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diff --git a/old/44672-8.txt b/old/44672-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..723c4ea --- /dev/null +++ b/old/44672-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14930 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Stronghand, 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: Stronghand + or, The Noble Revenge + +Author: Gustave Aimard + +Translator: Lascelles Wraxall + +Release Date: January 15, 2014 [EBook #44672] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STRONGHAND *** + + + + +Produced by Camille Bernard & Marc D'Hooghe at +http://www.freeliterature.org (Images generously made +available by the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford) + + + + + +STRONGHAND + +OR + +THE NOBLE REVENGE + + +BY + +GUSTAVE AIMARD + +AUTHOR OF "PRAIRIE FLOWER," "BUCCANEER CHIEF," ETC. + +LONDON + +WARD AND LOCK, 158, FLEET STREET + +MDCCCLXIV + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + + I. AN EXCHANGE OF SHOTS + II. ON THE PRAIRIE + III. THE BIVOUAC + IV. THE POST OF SAN MIGUEL + V. THE STAY IN THE FOREST + VI. A GLANCE AT THE PAST + VII. THE FAMILY TRIBUNAL + VIII. THE TWO BROTHERS + IX. A NEW CHARACTER + X. DON JOSÉ PAREDES + XI. ON THE ROAD + XII. A CONVERSATION BY NIGHT + XIII. THE REAL DE MINAS + XIV. THE BARGAIN + XV. THE PAPAZOS + XVI. THE ATEPETL + XVII. THE SPY + XVIII. THE COUNCIL OF THE SACHEMS + XIX. THE RANCHO + XX. LOST! + XXI. STRONGHAND + XXII. THE RETURN + XXIII. CHANCE WORK + XXIV. FATHER AND SON + XXV. THE HATCHET + XXVI. THE WHITE-SKINS + XXVII. SERIOUS EVENTS + XXVIII. THE TIGRERO + XXIX. THE EXCURSION + XXX. THE HUNTER'S CAMP + XXXI. THE LEGEND + XXXII. KIDD REAPPEARS + XXXIII. COMPLICATIONS + XXXIV. TWO VILLAINS + XXXV. A FRIENDLY BARGAIN + XXXVI. THE HACIENDA DEL TORO + XXXVII. THE HUERTA + XXXVIII. THE ASSAULT ON QUITOVAR + XXXIX. THE VENGEANCE OF HEAVEN + XL. FUNERAL OF A SACHEM + + + + +STRONGHAND + + +CHAPTER I. + +AN EXCHANGE OF SHOTS. + + +The country extending between the Sierra de San Saba and the Rio +Puerco, or Dirty River, is one of the most mournful and melancholy +regions imaginable. + +This accursed savannah, on which bleach unrecognized skeletons, which +the wind and sun strive to convert into dust, is an immense desert, +broadcast with grey rocks, beneath which snakes and wild beasts have, +from time immemorial, formed their lurking-place, and which only +produces black shrubs and stunted larches that rise from distance to +distance above the desert. + +White or Indian travellers rarely and most unwillingly venture to +cross this frightful solitude, and at the risk of lengthening their +journey they prefer making a detour and following the border, where +they are certain of finding shade and water--those delights of tropical +countries and indispensable necessities for a long trip on the western +prairies. + +Towards the second half of June--which the Navajo Indians call the +"strawberry moon" in their harmonious language--and in the Year of +Grace 1843, a horseman suddenly emerged from a thick clump of oaks, +sumachs, and mahogany trees, entered the savannah at a gallop, and, +instead of following the usual travellers' track, which was distinctly +traced on the edge of the sand, he began without any hesitation +crossing the desert in a straight line. + +This resolution was a mark of great folly, or a proof of extraordinary +daring on the part of a solitary man, however brave he might be; or +else some imperious reasons compelled him to lay aside all prudence in +order to reach his journey's end more speedily. + +However, whatever the motives that might determine the traveller, he +continued his journey rapidly, and buried himself deeper and deeper in +the desert, without seeming to notice the gloomy and desolate aspect +the landscape around him constantly assumed. + +As this person is destined to play an important part in our story, we +will draw his portrait in a few words. He was a man of from twenty-five +to thirty years of age--belonging to the pure Mexican race, of average +height, and possessed of elegant manners; while his every gesture, +graceful though it was, revealed a far from ordinary strength. His +face, with its regular features and bright hue, evidenced frankness, +bravery, and kindliness; his black eyes, haughty and well open, +had a straight and penetrating glance; his well cut mouth, adorned +with dazzling white teeth, was half concealed beneath a long brown +moustache; his chin, of too marked an outline perhaps, denoted a great +firmness of character; in short, his whole appearance aroused interest +and attracted sympathy. + +As for his dress, it was the Mexico costume in all its picturesque +richness. His broad-brimmed Vicuna skin hat, decorated with a double +gold and silver _golilla_, was carelessly set on his right ear, and +allowed curls of luxurious black hair to fall in disorder on his +shoulders. He wore a jacket of green velvet, magnificently embroidered +with gold, under which could be seen a worked linen shirt. An Indian +handkerchief was fastened round his neck by a diamond ring. His +_calzoneras_, also of green velvet, held round his hips by a red silk +gold-fringed _faja_ were embroidered and slashed like a jacket, while +two rows of pearl-set gold buttons ran along the opening that extends +from the boot to the knee. His vaquero boots, embroidered with pretty +designs in red thread, were fastened to his legs by silk and gold +garters, from one of which emerged the admirably carved hilt of a long +knife. His zarapé, of Indian fabric and showy colours, was folded on +the back of his horse, an animal full of fire, with fine legs, small +head, and flashing eye. It was a true prairie mustang; and its master +had decorated it with the coquettish elegance peculiar to Mexican +horsemen. + +In addition to the knife we referred to, and which the horseman wore +in his right boot, he had also a long American rifle laid across his +saddle-bow, two six-shot revolvers in his girdle, a machete, or species +of straight sabre, which was passed, unsheathed, through an iron ring +on his left side; and, lastly, a reata of plaited leather, rolled up +and fastened to the saddle. + +Thus armed, the man we have just described was able--on the admission +that his determined appearance was not deceitful--to make head against +several adversaries at once, without any serious disadvantage. This +was a consideration not at all to be despised in a country where a +traveller ever runs the risk of encountering an enemy, whether man or +beast, and, at times both together. + +While galloping, the horseman carelessly smoked a husk cigarette, only +taking an absent and disdainful glance at the coveys of birds that rose +on his approach, or the herds of deer and packs of foxes which fled in +terror on hearing the horse's gallop. + +The savannah, however, was already beginning to assume a more gloomy +tinge; the sun, now level with the ground, only appeared on the horizon +as a red unheated ball, and night was soon about to cover the earth +with its dense gloom. The horseman drew up the bridle of his steed +to check its speed, though not entirely stopping it, and, casting an +investigating glance around him, seemed to be seeking a suitable spot +for his night halt. + +After a few seconds of this search, the traveller's determination was +formed. He turned slightly to the left, and proceeded to a half dried +up stream that ran along a short distance off, and on whose banks grew +a few prickly shrubs and a clump of some dozen larches, forming a +precarious shelter against the curiosity of those mysterious denizens +of the desert that prowl about in search of prey during the darkness. + +On drawing nearer, the traveller perceived to his delight that this +spot, perfectly hidden from prying glances, by the conformation of the +ground and a few blocks of stone scattered here and there among the +trees and shrubs, offered him an almost certain shelter. + +The journey had been tiring; and both man and horse felt themselves +worn with fatigue. Both, before proceeding further, imperiously +required a few hours' rest. + +The horseman, as an experienced traveller, first attended to his steed, +which he unsaddled and led to drink at the stream; then, after hobbling +the animal for fear it might stray and become the prey of wild beasts, +he stretched his zarapé on the ground, threw a few handfuls of Indian +corn upon it, and when he was assured that his horse, in spite of its +fatigue, was eating its provender willingly, he thought about himself. + +Mexicans, when travelling, carry behind their saddle two canvas bags, +called _alforjas_, intended to convey food, which it is impossible to +procure in the desert; and these, with two jars filled with drinking +water, form the sole baggage with which they cover enormous distances, +and endure privations and fatigue, the mere enumeration of which would +terrify Europeans, who are accustomed to enjoy all the conveniences +supplied by an advanced stage of civilization. + +The horseman opened his alforjas, sat down on the ground with his back +against a rock, and, while careful that his weapons were within reach, +for fear of being attacked unawares, he began supping philosophically +on a piece of tasajo, some maize tortillas, and goat's cheese as hard +as a flint, the whole being washed down with the pure water of the +stream. + +This repast, which was more than frugal, was soon terminated. The +horseman, after cleaning his teeth with an elegant gold toothpick, +rolled a pajilla, smoked it with that conscientious beatitude peculiar +to the Hispano-Americans, and then wrapped himself in his zarapé, shut +his eyes, and fell asleep. + +Several hours passed; and it is probable that the traveller's sleep +would have been prolonged for some time, had not two shots, fired a +short distance from him, suddenly aroused him from his lethargy. The +general rule on the prairie is, that when you hear a shot, it is rare +for it not to have been preceded by the whistle of a bullet past your +ear--in other words, there are ninety-nine reasons in a hundred that +the lonely man has been unconsciously converted into the target of an +assassin. + +The traveller, thus unpleasantly aroused, seized his weapons, concealed +himself behind a rock, and waited. Then, as after the expiration of +a moment, the attack was not renewed, he rose softly, and carefully +looked around him. + +Not a sound disturbed the majestic solitude of the desert. But this +sudden tranquillity after the two shots, instead of re-assuring the +traveller, only augmented his anxiety, by revealing to him the approach +of a certain danger, though it was impossible for him to divine the +cause or the magnitude. + +The night was clear, and, so to speak, transparent; the sky, of a deep +blue, was studded with a profusion of sparkling stars, and the moon +shed a white and melancholy light, that allowed the country to be +surveyed for a long distance. + +At all hazards he saddled his horse; then, after concealing it in a +rocky cavity, he lay down, placed his ear to the ground, and listened. +Then he fancied he could hear a long distance off a sound, at first +almost imperceptible, but which rapidly approached; and he soon +recognized in it the wild galloping of several horses. + +It was a hunt, or a pursuit. But who would dream of hunting in the +middle of the night? The Indians would not venture it, while white and +half-bred trappers only rarely visited these deserted regions, which +they abandoned to the savages and border ruffians; utter villains, who, +expelled from the towns and pueblos, have no other shelter than the +desert. + +Were the galloping horsemen pirates of the prairie, then? + +The situation was becoming painful to the traveller when, all at once, +the noise ceased, and all became silent. + +The traveller rose from the ground. + +Suddenly, the shrieks of a woman or girl burst forth on the night, with +an expression of terror and agony impossible to depict. + +The stranger, leaving his horse in the shelter he had selected for it, +dashed forward in the direction whence the cry came, leaping from rock +to rock and clearing shrubs, at the risk of hurting himself, with the +feverish speed of the brave man who believes himself suddenly called +by Providence to save a fellow being in danger. + +Still, prudence did not desert him in his hazardous enterprise; and, +before risking himself on the plain, he stopped behind a fringe of +larch trees, in order to try and find out what was going on, and act in +accordance. + +This is what he saw:--two men, who from their appearance he at once +recognized as belonging to the worst species of prairie runners, were +madly pursuing a young girl. But, thanks to her juvenile agility--an +agility doubtless doubled by the profound terror the bandits inspired +her with--this maiden bounded like a startled fawn across the prairie, +leaping ravines, clearing every obstacle, and gaining at each moment +a greater advance on her pursuers, who were impeded by their vaquero +boots and heavy rifles. + +A few minutes later, and the maiden reached the belt of trees behind +which the traveller had concealed himself. The latter was about to rush +to her assistance, when suddenly one of the bandits raised his rifle +and pulled the trigger. + +The girl fell, and the horseman seemed to change his mind--for instead +of advancing, he drew himself back and stood motionless, with his +finger on the trigger, ready to fire. + +The pirates rapidly approached, talking together in that medley of +English, French, Spanish and Indian which is employed throughout the +Far West. + +"Hum!" said a hoarse and panting voice; "What a gazelle! At one moment +I really thought she would escape us." + +"Yes, yes," the other answered, shaking his head and tapping the +barrel of his rifle with his right hand; "but I always felt certain of +bringing her down when I thought proper." + +"Yes, and you did not miss her, _caray!_ Although it was a long shot, +and your hand must have trembled after such a chase." + +"Habit, compadre! Habit!" the bandit answered, with a modest smile. + +While talking thus, the two bandits had reached the spot where the body +of the girl lay. One of them knelt down, doubtless to assure himself +of the death of their victim; while the other, the one who had fired, +looked on carelessly, leaning on his rifle. + +The traveller then drew himself up, raised his piece, and fired. The +bandit, struck in the centre of the breast, sank down like a sack, and +did not stir. He was dead. + +His companion had started and laid his hand on his _machete_; but not +leaving him time to employ it, the traveller rushed on him, and with a +powerful blow of the butt end on his head, sent him to join his comrade +on the ground, where he rolled, half killed. + +The traveller, taking the bandit's reata, then firmly bound his hands +and feet; and, easy in mind on this point, he eagerly approached the +maiden. The poor girl gave no sign of life, but, for all that, was not +dead; her wound, indeed, was slight, as the pirate's bullet had merely +grazed her arm. Terror alone had produced her fainting fit. + +The stranger carefully bandaged the wound, slightly moistened her +lips and temples, and, after a comparatively short period, had the +satisfaction of seeing her open her eyes again. + +"Oh!" she murmured, in a voice soft and melodious as a bird's song, +"Those men--those demons! Oh! Heaven! Protect me!" + +"Reassure yourself, Señorita," the traveller answered; "you have +nothing further to fear from those villains." + +The maiden started at the sound of this strange voice; she fixed +her eyes on the stranger without giving him any answer, and made an +instinctive movement to rise. She doubtless took the man who had spoken +for one of her pursuers. The latter smiled mournfully, and pointed to +the two bandits lying on the ground. + +"Look, Señorita," he said to her; "you have only a friend here." + +At this sight an expression of unbounded gratitude illumined the +wounded girl's face, and a sickly smile appeared on her lips; but +almost immediately her features grew saddened again. She sprang up, +and raising herself on the tips of her small feet, she stretched out +her right arm toward a point on the horizon, and exclaimed in a voice +broken by terror-- + +"There, there! Look!" + +The stranger turned to the indicated direction. A party of horsemen +were coming up at full speed, preceded about a rifle shot distance by +another horseman, evidently better mounted than they, and whom they +appeared to be pursuing. The stranger then remembered the furious +galloping he had heard a few moments previously. + +"Oh!" the girl exclaimed, clasping her hands in entreaty, "Save him, +Señor! Save him!" + +"I will try, Señorita," he replied, gently; "all that a man can do, I +swear to do." + +"Thank you," she said, offering him her pretty little hand; "you are a +noble-hearted man, and Heaven will aid you." + +"You must not remain here exposed to the insults of these men, who are +evidently the comrades of those from whom you have just escaped." + +"That is true," she said; "but what can I do? Where shall I seek +shelter?" + +"Follow me behind these trees; we have not a moment to lose." + +"Come," she said, resolutely. "But you will save him! Will you not?" + +"At least I will try. I have only my life to offer the person in whom +you take an interest; and believe me, Señorita, I shall not hesitate to +make the sacrifice." + +The maiden looked down with a blush, and silently followed her guide. +They soon reached the thicket in which the stranger had established his +quarters for the night. + +"Whatever happens," he said, while reloading his rifle, "remain here, +Señorita. You are in safety in this hollow rock, where no one will +dream of seeking you. For my part, I am going to help your friend." + +"Go," she said, as she knelt down on the ground; "while you are +fighting I will pray for you--and Heaven will grant my prayer." + +"Yes," the stranger answered, mournfully, "God listens gladly to the +voice of angels, so let us hope for the best." + +He leaped on his horse; and after giving a parting glance at the +maiden, who was praying fervently, he dashed at full speed in the +direction of the newcomers. There were seven in number--bandits with +stern faces and dangerous aspect, who dashed up brandishing their +weapons and uttering horrible yells. + +The pursued horseman, on seeing a man emerge so unexpectedly from the +thicket, and come towards him at full speed, rifle in hand, naturally +supposed that assistance was arriving for his foes, and dashed on one +side to avoid a man whom he assumed, with some show of reason, to be an +adversary the more. But the bandits were not mistaken when they saw the +stranger not only let their prey escape, but stop in front of them and +cock his rifle. + +Two shots were fired at the same moment, one by a bandit the other +by the stranger, with the difference, however, that the bandit's +shot, being fired haphazard was harmless; while the stranger's, being +deliberately aimed, struck exactly in the mass of his serried foes. + +A few seconds later, one of them let go his bridle, beat the air with +his arms, fell back on his horse, and at length on the ground, tearing +with his huge spurs the sides of his steed, which reared, kicked, and +started off like an arrow. + +A war so frankly declared could not have a sudden termination: four +shots succeeding each other with extreme rapidity on either side were +a sufficient proof of this. But the stranger's position was growing +critical: his rifle was discharged, and he had only his revolvers left. + +The revolver, by the way, is a weapon more convenient than useful in +a fight, for if you wish to hit your man, you must fire at him almost +point blank, otherwise the bullets have a tendency to stray. This is a +sufficient explanation why, in spite of the immoderate use the North +Americans make of this weapon, the number of murders among them is +proportionately limited. + +The stranger was, therefore, somewhat embarrassed, and was preparing in +his emergency for a hand-to-hand fight, when help he had been far from +calculating on suddenly reached him. + +The pursued horseman, on hearing the firing, and yet finding no bullets +whizzed past him, understood that something unusual was taking place, +and that some strange incident must have occurred in his favour. +Hence he turned back, and saw one of his enemies fall. Recognising +his mistake, he made up his mind at once: though only armed with a +_machete_, he wheeled his horse round and bravely drew up alongside +his defender. + +Then the two men, without exchanging a word, resolutely dashed at the +bandits. The contest was short--the success unhoped for. Moreover, the +sides were nearly equal, for of the seven pirates only four were now +alive. + +The attack was so sudden, that the pirates had not time to reload. Two +were killed with revolver shots. The third fell with his head severed +by a _machete_ blow from the horseman, who was burning to take an +exemplary vengeance; while the fourth, finding himself alone leaped his +horse over the corpses of his comrades, and fled at full speed without +attempting to continue longer a combat which could not but be fatal to +him. + +The two men consequently remained masters of the battlefield. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +ON THE PRAIRIE. + + +When the last bandit had disappeared in the darkness, the horseman +turned to his generous defender, in order to thank him; but the latter +was no longer by his side, and he saw him galloping some distance off +on the plain. + +The horseman knew not to what he should attribute this sudden +departure--(for the stranger was following a direction diametrically +opposite to that on which the pirate had fled)--till he saw him return, +leading another horse by the bridle. + +The stranger had thought of the young lady he had so miraculously +saved; and on seeing the horses of the killed bandits galloping about, +he resolved at once to capture the best of them, in order to enable +her to continue her journey more comfortably; and when the animal was +lassoed, he returned slowly towards the man to whom he had rendered so +great a service. + +"Señor," the horseman said, as soon as they met again, "all is not over +yet; I have a further service to ask of you." + +"Speak, Caballero," the stranger replied, starting at the sound of the +voice, which he fancied he recognised. "Speak, I am listening to you." + +"A woman, an unhappy girl--my sister, in a word, is lost in this +horrible desert. Some of the scoundrels started in pursuit of her, and +I know not what may have happened to her. I am in mortal agony, and +must rejoin her at all risks; hence do not leave the good action you +have so well begun unfinished; help me to find my sister's track,--join +with me in seeking her." + +"It is useless," the stranger answered, coldly. + +"What, useless!" the horseman exclaimed with horror; "Has any +misfortune happened to her? Ah! I remember now; I fancied, while I was +flying, that I heard several shots. Oh, Heaven, Heaven!" he added, +writhing his hands in despair, "My poor sister, my poor Marianita!" + +"Reassure yourself, Caballero," the stranger continued in the same cold +deliberate accent; "your sister is in safety, temporarily at least, and +has nothing to fear. Heaven permitted that I should cross her path." + +"Are you stating truth?" he exclaimed, joyfully. "Oh, bless you, Señor, +for the happy news! Where is she? Let me see her! Let me press her to +my heart. Alas! How shall I ever acquit my debt to you?" + +"You owe me nothing," the stranger answered in a rough voice; "it was +chance, or God, if you prefer it, that did everything, and I was only +the instrument. My conduct would have been the same to any other +person; so keep your gratitude--which I do not ask of you. Who knows," +he added ironically, "whether you may not some day repent of having +contracted any obligations toward me?" + +The horseman felt internally pained at the way in which his advances +were received by a man who scarce five minutes previously had saved his +life. Not knowing to what he should attribute this sudden change of +temper, he pretended not to notice anything offensive the words might +contain, and said, with exquisite politeness-- + +"The spot is badly chosen for a lengthened conversation, Caballero. We +are still, if not strangers, at least unknown to each other. I trust +that ere long all coldness and misunderstanding will cease between us, +and make room for perfect confidence." + +The other smiled bitterly. + +"Come," he said, "your sister is near here, and must be impatient to +see you." + +The horseman followed him without replying; but asking himself mentally +who this singular man could be, who risked his life to defend him, and +yet appeared anxious to treat him as an enemy. + +All the sounds of the combat had reached the maiden's ear: she had +heard them while kneeling on the ground, half dead with terror, and +searching her troubled memory in vain for a prayer to address to Heaven. + +Then the firing had ceased: a mournful silence again spread over the +desert--a silence more terrifying a thousandfold than the terrible +sounds of the fight, and she remained crouching in a corner and +suffering from nameless agony, alone, far from all human help, not +daring to retain a single hope, and fearing at each moment to see a +frightful death awaiting her. The poor girl could not have said how +long she remained thus crushed beneath the weight of her terror. A +person must really have suffered, to know of how many centuries a +minute is composed when life or death is awaited. + +Suddenly she started: her strong nerves relaxed, a fugitive flush +tinged her cheek, she fancied she had heard a few words uttered in a +low voice not far from her. Were her enemies again pursuing her? Or was +her saviour returning to her side? + +She remained anxious and motionless, not daring to make a movement or +utter a cry to ask for help; for a movement might reveal her presence, +a cry hopelessly ruin her. + +But, ere long, the bushes were parted by a powerful hand; and two +horsemen appeared at the base of the rock. The maiden stretched out her +hands to them with an exclamation of delight; and, too weak to support +this last emotion, she fainted. + +She had recognised in the men, who arrived side by side, her brother +and the stranger to whom she owed her life. + +When she regained her senses, she was lying on furs in front of a large +fire. The two men were sitting on her right and left; while in the rock +cave, three horses were eating their provender of alfalfa. + +Somewhat in the shadow a few paces from her, the maiden perceived a +mass, whose form it was impossible for her to distinguish at the first +glance, but which a more attentive examination enabled her to recognise +as a bound man lying on the ground. + +The maiden was anxious to speak and thank her liberator; but the shock +she had received was so rude, the emotion so powerful, that it was +impossible for her to utter a word--so weak did she feel. She could +only give him a glance full of all the gratitude she felt, and then +fell back into a state of feverish exhaustion and morbid apathy, which +almost completely deprived her of the power of thinking and feeling, +and which rendered her involuntarily ignorant of all that was going on +around her. + +"It is well," said the stranger, as he carefully closed a gold mounted +flask and concealed it in his bosom. "Now, Caballero, there is nothing +more to fear for the Señorita; the draught I have administered to her, +by procuring her a calm and healthy sleep, will restore her strength +sufficiently for her to be able to continue her journey at sunrise, +should it be necessary." + +"Caballero," the stranger answered, "you are really performing the part +of Providence towards me and my sister, I know not, in truth, how to +express to you the lively gratitude I feel for a procedure which is the +more generous as I am a perfect stranger to you." + +"Do you think so?" he answered sarcastically. + +"The more I examine your face, the more convinced I am that I have met +you tonight for the first time." + +"You would not venture to affirm it?" + +"Yes, I would. Your features are too remarkable for me not to remember +them if I had seen you before; but I repeat, if you fancy you know me, +you are mistaken, and an accidental resemblance to some other person is +the cause of your error." + +There was a momentary silence, and then the stranger spoke again, with +a politeness too affected for the irony it concealed not to be seen-- + +"Be it so, Caballero," he answered, with a bow; "perhaps I am mistaken. +Be good enough, therefore, if you have no objection, to tell me who +you are, and by what fortuitous concourse of circumstances I have +been enabled to render you what you are kind enough to call a great +service?" + +"And it is an immense one, in truth, Caballero," the stranger +interrupted with warmth. + +"I will not discuss that subject any longer with you, Caballero; I am +awaiting your pleasure." + +"Señor, I will not abuse your patience for long. My name is Don Ruiz +de Moguer, and I reside with my father at a hacienda in the vicinity +of Arispe. For reasons too lengthy to explain to you, and which would +but slightly interest you, the presence of my sister (who has been at +school for some years at the Convent of the Conception at El Rosario) +became indispensable at the hacienda. By my father's orders I set out +for El Rosario a few months ago, in order to bring my sister back to +her family. I was anxious to rejoin my father; and hence, in spite of +the observations made to me by persons acquainted with the dangers +attending so long a journey through a desert country, I resolved to +take no escort, but start for home merely accompanied by two peons, on +whose courage and fidelity I could rely." + +"My sister who had been separated from her family for several years, +was as eager as myself to quit the convent; and hence we soon set +out. For the first few days all went well; our journey was performed +under the most favourable auspices, and my sister and I laughed at the +anxiety and apprehensions of our friends, for we had begun to believe +ourselves safe from any dangerous encounter." + +"But yesterday at sunset, just as we were preparing our camp for the +night, we were suddenly attacked by a party of bandits, who seemed +to emerge from the ground in front of us, so unforeseen was their +apparition. Our poor brave peons were killed while defending us; and +my sister's horse, struck by a bullet in the head, threw her. But the +brave girl, far from surrendering to the bandits, who rushed forward +to seize her, began flying across the savannah. Then I tried to lead +the aggressors off the scent, and induce them to pursue me. You +know the rest, Caballero; and had it not been for your providential +interference, it would have been all over with us." + +There was a silence, which Don Ruiz was the first to break. + +"Caballero," he said, "now that you know who I am, tell me the name of +my saviour?" + +"What good is that?" the stranger answered, sadly. "We have come +together for a moment by chance, and shall separate tomorrow never to +meet again. Gratitude is a heavy burden. Not knowing who I am, you will +soon have forgotten me. Believe me, Señor Don Ruiz, it is better that +it should be so. Who knows if you may not regret some day knowing me?" + +"It is the second time you have said that, Caballero. Your words +breathe a bitterness that pains me. You must have suffered very +grievously for your thoughts to be so sad and your heart so +disenchanted at an age when the future ordinarily appears so full of +promise." + +The stranger raised his head, and bent on his questioner a glance that +seemed trying to read to the bottom of his soul: the latter continued, +however, with some degree of vivacity-- + +"Oh! Do not mistake the meaning I attach to my words, Caballero. I +have no intention to take your confidence by surprise, or encroach on +your secrets. Every man's life belongs to himself--his actions concern +himself alone; and I recognise no claim to a confidence which I neither +expect nor desire. The only thing I ask of you is to tell me your name, +that my sister and myself may retain it in our hearts." + +"Why insist on so frivolous a matter?" + +"I will answer--What reason have you to be so obstinate in remaining +unknown?" + +"Then you insist on my telling you my name?" + +"Oh, Caballero, I have no right to insist; I only ask it." + +"Very good," said the stranger, "you shall know my name; but I warn you +that it will teach you nothing." + +"Pardon me, Caballero," Don Ruiz remarked, with a touch of exquisite +delicacy, "this name, repeated by me to my father, will tell him every +hour in the day that it is to the man who bears it that he owes the +life of his children, and a whole family will bless you." + +In spite of himself, the stranger felt affected. By an instinctive +movement he offered his hand to the young man, which the latter pressed +affectionately. But, as if suddenly reproaching himself for yielding +to his feelings, this strange man sharply drew back his hand, and +reassuming the expression of sternness, which had for a moment departed +from him, said, with a roughness in his voice that astonished and +saddened the young Mexican, "You shall be satisfied." + +We have said that Doña Marianita, in looking round her, fancied she saw +the body of a man stretched on the ground a few paces from the fire. +The maiden was not mistaken; it was really a man she saw, carefully +gagged and bound. It was in a word, one of the two bandits who had +pursued her so long, and the one whom the stranger had almost killed +with a blow of his rifle butt. + +After recommending Don Ruiz to be patient by a wave of his hand, the +stranger rose, walked straight up to the bandit, threw him on his +shoulders, and laid him at the feet of the young Mexican, perhaps +rather roughly--for the pirate, in spite of the thorough Indian +stoicism he affected, could not suppress a stifled yell of pain. + +"Who is this man, and what do you purpose doing with him?" Don Ruiz +asked, with some anxiety. + +"This scoundrel," the stranger answered, harshly, "was one of the band +that attacked you; we are going to try him." + +"Try him?" the young gentleman objected; "We?" + +"Of course," the stranger said, as he removed the bandit's gag, and +unfastened the rope that bound his limbs. "Do you fancy that we are +going to trouble ourselves with the scoundrel till we find a prison +in which to place him, without counting the fact that, if we were so +simple as to do so, the odds are about fifty to one that he would +escape from us during the journey, and slip through our fingers like an +opossum, to attack us a few hours later at the head of a fresh band of +pirates of his own breed. No, no; that would be madness. When the snake +is dead, the venom is dead, too; it is better to try him." + +"But by what right can we constitute ourselves the judges of this man?" + +"By what right?" the stranger exclaimed, in amazement. "The Border law, +which says, 'Eye for eye; tooth for tooth.' Lynch law authorizes us to +try this bandit, and when the sentence is pronounced, to execute it +ourselves." + +Don Ruiz reflected for a moment, during which the stranger looked at +him aside with the most serious attention. + +"That is possible," the young man at length answered; "perhaps you are +right in speaking thus. This man is guilty--he is evidently a miserable +assassin covered with blood; and, had my sister and myself fallen into +his hands, he would not have hesitated to stab us, or blow out our +brains." + +"Well?" the stranger remarked. + +"Well," the young man continued, with generous animation in his voice; +"this certainly does not authorize us in taking justice into our own +hands; besides, my sister is saved." + +"Then it is your opinion--" + +"That as we cannot hand this man over to the police, we are bound to +set him at liberty, after taking all proper precautions that he cannot +injure us." + +"You have, doubtless, carefully reflected on the consequences of the +deed you advise?" + +"My conscience orders me to act as I am doing." + +"Your will be done!" and, addressing the bandit, who throughout the +conversation had remained gloomy and silent, though his eyes constantly +wandered from one to the other of the speakers, he said to him, "Get +up!" + +The pirate rose. + +"Look at me," the stranger continued; "do you recognise me?" + +"No," the bandit said. + +The stranger seized a lighted brand, and held it up near his face. + +"Look at me more carefully, Kidd," he said, in a sharp, imperious voice. + +The scoundrel, who had bent forward, drew himself back with a start of +fear. + +"Stronghand!" he exclaimed, in a voice choked by dread. + +"Ah!" the horseman said, with a sardonic smile; "I see that you +recognise me now." + +"Yes," the bandit muttered. "What are your orders?" + +"I have none. You heard all we have been saying, I suppose?" + +"All." + +"What do you think of it?" + +The pirate did not answer. + +"Speak, and be frank! I insist." + +"Hum!" he said, with a side-glance. + +"Will you speak? I tell you I insist." + +"Well!" he answered, in a rather humbling voice, but yet with a tinge +of irony easy to notice; "I think that when you hold your enemy, you +ought to kill him." + +"That is really your opinion?" + +"Yes." + +"What do you say to that?" the stranger asked, turning to Don Ruiz. + +"I say," he replied, simply, "that as this man is not my enemy, I +cannot and ought not to take any vengeance on him." + +"Hence?" + +"Hence, justice alone has the right to make him account for his +conduct. As for me, I decline." + +"And that is truly the expression of your thoughts?" + +"On my honour, Caballero. During the fight I should not have felt the +slightest hesitation in killing him--for in that case I was defending +the life he tried to take; but now that he is a prisoner, and unarmed, +I have no longer aught to do with him." + +In spite of the mask of indifference the stranger wore on his face, he +could not completely hide the joy he experienced at hearing these noble +sentiments so simply expressed. + +There was a moment's silence, during which the three men seemed +questioning each other's faces. At length Stronghand spoke again, +and addressed the bandit, who remained motionless, and apparently +indifferent to what was being said-- + +"Go! You are free!" he said, as he cut the last bonds that held him. +"But remember, Kidd, that if it has pleased this Caballero to forget +your offences, I have not pardoned them. You know me, so do your best +to keep out of my way, or you will not escape, so easily as this day, +the just punishment you have deserved. Begone!" + +"All right, Stronghand, I will remember," the bandit said, with a +covert threat. + +And at once gliding into the bushes, he disappeared, without taking +further leave of the persons who had given him his life. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE BIVOUAC. + + +For some moments the bandit's hurried footsteps were audible, and then +all became silent once again. + +"You wished it," Stronghand then said, looking at Don Ruiz from under +his bent brows. "Now, be certain that you have at least one implacable +enemy on the prairie; for you are not so simple, I assume, as to +believe in the gratitude of such a man?" + +"I pity him, if he hates me for the good I have done him in return for +the harm he wished to do me, but honour ordered me to let him escape." + +"Yours will be a short life, Señor, if you are obstinate in carrying +out such philanthropic precepts in our unhappy country." + +"My ancestors had a motto to which they never proved false." + +"And pray what may that motto be, Caballero?" + +"Everything for honour, no matter what may happen," the young man said, +simply. + +"Yes," Stronghand answered, with a harsh laugh; "the maxim is noble, +and Heaven grant it prove of service to you; but," he continued, after +looking round him, "the darkness is beginning to grow less thick, the +night is on the wane, and within an hour the sun will be up. You know +my name, which, as I told you beforehand, has not helped you much." + +"You are mistaken, Caballero," Don Ruiz interrupted him, eagerly; "for +I have frequently heard the name mentioned, of which you fancied me +ignorant." + +Stronghand bent a piercing glance on the young man. + +"Ah!" he said, with a slight tremor in his voice; "And doubtless, +each time you heard that name uttered, it was accompanied by far from +flattering epithets, which gave you but a poor opinion of the man who +bears it." + +"Here again you are mistaken, Señor; it has been uttered in my presence +as the name of a brave man, with a powerful heart and vast intellect, +whom unknown and secret sorrow has urged to lead a strange life, to +fly the society of his fellow men, and to wander constantly about the +deserts; but who, under all circumstances, even spite of the examples +that daily surrounded him, managed to keep his honour intact and retain +a spotless reputation, which even the bandits, with whom the incidents +of an adventurous life too often bring him into contact, are forced +to admire. That, Señor, is what this name, which you supposed I was +ignorant of, recalls to my mind, and the way in which I have ever heard +the man who bears it spoken of." + +Stronghand smiled bitterly. + +"Can the world really be less wicked and unjust than I supposed it?" he +muttered, in self-colloquy. + +"Do not doubt it," the young man said, eagerly. "God, who has allowed +the good and the bad to dwell side by side on this earth, has yet +willed that the amount of good should exceed that of bad, so that, +sooner or later, each should be requited according to his works and +merits." + +"Such words," he answered, ironically, "would be more appropriate in +the mouth of a priest or missionary, whose hair has been blanched, and +back bowed by the weight of the incessant struggles of his apostolic +mission, than in that of a young man who has scarce reached the dawn +of life, whom no tempest has yet assailed, and who has only tasted the +honey of life. But no matter; your intention is good, and I thank you. +But we have far more serious matters to attend to than losing our time +in philosophical discussions which would not convince either of us." + +"I was wrong, Caballero, I allow," Don Ruiz answered; "it does not +become me, who am as yet but a child, to make such remarks to you; so, +pray pardon me." + +"I have nothing to pardon you, Señor," Stronghand replied with a smile; +"on the contrary, I thank you. Now let us attend to the most pressing +affair--that is to say, what you purpose doing to get out of your +present situation." + +"I confess to you that I am greatly alarmed," Don Ruiz replied, +with a slight tinge of sadness, as he looked at the girl, who was +still sleeping. "What has happened to me, the terrible danger I have +incurred, and from which I only escaped, thanks to your generous help--" + +"Not a word more on that subject," Stronghand interrupted him quickly. +"You will disoblige me by pressing it further." + +The young man bowed. + +"Were I alone," he said, "I should not hesitate to continue my journey. +A brave man, and I believe myself one, nearly always succeeds in +escaping the perils that threaten him, if he confront them: but I have +my sister with me--my sister, whose energy the terrible scene of this +night has broken, and who, in the event of a second attack from the +pirates of the prairies, would become an easy prey to the villains--the +more so because, too weak to save her, I could only die with her." + +Stronghand turned away, murmuring to himself compassionately. + +"That is true, poor child;" then he said to Don Ruiz, "Still, you must +make up your mind." + +"Unfortunately I have no choice; there is only one thing to be done: +whatever may happen, I shall continue my journey at sunrise, if my +sister be in a condition to follow me." + +"That need not trouble you. When she awakes, her strength will be +sufficiently recovered for her to keep on horseback without excessive +fatigue; but from here to Arispe the road is very long." + +"I know it: and it is that which frightens me for my poor sister." + +"Listen to me. Perhaps there is a way for you to get out of the scrape, +and avoid up to a certain point the dangers that threaten you. Two +days' journey from here there is a military post, placed like an +advanced sentry to watch the frontier, and prevent the incursions of +the Indios bravos, and other bandits of every description and colour, +who infest these regions. The main point for you is to reach this post, +when it will be easy for you to obtain from the Commandant an escort to +protect you from any insult for the rest of your journey." + +"Yes; but, as you remark, I must reach the post." + +"Well?" + +"I do not know this country: one of the two peons who accompanied me +acted as guide; and now he is dead, it is utterly impossible for me to +find my way. I am in the position of a sailor, lost without a compass +on an unknown sea." + +Stronghand looked at him with surprise mingled with compassion. + +"Oh!" he exclaimed, "How improvident is youth! What! Imprudent boy! +You dared to risk yourself in the desert, and entrust to a peon your +sister's precious life?" But, recollecting himself immediately, he +continued, "Pardon me; reproaches are ill suited at this moment; the +great thing is to get you out of the danger in which you are." + +He let his head fall on his hands, and plunged into serious +reflections, while Don Ruiz looked at him with mingled apprehension and +hope. The young man did not deceive himself as to his position: the +reproaches which Stronghand spared him, he had already made himself, +cursing his improvident temerity; for things had reached such a point, +that if the man to whom he owed his life, refused to afford him his +omnipotent protection, he and his sister were irremediably lost. + +Stronghand, after a few minutes, which seemed to last an age, rose, +seized his rifle, went up to his horse, saddled it, mounted, and said +to Don Ruiz, who followed all his movements with anxious curiosity-- + +"Wait for me, however long my absence may be; do not stir from here +till I return." + +Then, without waiting for the young man's answer, he bent lightly over +his horse's neck, and started at a gallop. Don Ruiz watched the black +outline, as it disappeared in the gloom; he listened to the horse's +footfalls so long as he could hear them, and then turned back and +seated himself pensively at the fire, and looked with tearful eyes at +his sleeping sister. + +"Poor Marianita!" he murmured, with a heart-rending outburst of pity. + +He bowed his head on his chest, and with pale and gloomy face awaited +the return of Stronghand--a return which, in his heart, he doubted, +although, with the obstinacy of desperate men, who try to deceive +themselves by making excuses whose falsehood they know, he sought to +prove its certainty. + +We will take advantage of this delay in our narrative to trace rapidly +the portraits of Don Ruiz de Moguer and his sister Marianita. We will +begin with the young lady, through politeness. + +Doña Mariana--or rather Marianita, as she was generally called at +the convent, and by her family--was a charming girl scarce sixteen, +graceful in her movements, and with black lustrous eyes. Her hair had +the bluish tinge of the raven's wing; her skin, the warm and gilded +hues of the sun of her country; her glance, half veiled by her long +brown eyelashes, was ardent; her straight nose, with its pink flexible +nostrils, was delicious; her laughing mouth, with its bright red lips, +gave her face an expression of simple, ignorant candour. Her movements, +soft and indolent, had that indescribable languor and serpentine +undulation alone possessed in so eminent a degree by the women of Lima +and Mexico, those daughters of the sun in whose veins flows the molten +lava of the volcanoes, instead of blood. In a word, she was a Spanish +girl from head to foot--but Andalusian before all. Hers was an ardent, +wild, jealous, passionate, and excessively superstitious nature. But +this lovely, splendid statue still wanted the divine spark. Doña +Mariana did not know herself; her heart had not yet spoken; she was as +yet but a delicious child, whom the fiery breath of love would convert +into an adorable woman. + +Physically, Don Ruiz was, as a man, the same his sister was a woman. +He was a thorough gentleman, and scarce four years older than Doña +Mariana. He was tall and well built; but his elegant and aristocratic +form denoted great personal strength. His regular features--too regular +perhaps, for a man--bore an unmistakable stamp of distinction; his +black eye had a frank and confident look; his mouth, which was rather +large, but adorned with splendid teeth, and fringed by a fine brown +moustache, coquettishly turned up, still retained the joyous, careless +smile of youth; his face displayed loyalty, gentleness, and bravery +carried to temerity;--in a word, all his features offered the most +perfect type of a true-blooded gentleman. + +Brother and sister, who, with the exception of a few almost +imperceptible variations, had the most perfect physical likeness, also +resembled each other morally. Both were equally ignorant of things of +the world. With their pure and innocent hearts they loved each other +with the holiest of all loves, fraternal affection, and only lived +through and for each other. + +Hence, Doña Mariana had felt a great delight and great impatience to +quit the convent, when Don Ruiz, in obedience to his father's commands, +came to fetch her from the Rosario. This impatience obliged Don Ruiz +not to consent to wait for an escort on his homeward journey, for fear +of vexing his sister. It was an imprudence that caused the misfortunes +we have already described, and for which, now they had arrived, Don +Ruiz reproached himself bitterly. He cursed the weakness that had made +him yield to the whims of a girl, and accused himself of being, through +his weakness, the sole cause of the frightful dangers from which she +had only escaped by a miracle, and of those no less terrible, which, +doubtless, still threatened her on the hundred and odd leagues they +had still to go before reaching the hacienda del Toro, where dwelt her +father, Don Hernando de Moguer. + +Still the hours, which never stop, continued to follow each other +slowly. The sun had risen; and, through its presence on the horizon, +immediately dissipated the darkness and heated the ground, which was +chilled by the abundant and icy dew of morning. + +Doña Marianita, aroused by the singing of the thousands of birds +concealed beneath the foliage, opened her eyes with a smile. The calm +sleep she had enjoyed for several hours restored not only her strength, +which was exhausted by the struggles of the previous evening, but also +her courage and gaiety. The girl's first glance was for her brother, +who, anxious and uneasy, was attentively watching her slumbers, and +impatiently awaiting the moment for her to awake. + +"Oh, Ruiz," she said, in her melodious voice, and offering her hand and +cheek simultaneously to the young man, "what a glorious sleep I have +had." + +"Really, sister," he exclaimed, kissing her, gladly, "you have slept +well." + +"That is to say," she continued, with a smile, "that at the convent I +never passed so delicious a night, accompanied by such charming dreams; +but it is true there were two of you to watch over my slumbers--two +kind and devoted hearts, in whom I could trust with perfect confidence." + +"Yes, sister; there were two of us." + +"What?" she asked in surprise mingled with anxiety. "You were--What do +you mean, Ruiz?" + +"What I say; nothing else, dear sister." + +"But I do not see the caballero to whom we have incurred so great an +obligation. Where is he?" + +"I cannot tell you, little sister. About two hours ago he mounted his +horse and left me, telling me not to stir from here till his return." + +"Oh, in that case I am quite easy. His absence alarmed me; but now that +I know he will return--" + +"Do you believe so?" he interrupted. + +"Why should I doubt it?" she continued with some animation in her +voice; "Did he not promise to return?" + +"Certainly." + +"Well! A caballero never breaks his pledged word. He said he would +come, and he will come." + +"Heaven grant it!" Don Ruiz muttered. + +And he shook his head sadly, and gave a profound sigh. The maiden felt +herself involuntarily assailed by anxiety. This persistency undoubtedly +terrified her. + +"Come, Ruiz," she said, turning very pale, "explain yourself. What has +happened between this caballero and yourself?" + +"Nothing beyond what you know, sister. Still, in spite of the man's +promise, I know not why, but I fear. He is a strange, incomprehensible +being--at one moment kind, at another cruel--changing his character, +and almost his face, momentarily. He frightens and repels, and yet +attracts and interests me. I am afraid he will abandon us, and fear +that he will return. A secret foreboding seems to warn me that this man +will have a great influence over your future and mine. Perhaps it is +our misfortune that we have met him." + +"I do not understand you, Ruiz. What means this confusion in your +ideas? Why this stern and strange judgment of a man whom you do not +know, and who has only done you kindness?" + +At the moment when Don Ruiz was preparing to answer, the gallop of a +horse became audible in the distance. + +"Silence, brother!" she exclaimed, with an emotion she could not +repress; "Silence, here he comes!" + +The young man looked at his sister in amazement. + +"How do you know it?" he asked her. + +"I have recognised him," she stammered, with a deep blush. "Stay--Look!" + +In fact, at this moment the shrubs parted, and Stronghand appeared in +the open space. Don Ruiz, though surprised at the singular remark which +had escaped his sister, had not time to ask her for an explanation. +Without dismounting, Stronghand, after bowing courteously to the young +lady, said, hurriedly-- + +"To horse!--To horse! Make haste! Time presses!" + +Don Ruiz at once saddled his own horse and his sister's, and a few +minutes later the two young people were riding by the hunter's side. + +"Let us start!" the latter continued. "_Cuerpo de Cristo_, Caballero, I +warned you that you were doing an imprudent action in liberating that +villain. If we do not take care, we shall have him at our heels within +an hour." + +These words sufficed to give the fugitives wings, and they started at +full gallop after the bold wood ranger. An hour elapsed ere a word +was exchanged between the three persons; bent over the necks of their +steeds they devoured the space--looking back anxiously from time to +time, and only thinking how to escape the unknown dangers by which +they felt themselves surrounded. About eight o'clock in the morning, +Stronghand checked his horse, and made his companions a sign to follow +his example. + +"Now," he said, "we have nothing more to fear. When we have crossed +that wood, which stretches out in front of us like a curtain of +verdure, we shall see the Port of San Miguel, whose walls will offer us +a certain shelter against the attacks of all the bandits of the desert, +were there ten thousand of them." + +"Last night I fancy that you spoke to me of a more distant post," Don +Ruiz said. + +"Yes; for I fancied San Miguel abandoned, if not in ruins. Before I +gave you what might prove a fallacious hope, I wished to assure myself +of the truth of the case." + +"Do you believe that the Commandant will consent to receive us?" the +young lady asked. + +"Certainly, Señorita, for a thousand reasons. In the first place, the +frontier posts are only established for the purpose of watching over +the safety of travellers; and then, again, San Miguel is commanded by +one of your relations--or, at any rate, an intimate friend of your +family." + +The young people looked at each other in surprise. + +"Do you know this Commandant's name?" Don Ruiz asked. + +"I was told it: he is Don Marcos de Niza." + +"Oh!" Doña Mariana exclaimed, joyfully; "I should think we do know him: +Don Marcos is a cousin of ours." + +"In that case, all is for the best," the hunter answered, coldly. "Let +us continue our journey; for there is a cloud of dust behind us that +forebodes us no good, if it reaches us before we have entered the post." + +The young people, without answering, resumed their gallop, crossed the +wood, and entered the little fort. + +"Look!" Stronghand said to Don Ruiz and his sister, the moment the gate +closed upon them. They turned back. A numerous band of horsemen issued +from the wood at this moment, and galloped up at full speed, uttering +ferocious yells. + +"This is the second time you have saved our lives, Caballero," Doña +Mariana said to the partizan, with a look of gratitude. + +"Why count them, Señorita?" he replied, with a sadness mingled with +bitterness. "Do I do so?" + +The maiden gave him a look of undefinable meaning, turned her head away +with a blush, and silently followed her brother. + +The Spaniards, whatever may be the opinion the Utopians of the old +world express about their mode of civilization, and the way in which +they treated the Indians of America, understood very well how to +enhance the prosperity of the countries they had been endowed with by +the strong arms of those heroic adventurers who were called Cortez, +Pizarro, Bilboa, Alvadaro, &c., and whose descendants, if any by +chance exist, are now in the most frightful wretchedness, although +their ancestors gave a whole world and incalculable riches to their +ungrateful country. + +When the Spanish rule was established in America, the first care of +the conquerors--after driving back the Indians who refused to accept +their iron yoke into frightful deserts, where they hoped want would +put an end to them--was to secure their frontiers, and prevent those +indomitable hordes, impelled by hunger and despair, from entering the +newly conquered country and plundering the towns and the haciendas. +For this purpose they established along the desert line a cordon of +presidios and military posts, which were all connected together, and +could, in case of need, assist each other, not so much through their +proximity--for they were a great distance apart, and scattered over +a great space--but by means of numerous patrols of lanceros, who +constantly proceeded from one post to the other. + +At present, since the declaration of independence, owing to the neglect +of the governments which have succeeded each other in this unhappy +country, most of the presidios and forts no longer exist. Some have +been burned by the Indians, who became invaders in their turn, and are +gradually regaining the territory the Europeans took from them; while +others have been abandoned, or so badly kept up, that they are for +the most part in ruins. Still, here and there you find a few, which +exceptionable circumstances have compelled the inhabitants to repair +and defend. + +As these forts were built in all the colonies on the same plan, in +describing the post of San Miguel, which still exists, and which we +have visited, the reader will easily form an idea of the simple and yet +effective defence adopted by the Europeans to protect them from the +surprises of their implacable and crafty foes. + +The post of San Miguel is composed of four square pavilions, connected +together by covered ways, the inner walls of which surround a courtyard +planted with lemon trees, peach trees, and algarrobas. On this court +opens the room intended for travellers, the barracks, &c. The outer +walls have only one issue, and are provided with loopholes, which can +only be reached by mounting a platform eight feet high and three wide. +All the masonry is constructed of _adobes_, or large blocks of earth +stamped and baked in the sun. + +Twenty feet beyond this wall is another, formed of cactuses, planted +very closely together, and having their branches intertwined. This +vegetable wall, if we may be allowed the use of the expression, is +naturally very thick, and protected by formidable prickles, which +render it impenetrable for the half-clad and generally badly-armed +Indians. The only entrance to it is a heavy gate, supported by posts +securely bedded in the ground. The soldiers, standing at the loopholes +of the second wall, fire in perfect shelter, and command the space +above the cactuses. + +On the approach of the Indians, when the Mexican Moon is at hand--that +is to say, the invariable season of their invasions--the sparse +dwellers on the border seek refuge inside San Miguel, and there in +complete safety wait till their enemies are weary of a siege which can +have no result for them, or till they are put to flight by soldiers +sent from a town frequently fifty leagues off. + +Don Marcos de Niza was a man of about forty, short and plump, but +withal active and quick. His regular features displayed a simplicity +of character, marked with intelligence and decision. He was one of +those educated honest professional officers, of whom the Mexican army +unfortunately counts too few in its ranks. Hence, as he thoroughly +attended to his duties, and had never tried to secure promotion by +intrigue and party manoeuvres, he had remained a captain for ten years +past, without hope of promotion, in spite of his qualifications (which +were recognised and appreciated by all) and his irreproachable conduct. +The post he occupied at this moment as Commandant of the Blockhouse +of San Miguel proved the value the Governor of the province set upon +him; for the frontier posts, constantly exposed to the attacks of the +Redskins, can only be given to sure men, who have long been accustomed +to Indian warfare. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE POST OF SAN MIGUEL. + + +As the dangerous honour of commanding one of the border forts like +San Miguel is not at all coveted by the brilliant officers accustomed +to clatter their sabres on the stones of the Palace in Mexico, it +is generally only given to brave soldiers who have no prospect of +promotion left to them. + +Informed by a cabo, or corporal, of the names of the guests who thus +suddenly arrived, the Captain rose to meet them with open arms and a +smile on his lips. + +"Oh, oh," he exclaimed, gleefully; "this is a charming surprise! +Children, I am delighted to see you." + +"Do not thank us, Don Marcos," Doña Mariana answered, smilingly. "We +are not paying you a visit, but have come to ask shelter and protection +of you." + +"You have them already. ¡Rayo de Dios! Are we not relations, and very +close ones, too?" + +"Without doubt, cousin," Don Ruiz said; "hence, in our misfortune, it +is a great happiness for us to come across you." + +"Hilloh! You have something serious to tell me," the Captain continued, +his face growing gloomy. + +"So serious," the young man said, with a bow to the partizan, who stood +motionless by his side, "that had it not been for the help of this +caballero, in all probability we should be lying dead in the desert." + +"Oh, oh; my poor children! Come, dismount and follow me; you must need +rest and refreshment after such an alarm. Cabo Hernandez, take charge +of the horses." + +The corporal took the horses, which he led to the corral; and the young +people followed the Captain, after having been kissed and hugged by him +several times. Don Marcos pressed the hunter's hand, and made him a +sign to follow them. + +"There," he said, after introducing his guests into a room modestly +furnished with a few butacas; "sit down, children; and when you have +rested, we will talk." + +Refreshments had been prepared on the table. While the young people +enjoyed them, the Captain quitted them, and went with the hunter into +another room. So soon as they were alone, the two men became serious, +and the joy that illumined the Captain's face was suddenly extinguished. + +"Well," he asked Stronghand, after making him a sign to sit down, "what +news?" + +"Bad," he answered, distinctly. + +"I expected it," the officer muttered, with a sad toss of the head; "we +must put on our harness again, and push out into the savannah, in order +to prove to these bandits that we are able to punish them." + +The hunter shook his head several times, but said nothing. The Captain +looked at him attentively for some minutes. + +"What is the matter, my friend?" he at length asked him, with growing +anxiety; "I never saw you so sad and gloomy before." + +"The reason is," he answered, "because circumstances have never been so +serious." + +"Explain yourself, my friend; I confess to you that you are really +beginning to alarm me. With the exception of a few insignificant +marauders, the borders have never appeared to me more quiet." + +"It is a deceitful calm, Don Marcos, which contains the tempest in its +bosom--and a terrible tempest, I, assure you." + +"And yet our spies are all agreed in assuring us that the Indians are +not at all thinking of an expedition." + +"It proves that your spies betray you, that's all." + +"Possibly so; but still, I should like some proof or sign." + +"I ask for nothing better; I am enabled to give you the most positive +information." + +"Very good; that is the way to speak. I am listening to you." + +"Before all, is your garrison strong?" + +"I consider it large enough." + +"Perhaps so: how many men have you?" + +"Sixty or seventy, about." + +"That is not enough." + +"What! Not enough? The garrisons of blockhouses are never more +numerous." + +"In a time of peace, it may be so; but under present circumstances, I +repeat to you, that they are not enough, and you will soon agree with +me on that score. You must send off a courier, without the loss of a +moment, to ask for a reinforcement of from one hundred and fifty to two +hundred men. Do not deceive yourself, Captain; you will be the first +attacked, and the attack will be a rude one. I warn you." + +"Thanks for the hint. Still, my good friend, you will permit me not to +follow it till you have proved to me that there are urgent reasons for +doing so." + +"As you please, Captain; you are the commandant of the post, and your +responsibility must urge you to prudence. I will therefore abstain from +making any farther observations on the subject which only concerns me +very indirectly." + +"You are annoyed, and wrongly so, my friend; the responsibility to +which you refer demands that I should not let myself be led by vague +rumours to take measures I might have cause to regret. Give me the +explanation I expect of you; and, probably, when I know the imminence +of the danger that threatens me, I shall follow your advice." + +"I wish for nothing more than to satisfy you; so listen to me. What I +have to tell you will not take long." + +At this moment the room door opened and Corporal Hernandez appeared. +The Captain, annoyed at being thus inopportunely disturbed, turned +sharply round and angrily addressed the man-- + +"Well Corporal," he said, "what the fiend do you want now?" + +"Excuse me, Captain," the poor fellow said, astounded at this rough +greeting, "but the Lieutenant sent me." + +"Well, what does the Lieutenant want? Speak! But be brief, if that is +possible." + +"Captain, the sentry has seen a large party of horsemen coming at full +gallop towards the fort, and the Lieutenant ordered me to warn you." + +"Eh," said the Captain, looking uneasily at the hunter, "were you in +the right? and is this troop the vanguard of the enemy you threaten us +with?" + +"This troop," the hunter answered, with an equivocal smile, "has been +following Don Ruiz and myself since the morning. I do not believe that +these horsemen are Indians." + +"What's the Lieutenant's opinion about these scamps?" the Captain asked +the corporal. + +"They are too far off yet, and too hidden by the dust they raise, +Captain, for it to be possible to recognise them," the non-commissioned +officer replied with a bow. + +"That is true. We had better, I believe, go and look for ourselves. +Will you come?" + +"I should think so," the hunter said, as he seized his rifle, which he +had deposited in a corner of the room; and they went out. + +Don Ruiz and his sister were talking together, while doing ample +justice to the refreshment placed at their disposal. On seeing the +Captain, the young man rose and walked up to him. + +"Cousin," he said to him, with a bow, "I hear that you are on the point +of being attacked; and as it is to some extent my cause you are going +to defend, for the bandits who threaten you at this moment are allies +of those with whom I had a fight last night, pray allow me to fire a +shot by your side." + +"¡Viva Dios! Most heartily, my dear cousin," the Captain answered, +gaily: "although these scoundrels are not worth the trouble. Come +along!" + +"That's a fine fellow!" the Captain whispered in the hunter's ear. + +The latter made no answer. He contented himself with shrugging his +shoulders, and turned away. + +"Oh," Doña Mariana exclaimed, "Ruiz, what are you going to do? Stay +with me, I implore you, brother!" + +"Impossible, sister," the young man answered, as he kissed her; "what +would our cousin think of me were I to skulk here when fighting was +going on?" + +"Fear nothing, Niña; I am answerable for your brother," the Captain +said with a smile. + +The girl sat down again sadly on the butaca from which she had risen, +and the four men then left the room, and proceeded to the patio, or +court. Here everybody was busy. The Lieutenant, an old experienced +soldier, with a grey moustache and face furrowed by sabre cuts, and +whose whole life had been spent on the borders, had not lost his time. +While, by his order, Corporal Hernandez warned the Captain, he had +ordered the "fall-in" to be beaten, had placed the best shots at the +loopholes, and made all arrangements to avoid a surprise and give a +warm reception to the enemy who advanced so daringly against the fort. + +When the Captain set foot in the court, he stopped, embraced at a +glance the wise and intelligent arrangements made by his Lieutenant, +and a smile of satisfaction spread over his features. + +"And now," he said to the hunter, "let us go and see who the enemy is +with whom we have to deal." + +"It is unnecessary; for I can tell you, Captain," the other replied; +"they are the pirates." + +"Pirates!" Don Marcos exclaimed in amazement. "What! Those villains +would dare--" + +"Alone, certainly not," Stronghand quickly interrupted him; "but with +the certainty of being supported by the Indians, of whom they are +only the vanguard, they will not hesitate to do so. However, unless +I am greatly mistaken, their attack will not be serious; and their +object is probably to discover in what state of defence the post is. +Receive them, then, in such a way as to leave them no doubt on this +head, and prove to them that you are perfectly on your guard; and this +demonstration will without doubt be sufficient to send them flying." + +"You are right," said the Captain. "Viva Dios! They shall have their +answer, I promise you." + +He then gave the Corporal an order in a low voice; the latter bowed, +and went off hurriedly. For some minutes a deep silence prevailed in +the fort. The moments that precede a contest bring with them something +solemn, which causes the bravest men to reflect, and prepare for the +struggle, either by a powerful effort of the will, or by mentally +addressing a last and fervent prayer to Heaven. + +All at once, horrible yells were heard, mingled with the furious +galloping of many horses; and then the enemy appeared, leaning over +the necks of their steeds, and brandishing their weapons with an air +of defiance. When they came within pistol shot, the word to fire was +given from the walls, and a general discharge burst forth like a clap +of thunder. + +The horsemen fell into confusion, and turned back precipitately and in +the greatest disorder, followed by the Mexican bullets, which, directed +by strong arms and sure eyes, made great ravages in their ranks at +every step. Still, they had not fled so fast but that they could be +recognised for what they really were--that is, pirates of the prairies. +Half naked for the most part, and without saddles, they brandished +their rifles and long lances, and excited their horses by terrific +yells. + +Two or three individuals, probably chiefs, with their heads covered by +a species of turban, were noticeable through their ragged uniforms, +doubtless torn off murdered soldiers; their repulsive dirt and +ferocious appearance inspired the deepest disgust. No doubt was +possible: these wretches were certainly whites and half-breeds. What a +difference between these sinister bandits and the Apaches, Comanches, +and Arapahoes--those magnificent children of nature, so careful in the +choice of their weapons--so noble in their demeanour. + +After a rather long race, they stopped to hold counsel, out of range of +the firearms. They were at this moment joined by a second band, whose +leader began speaking and gesticulating with the utmost excitement, +pointing to the fort each moment with his rifle. The two bands, united, +might possibly amount to one hundred and fifty horsemen. + +After a rather long discussion, the pirates started again, and stopped +at the very foot of the walls. Captain Niza, wishing to inflict a +severe chastisement on them, had given orders not to fire, but to let +them do as they pleased. Hidden by the thick cactus hedge, the bandits +had suddenly become invisible; but the Mexicans, confiding in the +strength of their position and the solidity of the posts and gates, +felt no fear. + +Reassured by the silence of the garrison, some thirty pirates, among +whom were several of their chiefs, escaladed the great gate in turn, +and rushed toward the second wall. Unluckily for the success of their +plan, the wall was too lofty to be cleared in the same way; hence they +scattered. Some sought stones and posts to beat in the second gate; +while others tried, though in vain, to open the one they had so easily +scaled. + +The Mexicans could distinctly hear the pirates in the second +_enceinte_ explaining to their comrades the difficulty they experienced +in penetrating into the fort, and they must force the gate, in order +to allow a passage for those who remained outside. The latter then +threw their _reatas_, which, caught upon the posts, were tightened by +the combined efforts of the men and horses, and seemed on the point of +pulling the gate off its hinges; but the posts held firmly, and were +not even shaken by this supreme effort. + +"What are you waiting for, Captain?" Don Ruiz whispered in the +Commandant's ear. "Why do you not kill these vermin?" + +"There are not enough yet in the trap," he answered, with a cunning +look; "let them come." + +In fact, as if the bandits had wished to obey the old soldier, some +twenty more clambered over the gale, so that there were fifty of the +pirates between the cactus and the stone wall. Encouraged by their +numbers, which momentarily increased, they made a general assault. But, +all at once, every loophole was lit up by a sinister flash, and the +bullets began showering uninterruptedly on the wretches, who, through +their own position, found it impossible to answer the plunging fire of +the Mexicans. Recognising the fault they had committed, and the trap +they had so stupidly entered, the pirates became demoralized, fear +seized upon them, and they only thought of flight. + +Then they dashed at the outer gate, to clamber over it and reach the +plain; there the bullets dashed them down again--suffering from a +desperation which was the greater because they had no help to hope for +from their friends outside, whom, at the first check, they had heard +start off at full speed; and consequently they felt they were lost. + +The Mexicans, pitiless in their vengeance, fired incessantly on +the wretches, some of whom, by crawling on their hands and knees, +succeeded in reaching the foot of the wall below the loopholes--a +position in which they could not be attacked, unless the Mexicans +exposed themselves, and ran the risk of being killed or wounded. Of +fifty bandits who had scaled the gate, fourteen still lived; the others +were dead, and not one had succeeded in making his escape. + +"Ha! Ha!" said the Captain, rubbing his hands gleefully. "I fancy that +the lesson will be useful, though it may have been a trifle rough." + +But, on the reiterated entreaties of Don Ruiz, the worthy Commandant, +who in his heart was not cruel, consented to ask the survivors if they +were willing to surrender, a proposition which the pirates greeted with +yells of rage and defiance. These fourteen men, though their rifles +were discharged, were not enemies to despise, armed as they were with +long and heavy _machetes_, and resolved to die. The Mexicans were +acquainted with them, and knew that in a hand-to-hand fight they would +prove tough customers. + +Still there must be an end to it. At an order from the Captain the +gate of the second wall was suddenly opened, and some twenty horsemen +charged at full gallop the bandits, who, far from recoiling, awaited +them with a firm foot. The _mêlée_ was terrible, but short. Three +Mexicans were killed, and five others seriously wounded; but the +pirates, after an obstinate resistance, fell never to rise again. + +Only one of them--profiting by the disorder and the attention which the +soldiers remaining at the loopholes paid to the fight--succeeded by a +miracle of resolution and strength in scaling the wall and flying. This +pirate, the only one who escaped the massacre, was Kidd. On reaching +the plain he stopped for a second, turned to the fort with a gesture of +menace and defiance, and, leaping on a riderless horse, went off amid +a shower of bullets, not one of which struck him. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE STAY IN THE FOREST. + + +When the fight was over, and order restored at the post, the Captain +bade his Lieutenant have the bodies lying on the battlefield picked +up and hung by the feet to the trees on the plain, so that they +might become the prey of wild beasts, though not until they had been +decapitated. The heads were to remain exposed on the walls of the +forts, and act as an object of terror to the bandits, who, after this +act of summary justice, would not venture to approach the neighbourhood +of the post. + +Then, when all these orders had been given, the Commandant returned +to his residence, where Don Ruiz had already preceded him in order to +re-assure his sister as to the result of the fight. Don Marcos was +radiant: he had gained a great advantage--at least he thought so--over +the border ruffians; he had inflicted on them an exemplary punishment +at the expense of an insignificant loss, and supposed that for a long +time no one would venture to attack the post entrusted to him. + +Unfortunately, the wood ranger was not of the same opinion: each time +the Captain smiled and rubbed his hands at the recollection of some +episode in the fight, Stronghand shook his head sadly, and frowned +anxiously. This was done so frequently, that at last the worthy +Commandant was compelled to take notice of it. + +"What's the matter with you now?" he asked him, with an air half +vexed, half pleased. "You are, on my soul, the most extraordinary man +I know. Nothing satisfies you; you are always in a bad temper. Hang +it! I do not know how to treat you. Did we not give those scoundrels a +remarkable thrashing, eh? Come, answer!" + +"I allow it," the hunter replied laconically. + +"Hum! It is lucky you allow so much. And yet they fought bravely, I +fancy." + +"Yes; and it is that which frightens me." + +"I do not understand you." + +"Was I not giving you important information when we were interrupted by +the Cabo Hernandez?" + +"That is to say, you were going to give it me." + +"Yes; and with your permission, now that we have no fear of being +interrupted for a while, I will impart the news to you." + +"I ask nothing better; although I suppose that the defeat the pirates +have experienced must deprive the news of much of its importance." + +"The pirates play but a very small part in what I have to tell you." + +"Speak, then! I know that you are too earnest a man to try and amuse +yourself at my expense by inspiring me with ridiculous alarm." + +"You shall judge for yourself the perils of the situation in which you +may find yourself at any moment, if you do not employ the greatest +precaution and the most excessive prudence." + +The two men seated themselves on butacas, and the Commandant, who was +more excited than he wished to show by this startling preamble, made +the hunter a sign to commence his revelations. + +"About two months ago," the latter began, "I was at the Presidio of +San Estevan, whither certain personal matters had called me. This +Presidio, which, as you know, is about two days' journey from here, is +very important, and serves to some extent in connecting all the posts +scattered along the Indian border." + +The Captain gave a nod of assent. + +"I am," the hunter continued, "on rather intimate terms with Don +Gregorio Ochova, the Colonel commanding the Presidio, and during my +last stay at San Estevan I had opportunities for seeing him rather +frequently. You know the savageness of my character, and the species of +instinctive repulsion with which anything resembling a town inspires +me; hence, I need hardly say, that no sooner was my business ended than +I made preparations to depart, and, according to my custom, intended +to leave the Presidio at a very early hour. I did not like to go away +without saying good-bye to the Colonel and shaking hands with him; +so I went to his house for the purpose of taking leave. I found him +in a state of extreme agitation, walking up and down, and apparently +affected by a violent passion or great anxiety. On seeing me, he +uttered an exclamation of delight, and ran up to me, exclaiming--" + +"'Oh, Stronghand! Where on earth have you been hiding? I have been +seeking you everywhere for the last two hours, and have put a dozen +soldiers on your heels, who could not possibly find you.'" + +"I looked at the Colonel in surprise." + +"'You were seeking for me, Don Gregorio? I assure you that I was close +to you, and very easy to find.'" + +"'It seems not. But here you are--that is the main point; and I care +little where you were, or what you were doing. Do you think about +making any lengthened stay at San Estevan?'" + +"'No, Colonel,' I answered at once, 'my affairs are settled; I intend +to start at an early hour tomorrow, and I have just come to say +good-bye, and thank you for the hospitality you have shown me during my +stay at the Presidio.'" + +"'Good!' he said eagerly, 'that is all for the best but,' he added, +recollecting himself, and taking my hand in a kindly way, 'do not +suppose that it is my desire to see you depart that makes me speak +thus.'" + +"'I am convinced of the contrary,' I remarked with a bow." + +"He continued,--'You can, Stronghand, do me a great service, if you +will.'" + +"'I am at your command.'" + +"'This is the matter,' he said, at once entering on the business. 'For +some days past, the most alarming reports have been spreading through +the Presidio, though it is impossible to find out their origin.'" + +"'And what may they be?' I asked." + +"'It is said--(notice, I say it is said, and affirm nothing, as I know +nothing positive)--it is said, then, that a general uprising against us +is preparing--that the Indians, laying aside for a moment their private +hatreds, and forgetting their clannish quarrels to think only of the +hereditary hatred they entertain for us, are combining to attempt a +general attack on the posts, which they purpose to destroy, in order +to devastate our borders more freely. Their object is said to be, not +only the destruction of the posts, but also the invasion of several +States, such as Sonora and Sinaloa, in which they intend to establish +themselves permanently after expelling us.'" + +"'The reports are serious,' I remarked, 'but nothing has as yet +happened to confirm their truth.'" + +"'That is true; but you know that there is always a certain amount of +truth in every vague rumour, and it is that truth I should like to +know.'" + +"'Is no nation mentioned by name among those which are to take up +arms?'" + +"'Yes; more particularly the Papayos--that is to say, the grand league +of the Apaches, Axuas, Gilenos, Comanches, Mayos, and Opatas. But the +more serious thing is, always according to the report, that the white +and half-bred marauders on the border are leagued with them, and mean +to help them in their expedition against us.'" + +"'That is really serious,' I answered; 'but, pardon me for questioning +you, Colonel; what do you purpose doing to make head against the +imminent danger that threatens you?'" + +"'That is exactly why I want you, my friend; and you would do me a real +service by assisting me in this affair.'" + +"'I am ready to do anything that depends on myself to oblige you.'" + +"'I was certain of that answer, my friend. This is the matter, then. +You understand that I cannot remain thus surrounded by vague rumours +and terrors that have no apparent cause, but still carry trouble into +families and cause perturbation in trade. During the last few weeks, +especially, various serious events have given a certain consistency +to these rumours--travellers have been murdered, and several valuable +waggon trains plundered, almost at the gates of the Presidio. It is +time for this state of things to cease, and for us to know definitively +the truth or falsehood of the rumours; for this purpose I require a +brave, devoted man, thoroughly acquainted with Indian manners and +customs, who would consent--'" + +"I interrupted him quickly." + +"'I understand what you want, Colonel; seek no further, for I am the +man you stand in need of. Tomorrow at sunrise I will start: and within +two months I pledge myself to give you the most explicit information, +and tell you what you may have to fear, and what truth there is in all +that is being said around you.'" + +"The Colonel thanked me warmly, and the next morning I set out on my +tour of investigation, as we had arranged." + +"Well," the Captain exclaimed, who had followed this long story with +ever increasing interest; "and what information have you picked up?" + +"This information," the hunter answered, "is of a nature far more +serious than even public report had said. The situation is most +critical, and not a moment must be lost in preparing for defence. I was +going to San Estevan, where Colonel Don Gregorio must be awaiting my +return with the utmost impatience, when I thought of seeing whether the +Post of San Miguel, which had been so long unoccupied, had received a +garrison. That is how chance, my dear Captain, made us meet here when I +thought I should see you at the Presidio." + +The Captain shook his head thoughtfully. "A month ago," he said, "Don +Gregorio ordered me to come here and hold my ground, though he did not +inform me of the motives that compelled him so suddenly to place San +Miguel in a state of defence." + +"Well; now you know the reasons." + +"Yes; and I thank you for having told me. But, between ourselves, are +matters so serious as you lead me to suppose?" + +"A hundred times more so. I have traversed the desert in all +directions; I have been present at the meetings of the chiefs--in +a word, I know the most private details of the expedition that is +preparing." + +"_¡Viva Dios!_ I will not let myself be surprised--be at your ease +about that; but you were right in advising me to ask for help, as my +garrison is too weak to resist a well-arranged assault. This morning's +attack has made me reflect; so I will immediately--" + +"Do not take the trouble," the hunter interrupted him; "I will act as +your express." + +"What! Are you going to leave us at once?" + +"I must, my dear Captain; for I have to give Don Gregorio an account of +the mission he confided to me. Reflect what mortal anxiety he must feel +at not seeing me return." + +"That is true. In spite of the lively pleasure I should feel in keeping +you by me, I am compelled to let you go. When do you start?" + +"This moment." + +"Already?" + +"My horse has rested; there are still five or six hours of daylight +left, and I will take advantage of them?" He made a movement to leave +the room. + +"You have not said good-bye to Don Ruiz and his sister," the Captain +observed. + +The hunter stopped, his brows contracted, and he seemed to be +reflecting. + +"No," he said, ere long, "it would make me lose precious time. You will +make my apologies to them, Captain. Moreover," he added with a bitter +smile, "our acquaintance is not sufficiently long, I fancy, for Don +Ruiz and his sister to attach any great importance to my movements, so +for the last time, good-bye." + +"I will not press you," the Captain answered; "do as you please. Still, +it would have perhaps been more polite to take leave." + +"Nonsense," he said, ironically; "am I not a savage? Why should I +employ that refinement of politeness which is only customary among +civilized people?" + +The Captain contented himself with shrugging his shoulders as an +answer, and they went out. Five minutes later the hunter was mounted. + +"Do not fail to report to the Colonel," Don Marcos said, "what happened +here today; and, above all, ask him for assistance." + +"All right, Captain; and do not you go to sleep." + +"_Caray_--I shall feel no inclination. So now, good-bye, and good luck!" + +"Good-bye, and many thanks." + +They exchanged a last shake of the hand, the hunter galloped out into +the plain, and the Captain returned to his house, muttering to himself. + +"What a strange man! Is he good or bad? Who can say?" + +When the supper hour arrived, the two young people, astonished at the +hunter's absence, asked after him of the captain. When the latter told +them of his departure, they felt grieved and hurt at his having gone +without bidding them farewell; and Doña Mariana especially was offended +at such unaccountable behaviour on the part of a caballero; for which, +in her desire to excuse him, she in vain sought a reason. Still they +did not show their feelings, and the evening passed very pleasantly. + +At the hour for retiring, Don Ruiz, more than ever eager to rejoin +his father, reminded the Captain of the offer of service he had made +him, and asked for an escort, in order to continue his journey on +the morrow; but Don Marcos answered with a peremptory refusal, that +not only would he give no escort, but he insisted on his relations +remaining temporarily under his guard. + +Don Ruiz naturally asked an explanation of his cousin; which he did not +hesitate to give, by telling them of the conversation between himself +and the hunter. Don Ruiz and his sister had been too near death to +expose themselves again to the hazards of a long journey in the desert +alone, and unable to offer any effectual defence against such persons +as thought proper to attack them; still the young man, annoyed at this +new delay, asked the Captain at what period they might hope to regain +their liberty. + +"Oh! Your seclusion will not be long," the latter replied with a +smile; "so soon as I have received the reinforcements I expect from San +Estevan--that is to say, in seven or eight days at the most--I will +pick you out an escort, and you can be off." + +Don Ruiz, forced to satisfy himself with this promise, thanked him +warmly; and the young people made their arrangements to pass the +week in the least wearisome way possible. But life is very dull at a +frontier post, especially when you are expecting a probable attack from +the Indians, and when, consequently, all the gates are kept shut, when +sentries are stationed all around, and the only amusement is to look +out on the plain through the loopholes. + +The Captain, justly alarmed by the news the hunter had given him, had +made the best arrangements his limited resources allowed to resist any +attack from the Indians, if they appeared before the succour arrived +from San Estevan. By his orders all the rancheros and small landowners +established within a radius of fifteen leagues had been warned of an +approaching invasion, and received an invitation to take shelter within +the post. + +The majority, recognising the gravity of this communication, hastened +to pack up their furniture and most valuable articles; and driving +before them their horses and cattle, hurried from all sides at once to +the fort, with a precipitation which proved the profound terror the +Indians inspired them with. In this way, the interior of San Miguel +was soon encumbered with young men and old men, women, and children, +and cattle--most of whom, unable to find lodgings in the houses, were +forced to bivouac in the yards; which, however, was but a trifling +inconvenience to them in a country where it hardly ever rains, and +where the nights are not cold enough to render sleeping in the open air +unpleasant. + +The Captain organized this heterogeneous colony to the best of his +ability. The women, children, and old men were sheltered under tents or +_jacales_ made of branches, to protect them from the copious morning +dew, while all the men capable of bearing arms were exercised, so as in +case of attack to assist in the common defence. + +But this enormous increase of population required an enormous stock +of provisions; and hence the Captain sent out numerous patrols for +the purpose of procuring the required corn and cattle. Don Ruiz took +advantage of this to make excursions in the vicinity; while his sister, +in the company of young girls of her own age, of whom several had +entered the fort with their families, tried to forget, or rather cheat, +the weariness of their seclusion. + +The appearance of the post had completely changed; and, thanks to the +Captain's intelligence, ten days after the hunter's departure San +Miguel had become a really formidable fortress. Large trenches had been +dug, and barricades erected; but, unfortunately, the garrison, though +numerous enough to resist a sudden attack, was too weak to sustain a +long siege. + +One morning, at sunrise, the sentries signalized a thick cloud of dust +advancing towards the post with the headlong speed of a whirlwind. The +alarm was immediately given; the walls were lined with soldiers; and +preparations were made to resist these men, who, though invisible, were +supposed to be enemies. + +Suddenly, on coming within gunshot, the horsemen halted, the dust +dispersed, and the garrison perceived with delight that all these men +wore the Mexican uniform. A quarter of an hour later, eighty lanceros, +each carrying an infantry man behind him, entered the fort, amid the +deafening shouts of the garrison and the farmers who had sought refuge +behind the walls. It was the succour requested by the Captain, and +sent off from San Estevan by Colonel Don Gregorio. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +A GLANCE AT THE PAST. + + +In Spanish America, and especially in Peru and Mexico, all the Creoles +of the pure white breed pretend to be descended in a straight line +from the first Conquistadors. We have no need to discuss this claim, +whose falsehood is visible to any man at all conversant with the +sanguinary history of the numberless civil wars--a species of organized +massacre--which followed the establishment of the Spaniards in these +rich countries. + +Still there are in America some families, very few in number it is +true, which can justly boast of this glorious origin. Most of these +families live on the estates conceded to their ancestors--they only +marry among themselves, and only interfere against the grain in the +political events of the day. With their eyes turned to the past, +which is so full of great memories for them, they have kept up the +old traditions of the chivalrous loyalty of the time of Charles V., +which are forgotten everywhere else. They maintain the national honour +unsullied, and those patriarchal virtues of the old time which they +alone still practise with a proud and simple majesty. + +The Creoles, half-breeds, and Indians, in spite of the hatred they +affect for their old masters, and the principles of so-called +republican equality which they profess with such absurd emphasis in +the presence of strangers, feel for these families a respect bordering +on veneration; for they seem to understand inwardly the superiority of +these powerful natures, which no political convulsion has been able to +level or even bind, over their own vicious decrepit natures, which have +grown old without ever having been young. + +A few leagues from Arispe, the old capital of the Intendancy of Sonora, +but now greatly fallen, and only a second-class city, there stands like +an eagle's nest, on the summit of an abrupt rock, a magnificent showy +mansion, whose strong and haughty walls are crowned with _Almenas_, +which at the time of the Spanish conquest were only permitted to +families of the old and pure nobility, and they alone had the right to +have battlements on their houses. + +This fortress-palace--which dates from the first days of the conquest, +and whose antiquity is written on its walls, which have seen so many +bullets flatten, so many arrows break against them, but which time, +that grand destroyer of the most solid things, is gradually crumbling +away by a continuous effort, under the triple influences of the air, +the sun, and rain--has never changed masters since the day of its +construction, and the chiefs of the same family, on dying, have ever +left it to their descendants. + +This family is one of those to which we just now referred, whose +origin dates back to the first conquerors, and whose name is Tobar de +Moguer--(Moguer was added at a later date, doubtless in memory of the +Spanish town whence the chief of the family came.) + +In 1541, Don Antonio de Mendoza, Viceroy of New Spain, organized +the expedition to Cibola, a mysterious country, visited a few years +previously by Alvaro Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, and about which the most +marvellous and extraordinary reports were spread, all the better suited +to inflame the avarice and unextinguishable thirst for gold by which +the Spanish adventurers were devoured. + +The expedition, consisting of 300 Spaniards and 800 Indian allies, +started from Compostela, the capital of New Galicia, on April 17, 1541, +under the orders of Don Francisco Vásquez de Coronado. The officers +nominated by the Viceroy were all gentlemen of distinction; among them +as standard bearer was Don Pedro de Tobar, whose father, Don Fernando +de Tobar, had been Majordomo-Major in the reign of Jane the Mad, mother +of the Emperor Charles V. + +We will only say a few words about this expedition, the preparations +for which were immense; and which would have doubtless furnished better +results, and proved to the advantage of all, had the chief thought less +of the immense fortune he left behind in New Spain, and more of the +immense responsibility weighing upon him. + +After innumerable fatigues, the expedition reached Cibola, which, +instead of being the rich and magnificent city they expected to see, +was only a wretched insignificant village, built on a rock, and which +the Spaniards seized after an hour's fighting. Still, the Indians +defended themselves bravely, and several Spaniards were wounded. The +General himself, hurled down by a stone, would have been infallibly +killed, had it not been for the devotion of Don Pedro de Tobar and +another officer, who threw themselves before him, and gave their chief +time to rise and withdraw from the fight. + +The Spaniards, half discouraged by the extraordinary fatigue they were +forced to endure, and the continual deceptions that awaited them at +every step, but still urged on by that spirit of adventure which never +deserted them, resolved after the capture of Cibola to push further +on and try their fortunes once again. Thus they reached, with extreme +difficulty, the last country visited by Cabeza de Vaca, to which he had +given the name of the Land of Hearts (Tierra de los Corazones)--not, +as might be supposed, because the inhabitants had seemed so gentle and +amiable, but solely because, at the period of his passing, the only +food they offered him had been stags' hearts. + +On reaching this place the Spaniards halted. Don Tristán de Arellano, +who had taken the command of the army in place of Don Francisco +Coronado, who was ailing from the wound received at Cibola, seeing the +rich and fertile appearance of this country, resolved to found a town, +which he called San Hieronima de los Corazones. This town was, however, +almost immediately abandoned by the Spaniards, who carried the various +elements further, and started a new town, to which they gave the name +of Señora, afterwards corrupted into Sonora, which eventually became +the name of the province. + +During this long expedition Don Pedro de Tobar distinguished himself +on several occasions. At the head of seventeen horsemen, four foot +soldiers, and a Franciscan monk of the name of Fray Juan de Padella +who in his youth had been a soldier, Don Pedro de Tobar discovered the +province of Tutaliaco, which contained several towns, the houses being +of several storeys. All these towns, or rather villages, were carried +by storm by Don Pedro, and the province was subjugated in a few days. + +When, twenty years after, the Viceroy wishing to recompense Don +Pedro's services, offered him estates, the latter, who held Señora +in pleasant recollection, asked that land should be granted him in +this province, which reminded him of the prowess of his youth, and +to which he was attached by the very fatigues he had undergone and +the dangers he had incurred. During the twenty years that had elapsed +since Coronado's expedition, Don Pedro had married the daughter of Don +Rodrigo Maldonado, brother-in-law of the Duke of Infantado, and one +of his old comrades in arms. As Don Rodrigo had settled in Sonora, +Don Pedro, in order to be near him, took up his abode on the site of +Cibola, which had long been destroyed and abandoned, and built on the +crest of the rock the magnificent Hacienda del Toro, which, as we have +said, remained for centuries in the family, with the immense estates +dependent on it. + +Like all first-class haciendas in Mexico, El Toro was rather a town +than a simple habitation, according to the idea formed in Europe of +private estates. It comprised all the old territory of Cibola. On all +sides its lofty walls, built on the extremity of the rock, hung over +the abyss. It contained princely apartments for the owners, a chapel, +workshops of every description, storehouses, barracks, quarters for the +pious, and corrals for the horses and cattle, with an immense _huerta_, +planted with the finest trees and the most fragrant flowers. In a word, +it was, and probably still is, one of those gigantic abodes which +appear built for Titans, and of which the finest feudal châteaux in the +Old World offer but an imperfect idea. + +The fact is, that at the time when the conquerors built these vast +residences, inhabitants were sparse in these countries, as is indeed +the case now. The owners having their elbows at liberty, could take +what land they liked, and hence each ultimately became, without +creating any surprise, possessors of a territory equal in size to one +of our counties. + +It was in 1811, twenty-nine years before the period when our story +begins, at the dawn of that glorious Mexican revolution the first +cry of which had been raised on the night of September 16, 1810, by +Hidalgo--at that time a simple parish priest in the wretched town of +Dolores, and whose success, sixteen months later, was so compromised +by the disastrous battle of Calderón, in which countless bands of +fantastic Indians were broken by the discipline of the old Spanish +troops--that the most sensible men regarded it as an unimportant +insurrection--a fatal error which caused the ruin of the Spanish +domination. + +But on November 25, 1811, the day on which we begin this narrative, the +insurgents had not yet been conquered at Calderón; on the contrary, +their first steps had been marked by successes; from all sides Indians +came to range themselves beneath their banner, and their army, badly +disciplined, it is true, but full of enthusiasm, amounted to 80,000 +men. Already master of several important towns, Hidalgo assembled +all his forces with the evident design of dealing a great blow, and +generalizing the insurrection, which had hitherto been confined to two +provinces. + +About two in the afternoon, that is to say, the time when in these +climes the heat is most oppressive, a horseman, mounted on a +magnificent mustang, was following at a gallop the banks of a small +stream, half dried up by the torrid heat of the southern sun, and by +whose side a few sickly cottonwood trees were withering. + +The dust, reduced to impalpable atoms, formed a dense cloud round the +horseman, who, plunged into sad and gloomy thought, with pale forehead +and brows contracted till they touched, continued his journey without +noticing the desolate aspect of the country he was traversing, and the +depressing calm that prevailed around him. In fact, an utter silence +brooded over this desert: the birds had hidden themselves gasping +under the foliage, and no other sound could be heard save the shrill, +harsh cry of the grasshoppers, which occupied in countless myriads +the calcine grass that bordered the road, or rather the track, the +traveller was following. + +This rider appeared to be about twenty-five years of age; his features +were handsome, his glance proud, and the expression of his face +haughty, although marked with kindness and courtesy. He was tall and +well built; his gestures, which were pleasing, though not stiff, +indicated a man who, through his position in the world, was accustomed +to a certain deference, and to win the respect of those who surrounded +him. His dress had nothing remarkable about it: it was that usually +worn by wealthy Spaniards when travelling; still, a short sword in a +silver sheath and with a curiously carved hilt, the only weapon he +openly carried, showed him to be a gentleman; besides, his complexion, +clearer than that of the Creoles, left no doubt as to his Spanish +origin. + +This horseman, who had left Arispe at sunrise, had been travelling, up +to the moment we join him, without stopping or appearing to notice the +stifling heat that made the perspiration run down his cheek--so deep +was he in thought. On reaching a spot where the track he was following +turned sharply to the left, his horse suddenly stopped. The rider, thus +aroused from his reverie, raised his head and looked before him, with +grief, almost despair, in his glance. + +He was at the foot of the rock on the summit of which stands the +Hacienda del Toro in all its gloomy majesty. For some minutes he gazed +with an expression of regret and sorrow at these frowning buildings, +which doubtless recalled happy memories. He shook his head several +times, a sigh escaped from his overburdened chest, and, seemed to form +a supreme resolution, he said, in a choking voice, "I will go;" and +letting his horse feel the spur, he began slowly scaling the narrow +path that led to the summit of the rock and the hacienda gate. A +violent contest seemed to be going on in his mind: his flexible face +changed each moment, and reflected the various feelings that agitated +him; several times his clenched hand drew up the bridle, as if he +wished to check his horse and turn back. But each time his will was +the more powerful; he constantly overcame the instinctive repugnance +that seemed to govern him, and he continued his ascent, with his eyes +constantly looking ahead, as if he expected to see someone whose +presence he feared come round an angle of the track. But he did not see +a soul the whole way. + +When he reached the hacienda gate, it was open, and the drawbridge +lowered; but though he was evidently expected, there was no one to bid +him welcome. + +"It must be so," he murmured sadly. "I return to my paternal roof, not +as a master, but as a stranger, a fugitive--an accursed man, perhaps." + +He crossed the drawbridge, the planks of which re-echoed his horse's +footfall, and entered the first courtyard. Here, too, there was no one +to greet him. He dismounted; but instead of throwing the bridle on +his horse's neck, he held it in his hand and fastened it to a ring in +the wall, saying, in a low, concentrated voice--"Wait for me, my poor +Bravo; you, too, are regarded as an accursed one: be patient; we shall +doubtless soon set out again." + +The noble animal as if understanding its master's words and sharing in +his grief, turned its delicate, intelligent head toward him, and gave a +soft and plaintive whine. The young man after giving a parting glance +at his steed, crossed the first yard with a firm and resolute step, and +entered a second one considerably larger. At the end of this court two +men were standing motionless on the first step of a magnificent marble +staircase, apparently leading to the apartments of the master of the +hacienda. + +On seeing these two men, the young horseman drew himself up; his face +assumed a gloomy and ironical expression, and he walked rapidly toward +them. They still remained motionless and stiff, with their eyes fixed +on him. When he was but a few paces from them, they uncovered by an +automatic movement, and bowed ceremoniously. + +"The Marquis is waiting for you, Señor Conde," one of them said. + +"Very good," the strange visitor answered; "one of you can announce my +arrival to his lordship my father, while the other will guide me to the +apartment where I am expected." + +The two men bowed a second time, and with heads still uncovered, +preceded the young man, who followed with a firm and measured tread. +On reaching the top of the steps, one of the servants hurried forward, +while the second, slightly checking his speed, continued to guide the +horseman. When the footsteps of the first man died out in the immense +corridors, the face of the second one suddenly lost its indifferent +expression, and he turned round, his eyes full of tears. + +"Oh, my young master!" he said, in a voice broken by emotion, "What a +misfortune! Oh, Heavens! What a misfortune!" + +"What?" the young man asked anxiously; "Has anything happened to the +marquis? Or is my lady mother ill?" + +The old servant shook his head sadly. "No," he answered; "Heaven be +blessed! Both are in good health: but why did you leave the paternal +mansion, your lordship? Alas! Now the misfortune is irremediable." + +A cloud of dissatisfaction flitted across the young man's forehead. + +"What has happened so terrible during my absence, Perote?" + +"Does not your Excellency know?" the servant asked in amazement. + +"How should I know, my friend?" he answered, mildly. "Have you +forgotten that I have been absent from the hacienda for two years?" + +"That is true, Excellency;--forgive me, I had forgotten it. Alas! Since +the misfortune has burst upon us, my poor head has been so bad." + +"Recover yourself, my good fellow," the young man said, kindly. "I know +how much you love me. You have not forgotten," he added, with a bitter +sorrow, "that your wife, poor Juana, nourished me with her milk. I know +nothing; am even ignorant why my father ordered me so suddenly to come +hither. The servant who handed me the letter was doubtless unable to +tell anything, and, indeed, I should not have liked to question him." + +"Alas! Excellency," the old servant continued, "I am myself ignorant +why you have been summoned to the hacienda; but Hernando, he may know." + +"Ah!" said the young man, with a nervous start, "My brother is here, +then?" + +"Did you not know it?" + +"Have I not already told you that I am utterly ignorant of everything +connected with this house?" + +"Yes, yes, Excellency. Don Hernando is here, and has been here a long +time. Heaven guard me from saying anything against my master's son; +but perhaps it would have been better had he remained at Guadalajara, +for all has greatly changed since his arrival. Take care, Sir, for Don +Hernando does not love you." + +"What do I care for my brother's hatred?" the young man answered +haughtily. "Am I not the elder son?" + +"Yes, yes," the old servant repeated, sadly, "you are the elder son; +and yet your brother commands here as master. Since his arrival, it +seems as if everything belonged to him already." + +The young man let his head sink on his chest, and remained for some +minutes crushed; but he soon drew himself up, with flashing eye, and +gently laid his hand on the old servant's shoulder. + +"Perote," he said to him affectionately, "what is the motto of my +family?" + +"What do you mean, Excellency?" the manservant asked, startled at the +singular question his master asked him. + +"You do not remember it," the young man continued, with a smile, as he +pointed to an escutcheon over a door. "Well; look, what do you read +there?" + +"What does your Excellency want?" + +"Read--read, I tell you." + +"You know that motto better than I do, as it was given to one of your +ancestors by King Don Ferdinand of Castile himself." + +"Yes, Perote, I know it," he replied, in a firm voice; "and since you +will not read it, I will repeat it to you. The motto is: 'Everything +for honour, no matter what may happen.' That motto dictates my conduct +to me; and be assured, Perote, that I will not fail in what it orders +me." + +"Oh, your Excellency, once again take care. I am only a poor servant of +your family, but I saw you born, and I tremble as to what may happen in +the coming interview." + +"Do not be anxious, my old friend," he answered, with an expression of +haughty pride, full of nobleness. "Whatever may happen, I will remember +not only what I owe to the memory of my ancestors, but also what I owe +to myself; and, without going beyond the limits of that obedience and +respect those who gave me birth have a right to, I shall be able to +defend myself against the accusations which will doubtless be brought +against me." + +"Heaven grant, Sir, that you may succeed in dissipating the unjust +suspicions so long gathering in the minds of your noble parents, and +carefully kept up by the man who, during your lifetime, dares to look +with an eye of covetousness on your rich inheritance." + +"What do I care for this inheritance?" the young man exclaimed, +passionately. "I would gladly abandon it entirely to my brother, if he +would cease to rob me of a more precious property, which I esteem a +hundred times higher--the love of my father and my mother." + +Old Perote only answered with a sigh. + +"But," the young man continued, "let us not delay any longer. His +lordship must be informed of my arrival; and the slight eagerness +I seem to display in proceeding to him and obeying his orders will +probably be interpreted to my injury by the man who has for so many +years conspired my ruin." + +"Yes, you are right: we have delayed too long as it is; come, follow +me." + +"Where are you taking me?" the young man remarked. "My father's +apartments are not situated in this part of the hacienda." + +"I am not leading your Excellency to them," he answered, sorrowfully. + +"Where to, then?" he asked, stopping in surprise. + +"To the Red Room," the old servant remarked in a low voice. + +"Oh!" the young man muttered; "Then my condemnation is about to be +pronounced." + +Perote only answered by a sigh; and his young master, after a moment's +hesitation, made him a sign to go on; and he silently followed him, +with a slow step that had something almost solemn in it. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE FAMILY TRIBUNAL. + + +The Hacienda del Toro, like many feudal mansions, contained one room +which remained constantly closed, and was only opened on solemn +occasions. The head of the family was conveyed there to die, and +remained on a bed of state till the day of his funeral: and the wife +was confined there. There, too, marriage contracts were signed. In a +word, all the great acts of life were performed in this room, which +inspired the inhabitants of the hacienda with a respect greatly +resembling terror; for on the few occasions on which the Marquises de +Tobar found themselves compelled to punish any member of their family, +it served as the tribunal where the culprit was tried and sentence +pronounced. + +This room, situated at the end of the hacienda, was a large hall of +oblong shape, paved with alternate large black and white slabs, and +lighted by four lofty windows, which only allowed a gloomy and doubtful +light to penetrate. + +Tapestry, dating from the fourteenth century, and representing with all +the simplicity of the age the different episodes of the mournful battle +of Xeres--which delivered Spain to the Moors, and in which Don Rodrigo, +the last Gothic king, was killed--covered the walls, and imprinted an +indescribable character of sepulchral majesty on this cold and mournful +hall, which was probably called the "Red Room" from the prevalence of +that colour in the tapestry work. + +The young Count de Tobar had never entered this room since the day of +his birth; and, however far back his thoughts reverted in childhood, +he never remembered to have seen it open. Hence, in spite of all his +courage, and the firmness with which he had thought it wise to arm +himself for this decisive interview with his father, he could not +restrain a slight start of fear on learning that his parents were +prepared to receive him there. + +The folding doors were open, and on reaching the threshold the young +man took in the room at a single glance. At one end, on a dais covered +with a petate, the Marquis and Marchioness of Tobar were seated, +gloomy and silent, beneath a canopy of black velvet with gold fringe +and tassels. Candles, lit in tall, many-branched candelabra, in order +to overcome the habitual gloom of the room, threw their flickering +light on the aged couple, and imparted to their faces an expression of +sternness and harshness that probably did not belong to them. + +At the foot of the dais, and almost touching it, stood a young man of +three or four-and-twenty, with handsome and distinguished features, +whose elegant attire contrasted with the simple dress of the aged +couple: this gentleman was Don Hernando de Tobar, younger son of the +Marquis. A footman, the same who had preceded the Count in order to +announce his arrival to his master, took a step forward on perceiving +the young man. + +"El Señor Conde, Don Rodolfo de Tobar y Moguer," he said, in a loud and +marked voice. + +"Show in the Count," the Marquis said, in a voice which, though broken, +was still powerful. + +The manservant discreetly retired, and the door closed upon him. The +Count walked up to the foot of the dais: on reaching it, he bowed a +second time, then drew himself up, and respectfully awaited till it +pleased his father to address him. + +So profound a silence prevailed for some minutes in the room, that +the hearts of the four persons might have been heard beating in their +bosoms. Don Hernando took cunning side-glances at his brother, whom +the aged couple examined with a mixture of sadness and severity. + +The young Count, as we said, was standing motionless in front of the +dais. His posture was full of nobility, without being in any way +provocative: with his right foot in front, his hand on his sword guard, +and the other holding his hat, whose long feather swept the ground, and +his head slightly thrown back, he looked straight before him, without +any display of arrogance or disdain. He waited, with a brow rather +pale, it is true, owing to the internal emotions he felt; but the +expression of his features, far from being that of a culprit, was, on +the contrary, that of a man convinced of his innocence, and who expects +to see his conduct approved rather than blamed. + +"You have arrived, then, Señor Conde," the Marquis at length said, +sharply. + +The young man bowed, but did not answer. + +"You did not display any great eagerness in obeying my invitation." + +"My lord, I only received very late last night the letter you did me +the honour to send me," the Count answered, gently. "This morning +before sunrise I mounted my horse, and rode twenty leagues without +stopping, so anxious was I to obey you." + +"Yes," the Marquis said, ironically, "I know that; for you are a most +obedient son--in words, if not otherwise." + +"Excuse me, my lord," he replied, respectfully, "but I do not +understand to what you deign to allude at this moment." + +The old gentleman bit his lips angrily. "It is because we probably no +longer speak the same language, Señor Conde," he said, drily; "but I +will try to make myself better understood." + +There was a silence, during which the Marquis seemed to be reflecting. + +"You are the elder son of the family, sir," he presently continued, +"and, as such, responsible for its honour, which your ancestors handed +down to you unsullied. You are aware of this, I presume?" + +"I am, my lord." + +"Since your birth your sainted mother and myself have striven to place +before you only examples of loyalty; during your childhood we took +pleasure in training you in all the chivalrous virtues which for a long +succession of centuries have been the dearest appanage of the race of +worthies from whom you are descended. We continuously kept before your +eyes the noble motto of our family, of which it is so justly proud. +How is it, then, sir, that, suddenly forgetting what you owe to our +care and the lessons you received from us, you suddenly, without your +mother's permission or mine, abandoned without any plausible motive +the paternal roof, and that, deaf to the remonstrances and tearful +entreaties of your mother, and rebellious against my orders, you have +so completely separated your life from ours, that, with the exception +of the name you continue to bear, you have become a perfect stranger?" + +"My lord!" the young man stammered. + +"It is not an accusation I bring against you, Don Rodolfo," the Marquis +continued, quickly; "but I expect a frank and honourable explanation +of your conduct. But, take care; the explanation must be clear and +unreserved." + +"My lord," the Count answered, throwing up his head proudly, "my heart +reproaches me with nothing: my conduct has been ever worthy of the +name I have the honour to bear. My object, in obeying your orders so +eagerly, has not been to justify myself, as I am not guilty of any +fault, but to assure you of my respect and obedience." + +An incredulous smile played round Don Hernando's month, and the Marquis +continued with the same tone of frigid sternness-- + +"I expected another answer from you, sir. I hoped to find you eagerly +seize the opportunity my kindness offered you to justify yourself in my +sight." + +"My lord," the young man replied, respectfully but firmly, "in order +that the justification you demand may be possible, I must know the +charges brought against me." + +"I will not press this subject for the present, sir; but since, as you +say, you profess such great respect for my orders, I wish to give you +an immediate opportunity to prove your obedience to me." + +"Oh, speak, father!" the Count exclaimed, warmly; "Whatever you may ask +of me--" + +"Do not be overhasty in pledging yourself, sir," the Marquis coldly +interrupted him, "before you know what I am about to ask of you." + +"I shall be so happy to prove to you how far from my heart are the +intentions attributed to me." + +"Be it so, sir. I thank you for those excellent feelings; hence I will +not delay in telling you what you must do to reinstate yourself in my +good graces." + +"Speak,--speak, my lord!" + +The old man, cold and impassive, still regarded his son with the same +stern look. The Marchioness, restrained by her husband's presence, +fixed on the young man's eyes filled with tears, without daring, poor +mother, to interfere on his behalf. Don Hernando smiled cunningly +aside. As for Don Rodolfo, his father's last words had filled him with +fear; and in spite of the pleasure he affected, he trembled inwardly, +for he instinctively suspected a snare beneath this pretended kindness. + +"My son," the Marquis continued, with a slight tinge of sadness in his +voice, "your mother and I are growing old. Years count double at our +age, and each step brings us nearer the tomb, which will soon open for +us." + +"Oh, father!" Don Rodolfo exclaimed. + +"Do not interrupt me, my son," the Marquis continued, with a commanding +gesture. "You are our firstborn, the hope of our name and race; you +are four-and-twenty years of age; you are handsome, well built, +instructed by us in all the duties of a gentleman; in short, you are an +accomplished cavalier, of whom we have just reason to be proud." + +The Marquis paused for a little while. Don Rodolfo felt himself +growing more and more pale. His eyes turned wildly to his mother, who +sorrowfully bowed her head, in order that his anxious glance might not +meet hers. He was beginning to understand what sacrifice his father was +about to demand of his filial obedience, and he trembled with terror +and despair. The old man continued, in a firm and more marked voice-- + +"Your mother and I, my son, may be called away soon to appear before +the Lord; but as I do not wish to repose in the tomb without having +the satisfaction of knowing that our name will not die with us, but be +continued in our grandchildren--this desire, which I have several times +made known to you, my son, the moment has now arrived to realise; and +by marrying, you can secure the tranquillity of the few days still left +us to spend on this earth." + +"Father--" + +"Oh, re-assure yourself, Count," the old gentleman continued, +pretending to misunderstand his son's meaning. "I do not intend to +force on you one of those marriages in which a couple, united against +their wish, only too soon hate one another through the instinctive +aversion they feel. No; the wife I intend for you has been chosen by +your mother and myself with the greatest care. She is young, lovely, +rich, and of a nobility almost equal to ours;--in a word, she combines +all the qualities necessary not only to render you happy, but also to +revive the brilliancy of our house and impart a fresh lustre to it." + +"Father!" Don Rodolfo stammered again. + +"My son!" the Marquis continued, with a proud intonation in his voice, +as if the name he was about to utter must remove all scruples; "my son, +be happy, for you are about to marry Doña Aurelia de la Torre Azul, +cousin in the fifth degree to the Marquis del Valle." + +"Oh, my son!" the Marchioness added entreatingly "this alliance, which +your father so dearly desires, will soothe my last days." + +The young man was of livid pallor. He tottered, his eyes wandered +hesitatingly around, and his hand, powerfully pressed to his heart, +seemed trying to stifle its beating. + +"You know my will, sir," the Marquis continued, not appearing to +perceive his unhappy son's condition. "I hope that you will soon +conform to it: and now, as you must be fatigued after a long ride in +the great heat of the day, withdraw to your apartments. Tomorrow, when +you have rested, we will consult as to the means of introducing you to +your future wife as soon as possible." + +After uttering these words, in the same cold and peremptory tone he +employed during the whole interview, the Marquis prepared to rise. + +By an effort over himself the young count succeeded in repressing the +storm that was raging in his heart. Affecting a tranquillity he was far +from feeling, he took a step forward, and bowed respectfully to the +Marquis. + +"Pardon me, my lord," he said, in a voice which emotion involuntarily +caused to tremble, "but may I say a few words now?" + +The old gentleman frowned. + +"Did I not say tomorrow, sir?" he answered drily. + +"Yes, my lord," the young man answered, sadly; "but, alas! If you do +not consent to listen to me today, tomorrow may be too late." + +"Ah!" said the Marquis, biting his lips with a passion that was +beginning to break out, "And for what reason, sir?" + +"Because, father," the young man said, firmly, "tomorrow I shall have +left this house never to reenter it." + +The Marquis gave him a thundering look from under his grey eyelashes. + +"Ah, ah!" he exclaimed, "Then I was not deceived; what I have been told +is really true." + +"What have you been told?" + +"Do you wish to know?" the old gentleman exclaimed, furiously. "After +all, you are right; it is time that this pitiable farce should end." + +"Sir,--sir!" the Marchioness said, with deep grief, "remember that he +is your son--your firstborn!" + +"Silence, madam!" the old man said, harshly; "This rebellious son has +played with us long enough; the hour of punishment has pealed, and, by +Heaven! It shall be terrible and exemplary." + +"In God's name, sir," the Marchioness continued, "do not be inexorable +to your child. Let me speak to him; perhaps you are too harsh with +him, although you love him. I am his mother; I will convince him, and +induce him to carry out your wishes: a mother can find words in her +heart to soften her son, and make him understand that he ought not to +reject his father's orders." + +The old man seemed to hesitate for a moment, but immediately recovered. + +"Why should I consent to what you ask, madam?" he replied, with a +roughness mingled with pity; "Do you not know that the sole quality, +or rather the sole vice, of his race which this rebellious son has +retained is obstinacy? You will get nothing from him." + +"Oh, permit me to say, sir," the old lady continued, in a suppliant +voice, "he is my son as well as yours. In the name of that love and +that unswerving obedience you have ever found in me, I beseech you +to let me make a final attempt to break his resistance, and lead him +penitent to your feet." + +"And then, my lord," Don Hernando, who had hitherto remained an +apparent stranger to all that was taking place, remarked in a mocking +voice, "perhaps we are mistaken; do not condemn my brother without +hearing him; he is too good a gentleman, and of too old a family, to +have committed the faults of which he is accused." + +"That is well, Hernando; I am delighted thus to hear you undertake your +brother's defence," said the old lady, smiling through her tears, and +deceived by his words. + +"Certainly, mother; I love my brother too dearly," the young man said +ironically, "to let him be accused without proof. That Rodolfo has +seduced the daughter of the principal Cacique of the Opatas and made +her his mistress is evident, and known to all the world as true, but +it is of very little consequence. But what I will never believe until +it is proved to me is, that he has married this creature, any more +than I will put faith in the calumnies that represent him not only +as one of the intimate friends of the Curate Hidalgo, but also as one +of his most active and influential partisans in this province. No; a +thousand times No! A gentleman of the name and blood of Tobar knows +too well what honour demands to commit such infamy! Acting so would +be utter apostasy, and complete forgetfulness of all that a noble +Castilian owes to himself, his ancestors, and that honour of which he +is only the holder. Come, Rodolfo; come, my brother, raise your head: +confound the calumniators: give a solemn denial to those who have dared +to sully your reputation! One word from you, but one that proves your +perfect innocence, and the storm unjustly aroused against you will +be dispersed; my father will open his arms to you, and all will be +forgotten." + +During this speech, whose deep perfidy the Count recognised, he +was suffering from extreme emotion. At the first words his brother +uttered, he started as if he felt the sting of a viper; but gradually +his anger had made way for contempt in his heart; and it was with a +smile of crushing disdain that he listened to the emphatic and mocking +conclusion. + +"Well, my son," the marquis said, "you see everybody defends you here, +while I alone accuse you! What will you answer to prove your innocence +to me?" + +"Nothing, father!" the young man said, coolly. + +"Nothing?" the old gentleman repeated, angrily. + +"No, father!" he continued; "because, if I attempted to justify myself, +you would not listen to me; and that, supposing you consented to listen +to me, you would not comprehend me. Oh! Do not mistake my meaning," he +said, on seeing the Marquis about to speak; "you would not understand +me, father, not through want of intellect, but through pride. Proud of +your name and the privileges it gives, you are accustomed to judge men +and things from a peculiar point of view, and understand honour in your +own fashion." + +"Are there two sorts of honour, then?" the Marquis exclaimed, +involuntarily. + +"No, father," Don Rodolfo answered, calmly, "there is only one; but +there are two ways of comprehending it: and my brother, who a moment +back told you without incurring your disapproval that a gentleman had +the right to abuse the love of a maiden and make her his mistress, +but that the honour of his name would forbid him marrying her, seems +to me to have studied the point thoroughly, and is better able than I +to discuss it. As you said yourself, father, we must come to an end. +Well, be it so. I will not attempt to continue an impossible struggle +with you. When I received orders to come to you, I knew I was condemned +beforehand, and yet I obediently attended your summons; it was because +my resolution was irrevocably formed. What am I reproached with? Having +married the daughter of an Indian Cacique? It is true; I avow openly +that I have done so: her birth is perhaps as good as mine, but most +certainly her heart is greater. What is the next charge--that I am a +friend of the Curate Hidalgo, and one of his firmest adherents? That +is also true; and I am happy and proud of this friendship: I glory in +these aspirations for liberty with which you reproach me as a crime. +Descendants of the first conquerors of Mexico, this land, discovered +and subjugated by our fathers, has become our country; for the last +three centuries we have not been Spaniards, but Mexicans. The hour has +at length arrived for us to shake off the yoke of this self-called +country, which has so long been battening on our blood and tears, and +enriching itself with our gold. In speaking thus to you, my venerated +father, my heart is broken, for Heaven is my witness that I have a +profound respect and love for you. I know that I am invoking on my head +all the weight of your anger, and that anger will be terrible! But, in +my sorrow, one sublime hope is left to me. Faithful to the motto of our +ancestors, I have done everything for honour; my conscience is calm; +and some day--soon, perhaps--you will forgive me, for you will see that +I have not failed in fealty." + +"Never!" the Marquis shouted in a voice the more terrible because the +constraint he had been forced to place on himself, in order to hear his +son's speech to the end, had been so great. "Begone! I no longer know +you! You are no longer my son! Begone!--villain! I give you my--" + +"Oh!" the Marchioness shrieked, as she threw herself into his arms, +"Do not curse him, sir! Do not add that punishment to the one you have +inflicted on him. The unhappy boy is already sufficiently punished. No +one has the right to curse him; a father less than any other--for in +that case it is God who avenges." + +The Marquis stood for a moment silent and gloomy, then stretched out +his arms to his son, and shook his head sadly. + +"Begone!" he said in a hollow voice. "May God watch over you--for +henceforth you have no family. Farewell!" + +The young man pale and trembling, bent beneath the weight of this +sentence; then rose and tottered out of the room without saying a word. + +"My son!--My son!" the Marchioness exclaimed in a heart-rending voice. + +The implacable old man quickly stopped her at the moment when, +half-mad with grief, she was rushing from the dais, and pointed to Don +Hernando, who was bowing hypocritically to her. + +"You have only one son, madam," he said, in a harsh voice, "and that +son is here." + +The Marchioness uttered a cry of despair, and, crushed with grief, fell +senseless at her husband's feet; who, also overcome in this fearful +struggle of pride of race against paternal love, sank into a chair and +buried his face in his hands, while a mighty sob escaped from his bosom. + +Don Hernando had rushed after his brother, not for the purpose of +consoling or bringing him back, but solely not to let the joy be +seen which covered his face at this mournful scene, all the fearful +incidents in which he had been so long preparing with feline patience. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE TWO BROTHERS. + + +After quitting the Red Room, Don Rodolfo, under the weight of the +condemnation pronounced against him, with broken heart and burning head +had rushed onwards, flying the paternal anger, and resolved to leave +the hacienda as quickly as possible, never to return to it. His horse +was still in the first yard, where he had tied it up. The young man +went up to it, seized the bridle, and placed his foot in the stirrup. +At the same moment a hand was laid on his shoulder--Don Rodolfo turned +as if seared with a hot iron. His brother was standing before him. + +A feverish redness suffused his face; his hands closed, and his eyes +flashed lightning; but at once extinguishing the fire of his glance and +affecting a forced calmness, he said, in a firm voice-- + +"What do you want brother?" + +"To press your hand before your departure, Rodolfo," the young man +said, with a whining voice. + +Rodolfo looked at him for a moment with an expression of profound +disdain, then unhooking the sword that hung at his side, he handed it +to his brother. + +"There, Hernando," he said, ironically, "it is only right that, since +you will henceforth bear the name and honour of our family, this sword +should revert to you. You desired my inheritance, and success has +crowned your efforts." + +"Brother," the young man stammered. + +"I am not reproaching you," Don Rodolfo continued, haughtily. "Enjoy +in peace those estates you have torn from me. May Heaven grant that +the burden may not appear to you some day too heavy, and that the +recollection of the deed you have done may not poison your last years. +Henceforth we shall never meet again on this earth. Farewell!" And +letting the sword he had offered his brother fall on the ground, he +leaped on his horse and went off at full speed, without even giving a +parting glance at those walls which had seen his birth, and from which +he was now eternally banished. Don Hernando stood for a moment with +hanging head and pale face, crushed by the shame and consciousness +of the bad action he had not feared to commit. Already remorse was +beginning to prey on him. At length, when the galloping of the horse +had died away in the distance, he raised his eyes, wiped away the +perspiration that inundated his face, and picked up the sword lying at +his feet. + +"Poor Rodolfo!" he muttered, stifling a sigh; "I am very guilty." + +And he slowly returned to the hacienda. Count Don Rodolfo de Moguer +kept the word he had given his brother: he never reappeared. Nothing +was ever heard of him, and his intimate friends never saw him again +after his journey to the hacienda, nor knew what had become of him. The +next year, a few Indians who escaped from the massacre at the bridge +of Calderón, when Hidalgo was defeated by the Spanish General Calleja, +spread the report that Don Rodolfo, who during the whole action kept by +Hidalgo's side, was killed in a desperate charge he made into the heart +of the Spanish lines, in the hope of restoring the fortunes of the day; +but this rumour was not confirmed. In spite of all the measures taken +by the Marquis, the young man's body was not found among the dead, and +his fate remained a mystery for the family. + +In the meanwhile, Don Hernando, by his father's orders, had succeeded +to his brother's title, and almost immediately married Doña Aurelia de +la Torre Azul, originally destined for Don Rodolfo. The Marquis and +Marchioness lived some few years longer. They died a few days after +one another, bearing with them a poisoned sting of remorse for having +banished their firstborn son from their presence. + +But, inflexible up to his dying hour, the Marquis never once made a +complaint, and died without mentioning his son's name. However, the +Marquis's hopes were realized ere he descended to the grave, for he +had the supreme consolation of seeing his family continued in his +grandchildren. + +At the funeral, a man was noticed in the crowd wrapped up in a wide +cloak, and his features concealed by the broad brim of his hat being +pulled over them. No one was able to say who this man was, although one +old servant declared he had recognised Don Rodolfo. Was it really the +banished son who had come for the last time to pay homage to his father +and weep on his tomb? The arrival of the stranger was so unexpected, +and his departure so sudden, that it was impossible to get at the truth +of the statement. + +Then, time passed away, important events succeeded each other, and Don +Rodolfo, of whom nothing was heard, was considered dead by his family +and friends, and then forgotten; and Don Hernando inherited without +dispute the title and estates. + +The Marquis de Moguer, in spite of the light under which we have shown +him to our readers, was not a wicked man, as might be supposed; but +as a younger son, with no other hope than the tonsure, devoured by +ambition, and freely enjoying life, he internally rebelled against the +harsh and unjust law which exiled him from the pleasures of the world, +and condemned him to the solitude of the cloister. Assuredly, had his +brother frankly accepted his position as firstborn, and consented to +undertake its duties, Don Hernando would never have thought for a +moment of defrauding him of his rights. But when he saw Don Rodolfo +despise the old tradition of his race--forget what he owed to his +honour as a gentleman, so far as to marry an Indian girl and make +common cause with the partisans of the Revolution, he eagerly seized +the opportunity chance so providentially offered him to seize the power +lost by his brother, and quietly put himself in his place. He thought +that, in acting thus he was not committing a bad action, but almost +asserting a right by substituting himself for a man who seemed to care +very little for titles and fortune. + +Don Hernando, while whitewashing himself in this way, only obeyed that +law of justice and injustice which God has placed in the heart of man, +and which impels him, when he does any dishonourable deed, to seek +excuses in order to prove to himself that he was bound to act as he +had done. Still, the Marquis did not dare to confess to himself that +the chance by which he profited he had helped by all his power, by +envenoming by his speeches and continual insinuations his brother's +actions, ruining him gradually in his father's mind, and preparing, +long beforehand, the condemnation eventually uttered in the Red Room +against the unfortunate Rodolfo. + +And yet strange contradiction of the human heart, Don Hernando dearly +loved his brother; he pitied him--he would like to hold him back on +the verge of the precipice down which he thrust him, as it were. Once +master of the estates and head of the family, he would have liked to +find his brother again, in order to share with him this badly-acquired +fortune, and gain pardon for his usurpation. + +Unfortunately these reflections came too late--Don Rodolfo had +disappeared without leaving a trace, and hence the Marquis was +compelled to restrict himself to sterile regrets. At times, tortured +with the ever-present memory of the last scene at the hacienda, he +asked himself whether it would not have been better for him to have +had a frank explanation with his brother, after which Don Rodolfo, +whose simple tastes agreed but badly with the exigencies of a great +name, would have amicably renounced in his favour the rights which his +position as elder brother gave him. + +But now to continue our narrative, which we have too long interrupted. + +At the beginning of 1822, on a day of madness which was to be expiated +by years of disaster, the definitive separation took place between +Spain and Mexico, and the era of _pronunciamientos_ set in. After the +ephemeral reign of the Emperor Iturbide, Mexico reverted to a republic, +or, more correctly, to a military government. Under the pressure of +an army of 20,000 soldiers, which had 24,000 officers, the Presidents +succeeded each other with headlong speed, burying the nation deeper +and deeper in the mire, in which it is now struggling, and which will +eventually swallow it up. + +By _pronunciamiento_ on _pronunciamiento_ Mexico had reached the period +when this story begins; but her wealth had been swallowed up in the +tornado--her commerce was annihilated, her cities were falling in +ruins, and New Spain had only retained of her old splendours fugitive +recollections and piles of ruins. The Spaniards had suffered greatly +during the War of Independence, as had their partisans, whose property +had been burned and plundered by the revolutionists. The fatal decree +of 1827, pronouncing the expulsion of the Spaniards, dealt the final +and most terrible blow to their fortunes. + +The Marquis de Moguer was one of the persons most affected by this +measure, although, during the entire War of Independence and the +different governments that succeeded each other, he had taken the +greatest care not to mix himself up at all in politics, and remained +neutral between all parties. This position, which it was difficult and +almost impossible to maintain for any length of time, had compelled him +to make concessions painful to his pride: unfortunately, his fortune +consisted of land and mines, and if he left Mexico he would be a ruined +man. + +His friends advised him frankly to join the Mexican government, and +give up his Spanish nationality. The Marquis, forced by circumstances, +followed their advice; and, thanks to the credit some persons enjoyed +with the President of the Republic, Don Hernando was not only not +disturbed, but authorized to remain in the country, where he was +naturalized as a Mexican. + +But things had greatly changed with the Marquis. His immense fortune +had vanished with the Spanish government. During the ten years of the +War of Independence, his estates had lain fallow, and his mines, +deserted by the workmen he formerly employed, had gradually become +filled with water. They could not be put in working order again except +by enormous and most expensive works. The situation was critical, +especially for a man reared in luxury and accustomed to sow his money +broadcast. He was now compelled to calculate every outlay with the +utmost care, if he did not wish to see the hideous spectre of want rise +implacable before him. + +The pride of the Marquis was broken in this struggle against poverty; +his love for his children restored his failing courage, and he bravely +resolved to make head against the storm. Like the ruined gentleman who +tilled the soil, with their sword by their side, as a proof of their +nobility, he openly became hacendero and miner,--that is to say, he +cultivated his estates on a large scale, and bred cattle and horses, +while trying to pump out the water which had taken possession of his +mines. Unfortunately, he was deficient in two important things for the +proper execution of his plans: the necessary knowledge to assist the +different operations he meditated: and, above all, money, without which +nothing was possible. The Marquis was therefore compelled to engage a +majordomo, and borrow on mortgage. For the first few years all went +well, or appeared to do so. The majordomo, Don José Paredes, to whom +we shall have occasion to refer more fully hereafter, was one of those +men so valuable in haciendas, whose life is spent on horseback, whose +attention nothing escapes, who thoroughly understand the cultivation of +the soil, and know what it ought to produce, almost to an arroba. + +But if the estates of the Marquis were beginning to regain their +value under the skilful direction of the bailiff, it was not the same +with the mines. Taking advantage of the convulsions in which Mexico +was writhing, the independent Indians, no longer held in subjection +by the fear of the powerful military organization of the Spaniards, +had crossed the frontiers and regained a certain portion of their +territory. They had permanently settled upon it, and would not allow +white men to encroach on it. Most of the Marquis's mines being situated +in the very country now occupied by the Indians, were consequently +lost to him. The others, almost entirely inundated, in spite of the +incessant labour bestowed on them, did not yet hold out any hopes of +becoming productive again. + +What Don Hernando gained on one side he lost on the other; and his +position, in spite of his efforts, became worse and worse, and the +abyss of debt gradually enlarged. The Marquis saw with terror the +moment before him when it would be impossible for him to continue the +struggle. Sad and aged by sorrow rather than years, the Marquis no +longer dared to regard the future, which daily became more gloomy for +him. He watched in mournful resignation the downfall of his house--the +decay of his race; seeking in vain, like the man without a compass on +the mighty ocean, from what point of the horizon the vessel that would +save him from shipwreck would arrive. + +But, alas! Days succeeded days without bringing any other change in +the position of the Marquis, save greater poverty, and more nearly +impending ruin. In proportion as the misfortune came nearer, the +Marquis had seen his relations and friends keep aloof from him; all +abandoned him, with that selfish indifference which seems a fundamental +law of every organized society, when the precept, "Each man for +himself," is put in practice, with all the brutal force of the _vae +victis_. + +Hence Don Hernando resided alone, with his son, at the Hacienda del +Toro; for he had lost his wife several years before, and his daughter +was being educated in a convent at the town of Rosario; with that +noble pride which so admirably becomes men of well-tempered minds, the +Marquis had accepted without a murmur the ostracism passed upon him. +Far from indulging in useless recriminations with men, the majority of +whom had, in other days, received obligations from him, he had made his +son a partner in his labours, and, aided by him, redoubled his efforts +and his courage. + +Some months before the period when our story begins, ill fortune had +seemed, not to grow weary of persecuting the Marquis, but desirous +of granting him a truce--this is how a gleam of sunshine penetrated +the gloomy atmosphere of the hacienda. One morning, a stranger, who +appeared to have come a great distance, stopped at the gate, leading a +mule loaded with two bales. This man, on reaching the first courtyard, +threw the mule's bridle to a peon, with the simple remark,--"For Signor +Don Hernando de Moguer--" and, without awaiting an answer, he started +down the rocky road at a gallop and was lost in the windings of the +path ere the peon had recovered from the surprise caused by the strange +visit. The Marquis, at once warned, had the mule unloaded, and the +bales conveyed to his study. They each contained twenty-five thousand +piastres in gold, or nearly eleven thousand pounds of our money: on a +folded paper was written one word--Restitution. + +It was in vain that the Marquis ordered the most minute researches; +the strange messenger could not be found. Don Hernando was therefore +compelled to keep this large sum, which arrived so opportunely to +extricate him from a difficult position, for he had a considerable +payment to make on the morrow. Still, it was only on the repeated +assurances of Don Ruiz and the majordomo, that the money was really +his, that he consented to use it. + +Cheered by this change of fortune, Don Hernando at length consented +that Don Ruiz should go and fetch his sister, and bring her back to the +hacienda, where her presence had been long desired; though there had +been an obstacle, in the dangers of such a journey. + +We will now resume our narrative, begging the reader to forgive this +long digression, which was indispensable for the due comprehension of +what is about to follow, and lead him to the Hacienda del Toro, a few +hours before the arrival of Don Ruiz and his sister; that is to say, +about three weeks since we left them at the post of San Miguel. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A NEW CHARACTER. + + +Although, owing to its position on the shores of the Pacific, Sonora +enjoys the blessings of the sea breeze, whose moisture at intervals +refreshes the heated atmosphere; still, for three hours in the +afternoon, the earth incessantly heated by the torrid sunbeams produces +a crushing heat. At such times the country assumes a really desolate +aspect beneath the cloudless sky, which seems an immense plate of +red-hot iron. The birds suddenly cease their songs, and languidly hide +themselves beneath the thick foliage of the trees, which bow their +proud crests towards the ground. Men and domestic animals hasten to +seek shelter in the houses, raising in their hurried progress a white, +impalpable, and calcined dust, which enters mouth and nostrils. For +some hours Sonora is converted into a vast desert from which every +appearance of life and movement has disappeared. + +Everybody is asleep, or at least reclining in the most shady rooms, +with closed eyes, and with the body abandoned to that species of +somnolency which is neither sleeping nor waking, and which from that +very fact is filled with such sweet and voluptuous reveries--inhaling +at deep draughts the artificial breeze produced by artfully contrived +currents of air, and in a word indulging in what is generally called in +the torrid zones a siesta. + +These are hours full of enjoyment, of those sweet and beneficent +influence on body and mind we busy, active Englishmen are ignorant, +but which people nearer the sun revel in. The Italians call this state +the _dolce far niente_, and the Turks, that essentially sensual race, +_keff_. + +Like that city in the "Arabian Nights," the inhabitants of which the +wicked enchanter suddenly changed into statues by waving his wand, life +seemed suddenly arrested at the Hacienda del Toro, for the silence was +so profound: peons, vaqueros, craidos, everybody in fact, were enjoying +their siesta. It was about three in the afternoon; but that indistinct +though significant buzz which announces the awakening of the hour that +precedes the resumption of labour was audible. Two gentlemen alone had +not yielded to sleep, in spite of the crushing midday heat; but seated +in an elegantly furnished _cuarto_, they had spent the hours usually +devoted to slumber in conversation. The cause for this deviation from +the ordinary custom must have been most serious. The Hispano-American, +and especially the Mexican, does not lightly sacrifice those hours of +repose during which, according to a Spanish proverb, only dogs and +Frenchmen are to be seen in the sun. + +Of these two gentlemen, one, Don Hernando de Moguer, is already known +to us. Years, while stooping his back, had furrowed some wrinkles on +his forehead, and mingled many silver threads with his hair; but the +expression of his face, with the exception of a tinge of melancholy +spread over his features by lengthened misfortunes, had remained nearly +the same, that is to say, gentle and timid, although clever; slightly +sarcastic and eminently crafty. + +As for the person with whom Don Hernando was conversing at this moment, +he deserves a detailed description, physically at least, for the +reader will soon be enabled to appreciate his moral character. He was +a short, plump man, with a rubicund face and apoplectic look, though +hardly forty years of age. Still his hair, which was almost white, +his deeply wrinkled forehead, and his grey eyes buried beneath bushy +whiskers, gave him a senile appearance, harmonizing but little with the +sharp gesticulation and youthful manner he affected. His long, thin, +violet nose was bent like a parrot's beak over a wide mouth filled with +dazzling white teeth; and his prominent cheekbones, covered with blue +veins, completed a strange countenance, the expression of which bore a +striking likeness to that of an owl. + +This species of nutcracker, with his prominent stomach and short +ill-hung limbs, whose whole appearance was most disagreeable, had such +a mobility of face as rendered it impossible to read his thoughts +on his features, in the event of this fat man's carcase containing +a thought. His cold blue eyes were ever pertinaciously fixed on the +person addressing him, and did not reveal the slightest emotion; in +short, this man produced at the first contact that invariable antipathy +which is felt on the approach of reptiles, and which, after nearer +acquaintance, is converted into disgust and contempt. + +He was a certain Don Rufino Contreras, one of the richest landowners in +Sonora, and a year previously had been elected senator to the Mexican +Congress for the province. + +At the moment when we enter the _cuarto_, Don Hernando, with arms +folded at his back and frowning brow, is walking up and down, while Don +Rufino, seated on a butaca, with his body thrown back, is following his +movements with a crafty smile on his lips while striving to scratch +off an invisible spot on his knee. For some minutes, the hacendero +continued his walk, and then stopped before Don Rufino, who bent on him +a mocking, inquiring glance. + +"Then," he said, in a voice whose anxious expression he sought in vain +to conceal, "you must positively have the entire sum within a week?" + +"Yes," the fat man replied, still smiling. + +"Why, if that is the case, did you not warn me sooner?" + +"It was through delicacy, my dear sir." + +"What--through delicacy?" Don Hernando repeated, with a start of +surprise. + +"You shall judge for yourself." + +"I shall be glad to do so." + +"I believe you do me the justice of allowing that I am your friend?" + +"You have said you are, at least." + +"I fancy I have proved it to you." + +"No matter; but let us pass over that." + +"Very well. Knowing that you were in a critical position at the moment, +I tried to procure the sum by all possible means, as I did not wish to +have recourse to you, except in the last extremity. You see, my dear +Don Hernando, how delicate and truly friendly my calculations were. +Unfortunately, at the present time it is very difficult to get money +in, owing to the stagnation of trade produced by the new conflict +which threatens to break out between the President of the Republic and +the Southern States. It was therefore literally impossible for me to +obtain the smallest sum. In such a perplexing position, I leave you to +judge what I was obliged to do. The money I must have; you have owed it +for a long time, and I applied to you--what else could I do?" + +"I do not know. Still, I think you might have sent a peon to warn me, +before you left Sonora." + +"No, my dear sir, that is exactly what I should not do. I have not come +direct to you: in pursuance of the line of conduct I laid down I hoped +to collect the required sum on my road, and not be obliged to come all +the way to your hacienda." + +Don Hernando made no reply. He began his walk again after giving the +speaker a glance which would have given him cause for thought, had he +noticed it; but the latter gentleman had begun rubbing the invisible +spot again with more obstinacy than before. In the meanwhile the +sunbeams had become more and more oblique; the hacienda had woke up +to its ordinary life; outside the shouts of the vaqueros pricking the +oxen or urging on the horses could be heard mingled with the lowing and +neighing of the draught cattle. Don Hernando walked up to a window, the +shutters of which he threw open, and a refreshing breeze entered the +_cuarto_. Don Rufino gave a sigh of relief and sat up in his _butaca_. + +"Ouf," he said, with an expression of comfort, "I was very tired; not +through the long ride I was compelled to make this morning, so much as +through the stifling heat." + +Don Hernando started at this insinuation, as if he had been stung by +a serpent; he had neglected all the laws of Mexican hospitality; for +Don Rufino's visit had so disagreeably surprised him, and made him +forget all else before the sudden obligation of satisfying the claims +of a merciless creditor. But at Don Rufino's remarks he understood how +unusual his conduct must have seemed to a weary traveller, hence he +rang a bell, and a peon at once came in. + +"Refreshment," he said. + +The peon bowed, and left the room. + +"You will excuse me, Caballero," the hacendero continued, frankly, +"but your visit so surprised me, that at the moment I did not think +of offering the refreshment which a tired traveller requires so much. +Your room is prepared, rest yourself tonight, and tomorrow we will +resume our conversation, and arrive at a solution I trust mutually +satisfactory." + +"I hope so, my dear sir. Heaven is my witness that it is my greatest +desire," Don Rufino answered, as he raised to his lips the glass of +orangeade brought by the peon. "Unhappily I fear that, with the best +will in the world, we cannot come to a settlement unless--" + +"Unless!" Don Hernando sharply interrupted. Don Rufino quietly sipped +his orangeade, placed the glass on the table, and said, as he threw +himself back on the _butaca_, and rolled a cigarette-- + +"Unless you pay me in full what you owe me, which, from what you have +said, appears to me to be difficult, I confess." + +"Ah!" Don Hernando remarked with an air of constraint, "What makes you +suppose that?" + +"I beg your pardon, my dear sir, I suppose nothing: you told me just +now that you were hardly pressed." + +"Well, and what conclusion do you derive from that?" the hacendero +asked impatiently. + +"A very simple thing--that seventy thousand piastres form a rather +round sum, and that however rich a man may be, he does not always have +it in his hands, especially when he is pressed." + +"I can make sacrifices." + +"Believe me, I shall be sincerely sorry." + +"But can you not wait a few days longer?" + +"Impossible, I repeat: let us understand our respective positions, in +order to avoid any business misunderstanding, which should always be +prevented between honourable gentlemen holding a certain position. I +lent you that sum, and only stipulated for small interest, I believe." + +"I allow it, Señor, and thank you for it." + +"It is not really worth the trouble; I was anxious to oblige you. I +did so, and let us say no more about it; but remember that I made one +condition which you accepted." + +"Yes," Don Hernando said, with an impatient start, "and I was wrong." + +"Perhaps so; but that is not the question. This condition which you +accepted was to the effect that you should repay me the sum I advanced +upon demand." + +"Have I said the contrary?" + +"Far from it; but now that I want the money, I ask you for it, and +that is natural: I have in no way infringed the conditions. You ought +to have expected what is happening today, and taken your precautions +accordingly." + +"Hence, if I ask a month to collect the money you claim?" + +"I should be heartbroken, but should refuse; for I want the money, not +in a month, but in a week. I can quite put myself in your position, and +comprehend how disagreeable the matter must be; but unluckily so it is." + +What most hurt Don Hernando was not the recall of the loan, painful as +it was to him, so much as the way in which the demand was made; the +show of false good nature employed by his creditor, and the insulting +pity he displayed. Carried away involuntarily by the rage that filled +his heart, he was about to give Don Rufino an answer which would have +broken off all friendly relations between them for ever, when a great +noise was heard in the hacienda, mingled with shouts of joy and the +stamping of horses. Don Hernando eagerly leant out of the window, and +at the expiration of a moment turned round to Don Rufino, who was +sucking his cigarette with an air of beatitude. + +"Here are my children, Caballero," he said; "not a word of this affair +before them, I entreat." + +"I know too well what I owe you, my dear Señor," the other replied, as +he prepared to rise. "With your permission, however, I will withdraw, +in order to allow you entire liberty for your family joy." + +"No, no!" Don Hernando added, "I had better introduce you at once to my +son and daughter." + +"As you please, my dear sir. I shall be flattered to form the +acquaintance of your charming family." + +The door opened, and Don José Parades appeared. The majordomo was a +half-breed of about forty years of age, tall and powerfully built, with +bow legs and round shoulders that denoted his capacity as a horseman; +in fact, the worthy man's life was spent in the saddle, galloping about +the country. He took a side-glance at Don Rufino, bowed to his master, +and lowering his usual rough tone, said-- + +"Señor amo, the niño and niña have arrived in good health, thanks to +Our Lady of Carnerno." + +"Thanks, Don José," Don Hernando replied; "let them come in. I shall be +delighted to see them." + +The majordomo gave a signal outside, and the two young people rushed +into the room. With one bound they were in their father's arms, who +for a moment pressed them to his heart; but then he pushed them +away, remarking that a stranger was present. The young couple bowed +respectfully. + +"Señor Don Rufino," the Marquis said, "I present to you my son, Don +Ruiz de Moguer, and my daughter, Doña Marianita: my children, this is +Señor Don Rufino Contreras, one of my best friends." + +"A title of which I am proud," Don Rufino replied, with a bow, while +giving the young lady a cold searching glance, which made her look down +involuntarily and blush. + +"Are the apartments ready, Don José?" Don Hernando continued. + +"Yes, Excellency," the majordomo said, who was contemplating the young +people with a radiant face. + +"If Señor Don Rufino will permit it, you can go and lie down, my +children," the hacendero said. "You must be tired." + +"You will also allow me to rest, Don Hernando?" the Senator then said. +The hacendero bowed. + +"We will resume our conversation at a more favourable moment," he +continued, as he took a side-glance at Donna Marianita, who was just +leaving the room with her brother. "However, my dear Señor, do not feel +too anxious about my visit; for I believe I have discovered a way of +arranging matters without inconveniencing you too much." + +And, bowing to his knees to the Marquis, who was astounded at this +conduct, which he was so far from expecting, Don Rufino left the room, +smiling with an air of protection. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +DON JOSÉ PAREDES. + + +Several days had elapsed since the return of Don Ruiz and his sister +to the hacienda, and Don Rufino had not said a word about the money +which occasioned his visit. The hacendero, while employing all the +means in his power to procure the necessary sum to pay his debt, had +been careful not to allude to the conversation he had held with his +creditor on the first day; the more so because Don Rufino seemed to +have forgotten the pressing want of money he had at first given as his +excuse for not granting any delay. + +At the hacienda everything had returned to its old condition. Don Ruiz +went out on horseback in the morning with José Paredes, in order to +watch the peons and vaqueros, leaving to his father and sister the +care of doing the honours to Don Rufino. For the first two or three +days Doña Marianita had been considerably embarrassed by their guest's +obsequious smiles and passionate glances; but she soon made up her +mind, and only laughed at the craving look and absurd postures of the +stout gentleman. The latter, while perceiving the effect he produced +on the young lady, appeared to take no heed of it, and conscientiously +continued his manoeuvres with the tenacity that formed the basis of his +character. Probably in acting thus, and by openly paying his court to +Doña Marianita, in the presence of her father and brother, Don Rufino +was carrying out a pre-arranged plan, in order to gain an end which may +be easily guessed. + +It was evident to everybody that Don Rufino was seeking to obtain the +hand of Doña Marianita. Don Hernando, in spite of the secret annoyance +this pursuit caused him, for this man was the last he would have +desired as his son-in-law, did not dare, however, let his vexation be +seen, owing to his delicate position, and the sword of Damocles which +Don Rufino held in suspense over his head. He contented himself with +watching him closely, while leaving him free to act, hoping everything +from him, and striving to collect all his resources in order to pay +him off as speedily as possible; and once liberty was regained, to +dismiss him. Unfortunately, money was difficult to obtain. Most of Don +Hernando's debtors failed in meeting their engagements; and it was with +great difficulty he obtained at the end of a fortnight one quarter the +sum he owed Don Rufino, and this sum even could not be employed in +liquidating the debt, for it was indispensable for the continuation of +the works at the hacienda. + +Since his arrival at the hacienda, Don Rufino had sent off messengers +in several directions, and received letters. One morning he entered Don +Hernando's study with an easy air, where the latter passed nearly the +day, engaged in the most abstruse calculations. The hacendero raised +his head with amazement on seeing the Senator; it was the first time +the latter had come to seek him in this room. He suffered a heart pang; +but he succeeded in hiding his emotion, and good-humouredly invited his +visitor to take a seat. + +"My dear Señor," Don Rufino began, as he comfortably stretched +himself out upon a butaca, "excuse me for pursuing you into your last +entrenchments, but I want to talk seriously with you, and so I frankly +knocked at this door." + +"You have done well," Don Hernando answered, with ill-dissembled agony: +"you know that I am entirely at your disposal. How can I be of any +service to you?" + +"I will not trouble you long: I am not fond of lengthy conversations, +and have merely come to terminate the affair which we began on the day +when I arrived at the hacienda." + +The hacendero felt a cold perspiration stand on his temples at this +brutally frank avowal. + +"I had not forgotten you," he replied: "at this very moment I was +making arrangements which, I trust, will enable me to discharge the +debt in a few days." + +"That is not the point," Don Rufino remarked, airily: "I do not want +the money, and request you to hold it for me as long as you possibly +can." + +Don Hernando looked at him in amazement. "That surprises you," the +Senator continued, "and yet the affair is very simple. I was anxious to +prove to you that you had in me not a pressing creditor, but a truly +devoted friend. When I saw that it would greatly embarrass you to repay +me this trifle, and as you are a gentleman I am anxious to oblige, I +turned to another quarter." + +"Still," Don Hernando, who feared a snare, objected: "you said to me--" + +"I believed it," Don Rufino interrupted him. "Fortunately it was not +so, as I have recently acquired the proof: not only have I been able to +meet my payment, but I have a considerable sum left in my hands which +I do not know what to do with, and which I should feel much obliged +by your taking; for I do not know a more honourable gentleman than +yourself, and I wish to get rid of the money, which is useless to me at +the moment." + +Don Hernando, confounded by this overture, which he had been so far +from expecting from a man who had at first been so harsh with him, was +silent, for he knew not what to answer, or to what he should attribute +this so sudden and extraordinary change. + +"Good gracious!" continued Don Rufino, with a smile; "During the +few days I have been with you, my dear Señor, I have been enabled +to appreciate the intelligent way in which you manage your immense +estate; and it is evident to me that you must realize enormous profits. +Unfortunately for you, you are in the position of all men who +undertake great things with limited resources. You are short of capital +just at the moment when it is most necessary; but as this is a common +case, you cannot complain. You have made sacrifices, and will have to +make more before obtaining real results. The money you want I have, +and I offer it to you. I trust you will not insult me by doubting my +friendship, or my desire to be of service to you." + +"Certainly, Caballero. Still," Don Hernando stammered, "I am already +your debtor to a heavy amount." + +"Well, what matter? You will be my debtor for a larger amount, that is +all." + +"I understand all the delicacy and kindness of your conduct, but I +fear--" + +"What?--That I may demand repayment at an inconvenient moment?" + +"I will not conceal from you--" + +"You are wrong, Don Hernando. I wish to deal with you as a friend, and +do you a real service. You owe me seventy thousand piastres, I believe?" + +"Alas, yes!" + +"Why that 'alas?'" the senator asked, with a smile. "Seventy thousand +piastres, and fifty thousand more I am going to hand you directly, +in six bills payable at sight, drawn on Wilson and Co., Bankers, at +Hermosillo, will form a round sum, for which you will give me your +acceptance payable--come, what date will suit you best?" + +Don Hernando hesitated. Evidently Don Rufino, in making him so strange +a proposal, had an object; but that object he could not see. The +Senator's love for his daughter could not impel him to do such a +generous act: this unexpected kindness evidently concealed a snare; +but what was the snare? Don Rufino carefully followed the different +feelings that were reflected on Don Hernando's face. + +"You hesitate," he said to him, "and you are wrong. Let us talk +candidly. You cannot possibly hope to realize any profit within eight +months, so it will be impossible for you to pay me so large a sum +before that period." Then, opening his pocketbook and taking out +the six bills, which he laid on the table, he continued: "Here are +the fifty thousand piastres; give me an acceptance for one hundred +and twenty thousand, payable at twelve months' date. You see that +I give you all necessary latitude to turn yourself round. Well, +supposing--which is not probable--that you are unable to pay me when +the bill falls due; we will renew it, that is all. _¡Cuerpo de Cristo!