tigercat civilly, but -peremptorily. "I broke my fast long ago." - -"Indeed!" said the _hacendero_, not content with the answer; "Then, at -least, you will consent to empty this horn of _pulque_ to my health." - -"It grieves me to refuse you, senor; but it is impossible!" and he -bowed. - -These repeated refusals caused a sudden coolness between the guests -and their host, in spite of the apparent graciousness of the old man's -hospitality,--for the Americans of New Spain resemble the Arabs in -this, that they only consent to eat and drink with those towards whom -their intentions are friendly. - -A vague suspicion crossed the mind of Don Pedro; and he looked -inquiringly at his host, but could see nothing in the smiling face of -the old man to justify his apprehension. - -The repast was eaten silently. At its termination, Dona Hermosa, after -thanking the Tigercat for his profuse hospitality, asked him if, before -she left, she could not see the hunter who had rendered her such -invaluable service the evening before. - -"He is absent at present, senorita,--absent in your service; but I -expect him to return immediately." - -The dona was about to ask for an explanation of these words, when a -sound, resembling distant thunder, arose in the forest, and grew louder -and louder every minute. - -"And here," continued the Tigercat, "comes the very man whom you -desired to see; he will be with you directly. The noise you hear is -caused by the galloping of the horses he brings with him." - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -THE JOURNEY. - - -In a very short time after the occurrences related in the preceding -chapter, the travellers saw a tolerably numerous troop of riders emerge -from the forest. - -Stoneheart rode at their head, and Don Pedro discovered, with feelings -of lively satisfaction, that the horses and mules so audaciously stolen -from him were in the rear of the troop. - -"Ha!" said he, "The robbers have been compelled to disgorge their prey." - -"It would appear so," answered the old man, with a scarcely perceptible -smile. - -Meanwhile, the hunter had halted the troop at a little distance from -the _teocali._ He himself had dismounted, and was now coming towards -the travellers. He soon reached them. - -"I perceive that you have succeeded in your enterprise," the Tigercat -said to him in a tone of raillery. - -"I have," answered the hunter laconically, and turning from him. - -"I am rejoiced at this circumstance," resumed the old man, addressing -Don Pedro; "thanks to it, you will reach your home on your own horses, -and without the loss of anything belonging to you." - -"How shall I ever repay all the obligations I owe you, senor?" said the -_hacendero_, with great emotion. - -"By not thanking me for them: my conduct towards you has been very -simple, and solely dictated by the interest I took in your unlucky -position." - -Although nothing could be more evident than the Tigercat's intention -to make a courteous answer, his words were uttered with such a hissing -accent, his voice was so ironical, and his tone so sarcastic, that the -effect produced was quite contrary to what he intended. Without exactly -comprehending the reason, Don Pedro felt he had met with an insult -instead of a compliment. - -"Let us end this," said Stoneheart abruptly. "The sun is already -high; and it is time to set out, if you would cross the forest before -nightfall." - -"In all sincerity," said the Tigercat, "notwithstanding the chagrin I -feel at seeing you depart, it is my duty to warn you that, if nothing -detains you here, you will do well to commence your journey." - -Don Pedro and his companions rose, and, accompanied by the two hunters, -descended into the plain. - -During the words which had been exchanged on the _teocali_, the mounted -Indians had disappeared, leaving the animals of the Mexicans at the -place where they had first halted. - -The _hacendero_, before he mounted, turned his head several times in -the direction in which the Indian's had vanished. - -"What are you looking for?" asked the old man, uneasy at this repeated -movement. - -"You will excuse me," answered Don Pedro; "but I am afraid to enter -without a guide into that pathless forest; and I do not see the one you -were good enough to promise me." - -"Nevertheless he stands before you, senor," said the Tigercat, pointing -to the hunter. - -"Yes," said the latter, looking defiantly at the old man, "it is I who -am to be your guide; and I give you my sacred word, that in despite of -savages, be they beasts or men, I will conduct you in safety to your -_hacienda._" - -The Tigercat made no answer to these words, which were evidently spoken -for his behoof; he contented himself by shrugging his shoulders, while -an indefinable expression settled on his mocking lips. - -"Oh!" said the _hacendero_, "We have indeed nothing to fear if you are -to be our guide, senor; the generosity of your late conduct is a sure -guarantee for the future." - -"Let us go," said the hunter briefly, "we have already lost too much -time." - -The travellers mounted without replying. - -"Adieu! And good luck," said the Tigercat, when he saw them ready to -start. - -"One word, if you please, caballero," exclaimed the _hacendero_, bowing -slightly to his host. - -"Speak, senor," said the latter; "is there any further service I can -render you?" - -"No," replied the Mexican; "I owe you too many favours already; only, -before I leave you, perhaps forever, I wish to tell you, without -desiring to pry too closely into the motives which prompted your -actions towards me, your conduct has apparently been so cordial and -noble, that I must try to express to you the extent of my gratitude. -Whatever may happen, senor, and until evident proof to the contrary, I -consider myself indebted to you; and if occasion offers, I shall know -how to cancel the debt I owe you." - -And before the Tigercat, stupefied by this adieu, which proved that -the _hacendero_ was not quite his dupe, had recovered, the Mexican -had given both spurs to his horse, and galloped off to rejoin his -companions who had already advanced some little way. - -The old man remained motionless, his eyes fixed on the travellers, -until they had finally disappeared within the forest; then he regained -the _teocali_, muttering in a low voice: - -"Has he foreseen my purpose? No, it is impossible; but his suspicion is -aroused, and I must have been less prudent than my wont." - -In the meantime the travellers had entered upon the forest, under the -guidance of Stoneheart, who rode alone in advance, with drooping head, -and apparently plunged in sombre thought. - -For two hours they progressed without exchanging a word. The hunter -rode on as if he were alone, without troubling himself in the least -about those who followed him; without even turning his head in their -direction, to see whether they were behind him. - -This behaviour only moderately astonished the _hacendero_, who, -recollecting the manner in which he had made acquaintance with the -hunter the day before, was expecting a certain oddness of character on -his part. Nevertheless, he was hurt by the coldness and indifference -displayed by the man whose good will he had sought to conciliate. So -he made no attempt to engage him to break the silence and become more -sociable. - -A little before midday the travellers reached a tolerably large -clearing, in the centre of which there gushed forth, from the fissures -of a rock, which rose to a grand height in the form of a pyramid, a -spring of water, as clear and limpid as crystal, which ran off in a -narrow stream through thick tufts of gladiolus. - -This clearing, shaded by a leafy vault of gigantic trees surrounding -it, offered a delicious spot for repose to the weary travellers. - -"We will wait here until the greatest heat of the day is over," said -the guide, breaking silence for the first time since they had left the -_teocali._ - -"Content," said the _hacendero_, smiling; "indeed, you could not have -chosen a fitter spot." - -"One of the baggage mules carries food and other refreshment, of which -you may avail yourself, if you choose; they have been provided for your -use." - -"And you--will you not join us?" asked the _hacendero_. - -"I am neither hungry nor thirsty; do not trouble yourself about me; -other duties claim my attention." - -Thinking it useless to insist, Don Pedro dismounted, lifted his -daughter from her saddle, and placed her on the turf beside the brook. -The horses were tethered, and all settled themselves to snatch a few -moments of repose. - -Stoneheart, after silently helping the _peones_ to unload the mule -which carried the provisions, and spreading them out before Don Pedro -and his daughter, absented himself with hasty strides, and was soon -lost in the forest. - -"What a strange fellow!" said the _capataz_, while doing honour to the -food before him. - -"His conduct is incomprehensible," answered Don Pedro. - -"But I believe him honest, in spite of his rough manner," said Dona -Hermosa; "up to the present his proceedings towards us have been -irreproachable." - -"Very true," said her father; "yet he seems to display a coldness -which, I confess, makes me uneasy." - -"It is impossible to think ill of a man who, in spite of all, has shown -us nothing but kindness hitherto," replied Dona Hermosa, with a certain -degree of warmth of manner; "we owe him our lives, especially myself, -whom he saved from a certain and horrible death." - -"Very true, my daughter; yet all this is most difficult to account for." - -"Not the least in the world, father: this man, accustomed to live -amongst Indians, has unconsciously adopted their sententiousness, and -the reserve of their manners. What you consider coldness, is probably -no more than bashfulness in the presence of a class of persons he is -not accustomed to; and his want of knowledge of our habits prevents his -speaking." - -"It is not impossible that you may be right, my child; however, I -intend to ease my mind of this anxiety; and I will not leave him till I -have made an effort to loosen his tongue." - -"Why should you distress him, father? We cannot exact anything from -him, beyond leading us in safety to the _hacienda._ Let him do as he -likes, if he only fulfils the promise he made us." - -"All very well, senorita," objected the _capataz_; "but you must -confess that we should be seriously at a loss if he takes it into his -head not to come back." - -"That supposition is inadmissible, Don Luciano: his horse is feeding -with ours; besides, for what purpose should he commit such an -unwarrantable treason." - -"This man, in spite of the whiteness of his skin, is more an Indian -than an individual of our colour; and, right or wrong, senorita, I -distrust the redskins amazingly." - -"Moreover," added Don Pedro, "I cannot see what urgent business could -induce him to leave us all alone, and to plunge into the forest." - -"Who can tell, father?" said the girl shrewdly; "It may be he is gone -to do us some further service." - -"At all events, senorita," resumed the _capataz_, "I see one thing -very clearly, which is, that if this man does not come back again, our -position is still more frightful than it was yesterday, for then we had -our rifles. Today we are completely without weapons, and incapable of -defending ourselves if attacked by man or beast." - -"It is too true," cried the _hacendero_, turning pale; "our arms were -taken from us while we slept. I never thought of them before. What can -be the meaning of all this? Have we again fallen into a snare, and is -this man really a traitor?" - -"No, my father," replied the girl, with spirit; "he is innocent; I am -sure of it. You will soon acknowledge the injustice of your suspicions." - -"God grant it!" said Don Pedro, with a sigh. - -At this moment a sharp and prolonged whistle was heard at a distance. -At the sound the hunter's horse, which had been browsing peaceably, -pricked up his ears, and darting in the direction whence the whistle -was heard, gave a neigh of pleasure, and galloped off into the forest. - -"What did I tell you, senorita?" cried the _capataz_. "Do you believe -me now?" - -"No," she replied energetically; "I do not believe this man to be a -traitor. Strong as appearances may be against him, you will soon see -the injustice of your suspicions." - -"For this once, my daughter, I concur with Don Luciano; it is evident -that, for reasons of his own the miscreant has abandoned us." - -His daughter shook her head, but said nothing. - -The _hacendero_ continued: - -"What shall we do? We must decide upon something or other; we cannot -stop here and wait for night." - -"It is my opinion," said the _capataz_, "that we have no other -alternative than to leave this place directly. Who knows whether the -wretch is not preparing to swoop down upon us this very moment, at the -head of a band of robbers like himself?" - -"Yes; but where are we to go? None of us knows the road," interposed -the _hacendero_. - -"Horses have an infallible instinct which never fails to direct them to -inhabited places. Let us throw the reins on their necks, and leave them -to choose their road." - -"It is a chance we might try; it might succeed. Let us set to work -without delay." - -"Father! In the name of Heaven," entreated Dona Hermosa, "Think of what -you are about to do. Do not act with a precipitation you would soon -regret. Wait a little while yet; it is scarcely midday, and an hour -more or less is of little importance." - -"I will not wait a minute, not a second!" violently exclaimed the -_hacendero_, rising to his feet. "Here, _muchachos!_ Saddle the horses -quickly; we will be off." - -The _peones_ hastened to obey. - -"Be careful, father," said the girl; "I hear the sound of a horse's -hoofs in the thicket; our guide is returning." - -The convictions of the _hacendero_ were shaken by his daughter's -earnest appeal. He dropped on the turf again, making a sign to his -companion to do the like. - -Dona Hermosa had not deceived herself. The noise she had heard was -certainly the step--not perhaps of a horse, for it was slow and -heavy, but at all events of an animal of great size. It was obviously -approaching. - -"Perhaps it is a grizzly bear," muttered the _hacendero_. - -"Or a jaguar in search of prey," added the _capataz_ in a low voice. - -The anxiety of the travellers was intense. Abandoned in the forest, -without arms to defend themselves, it was clear that they were lost if -a wild beast should really attack them; for flight was impossible, as -they knew not where to fly to. - -"You are mistaken," said Dona Hermosa, who alone had preserved her -presence of mind; "no danger threatens us. Look! The horses continue -feeding without showing the least alarm." - -"You are right," said Don Pedro; "they would have perceived the scent -of a wild beast--have been mad with fear, and taken to flight before -this." - -Suddenly the bushes parted, and the hunter made his appearance, leading -his horse by the bridle. - -"I was sure of it," cried Dona Hermosa in triumph; while her father and -the _capataz_ cast down their eyes, blushing for shame. - -The features of the hunter were as cold and impassive as they had -been when he quitted the clearing, only their expression was more -sombre. His horse carried on his back a heavy bundle, oblong in shape, -carefully corded, and wrapped up in buffalo hide. - -"You must excuse me for having left you," he said in a voice that -sounded rather sadly; "I only perceived, when it was too late, that -you had been deprived of your weapons,--at least I suppose that to be -the case; for you cannot have forgotten to take them when you left the -_teocali_; and as it is more than probable you will have to defend -yourselves before you leave the wilderness, I have been to find arms -for you." - -"Is that the reason why you left us?" - -"Why I left you!" he answered quietly. "I brought you to this place -because a few paces off I have one of those _caches_ (hiding places) -which we hunters fashion, here and there in the desert, to serve us in -time of need. But," he added in a bitter tone, "it has been discovered -and pillaged. On that account I whistled for my horse, whose help had -become indispensable; for I was obliged to go to another _cache_ at -some distance. If it had not been for this mishap, I should have been -back at least half an hour ago." - -This explanation was given by the hunter without emphasis, and in the -tone of a man conscious he was merely relating a simple fact. - -He unloaded his horse, and opened the bale. It contained five American -rifles, knives, straight swords called _machetes_, powder, balls, and -hatchets. - -"Arm yourselves. The rifles are good; they will not fail you when the -time to use them arrives." - -The Mexicans did not wait to be asked twice; they were soon armed to -the teeth. - -"Now, at least," said the hunter, "you can defend yourselves like men, -instead of letting yourselves be butchered like deer." - -"Ah," sighed Dona Hermosa, "I was convinced he would act like this." - -"Thanks, senorita," was his response; "thanks for your trust in me." - -While he spoke these words, his features became animated, and his eyes -flashed; but he soon resumed the impassiveness of marble. - -"I promised to conduct you in safety to your home," he said, "and I -will do so." - -"Is there any danger to be feared?" inquired Don Pedro. - -"There is always danger," he replied bitterly, "in the desert more than -elsewhere." - -"Are we threatened with treachery?" - -"Ask me no questions; I will not reply to them. Listen to my words, and -profit by them. If you wish to preserve your scalps, you must place -implicit confidence in me, whatever I may do, and obey me, without fear -or hesitation, in everything I may order. All I shall do will be done -with but one aim--your safety. Do you consent to these conditions?" - -"We do," exclaimed Dona Hermosa fervently; "we will not doubt your -loyalty, and will act entirely according to your council." - -"I swear it," said the _hacendero_. - -"It is well; now I will be answerable for everything. Put aside all -anxiety. Do not speak to me; I have need to collect my thoughts." - -Bowing carelessly, he betook himself to a little distance, and seated -himself at the foot of a tree. - -In the meantime the curiosity of the Mexicans was strongly excited. -They comprehended that serious danger was impending, and that the -hunter was planning means to avert it; but now that they had excellent -weapons, horns full of powder, and balls, they looked at their position -in a new light, and, although their anxiety was still great, they did -not despair of being able to escape from the snares laid for their -feet. - -The hunter, after remaining motionless as a statue for nearly half an -hour, raised his head, calculated the time by the shadows of the trees, -and said, rising with some impetuosity, - -"To horse; it is time to go." - -The horses were soon saddled, and the travellers in their seats. - -"You will march in Indian file," continued the hunter; "follow exactly -in my steps." - -Instead of advancing in the direction he had taken hitherto, he rode -his horse into the rivulet, the course of which he followed until -he reached a spot where two other brooks contributed their waters. -Stoneheart chose the left hand brook, and followed its windings. The -Mexicans closely imitated this manoeuvre, riding in Indian file--the -head of each horse at the crupper of the one in front of him. - -The heat was stifling in the covert, where the circulation of the air, -impeded by the foliage, was scarcely perceptible. The deepest calm -prevailed through the forest; the birds, nestled under the leaves, had -ceased their songs; and nothing was heard but the monotonous humming of -innumerable myriads of mosquitoes hovering about the marshes. - -In the meantime the brook they were following increased by degrees till -it assumed the character of a river. Here and there, already, black -_chicots_ (trees uprooted and carried down by the rivers, often forming -serious obstacles to navigation) began to make their appearance, on -which rosy flamingoes and herons stood on one leg; the banks right and -left became steeper, and the horses for some time past had been obliged -to swim. - -This unknown river, whose blue waters had never reflected anything -but the azure of the skies and the green dome formed by the trees -capriciously bending over its banks, presented to the eye a grand and -majestic sight, impressing the mind with a kind of melancholy calm and -religious awe. - -The travellers, silent as phantoms, continued their journey, swimming -slowly down the middle of the river, close at the heels of their guide, -whose eagle glance explored its banks. Arriving at a place where an -immense rock rose like a solitary watchtower, and formed an immense -vault overhanging the stream, Stoneheart slipped from his horse, whose -bridle he gave to Don Pedro, and swam under the arch, making a sign to -the others to pursue their course. He soon reappeared in one of those -Indian canoes which are built of birch bark, detached by means of -boiling water, and whose lightness is unequalled. With a few strokes -of the paddle he reached the travellers; the latter climbed into the -canoe, and their horses, relieved from the weight of their riders, were -able to swim with greater ease. - -Dona Hermosa was very glad of the change. Still suffering from her -wound, she began to feel much difficulty in keeping her seat on her -horse, although she exerted herself to the utmost to conceal her -fatigue. But the quick eye of the hunter had noticed her lassitude, and -he had brought the canoe for her relief. - -They still continued to advance in this manner for nearly an hour, -without any occurrence to disturb their tranquillity or make them -suspect the vicinity of an enemy. At last they reached a turn of the -river where the banks rose, for a considerable space, to a prodigious -height, and hemmed in the stream between two walls of rock terminating -in peaks. In the centre of the river arose a block of grayish granite, -about sixty yards in circumference, and towards it the hunter guided -the canoe. The Mexicans, at first astonished at this manoeuvre, were -not long before they comprehended it; for, when close in upon the rock, -they discovered that one of its faces sloped down in a gentle incline, -and in this face there yawned the mouth of a cavern. - -The canoe touched the ground; the travellers disembarked, and hastened -to bring the horses to land: the poor animals were spent with fatigue. - -"Come," said the hunter, shouldering the canoe; and the Mexicans -followed him. - -The cavern was spacious, and seemed to extend under water to a great -distance. The horses were stabled in a corner, and supplied with -provender. - -"Here," said the hunter, "we are as much in safety as it is possible -to be in the desert. If nothing comes to trouble us, we will pass the -night here, in order to give our horses the rest of which they stand -so much in need. You can light a fire without hesitation; the fissures -in the rock, which afford you light, will divide the smoke, and render -it invisible. Although I believe I have hidden our trail from those in -pursuit of us, it is still incumbent on me to make a reconnaissance -outside. Be not uneasy; present or absent, I watch over you. I will -return in an hour. But take heed not to show yourselves; in the virgin -forest, who can tell what eyes may be upon him? Adieu for a time." - -He went out, leaving his companions a prey to anxiety, which was -the more lively because, although well aware that some great danger -threatened, they could not foresee either whence or in what manner it -would fall on them, and because they were completely at the mercy of -a man whose character and ultimate intentions it was impossible to -divine. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE SKIRMISH. - - -Nature has rights she always enforces: whatever the anxiety of the -Mexicans, the fatigues they had endured during the whole of that -long day made them feel the imperious necessity of recruiting their -strength; so, after a few gloomy reflections on their critical and -almost desperate situation, Don Pedro ordered the _peones_ to light a -fire and prepare the evening meal. - -Men whose physical faculties are more frequently called into exertion -than their minds, never forget to eat and sleep, whatever situation -chance may place them in; appetite and sleep never fail them. The -reason is simple: constantly exposed to Titanic struggles with man or -the elements, their natural forces must be maintained in an equal ratio -with the efforts they have to make to surmount the obstacles which -oppose, or the perils which threaten them. - -The meal was sad and silent; the Mexicans were too deeply impressed by -the approach of night, the time habitually chosen by the redskins for -their attacks, to care for exchanging many words. - -The hunter's absence was protracted; already, for more than two hours, -the sun had disappeared behind the high mountaintops; thick darkness -enveloped the earth as with a shroud; not a star twinkled in the sky; -and great black clouds coursed through space, completely veiling the -orb of the moon. - -The _hacendero_ would not resign to any other the duty of watching -over the common safety. Lying face downwards on the platform, so -that he might not be visible if an unseen enemy were lying in wait, -he anxiously scanned the dark line of the water. At his side lay the -_capataz_, who, equally with himself, had no wish to attempt a repose -which he knew to be impossible. - -The high cliffs of the banks were bare and deserted; only at one place, -where the shore was accessible, they saw black shapes moving for a few -seconds, with hoarse and angry growls, and then disappearing. These -black forms were evidently wild animals, slaking their thirst in the -river before repairing to their layers. - -"Come!" suddenly exclaimed a deep and determined voice in the ear of -the Mexican. - -Don Pedro turned round, repressing a cry of astonishment; the hunter -stood by him, leaning on his rifle. - -The three men entered the cavern. The remains of the fire which had -been lighted for the evening meal diffused light enough to distinguish -objects. - -"You are very late," said the _hacendero_. - -"I have traversed six leagues since I left you," replied the hunter; -"but that is no matter. A man, whose name you need not know at present, -has resolved to prevent your reaching the _hacienda._ A party of -Apaches is on our trail. All my precautions have not availed to conceal -our tracks from these cunning demons, whose piercing eyes would detect -in the air the trail of the eagle's flight. They are encamped close by; -they are preparing rafts and canoes to attack you." - -"Are there many of them?" inquired the _hacendero_. - -"No; not above a score at most, of whom only six or seven are armed -with rifles; the rest have but bows and lances. Knowing you to be -without arms, or at least believing so, they count upon carrying you -off without striking a blow." - -"Who is the man who is so inveterate against us?" - -"What is that to you? He is a strange and mysterious being, whose life -is one continual round of dark conspiracies; his mind is an abyss which -no one has dared to sound, the depths of which even he himself, who -fears nothing in the world, would dread to fathom. But enough of him. -You are to be attacked in two hours; three chances of escape from the -fate prepared for you are open to you." - -"And what are these chances?" said the _hacendero_. - -"The first is, to remain here, await the attack, and make a vigorous -resistance. The Apaches, alarmed at finding armed and on their guard -the men whom they hoped to surprise weaponless and defenceless, may -lose courage, and retreat." - -Dona Hermosa, aroused by the sound of voices, had approached, and was -listening attentively. - -The _hacendero_ shook his head. "The chance seems hazardous," he said; -"for if our enemies succeeded in setting foot on the rock, they would -overpower us by dint of numbers, and make themselves masters of our -persons." - -"That would most probably be the case," said the hunter, coolly. - -"Let us hear the second chance; the one already proposed seems -impracticable." - -"This rock communicates, by a subterraneous passage under the bed of -the river, with another rock, a good distance from the place where -we now are. I will lead you to that rock; when we get there, we will -embark in the canoe; having reached the opposite bank of the river, we -will mount, and trust our safety to the speed of our horses." - -"I should prefer this chance, if our horses were not so worn out that a -night flight across the wilderness would be almost an impossibility." - -"The redskins know as well as I do all the outlets from the rock on -which we have taken refuge. Most likely they have already guarded the -passage by which we might hope to escape." - -"Alas!" said the _hacendero_, sorrowfully, "With all your good -intention to help us, the chances you propose are against us." - -"I know it; unfortunately, it does not depend upon me to make them -otherwise." - -"And lastly," resumed Don Pedro, with much resignation, "what is the -third chance?" - -"I am afraid you will find the last more desperate than the other two. -It is a rash and dangerous undertaking, which might perhaps offer a -hope of success if we had not with us a woman, whom we must not expose -to one peril in order to save her from another." - -"Then it is useless to name it," said the _hacendero_, with a mournful -look at his daughter. - -"You are wrong, father," said Dona Hermosa, with much animation; "let -us hear, at least, what this chance is. Perhaps it is the only good -one. Explain, senor," continued she, addressing the hunter. "After all -you have done for us, we should be ungrateful not to listen to your -counsel. I am convinced that what you hesitate to propose, for my sake, -is the only means of safety open to us." - -"That may be," answered the hunter; "but I repeat, senorita, that the -means are impracticable--you being with us." - -The girl drew herself up, a gay smile played about her rosy lips, and, -commencing her speech in a voice slightly ironical, she said: - -"You surely think me very weak and pusillanimous, senor, since you dare -not speak out. I am but a woman, it is true, and feeble, as we all are; -but I think I have proved to you, in the few hours during which we have -travelled together, that my heart is above vulgar fears; and that if -my physical strength is not equal to my moral energy, my will triumphs -over my woman's weakness, and makes me superior to circumstances, let -them be what they will." - -Stoneheart listened attentively to the beautiful girl. The mask of -impassiveness which covered his features melted away at the sound of -that melodious voice, and a deep blush suffused his face. - -"Pardon me, senorita," he said in a voice which the secret feelings -agitating him caused to waver; "I was wrong; I will speak out." - -"Good!" said she, with a pleasant smile; "I knew what your answer would -be." - -"The Apaches," began the hunter, "are encamped, as I have told you, at -a short distance from the bank of the river. Certain that they will -not be molested, they keep no watch; they sleep, drink the firewater, -and await the time for attacking you. We are six men, well armed and -determined; we know that our safety depends on the success of our -expedition. Let us land on the island, surprise the redskins, and fall -on them boldly. Perhaps we may succeed in opening ourselves a passage, -and in that case we shall be saved, for they will not pursue us after -they have been defeated. This is my proposal." - -There was a long silence; it was Dona Hermosa who broke it. - -"You were wrong in hesitating to acquaint us with this project," said -she, fervently; "it is the only one practicable. It is better to meet -danger halfway than to tremble in cowardly expectation of its advent. -Let us go! Let us go! We have not a minute to lose." - -"Daughter," exclaimed Don Pedro, "you are mad! Remember, we are going -to expose ourselves to almost certain death." - -"Be it so, my father," she replied, with feverish energy; "our fate is -in the hands of God, whose protection has been so evident thus far, -that I believe He will not abandon us now." - -"The senorita is right," cried the _capataz_; "let us smoke these -demons out of their lair. This hunter, to whom I make my most humble -apologies for having suspected his loyalty for an instant, will supply -us with the means of arriving, without being discovered, at the camp of -the Apaches." - -"I can but do my best," said the hunter modestly. - -"Let us go, then, since needs must," said the _hacendero_, with a sigh. - -The _peones_, who had not mingled in the conversation, seized their -rifles with an air of determination which proved them resolved to do -their duty. - -"Follow me," said the hunter, lighting a torch of _ocote_ wood, to show -the way. - -Without another word, the Mexicans plunged into the depth of the -cavern, taking with them the horses whose strength had been thoroughly -recruited by their rest of so many hours. - -They continued pushing their way through the subterranean passage. -Overhead they heard the dull and ceaseless noise of the waters; -thousands of night birds, dazzled by the unwonted light of the torch, -awoke from their slumbers, and wheeled around, uttering mournful and -discordant cries. - -At the end of half an hour's rapid march, the hunter halted. - -"Wait for me here," he said, and passed on rapidly, after delivering -the torch to the _capataz_. - -Shortly after, he returned. - -"Come," said he, "all goes well." - -They followed him anew. Suddenly a fresh, cool breeze met their faces, -and through the obscurity before them they saw two or three points of -light glittering. They had reached the other rock. - -"We must now redouble our caution," said the hunter; "those points -of light you see shining through the mist are the campfires of the -Apaches. Their ear is fine; the least noise would betray our presence." - -The canoe was launched again; the Mexicans embarked, the _capataz_, at -the stern of the frail bark, holding the reins of the horses, which -followed swimming. - -Crossing occupied only a few minutes, and the canoe soon grated against -the sandy beach. - -Nothing could be better than the place chosen by the hunter. A high -rock threw over the water, to a considerable distance, so dark a -shadow, that it was impossible to distinguish the travellers ten paces -off. - -The forest, scarcely twenty yards from the shore, offered, amongst its -thickets, immediate protection to the fugitives. - -"The senorita will remain here, with one _peon_ to guard the horses," -said the hunter; "we others will attempt the surprise." - -"Not so," exclaimed the girl resolutely. "I want no one here. You would -miss the man you wish to leave with me. Give me a pistol, to defend -myself in case of attack, and go." - -"Nevertheless, senorita--" - -"It is my will," she peremptorily exclaimed. "Go, and God be with you!" - -The _hacendero_ convulsively pressed his daughter to his bosom. - -"Courage, my father!" she cried, while she embraced him; "Courage; all -will end well." - -She took a pistol from him, and left him, waving her adieu. - -The hunter for the last time warned his companions to be cautious; and -the men set off, following his exact footsteps in the forest. - -After marching half an hour in Indian file, they saw the fires of the -Apaches glimmering close by. - -At a sign from the hunter, the Mexicans threw themselves on the -ground, and began to crawl forward in silence, advancing with extreme -precaution inch by inch, their ears on the watch, and ready to fire at -the first suspicious movement of the enemy. - -But nothing stirred: most of the Apaches slept, plunged, as Stoneheart -had asserted, in the brutal drunkenness caused by the abuse of the -firewater. - -Only three or four warriors, easily recognised as chiefs by the vulture -plumes they wore in their hair, were squatting around the fire, smoking -with the mechanical gravity characteristic of the Indian. - -By the hunter's order, the Mexicans slowly arose, and each man -sheltered himself behind the trunk of a tree. - -"I leave you here," whispered Stoneheart. "I am going to enter the -camp. Keep still as death; and, whatever may happen, do not fire before -you see me throw my cap on the ground." - -He disappeared among the underwood. - -From the spot where the travellers were hidden, they could easily see -all that took place in the camp of the redskins, and even hear what was -said; for only a few yards separated them from the fire round which the -_sachems_ crouched. - -With bodies ensconced behind the trees, their fingers on the triggers -of their rifles, their eyes fixed in feverish impatience on the camp, -the Mexicans awaited the signal to give fire. - -The few minutes preceding a night attack are very solemn. A man left -alone with his thoughts on such an occasion, about to risk his life -in pitiless strife, however brave he may be, feels himself seized by -an instinctive dread, which sends a cold shudder thrilling through -his frame. In that supreme hour he sees his whole life pass, as in -a dream, with giddy rapidity before him, and the most abiding and -predominant sensation is the thought of that which is to happen beyond -the grave,--the dread unknown. - -Some ten minutes had elapsed since the departure of the hunter, when -a slight noise was heard in the brushwood on the opposite side of the -camp to that where the Mexicans lay in ambush. - -The Apache chiefs turned their heads negligently, the bushes parted, -and Stoneheart made his appearance in the circle of light caused by the -watch fires. - -The hunter slowly approached the chiefs. When close to them, he -stopped, and bowed ceremoniously, but without speaking. - -The _sachems_ returned the salute with the innate good breeding of the -redskins. - -"My brother is welcome," said a chief. "Will he sit by the council -fire?" - -"No," said the hunter; "my time is short." - -"My brother is prudent," resumed the chief; "he has abandoned the -palefaces, because he knows that the Tigercat has delivered them over -to the barbed arrows of the Apache warriors." - -"I have not abandoned the palefaces: my brother deceives himself. I -have sworn to defend them; I will do so." - -"That is against the orders of the Tigercat." - -"I take no orders from him. I hate treachery. I will not let the -redskin braves accomplish what they meditate." - -"Oh!" grunted the _sachem;_ "My brother lifts his voice very high. I -have heard the hawk mock at the eagle, but a blow of its mighty wing -crushed the hawk to powder." - -"A truce to sarcasm, chief. You are one of the most renowned braves -of your tribe, and cannot consent to become the agent of an infamous -treachery. The Tigercat has received these travellers in his _calli;_ -he has treated them with hospitality. Is not hospitality sacred in the -desert?" - -The Apache burst into a laugh. - -"The Tigercat is a great chief; he would neither eat nor drink with the -palefaces." - -"It is an unworthy artifice." - -"The palefaces are thievish dogs. The Apaches will take their scalps." - -"Wretch!" cried the hunter; "I too am a paleface. Come and take my -scalp." - -And, rapid as thought, he cast on the ground the cap of fur which -covered his head, and at the same instant precipitated himself on the -Indian chief, and plunged his knife into his heart. - -Five shots were heard simultaneously with this action, and the -remaining chiefs sitting round the fire rolled to the ground in their -death agony. - -The _sachems_ were the only Indians with rifles. - -"Forward! Forward!" shouted the hunter; and seizing his rifle by the -muzzle, he hurled himself into the midst of the panic-stricken Apaches. - -The Mexicans after their first fire, rushed into the camp to reinforce -the guide. - -Then a terrible struggle commenced--six men against fifteen--a struggle -all the more fierce and desperate because each man knew he could expect -no mercy. - -Happily for themselves, the whites were armed with pistols. These they -discharged point-blank in the face of their opponents, attacking them -afterwards with the sabre. - -The Indians had been so completely surprised--they had so little -expected to have to sustain such a vigorous onslaught from men who -seemed to have emerged from the earth, and whose numbers they were far -from suspecting--that half of them had been killed before the rest -could recover from their fright, or attempt serious resistance. When at -last they essayed an organised defence, it was too late. The Mexicans -pressed them so hard, that a longer resistance was impossible. - -"Hold!" shouted the hunter. - -Whites and redskins lowered their arms at once. - -The hunter continued: "Warriors of the Apaches, throw down your arms!" - -They obeyed; and at a signal from the guide, the Mexicans bound their -opponents without further difficulty. - -As soon as the redskins acknowledged their defeat, they awaited, with -complete apathy and their usual fatalism, the doom their victors might -think fit to impose upon them. - -Out of twenty Apache braves, only eight remained alive: the rest had -fallen. - -"At sunrise," said the hunter, "I will come and release you from your -bonds. Till then, stir not! I pardon once; never a second time." - -The Mexicans collected all the arms, freed all the horses tethered at -one side of the camp, drove them into the forest, where they were soon -lost to sight, and left the Apaches. - -"And now," exclaimed the hunter, "let us return to the senorita." - -"But," enquired Don Pedro, "is it really your intention to restore -these men to liberty?" - -"Assuredly. Would you have me leave them to be devoured by wild beasts?" - -"It would be no great misfortune," answered the rancorous _capataz_. - -"Are they not men, like ourselves?" - -"They are so little like ourselves, that it is hardly worth mention," -said the _capataz_. - -"And will you really dare to place yourself in the power of these -ferocious beings, exasperated as they are by defeat?" asked the -_hacendero_. "Do you not fear they will assassinate you?" - -"These men!" replied the hunter in disdain; "They would not dare." - -Don Pedro could not repress his amazement. - -"The redskins are the most vindictive of men," said he. - -"True," was the reply; "but I am not a man in their eyes." - -"What then?" - -"An evil spirit," murmured the hunter in a hoarse whisper. - -By this time they had reached the place where they had left their -horses. - -The noise of the combat had extended itself to the spot where Dona -Hermosa was waiting; but that courageous girl, far from suffering -herself to be overcome by the very natural fear she experienced, -understood the importance of the post confided to her, and remained -firmly on her guard, a pistol in each hand, attentively listening to -every sound in the forest, ready to defend herself, and resolute to die -sooner than fall into the hands of the Indians. - -Her father having explained to her what had occurred, they began their -journey at the best speed of their horses. - -The whole night passed without slackening their pace. At sunrise they -had cleared the forest, and there lay the bare wilderness, extending to -the horizon. - -They continued their route for two more hours, when they halted. - -The hunter addressed them: "We must part here." He spoke in a firm, -voice, yet unable completely to conceal the feeling of sorrow which -pervaded him. - -"So soon!" said the girl naively - -"Thanks for that expression of regret, senorita; but I must go. You are -but a few miles from your _hacienda:_ the road is easy; my help is no -longer needful." - -"We must not part thus, senor," said the _hacendero_, holding out his -hand; "I owe you too many obligations." - -"Forget them, _caballero_," vehemently exclaimed the young hunter; -"forget me too: we must never meet again. You return to civilised life, -I to the desert. Our roads are far apart; for your sake and for mine, -pray that we never again stand face to face. Only," he added, lifting -his eyes to the senorita, "I carry with me a memory of you which can -never be effaced. And now, farewell! Yonder are the _vaqueros_ of your -_hacienda_ approaching to meet you. You are in safety." - -He bent his head to his saddlebow, tuned his horse, and began to gallop -away. But, looking back, he perceived Dona Hermosa riding after him. - -"Stay," she exclaimed. - -He obeyed mechanically. - -"Look," said she, presenting to him a slender gold ring; "of all my -possessions, I value this ring the most; it belonged to my mother whom -I never knew. Keep it in memory of me, senor." - -The senorita rode off, leaving the ring in his hand without giving him -time to reply. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -THE PUEBLO (THE TOWN). - - -After the Spanish rule had been firmly established in the New -World, the government, to hold the Indians, in cheek, constructed -fortified posts, at certain distances, on the extreme limits of their -possessions. These posts were called _presidios_, and were peopled by -criminals of every degree of whom it was deemed prudent to clear the -mother country. The _presidio_ of San Lucar, on the Rio Bermejo, was -one of the first established. - -At the epoch of the foundation of this _presidio_, the post consisted -solely of a fort built on the north bank, on a steep cliff which -commands the river, the plains to the south, and the surrounding -country. - -It is square in form, built with very thick walls of hewn stone, and -flanked by three bastions,--two on the river, to east and west, the -third in the plain. - -The interior contains the chapel, priest's house and the powder -magazine; on the other sides are the old dwelling places of the -prisoners, spacious buildings for the commandant, the treasurer, and -officers of the garrison, and likewise a small hospital. - -All these buildings, only one story high, were finished off with -flat Italian roofs. Outside, the government had also constructed vast -granaries, a bakery, a mill, two workshops for saddlers and carpenters, -and two _ranchos_ appropriated to the horses and cattle. - -In these days the fort is almost in ruins the walls, for want of -repair, are crumbling in all directions; only the dwellings are kept in -tolerable condition. - -The _presidio_ of San Lucar is divided into three sections,--two to -the north, the third to the south of the river. - -Its general aspect is melancholy. A few sparse trees grow here and -there, in close contiguity to the river, manifesting, by their want -of vitality, how ungrateful is the soil from which they draw their -existence. The roads are covered with a pulverulent sand, throwing up -clouds of dust at the least motion in the atmosphere. - -Three days after the events recorded in our last chapter, at about -two o'clock in the afternoon, five or six _vaqueros_ and _leperos_ -were seated at a table in the drinking room of a _pulqueria_ (a public -house) of New San Lucar, which is situated on the south bank of the -river, and disputed vehemently, while they emptied, at long draughts, -the _pulque_ in the cups which circulated among them. - -"_iCanarios!_" exclaimed a tall and meagre fellow, with the mien and -air of a brazen-faced scoundrel, "Are we not free men? If Senor Don -Louis Pedrosa, our governor, persist in fleecing us in this fashion, -the Tigercat is not too far off for a man to come to an understanding -with him. Though he chooses to be an Indian chief today, he is a white -man without alloy, and a _caballero_ to the tips of his fingers." - -"_iCalla la voz!_ be silent, Pablito!" said another; "You had better -swallow your words with your _pulque_ than utter such folly." - -"I will speak!" said Pablito, who was washing the inside of his throat -more than the others. - -"Do you not know that invisible eyes are watching us from the shade, -and that ears are open to gather up our words, and profit by them?" - -"There you are again," replied the first speaker: "always in fear, -Carlocho! I have no more respect for a spy than for an old _cuarta_" -(hag). - -"Pablito!" exclaimed the other, placing his finger on his lips. - -"What! Am I not right? Why does Don Louis bear us so much malice?" - -"You are wrong," interrupted a third, with a laugh. "Don Louis, on the -contrary, is only too fond of you so he always keeps you under his -thumb." - -"This devil of a _verado_ has a wit fit for such a rascal as he," -roared Pablito, with shouts of laughter. - -"Well, after us the end of the world." - -"In the meantime let us drink," said the _verado_. - -"Good! Let us drink, and drown care. Have we not Don Fernando Carril -to help us when our purses run dry?" - -"Another name which ought to have stuck in your throat," said Carlocho, -striking the table in his irritation with his fist. "Can you never hold -your tongue, cursed dog?" - -Pablito frowned, and, looking angrily across the table, exclaimed: "Do -you pretend to give me a lesson, _amigo? iCanarios!_ You begin to put -my blood up." - -"A lesson? And why not, when you deserve it?" replied the other, -without stirring. "_Caray_ these two hours you have been drinking like -a sponge; you are full as a vat, and talk as wildly as an old woman. -Hold your tongue, or go to sleep." - -"_Mil rayos_," growled Pablito, sticking his knife violently into the -table; "You shall answer for this!" - -"_iVive Dios!_ A blood-letting will do you good. My hand itches to give -you a _navajada_ (a stroke with a knife) across your hideous snout." - -"Hideous snout, did you say?" and Pablito threw himself upon Carlocho, -who awaited his onset firmly. - -The other _vaqueros_ and _leperos_ threw themselves between the pair, -to prevent the meeting. - -"iHalloa, _caballeros!_" cried the _pulquero_ (innkeeper), thinking it -necessary to interfere. "Peace! in the name of God or the devil! No -quarrels in my house: if you wish for satisfaction, the street is free." - -"The _pulquero_ is right!" screamed Pablito. "Come, if you are a man!" - -"Gladly!" cried Carlocho; and the two _vaqueros_ rushed into the street. - -As to the worthy _pulquero_, he stood at his door, his hands in the -pockets of his _calzoneras_ (loose trousers), and whistled a _jarana_ -(a dance tune), while expecting the fight. - -Pablito and Carlocho wrapped the left arm in the _zarape_ for a shield, -took off their hats and saluted with much affectation, drew their long -knives from their girdles, and, without exchanging a word, stood on -their guard with remarkable coolness. - -In this kind of duel--the only one, by the by, known in -Mexico--satisfaction consists in slashing the adversary in the face. -A blow delivered below the girdle would be considered a piece of -treachery unworthy of a true _caballero._ - -The two opponents, firmly planted with legs apart, bodies inclined, and -heads thrown back, watched each other fixedly, in order to forestall a -movement, parry a blow, or inflict a wound. The rest of the _vaqueros_, -with their delicate maize cigarettes in their mouths, looked on -composedly, and applauded every adroit thrust or parry. - -The fight was continued for some minutes, with equal success on -either side, when Pablito, whose sight was most likely obfuscated by -his copious potations, came to the parry a second too late, and felt -the point of Carlocho's knife rip the skin of his face from chin to -forehead. - -"Bravo! Bravo!" exclaimed all the _vaqueros_ at once. "Well hit!" - -The combatants, flattered by this approbation, stepped away from each -other, bowed to the spectators, sheathed their knives, saluted one -another with exquisite courtesy, and having first shaken hands, went -into the _pulqueria_ once more. - -The _vaqueros_ are a peculiar race of men, whose ways and manners are -quite distinct from the customs known in Europe. Those of San Lucar -may serve as a type. Born on the Indian frontiers they have contracted -sanguinary habits, and their disregard of life is remarkable. -Inveterate gamblers, the cards are never out of their hands; and play -is a fruitful source of quarrels, in which the knife is constantly -called into requisition. Careless of the future, little heedful of -present trouble, and enduring physical suffering hardily, they look -upon death with as much contempt as on life, and recoil before no -danger. - -These men--who often abandon their families in order to live a life -of greater license among the savage hordes of the desert; who, in -shear wantonness, spill the blood of their fellow creatures; who are -implacable in their hate--these men are capable of ardent friendship, -and of extraordinary devotedness and self-denial. Their character -presents a curious mixture of good and evil, of unbridled vice and -sterling qualities. They are at one and the same time idle, gamblers, -quarrelsome, drunkards, ferocious, brave to rashness and devoted heart -and soul to a friend, or the patron of their choice. From infancy blood -runs like water from their hands during the period of the _matanza -del ganado_ (slaughtering the cattle); and this familiarity with the -crimson stains hardens them to the sight of human gore. Lastly, their -jokes are as coarse as their habits, the threat of using the knife on -quite frivolous occasions being the most delicate and the most common. - -While the _vaqueros_, reseated at the table in the _pulqueria_, were -pouring libations to their reconciliation, and drowning the remembrance -of the petty incident in floods of _pulque_ and _mezcal_ (a coarse kind -of brandy), a man entered, muffled in the folds of a thick cloak, and -with the wide brim of his hat pulled over his eyes. Approaching the -table without uttering a word, he cast a look of seeming indifference -around, lighted a cigarette at the brazier, and struck three blows upon -it with a large piastre he held between his fingers. - -The noise, which appeared to be a signal, startled the three -_vaqueros_. They dropped the noisy conversation they were engaged in, -as if suddenly struck by an electric shock, and became as still as -death. Pablito and Carlocho began to tremble, seeking all the while to -discover the features of the new arrival under the folds of his cloak; -while the _verado_ turned his head on one side to hide his crafty -smiles. - -The stranger cast his half-consumed cigar into the brazier, and -retired from the filthy room in the same silence in which he came. - -An instant later, Pablito, who was stanching his bleeding cheek, -and Carlocho, making a pretence of important business, quitted the -_pulqueria_. The _verado_ glided along the wall to the door, and -followed at their heels. - -"Holloa!" muttered the _pulquero_, "Here are three _picaros_ -(villains), who seem to be concocting some devil's job, in which more -broken heads than _duros_ (dollars) are to be gained. _iCaray!_ That is -their lookout." - -The remaining _vaqueros_, completely absorbed in a game at _monte_, -and bending over their cards, appeared scarcely to have noticed the -departure of their comrades. - -At some little distance from the _pulqueria_ the stranger looked back. -The two _vaqueros_ were walking close behind him, talking carelessly, -as if they were two idlers strolling along. The _verado_ was not to be -seen. - -The stranger went on his way again, after making a scarcely perceptible -sign to the two men, and pursued a road which, in a gentle curve, -gradually retired from the river, and led, little by little, into the -fields. At the exit from the _pueblo_ this road took a sharp angle, and -narrowed suddenly into a path, which lost itself in the plain among -many more. - -Just at the bend in the road, a cavalier, trotting hurriedly in the -direction of the _presidio_, passed close to the three men; but, -immersed in their thoughts, neither stranger nor _vaqueros_ took -notice of him. As to the cavalier, he darted a rapid and piercing look -at them, and gradually slackened his horse's speed, which he stopped -altogether a few yards further on. - -"God forgive me!" he said to himself; that is Don Fernando Carril, or -else the devil in flesh and bone. That fool, Zapote, has missed him -again, then! What business can he have out here, in company with those -two bandits, who look like agents of Satan? May I never be Torribio -Quiroga if I don't find out, and if I do not put myself on their traces. - -Senor Don Torribio Quiroga was an individual of not more than -thirty-five, with a rather stout figure, under the middle height. But -to make up for it, the squareness of his shoulders, and thick-set -limbs, gave unmistakable evidence of great muscular power. Little grey -eyes, lively, and sparkling with malice and audacity, lit up a face -which was perhaps somewhat vulgar. He was dressed in the costume of all -Mexicans of a certain rank. - -He dismounted, and looked about for somebody to hold his horse, -but could see no one; for, at San Lucar, and especially in the new -_pueblo_, it was almost a miracle to meet two persons passing through -the streets at the same time. He stamped in anger, threw the reins over -his arm, and led his horse to the _pulqueria_ whence the _vaqueros_ had -come, confiding him to the care of the landlord. - -Having carefully completed this duty--for the Mexican's dearest friend -is his horse--Don Torribio retraced his steps with the most minute -precaution, like a man who wishes to see without himself being seen. - -The _vaqueros_ had gained considerably upon him, and disappeared behind -a hillock of shifting sand just at the moment when he turned the angle -of the lane: however, he soon saw them again as they were toiling up a -steep and rough path leading to a clump of trees, which by chance or -some caprice of nature had shot up among the arid sands. - -Sure of finding them now, Don Torribio began to walk more slowly, and -lit a cigar, to keep himself in countenance in case of surprise, or to -prevent any casual suspicion of his intentions. Luckily, the _vaqueros_ -never looked back once, but entered the wood close upon the heels of -the man recognised by Don Torribio as Don Fernando Carril. - -When, in his turn, Don Torribio arrived at the margin of the wood, he -took good care not to walk straight into it. He first made a slight -_detour_ to the right; then, bending down to the ground, he commenced -crawling on hands and knees, taking special care to avoid any noise -that might excite the attention of the _vaqueros_. - -The sound of voices soon reached him. Gently raising his head, he -perceived, in a small clearing close at hand, the figures of the three -men, who had stopped, and were engaged in a lively conversation. He -rose from the ground, and hid himself behind a maple tree. - -Don Fernando Carril had dropped his cloak, leaning with his shoulders -against a tree, and, with his legs crossed, he was listening with -visible impatience to what Pablito was saying. - -The hands of Don Fernando were small, and delicately gloved; his feet, -showing the nobility of his blood by their diminutive size, were -encased in varnished boots,--a luxury unheard of in these distant -regions. His costume, of amazing richness, was absolutely identical in -shape with that of the _vaqueros_. A diamond of immense value fastened -the collar of his shirt; and his _zarape_ was worth more than five -hundred piastres. For the present, we will conclude the portrait here. - -Two years before our narrative commences, Don Fernando Carril had -arrived at San Lucar, knowing nobody; and everyone had asked, Who -is he? Where does he come from? Whence does he derive his riches? -And where do his estates lie? Don Fernando bought a _hacienda_ a few -leagues from San Lucar. Under pretence of defending it against the -Indians, he fortified it, surrounded it with palisades and a moat, -and furnished it with two small pieces of cannon. In this way he had -kept his doings secret, and curiosity at bay. Although he never opened -his _hacienda_ to receive a guest, he was himself received by the -first inhabitants of San Lucar, whom he visited most assiduously, till -suddenly, to the great amazement of all, he disappeared for several -months. - -The ladies missed their practice in smiles and ogling, the men their -occupation of contriving adroit questions to entrap Don Fernando. -Don Louis Pedrosa, whose post as governor gave him a right to be -inquisitive, could not help feeling uneasy about the stranger; but, -wearied with conjecture, he was obliged to trust to time, which, sooner -or later, reveals all mysteries. Nothing more was known of the man who -was standing in the clearing, listening to Pablito. - -"Enough!" said this personage, interrupting Pablito, in a fit of -passion; "You are a dog, and a dog's son." - -"Senor!" exclaimed the latter. - -"I feel inclined to crush you, wretch!" - -"A threat! And to me!" shouted the _vaquero_ white with fury, and -unsheathing his knife. - -Don Fernando seized the man's fist with his gloved hand, and gave it -such a sudden and violent wrench, that the _vaquero_ dropped his weapon -with a groan. - -"Down on your knees, and ask for pardon!" the don went on, hurling the -wretch to the ground. - -"No! I will die first!" - -"Begone! You are a brute beast!" - -The _vaquero_ staggered as he rose; his eyes were bloodshot, his lips -blue; his whole body trembled. He picked up his knife, and approached -Don Fernando, who stood there with folded arms. - -"It is true; yes, I am a brute beast; but, nevertheless, I am devoted -to you. Forgive me, or kill me, but do not bid me begone." - -"Go! I tell you." - -"And you have no more to say to me?" - -"It is my last word; vex me no more." - -"Your last word to me? Then I go--to the devil!" And he raised his -weapon to kill himself. - -Don Fernando arrested the stroke. "I forgive you," said he: "but, if -you still wish to remain in my service, be mute as a corpse." - -The _vaquero_ fell at his feet, and covered with kisses the hand -extended to him. It was like a dog licking the hand of the master who -has beaten him. - -Carlocho had taken no part in this scene, but remained a calm and -unmoved spectator. - -"What charm has this mysterious stranger," muttered Don Torribio behind -his maple, "to make himself beloved like this?" - -After a short silence, Don Fernando again spoke. - -"I know you are devoted to me. I have great confidence in your -fidelity; but you are a drunkard, and drink is an evil counsellor." - -"I will drink no more," replied the _vaquero_. - -Don Fernando smiled in disdain. - -"Drink, but do not drown your reason. Drunkenness such as yours lets -fall words for which there is no remedy,--words more murderous than -the dagger. It is not the master, it is the friend who speaks to you. -Can I count on you both?" - -"You can." - -"I leave this place for a few days; you will remain in the -neighbourhood. At a short distance from the _pueblo_ is the Hacienda de -las Norias de San Antonio; do you know it?" - -"Who does not know Don Pedro de Luna?" - -"Watch that _hacienda_ carefully, both without and within. If anything -extraordinary befalls Don Pedro or his daughter, Dona Hermosa, one of -you will come and acquaint me with it. You know where to find me?" - -The men bowed their heads. - -"Will you execute all my orders, however incomprehensible, with -promptitude and accuracy?" - -"We swear so, master." - -"Good! One word more; attach to yourselves as many _vaqueros_ as you -can; strive to gather together a body of men to be depended on. Do this -without exciting suspicion; she never sleeps with both eyes closed. -Stay! I remember! Put no faith in the _verado;_ he is a traitor--a spy -upon me, in the service of the Tigercat." - -"Shall we kill him?" coolly asked Carlocho. - -"It might be, prudent; only rid yourselves of him quietly." - -The two _vaqueros_ looked at each other furtively. - -Don Fernando seemed not to remark what happened. - -"Do you want money?" he asked. - -"No, master; we have still some." - -"Nevertheless, take this as well: better to have too much than too -little." - -He placed in the hands of Carlocho a long netted purse, across the -meshes of which a goodly number of gold pieces glittered. - -"Now, Pablito, my horse." - -The _vaquero_ led from the recesses of the wood a magnificent charger. -Don Fernando vaulted into the saddle. - -"Remember," said he, "prudence and fidelity; one indiscretion would -cost you your lives." - -He waved his hand to the _vaqueros_, gave his horse the spur, and rode -off in the direction of the _presidio_. The two men resumed the road to -the _pueblo._ - -When they were a good way off, the brushwood at one corner of the -clearing began to shake, and a human head slowly emerged, the face -blanched with terror. - -The head was succeeded by the body of the _verado_ who had risen to -his feet, his knife in one hand, a pistol in the other, and now looked -about him with his hair standing on end. - -"_iCanarios!_" he cried in a low tone; "rid themselves of me quietly! -We shall see! we shall see, _iSanta Virgen del Pilar!_ What demons! -Aha! I was right to listen." - -"It is the only way to hear," said a mocking voice. - -"Who goes there?" roared the _verado_, as he jumped to one side. - -"A friend," replied Don Torribio, leaving his hiding place and -advancing into the open. - -"What! You, Senor Don Torribio Quiroga? You are welcome. Then you -listened too?" - -"_iCuerpo de Cristo!_ Didn't I listen! I think I have profited by it, -to get edifying news about Don Fernando." - -"Since you overheard the conversation, what do you think of it?" - -"This _caballero_ seems to me a black villain enough; but we will -thwart his infamous plans." - -"God grant we may!" muttered the _verado_, with a sigh. - -"And now, what are your own intentions?" - -"Mine! I swear I do not know. I know nothing, except that my head -swims. Did you hear? They want to rid themselves of me quietly! In my -opinion, they are the greatest wretches in the prairie." - -"Pooh! I have known them a long time; they give me very little -uneasiness." - -"And I, on the contrary, am very uneasy." - -"What the devil! You are not dead yet!" - -"_iVive Dios!_ I am little better off; I am literally between death and -the devil." - -"How can you be afraid--you, the most daring hunter of the jaguar I -know?" - -"A jaguar is but a jaguar, after all; one can talk reason to him with -a ball. But these two _birbones_ (rascals), whom Don Fernando has -maliciously set upon my trail, are veritable demons, without faith -or law, who would bleed their own fathers for a small measure of -_pulque._" ("To bleed" is the common Mexican expression for "to stab.") - -"True; but time presses. For reasons with which I need not acquaint -you, I take enormous interest in Don Pedro de Luna, and more in his -lovely daughter. Don Fernando Carril, as we have just learnt, is -concocting some infernal plot against this family. I mean to frustrate -it. Will you assist me? Two men can do a great deal, if they work with -a will." - -"Do you propose a partnership with me, Don Torribio?" - -"Call it what you will; but answer promptly." - -"In that case, sincerity for sincerity, Don Torribio. This morning -I would have refused your proposal: tonight I accept it; for I have -done with soft-heartedness. My position is completely changed. Rid -themselves of me quietly! _iVive Dios!_ I will have my revenge. I am -yours, as my knife is to the sheath. I am yours, body and soul, on the -word of a _vaquero_." - -"I see we shall easily come to an understanding." - -"Say, rather, we understand each other already." - -"Good! But we must be cautious, if we wish to succeed: the game we -are about to chase is wily. Do you know a _lepero_ named Tonillo el -Zapote?" - -"Know Tonillo! He is my bosom friend." - -"So much the better. This Tonillo is a resolute fellow, on whom one can -fearlessly depend." - -"That is holy truth. Moreover, he is a _caballero_ of excellent -principle." - -"He is: find him out, and bring him one hour after sunset to the -Callejou de las Minas" (the pass of the mines). - -"It shall be done; I understand perfectly. We will be there." - -"And then, we three will arrange our counterplot." - -"Yes; and set your heart at rest. We will find a way to deliver you -from this man, who wishes to rid himself of me quietly." - -"That seems to lie heavily on your mind." - -"_iCaray!_ Just put yourself in my place. After all, the longest liver -will see. Don Fernando has not got quite so far with me as he fancies." - -"Then you will bring Tonillo?" - -"Were I to bring him by force, we would both be there." - -"Now, we have nothing more to do than to go about our separate affairs." - -"Which road do you take?" - -"I am going direct to the _hacienda_ of Don Pedro." - -"Listen to me, Don Torribio: do not broach this matter to him." - -"What is your reason for saying so, _verado?_" - -"Because Don Pedro, excellent man and perfect _caballero_ as he is, -has old-fashioned ideas, and would probably attempt to dissuade you -from your plan." - -"Perhaps you may be right; he had better know nothing of the service I -wish to render him." - -"It will be better. Now Don Torribio, good-bye till evening." - -"Good-bye; and good luck!" - -The two men separated. Don Torribio Quiroga ran hastily down the road -leading to the _pueblo_, to regain his horse from the _pulquero_; while -the _verado_, whose horse had been hidden somewhere about, jumped into -the saddle, and galloped off in a fury still muttering between his -teeth: - -"Rid themselves of me quietly! Was there ever such an idea? But we -shall see. _iMil rayos!_" (a thousand thunders). - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -DONA HERMOSA. - - -Stoneheart was not mistaken in declaring that the dust, rising far away -in the desert, was caused by the servants of the _hacienda_; in fact, -the hunter had scarcely left the persons he was guiding, when the cloud -of sand was blown away by the breeze, disclosing a numerous party of -_vaqueros_ and _peones_, well armed, who were approaching at the top of -their speed. - -Two horses' length in front galloped Don Estevan Diaz, chiding his -companions, and urging them to increase their pace. - -The two parties soon met, and mingled with each other. - -Estevan Diaz, as Don Pedro had foreseen, had grown anxious at his -master's lengthened absence. Fearing lest some accident might have -occurred, he had assembled all the most resolute men belonging to the -_hacienda_, and placing himself at their head, commenced his search at -once, scouring the wilderness in all directions. - -But had it not been for the lucky chance which led to the meeting with -Stoneheart, in the very moment when the strength and courage of the -little party were oozing away together, it is probable that the search -would have been without result, and another mournful and horrible -tragedy registered in the annals of the prairies. - -The joy of Don Estevan and his party was great at recognising those -whom they had scarcely hoped to see again, and the whole company gaily -took the road to the _hacienda_, where they arrived in safety a couple -of hours later. - -Dona Hermosa retired to her apartment as soon as she had dismounted, -excusing herself on account of the fatigue she had endured. - -She reached her cool maiden chamber, which looked so calm and pleasant, -cast a glance of delight at the cherished appurtenances, and then threw -herself with a feeling of instinctive gratitude, at the knees of the -Virgin, whose image, crowned with flowers, was placed in a corner of -the chamber, and seemed to watch over her. - -Her prayer addressed to the Virgin was long, very long. For more than -an hour she remained on her knees, murmuring words which none save God -could hear. - -At last she rose, slowly, and as it were with reluctance, made a final -sign of the cross, and, traversing the room, cast herself on a couch, -where she nestled in a flood of drapery, like the Bengali in its bed of -moss. - -Then she gave herself up to thought. - -What power could thus profoundly occupy the mind, hitherto so gay and -cheerful, of this young creature, whose life from infancy had been -one unbroken succession of gentle joys,--for whom the sky had had no -cloud, the past no regrets, and the future no apprehensions Why did she -frown so heavily, tracing, on her pure forehead, lines at first hardly -perceptible, but deepening with her deepening thoughts? - -None could tell. Hermosa herself could not, perhaps, have given an -explanation. - -This was the reason: without accounting to herself for the change she -was undergoing, Hermosa awoke as from a long slumber; her heart beat -more quickly, her blood coursed more rapidly in her veins, a flood of -unknown thoughts rushed from her heart to her brain, making it whirl. -In one word, the girl felt she had become a woman. - -A vague uneasiness without apparent cause, a feverish irritability, -agitated her by turns; sometimes a stifled sob would rend her bosom, -and a burning tear show like a pearl on her eyelashes; then her purple -lips would part under the influence of a charming smile, the reflection -of thoughts she could not define, beseeching her to drive them away, -and return to the calm and heedless joys she was losing forever. - -"Yes!" she cried suddenly, bounding from her couch with the grace of a -startled fawn; "Yes: I will discover who he is." - -Hermosa had involuntarily allowed the key of the riddle to escape her. -Possessed by the spirit whose voice was evoking her inward agitation, -she loved--or at least Love was on the point of revealing himself to -her. - -Scarcely had she uttered the words we have reported, than she blushed -deeply, and, urged by a charming impulse of maiden modesty, ran to draw -before the image of the Virgin the curtain used to conceal it. - -The Virgin, the habitual confidante of the girl, was not to know the -secrets of the woman. Full of holy fervour, Hermosa had immediately -seized upon this delicate distinction; perhaps she mistrusted herself; -perhaps the feeling which had been so suddenly and violently awakened -in her heart did not seem pure enough to be confided, with all its -longings and desires, to her at whose feet she had hitherto deposited -all her hopes and aspirations. - -Feeling calmer after this action, which, in her superstitious -ignorance, she fancied would shroud her from the piercing eye of her -heavenly protectress, Dona Hermosa regained her couch, and touched a -silver bell standing beside her. At the sound, the door softly opened -half way, and the arch face of a charming _chola_ (maid) appeared at -the opening with a look of inquiry. - -"Come in, _chica_" (girl), said her mistress, making a sign for her to -approach. - -The _chola_, a slim maiden, of lithe figure, and whose skin was -slightly tawny, like that of all half-breeds kneeled gracefully at -the feet of her mistress, fixed her great black eyes upon her, and -smilingly asked what she wanted. - -"Nothing," was the evasive answer, "only to see and talk to you a -little." - -"How glad I am!" said the girl, passionately clasping her hands -together; "It is so long since I have seen you, _nina_" (a term of -endearment). - -"Did my absence distress you much, Clarita?" - -"What a question to ask, senorita! Do I not love you like a sister? Do -they not say you have been in great danger?" - -"Who says that?" asked Hermosa carelessly. - -"Everyone; they talk of nothing but your adventures in the prairie. All -the _peones_ have left their work to hear the news; the _hacienda_ is -in an uproar." - -"Indeed!" - -"For the two whole days of your absence, we did not know what saint to -commend you to; I vowed a gold ring to my good patroness Santa Clara." - -"Thank you," said she, with a smile. - -"But you should only have seen Don Estevan! He would not be comforted; -the poor fellow was like a madman, accusing himself as the cause of all -that had happened: he tore his hair, asserting that he ought to have -disobeyed your father, and to have remained with you in defiance of his -orders." - -"Poor Estevan!" said the lady, whose thoughts were elsewhere, and who -began to get weary of the chattering of her maid; "Poor Estevan! He -loves me like a brother." - -"Yes, he does; so he has sworn by his head that such a thing shall not -happen to you again, and that from henceforth he will never lose sight -of you." - -"Was he really in such alarm about me?" - -"You cannot imagine how dreadfully frightened he was, particularly as -they said you had fallen into the hands of the most ferocious robber in -the prairie." - -"Yet, I can assure you, _chica_, that the man who gave us shelter -overwhelmed us with civility and attention." - -"Exactly what your father says; but Don Estevan maintains he has known -this man for a long time; that his kindness was feigned, and intended -to conceal some monstrous treachery." - -Dona Hermosa had suddenly become thoughtful. - -"Don Estevan has gone mad," she said; "his friendship for me bewilders -his brains; I am sure he is mistaken. But you remind me that I escaped -from him the moment after my arrival without offering him a word of -thanks. I must make reparation for this involuntary forgetfulness; is -he still in the _hacienda?_" - -"I think he is, senorita." - -"Go and find out, and ask him to come here, if he has not gone already." - -The maid rose and left her. - -"As he knows him," said Hermosa, as soon as she was alone, "I will -make him speak, and teach me what I want to learn." - -So she awaited impatiently the return of her messenger. - -The latter seemed to have divined the anxiety of her mistress, and made -such haste to execute her commission that scarcely ten minutes elapsed -before she announced Don Estevan. - -We have already said that Don Estevan was a handsome man; he had the -heart of a lion, the eye of an eagle; his carriage full of grace and -suppleness, betrayed his race. He entered, saluting the lady with a -winning familiarity authorised by his long and intimate connection with -one whom he had known from her cradle. - -"Dear Estevan," said she, stretching out her hand gaily, "how happy I -am to see you! Sit down here and let us talk." - -"Yes; let us have some chat," answered Don Estevan, gladly entering -into the spirit of Hermosa's gaiety. - -"Give Estevan a chair, _chica_, and then go; I do not want you any -longer." - -The maid obeyed without replying. - -"What a number of things I have to tell you, my friend!" resumed the -dona. "But first excuse me for running away from you. My sole thought -was to be alone, and put my ideas into a little order." - -"I can easily understand that, dear Hermosa." - -"Then you are not angry with me, Estevan?" - -"Not the least in the world, I assure you." - -"Are you quite sure?" said she, pouting half seriously. - -"Do not talk about it anymore, my dear child; one cannot encounter such -dangers as you have been exposed to without feeling their effect upon -the mind for a long time afterwards." - -"But it is all over now, believe me; yet, between ourselves, my dear -Estevan, these dangers have not been so great as your affection for me -led you to suppose." - -The other shook his head in token of his want of conviction, and -replied: - -"On the contrary, _nina_, these dangers have been much more serious -than you choose to believe." - -"No, they were not Estevan; the people we met treated us with the most -cordial hospitality." - -"I admit it; but will reply with one question." - -"Ask it; and I will answer it, if I can." - -"Do you know the name of the man who treated you with this cordial -hospitality?" And he laid considerable stress on the last words. - -"I confess that I not only do not know it, but that I did not even take -the pains to ask him." - -"You were wrong, senorita: for he would have answered that his name was -'the Tigercat.'" - -"The Tigercat!" she exclaimed, turning deadly pale; "The execrable -miscreant who for years has spread terror over the frontiers! You are -wrong, Estevan; it could not be he." - -"No, senorita, I am not wrong; I know the truth of my assertion. I can -have no doubt, after what I have gathered from your father." - -"But how did it happen that this man should have received us so kindly, -and that he should have profited by the accident which placed us in his -power?" - -"No one can penetrate into the dark windings of that man's heart. -Besides, who can prove he was not laying a snare for you? Were you not -pursued by the redskins?" - -"We were; but we escaped from them, thanks to the devotion of our -guide." And she spoke with a little uncertainty of voice. - -"You are right again," said Don Estevan ironically "But the guide -himself--do you know who he is?" - -"He constantly refused to tell us his name, in spite of the pressing -entreaties of my father." - -"He had good reasons for doing so, _nina;_ the name would have filled -you with horror." - -"Then who and what is this man?" - -"He is the son of the Tigercat; he is called Stoneheart." - -Hermosa recoiled with instinctive terror, and hid her face in her hands. - -"It is impossible," she cried: "this man cannot be a monster; this man -who proved himself so faithful, so loyal--who saved my life, too." - -"What!" exclaimed Don Estevan: "He saved your life?" - -"Have you not heard it? Has not my father told you the story?" - -"No; Don Pedro did not say anything about it." - -"Then I will tell you, Estevan; for whatever this man may be, I must -render him justice. I owe it to him, to him alone, that I did not die -in horrible agony." - -"In the name of Heaven, explain yourself, Hermosa." - -"While we were wandering in the forest, a prey to despair," she -replied, in extreme agitation--"while we were expecting the death that -could not be long in coming,--I felt my foot bitten by a snake of -the most venomous kind. At first I overcame my pain, in order not to -increase the discouragement of my companions." - -"How well I recognise your strength and courage there, _nina!_" - -"Let me continue," said she, with a sad smile. "The pain soon became so -piercing, that my strength failed me, in spite of my courage. At that -moment God sent to our aid, him whom you call Stoneheart. The first -thought of that man was to help me." - -"It is wonderful!" said Don Estevan Diaz. - -"By the use of some sort of leaf, he managed to neutralise the effect -of the poison, so that, shortly after having been bitten, I felt no -pain from the wound, and am quite recovered today. Can you now deny -that I owe him my life?" - -"No," said he frankly; "for he saved you indeed. Yet for what purpose? -That is what puzzles me." - -"For the sake of saving me,--for humanity's sake; his after conduct -sufficiently proves it. It is to him alone we owe our subsequent escape -from the Apaches, who were on our trail." - -"All you say, _nina_, appears like an incomprehensible dream; I do not -know whether I am asleep or awake while I listen to you." - -"But has this man really been guilty of the infamous actions which -excite your indignation?" - -Estevan Diaz did not answer: he seemed embarrassed; and there was a -short silence. - -"I will be frank with you, Hermosa," said he, at last. "It is necessary -that you should know who your deliverer is. I will tell you all I -know of him myself; and perhaps this knowledge may be useful to you -hereafter, should fate ever again bring you into the presence of this -extraordinary man." - -"I am listening attentively; proceed." - -"Be on your guard, Hermosa; do not let the impulse of your heart -carry you away too far; do not expose yourself to future heartache. -Stoneheart is, as I told you, the son of the Tigercat. I need tell you -nothing about his father; that monster with a human face has built up -for himself an infamous notoriety, too well known for me to enter into -its details. The infamy of the father has reflected on the son, and -enveloped him in a halo of murder and rapine which makes him almost -as much dreaded as his father. However, in justice to the man, I must -confess that, although he is accused of a thousand evil deeds and -odious crimes, it has been impossible hitherto to obtain positive proof -of any accusation preferred against him. All they say of him is wrapped -up in impenetrable mystery; yet everyone relates the most horrible -tales of him, although nobody can speak with certainty as to the truth -of one of them." - -"They are not true," said Hermosa. - -"Do not be too eager to pronounce him innocent, _nina;_ recollect that -a modicum of truth is to be found at the bottom of every suspicion; -and, strictly speaking, this man's trade would of itself suffice as -proof against him, and bear testimony to his natural ferocity." - -"I cannot understand you, Estevan. What dreadful trade is it?" - -"Stoneheart is a bee-hunter." - -"A bee-hunter!" she exclaimed, with a burst of laughter. "Truly there -is nothing offensive in that?" - -"The word is pleasant to the ear; the trade itself one of the most -inoffensive; but the bees, those advanced sentinels of civilisation, -who, in proportion as the whites push forward in America, bury -themselves deeper in the prairies, and take refuge in more inaccessible -wildernesses, require a special organism in the men who hunt them,--a -heart of bronze in a body of steel, a fortitude beyond proof, -indomitable courage, and unswerving will." - -"Excuse me for the interruption, Estevan; but in all you have told me, -there seems nothing that is not highly honourable to the men who devote -themselves to this perilous trade." - -"Your observation would be just, if these men--half savages from the -life they lead, ceaselessly exposed to most serious danger, constantly -obliged to strive, in defence of their lives, against the wild beast -and the redskin, by whom they are perpetually threatened--had not -contracted, perhaps in spite of themselves, the habit of shedding -blood; a habit of such cold-blooded cruelty, in a word, that they set -no value on human life,--kill a man with the same indifference as they -smoke the bees from the tree, and often, for mere pastime, fire on the -approaching stranger, white or redskin. For this reason, the Indians -dread them more than the fiercest animals, and, unless they happen to -be in force, fly before a bee-hunter with more terror and precipitation -than from the grizzly bear, that redoubtable inhabitant of our American -forests. Believe me, _nina_, I am not exaggerating. It results from -what I have related, that when these men reappear upon the frontiers, -their arrival creates a general panic; for their road is a bloody one, -marked by the corpses of those whom they have slain under the most -frivolous pretexts. In one word, _nina_, the bee-hunters are completely -beyond the pale of humanity,--beings with all the vices of whites and -redskins, and without the virtues of either: both races abjure and -repudiate them with horror." - -"Estevan," gravely replied Dona Hermosa, "I have listened seriously to -what you have said. I thank you; but, in my opinion, it proves nothing -either for or against the person about whom I questioned you. I grant -you that the bee-hunters maybe semi-savages, of profound cruelty; yet, -are there no noble and loyal hearts, no generous spirits, among them? -You have spoken of the rule; who will tell me that Stoneheart is not -the exception? His conduct compels me to think so. I am only a young, -ignorant, and inexperienced girl; but were I bidden to open my heart, -and speak frankly, I should answer: 'My friend, this man, condemned -from infancy to a life of shame and trial, has striven valiantly -against the current which was dragging him away, and the force of -bad example assailing him on every side. Son of a criminal father, -associated, against his will, with bandits to whom every restraint -is an abomination, and by whom every sentiment of honour has been -trodden under foot, this man, far from imitating their actions,--far -from burning, pillaging and assassinating as they do,--has preferred -to adopt a career of perpetual peril. His heart has remained pure; and -when chance offered him an opportunity of doing a good deed, he seized -it eagerly and gladly.' This is what I should say to you, Estevan,--and -if, like me, you had studied this strange man for two whole days, -you would be of my opinion,--which is, that he is more to be pitied -than blamed; for, placed among ferocious brutes, he has retained his -humanity." - -Don Estevan remained for a time lost in thought; then he turned towards -the girl, took her hand, pressed it in his own, and looked at her with -tender compassion. - -"I pity and admire you, Hermosa. You are just what I thought you--I, -who have watched the development of your character from your infancy. -The woman fulfils all the promise held out by the child and the girl. -Your heart is noble, your sentiments are exalted; you are indeed -perfect--a chosen soul. I do not blame you for following the impulse of -your heart--you are only obeying the instinct for good or evil which -sways you in spite of yourself; but, alas! Dear child, I am your elder -brother, and my experience is larger than your own. To me, the horizon -seems to be clouding over. Without prejudging what the future may be -preparing for us, let me prefer one entreaty." - -"An entreaty! You, Estevan! Oh, speak; I shall be so happy to do -anything to please you." - -"Thanks, Hermosa; but the entreaty has no connection with myself--it -concerns you alone." - -"So much the greater reason for my granting it," she said with a -gracious smile. - -"Listen, child: the events of the last two days have completely -changed your life, and feelings have germinated in your mind of which -you ignored the existence until now. You have always placed entire -confidence in me: I demand the continuance of that confidence. My only -desire is to see you happy; all my thoughts, all my actions, tend to -that goal. Never believe that I dream of betraying you or thwarting -your projects. If I am tenacious on this point, it is to aid you with -my counsel and experience; it is to save you even from yourself; to -insure your escape from the snares which the future may lay for your -innocent frankness. Do you promise what I entreat?" - -"Yes," she replied, without hesitation, and looking firmly in his face; -"I promise, Estevan, my brother--for you are in truth a brother to -me--whatever may happen, I will have no secrets from you." - -"I thank you, Hermosa," said the young man, rising, "I hope soon to -prove myself worthy of the name of brother. Come tomorrow, in the -afternoon, to my mother's _rancho_ (farmhouse); I shall be there, and -most likely able to clear up certain matters which are so obscure -today." - -"What do you mean?" cried she, in great agitation. - -"Nothing at present, dear child; leave me to take my own measures." - -"What are your projects? What do you intend to do? Oh, do not attach -more importance to my words than I attach to them myself. Involuntarily -I have been constrained to utter words from which you would be wrong to -draw conclusions--" - -"Be calm, Hermosa," said he, interrupting her, with a smile. "I -have drawn no conclusion derogatory to you from our conversation. I -understand that you have avowed an immense amount of gratitude to the -man who saved your life. I see it would make you happy to know that -this man is not unworthy of the feelings he has inspired. I draw no -other conclusion." - -"It is exactly what I feel, Estevan; and I think the wish natural, and -one to which no blame can be attached." - -"Certainly, my dear child. I do not blame the feeling in the least; -only, as I am a man, and can do many things interdicted to a woman, I -will try if I can lift the mysterious, veil which conceals the life of -your liberator, so as to tell you positively whether he is or is not -worthy of the interest you take in him." - -"Do that, Estevan, and I will thank you from the bottom of my heart." - -The young man only replied by a smile to this passionate outbreak: he -saluted Hermosa, and retired. - -As soon as he was gone, she hid her face in her hands and burst into -tears. Did she regret the confidence into which she had been led, or -was she afraid of herself? Only women can decide the question, and only -Spanish-American women, who are so impressionable, and through whose -veins rushes the lava of their native volcanoes. - -Don Fernando Carril, as we have already related, after his conversation -with the _vaqueros_, had taken, at a gallop the route to the _pueblo;_ -but when he was within a hundred yards of the first houses, he -slackened his pace to a walk, and cast glances right and left, as if in -the expectation of meeting some person he wished to see. But if such -were his thoughts, it seemed as if he were doomed to disappointment; -for the road was completely deserted in all directions as far as his -eye could reach. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -EL AS DE COPAS (THE ACE OF HEARTS). - - -Don Fernando checked his steed, and remained motionless as an -equestrian statue on a marble pedestal. - -"He will not come," he muttered, after a while. - -"Can he have deceived me?--It is impossible." - -Casting, as a last hope, one more look around him, he dropped the -reins, but seized them again an instant later with a suddenness which -made his horse perform a curvette and wince with pain. Don Fernando had -just seen two cavaliers advancing towards him--one approaching from the -_pueblo_, the other riding down the road he had himself taken. - -"Come, come, it is all right," he said to himself; "This one is Don -Torribio Quiroga. But who is this other cavalier?" he added, turning to -the man who had just left the _pueblo_. - -He frowned, seemed to hesitate for an instant, but soon formed his -decision, smiled ironically, and saying half-aloud, "It is better as -it is," made his horse execute a traverse, and placed himself exactly -across the middle of the road, so as to bar the passage completely. - -The two arrivals, who greedily watched all his motions, took good note -of the hostile appearance of Don Fernando's position: neither seemed to -feel alarm, and both advanced at the same speed as before. The cavalier -coming from the _pueblo_ was much nearer Don Fernando than Don Torribio -was, and was soon close to him. - -Mexicans, of all ranks and however little education, have an -instinctive knowledge of social decorum, which never deceives them, and -a refined politeness which would astonish the inhabitants of the Old -World. - -As soon as Don Fernando found the stranger within reach of his voice, -he slightly altered the position of his horse, doffed his hat, and -said, with a low bow: - -"Senor _caballero_, permit me to ask you a question." - -"_Caballero_," replied the stranger, with no less politeness, "it will -be an honour to me." - -"My name is Don Fernando Carril." - -"And mine, Don Estevan Diaz." - -"Senor Don Estevan, I am happy to make your acquaintance. Would you -throw away ten minutes in my company?" - -"Senor Don Fernando, however pressed for time I might be, I would stop -to enjoy your society." - -"You are excessively kind; accept my thanks. I will explain in half a -dozen words. The _caballero_ who is approaching is Senor--" - -"Don Torribio Quiroga," interposed Don Estevan; "I know him." - -"So much the better; the matter is simplified. That honourable -personage, as I found out by a strange chance is my bitter enemy." - -"That is a pity." - -"It is; but what shall I say? He is so thoroughly my enemy, that he has -tried four times to have me assassinated; has made me serve as a target -to banditti." - -"It is grievous. He plays an evil game with you, Don Fernando." - -"The very reflection I made myself; so, as I wish to have done with -him, I have resolved to offer him the means of getting out of the -scrape." - -"It is the act of a true _caballero_." - -"_iCaray!_ I can fancy how furious he will be. I am charmed at your -consenting to be witness of the transaction." - -"With pleasure, _caballero_." - -"A thousand thanks; I will gladly return the compliment. But here is -our man." - -Don Torribio had continued to advance during this short conversation, -and was now only a short distance from the speakers. - -"_iValgame Dios!_" he cried gaily; "If I do not mistake, it is my -admirable friend, Don Fernando Carril, whom I have the good fortune to -meet." - -"Himself, my dear friend; and as happy as you can be at the chance -which has thrown us together." - -"_iVive Dios!_ Since I have got you, I will not let you go; we will -ride together as far as the _pueblo_." - -"I should like it, Don Torribio; but first of all, with your -permission, I have a few words to say which may upset that plan." - -"Speak then, senor; you can only utter words I shall be happy to hear -in Don Estevan's presence." - -"In fact, Don Fernando has requested me to be present at the -conversation," said the latter. - -"Nothing could be better! Let us hear, senor." - -"Suppose we dismount," said Don Estevan; "the conversation may be a -long one." - -"Well observed, _caballero_," replied Don Fernando; "I know a grotto -where we shall be quite at our ease. It is close at hand." - -"Let us go there at once," said Don Torribio. - -The three cavaliers left the beaten track, took a turn to the right, -and directed their steps towards a little wood of plane trees and -mahoganies, which stood at a short distance. - -Anyone who had seen them thus, riding side by side, chatting and -smiling to each other, would have incontestably believed them to be -intimate friends, delighted at having met. However it was, nothing of -the kind, as our readers will soon see. - -Exactly as Don Fernando had predicted, they soon gained the wood, and -found the natural grotto of which he had spoken. - -The grotto was in the side of a hill of no great elevation, and its -proportions were scanty enough. Carpeted with verdure inside and out, -it was a charming place of repose for passing away the stifling heat of -the sun at midday. - -The cavaliers dismounted, took the bridle from their horses, leaving -them to graze at will. They entered the grotto, and inhaled with -ineffable delight the freshness caused by a slender stream of water -which ran between its banks with a melancholy murmur, forming a -pleasant contrast with the burning atmosphere to which they were -recently exposed. They threw their _zarapes_ on the ground, stretched -themselves out comfortably, and lit their maize _pajillos_ (cigarettes). - -"I am greatly obliged to you, Don Fernando, for thinking of this -delicious retreat," said Don Torribio; "now, if it is your pleasure to -speak, it will be an honour to me to listen." - -"Senor Don Torribio, you really overwhelm me by so much courtesy. -Heaven bear witness, that if I were not your most implacable enemy, I -could be your dearest friend." - -"Alas!" said Don Torribio, "Heaven has disposed otherwise." - -"I know it, my good senor, and regret it with all my soul." - -"Not more than I do, I swear." - -"Well, as that is the case, we must act accordingly," - -"Alas! That is just what I mean to do." - -"I thought so. Then, in your interest and mine, I have resolved to make -an end of it." - -"I do not exactly see how we can get at that result, unless one of us -consents to kill the other." - -"I presume this hatred of yours has cost you a round sum of money?" - -"Four hundred piastres, which the rascals have stolen from me, as you -are still alive; to say nothing of two hundred others I propose to -present to a _picaro_ who has sworn to kill you tonight." - -"It is perfectly distressing! If this goes on, you will ruin yourself." - -Don Torribio sighed, but made no reply. - -Don Fernando resumed, while he threw away his cigarette and occupied -himself in rolling another: - -"For my part, senor, I confess that, in spite of the lamentable -clumsiness of the people you employ, I begin to be tired of serving as -a target at moments when I least expect it." - -"I can understand that; it must be very disagreeable." - -"It is. Well, then, wishing to reconcile our mutual interests, and -to put an end to it, once for all, I have racked my brains until I -think I have hit on a method of arranging these matters to our mutual -satisfaction." - -"Well, let us hear this method; I know you to be a man of imagination, -Don Fernando. It is doubtless ingenious." - -"Oh, no; on the contrary, it is quite simple. Do you ever play?" - -"So seldom, that it is hardly worth mentioning." - -"Precisely the case with me. This is the proposal I have to make: it is -evident you will not succeed in assassinating me." - -"Do you think so, senor?" said Don Torribio, still smiling. - -"I am sure of it, else you would have succeeded already." - -"I will admit it: what, then, do you propose?" - -"This: we will have a game at cards--the first to whom _el as de copas_ -(the ace of hearts) falls shall win, and be master over the life of his -opponent, who shall be bound to blow out his brains as he sits there." - -"Not so bad; the idea is ingenious." - -"And why not senor?--It is just like a common game, only the loser -cannot have his revenge. Now, where are the cards?" - -It was then discovered that these three gallant _caballeros_, who never -played, had each a pack of cards in his pocket. They produced them -with such spontaneousness, that all three could not help bursting into -Homeric laughter. - -We have already said, somewhere, that in Mexico the passion for -gambling is carried beyond the verge of madness; so that the facility -with which Don Torribio accepted the game proposed by his foe has -nothing in it to astonish those who know the character of those -strange Mexicans, who carry everything to extremes, and for whom -anything unexpected and extraordinary has always an irresistible -attraction. - -"One moment, senores," said Don Estevan, who had hitherto listened -without joining in the conversation; "perhaps there might still be -another way." - -"What other?" exclaimed Don Fernando and Don Torribio, turning briskly -to him. - -"Is your mutual hatred so great, that in reality it can only be -satisfied by the death of one or the other?" - -"It is," said Don Torribio hoarsely. - -Don Fernando merely replied by a nod. - -"In that case," continued Don Estevan, "instead of having recourse to -blind chance, why cannot you fight it out with each other?" - -Both men made a gesture of disdain. - -"What!" exclaimed Don Torribio, "Fight like wretched _leperos_, at the -risk of disfiguring or crippling ourselves, which would be worse than -death! No! I will never consent to that." - -"Nor I; it is better that chance shall decide." - -"As you please, _caballeros_; do as you like." - -"But," said Don Torribio, "who is to deal?" - -"The devil!" said Don Fernando; "that is a good remark: I never thought -of that." - -"I will, if you have no objection," said Don Estevan; "and so much -the more readily, as my friendship for both of you senores, makes me -perfectly disinterested." - -"It will do," said Don Torribio; "only, to avoid all cause for dispute, -you must choose at hap-hazard the pack you are to use." - -"Very well: place the three packs under a hat; I will take the first I -touch." - -"That will do. What a pity you did not think of this game sooner, Don -Fernando!" - -"What could I do, senor?--I have only just hit upon the idea." - -Don Estevan rose and left the grotto, to afford the two foes every -facility for arranging the three packs under the hat. He was very soon -recalled. - -"So," said he, "you are determined to play out this game?" - -"We are, they replied." - -"You swear, by all the world holds most holy, and whichever of you it -may be whom fortune favours, to submit yourselves to the fiat of fate -in all its entirety?" - -"We swear, Don Estevan, by the word of _caballeros_." - -"Enough, senores," he replied, passing his Hand under the hat and -drawing out a pack of cards. "And now recommend your souls to God; for -a few minutes hence, one of you will be in his presence." - -The two men crossed themselves devoutly, and fixed their eyes anxiously -on the pack of cards. - -Don Estevan shuffled the cards with the greatest care, and then made -each of the adversaries cut them in turn. - -"Attention, senores," said he; "I am going to begin." - -The two, negligently leaning on their elbows, smoked their _pajillos_ -with a perfect assumption of indifference, which was only belied by the -flashing of their eyes. - -Meanwhile the cards continued to fall on the _zarape_: Don Estevan held -only about a dozen more in his hand, when he paused. - -"_Caballeros_," said he, "for the last time--reflect." - -"Go on, go on!" cried Don Torribio excitedly; "the first card belongs -to me." - -"Look at it," said Don Estevan, turning it up. - -"Oh," said Don Fernando, throwing away his cigarette, "_el as de -copas_. Look, Don Torribio; it is curious. _iVive Dios!_ you can -reproach no one; you are the author of your own death." - -Don Torribio made a violent gesture, which he repressed immediately, -and resumed the tone of affected civility which had characterised the -conversation. - -"Upon my honour, it is true," said he. "I must confess, Don Fernando, I -have no chance with you in anything." - -"I am quite in despair, dear Don Torribio." - -"Never mind; it was a capital game; I never felt so interested." - -"Nor I either. Unfortunately, I cannot give you your revenge." - -"Right! And now I must pay my debt." - -Don Fernando bowed without answering. - -"Be quite easy, dear senor; I will only keep you waiting such time as -is absolutely necessary. If I could have foreseen this, I would have -brought my pistols." - -"I have brought mine; they are perfectly at your service." - -"Then pray be kind enough to lend me one." - -Don Fernando rose, took a pistol from his holsters, and offered them to -Don Torribio. - -"It is primed and loaded; the trigger is a little stiff." - -"What a capital man of business you are, Don Fernando! You provide for -everything; no detail escapes you." - -"My traveller's habits, Don Torribio,--nothing more." - -Don Torribio took the pistol and cocked it. - -"Senores," said he, "I beg you not to leave my body to the mercy of the -wild beasts; it would distress me dreadfully to become their food when -I am dead." - -"Set your mind at rest, dear senor; we will carry you home across your -own horse. We should be in despair if the body of so accomplished a -_caballero_ were thus profaned." - -"That is all I have to request of you, senores; now accept my thanks, -and farewell." - -After this he cast one last look around him, and coolly placed the -muzzle of the pistol against his right temple. - -Don Fernando suddenly arrested his hand. - -"I have one remark to make," he said. - -"Upon my honour, you are only just in time," said Don Torribio, without -exhibiting emotion: "two seconds more, and it would have been too late. -But let us hear this remark. Is it of much interest?" - -"You yourself shall judge. You have lost your life fairly to me." - -"As fairly as possible." - -"Well, then, it belongs to me. You are dead; I have the right of -disposing of you as I think fit." - -"I cannot deny it. You will observe that I am ready to pay my losses -like a _caballero_." - -"I render you full justice, dear senor; therefore if I allow you to -live for the present, you are bound to kill yourself at my first -requisition, and to employ the life I leave you (which I could deprive -you of at this very moment) solely in my interest, and at my good -pleasure." - -"Then you offer me a bargain?" said Don Torribio. - -"Yes, you have hit the word; it is a bargain." - -"H'm!" said Don Torribio; "That requires consideration. What would you -do, if you were in my place, Don Estevan?" - -"I?" replied he; "I would accept without hesitation. Life is so -beautiful, take it all in all, it is best to enjoy it as long as -possible." - -"There is something true about what you say; but recollect I should -become Don Fernando's slave as I could only employ my life in his -service, and should be bound to kill myself whenever he gives the -word." - -"True; but Don Fernando is a _caballero_ who will only exact this -sacrifice in so far as to protect his own life." - -"I will even go further," broke in Don Fernando; "I will limit the -duration of our bargain to ten years. If by that time Don Torribio is -not dead, he will again enter upon his rights in all their plenitude, -and can dispose of his life after his own fashion." - -"That really touches me to the heart! You are a perfect _caballero_, -senor; and I accept the life you offer me so gracefully. A thousand -thanks!" added he, uncocking the pistol. "I have no further use for -this weapon." - -"One thing more, Don Torribio. As no one can read the future, you will -not object to have this bond drawn up in writing?" - -"Certainly not; but where shall we get the paper?" - -"I think I can find the writing materials in my _alforjas_." - -"How right I was in pronouncing you a perfect man of business, whom -nothing escapes, dear senor!" - -Don Fernando, without answering, went to fetch his _alforjas_, a kind -of double pocket, which is fastened behind the saddle, to hold the -necessary articles for travelling, and used throughout the whole of -Spanish America instead of the common European valise. - -Don Fernando took out pens, ink, and paper, and laid them in order -before Don Torribio. - -"Now," said he, "write as I shall dictate." - -"Proceed, my dear senor; I will write." - -Don Fernando began: - -"I, the undersigned, Don Torribio Quiroga y Carvajal y Flores del -Cerro, acknowledge that I have fairly lost my life to Don Fernando -Carril, in a game played with the aforesaid senor; I acknowledge that -the life belongs henceforth to Don Fernando, who shall have the right -to dispose of it as he thinks fit, without my having power to raise -objection in any case, or to refuse obedience to the orders he may give -me, whether they be to kill myself before his eyes, or to risk in any -perilous adventure the life I have lost, and which I acknowledge to -hold only at his pleasure. I farther acknowledge that all sentiments -of hatred to the aforesaid Don Fernando Carril are extinguished in my -heart, and that I will never seek to injure him directly or indirectly. -I enter into this bond for the space of ten years, beginning from the -day on which this deed is signed; it being formally stipulated by -me, that at the end of the aforesaid ten years I shall resume all my -rights in full, with the entire possession of my life, and that from -thenceforth I shall not be responsible to Don Fernando Carril for any -account of it." - -"Written and signed by me, this 17th March 18--, and subscribed, as -witness, by Senor Don Estevan Diaz y Morelos." - -"Now," said Don Fernando, "sign: pass the paper to Don Estevan, for his -signature; then give it to me." Don Torribio signed with the greatest -good humour, added a tremendous flourish to his signature, and gave the -pen to Don Estevan, who affixed his name without making the slightest -objection to this strange arrangement. - -When all this was over, Don Torribio scattered a little sand over the -paper, to dry the ink, folded it neatly in four, and placed it in the -hands of Don Fernando, who read it attentively, and put it in his bosom. - -"There, that is finished," said Don Torribio. "Now senor, if you have -no commands for me, I ask your permission to retire." - -"I should be distressed to detain you longer, _caballero_; go where -your engagements call you; may they be pleasant ones!" - -"Thanks for the wish, though I fear it will scarcely be fulfilled; I -have had bad luck for some time past." - -He saluted the others once more, put the bridle on his horse, and -departed at a gallop. - -"Do you really intend to demand the execution of this bond?" asked Don -Estevan, as soon as he found himself alone with Don Fernando. - -"Most certainly," replied the other; "you forget that this man is my -mortal foe. But I must leave you, Don Estevan; I must be today at Las -Norias de San Antonio, and it is growing late." - -"Are you going to the _hacienda_ of Don Pedro de Luna?" - -"Not exactly to the _hacienda_, but to the neighbourhood." - -"Then we can ride together; for I, too, am going in that direction." - -"You," said he, looking at him inquisitively. - -"I am the _major-domo_ of the _hacienda_," replied Don Estevan. - -The two men left the grotto, and mounted their horses. Don Fernando -rode pensively by the side of his companion, only replying in -monosyllables. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -THE RANCHO. - - -The road the two men had to travel together was tolerably long. Don -Estevan would not have been sorry to shorten it by talking to Don -Fernando, particularly as the manner in which he had made acquaintance -with the latter, and the light in which he had shown himself, excited -the curiosity of the former in the highest degree. Unfortunately, -Don Fernando did not seem in the least inclined to keep up the -conversation; and, in spite of all his efforts, the _major-domo_ found -himself obliged to conform to his companion's state of mind, and -imitate his taciturnity. - -They had already left the village a long way behind them, and were -cantering along the undulating banks of the Rio Bermejo, when they -heard, at a short distance in front of them, the sound of a horse at -full gallop. We say, they heard; for, shortly after leaving the grotto, -the sun had finally disappeared below the horizon, and there had been a -sudden transition from the glorious light of day to thick darkness. - -In Mexico, where there is no police, or, at all events, only a nominal -one, every man is obliged to take care of himself. Two men, meeting on -a road after nightfall, cannot accost each other without the greatest -precaution, nor approach each other until fully assured they have -nothing to fear. - -"Keep your distance!" shouted Don Fernando, as soon as he thought the -person approaching was within reach of his voice. - -"And why so? You know you have nothing to fear from me," answered -somebody; the sound caused by the horse's hoofs ceasing at the same -time, denoting that the rider had halted. - -"I know that voice," said the Mexican. - -"And the man, too, Senor Don Fernando, for it is not very long since we -met; I am El Zapote." - -"Aha!" laughed Don Fernando; "Is it you, Tonillo? Come on, _muchacho_." - -The latter rode up directly. - -"What the devil are you doing on this road, at this hour of the night?" - -"I am coming from a rendezvous, and returning to the pueblo." - -"I fancy that rendezvous has been a slippery affair." - -"You insult me, Don Fernando. I am an honourable man." - -"I have no doubt of it. Moreover, your affairs are not mine; and I do -not choose to be mixed up with them. Come, adieu, Tonillo." - -"A moment if you please. Since I have been lucky enough to meet you, -grant me five minutes: I was going to look for you." - -"You! Is it a case like the last? I thought you had had enough of that -speculation, which hardly succeeds with me." - -"Here is the matter in two words, Don Fernando. After what happened the -other day, I considered that I owed you my life, and, consequently, -had not full liberty of action where you are concerned. But you know, -senor, I am a _caballero_; and as an honest man can but stick to his -word, I resolved to see the person who had paid me to kill you, and -return him the money. It was hard to disburse so large a sum; but I did -not hesitate. One may well say, a good action always brings its own -recompense." - -"You ought to know that better than anyone else," laughed Don Fernando. - -"You laugh! Very well; judge for yourself. I sought this person, whose -name it is needless to mention." - -"So much the more so, as I know it already." - -"You do? Very well, then. This morning a _caballero_, one of my -friends, gave me notice that the person in question also wished to -speak to me. All was working wonderfully. But guess my amazement when, -just as I was going to refund the money and throw up my engagement, -this personage announced to me that he had been reconciled to you, that -you were the best friends, and begged me to keep the hundred piastres -as an indemnification for the damage he had caused me." - -"Was it this person, then, whom you went to meet tonight?" - -"The same. I have only just left him." - -"Very well: go on, _compadre_" (comrade). - -"Well, _caballero_, since this affair has ended in a manner honourable -to me, as I flatter myself, I am at liberty to follow my own -inclinations, and am quite at your service, if you will do me the -honour to employ me." - -"I will not say no; perhaps in a day or two I may find a use for your -services." - -"You will not repent having employed me, senor. You will be always sure -to find me at--" - -"Not a word on that subject," said Don Fernando, interrupting him -suddenly; "when the time comes, I shall find you." - -"As you please, senor. Now permit me to take leave of you and this -honourable _caballero_, your friend." - -"Adieu, Zapote. A happy journey." - -The _lepero_ joyfully took to his road again. - -"Senor," said Don Estevan, as soon as the latter had gone, "in a short -time we shall reach the _rancho_ (farmhouse) I inhabit with my mother; -it would glad me to offer you shelter for the night." - -"Thanks for your courtesy, which I gratefully accept. Is the _rancho_ -far from Las Norias?" - -"Hardly a league. Were it daylight, you would be able to see from hence -the tall walls of the _hacienda._ Permit me to be your guide on the -road to my poor dwelling." - -The cavaliers then bent to the left, entering a broad path lined with -aloes. Very soon the barking of several watchdogs, and two or three -specks of light which twinkled through the darkness, apprised them -that it would not be long before they reached the end of their tedious -journey. In fact, after riding some ten minutes longer, they found -themselves in front of a house, small, but apparently comfortable, -under the _zaguan_ (veranda) of which several persons, provided with -torches, seemed to be expecting their arrival. - -They stopped before the porch, dismounted, gave their horses to a -_peon_, who led them away, and entered the dwelling, Don Estevan -preceding his guest in order to do the honours of his house. - -They found themselves in a chamber of good dimensions, furnished with -sundry chairs, a few armchairs, and a massive table, on which the -cloth was laid for several persons. The whitewashed walls of the room -were adorned with prints, frightfully coloured, representing the four -seasons, the five quarters of the globe, &c. - -A woman, no longer young, dressed with a certain degree of refinement, -and whose features, although marked by age, still preserved traces of -great beauty, stood in the middle of the room. - -"Mother," said Don Estevan, bowing respectfully before her, "permit me -to present to you Don Fernando Carril, an honourable _caballero_, who -consents to be our guest tonight." - -"He is welcome," answered Dona Manuela, with a gracious smile; "this -house and all that is in it is at his disposal." - -"Many thanks, senora, for this kind reception." - -At first sight of the stranger Dona Manuela had begun to tremble, -and had scarcely repressed an exclamation of surprise. The sound of -his voice struck her no less, and she cast a profoundly scrutinising -look over him; but after a moment she shook her head gently, as if -mistrusting the thought which had arisen. - -"Be seated, senor," she said, pointing to the table with great -cordiality; "the supper shall be served directly. Your long ride will -have sharpened your appetite, and will make the frugality of the viands -less distasteful." - -In fact, the meal was frugal, consisting of beans with red pepper, beef -dried in the sun, a fowl boiled in rice, rolls of maize, with _pulque_ -and _mezcal_ to drink With great pleasure Dona Manuela watched the -viands disappear with which she loaded their plates. She encouraged -them by all the means in her power to satisfy their hunger. - -When supper was over, they passed into an inner chamber, more -comfortably furnished, which appeared to be the reception room. - -The conversation, which had naturally been rather languid at dinner, -now, little by little, grew more animated, and soon reached, thanks to -the efforts of Dona Manuela, that tone of pleasant familiarity which -banishes every constraint, and doubles the charms of familiar chat. - -Don Fernando seemed to enter with all his heart into the desultory -conversation, which leaped without ceasing from one subject to another; -listening with complacency to the long stories of Dona Manuela, and -answering with apparent rankness the questions she asked him. - -"Are you a _costeno_" (an inhabitant of the sea border), "or a _tierras -a dentro_" (one of those who dwell inland), "_caballero?