_ +I am not a harsh creditor. Come, is the matter settled, or must I take +the bills back?" + +Money, under whatever shape it presents itself, has an irresistible +attraction in the eyes of the speculator and embarrassed man. Don +Hernando, in spite of all his efforts--in spite of all the numerous +sacrifices he had made, felt himself rapidly going down the incline of +ruin, on which it is impossible for a man to stop; but time might save +him. Don Rufino, whatever his wishes might be, rendered him an immense +service by giving him, not only time, but also the money he required, +and which he despaired of obtaining elsewhere. Any longer hesitation +on his part would therefore have been unjustifiable; hence he took the +bills, and gave his acceptance. + +"That's settled," Don Rufino said, as he folded the document and +carefully placed it in his pocketbook. "My dear Señor, you are really a +singular man. There is more difficulty in getting you to accept money +than there would be in getting another to pay it." + +"I really do not know how to thank you, Don Rufino, for the service +you have rendered me, and which I am now free to confess has arrived +very opportunely." + +"Money is always opportune," the Senator replied, with a laugh; "but +let us say no more about that. If you happen to have a safe man, send +him off at once to cash these bills at Hermosillo, for money is too +scarce to be allowed to lie idle." + +"This very day my majordomo, Don José Paredes, shall set out for the +_ciudad_." + +"Very good. Now I have one request to make of you." + +"Speak, speak! I shall be delighted to prove to you how grateful I am." + +"This is the matter: now that I am, temporarily at least, no longer +your creditor, I have no decent pretext for remaining at the hacienda." + +"Well, what does that matter?" + +"It matters a great deal to me. I should like to remain here a few days +longer, in order to enjoy your agreeable society." + +"Are you jesting, Don Rufino? The longer you remain at the hacienda, +the greater honour you will do us; we shall be delighted to keep you, +not for a few days, but for all the time you may be pleased to grant +us." + +"Very good; that is what I desired. Now, I shall go away and leave you +to your business." + +When the majordomo returned to the hacienda at about eleven o'clock in +the morning, Don Hernando sent for him. Without taking the time to pull +off his vaquero boots or unbuckle his heavy spurs, José Parades hurried +to his master. + +"Have you a good horse?" the hacendero asked, so soon as the majordomo +entered the study. + +"I have several, Excellency," he answered. + +"I mean by a good horse, one capable of going a long distance." + +"Certainly, mi amo; I have a mustang on which I could ride to +Hermosillo and back without giving it any further rest than that of the +camping hours." + +"I want to send you to Hermosillo." + +"Very good, Excellency; when must I start?" + +"Why, as soon as possible after you have rested." + +"Rested from what?" + +"The ride you have taken this morning." + +The majordomo shrugged his shoulders with a smile. "I am never tired, +Excellency; in half an hour I shall have lassoed my horse, saddled it, +and mounted, unless you wish me to defer my journey." + +"The hours for the siesta will soon be here, and the heat will be +insufferable." + +"You are aware, Excellency, that we half-Indians are children of the +sun; its heat does not affect us." + +"You have an answer for everything, Don José." + +"For you, Excellency, I feel myself capable of performing +impossibilities." + +"I know that you are devoted to my house." + +"Is it not just, Excellency? For two centuries my family has eaten the +bread of yours; and, if I acted otherwise than I am doing, I should be +unworthy of those from whom I am descended." + +"I thank you, my friend; you know the esteem and affection I have for +you. I am about to intrust an important commission to you." + +"Be assured that I shall perform it, Excellency." + +"Very good. You will start at once for Hermosillo, where you will cash +these bills for fifty thousand piastres, at the bank of Wilson and Co." + +"Fifty thousand piastres!" the majordomo repeated, with surprise. + +"It surprises you, my friend, to whom I have confided my most secret +affairs, that I have so large a sum to receive. You ask yourself, +doubtless, in what way I managed to obtain it." + +"I ask nothing, Excellency; it does not concern me. I am here to carry +out your orders, and not permit myself improper observations." + +"This money has been lent me by a friend whose kindness is +inexhaustible." + +"Heaven grant that you are not mistaken, Excellency; and that the man +from whom you have this money is really a friend." + +"What do you mean, Don José? To what are you alluding?" + +"I make no allusion, mi amo; I merely think that friends who lend +fifty thousand piastres from hand to hand--pardon my frankness, +Excellency--to a man whose affairs are in such a condition as yours, +are very rare at present; and that, before forming a definite judgment +about them, it would be wiser to wait and learn the cause of such +singular generosity." + +Don Hernando sighed. He shared his majordomo's opinions, though he +would not allow it. Following the tactics of all men who have not good +reasons to allege, he suddenly turned the conversation. + +"You can take three or four persons with you," he said. + +"What to do, Excellency?" + +"Why, to act as escort on your return." + +The majordomo began laughing. + +"What use is an escort, Excellency? You want your money here? I will +buy a mule at Hermosillo, and load the money on it, and it will take a +very clever fellow to rob me, I assure you." + +"Still, it would be, perhaps, better to have an escort." + +"Permit me to remark, Excellency, that it would be the best way of +setting robbers on my track." + +"_¡Viva Dios!_ I should be curious to know how you arrive at that +conclusion." + +"You will easily understand me, mi amo. A single man is certain to pass +unnoticed, especially when, as at this moment, the roads are infested +with bandits of every description and every colour." + +"Hum! what you are saying is not re-assuring, Don José, do you know +that?" Don Hernando remarked, with a smile, for his majordomo's +reasoning amused him. + +"On the contrary, the bandits to whom I am referring, Excellency, are +clever, too clever, and it is that which ruins them; they will never +imagine that a poor devil of a half-breed, leading a sorry mule, can be +carrying fifty thousand piastres. Deceived by my appearance, they will +let me pass, without even pretending to see; while if I take persons +with me, it will arouse their suspicions, they will want to know why I +am guarded, and I shall be plundered." + +"You may really be right, Don José." + +"I am certain I am, Excellency." + +"Well, I will not argue any longer; do what you think proper." + +"All right, Excellency; I will deliver the money to you, without the +loss of a real, I promise you." + +"May Heaven grant it: here are the bills, and now--you can start +whenever you please." + +"I shall be gone within an hour, Excellency," the majordomo answered. + +He took up the bills, hid them in his bosom, and, after bowing to his +master, left the study. José Paredes went straight to the corral, where +in a few minutes he had lassoed a mustang with small head and flashing +eye, which he began saddling, after he had carefully rubbed it down. +Then he inspected his weapons, laid in a stock of powder and ball, +placed some provisions in his alforjas, and mounted. But, instead of +leaving the hacienda, he proceeded to a separate building, and twice +gently tapped a window before which he pulled up. The window opened, +and Don Ruiz appeared. + +"Ah! Is that you, Paredes; going back to the plantations already?" he +said; "Well, wait a minute, and I will be with you." + +The majordomo shook his head. + +"Do not disturb yourself, Niño," he said. "I am not going to the +plantations, but on a journey." + +"A journey?" the young man asked, in surprise. + +"Yes; but only for a few days. The Marquis has sent me, and I shall +soon be back." + +"Can you tell me the reason why you are going, and whither?" + +"The master will tell you himself, Niño." + +"Good! But I suppose you have some other motive for coming to wish me +good-bye?" + +"Yes, Niño; I wished to give you a piece of advice before leaving the +hacienda." + +"Advice?" + +"Yes; and of a serious nature. Niño, during my absence, watch carefully +the man who is here!" + +"Whom do you mean, Paredes?" + +"The Senator, Don Rufino Contreras." + +"For what reason?" + +"Watch him, Niño, watch him! And now, good-bye for the present." + +And without awaiting the question the young man was about to ask him, +the majordomo dug his spurs into his horse's flanks, and left the +hacienda at a gallop. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +ON THE ROAD. + + +Mexico, considering its size, is one of the least populated countries +in the world. With but few exceptions, the old Spanish colonies, +since they have proclaimed their independence and become free +republics, having been constantly engaged in war with each other, or +in overthrowing the government they themselves elected, have seen all +the ties attaching families to the soil broken in turn. Foreigners, no +longer finding the necessary safety for their speculations in countries +incessantly troubled by revolutions, have gone away. Trade has been +annihilated; commerce has fallen into a state of atrophy; and the +population has frightfully decreased, with such rapidity, that sensible +men, who sought a remedy for this incurable evil, called emigration to +the help of these states, which nothing can galvanise, and which only +possess a factitious existence. + +Unfortunately, the Hispano-American race is essentially haughty and +jealous. Poor fellows, who let themselves be seduced by the brilliant +promises made them, and who consented to cross the sea to settle in +this country, found, on their arrival, and especially in Mexico, an +ill-disguised hatred and contempt, which was displayed in all classes +of society by ill will and aversion. Hence, being disgusted by their +reception, and recognising the slight trust they could place in the +promises of the men who had summoned them, they hastened to leave a +country in which they had only found unjust prejudices and deplorable +ill faith, and went to ask of the United States the protection refused +them by those who had so pressingly summoned them. + +Mexico, in spite of a certain varnish of civilization, the last +reminiscence of the Spanish occupation, which may still be found in +the large cities and their environs, is, therefore, in reality plunged +into a state of barbarism relatively greater than it was fifty years +ago. The Pacific States, especially, being less frequently visited +by strangers, and left, as it were, to themselves, have retained a +peculiar physiognomy, whose picturesque savageness and rough manners +would cause the tourist's heart to beat with joy, if ever a tourist +ventured into these countries; but which inspire an involuntary fear, +justified, however, by everything the traveller, forced to visit this +land on business, witnesses. + +In Europe and all civilized countries, the means of transport are +numerous and convenient, but in Mexico only one is known--the horse. In +the Central States, and those which run along the Atlantic seaboard, +some towns possess diligences, which change horses at the _tambos_, +a species of inn, where the travellers stop to pass the night. But +these _tambos_ and _mesones_, which possess a great resemblance to +the Sicilian hostelries and Spanish ventas, supply absolutely nothing +to the guests they shelter, excepting a roof, reduced to its simplest +expression; that is to say, the traveller is compelled to take his +bed with him, in addition to provisions, if he does not wish to sleep +wrapped up in his cloak. + +In spite of the numberless disagreements which the uncomfortable +mode of progressing from one place to another entails, the traveller +derives one advantage from it--that of not being exposed, in a fickle +atmosphere like that of Mexico, where after burning days the nights +are chilly, to the attacks of the climate. In the Pacific States, +matters are no longer thus; the traveller who proceeds from one town to +another is forced to do so on horseback, without any hope of finding +for a distance of sixty or eighty leagues the smallest inn, or even +most wretched rancho, where he can shelter himself from wind and rain +at nightfall. At sunset he camps where he is in the open air, and +begins his journey again on the morrow Still, as Providence has been +in its wisdom careful to give an equal amount of good and evil, the +robbers, salteadores, and brigands of every description, who infest all +the roads in the interior, on which they reign as masters, plundering +travellers in open day and assassinating them with the most perfect +impunity, are rarely found in Sonora. In this country the roads in this +respect enjoy a relatively complete security, except when the Indians +have risen, or a fresh _pronunciamiento_ has let bands of revolted +soldiers loose on the country. These fellows have no scruple about +imitating professional robbers, and killing and plundering people, +whose unlucky stars have exposed them to their tender mercies. + +José Paredes, though he had in reality only fifty leagues to go, a +distance which in most European countries is comfortably performed +in a railway carriage in a few hours, was obliged, on account of the +bad state of the roads, and the indispensable precautions he had +to take, to remain at least four days on the road before reaching +Hermosillo. This journey, which would have been very painful to any +man accustomed to the ease and luxuries of life, was only a pleasure +trip for the worthy majordomo, a real Centaur, whose life was spent +on horseback--who slept more frequently in the open air than under a +roof, and whose powerful constitution rendered him insensible to the +annoyances inseparable from a journey made under such conditions. The +Mexicans have two expressions which admirably depict the class of men +to whom the majordomo belonged; they call them _Jinetes_ and _Hombres +de a Caballo_. + +José Paredes, then, rode along jauntily on his horse, at one moment +carelessly smoking a husk cigarette, at another humming a _jarabe_ +or a _seguedilla_, while keeping his eye and ear on the watch, and +his finger prudently laid on the trigger of his gun, which was placed +across his saddle-bow. His second day's ride was drawing to a close; +he had left Arispe far behind him, which town he had passed through +without stopping longer than he required to lay in fresh provisions and +forage for his horse. + +The sun was rapidly declining on the horizon; a rather powerful wind +blew in gusts, raising clouds of dust, which blinded the horseman and +formed a thick fog round him, in the midst of which he almost entirely +disappeared. Although, as we have said, the day was drawing to a close, +the heat was stifling, the sky had assumed a livid appearance; yellow +clouds gradually collected in the horizon and were rapidly brought +up by the wind. The birds whirled in the air, uttering shrill and +discordant cries; sharp noises and shrill whistlings rose from among +the rocks that on both sides flanked the narrow ravine the majordomo +was now following, and large drops of rain fell on the calcined soil, +which easily imbibed them. The horse pricked its ears, shook its head, +and snorted in terror. All presaged one of those storms which it is +only possible to witness in these regions--veritable cataclysms which +rend and uproot the largest trees, force streams from their beds, and +overthrow the soil, as if the earth were struggling wildly beneath the +grasp of those horrible convulsions of Nature, which completely change +within a few hours the aspect of the country over which they have swept +with the fury of the African simoom. + +"Hum!" José Paredes muttered to himself, as he took an anxious glance +along the road; "If I am not greatly mistaken, within an hour we shall +have one of the most tremendous _cordonazos_ that has been seen for +some time. That will be most agreeable for me, and my position will +not fail to be most amusing. Confound the temporal! Why could it not +have waited for another eight-and-forty hours?" + +The majordomo lost no time in vain lamentation. The situation in which +he found himself was really critical: he knew that if the temporal +surprised him on this ravine, he would have enormous difficulties +to overcome in escaping its violence. He therefore resolved at all +hazards to attempt the greatest efforts in getting out of the scrape. +Minutes were precious; hesitation was impossible, and he must form a +decision at once. José Paredes was a resolute man, long accustomed +only to reckon on his courage, strength, and energy, to get him out +of difficult situations; he therefore carefully wrapped himself in +his zarapé, pulled his hat down over his forehead, and, bending over +his horse's neck, dug his spurs, while crying, sharply, one word: +"Santiago!" a cry employed in this country to excite horses. The noble +animal, astonished that its master should deem it necessary to employ +spurs to give it ardour, gave a snort of passion, and started at a +headlong pace. + +In the meanwhile the clouds had completely covered the blue sky; the +atmosphere was gradually growing darker; the sunbeams had lost their +heat; the horse still dashed on, rendered furious by the incessant +prick of the spurs, which the majordomo dug into his panting flanks. +At length Paredes uttered a cry of joy, for he had reached the end of +the ravine, and before him extended a vast plain, bordered by tall +mountains in the horizon. These mountains the majordomo wanted to +reach, for there alone had he chance of safety. Although his position +had greatly improved after leaving the ravine, it was still extremely +difficult, if the storm were to burst before he had succeeded in +crossing the plains, which afforded him no shelter to brave the +tornado. Hence, the traveller, after exploring the neighbourhood with a +rapid glance, and assuring himself that he had no hope of escaping the +tempest, and the barren sandy plain which was only traversed by a few +streams, repeated his cry of "Santiago," and set out on his mad ride +once more. + +As always happens, and as anyone who has studied the admirable instinct +of the horse can certify, the noble animal the majordomo rode seemed +to have identified itself with its master. Through the effort of +that magnetic current, whose power is no longer doubted, it appeared +to understand that their common safety depended on its efforts; and +it literally devoured the space, darting across the plain with the +fantastic rapidity of the spectre steed of the German ballad. + +All at once a vivid flash broke through the clouds, followed by a +tremendous thunderclap. The horse gave a start of terror, but quickly +checked by its rider, started again through the torrents of rain which +were beginning to fall. Night bad suddenly set in; the sun, veiled by +the clouds, had become invisible, and it was in condemned obscurity +that the majordomo was compelled to attempt the supreme efforts on +which life or death depended. Still, Paredes was not discouraged, +and his will seemed to grow fearless in the struggle; while sitting +firmly in the saddle, like a granite statue, with contracted brows +and eyes looking ahead, as if constantly trying to pierce the gloom, +and exciting his horse with spur and voice, his features were as calm +and impassive as if he were merely in one of the thousand ordinary +accidents of his adventurous life in the desert. In the meanwhile the +tempest had changed into a fearful hurricane, and raged with extreme +fury. The unchained winds whistled violently, dashing the rain, and +upraising masses of mud, which flew along the ground. + +An ill-omened swashing made the unhappy traveller, who was surprised by +the tornado, understand that the streams were beginning to overflow and +inundate the plain. By the vivid flashes which uninterruptedly followed +each other, the majordomo could see all around large grey pools of +water, which constantly widened and enclosed him in an incessantly +contracting circle; distant sounds borne by the breeze heightened his +apprehensions. An hour more, he felt, and the plains would only form +one vast lake, in the midst of which he would infallibly perish. Warned +by that instinct which never deceives them, the wild beasts had left +their lairs, and were flying madly, while uttering hoarse roars of +terror. When a flash lit up the horizon, Paredes could see indistinct +forms pass by his side, which were no other than the dangerous denizens +of the prairie. All was overthrown and confounded. The swash of the +water was mingled with the artillery of the thunder and the howling of +the wind. But the horse still galloped on straight ahead, sustained by +the very terror which maddened it and spurred it on better than the +sharpest knife could have done. + +Suddenly the majordomo uttered a cry of terror and anger, drew himself +up, and pulled bridle with such strength that the horse stopped short +on his trembling legs. He fancied he had heard the distant sound of a +bell. When an inundation comes, the hacenderos have all their bells +rung, in order to warn straggling travellers and tell them of a place +of refuge. The majordomo listened; in a few seconds a sound, faint as +a sigh, reached the ear. The practised hunter was not mistaken; it +was really the expiring sound of a bell that reached him, and the +sound, came from a direction diametrically opposite to the one he was +following. In the darkness he had left his track; he was lost in the +midst of an entirely submerged country without chance of help. In spite +of his indomitable bravery the majordomo felt an internal horror; an +icy perspiration stood on his forehead, and he shook all over. At this +supreme moment the man had but one terrible thought that he would bear +with him to the tomb the fortune entrusted to him by his master, and on +which the future of his children perhaps depended. Paredes felt burning +tears start from his eyes, and a choking sob from his bosom. He cared +little for life; he would gladly have sacrificed it for his master; but +the thought of dying thus, and completing his master's ruin, caused +him indescribable grief. For some minutes this lion-hearted man, this +bold wood ranger, who had faced without blenching the most terrible +dangers, felt weaker than a child. But this prostration only lasted a +short time, and a reaction quickly took place; ashamed of the passing +despondency to which he had yielded, the majordomo became the firmer +when all seemed to abandon him, and resolved to sustain the insensate +struggle till he drew his last breath. + +Rendered stronger by his energetic resolution, the majordomo, whose +arteries were beating as if about to burst, passed the back of his band +over his eyes, addressed to Heaven that mental prayer which the most +intrepid men find in their hearts at the supreme moment when life or +death only hangs by a thread; and, instead of going on, he waited for +a flash, by which he could examine his position, and decide the new +course he had to take. He had not to wait long; almost immediately a +flash shot athwart the sky. Paredes uttered a cry of joy and surprise: +he had seen, a few paces from him on his right, a rather tall hill, +on the top of which he fancied he noticed a horseman, motionless and +upright as an equestrian statue. + +With that coolness which powerful men alone possess in critical +circumstances, the majordomo, although he felt that the water was +rapidly encircling him, and was almost up to his horse's girths, would +not leave anything to chance. Fearing he had been deceived by one of +those optical illusions, so frequent when the senses are overexcited, +he resolved to wait for a second flash, and kept his eyes fixed on the +spot where the hill must be, which he fancied he must have seen as in +a dream. All at once, at the moment when the desired flash lit up the +darkness, a voice, that overpowered the roar of the tempest, reached +his ear: + +"Courage! Keep straight on," he heard. + +The majordomo uttered a cry of delight, which resembled a yell; and, +lifting his horse with his bridle and knees, he dashed toward the hill, +pursued by the seething waters which were powerless to arrest him; and, +after an ascent that lasted scarce ten minutes, he fell fainting into +the arms of the man whose summons had saved him. From this moment he +had nothing to fear: an inundation could not reach the top of the hill +where he had found such a providential refuge. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A CONVERSATION BY NIGHT. + + +The majordomo's fainting fit, caused rather by the moral struggle he +had sustained than by the physical fatigue he had endured, was not of +any duration: when he re-opened his eyes, he was alone on the top of +the hill. He threw off the furs and blankets laid over him, to protect +him, doubtless from the icy cold of the night, and looked curiously +round him. The tempest was still raging, but it had lost a great deal +of its violence. The rain had ceased: the deep blue sky was gradually +becoming studded with twinkling stars, which shed an uncertain light, +and gave the landscape an aspect of strange and desolate wildness. +The wind blew furiously, and formed waves on the seething top of the +waters, which had now almost risen to the spot where the majordomo lay. +A few yards from its master, his horse was quietly grazing; it was +eating the young tree shoots, and the tall close grass that covered the +ground like a thick carpet of verdure. Another horse was browsing close +by. + +"Good!" Paredes muttered to himself, "My saviour has not gone away; I +hope he is not far off, and that I shall see him soon. Where can he be? +At his own business, of course, though I cannot guess the nature of his +occupation at such a moment. Well, the best plan will be to wait for +him." + +The Mexican had scarce ended his soliloquy, ere a shadow stood out in +the gloom, and the man of whom he was speaking appeared. + +"Ah, ah!" he said, gaily, "You are all right again, I see: all the +better; I would sooner have you in that position than the one you were +in just now." + +"Thanks," the majordomo cordially answered. "I fancy I must have looked +very pitiable, stretched out like a half-throttled _novillo_. Is it not +disgraceful for a strong man to faint like a child or a feeble woman?" + +"Not the least in the world, _compañero_," the other said, frankly. +"Accident decreed that I should be for a long time the involuntary +witness of the contest you waged, though it was impossible to help +you, and _¡Viva Dios!_ I declare that you are a tough combatant; you +sustained the shock bravely, and many others in your place--I the +first, perhaps--would not have got out of the scrape so well." + +This answer completely broke the ice, and made the two men +comparatively friends at once. + +"I confess," Paredes remarked, as he offered his hand to his new +friend, "that for a moment I believed myself lost, and had it not been +for you I should have been so." + +"Nonsense," the other replied, as he pressed the hand offered him. +"You owe me nothing, for, by Jove! You saved yourself all alone. But +let us not dwell on this point any longer. Although we are in relative +safety, as the water cannot reach us here, our position is not the most +agreeable; and I fancy it would be the best for us to try and get out +of it as quickly as possible." + +"That is my opinion, too; but, unluckily, the means at our disposal are +very limited." + +"Perhaps so; at any rate, with your consent, we will hold an Indian +council." + +"That is the best thing we can do at this moment. However," he added, +as he looked up to the sky, "day will not break for three hours." + +"We have time before us, in that case." + +Daring this short conversation the storm had entirely ceased, and the +wind only blew in gusts. + +"Before all," the majordomo said, "let us light a fire; now that the +tempest has ceased, the wild beasts, whose instinct is infallible, will +seek the shelter of this hill, swarm round us, and, if we do not take +care, carry our position by assault." + +"Excellently argued; I see that you are a hunter." + +"I was one for some time," Paredes replied, with a sigh of regret, "but +now it is all over; my adventures in the desert are ended." + +"I pity you sincerely," the stranger said, with an accent of sincerity; +"for no existence is comparable with it." + +"The finest years of my life were those I spent in the desert." + +While conversing thus, the two men had dug a hole with their machetes +at the foot of an enormous larch tree, to act as a hearth. In this +hole they piled up all the resinous wood they were able to procure, +lit it with some gunpowder rolled up in leaves, and in a few minutes +a long jet of flame sprung up and joyously ascended to the sky, while +the wood crackled and emitted millions of sparks. Fire has an immense +influence upon the human mind; among other benefits, it has the faculty +of restoring joy and hope; and while warming a man with its reviving +heat, it often makes him forget perils incurred and fatigues endured. +The two men, who were as wet as if they had been in a river, dried +themselves for a considerable time, enjoying the pleasant sensations +which the heat made them experience, in proportion as it penetrated +into the pores, causing the blood to circulate with greater vivacity, +and restoring elasticity to their benumbed limbs. It was the majordomo +who was the first to resume the conversation. + +"¡Viva Dios!" he said, shaking himself joyously; "I am now quite a +different man. What a fine thing a fire is when you are cold. Suppose +we make use of it, comrade?" + +"Do so, pray," the stranger replied, with a laugh; "but in what way?" + +"Oh, that is very easy; you shall see. Are you not hungry?" + +"_Caray_, it is fourteen hours since I have eaten; but unluckily I have +no provisions." + +"Well, I have, and we will share them." + +"Very good. I see that you are a first-rate fellow." + +The majordomo rose, fetched the alforjas which were fastened to his +saddle, and then seated himself again by the fire. + +"There!" he said, displaying his provisions with some degree of +complacency. + +"_¡Caramba!_" the other remarked, with a laugh; "Food was never more +welcome." + +The provisions which caused such delight to the two men would have +made our European good wives smile with pity. They consisted of some +slices of _tasajo_, _cicuia_, a lump of goat's cheese, and a few +maize tortillas; but the majordomo produced a leather bottle, full +of excellent mezcal, which had the privilege of restoring to the two +adventurers all their merry carelessness. + +The _tasajo_ was laid on the coals, where it was soon done to a turn, +and the two friends heartily attacked the supper. The frugal meal +ended, they washed it down with a few sips of mezcal, fraternally +passing the bottle to each other; then they lit their cigarettes, the +_obligado_ supplement of every Mexican repast, and began to smoke, +while attentively surveying the heavy sky, which was already striped +with dark bands under the influence of the early morning hours. + +"Now, let us hold a council, if you are agreeable," the stranger said, +as he inhaled an enormous mouthful of smoke, which he sent forth +through his mouth and nostrils. + +"As you are my senior on this territory," the majordomo remarked, with +a laugh, "and are better acquainted with its resources than I am, you +have the right to speak first." + +"Very good: we are surrounded by water, and though the temporal has +ceased, the streams will not return to their bed for several hours: +moreover, the whole day will pass before the water is entirely absorbed +by the sand." + +"That is true," the majordomo said, with a significant shake of the +head: "and yet we must get away from here." + +"That is the question. To do so, we can only employ two means." + +"Yes, we must either wait till the ground is dry, and that +unfortunately will take a long time, which I cannot afford, as I am in +a hurry: or at sunrise we can mount our horses, and bravely swim off, +and reach the mountains, which cannot be very far distant." + +"You forgot another way which is still at our service." + +"I do not think so." + +"We can get into a canoe, and tow our horses after us, which will tire +them less than carrying us; and enable us to reach the mountains to +which you refer with greater ease; and they are only two leagues at the +most, from this point." + +"Your opinion is certainly good, and I approve of it with all my heart; +unluckily we want one very important thing to carry it out." + +"What is that?" + +"Why, hang it all--the canoe." + +"You are mistaken, _compadre_, we have one." + +"Nonsense; how can that be possible?" + +"While you were in a faint," the stranger continued, with a smile, +"I explored our domain. You know that, in this country, when the +rainy season arrives, the inhabitants are accustomed to hide canoes +in bushes, and even in trees, in order to give travellers who are +surprised by the inundation the means of saving themselves." + +"That is true; have you found a canoe?" + +"Yes; and hidden behind the very tree against which you are leaning." + +"Heaven be praised! In that case we run no risk; but is the canoe in +good condition?" + +"I have assured myself of that fact, and even found two pairs of new +paddles." + +"Heaven is very certainly on your side. In that case we will start at +sunrise, if that suits you." + +"Excellently; though I am not in such a hurry as you appear to be, and +for certain reasons I must remain in these parts for some days longer." + +"Shall we employ the few hours left us in having a sleep?" + +"You can sleep if you like, but as I am not at all fatigued, I shall +watch over our common safety." + +"I accept your proposal as frankly as you make it. Yet, with your +permission, I will not close my eyes till I have become better +acquainted with you." + +"How so? Are we not friends already?" + +"Certainly, I am your friend, at least; but we do not know one another." + +"That is to say--" + +"We do not know one another--I mean who we are." + +"Oh, when travelling, what value can such formalities possess?" + +"A greater value than you suppose; in a few hours we shall part, it is +true, perhaps never to meet again; but perhaps, at some distant period, +we may require each other's assistance; now, how could I summon you, if +I did not know your name?" + +"You're right, comrade; as for me, I am only a poor devil of a hunter, +wood ranger, or trapper--whichever you please, and my companions call +me Stronghand, because, as they say, when I hold out my hand to a +friend he can trust to it in perfect confidence." + +"_¡Viva Dios_, caballero! you are well named, as I can declare; your +reputation has already reached me, and I am delighted at the chance +that has brought us together, as I had already desired to form your +personal acquaintance." + +"I thank you," the hunter replied, with a bow. + +"As for me," the Mexican continued, "my name is José Paredes, and I am +majordomo to the Marquis de Moguer." + +"What!" Stronghand said, with a surprise he did not try to conceal; +"you are majordomo at the Hacienda del Toro?" + +"Yes, what do you find surprising in that?" + +"The man whom his master sent two days ago to Hermosillo, to receive +cash for heavy bills drawn on an English banker?" + +"How do you know that?" Paredes exclaimed, in his turn overwhelmed with +surprise. + +"What matter, so long as I know it?" the hunter replied. "Believe me," +he added, with an accent that caused the majordomo deep reflection, +"our meeting is truly providential, and Heaven led us toward each +other." + +"That is strange," Paredes muttered; "how is it possible that a secret +which my master confided to me alone should be in your possession?" + +The hunter smiled. "A secret known to three persons," he said, "does +not long remain a secret." + +"But that third person, to whom you refer, has no right to divulge it." + +"How do you know that? I will say to you in my turn, Master Paredes. +Sufficient for you, for the present, to learn that I am aware of the +cause of your journey. I think you said you had heard speak of me +before we met?" + +"That is true, Señor." + +"What terms did the persons who spoke of me employ?" + +"The best, I must allow. They represented you to me as a man of +unspotted loyalty and dauntless courage." + +"Good! Does that report satisfy you--have you confidence in me?" + +"Yes; for I am convinced that you are an honest man." + +"I hope that your opinion of me will not alter. I will soon prove to +you that it is fortunate for you and the Marquis that we have met at +the moment when you least expected it; for I was looking for you." + +"Looking for me? I do not understand you." + +"You do not require to understand me at the present moment; but set +your mind at rest, everything will be explained ere long." + +"I hope so." + +"And I am certain of it. Are you devoted to your master?" + +"My family have lived on the estate for two hundred years." + +"That is not a reason; answer distinctly." + +"I am devoted to him body and soul, and would willingly lay down my +life for him." + +"That is the way to answer; however, I knew it already, and only +desired that your lips should confirm what I have been told." + +"My master has no secrets from me." + +"I know that also. Well, now, listen to me attentively, Señor Paredes, +for what I have to reveal to you is of the utmost gravity." + +"I am listening to you, Señor." + +"Your master is at this moment in danger of being utterly ruined. He +is the plaything of villains who have sworn to destroy him. The sum +you are going to fetch they intend to take from you, and everything +is prepared to make you fall into an infamous trap, in which you will +infallibly perish." + +"Are you certain of what you assert?" the majordomo exclaimed, in +horror. + +"I know all, I repeat to you: the men from whom I obtained your secret, +who little expected that I was listening to them, at the same time +revealed to me the means they intended to employ in assassinating you." + +"Why, that is infamous!" + +"I am completely of your opinion, and that is why, instead of setting +my traps in the desert, as I ought to be doing, I am now here. I wish +to foil the plots of these villains, and confound them." + +"But what interest induces you to act thus?" the majordomo asked, with +a shadow of distrust. + +"That question I cannot answer. You must for the present lay aside all +curiosity; you must place entire confidence in me, and give me, in what +I propose doing, as much help as I shall offer you. Does this suit you? +I fancy that the bargain I offer is entirely to your advantage, and +that you will run no risk beyond what I do myself." + +There was a lengthened silence. The majordomo was reflecting on what +he had just heard, while the hunter, with his eyes fixed on him, was +patiently waiting till he thought proper to renew the conversation. At +length Paredes raised his head, and held out his hand to the hunter, +who pressed it. + +"Listen, Stronghand," he said to him; "all that you have told me +appears extraordinary, and I confess that at once: but there is such +frankness in your voice, and your reputation is so well established +among your brethren, the wood rangers, who all proclaim your loyalty, +that I do not hesitate to confide in you without any reservation, for +I am convinced that you can have no idea of betraying me, up to the +moment when you think proper to reveal to me the names of the villains +into whose hands I should have infallibly fallen, had it not been for +you, and who have sworn the ruin of my beloved master. I will do what +you ask of me--resign my will entirely; you may regard me as a thing +belonging entirely to you. Come, go, act as you think proper, and I +will obey you in everything, without asking any explanation of your +conduct. Now, in your turn, say if it suits you." + +"Yes, my worthy friend, that pleases me. You have guessed my thought. +I require this liberty to give me the means of succeeding in what I +wish to do. Believe the word of an honest man. If anything can add +to the confidence you have placed in me, and of which I am proud, I +swear to you, by all that is most sacred in the world, that no one is +more interested than I am in the Marquis de Moguer, or more sincerely +desires to see him happy." + +"We shall still start at sunrise, eh?" + +"Yes; but not to proceed to Hermosillo. Before going to that town, we +must take certain indispensable precautions. We have to deal with the +most crafty bandits on the border, and must beat them by cunning. They +are on our track, and we must cheat the cheaters." + +"Good, good! I will call to mind my old hunter's profession." + +"Remember, above all, the prairie proverb, 'The trees have eyes and the +leaves ears.' Fortunately for us, the villains who are watching for you +do not disturb me in any way. I reckon principally on that ignorance to +foil their plots." + +"But if we do not go to Hermosillo, where are we going?" + +"Tomorrow, when it is daylight," the hunter answered, sententiously, +"when the bright sunbeams permit me to convince myself that no one can +hear us, I will tell you. For the present, sleep, rest yourself, so +that you may be able to support the fatigue that awaits you." + +And, as if to avoid fresh questioning, the hunter wrapped himself in +his zarapé, leant his back against the larch tree, stretched out his +legs to the fire, and closed his eyes. The majordomo, in spite of his +lively desire to continue the conversation, imitated him; and a few +minutes later, overcome by the fatigue of every description he had +endured for some days, he was fast asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE REAL DE MINAS. + + +For some years past--that is to say, since the day when Captain Sutter, +while digging a well at his plantation in San Francisco, accidentally +found a lump of virgin gold--the discovery of the rich mines of the New +World has so aroused interest and excited admiration, by giving a fresh +impulse to avarice and covetousness, that we consider it necessary to +say a few words here about the mines. Of course we shall allude to +those situated in the country where our scene is laid--that is, in +Sonora. + +Sonora is the richest mining country in the world. We assured ourself +by official data that six hundred bars of silver and sixty bars of +gold, worth together a million of piastres, were brought to the Mint +of Hermosillo in 1839. To this large amount a nearly equal sum must +be added, which is not brought to be assayed, in order to avoid the +payment of the duty, which is five per cent, on silver and four per +cent, on gold. This country also possesses most valuable copper mines, +but the population generally abandons the other metals to seek virgin +gold. + +No country in the world possesses auriferous strata so rich and so +extensive (_criaderos or placeres de oro_). The metal is found in +alluvial soil in ravines after rain, and always on the surface or at +a depth of a few feet. In the north of the province of Arispe, the +placers of Quitoval and Sonoitac, which were found again in 1836, +and to which we shall soon have to allude more specially, produced +for three years two hundred ounces of gold per day,--that is to say, +reducing it to our money, the large sum of two hundred and fifty +thousand pounds. + +The gold seekers restrict themselves to turning up the soil with a +pointed stick, and only collect the nuggets that are visible; but +if the streams were diverted from their course, and large washings +undertaken, the profits would be far more considerable. It is not rare +to find nuggets weighing several pounds; we saw at Arispe, in the +hands of a miner, one that was worth nine thousand piastres, or about +eighteen hundred pounds; and the Royal Cabinet at Madrid contains +several magnificent specimens. We will soon describe how and why the +working of these strata was interrupted. + +Most of the buildings of the _pueblos_, or Missions of Sonora, serve +as the gathering place of the nomadic workmen and traders who collect +round any important mine so soon as its working is begun. The place +where the workmen assemble takes the name of _Real de Minas_ or +_Mineral;_ and if the mine promises to be productive for any length +of time, the population definitively settles round it. Many important +towns of Mexico had no other origin. The facility with which the miners +earn large sums explains the enormous consumption of European goods +which takes place in the provinces. Simple rancheros may frequently +be seen spending in a few days seven or eight pounds of gold, which +only cost them a week's toil. Unhappily, the ruinous passion for +gambling--that shameful leprosy of Mexico, whose inhabitants it +degrades--prevents the great mine owners from keeping a large capital +on their hands, and thus checks works on a great scale. + +Before resuming our narrative, we must also give the reader certain +information about the Indian nations that inhabit the territory of +Sonora. There are in this province five distinct tribes; the Yaquis, +the Opatas, the Mayos, the Gilenos, and the Apaches. The Yaquis and +Mayos occupy the country to the south of Guaymas, as far as the Rio +del Huerto; they let themselves out to the creoles as farm labourers, +masons, servants, miners, and divers. Their number is about forty +thousand. The Opatas reside along the bank of the San Miguel de +Horcasitos, the Arispe, the Los Ures, and the Oposina; they are very +good workmen and excellent soldiers. They have always served the +government faithfully, both Spanish and Mexican, and their number is +estimated at thirty thousand. + +The Gilenos spread along the banks of the Gila and Colorado rivers. +The Axuas and Apaches, who belong to the Sierra Madre, are confounded +under the name of Papazos. These Indians are nomadic, and only live +by hunting and plunder; they were formerly encamped to the north of +Chihuahua and Sonora; but being driven back by the progress of the +Americans and Texans, they threw themselves upon the Mexican territory, +where they cause immense damage, for they are well supplied with +firearms, which they obtained in exchange for peltry and cattle at the +American establishments at the Arkansas, the Missouri, and the Rio +Bravo del Norte. In order to complete this brief enumeration of the +Indian nations of Sonora, we will mention a mission established at the +gates of Hermosillo, and in which five hundred Seris Indians lived; a +thousand members of the same tribe, formerly one of the most powerful +in this country, but now almost extinct, dwelt on the coast to the +north of Guaymas, and in Tiburón or Sharkesland. + +We will now temporarily leave Stronghand and José Paredes at the top of +the hill, where they found a shelter from the inundation, and lead the +reader to the Real de Minas of Quitoval, where certain important events +are about to take place. + +It was the evening: the streets and plazas of the pueblo were crowded +with individuals of every description: Yaquis Indians, hunters, miners, +gambusinos, monks, and adventurers, who composed the motley population +of the Mineral, mounted and foot, incessantly jostled each other, and +bowed, spoke, laughed, or quarrelled. Some were returning from the +placer, where they had been at work all day; others were leaving their +houses to enjoy the evening breeze; others, and they were the larger +number, were entering the drinking shops, through whose doors could be +heard the songs of the topers, and the shrill, inharmonious tinkling +jarabes and vihuelas. + +One of these _tendajos_, of a more comfortable and less dirty +appearance than the rest, seemed to have the privilege of attracting a +greater number of customers than all the rival establishments. After +passing through a low door and descending two steps of unequal height, +the visitor found himself in a species of hideous den, resembling at +once a cellar and a shed, whose earthen flooring, rendered uneven by +the mud constantly brought in by customers, caused persons to stumble +at each step who visited the place for the first time! A hot heavy +vapour, impregnated with alcoholic fumes and mephitic exhalations, +escaped through the door of this den, as from the mouth of Hades, and +painfully affected mouth and eyes, before the latter became accustomed +to the close, obscure aspect of the place, and were enabled to pierce +the thick curtain of vapour, which was constantly drawn from one side +to the other by the movements of the customers. They perceived, by the +dubious light of a few _candils_ scattered here and there, a large and +lofty room, whose once whitewashed walls had become black at the lower +part by the constant friction of heads, backs, and shoulders, to which +they served as a support. + +Facing the door was a dais, raised about a foot above the ground; this +dais occupied the entire width of the room, and was divided into two +parts; that on the right contained a table forming a bar, behind which +stood a tall, active fellow, with false look and ill-tempered face, the +master of the tendajo. Above the head of this respectable personage, +who answered to the harmonious name of Cospeto, a niche had been made +in the wall, in which was a statue of the Virgin, holding the Holy +Infant in her arms; in front of the statue a dozen small wax tapers, +fixed on a row of iron points, were burning. The left hand portion of +the dais was occupied by the musicians, or performers on jarabes and +vihuelas. + +On each side of the room, the centre of which remained free for the +dancers, ran rickety, badly made, and dirty tables, occupied at +this moment by a crowd of customers, some seated on benches, others +standing, laughing, talking, shouting, quarrelling; drinking mezcal, +refino, pulque, or infusion of tamarinds, or else staking at monte the +gold earned during the day at the mine, and which their dirty hands +fetched from the pockets of the shapeless rags that served them as +garments. A few women, creatures without a name, whose features were +sodden with debauchery, and eyes deep sunk with drinking, were mingled +with the crowd; and all, both men and women, were smoking either cigars +or husk cigarettes. + +Nothing can describe the hideous aspect of this infamous Pandemonium, +the refuge of all the vices of the province, overlooked by the gentle, +smiling face of the statue of the Virgin, whose features, in the light +of the tapers, assumed an expression of wondrous pity and sorrow. + +At the moment when we invite the reader to enter this drinking shop +with us the fun was at its height, the room was full of drinkers and +dancers, and the whole mob laughed, yelled, and made a row which would +have rendered the saint herself deaf. On the left, near the door, a +man, wrapped up in a thick cloak, one end of which was raised to his +face, and completely concealed his features, was sitting motionless at +a separate table, looking absently and carelessly at the dancers who +whirled round him. When a newcomer entered the tendajo, this man looked +toward the door, and then turned his head away with an air of ill +humour when he perceived that the newcomer was not the person that he +had been so long expecting, for he had been sitting alone at this table +for upwards of two hours. Still no one paid, or seemed to pay, any +attention to him--all were too much absorbed in their own occupations +to think about a man who obstinately remained gloomy and silent amid +this revelry. The stranger, so often deceived in his expectations, at +length gave up looking toward the door; he let his head fall on his +chest and went to sleep, or pretended to do so, either for the sake of +not attracting attention, or else to indulge with greater freedom in +his reflections. + +All at once a formidable disturbance broke out at one end of the +room; a table was upset by a vigorous blow; oaths crossed each other +in the air, and knives were drawn from boots; musicians and dancers +stopped short, and a circle was formed round two men who, with frowning +brows, eyes sparkling with intoxication and passion, a zarapé rolled +as a buckler round the left arm, and a navaja in their right hand, +were preparing, according to all appearance, to attack each other +vigorously. The tendajero, or master of the house, then proved himself +equal to the position he occupied--he leaped like a jaguar over the +counter behind which he had hitherto stood coldly and indifferently, +merely engaged in watching his waiters and serving customers; he closed +the front door, against which he leant his powerful shoulders, in order +to prevent any customer bolting without payment of his score, and +prepared with evident interest to witness the fight. + +The two men, with outstretched legs, left arm advanced, bodies bent +forward, and knife held by the middle of the blade, were standing +looking in each other's eyes, ready for attack, defence, or parry. All +at once the mysterious sleeper appeared to wake with a start, as if +surprised by the voice of one of the adversaries, took a hasty glance +at the combatants, and then darted between them. + +"What is the matter?" he asked, in a firm voice, the sound of which +affected the duellists, who were astounded at an interference they had +been far from expecting. + +"This man," one of them answered, "has lost three ounces to me at +monte, through the unexpected turn up of the ace of spades." + +"Well?" the stranger interjected. + +"He refuses to pay me," the gambler continued; "because he declares +that the cards were packed, and that consequently I cheated him, which +is not true, for--_viva Dios;_ I am known to be a caballero." + +At this affirmation, which was slightly erroneous, a smile of singular +meaning, but which no one saw, curled the stranger's lip; he continued, +in a more serious voice--"It is true that you are a caballero, and I +would affirm it were it necessary; but the most honest man is subject +to deceive himself, and I am convinced that this has happened to you. +Hence instead of fighting with this caballero, whose honour and +loyalty cannot either be doubted, prove to him that you recognise +your error by paying him the three ounces, which you claimed of him +through an oversight; this gentleman will apologize for having used +certain ugly expressions, and all will then be settled to the general +satisfaction." + +"Certainly, I am convinced that this caballero is a man of honour; I +am ready to proclaim it anywhere, and I regret with all my soul the +misunderstanding which momentarily divided us," said the individual who +had not yet spoken, though he remained on the defensive, a position +that slightly contradicted the apparent good humour of his remark. + +The stranger then turned to the man whose friend he had so unexpectedly +made himself, and gave him a sign which the other appeared to +understand. + +"Well, caballero," he said, with an irony whose expression was hardly +noticeable, "what do you think of this apology? For my part, I consider +it complete and most honourable." + +The man thus addressed hesitated for a moment; a combat was evidently +going on in his mind; his furious glances seemed to challenge the +company; and had he perceived on the face of one of the spectators an +expression of contempt, however fugitive it might have been, he would +doubtless have immediately picked another quarrel. But all the persons +who surrounded him were cold and indifferent; curiosity alone was +legible on their features. He unrolled his cloak, returned the knife to +his boot, and held out his hand to his adversary at the same time that +he gave him three ounces. + +"Pardon me an involuntary error at which I am trully confused," he +said, with a courteous bow, but with a sigh he could not restrain. + +The other took the ounces without pressing, thrust them away in +his capacious pockets with far from ordinary dexterity, returned +the salute, and mingled with the crowd, who, through a lengthened +acquaintance with the two men, did not at all comprehend this peaceful +result. + +"Now, Master Kidd," the stranger continued, as he laid his hand on the +shoulder of the adventurer, who stood motionless in the middle of the +room, "I suppose that all your business here is settled; so, with your +permission, we will withdraw." + +"As you please," Kidd answered, carelessly, for this man was no other +than the bandit we came across in the opening of our story. + +The groups had broken up, the crowd had dispersed, musicians +and dancers had returned to their places, and the two men could +consequently leave without attracting attention. The stranger, when +he reached the purer atmosphere of the street, took several deep +inspirations, as if trying to expel from his lungs the vitiated air +he had been constrained to swallow for so long. Then he turned to his +companion, who was walking silently by his side. + +"_¡Cuerpo de Cristo!_ Master Kidd," he said, in a tone of ill humour, +"you are, it must be confessed, a singular fellow; you compel me, the +commandant of this pueblo, to come and hunt you up at this filthy +den, where, on your entreaty, I consented to meet you, and instead of +watching for my arrival, you leave me among the most perfect collection +of bandits I ever saw in my life." + +"Excess of zeal, captain; so you must not be angry with me for that," +the bandit answered, with a cunning look. "In order to be punctual at +the rendezvouz I gave you, I had been for nearly four hours at worthy +Señor Cospeto's. Not knowing how to spend my time, I played at cards. +You know what month is; once I have the cards in my hand, and the gold +on the table, I forget everything." + +"Good, good," the stranger answered. "I am willing to believe you. +Still, I pledge you my word, that if you dupe me in the affair you have +proposed, and the information you offer to sell me is false, you will +repent it. You know me, I think, Master Kidd?" + +"Yes, Captain Don Marcos de Niza, and I suppose that you know me too; +but of what use is this discussion? Let us settle our business first, +and then you can act as you think proper." + +The Captain gave him a suspicious glance. "It is well," he said, as he +rapped at the door; "come in, this is my house; I prefer treating with +you here to the tendajo." + +"As you please," the bandit said, and followed the Captain into his +house, the doors of which were closed behind them. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE BARGAIN. + + +Captain Don Marcos de Niza, whom we left commanding the post of San +Miguel, and defending it against the Indians, had been a few days +previously summoned to the political and military government of the +Mineral of Quitoval, by an order that arrived from Mexico, and emanated +from the President of the Republic himself. The fact was, that during +the last few days certain events had occurred which demanded energetic +action on the part of the President. All at once, at a moment when no +discontent was supposed to exist among the Indians, the latter, after +long councils they had held together, revolted, and had, without any +declaration of war, invaded the Mexican territory at several points +simultaneously. This revolt suddenly assumed serious proportions; +and had become the more formidable within a short time, because the +revolters were the Gilenos, that is to say, the Comanches, Apaches, and +Axuas, whose dangerous country is known by the name of the Papazos. + +The General commanding Sonora and Sinaloa, the two states most exposed +to the depredations of the Indians, saw that he must oppose to the +Indians a man who, through a lengthened residence on the borders, had +acquired great experience as to their way of fighting and the tricks +they employ. Only one officer fulfilled these conditions, and that +officer was Captain de Niza; he, therefore, received orders to quit the +post of San Miguel after dismantling it, and proceed immediately to the +Mineral of Quitoval. The Captain obeyed with that promptitude which old +soldiers alone can display in the execution of the orders they receive. +His first care, on reaching the Mineral, was to protect the pueblo, +as far as was possible, from a surprise, by digging a large trench, +throwing up entrenchments, and barricading the principal streets. + +Unfortunately, the general commanding the provinces had but a very +limited military force at his disposal; scarce amounting to six hundred +infantry and two hundred cavalry, without field artillery. Hence, in +spite of his lively desire to give the Captain a respectable force, as +he was obliged to scatter his troops along the whole seaboard of the +two states, he found it impossible to send to Quitoval more than one +hundred infantry and fifty cavalry. In spite of the numerical weakness +of his troops the Captain did not despair. He was one of those men to +whom the performance of duty was everything; and who carry out without +a murmur the most extraordinary order. + +Still, as he expected to be attacked at any moment by an army of ten +or fifteen thousand veteran Indians, amply supplied with firearms, and +who, through being accustomed to fight with Spaniards, could not be +easily terrified, he had to augment the number of his soldiers, so as +to have men enough to line the entrenchments he had thrown up round the +town. He had two means by which to obtain this result, and he employed +them. The first consisted in making the great mine owners understand +that they must participate in the defences of the pueblo, either +personally or by arming and placing under his orders a certain number +of the peons they employed; for if the Indians succeeded in seizing the +Mineral, the source of their wealth would be at once dried up. + +The great owners understood the Captain's reasons the more easily +because their interests were at stake. They therefore enthusiastically +followed his advice, and raised at their common charge a corps of one +hundred and fifty Opatas--brave soldiers, thoroughly devoted to the +Whites. They placed this corps under the Captain's orders, pledging +themselves to pay and support it so long as the danger lasted. Don +Marcos thus doubled his army at one stroke. This success, which he had +been far from expecting, owing to his profound knowledge of the apathy +and selfishness of his countrymen, induced him to try the second plan. + +This was very simple. It consisted in enlisting, for a certain bounty, +as many as he could of the adventurers who always swarm on the borders, +and whose neutrality is at times more formidable than declared enmity. +The sum offered by the Captain was two ounces per man, one payable on +enlistment, the other at the termination of the campaign. This offer, +seductive though it was, did not produce all the effect the Captain +expected from it. The adventurers responded but feebly to the appeal +made to them. These men, in whose hearts patriotic love does not +exist, and who only care for pillage, saw in the insurrection of the +Indians a source of disorder, and, consequently, of rapine. They cared +very little about defending a state of things which their predacious +instincts led them, on the contrary, to attack. + +Thirty or forty adventurers, however, responded to the call; and these +immoral men, who were impatient at the yoke of discipline, were rather +an embarrassment than an assistance to the Captain; still as, take +them altogether, they were sturdy fellows, and thoroughly acquainted +with Indian warfare, he attached them to his cavalry, which was thus +raised to a strength of one hundred men. Don Marcos thus found himself +at the head of two hundred and fifty infantry and one hundred horse--a +force which appeared to him, if well directed, more than sufficient to +withstand, behind good entrenchments, the effort of the whole Indian +army. + +We are aware that this number of men defending a town will produce a +smile of pity among European readers, who are accustomed to see on +battlefields masses of three hundred thousand men come into collision. +But all is relative in this world. In America, where the population +is comparatively small, great things have often been decided at the +bayonet's point by armies whose relative strength did not exceed that +of one of our line regiments. In the last battle fought between the +Texans and Mexicans--a battle which decided the independence of Texas, +the two armies together did not amount to two thousand men, and yet +the collision was terrible, and victory obstinately disputed. In the +actions between white men and Indians, the latter, in spite of their +indomitable valour, were almost always defeated in a pitched battle, +in spite of their crushing superiority of numbers. Not through the +courage of their enemies, but by their discipline and military skill. +The latter is certainly very limited, but sufficient for adversaries +such as they have to combat. + +One night, when the Captain returned home after his usual visit to +the pueblo to assure himself that all was in order, a ragged lepero, +more than half intoxicated with mezcal and pulque, handed him with an +infinitude of bows a dirty slip of paper folded up in the shape of a +letter. Don Marcos de Niza was not accustomed to neglect anything. He +attached as much importance to apparently frivolous events as to those +which seemed to possess a certain gravity. He stopped, took the letter, +gave a real to the lepero, who went away quite satisfied, and entered +his house, which was situated on the Plaza Mayor, in the centre of the +pueblo. + +After throwing his cap and sword on a table, the Captain opened the +letter. He read it at first rather carelessly; but ere long he began +frowning, and read the letter a second time, attentively weighing each +word. Then at the end of a moment he folded up the letter, and said in +a low voice--"I will go." + +This letter came from Kidd. The Captain had been long acquainted with +the bandit, and knew certain peculiar facts about him which would +have been most disagreeable to the bandit, had the latter suspected +that the Captain was so thoroughly initiated in the secrets of his +vagabond life. Hence Don Marcos fancied he had no right to neglect +the overtures the other was pleased to make; while keeping on his +guard and determined to punish him severely if he deceived him. The +Captain, therefore, proceeded without hesitation to the place where the +adventurer appointed to meet him. He had waited for him for several +hours with exemplary patience, and would probably have waited longer +still, had not chance suddenly brought them face to face in the way we +have described. + +When the two men had entered the house, and the door closed after them, +Don Marcos de Niza, still closely followed by the bandit, who, in spite +of his impudence, looked around him timidly, like a wolf caught in a +sheepfold, led him into a room the door of which he carefully closed. +The Captain pointed to a chair, sat down at a table, laid a brace of +pistols ostentatiously within his reach, and said-- + +"Now I am ready to hear you." + +"_¡Caray!_" the bandit said, impudently; "that is possible; but the +point is whether I am disposed to speak." + +"And why not, pray, my excellent friend?" + +"Hang it, Captain," he said, as he pointed to the pistols, "there are +two playthings not at all adapted to set my tongue wagging." + +Don Marcos looked at him in a way that made the adventurer +involuntarily let his eyes fall, and then leant his elbows on the table. + +"Master Kidd," he then said, in a stern voice, though a certain tone of +sarcasm was perceptible in it, "I like a distinct understanding; let us +therefore, before anything establish our relative positions. You have +led a very agitated life, Master Kidd; your vagabond humour, your mad +desire to appropriate certain things to which you have a very dubious +claim have led you into a few mistakes, whose results might prove +remarkably disagreeable to you." + +The bandit shook his head in denial. + +"I will not dwell," the Captain continued, mockingly, "on a subject +which must make your modesty greatly suffer, and will come at once +to the motives of your presence here, and the positions we must hold +towards each other. I am commandant of this pueblo, and in that +capacity compelled to watch over its external safety as well as its +internal tranquillity, I think you will agree with me." + +"Yes, Captain," the bandit answered, somewhat reassured at finding the +conversation turned away from such delicate topics. + +"Very good; you wrote me this letter, appointing a meeting and offering +to sell--that is your own word--certain most important information, as +you say, for the continuance of the safety and tranquillity which I am +bound to maintain. Another man might have treated you in the Indian +fashion. After having you arrested, he would have ordered a cord to be +fastened round your temples; or your suspension by your thumbs--as you +have done yourself, if report be true, on various occasions with less +valid reasons; and have so thoroughly loosened your tongue that you +would not have kept a single secret back. I have preferred dealing with +you as an honest man." + +The bandit breathed again. + +"Still, as you are one of those persons with whom it is advisable to +take precautions, and in whom a confidence cannot be placed, as they +would not scruple to abuse it on the first opportunity, I retain not +only the right, but also the means of blowing out your brains if you +have the slightest intention of deceiving me." + +"Oh, Captain, what an idea! Blow out my brains!" the bandit stammered. + +"Do you fancy, my dear Señor," the Captain continued, still +sarcastically, "that your friends will pity you greatly, if such a +misfortune happened to you?" + +"Hum! to tell you the truth, I do not exactly know," the adventurer +answered, with at attempt to jest; "people are so unkind. But, since +you accept the bargain offered to you--for you do accept it, I think, +Captain?" + +"I do." + +"What then, will you give me in exchange for what I shall tell you?" + +"You sell; I buy; it is your place to make your conditions; and, if +they are not exorbitant--if, in a word, they seem to me fair, I will +accept them; so, speak, what do you ask?" + +"_¡Caray!_ Captain; it is a delicate question, for I am an honest man." + +"That is allowed," Don Marcos interrupted him with a laugh. "Name your +price." + +"Fifty ounces; would that be too much?" the bandit ventured. + +"Certainly not, if the thing be worth it." + +"Then," Kidd exclaimed, joyfully, "that is understood, fifty ounces." + +"I repeat, if it be worth it." + +"Oh, you shall judge for yourself," he remarked, rubbing his hands. + +"I ask nothing better but to buy, and to prove to you that I have no +intention of cheating you," he added, as he opened a drawer and took +out a rather heavy purse, "here is the amount." + +And the Captain made two piles each of twenty-five ounces, exactly +between the pistols. At the sight of the gold the bandit's eyes +sparkled like those of a wild beast. + +"_¡Rayo de Dios!_ Captain," he exclaimed; "There is a pleasure in +treating with you. I will remember it another time." + +"I ask nothing better, Master Kidd. Now speak, I am listening." + +"Oh, I have not much to say; but you will judge whether it is +important." + +"Go on; I am all ears." + +"In two words, this is the matter; the Papazos have not elected a +chief, but an emperor!" + +"An emperor?" + +"Yes." + +"What do they assert, then?" + +"They mean to be free, and wish to constitute their Independence upon a +solid basis." + +"Do you know this emperor?" + +"I have seen him, at least." + +"Who is he?" + +"A man who is the more formidable because he appears to belong to the +white rather than the red race; and is thoroughly conversant with all +the means hitherto employed by the Indians." + +"Is he young?" + +"He is sixty; but as active as if he were only twenty." + +"Very good; proceed." + +"Is that important?" + +"Very important. But not worth fifty ounces, for all that." + +"The Yaquis, Mayos, and Seris have allowed themselves to be seduced, +and have entered the Confederation. They have taken up again their old +plans of 1827--you remember, at the time of their great revolution?" + +"Yes; go on." + +"The first expedition the Chief of the Confederation means to undertake +is the capture of the Real de Minas." + +"I am aware of it." + +"Yes; but do you know, Captain, that the Indians have spies even among +the garrison; that all is ready for the attack, and that the Papazos +intend to surprise you within the next two days?" + +"Who gave you this information?" + +The bandit smiled craftily. + +"What use my telling you, Captain," he answered, "if the information is +correct?" + +"Do you know the men who have entered into negotiations with the enemy?" + +"I do." + +"In that case tell me their names." + +"It would be imprudent, Captain." + +"Why so?" + +"Judge for yourself. Suppose I were to tell you their names, what would +happen?" + +"_¡Viva Dios!_" the Captain sharply interrupted him. "I should shoot +them like the miserable dogs they are, and to serve as a warning to +others." + +"Well, that is the mistake, Captain." + +"How a mistake?" + +"Why, yes; suppose you shoot ten men?" + +"Twenty, if necessary!" + +"Say twenty, it is of no consequence to me; but those who remain, whom +neither you nor I know, will sell you to the Indians, so that the only +result will be precipitating the evil instead of preventing it." + +"Ah, ah!" the Commandant said, with an expressive glance at the bandit. +"And what would you do in my place?" + +"Oh, a very simple thing." + +"Well, what is it?" + +"I would leave the scamps at liberty to prepare their treachery, while +carefully watching them; and when the moment for attack arrived, +I would have them quietly arrested; so that the Indians would be +surprised, instead of surprising us, and we should cheat the cunning +cheats." + +The Captain appeared to reflect for a moment, and then said--"The +plan you recommend seems to me good, and for the present I see no +inconvenience in carrying it out. Give me the names of the traitors." + +Kidd mentioned a dozen names, which the Captain wrote down after him. + +"Now," Don Marcos continued, "there are your fifty ounces, and I shall +give as many each time you bring me information as valuable as that of +today. I pay you dearly, so it is your interest to serve me faithfully; +but remember, that if you deceive me, nothing can save you from the +punishment I will inflict on you, and that punishment, I warn you, will +be terrible." + +The adventurer bounded on the money like a wild beast on a prey it +has long coveted, concealed it with marvellous dexterity in his wide +pockets, and said to the Captain with a bow--"Señor Don Marcos, I have +always thought that in this world gold was the sovereign master, and +that it alone had the right to command." + +After accompanying these singular words with a smiling and almost +mocking expression, Kidd bowed for the last time and disappeared, +leaving the Captain to his reflections. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE PAPAZOS. + + +We will not return to Stronghand and José Paredes, whom we have left +too long at the top of the hill. The night passed without any incident, +the majordomo sleeping like a man overcome by fatigue; as for the +hunter, he did not close his eyes once. The sun had risen for a long +time; it was nearly nine o'clock, but the hunter, forgetting apparently +what he had said to his comrade, did not dream of departure. José +Paredes slept on. It was a magnificent day; the sky, swept by the +night hurricane, was cloudless; the sun darted down its glowing beams; +and yet the atmosphere, tempered by the storm, retained an agreeable +freshness. The water was disappearing with a rapidity almost equalling +that it bad displayed in rising, being drunk by the thirsty sand or by +the hot sunbeams; the plain had lost its lacustrine appearance; and all +led to the supposition that by midday the ground would be firm enough +to be ventured on in safety. + +As the canoe was unnecessary, the hunter did not try to get it down +from the tree; with his back leant against the larch tree, his hands +folded, and his head bowed on his chest, he was thinking, and at +times taking an anxious glance at his sleeping comrade. At length the +majordomo turned, stretched out his arms and legs, opened his eyes, and +gave a formidable yawn. + +"_¡Caramba!_" he said, as he measured the height of the sun; "I fancy I +have forgotten myself; it must be very late." + +"Ten o'clock," the hunter answered with a smile. + +"Ten o'clock!" José exclaimed, as he leaped up; "And you have let me +idle thus instead of waking me." + +"You slept so soundly, my friend, that I had not the courage to do so." + +"Hum!" Paredes replied, half laughing, half vexed; "I know not whether +I ought to complain or thank you for this weakness, for we have lost +precious time." + +"Not at all; see, the water has disappeared; the ground is growing firm +again, and when the great heat of the day is spent we will mount our +horses and catch up in a few hours the time you are regretting." + +"That is true, and you are right, comrade," said the majordomo, as +he looked around with the practised glance of a man accustomed to a +desert life. "Well, as it is so," he added, with a laugh, "suppose we +breakfast, for that will enable us to kill some time." + +"Very good," the hunter replied, good humouredly. They breakfasted as +they had supped on the previous night. When the hour for starting at +length arrived, they saddled their horses and led them down the hill; +for the ascent which they had escaladed so actively by night, under +the impulse of the pressing danger that threatened them, now proved +extremely steep, abrupt, and difficult. When they mounted, Stronghand +said--"My friend, I am going to take you to an _atepetl_ of the +Redskins. Do you consider that disagreeable?" + +"Not personally, but I will ask what advantage my master can derive +from it?" + +"That question I am unable to answer at the moment. You must know, +though, that we are taking this step on your master's behalf, and that +his affairs, instead of suffering by it, will be greatly benefited." + +"Let us go, then. One word, however, first. Are the Redskins, to whom +we are proceeding, a long distance off?" + +"It would be almost a journey for any persons but us." + +"Hum!" said Paredes. + +"But you and I," the hunter continued, "who are true guides, and who +have also the advantage of being well mounted, will reach the village +at three or four o'clock tomorrow afternoon at the latest." + +"In that case it is not very distant." + +"I told you so." + +"And in what direction is the village?" + +"You must have often heard it spoken of, if chance has never led your +footsteps thither." + +"Why so?" + +"Because it is only a dozen leagues at the most from the Hacienda del +Toro." + +"Wait a minute," the majordomo said, frowning like a man who is +collecting his thoughts; "you are right, I have never been to that +village, it is true, but I have often heard it spoken of. Is not one +of the chiefs a white man?" + +The hunter blushed slightly. + +"So people say," he answered. + +"Is it not strange," the majordomo continued, "that a white man should +consent to abandon entirely the society of his fellows to live with +savages?" + +"Why so?" + +"Hang it! Because the Indians are devoid of reason, as everybody knows." + +The hunter gave his companion a glance of indefinable meaning, slightly +shrugged his shoulders, but made no reply; probably from the reason +that he had too much to say, and considered the majordomo's rather +heavy mind incapable of appreciating it. The day passed without any +occurrences to interrupt the monotony of their ride, which they +continued with great speed till night, only stopping from time to time +to shoot a few birds for supper. Galloping, talking, and smoking, they +at length reached the spot where they intended to bivouac. The road +they had followed in no way resembled the one the majordomo had taken +on leaving the hacienda, although they were returning in the direction +of Arispe. This resulted from the fact that Paredes had kept in the +regular road, while this time the two men rode Indian fashion, that is +to say, straight ahead without troubling themselves about roads. They +galloped on as the bird flies, crossing mountains and swimming rivers +whenever they came to them, without losing time in seeking a ford. + +This mode of travelling, generally adopted by the wood rangers of the +savannah, where the only roads are tracks made by the wild beasts, +would not be possible in civilized countries, where there are so many +towns and villages; but in Mexico, especially on the Indian border, +towns are excessively rare: by riding in this way distances are +marvellously shortened and a considerable tract is covered between two +sunrises. This is what happened to the two adventurers; for in one day +they went a greater distance than Paredes had done in eight-and-forty +hours, though he was well mounted. At night they camped in a wood +beyond the Hacienda del Toro, which building they saw rising gloomy and +tranquil like an eagle's nest on the top of its rock, and they passed +close to it during the afternoon. + +The country assumed a wilder and more abrupt aspect; the grass was +thicker, the trees were larger, older, and closer together; it was +evident that the travellers were at the extreme limit of civilization, +and would soon find themselves in the Red territory, although +nominally, at least on the maps, this territory figured among the +possessions of the Mexican Confederation. This feature, by the way, is +found everywhere throughout the New World. Even in the United States, +which pretend, erroneously, we believe, to be more civilized than their +neighbours, towns with high-flown names may be seen on the maps of +their large possessions, which only exist in reality as a name painted +on a solitary post, planted in the centre of a plain or on the bank of +a river, without even a keeper to watch over the preservation of this +post, which, worn by wind and sun, eventually disappears, though the +town never sprung up in its place. During our travels we were too often +the victim of this humorous Yankee mystification not to feel angry with +this eccentric nation, which repeats to every newcomer that it marches +at the head of civilization, and has a mission to regenerate the New +World. + +The two men, after lighting their watch fire, supped with good +appetite, rolled themselves in their zarapés, and fell asleep, +trusting to the instinct of their horses to warn them of the approach +of any enemy, whether man or wild beast, that attempted to surprise +them during their slumbers. But nothing disturbed them; the night was +quiet; at sunrise they awoke, mounted, and continued their journey, +which would only take a few hours longer. + +"I am mistaken," the hunter said suddenly, turning to his companion. + +"How so?" the latter asked. + +"Because," Stronghand replied, "I told you yesterday we should not +reach the _atepetl_ till the afternoon." + +"Well?" + +"We shall be there by eleven o'clock." + +"_¡Caramba!_ That is famous news." + +"When we have crossed that hill we shall see the village a short +distance ahead of us, picturesquely grouped on the side of another +hill, and running into the plain, where the last houses are built on +the banks of a pretty little stream, whose white and limpid waters +serve as a natural rampart." + +"Tell me, comrade, what do you think of the reception that will be +offered us?" + +"The Papazos are hospitable." + +"I do not doubt it; unluckily, I have no claims to the kindness of the +Redskins. Moreover, I know that they are very suspicious, and never +like to see white men enter their villages." + +"That depends on the way in which white men try to enter them." + +"There is another reason which, I confess, supplies me with reason for +grave thought." + +"What is it?" + +"It is said--mark me, I do not assert it--" + +"All right; go on." + +"It is said that the Papazos are excited, and on the point of +revolting, if they have not done so already." + +"They rose in insurrection some days ago," Stronghand coolly answered. + +"What?" the majordomo exclaimed, greatly startled, "and you are leading +me to them?" + +"Why not?" + +"Because we shall be massacred, that's all." + +The hunter shrugged his shoulders. + +"You are mad." + +"I am mad--I am mad!" Paredes repeated, shaking his head very +dubiously; "it pleases you to say that, but I am not at all desirous, +if I can avoid it, of thus placing myself in the power of men who must +be my enemies." + +"I repeat that nothing will happen to you. _¡Viva Dios!_ do you fancy +me capable of leading you into a snare?" + +"No; on my honour that is not my thought; but you may be mistaken, and +credit these savages with feelings they do not possess." + +"I am certain of what I assert. Not only have you nothing to fear, but +you will have an honourable reception." + +"Honourable?" the majordomo remarked, with an air of incredulity; "I am +not very certain of that." + +"You shall see. Woe to the man who dared to hurt a hair of your head +while you are in my company." + +"Who are you, to speak thus?" + +"A hunter, nothing else; but I am a friend of the Papazos, and adopted +son of one of their tribes; and every man, though he were the mortal +enemy of the nation, must for my sake, be received as a brother by the +sachems and warriors." + +"Well, be it so," the majordomo muttered, in the tone of a man forced +in his last entrenchments, and who resolves to make up his mind. + +"Besides," the hunter added, "any hesitation would now be useless and +perhaps dangerous." + +"Why so?" + +"Because the Indians have their scouts scattered through the woods and +over the plain already; they saw and signalled our approach long ago, +and if we attempted to turn back, it would justly appear suspicious; +and then we should suddenly see Indians rise all round us, and be +immediately made prisoners, before we even thought of defending +ourselves." + +"_¡Demonio!_ that makes the matter singular, comrade; then you believe +we have been seen already?" + +"Would you like to have a proof on the spot?" the hunter asked, +laughingly. + +"Well, I should not mind, for I should then know what I have to expect." + +"Well, I will give you the proof." + +The travellers had reached the foot of the hill, and were at this +moment concealed by the tall grass that surrounded them. Stronghand +stopped his horse, and imitated the cry of the mawkawis twice. Almost +immediately the grass parted, an Indian bounded from a thick clump of +trees with the lightness of an antelope, and stopped two yards from the +hunter, on whom he fixed his black, intelligent eyes, without saying +a word. The apparition of the Redskin was so sudden, his arrival so +unexpected, that, in spite of himself, the majordomo could not restrain +a start of surprise. + +This Indian was a man of three-and-twenty years of age at the most, +whose exquisite proportions made him resemble a statue of Florentine +bronze; the whole upper part of his body was naked: his unloosened hair +hung in disorder over his shoulders; his clothing merely consisted of +trousers sewn with horsehair, fastened round the loins by a belt of +untanned leather, and tied at the ankles. A tomahawk and a scalping +knife--weapons which the Indians never lay aside--hung from his +belt, and he leant with careless grace upon a long rifle of American +manufacture. The hunter bowed, and after stretching out his arm, +with the palm turned down and the fingers straight, said in a gentle +voice--"Wah! The Waconda protects me, since the first person I see, on +returning to my people, is Sparrowhawk." + +The young Indian bowed in his turn with the native courtesy +characteristic of the Redskin, and replied in a guttural voice, which, +however, was very gentle--"For a long time the sachems have been +informed of the coming of the Great Bear of their Nation; they thought +that only one chief was worthy saluting Stronghand on his return. +Sparrowhawk is happy that he was chosen by them." + +"I thank the sachems of my nation," the hunter said, with a meaning +glance at the majordomo, "for having designed to do me so signal an +honour. Will my son return to the village with us, or will he precede +us?" + +"Sparrowhawk will go ahead, in order that the guest of Stronghand, my +father, may be received with the honours due to a man who comes in the +company of the Great Bear." + +"Good! My brother will act as becomes a chief. Stronghand will not +detain him longer." + +The young Indian bowed his head in assent, leapt backwards, and +disappeared in the thicket whence he had emerged, with such rapidity, +that if the grass had not continued to undulate after his departure, +his apparition would have seemed like a dream. + +"We can now start again," the hunter said to the majordomo, who was +utterly confounded. + +"Let us go!" the latter answered, mechanically. + +"Well," answered Stronghand, "do you now believe that you have anything +to fear among the Papazos?" + +"Excuse me; as you said, I was a madman to fear it." + +They crossed the plain, following a wild beast track which, after +numberless windings, reached a ford, and in about an hour they arrived +at the bank of the river. Twelve Papazo Indians, dressed in their war +paint and mounted on magnificent horses, were standing motionless and +in single file in front of the ford. + +So soon as they perceived the two travellers, they uttered loud shouts +and dashed forward to meet them, firing their guns, brandishing +their weapons, and waving their white female buffalo robes, which, +by-the-bye, only the most renowned sachems of the nation have the +right to wear. The two white men, on their side, spurred their horses, +responding to the shouts of the Indians, and firing their guns. +All at once, at a signal from one of the chiefs, all the horsemen +stopped, and arranged themselves round the travellers, to act as an +escort. The whole party crossed the ford and entered the village, +amid the deafening shouts of the women and children, with which were +inharmoniously blended the bark of dogs, the hoarse notes of the +shells, and the shrill sounds of the _chichikoues_. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE ATEPETL. + + +Many persons imagine that all Indians are alike, and that the men +acquainted with the manners of one tribe knows them all. This is a +serious error, which it is important to dissipate. Among the Indians, +properly so called--that is to say, the aborigines of America--will +be found as many differences in language, dialect, &c., as among the +nations of the Old Continent, if not more. The number of dialects +spoken by the Indians is infinite; the manners of one nation form a +complete contrast with those of another living only a few leagues +away; and any person who, after travelling for some time in the Far +West, asserted that he was thoroughly acquainted with the character of +the Indians and their mode of life, would be quite deceived; and more +serious still, would deceive those whom he pretended to instruct. + +The Indians are divided into two great families: the cultivating +Indians--that is to say, those who are sedentary and attached to +the soil they till; and hunter or nomadic Indians, who have a great +resemblance to the Touaricks of Africa and the Tartars of Asia. The +hunting Indians, known as _Indios Bravos_, inhabit leathern huts, easy +of transport from one place to another, and only remain stationary so +long as the country supplies them with the necessary forage for their +horses, and the game indispensable for the men. The tame Indians, or +_Indios Mansos_, on the other hand, are permanently established at a +carefully selected spot; they have built actual houses, in which they +shelter themselves and keep their winter provisions. These Indians, +though they follow the customs of their fathers, recognise the Mexican +laws, obey them ostensibly, are apparent Christians, though they +secretly practise all the rites of their old faith; and their chief +assumes the title of Alcalde. In a word, they are nearly as much +civilized as the majority of the creoles. + +The confederation of the Papazos was composed of several nations, +combining both Indios Mansos and Indios Bravos. The latter, though +harmless, and consequently nomadic, had, in the heart of unexplored +forests or the gorges of the Sierra Madre, their winter villages--a +collection of huts made of branches, and covered with mud, where, in +the event of war, their squaws found refuge, and which served them, +after an expedition, to hide the plunder they had made. + +The Gilenos, whose powerful nation was composed of one hundred and +eighteen distinct tribes, each of which had its private totem or +standard, formed the principal branch of the Confederation of the +Papazos. The Gilenos are essentially agricultural. At a period which +it would be impossible to state with certainty, because the Indians +do not write anything down, but trust to tradition, the Comanche +nation, which proudly calls itself the "Queen of the Prairies," and +asserts, perhaps justly, that it is descended in a straight line from +the Chichimeques, the first conquerors of Mexico, was divided into two +parts after a council held by the chiefs, for the sake of terminating +a dispute that threatened to degenerate into a civil war. One half the +nation continued to wander in the immense prairies of the Far West, +and retained the name of Comanche. The other tribes settled on the +banks of the Rio Gila, gave up hunting for agriculture, while retaining +their independence, and only nominally obeying the Spaniards and +Mexicans. Eventually they received the name of Gilenos, from the river +on whose banks they originally settled. But, although separated, the +two divisions of the Comanche nations continued to maintain friendly +relations, recognised each other as springing from the same stem, and +helping one another whenever circumstances demanded it. + +The Gilenos piously preserved the faith of their fathers, maintained +their customs; among others that of never drinking spirituous liquors: +and never permitted the Mexican Government to establish among them that +system of annoyance and rapine under which it mercilessly bows the +other Indian Mansos. The Gileno villages are distinguished from all +the others by their singular construction, which admirably displays the +character of this people. We will attempt to convey an idea of them to +the reader. + +Stronghand had pointed out to the majordomo clusters of storied houses, +suspended as it were from the flank of the hill. But these houses were +only built temporarily, and in case of an attack on the village would +be immediately destroyed. The hill, doubtless in consequence of one of +those natural convulsions so common in these regions, was separated +into two parts by a quebrada of enormous depth, which served as the bed +of an impetuous torrent. On either side of this quebrada the Indians +had built an enormous construction, of pyramidal shape, upwards of +two hundred and fifty feet in height. These two towers contained the +lodgings of the inhabitants, their granaries and storehouses. More +than eight hundred beings, men, women, and children, resided in these +singular buildings, which were connected together at the top by a +bridge of lianas, boldly thrown across the abyss. These towers could +only be entered by a ladder, which was drawn up each night; for as +a last and essential precaution, the doors were sixty feet from the +ground, in order to guard against surprise. + +Nothing could be more curious or picturesque than the appearance +offered at a distance by this strange village, with its two massive +towers, having ladders for stairs, up and down which people were +constantly moving. A few days previously, for greater safety, and to +guard the village from a surprise, the chiefs had a trench dug, and +a palisade erected, composed of stakes fastened together by lianas. +The Indians had taken this precaution, to prevent their horses, on +which they especially calculated for the success of the meditated +expedition, being carried off by surprise, as so frequently happens on +the border. + +The travellers were conducted with great ceremony by the chiefs, +who had come to receive them at the entrance of the village, to the +square, on one side of which stood the "Ark of the First Man;" on the +other, "The Great Medicine Lodge, or Council Hut." During the ride the +majordomo fancied he saw among the crowd several individuals belonging +to the white race, and mentioned it to his comrade. + +"You are not mistaken," the latter replied; "several Mexicans reside in +the village and trade with the Indians; but that must not surprise you, +for you are aware that the Gilenos are mansos. Stay, here is a monk." + +In fact, at this moment a stout, rubicund monk crossed the square, +distributing blessings right and left, of which the Indians seemed to +take but little notice. + +"These worthy Frayles," the hunter continued, "lead here a rather +monastic life, but in spite of the trouble they take, they cannot +succeed in making proselytes. The Comanches are too attached to their +religion to accept another; still, as they are too savage to be +intolerant," he added, ironically, "they allow these poor monks entire +liberty, on the express condition that they do not interfere with them. +They have even permitted them to build a chapel, a very poor and simple +edifice, in which a few passing adventurers offer up their prayers; for +the inhabitants of the village never set foot in it." + +"I will go to it," said Paredes. + +"And you will act rightly. However, I will do this justice to the four +monks who, through a love of proselytism, have confined themselves +to this forgotten nook, of stating that they bear an excellent +reputation, do all the good they can, and are generally beloved and +respected by the population. This praise is the more valuable, because +the Mexican clergy do not enjoy a great reputation for sanctity." + +"But now that war is declared, what will become of these monks?" + +"What do you think? They will remain peacefully, without fearing insult +or annoyance. However savage the Indians may be, they are not so +savage, be assured, as to make the innocent suffer for the crimes of +the guilty." + +"Forgive me, Stronghand, if I remark that I notice, with sorrow, in +your mode of expressing yourself, a certain bitterness which seems to +me unjust. The secret sympathies of an honest man ought not, in any +case, to render him partial." + +"I allow that I am wrong, my friend. When you know me better, you +will be indulgent, I doubt not, to this bitterness which I frequently +unconsciously display in my language. But here we are at the square, +and other more urgent matters claim all our attention." + +The plaza, which the travellers now reached, formed a parallelogram, +and rose with a gentle ascent to the foot of the tower on the left of +the village. Several streets opened into it, and the houses built on +either side of it had an appearance of cleanliness and comfort which +is but rarely found in Indian villages; and if this pueblo had been +inhabited by white creoles, it would certainly have obtained the title +of _ciudad_. In front of the council lodge stood three men, whom it +was easy to recognise as the principal chiefs of the village by their +hats of raccoon skin, surrounded by a gold golilla, and the silver +mounted cane, like that of our beadles, which they held in their right +hand. The Mexicans, among other customs they took from the Spaniards, +have retained that of investing the Indian chiefs with authority. +This investiture, generally performed by a delegate of the governor of +the province, consists in giving them the hat and stick to which we +have referred. These three chiefs, therefore, ostensibly held their +power from the Mexican government, but in reality the latter had only +obeyed the feudal claims of the tribes assembled at this village, by +conferring the authority on these men whom their countrymen had long +previously recognised as chiefs. + +The procession halted before the alcaldes, or, to use the Indian term, +the sachems. The latter were men of a ripe age, with a haughty and +imposing mien. The eldest of them, who stood in the centre, had in +his look and the expression of his features something indescribably +majestic. He appeared about sixty years of age; a long white beard +fell in snowy flakes on his chest; his tall form, his broad forehead, +his black eyes, and his slightly aquiline nose, rendered him a very +remarkable man. He did not wear the Indian costume, but that adopted +by the hunters and wood rangers; a blue cotton shirt, fastened round +his hips by a leather girdle, which held his arms and ammunition, wide +_calzoneras_ of deer hide buckled below the knee, and heavy boots, +whose heels were armed with formidable spurs, the wheel of which was as +large as a saucer. + +In conclusion, the personage we have attempted to describe did not +belong to the Indian race, as could be seen at the first glance; but +in addition, the fine, elegant, nervous type of the pure Spanish +race could be noticed in him. The majordomo could not check a start +of surprise at the sight of this man, whose presence seemed to him +incomprehensible at such a place and among such people. He leant over +to Stronghand, and asked him, in a low voice, choked by involuntary +emotion,--"Who is that man?" + +"You can see," the hunter replied, drily, "he is the Alcalde Mayor of +the pueblo. But silence! The persons surrounding us are surprised to +see us conversing in whispers." + +Paredes held his tongue, though his eyes were obstinately fixed on the +man to whom the hunter had ironically given the title of Alcalde Mayor. +A little to the rear of the chiefs, a warrior was holding a totem of +the tribe, representing a condor, the sacred bird of the Incas. A +crowd of Indians of both sexes, nearly all armed, filled the square, +and pressed forward to witness a scene which was not without a certain +grandeur. So soon as the procession halted, Sparrowhawk dismounted and +walked up to the sachems. + +"Fathers of my nation," he said, "the Great Bear of our tribe has +returned, bringing with him a paleface, his friend." + +"He is welcome," the three chiefs answered, unanimously, "as well as +his friend, whoever he may be; so long as he pleases to remain among us +he will be regarded as a brother." + +The hunter then advanced, and bowed respectfully to the sachems. + +"Thanks for myself and friend," he said; "the journey we have made was +long, and we are worn with fatigue. May we be permitted to take a few +hours' rest?" + +The Indians were astonished to hear the hunter, a man of iron power, +whose reputation for vigour was well established among them, speak of +the fatigue he felt. But understanding that he had secret reasons for +asking this, no one made a remark. + +"Stronghand and his friend are at liberty to proceed to the calli +prepared for them," one of the chiefs answered: "Sparrowhawk will guide +them." + +The two adventurers bowed respectfully, and, preceded by Sparrowhawk, +passed through the crowd, which opened before them, and proceeded to +the calli appointed for them. Let us state at once that this calli +was the property of Stronghand, who inhabited it whenever business +or accident brought him to the village. By the order of the chiefs, +however, it had been prepared for the reception of two persons. So +soon as the travellers reached the calli, Sparrowhawk retired, after +whispering a few words in the ear of the hunter. The latter replied by +a sign of assent, and then turned to the majordomo, who was already +engaged in unsaddling his horse. + +"You are at home, comrade," he said to him; "use this house as you +think proper. I have to see a person to whom I will introduce you +presently. I will, therefore, leave you for the present, but I shall +not be absent long." + +And without awaiting an answer, the hunter turned his horse, and +started at a gallop. + +"Hum!" the Mexican muttered, so soon as he was alone, "all this is not +clear; did I do wrong in trusting to this man? I will be on my guard." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE SPY. + + +After installing the majordomo in the calli, Stronghand proceeded +through the village, taking an apparently careless glance around, +but in reality not letting anything unusual escape his notice. The +Indians whom the hunter met addressed him as an old acquaintance; +the very women and children tried to attract his attention by their +hearty bursts of laughter and their greetings of welcome. For all and +for each the hunter had a pleasant remark, and thus satisfied the +frequently indiscreet claims of those who pressed around him. Thus +occupied, he went right through the village, and, on reaching the foot +of the left-hand pyramid, dismounted, threw his horse's bridle to a +boy, bidding him lead the horse to his calli, and forced his way with +some difficulty through the crowd, whose curiosity seemed to increase +instead of diminishing. He walked up to the ladder, and after waving +his hand to the Indians, hurried up it, and disappeared inside the +pyramid. + +This strange building, which was almost shapeless outside, was +internally arranged with the utmost care and most perfect intelligence. +The hunter, who was doubtless anxious to reach his destination, +only took a hurried glance at the rooms he passed through; he went +up an internal staircase, and soon reached the top of the pyramid. +Sparrowhawk was standing motionless before a cougar's skin hung up in +lieu of a door, and on seeing the hunter he bowed courteously. + +"My father has not delayed," he said, with a good-tempered smile. + +"Has the council begun yet?" Stronghand asked. + +"For four suns the elders of the nation have remained without taking +rest round the council fire; the arrival of my father was alone able to +make them suspend their labours for an hour." + +The hunter frowned. + +"Cannot I speak to the great sachem for a moment?" + +"I cannot give my father any information on that point." + +"Good!" the hunter continued, apparently forming a determination. "Has +Sparrowhawk no instructions for me?" + +"None, but to await Stronghand, and announce his arrival." + +"Wah! here I am; my brother's instructions are fulfilled." + +Without replying, Sparrowhawk raised the curtain, and allowed the +hunter to pass into the council hall. + +In a large room, which was entirely destitute of furniture--unless +that name can be given to dried buffalo skulls employed as seats--some +twenty persons were gravely seated in a circle, smoking a calumet +silently, whose mouthpiece constantly passed from hand to hand. In +the centre of the circle was a golden brasier, in which burned the +sacred fire of Motecuhzoma, a fire which must never go out. According +to tradition, the last Emperor of Mexico shared it among his dearest +partisans on the eve of his death; and this fire, it is also said, +derives its origin from the sun itself. + +The presence of this fire in the room, which was generally kept in a +subterraneous vault, inaccessible to the sight of the common herd, +and which is only shown to the people on grand occasions, proved the +gravity of the matters the council had to discuss. Moreover, the +appearance of the chiefs assembled in the room had about it something +stern and imposing that inspired respect. Contrary to Indian habits, +they were all unarmed. This precaution, which was owing to the advice +of the principal sachem of the nation, was justified not only by the +considerable number of chiefs present, but also by their belonging to +various nations. Each tribe of the grand confederation of the Papazos +had its representative in this assembly, where were also the sachems of +nations ordinarily at war with it, but who, in the hope of a general +revolt against the whites, the implacable enemies of the red race, had +forgotten their hatred for a season. Here could be seen Yaquis, Mayos, +Seris, and even free hunters and trappers, white and half-bred, in +their grand war paint, with their heels adorned with wolves' tails, an +honorary distinction to which only the great braves have a right. + +Thunderbolt, the old man whose portrait we have just drawn, presided +over the assembly. On the entrance of Stronghand, all the warriors +rose, turned to him, and after bowing gracefully, invited him to take a +seat among them. The hunter, flattered in his heart by the honour done +him, bowed gravely to the members of the council, and seated himself on +the right of Thunderbolt, after handing his weapons to Sparrowhawk, who +carried them into an adjoining room. There was a rather long silence, +during which the hunter smoked the calumet which had been eagerly +offered him. At length Thunderbolt began speaking. + +"My son could not arrive at a better moment," he said, addressing +Stronghand; "his return was eagerly desired by his brothers. He has +come from the country inhabited by our enemies; without doubt he will +give us news." + +The hunter rose, looked round the meeting, and replied--"I have been +among the Gachupinos, I have entered their towns, I have seen their +pueblos, presidios, and posts; like ourselves, they are preparing for +war; they understand the extent of the danger that threatens them, and +are trying to neutralize it by all means." + +"The news is not very explicit; we hoped that Stronghand would give us +more serious information about the movements of the enemy," Thunderbolt +remarked, with a reproachful accent. + +"Perhaps I could do so," the hunter remarked, calmly. + +"Then why are you silent?" + +The young man hesitated for a moment beneath the glances fixed on him. + +"The white men have a proverb," he said, at length, "whose justice I +specially recognise at this moment." + +"What is it?" + +"Words are silver, but silence is gold." + +"Which means?" Thunderbolt continued, eagerly. + +"The most formidable weapon of the white man is treachery," the hunter +continued, not appearing to heed the interruption; "they have even +conquered by treachery the Redskins, whom they did not dare meet face +to face. Questions so interesting as those we have to settle, such +serious interests as we have to discuss, must not be treated in so +large an assembly ere it is quite certain that a traitor has not glided +in among us. So long as merely general questions are discussed this +is of slight consequence; but so soon as we discuss the means to be +employed in carrying on the war, it is urgent that the enemy should not +be warned of the result of our deliberations." + +"We cannot act otherwise than we are doing. Yes, and that is why the +whites are cleverer than we: so soon as war is declared, they appoint +a commission, composed of three members, or five at the most, who have +to draw up the plan of the campaign. Why do we not do the same? Nothing +is more simple, it seems to me: choose, among the chiefs assembled +here, a certain number of wise men accustomed to command; these men +will assemble in secret, and decide on the means to be employed in +conquering our enemy: in this way, if the Spaniards are informed +of our movements, the traitor cannot escape us for long. The other +chiefs, and the deputies of the friendly natives and other confederated +tribes, will settle in the Grand Council the common interests of the +Indian natives, and the terms to be established among them, in order +to stifle for ever those germs of discord which frequently spring up +from a misunderstanding, and almost always degenerate into sanguinary +and interminable quarrels. I have spoken: my brothers will determine +whether my words deserve being taken into consideration." + +After bowing to the audience, the hunter sat down again, and seemed to +be plunged into deep thought. One of the instinctive qualities of the +Indian race is good sense. The chiefs, in spite of the circumlocution +in which the hunter had thought it necessary to envelop his remarks, +had perfectly understood him: they had caught the justice of his +reasoning, and the advantage of a speedy decision on a subject so +interesting to the entire confederation: they guessed, under the +hunter's reticence, a name which, for secret reasons of his own, he +did not wish to utter, and hence his speech was greeted with a buzz of +satisfaction, which is always flattering to the ears of an orator, no +matter the nature of his hearers. Thunderbolt questioned the members of +the council by a glance; all replied with an affirmative shake of their +heads. + +"Your plan is adopted," the chief said; "we recognise the necessity of +carrying it out. But this time again we must apply to you to choose the +members of the council whom we have to elect." + +"Chance alone must decide the solution. All the sachems collected in +this hall are great braves of their tribes, and the picked warriors of +their nations. No matter on whom the lot falls, the members will behave +honourably in the new council." + +"Stronghand has spoken well, as he always does, when he is called upon +to give his opinion in the council of the chiefs; now let him finish +what he has so well begun, by instructing us of the way in which we are +to consult chance." + +"Be it so: I will obey my father." + +The hunter rose and left the hall, but his absence lasted only a few +minutes. During this interval the chiefs remained motionless and +silent. Stronghand soon returned, followed by Sparrowhawk, who, as he +had been ordered by the sachems to keep the door, had not taken part in +the deliberations, though he had a right to do so. This chief carried a +blanket tied up so as to form a bag. + +"In this blanket," the hunter then said, "I have placed a number of +bullets equal to that of the chiefs assembled in council: I have taken +these bullets from the ammunition bag of every one of the chiefs. I +have noticed that our guns are of different bores, and hence some of +the bullets are larger, others smaller. Each of us will draw a bullet +haphazard; when all have one, they will be examined; and the three +chiefs, if you fix on that number, or the five, if you prefer that +number, to whom chance has given the largest bullets, will compose the +new council." + +"That is a simple way, and will prevent any annoyance," Thunderbolt +said; "I believe that we shall do well by adopting it." + +The chiefs bowed their assent. + +"But," the sachem continued, "before we begin drawing, let us first +settle of how many members the council shall consist; shall there be +three or five?" + +A white trapper rose and asked leave to speak. It was a man of about +forty years of age, with frank and energetic features and muscular +limbs, well known all over the western prairies by the singular name of +the Whistler. + +"If I may be allowed," he said, "to offer my opinion on such a matter +before wise men and renowned warriors--for I am only a poor rogue of a +hunter--I would call your attention to the fact that, with a committee +whose duties are so serious, three men are not sufficient to discuss a +question advantageously, because it is so easy to obtain a majority. On +the other hand, five men mutually enlighten each other, by exchanging +their ideas and starting objections: hence, I am of opinion that the +council ought to be composed of five members. I will add one word: Will +the white and half-breed hunters and trappers here present take part in +the election?" + +"Do they not fight with us?" Thunderbolt asked. + +"This is true," the Whistler continued; "still it would be, perhaps, +better for you to settle the matter among yourselves; we are, in +reality, only your allies." + +"You are our brothers and friends; in the name of the chiefs of the +confederation. I thank you, Whistler, for the delicate proposal you +have made; but we do not accept your offer, for all must be in common +between you and us." + +"You will do as you please. I spoke for your good; and it does not suit +you, say no more about it." + +While these remarks were exchanged between the trapper and Thunderbolt, +the chiefs had decided that the military commission should be composed +of five members. The drawing at once began; each warrior went, in his +turn, to draw a bullet from the bag held by Sparrowhawk; then the +verification was begun with that good faith and impartiality which the +Indians display in all their actions when dealing with one another. +On this occasion chance was intelligent, as happens more frequently +than is supposed, when it is left free to act: the chiefs chosen to +form the committee were exactly those who, if another mode of election +had been employed, would have gained all the votes through their +talent, experience, and wisdom. Hence, the sachems frankly applauded +the decision of fate, and in their superstition, derived from this +caprice of accident a favourable augury for the result of the war. The +committee was composed as follows Thunderbolt, Sparrowhawk, Stronghand, +the Whistler, and a renowned Apache chief, whose name was the Peccary. + +When the election was over, just as the chiefs were returning to their +seats, Stronghand approached a trapper, who, ever since his entrance, +had seemed to shun his eye, and conceal himself, as far as possible, +behind the other chiefs. Tapping him on the shoulder, he said in a low +but imperative voice--"Master Kidd, two words, if you please." + +The adventurer, for it was really he, started at the touch, but +immediately recovering himself, he turned his smiling face to the +hunter's, and said, with a respectful bow--"I am quite at your service, +caballero; can I be so happy as to be able to help you in anything?" + +"Yes," the hunter answered, drily. + +"Speak, caballero, speak; and as far as lies in my power--" + +"A truce to these hypocritical protestations," Stronghand rudely +interrupted him, "and let us come to facts." + +"I am listening to you," the other said, trying to hide his anxiety. + +"This is the point--rightly or wrongly, your presence here offends me." + +"What can I do to prevent that, my dear Señor?" + +"A very simple thing." + +"What is it, if you please?" + +"Leave the tower at once, mount your horse, and be off." + +"Oh!" the bandit said, with a forced laugh, "Allow me to remark, my +dear señor, that the idea seems to me a singular one." + +"Do you think so?" the hunter remarked, coldly; "Well, opinions differ. +For my part, I consider it quite natural." + +"Of course you are jesting." + +"Do you fancy me capable of jesting--before all, with a man like you? +I think not. Well, I repeat, be off; be off as quickly as possible. I +advise you for your own good." + +"I must have an excuse for such a flight. What will the Indian chiefs +who did me the honour of summoning me to their grand council, and my +friends the hunters suppose, on seeing me thus abandon them without any +apparent motive, at the very moment when the war is about to begin?" + +"That does not concern me; I want you to be off at once; if not--" + +"Well?" + +"I shall blow out your brains in the presence of all as a traitor and a +spy. You understand me now, my master, I think?" + +The bandit started violently; his face became livid, and for some +minutes he fixed his viper eye on the hunter, who examined him +ironically; then bending down to his ear, he said, in a voice choked +with rage and shame, "Stronghand, you are the stronger, and any +resistance on my part would be mad; I shall go, therefore; but remember +this, I shall be avenged." + +Stronghand shrugged his shoulders contemptuously. "Do so," he said, +"if you can; but, in the meanwhile, be off if you do not wish me to +carry out my threat!" and he turned his back on the bandit. Kidd gave +him a parting look of fury, and without adding a word, left the hall. +Ten minutes later he was galloping on the road to the Real de Minas, +revolving the most sinister schemes. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE COUNCIL OF THE SACHEMS. + + +Although the chiefs had guessed from Stronghand's gestures what was +going on between him and the American bandit, not one of them made the +slightest allusion to Kidd's departure, or even seemed to notice it. +The Canadian trapper, named Whistler, alone went up to the hunter, and +pressing his hand, said, with a coarse laugh-- + +"By heavens! Comrade, you did not miss your game, but brought it down +at the first shot. Receive my sincere congratulations for having freed +us of that skunk, who is neither fish nor flesh, and whose roguish face +did not at all please me." + +"It would please you much less, my good fellow, if you knew him," the +hunter replied, with a smile. + +"I beg you to believe that I have no desire to form a closer +acquaintance with that pícaro; only too many like him may be met on the +prairies." + +The chiefs had resumed their seats, and the council which had been +momentarily interrupted, was re-opened by Thunderbolt. The Indians, +though people think proper to regard them as savages, could give +lessons in urbanity and good breeding to the members of parliamentary +assemblies in old Europe. Among them a speaker is never interrupted +by those coarse and inopportune noises for which some M.P.'s seem to +possess a privilege. Each speaks in his turn. The speakers, who are +listened to with a religious silence, have the liberty of expressing +their ideas without fearing personalities, which are frequently +offensive. When the debate is closed, the speaker--that is to say, the +oldest chief, or the one of the highest position either through bravery +or wisdom--sums up the discussion in a few words, takes the opinion of +the other chiefs, who vote by nodding their heads, and the minority +always accepts, without complaint or recrimination of any sort, the +resolution of the majority. + +Before going further, we will explain, in a few words, the cause of +the dissatisfaction which had induced the Indians to revolt once +again against the whites. At the period of the Spanish conquests, +the Indians, in spite of the obstinate assertions to the contrary, +were happy, or at any rate were, through the intelligent care of +the Government, placed in a situation which insured their existence +under very satisfactory conditions. It is indubitable that if Spain +had retained her colonies for fifty or sixty years longer, she would +have gradually succeeded in converting the aborigines of her vast +territories, attaching them to the cultivation of the soil, and making +them give up a nomadic existence, and adopt the far preferable life in +villages. + +All Spanish America, both North and South, was covered with missions; +that is to say, agricultural colonies, established on a large scale; +where monks, in every way respectable, through their complete +abnegation of the enjoyments of the world, and their inexhaustible +charity, taught the Indians not only the paternal precepts of the +Gospel, and their duty to their neighbour, but preaching by example, +they became weavers, labourers, cobblers, and blacksmiths, in order to +make their docile apprentices more easily understand the way to set to +work. These missions contained, at the time of the War of Independence, +several hundred thousand Indians, who had given up their nomadic life +of hunting, and patiently assumed the yoke of civilization. This +magnificent result, obtained by courage and perseverance, and which +would have speedily resulted in the solution of a problem declared +to be insoluble--the emancipation of the red race, and its aptitude +to assume the sedentary condition of a town life, was unhappily not +carried further. + +When the Mexicans had proclaimed their independence, their first care +was to destroy all that the Spaniards had raised, and utterly overthrow +the internal governmental system established by them. Naturally, the +missions were not exempted from this general overthrow; they were +perhaps more kindly treated than the institutions created by the old +oppressors. The philosophic spirit of the eighteenth century, when +it forced its way into Mexico, was naturally misunderstood and ill +appreciated by men who were plunged into the grossest ignorance, and +who believed that they displayed the independence and nobility of +their character by deadly hatred of the clergy, and abolishing their +prerogatives at one stroke. It is true that, by an inevitable reaction, +the Mexicans, whose revolution was almost entirely effected by priests, +and who, at the outset, displayed themselves as such daring skeptics, +ere long fell again, through their superstition, beneath the power of +the same clergy, and became more devoted slaves to them than ever. + +Unfortunately, the death blow had been dealt to the missions or +agricultural colonies, although the Government recognized its mistake, +and sought by all means to palliate it. They never recovered, only +languished, and eventually the majority of them fell into ruin, and +were utterly abandoned by the Indians, who returned to that desert life +from which they had been drawn with such difficulty. Nothing is so +heart-rending as the sight now offered by these missions, which were +once so rich, so full of life, and so flourishing; only a few Indians +can be seen, wandering about like ghosts in the deserted cloisters, led +by an old, white-haired monk, whom they would not leave, and who had +vowed to die among his children. + +The Mexican Government did not stop here. Returning to the old errors +of the conquistadors, it grew accustomed to regard the Indians as +slaves; imposing on them exorbitant tariffs for articles of primary +necessity, which it sold to them through special agents, bowing them +to any Draconian law, and carrying their injustice so far as to deny +them intellect, and brand them with the name of _Gente sin razón_, or +people without reason. The consequences of such a system can be easily +comprehended. The Indians, who, at the outset, contented themselves +with passively withdrawing, and seeking in the desert the liberty that +was refused them, on finding themselves so unjustly treated, and urged +to desperation by such insults, thought about avenging themselves, and +requiting evil for evil. + +Then recommenced those periodical invasions of the Indian borders which +the Spaniards had repressed with such difficulty and such bloodshed. +Murder and pillage were organized on a grand scale, and with such +success, that the Comanches and Apaches, to vex the whites, gave the +ironical name of the "Mexican moon" to the month they selected to +commit their periodical depredations. The subjected Indians--that is to +say, those who, in spite of the constant vexations to which they were +victims, remained attached to their villages--revolted several times, +and on each occasion the Mexican government succeeded in making them +return to their duty by promises and concessions, which were violated +and forgotten so soon as the Redskins had laid down their arms. The +war, consequently, became generalized and permanent in the Border +states of the confederation. + +But with the exception of a few invasions more serious than others, +the Indians had almost entirely confined themselves to keeping the +whites on the alert, when the great insurrection of 1827 broke out, +which all but succeeded in depriving Mexico of her richest provinces. +This insurrection was the more terrible, because on this occasion +the Indians, guided by experienced chiefs, possessing firearms, and +carrying out tactics entirely different from those they had hitherto +employed, waged a serious war, and insisted on retaining the provinces +they had seized. The Redskins elected an emperor and established +a government; they displayed a settled intention of definitively +regaining their independence and reconstituting their nationality. + +The Mexicans, justly terrified by these manifestations, made the +greatest sacrifices in order to quell this formidable revolt, and +succeeded, though rather owing to the treachery and disunion they +managed to sow among the chiefs than by the power of their arms. But +this uprising had caused them to reflect, and they saw that it was high +time to come to an arrangement with these men, whom they had hitherto +been accustomed to regard as irrational beings. Peace was concluded on +conditions very advantageous to the Indians and their forces; and the +Mexicans, owing to the fright they had endured, were compelled to keep +their promises, or, to speak more correctly, pretended to do so. + +For several years the Indians, satisfied with this apparent +amelioration in the relations between them and the whites, remained +peacefully in their villages, and the Mexicans had only to defend +their borders against the attacks of the wild or unsubjected Indians. +This was a task, we are bound to confess, in which they were not very +successful; for the Indians eventually passed the limits the Spaniards +had imposed on them, permanently established themselves on the ruins +of the old Creole villages, and by degrees, and gaining ground each +year, they reduced the territory of the Mexican Government in an +extraordinary way. + +Still, when the remembrance of the great Indian insurrection seemed +to have died out, and the Indios Mansos had apparently accepted the +sovereignty of Mexico, the annoyances recommenced. Though at first +slight, they gradually became more and more frequent, owing to the +apathetic resignation of the Indians, and the patience with which they +uncomplainingly endured the unjust aggressions of which they were made +the systematic victims. The concessions granted under the pressure of +fear were brutally withdrawn, and matters returned to the same state as +before the insurrection. The Indians continued to suffer, apparently +resigned to endure all the insults it might please their oppressors to +make them undergo: but this calm concealed a terrific storm, and the +Mexicans would shortly be aroused by a thunderclap. + +The Redskins behaved, under the circumstances, with rare prudence +and circumspection, in order not to alarm the persons they wished to +surprise. They would certainly have succeeded in deceiving the Mexicans +as to their plans, had it not been for the treachery of the agents of +the Mexican Government, continually kept in their villages to watch +them, among whom was Kidd, whom Stronghand had so suddenly unmasked and +contemptuously turned out. Still these agents, in spite of their lively +desire to make themselves of importance by magnifying facts, had only +been able to give very vague details about the conspiracy the Indians +were secretly forming. They knew that an emperor had been elected, and +that he was a white man, but they did not know who he was or his name. +They also knew that the Confederation of the Papazos had placed itself +at the head of the movement, and intended to deal the first blow, but +no one was aware when or how hostilities would commence. + +This information, however, incomplete though it was, appeared to the +Mexicans, on whose minds at once rushed the sanguinary memories of the +last revolution, sufficiently serious for them to place themselves in +a position to resist the first attack of the Redskins, which is always +so terrible, and to place their frontiers in such a state as would +prevent a surprise--a thing they had never yet succeeded in effecting. +The Mexican Government, warned of what was going on by the commandants +of the States of Sonora and Sinaloa, the two most menaced of the +Confederation, and recognising the gravity of the case, resolved to +send troops from the capital to reinforce the border garrisons. This +plan, unfortunately, could not be carried out, and was the cause of +fresh and very dangerous complications. + +It is only in the old Spanish colonies, which are in the deepest state +of neglect and disorganization, that such acts are possible. The troops +told off to proceed to Sonora, so soon as they learned that they were +intended to oppose the Indians, peremptorily refused to march, alleging +as the reason, that they were not at all desirous of fighting savages +who did not respect the law of nations, and had no scruples about +scalping their prisoners. The President of the republic, strong in his +right and the danger the country ran, tried to insist and force them to +set out. Then a thing that might be easily foreseen occurred: not only +did the troops obstinately remain in revolt, but set the seal on it by +making a pronunciamiento in favour of the general chosen to command the +expedition, and who, we may do him the justice of saying, had been the +first to declare against the departure of the troops from the capital. + +This pronunciamiento was the spark that fired the powder train. In a +few days the whole of Mexico was a prey to the horrors of civil war; +so that the governors of the two States, being reduced to their own +forces, and not knowing whether they would retain their posts under +the new president, were more embarrassed than ever, did not dare +take any initiative, and contented themselves with throwing up such +intrenchments as they could, though they had quite enough to do in +keeping their troops to their duty, and keeping them from deserting. +Such was the state of things at the moment we have now reached. This +information, upon which we have purposely laid a stress, in order +to make the reader understand certain facts which, without this +precaution, would seem to belong rather to the regions of fancy than to +that of history, as they are so strange and incredible, was reported +by Stronghand to the council of the sachems, and listened to in a +religious silence. + +"Now," he added, in conclusion, "I believe that the moment has arrived +to strike the grand blow for which we have so long been preparing. Our +enemies hesitate; they are demoralized; their soldiers tremble; and I +am convinced they will not withstand the attack of our and the great +Beaver's warriors. This is what I wished to say to the council. Still +it was not advisable that such important news should reach the ears of +our enemies. The sachems will judge whether I have acted well, or if my +zeal carried me too far in dismissing from the council a paleface who, +I am convinced, is a traitor sold to the Mexicans. I have spoken." + +A flattering murmur greeted the concluding remarks of the young man, +who sat down, blushing. + +"It appears to me," Whistler then said, "that the debate need not be +a long one. As war is decided on, the council of the Confederation +has only to seek allies among the other Indian nations, in order to +augment the number of our warriors, if that be possible. As regards the +operations, and the period when the Mexican territory is to be invaded, +that will devolve on the military committee, who pledge themselves to +the profoundest secrecy about their discussions, until the hour for +action arrives. I have spoken." + +Thunderbolt rose. + +"Chiefs and sachems of the Confederation of the Papazos," he said in +his sympathetic and sonorous voice, "and you, warriors, our allies, the +moment for dissolving your council has at length arrived. Henceforth +the committee of the five chiefs will alone sit. Each of you will +return to his tribe, arm his warriors, and order the scalp dance to +be performed round the war post; but the eighth sun must see you here +again at the head of your warriors, in order that all may be ready to +act when the invasion is decided on. I have spoken. Have I said well, +powerful men?" + +The chiefs rose in silence, resumed their weapons, and immediately left +the village, starting in different directions at a gallop. Thunderbolt +and Stronghand were left alone. + +"My son," the old man then said, "have you nothing to tell me?" + +"Yes, father," the young man respectfully answered; "I have very +serious news for you." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE RANCHO. + + +Before describing the conversation between Thunderbolt and Stronghand, +we are obliged to go back, and tell the reader certain facts which had +occurred at the Hacienda del Toro, a few days before the majordomo set +out for Hermosillo. Mexican girls, born and bred on the Indian border, +enjoy a liberty which the want of society renders indispensable. Always +on horseback upon these immense estates, which extend for twenty or +five-and-twenty leagues, their life is spent in riding over hill and +dale, visiting the wretched huts of the vaqueros and peons, relieving +their wants, and rendering themselves beloved by their simple graces +and affecting goodness of heart. + +Doña Mariana, who had been exiled for several years at a convent, so +soon as she returned home, eagerly renewed her long rides through +forests and prairies, to see again the persons in her father's employ, +with whom she had sported as a child, and of whom she had such a +pleasant recollection. At times followed by a servant, specially +attached to her, but more usually alone, the maiden had therefore +recommenced her rides, going to visit one and the other, enjoying her +gallop, careless as a bird, pleased with everything--the flowers she +culled as she passed, the reviving breeze she inhaled, and smiling +gaily at the sun which bronzed her complexion; in a word, she revealed +the voluptuous and egotistic apathy of a child in whom the woman is not +yet revealed, and who is ignorant that she possesses a heart. + +Most usually Doña Marianna guided her horse to a rancho situated about +three leagues from the hacienda, in the midst of a majestic forest of +evergreen oaks and larches. This rancho, which was built of adobes, +and whitewashed, stood on the bank of a stream, in the centre of a +field sufficiently cleared to grow the grain required for the support +of the poor inhabitants of the hovel. In the rear of the rancho was +an enclosure, serving as a corral, and containing two cows and four +or five horses, the sole fortune of the master of this rancho, which, +however, internally was not so poverty stricken as the exterior seemed +to forebode. It was divided into three parts, two of which served +as bedrooms, and the third as sitting room, saloon, kitchen, &c. In +the latter, the fowls impudently came to pick up grain and pieces of +tortillas which bad been allowed to fall. + +On the right was a sort of low fireplace, evidently for culinary +purposes; the middle of the room was occupied by a large oak table with +twisted legs; at the end, two doors opened into the bedrooms, and the +walls were covered with those hideous coloured plates which Parisian +trade inundates the New World with, and under which intelligent hawkers +print the names of saints, to render the sale more easy. Among these +engravings was one representing Napoleon crossing the St. Bernard, +accompanied by a guide, holding his horse. It bore the rather too +fanciful title, "The great St. Martin dividing his cloak with a +beggar." A fact which imparts incomparable meaning to this humorous +motto is, that the general, far from wishing to give his cloak to the +guide, who does not want it, seems to be shivering with cold, and +wrapping himself up with extreme care. Lastly, a few _butacas_ and +_equipales_ completed the furniture, which, for many reasons, might +be considered elegant in a country where the science of comfort is +completely ignored, and the wants of material life are reduced to their +simplest expression. + +This rancho had been for many years inhabited by the same family, who +were the last relics of the Indians dwelling here when the country +was discovered by the Spaniards. These Indians, who were mansos, and +long converted to Christianity, had been old and faithful servants of +the Marquises de Moguer, who were always attached to them, and made +it a point of honour to heighten their comforts, and give them their +protection under all circumstances. Hence the devotion of these +worthy people to the Moguer family was affecting, through its simple +self-denial. They had forgotten their Indian name, and were only known +by that of Sanchez. + +At the moment when we introduce this family to the reader, it consisted +of three persons: the father, a blind old man, but upright and hale, +who, in spite of his infirmity, still traversed all the forest tracks +without hesitation or risk of losing himself, merely accompanied by +his dog Bouchaley; the mother, a woman about forty years of age, tall, +robust, and possessing marked features, which, when she was younger, +must have been very handsome; and the son, a young man of about twenty, +well built, and a daring hunter, who held the post of tigrero at the +hacienda. + +Luisa Sanchez had been nurse to Doña Marianna, and the young lady, +deprived at an early age of her mistress, had retained for her not +merely that friendship which children generally have for their nurse, +and which at times renders the mother jealous, but that craving for +affection, so natural in young hearts, and which Doña Marianna, +restrained by her father's apparent sternness, could not indulge. The +maiden's return to the hacienda caused great joy at the rancho; father, +mother, and son at once mounted and proceeded to the Toro to embrace +their child, as they simply called her. Halfway they met Doña Marianna, +who, in her impatience to see them again, was galloping like a mad +girl, followed by her brother, who was teasing her about this love for +her nurse. + +Since then, not a day passed on which the young lady did not carry +the sunshine of her presence to the rancho, and shared the breakfast +of the family--a frugal meal, composed of light cakes, roasted on +an iron plate, boiled beef seasoned with chile Colorado, milk, and +_quesadillas_, or cheesecakes, hard and green and leathery, which the +young lady, however, declared to be excellent, and heartily enjoyed. +Bouchaley, like everybody else at the rancho, entertained a feeling +of adoration for Doña Marianna. He was a long-haired black and white +mastiff, about ten years old, and spiteful and noisy as all his +congeners. In reality, the dog possessed but one good quality--its +well-tried fidelity to its master, whom it never took its eyes off, +and constantly crouched at his feet. Since the young lady's return, +the heart of the worthy quadruped had opened to a new affection; each +morning it took its post on the road by which Doña Marianna came, and +as soon as it saw her, saluted her by leaps and deafening barks. + +Mariano Sanchez, the tigrero, had for his foster sister an affection +heightened by the similarity of name--a similarity which in Spanish +America gives a right to a sort of spiritual relationship. This +touching custom, whose origin is entirely Indian, is intended to draw +closer the relations between _tocayo_ and _tocaya_, and they are almost +brother and sister. Hence the tigrero, in order to be present each +morning at his tocaya's breakfast, often rode eight or ten leagues in +the morning, and found his reward in a smile from the young lady. As +for Father Sanchez, since the return of his child, as he called her, he +only felt one regret. It was that he could not see her and admire her +beauty; but he consoled himself by embracing her. + +It was about eleven o'clock in the morning; the sun illumined the hut; +the birds were singing merrily in the forest. Father Sanchez had taken +up the hand mill, and was grinding the wheat, while his wife, after +sifting the wheat, pounded it, and formed it into light cakes, called +tortillas, which, after being griddled, would form the solid portion of +the breakfast. + +Bouchaley was at his post on the road, watching for the arrival of the +young lady. + +"How is it," the old man asked, "that Mariano is not here yet? I +generally hear the sound of his horse earlier than this." + +"Poor lad! Who knows where he is at this moment?" the mother answered. +"He has for some days been watching a band of jaguars that have bitten +several horses at the hacienda. He is certainly ambushed in some +thicket. I only trust he will not be devoured some day by the terrible +animals." + +"Nonsense, wife," the old man continued, with a shrug of the shoulders. +"Maternal love renders you foolish. Mariano devoured by the tigers!" + +"Well, I see nothing impossible in that." + +"You might just as well say that Bouchaley is capable of chasing a +peccary; one thing is as possible as the other. Besides, you forget +that our son never goes out without his dog Bigote, a cross between a +wolf and a Newfoundland dog, as big as a six months' old colt, and who +is capable of breaking the loins of a coyote at one snap." + +"I do not say no, father; I do not say no," she continued, with a shake +of her head; "that does not prevent his being a dangerous trade, which +may one day or another, cost him his life." + +"Stuff! Mariano is too clever a hunter for that; besides, the trade +is lucrative; each jaguar skin brings him in fourteen piastres--a sum +we cannot afford to despise, since my infirmity has prevented me from +working. It would be better for my old carcass to return to the earth, +as I am no longer good for anything." + +"Do not speak so, father; especially before our daughter, for she would +not forgive you: for what you are saying is unjust; you have worked +enough in your time to rest now, and your son take your place." + +"Well, tell me, wife," the old man said, laughingly, "was I devoured by +the jaguar? And yet I was a tigrero for more than forty years, and the +jaguars were not nearly so polite in my time as they are now." + +"That is all very well; it is true that you have not been devoured, but +your father and your grandfather were. What answer have you to that?" + +"Hem!" the old man went on, in some embarrassment; "I will answer--I +will answer--" + +"Nothing, and that will be the best," she continued; "for you could not +say anything satisfactory." + +"Nonsense! What do you take me for, mother? If my father and +grandfather were devoured, and that is true, it was--" + +"Well, what? I am anxious to hear." + +"Because they were treacherously attacked by the jaguars," he at length +said, with a triumphant air; "the wretches knew whom they had to deal +with, and so played cunning. Otherwise they would never have got the +best of two such clever hunters as my father and grandfather." + +The ranchera shrugged her shoulders with a smile, but she considered it +unnecessary to answer, as she was well aware she would not succeed in +making her husband change his opinion as to her son's dangerous trade. +The old man, satisfied with having reduced his wife to silence, as he +fancied, did not abuse his victory; with a crafty smile he rolled and +lit a cigarette, while Na Luisa laid the table, arranged and dusted +everything in the rancho, and listened anxiously to assure herself that +the footfall of her son's horse was not mingled with the sounds that +incessantly rose from the forest. + +All at once Bouchaley was heard barking furiously. The old man drew +himself up in his butaca, while Na Sanchez rushed to the doorway, in +which Doña Marianna appeared, fresh and smiling. + +"Good morning, father! Good morning, mother!" she exclaimed in her +silvery voice, and kissed the forehead of the old man, who tenderly +pressed her to his heart. "Come, Bouchaley, come, be quiet!" she added, +patting the dog, which still gamboled round her. "Mother, ask my tocayo +to put Negro in the corral, for the good animal has earned its alfalfa." + +"I will go, Querida," the old man said; "for today I take Mariano's +place." And he left the rancho without awaiting an answer. + +"Mother," the young lady continued, with a shade of anxiety, "where is +my foster brother? I do not see him." + +"Has not arrived yet, niña." + +"What! Not arrived?" + +"Oh, I trust he will soon be here," she said, while stifling a sigh. + +The maiden looked at her for a moment sympathetically. + +"What is the matter, mother?" she at length said, as she seized the +poor woman's hand; "Can any accident have happened?" + +"The Lord guard us from it, Querida," Luisa said, clasping her hands. + +"Still, you are anxious, mother. You are hiding something from me. Tell +me at once what it is." + +"Nothing, my child; forgive me. Nothing extraordinary has occurred, and +I am hiding nothing from you; but--" + +"But what?" Doña Marianna interrupted her. + +"Well, since you insist, Querida, I confess to you that I am alarmed. +You know that Mariano is tigrero to the hacienda?" + +"Yes; what then?" + +"I am always frightened lest he should meet with an accident, for that +happens so easily." + +"Come, come, mother; do not have such thoughts as these. Mariano is an +intrepid hunter, and possesses far from common skill and tact." + +"Ah, hija, you are of the same opinion as my old man. Alas! If I lost +my son, what would become of you?" + +"Oh, mother, why talk in that way? Mariano, I hope, runs no danger. The +delay that alarms you means nothing; you will soon see him again." + +"May you be saying the truth, dear child!" + +"I am so convinced of it, mamita, that I will not sit down to table +till he arrives." + +"Well, you will not have to wait long, hijita," the old man said, as he +re-entered the rancho. + +"Is he coming?" the mother joyously exclaimed, as she furtively wiped +away a tear. + +"I knew it," the maiden remarked. + +"There, do you hear his horse?" the old man said. In fact, the furious +gallop of a horse echoed in the forest, and approached with the +rapidity of a hurricane. The two females darted to the door. At this +moment a horseman appeared on the skirt of the clearing, riding at full +speed, with his hair floating in the breeze, and his face animated by +the speed at which he rode. This horseman, who was powerfully and yet +gracefully built, and had a manly, energetic face, was Mariano, the +tigrero. His dog, a black and white Newfoundland, with powerful chest +and enormous head, was running by the side of the horse, and looking up +intelligently every moment. + +"¡Viva Dios! ¡Querida tocaya!" the young man exclaimed, as he leaped +from his horse. "I am glad to see you, for I was afraid that I should +arrive too late. Bigote," he added, addressing his dog and throwing +the bridle to it, which the animal seized with its mouth, "lead Moreno +to the corral." + +The dog immediately proceeded thither, followed by the horse, while +Mariano and the two females returned to the rancho. The young man +kissed his father's forehead, and took his hand, saying, "Good morning, +papa!" and then returned to his mother, whom he embraced several times. + +"Cruel child," she said to him, "why did you delay so long?" + +"Pay no attention to what your mother says, muchacho," the old man +remarked; "she is foolish." + +"Fie! You must not say that!" the young lady exclaimed; "You would do +better in scolding Mariano, for I, too, felt alarmed." + +"Do not be angry with me," the young man replied; "I have been for some +days on the track of a family of jaguars, which is prowling about the +neighbourhood, and I could not possibly come sooner." + +"Are they about here?" + +"No; they are prowlers brought here by the drought; and are the more +dangerous because, as they do not belong to these parts, they rest +where they please--sometimes at one place, sometimes at another, and it +becomes very difficult to follow their trail." + +"I only hope they will not think of coming here," the mother said, +anxiously. + +"I do not believe they will, for wild beasts shun the vicinity of man. +Still, Doña Marianna had better, for some days to come, restrict her +rides, and not venture too far into the forest." + +"What can I have to fear?" + +"Nothing, I hope; still it is better to act prudently. Wild beasts are +animals whose habits it is very difficult to discover, especially when +they are in unknown parts, as these are." + +"Nonsense!" the young lady said, with a laugh; "You are trying to +frighten me, tocayo." + +"Do not believe that; I will accompany you with Bigote to the hacienda." + +The dog, which had returned to its master's side after performing its +duties, wagged its tail, and looked up in her face. + +"I will not allow that, tocayo," the young lady replied, as she passed +her hand through the dog's silky coat, and pulled its ears; "let Bigote +have a rest. I came alone, and will return alone; and mounted on Negro, +I defy the tigers to catch me up, unless they are ambuscaded on my +road." + +"Still, niña--" Mariano objected. + +"Not a word more on the subject, tocayo, I beg; let us breakfast, +for I am literally dying of hunger; and were the tigers here," she +added, with a laugh, "they might frighten me, but not deprive me of my +appetite." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +LOST! + + +They sat down to table; but the meal, in spite of Doña Marianna's +efforts to enliven it, suffered from the anxiety which two of the party +felt, and tried in vain to conceal. The tigrero was vexed with his +foster sister for not letting him accompany her, for he had not liked +to express his fears, lest the young lady on her return to the hacienda +might meet the ferocious animals he had been pursuing for some days +past, without being able to shoot them. + +The jaguar, which, is very little known in Europe, is one of the +scourges of Mexico, and would figure advantageously in zoological +gardens. There is only one in the Parisian Jardin des Plantes, and +that is a very small specimen. Let us describe this animal, which is +more feared by the Indians and white men of North America, than is the +lion by the Arabs. The jaguar _(Felis onca, or onza)_ is, next to the +tiger and lion, the largest of the animals of its genus; it is the +great wild cat of Cuvier, and is called indiscriminately "the American +tiger," and the "panther of the furriers." It is a quadruped of the +feline race; its total length is about nine feet, and its height about +twenty-seven inches. Its skin is handsome, and in great request; while +of a bright tawny hue on the back, it is marked on the head, neck, and +along the flanks with black spots: the lower part of the body is white, +with irregular black spots. + +But few animals escape the pursuit of the jaguar: it obstinately hunts +horses, bulls, and buffaloes; it does not hesitate to leap into rivers +to catch certain fish it is fond of, fights the alligator, devours +otters and picas, and wages a cruel warfare with the monkeys, owing to +its agility, which enables it to mount to the top of trees, even when +they are devoid of branches, and upwards of eighty feet high. Although, +like all the carnivora of the New World, it shuns the proximity of man, +it does not hesitate to attack him when urged by hunger or tracked by +hunters; in such cases it fights with the utmost bravery, and does not +dream of flight. + +Such were the animals the tigrero had been pursuing for the last few +days, and had not been able to catch up. According to the sign he had +found, the jaguars were four in number--the male, female, and two cubs. +We can now understand what the young man's terror must be on thinking +of the terrible dangers to which his foster sister ran a risk of being +exposed on her return to the hacienda: but he knew Doña Marianna too +well to hope he could make her recall her decision. Hence, he did not +try to bring the conversation back to the subject, but resolved to +follow her at a distance, in order to come to her aid if circumstances +required it. + +As always happens under such circumstances, Doña Marianna, seeing that +no one referred again to the jaguars, was the first to talk about +them, asking her foster brother the details of their appearance in +the country, and the mischief they had done, in what way he meant to +surprise them, and a multitude of other questions; to which the young +man replied most politely, but limiting himself to brief answers, and +without launching into details, which are generally so agreeable to +a hunter. The tigrero displayed such laconism in the information he +gave the young lady, that the latter, vexed in spite of herself at +seeing him so cold upon a subject to which he had seemed to attach +such importance a few moments before, began jeering him, and ended by +saying, with a mocking look, that she was convinced he had only said +what he did to frighten her, and that the jaguars had only existed in +his imagination. Mariano gaily endured the raillery, confessed that he +had perhaps displayed more anxiety than the affair deserved, and taking +down a jarabe that hung on the wall, he began strumming a fandango with +the back of his hand, in order to turn the conversation. + +Several hours passed in laughing, talking, and singing. When the moment +for departure at length arrived, Mariano went to the corral to fetch +the young lady's horse, saddled it with the utmost care, and led it to +the door of the rancho, after saddling his own horse, so that he might +start so soon as Doña Marianna was out of sight of the rancho. + +"You remained a long time in the corral, tocayo," she said with a +laugh; "pray, have you discovered any suspicious sign?" + +"No, Niña; but as I am also going to leave the rancho, after saddling +your horse, I saddled mine." + +"Of course you are going to hunt your strange jaguars again?" + +"Oh, of course," he answered. + +"Well," she said, with feigned terror, "if you do meet them, pray do +not miss them." + +"I will do all in my power to avoid that, because I desire to make you +a present of their skins, in order to prove to you that they really +existed." + +"I thank you for your gallantry, Tocayo," she replied with a laugh; +"but you know the proverb--'A hunter must not sell the skin of +a--jaguar, before--'" + +"Well, well, we shall soon know who is right, and who wrong," he +interrupted her. + +The maiden, still laughing, embraced the ranchero and his wife, lightly +bounded into the saddle, and bending down gracefully offered her hand +to Mariano. + +"We part friends, tocayo," she said to him. "Are you coming my way?" + +"I ought to do so." + +"Then why not accompany me?" + +"Because you would suppose, Niña, that I wished to escort you." + +"Ha! Ha! Ha!" the young lady said, merrily; "I had forgotten your +proposal of this morning. Well, I hope you will be successful in your +bunt; and so, good-bye till tomorrow. Come, Negro." + +After uttering these words, she gave a parting wave of the hand to her +nurse, and started at a gallop. The young man, after watching her for +a while, to be certain of the road she followed, then re-entered the +rancho, took his gun, and loaded it with all the care which hunters +display in this operation, when they believe that life depends on the +accuracy of their aim. + +"Are you really about to start at once?" his mother asked him, +anxiously. + +"At once, mother." + +"Where are you going?" + +"To follow my foster sister to the hacienda, without her seeing me." + +"That is a good idea. Do you fear any danger for her?" + +"Not the slightest. But it is a long distance from here to the +hacienda; the Indians are moving, it is said. We are no great distance +from the border, and, as no one can foresee the future, I do not wish +my sister to be exposed to any chance encounter." + +"Excellently reasoned, muchacho. The niña is wrong in thus crossing the +forest alone." + +"Poor child!" the ranchero said; "An accident happens so easily; lose +no time, muchacho, but be off. On reflection, I think you ought to have +insisted on accompanying her." + +"You know, father, she would not have consented." + +"That is true; it is better that it should be as it is, for she will +be protected without knowing it. The first time I see Don Ruiz, I will +recommend him not to let his sister go out thus alone, for times are +not good." + +But the young man was no longer listening to his father: so soon as his +gun was loaded, he left the rancho, followed by his dog. Two minutes +later he was in the saddle, and riding at full speed in the direction +taken by Doña Marianna. + +So soon as the young lady found herself at a sufficient distance from +the rancho, she had checked her horse's pace, which was now proceeding +at an amble. It was about five in the afternoon; the evening breeze +was rising, and gently waving the tufted crests of the trees; the +sun, now almost level with the ground, only appeared on the horizon in +the shape of a reddish globe; the atmosphere, refreshed by the breeze, +was perfumed by the gentle emanations from the flowers and herbs; the +birds, aroused from the heavy lethargy produced by the heat, were +singing beneath all the branches, and filling the air with their joyous +songs. + +Doña Marianna, whose mind was impressionable, and open to all +sensations, gently yielded to the impressions of this scene, which was +so full of ineffable harmony, and gradually forgetting where she was +and surrounding objects, had fallen into a voluptuous reverie. What was +she meditating? She certainly could not have said; she was yielding +unconsciously to the influence of this lovely evening, and travelling +into that glorious country of fancy of which life is but too often the +nightmare. Doña Marianna was too young, too simple, and too pure yet +to possess any memory either sad or sweet; her life had hitherto been +an uninterrupted succession of sunshiny days; but she was a woman, and +listened for the beatings of her heart, which she was surprised at not +hearing. With that curiosity which is innate in her sex, the maiden +tried with a timid hand to raise a corner of the veil that covered the +future, and to divine mysteries which are incomprehensible, so long as +love has not revealed them by sufferings, joy, or grief. + +Doña Marianna had rather a long ride through the forest before reaching +the plain; but she had so often ridden the road at all hours of the +day, she was so thoroughly persuaded that no danger menaced her, that +she let the bridle hang on her horse's neck, while she plunged deeper +and deeper into the delicious reverie which had seized on her. In the +meanwhile, the shades grew deeper; the birds had concealed themselves +in the foliage, and ceased their songs; the sun had disappeared, and +the hot red beams it had left on the horizon were beginning to die +out; the wind blew with greater force through the branches, which +uttered long murmurs; the sky was assuming deeper tints, and night +was rapidly approaching. Already the shrill cries of the coyotes rose +in the quebradas and in the unexplored depths of the forest; hoarse +yells disturbed the silence, and announced the awakening of the savage +denizens of the forest. + +All at once a long, startling, strident howl, bearing some resemblance +to the miauling of a cat, burst through the air, and fell on the +maiden's ear with an ill-omened echo. Suddenly startled from her +reverie, Doña Marianna looked up, and took an anxious glance around +her. A slight shudder of fear passed over her body, for her horse, so +long left to its own devices, had left the beaten track, and the maiden +found herself in a part of the forest unknown to her--she had lost her +way. A person lost in an American forest is dead! + +These forests are generally entirely composed of trees of the same +family, which render it impossible to guide oneself, unless gifted with +that miraculous intuition which the Indians and hunters possess, and +which enables them to march with certainty in the most inextricable +labyrinths. Wherever the eye may turn, it only perceives immense +arcades of verdure, infinitely prolonged, wearying the eye by their +desperate monotony, and only crossed at intervals by the tracks of +wild beasts, which are mixed strangely together, and eventually lead +to unknown watering places, nameless streams, that run silently and +gloomily beneath the covert, and whose windings cannot possibly be +followed. + +The spot where the maiden was, was one of the most deserted in the +forest; the trees, of prodigious height and size, grew closely +together, and were connected by a network of lianas, which, growing +in every direction, formed an impassable wall; from the end of the +branches hung, in long festoons to the ground, that greyish moss known +as Spanish beard, while the tall straight grass that everywhere covered +the ground, showed that human foot had not trodden the soil here for +a lengthened period. The maiden felt an invincible terror seize upon +her. Night had almost completely set in; then the stories her foster +brother had told her in the morning about the jaguars returned to her +mind in a flood, and were rendered more terrible by the darkness that +surrounded her, and the mournful howling that burst forth on all sides. +She shuddered, and turned pale as death at the thought of the fearful +danger to which she had so imprudently exposed herself. + +Then, collecting all her strength for a last appeal, she uttered a cry; +but her voice died out without raising an echo. She was alone--lost in +the desert by night. What could she do? What would become of her? + +The maiden tried to find the route by which she had come, but the road +followed haphazard through the herbage no longer existed; the grass +trodden by her horse's hoof had sprung up again behind it. Moreover, +the night was so dark that Doña Marianna could not see four paces ahead +of her; and she soon found that her efforts to find the road would +only result in leading her further astray. Under such circumstances, +a man would have been in a comparatively far less dangerous position. +He could have lit a fire to combat the night chill, and keep the wild +beasts at bay; in the event of an attack, his weapons would have +allowed him to defend himself: but Doña Marianna had not the means +to light a fire; she had no weapons, and had she possessed them, +she would not have known how to use them. She was forced to remain +motionless at the spot where she was for the whole night, at the hazard +of dying of cold or terror. + +This position was frightful. How she now regretted her imprudent +confidence, which was the cause of what was now occurring! But it was +too late; neither complaints nor recrimination aught availed. She must +yield to her fate. With energetic natures, however little accustomed +they may be to peril, when that peril proves inevitable, and they +recognise that nothing can protect them from it, a reaction takes +place; their thoughts become clearer, their courage grows with their +will, and they accept, with a proud and resolute resignation, all the +consequences of the danger they are compelled to confront, however +terrible they may be. This was what happened to the maiden when she +perceived that she was really lost. A profound despair seized upon +her--for a moment the weakness natural to her sex gained the upper +hand, and she fell sobbing on the ground; but gradually the reaction +set in, and, pious as all Spanish women are, she clasped her bands, and +addressed a fervent and touching prayer to God, who was her last hope. + +It has been justly said that prayer not only consoles, but strengthens +and restores hope. Prayer, with those who sincerely believe, is the +expression of the real feelings of the soul; only those who have looked +death in the face, either on the battlefield or during a storm at sea, +will understand the sublimity of prayer--the last appeal of the weak +victim to the omnipotent Intelligence which can alone save him. Doña +Marianna prayed, and then rose calmer, and, above all, stronger. She +had placed herself in the hands of Deity, and, in her simple faith, was +convinced that He would not abandon her. + +Her horse, whose bridle she had not let loose, was standing motionless +by her side. The maiden gently patted the noble animal, the only friend +left to her; then, by a sudden inspiration, she began unfastening the +girths, tearing her little hands without knowing it, and lacerating her +fingers with the iron tongues of the buckles. + +"Poor Negro," she said, in a soft voice, as she removed the trappings, +"you must not be the victim of my imprudence; resume your liberty; for +the noble instinct with which your Creator has endowed you will perhaps +enable you to find your road. Go, my poor Negro; you are now free." + +The animal gave a whinnying of delight, made a prodigious leap, and +disappeared in the darkness. Doña Marianna was alone--really alone, now. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +STRONGHAND. + + +It is impossible to imagine what terrors night brings with it under +its thick mantle of mist, when the earth is no longer warmed by the +sparkling sunbeams, and darkness reigns as supreme lord. At that time +everything changes its aspects, and assumes in the flickering rays +of the moon a fantastic appearance; the mountains seem loftier, the +rivers wider and deeper; the trees resemble spectres--gloomy denizens +of the tomb, watching for you to pass, and ready to clutch you in their +fleshless arms. The imagination becomes heated, ideas grow confused, +you tremble at the fall of a leaf, at the moaning of the night breeze, +at the breakage of a branch; and, suffering from a horrible nightmare, +you fancy at every moment that your last hour is at hand. + +In the American forests, night has mysteries still more terrible. +Beneath these immense domes of verdure, which the sun is powerless +to pierce even at midday, and which remain constantly buried in an +undecided clear obscure, the darkness may, so to speak, be felt; +nothing could produce a flash in this chaos, excepting, perhaps, +the luminous eyeballs of the wild beasts, that dart electric sparks +from the thickets. Here Night is truly the mistress; the darkness is +peopled by the sinister denizens of the forest, whom the obscurity +drives from their unknown hiding places, and who begin their mournful +prowling in search of prey. From each clump, from each ravine, issue +confused sounds that have no name in human language; some clear and +sharp, others hoarse and low, and others, again resembling miauling, +or sardonic laughter, are blended in horrible concert. Then come the +heavy footfalls on the ground, and the sullen flapping of birds' wings, +as well as that incessant indistinct murmur, which is nought else but +the continual buzz of the infinitely little, mingled with the hollow +moan always heard in the desert, and which is only the breath of Nature +travailing with her incomprehensible secrets. A night passed in the +forest, without fire or weapons, is a terrible thing for a man; but the +situation becomes far more frightful for a woman--a girl--a frail and +delicate creature, accustomed to all the comforts of life, and unable +to find within herself those thousand resources which a strong man, +habituated to struggle, manages to procure, even in the most desperate +situations. + +Without dwelling further on the subject, the reader can imagine without +difficulty the painful situation in which Doña Marianna found herself. +So long as she could hear the sound of her horse's hoofs, as it fled +at full speed, she stood with her body bent forward and outstretched +ears, attaching herself to life, and, perchance, to hope, through the +sound which was so familiar to her; but when it had died out in the +distance, when a leaden silence once again weighed on her, the maiden +shuddered, and, folding her hands on her chest, sank in a half-fainting +condition at the foot of a tree--no longer thinking or hoping, but +awaiting death. For what succour could she expect in the tomb of +verdure, which, though so spacious, was not the less secure? + +How long did she remain plunged in this state of prostration, which +was only an anticipated death--one hour or five minutes? She could not +have said. For wretched people, whom everything, even hope, abandons, +time seems to stand still--minutes become ages, and an hour seems as +if it would never end. All at once a feeble, almost indistinguishable +sound smote her ear, and she instinctively listened. This sound grew +louder with every second, and ere long she could not be mistaken; it +was a rapid mad gallop through the forest. This sound Doña Marianna +recognised with terror; for it was produced by the return of her +horse. For the noble animal to come back with such velocity, it must +be pursued, and that closely, by ferocious animals, such was Doña +Marianna's idea, and, unfortunately, she only too soon recognised its +correctness. The horse gave a snort of terror, which was immediately +answered by two loud, sharp growls. Then, as if dreaming, Doña Marianna +heard prodigious leaps; she saw ill-omened shadows pass before her with +the rapidity of a lightning flash, and then a fearful struggle, in +which groans of agony were mingled with yells of delight. + +However terrible the maiden's position might be she felt tears slowly +course down her cheeks--her horse, her last comrade, had succumbed--the +liberty she had granted it had only precipitated its destruction. +Strange to say, though, at this supreme moment Doña Marianna did +not think for an instant that the death of her horse probably only +preceded her own by a brief space, and that it was a sinister warning +to her to prepare for being devoured. + +When terror has attained a certain degree, a strange effect is produced +upon the individual; animal life still exists in the sense that the +arteries pulsate, the heart palpitates; but intellectual life is +completely suspended; the brain, struck by a temporary paralysis, no +longer receives the thought; the eyes look without seeing; the voice +itself cannot force its way through the contracted throat; in a word, +terror produces a partial catalepsy, by destroying for a period, longer +or shorter, all the noblest faculties of man. Doña Marianna had reached +such a point that, even had she possessed the means of flight, she +would have been incapable of employing them, so thoroughly was every +feeling extinct in her--even the instinct of self-preservation, which +usually remains when all the others are destroyed. + +Fortunately for the girl, the jaguars--for there were several of +them--were to leeward; moreover, they had tasted blood, and this was a +double reason which temporarily saved her, by depriving their scent of +nearly all its delicacy. No other sound was audible, save that produced +by the crushing of the horse's bones, which the wild beasts were +devouring, mingled with growls of anger, when one of the banqueters +tried to encroach on its neighbour's share of the booty. There could be +no doubt about the fact; the animals enjoying this horrible repast were +the jaguars, so long hunted by the tigrero, and which her evil star had +brought across the maiden's track. + +By degrees, Doña Marianna became--not familiarized with the danger +hanging over her head, for that would have been impossible; but as, +according to the law of nature, anything that reaches its culminating +point must begin to descend, her first terror, though it did not +abandon her, produced a strange phenomenon. She felt involuntarily +attracted towards these horrible animals, whose black outlines she +could distinguish moving in the darkness; suffering from a species of +vertigo with her body bent forward, and her eyes immoderately dilated, +without, even accounting for the strange feeling that urged her to +act thus, she kept her eyes eagerly fixed upon them, following with a +febrile interest their slightest movements, and experiencing at the +sight a feeling of inexplicable pleasure, which produced a mingled +shudder of joy and pain. Let who will try to explain this singular +anomaly of human nature; but the fact is certain, and among our readers +many will, doubtless, bear witness to its truth. + +All at once the jaguars, which had hitherto been greedily engaged with +the corpse of the horse, without thinking of anything beyond making +a hearty meal, raised their heads and began sniffing savagely. Doña +Marianna saw their eyes, sparkling like live coals, fixed upon her; +she understood that she was lost; instinctively she closed her eyes +to escape the fascination of those metallic eyeballs, which seemed in +the darkness to emit electric sparks, and prepared to die. Still the +jaguars did not stir; they were crouching on the remains of the horse, +and, while continuing to gaze at the maiden, gracefully passed their +paws over their ears with a purr of pleasure--in a word, they were +coquettishly performing their toilet, appearing not only most pleased +with the meal they had just ended, but with that which was awaiting +them. + +Still, in spite of the calmness affected by the two animals--for the +cubs were sleeping, rolled up like kittens--it was evident that for +some unknown motive they were restless; they lashed the ground with +their weighty tails, or laid back their ears with a roar of anger, +and, turning their heads in all directions, sniffed the air. They +scented a danger; but of what nature was it? As for Doña Marianna, they +appeared so sure of seizing her whenever they thought proper, and saw +how harmless she was, that they contented themselves with crouching +before her, and did not deign to advance a step. All at once the male, +without stirring, uttered a sharp, quick yell. The female rose, bounded +forward, seized one of her cubs in her mouth, and with one backward +leap disappeared in a thicket; almost immediately she reappeared, +and removed the second in the same way; then she returned calmly and +boldly to place herself by the side of the male, whose anxiety had now +attained formidable proportions. + +At the same instant a flash traversed the air--a shot echoed far and +wide--and the male jaguar writhed on the ground with a roar of agony. +Almost immediately a man dashed from the tree at the foot of which Doña +Mariana was crouching, stood in front of her, and received the shock +of the female, which, at the shot, had instinctively bounded forward. +The man tottered, but for all that kept his feet: there was a frightful +struggle for a few minutes, and then the jaguar fell back with a last +and fearful yell. + +"Come," the hunter said, as he wiped on the grass the long machete with +which he had stabbed the beast, "my arrangements were well made, but I +fancy that I arrived only just in time. Now for the cubs; for I must +not show mercy to any member of this horrible family." + +Then this man, who seemed to possess the faculty of seeing in the +darkness, walked without hesitation towards the spot where the female +had hidden her cubs. He resolutely entered the thicket, and came out +again almost immediately, holding a cub in either hand. He smashed +their heads against the trunk of a tree, and threw the bodies on those +of their father and mother. + +"That is a very tidy butchery," he said; "but what on earth is Don +Hernando's tigrero about, that I am obliged to do his work?" + +While saying this, the hunter had collected all the dry wood within +reach, struck a light, and within a few minutes a bright flame +rose skywards. This duly accomplished, the stranger hurried to the +assistance of Doña Marianna, who had fainted. + +"Poor girl!" he muttered, with an accent of gentle pity, as he lifted +her in his arms, and carried her to the fire; "How is it that the +fright has not killed her?" + +He gently laid her on some firs he had arranged for her bed, and gazed +at her for a moment with a look of delight impossible to describe. But +then he felt considerably embarrassed. Accustomed to the hardships of +a desert life, and a skilful hunter as he had proved himself, this man +was naturally a very poor sick nurse. He knew how, at a pinch, to dress +a wound or extract a bullet, but he was quite ignorant how to bring a +fainting woman round. + +"Still, I cannot leave her in this state, poor girl," gazing on her +sorrowfully; "but what am I to do?