_" the good -dame suddenly asked her guest. - -"By my faith, senora," replied he, laughing, "I confess I feel some -difficulty in replying." - -"Why so, senor?" - -"For the simple reason that I have no idea where I was born." - -"But you are _hijo del pais_" (literally, a son of the country),--"a -Mexican, at all events?" - -"Everything leads me to think so, senora; but I would not swear it." - -"That is very singular. Does not your family reside in the province?" - -A shadow crossed the face of Don Fernando. "No, senora," he replied -dryly. - -The mistress of the house perceived she had touched a tender chord, and -hastened to turn the conversation. - -"Of course you know Don Pedro de Luna?" - -"Very little, senora; accident threw us together once. It is true the -circumstances were too singular for him to forget them easily; but it -remains to be seen whether I ever set foot in his _hacienda._" - -"You are wrong, _caballero_; Don Pedro is a _cristiano Viejo_" (an old -Christian, i.e. a descendant of the early conquerors), "who exercises -hospitality after the fashion of old times: nothing makes him happier -than to practise it." - -"Most unfortunately, important affairs call me to some distance, and I -fear I shall have no time to stop at his _hacienda._" - -"Forgive the question," said Don Estevan; "but have you really the -intention of entering the prairie?" - -"Why do you ask, _caballero?_" - -"Because we are here on the extreme Indian frontier; and unless you -retrace your steps, it is only towards the wilderness you can bend -them." - -"Well, then, it is my intention to go into the desert." - -Don Estevan made a gesture of surprise. - -"Forgive my pertinacity," said he; "but without doubt you must be -acquainted with the desert you intend to enter?" - -"By your leave, senor, I am thoroughly acquainted with it." - -"And knowing its dangers, dare you enter it alone?" - -"I thought I had given you a proof today," said he, with an indefinable -smile, "that I dare many things." - -"Yes, yes; I know your courage carries you on to rashness: but what you -would undertake is worse than temerity--it is madness!" - -"Madness, senor! The word is too strong. Can a resolute man, well armed -and mounted, have anything to fear from the Indians?" - -"If you had nothing to do but defend yourself against Indians and -wild beasts. I should be somewhat in your way of thinking, senor: a -determined white can make head against twenty redskins. But how will -you escape from the Tigercat?" - -"From the Tigercat? Excuse me, _caballero_, but I do not understand you -at all." - -"I will soon explain, senor. The Tigercat is a white. This man, from -reasons unknown to all, has joined the Apaches, has become one of their -chiefs, and sworn implacable hatred to all men of his own colour." - -"I have heard vaguely of the man you mention; but, after all, he is the -only one of his race among the Indians. Redoubtable as he may be, he is -not invulnerable, I suppose; and a brave man might kill him." - -"Unfortunately you are mistaken, _caballero_; this man is not the only -one of his race among the Indians; other bandits of his class are with -him." - -"Yes," cried Dona Manuela; "his son among the rest, who, they say, is -as fierce a bandit as his father." - -"Mother, that is only a surmise. If you come to proof, nothing can be -affirmed against Stoneheart." - -"Who is the man of whom you speak?" - -"His son, as people say; but one cannot be sure of it." - -"And you call this man Stoneheart?" - -"Yes, senor. For my own part, I know several instances of his -generosity, which indicate, on the contrary, a heart in its right -place, and an ardent spirit capable of noble deeds." - -A slight blush overspread the face of Don Fernando. - -"Let us return to the Tigercat," said he. "What have I to dread from -this man?" - -"Everything. Concealed in the prairie, like a hideous _zopilote_ -(vulture) on its point of rock, this wretch pounces upon the caravans, -whatever their strength, and pillages them; he murders in cold blood -the solitary travellers whom their evil destiny delivers into his -hands: his nets are stretched with such cruel skill, that none may -escape him. Listen to me, _caballero_: give up this journey, or you are -a lost man." - -"I thank you for your advice, which, I know, is prompted by the -interest you take in me; nevertheless, I cannot follow it. But it is -too late; allow me to retire. I observed a hammock under the _zaguan_, -in which I could pass the night admirably." - -"I will give orders to have my son's chamber prepared for you." - -"I could not allow anyone to be disturbed on my account, senora; I am -an old traveller. Moreover, the night is already far gone. I swear you -would disoblige me by forcing me to accept the chamber of Don Estevan." - -"Do as you think proper, _caballero_. A guest is one sent from God; -he ought to be master in the house he inhabits, as long as he chooses -to honour it with his presence. May the Lord watch over your repose -and bless your slumbers! My son shall show you the _corral_ (outhouse) -where your horse has been stabled, in case you should wish to depart -before the household is awake." - -"Many thanks, once more, senorita. I hope to pay my respects to you -before I go." - -Having exchanged a few more compliments with his hostess, Don Fernando -rose and left the room, accompanied by Don Estevan. The wish he -expressed, to sleep in a hammock under the _zaguan_, was not at all -extraordinary, and perfectly in accordance with the customs of a -country where the nights, by their beauty and freshness, compensate the -inhabitants for the overpowering heat of the day. - -The American _ranchos_ all have a porch, formed by four, and often six -columns, outside the house, and which support an _azotea_ (flat roof). -In the large space between these columns, which are placed on either -side of the main entrance, hammocks are slung, in which the owners of -the dwellings themselves often pass the night, preferring to sleep -in the open air rather than endure the torrid heat which literally -converts into a stove the interior of the houses. - -Don Estevan led his guest to the _corral_, explained to him the -mechanism of the lock, asked if he could be of any further service, -wished him good night, and retired into the house, leaving the door -open, so that Don Fernando might enter if he thought fit. - -Dona Manuela awaited her son's return in the apartment where he had -left her. The old lady seemed restless. - -"Well," she asked, immediately her son made his appearance, "what do -you think of this man, Estevan?" - -"I, mother!" he answered, looking astonished; "What can I think of him? -I saw him today for the first time." - -The old senora shook her head impatiently. - -"You have been side by side for many hours; such a long _tete-a-tete_ -should have given you an opportunity of studying and forming an opinion -of him." - -"That man, my dear mother, during the short time I have been with -him, has appeared under so many different aspects, that it has been -altogether an impossibility, I will not say to form an opinion, but -even to gain a ray of light by means of which I could direct my study -of him. I believe his to be a strong nature, full of nerve, capable of -good or evil, accordingly as he follows the impulse of his heart or the -calculations of his egotism. At San Lucar everyone seems to dread him -instinctively,--for nothing ostensible in his conduct justifies the -repulsion he inspires; no one can say positively who he is: his life is -an impenetrable mystery." - -"Estevan," said his mother, placing her hand heavily on his arm, -as if to lend force to the words she was about to utter, "a secret -presentiment warns me that the presence of this man in these parts -presages great misfortune. I cannot explain why. The moment he entered, -his features recalled a confused recollection of events that happened -long ago. I saw in his face points of resemblance with that of a -person dead, alas! How long?" She sighed. "When he spoke, the tone -of his voice sounded mournfully on my ear; for the voice completed -the likeness I had found in his face. Whoever this man may be, I am -convinced there is trouble, perhaps danger, in store for us. I am old, -my son; I have much experience; and, you know, one is seldom mistaken -at my age. Presentiments come from God; we must have faith in them. -Watch that man's doings as long as he remains here. I could wish you -had never brought him under our roof." - -"What could I do, mother? Hospitality is a duty from which no one -should shrink." - -"I do not reproach you, Estevan; you have acted according to your -conscience." - -"God grant that you delude yourself, mother! After all, whatever the -man's intentions may be, if he seeks to injure us, as you suppose, we -can but countermine his machinations." - -"No, Estevan; it is not exactly for ourselves I fear." - -"For whom, then, mother?" - -"Cannot you understand me?" said she, with, a mournful smile. - -"_iVive Dios,_ mother! Let him beware. But no, it is impossible. -Nevertheless, I will go to the _hacienda_ at daybreak, and put Don -Pedro on his guard." - -"Do not say a word to them, Estevan; but watch over them like a -faithful friend." - -"Yes, mother, you are right," said Estevan, who had suddenly become -thoughtful. "I will surround Hermosa with a vigilant protection, so -secret that no one shall suspect it. I swear it, _ivive Dios!_ I would -a thousand times rather die under the most atrocious torture, than see -her exposed anew to dangers like those of the last few days. And now, -mother, give me your blessing, and let me go." - -"Go, my son; and God protect you!" - -Don Estevan bent respectfully before his mother, and retired; but -before seeking repose, he made a minute examination of the house, and -did not extinguish his lamp till after he had convinced himself that -all was in perfect order. - -As soon as Don Estevan had left him, Don Fernando threw himself into -the hammock, and closed his eyes. The night was calm and beautiful; the -stars studded the heavens with an infinite number of diamonds; the moon -spread her silver rays over the landscape; at intervals, the prolonged -baying of the watchdogs mingled with the abrupter bark of the _coyotes_ -(prairie-wolves), whose sinister forms were often perceptible in the -distance, the transparency of the atmosphere permitting remote objects -to be easily distinguished. - -All slept, or seemed to sleep. - -Suddenly Don Fernando raised his head, and peered cautiously over -the edge of his hammock. Thoroughly convinced that silence reigned -throughout the house, he slipped to the ground; after carefully -listening, and prying into the darkness in all directions, he placed on -his head the accoutrements of his horse, and turned his steps towards -the _corral_. - -Opening the door noiselessly, he whistled gently. At the signal, the -horse raised his head, and walked up to his master, who was holding the -door half open. - -The latter caught him by the mane, caressed him playfully, and then -saddled and bridled him with the dexterity and speed only acquired by -constant habit. The task over, his master wrapped his hoofs in four -pieces of sheepskin, to deaden the sound of his steps, vaulted into the -saddle, and bending over the neck of the noble brute: "Santiago!" cried -he, "now is the time to prove your mettle." - -The horse, as if he understood his master, dashed off into the -darkness, and took the direction of the river at the top of his speed. - -Meanwhile the greatest silence pervaded the _rancho_, none of the -inhabitants of which seemed to be aware of this sudden flight. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -THE REDSKINS. - - -We must now return to the Far West. - -On the banks of the Rio Grande del Norte, about ten leagues' distance -from the _presidio_ of San Lucar stood the _atepelt_, or temporary -village, of Des Venados. - -The _atepelt_, a simple camp, like most of the Indian villages, -consisted of about a hundred _callis_, or huts, irregularly grouped -near each other. - -Each _calli_ was built of about a dozen stakes driven into the ground, -four or five feet high at the sides, and six or seven in the centre, -with an aperture towards the east, for the master of the _calli_ to -throw water in the direction of the rising sun--a ceremony by which -the Indians conjure the Wacondah to befriend their families during the -course of the day just breaking. - -These _callis_ were covered with bison hides sewn together, with a hole -in the centre to admit the exit of the smoke of the fires kindled in -the interior,--fires which equal in number the wives of the owner, each -wife having a right to a fire of her own. - -The hides which formed the outer walls were carefully dressed, -and painted of divers colours; the painting, by its extravagance, -enlivening the aspect of the _atepelt._ - -The lances of the fighting men were planted upright in the ground in -front of the entrance to the _calli._ These light lances, made of -flexible reed, sixteen or eighteen feet long, and armed at one end with -a long grooved iron, forged by the Indians themselves, are the most -redoubtable weapons of the Apaches. - -The liveliest joy seemed to animate the _atepelt._ In some _callis_ the -women were spinning the wool of their flocks with their spindles; in -others they wove those _zarapes_, so renowned for their fineness and -the perfection of the work, at looms of primitive simplicity. - -The young people of the tribe, assembled in the centre of the -_atepelt_,--a large open space,--were playing at _milt_ (an Indian word -signifying "arrow") a singular game, to which the Indians are greatly -addicted. - -The players trace a large circle on the ground, into which they step, -arranging themselves in two opposite rows. The leader of one row, -holding a ball filled with air in the right hand, the leader of the -other in the left, they throw their balls backwards with a motion which -brings them in front again. The left leg is then lifted, the ball -caught and hurled at the opposite player, whose body it must touch, -under penalty of losing a point. A thousand extravagant contortions -ensue on the part of the latter, in order to avoid the ball: he stoops, -he rises, bends himself backwards or forwards, jumps up where he -stands, or bounds to one side. If the ball quits the ring, the first -player loses two points and runs after it; if, on the contrary, the -second is struck, he must seize the ball and throw it back at his -opponent, whom it must hit, or he loses a point. The next in order, at -the opposite side of the ring, begins the game again; and so on, till -the close of the sport. - -One can understand what shouts of laughter arise from the grotesque -attitudes into which the players fall as the game goes on. - -Other Indians of riper age, were gravely playing with curious packs -of cards, made of squares of hide, coarsely painted with figures of -different animals. - -In a _calli_ larger and better painted than the other huts of the -_atepelt_--the dwelling of the _sachem_, or principal chief, whose -lances, ornamented at the foot with pieces of skin-dyed red, were the -distinguishing badge of power--three men, crouched round the embers -of a fire, were, talking, heedless of the uproar without. They were -the Tigercat, the Zopilote, and the _amantzin_, or the sorcerer of the -tribe. - -The Zopilote was a half-breed, who had taken refuge with the Apaches -long ago, and been adopted by them. This man, every way worthy of the -name he bore, was a wretch whose cold and malignant cruelty revolted -the very Indians, who are themselves not delicate in matters of this -kind. The Tigercat had made this ferocious miscreant, who was devoted -to him, prime-minister of his vengeance, and the docile instrument -of his will. His latest wife, to whom he had been married a year, -had given birth to a boy that morning--hence the rejoicings of the -Indians; and he had come to take the orders of the Tigercat--the great -chief of the tribe--with respect to the ceremonies usual on the like -occasions. - -The Zopilote left the _calli_, to which he speedily returned, followed -by his wives and all his friends, one of whom held the infant in his -arms. The Tigercat, placing himself between the Zopilote and the -_amantzin_ at the head of the party, led them towards the Rio Grande -del Norte. - -The procession halted on the bank of the river; the _amantzin_ took -a little water in the hollow of his hand, and threw it into the -air, muttering a prayer to _the Master of the life of men._ He next -proceeded to _the great medicine;_ that is, the newborn child, wrapped -in his woollen swaddling bands, was five times plunged into the waters -of the river, while the _amantzin_ repeated, in a loud voice: - -"Master of life, look upon this young warrior with favourable eye; -remove from him all evil influences; protect him, Wacondah!" - -At the termination of this part of the ceremony, the procession -returned to the _atepelt_, and arranged itself in a circle in front -of the Zopilote's _calli_, at the entrance of which lay a young -mare on her back, with her four feet tied together. A new _zarape_ -was stretched under the belly of the animal, on which relations and -friends deposited, one after the other, the gifts intended for the -child--spurs, arms, and clothing. The Tigercat, out of friendship for -the Zopilote, had consented to act as godfather to the infant. He -placed it in the midst of the various gifts which filled the _zarape_. - -Then the Zopilote seized his scalping knife, opened at one slash the -flanks of the mare, tore out the heart, and gave it, bleeding as it -was, to the Tigercat, who made a cross with it on the forehead of the -child, addressing him thus: - -"Young warrior of the tribe of Apache-Bisons, be brave and cunning. I -name thee _Mixcoatzin_--Cloud-Serpent." - -The father took the child, and the chief, raising the bleeding heart -above his head, shouted thrice: - -"Long live the Cloud-Serpent!" - -The cry was enthusiastically repeated by the bystanders. The _amantzin_ -then commended the child to the Spirit of Evil, praying him to make the -young warrior brave, eloquent, and cunning; terminating his prayer in -these words, which found an ardent response in the hearts of all those -fierce beings: - -"Above all, may he never be a slave!" - -Thus terminated the ceremony: every religious rite had been performed. -The poor mare, the victim of this stupid superstition, was cut into -pieces; a great fire was kindled; friends and relations took their -seats at a feast, which was intended to last until nothing was left of -the mare. - -The Zopilote was about to seat himself, and feast with the others; -but, at a sign from the Tigercat, he followed the great chief to -his _calli_, where they once more took their seats by the fire. The -_amantzin_ was also with them. - -The Tigercat waved his band to his wives, who left the _calli_, and -after a short meditation, spoke as follows: - -"I trust my brothers, and my heart opens before them like a -_chirimoya_" (a kind of American pear), "to show them my secret -thoughts: I have sorrowed for many days." - -"My father sorrows for his son Stoneheart," said the _amantzin._ - -"No; I care not where he is now; I can find him again when I want -him. But I have a secret mission to confide to a safe man. Till this -morning, I hesitated to open my heart to you." - -"Let my father speak; his sons listen." - -"To hesitate longer would be to compromise things sacred. You will to -horse, Zopilote; I have no words for you: you know where I send you. -Induce these men to aid our enterprise; it will be a notable service." - -"I will do it. Do I go at once?" - -"Without delay." - -"In ten minutes I shall be far hence;" and, saluting the chiefs, he -went out. - -A few minutes later, the sound of a horse's hoofs fading away in the -distance announced his departure. - -Tigercat gave a sigh of satisfaction. - -"Let my brother, the _amantzin_ open his ears," said he. "I am about -to leave the _atepelt_, I hope to be back tonight; but my absence may -be for two or three days. I leave my brother in my stead and place; -he will command the warriors, and will forbid them to go far from the -village, or approach the frontiers of the palefaces. It is important -that the Gachupinos (Mexicans) should not learn that we are so near -them; to do so would mar our plan. Does my brother understand?" - -"The Tigercat has no forked tongue; the words breathed from his mouth -are clear. His son understands." - -"Good. I can go in peace: my brother will watch over the tribe." - -"I will obey the orders of my father. If he is absent many suns, he -will not have to reproach his son." - -"Ugh! My son's words lift the skin that covered my heart and filled it -with sorrow. The Master of Life watch over him! I go." - -"Ugh! My brother is a sage warrior. The Wacondah will protect him on -his road; he will succeed." - -The two men gravely saluted each other. The _amantzin_ remained by the -fire; the chief departed. - -It is probable that, if the old _sachem_ had remarked the expression of -knavish hate on the face of the sorcerer at the moment they parted, he -would not have quitted the village. - -As the Tigercat threw himself into the saddle with a lightness hardly -to be expected at his years, the sun disappeared behind the mountains, -and night enveloped the prairie. - -The old man, without seeming to care for the darkness, pressed his -horse with his knees, gave him his head, and galloped off. - -The sorcerer, with bent person and head stretched forward, listened -anxiously to the lessening sound of the chief's rapid course. When all -was still again, he raised himself erect, a smile of triumph played -across his thin and livid lips, and he uttered triumphantly the words, -"At last!"--a summary of the thoughts secreted in his heart. - -Then he arose, left the _calli_, seated himself a few paces from it, -crossed his arms over his chest, and chanted, in a deep bass and a -mournful and monotonous rhythm, the Apache lament, beginning with the -following verse, which we reproduce as a specimen of the language of -this barbarous people: - -"El mebin ni tlacaelantey -Tuz apan Pilco payentzin -Ancu maguida coaltzin -Ay guinchey ni polio menchey." - -[I have lost my _tlacaelantey_ in the country of Pilco. Oh, murderous -knives, which have changed him into shades and flies!] - -As the sorcerer went on with his song, his voice became by degrees -louder and more confident. In a short time, warriors, wrapped in their -bison robes, issued from several of the huts, and, with furtive steps, -approached the sorcerer, and entered the _calli._ At the close of the -lament, the sorcerer rose, ascertained that no other person was coming -towards him, that no laggard was loitering at his call, and in his turn -entered the _calli_, to join those whom he had convoked thus singularly. - -There were twenty men in all; they stood silent and motionless, like -bronze statues, round the fire, whose flames, revived by the draught -caused by their entrance, threw sinister shadows over their stern and -determined features. The _amantzin_ placed himself in the midst, and -said: - -"Let my brothers sit at the council fire." - -The warriors squatted down in a circle. - -The sorcerer then took from the hands of the _hachesto_, or public -crier, the great calumet, the bowl of which was of red clay, and the -tube six feet long, of aloes wood, garnished with feathers and hawks' -bells. He filled it with a washed tobacco, called _morriche_, which -is never used except upon great occasions, lighted it with a medicine -stick, and having drawn a long breath of more than a minute, and -discharged the smoke through mouth and nose, presented the calumet -to the warrior on his right. The latter followed his example; and -the calumet passed thus from hand to hand, till it returned to the -_amantzin._ - -The latter shook the ashes into the fire, muttering, in a low voice, a -few unintelligible words; after which, be restored the calumet to the -_hachesto_, who went out to watch, in order to ensure secrecy to the -deliberations of the council. - -There was a long silence; the profoundest calm brooded over the -village; no sound disturbed the tranquillity of the _atepelt;_ and one -might have thought oneself a hundred leagues from a human dwelling. - -At length the _amantzin_ rose, cast a searching look over the assembly, -and spoke. - -"Let my brothers open their ears," he said in measured tones. "The -spirit of the Master of Life has entered into my body; it is he -who dictates the words which spring from my lips. Chiefs of the -Bison-Apaches! The spirit of your ancestors has ceased to animate your -souls. You are no longer the terrible warriors, who declared war, -without truce or mercy, against the palefaces--those cowards, and -hateful despoilers of your hunting grounds; you are only antelopes, who -fly with faltering feet from the distant sound of an _erupha_ (gun) of -the palefaces; you are old women, to whom the _Yorris_ (Spanish) give -their petticoats; your blood no longer runs bright in your veins, -and a skin stretches over your heart and covers it completely. You, -formerly so brave and terrible, have made yourselves the coward slaves -of a dog of a paleface, who chases you like frightened rabbits, and -holds you trembling under his eye. Thus speaks the Master of Life. What -do you answer, warriors of the Apaches?" - -He ceased, and waited for one of the chiefs to take up the word. During -this insulting speech, a tremor of indignation agitated the Indians; it -was only by great efforts they obtained the mastery over their passion. -But when the _amantzin_ ceased, a chief rose. - -"Is the sorcerer of the Apaches-Bisons mad," said he in a voice of -thunder, "that he should speak thus to the chiefs of his nation? He who -counts the foxes' tails attached to our heels will see if we are women, -and if the courage of our ancestors is dead in our hearts. What if the -Tigercat is a paleface?--His heart is Apache. The Tigercat is wise; he -has seen many things; the counsels he gives are good." - -The _amantzin_ smiled with disdain. - -"My brother the White-Eagle speaks well; it is not for me to answer -him." - -He struck his hands thrice. A warrior appeared. - -"Let my brother," said the _amantzin_ to him, "tell the council the -mission with which he was charged by the Tigercat." - -The redskin advanced to the circle, and bowed low before the chiefs, -who were all gazing at him. - -"The Tigercat," spoke a deep and mournful voice, "had ordered the -Black-Falcon to form an ambush with twenty warriors on the path of the -palefaces, whom Stoneheart pretended to guide to their big stone huts. -The Black-Falcon followed the palefaces a long time in the prairie. -Their trail was clear; they had no arms; nothing seemed more easy than -to seize them. An hour before the time fixed for the attack, Stoneheart -appeared alone in the camp of the warriors. The Black-Falcon received -him with the signs of friendship and praise, because he had abandoned -the _Yorris._ But Stoneheart replied, that Tigercat forbade the attack -on the palefaces, and, throwing himself on the Black-Falcon, thrust -the knife into his heart; while the _Yorris_, who had stolen upon the -camp, surprised the warriors, and massacred them with _eruphas_ given -by Tigercat himself. This treachery was done to put Black-Falcon out of -his path, whose fame he envied. Twenty warriors followed the war path; -six returned with me to the _atepelt:_ the others have been slain by -the Tigercat. I have said." - -This astonishing revelation created a stern silence of amazement and -rage. It was the calm that harbours the tempest. The chiefs looked from -one to the other with eyes of wrath. - -Of all races, the redskins are the most remarkable for the rapidity -with which their moods change, and are most easily led away by feelings -of rage. The _amantzin_ was aware of this; therefore he was sure of -his triumph, after the terrible impression made by the recital of the -warrior. - -"Ugh!" said he, "What do my brothers think now of the counsels of the -Tigercat? Does the White-Eagle still think he has the heart of an -Apache? Who will avenge the death of the Black-Falcon?" - -Most of the chiefs rose at once, brandishing their scalping knives. - -"The Tigercat is a thieving dog, and a coward!" they shouted. "The -Apache warriors will tie his scalp to their girdles." - -Only two or three of the _sachems_ attempted to protest; they knew the -_amantzin's_ inveterate and long-standing hatred of Tigercat; they knew -the knavish character of the sorcerer; and suspected that, in this -affair, the truth had been disguised and garbled in order to serve the -vengeance of the man who had vowed the death of a foe whom he would -never dare to face openly. - -But the voices of these chiefs were soon stifled by the clamorous -ire of the other Indians. Renouncing, for the present, a useless -discussion, they withdrew from the circle, and grouped themselves in -a corner of the _calli_, resolved to remain the impassive, if not -indifferent, witnesses of the resolutions to be taken by the council. - -The Indians are grown-up children, who lash themselves into fury with -the sound of their own words and, when excited by their passions, -forget all prudence and moderation. - -However, in the present case, although they felt the fiercest desire -to avenge themselves on the Tigercat,--whom at this moment they -hated so much the more because they had loved and respected him so -highly,--although the most violent measures were proposed against him, -still it was not without some degree of hesitation that they proceeded -to act against their aged chief. The reason was simple enough: these -primitive beings recognised only one kind of superiority,--that of -brute strength; and the Tigercat, in spite of his great age, enjoyed -among them a reputation for strength and courage, too well established -for them not to look forward with a certain degree of fear to the -consequences of the action they meditated. - -The _amantzin_ tried in vain, by all the means in his power, to -convince them how easy it would be to seize Tigercat on his return -to the village. The sorcerer's project was excellent; if the chiefs -chose to avail themselves of it, it would be impossible to fail. The -plan was this: the Apaches were to feign ignorance of the death of -the Black-Falcon; they were to receive him on his return with the -greatest protestations of joy, in order to lull the suspicions he -might entertain, and seize him while he slept; they were to bind him -securely, and tie him to the torture stake. One sees that the plan was -extremely simple; but the Apaches would not listen to it, so great was -the dread they felt for their foe. - -Finally, after a discussion which lasted the greater part of the night, -it was definitely settled that the tribe should strike their camp, and -bury themselves in the desert, without troubling themselves with any -further thought of their old leader. - -But just at that moment the dissentient chiefs who, up to that time, -had taken no part in what was going on, left the corner of the _calli_ -to which they had retired, and one of them, called Fire-Eye, taking -up the word in the name of his companions, observed that those of the -_sachems_ who wished to depart might do so, but could not impose their -will on others; that the tribe had no great chief legally chosen; that -each was at liberty to act as he pleased; and that, as for themselves, -they were resolved not to repay with black ingratitude the eminent -services the Tigercat had rendered the tribe for many years past; and -they would not quit the village before his return. - -This determination gave great anxiety to the _amantzin_, who vainly -sought to overcome it: the chiefs would listen to nothing, and adhered -firmly to their determination. - -At sunrise, by order of the sorcerer, who already acted from that time -forward as if he was the recognised grand chief of the tribe, the -_hachesto_ summoned the warriors to the open space of the village, -by the ark of the first man, and orders were given to the women to -pull down the _callis_, and harness and load the dogs, that they -might depart as soon as possible. The order was promptly executed; -the pickets were drawn, the bison hides folded, household utensils -carefully packed, and placed on sledges, to be drawn by the dogs. - -But the dissentient chiefs had not been idle on their side: they had -managed to win over to their opinion several renowned warriors of the -people, so that only about three-quarters of the tribe prepared to -emigrate, while the other quarter remained stoical spectators of the -arrangements for travel which were going on before them. - -At last the _hachesto_, at the order of the _amantzin_, gave the signal -to march. - -Then a long line of sledges drawn by dogs, and of women laden with -children, quitted the village, escorted by a numerous band of warriors, -and was soon winding its way, like a great serpent, through the prairie. - -When their brothers had disappeared in the depths of the wilderness, -the warriors who had remained faithful to the Tigercat assembled to -deliberate on the measures to be taken until his return. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -THE MIDNIGHT MEETING. - - -In the meantime Don Fernando Carril, bending over his horse's mane, was -gliding through the night like a phantom. - -Thanks to the precaution he had taken of wrapping pieces of sheepskin -round the hoofs of the horse, he passed on silently and rapidly as the -spectre-horseman of the German ballad, making the frightened packs of -_coyotes_ fly before his career. - -Gradually he neared the banks of the river, which he forded without -slackening his speed; inciting his steed by voice and gesture, and -throwing sharp glances to right and left, before and behind him. - -His flight lasted full three hours, during which the Mexican never -allowed his favourite a moment's respite to fetch his breath and rest -his tired limbs. - -But when at last he arrived at a spot on the narrow river, where it -rolled its muddy waters between low banks lined with tufted cotton -trees, he alighted in a thick coppice, and, having convinced himself he -was alone, plucked a handful of grass, and rubbed his horse down with -that care, and solicitude of which those alone are capable whose lives -may at any moment depend on the speed of their faithful and devoted -companion. Then taking off the bridle, and leaving him to graze on -the tall and abundant grasses, the Mexican spread his _zarape_ on the -ground, and closed his eyes. - -Nothing troubled the silence of the night; no sound arose in the -desert. Don Fernando lay motionless as a corpse, his eyes still closed, -and his head supported by his left arm; and thus he lay for two hours. - -Did he sleep? Did he wake? None could say. Suddenly the hooting of an -owl arose on the air. In an instant Don Fernando half-raised himself, -bent his head forward, and listened, with his eyes fixed on the heavens. - -It was deep in the night; the stars were shedding on the earth their -obscure and doubtful light; nothing foretold the approach of day. - -It was scarcely two o'clock in the morning; the owl is the first bird -to announce the approach of the sun, but owls do not proclaim the day -three hours before it breaks. Notwithstanding the perfection of the -imitation, the Mexican hesitated. Soon a second hoot, followed by -a third, dispersed the doubts of Don Fernando; he rose, and thrice -repeated the cry of the water hawk. - -A similar cry issued immediately from the opposite bank of the river. - -Don Fernando bridled his horse, cast his _zarape_ over his shoulders, -examined his weapons to ensure their efficacy, flung himself into the -saddle without touching stirrup, and crossed the river. - -A short distance in front of him lay an islet, covered with poplars -and cotton trees, towards which he bent his steps. The approach to -the islet was easy; the horse, recruited by his two hours' rest, swam -strongly, and touched the ground nearly in a straight line from the -spot where he had plunged in. - -Scarcely had the Mexican reached the land, when a rider emerged from -the thicket, and halting some twenty paces off, exclaimed, in a loud -voice, and an accent of great discontent: - -"You were late in replying to my signal. I was on the point of leaving." - -"Perhaps it would have been better had you done so," sharply replied -Don Fernando. - -"Aha!" said the other mockingly, "Does the wind blow from that quarter?" - -"Never mind whence it blows, if I do not sail before it. I am here; -what do you want with me? Be short; for I have no time to give you." - -"_iVive Dios!_ Something very interesting must entice you to the place -whence you came, if you are so anxious to be there again." - -"Listen, Tigercat," roundly and sharply replied the Mexican; "if you -have summoned me here so urgently merely to chafe and laugh at me, it -is useless to stay longer; so, adieu!" - -As he said this, Don Fernando turned as if to retire and quit the -island. - -The Tigercat--for his interlocutor was no other than that extraordinary -personage--quickly seized a pistol, and cocked it. - -"_iRayo de Dios!_" said he; "if you stir a foot, I will blow your -brains out!" - -"Pooh!" replied the other, with a sneer; "What should I be doing in the -meanwhile? A truce to threats, or I kill you like a dog." - -With action as prompt as the Tigercat's, he too had drawn a pistol, -cocked, and presented it at his opponent. - -"You would not dare to do it." - -"You know I dare all," said the Mexican. - -"We have lost time enough; let us proceed to business," said the old -man, alighting from his horse. - -"Well, let us proceed to business. What is it you want with me?" -replied Don Fernando, also dismounting. - -"Why have you deceived and turned against me, instead of serving me, as -you are bound?" - -"I was bound to nothing with you; on the contrary, I roundly refused -the mission which you persisted in forcing upon me." - -"Could you not have remained neuter, and allowed these people to fall -into my hands again?" - -"No; my honour compelled me to defend them." - -"Your honour!" burst out the Tigercat, with a cynical laugh. - -The Mexican was confused: he frowned, but recovered himself, and -continued: - -"Hospitality is sacred in the prairie; its rights are indefeasible. The -people I guided had placed themselves, of their own accord, under my -protection: to abandon, or refuse to defend them, would have been to -betray them. You yourself would have done as I did." - -"It is useless to recur any more to this, or to discuss a deed that is -done. Why did you not return to me?" - -"Because I preferred to stay at San Lucar." - -"Yes; civilized life is sure to attract you; I can understand that this -double part you are playing, at your own risk and peril, has charms for -you. Don Fernando Carril is received with open arms in the circles of -the highest Mexican society. But believe me, boy, you had better take -heed lest your adventurous spirit lead you into some false steps, from -which not all the courage of Stoneheart could save you." - -"I did not come here to listen to sermons." - -"True; but it is my duty to read you the sermons you did not come to -hear. As long as I remain in the desert, I will not lose sight of -you for a moment. I know all your doings; I am ignorant of nothing -regarding you." - -"And why have you surrounded me with spies?" said Don Fernando -haughtily. - -"In order to know if I could still repose the same confidence in you." - -"And what have you learned from your spies?" - -"Nothing but what is satisfactory; only I insist on knowing how we -stand towards each other." - -"Do not your spies make you aware of my slightest doings?" - -"Yes, of all that concerns you personally: thus I know you have not yet -ventured to present yourself to Don Pedro de Luna;" and he sneered. - -"True; but I intend to see him tomorrow." - -The Tigercat shrugged his shoulders in disdain. - -"Let us speak of more serious matters," said he. "How do we stand?" - -"I have followed your instructions in everything. For two years, since -the time I first made my appearance in San Lucar, I have lost no single -opportunity of forming connections, which will, I hope be of service to -you later on. Although my appearance at the _pueblo_ is rare, and my -visits are short, I still think I have attained the object you proposed -to yourself when you gave me my orders. The mystery with which I -surround myself has been of more use to me than I dared to hope. I have -attached to myself the greater number of the _vaqueros_ and _leperos_ -in the _presidio_--gallows birds, but I can count upon them; they are -devoted to me. These fellows only know me as Don Fernando Carril." - -"Ah, I know all that," said the Tigercat. - -"You do?" said the Mexican, looking at the old man with a glance of -anger. - -"Have I not told you I never left you out of my sight?" - -"Yes--as far as my personal affairs are concerned." - -"Well, the hour is come to gather the harvest we have sown among these -villains. They will serve me better against their countrymen than -the redskins in whom I dare not place perfect confidence. They are -acquainted with Spanish tactics, and accustomed to firearms. Now that -your part with the _picaros_ is over, I shall begin to play mine. I -must enter into direct relation with them." - -"As you please; I thank you for releasing me from the responsibility -of an affair the object of which you have never thought fit to confide -to me. I shall be glad to procure you the means of treating personally -with the rascals I have engaged in your service." - -"I understand your longings to be free, and approve them the more, -since it was I who first inspired you with the wish to become better -acquainted with the charming daughter of Don Pedro de Luna." - -"Not a word of her," said Don Fernando fiercely. "If, up to the present -time, I have consented to be guided by you, and to obey your orders -without discussing them, the time has now come to place the question -clearly and categorically before us, so that no misunderstanding may -arise between us in the future. It is this reason alone which had -weight enough to bring me tonight in answer to your summons." - -The Tigercat looked at the Mexican long and fixedly; then he replied: - -"Speak, then, madman, who do not see the gulf which yawns at your feet: -speak; I listen." - -Don Fernando remained some time lost in thought, leaning against the -knotted trunk of a poplar, and with his eyes cast on the ground. - -"Tigercat," said he at length, "I know not who you are, nor the motives -which have induced you to renounce civilisation, to take refuge in -the desert, and adopt the life of the Indian; I do not wish to know -them. Every man is responsible for his own actions, and must render an -account of them to his own conscience. As to myself, never has a word -from your mouth taught me in what place I was born, or to what family -I belong. Although you brought me up--although, as far back as my -memory carries me, I have seen no one belonging to me but yourself--yet -I cannot think you are my father. Had I been your son, or even only -a distant relative, it is evident my training would have been widely -different to that which I received at your express commands." - -"What are those words your bold lips utter?--How dare you venture -to fling reproaches at me?" said the old man, bursting into a fit of -passion. - -"Interrupt me not, Tigercat; let me open my thoughts to you entirely," -sadly replied the Mexican. "I do not reproach you; but from the time -when, under the name of Don Fernando Carril, you forced me into the -whirl of civilised life, in spite of myself, and no doubt in spite of -you, I have learned two things, and my eyes have been opened. I have -comprehended the meaning of two words, the significance of which was -unknown to me till then. These two words have changed not only my -character, but the light in which I used to look at things; for, with a -purpose I cannot divine, you applied yourself from my infancy to foster -every evil sentiment germinating within me, while you carefully stifled -the few good qualities which my heart might haply have possessed, had -it not been for the system you adopted. In a word, I have now arrived -at the knowledge of good and evil. I know all your efforts have been -exerted to make me a human wild beast. Have you succeeded? The future -shall show. To judge by the feelings that are surging in my heart -while I speak to you, you have not reached the result you aimed at; -be that as it may, I am no longer your slave. I have served too long -as the instrument in your hands of deeds whose aim I cannot see. You -have yourself taught me that family bonds do not exist in nature; -that they are absurd prejudices, trammels invented by civilisation; -that no man has a right to impose his will as law on others; that the -real man is he who walks free through life, unincumbered by relation -or friend, recognising no master but his own desires. Well, then, I -will now put in practice these precepts you have so long and steadily -inculcated. What matters to me whether I be Don Fernando Carril, or -Stoneheart the Bee-hunter? Following the law laid down by yourself, and -elevating ingratitude into a virtue, I take back my own free liberty -and independence of you, recognising no claim of yours to influence my -life for good or for evil, and assuming from henceforth the right to -walk after my own impulses, whatever may happen in consequence of my -resolve." - -"Go, my child," said the Tigercat, with his mocking sneer; "go, act as -you think fit; but, in spite of all your efforts, you will soon come -back to me; for say what you will, you belong to me, and will soon -know it. But it does not rouse my ire to hear you speak thus; it is -not you who speak--it is love. I am very old, Fernando, but not so old -as to have lost all recollections of my youth. Love has mastered your -heart; when he has utterly burnt it up, you will return to the desert; -for then you will have learnt what that life is into which you, poor, -ignorant child, are just plunging. You will have learnt that life in -this world is but a feather blown hither and thither by every varying -breeze; and that at the breath of love, the man who thinks himself the -strongest becomes more feeble than the weakest and most wretched of -created beings. But let us break off: it is your will to be free; be -so. First of all, however, you have to render me an account of the -mission with which I charged you." - -"I will do so. Present yourself to the _vaqueros_ in my name; this -diamond"--and he drew one from his finger--"will be your passport. They -have been warned: show it to them, and they will obey you as they would -myself." - -"Where do these men meet?" - -"You will find most of them at a low _pulqueria_ in the new Pueblo de -San Lucar. But do you really intend to venture within the _presidio?_" - -"Assuredly. Now, one word more: can I count upon you when the hour for -action arrives?" - -"You can, if what you purpose is right." - -"Aha! You are already beginning to impose conditions." - -"Have I not told you so?--Or shall I remain neuter?" - -"No; I have need of you. You will, I suppose, inhabit the house you -bought? Every day a trusty person shall inform you of the course of -events; and when the proper moment comes, I know you will be with me." - -"Perhaps I may; but happen what will, do not depend too much upon it." - -"I do depend upon it, nevertheless, and I will tell you why. At present -you are under the impulse of love, and naturally your reasoning -succumbs to the influence of the passion that masters you. But before -a month is over, see what will inevitably happen. Either you will -succeed,--and satiety, following on the heels of sated passion, will -make you glad to return to the wilderness,--or you will fail, and -jealousy and wounded pride will inspire the lust for vengeance, and you -will seize with joy the opportunity I shall offer you to glut it." - -"I see clearly that very shortly we shall not understand each other at -all," said the Mexican with a melancholy smile. "You always reason from -your evil passions, so great is your hatred of men, and the contempt -you feel for the human race; while I only listen to my good feelings, -and suffer myself to be guided by them." - -"Well, well, child; I give you a month to finish your caterwauling. -That time passed, we will resume our conversation. Adieu." - -"Adieu. Are you bound for the _presidio?_" - -"No; I return to my village, where, too, I have a little matter of -business; for, unless I am mistaken, curious things have happened since -I left it." - -"Do you dread a revolt there against your power?" - -"I do not dread, I wish it," was the enigmatical answer. - -The old man then bid the Mexican farewell, mounted his horse, and rode -into the thicket. - -Don Fernando stood there some time, plunged in serious thought, -listening mechanically to the sound of the horse's hoofs as they died -away in the distance. When he could no longer hear them, he turned his -head in the direction Tigercat had taken. - -"Go," said he hoarsely; "go, savage, in the belief that I have not -discovered your project. I will dig a mine under your feet to explode -and crush you. I will foil your attempt. I would dare more than man -dares to baffle your machinations. It is three o'clock," he continued, -after looking at the sky, from which the stars were fading out; "I -shall have time." - -He called his horse and mounted, took the direction of Don Estevan's -_rancho_, and recommenced his headlong course across the wilderness. - -The horse, fresh from his long rest, stretched himself out freely; and -daylight was just beginning to appear when they reached the _rancho._ - -Don Fernando gave a sigh of satisfaction. All was quiet about the -dwelling; all the inhabitants seemed wrapped in repose. The secret of -his nocturnal excursion was safe. - -He unsaddled his horse, groomed him carefully,--so as to leave no signs -of his ride,--and led him to the _corral_, where he carefully divested -his hoofs of the pieces of sheepskin, turned him in, closed the door, -and softly returned to the zaguan. - -Just as he was about to climb into his hammock, he observed a man, who, -leaning against the doorpost with his legs crossed, was calmly smoking -his _pajillo._ - -Don Fernando recoiled on recognising his host; it was, in fact, Estevan -Diaz. - -The latter, without the slightest semblance of surprise, took the -cigarette from his mouth, blew out an enormous mouthful of smoke, and -addressed his guest in a tone of the most polished courtesy. - -"You must be greatly fatigued with your long ride tonight, _caballero._ -Will you have anything to restore you?" - -Don Fernando, horrified at the coolness with which this was uttered, -hesitated for a moment. - -"How am I to understand you, _caballero?_" said he. - -"How?" said the other. "Pooh! What is the use of dissembling? I assure -you, it is useless to attempt to blind me: I know all." - -"You know all! What do you know?" replied the Mexican, anxious to -ascertain how far Don Estevan was acquainted with what had occurred. - -"I know," replied the _major-domo_, "that you rose, that you saddled -your horse, and that you went to meet one of your friends who was -waiting for you at the Isle de los Pavos." - -"What!" cried Don Fernando, scarcely repressing his rage; "You dared to -follow me?" - -"_iVive Dios!_ I should think so; it is my way of thinking to fancy -that a man who has been all day long on horseback does not take -another ride through the whole of the following night for mere -pleasure, particularly in a country like this, which, dangerous enough -by daylight, is doubly so when night has fallen. Moreover, I am -inquisitive by nature--" - -"You are a spy!" broke in Don Fernando, in a fury. - -"Fie, _caballero!_ What a strange expression you use! I a spy! No, -no; only as the simplest way of learning what I wanted to know was to -listen, I listened." - -"Then you were present at the conversation on the Isle de los Pavos?" - -"I will not deny it, caballero; indeed, I was very close to you." - -"And heard everything that was said there?" - -"To be sure; yes, very nearly all," replied Don Estevan, still smiling. - -Don Fernando threw himself upon the _major-domo_, but was stopped by -him with a strength the former hardly expected to meet with. - -Don Estevan continued, in the same placid tone in which he had hitherto -spoken: - -"_iCuerpo de Cristo!_ you are my guest. Wait a little; we shall have -time to finish this matter here, after, if it must be." - -The Mexican, overwhelmed by these words, stepped back from him, crossed -his arms, and, looking him full in the face, replied, "I will wait." - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -DON ESTEVAN DIAZ. - - -For some little time the two men stood thus face to face, looking at -each other with the dogged resolution of two duellists who are watching -an opportunity to close. - -The eyes of Don Estevan, whose face was in other respects impassive, -betrayed a sorrow which he could not dissemble. - -Don Fernando, with folded arms, his head erect, his forehead frowning, -and his lips livid with the fury that boiled within him, waited for the -words that were to fall from Don Estevan's mouth, in order to decide -whether he should attack him at once, or pretend to be satisfied with -the excuses the latter would probably utter. - -By degrees the darkness had become less palpable: the sky decked itself -in iris colours, the horizon grew red, the sun, although not yet -visible, gave tokens that it would not be long ere he rose, to replace -with floods of dazzling light the pale rays of the few stars still -visible in the profound blue of heaven. - -A thousand pungent odours rose from the earth; and the morning breeze, -passing over the foliage of the trees, made it tremble and murmur, -while it twisted the mists hanging over the river into the most -fantastic folds. - -At length Don Estevan, to whom the pause was becoming as embarrassing -as it was to the other, determined to break the silence. - -"I will be frank with you, _caballero_," said he. "I heard everything -that passed in your conversation with the Tigercat; not a word escaped -me. This will show you that I know all, and am aware that Don Fernando -Carril and Stoneheart are one and the same person." - -"Yes," said the Mexican, bitterly, "I see you are an excellent spy. You -have chosen a sorry trade, _caballero._" - -"Who can tell? Perhaps, before we have finished our conversation, you -may be of a different opinion, senor." - -"I doubt it. But allow me to remark, that you have a singular mode of -showing hospitality towards the guests God sends you." - -"Let me explain first; then, after you have heard what I have to tell -you, I shall be ready, _caballero_, to give you the satisfaction you -demand--if you still insist on it." - -"Speak, then; and let us finish this somehow or other," replied -Don Fernando impatiently. "The sun has already risen; I hear them -moving and talking in the _rancho;_ the people will soon make their -appearance, and hinder, by their presence, any explanation between us." - -"You are right; we must settle this; and as I have as little -inclination to be interrupted as you, follow me. What I have to say is -too long to be spoken here." - -Don Fernando complied. They entered the corral, and saddled their -horses. - -"Now mount and be off," said Don Estevan, as he vaulted into the -saddle; "there is plenty of room for talk in the desert." - -The plan proposed was very acceptable to the Mexican, as it gave him -freedom of action, and the means of hurling consummate vengeance at -the head of the _major-domo_, if the latter wished, as he fancied, to -betray him. - -It was a splendid morning: a dazzling sun showered down his hot rays in -profusion over the country, making the stones glitter like diamonds; -the birds warbled gaily among the leaves; _vaqueros_ and _peones_ began -to disperse themselves in all directions, urging on to the pasturage -the horses and cattle of the _hacienda;_ the landscape increased in -beauty every moment, and bore a smiling aspect, very different to the -one it wore under the terrors of darkness. - -The two men rode on for an hour, when they came to a half-ruined and -uninhabited _rancho_, which, covered with climbing plants, and almost -hidden under their leaves and flowers, offered an excellent refuge -from the heat; for, though the day was still young, the sultriness of -the air was overpowering. - -"Let us stop here," said Don Estevan, breaking silence for the first -time since they left his home; "we shall scarcely find a fitter place." - -"Stop, if it suits you," said Don Fernando, carelessly; "to me all -places are alike, provided you give me the explanation I demand; only, -let it be short and frank." - -"Frank it shall be, I give you my honour; short I cannot say, for I -have a long and sad tale to relate." - -"To me? And for what purpose, pray? Must I hear it? Tell me only--" - -"Most surely," said Don Estevan, as he dismounted, "what I have to say -will touch you very nearly. You will shortly see the proof." - -Don Fernando shrugged his shoulders, and alighted in his turn. - -"You are mad, _Dios me libre_," (God forgive me), said he. "Since -you overheard our conversation so clearly, you must know that I am -a foreigner, and anything that occurs in this country can be but of -slight importance to me." - -"_?Quien sabe?_" (Who can tell?) replied Don Estevan, sententiously, -throwing himself on the floor of the _rancho_ with great content. - -Don Fernando followed his example, his curiosity beginning to get the -better of him. - -When the two men were comfortably stretched opposite each other, Don -Estevan turned his face to the Mexican: - -"I am going to talk of Dona Hermosa," said he of a sudden. - -Surprised by these words, the Mexican blushed deeply. He tried in vain -to conceal his emotion. - -"Ah!" said he in a stifled voice, "Dona Hermosa! You mean the daughter -of Don Luna?" - -"The same. In a word, the very girl you saved a few days ago." - -"Why recur to that event? Everyone else in my place would have done the -same." - -"It may be so. I do not wish to appear sceptical, but I think you are -mistaken there. However, that is not our question. I say, you saved -Dona Hermosa from a frightful death. At the first impulse, yielding to -your feelings of pride, you left her abruptly, determined to return -to the desert, never again to see the face of her who would have -overwhelmed you with gratitude." - -Don Fernando, astonished and galled at finding his feelings so well -understood, briskly interrupted the speaker. - -"To our business, if it so please you, _caballero_," he said sharply; -"it is better to begin your explanation at once than launch out into -suppositions which may be very ingenious, but have the one fault of -being erroneous." - -"Look, Don Fernando," replied the other, "you will try in vain to -lead me on a false trail; so all denial is useless. You are young and -handsome. Passing your life among savages, you are utterly ignorant -of the great key to human passions. You could not see Dona Hermosa -with impunity. As soon as you saw her, your heart trembled; new ideas -developed themselves; and, forgetting all else, despising every other -consideration, you have retained only one object, one desire,--that of -seeing this girl, who appeared to you as a dream, and brought trouble -into a heart so calm before. You have longed to see her, if only for a -minute--for a second." - -"You are right," cried Don Fernando, carried away by the force of -truth; "I feel all you describe. I would joyfully give my life to see -but a corner of her _rebozo_ (veil). But why is it so? I seek in vain -to understand it." - -"It is what you would never understand if I did not come to -your aid. A man brought up like you, beyond the pale of social -considerations,--whose life as yet has only been one long strife -with the imperious necessity of each day; who has never employed his -physical powers except in the cares of the chase or the struggles of -war,--your moral faculties lay dormant within you; you were ignorant -of their power. Love brought about the transformation, the effects of -which are now confounding you. You love Dona Hermosa." - -"Do you think so?" said he simply. "Is this what is called love? In -that case," he added, speaking more to himself than to Don Estevan, -"its pains are cruel." - -The latter looked at him with a mingling of pity and sorrow, and -continued: - -"I followed you last night because your actions seemed suspicious, and -a vague fear led me to distrust you. Concealed in a bush only a yard or -two from the spot where you were talking to the Tigercat, I overheard -all you said. I changed my opinion of you; I recognised--forgive me if -I speak frankly--that you were better than report would make you, and -that it would be wrong to take you for such a man as the one you spoke -to. The peremptory manner with which you repulsed his insinuations -proved that you have a heart. Upon that I determined to support you in -the strife for which you are preparing against this man, who has ever -been your evil genius, and whose pernicious influence has so malignly -brooded over your youth. These are the reasons why I have spoken thus; -these the reasons why I brought you here for an explanation. Now, here -is my hand; will you take it? It is that of a friend and brother." - -Don Fernando rose, and eagerly seizing the hand so frankly held out to -him, pressed it again and again. - -"Thanks," said he; "thanks, and forgive me. Truly I am, as you say, a -savage, taking offence at every trifle. I did not recognise your noble -character." - -"Do not say a word on that subject. Listen to me: I do not know whence -my idea springs, but I suspect that the Tigercat is the implacable -enemy of Don Pedro de Luna; his purpose is to make you the instrument -of some devilish attempt upon the family at the _hacienda._" - -"It is just what I thought myself," said Don Fernando. "The Tigercat's -strange conduct during the time they were his guests, and the deception -practised upon them, which would have been successful but for my -intervention, roused my suspicions. You yourself heard last night the -obloquy he heaped on me. Let him beware." - -"Let us not be too precipitate," said Don Estevan; "we cannot be too -prudent. On the contrary, let us leave the Tigercat to develop his -schemes, that we may check them the more readily." - -"That, perhaps, would be the better plan. He is going to San Lucar -shortly: it will be easy to watch all his steps and counteract his -projects. Although this man is subtle, and his cunning and knavery -astute, I swear to God I will be no less wily than he." - -"More so, as I shall be in the background to support you, and be at -your side in the hour of need." - -"It is Dona Hermosa who must be specially guarded." - -"Alas, Don Estevan, how happy you will be in having it in your power to -watch over her hourly." - -"Nonsense, my friend; I hope to take you to her in the course of an -hour or two." - -"Can such a thing be possible?" cried Don Fernando, rapturously. - -"Of course it can; particularly as you ought to be placed on a certain -footing of intimacy with those at the _hacienda_, that we may the -better mislead the Tigercat. Have you forgotten his sarcasms and -insinuations apropos of the love he fancies you feel for the charming -girl,--the love he boasts of having instigated himself, by throwing her -into your way without your suspecting it?" - -"True; the man has certainly some hideous project concerning her." - -"Be not alarmed; with God's help, we will checkmate him. Now, two words -more. Do you really believe this wretch to be your father? The question -is one of more importance than you imagine." - -Don Fernando became restless; his forehead clouded over with thought; -he remained some time in profound meditation. At last he raised his hat -and replied: - -"I have often asked myself the question you have propounded without -ever coming to a satisfactory conclusion. Nevertheless, I am almost -certain he is not my father; I cannot be his son. His conduct towards -me, the cruel care with which he inspired me with thoughts of evil, -and developed in me all the bad instincts of nature,--prove to me that, -if any relationship exists between us, it can only be a distant one. -It is not to be imagined that a father could take absolute pleasure in -thus perverting his own son. Nature revolts so utterly against such a -proposition, that the mind cannot accept it. On the other hand, I have -always felt for this man a secret repulsion and invincible dislike -approaching to hatred. This repulsion increased instead of diminishing -with time, a rapture became daily more imminent, and only a pretext was -wanting to bring it about. This pretext has been unconsciously found -by the Tigercat; and now I am hugging myself with joy at finding my -freedom restored, and myself eased of the heavy burden of subjection -which weighed me down so long." - -"I am quite of your opinion; the man cannot be your father. We shall -shortly find that we are right in our conviction; and this moral -certainty will allow us to take any measures we please to counteract -and foil his machinations." - -"In what way do you intend to introduce me to Dona Hermosa, my friend?" - -"I will tell you directly. But first I must relate a long and mournful -tale, requisite for you to know in all its details, lest, in your -intercourse with Don Pedro, you should unwittingly touch upon a wound -still secretly bleeding in his heart. This dark and mysterious affair -happened long ago. I was hardly born at the time of its occurrence; -yet my mother has so often told me the details, that they present -themselves to my memory as if I had been an actor in the terrible -drama. Listen attentively, my good friend. Who knows whether God, -who has inspired me with the wish to tell you the tale, may not have -reserved for you the elucidation of its mysteries." - -"Does this tale relate to Dona Hermosa?" - -"Indirectly it does. Dona Hermosa was not born at the time, and her -father did not inhabit the _hacienda_, which he purchased subsequently. -At that time the family lived in retirement at a town in the Banda -Oriental; for you must know that Don Pedro de Luna is not a Mexican, -and the name by which you know him is not his; at least he has only -adopted it, the name belonging to the original branch of his family in -Mexico. He did not assume it till after the occurrence of the events -I am about to relate, when he came to settle here, having bought Las -Norias de San Antonio from his relations, who, established for many -years in Mexico, only occasionally, and at long intervals, paid a visit -of a few days to this distant _hacienda._ The people at San Lucar, and -the other inhabitants of the province, knowing Don Pedro de Luna under -no other name, imagined it was really that person who had chosen to -retire to his estate. My master, when he came here, cared the less to -disabuse them, as, when he bought the _hacienda_, he had stipulated -with his relations for the right to bear their name. The latter -naturally found nothing extraordinary in this; and now that, after -a lapse of twenty years, Don Pedro, by the death of his relations, -has become the head of the family, this borrowed name has become -effectually his own, and none can dispute his right to bear it." - -"You excite my curiosity to the utmost; and I wait with impatience for -the beginning of your tale." - -The two men seated themselves as comfortably as they could in the -_rancho;_ and Don Estevan Diaz, without farther digression, commenced -his long-deferred story. He spoke the whole day long, and when night -fell was still speaking. - -Don Fernando, his eyes eagerly fixed on the narrator, his heart -palpitating, and his eyebrows compressed, listened with liveliest -interest to the tale, the strange events of which, as they were -unrolled before him, made him shudder with emotions of mingled rage and -horror. - -Taking Don Estevan's place, we will ourselves recount to the reader -this mournful history. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -DON GUZMAN DE RIBERA. - - -In the year 1515 Juan Diaz de Solis discovered the Rio de la Plata,--a -discovery which cost him his life. - -According to Herrera, this river to which Solis had first given his own -name, took the one it now bears from the fact that the first silver -brought from America was shipped at this point for Spain. - -In 1535 Don Pedro de Mendoza, appointed _adelantado_, or governor -general, of the country between the Rio de la Plata and the Straits of -Magellan, founded on the right bank of the river, opposite the mouth -of the Uruguay, a town called at first Nuestra Senora de Buenos Aires; -later, La Trinidad de Buenos Aires; and finally, Buenos Aires,--a name -it has since retained. - -The history of this town would be a curious study, full of interesting -particulars, as from its earliest days it seems stamped with the seal -of fatality. - -One should read, in the narrative of Ulrich Schmidel, a German -adventurer, and one of the original founders of Buenos Aires, to what -depths of misery the wretched conquerors of the country were reduced: -how they were constrained by famine to devour the dead bodies of their -companions, who had been killed by the Corendian Indians, whom their -exactions and cruelties had driven to exasperation; and who, believing -the white men who had landed amongst them in such an extraordinary way -to be evil genii, had sworn their extermination. - -The destiny of this town is a singular one, condemned, as it has been, -to an unceasing strife, sometimes with enemies from without, at others, -with more formidable foes from within; and which, in spite of these -ceaseless struggles, is still one of the richest and most flourishing -cities of Spanish America. - -Like all the towns founded by the Castilian adventurers in the New -World, Buenos Aires is placed in a lovely situation. Its streets are -broad, laid out by rule and line; the houses are well built, with a -garden to each, thus affording a pleasant prospect. It contains many -public buildings, among which we may name the Bazaar de la Recoba. At -intervals vast squares occur, well furnished with magnificent shops, -which give it an appearance of life and prosperity unhappily too rare -in this unfortunate country, so long distracted by civil wars. - -Taking an immense leap backwards, we will now introduce our readers -to Buenos Aires at a time about twenty years previous to the period -to which our story belongs. It is ten o'clock in the night of one of -the last; days of September 1839, _i.e._ at the time the tyranny of -that extraordinary man who, for twenty years, subjected the Argentine -provinces to a yoke of iron, had reached its climax. - -Nobody in these days could imagine the hideous tyranny which the -Government of Rosas inflicted on this beautiful country, nor the -frightful system of terrorism organized by the Dictator from one -extremity to the other of the Banda Oriental. - -Although it was only ten o'clock, as we said above, a deathlike silence -hovered over the town. All the shops were shut, all the streets dark -and deserted, save when, at long intervals, they were traversed by -strong patrols, whose heavy footsteps resounded on the pavement; or -by a few solitary _serenos_ (watchmen), who, in fear and trembling, -shambled through their duty as guardians of the night. - -The inhabitants, shut up in their dwellings, had timidly extinguished -their lights, for fear of exciting the suspicions of a police ever -ready to take offence, and had sought a temporary refuge in slumber -from the evils of the day. - -On this particular night Buenos Aires was more desolate-looking than -usual. The wind had blown, in a storm from the Pampas during the whole -of the day, and filled the atmosphere with an icy chill. Large vivid -clouds, laden with electricity, were moving heavily through the sky; -and the hoarse rumbling of distant thunder, and the nearer and nearer -approaching flashes of lightning, gave warning that a fearful storm -was on the point of breaking over the city. - -Nearly in the centre of the Calle Santa Trinidad, one of the finest -streets in the city, which it traverses almost from end to end, a -feeble light, placed behind the muslin curtain of a window on the -ground floor, twinkled, like a star in a dark sky, through the tufted -branches of some trees planted in front of a noble mansion. - -This light seemed to be a blot upon the universal obscurity; for every -patrol that passed, every _sereno_ whom chance brought to the spot, -could not refrain from pausing, and observing it with an expression -of anger and ill-dissembled fear: after which they would resume their -march, the soldiers growling, in a tone of ill humour boding no good: - -"There is that traitor, Don Guzman de Ribera, hatching some new -conspiracy against his Excellency the Dictator." - -The others saying, in a tone of subdued pity: - -"Don Guzman will go on till he gets himself arrested some day." - -It is into this house, and into the room itself where the light is -shining, which gave rise to so many surmises, that we will introduce -our readers. - -After having crossed the garden and cleared the _zaguan_, we find on -our right hand a massive door of walnut, fastened simply by a latch, -on lifting which we enter a large room, well lighted by three windows -opening on the street. - -The furniture of this apartment was of the greatest simplicity. The -whitewashed walls were decorated with a few of those abominable -coloured prints which the trade of Paris has exported into all regions -of the globe, and which are supposed to represent the death of -Poniatowski, the seasons, &c. The inevitable Soufleto's piano--which -in all Spanish-American houses one sees thrust forward into the most -conspicuous place, but which is happily beginning to be replaced by the -Alexandre harmonium--a dozen chairs, a round table covered with a green -cloth, two armchairs, and a clock with alabaster columns, on a pier -table, completed the inventory. - -In this room a man, dressed in a travelling costume, with _poncho_ -(cloak) and _polenas_ (boots), was striding up and down, casting -impatient and restless looks at the clock every time he passed the -table. - -Sometimes he paused, lifted the curtain of a window, and tried to -pierce the obscurity of night and see into the street; but in vain; the -darkness was too great for him to distinguish objects. Sometimes he -listened attentively, as if amongst the noises of the town the breeze -had brought him the distant echo of a sound significant to him; then -he resumed, with a gesture of ill humour and increasing agitation, the -walk he had so often interrupted. - -This man was Don Guzman de Ribera. - -Belonging to one of the best families in the country, and descending -in a direct line from the first conquerors, Don Guzman, when still -very young, had served a rude apprenticeship in arms under his father. -During the war of independence, as aide-de-camp to San Martin, he had -followed that general when he crossed the Cordilleras at the head of -his army, and revolutionised Chili and Peru. - -Since that period he had served continually, sometimes under one chief, -sometimes under another; always striving, to the best of his ability, -to avoid ranging himself under a flag hostile to the true interests -of his country--a difficult task amidst those perpetual convulsions -caused by the petty ambition of men without real importance, who were -contending for power amongst themselves. Nevertheless, thanks to his -dexterity, and still more to the uprightness of his character, Don -Guzman had managed to keep himself stainless: yet two years previously, -suspected by Rosas, to whom his ideas of true liberality were odious, -he had retired from the service, and settled himself at home. - -Don Guzman, a true soldier in the most honourable acceptation of the -word, although never ostensibly meddling with politics, was greatly -dreaded by the Dictator, on account of the influence his loyal and -resolute character gave him over his countrymen, who felt for him -a sympathy so profound, and a devotedness so complete, that more -than once General Rosas, a man of few scruples, had been forced to -relinquish the idea of ridding himself, by exile or worse means, of a -man whose seclusion and noble pride seemed to cast a shadow over the -actions of the Dictator. - -At the moment we bring him before our readers, Don Guzman had just -reached his fortieth year; but notwithstanding the countless fatigues -he had undergone, and which had only hardened him, age seemed to have -taken no hold of his vigorous organism. - -His tall and muscular figure was as upright, the expression of his -face as full of calm intelligence, his eye as brilliant as ever. A few -silver threads among his hair, and one or two wrinkles, written on his -forehead more by thought than by time, were the only signs that he had -already attained middle age. - -The clock had struck half past ten some minutes ago, when several rude -blows were struck on the door, making Don Guzman tremble. - -He stopped and listened. - -A lively altercation appeared to be taking place under the _zaguan_ -of the house. Unfortunately, the room being too far from the porch, -Don Guzman could only hear a confused uproar, without being able to -distinguish the sounds. But in a short time the noise ceased, the door -of the room was opened, and a domestic entered. We must suppose him to -be a confidential servant, judging by the manner in which his master -spoke to him. - -"Well, Diego, what is it? What is the meaning of all this noise at such -an hour?" - -The servant approached his master before he answered, and bowing, -whispered in his ear: "Don Diego Pedrosa." - -"He!" said the master, frowning. "Is he alone?" - -"I do not think he has more than two or three soldiers with him." - -"Which means," said Don Guzman, looking more and more gloomy-- - -"That he has another score or two concealed close at hand." - -"What does the man want with me? It is hardly the hour for a visit. -Don Bernardo is scarcely so intimate with me," he added, with a bitter -smile, "that he would act with so little ceremony towards me without an -urgent reason." - -"Exactly what I did myself the honour to remark to him, your -Excellency." - -"And he persists?" - -"Yes, Excellency. He tells me he has business of the utmost importance -to communicate." - -Don Guzman strode up and down with a pensive air. - -"Listen, Diego," said he, at last; "see that the servants arm -themselves quietly, and be ready at the first signal; but act -prudently, so as to avoid suspicion." - -"Trust me, Excellency," said the old servitor, with a smile of -intelligence. - -For thirty years Diego had been in the service of the Ribera family; -many a time had he given his master proof of his boundless attachment. - -"Ah, well," replied Don Guzman good humouredly; "I know pretty well -what you can do." - -"And the horses?" continued the servant. - -"Let them stay where they are." - -"Even if we are to be off directly?" said Diego, in amazement. - -"We shall be off so much the sooner, _muchacho_," said the don, -whispering to his servant, "if they do not think we have seen their -trap and are about to throw dust in their eyes." - -Diego nodded. - -"And Don Bernardo?" he asked. - -"Admit him. I had rather know the worst at once." - -"Is it quite prudent for your Excellency to see this man alone?" - -"No fear, Diego; he is not so terrible as you think. Are my pistols in -my _poncho?