--how can I relieve her?" + +At length he knelt down by the young lady's side, gently raised her +lovely head, which he laid on his knee, and, opening with his dagger +point her closed lips, poured in a few drops of Catalonian refino +contained in a gourd. The effect of this remedy was instantaneous. A +nervous tremour passed over the maiden's body; she heaved a sigh, and +opened her lips. At the first moment she looked around her wildly, but +ideas seemed gradually to return to her brain; her contracted features +grew brighter, and fixing her eyes on the hunter, who was still bending +over her, she muttered, with an expression of gratitude which made the +young man's heart beat, "Stronghand!" + +"Have you recognised me, señorita?" he exclaimed, with joyous surprise. + +"Are you not my Providence?" she answered. "Do you not always arrive +when I have to be saved from some fearful danger?" + +"Oh, señorita!" he murmured, in great embarrassment. + +"Thanks! Thanks, my saviour!" she continued, seizing his hand, +and pressing it to her heart; "Thanks for having come to my help, +Stronghand, for this time again. I should have been lost without you." + +"I really believe," he said, with a smile, "that I arrived just in +time." + +"But how is it that you came so opportunely?" she asked, curiously, as +she sat up and wrapped herself in the furs, for the feminine instinct +had regained its power over her. + +At this question, simple though it was, the hunter turned red. + +"Oh," he said, "it is very simple. I have been hunting in these parts +for some days past. I had tracked this family of jaguars, which I +obstinately determined to kill, I know not why; but now I understand +that it was a presentiment. After pursuing them all day, I had lost +them out of sight, and was seeking their trail, when your horse enabled +me to recover it." + +"What!--my horse?" she exclaimed, in amazement. + +"Do you not remember that it was I who gave you this poor Negro on our +first meeting?" + +"That is true," she murmured, as she let her eyes fall beneath the +hunter's ardent glance. + +"I saw you for a moment this morning when you were going to Sanchez' +rancho." + +"Ah!" she remarked. + +"Sanchez is a friend, of mine," he continued, as if to explain his +remark. + +"Go on." + +"On seeing the horse, which I at once recognised, I feared that some +accident had happened to you, and set out after it. But the jaguars had +scented it at the same time, and in spite of my thorough acquaintance +with this forest, it was impossible for me to run as fast as they did. +Luckily, they were hungry, and amused themselves by devouring poor +Negro; otherwise I should not have arrived in time." + +"But how was it that you came by this strange road?" + +"In the first place, I was bound to save your life, as I knew that if +I killed one jaguar, the other would leap upon you, in order to avenge +it." + +"But you ran the risk of being torn in pieces by the horrible animals," +she said, with a shudder of retrospective terror, as she thought of the +frightful dangers from which she had been so miraculously preserved. + +"That is possible," he said, with an unmistakable expression of joy; +"but I should have died to save you, and I desired nothing else." + +The maiden made no reply. Pensive and blushing, she bowed her head +on her chest. The hunter thought that he had offended her, and also +remained silent and constrained. This silence lasted several minutes. +At length Doña Marianna raised her head and offered her hand to the +young man. + +"Thank you again!" she said, with a gentle smile. + +"Your heart is good. You did not hesitate to sacrifice your life for +me, whom you scarce know, and I shall feel eternally grateful to you." + +"I am too amply repaid for my services by these words, señorita," he +replied, with marked hesitation; "still I have a favour to ask you, and +I should be pleased if you would deign to grant it." + +"Oh, speak, speak! Tell me what I can do!" + +"I know not how to explain it; my request will appear to you so +strange, so singular--perhaps so indiscreet." + +"Speak; for I feel convinced that the favour you pretend to ask of me +is merely another service you wish to render me." + +Stronghand bent a searching glance on the maiden, and then seemed to +make up his mind. + +"Well, señorita," he said, "it is this:--should you ever, for any +reason neither you nor I can foresee, need advice, or the help of a +friend, either for yourself or any member of your family, do nothing +till you have seen me, and explained to me unreservedly the motives +that impelled you to come to me." + +Doña Marianna reflected, while the hunter gazed at her attentively. + +"Be it so," she at length said; "I promise to act as you wish. But how +am I to find you?" + +"Your foster brother is my friend, señorita; you will request him to +lead you to me, and he will do so; or, if you prefer it, you can warn +me through him to proceed to any place you may point out." + +"Agreed." + +"I can count on your promise?" + +"Have I not passed my word?" + +All at once a loud noise, resembling the passage of a wild beast, was +heard in the forest glade; the maiden started, and instinctively clung +to the hunter. + +"Fear nothing, señorita," the latter said; "do you not recognise a +friend?" + +At the same moment the tigrero's dog leaped up to fondle her, followed +almost instantaneously by Mariano. + +"Heaven be blessed!" he said, joyfully, "She is saved!" and pressing +the hunter's hand cordially, he added, "Thanks; it is a service I owe +you, brother." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE RETURN. + + +How was it that the tigrero, whom we saw leave the rancho almost as +soon as Doña Marianna, and follow in her track, arrived so late? We +will explain this in a few sentences. The young man, feeling certain +that his foster sister thoroughly knew the road she had to follow, +which was, moreover, properly traced, had not dreamed of the chance of +her missing her way, and not troubling himself to follow the horse's +footmarks, he pushed straight on, fancying Doña Marianna ahead of him, +crossed the forest, and then entered the plain, without perceiving the +person he fancied he was following. + +Still, on reaching the cultivated land, he looked carefully ahead of +him, for he was surprised at the advance the young lady had gained on +him in so short a time. But, though he examined the horizon all around, +he saw nothing of her. Mariano was beginning to grow anxious; still, +as there was a chaparral some distance ahead, whose tufted trees might +conceal her whom he sought, he became reassured, and pushed onward, +increasing the already rapid pace of his steed. It took him some time +to pass through the chaparral; when he reached its skirt, and again +entered the plain, the sun had set about half an hour previously, and +darkness was invading the earth; the darkness was, indeed, so thick, +that in spite of all his exertions, he could distinguish nothing a few +paces ahead of him. + +The tigrero halted, dismounted, placed his ear on the ground, and +listened. A moment later he heard, or fancied he heard, a distant +sound resembling a horse's gallop; his alarm was at once dissipated. +Convinced that the young lady was in front of him, he mounted again and +pushed on. As he was only two leagues from the Hacienda del Toro, he +soon reached the foot of the rock. Here he stopped, and asked himself +whether he had better go up, or regard his mission as fulfilled, and +turn back. While unable to form any decision, he saw a black outline +gliding along the path, and soon distinguished a horseman coming toward +him. + +"_Buena noche, Caballero_," he said, when the latter crossed him. + +"_Dios le de a usted buena_," the other politely replied, and he passed +on, but suddenly turned round again. The tigrero rode to meet him. + +"Ah!" the horseman said, when they met, "I felt sure that I was not +mistaken. How is No Mariano?" + +"Very well, and at your service," the tigrero answered, recognising the +majordomo; "and you, No Paredes?" + +"The same, thank you; are you going up to the toro, or returning to the +rancho?" + +"Why that question?" + +"Because in the former case I would bid you good night, while in the +latter we would ride together." + +"Are you going to the rancho?" + +"Yes; the Señor Marquis has sent me." + +"Tell me, No Paredes, would there be any indiscretion on my part in +asking you what you are going to do at the rancho at so late an hour?" + +"Not the slightest, compadre. I am simply going to fetch Doña Marianna, +who has remained today later than usual with her nurse. Her father is +anxious about her long absence, and asked me to go and meet her if she +were on her road home, or if not, push on to the rancho." + +This revelation was a thunderclap for the young man, who fancied that +he had misunderstood. + +"What!" he exclaimed, anxiously, "Is not Doña Marianna at the hacienda?" + +"It seems not," the majordomo answered, "since I am going to fetch her." + +"Why, that is impossible!" the other continued, in extreme agitation. + +"Why so?" said Paredes, beginning to grow anxious in his turn. "What do +you mean?" + +"I mean that Doña Marianna left the rancho full three hours ago; that I +followed her without her knowledge to watch over her safety, and that +she must have been at the hacienda for more than half an hour." + +"Are you quite sure of what you assert?" + +"¡Caray! I have asserted it." + +"In that case, Heaven have pity on the poor girl! For I apprehend a +frightful misfortune." + +"But she may have entered the hacienda without your seeing her." + +"Nonsense, compadre; that is impossible. But come, we'll convince +ourselves." + +Without losing time in longer argument the two men dashed up the +rock at a gallop, and in a few minutes reached the first gate of the +hacienda. No one had seen Doña Marianna. The alarm was instantly +given; Don Hernando wished to ride off at the head of his people, and +beat up the country in search of his daughter; and it was with great +difficulty that he was induced to abandon the project. Don Ruiz and +the majordomo, followed by some twenty peons, provided with ocote wood +torches, started in two different directions. + +Mariano had an idea of his own. When he was quite certain that his +foster sister had not returned, he presumed the truth--that she was +lost in the forest. He did not consider for a moment that she had been +carried off by Indian marauders, for he had not noticed any trace of a +party of horsemen; and Bigote, whose nose was infallible, had evinced +no anxiety during the ride. Hence Doña Marianna must be lost in the +forest. The tigrero let Don Ruiz, the majordomo, and the peons pass +him, and then bent his steps towards the rancho, closely followed +by his dog, in spite of the exhortations of his young master and No +Paredes, who wanted him to accompany them. When he was in the forest +he stopped for a moment, as if to look round him; then, after most +carefully examining the spot where he was, he dismounted, fastened his +horse's bridle to the pommel, tied the stirrups together to keep them +from clanking, and gave his horse a friendly smack on the crupper. + +"Go along, Moreno," he said to it; "return to the rancho. I shall not +want you again tonight." + +The horse turned its fine intelligent head to its master, gave a +neigh of pleasure, and started at a gallop in the direction of the +rancho. The tigrero carefully examined his gun, the priming of which +he renewed, and began inspecting the ground by the light of a torch. +Bigote, gravely seated on its hind legs, followed its master's every +movement, and was evidently much perplexed. After a very lengthened +search, the tigrero probably found what he was looking for, for he rose +with an air of satisfaction, and whistled his dog, which at once ran up. + +"Bigote," he said, "smell these marks; they were made by the horse of +your mistress, Marianna; do you recognise them?" + +The noble animal did as its master ordered, then fixed its sparkling +eyes upon him with an almost human expression, and wagged its tail with +delight. + +"Good, Bigote! Good, my famous dog!" the tigrero continued, as he +patted it; "And now let us follow the trail; forward, Bigote, pick it +up clean." + +The dog hesitated for a moment, then it set out with its nose to the +ground, closely followed by its master, who had extinguished his torch, +which would henceforth be useless. But all we have narrated occupied +considerable time; and the tigrero would have arrived too late to save +the maiden, had not Heaven sent the hunter across her path. The dog did +not once check its speed through the numberless windings of the course +Negro had followed; and master and dog together reached the spot where +the horrible drama we recently described occurred. + +"When I heard Stronghand's shot," the tigrero added, as he concluded +his narrative, "I experienced a sound of deadly agony, for I understood +that a frightful struggle was going on at the moment, and that the +beast might conquer the man. Well, tocaya, will you now believe in the +jaguars?" + +"Oh, silence, Mariano!" the young lady said, with a shudder; "I almost +went mad with terror when I saw the eyes of the horrible animals fixed +upon me. Oh! Had it not been for this brave and honest hunter, I should +have been lost." + +"Brave and honest, indeed!" the tigrero, said, with frank affection; +"You are right, señorita, for Stronghand might just as fairly be called +Goodheart, for he is ever so ready to assist strangers, and relieve the +unfortunate." + +Doña Marianna listened with lively pleasure to this praise of the man +who had saved her life; but Stronghand felt terribly embarrassed, and +suffered in his heart at a deed which he thought so simple, and which +he was so delighted to have done, being rated so highly. + +"Come, come, Mariano," he said, in order to cut short the young man's +compliments, "we cannot remain here any longer; remember that while +we are quietly resting by the fireside and talking nonsense, this +young lady's father and brother are suffering from deadly anxiety, and +scouring the plain without any hope of finding her. We must arrange how +to get away from here as soon as possible, and return to the hacienda." + +"Caray, master, you are right, as usual; but what is to be done? Both +you and I are on foot, and we cannot dream for a moment that the +señorita could walk such a distance." + +"Oh, I am strong," she said with a smile; "under your escort, my +friends, I fear nothing, and can walk." + +"No, señorita," the hunter said, with an accent of gentle authority, +"your strength would betray your courage; on so dark a night, and +in a forest like this, a man accustomed to desert life could hardly +expect to walk without falling at every step. Put yourself in our +hands, for we know better than you do what is best to be done under the +circumstances." + +"Very good," she answered; "act as you think proper. I have suffered +enough already today, by refusing to listen to the advice of my tocayo, +to prevent me being obstinate now." + +"That is the way to talk," the tigrero said gaily. "What are we going +to do, Stronghand?" + +"While you skin the jaguars--for I suppose you do not wish to leave +them as they are--" + +"What!" the tigrero interrupted him, "Those skins belong to you, and I +have no claim to them, as you killed the beasts." + +"Pooh!" the hunter said with a laugh, "I am not a tigrero, except by +accident; the skins are yours, and fairly so; so you had better take +them." + +"Since that is the case I will not decline; but as for my part, I +promised to give my foster sister the skins to make a rug, I will beg +her to accept them." + +"Very good," she answered, giving the hunter a look which filled him +with joy; "they will remind me of the fearful danger I incurred, and +the way in which I escaped it." + +"That is settled, then," the hunter said; "and I will; cut down with my +machete some branches to form a litter." + +"Caray, that is an idea which would not have occurred to me," Mariano +remarked, with a laugh; "but it is very simple. To work." + +Hunters and trappers are skilful and most expeditious men; in a +few minutes Mariano had skinned the jaguars, and Stronghand formed +the litter; the skins, after being carefully folded, were securely +fastened on the back of Bigote, who did not at all like the burden +imposed on him; but after a while he made up his mind to put up with +it. Stronghand covered the litter with leaves and grass, over which +he laid the saddlecloth of the horse the jaguars had devoured; then +he requested the young lady to seat herself on this soft divan, which +was so suddenly improvised, and the two men, taking it on their strong +shoulders, started in the direction of the hacienda, joined by Bigote, +who trotted in front with glad barks. + +Although the hunters had, from excess of precaution, formed torches +of ocote wood to help them, the darkness was so complete--the trees +were so close together--that it was with extreme difficulty that +they succeeded in advancing in this inextricable labyrinth. Forced +to take continual _detours_--obliged at times to walk in water up to +their waists--deafened by the discordant cries of the birds, which the +flash of the torches aroused--they saw all around them the wild beasts +flying, with hoarse roars and eyes glaring through the darkness. It +was then that Doña Marianna fully comprehended what frightful peril +she had escaped, and how certain her death would have been, had not +the hunter come to her assistance with such noble self-devotion; and +at the remembrance of all that had occurred, and which was now but a +dream, a convulsive tremor passed over her limbs, and she felt as if +she were about to faint. Stronghand, who seemed to guess what was going +on in the maiden's mind, frequently spoke to her, in order to change +the current of her ideas by compelling her to answer him. They had been +marching for a long distance, and the forest seemed as savage as when +they started. + +"Do you believe," Doña Marianna asked, "that we are on the right road?" + +"Even admitting, señora, what might be possible," the hunter answered, +"that Mariano and myself were capable of falling into an error, we have +with us an infallible guide in Bigote, who, you may be quite certain, +will not lead us astray." + +"Within ten minutes, señorita," the tigrero said, "we shall enter the +road that runs from the rancho to the hacienda." + +All at once the two men stopped. At the same moment Doña Marianna heard +shouts that seemed to answer each other in various directions. + +"Forward! Forward!" said Stronghand; "Let us not leave your relatives +and friends in anxiety longer than we can help." + +"Thanks," she answered. + +They continued their march; and, as the tigrero had announced, in +scarce ten minutes they reached the road to the hacienda. + +"What shall we do now?" Marianna asked. + +"I think," Stronghand answered, "that we ought to announce our presence +by a cry for help, and then proceed in the direction of those who +answer us. What is your opinion, señora?" + +"Yes," she said, "I think we ought to do so; for otherwise we run a +risk of reaching the hacienda without meeting any of the persons sent +to seek me, and who might continue their search till morning, which +would be ingratitude on my part." + +"You are right, niña; for all these worthy people are attached to you, +and besides, your brother and Don Paredes are also seeking you." + +"That is a further reason why we should hasten to announce our return," +the young lady answered. + +The two hunters, after consulting for a moment, uttered together that +long shrill yell, which, in the desert as in the mountains, serves as +the rallying cry, and may be heard for an enormous distance. Almost +immediately the whole forest seemed to be aroused; similar cries broke +out in all directions, and the hunters noticed red dots running with +extreme rapidity between the trees, and all converging on the spot +where they stood, as if they radiated from a common centre. Certain +of having been heard, the hunters once again uttered their shout for +help. The reply was not delayed; the galloping of horses soon became +distinct, and then riders, holding torches, appeared from all parts of +the forest coming at full speed, waving their hands, and resembling +the fantastic huntsmen of the old German legends. In a few minutes +all the persons were assembled round the litter on which the young +lady reclined; and Don Ruiz and the majordomo were not long ere they +arrived. We will not describe the joy of brother and sister on seeing +each other again. + +"Brother," Doña Marianna said to Don Ruiz, "if you find me still alive, +you owe it to the man who before saved us both from the pirates of the +prairies; had it not been for him, I should have been lost." + +"You may safely say that, and no mistake," Marianna said, in +confirmation. + +"Where is he?" Don Ruiz asked--"Where is he? that I may express all my +gratitude to him." + +But he was sought for in vain. During the first moment of confusion, +Stronghand had summoned a peon to take his place--had glided unnoticed +into the forest and disappeared--no one being able to say in what +direction he had gone. + +"Why this flight?" Doña Marianna murmured, with a stifled sigh; "Does +this strange man fear lest our gratitude should prove too warm?" + +And she thoughtfully bowed her head on her bosom. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +CHANCE WORK. + + +Although he allowed nothing to be visible, Don Ruiz was vexed at heart +with the affectation the hunter seemed to display in avoiding him, and +escaping from his thanks. This savageness in a man to whom he owed +such serious obligations appeared to him to conceal either a disguised +enmity, or dark schemes whose accomplishment he feared, though he could +not assign any plausible motive for them, especially after the manner +in which the hunter had not hesitated on two occasions to imperil +his life in assisting himself and his sister. These thoughts, which +incessantly thronged to the mind of Don Ruiz, plunged him into deep +trouble for some moments; still, when the peons he had sent off to +seek the hunter all returned one after the other, declaring that they +could not possibly find his trail, the young man shook his head several +times, frowned, and then gave orders for the start. + +Doña Marianna's return to the hacienda was a real triumphal procession. +The peons, delighted at having found their mistress again safe and +sound, gaily bore her on their shoulders, laughing, singing, and +dancing along the road, not knowing how otherwise to express their joy, +and yet desirous to make her comprehend the pleasure they felt. In +spite of the fatigue that crushed her, and the state of exhaustion into +which she had fallen through the terrific emotions she had undergone, +Doña Marianna, sensible of these manifestations of gratitude, made +energetic efforts in order to appear to share their joy, and prove to +them how greatly she was affected by it. But, although she gave them +her sweetest smiles and gentlest words, she could not have endured much +longer the constraint, and she was really exhausted when the little +party at length reached the hacienda. + +The Marquis, who was suffering the most frightful agitation, had gone +to the last gate to meet them, and would possibly have gone further +still, had not Don Ruiz taken the precaution, so soon as his sister was +found, to send off a peon to tranquillize his mind and announce the +successful result. At the first moment the Marquis completely forgot +his aristocratic pride, only to think of the happiness of pressing +to his heart the child he feared he had lost for ever. Don Rufino +Contreras, carried away by the example, shared in the general joy, +and pretended to pump up a tear of sympathy while fixing on the young +lady his huge grey eyes, to which he tried in vain to give a tender +expression. + +The maiden threw herself with an outburst of tears into her father's +arms, and at length, yielding to her feelings, fainted--an accident +which, by arousing the anxiety of the spectators, cut short all the +demonstrations. Doña Marianna was conveyed to her apartments, and the +peons were dismissed after the majordomo had, by the order of the +Marquis, distributed among them _pesetas_ and tragos of refino, which +set the crown of the delight of these worthy fellows. + +In spite of the offer of No Paredes, who invited him to spend the +night at the hacienda, the tigrero would not consent; and after +freeing Bigote from the jaguars' skins, which seemed to cause the dog +considerable pleasure, they both started gaily for the rancho. It was +about two o'clock, a.m., and a splendid night, and the tigrero, with +his gun under his arm and his dog at his heels, was walking at a steady +pace while whistling a merry jarana, when, just as he was entering the +shadow of the forest, Stronghand suddenly emerged from a thicket two +paces ahead of him. + +"Hilloh!" the tigrero said, on recognising him; "Where the deuce did +you get to just now, that it was impossible to find you? What bee was +buzzing in your bonnet?" + +The hunter shrugged his shoulders. + +"Do you fancy," he replied, "that it is so very pleasant to be stared +at by those semi-idiotic peons for performing so simple a deed as mine +was?" + +"Well, opinions are free, compadre, and I will not argue with you on +that score; still, I should not have run off in that way." + +"¿Quién sabe? You are more modest than you like to show, brother; and I +feel certain that, under similar circumstances, you would have acted as +I did." + +"That is possible, though I do not believe it; still, I thank you," he +added, with a laugh, "for having discovered in me a quality which I was +not aware I possessed. But where on earth are you going at such an +hour?" + +"I was looking for you." + +"In that case all is for the best, since you have found me; what do you +want of me?" + +"To ask hospitality of you for a few days." + +"Our house is not large, but sufficiently so to contain a guest, +especially when you are he; you can remain with us so long as you +please." + +"I thank you, gossip, but I shall not abuse your complaisance; I am +obliged to remain for a few days in these parts, and, as the nights are +fresh, I will confess that I prefer passing them under a roof instead +of the star spangled arch of heaven." + +"As you please, Stronghand; the door of my humble rancho is ever +open to let you in or out. I do not want to know the reason for your +stay here; but the longer you remain with us, the greater honour and +pleasure you will afford us." + +"Thanks, comrade." + +All was settled in a few words. The two men continued their walk, and +soon reached the rancho. The tigrero led the hunter to his bedroom, +where they lay down side by side, and soon fell asleep. A few days +elapsed, during which the hunter saw Doña Marianna several times, +while careful not to let her notice him, although it was evident to +Stronghand that the young lady would have liked nothing better than +meeting him; perhaps she really desired it, without daring to confess +it to herself. + +One day, about a week after the scene with the jaguars, the hunter was +lying half asleep in a copse whose leafy branches completely hid him +from sight, and quietly enjoying his siesta during the great midday +heat, when he fancied he heard the sound of footsteps not far from the +spot where he was. He instinctively opened his eyes, raised himself +on his elbow, and looked carefully around him; he checked a cry of +surprise on recognising the man, who had stopped close to the thicket +and dismounted, like a man who has reached the spot he desired. This +man was Kidd, the bandit, with whom the reader has already formed +acquaintance. + +"What does that scoundrel want here?" the hunter asked himself. "He is +doubtless plotting some infamy, and I bless the chance that brings him +within earshot, for this demon is one of the men who cannot be watched +too closely." + +In the meanwhile Kidd had removed his horse's bit, in order to let it +graze freely; he himself sat down on a rock, lit a husk cigarette, and +began smoking with all the _nonchalance_ of a man whose conscience +is perfectly at its ease. Stronghand racked his brains in vain to try +and discover the motive for the presence of the bandit in these parts, +so remote from the ordinary scene of his villainy, when chance, which +had already favoured him, gave him the clue to the enigma, which he had +almost despaired of obtaining. A sound made him turn his head, and he +saw a stout horseman, with rubicund face and handsomely dressed, coming +up at an amble. When he reached the adventurer, the latter rose, bowed +respectfully, and assisted him to dismount. + +"Ouf!" the stout man said, with a sigh of relief, "What a confounded +ride!" + +"Well," the bandit replied with a grin, "you must blame yourself, Don +Rufino, for you arranged it. May the fiend twist my neck if I would +damage myself, no matter for what purpose, and ride across the plain at +this hour of the day." + +"Everybody is the best judge of his own business, Master Kidd," Don +Rufino remarked, drily, as he wiped his steaming face, with a fine +cambric handkerchief. + +"That is possible; but if I had the honour to be Don Rufino Contreras, +enormously rich, and senator to boot, hang me if I would put myself +out of my way to run after an adventurer like Master Kidd, whatever +pleasure I might take at other times in the conversation of that worthy +caballero." + +The senator began laughing. + +"Ha! Ha! Scoundrel; you have scented something." + +"Hang it!" the bandit replied, impudently, "I do not deceive myself, +and am well aware that whatever attractions my conversation may offer, +you would not have come this distance expressly to hear it." + +"That is possible, scamp. However, listen to me." + +"I can see from your familiarity that the job will be an expensive one; +well, I do not dislike that way of entering upon the subject, for it +forebodes a good business." + +The senator shrugged his shoulders with ill-disguised contempt. "Enough +of this," he said, "let us come to facts." + +"I ask nothing better." + +"Are you fond of money?" + +"I certainly have a weakness for gold." + +"Good. Would you hesitate about killing a man to earn it?" + +"What do you mean?" + +"I ask you, scoundrel, whether in a case of necessity you would kill a +man for money?" + +"I perfectly understood you." + +"Then why make me repeat it?" + +"Because your doubt is offensive to my feelings." + +"How so?" + +"Hang it, I fancy I speak clearly. Killing a man is nothing when you +are well paid for it." + +"I will pay well." + +"Beforehand?" + +"Yes, if you like." + +"How much?" + +"I warn you that the man I refer to is but a poor fellow." + +"Yes, a poor fellow who is troublesome to you. Well, go on." + +"One thousand piastres. Is that enough?" + +"It is not too much." + +"Confound it, you are expensive." + +"That is possible; but I do my work conscientiously. Well, tell me who +the man is that is in your way." + +"José Paredes." + +"The majordomo at the Toro?" + +"Yes." + +"Do you know that he is not an easy man to kill? You must owe him a +sore grudge, I suppose?" + +"I do not know him." + +The bandit looked in amazement at the speaker. + +"You do not know him, and yet offer one thousand piastres for his +death? Nonsense!" + +"It is so." + +"But you must have a reason. Caray, a man is not killed as one twists a +fowl's neck. I know that, bandit though I am." + +"You said it just now. He is in my way." + +"That is different," the adventurer replied, convinced by this +peremptory reason. + +"Listen to me attentively, and engrave my words on your mind." + +"Go on, señor. I will not lose a word." + +"In two or three days the majordomo will leave for Hermosillo, carrying +bills to a considerable amount." + +"Good," the bandit said, rubbing his hands gleefully; "I will kill him +as he passes, and take possession of the bills." + +"No, you will let him go on in peace, and you will kill him on his +return, when he has cashed the bills." + +"That is true. Where the deuce was my head? That will be much better." + +Don Rufino looked at him ironically. + +"You will deliver to me the sum this man is the bearer of," he said. + +The bandit gave a start of alarm, + +"I suppose the sum is large?" + +"Fifty thousand piastres." + +"¡Viva Dios! Surrender such a fortune? I would sooner be burned alive." + +"You must, though," + +"Never, señor." + +"Nonsense," the senator remarked, contemptuously. "You know you are in +my hands. All the worse for you if you hesitate, for you will then lose +two thousand piastres." + +"You said one thousand." + +"I made a mistake." + +"And when will you give them to me?" + +"At once." + +"Have you the amount about you?" + +"Yes." + +Suddenly the bandit's eye gleamed with a sinister flash; he drew +himself up, and leaped, knife in hand, upon the senator. But the +adventurer had a powerful adversary. Don Rufino had long known the man +he was treating with, and, while conversing, had not once taken his eye +off, and attentively watched all his movements. Hence, though Kidd's +action was so rapid, Don Rufino was before him; he seized his arm with +his left hand, while with the right he placed a pistol to his chest. + +"Hilloh, my master," he said, coldly, and with the most perfect +tranquillity, "are you mad, or has a wasp stung you?" + +Abashed by his failure, the bandit gave him a savage look. + +"Let me loose!" + +"Not before you have thrown your knife away, scoundrel!" + +Kidd opened his hand, the knife fell on the ground, and Don Rufino put +his foot upon it. + +"You are not half clever enough," he said, sarcastically; "you deserve +to have your brains blown out, in order to teach you to take your +measures better another time." + +"I do not always miss my mark," he replied, with a menacing accent. + +There was a moment of silence between the two men. Stronghand still +watched them, not losing one of their words or gestures, which +interested him to the highest degree. At length Don Rufino spoke. + +"Have you reflected?" he asked the bandit. + +"Of what?" the latter remarked, roughly; "Of this proposal?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, I accept." + +"But you understand," the senator continued, laying a stress upon every +word, "you must deal frankly this time. No trickery, eh?" + +"No, no," Kidd answered, with a shake of the head; "you may be sure of +that." + +"I reckon on your honesty. Moreover, profit by what has occurred today. +I am not always so good tempered; and if a misunderstanding, like that +just now, again arose between us, the consequences might be very +serious to you." + +These few words were uttered with an intonation of voice, and +accompanied by a look, that produced a profound impression on the +bandit. + +"All right," he said, shrugging his shoulders savagely; "there is no +need to threaten, as all is settled." + +"Very good." + +"Where shall I come to you after the business?" + +"Do not trouble yourself about that. I shall manage to find you." + +"Ah!" he said, with a side-glance; "then that is your affair?" + +"Yes." + +"Very good. Give me the money." + +"Here it is. But remember, if you deceive me--" + +"Nonsense," the bandit interrupted him. "Did I not tell you that it was +all settled?" + +The senator drew from his pocket a long purse, through whose meshes +gold coins could be seen. He weighed it for an instant in his hand, and +then threw it twenty paces from him. + +"Go and fetch it," he said. + +The bandit dashed at the gold, which as it fell produced a ringing +sound. Don Rufino took advantage of this movement to get into his +saddle. + +"Good-bye," he said to the bandit. "Remember!" and he started at a +gallop. Kidd made no reply, for he was too busy counting the ounces +contained in the purse. + +"All right," he at last said, with a smile upon his features, as he hid +the purse in his bosom. "No matter," he added, as he looked savagely +after the senator, "I allow that I am in your power, demon; but if I +ever had you in my hands as you had me today, and I manage to discover +one of your secrets, I should not be so mad as to show you any mercy." + +After this soliloquy the bandit went up to his horse, tightened the +girths, and set out in his turn, but in a direction opposite to that +which the senator had taken. So soon as he was alone, the hunter rose. + +"Oh, oh!" he muttered, "That is a dark plot. That man cannot want to +kill Paredes merely to rob him; it is plain that the blow is meant for +the Marquis. I will be on my guard." + +We have already seen that the hunter religiously kept his promise. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +FATHER AND SON. + + +Now that we have given the reader all necessary information about +the events accomplished at the Hacienda del Toro, we will resume our +narrative at the point where we were compelled to leave it--that is to +say, we will return to the village of the Papazos, and be present at +the conversation between Thunderbolt and Stronghand in the Pyramid. +The two men, walking side by side, went up to the top of the Pyramid. +They traversed the bridge of lianas thrown over the Quebrada at a great +height, and entered the Pyramid on the right. They descended to the +first floor--the Indians they met bowing respectfully to them--and +stopped before a securely fastened door. On reaching it, Thunderbolt +gave it two slight taps; an inner bolt was drawn, the door opened, +and they went in. They had scarce crossed the threshold ere the young +Indian who had opened the door closed it again after them. A strange +change had taken place in the two men; the Indian stoicism they had +hitherto affected made way for manners that revealed men used to +frequent the highest society of cities. + +"Maria," Thunderbolt said to the girl, "inform your mistress that +her son has returned to the village." In giving this order the old +gentleman employed Spanish, and not the Comanche idiom which he had +used up to the present. + +"The señora was already aware of her son's return, _mi amo_," Maria +answered, with a smile. + +"Ah!" said the old man, "then she has seen somebody." + +"The venerable Padre Fray Serapio came an hour ago to pay the señora a +visit, and he is still with her." + +"Very good; announce us, my child." + +The girl bowed and disappeared, returning a moment after to tell the +two gentlemen that they could enter. They were then introduced into a +rather spacious room, lighted by four glazed windows--an extraordinary +luxury in such a place--in front of which hung heavy red damask +curtains. This room, entirely lined with stamped Cordovan leather, was +furnished in the Spanish style, with that good taste which only the +Castilians of the old race have kept, and was, through its arrangement, +half drawing room, half oratory. In one corner an ebony _prie-dieu_, +surmounted by an ivory crucifix, which time had turned yellow, and +several pictures of saints, signed by Murillo and Zurbaran, would have +caused the apartment to be taken for an oratory, had not comfortable +sofas, tables loaded with books, and butacas, proved it to be a drawing +room. Near a silver brasero two persons were sitting in butacas. + +Of these, one was a lady, the other a Franciscan monk; both had passed +midlife, or, to speak more correctly, were close on fifty years of age. + +The lady wore the Spanish garb fashionable in her youth--that is to +say, some thirty years before. Although her hair was beginning to grow +white, and a few deep wrinkles altered the purity of her features, +still it was easy to see that she must have been very lovely once on a +time. Her skin, of a slightly olive hue, was extremely fine, and in the +firm marked lines of her face, the distinctive character of the purest +Aztec race could be recognised. Her black eyes, shaded by long lashes, +and whose corners rose slightly, like those of the Mongolians, had an +expression of strange gentleness, and her whole face revealed mildness +and intelligence. Although she was below the ordinary height of women, +she still retained the elegance of youth; and her exquisitely modelled +hands and feet were almost of a microscopic smallness. Fray Serapio was +the true type of the Spanish monk--handsome, majestic, and dreamy--and +seemed as if he had stepped out of a picture by Zurbaran. When the two +gentlemen entered, the lady and the Padre rose. + +"You are welcome, my darling child," the old lady said, opening her +arms to her son. + +The latter rushed into them, and for some minutes there was an +uninterrupted series of caresses between mother and son. + +"Forgive me, Padre Serapio," Stronghand at length said, as he freed +himself from the gentle bondage; "but it is so long since I had the +pleasure of embracing my mother, that I cannot leave off." + +"Embrace your mother, my child," the monk answered, with a smile; "a +mother's caresses are the only ones that do not entail regret." + +"What are you about, Padre?" Thunderbolt asked; "Are you going to leave +us already?" + +"Yes; and pray excuse me for going away so soon; but after a lengthened +separation, you must have much to say to one another, and a third +person, however friendly he may be, is always in the way at such a +time. Moreover, my brothers and I have a good deal to do at present, +owing to so many white hunters and trappers being in the village." + +"Are you satisfied with your neophytes?" + +The monk shook his head mournfully. + +"No," he at length answered; "the Indians love and respect us, owing to +the protection you have deigned to afford us, Señor Don--" + +"Silence!" the chief interrupted him, with a smile; "no other name but +that of Thunderbolt." + +"That is true; I always forget that you have surrendered the one +received at your baptism; still it is one of the most noble in the +martyrology. Well," he continued with a sigh, "the will of Heaven be +done! The glorious days of conversion have passed since we have become +Mexicans; the Indians no longer believe in the Spanish good faith, and +sooner than accept our God, persist in their old errors. This makes me +remember that I have a favour to ask of you." + +"Of me? Oh, it is granted beforehand, if it be in my power to satisfy +you." + +"Doña Esperanza, with whom I have spoken about it, leads me to hope +that you will not refuse it." + +"Did you not say to me one day that the señora's name brought you good +luck? It will probably be the same today." + +The monk took a furtive glance at the old lady. + +"This is the matter, my dear," she said, mingling in the conversation; +"the good father wishes your authority to follow, with another monk, +the warriors during the coming expedition." + +"That is a singular idea, father; and what may your object be? For I +presume you do not intend to fight in our ranks." + +"No," the monk answered with a smile, "my tastes are not warlike enough +for that; but if I may judge from the preparations I see you making, +this will be a serious expedition." + +"It will," the old man answered, pensively. + +"I have noticed that generally, during these expeditions, the wounded +are left without assistance. I should like to accompany the Indians, in +order to attend to their wounds, and console those whose hurts are so +serious that they cannot recover; still, if the request appear to you +exorbitant, I will recall it, though I shall do so reluctantly." + +The old gentleman gazed at the monk for a moment with an expression of +admiration and tenderness impossible to describe. + +"I grant your request, Padre," he at length said, affectionately +pressing his hand. "Still, I am bound to make one remark." + +"What is it?" + +"You run a risk of falling into the hands of the Mexicans." + +"Well, what matter? Can they regard it as a crime if I perform on the +battlefield the duties which my religion imposes on me?" + +"Who knows? Perhaps they will regard you as a rebel." + +"And in that case--" + +"Treat you as such." + +"That is to say--" + +"You will run a risk, father, of being shot; and that is worth thinking +about, I suppose." + +"You are mistaken, my friend; between duty and cowardice no hesitation +is possible. I will die, if it be necessary--but with the conviction +that I have fulfilled to the close the sacred mission I have +undertaken. Then you grant my request?" + +"I do so, father, and thank you for having made it." + +"Blessings on your kindness, my son; and now the Lord be with you. I +shall retire." + +In spite of much pressing, the worthy father insisted on going away, +and was conducted to the door of the apartment by the two gentlemen, in +spite of his efforts to escape a mark of honour of which he considered +himself unworthy. When the door closed after him, and the three persons +were really alone, Doña Esperanza, after a long look at her son, gently +drew him towards her, and obliging him to sit down on an equipal, she +lovingly parted off his forehead his clustering locks, and said in +a sweet, harmonious voice, in which all the jealous tenderness of a +mother was revealed-- + +"I find you sad, Diego; your face is pale, your features are worn, and +your eyes sparkle with a gloomy fire. What has happened to you during +your absence?" + +"Nothing extraordinary, mother," he answered, with an embarrassment +he tried in vain to conceal. "As usual, I have hunted a great deal, +travelled a long distance, and consequently, endured great fatigue; +hence, doubtless, comes the pallor you notice upon my face." + +The old lady shook her head with an incredulous air. + +"A mother cannot be deceived, my boy," she said, gently. "Since you +have been a man I have seen you return only too often, alas, from long +and perilous expeditions. You were fatigued--at times ill, but that was +all; while today you are gloomy, restless--" + +"Mother!" + +"Do not argue, for my mind is made up, and nothing will alter it. If +you refuse me your confidence, Heaven grant that you may select a +confidant who understands you so thoroughly." + +"Oh, mother! This is the first time a reproach has passed your lips." + +"Because, Diego, this is the first time you have refused to let me read +your heart." + +The young man sighed and hung his head, without replying. Thunderbolt, +who had hitherto been a silent spectator of the scene, gave Doña +Esperanza a meaning glance, and walked up to her son. + +"Diego," he said to him, as he laid his hand on his shoulder, "you +forget that you have to give me a report of the mission I entrusted to +you." + +Stronghand started, and eagerly sprang up. + +"That is true, father," he replied; "forgive me. I am ready to furnish +you with all the details you desire of what I have been doing during my +absence from the village." + +"Sit down, my son; your mother and I give you permission." + +The young man took a chair, and after reflecting for a few seconds, at +a further remark from his father, he commenced the recital of all he +had been doing while away. The narrative was long, and lasted nearly +two hours; but we will not relate it, because the reader is acquainted +with most of the facts the young man stated. Thunderbolt and Doña +Esperanza listened without interruption, and gave unequivocal signs of +the liveliest interest. When he had concluded his story, his mother +fondly embraced him, while congratulating him on his noble and generous +conduct. But Thunderbolt regarded the matter from another point of view. + +"Then," he asked his son, "the man who arrived with you is the +majordomo of this Don Hernando de Moguer?" + +"Yes, father." + +"Though I am an Indian by adoption, I will not forget that Spanish +blood flows in my veins. You will pay this Paredes, as you call him, +the amount of the bills, and I will send them to Hermosillo to be +cashed hereafter. You did well in bringing him with you, for an honest +man must not fall a victim to a villain. Although this affair does not +in any way concern us, I am not sorry to do a service to an old fellow +countryman. Let the majordomo leave the village this very night; in +order to prevent any accident on the road, you will have him escorted +to the hacienda by Whistler and Peccary, and three or four warriors. +They will be more than sufficient to frighten any scoundrels that may +attempt to stop him; and as, moreover, we are in a direction entirely +opposed to that in which the Hermosillo road runs, no one will think of +stopping him." + +"I can accompany him myself, with your permission, father." + +The old gentleman gave him a piercing glance, which compelled him to +look down. + +"No," he replied; "I want you here." + +"As you please, father," he said, with feigned indifference. + +And he rose. + +"Where are you going?" + +"To carry out your orders, father." + +"There is no hurry; the day is not very advanced yet, and I want to +talk with you; so return to your chair." + +The young man obeyed. Thunderbolt reflected for a moment, and then +said-- + +"How do you call this hacienda?" + +"El Toro." + +"Let me see," the old man continued, as if striving to remember; "it is +not built on the exact site of the ancient Cosala?" + +"So people say, father." + +Doña Esperanza listened to this conversation with considerable anxiety. +In vain did she try to discover her husband's meaning, and ask herself +why he thus obstinately brought the conversation back to so hazardous a +subject. + +"Is it not a strong place?" the sachem continued. + +"Yes, father; substantially built, and crowned with almenas." + +"In truth, I now remember having seen it formerly! It is an excellent +strategical position." + +Doña Esperanza looked at her husband with amazement blended with alarm; +she could neither account for his coldness nor his persistence. He +continued-- + +"Have you ever entered this hacienda." + +"Never, father." + +"That is vexatious; still, I presume you are acquainted with some of +its inhabitants. A man cannot save," he added, ironically, "the life of +such a man as this Don Hernando de Moguer must be, without his trying +to testify his gratitude to the man who did him the service." + +"I know not whether that is Don Hernando's idea, for I never had the +honour of seeing him." + +"That is strange, Don Diego; and I cannot understand why you did not +try to form his acquaintance; however, that is of little consequence, +as far as my plans are concerned." + +"Your plans, father?" the young man asked, in amazement. + +"I will explain to you that we intend to commence the expedition with +a thunder stroke; our first attempt will be to seize the Real de +Minas of Quitovar, where the main body of the Mexican forces is now +collected. The Hacienda del Toro, situated scarce ten leagues from +Arispe, commanding the three roads to Hermosillo, Ures, and Sonora, +and built at a very strong position, is of immense importance to us for +the success of the war. I had thought of appointing you to carry it +by surprise, but as you have no friends in the place, and seem not to +care greatly about it, let us say no more on the subject. I will give +the command of the expedition to Whistler and Peccary; they are two +experienced chiefs, endowed with far from common tact, and will carry +the hacienda by a surprise, because the Spaniards, not anticipating +such an attack, will not be on their guard. As for you, my son, you +will follow me to the Real de Minas. And now, my dear Diego, I have +nothing more to say to you, and you can withdraw." + +The young man had listened in secret horror to this revelation of his +father's plans. He was so full of terror that he did not notice that +Thunderbolt, though he pretended at the beginning not to know the +hacienda even by name, had described its position with a precision that +showed that, on the contrary, he must be perfectly acquainted with it. +He stood for a moment crushed by the thought of the terrible danger +Doña Marianna would incur if the Apaches took the hacienda. His father +took a side-glance at him, and attentively watched the various feelings +reflected in his face. + +"Forgive me, father," the young man at length said, with an effort; +"but I should like to offer an objection." + +"What is it, my son? Speak, I am listening." + +"I do not think it would be prudent to try and surprise, with a band of +savages, a house so far advanced in the interior of the country." + +"That is why I selected you. You would have taken a band of white and +half-breed trappers and hunters, and would have passed unnoticed, +owing to the colour of your skins. Your refusal greatly annoys me, I +confess; but, as I do not wish to force your inclinations--" + +"But I did not refuse, father," the young man exclaimed. + +"What! You did not refuse?" + +"No, father; on the contrary, I ardently wish to be entrusted with this +confidential mission." + +"In that case, I misinterpreted your silence and ambiguous remarks. +Then you accept?" + +"Gladly, father." + +"Very good; that is settled. Now go and send off that Paredes, for it +is time for him to return to his master. As for you, my son, breathe +not a syllable of what we have discussed; you understand the importance +of discretion under such circumstances. Embrace your mother, and leave +us." + +The young man threw himself into his mother's arms, who tenderly +embraced him, and whispered in his ear, "Hope!" + +Then he withdrew, after bowing respectfully to his father. + +"Well, Esperanza," the old gentleman said, rubbing his hands, so soon +as his son had left the room, "do you now begin to guess my plans?" + +"No," she answered with a gentle smile; "but I believe that I +understand them." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +THE HATCHET. + + +Stronghand quitted the Pyramid in a state of indescribable agitation. +The word his mother had whispered in his ear at parting incessantly +recurred to his mind, and led him to suppose that Doña Esperanza, with +that miraculous intuition Heaven has given to mothers, that they may +discover the most hidden feelings of their children, had divined the +secret he fancied he had buried in the remotest corner of his heart, +and which he did not dare avow to himself. On the other hand, the +strange conversation he had held with his father, and the proposal +which concluded it, plunged him into extraordinary perplexity. His +father's conduct appeared to him extraordinary, in the sense that he +did not understand how the old gentleman, who justly enjoyed among +the Indians a reputation for stainless honour, could be preparing +treacherously to attack the man to whose succour he came at the same +moment with such noble disinterestedness. All this seemed to him +illogical, incomprehensible, and in direct opposition with the word +"hope," which he fancied he could still hear buzzing in his ear. Still, +as he was obliged to cross the torrent, and go some distance before +reaching his calli, he had time to restore some degree of order in his +ideas, and resume his coolness and self-mastery before he reached his +own door. Two men were standing there--Whistler and Peccary. + +"Come along, Stronghand," the trapper shouted, so soon as he saw him; +"we have been waiting for you a long while." + +"Waiting for me?" he asked, in surprise. + +"Yes. Sparrowhawk warned us, on the part of Thunderbolt, that the chief +and myself were to hold ourselves in readiness to escort the man who +entered the village with you wherever he thinks proper to go." + +"Ah! Whistler has spoken well," Peccary remarked, laconically. + +"What else has happened?" + +"Nothing, except that Thunderbolt has made this man a present of a +mule, laden with rich wares, as Sparrowhawk says. But go on, and he +will tell you about it himself." + +Stronghand entered, and found the majordomo busily engaged in making +his preparations for a start. So soon as he saw the hunter, Paredes +eagerly walked up to him, and shook his hand several times. + +"You are welcome, comrade," he said. "¡Caray! you are a man of your +word, so forgive me." + +"Forgive you for what?" the young man asked, with a smile. + +"For having doubted you, caramba." + +"Doubted me?" + +"Yes, on my word. When I saw you leave me this morning in this hole, +like a useless or noxious animal, I doubted your sincerity. In a word, +as you know, anger is an evil counsellor; still, all sorts of stupid +thoughts occurred to me, and I was on the point of running away." + +"You would have done wrong." + +"Caray! I see it now; hence I feel quite confused at my folly, and beg +you once again to forgive me." + +"Nonsense," the hunter said, with a laugh, "it is not worth while to +torment yourself about such a trifle. An escort of resolute men will +accompany you to the hacienda, and as in all probability your master, +on seeing that you have brought the money he sent you to fetch, will +not ask about what may have happened to you on your journey, I think it +unnecessary for you to give him details which would interest him but +very slightly, and give rise to unpleasant comments." + +"That's enough," the majordomo said, with a knowing smile; "I will not +breathe a syllable." + +"That will be the best." + +"Be easy. Ah! that reminds me that, as I have received the money from +you, you must have the bills. Here they are, and once again I thank +you." + +The hunter took the bills and concealed them in his bosom. There was +a moment of silence. The majordomo walked about the calli with an air +of embarrassment, though his purpose was now finished, and the hunter +comprehended that he had something to say, but did not know how to +begin it. + +"Come," he asked him, "what else is there that troubles you, my friend? +Let me hear." + +"On my faith," the Mexican replied, at length forming a resolution. "I +confess that I should be delighted to prove my gratitude to you for the +service you have done me, and I should not like to leave without doing +so; but, unluckily, it embarrasses me more than I can express." + +"What, is that all?" the hunter said, gaily. "Why that is a very easy +matter." + +"Is it?" he remarked, with surprise. "Well, you will not believe that +I have been racking my brains over it for more than half an hour, and +brought nothing out." + +"Because you seek badly, my friend; that is all." + +"Then you have found it?" + +"You shall see." + +"¡Caray! You cannot imagine what pleasure you will cause me." + +"You know that I frequently hunt in your parts?" + +"Yes; I am aware of that." + +"Well, the first time I find myself near the hacienda, I will come and +ask hospitality of you." + +"Ah! That is what I call a good idea; and even if you brought ten +comrades with you, you would see how I should receive you. I only say +this much,--I am in a position to treat you well." + +"I take you at your word; so that is settled." + +"You pledge me your word?" + +"I do." + +"Very good. Now I shall start happy. Come by day or night, as you may +think proper, and you will always be welcome." + +"I fancy it would be rather difficult to get into the hacienda by +night." + +"Not at all. You will only have to mention my name." + +"Well, that is settled; and now be off. Only four hours of daylight +remain, so do not delay any longer." + +"You are right; so good-bye. Do not be long ere you remind me of my +promise." + +"I will bear you in mind." + +They left the calli. Seven or eight hunters and Indians were mounted, +and awaiting at the door their guest's good pleasure to start. The +majordomo shook the hunter's hand for the last time, mounted his +horse, gave the signal for departure, and the little band started at +a gallop through a crowd of women and children that had collected +through curiosity. Stronghand looked after them as long as he could +see them, and then thoughtfully returned to the calli. For a very long +time he remained plunged in earnest thought, then he stamped his foot +passionately, and exclaimed, in Spanish--"No; a thousand times no. I +will not take advantage of the man's kindness to abuse his confidence +like a coward. It would be a disgraceful deed." + +These words doubtless contained the result of the hunter's reflections, +and were the expression of the resolutions he had just formed. + +Several days elapsed, and nothing of an interesting nature occurred +in the village. The military committee sat several hours during the +interval. The plan of the coming campaign was definitively arranged and +the collection of the Indian forces was the only thing that delayed the +outbreak of hostilities. Whistler returned to the village four days +after his departure, and reported to the hunter that Paredes reached +the hacienda without any accident, and nothing had disturbed the +tranquillity of the journey. + +In the meanwhile, the different Indian tribes forming the great +confederation of the Papazos began flocking into the village. Ere long +there were no quarters left for them, and they were compelled to camp +on the plain, which, however, was no hardship to men accustomed to +brave all weather. On the twelfth day after Paredes' departure, the +hachesto convened all the chiefs to a general meeting at sunset, in +order to perform the mystic rites of the great medicine before opening +the campaign. At the moment when the sun disappeared below the horizon +in clouds of purple vapour, the amantzin, or first sorcerer of the +nation, mounted the roof of the medicine hut, and by a sign commanded +silence. + +"The sun has withdrawn its vivifying heat from us," he said in a +powerful voice, "the earth is covered with darkness, and this is the +mystic hour when man must prepare for the struggle with the genius of +evil--begin the great medicine." + +At the same instant, animals of every description appeared from all the +lodges, from the corners of the streets, gliding down the ladders of +the pyramids, or coming from the plain; quadrupeds, birds, and reptiles +collected in the village square, with horrible cries, overflowed the +streets on all sides, and spread out over the country for a league +round. These animals were Indian chiefs, clothed in the skins of the +beasts they wished to represent. Not only do the Indians imitate with +rare perfection the different cries of animals, but they have also +made a special study of their manners, habits, mode of progression, +and even of the way in which they eat and sleep. Nothing can furnish +an idea of the horrible concert composed of these cries--hisses, +snapping, and roars, mingled with the furious barking of the dogs. +There was something savage and primitive that powerfully affected the +imagination. At intervals silence was suddenly re-established, and the +sorcerer's voice rose alone in the night. + +"Is the evil principle conquered?" he asked; "Have my brothers trampled +it under foot?" + +The animals responded by horrible yells, and the noise began again +worse than before. This lasted the whole night through. A few minutes +before sunrise the sorcerer repeated the question for the last time, +which had received no other answer but furious yells. This time the +pure and melodious voice of a young girl rose in the silence, and +pronounced these words:--"The Master of Life has pity on his red +children; he sends the sun to their help. The evil principle is +conquered." + +At the same instant the sun appeared in its radiance. The Indians +saluted it with a cry of joy, and throwing off their disguises, they +fell on their knees, with faces turned up to heaven. The sorcerer, +holding in his right hand a calabash full of water, in which was a +sprig of wormwood, sprinkled a few drops to each of the cardinal +points, crying with an inspired air--"Hail, O sun! Visible minister of +the invisible Master of Life! Listen to the prayers of thy red sons. +Their cause is just; give them the scalps of their enemies, that they +may attach them to their waist belts. Hail, O sun! All hail!" + +All the Indians repeated in chorus-- + +"Hail, O Sun! All hail!" + +Then they rose to their feet. The first part of the mysteries of +the great medicine was accomplished, and the sorcerer retired. The +hachesto, or public crier took his place, and invited the principal +chiefs of the confederation to dig up the war hatchet. This +characteristic ceremony consists in going in procession into the +medicine lodge, where the oldest chief digs up the ground with his +scalping knife at a spot the sorcerer indicates, and draws out the +great war hatchet, the emblem of the strife about to commence. When the +hatchet is unburied, the chiefs quit the hut in the same way as they +entered it. At their head marches, with the chief entrusted with the +sacred token of the nation, and the brave of the great calumet, the +chief who has dug up the hatchet, which he holds with both hands to his +breast, with the edge turned outwards. On leaving the lodge, chiefs +silently draw up in front of the ark of the first man, opposite the war +post, and chance decides which chief shall have the honour of dealing +the first blow on the emblematic post with the sacred hatchet. + +The Indians, like all primitive peoples, are extremely superstitious; +hence they attach an immense importance to this ceremony, because they +fancy they can draw a good omen from the way in which the blow has been +dealt, and the depth of the notch made by the edge of the blade. Lots +were drawn, and chance selected Stronghand. A flattering murmur greeted +this name, which was loved by the Indians, and belonged to a man whom +they regarded as one of their greatest heroes. Stronghand quitted the +ranks, walked into the open space in front of the ark of the first man, +and seizing the hatchet which the chief presented to him, he raised +it above his head, whirled it round with extreme dexterity, and then +dealt a terrible stroke at the war post. The blow was dealt with such +violence, the hatchet penetrated the wood so deeply, that when the +sorcerer attempted to withdraw it, according to the usual custom, in +spite of all his efforts he could not succeed, and was obliged to give +up the attempt. + +The warriors uttered a shout of joy, which, spreading along the crowd +assembled to witness the ceremony, was soon converted into a hideous +clamour. The war would be lucky. The omens were excellent. Never, even +by the confession of the oldest sachems, had such a blow been dealt the +post. Stronghand was congratulated by the chiefs and warriors, who were +delighted at the result he had obtained. When the hatchet was at length +removed from the post, the warriors retired to make way for the squaws, +and the scalp dance began. + +This dance is exclusively performed by women, and in this affair +alone the men make way for them. This dance, which is regarded as +sacred by the untamed Indian nations, only takes place under grand +circumstances--at the beginning of an expedition, or at its close, when +it has been successful--that is to say, when the warriors bring back +many scalps and horses, and have suffered no loss themselves. The women +display an excitement in this dance which speedily degenerates into a +frenzy, which fills the minds of the warriors with martial ardour. When +this dance was ended, and the squaws had ceased their insensate cries +and gestures, the final ceremony was proceeded with. This ceremony, of +which we only find vestiges among a few tribes of the Upper Missouri, +and the Aucas, or Pampas Indians, seems peculiar to the Papazos. It +consists in sacrificing a brood mare, which has not yet foaled, and +reading the future in its entrails. + +We can easily understand that the sorcerer who undertakes the +explanation says what He pleases, and must be believed through the +impossibility of contradicting his statements. On this occasion, either +because he wished to share in the general joy, or that, through +deceiving others, he had succeeded in deceiving himself, and putting +faith in his own falsehoods, he announced to the attentive warriors the +most splendid and successful results for the coming expedition. These +prophecies were greeted as they deserved to be--that is to say, with +the greatest favour--and, according to custom, the body of the mare was +given to the sorcerer; and this was, doubtless, the greatest profit he +derived from the whole affair. + +Then, when all the rites were performed, the order was given for each +warrior to prepare his horses, his weapons, and his provisions, for +the expedition might set out at any moment. The Papazos chiefs had +succeeded in collecting beneath their totems 30,000 warriors, all +mounted on excellent horses, and about 4000 armed with guns. It is true +that the Indians, though so skilful in the use of the axe, the lance, +and the bow, are deplorable marksmen, and have an instinctive dread of +firearms, which prevents their taking a proper aim. Still, some of them +succeed in attaining a relative skill, and are dangerous in a fight. +But the greatest strength of the Indian army consisted of the sixty +or eighty white and half-breed hunters, whom the hope of plunder had +induced to join them. + +Thunderbolt, while retaining the supreme command of the army, appointed +three chiefs as generals of division; they were Sparrowhawk, Whistler, +and Peccary. Stronghand took the command of twenty-five white hunters, +whom he selected among the bravest and most honourable, and was +entrusted with a special mission by his father. All being then in +readiness to begin the war, the Indians, according to their invariable +custom, only awaited a moonless night to invade the territory of their +enemies under cover of the darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE WHITE-SKINS. + + +The return of José Paredes to the hacienda caused Don Hernando a lively +pleasure. Still, the sum he brought, though considerable, was far from +sufficing for the constant outlay in working the mine, and would hardly +coyer the demands of the moment. Don Rufino did not in any way show the +amazement the sight of the majordomo occasioned him, after the measures +he had taken to get rid of him. Still this surprise was converted into +anxiety, and ere long into terror, when he reflected on the time that +had elapsed since his departure. + +In fact, it would take three weeks to proceed from the hacienda to +Hermosillo and back, even at a good pace, and yet the majordomo had +only been absent for nine days. It was evident to the senator that +Paredes had not been to Hermosillo, and yet he brought back the money +for the bills! What did all this mean? There was something obscure in +the whole affair, which Don Rufino burned to clear up; but, unhappily, +that was very difficult, if not impossible. + +He was supposed to be ignorant of the motive of the majordomo's +journey, and consequently could not interrogate him; and then, again, +even had he ventured to do so, Paredes would probably not have answered +him, or, if he had done so, it would only have been in mockery; for the +worthy majordomo, with the infallible scent which upright and faithful +men possess, had detected the wolf in sheep's clothing, and although +he had no apparent motive, as he was unaware that the senator was the +concoctor of the plot to which he had all but fallen a victim, he +felt an instinctive aversion for that person, and displayed a marked +affectation in trying to avoid any meeting with him. + +In Sonora, as in other countries, it is not easy to meet at a moment's +notice persons who will discount large bills to render you a service. +The man who had given the money for these must be very rich, and most +desirous to assist the Marquis. However much the senator thought of +the subject, he could not call to mind any landowner for fifty leagues +round capable of acting in such a way. Moreover, the discounter +must have been aware of the plot formed against the majordomo, for +otherwise he would not have proposed to take the bills. Could Kidd be +the traitor? In a moment the senator recognised the absurdity of such +a suspicion. It was not probable that the bandit had declined to kill +the majordomo; but that he should have allowed him to escape without +robbing him was an utterly unlikely circumstance. Moreover, Kidd had +everything to fear from the senator, and would not have risked playing +him such a malicious trick. + +As always happens when a man indulges in probabilities without any +settled starting point, and proceeds from one deduction to another, +Don Rufino attained such a monstrous conclusion, that he was really +terrified by it. Still, throughout all his wanderings, a very logical +remark escaped him, which proved that, if he had not discovered the +truth, he was not very far from it. + +"The Redskins are right," he muttered, "and their proverb is true. In +the desert, trees have ears, and leaves have eyes. I remember that +my conversation with that pícaro of a Kidd took place near a very +close growing thicket; perhaps it contained a traitor. Henceforward I +will only discuss business at the top of an entirely unwooded hill; +and yet," he added with a sigh, "who knows whether a spy may not be +concealed in a prairie-dog hole?" + +All these reflections the senator made while walking in extreme +agitation up and down the room, when the door opened, and Don Ruiz made +his appearance. + +"Señor Don Rufino," he said to him, after a mutual exchange of +compliments, "will you kindly come to the drawing room? Our majordomo, +who, as you may have noticed, has been absent for some days, has +brought most important news, which my father would like you to hear." + +The senator started imperceptibly, and gave the young man a suspicious +glance; but nothing in Don Ruiz's open face caused him to suppose any +hidden meaning in his words. + +"Is anything extraordinary happening, my dear Don Ruiz?" he asked, in a +mellifluous voice. + +"I have as yet received but very imperfect information about the grave +events that threaten us; but if you will kindly follow me, you will +soon learn all." + +"Be it so, my dear sir--I am at your service;" and he followed Don Ruiz +to the saloon, where Doña Marianna, the Marquis, and José Paredes were +already assembled. + +"Why, what can be the matter, my dear señor?" the senator asked, as he +entered; "I confess that Don Ruiz has startled me." + +"You will be more startled when you know the events. But sit down, +pray," the Marquis answered, and then said to the majordomo, "you have +your information from a good source?" + +"I can assert that all I have told you is true, _mi amo_. The Papazos +have allied themselves with I know not how many other tribes of +ferocious pagans, and we may expect to see them burst upon us at any +moment." + +"¡Caspita! that is serious," the senator said. + +"Much more than you suppose; for the Indians are this time resolved to +expel the white men for ever from Sonora, and establish themselves in +their place," answered Paredes. + +"Oh, oh," Don Rufino said, "they are undertaking a rude task." + +"Laugh if you like, but it is so." + +"I do not laugh, my worthy friend; still, I do not believe the Indians +capable of attempting so mad an enterprise." + +"In the first place, I am not your friend, señor," the majordomo said, +roughly; "and next, it is probable that when you have seen the Indians +at work, your opinions about them will be considerably modified." + +The senator pretended not to notice the bitterness contained in +this remark, and replied, lightly--"I never saw any wild Redskins, +and Heaven preserve me from doing so. Still, I strongly suspect the +inhabitants of this country of making them more formidable than they +really are." + +"You are wrong to have such an opinion, my friend; and if you remain +any time with us, will soon have proof of it," the Marquis said. + +"Are you going to remain here, exposed to the attacks of the pagans, +papa?" Doña Marianna asked with terror. + +"We have nothing to fear from the Indians," the Marquis replied. "The +rock on which my hacienda is built is too hard for them. They will +break their nails before they can pull out a single stone." + +"Still, father, we cannot be too prudent," Don Ruiz observed. + +"You are right, my son; and as I do not wish your sister to retain even +a shadow of anxiety, we will immediately place ourselves in a position +of defence, though it is unnecessary. During the grand insurrection +of 1827, the Indians did not once attempt to approach El Toro, and I +greatly doubt whether they will attack it this time." + +"_Mi amo_," Paredes replied, "believe me, do not neglect any +precaution; this insurrection will be terrible." + +"Come, come," Don Rufino asked, "tell me, Señor Majordomo, who the +person is that informed you so well?" + +Paredes gave him a side-glance, and replied, with a shrug of his +shoulders--"It is enough that I know it; no matter the name of the man +to whom I owe the information. If you fancy that it is a friend who +warned me, you will be near the truth." + +"Permit me, señor," the senator answered, with a frown, "this is more +important than you fancy. You must not thus create an alarm in a +family, and then refuse to give proofs in support of your assertions." + +"My master knows me, señor; he knows that I am devoted to him, and also +that I am incapable of uttering a falsehood." + +"I do not doubt, señor, either your honesty or your truthfulness; +still, a thing so serious as you announce requires, before being +taken into consideration, to be based on evidence with proofs, or a +respectable name, in default of anything else." + +"Stuff! Stuff! The main point is to be on your guard." + +"Yes, when we know whether we really ought to do so. Consequently, +in my quality as a magistrate--and I ask the Señor Marquis a million +pardons for acting thus in his presence--I command you to reveal to me +at once the name of the man who gave you these alarming news." + +"Nonsense!" The majordomo said, with a shrug of his shoulders; "What +good would it do if I were to tell you the name of an individual you do +not know, and whom you never heard mentioned?" + +"That is not the question. Be good enough to answer me, if you please." + +"It is possible that you may be a magistrate, señor, and I do not care +if you are. I recognise no other masters but the Señor Marquis and his +children here present; they alone have the right to question me, and +them alone I will answer." + +The senator bit his lips, and turned to the Marquis. + +"Come, Paredes, answer," the latter said. "I really do not at all +understand your obstinacy." + +"Since you order me to speak, _mi amo_," the majordomo continued, "you +must know that the person who told me of the insurrection of the pagans +is a white hunter, called Stronghand." + +"Stronghand?" brother and sister exclaimed simultaneously. + +"Is not that," the Marquis asked, "the hunter to whom we already are so +greatly indebted?" + +"Yes, _mi amo_," the majordomo replied, musingly; "and it is probable +that he has not yet finished." + +Although it was the first time the senator heard the hunter's name +mentioned, by a kind of intuition he felt a species of emotion for +which he could not account. + +"Oh," Doña Marianna cried, eagerly, "we must place entire confidence in +Stronghand's statements." + +"Certainly we must," Don Ruiz added. "It is plain that he wished to +warn us, and put us on our guard." + +"But who is this man who inspires you with such profound sympathy?" the +senator asked. + +"A friend," Doña Marianna replied, warmly, "for whom I shall feel an +eternal gratitude." + +"And whom we all love," the Marquis added, with emotion. + +"Then you accept his bail for Paredes?" + +"Yes; and believe me, my friend, that I shall not neglect the advice he +gives me." + +"Very good, señor; you will therefore permit me to remark that Señor +Paredes' obstinacy in not revealing his name must fairly appear to me +extraordinary." + +"Señor Rufino, Paredes is an old servant who enjoys a very pardonable +freedom, and believes that he has acquired the right of being believed +on his word. Now," he added, "let us discuss the means to prevent a +surprise. Paredes, you will at once mount your horse, and order all the +peons and vaqueros to bring the ganado and horses into the hacienda. +You, Don Ruiz, will prepare the necessary corrals and cuartos to lodge +the men and animals; collect as much forage and provisions as you can, +for, in the event of a siege, we must not run the risk of being reduced +by famine. How many peons have you under your orders, Paredes?" + +"Excellency, we have about eighty able to bear arms, and do active +duty, without counting the women, children, and old men, whom we can +always turn to some account." + +"Oh, oh," the Marquis said, "there are many more than we require; I see +that it will be unnecessary to summon our miners from Quitovar." + +"The more so," Paredes objected, "because Captain de Niza, whose +position is far more exposed than ours will already have enlisted them +in his service." + +"That is probable," the Marquis answered, as he rose. "Go and carry out +my orders without delay." + +The majordomo bowed to his master, and went out. + +"Will it please you, señor, to grant me a moment's interview?" the +senator then said. + +"I am at your orders, señor." + +"Oh, do not disturb yourselves," the senator said, addressing Don Ruiz +and his sister, who had risen to leave the room: "I have nothing secret +to say to the Marquis." + +The young people sat down again. + +"I confess to you that what this man has just said," Don Rufino +continued, "has greatly startled me. I never saw any Indian bravos, and +have a horrible fear of them. I should therefore wish, Don Hernando, +however strange so sudden a request may appear to you, to obtain your +permission to leave you so soon as possible." + +"Leave me!" the Marquis replied, with amazement, "At this moment?" + +"Yes; it seems as if coming events will be very serious. I am not a +man of war, nor anything like it, for I am frightened at anything +that bears a likeness to a quarrel; but Congress claims my immediate +presence at Mexico, were it only to inform the Government of the +situation in which this state is, and urge it to assume energetic +measures." + +"Señor Don Rufino, you are at liberty to act as you please. Still, +I fear that the roads are not quite safe, and that you will expose +yourself to serious dangers by obstinately insisting on departing." + +"I have thought of that; but I fancy that when I have once reached +Arispe, which is no great distance from here, I shall have nothing more +to fear. Will you allow Don Señor Ruiz to escort me to that town?" + +"I can refuse you nothing, señor. My son will accompany you, since you +do him the honour of desiring his escort." + +"Yes," the senator continued, taking a side-glance at Doña Marianna, +who had let her head drop on her chest; "I wish to entrust Don Ruiz +with an important letter for you." + +"Why write? It would be far more simple to tell me what you wish in a +couple of words." + +"No! No! That is impossible," Don Rufino answered, with a smile that +resembled a grimace; "that would demand too much time: moreover, dear +sir, you know better than I do that there are certain things which can +only be settled by ambassadors." + +"As you please, señor. When do you propose to start?" + +"I frankly confess that, in spite of the regret I feel at leaving you, +I fancy that the sooner I set out the better." + +"It is only ten o'clock," said Don Ruiz, as he rose; "by hurrying a +little, we can reach Arispe tonight." + +"Famous! That is better. Allow me, Don Hernando, to take leave of you, +as well as of your charming daughter, and pray accept my thanks for the +noble hospitality I have received in your mansion." + +"What! Are you not afraid of travelling in the great heat of the day?" + +"I only fear the sight of the Indians, and that fear is enough to +make me forget all others. Excuse me, therefore, for leaving you so +suddenly, but I feel convinced that I should die of terror if I heard +the war cry of those frightful savages echo in my ears." + +Don Ruiz had left the room to give the requisite orders, and his sister +followed him, after making a silent curtsey to the senator, whose +intention she was far from suspecting. The apprehension expressed by +Don Rufino was greatly exaggerated, if it was not entirely fictitious; +but he instinctively felt that the ground was beginning to burn beneath +his feet at the hacienda, and he wanted to get away, not only to guard +himself against the perils he foresaw from the ill success of his +plot, but also to try and refasten the broken threads of his intrigue, +and carry out his plans with the shortest possible delay. + +The revolt of the Indians, by interrupting the work, paralyzing +commercial transactions, and consequently creating enormous +difficulties for the Marquis, admirably assisted the senator in the +realization of the plans he had long been forming in the dark. Moreover +he desired, during the short ride he was going to take with Don Ruiz, +to obtain in the young man a precious ally, who would serve him the +better because he would do so without any afterthought, and without +seeing Don Rufino's object. He also thought it better to write and +detail his intentions to the Marquis in a letter, rather than discuss +them with him, for the grand diplomatic reason that the man who writes +is the only speaker, must be heard, and consequently does not fear a +refutation till he has completely explained his ideas. + +After a few moments, Don Ruiz returned to state that the escort had +mounted, and that all was ready for a start. Don Rufino repeated his +farewells to the Marquis, but the latter would not let him depart +before he had drunk, according to the hospitable fashion of the +country, the stirrup cup--that is to say, a glass of iced orangeade. +Then all three left the room, for in spite of the entreaties and +objections of the senator, his host insisted on accompanying him to +the patio, and witnessing his departure. Two minutes later, Don Rufino +Contreras, accompanied by Don Ruiz, and followed by six confidential +peons, well armed and mounted, left the hacienda, and took the +direction of Arispe, which they reached at nightfall; after a rather +fatiguing journey, it is true, but which, however, was not troubled +by any accident of an alarming nature. The only thing the travellers +noticed, and which proved to them how thoroughly the news of an +approaching invasion of the Indians had spread along the border, was +the complete solitude of the country, which resembled a desert. + +All the ranchos they passed were deserted; the doors, windows, and +furniture had been removed by the inhabitants, and carried off by them +in their flight; they had burned or destroyed all they were compelled +to leave behind them; their horses and cattle had also disappeared, +which gave a look of indescribable melancholy to the numerous plains +the little party crossed. The crops had been cut in the green, or +burned, in order that the Indians might not profit by them; and thus, +ere the wretched country was ravaged by the Redskins, it had already +been completely ruined by its inhabitants. + +Don Rufino contemplated with stupor the desolate aspect of the +country, for he could not at all understand the strange tactics of the +inhabitants. When they reached the gates of Arispe, they found them +closed, and guarded by powerful detachments of soldiers and cívicos--a +species of national militia, paid by the rich inhabitants to repress +the devastation of the marauders who swarm on the Indian border. It +was only after interminable debates and infinite precautions that the +barrier guards at length consented to let the travellers pass. All +the streets in Arispe were defended by strong barricades. The town +resembled one large camp. The soldiers were bivouacked on all the +squares, and sleeping round the bivouac fires, which were lighted as +much to keep off the sharp night cold, as to cook their scanty rations. + +Don Rufino possessed, on the Plaza Mayor of Arispe, a large and +handsome mansion, at which he resided when business summoned him to +Arispe. It took him more than an hour to reach it, owing to the +numberless turnings he was compelled to take, and the barricades he was +forced to scale. The door of the house was open, and a dozen soldiers +were quietly bivouacked in the zaguán and patio; but Don Rufino did not +at all protest against this arbitrary violation of his domicile; on the +contrary, he boasted of his senatorial title, and seemed very pleased +with the liberty the soldiers had taken. Don Rufino would not allow Don +Ruiz and his peons to seek a shelter anywhere but in his own house; +he forced them to accept his hospitality, and they did so without any +excessive pressure, for both men and horses were beginning to feel the +want of a few hours' rest, after an entire day's journey, made in the +stifling heat of the sun. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +SERIOUS EVENTS. + + +Nothing equals the rapidity with which a new fortune is established, +except, perhaps, that with which an old family falls, through the +eternal balancing of accident, which elevates some and lowers others, +thus producing incessant contrasts, which are one of the claims of +existing society, and of the equilibrium that presides over the things +of this world. With a few exceptions, the first and last of a race +are always two powerful men, created by the struggle, endowed with +great and noble qualities, and who are always equal to circumstances. +Unfortunately, of these two men, one, sustained by capricious chance +and the benign influence of his star, sees all obstacles fall before +him, and his rashest combinations succeed. In a word, success +frequently crowns his efforts, contrary to his expectations. The other, +on the contrary, unconsciously yielding through the law of contrast to +the malign influence attaching to his race--having fallen by the fault +of his predecessors from an elevated position--compelled to struggle +on unequal terms with enemies prejudiced against him, and who render +him responsible for the long series of errors of which his ancestors +have been solely culpable--sees himself, so to speak, placed without +the pale of the common law; his most skilful combinations only succeed, +in delaying for a few years an inevitable fall, and frequently render +that fall the more startling and certain. + +What we say here is applicable to all the degrees of the social stage; +not only to royal families, but to the miserable beggar's brood. Each +revolution that changes the face of an empire, by bringing up to the +surface unknown geniuses, at the same time plunges into an abyss of +wretchedness and opprobrium those who for centuries have oppressed +entire generations, and have in their time placed themselves on a level +with the Deity, by believing everything allowed them. + +Time, that impassive leveller, bringing progress in its train, +incessantly passes its inexorable square over all that raises its head +too high--thus pleasing itself by raising some and humiliating others. +It has constituted itself the sole arbiter of human ambitions, and the +real representative of that moral equality which would be an Utopia, +if the great organic law of the harmony of the universe had not thus +proclaimed its astonishing principles. + +On the very day when Don Ruiz, after escorting Don Rufino Contreras +to Arispe, returned to the hacienda, a courier arrived simultaneously +with him. This man, who was mounted on an utterly exhausted steed, had +apparently ridden a great distance, and was in an excessive hurry. +No sooner had he reached the Toro than he was introduced into the +Marquis's study with whom he remained shut up for a long time. Then the +courier, on leaving the study, remounted his horse, and set off again +without speaking to a soul. The almost fantastic apparition of this +man caused the occupiers of the hacienda that instinctive fear which +people generally experience from things they cannot account for. + +The Marquis, whose face was usually imprinted with an expression of +sad and resigned melancholy, had, after this interview, become of +a cadaverous pallor; deep wrinkles furrowed his forehead, and his +eyes stared wildly. He walked up and down the huerta for a long time +in extreme agitation, with his arms crossed on his back, and his +head bowed over his chest. At times he stopped, beat his forehead +furiously, uttered incoherent words, and then resumed his walk +mechanically--obeying an imperious want of locomotion rather than any +other motive. + +Doña Marianna, seated at a window of her boudoir, behind a muslin +curtain, followed her father's movements, for she felt frightened at +his state, and had a foreboding that she would have to share some of +the sorrow which had fallen on him. The Marquis at length stopped, +looked round him like a man who is waking up, and, after a moment of +reflection, returned to his apartments. A few minutes after, a servant +came to inform Doña Marianna that her father was awaiting her in the +red chamber. In spite of herself, the maiden felt her apprehensions +redoubled, but hastened to obey. + +This red chamber, into which we have already had opportunity to +introduce the reader, and which Don Hernando had not entered since the +day when his brother was so inexorably disinherited by their father, +was as cold and gloomy as when we saw it. The sole difference was, +that time, by tarnishing the lustre of the hangings and tapestry, and +blackening the furniture, had imparted to it a tinge of sadness, which +made the visitor shudder as soon as he entered. When Doña Marianna +reached the red chamber, she found her father already there; he gave +her a silent sign to take a seat, and she sank into an armchair in +a state of undisguised alarm. A few minutes after Don Ruiz entered, +followed by José Paredes. The Marquis then seated himself in the +spacious armchair that occupied the centre of the dais; he ordered the +majordomo to close the door, and began in a feeble, trembling voice-- + +"My children, I have summoned you hither because we have to discuss +matters of the deepest gravity. I have called to our council Paredes, +as an old servant of the family, whose devotions we have known so long, +and I trust you will not think that I have exceeded my rights in doing +so." + +The young people bowed their assent, Paredes placed himself by their +side, and the Marquis continued--"My children, our family has for +many years been tried by adversity. Hitherto, respecting the happy +carelessness of childhood, I have sought to keep within my own breast +the annoyances and grief with which I was incessantly crushed; for, +after all, of what good would it have proved to lay a portion of the +burden on your shoulders? Misfortune advances with gigantic strides; it +catches us up one after the other, and it was better to let you enjoy +the too short days of your happy youth. I have therefore struggled +for all of us, concealing the grief which at times overwhelmed me, +restraining my tears, and always offering to you the calm brow and +the tranquil appearance of a man, who, if he were not entirely happy, +was satisfied with his share of good and evil Heaven had allotted to +him. Believe me, my children I should have continued this conduct, and +kept to myself all the cares and annoyances of such a life as I lead, +had not a sudden, terrible, and irremediably misfortune, which has +fallen on me today, forced me, against my will, to impart to you the +melancholy, frightful condition we are now in, and acquaint you with +the posture of my affairs, which are yours, for I am only entrusted +with the fortune which will be yours some day if we succeed in saving +it." + +The Marquis stopped for a moment, overcome by the emotion which +contracted his throat. + +"Father," Don Ruiz replied, "you have ever been the best of parents to +my sister and myself. Be assured that we have anxiously awaited this +confidence, which has been so long delayed in the fear of causing us a +temporary sorrow; for we hoped we might be able to assume a portion of +the burden, and thus restore you the courage necessary to support the +gigantic struggle in which you have engaged with adverse fortune." + +"My son," the Marquis said, "I know your heart and your sister's. +I am aware of the respectful affection you feel for me; and in the +misfortune that is now bursting on me, it is a great satisfaction to +have the intimate conviction that my children will heartily combine in +supporting and consoling me." + +"Be kind enough then, father, to tell us what the matter is, without +further delay. The courier with whom you were shut up so long this +morning cannot be a stranger to the determination you have formed. +Doubtless he was the bearer of evil tidings?" + +"Alas! My son," the Marquis answered, "for some years past fortune has +been treating our house with incomprehensible severity; everything +is leagued against us, and our fortune, which was immense under the +Spanish rule, has constantly diminished since the proclamation of +Mexican independence. In vain have I tried to contend against the +torrent which carried us away; in vain have I forgotten all I owe +to my name and rank, and attempted to regain what I had lost by +honourable enterprise. All has been of no avail, and my efforts have +only served to prove the inutility of my attempts. Still, I had hoped a +few days back that I should be able to render fortune more favourable +to me. I foresaw a chance of saving some fragments of our old fortunes; +but today I have attained the melancholy conviction that I am entirely +ruined unless a miracle intervene." + +"Oh, things cannot be so bad as that, father!" Doña Marianna exclaimed. + +"Yes, my children, we are ruined--reduced to utter misery," the +Marquis continued sadly. "We have lost everything; even this hacienda, +built by one of our ancestors, which will be speedily sold--perhaps +tomorrow--for the benefit of our creditors." + +"But how has such a great misfortune occurred?" + +"Alas! in the same way as misfortunes always happen when fate has +resolved on ruining a man. For a long time past business has been +in a state of collapse, owing to the disastrous negligence of the +Government; and the news of the fresh revolt of the Indian mansos and +bravos has raised the alarm of the merchants to the highest pitch. The +panic is general among the bankers and persons whose capital is engaged +in mines; several houses at Hermosillo, Ures, Arispe, Sonora, and even +Mexico, have already suspended payment, and thus everything has been +paralyzed at a single blow. Then, to complicate matters even more, a +pronunciamiento has taken place in Mexico, and at this moment we have +not only an Indian border war, but the interior of the country is +suffering from all the horrors of a civil war." + +"Do you know this officially, father?" + +"Unfortunately, I cannot entertain the slightest doubt on the subject. +For this reason; under such circumstances as the present, one thing +inevitably happens. Creditors insist on the immediate repayment of +their advances, while persons indebted to you, if they do not fail, +defer payment so long that it is practically of no service. Now, the +letters I received this morning, and they are numerous, may be divided +into two classes; my debtors refuse to pay me, while my creditors, +fearing a loss, have taken out writs against me, so that if I have +not paid them within eight days the round sum of 380,000 piastres, I +shall be declared bankrupt, imprisoned, expelled from my estate, and +this hacienda, the last thing left us, will be put up to auction, and +probably purchased for a trifle by one of the ex-vassals of our family, +who has grown rich at our expense, and does not blush to take our +place." + +"Three hundred and eighty thousand piastres!" Don Ruiz muttered with +stupor. + +"That is the amount." + +"How can we possibly get it together?" + +"It is useless to dream of it for the present, my son. This hacienda +alone is worth double. At other times I could have offered a mortgage, +and as I have nearly 300,000 piastres owing to me, you see that I could +have easily confronted this fresh stroke of fortune. But now it cannot +be thought of; it will be better to give way, and allow our creditors +to divide the spoil. I hope you do hot suppose, Ruiz, that I have the +intention of defrauding my creditors of the little that is left me?" + +"Oh no, father; but what do you propose doing?" + +"¡Caray!" Paredes then said, "that is easily settled. I possess, +through the liberality of the Moguer family a rancho, which owes +nothing to anybody. It is yours, _mi amo_. My mother and I can easily +find another shelter. Well, if this wretched lodging is not so fine or +handsome as this, it will, at any rate, afford you a shelter, and save +you from applying for it to strangers. Is it so, Excellency? Will you +honour the old house of your servant by your presence?" + +The Marquis seemed to reflect for a moment, and then held out his hand +to Paredes, who kissed it. + +"Be it so, my friend. I accept your offer," he said. "Not that I intend +to inconvenience you for any length of time, but merely during the +few days I shall require to save, if possible, some fragments of my +children's fortune from the general shipwreck." + +"Do not think of us, father," Doña Marianna said, with emotion. "We are +young, and will work." + +Paredes was delighted at the acceptance of his offer. + +"Oh, do not be frightened, _mi amo_," he said; "the old rancho is not +so dilapidated and miserable as might be supposed. I trust, with the +help of Heaven, that you will not be very uncomfortable there, and, at +any rate, you will have no cause to fear the visits of certain parties." + +"You are unjust, Paredes," the Marquis replied. "Don Rufino Contreras, +to whom you allude, is one of my best friends, and I must speak of his +behaviour in the highest terms of praise." + +"That is possible, _mi amo_, that is possible," the majordomo said, +shaking his head with an air of conviction; "but if I may be permitted +to express an opinion about that gentleman, I fancy we had better wait +a while before fully making up our minds about him." + +"What do you mean?" + +"Nothing, _mi amo_, really nothing. I have an idea, that is all." + +"That reminds me, father, that on leaving me, Don Rufino gave me a +letter, which he begged me to deliver to you so soon as I reached the +hacienda." + +"Yes; he informed me of his intention of writing." + +"Hum!" the majordomo said, between his teeth, but loudly enough for +the Marquis to hear him; "I always had a bad idea of men who prefer +blackening paper to explain themselves frankly in words." + +During this aside, the Marquis had opened and read the letter. + +"This time, at any rate," he said, "Don Rufino cannot be accused of +want of frankness, or of not explaining himself clearly. He warns me +of the measures taken against me, and after showing me, in a most +gentlemanly manner, the precarious nature of my position, he ends by +offering me the means of escaping from it in the most honourable way; +in one word, he asks for my daughter's hand, and offers her a dowry of +one and a half million piastres, besides liquidating my debts." + +Doña Marianna was crushed by the blow so suddenly dealt her. +The Marquis continued, with the bitter accent he had hitherto +employed--"Such is the state we have reached, my children; we, the +descendants of a race of worthies noble as the king, and whose +escutcheon is unstained, have so fallen from our lofty social +position, that we are too greatly honoured by the offer of a man whose +grandfather was our vassal. But such is the way of the world, and why +blame it when we live in an age in which everything is possible?" + +"What answer will you give to this strange letter, father?" Don Ruiz +asked, anxiously. + +Don Hernando drew himself up proudly. + +"My son," he replied, "however poor I may be, I do not the less remain +the Marquis de Moguer, the only thing, perhaps, which cannot be taken +from me. I know the obligations I owe to the honour of my name. Your +sister is free to accept or reject the offer made her. I do not wish, +under any pretext, to influence her determination in so serious a +matter. She is young, and has still many years to live; I have no right +to enchain her existence with that of a man she does not love. She +will reflect, and follow the impulse of her own heart. Whatever her +resolution may be, I approve of it beforehand." + +"Thanks, father," the maiden answered, gently. "And now grant me a last +favour." + +"What is it, my child?" + +"I wish for a week before answering this request, for I am so surprised +and confused, that it would be impossible for me to form any resolution +at present." + +"Very good, my child; in eight days you will give me your answer. And +now withdraw: but do you remain, Paredes; before leaving the hacienda +for ever, I wish to make some arrangements in which your help will be +necessary." + +Brother and sister, after bowing respectfully to their father, slowly +quitted this fatal chamber, which persons never entered save through a +misfortune. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +THE TIGRERO. + + +Don Ruiz and his sister left the red chamber together, gloomy, sad, +and despairing, and not daring to communicate their impressions, +because they knew that they had nothing to hope from an exchange of +conventional consolation. When they reached the hall whence ran the +stairs leading to their different suites of rooms, Don Ruiz let loose +his sister's arm, and kissed her on the forehead. + +"Courage, Marianna," he said, gently. + +"Are you leaving me, brother?" she remarked, with a slight tinge of +reproach in her voice. + +"Are you not going to your own rooms?" he asked her. + +"And what do you intend doing?" + +"To tell you the honest truth, sister," he replied, "after what has +occurred in the red chamber, I feel in such a state of excitement, that +I want to breathe the fresh air; did I not, I fancy I should be ill." + +"Do you propose going out, then?" + +"In leaving you, my dear sister, it is my firm intention to saddle +Santiago, and ride about the country for two or three hours." + +"If that be the case, Ruiz, I will ask you to do me a service." + +"What is it?" + +"Saddle Madrina at the same time." + +"Your mare?" + +"Yes." + +"Are you going out too?" + +"I want to pay a visit to my nurse, whom I have not seen for a long +time. I am anxious to speak a few words with her." + +"Will you go alone to the rancho?" + +"Unless you give me the pleasure of your company." + +"Do you doubt it, sister?" + +"Yes and no, Ruiz." + +"Why this reticence?" + +"I will explain it to you, brother. To be frank with you, I want to +see my nurse, and I may spend the night at the rancho; in the event of +that happening, I do not wish you to make an attempt to dissuade me by +entreaty or otherwise." + +"Reflect, sister, that the country is not tranquil, and that you may +incur danger in a wretched rancho, where any resistance would be +impossible." + +"I have thought of that, and calculated all the chances. But I repeat +to you, I must go to the rancho, and may be obliged to pass there not +only a night, but a day or two." + +Don Ruiz reflected for a moment. + +"Sister," he then said, "you are no ordinary woman, and everything you +do is carefully calculated. Although you do not tell me the motives +for this visit, I guess that they are serious, and hence will make no +attempt to thwart your wishes. Act as you please, and I will do all you +wish." + +"Thank you, Ruiz," she answered, warmly; "I anticipated you would say +that, for you understand me: my visit has a serious motive, as you have +divined." + +"Then I will go and saddle the horses," he remarked, with a smile. + +"Do so, brother," she replied, as she gently pressed his hand. "I will +wait for you here." + +"I only require five minutes." + +The young man went out. Doña Marianna leant on the balustrade, and +fell into deep thought. Don Ruiz returned, leading the horses by the +bridle: brother and sister mounted, and at once left the hacienda. It +was about four in the afternoon; the great heat of the day was spent, +the birds were singing gaily beneath the foliage; the sun, now level +with the lowest branches, had lost much of its heat; and the coming +breeze, which was beginning to rise, refreshed the atmosphere, and bore +far away the clouds of mosquitoes which had for several hours darkened +the air. The young people galloped silently side by side, absorbed in +their thoughts, and only taking absent glances at the splendid scenery +unfolded around them as they advanced further into the country. They +thus reached the rancho without exchanging a word. + +Bouchaley, faithful to his friendship for Doña Marianna, had long +before announced her arrival to the inhabitants of the rancho, who had +hurried out to welcome her. With a hurried glance, Marianna assured +herself of the presence of her foster brother, which seemed to cause +her great satisfaction. + +"Goodness! You here so late, niña?" the ranchero said, in his delight; +"What blessed wind has blown you?" + +"The desire of seeing you, madresita," the young lady answered, with a +smile; "it is so long since I embraced you, that I could not wait any +longer." + +"It is a good idea, niña," the ranchero said; "unfortunately it is +late, and we shall only be able to converse with you for a few moments." + +"How do you know, old father?" she replied, as she leaped off her +horse, and threw her arms round his neck; "Who told you I should not +spend the night at the rancho?" + +"Oh, oh, you would not do us that honour, niña," the old man answered. + +"You are mistaken, father, and the proof is that I ask my brother to +leave me here, and return alone to the hacienda." + +"Then I am discharged," Don Ruiz said, laughingly. + +"Yes, brother; but you have no cause of complaint, for I warned you." + +"That is true; hence I do not complain, little sister; still, before we +part, tell me at what hour I am to come and fetch you tomorrow?" + +"Do not trouble yourself about that, Ruiz; Mariano will bring me home." + +"And this time I shall not behave as the last, niña: may the Lord +confound me if I lose sight of you even for a moment," the tigrero +said, as he took the horse's bridle to lead it to the corral. + +"Will you be so cruel, Marianna," Ruiz observed, "as to force me thus +to return at once?" + +"No; I grant you an hour to rest and refresh yourself, but when that +time has elapsed you will start." + +"Agreed, little sister." + +They entered the rancho: No Sanchez, with that hospitable speed all +Mexican rancheros display, had already covered the table with pulque, +mezcal, Catalonian refino, orangeade, and infusion of tamarinds. The +young people, thirsty from their long ride, and not wishing to grieve +the worthy persons who received them so kindly, did honour to the +refreshments thus profusely offered them. Don Ruiz, while teasing his +sister about her strange fancy for spending the night at the rancho, +though he felt convinced that she must have a very serious reason for +it, conversed gaily according to his fashion, and displayed a dazzling +wit which is easier in Mexico than elsewhere; for, owing to the natural +intelligence of the people, no matter their rank, they are certain to +understand. When day began to fall, the young gentleman took leave of +the rancheros, mounted his horse, and started for the hacienda. + +In Mexico, as in all intertropical countries, evening is the +pleasantest part of the day: at that time the inhabitants are all +in the open air. At night they sit in front of the rancho doors, +conversing, singing, or dancing; two or three in the morning arrives +before they dream of going to bed. But on this day, contrary to her +habit when she paid her nurse a visit, Doña Marianna seemed fatigued: +at times she had difficulty in checking a yawn, and her desire for rest +was so evident that the nurse was the first to invite her to retire. +The young lady required no pressing, and after bidding the old folks +good night, entered the rancho, and the room prepared for her. So soon +as Marianna had left them, the old couple also retired to rest. As for +Mariano, after making his usual tour of inspection round the rancho, +he hung up a hammock under the portico, as he preferred sleeping in +the open air to being shut up within walls which the sun's heat had +rendered stifling. An hour later all the inhabitants of the rancho were +plunged into the deepest sleep. + +Suddenly the tigrero felt a hand gently laid on his shoulder; he opened +his eyes, and by the light of the stars, which was as brilliant as day, +recognised Doña Marianna. The young man who had thrown himself fully +dressed upon the hammock, started up, and looked at his foster sister +anxiously. + +"What is the matter with you, niña?" he asked, in evident alarm. + +"Silence, Mariano!" she answered in a low voice, and laying her finger +on her lips; "All is quiet, at least I suppose so, but I wish to speak +with you." + +"Go on, tocaya," he replied, as he leaped from the hammock and folded +it up. + +"Yes, but I am sorry at having woken you; you were sleeping so soundly, +that I looked at you for nearly a quarter of an hour ere I dared to +disturb your rest; for sleep is such a blessed thing." + +"Nonsense," he answered with a laugh; "you were wrong, niña; we wood +rangers sleep so quickly that an hour is sufficient to rest us, and +if I am not mistaken, I have been lying down for more than two. Hence +speak, niña; I am attentive, and shall not miss a word of what you say +to me." + +The young lady reflected for a moment. + +"You love me, I think, Mariano?" she at length said, with a certain +hesitation in her voice. + +"Like a sister, niña," he said, warmly; "in truth, are we not tocayo +and tocaya? Why ask such a question?" + +"Because I want you to do me an important service." + +"Me, niña? ¡Caray! Do not be alarmed; I am devoted to you body and +soul, and whatever you may ask--" + +"Do not pledge yourself too hastily, tocayo," she interrupted him, with +a meaning laugh. + +"A man cannot do that when he firmly intends to keep his promise." + +"That is true; still there are things from which a man at times +recoils." + +"There may be such, niña, but I do not know them; however, explain your +wishes to me, frankly." + +"I think, Mariano, that you are on friendly terms with the hunter, +called Stronghand?" + +"Very intimate, niña; but why do you ask the question?" + +"Is he an honest man?" + +The tigrero looked at her. + +"What do you mean by that?" he asked her. + +"Why," she said, with considerable embarrassment, "I mean a man of +heart--a man, in short, whose word may be taken." + +Mariano became serious. + +"Señorita," he said, "Stronghand saved my life under circumstances +when my only hope was in Heaven. I have seen this man perform deeds of +incredible courage and audacity, for the sole object of serving people +who frequently did not feel the slightest gratitude to him. To me he is +more than a friend--more than a brother; whatever he bade me I would +do, even if I had to lay down the life he saved, and which belongs to +him. Such, niña, is my opinion about the hunter called Stronghand." + +The young lady gave a glance of pleasure. + +"You are deeply attached to him?" she murmured. + +"As I told you, he is more to me than a brother." + +"And you often see him?" + +"When I want him, or he wants me." + +"Does he live in the neighbourhood, then?" + +"A short time back he stayed several days at the rancho." + +"And will he return?" + +"Who knows?" + +"What did he during his stay here?" + +"I am not aware; I believe that he hunted, though I did not see a +single head of game he had killed whilst he was here." + +"Ah!" she said, pensively. + +There was a silence. Mariano looked at her, somewhat surprised that +she should have woke him for the sake of asking him such unimportant +questions. + +"Well," she continued, presently; "if you wanted to see Stronghand, do +you know where to find him?" + +"I think so." + +"You are not certain?" + +"Forgive me, niña, I am certain; we have a spot where we are safe to +meet." + +"But he might not be there." + +"That might happen." + +"What would you do in that case?" + +"Go and seek him at another place, where I should be sure of finding +him." + +"Ah! And where is that?" + +"At the village he inhabits." + +"What village is that? I know of none in the vicinity." + +"Pardon me, niña; there is one." + +"A long way from here, I presume?" + +"Only a few leagues." + +"And what is this pueblo?" + +"A village of the Papazos." + +"What?" + +"Yes, I have forgotten to tell you that. Although he is a white man, +Stronghand has, for reasons I am ignorant of, joined the Indians, and +been adopted by one of their most powerful tribes." + +"That is singular," the young lady murmured. + +"Is it not?" the tigrero replied; understanding less than ever the +object of the conversation. + +The maiden shook her head coquettishly, and seemed to form a sudden +resolution. + +"Mariano," she said, "I asked you to do me a service." + +"Yes, niña, and I answered that I was ready to do it." + +"That is true; are you still of the same mind?" + +"Why should I have altered it?" + +"This is what I want of you." + +"Speak." + +"I wish to see Stronghand." + +"Very good; when?" + +"At once." + +"What?" he asked, in amazement. + +"Do you refuse?" + +"I do not say that, but--" + +"There is a but, then?" + +"There always is one." + +"Let me hear yours." + +"It is long past midnight." + +"What matter is that?" + +"Not much, I allow." + +"Well, what next?" + +"It is a long journey." + +"Our horses are good." + +"We risk not finding the hunter at our usual meeting place." + +"We will push on to his village." + +The tigrero looked at her attentively. + +"You have a great need to see Stronghand in that case?" he asked. + +"Most extreme." + +"It is more serious than you suppose, señorita." + +"Why so?" + +"Hang it! It is not so easy to enter an Indian village." + +"But you do so." + +"That is true; but I am alone and well known." + +"Well, I will go on after you; that is all." + +"Are you aware that the Indians have revolted?" + +"That does not concern you, as you are a friend of theirs." + +Mariano shook his head. + +"You ask a very difficult thing again, tocaya," he said, "in which you +run a great risk." + +"Yes, if I fail; but I shall succeed." + +"It would be better to give up this excursion." + +"Confess at once," she said, impatiently, "that you do not wish to keep +the promise you made me." + +"You are unjust to me; I am only trying to dissuade you from an +enterprise which you will repent when it is too late." + +"That is my business, I repeat, Mariano," she continued, with a marked +stress in her words; "it is not to gratify a caprice that I wish to +see the hunter. I have reasons of the utmost importance for wishing to +speak with him; and, to tell you all, he urged me to summon him under +certain circumstances, and told me I need only apply to you in order to +find him. Are you satisfied now? will you adhere to your doubts, and +still refuse to accompany me?" + +The young man had listened to Doña Marianna with earnest attention. +When she had ended, he replied--"I no longer hesitate, niña; as +things are so, I am bound to obey you. Still, I beg you not to make me +responsible for any events that may happen." + +"Whatever may occur, my kind Mariano, be assured that I shall be +grateful to you for the immense service you have rendered me." + +"And you wish to start at once?" + +"How far have we to ride?" + +"Some ten or twelve leagues." + +"Oh, that is nothing." + +"Not on a regular road; but I warn you that we shall be compelled to +follow hardly visible wild beast tracks." + +"The night is clear; we shall have sufficient light to guide us, so let +us start." + +"If you wish it," the young man answered. + +A few minutes later they left the rancho at a gallop. It was about +two in the morning; and the moon, which was at its full, lit up the +landscape as in bright day. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +THE EXCURSION. + + +As we have already said, Doña Marianna, although still so young, was +gifted with an ardent soul and an energetic character, which the +unusual dangers of a border life had, so to speak, unconsciously +ripened. In life these select organizations do not know themselves; +events alone, by exciting their living strength, reveal to them what +they are capable of at a given moment, by urging them bravely to endure +the attack of malignant fortune, and to contend resolutely with their +adversary. When the Marquis, forced by the necessities of his unhappy +condition, had a frank explanation with his children, and confessed to +them into what difficulties he was suddenly thrown, Doña Marianna had +listened to him with the most sustained attention. Then, by degrees, a +species of revolution took place in her. Stronghand's words reverted to +her mind, and she had a vague idea that he could avert the danger that +was suspended over her father's head. + +On recapitulating all that had occurred to her since her departure from +Rosario--the help the hunter had rendered her on various occasions with +unexampled devotion--the conversation she had held with him a few days +previously, and the promise she had made him--it appeared evident to +her that Stronghand, better informed than perhaps the Marquis himself +was about the machinations of his enemies, held in his hands the means +of saving the Moguer family, and parrying the blows which were about to +be dealt them in the dark. + +Then, full of hope, and confiding in the promises of this man, who had +never made his appearance except to prove his devotion to her, her +resolution was spontaneously formed, and without informing anyone of +the project she had conceived, for fear lest an effort might be made +to dissuade her, she went to her nurse's rancho, in order to obtain +an interview with the hunter by the agency of her foster mother. +Under existing circumstances, the step taken by Doña Marianna was +not at all easy, or without dangers. The daughter of the Marquis de +Moguer galloping at night along the Indian border, only accompanied by +one man--devoted, it is true, but who, in spite of all his courage, +would be powerless to defend her against an attack--displayed more +than temerity in this action; and however great her bravery was, and +the confidence she had in the honesty of the enterprise she was thus +blindly undertaking, still she could not refrain from an internal +shudder on thinking of her isolated position, and the ease with which +she might be surprised, carried off, or even massacred by the revolted +Indians. Too proud, however, to allow any of the secret fears that +agitated her to be seen, Doña Marianna affected a tranquillity and +freedom of mind she was far from feeling. She conversed in a low voice +with her foster brother, teasing and scolding him about the difficulty +he had made in granting her request, and describing her delight at a +ride through such exquisite scenery on so magnificent a night. + +Mariano did not think, and consequently did not understand what he +supposed was a girl's fancy. Accustomed since childhood to yield to +all the wishes of his foster sister, and obey her as a slave, he had +on this occasion done what she desired without trying to account for +such an unusual excursion, so happy did he feel at obliging her. At +the same time, he felt a lively pleasure at accompanying her, and thus +passing a few hours in her company. We must not mistake the feelings +that animated the tigrero for Doña Marianna. He loved his foster sister +with his whole soul, and would have gladly died for her; but this +feeling, lively as it was, had nothing personal or interested about +it; it was merely friendship, but a friendship elevated to the most +complete self-denial and the most entire devotion--in a word, to the +most sublime degree which this feeling can attain in the human heart. +Hence the tigrero, comprehending the responsibility weighing on him, +rode on, as is commonly said, with his beard on his shoulder, carefully +examining the bushes, listening to the desert sounds, and ready, on +the slightest alarm, bravely to defend the girl who had placed herself +under his guard. The country they were traversing, though rather +varied, was not, however, completely wooded: owing to the transparent +brightness of the night, the view extended for a great distance, which +removed all fears of a surprise, and gave a certain security to the +travellers; still, they at times, fancied they saw great shadows moving +on the riverbank, and flying at their approach. The young lady looked +round her curiously, and then asked the tigrero whether they would +soon reach the spot where Stronghand was. Mariano pointed out to her a +gentle eminence forming a bend of the river, on the top of which the +fugitive gleams of an expiring fire could be seen at intervals. + +"That is where we are going," he said. + +"Then we have only a few minutes' ride, and it is useless to hurry our +horses." + +"You are mistaken, niña. Not only is the track we are following very +winding, and will detain us, but, through an optical illusion easy to +be understood, this hill which you fancy so near to us is at least two +leagues distant as the crow flies; so that, taking into account the +windings, the distance is nearly doubled." + +"Can we not cut across country, and thus shorten the distance?" + +"Heaven forbid, niña! We should get into trembling prairies, in which +we should be swallowed up in a few minutes." + +"I trust to you in that case, Mariano; besides, now that, thanks to +that fire, I am certain of meeting the hunter, my anxiety is less +lively, and I will await patiently." + +"Permit me to remark, my dear tocaya, that I did not say certainly that +we should find Stronghand at this bivouac." + +"What did you tell me, then?" + +"Simply that we might hope to meet him here, because it is the spot +where he generally encamps when hunting in these parts." + +"Still, as we can perceive the flame of that watch fire--for that is +really a flame, is it not?" + +"Certainly; still, we have yet to learn whether this fire has been +kindled by Stronghand or some other hunter. This mound is one of the +most suitable places of encampment, owing to the height of the hill, +which allows the country to be surveyed, and thus avoid a surprise." + +"Then probably we shall not find the hunter at the encampment?" + +"I do not say that either, niña," Mariano answered, with a laugh. + +"But what do you mean?" the young lady said, impatiently patting the +pommel of her saddle with her little hand; "you are really unendurable." + +"Do not be angry, tocaya; I may be mistaken. If Stronghand is not here, +perhaps we may find a hunter who will tell us where he is." + +"Why not an Indian?" + +"Because there are no Indians at that campfire." + +"Tocayo, I must really ask this time how you can possibly know that?" + +"Very easily, niña; I do not require to be a sorcerer to guess so +simple a thing." + +"Do you consider it so simple?" + +"Certainly; nothing can be more so." + +"In that case I will ask you to explain, for it is always worth while +learning." + +"You fancy you are joking, niña; and yet there is always something to +be learned in the desert." + +"Good, good, tocayo; I know that; but I am waiting for your +explanation." + +"Listen then. This fire, as I told you, is not an Indian fire." + +"That is not exactly what you said to me. Go on, however." + +"The Indians, when they camp on the white man's border, never light a +fire, for fear of revealing their presence; or if compelled to light +one in order to cook their food, they are most careful to diminish the +flame, in the first place by digging a deep hole in the ground, and +next by only using extremely dry wood, which burns without crackling, +flaming, or producing smoke, and which they carry with them for long +distances, in case they might not find it on their road." + +"But, my friend, that fire is scarce visible." + +"That is true; but still it is sufficiently so for us to have perceived +it a long distance off, and thus discovered the existence of a bivouac +at this spot which, under present circumstances, would entail the +surprise and consequent death of the imprudent men who lit it, if they +were Indians instead of hunters." + +"Excellently reasoned, compañero, and like a man accustomed to a desert +life!" A rough, though good-humoured voice suddenly said, a few yards +from them. + +The travellers started and pulled up sharply, while anxiously +investigating the surrounding thickets. Mariano, however, did not lose +his head under these critical circumstances; but with a movement swift +as thought raised his rifle, and covered a man who was standing by the +side of a thicket, with his hands crossed on the muzzle of a long gun. + +"Hold, compadre!" the stranger continued, not at all disturbed by the +tigrero's hostile demonstration; "Pay attention to what you are about. +A thousand fiends! Do you know that you run a risk of killing a friend?" + +Mariano hesitated for a moment; and then, without raising his rifle, +remarked-- + +"I fancy I recognise that voice." + +"By Jove!" the other said, "It would be a fine joke if you did not." + +"Wait a minute; are you not Whistler?" + +"All right, you remember now," the Canadian said with a laugh; for the +person was really the hunter whom the reader saw for a moment at the +village of the Papazos. + +The tigrero uncocked his rifle, which he threw over his shoulder, and +said to Marianna--"It is a friend." + +"Are you quite sure of this man?" she asked in a low, quick voice. + +"As of myself." + +"Who is he?" + +"A Canadian hunter or trapper. He has all the defects of the race, but +at the same time all its qualities." + +"I will believe you, for his countrymen are generally regarded as +honest men. Ask him what he was doing on the skirt of the track." + +Mariano obeyed. + +"I was attending to my business," Whistler replied with a grin; "and +pray what may you be doing, so poorly accompanied at this hour of the +night, when the Indians have taken the field?" + +"I am travelling, as you see." + +"Yes, but every journey has an object, I suppose." + +"It has." + +"Well, I do not see what end yours can achieve by continuing in that +direction." + +"Still, we are going to do so till we have found the man we are in +search of." + +"I will not ask you any questions, although I may perhaps have a right +to do so; still, I fancy you would act more wisely in turning back than +in obstinately going on." + +"I am not able to do so." + +"Why not?" + +"Because I have not the command of the expedition, and I cannot +undertake such a responsibility." + +"Ah, who is the chief, then? I only see two persons." + +"You seem to forget, señor," Doña Marianna said, joining in the +conversation for the first time, "that one of these two persons is a +female." + +"Of course she must command," the trapper answered with a courteous +bow; "pray excuse me, madam." + +"I the more willingly do so, because I hope to obtain from you +important information about the object of the journey we have +undertaken, perhaps somewhat too carelessly, in these desolate +regions." + +"I shall be too happy to be agreeable to you, my lady, if it be in my +power." + +"Permit me, in that case, to ask you a few questions." + +"Pray do so." + +"I wish to know what the camp is whose watch fires I perceive a short +distance off." + +"A hunter's bivouac." + +"Only hunters?" + +"Yes, they are all white hunters or trappers." + +"I thank you, señor. Do you know these men?" + +"Very well, considering I am a member of the band." Doña Marianna +hesitated for a moment. + +"Forgive me, sir," she continued, "I am in search of a hunter with whom +grave reasons force me to desire an immediate interview; perhaps he is +among your comrades." + +"Do you know him personally, madam?" + +"Yes, and am under great obligations to him. He is called Stronghand." + +The trapper eagerly walked up to the young lady, and attentively +examined her. + +"You wish to have an immediate interview with Stronghand?" + +"Yes, I repeat, señor, for reasons of the highest importance." + +"In case you are Doña Marianna de Moguer." + +"What!" she exclaimed, in surprise, "You know my name?" + +"That needs not astonish you, madam," he said, with the most exquisite +politeness; "I am the intimate friend of Stronghand. Without entering +into any details that might justly offend you, my friend told me that +you might perchance come and ask for him at our campfire." + +"He knew it, then," she murmured, in a trembling voice; "but how did he +learn it?" + +Though these words were uttered in a whisper, Whistler heard them. + +"He doubtless hoped it would be so, without daring to credit it, +madam," he answered. + +"Good heavens!" she continued, "What does this mean?" + +"That my friend, in his eager desire to be agreeable to you, and +foreseeing the chance of your coming during his absence, warned me, +in order to spare you a very difficult search, and thus induce you to +grant me a little of that confidence you deign to honour him with." + +"I thank you, sir. Now that you know me, would it be taxing your +courtesy too greatly to ask you to guide my companion and myself to +your bivouac?" + +"I am at your orders, madam, and believe me that you will receive a +proper reception, even though my friend does not happen to be there at +the moment." + +"What!" she said, suddenly checking her horse, "Can he be absent?" + +"Yes, but do not let that cause you any anxiety; he will soon return. + +"Good heavens!" she murmured, clasping her hands in grief. + +"Madam," Whistler again continued, "I understand that the reasons +which urged you to undertake such a journey must be of the utmost +importance; let me, therefore, go on ahead to the camp, and make all +the preparations for your reception." + +"But Stronghand, señor?" + +"Warned through me, madam, he will be back by daybreak." + +"You promise me that, señor." + +"On my honour." + +"Go, then, and may Heaven requite you for the goodwill and courtesy you +show me." + +Whistler bowed respectfully to the young lady, took his rifle under his +arm, and soon disappeared in the forest. + +"We can now go on without fear," said Mariano; "I know Whistler to be +an honest, worthy fellow, and he will do what he has promised." + +"Heaven grant I may see the man whom I have come so far to meet." + +"You will see him, be assured; moreover, all precautions were taken in +the event of your visit." + +"Yes," she murmured, pausing; "and it is this which renders me alarmed. +Well, I put my trust in the Virgin." + +And flogging her horse, she went on her way, followed by the tigrero, +who, according to his habit, could not at all comprehend this remark, +after the desire the young lady had evinced to see the hunter. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +THE HUNTER'S CAMP. + + +It was no great distance to the bivouac, and the travellers reached it +about half an hour after Whistler. Still, though this period was so +short, the worthy Canadian had profited by it to erect for the young +lady, who thanked him by a smile, a jacal of branches, under which she +found a shelter as comfortable as desert life permits. The hunters' +camp had a military look, which greatly perplexed Doña Marianna. Strong +wooden palisades defended all the approaches; the horses, which were +ready saddled, were fastened to pickets; several watch fires, lighted +at regular distances, sufficiently illumined the plain to prevent +the approach of an enemy, whether man or beast; and four sentinels, +standing rifle in hand on the entrenchments, followed with a vigilant +eye the slightest undulations of the lofty pass. Some thirty men, +with harsh and irregular features, clothed after the fashion of wood +rangers, in fur caps, cotton shirts, and leather calzoneras, were lying +in front of the fires, rifle in hand, in order to be ready for the +first alarm. + +Orders had probably been given beforehand by Whistler, for the +sentinels allowed the two travellers to pass unquestioned through a +breach in the entrenchments, which was immediately closed after them +again. The Canadian was awaiting them in front of the jacal; he helped +Doña Marianna to dismount, and the horses were led to join the others, +and supplied with a copious meal of alfalfa. + +"You are welcome among us, señora," he said with a respectful bow; +"in this jacal, which no one will enter save yourself, there is a +bed of skins, on which you can take a few hours' rest while awaiting +Stronghand's arrival." + +"I thank you, señor, for this graceful attention, by which I cannot +profit, however, till you have reiterated your promise." + +"Señorita, two horsemen have already set out to fetch Stronghand, but I +repeat, that he cannot be here for some hours; now, if you will accept +the humble refreshment prepared for you--" + +"I only require rest, señor; still I am not the less obliged to you for +your offer. With your permission, I will retire." + +"You are the mistress here, madam." + +The young lady smiled, pressed her foster brother's hand, and entered +the jacal. So soon as Doña Marianna had let fall after her the blanket +which formed the doorway, the tigrero quietly removed his zarapé from +his shoulders, and laid it on the ground. + +"What is that for, comrade?" Whistler asked, astonished at the +performance. + +"You see, compadre, I am making my bed." + +"Do you mean to sleep there?" + +"Why not?" + +"As you please; still, you will be cold, that is all." + +"Nonsense! A night is soon spent, especially when so far advanced as +this one is." + +"I trust that you do not doubt us." + +"No, Whistler, no; but Doña Marianna is my foster sister, and I am +bound to watch over her." + +"That care concerns me at the moment; so do not be at all alarmed." + +"Two sentries are better than one; besides, you know me, do you not? +Although I place the utmost confidence in you, I will not surrender +the guardianship of my tocaya to another man; that is my idea, whether +right or wrong, and I shall not give it up." + +"As you please," the trapper said, with a laugh. + +And he left him at liberty to make his arrangements as he pleased. The +tigrero, though he knew most of the hunters, or, perhaps, because he +knew them, did not wish to leave his foster sister unprotected among +these reckless men, who, accustomed to the utter license of a desert +life, might, under the influence of strong liquors, forget the sacred +duties of hospitality, and insult Doña Marianna. In this the young man, +in spite of his desert experience, was completely mistaken. + +We have no intention to attempt the rehabilitation of these men, who, +generally endowed with evil instincts, and who do not wish to yield to +the demands of civilization, retire into the desert in order to live as +they like, and seek liberty in license; still, we will mention in their +honour, that a nomadic life, after a certain lapse of time, completely +modifies their character, curbs their passions, and so subjects them +that they gradually become purified by constant danger and privations, +by getting rid of all that was bad in them, and retaining beneath their +rough bark and coarse manners principles of honesty and devotion of +which they would have been considered incapable at an earlier period. +What we say here is scrupulously true of about two-thirds at least of +the bold pioneers who traverse in all directions the vast savannahs of +the New World; the others are incorrigible, and within a given time +end by becoming real bandits, and carry their contingent of crime to +those formidable bands of pirates of the prairies, who ambush like +hideous birds of prey to await the passage of caravans, and plunder and +massacre the travellers. + +But, whether good or bad, the dwellers on the prairie--no matter if +whites, half-breeds, or Redskins, trappers, pirates, or Indians--have +one virtue in common, and whose duties they carry out with remarkable +punctuality and generosity, and that is hospitality. A traveller +surprised by night, and wearied by a long journey, may, if he see a +campfire in the huts of an Indian village, present himself without +fear, and claim hospitality. From that moment he is sacred to the men +he applies to, no matter if they be Indians, bravos, hunters, or even +pirates. These individuals, who would not have scrupled to assassinate +him by the side of a ditch, treat him like a brother, show him the most +delicate attentions, and will never make any insulting allusions to +the length of his stay among them; on the contrary, he is at liberty +to remain as long as he pleases, and when he takes leave his hosts say +good-bye regretfully. At the same time it is true that, if they meet +him a week after in the forest, they will kill him without mercy to +raise his hair and take his weapons; but this need only be apprehended +with the pirates and some Indian tribes of the far west. As for the +hunters, when a stranger has once slept by their side and shared their +food, he is for ever sacred to them. + +The tigrero, therefore, was completely mistaken when he feared lest +Doña Marianna might be insulted by these men, who, although coarse, +were honest and loyal in the main; and who, flattered by the confidence +this lovely, innocent girl placed in them, would, on the contrary, have +gladly defended her had it been necessary. + +Whistler went off with a laugh, and lay down by the side of his +comrades. As we have already said, the night was far advanced when Doña +Marianna and her travelling companion reached the camp of the hunters; +a few hours at the most separated them from sunrise: and the young +lady, who at first resolved to spend these hours awake, overcome by +fatigue, had yielded to sleep, and enjoyed a calm and refreshing rest. +So soon as day began to appear, Doña Marianna repaired as well as she +could the disorder produced in her dress by her lengthened journey, +rose and went to the door of the jacal. The camp was still plunged in +the deepest silence: with the exceptions of the sentries still on the +watch, the hunters were fast asleep. + +The dawn was just breaking, and striping the horizon with wide +vermillion bands; the sharp and rather cold morning breeze rustled +softly through the branches; the flowers that enamelled the prairie +raised themselves, and expanded the corollas to receive the first +sunbeams; the numberless streams, whose silvery waters made their way +through the tall grass, murmured over the white and grey pebbles as +they bore their tribute to the Rio Bravo del Norte, whose capricious +windings could be guessed in the distance, owing to the thick cloud +of vapour that constantly rose from it and brooded over its bed. +The birds, still hidden beneath the foliage, were timidly preluding +their harmonious concert; the glad earth, the bright sky, the serene +atmosphere, the pure light--all, in a word, revealed that the day +which had now entirely appeared was about to be tranquil and lovely. + +The maiden, refreshed by the rest she had enjoyed, felt herself newborn +as she breathed the first exhalations of the flowers and the sharp +odour which is found in the desert alone. Without venturing to quit +the jacal, in front of which the tigrero was lying, she surveyed the +surrounding landscape, which, thanks to the elevation she stood at, +lay expanded at her feet for a long distance. The profound calmness +of reawakening nature, the powerful harmonies of the desert, filled +the maiden's heart with a gentle melancholy; she pensively indulged +in those thoughts which the great spectacles of nature ever arouse in +minds unaffected by human passions. In the meanwhile the sun ascended +the horizon, and the last shadows melted away in the dazzling beams +propelled by the daystar. Suddenly the girl uttered an exclamation of +delight, for she noticed a band of horsemen fording the stream, and +apparently coming in the direction of the hill. At the cry his foster +sister uttered, the tigrero bounded to his feet and stood by her side, +rifle in hand, ready to defend her if necessary. + +"Good morning, tocayo," she said to him. + +"Heaven keep you, niña!" he replied, with a shade of anxiety. "Have you +slept well?" + +"I could not have done so better, Mariano." + +"All right then; but why did you utter that cry?" + +"I cried out, my friend, and scarce know why." + +"Ah, yes--stay; look at those horsemen coming up at full speed." + +"Caray! How they gallop! They will be here within half an hour." + +"Do you think that Stronghand is among them?" + +"I suppose so, niña." + +"And I am sure of it," said Whistler, with a respectful bow to the +young lady; "I have recognised him, señorita; so will you allow that I +have kept my promise?" + +"Most fully, señor; and I know not how to express my thanks for the +hearty hospitality you have given me." + +"I have no claim to any thanks from you, señorita, as I have only +carried out my friend's intention; niña, it is to him alone you should +offer thanks, if you consider that you ought to make them." + +In the meanwhile the camp was aroused; the hunters were yawning, and +turned to their daily avocations; some led their horses to the watering +place, others kindled the fires; some cut the wood requisite to keep +them up, while two or three of the older men acted as cooks, and got +breakfast ready for the party. The camp changed its appearance in a +minute; it lived the nervous, agitated life of the desert, in which +each man performs his task with the feverish speed of persons who are +aware of the value of time, and do not wish to lose it. The young lady, +at first surprised by the cries, laughter, and unaccustomed movement +that prevailed around her, began to grow used to it, and eagerly +watched the occupations of the men she had beneath her eyes. A sharp +challenge of "Who goes there?" suddenly made her raise her head. + +"A friend!" a voice she at once recognised answered from without. + +Suddenly a band of horsemen entered the camp, at their head being +Stronghand. The young man dismounted, and after exchanging a few words +with Whistler, he went straight up to the maiden, who was standing +motionless in the doorway of the jacal, and watching his approach +with amazement. In fact, as we have said, Stronghand was not alone; +several persons accompanied him, among them being Thunderbolt and Doña +Esperanza; the rest were confidential Indian servants. When Stronghand +came in front of the young lady, he bowed to her respectfully, and then +turned to the persons who accompanied him. + +"Permit me, señorita," he said to her, "to present to you my mother, +Doña Esperanza, and my father; both love you, though they do not know +you, and insisted on accompanying me." + +The maiden, blushing with joy at this delicate attention on the part +of the hunter, who thus placed their interview beneath the safeguard +of his father and mother, replied with emotion--"I am delighted, +señor, with this kind inspiration of your heart; it augments, were it +possible, the confidence I have placed in you, and the gratitude I felt +for the eminent services you have rendered me." + +Doña Esperanza and the sachem embraced the girl, who, at once ashamed +and joyous at the friendship of these persons, whose exterior was at +once so imposing and so venerable, knew not how to respond to their +caresses and the kindness they evinced to her. In the meanwhile the +hunters had raised, with great skill and speed, a tent, under which +the four persons were at once protected from the curious glances of +the persons who surrounded them. Through that innate feeling of women, +which makes them love or detest each other at the first glance, Doña +Esperanza and the young lady at once felt attracted to each other by +a natural movement of sympathy, and leaving the gentlemen to their +occupations, they withdrew on one side, and began an animated and +friendly conversation. Doña Marianna, subjugated by Doña Esperanza's +seductive manner, and drawn toward her by a feeling of attraction for +which she did not attempt to account, as she felt so happy with her, +spoke to her open-heartedly; but then she was greatly surprised to see +that this lady, whom she was bound to suppose an entire stranger, was +perfectly acquainted with all that related to her family, and knew her +father's affairs better than she did herself; her amazement increased +when Doña Esperanza explained in the fullest details the reasons that +occasioned her presence in the hunter's camp, and the precarious +position to which the Marquis de Moguer was reduced. + +"I could add many more surprising things, my dear girl," Doña Esperanza +continued with a smile, "but I do not wish to fatigue you at present; +sufficient for you to know that we really take an interest in your +family, and that it will not be our fault if your father is not soon +freed from all his cares." + +"Oh, how good you are, madam!" the young lady exclaimed, warmly; "How +can I have merited such lively interest on your part?" + +"That must not trouble you at all, my dear girl; the step you have +taken today to come to your father's assistance, and the confidence +you have placed in my son, are for us proofs of the loftiness of your +feelings and the purity of your heart. Although we are almost Indians," +she added with a smile, "we have white blood enough in our veins to +remember what we owe to persons of that race." + +The conversation went on thus between the two ladies on a footing of +frank friendliness, until the moment when Stronghand came to interrupt +it, by stating that breakfast was ready, and that they were only +waiting for them to sit down. The tigrero and the Canadian had both +been invited to share the meal, but they declined the invitation under +the pretext that they did not like to eat with persons so high above +them in rank, but in reality, because the worthy wood rangers preferred +breakfasting without ceremony. Stronghand did not press them, and +allowed them to do as they pleased. Doña Marianna bit her lips in order +to suppress a smile when the hunter informed her that they were about +to sit down to table; for, owing to her recent journey and her life on +the Indian border, the young lady was well aware that such meals were +extremely simple, and eaten on the grass. Hence her surprise was at its +height when, after passing into a separate compartment of the tent, +she perceived a table laid with a luxury which would have been justly +admired even in Mexico: nothing was wanting, even to massive plate +and valuable crystal. The dishes, it is true, were simple, and merely +consisted of venison and fruit; but all had a stamp of true grandeur, +which it was impossible not to appreciate at the first glance. The +contrast offered by this table, so elegantly and comfortably laid, was +the greater, because, behind the canvas of the tent, desert life could +be seen in all its simplicity. + +The young lady seated herself between Thunderbolt and Doña Esperanza, +Stronghand sat down opposite to her, and two menservants waited. In +spite of the agreeable surprise which the impromptu comfort of this +repast, prepared for her alone, caused her, the young lady did not at +all display her surprise, but she ate heartily and gaily, thus thanking +her hosts for the delicate attentions they showed her. When the +dainties were placed on the table, and the meal was drawing to a close, +Stronghand bowed to Doña Marianna. + +"Señorita," he said, with a smile, "before we begin a serious +conversation, which might, at this moment, appear to you untimely, be +kind enough to permit my mother to tell us one of the charming Indian +legends with which she generally enlivens the close of our meals." + +Doña Marianna was at first surprised by this proposition, made, +without any apparent motive, at the close of a lively conversation; +but imagining that the hunter's remarks concealed a serious purpose, +and that the legend, under its frivolous aspect, would entail valuable +results for her, she answered with her sweetest smile--"I shall listen +with the greatest pleasure to the narrative the señora is about to tell +us, because my nurse, who is of Indian origin, was wont to lull me to +sleep with these legends, which have left a deep and most agreeable +impression on my mind." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +THE LEGEND. + + +Doña Esperanza exchanged a look with the sachem, and after reflecting +a moment, as if recalling her ideas, she said to Doña Marianna, in +her gentle, sympathising voice--"My dear girl, before beginning my +narrative, I must inform you that I belong to the Aztec race, and am +descended in a direct line from the kings of that people. Hence, the +story you are about to hear, though simple in its form, is completely +exact, and has dwelt among us intact for generations. I trust," she +added, with a stress, "that it will interest you." + +Then turning to one of the criados who stood motionless behind the +guests, she said--"The quipos." + +The criado went out, and almost immediately returned with a bag of +perfumed tapir skin, which he handed his mistress with a bow. The +latter opened it, and drew out several cords plaited of different +coloured threads, divided at regular distances by knots mingled with +shells and beads. These cords are called quipos, and are employed by +the Indians to keep up the memory of events that have occurred during +a long course of years, and thus represent books. Still, it requires +a special study to understand these quipos, and few people are capable +of deciphering them, the more so as the Indians, who are very jealous +about keeping their historical secrets, only permit a small number +of adepts to learn the explanation, which renders any knowledge of +Indian history almost impossible for white men. Doña Esperanza, after +attentively examining the quipos, selected one, replaced the others in +the bag, and letting the knots of the rope glide through her fingers, +much as a monk does with his beads when telling his rosary, she began +her narrative. + +For fear of injuring this story, whose truth cannot be doubted, +and which we ourselves heard told in an atepetl of the Papazos, we +will leave it in all its native rudeness, without attempting to +adorn it with flowers of European metaphors, which, in our opinion, +would deprive it of its peculiar character. Doña Esperanza spoke as +follows:--"At a certain period of the year," she said, while beginning +to feel the quipos, which served her, as it were, as a book, "long +before the appearance of white men on the red territory, a numerous +band of Chichimeques and Toltequez, who originally dwelt at the lakes, +becoming dissatisfied, resolved to emigrate to the south-west in +pursuit of the buffaloes, and carried out their resolve." + +"At Salt Lake they divided, and those who remained continued to +bear their primitive name; while the others, for an unknown motive, +assumed that of Comanches. These Comanches, more enterprising than +their brothers, continued their journey till they reached the banks +of the Rio Gila, where they encamped and divided again. One band, +which resolved not to go farther, was christened by the others, who +determined to press on, the 'Great Ears;' but the whites who first +discovered them called them 'Opatas.' The remainder of the band +continued to march in the same direction, and found the Rio Bravo +del Norte at the mouth of the Rio Puerco. They had only two principal +chiefs left, and gave themselves the name of Neu-ta-che, which means, +'those who reach the river's mouth.' One of the chiefs had an only son, +and the other a lovely daughter, and the young people loved each other. +But this raised the anger of the father of the unhappy girl to such a +height, that he made his band arm and prepare to fight. But the father +and the young man crossed the Rio Gila, and buried themselves with +their band in the territory afterwards called by the white man Señora +or Sonora, where they settled, and continued to reside peacefully +until the period when the whites, ever in search of new lands, arrived +there in their turn, and after many cruel wars, succeeded in gaining +possession of the country." + +"The Comanches had founded several towns in Sonora, and, in accordance +with their constant habit, in the neighbourhood of the gold and +silver mines they discovered, and begun to work. One of their towns, +perhaps the richest and most populous, had for its chief a warrior +justly renowned for his wisdom in council, and valour in the combat. +This chief was called Quetzalmalin--that is to say, the 'Twisted +Feather.' His nobility was great, and very ancient; he justly declared +that he was descended in a direct line from Acamapichtzin, first +king of Mexico, whose hieroglyphic he retained on the totem of his +tribe, through that veneration which our fathers displayed for their +ancestors. This hieroglyphic, which his descendants have preciously +retained, is composed of a hand grasping a number of reeds, which is +the literal translation of the name of the noble chief of the race. +Twisted Feather had a daughter, eighteen summers old, lovely and +graceful: her name was Ova, and she ran over the prairie grass without +bending it; gentle, pensive, and timid as the virgin of the first +loves, her black eyes had not yet been fixed on one of the warriors of +the tribe, who all sought to please her." + +"Ova wore a tunic of water-green colour, fastened round her waist by +a wampum belt, with a large golden buckle. When she danced before her +father, the old man's forehead became unwrinkled, and a sunbeam passed +into his eyes. Her father had often told her that it was time for her +to marry, but Ova shook her head with a smile; she was happy, and the +little bird that speaks to the heart of maidens had not yet sung to her +the gentle strains of love." + +"Still a moment arrived when Ova lost all her careless gaiety. The +young girl, so laughing and so wild, became suddenly pensive and +dreamy--she loved." + +"Ova went to find her father. The chief at this moment was presiding +over the great council of the nation in the great medicine calli. The +maiden advanced, and knelt respectfully before her father." + +"'What is it, my daughter?' the chief said, as he passed his hand +gently through her long hair, which was fine as aloe threads." + +"'My father,' she replied, looking down modestly, 'I love, and am +beloved.'" + +"'My daughter, what is the name of the chief who is so happy that your +choice should have fallen on him?'" + +"'He is not a chief, my father; he is, perchance, one of the most +obscure warriors of the tribe, although he is one of the bravest. He +works in the gold mine that belongs to you.'" + +"The chief frowned, and a flash of anger sparkled in his glance." + +"'My father,' the maiden continued, as she embraced his legs, 'if I did +not marry him, I should die.'" + +"The chief gazed at his daughter for a moment, and saw her so sad and +resigned, that pity entered his heart. He, too, loved his daughter--his +only child; for the Master of Life had called away the others to the +happy hunting grounds. The aged man did not wish his daughter to die." + +"'You shall marry the man you love,' he said to her." + +"'Do you promise it to me on the sacred totem of the nation, father?'" + +"'On the sacred totem of the nation I promise it; speak, therefore, +without fear. What is the name of the man you love?'" + +"'He is called the Clouded Snake, father.'" + +"The old man sighed." + +"'He is very poor,' he muttered." + +"'I am rich enough for both.'" + +"'Be it so. You shall marry him, my daughter.'" + +"Ova rose, sparkling with joy and happiness, bowed to the assembly, and +left the medicine lodge." + +"Clouded Snake was poor, it is true--even very poor, since he was +constrained to work in the gold mine; but he was young, he was brave, +and was considered the handsomest of all the warriors of his age." + +"Tall, robust, and muscular, Clouded Snake formed as complete a +contrast with Ova, who was pale and frail, as a noble buffalo does with +a graceful antelope. Perhaps their love emanated from this contrast." + +"The young man, though he was so poor, found means to give his +betrothed perfumes of grizzly bears' grease, necklaces of alligators' +teeth, and wampum girdles." + +"The young people Were happy. On the eve of the marriage, Clouded Snake +laid at Ova's feet buckles of gold and two bracelets of shells, mingled +with beads of pure gold." + +"Ova accepted these presents with a smile, and said to her betrothed, +as she left him,--" + +"'Farewell; we part today to see each other tomorrow, and tomorrow we +shall be united for ever.'" + +"On the next day Clouded Snake did not come. Ova waited for several +months; Clouded Snake did not reappear." + +"In vain, by the chief's orders, was the young man sought for +throughout the country; no one had seen him, no one had heard speak of +him." + +"Clouded Snake no longer existed, except in the heart of Ova." + +"She wept for him, and people tried to make her believe that he had +gone to fight the white men; but Ova shook her head, and wiped away her +tears." + +"Forty times did the snow cover the summit of the mountains, and yet +it had been impossible to clear up the mystery of Clouded Snake's +disappearance." + +"One day some labourers at work in the gold mine, which had belonged +to Ova's father, and was now her property, while going far down an old +gallery which had been abandoned for a long time, exhumed a corpse as +miraculously preserved as the mummies of the _teocallis_ are in their +bandages." + +"The warriors flocked up to see this strange corpse, clothed in a dress +belonging to another age, and no one recognised it." + +"Ova, who was then old, and who, to please her father had married +the great chief of his nation when her last hope expired, went with +her husband to the spot where the corpse was exposed to the sight of +visitors." + +"Suddenly she started, and tears darted from her eyes; she had +recognised Clouded Snake, as handsome as on the day when she left him +with the hope of a speedy reunion. She, on the other hand, aged and +bowed down more by grief than years, was weak and tottering." + +"Ova wished that the corpse of the man whom she had been on the point +of marrying, and whom the evil spirit had torn from her, should be +restored to the mine from which it had been removed after forty years. +The mine, by the orders of the chief's wife, although extremely rich, +was abandoned and shut up." + +"Ova ordered a hieroglyphic to be carved on the stone that covers the +body of her betrothed, which may be thus translated:--'This sepulchre +is without a body; this body is without a sepulchre; but by itself it +is a sepulchre and a body.'" + +"Such," Doña Esperanza added, as she finished the legend, and laid +down the quipos, "is the story of the lovely Ova, daughter of the +great chief Twisted Feather, and of Clouded Snake the miner, just as +it occurred, and just as Ova herself ordered it to be preserved by a +special quipos for future ages." + +Doña Esperanza stopped, and there was a moment's silence. + +"Well, señorita," the sachem asked, "has the legend interested you?" + +"Through its simplicity it is most touching, señor," the young lady +answered; "still, there is something vague and unsettled about the +whole story, which impairs its effect." + +Thunderbolt smiled gently. + +"You find, do you not, that we are not told the precise spot where +the events of the narrative occurred, that Sonora is very large, and +that the town in which Twisted Feather commanded is not sufficiently +indicated?" + +"Pardon me, señor," the young lady remarked, with a blush, "such +geographical notions, though doubtless very useful in settling the spot +where events have occurred, interest me personally very slightly. What +I find incomplete is the story itself; the rest does not concern me." + +"More so than you suppose, perhaps, señorita," the sachem remarked; +"but pray be good enough to state your objections more fully." + +"Excuse me, señor, but I have not yet recovered from the surprise which +the events that have occurred during the last few hours have occasioned +me, and I explain myself badly, in spite of my efforts." + +"What do you mean, señorita, and to what events are you referring?" + +"To those which are taking place at this very moment. Having started +from home to ask an interview of a wood ranger, whom I naturally +supposed encamped in the open air, and shared the life of privations +of his fellows, I meet, on the contrary, persons who overwhelm me +with attentions, and, under an Indian appearance, conceal all the +refinements of the most advanced civilization. You can understand how +this strange contrast with what surrounds me must surprise, almost +frighten me, who am a young girl, ignorant of the world, and have +undertaken a step which many persons would disapprove if they knew it." + +"You are going too far, my dear child," Doña Esperanza replied, as +she tenderly embraced her; "what you have seen here ought not to +surprise you. My husband is one of the principal chiefs of the great +Confederation of the Papazos; but he and I, in other times, lived the +life of white men. When we withdrew to the desert, we took with us our +civilized habits, and that is the entire mystery. As for the step you +have taken, it has nothing that is not most honourable to you." + +"I thank you for these kind remarks, and the interpretation you are +pleased to give to a step conceived, perhaps, a little too giddily, +and executed more giddily still." + +"Do not regret it, señorita," said Thunderbolt; "perhaps it has helped +your father's affairs more than you suppose." + +"As for the story of Ova," Doña Esperanza continued, with a gentle +smile, "this is how it ended:--the poor woman died of despair a few +days after the discovery of the man she ought to have married, and whom +she had held in such tender memory for so long a time. At her last hour +she expressed a desire to be united in death to the man from whom she +had been separated in life. This last wish was carried out. The two +betrothed repose side by side in the mine, which was at once closed +again, and no one has dreamed of opening it up to the present day." + +"I thank you, señora, for completing your narrative. Still," Marianna +said, with a sigh, "this gold mine must, in my opinion, be very poor, +since the Spaniards, when they seized the country, did not attempt to +work it." + +"Not at all, my dear child; on the contrary, it is excessively rich. +But Ova's secret has been so well kept that the Spaniards remained in +ignorance of its existence." + +The two ladies were by this time alone, as the sachem and his son had +left the tent. + +"It is strange," the maiden murmured, answering her own thoughts rather +than Doña Esperanza's remark. + +The earnestness with which the lady insisted on referring to the legend +astounded and interested her. A secret foreboding warned her that the +story had a hidden object, whose importance still escaped her, though +she was burning to discover it. Doña Esperanza attentively followed in +her face the various feelings that agitated her, and were reflected +in her expressive face as in a mirror. She continued--"This is why +the mine was not discovered when the Spaniards seized the town where +it was situated. It had been stopped up for a very long time. The old +inhabitants were killed or expelled by the conquerors; and those who +escaped were careful not to reveal this secret to their oppressors. +The latter destroyed the town, and built an immense hacienda over its +mines." + +"But--pardon me for questioning you thus, señora--how have all these +facts come to your knowledge?" + +"For a very simple reason, my dear child. Ova was my ancestress, and +the knowledge of this mine is consequently a family secret for us. I +am, perhaps, the only person in the world who at the present day knows +its exact position." + +"Yes, I understand you," the young lady said, becoming very pensive. + +"Still you are trying to discover, are you not, my dear child?" the old +lady continued, kindly interrogating her, "Why, instead of letting you +speak of the important matters that brought you here, my son urged you +to ask this story of me; and why, without pity for your filial sorrow, +I consented to do so; and why, now that it is ended, I am anxious for +you to learn the minutest details." + +The girl hid her face in the old lady's bosom, and burst into tears. + +"Yes," she said, "you have understood me, madam, and pray pardon me." + +"Pardon you for what, my dear child? For loving your father? On the +contrary, you are quite right. But yours is no common nature, my +child; though we have only been acquainted for a few hours, you have +sufficiently appreciated my character, I think, to recognise the +interest I take in you." + +"Yes, yes, I believe you, madam; I must believe you." + +"Well, console yourself, my dear girl; do not weep thus, or I shall be +forced to follow your example; and I have still some details to add to +this interminable story." + +The maiden smiled through her tears. "Oh, you are so kind, madam," she +answered. + +"No, I love you, that is all, and," she added, with a sigh, "I have +done so for a long time." + +Doña Marianna gazed at her with amazement. + +"Yes, that surprises you," she continued, "and I can well understand +it. But enough of this subject for the present, my darling, and let us +return to what I wanted to say to you." + +"Oh, I am listening to you, madam." + +"I will now tell you where Ova's town stood, and its name. It was +called Cibola." + +"Cibola!" the girl exclaimed. + +"Yes, dear child, the very spot where the Hacienda del Toro was +afterwards built by your ancestor, the Marquis de Moguer. Now do you +understand me?" + +Without replying, Doña Marianna threw herself into the old lady's arms, +who pressed her tenderly to her bosom. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +KIDD REAPPEARS. + + +Kidd had left the atepetl of the Papazos with rage in his heart, and +revolved in his mind the most terrible schemes of vengeance. Not +that the bandit had in his gangrened heart any sensitive chord which +noble sentiment could cause to vibrate; to him it was a matter of the +slightest importance that he had been publicly branded and expelled +like the lowest scoundrel; humiliation glided over him without +affecting him, and what most enraged him was to see the fortune dried +up which Don Marcos de Niza had momentarily flashed before his greedy +eyes, and which he hoped, by dissimulation and treachery, to invest +in his capacious pocket in the shape of gold ounces. Now he could no +longer dream of it; the slightest information he could henceforth +accidentally pick up would not be sufficiently important to be paid for +at the price given for the first. + +There was something desperate in such an alternative for a man like +the bandit; but what should he do? With all his other qualities, the +adventurer combined the rather strange one, for him, of only being +brave like the Coyotes, which only attack in pairs, and when they are +certain of conquering; that is to say, he was an utter coward when +compelled to meet an enemy face to face, although he would not hesitate +to kill him from behind a bush. The adventurer did not deceive himself +about this peculiarity of his character, and the mere idea of picking +a quarrel with Stronghand caused him an instinctive terror, externally +revealed by a general trembling. + +He therefore very sadly and despairingly proceeded, along the road to +the Real de Minas, not knowing yet whether he should enter the pueblo, +or push further on and seek fortune elsewhere, when his attention was +attracted to the left hand of the road he was following by an unusual +and continuous undulation of the tall grass. The bandit's first impulse +was to stop, dismount, and conceal himself and his horse behind an +aloe tree, which afforded a temporary shelter. It is extraordinary to +see how villains, who care nothing for the life of others, display +remarkable instinct of self-preservation, and what tricks they employ +to escape an often imaginary danger. When the bandit believed himself +in safety, at least for the moment, he began watching most carefully +the undulation of the grass, which incessantly drew nearer to him. + +A quarter of an hour passed thus; then the grass parted, and the bandit +perceived three horsemen coming towards him, entirely dressed in black. +With that peculiar scent scoundrels have for detecting policemen, +Kidd did not deceive himself; he at once recognised the three persons +as belonging to the noble corporation of Alguaciles. A fourth, also +dressed in black, in whose ugly features an expression of bestial craft +and wickedness seemed to be reflected, was evidently the leader of the +party,--an Alguacil mayor, a race of rapacious vultures, without heart +or entrails; a manso Indian, dressed in torn trousers, and with bare +head, arms, and legs, was running in front of the others, and evidently +acting as guide. + +"Hold, José!" the most important of the men shouted to the Indian, +employing the general nickname of these poor fellows. "Hold, José! +Mind you do not lead us astray, scoundrel, if you do not want to have +your ribs broken; we must arrive this night at the Real de Minas of +Quitovar, whither important business summons us." + +"You would arrive there before two o'clock, Excellency," the Indian +answered, with a crafty laugh, "if instead of riding at a foot pace +you would consent to give your mule the spurs; if not we shall not get +there till after sunset." + +"_¡Válgame dios!