_" - -The old servant, probably tranquillised by these words, left the room -without replying; but returned almost immediately, showing in a man -of about thirty, dressed in the uniform of a staff officer of the -Argentine army. - -At sight of the stranger, Don Guzman smiled pleasantly, and advancing -a few steps towards him, said: - -"You are welcome, Colonel Pedrosa"--he made a sign to Diego to -retire--"although the hour is rather late for a visit. I am delighted -to see you. Pray be seated." - -"Your Excellency will excuse me, on account of the business which -brings me here," replied the colonel, with a polished bow. - -Here Diego, obeying the reiterated signs of his master, left the room, -although much against his will. - -The two men, seated face to face, looked at each other much like two -duellists about to cross their blades. - -Don Diego was a handsome man, of slender and upright figure, all -whose movements betrayed his noble birth, and were marked by the most -consummate elegance. - -His face, a perfect oval, was embellished by two large black and -sparkling eyes, from which, when he grew excited, fire seemed to flash, -possessing an electric power so potent, that few could support their -dazzling effulgence. His straight nose, with its open and flexible -nostrils; his well-formed mouth, with its astute and sarcastic outline, -and its set of brilliant teeth, surmounted by an ebon and well-trimmed -moustache; his open forehead, and his complexion slightly tanned by -exposure to the sun,--gave to his face, which was encircled by long -silky curls of magnificent black hair,--a haughty and commanding -expression, inspiring an instinctive repulsion by its frigid energy. - -His bands, ensconced in admirably fitting gloves, and his varnished -boots, were of wonderfully small size,--in fact, his whole person was a -type of his race. - -Such was the personage who, at eleven o'clock at night, knocked at -Don Guzman's door, and insisted on admittance, under the pretext of -important business. As for his moral qualities, the progress of our -story will exhibit them so perfectly, that it would be useless to enter -into the details at present. - -However, as the silence between these two personages threatened to -prolong itself indefinitely, Don Guzman, in his quality of host, -thought it incumbent on him to put an end to a situation which began to -be embarrassing to both; so he broke it. - -Bowing with courtesy, he said: - -"_Caballero_, I am waiting for what you may please to communicate to -me. It grows late." - -"Aha! You wish to get rid of me," said the colonel, with a sardonic -smile. "Is that what you wish me to understand?" - -"It is always my aim to make my speech so clear and open, colonel, -that there may be no possibility of my words bearing a double -interpretation." - -Don Bernardo's cheeks, which had flushed up when Don Guzman spoke, -resumed their natural colour, and assuming a tone of pleasantry, he -said: - -"Look you, Don Guzman; we will put away all idea of sparring with each -other. I have a great desire to serve you." - -"Me!" said Don Guzman, with a look of ironical amazement; "Are you -quite sure of that?" - -"If we continue in this strain, _caballero_, we shall only envenom our -discussion, without coming to an understanding." - -"Alas, colonel, we live in an era (and you know it better than most -men) in which the most innocent actions are so often made to look -like guilt, that no one dares to take a step or hazard a word without -dreading to excite the suspicions of a power that broods darkly over us -all. How can I put faith in the words you have just spoken, when your -whole conduct towards me has hitherto been that of an inveterate enemy?" - -"Allow me to waive for the present the discussion of the question -whether I have acted for or in opposition to your interests. The day -will come, _caballero_--at least I hope so--when you will judge me -according to my deserts. My present hope is, that you will lay aside -all prejudice as regards the step I am now taking." - -"If that be the case, have the goodness to explain your intentions, -that I may act accordingly." - -"Certainly, _caballero._ I have just left Palermo." - -"Palermo, indeed!" said Don Guzman, shuddering imperceptibly. - -"I have; and do you know what they are doing at Palermo tonight?" - -"By my faith, I confess I trouble myself very little about the -Dictator, especially when he is busy at his _quinta_ (country house). -They are dancing, or otherwise amusing themselves there, I suppose?" - -"Quite right: they are dancing and amusing themselves." - -"By heavens!" said the other, "I did not think I was so good a diviner." - -"Well, you have guessed a part of their occupation, but not the whole." - -"The devil! You puzzle one," replied Don Guzman laughing sardonically. -"I do not see too clearly what his Excellency can have to do beyond -dancing, unless he amuses himself with signing warrants against the -suspected. His Excellency is endowed with great capabilities for -business." - -"This time you have divined the whole, _caballero_," said the colonel, -without appearing to notice the ironical tone of the speaker. - -"And amongst these warrants there is, I dare say, one which concerns me -more particularly." - -"Precisely so," replied the colonel, with a bland smile. - -"Very good. What follows is quite simple: you are charged to put it in -execution." - -"Just so," said the colonel coolly. - -"I would have laid a hundred to one on it! And this warrants enjoins -you--" - -"To put you under arrest, _caballero._" - -No sooner had the colonel uttered these words with the most charming -indifference, than Don Guzman was standing before him, a pistol in each -hand. - -"By heavens!" said he resolutely, "Such an order is easier given than -executed when the person to be arrested is Don Guzman de Ribera!" - -The colonel had not stirred; he had remained lounging in his armchair, -in the attitude of a man quite at home with his host. He made a sign to -the _caballero_ to be seated again. - -"You are quite mistaken," said he coolly. "Nothing would have been -easier for me than to execute the warrant, if I had any intention to -carry it out, especially as you yourself have furnished me with the -means." - -"I!" said Don Guzman. - -"Yourself: you are a resolute man; you would have resisted it, as you -have just proved. Now, what would have happened? I should have killed -you. General Rosas, in spite of the interest he feels for you, has not -absolutely ordered me to take you alive." - -The reasoning was brutal, but perfectly logical. Don Guzman bowed his -head: he felt he was in this man's power. - -"Nevertheless, you are my foe," he said. - -"?Quien sabe?" (who can tell?) "Senor, in times such as we live in, no -one can say who is friend or who is foe." - -"But finally, what are your intentions?" exclaimed Don Guzman, in a -state of nervous excitement, increased by the necessity of dissembling -the fury that was raging in his mind. - -"I will tell you; but I beg you will not interrupt me. We have -already lost much time--which is valuable just now, more especially -to yourself, as you ought to know. At the very moment when I came to -disturb you, you were giving orders to your confidential servant Diego -to get ready your horses." - -"Indeed!" said Don Guzman. - -"It is the fact. You were only deferring your flight till the arrival -of a certain _guacho_" (Mexican inhabitant of the prairies) "to guide -you through the Pampas." - -"Do you know that too?" - -"We know everything. As for the rest, judge for yourself. Your brother, -Don Leoncio de Ribera, a refugee with his family for many years in -Chili, is to arrive this very night within a few leagues of Buenos -Aires. You have been advised of his coming for some days. It was your -intention to repair to the Hacienda del Pico, where he was to expect -you; then to introduce him surreptitiously into the city, where you -have prepared what you fancied would be a safe hiding place for him. Is -this the whole, or have I forgotten any minor particulars?" - -Don Guzman covered his face with his hands, discouraged, -thunderstricken by what he had just heard. - -A horrible gulf yawned before his eyes. If Rosas was master of his -secret--and that he was, the revelations of the colonel left no room to -doubt--his death and that of his brother had been sworn by the ruthless -Dictator. Hope would have been a folly. - -"Good God!" cried he; "My brother--my poor brother!" - -The colonel seemed to enjoy for a moment the effect produced by his -words; then he resumed, in a quiet and insinuating manner: - -"Calm yourself, Don Guzman; all is not yet lost. The details I have -mentioned, and which you thought such a profound secret, are known to -me alone. The order for your arrest does not come into execution before -sunrise tomorrow. The stop I have taken should prove to you that I have -no wish to make an unfair use of the advantage chance has placed in my -hands." - -"But again I say, What is your intention? In the name of the devil, -what are you?" - -"What am I?--Your enemy. My intention?--To save you." - -Don Guzman did not reply. A prey to the most violent emotion, his -whole body trembled with agitation. The colonel shrugged his shoulders -impatiently. - -"Let us understand each other," said he. "You wait in vain for the -_guacho_ on whom you reckoned: he is dead." - -"Dead!" cried Don Guzman, struck with astonishment. - -"The man," continued Don Bernardo, "was a traitor. He had hardly -entered Buenos Aires, before he attempted to make money by the sale of -the secret confided to him by your brother. Chance would have it that -he should apply to me, in preference to anyone else, on account of the -hatred I seemed to entertain for your family." - -"That you seemed to entertain!" bitterly repeated Don Guzman. - -"Yes, that I seemed to entertain," Don Bernardo went on, laying great -stress upon the words. "In short, this man revealed everything. I paid -him well, and let him go." - -"What an imprudence!" exclaimed Don Guzman, highly interested. - -"Was it not?" said the colonel quickly. "But what could I do? For the -first moment I was so thunderstruck by the news, that I did not think -of detaining the fellow. I was on the point of sending in search of -him, when I heard an uproar in the street. I inquired the cause; I -confess I was not quite satisfied with what was told me. It appears -that the fool had hardly put foot in the street before he began to -quarrel with another _picaro_ of his own kind; that the latter, in a -fit of impatience, had given him a _navaja_" (a cut with the knife) -"across his belly, and, luckily for you, killed him outright. It is -miraculous, is it not?" - -The colonel had related this strange tale with the same negligent -indifference he had exhibited during the whole meeting, and which he -had not dropped for an instant. Don Guzman cast a penetrating glance at -him, which he bore with the greatest unconcern. Then all irresolution -seemed to vanish. He raised himself to his full height, and made a -courteous inclination to Don Bernardo. - -"Excuse me, colonel," said he fervently, "for having mistaken your -character; but up to this day everything seemed to justify my conduct; -only, in the name of Heaven, if you are my foe--if you have a hate to -satisfy--take your revenge on me--on me alone--and spare my brother, -against whom you can have no cause for animosity." - -Don Bernardo frowned, but replied quickly: - -"_Caballero_, order your servants to bring round your horses; I myself -will escort you out of the city. You could not possibly quit it without -me; you are so thoroughly surrounded by spies. You have nothing to fear -from the men who are with me; they are trusty and faithful, and I chose -them on purpose. Besides, they shall leave us a few paces hence." - -Don Guzman hesitated for a while. He watched Don Bernardo with anxious -eyes. At last he seemed to have formed his resolve; for he rose, and -said, looking the colonel full in the face: - -"No; whatever may happen, I will not take your advice." - -The colonel suppressed his feeling of dissatisfaction. - -"Are you mad?" said he; "Remember--" - -Don Guzman interrupted him: - -"My decision is made," said he dryly. "I will not leave this room -without a perfect knowledge of the reason of this strange conduct on -your part. I have tried to overcome it, but a secret presentiment -assures me that you are still my foe; and if you now utter a feigned -wish to serve me, colonel, it is only with the purpose of carrying out -some diabolical plan against me and mine." - -"Beware, _caballero_! When I came here, my purpose was friendly. Your -obstinacy will compel me to break off a colloquy which we can never -resume. I have but one thing to add: whatever the reason for my actions -may be, I have only one wish--to save you. This is the sole explanation -I have the right to give." - -"But that will not suffice, _caballero._" - -"And why, if it please you?" said the colonel haughtily. - -"Because matters have occurred between you and a certain member of my -family which give me a right to look upon any intentions of yours as -hostile." - -The colonel trembled; a livid pallor stole over his countenance. - -"Indeed!" said he hoarsely. "So you know that, Senor Don Guzman?" - -"I will answer you in the exact words in which you replied to me a few -minutes ago; I know all!" - -Don Bernardo cast down his eyes, and clenched his hands in concentrated -rage. - -There was silence for a time. - -Just at this moment a _sereno_ passed through the street, paused close -to the walls of the house, and cried, in a cracked and drunken voice, -the hour of the night: - -"_iAve, Maria purisima! Las doce han dado y sereno!_" ("Hail, purest -Mary! Twelve o'clock, and a fine night!") - -Then his heavy step was heard as he went on his rounds, until it -gradually died away in the distance. - -The two men shuddered, thus suddenly aroused from their preoccupation. - -"Midnight already!" muttered Ribera in a tone of mingled regret and -anxiety. - -"Let us end this," resolutely exclaimed Don Bernardo. "Since nothing -will convince you of the honesty of my intentions; since you exact from -me revelations which concern myself alone--" - -"And one other person," supplied Don Guzman. - -"I will admit it," continued the colonel impatiently. - -"Well, are you satisfied now? It is solely because I know I shall meet -this person at the Hacienda del Pico, that I wish to accompany you. I -must have an interview. Do you understand me now?" - -"Yes; I understand you perfectly." - -"Then what are your objections?" - -"You are deceiving yourself, _caballero_," answered Don Guzman coolly. - -"Oh! This time I swear you are mistaken." - -"Then I shall go alone!--That is all." - -"Beware, once more!" said the colonel; "My patience is exhausted." - -"And mine, colonel! Yes, I repeat, I scorn your threats! Do what you -think fit, _caballero._ God will aid me." - -At these words a disdainful smile passed over the lips of the colonel; -he rose, and planted himself before Don Guzman, who was standing in the -middle of the room. - -"Are those your last words, senor?" said he. - -"The last." - -"Your blood be upon your own head! It is you who have willed it so," -shouted the colonel, casting on him a glance of fury. - -And without taking any further notice of his foe, who remained -apparently cold and impassive, he turned to leave the chamber, a prey -to the most violent emotion. - -Don Guzman, profiting by this movement of the colonel, dexterously -threw off his _poncho_, cast it over the head of Don Bernardo, muffling -him up in it in such a manner that he was bound and gagged before he -could attempt to defend himself. - -"For one trump a higher!" laughed Don Ribera. - -"As you are determined to go with me, you shall, but in a different -fashion to what you expected." - -For answer, the colonel made a vain but desperate effort to free -himself from his bonds. - -"And now for the others!" exclaimed Don Guzman, with a triumphant look -at his enemy, who was rolling on the floor in a paroxysm of impotent -rage. - -Five minutes later, the few soldiers who had been left in the _zaguan_ -were disarmed by the servants, bound with cords they had themselves -brought for a far different purpose, and deposited on the steps of the -neighbouring cathedral, where they were left to their fate. - -As to the colonel, the old soldier, who had just shown so much presence -of mind, had no idea as he had said himself, of leaving him behind. On -the contrary, he had weighty reasons for taking him with him in the -hazardous adventure he was about to undertake. So, as soon as he was on -horseback, he threw his prisoner across the pummel of his saddle, and -left the house attended by several trusty servants, well mounted, and -armed to the teeth. - -"Speed! Speed!" he cried, as soon as the door was closed. "Who knows -but that this traitor may have sold us beforehand?" - -The little party started at a gallop, and traversed the city--deserted -at that time of night--with the speed of a storm wind. - -But as soon as the riders reached the commencement of the suburbs, -they gradually slackened their pace, and finally halted, at a sign from -Don Guzman. - -That gentleman had totally forgotten one thing, and a very important -one. It was, that during the time the city was suffering under the rule -of Rosas, it was under martial law; and consequently, after a certain -hour, it was impossible to pass out without the watchword, which was -changed every night, and given by the Dictator himself. It was an -embarrassing situation. Don Guzman's looks fell upon the prisoner in -front of him; for a single moment he thought of liberating his head, -and demanding the watchword, which he would certainly know. But another -moment's reflection made him relinquish the idea of trusting to a man -to whom he had just offered a mortal insult, and who would certainly -embrace the first opportunity that offered for revenge. He determined, -therefore, to trust to audacity, and act according to circumstances. -Consequently, having warned his servants to look to their arms, and -be in readiness to use them at his first signal, he gave the order to -advance. - -They had ridden a few hundred paces farther, when they heard the sound -of a musket being cocked, followed immediately by the words, "Who goes -there?" lustily halloaed. - -Luckily, the night was intensely dark. The moment for audacity had come. - -Don Guzman responded, in a sharp and firm voice: - -"Colonel Pedrosa! _iRonde mashorca!_"[1] - -"Where are you going?" said the sentry. - -"To Palermo," replied Ribera, "by orders of the well-beloved General -Rosas." - -"Pass!" said the sentry. - -The little party was swallowed up in the jaws of the ponderous gate; it -galloped through, and was soon lost in the darkness. - -Thanks to his audacity, Don Guzman had escaped from utmost peril. - -The _serenos_ were chanting the half-hour after midnight when the -travellers left the last houses of Buenos Aires behind them. - - - -[1] The "mashorca rounds,"--a nickname given to the bodyguards of the -Dictator; literally, "more gallows." - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -THE POST HOUSE IN THE PAMPAS. - - -The Pampas are the _Steppes_ of South America, with this difference, -that these immense plains, which extend from Buenos Aires, as far as -San Luis de Mendoza, to the foot of the Cordilleras, are clothed with -a thick carpet of long grass, undulating with the softest breath of -the wind, and are intersected by numerous water courses, some of great -magnitude, which cut it up in every direction. - -The aspect of the Pampas is desperately monotonous and mournful. There -is neither wood nor mountain; not a single break of ground to form an -oasis of sand or granite, on which to rest the eye in the midst of this -ocean of green. - -Only two roads traverse the Pampas, and connect the Atlantic with the -Pacific. - -The first leads to Chili, passing by Mendoza; the second to Peru, by -Tucumen and Salta. - -These vast solitudes are infested by two races of men, perpetually at -war with each other: the Indian Bravos, or Pampas, and the Guachos. - -The Guachos, a caste peculiar to the Argentine provinces, are not to be -met elsewhere. - -These men, charged with the supervision of the wild cattle and horses -which range at large through the whole extent of these wide plains, -are, for the most part, whites by race; but, crossed in blood with the -aborigines for many years, they have in time become almost as barbarous -as the Indians themselves, from whom they have learnt their cunning and -cruelty. - -They live on horseback, lie in the bare sun, support themselves on the -flesh of their beasts when unlucky in the chase, and only approach the -towns and _haciendas_ for the purpose of exchanging their skins, their -_nandu_ (the ostrich of the Pampas) plumes, and furs, for spirits, -silver spurs, powder, knifes, and the cloths of gaudy colours with -which they delight to adorn their persons. - -The true Centaurs of the New World, as rapid as the Tartar riders of -the _Steppes_ of Siberia, they transport themselves with prodigious -speed from one extremity of the Banda Oriental to the other. They -recognise no law beyond the whim of the moment; no master but their -will. For the most part, they do not know the proprietor who employs -them, and whom they only see at rare intervals. - -The Guachos are almost as much to be dreaded as the Indians by -travellers, who dare not venture upon the Pampas except in considerable -numbers, so as to afford mutual protection against the aggressions to -which they are constantly exposed, either from Indians or from the wild -beasts. - -The caravans are usually composed of fifteen, or even twenty, wagons, -or _galeras_, drawn by six or eight oxen apiece. Their drivers, -crouching under the hide covering of the _galeras_, urge them on with -long goads, slung over their heads, with which they can easily reach -the leading oxen of the team. - -A _capataz_, or _major-domo_,--a resolute man, thoroughly acquainted -with the Pampas,--commands the caravan, having under his orders some -thirty _peones_, who, like himself, are mounted, and gallop around the -convoy, watch the relief cattle, and, in case of attack, defend the -travellers of every age whom they escort. - -Nothing can be seen at once so picturesque and sad as the aspect the -caravans present as they extend themselves in a long serpentine line -over the Pampas, advancing at a slow and regular pace along roads full -of quagmires, over which the immense _galeras_ roll, groaning on their -croaking and massive wheels, tottering with indescribable swayings and -joltings along ruts, out of which the oxen, lowing and stretching their -smoking nostrils to the ground, can hardly drag them. - -Ofttimes these heavy caravans are passed by _arrieros_ (muleteers), -whose _recua_ (string of mules) trots gaily on, to the tinkling -of a silver bell attached to the neck of the _yegua madrina_ (the -leading mule), and to the sound of "_Arrea, mulos_" (Get on mules), -incessantly repeated, in all notes of the gamut, by the _arriero_ chief -and his _peones_ who gallop about the mules to prevent their straying -to right or left. - -When night comes, the muleteers and ox drivers find precarious shelter -in the post houses--a kind of _tambas_ or _caravanseries_, built, at -considerable distances apart, in the Pampas. The _galeras_, detached -from the oxen, are ranged in single file; the burdens of the mules are -piled up in a circle; then, if the _corral_ (stables) be full, if there -be many travellers at the post house, beasts and men encamp together, -and spend the night under the open sky,--a mode of sleeping which is no -hardship in a country where cold is almost unknown. Then commence, by -the fantastic light of the bivouac fires, the long tales of the Pampas, -interspersed with joyous bursts of laughter, with songs, and words of -love uttered in whispers. - -Yet it is rare for the night to pass over without a quarrel of some -sort arising between the muleteers and the drivers, who are by nature -jealous of each other, and enemies by profession. Then blood flows, the -consequence of a _navajada_ or two; for the knife always plays a too -active part among these men, whom no fear of consequences restrains in -their unbridled frenzy. - -Now, on the night of the day on which our story begins, the last -post house on the Portillo road, when you leave the Pampas, going to -Buenos Aires, was overfilled with travellers. Two numerous _recuas de -mulas_ (strings of mules), which a month before had crossed the Alto -de Cumbre, and encamped on the Rio de la Cucoa, close to the Inca's -Bridge, one of the most singular natural curiosities in the country, -had lighted their fires before the post house, close to two or three -convoys of _galeras_, whose oxen were quietly lying in the interior of -the circle formed by the wagons. - -The post house was a building of considerable extent, constructed -of _adobas_ (sundried bricks.) The entrance was furnished with a -portico--a species of peristyle formed of the trunks of four large -trees, planted in the ground in lieu of pillars, and supporting a -veranda broad enough to afford shelter from the piercing rays of the -sun. - -In the interior of the _toldo_, as they call these miserable hovels, -resounded the songs and laughter of the drivers and muleteers, mingling -with the notes of a _vihuela_ (Spanish guitar), scraped with the -knuckles of the hand in a manner sufficient to drive one to despair, -and with the sharp and clamorous outcry of the postmaster, whose -squeaking voice strove in vain to quell the uproar, and regulate the -disorder. - -Just at this moment the rapid gallop of many horses was heard; and two -parties of riders, coming from points diametrically opposite, stopped, -as with one accord, before the porch of the _toldo_, after passing with -great dexterity through the encampments before the post house, the -approaches to which were vastly obstructed by the _galeras_. - -The first of these parties, consisting of only six riders, came from -the direction of Mendoza; the second from the opposite side, from the -heart of the Pampas: the latter comprised some thirty individuals at -least. - -The unexpected arrival of the newcomers stopped, as by enchantment, the -clamour which the _ranchero_, or owner of the house, had been unable to -still, and a sudden silence seized on the company, which had been so -joyously uproarious a few minutes before. - -The muleteers and drivers glided like shadows out of the house, and, -with furtive steps, regained their respective encampments, exchanging -uneasy looks amongst themselves; so that the room was empty in a -twinkling, and the _ranchero_ was able to come forward and receive the -guests who had arrived so unexpectedly. But he had scarcely reached the -threshold, and cast a glance outside, when a mortal pallor overspread -his visage, a convulsive shudder shook his frame, and his tones were -almost unintelligible, as he managed to stutter forth the essential -phrase of welcome in South America; "_iAve, Maria purisima!_" (Hail, -purest Mary!) - -"_iSin pecado concebida!_" (immaculately conceived) answered the rough -voice of a tall cavalier, with harsh features and a ferocious eye, who -seemed to be the leader of the more numerous party. - -We must observe that the second party appeared in some degree to share -the terror felt by the inhabitants of the post house; and having -perceived the others before their own presence was remarked, the six -cavaliers had prudently reined in their horses, and thrown themselves -into the shade as far as possible, being little desirous, in all -probability, of being inadvertently seen by the dangerous fellow -travellers amongst whom chance or ill luck had unfortunately thrown -them. - -Now, who were these persons, the sight of whom sufficed of itself to -inspire a general panic and womanly consternation in the breasts of the -hardy explorers of the wilderness--of men whose life was a perpetual -struggle against the wild beasts, and who had so often confronted death -without blenching, that they almost fancied they were beyond his grasp? - -At the time in which this story happens, the hateful and bloody tyranny -of that half-breed--that Nero who had nothing belonging to humanity -but its semblance, that ignorant and brutal _guacho_, that man-faced -tiger, in a word, Don Juan Manuel de Rosas--which had so long crushed -the Argentine provinces, was still all-powerful; and these men were -_federales_, hired assassins of that butcher in cold blood, whose name -is now damned by the execration of the world; in short, they were -members of that horrible _restauradora_ (regeneratory) society, better -known under the name of _mashorca_ (_mashorca_ signifies literally -"more gallows"), which for several years filled all Buenos Aires with -mourning. Constrained by public indignation, the Dictator, later on, -had made a pretence of dissolving this society; but he did nothing -of the sort, in reality; and up to the final fall of the unclean -tyrant, it existed _de facto_, and at the slightest sign of its master -scattered murder, violation, and fire through the length and breadth of -the confederation. - -The reader can now understand the terror which seized upon the careless -and peaceable travellers assembled in the _toldo_, at the appearance of -the ominous uniforms of these hired ruffians, to whom pity was unknown. - -Compelled by one of these instinctive presentiments which are seldom -fallacious, they felt that some misfortune threatened them. They crept -out with slouching heads, and hiding themselves behind their bales, -began to shudder in the darkness, without attempting to prepare for -resistance, which they knew would be futile. - -In the meantime, the _colorados_, or _federales_, had dismounted, and -entered the _rancho_, marching on their toes, on account of their -enormous spur rowels, and allowing their heavy iron scabbards to trail -beside them: The clang made by these in their contact with the flooring -seemed a sound of evil augury to the terrified listeners. - -"Halloa!" cried the leader, in a harsh voice; "_irayo de Dios!_ What -does this mean, _Caballeros?_ Does our arrival banish all pleasure from -this dwelling?" - -The _ranchero_ multiplied his obeisances till he addled his brains with -bowing, and twisted his shapeless hat in both hands without finding -a word to say. At the bottom of his heart, this worthy man, who was -acquainted with the expeditious habits of his unwelcome guests, had the -greatest dread of being hanged forthwith; a thought which by no means -helped him to recover his presence of mind, and the coolness required -by circumstances. - -The large room was barely lighted by a single smoky candle, shedding -a yellow and doubtful light. The _colorado_, coming from the open, -his eyes still clouded with the thick darkness on the Pampas, had -not been able to distinguish objects at first; but as soon as he had -got accustomed to the semi-obscurity which reigned around him, and -perceived that, with the exception of the _ranchero_, the place was -empty, he frowned, and stamped on the ground in ire. - -"_iValgame Dios!_" he exclaimed, looking furiously at the poor devil -perspiring with fear before him, "Have I fallen unawares into a nest -of serpents? Is this miserable hut the meeting place of _salvajes -unitarios?_ Answer, wretch, or I will have your tongue torn out and -thrown to the dogs!" - -The post master grew green with fear when he heard this menace,--a -threat he well knew these men capable of executing. He was still more -frightened at the expression _salvajes unitarios_, an epithet used to -designate the enemies of Rosas, and generally the prelude to a massacre. - -"Senor General," cried he, with an heroic effort to utter a few words. - -"I am not a general," broke in the _colorado_ in a somewhat smoother -tone, for his pride was secretly flattered by the sonorous title; -"I am not a general yet, though I hope to be one someday. I am only -_teniente_ (lieutenant), which is already a pretty step; so call me -nothing else for the present. Now, go on." - -"Senor _Teniente,_" replied the _ranchero_, a little comforted, "there -is nobody here except good friends of the well beloved General Rosas; -we are all federals." - -"Ha! I doubt that," said the terrible lieutenant. "You are too close to -Monte Video to be thorough Rosistas." - -We must state here that throughout the Argentine provinces there was -only one town which had the noble courage to oppose itself to the -savage tyranny of the ruthless Dictator. This town, whose devotion to -the sacred cause of liberty has made it celebrated throughout both the -Old and New Worlds, is Monte Video. Resolute to perish, if it must be, -in the holy cause it bad embraced, it heroically sustained a siege of -nine years against the troops of Rosas, whose impotent efforts were -repeatedly shattered against its walls. - -"Senor _Teniente_," replied the _ranchero_ obsequiously, "the people -who meet here are solely _arrieros_ and wagoners, who are only -passers-by, and never meddle with politics." - -This explanation, which the postmaster thought most adroit, had no -influence on the _colorado._ - -"_iVive Dios!_" he cried, with haughty voice, "We will see; and woe to -the traitor I discover! Luco," he continued addressing his _cabo_, or -corporal, "just step and rouse up those brute beasts, and bring them -hither. If any sleep too soundly, stir them up with the point of the -sabre; it will exhilarate them and induce them to move more quickly." - -The _cabo_ gave a malicious grin, and went out immediately to execute -his orders. - -The lieutenant, after addressing a few more questions of minor -importance to the _ranchero_, at last thought fit to seat himself -on the bench which ran round the room, and, to enliven the time of -the corporal's absence, set himself to consume the liquor and food -assiduously placed before him by the host, who was swearing to himself -all the while at being obliged to find drink gratis for so many. He -knew well that, though the consumption of liquors by the soldiers would -be enormous, he would never see the colour of their money, and might -think himself happy if he escaped without other damage. - -The soldiers, except five or six who remained without in charge of the -horses, seated themselves by their officer, and followed his example in -drinking like sponges. - -The corporal's task was easier than he expected, for the poor devils of -muleteers and drivers had overheard the peremptory order of the leader. -Comprehending that resistance would not only be useless, but make their -situation worse, they obeyed their officer's orders with resignation, -and came back again into the room, attempting to hide their fright with -ill-counterfeited smiles. - -"Aha!" cried the lieutenant; "I knew we should find some malcontents -here,--ay, good people?" - -The peasants multiplied their excuses and protestations, to which the -lieutenant listened with the greatest indifference, taking all the -while short sips from an enormous goblet, filled to the brim with -_refino de Catalonia_, the strongest spirit known. - -"There, that will do," said he at last, making the steel scabbard of -his sword rattle against the bench; "let us reconnoitre a little; and -first of all, for whom are you, in the devil's name?" - -The travellers, terrified by this demonstration, answered the question -by hastening to shout at the top of their voices, and with an -enthusiasm the more demonstrative the less it was real: - -"_Viva el benemerito General Rosas, Viva el libertador, Vivan los -federales, Mueren los salvajes unitarios. A degueello, a degueello con -ellos._"[1] - -These well-known federal cries, which served as rallying calls in their -bloody expeditions, dispelled the doubts of the officer. He deigned to -smile; but it was a tiger's smile, exposing the white fangs ready to -bite. - -"_Bravos, Bravos_," he cried: "that is right at all events. These are -true Rosistas. Come, _ranchero, trago de aguardiente_" (a draught of -brandy) "for these worthy people. I intend to treat them." - -The _ranchero_ could have easily dispensed with this factitious -generosity of the officer, the cost of which he well knew he should -have to pay out of his own pocket. However, he executed the order, -hiding the chagrin he felt under the most gracious air he could assume. -The cries and protestations of federalism were renewed with redoubled -ardour: the brandy circulated, and joy seemed to have reached a climax. - -The lieutenant next took a guitar, which happened to lie beside him. - -"Come, _muchachos_," said he; "a _zambacueca_" (a Mexican dance). -"_Voto a Dios_, Room for the dance." - -There was no refusing. Whatever the secret fears of those present, -the gracious invitation of the _colorado_ was so neatly put, that they -were obliged to take heart of grace, as the saying is, and play their -parts to the end. It was the best plan to resign themselves to their -lot. They were in the claws of the tiger, who might devour them at any -moment if the fancy seized him. - -The middle of the room was cleared; the dancers, male and female, took -their places, their eyes fixed on the officer, in expectation of his -signal. - -They had not long to wait; as soon as the lieutenant saw his victims -prepared, he swallowed an enormous bumper of _refino_, and set himself -to rattle on the guitar with his knuckles; while he sang, or rather -screeched, in a shaky voice, the gay _zambacueca_ so well known in the -Argentine provinces, and which begins with the following charming verse: - - "Para que vas y vienes, - Vienes y vas. - Si otros andar menos, - Consiguen mas?"