_" the first speaker said, angrily; "What will my +honourable client, El Señor Senator Don Rufino Contreras say, who +must have been awaiting my arrival for several days with the utmost +impatience?" + +"Nonsense, Excellency! You will arrive soon enough to torture honest +people." + +"What do you dare to say, scoundrel?" the bailiff exclaimed, raising +the chicote he held in his hand. + +The Indian parried with a stick the blow which would have otherwise +fallen on his loins, and answered drily, as he seized the mule by the +bridle, and made it rear, to the great alarm of the rider,-- + +"Take care, señor; though you call me José, and treat me no better nor +worse than a brute, we are no longer in one of your civilized towns, +but on the prairie; here I have my foot on my native heath, and will +not put up with the slightest insult from you. Treat me as an idiot, +if you like, and I shall not care for it, as it comes from one whom I +utterly despise; but bear this in mind,--on the slightest threatening +gesture you make, I will immediately thrust my knife into your heart." + +And while saying this, the man flashed in the bailiffs terrified face a +long knife, whose blue blade had a sinister lustre. + +"You are mad, José--quite mad," the other answered, affecting a +tranquillity he was far from feeling at the announcement; "I never +intended to insult you, and I shall never do so; so let go my mule's +bridle, pray, and we will continue our journey in peace." + +"That will do," the Indian said, with his eternal grin; "that is the +way you must speak for us to remain good friends during the period we +shall have to pass together." + +And after letting go the mule, he began trotting in front with that +swinging pace of which Indians alone possess the secret, and which +enables them to follow a trotting horse for several days, without +becoming tired. + +The conversation had taken place sufficiently near to Kidd's lurking +place for him to overhear every syllable. Suddenly he started. An idea +doubtless crossed his mind, for after allowing the horsemen to go on, +but not too far for him to catch them up, he left his thicket, and +went after them, growling between his teeth,--"What the deuce relations +can these birds of night have with Don Rufino Contreras? Well, we shall +soon see." + +On turning into the track he saw the party a short distance ahead of +him. The latter, whom the sound of his horse's hoofs stamping on the +dry ground, had already warned, looked back rather anxiously, the more +so because the bandit, in spite of the ease he tried to effect, had +nothing very prepossessing about his appearance or face. Policemen +could form no mistake about him. Hence they did not do so, and at the +first glance recognised him as what he really was--that is to say, +a bandit. But in Mexico, as in many other countries which pretend, +rightly or wrongly, to be civilized, policemen and ruffians have the +best possible reasons for living on friendly terms; and had it not +been for the solitary spot where he was, Don Parfindo Purro (such was +the Alguacil's name) saw nothing very disagreeable in meeting the +adventurer. The latter continued to advance, talking to his horse, +tickling its flanks with his spur, galloping, with his fist proudly +placed on his hip, and his hat pulled impudently over his right ear. + +"_Santas tardes, caballeros_," he said, as he joined the party of men +in black, and slightly checked his horse, so that it should keep pace +with the others, "by what fortunate accident do I meet you so late on +this desolate road?" + +"Fortune is with us, caballero," Don Parfindo answered, politely; +"this accursed Indian has led us a roundabout road; I really believe, +whatever he may say, that we have lost our way, or shall soon do so." + +"That is possible," Kidd observed; "and without being too curious, will +you allow me to ask whither you are going? Moreover, to set you at your +ease by displaying confidence, I will inform you that I am going to +Quitovar." + +"Ah!" said the bailiff, "That is very lucky." + +"Why so?" + +"Because I am going there too, in the first instance. Are we still a +great distance from the pueblo?" + +"Only a few leagues; we shall arrive before two o'clock, and if you +will allow me to take your guide's place, I shall be delighted to show +you the way, which, I confess, is not very easy to find." + +"Your proposal delights me, caballero, and I most heartily accept it." + +"That is agreed; if you do not know the pueblo, I will take you to a +capital house, where you will be excellently treated." + +"I thank you, caballero; it is the first time I have been to Real de +Minas. I am a bailiff at Hermosillo." + +"A bailiff!" the bandit said; "¡Caray! That is a famous profession." + +"At your service, were I competent for it," Don Parfindo said, puffing +himself out. + +"I do not say no," Kidd continued, giving himself an air of importance. +"When a man carries on a large business, as I do, the acquaintance +of a caballero so distinguished as you appear to be can only be most +advantageous." + +"You confound me, señor." + +"Oh, do not thank me, for what I say I really think; I was speaking +about it only a few days back to Don Rufino Contreras, who is also very +rich, and consequently has numerous trials." + +"Do you know Don Rufino?" the bailiff asked, with rising respect. + +"Which one?--The illustrious senator?" + +"Himself." + +"He is one of my most intimate friends. Are you acquainted with him +too?" + +"He has instructed me to proceed in his name against certain debtors of +his." + +"_¡Viva Dios!_ This is a strange meeting," the adventurer exclaimed, +with a radiant face. + +"What a worthy señor!" the bailiff remarked, "And so honourable!" + +The two scoundrels understood each other. The acquaintance was formed, +and confidence sprang up quite naturally. The conversation was +continued on the best possible terms; Kidd adroitly led the other to +make a general confession, and the latter, believing that he had to do +with an intimate of Don Rufino, told him the secret of the negotiations +he was intrusted with, without any visible pressure. Altogether this is +what the adventurer learned:--Don Rufino Contreras, impelled by some +motive unknown, had secretly bought up the claims of all the persons to +whom the Marquis de Moguer was indebted. So soon as he held them, he +had taken out writs, through a third party, against the Marquis, so as +to dispossess him of the small property left him--among other things, +the Hacienda del Toro, which he evinced a great desire to possess. His +proposal to marry Doña Marianna was only a bait offered to the good +faith of Don Hernando, in order to lull his prudence and remove his +suspicions. What he wanted was to become, at any price, proprietor of +the hacienda. But still, wishing to retain the mask of friendship, by +the aid of which he had hitherto deceived the Marquis, he had put the +matter in the hands of a man of his own, who had orders to push matters +to extremities, and accept no arrangement. Don Parfindo Purro was the +bailiff selected: he was the bearer of the most perverse instructions +and strictest orders, and was resolved to accomplish to the letter +what he emphatically called his duty. + +In Mexico, we are compelled to allow that justice is the most derisive +buffoon and horrible thing imaginable. The judges, most of whom are +utterly ignorant, and who act _gratis_, as their salaries are never +paid, requite themselves for this annoyance on the contending parties, +whom they plunder without pity or shame; and this is carried to such +an extent, that, so soon as the trial is begun, it is known who will +win and who lose. It is little consequence whether the trial be +criminal or civil. Money decides everything. To give only one instance: +A man commits a murder, the fact is confirmed--known by all; the +assassination has been performed in bright day, in the open street, and +in the presence of a hundred persons. The relations of the victim go +before the _juez de lettras_--that is to say, the criminal judge; he +lets them explain the affair in its fullest details, and gives no signs +of approval or disapproval; but when they have finished, he asks them +the simple question-- + +"Have you any witnesses?" + +"Yes," the relatives answer. + +"Very good; and these witnesses are doubtless men of good position and +of a certain value?" + +"Certainly. Each of them is worth a thousand piastres." + +"Well," says the judge, "and how many may there be?" + +"Ten." + +"What a pity!" he then continues, in his mildest accents; "Your +adversary, who between ourselves, appears to me a highly distinguished +caballero, has exactly the same number of witnesses as you; but his are +far more important people, for each is worth two thousand piastres." + +The matter is settled. If the relatives of the murdered man are not +rich enough to make a higher bid, the assassin is not only acquitted, +but discharged without a stain on his character, and is at perfect +liberty, if he think proper, to kill another of his enemies on the +same day and the same terms. Such is the way in which the Mexicans +understand justice. We can therefore understand how an enormously rich +man like Don Rufino Contreras could defeat the Marquis, the state of +whose fortune did not allow him to buy the judges. + +The adventurer listened with the most earnest attention to the +revelations the bailiff made with a certain degree of complacency. +Kidd, who was accustomed to fish in troubled waters, had found an +opportunity for a famous haul in these revelations. His plan was +at once formed, and so soon as he came in sight of the pueblos his +arrangements were made. It was late when the travellers reached the +barriers of the Real de Minas; the sun had set long before, and the +sentries, although they recognised the adventurer as one of their side, +made some difficulty about letting him and his companions into the +town. They were engaged for nearly an hour in parleying outside, and +it was only by the express orders of the commandant that they obtained +permission at last to enter the pueblo, which had been converted into a +regular fortress. + +Kidd, still continuing to act as guide to his comrades, led them +straight to a mesón, where he left them at liberty to rest themselves, +after warmly recommending them to the landlord. Then the bandit, after +placing his horse in the corral, and carefully wrapping himself up in +his zarapé, and pulling the brim of his hat over his eyes to escape +recognition, glided through the darkness to the house of Don Marcos de +Niza, which he entered. The captain, as we said, was accessible at all +hours of the day or night, to any person who had news to communicate. +At this moment he was in the same study where he had already held a +conversation with Master Kidd. On noticing the adventurer, the captain +raised his eyes, and without leaving his chair, he said--"Ah, is that +you, Master Kidd? Your absence has been long; but for all that, you are +welcome, if you bring good news." + +The bandit gave a meaning smile. + +"My news is excellent, captain," he said, laying a marked stress on the +words, "especially for you." + +"_¡Cuerpo de Cristo!_ I hope so, for am I not commandant of the town?" + +"Yes; but I am not going to talk with you about politics at present, +Excellency." + +"In that case, go to the deuce, scoundrel," the captain said, shrugging +his shoulders angrily; "do you think I have nothing more important to +do than listen to the rubbish you may please to invent and tire my ears +with?" + +"I invent nothing, Excellency. Fortune has this very day granted me +the opportunity of catching a secret it is most important for you to +know--that is all." + +"Well, tell me what this mighty secret is." + +"It relates to your private affairs, Excellency." + +"My affairs!" the captain repeated, bursting into a laugh; "Hang it +all! Have I any?" + +"If the secret does not relate directly to you, it interests in a most +eminent degree one of your nearest relatives?" + +"Ah! who is he?" + +"The Marquis de Moguer." + +The captain became serious; he frowned with a menacing expression, +which made Kidd tremble in spite of his well-bred effrontery. + +"Speak, and be brief," he said to him. + +"Nothing will suit me better." + +The captain took several ounces from the table drawer, which he threw +to the bandit, who caught them in their flight, and stowed them away +with a grin of satisfaction in his huge pockets. + +"You will not regret your money, Excellency," he said. + +"I hope not; and now go on, scoundrel, as you are paid." + +Kidd, without further pressing, related in its fullest details all that +had occurred between himself and the bailiff on the road. The captain +listened with the most earnest attention. + +"Is that all?" he asked, when the other stopped. + +"Yes, Excellency." + +"Good; now be off. You will continue to watch this man, and report to +me all he does." + +And he dismissed him with a wave of the hand. The adventurer bowed, and +went away. When alone, the captain reflected for a few minutes, and +then wrote a letter, sealed it, and summoned his orderly, who at once +made his appearance. + +"Isidro," the captain said to him, "at all risks this letter must be in +the hands of the Marquis de Moguer within six hours at the most. You +understand me? --at all risks?" + +"It shall be done, captain." + +"Take this for yourself,"--and he handed him some gold coins,--"and +this pass, which will enable you to go in and out. You must be off at +once." + +Without replying, the soldier withdrew, after concealing the letter in +the breast of his uniform. + +"And now," the captain muttered to himself; "let them come on." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +COMPLICATIONS. + + +After leaving the captain's study, Kidd halted in the anteroom, not +because he had any plan formed, but through that instinct which urges +villains of his species not to leave a good place till compelled. He +had heard the captain summon his asistente. The latter, after a few +moments' absence, returned to the anteroom with a look of importance +which at once caused the adventurer to reflect, and suggested to him +the idea of knowing what the conversation was the soldier had held +with his chief. Isidro, the captain's asistente, was an Opatas Indian, +of tried bravery and fidelity. Unluckily, though he did his duty in +the battlefield, his intellect was rather restricted, and, like all +Indians, he had a propensity for strong liquors, which had several +times brought him to great grief. Kidd was familiar with the soldier, +and knew his weakness; hence his plan was formed in a moment. + +"Since you remain here," he said to him, "I shall be off: when I came +to speak to the captain, I left a nearly full bottle of mezcal at the +tocanda of Master Cospeto, and on my word I feel inclined to go and +finish it. I will not invite you to accompany me, for your duty keeps +you here; otherwise you may be assured that I should be delighted to +empty it with you." + +"My duty does not keep me here," the Indian answered; "on the contrary, +I have a long ride to make this very night." + +"A long ride!" the adventurer exclaimed; "¡Caray! It is the same case +with me, and as I know no better preservative against the night cold +than mezcal, that is why I meant to empty the bottle before mounting. +If your inclinations lie the same way, it is at your service." + +We will allow that the asistente hesitated. + +"Have you also a ride to take?" he asked. + +"Yes, and I suspect that yours is as long as mine: well, I am going a +long distance; what direction do you follow?" + +"The captain sends me to Arispe," the bandit answered, boldly. + +"Why, how singular that is! We shall follow the same road." + +"That is indeed strange. Well, is it settled?--Will you drink the +stirrup-cup with me?" + +"Upon due reflection, I see no harm in it." + +"Let us make haste, then," the brigand continued, for he feared lest +the captain might catch him with his asistente; "we have no time to +lose." + +For reasons best known to himself, the adventurer left the Indian at +the house door, bidding him bring his horse to Cospeto's rancho, where +he would join him in a few minutes, and they would set out on their +journey together. Kidd merely wanted to warn the mesonero, with whom he +had lodged the bailiff, not to let him go away on any excuse--"Watch +him closely, and at the slightest suspicious movement go and inform +Captain Don Marcos Niza"--who, for reasons connected with the public +safety, did not wish to let these strangers out of sight. The mesonero +promised to carry out his instructions faithfully; and, re-assured on +this point, the adventurer fetched his horse from the corral, and went +to join the Opatas at Señor Cospeto's rancho, as had been agreed on. +On reaching the inn by one street, to his great satisfaction he saw +the orderly arriving by another, mounted, and ready to start. The two +friends entered the rookery to which we have already conducted the +reader. + +The adventurer honourably kept his word: not only did he order a bottle +of mezcal, but at the same time one of excellent Catalonian refino. +The Indian's prudence was entirely routed by such generosity; the +more so because he had no reason to distrust the bandit, with whom he +had already made several excursions, and regarded him as an excellent +comrade. Kidd, in order to avoid any doubts on the part of his comrade, +was careful not to ask him any questions; he merely poured him out +glass after glass, and when the bottles were empty, the Indian had +drunk the greater part of their contents, as Kidd desired to retain his +coolness. When they had finished, the bandit rose, paid the score, and +called for another bottle of refino. + +"This is for the road," he said. + +"An excellent idea," remarked the asistente, whose eyes flashed like +carbuncles, and who was beginning to have a very vague notion of the +state of affairs. They left the rancho, and mounted their horses. +Kidd was rather anxious as to how he should get out of the rancho, as +he had no pass of any sort; for if it were difficult to get into the +Real de Minas, it was quite as much to get out of it. Luckily, for the +adventurer, Isidro's pass was in perfect order, and when he showed it +at the gate, where he was perfectly well known to all the soldiers on +duty, he said, pointing to Kidd, "This caballero goes with me." The +soldiers, aware that Isidro was the confidential man of the captain, +did not offer the slightest difficulty, but allowed them to pass, and +wished them a lucky journey. When the adventurer found himself in +the open country he drew a deep breath of relief, as he gave his too +confiding comrade a sarcastic glance. + +"Now," he said, "we must take the shortest road, in order to arrive +sooner." + +"What, are there two roads?" Isidro asked. + +"There are ten," Kidd replied coolly; "but the shortest runs almost in +a right line, and passes close to the Hacienda del Toro." + +"Let us take that, then." + +"Why that more than another?" + +"Because I am going to the hacienda." + +"Ah," the adventurer said, pleasantly, "let us take a drink, and +start." Uncorking the bottle, he took a pull, and then handed it to his +companion, who imitated him, with an evident expression of pleasure. + +"You say, then," Kidd resumed, as he smacked his lips, "That you are +going to the Hacienda del Toro?" + +"Yes, I am." + +"It is a good house, and most hospitable." + +"Do you know it?" + +"¡Caray! I should think so. The majordomo is my intimate friend. What +happy days I have spent with that excellent Señor Paredes!" + +"Since it is your road, why not call there with me as you are certain +of a kind reception?" + +"I do not say I will not; I suppose you are going to ask the Marquis +for some men, as soldiers are scarce at the pueblo?" + +"I do not think that is the case. Don Hernando has already authorized +the captain to enlist his miners, and the peons left him he will need +to defend the hacienda in the event of an attack." + +"That is true; besides, it is no business of mine. Let every man have +his own secrets." + +"Oh, I do not think there is any great secret in the matter: the +captain is a near relation of the Marquis; they often write to each +other, and the letter I am ordered to deliver will only refer, I +expect, to family matters and private interests." + +"That is probable; the more so, because it is said that the Marquis's +affairs are in a very bad state at present." + +"So it is said; but I have heard that they are about to be settled." + +"¡Caray! I wish it with all my heart, for it is a pity to see one of +the oldest families of the province reduced. Suppose we drink the +health of the Marquis?" + +"With pleasure." + +The bottle was hugged for the second time by the two companions. A +man may be an Opatas Indian, that is to say, of herculean stature, +with a breast arched like a tortoiseshell; but he cannot swallow with +impunity such a prodigious quantity of alcohol as Isidro had absorbed +without beginning to feel intoxicated. The asistente, strong though he +was, tottered on his horse: his eyes began to close, and his tongue to +grow thick. But, excited as he was by liquor, the more difficulty he +experienced in speaking the more he wanted to do so. The adventurer +eagerly followed the progress of his comrade's intoxication, while +careful not to let him see that he was aware of his condition. + +"Yes, yes," the Indian continued, "the affairs of the Marquis might +easily be arranged sooner than is supposed, comrade." + +"With his name it cannot be difficult for him to procure money." + +"Nonsense! That is not the point, and I know what I know." + +"Exactly, Señor Isidro; and as what you know may be a secret, I will +not urge you to tell it me." + +"Did I say that it was a secret?" the Indian objected. + +"No, but I suppose so." + +"You are wrong to suppose so; and, besides, you are my friend, are you +not?" + +"I believe so," the adventurer answered, modestly. + +"Well, if you are my friend, I have nothing to conceal from you." + +"That is true; still, if you consider it your duty to hold your +tongue--" + +"Hold my tongue! Why so? Have you any pretence to silence me?" + +"I? Heaven forbid, and the proof is, here's your health." + +The Indian began laughing. + +"That is what is called an unanswerable argument," he said, as +he placed the bottle to his lips and threw back his head, as if +contemplating the stars. + +He remained in this position till all the remaining liquor had passed +down his throat. + +"Ah!" he said, with an accent of regret, "It was good." + +"What do you mean?" Kidd exclaimed, with pretended surprise; "Is there +none left?" + +"I do not think so," the Indian remarked, with a drunkard's gravity; +"it is a pity that these bottles are so small." + +And with that he threw it into the road. + +"I agree with you that the rancheros are robbers." + +"Yes," said the asistente, with a hiccough, "robbers; but soon--we +shall drink as much as we like." + +"Eh, eh, that will not be unpleasant; but where will it be?" + +"Where? Why, at the Hacienda del Toro." + +"Yes, they never refuse a draught of mezcal to an honest man in that +house." + +"Nonsense, a draught! You are jesting, comrade; whole bottles would +be nearer the truth. Besides, do you fancy the Marquis will look into +matters so closely at his daughter's marriage." + +"What?" + +"Where on earth do you come from, that you are ignorant of that? +Nothing else is spoken of in the country." + +"It is the first I have heard of it." + +"Well, all the better; I will tell you. Doña Marianna, a pretty girl, +caray, is going to marry a senator, no one less." + +The adventurer suddenly pricked up his ears. + +"A senator?" he repeated. + +"This seems to surprise you. Why should not a pretty girl marry a +senator? I consider you a curious comrade to doubt my word." + +"I do not doubt it." + +"Yes, you do; ugly brute that you are." + +The intoxication of the Opatas was at its height. Excited even more by +the horse's gallop and the adventurer's artfully managed contradiction, +Isidro felt passion mount to his head. The intoxication of Indians is +horrible: they become raving madmen; their heated brain gives birth +to the strangest hallucinations, and under the influence of spirits +they are capable of the greatest crimes. The bandit was aware of all +these peculiarities, by which he hoped to profit; he had drawn from +the Indian all that he wanted to learn from him; he had squeezed him +like a lemon, and now only wanted to throw away the peel. We need +hardly say that at this hour of the night the road the two travellers +were following was completely deserted, and that Kidd did not fear +any overlookers of what he intended doing. They were riding at this +moment along the course of a small stream, a confluent of the Rio Bravo +del Norte, whose wooded banks afforded sufficient concealment. The +adventurer made his horse bound on one side, and drawing his machete, +exclaimed-- + +"Brute yourself, you drunken Opatas!" At the same moment he dealt the +poor follow such a sudden blow that he fell off his horse like a log. +But he rose to his feet tottering, and though stunned by the attack, +and seriously wounded, he drew his sabre, and rushed on the bandit with +a yell of fury. But the latter was on his guard; he attentively watched +his enemy's movements, and urged his horse forwards. The Indian, thrown +down by the animal's chest, rolled on the ground where he lay without +stirring. Was he dead? Kidd supposed so; but the bandit was a very +prudent man, Indians are crafty, and this death might be a feint. Kidd +therefore watched quietly a few paces from his victim, for he was in no +hurry. + +A quarter of an hour elapsed, and the Indian had not made a movement. +Reassured by this complete immobility, the bandit resolved to dismount +and go up to him. All at once the Opatas rose; with a tiger leap he +bounded on the adventurer, twined his arms round him, and the two +men rolled on the ground, uttering savage yells, and trying to take +each other's life. It was a short but horrible struggle. The Opatas, +in spite of his wounds, derived a factitious strength from the fury +that animated him and the excitement produced by intoxication, which +was heightened by his ardent desire to take revenge for the cowardly +treachery of which he was the victim. + +Unhappily, the efforts he was compelled to make opened his wounds, +and his blood flowed in streams; and with his blood he felt his +life departing. He made a supreme effort to strangle the miserable +adventurer in his clenched fingers; but the latter, by a sudden and +cleverly calculated movement, succeeded in liberating himself from +the Indian's iron grasp. He rose quickly, and at the moment when the +asistente recovered from his surprise, and prepared to renew the fight, +Kidd; raised his machete, and cleft the poor fellow's head. + +"Dog! Accursed dog!" he yelled. + +The Indian remained on his feet for a moment, tottering from right to +left; he took a step forward with outstretched arms, and then fell with +his face to the ground and the death rattle in his throat. This time he +was really dead. + +"Well," Kidd muttered, as he thrust his machete several times into +the ground, in order to remove the blood, "that was tough work; these +demons of Indians must be killed twice to make sure they do not +recover. What is to be done now?" + +He reflected for a few moments; then walked up to the corpse, turned +it over, and opened the breast of the uniform to obtain the letter. +He had no difficulty in finding it; he placed it in his own pocket, +and then stripped his victim, on the chance that he might want to use +his uniform. But two things troubled him: the first was the soldier's +horse; the second, his bag. The horse he made no attempt to seize; so +soon as its master was wounded, the animal started off at a gallop into +the wood; and as it would have been madness to try and find it on so +dark a night, the adventurer did not attempt it. Still the flight of +the horse alarmed him. Any person who found it would take it back to +the pueblo, and then suspicions would be aroused which might soon be +fixed on him, although he felt almost certain that the soldiers who saw +him leave the town with the asistente had not recognized him; but his +absence from the pueblo would appear suspicious to the captain, who was +acute, and as he knew Kidd so well, would not hesitate to accuse him. + +The affair was embarrassing; but luckily for him, the adventurer was a +man of resources. Any other person would have fastened a stone to the +body, and thrown it into the stream, but the bandit carefully avoided +that. Such an expeditious method, while getting rid of the victim, +would only have increased the suspicions; besides water is not a good +keeper of secrets; one day or another the body would rise perhaps to +the surface, and then the nature of the wounds would reveal the hand +that dealt them. Kidd hit upon a more simple or sure plan, or at least +he thought so. With horrible coolness he scalped the corpse, and threw +the scalp into the stream, after rolling it round a large stone; this +first profanation accomplished, he made a cross cut on the victim's +chest, plucked out his heart, which he also threw into the river, and +then plaiting together a few flexible lianas, he formed a cord, which +he fastened to the feet of the corpse, and hung it from the main branch +of a tree. + +"There!" he said, with satisfaction, when the horrible task was +completed, "That is all right, caray! I am ready to wager my share of +paradise with the first comer that the cleverest people will be taken +in. The Indians are in the field at this very moment, and hang me if +everyone will not be convinced that this drunken scoundrel was scalped +by the Apaches." + +In fact, all the hideous mutilating which this villain has made his +victim undergo is employed by the Indian bravos upon their enemies. +Frightful though the deed was, Kidd consequently, in the impossibility +he found of disposing of the body, had employed the best mode in which +to divert suspicion. + +Before leaving the scene of the murder, the bandit carefully washed the +soldier's clothes, and removed any blood stains from his own; then, +after assuring himself by a searching glance that there was nothing +to denounce the crime of which he had been guilty, he whistled up his +horse, and mounted, after carefully fastening the soldier's uniform +behind him. He rolled a cigarette, lit it, and set out again, with +the satisfaction of a man who had just succeeded in a most important +affair, which had caused him great anxiety. + +It was somewhat by chance that Kidd originally told the asistente that +he was proceeding to Arispe; but the discovery of the letter, and +the soldier's confidential remarks, had converted this chance into +certainty. The bandit had discovered, amid all poor Isidro's drunken +maundering, one leading idea, and scented a profitable stroke of +business. He comprehended of what importance it would be to Don Rufino +to be informed of all that was going on at the pueblo at the Hacienda +del Toro, that he might be able to arrange his plans with certainty. +Consequently, the adventurer resolved to ride at full speed to Arispe, +determined to make the senator pay dearly for the news he brought, +while making a mental reservation, with that adventurous logic he was +so skilful in, to betray Don Rufino on the first opportunity, if his +own interests demanded that painful sacrifice of him. All this being +thoroughly settled in his mind, the bandit started at full speed in the +direction of Arispe, which city he reached by sunrise. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +TWO VILLAINS. + + +As Kidd was well known, he easily obtained admission to the town; +but when he had passed the gates, he reflected that it was too early +for him to call on the senator, who would still be asleep. Hence he +proceeded straight to a rancho he knew, a suspicious den, the usual +gathering place of fellows of his sort, where he was certain of a +hearty welcome by payment. In fact, the ranchero, who on first seeing +him assumed an ill-omened grimace, greeted him with the most agreeable +smile when he flashed before his eyes some piastres and gold coins. + +The adventurer entered the rancho, left his horse in the corral, and +immediately began to arrange his toilette, which was as a general rule +neglected, but which his struggle with the asistente and his hurried +ride had rendered more disorderly than usual; and then waited, smoking +and drinking, for the hour to arrive when he should pay his respects to +Don Rufino. + +The ranchero, who was thoroughly acquainted with his man and his +habits, prowled round him in vain to try and sound him and learn the +causes of his appearance in Arispe, where, for certain reasons the +police did not care to see him. This rendered his journeys to that town +rather few and far between; for the police there, as elsewhere, are +very troublesome to a certain class of citizens. But vainly did the +ranchero try all his cleverest ruses, his most delicate insinuations; +Kidd only answered his questions by insignificant phrases, crafty +smiles and winks; but in the end he remained perfectly impenetrable, a +want of confidence by which the ranchero was greatly insulted, and he +swore to himself to be avenged on the bandit for it some day. + +When the Cabildo clock struck nine, Kidd thought it was time to be off; +he rose, majestically threw a piastre on the table in payment of his +score, wrapped his zarapé round him, and left the house. + +"Whom can he have assassinated to be so rich?" the ranchero asked +himself, as he cunningly watched him depart. + +A reflection which proved that the worthy ranchero was well acquainted +with his man. + +Kidd felt he was watched, and hence carefully avoided going straight to +the senator's house; on the contrary, affecting the careless demeanour +of a lounger, he set out in the diametrically opposite direction. The +adventurer then walked about the town for half an hour, while carefully +avoiding the more frequented streets, for fear of attracting attention +on himself; thus he gradually approached the senator's mansion, and +hurriedly slipped under the zaguán, after assuring himself by a glance +all around that no one had seen him enter. + +"Halloa, you fellow!" a voice suddenly shouted to him, making him start +and stop; "Where the deuce are you going like that? And what do you +want here?" The adventurer raised his eyes, and saw an individual of a +certain age, easily to be recognized as a domestic by his clothing, who +was standing in the hall door, and resolutely barring his way. + +"What do I want?" the bandit repeated, to give himself time to seek an +answer. + +"Yes, what do you want? That is clear enough, I suppose?" + +"¡Caray! It is clear; what can I want except to see his Excellency, +Senator Don Rufino Contreras?" + +"Excellent," the other said, derisively; "and do you suppose his +Excellency will receive you without knowing who you are?" + +"And why not, if you please, señor?" + +"Because you do not look like drawing room company." + +"Do you think so?" the bandit said, haughtily. + +"Why, that is plain enough; you much more resemble a lepero than a +caballero." + +"You are not polite, my good fellow; what you say may be correct, +but the remark is uncalled for; patched clothes often conceal very +honourable caballeros, and if I have been ill treated by fortune, that +is no reason why you should throw it in my teeth so sharply." + +"Enough of this, and be off." + +"I shall not stir till I have seen the senator." + +The manservant gave him a side look, which the other endured with +imperturbable coolness. + +"Do you mean that?" he asked him. + +"I really do." + +"For the last time, I order you to be gone," the valet went on, +menacingly. + +"Take care of what you are doing, comrade; I have to talk with the +señor, and he is expecting me." + +"Expecting you?" + +"Yes, me!" the scoundrel answered, majestically. The servant shrugged +his shoulders contemptuously: still he reflected, and asked with a more +conciliatory tone than he had yet employed--"Your name?" + +"You do not want to know it; merely tell your master that I have just +come from the Hacienda del Toro." + +"If that is the case, why did you not tell me so before?" + +"Probably because you did not ask me. Go and announce me to your +master; you have kept me waiting too long already." + +The domestic went off without replying, and Kidd took advantage of his +departure to instal himself in the vestibule. For a hundred reasons +he did not like the vicinity of the street, and he was glad to be no +longer exposed to the curious glances of passers-by. The absence of the +servant was not long, and when he returned, his manner was entirely +changed. + +"Caballero," he said, with a bow, "if you will do me the honour of +following me, his Excellency is waiting for you." + +"Fellow! Too insolent before, too humble now," the adventurer said, +crushing him with a contemptuous glance; "show the way." + +And, laughing in his beard, he followed the footman, who was red with +anger and shame at this haughty reprimand. + +Mexican houses, except in the great cities, are ordinarily built but +one story high; they are generally very slightly constructed, owing +to the earthquakes, which are extremely frequent in intertropical +countries, and destroy in a few seconds towns, and entirely ruin them. +The result of this mode of building is that nearly all the apartments +are on the ground floor; and then there are no staircases to ascend +or descend, which, in our opinion, is very agreeable. The adventurer +remarked with some degree of pleasure that the valet led him through +several rooms before reaching the one in which the senator was sitting; +at length he turned the handle of the door, threw it open, and stepped +aside to let the bandit pass. The latter walked in boldly, like a man +certain of a hearty reception. + +"Ah!" said the senator, starting slightly at seeing him, "It is you." + +"Yes," he replied, with a graceful bow. + +"Retire," Don Rufino said to the valet; "I am not at home to anyone, +and do not come in till I call you." The valet bowed, went out, and +closed the door behind him. As if by common accord, the two stood +silently listening till the valet's footsteps died away in the +distance; then, without saying a word, Kidd threw open the folding +doors. + +"Why do you do that?" Don Rufino asked him. + +"Because we have to talk about serious matters; the _tapetes_ spread +over the floors of your rooms deaden footsteps, and your servant has an +excellent spy's face." + +The senator made no remark; he doubtless recognised the correctness of +his singular visitor's argument. + +"It is you then, bandit," he said at last. + +"I fancy I can notice that you did not expect me?" + +"I confess it; I will even add that I did not in the slightest desire +your visit." + +"You are very forgetful of your friends, Don Rufino, and it makes me +feel sorry for you," the bandit answered, with a contrite air. + +"What do you mean, scoundrel, by daring to use such language to me?" + +Kidd shrugged his shoulders, drew up a butaca, and fell into it with a +sigh of relief. + +"I must observe," he said, with the most imperturbable coolness, "that +you forgot to offer me a chair." + +Then, crossing one leg over the other, he began rolling a cigarette, +a task to which he gave the most serious attention. The senator +frowningly examined the adventurer; for this bandit to dare assume such +a tone with him, he must have very powerful weapons in his hands, or be +the bearer of news of the highest importance. In either case he must be +humoured. Don Rufino immediately softened the expression of his face, +and handed the adventurer a beautifully chased gold mechero. + +"Pray, light your cigarette, my dear Kidd," he said, with a pleasant +smile. + +The bandit took the mechero, and examined it with admiration. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, with a splendidly feigned regret, "I have dreamed +for years that I possessed such a toy, but, unluckily, fortune has ever +thwarted me." + +"If it please you so much," Don Rufino answered, with a mighty effort, +"I shall be delighted to make you a present of it." + +"You are really most generous. Believe me, señor, that any present +coming from you will always be most precious in my eyes." + +And, after lighting his cigarette, he unceremoniously placed the +mechero in his pocket. + +"Of course your visit Has an object?" the senator said, after a +moment's interval. + +"They always have, señor," the other answered, as he enveloped himself +in a cloud of blue smoke, which issued from his nose and mouth; "the +first was to see you." + +"I thank you for the politeness; but I do not think that is sufficient +reason for forcing your way in here." + +"Forcing is rather a harsh word, señor," the bandit said, sorrowfully; +but he suddenly changed his tone, and assumed his usual sharp, quick +way. "Come, Don Rufino, let us deal fairly, and not waste our time in +compliments which neither of us believes." + +"I wish nothing better; speak, then, and the plague take you." + +"Thank you. I prefer that mode of speech, for at least I recognise you. +I am about to give you an example of frankness; I have come, not to +propose a bargain, but to sell you certain information, and a letter of +the utmost importance to you, which I obtained--no matter how--solely +on your account." + +"Good; let us see whether I can accept the bargain." + +"In the first place, allow me to say two words, so as to thoroughly +establish our reciprocal position. Our situation has greatly changed +during the last few days; I no longer fear you, but you, on the +contrary, are afraid of me." + +"I afraid of you?" + +"Yes, señor, because I hold your secret, and you can no longer threaten +to kill me, as you did at our last interview." + +"Oh! Oh! And why not, if you please?" the senator asked. + +"Because we are alone, you are unarmed, I am stronger than you, and +at your slightest movement would blow out your brains like those of +a wild beast. Do you now comprehend me, my dear sir?" he added, as he +drew a brace of pistols from under his zarapé; "what do you think of +these playthings?" + +"They are tolerably good, I should fancy," the senator replied, coldly; +"and what do you say to these?" he added, as he uncovered a brace of +magnificent pistols hidden under the papers scattered over the table at +which he was seated. + +"They are detestable." + +"Why so?" + +"Because you would not dare use them." + +The senator smiled ironically. + +"Laugh, if you like, my master; I like best to see you treat the +matter in that way; but I repeat that you are in my power this time, +instead of my being in yours. I have delivered to Captain Don Marcos +Niza certain papers, which, were they opened by him, might, I fear, +gravely compromise you: there is one among them, the tenor of which +is as follows:--'I, the undersigned, declare that my valet, Lupino +Contrarias, has treacherously assassinated and deserted me in a +frightful desert, and there plundered me of everything I possessed, +consisting of two mules laden with gold dust, and two thousand three +hundred gold ounces in current money. On the point of appearing before +my God, and not hoping to survive my wounds, I denounce this wretch, +etc. etc. Signed--.' Shall I tell the name of the signer? But what is +the matter with you, my dear sir? Do you feel ill? You are as pale as a +corpse." + +In truth, on hearing the narrative, which the bandit told with a +species of complacency, the senator was seized with such a violent fit +of terror, that for a moment he was on the point of fainting. + +"It is extraordinary," the bandit continued, "how nothing can be +trusted to in this world. Just take the case of this excellent Lupino, +who had arranged a most delicious trap in the adroitest manner: for +more surety, he waited till they were on the other side of the Indian +border, at a spot where not a soul passes once in two years; he fires +his pistols point blank into his master's back, and goes off, of course +taking with him the fortune so honourably acquired. Well, fatality +decrees that the master whom he had every reason for believing dead is +not quite so; he has time to take out his tablets, and write in pencil +a perfectly regular denunciation, and then this demon of a fatality, +which never does things by halves, brings to these parts a hunter, +who picks up the tablets. It is enough to make a man turn honest, +deuce take me if it is not, had he not quite made up his mind to the +contrary." + +During this long harangue the senator had time to recover from the +shock, and regain his coolness. By a supreme effort of the will he had +restored calmness to his face, and forced his lips to smile. + +"¡Caray!" he said, with a laugh that resembled gnashing of teeth, "that +is a wonderful story, and admirably arranged. Permit me, dear señor, to +congratulate you on your inventive faculty; it is charming, on my word. +But who on earth do you expect to believe such a story?" + +"You, first of all, señor, for you know the truth of the story better +than anybody." + +"Nonsense! You are mad, upon my honour." + +"Not quite so mad as you fancy, for the proofs are in my hands." + +"I do not say they are not; but admitting the reality of the facts you +allege, they took place a long time ago; this Lupino Contrarias has +disappeared; he is dead, perhaps: as for his master, the pistols were +too well loaded to give him a chance of escape. Who takes any interest +in a dead man--especially in our country?" + +"How do you know that the weapons were so carefully loaded?" + +"I suppose so." + +"Suppositions are always the plague in business matters. Between +ourselves, do you think it would be so difficult to find this Lupino +Contrarias in Rufino Contreras? I think not." + +The senator felt his face flush involuntarily. + +"Señor," he said, "such an insinuation--" + +"Has nothing that needs offend you," Kidd interrupted him, calmly; "it +is a supposition, nothing more; now, continuing our suppositions, let +us admit for a moment that this master, whom his valet is persuaded he +killed, should be, on the contrary, alive and--" + +"Oh, that is quite impossible." + +"Do not interrupt me so, señor. And, I say, were to lay his hand on +his valet's shoulder, as I lay mine on yours, and assert, 'This is my +assassin!' what answer would you give to that?" + +"I--I!" the senator exclaimed, wildly; "What answer should I give?" + +"You would give none," the bandit continued, as he took and thrust into +his belt the pistols which the senator, in his trouble, had let fall; +"overcome by the evidence, and crushed by the very presence of your +victim, you would be irretrievably lost." + +There was a second of horrible silence between these two men, who +looked at each other as if about to have a frightful contest. At length +the senator's emotion was calmed by its very violence; he passed his +hand over his damp forehead, and, drawing himself up to his full +height, said, sharply-- + +"After this, what would you of me?" + +"I am waiting to hear your resolution before I offer any conditions." + +Don Rufino Contreras remained for some minutes plunged in deep thought. +Kidd watched him attentively, ready to make use of his weapons if +he saw the senator attempt any suspicious movement; but the latter +did not even dream of it. Annihilated by the adventurer's staggering +revelation, he looked round him wildly, racking his mind in vain to +discover some way of escape from the terrible dilemma in which he was +placed. At length he raised his head, and looked the bandit fiercely in +the face. + +"Well, yes," he said to him resolutely, "all that you have narrated +is true. I cowardly assassinated, to rob him of his fortune, the man +who offered me a helping hand in my misery, and treated me as a friend +rather than a servant. But this fortune, however badly it may have +been acquired, I possess; by its means I have acquired a position in +the world; by roguery and falsehood I have succeeded in imposing on +everybody; I have rank and a name; and death alone could make me resign +this position, so hardly attained. Now that I have spoken frankly +with you, it is your turn to do the same. Tell me the conditions you +intend to impose on me, and if they are fair, I will accept them; if +not, whatever the consequences may be, I shall refuse them. Take care, +for I am not the man to remain at the mercy of a villain like you; +sooner than accept so horrible a situation I would denounce myself, and +drag you down in my fall. Reflect carefully, then, before answering +me, comrade, for my proposition is in earnest. Once the bargain is +concluded between us, we will say no more about it. I give you ten +minutes to answer me." + +This clear and categorical proposal affected the bandit more than he +liked to show. He understood that he had to do with one of those +indomitable men who, once they have made their mind up, never alter +it. The adventurer had nothing to gain by ruining Don Rufino, on the +contrary; moreover, that never entered into his plan: he hoped to +terrify him, and had succeeded; and now the only thing to be done by +these two men, so well suited to understand each other, since they had +frankly settled facts, was to attack the pecuniary question, and treat +it as skilfully as they could; Kidd, therefore prepared to begin the +assault. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +A FRIENDLY BARGAIN. + + +Don Rufino, with his head resting on his right hand, was carelessly +playing with a paper knife, and patiently waiting till his visitor +thought proper to speak. This affected indifference perplexed the +adventurer: men of Kidd's species instinctively distrust all that does +not appear to them natural, and he felt embarrassed by this coolness, +for which he could not account, and which he feared might contain a +snare. At length he suddenly broke the silence. + +"Before all, Don Rufino," he said, "I must tell you the motives of my +visit." + +"I do not at all care about them," the senator answered, negligently; +"still, if you think my knowledge of them may be useful, pray let me +hear them." + +"I think that when you have heard me, you will change your opinion, +señor, and recognise the importance of the service I propose to do you." + +"That is possible, and I do not deny it," the senator said, ironically; +"but you will allow, my dear Señor Kidd, that you interfere so +thoroughly in my affairs, that it is difficult for me to decide, among +all the combinations your mind takes pleasure in forming, whether your +intentions are good or bad." + +"You shall judge." + +"Pray speak, then." + +"I will tell you, in the first place, that a certain Alguacil, Don +Parfindo Purro by name, arrived yesterday at the pueblo of Quitovar." + +"Very good," the senator answered, looking fixedly at the bandit. + +"Now, I do not know how it is, but the bailiff had scarce reached the +pueblo ere by some strange fatality, Captain de Niza was informed of +his arrival." + +"Only think of that," the senator remarked, ironically; "ever that +fatality of which you now spoke to me; it is really being the plaything +of misfortune." + +In spite of the strong dose of effrontery with which nature had endowed +him, the adventurer felt involuntarily troubled. + +Don Rufino continued, with a light laugh-- + +"And still, through this implacable fatality, the captain was not only +informed of the arrival of this worthy Don Parfindo, but also of the +reasons that brought him." + +"How do you know that?" Kidd exclaimed, with pretended surprise. + +"Oh, I guess it, that is all," the senator replied, with a slight shrug +of his shoulders; "but go on, pray; what you tell me is beginning to +become most interesting." + +The bandit went on with imperturbable coolness. + +"As you are aware, the captain is a relation of the Marquis de Moguer." + +"Yes, and a very near relation." + +"Hence he did not hesitate, but at once sent off a messenger to the +Hacienda del Toro, carrying a letter in which he probably gave the +most circumstantial details about the bailiff, and the mission he is +charged with." + +At this revelation, Don Rufino suddenly doffed the mask of indifference +he had assumed, and smote the table fiercely with his fist. + +"Ah, that letter!" he exclaimed, "That letter! I would give its weight +in gold for it." + +"Very well, señor," the bandit remarked, with a smile; "as I am anxious +to prove to you the honesty of my intentions, I give it you for +nothing." + +He took the letter from his pocket, and handed it to the senator; the +latter bounded on it like a tiger on its prey, and tore it from Kidd's +hands. + +"Gently, gently; be good enough to remark that the seal is not broken, +and that, as the letter has not yet been opened, I am naturally +ignorant of its contents." + +"That is true," the senator muttered, as he turned it over and over; "I +thank you for your discretion, señor." + +"You are most kind," Kidd replied, with a bow. + +"But," the senator continued, "how did this letter, addressed to Don +Hernando de Moguer, fall into your hands?" + +"Oh, very simply," the other replied, lightly; "just fancy that the man +the captain selected to carry his missive was a friend of mine. As I +intended to pay you a visit at Arispe, and as I felt grieved at seeing +this man traverse such a dangerous road alone by night, I offered to +accompany him, and he consented. I do not know how it occurred, but on +the road we began quarrelling. In short, without any evil intentions +on my part, I declare to you, in the heat of the argument I gave him a +blow on the head with my machete, so well dealt that he was compelled +to die. It grieved me deeply, but there was no remedy; and as I was +afraid lest the letter might get into bad hands, I carried it off. That +is the whole story." + +"It is really most simple," Don Rufino remarked, with a smile, and +broke the seal. + +Kidd discreetly sat down again in his butaca, in order to leave the +senator at liberty to peruse this despatch, which seemed to interest +him greatly. He read it through with the utmost attention, and then let +his head hang on his chest, and fell into deep thought. + +"Well," the adventurer at length asked, "is the news that letter +conveys so very bad, that it must entirely absorb you?" + +"The news is of the utmost importance to me, señor; still, I ask myself +for what purpose you seized it?" + +"Why, to do you a service, it strikes me." + +"That is all very well; but, between ourselves, you had another object." + +The bandit burst into a laugh. + +"Did I not tell you that I wish to make a bargain?" + +"That is true; but I am awaiting a full explanation from you." + +"That is very difficult, señor." + +"I admit that it is; well, I will put you at your ease." + +"I wish for nothing better." + +"I will offer you the bargain you do not like to propose." + +"I see that you are beginning to understand me, and that, between the +pair of us, we shall come to something." + +"You are not rich," the senator remarked, frankly approaching the point. + +"I am forced to confess that I am not actually rolling in wealth," he +answered, with an ironical glance at his more than ragged attire. + +"Well, if you like I will make you a rich man at one stroke." + +"What do you mean by rich, señor?" the bandit asked, distrustfully. + +"I mean to put you in possession of a sum which will not only protect +you from want, but also allow you to indulge your fancy, while living +honestly." + +"Honesty is a virtue only within reach of those who can spend money +without wanting it," the adventurer remarked sententiously. + +"Be it so; I will render you rich, to use your language." + +"It will cost a good deal," Kidd answered, impudently, "for I have very +peculiar tastes." + +"I dare say; but no matter. I have in Upper California a hacienda, of +which I will hand you the title deeds this very day." + +"Hum!" said Kidd, thrusting out his upper lip contemptuously; "Is the +hacienda a fine one?" + +"Immense; covered with ganado and manadas of wild horses; it is +situated near the sea." + +"That is something, I allow; but that is not wealth." + +"Wait a minute." + +"I am waiting." + +"I will add to this hacienda a round sum of one hundred thousand +piastres in gold." + +The bandit's eyes were dazzled. + +"What," he said, rising as if moved by a spring, and turning pale with +joy, "did you say--one hundred thousand?" + +"Yes, I repeat," the senator continued, internally satisfied with the +effect he had produced; "do you think that with such a sum as that it +is possible to be honest?" + +"_¡Viva Cristo!_ I should think so!" he exclaimed, gleefully. + +"It only depends on yourself to possess it within a week." + +"Oh, yes, I understand; there is a condition. ¡Caray! It must be very +hard for me to refuse it." + +"This is the condition; listen to me, and, above all, understand me +thoroughly." + +"¡Caray! I should think I would listen; a hacienda and one hundred +thousand piastres--I should be a fool to refuse them." + +"You must not impede my prospects in any way; allow me to espouse Doña +Marianna, and on the day of the marriage hand me the tablets which you +took from the gentleman so unhappily assassinated by his valet." + +"Very well. Is that all?" + +"Not yet." + +"Very good; go on." + +"I insist that when you deliver me the tablets, you will supply proof +that the writer is really dead." + +"¡Caray! That will be difficult." + +"That does not concern me; it is your business." + +"That is true; and how long will you give me for that?" + +"Eight days." + +"_¡Cuerpo de Cristo!_ It is not enough; the man is not so easily to be +taken unawares." + +"Yes; but once that he is dead, you will be rich." + +"I know that, and it is a consideration. No matter; caray! It will be a +tough job, and I shall risk my hide." + +"You can take it or leave it." + +"I take it, _viva Cristo!_ I take it. Never shall I find again such a +chance to become an honest man." + +"Then that matter is quite settled between us?" + +"Most thoroughly; you can set your mind at rest." + +"Very good; but as you may change your mind someday, and feel an +inclination to betray me--" + +"Oh, señor, what an idea!" + +"No one knows what may happen. You will at once sign a paper on which +these conditions will be fully detailed." + +"¡Caray! What you ask is most compromising." + +"For both of us, as my proposals will be equally recorded." + +"But, in that case, what is the good of writing such a paper, as it +will compromise you as much as me?" + +"For the simple reason that if some day you feel inclined to betray +me, you cannot ruin me without ruining yourself, which will render you +prudent, and oblige you to reflect whenever a bad thought crosses your +brain." + +"Do you distrust me, señor?" + +"Have you any excessive confidence in me?" + +"That is different; I am only a poor scamp." + +"In one word, you will either accept the conditions I offer, or any +bargain between us will be impossible." + +"Still, supposing, señor, I were to use the paper I hold, as you employ +such language to me?" + +"You would not dare." + +"Not dare!" he exclaimed; "And pray why not?" + +"I do not know the motive; but I feel sure that if you could have used +that document, you would have done so long ago. I know you too well to +doubt it, Señor Kidd; it would be an insult to your intellect, whose +acuteness, on the contrary, it affords me pleasure to bear witness to. +Hence, believe me, señor, do not try to terrify me further with this +paper, or hold it to my chest like a loaded pistol, for you will do no +good. Your simplest plan will be to accept the magnificent offer I make +you." + +"Well, be it so, since you are so pressing," he replied; "I will do +what you ask, but you will agree with me that it is very hard." + +"Not at all; that is just where you make the mistake; I simply take a +guarantee against yourself, that is all." + +The adventurer was not convinced; still, the bait conquered him, and, +with a sigh of regret, he offered no further resistance. Don Rufino +immediately wrote down the conditions agreed on between the two men +--a sword of Damocles, which the senator wished to hold constantly in +suspense over the head of his accomplice, and which, if produced in +a court of justice, would irretrievably destroy them both. While the +senator was writing, the bandit sought for the means to escape this +formidable compromise, and destroy the man who forced it on him when he +had received the money. We should not like to assert that Don Rufino +had not the same idea. When the senator had concluded this strange deed +of partnership, which rendered them mutually responsible, and riveted +them more closely together than a chain would have done, he read in a +loud voice what he had written. + +"Now," he said, after reading, "have you any remark to offer?" + +"Deuce take the remarks!" the bandit exclaimed, roughly; "Whatever I +might say, you would make no alteration, so it is better to leave it as +it is." + +"That is my opinion, too--so sign; and to soften any painful effect it +may produce on you, I will give you one hundred ounces." + +"Very good," he replied, with a smile; and taking the pen from Don +Rufino's hand, he boldly placed his signature at the foot of this +document, which might cost him his life. But the promise of the +hundred ounces made him forget everything; and besides, Kidd was a +bit of a fatalist, and reckoned on chance to liberate him from his +accomplice ere long. + +When Kidd had signed with the greatest assurance, the senator sprinkled +gold dust over the paper, folded it, and placed it in his bosom. + +"And here," he said, as he thrust his hand into a coffer, "is the +promised sum." + +He piled the ounces on the table, and Kidd pocketed them with a smile +of pleasure. + +"You know that I am at your orders, and ready to obey you," he said; +"and, as a beginning, I restore you the pistols, which I no longer +require." + +"Thanks. Have you anything to detain you at Arispe?" + +"Not the slightest." + +"Then you would offer no objection to leaving the town?" + +"On the contrary, I intend to do so as soon as possible." + +"That is most fortunate; I will give you a letter for Señor Parfindo, +to whom I will ask you to deliver it immediately on your arrival." + +"Then you want to send me to the pueblo?" + +"Have you any repugnance to return there?" + +"Not the slightest; still, I shall not remain there on account of that +night's business." + +"Ah, yes, that is true, the soldier's death--take care." + +"Oh, I shall only remain at the pueblo just long enough to perform the +duty you entrust to me, and then leave it immediately." + +"That will be most prudent. But no, stay; upon reflection, I think it +will be better for you not to return to the Real de Minas. I will send +my letter by another person." + +"I prefer that. Have you any other order to give me?" + +"None; so you can do what you think proper: but remember that I expect +you in a week, and so act accordingly." + +"I shall not forget it, caray!" + +"In that case, I will not detain you. Good-bye." + +"Till we meet again, señor." + +The senator struck a gong, and the manservant appeared almost +immediately. Don Rufino and Kidd exchanged a side-glance. It was +evident that the criado, curious, like all servants, had listened at +the door, and tried to learn for what reason his master remained so +long shut up with a man of the adventurer's appearance; but, thanks to +the precautions Kidd had taken, even the sound of the voices, which +were purposely suppressed, did not reach him. + +"Show this caballero out," the senator said. + +The two men bowed for the last time, as if they were the best friends +in the world, and then separated. + +"Villain!" Don Rufino exclaimed, so soon as he was alone; "if ever I +can make you pay me for all the suffering you have forced on me today, +I will not spare you." + +And he passionately dashed down a splendid vase, which was unluckily +within his reach. + +For his part, the adventurer, while following the servant through +the apartment, indulged in reflections which were anything but rosy +coloured. + +"Hang it all!" he said to himself; "The affair has been hot. I believe +that I shall act wisely in distrusting my friend: the dear señor is far +from being tender-hearted, and if he has a chance of playing me an ill +turn he will not let it slip. I did act wrong to sign that accursed +paper; but, after all, what have I to fear? He is too much in danger to +try and set a trap for me; but for all, I will be prudent, for that can +do me no harm." + +When he had ended this soliloquy he found himself under the zaguán, +where the manservant took leave of him with a respectful bow. The +adventurer pulled his wide hat brim over his eyes, and departed. In +returning to the rancho he employed the same precautions he had used +in going to the senator's house, for he was not at all anxious to be +recognised and arrested by the Alguaciles; for, as we know, the streets +of the town, for certain reasons, were not at all healthy for him. +Kidd found the ranchero standing in his doorway, with straddled legs, +attentively surveying the approaches to his house. + +"Eh!" the host said, with a bow, "Back already?" + +"As you see, compadre; but let me have my breakfast at once, for I have +a deal to do." + +"Are you going to leave us already?" + +"I do not know; come, pray make haste." + +The ranchero served him without further questioning. The adventurer +made a hearty meal, paid liberally to appease his host's ill temper, +saddled his horse, and set out, without saying whether he should return +or not. A quarter of an hour later he was in the open country, and +inhaling with infinite pleasure the fresh, fragrant breeze that reached +him from the desert. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +THE HACIENDA DEL TORO. + + +We will now leap over an interval of a fortnight, and return to the +Hacienda del Toro; but before resuming our story we will cursorily +describe the events that occurred during this fortnight, in order to +make the reader thoroughly understand by what a strange concourse of +events accident brought all our characters face to face, and produced a +collision among them, from which an unforeseen _dénouement_ issued. + +Doña Marianna, persuaded by Doña Esperanza, or, perhaps, unconsciously +attracted by the secret longings of her heart, had consented to remain +a couple of days with her. These days were occupied with pleasant +conversation, in which the maiden at length disclosed the secret which +she imagined to be buried in the remotest nook of her heart. Doña +Esperanza smiled with delight at this simple revelation of a love which +she already suspected, and which everything led her to encourage. + +Stronghand, for his part, had yielded to the magical fascination the +maiden exercised over him. Feeling himself beloved, his restraint and +coldness melted away to make room for an honest admiration. Carried +away by the feelings that agitated him, he displayed all the true +prudence and goodness contained in his character, which was, perhaps, +rather savage, but it was that loyal and powerful savageness which +pleases women, by creating in them a secret desire to conquer these +rebellious natures, and dominate them by their delicious seductions. +Women, as a general rule, owing to their very weakness, have always +liked to subdue energetic men, and those who are reputed indomitable; +for a woman is proud to be protected, and blushes when she is compelled +to defend the man whose name she bears. Contempt kills love. A woman +will never love a man except when she has the right to be proud of him, +and can say to him, "Spare foes too weak for you, and unworthy of your +anger." + +During the two days the young couple did not once utter the word love, +and yet they clearly explained it and no longer entertained a doubt as +to their mutual attachment. + +Still it was time to think about returning to the hacienda. It was +settled that Doña Marianna should inform her father about what she had +learned from Doña Esperanza, that she should not positively refuse Don +Rufino's hand, and quietly await events. + +"Take care," the maiden said, as she held out her hand to the hunter; +"my only hope is in you: if you fail in your plans I shall be left +alone defenceless, and death alone will remain to me, for I shall not +survive the loss of all my hopes." + +"Trust to me, Doña Marianna; I have staked my happiness and my life on +the terrible game I am preparing to play, and I feel convinced that I +shall win it." + +"I will pray to Heaven for both you and myself with such fervour, that +I feel confident my prayers will be granted." + +These words, with which the young people parted, were equivalent to a +mutual engagement. Doña Esperanza tenderly embraced the maiden. + +"Remember the legend," she said to her, and Doña Marianna replied with +a smile. + +The tigrero held the horses by the bridle. Stronghand and ten hunters +prepared to follow the travellers at a distance, in order to help them, +should it be necessary. The journey was performed in silence. Doña +Marianna was too much engaged in restoring some degree of order to her +thoughts, which were upset by what had happened during the two days she +spent among the hunters, to dream of saying a word to her companion; +while he, for his part, confounded by the way in which he had been +treated in camp, tried to explain the luxury and comfort which he had +never before witnessed in the desert, and which plunged him into a +state of amazement from which he could not recover. + +As Doña Marianna had expressed a wish to reach their journey's end as +quickly as possible, Mariano took a different road from that which he +had previously followed, and which ran to El Toro without passing by +the rancho. + +At about 3 p.m. they came in sight of the rock, and began scaling the +path, and then noticed the hunters, commanded by Stronghand, drawn up +in good order on the skirt of the forest. When the young lady reached +the first gate of the hacienda, the sound of a shot reached her ear, +and a white puff of smoke floating over the horsemen made her guess who +it was that had fired it. Doña Marianna waved her handkerchief in the +air. A second shot was fired, as if to show her that the signal was +seen, and then the hunters turned round and disappeared in the forest. +Doña Marianna entered the hacienda, and the first person she met was +Paredes. + +"_¡Válgame dios!_ niña," the worthy majordomo exclaimed; "Where have +you come from? The Marquis has been excessively anxious about you." + +"Does not my father know that I have been to pay a visit to my nurse?" + +"Your brother told him so, niña; but as your absence was so prolonged, +the Marquis was afraid that some accident had happened to you." + +"You see that it was not so, my good Paredes; so set your mind at rest, +and go and re-assure my father, to whom I shall be delighted to pay my +respects." + +"Don Hernando will be pleased at your return, niña; he is at this +moment engaged with Don Ruiz in inspecting the walls on the side of the +huerta, in order to make certain that they are in a sound condition for +we fear more and more an attack from the Indians." + +"In that case do not disturb my father, and I will go and rest in the +drawing room, for I am exhausted with fatigue; and when my father has +completed his inspection, you will inform him of my return. It is +unnecessary to importune him now." + +"Importune him!" exclaimed the honest majordomo, "Excuse me, señorita, +if I am not of your opinion on that head. _¡Viva dios!_ the Marquis +would not forgive me if I did not immediately inform him of your +return." + +"In that case, act as you think proper, my worthy Paredes." + +The majordomo, who had probably only been waiting for this permission, +ran off. + +"My dear Mariano," the young lady then said, addressing her foster +brother, "it is not necessary to tell what we have been doing during +our absence. Everybody must suppose that I have not quitted my nurse's +rancho; you understand, and I count on your discretion. When the time +arrives, I intend myself to inform my father of all that has occurred." + +"Enough, niña; you know that your wishes are orders for me. I will not +say a word--besides, it is no business of mine." + +"Very well, Mariano; now receive my sincere thanks for the services you +have rendered me." + +"You know that I am devoted to you, niña; I have merely done my duty, +and you have no occasion to thank me for that." + +The young lady offered him her hand with a smile, and entered her +apartments. The tigrero, when left alone, took the bridles of the two +horses, and led them to the corral, through the crowd of rancheros, +who, by the Marquis's orders, had sought refuge in the hacienda, and +had erected their jacales in all the courtyards. Doña Marianna was not +sorry to be alone for a few minutes, in order to have time to prepare +the conversation she intended to have with her father and brother, +whose difficulties she did not at all conceal from herself. + +The hacienda was very large, and hence, in spite of all his diligence, +it was not till he had spent half an hour in sterile search, that the +majordomo succeeded in finding his master. Don Hernando heard, with +a lively feeling of joy, of his daughter's return, and immediately +gave up his inspection in order to hurry to her. The more heavily +misfortune pressed upon the Marquis, the greater became the affection +he entertained for his children; he felt a necessity for resting on +them, and drawing more closely the family ties. When he entered, with +Don Ruiz, the room in which Doña Marianna was awaiting him, he opened +his arms and embraced her tenderly. + +"Naughty girl!" he exclaimed; "What mortal anxiety you have caused me! +Why did you remain so long absent in these troublous times?" + +"Forgive me, my dear father," the girl answered, as she returned his +caresses; "I incurred no danger." + +"Heaven be praised! But why did you stay away from us for three days." + +The young lady blushed. + +"Father," she answered, as she lavished on her parent those tender +blandishments of which girls so thoroughly possess the secret, "during +my entire absence I was only thinking of you." + +"Alas!" the Marquis murmured, with a choking sigh, "I know your heart, +my poor child; unhappily my position is so desperate that nothing can +save me." + +"Perhaps you may be saved, father," she said, with a toss of her head. + +"Do not attempt to lead me astray by false hopes, which, in the end, +would render our frightful situation even more cruel than it is." + +"I do not wish to do so, father," she said, earnestly, "but I bring you +a certainty." + +"A certainty, child! That is a very serious word in the mouth of a +girl. Where do you suppose it possible to find the means to conjure ill +fortune?" + +"Not very far off, father; at this very place, if you like." + +Don Hernando made no reply, but let his head drop on his chest +mournfully. + +"Listen to Marianna, father," Don Ruiz then said; "she is the angel of +our home. I believe in her, for I am certain that she would not make a +jest of our misfortunes." + +"Thanks, Ruiz. Oh, you are right; I would sooner die than dream of +increasing my father's grief." + +"I know it, child," the Marquis answered, with sad impatience; "but you +are young, inexperienced, and doubtless accept the wishes of your heart +as certainties." + +"Why not listen to what my sister has to say, father?" Don Ruiz said. +"If she is deceiving herself--if what she wishes to tell us does not +produce on you the effect she expects from it, at any rate she will +have given an undeniable proof of the lively interest she takes in +your affairs; and were it only for that reason, both you and I owe her +thanks." + +"Of what good is it, children?" + +"Good heavens, father! In our fearful situation we should neglect +nothing. Who knows? Very frequently the weakest persons bring the +greatest help. Listen to my sister first, and then you will judge +whether her remarks deserve to be taken into consideration." + +"As you press it, Ruiz, I will hear her." + +"I do not press, father--I entreat. Come, speak, little sister; speak +without fear, for we shall listen--at least I shall--with the liveliest +interest." + +Doña Marianna smiled sweetly, threw her arms round her father's neck, +and laid her head on his shoulder with a charming gesture. + +"How I love you, my dear father!" she said; "How I should like to see +you happy! I have nothing to tell you, for you will not believe me; and +what I might have to say is so strange and improbable, that you would +not put faith in it." + +"You see, child, that I was right." + +"Wait a moment, father," she continued; "if I have nothing to tell you, +I have a favour to ask." + +"A favour!--yes, my dear." + +"Yes, father, a favour; but what I desire is so singular--coming from +a girl--that I really do not know how to make my request, although the +thought is perfectly clear in my mind." + +"Oh, oh, little maid," the Marquis said, with a smile, though he +was much affected, "what is this thing which requires such mighty +preparations? It must be very terrible for you to hesitate so in +revealing it to me." + +"No, father, it is not terrible; but, I repeat, it will appear to you +wild." + +"Oh, my child," he continued, as he shrugged his shoulders with an +air of resignation, "I have seen so many wild things for some time +past, that I shall not attach any importance to one now; hence you can +explain yourself fully, without fearing any blame from me." + +"Listen to me, father; the favour I have to ask of you is this--and, in +the first place, you must promise to grant it to me." + +"¡Caramba!" he said, good-humouredly, "you are taking your +precautions, señorita. And suppose that I refuse?" + +"In that case, father, all would be at an end," she replied, +sorrowfully. + +"Come, my child, re-assure yourself: I pledge you my word, which you +ask for so peremptorily. Are you satisfied now?" + +"Oh, father, how kind you are! You really mean it now. You pledge your +word to grant me what I ask of you?" + +"Yes, yes, little obstinate, I do pledge my word." + +The girl danced with delight, as she clapped her pretty little hands, +and warmly embraced her father. + +"On my word, this little girl is mad!" the Marquis said, with a smile. + +"Yes, father, mad with delight; for I hope soon to prove to you that +your fortune has never been more flourishing than it now is." + +"Why, her mind is wandering now." + +"No, father," said Don Ruiz, who, with his eyes fixed on his sister, +was listening with sustained interest, and was attentively following +the play of her flexible face, on which the varied emotions that +agitated her were reflected; "I believe, on the contrary, that Marianna +is at this moment revolving in her mind some strange scheme, for +carrying out which she requires full and entire liberty." + +"You have read the truth, Ruiz. Yes, I have a great project in my head; +but in order that it may be thoroughly successful, I must be mistress +of my actions, without control or remarks, from eight o'clock this +evening till midnight. Do you grant me this power, father?" + +"I have promised it," Don Hernando replied, with a smile. "A gentleman +has only his word; as you desire, from eight o'clock till midnight you +will be sole mistress of the hacienda: no one, not even myself, will +have the right to make a remark about your conduct. Must I announce +this officially to our people?" he added, sportively. + +"It is unnecessary, father: only two persons need be told." + +"And who are these two privileged persons, if you please?" + +"My foster brother Mariano, the tigrero, and José Paredes." + +"Come, I see you know where to place your confidence. Those two men are +entirely devoted to us, and this gives me trust in the future. Go on, +my child; what must be done further?" + +"These men must be provided with picks, spades, crowbars, and lanterns." + +"I see you are thinking about digging." + +"Possibly," she said, with a smile. + +"Stories about buried treasure are thoroughly worn out in this country, +my child," he said, with a dubious shake of his head; "all those that +have been buried were dug up long ago." + +"I can offer you no explanation, father. You are ignorant of my plan, +and hence cannot argue upon a matter you do not know: moreover, you +must make no remarks, and be the first to obey me," she said, with an +exquisite smile. "You ought not to give an example of rebellion to my +new subjects." + +"That is perfectly true, my dear child; I am in the wrong, and offer +you an ample apology. Be good enough to go on with your instructions." + +"I have only a word to add, father. You and Ruiz must also provide +yourselves with tools, for I expect you all four to work." + +"Oh, oh, that is rather hard--not on me who am young," Don Ruiz +exclaimed, laughingly, "but on our father. Come, little sister, do not +expect such toil from him." + +"I may have to lend a hand myself," Doña Marianna replied. "Believe +me, Don Ruiz, you should not treat this affair lightly; it is far more +serious than you suppose, and the consequence will be of incalculable +importance for my father and the honour of our name. In my turn I will +take an oath, since you refuse to believe my word." + +"Not I, sister." + +"Yes, Ruiz, you doubt it, although you do not like to allow it. Well, I +swear to you and my father, by all I hold dearest in the world--that is +to say, you two--that I am perfectly well aware of what I am doing, and +am certain of success." + +Such enthusiasm sparkled in the girl's brilliant eyes, there was such +an expression of sincerity in her accent, that the two gentlemen at +length confessed themselves vanquished; her conviction had entered +their minds, and they were persuaded. + +"What you desire shall be done, daughter," Don Hernando said; "and, +whatever the result may be, I shall feel grateful to you for the +efforts you are making." + +Don Ruiz, by his father's orders, warned the majordomo and the tigrero, +who was already preparing to return to the rancho. But so soon as +the young man knew that his presence was necessary at the hacienda, +he remained without the slightest remark, and delighted at having an +opportunity to prove to his masters how greatly he was devoted to them. +Then what always happens under similar circumstances occurred: while +Doña Marianna was calmly awaiting the hour she had herself fixed for +action, the Marquis and his son, on the other hand, suffered from a +feverish curiosity, which did not allow them a moment's rest, and made +them regard the delay as interminable. At length eight o'clock struck. + +"It is time!" said Doña Marianna. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +THE HUERTA. + + +All southern nations are fond of shade, flowers, and birds; and as the +heat of the climate compels them, so to speak, to live in the open air, +they have arranged their gardens with a degree of comfort unknown among +us. The Italians and Spaniards, whose houses, during the greater part +of the year, are only inhabitable for a few hours a day, have striven +to make their gardens veritable oases, where they can breathe the fresh +evening air without being annoyed by those myriads of mosquitoes and +gnats unknown in temperate climates, but which in tropical latitudes +are a real plague. At midday they may be seen wheeling in countless +myriads in every sunbeam. The Hispano-Americans especially have raised +the gardening art to a science, being always engaged in trying to solve +the problem of procuring fresh air during the hottest hours of the +day--that is to say, between midday and three p.m., during which time +the earth, which has been heated since dawn by the burning heat of a +torrid sun, exhales deadly effluvia, and so decomposes the air that it +is impossible to breathe it. + +The Spanish language, which is so rich in expressions of every +description, has two words to signify a garden. There is the word +_jardín_, by which is meant the parterre properly so called--the garden +in which flowers are cultivated that in those countries grow in the +open air, but with us only in hothouses, where they are stunted and +decrepit; and, secondly, the _huerta_, which means the kitchen-garden, +the vineyard, and their clumps of trees, wide avenues, cascades, +streams, and lakes--in a word, all that we, very improperly in my +opinion, have agreed to call a park. The Hacienda del Toro possessed a +huerta, which the Marquises de Moguer had in turn sought to embellish. +This huerta, which in Europe would have seemed very large--for life +among us has been reduced to the conditions of a mean and shabby +comfort--was considered small in that country. It contained in all +only thirty acres--that is to say, a surface of about twelve square +miles; but this relative smallness was made up for by an admirable +disposition of the ground, and an extent of shade, which had made a +great reputation for the Huerta del Toro throughout Sonora. + +At eight o'clock precisely the curfew was rung, as was the custom +at the hacienda. At the sound of the chapel bell all the peons and +vaqueros retired to their jacales in order to sleep. Paredes had placed +sentinels at night on the walls ever since an attack from the Indians +had been apprehended, and the precaution was the more necessary at +this time, as there was no moon, and it is that period of the month +which the Redskins always select to begin their invasions. When the +majordomo had assured himself that the sentries were at their posts, +he made a general inspection of the whole hacienda to have the lights +extinguished, and then proceeded, accompanied by the tigrero, to the +Blue Room, where Don Hernando and his son and daughter were assembled. + +"All is in order, _mi amo_," he said; "everybody has retired to his +jacal, the hacienda gates are closed, and the sentries placed on the +walls." + +"You are quite certain, Paredes, that no one is walking about the +corals or huerta?" + +"No one; I made my rounds with the greatest strictness." + +"Very good; now, daughter, you can give your orders, and we are ready +to obey you." + +Doña Marianna bowed to her father with a smile. + +"Paredes," she said, "have you procured the tools my brother ordered +you to provide?" + +"Niña," he answered, "I have placed six picks, six crowbars, and six +spades in a clump of carob trees at the entrance of the large flower +garden." + +"Why such a number of tools?" she asked, laughingly. + +"Because, señorita, some may break; the work we have to do must be +performed quickly, and had I not taken this precaution, we might have +met with delay." + +"You are right. Follow me, señora." + +"And the lanterns?" Don Ruiz observed. + +"We will take them with us, but not light them till we reach the +spot whither I am taking you. Although the night is dark, with your +knowledge of localities we shall be able to guide ourselves without +difficulty through the darkness. Our lights might be seen and arouse +suspicions, and that is what we must avoid most of all." + +"Excellently reasoned, daughter." + +Doña Marianna rose, and the four men followed her in silence. They +crossed the apartments instead of passing through the _patios_, which +were thronged with sleepers, and entered the huerta by large double +doors, from which the garden was reached by a flight of steps. On +leaving the Blue Room Doña Marianna took the precaution to blow out the +candles, so that the hacienda was plunged into complete darkness, and +all appeared asleep. The night was very dark; the sky, in which not +a single star twinkled, seemed an immense pall; the breeze whistled +hoarsely through the trees, whose branches rustled with an ill-omened +murmur. In the distance could be heard the snapping bark of the +coyotes, and at times the melancholy hoot of the owl arose in the dark, +and broke the mournful silence which brooded over nature. This night +was excellently chosen for a mysterious expedition of such a nature as +Doña Marianna was about to attempt. + +After an instant--not of hesitation, for the maiden, although her heart +was beating loudly, was firm and resolute--but of reflection, Doña +Marianna rapidly descended the steps and entered the garden, closely +followed by the four men, who also experienced an internal emotion for +which they could not account. They had gone but a few yards when they +halted; they had reached the thicket in which the tools were concealed. +The majordomo and the tigrero took them on their shoulders, while the +Marquis and his son carried the lanterns. In spite of the darkness, +which was rendered even more intense by the dense shadow cast by the +old trees in the huerta, the young lady rapidly advanced, scarce making +the sand creak beneath her little feet, and following the winding walks +with as much ease as if she were traversing them in the bright sunshine. + +The Marquis and his son felt their curiosity increase from moment to +moment. They saw the girl so gay, and so sure of herself, that they +involuntarily began to hope, although they found it impossible to +explain the nature of their hopes to themselves. Paredes and Mariano +were also greatly puzzled about the purpose of the expedition in which +they were taking part; but their thoughts did not travel beyond this: +they supposed that there was some work for them to do, and that was all. + +The young lady still walked on, stopping at times and muttering a +few words in a low voice, as if trying to remember the instructions +she had previously received, but never hesitating, or taking one walk +for another; in a word, she did not once retrace her steps when she +had selected her course. Night, especially when it is dark, imparts +to scenery a peculiar hue, which completely changes the appearance of +the most familiar spots; it gives the smallest object a formidable +aspect; all is confounded in one mass, without graduated tints, +from which nothing stands out: a spot which is very cheerful in the +sunshine becomes gloomy and mournful when enveloped in darkness. The +huerta, which was so pretty and bright by day, assumed on this night +the gloomy and majestic proportions of a forest; the fall of a leaf, +the accidental breaking of a branch, the dull murmur of invisible +waters--things so unimportant in themselves--made these men start +involuntarily, although they were endowed with great energy, and any +real danger would not have made them blench. + +But darkness possesses the fatal influence over the human organization +of lessening its faculties, and rendering it small and paltry. A man +who, in the midst of a battle, electrified by the sound of the cannon, +intoxicated by the smell of powder, and excited by the example of his +comrades, performs prodigies of valour, will tremble like a child on +finding himself alone in the shadow of night, and in the presence of an +unknown object, which causes him to apprehend a danger which frequently +only exists in his sickly imagination. Hence our friends involuntarily +underwent the formidable influence of darkness, and felt a certain +uneasiness, which they tried in vain to combat, and which they could +not succeed in entirely dispelling, in spite of all their efforts. They +walked on silent and gloomy, pressing against each other, looking +around them timidly, and in their hearts wishing to reach as speedily +as possible the end of this long walk. At length Doña Marianna halted. + +"Light the lanterns," she said. + +This was the first remark made since they left the Blue Room. The +lanterns were instantly lighted. Doña Marianna took one, and handed +another to her brother. + +"Show me a light, Ruiz," she said to him. + +The spot where they found themselves was situated at nearly the centre +of the huerta; it was a species of grass plot, on which only stubbly, +stunted grass grew. In the centre rose a sort of tumulus, formed of +several rocks piled on one another without any apparent symmetry, and +which the owners of the hacienda had always respected in consequence +of its barbarous singularity. An old tradition asserted that one of +the old kings of Cibola, on the ruins of which town the hacienda was +built, had been buried at the spot, which was called "The Tomb of the +Cacique" after the tradition, whether it were true or false. The first +Marquis de Moguer, who was a very pious man, like all the Spanish +conquistadors, had to some extent authorized this belief, by having the +mound blessed by a priest, under the pretext--a very plausible one at +that time--that the tomb of a pagan attracted demons, who would at once +retire when it was consecrated. + +With the exception of the name it bore, this mound had never been held +in bad repute, and no suspicious legend was attached to it. It was +remote from the buildings of the hacienda, and surrounded on all sides +by dense and almost impenetrable clumps of trees. Persons very rarely +visited it, because, as it stood in the centre of an open patch of +grass, it offered no shelter against the sun; hence the place was only +known to the family and their oldest servants. + +"Ah! Ah!" said the Marquis, "So you have brought us to the cacique's +tomb, my girl?" + +"Yes, father; we can now begin operations without fear of being seen." + +"I greatly fear that your hopes have led you astray." + +"You promised, father, to make no remarks." + +"That is true, and so I will hold my tongue." + +"Very good, father," she said, with a smile; "be assured that this +exemplary docility will soon be duly rewarded." + +And the young lady continued her investigations. She looked attentively +at every stone, seeming to study its position carefully, while +comparing it with a point of the compass. + +"In which direction does the clump of old aloes lie?" she at length +asked. + +"That I cannot tell you," said Don Ruiz. + +"With your permission, I will do so," Paredes observed. + +"Yes, yes," she said, eagerly. + +The majordomo looked about for a moment, and then, placing himself in +a certain direction, said,--"The aloes of Cibola, as we call them, are +just facing me." + +"Are you certain of it, Paredes?" + +"Yes, niña, I am." + +The young lady immediately placed herself by the majordomo's side, +and bending down over the stones, examined them with extreme care and +attention. At length she drew herself up with a start of joy. + +"My father," she said, with emotion, "the honour of dealing the first +stroke belongs to you." + +"Very good, my child; where am I to strike?" + +"There!" she said, pointing to a rather large gap between two stones. + +Don Hernando drove in the pick, and, pressing on it forcibly, detached +a stone, which rolled on the grass. + +"Very good," said the girl. "Now stop, father, and let these young men +work; you can join them presently, should it prove necessary. Come, +Ruiz--come tocayo--come, Paredes--to work, my friends! Enlarge this +hole, and make it large enough for us to pass through." + +The three men set to work ardently, excited by Doña Marianna's +words, and soon the stones, leaping from their bed of earth, began +to strew the ground around in large numbers. Not one of the three +men suspected the nature of the task he was performing, and yet +such is the attraction of a secret, that they drove in their picks +with extraordinary ardour. Ruiz alone possibly foresaw an important +discovery behind the task, but could not have explained what its nature +was. The work, in the meanwhile, progressed; the hole became with every +moment larger. The stones, which had been apparently thrown upon each +other, were not bound by any mortal, and hence, so soon as the first +was removed, the others came out with extreme facility. Now and then +the labourers stopped to draw breath; but this interruption lasted +only a short time, so anxious were they to obtain the solution of the +problem. All at once they stopped in discouragement, for an enormous +mass of rock resisted their efforts. This rock, which was about six +feet square, was exactly under the stones they had previously removed, +and as no solution of continuity could be perceived, everything led to +the supposition that this rock was really very much larger, and that +only a portion of it was laid bare. + +"Why are you stopping, brother?" Doña Marianna asked. + +"Because we have reached the rock, and should break our picks, without +getting any further." + +"What! Reached the rock? Impossible!" + +The Marquis leant over the excavation. + +"It would be madness to try and get any further," he said; "it is plain +that we have reached the rock." Doña Marianna gave an angry start. + +"I tell you again that it is impossible," she continued. + +"Look for yourself, sister." + +The young lady took a lantern and looked; then, without answering her +brother, she turned to Paredes and the tigrero. + +"You," she said, "are old servants of the family, and I can order you +without any fear of being contradicted; so obey me. Remove, as rapidly +as possible, all the stones round that supposed rock, and when that is +done, I fancy I shall convince the most incredulous." + +The two men resumed work; and Don Ruiz, piqued by his sister's remark, +imitated them. The Marquis with folded arms and head bowed on his +chest, was overcome by such persistency, and began to hope again. Ere +long the stones were removed, and the mass of rock stood solitary. + +The young lady turned to the Marquis. + +"Father," she said to him, "you dealt the first blow, and must deal the +last; help these three men in removing this block." + +Without replying, the Marquis seized a pick, and placed himself +by the side of the workers. The four men dug their tools into the +friable earth which adhered to the rock; then, with a common and +gradual effort, they began raising the stone until it suddenly lost +its balance, toppled over, and fell on the ground, revealing a deep +excavation. At the sight of this, all uttered a cry of surprise. + +"Burn some wood to purify the air," the young lady said. + +They obeyed with that feverish activity which, in great circumstances, +seizes on apparently the slowest natures. + +"Now come, father," Doña Marianna said, as she seized a lantern and +boldly entered the excavation. + +The Marquis went in, and the rest followed him. After proceeding for +about one hundred yards along a species of gallery, they perceived the +body of a man, lying on a sort of clumsy dais, in a perfect state of +preservation, and rather resembling a sleeping person than a corpse. +Near the body the fleshless bones of another person were scattered on +the ground. + +"Look!" said the maiden. + +"Yes," the Marquis answered, "it is the body interred under the +tumulus." + +"You are mistaken, father; it is the body of a miner, and the fancied +tumulus is nothing but a very rich gold mine, which has remained for +ages under the guard of this insensate body, and which it has pleased +Heaven to make known to you, in order that you may recover the fortune +which you were on the point of losing. Look around you," she said, +raising the lantern. + +The Marquis uttered a cry of delight and admiration, doubt was no +longer possible. All around he saw enormous veins of gold, easy of +extraction almost without labour. The Marquis was dazzled; weaker in +joy than in suffering, he fell unconscious on the floor of this mine, +whose produce was about to restore him all that he had lost. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +THE ASSAULT ON QUITOVAR. + + +While these events were taking place at the Hacienda del Toro, others +of an even more important nature were being carried out at the Real +de Minas. Kidd the adventurer, had scarce left Don Rufino Contreras, +after the interesting conversations we have recorded, ere the senator +made his preparations for departure, and at once set out for the Real +de Minas, though careful to be accompanied by a respectable escort, +which protected him from the insults of marauders. At eight a.m. of the +following day the senator entered the pueblo, and his first business +was to present himself to the town commandant, Don Marcos de Niza. The +captain not only received him coldly, but with a certain amount of +constraint. This did not escape the senator's quick eye, but he was not +at all affected by it. + +"My dear captain," he said, after the usual compliments, "I am +pleased at having been selected by the Presidential Government as its +delegate to the military authorities of the State of Sonora for two +reasons, apart from the honour I shall acquire by accomplishing this +confidential duty." + +The captain bowed, but said nothing. + +"The first of these reasons," the senator continued with his eternal +smile, "is that I make the acquaintance of an excellent caballero in +yourself; the second, that before being joined in the command with +you, and desiring to make myself as agreeable to you as I could, I +asked for the rank of lieutenant-colonel for you, a step which, between +ourselves, you have long deserved, and I was so fortunate as to obtain +it for you. Permit me to hand you the commission with my own hands." + +And drawing from his pocketbook a large folded paper, he laid it in the +hand which the captain mechanically held out. The senator had justly +counted on the skilfully managed surprise. The captain, confounded +by the tardy justice done him, could not find a word to answer, but +from this moment Don Rufino's cause was gained in his mind; and unless +some unforeseen event occurred, the senator was convinced that he had +nothing now to fear from this man, whom he had cleverly managed to lay +under an obligation, without it costing him anything. The truth was, +that a few days previously the captain's nomination had reached the +Governor of Arispe from Mexico; the senator accidentally heard of it, +and offered to deliver it to the captain. As the governor had no reason +to refuse, he entrusted the nomination to the senator, and he turned it +to the good purpose we have seen. + +"And now," he continued, cutting short the thanks which the new +colonel thought himself bound to offer him, "permit me to change the +conversation, my dear colonel, and speak to you about things which +interest me privately." + +"I am listening to you caballero," Don Marcos answered; "and if I can +be of any service to you--" + +"Oh, merely to give me some information," the senator interrupted him; +"I will explain the matter in two words. I am, as you are probably +aware, very intimate with a relative of yours, the Marquis de Moguer, +and an alliance between us is being arranged at this moment." + +Don Marcos gave a deep bow. + +"Now," the senator continued, "the Marquis, as you of course know, +has been seriously tried of late; in a word, between ourselves, he +is almost ruined. Several times already I have been so fortunate as +to render him important services; but, as you know, where misfortune +is pressing a family, the best intentions often can only succeed in +retarding an inevitable downfall. Being most desirous to save a man +with whom I shall be probably closely connected within a few days, +not merely by the ties of friendship, but also by the closer links +of relationship, I have bought up all his debts; in a word, I have +become his sole creditor, and that is as much as telling you that the +Marquis does not owe a farthing now. The man whom I entrusted with this +difficult negotiation will arrive immediately in this town, where I +gave him the meeting." + +"He arrived some days ago," the colonel remarked. + +"Indeed!" Don Rufino exclaimed, affecting surprise, "It seems in that +case that he has worked quicker than I expected. But that is a thousand +times better, as I will claim a service at your hands." + +"A service!" Don Marcos exclaimed, with instinctive distrust. + +"Yes," the senator continued, tranquilly; "I hardly know how to explain +it to you, for it is so difficult, however friendly you may be with +a man whose daughter you are about to marry, to say to him 'You owed +enormous sums; I have bought up your debts, here are the receipts; burn +them, for you owe nothing now;' it would be looking so much like trying +to impose conditions to act thus--in a word, to make a bargain--that +I feel a repugnance from it; and if a common friend does not consent +to come to my assistance in the matter, I confess to you that I am +completely ignorant how I shall get out of the difficulty." + +"What!" the colonel exclaimed, in admiration, "Would you do that?" + +"I never had any other thought," the senator replied simply. + +"Oh, it is a great and generous action, caballero." + +"Not at all; on the contrary, it is quite natural. Don Hernando is my +intimate friend; I am going to marry his daughter, and my line of duty +is plain. I only did what anyone else in my place would have done." + +"No, no," Don Marcos said, shaking his head with an air of conviction; +"no, señor, no one would have acted as you have done, I feel certain. +Alas! Hearts like yours are rare." + +"All the worse, all the worse, and I feel sorry for humanity," Don +Rufino said, as he raised his eyes piously to the ceiling. + +"What is the service you expect from me, señor?" + +"A very simple thing. I will give you in a few moments those unlucky +receipts, which I will ask you to be kind enough to hand to the +Marquis. You can make him understand better than I can the purity of my +intentions in this affair; and, above all, pray assure him that I have +not done it for the purpose of forcing him to give me his daughter's +hand." + +The senator went away, leaving the colonel completely under the charm. +He proceeded hastily to the mesón where Don Parfindo was lodged; he +took the receipts from him, rewarded him handsomely, and did not leave +him till he saw him and his bailiff out of the pueblo; then he walked +slowly back to the colonel's house, rubbing his hands, and muttering, +with an ironical smile-- + +"I fancy that I shall soon have no cause to fear that worthy Señor +Kidd's denunciations. By the bye, where can he be? His absence from +Quitovar is not natural, and I must free myself from him at our next +interview." + +The senator's conversation with his agent had occupied some time, and +when Don Rufino returned to the colonel's house, he found the latter +busy in making known his new rank to his officers. The colonel eagerly +took advantage of the opportunity to introduce the senator to them, and +to tell them that Don Rufino was delegated by the Government to watch +the operations of the army, and that hence they must obey him like +himself. The officers bowed respectfully to the senator, made their +bows, and retired. When the two gentlemen were alone again, the ice +was completely broken between them, and they were the best friends in +the world. + +"Well," the colonel asked. + +"All is settled," the senator replied, as he produced the vouchers. + +"¡Caramba! You have lost no time." + +"The best things are those done quickly. Take all these documents, and +make what use of them you think proper. I am delighted at having got +rid of them." While saying this, Don Rufino threw the papers on the +table with an excellent affectation of delight. + +"With your leave, caballero," the colonel said, with a laugh, "I will +take these papers, since you insist on it, but I will give you a +receipt." + +"Oh, no," the senator exclaimed, "that would spoil the whole business." + +"Still--" + +"Not a word," he interrupted him, quickly; "I do not wish to have in my +possession the shadow of a claim upon Don Hernando." + +The colonel would have probably pressed the point, had not a great +noise been heard in the anteroom, and a man rushed into the colonel's +sanctum, shouting at the top of his lungs, "The Indians! The Indians!" + +The colonel and the senator rose. The man was Kidd; his clothes were +torn and disordered; his face and hands were covered with blood and +dust, and all apparently proved that he had just escaped from a sharp +pursuit. A strange uproar outside the house, which soon assumed +formidable proportions, corroborated his statement. + +"Is that you, Kidd?" the colonel exclaimed. + +"Yes," he replied; "but lose no time, captain; here are the pagans! +They are at my heels, and I am scarce half an hour ahead of them." + +Without waiting to hear anything more, the colonel dashed out of the +room. + +"Where have you come from?" Don Rufino asked the bandit, so soon as he +was alone with him. + +The latter gave a start of disappointment on recognising the senator, +whom he had not noticed at the first moment. This start did not escape +Don Rufino. + +"How does that concern you?" the adventurer answered, roughly. + +"I want to know." + +Kidd made a meaning grimace. + +"Every man has his own business," he said. + +"Some treachery you have been preparing, of course." + +"That is possible," he replied, with a knowing grin. + +"Against me, perhaps." + +"Who knows?" + +"Will you speak?" + +"What is the use of speaking, since you have guessed it?" + +"Then you are still trying to deceive me?" + +"I mean to take my precautions, that is all." + +"Scoundrel!" the senator exclaimed, with a menacing gesture. + +"Nonsense!" the other said, with a shrug of his shoulders; "I am not +afraid of you, for you would not dare kill me." + +"Why not?" + +"In the first place, because it would cause a row, and because I do not +think you such a friend of the captain that you would venture to take +such a liberty in his house." + +"You are mistaken, villain, and you shall have a proof of it." + +"Holloa!" the adventurer exclaimed, as he retired precipitately to the +door. + +But, with a gesture rapid as thought, Don Rufino seized one of Don +Marcos's pistols, cocked it, and ere Kidd could effect the retreat he +was meditating, he fired, and the adventurer lay on the ground with a +bullet in his chest. + +"Die, brigand!" the senator shouted, as he threw down the weapon he had +used. + +"Yes," the bandit muttered, "but not unavenged. It was well played, +master; but your turn will soon arrive--" + +And stiffening with a final convulsion, the ruffian expired, retaining +on his features even after death an expression of mocking defiance, +which caused the senator an involuntary tremor. + +"What is the matter here?" the colonel asked, suddenly entering. + +"Nothing very important," Don Rufino said, carelessly. "I was carried +away by my passion, and settled this scoundrel." + +"_¡Viva Dios!_ You were right, señor; I only regret that you have +anticipated me, for I have proofs of his treachery.--Ho, there! Remove +this carrion, and throw it out," he shouted to some soldiers who +accompanied him, and had remained in the anteroom. + +The soldiers obeyed, and the adventurer's body was thrown +unceremoniously into the street. + +"Are the Indians really coming up?" + +"The dust raised by their horses' hoofs can already be perceived. We +have not a moment to lose in preparing for defence. I suppose I can +reckon on you?" + +"_¡Rayo de Dios!_! I should hope so." + +"Come, then, for time presses." + +Kidd had in reality prepared, with his usual Machiavelism, a new +treachery, of which, unluckily for him, he was destined to be the first +victim. The whole pueblo was in an uproar: the streets were crowded +with soldiers proceeding to their posts; with women, children, and +aged persons flying in terror; with rancheros, who arrived at a gallop +to find shelter in the town, and heightened the general alarm by the +terror depicted on their faces; cattle were dashing madly about the +streets, deserted by their herds, who were compelled to proceed to the +intrenchments; and on the distant plain the body of Indians could be +seen through the dust clouds, coming up at headlong speed. + +"They are numerous," the senator whispered to the colonel. + +"Too many," the latter answered; "but silence! Let us look cheerful." + +There were twenty minutes of indescribable anxiety, during which the +defenders of the pueblo were enabled to examine their enemies, and form +an idea of the terrible danger that menaced them. + +Unhappily, the sun was on the point of setting, and it was evident that +the Redskins had calculated their march so as to arrive exactly at +that moment, and continue the attack through the night. The colonel, +foreseeing that he might possibly be compelled to have recourse to +flight, collected a band of fifty resolute horsemen, whom he gave +orders not to leave the Plaza Major, and be ready for any eventuality. +After their first charge the Indians retired out of musket range, and +did not renew their attack. A few horsemen, better mounted than the +rest, were scattered over the plain, picking up the dead and wounded, +and capturing the straggling horses; but the colonel gave orders that +they should not be fired at--not through humanity, but in order to +spare his ammunition, of which he possessed a very small stock. + +Night set in, and a deep gloom covered the earth; but the redskins +lit no fires. This circumstance alarmed the colonel; but several +hours passed, and nothing led to the possibility of an attack +being suspected. Profound silence brooded over the pueblo and the +surrounding plains, and the Indians seemed to have disappeared as if by +enchantment. The Mexicans tried in vain to distinguish any suspicious +forms in the darkness; they saw and heard nothing. This expectation of +a danger, which all felt to be imminent and terrible, had something +frightful for the besieged. + +Suddenly an immense light lit up the plain; the black outlines of the +Indians rose like diabolical apparitions, galloping in all directions; +a horrible, discordant, and shrill yell echoed in the ears of the +Mexicans, and clouds of blazing arrows fell upon them from all sides +at once, while the hideous heads of the Redskins appeared on the crest +of the entrenchments. Then, in the light of a forest, kindled by the +Indians to serve them as a beacon, an obstinate hand-to-hand fight +began between the white men and redskins. + +The pueblo was captured; any further resistance became not only +impossible, but insensate. Several houses were already ablaze, and in +a few minutes the Real de Minas would only be one immense furnace. The +senator and the colonel had fought bravely so long as a gleam of hope +was left them and the struggle appeared possible. At this moment they +thought of saving the few wretches who still existed, and had escaped +the frightful massacre by a miracle. Collecting around them all the men +they possessed, they dashed to the Plaza Major, where, in spite of the +fight raging round them, the squadron picked by Don Marcos had remained +motionless, and leaping on their horses, they gave the order to start. +Then the little band rushed forward like a hurricane, overthrowing and +crushing all the obstacles that stood in their way; and after losing +one-third their number, the rest succeeded in leaving the pueblo, +traversing the enemy's lines, and taking the road to the Hacienda del +Toro, without any close pursuit. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +THE VENGEANCE OF HEAVEN. + + +The Marquis's faint lasted but a short time, thanks to the attentions +his son and daughter paid him. He had scarce regained his senses ere he +drew Doña Marianna gently to him. + +"My dear child," he muttered, as he pressed her to his heart, "you are +our saviour." + +The girl, delighted with this praise, freed herself, with a blush, from +her father's embrace. + +"Then," she said, with a pretty toss of her head, "you now allow, I +think, father, that I have really kept my word." + +"Oh, my child," he said, with much emotion, as he looked around him in +delight, "there are here fifty fortunes equal to the one I have lost." + +The girl clapped her hands in delight. + +"Ah, how happy I am! I felt certain that she would not deceive me." + +This remark, which escaped from the fullness of Doña Marianna's heart, +struck Don Hernando. + +"To whom are you alluding, daughter? And who is this person who +inspires you with such confidence?" + +"The one who revealed the existence of this treasure to me, father," +she answered. + +The Marquis did not press her. + +"Mariano," he said to the tigrero, "you will pass the night here; allow +no one to approach this excavation, for it would be imprudent to let +strangers know of the existence of such a treasure before we have time +to take certain precautions indispensable for its safety." + +"You can go without fear, _mi amo_," the brave lad answered; "no one +shall approach the mine while I am alive." + +"Besides," Don Hernando continued, "your watch will cease at sunrise." + +"As long as you please, _mi amo_." + +And the tigrero, collecting the tools and lanterns, installed himself +in the excavation itself, a few yards from the body still lying on the +dais. + +The other four slowly returned to the hacienda, conversing about this +marvellous discovery, which, at the moment when all seemed desperate, +saved the family. In fact, the gold veins were so rich, that it would +be possible to detach in a single day enough nearly to cover all the +debts contracted by the Marquis. They re-entered the blue room; and +though it was very late, not one of them felt the slightest inclination +to sleep; on the contrary, they wanted still to converse about the mine. + +"Well," the Marquis said, "you did not dream that so rich a mine +existed on the estate; you allowed as much just now." + +"In truth, father, someone was kind enough to give me the information +by which I found it." + +"But who can this person be, who is better acquainted than myself +with a property which has been in the hands of the family more than +three hundred years, and yet nobody suspected that it contained this +treasure?" + +"The probability is that the secret was well kept, father." + +"Of course; but by whom?" + +"By the old owners of the soil, of course." + +"Nonsense! You are jesting, daughter. Those poor Indians disappeared +long ago from the face of the earth." + +"I am not of that opinion, father," Don Ruiz observed. + +"The more so," Paredes struck in, "because I know for a fact that the +tribe to which you allude still exists; it is one of the most powerful +in the great confederation of the Papazos." + +"And you know, father, with what religious exactitude the Indians +preserve secrets confided to their conscience." + +"That is true; but in that case some man must have spoken." + +"Or some woman," Doña Marianna said, smilingly. + +"Well, be it so--a woman," the Marquis continued; "that is already a +valuable piece of news. I know that you have obtained your information +about the mine from a woman, my child." + +"Unhappily, father, I am prohibited from saying any more." + +"Humph! Prohibited!" + +"Yes, father. However, re-assure yourself: this mine is really +yours--your lawful property. Its owner has freely surrendered it in +your favour." + +Don Hernando frowned with an air of dissatisfaction. + +"Charity!" he muttered. + +"Oh, no, but a gift you can accept, father, I swear to you. Besides, +the person to whom you are indebted for it promised me to make herself +known to you ere long." + +On the next morning, by the orders of the Marquis, the majordomo +selected ten confidential rancheros and peons from those who had sought +shelter at the hacienda, and the work commenced at once. The mine had +been abandoned exactly in the state in which it was when the body of +the miner was found by the Indians; hence the mere sweepings formed a +considerable amount, and at the expiration of four or five days the +sum collected was sufficient, not only to pay off all the debts, but +also to leave at the disposal of the Marquis a sum thrice as large as +he owed. With the exception of the legitimate anxiety caused by the +apprehension of an Indian attack, joy had returned to the hacienda; +the Marquis had begun to smile again, and seemed younger--so great is +the privilege of wealth to alter men. The first thought that occurred +to the Marquis was to settle with his creditors, and determine his +position. + +"My dear child," he said one evening to Doña Marianna, at the moment +when she was about to retire for the night, "you have not yet given +me an answer on the subject of Don Rufino Contrera's request for +your hand; but the week has long since passed. Tomorrow, Paredes is +going to start to place in his hands certain letters of importance +for the settlement of my affairs, and I wish to take advantage of the +opportunity. What answer shall I give Don Rufino?" + +The young lady blushed; but at length, subduing the trouble that +agitated her, she said, with a slight tremour in her voice,-- + +"Father, I am doubtless highly honoured by this Caballero's demand; but +do you not think as I do, that the moment is badly chosen for such a +thing, menaced as we incessantly are by terrible dangers?" + +"Very good, daughter; I do not at all wish to force your inclinations. +I will answer the senator in that sense; but if he come himself to seek +his answer, what shall we do?" + +"It will be time enough to think of it then," she replied, with a laugh. + +"Well, well, that is true, and I was wrong to dwell on the matter so. +Good night, my child, and sleep soundly. As for me, I shall probably +spend the whole night in my study with your brother, engaged with my +accounts." + +The young lady withdrew. + +"Señor Marquis," said Paredes, suddenly opening the door, "excuse my +disturbing you so late; but Mariano, the tigrero, has just arrived at +the hacienda with his whole family; he is the bearer of such strange +and terrible news, that you will perhaps sooner hear it from his lips +than from mine." + +"What does he say?" Don Ruiz asked, who entered the room at this moment. + +"He says that the Indians have risen, that they have surprised +the Mineral of Quitovar, fired the pueblo, and massacred all the +inhabitants." + +"Oh, that is frightful!" the Marquis exclaimed. + +"Our poor cousin!" the young man added. + +"That is true; our unhappy cousin commanded at the pueblo. What a +horrible disaster! Send the tigrero in to me, Paredes; go and fetch him +at once." + +Mariano was shown in, and related in their fullest details, though with +some exaggeration, the events recorded in our last chapter, which threw +his hearers into a profound stupor. Among all the incomprehensible +things which daily occur, there is one which will never be explained; +it is the rapidity with which all news spreads even for considerable +distances. Thus, the capture of Quitovar was unhappily only too true, +and the details furnished by Mariano were substantially correct; but +how could the tigrero have become acquainted with a fact that had +happened scarce three hours previously, and at more than ten leagues +from the hacienda? He could not have explained this himself; he had +heard it from somebody, but could not remember whom. + +This terrible news caused the Marquis to reflect deeply. Now that +the roads were probably infested with marauders, and communication +intercepted by the Indians, he could not think of sending Paredes +to Hermosillo, and the journey had become literally impossible. He +must busy himself without delay in organizing the defence of the +hacienda, in order vigorously to repulse the attack which would, in +all probability, not be long delayed. In spite of the advanced hour, +all were at work in an instant at the Toro; the walls were lined with +defenders, and reserves established in all parts of the hacienda. + +The whole night was spent in preparations. About two hours after +sunrise, at the moment when the Marquis, wearied by a long watch, was +preparing to take a little repose, the sentries signalled the approach +of a body of horsemen, coming at full gallop towards the hacienda. +The Marquis went up on the walls, took a telescope, and had a look at +them. After a short examination, he perceived that these horsemen were +Mexicans, although, owing to the distance, he could not distinguish +whether they were soldiers or rancheros. Still, he had all preparations +made to give them a hearty reception, if they evinced a desire to +halt at the hacienda, as the direction they were following seemed to +indicate. + +Some time elapsed ere these horsemen, who were climbing the hill, +reached the hacienda gates. Then all doubts were removed: they were +soldiers, and a few paces ahead of the troop rode Don Rufino Contreras +and Colonel Don Marcos de Niza. But both leaders and soldiers were in +such disorder, so blackened with gunpowder, so covered with dust and +blood, that it was plain they had come from a recent fight, from which +they had escaped as fugitives. Men and horses were utterly exhausted, +not alone by the extraordinary fatigue they had undergone, but also by +the gigantic struggle they had sustained ere they dreamed of flight. +It was unnecessary to ask them any questions. The Marquis ordered +refreshments to be served them, and beds got ready. + +Don Marcos de Niza and the senator had hardly the strength to say a few +words explanatory of the wretched condition in which they presented +themselves, and yielding to fatigue and want of sleep, they fell down +in a state of complete insensibility, from which no attempt was made +to rouse them, but they were both carried to bed. The Marquis then +withdrew to his room, leaving his son to watch over the safety of the +hacienda in his stead, for in all probability it would be speedily +invested by the Redskins. + +At three in the afternoon a fresh band of horsemen was signalled in +the plain. This considerable party was composed entirely of hunters +and wood rangers. Don Ruiz gave orders to let them advance, for the +arrival of these hunters, nearly one hundred in number, was a piece +of good fortune for the hacienda, as the number of its defenders was +augmented by so many. Still, when Don Ruiz saw them enter the track, +he noticed such a regularity in their movements, that a doubt crossed +his mind like a flash of lightning, and a thought of treachery rose to +his brain. Hence he rushed to the outer gate of the hacienda to give +Paredes orders not to open; but the majordomo checked him at the first +word. + +"You cannot have looked, niño," he said, "when you order such a thing." + +"On the contrary, I do so because I have looked," he replied. + +"Then you must have seen badly," the majordomo said; "otherwise you +would have perceived that the horseman at their head is one of your +most devoted friends." + +"Whom do you mean?" + +"Who else than Stronghand?" + +"Is Stronghand coming with those horsemen?" + +"He is at the head of the column, niño." + +"Oh, in that case let them enter." + +"Ah, I felt certain of it." + +The hunters had no necessity even of parleying; they found the hacienda +gates wide open, and rode straight in without drawing rein. Don Ruiz +recognised Stronghand, who, on his side, rode up to him and held out +his hand. + +"Grant me one favour, Don Ruiz," he said. + +"Speak," the young man answered. + +"Two words of conversation in your sister's presence; but wait a +moment, another person must accompany me, for reasons you will soon +appreciate; this person desires temporarily to maintain the most +inviolable incognito. Do you consent?" + +Don Ruiz hesitated. + +"What do you fear?" the hunter continued; "Do you not put faith in me? +Do you believe me capable of abusing your confidence?" + +"No; I do not wish even to suppose it, I pledge you my word." + +"And I mine, Don Ruiz." + +"Act as you think proper." + +The hunter gave a signal, and a horseman dismounted and came up to +them. A long cloak entirely covered him, and the broad brim of his hat +was pulled down over his eyes. He bowed silently to the young man, who, +though greatly perplexed by this mystery, made no remark; and after +requesting the majordomo to take care of the newcomers, he led his +guests to the room in which Doña Marianna was seated, engaged with her +tambour-work. The young lady, on hearing the door open, mechanically +raised her eyes. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, joyfully, "Stronghand!" + +"Myself, señorita," the young man replied, with a respectful bow; "I +have come to ask the fulfilment of your promise." + +"I shall keep it, no matter what may happen." + +"Thanks, señorita." + +"Ruiz," she said to her brother, eagerly; "until further orders, my +father must not know of the presence of these caballeros here." + +"What you ask of me is very difficult, sister; think of the immense +responsibility I assume in acting thus." + +"I know it, Ruiz; but it must be, my dear brother, for my happiness is +at stake," she continued, clasping her hands imploringly; "and besides, +what have you to fear? Do you not know this hunter?" + +"Yes, I know him; I am even under great obligations to him; but his +companion?" + +"I answer for him, Ruiz." + +"You know, then, who he is?" + +"No matter what I know, brother; I only beg you to grant what I ask." + +"Well, for your sake I will be silent." + +"Oh! Thanks, thanks, brother!" + +At this moment a sound of footsteps was heard in the adjoining room. + +"What is to be done?" the maiden murmured. + +Stronghand laid his finger on his lips, and, leading away his +companion--who, through the thick cloak he wore, resembled a phantom +rather than a man--disappeared behind a curtain. At the same instant +a door opened, and two persons entered. They were Don Marcos and the +senator. They had scarce exchanged the first compliments with Don Ruiz +and Doña Marianna, when the Marquis entered the room. + +"You are up at last, I am happy to see," he said, cheerfully. "_¡Viva +Dios!_ You were in a most deplorable state on your arrival; I am glad +to see you so fully recovered." + +"A thousand thanks, cousin, for your hospitality, of which we stood in +great need." + +"No more about that; I am the more pleased at the chance which has +brought us together, Don Rufino, because I intended to write to you +immediately." + +"My dear sir," the senator said, with a bow. + +"Are you not expecting an answer from me?" + +"It is so, but I did not dare to hope." + +The Marquis cut him short. + +"Let us come to the most important point first," he continued, with +a smile. "Don Rufino, you have behaved to me like a real friend. By +a miracle--for I can only attribute to a miracle the good fortune +that has befallen me--I am in a position to arrange my affairs, +and discharge my debt to you, although, be assured, I shall never +forget the services you have rendered me, and the obligations I have +contracted toward you." + +The senator was so surprised, that he turned pale, and took a +side-glance at the colonel. + +"Obligations far greater than you suppose," the latter said, warmly. + +"What do you mean, cousin?" the Marquis asked, in surprise. + +"I mean that Don Rufino, unaware of the happy change in your fortunes, +and wishing to save you from the frightful position in which you were, +had bought up all your liabilities, and so soon as he had all the +vouchers in his possession, he hurried with them to me, and implored me +to destroy them. Here they are, cousin," he added, as he drew a bundle +of papers from his pocket. + +The various actors in this singular scene were affected by strange +feelings. Don Ruiz and his sister exchanged a look of despair, for +they understood that the Marquis would now be unable to refuse his +consent to his daughter's marriage. + +"Oh!" the Marquis exclaimed, "I cannot accept such an act of +generosity." + +"From a stranger, certainly not," Don Rufino remarked, in an +insinuating voice; "but I flattered myself that I was not such to you, +my dear sir." + +There was a silence. + +"What is going on at this moment is so strange; I feel taken so +unawares," the Marquis presently continued; "my thoughts are so +confused, that I must beg you, Don Rufino, to defer till tomorrow the +remainder of this conversation. By that time I shall have been able to +regain my coolness, and then, believe me, I will answer you in the way +that I ought to do." + +"My dear sir, I understand the delicacy of your remarks, and will wait +as long as you think proper," the senator replied, with a bow, and an +impassioned glance at Doña Marianna, who was pale and trembling. + +"Yes," said the colonel, "let us put off serious matters till tomorrow; +the shock we have suffered has been too rough for us to be fit for any +discussion just at present." + +"What has happened to you? The pagans have not seized the Mineral de +Quitovar? Or at least I hope not." + +"Yes, they have, cousin; the pueblo has been captured by the Redskins, +sacked, and burnt. We had great difficulty in making our escape, and +passed through extraordinary dangers ere we were so lucky as to reach +your hacienda." + +"That is disastrous news, cousin; I had been told of it, but was +unwilling to believe it." + +"It is unhappily but too true." + +"Well, thank Heaven, cousin, you are in safety here. As for you, Don +Rufino, I am happy that you escaped from the horrible massacre; you are +not a soldier, you are--" + +"An assassin!" a sepulchral voice suddenly exclaimed, and a hand was +laid heavily on the senator's shoulder. + +The company turned with horror. Stronghand's companion had let fall the +hat and cloak that disguised him, and was standing, stern and menacing, +behind the senator. + +"Oh!" the latter exclaimed, as he recoiled with terror, "Rodolfo! Don +Rodolfo!" + +"Brother, do I see you again after so many years?" the Marquis said, +joyfully, as he advanced towards the stranger. + +"The great sachem," Doña Marianna murmured. + +The sachem thrust back with a gesture of sovereign contempt the +startled senator, and walked into the centre of the group. + +"Yes, it is I, brother; I, the proscript, the disinherited, who enter +the house of my father after an absence of twenty years, in order to +save the last representative of my family." + +"Oh, brother! Brother!" the Marquis exclaimed, sorrowfully. + +"Recover yourself, Hernando! I entertain no feelings of hatred or +rancour for you; on the contrary, I have always loved you, and though +I was far away from you I have never lost you out of sight. Come to +my arms, brother; let us forget the past, only to think of the joy of +being reunited." + +The Marquis threw himself into his brother's arms; Don Ruiz and Doña +Marianna imitated him, and for some minutes there was an uninterrupted +interchange of embraces among the members of this family, who had so +long been separated. + +"It was through me that you received the sum which Paredes was to +receive at Hermosillo", Don Rodolfo continued; "to me you also owe +the discovery of the gold mine which has saved you. But I have not +come here solely to embrace you and yours, brother; I have come to +punish a villain! This man," he said, pointing to the senator, who was +trembling with rage and terror--"this man was my valet; in order to +rob me, he attempted to assassinate me cowardly, treacherously, and +behind my back. Such is the man whose dark machinations had succeeded +in deceiving you, and to whom you were on the point of giving your +daughter: let him contradict me if he dare!" + +"Oh!" the senator muttered, with a furious gesture. + +"Villain!" the Marquis exclaimed; "Help! Help! seize the monster!" + +Several servants rushed into the room, but before they could reach +Don Rufino the latter had bounded with a tiger leap upon Don Rodolfo, +and buried a dagger in his chest. The sachem fell back with a cry of +pain into the arms of his brother and his son. After the crime was +committed, the assassin threw down his weapon, and said to the startled +spectators, with an air of defiance and satisfied hatred,-- + +"Now you can do whatever you like to me, for I am avenged." + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +FUNERAL OF A SACHEM. + + +Two days had elapsed since the atrocious attack made by Don Rufino on +Don Rodolfo de Moguer. The Papazos had captured the hacienda without a +blow, as the gates were opened to them; for the stupor and terror of +the Mexicans at this horrible crime were so great, that they forgot all +precautions. But we must do the Redskins the justice of stating that, +contrary to their habits, they committed no excesses in the hacienda, +either by virtue of superior orders, or in consequence of the sorrow +which the wound of their great sachem caused them. Doña Esperanza had +arrived with Padre Serapio at the same time as the Indian warriors, and +she and Doña Marianna did not leave the wounded man's bed. + +Don Hernando was inconsolable, and the colonel could not forgive +himself for having supposed for a moment that the senator was an honest +man. The whole hacienda was plunged into sorrow, and Don Rodolfo +alone watched death approach with a calm brow. Fray Serapio dressed +his wound: his night was tolerably quiet, and in the morning the monk +entered the wounded man's room. At a sign from Don Rodolfo his wife and +niece, who had watched the whole night through by his bedside, withdrew. + +"Now, padre," he said, when they left the room, "it is our turn." + +And he helped him to remove the bandages. The monk frowned. + +"I am condemned, am I not?" said Don Rodolfo, who attentively followed +in the monk's face the feelings that agitated him. + +"God can perform a miracle," the Franciscan stammered, in a faint voice. + +The sachem smiled softly. + +"I understand you," he replied; "answer me, therefore, frankly and +sincerely. How many hours have I still to live?" + +"What good is that, my dear, good master?" the monk murmured. + +"Padre Serapio," the chief interrupted him, in a firm voice, "I want to +know, in order that I may settle my affairs on earth, before I appear +in the presence of God." + +"Do you insist on my telling you the truth?" + +"Pray do so--the entire truth." + +The poor man stifled a sigh, and answered, in a voice broken by +emotion--"Unless a miracle occur, you will give back your soul to your +Creator at sunset." + +"I thank you, my friend," the sachem said, his austere face not +displaying the slightest trace of emotion. "Ask my brother to come +here, for I have to talk with him. Keep back my wife and niece until I +ask for them. Go, father; I will see you again before I die." + +The worthy monk withdrew, choked with sobs. The interview of the two +brothers was long, for Don Hernando had many faults to ask pardon for +at the hands of him whose place he had taken. But Don Rodolfo, far from +reproaching him, tried on the contrary to console him, by talking to +him in a cheerful voice, and reminding him of the happy days of their +childhood. He also thanked his brother warmly for having freed him from +the heavy burden of supporting the family honour, and allowing him to +live in accordance with his tastes and humour. Many other things were +talked of, after which the Marquis retired, with pale brow and eyes +swollen with tears, which he tried in vain to repress, that he might +not sadden the last moments of the man whose great soul was revealed +to him at this supreme moment--of the brother whom he had so cruelly +misunderstood, and who had even sacrificed his life to insure his +brother's happiness. + +Doña Marianna and Doña Esperanza then returned to the dying man's room, +followed by Padre Serapio, and a few moments after the Marquis came +back, accompanied by Stronghand. The young man, in spite of his Indian +education and affected stoicism, knelt down sobbing by his father's +side. For some moments father and son talked together in a low voice; +no one save God knew what words were uttered by these two men during +the solemn interview. + +"Come here, niece," Don Rodolfo at length said, addressing Doña +Marianna. + +The maiden knelt down sobbing by the hunter's side. The aged man looked +for a moment tenderly at their two young faces, pale with sorrow, which +were piously leaning over him; then making an effort to sit up, and +supported on one side by his brother, on the other by Doña Esperanza, +he said, in a voice that trembled with emotion--"Niece, answer me as +you would answer God; for the dying, you know, no longer belong to this +world. Do you love my son?" + +"Yes, uncle," the maiden answered through her tears--"yes, I love him." + +"And you, Diego, my son, do you love your cousin?" + +"Father, I love her," the young man answered, in a voice crushed by +emotion. + +Don Rodolfo turned to his brother, who understood his glance. + +"Bless our children, brother," he said, "according to the wish you +expressed to me; Padre Serapio will unite them in your presence." + +The wounded man stretched out his trembling hands over the two young +people. + +"Children," he said, in a powerful voice, though with an accent of +ineffable tenderness, "I bless you; be happy." + +And, crushed by the efforts he had been forced to make, he fell back +in a half-fainting state on his bed. When he regained consciousness, +through the attention of Don Esperanza and his niece, he perceived +an altar by the side of his bed. On his expressing a desire that the +ceremony should take place at once, Padre Serapio, assisted by José +Paredes, who was weeping bitterly, read the marriage mass. After the +nuptial benediction, Don Rodolfo received the last sacraments, amid the +tears and sobs of all present. + +"And, now, my friends," he said, "that I have accomplished my duties +as a Christian and Spanish gentleman, it is time for me to perform my +duties as an Indian chief; so allow the Papazo warriors to enter." + +The doors opened, and the warriors entered: they were sad, gloomy, +and thoughtful. The sachem had sat up to receive them, supported by +his son Stronghand. The warriors silently surrounded the bed on which +their venerated chief lay, among them being Sparrowhawk and Peccary. +The sachem looked calmly round the circle, and then spoke in a calm and +deeply accentuated voice:-- + +"The Master of Life has suddenly recalled me to Him. I did not fall +in action, but beneath the dagger of a cowardly assassin. I regret +leaving my nation before I had completed the task which I undertook +for their happiness. What I had not time to do, another will doubtless +terminate. My brothers must continue the war they have so happily +and gloriously commenced; and though I am leaving them, my mind will +remain among them. The warriors of my nation must never forget that +the Master of Life created them free, and that they must live and die +free. The Papazos are brave men, invincible warriors, and slavery is +not made for them. On the point of appearing before the Master of Life, +I implore the chiefs not to forget that the white persons who surround +me form part of my family. If my brothers retain after my death any +recollection of the good which I have continually sought to do them, +they will be kind to the palefaces whom I love. I have only one more +word to add: I desire to give back my soul to the Master of Life +beneath the buffalo hide cabin of the warriors of my nation, and in +the midst of my nation. I desire also that all the rites customary at +the death of the chiefs should be performed for me." + +A tremor of joy ran along the ranks of the redskin warriors on hearing +the last words; for they had feared in their hearts that the sachem +would wish to be interred after the fashion of the white men. The +Peccary then replied, in the name of all-- + +"My father's wishes are orders for his children; never, so long as +the powerful confederation of the Papazos exists, shall an insult be +offered to the palefaces whom he loves. Our father can die in peace; +all his wishes will be religiously carried out by his children." + +A flash of joy sparkled in the sachem's eye at this promise, which he +knew would be strictly kept. The Peccary continued-- + +"The Papazos chiefs are sad; their hearts are swollen by the thought of +losing their father: they fear lest his death may be the cause of great +disorder in their confederation, and injure the success of the war +which had scarce begun." + +"I belong to my sons till the last moment of my existence; what can I +do for them?" + +"My father can do a great deal," the chief answered. + +"My ears are open; I am waiting for my son to explain himself." + +"The chiefs," continued Peccary, "and the great braves of the +confederation, assembled at sunrise round the council fire: they +desire, in order that no discord may spring up among them, that our +father, the great sachem, should himself appoint his successor; for +they feel persuaded that our father's choice will fall on a brave and +wise chief, worthy to command men." + +The sachem reflected for a moment. + +"Be it so," he said at length; "the determination of the sachems is +wise, and I approve of it. Sparrowhawk will command in my place when +I am called away by the Great Spirit; no one is more worthy to be the +first sachem of the nation." + +Sparrowhawk quitted the ranks, stepped forward, and bowed respectfully +to the dying man. + +"I thank my father," he said, "for the signal honour he has done me; +but I am very young to command chiefs and renowned warriors, and I fear +that I shall break down in the heavy task imposed on me. My father +leaves a son; Stronghand is one of the great braves of our nation, and +his wisdom is renowned." + +"My son is a paleface; he does not know the wants of the Papazos so +well as Sparrowhawk. Sparrowhawk will command." + +"I obey my father since he insists; but Stronghand will ever be one of +the great chiefs of my nation." + +A flattering murmur greeted these clever remarks. + +"I thank my son Sparrowhawk in the name of Stronghand. Modesty becomes +a chief so celebrated as is my son," the sachem continued; "the Great +Spirit will inspire him, and he will do great things. I have spoken. Do +the chiefs approve my choice?" + +"We could not have chosen better," Peccary answered. "We sincerely +thank our father for having anticipated our dearest wishes by choosing +Sparrowhawk." + +This scene so simple in its grandeur, and so truly patriarchal, +affected all the spectators, who felt their hearts swollen by sorrow. +The sachem continued-- + +"I feel my strength rapidly leaving me, and life is abandoning me; the +Great Spirit will soon call me to Him. My sons will carry me beneath a +tent of my nation, in order that I may breathe my last sigh in their +midst." + +Stronghand, the Marquis, Peccary, and Sparrowhawk gently lifted the +wounded man on their shoulders, and carried him to the front yard +of the hacienda, followed by all the rest, who walked silently and +thoughtfully in the rear. A lodge, formed of stakes covered with +buffalo hides, had been prepared to receive the great chief; the bed +on which he was lying was softly put down, and the chief's eyes were +turned toward the setting sun. Then all the warriors and their squaws, +whom messengers had informed of the sachem's wound, and who had hurried +to the hacienda, surrounded the tent. The Mexicans themselves mingled +with the crowd, and a deadly silence brooded over the hacienda, in +which, however, more than six thousand persons were assembled at this +moment. + +All eyes were turned toward the dying sachem, by whose side were +standing the members of his family, Padre Serapio, and the principal +chiefs of the Papazos. Now and then the aged man uttered a few words, +which he addressed at times to the monk, at others to his brother, +or to the Indian chiefs. When the sun was beginning to sink on the +horizon, the wounded man's breathing began to grow panting, his eyes +gradually became covered by a mist, and he did not speak; but he +tightly grasped his son's and wife's hands in his right hand, and +Sparrowhawk's in his left. + +All at once a nervous tremor passed over the dying man's body; his +cheeks were tinged; his half closed eyes opened again; he sat up +without any extraneous help, and shouted, in a strong, clear voice, +which was heard by all--"I come, Lord! Papazos, farewell! Esperanza! +Esperanza! We shall meet again!" + +His eyes closed; a livid pallor spread over his face; his limbs +stiffened, and he fell back heavily as he exhaled his last sigh. He was +dead. His last thought was for his wife, whom he had so dearly loved. +The sobs, hitherto restrained, burst forth suddenly and violently +among the crowd. + +"Our father is dead!" Sparrowhawk shouted, in a thundering voice. + +"Vengeance!" the Redskins yelled. + +In fact the murderer of the chief was still alive. The white men who +did not wish to witness the horrible scene that was about to take +place, withdrew. Stronghand, the colonel, Paredes, and Mariano alone +remained. The body of the defunct sachem was at once surrounded by the +squaws: they painted it with several bright colours, dressed it in a +buffalo robe, formed his hair into a tuft as a sign of his rank, and +stretched him out on a dais. The assassin, who was pale but resolute, +was then brought up. + +Sparrowhawk placed himself at the head of the corpse, and began a long +funeral oration, which was frequently interrupted by the sobs of his +audience; then, pointing with an expressive gesture to the murderer, +who was still standing motionless in the midst of the Indians who +guarded him, he said-- + +"Commence the punishment." + +We will not describe the frightful punishment which was inflicted on +the senator; such horrible details are repulsive to our pen. We will +restrict ourselves to stating that he was flayed alive, and that all +his joints were cut in succession. He suffered indescribable agony for +three long hours ere he died. Night had set in during this interval. +When the wretched assassin was dead, chosen warriors took their chief's +body on their shoulders, and proceeded by the light of torches to the +huerta, at the spot where the hacienda hung over the precipice. On +reaching this spot the chief's magnificent steed was brought up. On +his back his master's corpse was securely tied with deerskin thongs, +holding his totem in one hand and his gun in the other; the scalps of +his foes were fastened to his saddle-bow, and on his neck and arms were +his bead necklaces and copper ornaments. Then, amid the sobs of the +squaws, the horse was led to the plateau, where the Papago warriors, +mounted and dressed in their war paint, formed a semicircle, whose ends +reached the precipice. + +Then took place a scene whose savage grandeur could only be compared to +the funeral rites performed at the death of the barbarous chiefs during +those great national migrations which produced the overthrow of the +Roman Empire. By the glare of the torches--whose flames, agitated by +the wind, imparted a fantastic aspect to the gloomy and stern landscape +in this part of the huerta--the horse was placed in the midst of the +semicircle, and the horsemen, brandishing their weapons, struck up +their war song with a savage energy. The startled horse bounded on to +the plateau, bearing the corpse, to which each of its bounds imparted +such an oscillating movement that the rider appeared to be restored to +life. On reaching the brink of the precipice the horse recoiled with +terror, with flaming nostrils; then, suddenly turning round, it tried +to burst the living rampart, which was constantly contracted behind +it. Several times the animal renewed the same exertions; but at last, +attacked by a paroxysm of terror, pursued by the yells of the Indians, +and wounded by their long lances, it rose on its hind legs, uttered a +terrible snort, and leaped into the gulf with its burden. At the same +moment all the torches were extinguished, the tumult was followed by a +mournful silence, and the warriors retired. + +On the morrow, at sunrise, the Redskins left the hacienda, to which +they did not once return during the whole of the war, which lasted +three years. We may possibly some day tell what was the termination of +this grand uprising of the Indians, who on several occasions all but +deprived the Mexican republic of its finest and richest, provinces. + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Stronghand, by Gustave Aimard + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STRONGHAND *** + +***** This file should be named 44672-8.txt or 44672-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/6/7/44672/ + +Produced by Camille Bernard & Marc D'Hooghe at +http://www.freeliterature.org (Images generously made +available by the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford) + + +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: Stronghand + or, The Noble Revenge + +Author: Gustave Aimard + +Translator: Lascelles Wraxall + +Release Date: January 15, 2014 [EBook #44672] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STRONGHAND *** + + + + +Produced by Camille Bernard & Marc D'Hooghe at +http://www.freeliterature.org (Images generously made +available by the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<h1>STRONGHAND</h1> + +<h3>OR</h3> + +<h3>THE NOBLE REVENGE</h3> + + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>GUSTAVE AIMARD</h2> + +<h4>AUTHOR OF "PRAIRIE FLOWER," "BUCCANEER CHIEF," ETC.</h4> + +<h5>LONDON</h5> + +<h5>WARD AND LOCK, 158, FLEET STREET</h5> + +<h5>MDCCCLXIV</h5> + + + +<hr class="full" /> +<h5>CONTENTS.</h5> + +<div class="center" style="font-size: 0.7em;"> +<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">AN EXCHANGE OF SHOTS</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">II.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">ON THE PRAIRIE</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">III.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">THE BIVOUAC</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">IV.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">THE POST OF SAN MIGUEL</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">V.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">THE STAY IN THE FOREST</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">VI.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">A GLANCE AT THE PAST</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">VII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">THE FAMILY TRIBUNAL</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">VIII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">THE TWO BROTHERS</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">IX.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">A NEW CHARACTER</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">X.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">DON JOSÉ PAREDES</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XI.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">ON THE ROAD</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">A CONVERSATION BY NIGHT</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XIII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">THE REAL DE MINAS</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XIV.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">THE BARGAIN</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XV.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">THE PAPAZOS</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XVI.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">THE ATEPETL</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XVII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">THE SPY</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XVIII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">THE COUNCIL OF THE SACHEMS</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XIX.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">THE RANCHO</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XX.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">LOST!</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XXI.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">STRONGHAND</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XXII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">THE RETURN</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XXIII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHANCE WORK</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XXIV.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">FATHER AND SON</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XXV.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">THE HATCHET</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XXVI.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">THE WHITE-SKINS</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XXVII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">SERIOUS EVENTS</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XXVIII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">THE TIGRERO</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XXIX.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">THE EXCURSION</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XXX.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">THE HUNTER'S CAMP</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XXXI.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">THE LEGEND</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XXXII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">KIDD REAPPEARS</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XXXIII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">COMPLICATIONS</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XXXIV.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">TWO VILLAINS</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XXXV.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">A FRIENDLY BARGAIN</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XXXVI.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI">THE HACIENDA DEL TORO</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XXXVII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVII">THE HUERTA</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right"> XXXVIII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVIII">THE ASSAULT ON QUITOVAR</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XXXIX.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIX">THE VENGEANCE OF HEAVEN</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">XL.</td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_XL">FUNERAL OF A SACHEM</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h4> + +<h3>AN EXCHANGE OF SHOTS.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>The country extending between the Sierra de San Saba and the Rio +Puerco, or Dirty River, is one of the most mournful and melancholy +regions imaginable.</p> + +<p>This accursed savannah, on which bleach unrecognized skeletons, which +the wind and sun strive to convert into dust, is an immense desert, +broadcast with grey rocks, beneath which snakes and wild beasts have, +from time immemorial, formed their lurking-place, and which only +produces black shrubs and stunted larches that rise from distance to +distance above the desert.</p> + +<p>White or Indian travellers rarely and most unwillingly venture to +cross this frightful solitude, and at the risk of lengthening their +journey they prefer making a detour and following the border, where +they are certain of finding shade and water—those delights of tropical +countries and indispensable necessities for a long trip on the western +prairies.</p> + +<p>Towards the second half of June—which the Navajo Indians call the +"strawberry moon" in their harmonious language—and in the Year of +Grace 1843, a horseman suddenly emerged from a thick clump of oaks, +sumachs, and mahogany trees, entered the savannah at a gallop, and, +instead of following the usual travellers' track, which was distinctly +traced on the edge of the sand, he began without any hesitation +crossing the desert in a straight line.</p> + +<p>This resolution was a mark of great folly, or a proof of extraordinary +daring on the part of a solitary man, however brave he might be; or +else some imperious reasons compelled him to lay aside all prudence in +order to reach his journey's end more speedily.</p> + +<p>However, whatever the motives that might determine the traveller, he +continued his journey rapidly, and buried himself deeper and deeper in +the desert, without seeming to notice the gloomy and desolate aspect +the landscape around him constantly assumed.</p> + +<p>As this person is destined to play an important part in our story, we +will draw his portrait in a few words. He was a man of from twenty-five +to thirty years of age—belonging to the pure Mexican race, of average +height, and possessed of elegant manners; while his every gesture, +graceful though it was, revealed a far from ordinary strength. His +face, with its regular features and bright hue, evidenced frankness, +bravery, and kindliness; his black eyes, haughty and well open, +had a straight and penetrating glance; his well cut mouth, adorned +with dazzling white teeth, was half concealed beneath a long brown +moustache; his chin, of too marked an outline perhaps, denoted a great +firmness of character; in short, his whole appearance aroused interest +and attracted sympathy.</p> + +<p>As for his dress, it was the Mexico costume in all its picturesque +richness. His broad-brimmed Vicuna skin hat, decorated with a double +gold and silver <i>golilla</i>, was carelessly set on his right ear, and +allowed curls of luxurious black hair to fall in disorder on his +shoulders. He wore a jacket of green velvet, magnificently embroidered +with gold, under which could be seen a worked linen shirt. An Indian +handkerchief was fastened round his neck by a diamond ring. His +<i>calzoneras</i>, also of green velvet, held round his hips by a red silk +gold-fringed <i>faja</i> were embroidered and slashed like a jacket, while +two rows of pearl-set gold buttons ran along the opening that extends +from the boot to the knee. His vaquero boots, embroidered with pretty +designs in red thread, were fastened to his legs by silk and gold +garters, from one of which emerged the admirably carved hilt of a long +knife. His zarapé, of Indian fabric and showy colours, was folded on +the back of his horse, an animal full of fire, with fine legs, small +head, and flashing eye. It was a true prairie mustang; and its master +had decorated it with the coquettish elegance peculiar to Mexican +horsemen.</p> + +<p>In addition to the knife we referred to, and which the horseman wore +in his right boot, he had also a long American rifle laid across his +saddle-bow, two six-shot revolvers in his girdle, a machete, or species +of straight sabre, which was passed, unsheathed, through an iron ring +on his left side; and, lastly, a reata of plaited leather, rolled up +and fastened to the saddle.</p> + +<p>Thus armed, the man we have just described was able—on the admission +that his determined appearance was not deceitful—to make head against +several adversaries at once, without any serious disadvantage. This +was a consideration not at all to be despised in a country where a +traveller ever runs the risk of encountering an enemy, whether man or +beast, and, at times both together.</p> + +<p>While galloping, the horseman carelessly smoked a husk cigarette, only +taking an absent and disdainful glance at the coveys of birds that rose +on his approach, or the herds of deer and packs of foxes which fled in +terror on hearing the horse's gallop.</p> + +<p>The savannah, however, was already beginning to assume a more gloomy +tinge; the sun, now level with the ground, only appeared on the horizon +as a red unheated ball, and night was soon about to cover the earth +with its dense gloom. The horseman drew up the bridle of his steed +to check its speed, though not entirely stopping it, and, casting an +investigating glance around him, seemed to be seeking a suitable spot +for his night halt.</p> + +<p>After a few seconds of this search, the traveller's determination was +formed. He turned slightly to the left, and proceeded to a half dried +up stream that ran along a short distance off, and on whose banks grew +a few prickly shrubs and a clump of some dozen larches, forming a +precarious shelter against the curiosity of those mysterious denizens +of the desert that prowl about in search of prey during the darkness.</p> + +<p>On drawing nearer, the traveller perceived to his delight that this +spot, perfectly hidden from prying glances, by the conformation of the +ground and a few blocks of stone scattered here and there among the +trees and shrubs, offered him an almost certain shelter.</p> + +<p>The journey had been tiring; and both man and horse felt themselves +worn with fatigue. Both, before proceeding further, imperiously +required a few hours' rest.</p> + +<p>The horseman, as an experienced traveller, first attended to his steed, +which he unsaddled and led to drink at the stream; then, after hobbling +the animal for fear it might stray and become the prey of wild beasts, +he stretched his zarapé on the ground, threw a few handfuls of Indian +corn upon it, and when he was assured that his horse, in spite of its +fatigue, was eating its provender willingly, he thought about himself.</p> + +<p>Mexicans, when travelling, carry behind their saddle two canvas bags, +called <i>alforjas</i>, intended to convey food, which it is impossible to +procure in the desert; and these, with two jars filled with drinking +water, form the sole baggage with which they cover enormous distances, +and endure privations and fatigue, the mere enumeration of which would +terrify Europeans, who are accustomed to enjoy all the conveniences +supplied by an advanced stage of civilization.</p> + +<p>The horseman opened his alforjas, sat down on the ground with his back +against a rock, and, while careful that his weapons were within reach, +for fear of being attacked unawares, he began supping philosophically +on a piece of tasajo, some maize tortillas, and goat's cheese as hard +as a flint, the whole being washed down with the pure water of the +stream.</p> + +<p>This repast, which was more than frugal, was soon terminated. The +horseman, after cleaning his teeth with an elegant gold toothpick, +rolled a pajilla, smoked it with that conscientious beatitude peculiar +to the Hispano-Americans, and then wrapped himself in his zarapé, shut +his eyes, and fell asleep.</p> + +<p>Several hours passed; and it is probable that the traveller's sleep +would have been prolonged for some time, had not two shots, fired a +short distance from him, suddenly aroused him from his lethargy. The +general rule on the prairie is, that when you hear a shot, it is rare +for it not to have been preceded by the whistle of a bullet past your +ear—in other words, there are ninety-nine reasons in a hundred that +the lonely man has been unconsciously converted into the target of an +assassin.</p> + +<p>The traveller, thus unpleasantly aroused, seized his weapons, concealed +himself behind a rock, and waited. Then, as after the expiration of +a moment, the attack was not renewed, he rose softly, and carefully +looked around him.</p> + +<p>Not a sound disturbed the majestic solitude of the desert. But this +sudden tranquillity after the two shots, instead of re-assuring the +traveller, only augmented his anxiety, by revealing to him the approach +of a certain danger, though it was impossible for him to divine the +cause or the magnitude.</p> + +<p>The night was clear, and, so to speak, transparent; the sky, of a deep +blue, was studded with a profusion of sparkling stars, and the moon +shed a white and melancholy light, that allowed the country to be +surveyed for a long distance.</p> + +<p>At all hazards he saddled his horse; then, after concealing it in a +rocky cavity, he lay down, placed his ear to the ground, and listened. +Then he fancied he could hear a long distance off a sound, at first +almost imperceptible, but which rapidly approached; and he soon +recognized in it the wild galloping of several horses.</p> + +<p>It was a hunt, or a pursuit. But who would dream of hunting in the +middle of the night? The Indians would not venture it, while white and +half-bred trappers only rarely visited these deserted regions, which +they abandoned to the savages and border ruffians; utter villains, who, +expelled from the towns and pueblos, have no other shelter than the +desert.</p> + +<p>Were the galloping horsemen pirates of the prairie, then?</p> + +<p>The situation was becoming painful to the traveller when, all at once, +the noise ceased, and all became silent.</p> + +<p>The traveller rose from the ground.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, the shrieks of a woman or girl burst forth on the night, with +an expression of terror and agony impossible to depict.</p> + +<p>The stranger, leaving his horse in the shelter he had selected for it, +dashed forward in the direction whence the cry came, leaping from rock +to rock and clearing shrubs, at the risk of hurting himself, with the +feverish speed of the brave man who believes himself suddenly called +by Providence to save a fellow being in danger.</p> + +<p>Still, prudence did not desert him in his hazardous enterprise; and, +before risking himself on the plain, he stopped behind a fringe of +larch trees, in order to try and find out what was going on, and act in +accordance.</p> + +<p>This is what he saw:—two men, who from their appearance he at once +recognized as belonging to the worst species of prairie runners, were +madly pursuing a young girl. But, thanks to her juvenile agility—an +agility doubtless doubled by the profound terror the bandits inspired +her with—this maiden bounded like a startled fawn across the prairie, +leaping ravines, clearing every obstacle, and gaining at each moment +a greater advance on her pursuers, who were impeded by their vaquero +boots and heavy rifles.</p> + +<p>A few minutes later, and the maiden reached the belt of trees behind +which the traveller had concealed himself. The latter was about to rush +to her assistance, when suddenly one of the bandits raised his rifle +and pulled the trigger.</p> + +<p>The girl fell, and the horseman seemed to change his mind—for instead +of advancing, he drew himself back and stood motionless, with his +finger on the trigger, ready to fire.</p> + +<p>The pirates rapidly approached, talking together in that medley of +English, French, Spanish and Indian which is employed throughout the +Far West.</p> + +<p>"Hum!" said a hoarse and panting voice; "What a gazelle! At one moment +I really thought she would escape us."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," the other answered, shaking his head and tapping the +barrel of his rifle with his right hand; "but I always felt certain of +bringing her down when I thought proper."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and you did not miss her, <i>caray!</i> Although it was a long shot, +and your hand must have trembled after such a chase."</p> + +<p>"Habit, compadre! Habit!" the bandit answered, with a modest smile.</p> + +<p>While talking thus, the two bandits had reached the spot where the body +of the girl lay. One of them knelt down, doubtless to assure himself +of the death of their victim; while the other, the one who had fired, +looked on carelessly, leaning on his rifle.</p> + +<p>The traveller then drew himself up, raised his piece, and fired. The +bandit, struck in the centre of the breast, sank down like a sack, and +did not stir. He was dead.</p> + +<p>His companion had started and laid his hand on his <i>machete</i>; but not +leaving him time to employ it, the traveller rushed on him, and with a +powerful blow of the butt end on his head, sent him to join his comrade +on the ground, where he rolled, half killed.</p> + +<p>The traveller, taking the bandit's reata, then firmly bound his hands +and feet; and, easy in mind on this point, he eagerly approached the +maiden. The poor girl gave no sign of life, but, for all that, was not +dead; her wound, indeed, was slight, as the pirate's bullet had merely +grazed her arm. Terror alone had produced her fainting fit.</p> + +<p>The stranger carefully bandaged the wound, slightly moistened her +lips and temples, and, after a comparatively short period, had the +satisfaction of seeing her open her eyes again.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" she murmured, in a voice soft and melodious as a bird's song, +"Those men—those demons! Oh! Heaven! Protect me!"</p> + +<p>"Reassure yourself, Señorita," the traveller answered; "you have +nothing further to fear from those villains."</p> + +<p>The maiden started at the sound of this strange voice; she fixed +her eyes on the stranger without giving him any answer, and made an +instinctive movement to rise. She doubtless took the man who had spoken +for one of her pursuers. The latter smiled mournfully, and pointed to +the two bandits lying on the ground.</p> + +<p>"Look, Señorita," he said to her; "you have only a friend here."</p> + +<p>At this sight an expression of unbounded gratitude illumined the +wounded girl's face, and a sickly smile appeared on her lips; but +almost immediately her features grew saddened again. She sprang up, +and raising herself on the tips of her small feet, she stretched out +her right arm toward a point on the horizon, and exclaimed in a voice +broken by terror—</p> + +<p>"There, there! Look!"</p> + +<p>The stranger turned to the indicated direction. A party of horsemen +were coming up at full speed, preceded about a rifle shot distance by +another horseman, evidently better mounted than they, and whom they +appeared to be pursuing. The stranger then remembered the furious +galloping he had heard a few moments previously.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" the girl exclaimed, clasping her hands in entreaty, "Save him, +Señor! Save him!"</p> + +<p>"I will try, Señorita," he replied, gently; "all that a man can do, I +swear to do."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," she said, offering him her pretty little hand; "you are a +noble-hearted man, and Heaven will aid you."</p> + +<p>"You must not remain here exposed to the insults of these men, who are +evidently the comrades of those from whom you have just escaped."</p> + +<p>"That is true," she said; "but what can I do? Where shall I seek +shelter?"</p> + +<p>"Follow me behind these trees; we have not a moment to lose."</p> + +<p>"Come," she said, resolutely. "But you will save him! Will you not?"</p> + +<p>"At least I will try. I have only my life to offer the person in whom +you take an interest; and believe me, Señorita, I shall not hesitate to +make the sacrifice."</p> + +<p>The maiden looked down with a blush, and silently followed her guide. +They soon reached the thicket in which the stranger had established his +quarters for the night.</p> + +<p>"Whatever happens," he said, while reloading his rifle, "remain here, +Señorita. You are in safety in this hollow rock, where no one will +dream of seeking you. For my part, I am going to help your friend."</p> + +<p>"Go," she said, as she knelt down on the ground; "while you are +fighting I will pray for you—and Heaven will grant my prayer."</p> + +<p>"Yes," the stranger answered, mournfully, "God listens gladly to the +voice of angels, so let us hope for the best."</p> + +<p>He leaped on his horse; and after giving a parting glance at the +maiden, who was praying fervently, he dashed at full speed in the +direction of the newcomers. There were seven in number—bandits with +stern faces and dangerous aspect, who dashed up brandishing their +weapons and uttering horrible yells.</p> + +<p>The pursued horseman, on seeing a man emerge so unexpectedly from the +thicket, and come towards him at full speed, rifle in hand, naturally +supposed that assistance was arriving for his foes, and dashed on one +side to avoid a man whom he assumed, with some show of reason, to be an +adversary the more. But the bandits were not mistaken when they saw the +stranger not only let their prey escape, but stop in front of them and +cock his rifle.</p> + +<p>Two shots were fired at the same moment, one by a bandit the other +by the stranger, with the difference, however, that the bandit's +shot, being fired haphazard was harmless; while the stranger's, being +deliberately aimed, struck exactly in the mass of his serried foes.</p> + +<p>A few seconds later, one of them let go his bridle, beat the air with +his arms, fell back on his horse, and at length on the ground, tearing +with his huge spurs the sides of his steed, which reared, kicked, and +started off like an arrow.</p> + +<p>A war so frankly declared could not have a sudden termination: four +shots succeeding each other with extreme rapidity on either side were +a sufficient proof of this. But the stranger's position was growing +critical: his rifle was discharged, and he had only his revolvers left.</p> + +<p>The revolver, by the way, is a weapon more convenient than useful in +a fight, for if you wish to hit your man, you must fire at him almost +point blank, otherwise the bullets have a tendency to stray. This is a +sufficient explanation why, in spite of the immoderate use the North +Americans make of this weapon, the number of murders among them is +proportionately limited.</p> + +<p>The stranger was, therefore, somewhat embarrassed, and was preparing in +his emergency for a hand-to-hand fight, when help he had been far from +calculating on suddenly reached him.</p> + +<p>The pursued horseman, on hearing the firing, and yet finding no bullets +whizzed past him, understood that something unusual was taking place, +and that some strange incident must have occurred in his favour. +Hence he turned back, and saw one of his enemies fall. Recognising +his mistake, he made up his mind at once: though only armed with a +<i>machete</i>, he wheeled his horse round and bravely drew up alongside +his defender.</p> + +<p>Then the two men, without exchanging a word, resolutely dashed at the +bandits. The contest was short—the success unhoped for. Moreover, the +sides were nearly equal, for of the seven pirates only four were now +alive.</p> + +<p>The attack was so sudden, that the pirates had not time to reload. Two +were killed with revolver shots. The third fell with his head severed +by a <i>machete</i> blow from the horseman, who was burning to take an +exemplary vengeance; while the fourth, finding himself alone leaped his +horse over the corpses of his comrades, and fled at full speed without +attempting to continue longer a combat which could not but be fatal to +him.</p> + +<p>The two men consequently remained masters of the battlefield.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></h4> + +<h3>ON THE PRAIRIE.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>When the last bandit had disappeared in the darkness, the horseman +turned to his generous defender, in order to thank him; but the latter +was no longer by his side, and he saw him galloping some distance off +on the plain.</p> + +<p>The horseman knew not to what he should attribute this sudden +departure—(for the stranger was following a direction diametrically +opposite to that on which the pirate had fled)—till he saw him return, +leading another horse by the bridle.</p> + +<p>The stranger had thought of the young lady he had so miraculously +saved; and on seeing the horses of the killed bandits galloping about, +he resolved at once to capture the best of them, in order to enable +her to continue her journey more comfortably; and when the animal was +lassoed, he returned slowly towards the man to whom he had rendered so +great a service.</p> + +<p>"Señor," the horseman said, as soon as they met again, "all is not over +yet; I have a further service to ask of you."</p> + +<p>"Speak, Caballero," the stranger replied, starting at the sound of the +voice, which he fancied he recognised. "Speak, I am listening to you."</p> + +<p>"A woman, an unhappy girl—my sister, in a word, is lost in this +horrible desert. Some of the scoundrels started in pursuit of her, and +I know not what may have happened to her. I am in mortal agony, and +must rejoin her at all risks; hence do not leave the good action you +have so well begun unfinished; help me to find my sister's track,—join +with me in seeking her."</p> + +<p>"It is useless," the stranger answered, coldly.</p> + +<p>"What, useless!" the horseman exclaimed with horror; "Has any +misfortune happened to her? Ah! I remember now; I fancied, while I was +flying, that I heard several shots. Oh, Heaven, Heaven!" he added, +writhing his hands in despair, "My poor sister, my poor Marianita!"</p> + +<p>"Reassure yourself, Caballero," the stranger continued in the same cold +deliberate accent; "your sister is in safety, temporarily at least, and +has nothing to fear. Heaven permitted that I should cross her path."</p> + +<p>"Are you stating truth?" he exclaimed, joyfully. "Oh, bless you, Señor, +for the happy news! Where is she? Let me see her! Let me press her to +my heart. Alas! How shall I ever acquit my debt to you?"</p> + +<p>"You owe me nothing," the stranger answered in a rough voice; "it was +chance, or God, if you prefer it, that did everything, and I was only +the instrument. My conduct would have been the same to any other +person; so keep your gratitude—which I do not ask of you. Who knows," +he added ironically, "whether you may not some day repent of having +contracted any obligations toward me?"</p> + +<p>The horseman felt internally pained at the way in which his advances +were received by a man who scarce five minutes previously had saved his +life. Not knowing to what he should attribute this sudden change of +temper, he pretended not to notice anything offensive the words might +contain, and said, with exquisite politeness—</p> + +<p>"The spot is badly chosen for a lengthened conversation, Caballero. We +are still, if not strangers, at least unknown to each other. I trust +that ere long all coldness and misunderstanding will cease between us, +and make room for perfect confidence."</p> + +<p>The other smiled bitterly.</p> + +<p>"Come," he said, "your sister is near here, and must be impatient to +see you."</p> + +<p>The horseman followed him without replying; but asking himself mentally +who this singular man could be, who risked his life to defend him, and +yet appeared anxious to treat him as an enemy.</p> + +<p>All the sounds of the combat had reached the maiden's ear: she had +heard them while kneeling on the ground, half dead with terror, and +searching her troubled memory in vain for a prayer to address to Heaven.</p> + +<p>Then the firing had ceased: a mournful silence again spread over the +desert—a silence more terrifying a thousandfold than the terrible +sounds of the fight, and she remained crouching in a corner and +suffering from nameless agony, alone, far from all human help, not +daring to retain a single hope, and fearing at each moment to see a +frightful death awaiting her. The poor girl could not have said how +long she remained thus crushed beneath the weight of her terror. A +person must really have suffered, to know of how many centuries a +minute is composed when life or death is awaited.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she started: her strong nerves relaxed, a fugitive flush +tinged her cheek, she fancied she had heard a few words uttered in a +low voice not far from her. Were her enemies again pursuing her? Or was +her saviour returning to her side?</p> + +<p>She remained anxious and motionless, not daring to make a movement or +utter a cry to ask for help; for a movement might reveal her presence, +a cry hopelessly ruin her.</p> + +<p>But, ere long, the bushes were parted by a powerful hand; and two +horsemen appeared at the base of the rock. The maiden stretched out her +hands to them with an exclamation of delight; and, too weak to support +this last emotion, she fainted.</p> + +<p>She had recognised in the men, who arrived side by side, her brother +and the stranger to whom she owed her life.</p> + +<p>When she regained her senses, she was lying on furs in front of a large +fire. The two men were sitting on her right and left; while in the rock +cave, three horses were eating their provender of alfalfa.</p> + +<p>Somewhat in the shadow a few paces from her, the maiden perceived a +mass, whose form it was impossible for her to distinguish at the first +glance, but which a more attentive examination enabled her to recognise +as a bound man lying on the ground.</p> + +<p>The maiden was anxious to speak and thank her liberator; but the shock +she had received was so rude, the emotion so powerful, that it was +impossible for her to utter a word—so weak did she feel. She could +only give him a glance full of all the gratitude she felt, and then +fell back into a state of feverish exhaustion and morbid apathy, which +almost completely deprived her of the power of thinking and feeling, +and which rendered her involuntarily ignorant of all that was going on +around her.</p> + +<p>"It is well," said the stranger, as he carefully closed a gold mounted +flask and concealed it in his bosom. "Now, Caballero, there is nothing +more to fear for the Señorita; the draught I have administered to her, +by procuring her a calm and healthy sleep, will restore her strength +sufficiently for her to be able to continue her journey at sunrise, +should it be necessary."</p> + +<p>"Caballero," the stranger answered, "you are really performing the part +of Providence towards me and my sister, I know not, in truth, how to +express to you the lively gratitude I feel for a procedure which is the +more generous as I am a perfect stranger to you."</p> + +<p>"Do you think so?" he answered sarcastically.</p> + +<p>"The more I examine your face, the more convinced I am that I have met +you tonight for the first time."</p> + +<p>"You would not venture to affirm it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I would. Your features are too remarkable for me not to remember +them if I had seen you before; but I repeat, if you fancy you know me, +you are mistaken, and an accidental resemblance to some other person is +the cause of your error."</p> + +<p>There was a momentary silence, and then the stranger spoke again, with +a politeness too affected for the irony it concealed not to be seen—</p> + +<p>"Be it so, Caballero," he answered, with a bow; "perhaps I am mistaken. +Be good enough, therefore, if you have no objection, to tell me who +you are, and by what fortuitous concourse of circumstances I have +been enabled to render you what you are kind enough to call a great +service?"</p> + +<p>"And it is an immense one, in truth, Caballero," the stranger +interrupted with warmth.</p> + +<p>"I will not discuss that subject any longer with you, Caballero; I am +awaiting your pleasure."</p> + +<p>"Señor, I will not abuse your patience for long. My name is Don Ruiz +de Moguer, and I reside with my father at a hacienda in the vicinity +of Arispe. For reasons too lengthy to explain to you, and which would +but slightly interest you, the presence of my sister (who has been at +school for some years at the Convent of the Conception at El Rosario) +became indispensable at the hacienda. By my father's orders I set out +for El Rosario a few months ago, in order to bring my sister back to +her family. I was anxious to rejoin my father; and hence, in spite of +the observations made to me by persons acquainted with the dangers +attending so long a journey through a desert country, I resolved to +take no escort, but start for home merely accompanied by two peons, on +whose courage and fidelity I could rely."</p> + +<p>"My sister who had been separated from her family for several years, +was as eager as myself to quit the convent; and hence we soon set +out. For the first few days all went well; our journey was performed +under the most favourable auspices, and my sister and I laughed at the +anxiety and apprehensions of our friends, for we had begun to believe +ourselves safe from any dangerous encounter."</p> + +<p>"But yesterday at sunset, just as we were preparing our camp for the +night, we were suddenly attacked by a party of bandits, who seemed +to emerge from the ground in front of us, so unforeseen was their +apparition. Our poor brave peons were killed while defending us; and +my sister's horse, struck by a bullet in the head, threw her. But the +brave girl, far from surrendering to the bandits, who rushed forward +to seize her, began flying across the savannah. Then I tried to lead +the aggressors off the scent, and induce them to pursue me. You +know the rest, Caballero; and had it not been for your providential +interference, it would have been all over with us."</p> + +<p>There was a silence, which Don Ruiz was the first to break.</p> + +<p>"Caballero," he said, "now that you know who I am, tell me the name of +my saviour?"</p> + +<p>"What good is that?" the stranger answered, sadly. "We have come +together for a moment by chance, and shall separate tomorrow never to +meet again. Gratitude is a heavy burden. Not knowing who I am, you will +soon have forgotten me. Believe me, Señor Don Ruiz, it is better that +it should be so. Who knows if you may not regret some day knowing me?"</p> + +<p>"It is the second time you have said that, Caballero. Your words +breathe a bitterness that pains me. You must have suffered very +grievously for your thoughts to be so sad and your heart so +disenchanted at an age when the future ordinarily appears so full of +promise."</p> + +<p>The stranger raised his head, and bent on his questioner a glance that +seemed trying to read to the bottom of his soul: the latter continued, +however, with some degree of vivacity—</p> + +<p>"Oh! Do not mistake the meaning I attach to my words, Caballero. I +have no intention to take your confidence by surprise, or encroach on +your secrets. Every man's life belongs to himself—his actions concern +himself alone; and I recognise no claim to a confidence which I neither +expect nor desire. The only thing I ask of you is to tell me your name, +that my sister and myself may retain it in our hearts."</p> + +<p>"Why insist on so frivolous a matter?"</p> + +<p>"I will answer—What reason have you to be so obstinate in remaining +unknown?"</p> + +<p>"Then you insist on my telling you my name?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Caballero, I have no right to insist; I only ask it."</p> + +<p>"Very good," said the stranger, "you shall know my name; but I warn you +that it will teach you nothing."</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, Caballero," Don Ruiz remarked, with a touch of exquisite +delicacy, "this name, repeated by me to my father, will tell him every +hour in the day that it is to the man who bears it that he owes the +life of his children, and a whole family will bless you."</p> + +<p>In spite of himself, the stranger felt affected. By an instinctive +movement he offered his hand to the young man, which the latter pressed +affectionately. But, as if suddenly reproaching himself for yielding +to his feelings, this strange man sharply drew back his hand, and +reassuming the expression of sternness, which had for a moment departed +from him, said, with a roughness in his voice that astonished and +saddened the young Mexican, "You shall be satisfied."</p> + +<p>We have said that Doña Marianita, in looking round her, fancied she saw +the body of a man stretched on the ground a few paces from the fire. +The maiden was not mistaken; it was really a man she saw, carefully +gagged and bound. It was in a word, one of the two bandits who had +pursued her so long, and the one whom the stranger had almost killed +with a blow of his rifle butt.</p> + +<p>After recommending Don Ruiz to be patient by a wave of his hand, the +stranger rose, walked straight up to the bandit, threw him on his +shoulders, and laid him at the feet of the young Mexican, perhaps +rather roughly—for the pirate, in spite of the thorough Indian +stoicism he affected, could not suppress a stifled yell of pain.</p> + +<p>"Who is this man, and what do you purpose doing with him?" Don Ruiz +asked, with some anxiety.</p> + +<p>"This scoundrel," the stranger answered, harshly, "was one of the band +that attacked you; we are going to try him."</p> + +<p>"Try him?" the young gentleman objected; "We?"</p> + +<p>"Of course," the stranger said, as he removed the bandit's gag, and +unfastened the rope that bound his limbs. "Do you fancy that we are +going to trouble ourselves with the scoundrel till we find a prison +in which to place him, without counting the fact that, if we were so +simple as to do so, the odds are about fifty to one that he would +escape from us during the journey, and slip through our fingers like an +opossum, to attack us a few hours later at the head of a fresh band of +pirates of his own breed. No, no; that would be madness. When the snake +is dead, the venom is dead, too; it is better to try him."</p> + +<p>"But by what right can we constitute ourselves the judges of this man?"</p> + +<p>"By what right?" the stranger exclaimed, in amazement. "The Border law, +which says, 'Eye for eye; tooth for tooth.' Lynch law authorizes us to +try this bandit, and when the sentence is pronounced, to execute it +ourselves."</p> + +<p>Don Ruiz reflected for a moment, during which the stranger looked at +him aside with the most serious attention.</p> + +<p>"That is possible," the young man at length answered; "perhaps you are +right in speaking thus. This man is guilty—he is evidently a miserable +assassin covered with blood; and, had my sister and myself fallen into +his hands, he would not have hesitated to stab us, or blow out our +brains."</p> + +<p>"Well?" the stranger remarked.</p> + +<p>"Well," the young man continued, with generous animation in his voice; +"this certainly does not authorize us in taking justice into our own +hands; besides, my sister is saved."</p> + +<p>"Then it is your opinion—"</p> + +<p>"That as we cannot hand this man over to the police, we are bound to +set him at liberty, after taking all proper precautions that he cannot +injure us."</p> + +<p>"You have, doubtless, carefully reflected on the consequences of the +deed you advise?"</p> + +<p>"My conscience orders me to act as I am doing."</p> + +<p>"Your will be done!" and, addressing the bandit, who throughout the +conversation had remained gloomy and silent, though his eyes constantly +wandered from one to the other of the speakers, he said to him, "Get +up!"</p> + +<p>The pirate rose.</p> + +<p>"Look at me," the stranger continued; "do you recognise me?"</p> + +<p>"No," the bandit said.</p> + +<p>The stranger seized a lighted brand, and held it up near his face.</p> + +<p>"Look at me more carefully, Kidd," he said, in a sharp, imperious voice.</p> + +<p>The scoundrel, who had bent forward, drew himself back with a start of +fear.</p> + +<p>"Stronghand!" he exclaimed, in a voice choked by dread.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" the horseman said, with a sardonic smile; "I see that you +recognise me now."</p> + +<p>"Yes," the bandit muttered. "What are your orders?"</p> + +<p>"I have none. You heard all we have been saying, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"All."</p> + +<p>"What do you think of it?"</p> + +<p>The pirate did not answer.</p> + +<p>"Speak, and be frank! I insist."</p> + +<p>"Hum!" he said, with a side-glance.</p> + +<p>"Will you speak? I tell you I insist."</p> + +<p>"Well!" he answered, in a rather humbling voice, but yet with a tinge +of irony easy to notice; "I think that when you hold your enemy, you +ought to kill him."</p> + +<p>"That is really your opinion?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"What do you say to that?" the stranger asked, turning to Don Ruiz.</p> + +<p>"I say," he replied, simply, "that as this man is not my enemy, I +cannot and ought not to take any vengeance on him."</p> + +<p>"Hence?"</p> + +<p>"Hence, justice alone has the right to make him account for his +conduct. As for me, I decline."</p> + +<p>"And that is truly the expression of your thoughts?"</p> + +<p>"On my honour, Caballero. During the fight I should not have felt the +slightest hesitation in killing him—for in that case I was defending +the life he tried to take; but now that he is a prisoner, and unarmed, +I have no longer aught to do with him."</p> + +<p>In spite of the mask of indifference the stranger wore on his face, he +could not completely hide the joy he experienced at hearing these noble +sentiments so simply expressed.</p> + +<p>There was a moment's silence, during which the three men seemed +questioning each other's faces. At length Stronghand spoke again, +and addressed the bandit, who remained motionless, and apparently +indifferent to what was being said—</p> + +<p>"Go! You are free!" he said, as he cut the last bonds that held him. +"But remember, Kidd, that if it has pleased this Caballero to forget +your offences, I have not pardoned them. You know me, so do your best +to keep out of my way, or you will not escape, so easily as this day, +the just punishment you have deserved. Begone!"</p> + +<p>"All right, Stronghand, I will remember," the bandit said, with a +covert threat.</p> + +<p>And at once gliding into the bushes, he disappeared, without taking +further leave of the persons who had given him his life.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE BIVOUAC.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>For some moments the bandit's hurried footsteps were audible, and then +all became silent once again.</p> + +<p>"You wished it," Stronghand then said, looking at Don Ruiz from under +his bent brows. "Now, be certain that you have at least one implacable +enemy on the prairie; for you are not so simple, I assume, as to +believe in the gratitude of such a man?"</p> + +<p>"I pity him, if he hates me for the good I have done him in return for +the harm he wished to do me, but honour ordered me to let him escape."</p> + +<p>"Yours will be a short life, Señor, if you are obstinate in carrying +out such philanthropic precepts in our unhappy country."</p> + +<p>"My ancestors had a motto to which they never proved false."</p> + +<p>"And pray what may that motto be, Caballero?"</p> + +<p>"Everything for honour, no matter what may happen," the young man said, +simply.</p> + +<p>"Yes," Stronghand answered, with a harsh laugh; "the maxim is noble, +and Heaven grant it prove of service to you; but," he continued, after +looking round him, "the darkness is beginning to grow less thick, the +night is on the wane, and within an hour the sun will be up. You know +my name, which, as I told you beforehand, has not helped you much."</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken, Caballero," Don Ruiz interrupted him, eagerly; "for +I have frequently heard the name mentioned, of which you fancied me +ignorant."</p> + +<p>Stronghand bent a piercing glance on the young man.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" he said, with a slight tremor in his voice; "And doubtless, +each time you heard that name uttered, it was accompanied by far from +flattering epithets, which gave you but a poor opinion of the man who +bears it."</p> + +<p>"Here again you are mistaken, Señor; it has been uttered in my presence +as the name of a brave man, with a powerful heart and vast intellect, +whom unknown and secret sorrow has urged to lead a strange life, to +fly the society of his fellow men, and to wander constantly about the +deserts; but who, under all circumstances, even spite of the examples +that daily surrounded him, managed to keep his honour intact and retain +a spotless reputation, which even the bandits, with whom the incidents +of an adventurous life too often bring him into contact, are forced +to admire. That, Señor, is what this name, which you supposed I was +ignorant of, recalls to my mind, and the way in which I have ever heard +the man who bears it spoken of."</p> + +<p>Stronghand smiled bitterly.</p> + +<p>"Can the world really be less wicked and unjust than I supposed it?" he +muttered, in self-colloquy.</p> + +<p>"Do not doubt it," the young man said, eagerly. "God, who has allowed +the good and the bad to dwell side by side on this earth, has yet +willed that the amount of good should exceed that of bad, so that, +sooner or later, each should be requited according to his works and +merits."</p> + +<p>"Such words," he answered, ironically, "would be more appropriate in +the mouth of a priest or missionary, whose hair has been blanched, and +back bowed by the weight of the incessant struggles of his apostolic +mission, than in that of a young man who has scarce reached the dawn +of life, whom no tempest has yet assailed, and who has only tasted the +honey of life. But no matter; your intention is good, and I thank you. +But we have far more serious matters to attend to than losing our time +in philosophical discussions which would not convince either of us."</p> + +<p>"I was wrong, Caballero, I allow," Don Ruiz answered; "it does not +become me, who am as yet but a child, to make such remarks to you; so, +pray pardon me."</p> + +<p>"I have nothing to pardon you, Señor," Stronghand replied with a smile; +"on the contrary, I thank you. Now let us attend to the most pressing +affair—that is to say, what you purpose doing to get out of your +present situation."</p> + +<p>"I confess to you that I am greatly alarmed," Don Ruiz replied, +with a slight tinge of sadness, as he looked at the girl, who was +still sleeping. "What has happened to me, the terrible danger I have +incurred, and from which I only escaped, thanks to your generous help—"</p> + +<p>"Not a word more on that subject," Stronghand interrupted him quickly. +"You will disoblige me by pressing it further."</p> + +<p>The young man bowed.</p> + +<p>"Were I alone," he said, "I should not hesitate to continue my journey. +A brave man, and I believe myself one, nearly always succeeds in +escaping the perils that threaten him, if he confront them: but I have +my sister with me—my sister, whose energy the terrible scene of this +night has broken, and who, in the event of a second attack from the +pirates of the prairies, would become an easy prey to the villains—the +more so because, too weak to save her, I could only die with her."</p> + +<p>Stronghand turned away, murmuring to himself compassionately.</p> + +<p>"That is true, poor child;" then he said to Don Ruiz, "Still, you must +make up your mind."</p> + +<p>"Unfortunately I have no choice; there is only one thing to be done: +whatever may happen, I shall continue my journey at sunrise, if my +sister be in a condition to follow me."</p> + +<p>"That need not trouble you. When she awakes, her strength will be +sufficiently recovered for her to keep on horseback without excessive +fatigue; but from here to Arispe the road is very long."</p> + +<p>"I know it: and it is that which frightens me for my poor sister."</p> + +<p>"Listen to me. Perhaps there is a way for you to get out of the scrape, +and avoid up to a certain point the dangers that threaten you. Two +days' journey from here there is a military post, placed like an +advanced sentry to watch the frontier, and prevent the incursions of +the Indios bravos, and other bandits of every description and colour, +who infest these regions. The main point for you is to reach this post, +when it will be easy for you to obtain from the Commandant an escort to +protect you from any insult for the rest of your journey."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but, as you remark, I must reach the post."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know this country: one of the two peons who accompanied me +acted as guide; and now he is dead, it is utterly impossible for me to +find my way. I am in the position of a sailor, lost without a compass +on an unknown sea."</p> + +<p>Stronghand looked at him with surprise mingled with compassion.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" he exclaimed, "How improvident is youth! What! Imprudent boy! +You dared to risk yourself in the desert, and entrust to a peon your +sister's precious life?" But, recollecting himself immediately, he +continued, "Pardon me; reproaches are ill suited at this moment; the +great thing is to get you out of the danger in which you are."</p> + +<p>He let his head fall on his hands, and plunged into serious +reflections, while Don Ruiz looked at him with mingled apprehension and +hope. The young man did not deceive himself as to his position: the +reproaches which Stronghand spared him, he had already made himself, +cursing his improvident temerity; for things had reached such a point, +that if the man to whom he owed his life, refused to afford him his +omnipotent protection, he and his sister were irremediably lost.</p> + +<p>Stronghand, after a few minutes, which seemed to last an age, rose, +seized his rifle, went up to his horse, saddled it, mounted, and said +to Don Ruiz, who followed all his movements with anxious curiosity—</p> + +<p>"Wait for me, however long my absence may be; do not stir from here +till I return."</p> + +<p>Then, without waiting for the young man's answer, he bent lightly over +his horse's neck, and started at a gallop. Don Ruiz watched the black +outline, as it disappeared in the gloom; he listened to the horse's +footfalls so long as he could hear them, and then turned back and +seated himself pensively at the fire, and looked with tearful eyes at +his sleeping sister.</p> + +<p>"Poor Marianita!" he murmured, with a heart-rending outburst of pity.</p> + +<p>He bowed his head on his chest, and with pale and gloomy face awaited +the return of Stronghand—a return which, in his heart, he doubted, +although, with the obstinacy of desperate men, who try to deceive +themselves by making excuses whose falsehood they know, he sought to +prove its certainty.</p> + +<p>We will take advantage of this delay in our narrative to trace rapidly +the portraits of Don Ruiz de Moguer and his sister Marianita. We will +begin with the young lady, through politeness.</p> + +<p>Doña Mariana—or rather Marianita, as she was generally called at +the convent, and by her family—was a charming girl scarce sixteen, +graceful in her movements, and with black lustrous eyes. Her hair had +the bluish tinge of the raven's wing; her skin, the warm and gilded +hues of the sun of her country; her glance, half veiled by her long +brown eyelashes, was ardent; her straight nose, with its pink flexible +nostrils, was delicious; her laughing mouth, with its bright red lips, +gave her face an expression of simple, ignorant candour. Her movements, +soft and indolent, had that indescribable languor and serpentine +undulation alone possessed in so eminent a degree by the women of Lima +and Mexico, those daughters of the sun in whose veins flows the molten +lava of the volcanoes, instead of blood. In a word, she was a Spanish +girl from head to foot—but Andalusian before all. Hers was an ardent, +wild, jealous, passionate, and excessively superstitious nature. But +this lovely, splendid statue still wanted the divine spark. Doña +Mariana did not know herself; her heart had not yet spoken; she was as +yet but a delicious child, whom the fiery breath of love would convert +into an adorable woman.</p> + +<p>Physically, Don Ruiz was, as a man, the same his sister was a woman. +He was a thorough gentleman, and scarce four years older than Doña +Mariana. He was tall and well built; but his elegant and aristocratic +form denoted great personal strength. His regular features—too regular +perhaps, for a man—bore an unmistakable stamp of distinction; his +black eye had a frank and confident look; his mouth, which was rather +large, but adorned with splendid teeth, and fringed by a fine brown +moustache, coquettishly turned up, still retained the joyous, careless +smile of youth; his face displayed loyalty, gentleness, and bravery +carried to temerity;—in a word, all his features offered the most +perfect type of a true-blooded gentleman.</p> + +<p>Brother and sister, who, with the exception of a few almost +imperceptible variations, had the most perfect physical likeness, also +resembled each other morally. Both were equally ignorant of things of +the world. With their pure and innocent hearts they loved each other +with the holiest of all loves, fraternal affection, and only lived +through and for each other.</p> + +<p>Hence, Doña Mariana had felt a great delight and great impatience to +quit the convent, when Don Ruiz, in obedience to his father's commands, +came to fetch her from the Rosario. This impatience obliged Don Ruiz +not to consent to wait for an escort on his homeward journey, for fear +of vexing his sister. It was an imprudence that caused the misfortunes +we have already described, and for which, now they had arrived, Don +Ruiz reproached himself bitterly. He cursed the weakness that had made +him yield to the whims of a girl, and accused himself of being, through +his weakness, the sole cause of the frightful dangers from which she +had only escaped by a miracle, and of those no less terrible, which, +doubtless, still threatened her on the hundred and odd leagues they +had still to go before reaching the hacienda del Toro, where dwelt her +father, Don Hernando de Moguer.</p> + +<p>Still the hours, which never stop, continued to follow each other +slowly. The sun had risen; and, through its presence on the horizon, +immediately dissipated the darkness and heated the ground, which was +chilled by the abundant and icy dew of morning.</p> + +<p>Doña Marianita, aroused by the singing of the thousands of birds +concealed beneath the foliage, opened her eyes with a smile. The calm +sleep she had enjoyed for several hours restored not only her strength, +which was exhausted by the struggles of the previous evening, but also +her courage and gaiety. The girl's first glance was for her brother, +who, anxious and uneasy, was attentively watching her slumbers, and +impatiently awaiting the moment for her to awake.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Ruiz," she said, in her melodious voice, and offering her hand and +cheek simultaneously to the young man, "what a glorious sleep I have +had."</p> + +<p>"Really, sister," he exclaimed, kissing her, gladly, "you have slept +well."</p> + +<p>"That is to say," she continued, with a smile, "that at the convent I +never passed so delicious a night, accompanied by such charming dreams; +but it is true there were two of you to watch over my slumbers—two +kind and devoted hearts, in whom I could trust with perfect confidence."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sister; there were two of us."</p> + +<p>"What?" she asked in surprise mingled with anxiety. "You were—What do +you mean, Ruiz?"</p> + +<p>"What I say; nothing else, dear sister."</p> + +<p>"But I do not see the caballero to whom we have incurred so great an +obligation. Where is he?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell you, little sister. About two hours ago he mounted his +horse and left me, telling me not to stir from here till his return."</p> + +<p>"Oh, in that case I am quite easy. His absence alarmed me; but now that +I know he will return—"</p> + +<p>"Do you believe so?" he interrupted.</p> + +<p>"Why should I doubt it?" she continued with some animation in her +voice; "Did he not promise to return?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly."</p> + +<p>"Well! A caballero never breaks his pledged word. He said he would +come, and he will come."</p> + +<p>"Heaven grant it!" Don Ruiz muttered.</p> + +<p>And he shook his head sadly, and gave a profound sigh. The maiden felt +herself involuntarily assailed by anxiety. This persistency undoubtedly +terrified her.</p> + +<p>"Come, Ruiz," she said, turning very pale, "explain yourself. What has +happened between this caballero and yourself?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing beyond what you know, sister. Still, in spite of the man's +promise, I know not why, but I fear. He is a strange, incomprehensible +being—at one moment kind, at another cruel—changing his character, +and almost his face, momentarily. He frightens and repels, and yet +attracts and interests me. I am afraid he will abandon us, and fear +that he will return. A secret foreboding seems to warn me that this man +will have a great influence over your future and mine. Perhaps it is +our misfortune that we have met him."</p> + +<p>"I do not understand you, Ruiz. What means this confusion in your +ideas? Why this stern and strange judgment of a man whom you do not +know, and who has only done you kindness?"</p> + +<p>At the moment when Don Ruiz was preparing to answer, the gallop of a +horse became audible in the distance.</p> + +<p>"Silence, brother!" she exclaimed, with an emotion she could not +repress; "Silence, here he comes!"</p> + +<p>The young man looked at his sister in amazement.</p> + +<p>"How do you know it?" he asked her.</p> + +<p>"I have recognised him," she stammered, with a deep blush. "Stay—Look!"</p> + +<p>In fact, at this moment the shrubs parted, and Stronghand appeared in +the open space. Don Ruiz, though surprised at the singular remark which +had escaped his sister, had not time to ask her for an explanation. +Without dismounting, Stronghand, after bowing courteously to the young +lady, said, hurriedly—</p> + +<p>"To horse!—To horse! Make haste! Time presses!"</p> + +<p>Don Ruiz at once saddled his own horse and his sister's, and a few +minutes later the two young people were riding by the hunter's side.</p> + +<p>"Let us start!" the latter continued. "<i>Cuerpo de Cristo</i>, Caballero, I +warned you that you were doing an imprudent action in liberating that +villain. If we do not take care, we shall have him at our heels within +an hour."</p> + +<p>These words sufficed to give the fugitives wings, and they started at +full gallop after the bold wood ranger. An hour elapsed ere a word +was exchanged between the three persons; bent over the necks of their +steeds they devoured the space—looking back anxiously from time to +time, and only thinking how to escape the unknown dangers by which +they felt themselves surrounded. About eight o'clock in the morning, +Stronghand checked his horse, and made his companions a sign to follow +his example.</p> + +<p>"Now," he said, "we have nothing more to fear. When we have crossed +that wood, which stretches out in front of us like a curtain of +verdure, we shall see the Port of San Miguel, whose walls will offer us +a certain shelter against the attacks of all the bandits of the desert, +were there ten thousand of them."</p> + +<p>"Last night I fancy that you spoke to me of a more distant post," Don +Ruiz said.</p> + +<p>"Yes; for I fancied San Miguel abandoned, if not in ruins. Before I +gave you what might prove a fallacious hope, I wished to assure myself +of the truth of the case."</p> + +<p>"Do you believe that the Commandant will consent to receive us?" the +young lady asked.</p> + +<p>"Certainly, Señorita, for a thousand reasons. In the first place, the +frontier posts are only established for the purpose of watching over +the safety of travellers; and then, again, San Miguel is commanded by +one of your relations—or, at any rate, an intimate friend of your +family."</p> + +<p>The young people looked at each other in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Do you know this Commandant's name?" Don Ruiz asked.</p> + +<p>"I was told it: he is Don Marcos de Niza."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" Doña Mariana exclaimed, joyfully; "I should think we do know him: +Don Marcos is a cousin of ours."</p> + +<p>"In that case, all is for the best," the hunter answered, coldly. "Let +us continue our journey; for there is a cloud of dust behind us that +forebodes us no good, if it reaches us before we have entered the post."</p> + +<p>The young people, without answering, resumed their gallop, crossed the +wood, and entered the little fort.</p> + +<p>"Look!" Stronghand said to Don Ruiz and his sister, the moment the gate +closed upon them. They turned back. A numerous band of horsemen issued +from the wood at this moment, and galloped up at full speed, uttering +ferocious yells.</p> + +<p>"This is the second time you have saved our lives, Caballero," Doña +Mariana said to the partizan, with a look of gratitude.</p> + +<p>"Why count them, Señorita?" he replied, with a sadness mingled with +bitterness. "Do I do so?"</p> + +<p>The maiden gave him a look of undefinable meaning, turned her head away +with a blush, and silently followed her brother.</p> + +<p>The Spaniards, whatever may be the opinion the Utopians of the old +world express about their mode of civilization, and the way in which +they treated the Indians of America, understood very well how to +enhance the prosperity of the countries they had been endowed with by +the strong arms of those heroic adventurers who were called Cortez, +Pizarro, Bilboa, Alvadaro, &c., and whose descendants, if any by +chance exist, are now in the most frightful wretchedness, although +their ancestors gave a whole world and incalculable riches to their +ungrateful country.</p> + +<p>When the Spanish rule was established in America, the first care of +the conquerors—after driving back the Indians who refused to accept +their iron yoke into frightful deserts, where they hoped want would +put an end to them—was to secure their frontiers, and prevent those +indomitable hordes, impelled by hunger and despair, from entering the +newly conquered country and plundering the towns and the haciendas. +For this purpose they established along the desert line a cordon of +presidios and military posts, which were all connected together, and +could, in case of need, assist each other, not so much through their +proximity—for they were a great distance apart, and scattered over +a great space—but by means of numerous patrols of lanceros, who +constantly proceeded from one post to the other.</p> + +<p>At present, since the declaration of independence, owing to the neglect +of the governments which have succeeded each other in this unhappy +country, most of the presidios and forts no longer exist. Some have +been burned by the Indians, who became invaders in their turn, and are +gradually regaining the territory the Europeans took from them; while +others have been abandoned, or so badly kept up, that they are for +the most part in ruins. Still, here and there you find a few, which +exceptionable circumstances have compelled the inhabitants to repair +and defend.</p> + +<p>As these forts were built in all the colonies on the same plan, in +describing the post of San Miguel, which still exists, and which we +have visited, the reader will easily form an idea of the simple and yet +effective defence adopted by the Europeans to protect them from the +surprises of their implacable and crafty foes.</p> + +<p>The post of San Miguel is composed of four square pavilions, connected +together by covered ways, the inner walls of which surround a courtyard +planted with lemon trees, peach trees, and algarrobas. On this court +opens the room intended for travellers, the barracks, &c. The outer +walls have only one issue, and are provided with loopholes, which can +only be reached by mounting a platform eight feet high and three wide. +All the masonry is constructed of <i>adobes</i>, or large blocks of earth +stamped and baked in the sun.</p> + +<p>Twenty feet beyond this wall is another, formed of cactuses, planted +very closely together, and having their branches intertwined. This +vegetable wall, if we may be allowed the use of the expression, is +naturally very thick, and protected by formidable prickles, which +render it impenetrable for the half-clad and generally badly-armed +Indians. The only entrance to it is a heavy gate, supported by posts +securely bedded in the ground. The soldiers, standing at the loopholes +of the second wall, fire in perfect shelter, and command the space +above the cactuses.</p> + +<p>On the approach of the Indians, when the Mexican Moon is at hand—that +is to say, the invariable season of their invasions—the sparse +dwellers on the border seek refuge inside San Miguel, and there in +complete safety wait till their enemies are weary of a siege which can +have no result for them, or till they are put to flight by soldiers +sent from a town frequently fifty leagues off.</p> + +<p>Don Marcos de Niza was a man of about forty, short and plump, but +withal active and quick. His regular features displayed a simplicity +of character, marked with intelligence and decision. He was one of +those educated honest professional officers, of whom the Mexican army +unfortunately counts too few in its ranks. Hence, as he thoroughly +attended to his duties, and had never tried to secure promotion by +intrigue and party manoeuvres, he had remained a captain for ten years +past, without hope of promotion, in spite of his qualifications (which +were recognised and appreciated by all) and his irreproachable conduct. +The post he occupied at this moment as Commandant of the Blockhouse +of San Miguel proved the value the Governor of the province set upon +him; for the frontier posts, constantly exposed to the attacks of the +Redskins, can only be given to sure men, who have long been accustomed +to Indian warfare.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE POST OF SAN MIGUEL.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>As the dangerous honour of commanding one of the border forts like +San Miguel is not at all coveted by the brilliant officers accustomed +to clatter their sabres on the stones of the Palace in Mexico, it +is generally only given to brave soldiers who have no prospect of +promotion left to them.</p> + +<p>Informed by a cabo, or corporal, of the names of the guests who thus +suddenly arrived, the Captain rose to meet them with open arms and a +smile on his lips.</p> + +<p>"Oh, oh," he exclaimed, gleefully; "this is a charming surprise! +Children, I am delighted to see you."</p> + +<p>"Do not thank us, Don Marcos," Doña Mariana answered, smilingly. "We +are not paying you a visit, but have come to ask shelter and protection +of you."</p> + +<p>"You have them already. ¡Rayo de Dios! Are we not relations, and very +close ones, too?"</p> + +<p>"Without doubt, cousin," Don Ruiz said; "hence, in our misfortune, it +is a great happiness for us to come across you."</p> + +<p>"Hilloh! You have something serious to tell me," the Captain continued, +his face growing gloomy.</p> + +<p>"So serious," the young man said, with a bow to the partizan, who stood +motionless by his side, "that had it not been for the help of this +caballero, in all probability we should be lying dead in the desert."</p> + +<p>"Oh, oh; my poor children! Come, dismount and follow me; you must need +rest and refreshment after such an alarm. Cabo Hernandez, take charge +of the horses."</p> + +<p>The corporal took the horses, which he led to the corral; and the young +people followed the Captain, after having been kissed and hugged by him +several times. Don Marcos pressed the hunter's hand, and made him a +sign to follow them.</p> + +<p>"There," he said, after introducing his guests into a room modestly +furnished with a few butacas; "sit down, children; and when you have +rested, we will talk."</p> + +<p>Refreshments had been prepared on the table. While the young people +enjoyed them, the Captain quitted them, and went with the hunter into +another room. So soon as they were alone, the two men became serious, +and the joy that illumined the Captain's face was suddenly extinguished.</p> + +<p>"Well," he asked Stronghand, after making him a sign to sit down, "what +news?"</p> + +<p>"Bad," he answered, distinctly.</p> + +<p>"I expected it," the officer muttered, with a sad toss of the head; "we +must put on our harness again, and push out into the savannah, in order +to prove to these bandits that we are able to punish them."</p> + +<p>The hunter shook his head several times, but said nothing. The Captain +looked at him attentively for some minutes.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, my friend?" he at length asked him, with growing +anxiety; "I never saw you so sad and gloomy before."</p> + +<p>"The reason is," he answered, "because circumstances have never been so +serious."</p> + +<p>"Explain yourself, my friend; I confess to you that you are really +beginning to alarm me. With the exception of a few insignificant +marauders, the borders have never appeared to me more quiet."</p> + +<p>"It is a deceitful calm, Don Marcos, which contains the tempest in its +bosom—and a terrible tempest, I, assure you."</p> + +<p>"And yet our spies are all agreed in assuring us that the Indians are +not at all thinking of an expedition."</p> + +<p>"It proves that your spies betray you, that's all."</p> + +<p>"Possibly so; but still, I should like some proof or sign."</p> + +<p>"I ask for nothing better; I am enabled to give you the most positive +information."</p> + +<p>"Very good; that is the way to speak. I am listening to you."</p> + +<p>"Before all, is your garrison strong?"</p> + +<p>"I consider it large enough."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps so: how many men have you?"</p> + +<p>"Sixty or seventy, about."</p> + +<p>"That is not enough."</p> + +<p>"What! Not enough? The garrisons of blockhouses are never more +numerous."</p> + +<p>"In a time of peace, it may be so; but under present circumstances, I +repeat to you, that they are not enough, and you will soon agree with +me on that score. You must send off a courier, without the loss of a +moment, to ask for a reinforcement of from one hundred and fifty to two +hundred men. Do not deceive yourself, Captain; you will be the first +attacked, and the attack will be a rude one. I warn you."</p> + +<p>"Thanks for the hint. Still, my good friend, you will permit me not to +follow it till you have proved to me that there are urgent reasons for +doing so."</p> + +<p>"As you please, Captain; you are the commandant of the post, and your +responsibility must urge you to prudence. I will therefore abstain from +making any farther observations on the subject which only concerns me +very indirectly."</p> + +<p>"You are annoyed, and wrongly so, my friend; the responsibility to +which you refer demands that I should not let myself be led by vague +rumours to take measures I might have cause to regret. Give me the +explanation I expect of you; and, probably, when I know the imminence +of the danger that threatens me, I shall follow your advice."</p> + +<p>"I wish for nothing more than to satisfy you; so listen to me. What I +have to tell you will not take long."</p> + +<p>At this moment the room door opened and Corporal Hernandez appeared. +The Captain, annoyed at being thus inopportunely disturbed, turned +sharply round and angrily addressed the man—</p> + +<p>"Well Corporal," he said, "what the fiend do you want now?"</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, Captain," the poor fellow said, astounded at this rough +greeting, "but the Lieutenant sent me."</p> + +<p>"Well, what does the Lieutenant want? Speak! But be brief, if that is +possible."</p> + +<p>"Captain, the sentry has seen a large party of horsemen coming at full +gallop towards the fort, and the Lieutenant ordered me to warn you."</p> + +<p>"Eh," said the Captain, looking uneasily at the hunter, "were you in +the right? and is this troop the vanguard of the enemy you threaten us +with?"</p> + +<p>"This troop," the hunter answered, with an equivocal smile, "has been +following Don Ruiz and myself since the morning. I do not believe that +these horsemen are Indians."</p> + +<p>"What's the Lieutenant's opinion about these scamps?" the Captain asked +the corporal.</p> + +<p>"They are too far off yet, and too hidden by the dust they raise, +Captain, for it to be possible to recognise them," the non-commissioned +officer replied with a bow.</p> + +<p>"That is true. We had better, I believe, go and look for ourselves. +Will you come?"</p> + +<p>"I should think so," the hunter said, as he seized his rifle, which he +had deposited in a corner of the room; and they went out.</p> + +<p>Don Ruiz and his sister were talking together, while doing ample +justice to the refreshment placed at their disposal. On seeing the +Captain, the young man rose and walked up to him.</p> + +<p>"Cousin," he said to him, with a bow, "I hear that you are on the point +of being attacked; and as it is to some extent my cause you are going +to defend, for the bandits who threaten you at this moment are allies +of those with whom I had a fight last night, pray allow me to fire a +shot by your side."</p> + +<p>"¡Viva Dios! Most heartily, my dear cousin," the Captain answered, +gaily: "although these scoundrels are not worth the trouble. Come +along!"</p> + +<p>"That's a fine fellow!" the Captain whispered in the hunter's ear.</p> + +<p>The latter made no answer. He contented himself with shrugging his +shoulders, and turned away.</p> + +<p>"Oh," Doña Mariana exclaimed, "Ruiz, what are you going to do? Stay +with me, I implore you, brother!"</p> + +<p>"Impossible, sister," the young man answered, as he kissed her; "what +would our cousin think of me were I to skulk here when fighting was +going on?"</p> + +<p>"Fear nothing, Niña; I am answerable for your brother," the Captain +said with a smile.</p> + +<p>The girl sat down again sadly on the butaca from which she had risen, +and the four men then left the room, and proceeded to the patio, or +court. Here everybody was busy. The Lieutenant, an old experienced +soldier, with a grey moustache and face furrowed by sabre cuts, and +whose whole life had been spent on the borders, had not lost his time. +While, by his order, Corporal Hernandez warned the Captain, he had +ordered the "fall-in" to be beaten, had placed the best shots at the +loopholes, and made all arrangements to avoid a surprise and give a +warm reception to the enemy who advanced so daringly against the fort.</p> + +<p>When the Captain set foot in the court, he stopped, embraced at a +glance the wise and intelligent arrangements made by his Lieutenant, +and a smile of satisfaction spread over his features.</p> + +<p>"And now," he said to the hunter, "let us go and see who the enemy is +with whom we have to deal."</p> + +<p>"It is unnecessary; for I can tell you, Captain," the other replied; +"they are the pirates."</p> + +<p>"Pirates!" Don Marcos exclaimed in amazement. "What! Those villains +would dare—"</p> + +<p>"Alone, certainly not," Stronghand quickly interrupted him; "but with +the certainty of being supported by the Indians, of whom they are +only the vanguard, they will not hesitate to do so. However, unless +I am greatly mistaken, their attack will not be serious; and their +object is probably to discover in what state of defence the post is. +Receive them, then, in such a way as to leave them no doubt on this +head, and prove to them that you are perfectly on your guard; and this +demonstration will without doubt be sufficient to send them flying."</p> + +<p>"You are right," said the Captain. "Viva Dios! They shall have their +answer, I promise you."</p> + +<p>He then gave the Corporal an order in a low voice; the latter bowed, +and went off hurriedly. For some minutes a deep silence prevailed in +the fort. The moments that precede a contest bring with them something +solemn, which causes the bravest men to reflect, and prepare for the +struggle, either by a powerful effort of the will, or by mentally +addressing a last and fervent prayer to Heaven.</p> + +<p>All at once, horrible yells were heard, mingled with the furious +galloping of many horses; and then the enemy appeared, leaning over +the necks of their steeds, and brandishing their weapons with an air +of defiance. When they came within pistol shot, the word to fire was +given from the walls, and a general discharge burst forth like a clap +of thunder.</p> + +<p>The horsemen fell into confusion, and turned back precipitately and in +the greatest disorder, followed by the Mexican bullets, which, directed +by strong arms and sure eyes, made great ravages in their ranks at +every step. Still, they had not fled so fast but that they could be +recognised for what they really were—that is, pirates of the prairies. +Half naked for the most part, and without saddles, they brandished +their rifles and long lances, and excited their horses by terrific +yells.</p> + +<p>Two or three individuals, probably chiefs, with their heads covered by +a species of turban, were noticeable through their ragged uniforms, +doubtless torn off murdered soldiers; their repulsive dirt and +ferocious appearance inspired the deepest disgust. No doubt was +possible: these wretches were certainly whites and half-breeds. What a +difference between these sinister bandits and the Apaches, Comanches, +and Arapahoes—those magnificent children of nature, so careful in the +choice of their weapons—so noble in their demeanour.</p> + +<p>After a rather long race, they stopped to hold counsel, out of range of +the firearms. They were at this moment joined by a second band, whose +leader began speaking and gesticulating with the utmost excitement, +pointing to the fort each moment with his rifle. The two bands, united, +might possibly amount to one hundred and fifty horsemen.</p> + +<p>After a rather long discussion, the pirates started again, and stopped +at the very foot of the walls. Captain Niza, wishing to inflict a +severe chastisement on them, had given orders not to fire, but to let +them do as they pleased. Hidden by the thick cactus hedge, the bandits +had suddenly become invisible; but the Mexicans, confiding in the +strength of their position and the solidity of the posts and gates, +felt no fear.</p> + +<p>Reassured by the silence of the garrison, some thirty pirates, among +whom were several of their chiefs, escaladed the great gate in turn, +and rushed toward the second wall. Unluckily for the success of their +plan, the wall was too lofty to be cleared in the same way; hence they +scattered. Some sought stones and posts to beat in the second gate; +while others tried, though in vain, to open the one they had so easily +scaled.</p> + +<p>The Mexicans could distinctly hear the pirates in the second +<i>enceinte</i> explaining to their comrades the difficulty they experienced +in penetrating into the fort, and they must force the gate, in order +to allow a passage for those who remained outside. The latter then +threw their <i>reatas</i>, which, caught upon the posts, were tightened by +the combined efforts of the men and horses, and seemed on the point of +pulling the gate off its hinges; but the posts held firmly, and were +not even shaken by this supreme effort.</p> + +<p>"What are you waiting for, Captain?" Don Ruiz whispered in the +Commandant's ear. "Why do you not kill these vermin?"</p> + +<p>"There are not enough yet in the trap," he answered, with a cunning +look; "let them come."</p> + +<p>In fact, as if the bandits had wished to obey the old soldier, some +twenty more clambered over the gale, so that there were fifty of the +pirates between the cactus and the stone wall. Encouraged by their +numbers, which momentarily increased, they made a general assault. But, +all at once, every loophole was lit up by a sinister flash, and the +bullets began showering uninterruptedly on the wretches, who, through +their own position, found it impossible to answer the plunging fire of +the Mexicans. Recognising the fault they had committed, and the trap +they had so stupidly entered, the pirates became demoralized, fear +seized upon them, and they only thought of flight.</p> + +<p>Then they dashed at the outer gate, to clamber over it and reach the +plain; there the bullets dashed them down again—suffering from a +desperation which was the greater because they had no help to hope for +from their friends outside, whom, at the first check, they had heard +start off at full speed; and consequently they felt they were lost.</p> + +<p>The Mexicans, pitiless in their vengeance, fired incessantly on +the wretches, some of whom, by crawling on their hands and knees, +succeeded in reaching the foot of the wall below the loopholes—a +position in which they could not be attacked, unless the Mexicans +exposed themselves, and ran the risk of being killed or wounded. Of +fifty bandits who had scaled the gate, fourteen still lived; the others +were dead, and not one had succeeded in making his escape.</p> + +<p>"Ha! Ha!" said the Captain, rubbing his hands gleefully. "I fancy that +the lesson will be useful, though it may have been a trifle rough."</p> + +<p>But, on the reiterated entreaties of Don Ruiz, the worthy Commandant, +who in his heart was not cruel, consented to ask the survivors if they +were willing to surrender, a proposition which the pirates greeted with +yells of rage and defiance. These fourteen men, though their rifles +were discharged, were not enemies to despise, armed as they were with +long and heavy <i>machetes</i>, and resolved to die. The Mexicans were +acquainted with them, and knew that in a hand-to-hand fight they would +prove tough customers.</p> + +<p>Still there must be an end to it. At an order from the Captain the +gate of the second wall was suddenly opened, and some twenty horsemen +charged at full gallop the bandits, who, far from recoiling, awaited +them with a firm foot. The <i>mêlée</i> was terrible, but short. Three +Mexicans were killed, and five others seriously wounded; but the +pirates, after an obstinate resistance, fell never to rise again.</p> + +<p>Only one of them—profiting by the disorder and the attention which the +soldiers remaining at the loopholes paid to the fight—succeeded by a +miracle of resolution and strength in scaling the wall and flying. This +pirate, the only one who escaped the massacre, was Kidd. On reaching +the plain he stopped for a second, turned to the fort with a gesture of +menace and defiance, and, leaping on a riderless horse, went off amid +a shower of bullets, not one of which struck him.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE STAY IN THE FOREST.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>When the fight was over, and order restored at the post, the Captain +bade his Lieutenant have the bodies lying on the battlefield picked +up and hung by the feet to the trees on the plain, so that they +might become the prey of wild beasts, though not until they had been +decapitated. The heads were to remain exposed on the walls of the +forts, and act as an object of terror to the bandits, who, after this +act of summary justice, would not venture to approach the neighbourhood +of the post.</p> + +<p>Then, when all these orders had been given, the Commandant returned +to his residence, where Don Ruiz had already preceded him in order to +re-assure his sister as to the result of the fight. Don Marcos was +radiant: he had gained a great advantage—at least he thought so—over +the border ruffians; he had inflicted on them an exemplary punishment +at the expense of an insignificant loss, and supposed that for a long +time no one would venture to attack the post entrusted to him.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, the wood ranger was not of the same opinion: each time +the Captain smiled and rubbed his hands at the recollection of some +episode in the fight, Stronghand shook his head sadly, and frowned +anxiously. This was done so frequently, that at last the worthy +Commandant was compelled to take notice of it.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with you now?" he asked him, with an air half +vexed, half pleased. "You are, on my soul, the most extraordinary man +I know. Nothing satisfies you; you are always in a bad temper. Hang +it! I do not know how to treat you. Did we not give those scoundrels a +remarkable thrashing, eh? Come, answer!"</p> + +<p>"I allow it," the hunter replied laconically.</p> + +<p>"Hum! It is lucky you allow so much. And yet they fought bravely, I +fancy."</p> + +<p>"Yes; and it is that which frightens me."</p> + +<p>"I do not understand you."</p> + +<p>"Was I not giving you important information when we were interrupted by +the Cabo Hernandez?"</p> + +<p>"That is to say, you were going to give it me."</p> + +<p>"Yes; and with your permission, now that we have no fear of being +interrupted for a while, I will impart the news to you."</p> + +<p>"I ask nothing better; although I suppose that the defeat the pirates +have experienced must deprive the news of much of its importance."</p> + +<p>"The pirates play but a very small part in what I have to tell you."</p> + +<p>"Speak, then! I know that you are too earnest a man to try and amuse +yourself at my expense by inspiring me with ridiculous alarm."</p> + +<p>"You shall judge for yourself the perils of the situation in which you +may find yourself at any moment, if you do not employ the greatest +precaution and the most excessive prudence."</p> + +<p>The two men seated themselves on butacas, and the Commandant, who was +more excited than he wished to show by this startling preamble, made +the hunter a sign to commence his revelations.</p> + +<p>"About two months ago," the latter began, "I was at the Presidio of +San Estevan, whither certain personal matters had called me. This +Presidio, which, as you know, is about two days' journey from here, is +very important, and serves to some extent in connecting all the posts +scattered along the Indian border."</p> + +<p>The Captain gave a nod of assent.</p> + +<p>"I am," the hunter continued, "on rather intimate terms with Don +Gregorio Ochova, the Colonel commanding the Presidio, and during my +last stay at San Estevan I had opportunities for seeing him rather +frequently. You know the savageness of my character, and the species of +instinctive repulsion with which anything resembling a town inspires +me; hence, I need hardly say, that no sooner was my business ended than +I made preparations to depart, and, according to my custom, intended +to leave the Presidio at a very early hour. I did not like to go away +without saying good-bye to the Colonel and shaking hands with him; +so I went to his house for the purpose of taking leave. I found him +in a state of extreme agitation, walking up and down, and apparently +affected by a violent passion or great anxiety. On seeing me, he +uttered an exclamation of delight, and ran up to me, exclaiming—"</p> + +<p>"'Oh, Stronghand! Where on earth have you been hiding? I have been +seeking you everywhere for the last two hours, and have put a dozen +soldiers on your heels, who could not possibly find you.'"</p> + +<p>"I looked at the Colonel in surprise."</p> + +<p>"'You were seeking for me, Don Gregorio? I assure you that I was close +to you, and very easy to find.'"</p> + +<p>"'It seems not. But here you are—that is the main point; and I care +little where you were, or what you were doing. Do you think about +making any lengthened stay at San Estevan?'"</p> + +<p>"'No, Colonel,' I answered at once, 'my affairs are settled; I intend +to start at an early hour tomorrow, and I have just come to say +good-bye, and thank you for the hospitality you have shown me during my +stay at the Presidio.'"</p> + +<p>"'Good!' he said eagerly, 'that is all for the best but,' he added, +recollecting himself, and taking my hand in a kindly way, 'do not +suppose that it is my desire to see you depart that makes me speak +thus.'"</p> + +<p>"'I am convinced of the contrary,' I remarked with a bow."</p> + +<p>"He continued,—'You can, Stronghand, do me a great service, if you +will.'"</p> + +<p>"'I am at your command.'"</p> + +<p>"'This is the matter,' he said, at once entering on the business. 'For +some days past, the most alarming reports have been spreading through +the Presidio, though it is impossible to find out their origin.'"</p> + +<p>"'And what may they be?' I asked."</p> + +<p>"'It is said—(notice, I say it is said, and affirm nothing, as I know +nothing positive)—it is said, then, that a general uprising against us +is preparing—that the Indians, laying aside for a moment their private +hatreds, and forgetting their clannish quarrels to think only of the +hereditary hatred they entertain for us, are combining to attempt a +general attack on the posts, which they purpose to destroy, in order +to devastate our borders more freely. Their object is said to be, not +only the destruction of the posts, but also the invasion of several +States, such as Sonora and Sinaloa, in which they intend to establish +themselves permanently after expelling us.'"</p> + +<p>"'The reports are serious,' I remarked, 'but nothing has as yet +happened to confirm their truth.'"</p> + +<p>"'That is true; but you know that there is always a certain amount of +truth in every vague rumour, and it is that truth I should like to +know.'"</p> + +<p>"'Is no nation mentioned by name among those which are to take up +arms?'"</p> + +<p>"'Yes; more particularly the Papayos—that is to say, the grand league +of the Apaches, Axuas, Gilenos, Comanches, Mayos, and Opatas. But the +more serious thing is, always according to the report, that the white +and half-bred marauders on the border are leagued with them, and mean +to help them in their expedition against us.'"</p> + +<p>"'That is really serious,' I answered; 'but, pardon me for questioning +you, Colonel; what do you purpose doing to make head against the +imminent danger that threatens you?'"</p> + +<p>"'That is exactly why I want you, my friend; and you would do me a real +service by assisting me in this affair.'"</p> + +<p>"'I am ready to do anything that depends on myself to oblige you.'"</p> + +<p>"'I was certain of that answer, my friend. This is the matter, then. +You understand that I cannot remain thus surrounded by vague rumours +and terrors that have no apparent cause, but still carry trouble into +families and cause perturbation in trade. During the last few weeks, +especially, various serious events have given a certain consistency +to these rumours—travellers have been murdered, and several valuable +waggon trains plundered, almost at the gates of the Presidio. It is +time for this state of things to cease, and for us to know definitively +the truth or falsehood of the rumours; for this purpose I require a +brave, devoted man, thoroughly acquainted with Indian manners and +customs, who would consent—'"</p> + +<p>"I interrupted him quickly."</p> + +<p>"'I understand what you want, Colonel; seek no further, for I am the +man you stand in need of. Tomorrow at sunrise I will start: and within +two months I pledge myself to give you the most explicit information, +and tell you what you may have to fear, and what truth there is in all +that is being said around you.'"</p> + +<p>"The Colonel thanked me warmly, and the next morning I set out on my +tour of investigation, as we had arranged."</p> + +<p>"Well," the Captain exclaimed, who had followed this long story with +ever increasing interest; "and what information have you picked up?"</p> + +<p>"This information," the hunter answered, "is of a nature far more +serious than even public report had said. The situation is most +critical, and not a moment must be lost in preparing for defence. I was +going to San Estevan, where Colonel Don Gregorio must be awaiting my +return with the utmost impatience, when I thought of seeing whether the +Post of San Miguel, which had been so long unoccupied, had received a +garrison. That is how chance, my dear Captain, made us meet here when I +thought I should see you at the Presidio."</p> + +<p>The Captain shook his head thoughtfully. "A month ago," he said, "Don +Gregorio ordered me to come here and hold my ground, though he did not +inform me of the motives that compelled him so suddenly to place San +Miguel in a state of defence."</p> + +<p>"Well; now you know the reasons."</p> + +<p>"Yes; and I thank you for having told me. But, between ourselves, are +matters so serious as you lead me to suppose?"</p> + +<p>"A hundred times more so. I have traversed the desert in all +directions; I have been present at the meetings of the chiefs—in +a word, I know the most private details of the expedition that is +preparing."</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Viva Dios!</i> I will not let myself be surprised—be at your ease +about that; but you were right in advising me to ask for help, as my +garrison is too weak to resist a well-arranged assault. This morning's +attack has made me reflect; so I will immediately—"</p> + +<p>"Do not take the trouble," the hunter interrupted him; "I will act as +your express."</p> + +<p>"What! Are you going to leave us at once?"</p> + +<p>"I must, my dear Captain; for I have to give Don Gregorio an account of +the mission he confided to me. Reflect what mortal anxiety he must feel +at not seeing me return."</p> + +<p>"That is true. In spite of the lively pleasure I should feel in keeping +you by me, I am compelled to let you go. When do you start?"</p> + +<p>"This moment."</p> + +<p>"Already?"</p> + +<p>"My horse has rested; there are still five or six hours of daylight +left, and I will take advantage of them?" He made a movement to leave +the room.</p> + +<p>"You have not said good-bye to Don Ruiz and his sister," the Captain +observed.</p> + +<p>The hunter stopped, his brows contracted, and he seemed to be +reflecting.</p> + +<p>"No," he said, ere long, "it would make me lose precious time. You will +make my apologies to them, Captain. Moreover," he added with a bitter +smile, "our acquaintance is not sufficiently long, I fancy, for Don +Ruiz and his sister to attach any great importance to my movements, so +for the last time, good-bye."</p> + +<p>"I will not press you," the Captain answered; "do as you please. Still, +it would have perhaps been more polite to take leave."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense," he said, ironically; "am I not a savage? Why should I +employ that refinement of politeness which is only customary among +civilized people?"</p> + +<p>The Captain contented himself with shrugging his shoulders as an +answer, and they went out. Five minutes later the hunter was mounted.</p> + +<p>"Do not fail to report to the Colonel," Don Marcos said, "what happened +here today; and, above all, ask him for assistance."</p> + +<p>"All right, Captain; and do not you go to sleep."</p> + +<p>"<i>Caray</i>—I shall feel no inclination. So now, good-bye, and good luck!"</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, and many thanks."</p> + +<p>They exchanged a last shake of the hand, the hunter galloped out into +the plain, and the Captain returned to his house, muttering to himself.</p> + +<p>"What a strange man! Is he good or bad? Who can say?"</p> + +<p>When the supper hour arrived, the two young people, astonished at the +hunter's absence, asked after him of the captain. When the latter told +them of his departure, they felt grieved and hurt at his having gone +without bidding them farewell; and Doña Mariana especially was offended +at such unaccountable behaviour on the part of a caballero; for which, +in her desire to excuse him, she in vain sought a reason. Still they +did not show their feelings, and the evening passed very pleasantly.</p> + +<p>At the hour for retiring, Don Ruiz, more than ever eager to rejoin +his father, reminded the Captain of the offer of service he had made +him, and asked for an escort, in order to continue his journey on +the morrow; but Don Marcos answered with a peremptory refusal, that +not only would he give no escort, but he insisted on his relations +remaining temporarily under his guard.</p> + +<p>Don Ruiz naturally asked an explanation of his cousin; which he did not +hesitate to give, by telling them of the conversation between himself +and the hunter. Don Ruiz and his sister had been too near death to +expose themselves again to the hazards of a long journey in the desert +alone, and unable to offer any effectual defence against such persons +as thought proper to attack them; still the young man, annoyed at this +new delay, asked the Captain at what period they might hope to regain +their liberty.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Your seclusion will not be long," the latter replied with a +smile; "so soon as I have received the reinforcements I expect from San +Estevan—that is to say, in seven or eight days at the most—I will +pick you out an escort, and you can be off."</p> + +<p>Don Ruiz, forced to satisfy himself with this promise, thanked him +warmly; and the young people made their arrangements to pass the +week in the least wearisome way possible. But life is very dull at a +frontier post, especially when you are expecting a probable attack from +the Indians, and when, consequently, all the gates are kept shut, when +sentries are stationed all around, and the only amusement is to look +out on the plain through the loopholes.</p> + +<p>The Captain, justly alarmed by the news the hunter had given him, had +made the best arrangements his limited resources allowed to resist any +attack from the Indians, if they appeared before the succour arrived +from San Estevan. By his orders all the rancheros and small landowners +established within a radius of fifteen leagues had been warned of an +approaching invasion, and received an invitation to take shelter within +the post.</p> + +<p>The majority, recognising the gravity of this communication, hastened +to pack up their furniture and most valuable articles; and driving +before them their horses and cattle, hurried from all sides at once to +the fort, with a precipitation which proved the profound terror the +Indians inspired them with. In this way, the interior of San Miguel +was soon encumbered with young men and old men, women, and children, +and cattle—most of whom, unable to find lodgings in the houses, were +forced to bivouac in the yards; which, however, was but a trifling +inconvenience to them in a country where it hardly ever rains, and +where the nights are not cold enough to render sleeping in the open air +unpleasant.</p> + +<p>The Captain organized this heterogeneous colony to the best of his +ability. The women, children, and old men were sheltered under tents or +<i>jacales</i> made of branches, to protect them from the copious morning +dew, while all the men capable of bearing arms were exercised, so as in +case of attack to assist in the common defence.</p> + +<p>But this enormous increase of population required an enormous stock +of provisions; and hence the Captain sent out numerous patrols for +the purpose of procuring the required corn and cattle. Don Ruiz took +advantage of this to make excursions in the vicinity; while his sister, +in the company of young girls of her own age, of whom several had +entered the fort with their families, tried to forget, or rather cheat, +the weariness of their seclusion.</p> + +<p>The appearance of the post had completely changed; and, thanks to the +Captain's intelligence, ten days after the hunter's departure San +Miguel had become a really formidable fortress. Large trenches had been +dug, and barricades erected; but, unfortunately, the garrison, though +numerous enough to resist a sudden attack, was too weak to sustain a +long siege.</p> + +<p>One morning, at sunrise, the sentries signalized a thick cloud of dust +advancing towards the post with the headlong speed of a whirlwind. The +alarm was immediately given; the walls were lined with soldiers; and +preparations were made to resist these men, who, though invisible, were +supposed to be enemies.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, on coming within gunshot, the horsemen halted, the dust +dispersed, and the garrison perceived with delight that all these men +wore the Mexican uniform. A quarter of an hour later, eighty lanceros, +each carrying an infantry man behind him, entered the fort, amid the +deafening shouts of the garrison and the farmers who had sought refuge +behind the walls. It was the succour requested by the Captain, and +sent off from San Estevan by Colonel Don Gregorio.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></h4> + +<h3>A GLANCE AT THE PAST.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>In Spanish America, and especially in Peru and Mexico, all the Creoles +of the pure white breed pretend to be descended in a straight line +from the first Conquistadors. We have no need to discuss this claim, +whose falsehood is visible to any man at all conversant with the +sanguinary history of the numberless civil wars—a species of organized +massacre—which followed the establishment of the Spaniards in these +rich countries.</p> + +<p>Still there are in America some families, very few in number it is +true, which can justly boast of this glorious origin. Most of these +families live on the estates conceded to their ancestors—they only +marry among themselves, and only interfere against the grain in the +political events of the day. With their eyes turned to the past, +which is so full of great memories for them, they have kept up the +old traditions of the chivalrous loyalty of the time of Charles V., +which are forgotten everywhere else. They maintain the national honour +unsullied, and those patriarchal virtues of the old time which they +alone still practise with a proud and simple majesty.</p> + +<p>The Creoles, half-breeds, and Indians, in spite of the hatred they +affect for their old masters, and the principles of so-called +republican equality which they profess with such absurd emphasis in +the presence of strangers, feel for these families a respect bordering +on veneration; for they seem to understand inwardly the superiority of +these powerful natures, which no political convulsion has been able to +level or even bind, over their own vicious decrepit natures, which have +grown old without ever having been young.</p> + +<p>A few leagues from Arispe, the old capital of the Intendancy of Sonora, +but now greatly fallen, and only a second-class city, there stands like +an eagle's nest, on the summit of an abrupt rock, a magnificent showy +mansion, whose strong and haughty walls are crowned with <i>Almenas</i>, +which at the time of the Spanish conquest were only permitted to +families of the old and pure nobility, and they alone had the right to +have battlements on their houses.</p> + +<p>This fortress-palace—which dates from the first days of the conquest, +and whose antiquity is written on its walls, which have seen so many +bullets flatten, so many arrows break against them, but which time, +that grand destroyer of the most solid things, is gradually crumbling +away by a continuous effort, under the triple influences of the air, +the sun, and rain—has never changed masters since the day of its +construction, and the chiefs of the same family, on dying, have ever +left it to their descendants.</p> + +<p>This family is one of those to which we just now referred, whose +origin dates back to the first conquerors, and whose name is Tobar de +Moguer—(Moguer was added at a later date, doubtless in memory of the +Spanish town whence the chief of the family came.)</p> + +<p>In 1541, Don Antonio de Mendoza, Viceroy of New Spain, organized +the expedition to Cibola, a mysterious country, visited a few years +previously by Alvaro Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, and about which the most +marvellous and extraordinary reports were spread, all the better suited +to inflame the avarice and unextinguishable thirst for gold by which +the Spanish adventurers were devoured.</p> + +<p>The expedition, consisting of 300 Spaniards and 800 Indian allies, +started from Compostela, the capital of New Galicia, on April 17, 1541, +under the orders of Don Francisco Vásquez de Coronado. The officers +nominated by the Viceroy were all gentlemen of distinction; among them +as standard bearer was Don Pedro de Tobar, whose father, Don Fernando +de Tobar, had been Majordomo-Major in the reign of Jane the Mad, mother +of the Emperor Charles V.</p> + +<p>We will only say a few words about this expedition, the preparations +for which were immense; and which would have doubtless furnished better +results, and proved to the advantage of all, had the chief thought less +of the immense fortune he left behind in New Spain, and more of the +immense responsibility weighing upon him.</p> + +<p>After innumerable fatigues, the expedition reached Cibola, which, +instead of being the rich and magnificent city they expected to see, +was only a wretched insignificant village, built on a rock, and which +the Spaniards seized after an hour's fighting. Still, the Indians +defended themselves bravely, and several Spaniards were wounded. The +General himself, hurled down by a stone, would have been infallibly +killed, had it not been for the devotion of Don Pedro de Tobar and +another officer, who threw themselves before him, and gave their chief +time to rise and withdraw from the fight.</p> + +<p>The Spaniards, half discouraged by the extraordinary fatigue they were +forced to endure, and the continual deceptions that awaited them at +every step, but still urged on by that spirit of adventure which never +deserted them, resolved after the capture of Cibola to push further +on and try their fortunes once again. Thus they reached, with extreme +difficulty, the last country visited by Cabeza de Vaca, to which he had +given the name of the Land of Hearts (Tierra de los Corazones)—not, +as might be supposed, because the inhabitants had seemed so gentle and +amiable, but solely because, at the period of his passing, the only +food they offered him had been stags' hearts.</p> + +<p>On reaching this place the Spaniards halted. Don Tristán de Arellano, +who had taken the command of the army in place of Don Francisco +Coronado, who was ailing from the wound received at Cibola, seeing the +rich and fertile appearance of this country, resolved to found a town, +which he called San Hieronima de los Corazones. This town was, however, +almost immediately abandoned by the Spaniards, who carried the various +elements further, and started a new town, to which they gave the name +of Señora, afterwards corrupted into Sonora, which eventually became +the name of the province.</p> + +<p>During this long expedition Don Pedro de Tobar distinguished himself +on several occasions. At the head of seventeen horsemen, four foot +soldiers, and a Franciscan monk of the name of Fray Juan de Padella +who in his youth had been a soldier, Don Pedro de Tobar discovered the +province of Tutaliaco, which contained several towns, the houses being +of several storeys. All these towns, or rather villages, were carried +by storm by Don Pedro, and the province was subjugated in a few days.</p> + +<p>When, twenty years after, the Viceroy wishing to recompense Don +Pedro's services, offered him estates, the latter, who held Señora +in pleasant recollection, asked that land should be granted him in +this province, which reminded him of the prowess of his youth, and +to which he was attached by the very fatigues he had undergone and +the dangers he had incurred. During the twenty years that had elapsed +since Coronado's expedition, Don Pedro had married the daughter of Don +Rodrigo Maldonado, brother-in-law of the Duke of Infantado, and one +of his old comrades in arms. As Don Rodrigo had settled in Sonora, +Don Pedro, in order to be near him, took up his abode on the site of +Cibola, which had long been destroyed and abandoned, and built on the +crest of the rock the magnificent Hacienda del Toro, which, as we have +said, remained for centuries in the family, with the immense estates +dependent on it.</p> + +<p>Like all first-class haciendas in Mexico, El Toro was rather a town +than a simple habitation, according to the idea formed in Europe of +private estates. It comprised all the old territory of Cibola. On all +sides its lofty walls, built on the extremity of the rock, hung over +the abyss. It contained princely apartments for the owners, a chapel, +workshops of every description, storehouses, barracks, quarters for the +pious, and corrals for the horses and cattle, with an immense <i>huerta</i>, +planted with the finest trees and the most fragrant flowers. In a word, +it was, and probably still is, one of those gigantic abodes which +appear built for Titans, and of which the finest feudal châteaux in the +Old World offer but an imperfect idea.</p> + +<p>The fact is, that at the time when the conquerors built these vast +residences, inhabitants were sparse in these countries, as is indeed +the case now. The owners having their elbows at liberty, could take +what land they liked, and hence each ultimately became, without +creating any surprise, possessors of a territory equal in size to one +of our counties.</p> + +<p>It was in 1811, twenty-nine years before the period when our story +begins, at the dawn of that glorious Mexican revolution the first +cry of which had been raised on the night of September 16, 1810, by +Hidalgo—at that time a simple parish priest in the wretched town of +Dolores, and whose success, sixteen months later, was so compromised +by the disastrous battle of Calderón, in which countless bands of +fantastic Indians were broken by the discipline of the old Spanish +troops—that the most sensible men regarded it as an unimportant +insurrection—a fatal error which caused the ruin of the Spanish +domination.</p> + +<p>But on November 25, 1811, the day on which we begin this narrative, the +insurgents had not yet been conquered at Calderón; on the contrary, +their first steps had been marked by successes; from all sides Indians +came to range themselves beneath their banner, and their army, badly +disciplined, it is true, but full of enthusiasm, amounted to 80,000 +men. Already master of several important towns, Hidalgo assembled +all his forces with the evident design of dealing a great blow, and +generalizing the insurrection, which had hitherto been confined to two +provinces.</p> + +<p>About two in the afternoon, that is to say, the time when in these +climes the heat is most oppressive, a horseman, mounted on a +magnificent mustang, was following at a gallop the banks of a small +stream, half dried up by the torrid heat of the southern sun, and by +whose side a few sickly cottonwood trees were withering.</p> + +<p>The dust, reduced to impalpable atoms, formed a dense cloud round the +horseman, who, plunged into sad and gloomy thought, with pale forehead +and brows contracted till they touched, continued his journey without +noticing the desolate aspect of the country he was traversing, and the +depressing calm that prevailed around him. In fact, an utter silence +brooded over this desert: the birds had hidden themselves gasping +under the foliage, and no other sound could be heard save the shrill, +harsh cry of the grasshoppers, which occupied in countless myriads +the calcine grass that bordered the road, or rather the track, the +traveller was following.</p> + +<p>This rider appeared to be about twenty-five years of age; his features +were handsome, his glance proud, and the expression of his face +haughty, although marked with kindness and courtesy. He was tall and +well built; his gestures, which were pleasing, though not stiff, +indicated a man who, through his position in the world, was accustomed +to a certain deference, and to win the respect of those who surrounded +him. His dress had nothing remarkable about it: it was that usually +worn by wealthy Spaniards when travelling; still, a short sword in a +silver sheath and with a curiously carved hilt, the only weapon he +openly carried, showed him to be a gentleman; besides, his complexion, +clearer than that of the Creoles, left no doubt as to his Spanish +origin.</p> + +<p>This horseman, who had left Arispe at sunrise, had been travelling, up +to the moment we join him, without stopping or appearing to notice the +stifling heat that made the perspiration run down his cheek—so deep +was he in thought. On reaching a spot where the track he was following +turned sharply to the left, his horse suddenly stopped. The rider, thus +aroused from his reverie, raised his head and looked before him, with +grief, almost despair, in his glance.</p> + +<p>He was at the foot of the rock on the summit of which stands the +Hacienda del Toro in all its gloomy majesty. For some minutes he gazed +with an expression of regret and sorrow at these frowning buildings, +which doubtless recalled happy memories. He shook his head several +times, a sigh escaped from his overburdened chest, and, seemed to form +a supreme resolution, he said, in a choking voice, "I will go;" and +letting his horse feel the spur, he began slowly scaling the narrow +path that led to the summit of the rock and the hacienda gate. A +violent contest seemed to be going on in his mind: his flexible face +changed each moment, and reflected the various feelings that agitated +him; several times his clenched hand drew up the bridle, as if he +wished to check his horse and turn back. But each time his will was +the more powerful; he constantly overcame the instinctive repugnance +that seemed to govern him, and he continued his ascent, with his eyes +constantly looking ahead, as if he expected to see someone whose +presence he feared come round an angle of the track. But he did not see +a soul the whole way.</p> + +<p>When he reached the hacienda gate, it was open, and the drawbridge +lowered; but though he was evidently expected, there was no one to bid +him welcome.</p> + +<p>"It must be so," he murmured sadly. "I return to my paternal roof, not +as a master, but as a stranger, a fugitive—an accursed man, perhaps."</p> + +<p>He crossed the drawbridge, the planks of which re-echoed his horse's +footfall, and entered the first courtyard. Here, too, there was no one +to greet him. He dismounted; but instead of throwing the bridle on +his horse's neck, he held it in his hand and fastened it to a ring in +the wall, saying, in a low, concentrated voice—"Wait for me, my poor +Bravo; you, too, are regarded as an accursed one: be patient; we shall +doubtless soon set out again."</p> + +<p>The noble animal as if understanding its master's words and sharing in +his grief, turned its delicate, intelligent head toward him, and gave a +soft and plaintive whine. The young man after giving a parting glance +at his steed, crossed the first yard with a firm and resolute step, and +entered a second one considerably larger. At the end of this court two +men were standing motionless on the first step of a magnificent marble +staircase, apparently leading to the apartments of the master of the +hacienda.</p> + +<p>On seeing these two men, the young horseman drew himself up; his face +assumed a gloomy and ironical expression, and he walked rapidly toward +them. They still remained motionless and stiff, with their eyes fixed +on him. When he was but a few paces from them, they uncovered by an +automatic movement, and bowed ceremoniously.</p> + +<p>"The Marquis is waiting for you, Señor Conde," one of them said.</p> + +<p>"Very good," the strange visitor answered; "one of you can announce my +arrival to his lordship my father, while the other will guide me to the +apartment where I am expected."</p> + +<p>The two men bowed a second time, and with heads still uncovered, +preceded the young man, who followed with a firm and measured tread. +On reaching the top of the steps, one of the servants hurried forward, +while the second, slightly checking his speed, continued to guide the +horseman. When the footsteps of the first man died out in the immense +corridors, the face of the second one suddenly lost its indifferent +expression, and he turned round, his eyes full of tears.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my young master!" he said, in a voice broken by emotion, "What a +misfortune! Oh, Heavens! What a misfortune!"</p> + +<p>"What?" the young man asked anxiously; "Has anything happened to the +marquis? Or is my lady mother ill?"</p> + +<p>The old servant shook his head sadly. "No," he answered; "Heaven be +blessed! Both are in good health: but why did you leave the paternal +mansion, your lordship? Alas! Now the misfortune is irremediable."</p> + +<p>A cloud of dissatisfaction flitted across the young man's forehead.</p> + +<p>"What has happened so terrible during my absence, Perote?"</p> + +<p>"Does not your Excellency know?" the servant asked in amazement.</p> + +<p>"How should I know, my friend?" he answered, mildly. "Have you +forgotten that I have been absent from the hacienda for two years?"</p> + +<p>"That is true, Excellency;—forgive me, I had forgotten it. Alas! Since +the misfortune has burst upon us, my poor head has been so bad."</p> + +<p>"Recover yourself, my good fellow," the young man said, kindly. "I know +how much you love me. You have not forgotten," he added, with a bitter +sorrow, "that your wife, poor Juana, nourished me with her milk. I know +nothing; am even ignorant why my father ordered me so suddenly to come +hither. The servant who handed me the letter was doubtless unable to +tell anything, and, indeed, I should not have liked to question him."</p> + +<p>"Alas! Excellency," the old servant continued, "I am myself ignorant +why you have been summoned to the hacienda; but Hernando, he may know."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said the young man, with a nervous start, "My brother is here, +then?"</p> + +<p>"Did you not know it?"</p> + +<p>"Have I not already told you that I am utterly ignorant of everything +connected with this house?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, Excellency. Don Hernando is here, and has been here a long +time. Heaven guard me from saying anything against my master's son; +but perhaps it would have been better had he remained at Guadalajara, +for all has greatly changed since his arrival. Take care, Sir, for Don +Hernando does not love you."</p> + +<p>"What do I care for my brother's hatred?" the young man answered +haughtily. "Am I not the elder son?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," the old servant repeated, sadly, "you are the elder son; +and yet your brother commands here as master. Since his arrival, it +seems as if everything belonged to him already."</p> + +<p>The young man let his head sink on his chest, and remained for some +minutes crushed; but he soon drew himself up, with flashing eye, and +gently laid his hand on the old servant's shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Perote," he said to him affectionately, "what is the motto of my +family?"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, Excellency?" the manservant asked, startled at the +singular question his master asked him.</p> + +<p>"You do not remember it," the young man continued, with a smile, as he +pointed to an escutcheon over a door. "Well; look, what do you read +there?"</p> + +<p>"What does your Excellency want?"</p> + +<p>"Read—read, I tell you."</p> + +<p>"You know that motto better than I do, as it was given to one of your +ancestors by King Don Ferdinand of Castile himself."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Perote, I know it," he replied, in a firm voice; "and since you +will not read it, I will repeat it to you. The motto is: 'Everything +for honour, no matter what may happen.' That motto dictates my conduct +to me; and be assured, Perote, that I will not fail in what it orders +me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, your Excellency, once again take care. I am only a poor servant of +your family, but I saw you born, and I tremble as to what may happen in +the coming interview."</p> + +<p>"Do not be anxious, my old friend," he answered, with an expression of +haughty pride, full of nobleness. "Whatever may happen, I will remember +not only what I owe to the memory of my ancestors, but also what I owe +to myself; and, without going beyond the limits of that obedience and +respect those who gave me birth have a right to, I shall be able to +defend myself against the accusations which will doubtless be brought +against me."</p> + +<p>"Heaven grant, Sir, that you may succeed in dissipating the unjust +suspicions so long gathering in the minds of your noble parents, and +carefully kept up by the man who, during your lifetime, dares to look +with an eye of covetousness on your rich inheritance."</p> + +<p>"What do I care for this inheritance?" the young man exclaimed, +passionately. "I would gladly abandon it entirely to my brother, if he +would cease to rob me of a more precious property, which I esteem a +hundred times higher—the love of my father and my mother."</p> + +<p>Old Perote only answered with a sigh.</p> + +<p>"But," the young man continued, "let us not delay any longer. His +lordship must be informed of my arrival; and the slight eagerness +I seem to display in proceeding to him and obeying his orders will +probably be interpreted to my injury by the man who has for so many +years conspired my ruin."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you are right: we have delayed too long as it is; come, follow +me."</p> + +<p>"Where are you taking me?" the young man remarked. "My father's +apartments are not situated in this part of the hacienda."</p> + +<p>"I am not leading your Excellency to them," he answered, sorrowfully.</p> + +<p>"Where to, then?" he asked, stopping in surprise.</p> + +<p>"To the Red Room," the old servant remarked in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" the young man muttered; "Then my condemnation is about to be +pronounced."</p> + +<p>Perote only answered by a sigh; and his young master, after a moment's +hesitation, made him a sign to go on; and he silently followed him, +with a slow step that had something almost solemn in it.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE FAMILY TRIBUNAL.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>The Hacienda del Toro, like many feudal mansions, contained one room +which remained constantly closed, and was only opened on solemn +occasions. The head of the family was conveyed there to die, and +remained on a bed of state till the day of his funeral: and the wife +was confined there. There, too, marriage contracts were signed. In a +word, all the great acts of life were performed in this room, which +inspired the inhabitants of the hacienda with a respect greatly +resembling terror; for on the few occasions on which the Marquises de +Tobar found themselves compelled to punish any member of their family, +it served as the tribunal where the culprit was tried and sentence +pronounced.</p> + +<p>This room, situated at the end of the hacienda, was a large hall of +oblong shape, paved with alternate large black and white slabs, and +lighted by four lofty windows, which only allowed a gloomy and doubtful +light to penetrate.</p> + +<p>Tapestry, dating from the fourteenth century, and representing with all +the simplicity of the age the different episodes of the mournful battle +of Xeres—which delivered Spain to the Moors, and in which Don Rodrigo, +the last Gothic king, was killed—covered the walls, and imprinted an +indescribable character of sepulchral majesty on this cold and mournful +hall, which was probably called the "Red Room" from the prevalence of +that colour in the tapestry work.</p> + +<p>The young Count de Tobar had never entered this room since the day of +his birth; and, however far back his thoughts reverted in childhood, +he never remembered to have seen it open. Hence, in spite of all his +courage, and the firmness with which he had thought it wise to arm +himself for this decisive interview with his father, he could not +restrain a slight start of fear on learning that his parents were +prepared to receive him there.</p> + +<p>The folding doors were open, and on reaching the threshold the young +man took in the room at a single glance. At one end, on a dais covered +with a petate, the Marquis and Marchioness of Tobar were seated, +gloomy and silent, beneath a canopy of black velvet with gold fringe +and tassels. Candles, lit in tall, many-branched candelabra, in order +to overcome the habitual gloom of the room, threw their flickering +light on the aged couple, and imparted to their faces an expression of +sternness and harshness that probably did not belong to them.</p> + +<p>At the foot of the dais, and almost touching it, stood a young man of +three or four-and-twenty, with handsome and distinguished features, +whose elegant attire contrasted with the simple dress of the aged +couple: this gentleman was Don Hernando de Tobar, younger son of the +Marquis. A footman, the same who had preceded the Count in order to +announce his arrival to his master, took a step forward on perceiving +the young man.</p> + +<p>"El Señor Conde, Don Rodolfo de Tobar y Moguer," he said, in a loud and +marked voice.</p> + +<p>"Show in the Count," the Marquis said, in a voice which, though broken, +was still powerful.</p> + +<p>The manservant discreetly retired, and the door closed upon him. The +Count walked up to the foot of the dais: on reaching it, he bowed a +second time, then drew himself up, and respectfully awaited till it +pleased his father to address him.</p> + +<p>So profound a silence prevailed for some minutes in the room, that +the hearts of the four persons might have been heard beating in their +bosoms. Don Hernando took cunning side-glances at his brother, whom +the aged couple examined with a mixture of sadness and severity.</p> + +<p>The young Count, as we said, was standing motionless in front of the +dais. His posture was full of nobility, without being in any way +provocative: with his right foot in front, his hand on his sword guard, +and the other holding his hat, whose long feather swept the ground, and +his head slightly thrown back, he looked straight before him, without +any display of arrogance or disdain. He waited, with a brow rather +pale, it is true, owing to the internal emotions he felt; but the +expression of his features, far from being that of a culprit, was, on +the contrary, that of a man convinced of his innocence, and who expects +to see his conduct approved rather than blamed.</p> + +<p>"You have arrived, then, Señor Conde," the Marquis at length said, +sharply.</p> + +<p>The young man bowed, but did not answer.</p> + +<p>"You did not display any great eagerness in obeying my invitation."</p> + +<p>"My lord, I only received very late last night the letter you did me +the honour to send me," the Count answered, gently. "This morning +before sunrise I mounted my horse, and rode twenty leagues without +stopping, so anxious was I to obey you."</p> + +<p>"Yes," the Marquis said, ironically, "I know that; for you are a most +obedient son—in words, if not otherwise."</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, my lord," he replied, respectfully, "but I do not +understand to what you deign to allude at this moment."</p> + +<p>The old gentleman bit his lips angrily. "It is because we probably no +longer speak the same language, Señor Conde," he said, drily; "but I +will try to make myself better understood."</p> + +<p>There was a silence, during which the Marquis seemed to be reflecting.</p> + +<p>"You are the elder son of the family, sir," he presently continued, +"and, as such, responsible for its honour, which your ancestors handed +down to you unsullied. You are aware of this, I presume?"</p> + +<p>"I am, my lord."</p> + +<p>"Since your birth your sainted mother and myself have striven to place +before you only examples of loyalty; during your childhood we took +pleasure in training you in all the chivalrous virtues which for a long +succession of centuries have been the dearest appanage of the race of +worthies from whom you are descended. We continuously kept before your +eyes the noble motto of our family, of which it is so justly proud. +How is it, then, sir, that, suddenly forgetting what you owe to our +care and the lessons you received from us, you suddenly, without your +mother's permission or mine, abandoned without any plausible motive +the paternal roof, and that, deaf to the remonstrances and tearful +entreaties of your mother, and rebellious against my orders, you have +so completely separated your life from ours, that, with the exception +of the name you continue to bear, you have become a perfect stranger?"</p> + +<p>"My lord!" the young man stammered.</p> + +<p>"It is not an accusation I bring against you, Don Rodolfo," the Marquis +continued, quickly; "but I expect a frank and honourable explanation +of your conduct. But, take care; the explanation must be clear and +unreserved."</p> + +<p>"My lord," the Count answered, throwing up his head proudly, "my heart +reproaches me with nothing: my conduct has been ever worthy of the +name I have the honour to bear. My object, in obeying your orders so +eagerly, has not been to justify myself, as I am not guilty of any +fault, but to assure you of my respect and obedience."</p> + +<p>An incredulous smile played round Don Hernando's month, and the Marquis +continued with the same tone of frigid sternness—</p> + +<p>"I expected another answer from you, sir. I hoped to find you eagerly +seize the opportunity my kindness offered you to justify yourself in my +sight."</p> + +<p>"My lord," the young man replied, respectfully but firmly, "in order +that the justification you demand may be possible, I must know the +charges brought against me."</p> + +<p>"I will not press this subject for the present, sir; but since, as you +say, you profess such great respect for my orders, I wish to give you +an immediate opportunity to prove your obedience to me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, speak, father!" the Count exclaimed, warmly; "Whatever you may ask +of me—"</p> + +<p>"Do not be overhasty in pledging yourself, sir," the Marquis coldly +interrupted him, "before you know what I am about to ask of you."</p> + +<p>"I shall be so happy to prove to you how far from my heart are the +intentions attributed to me."</p> + +<p>"Be it so, sir. I thank you for those excellent feelings; hence I will +not delay in telling you what you must do to reinstate yourself in my +good graces."</p> + +<p>"Speak,—speak, my lord!"</p> + +<p>The old man, cold and impassive, still regarded his son with the same +stern look. The Marchioness, restrained by her husband's presence, +fixed on the young man's eyes filled with tears, without daring, poor +mother, to interfere on his behalf. Don Hernando smiled cunningly +aside. As for Don Rodolfo, his father's last words had filled him with +fear; and in spite of the pleasure he affected, he trembled inwardly, +for he instinctively suspected a snare beneath this pretended kindness.</p> + +<p>"My son," the Marquis continued, with a slight tinge of sadness in his +voice, "your mother and I are growing old. Years count double at our +age, and each step brings us nearer the tomb, which will soon open for +us."</p> + +<p>"Oh, father!" Don Rodolfo exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Do not interrupt me, my son," the Marquis continued, with a commanding +gesture. "You are our firstborn, the hope of our name and race; you +are four-and-twenty years of age; you are handsome, well built, +instructed by us in all the duties of a gentleman; in short, you are an +accomplished cavalier, of whom we have just reason to be proud."</p> + +<p>The Marquis paused for a little while. Don Rodolfo felt himself +growing more and more pale. His eyes turned wildly to his mother, who +sorrowfully bowed her head, in order that his anxious glance might not +meet hers. He was beginning to understand what sacrifice his father was +about to demand of his filial obedience, and he trembled with terror +and despair. The old man continued, in a firm and more marked voice—</p> + +<p>"Your mother and I, my son, may be called away soon to appear before +the Lord; but as I do not wish to repose in the tomb without having +the satisfaction of knowing that our name will not die with us, but be +continued in our grandchildren—this desire, which I have several times +made known to you, my son, the moment has now arrived to realise; and +by marrying, you can secure the tranquillity of the few days still left +us to spend on this earth."</p> + +<p>"Father—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, re-assure yourself, Count," the old gentleman continued, +pretending to misunderstand his son's meaning. "I do not intend to +force on you one of those marriages in which a couple, united against +their wish, only too soon hate one another through the instinctive +aversion they feel. No; the wife I intend for you has been chosen by +your mother and myself with the greatest care. She is young, lovely, +rich, and of a nobility almost equal to ours;—in a word, she combines +all the qualities necessary not only to render you happy, but also to +revive the brilliancy of our house and impart a fresh lustre to it."</p> + +<p>"Father!" Don Rodolfo stammered again.</p> + +<p>"My son!" the Marquis continued, with a proud intonation in his voice, +as if the name he was about to utter must remove all scruples; "my son, +be happy, for you are about to marry Doña Aurelia de la Torre Azul, +cousin in the fifth degree to the Marquis del Valle."</p> + +<p>"Oh, my son!" the Marchioness added entreatingly "this alliance, which +your father so dearly desires, will soothe my last days."</p> + +<p>The young man was of livid pallor. He tottered, his eyes wandered +hesitatingly around, and his hand, powerfully pressed to his heart, +seemed trying to stifle its beating.</p> + +<p>"You know my will, sir," the Marquis continued, not appearing to +perceive his unhappy son's condition. "I hope that you will soon +conform to it: and now, as you must be fatigued after a long ride in +the great heat of the day, withdraw to your apartments. Tomorrow, when +you have rested, we will consult as to the means of introducing you to +your future wife as soon as possible."</p> + +<p>After uttering these words, in the same cold and peremptory tone he +employed during the whole interview, the Marquis prepared to rise.</p> + +<p>By an effort over himself the young count succeeded in repressing the +storm that was raging in his heart. Affecting a tranquillity he was far +from feeling, he took a step forward, and bowed respectfully to the +Marquis.</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, my lord," he said, in a voice which emotion involuntarily +caused to tremble, "but may I say a few words now?"</p> + +<p>The old gentleman frowned.</p> + +<p>"Did I not say tomorrow, sir?" he answered drily.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my lord," the young man answered, sadly; "but, alas! If you do +not consent to listen to me today, tomorrow may be too late."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said the Marquis, biting his lips with a passion that was +beginning to break out, "And for what reason, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Because, father," the young man said, firmly, "tomorrow I shall have +left this house never to reenter it."</p> + +<p>The Marquis gave him a thundering look from under his grey eyelashes.</p> + +<p>"Ah, ah!" he exclaimed, "Then I was not deceived; what I have been told +is really true."</p> + +<p>"What have you been told?"</p> + +<p>"Do you wish to know?" the old gentleman exclaimed, furiously. "After +all, you are right; it is time that this pitiable farce should end."</p> + +<p>"Sir,—sir!" the Marchioness said, with deep grief, "remember that he +is your son—your firstborn!"</p> + +<p>"Silence, madam!" the old man said, harshly; "This rebellious son has +played with us long enough; the hour of punishment has pealed, and, by +Heaven! It shall be terrible and exemplary."</p> + +<p>"In God's name, sir," the Marchioness continued, "do not be inexorable +to your child. Let me speak to him; perhaps you are too harsh with +him, although you love him. I am his mother; I will convince him, and +induce him to carry out your wishes: a mother can find words in her +heart to soften her son, and make him understand that he ought not to +reject his father's orders."</p> + +<p>The old man seemed to hesitate for a moment, but immediately recovered.</p> + +<p>"Why should I consent to what you ask, madam?" he replied, with a +roughness mingled with pity; "Do you not know that the sole quality, +or rather the sole vice, of his race which this rebellious son has +retained is obstinacy? You will get nothing from him."</p> + +<p>"Oh, permit me to say, sir," the old lady continued, in a suppliant +voice, "he is my son as well as yours. In the name of that love and +that unswerving obedience you have ever found in me, I beseech you +to let me make a final attempt to break his resistance, and lead him +penitent to your feet."</p> + +<p>"And then, my lord," Don Hernando, who had hitherto remained an +apparent stranger to all that was taking place, remarked in a mocking +voice, "perhaps we are mistaken; do not condemn my brother without +hearing him; he is too good a gentleman, and of too old a family, to +have committed the faults of which he is accused."</p> + +<p>"That is well, Hernando; I am delighted thus to hear you undertake your +brother's defence," said the old lady, smiling through her tears, and +deceived by his words.</p> + +<p>"Certainly, mother; I love my brother too dearly," the young man said +ironically, "to let him be accused without proof. That Rodolfo has +seduced the daughter of the principal Cacique of the Opatas and made +her his mistress is evident, and known to all the world as true, but +it is of very little consequence. But what I will never believe until +it is proved to me is, that he has married this creature, any more +than I will put faith in the calumnies that represent him not only +as one of the intimate friends of the Curate Hidalgo, but also as one +of his most active and influential partisans in this province. No; a +thousand times No! A gentleman of the name and blood of Tobar knows +too well what honour demands to commit such infamy! Acting so would +be utter apostasy, and complete forgetfulness of all that a noble +Castilian owes to himself, his ancestors, and that honour of which he +is only the holder. Come, Rodolfo; come, my brother, raise your head: +confound the calumniators: give a solemn denial to those who have dared +to sully your reputation! One word from you, but one that proves your +perfect innocence, and the storm unjustly aroused against you will +be dispersed; my father will open his arms to you, and all will be +forgotten."</p> + +<p>During this speech, whose deep perfidy the Count recognised, he +was suffering from extreme emotion. At the first words his brother +uttered, he started as if he felt the sting of a viper; but gradually +his anger had made way for contempt in his heart; and it was with a +smile of crushing disdain that he listened to the emphatic and mocking +conclusion.</p> + +<p>"Well, my son," the marquis said, "you see everybody defends you here, +while I alone accuse you! What will you answer to prove your innocence +to me?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, father!" the young man said, coolly.</p> + +<p>"Nothing?" the old gentleman repeated, angrily.</p> + +<p>"No, father!" he continued; "because, if I attempted to justify myself, +you would not listen to me; and that, supposing you consented to listen +to me, you would not comprehend me. Oh! Do not mistake my meaning," he +said, on seeing the Marquis about to speak; "you would not understand +me, father, not through want of intellect, but through pride. Proud of +your name and the privileges it gives, you are accustomed to judge men +and things from a peculiar point of view, and understand honour in your +own fashion."</p> + +<p>"Are there two sorts of honour, then?" the Marquis exclaimed, +involuntarily.</p> + +<p>"No, father," Don Rodolfo answered, calmly, "there is only one; but +there are two ways of comprehending it: and my brother, who a moment +back told you without incurring your disapproval that a gentleman had +the right to abuse the love of a maiden and make her his mistress, +but that the honour of his name would forbid him marrying her, seems +to me to have studied the point thoroughly, and is better able than I +to discuss it. As you said yourself, father, we must come to an end. +Well, be it so. I will not attempt to continue an impossible struggle +with you. When I received orders to come to you, I knew I was condemned +beforehand, and yet I obediently attended your summons; it was because +my resolution was irrevocably formed. What am I reproached with? Having +married the daughter of an Indian Cacique? It is true; I avow openly +that I have done so: her birth is perhaps as good as mine, but most +certainly her heart is greater. What is the next charge—that I am a +friend of the Curate Hidalgo, and one of his firmest adherents? That +is also true; and I am happy and proud of this friendship: I glory in +these aspirations for liberty with which you reproach me as a crime. +Descendants of the first conquerors of Mexico, this land, discovered +and subjugated by our fathers, has become our country; for the last +three centuries we have not been Spaniards, but Mexicans. The hour has +at length arrived for us to shake off the yoke of this self-called +country, which has so long been battening on our blood and tears, and +enriching itself with our gold. In speaking thus to you, my venerated +father, my heart is broken, for Heaven is my witness that I have a +profound respect and love for you. I know that I am invoking on my head +all the weight of your anger, and that anger will be terrible! But, in +my sorrow, one sublime hope is left to me. Faithful to the motto of our +ancestors, I have done everything for honour; my conscience is calm; +and some day—soon, perhaps—you will forgive me, for you will see that +I have not failed in fealty."</p> + +<p>"Never!" the Marquis shouted in a voice the more terrible because the +constraint he had been forced to place on himself, in order to hear his +son's speech to the end, had been so great. "Begone! I no longer know +you! You are no longer my son! Begone!—villain! I give you my—"</p> + +<p>"Oh!" the Marchioness shrieked, as she threw herself into his arms, +"Do not curse him, sir! Do not add that punishment to the one you have +inflicted on him. The unhappy boy is already sufficiently punished. No +one has the right to curse him; a father less than any other—for in +that case it is God who avenges."</p> + +<p>The Marquis stood for a moment silent and gloomy, then stretched out +his arms to his son, and shook his head sadly.</p> + +<p>"Begone!" he said in a hollow voice. "May God watch over you—for +henceforth you have no family. Farewell!"</p> + +<p>The young man pale and trembling, bent beneath the weight of this +sentence; then rose and tottered out of the room without saying a word.</p> + +<p>"My son!—My son!" the Marchioness exclaimed in a heart-rending voice.</p> + +<p>The implacable old man quickly stopped her at the moment when, +half-mad with grief, she was rushing from the dais, and pointed to Don +Hernando, who was bowing hypocritically to her.</p> + +<p>"You have only one son, madam," he said, in a harsh voice, "and that +son is here."</p> + +<p>The Marchioness uttered a cry of despair, and, crushed with grief, fell +senseless at her husband's feet; who, also overcome in this fearful +struggle of pride of race against paternal love, sank into a chair and +buried his face in his hands, while a mighty sob escaped from his bosom.</p> + +<p>Don Hernando had rushed after his brother, not for the purpose of +consoling or bringing him back, but solely not to let the joy be +seen which covered his face at this mournful scene, all the fearful +incidents in which he had been so long preparing with feline patience.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE TWO BROTHERS.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>After quitting the Red Room, Don Rodolfo, under the weight of the +condemnation pronounced against him, with broken heart and burning head +had rushed onwards, flying the paternal anger, and resolved to leave +the hacienda as quickly as possible, never to return to it. His horse +was still in the first yard, where he had tied it up. The young man +went up to it, seized the bridle, and placed his foot in the stirrup. +At the same moment a hand was laid on his shoulder—Don Rodolfo turned +as if seared with a hot iron. His brother was standing before him.</p> + +<p>A feverish redness suffused his face; his hands closed, and his eyes +flashed lightning; but at once extinguishing the fire of his glance and +affecting a forced calmness, he said, in a firm voice—</p> + +<p>"What do you want brother?"</p> + +<p>"To press your hand before your departure, Rodolfo," the young man +said, with a whining voice.</p> + +<p>Rodolfo looked at him for a moment with an expression of profound +disdain, then unhooking the sword that hung at his side, he handed it +to his brother.</p> + +<p>"There, Hernando," he said, ironically, "it is only right that, since +you will henceforth bear the name and honour of our family, this sword +should revert to you. You desired my inheritance, and success has +crowned your efforts."</p> + +<p>"Brother," the young man stammered.</p> + +<p>"I am not reproaching you," Don Rodolfo continued, haughtily. "Enjoy +in peace those estates you have torn from me. May Heaven grant that +the burden may not appear to you some day too heavy, and that the +recollection of the deed you have done may not poison your last years. +Henceforth we shall never meet again on this earth. Farewell!" And +letting the sword he had offered his brother fall on the ground, he +leaped on his horse and went off at full speed, without even giving a +parting glance at those walls which had seen his birth, and from which +he was now eternally banished. Don Hernando stood for a moment with +hanging head and pale face, crushed by the shame and consciousness +of the bad action he had not feared to commit. Already remorse was +beginning to prey on him. At length, when the galloping of the horse +had died away in the distance, he raised his eyes, wiped away the +perspiration that inundated his face, and picked up the sword lying at +his feet.</p> + +<p>"Poor Rodolfo!" he muttered, stifling a sigh; "I am very guilty."</p> + +<p>And he slowly returned to the hacienda. Count Don Rodolfo de Moguer +kept the word he had given his brother: he never reappeared. Nothing +was ever heard of him, and his intimate friends never saw him again +after his journey to the hacienda, nor knew what had become of him. The +next year, a few Indians who escaped from the massacre at the bridge +of Calderón, when Hidalgo was defeated by the Spanish General Calleja, +spread the report that Don Rodolfo, who during the whole action kept by +Hidalgo's side, was killed in a desperate charge he made into the heart +of the Spanish lines, in the hope of restoring the fortunes of the day; +but this rumour was not confirmed. In spite of all the measures taken +by the Marquis, the young man's body was not found among the dead, and +his fate remained a mystery for the family.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile, Don Hernando, by his father's orders, had succeeded +to his brother's title, and almost immediately married Doña Aurelia de +la Torre Azul, originally destined for Don Rodolfo. The Marquis and +Marchioness lived some few years longer. They died a few days after +one another, bearing with them a poisoned sting of remorse for having +banished their firstborn son from their presence.</p> + +<p>But, inflexible up to his dying hour, the Marquis never once made a +complaint, and died without mentioning his son's name. However, the +Marquis's hopes were realized ere he descended to the grave, for he +had the supreme consolation of seeing his family continued in his +grandchildren.</p> + +<p>At the funeral, a man was noticed in the crowd wrapped up in a wide +cloak, and his features concealed by the broad brim of his hat being +pulled over them. No one was able to say who this man was, although one +old servant declared he had recognised Don Rodolfo. Was it really the +banished son who had come for the last time to pay homage to his father +and weep on his tomb? The arrival of the stranger was so unexpected, +and his departure so sudden, that it was impossible to get at the truth +of the statement.</p> + +<p>Then, time passed away, important events succeeded each other, and Don +Rodolfo, of whom nothing was heard, was considered dead by his family +and friends, and then forgotten; and Don Hernando inherited without +dispute the title and estates.</p> + +<p>The Marquis de Moguer, in spite of the light under which we have shown +him to our readers, was not a wicked man, as might be supposed; but +as a younger son, with no other hope than the tonsure, devoured by +ambition, and freely enjoying life, he internally rebelled against the +harsh and unjust law which exiled him from the pleasures of the world, +and condemned him to the solitude of the cloister. Assuredly, had his +brother frankly accepted his position as firstborn, and consented to +undertake its duties, Don Hernando would never have thought for a +moment of defrauding him of his rights. But when he saw Don Rodolfo +despise the old tradition of his race—forget what he owed to his +honour as a gentleman, so far as to marry an Indian girl and make +common cause with the partisans of the Revolution, he eagerly seized +the opportunity chance so providentially offered him to seize the power +lost by his brother, and quietly put himself in his place. He thought +that, in acting thus he was not committing a bad action, but almost +asserting a right by substituting himself for a man who seemed to care +very little for titles and fortune.</p> + +<p>Don Hernando, while whitewashing himself in this way, only obeyed that +law of justice and injustice which God has placed in the heart of man, +and which impels him, when he does any dishonourable deed, to seek +excuses in order to prove to himself that he was bound to act as he +had done. Still, the Marquis did not dare to confess to himself that +the chance by which he profited he had helped by all his power, by +envenoming by his speeches and continual insinuations his brother's +actions, ruining him gradually in his father's mind, and preparing, +long beforehand, the condemnation eventually uttered in the Red Room +against the unfortunate Rodolfo.</p> + +<p>And yet strange contradiction of the human heart, Don Hernando dearly +loved his brother; he pitied him—he would like to hold him back on +the verge of the precipice down which he thrust him, as it were. Once +master of the estates and head of the family, he would have liked to +find his brother again, in order to share with him this badly-acquired +fortune, and gain pardon for his usurpation.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately these reflections came too late—Don Rodolfo had +disappeared without leaving a trace, and hence the Marquis was +compelled to restrict himself to sterile regrets. At times, tortured +with the ever-present memory of the last scene at the hacienda, he +asked himself whether it would not have been better for him to have +had a frank explanation with his brother, after which Don Rodolfo, +whose simple tastes agreed but badly with the exigencies of a great +name, would have amicably renounced in his favour the rights which his +position as elder brother gave him.</p> + +<p>But now to continue our narrative, which we have too long interrupted.</p> + +<p>At the beginning of 1822, on a day of madness which was to be expiated +by years of disaster, the definitive separation took place between +Spain and Mexico, and the era of <i>pronunciamientos</i> set in. After the +ephemeral reign of the Emperor Iturbide, Mexico reverted to a republic, +or, more correctly, to a military government. Under the pressure of +an army of 20,000 soldiers, which had 24,000 officers, the Presidents +succeeded each other with headlong speed, burying the nation deeper +and deeper in the mire, in which it is now struggling, and which will +eventually swallow it up.</p> + +<p>By <i>pronunciamiento</i> on <i>pronunciamiento</i> Mexico had reached the period +when this story begins; but her wealth had been swallowed up in the +tornado—her commerce was annihilated, her cities were falling in +ruins, and New Spain had only retained of her old splendours fugitive +recollections and piles of ruins. The Spaniards had suffered greatly +during the War of Independence, as had their partisans, whose property +had been burned and plundered by the revolutionists. The fatal decree +of 1827, pronouncing the expulsion of the Spaniards, dealt the final +and most terrible blow to their fortunes.</p> + +<p>The Marquis de Moguer was one of the persons most affected by this +measure, although, during the entire War of Independence and the +different governments that succeeded each other, he had taken the +greatest care not to mix himself up at all in politics, and remained +neutral between all parties. This position, which it was difficult and +almost impossible to maintain for any length of time, had compelled him +to make concessions painful to his pride: unfortunately, his fortune +consisted of land and mines, and if he left Mexico he would be a ruined +man.</p> + +<p>His friends advised him frankly to join the Mexican government, and +give up his Spanish nationality. The Marquis, forced by circumstances, +followed their advice; and, thanks to the credit some persons enjoyed +with the President of the Republic, Don Hernando was not only not +disturbed, but authorized to remain in the country, where he was +naturalized as a Mexican.</p> + +<p>But things had greatly changed with the Marquis. His immense fortune +had vanished with the Spanish government. During the ten years of the +War of Independence, his estates had lain fallow, and his mines, +deserted by the workmen he formerly employed, had gradually become +filled with water. They could not be put in working order again except +by enormous and most expensive works. The situation was critical, +especially for a man reared in luxury and accustomed to sow his money +broadcast. He was now compelled to calculate every outlay with the +utmost care, if he did not wish to see the hideous spectre of want rise +implacable before him.</p> + +<p>The pride of the Marquis was broken in this struggle against poverty; +his love for his children restored his failing courage, and he bravely +resolved to make head against the storm. Like the ruined gentleman who +tilled the soil, with their sword by their side, as a proof of their +nobility, he openly became hacendero and miner,—that is to say, he +cultivated his estates on a large scale, and bred cattle and horses, +while trying to pump out the water which had taken possession of his +mines. Unfortunately, he was deficient in two important things for the +proper execution of his plans: the necessary knowledge to assist the +different operations he meditated: and, above all, money, without which +nothing was possible. The Marquis was therefore compelled to engage a +majordomo, and borrow on mortgage. For the first few years all went +well, or appeared to do so. The majordomo, Don José Paredes, to whom +we shall have occasion to refer more fully hereafter, was one of those +men so valuable in haciendas, whose life is spent on horseback, whose +attention nothing escapes, who thoroughly understand the cultivation of +the soil, and know what it ought to produce, almost to an arroba.</p> + +<p>But if the estates of the Marquis were beginning to regain their +value under the skilful direction of the bailiff, it was not the same +with the mines. Taking advantage of the convulsions in which Mexico +was writhing, the independent Indians, no longer held in subjection +by the fear of the powerful military organization of the Spaniards, +had crossed the frontiers and regained a certain portion of their +territory. They had permanently settled upon it, and would not allow +white men to encroach on it. Most of the Marquis's mines being situated +in the very country now occupied by the Indians, were consequently +lost to him. The others, almost entirely inundated, in spite of the +incessant labour bestowed on them, did not yet hold out any hopes of +becoming productive again.</p> + +<p>What Don Hernando gained on one side he lost on the other; and his +position, in spite of his efforts, became worse and worse, and the +abyss of debt gradually enlarged. The Marquis saw with terror the +moment before him when it would be impossible for him to continue the +struggle. Sad and aged by sorrow rather than years, the Marquis no +longer dared to regard the future, which daily became more gloomy for +him. He watched in mournful resignation the downfall of his house—the +decay of his race; seeking in vain, like the man without a compass on +the mighty ocean, from what point of the horizon the vessel that would +save him from shipwreck would arrive.</p> + +<p>But, alas! Days succeeded days without bringing any other change in +the position of the Marquis, save greater poverty, and more nearly +impending ruin. In proportion as the misfortune came nearer, the +Marquis had seen his relations and friends keep aloof from him; all +abandoned him, with that selfish indifference which seems a fundamental +law of every organized society, when the precept, "Each man for +himself," is put in practice, with all the brutal force of the <i>vae +victis</i>.</p> + +<p>Hence Don Hernando resided alone, with his son, at the Hacienda del +Toro; for he had lost his wife several years before, and his daughter +was being educated in a convent at the town of Rosario; with that +noble pride which so admirably becomes men of well-tempered minds, the +Marquis had accepted without a murmur the ostracism passed upon him. +Far from indulging in useless recriminations with men, the majority of +whom had, in other days, received obligations from him, he had made his +son a partner in his labours, and, aided by him, redoubled his efforts +and his courage.</p> + +<p>Some months before the period when our story begins, ill fortune had +seemed, not to grow weary of persecuting the Marquis, but desirous +of granting him a truce—this is how a gleam of sunshine penetrated +the gloomy atmosphere of the hacienda. One morning, a stranger, who +appeared to have come a great distance, stopped at the gate, leading a +mule loaded with two bales. This man, on reaching the first courtyard, +threw the mule's bridle to a peon, with the simple remark,—"For Signor +Don Hernando de Moguer—" and, without awaiting an answer, he started +down the rocky road at a gallop and was lost in the windings of the +path ere the peon had recovered from the surprise caused by the strange +visit. The Marquis, at once warned, had the mule unloaded, and the +bales conveyed to his study. They each contained twenty-five thousand +piastres in gold, or nearly eleven thousand pounds of our money: on a +folded paper was written one word—Restitution.</p> + +<p>It was in vain that the Marquis ordered the most minute researches; +the strange messenger could not be found. Don Hernando was therefore +compelled to keep this large sum, which arrived so opportunely to +extricate him from a difficult position, for he had a considerable +payment to make on the morrow. Still, it was only on the repeated +assurances of Don Ruiz and the majordomo, that the money was really +his, that he consented to use it.</p> + +<p>Cheered by this change of fortune, Don Hernando at length consented +that Don Ruiz should go and fetch his sister, and bring her back to the +hacienda, where her presence had been long desired; though there had +been an obstacle, in the dangers of such a journey.</p> + +<p>We will now resume our narrative, begging the reader to forgive this +long digression, which was indispensable for the due comprehension of +what is about to follow, and lead him to the Hacienda del Toro, a few +hours before the arrival of Don Ruiz and his sister; that is to say, +about three weeks since we left them at the post of San Miguel.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a></h4> + +<h3>A NEW CHARACTER.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>Although, owing to its position on the shores of the Pacific, Sonora +enjoys the blessings of the sea breeze, whose moisture at intervals +refreshes the heated atmosphere; still, for three hours in the +afternoon, the earth incessantly heated by the torrid sunbeams produces +a crushing heat. At such times the country assumes a really desolate +aspect beneath the cloudless sky, which seems an immense plate of +red-hot iron. The birds suddenly cease their songs, and languidly hide +themselves beneath the thick foliage of the trees, which bow their +proud crests towards the ground. Men and domestic animals hasten to +seek shelter in the houses, raising in their hurried progress a white, +impalpable, and calcined dust, which enters mouth and nostrils. For +some hours Sonora is converted into a vast desert from which every +appearance of life and movement has disappeared.</p> + +<p>Everybody is asleep, or at least reclining in the most shady rooms, +with closed eyes, and with the body abandoned to that species of +somnolency which is neither sleeping nor waking, and which from that +very fact is filled with such sweet and voluptuous reveries—inhaling +at deep draughts the artificial breeze produced by artfully contrived +currents of air, and in a word indulging in what is generally called in +the torrid zones a siesta.</p> + +<p>These are hours full of enjoyment, of those sweet and beneficent +influence on body and mind we busy, active Englishmen are ignorant, +but which people nearer the sun revel in. The Italians call this state +the <i>dolce far niente</i>, and the Turks, that essentially sensual race, +<i>keff</i>.</p> + +<p>Like that city in the "Arabian Nights," the inhabitants of which the +wicked enchanter suddenly changed into statues by waving his wand, life +seemed suddenly arrested at the Hacienda del Toro, for the silence was +so profound: peons, vaqueros, craidos, everybody in fact, were enjoying +their siesta. It was about three in the afternoon; but that indistinct +though significant buzz which announces the awakening of the hour that +precedes the resumption of labour was audible. Two gentlemen alone had +not yielded to sleep, in spite of the crushing midday heat; but seated +in an elegantly furnished <i>cuarto</i>, they had spent the hours usually +devoted to slumber in conversation. The cause for this deviation from +the ordinary custom must have been most serious. The Hispano-American, +and especially the Mexican, does not lightly sacrifice those hours of +repose during which, according to a Spanish proverb, only dogs and +Frenchmen are to be seen in the sun.</p> + +<p>Of these two gentlemen, one, Don Hernando de Moguer, is already known +to us. Years, while stooping his back, had furrowed some wrinkles on +his forehead, and mingled many silver threads with his hair; but the +expression of his face, with the exception of a tinge of melancholy +spread over his features by lengthened misfortunes, had remained nearly +the same, that is to say, gentle and timid, although clever; slightly +sarcastic and eminently crafty.</p> + +<p>As for the person with whom Don Hernando was conversing at this moment, +he deserves a detailed description, physically at least, for the +reader will soon be enabled to appreciate his moral character. He was +a short, plump man, with a rubicund face and apoplectic look, though +hardly forty years of age. Still his hair, which was almost white, +his deeply wrinkled forehead, and his grey eyes buried beneath bushy +whiskers, gave him a senile appearance, harmonizing but little with the +sharp gesticulation and youthful manner he affected. His long, thin, +violet nose was bent like a parrot's beak over a wide mouth filled with +dazzling white teeth; and his prominent cheekbones, covered with blue +veins, completed a strange countenance, the expression of which bore a +striking likeness to that of an owl.</p> + +<p>This species of nutcracker, with his prominent stomach and short +ill-hung limbs, whose whole appearance was most disagreeable, had such +a mobility of face as rendered it impossible to read his thoughts +on his features, in the event of this fat man's carcase containing +a thought. His cold blue eyes were ever pertinaciously fixed on the +person addressing him, and did not reveal the slightest emotion; in +short, this man produced at the first contact that invariable antipathy +which is felt on the approach of reptiles, and which, after nearer +acquaintance, is converted into disgust and contempt.</p> + +<p>He was a certain Don Rufino Contreras, one of the richest landowners in +Sonora, and a year previously had been elected senator to the Mexican +Congress for the province.</p> + +<p>At the moment when we enter the <i>cuarto</i>, Don Hernando, with arms +folded at his back and frowning brow, is walking up and down, while Don +Rufino, seated on a butaca, with his body thrown back, is following his +movements with a crafty smile on his lips while striving to scratch +off an invisible spot on his knee. For some minutes, the hacendero +continued his walk, and then stopped before Don Rufino, who bent on him +a mocking, inquiring glance.</p> + +<p>"Then," he said, in a voice whose anxious expression he sought in vain +to conceal, "you must positively have the entire sum within a week?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," the fat man replied, still smiling.</p> + +<p>"Why, if that is the case, did you not warn me sooner?"</p> + +<p>"It was through delicacy, my dear sir."</p> + +<p>"What—through delicacy?" Don Hernando repeated, with a start of +surprise.</p> + +<p>"You shall judge for yourself."</p> + +<p>"I shall be glad to do so."</p> + +<p>"I believe you do me the justice of allowing that I am your friend?"</p> + +<p>"You have said you are, at least."</p> + +<p>"I fancy I have proved it to you."</p> + +<p>"No matter; but let us pass over that."</p> + +<p>"Very well. Knowing that you were in a critical position at the moment, +I tried to procure the sum by all possible means, as I did not wish to +have recourse to you, except in the last extremity. You see, my dear +Don Hernando, how delicate and truly friendly my calculations were. +Unfortunately, at the present time it is very difficult to get money +in, owing to the stagnation of trade produced by the new conflict +which threatens to break out between the President of the Republic and +the Southern States. It was therefore literally impossible for me to +obtain the smallest sum. In such a perplexing position, I leave you to +judge what I was obliged to do. The money I must have; you have owed it +for a long time, and I applied to you—what else could I do?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know. Still, I think you might have sent a peon to warn me, +before you left Sonora."</p> + +<p>"No, my dear sir, that is exactly what I should not do. I have not come +direct to you: in pursuance of the line of conduct I laid down I hoped +to collect the required sum on my road, and not be obliged to come all +the way to your hacienda."</p> + +<p>Don Hernando made no reply. He began his walk again after giving the +speaker a glance which would have given him cause for thought, had he +noticed it; but the latter gentleman had begun rubbing the invisible +spot again with more obstinacy than before. In the meanwhile the +sunbeams had become more and more oblique; the hacienda had woke up +to its ordinary life; outside the shouts of the vaqueros pricking the +oxen or urging on the horses could be heard mingled with the lowing and +neighing of the draught cattle. Don Hernando walked up to a window, the +shutters of which he threw open, and a refreshing breeze entered the +<i>cuarto</i>. Don Rufino gave a sigh of relief and sat up in his <i>butaca</i>.</p> + +<p>"Ouf," he said, with an expression of comfort, "I was very tired; not +through the long ride I was compelled to make this morning, so much as +through the stifling heat."</p> + +<p>Don Hernando started at this insinuation, as if he had been stung by +a serpent; he had neglected all the laws of Mexican hospitality; for +Don Rufino's visit had so disagreeably surprised him, and made him +forget all else before the sudden obligation of satisfying the claims +of a merciless creditor. But at Don Rufino's remarks he understood how +unusual his conduct must have seemed to a weary traveller, hence he +rang a bell, and a peon at once came in.</p> + +<p>"Refreshment," he said.</p> + +<p>The peon bowed, and left the room.</p> + +<p>"You will excuse me, Caballero," the hacendero continued, frankly, +"but your visit so surprised me, that at the moment I did not think +of offering the refreshment which a tired traveller requires so much. +Your room is prepared, rest yourself tonight, and tomorrow we will +resume our conversation, and arrive at a solution I trust mutually +satisfactory."</p> + +<p>"I hope so, my dear sir. Heaven is my witness that it is my greatest +desire," Don Rufino answered, as he raised to his lips the glass of +orangeade brought by the peon. "Unhappily I fear that, with the best +will in the world, we cannot come to a settlement unless—"</p> + +<p>"Unless!" Don Hernando sharply interrupted. Don Rufino quietly sipped +his orangeade, placed the glass on the table, and said, as he threw +himself back on the <i>butaca</i>, and rolled a cigarette—</p> + +<p>"Unless you pay me in full what you owe me, which, from what you have +said, appears to me to be difficult, I confess."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" Don Hernando remarked with an air of constraint, "What makes you +suppose that?"</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, my dear sir, I suppose nothing: you told me just +now that you were hardly pressed."</p> + +<p>"Well, and what conclusion do you derive from that?" the hacendero +asked impatiently.</p> + +<p>"A very simple thing—that seventy thousand piastres form a rather +round sum, and that however rich a man may be, he does not always have +it in his hands, especially when he is pressed."</p> + +<p>"I can make sacrifices."</p> + +<p>"Believe me, I shall be sincerely sorry."</p> + +<p>"But can you not wait a few days longer?"</p> + +<p>"Impossible, I repeat: let us understand our respective positions, in +order to avoid any business misunderstanding, which should always be +prevented between honourable gentlemen holding a certain position. I +lent you that sum, and only stipulated for small interest, I believe."</p> + +<p>"I allow it, Señor, and thank you for it."</p> + +<p>"It is not really worth the trouble; I was anxious to oblige you. I +did so, and let us say no more about it; but remember that I made one +condition which you accepted."</p> + +<p>"Yes," Don Hernando said, with an impatient start, "and I was wrong."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps so; but that is not the question. This condition which you +accepted was to the effect that you should repay me the sum I advanced +upon demand."</p> + +<p>"Have I said the contrary?"</p> + +<p>"Far from it; but now that I want the money, I ask you for it, and +that is natural: I have in no way infringed the conditions. You ought +to have expected what is happening today, and taken your precautions +accordingly."</p> + +<p>"Hence, if I ask a month to collect the money you claim?"</p> + +<p>"I should be heartbroken, but should refuse; for I want the money, not +in a month, but in a week. I can quite put myself in your position, and +comprehend how disagreeable the matter must be; but unluckily so it is."</p> + +<p>What most hurt Don Hernando was not the recall of the loan, painful as +it was to him, so much as the way in which the demand was made; the +show of false good nature employed by his creditor, and the insulting +pity he displayed. Carried away involuntarily by the rage that filled +his heart, he was about to give Don Rufino an answer which would have +broken off all friendly relations between them for ever, when a great +noise was heard in the hacienda, mingled with shouts of joy and the +stamping of horses. Don Hernando eagerly leant out of the window, and +at the expiration of a moment turned round to Don Rufino, who was +sucking his cigarette with an air of beatitude.</p> + +<p>"Here are my children, Caballero," he said; "not a word of this affair +before them, I entreat."</p> + +<p>"I know too well what I owe you, my dear Señor," the other replied, as +he prepared to rise. "With your permission, however, I will withdraw, +in order to allow you entire liberty for your family joy."</p> + +<p>"No, no!" Don Hernando added, "I had better introduce you at once to my +son and daughter."</p> + +<p>"As you please, my dear sir. I shall be flattered to form the +acquaintance of your charming family."</p> + +<p>The door opened, and Don José Parades appeared. The majordomo was a +half-breed of about forty years of age, tall and powerfully built, with +bow legs and round shoulders that denoted his capacity as a horseman; +in fact, the worthy man's life was spent in the saddle, galloping about +the country. He took a side-glance at Don Rufino, bowed to his master, +and lowering his usual rough tone, said—</p> + +<p>"Señor amo, the niño and niña have arrived in good health, thanks to +Our Lady of Carnerno."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, Don José," Don Hernando replied; "let them come in. I shall be +delighted to see them."</p> + +<p>The majordomo gave a signal outside, and the two young people rushed +into the room. With one bound they were in their father's arms, who +for a moment pressed them to his heart; but then he pushed them +away, remarking that a stranger was present. The young couple bowed +respectfully.</p> + +<p>"Señor Don Rufino," the Marquis said, "I present to you my son, Don +Ruiz de Moguer, and my daughter, Doña Marianita: my children, this is +Señor Don Rufino Contreras, one of my best friends."</p> + +<p>"A title of which I am proud," Don Rufino replied, with a bow, while +giving the young lady a cold searching glance, which made her look down +involuntarily and blush.</p> + +<p>"Are the apartments ready, Don José?" Don Hernando continued.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Excellency," the majordomo said, who was contemplating the young +people with a radiant face.</p> + +<p>"If Señor Don Rufino will permit it, you can go and lie down, my +children," the hacendero said. "You must be tired."</p> + +<p>"You will also allow me to rest, Don Hernando?" the Senator then said. +The hacendero bowed.</p> + +<p>"We will resume our conversation at a more favourable moment," he +continued, as he took a side-glance at Donna Marianita, who was just +leaving the room with her brother. "However, my dear Señor, do not feel +too anxious about my visit; for I believe I have discovered a way of +arranging matters without inconveniencing you too much."</p> + +<p>And, bowing to his knees to the Marquis, who was astounded at this +conduct, which he was so far from expecting, Don Rufino left the room, +smiling with an air of protection.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a></h4> + +<h3>DON JOSÉ PAREDES.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>Several days had elapsed since the return of Don Ruiz and his sister +to the hacienda, and Don Rufino had not said a word about the money +which occasioned his visit. The hacendero, while employing all the +means in his power to procure the necessary sum to pay his debt, had +been careful not to allude to the conversation he had held with his +creditor on the first day; the more so because Don Rufino seemed to +have forgotten the pressing want of money he had at first given as his +excuse for not granting any delay.</p> + +<p>At the hacienda everything had returned to its old condition. Don Ruiz +went out on horseback in the morning with José Paredes, in order to +watch the peons and vaqueros, leaving to his father and sister the +care of doing the honours to Don Rufino. For the first two or three +days Doña Marianita had been considerably embarrassed by their guest's +obsequious smiles and passionate glances; but she soon made up her +mind, and only laughed at the craving look and absurd postures of the +stout gentleman. The latter, while perceiving the effect he produced +on the young lady, appeared to take no heed of it, and conscientiously +continued his manoeuvres with the tenacity that formed the basis of his +character. Probably in acting thus, and by openly paying his court to +Doña Marianita, in the presence of her father and brother, Don Rufino +was carrying out a pre-arranged plan, in order to gain an end which may +be easily guessed.</p> + +<p>It was evident to everybody that Don Rufino was seeking to obtain the +hand of Doña Marianita. Don Hernando, in spite of the secret annoyance +this pursuit caused him, for this man was the last he would have +desired as his son-in-law, did not dare, however, let his vexation be +seen, owing to his delicate position, and the sword of Damocles which +Don Rufino held in suspense over his head. He contented himself with +watching him closely, while leaving him free to act, hoping everything +from him, and striving to collect all his resources in order to pay +him off as speedily as possible; and once liberty was regained, to +dismiss him. Unfortunately, money was difficult to obtain. Most of Don +Hernando's debtors failed in meeting their engagements; and it was with +great difficulty he obtained at the end of a fortnight one quarter the +sum he owed Don Rufino, and this sum even could not be employed in +liquidating the debt, for it was indispensable for the continuation of +the works at the hacienda.</p> + +<p>Since his arrival at the hacienda, Don Rufino had sent off messengers +in several directions, and received letters. One morning he entered Don +Hernando's study with an easy air, where the latter passed nearly the +day, engaged in the most abstruse calculations. The hacendero raised +his head with amazement on seeing the Senator; it was the first time +the latter had come to seek him in this room. He suffered a heart pang; +but he succeeded in hiding his emotion, and good-humouredly invited his +visitor to take a seat.</p> + +<p>"My dear Señor," Don Rufino began, as he comfortably stretched +himself out upon a butaca, "excuse me for pursuing you into your last +entrenchments, but I want to talk seriously with you, and so I frankly +knocked at this door."</p> + +<p>"You have done well," Don Hernando answered, with ill-dissembled agony: +"you know that I am entirely at your disposal. How can I be of any +service to you?"</p> + +<p>"I will not trouble you long: I am not fond of lengthy conversations, +and have merely come to terminate the affair which we began on the day +when I arrived at the hacienda."</p> + +<p>The hacendero felt a cold perspiration stand on his temples at this +brutally frank avowal.</p> + +<p>"I had not forgotten you," he replied: "at this very moment I was +making arrangements which, I trust, will enable me to discharge the +debt in a few days."</p> + +<p>"That is not the point," Don Rufino remarked, airily: "I do not want +the money, and request you to hold it for me as long as you possibly +can."</p> + +<p>Don Hernando looked at him in amazement. "That surprises you," the +Senator continued, "and yet the affair is very simple. I was anxious to +prove to you that you had in me not a pressing creditor, but a truly +devoted friend. When I saw that it would greatly embarrass you to repay +me this trifle, and as you are a gentleman I am anxious to oblige, I +turned to another quarter."</p> + +<p>"Still," Don Hernando, who feared a snare, objected: "you said to me—"</p> + +<p>"I believed it," Don Rufino interrupted him. "Fortunately it was not +so, as I have recently acquired the proof: not only have I been able to +meet my payment, but I have a considerable sum left in my hands which +I do not know what to do with, and which I should feel much obliged +by your taking; for I do not know a more honourable gentleman than +yourself, and I wish to get rid of the money, which is useless to me at +the moment."</p> + +<p>Don Hernando, confounded by this overture, which he had been so far +from expecting from a man who had at first been so harsh with him, was +silent, for he knew not what to answer, or to what he should attribute +this so sudden and extraordinary change.</p> + +<p>"Good gracious!" continued Don Rufino, with a smile; "During the +few days I have been with you, my dear Señor, I have been enabled +to appreciate the intelligent way in which you manage your immense +estate; and it is evident to me that you must realize enormous profits. +Unfortunately for you, you are in the position of all men who +undertake great things with limited resources. You are short of capital +just at the moment when it is most necessary; but as this is a common +case, you cannot complain. You have made sacrifices, and will have to +make more before obtaining real results. The money you want I have, +and I offer it to you. I trust you will not insult me by doubting my +friendship, or my desire to be of service to you."</p> + +<p>"Certainly, Caballero. Still," Don Hernando stammered, "I am already +your debtor to a heavy amount."</p> + +<p>"Well, what matter? You will be my debtor for a larger amount, that is +all."</p> + +<p>"I understand all the delicacy and kindness of your conduct, but I +fear—"</p> + +<p>"What?—That I may demand repayment at an inconvenient moment?"</p> + +<p>"I will not conceal from you—"</p> + +<p>"You are wrong, Don Hernando. I wish to deal with you as a friend, and +do you a real service. You owe me seventy thousand piastres, I believe?"</p> + +<p>"Alas, yes!"</p> + +<p>"Why that 'alas?'" the senator asked, with a smile. "Seventy thousand +piastres, and fifty thousand more I am going to hand you directly, +in six bills payable at sight, drawn on Wilson and Co., Bankers, at +Hermosillo, will form a round sum, for which you will give me your +acceptance payable—come, what date will suit you best?"</p> + +<p>Don Hernando hesitated. Evidently Don Rufino, in making him so strange +a proposal, had an object; but that object he could not see. The +Senator's love for his daughter could not impel him to do such a +generous act: this unexpected kindness evidently concealed a snare; +but what was the snare? Don Rufino carefully followed the different +feelings that were reflected on Don Hernando's face.</p> + +<p>"You hesitate," he said to him, "and you are wrong. Let us talk +candidly. You cannot possibly hope to realize any profit within eight +months, so it will be impossible for you to pay me so large a sum +before that period." Then, opening his pocketbook and taking out +the six bills, which he laid on the table, he continued: "Here are +the fifty thousand piastres; give me an acceptance for one hundred +and twenty thousand, payable at twelve months' date. You see that +I give you all necessary latitude to turn yourself round. Well, +supposing—which is not probable—that you are unable to pay me when +the bill falls due; we will renew it, that is all. <i>¡Cuerpo de Cristo!</i> +I am not a harsh creditor. Come, is the matter settled, or must I take +the bills back?"</p> + +<p>Money, under whatever shape it presents itself, has an irresistible +attraction in the eyes of the speculator and embarrassed man. Don +Hernando, in spite of all his efforts—in spite of all the numerous +sacrifices he had made, felt himself rapidly going down the incline of +ruin, on which it is impossible for a man to stop; but time might save +him. Don Rufino, whatever his wishes might be, rendered him an immense +service by giving him, not only time, but also the money he required, +and which he despaired of obtaining elsewhere. Any longer hesitation +on his part would therefore have been unjustifiable; hence he took the +bills, and gave his acceptance.</p> + +<p>"That's settled," Don Rufino said, as he folded the document and +carefully placed it in his pocketbook. "My dear Señor, you are really a +singular man. There is more difficulty in getting you to accept money +than there would be in getting another to pay it."</p> + +<p>"I really do not know how to thank you, Don Rufino, for the service +you have rendered me, and which I am now free to confess has arrived +very opportunely."</p> + +<p>"Money is always opportune," the Senator replied, with a laugh; "but +let us say no more about that. If you happen to have a safe man, send +him off at once to cash these bills at Hermosillo, for money is too +scarce to be allowed to lie idle."</p> + +<p>"This very day my majordomo, Don José Paredes, shall set out for the +<i>ciudad</i>."</p> + +<p>"Very good. Now I have one request to make of you."</p> + +<p>"Speak, speak! I shall be delighted to prove to you how grateful I am."</p> + +<p>"This is the matter: now that I am, temporarily at least, no longer +your creditor, I have no decent pretext for remaining at the hacienda."</p> + +<p>"Well, what does that matter?"</p> + +<p>"It matters a great deal to me. I should like to remain here a few days +longer, in order to enjoy your agreeable society."</p> + +<p>"Are you jesting, Don Rufino? The longer you remain at the hacienda, +the greater honour you will do us; we shall be delighted to keep you, +not for a few days, but for all the time you may be pleased to grant +us."</p> + +<p>"Very good; that is what I desired. Now, I shall go away and leave you +to your business."</p> + +<p>When the majordomo returned to the hacienda at about eleven o'clock in +the morning, Don Hernando sent for him. Without taking the time to pull +off his vaquero boots or unbuckle his heavy spurs, José Parades hurried +to his master.</p> + +<p>"Have you a good horse?" the hacendero asked, so soon as the majordomo +entered the study.</p> + +<p>"I have several, Excellency," he answered.</p> + +<p>"I mean by a good horse, one capable of going a long distance."</p> + +<p>"Certainly, mi amo; I have a mustang on which I could ride to +Hermosillo and back without giving it any further rest than that of the +camping hours."</p> + +<p>"I want to send you to Hermosillo."</p> + +<p>"Very good, Excellency; when must I start?"</p> + +<p>"Why, as soon as possible after you have rested."</p> + +<p>"Rested from what?"</p> + +<p>"The ride you have taken this morning."</p> + +<p>The majordomo shrugged his shoulders with a smile. "I am never tired, +Excellency; in half an hour I shall have lassoed my horse, saddled it, +and mounted, unless you wish me to defer my journey."</p> + +<p>"The hours for the siesta will soon be here, and the heat will be +insufferable."</p> + +<p>"You are aware, Excellency, that we half-Indians are children of the +sun; its heat does not affect us."</p> + +<p>"You have an answer for everything, Don José."</p> + +<p>"For you, Excellency, I feel myself capable of performing +impossibilities."</p> + +<p>"I know that you are devoted to my house."</p> + +<p>"Is it not just, Excellency? For two centuries my family has eaten the +bread of yours; and, if I acted otherwise than I am doing, I should be +unworthy of those from whom I am descended."</p> + +<p>"I thank you, my friend; you know the esteem and affection I have for +you. I am about to intrust an important commission to you."</p> + +<p>"Be assured that I shall perform it, Excellency."</p> + +<p>"Very good. You will start at once for Hermosillo, where you will cash +these bills for fifty thousand piastres, at the bank of Wilson and Co."</p> + +<p>"Fifty thousand piastres!" the majordomo repeated, with surprise.</p> + +<p>"It surprises you, my friend, to whom I have confided my most secret +affairs, that I have so large a sum to receive. You ask yourself, +doubtless, in what way I managed to obtain it."</p> + +<p>"I ask nothing, Excellency; it does not concern me. I am here to carry +out your orders, and not permit myself improper observations."</p> + +<p>"This money has been lent me by a friend whose kindness is +inexhaustible."</p> + +<p>"Heaven grant that you are not mistaken, Excellency; and that the man +from whom you have this money is really a friend."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, Don José? To what are you alluding?"</p> + +<p>"I make no allusion, mi amo; I merely think that friends who lend +fifty thousand piastres from hand to hand—pardon my frankness, +Excellency—to a man whose affairs are in such a condition as yours, +are very rare at present; and that, before forming a definite judgment +about them, it would be wiser to wait and learn the cause of such +singular generosity."</p> + +<p>Don Hernando sighed. He shared his majordomo's opinions, though he +would not allow it. Following the tactics of all men who have not good +reasons to allege, he suddenly turned the conversation.</p> + +<p>"You can take three or four persons with you," he said.</p> + +<p>"What to do, Excellency?"</p> + +<p>"Why, to act as escort on your return."</p> + +<p>The majordomo began laughing.</p> + +<p>"What use is an escort, Excellency? You want your money here? I will +buy a mule at Hermosillo, and load the money on it, and it will take a +very clever fellow to rob me, I assure you."</p> + +<p>"Still, it would be, perhaps, better to have an escort."</p> + +<p>"Permit me to remark, Excellency, that it would be the best way of +setting robbers on my track."</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Viva Dios!</i> I should be curious to know how you arrive at that +conclusion."</p> + +<p>"You will easily understand me, mi amo. A single man is certain to pass +unnoticed, especially when, as at this moment, the roads are infested +with bandits of every description and every colour."</p> + +<p>"Hum! what you are saying is not re-assuring, Don José, do you know +that?" Don Hernando remarked, with a smile, for his majordomo's +reasoning amused him.</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, the bandits to whom I am referring, Excellency, are +clever, too clever, and it is that which ruins them; they will never +imagine that a poor devil of a half-breed, leading a sorry mule, can be +carrying fifty thousand piastres. Deceived by my appearance, they will +let me pass, without even pretending to see; while if I take persons +with me, it will arouse their suspicions, they will want to know why I +am guarded, and I shall be plundered."</p> + +<p>"You may really be right, Don José."</p> + +<p>"I am certain I am, Excellency."</p> + +<p>"Well, I will not argue any longer; do what you think proper."</p> + +<p>"All right, Excellency; I will deliver the money to you, without the +loss of a real, I promise you."</p> + +<p>"May Heaven grant it: here are the bills, and now—you can start +whenever you please."</p> + +<p>"I shall be gone within an hour, Excellency," the majordomo answered.</p> + +<p>He took up the bills, hid them in his bosom, and, after bowing to his +master, left the study. José Paredes went straight to the corral, where +in a few minutes he had lassoed a mustang with small head and flashing +eye, which he began saddling, after he had carefully rubbed it down. +Then he inspected his weapons, laid in a stock of powder and ball, +placed some provisions in his alforjas, and mounted. But, instead of +leaving the hacienda, he proceeded to a separate building, and twice +gently tapped a window before which he pulled up. The window opened, +and Don Ruiz appeared.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Is that you, Paredes; going back to the plantations already?" he +said; "Well, wait a minute, and I will be with you."</p> + +<p>The majordomo shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Do not disturb yourself, Niño," he said. "I am not going to the +plantations, but on a journey."</p> + +<p>"A journey?" the young man asked, in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Yes; but only for a few days. The Marquis has sent me, and I shall +soon be back."</p> + +<p>"Can you tell me the reason why you are going, and whither?"</p> + +<p>"The master will tell you himself, Niño."</p> + +<p>"Good! But I suppose you have some other motive for coming to wish me +good-bye?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Niño; I wished to give you a piece of advice before leaving the +hacienda."</p> + +<p>"Advice?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and of a serious nature. Niño, during my absence, watch carefully +the man who is here!"</p> + +<p>"Whom do you mean, Paredes?"</p> + +<p>"The Senator, Don Rufino Contreras."</p> + +<p>"For what reason?"</p> + +<p>"Watch him, Niño, watch him! And now, good-bye for the present."</p> + +<p>And without awaiting the question the young man was about to ask him, +the majordomo dug his spurs into his horse's flanks, and left the +hacienda at a gallop.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a></h4> + +<h3>ON THE ROAD.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>Mexico, considering its size, is one of the least populated countries +in the world. With but few exceptions, the old Spanish colonies, +since they have proclaimed their independence and become free +republics, having been constantly engaged in war with each other, or +in overthrowing the government they themselves elected, have seen all +the ties attaching families to the soil broken in turn. Foreigners, no +longer finding the necessary safety for their speculations in countries +incessantly troubled by revolutions, have gone away. Trade has been +annihilated; commerce has fallen into a state of atrophy; and the +population has frightfully decreased, with such rapidity, that sensible +men, who sought a remedy for this incurable evil, called emigration to +the help of these states, which nothing can galvanise, and which only +possess a factitious existence.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, the Hispano-American race is essentially haughty and +jealous. Poor fellows, who let themselves be seduced by the brilliant +promises made them, and who consented to cross the sea to settle in +this country, found, on their arrival, and especially in Mexico, an +ill-disguised hatred and contempt, which was displayed in all classes +of society by ill will and aversion. Hence, being disgusted by their +reception, and recognising the slight trust they could place in the +promises of the men who had summoned them, they hastened to leave a +country in which they had only found unjust prejudices and deplorable +ill faith, and went to ask of the United States the protection refused +them by those who had so pressingly summoned them.</p> + +<p>Mexico, in spite of a certain varnish of civilization, the last +reminiscence of the Spanish occupation, which may still be found in +the large cities and their environs, is, therefore, in reality plunged +into a state of barbarism relatively greater than it was fifty years +ago. The Pacific States, especially, being less frequently visited +by strangers, and left, as it were, to themselves, have retained a +peculiar physiognomy, whose picturesque savageness and rough manners +would cause the tourist's heart to beat with joy, if ever a tourist +ventured into these countries; but which inspire an involuntary fear, +justified, however, by everything the traveller, forced to visit this +land on business, witnesses.</p> + +<p>In Europe and all civilized countries, the means of transport are +numerous and convenient, but in Mexico only one is known—the horse. In +the Central States, and those which run along the Atlantic seaboard, +some towns possess diligences, which change horses at the <i>tambos</i>, +a species of inn, where the travellers stop to pass the night. But +these <i>tambos</i> and <i>mesones</i>, which possess a great resemblance to +the Sicilian hostelries and Spanish ventas, supply absolutely nothing +to the guests they shelter, excepting a roof, reduced to its simplest +expression; that is to say, the traveller is compelled to take his +bed with him, in addition to provisions, if he does not wish to sleep +wrapped up in his cloak.</p> + +<p>In spite of the numberless disagreements which the uncomfortable +mode of progressing from one place to another entails, the traveller +derives one advantage from it—that of not being exposed, in a fickle +atmosphere like that of Mexico, where after burning days the nights +are chilly, to the attacks of the climate. In the Pacific States, +matters are no longer thus; the traveller who proceeds from one town to +another is forced to do so on horseback, without any hope of finding +for a distance of sixty or eighty leagues the smallest inn, or even +most wretched rancho, where he can shelter himself from wind and rain +at nightfall. At sunset he camps where he is in the open air, and +begins his journey again on the morrow Still, as Providence has been +in its wisdom careful to give an equal amount of good and evil, the +robbers, salteadores, and brigands of every description, who infest all +the roads in the interior, on which they reign as masters, plundering +travellers in open day and assassinating them with the most perfect +impunity, are rarely found in Sonora. In this country the roads in this +respect enjoy a relatively complete security, except when the Indians +have risen, or a fresh <i>pronunciamiento</i> has let bands of revolted +soldiers loose on the country. These fellows have no scruple about +imitating professional robbers, and killing and plundering people, +whose unlucky stars have exposed them to their tender mercies.</p> + +<p>José Paredes, though he had in reality only fifty leagues to go, a +distance which in most European countries is comfortably performed +in a railway carriage in a few hours, was obliged, on account of the +bad state of the roads, and the indispensable precautions he had +to take, to remain at least four days on the road before reaching +Hermosillo. This journey, which would have been very painful to any +man accustomed to the ease and luxuries of life, was only a pleasure +trip for the worthy majordomo, a real Centaur, whose life was spent +on horseback—who slept more frequently in the open air than under a +roof, and whose powerful constitution rendered him insensible to the +annoyances inseparable from a journey made under such conditions. The +Mexicans have two expressions which admirably depict the class of men +to whom the majordomo belonged; they call them <i>Jinetes</i> and <i>Hombres +de a Caballo</i>.</p> + +<p>José Paredes, then, rode along jauntily on his horse, at one moment +carelessly smoking a husk cigarette, at another humming a <i>jarabe</i> +or a <i>seguedilla</i>, while keeping his eye and ear on the watch, and +his finger prudently laid on the trigger of his gun, which was placed +across his saddle-bow. His second day's ride was drawing to a close; +he had left Arispe far behind him, which town he had passed through +without stopping longer than he required to lay in fresh provisions and +forage for his horse.</p> + +<p>The sun was rapidly declining on the horizon; a rather powerful wind +blew in gusts, raising clouds of dust, which blinded the horseman and +formed a thick fog round him, in the midst of which he almost entirely +disappeared. Although, as we have said, the day was drawing to a close, +the heat was stifling, the sky had assumed a livid appearance; yellow +clouds gradually collected in the horizon and were rapidly brought +up by the wind. The birds whirled in the air, uttering shrill and +discordant cries; sharp noises and shrill whistlings rose from among +the rocks that on both sides flanked the narrow ravine the majordomo +was now following, and large drops of rain fell on the calcined soil, +which easily imbibed them. The horse pricked its ears, shook its head, +and snorted in terror. All presaged one of those storms which it is +only possible to witness in these regions—veritable cataclysms which +rend and uproot the largest trees, force streams from their beds, and +overthrow the soil, as if the earth were struggling wildly beneath the +grasp of those horrible convulsions of Nature, which completely change +within a few hours the aspect of the country over which they have swept +with the fury of the African simoom.