[2] - -It has been truly said that the Spaniards are excessively fond of -dancing; but in this, as in many other matters, the South Americans -have left them far behind They have carried this passion to such a -pitch, that it reaches the limits of folly. The scene we are about to -describe will prove the truth of our assertion. - -These very men, who had only consented to dance because, as one may -say, the knife was at their throats, and were still under the influence -of extreme terror, had scarcely heard for a few minutes the groaning -chords of the guitar, and the words which marked the time, than they -immediately forgot their precarious position, and gave themselves up -heart and soul, in a sort of savage frenzy, to their favourite pastime. - -Those who at first had prudently kept themselves within bounds, in -consequence of their anxiety, were soon fascinated by the bounds of the -dancers, and leaped and stamped, howling, like the others, with all the -strength of their lungs. - -Thus at the close of a few minutes all constraint had vanished, and the -noise had again grown as deafening, and the uproar as stunning, as it -had been when the federals arrived. - -Meanwhile the corporal had diligently carried out the orders he had -received from his superior; but, as we said above, the muleteers and -wagoners, having accidentally stopped in front of the _rancho_, and -then entered the room of their own accord, had materially lightened -his task. But that worthy officer, zealous in the performance of his -duty, had taken half a dozen soldiers with him, and scoured the several -encampments, passing the blades of their swords between the bales, -looking into the insides of the _galeras,_--in a word, ferreting -about everywhere, with the sagacity of an old bloodhound which it is -impossible to baffle. - -Persuaded at last, after the most minute search, that all those whom -he thus looked after had entered the _rancho_, he determined to follow -them. But the uproar he heard inside convincing him that all was going -right, for the time at least, he changed his mind, and dismissing the -soldiers who were with him, and who desired nothing better than to join -the merriment, remained outside. - -As soon as he found himself alone, the corporal's whole demeanour -changed. He first satisfied himself that no indiscreet eye observed his -motions; he then rolled a cigarette between his fingers, lit it, and, -walking backwards and forwards with the air of an idler enjoying his -leisure, gradually increased his distance from the porch. - -After some ten minutes of this manoeuvring, which bore no bad -resemblance to a ship tacking against a contrary breeze in her -endeavours to get away from her port, he found he had passed beyond the -wagoners' camps, and was so far from the _rancho_, that, thanks to the -obscurity of the night, it was impossible to see him from thence. He -immediately stopped, looked once more round him, and threw the lighted -cigar in the air. - -The light _pajillo_ described a brilliant parabola against the sky, and -then fell to the ground, when the corporal extinguished it with his -foot. - -At the same moment a slender line of fire sparkled in the obscurity a -little way off. - -"Good," growled the corporal; "see what it is to be prudent." - -A second time he scanned the neighbourhood narrowly; then, reassured by -the obscurity which reigned around, he resolutely turned aside into the -darkness, humming under his breath these three verses of a song well -known in the Pampas: - -"O Libertad preciosa No comparado al oro Ni al bien mayor de la -espaciosa tierra."[3] - -Directly, a voice, low as a whisper, took up the subsequent verses: - -"Mas rica y mas gozosa Que el mas precioso tesoro."[4] - -At this response, which he doubtless expected, the corporal stopped -short. He struck the end of his scabbard on the ground, rested himself -on the hilt, and said aloud, as if talking to himself: - -"I should like to know why the _nandus_ (ostriches) have so suddenly -taken themselves off into the Pampas?" - -"Because," answered the voice which had continued the song, "they -smelt the odour of dead bodies." - -"That may be true," said the corporal, without seeming astonished at -the answer which came so oddly; "but then the _condors_ would come down -from the Cordilleras." - -"It is already twenty-one days since they passed the Alto de Cumbre." - -"The sunset yesterday was red." - -"His rays reflected the light of the conflagrations caused by the -_mashorca_," said the voice again. - -The corporal hesitated no longer. - -"Approach, Don Leoncio," cried he; "you and your companions." - -"We are here, Luco;" and the corporal was immediately surrounded by six -persons, armed to the teeth. - -It is useless to say that these men were the six persons who an -hour before had arrived at the post house simultaneously with the -_colorados_, and whom prudence had induced to remain concealed. - -The dancing and shouting in the _rancho_ still went on. The merriment -was gradually growing into a gigantic orgy. - -Consequently the strangers were sure they should not be disturbed. -Moreover, although the moon had now risen, and gave a certain amount -of light, the little group, sheltered by the wagons behind which they -stood, was in no danger of discovery; while, thanks to its position, -nobody could leave the _rancho_, without being seen directly by those -composing it. - -We will profit by the moonbeams to depict in a few words these fresh -personages; a task made more easy by the fact that they had dismounted, -and were holding their horses by the bridles. - -We said they were six in number: the first three were evidently -_peones_; but their heavy silver spurs, their _tirador_, or girdle -of embroidered velvet, their beautifully chased weapons, their rich -_ponchos_ of fine Bolivian vicuna wool, and, above all, the respectful -familiarity which they used towards their masters, indicated that they -had earned for themselves a certain degree of consideration. - -These _peones_ were, in fact, not only servants, but friends; humble -ones, it is true, but devoted ones, tried many a time in scenes of -frightful danger. - -Of the masters, two were men of about thirty-five, in all the vigour of -their age and strength. Their dress, similar in cut to that of their -servants, was only distinguished from it by the superior richness and -fineness of its texture. - -The foremost was a tall and well-built person, with graceful manners -and elegant gestures. The outline of his face was proud and decided, -and his hardy features expressed a kindness and frankness which, at -first sight, won the sympathy and regard of all. - -His name was Don Leoncio de Ribera. - -His companion, of the same size and figure, and endowed with the same -manners, formed, nevertheless, a perfect contrast to Don Leoncio. - -His soft blue eyes; the thick curls of blonde hair, which escaped in -large masses from under his Panama hat, and flowed in disorder on his -shoulders; the cream-coloured skin, which contrasted with the olive -and slightly bronzed complexion of Don Leoncio,--seemed to indicate -that he was not born under the burning sun of South America. Yet this -cavalier could proudly claim, even more than the latter, the quality -of a veritable _hijo del pais_[5] since he descended in a direct line -from the brave and unhappy Tupac Amaru, the last Inca, so basely -assassinated by the Spaniards. - -He was called Manco Amaru, Diego de Solis y Villas Reales; and we beg -our reader's pardon for this litany of names. - -Don Diego de Solis concealed the courage of the lion under the -effeminacy of a woman, and nerves of steel under the skin of his soft -white hands. - -As to the third cavalier, who kept himself modestly retired behind the -others, he had wrapped himself up so carefully in the voluminous folds -of his _poncho_, and the rim of his hat was so well pulled down over -his countenance, that is was impossible to distinguish any part of him -except two large black eyes, which flashed forth flames of fire. His -small size, delicate limbs, and a certain soft smoothness about his -movements, would lead one to suppose that he was still a youth, if this -masculine attire did not conceal a woman, which seemed more probable. - -However that may be, no sooner did the corporal find himself in the -presence of the persons we have described, than there was a complete -metamorphosis in his whole appearance. His rough and fierce demeanour -was exchanged for a flattering obsequiousness, denoting complete -devotedness; and his countenance lost its mocking expression, to take -that of decided pleasure. - -Don Leoncio had difficulty in moderating the outbursts of foolish joy -to which the soldier gave vent, with the unconstraint of a man who at -length enjoys a happiness he has long been vainly expecting. - -"There, there, Luco," said he; "be calm. You see it is I. There, -there; be moderate, _muchacho_ this is not the time for outpourings of -affection." - -"It is true, _mi amo_" (my master); "but I am so happy to see you again -after such a length of time," and he brushed away the tears which -rolled down his bronzed cheeks. - -Don Leoncio felt deeply moved by the affection of his old servant, and -replied: - -"Thanks, Luco; you are indeed a good and trusty fellow." - -"And yet, in spite of the happiness I feel in seeing you once more, -I wish you had not returned at such an unlucky moment. _Mi amo_, the -times are bad; the tyrant is more powerful than ever in Buenos Aires." - -"I know. Unfortunately, I could not postpone my journey, in spite of -the perils to which I should be exposed." - -"_iValgame Dios_, senor! This is a terrible life we are now leading." - -"What is to be done? We must all take our share of the unavoidable. Are -my orders fulfilled?" - -"Yes, all, _mi amo:_ your brother is forewarned. Unluckily, I could not -go myself to inform him: I was forced to send a _guacho_, of whom I -knew little. But do not be uneasy, senor; your brother will not fail to -be here in a few hours." - -"Good; but you seem to have come here in considerable numbers." - -"Alas, it could not be helped; I am so spied after, _mi amo._ I was -obliged to use the most extraordinary efforts to induce the lieutenant -to bring so few." - -"We had very nearly run into his arms." - -"Yes; and I was in a dreadful fright at the moment, for I had -recognised you already, senor: God knows what would have happened had -you met." - -"And now, is this lieutenant to be trusted?" - -Luco shook his head sorrowfully. - -"He! _Mi amo_, take heed. He is one of the most ferocious -_mashorqueras_ of that evil dog Rosas." - -"The devil he is!" said Don Leoncio, with a troubled look. "I fear, my -poor Luco, your too great confidence has led us into a hornet's nest, -out of which we shall have some trouble to escape safe and sound." - -"It is a difficult case--I will not attempt to deny it. You must be -very cautious, and let no one strike your trail. The principal thing is -to gain time." - -"True," said Don Leoncio, plunging into a reverie. - -"How many are there of you?" said Don Diego, mixing in the conversation -for the first time. - -"Thirty-five, counting the lieutenant, senor; but he is a devil -incarnate, and counts for four at least." - -"Pooh!" replied Don Diego carelessly, while he stroked his blonde -moustache; "we are seven when we count you, my good fellow." - -"Who is this lieutenant?" - -"Don Torribio, formerly a _guacho._" - -"Oh," said Don Leoncio, disgusted, "Torribio _Degueello!_" (literally, -Torribio the Butcher). - -"_iVoto a brios!_" replied Don Diego; "How I should like to plant my -knee on the breast of that wretch! Well, what are we to do?" - -"You forget who is with us," said Don Leoncio, quickly, casting a -glance at the motionless figure behind. - -"It is true," said the young man; "I am mad. Forgive me, friend; we -cannot be too cautious." - -"It is lucky," observed Luco, "that you have not brought Dona Antonia -with you. Poor dear nina! she would die here, were she exposed to the -devils in whose midst we are." - -All of a sudden before Don Leoncio had time to reply, a horrible -clamour arose in the _rancho_, several shots were heard, and a score of -men and women, frantic with fear, rushed into the open with shouts of -terror, and dispersed in all directions. - -"Hide yourselves!" cried Luco. "Good God! What can this mean? I will be -back directly; but, for God's sake, do not let them see you. Farewell -for a time! I must go and see what is the matter." - -Leaving Don Leoncio and his companions in dreadful anxiety, the -corporal ran towards the house, where the tumult was increasing every -minute. - - - -[1] "Long live the well-beloved General Rosas! Long live the liberator! -Long live the federals! Death to the unitarian savages! Slay them! Slay -them!" - -[2] These words will hardly bear translation Their general meaning is -this: Why do you go and return, return and go; if others go less far, -they gain more by it. - -[3] "O precious Liberty! One cannot compare you to gold nor to the -greatest riches in the spacious world." - -[4] "More rich and more cherished than the most precious treasure." - -[5] Child of the country; a very common expression in South America. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -A DELICATE FEDERAL ATTENTION. - - -We will run before the corporal, in order to explain to the reader what -had happened in the _rancho._ - -At first everything went off well. After the first moment of distrust -and fear, the muleteers and wagoners, involuntarily submitting to the -influence of their favourite pastime, had utterly forgotten their -apprehensions, and fraternised with the soldiers. The _aguardiente_ -went round uninterruptedly from one end of the room to the other; the -merriment increased in proportion to the draughts, which, by frequent -repetition, began to heat the brains of the drinkers, among whom the -first symptoms of drunkenness were showing themselves here and here. - -Nevertheless the lieutenant, Don Torribio, his eyes sparkling and his -countenance excited, continued to sing, to torture the guitar, and -specially to drink, without any signs of meditated evil; and perhaps -all might have ended well, but for an incident which suddenly changed -the aspect of things, and turned a scene of joy into a spectacle of -terror. - -One of the best and most brilliant dancers of the _zambacueca_ was a -young muleteer of from twenty to twenty-five, with fine and intelligent -features, well-knit figure, and easy manner, who distinguished -himself greatly by the lightness and grace of his dancing. The women -crowded round him, cast the most killing looks at him, and applauded -extravagantly the eccentric steps it was his pleasure to execute. - -Among these females were two, both girls of sixteen, radiant with the -beauty peculiar to South America, and which finds no equivalent in -Europe. The black eyes, shaded by long silken lashes; the mouth, with -lips red as the fruit of the _chirimoya_ (Mexican pear); the face, -slightly bronzed by the heat of a tropical sun, over which fell the -long tresses of bluish-black hair; the rounded figure, supple and -slender; the wavy movements, full of inimitable grace; all these charms -united constituted that intoxicating and voluptuous kind of beauty, -which it is impossible to analyse, but of which the most frigid mortal -cannot resist the magnetic influence and fascinating spell. - -These two females made themselves conspicuous by the exuberant praises -they showered on the object of their predilection. The latter, we -must do him the justice to say, seemed to take very little notice of -the enthusiasm he excited. He was a good fellow, whose heart, if not -his head, was perfectly free; who danced for dancing's sake, because -it pleased him, and because the rough life he led rarely afforded an -opportunity for enjoying his favourite amusement; moreover, he was -totally indifferent about inspiring either one or the other of his -admirers with any kind of passion whatever. The two latter, although -with a woman's innate instinct they understood his indifference, and -were secretly hurt at it, nevertheless continued to lavish on him the -most passionate expressions of admiration of which the Spanish language -is capable, as a means of evincing the interest they took in his -proceedings. - -These demonstrations grew at last so lively and pointed, that the -greater number of the men present--who would each, in his secret -heart, have given a good deal for the preference of either of these -beautiful creatures--began, as is generally the case, to hate the -muleteer for the indifference he displayed, and to upbraid him for -serious want of politeness and unpardonable ignorance of good manners, -in showing no gratitude for such enthusiastic praise. - -The muleteer, embarrassed by the position in which he had involuntarily -been placed while he was only laudably endeavouring to amuse -himself, and compelled, as we may say, by his companions' murmurs of -disapprobation, to re-establish his impugned reputation for courtesy, -decided on finding some means or other of withdrawing honourably from -his disagreeable situation, and with that purpose determined to ask the -two girls to dance with him one after the other. - -Full of these good intentions, as soon as the lieutenant--who had -temporarily interrupted his inharmonious strumming to help himself -to an immense goblet of _aguardiente_--began to rattle a fresh -_zambacueca_ on his guitar, the _arriero_ advanced with a smile on his -lips, and graciously saluted the two girls. - -"Senorita," said he, to the one who chance to bed nearest, "will you -make me happy by dancing this _zambacueca_ with your humble servant?" - -The girl, all rosy with delight at what she imagined the preference -of the handsome dancer, was coming forward with outstretched hand, -and beginning to reply, when suddenly her companion, who had turned -pale on hearing the _arriero's_ invitation, bounded between them like -a tigress, and, with trembling lips and flaming eyes, confronted the -young couple. - -"You shall not dance together!" she cried in menacing tones. - -The spectators of this extraordinary and unexpected scene recoiled in -amazement: they were unable to comprehend this sudden burst of anger. -The two would-be dancers exchanged looks of astonishment. - -The situation grew intolerable, and the _arriero_ determined to put an -end to it. - -The second girl was still standing right in front of him, her figure -slightly thrown back, and firmly planted on her feet, her head erect, -her cheeks inflamed, her nostrils quivering like those of a wild beast, -and her arm extended in an attitude of menace and defiance. - -The _arriero_ took a step forward, and made a very respectful bow to -the damsel. - -"Senorita," said he, "allow me to remark--" - -"_Calle Vd. la boca_" (hold your tongue), "Don Pablo!" she angrily -exclaimed, interrupting him in the middle of his speech; "I have -nothing to say against you; but look at this _chola sin vergueenza_" -(shameless hussy), "who, knowing you to be the best dancer in the -_rancho_, wants to monopolise you for her own benefit." - -On hearing the insult her companion had thus boldly cast in her teeth, -the other damsel hastily shook off Don Pablo, and placed herself face -to face before her assailant. - -"You lie, Manonga!" cried she: "It is jealousy that made you utter -these words; you are furious at the preference with which this -_caballero_ honours me." - -"I!" said the other disdainfully; "You are a fool, Clarita; I care no -more for the _caballero_ than for a sour orange." - -"Indeed!" sneered Clarita; "Then, pray what may be the reason of this -sudden fury?" - -"Because," sharply retorted Manonga, "I have known you for a long time; -you want a lesson, and I am going to give you one." - -"You, indeed!" said the other, shrugging her shoulders; "Take care lest -you get one yourself!" - -"_Ojala_; add another word, and, by my soul, I will knife you!" - -"Pooh! you don't even know how to handle a navaja" (knife). - -"_A ver;_" (we will see), shouted Manonga, beside herself with rage; -and, bounding back, she drew a knife from her bosom, wrapped her -_rebozo_ (veil) round her left arm, and threw herself on guard. - -"_A ver;_" screamed Clarita, echoing the words, and taking up her -position with the same celerity as her adversary. - -A duel between the two girls was imminent. - -Don Pablo, the innocent cause of this combat, had several times vainly -tried to mediate between the two females. Neither one nor the other -would listen to his speech, nor attend to his remonstrances. When -matters had reached this point, he wanted to make a fresh effort: but -this time he was more sharply repulsed than before; for the bystanders, -interested in the dispute, and infinitely attracted by the longing -to see a duel with knives between two women, turned against him, and -peremptorily bade him be quiet, and leave the _ninas_ (darlings) to -amuse themselves as they thought fit. - -The _arriero_, thoroughly satisfied that he could wash his hands of the -consequences, and whose good nature alone had induced him to attempt -to prevent an explosion, saw that his mediation was looked upon with -an unfavourable eye, so thought he had said his say; and, folding his -arms, prepared to be, if not an indifferent, at least a disinterested -spectator of the coming struggle. - -It was, indeed, a singular and striking spectacle to see, in this dimly -lighted room, amidst the crowd of strange costumes, these two girls, -fiercely and resolutely standing two paces apart, ready to come to -knife thrusts, while the music and the dance continued as if nothing -was the matter, while the _aguardiente_ was poured forth in floods, and -while the merriest and maddest songs were shouted out around them. - -"_iVaya pues!_" (now for the sport!) cried Clarita: "With how many -inches do we fight, _querida?_" (my darling). - -"With the whole length of the blade, _alma mia_" (my soul), answered -Manonga; "I mean to leave my handwriting on your face!" - -"Ah, _punaladas!_ We shall see. Are you ready, my dear?" - -"As soon as you like, my pet!" - -A ring was formed round the damsels, who, with bodies bent forward, -left arms extended, and eye watching eye, waited, with feline -impatience, for a propitious moment to rush upon each other. - -They seemed well matched, both being young, active, and full of nerve. -The _connoisseurs_ in those matters, of whom there were many in the -attentive crowd of bystanders, could form no opinion on the result of -the combat, which threatened, for the matter of that, to be desperate, -such flashes of ire sparkled from the wild eyes of the duellists. - -After a moment or two of hesitation, or more properly speaking of -gathering themselves up, Clarita and Manonga began to clack their -tongues against their palates, producing a series of sharp smacking -sounds; their blue gleaming knives glittered, and they darted upon each -other. - -But if the attack was lively, the defence and the parry was not less -so. Both simultaneously bounded back, and fell into guard again. Each -stroke had told; the battle had begun bravely, and either combatant had -her face furrowed by a bleeding double cut. Neither one nor the other -had predicted falsely: each bore the handwriting of the other on her -countenance. The bystanders trembled with joy and admiration: never -before had they been spectators of such a splendid _navajada._ - -After taking breath for a while, the damsels were preparing to -recommence the fight, this time with the determined purpose of making -the bout decisive, when, all of a sudden, the ranks of the onlookers -were shouldered right and left, and a man resolutely thrust himself -between the two adversaries, and confronted them with a look of scorn. - -"Hearken, _demonios!_" he cried in a sharp tone, and with accents of -indescribable mockery. - -The two women lowered their knives, and stood motionless, with eyes -abashed, but head erect, their foreheads frowning, and preserving their -attitude--the haughty expression of two foes who long to tear each -other to pieces, and unwillingly succumb to commands, which they dare -not disobey, though they curse them. - -In spite of the deafening uproar the federalist lieutenant made with -his guitar, he could not help hearing, at last, what was going on in -the room. At the first impulse, he had placed his hand on the pistols -which hung at his girdle; but an instant afterwards his anger grew, not -calm, but cold and concentrated, instead of furious. - -Don Torribio had risen from his seat, left the bench on which he sat -enthroned, and furtively approached the combatants. He had attentively -watched the different phases of the fight, and when he thought proper -to interfere, had suddenly interposed between the duellists. - -The soldiers had silently advanced behind their officer; they were now -close at his heels, their hands on their weapons, ready for action at -the first signal, foreseeing that Don Torribio's interference in this -quarrel would speedily bring about another, in which they would have to -take part. - -Intuitively, the ring formed by the _arrieros_ and wagoners had -extended itself, and a large space was left open in the middle of the -room. The two girls stood in the centre of the circle, knife in hand; -and the lieutenant, with his arms crossed, amused himself by examining -them narrowly, with a cynical sneer on his lips. - -"Holloa, my chickens!" said he; "What! Are you ruffling your feathers -for a cock? Is there only one on the perch? _iRayo de Dios!_ What -splendid St. Andrew's crosses you have dug in each other's faces! Are -you both mad for love of this _picaro?_" (ragamuffin). - -Neither spoke; and the lieutenant continued his sarcastic speech: - -"But where is this valiant champion, who lets the women fight for him? -Does his modesty make him hide himself?" - -Don Pablo came forward, looked the lieutenant straight in the face, and -answered firmly: "Here I am." - -"Aha!" said Don Torribio, staring at him for some time; "You are in -truth a handsome fellow. I do not wonder at their passion for you." - -The _arriero_ remained mute, fully understanding the irony of the -compliment. - -"There, _ninas_," the lieutenant went on speaking to the damsels, -"which of you is the chosen one of this breaker of hearts? _iMil -rayos!_ Speak out!" - -There was an interval of silence. - -"Oh, that is it!" resumed Don Torribio; "You do not exactly know. Come, -young fellow, do you speak, and tell me which of the two you prefer." - -"I have no preference for either," said the _arriero_ coolly. - -"_iCaramba!_" exclaimed the lieutenant, with pretended admiration; -"_que gusto_" (what good taste.) "So I am to understand you love them -both alike?" - -"No; you are mistaken, senor. I love neither one nor the other." - -"_iRayas pues!_ That is a puzzler; and yet you let them fight for you. -That is conduct worthy of chastisement, my master! As that is the -case, I shall reconcile you two senoritas, and give a lesson to the -discourteous _caballero_ who flouts at the power of your black eyes. -Upon my soul, such an insult calls for vengeance." - -The spectators of the scene felt their hearts sink within them, while -the soldiers laughed and jested among themselves. - -On pronouncing his last words, the lieutenant drew a pistol from -his belt, cocked it, and presented the muzzle at the breast of the -_arriero_, who, motionless as ever, had made no gesture to escape the -fate that threatened him. - -But the two girls were roused. With the velocity of thought, they both -at once threw themselves before him. - -Manonga felt her breast pierced by the ball. "Alas!" she cried; "You -despise me! What does it matter? I die for you! Clarita, I forgive you!" - -Don Pablo bounded over the body of the luckless wretch, whose dying -eyes still sought his, and threw himself, knife in hand, on the -lieutenant. The latter hurled his heavy pistol at his head; but the -_arriero_ avoided the weapon, seized the officer round the body, and -a deadly fray began. Clarita, with flaming eyes, eagerly watched the -struggle between the two, ready to interfere as soon as an opportunity -offered in favour of her beloved. - -The bystanders were horrified; the dread inspired by the soldiers was -so great, that although many more in number, and all armed, they dared -not go to the assistance of their comrade. - -In the meantime, the soldiers, more than half-drunk, seeing their -officer struggling with a stranger, unsheathed their swords, and struck -right and left among the crowd, shouting out their dreaded cry: - -"_iA degueello! iA degueello! los salvajes unitarios_" (Death, death to -the savage Unitarians!) - -Then ensued a scene of horror in the room, which was crowded with human -beings. - -The _arrieros_, pursued by the soldiers, who were pitilessly cutting -them down, and calling to each other to slay, thronged towards the door -to escape impending death. The disorder was at its height; all wanted -to escape at once through the too narrow outlet. Made selfish by fear, -and in the blind instinct of self-preservation, they stifled each other -against the walls, crushed each other underfoot, and struck blindly -with their knives, in order to hew themselves a passage through the -human barrier that checked them. - -Fear, when self-preservation is uppermost, makes man more cruel and -cowardly than the wild beasts. That hideous egotism, which lurks at -the bottom of the human heart, starts up when its bonds are suddenly -broken. Man has then neither parents nor friends; he is deaf to every -prayer; and, shutting his eyes, plunges forward with the blind and -stupid ferocity of the maddened bull. - -Blood soon flowed in torrents, and the victims increased in number, -while the fury grew no less; nor did the assailed attempt to defend -themselves. - -At last the barrier gave way, and the wretches rushed out of doors, -flying straight on, without knowing whither, in the sole thought of -escaping from the butchery. - -At this moment the corporal entered the room. A lamentable spectacle -met his eyes: the floor was strewn with dead bodies, and wounded men -weltering in their blood. - -But he could not restrain a cry of horror when his eyes fell on Don -Torribio. The lieutenant was tying the head of Don Pablo, which he had -hacked off with his sword, to the long tresses of the fainting Clarita. -The officer had been slightly wounded by the girl in the hip and arm, -and blood was flowing from his garments. - -"There," said he, having finished to his satisfaction the knot that -bound Clarita's tresses to the long locks of the _arriero;_ "since she -loves him so dearly, when she comes to herself she can admire him at -leisure, he is all her own now; no one will take him from her." - -Then he looked for a time at the pale and fainting girl, with an -expression of lust impossible to describe. - -"Pooh!" said he, with a shrug of the shoulders; "Why should I? Let us -wait till she opens her eyes. I shall have plenty of time to make love -to her; and I want to enjoy her surprise when she wakes up." - -And without another look at his victims, he set himself to help his -soldiers in the massacre. - -The first step he took, he encountered Luco. - -"Halloa!" cried he; "where have you been, while we have been cutting -up the _salvajes unitarios?_ God take me! Here you come quietly; your -sword in the sheath, and not a drop of blood on your clothes! What is -the meaning of this conduct, comrade? Are you turned traitor, too, by -chance?" - -At this accusation the corporal feigned immense indignation. He -frowned, bit his lip, and drew his sword, which he brandished -menacingly. - -"What words are those, lieutenant?" cried he. "Do you address such -an insult to me? Do you call me, the most devoted partisan of our -well-beloved General Rosas, a _salvaje unitario? iVive Dios!_" - -"Come, come; calm yourself," answered the lieutenant, who, like all men -of his calibre, was as cowardly as he was cruel, and was intimidated by -the pretended anger of the corporal; "I did not mean to insult you! I -know you are to be trusted." - -"It is well you say so," replied Luco; "for I have no mind to listen -patiently to unjust reproach." - -"Lose no more time in talking," said a soldier, interfering; "_irayo de -Dios!_ I have a capital idea." - -"What is it?" asked Don Torribio. "Out with it, Eusebio, or it will -blow you up." - -The soldier laughed. - -"This old hovel," said he, "is full of forage. Let us set fire to it, -and roast in the flames all the _salvajes unitarios_ who are here." - -"_iVive Dios!_" cried Don Torribio, in high glee; "that is a capital -idea. We will set about it at once. The general will be pleased enough -when he knows we have rid him so expeditiously of a harbour for -his enemies. Two of you arrange the straw properly, while we mount -and chase those rascals back here. Not a soul of these _malvados_ -(malicious rogues) shall escape the punishment he richly deserves." - -The lieutenant then signed to the soldiers to leave. - -"I," said Luco, "will keep the door, so that no one inside can come -out." - -"That will do, my good fellow," answered Don Torribio. "Ah!" he added -suddenly, as his eye fell on the poor girl extended on the floor, with -the head of him she loved tied to her tresses; "here Eusebio! do not -forget to place two or three bundles of straw under that sweet child. -The dirty floor is a hard couch for her, and I want her to sleep -sweetly." - -He left the room, grinning like a demon. - -He had scarcely got outside, before the corporal, without uttering a -word, raised his sword, and, with one blow, cleft Eusebio to the chine. -The wretch fell without a cry, like an ox that is slaughtered. - -The second soldier who was present exhibited no signs of emotion. - -"That was a pretty blow, Luco," said he, twisting his long gray -moustache; "but are you not a little too precipitate?" - -The corporal made him a sign to be silent, and, peering out of doors, -listened attentively. A cry, low as the softest breath of the wind, met -his ear. - -"No Munoz," he answered, "I am not too hasty; for there is the signal." - -Then, putting the first finger of each hand into his mouth, he gave a -whistle, so sharp and prolonged, that those present crouched against -the walls, and trembled with fear, not knowing what new evil this -portentous signal might bring upon them. - -"_iSangre de Cristo!_" cried Luco, addressing the terrified _arrieros_, -crouching on the floor, "Are you going to stay here and be massacred -like stupid ostriches? Take courage _caray!_ seize your weapons, and -range yourselves by the side of those who have come to save you!" - -The poor devils shook their heads in despair. Terror had deprived -them of all energy, and they were incapable of organizing the least -resistance. - -The shouting of the soldiery was heard on every side, as they excited -each other in their human chase; and each moment, wretches who had been -hunted up from all corners, rushed in to seek a precarious refuge in -the room whence they had escaped a few minutes previously. - -Don Torribio, almost certain that he had driven all his game into the -net, signalled to his soldiers to leave off, and ordered them to enter -the _rancho._ - -All of a sudden the galloping of several horses was heard; six -cavaliers rode fiercely up, and ranged themselves in battle array -before the door of the house. - -The lieutenant started when he saw them, went to his horse, and made as -if he would mount. - -"Who are you, _caballeros?_" said he in menacing tones; "And how dare -you dispute my passage?" - -"You shall soon know, Don Torribio the Butcher," said a voice, whose -mocking accent made the lieutenant turn pale. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -TREACHERY. - - -There is one remark which has been often made. It is this: That, -generally speaking, men who delight to dabble in gore--who -unhesitatingly commit the most atrocious cruelties, and exercise their -powers in exciting the terror they love to inspire--are cowards; and -when they happen to meet with effective resistance, their cowardice -falls to a baseness beyond comparison. Jackals and hyenas are ferocious -and cowardly; men are jackals and hyenas--the thing is explained. - -At the answer of the leader of the strangers, the _mashorqueras_ became -convulsed with terror. They comprehended that they were face to face -with resolute foes, without having it in their power to retreat an -inch. They crowded close to each other, and fixed their eyes in fright -and amazement on the six men who, sitting calmly and impassively before -them, bid them defiance. - -Don Torribio alone felt no fear. The man was a savage brute, whom -the smell of blood intoxicated, and who could only breathe freely -in an atmosphere of carnage. Crossing his arms and raising his head -defiantly, he answered the words of the unknown with a long laugh of -contempt; then, turning to his terror-stricken soldiers: - -"Will you suffer yourselves to be intimidated by six men?" he cried. -"Come, my children; face about. _iVive Dios!