</p> + +<p>"Hum!" José Paredes muttered to himself, as he took an anxious glance +along the road; "If I am not greatly mistaken, within an hour we shall +have one of the most tremendous <i>cordonazos</i> that has been seen for +some time. That will be most agreeable for me, and my position will +not fail to be most amusing. Confound the temporal! Why could it not +have waited for another eight-and-forty hours?"</p> + +<p>The majordomo lost no time in vain lamentation. The situation in which +he found himself was really critical: he knew that if the temporal +surprised him on this ravine, he would have enormous difficulties +to overcome in escaping its violence. He therefore resolved at all +hazards to attempt the greatest efforts in getting out of the scrape. +Minutes were precious; hesitation was impossible, and he must form a +decision at once. José Paredes was a resolute man, long accustomed +only to reckon on his courage, strength, and energy, to get him out +of difficult situations; he therefore carefully wrapped himself in +his zarapé, pulled his hat down over his forehead, and, bending over +his horse's neck, dug his spurs, while crying, sharply, one word: +"Santiago!" a cry employed in this country to excite horses. The noble +animal, astonished that its master should deem it necessary to employ +spurs to give it ardour, gave a snort of passion, and started at a +headlong pace.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile the clouds had completely covered the blue sky; the +atmosphere was gradually growing darker; the sunbeams had lost their +heat; the horse still dashed on, rendered furious by the incessant +prick of the spurs, which the majordomo dug into his panting flanks. +At length Paredes uttered a cry of joy, for he had reached the end of +the ravine, and before him extended a vast plain, bordered by tall +mountains in the horizon. These mountains the majordomo wanted to +reach, for there alone had he chance of safety. Although his position +had greatly improved after leaving the ravine, it was still extremely +difficult, if the storm were to burst before he had succeeded in +crossing the plains, which afforded him no shelter to brave the +tornado. Hence, the traveller, after exploring the neighbourhood with a +rapid glance, and assuring himself that he had no hope of escaping the +tempest, and the barren sandy plain which was only traversed by a few +streams, repeated his cry of "Santiago," and set out on his mad ride +once more.</p> + +<p>As always happens, and as anyone who has studied the admirable instinct +of the horse can certify, the noble animal the majordomo rode seemed +to have identified itself with its master. Through the effort of +that magnetic current, whose power is no longer doubted, it appeared +to understand that their common safety depended on its efforts; and +it literally devoured the space, darting across the plain with the +fantastic rapidity of the spectre steed of the German ballad.</p> + +<p>All at once a vivid flash broke through the clouds, followed by a +tremendous thunderclap. The horse gave a start of terror, but quickly +checked by its rider, started again through the torrents of rain which +were beginning to fall. Night bad suddenly set in; the sun, veiled by +the clouds, had become invisible, and it was in condemned obscurity +that the majordomo was compelled to attempt the supreme efforts on +which life or death depended. Still, Paredes was not discouraged, +and his will seemed to grow fearless in the struggle; while sitting +firmly in the saddle, like a granite statue, with contracted brows +and eyes looking ahead, as if constantly trying to pierce the gloom, +and exciting his horse with spur and voice, his features were as calm +and impassive as if he were merely in one of the thousand ordinary +accidents of his adventurous life in the desert. In the meanwhile the +tempest had changed into a fearful hurricane, and raged with extreme +fury. The unchained winds whistled violently, dashing the rain, and +upraising masses of mud, which flew along the ground.</p> + +<p>An ill-omened swashing made the unhappy traveller, who was surprised by +the tornado, understand that the streams were beginning to overflow and +inundate the plain. By the vivid flashes which uninterruptedly followed +each other, the majordomo could see all around large grey pools of +water, which constantly widened and enclosed him in an incessantly +contracting circle; distant sounds borne by the breeze heightened his +apprehensions. An hour more, he felt, and the plains would only form +one vast lake, in the midst of which he would infallibly perish. Warned +by that instinct which never deceives them, the wild beasts had left +their lairs, and were flying madly, while uttering hoarse roars of +terror. When a flash lit up the horizon, Paredes could see indistinct +forms pass by his side, which were no other than the dangerous denizens +of the prairie. All was overthrown and confounded. The swash of the +water was mingled with the artillery of the thunder and the howling of +the wind. But the horse still galloped on straight ahead, sustained by +the very terror which maddened it and spurred it on better than the +sharpest knife could have done.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the majordomo uttered a cry of terror and anger, drew himself +up, and pulled bridle with such strength that the horse stopped short +on his trembling legs. He fancied he had heard the distant sound of a +bell. When an inundation comes, the hacenderos have all their bells +rung, in order to warn straggling travellers and tell them of a place +of refuge. The majordomo listened; in a few seconds a sound, faint as +a sigh, reached the ear. The practised hunter was not mistaken; it +was really the expiring sound of a bell that reached him, and the +sound, came from a direction diametrically opposite to the one he was +following. In the darkness he had left his track; he was lost in the +midst of an entirely submerged country without chance of help. In spite +of his indomitable bravery the majordomo felt an internal horror; an +icy perspiration stood on his forehead, and he shook all over. At this +supreme moment the man had but one terrible thought that he would bear +with him to the tomb the fortune entrusted to him by his master, and on +which the future of his children perhaps depended. Paredes felt burning +tears start from his eyes, and a choking sob from his bosom. He cared +little for life; he would gladly have sacrificed it for his master; but +the thought of dying thus, and completing his master's ruin, caused +him indescribable grief. For some minutes this lion-hearted man, this +bold wood ranger, who had faced without blenching the most terrible +dangers, felt weaker than a child. But this prostration only lasted a +short time, and a reaction quickly took place; ashamed of the passing +despondency to which he had yielded, the majordomo became the firmer +when all seemed to abandon him, and resolved to sustain the insensate +struggle till he drew his last breath.</p> + +<p>Rendered stronger by his energetic resolution, the majordomo, whose +arteries were beating as if about to burst, passed the back of his band +over his eyes, addressed to Heaven that mental prayer which the most +intrepid men find in their hearts at the supreme moment when life or +death only hangs by a thread; and, instead of going on, he waited for +a flash, by which he could examine his position, and decide the new +course he had to take. He had not to wait long; almost immediately a +flash shot athwart the sky. Paredes uttered a cry of joy and surprise: +he had seen, a few paces from him on his right, a rather tall hill, +on the top of which he fancied he noticed a horseman, motionless and +upright as an equestrian statue.</p> + +<p>With that coolness which powerful men alone possess in critical +circumstances, the majordomo, although he felt that the water was +rapidly encircling him, and was almost up to his horse's girths, would +not leave anything to chance. Fearing he had been deceived by one of +those optical illusions, so frequent when the senses are overexcited, +he resolved to wait for a second flash, and kept his eyes fixed on the +spot where the hill must be, which he fancied he must have seen as in +a dream. All at once, at the moment when the desired flash lit up the +darkness, a voice, that overpowered the roar of the tempest, reached +his ear:</p> + +<p>"Courage! Keep straight on," he heard.</p> + +<p>The majordomo uttered a cry of delight, which resembled a yell; and, +lifting his horse with his bridle and knees, he dashed toward the hill, +pursued by the seething waters which were powerless to arrest him; and, +after an ascent that lasted scarce ten minutes, he fell fainting into +the arms of the man whose summons had saved him. From this moment he +had nothing to fear: an inundation could not reach the top of the hill +where he had found such a providential refuge.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a></h4> + +<h3>A CONVERSATION BY NIGHT.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>The majordomo's fainting fit, caused rather by the moral struggle he +had sustained than by the physical fatigue he had endured, was not of +any duration: when he re-opened his eyes, he was alone on the top of +the hill. He threw off the furs and blankets laid over him, to protect +him, doubtless from the icy cold of the night, and looked curiously +round him. The tempest was still raging, but it had lost a great deal +of its violence. The rain had ceased: the deep blue sky was gradually +becoming studded with twinkling stars, which shed an uncertain light, +and gave the landscape an aspect of strange and desolate wildness. +The wind blew furiously, and formed waves on the seething top of the +waters, which had now almost risen to the spot where the majordomo lay. +A few yards from its master, his horse was quietly grazing; it was +eating the young tree shoots, and the tall close grass that covered the +ground like a thick carpet of verdure. Another horse was browsing close +by.</p> + +<p>"Good!" Paredes muttered to himself, "My saviour has not gone away; I +hope he is not far off, and that I shall see him soon. Where can he be? +At his own business, of course, though I cannot guess the nature of his +occupation at such a moment. Well, the best plan will be to wait for +him."</p> + +<p>The Mexican had scarce ended his soliloquy, ere a shadow stood out in +the gloom, and the man of whom he was speaking appeared.</p> + +<p>"Ah, ah!" he said, gaily, "You are all right again, I see: all the +better; I would sooner have you in that position than the one you were +in just now."</p> + +<p>"Thanks," the majordomo cordially answered. "I fancy I must have looked +very pitiable, stretched out like a half-throttled <i>novillo</i>. Is it not +disgraceful for a strong man to faint like a child or a feeble woman?"</p> + +<p>"Not the least in the world, <i>compañero</i>," the other said, frankly. +"Accident decreed that I should be for a long time the involuntary +witness of the contest you waged, though it was impossible to help +you, and <i>¡Viva Dios!</i> I declare that you are a tough combatant; you +sustained the shock bravely, and many others in your place—I the +first, perhaps—would not have got out of the scrape so well."</p> + +<p>This answer completely broke the ice, and made the two men +comparatively friends at once.</p> + +<p>"I confess," Paredes remarked, as he offered his hand to his new +friend, "that for a moment I believed myself lost, and had it not been +for you I should have been so."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense," the other replied, as he pressed the hand offered him. +"You owe me nothing, for, by Jove! You saved yourself all alone. But +let us not dwell on this point any longer. Although we are in relative +safety, as the water cannot reach us here, our position is not the most +agreeable; and I fancy it would be the best for us to try and get out +of it as quickly as possible."</p> + +<p>"That is my opinion, too; but, unluckily, the means at our disposal are +very limited."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps so; at any rate, with your consent, we will hold an Indian +council."</p> + +<p>"That is the best thing we can do at this moment. However," he added, +as he looked up to the sky, "day will not break for three hours."</p> + +<p>"We have time before us, in that case."</p> + +<p>Daring this short conversation the storm had entirely ceased, and the +wind only blew in gusts.</p> + +<p>"Before all," the majordomo said, "let us light a fire; now that the +tempest has ceased, the wild beasts, whose instinct is infallible, will +seek the shelter of this hill, swarm round us, and, if we do not take +care, carry our position by assault."</p> + +<p>"Excellently argued; I see that you are a hunter."</p> + +<p>"I was one for some time," Paredes replied, with a sigh of regret, "but +now it is all over; my adventures in the desert are ended."</p> + +<p>"I pity you sincerely," the stranger said, with an accent of sincerity; +"for no existence is comparable with it."</p> + +<p>"The finest years of my life were those I spent in the desert."</p> + +<p>While conversing thus, the two men had dug a hole with their machetes +at the foot of an enormous larch tree, to act as a hearth. In this +hole they piled up all the resinous wood they were able to procure, +lit it with some gunpowder rolled up in leaves, and in a few minutes +a long jet of flame sprung up and joyously ascended to the sky, while +the wood crackled and emitted millions of sparks. Fire has an immense +influence upon the human mind; among other benefits, it has the faculty +of restoring joy and hope; and while warming a man with its reviving +heat, it often makes him forget perils incurred and fatigues endured. +The two men, who were as wet as if they had been in a river, dried +themselves for a considerable time, enjoying the pleasant sensations +which the heat made them experience, in proportion as it penetrated +into the pores, causing the blood to circulate with greater vivacity, +and restoring elasticity to their benumbed limbs. It was the majordomo +who was the first to resume the conversation.</p> + +<p>"¡Viva Dios!" he said, shaking himself joyously; "I am now quite a +different man. What a fine thing a fire is when you are cold. Suppose +we make use of it, comrade?"</p> + +<p>"Do so, pray," the stranger replied, with a laugh; "but in what way?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is very easy; you shall see. Are you not hungry?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Caray</i>, it is fourteen hours since I have eaten; but unluckily I have +no provisions."</p> + +<p>"Well, I have, and we will share them."</p> + +<p>"Very good. I see that you are a first-rate fellow."</p> + +<p>The majordomo rose, fetched the alforjas which were fastened to his +saddle, and then seated himself again by the fire.</p> + +<p>"There!" he said, displaying his provisions with some degree of +complacency.</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Caramba!</i>" the other remarked, with a laugh; "Food was never more +welcome."</p> + +<p>The provisions which caused such delight to the two men would have +made our European good wives smile with pity. They consisted of some +slices of <i>tasajo</i>, <i>cicuia</i>, a lump of goat's cheese, and a few +maize tortillas; but the majordomo produced a leather bottle, full +of excellent mezcal, which had the privilege of restoring to the two +adventurers all their merry carelessness.</p> + +<p>The <i>tasajo</i> was laid on the coals, where it was soon done to a turn, +and the two friends heartily attacked the supper. The frugal meal +ended, they washed it down with a few sips of mezcal, fraternally +passing the bottle to each other; then they lit their cigarettes, the +<i>obligado</i> supplement of every Mexican repast, and began to smoke, +while attentively surveying the heavy sky, which was already striped +with dark bands under the influence of the early morning hours.</p> + +<p>"Now, let us hold a council, if you are agreeable," the stranger said, +as he inhaled an enormous mouthful of smoke, which he sent forth +through his mouth and nostrils.</p> + +<p>"As you are my senior on this territory," the majordomo remarked, with +a laugh, "and are better acquainted with its resources than I am, you +have the right to speak first."</p> + +<p>"Very good: we are surrounded by water, and though the temporal has +ceased, the streams will not return to their bed for several hours: +moreover, the whole day will pass before the water is entirely absorbed +by the sand."</p> + +<p>"That is true," the majordomo said, with a significant shake of the +head: "and yet we must get away from here."</p> + +<p>"That is the question. To do so, we can only employ two means."</p> + +<p>"Yes, we must either wait till the ground is dry, and that +unfortunately will take a long time, which I cannot afford, as I am in +a hurry: or at sunrise we can mount our horses, and bravely swim off, +and reach the mountains, which cannot be very far distant."</p> + +<p>"You forgot another way which is still at our service."</p> + +<p>"I do not think so."</p> + +<p>"We can get into a canoe, and tow our horses after us, which will tire +them less than carrying us; and enable us to reach the mountains to +which you refer with greater ease; and they are only two leagues at the +most, from this point."</p> + +<p>"Your opinion is certainly good, and I approve of it with all my heart; +unluckily we want one very important thing to carry it out."</p> + +<p>"What is that?"</p> + +<p>"Why, hang it all—the canoe."</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken, <i>compadre</i>, we have one."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense; how can that be possible?"</p> + +<p>"While you were in a faint," the stranger continued, with a smile, +"I explored our domain. You know that, in this country, when the +rainy season arrives, the inhabitants are accustomed to hide canoes +in bushes, and even in trees, in order to give travellers who are +surprised by the inundation the means of saving themselves."</p> + +<p>"That is true; have you found a canoe?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and hidden behind the very tree against which you are leaning."</p> + +<p>"Heaven be praised! In that case we run no risk; but is the canoe in +good condition?"</p> + +<p>"I have assured myself of that fact, and even found two pairs of new +paddles."</p> + +<p>"Heaven is very certainly on your side. In that case we will start at +sunrise, if that suits you."</p> + +<p>"Excellently; though I am not in such a hurry as you appear to be, and +for certain reasons I must remain in these parts for some days longer."</p> + +<p>"Shall we employ the few hours left us in having a sleep?"</p> + +<p>"You can sleep if you like, but as I am not at all fatigued, I shall +watch over our common safety."</p> + +<p>"I accept your proposal as frankly as you make it. Yet, with your +permission, I will not close my eyes till I have become better +acquainted with you."</p> + +<p>"How so? Are we not friends already?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, I am your friend, at least; but we do not know one another."</p> + +<p>"That is to say—"</p> + +<p>"We do not know one another—I mean who we are."</p> + +<p>"Oh, when travelling, what value can such formalities possess?"</p> + +<p>"A greater value than you suppose; in a few hours we shall part, it is +true, perhaps never to meet again; but perhaps, at some distant period, +we may require each other's assistance; now, how could I summon you, if +I did not know your name?"</p> + +<p>"You're right, comrade; as for me, I am only a poor devil of a hunter, +wood ranger, or trapper—whichever you please, and my companions call +me Stronghand, because, as they say, when I hold out my hand to a +friend he can trust to it in perfect confidence."</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Viva Dios</i>, caballero! you are well named, as I can declare; your +reputation has already reached me, and I am delighted at the chance +that has brought us together, as I had already desired to form your +personal acquaintance."</p> + +<p>"I thank you," the hunter replied, with a bow.</p> + +<p>"As for me," the Mexican continued, "my name is José Paredes, and I am +majordomo to the Marquis de Moguer."</p> + +<p>"What!" Stronghand said, with a surprise he did not try to conceal; +"you are majordomo at the Hacienda del Toro?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, what do you find surprising in that?"</p> + +<p>"The man whom his master sent two days ago to Hermosillo, to receive +cash for heavy bills drawn on an English banker?"</p> + +<p>"How do you know that?" Paredes exclaimed, in his turn overwhelmed with +surprise.</p> + +<p>"What matter, so long as I know it?" the hunter replied. "Believe me," +he added, with an accent that caused the majordomo deep reflection, +"our meeting is truly providential, and Heaven led us toward each +other."</p> + +<p>"That is strange," Paredes muttered; "how is it possible that a secret +which my master confided to me alone should be in your possession?"</p> + +<p>The hunter smiled. "A secret known to three persons," he said, "does +not long remain a secret."</p> + +<p>"But that third person, to whom you refer, has no right to divulge it."</p> + +<p>"How do you know that? I will say to you in my turn, Master Paredes. +Sufficient for you, for the present, to learn that I am aware of the +cause of your journey. I think you said you had heard speak of me +before we met?"</p> + +<p>"That is true, Señor."</p> + +<p>"What terms did the persons who spoke of me employ?"</p> + +<p>"The best, I must allow. They represented you to me as a man of +unspotted loyalty and dauntless courage."</p> + +<p>"Good! Does that report satisfy you—have you confidence in me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; for I am convinced that you are an honest man."</p> + +<p>"I hope that your opinion of me will not alter. I will soon prove to +you that it is fortunate for you and the Marquis that we have met at +the moment when you least expected it; for I was looking for you."</p> + +<p>"Looking for me? I do not understand you."</p> + +<p>"You do not require to understand me at the present moment; but set +your mind at rest, everything will be explained ere long."</p> + +<p>"I hope so."</p> + +<p>"And I am certain of it. Are you devoted to your master?"</p> + +<p>"My family have lived on the estate for two hundred years."</p> + +<p>"That is not a reason; answer distinctly."</p> + +<p>"I am devoted to him body and soul, and would willingly lay down my +life for him."</p> + +<p>"That is the way to answer; however, I knew it already, and only +desired that your lips should confirm what I have been told."</p> + +<p>"My master has no secrets from me."</p> + +<p>"I know that also. Well, now, listen to me attentively, Señor Paredes, +for what I have to reveal to you is of the utmost gravity."</p> + +<p>"I am listening to you, Señor."</p> + +<p>"Your master is at this moment in danger of being utterly ruined. He +is the plaything of villains who have sworn to destroy him. The sum +you are going to fetch they intend to take from you, and everything +is prepared to make you fall into an infamous trap, in which you will +infallibly perish."</p> + +<p>"Are you certain of what you assert?" the majordomo exclaimed, in +horror.</p> + +<p>"I know all, I repeat to you: the men from whom I obtained your secret, +who little expected that I was listening to them, at the same time +revealed to me the means they intended to employ in assassinating you."</p> + +<p>"Why, that is infamous!"</p> + +<p>"I am completely of your opinion, and that is why, instead of setting +my traps in the desert, as I ought to be doing, I am now here. I wish +to foil the plots of these villains, and confound them."</p> + +<p>"But what interest induces you to act thus?" the majordomo asked, with +a shadow of distrust.</p> + +<p>"That question I cannot answer. You must for the present lay aside all +curiosity; you must place entire confidence in me, and give me, in what +I propose doing, as much help as I shall offer you. Does this suit you? +I fancy that the bargain I offer is entirely to your advantage, and +that you will run no risk beyond what I do myself."</p> + +<p>There was a lengthened silence. The majordomo was reflecting on what +he had just heard, while the hunter, with his eyes fixed on him, was +patiently waiting till he thought proper to renew the conversation. At +length Paredes raised his head, and held out his hand to the hunter, +who pressed it.</p> + +<p>"Listen, Stronghand," he said to him; "all that you have told me +appears extraordinary, and I confess that at once: but there is such +frankness in your voice, and your reputation is so well established +among your brethren, the wood rangers, who all proclaim your loyalty, +that I do not hesitate to confide in you without any reservation, for +I am convinced that you can have no idea of betraying me, up to the +moment when you think proper to reveal to me the names of the villains +into whose hands I should have infallibly fallen, had it not been for +you, and who have sworn the ruin of my beloved master. I will do what +you ask of me—resign my will entirely; you may regard me as a thing +belonging entirely to you. Come, go, act as you think proper, and I +will obey you in everything, without asking any explanation of your +conduct. Now, in your turn, say if it suits you."</p> + +<p>"Yes, my worthy friend, that pleases me. You have guessed my thought. +I require this liberty to give me the means of succeeding in what I +wish to do. Believe the word of an honest man. If anything can add +to the confidence you have placed in me, and of which I am proud, I +swear to you, by all that is most sacred in the world, that no one is +more interested than I am in the Marquis de Moguer, or more sincerely +desires to see him happy."</p> + +<p>"We shall still start at sunrise, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; but not to proceed to Hermosillo. Before going to that town, we +must take certain indispensable precautions. We have to deal with the +most crafty bandits on the border, and must beat them by cunning. They +are on our track, and we must cheat the cheaters."</p> + +<p>"Good, good! I will call to mind my old hunter's profession."</p> + +<p>"Remember, above all, the prairie proverb, 'The trees have eyes and the +leaves ears.' Fortunately for us, the villains who are watching for you +do not disturb me in any way. I reckon principally on that ignorance to +foil their plots."</p> + +<p>"But if we do not go to Hermosillo, where are we going?"</p> + +<p>"Tomorrow, when it is daylight," the hunter answered, sententiously, +"when the bright sunbeams permit me to convince myself that no one can +hear us, I will tell you. For the present, sleep, rest yourself, so +that you may be able to support the fatigue that awaits you."</p> + +<p>And, as if to avoid fresh questioning, the hunter wrapped himself in +his zarapé, leant his back against the larch tree, stretched out his +legs to the fire, and closed his eyes. The majordomo, in spite of his +lively desire to continue the conversation, imitated him; and a few +minutes later, overcome by the fatigue of every description he had +endured for some days, he was fast asleep.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE REAL DE MINAS.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>For some years past—that is to say, since the day when Captain Sutter, +while digging a well at his plantation in San Francisco, accidentally +found a lump of virgin gold—the discovery of the rich mines of the New +World has so aroused interest and excited admiration, by giving a fresh +impulse to avarice and covetousness, that we consider it necessary to +say a few words here about the mines. Of course we shall allude to +those situated in the country where our scene is laid—that is, in +Sonora.</p> + +<p>Sonora is the richest mining country in the world. We assured ourself +by official data that six hundred bars of silver and sixty bars of +gold, worth together a million of piastres, were brought to the Mint +of Hermosillo in 1839. To this large amount a nearly equal sum must +be added, which is not brought to be assayed, in order to avoid the +payment of the duty, which is five per cent, on silver and four per +cent, on gold. This country also possesses most valuable copper mines, +but the population generally abandons the other metals to seek virgin +gold.</p> + +<p>No country in the world possesses auriferous strata so rich and so +extensive (<i>criaderos or placeres de oro</i>). The metal is found in +alluvial soil in ravines after rain, and always on the surface or at +a depth of a few feet. In the north of the province of Arispe, the +placers of Quitoval and Sonoitac, which were found again in 1836, +and to which we shall soon have to allude more specially, produced +for three years two hundred ounces of gold per day,—that is to say, +reducing it to our money, the large sum of two hundred and fifty +thousand pounds.</p> + +<p>The gold seekers restrict themselves to turning up the soil with a +pointed stick, and only collect the nuggets that are visible; but +if the streams were diverted from their course, and large washings +undertaken, the profits would be far more considerable. It is not rare +to find nuggets weighing several pounds; we saw at Arispe, in the +hands of a miner, one that was worth nine thousand piastres, or about +eighteen hundred pounds; and the Royal Cabinet at Madrid contains +several magnificent specimens. We will soon describe how and why the +working of these strata was interrupted.</p> + +<p>Most of the buildings of the <i>pueblos</i>, or Missions of Sonora, serve +as the gathering place of the nomadic workmen and traders who collect +round any important mine so soon as its working is begun. The place +where the workmen assemble takes the name of <i>Real de Minas</i> or +<i>Mineral;</i> and if the mine promises to be productive for any length +of time, the population definitively settles round it. Many important +towns of Mexico had no other origin. The facility with which the miners +earn large sums explains the enormous consumption of European goods +which takes place in the provinces. Simple rancheros may frequently +be seen spending in a few days seven or eight pounds of gold, which +only cost them a week's toil. Unhappily, the ruinous passion for +gambling—that shameful leprosy of Mexico, whose inhabitants it +degrades—prevents the great mine owners from keeping a large capital +on their hands, and thus checks works on a great scale.</p> + +<p>Before resuming our narrative, we must also give the reader certain +information about the Indian nations that inhabit the territory of +Sonora. There are in this province five distinct tribes; the Yaquis, +the Opatas, the Mayos, the Gilenos, and the Apaches. The Yaquis and +Mayos occupy the country to the south of Guaymas, as far as the Rio +del Huerto; they let themselves out to the creoles as farm labourers, +masons, servants, miners, and divers. Their number is about forty +thousand. The Opatas reside along the bank of the San Miguel de +Horcasitos, the Arispe, the Los Ures, and the Oposina; they are very +good workmen and excellent soldiers. They have always served the +government faithfully, both Spanish and Mexican, and their number is +estimated at thirty thousand.</p> + +<p>The Gilenos spread along the banks of the Gila and Colorado rivers. +The Axuas and Apaches, who belong to the Sierra Madre, are confounded +under the name of Papazos. These Indians are nomadic, and only live +by hunting and plunder; they were formerly encamped to the north of +Chihuahua and Sonora; but being driven back by the progress of the +Americans and Texans, they threw themselves upon the Mexican territory, +where they cause immense damage, for they are well supplied with +firearms, which they obtained in exchange for peltry and cattle at the +American establishments at the Arkansas, the Missouri, and the Rio +Bravo del Norte. In order to complete this brief enumeration of the +Indian nations of Sonora, we will mention a mission established at the +gates of Hermosillo, and in which five hundred Seris Indians lived; a +thousand members of the same tribe, formerly one of the most powerful +in this country, but now almost extinct, dwelt on the coast to the +north of Guaymas, and in Tiburón or Sharkesland.</p> + +<p>We will now temporarily leave Stronghand and José Paredes at the top of +the hill, where they found a shelter from the inundation, and lead the +reader to the Real de Minas of Quitoval, where certain important events +are about to take place.</p> + +<p>It was the evening: the streets and plazas of the pueblo were crowded +with individuals of every description: Yaquis Indians, hunters, miners, +gambusinos, monks, and adventurers, who composed the motley population +of the Mineral, mounted and foot, incessantly jostled each other, and +bowed, spoke, laughed, or quarrelled. Some were returning from the +placer, where they had been at work all day; others were leaving their +houses to enjoy the evening breeze; others, and they were the larger +number, were entering the drinking shops, through whose doors could be +heard the songs of the topers, and the shrill, inharmonious tinkling +jarabes and vihuelas.</p> + +<p>One of these <i>tendajos</i>, of a more comfortable and less dirty +appearance than the rest, seemed to have the privilege of attracting a +greater number of customers than all the rival establishments. After +passing through a low door and descending two steps of unequal height, +the visitor found himself in a species of hideous den, resembling at +once a cellar and a shed, whose earthen flooring, rendered uneven by +the mud constantly brought in by customers, caused persons to stumble +at each step who visited the place for the first time! A hot heavy +vapour, impregnated with alcoholic fumes and mephitic exhalations, +escaped through the door of this den, as from the mouth of Hades, and +painfully affected mouth and eyes, before the latter became accustomed +to the close, obscure aspect of the place, and were enabled to pierce +the thick curtain of vapour, which was constantly drawn from one side +to the other by the movements of the customers. They perceived, by the +dubious light of a few <i>candils</i> scattered here and there, a large and +lofty room, whose once whitewashed walls had become black at the lower +part by the constant friction of heads, backs, and shoulders, to which +they served as a support.</p> + +<p>Facing the door was a dais, raised about a foot above the ground; this +dais occupied the entire width of the room, and was divided into two +parts; that on the right contained a table forming a bar, behind which +stood a tall, active fellow, with false look and ill-tempered face, the +master of the tendajo. Above the head of this respectable personage, +who answered to the harmonious name of Cospeto, a niche had been made +in the wall, in which was a statue of the Virgin, holding the Holy +Infant in her arms; in front of the statue a dozen small wax tapers, +fixed on a row of iron points, were burning. The left hand portion of +the dais was occupied by the musicians, or performers on jarabes and +vihuelas.</p> + +<p>On each side of the room, the centre of which remained free for the +dancers, ran rickety, badly made, and dirty tables, occupied at +this moment by a crowd of customers, some seated on benches, others +standing, laughing, talking, shouting, quarrelling; drinking mezcal, +refino, pulque, or infusion of tamarinds, or else staking at monte the +gold earned during the day at the mine, and which their dirty hands +fetched from the pockets of the shapeless rags that served them as +garments. A few women, creatures without a name, whose features were +sodden with debauchery, and eyes deep sunk with drinking, were mingled +with the crowd; and all, both men and women, were smoking either cigars +or husk cigarettes.</p> + +<p>Nothing can describe the hideous aspect of this infamous Pandemonium, +the refuge of all the vices of the province, overlooked by the gentle, +smiling face of the statue of the Virgin, whose features, in the light +of the tapers, assumed an expression of wondrous pity and sorrow.</p> + +<p>At the moment when we invite the reader to enter this drinking shop +with us the fun was at its height, the room was full of drinkers and +dancers, and the whole mob laughed, yelled, and made a row which would +have rendered the saint herself deaf. On the left, near the door, a +man, wrapped up in a thick cloak, one end of which was raised to his +face, and completely concealed his features, was sitting motionless at +a separate table, looking absently and carelessly at the dancers who +whirled round him. When a newcomer entered the tendajo, this man looked +toward the door, and then turned his head away with an air of ill +humour when he perceived that the newcomer was not the person that he +had been so long expecting, for he had been sitting alone at this table +for upwards of two hours. Still no one paid, or seemed to pay, any +attention to him—all were too much absorbed in their own occupations +to think about a man who obstinately remained gloomy and silent amid +this revelry. The stranger, so often deceived in his expectations, at +length gave up looking toward the door; he let his head fall on his +chest and went to sleep, or pretended to do so, either for the sake of +not attracting attention, or else to indulge with greater freedom in +his reflections.</p> + +<p>All at once a formidable disturbance broke out at one end of the +room; a table was upset by a vigorous blow; oaths crossed each other +in the air, and knives were drawn from boots; musicians and dancers +stopped short, and a circle was formed round two men who, with frowning +brows, eyes sparkling with intoxication and passion, a zarapé rolled +as a buckler round the left arm, and a navaja in their right hand, +were preparing, according to all appearance, to attack each other +vigorously. The tendajero, or master of the house, then proved himself +equal to the position he occupied—he leaped like a jaguar over the +counter behind which he had hitherto stood coldly and indifferently, +merely engaged in watching his waiters and serving customers; he closed +the front door, against which he leant his powerful shoulders, in order +to prevent any customer bolting without payment of his score, and +prepared with evident interest to witness the fight.</p> + +<p>The two men, with outstretched legs, left arm advanced, bodies bent +forward, and knife held by the middle of the blade, were standing +looking in each other's eyes, ready for attack, defence, or parry. All +at once the mysterious sleeper appeared to wake with a start, as if +surprised by the voice of one of the adversaries, took a hasty glance +at the combatants, and then darted between them.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter?" he asked, in a firm voice, the sound of which +affected the duellists, who were astounded at an interference they had +been far from expecting.</p> + +<p>"This man," one of them answered, "has lost three ounces to me at +monte, through the unexpected turn up of the ace of spades."</p> + +<p>"Well?" the stranger interjected.</p> + +<p>"He refuses to pay me," the gambler continued; "because he declares +that the cards were packed, and that consequently I cheated him, which +is not true, for—<i>viva Dios;</i> I am known to be a caballero."</p> + +<p>At this affirmation, which was slightly erroneous, a smile of singular +meaning, but which no one saw, curled the stranger's lip; he continued, +in a more serious voice—"It is true that you are a caballero, and I +would affirm it were it necessary; but the most honest man is subject +to deceive himself, and I am convinced that this has happened to you. +Hence instead of fighting with this caballero, whose honour and +loyalty cannot either be doubted, prove to him that you recognise +your error by paying him the three ounces, which you claimed of him +through an oversight; this gentleman will apologize for having used +certain ugly expressions, and all will then be settled to the general +satisfaction."</p> + +<p>"Certainly, I am convinced that this caballero is a man of honour; I +am ready to proclaim it anywhere, and I regret with all my soul the +misunderstanding which momentarily divided us," said the individual who +had not yet spoken, though he remained on the defensive, a position +that slightly contradicted the apparent good humour of his remark.</p> + +<p>The stranger then turned to the man whose friend he had so unexpectedly +made himself, and gave him a sign which the other appeared to +understand.</p> + +<p>"Well, caballero," he said, with an irony whose expression was hardly +noticeable, "what do you think of this apology? For my part, I consider +it complete and most honourable."</p> + +<p>The man thus addressed hesitated for a moment; a combat was evidently +going on in his mind; his furious glances seemed to challenge the +company; and had he perceived on the face of one of the spectators an +expression of contempt, however fugitive it might have been, he would +doubtless have immediately picked another quarrel. But all the persons +who surrounded him were cold and indifferent; curiosity alone was +legible on their features. He unrolled his cloak, returned the knife to +his boot, and held out his hand to his adversary at the same time that +he gave him three ounces.</p> + +<p>"Pardon me an involuntary error at which I am trully confused," he +said, with a courteous bow, but with a sigh he could not restrain.</p> + +<p>The other took the ounces without pressing, thrust them away in +his capacious pockets with far from ordinary dexterity, returned +the salute, and mingled with the crowd, who, through a lengthened +acquaintance with the two men, did not at all comprehend this peaceful +result.</p> + +<p>"Now, Master Kidd," the stranger continued, as he laid his hand on the +shoulder of the adventurer, who stood motionless in the middle of the +room, "I suppose that all your business here is settled; so, with your +permission, we will withdraw."</p> + +<p>"As you please," Kidd answered, carelessly, for this man was no other +than the bandit we came across in the opening of our story.</p> + +<p>The groups had broken up, the crowd had dispersed, musicians +and dancers had returned to their places, and the two men could +consequently leave without attracting attention. The stranger, when +he reached the purer atmosphere of the street, took several deep +inspirations, as if trying to expel from his lungs the vitiated air +he had been constrained to swallow for so long. Then he turned to his +companion, who was walking silently by his side.</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Cuerpo de Cristo!</i> Master Kidd," he said, in a tone of ill humour, +"you are, it must be confessed, a singular fellow; you compel me, the +commandant of this pueblo, to come and hunt you up at this filthy +den, where, on your entreaty, I consented to meet you, and instead of +watching for my arrival, you leave me among the most perfect collection +of bandits I ever saw in my life."</p> + +<p>"Excess of zeal, captain; so you must not be angry with me for that," +the bandit answered, with a cunning look. "In order to be punctual at +the rendezvouz I gave you, I had been for nearly four hours at worthy +Señor Cospeto's. Not knowing how to spend my time, I played at cards. +You know what month is; once I have the cards in my hand, and the gold +on the table, I forget everything."</p> + +<p>"Good, good," the stranger answered. "I am willing to believe you. +Still, I pledge you my word, that if you dupe me in the affair you have +proposed, and the information you offer to sell me is false, you will +repent it. You know me, I think, Master Kidd?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Captain Don Marcos de Niza, and I suppose that you know me too; +but of what use is this discussion? Let us settle our business first, +and then you can act as you think proper."</p> + +<p>The Captain gave him a suspicious glance. "It is well," he said, as he +rapped at the door; "come in, this is my house; I prefer treating with +you here to the tendajo."</p> + +<p>"As you please," the bandit said, and followed the Captain into his +house, the doors of which were closed behind them.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE BARGAIN.</h3> + + +<p>Captain Don Marcos de Niza, whom we left commanding the post of San +Miguel, and defending it against the Indians, had been a few days +previously summoned to the political and military government of the +Mineral of Quitoval, by an order that arrived from Mexico, and emanated +from the President of the Republic himself. The fact was, that during +the last few days certain events had occurred which demanded energetic +action on the part of the President. All at once, at a moment when no +discontent was supposed to exist among the Indians, the latter, after +long councils they had held together, revolted, and had, without any +declaration of war, invaded the Mexican territory at several points +simultaneously. This revolt suddenly assumed serious proportions; +and had become the more formidable within a short time, because the +revolters were the Gilenos, that is to say, the Comanches, Apaches, and +Axuas, whose dangerous country is known by the name of the Papazos.</p> + +<p>The General commanding Sonora and Sinaloa, the two states most exposed +to the depredations of the Indians, saw that he must oppose to the +Indians a man who, through a lengthened residence on the borders, had +acquired great experience as to their way of fighting and the tricks +they employ. Only one officer fulfilled these conditions, and that +officer was Captain de Niza; he, therefore, received orders to quit the +post of San Miguel after dismantling it, and proceed immediately to the +Mineral of Quitoval. The Captain obeyed with that promptitude which old +soldiers alone can display in the execution of the orders they receive. +His first care, on reaching the Mineral, was to protect the pueblo, +as far as was possible, from a surprise, by digging a large trench, +throwing up entrenchments, and barricading the principal streets.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, the general commanding the provinces had but a very +limited military force at his disposal; scarce amounting to six hundred +infantry and two hundred cavalry, without field artillery. Hence, in +spite of his lively desire to give the Captain a respectable force, as +he was obliged to scatter his troops along the whole seaboard of the +two states, he found it impossible to send to Quitoval more than one +hundred infantry and fifty cavalry. In spite of the numerical weakness +of his troops the Captain did not despair. He was one of those men to +whom the performance of duty was everything; and who carry out without +a murmur the most extraordinary order.</p> + +<p>Still, as he expected to be attacked at any moment by an army of ten +or fifteen thousand veteran Indians, amply supplied with firearms, and +who, through being accustomed to fight with Spaniards, could not be +easily terrified, he had to augment the number of his soldiers, so as +to have men enough to line the entrenchments he had thrown up round the +town. He had two means by which to obtain this result, and he employed +them. The first consisted in making the great mine owners understand +that they must participate in the defences of the pueblo, either +personally or by arming and placing under his orders a certain number +of the peons they employed; for if the Indians succeeded in seizing the +Mineral, the source of their wealth would be at once dried up.</p> + +<p>The great owners understood the Captain's reasons the more easily +because their interests were at stake. They therefore enthusiastically +followed his advice, and raised at their common charge a corps of one +hundred and fifty Opatas—brave soldiers, thoroughly devoted to the +Whites. They placed this corps under the Captain's orders, pledging +themselves to pay and support it so long as the danger lasted. Don +Marcos thus doubled his army at one stroke. This success, which he had +been far from expecting, owing to his profound knowledge of the apathy +and selfishness of his countrymen, induced him to try the second plan.</p> + +<p>This was very simple. It consisted in enlisting, for a certain bounty, +as many as he could of the adventurers who always swarm on the borders, +and whose neutrality is at times more formidable than declared enmity. +The sum offered by the Captain was two ounces per man, one payable on +enlistment, the other at the termination of the campaign. This offer, +seductive though it was, did not produce all the effect the Captain +expected from it. The adventurers responded but feebly to the appeal +made to them. These men, in whose hearts patriotic love does not +exist, and who only care for pillage, saw in the insurrection of the +Indians a source of disorder, and, consequently, of rapine. They cared +very little about defending a state of things which their predacious +instincts led them, on the contrary, to attack.</p> + +<p>Thirty or forty adventurers, however, responded to the call; and these +immoral men, who were impatient at the yoke of discipline, were rather +an embarrassment than an assistance to the Captain; still as, take +them altogether, they were sturdy fellows, and thoroughly acquainted +with Indian warfare, he attached them to his cavalry, which was thus +raised to a strength of one hundred men. Don Marcos thus found himself +at the head of two hundred and fifty infantry and one hundred horse—a +force which appeared to him, if well directed, more than sufficient to +withstand, behind good entrenchments, the effort of the whole Indian +army.</p> + +<p>We are aware that this number of men defending a town will produce a +smile of pity among European readers, who are accustomed to see on +battlefields masses of three hundred thousand men come into collision. +But all is relative in this world. In America, where the population +is comparatively small, great things have often been decided at the +bayonet's point by armies whose relative strength did not exceed that +of one of our line regiments. In the last battle fought between the +Texans and Mexicans—a battle which decided the independence of Texas, +the two armies together did not amount to two thousand men, and yet +the collision was terrible, and victory obstinately disputed. In the +actions between white men and Indians, the latter, in spite of their +indomitable valour, were almost always defeated in a pitched battle, +in spite of their crushing superiority of numbers. Not through the +courage of their enemies, but by their discipline and military skill. +The latter is certainly very limited, but sufficient for adversaries +such as they have to combat.</p> + +<p>One night, when the Captain returned home after his usual visit to +the pueblo to assure himself that all was in order, a ragged lepero, +more than half intoxicated with mezcal and pulque, handed him with an +infinitude of bows a dirty slip of paper folded up in the shape of a +letter. Don Marcos de Niza was not accustomed to neglect anything. He +attached as much importance to apparently frivolous events as to those +which seemed to possess a certain gravity. He stopped, took the letter, +gave a real to the lepero, who went away quite satisfied, and entered +his house, which was situated on the Plaza Mayor, in the centre of the +pueblo.</p> + +<p>After throwing his cap and sword on a table, the Captain opened the +letter. He read it at first rather carelessly; but ere long he began +frowning, and read the letter a second time, attentively weighing each +word. Then at the end of a moment he folded up the letter, and said in +a low voice—"I will go."</p> + +<p>This letter came from Kidd. The Captain had been long acquainted with +the bandit, and knew certain peculiar facts about him which would +have been most disagreeable to the bandit, had the latter suspected +that the Captain was so thoroughly initiated in the secrets of his +vagabond life. Hence Don Marcos fancied he had no right to neglect +the overtures the other was pleased to make; while keeping on his +guard and determined to punish him severely if he deceived him. The +Captain, therefore, proceeded without hesitation to the place where the +adventurer appointed to meet him. He had waited for him for several +hours with exemplary patience, and would probably have waited longer +still, had not chance suddenly brought them face to face in the way we +have described.</p> + +<p>When the two men had entered the house, and the door closed after them, +Don Marcos de Niza, still closely followed by the bandit, who, in spite +of his impudence, looked around him timidly, like a wolf caught in a +sheepfold, led him into a room the door of which he carefully closed. +The Captain pointed to a chair, sat down at a table, laid a brace of +pistols ostentatiously within his reach, and said—</p> + +<p>"Now I am ready to hear you."</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Caray!</i>" the bandit said, impudently; "that is possible; but the +point is whether I am disposed to speak."</p> + +<p>"And why not, pray, my excellent friend?"</p> + +<p>"Hang it, Captain," he said, as he pointed to the pistols, "there are +two playthings not at all adapted to set my tongue wagging."</p> + +<p>Don Marcos looked at him in a way that made the adventurer +involuntarily let his eyes fall, and then leant his elbows on the table.</p> + +<p>"Master Kidd," he then said, in a stern voice, though a certain tone of +sarcasm was perceptible in it, "I like a distinct understanding; let us +therefore, before anything establish our relative positions. You have +led a very agitated life, Master Kidd; your vagabond humour, your mad +desire to appropriate certain things to which you have a very dubious +claim have led you into a few mistakes, whose results might prove +remarkably disagreeable to you."</p> + +<p>The bandit shook his head in denial.</p> + +<p>"I will not dwell," the Captain continued, mockingly, "on a subject +which must make your modesty greatly suffer, and will come at once +to the motives of your presence here, and the positions we must hold +towards each other. I am commandant of this pueblo, and in that +capacity compelled to watch over its external safety as well as its +internal tranquillity, I think you will agree with me."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Captain," the bandit answered, somewhat reassured at finding the +conversation turned away from such delicate topics.</p> + +<p>"Very good; you wrote me this letter, appointing a meeting and offering +to sell—that is your own word—certain most important information, as +you say, for the continuance of the safety and tranquillity which I am +bound to maintain. Another man might have treated you in the Indian +fashion. After having you arrested, he would have ordered a cord to be +fastened round your temples; or your suspension by your thumbs—as you +have done yourself, if report be true, on various occasions with less +valid reasons; and have so thoroughly loosened your tongue that you +would not have kept a single secret back. I have preferred dealing with +you as an honest man."</p> + +<p>The bandit breathed again.</p> + +<p>"Still, as you are one of those persons with whom it is advisable to +take precautions, and in whom a confidence cannot be placed, as they +would not scruple to abuse it on the first opportunity, I retain not +only the right, but also the means of blowing out your brains if you +have the slightest intention of deceiving me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Captain, what an idea! Blow out my brains!" the bandit stammered.</p> + +<p>"Do you fancy, my dear Señor," the Captain continued, still +sarcastically, "that your friends will pity you greatly, if such a +misfortune happened to you?"</p> + +<p>"Hum! to tell you the truth, I do not exactly know," the adventurer +answered, with at attempt to jest; "people are so unkind. But, since +you accept the bargain offered to you—for you do accept it, I think, +Captain?"</p> + +<p>"I do."</p> + +<p>"What then, will you give me in exchange for what I shall tell you?"</p> + +<p>"You sell; I buy; it is your place to make your conditions; and, if +they are not exorbitant—if, in a word, they seem to me fair, I will +accept them; so, speak, what do you ask?"</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Caray!</i> Captain; it is a delicate question, for I am an honest man."</p> + +<p>"That is allowed," Don Marcos interrupted him with a laugh. "Name your +price."</p> + +<p>"Fifty ounces; would that be too much?" the bandit ventured.</p> + +<p>"Certainly not, if the thing be worth it."</p> + +<p>"Then," Kidd exclaimed, joyfully, "that is understood, fifty ounces."</p> + +<p>"I repeat, if it be worth it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you shall judge for yourself," he remarked, rubbing his hands.</p> + +<p>"I ask nothing better but to buy, and to prove to you that I have no +intention of cheating you," he added, as he opened a drawer and took +out a rather heavy purse, "here is the amount."</p> + +<p>And the Captain made two piles each of twenty-five ounces, exactly +between the pistols. At the sight of the gold the bandit's eyes +sparkled like those of a wild beast.</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Rayo de Dios!</i> Captain," he exclaimed; "There is a pleasure in +treating with you. I will remember it another time."</p> + +<p>"I ask nothing better, Master Kidd. Now speak, I am listening."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I have not much to say; but you will judge whether it is +important."</p> + +<p>"Go on; I am all ears."</p> + +<p>"In two words, this is the matter; the Papazos have not elected a +chief, but an emperor!"</p> + +<p>"An emperor?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"What do they assert, then?"</p> + +<p>"They mean to be free, and wish to constitute their Independence upon a +solid basis."</p> + +<p>"Do you know this emperor?"</p> + +<p>"I have seen him, at least."</p> + +<p>"Who is he?"</p> + +<p>"A man who is the more formidable because he appears to belong to the +white rather than the red race; and is thoroughly conversant with all +the means hitherto employed by the Indians."</p> + +<p>"Is he young?"</p> + +<p>"He is sixty; but as active as if he were only twenty."</p> + +<p>"Very good; proceed."</p> + +<p>"Is that important?"</p> + +<p>"Very important. But not worth fifty ounces, for all that."</p> + +<p>"The Yaquis, Mayos, and Seris have allowed themselves to be seduced, +and have entered the Confederation. They have taken up again their old +plans of 1827—you remember, at the time of their great revolution?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; go on."</p> + +<p>"The first expedition the Chief of the Confederation means to undertake +is the capture of the Real de Minas."</p> + +<p>"I am aware of it."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but do you know, Captain, that the Indians have spies even among +the garrison; that all is ready for the attack, and that the Papazos +intend to surprise you within the next two days?"</p> + +<p>"Who gave you this information?"</p> + +<p>The bandit smiled craftily.</p> + +<p>"What use my telling you, Captain," he answered, "if the information is +correct?"</p> + +<p>"Do you know the men who have entered into negotiations with the enemy?"</p> + +<p>"I do."</p> + +<p>"In that case tell me their names."</p> + +<p>"It would be imprudent, Captain."</p> + +<p>"Why so?"</p> + +<p>"Judge for yourself. Suppose I were to tell you their names, what would +happen?"</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Viva Dios!</i>" the Captain sharply interrupted him. "I should shoot +them like the miserable dogs they are, and to serve as a warning to +others."</p> + +<p>"Well, that is the mistake, Captain."</p> + +<p>"How a mistake?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes; suppose you shoot ten men?"</p> + +<p>"Twenty, if necessary!"</p> + +<p>"Say twenty, it is of no consequence to me; but those who remain, whom +neither you nor I know, will sell you to the Indians, so that the only +result will be precipitating the evil instead of preventing it."</p> + +<p>"Ah, ah!" the Commandant said, with an expressive glance at the bandit. +"And what would you do in my place?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, a very simple thing."</p> + +<p>"Well, what is it?"</p> + +<p>"I would leave the scamps at liberty to prepare their treachery, while +carefully watching them; and when the moment for attack arrived, +I would have them quietly arrested; so that the Indians would be +surprised, instead of surprising us, and we should cheat the cunning +cheats."</p> + +<p>The Captain appeared to reflect for a moment, and then said—"The +plan you recommend seems to me good, and for the present I see no +inconvenience in carrying it out. Give me the names of the traitors."</p> + +<p>Kidd mentioned a dozen names, which the Captain wrote down after him.</p> + +<p>"Now," Don Marcos continued, "there are your fifty ounces, and I shall +give as many each time you bring me information as valuable as that of +today. I pay you dearly, so it is your interest to serve me faithfully; +but remember, that if you deceive me, nothing can save you from the +punishment I will inflict on you, and that punishment, I warn you, will +be terrible."</p> + +<p>The adventurer bounded on the money like a wild beast on a prey it +has long coveted, concealed it with marvellous dexterity in his wide +pockets, and said to the Captain with a bow—"Señor Don Marcos, I have +always thought that in this world gold was the sovereign master, and +that it alone had the right to command."</p> + +<p>After accompanying these singular words with a smiling and almost +mocking expression, Kidd bowed for the last time and disappeared, +leaving the Captain to his reflections.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE PAPAZOS.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>We will not return to Stronghand and José Paredes, whom we have left +too long at the top of the hill. The night passed without any incident, +the majordomo sleeping like a man overcome by fatigue; as for the +hunter, he did not close his eyes once. The sun had risen for a long +time; it was nearly nine o'clock, but the hunter, forgetting apparently +what he had said to his comrade, did not dream of departure. José +Paredes slept on. It was a magnificent day; the sky, swept by the +night hurricane, was cloudless; the sun darted down its glowing beams; +and yet the atmosphere, tempered by the storm, retained an agreeable +freshness. The water was disappearing with a rapidity almost equalling +that it bad displayed in rising, being drunk by the thirsty sand or by +the hot sunbeams; the plain had lost its lacustrine appearance; and all +led to the supposition that by midday the ground would be firm enough +to be ventured on in safety.</p> + +<p>As the canoe was unnecessary, the hunter did not try to get it down +from the tree; with his back leant against the larch tree, his hands +folded, and his head bowed on his chest, he was thinking, and at +times taking an anxious glance at his sleeping comrade. At length the +majordomo turned, stretched out his arms and legs, opened his eyes, and +gave a formidable yawn.</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Caramba!</i>" he said, as he measured the height of the sun; "I fancy I +have forgotten myself; it must be very late."</p> + +<p>"Ten o'clock," the hunter answered with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Ten o'clock!" José exclaimed, as he leaped up; "And you have let me +idle thus instead of waking me."</p> + +<p>"You slept so soundly, my friend, that I had not the courage to do so."</p> + +<p>"Hum!" Paredes replied, half laughing, half vexed; "I know not whether +I ought to complain or thank you for this weakness, for we have lost +precious time."</p> + +<p>"Not at all; see, the water has disappeared; the ground is growing firm +again, and when the great heat of the day is spent we will mount our +horses and catch up in a few hours the time you are regretting."</p> + +<p>"That is true, and you are right, comrade," said the majordomo, as +he looked around with the practised glance of a man accustomed to a +desert life. "Well, as it is so," he added, with a laugh, "suppose we +breakfast, for that will enable us to kill some time."</p> + +<p>"Very good," the hunter replied, good humouredly. They breakfasted as +they had supped on the previous night. When the hour for starting at +length arrived, they saddled their horses and led them down the hill; +for the ascent which they had escaladed so actively by night, under +the impulse of the pressing danger that threatened them, now proved +extremely steep, abrupt, and difficult. When they mounted, Stronghand +said—"My friend, I am going to take you to an <i>atepetl</i> of the +Redskins. Do you consider that disagreeable?"</p> + +<p>"Not personally, but I will ask what advantage my master can derive +from it?"</p> + +<p>"That question I am unable to answer at the moment. You must know, +though, that we are taking this step on your master's behalf, and that +his affairs, instead of suffering by it, will be greatly benefited."</p> + +<p>"Let us go, then. One word, however, first. Are the Redskins, to whom +we are proceeding, a long distance off?"</p> + +<p>"It would be almost a journey for any persons but us."</p> + +<p>"Hum!" said Paredes.</p> + +<p>"But you and I," the hunter continued, "who are true guides, and who +have also the advantage of being well mounted, will reach the village +at three or four o'clock tomorrow afternoon at the latest."</p> + +<p>"In that case it is not very distant."</p> + +<p>"I told you so."</p> + +<p>"And in what direction is the village?"</p> + +<p>"You must have often heard it spoken of, if chance has never led your +footsteps thither."</p> + +<p>"Why so?"</p> + +<p>"Because it is only a dozen leagues at the most from the Hacienda del +Toro."</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute," the majordomo said, frowning like a man who is +collecting his thoughts; "you are right, I have never been to that +village, it is true, but I have often heard it spoken of. Is not one +of the chiefs a white man?"</p> + +<p>The hunter blushed slightly.</p> + +<p>"So people say," he answered.</p> + +<p>"Is it not strange," the majordomo continued, "that a white man should +consent to abandon entirely the society of his fellows to live with +savages?"</p> + +<p>"Why so?"</p> + +<p>"Hang it! Because the Indians are devoid of reason, as everybody knows."</p> + +<p>The hunter gave his companion a glance of indefinable meaning, slightly +shrugged his shoulders, but made no reply; probably from the reason +that he had too much to say, and considered the majordomo's rather +heavy mind incapable of appreciating it. The day passed without any +occurrences to interrupt the monotony of their ride, which they +continued with great speed till night, only stopping from time to time +to shoot a few birds for supper. Galloping, talking, and smoking, they +at length reached the spot where they intended to bivouac. The road +they had followed in no way resembled the one the majordomo had taken +on leaving the hacienda, although they were returning in the direction +of Arispe. This resulted from the fact that Paredes had kept in the +regular road, while this time the two men rode Indian fashion, that is +to say, straight ahead without troubling themselves about roads. They +galloped on as the bird flies, crossing mountains and swimming rivers +whenever they came to them, without losing time in seeking a ford.</p> + +<p>This mode of travelling, generally adopted by the wood rangers of the +savannah, where the only roads are tracks made by the wild beasts, +would not be possible in civilized countries, where there are so many +towns and villages; but in Mexico, especially on the Indian border, +towns are excessively rare: by riding in this way distances are +marvellously shortened and a considerable tract is covered between two +sunrises. This is what happened to the two adventurers; for in one day +they went a greater distance than Paredes had done in eight-and-forty +hours, though he was well mounted. At night they camped in a wood +beyond the Hacienda del Toro, which building they saw rising gloomy and +tranquil like an eagle's nest on the top of its rock, and they passed +close to it during the afternoon.</p> + +<p>The country assumed a wilder and more abrupt aspect; the grass was +thicker, the trees were larger, older, and closer together; it was +evident that the travellers were at the extreme limit of civilization, +and would soon find themselves in the Red territory, although +nominally, at least on the maps, this territory figured among the +possessions of the Mexican Confederation. This feature, by the way, is +found everywhere throughout the New World. Even in the United States, +which pretend, erroneously, we believe, to be more civilized than their +neighbours, towns with high-flown names may be seen on the maps of +their large possessions, which only exist in reality as a name painted +on a solitary post, planted in the centre of a plain or on the bank of +a river, without even a keeper to watch over the preservation of this +post, which, worn by wind and sun, eventually disappears, though the +town never sprung up in its place. During our travels we were too often +the victim of this humorous Yankee mystification not to feel angry with +this eccentric nation, which repeats to every newcomer that it marches +at the head of civilization, and has a mission to regenerate the New +World.</p> + +<p>The two men, after lighting their watch fire, supped with good +appetite, rolled themselves in their zarapés, and fell asleep, +trusting to the instinct of their horses to warn them of the approach +of any enemy, whether man or wild beast, that attempted to surprise +them during their slumbers. But nothing disturbed them; the night was +quiet; at sunrise they awoke, mounted, and continued their journey, +which would only take a few hours longer.</p> + +<p>"I am mistaken," the hunter said suddenly, turning to his companion.</p> + +<p>"How so?" the latter asked.</p> + +<p>"Because," Stronghand replied, "I told you yesterday we should not +reach the <i>atepetl</i> till the afternoon."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"We shall be there by eleven o'clock."</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Caramba!</i> That is famous news."</p> + +<p>"When we have crossed that hill we shall see the village a short +distance ahead of us, picturesquely grouped on the side of another +hill, and running into the plain, where the last houses are built on +the banks of a pretty little stream, whose white and limpid waters +serve as a natural rampart."</p> + +<p>"Tell me, comrade, what do you think of the reception that will be +offered us?"</p> + +<p>"The Papazos are hospitable."</p> + +<p>"I do not doubt it; unluckily, I have no claims to the kindness of the +Redskins. Moreover, I know that they are very suspicious, and never +like to see white men enter their villages."</p> + +<p>"That depends on the way in which white men try to enter them."</p> + +<p>"There is another reason which, I confess, supplies me with reason for +grave thought."</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>"It is said—mark me, I do not assert it—"</p> + +<p>"All right; go on."</p> + +<p>"It is said that the Papazos are excited, and on the point of +revolting, if they have not done so already."</p> + +<p>"They rose in insurrection some days ago," Stronghand coolly answered.</p> + +<p>"What?" the majordomo exclaimed, greatly startled, "and you are leading +me to them?"</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because we shall be massacred, that's all."</p> + +<p>The hunter shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"You are mad."</p> + +<p>"I am mad—I am mad!" Paredes repeated, shaking his head very +dubiously; "it pleases you to say that, but I am not at all desirous, +if I can avoid it, of thus placing myself in the power of men who must +be my enemies."</p> + +<p>"I repeat that nothing will happen to you. <i>¡Viva Dios!</i> do you fancy +me capable of leading you into a snare?"</p> + +<p>"No; on my honour that is not my thought; but you may be mistaken, and +credit these savages with feelings they do not possess."</p> + +<p>"I am certain of what I assert. Not only have you nothing to fear, but +you will have an honourable reception."</p> + +<p>"Honourable?" the majordomo remarked, with an air of incredulity; "I am +not very certain of that."</p> + +<p>"You shall see. Woe to the man who dared to hurt a hair of your head +while you are in my company."</p> + +<p>"Who are you, to speak thus?"</p> + +<p>"A hunter, nothing else; but I am a friend of the Papazos, and adopted +son of one of their tribes; and every man, though he were the mortal +enemy of the nation, must for my sake, be received as a brother by the +sachems and warriors."</p> + +<p>"Well, be it so," the majordomo muttered, in the tone of a man forced +in his last entrenchments, and who resolves to make up his mind.</p> + +<p>"Besides," the hunter added, "any hesitation would now be useless and +perhaps dangerous."</p> + +<p>"Why so?"</p> + +<p>"Because the Indians have their scouts scattered through the woods and +over the plain already; they saw and signalled our approach long ago, +and if we attempted to turn back, it would justly appear suspicious; +and then we should suddenly see Indians rise all round us, and be +immediately made prisoners, before we even thought of defending +ourselves."</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Demonio!</i> that makes the matter singular, comrade; then you believe +we have been seen already?"</p> + +<p>"Would you like to have a proof on the spot?" the hunter asked, +laughingly.</p> + +<p>"Well, I should not mind, for I should then know what I have to expect."</p> + +<p>"Well, I will give you the proof."</p> + +<p>The travellers had reached the foot of the hill, and were at this +moment concealed by the tall grass that surrounded them. Stronghand +stopped his horse, and imitated the cry of the mawkawis twice. Almost +immediately the grass parted, an Indian bounded from a thick clump of +trees with the lightness of an antelope, and stopped two yards from the +hunter, on whom he fixed his black, intelligent eyes, without saying +a word. The apparition of the Redskin was so sudden, his arrival so +unexpected, that, in spite of himself, the majordomo could not restrain +a start of surprise.</p> + +<p>This Indian was a man of three-and-twenty years of age at the most, +whose exquisite proportions made him resemble a statue of Florentine +bronze; the whole upper part of his body was naked: his unloosened hair +hung in disorder over his shoulders; his clothing merely consisted of +trousers sewn with horsehair, fastened round the loins by a belt of +untanned leather, and tied at the ankles. A tomahawk and a scalping +knife—weapons which the Indians never lay aside—hung from his +belt, and he leant with careless grace upon a long rifle of American +manufacture. The hunter bowed, and after stretching out his arm, +with the palm turned down and the fingers straight, said in a gentle +voice—"Wah! The Waconda protects me, since the first person I see, on +returning to my people, is Sparrowhawk."</p> + +<p>The young Indian bowed in his turn with the native courtesy +characteristic of the Redskin, and replied in a guttural voice, which, +however, was very gentle—"For a long time the sachems have been +informed of the coming of the Great Bear of their Nation; they thought +that only one chief was worthy saluting Stronghand on his return. +Sparrowhawk is happy that he was chosen by them."</p> + +<p>"I thank the sachems of my nation," the hunter said, with a meaning +glance at the majordomo, "for having designed to do me so signal an +honour. Will my son return to the village with us, or will he precede +us?"</p> + +<p>"Sparrowhawk will go ahead, in order that the guest of Stronghand, my +father, may be received with the honours due to a man who comes in the +company of the Great Bear."</p> + +<p>"Good! My brother will act as becomes a chief. Stronghand will not +detain him longer."</p> + +<p>The young Indian bowed his head in assent, leapt backwards, and +disappeared in the thicket whence he had emerged, with such rapidity, +that if the grass had not continued to undulate after his departure, +his apparition would have seemed like a dream.</p> + +<p>"We can now start again," the hunter said to the majordomo, who was +utterly confounded.</p> + +<p>"Let us go!" the latter answered, mechanically.</p> + +<p>"Well," answered Stronghand, "do you now believe that you have anything +to fear among the Papazos?"</p> + +<p>"Excuse me; as you said, I was a madman to fear it."</p> + +<p>They crossed the plain, following a wild beast track which, after +numberless windings, reached a ford, and in about an hour they arrived +at the bank of the river. Twelve Papazo Indians, dressed in their war +paint and mounted on magnificent horses, were standing motionless and +in single file in front of the ford.</p> + +<p>So soon as they perceived the two travellers, they uttered loud shouts +and dashed forward to meet them, firing their guns, brandishing +their weapons, and waving their white female buffalo robes, which, +by-the-bye, only the most renowned sachems of the nation have the +right to wear. The two white men, on their side, spurred their horses, +responding to the shouts of the Indians, and firing their guns. +All at once, at a signal from one of the chiefs, all the horsemen +stopped, and arranged themselves round the travellers, to act as an +escort. The whole party crossed the ford and entered the village, +amid the deafening shouts of the women and children, with which were +inharmoniously blended the bark of dogs, the hoarse notes of the +shells, and the shrill sounds of the <i>chichikoues</i>.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE ATEPETL.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>Many persons imagine that all Indians are alike, and that the men +acquainted with the manners of one tribe knows them all. This is a +serious error, which it is important to dissipate. Among the Indians, +properly so called—that is to say, the aborigines of America—will +be found as many differences in language, dialect, &c., as among the +nations of the Old Continent, if not more. The number of dialects +spoken by the Indians is infinite; the manners of one nation form a +complete contrast with those of another living only a few leagues +away; and any person who, after travelling for some time in the Far +West, asserted that he was thoroughly acquainted with the character of +the Indians and their mode of life, would be quite deceived; and more +serious still, would deceive those whom he pretended to instruct.</p> + +<p>The Indians are divided into two great families: the cultivating +Indians—that is to say, those who are sedentary and attached to +the soil they till; and hunter or nomadic Indians, who have a great +resemblance to the Touaricks of Africa and the Tartars of Asia. The +hunting Indians, known as <i>Indios Bravos</i>, inhabit leathern huts, easy +of transport from one place to another, and only remain stationary so +long as the country supplies them with the necessary forage for their +horses, and the game indispensable for the men. The tame Indians, or +<i>Indios Mansos</i>, on the other hand, are permanently established at a +carefully selected spot; they have built actual houses, in which they +shelter themselves and keep their winter provisions. These Indians, +though they follow the customs of their fathers, recognise the Mexican +laws, obey them ostensibly, are apparent Christians, though they +secretly practise all the rites of their old faith; and their chief +assumes the title of Alcalde. In a word, they are nearly as much +civilized as the majority of the creoles.</p> + +<p>The confederation of the Papazos was composed of several nations, +combining both Indios Mansos and Indios Bravos. The latter, though +harmless, and consequently nomadic, had, in the heart of unexplored +forests or the gorges of the Sierra Madre, their winter villages—a +collection of huts made of branches, and covered with mud, where, in +the event of war, their squaws found refuge, and which served them, +after an expedition, to hide the plunder they had made.</p> + +<p>The Gilenos, whose powerful nation was composed of one hundred and +eighteen distinct tribes, each of which had its private totem or +standard, formed the principal branch of the Confederation of the +Papazos. The Gilenos are essentially agricultural. At a period which +it would be impossible to state with certainty, because the Indians +do not write anything down, but trust to tradition, the Comanche +nation, which proudly calls itself the "Queen of the Prairies," and +asserts, perhaps justly, that it is descended in a straight line from +the Chichimeques, the first conquerors of Mexico, was divided into two +parts after a council held by the chiefs, for the sake of terminating +a dispute that threatened to degenerate into a civil war. One half the +nation continued to wander in the immense prairies of the Far West, +and retained the name of Comanche. The other tribes settled on the +banks of the Rio Gila, gave up hunting for agriculture, while retaining +their independence, and only nominally obeying the Spaniards and +Mexicans. Eventually they received the name of Gilenos, from the river +on whose banks they originally settled. But, although separated, the +two divisions of the Comanche nations continued to maintain friendly +relations, recognised each other as springing from the same stem, and +helping one another whenever circumstances demanded it.</p> + +<p>The Gilenos piously preserved the faith of their fathers, maintained +their customs; among others that of never drinking spirituous liquors: +and never permitted the Mexican Government to establish among them that +system of annoyance and rapine under which it mercilessly bows the +other Indian Mansos. The Gileno villages are distinguished from all +the others by their singular construction, which admirably displays the +character of this people. We will attempt to convey an idea of them to +the reader.</p> + +<p>Stronghand had pointed out to the majordomo clusters of storied houses, +suspended as it were from the flank of the hill. But these houses were +only built temporarily, and in case of an attack on the village would +be immediately destroyed. The hill, doubtless in consequence of one of +those natural convulsions so common in these regions, was separated +into two parts by a quebrada of enormous depth, which served as the bed +of an impetuous torrent. On either side of this quebrada the Indians +had built an enormous construction, of pyramidal shape, upwards of +two hundred and fifty feet in height. These two towers contained the +lodgings of the inhabitants, their granaries and storehouses. More +than eight hundred beings, men, women, and children, resided in these +singular buildings, which were connected together at the top by a +bridge of lianas, boldly thrown across the abyss. These towers could +only be entered by a ladder, which was drawn up each night; for as +a last and essential precaution, the doors were sixty feet from the +ground, in order to guard against surprise.</p> + +<p>Nothing could be more curious or picturesque than the appearance +offered at a distance by this strange village, with its two massive +towers, having ladders for stairs, up and down which people were +constantly moving. A few days previously, for greater safety, and to +guard the village from a surprise, the chiefs had a trench dug, and +a palisade erected, composed of stakes fastened together by lianas. +The Indians had taken this precaution, to prevent their horses, on +which they especially calculated for the success of the meditated +expedition, being carried off by surprise, as so frequently happens on +the border.</p> + +<p>The travellers were conducted with great ceremony by the chiefs, +who had come to receive them at the entrance of the village, to the +square, on one side of which stood the "Ark of the First Man;" on the +other, "The Great Medicine Lodge, or Council Hut." During the ride the +majordomo fancied he saw among the crowd several individuals belonging +to the white race, and mentioned it to his comrade.</p> + +<p>"You are not mistaken," the latter replied; "several Mexicans reside in +the village and trade with the Indians; but that must not surprise you, +for you are aware that the Gilenos are mansos. Stay, here is a monk."</p> + +<p>In fact, at this moment a stout, rubicund monk crossed the square, +distributing blessings right and left, of which the Indians seemed to +take but little notice.</p> + +<p>"These worthy Frayles," the hunter continued, "lead here a rather +monastic life, but in spite of the trouble they take, they cannot +succeed in making proselytes. The Comanches are too attached to their +religion to accept another; still, as they are too savage to be +intolerant," he added, ironically, "they allow these poor monks entire +liberty, on the express condition that they do not interfere with them. +They have even permitted them to build a chapel, a very poor and simple +edifice, in which a few passing adventurers offer up their prayers; for +the inhabitants of the village never set foot in it."</p> + +<p>"I will go to it," said Paredes.</p> + +<p>"And you will act rightly. However, I will do this justice to the four +monks who, through a love of proselytism, have confined themselves +to this forgotten nook, of stating that they bear an excellent +reputation, do all the good they can, and are generally beloved and +respected by the population. This praise is the more valuable, because +the Mexican clergy do not enjoy a great reputation for sanctity."</p> + +<p>"But now that war is declared, what will become of these monks?"</p> + +<p>"What do you think? They will remain peacefully, without fearing insult +or annoyance. However savage the Indians may be, they are not so +savage, be assured, as to make the innocent suffer for the crimes of +the guilty."</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, Stronghand, if I remark that I notice, with sorrow, in +your mode of expressing yourself, a certain bitterness which seems to +me unjust. The secret sympathies of an honest man ought not, in any +case, to render him partial."</p> + +<p>"I allow that I am wrong, my friend. When you know me better, you +will be indulgent, I doubt not, to this bitterness which I frequently +unconsciously display in my language. But here we are at the square, +and other more urgent matters claim all our attention."</p> + +<p>The plaza, which the travellers now reached, formed a parallelogram, +and rose with a gentle ascent to the foot of the tower on the left of +the village. Several streets opened into it, and the houses built on +either side of it had an appearance of cleanliness and comfort which +is but rarely found in Indian villages; and if this pueblo had been +inhabited by white creoles, it would certainly have obtained the title +of <i>ciudad</i>. In front of the council lodge stood three men, whom it +was easy to recognise as the principal chiefs of the village by their +hats of raccoon skin, surrounded by a gold golilla, and the silver +mounted cane, like that of our beadles, which they held in their right +hand. The Mexicans, among other customs they took from the Spaniards, +have retained that of investing the Indian chiefs with authority. +This investiture, generally performed by a delegate of the governor of +the province, consists in giving them the hat and stick to which we +have referred. These three chiefs, therefore, ostensibly held their +power from the Mexican government, but in reality the latter had only +obeyed the feudal claims of the tribes assembled at this village, by +conferring the authority on these men whom their countrymen had long +previously recognised as chiefs.</p> + +<p>The procession halted before the alcaldes, or, to use the Indian term, +the sachems. The latter were men of a ripe age, with a haughty and +imposing mien. The eldest of them, who stood in the centre, had in +his look and the expression of his features something indescribably +majestic. He appeared about sixty years of age; a long white beard +fell in snowy flakes on his chest; his tall form, his broad forehead, +his black eyes, and his slightly aquiline nose, rendered him a very +remarkable man. He did not wear the Indian costume, but that adopted +by the hunters and wood rangers; a blue cotton shirt, fastened round +his hips by a leather girdle, which held his arms and ammunition, wide +<i>calzoneras</i> of deer hide buckled below the knee, and heavy boots, +whose heels were armed with formidable spurs, the wheel of which was as +large as a saucer.</p> + +<p>In conclusion, the personage we have attempted to describe did not +belong to the Indian race, as could be seen at the first glance; but +in addition, the fine, elegant, nervous type of the pure Spanish +race could be noticed in him. The majordomo could not check a start +of surprise at the sight of this man, whose presence seemed to him +incomprehensible at such a place and among such people. He leant over +to Stronghand, and asked him, in a low voice, choked by involuntary +emotion,—"Who is that man?"</p> + +<p>"You can see," the hunter replied, drily, "he is the Alcalde Mayor of +the pueblo. But silence! The persons surrounding us are surprised to +see us conversing in whispers."</p> + +<p>Paredes held his tongue, though his eyes were obstinately fixed on the +man to whom the hunter had ironically given the title of Alcalde Mayor. +A little to the rear of the chiefs, a warrior was holding a totem of +the tribe, representing a condor, the sacred bird of the Incas. A +crowd of Indians of both sexes, nearly all armed, filled the square, +and pressed forward to witness a scene which was not without a certain +grandeur. So soon as the procession halted, Sparrowhawk dismounted and +walked up to the sachems.</p> + +<p>"Fathers of my nation," he said, "the Great Bear of our tribe has +returned, bringing with him a paleface, his friend."</p> + +<p>"He is welcome," the three chiefs answered, unanimously, "as well as +his friend, whoever he may be; so long as he pleases to remain among us +he will be regarded as a brother."</p> + +<p>The hunter then advanced, and bowed respectfully to the sachems.</p> + +<p>"Thanks for myself and friend," he said; "the journey we have made was +long, and we are worn with fatigue. May we be permitted to take a few +hours' rest?"</p> + +<p>The Indians were astonished to hear the hunter, a man of iron power, +whose reputation for vigour was well established among them, speak of +the fatigue he felt. But understanding that he had secret reasons for +asking this, no one made a remark.</p> + +<p>"Stronghand and his friend are at liberty to proceed to the calli +prepared for them," one of the chiefs answered: "Sparrowhawk will guide +them."</p> + +<p>The two adventurers bowed respectfully, and, preceded by Sparrowhawk, +passed through the crowd, which opened before them, and proceeded to +the calli appointed for them. Let us state at once that this calli +was the property of Stronghand, who inhabited it whenever business +or accident brought him to the village. By the order of the chiefs, +however, it had been prepared for the reception of two persons. So +soon as the travellers reached the calli, Sparrowhawk retired, after +whispering a few words in the ear of the hunter. The latter replied by +a sign of assent, and then turned to the majordomo, who was already +engaged in unsaddling his horse.</p> + +<p>"You are at home, comrade," he said to him; "use this house as you +think proper. I have to see a person to whom I will introduce you +presently. I will, therefore, leave you for the present, but I shall +not be absent long."</p> + +<p>And without awaiting an answer, the hunter turned his horse, and +started at a gallop.</p> + +<p>"Hum!" the Mexican muttered, so soon as he was alone, "all this is not +clear; did I do wrong in trusting to this man? I will be on my guard."</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE SPY.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>After installing the majordomo in the calli, Stronghand proceeded +through the village, taking an apparently careless glance around, +but in reality not letting anything unusual escape his notice. The +Indians whom the hunter met addressed him as an old acquaintance; +the very women and children tried to attract his attention by their +hearty bursts of laughter and their greetings of welcome. For all and +for each the hunter had a pleasant remark, and thus satisfied the +frequently indiscreet claims of those who pressed around him. Thus +occupied, he went right through the village, and, on reaching the foot +of the left-hand pyramid, dismounted, threw his horse's bridle to a +boy, bidding him lead the horse to his calli, and forced his way with +some difficulty through the crowd, whose curiosity seemed to increase +instead of diminishing. He walked up to the ladder, and after waving +his hand to the Indians, hurried up it, and disappeared inside the +pyramid.</p> + +<p>This strange building, which was almost shapeless outside, was +internally arranged with the utmost care and most perfect intelligence. +The hunter, who was doubtless anxious to reach his destination, +only took a hurried glance at the rooms he passed through; he went +up an internal staircase, and soon reached the top of the pyramid. +Sparrowhawk was standing motionless before a cougar's skin hung up in +lieu of a door, and on seeing the hunter he bowed courteously.</p> + +<p>"My father has not delayed," he said, with a good-tempered smile.</p> + +<p>"Has the council begun yet?" Stronghand asked.</p> + +<p>"For four suns the elders of the nation have remained without taking +rest round the council fire; the arrival of my father was alone able to +make them suspend their labours for an hour."</p> + +<p>The hunter frowned.</p> + +<p>"Cannot I speak to the great sachem for a moment?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot give my father any information on that point."</p> + +<p>"Good!" the hunter continued, apparently forming a determination. "Has +Sparrowhawk no instructions for me?"</p> + +<p>"None, but to await Stronghand, and announce his arrival."</p> + +<p>"Wah! here I am; my brother's instructions are fulfilled."</p> + +<p>Without replying, Sparrowhawk raised the curtain, and allowed the +hunter to pass into the council hall.</p> + +<p>In a large room, which was entirely destitute of furniture—unless +that name can be given to dried buffalo skulls employed as seats—some +twenty persons were gravely seated in a circle, smoking a calumet +silently, whose mouthpiece constantly passed from hand to hand. In +the centre of the circle was a golden brasier, in which burned the +sacred fire of Motecuhzoma, a fire which must never go out. According +to tradition, the last Emperor of Mexico shared it among his dearest +partisans on the eve of his death; and this fire, it is also said, +derives its origin from the sun itself.</p> + +<p>The presence of this fire in the room, which was generally kept in a +subterraneous vault, inaccessible to the sight of the common herd, +and which is only shown to the people on grand occasions, proved the +gravity of the matters the council had to discuss. Moreover, the +appearance of the chiefs assembled in the room had about it something +stern and imposing that inspired respect. Contrary to Indian habits, +they were all unarmed. This precaution, which was owing to the advice +of the principal sachem of the nation, was justified not only by the +considerable number of chiefs present, but also by their belonging to +various nations. Each tribe of the grand confederation of the Papazos +had its representative in this assembly, where were also the sachems of +nations ordinarily at war with it, but who, in the hope of a general +revolt against the whites, the implacable enemies of the red race, had +forgotten their hatred for a season. Here could be seen Yaquis, Mayos, +Seris, and even free hunters and trappers, white and half-bred, in +their grand war paint, with their heels adorned with wolves' tails, an +honorary distinction to which only the great braves have a right.</p> + +<p>Thunderbolt, the old man whose portrait we have just drawn, presided +over the assembly. On the entrance of Stronghand, all the warriors +rose, turned to him, and after bowing gracefully, invited him to take a +seat among them. The hunter, flattered in his heart by the honour done +him, bowed gravely to the members of the council, and seated himself on +the right of Thunderbolt, after handing his weapons to Sparrowhawk, who +carried them into an adjoining room. There was a rather long silence, +during which the hunter smoked the calumet which had been eagerly +offered him. At length Thunderbolt began speaking.</p> + +<p>"My son could not arrive at a better moment," he said, addressing +Stronghand; "his return was eagerly desired by his brothers. He has +come from the country inhabited by our enemies; without doubt he will +give us news."</p> + +<p>The hunter rose, looked round the meeting, and replied—"I have been +among the Gachupinos, I have entered their towns, I have seen their +pueblos, presidios, and posts; like ourselves, they are preparing for +war; they understand the extent of the danger that threatens them, and +are trying to neutralize it by all means."</p> + +<p>"The news is not very explicit; we hoped that Stronghand would give us +more serious information about the movements of the enemy," Thunderbolt +remarked, with a reproachful accent.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I could do so," the hunter remarked, calmly.</p> + +<p>"Then why are you silent?"</p> + +<p>The young man hesitated for a moment beneath the glances fixed on him.</p> + +<p>"The white men have a proverb," he said, at length, "whose justice I +specially recognise at this moment."</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>"Words are silver, but silence is gold."</p> + +<p>"Which means?" Thunderbolt continued, eagerly.</p> + +<p>"The most formidable weapon of the white man is treachery," the hunter +continued, not appearing to heed the interruption; "they have even +conquered by treachery the Redskins, whom they did not dare meet face +to face. Questions so interesting as those we have to settle, such +serious interests as we have to discuss, must not be treated in so +large an assembly ere it is quite certain that a traitor has not glided +in among us. So long as merely general questions are discussed this +is of slight consequence; but so soon as we discuss the means to be +employed in carrying on the war, it is urgent that the enemy should not +be warned of the result of our deliberations."</p> + +<p>"We cannot act otherwise than we are doing. Yes, and that is why the +whites are cleverer than we: so soon as war is declared, they appoint +a commission, composed of three members, or five at the most, who have +to draw up the plan of the campaign. Why do we not do the same? Nothing +is more simple, it seems to me: choose, among the chiefs assembled +here, a certain number of wise men accustomed to command; these men +will assemble in secret, and decide on the means to be employed in +conquering our enemy: in this way, if the Spaniards are informed +of our movements, the traitor cannot escape us for long. The other +chiefs, and the deputies of the friendly natives and other confederated +tribes, will settle in the Grand Council the common interests of the +Indian natives, and the terms to be established among them, in order +to stifle for ever those germs of discord which frequently spring up +from a misunderstanding, and almost always degenerate into sanguinary +and interminable quarrels. I have spoken: my brothers will determine +whether my words deserve being taken into consideration."</p> + +<p>After bowing to the audience, the hunter sat down again, and seemed to +be plunged into deep thought. One of the instinctive qualities of the +Indian race is good sense. The chiefs, in spite of the circumlocution +in which the hunter had thought it necessary to envelop his remarks, +had perfectly understood him: they had caught the justice of his +reasoning, and the advantage of a speedy decision on a subject so +interesting to the entire confederation: they guessed, under the +hunter's reticence, a name which, for secret reasons of his own, he +did not wish to utter, and hence his speech was greeted with a buzz of +satisfaction, which is always flattering to the ears of an orator, no +matter the nature of his hearers. Thunderbolt questioned the members of +the council by a glance; all replied with an affirmative shake of their +heads.</p> + +<p>"Your plan is adopted," the chief said; "we recognise the necessity of +carrying it out. But this time again we must apply to you to choose the +members of the council whom we have to elect."</p> + +<p>"Chance alone must decide the solution. All the sachems collected in +this hall are great braves of their tribes, and the picked warriors of +their nations. No matter on whom the lot falls, the members will behave +honourably in the new council."</p> + +<p>"Stronghand has spoken well, as he always does, when he is called upon +to give his opinion in the council of the chiefs; now let him finish +what he has so well begun, by instructing us of the way in which we are +to consult chance."</p> + +<p>"Be it so: I will obey my father."</p> + +<p>The hunter rose and left the hall, but his absence lasted only a few +minutes. During this interval the chiefs remained motionless and +silent. Stronghand soon returned, followed by Sparrowhawk, who, as he +had been ordered by the sachems to keep the door, had not taken part in +the deliberations, though he had a right to do so. This chief carried a +blanket tied up so as to form a bag.</p> + +<p>"In this blanket," the hunter then said, "I have placed a number of +bullets equal to that of the chiefs assembled in council: I have taken +these bullets from the ammunition bag of every one of the chiefs. I +have noticed that our guns are of different bores, and hence some of +the bullets are larger, others smaller. Each of us will draw a bullet +haphazard; when all have one, they will be examined; and the three +chiefs, if you fix on that number, or the five, if you prefer that +number, to whom chance has given the largest bullets, will compose the +new council."</p> + +<p>"That is a simple way, and will prevent any annoyance," Thunderbolt +said; "I believe that we shall do well by adopting it."</p> + +<p>The chiefs bowed their assent.</p> + +<p>"But," the sachem continued, "before we begin drawing, let us first +settle of how many members the council shall consist; shall there be +three or five?"</p> + +<p>A white trapper rose and asked leave to speak. It was a man of about +forty years of age, with frank and energetic features and muscular +limbs, well known all over the western prairies by the singular name of +the Whistler.</p> + +<p>"If I may be allowed," he said, "to offer my opinion on such a matter +before wise men and renowned warriors—for I am only a poor rogue of a +hunter—I would call your attention to the fact that, with a committee +whose duties are so serious, three men are not sufficient to discuss a +question advantageously, because it is so easy to obtain a majority. On +the other hand, five men mutually enlighten each other, by exchanging +their ideas and starting objections: hence, I am of opinion that the +council ought to be composed of five members. I will add one word: Will +the white and half-breed hunters and trappers here present take part in +the election?"</p> + +<p>"Do they not fight with us?" Thunderbolt asked.</p> + +<p>"This is true," the Whistler continued; "still it would be, perhaps, +better for you to settle the matter among yourselves; we are, in +reality, only your allies."</p> + +<p>"You are our brothers and friends; in the name of the chiefs of the +confederation. I thank you, Whistler, for the delicate proposal you +have made; but we do not accept your offer, for all must be in common +between you and us."</p> + +<p>"You will do as you please. I spoke for your good; and it does not suit +you, say no more about it."</p> + +<p>While these remarks were exchanged between the trapper and Thunderbolt, +the chiefs had decided that the military commission should be composed +of five members. The drawing at once began; each warrior went, in his +turn, to draw a bullet from the bag held by Sparrowhawk; then the +verification was begun with that good faith and impartiality which the +Indians display in all their actions when dealing with one another. +On this occasion chance was intelligent, as happens more frequently +than is supposed, when it is left free to act: the chiefs chosen to +form the committee were exactly those who, if another mode of election +had been employed, would have gained all the votes through their +talent, experience, and wisdom. Hence, the sachems frankly applauded +the decision of fate, and in their superstition, derived from this +caprice of accident a favourable augury for the result of the war. The +committee was composed as follows Thunderbolt, Sparrowhawk, Stronghand, +the Whistler, and a renowned Apache chief, whose name was the Peccary.</p> + +<p>When the election was over, just as the chiefs were returning to their +seats, Stronghand approached a trapper, who, ever since his entrance, +had seemed to shun his eye, and conceal himself, as far as possible, +behind the other chiefs. Tapping him on the shoulder, he said in a low +but imperative voice—"Master Kidd, two words, if you please."</p> + +<p>The adventurer, for it was really he, started at the touch, but +immediately recovering himself, he turned his smiling face to the +hunter's, and said, with a respectful bow—"I am quite at your service, +caballero; can I be so happy as to be able to help you in anything?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," the hunter answered, drily.</p> + +<p>"Speak, caballero, speak; and as far as lies in my power—"</p> + +<p>"A truce to these hypocritical protestations," Stronghand rudely +interrupted him, "and let us come to facts."</p> + +<p>"I am listening to you," the other said, trying to hide his anxiety.</p> + +<p>"This is the point—rightly or wrongly, your presence here offends me."</p> + +<p>"What can I do to prevent that, my dear Señor?"</p> + +<p>"A very simple thing."</p> + +<p>"What is it, if you please?"</p> + +<p>"Leave the tower at once, mount your horse, and be off."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" the bandit said, with a forced laugh, "Allow me to remark, my +dear señor, that the idea seems to me a singular one."</p> + +<p>"Do you think so?" the hunter remarked, coldly; "Well, opinions differ. +For my part, I consider it quite natural."</p> + +<p>"Of course you are jesting."</p> + +<p>"Do you fancy me capable of jesting—before all, with a man like you? +I think not. Well, I repeat, be off; be off as quickly as possible. I +advise you for your own good."</p> + +<p>"I must have an excuse for such a flight. What will the Indian chiefs +who did me the honour of summoning me to their grand council, and my +friends the hunters suppose, on seeing me thus abandon them without any +apparent motive, at the very moment when the war is about to begin?"</p> + +<p>"That does not concern me; I want you to be off at once; if not—"</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"I shall blow out your brains in the presence of all as a traitor and a +spy. You understand me now, my master, I think?"</p> + +<p>The bandit started violently; his face became livid, and for some +minutes he fixed his viper eye on the hunter, who examined him +ironically; then bending down to his ear, he said, in a voice choked +with rage and shame, "Stronghand, you are the stronger, and any +resistance on my part would be mad; I shall go, therefore; but remember +this, I shall be avenged."</p> + +<p>Stronghand shrugged his shoulders contemptuously. "Do so," he said, +"if you can; but, in the meanwhile, be off if you do not wish me to +carry out my threat!" and he turned his back on the bandit. Kidd gave +him a parting look of fury, and without adding a word, left the hall. +Ten minutes later he was galloping on the road to the Real de Minas, +revolving the most sinister schemes.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE COUNCIL OF THE SACHEMS.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>Although the chiefs had guessed from Stronghand's gestures what was +going on between him and the American bandit, not one of them made the +slightest allusion to Kidd's departure, or even seemed to notice it. +The Canadian trapper, named Whistler, alone went up to the hunter, and +pressing his hand, said, with a coarse laugh—</p> + +<p>"By heavens! Comrade, you did not miss your game, but brought it down +at the first shot. Receive my sincere congratulations for having freed +us of that skunk, who is neither fish nor flesh, and whose roguish face +did not at all please me."</p> + +<p>"It would please you much less, my good fellow, if you knew him," the +hunter replied, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"I beg you to believe that I have no desire to form a closer +acquaintance with that pícaro; only too many like him may be met on the +prairies."</p> + +<p>The chiefs had resumed their seats, and the council which had been +momentarily interrupted, was re-opened by Thunderbolt. The Indians, +though people think proper to regard them as savages, could give +lessons in urbanity and good breeding to the members of parliamentary +assemblies in old Europe. Among them a speaker is never interrupted +by those coarse and inopportune noises for which some M.P.'s seem to +possess a privilege. Each speaks in his turn. The speakers, who are +listened to with a religious silence, have the liberty of expressing +their ideas without fearing personalities, which are frequently +offensive. When the debate is closed, the speaker—that is to say, the +oldest chief, or the one of the highest position either through bravery +or wisdom—sums up the discussion in a few words, takes the opinion of +the other chiefs, who vote by nodding their heads, and the minority +always accepts, without complaint or recrimination of any sort, the +resolution of the majority.</p> + +<p>Before going further, we will explain, in a few words, the cause of +the dissatisfaction which had induced the Indians to revolt once +again against the whites. At the period of the Spanish conquests, +the Indians, in spite of the obstinate assertions to the contrary, +were happy, or at any rate were, through the intelligent care of +the Government, placed in a situation which insured their existence +under very satisfactory conditions. It is indubitable that if Spain +had retained her colonies for fifty or sixty years longer, she would +have gradually succeeded in converting the aborigines of her vast +territories, attaching them to the cultivation of the soil, and making +them give up a nomadic existence, and adopt the far preferable life in +villages.</p> + +<p>All Spanish America, both North and South, was covered with missions; +that is to say, agricultural colonies, established on a large scale; +where monks, in every way respectable, through their complete +abnegation of the enjoyments of the world, and their inexhaustible +charity, taught the Indians not only the paternal precepts of the +Gospel, and their duty to their neighbour, but preaching by example, +they became weavers, labourers, cobblers, and blacksmiths, in order to +make their docile apprentices more easily understand the way to set to +work. These missions contained, at the time of the War of Independence, +several hundred thousand Indians, who had given up their nomadic life +of hunting, and patiently assumed the yoke of civilization. This +magnificent result, obtained by courage and perseverance, and which +would have speedily resulted in the solution of a problem declared +to be insoluble—the emancipation of the red race, and its aptitude +to assume the sedentary condition of a town life, was unhappily not +carried further.</p> + +<p>When the Mexicans had proclaimed their independence, their first care +was to destroy all that the Spaniards had raised, and utterly overthrow +the internal governmental system established by them. Naturally, the +missions were not exempted from this general overthrow; they were +perhaps more kindly treated than the institutions created by the old +oppressors. The philosophic spirit of the eighteenth century, when +it forced its way into Mexico, was naturally misunderstood and ill +appreciated by men who were plunged into the grossest ignorance, and +who believed that they displayed the independence and nobility of +their character by deadly hatred of the clergy, and abolishing their +prerogatives at one stroke. It is true that, by an inevitable reaction, +the Mexicans, whose revolution was almost entirely effected by priests, +and who, at the outset, displayed themselves as such daring skeptics, +ere long fell again, through their superstition, beneath the power of +the same clergy, and became more devoted slaves to them than ever.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, the death blow had been dealt to the missions or +agricultural colonies, although the Government recognized its mistake, +and sought by all means to palliate it. They never recovered, only +languished, and eventually the majority of them fell into ruin, and +were utterly abandoned by the Indians, who returned to that desert life +from which they had been drawn with such difficulty. Nothing is so +heart-rending as the sight now offered by these missions, which were +once so rich, so full of life, and so flourishing; only a few Indians +can be seen, wandering about like ghosts in the deserted cloisters, led +by an old, white-haired monk, whom they would not leave, and who had +vowed to die among his children.</p> + +<p>The Mexican Government did not stop here. Returning to the old errors +of the conquistadors, it grew accustomed to regard the Indians as +slaves; imposing on them exorbitant tariffs for articles of primary +necessity, which it sold to them through special agents, bowing them +to any Draconian law, and carrying their injustice so far as to deny +them intellect, and brand them with the name of <i>Gente sin razón</i>, or +people without reason. The consequences of such a system can be easily +comprehended. The Indians, who, at the outset, contented themselves +with passively withdrawing, and seeking in the desert the liberty that +was refused them, on finding themselves so unjustly treated, and urged +to desperation by such insults, thought about avenging themselves, and +requiting evil for evil.</p> + +<p>Then recommenced those periodical invasions of the Indian borders which +the Spaniards had repressed with such difficulty and such bloodshed. +Murder and pillage were organized on a grand scale, and with such +success, that the Comanches and Apaches, to vex the whites, gave the +ironical name of the "Mexican moon" to the month they selected to +commit their periodical depredations. The subjected Indians—that is to +say, those who, in spite of the constant vexations to which they were +victims, remained attached to their villages—revolted several times, +and on each occasion the Mexican government succeeded in making them +return to their duty by promises and concessions, which were violated +and forgotten so soon as the Redskins had laid down their arms. The +war, consequently, became generalized and permanent in the Border +states of the confederation.</p> + +<p>But with the exception of a few invasions more serious than others, +the Indians had almost entirely confined themselves to keeping the +whites on the alert, when the great insurrection of 1827 broke out, +which all but succeeded in depriving Mexico of her richest provinces. +This insurrection was the more terrible, because on this occasion +the Indians, guided by experienced chiefs, possessing firearms, and +carrying out tactics entirely different from those they had hitherto +employed, waged a serious war, and insisted on retaining the provinces +they had seized. The Redskins elected an emperor and established +a government; they displayed a settled intention of definitively +regaining their independence and reconstituting their nationality.</p> + +<p>The Mexicans, justly terrified by these manifestations, made the +greatest sacrifices in order to quell this formidable revolt, and +succeeded, though rather owing to the treachery and disunion they +managed to sow among the chiefs than by the power of their arms. But +this uprising had caused them to reflect, and they saw that it was high +time to come to an arrangement with these men, whom they had hitherto +been accustomed to regard as irrational beings. Peace was concluded on +conditions very advantageous to the Indians and their forces; and the +Mexicans, owing to the fright they had endured, were compelled to keep +their promises, or, to speak more correctly, pretended to do so.</p> + +<p>For several years the Indians, satisfied with this apparent +amelioration in the relations between them and the whites, remained +peacefully in their villages, and the Mexicans had only to defend +their borders against the attacks of the wild or unsubjected Indians. +This was a task, we are bound to confess, in which they were not very +successful; for the Indians eventually passed the limits the Spaniards +had imposed on them, permanently established themselves on the ruins +of the old Creole villages, and by degrees, and gaining ground each +year, they reduced the territory of the Mexican Government in an +extraordinary way.</p> + +<p>Still, when the remembrance of the great Indian insurrection seemed +to have died out, and the Indios Mansos had apparently accepted the +sovereignty of Mexico, the annoyances recommenced. Though at first +slight, they gradually became more and more frequent, owing to the +apathetic resignation of the Indians, and the patience with which they +uncomplainingly endured the unjust aggressions of which they were made +the systematic victims. The concessions granted under the pressure of +fear were brutally withdrawn, and matters returned to the same state as +before the insurrection. The Indians continued to suffer, apparently +resigned to endure all the insults it might please their oppressors to +make them undergo: but this calm concealed a terrific storm, and the +Mexicans would shortly be aroused by a thunderclap.</p> + +<p>The Redskins behaved, under the circumstances, with rare prudence +and circumspection, in order not to alarm the persons they wished to +surprise. They would certainly have succeeded in deceiving the Mexicans +as to their plans, had it not been for the treachery of the agents of +the Mexican Government, continually kept in their villages to watch +them, among whom was Kidd, whom Stronghand had so suddenly unmasked and +contemptuously turned out. Still these agents, in spite of their lively +desire to make themselves of importance by magnifying facts, had only +been able to give very vague details about the conspiracy the Indians +were secretly forming. They knew that an emperor had been elected, and +that he was a white man, but they did not know who he was or his name. +They also knew that the Confederation of the Papazos had placed itself +at the head of the movement, and intended to deal the first blow, but +no one was aware when or how hostilities would commence.</p> + +<p>This information, however, incomplete though it was, appeared to the +Mexicans, on whose minds at once rushed the sanguinary memories of the +last revolution, sufficiently serious for them to place themselves in +a position to resist the first attack of the Redskins, which is always +so terrible, and to place their frontiers in such a state as would +prevent a surprise—a thing they had never yet succeeded in effecting. +The Mexican Government, warned of what was going on by the commandants +of the States of Sonora and Sinaloa, the two most menaced of the +Confederation, and recognising the gravity of the case, resolved to +send troops from the capital to reinforce the border garrisons. This +plan, unfortunately, could not be carried out, and was the cause of +fresh and very dangerous complications.</p> + +<p>It is only in the old Spanish colonies, which are in the deepest state +of neglect and disorganization, that such acts are possible. The troops +told off to proceed to Sonora, so soon as they learned that they were +intended to oppose the Indians, peremptorily refused to march, alleging +as the reason, that they were not at all desirous of fighting savages +who did not respect the law of nations, and had no scruples about +scalping their prisoners. The President of the republic, strong in his +right and the danger the country ran, tried to insist and force them to +set out. Then a thing that might be easily foreseen occurred: not only +did the troops obstinately remain in revolt, but set the seal on it by +making a pronunciamiento in favour of the general chosen to command the +expedition, and who, we may do him the justice of saying, had been the +first to declare against the departure of the troops from the capital.</p> + +<p>This pronunciamiento was the spark that fired the powder train. In a +few days the whole of Mexico was a prey to the horrors of civil war; +so that the governors of the two States, being reduced to their own +forces, and not knowing whether they would retain their posts under +the new president, were more embarrassed than ever, did not dare +take any initiative, and contented themselves with throwing up such +intrenchments as they could, though they had quite enough to do in +keeping their troops to their duty, and keeping them from deserting. +Such was the state of things at the moment we have now reached. This +information, upon which we have purposely laid a stress, in order +to make the reader understand certain facts which, without this +precaution, would seem to belong rather to the regions of fancy than to +that of history, as they are so strange and incredible, was reported +by Stronghand to the council of the sachems, and listened to in a +religious silence.</p> + +<p>"Now," he added, in conclusion, "I believe that the moment has arrived +to strike the grand blow for which we have so long been preparing. Our +enemies hesitate; they are demoralized; their soldiers tremble; and I +am convinced they will not withstand the attack of our and the great +Beaver's warriors. This is what I wished to say to the council. Still +it was not advisable that such important news should reach the ears of +our enemies. The sachems will judge whether I have acted well, or if my +zeal carried me too far in dismissing from the council a paleface who, +I am convinced, is a traitor sold to the Mexicans. I have spoken."</p> + +<p>A flattering murmur greeted the concluding remarks of the young man, +who sat down, blushing.</p> + +<p>"It appears to me," Whistler then said, "that the debate need not be +a long one. As war is decided on, the council of the Confederation +has only to seek allies among the other Indian nations, in order to +augment the number of our warriors, if that be possible. As regards the +operations, and the period when the Mexican territory is to be invaded, +that will devolve on the military committee, who pledge themselves to +the profoundest secrecy about their discussions, until the hour for +action arrives. I have spoken."</p> + +<p>Thunderbolt rose.</p> + +<p>"Chiefs and sachems of the Confederation of the Papazos," he said in +his sympathetic and sonorous voice, "and you, warriors, our allies, the +moment for dissolving your council has at length arrived. Henceforth +the committee of the five chiefs will alone sit. Each of you will +return to his tribe, arm his warriors, and order the scalp dance to +be performed round the war post; but the eighth sun must see you here +again at the head of your warriors, in order that all may be ready to +act when the invasion is decided on. I have spoken. Have I said well, +powerful men?"</p> + +<p>The chiefs rose in silence, resumed their weapons, and immediately left +the village, starting in different directions at a gallop. Thunderbolt +and Stronghand were left alone.</p> + +<p>"My son," the old man then said, "have you nothing to tell me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, father," the young man respectfully answered; "I have very +serious news for you."</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE RANCHO.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>Before describing the conversation between Thunderbolt and Stronghand, +we are obliged to go back, and tell the reader certain facts which had +occurred at the Hacienda del Toro, a few days before the majordomo set +out for Hermosillo. Mexican girls, born and bred on the Indian border, +enjoy a liberty which the want of society renders indispensable. Always +on horseback upon these immense estates, which extend for twenty or +five-and-twenty leagues, their life is spent in riding over hill and +dale, visiting the wretched huts of the vaqueros and peons, relieving +their wants, and rendering themselves beloved by their simple graces +and affecting goodness of heart.</p> + +<p>Doña Mariana, who had been exiled for several years at a convent, so +soon as she returned home, eagerly renewed her long rides through +forests and prairies, to see again the persons in her father's employ, +with whom she had sported as a child, and of whom she had such a +pleasant recollection. At times followed by a servant, specially +attached to her, but more usually alone, the maiden had therefore +recommenced her rides, going to visit one and the other, enjoying her +gallop, careless as a bird, pleased with everything—the flowers she +culled as she passed, the reviving breeze she inhaled, and smiling +gaily at the sun which bronzed her complexion; in a word, she revealed +the voluptuous and egotistic apathy of a child in whom the woman is not +yet revealed, and who is ignorant that she possesses a heart.</p> + +<p>Most usually Doña Marianna guided her horse to a rancho situated about +three leagues from the hacienda, in the midst of a majestic forest of +evergreen oaks and larches. This rancho, which was built of adobes, +and whitewashed, stood on the bank of a stream, in the centre of a +field sufficiently cleared to grow the grain required for the support +of the poor inhabitants of the hovel. In the rear of the rancho was +an enclosure, serving as a corral, and containing two cows and four +or five horses, the sole fortune of the master of this rancho, which, +however, internally was not so poverty stricken as the exterior seemed +to forebode. It was divided into three parts, two of which served +as bedrooms, and the third as sitting room, saloon, kitchen, &c. In +the latter, the fowls impudently came to pick up grain and pieces of +tortillas which bad been allowed to fall.</p> + +<p>On the right was a sort of low fireplace, evidently for culinary +purposes; the middle of the room was occupied by a large oak table with +twisted legs; at the end, two doors opened into the bedrooms, and the +walls were covered with those hideous coloured plates which Parisian +trade inundates the New World with, and under which intelligent hawkers +print the names of saints, to render the sale more easy. Among these +engravings was one representing Napoleon crossing the St. Bernard, +accompanied by a guide, holding his horse. It bore the rather too +fanciful title, "The great St. Martin dividing his cloak with a +beggar." A fact which imparts incomparable meaning to this humorous +motto is, that the general, far from wishing to give his cloak to the +guide, who does not want it, seems to be shivering with cold, and +wrapping himself up with extreme care. Lastly, a few <i>butacas</i> and +<i>equipales</i> completed the furniture, which, for many reasons, might +be considered elegant in a country where the science of comfort is +completely ignored, and the wants of material life are reduced to their +simplest expression.</p> + +<p>This rancho had been for many years inhabited by the same family, who +were the last relics of the Indians dwelling here when the country +was discovered by the Spaniards. These Indians, who were mansos, and +long converted to Christianity, had been old and faithful servants of +the Marquises de Moguer, who were always attached to them, and made +it a point of honour to heighten their comforts, and give them their +protection under all circumstances. Hence the devotion of these +worthy people to the Moguer family was affecting, through its simple +self-denial. They had forgotten their Indian name, and were only known +by that of Sanchez.</p> + +<p>At the moment when we introduce this family to the reader, it consisted +of three persons: the father, a blind old man, but upright and hale, +who, in spite of his infirmity, still traversed all the forest tracks +without hesitation or risk of losing himself, merely accompanied by +his dog Bouchaley; the mother, a woman about forty years of age, tall, +robust, and possessing marked features, which, when she was younger, +must have been very handsome; and the son, a young man of about twenty, +well built, and a daring hunter, who held the post of tigrero at the +hacienda.</p> + +<p>Luisa Sanchez had been nurse to Doña Marianna, and the young lady, +deprived at an early age of her mistress, had retained for her not +merely that friendship which children generally have for their nurse, +and which at times renders the mother jealous, but that craving for +affection, so natural in young hearts, and which Doña Marianna, +restrained by her father's apparent sternness, could not indulge. The +maiden's return to the hacienda caused great joy at the rancho; father, +mother, and son at once mounted and proceeded to the Toro to embrace +their child, as they simply called her. Halfway they met Doña Marianna, +who, in her impatience to see them again, was galloping like a mad +girl, followed by her brother, who was teasing her about this love for +her nurse.</p> + +<p>Since then, not a day passed on which the young lady did not carry +the sunshine of her presence to the rancho, and shared the breakfast +of the family—a frugal meal, composed of light cakes, roasted on +an iron plate, boiled beef seasoned with chile Colorado, milk, and +<i>quesadillas</i>, or cheesecakes, hard and green and leathery, which the +young lady, however, declared to be excellent, and heartily enjoyed. +Bouchaley, like everybody else at the rancho, entertained a feeling +of adoration for Doña Marianna. He was a long-haired black and white +mastiff, about ten years old, and spiteful and noisy as all his +congeners. In reality, the dog possessed but one good quality—its +well-tried fidelity to its master, whom it never took its eyes off, +and constantly crouched at his feet. Since the young lady's return, +the heart of the worthy quadruped had opened to a new affection; each +morning it took its post on the road by which Doña Marianna came, and +as soon as it saw her, saluted her by leaps and deafening barks.</p> + +<p>Mariano Sanchez, the tigrero, had for his foster sister an affection +heightened by the similarity of name—a similarity which in Spanish +America gives a right to a sort of spiritual relationship. This +touching custom, whose origin is entirely Indian, is intended to draw +closer the relations between <i>tocayo</i> and <i>tocaya</i>, and they are almost +brother and sister. Hence the tigrero, in order to be present each +morning at his tocaya's breakfast, often rode eight or ten leagues in +the morning, and found his reward in a smile from the young lady. As +for Father Sanchez, since the return of his child, as he called her, he +only felt one regret. It was that he could not see her and admire her +beauty; but he consoled himself by embracing her.</p> + +<p>It was about eleven o'clock in the morning; the sun illumined the hut; +the birds were singing merrily in the forest. Father Sanchez had taken +up the hand mill, and was grinding the wheat, while his wife, after +sifting the wheat, pounded it, and formed it into light cakes, called +tortillas, which, after being griddled, would form the solid portion of +the breakfast.</p> + +<p>Bouchaley was at his post on the road, watching for the arrival of the +young lady.</p> + +<p>"How is it," the old man asked, "that Mariano is not here yet? I +generally hear the sound of his horse earlier than this."</p> + +<p>"Poor lad! Who knows where he is at this moment?" the mother answered. +"He has for some days been watching a band of jaguars that have bitten +several horses at the hacienda. He is certainly ambushed in some +thicket. I only trust he will not be devoured some day by the terrible +animals."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, wife," the old man continued, with a shrug of the shoulders. +"Maternal love renders you foolish. Mariano devoured by the tigers!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I see nothing impossible in that."</p> + +<p>"You might just as well say that Bouchaley is capable of chasing a +peccary; one thing is as possible as the other. Besides, you forget +that our son never goes out without his dog Bigote, a cross between a +wolf and a Newfoundland dog, as big as a six months' old colt, and who +is capable of breaking the loins of a coyote at one snap."</p> + +<p>"I do not say no, father; I do not say no," she continued, with a shake +of her head; "that does not prevent his being a dangerous trade, which +may one day or another, cost him his life."</p> + +<p>"Stuff! Mariano is too clever a hunter for that; besides, the trade +is lucrative; each jaguar skin brings him in fourteen piastres—a sum +we cannot afford to despise, since my infirmity has prevented me from +working. It would be better for my old carcass to return to the earth, +as I am no longer good for anything."</p> + +<p>"Do not speak so, father; especially before our daughter, for she would +not forgive you: for what you are saying is unjust; you have worked +enough in your time to rest now, and your son take your place."</p> + +<p>"Well, tell me, wife," the old man said, laughingly, "was I devoured by +the jaguar? And yet I was a tigrero for more than forty years, and the +jaguars were not nearly so polite in my time as they are now."</p> + +<p>"That is all very well; it is true that you have not been devoured, but +your father and your grandfather were. What answer have you to that?"</p> + +<p>"Hem!" the old man went on, in some embarrassment; "I will answer—I +will answer—"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, and that will be the best," she continued; "for you could not +say anything satisfactory."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! What do you take me for, mother? If my father and +grandfather were devoured, and that is true, it was—"</p> + +<p>"Well, what? I am anxious to hear."</p> + +<p>"Because they were treacherously attacked by the jaguars," he at length +said, with a triumphant air; "the wretches knew whom they had to deal +with, and so played cunning. Otherwise they would never have got the +best of two such clever hunters as my father and grandfather."</p> + +<p>The ranchera shrugged her shoulders with a smile, but she considered it +unnecessary to answer, as she was well aware she would not succeed in +making her husband change his opinion as to her son's dangerous trade. +The old man, satisfied with having reduced his wife to silence, as he +fancied, did not abuse his victory; with a crafty smile he rolled and +lit a cigarette, while Na Luisa laid the table, arranged and dusted +everything in the rancho, and listened anxiously to assure herself that +the footfall of her son's horse was not mingled with the sounds that +incessantly rose from the forest.</p> + +<p>All at once Bouchaley was heard barking furiously. The old man drew +himself up in his butaca, while Na Sanchez rushed to the doorway, in +which Doña Marianna appeared, fresh and smiling.</p> + +<p>"Good morning, father! Good morning, mother!" she exclaimed in her +silvery voice, and kissed the forehead of the old man, who tenderly +pressed her to his heart. "Come, Bouchaley, come, be quiet!" she added, +patting the dog, which still gamboled round her. "Mother, ask my tocayo +to put Negro in the corral, for the good animal has earned its alfalfa."</p> + +<p>"I will go, Querida," the old man said; "for today I take Mariano's +place." And he left the rancho without awaiting an answer.</p> + +<p>"Mother," the young lady continued, with a shade of anxiety, "where is +my foster brother? I do not see him."</p> + +<p>"Has not arrived yet, niña."</p> + +<p>"What! Not arrived?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I trust he will soon be here," she said, while stifling a sigh.</p> + +<p>The maiden looked at her for a moment sympathetically.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, mother?" she at length said, as she seized the +poor woman's hand; "Can any accident have happened?"</p> + +<p>"The Lord guard us from it, Querida," Luisa said, clasping her hands.</p> + +<p>"Still, you are anxious, mother. You are hiding something from me. Tell +me at once what it is."</p> + +<p>"Nothing, my child; forgive me. Nothing extraordinary has occurred, and +I am hiding nothing from you; but—"</p> + +<p>"But what?" Doña Marianna interrupted her.</p> + +<p>"Well, since you insist, Querida, I confess to you that I am alarmed. +You know that Mariano is tigrero to the hacienda?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; what then?"</p> + +<p>"I am always frightened lest he should meet with an accident, for that +happens so easily."</p> + +<p>"Come, come, mother; do not have such thoughts as these. Mariano is an +intrepid hunter, and possesses far from common skill and tact."</p> + +<p>"Ah, hija, you are of the same opinion as my old man. Alas! If I lost +my son, what would become of you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, mother, why talk in that way? Mariano, I hope, runs no danger. The +delay that alarms you means nothing; you will soon see him again."</p> + +<p>"May you be saying the truth, dear child!"</p> + +<p>"I am so convinced of it, mamita, that I will not sit down to table +till he arrives."</p> + +<p>"Well, you will not have to wait long, hijita," the old man said, as he +re-entered the rancho.</p> + +<p>"Is he coming?" the mother joyously exclaimed, as she furtively wiped +away a tear.</p> + +<p>"I knew it," the maiden remarked.</p> + +<p>"There, do you hear his horse?" the old man said. In fact, the furious +gallop of a horse echoed in the forest, and approached with the +rapidity of a hurricane. The two females darted to the door. At this +moment a horseman appeared on the skirt of the clearing, riding at full +speed, with his hair floating in the breeze, and his face animated by +the speed at which he rode. This horseman, who was powerfully and yet +gracefully built, and had a manly, energetic face, was Mariano, the +tigrero. His dog, a black and white Newfoundland, with powerful chest +and enormous head, was running by the side of the horse, and looking up +intelligently every moment.</p> + +<p>"¡Viva Dios! ¡Querida tocaya!" the young man exclaimed, as he leaped +from his horse. "I am glad to see you, for I was afraid that I should +arrive too late. Bigote," he added, addressing his dog and throwing +the bridle to it, which the animal seized with its mouth, "lead Moreno +to the corral."</p> + +<p>The dog immediately proceeded thither, followed by the horse, while +Mariano and the two females returned to the rancho. The young man +kissed his father's forehead, and took his hand, saying, "Good morning, +papa!" and then returned to his mother, whom he embraced several times.</p> + +<p>"Cruel child," she said to him, "why did you delay so long?"</p> + +<p>"Pay no attention to what your mother says, muchacho," the old man +remarked; "she is foolish."</p> + +<p>"Fie! You must not say that!" the young lady exclaimed; "You would do +better in scolding Mariano, for I, too, felt alarmed."</p> + +<p>"Do not be angry with me," the young man replied; "I have been for some +days on the track of a family of jaguars, which is prowling about the +neighbourhood, and I could not possibly come sooner."</p> + +<p>"Are they about here?"</p> + +<p>"No; they are prowlers brought here by the drought; and are the more +dangerous because, as they do not belong to these parts, they rest +where they please—sometimes at one place, sometimes at another, and it +becomes very difficult to follow their trail."</p> + +<p>"I only hope they will not think of coming here," the mother said, +anxiously.</p> + +<p>"I do not believe they will, for wild beasts shun the vicinity of man. +Still, Doña Marianna had better, for some days to come, restrict her +rides, and not venture too far into the forest."</p> + +<p>"What can I have to fear?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, I hope; still it is better to act prudently. Wild beasts are +animals whose habits it is very difficult to discover, especially when +they are in unknown parts, as these are."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" the young lady said, with a laugh; "You are trying to +frighten me, tocayo."</p> + +<p>"Do not believe that; I will accompany you with Bigote to the hacienda."</p> + +<p>The dog, which had returned to its master's side after performing its +duties, wagged its tail, and looked up in her face.</p> + +<p>"I will not allow that, tocayo," the young lady replied, as she passed +her hand through the dog's silky coat, and pulled its ears; "let Bigote +have a rest. I came alone, and will return alone; and mounted on Negro, +I defy the tigers to catch me up, unless they are ambuscaded on my +road."</p> + +<p>"Still, niña—" Mariano objected.</p> + +<p>"Not a word more on the subject, tocayo, I beg; let us breakfast, +for I am literally dying of hunger; and were the tigers here," she +added, with a laugh, "they might frighten me, but not deprive me of my +appetite."</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.</a></h4> + +<h3>LOST!</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>They sat down to table; but the meal, in spite of Doña Marianna's +efforts to enliven it, suffered from the anxiety which two of the party +felt, and tried in vain to conceal. The tigrero was vexed with his +foster sister for not letting him accompany her, for he had not liked +to express his fears, lest the young lady on her return to the hacienda +might meet the ferocious animals he had been pursuing for some days +past, without being able to shoot them.</p> + +<p>The jaguar, which, is very little known in Europe, is one of the +scourges of Mexico, and would figure advantageously in zoological +gardens. There is only one in the Parisian Jardin des Plantes, and +that is a very small specimen. Let us describe this animal, which is +more feared by the Indians and white men of North America, than is the +lion by the Arabs. The jaguar <i>(Felis onca, or onza)</i> is, next to the +tiger and lion, the largest of the animals of its genus; it is the +great wild cat of Cuvier, and is called indiscriminately "the American +tiger," and the "panther of the furriers." It is a quadruped of the +feline race; its total length is about nine feet, and its height about +twenty-seven inches. Its skin is handsome, and in great request; while +of a bright tawny hue on the back, it is marked on the head, neck, and +along the flanks with black spots: the lower part of the body is white, +with irregular black spots.</p> + +<p>But few animals escape the pursuit of the jaguar: it obstinately hunts +horses, bulls, and buffaloes; it does not hesitate to leap into rivers +to catch certain fish it is fond of, fights the alligator, devours +otters and picas, and wages a cruel warfare with the monkeys, owing to +its agility, which enables it to mount to the top of trees, even when +they are devoid of branches, and upwards of eighty feet high. Although, +like all the carnivora of the New World, it shuns the proximity of man, +it does not hesitate to attack him when urged by hunger or tracked by +hunters; in such cases it fights with the utmost bravery, and does not +dream of flight.</p> + +<p>Such were the animals the tigrero had been pursuing for the last few +days, and had not been able to catch up. According to the sign he had +found, the jaguars were four in number—the male, female, and two cubs. +We can now understand what the young man's terror must be on thinking +of the terrible dangers to which his foster sister ran a risk of being +exposed on her return to the hacienda: but he knew Doña Marianna too +well to hope he could make her recall her decision. Hence, he did not +try to bring the conversation back to the subject, but resolved to +follow her at a distance, in order to come to her aid if circumstances +required it.</p> + +<p>As always happens under such circumstances, Doña Marianna, seeing that +no one referred again to the jaguars, was the first to talk about +them, asking her foster brother the details of their appearance in +the country, and the mischief they had done, in what way he meant to +surprise them, and a multitude of other questions; to which the young +man replied most politely, but limiting himself to brief answers, and +without launching into details, which are generally so agreeable to +a hunter. The tigrero displayed such laconism in the information he +gave the young lady, that the latter, vexed in spite of herself at +seeing him so cold upon a subject to which he had seemed to attach +such importance a few moments before, began jeering him, and ended by +saying, with a mocking look, that she was convinced he had only said +what he did to frighten her, and that the jaguars had only existed in +his imagination. Mariano gaily endured the raillery, confessed that he +had perhaps displayed more anxiety than the affair deserved, and taking +down a jarabe that hung on the wall, he began strumming a fandango with +the back of his hand, in order to turn the conversation.</p> + +<p>Several hours passed in laughing, talking, and singing. When the moment +for departure at length arrived, Mariano went to the corral to fetch +the young lady's horse, saddled it with the utmost care, and led it to +the door of the rancho, after saddling his own horse, so that he might +start so soon as Doña Marianna was out of sight of the rancho.</p> + +<p>"You remained a long time in the corral, tocayo," she said with a +laugh; "pray, have you discovered any suspicious sign?"</p> + +<p>"No, Niña; but as I am also going to leave the rancho, after saddling +your horse, I saddled mine."</p> + +<p>"Of course you are going to hunt your strange jaguars again?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, of course," he answered.</p> + +<p>"Well," she said, with feigned terror, "if you do meet them, pray do +not miss them."</p> + +<p>"I will do all in my power to avoid that, because I desire to make you +a present of their skins, in order to prove to you that they really +existed."</p> + +<p>"I thank you for your gallantry, Tocayo," she replied with a laugh; +"but you know the proverb—'A hunter must not sell the skin of +a—jaguar, before—'"</p> + +<p>"Well, well, we shall soon know who is right, and who wrong," he +interrupted her.</p> + +<p>The maiden, still laughing, embraced the ranchero and his wife, lightly +bounded into the saddle, and bending down gracefully offered her hand +to Mariano.</p> + +<p>"We part friends, tocayo," she said to him. "Are you coming my way?"</p> + +<p>"I ought to do so."</p> + +<p>"Then why not accompany me?"</p> + +<p>"Because you would suppose, Niña, that I wished to escort you."</p> + +<p>"Ha! Ha! Ha!" the young lady said, merrily; "I had forgotten your +proposal of this morning. Well, I hope you will be successful in your +bunt; and so, good-bye till tomorrow. Come, Negro."</p> + +<p>After uttering these words, she gave a parting wave of the hand to her +nurse, and started at a gallop. The young man, after watching her for +a while, to be certain of the road she followed, then re-entered the +rancho, took his gun, and loaded it with all the care which hunters +display in this operation, when they believe that life depends on the +accuracy of their aim.</p> + +<p>"Are you really about to start at once?" his mother asked him, +anxiously.</p> + +<p>"At once, mother."</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?"</p> + +<p>"To follow my foster sister to the hacienda, without her seeing me."</p> + +<p>"That is a good idea. Do you fear any danger for her?"</p> + +<p>"Not the slightest. But it is a long distance from here to the +hacienda; the Indians are moving, it is said. We are no great distance +from the border, and, as no one can foresee the future, I do not wish +my sister to be exposed to any chance encounter."</p> + +<p>"Excellently reasoned, muchacho. The niña is wrong in thus crossing the +forest alone."</p> + +<p>"Poor child!" the ranchero said; "An accident happens so easily; lose +no time, muchacho, but be off. On reflection, I think you ought to have +insisted on accompanying her."</p> + +<p>"You know, father, she would not have consented."</p> + +<p>"That is true; it is better that it should be as it is, for she will +be protected without knowing it. The first time I see Don Ruiz, I will +recommend him not to let his sister go out thus alone, for times are +not good."</p> + +<p>But the young man was no longer listening to his father: so soon as his +gun was loaded, he left the rancho, followed by his dog. Two minutes +later he was in the saddle, and riding at full speed in the direction +taken by Doña Marianna.</p> + +<p>So soon as the young lady found herself at a sufficient distance from +the rancho, she had checked her horse's pace, which was now proceeding +at an amble. It was about five in the afternoon; the evening breeze +was rising, and gently waving the tufted crests of the trees; the +sun, now almost level with the ground, only appeared on the horizon in +the shape of a reddish globe; the atmosphere, refreshed by the breeze, +was perfumed by the gentle emanations from the flowers and herbs; the +birds, aroused from the heavy lethargy produced by the heat, were +singing beneath all the branches, and filling the air with their joyous +songs.</p> + +<p>Doña Marianna, whose mind was impressionable, and open to all +sensations, gently yielded to the impressions of this scene, which was +so full of ineffable harmony, and gradually forgetting where she was +and surrounding objects, had fallen into a voluptuous reverie. What was +she meditating? She certainly could not have said; she was yielding +unconsciously to the influence of this lovely evening, and travelling +into that glorious country of fancy of which life is but too often the +nightmare. Doña Marianna was too young, too simple, and too pure yet +to possess any memory either sad or sweet; her life had hitherto been +an uninterrupted succession of sunshiny days; but she was a woman, and +listened for the beatings of her heart, which she was surprised at not +hearing. With that curiosity which is innate in her sex, the maiden +tried with a timid hand to raise a corner of the veil that covered the +future, and to divine mysteries which are incomprehensible, so long as +love has not revealed them by sufferings, joy, or grief.</p> + +<p>Doña Marianna had rather a long ride through the forest before reaching +the plain; but she had so often ridden the road at all hours of the +day, she was so thoroughly persuaded that no danger menaced her, that +she let the bridle hang on her horse's neck, while she plunged deeper +and deeper into the delicious reverie which had seized on her. In the +meanwhile, the shades grew deeper; the birds had concealed themselves +in the foliage, and ceased their songs; the sun had disappeared, and +the hot red beams it had left on the horizon were beginning to die +out; the wind blew with greater force through the branches, which +uttered long murmurs; the sky was assuming deeper tints, and night +was rapidly approaching. Already the shrill cries of the coyotes rose +in the quebradas and in the unexplored depths of the forest; hoarse +yells disturbed the silence, and announced the awakening of the savage +denizens of the forest.</p> + +<p>All at once a long, startling, strident howl, bearing some resemblance +to the miauling of a cat, burst through the air, and fell on the +maiden's ear with an ill-omened echo. Suddenly startled from her +reverie, Doña Marianna looked up, and took an anxious glance around +her. A slight shudder of fear passed over her body, for her horse, so +long left to its own devices, had left the beaten track, and the maiden +found herself in a part of the forest unknown to her—she had lost her +way. A person lost in an American forest is dead!</p> + +<p>These forests are generally entirely composed of trees of the same +family, which render it impossible to guide oneself, unless gifted with +that miraculous intuition which the Indians and hunters possess, and +which enables them to march with certainty in the most inextricable +labyrinths. Wherever the eye may turn, it only perceives immense +arcades of verdure, infinitely prolonged, wearying the eye by their +desperate monotony, and only crossed at intervals by the tracks of +wild beasts, which are mixed strangely together, and eventually lead +to unknown watering places, nameless streams, that run silently and +gloomily beneath the covert, and whose windings cannot possibly be +followed.</p> + +<p>The spot where the maiden was, was one of the most deserted in the +forest; the trees, of prodigious height and size, grew closely +together, and were connected by a network of lianas, which, growing +in every direction, formed an impassable wall; from the end of the +branches hung, in long festoons to the ground, that greyish moss known +as Spanish beard, while the tall straight grass that everywhere covered +the ground, showed that human foot had not trodden the soil here for +a lengthened period. The maiden felt an invincible terror seize upon +her. Night had almost completely set in; then the stories her foster +brother had told her in the morning about the jaguars returned to her +mind in a flood, and were rendered more terrible by the darkness that +surrounded her, and the mournful howling that burst forth on all sides. +She shuddered, and turned pale as death at the thought of the fearful +danger to which she had so imprudently exposed herself.</p> + +<p>Then, collecting all her strength for a last appeal, she uttered a cry; +but her voice died out without raising an echo. She was alone—lost in +the desert by night. What could she do? What would become of her?</p> + +<p>The maiden tried to find the route by which she had come, but the road +followed haphazard through the herbage no longer existed; the grass +trodden by her horse's hoof had sprung up again behind it. Moreover, +the night was so dark that Doña Marianna could not see four paces ahead +of her; and she soon found that her efforts to find the road would +only result in leading her further astray. Under such circumstances, +a man would have been in a comparatively far less dangerous position. +He could have lit a fire to combat the night chill, and keep the wild +beasts at bay; in the event of an attack, his weapons would have +allowed him to defend himself: but Doña Marianna had not the means +to light a fire; she had no weapons, and had she possessed them, +she would not have known how to use them. She was forced to remain +motionless at the spot where she was for the whole night, at the hazard +of dying of cold or terror.</p> + +<p>This position was frightful. How she now regretted her imprudent +confidence, which was the cause of what was now occurring! But it was +too late; neither complaints nor recrimination aught availed. She must +yield to her fate. With energetic natures, however little accustomed +they may be to peril, when that peril proves inevitable, and they +recognise that nothing can protect them from it, a reaction takes +place; their thoughts become clearer, their courage grows with their +will, and they accept, with a proud and resolute resignation, all the +consequences of the danger they are compelled to confront, however +terrible they may be. This was what happened to the maiden when she +perceived that she was really lost. A profound despair seized upon +her—for a moment the weakness natural to her sex gained the upper +hand, and she fell sobbing on the ground; but gradually the reaction +set in, and, pious as all Spanish women are, she clasped her bands, and +addressed a fervent and touching prayer to God, who was her last hope.</p> + +<p>It has been justly said that prayer not only consoles, but strengthens +and restores hope. Prayer, with those who sincerely believe, is the +expression of the real feelings of the soul; only those who have looked +death in the face, either on the battlefield or during a storm at sea, +will understand the sublimity of prayer—the last appeal of the weak +victim to the omnipotent Intelligence which can alone save him. Doña +Marianna prayed, and then rose calmer, and, above all, stronger. She +had placed herself in the hands of Deity, and, in her simple faith, was +convinced that He would not abandon her.</p> + +<p>Her horse, whose bridle she had not let loose, was standing motionless +by her side. The maiden gently patted the noble animal, the only friend +left to her; then, by a sudden inspiration, she began unfastening the +girths, tearing her little hands without knowing it, and lacerating her +fingers with the iron tongues of the buckles.</p> + +<p>"Poor Negro," she said, in a soft voice, as she removed the trappings, +"you must not be the victim of my imprudence; resume your liberty; for +the noble instinct with which your Creator has endowed you will perhaps +enable you to find your road. Go, my poor Negro; you are now free."</p> + +<p>The animal gave a whinnying of delight, made a prodigious leap, and +disappeared in the darkness. Doña Marianna was alone—really alone, now.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.</a></h4> + +<h3>STRONGHAND.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>It is impossible to imagine what terrors night brings with it under +its thick mantle of mist, when the earth is no longer warmed by the +sparkling sunbeams, and darkness reigns as supreme lord. At that time +everything changes its aspects, and assumes in the flickering rays +of the moon a fantastic appearance; the mountains seem loftier, the +rivers wider and deeper; the trees resemble spectres—gloomy denizens +of the tomb, watching for you to pass, and ready to clutch you in their +fleshless arms. The imagination becomes heated, ideas grow confused, +you tremble at the fall of a leaf, at the moaning of the night breeze, +at the breakage of a branch; and, suffering from a horrible nightmare, +you fancy at every moment that your last hour is at hand.</p> + +<p>In the American forests, night has mysteries still more terrible. +Beneath these immense domes of verdure, which the sun is powerless +to pierce even at midday, and which remain constantly buried in an +undecided clear obscure, the darkness may, so to speak, be felt; +nothing could produce a flash in this chaos, excepting, perhaps, +the luminous eyeballs of the wild beasts, that dart electric sparks +from the thickets. Here Night is truly the mistress; the darkness is +peopled by the sinister denizens of the forest, whom the obscurity +drives from their unknown hiding places, and who begin their mournful +prowling in search of prey. From each clump, from each ravine, issue +confused sounds that have no name in human language; some clear and +sharp, others hoarse and low, and others, again resembling miauling, +or sardonic laughter, are blended in horrible concert. Then come the +heavy footfalls on the ground, and the sullen flapping of birds' wings, +as well as that incessant indistinct murmur, which is nought else but +the continual buzz of the infinitely little, mingled with the hollow +moan always heard in the desert, and which is only the breath of Nature +travailing with her incomprehensible secrets. A night passed in the +forest, without fire or weapons, is a terrible thing for a man; but the +situation becomes far more frightful for a woman—a girl—a frail and +delicate creature, accustomed to all the comforts of life, and unable +to find within herself those thousand resources which a strong man, +habituated to struggle, manages to procure, even in the most desperate +situations.</p> + +<p>Without dwelling further on the subject, the reader can imagine without +difficulty the painful situation in which Doña Marianna found herself. +So long as she could hear the sound of her horse's hoofs, as it fled +at full speed, she stood with her body bent forward and outstretched +ears, attaching herself to life, and, perchance, to hope, through the +sound which was so familiar to her; but when it had died out in the +distance, when a leaden silence once again weighed on her, the maiden +shuddered, and, folding her hands on her chest, sank in a half-fainting +condition at the foot of a tree—no longer thinking or hoping, but +awaiting death. For what succour could she expect in the tomb of +verdure, which, though so spacious, was not the less secure?</p> + +<p>How long did she remain plunged in this state of prostration, which +was only an anticipated death—one hour or five minutes? She could not +have said. For wretched people, whom everything, even hope, abandons, +time seems to stand still—minutes become ages, and an hour seems as +if it would never end. All at once a feeble, almost indistinguishable +sound smote her ear, and she instinctively listened. This sound grew +louder with every second, and ere long she could not be mistaken; it +was a rapid mad gallop through the forest. This sound Doña Marianna +recognised with terror; for it was produced by the return of her +horse. For the noble animal to come back with such velocity, it must +be pursued, and that closely, by ferocious animals, such was Doña +Marianna's idea, and, unfortunately, she only too soon recognised its +correctness. The horse gave a snort of terror, which was immediately +answered by two loud, sharp growls. Then, as if dreaming, Doña Marianna +heard prodigious leaps; she saw ill-omened shadows pass before her with +the rapidity of a lightning flash, and then a fearful struggle, in +which groans of agony were mingled with yells of delight.</p> + +<p>However terrible the maiden's position might be she felt tears slowly +course down her cheeks—her horse, her last comrade, had succumbed—the +liberty she had granted it had only precipitated its destruction. +Strange to say, though, at this supreme moment Doña Marianna did +not think for an instant that the death of her horse probably only +preceded her own by a brief space, and that it was a sinister warning +to her to prepare for being devoured.</p> + +<p>When terror has attained a certain degree, a strange effect is produced +upon the individual; animal life still exists in the sense that the +arteries pulsate, the heart palpitates; but intellectual life is +completely suspended; the brain, struck by a temporary paralysis, no +longer receives the thought; the eyes look without seeing; the voice +itself cannot force its way through the contracted throat; in a word, +terror produces a partial catalepsy, by destroying for a period, longer +or shorter, all the noblest faculties of man. Doña Marianna had reached +such a point that, even had she possessed the means of flight, she +would have been incapable of employing them, so thoroughly was every +feeling extinct in her—even the instinct of self-preservation, which +usually remains when all the others are destroyed.</p> + +<p>Fortunately for the girl, the jaguars—for there were several of +them—were to leeward; moreover, they had tasted blood, and this was a +double reason which temporarily saved her, by depriving their scent of +nearly all its delicacy. No other sound was audible, save that produced +by the crushing of the horse's bones, which the wild beasts were +devouring, mingled with growls of anger, when one of the banqueters +tried to encroach on its neighbour's share of the booty. There could be +no doubt about the fact; the animals enjoying this horrible repast were +the jaguars, so long hunted by the tigrero, and which her evil star had +brought across the maiden's track.</p> + +<p>By degrees, Doña Marianna became—not familiarized with the danger +hanging over her head, for that would have been impossible; but as, +according to the law of nature, anything that reaches its culminating +point must begin to descend, her first terror, though it did not +abandon her, produced a strange phenomenon. She felt involuntarily +attracted towards these horrible animals, whose black outlines she +could distinguish moving in the darkness; suffering from a species of +vertigo with her body bent forward, and her eyes immoderately dilated, +without, even accounting for the strange feeling that urged her to +act thus, she kept her eyes eagerly fixed upon them, following with a +febrile interest their slightest movements, and experiencing at the +sight a feeling of inexplicable pleasure, which produced a mingled +shudder of joy and pain. Let who will try to explain this singular +anomaly of human nature; but the fact is certain, and among our readers +many will, doubtless, bear witness to its truth.</p> + +<p>All at once the jaguars, which had hitherto been greedily engaged with +the corpse of the horse, without thinking of anything beyond making +a hearty meal, raised their heads and began sniffing savagely. Doña +Marianna saw their eyes, sparkling like live coals, fixed upon her; +she understood that she was lost; instinctively she closed her eyes +to escape the fascination of those metallic eyeballs, which seemed in +the darkness to emit electric sparks, and prepared to die. Still the +jaguars did not stir; they were crouching on the remains of the horse, +and, while continuing to gaze at the maiden, gracefully passed their +paws over their ears with a purr of pleasure—in a word, they were +coquettishly performing their toilet, appearing not only most pleased +with the meal they had just ended, but with that which was awaiting +them.</p> + +<p>Still, in spite of the calmness affected by the two animals—for the +cubs were sleeping, rolled up like kittens—it was evident that for +some unknown motive they were restless; they lashed the ground with +their weighty tails, or laid back their ears with a roar of anger, +and, turning their heads in all directions, sniffed the air. They +scented a danger; but of what nature was it? As for Doña Marianna, they +appeared so sure of seizing her whenever they thought proper, and saw +how harmless she was, that they contented themselves with crouching +before her, and did not deign to advance a step. All at once the male, +without stirring, uttered a sharp, quick yell. The female rose, bounded +forward, seized one of her cubs in her mouth, and with one backward +leap disappeared in a thicket; almost immediately she reappeared, +and removed the second in the same way; then she returned calmly and +boldly to place herself by the side of the male, whose anxiety had now +attained formidable proportions.</p> + +<p>At the same instant a flash traversed the air—a shot echoed far and +wide—and the male jaguar writhed on the ground with a roar of agony. +Almost immediately a man dashed from the tree at the foot of which Doña +Mariana was crouching, stood in front of her, and received the shock +of the female, which, at the shot, had instinctively bounded forward. +The man tottered, but for all that kept his feet: there was a frightful +struggle for a few minutes, and then the jaguar fell back with a last +and fearful yell.</p> + +<p>"Come," the hunter said, as he wiped on the grass the long machete with +which he had stabbed the beast, "my arrangements were well made, but I +fancy that I arrived only just in time. Now for the cubs; for I must +not show mercy to any member of this horrible family."</p> + +<p>Then this man, who seemed to possess the faculty of seeing in the +darkness, walked without hesitation towards the spot where the female +had hidden her cubs. He resolutely entered the thicket, and came out +again almost immediately, holding a cub in either hand. He smashed +their heads against the trunk of a tree, and threw the bodies on those +of their father and mother.</p> + +<p>"That is a very tidy butchery," he said; "but what on earth is Don +Hernando's tigrero about, that I am obliged to do his work?"</p> + +<p>While saying this, the hunter had collected all the dry wood within +reach, struck a light, and within a few minutes a bright flame +rose skywards. This duly accomplished, the stranger hurried to the +assistance of Doña Marianna, who had fainted.</p> + +<p>"Poor girl!" he muttered, with an accent of gentle pity, as he lifted +her in his arms, and carried her to the fire; "How is it that the +fright has not killed her?"</p> + +<p>He gently laid her on some firs he had arranged for her bed, and gazed +at her for a moment with a look of delight impossible to describe. But +then he felt considerably embarrassed. Accustomed to the hardships of +a desert life, and a skilful hunter as he had proved himself, this man +was naturally a very poor sick nurse. He knew how, at a pinch, to dress +a wound or extract a bullet, but he was quite ignorant how to bring a +fainting woman round.</p> + +<p>"Still, I cannot leave her in this state, poor girl," gazing on her +sorrowfully; "but what am I to do?—how can I relieve her?"</p> + +<p>At length he knelt down by the young lady's side, gently raised her +lovely head, which he laid on his knee, and, opening with his dagger +point her closed lips, poured in a few drops of Catalonian refino +contained in a gourd. The effect of this remedy was instantaneous. A +nervous tremour passed over the maiden's body; she heaved a sigh, and +opened her lips. At the first moment she looked around her wildly, but +ideas seemed gradually to return to her brain; her contracted features +grew brighter, and fixing her eyes on the hunter, who was still bending +over her, she muttered, with an expression of gratitude which made the +young man's heart beat, "Stronghand!"</p> + +<p>"Have you recognised me, señorita?" he exclaimed, with joyous surprise.</p> + +<p>"Are you not my Providence?" she answered. "Do you not always arrive +when I have to be saved from some fearful danger?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, señorita!" he murmured, in great embarrassment.</p> + +<p>"Thanks! Thanks, my saviour!" she continued, seizing his hand, +and pressing it to her heart; "Thanks for having come to my help, +Stronghand, for this time again. I should have been lost without you."</p> + +<p>"I really believe," he said, with a smile, "that I arrived just in +time."</p> + +<p>"But how is it that you came so opportunely?" she asked, curiously, as +she sat up and wrapped herself in the furs, for the feminine instinct +had regained its power over her.</p> + +<p>At this question, simple though it was, the hunter turned red.</p> + +<p>"Oh," he said, "it is very simple. I have been hunting in these parts +for some days past. I had tracked this family of jaguars, which I +obstinately determined to kill, I know not why; but now I understand +that it was a presentiment. After pursuing them all day, I had lost +them out of sight, and was seeking their trail, when your horse enabled +me to recover it."</p> + +<p>"What!—my horse?" she exclaimed, in amazement.</p> + +<p>"Do you not remember that it was I who gave you this poor Negro on our +first meeting?"</p> + +<p>"That is true," she murmured, as she let her eyes fall beneath the +hunter's ardent glance.</p> + +<p>"I saw you for a moment this morning when you were going to Sanchez' +rancho."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" she remarked.</p> + +<p>"Sanchez is a friend, of mine," he continued, as if to explain his +remark.</p> + +<p>"Go on."</p> + +<p>"On seeing the horse, which I at once recognised, I feared that some +accident had happened to you, and set out after it. But the jaguars had +scented it at the same time, and in spite of my thorough acquaintance +with this forest, it was impossible for me to run as fast as they did. +Luckily, they were hungry, and amused themselves by devouring poor +Negro; otherwise I should not have arrived in time."</p> + +<p>"But how was it that you came by this strange road?"</p> + +<p>"In the first place, I was bound to save your life, as I knew that if +I killed one jaguar, the other would leap upon you, in order to avenge +it."</p> + +<p>"But you ran the risk of being torn in pieces by the horrible animals," +she said, with a shudder of retrospective terror, as she thought of the +frightful dangers from which she had been so miraculously preserved.</p> + +<p>"That is possible," he said, with an unmistakable expression of joy; +"but I should have died to save you, and I desired nothing else."</p> + +<p>The maiden made no reply. Pensive and blushing, she bowed her head +on her chest. The hunter thought that he had offended her, and also +remained silent and constrained. This silence lasted several minutes. +At length Doña Marianna raised her head and offered her hand to the +young man.</p> + +<p>"Thank you again!" she said, with a gentle smile.</p> + +<p>"Your heart is good. You did not hesitate to sacrifice your life for +me, whom you scarce know, and I shall feel eternally grateful to you."</p> + +<p>"I am too amply repaid for my services by these words, señorita," he +replied, with marked hesitation; "still I have a favour to ask you, and +I should be pleased if you would deign to grant it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, speak, speak! Tell me what I can do!"</p> + +<p>"I know not how to explain it; my request will appear to you so +strange, so singular—perhaps so indiscreet."</p> + +<p>"Speak; for I feel convinced that the favour you pretend to ask of me +is merely another service you wish to render me."</p> + +<p>Stronghand bent a searching glance on the maiden, and then seemed to +make up his mind.</p> + +<p>"Well, señorita," he said, "it is this:—should you ever, for any +reason neither you nor I can foresee, need advice, or the help of a +friend, either for yourself or any member of your family, do nothing +till you have seen me, and explained to me unreservedly the motives +that impelled you to come to me."</p> + +<p>Doña Marianna reflected, while the hunter gazed at her attentively.</p> + +<p>"Be it so," she at length said; "I promise to act as you wish. But how +am I to find you?"</p> + +<p>"Your foster brother is my friend, señorita; you will request him to +lead you to me, and he will do so; or, if you prefer it, you can warn +me through him to proceed to any place you may point out."</p> + +<p>"Agreed."</p> + +<p>"I can count on your promise?"</p> + +<p>"Have I not passed my word?"</p> + +<p>All at once a loud noise, resembling the passage of a wild beast, was +heard in the forest glade; the maiden started, and instinctively clung +to the hunter.</p> + +<p>"Fear nothing, señorita," the latter said; "do you not recognise a +friend?"</p> + +<p>At the same moment the tigrero's dog leaped up to fondle her, followed +almost instantaneously by Mariano.</p> + +<p>"Heaven be blessed!" he said, joyfully, "She is saved!" and pressing +the hunter's hand cordially, he added, "Thanks; it is a service I owe +you, brother."</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE RETURN.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>How was it that the tigrero, whom we saw leave the rancho almost as +soon as Doña Marianna, and follow in her track, arrived so late? We +will explain this in a few sentences. The young man, feeling certain +that his foster sister thoroughly knew the road she had to follow, +which was, moreover, properly traced, had not dreamed of the chance of +her missing her way, and not troubling himself to follow the horse's +footmarks, he pushed straight on, fancying Doña Marianna ahead of him, +crossed the forest, and then entered the plain, without perceiving the +person he fancied he was following.</p> + +<p>Still, on reaching the cultivated land, he looked carefully ahead of +him, for he was surprised at the advance the young lady had gained on +him in so short a time. But, though he examined the horizon all around, +he saw nothing of her. Mariano was beginning to grow anxious; still, +as there was a chaparral some distance ahead, whose tufted trees might +conceal her whom he sought, he became reassured, and pushed onward, +increasing the already rapid pace of his steed. It took him some time +to pass through the chaparral; when he reached its skirt, and again +entered the plain, the sun had set about half an hour previously, and +darkness was invading the earth; the darkness was, indeed, so thick, +that in spite of all his exertions, he could distinguish nothing a few +paces ahead of him.</p> + +<p>The tigrero halted, dismounted, placed his ear on the ground, and +listened. A moment later he heard, or fancied he heard, a distant +sound resembling a horse's gallop; his alarm was at once dissipated. +Convinced that the young lady was in front of him, he mounted again and +pushed on. As he was only two leagues from the Hacienda del Toro, he +soon reached the foot of the rock. Here he stopped, and asked himself +whether he had better go up, or regard his mission as fulfilled, and +turn back. While unable to form any decision, he saw a black outline +gliding along the path, and soon distinguished a horseman coming toward +him.</p> + +<p>"<i>Buena noche, Caballero</i>," he said, when the latter crossed him.</p> + +<p>"<i>Dios le de a usted buena</i>," the other politely replied, and he passed +on, but suddenly turned round again. The tigrero rode to meet him.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" the horseman said, when they met, "I felt sure that I was not +mistaken. How is No Mariano?"</p> + +<p>"Very well, and at your service," the tigrero answered, recognising the +majordomo; "and you, No Paredes?"</p> + +<p>"The same, thank you; are you going up to the toro, or returning to the +rancho?"</p> + +<p>"Why that question?"</p> + +<p>"Because in the former case I would bid you good night, while in the +latter we would ride together."</p> + +<p>"Are you going to the rancho?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; the Señor Marquis has sent me."</p> + +<p>"Tell me, No Paredes, would there be any indiscretion on my part in +asking you what you are going to do at the rancho at so late an hour?"</p> + +<p>"Not the slightest, compadre. I am simply going to fetch Doña Marianna, +who has remained today later than usual with her nurse. Her father is +anxious about her long absence, and asked me to go and meet her if she +were on her road home, or if not, push on to the rancho."</p> + +<p>This revelation was a thunderclap for the young man, who fancied that +he had misunderstood.</p> + +<p>"What!" he exclaimed, anxiously, "Is not Doña Marianna at the hacienda?"</p> + +<p>"It seems not," the majordomo answered, "since I am going to fetch her."</p> + +<p>"Why, that is impossible!" the other continued, in extreme agitation.</p> + +<p>"Why so?" said Paredes, beginning to grow anxious in his turn. "What do +you mean?"</p> + +<p>"I mean that Doña Marianna left the rancho full three hours ago; that I +followed her without her knowledge to watch over her safety, and that +she must have been at the hacienda for more than half an hour."</p> + +<p>"Are you quite sure of what you assert?"</p> + +<p>"¡Caray! I have asserted it."</p> + +<p>"In that case, Heaven have pity on the poor girl! For I apprehend a +frightful misfortune."</p> + +<p>"But she may have entered the hacienda without your seeing her."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, compadre; that is impossible. But come, we'll convince +ourselves."</p> + +<p>Without losing time in longer argument the two men dashed up the +rock at a gallop, and in a few minutes reached the first gate of the +hacienda. No one had seen Doña Marianna. The alarm was instantly +given; Don Hernando wished to ride off at the head of his people, and +beat up the country in search of his daughter; and it was with great +difficulty that he was induced to abandon the project. Don Ruiz and +the majordomo, followed by some twenty peons, provided with ocote wood +torches, started in two different directions.</p> + +<p>Mariano had an idea of his own. When he was quite certain that his +foster sister had not returned, he presumed the truth—that she was +lost in the forest. He did not consider for a moment that she had been +carried off by Indian marauders, for he had not noticed any trace of a +party of horsemen; and Bigote, whose nose was infallible, had evinced +no anxiety during the ride. Hence Doña Marianna must be lost in the +forest. The tigrero let Don Ruiz, the majordomo, and the peons pass +him, and then bent his steps towards the rancho, closely followed +by his dog, in spite of the exhortations of his young master and No +Paredes, who wanted him to accompany them. When he was in the forest +he stopped for a moment, as if to look round him; then, after most +carefully examining the spot where he was, he dismounted, fastened his +horse's bridle to the pommel, tied the stirrups together to keep them +from clanking, and gave his horse a friendly smack on the crupper.</p> + +<p>"Go along, Moreno," he said to it; "return to the rancho. I shall not +want you again tonight."</p> + +<p>The horse turned its fine intelligent head to its master, gave a +neigh of pleasure, and started at a gallop in the direction of the +rancho. The tigrero carefully examined his gun, the priming of which +he renewed, and began inspecting the ground by the light of a torch. +Bigote, gravely seated on its hind legs, followed its master's every +movement, and was evidently much perplexed. After a very lengthened +search, the tigrero probably found what he was looking for, for he rose +with an air of satisfaction, and whistled his dog, which at once ran up.</p> + +<p>"Bigote," he said, "smell these marks; they were made by the horse of +your mistress, Marianna; do you recognise them?"</p> + +<p>The noble animal did as its master ordered, then fixed its sparkling +eyes upon him with an almost human expression, and wagged its tail with +delight.</p> + +<p>"Good, Bigote! Good, my famous dog!" the tigrero continued, as he +patted it; "And now let us follow the trail; forward, Bigote, pick it +up clean."</p> + +<p>The dog hesitated for a moment, then it set out with its nose to the +ground, closely followed by its master, who had extinguished his torch, +which would henceforth be useless. But all we have narrated occupied +considerable time; and the tigrero would have arrived too late to save +the maiden, had not Heaven sent the hunter across her path. The dog did +not once check its speed through the numberless windings of the course +Negro had followed; and master and dog together reached the spot where +the horrible drama we recently described occurred.</p> + +<p>"When I heard Stronghand's shot," the tigrero added, as he concluded +his narrative, "I experienced a sound of deadly agony, for I understood +that a frightful struggle was going on at the moment, and that the +beast might conquer the man. Well, tocaya, will you now believe in the +jaguars?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, silence, Mariano!" the young lady said, with a shudder; "I almost +went mad with terror when I saw the eyes of the horrible animals fixed +upon me. Oh! Had it not been for this brave and honest hunter, I should +have been lost."</p> + +<p>"Brave and honest, indeed!" the tigrero, said, with frank affection; +"You are right, señorita, for Stronghand might just as fairly be called +Goodheart, for he is ever so ready to assist strangers, and relieve the +unfortunate."</p> + +<p>Doña Marianna listened with lively pleasure to this praise of the man +who had saved her life; but Stronghand felt terribly embarrassed, and +suffered in his heart at a deed which he thought so simple, and which +he was so delighted to have done, being rated so highly.</p> + +<p>"Come, come, Mariano," he said, in order to cut short the young man's +compliments, "we cannot remain here any longer; remember that while +we are quietly resting by the fireside and talking nonsense, this +young lady's father and brother are suffering from deadly anxiety, and +scouring the plain without any hope of finding her. We must arrange how +to get away from here as soon as possible, and return to the hacienda."</p> + +<p>"Caray, master, you are right, as usual; but what is to be done? Both +you and I are on foot, and we cannot dream for a moment that the +señorita could walk such a distance."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am strong," she said with a smile; "under your escort, my +friends, I fear nothing, and can walk."</p> + +<p>"No, señorita," the hunter said, with an accent of gentle authority, +"your strength would betray your courage; on so dark a night, and +in a forest like this, a man accustomed to desert life could hardly +expect to walk without falling at every step. Put yourself in our +hands, for we know better than you do what is best to be done under the +circumstances."</p> + +<p>"Very good," she answered; "act as you think proper. I have suffered +enough already today, by refusing to listen to the advice of my tocayo, +to prevent me being obstinate now."</p> + +<p>"That is the way to talk," the tigrero said gaily. "What are we going +to do, Stronghand?"</p> + +<p>"While you skin the jaguars—for I suppose you do not wish to leave +them as they are—"</p> + +<p>"What!" the tigrero interrupted him, "Those skins belong to you, and I +have no claim to them, as you killed the beasts."</p> + +<p>"Pooh!" the hunter said with a laugh, "I am not a tigrero, except by +accident; the skins are yours, and fairly so; so you had better take +them."</p> + +<p>"Since that is the case I will not decline; but as for my part, I +promised to give my foster sister the skins to make a rug, I will beg +her to accept them."</p> + +<p>"Very good," she answered, giving the hunter a look which filled him +with joy; "they will remind me of the fearful danger I incurred, and +the way in which I escaped it."</p> + +<p>"That is settled, then," the hunter said; "and I will; cut down with my +machete some branches to form a litter."</p> + +<p>"Caray, that is an idea which would not have occurred to me," Mariano +remarked, with a laugh; "but it is very simple. To work."</p> + +<p>Hunters and trappers are skilful and most expeditious men; in a +few minutes Mariano had skinned the jaguars, and Stronghand formed +the litter; the skins, after being carefully folded, were securely +fastened on the back of Bigote, who did not at all like the burden +imposed on him; but after a while he made up his mind to put up with +it. Stronghand covered the litter with leaves and grass, over which +he laid the saddlecloth of the horse the jaguars had devoured; then +he requested the young lady to seat herself on this soft divan, which +was so suddenly improvised, and the two men, taking it on their strong +shoulders, started in the direction of the hacienda, joined by Bigote, +who trotted in front with glad barks.</p> + +<p>Although the hunters had, from excess of precaution, formed torches +of ocote wood to help them, the darkness was so complete—the trees +were so close together—that it was with extreme difficulty that +they succeeded in advancing in this inextricable labyrinth. Forced +to take continual <i>detours</i>—obliged at times to walk in water up to +their waists—deafened by the discordant cries of the birds, which the +flash of the torches aroused—they saw all around them the wild beasts +flying, with hoarse roars and eyes glaring through the darkness. It +was then that Doña Marianna fully comprehended what frightful peril +she had escaped, and how certain her death would have been, had not +the hunter come to her assistance with such noble self-devotion; and +at the remembrance of all that had occurred, and which was now but a +dream, a convulsive tremor passed over her limbs, and she felt as if +she were about to faint. Stronghand, who seemed to guess what was going +on in the maiden's mind, frequently spoke to her, in order to change +the current of her ideas by compelling her to answer him. They had been +marching for a long distance, and the forest seemed as savage as when +they started.</p> + +<p>"Do you believe," Doña Marianna asked, "that we are on the right road?"</p> + +<p>"Even admitting, señora, what might be possible," the hunter answered, +"that Mariano and myself were capable of falling into an error, we have +with us an infallible guide in Bigote, who, you may be quite certain, +will not lead us astray."</p> + +<p>"Within ten minutes, señorita," the tigrero said, "we shall enter the +road that runs from the rancho to the hacienda."</p> + +<p>All at once the two men stopped. At the same moment Doña Marianna heard +shouts that seemed to answer each other in various directions.</p> + +<p>"Forward! Forward!" said Stronghand; "Let us not leave your relatives +and friends in anxiety longer than we can help."</p> + +<p>"Thanks," she answered.</p> + +<p>They continued their march; and, as the tigrero had announced, in +scarce ten minutes they reached the road to the hacienda.</p> + +<p>"What shall we do now?" Marianna asked.</p> + +<p>"I think," Stronghand answered, "that we ought to announce our presence +by a cry for help, and then proceed in the direction of those who +answer us. What is your opinion, señora?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said, "I think we ought to do so; for otherwise we run a +risk of reaching the hacienda without meeting any of the persons sent +to seek me, and who might continue their search till morning, which +would be ingratitude on my part."</p> + +<p>"You are right, niña; for all these worthy people are attached to you, +and besides, your brother and Don Paredes are also seeking you."</p> + +<p>"That is a further reason why we should hasten to announce our return," +the young lady answered.</p> + +<p>The two hunters, after consulting for a moment, uttered together that +long shrill yell, which, in the desert as in the mountains, serves as +the rallying cry, and may be heard for an enormous distance. Almost +immediately the whole forest seemed to be aroused; similar cries broke +out in all directions, and the hunters noticed red dots running with +extreme rapidity between the trees, and all converging on the spot +where they stood, as if they radiated from a common centre. Certain +of having been heard, the hunters once again uttered their shout for +help. The reply was not delayed; the galloping of horses soon became +distinct, and then riders, holding torches, appeared from all parts of +the forest coming at full speed, waving their hands, and resembling +the fantastic huntsmen of the old German legends. In a few minutes +all the persons were assembled round the litter on which the young +lady reclined; and Don Ruiz and the majordomo were not long ere they +arrived. We will not describe the joy of brother and sister on seeing +each other again.</p> + +<p>"Brother," Doña Marianna said to Don Ruiz, "if you find me still alive, +you owe it to the man who before saved us both from the pirates of the +prairies; had it not been for him, I should have been lost."</p> + +<p>"You may safely say that, and no mistake," Marianna said, in +confirmation.</p> + +<p>"Where is he?" Don Ruiz asked—"Where is he? that I may express all my +gratitude to him."</p> + +<p>But he was sought for in vain. During the first moment of confusion, +Stronghand had summoned a peon to take his place—had glided unnoticed +into the forest and disappeared—no one being able to say in what +direction he had gone.</p> + +<p>"Why this flight?" Doña Marianna murmured, with a stifled sigh; "Does +this strange man fear lest our gratitude should prove too warm?"</p> + +<p>And she thoughtfully bowed her head on her bosom.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.</a></h4> + +<h3>CHANCE WORK.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>Although he allowed nothing to be visible, Don Ruiz was vexed at heart +with the affectation the hunter seemed to display in avoiding him, and +escaping from his thanks. This savageness in a man to whom he owed +such serious obligations appeared to him to conceal either a disguised +enmity, or dark schemes whose accomplishment he feared, though he could +not assign any plausible motive for them, especially after the manner +in which the hunter had not hesitated on two occasions to imperil +his life in assisting himself and his sister. These thoughts, which +incessantly thronged to the mind of Don Ruiz, plunged him into deep +trouble for some moments; still, when the peons he had sent off to +seek the hunter all returned one after the other, declaring that they +could not possibly find his trail, the young man shook his head several +times, frowned, and then gave orders for the start.</p> + +<p>Doña Marianna's return to the hacienda was a real triumphal procession. +The peons, delighted at having found their mistress again safe and +sound, gaily bore her on their shoulders, laughing, singing, and +dancing along the road, not knowing how otherwise to express their joy, +and yet desirous to make her comprehend the pleasure they felt. In +spite of the fatigue that crushed her, and the state of exhaustion into +which she had fallen through the terrific emotions she had undergone, +Doña Marianna, sensible of these manifestations of gratitude, made +energetic efforts in order to appear to share their joy, and prove to +them how greatly she was affected by it. But, although she gave them +her sweetest smiles and gentlest words, she could not have endured much +longer the constraint, and she was really exhausted when the little +party at length reached the hacienda.</p> + +<p>The Marquis, who was suffering the most frightful agitation, had gone +to the last gate to meet them, and would possibly have gone further +still, had not Don Ruiz taken the precaution, so soon as his sister was +found, to send off a peon to tranquillize his mind and announce the +successful result. At the first moment the Marquis completely forgot +his aristocratic pride, only to think of the happiness of pressing +to his heart the child he feared he had lost for ever. Don Rufino +Contreras, carried away by the example, shared in the general joy, +and pretended to pump up a tear of sympathy while fixing on the young +lady his huge grey eyes, to which he tried in vain to give a tender +expression.</p> + +<p>The maiden threw herself with an outburst of tears into her father's +arms, and at length, yielding to her feelings, fainted—an accident +which, by arousing the anxiety of the spectators, cut short all the +demonstrations. Doña Marianna was conveyed to her apartments, and the +peons were dismissed after the majordomo had, by the order of the +Marquis, distributed among them <i>pesetas</i> and tragos of refino, which +set the crown of the delight of these worthy fellows.</p> + +<p>In spite of the offer of No Paredes, who invited him to spend the +night at the hacienda, the tigrero would not consent; and after +freeing Bigote from the jaguars' skins, which seemed to cause the dog +considerable pleasure, they both started gaily for the rancho. It was +about two o'clock, a.m., and a splendid night, and the tigrero, with +his gun under his arm and his dog at his heels, was walking at a steady +pace while whistling a merry jarana, when, just as he was entering the +shadow of the forest, Stronghand suddenly emerged from a thicket two +paces ahead of him.</p> + +<p>"Hilloh!" the tigrero said, on recognising him; "Where the deuce did +you get to just now, that it was impossible to find you? What bee was +buzzing in your bonnet?"</p> + +<p>The hunter shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Do you fancy," he replied, "that it is so very pleasant to be stared +at by those semi-idiotic peons for performing so simple a deed as mine +was?"</p> + +<p>"Well, opinions are free, compadre, and I will not argue with you on +that score; still, I should not have run off in that way."</p> + +<p>"¿Quién sabe? You are more modest than you like to show, brother; and I +feel certain that, under similar circumstances, you would have acted as +I did."</p> + +<p>"That is possible, though I do not believe it; still, I thank you," he +added, with a laugh, "for having discovered in me a quality which I was +not aware I possessed. But where on earth are you going at such an +hour?"</p> + +<p>"I was looking for you."</p> + +<p>"In that case all is for the best, since you have found me; what do you +want of me?"</p> + +<p>"To ask hospitality of you for a few days."</p> + +<p>"Our house is not large, but sufficiently so to contain a guest, +especially when you are he; you can remain with us so long as you +please."</p> + +<p>"I thank you, gossip, but I shall not abuse your complaisance; I am +obliged to remain for a few days in these parts, and, as the nights are +fresh, I will confess that I prefer passing them under a roof instead +of the star spangled arch of heaven."</p> + +<p>"As you please, Stronghand; the door of my humble rancho is ever +open to let you in or out. I do not want to know the reason for your +stay here; but the longer you remain with us, the greater honour and +pleasure you will afford us."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, comrade."</p> + +<p>All was settled in a few words. The two men continued their walk, and +soon reached the rancho. The tigrero led the hunter to his bedroom, +where they lay down side by side, and soon fell asleep. A few days +elapsed, during which the hunter saw Doña Marianna several times, +while careful not to let her notice him, although it was evident to +Stronghand that the young lady would have liked nothing better than +meeting him; perhaps she really desired it, without daring to confess +it to herself.</p> + +<p>One day, about a week after the scene with the jaguars, the hunter was +lying half asleep in a copse whose leafy branches completely hid him +from sight, and quietly enjoying his siesta during the great midday +heat, when he fancied he heard the sound of footsteps not far from the +spot where he was. He instinctively opened his eyes, raised himself +on his elbow, and looked carefully around him; he checked a cry of +surprise on recognising the man, who had stopped close to the thicket +and dismounted, like a man who has reached the spot he desired. This +man was Kidd, the bandit, with whom the reader has already formed +acquaintance.</p> + +<p>"What does that scoundrel want here?" the hunter asked himself. "He is +doubtless plotting some infamy, and I bless the chance that brings him +within earshot, for this demon is one of the men who cannot be watched +too closely."</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile Kidd had removed his horse's bit, in order to let it +graze freely; he himself sat down on a rock, lit a husk cigarette, and +began smoking with all the <i>nonchalance</i> of a man whose conscience +is perfectly at its ease. Stronghand racked his brains in vain to try +and discover the motive for the presence of the bandit in these parts, +so remote from the ordinary scene of his villainy, when chance, which +had already favoured him, gave him the clue to the enigma, which he had +almost despaired of obtaining. A sound made him turn his head, and he +saw a stout horseman, with rubicund face and handsomely dressed, coming +up at an amble. When he reached the adventurer, the latter rose, bowed +respectfully, and assisted him to dismount.</p> + +<p>"Ouf!" the stout man said, with a sigh of relief, "What a confounded +ride!"</p> + +<p>"Well," the bandit replied with a grin, "you must blame yourself, Don +Rufino, for you arranged it. May the fiend twist my neck if I would +damage myself, no matter for what purpose, and ride across the plain at +this hour of the day."</p> + +<p>"Everybody is the best judge of his own business, Master Kidd," Don +Rufino remarked, drily, as he wiped his steaming face, with a fine +cambric handkerchief.</p> + +<p>"That is possible; but if I had the honour to be Don Rufino Contreras, +enormously rich, and senator to boot, hang me if I would put myself +out of my way to run after an adventurer like Master Kidd, whatever +pleasure I might take at other times in the conversation of that worthy +caballero."</p> + +<p>The senator began laughing.</p> + +<p>"Ha! Ha! Scoundrel; you have scented something."</p> + +<p>"Hang it!" the bandit replied, impudently, "I do not deceive myself, +and am well aware that whatever attractions my conversation may offer, +you would not have come this distance expressly to hear it."</p> + +<p>"That is possible, scamp. However, listen to me."</p> + +<p>"I can see from your familiarity that the job will be an expensive one; +well, I do not dislike that way of entering upon the subject, for it +forebodes a good business."</p> + +<p>The senator shrugged his shoulders with ill-disguised contempt. "Enough +of this," he said, "let us come to facts."</p> + +<p>"I ask nothing better."</p> + +<p>"Are you fond of money?"</p> + +<p>"I certainly have a weakness for gold."</p> + +<p>"Good. Would you hesitate about killing a man to earn it?"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"I ask you, scoundrel, whether in a case of necessity you would kill a +man for money?"</p> + +<p>"I perfectly understood you."</p> + +<p>"Then why make me repeat it?"</p> + +<p>"Because your doubt is offensive to my feelings."</p> + +<p>"How so?"</p> + +<p>"Hang it, I fancy I speak clearly. Killing a man is nothing when you +are well paid for it."</p> + +<p>"I will pay well."</p> + +<p>"Beforehand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, if you like."</p> + +<p>"How much?"</p> + +<p>"I warn you that the man I refer to is but a poor fellow."</p> + +<p>"Yes, a poor fellow who is troublesome to you. Well, go on."</p> + +<p>"One thousand piastres. Is that enough?"</p> + +<p>"It is not too much."</p> + +<p>"Confound it, you are expensive."</p> + +<p>"That is possible; but I do my work conscientiously. Well, tell me who +the man is that is in your way."</p> + +<p>"José Paredes."</p> + +<p>"The majordomo at the Toro?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Do you know that he is not an easy man to kill? You must owe him a +sore grudge, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know him."</p> + +<p>The bandit looked in amazement at the speaker.</p> + +<p>"You do not know him, and yet offer one thousand piastres for his +death? Nonsense!"</p> + +<p>"It is so."</p> + +<p>"But you must have a reason. Caray, a man is not killed as one twists a +fowl's neck. I know that, bandit though I am."</p> + +<p>"You said it just now. He is in my way."</p> + +<p>"That is different," the adventurer replied, convinced by this +peremptory reason.</p> + +<p>"Listen to me attentively, and engrave my words on your mind."</p> + +<p>"Go on, señor. I will not lose a word."</p> + +<p>"In two or three days the majordomo will leave for Hermosillo, carrying +bills to a considerable amount."</p> + +<p>"Good," the bandit said, rubbing his hands gleefully; "I will kill him +as he passes, and take possession of the bills."</p> + +<p>"No, you will let him go on in peace, and you will kill him on his +return, when he has cashed the bills."</p> + +<p>"That is true. Where the deuce was my head? That will be much better."</p> + +<p>Don Rufino looked at him ironically.</p> + +<p>"You will deliver to me the sum this man is the bearer of," he said.</p> + +<p>The bandit gave a start of alarm,</p> + +<p>"I suppose the sum is large?"</p> + +<p>"Fifty thousand piastres."</p> + +<p>"¡Viva Dios! Surrender such a fortune? I would sooner be burned alive."</p> + +<p>"You must, though,"</p> + +<p>"Never, señor."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense," the senator remarked, contemptuously. "You know you are in +my hands. All the worse for you if you hesitate, for you will then lose +two thousand piastres."</p> + +<p>"You said one thousand."</p> + +<p>"I made a mistake."</p> + +<p>"And when will you give them to me?"</p> + +<p>"At once."</p> + +<p>"Have you the amount about you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Suddenly the bandit's eye gleamed with a sinister flash; he drew +himself up, and leaped, knife in hand, upon the senator. But the +adventurer had a powerful adversary. Don Rufino had long known the man +he was treating with, and, while conversing, had not once taken his eye +off, and attentively watched all his movements. Hence, though Kidd's +action was so rapid, Don Rufino was before him; he seized his arm with +his left hand, while with the right he placed a pistol to his chest.</p> + +<p>"Hilloh, my master," he said, coldly, and with the most perfect +tranquillity, "are you mad, or has a wasp stung you?"</p> + +<p>Abashed by his failure, the bandit gave him a savage look.</p> + +<p>"Let me loose!"</p> + +<p>"Not before you have thrown your knife away, scoundrel!"</p> + +<p>Kidd opened his hand, the knife fell on the ground, and Don Rufino put +his foot upon it.</p> + +<p>"You are not half clever enough," he said, sarcastically; "you deserve +to have your brains blown out, in order to teach you to take your +measures better another time."</p> + +<p>"I do not always miss my mark," he replied, with a menacing accent.</p> + +<p>There was a moment of silence between the two men. Stronghand still +watched them, not losing one of their words or gestures, which +interested him to the highest degree. At length Don Rufino spoke.</p> + +<p>"Have you reflected?" he asked the bandit.</p> + +<p>"Of what?" the latter remarked, roughly; "Of this proposal?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Well, I accept."</p> + +<p>"But you understand," the senator continued, laying a stress upon every +word, "you must deal frankly this time. No trickery, eh?"</p> + +<p>"No, no," Kidd answered, with a shake of the head; "you may be sure of +that."</p> + +<p>"I reckon on your honesty. Moreover, profit by what has occurred today. +I am not always so good tempered; and if a misunderstanding, like that +just now, again arose between us, the consequences might be very +serious to you."</p> + +<p>These few words were uttered with an intonation of voice, and +accompanied by a look, that produced a profound impression on the +bandit.</p> + +<p>"All right," he said, shrugging his shoulders savagely; "there is no +need to threaten, as all is settled."</p> + +<p>"Very good."</p> + +<p>"Where shall I come to you after the business?"</p> + +<p>"Do not trouble yourself about that. I shall manage to find you."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" he said, with a side-glance; "then that is your affair?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Very good. Give me the money."</p> + +<p>"Here it is. But remember, if you deceive me—"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense," the bandit interrupted him. "Did I not tell you that it was +all settled?"</p> + +<p>The senator drew from his pocket a long purse, through whose meshes +gold coins could be seen. He weighed it for an instant in his hand, and +then threw it twenty paces from him.</p> + +<p>"Go and fetch it," he said.</p> + +<p>The bandit dashed at the gold, which as it fell produced a ringing +sound. Don Rufino took advantage of this movement to get into his +saddle.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye," he said to the bandit. "Remember!" and he started at a +gallop. Kidd made no reply, for he was too busy counting the ounces +contained in the purse.</p> + +<p>"All right," he at last said, with a smile upon his features, as he hid +the purse in his bosom. "No matter," he added, as he looked savagely +after the senator, "I allow that I am in your power, demon; but if I +ever had you in my hands as you had me today, and I manage to discover +one of your secrets, I should not be so mad as to show you any mercy."</p> + +<p>After this soliloquy the bandit went up to his horse, tightened the +girths, and set out in his turn, but in a direction opposite to that +which the senator had taken. So soon as he was alone, the hunter rose.</p> + +<p>"Oh, oh!" he muttered, "That is a dark plot. That man cannot want to +kill Paredes merely to rob him; it is plain that the blow is meant for +the Marquis. I will be on my guard."</p> + +<p>We have already seen that the hunter religiously kept his promise.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.</a></h4> + +<h3>FATHER AND SON.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>Now that we have given the reader all necessary information about +the events accomplished at the Hacienda del Toro, we will resume our +narrative at the point where we were compelled to leave it—that is to +say, we will return to the village of the Papazos, and be present at +the conversation between Thunderbolt and Stronghand in the Pyramid. +The two men, walking side by side, went up to the top of the Pyramid. +They traversed the bridge of lianas thrown over the Quebrada at a great +height, and entered the Pyramid on the right. They descended to the +first floor—the Indians they met bowing respectfully to them—and +stopped before a securely fastened door. On reaching it, Thunderbolt +gave it two slight taps; an inner bolt was drawn, the door opened, +and they went in. They had scarce crossed the threshold ere the young +Indian who had opened the door closed it again after them. A strange +change had taken place in the two men; the Indian stoicism they had +hitherto affected made way for manners that revealed men used to +frequent the highest society of cities.</p> + +<p>"Maria," Thunderbolt said to the girl, "inform your mistress that +her son has returned to the village." In giving this order the old +gentleman employed Spanish, and not the Comanche idiom which he had +used up to the present.</p> + +<p>"The señora was already aware of her son's return, <i>mi amo</i>," Maria +answered, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said the old man, "then she has seen somebody."</p> + +<p>"The venerable Padre Fray Serapio came an hour ago to pay the señora a +visit, and he is still with her."</p> + +<p>"Very good; announce us, my child."</p> + +<p>The girl bowed and disappeared, returning a moment after to tell the +two gentlemen that they could enter. They were then introduced into a +rather spacious room, lighted by four glazed windows—an extraordinary +luxury in such a place—in front of which hung heavy red damask +curtains. This room, entirely lined with stamped Cordovan leather, was +furnished in the Spanish style, with that good taste which only the +Castilians of the old race have kept, and was, through its arrangement, +half drawing room, half oratory. In one corner an ebony <i>prie-dieu</i>, +surmounted by an ivory crucifix, which time had turned yellow, and +several pictures of saints, signed by Murillo and Zurbaran, would have +caused the apartment to be taken for an oratory, had not comfortable +sofas, tables loaded with books, and butacas, proved it to be a drawing +room. Near a silver brasero two persons were sitting in butacas.</p> + +<p>Of these, one was a lady, the other a Franciscan monk; both had passed +midlife, or, to speak more correctly, were close on fifty years of age.</p> + +<p>The lady wore the Spanish garb fashionable in her youth—that is to +say, some thirty years before. Although her hair was beginning to grow +white, and a few deep wrinkles altered the purity of her features, +still it was easy to see that she must have been very lovely once on a +time. Her skin, of a slightly olive hue, was extremely fine, and in the +firm marked lines of her face, the distinctive character of the purest +Aztec race could be recognised. Her black eyes, shaded by long lashes, +and whose corners rose slightly, like those of the Mongolians, had an +expression of strange gentleness, and her whole face revealed mildness +and intelligence. Although she was below the ordinary height of women, +she still retained the elegance of youth; and her exquisitely modelled +hands and feet were almost of a microscopic smallness. Fray Serapio was +the true type of the Spanish monk—handsome, majestic, and dreamy—and +seemed as if he had stepped out of a picture by Zurbaran. When the two +gentlemen entered, the lady and the Padre rose.</p> + +<p>"You are welcome, my darling child," the old lady said, opening her +arms to her son.</p> + +<p>The latter rushed into them, and for some minutes there was an +uninterrupted series of caresses between mother and son.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, Padre Serapio," Stronghand at length said, as he freed +himself from the gentle bondage; "but it is so long since I had the +pleasure of embracing my mother, that I cannot leave off."</p> + +<p>"Embrace your mother, my child," the monk answered, with a smile; "a +mother's caresses are the only ones that do not entail regret."</p> + +<p>"What are you about, Padre?" Thunderbolt asked; "Are you going to leave +us already?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and pray excuse me for going away so soon; but after a lengthened +separation, you must have much to say to one another, and a third +person, however friendly he may be, is always in the way at such a +time. Moreover, my brothers and I have a good deal to do at present, +owing to so many white hunters and trappers being in the village."</p> + +<p>"Are you satisfied with your neophytes?"</p> + +<p>The monk shook his head mournfully.</p> + +<p>"No," he at length answered; "the Indians love and respect us, owing to +the protection you have deigned to afford us, Señor Don—"</p> + +<p>"Silence!" the chief interrupted him, with a smile; "no other name but +that of Thunderbolt."</p> + +<p>"That is true; I always forget that you have surrendered the one +received at your baptism; still it is one of the most noble in the +martyrology. Well," he continued with a sigh, "the will of Heaven be +done! The glorious days of conversion have passed since we have become +Mexicans; the Indians no longer believe in the Spanish good faith, and +sooner than accept our God, persist in their old errors. This makes me +remember that I have a favour to ask of you."</p> + +<p>"Of me? Oh, it is granted beforehand, if it be in my power to satisfy +you."</p> + +<p>"Doña Esperanza, with whom I have spoken about it, leads me to hope +that you will not refuse it."</p> + +<p>"Did you not say to me one day that the señora's name brought you good +luck? It will probably be the same today."</p> + +<p>The monk took a furtive glance at the old lady.</p> + +<p>"This is the matter, my dear," she said, mingling in the conversation; +"the good father wishes your authority to follow, with another monk, +the warriors during the coming expedition."</p> + +<p>"That is a singular idea, father; and what may your object be? For I +presume you do not intend to fight in our ranks."</p> + +<p>"No," the monk answered with a smile, "my tastes are not warlike enough +for that; but if I may judge from the preparations I see you making, +this will be a serious expedition."</p> + +<p>"It will," the old man answered, pensively.</p> + +<p>"I have noticed that generally, during these expeditions, the wounded +are left without assistance. I should like to accompany the Indians, in +order to attend to their wounds, and console those whose hurts are so +serious that they cannot recover; still, if the request appear to you +exorbitant, I will recall it, though I shall do so reluctantly."</p> + +<p>The old gentleman gazed at the monk for a moment with an expression of +admiration and tenderness impossible to describe.</p> + +<p>"I grant your request, Padre," he at length said, affectionately +pressing his hand. "Still, I am bound to make one remark."</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>"You run a risk of falling into the hands of the Mexicans."</p> + +<p>"Well, what matter? Can they regard it as a crime if I perform on the +battlefield the duties which my religion imposes on me?"</p> + +<p>"Who knows? Perhaps they will regard you as a rebel."</p> + +<p>"And in that case—"</p> + +<p>"Treat you as such."</p> + +<p>"That is to say—"</p> + +<p>"You will run a risk, father, of being shot; and that is worth thinking +about, I suppose."</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken, my friend; between duty and cowardice no hesitation +is possible. I will die, if it be necessary—but with the conviction +that I have fulfilled to the close the sacred mission I have +undertaken. Then you grant my request?"</p> + +<p>"I do so, father, and thank you for having made it."</p> + +<p>"Blessings on your kindness, my son; and now the Lord be with you. I +shall retire."</p> + +<p>In spite of much pressing, the worthy father insisted on going away, +and was conducted to the door of the apartment by the two gentlemen, in +spite of his efforts to escape a mark of honour of which he considered +himself unworthy. When the door closed after him, and the three persons +were really alone, Doña Esperanza, after a long look at her son, gently +drew him towards her, and obliging him to sit down on an equipal, she +lovingly parted off his forehead his clustering locks, and said in +a sweet, harmonious voice, in which all the jealous tenderness of a +mother was revealed—</p> + +<p>"I find you sad, Diego; your face is pale, your features are worn, and +your eyes sparkle with a gloomy fire. What has happened to you during +your absence?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing extraordinary, mother," he answered, with an embarrassment +he tried in vain to conceal. "As usual, I have hunted a great deal, +travelled a long distance, and consequently, endured great fatigue; +hence, doubtless, comes the pallor you notice upon my face."</p> + +<p>The old lady shook her head with an incredulous air.</p> + +<p>"A mother cannot be deceived, my boy," she said, gently. "Since you +have been a man I have seen you return only too often, alas, from long +and perilous expeditions. You were fatigued—at times ill, but that was +all; while today you are gloomy, restless—"</p> + +<p>"Mother!"</p> + +<p>"Do not argue, for my mind is made up, and nothing will alter it. If +you refuse me your confidence, Heaven grant that you may select a +confidant who understands you so thoroughly."</p> + +<p>"Oh, mother! This is the first time a reproach has passed your lips."</p> + +<p>"Because, Diego, this is the first time you have refused to let me read +your heart."</p> + +<p>The young man sighed and hung his head, without replying. Thunderbolt, +who had hitherto been a silent spectator of the scene, gave Doña +Esperanza a meaning glance, and walked up to her son.</p> + +<p>"Diego," he said to him, as he laid his hand on his shoulder, "you +forget that you have to give me a report of the mission I entrusted to +you."</p> + +<p>Stronghand started, and eagerly sprang up.</p> + +<p>"That is true, father," he replied; "forgive me. I am ready to furnish +you with all the details you desire of what I have been doing during my +absence from the village."</p> + +<p>"Sit down, my son; your mother and I give you permission."</p> + +<p>The young man took a chair, and after reflecting for a few seconds, at +a further remark from his father, he commenced the recital of all he +had been doing while away. The narrative was long, and lasted nearly +two hours; but we will not relate it, because the reader is acquainted +with most of the facts the young man stated. Thunderbolt and Doña +Esperanza listened without interruption, and gave unequivocal signs of +the liveliest interest. When he had concluded his story, his mother +fondly embraced him, while congratulating him on his noble and generous +conduct. But Thunderbolt regarded the matter from another point of view.</p> + +<p>"Then," he asked his son, "the man who arrived with you is the +majordomo of this Don Hernando de Moguer?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, father."</p> + +<p>"Though I am an Indian by adoption, I will not forget that Spanish +blood flows in my veins. You will pay this Paredes, as you call him, +the amount of the bills, and I will send them to Hermosillo to be +cashed hereafter. You did well in bringing him with you, for an honest +man must not fall a victim to a villain. Although this affair does not +in any way concern us, I am not sorry to do a service to an old fellow +countryman. Let the majordomo leave the village this very night; in +order to prevent any accident on the road, you will have him escorted +to the hacienda by Whistler and Peccary, and three or four warriors. +They will be more than sufficient to frighten any scoundrels that may +attempt to stop him; and as, moreover, we are in a direction entirely +opposed to that in which the Hermosillo road runs, no one will think of +stopping him."</p> + +<p>"I can accompany him myself, with your permission, father."</p> + +<p>The old gentleman gave him a piercing glance, which compelled him to +look down.</p> + +<p>"No," he replied; "I want you here."</p> + +<p>"As you please, father," he said, with feigned indifference.</p> + +<p>And he rose.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?"</p> + +<p>"To carry out your orders, father."</p> + +<p>"There is no hurry; the day is not very advanced yet, and I want to +talk with you; so return to your chair."</p> + +<p>The young man obeyed. Thunderbolt reflected for a moment, and then +said—</p> + +<p>"How do you call this hacienda?"</p> + +<p>"El Toro."</p> + +<p>"Let me see," the old man continued, as if striving to remember; "it is +not built on the exact site of the ancient Cosala?"</p> + +<p>"So people say, father."</p> + +<p>Doña Esperanza listened to this conversation with considerable anxiety. +In vain did she try to discover her husband's meaning, and ask herself +why he thus obstinately brought the conversation back to so hazardous a +subject.</p> + +<p>"Is it not a strong place?" the sachem continued.</p> + +<p>"Yes, father; substantially built, and crowned with almenas."</p> + +<p>"In truth, I now remember having seen it formerly! It is an excellent +strategical position."</p> + +<p>Doña Esperanza looked at her husband with amazement blended with alarm; +she could neither account for his coldness nor his persistence. He +continued—</p> + +<p>"Have you ever entered this hacienda."</p> + +<p>"Never, father."</p> + +<p>"That is vexatious; still, I presume you are acquainted with some of +its inhabitants. A man cannot save," he added, ironically, "the life of +such a man as this Don Hernando de Moguer must be, without his trying +to testify his gratitude to the man who did him the service."</p> + +<p>"I know not whether that is Don Hernando's idea, for I never had the +honour of seeing him."</p> + +<p>"That is strange, Don Diego; and I cannot understand why you did not +try to form his acquaintance; however, that is of little consequence, +as far as my plans are concerned."</p> + +<p>"Your plans, father?" the young man asked, in amazement.</p> + +<p>"I will explain to you that we intend to commence the expedition with +a thunder stroke; our first attempt will be to seize the Real de +Minas of Quitovar, where the main body of the Mexican forces is now +collected. The Hacienda del Toro, situated scarce ten leagues from +Arispe, commanding the three roads to Hermosillo, Ures, and Sonora, +and built at a very strong position, is of immense importance to us for +the success of the war. I had thought of appointing you to carry it +by surprise, but as you have no friends in the place, and seem not to +care greatly about it, let us say no more on the subject. I will give +the command of the expedition to Whistler and Peccary; they are two +experienced chiefs, endowed with far from common tact, and will carry +the hacienda by a surprise, because the Spaniards, not anticipating +such an attack, will not be on their guard. As for you, my son, you +will follow me to the Real de Minas. And now, my dear Diego, I have +nothing more to say to you, and you can withdraw."</p> + +<p>The young man had listened in secret horror to this revelation of his +father's plans. He was so full of terror that he did not notice that +Thunderbolt, though he pretended at the beginning not to know the +hacienda even by name, had described its position with a precision that +showed that, on the contrary, he must be perfectly acquainted with it. +He stood for a moment crushed by the thought of the terrible danger +Doña Marianna would incur if the Apaches took the hacienda. His father +took a side-glance at him, and attentively watched the various feelings +reflected in his face.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, father," the young man at length said, with an effort; +"but I should like to offer an objection."</p> + +<p>"What is it, my son? Speak, I am listening."</p> + +<p>"I do not think it would be prudent to try and surprise, with a band of +savages, a house so far advanced in the interior of the country."</p> + +<p>"That is why I selected you. You would have taken a band of white and +half-breed trappers and hunters, and would have passed unnoticed, +owing to the colour of your skins. Your refusal greatly annoys me, I +confess; but, as I do not wish to force your inclinations—"</p> + +<p>"But I did not refuse, father," the young man exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"What! You did not refuse?"</p> + +<p>"No, father; on the contrary, I ardently wish to be entrusted with this +confidential mission."</p> + +<p>"In that case, I misinterpreted your silence and ambiguous remarks. +Then you accept?"</p> + +<p>"Gladly, father."</p> + +<p>"Very good; that is settled. Now go and send off that Paredes, for it +is time for him to return to his master. As for you, my son, breathe +not a syllable of what we have discussed; you understand the importance +of discretion under such circumstances. Embrace your mother, and leave +us."</p> + +<p>The young man threw himself into his mother's arms, who tenderly +embraced him, and whispered in his ear, "Hope!"</p> + +<p>Then he withdrew, after bowing respectfully to his father.</p> + +<p>"Well, Esperanza," the old gentleman said, rubbing his hands, so soon +as his son had left the room, "do you now begin to guess my plans?"</p> + +<p>"No," she answered with a gentle smile; "but I believe that I +understand them."</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE HATCHET.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>Stronghand quitted the Pyramid in a state of indescribable agitation. +The word his mother had whispered in his ear at parting incessantly +recurred to his mind, and led him to suppose that Doña Esperanza, with +that miraculous intuition Heaven has given to mothers, that they may +discover the most hidden feelings of their children, had divined the +secret he fancied he had buried in the remotest corner of his heart, +and which he did not dare avow to himself. On the other hand, the +strange conversation he had held with his father, and the proposal +which concluded it, plunged him into extraordinary perplexity. His +father's conduct appeared to him extraordinary, in the sense that he +did not understand how the old gentleman, who justly enjoyed among +the Indians a reputation for stainless honour, could be preparing +treacherously to attack the man to whose succour he came at the same +moment with such noble disinterestedness. All this seemed to him +illogical, incomprehensible, and in direct opposition with the word +"hope," which he fancied he could still hear buzzing in his ear. Still, +as he was obliged to cross the torrent, and go some distance before +reaching his calli, he had time to restore some degree of order in his +ideas, and resume his coolness and self-mastery before he reached his +own door. Two men were standing there—Whistler and Peccary.</p> + +<p>"Come along, Stronghand," the trapper shouted, so soon as he saw him; +"we have been waiting for you a long while."</p> + +<p>"Waiting for me?" he asked, in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Sparrowhawk warned us, on the part of Thunderbolt, that the chief +and myself were to hold ourselves in readiness to escort the man who +entered the village with you wherever he thinks proper to go."</p> + +<p>"Ah! Whistler has spoken well," Peccary remarked, laconically.</p> + +<p>"What else has happened?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, except that Thunderbolt has made this man a present of a +mule, laden with rich wares, as Sparrowhawk says. But go on, and he +will tell you about it himself."</p> + +<p>Stronghand entered, and found the majordomo busily engaged in making +his preparations for a start. So soon as he saw the hunter, Paredes +eagerly walked up to him, and shook his hand several times.</p> + +<p>"You are welcome, comrade," he said. "¡Caray! you are a man of your +word, so forgive me."</p> + +<p>"Forgive you for what?" the young man asked, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"For having doubted you, caramba."</p> + +<p>"Doubted me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, on my word. When I saw you leave me this morning in this hole, +like a useless or noxious animal, I doubted your sincerity. In a word, +as you know, anger is an evil counsellor; still, all sorts of stupid +thoughts occurred to me, and I was on the point of running away."</p> + +<p>"You would have done wrong."</p> + +<p>"Caray! I see it now; hence I feel quite confused at my folly, and beg +you once again to forgive me."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense," the hunter said, with a laugh, "it is not worth while to +torment yourself about such a trifle. An escort of resolute men will +accompany you to the hacienda, and as in all probability your master, +on seeing that you have brought the money he sent you to fetch, will +not ask about what may have happened to you on your journey, I think it +unnecessary for you to give him details which would interest him but +very slightly, and give rise to unpleasant comments."</p> + +<p>"That's enough," the majordomo said, with a knowing smile; "I will not +breathe a syllable."</p> + +<p>"That will be the best."</p> + +<p>"Be easy. Ah! that reminds me that, as I have received the money from +you, you must have the bills. Here they are, and once again I thank +you."</p> + +<p>The hunter took the bills and concealed them in his bosom. There was +a moment of silence. The majordomo walked about the calli with an air +of embarrassment, though his purpose was now finished, and the hunter +comprehended that he had something to say, but did not know how to +begin it.</p> + +<p>"Come," he asked him, "what else is there that troubles you, my friend? +Let me hear."</p> + +<p>"On my faith," the Mexican replied, at length forming a resolution. "I +confess that I should be delighted to prove my gratitude to you for the +service you have done me, and I should not like to leave without doing +so; but, unluckily, it embarrasses me more than I can express."</p> + +<p>"What, is that all?" the hunter said, gaily. "Why that is a very easy +matter."</p> + +<p>"Is it?" he remarked, with surprise. "Well, you will not believe that +I have been racking my brains over it for more than half an hour, and +brought nothing out."</p> + +<p>"Because you seek badly, my friend; that is all."</p> + +<p>"Then you have found it?"</p> + +<p>"You shall see."</p> + +<p>"¡Caray! You cannot imagine what pleasure you will cause me."</p> + +<p>"You know that I frequently hunt in your parts?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; I am aware of that."</p> + +<p>"Well, the first time I find myself near the hacienda, I will come and +ask hospitality of you."</p> + +<p>"Ah! That is what I call a good idea; and even if you brought ten +comrades with you, you would see how I should receive you. I only say +this much,—I am in a position to treat you well."</p> + +<p>"I take you at your word; so that is settled."</p> + +<p>"You pledge me your word?"</p> + +<p>"I do."</p> + +<p>"Very good. Now I shall start happy. Come by day or night, as you may +think proper, and you will always be welcome."</p> + +<p>"I fancy it would be rather difficult to get into the hacienda by +night."</p> + +<p>"Not at all. You will only have to mention my name."</p> + +<p>"Well, that is settled; and now be off. Only four hours of daylight +remain, so do not delay any longer."</p> + +<p>"You are right; so good-bye. Do not be long ere you remind me of my +promise."</p> + +<p>"I will bear you in mind."</p> + +<p>They left the calli. Seven or eight hunters and Indians were mounted, +and awaiting at the door their guest's good pleasure to start. The +majordomo shook the hunter's hand for the last time, mounted his +horse, gave the signal for departure, and the little band started at +a gallop through a crowd of women and children that had collected +through curiosity. Stronghand looked after them as long as he could +see them, and then thoughtfully returned to the calli. For a very long +time he remained plunged in earnest thought, then he stamped his foot +passionately, and exclaimed, in Spanish—"No; a thousand times no. I +will not take advantage of the man's kindness to abuse his confidence +like a coward. It would be a disgraceful deed."</p> + +<p>These words doubtless contained the result of the hunter's reflections, +and were the expression of the resolutions he had just formed.</p> + +<p>Several days elapsed, and nothing of an interesting nature occurred +in the village. The military committee sat several hours during the +interval. The plan of the coming campaign was definitively arranged and +the collection of the Indian forces was the only thing that delayed the +outbreak of hostilities. Whistler returned to the village four days +after his departure, and reported to the hunter that Paredes reached +the hacienda without any accident, and nothing had disturbed the +tranquillity of the journey.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile, the different Indian tribes forming the great +confederation of the Papazos began flocking into the village. Ere long +there were no quarters left for them, and they were compelled to camp +on the plain, which, however, was no hardship to men accustomed to +brave all weather. On the twelfth day after Paredes' departure, the +hachesto convened all the chiefs to a general meeting at sunset, in +order to perform the mystic rites of the great medicine before opening +the campaign. At the moment when the sun disappeared below the horizon +in clouds of purple vapour, the amantzin, or first sorcerer of the +nation, mounted the roof of the medicine hut, and by a sign commanded +silence.</p> + +<p>"The sun has withdrawn its vivifying heat from us," he said in a +powerful voice, "the earth is covered with darkness, and this is the +mystic hour when man must prepare for the struggle with the genius of +evil—begin the great medicine."</p> + +<p>At the same instant, animals of every description appeared from all the +lodges, from the corners of the streets, gliding down the ladders of +the pyramids, or coming from the plain; quadrupeds, birds, and reptiles +collected in the village square, with horrible cries, overflowed the +streets on all sides, and spread out over the country for a league +round. These animals were Indian chiefs, clothed in the skins of the +beasts they wished to represent. Not only do the Indians imitate with +rare perfection the different cries of animals, but they have also +made a special study of their manners, habits, mode of progression, +and even of the way in which they eat and sleep. Nothing can furnish +an idea of the horrible concert composed of these cries—hisses, +snapping, and roars, mingled with the furious barking of the dogs. +There was something savage and primitive that powerfully affected the +imagination. At intervals silence was suddenly re-established, and the +sorcerer's voice rose alone in the night.</p> + +<p>"Is the evil principle conquered?" he asked; "Have my brothers trampled +it under foot?"</p> + +<p>The animals responded by horrible yells, and the noise began again +worse than before. This lasted the whole night through. A few minutes +before sunrise the sorcerer repeated the question for the last time, +which had received no other answer but furious yells. This time the +pure and melodious voice of a young girl rose in the silence, and +pronounced these words:—"The Master of Life has pity on his red +children; he sends the sun to their help. The evil principle is +conquered."</p> + +<p>At the same instant the sun appeared in its radiance. The Indians +saluted it with a cry of joy, and throwing off their disguises, they +fell on their knees, with faces turned up to heaven. The sorcerer, +holding in his right hand a calabash full of water, in which was a +sprig of wormwood, sprinkled a few drops to each of the cardinal +points, crying with an inspired air—"Hail, O sun! Visible minister of +the invisible Master of Life! Listen to the prayers of thy red sons. +Their cause is just; give them the scalps of their enemies, that they +may attach them to their waist belts. Hail, O sun! All hail!"</p> + +<p>All the Indians repeated in chorus—</p> + +<p>"Hail, O Sun! All hail!"</p> + +<p>Then they rose to their feet. The first part of the mysteries of +the great medicine was accomplished, and the sorcerer retired. The +hachesto, or public crier took his place, and invited the principal +chiefs of the confederation to dig up the war hatchet. This +characteristic ceremony consists in going in procession into the +medicine lodge, where the oldest chief digs up the ground with his +scalping knife at a spot the sorcerer indicates, and draws out the +great war hatchet, the emblem of the strife about to commence. When the +hatchet is unburied, the chiefs quit the hut in the same way as they +entered it. At their head marches, with the chief entrusted with the +sacred token of the nation, and the brave of the great calumet, the +chief who has dug up the hatchet, which he holds with both hands to his +breast, with the edge turned outwards. On leaving the lodge, chiefs +silently draw up in front of the ark of the first man, opposite the war +post, and chance decides which chief shall have the honour of dealing +the first blow on the emblematic post with the sacred hatchet.</p> + +<p>The Indians, like all primitive peoples, are extremely superstitious; +hence they attach an immense importance to this ceremony, because they +fancy they can draw a good omen from the way in which the blow has been +dealt, and the depth of the notch made by the edge of the blade. Lots +were drawn, and chance selected Stronghand. A flattering murmur greeted +this name, which was loved by the Indians, and belonged to a man whom +they regarded as one of their greatest heroes. Stronghand quitted the +ranks, walked into the open space in front of the ark of the first man, +and seizing the hatchet which the chief presented to him, he raised +it above his head, whirled it round with extreme dexterity, and then +dealt a terrible stroke at the war post. The blow was dealt with such +violence, the hatchet penetrated the wood so deeply, that when the +sorcerer attempted to withdraw it, according to the usual custom, in +spite of all his efforts he could not succeed, and was obliged to give +up the attempt.</p> + +<p>The warriors uttered a shout of joy, which, spreading along the crowd +assembled to witness the ceremony, was soon converted into a hideous +clamour. The war would be lucky. The omens were excellent. Never, even +by the confession of the oldest sachems, had such a blow been dealt the +post. Stronghand was congratulated by the chiefs and warriors, who were +delighted at the result he had obtained. When the hatchet was at length +removed from the post, the warriors retired to make way for the squaws, +and the scalp dance began.</p> + +<p>This dance is exclusively performed by women, and in this affair +alone the men make way for them. This dance, which is regarded as +sacred by the untamed Indian nations, only takes place under grand +circumstances—at the beginning of an expedition, or at its close, when +it has been successful—that is to say, when the warriors bring back +many scalps and horses, and have suffered no loss themselves. The women +display an excitement in this dance which speedily degenerates into a +frenzy, which fills the minds of the warriors with martial ardour. When +this dance was ended, and the squaws had ceased their insensate cries +and gestures, the final ceremony was proceeded with. This ceremony, of +which we only find vestiges among a few tribes of the Upper Missouri, +and the Aucas, or Pampas Indians, seems peculiar to the Papazos. It +consists in sacrificing a brood mare, which has not yet foaled, and +reading the future in its entrails.</p> + +<p>We can easily understand that the sorcerer who undertakes the +explanation says what He pleases, and must be believed through the +impossibility of contradicting his statements. On this occasion, either +because he wished to share in the general joy, or that, through +deceiving others, he had succeeded in deceiving himself, and putting +faith in his own falsehoods, he announced to the attentive warriors the +most splendid and successful results for the coming expedition. These +prophecies were greeted as they deserved to be—that is to say, with +the greatest favour—and, according to custom, the body of the mare was +given to the sorcerer; and this was, doubtless, the greatest profit he +derived from the whole affair.</p> + +<p>Then, when all the rites were performed, the order was given for each +warrior to prepare his horses, his weapons, and his provisions, for +the expedition might set out at any moment. The Papazos chiefs had +succeeded in collecting beneath their totems 30,000 warriors, all +mounted on excellent horses, and about 4000 armed with guns. It is true +that the Indians, though so skilful in the use of the axe, the lance, +and the bow, are deplorable marksmen, and have an instinctive dread of +firearms, which prevents their taking a proper aim. Still, some of them +succeed in attaining a relative skill, and are dangerous in a fight. +But the greatest strength of the Indian army consisted of the sixty +or eighty white and half-breed hunters, whom the hope of plunder had +induced to join them.</p> + +<p>Thunderbolt, while retaining the supreme command of the army, appointed +three chiefs as generals of division; they were Sparrowhawk, Whistler, +and Peccary. Stronghand took the command of twenty-five white hunters, +whom he selected among the bravest and most honourable, and was +entrusted with a special mission by his father. All being then in +readiness to begin the war, the Indians, according to their invariable +custom, only awaited a moonless night to invade the territory of their +enemies under cover of the darkness.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE WHITE-SKINS.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>The return of José Paredes to the hacienda caused Don Hernando a lively +pleasure. Still, the sum he brought, though considerable, was far from +sufficing for the constant outlay in working the mine, and would hardly +coyer the demands of the moment. Don Rufino did not in any way show the +amazement the sight of the majordomo occasioned him, after the measures +he had taken to get rid of him. Still this surprise was converted into +anxiety, and ere long into terror, when he reflected on the time that +had elapsed since his departure.</p> + +<p>In fact, it would take three weeks to proceed from the hacienda to +Hermosillo and back, even at a good pace, and yet the majordomo had +only been absent for nine days. It was evident to the senator that +Paredes had not been to Hermosillo, and yet he brought back the money +for the bills! What did all this mean? There was something obscure in +the whole affair, which Don Rufino burned to clear up; but, unhappily, +that was very difficult, if not impossible.</p> + +<p>He was supposed to be ignorant of the motive of the majordomo's +journey, and consequently could not interrogate him; and then, again, +even had he ventured to do so, Paredes would probably not have answered +him, or, if he had done so, it would only have been in mockery; for the +worthy majordomo, with the infallible scent which upright and faithful +men possess, had detected the wolf in sheep's clothing, and although +he had no apparent motive, as he was unaware that the senator was the +concoctor of the plot to which he had all but fallen a victim, he +felt an instinctive aversion for that person, and displayed a marked +affectation in trying to avoid any meeting with him.</p> + +<p>In Sonora, as in other countries, it is not easy to meet at a moment's +notice persons who will discount large bills to render you a service. +The man who had given the money for these must be very rich, and most +desirous to assist the Marquis. However much the senator thought of +the subject, he could not call to mind any landowner for fifty leagues +round capable of acting in such a way. Moreover, the discounter +must have been aware of the plot formed against the majordomo, for +otherwise he would not have proposed to take the bills. Could Kidd be +the traitor? In a moment the senator recognised the absurdity of such +a suspicion. It was not probable that the bandit had declined to kill +the majordomo; but that he should have allowed him to escape without +robbing him was an utterly unlikely circumstance. Moreover, Kidd had +everything to fear from the senator, and would not have risked playing +him such a malicious trick.</p> + +<p>As always happens when a man indulges in probabilities without any +settled starting point, and proceeds from one deduction to another, +Don Rufino attained such a monstrous conclusion, that he was really +terrified by it. Still, throughout all his wanderings, a very logical +remark escaped him, which proved that, if he had not discovered the +truth, he was not very far from it.</p> + +<p>"The Redskins are right," he muttered, "and their proverb is true. In +the desert, trees have ears, and leaves have eyes. I remember that +my conversation with that pícaro of a Kidd took place near a very +close growing thicket; perhaps it contained a traitor. Henceforward I +will only discuss business at the top of an entirely unwooded hill; +and yet," he added with a sigh, "who knows whether a spy may not be +concealed in a prairie-dog hole?"</p> + +<p>All these reflections the senator made while walking in extreme +agitation up and down the room, when the door opened, and Don Ruiz made +his appearance.</p> + +<p>"Señor Don Rufino," he said to him, after a mutual exchange of +compliments, "will you kindly come to the drawing room? Our majordomo, +who, as you may have noticed, has been absent for some days, has +brought most important news, which my father would like you to hear."</p> + +<p>The senator started imperceptibly, and gave the young man a suspicious +glance; but nothing in Don Ruiz's open face caused him to suppose any +hidden meaning in his words.</p> + +<p>"Is anything extraordinary happening, my dear Don Ruiz?" he asked, in a +mellifluous voice.</p> + +<p>"I have as yet received but very imperfect information about the grave +events that threaten us; but if you will kindly follow me, you will +soon learn all."</p> + +<p>"Be it so, my dear sir—I am at your service;" and he followed Don Ruiz +to the saloon, where Doña Marianna, the Marquis, and José Paredes were +already assembled.</p> + +<p>"Why, what can be the matter, my dear señor?" the senator asked, as he +entered; "I confess that Don Ruiz has startled me."</p> + +<p>"You will be more startled when you know the events. But sit down, +pray," the Marquis answered, and then said to the majordomo, "you have +your information from a good source?"</p> + +<p>"I can assert that all I have told you is true, <i>mi amo</i>. The Papazos +have allied themselves with I know not how many other tribes of +ferocious pagans, and we may expect to see them burst upon us at any +moment."</p> + +<p>"¡Caspita! that is serious," the senator said.</p> + +<p>"Much more than you suppose; for the Indians are this time resolved to +expel the white men for ever from Sonora, and establish themselves in +their place," answered Paredes.</p> + +<p>"Oh, oh," Don Rufino said, "they are undertaking a rude task."</p> + +<p>"Laugh if you like, but it is so."</p> + +<p>"I do not laugh, my worthy friend; still, I do not believe the Indians +capable of attempting so mad an enterprise."</p> + +<p>"In the first place, I am not your friend, señor," the majordomo said, +roughly; "and next, it is probable that when you have seen the Indians +at work, your opinions about them will be considerably modified."</p> + +<p>The senator pretended not to notice the bitterness contained in +this remark, and replied, lightly—"I never saw any wild Redskins, +and Heaven preserve me from doing so. Still, I strongly suspect the +inhabitants of this country of making them more formidable than they +really are."</p> + +<p>"You are wrong to have such an opinion, my friend; and if you remain +any time with us, will soon have proof of it," the Marquis said.</p> + +<p>"Are you going to remain here, exposed to the attacks of the pagans, +papa?" Doña Marianna asked with terror.</p> + +<p>"We have nothing to fear from the Indians," the Marquis replied. "The +rock on which my hacienda is built is too hard for them. They will +break their nails before they can pull out a single stone."</p> + +<p>"Still, father, we cannot be too prudent," Don Ruiz observed.</p> + +<p>"You are right, my son; and as I do not wish your sister to retain even +a shadow of anxiety, we will immediately place ourselves in a position +of defence, though it is unnecessary. During the grand insurrection +of 1827, the Indians did not once attempt to approach El Toro, and I +greatly doubt whether they will attack it this time."</p> + +<p>"<i>Mi amo</i>," Paredes replied, "believe me, do not neglect any +precaution; this insurrection will be terrible."</p> + +<p>"Come, come," Don Rufino asked, "tell me, Señor Majordomo, who the +person is that informed you so well?"</p> + +<p>Paredes gave him a side-glance, and replied, with a shrug of his +shoulders—"It is enough that I know it; no matter the name of the man +to whom I owe the information. If you fancy that it is a friend who +warned me, you will be near the truth."</p> + +<p>"Permit me, señor," the senator answered, with a frown, "this is more +important than you fancy. You must not thus create an alarm in a +family, and then refuse to give proofs in support of your assertions."</p> + +<p>"My master knows me, señor; he knows that I am devoted to him, and also +that I am incapable of uttering a falsehood."</p> + +<p>"I do not doubt, señor, either your honesty or your truthfulness; +still, a thing so serious as you announce requires, before being +taken into consideration, to be based on evidence with proofs, or a +respectable name, in default of anything else."</p> + +<p>"Stuff! Stuff! The main point is to be on your guard."</p> + +<p>"Yes, when we know whether we really ought to do so. Consequently, +in my quality as a magistrate—and I ask the Señor Marquis a million +pardons for acting thus in his presence—I command you to reveal to me +at once the name of the man who gave you these alarming news."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" The majordomo said, with a shrug of his shoulders; "What +good would it do if I were to tell you the name of an individual you do +not know, and whom you never heard mentioned?"</p> + +<p>"That is not the question. Be good enough to answer me, if you please."</p> + +<p>"It is possible that you may be a magistrate, señor, and I do not care +if you are. I recognise no other masters but the Señor Marquis and his +children here present; they alone have the right to question me, and +them alone I will answer."</p> + +<p>The senator bit his lips, and turned to the Marquis.</p> + +<p>"Come, Paredes, answer," the latter said. "I really do not at all +understand your obstinacy."</p> + +<p>"Since you order me to speak, <i>mi amo</i>," the majordomo continued, "you +must know that the person who told me of the insurrection of the pagans +is a white hunter, called Stronghand."</p> + +<p>"Stronghand?" brother and sister exclaimed simultaneously.</p> + +<p>"Is not that," the Marquis asked, "the hunter to whom we already are so +greatly indebted?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, <i>mi amo</i>," the majordomo replied, musingly; "and it is probable +that he has not yet finished."</p> + +<p>Although it was the first time the senator heard the hunter's name +mentioned, by a kind of intuition he felt a species of emotion for +which he could not account.</p> + +<p>"Oh," Doña Marianna cried, eagerly, "we must place entire confidence in +Stronghand's statements."</p> + +<p>"Certainly we must," Don Ruiz added. "It is plain that he wished to +warn us, and put us on our guard."</p> + +<p>"But who is this man who inspires you with such profound sympathy?" the +senator asked.</p> + +<p>"A friend," Doña Marianna replied, warmly, "for whom I shall feel an +eternal gratitude."</p> + +<p>"And whom we all love," the Marquis added, with emotion.</p> + +<p>"Then you accept his bail for Paredes?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and believe me, my friend, that I shall not neglect the advice he +gives me."</p> + +<p>"Very good, señor; you will therefore permit me to remark that Señor +Paredes' obstinacy in not revealing his name must fairly appear to me +extraordinary."</p> + +<p>"Señor Rufino, Paredes is an old servant who enjoys a very pardonable +freedom, and believes that he has acquired the right of being believed +on his word. Now," he added, "let us discuss the means to prevent a +surprise. Paredes, you will at once mount your horse, and order all the +peons and vaqueros to bring the ganado and horses into the hacienda. +You, Don Ruiz, will prepare the necessary corrals and cuartos to lodge +the men and animals; collect as much forage and provisions as you can, +for, in the event of a siege, we must not run the risk of being reduced +by famine. How many peons have you under your orders, Paredes?"</p> + +<p>"Excellency, we have about eighty able to bear arms, and do active +duty, without counting the women, children, and old men, whom we can +always turn to some account."</p> + +<p>"Oh, oh," the Marquis said, "there are many more than we require; I see +that it will be unnecessary to summon our miners from Quitovar."</p> + +<p>"The more so," Paredes objected, "because Captain de Niza, whose +position is far more exposed than ours will already have enlisted them +in his service."</p> + +<p>"That is probable," the Marquis answered, as he rose. "Go and carry out +my orders without delay."</p> + +<p>The majordomo bowed to his master, and went out.</p> + +<p>"Will it please you, señor, to grant me a moment's interview?" the +senator then said.</p> + +<p>"I am at your orders, señor."</p> + +<p>"Oh, do not disturb yourselves," the senator said, addressing Don Ruiz +and his sister, who had risen to leave the room: "I have nothing secret +to say to the Marquis."</p> + +<p>The young people sat down again.</p> + +<p>"I confess to you that what this man has just said," Don Rufino +continued, "has greatly startled me. I never saw any Indian bravos, and +have a horrible fear of them. I should therefore wish, Don Hernando, +however strange so sudden a request may appear to you, to obtain your +permission to leave you so soon as possible."</p> + +<p>"Leave me!" the Marquis replied, with amazement, "At this moment?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; it seems as if coming events will be very serious. I am not a +man of war, nor anything like it, for I am frightened at anything +that bears a likeness to a quarrel; but Congress claims my immediate +presence at Mexico, were it only to inform the Government of the +situation in which this state is, and urge it to assume energetic +measures."</p> + +<p>"Señor Don Rufino, you are at liberty to act as you please. Still, +I fear that the roads are not quite safe, and that you will expose +yourself to serious dangers by obstinately insisting on departing."</p> + +<p>"I have thought of that; but I fancy that when I have once reached +Arispe, which is no great distance from here, I shall have nothing more +to fear. Will you allow Don Señor Ruiz to escort me to that town?"</p> + +<p>"I can refuse you nothing, señor. My son will accompany you, since you +do him the honour of desiring his escort."</p> + +<p>"Yes," the senator continued, taking a side-glance at Doña Marianna, +who had let her head drop on her chest; "I wish to entrust Don Ruiz +with an important letter for you."</p> + +<p>"Why write? It would be far more simple to tell me what you wish in a +couple of words."</p> + +<p>"No! No! That is impossible," Don Rufino answered, with a smile that +resembled a grimace; "that would demand too much time: moreover, dear +sir, you know better than I do that there are certain things which can +only be settled by ambassadors."</p> + +<p>"As you please, señor. When do you propose to start?"</p> + +<p>"I frankly confess that, in spite of the regret I feel at leaving you, +I fancy that the sooner I set out the better."</p> + +<p>"It is only ten o'clock," said Don Ruiz, as he rose; "by hurrying a +little, we can reach Arispe tonight."</p> + +<p>"Famous! That is better. Allow me, Don Hernando, to take leave of you, +as well as of your charming daughter, and pray accept my thanks for the +noble hospitality I have received in your mansion."</p> + +<p>"What! Are you not afraid of travelling in the great heat of the day?"</p> + +<p>"I only fear the sight of the Indians, and that fear is enough to +make me forget all others. Excuse me, therefore, for leaving you so +suddenly, but I feel convinced that I should die of terror if I heard +the war cry of those frightful savages echo in my ears."</p> + +<p>Don Ruiz had left the room to give the requisite orders, and his sister +followed him, after making a silent curtsey to the senator, whose +intention she was far from suspecting. The apprehension expressed by +Don Rufino was greatly exaggerated, if it was not entirely fictitious; +but he instinctively felt that the ground was beginning to burn beneath +his feet at the hacienda, and he wanted to get away, not only to guard +himself against the perils he foresaw from the ill success of his +plot, but also to try and refasten the broken threads of his intrigue, +and carry out his plans with the shortest possible delay.</p> + +<p>The revolt of the Indians, by interrupting the work, paralyzing +commercial transactions, and consequently creating enormous +difficulties for the Marquis, admirably assisted the senator in the +realization of the plans he had long been forming in the dark. Moreover +he desired, during the short ride he was going to take with Don Ruiz, +to obtain in the young man a precious ally, who would serve him the +better because he would do so without any afterthought, and without +seeing Don Rufino's object. He also thought it better to write and +detail his intentions to the Marquis in a letter, rather than discuss +them with him, for the grand diplomatic reason that the man who writes +is the only speaker, must be heard, and consequently does not fear a +refutation till he has completely explained his ideas.</p> + +<p>After a few moments, Don Ruiz returned to state that the escort had +mounted, and that all was ready for a start. Don Rufino repeated his +farewells to the Marquis, but the latter would not let him depart +before he had drunk, according to the hospitable fashion of the +country, the stirrup cup—that is to say, a glass of iced orangeade. +Then all three left the room, for in spite of the entreaties and +objections of the senator, his host insisted on accompanying him to +the patio, and witnessing his departure. Two minutes later, Don Rufino +Contreras, accompanied by Don Ruiz, and followed by six confidential +peons, well armed and mounted, left the hacienda, and took the +direction of Arispe, which they reached at nightfall; after a rather +fatiguing journey, it is true, but which, however, was not troubled +by any accident of an alarming nature. The only thing the travellers +noticed, and which proved to them how thoroughly the news of an +approaching invasion of the Indians had spread along the border, was +the complete solitude of the country, which resembled a desert.</p> + +<p>All the ranchos they passed were deserted; the doors, windows, and +furniture had been removed by the inhabitants, and carried off by them +in their flight; they had burned or destroyed all they were compelled +to leave behind them; their horses and cattle had also disappeared, +which gave a look of indescribable melancholy to the numerous plains +the little party crossed. The crops had been cut in the green, or +burned, in order that the Indians might not profit by them; and thus, +ere the wretched country was ravaged by the Redskins, it had already +been completely ruined by its inhabitants.</p> + +<p>Don Rufino contemplated with stupor the desolate aspect of the +country, for he could not at all understand the strange tactics of the +inhabitants. When they reached the gates of Arispe, they found them +closed, and guarded by powerful detachments of soldiers and cívicos—a +species of national militia, paid by the rich inhabitants to repress +the devastation of the marauders who swarm on the Indian border. It +was only after interminable debates and infinite precautions that the +barrier guards at length consented to let the travellers pass. All +the streets in Arispe were defended by strong barricades. The town +resembled one large camp. The soldiers were bivouacked on all the +squares, and sleeping round the bivouac fires, which were lighted as +much to keep off the sharp night cold, as to cook their scanty rations.</p> + +<p>Don Rufino possessed, on the Plaza Mayor of Arispe, a large and +handsome mansion, at which he resided when business summoned him to +Arispe. It took him more than an hour to reach it, owing to the +numberless turnings he was compelled to take, and the barricades he was +forced to scale. The door of the house was open, and a dozen soldiers +were quietly bivouacked in the zaguán and patio; but Don Rufino did not +at all protest against this arbitrary violation of his domicile; on the +contrary, he boasted of his senatorial title, and seemed very pleased +with the liberty the soldiers had taken. Don Rufino would not allow Don +Ruiz and his peons to seek a shelter anywhere but in his own house; +he forced them to accept his hospitality, and they did so without any +excessive pressure, for both men and horses were beginning to feel the +want of a few hours' rest, after an entire day's journey, made in the +stifling heat of the sun.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII.</a></h4> + +<h3>SERIOUS EVENTS.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>Nothing equals the rapidity with which a new fortune is established, +except, perhaps, that with which an old family falls, through the +eternal balancing of accident, which elevates some and lowers others, +thus producing incessant contrasts, which are one of the claims of +existing society, and of the equilibrium that presides over the things +of this world. With a few exceptions, the first and last of a race +are always two powerful men, created by the struggle, endowed with +great and noble qualities, and who are always equal to circumstances. +Unfortunately, of these two men, one, sustained by capricious chance +and the benign influence of his star, sees all obstacles fall before +him, and his rashest combinations succeed. In a word, success +frequently crowns his efforts, contrary to his expectations. The other, +on the contrary, unconsciously yielding through the law of contrast to +the malign influence attaching to his race—having fallen by the fault +of his predecessors from an elevated position—compelled to struggle +on unequal terms with enemies prejudiced against him, and who render +him responsible for the long series of errors of which his ancestors +have been solely culpable—sees himself, so to speak, placed without +the pale of the common law; his most skilful combinations only succeed, +in delaying for a few years an inevitable fall, and frequently render +that fall the more startling and certain.</p> + +<p>What we say here is applicable to all the degrees of the social stage; +not only to royal families, but to the miserable beggar's brood. Each +revolution that changes the face of an empire, by bringing up to the +surface unknown geniuses, at the same time plunges into an abyss of +wretchedness and opprobrium those who for centuries have oppressed +entire generations, and have in their time placed themselves on a level +with the Deity, by believing everything allowed them.</p> + +<p>Time, that impassive leveller, bringing progress in its train, +incessantly passes its inexorable square over all that raises its head +too high—thus pleasing itself by raising some and humiliating others. +It has constituted itself the sole arbiter of human ambitions, and the +real representative of that moral equality which would be an Utopia, +if the great organic law of the harmony of the universe had not thus +proclaimed its astonishing principles.</p> + +<p>On the very day when Don Ruiz, after escorting Don Rufino Contreras +to Arispe, returned to the hacienda, a courier arrived simultaneously +with him. This man, who was mounted on an utterly exhausted steed, had +apparently ridden a great distance, and was in an excessive hurry. +No sooner had he reached the Toro than he was introduced into the +Marquis's study with whom he remained shut up for a long time. Then the +courier, on leaving the study, remounted his horse, and set off again +without speaking to a soul. The almost fantastic apparition of this +man caused the occupiers of the hacienda that instinctive fear which +people generally experience from things they cannot account for.</p> + +<p>The Marquis, whose face was usually imprinted with an expression of +sad and resigned melancholy, had, after this interview, become of +a cadaverous pallor; deep wrinkles furrowed his forehead, and his +eyes stared wildly. He walked up and down the huerta for a long time +in extreme agitation, with his arms crossed on his back, and his +head bowed over his chest. At times he stopped, beat his forehead +furiously, uttered incoherent words, and then resumed his walk +mechanically—obeying an imperious want of locomotion rather than any +other motive.</p> + +<p>Doña Marianna, seated at a window of her boudoir, behind a muslin +curtain, followed her father's movements, for she felt frightened at +his state, and had a foreboding that she would have to share some of +the sorrow which had fallen on him. The Marquis at length stopped, +looked round him like a man who is waking up, and, after a moment of +reflection, returned to his apartments. A few minutes after, a servant +came to inform Doña Marianna that her father was awaiting her in the +red chamber. In spite of herself, the maiden felt her apprehensions +redoubled, but hastened to obey.</p> + +<p>This red chamber, into which we have already had opportunity to +introduce the reader, and which Don Hernando had not entered since the +day when his brother was so inexorably disinherited by their father, +was as cold and gloomy as when we saw it. The sole difference was, +that time, by tarnishing the lustre of the hangings and tapestry, and +blackening the furniture, had imparted to it a tinge of sadness, which +made the visitor shudder as soon as he entered. When Doña Marianna +reached the red chamber, she found her father already there; he gave +her a silent sign to take a seat, and she sank into an armchair in +a state of undisguised alarm. A few minutes after Don Ruiz entered, +followed by José Paredes. The Marquis then seated himself in the +spacious armchair that occupied the centre of the dais; he ordered the +majordomo to close the door, and began in a feeble, trembling voice—</p> + +<p>"My children, I have summoned you hither because we have to discuss +matters of the deepest gravity. I have called to our council Paredes, +as an old servant of the family, whose devotions we have known so long, +and I trust you will not think that I have exceeded my rights in doing +so."</p> + +<p>The young people bowed their assent, Paredes placed himself by their +side, and the Marquis continued—"My children, our family has for +many years been tried by adversity. Hitherto, respecting the happy +carelessness of childhood, I have sought to keep within my own breast +the annoyances and grief with which I was incessantly crushed; for, +after all, of what good would it have proved to lay a portion of the +burden on your shoulders? Misfortune advances with gigantic strides; it +catches us up one after the other, and it was better to let you enjoy +the too short days of your happy youth. I have therefore struggled +for all of us, concealing the grief which at times overwhelmed me, +restraining my tears, and always offering to you the calm brow and +the tranquil appearance of a man, who, if he were not entirely happy, +was satisfied with his share of good and evil Heaven had allotted to +him. Believe me, my children I should have continued this conduct, and +kept to myself all the cares and annoyances of such a life as I lead, +had not a sudden, terrible, and irremediably misfortune, which has +fallen on me today, forced me, against my will, to impart to you the +melancholy, frightful condition we are now in, and acquaint you with +the posture of my affairs, which are yours, for I am only entrusted +with the fortune which will be yours some day if we succeed in saving +it."</p> + +<p>The Marquis stopped for a moment, overcome by the emotion which +contracted his throat.</p> + +<p>"Father," Don Ruiz replied, "you have ever been the best of parents to +my sister and myself. Be assured that we have anxiously awaited this +confidence, which has been so long delayed in the fear of causing us a +temporary sorrow; for we hoped we might be able to assume a portion of +the burden, and thus restore you the courage necessary to support the +gigantic struggle in which you have engaged with adverse fortune."</p> + +<p>"My son," the Marquis said, "I know your heart and your sister's. +I am aware of the respectful affection you feel for me; and in the +misfortune that is now bursting on me, it is a great satisfaction to +have the intimate conviction that my children will heartily combine in +supporting and consoling me."</p> + +<p>"Be kind enough then, father, to tell us what the matter is, without +further delay. The courier with whom you were shut up so long this +morning cannot be a stranger to the determination you have formed. +Doubtless he was the bearer of evil tidings?"</p> + +<p>"Alas! My son," the Marquis answered, "for some years past fortune has +been treating our house with incomprehensible severity; everything +is leagued against us, and our fortune, which was immense under the +Spanish rule, has constantly diminished since the proclamation of +Mexican independence. In vain have I tried to contend against the +torrent which carried us away; in vain have I forgotten all I owe +to my name and rank, and attempted to regain what I had lost by +honourable enterprise. All has been of no avail, and my efforts have +only served to prove the inutility of my attempts. Still, I had hoped a +few days back that I should be able to render fortune more favourable +to me. I foresaw a chance of saving some fragments of our old fortunes; +but today I have attained the melancholy conviction that I am entirely +ruined unless a miracle intervene."</p> + +<p>"Oh, things cannot be so bad as that, father!" Doña Marianna exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my children, we are ruined—reduced to utter misery," the +Marquis continued sadly. "We have lost everything; even this hacienda, +built by one of our ancestors, which will be speedily sold—perhaps +tomorrow—for the benefit of our creditors."</p> + +<p>"But how has such a great misfortune occurred?"</p> + +<p>"Alas! in the same way as misfortunes always happen when fate has +resolved on ruining a man. For a long time past business has been +in a state of collapse, owing to the disastrous negligence of the +Government; and the news of the fresh revolt of the Indian mansos and +bravos has raised the alarm of the merchants to the highest pitch. The +panic is general among the bankers and persons whose capital is engaged +in mines; several houses at Hermosillo, Ures, Arispe, Sonora, and even +Mexico, have already suspended payment, and thus everything has been +paralyzed at a single blow. Then, to complicate matters even more, a +pronunciamiento has taken place in Mexico, and at this moment we have +not only an Indian border war, but the interior of the country is +suffering from all the horrors of a civil war."</p> + +<p>"Do you know this officially, father?"</p> + +<p>"Unfortunately, I cannot entertain the slightest doubt on the subject. +For this reason; under such circumstances as the present, one thing +inevitably happens. Creditors insist on the immediate repayment of +their advances, while persons indebted to you, if they do not fail, +defer payment so long that it is practically of no service. Now, the +letters I received this morning, and they are numerous, may be divided +into two classes; my debtors refuse to pay me, while my creditors, +fearing a loss, have taken out writs against me, so that if I have +not paid them within eight days the round sum of 380,000 piastres, I +shall be declared bankrupt, imprisoned, expelled from my estate, and +this hacienda, the last thing left us, will be put up to auction, and +probably purchased for a trifle by one of the ex-vassals of our family, +who has grown rich at our expense, and does not blush to take our +place."</p> + +<p>"Three hundred and eighty thousand piastres!" Don Ruiz muttered with +stupor.</p> + +<p>"That is the amount."</p> + +<p>"How can we possibly get it together?"</p> + +<p>"It is useless to dream of it for the present, my son. This hacienda +alone is worth double. At other times I could have offered a mortgage, +and as I have nearly 300,000 piastres owing to me, you see that I could +have easily confronted this fresh stroke of fortune. But now it cannot +be thought of; it will be better to give way, and allow our creditors +to divide the spoil. I hope you do hot suppose, Ruiz, that I have the +intention of defrauding my creditors of the little that is left me?"</p> + +<p>"Oh no, father; but what do you propose doing?"</p> + +<p>"¡Caray!" Paredes then said, "that is easily settled. I possess, +through the liberality of the Moguer family a rancho, which owes +nothing to anybody. It is yours, <i>mi amo</i>. My mother and I can easily +find another shelter. Well, if this wretched lodging is not so fine or +handsome as this, it will, at any rate, afford you a shelter, and save +you from applying for it to strangers. Is it so, Excellency? Will you +honour the old house of your servant by your presence?"</p> + +<p>The Marquis seemed to reflect for a moment, and then held out his hand +to Paredes, who kissed it.</p> + +<p>"Be it so, my friend. I accept your offer," he said. "Not that I intend +to inconvenience you for any length of time, but merely during the +few days I shall require to save, if possible, some fragments of my +children's fortune from the general shipwreck."</p> + +<p>"Do not think of us, father," Doña Marianna said, with emotion. "We are +young, and will work."</p> + +<p>Paredes was delighted at the acceptance of his offer.</p> + +<p>"Oh, do not be frightened, <i>mi amo</i>," he said; "the old rancho is not +so dilapidated and miserable as might be supposed. I trust, with the +help of Heaven, that you will not be very uncomfortable there, and, at +any rate, you will have no cause to fear the visits of certain parties."</p> + +<p>"You are unjust, Paredes," the Marquis replied. "Don Rufino Contreras, +to whom you allude, is one of my best friends, and I must speak of his +behaviour in the highest terms of praise."</p> + +<p>"That is possible, <i>mi amo</i>, that is possible," the majordomo said, +shaking his head with an air of conviction; "but if I may be permitted +to express an opinion about that gentleman, I fancy we had better wait +a while before fully making up our minds about him."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, <i>mi amo</i>, really nothing. I have an idea, that is all."</p> + +<p>"That reminds me, father, that on leaving me, Don Rufino gave me a +letter, which he begged me to deliver to you so soon as I reached the +hacienda."</p> + +<p>"Yes; he informed me of his intention of writing."</p> + +<p>"Hum!" the majordomo said, between his teeth, but loudly enough for +the Marquis to hear him; "I always had a bad idea of men who prefer +blackening paper to explain themselves frankly in words."</p> + +<p>During this aside, the Marquis had opened and read the letter.</p> + +<p>"This time, at any rate," he said, "Don Rufino cannot be accused of +want of frankness, or of not explaining himself clearly. He warns me +of the measures taken against me, and after showing me, in a most +gentlemanly manner, the precarious nature of my position, he ends by +offering me the means of escaping from it in the most honourable way; +in one word, he asks for my daughter's hand, and offers her a dowry of +one and a half million piastres, besides liquidating my debts."</p> + +<p>Doña Marianna was crushed by the blow so suddenly dealt her. +The Marquis continued, with the bitter accent he had hitherto +employed—"Such is the state we have reached, my children; we, the +descendants of a race of worthies noble as the king, and whose +escutcheon is unstained, have so fallen from our lofty social +position, that we are too greatly honoured by the offer of a man whose +grandfather was our vassal. But such is the way of the world, and why +blame it when we live in an age in which everything is possible?"</p> + +<p>"What answer will you give to this strange letter, father?" Don Ruiz +asked, anxiously.</p> + +<p>Don Hernando drew himself up proudly.</p> + +<p>"My son," he replied, "however poor I may be, I do not the less remain +the Marquis de Moguer, the only thing, perhaps, which cannot be taken +from me. I know the obligations I owe to the honour of my name. Your +sister is free to accept or reject the offer made her. I do not wish, +under any pretext, to influence her determination in so serious a +matter. She is young, and has still many years to live; I have no right +to enchain her existence with that of a man she does not love. She +will reflect, and follow the impulse of her own heart. Whatever her +resolution may be, I approve of it beforehand."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, father," the maiden answered, gently. "And now grant me a last +favour."</p> + +<p>"What is it, my child?"</p> + +<p>"I wish for a week before answering this request, for I am so surprised +and confused, that it would be impossible for me to form any resolution +at present."</p> + +<p>"Very good, my child; in eight days you will give me your answer. And +now withdraw: but do you remain, Paredes; before leaving the hacienda +for ever, I wish to make some arrangements in which your help will be +necessary."</p> + +<p>Brother and sister, after bowing respectfully to their father, slowly +quitted this fatal chamber, which persons never entered save through a +misfortune.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE TIGRERO.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>Don Ruiz and his sister left the red chamber together, gloomy, sad, +and despairing, and not daring to communicate their impressions, +because they knew that they had nothing to hope from an exchange of +conventional consolation. When they reached the hall whence ran the +stairs leading to their different suites of rooms, Don Ruiz let loose +his sister's arm, and kissed her on the forehead.</p> + +<p>"Courage, Marianna," he said, gently.</p> + +<p>"Are you leaving me, brother?" she remarked, with a slight tinge of +reproach in her voice.</p> + +<p>"Are you not going to your own rooms?" he asked her.</p> + +<p>"And what do you intend doing?"</p> + +<p>"To tell you the honest truth, sister," he replied, "after what has +occurred in the red chamber, I feel in such a state of excitement, that +I want to breathe the fresh air; did I not, I fancy I should be ill."</p> + +<p>"Do you propose going out, then?"</p> + +<p>"In leaving you, my dear sister, it is my firm intention to saddle +Santiago, and ride about the country for two or three hours."</p> + +<p>"If that be the case, Ruiz, I will ask you to do me a service."</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>"Saddle Madrina at the same time."</p> + +<p>"Your mare?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Are you going out too?"</p> + +<p>"I want to pay a visit to my nurse, whom I have not seen for a long +time. I am anxious to speak a few words with her."</p> + +<p>"Will you go alone to the rancho?"</p> + +<p>"Unless you give me the pleasure of your company."</p> + +<p>"Do you doubt it, sister?"</p> + +<p>"Yes and no, Ruiz."</p> + +<p>"Why this reticence?"</p> + +<p>"I will explain it to you, brother. To be frank with you, I want to +see my nurse, and I may spend the night at the rancho; in the event of +that happening, I do not wish you to make an attempt to dissuade me by +entreaty or otherwise."</p> + +<p>"Reflect, sister, that the country is not tranquil, and that you may +incur danger in a wretched rancho, where any resistance would be +impossible."</p> + +<p>"I have thought of that, and calculated all the chances. But I repeat +to you, I must go to the rancho, and may be obliged to pass there not +only a night, but a day or two."</p> + +<p>Don Ruiz reflected for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Sister," he then said, "you are no ordinary woman, and everything you +do is carefully calculated. Although you do not tell me the motives +for this visit, I guess that they are serious, and hence will make no +attempt to thwart your wishes. Act as you please, and I will do all you +wish."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Ruiz," she answered, warmly; "I anticipated you would say +that, for you understand me: my visit has a serious motive, as you have +divined."</p> + +<p>"Then I will go and saddle the horses," he remarked, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Do so, brother," she replied, as she gently pressed his hand. "I will +wait for you here."</p> + +<p>"I only require five minutes."</p> + +<p>The young man went out. Doña Marianna leant on the balustrade, and +fell into deep thought. Don Ruiz returned, leading the horses by the +bridle: brother and sister mounted, and at once left the hacienda. It +was about four in the afternoon; the great heat of the day was spent, +the birds were singing gaily beneath the foliage; the sun, now level +with the lowest branches, had lost much of its heat; and the coming +breeze, which was beginning to rise, refreshed the atmosphere, and bore +far away the clouds of mosquitoes which had for several hours darkened +the air. The young people galloped silently side by side, absorbed in +their thoughts, and only taking absent glances at the splendid scenery +unfolded around them as they advanced further into the country. They +thus reached the rancho without exchanging a word.</p> + +<p>Bouchaley, faithful to his friendship for Doña Marianna, had long +before announced her arrival to the inhabitants of the rancho, who had +hurried out to welcome her. With a hurried glance, Marianna assured +herself of the presence of her foster brother, which seemed to cause +her great satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"Goodness! You here so late, niña?" the ranchero said, in his delight; +"What blessed wind has blown you?"</p> + +<p>"The desire of seeing you, madresita," the young lady answered, with a +smile; "it is so long since I embraced you, that I could not wait any +longer."</p> + +<p>"It is a good idea, niña," the ranchero said; "unfortunately it is +late, and we shall only be able to converse with you for a few moments."</p> + +<p>"How do you know, old father?" she replied, as she leaped off her +horse, and threw her arms round his neck; "Who told you I should not +spend the night at the rancho?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, oh, you would not do us that honour, niña," the old man answered.</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken, father, and the proof is that I ask my brother to +leave me here, and return alone to the hacienda."</p> + +<p>"Then I am discharged," Don Ruiz said, laughingly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, brother; but you have no cause of complaint, for I warned you."</p> + +<p>"That is true; hence I do not complain, little sister; still, before we +part, tell me at what hour I am to come and fetch you tomorrow?"</p> + +<p>"Do not trouble yourself about that, Ruiz; Mariano will bring me home."</p> + +<p>"And this time I shall not behave as the last, niña: may the Lord +confound me if I lose sight of you even for a moment," the tigrero +said, as he took the horse's bridle to lead it to the corral.</p> + +<p>"Will you be so cruel, Marianna," Ruiz observed, "as to force me thus +to return at once?"</p> + +<p>"No; I grant you an hour to rest and refresh yourself, but when that +time has elapsed you will start."</p> + +<p>"Agreed, little sister."</p> + +<p>They entered the rancho: No Sanchez, with that hospitable speed all +Mexican rancheros display, had already covered the table with pulque, +mezcal, Catalonian refino, orangeade, and infusion of tamarinds. The +young people, thirsty from their long ride, and not wishing to grieve +the worthy persons who received them so kindly, did honour to the +refreshments thus profusely offered them. Don Ruiz, while teasing his +sister about her strange fancy for spending the night at the rancho, +though he felt convinced that she must have a very serious reason for +it, conversed gaily according to his fashion, and displayed a dazzling +wit which is easier in Mexico than elsewhere; for, owing to the natural +intelligence of the people, no matter their rank, they are certain to +understand. When day began to fall, the young gentleman took leave of +the rancheros, mounted his horse, and started for the hacienda.</p> + +<p>In Mexico, as in all intertropical countries, evening is the +pleasantest part of the day: at that time the inhabitants are all +in the open air. At night they sit in front of the rancho doors, +conversing, singing, or dancing; two or three in the morning arrives +before they dream of going to bed. But on this day, contrary to her +habit when she paid her nurse a visit, Doña Marianna seemed fatigued: +at times she had difficulty in checking a yawn, and her desire for rest +was so evident that the nurse was the first to invite her to retire. +The young lady required no pressing, and after bidding the old folks +good night, entered the rancho, and the room prepared for her. So soon +as Marianna had left them, the old couple also retired to rest. As for +Mariano, after making his usual tour of inspection round the rancho, +he hung up a hammock under the portico, as he preferred sleeping in +the open air to being shut up within walls which the sun's heat had +rendered stifling. An hour later all the inhabitants of the rancho were +plunged into the deepest sleep.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the tigrero felt a hand gently laid on his shoulder; he opened +his eyes, and by the light of the stars, which was as brilliant as day, +recognised Doña Marianna. The young man who had thrown himself fully +dressed upon the hammock, started up, and looked at his foster sister +anxiously.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter with you, niña?" he asked, in evident alarm.</p> + +<p>"Silence, Mariano!" she answered in a low voice, and laying her finger +on her lips; "All is quiet, at least I suppose so, but I wish to speak +with you."</p> + +<p>"Go on, tocaya," he replied, as he leaped from the hammock and folded +it up.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but I am sorry at having woken you; you were sleeping so soundly, +that I looked at you for nearly a quarter of an hour ere I dared to +disturb your rest; for sleep is such a blessed thing."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense," he answered with a laugh; "you were wrong, niña; we wood +rangers sleep so quickly that an hour is sufficient to rest us, and +if I am not mistaken, I have been lying down for more than two. Hence +speak, niña; I am attentive, and shall not miss a word of what you say +to me."</p> + +<p>The young lady reflected for a moment.</p> + +<p>"You love me, I think, Mariano?" she at length said, with a certain +hesitation in her voice.</p> + +<p>"Like a sister, niña," he said, warmly; "in truth, are we not tocayo +and tocaya? Why ask such a question?"</p> + +<p>"Because I want you to do me an important service."</p> + +<p>"Me, niña? ¡Caray! Do not be alarmed; I am devoted to you body and +soul, and whatever you may ask—"</p> + +<p>"Do not pledge yourself too hastily, tocayo," she interrupted him, with +a meaning laugh.</p> + +<p>"A man cannot do that when he firmly intends to keep his promise."</p> + +<p>"That is true; still there are things from which a man at times +recoils."</p> + +<p>"There may be such, niña, but I do not know them; however, explain your +wishes to me, frankly."</p> + +<p>"I think, Mariano, that you are on friendly terms with the hunter, +called Stronghand?"</p> + +<p>"Very intimate, niña; but why do you ask the question?"</p> + +<p>"Is he an honest man?"</p> + +<p>The tigrero looked at her.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by that?" he asked her.</p> + +<p>"Why," she said, with considerable embarrassment, "I mean a man of +heart—a man, in short, whose word may be taken."</p> + +<p>Mariano became serious.</p> + +<p>"Señorita," he said, "Stronghand saved my life under circumstances +when my only hope was in Heaven. I have seen this man perform deeds of +incredible courage and audacity, for the sole object of serving people +who frequently did not feel the slightest gratitude to him. To me he is +more than a friend—more than a brother; whatever he bade me I would +do, even if I had to lay down the life he saved, and which belongs to +him. Such, niña, is my opinion about the hunter called Stronghand."</p> + +<p>The young lady gave a glance of pleasure.</p> + +<p>"You are deeply attached to him?" she murmured.</p> + +<p>"As I told you, he is more to me than a brother."</p> + +<p>"And you often see him?"</p> + +<p>"When I want him, or he wants me."</p> + +<p>"Does he live in the neighbourhood, then?"</p> + +<p>"A short time back he stayed several days at the rancho."</p> + +<p>"And will he return?"</p> + +<p>"Who knows?"</p> + +<p>"What did he during his stay here?"</p> + +<p>"I am not aware; I believe that he hunted, though I did not see a +single head of game he had killed whilst he was here."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" she said, pensively.</p> + +<p>There was a silence. Mariano looked at her, somewhat surprised that +she should have woke him for the sake of asking him such unimportant +questions.</p> + +<p>"Well," she continued, presently; "if you wanted to see Stronghand, do +you know where to find him?"</p> + +<p>"I think so."</p> + +<p>"You are not certain?"</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, niña, I am certain; we have a spot where we are safe to +meet."</p> + +<p>"But he might not be there."</p> + +<p>"That might happen."</p> + +<p>"What would you do in that case?"</p> + +<p>"Go and seek him at another place, where I should be sure of finding +him."</p> + +<p>"Ah! And where is that?"</p> + +<p>"At the village he inhabits."</p> + +<p>"What village is that? I know of none in the vicinity."</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, niña; there is one."</p> + +<p>"A long way from here, I presume?"</p> + +<p>"Only a few leagues."</p> + +<p>"And what is this pueblo?"</p> + +<p>"A village of the Papazos."</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have forgotten to tell you that. Although he is a white man, +Stronghand has, for reasons I am ignorant of, joined the Indians, and +been adopted by one of their most powerful tribes."</p> + +<p>"That is singular," the young lady murmured.</p> + +<p>"Is it not?" the tigrero replied; understanding less than ever the +object of the conversation.</p> + +<p>The maiden shook her head coquettishly, and seemed to form a sudden +resolution.</p> + +<p>"Mariano," she said, "I asked you to do me a service."</p> + +<p>"Yes, niña, and I answered that I was ready to do it."</p> + +<p>"That is true; are you still of the same mind?"</p> + +<p>"Why should I have altered it?"</p> + +<p>"This is what I want of you."</p> + +<p>"Speak."</p> + +<p>"I wish to see Stronghand."</p> + +<p>"Very good; when?"</p> + +<p>"At once."</p> + +<p>"What?" he asked, in amazement.</p> + +<p>"Do you refuse?"</p> + +<p>"I do not say that, but—"</p> + +<p>"There is a but, then?"</p> + +<p>"There always is one."</p> + +<p>"Let me hear yours."</p> + +<p>"It is long past midnight."</p> + +<p>"What matter is that?"</p> + +<p>"Not much, I allow."</p> + +<p>"Well, what next?"</p> + +<p>"It is a long journey."</p> + +<p>"Our horses are good."</p> + +<p>"We risk not finding the hunter at our usual meeting place."</p> + +<p>"We will push on to his village."</p> + +<p>The tigrero looked at her attentively.</p> + +<p>"You have a great need to see Stronghand in that case?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Most extreme."</p> + +<p>"It is more serious than you suppose, señorita."</p> + +<p>"Why so?"</p> + +<p>"Hang it! It is not so easy to enter an Indian village."</p> + +<p>"But you do so."</p> + +<p>"That is true; but I am alone and well known."</p> + +<p>"Well, I will go on after you; that is all."</p> + +<p>"Are you aware that the Indians have revolted?"</p> + +<p>"That does not concern you, as you are a friend of theirs."</p> + +<p>Mariano shook his head.</p> + +<p>"You ask a very difficult thing again, tocaya," he said, "in which you +run a great risk."</p> + +<p>"Yes, if I fail; but I shall succeed."</p> + +<p>"It would be better to give up this excursion."</p> + +<p>"Confess at once," she said, impatiently, "that you do not wish to keep +the promise you made me."</p> + +<p>"You are unjust to me; I am only trying to dissuade you from an +enterprise which you will repent when it is too late."</p> + +<p>"That is my business, I repeat, Mariano," she continued, with a marked +stress in her words; "it is not to gratify a caprice that I wish to +see the hunter. I have reasons of the utmost importance for wishing to +speak with him; and, to tell you all, he urged me to summon him under +certain circumstances, and told me I need only apply to you in order to +find him. Are you satisfied now? will you adhere to your doubts, and +still refuse to accompany me?"</p> + +<p>The young man had listened to Doña Marianna with earnest attention. +When she had ended, he replied—"I no longer hesitate, niña; as +things are so, I am bound to obey you. Still, I beg you not to make me +responsible for any events that may happen."</p> + +<p>"Whatever may occur, my kind Mariano, be assured that I shall be +grateful to you for the immense service you have rendered me."</p> + +<p>"And you wish to start at once?"</p> + +<p>"How far have we to ride?"</p> + +<p>"Some ten or twelve leagues."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is nothing."</p> + +<p>"Not on a regular road; but I warn you that we shall be compelled to +follow hardly visible wild beast tracks."</p> + +<p>"The night is clear; we shall have sufficient light to guide us, so let +us start."</p> + +<p>"If you wish it," the young man answered.</p> + +<p>A few minutes later they left the rancho at a gallop. It was about +two in the morning; and the moon, which was at its full, lit up the +landscape as in bright day.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE EXCURSION.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>As we have already said, Doña Marianna, although still so young, was +gifted with an ardent soul and an energetic character, which the +unusual dangers of a border life had, so to speak, unconsciously +ripened. In life these select organizations do not know themselves; +events alone, by exciting their living strength, reveal to them what +they are capable of at a given moment, by urging them bravely to endure +the attack of malignant fortune, and to contend resolutely with their +adversary. When the Marquis, forced by the necessities of his unhappy +condition, had a frank explanation with his children, and confessed to +them into what difficulties he was suddenly thrown, Doña Marianna had +listened to him with the most sustained attention. Then, by degrees, a +species of revolution took place in her. Stronghand's words reverted to +her mind, and she had a vague idea that he could avert the danger that +was suspended over her father's head.</p> + +<p>On recapitulating all that had occurred to her since her departure from +Rosario—the help the hunter had rendered her on various occasions with +unexampled devotion—the conversation she had held with him a few days +previously, and the promise she had made him—it appeared evident to +her that Stronghand, better informed than perhaps the Marquis himself +was about the machinations of his enemies, held in his hands the means +of saving the Moguer family, and parrying the blows which were about to +be dealt them in the dark.</p> + +<p>Then, full of hope, and confiding in the promises of this man, who had +never made his appearance except to prove his devotion to her, her +resolution was spontaneously formed, and without informing anyone of +the project she had conceived, for fear lest an effort might be made +to dissuade her, she went to her nurse's rancho, in order to obtain +an interview with the hunter by the agency of her foster mother. +Under existing circumstances, the step taken by Doña Marianna was +not at all easy, or without dangers. The daughter of the Marquis de +Moguer galloping at night along the Indian border, only accompanied by +one man—devoted, it is true, but who, in spite of all his courage, +would be powerless to defend her against an attack—displayed more +than temerity in this action; and however great her bravery was, and +the confidence she had in the honesty of the enterprise she was thus +blindly undertaking, still she could not refrain from an internal +shudder on thinking of her isolated position, and the ease with which +she might be surprised, carried off, or even massacred by the revolted +Indians. Too proud, however, to allow any of the secret fears that +agitated her to be seen, Doña Marianna affected a tranquillity and +freedom of mind she was far from feeling. She conversed in a low voice +with her foster brother, teasing and scolding him about the difficulty +he had made in granting her request, and describing her delight at a +ride through such exquisite scenery on so magnificent a night.</p> + +<p>Mariano did not think, and consequently did not understand what he +supposed was a girl's fancy. Accustomed since childhood to yield to +all the wishes of his foster sister, and obey her as a slave, he had +on this occasion done what she desired without trying to account for +such an unusual excursion, so happy did he feel at obliging her. At +the same time, he felt a lively pleasure at accompanying her, and thus +passing a few hours in her company. We must not mistake the feelings +that animated the tigrero for Doña Marianna. He loved his foster sister +with his whole soul, and would have gladly died for her; but this +feeling, lively as it was, had nothing personal or interested about +it; it was merely friendship, but a friendship elevated to the most +complete self-denial and the most entire devotion—in a word, to the +most sublime degree which this feeling can attain in the human heart. +Hence the tigrero, comprehending the responsibility weighing on him, +rode on, as is commonly said, with his beard on his shoulder, carefully +examining the bushes, listening to the desert sounds, and ready, on +the slightest alarm, bravely to defend the girl who had placed herself +under his guard. The country they were traversing, though rather +varied, was not, however, completely wooded: owing to the transparent +brightness of the night, the view extended for a great distance, which +removed all fears of a surprise, and gave a certain security to the +travellers; still, they at times, fancied they saw great shadows moving +on the riverbank, and flying at their approach. The young lady looked +round her curiously, and then asked the tigrero whether they would +soon reach the spot where Stronghand was. Mariano pointed out to her a +gentle eminence forming a bend of the river, on the top of which the +fugitive gleams of an expiring fire could be seen at intervals.</p> + +<p>"That is where we are going," he said.</p> + +<p>"Then we have only a few minutes' ride, and it is useless to hurry our +horses."</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken, niña. Not only is the track we are following very +winding, and will detain us, but, through an optical illusion easy to +be understood, this hill which you fancy so near to us is at least two +leagues distant as the crow flies; so that, taking into account the +windings, the distance is nearly doubled."</p> + +<p>"Can we not cut across country, and thus shorten the distance?"</p> + +<p>"Heaven forbid, niña! We should get into trembling prairies, in which +we should be swallowed up in a few minutes."</p> + +<p>"I trust to you in that case, Mariano; besides, now that, thanks to +that fire, I am certain of meeting the hunter, my anxiety is less +lively, and I will await patiently."</p> + +<p>"Permit me to remark, my dear tocaya, that I did not say certainly that +we should find Stronghand at this bivouac."</p> + +<p>"What did you tell me, then?"</p> + +<p>"Simply that we might hope to meet him here, because it is the spot +where he generally encamps when hunting in these parts."</p> + +<p>"Still, as we can perceive the flame of that watch fire—for that is +really a flame, is it not?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly; still, we have yet to learn whether this fire has been +kindled by Stronghand or some other hunter. This mound is one of the +most suitable places of encampment, owing to the height of the hill, +which allows the country to be surveyed, and thus avoid a surprise."</p> + +<p>"Then probably we shall not find the hunter at the encampment?"</p> + +<p>"I do not say that either, niña," Mariano answered, with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"But what do you mean?" the young lady said, impatiently patting the +pommel of her saddle with her little hand; "you are really unendurable."</p> + +<p>"Do not be angry, tocaya; I may be mistaken. If Stronghand is not here, +perhaps we may find a hunter who will tell us where he is."</p> + +<p>"Why not an Indian?"</p> + +<p>"Because there are no Indians at that campfire."</p> + +<p>"Tocayo, I must really ask this time how you can possibly know that?"</p> + +<p>"Very easily, niña; I do not require to be a sorcerer to guess so +simple a thing."</p> + +<p>"Do you consider it so simple?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly; nothing can be more so."</p> + +<p>"In that case I will ask you to explain, for it is always worth while +learning."</p> + +<p>"You fancy you are joking, niña; and yet there is always something to +be learned in the desert."</p> + +<p>"Good, good, tocayo; I know that; but I am waiting for your +explanation."</p> + +<p>"Listen then. This fire, as I told you, is not an Indian fire."</p> + +<p>"That is not exactly what you said to me. Go on, however."</p> + +<p>"The Indians, when they camp on the white man's border, never light a +fire, for fear of revealing their presence; or if compelled to light +one in order to cook their food, they are most careful to diminish the +flame, in the first place by digging a deep hole in the ground, and +next by only using extremely dry wood, which burns without crackling, +flaming, or producing smoke, and which they carry with them for long +distances, in case they might not find it on their road."</p> + +<p>"But, my friend, that fire is scarce visible."</p> + +<p>"That is true; but still it is sufficiently so for us to have perceived +it a long distance off, and thus discovered the existence of a bivouac +at this spot which, under present circumstances, would entail the +surprise and consequent death of the imprudent men who lit it, if they +were Indians instead of hunters."</p> + +<p>"Excellently reasoned, compañero, and like a man accustomed to a desert +life!" A rough, though good-humoured voice suddenly said, a few yards +from them.</p> + +<p>The travellers started and pulled up sharply, while anxiously +investigating the surrounding thickets. Mariano, however, did not lose +his head under these critical circumstances; but with a movement swift +as thought raised his rifle, and covered a man who was standing by the +side of a thicket, with his hands crossed on the muzzle of a long gun.</p> + +<p>"Hold, compadre!" the stranger continued, not at all disturbed by the +tigrero's hostile demonstration; "Pay attention to what you are about. +A thousand fiends! Do you know that you run a risk of killing a friend?"</p> + +<p>Mariano hesitated for a moment; and then, without raising his rifle, +remarked—</p> + +<p>"I fancy I recognise that voice."</p> + +<p>"By Jove!" the other said, "It would be a fine joke if you did not."</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute; are you not Whistler?"</p> + +<p>"All right, you remember now," the Canadian said with a laugh; for the +person was really the hunter whom the reader saw for a moment at the +village of the Papazos.</p> + +<p>The tigrero uncocked his rifle, which he threw over his shoulder, and +said to Marianna—"It is a friend."</p> + +<p>"Are you quite sure of this man?" she asked in a low, quick voice.</p> + +<p>"As of myself."</p> + +<p>"Who is he?"</p> + +<p>"A Canadian hunter or trapper. He has all the defects of the race, but +at the same time all its qualities."</p> + +<p>"I will believe you, for his countrymen are generally regarded as +honest men. Ask him what he was doing on the skirt of the track."</p> + +<p>Mariano obeyed.</p> + +<p>"I was attending to my business," Whistler replied with a grin; "and +pray what may you be doing, so poorly accompanied at this hour of the +night, when the Indians have taken the field?"</p> + +<p>"I am travelling, as you see."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but every journey has an object, I suppose."</p> + +<p>"It has."</p> + +<p>"Well, I do not see what end yours can achieve by continuing in that +direction."</p> + +<p>"Still, we are going to do so till we have found the man we are in +search of."</p> + +<p>"I will not ask you any questions, although I may perhaps have a right +to do so; still, I fancy you would act more wisely in turning back than +in obstinately going on."</p> + +<p>"I am not able to do so."</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because I have not the command of the expedition, and I cannot +undertake such a responsibility."</p> + +<p>"Ah, who is the chief, then? I only see two persons."</p> + +<p>"You seem to forget, señor," Doña Marianna said, joining in the +conversation for the first time, "that one of these two persons is a +female."</p> + +<p>"Of course she must command," the trapper answered with a courteous +bow; "pray excuse me, madam."</p> + +<p>"I the more willingly do so, because I hope to obtain from you +important information about the object of the journey we have +undertaken, perhaps somewhat too carelessly, in these desolate +regions."</p> + +<p>"I shall be too happy to be agreeable to you, my lady, if it be in my +power."</p> + +<p>"Permit me, in that case, to ask you a few questions."</p> + +<p>"Pray do so."</p> + +<p>"I wish to know what the camp is whose watch fires I perceive a short +distance off."</p> + +<p>"A hunter's bivouac."</p> + +<p>"Only hunters?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, they are all white hunters or trappers."</p> + +<p>"I thank you, señor. Do you know these men?"</p> + +<p>"Very well, considering I am a member of the band." Doña Marianna +hesitated for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, sir," she continued, "I am in search of a hunter with whom +grave reasons force me to desire an immediate interview; perhaps he is +among your comrades."</p> + +<p>"Do you know him personally, madam?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and am under great obligations to him. He is called Stronghand."</p> + +<p>The trapper eagerly walked up to the young lady, and attentively +examined her.</p> + +<p>"You wish to have an immediate interview with Stronghand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I repeat, señor, for reasons of the highest importance."</p> + +<p>"In case you are Doña Marianna de Moguer."</p> + +<p>"What!" she exclaimed, in surprise, "You know my name?"</p> + +<p>"That needs not astonish you, madam," he said, with the most exquisite +politeness; "I am the intimate friend of Stronghand. Without entering +into any details that might justly offend you, my friend told me that +you might perchance come and ask for him at our campfire."</p> + +<p>"He knew it, then," she murmured, in a trembling voice; "but how did he +learn it?"</p> + +<p>Though these words were uttered in a whisper, Whistler heard them.</p> + +<p>"He doubtless hoped it would be so, without daring to credit it, +madam," he answered.</p> + +<p>"Good heavens!" she continued, "What does this mean?"</p> + +<p>"That my friend, in his eager desire to be agreeable to you, and +foreseeing the chance of your coming during his absence, warned me, +in order to spare you a very difficult search, and thus induce you to +grant me a little of that confidence you deign to honour him with."</p> + +<p>"I thank you, sir. Now that you know me, would it be taxing your +courtesy too greatly to ask you to guide my companion and myself to +your bivouac?"</p> + +<p>"I am at your orders, madam, and believe me that you will receive a +proper reception, even though my friend does not happen to be there at +the moment."</p> + +<p>"What!" she said, suddenly checking her horse, "Can he be absent?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but do not let that cause you any anxiety; he will soon return.</p> + +<p>"Good heavens!" she murmured, clasping her hands in grief.</p> + +<p>"Madam," Whistler again continued, "I understand that the reasons +which urged you to undertake such a journey must be of the utmost +importance; let me, therefore, go on ahead to the camp, and make all +the preparations for your reception."</p> + +<p>"But Stronghand, señor?"</p> + +<p>"Warned through me, madam, he will be back by daybreak."</p> + +<p>"You promise me that, señor."</p> + +<p>"On my honour."</p> + +<p>"Go, then, and may Heaven requite you for the goodwill and courtesy you +show me."</p> + +<p>Whistler bowed respectfully to the young lady, took his rifle under his +arm, and soon disappeared in the forest.</p> + +<p>"We can now go on without fear," said Mariano; "I know Whistler to be +an honest, worthy fellow, and he will do what he has promised."</p> + +<p>"Heaven grant I may see the man whom I have come so far to meet."</p> + +<p>"You will see him, be assured; moreover, all precautions were taken in +the event of your visit."</p> + +<p>"Yes," she murmured, pausing; "and it is this which renders me alarmed. +Well, I put my trust in the Virgin."</p> + +<p>And flogging her horse, she went on her way, followed by the tigrero, +who, according to his habit, could not at all comprehend this remark, +after the desire the young lady had evinced to see the hunter.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE HUNTER'S CAMP.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>It was no great distance to the bivouac, and the travellers reached it +about half an hour after Whistler. Still, though this period was so +short, the worthy Canadian had profited by it to erect for the young +lady, who thanked him by a smile, a jacal of branches, under which she +found a shelter as comfortable as desert life permits. The hunters' +camp had a military look, which greatly perplexed Doña Marianna. Strong +wooden palisades defended all the approaches; the horses, which were +ready saddled, were fastened to pickets; several watch fires, lighted +at regular distances, sufficiently illumined the plain to prevent +the approach of an enemy, whether man or beast; and four sentinels, +standing rifle in hand on the entrenchments, followed with a vigilant +eye the slightest undulations of the lofty pass. Some thirty men, +with harsh and irregular features, clothed after the fashion of wood +rangers, in fur caps, cotton shirts, and leather calzoneras, were lying +in front of the fires, rifle in hand, in order to be ready for the +first alarm.</p> + +<p>Orders had probably been given beforehand by Whistler, for the +sentinels allowed the two travellers to pass unquestioned through a +breach in the entrenchments, which was immediately closed after them +again. The Canadian was awaiting them in front of the jacal; he helped +Doña Marianna to dismount, and the horses were led to join the others, +and supplied with a copious meal of alfalfa.</p> + +<p>"You are welcome among us, señora," he said with a respectful bow; +"in this jacal, which no one will enter save yourself, there is a +bed of skins, on which you can take a few hours' rest while awaiting +Stronghand's arrival."</p> + +<p>"I thank you, señor, for this graceful attention, by which I cannot +profit, however, till you have reiterated your promise."</p> + +<p>"Señorita, two horsemen have already set out to fetch Stronghand, but I +repeat, that he cannot be here for some hours; now, if you will accept +the humble refreshment prepared for you—"</p> + +<p>"I only require rest, señor; still I am not the less obliged to you for +your offer. With your permission, I will retire."</p> + +<p>"You are the mistress here, madam."</p> + +<p>The young lady smiled, pressed her foster brother's hand, and entered +the jacal. So soon as Doña Marianna had let fall after her the blanket +which formed the doorway, the tigrero quietly removed his zarapé from +his shoulders, and laid it on the ground.</p> + +<p>"What is that for, comrade?" Whistler asked, astonished at the +performance.</p> + +<p>"You see, compadre, I am making my bed."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to sleep there?"</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"As you please; still, you will be cold, that is all."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! A night is soon spent, especially when so far advanced as +this one is."</p> + +<p>"I trust that you do not doubt us."</p> + +<p>"No, Whistler, no; but Doña Marianna is my foster sister, and I am +bound to watch over her."</p> + +<p>"That care concerns me at the moment; so do not be at all alarmed."</p> + +<p>"Two sentries are better than one; besides, you know me, do you not? +Although I place the utmost confidence in you, I will not surrender +the guardianship of my tocaya to another man; that is my idea, whether +right or wrong, and I shall not give it up."</p> + +<p>"As you please," the trapper said, with a laugh.</p> + +<p>And he left him at liberty to make his arrangements as he pleased. The +tigrero, though he knew most of the hunters, or, perhaps, because he +knew them, did not wish to leave his foster sister unprotected among +these reckless men, who, accustomed to the utter license of a desert +life, might, under the influence of strong liquors, forget the sacred +duties of hospitality, and insult Doña Marianna. In this the young man, +in spite of his desert experience, was completely mistaken.</p> + +<p>We have no intention to attempt the rehabilitation of these men, who, +generally endowed with evil instincts, and who do not wish to yield to +the demands of civilization, retire into the desert in order to live as +they like, and seek liberty in license; still, we will mention in their +honour, that a nomadic life, after a certain lapse of time, completely +modifies their character, curbs their passions, and so subjects them +that they gradually become purified by constant danger and privations, +by getting rid of all that was bad in them, and retaining beneath their +rough bark and coarse manners principles of honesty and devotion of +which they would have been considered incapable at an earlier period. +What we say here is scrupulously true of about two-thirds at least of +the bold pioneers who traverse in all directions the vast savannahs of +the New World; the others are incorrigible, and within a given time +end by becoming real bandits, and carry their contingent of crime to +those formidable bands of pirates of the prairies, who ambush like +hideous birds of prey to await the passage of caravans, and plunder and +massacre the travellers.</p> + +<p>But, whether good or bad, the dwellers on the prairie—no matter if +whites, half-breeds, or Redskins, trappers, pirates, or Indians—have +one virtue in common, and whose duties they carry out with remarkable +punctuality and generosity, and that is hospitality. A traveller +surprised by night, and wearied by a long journey, may, if he see a +campfire in the huts of an Indian village, present himself without +fear, and claim hospitality. From that moment he is sacred to the men +he applies to, no matter if they be Indians, bravos, hunters, or even +pirates. These individuals, who would not have scrupled to assassinate +him by the side of a ditch, treat him like a brother, show him the most +delicate attentions, and will never make any insulting allusions to +the length of his stay among them; on the contrary, he is at liberty +to remain as long as he pleases, and when he takes leave his hosts say +good-bye regretfully. At the same time it is true that, if they meet +him a week after in the forest, they will kill him without mercy to +raise his hair and take his weapons; but this need only be apprehended +with the pirates and some Indian tribes of the far west. As for the +hunters, when a stranger has once slept by their side and shared their +food, he is for ever sacred to them.</p> + +<p>The tigrero, therefore, was completely mistaken when he feared lest +Doña Marianna might be insulted by these men, who, although coarse, +were honest and loyal in the main; and who, flattered by the confidence +this lovely, innocent girl placed in them, would, on the contrary, have +gladly defended her had it been necessary.</p> + +<p>Whistler went off with a laugh, and lay down by the side of his +comrades. As we have already said, the night was far advanced when Doña +Marianna and her travelling companion reached the camp of the hunters; +a few hours at the most separated them from sunrise: and the young +lady, who at first resolved to spend these hours awake, overcome by +fatigue, had yielded to sleep, and enjoyed a calm and refreshing rest. +So soon as day began to appear, Doña Marianna repaired as well as she +could the disorder produced in her dress by her lengthened journey, +rose and went to the door of the jacal. The camp was still plunged in +the deepest silence: with the exceptions of the sentries still on the +watch, the hunters were fast asleep.</p> + +<p>The dawn was just breaking, and striping the horizon with wide +vermillion bands; the sharp and rather cold morning breeze rustled +softly through the branches; the flowers that enamelled the prairie +raised themselves, and expanded the corollas to receive the first +sunbeams; the numberless streams, whose silvery waters made their way +through the tall grass, murmured over the white and grey pebbles as +they bore their tribute to the Rio Bravo del Norte, whose capricious +windings could be guessed in the distance, owing to the thick cloud +of vapour that constantly rose from it and brooded over its bed. +The birds, still hidden beneath the foliage, were timidly preluding +their harmonious concert; the glad earth, the bright sky, the serene +atmosphere, the pure light—all, in a word, revealed that the day +which had now entirely appeared was about to be tranquil and lovely.</p> + +<p>The maiden, refreshed by the rest she had enjoyed, felt herself newborn +as she breathed the first exhalations of the flowers and the sharp +odour which is found in the desert alone. Without venturing to quit +the jacal, in front of which the tigrero was lying, she surveyed the +surrounding landscape, which, thanks to the elevation she stood at, +lay expanded at her feet for a long distance. The profound calmness +of reawakening nature, the powerful harmonies of the desert, filled +the maiden's heart with a gentle melancholy; she pensively indulged +in those thoughts which the great spectacles of nature ever arouse in +minds unaffected by human passions. In the meanwhile the sun ascended +the horizon, and the last shadows melted away in the dazzling beams +propelled by the daystar. Suddenly the girl uttered an exclamation of +delight, for she noticed a band of horsemen fording the stream, and +apparently coming in the direction of the hill. At the cry his foster +sister uttered, the tigrero bounded to his feet and stood by her side, +rifle in hand, ready to defend her if necessary.</p> + +<p>"Good morning, tocayo," she said to him.</p> + +<p>"Heaven keep you, niña!" he replied, with a shade of anxiety. "Have you +slept well?"</p> + +<p>"I could not have done so better, Mariano."</p> + +<p>"All right then; but why did you utter that cry?"</p> + +<p>"I cried out, my friend, and scarce know why."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes—stay; look at those horsemen coming up at full speed."</p> + +<p>"Caray! How they gallop! They will be here within half an hour."</p> + +<p>"Do you think that Stronghand is among them?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose so, niña."</p> + +<p>"And I am sure of it," said Whistler, with a respectful bow to the +young lady; "I have recognised him, señorita; so will you allow that I +have kept my promise?"</p> + +<p>"Most fully, señor; and I know not how to express my thanks for the +hearty hospitality you have given me."</p> + +<p>"I have no claim to any thanks from you, señorita, as I have only +carried out my friend's intention; niña, it is to him alone you should +offer thanks, if you consider that you ought to make them."</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile the camp was aroused; the hunters were yawning, and +turned to their daily avocations; some led their horses to the watering +place, others kindled the fires; some cut the wood requisite to keep +them up, while two or three of the older men acted as cooks, and got +breakfast ready for the party. The camp changed its appearance in a +minute; it lived the nervous, agitated life of the desert, in which +each man performs his task with the feverish speed of persons who are +aware of the value of time, and do not wish to lose it. The young lady, +at first surprised by the cries, laughter, and unaccustomed movement +that prevailed around her, began to grow used to it, and eagerly +watched the occupations of the men she had beneath her eyes. A sharp +challenge of "Who goes there?" suddenly made her raise her head.</p> + +<p>"A friend!" a voice she at once recognised answered from without.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a band of horsemen entered the camp, at their head being +Stronghand. The young man dismounted, and after exchanging a few words +with Whistler, he went straight up to the maiden, who was standing +motionless in the doorway of the jacal, and watching his approach +with amazement. In fact, as we have said, Stronghand was not alone; +several persons accompanied him, among them being Thunderbolt and Doña +Esperanza; the rest were confidential Indian servants. When Stronghand +came in front of the young lady, he bowed to her respectfully, and then +turned to the persons who accompanied him.</p> + +<p>"Permit me, señorita," he said to her, "to present to you my mother, +Doña Esperanza, and my father; both love you, though they do not know +you, and insisted on accompanying me."</p> + +<p>The maiden, blushing with joy at this delicate attention on the part +of the hunter, who thus placed their interview beneath the safeguard +of his father and mother, replied with emotion—"I am delighted, +señor, with this kind inspiration of your heart; it augments, were it +possible, the confidence I have placed in you, and the gratitude I felt +for the eminent services you have rendered me."</p> + +<p>Doña Esperanza and the sachem embraced the girl, who, at once ashamed +and joyous at the friendship of these persons, whose exterior was at +once so imposing and so venerable, knew not how to respond to their +caresses and the kindness they evinced to her. In the meanwhile the +hunters had raised, with great skill and speed, a tent, under which +the four persons were at once protected from the curious glances of +the persons who surrounded them. Through that innate feeling of women, +which makes them love or detest each other at the first glance, Doña +Esperanza and the young lady at once felt attracted to each other by +a natural movement of sympathy, and leaving the gentlemen to their +occupations, they withdrew on one side, and began an animated and +friendly conversation. Doña Marianna, subjugated by Doña Esperanza's +seductive manner, and drawn toward her by a feeling of attraction for +which she did not attempt to account, as she felt so happy with her, +spoke to her open-heartedly; but then she was greatly surprised to see +that this lady, whom she was bound to suppose an entire stranger, was +perfectly acquainted with all that related to her family, and knew her +father's affairs better than she did herself; her amazement increased +when Doña Esperanza explained in the fullest details the reasons that +occasioned her presence in the hunter's camp, and the precarious +position to which the Marquis de Moguer was reduced.</p> + +<p>"I could add many more surprising things, my dear girl," Doña Esperanza +continued with a smile, "but I do not wish to fatigue you at present; +sufficient for you to know that we really take an interest in your +family, and that it will not be our fault if your father is not soon +freed from all his cares."</p> + +<p>"Oh, how good you are, madam!" the young lady exclaimed, warmly; "How +can I have merited such lively interest on your part?"</p> + +<p>"That must not trouble you at all, my dear girl; the step you have +taken today to come to your father's assistance, and the confidence +you have placed in my son, are for us proofs of the loftiness of your +feelings and the purity of your heart. Although we are almost Indians," +she added with a smile, "we have white blood enough in our veins to +remember what we owe to persons of that race."</p> + +<p>The conversation went on thus between the two ladies on a footing of +frank friendliness, until the moment when Stronghand came to interrupt +it, by stating that breakfast was ready, and that they were only +waiting for them to sit down. The tigrero and the Canadian had both +been invited to share the meal, but they declined the invitation under +the pretext that they did not like to eat with persons so high above +them in rank, but in reality, because the worthy wood rangers preferred +breakfasting without ceremony. Stronghand did not press them, and +allowed them to do as they pleased. Doña Marianna bit her lips in order +to suppress a smile when the hunter informed her that they were about +to sit down to table; for, owing to her recent journey and her life on +the Indian border, the young lady was well aware that such meals were +extremely simple, and eaten on the grass. Hence her surprise was at its +height when, after passing into a separate compartment of the tent, +she perceived a table laid with a luxury which would have been justly +admired even in Mexico: nothing was wanting, even to massive plate +and valuable crystal. The dishes, it is true, were simple, and merely +consisted of venison and fruit; but all had a stamp of true grandeur, +which it was impossible not to appreciate at the first glance. The +contrast offered by this table, so elegantly and comfortably laid, was +the greater, because, behind the canvas of the tent, desert life could +be seen in all its simplicity.</p> + +<p>The young lady seated herself between Thunderbolt and Doña Esperanza, +Stronghand sat down opposite to her, and two menservants waited. In +spite of the agreeable surprise which the impromptu comfort of this +repast, prepared for her alone, caused her, the young lady did not at +all display her surprise, but she ate heartily and gaily, thus thanking +her hosts for the delicate attentions they showed her. When the +dainties were placed on the table, and the meal was drawing to a close, +Stronghand bowed to Doña Marianna.</p> + +<p>"Señorita," he said, with a smile, "before we begin a serious +conversation, which might, at this moment, appear to you untimely, be +kind enough to permit my mother to tell us one of the charming Indian +legends with which she generally enlivens the close of our meals."</p> + +<p>Doña Marianna was at first surprised by this proposition, made, +without any apparent motive, at the close of a lively conversation; +but imagining that the hunter's remarks concealed a serious purpose, +and that the legend, under its frivolous aspect, would entail valuable +results for her, she answered with her sweetest smile—"I shall listen +with the greatest pleasure to the narrative the señora is about to tell +us, because my nurse, who is of Indian origin, was wont to lull me to +sleep with these legends, which have left a deep and most agreeable +impression on my mind."</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE LEGEND.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>Doña Esperanza exchanged a look with the sachem, and after reflecting +a moment, as if recalling her ideas, she said to Doña Marianna, in +her gentle, sympathising voice—"My dear girl, before beginning my +narrative, I must inform you that I belong to the Aztec race, and am +descended in a direct line from the kings of that people. Hence, the +story you are about to hear, though simple in its form, is completely +exact, and has dwelt among us intact for generations. I trust," she +added, with a stress, "that it will interest you."</p> + +<p>Then turning to one of the criados who stood motionless behind the +guests, she said—"The quipos."</p> + +<p>The criado went out, and almost immediately returned with a bag of +perfumed tapir skin, which he handed his mistress with a bow. The +latter opened it, and drew out several cords plaited of different +coloured threads, divided at regular distances by knots mingled with +shells and beads. These cords are called quipos, and are employed by +the Indians to keep up the memory of events that have occurred during +a long course of years, and thus represent books. Still, it requires +a special study to understand these quipos, and few people are capable +of deciphering them, the more so as the Indians, who are very jealous +about keeping their historical secrets, only permit a small number +of adepts to learn the explanation, which renders any knowledge of +Indian history almost impossible for white men. Doña Esperanza, after +attentively examining the quipos, selected one, replaced the others in +the bag, and letting the knots of the rope glide through her fingers, +much as a monk does with his beads when telling his rosary, she began +her narrative.</p> + +<p>For fear of injuring this story, whose truth cannot be doubted, +and which we ourselves heard told in an atepetl of the Papazos, we +will leave it in all its native rudeness, without attempting to +adorn it with flowers of European metaphors, which, in our opinion, +would deprive it of its peculiar character. Doña Esperanza spoke as +follows:—"At a certain period of the year," she said, while beginning +to feel the quipos, which served her, as it were, as a book, "long +before the appearance of white men on the red territory, a numerous +band of Chichimeques and Toltequez, who originally dwelt at the lakes, +becoming dissatisfied, resolved to emigrate to the south-west in +pursuit of the buffaloes, and carried out their resolve."</p> + +<p>"At Salt Lake they divided, and those who remained continued to +bear their primitive name; while the others, for an unknown motive, +assumed that of Comanches. These Comanches, more enterprising than +their brothers, continued their journey till they reached the banks +of the Rio Gila, where they encamped and divided again. One band, +which resolved not to go farther, was christened by the others, who +determined to press on, the 'Great Ears;' but the whites who first +discovered them called them 'Opatas.' The remainder of the band +continued to march in the same direction, and found the Rio Bravo +del Norte at the mouth of the Rio Puerco. They had only two principal +chiefs left, and gave themselves the name of Neu-ta-che, which means, +'those who reach the river's mouth.' One of the chiefs had an only son, +and the other a lovely daughter, and the young people loved each other. +But this raised the anger of the father of the unhappy girl to such a +height, that he made his band arm and prepare to fight. But the father +and the young man crossed the Rio Gila, and buried themselves with +their band in the territory afterwards called by the white man Señora +or Sonora, where they settled, and continued to reside peacefully +until the period when the whites, ever in search of new lands, arrived +there in their turn, and after many cruel wars, succeeded in gaining +possession of the country."</p> + +<p>"The Comanches had founded several towns in Sonora, and, in accordance +with their constant habit, in the neighbourhood of the gold and +silver mines they discovered, and begun to work. One of their towns, +perhaps the richest and most populous, had for its chief a warrior +justly renowned for his wisdom in council, and valour in the combat. +This chief was called Quetzalmalin—that is to say, the 'Twisted +Feather.' His nobility was great, and very ancient; he justly declared +that he was descended in a direct line from Acamapichtzin, first +king of Mexico, whose hieroglyphic he retained on the totem of his +tribe, through that veneration which our fathers displayed for their +ancestors. This hieroglyphic, which his descendants have preciously +retained, is composed of a hand grasping a number of reeds, which is +the literal translation of the name of the noble chief of the race. +Twisted Feather had a daughter, eighteen summers old, lovely and +graceful: her name was Ova, and she ran over the prairie grass without +bending it; gentle, pensive, and timid as the virgin of the first +loves, her black eyes had not yet been fixed on one of the warriors of +the tribe, who all sought to please her."</p> + +<p>"Ova wore a tunic of water-green colour, fastened round her waist by +a wampum belt, with a large golden buckle. When she danced before her +father, the old man's forehead became unwrinkled, and a sunbeam passed +into his eyes. Her father had often told her that it was time for her +to marry, but Ova shook her head with a smile; she was happy, and the +little bird that speaks to the heart of maidens had not yet sung to her +the gentle strains of love."</p> + +<p>"Still a moment arrived when Ova lost all her careless gaiety. The +young girl, so laughing and so wild, became suddenly pensive and +dreamy—she loved."</p> + +<p>"Ova went to find her father. The chief at this moment was presiding +over the great council of the nation in the great medicine calli. The +maiden advanced, and knelt respectfully before her father."</p> + +<p>"'What is it, my daughter?' the chief said, as he passed his hand +gently through her long hair, which was fine as aloe threads."</p> + +<p>"'My father,' she replied, looking down modestly, 'I love, and am +beloved.'"</p> + +<p>"'My daughter, what is the name of the chief who is so happy that your +choice should have fallen on him?'"</p> + +<p>"'He is not a chief, my father; he is, perchance, one of the most +obscure warriors of the tribe, although he is one of the bravest. He +works in the gold mine that belongs to you.'"</p> + +<p>"The chief frowned, and a flash of anger sparkled in his glance."</p> + +<p>"'My father,' the maiden continued, as she embraced his legs, 'if I did +not marry him, I should die.'"</p> + +<p>"The chief gazed at his daughter for a moment, and saw her so sad and +resigned, that pity entered his heart. He, too, loved his daughter—his +only child; for the Master of Life had called away the others to the +happy hunting grounds. The aged man did not wish his daughter to die."</p> + +<p>"'You shall marry the man you love,' he said to her."</p> + +<p>"'Do you promise it to me on the sacred totem of the nation, father?'"</p> + +<p>"'On the sacred totem of the nation I promise it; speak, therefore, +without fear. What is the name of the man you love?'"</p> + +<p>"'He is called the Clouded Snake, father.'"</p> + +<p>"The old man sighed."</p> + +<p>"'He is very poor,' he muttered."</p> + +<p>"'I am rich enough for both.'"</p> + +<p>"'Be it so. You shall marry him, my daughter.'"</p> + +<p>"Ova rose, sparkling with joy and happiness, bowed to the assembly, and +left the medicine lodge."</p> + +<p>"Clouded Snake was poor, it is true—even very poor, since he was +constrained to work in the gold mine; but he was young, he was brave, +and was considered the handsomest of all the warriors of his age."</p> + +<p>"Tall, robust, and muscular, Clouded Snake formed as complete a +contrast with Ova, who was pale and frail, as a noble buffalo does with +a graceful antelope. Perhaps their love emanated from this contrast."</p> + +<p>"The young man, though he was so poor, found means to give his +betrothed perfumes of grizzly bears' grease, necklaces of alligators' +teeth, and wampum girdles."</p> + +<p>"The young people Were happy. On the eve of the marriage, Clouded Snake +laid at Ova's feet buckles of gold and two bracelets of shells, mingled +with beads of pure gold."</p> + +<p>"Ova accepted these presents with a smile, and said to her betrothed, +as she left him,—"</p> + +<p>"'Farewell; we part today to see each other tomorrow, and tomorrow we +shall be united for ever.'"</p> + +<p>"On the next day Clouded Snake did not come. Ova waited for several +months; Clouded Snake did not reappear."</p> + +<p>"In vain, by the chief's orders, was the young man sought for +throughout the country; no one had seen him, no one had heard speak of +him."</p> + +<p>"Clouded Snake no longer existed, except in the heart of Ova."</p> + +<p>"She wept for him, and people tried to make her believe that he had +gone to fight the white men; but Ova shook her head, and wiped away her +tears."</p> + +<p>"Forty times did the snow cover the summit of the mountains, and yet +it had been impossible to clear up the mystery of Clouded Snake's +disappearance."</p> + +<p>"One day some labourers at work in the gold mine, which had belonged +to Ova's father, and was now her property, while going far down an old +gallery which had been abandoned for a long time, exhumed a corpse as +miraculously preserved as the mummies of the <i>teocallis</i> are in their +bandages."</p> + +<p>"The warriors flocked up to see this strange corpse, clothed in a dress +belonging to another age, and no one recognised it."</p> + +<p>"Ova, who was then old, and who, to please her father had married +the great chief of his nation when her last hope expired, went with +her husband to the spot where the corpse was exposed to the sight of +visitors."</p> + +<p>"Suddenly she started, and tears darted from her eyes; she had +recognised Clouded Snake, as handsome as on the day when she left him +with the hope of a speedy reunion. She, on the other hand, aged and +bowed down more by grief than years, was weak and tottering."</p> + +<p>"Ova wished that the corpse of the man whom she had been on the point +of marrying, and whom the evil spirit had torn from her, should be +restored to the mine from which it had been removed after forty years. +The mine, by the orders of the chief's wife, although extremely rich, +was abandoned and shut up."</p> + +<p>"Ova ordered a hieroglyphic to be carved on the stone that covers the +body of her betrothed, which may be thus translated:—'This sepulchre +is without a body; this body is without a sepulchre; but by itself it +is a sepulchre and a body.'"</p> + +<p>"Such," Doña Esperanza added, as she finished the legend, and laid +down the quipos, "is the story of the lovely Ova, daughter of the +great chief Twisted Feather, and of Clouded Snake the miner, just as +it occurred, and just as Ova herself ordered it to be preserved by a +special quipos for future ages."</p> + +<p>Doña Esperanza stopped, and there was a moment's silence.</p> + +<p>"Well, señorita," the sachem asked, "has the legend interested you?"</p> + +<p>"Through its simplicity it is most touching, señor," the young lady +answered; "still, there is something vague and unsettled about the +whole story, which impairs its effect."</p> + +<p>Thunderbolt smiled gently.</p> + +<p>"You find, do you not, that we are not told the precise spot where +the events of the narrative occurred, that Sonora is very large, and +that the town in which Twisted Feather commanded is not sufficiently +indicated?"</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, señor," the young lady remarked, with a blush, "such +geographical notions, though doubtless very useful in settling the spot +where events have occurred, interest me personally very slightly. What +I find incomplete is the story itself; the rest does not concern me."</p> + +<p>"More so than you suppose, perhaps, señorita," the sachem remarked; +"but pray be good enough to state your objections more fully."</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, señor, but I have not yet recovered from the surprise which +the events that have occurred during the last few hours have occasioned +me, and I explain myself badly, in spite of my efforts."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, señorita, and to what events are you referring?"</p> + +<p>"To those which are taking place at this very moment. Having started +from home to ask an interview of a wood ranger, whom I naturally +supposed encamped in the open air, and shared the life of privations +of his fellows, I meet, on the contrary, persons who overwhelm me +with attentions, and, under an Indian appearance, conceal all the +refinements of the most advanced civilization. You can understand how +this strange contrast with what surrounds me must surprise, almost +frighten me, who am a young girl, ignorant of the world, and have +undertaken a step which many persons would disapprove if they knew it."</p> + +<p>"You are going too far, my dear child," Doña Esperanza replied, as +she tenderly embraced her; "what you have seen here ought not to +surprise you. My husband is one of the principal chiefs of the great +Confederation of the Papazos; but he and I, in other times, lived the +life of white men. When we withdrew to the desert, we took with us our +civilized habits, and that is the entire mystery. As for the step you +have taken, it has nothing that is not most honourable to you."</p> + +<p>"I thank you for these kind remarks, and the interpretation you are +pleased to give to a step conceived, perhaps, a little too giddily, +and executed more giddily still."</p> + +<p>"Do not regret it, señorita," said Thunderbolt; "perhaps it has helped +your father's affairs more than you suppose."</p> + +<p>"As for the story of Ova," Doña Esperanza continued, with a gentle +smile, "this is how it ended:—the poor woman died of despair a few +days after the discovery of the man she ought to have married, and whom +she had held in such tender memory for so long a time. At her last hour +she expressed a desire to be united in death to the man from whom she +had been separated in life. This last wish was carried out. The two +betrothed repose side by side in the mine, which was at once closed +again, and no one has dreamed of opening it up to the present day."</p> + +<p>"I thank you, señora, for completing your narrative. Still," Marianna +said, with a sigh, "this gold mine must, in my opinion, be very poor, +since the Spaniards, when they seized the country, did not attempt to +work it."</p> + +<p>"Not at all, my dear child; on the contrary, it is excessively rich. +But Ova's secret has been so well kept that the Spaniards remained in +ignorance of its existence."</p> + +<p>The two ladies were by this time alone, as the sachem and his son had +left the tent.</p> + +<p>"It is strange," the maiden murmured, answering her own thoughts rather +than Doña Esperanza's remark.</p> + +<p>The earnestness with which the lady insisted on referring to the legend +astounded and interested her. A secret foreboding warned her that the +story had a hidden object, whose importance still escaped her, though +she was burning to discover it. Doña Esperanza attentively followed in +her face the various feelings that agitated her, and were reflected +in her expressive face as in a mirror. She continued—"This is why +the mine was not discovered when the Spaniards seized the town where +it was situated. It had been stopped up for a very long time. The old +inhabitants were killed or expelled by the conquerors; and those who +escaped were careful not to reveal this secret to their oppressors. +The latter destroyed the town, and built an immense hacienda over its +mines."</p> + +<p>"But—pardon me for questioning you thus, señora—how have all these +facts come to your knowledge?"</p> + +<p>"For a very simple reason, my dear child. Ova was my ancestress, and +the knowledge of this mine is consequently a family secret for us. I +am, perhaps, the only person in the world who at the present day knows +its exact position."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I understand you," the young lady said, becoming very pensive.</p> + +<p>"Still you are trying to discover, are you not, my dear child?" the old +lady continued, kindly interrogating her, "Why, instead of letting you +speak of the important matters that brought you here, my son urged you +to ask this story of me; and why, without pity for your filial sorrow, +I consented to do so; and why, now that it is ended, I am anxious for +you to learn the minutest details."</p> + +<p>The girl hid her face in the old lady's bosom, and burst into tears.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said, "you have understood me, madam, and pray pardon me."</p> + +<p>"Pardon you for what, my dear child? For loving your father? On the +contrary, you are quite right. But yours is no common nature, my +child; though we have only been acquainted for a few hours, you have +sufficiently appreciated my character, I think, to recognise the +interest I take in you."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I believe you, madam; I must believe you."</p> + +<p>"Well, console yourself, my dear girl; do not weep thus, or I shall be +forced to follow your example; and I have still some details to add to +this interminable story."</p> + +<p>The maiden smiled through her tears. "Oh, you are so kind, madam," she +answered.</p> + +<p>"No, I love you, that is all, and," she added, with a sigh, "I have +done so for a long time."</p> + +<p>Doña Marianna gazed at her with amazement.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that surprises you," she continued, "and I can well understand +it. But enough of this subject for the present, my darling, and let us +return to what I wanted to say to you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am listening to you, madam."</p> + +<p>"I will now tell you where Ova's town stood, and its name. It was +called Cibola."</p> + +<p>"Cibola!" the girl exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear child, the very spot where the Hacienda del Toro was +afterwards built by your ancestor, the Marquis de Moguer. Now do you +understand me?"</p> + +<p>Without replying, Doña Marianna threw herself into the old lady's arms, +who pressed her tenderly to her bosom.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII.</a></h4> + +<h3>KIDD REAPPEARS.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>Kidd had left the atepetl of the Papazos with rage in his heart, and +revolved in his mind the most terrible schemes of vengeance. Not +that the bandit had in his gangrened heart any sensitive chord which +noble sentiment could cause to vibrate; to him it was a matter of the +slightest importance that he had been publicly branded and expelled +like the lowest scoundrel; humiliation glided over him without +affecting him, and what most enraged him was to see the fortune dried +up which Don Marcos de Niza had momentarily flashed before his greedy +eyes, and which he hoped, by dissimulation and treachery, to invest +in his capacious pocket in the shape of gold ounces. Now he could no +longer dream of it; the slightest information he could henceforth +accidentally pick up would not be sufficiently important to be paid for +at the price given for the first.</p> + +<p>There was something desperate in such an alternative for a man like +the bandit; but what should he do? With all his other qualities, the +adventurer combined the rather strange one, for him, of only being +brave like the Coyotes, which only attack in pairs, and when they are +certain of conquering; that is to say, he was an utter coward when +compelled to meet an enemy face to face, although he would not hesitate +to kill him from behind a bush. The adventurer did not deceive himself +about this peculiarity of his character, and the mere idea of picking +a quarrel with Stronghand caused him an instinctive terror, externally +revealed by a general trembling.</p> + +<p>He therefore very sadly and despairingly proceeded, along the road to +the Real de Minas, not knowing yet whether he should enter the pueblo, +or push further on and seek fortune elsewhere, when his attention was +attracted to the left hand of the road he was following by an unusual +and continuous undulation of the tall grass. The bandit's first impulse +was to stop, dismount, and conceal himself and his horse behind an +aloe tree, which afforded a temporary shelter. It is extraordinary to +see how villains, who care nothing for the life of others, display +remarkable instinct of self-preservation, and what tricks they employ +to escape an often imaginary danger. When the bandit believed himself +in safety, at least for the moment, he began watching most carefully +the undulation of the grass, which incessantly drew nearer to him.</p> + +<p>A quarter of an hour passed thus; then the grass parted, and the bandit +perceived three horsemen coming towards him, entirely dressed in black. +With that peculiar scent scoundrels have for detecting policemen, +Kidd did not deceive himself; he at once recognised the three persons +as belonging to the noble corporation of Alguaciles. A fourth, also +dressed in black, in whose ugly features an expression of bestial craft +and wickedness seemed to be reflected, was evidently the leader of the +party,—an Alguacil mayor, a race of rapacious vultures, without heart +or entrails; a manso Indian, dressed in torn trousers, and with bare +head, arms, and legs, was running in front of the others, and evidently +acting as guide.</p> + +<p>"Hold, José!" the most important of the men shouted to the Indian, +employing the general nickname of these poor fellows. "Hold, José! +Mind you do not lead us astray, scoundrel, if you do not want to have +your ribs broken; we must arrive this night at the Real de Minas of +Quitovar, whither important business summons us."