_ these _picaros_ dare not -stand against us." - -The soldiers, aroused by the tones of the voice they had so long -obeyed, and ashamed of their hesitation, fell in as well as they could, -and formed a line in front of the _rancho._ The lieutenant, putting -spurs to his horse, made him execute a _demivolte_, and resolutely -placed himself at the head of his troop. The strangers, notwithstanding -the inequality of numbers, did not hesitate a moment, but charged -the federalists sword and pistol in hand. Don Torribio received them -bravely without retreating a foot. Having discharged their pistols, -they took to the sword, and in an instant the _melee_ grew terrible. In -spite of their prodigies of valour and gigantic efforts, the strangers -would, in all probability, have had the worst of it, when suddenly -Corporal Luco, who had remained spectator of the fight, with four or -five of his comrades, made his horse bound to the front, and, instead -of ranging himself on the side of the federalists, attacked them -vigorously in flank, and came with his comrades to place himself beside -Don Leoncio. - -This defection of a party of his soldiers raised Don Torribio's ire -to seething point--the more so, as the _mashorqueras_, not knowing -to what cause to attribute the strange conduct of the corporal and -his comrades, began to suspect treason, to lose courage, and to reply -but feebly to the blows of the assailants; who, seeing them falter, -redoubled their efforts for victory. - -The _arrieros_ and wagoners, having in some measure recovered from -their fright, and seeing the favourable opportunity of avenging the -insults and villainies the hirelings of Rosas had so long heaped -upon them, armed themselves with anything that fell in their way, -and, burning to make up for lost time, rushed headforemost on their -ferocious enemies. - -But at this very moment loud cries reached their ears. Some forty -mounted men entered at full gallop the zone of light proceeding from -the post house, and, deploying with amazing dexterity and despatch, -surrounded the _rancho_ on all sides. - -The riders who had galloped up so opportunely for the assailants and so -inopportunely for the _colorados_, were Don Guzman de Ribera and his -_peones_. - -Having left Buenos Aires several hours ago, they ought long before this -to have reached the _rancho_, which lay on the road they had to follow -in order to get to the _hacienda_ where Don Guzman hoped to meet his -brother. But at a little distance from the town, Don Bernardo Pedrosa -had managed somehow or other to cut his bonds; he slipped off the horse -on which he had been placed, threw himself among the tall grasses, and -disappeared before anyone suspected his flight. - -Don Guzman had lost a good deal of time in marching for the fugitive, -whose traces he could not find, and had only abandoned the pursuit -when convinced that all his efforts to recover his prisoner were in -vain. Recalling his _peones_, who were scattered right and left, he had -resumed the road to the _hacienda_, feeling extremely uneasy for the -consequences of his prisoner's escape; for he knew Don Bernardo too -well to suppose for an instant that he would not strain every nerve to -avenge the insult he had met with at his hands. - -When Don Guzman was still about half a league from the _rancho_, some -fugitives, escaped from the massacre, had run blindly among his men, -and warned him of what was going on. Without suspecting how important -these news might be to himself, his natural generosity excited the wish -to assist, if possible, the persons engaged in this terrible affray; -so Don Guzman, well acquainted with the ferocity of the Buenos-Airean -tyrant ruffians, had increased the pace of his horses, and galloped in -to aid the unfortunate people in their contest with the _mashorqueras._ -His unexpected arrival decided the affair. - -The lieutenant, finding flight impossible, retired step by step, -fighting like a lion, and withdrew all his men into the _rancho_, -himself remaining last in order to secure their retreat. - -Don Torribio--the Butcher, as he was called--scorned to ask quarter. -He himself had never granted it to a soul. The extremity to which he -found himself reduced, far from diminishing his courage, had increased -it tenfold. Feeling his last hour was come--that no human aid could -save him--he resolved to fight to the last breath, and sell his life as -dearly as possible. - -The _mashorqueras_, following the example of their leader, drew fresh -courage from the depths of their despair, and once within the _rancho_, -busied themselves in fortifying it, so as to carry on the strife as -long as they could, and to fall after an heroic resistance. - -The doors and windows were barricaded with the utmost care; holes were -knocked in the walls; and the ruffians, half-intoxicated with previous -and still-continued libations, waited firmly for the attack, determined -to die bravely in the assault their enemies would soon make on the -_rancho._ - -However contrary to their expectations, a long time elapsed without -their adversaries commencing the attack. This suspension of -hostilities, which was incomprehensible,--for they were ignorant of all -that was going on outside,--gave them great uneasiness, and made the -bravest of them tremble. - -Man is so constituted that, however firmly he may have made up his -mind to face death--however convinced he may be that his last hour is -come--however prepared for the struggle, the consequences of which he -knows and accepts beforehand--if that final struggle is delayed, his -resolution fades, the fever that sustained him dies out, and he begins -to fear, not death, for that he knows to be inevitable, but the agonies -which he fancies may precede death. He creates a thousand sinister -chimeras; and the unknown danger which threatens him, without his being -able to divine how or whence it will come, appears to him a thousand -times more terrible than that which he was prepared to face bravely and -with a resolute heart. - -The _mashorqueras_ vainly sought, in copious draughts of _aguardiente_, -a remedy for the wild terror which gradually overcame them. The -mournful silence which reigned around them, the obscurity, wrapping -them up as in a shroud, and the forced inaction to which they were -condemned, concurred, in spite of their efforts, to increase the -invincible terror that had seized upon them. The lieutenant alone -preserved his ferocious energy, and awaited patiently the striking of -the hour for his last battle. - -Let us see what was passing among the assailants, and what had -occasioned the delay in the assault. - -Don Guzman de Ribera, as soon as the soldiers had shut themselves up in -the _rancho_, wished to know, before he finished with the latter, who -the persons were to whom his providential arrival had done such good -service. - -It was not long before his curiosity was satisfied; his brother Don -Leoncio, who had recognised him from the first, rushed forward to -offer his thanks. - -The two brothers, who had been so long separated, threw themselves -into each other's arms with tears of joy, and for some time forgot -everything but themselves in the unexpected happiness of meeting. - -When the first shock of their sudden reunion was over, Don Guzman took -his brother's hand, and, leading him apart, uttered the single word, -"Well?" with a smile which was intended to be gay. - -"She is here," said Don Leoncio, trying to stifle a sigh. - -"Did she consent to come?" - -"It was she who wished it." - -"That is indeed astonishing," said Don Guzman. - -"Why so? Dona Antonia is one of those rare spirits who never recoil -before an obligation, however hard it may be, when they know that -honour binds them." - -"True. Well, be it so; it is perhaps better as it is and that she is -with you." - -"Have you forgotten, brother, what occurred exactly a year ago today, -at sunrise, between you and me, when, in a moment of folly, I confessed -to you my love for Dona Antonia de Solis?" - -"What is the good of recurring to it, brother? We are reconciled now, -thank God; and I hope nothing may happen to separate us again." - -"Do not hope so, brother," replied Don Leoncio in melancholy accents. - -"What do you mean, brother? My wife--" - -"Your wife has never ceased to be worthy of you; you will go and see -her?" - -Don Guzman hesitated. - -"No," said he, at length; "not now; let us first finish with these -rascals; then I will give myself up to happiness." - -"Let it be so," said Don Leoncio, rejoiced. - -Two persons now made their appearance; they were Don Diego de Solis, -and Dona Antonia, his sister, and the wife of Don Guzman. - -On seeing his wife, who had been compelled to withdraw from Buenos -Aires in order to escape from the pursuit of Don Bernardo Pedrosa, Don -Guzman, notwithstanding his resolve not to make himself known to her -for the present, could not resist the temptation of pressing her to his -heart. - -The lady uttered a cry of joy on finding herself once more in her -husband's arms. - -Don Leoncio, a few months after the confession he had made to his -brother, seemed to have forgotten his passion, and had espoused the -second sister of Don Diego de Solis, four months prior to the day the -events of which we are now recording. - -So when Don Guzman was forced into a temporary separation from his -wife, he had not hesitated to confide her to his brother, convinced -that the latter's love for Dona Antonia had changed into honourable and -lasting friendship. - -"Why have you returned?" said Don Guzman, kissing his wife. - -"It was necessary," she replied in a low voice, and suppressing a -gesture of fear; "my sister herself recommended me to do so." - -"It was very imprudent, my darling." - -"Oh! I have no fears at your side. Will you not embrace your son, too?" - -"Have you brought him with you?" - -"I will not leave you again, whatever may happen." Then, bending to her -husband's ear she whispered: "Your brother is as much in love with me -as ever; his wife discovered his passion for me, and it is she and Don -Diego who advised my return, as my position was growing intolerable." - -Don Guzman's eyes flashed fire. - -"They did well," said he; "but silence: my brother is watching us." - -In fact, Don Leoncio, uneasy at this conversation apart, had guessed, -with the intuition peculiar to the guilty, that he was the subject of -their discussion, and exhibited signs of restlessness which all his -efforts could not conceal. At last, unable to bear the suspense any -longer, he approached his brother, and said to him curtly: - -"What are we to do now?" - -"Whatever you please," answered Don Guzman, who had been disagreeably -affected by the sound of his voice after what his wife had told him. - -Don Leoncio perceived the aversion his brother felt for him; he bit his -lips, but dissembled his resentment. - -"It is for you to decide," said he, "since it is you who have rescued -us." - -"I am at your service, brother. Don Diego," he continued, turning to -the young man, "I trust my wife to your care. We shall most likely -commence the assault at once. She and her infant must not be exposed to -danger." - -"Set your heart at rest: I will be answerable for them," said Diego, -pressing his hand. - -Before he left her, Dona Antonia threw herself once more on her -husband's breast. - -"Beware!" she whispered in his ear; "Don Leoncio is meditating treason -against you." - -"He would not dare!" firmly replied Don Guzman. - -"Go; and fear not." - -The lady, only half-consoled, followed her brother, and the two soon -disappeared behind the bales and wagons. - -The two brothers were left alone, and there was a long silence between -them. - -Don Guzman, with his arms crossed, and his head bent down, was in deep -meditation. - -Don Leoncio was watching his brother intently, with a strange -expression on his countenance, and a sardonic smile on his lips. - -At last Don Guzman raised his head. - -"Enough of this," he said, "it has lasted too long." Don Leoncio -started: he fancied these words were addressed to him; but his brother -continued: - -"Before attacking these ruffians we must summon them to surrender." - -"Can you think of such a thing, brother. These men are _mashorqueras!_" - -"So much the greater reason to prove to them that we are not rascals of -their own kind, and that we practise the laws of warfare, which they -glory in setting at nought." - -"I submit, brother; although I know we are only losing valuable time." - -Don Leoncio immediately ordered torches of resinous wood to be lighted, -so that the besieged might clearly see him; and, tying his handkerchief -to the point of his sword, resolutely advanced towards the _rancho._ - -When Don Torribio saw the light of the torches, he comprehended that -the assailants wished to enter into communication with him, and -unbarred a window, holding himself in readiness for the parley. - -As soon as Don Leoncio got within a pace or two of the door, he halted. - -"Flag of truce!" said he. - -A window was thrown open, at which the burly figure of the lieutenant -made its appearance. - -"What is it you want?" he replied, carelessly leaning his elbows on the -windowsill. - -"We demand that you surrender," said Don Leoncio. - -"Do you, really?" said Don Torribio, bursting into a laugh; "And why do -you want us to surrender?" - -"Because all resistance is futile." - -"You think so, do you?" replied the officer, with another laugh; "Try -and dislodge us, and see what it will cost you!" - -"Much less than you think." - -"Pooh! I should be glad to know how." - -"Enough! Will you surrender, or not?" - -"It is ridiculous! May the devil embrace me, if you know with whom you -have to deal! Do we ever demand quarter--we, _mashorqueras?_ If we -surrender, you will kill us, that is all. What is the good of it?" - -"Then you are determined not to listen to terms?" - -"Upon my soul, this is growing too tiresome!" - -"You are resolved to defend yourself to the last?" - -"_Canarios_, comrade! I should think so; tooth and nail. I will not -stay any longer. Be off!" - -"Well, we shall have you all soon." - -"Try it, _compadre;_ try it. In the meantime, as your conversation has -little attraction for me, I shall take the liberty of breaking it off. -Good luck!" - -Saying this, he closed the window abruptly. - -Don Leoncio turned to his brother, who had advanced to his side. - -"Did I not tell you so?" said he, with a shrug; "Was I mistaken?" - -"No; I admit it. Now, having saved our honour, we can act as we please." - -Don Guzman leaned towards his brother, and spoke a few words in his -ear; the latter smiled, and left him. - -The _peones, arrieros_, and wagoners were posted behind the _galeras_, -so as to be sheltered from the balls of the besieged. There they -awaited the signal for the assault. - -Don Leoncio busied himself during all this time in heaping dry grass -and branches around the _rancho._ When sufficient had been collected, -he set fire to it, and his men cast their burning torches on the roof. - -The fire, fed by the wind, soon extended itself; and in a very short -time the _rancho_ was enveloped in flames. - -The besieged gave vent to a cry of horror; the besiegers replied by a -shout of triumph. - -After all, the _mashorqueras_ had no reason to complain; it was meted -to them as they would have meted to others: they were undergoing the -_lex talionis._ - -In the meanwhile, the position of the besieged grew intolerable. -Blinded by the smoke and scorched by the fire, which ran up the walls -in long tongues of flame, calcining as they licked them, a sortie -became inevitable, if they would not be burnt alive. - -The lieutenant ordered the door to be unfastened: he opened it -suddenly, and threw himself, followed by his men, into the thickest -ranks of the assailants. - -The latter opened their ranks to receive them, then closed in upon -them, and surrounded them with a circle of steel. - -At the moment when the last morsel of wall crashed into the fiery -furnace, the last _mashorquera_ fell, with his head cloven to the -chine. All had fallen around Don Torribio, who had fought to the last -moment with the desperate frenzy which makes a man almost invincible. - -The sun rose in his majesty, illumining the savage depths of the Pampas. - -The _arrieros_ and wagoners, cowed by the night's work, and dreading -the consequences, hastened to span the oxen to the heavy _galeras_, and -load their mules. Anxious to quit the place, they were soon dispersing -in all directions. Don Guzman and his _peones_ remained masters of the -field. - -Soon after the attack commenced, Don Guzman was surprised that he did -not see his brother near him; but he did not attach much importance to -the fact, being more seriously occupied with other matters. Now, when -the affray was over, he burned with desire to see his wife. He was -amazed that Don Diego had not brought her to him as soon as all danger -for her was over. - -But he was not very anxious. Don Diego had probably not wished to -expose the lady to the horror of crossing the field of battle, and -soiling her feet with the blood in which the earth was soaked. He -applauded his delicacy, and waited a few minutes, during which he -repaired the disorder of his dress, and removed the traces of the -combat. - -At last he determined to look for his wife, whose long absence began to -make him very uneasy. - -Corporal Luco, as anxious as himself, undertook to guide him; he had a -faint recollection of seeing Don Diego, accompanied by Dona Antonia, -the nurse, and two or three more, going in the direction of a hollow in -the ground at a little distance. - -All of a sudden, the two men uttered a shout of sorrow, and recoiled in -horror from the dreadful spectacle before their eyes. - -Don Diego was lying on the ground, his chest pierced through and -through. He was dead; and close to him Dona Antonia and the nurse were -lying senseless. The nurse was Corporal Luco's wife. - -Don Guzman fell on his knees beside his wife; he then perceived a -paper, which she was clutching convulsively in her right hand. - -The unhappy man had great difficulty in releasing it from her grasp; -some words were written on it. Don Guzman cast his eyes over the lines, -and threw himself on the ground with an agonising cry of despair. - -The paper contained these words: - -"Brother,--You have deprived me of the woman I love; I deprive you of -your son: we are quits." - -"DON LEONCIO DE RIBERA." - -No doubts were possible after reading this: Don Leoncio was really the -author of this odious abduction. He had contrived this horrible piece -of treachery while his brother was coming, in all his confidence, to -meet him. With an incredible refinement of wickedness, and in order to -enjoy his revenge to the utmost, he had delayed the stroke, with the -determination to make it fall on his brother's head like a thunderbolt. - -For a long time, Don Guzman remained crouching on the Pampas, holding -in his arms the lifeless body of his wife, whom he tried in vain to -resuscitate. He lay there, absorbed in doubts, and trembling; seeing -nothing; hearing nothing; lamenting the death of his wife; deprived of -his child. - -He was suddenly roused by a heavy stroke on his shoulder. He raised his -head. A man was standing before him, with a smile on his lips. - -"Don Guzman de Ribera," said he, with a mocking salutation, "you are my -prisoner." - -It was Don Bernardo Pedrosa, with a numerous escort of soldiers. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -THE END OF THE STORY. - - -Here Don Estevan paused in his recital. - -"All this is frightful!" exclaimed Don Fernando, in accents of mingled -anger and pity. - -"It is not all," replied the other. - -"But what connection has this horrible story with Don Pedro de Luna?" - -"Did I not tell you when I first began that the history was his?" - -"You did; but, carried away by the dreadful incidents of your -narrative, I lost sight of the personages. My whole mind was so -excited, that I fancied myself a spectator of the scenes that passed -before me with such giddy rapidity, and did not recollect that one of -the actors was so close to us. But how does it happen that you are so -well acquainted with the details of this miserable tragedy?" - -"I have heard them told many and many a day, from infancy till now -that I am a man. My father was the Corporal Luco, whom you have seen -so devoted to the Ribera family. My poor mother was the nurse, and I -am foster brother to Don Guzman's child; for we were born about the -same date, and my mother, who was brought up in the family, was very -anxious to nurse us both, insisting that, in imbibing the same milk as -my young master, my devotion to him would be endless. Alas! God has -decided otherwise; he is dead." - -"Who can tell?" said Don Fernando, with gentle pity; "Perhaps he may -make his appearance again some day." - -"Alas! We have no longer any hope. More than twenty years have elapsed -since the frightful catastrophe, and during all that time no efforts, -however active, have sufficed to lift a corner of the mysterious veil -which conceals the fate of the poor child." - -"His poor mother must have suffered dreadfully." - -"She went mad. But the sun is rapidly sinking to the horizon, and night -will be here before two hours have passed. Let me finish my tale, by -telling you what happened after the arrest of Don Guzman." - -"Go on, my friend; I am anxious to know the end of this dark story." - -Don Guzman replied by a smile of contempt to the summons of Colonel -Bernardo Pedrosa. He raised his wife in his arms, and prepared to -follow his enemy. Notwithstanding his hatred of Don Guzman, Don -Bernardo was a man of the world; the misery which overwhelmed the man -he had so long persecuted touched his heart. His pity was aroused, and -on his way back to Buenos Aires he showed the greatest consideration, -treating him with all the respect his unhappy position demanded. - -The Dictator was furious at the massacre of his hirelings. Rejoiced at -finding a plausible pretext to free himself from a man whom, on account -of his great reputation and influence amongst the highest classes of -society, he had hitherto dreaded to attack, Rosas determined to make a -terrible example of him. Rudely separated from his wife, the prisoner -was cast into one of those horrible dungeons in which the tyrant's -victims languished, awaiting the tortures he prepared for them. - -But the Dictator's vengeance was not destined to be as complete as he -hoped. The French and English consuls, moved by pity for the miserable -state to which Dona Antonia was reduced, made energetic remonstrances -to the tyrant, and even went several times to Palermo to hunt up the -savage in his lair In short, by dint of prayers and menaces, they -obtained the release of the poor woman, and her restoration to her -family; Rosas gnashing his teeth and foaming with rage when he granted -the favour. But he did not dare to brave the consuls, and felt his want -of power to cope with them. Thanks to this beneficent intervention, and -the mighty power they exercised in her behalf, Dona Antonia, at least, -escaped the tortures the tyrant was preparing to inflict. - -As to Don Guzman, all attempts in his favour were unsuccessful. Rosas -not only refused to release him, but even to mitigate the terrible -treatment to which he was ordered to be subjected in prison. - -Unfortunately, Don Guzman was guilty in the eye of the law. The consuls -could take no official steps and were obliged to desist, for fear of -exasperating the tiger to heap greater injuries on the man in whom they -took such lively interest. - -Six months had elapsed since Don Guzman was arrested. Thanks to the -care with which Dona Antonia was surrounded, she recovered her reason. -But her position was thereby rendered worse; for she was now able to -appreciate her calamity to its fullest extent. She comprehended how -great was her misfortune; and her despair reduced her to such utter -prostration, that her life was in danger. - -While this was going on, the rumour was spread abroad that Don Guzman, -who had seemed forgotten in his dungeon, was to be brought up for -judgment, and shortly to appear before a court martial. - -Rosas eagerly seized the opportunity of giving all publicity to a trial -for high treason, hoping to make men forget the murders committed -in his name, in the interest of the discussion which would arise -concerning the trial. - -The report was soon officially confirmed; the day was named on which -Don Guzman was to appear before his judges. - -But there is one person of whom we have not spoken for some time, and -to whom we must now recur,--no other than Corporal Luco. - -The worthy corporal, when he saw the _arrieros_ and wagoners go off, -and that Don Leoncio had abandoned his brother with the greater number -of _peones_, did not attempt to deceive himself as to his own position. -A traitor and deserter, the least that could happen to him would be to -be shot. So when, by the first rays of the rising sun, he saw a cloud -of dust rising afar off in the Pampas, he concluded that soldiers -must be hidden by it; that these soldiers were coming to avenge their -comrades, whom he, Luco, had helped to slay with so much good will; and -that if they caught him, they would instantly shoot him. The prospect -was not pleasant to the corporal; at the same time he loved his master, -and could not resolve to leave him. He was thus in great perplexity, -and unable to come to a decision, though time pressed. - -Luckily his wife came to the rescue, and made him comprehend that any -attempt, in Don Guzman's present state, to induce him to fly must fail; -that, after all, it was better to preserve his freedom, in order to use -it hereafter to obtain his master's; and lastly, that he too, Luco, was -a father, who ought to save his life for his child's sake. - -All these reasons conquered the corporal's hesitation. He seized one -horse, his wife another; and both vanished on one side, while the -soldiers came up on the other. - -When he arrived at Buenos Aires, a bright idea struck him. Excepting -Munoz and three other soldiers who had taken his part and fought with -him against their former comrades, all the _mashorqueras_ had been -slain. Not one remained to accuse the corporal of the treason of which -he felt himself guilty. Munoz, whom he encountered strutting before -the gates of Buenos Aires waiting for his arrival, banished all his -scruples. - -Taking up his part directly, the worthy corporal accompanied by his -confederates, went straight to his colonel, to whom he told his -own version of what had happened at the _rancho_, launching out in -invectives and threats of vengeance against Don Guzman, for whom he -expressed the utmost abhorrence. - -His artifice succeeded beyond his expectations. The colonel charmed -with his conduct, and trusting to his tale, made him a sergeant, and -gave the corporal's stripe to Munoz. The brave _colorados_ overwhelmed -the colonel with thanks and protestations of devotion to Rosas, and -retired, laughing in their sleeve. - -Luco managed so well during the six months before Don Guzman's trial, -and gave such convincing proofs of his attachment to the cause of -the Dictator, that the latter, deceived in turn, although, like all -other tyrants, he made a virtue of distrust, reposed the greatest -confidence in him; and when the sergeant asked to command the guard -which was to take charge of Don Guzman during the trial, not the least -objection was made. This was exactly what the sergeant wanted: all his -machinations during these six months tended to this one aim; so, when -the day for the trial was named, he prepared his batteries, and kept -himself ready for action when the critical moment should come. Luco -had sworn to save his master; and what the sergeant once resolved, he -carried out, let the consequences be what they would. - -Unhappily, the greatest obstacles in the way of the sergeant under -these circumstances came from Don Guzman himself. The prisoner wished -to die. For a long time Luco racked his brain in vain attempts at -finding some means to persuade him to relinquish the feeling. To all -his arguments Don Guzman replied, that his cup was full; that life was -a burden to him; and that death was the only good he could henceforth -look for. - -The sergeant shook his head, and retired, perfectly convinced of the -fallacy of the arguments. At length he arrived one day at the dungeon, -and opened the door with a countenance so radiant with joy, that his -master could not help remarking it, and asking what had made him so -happy. - -"Ah," replied the sergeant, "at last I have found out the way to -convince you." - -"You are dreadfully tenacious of your plan to save me," said Don -Guzman, with a mournful smile. - -"More so than ever, _icanarios!_ This time there will be no doubt -about your compliance. In two days you shall judge for yourself." - -"So much the better," said Don Guzman, sighing; "it will be over the -sooner." - -"Good! We are not so badly off for friends as you think, senor--amongst -others, the French and English consuls. There is a fine French schooner -in the harbour, which only waits for your presence on board to sail -directly." - -"Then she runs the risk of never leaving Buenos Aires." - -"Pooh! pooh! I am of a different opinion--I think quite the contrary. -I have come to an understanding with the French consul. The day after -tomorrow the schooner will set sail: she will send a boat to fetch you, -and will hug the coast till you come. Once under the protection of the -French flag, who will dare to touch you?" - -"For the last time, listen to me, Luco," said Don Guzman firmly: "I -will not--understand me--I will not be saved. I intend that the infamy -of my death shall cover the Dictator with confusion. I thank you for -your devotion, my good old servant; but I demand that you cease to -compromise yourself by your efforts for me. Let us speak no more of it." - -"Then," said the sergeant, "your mind is quite made up? Nothing can -change your determination?" - -"Alas! One single person might have that influence over me; but that -person is in ignorance of all that happens around her. Happily -for her, she has lost her reason, and with reason her memory--that -incurable cancer of a broken heart." - -The sergeant smiled, and, opening his uniform produced a letter from -his breast, and, without a word, handed it to Don Guzman. - -"What is this, Luco?" said the latter, as he hesitated to take the -letter. - -"Read it, _mi amo_," replied the sergeant. "I wanted to give you a -complete surprise; but you are so obstinate, I am obliged to deploy my -forces." - -Don Guzman opened the letter with trembling hands, and rapidly ran -through it. - -"Almighty Father!" he exclaimed, "Is it possible? Dona Antonia has -recovered her reason, and bids me live!" - -"Will you obey this time, _mi amo?_" - -"Do what you will, Luco; I will obey you in all things. Oh, how I wish -to live now!" - -"_iCuerpo de Cristo!_ You shall live, _mi amo_. I swear it to you." - -With this consoling promise, Luco quitted the prison. - -The day of Guzman's trial arrived at last. The Dictator, who knew how -much sympathy the prisoner excited, considered it prudent to make -a grand military display on the occasion. The city was literally -crammed with troops, the precautions being taken more for the purpose -of intimidating the friends of the prisoner, than as precautionary -measures against an escape, which he deemed impossible. - -The French schooner, as Luco had predicted, sent a boat's crew ashore, -on the pretence of closing the agent's accounts; she then weighed -anchor, and stood on and off in the river expecting her boat. - -The detachment detailed to escort the prisoner was strong, and composed -entirely of _colorados_, Rosa's most devoted troops. It was placed -under the command of Colonel Don Bernardo de Pedrosa; the special -platoon in charge of the prisoner was under the orders of Sergeant Luco -and Corporal Munoz. - -Twenty minutes before the specified time for commencing the march -to the court, Luco entered his master's dungeon, and had a final -conversation with him. He then gave him two pairs of pistols and a -poniard, and left him, saying; - -"Remember _mi amo_, to keep quite quiet till you hear the words, never -mind from whom: 'To the devil with the sun! It blinds one!'--that is -your signal." - -"Make yourself easy; I will not forget. Remember your promise to kill -me, rather than to let me fall again into the hands of the tyrant." - -"Enough, _mi amo._ Pray God to help us; we stand in great need of Him." - -"Farewell, Luco: you are right; I will pray." - -The two men parted, not to meet again till the decisive moment. - -However, the sergeant grew more anxious as that moment approached. -The formidable preparations of the Dictator raised his secret -apprehensions. But he gave no signs of his perturbation, for fear of -discouraging his accomplices; on the contrary, he affected an air of -perfect confidence, though he kept grumbling under his moustache: -"Never mind, it will be a hard tussle; we shall have plenty of firing." - -Soon after, the clock of the cabildo (court of justice) struck ten. The -drum called the soldiers to arms; the gossips in the street stretched -their heads forward, murmuring an "Ah!" of satisfaction: all eyes were -fixed on the prison. - -They had not long to wait. At the close of a few minutes, the prison -door opened, and the prisoner came forth. His face was pale, calm, and -stamped with indomitable resolution. He marched quietly in the middle -of a dozen soldiers commanded by Sergeant Luco. The latter, as if -wishing to be specially careful of his prisoner, strode on his right, -Munoz on his left, almost side by side with Don Guzman. - -The platoon was preceded by a strong detachment of _colorados_, at the -head of which curveted Colonel Don Bernardo de Pedrosa on a magnificent -coal-black stallion; in rear of the prisoner there was a second -detachment, as strong as the one in advance. The procession advanced -slowly between two mournful and silent crowds of people, who were with -difficulty kept down by two lines of sentries. - -It was one of those magnificent spring mornings which South America -alone has the privilege of producing. The fresh breeze from the Pampas, -laden with odoriferous scents, rustled in the leaves and branches of -the gardens attached to the houses, and cooled the air heated by the -beams of the tropical sun. - -The procession still continued its march. In spite of the danger -which lay in any exhibition of sympathy for the prisoner, the crowd -respectfully uncovered as he passed. He, calm and dignified as at -the moment he quitted the prison, marched on, his hat in his hand, -saluting, right and left, the people who were not afraid of testifying -their respect. - -Two-thirds of the road had already been travelled; a few minutes more, -and the prisoner would reach the tribunal, when, in the Calle de la -Federacion, several spectators, no doubt too rudely pushed back by -the soldiers lining the road, resisted the pressure to which they -were subjected, drove back the sentries, and, for a moment, almost -broke their line. As the procession approached, this tumult gradually -increased: cries, recriminations, and threats were bandied about with -the vivacity and rapidity peculiar to the races of the South, until -what seemed at first sight to be a squabble of no importance, began to -assume the dimensions of a veritable riot. - -Don Bernardo, uneasy at the noise he heard, left the head of the -escort, and came galloping back to ascertain what was going on, and to -pacify the tumult. - -Unluckily, the popular feeling had risen with so much rapidity, that -at several points the ranks had been broken, the soldiers isolated, -and--how it happened no one could say--disarmed, with unexampled -celerity, by persons of whom they had no knowledge. In short the -procession was cut in two. - -Don Bernardo saw at a glance the gravity of the situation. Making way, -with considerable difficulty, through the crowd, he rode up to the -sergeant, who, cool and imperturbable, still stuck to his prisoner. - -"Aha!" said the colonel, with a sigh of satisfaction, "Take me good -care of the prisoner. Close up! I fear you will be obliged to open a -passage by main force." - -"We will open one, do not you be alarmed, colonel. But to the devil -with the sun! It blinds one." - -The moment he uttered these words, a soldier who was close at hand -seized the colonel's leg, and threw him from his horse on the ground. -In the same instant, Luco caught hold of the bridle, while Don Guzman, -rapid as thought vaulted into the saddle. - -What we have related took place so suddenly, and the whole was done so -adroitly, that Don Bernardo, completely confounded, was nailed to the -ground by a bayonet before he could comprehend what was happening: it -is even probable that he died without guessing the cause of the riot. - -In the meantime, the twelve riders of the platoon had closed around -their ex-prisoner, and started at full speed through the thickest of -the throng. - -Then a curious thing occurred: these inquisitive gapers, who were an -instant before so crowded and compact that they had broken through the -line of soldiery, open right and left before the fugitives, shouted -their joy at their success, and, the moment they had passed, closed up -the breach they had themselves made, and again presented an impassable -human barrier to the rearguard, which vainly strove to break it. - -Armed men seemed to start suddenly out of the ground, gave the soldiers -back blow for blow, and offered a resistance sufficiently energetic to -allow time for the fugitives to secure their safety. - -Then, suddenly as if by enchantment, these menacing crowds, which had -so lately disputed the ground, retreated, melted away, in some manner -or another; and that so speedily, that when the soldiers, recovered -from their surprise, were prepared for a vigorous defence, there was no -one in front of them: the insurgents had disappeared, without leaving -any traces behind them. - -This audacious affray might almost have passed for a dream, were it not -that, on one side, the prisoner had escaped, and, that on the other, -Colonel Pedrosa, and five or six soldiers, lay weltering in their blood -on the ground; proving the reality of the daring _coup-de-main_ which -had been executed with such remarkable audacity and success. - -Don Guzman and his companions found refuge in the boat which was -waiting for them. Five minutes later, they were on board the French -ship; and when pursuit was ordered, the schooner could only be seen on -the horizon, like a halcyon's wing balanced on the breeze. - -On board the schooner Don Guzman found his wife. The schooner sailed -for Veracruz. - -We have already related the decision which Don Guzman had made, and in -what manner he carried it out. - -In order to insure the success of the researches he was about to make -to find his son, and to secure his own tranquillity, Don Guzman, on -setting foot in Mexico, resigned his own name for that of Don Pedro de -Luna, to which he had a right, and under which we shall still continue -to designate him.[1] He hoped by these means to escape the persecutions -of Don Leoncio, whose hatred, still unsatiated by the abduction of the -child, might possibly lead him to attempt to add his brother as another -victim. - -Don Guzman's calculations were correct, or seemed so. Since his -departure from Buenos Aires, he had never heard of his brother: no one -knew what had become of him, nor whether he were alive or dead. - -Five years after his arrival at the _hacienda_, a fresh misfortune -overtook the poor exile. Dona Antonia, who had never completely -recovered the shock to her mind, the consequences of the terrible -occurrences in the Pampas, and whose health had always languished -since, had expired in his arms, after giving birth to a daughter. - -This daughter was the charming girl whom we have presented to our -readers under the name of Dona Hermosa. - -From that time forth, Don Pedro concentrated his affections on this -delicate creature, the only bond which attached him to an existence -which might have been so happy, and which, struck by the cold breath of -adversity, had suddenly become so miserable. - -Of all those who had accompanied him into exile, he alone remained. All -the rest were dead: he had seen them sink, one after another, into the -tomb. Manuela, Luco's wife, the confidante of her master's sorrows, was -charged with the education of his daughter; a charge she executed with -care and devotion beyond praise. - -Such was the tale related by the _major-domo._ In order that the reader -may fully understand the events recorded in subsequent chapters, -it is necessary to remind him that Dona Hermosa was sixteen at the -commencement of our story, and that four years intervened between the -retirement of Don Pedro to the Hacienda de las Norias and the birth -of his daughter. Consequently twenty years had elapsed since the -occurrence of the circumstances narrated by Don Estevan Diaz. - - -[1] See "Stoneheart," the companion volume. - -THE END. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bee Hunters, by Gustave Aimard - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BEE HUNTERS *** - -***** This file should be named 44375.txt or 44375.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/3/7/44375/ - -Produced by Camille Bernard and Marc D'Hooghe at -http://www.freeliterature.org (Images generously made -available by the Oxford Bodleian Library) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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