</p> + +<p>"You would arrive there before two o'clock, Excellency," the Indian +answered, with a crafty laugh, "if instead of riding at a foot pace +you would consent to give your mule the spurs; if not we shall not get +there till after sunset."</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Válgame dios!</i>" the first speaker said, angrily; "What will my +honourable client, El Señor Senator Don Rufino Contreras say, who +must have been awaiting my arrival for several days with the utmost +impatience?"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, Excellency! You will arrive soon enough to torture honest +people."</p> + +<p>"What do you dare to say, scoundrel?" the bailiff exclaimed, raising +the chicote he held in his hand.</p> + +<p>The Indian parried with a stick the blow which would have otherwise +fallen on his loins, and answered drily, as he seized the mule by the +bridle, and made it rear, to the great alarm of the rider,—</p> + +<p>"Take care, señor; though you call me José, and treat me no better nor +worse than a brute, we are no longer in one of your civilized towns, +but on the prairie; here I have my foot on my native heath, and will +not put up with the slightest insult from you. Treat me as an idiot, +if you like, and I shall not care for it, as it comes from one whom I +utterly despise; but bear this in mind,—on the slightest threatening +gesture you make, I will immediately thrust my knife into your heart."</p> + +<p>And while saying this, the man flashed in the bailiffs terrified face a +long knife, whose blue blade had a sinister lustre.</p> + +<p>"You are mad, José—quite mad," the other answered, affecting a +tranquillity he was far from feeling at the announcement; "I never +intended to insult you, and I shall never do so; so let go my mule's +bridle, pray, and we will continue our journey in peace."</p> + +<p>"That will do," the Indian said, with his eternal grin; "that is the +way you must speak for us to remain good friends during the period we +shall have to pass together."</p> + +<p>And after letting go the mule, he began trotting in front with that +swinging pace of which Indians alone possess the secret, and which +enables them to follow a trotting horse for several days, without +becoming tired.</p> + +<p>The conversation had taken place sufficiently near to Kidd's lurking +place for him to overhear every syllable. Suddenly he started. An idea +doubtless crossed his mind, for after allowing the horsemen to go on, +but not too far for him to catch them up, he left his thicket, and +went after them, growling between his teeth,—"What the deuce relations +can these birds of night have with Don Rufino Contreras? Well, we shall +soon see."</p> + +<p>On turning into the track he saw the party a short distance ahead of +him. The latter, whom the sound of his horse's hoofs stamping on the +dry ground, had already warned, looked back rather anxiously, the more +so because the bandit, in spite of the ease he tried to effect, had +nothing very prepossessing about his appearance or face. Policemen +could form no mistake about him. Hence they did not do so, and at the +first glance recognised him as what he really was—that is to say, +a bandit. But in Mexico, as in many other countries which pretend, +rightly or wrongly, to be civilized, policemen and ruffians have the +best possible reasons for living on friendly terms; and had it not +been for the solitary spot where he was, Don Parfindo Purro (such was +the Alguacil's name) saw nothing very disagreeable in meeting the +adventurer. The latter continued to advance, talking to his horse, +tickling its flanks with his spur, galloping, with his fist proudly +placed on his hip, and his hat pulled impudently over his right ear.</p> + +<p>"<i>Santas tardes, caballeros</i>," he said, as he joined the party of men +in black, and slightly checked his horse, so that it should keep pace +with the others, "by what fortunate accident do I meet you so late on +this desolate road?"</p> + +<p>"Fortune is with us, caballero," Don Parfindo answered, politely; +"this accursed Indian has led us a roundabout road; I really believe, +whatever he may say, that we have lost our way, or shall soon do so."</p> + +<p>"That is possible," Kidd observed; "and without being too curious, will +you allow me to ask whither you are going? Moreover, to set you at your +ease by displaying confidence, I will inform you that I am going to +Quitovar."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said the bailiff, "That is very lucky."</p> + +<p>"Why so?"</p> + +<p>"Because I am going there too, in the first instance. Are we still a +great distance from the pueblo?"</p> + +<p>"Only a few leagues; we shall arrive before two o'clock, and if you +will allow me to take your guide's place, I shall be delighted to show +you the way, which, I confess, is not very easy to find."</p> + +<p>"Your proposal delights me, caballero, and I most heartily accept it."</p> + +<p>"That is agreed; if you do not know the pueblo, I will take you to a +capital house, where you will be excellently treated."</p> + +<p>"I thank you, caballero; it is the first time I have been to Real de +Minas. I am a bailiff at Hermosillo."</p> + +<p>"A bailiff!" the bandit said; "¡Caray! That is a famous profession."</p> + +<p>"At your service, were I competent for it," Don Parfindo said, puffing +himself out.</p> + +<p>"I do not say no," Kidd continued, giving himself an air of importance. +"When a man carries on a large business, as I do, the acquaintance +of a caballero so distinguished as you appear to be can only be most +advantageous."</p> + +<p>"You confound me, señor."</p> + +<p>"Oh, do not thank me, for what I say I really think; I was speaking +about it only a few days back to Don Rufino Contreras, who is also very +rich, and consequently has numerous trials."</p> + +<p>"Do you know Don Rufino?" the bailiff asked, with rising respect.</p> + +<p>"Which one?—The illustrious senator?"</p> + +<p>"Himself."</p> + +<p>"He is one of my most intimate friends. Are you acquainted with him +too?"</p> + +<p>"He has instructed me to proceed in his name against certain debtors of +his."</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Viva Dios!</i> This is a strange meeting," the adventurer exclaimed, +with a radiant face.</p> + +<p>"What a worthy señor!" the bailiff remarked, "And so honourable!"</p> + +<p>The two scoundrels understood each other. The acquaintance was formed, +and confidence sprang up quite naturally. The conversation was +continued on the best possible terms; Kidd adroitly led the other to +make a general confession, and the latter, believing that he had to do +with an intimate of Don Rufino, told him the secret of the negotiations +he was intrusted with, without any visible pressure. Altogether this is +what the adventurer learned:—Don Rufino Contreras, impelled by some +motive unknown, had secretly bought up the claims of all the persons to +whom the Marquis de Moguer was indebted. So soon as he held them, he +had taken out writs, through a third party, against the Marquis, so as +to dispossess him of the small property left him—among other things, +the Hacienda del Toro, which he evinced a great desire to possess. His +proposal to marry Doña Marianna was only a bait offered to the good +faith of Don Hernando, in order to lull his prudence and remove his +suspicions. What he wanted was to become, at any price, proprietor of +the hacienda. But still, wishing to retain the mask of friendship, by +the aid of which he had hitherto deceived the Marquis, he had put the +matter in the hands of a man of his own, who had orders to push matters +to extremities, and accept no arrangement. Don Parfindo Purro was the +bailiff selected: he was the bearer of the most perverse instructions +and strictest orders, and was resolved to accomplish to the letter +what he emphatically called his duty.</p> + +<p>In Mexico, we are compelled to allow that justice is the most derisive +buffoon and horrible thing imaginable. The judges, most of whom are +utterly ignorant, and who act <i>gratis</i>, as their salaries are never +paid, requite themselves for this annoyance on the contending parties, +whom they plunder without pity or shame; and this is carried to such +an extent, that, so soon as the trial is begun, it is known who will +win and who lose. It is little consequence whether the trial be +criminal or civil. Money decides everything. To give only one instance: +A man commits a murder, the fact is confirmed—known by all; the +assassination has been performed in bright day, in the open street, and +in the presence of a hundred persons. The relations of the victim go +before the <i>juez de lettras</i>—that is to say, the criminal judge; he +lets them explain the affair in its fullest details, and gives no signs +of approval or disapproval; but when they have finished, he asks them +the simple question—</p> + +<p>"Have you any witnesses?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," the relatives answer.</p> + +<p>"Very good; and these witnesses are doubtless men of good position and +of a certain value?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly. Each of them is worth a thousand piastres."</p> + +<p>"Well," says the judge, "and how many may there be?"</p> + +<p>"Ten."</p> + +<p>"What a pity!" he then continues, in his mildest accents; "Your +adversary, who between ourselves, appears to me a highly distinguished +caballero, has exactly the same number of witnesses as you; but his are +far more important people, for each is worth two thousand piastres."</p> + +<p>The matter is settled. If the relatives of the murdered man are not +rich enough to make a higher bid, the assassin is not only acquitted, +but discharged without a stain on his character, and is at perfect +liberty, if he think proper, to kill another of his enemies on the +same day and the same terms. Such is the way in which the Mexicans +understand justice. We can therefore understand how an enormously rich +man like Don Rufino Contreras could defeat the Marquis, the state of +whose fortune did not allow him to buy the judges.</p> + +<p>The adventurer listened with the most earnest attention to the +revelations the bailiff made with a certain degree of complacency. +Kidd, who was accustomed to fish in troubled waters, had found an +opportunity for a famous haul in these revelations. His plan was +at once formed, and so soon as he came in sight of the pueblos his +arrangements were made. It was late when the travellers reached the +barriers of the Real de Minas; the sun had set long before, and the +sentries, although they recognised the adventurer as one of their side, +made some difficulty about letting him and his companions into the +town. They were engaged for nearly an hour in parleying outside, and +it was only by the express orders of the commandant that they obtained +permission at last to enter the pueblo, which had been converted into a +regular fortress.</p> + +<p>Kidd, still continuing to act as guide to his comrades, led them +straight to a mesón, where he left them at liberty to rest themselves, +after warmly recommending them to the landlord. Then the bandit, after +placing his horse in the corral, and carefully wrapping himself up in +his zarapé, and pulling the brim of his hat over his eyes to escape +recognition, glided through the darkness to the house of Don Marcos de +Niza, which he entered. The captain, as we said, was accessible at all +hours of the day or night, to any person who had news to communicate. +At this moment he was in the same study where he had already held a +conversation with Master Kidd. On noticing the adventurer, the captain +raised his eyes, and without leaving his chair, he said—"Ah, is that +you, Master Kidd? Your absence has been long; but for all that, you are +welcome, if you bring good news."</p> + +<p>The bandit gave a meaning smile.</p> + +<p>"My news is excellent, captain," he said, laying a marked stress on the +words, "especially for you."</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Cuerpo de Cristo!</i> I hope so, for am I not commandant of the town?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; but I am not going to talk with you about politics at present, +Excellency."</p> + +<p>"In that case, go to the deuce, scoundrel," the captain said, shrugging +his shoulders angrily; "do you think I have nothing more important to +do than listen to the rubbish you may please to invent and tire my ears +with?"</p> + +<p>"I invent nothing, Excellency. Fortune has this very day granted me +the opportunity of catching a secret it is most important for you to +know—that is all."</p> + +<p>"Well, tell me what this mighty secret is."</p> + +<p>"It relates to your private affairs, Excellency."</p> + +<p>"My affairs!" the captain repeated, bursting into a laugh; "Hang it +all! Have I any?"</p> + +<p>"If the secret does not relate directly to you, it interests in a most +eminent degree one of your nearest relatives?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! who is he?"</p> + +<p>"The Marquis de Moguer."</p> + +<p>The captain became serious; he frowned with a menacing expression, +which made Kidd tremble in spite of his well-bred effrontery.</p> + +<p>"Speak, and be brief," he said to him.</p> + +<p>"Nothing will suit me better."</p> + +<p>The captain took several ounces from the table drawer, which he threw +to the bandit, who caught them in their flight, and stowed them away +with a grin of satisfaction in his huge pockets.</p> + +<p>"You will not regret your money, Excellency," he said.</p> + +<p>"I hope not; and now go on, scoundrel, as you are paid."</p> + +<p>Kidd, without further pressing, related in its fullest details all that +had occurred between himself and the bailiff on the road. The captain +listened with the most earnest attention.</p> + +<p>"Is that all?" he asked, when the other stopped.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Excellency."</p> + +<p>"Good; now be off. You will continue to watch this man, and report to +me all he does."</p> + +<p>And he dismissed him with a wave of the hand. The adventurer bowed, and +went away. When alone, the captain reflected for a few minutes, and +then wrote a letter, sealed it, and summoned his orderly, who at once +made his appearance.</p> + +<p>"Isidro," the captain said to him, "at all risks this letter must be in +the hands of the Marquis de Moguer within six hours at the most. You +understand me? —at all risks?"</p> + +<p>"It shall be done, captain."</p> + +<p>"Take this for yourself,"—and he handed him some gold coins,—"and +this pass, which will enable you to go in and out. You must be off at +once."</p> + +<p>Without replying, the soldier withdrew, after concealing the letter in +the breast of his uniform.</p> + +<p>"And now," the captain muttered to himself; "let them come on."</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII">CHAPTER XXXIII.</a></h4> + +<h3>COMPLICATIONS.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>After leaving the captain's study, Kidd halted in the anteroom, not +because he had any plan formed, but through that instinct which urges +villains of his species not to leave a good place till compelled. He +had heard the captain summon his asistente. The latter, after a few +moments' absence, returned to the anteroom with a look of importance +which at once caused the adventurer to reflect, and suggested to him +the idea of knowing what the conversation was the soldier had held +with his chief. Isidro, the captain's asistente, was an Opatas Indian, +of tried bravery and fidelity. Unluckily, though he did his duty in +the battlefield, his intellect was rather restricted, and, like all +Indians, he had a propensity for strong liquors, which had several +times brought him to great grief. Kidd was familiar with the soldier, +and knew his weakness; hence his plan was formed in a moment.</p> + +<p>"Since you remain here," he said to him, "I shall be off: when I came +to speak to the captain, I left a nearly full bottle of mezcal at the +tocanda of Master Cospeto, and on my word I feel inclined to go and +finish it. I will not invite you to accompany me, for your duty keeps +you here; otherwise you may be assured that I should be delighted to +empty it with you."</p> + +<p>"My duty does not keep me here," the Indian answered; "on the contrary, +I have a long ride to make this very night."</p> + +<p>"A long ride!" the adventurer exclaimed; "¡Caray! It is the same case +with me, and as I know no better preservative against the night cold +than mezcal, that is why I meant to empty the bottle before mounting. +If your inclinations lie the same way, it is at your service."</p> + +<p>We will allow that the asistente hesitated.</p> + +<p>"Have you also a ride to take?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, and I suspect that yours is as long as mine: well, I am going a +long distance; what direction do you follow?"</p> + +<p>"The captain sends me to Arispe," the bandit answered, boldly.</p> + +<p>"Why, how singular that is! We shall follow the same road."</p> + +<p>"That is indeed strange. Well, is it settled?—Will you drink the +stirrup-cup with me?"</p> + +<p>"Upon due reflection, I see no harm in it."</p> + +<p>"Let us make haste, then," the brigand continued, for he feared lest +the captain might catch him with his asistente; "we have no time to +lose."</p> + +<p>For reasons best known to himself, the adventurer left the Indian at +the house door, bidding him bring his horse to Cospeto's rancho, where +he would join him in a few minutes, and they would set out on their +journey together. Kidd merely wanted to warn the mesonero, with whom he +had lodged the bailiff, not to let him go away on any excuse—"Watch +him closely, and at the slightest suspicious movement go and inform +Captain Don Marcos Niza"—who, for reasons connected with the public +safety, did not wish to let these strangers out of sight. The mesonero +promised to carry out his instructions faithfully; and, re-assured on +this point, the adventurer fetched his horse from the corral, and went +to join the Opatas at Señor Cospeto's rancho, as had been agreed on. +On reaching the inn by one street, to his great satisfaction he saw +the orderly arriving by another, mounted, and ready to start. The two +friends entered the rookery to which we have already conducted the +reader.</p> + +<p>The adventurer honourably kept his word: not only did he order a bottle +of mezcal, but at the same time one of excellent Catalonian refino. +The Indian's prudence was entirely routed by such generosity; the +more so because he had no reason to distrust the bandit, with whom he +had already made several excursions, and regarded him as an excellent +comrade. Kidd, in order to avoid any doubts on the part of his comrade, +was careful not to ask him any questions; he merely poured him out +glass after glass, and when the bottles were empty, the Indian had +drunk the greater part of their contents, as Kidd desired to retain his +coolness. When they had finished, the bandit rose, paid the score, and +called for another bottle of refino.</p> + +<p>"This is for the road," he said.</p> + +<p>"An excellent idea," remarked the asistente, whose eyes flashed like +carbuncles, and who was beginning to have a very vague notion of the +state of affairs. They left the rancho, and mounted their horses. +Kidd was rather anxious as to how he should get out of the rancho, as +he had no pass of any sort; for if it were difficult to get into the +Real de Minas, it was quite as much to get out of it. Luckily, for the +adventurer, Isidro's pass was in perfect order, and when he showed it +at the gate, where he was perfectly well known to all the soldiers on +duty, he said, pointing to Kidd, "This caballero goes with me." The +soldiers, aware that Isidro was the confidential man of the captain, +did not offer the slightest difficulty, but allowed them to pass, and +wished them a lucky journey. When the adventurer found himself in +the open country he drew a deep breath of relief, as he gave his too +confiding comrade a sarcastic glance.</p> + +<p>"Now," he said, "we must take the shortest road, in order to arrive +sooner."</p> + +<p>"What, are there two roads?" Isidro asked.</p> + +<p>"There are ten," Kidd replied coolly; "but the shortest runs almost in +a right line, and passes close to the Hacienda del Toro."</p> + +<p>"Let us take that, then."</p> + +<p>"Why that more than another?"</p> + +<p>"Because I am going to the hacienda."</p> + +<p>"Ah," the adventurer said, pleasantly, "let us take a drink, and +start." Uncorking the bottle, he took a pull, and then handed it to his +companion, who imitated him, with an evident expression of pleasure.</p> + +<p>"You say, then," Kidd resumed, as he smacked his lips, "That you are +going to the Hacienda del Toro?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am."</p> + +<p>"It is a good house, and most hospitable."</p> + +<p>"Do you know it?"</p> + +<p>"¡Caray! I should think so. The majordomo is my intimate friend. What +happy days I have spent with that excellent Señor Paredes!"</p> + +<p>"Since it is your road, why not call there with me as you are certain +of a kind reception?"</p> + +<p>"I do not say I will not; I suppose you are going to ask the Marquis +for some men, as soldiers are scarce at the pueblo?"</p> + +<p>"I do not think that is the case. Don Hernando has already authorized +the captain to enlist his miners, and the peons left him he will need +to defend the hacienda in the event of an attack."</p> + +<p>"That is true; besides, it is no business of mine. Let every man have +his own secrets."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I do not think there is any great secret in the matter: the +captain is a near relation of the Marquis; they often write to each +other, and the letter I am ordered to deliver will only refer, I +expect, to family matters and private interests."</p> + +<p>"That is probable; the more so, because it is said that the Marquis's +affairs are in a very bad state at present."</p> + +<p>"So it is said; but I have heard that they are about to be settled."</p> + +<p>"¡Caray! I wish it with all my heart, for it is a pity to see one of +the oldest families of the province reduced. Suppose we drink the +health of the Marquis?"</p> + +<p>"With pleasure."</p> + +<p>The bottle was hugged for the second time by the two companions. A +man may be an Opatas Indian, that is to say, of herculean stature, +with a breast arched like a tortoiseshell; but he cannot swallow with +impunity such a prodigious quantity of alcohol as Isidro had absorbed +without beginning to feel intoxicated. The asistente, strong though he +was, tottered on his horse: his eyes began to close, and his tongue to +grow thick. But, excited as he was by liquor, the more difficulty he +experienced in speaking the more he wanted to do so. The adventurer +eagerly followed the progress of his comrade's intoxication, while +careful not to let him see that he was aware of his condition.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," the Indian continued, "the affairs of the Marquis might +easily be arranged sooner than is supposed, comrade."</p> + +<p>"With his name it cannot be difficult for him to procure money."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! That is not the point, and I know what I know."</p> + +<p>"Exactly, Señor Isidro; and as what you know may be a secret, I will +not urge you to tell it me."</p> + +<p>"Did I say that it was a secret?" the Indian objected.</p> + +<p>"No, but I suppose so."</p> + +<p>"You are wrong to suppose so; and, besides, you are my friend, are you +not?"</p> + +<p>"I believe so," the adventurer answered, modestly.</p> + +<p>"Well, if you are my friend, I have nothing to conceal from you."</p> + +<p>"That is true; still, if you consider it your duty to hold your +tongue—"</p> + +<p>"Hold my tongue! Why so? Have you any pretence to silence me?"</p> + +<p>"I? Heaven forbid, and the proof is, here's your health."</p> + +<p>The Indian began laughing.</p> + +<p>"That is what is called an unanswerable argument," he said, as +he placed the bottle to his lips and threw back his head, as if +contemplating the stars.</p> + +<p>He remained in this position till all the remaining liquor had passed +down his throat.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" he said, with an accent of regret, "It was good."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" Kidd exclaimed, with pretended surprise; "Is there +none left?"</p> + +<p>"I do not think so," the Indian remarked, with a drunkard's gravity; +"it is a pity that these bottles are so small."</p> + +<p>And with that he threw it into the road.</p> + +<p>"I agree with you that the rancheros are robbers."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the asistente, with a hiccough, "robbers; but soon—we +shall drink as much as we like."</p> + +<p>"Eh, eh, that will not be unpleasant; but where will it be?"</p> + +<p>"Where? Why, at the Hacienda del Toro."</p> + +<p>"Yes, they never refuse a draught of mezcal to an honest man in that +house."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, a draught! You are jesting, comrade; whole bottles would +be nearer the truth. Besides, do you fancy the Marquis will look into +matters so closely at his daughter's marriage."</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Where on earth do you come from, that you are ignorant of that? +Nothing else is spoken of in the country."</p> + +<p>"It is the first I have heard of it."</p> + +<p>"Well, all the better; I will tell you. Doña Marianna, a pretty girl, +caray, is going to marry a senator, no one less."</p> + +<p>The adventurer suddenly pricked up his ears.</p> + +<p>"A senator?" he repeated.</p> + +<p>"This seems to surprise you. Why should not a pretty girl marry a +senator? I consider you a curious comrade to doubt my word."</p> + +<p>"I do not doubt it."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you do; ugly brute that you are."</p> + +<p>The intoxication of the Opatas was at its height. Excited even more by +the horse's gallop and the adventurer's artfully managed contradiction, +Isidro felt passion mount to his head. The intoxication of Indians is +horrible: they become raving madmen; their heated brain gives birth +to the strangest hallucinations, and under the influence of spirits +they are capable of the greatest crimes. The bandit was aware of all +these peculiarities, by which he hoped to profit; he had drawn from +the Indian all that he wanted to learn from him; he had squeezed him +like a lemon, and now only wanted to throw away the peel. We need +hardly say that at this hour of the night the road the two travellers +were following was completely deserted, and that Kidd did not fear +any overlookers of what he intended doing. They were riding at this +moment along the course of a small stream, a confluent of the Rio Bravo +del Norte, whose wooded banks afforded sufficient concealment. The +adventurer made his horse bound on one side, and drawing his machete, +exclaimed—</p> + +<p>"Brute yourself, you drunken Opatas!" At the same moment he dealt the +poor follow such a sudden blow that he fell off his horse like a log. +But he rose to his feet tottering, and though stunned by the attack, +and seriously wounded, he drew his sabre, and rushed on the bandit with +a yell of fury. But the latter was on his guard; he attentively watched +his enemy's movements, and urged his horse forwards. The Indian, thrown +down by the animal's chest, rolled on the ground where he lay without +stirring. Was he dead? Kidd supposed so; but the bandit was a very +prudent man, Indians are crafty, and this death might be a feint. Kidd +therefore watched quietly a few paces from his victim, for he was in no +hurry.</p> + +<p>A quarter of an hour elapsed, and the Indian had not made a movement. +Reassured by this complete immobility, the bandit resolved to dismount +and go up to him. All at once the Opatas rose; with a tiger leap he +bounded on the adventurer, twined his arms round him, and the two +men rolled on the ground, uttering savage yells, and trying to take +each other's life. It was a short but horrible struggle. The Opatas, +in spite of his wounds, derived a factitious strength from the fury +that animated him and the excitement produced by intoxication, which +was heightened by his ardent desire to take revenge for the cowardly +treachery of which he was the victim.</p> + +<p>Unhappily, the efforts he was compelled to make opened his wounds, +and his blood flowed in streams; and with his blood he felt his +life departing. He made a supreme effort to strangle the miserable +adventurer in his clenched fingers; but the latter, by a sudden and +cleverly calculated movement, succeeded in liberating himself from +the Indian's iron grasp. He rose quickly, and at the moment when the +asistente recovered from his surprise, and prepared to renew the fight, +Kidd; raised his machete, and cleft the poor fellow's head.</p> + +<p>"Dog! Accursed dog!" he yelled.</p> + +<p>The Indian remained on his feet for a moment, tottering from right to +left; he took a step forward with outstretched arms, and then fell with +his face to the ground and the death rattle in his throat. This time he +was really dead.</p> + +<p>"Well," Kidd muttered, as he thrust his machete several times into +the ground, in order to remove the blood, "that was tough work; these +demons of Indians must be killed twice to make sure they do not +recover. What is to be done now?"</p> + +<p>He reflected for a few moments; then walked up to the corpse, turned +it over, and opened the breast of the uniform to obtain the letter. +He had no difficulty in finding it; he placed it in his own pocket, +and then stripped his victim, on the chance that he might want to use +his uniform. But two things troubled him: the first was the soldier's +horse; the second, his bag. The horse he made no attempt to seize; so +soon as its master was wounded, the animal started off at a gallop into +the wood; and as it would have been madness to try and find it on so +dark a night, the adventurer did not attempt it. Still the flight of +the horse alarmed him. Any person who found it would take it back to +the pueblo, and then suspicions would be aroused which might soon be +fixed on him, although he felt almost certain that the soldiers who saw +him leave the town with the asistente had not recognized him; but his +absence from the pueblo would appear suspicious to the captain, who was +acute, and as he knew Kidd so well, would not hesitate to accuse him.</p> + +<p>The affair was embarrassing; but luckily for him, the adventurer was a +man of resources. Any other person would have fastened a stone to the +body, and thrown it into the stream, but the bandit carefully avoided +that. Such an expeditious method, while getting rid of the victim, +would only have increased the suspicions; besides water is not a good +keeper of secrets; one day or another the body would rise perhaps to +the surface, and then the nature of the wounds would reveal the hand +that dealt them. Kidd hit upon a more simple or sure plan, or at least +he thought so. With horrible coolness he scalped the corpse, and threw +the scalp into the stream, after rolling it round a large stone; this +first profanation accomplished, he made a cross cut on the victim's +chest, plucked out his heart, which he also threw into the river, and +then plaiting together a few flexible lianas, he formed a cord, which +he fastened to the feet of the corpse, and hung it from the main branch +of a tree.</p> + +<p>"There!" he said, with satisfaction, when the horrible task was +completed, "That is all right, caray! I am ready to wager my share of +paradise with the first comer that the cleverest people will be taken +in. The Indians are in the field at this very moment, and hang me if +everyone will not be convinced that this drunken scoundrel was scalped +by the Apaches."</p> + +<p>In fact, all the hideous mutilating which this villain has made his +victim undergo is employed by the Indian bravos upon their enemies. +Frightful though the deed was, Kidd consequently, in the impossibility +he found of disposing of the body, had employed the best mode in which +to divert suspicion.</p> + +<p>Before leaving the scene of the murder, the bandit carefully washed the +soldier's clothes, and removed any blood stains from his own; then, +after assuring himself by a searching glance that there was nothing +to denounce the crime of which he had been guilty, he whistled up his +horse, and mounted, after carefully fastening the soldier's uniform +behind him. He rolled a cigarette, lit it, and set out again, with +the satisfaction of a man who had just succeeded in a most important +affair, which had caused him great anxiety.</p> + +<p>It was somewhat by chance that Kidd originally told the asistente that +he was proceeding to Arispe; but the discovery of the letter, and +the soldier's confidential remarks, had converted this chance into +certainty. The bandit had discovered, amid all poor Isidro's drunken +maundering, one leading idea, and scented a profitable stroke of +business. He comprehended of what importance it would be to Don Rufino +to be informed of all that was going on at the pueblo at the Hacienda +del Toro, that he might be able to arrange his plans with certainty. +Consequently, the adventurer resolved to ride at full speed to Arispe, +determined to make the senator pay dearly for the news he brought, +while making a mental reservation, with that adventurous logic he was +so skilful in, to betray Don Rufino on the first opportunity, if his +own interests demanded that painful sacrifice of him. All this being +thoroughly settled in his mind, the bandit started at full speed in the +direction of Arispe, which city he reached by sunrise.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV">CHAPTER XXXIV.</a></h4> + +<h3>TWO VILLAINS.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>As Kidd was well known, he easily obtained admission to the town; +but when he had passed the gates, he reflected that it was too early +for him to call on the senator, who would still be asleep. Hence he +proceeded straight to a rancho he knew, a suspicious den, the usual +gathering place of fellows of his sort, where he was certain of a +hearty welcome by payment. In fact, the ranchero, who on first seeing +him assumed an ill-omened grimace, greeted him with the most agreeable +smile when he flashed before his eyes some piastres and gold coins.</p> + +<p>The adventurer entered the rancho, left his horse in the corral, and +immediately began to arrange his toilette, which was as a general rule +neglected, but which his struggle with the asistente and his hurried +ride had rendered more disorderly than usual; and then waited, smoking +and drinking, for the hour to arrive when he should pay his respects to +Don Rufino.</p> + +<p>The ranchero, who was thoroughly acquainted with his man and his +habits, prowled round him in vain to try and sound him and learn the +causes of his appearance in Arispe, where, for certain reasons the +police did not care to see him. This rendered his journeys to that town +rather few and far between; for the police there, as elsewhere, are +very troublesome to a certain class of citizens. But vainly did the +ranchero try all his cleverest ruses, his most delicate insinuations; +Kidd only answered his questions by insignificant phrases, crafty +smiles and winks; but in the end he remained perfectly impenetrable, a +want of confidence by which the ranchero was greatly insulted, and he +swore to himself to be avenged on the bandit for it some day.</p> + +<p>When the Cabildo clock struck nine, Kidd thought it was time to be off; +he rose, majestically threw a piastre on the table in payment of his +score, wrapped his zarapé round him, and left the house.</p> + +<p>"Whom can he have assassinated to be so rich?" the ranchero asked +himself, as he cunningly watched him depart.</p> + +<p>A reflection which proved that the worthy ranchero was well acquainted +with his man.</p> + +<p>Kidd felt he was watched, and hence carefully avoided going straight to +the senator's house; on the contrary, affecting the careless demeanour +of a lounger, he set out in the diametrically opposite direction. The +adventurer then walked about the town for half an hour, while carefully +avoiding the more frequented streets, for fear of attracting attention +on himself; thus he gradually approached the senator's mansion, and +hurriedly slipped under the zaguán, after assuring himself by a glance +all around that no one had seen him enter.</p> + +<p>"Halloa, you fellow!" a voice suddenly shouted to him, making him start +and stop; "Where the deuce are you going like that? And what do you +want here?" The adventurer raised his eyes, and saw an individual of a +certain age, easily to be recognized as a domestic by his clothing, who +was standing in the hall door, and resolutely barring his way.</p> + +<p>"What do I want?" the bandit repeated, to give himself time to seek an +answer.</p> + +<p>"Yes, what do you want? That is clear enough, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"¡Caray! It is clear; what can I want except to see his Excellency, +Senator Don Rufino Contreras?"</p> + +<p>"Excellent," the other said, derisively; "and do you suppose his +Excellency will receive you without knowing who you are?"</p> + +<p>"And why not, if you please, señor?"</p> + +<p>"Because you do not look like drawing room company."</p> + +<p>"Do you think so?" the bandit said, haughtily.</p> + +<p>"Why, that is plain enough; you much more resemble a lepero than a +caballero."</p> + +<p>"You are not polite, my good fellow; what you say may be correct, +but the remark is uncalled for; patched clothes often conceal very +honourable caballeros, and if I have been ill treated by fortune, that +is no reason why you should throw it in my teeth so sharply."</p> + +<p>"Enough of this, and be off."</p> + +<p>"I shall not stir till I have seen the senator."</p> + +<p>The manservant gave him a side look, which the other endured with +imperturbable coolness.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that?" he asked him.</p> + +<p>"I really do."</p> + +<p>"For the last time, I order you to be gone," the valet went on, +menacingly.</p> + +<p>"Take care of what you are doing, comrade; I have to talk with the +señor, and he is expecting me."</p> + +<p>"Expecting you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, me!" the scoundrel answered, majestically. The servant shrugged +his shoulders contemptuously: still he reflected, and asked with a more +conciliatory tone than he had yet employed—"Your name?"</p> + +<p>"You do not want to know it; merely tell your master that I have just +come from the Hacienda del Toro."</p> + +<p>"If that is the case, why did you not tell me so before?"</p> + +<p>"Probably because you did not ask me. Go and announce me to your +master; you have kept me waiting too long already."</p> + +<p>The domestic went off without replying, and Kidd took advantage of his +departure to instal himself in the vestibule. For a hundred reasons +he did not like the vicinity of the street, and he was glad to be no +longer exposed to the curious glances of passers-by. The absence of the +servant was not long, and when he returned, his manner was entirely +changed.</p> + +<p>"Caballero," he said, with a bow, "if you will do me the honour of +following me, his Excellency is waiting for you."</p> + +<p>"Fellow! Too insolent before, too humble now," the adventurer said, +crushing him with a contemptuous glance; "show the way."</p> + +<p>And, laughing in his beard, he followed the footman, who was red with +anger and shame at this haughty reprimand.</p> + +<p>Mexican houses, except in the great cities, are ordinarily built but +one story high; they are generally very slightly constructed, owing +to the earthquakes, which are extremely frequent in intertropical +countries, and destroy in a few seconds towns, and entirely ruin them. +The result of this mode of building is that nearly all the apartments +are on the ground floor; and then there are no staircases to ascend +or descend, which, in our opinion, is very agreeable. The adventurer +remarked with some degree of pleasure that the valet led him through +several rooms before reaching the one in which the senator was sitting; +at length he turned the handle of the door, threw it open, and stepped +aside to let the bandit pass. The latter walked in boldly, like a man +certain of a hearty reception.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said the senator, starting slightly at seeing him, "It is you."</p> + +<p>"Yes," he replied, with a graceful bow.</p> + +<p>"Retire," Don Rufino said to the valet; "I am not at home to anyone, +and do not come in till I call you." The valet bowed, went out, and +closed the door behind him. As if by common accord, the two stood +silently listening till the valet's footsteps died away in the +distance; then, without saying a word, Kidd threw open the folding +doors.</p> + +<p>"Why do you do that?" Don Rufino asked him.</p> + +<p>"Because we have to talk about serious matters; the <i>tapetes</i> spread +over the floors of your rooms deaden footsteps, and your servant has an +excellent spy's face."</p> + +<p>The senator made no remark; he doubtless recognised the correctness of +his singular visitor's argument.</p> + +<p>"It is you then, bandit," he said at last.</p> + +<p>"I fancy I can notice that you did not expect me?"</p> + +<p>"I confess it; I will even add that I did not in the slightest desire +your visit."</p> + +<p>"You are very forgetful of your friends, Don Rufino, and it makes me +feel sorry for you," the bandit answered, with a contrite air.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, scoundrel, by daring to use such language to me?"</p> + +<p>Kidd shrugged his shoulders, drew up a butaca, and fell into it with a +sigh of relief.</p> + +<p>"I must observe," he said, with the most imperturbable coolness, "that +you forgot to offer me a chair."</p> + +<p>Then, crossing one leg over the other, he began rolling a cigarette, +a task to which he gave the most serious attention. The senator +frowningly examined the adventurer; for this bandit to dare assume such +a tone with him, he must have very powerful weapons in his hands, or be +the bearer of news of the highest importance. In either case he must be +humoured. Don Rufino immediately softened the expression of his face, +and handed the adventurer a beautifully chased gold mechero.</p> + +<p>"Pray, light your cigarette, my dear Kidd," he said, with a pleasant +smile.</p> + +<p>The bandit took the mechero, and examined it with admiration.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" he exclaimed, with a splendidly feigned regret, "I have dreamed +for years that I possessed such a toy, but, unluckily, fortune has ever +thwarted me."</p> + +<p>"If it please you so much," Don Rufino answered, with a mighty effort, +"I shall be delighted to make you a present of it."</p> + +<p>"You are really most generous. Believe me, señor, that any present +coming from you will always be most precious in my eyes."</p> + +<p>And, after lighting his cigarette, he unceremoniously placed the +mechero in his pocket.</p> + +<p>"Of course your visit Has an object?" the senator said, after a +moment's interval.</p> + +<p>"They always have, señor," the other answered, as he enveloped himself +in a cloud of blue smoke, which issued from his nose and mouth; "the +first was to see you."</p> + +<p>"I thank you for the politeness; but I do not think that is sufficient +reason for forcing your way in here."</p> + +<p>"Forcing is rather a harsh word, señor," the bandit said, sorrowfully; +but he suddenly changed his tone, and assumed his usual sharp, quick +way. "Come, Don Rufino, let us deal fairly, and not waste our time in +compliments which neither of us believes."</p> + +<p>"I wish nothing better; speak, then, and the plague take you."</p> + +<p>"Thank you. I prefer that mode of speech, for at least I recognise you. +I am about to give you an example of frankness; I have come, not to +propose a bargain, but to sell you certain information, and a letter of +the utmost importance to you, which I obtained—no matter how—solely +on your account."</p> + +<p>"Good; let us see whether I can accept the bargain."</p> + +<p>"In the first place, allow me to say two words, so as to thoroughly +establish our reciprocal position. Our situation has greatly changed +during the last few days; I no longer fear you, but you, on the +contrary, are afraid of me."</p> + +<p>"I afraid of you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, señor, because I hold your secret, and you can no longer threaten +to kill me, as you did at our last interview."</p> + +<p>"Oh! Oh! And why not, if you please?" the senator asked.</p> + +<p>"Because we are alone, you are unarmed, I am stronger than you, and +at your slightest movement would blow out your brains like those of +a wild beast. Do you now comprehend me, my dear sir?" he added, as he +drew a brace of pistols from under his zarapé; "what do you think of +these playthings?"</p> + +<p>"They are tolerably good, I should fancy," the senator replied, coldly; +"and what do you say to these?" he added, as he uncovered a brace of +magnificent pistols hidden under the papers scattered over the table at +which he was seated.</p> + +<p>"They are detestable."</p> + +<p>"Why so?"</p> + +<p>"Because you would not dare use them."</p> + +<p>The senator smiled ironically.</p> + +<p>"Laugh, if you like, my master; I like best to see you treat the +matter in that way; but I repeat that you are in my power this time, +instead of my being in yours. I have delivered to Captain Don Marcos +Niza certain papers, which, were they opened by him, might, I fear, +gravely compromise you: there is one among them, the tenor of which +is as follows:—'I, the undersigned, declare that my valet, Lupino +Contrarias, has treacherously assassinated and deserted me in a +frightful desert, and there plundered me of everything I possessed, +consisting of two mules laden with gold dust, and two thousand three +hundred gold ounces in current money. On the point of appearing before +my God, and not hoping to survive my wounds, I denounce this wretch, +etc. etc. Signed—.' Shall I tell the name of the signer? But what is +the matter with you, my dear sir? Do you feel ill? You are as pale as a +corpse."</p> + +<p>In truth, on hearing the narrative, which the bandit told with a +species of complacency, the senator was seized with such a violent fit +of terror, that for a moment he was on the point of fainting.</p> + +<p>"It is extraordinary," the bandit continued, "how nothing can be +trusted to in this world. Just take the case of this excellent Lupino, +who had arranged a most delicious trap in the adroitest manner: for +more surety, he waited till they were on the other side of the Indian +border, at a spot where not a soul passes once in two years; he fires +his pistols point blank into his master's back, and goes off, of course +taking with him the fortune so honourably acquired. Well, fatality +decrees that the master whom he had every reason for believing dead is +not quite so; he has time to take out his tablets, and write in pencil +a perfectly regular denunciation, and then this demon of a fatality, +which never does things by halves, brings to these parts a hunter, +who picks up the tablets. It is enough to make a man turn honest, +deuce take me if it is not, had he not quite made up his mind to the +contrary."</p> + +<p>During this long harangue the senator had time to recover from the +shock, and regain his coolness. By a supreme effort of the will he had +restored calmness to his face, and forced his lips to smile.</p> + +<p>"¡Caray!" he said, with a laugh that resembled gnashing of teeth, "that +is a wonderful story, and admirably arranged. Permit me, dear señor, to +congratulate you on your inventive faculty; it is charming, on my word. +But who on earth do you expect to believe such a story?"</p> + +<p>"You, first of all, señor, for you know the truth of the story better +than anybody."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! You are mad, upon my honour."</p> + +<p>"Not quite so mad as you fancy, for the proofs are in my hands."</p> + +<p>"I do not say they are not; but admitting the reality of the facts you +allege, they took place a long time ago; this Lupino Contrarias has +disappeared; he is dead, perhaps: as for his master, the pistols were +too well loaded to give him a chance of escape. Who takes any interest +in a dead man—especially in our country?"</p> + +<p>"How do you know that the weapons were so carefully loaded?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose so."</p> + +<p>"Suppositions are always the plague in business matters. Between +ourselves, do you think it would be so difficult to find this Lupino +Contrarias in Rufino Contreras? I think not."</p> + +<p>The senator felt his face flush involuntarily.</p> + +<p>"Señor," he said, "such an insinuation—"</p> + +<p>"Has nothing that needs offend you," Kidd interrupted him, calmly; "it +is a supposition, nothing more; now, continuing our suppositions, let +us admit for a moment that this master, whom his valet is persuaded he +killed, should be, on the contrary, alive and—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is quite impossible."</p> + +<p>"Do not interrupt me so, señor. And, I say, were to lay his hand on +his valet's shoulder, as I lay mine on yours, and assert, 'This is my +assassin!' what answer would you give to that?"</p> + +<p>"I—I!" the senator exclaimed, wildly; "What answer should I give?"</p> + +<p>"You would give none," the bandit continued, as he took and thrust into +his belt the pistols which the senator, in his trouble, had let fall; +"overcome by the evidence, and crushed by the very presence of your +victim, you would be irretrievably lost."</p> + +<p>There was a second of horrible silence between these two men, who +looked at each other as if about to have a frightful contest. At length +the senator's emotion was calmed by its very violence; he passed his +hand over his damp forehead, and, drawing himself up to his full +height, said, sharply—</p> + +<p>"After this, what would you of me?"</p> + +<p>"I am waiting to hear your resolution before I offer any conditions."</p> + +<p>Don Rufino Contreras remained for some minutes plunged in deep thought. +Kidd watched him attentively, ready to make use of his weapons if +he saw the senator attempt any suspicious movement; but the latter +did not even dream of it. Annihilated by the adventurer's staggering +revelation, he looked round him wildly, racking his mind in vain to +discover some way of escape from the terrible dilemma in which he was +placed. At length he raised his head, and looked the bandit fiercely in +the face.</p> + +<p>"Well, yes," he said to him resolutely, "all that you have narrated +is true. I cowardly assassinated, to rob him of his fortune, the man +who offered me a helping hand in my misery, and treated me as a friend +rather than a servant. But this fortune, however badly it may have +been acquired, I possess; by its means I have acquired a position in +the world; by roguery and falsehood I have succeeded in imposing on +everybody; I have rank and a name; and death alone could make me resign +this position, so hardly attained. Now that I have spoken frankly +with you, it is your turn to do the same. Tell me the conditions you +intend to impose on me, and if they are fair, I will accept them; if +not, whatever the consequences may be, I shall refuse them. Take care, +for I am not the man to remain at the mercy of a villain like you; +sooner than accept so horrible a situation I would denounce myself, and +drag you down in my fall. Reflect carefully, then, before answering +me, comrade, for my proposition is in earnest. Once the bargain is +concluded between us, we will say no more about it. I give you ten +minutes to answer me."</p> + +<p>This clear and categorical proposal affected the bandit more than he +liked to show. He understood that he had to do with one of those +indomitable men who, once they have made their mind up, never alter +it. The adventurer had nothing to gain by ruining Don Rufino, on the +contrary; moreover, that never entered into his plan: he hoped to +terrify him, and had succeeded; and now the only thing to be done by +these two men, so well suited to understand each other, since they had +frankly settled facts, was to attack the pecuniary question, and treat +it as skilfully as they could; Kidd, therefore prepared to begin the +assault.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XXXV" id="CHAPTER_XXXV">CHAPTER XXXV.</a></h4> + +<h3>A FRIENDLY BARGAIN.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>Don Rufino, with his head resting on his right hand, was carelessly +playing with a paper knife, and patiently waiting till his visitor +thought proper to speak. This affected indifference perplexed the +adventurer: men of Kidd's species instinctively distrust all that does +not appear to them natural, and he felt embarrassed by this coolness, +for which he could not account, and which he feared might contain a +snare. At length he suddenly broke the silence.</p> + +<p>"Before all, Don Rufino," he said, "I must tell you the motives of my +visit."</p> + +<p>"I do not at all care about them," the senator answered, negligently; +"still, if you think my knowledge of them may be useful, pray let me +hear them."</p> + +<p>"I think that when you have heard me, you will change your opinion, +señor, and recognise the importance of the service I propose to do you."</p> + +<p>"That is possible, and I do not deny it," the senator said, ironically; +"but you will allow, my dear Señor Kidd, that you interfere so +thoroughly in my affairs, that it is difficult for me to decide, among +all the combinations your mind takes pleasure in forming, whether your +intentions are good or bad."</p> + +<p>"You shall judge."</p> + +<p>"Pray speak, then."</p> + +<p>"I will tell you, in the first place, that a certain Alguacil, Don +Parfindo Purro by name, arrived yesterday at the pueblo of Quitovar."</p> + +<p>"Very good," the senator answered, looking fixedly at the bandit.</p> + +<p>"Now, I do not know how it is, but the bailiff had scarce reached the +pueblo ere by some strange fatality, Captain de Niza was informed of +his arrival."</p> + +<p>"Only think of that," the senator remarked, ironically; "ever that +fatality of which you now spoke to me; it is really being the plaything +of misfortune."</p> + +<p>In spite of the strong dose of effrontery with which nature had endowed +him, the adventurer felt involuntarily troubled.</p> + +<p>Don Rufino continued, with a light laugh—</p> + +<p>"And still, through this implacable fatality, the captain was not only +informed of the arrival of this worthy Don Parfindo, but also of the +reasons that brought him."</p> + +<p>"How do you know that?" Kidd exclaimed, with pretended surprise.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I guess it, that is all," the senator replied, with a slight shrug +of his shoulders; "but go on, pray; what you tell me is beginning to +become most interesting."</p> + +<p>The bandit went on with imperturbable coolness.</p> + +<p>"As you are aware, the captain is a relation of the Marquis de Moguer."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and a very near relation."</p> + +<p>"Hence he did not hesitate, but at once sent off a messenger to the +Hacienda del Toro, carrying a letter in which he probably gave the +most circumstantial details about the bailiff, and the mission he is +charged with."</p> + +<p>At this revelation, Don Rufino suddenly doffed the mask of indifference +he had assumed, and smote the table fiercely with his fist.</p> + +<p>"Ah, that letter!" he exclaimed, "That letter! I would give its weight +in gold for it."</p> + +<p>"Very well, señor," the bandit remarked, with a smile; "as I am anxious +to prove to you the honesty of my intentions, I give it you for +nothing."</p> + +<p>He took the letter from his pocket, and handed it to the senator; the +latter bounded on it like a tiger on its prey, and tore it from Kidd's +hands.</p> + +<p>"Gently, gently; be good enough to remark that the seal is not broken, +and that, as the letter has not yet been opened, I am naturally +ignorant of its contents."</p> + +<p>"That is true," the senator muttered, as he turned it over and over; "I +thank you for your discretion, señor."</p> + +<p>"You are most kind," Kidd replied, with a bow.</p> + +<p>"But," the senator continued, "how did this letter, addressed to Don +Hernando de Moguer, fall into your hands?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, very simply," the other replied, lightly; "just fancy that the man +the captain selected to carry his missive was a friend of mine. As I +intended to pay you a visit at Arispe, and as I felt grieved at seeing +this man traverse such a dangerous road alone by night, I offered to +accompany him, and he consented. I do not know how it occurred, but on +the road we began quarrelling. In short, without any evil intentions +on my part, I declare to you, in the heat of the argument I gave him a +blow on the head with my machete, so well dealt that he was compelled +to die. It grieved me deeply, but there was no remedy; and as I was +afraid lest the letter might get into bad hands, I carried it off. That +is the whole story."</p> + +<p>"It is really most simple," Don Rufino remarked, with a smile, and +broke the seal.</p> + +<p>Kidd discreetly sat down again in his butaca, in order to leave the +senator at liberty to peruse this despatch, which seemed to interest +him greatly. He read it through with the utmost attention, and then let +his head hang on his chest, and fell into deep thought.</p> + +<p>"Well," the adventurer at length asked, "is the news that letter +conveys so very bad, that it must entirely absorb you?"</p> + +<p>"The news is of the utmost importance to me, señor; still, I ask myself +for what purpose you seized it?"</p> + +<p>"Why, to do you a service, it strikes me."</p> + +<p>"That is all very well; but, between ourselves, you had another object."</p> + +<p>The bandit burst into a laugh.</p> + +<p>"Did I not tell you that I wish to make a bargain?"</p> + +<p>"That is true; but I am awaiting a full explanation from you."</p> + +<p>"That is very difficult, señor."</p> + +<p>"I admit that it is; well, I will put you at your ease."</p> + +<p>"I wish for nothing better."</p> + +<p>"I will offer you the bargain you do not like to propose."</p> + +<p>"I see that you are beginning to understand me, and that, between the +pair of us, we shall come to something."</p> + +<p>"You are not rich," the senator remarked, frankly approaching the point.</p> + +<p>"I am forced to confess that I am not actually rolling in wealth," he +answered, with an ironical glance at his more than ragged attire.</p> + +<p>"Well, if you like I will make you a rich man at one stroke."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by rich, señor?" the bandit asked, distrustfully.</p> + +<p>"I mean to put you in possession of a sum which will not only protect +you from want, but also allow you to indulge your fancy, while living +honestly."</p> + +<p>"Honesty is a virtue only within reach of those who can spend money +without wanting it," the adventurer remarked sententiously.</p> + +<p>"Be it so; I will render you rich, to use your language."</p> + +<p>"It will cost a good deal," Kidd answered, impudently, "for I have very +peculiar tastes."</p> + +<p>"I dare say; but no matter. I have in Upper California a hacienda, of +which I will hand you the title deeds this very day."</p> + +<p>"Hum!" said Kidd, thrusting out his upper lip contemptuously; "Is the +hacienda a fine one?"</p> + +<p>"Immense; covered with ganado and manadas of wild horses; it is +situated near the sea."</p> + +<p>"That is something, I allow; but that is not wealth."</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute."</p> + +<p>"I am waiting."</p> + +<p>"I will add to this hacienda a round sum of one hundred thousand +piastres in gold."</p> + +<p>The bandit's eyes were dazzled.</p> + +<p>"What," he said, rising as if moved by a spring, and turning pale with +joy, "did you say—one hundred thousand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I repeat," the senator continued, internally satisfied with the +effect he had produced; "do you think that with such a sum as that it +is possible to be honest?"</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Viva Cristo!</i> I should think so!" he exclaimed, gleefully.</p> + +<p>"It only depends on yourself to possess it within a week."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I understand; there is a condition. ¡Caray! It must be very +hard for me to refuse it."</p> + +<p>"This is the condition; listen to me, and, above all, understand me +thoroughly."</p> + +<p>"¡Caray! I should think I would listen; a hacienda and one hundred +thousand piastres—I should be a fool to refuse them."</p> + +<p>"You must not impede my prospects in any way; allow me to espouse Doña +Marianna, and on the day of the marriage hand me the tablets which you +took from the gentleman so unhappily assassinated by his valet."</p> + +<p>"Very well. Is that all?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet."</p> + +<p>"Very good; go on."</p> + +<p>"I insist that when you deliver me the tablets, you will supply proof +that the writer is really dead."</p> + +<p>"¡Caray! That will be difficult."</p> + +<p>"That does not concern me; it is your business."</p> + +<p>"That is true; and how long will you give me for that?"</p> + +<p>"Eight days."</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Cuerpo de Cristo!</i> It is not enough; the man is not so easily to be +taken unawares."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but once that he is dead, you will be rich."</p> + +<p>"I know that, and it is a consideration. No matter; caray! It will be a +tough job, and I shall risk my hide."</p> + +<p>"You can take it or leave it."</p> + +<p>"I take it, <i>viva Cristo!</i> I take it. Never shall I find again such a +chance to become an honest man."</p> + +<p>"Then that matter is quite settled between us?"</p> + +<p>"Most thoroughly; you can set your mind at rest."</p> + +<p>"Very good; but as you may change your mind someday, and feel an +inclination to betray me—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, señor, what an idea!"</p> + +<p>"No one knows what may happen. You will at once sign a paper on which +these conditions will be fully detailed."</p> + +<p>"¡Caray! What you ask is most compromising."</p> + +<p>"For both of us, as my proposals will be equally recorded."</p> + +<p>"But, in that case, what is the good of writing such a paper, as it +will compromise you as much as me?"</p> + +<p>"For the simple reason that if some day you feel inclined to betray +me, you cannot ruin me without ruining yourself, which will render you +prudent, and oblige you to reflect whenever a bad thought crosses your +brain."</p> + +<p>"Do you distrust me, señor?"</p> + +<p>"Have you any excessive confidence in me?"</p> + +<p>"That is different; I am only a poor scamp."</p> + +<p>"In one word, you will either accept the conditions I offer, or any +bargain between us will be impossible."</p> + +<p>"Still, supposing, señor, I were to use the paper I hold, as you employ +such language to me?"</p> + +<p>"You would not dare."</p> + +<p>"Not dare!" he exclaimed; "And pray why not?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know the motive; but I feel sure that if you could have used +that document, you would have done so long ago. I know you too well to +doubt it, Señor Kidd; it would be an insult to your intellect, whose +acuteness, on the contrary, it affords me pleasure to bear witness to. +Hence, believe me, señor, do not try to terrify me further with this +paper, or hold it to my chest like a loaded pistol, for you will do no +good. Your simplest plan will be to accept the magnificent offer I make +you."</p> + +<p>"Well, be it so, since you are so pressing," he replied; "I will do +what you ask, but you will agree with me that it is very hard."</p> + +<p>"Not at all; that is just where you make the mistake; I simply take a +guarantee against yourself, that is all."</p> + +<p>The adventurer was not convinced; still, the bait conquered him, and, +with a sigh of regret, he offered no further resistance. Don Rufino +immediately wrote down the conditions agreed on between the two men +—a sword of Damocles, which the senator wished to hold constantly in +suspense over the head of his accomplice, and which, if produced in +a court of justice, would irretrievably destroy them both. While the +senator was writing, the bandit sought for the means to escape this +formidable compromise, and destroy the man who forced it on him when he +had received the money. We should not like to assert that Don Rufino +had not the same idea. When the senator had concluded this strange deed +of partnership, which rendered them mutually responsible, and riveted +them more closely together than a chain would have done, he read in a +loud voice what he had written.</p> + +<p>"Now," he said, after reading, "have you any remark to offer?"</p> + +<p>"Deuce take the remarks!" the bandit exclaimed, roughly; "Whatever I +might say, you would make no alteration, so it is better to leave it as +it is."</p> + +<p>"That is my opinion, too—so sign; and to soften any painful effect it +may produce on you, I will give you one hundred ounces."</p> + +<p>"Very good," he replied, with a smile; and taking the pen from Don +Rufino's hand, he boldly placed his signature at the foot of this +document, which might cost him his life. But the promise of the +hundred ounces made him forget everything; and besides, Kidd was a +bit of a fatalist, and reckoned on chance to liberate him from his +accomplice ere long.</p> + +<p>When Kidd had signed with the greatest assurance, the senator sprinkled +gold dust over the paper, folded it, and placed it in his bosom.</p> + +<p>"And here," he said, as he thrust his hand into a coffer, "is the +promised sum."</p> + +<p>He piled the ounces on the table, and Kidd pocketed them with a smile +of pleasure.</p> + +<p>"You know that I am at your orders, and ready to obey you," he said; +"and, as a beginning, I restore you the pistols, which I no longer +require."</p> + +<p>"Thanks. Have you anything to detain you at Arispe?"</p> + +<p>"Not the slightest."</p> + +<p>"Then you would offer no objection to leaving the town?"</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, I intend to do so as soon as possible."</p> + +<p>"That is most fortunate; I will give you a letter for Señor Parfindo, +to whom I will ask you to deliver it immediately on your arrival."</p> + +<p>"Then you want to send me to the pueblo?"</p> + +<p>"Have you any repugnance to return there?"</p> + +<p>"Not the slightest; still, I shall not remain there on account of that +night's business."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes, that is true, the soldier's death—take care."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I shall only remain at the pueblo just long enough to perform the +duty you entrust to me, and then leave it immediately."</p> + +<p>"That will be most prudent. But no, stay; upon reflection, I think it +will be better for you not to return to the Real de Minas. I will send +my letter by another person."</p> + +<p>"I prefer that. Have you any other order to give me?"</p> + +<p>"None; so you can do what you think proper: but remember that I expect +you in a week, and so act accordingly."</p> + +<p>"I shall not forget it, caray!"</p> + +<p>"In that case, I will not detain you. Good-bye."</p> + +<p>"Till we meet again, señor."</p> + +<p>The senator struck a gong, and the manservant appeared almost +immediately. Don Rufino and Kidd exchanged a side-glance. It was +evident that the criado, curious, like all servants, had listened at +the door, and tried to learn for what reason his master remained so +long shut up with a man of the adventurer's appearance; but, thanks to +the precautions Kidd had taken, even the sound of the voices, which +were purposely suppressed, did not reach him.</p> + +<p>"Show this caballero out," the senator said.</p> + +<p>The two men bowed for the last time, as if they were the best friends +in the world, and then separated.</p> + +<p>"Villain!" Don Rufino exclaimed, so soon as he was alone; "if ever I +can make you pay me for all the suffering you have forced on me today, +I will not spare you."</p> + +<p>And he passionately dashed down a splendid vase, which was unluckily +within his reach.</p> + +<p>For his part, the adventurer, while following the servant through +the apartment, indulged in reflections which were anything but rosy +coloured.</p> + +<p>"Hang it all!" he said to himself; "The affair has been hot. I believe +that I shall act wisely in distrusting my friend: the dear señor is far +from being tender-hearted, and if he has a chance of playing me an ill +turn he will not let it slip. I did act wrong to sign that accursed +paper; but, after all, what have I to fear? He is too much in danger to +try and set a trap for me; but for all, I will be prudent, for that can +do me no harm."</p> + +<p>When he had ended this soliloquy he found himself under the zaguán, +where the manservant took leave of him with a respectful bow. The +adventurer pulled his wide hat brim over his eyes, and departed. In +returning to the rancho he employed the same precautions he had used +in going to the senator's house, for he was not at all anxious to be +recognised and arrested by the Alguaciles; for, as we know, the streets +of the town, for certain reasons, were not at all healthy for him. +Kidd found the ranchero standing in his doorway, with straddled legs, +attentively surveying the approaches to his house.</p> + +<p>"Eh!" the host said, with a bow, "Back already?"</p> + +<p>"As you see, compadre; but let me have my breakfast at once, for I have +a deal to do."</p> + +<p>"Are you going to leave us already?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know; come, pray make haste."</p> + +<p>The ranchero served him without further questioning. The adventurer +made a hearty meal, paid liberally to appease his host's ill temper, +saddled his horse, and set out, without saying whether he should return +or not. A quarter of an hour later he was in the open country, and +inhaling with infinite pleasure the fresh, fragrant breeze that reached +him from the desert.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI">CHAPTER XXXVI.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE HACIENDA DEL TORO.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>We will now leap over an interval of a fortnight, and return to the +Hacienda del Toro; but before resuming our story we will cursorily +describe the events that occurred during this fortnight, in order to +make the reader thoroughly understand by what a strange concourse of +events accident brought all our characters face to face, and produced a +collision among them, from which an unforeseen <i>dénouement</i> issued.</p> + +<p>Doña Marianna, persuaded by Doña Esperanza, or, perhaps, unconsciously +attracted by the secret longings of her heart, had consented to remain +a couple of days with her. These days were occupied with pleasant +conversation, in which the maiden at length disclosed the secret which +she imagined to be buried in the remotest nook of her heart. Doña +Esperanza smiled with delight at this simple revelation of a love which +she already suspected, and which everything led her to encourage.</p> + +<p>Stronghand, for his part, had yielded to the magical fascination the +maiden exercised over him. Feeling himself beloved, his restraint and +coldness melted away to make room for an honest admiration. Carried +away by the feelings that agitated him, he displayed all the true +prudence and goodness contained in his character, which was, perhaps, +rather savage, but it was that loyal and powerful savageness which +pleases women, by creating in them a secret desire to conquer these +rebellious natures, and dominate them by their delicious seductions. +Women, as a general rule, owing to their very weakness, have always +liked to subdue energetic men, and those who are reputed indomitable; +for a woman is proud to be protected, and blushes when she is compelled +to defend the man whose name she bears. Contempt kills love. A woman +will never love a man except when she has the right to be proud of him, +and can say to him, "Spare foes too weak for you, and unworthy of your +anger."</p> + +<p>During the two days the young couple did not once utter the word love, +and yet they clearly explained it and no longer entertained a doubt as +to their mutual attachment.</p> + +<p>Still it was time to think about returning to the hacienda. It was +settled that Doña Marianna should inform her father about what she had +learned from Doña Esperanza, that she should not positively refuse Don +Rufino's hand, and quietly await events.</p> + +<p>"Take care," the maiden said, as she held out her hand to the hunter; +"my only hope is in you: if you fail in your plans I shall be left +alone defenceless, and death alone will remain to me, for I shall not +survive the loss of all my hopes."</p> + +<p>"Trust to me, Doña Marianna; I have staked my happiness and my life on +the terrible game I am preparing to play, and I feel convinced that I +shall win it."</p> + +<p>"I will pray to Heaven for both you and myself with such fervour, that +I feel confident my prayers will be granted."</p> + +<p>These words, with which the young people parted, were equivalent to a +mutual engagement. Doña Esperanza tenderly embraced the maiden.</p> + +<p>"Remember the legend," she said to her, and Doña Marianna replied with +a smile.</p> + +<p>The tigrero held the horses by the bridle. Stronghand and ten hunters +prepared to follow the travellers at a distance, in order to help them, +should it be necessary. The journey was performed in silence. Doña +Marianna was too much engaged in restoring some degree of order to her +thoughts, which were upset by what had happened during the two days she +spent among the hunters, to dream of saying a word to her companion; +while he, for his part, confounded by the way in which he had been +treated in camp, tried to explain the luxury and comfort which he had +never before witnessed in the desert, and which plunged him into a +state of amazement from which he could not recover.</p> + +<p>As Doña Marianna had expressed a wish to reach their journey's end as +quickly as possible, Mariano took a different road from that which he +had previously followed, and which ran to El Toro without passing by +the rancho.</p> + +<p>At about 3 p.m. they came in sight of the rock, and began scaling the +path, and then noticed the hunters, commanded by Stronghand, drawn up +in good order on the skirt of the forest. When the young lady reached +the first gate of the hacienda, the sound of a shot reached her ear, +and a white puff of smoke floating over the horsemen made her guess who +it was that had fired it. Doña Marianna waved her handkerchief in the +air. A second shot was fired, as if to show her that the signal was +seen, and then the hunters turned round and disappeared in the forest. +Doña Marianna entered the hacienda, and the first person she met was +Paredes.</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Válgame dios!</i> niña," the worthy majordomo exclaimed; "Where have +you come from? The Marquis has been excessively anxious about you."</p> + +<p>"Does not my father know that I have been to pay a visit to my nurse?"</p> + +<p>"Your brother told him so, niña; but as your absence was so prolonged, +the Marquis was afraid that some accident had happened to you."</p> + +<p>"You see that it was not so, my good Paredes; so set your mind at rest, +and go and re-assure my father, to whom I shall be delighted to pay my +respects."</p> + +<p>"Don Hernando will be pleased at your return, niña; he is at this +moment engaged with Don Ruiz in inspecting the walls on the side of the +huerta, in order to make certain that they are in a sound condition for +we fear more and more an attack from the Indians."</p> + +<p>"In that case do not disturb my father, and I will go and rest in the +drawing room, for I am exhausted with fatigue; and when my father has +completed his inspection, you will inform him of my return. It is +unnecessary to importune him now."</p> + +<p>"Importune him!" exclaimed the honest majordomo, "Excuse me, señorita, +if I am not of your opinion on that head. <i>¡Viva dios!</i> the Marquis +would not forgive me if I did not immediately inform him of your +return."</p> + +<p>"In that case, act as you think proper, my worthy Paredes."</p> + +<p>The majordomo, who had probably only been waiting for this permission, +ran off.</p> + +<p>"My dear Mariano," the young lady then said, addressing her foster +brother, "it is not necessary to tell what we have been doing during +our absence. Everybody must suppose that I have not quitted my nurse's +rancho; you understand, and I count on your discretion. When the time +arrives, I intend myself to inform my father of all that has occurred."</p> + +<p>"Enough, niña; you know that your wishes are orders for me. I will not +say a word—besides, it is no business of mine."</p> + +<p>"Very well, Mariano; now receive my sincere thanks for the services you +have rendered me."</p> + +<p>"You know that I am devoted to you, niña; I have merely done my duty, +and you have no occasion to thank me for that."</p> + +<p>The young lady offered him her hand with a smile, and entered her +apartments. The tigrero, when left alone, took the bridles of the two +horses, and led them to the corral, through the crowd of rancheros, +who, by the Marquis's orders, had sought refuge in the hacienda, and +had erected their jacales in all the courtyards. Doña Marianna was not +sorry to be alone for a few minutes, in order to have time to prepare +the conversation she intended to have with her father and brother, +whose difficulties she did not at all conceal from herself.</p> + +<p>The hacienda was very large, and hence, in spite of all his diligence, +it was not till he had spent half an hour in sterile search, that the +majordomo succeeded in finding his master. Don Hernando heard, with +a lively feeling of joy, of his daughter's return, and immediately +gave up his inspection in order to hurry to her. The more heavily +misfortune pressed upon the Marquis, the greater became the affection +he entertained for his children; he felt a necessity for resting on +them, and drawing more closely the family ties. When he entered, with +Don Ruiz, the room in which Doña Marianna was awaiting him, he opened +his arms and embraced her tenderly.</p> + +<p>"Naughty girl!" he exclaimed; "What mortal anxiety you have caused me! +Why did you remain so long absent in these troublous times?"</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, my dear father," the girl answered, as she returned his +caresses; "I incurred no danger."</p> + +<p>"Heaven be praised! But why did you stay away from us for three days."</p> + +<p>The young lady blushed.</p> + +<p>"Father," she answered, as she lavished on her parent those tender +blandishments of which girls so thoroughly possess the secret, "during +my entire absence I was only thinking of you."</p> + +<p>"Alas!" the Marquis murmured, with a choking sigh, "I know your heart, +my poor child; unhappily my position is so desperate that nothing can +save me."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you may be saved, father," she said, with a toss of her head.</p> + +<p>"Do not attempt to lead me astray by false hopes, which, in the end, +would render our frightful situation even more cruel than it is."</p> + +<p>"I do not wish to do so, father," she said, earnestly, "but I bring you +a certainty."</p> + +<p>"A certainty, child! That is a very serious word in the mouth of a +girl. Where do you suppose it possible to find the means to conjure ill +fortune?"</p> + +<p>"Not very far off, father; at this very place, if you like."</p> + +<p>Don Hernando made no reply, but let his head drop on his chest +mournfully.</p> + +<p>"Listen to Marianna, father," Don Ruiz then said; "she is the angel of +our home. I believe in her, for I am certain that she would not make a +jest of our misfortunes."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, Ruiz. Oh, you are right; I would sooner die than dream of +increasing my father's grief."</p> + +<p>"I know it, child," the Marquis answered, with sad impatience; "but you +are young, inexperienced, and doubtless accept the wishes of your heart +as certainties."</p> + +<p>"Why not listen to what my sister has to say, father?" Don Ruiz said. +"If she is deceiving herself—if what she wishes to tell us does not +produce on you the effect she expects from it, at any rate she will +have given an undeniable proof of the lively interest she takes in +your affairs; and were it only for that reason, both you and I owe her +thanks."</p> + +<p>"Of what good is it, children?"</p> + +<p>"Good heavens, father! In our fearful situation we should neglect +nothing. Who knows? Very frequently the weakest persons bring the +greatest help. Listen to my sister first, and then you will judge +whether her remarks deserve to be taken into consideration."</p> + +<p>"As you press it, Ruiz, I will hear her."</p> + +<p>"I do not press, father—I entreat. Come, speak, little sister; speak +without fear, for we shall listen—at least I shall—with the liveliest +interest."</p> + +<p>Doña Marianna smiled sweetly, threw her arms round her father's neck, +and laid her head on his shoulder with a charming gesture.</p> + +<p>"How I love you, my dear father!" she said; "How I should like to see +you happy! I have nothing to tell you, for you will not believe me; and +what I might have to say is so strange and improbable, that you would +not put faith in it."</p> + +<p>"You see, child, that I was right."</p> + +<p>"Wait a moment, father," she continued; "if I have nothing to tell you, +I have a favour to ask."</p> + +<p>"A favour!—yes, my dear."</p> + +<p>"Yes, father, a favour; but what I desire is so singular—coming from +a girl—that I really do not know how to make my request, although the +thought is perfectly clear in my mind."</p> + +<p>"Oh, oh, little maid," the Marquis said, with a smile, though he +was much affected, "what is this thing which requires such mighty +preparations? It must be very terrible for you to hesitate so in +revealing it to me."</p> + +<p>"No, father, it is not terrible; but, I repeat, it will appear to you +wild."</p> + +<p>"Oh, my child," he continued, as he shrugged his shoulders with an +air of resignation, "I have seen so many wild things for some time +past, that I shall not attach any importance to one now; hence you can +explain yourself fully, without fearing any blame from me."</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, father; the favour I have to ask of you is this—and, in +the first place, you must promise to grant it to me."</p> + +<p>"¡Caramba!" he said, good-humouredly, "you are taking your +precautions, señorita. And suppose that I refuse?"</p> + +<p>"In that case, father, all would be at an end," she replied, +sorrowfully.</p> + +<p>"Come, my child, re-assure yourself: I pledge you my word, which you +ask for so peremptorily. Are you satisfied now?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, father, how kind you are! You really mean it now. You pledge your +word to grant me what I ask of you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, little obstinate, I do pledge my word."</p> + +<p>The girl danced with delight, as she clapped her pretty little hands, +and warmly embraced her father.</p> + +<p>"On my word, this little girl is mad!" the Marquis said, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Yes, father, mad with delight; for I hope soon to prove to you that +your fortune has never been more flourishing than it now is."</p> + +<p>"Why, her mind is wandering now."</p> + +<p>"No, father," said Don Ruiz, who, with his eyes fixed on his sister, +was listening with sustained interest, and was attentively following +the play of her flexible face, on which the varied emotions that +agitated her were reflected; "I believe, on the contrary, that Marianna +is at this moment revolving in her mind some strange scheme, for +carrying out which she requires full and entire liberty."</p> + +<p>"You have read the truth, Ruiz. Yes, I have a great project in my head; +but in order that it may be thoroughly successful, I must be mistress +of my actions, without control or remarks, from eight o'clock this +evening till midnight. Do you grant me this power, father?"</p> + +<p>"I have promised it," Don Hernando replied, with a smile. "A gentleman +has only his word; as you desire, from eight o'clock till midnight you +will be sole mistress of the hacienda: no one, not even myself, will +have the right to make a remark about your conduct. Must I announce +this officially to our people?" he added, sportively.</p> + +<p>"It is unnecessary, father: only two persons need be told."</p> + +<p>"And who are these two privileged persons, if you please?"</p> + +<p>"My foster brother Mariano, the tigrero, and José Paredes."</p> + +<p>"Come, I see you know where to place your confidence. Those two men are +entirely devoted to us, and this gives me trust in the future. Go on, +my child; what must be done further?"</p> + +<p>"These men must be provided with picks, spades, crowbars, and lanterns."</p> + +<p>"I see you are thinking about digging."</p> + +<p>"Possibly," she said, with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Stories about buried treasure are thoroughly worn out in this country, +my child," he said, with a dubious shake of his head; "all those that +have been buried were dug up long ago."</p> + +<p>"I can offer you no explanation, father. You are ignorant of my plan, +and hence cannot argue upon a matter you do not know: moreover, you +must make no remarks, and be the first to obey me," she said, with an +exquisite smile. "You ought not to give an example of rebellion to my +new subjects."</p> + +<p>"That is perfectly true, my dear child; I am in the wrong, and offer +you an ample apology. Be good enough to go on with your instructions."</p> + +<p>"I have only a word to add, father. You and Ruiz must also provide +yourselves with tools, for I expect you all four to work."</p> + +<p>"Oh, oh, that is rather hard—not on me who am young," Don Ruiz +exclaimed, laughingly, "but on our father. Come, little sister, do not +expect such toil from him."</p> + +<p>"I may have to lend a hand myself," Doña Marianna replied. "Believe +me, Don Ruiz, you should not treat this affair lightly; it is far more +serious than you suppose, and the consequence will be of incalculable +importance for my father and the honour of our name. In my turn I will +take an oath, since you refuse to believe my word."</p> + +<p>"Not I, sister."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Ruiz, you doubt it, although you do not like to allow it. Well, I +swear to you and my father, by all I hold dearest in the world—that is +to say, you two—that I am perfectly well aware of what I am doing, and +am certain of success."</p> + +<p>Such enthusiasm sparkled in the girl's brilliant eyes, there was such +an expression of sincerity in her accent, that the two gentlemen at +length confessed themselves vanquished; her conviction had entered +their minds, and they were persuaded.</p> + +<p>"What you desire shall be done, daughter," Don Hernando said; "and, +whatever the result may be, I shall feel grateful to you for the +efforts you are making."</p> + +<p>Don Ruiz, by his father's orders, warned the majordomo and the tigrero, +who was already preparing to return to the rancho. But so soon as +the young man knew that his presence was necessary at the hacienda, +he remained without the slightest remark, and delighted at having an +opportunity to prove to his masters how greatly he was devoted to them. +Then what always happens under similar circumstances occurred: while +Doña Marianna was calmly awaiting the hour she had herself fixed for +action, the Marquis and his son, on the other hand, suffered from a +feverish curiosity, which did not allow them a moment's rest, and made +them regard the delay as interminable. At length eight o'clock struck.</p> + +<p>"It is time!" said Doña Marianna.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVII">CHAPTER XXXVII.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE HUERTA.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>All southern nations are fond of shade, flowers, and birds; and as the +heat of the climate compels them, so to speak, to live in the open air, +they have arranged their gardens with a degree of comfort unknown among +us. The Italians and Spaniards, whose houses, during the greater part +of the year, are only inhabitable for a few hours a day, have striven +to make their gardens veritable oases, where they can breathe the fresh +evening air without being annoyed by those myriads of mosquitoes and +gnats unknown in temperate climates, but which in tropical latitudes +are a real plague. At midday they may be seen wheeling in countless +myriads in every sunbeam. The Hispano-Americans especially have raised +the gardening art to a science, being always engaged in trying to solve +the problem of procuring fresh air during the hottest hours of the +day—that is to say, between midday and three p.m., during which time +the earth, which has been heated since dawn by the burning heat of a +torrid sun, exhales deadly effluvia, and so decomposes the air that it +is impossible to breathe it.</p> + +<p>The Spanish language, which is so rich in expressions of every +description, has two words to signify a garden. There is the word +<i>jardín</i>, by which is meant the parterre properly so called—the garden +in which flowers are cultivated that in those countries grow in the +open air, but with us only in hothouses, where they are stunted and +decrepit; and, secondly, the <i>huerta</i>, which means the kitchen-garden, +the vineyard, and their clumps of trees, wide avenues, cascades, +streams, and lakes—in a word, all that we, very improperly in my +opinion, have agreed to call a park. The Hacienda del Toro possessed a +huerta, which the Marquises de Moguer had in turn sought to embellish. +This huerta, which in Europe would have seemed very large—for life +among us has been reduced to the conditions of a mean and shabby +comfort—was considered small in that country. It contained in all +only thirty acres—that is to say, a surface of about twelve square +miles; but this relative smallness was made up for by an admirable +disposition of the ground, and an extent of shade, which had made a +great reputation for the Huerta del Toro throughout Sonora.</p> + +<p>At eight o'clock precisely the curfew was rung, as was the custom +at the hacienda. At the sound of the chapel bell all the peons and +vaqueros retired to their jacales in order to sleep. Paredes had placed +sentinels at night on the walls ever since an attack from the Indians +had been apprehended, and the precaution was the more necessary at +this time, as there was no moon, and it is that period of the month +which the Redskins always select to begin their invasions. When the +majordomo had assured himself that the sentries were at their posts, +he made a general inspection of the whole hacienda to have the lights +extinguished, and then proceeded, accompanied by the tigrero, to the +Blue Room, where Don Hernando and his son and daughter were assembled.</p> + +<p>"All is in order, <i>mi amo</i>," he said; "everybody has retired to his +jacal, the hacienda gates are closed, and the sentries placed on the +walls."</p> + +<p>"You are quite certain, Paredes, that no one is walking about the +corals or huerta?"</p> + +<p>"No one; I made my rounds with the greatest strictness."</p> + +<p>"Very good; now, daughter, you can give your orders, and we are ready +to obey you."</p> + +<p>Doña Marianna bowed to her father with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Paredes," she said, "have you procured the tools my brother ordered +you to provide?"</p> + +<p>"Niña," he answered, "I have placed six picks, six crowbars, and six +spades in a clump of carob trees at the entrance of the large flower +garden."</p> + +<p>"Why such a number of tools?" she asked, laughingly.</p> + +<p>"Because, señorita, some may break; the work we have to do must be +performed quickly, and had I not taken this precaution, we might have +met with delay."</p> + +<p>"You are right. Follow me, señora."</p> + +<p>"And the lanterns?" Don Ruiz observed.</p> + +<p>"We will take them with us, but not light them till we reach the +spot whither I am taking you. Although the night is dark, with your +knowledge of localities we shall be able to guide ourselves without +difficulty through the darkness. Our lights might be seen and arouse +suspicions, and that is what we must avoid most of all."</p> + +<p>"Excellently reasoned, daughter."</p> + +<p>Doña Marianna rose, and the four men followed her in silence. They +crossed the apartments instead of passing through the <i>patios</i>, which +were thronged with sleepers, and entered the huerta by large double +doors, from which the garden was reached by a flight of steps. On +leaving the Blue Room Doña Marianna took the precaution to blow out the +candles, so that the hacienda was plunged into complete darkness, and +all appeared asleep. The night was very dark; the sky, in which not +a single star twinkled, seemed an immense pall; the breeze whistled +hoarsely through the trees, whose branches rustled with an ill-omened +murmur. In the distance could be heard the snapping bark of the +coyotes, and at times the melancholy hoot of the owl arose in the dark, +and broke the mournful silence which brooded over nature. This night +was excellently chosen for a mysterious expedition of such a nature as +Doña Marianna was about to attempt.</p> + +<p>After an instant—not of hesitation, for the maiden, although her heart +was beating loudly, was firm and resolute—but of reflection, Doña +Marianna rapidly descended the steps and entered the garden, closely +followed by the four men, who also experienced an internal emotion for +which they could not account. They had gone but a few yards when they +halted; they had reached the thicket in which the tools were concealed. +The majordomo and the tigrero took them on their shoulders, while the +Marquis and his son carried the lanterns. In spite of the darkness, +which was rendered even more intense by the dense shadow cast by the +old trees in the huerta, the young lady rapidly advanced, scarce making +the sand creak beneath her little feet, and following the winding walks +with as much ease as if she were traversing them in the bright sunshine.</p> + +<p>The Marquis and his son felt their curiosity increase from moment to +moment. They saw the girl so gay, and so sure of herself, that they +involuntarily began to hope, although they found it impossible to +explain the nature of their hopes to themselves. Paredes and Mariano +were also greatly puzzled about the purpose of the expedition in which +they were taking part; but their thoughts did not travel beyond this: +they supposed that there was some work for them to do, and that was all.</p> + +<p>The young lady still walked on, stopping at times and muttering a +few words in a low voice, as if trying to remember the instructions +she had previously received, but never hesitating, or taking one walk +for another; in a word, she did not once retrace her steps when she +had selected her course. Night, especially when it is dark, imparts +to scenery a peculiar hue, which completely changes the appearance of +the most familiar spots; it gives the smallest object a formidable +aspect; all is confounded in one mass, without graduated tints, +from which nothing stands out: a spot which is very cheerful in the +sunshine becomes gloomy and mournful when enveloped in darkness. The +huerta, which was so pretty and bright by day, assumed on this night +the gloomy and majestic proportions of a forest; the fall of a leaf, +the accidental breaking of a branch, the dull murmur of invisible +waters—things so unimportant in themselves—made these men start +involuntarily, although they were endowed with great energy, and any +real danger would not have made them blench.</p> + +<p>But darkness possesses the fatal influence over the human organization +of lessening its faculties, and rendering it small and paltry. A man +who, in the midst of a battle, electrified by the sound of the cannon, +intoxicated by the smell of powder, and excited by the example of his +comrades, performs prodigies of valour, will tremble like a child on +finding himself alone in the shadow of night, and in the presence of an +unknown object, which causes him to apprehend a danger which frequently +only exists in his sickly imagination. Hence our friends involuntarily +underwent the formidable influence of darkness, and felt a certain +uneasiness, which they tried in vain to combat, and which they could +not succeed in entirely dispelling, in spite of all their efforts. They +walked on silent and gloomy, pressing against each other, looking +around them timidly, and in their hearts wishing to reach as speedily +as possible the end of this long walk. At length Doña Marianna halted.</p> + +<p>"Light the lanterns," she said.</p> + +<p>This was the first remark made since they left the Blue Room. The +lanterns were instantly lighted. Doña Marianna took one, and handed +another to her brother.</p> + +<p>"Show me a light, Ruiz," she said to him.</p> + +<p>The spot where they found themselves was situated at nearly the centre +of the huerta; it was a species of grass plot, on which only stubbly, +stunted grass grew. In the centre rose a sort of tumulus, formed of +several rocks piled on one another without any apparent symmetry, and +which the owners of the hacienda had always respected in consequence +of its barbarous singularity. An old tradition asserted that one of +the old kings of Cibola, on the ruins of which town the hacienda was +built, had been buried at the spot, which was called "The Tomb of the +Cacique" after the tradition, whether it were true or false. The first +Marquis de Moguer, who was a very pious man, like all the Spanish +conquistadors, had to some extent authorized this belief, by having the +mound blessed by a priest, under the pretext—a very plausible one at +that time—that the tomb of a pagan attracted demons, who would at once +retire when it was consecrated.</p> + +<p>With the exception of the name it bore, this mound had never been held +in bad repute, and no suspicious legend was attached to it. It was +remote from the buildings of the hacienda, and surrounded on all sides +by dense and almost impenetrable clumps of trees. Persons very rarely +visited it, because, as it stood in the centre of an open patch of +grass, it offered no shelter against the sun; hence the place was only +known to the family and their oldest servants.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Ah!" said the Marquis, "So you have brought us to the cacique's +tomb, my girl?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, father; we can now begin operations without fear of being seen."</p> + +<p>"I greatly fear that your hopes have led you astray."</p> + +<p>"You promised, father, to make no remarks."</p> + +<p>"That is true, and so I will hold my tongue."</p> + +<p>"Very good, father," she said, with a smile; "be assured that this +exemplary docility will soon be duly rewarded."</p> + +<p>And the young lady continued her investigations. She looked attentively +at every stone, seeming to study its position carefully, while +comparing it with a point of the compass.</p> + +<p>"In which direction does the clump of old aloes lie?" she at length +asked.</p> + +<p>"That I cannot tell you," said Don Ruiz.</p> + +<p>"With your permission, I will do so," Paredes observed.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," she said, eagerly.</p> + +<p>The majordomo looked about for a moment, and then, placing himself in +a certain direction, said,—"The aloes of Cibola, as we call them, are +just facing me."</p> + +<p>"Are you certain of it, Paredes?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, niña, I am."</p> + +<p>The young lady immediately placed herself by the majordomo's side, +and bending down over the stones, examined them with extreme care and +attention. At length she drew herself up with a start of joy.</p> + +<p>"My father," she said, with emotion, "the honour of dealing the first +stroke belongs to you."</p> + +<p>"Very good, my child; where am I to strike?"</p> + +<p>"There!" she said, pointing to a rather large gap between two stones.</p> + +<p>Don Hernando drove in the pick, and, pressing on it forcibly, detached +a stone, which rolled on the grass.</p> + +<p>"Very good," said the girl. "Now stop, father, and let these young men +work; you can join them presently, should it prove necessary. Come, +Ruiz—come tocayo—come, Paredes—to work, my friends! Enlarge this +hole, and make it large enough for us to pass through."</p> + +<p>The three men set to work ardently, excited by Doña Marianna's +words, and soon the stones, leaping from their bed of earth, began +to strew the ground around in large numbers. Not one of the three +men suspected the nature of the task he was performing, and yet +such is the attraction of a secret, that they drove in their picks +with extraordinary ardour. Ruiz alone possibly foresaw an important +discovery behind the task, but could not have explained what its nature +was. The work, in the meanwhile, progressed; the hole became with every +moment larger. The stones, which had been apparently thrown upon each +other, were not bound by any mortal, and hence, so soon as the first +was removed, the others came out with extreme facility. Now and then +the labourers stopped to draw breath; but this interruption lasted +only a short time, so anxious were they to obtain the solution of the +problem. All at once they stopped in discouragement, for an enormous +mass of rock resisted their efforts. This rock, which was about six +feet square, was exactly under the stones they had previously removed, +and as no solution of continuity could be perceived, everything led to +the supposition that this rock was really very much larger, and that +only a portion of it was laid bare.</p> + +<p>"Why are you stopping, brother?" Doña Marianna asked.</p> + +<p>"Because we have reached the rock, and should break our picks, without +getting any further."</p> + +<p>"What! Reached the rock? Impossible!"</p> + +<p>The Marquis leant over the excavation.</p> + +<p>"It would be madness to try and get any further," he said; "it is plain +that we have reached the rock." Doña Marianna gave an angry start.</p> + +<p>"I tell you again that it is impossible," she continued.</p> + +<p>"Look for yourself, sister."</p> + +<p>The young lady took a lantern and looked; then, without answering her +brother, she turned to Paredes and the tigrero.</p> + +<p>"You," she said, "are old servants of the family, and I can order you +without any fear of being contradicted; so obey me. Remove, as rapidly +as possible, all the stones round that supposed rock, and when that is +done, I fancy I shall convince the most incredulous."</p> + +<p>The two men resumed work; and Don Ruiz, piqued by his sister's remark, +imitated them. The Marquis with folded arms and head bowed on his +chest, was overcome by such persistency, and began to hope again. Ere +long the stones were removed, and the mass of rock stood solitary.</p> + +<p>The young lady turned to the Marquis.</p> + +<p>"Father," she said to him, "you dealt the first blow, and must deal the +last; help these three men in removing this block."</p> + +<p>Without replying, the Marquis seized a pick, and placed himself +by the side of the workers. The four men dug their tools into the +friable earth which adhered to the rock; then, with a common and +gradual effort, they began raising the stone until it suddenly lost +its balance, toppled over, and fell on the ground, revealing a deep +excavation. At the sight of this, all uttered a cry of surprise.</p> + +<p>"Burn some wood to purify the air," the young lady said.</p> + +<p>They obeyed with that feverish activity which, in great circumstances, +seizes on apparently the slowest natures.</p> + +<p>"Now come, father," Doña Marianna said, as she seized a lantern and +boldly entered the excavation.</p> + +<p>The Marquis went in, and the rest followed him. After proceeding for +about one hundred yards along a species of gallery, they perceived the +body of a man, lying on a sort of clumsy dais, in a perfect state of +preservation, and rather resembling a sleeping person than a corpse. +Near the body the fleshless bones of another person were scattered on +the ground.</p> + +<p>"Look!" said the maiden.</p> + +<p>"Yes," the Marquis answered, "it is the body interred under the +tumulus."</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken, father; it is the body of a miner, and the fancied +tumulus is nothing but a very rich gold mine, which has remained for +ages under the guard of this insensate body, and which it has pleased +Heaven to make known to you, in order that you may recover the fortune +which you were on the point of losing. Look around you," she said, +raising the lantern.</p> + +<p>The Marquis uttered a cry of delight and admiration, doubt was no +longer possible. All around he saw enormous veins of gold, easy of +extraction almost without labour. The Marquis was dazzled; weaker in +joy than in suffering, he fell unconscious on the floor of this mine, +whose produce was about to restore him all that he had lost.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVIII">CHAPTER XXXVIII.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE ASSAULT ON QUITOVAR.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>While these events were taking place at the Hacienda del Toro, others +of an even more important nature were being carried out at the Real +de Minas. Kidd the adventurer, had scarce left Don Rufino Contreras, +after the interesting conversations we have recorded, ere the senator +made his preparations for departure, and at once set out for the Real +de Minas, though careful to be accompanied by a respectable escort, +which protected him from the insults of marauders. At eight a.m. of the +following day the senator entered the pueblo, and his first business +was to present himself to the town commandant, Don Marcos de Niza. The +captain not only received him coldly, but with a certain amount of +constraint. This did not escape the senator's quick eye, but he was not +at all affected by it.</p> + +<p>"My dear captain," he said, after the usual compliments, "I am +pleased at having been selected by the Presidential Government as its +delegate to the military authorities of the State of Sonora for two +reasons, apart from the honour I shall acquire by accomplishing this +confidential duty."</p> + +<p>The captain bowed, but said nothing.</p> + +<p>"The first of these reasons," the senator continued with his eternal +smile, "is that I make the acquaintance of an excellent caballero in +yourself; the second, that before being joined in the command with +you, and desiring to make myself as agreeable to you as I could, I +asked for the rank of lieutenant-colonel for you, a step which, between +ourselves, you have long deserved, and I was so fortunate as to obtain +it for you. Permit me to hand you the commission with my own hands."</p> + +<p>And drawing from his pocketbook a large folded paper, he laid it in the +hand which the captain mechanically held out. The senator had justly +counted on the skilfully managed surprise. The captain, confounded +by the tardy justice done him, could not find a word to answer, but +from this moment Don Rufino's cause was gained in his mind; and unless +some unforeseen event occurred, the senator was convinced that he had +nothing now to fear from this man, whom he had cleverly managed to lay +under an obligation, without it costing him anything. The truth was, +that a few days previously the captain's nomination had reached the +Governor of Arispe from Mexico; the senator accidentally heard of it, +and offered to deliver it to the captain. As the governor had no reason +to refuse, he entrusted the nomination to the senator, and he turned it +to the good purpose we have seen.</p> + +<p>"And now," he continued, cutting short the thanks which the new +colonel thought himself bound to offer him, "permit me to change the +conversation, my dear colonel, and speak to you about things which +interest me privately."</p> + +<p>"I am listening to you caballero," Don Marcos answered; "and if I can +be of any service to you—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, merely to give me some information," the senator interrupted him; +"I will explain the matter in two words. I am, as you are probably +aware, very intimate with a relative of yours, the Marquis de Moguer, +and an alliance between us is being arranged at this moment."</p> + +<p>Don Marcos gave a deep bow.</p> + +<p>"Now," the senator continued, "the Marquis, as you of course know, +has been seriously tried of late; in a word, between ourselves, he +is almost ruined. Several times already I have been so fortunate as +to render him important services; but, as you know, where misfortune +is pressing a family, the best intentions often can only succeed in +retarding an inevitable downfall. Being most desirous to save a man +with whom I shall be probably closely connected within a few days, +not merely by the ties of friendship, but also by the closer links +of relationship, I have bought up all his debts; in a word, I have +become his sole creditor, and that is as much as telling you that the +Marquis does not owe a farthing now. The man whom I entrusted with this +difficult negotiation will arrive immediately in this town, where I +gave him the meeting."</p> + +<p>"He arrived some days ago," the colonel remarked.</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" Don Rufino exclaimed, affecting surprise, "It seems in that +case that he has worked quicker than I expected. But that is a thousand +times better, as I will claim a service at your hands."</p> + +<p>"A service!" Don Marcos exclaimed, with instinctive distrust.</p> + +<p>"Yes," the senator continued, tranquilly; "I hardly know how to explain +it to you, for it is so difficult, however friendly you may be with +a man whose daughter you are about to marry, to say to him 'You owed +enormous sums; I have bought up your debts, here are the receipts; burn +them, for you owe nothing now;' it would be looking so much like trying +to impose conditions to act thus—in a word, to make a bargain—that +I feel a repugnance from it; and if a common friend does not consent +to come to my assistance in the matter, I confess to you that I am +completely ignorant how I shall get out of the difficulty."</p> + +<p>"What!" the colonel exclaimed, in admiration, "Would you do that?"</p> + +<p>"I never had any other thought," the senator replied simply.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it is a great and generous action, caballero."</p> + +<p>"Not at all; on the contrary, it is quite natural. Don Hernando is my +intimate friend; I am going to marry his daughter, and my line of duty +is plain. I only did what anyone else in my place would have done."</p> + +<p>"No, no," Don Marcos said, shaking his head with an air of conviction; +"no, señor, no one would have acted as you have done, I feel certain. +Alas! Hearts like yours are rare."</p> + +<p>"All the worse, all the worse, and I feel sorry for humanity," Don +Rufino said, as he raised his eyes piously to the ceiling.</p> + +<p>"What is the service you expect from me, señor?"</p> + +<p>"A very simple thing. I will give you in a few moments those unlucky +receipts, which I will ask you to be kind enough to hand to the +Marquis. You can make him understand better than I can the purity of my +intentions in this affair; and, above all, pray assure him that I have +not done it for the purpose of forcing him to give me his daughter's +hand."</p> + +<p>The senator went away, leaving the colonel completely under the charm. +He proceeded hastily to the mesón where Don Parfindo was lodged; he +took the receipts from him, rewarded him handsomely, and did not leave +him till he saw him and his bailiff out of the pueblo; then he walked +slowly back to the colonel's house, rubbing his hands, and muttering, +with an ironical smile—</p> + +<p>"I fancy that I shall soon have no cause to fear that worthy Señor +Kidd's denunciations. By the bye, where can he be? His absence from +Quitovar is not natural, and I must free myself from him at our next +interview."</p> + +<p>The senator's conversation with his agent had occupied some time, and +when Don Rufino returned to the colonel's house, he found the latter +busy in making known his new rank to his officers. The colonel eagerly +took advantage of the opportunity to introduce the senator to them, and +to tell them that Don Rufino was delegated by the Government to watch +the operations of the army, and that hence they must obey him like +himself. The officers bowed respectfully to the senator, made their +bows, and retired. When the two gentlemen were alone again, the ice +was completely broken between them, and they were the best friends in +the world.</p> + +<p>"Well," the colonel asked.</p> + +<p>"All is settled," the senator replied, as he produced the vouchers.</p> + +<p>"¡Caramba! You have lost no time."</p> + +<p>"The best things are those done quickly. Take all these documents, and +make what use of them you think proper. I am delighted at having got +rid of them." While saying this, Don Rufino threw the papers on the +table with an excellent affectation of delight.</p> + +<p>"With your leave, caballero," the colonel said, with a laugh, "I will +take these papers, since you insist on it, but I will give you a +receipt."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," the senator exclaimed, "that would spoil the whole business."</p> + +<p>"Still—"</p> + +<p>"Not a word," he interrupted him, quickly; "I do not wish to have in my +possession the shadow of a claim upon Don Hernando."</p> + +<p>The colonel would have probably pressed the point, had not a great +noise been heard in the anteroom, and a man rushed into the colonel's +sanctum, shouting at the top of his lungs, "The Indians! The Indians!"</p> + +<p>The colonel and the senator rose. The man was Kidd; his clothes were +torn and disordered; his face and hands were covered with blood and +dust, and all apparently proved that he had just escaped from a sharp +pursuit. A strange uproar outside the house, which soon assumed +formidable proportions, corroborated his statement.</p> + +<p>"Is that you, Kidd?" the colonel exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he replied; "but lose no time, captain; here are the pagans! +They are at my heels, and I am scarce half an hour ahead of them."</p> + +<p>Without waiting to hear anything more, the colonel dashed out of the +room.</p> + +<p>"Where have you come from?" Don Rufino asked the bandit, so soon as he +was alone with him.</p> + +<p>The latter gave a start of disappointment on recognising the senator, +whom he had not noticed at the first moment. This start did not escape +Don Rufino.</p> + +<p>"How does that concern you?" the adventurer answered, roughly.</p> + +<p>"I want to know."</p> + +<p>Kidd made a meaning grimace.</p> + +<p>"Every man has his own business," he said.</p> + +<p>"Some treachery you have been preparing, of course."</p> + +<p>"That is possible," he replied, with a knowing grin.</p> + +<p>"Against me, perhaps."</p> + +<p>"Who knows?"</p> + +<p>"Will you speak?"</p> + +<p>"What is the use of speaking, since you have guessed it?"</p> + +<p>"Then you are still trying to deceive me?"</p> + +<p>"I mean to take my precautions, that is all."</p> + +<p>"Scoundrel!" the senator exclaimed, with a menacing gesture.</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" the other said, with a shrug of his shoulders; "I am not +afraid of you, for you would not dare kill me."</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"In the first place, because it would cause a row, and because I do not +think you such a friend of the captain that you would venture to take +such a liberty in his house."</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken, villain, and you shall have a proof of it."</p> + +<p>"Holloa!" the adventurer exclaimed, as he retired precipitately to the +door.</p> + +<p>But, with a gesture rapid as thought, Don Rufino seized one of Don +Marcos's pistols, cocked it, and ere Kidd could effect the retreat he +was meditating, he fired, and the adventurer lay on the ground with a +bullet in his chest.</p> + +<p>"Die, brigand!" the senator shouted, as he threw down the weapon he had +used.</p> + +<p>"Yes," the bandit muttered, "but not unavenged. It was well played, +master; but your turn will soon arrive—"</p> + +<p>And stiffening with a final convulsion, the ruffian expired, retaining +on his features even after death an expression of mocking defiance, +which caused the senator an involuntary tremor.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter here?" the colonel asked, suddenly entering.</p> + +<p>"Nothing very important," Don Rufino said, carelessly. "I was carried +away by my passion, and settled this scoundrel."</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Viva Dios!</i> You were right, señor; I only regret that you have +anticipated me, for I have proofs of his treachery.—Ho, there! Remove +this carrion, and throw it out," he shouted to some soldiers who +accompanied him, and had remained in the anteroom.</p> + +<p>The soldiers obeyed, and the adventurer's body was thrown +unceremoniously into the street.</p> + +<p>"Are the Indians really coming up?"</p> + +<p>"The dust raised by their horses' hoofs can already be perceived. We +have not a moment to lose in preparing for defence. I suppose I can +reckon on you?"</p> + +<p>"<i>¡Rayo de Dios!</i>! I should hope so."</p> + +<p>"Come, then, for time presses."</p> + +<p>Kidd had in reality prepared, with his usual Machiavelism, a new +treachery, of which, unluckily for him, he was destined to be the first +victim. The whole pueblo was in an uproar: the streets were crowded +with soldiers proceeding to their posts; with women, children, and +aged persons flying in terror; with rancheros, who arrived at a gallop +to find shelter in the town, and heightened the general alarm by the +terror depicted on their faces; cattle were dashing madly about the +streets, deserted by their herds, who were compelled to proceed to the +intrenchments; and on the distant plain the body of Indians could be +seen through the dust clouds, coming up at headlong speed.</p> + +<p>"They are numerous," the senator whispered to the colonel.</p> + +<p>"Too many," the latter answered; "but silence! Let us look cheerful."</p> + +<p>There were twenty minutes of indescribable anxiety, during which the +defenders of the pueblo were enabled to examine their enemies, and form +an idea of the terrible danger that menaced them.</p> + +<p>Unhappily, the sun was on the point of setting, and it was evident that +the Redskins had calculated their march so as to arrive exactly at +that moment, and continue the attack through the night. The colonel, +foreseeing that he might possibly be compelled to have recourse to +flight, collected a band of fifty resolute horsemen, whom he gave +orders not to leave the Plaza Major, and be ready for any eventuality. +After their first charge the Indians retired out of musket range, and +did not renew their attack. A few horsemen, better mounted than the +rest, were scattered over the plain, picking up the dead and wounded, +and capturing the straggling horses; but the colonel gave orders that +they should not be fired at—not through humanity, but in order to +spare his ammunition, of which he possessed a very small stock.</p> + +<p>Night set in, and a deep gloom covered the earth; but the redskins +lit no fires. This circumstance alarmed the colonel; but several +hours passed, and nothing led to the possibility of an attack +being suspected. Profound silence brooded over the pueblo and the +surrounding plains, and the Indians seemed to have disappeared as if by +enchantment. The Mexicans tried in vain to distinguish any suspicious +forms in the darkness; they saw and heard nothing. This expectation of +a danger, which all felt to be imminent and terrible, had something +frightful for the besieged.</p> + +<p>Suddenly an immense light lit up the plain; the black outlines of the +Indians rose like diabolical apparitions, galloping in all directions; +a horrible, discordant, and shrill yell echoed in the ears of the +Mexicans, and clouds of blazing arrows fell upon them from all sides +at once, while the hideous heads of the Redskins appeared on the crest +of the entrenchments. Then, in the light of a forest, kindled by the +Indians to serve them as a beacon, an obstinate hand-to-hand fight +began between the white men and redskins.</p> + +<p>The pueblo was captured; any further resistance became not only +impossible, but insensate. Several houses were already ablaze, and in +a few minutes the Real de Minas would only be one immense furnace. The +senator and the colonel had fought bravely so long as a gleam of hope +was left them and the struggle appeared possible. At this moment they +thought of saving the few wretches who still existed, and had escaped +the frightful massacre by a miracle. Collecting around them all the men +they possessed, they dashed to the Plaza Major, where, in spite of the +fight raging round them, the squadron picked by Don Marcos had remained +motionless, and leaping on their horses, they gave the order to start. +Then the little band rushed forward like a hurricane, overthrowing and +crushing all the obstacles that stood in their way; and after losing +one-third their number, the rest succeeded in leaving the pueblo, +traversing the enemy's lines, and taking the road to the Hacienda del +Toro, without any close pursuit.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXXIX">CHAPTER XXXIX.</a></h4> + +<h3>THE VENGEANCE OF HEAVEN.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>The Marquis's faint lasted but a short time, thanks to the attentions +his son and daughter paid him. He had scarce regained his senses ere he +drew Doña Marianna gently to him.</p> + +<p>"My dear child," he muttered, as he pressed her to his heart, "you are +our saviour."</p> + +<p>The girl, delighted with this praise, freed herself, with a blush, from +her father's embrace.</p> + +<p>"Then," she said, with a pretty toss of her head, "you now allow, I +think, father, that I have really kept my word."</p> + +<p>"Oh, my child," he said, with much emotion, as he looked around him in +delight, "there are here fifty fortunes equal to the one I have lost."</p> + +<p>The girl clapped her hands in delight.</p> + +<p>"Ah, how happy I am! I felt certain that she would not deceive me."</p> + +<p>This remark, which escaped from the fullness of Doña Marianna's heart, +struck Don Hernando.</p> + +<p>"To whom are you alluding, daughter? And who is this person who +inspires you with such confidence?"</p> + +<p>"The one who revealed the existence of this treasure to me, father," +she answered.</p> + +<p>The Marquis did not press her.</p> + +<p>"Mariano," he said to the tigrero, "you will pass the night here; allow +no one to approach this excavation, for it would be imprudent to let +strangers know of the existence of such a treasure before we have time +to take certain precautions indispensable for its safety."</p> + +<p>"You can go without fear, <i>mi amo</i>," the brave lad answered; "no one +shall approach the mine while I am alive."</p> + +<p>"Besides," Don Hernando continued, "your watch will cease at sunrise."</p> + +<p>"As long as you please, <i>mi amo</i>."</p> + +<p>And the tigrero, collecting the tools and lanterns, installed himself +in the excavation itself, a few yards from the body still lying on the +dais.</p> + +<p>The other four slowly returned to the hacienda, conversing about this +marvellous discovery, which, at the moment when all seemed desperate, +saved the family. In fact, the gold veins were so rich, that it would +be possible to detach in a single day enough nearly to cover all the +debts contracted by the Marquis. They re-entered the blue room; and +though it was very late, not one of them felt the slightest inclination +to sleep; on the contrary, they wanted still to converse about the mine.</p> + +<p>"Well," the Marquis said, "you did not dream that so rich a mine +existed on the estate; you allowed as much just now."</p> + +<p>"In truth, father, someone was kind enough to give me the information +by which I found it."</p> + +<p>"But who can this person be, who is better acquainted than myself +with a property which has been in the hands of the family more than +three hundred years, and yet nobody suspected that it contained this +treasure?"</p> + +<p>"The probability is that the secret was well kept, father."</p> + +<p>"Of course; but by whom?"</p> + +<p>"By the old owners of the soil, of course."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! You are jesting, daughter. Those poor Indians disappeared +long ago from the face of the earth."</p> + +<p>"I am not of that opinion, father," Don Ruiz observed.</p> + +<p>"The more so," Paredes struck in, "because I know for a fact that the +tribe to which you allude still exists; it is one of the most powerful +in the great confederation of the Papazos."</p> + +<p>"And you know, father, with what religious exactitude the Indians +preserve secrets confided to their conscience."</p> + +<p>"That is true; but in that case some man must have spoken."</p> + +<p>"Or some woman," Doña Marianna said, smilingly.</p> + +<p>"Well, be it so—a woman," the Marquis continued; "that is already a +valuable piece of news. I know that you have obtained your information +about the mine from a woman, my child."</p> + +<p>"Unhappily, father, I am prohibited from saying any more."</p> + +<p>"Humph! Prohibited!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, father. However, re-assure yourself: this mine is really +yours—your lawful property. Its owner has freely surrendered it in +your favour."</p> + +<p>Don Hernando frowned with an air of dissatisfaction.</p> + +<p>"Charity!" he muttered.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, but a gift you can accept, father, I swear to you. Besides, +the person to whom you are indebted for it promised me to make herself +known to you ere long."</p> + +<p>On the next morning, by the orders of the Marquis, the majordomo +selected ten confidential rancheros and peons from those who had sought +shelter at the hacienda, and the work commenced at once. The mine had +been abandoned exactly in the state in which it was when the body of +the miner was found by the Indians; hence the mere sweepings formed a +considerable amount, and at the expiration of four or five days the +sum collected was sufficient, not only to pay off all the debts, but +also to leave at the disposal of the Marquis a sum thrice as large as +he owed. With the exception of the legitimate anxiety caused by the +apprehension of an Indian attack, joy had returned to the hacienda; +the Marquis had begun to smile again, and seemed younger—so great is +the privilege of wealth to alter men. The first thought that occurred +to the Marquis was to settle with his creditors, and determine his +position.</p> + +<p>"My dear child," he said one evening to Doña Marianna, at the moment +when she was about to retire for the night, "you have not yet given +me an answer on the subject of Don Rufino Contrera's request for +your hand; but the week has long since passed. Tomorrow, Paredes is +going to start to place in his hands certain letters of importance +for the settlement of my affairs, and I wish to take advantage of the +opportunity. What answer shall I give Don Rufino?"</p> + +<p>The young lady blushed; but at length, subduing the trouble that +agitated her, she said, with a slight tremour in her voice,—</p> + +<p>"Father, I am doubtless highly honoured by this Caballero's demand; but +do you not think as I do, that the moment is badly chosen for such a +thing, menaced as we incessantly are by terrible dangers?"</p> + +<p>"Very good, daughter; I do not at all wish to force your inclinations. +I will answer the senator in that sense; but if he come himself to seek +his answer, what shall we do?"</p> + +<p>"It will be time enough to think of it then," she replied, with a laugh.</p> + +<p>"Well, well, that is true, and I was wrong to dwell on the matter so. +Good night, my child, and sleep soundly. As for me, I shall probably +spend the whole night in my study with your brother, engaged with my +accounts."</p> + +<p>The young lady withdrew.</p> + +<p>"Señor Marquis," said Paredes, suddenly opening the door, "excuse my +disturbing you so late; but Mariano, the tigrero, has just arrived at +the hacienda with his whole family; he is the bearer of such strange +and terrible news, that you will perhaps sooner hear it from his lips +than from mine."</p> + +<p>"What does he say?" Don Ruiz asked, who entered the room at this moment.</p> + +<p>"He says that the Indians have risen, that they have surprised +the Mineral of Quitovar, fired the pueblo, and massacred all the +inhabitants."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is frightful!" the Marquis exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Our poor cousin!" the young man added.</p> + +<p>"That is true; our unhappy cousin commanded at the pueblo. What a +horrible disaster! Send the tigrero in to me, Paredes; go and fetch him +at once."</p> + +<p>Mariano was shown in, and related in their fullest details, though with +some exaggeration, the events recorded in our last chapter, which threw +his hearers into a profound stupor. Among all the incomprehensible +things which daily occur, there is one which will never be explained; +it is the rapidity with which all news spreads even for considerable +distances. Thus, the capture of Quitovar was unhappily only too true, +and the details furnished by Mariano were substantially correct; but +how could the tigrero have become acquainted with a fact that had +happened scarce three hours previously, and at more than ten leagues +from the hacienda? He could not have explained this himself; he had +heard it from somebody, but could not remember whom.</p> + +<p>This terrible news caused the Marquis to reflect deeply. Now that +the roads were probably infested with marauders, and communication +intercepted by the Indians, he could not think of sending Paredes +to Hermosillo, and the journey had become literally impossible. He +must busy himself without delay in organizing the defence of the +hacienda, in order vigorously to repulse the attack which would, in +all probability, not be long delayed. In spite of the advanced hour, +all were at work in an instant at the Toro; the walls were lined with +defenders, and reserves established in all parts of the hacienda.</p> + +<p>The whole night was spent in preparations. About two hours after +sunrise, at the moment when the Marquis, wearied by a long watch, was +preparing to take a little repose, the sentries signalled the approach +of a body of horsemen, coming at full gallop towards the hacienda. +The Marquis went up on the walls, took a telescope, and had a look at +them. After a short examination, he perceived that these horsemen were +Mexicans, although, owing to the distance, he could not distinguish +whether they were soldiers or rancheros. Still, he had all preparations +made to give them a hearty reception, if they evinced a desire to +halt at the hacienda, as the direction they were following seemed to +indicate.</p> + +<p>Some time elapsed ere these horsemen, who were climbing the hill, +reached the hacienda gates. Then all doubts were removed: they were +soldiers, and a few paces ahead of the troop rode Don Rufino Contreras +and Colonel Don Marcos de Niza. But both leaders and soldiers were in +such disorder, so blackened with gunpowder, so covered with dust and +blood, that it was plain they had come from a recent fight, from which +they had escaped as fugitives. Men and horses were utterly exhausted, +not alone by the extraordinary fatigue they had undergone, but also by +the gigantic struggle they had sustained ere they dreamed of flight. +It was unnecessary to ask them any questions. The Marquis ordered +refreshments to be served them, and beds got ready.</p> + +<p>Don Marcos de Niza and the senator had hardly the strength to say a few +words explanatory of the wretched condition in which they presented +themselves, and yielding to fatigue and want of sleep, they fell down +in a state of complete insensibility, from which no attempt was made +to rouse them, but they were both carried to bed. The Marquis then +withdrew to his room, leaving his son to watch over the safety of the +hacienda in his stead, for in all probability it would be speedily +invested by the Redskins.</p> + +<p>At three in the afternoon a fresh band of horsemen was signalled in +the plain. This considerable party was composed entirely of hunters +and wood rangers. Don Ruiz gave orders to let them advance, for the +arrival of these hunters, nearly one hundred in number, was a piece +of good fortune for the hacienda, as the number of its defenders was +augmented by so many. Still, when Don Ruiz saw them enter the track, +he noticed such a regularity in their movements, that a doubt crossed +his mind like a flash of lightning, and a thought of treachery rose to +his brain. Hence he rushed to the outer gate of the hacienda to give +Paredes orders not to open; but the majordomo checked him at the first +word.</p> + +<p>"You cannot have looked, niño," he said, "when you order such a thing."</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, I do so because I have looked," he replied.</p> + +<p>"Then you must have seen badly," the majordomo said; "otherwise you +would have perceived that the horseman at their head is one of your +most devoted friends."</p> + +<p>"Whom do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Who else than Stronghand?"</p> + +<p>"Is Stronghand coming with those horsemen?"</p> + +<p>"He is at the head of the column, niño."</p> + +<p>"Oh, in that case let them enter."</p> + +<p>"Ah, I felt certain of it."</p> + +<p>The hunters had no necessity even of parleying; they found the hacienda +gates wide open, and rode straight in without drawing rein. Don Ruiz +recognised Stronghand, who, on his side, rode up to him and held out +his hand.</p> + +<p>"Grant me one favour, Don Ruiz," he said.</p> + +<p>"Speak," the young man answered.</p> + +<p>"Two words of conversation in your sister's presence; but wait a +moment, another person must accompany me, for reasons you will soon +appreciate; this person desires temporarily to maintain the most +inviolable incognito. Do you consent?"</p> + +<p>Don Ruiz hesitated.</p> + +<p>"What do you fear?" the hunter continued; "Do you not put faith in me? +Do you believe me capable of abusing your confidence?"</p> + +<p>"No; I do not wish even to suppose it, I pledge you my word."</p> + +<p>"And I mine, Don Ruiz."</p> + +<p>"Act as you think proper."</p> + +<p>The hunter gave a signal, and a horseman dismounted and came up to +them. A long cloak entirely covered him, and the broad brim of his hat +was pulled down over his eyes. He bowed silently to the young man, who, +though greatly perplexed by this mystery, made no remark; and after +requesting the majordomo to take care of the newcomers, he led his +guests to the room in which Doña Marianna was seated, engaged with her +tambour-work. The young lady, on hearing the door open, mechanically +raised her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" she exclaimed, joyfully, "Stronghand!"</p> + +<p>"Myself, señorita," the young man replied, with a respectful bow; "I +have come to ask the fulfilment of your promise."</p> + +<p>"I shall keep it, no matter what may happen."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, señorita."</p> + +<p>"Ruiz," she said to her brother, eagerly; "until further orders, my +father must not know of the presence of these caballeros here."</p> + +<p>"What you ask of me is very difficult, sister; think of the immense +responsibility I assume in acting thus."</p> + +<p>"I know it, Ruiz; but it must be, my dear brother, for my happiness is +at stake," she continued, clasping her hands imploringly; "and besides, +what have you to fear? Do you not know this hunter?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know him; I am even under great obligations to him; but his +companion?"</p> + +<p>"I answer for him, Ruiz."</p> + +<p>"You know, then, who he is?"</p> + +<p>"No matter what I know, brother; I only beg you to grant what I ask."</p> + +<p>"Well, for your sake I will be silent."</p> + +<p>"Oh! Thanks, thanks, brother!"</p> + +<p>At this moment a sound of footsteps was heard in the adjoining room.</p> + +<p>"What is to be done?" the maiden murmured.</p> + +<p>Stronghand laid his finger on his lips, and, leading away his +companion—who, through the thick cloak he wore, resembled a phantom +rather than a man—disappeared behind a curtain. At the same instant +a door opened, and two persons entered. They were Don Marcos and the +senator. They had scarce exchanged the first compliments with Don Ruiz +and Doña Marianna, when the Marquis entered the room.</p> + +<p>"You are up at last, I am happy to see," he said, cheerfully. "<i>¡Viva +Dios!</i> You were in a most deplorable state on your arrival; I am glad +to see you so fully recovered."</p> + +<p>"A thousand thanks, cousin, for your hospitality, of which we stood in +great need."</p> + +<p>"No more about that; I am the more pleased at the chance which has +brought us together, Don Rufino, because I intended to write to you +immediately."</p> + +<p>"My dear sir," the senator said, with a bow.</p> + +<p>"Are you not expecting an answer from me?"</p> + +<p>"It is so, but I did not dare to hope."</p> + +<p>The Marquis cut him short.</p> + +<p>"Let us come to the most important point first," he continued, with +a smile. "Don Rufino, you have behaved to me like a real friend. By +a miracle—for I can only attribute to a miracle the good fortune +that has befallen me—I am in a position to arrange my affairs, +and discharge my debt to you, although, be assured, I shall never +forget the services you have rendered me, and the obligations I have +contracted toward you."</p> + +<p>The senator was so surprised, that he turned pale, and took a +side-glance at the colonel.</p> + +<p>"Obligations far greater than you suppose," the latter said, warmly.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, cousin?" the Marquis asked, in surprise.</p> + +<p>"I mean that Don Rufino, unaware of the happy change in your fortunes, +and wishing to save you from the frightful position in which you were, +had bought up all your liabilities, and so soon as he had all the +vouchers in his possession, he hurried with them to me, and implored me +to destroy them. Here they are, cousin," he added, as he drew a bundle +of papers from his pocket.</p> + +<p>The various actors in this singular scene were affected by strange +feelings. Don Ruiz and his sister exchanged a look of despair, for +they understood that the Marquis would now be unable to refuse his +consent to his daughter's marriage.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" the Marquis exclaimed, "I cannot accept such an act of +generosity."</p> + +<p>"From a stranger, certainly not," Don Rufino remarked, in an +insinuating voice; "but I flattered myself that I was not such to you, +my dear sir."</p> + +<p>There was a silence.</p> + +<p>"What is going on at this moment is so strange; I feel taken so +unawares," the Marquis presently continued; "my thoughts are so +confused, that I must beg you, Don Rufino, to defer till tomorrow the +remainder of this conversation. By that time I shall have been able to +regain my coolness, and then, believe me, I will answer you in the way +that I ought to do."</p> + +<p>"My dear sir, I understand the delicacy of your remarks, and will wait +as long as you think proper," the senator replied, with a bow, and an +impassioned glance at Doña Marianna, who was pale and trembling.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the colonel, "let us put off serious matters till tomorrow; +the shock we have suffered has been too rough for us to be fit for any +discussion just at present."</p> + +<p>"What has happened to you? The pagans have not seized the Mineral de +Quitovar? Or at least I hope not."</p> + +<p>"Yes, they have, cousin; the pueblo has been captured by the Redskins, +sacked, and burnt. We had great difficulty in making our escape, and +passed through extraordinary dangers ere we were so lucky as to reach +your hacienda."</p> + +<p>"That is disastrous news, cousin; I had been told of it, but was +unwilling to believe it."</p> + +<p>"It is unhappily but too true."</p> + +<p>"Well, thank Heaven, cousin, you are in safety here. As for you, Don +Rufino, I am happy that you escaped from the horrible massacre; you are +not a soldier, you are—"</p> + +<p>"An assassin!" a sepulchral voice suddenly exclaimed, and a hand was +laid heavily on the senator's shoulder.</p> + +<p>The company turned with horror. Stronghand's companion had let fall the +hat and cloak that disguised him, and was standing, stern and menacing, +behind the senator.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" the latter exclaimed, as he recoiled with terror, "Rodolfo! Don +Rodolfo!"</p> + +<p>"Brother, do I see you again after so many years?" the Marquis said, +joyfully, as he advanced towards the stranger.</p> + +<p>"The great sachem," Doña Marianna murmured.</p> + +<p>The sachem thrust back with a gesture of sovereign contempt the +startled senator, and walked into the centre of the group.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is I, brother; I, the proscript, the disinherited, who enter +the house of my father after an absence of twenty years, in order to +save the last representative of my family."</p> + +<p>"Oh, brother! Brother!" the Marquis exclaimed, sorrowfully.</p> + +<p>"Recover yourself, Hernando! I entertain no feelings of hatred or +rancour for you; on the contrary, I have always loved you, and though +I was far away from you I have never lost you out of sight. Come to +my arms, brother; let us forget the past, only to think of the joy of +being reunited."</p> + +<p>The Marquis threw himself into his brother's arms; Don Ruiz and Doña +Marianna imitated him, and for some minutes there was an uninterrupted +interchange of embraces among the members of this family, who had so +long been separated.</p> + +<p>"It was through me that you received the sum which Paredes was to +receive at Hermosillo", Don Rodolfo continued; "to me you also owe +the discovery of the gold mine which has saved you. But I have not +come here solely to embrace you and yours, brother; I have come to +punish a villain! This man," he said, pointing to the senator, who was +trembling with rage and terror—"this man was my valet; in order to +rob me, he attempted to assassinate me cowardly, treacherously, and +behind my back. Such is the man whose dark machinations had succeeded +in deceiving you, and to whom you were on the point of giving your +daughter: let him contradict me if he dare!"</p> + +<p>"Oh!" the senator muttered, with a furious gesture.</p> + +<p>"Villain!" the Marquis exclaimed; "Help! Help! seize the monster!"</p> + +<p>Several servants rushed into the room, but before they could reach +Don Rufino the latter had bounded with a tiger leap upon Don Rodolfo, +and buried a dagger in his chest. The sachem fell back with a cry of +pain into the arms of his brother and his son. After the crime was +committed, the assassin threw down his weapon, and said to the startled +spectators, with an air of defiance and satisfied hatred,—</p> + +<p>"Now you can do whatever you like to me, for I am avenged."</p> + + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h4><a name="CHAPTER_XL" id="CHAPTER_XL">CHAPTER XL.</a></h4> + +<h3>FUNERAL OF A SACHEM.</h3> +<hr class="r5" /> + +<p>Two days had elapsed since the atrocious attack made by Don Rufino on +Don Rodolfo de Moguer. The Papazos had captured the hacienda without a +blow, as the gates were opened to them; for the stupor and terror of +the Mexicans at this horrible crime were so great, that they forgot all +precautions. But we must do the Redskins the justice of stating that, +contrary to their habits, they committed no excesses in the hacienda, +either by virtue of superior orders, or in consequence of the sorrow +which the wound of their great sachem caused them. Doña Esperanza had +arrived with Padre Serapio at the same time as the Indian warriors, and +she and Doña Marianna did not leave the wounded man's bed.</p> + +<p>Don Hernando was inconsolable, and the colonel could not forgive +himself for having supposed for a moment that the senator was an honest +man. The whole hacienda was plunged into sorrow, and Don Rodolfo +alone watched death approach with a calm brow. Fray Serapio dressed +his wound: his night was tolerably quiet, and in the morning the monk +entered the wounded man's room. At a sign from Don Rodolfo his wife and +niece, who had watched the whole night through by his bedside, withdrew.</p> + +<p>"Now, padre," he said, when they left the room, "it is our turn."</p> + +<p>And he helped him to remove the bandages. The monk frowned.</p> + +<p>"I am condemned, am I not?" said Don Rodolfo, who attentively followed +in the monk's face the feelings that agitated him.</p> + +<p>"God can perform a miracle," the Franciscan stammered, in a faint voice.</p> + +<p>The sachem smiled softly.</p> + +<p>"I understand you," he replied; "answer me, therefore, frankly and +sincerely. How many hours have I still to live?"</p> + +<p>"What good is that, my dear, good master?" the monk murmured.</p> + +<p>"Padre Serapio," the chief interrupted him, in a firm voice, "I want to +know, in order that I may settle my affairs on earth, before I appear +in the presence of God."</p> + +<p>"Do you insist on my telling you the truth?"</p> + +<p>"Pray do so—the entire truth."</p> + +<p>The poor man stifled a sigh, and answered, in a voice broken by +emotion—"Unless a miracle occur, you will give back your soul to your +Creator at sunset."</p> + +<p>"I thank you, my friend," the sachem said, his austere face not +displaying the slightest trace of emotion. "Ask my brother to come +here, for I have to talk with him. Keep back my wife and niece until I +ask for them. Go, father; I will see you again before I die."</p> + +<p>The worthy monk withdrew, choked with sobs. The interview of the two +brothers was long, for Don Hernando had many faults to ask pardon for +at the hands of him whose place he had taken. But Don Rodolfo, far from +reproaching him, tried on the contrary to console him, by talking to +him in a cheerful voice, and reminding him of the happy days of their +childhood. He also thanked his brother warmly for having freed him from +the heavy burden of supporting the family honour, and allowing him to +live in accordance with his tastes and humour. Many other things were +talked of, after which the Marquis retired, with pale brow and eyes +swollen with tears, which he tried in vain to repress, that he might +not sadden the last moments of the man whose great soul was revealed +to him at this supreme moment—of the brother whom he had so cruelly +misunderstood, and who had even sacrificed his life to insure his +brother's happiness.</p> + +<p>Doña Marianna and Doña Esperanza then returned to the dying man's room, +followed by Padre Serapio, and a few moments after the Marquis came +back, accompanied by Stronghand. The young man, in spite of his Indian +education and affected stoicism, knelt down sobbing by his father's +side. For some moments father and son talked together in a low voice; +no one save God knew what words were uttered by these two men during +the solemn interview.</p> + +<p>"Come here, niece," Don Rodolfo at length said, addressing Doña +Marianna.</p> + +<p>The maiden knelt down sobbing by the hunter's side. The aged man looked +for a moment tenderly at their two young faces, pale with sorrow, which +were piously leaning over him; then making an effort to sit up, and +supported on one side by his brother, on the other by Doña Esperanza, +he said, in a voice that trembled with emotion—"Niece, answer me as +you would answer God; for the dying, you know, no longer belong to this +world. Do you love my son?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, uncle," the maiden answered through her tears—"yes, I love him."</p> + +<p>"And you, Diego, my son, do you love your cousin?"</p> + +<p>"Father, I love her," the young man answered, in a voice crushed by +emotion.</p> + +<p>Don Rodolfo turned to his brother, who understood his glance.</p> + +<p>"Bless our children, brother," he said, "according to the wish you +expressed to me; Padre Serapio will unite them in your presence."</p> + +<p>The wounded man stretched out his trembling hands over the two young +people.</p> + +<p>"Children," he said, in a powerful voice, though with an accent of +ineffable tenderness, "I bless you; be happy."</p> + +<p>And, crushed by the efforts he had been forced to make, he fell back +in a half-fainting state on his bed. When he regained consciousness, +through the attention of Don Esperanza and his niece, he perceived +an altar by the side of his bed. On his expressing a desire that the +ceremony should take place at once, Padre Serapio, assisted by José +Paredes, who was weeping bitterly, read the marriage mass. After the +nuptial benediction, Don Rodolfo received the last sacraments, amid the +tears and sobs of all present.</p> + +<p>"And, now, my friends," he said, "that I have accomplished my duties +as a Christian and Spanish gentleman, it is time for me to perform my +duties as an Indian chief; so allow the Papazo warriors to enter."</p> + +<p>The doors opened, and the warriors entered: they were sad, gloomy, +and thoughtful. The sachem had sat up to receive them, supported by +his son Stronghand. The warriors silently surrounded the bed on which +their venerated chief lay, among them being Sparrowhawk and Peccary. +The sachem looked calmly round the circle, and then spoke in a calm and +deeply accentuated voice:—</p> + +<p>"The Master of Life has suddenly recalled me to Him. I did not fall +in action, but beneath the dagger of a cowardly assassin. I regret +leaving my nation before I had completed the task which I undertook +for their happiness. What I had not time to do, another will doubtless +terminate. My brothers must continue the war they have so happily +and gloriously commenced; and though I am leaving them, my mind will +remain among them. The warriors of my nation must never forget that +the Master of Life created them free, and that they must live and die +free. The Papazos are brave men, invincible warriors, and slavery is +not made for them. On the point of appearing before the Master of Life, +I implore the chiefs not to forget that the white persons who surround +me form part of my family. If my brothers retain after my death any +recollection of the good which I have continually sought to do them, +they will be kind to the palefaces whom I love. I have only one more +word to add: I desire to give back my soul to the Master of Life +beneath the buffalo hide cabin of the warriors of my nation, and in +the midst of my nation. I desire also that all the rites customary at +the death of the chiefs should be performed for me."</p> + +<p>A tremor of joy ran along the ranks of the redskin warriors on hearing +the last words; for they had feared in their hearts that the sachem +would wish to be interred after the fashion of the white men. The +Peccary then replied, in the name of all—</p> + +<p>"My father's wishes are orders for his children; never, so long as +the powerful confederation of the Papazos exists, shall an insult be +offered to the palefaces whom he loves. Our father can die in peace; +all his wishes will be religiously carried out by his children."</p> + +<p>A flash of joy sparkled in the sachem's eye at this promise, which he +knew would be strictly kept. The Peccary continued—</p> + +<p>"The Papazos chiefs are sad; their hearts are swollen by the thought of +losing their father: they fear lest his death may be the cause of great +disorder in their confederation, and injure the success of the war +which had scarce begun."</p> + +<p>"I belong to my sons till the last moment of my existence; what can I +do for them?"</p> + +<p>"My father can do a great deal," the chief answered.</p> + +<p>"My ears are open; I am waiting for my son to explain himself."</p> + +<p>"The chiefs," continued Peccary, "and the great braves of the +confederation, assembled at sunrise round the council fire: they +desire, in order that no discord may spring up among them, that our +father, the great sachem, should himself appoint his successor; for +they feel persuaded that our father's choice will fall on a brave and +wise chief, worthy to command men."</p> + +<p>The sachem reflected for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Be it so," he said at length; "the determination of the sachems is +wise, and I approve of it. Sparrowhawk will command in my place when +I am called away by the Great Spirit; no one is more worthy to be the +first sachem of the nation."</p> + +<p>Sparrowhawk quitted the ranks, stepped forward, and bowed respectfully +to the dying man.</p> + +<p>"I thank my father," he said, "for the signal honour he has done me; +but I am very young to command chiefs and renowned warriors, and I fear +that I shall break down in the heavy task imposed on me. My father +leaves a son; Stronghand is one of the great braves of our nation, and +his wisdom is renowned."</p> + +<p>"My son is a paleface; he does not know the wants of the Papazos so +well as Sparrowhawk. Sparrowhawk will command."</p> + +<p>"I obey my father since he insists; but Stronghand will ever be one of +the great chiefs of my nation."</p> + +<p>A flattering murmur greeted these clever remarks.</p> + +<p>"I thank my son Sparrowhawk in the name of Stronghand. Modesty becomes +a chief so celebrated as is my son," the sachem continued; "the Great +Spirit will inspire him, and he will do great things. I have spoken. Do +the chiefs approve my choice?"</p> + +<p>"We could not have chosen better," Peccary answered. "We sincerely +thank our father for having anticipated our dearest wishes by choosing +Sparrowhawk."</p> + +<p>This scene so simple in its grandeur, and so truly patriarchal, +affected all the spectators, who felt their hearts swollen by sorrow. +The sachem continued—</p> + +<p>"I feel my strength rapidly leaving me, and life is abandoning me; the +Great Spirit will soon call me to Him. My sons will carry me beneath a +tent of my nation, in order that I may breathe my last sigh in their +midst."</p> + +<p>Stronghand, the Marquis, Peccary, and Sparrowhawk gently lifted the +wounded man on their shoulders, and carried him to the front yard +of the hacienda, followed by all the rest, who walked silently and +thoughtfully in the rear. A lodge, formed of stakes covered with +buffalo hides, had been prepared to receive the great chief; the bed +on which he was lying was softly put down, and the chief's eyes were +turned toward the setting sun. Then all the warriors and their squaws, +whom messengers had informed of the sachem's wound, and who had hurried +to the hacienda, surrounded the tent. The Mexicans themselves mingled +with the crowd, and a deadly silence brooded over the hacienda, in +which, however, more than six thousand persons were assembled at this +moment.</p> + +<p>All eyes were turned toward the dying sachem, by whose side were +standing the members of his family, Padre Serapio, and the principal +chiefs of the Papazos. Now and then the aged man uttered a few words, +which he addressed at times to the monk, at others to his brother, +or to the Indian chiefs. When the sun was beginning to sink on the +horizon, the wounded man's breathing began to grow panting, his eyes +gradually became covered by a mist, and he did not speak; but he +tightly grasped his son's and wife's hands in his right hand, and +Sparrowhawk's in his left.</p> + +<p>All at once a nervous tremor passed over the dying man's body; his +cheeks were tinged; his half closed eyes opened again; he sat up +without any extraneous help, and shouted, in a strong, clear voice, +which was heard by all—"I come, Lord! Papazos, farewell! Esperanza! +Esperanza! We shall meet again!"</p> + +<p>His eyes closed; a livid pallor spread over his face; his limbs +stiffened, and he fell back heavily as he exhaled his last sigh. He was +dead. His last thought was for his wife, whom he had so dearly loved. +The sobs, hitherto restrained, burst forth suddenly and violently +among the crowd.</p> + +<p>"Our father is dead!" Sparrowhawk shouted, in a thundering voice.</p> + +<p>"Vengeance!" the Redskins yelled.</p> + +<p>In fact the murderer of the chief was still alive. The white men who +did not wish to witness the horrible scene that was about to take +place, withdrew. Stronghand, the colonel, Paredes, and Mariano alone +remained. The body of the defunct sachem was at once surrounded by the +squaws: they painted it with several bright colours, dressed it in a +buffalo robe, formed his hair into a tuft as a sign of his rank, and +stretched him out on a dais. The assassin, who was pale but resolute, +was then brought up.</p> + +<p>Sparrowhawk placed himself at the head of the corpse, and began a long +funeral oration, which was frequently interrupted by the sobs of his +audience; then, pointing with an expressive gesture to the murderer, +who was still standing motionless in the midst of the Indians who +guarded him, he said—</p> + +<p>"Commence the punishment."</p> + +<p>We will not describe the frightful punishment which was inflicted on +the senator; such horrible details are repulsive to our pen. We will +restrict ourselves to stating that he was flayed alive, and that all +his joints were cut in succession. He suffered indescribable agony for +three long hours ere he died. Night had set in during this interval. +When the wretched assassin was dead, chosen warriors took their chief's +body on their shoulders, and proceeded by the light of torches to the +huerta, at the spot where the hacienda hung over the precipice. On +reaching this spot the chief's magnificent steed was brought up. On +his back his master's corpse was securely tied with deerskin thongs, +holding his totem in one hand and his gun in the other; the scalps of +his foes were fastened to his saddle-bow, and on his neck and arms were +his bead necklaces and copper ornaments. Then, amid the sobs of the +squaws, the horse was led to the plateau, where the Papago warriors, +mounted and dressed in their war paint, formed a semicircle, whose ends +reached the precipice.</p> + +<p>Then took place a scene whose savage grandeur could only be compared to +the funeral rites performed at the death of the barbarous chiefs during +those great national migrations which produced the overthrow of the +Roman Empire. By the glare of the torches—whose flames, agitated by +the wind, imparted a fantastic aspect to the gloomy and stern landscape +in this part of the huerta—the horse was placed in the midst of the +semicircle, and the horsemen, brandishing their weapons, struck up +their war song with a savage energy. The startled horse bounded on to +the plateau, bearing the corpse, to which each of its bounds imparted +such an oscillating movement that the rider appeared to be restored to +life. On reaching the brink of the precipice the horse recoiled with +terror, with flaming nostrils; then, suddenly turning round, it tried +to burst the living rampart, which was constantly contracted behind +it. Several times the animal renewed the same exertions; but at last, +attacked by a paroxysm of terror, pursued by the yells of the Indians, +and wounded by their long lances, it rose on its hind legs, uttered a +terrible snort, and leaped into the gulf with its burden. At the same +moment all the torches were extinguished, the tumult was followed by a +mournful silence, and the warriors retired.</p> + +<p>On the morrow, at sunrise, the Redskins left the hacienda, to which +they did not once return during the whole of the war, which lasted +three years. We may possibly some day tell what was the termination of +this grand uprising of the Indians, who on several occasions all but +deprived the Mexican republic of its finest and richest, provinces.</p> + + +<h4>THE END</h4> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Stronghand, by Gustave Aimard + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STRONGHAND *** + +***** This file should be named 44672-h.htm or 44672-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/6/7/44672/ + +Produced by Camille Bernard & Marc D'Hooghe at +http://www.freeliterature.org (Images generously made +available by the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford) + + +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: Stronghand + or, The Noble Revenge + +Author: Gustave Aimard + +Translator: Lascelles Wraxall + +Release Date: January 15, 2014 [EBook #44672] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STRONGHAND *** + + + + +Produced by Camille Bernard & Marc D'Hooghe at +http://www.freeliterature.org (Images generously made +available by the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford) + + + + + +STRONGHAND + +OR + +THE NOBLE REVENGE + + +BY + +GUSTAVE AIMARD + +AUTHOR OF "PRAIRIE FLOWER," "BUCCANEER CHIEF," ETC. + +LONDON + +WARD AND LOCK, 158, FLEET STREET + +MDCCCLXIV + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + + I. AN EXCHANGE OF SHOTS + II. ON THE PRAIRIE + III. THE BIVOUAC + IV. THE POST OF SAN MIGUEL + V. THE STAY IN THE FOREST + VI. A GLANCE AT THE PAST + VII. THE FAMILY TRIBUNAL + VIII. THE TWO BROTHERS + IX. A NEW CHARACTER + X. DON JOSE PAREDES + XI. ON THE ROAD + XII. A CONVERSATION BY NIGHT + XIII. THE REAL DE MINAS + XIV. THE BARGAIN + XV. THE PAPAZOS + XVI. THE ATEPETL + XVII. THE SPY + XVIII. THE COUNCIL OF THE SACHEMS + XIX. THE RANCHO + XX. LOST! + XXI. STRONGHAND + XXII. THE RETURN + XXIII. CHANCE WORK + XXIV. FATHER AND SON + XXV. THE HATCHET + XXVI. THE WHITE-SKINS + XXVII. SERIOUS EVENTS + XXVIII. THE TIGRERO + XXIX. THE EXCURSION + XXX. THE HUNTER'S CAMP + XXXI. THE LEGEND + XXXII. KIDD REAPPEARS + XXXIII. COMPLICATIONS + XXXIV. TWO VILLAINS + XXXV. A FRIENDLY BARGAIN + XXXVI. THE HACIENDA DEL TORO + XXXVII. THE HUERTA + XXXVIII. THE ASSAULT ON QUITOVAR + XXXIX. THE VENGEANCE OF HEAVEN + XL. FUNERAL OF A SACHEM + + + + +STRONGHAND + + +CHAPTER I. + +AN EXCHANGE OF SHOTS. + + +The country extending between the Sierra de San Saba and the Rio +Puerco, or Dirty River, is one of the most mournful and melancholy +regions imaginable. + +This accursed savannah, on which bleach unrecognized skeletons, which +the wind and sun strive to convert into dust, is an immense desert, +broadcast with grey rocks, beneath which snakes and wild beasts have, +from time immemorial, formed their lurking-place, and which only +produces black shrubs and stunted larches that rise from distance to +distance above the desert. + +White or Indian travellers rarely and most unwillingly venture to +cross this frightful solitude, and at the risk of lengthening their +journey they prefer making a detour and following the border, where +they are certain of finding shade and water--those delights of tropical +countries and indispensable necessities for a long trip on the western +prairies. + +Towards the second half of June--which the Navajo Indians call the +"strawberry moon" in their harmonious language--and in the Year of +Grace 1843, a horseman suddenly emerged from a thick clump of oaks, +sumachs, and mahogany trees, entered the savannah at a gallop, and, +instead of following the usual travellers' track, which was distinctly +traced on the edge of the sand, he began without any hesitation +crossing the desert in a straight line. + +This resolution was a mark of great folly, or a proof of extraordinary +daring on the part of a solitary man, however brave he might be; or +else some imperious reasons compelled him to lay aside all prudence in +order to reach his journey's end more speedily. + +However, whatever the motives that might determine the traveller, he +continued his journey rapidly, and buried himself deeper and deeper in +the desert, without seeming to notice the gloomy and desolate aspect +the landscape around him constantly assumed. + +As this person is destined to play an important part in our story, we +will draw his portrait in a few words. He was a man of from twenty-five +to thirty years of age--belonging to the pure Mexican race, of average +height, and possessed of elegant manners; while his every gesture, +graceful though it was, revealed a far from ordinary strength. His +face, with its regular features and bright hue, evidenced frankness, +bravery, and kindliness; his black eyes, haughty and well open, +had a straight and penetrating glance; his well cut mouth, adorned +with dazzling white teeth, was half concealed beneath a long brown +moustache; his chin, of too marked an outline perhaps, denoted a great +firmness of character; in short, his whole appearance aroused interest +and attracted sympathy. + +As for his dress, it was the Mexico costume in all its picturesque +richness. His broad-brimmed Vicuna skin hat, decorated with a double +gold and silver _golilla_, was carelessly set on his right ear, and +allowed curls of luxurious black hair to fall in disorder on his +shoulders. He wore a jacket of green velvet, magnificently embroidered +with gold, under which could be seen a worked linen shirt. An Indian +handkerchief was fastened round his neck by a diamond ring. His +_calzoneras_, also of green velvet, held round his hips by a red silk +gold-fringed _faja_ were embroidered and slashed like a jacket, while +two rows of pearl-set gold buttons ran along the opening that extends +from the boot to the knee. His vaquero boots, embroidered with pretty +designs in red thread, were fastened to his legs by silk and gold +garters, from one of which emerged the admirably carved hilt of a long +knife. His zarape, of Indian fabric and showy colours, was folded on +the back of his horse, an animal full of fire, with fine legs, small +head, and flashing eye. It was a true prairie mustang; and its master +had decorated it with the coquettish elegance peculiar to Mexican +horsemen. + +In addition to the knife we referred to, and which the horseman wore +in his right boot, he had also a long American rifle laid across his +saddle-bow, two six-shot revolvers in his girdle, a machete, or species +of straight sabre, which was passed, unsheathed, through an iron ring +on his left side; and, lastly, a reata of plaited leather, rolled up +and fastened to the saddle. + +Thus armed, the man we have just described was able--on the admission +that his determined appearance was not deceitful--to make head against +several adversaries at once, without any serious disadvantage. This +was a consideration not at all to be despised in a country where a +traveller ever runs the risk of encountering an enemy, whether man or +beast, and, at times both together. + +While galloping, the horseman carelessly smoked a husk cigarette, only +taking an absent and disdainful glance at the coveys of birds that rose +on his approach, or the herds of deer and packs of foxes which fled in +terror on hearing the horse's gallop. + +The savannah, however, was already beginning to assume a more gloomy +tinge; the sun, now level with the ground, only appeared on the horizon +as a red unheated ball, and night was soon about to cover the earth +with its dense gloom. The horseman drew up the bridle of his steed +to check its speed, though not entirely stopping it, and, casting an +investigating glance around him, seemed to be seeking a suitable spot +for his night halt. + +After a few seconds of this search, the traveller's determination was +formed. He turned slightly to the left, and proceeded to a half dried +up stream that ran along a short distance off, and on whose banks grew +a few prickly shrubs and a clump of some dozen larches, forming a +precarious shelter against the curiosity of those mysterious denizens +of the desert that prowl about in search of prey during the darkness. + +On drawing nearer, the traveller perceived to his delight that this +spot, perfectly hidden from prying glances, by the conformation of the +ground and a few blocks of stone scattered here and there among the +trees and shrubs, offered him an almost certain shelter. + +The journey had been tiring; and both man and horse felt themselves +worn with fatigue. Both, before proceeding further, imperiously +required a few hours' rest. + +The horseman, as an experienced traveller, first attended to his steed, +which he unsaddled and led to drink at the stream; then, after hobbling +the animal for fear it might stray and become the prey of wild beasts, +he stretched his zarape on the ground, threw a few handfuls of Indian +corn upon it, and when he was assured that his horse, in spite of its +fatigue, was eating its provender willingly, he thought about himself. + +Mexicans, when travelling, carry behind their saddle two canvas bags, +called _alforjas_, intended to convey food, which it is impossible to +procure in the desert; and these, with two jars filled with drinking +water, form the sole baggage with which they cover enormous distances, +and endure privations and fatigue, the mere enumeration of which would +terrify Europeans, who are accustomed to enjoy all the conveniences +supplied by an advanced stage of civilization. + +The horseman opened his alforjas, sat down on the ground with his back +against a rock, and, while careful that his weapons were within reach, +for fear of being attacked unawares, he began supping philosophically +on a piece of tasajo, some maize tortillas, and goat's cheese as hard +as a flint, the whole being washed down with the pure water of the +stream. + +This repast, which was more than frugal, was soon terminated. The +horseman, after cleaning his teeth with an elegant gold toothpick, +rolled a pajilla, smoked it with that conscientious beatitude peculiar +to the Hispano-Americans, and then wrapped himself in his zarape, shut +his eyes, and fell asleep. + +Several hours passed; and it is probable that the traveller's sleep +would have been prolonged for some time, had not two shots, fired a +short distance from him, suddenly aroused him from his lethargy. The +general rule on the prairie is, that when you hear a shot, it is rare +for it not to have been preceded by the whistle of a bullet past your +ear--in other words, there are ninety-nine reasons in a hundred that +the lonely man has been unconsciously converted into the target of an +assassin. + +The traveller, thus unpleasantly aroused, seized his weapons, concealed +himself behind a rock, and waited. Then, as after the expiration of +a moment, the attack was not renewed, he rose softly, and carefully +looked around him. + +Not a sound disturbed the majestic solitude of the desert. But this +sudden tranquillity after the two shots, instead of re-assuring the +traveller, only augmented his anxiety, by revealing to him the approach +of a certain danger, though it was impossible for him to divine the +cause or the magnitude. + +The night was clear, and, so to speak, transparent; the sky, of a deep +blue, was studded with a profusion of sparkling stars, and the moon +shed a white and melancholy light, that allowed the country to be +surveyed for a long distance. + +At all hazards he saddled his horse; then, after concealing it in a +rocky cavity, he lay down, placed his ear to the ground, and listened. +Then he fancied he could hear a long distance off a sound, at first +almost imperceptible, but which rapidly approached; and he soon +recognized in it the wild galloping of several horses. + +It was a hunt, or a pursuit. But who would dream of hunting in the +middle of the night? The Indians would not venture it, while white and +half-bred trappers only rarely visited these deserted regions, which +they abandoned to the savages and border ruffians; utter villains, who, +expelled from the towns and pueblos, have no other shelter than the +desert. + +Were the galloping horsemen pirates of the prairie, then? + +The situation was becoming painful to the traveller when, all at once, +the noise ceased, and all became silent. + +The traveller rose from the ground. + +Suddenly, the shrieks of a woman or girl burst forth on the night, with +an expression of terror and agony impossible to depict. + +The stranger, leaving his horse in the shelter he had selected for it, +dashed forward in the direction whence the cry came, leaping from rock +to rock and clearing shrubs, at the risk of hurting himself, with the +feverish speed of the brave man who believes himself suddenly called +by Providence to save a fellow being in danger. + +Still, prudence did not desert him in his hazardous enterprise; and, +before risking himself on the plain, he stopped behind a fringe of +larch trees, in order to try and find out what was going on, and act in +accordance. + +This is what he saw:--two men, who from their appearance he at once +recognized as belonging to the worst species of prairie runners, were +madly pursuing a young girl. But, thanks to her juvenile agility--an +agility doubtless doubled by the profound terror the bandits inspired +her with--this maiden bounded like a startled fawn across the prairie, +leaping ravines, clearing every obstacle, and gaining at each moment +a greater advance on her pursuers, who were impeded by their vaquero +boots and heavy rifles. + +A few minutes later, and the maiden reached the belt of trees behind +which the traveller had concealed himself. The latter was about to rush +to her assistance, when suddenly one of the bandits raised his rifle +and pulled the trigger. + +The girl fell, and the horseman seemed to change his mind--for instead +of advancing, he drew himself back and stood motionless, with his +finger on the trigger, ready to fire. + +The pirates rapidly approached, talking together in that medley of +English, French, Spanish and Indian which is employed throughout the +Far West. + +"Hum!" said a hoarse and panting voice; "What a gazelle! At one moment +I really thought she would escape us." + +"Yes, yes," the other answered, shaking his head and tapping the +barrel of his rifle with his right hand; "but I always felt certain of +bringing her down when I thought proper." + +"Yes, and you did not miss her, _caray!_ Although it was a long shot, +and your hand must have trembled after such a chase." + +"Habit, compadre! Habit!" the bandit answered, with a modest smile. + +While talking thus, the two bandits had reached the spot where the body +of the girl lay. One of them knelt down, doubtless to assure himself +of the death of their victim; while the other, the one who had fired, +looked on carelessly, leaning on his rifle. + +The traveller then drew himself up, raised his piece, and fired. The +bandit, struck in the centre of the breast, sank down like a sack, and +did not stir. He was dead. + +His companion had started and laid his hand on his _machete_; but not +leaving him time to employ it, the traveller rushed on him, and with a +powerful blow of the butt end on his head, sent him to join his comrade +on the ground, where he rolled, half killed. + +The traveller, taking the bandit's reata, then firmly bound his hands +and feet; and, easy in mind on this point, he eagerly approached the +maiden. The poor girl gave no sign of life, but, for all that, was not +dead; her wound, indeed, was slight, as the pirate's bullet had merely +grazed her arm. Terror alone had produced her fainting fit. + +The stranger carefully bandaged the wound, slightly moistened her +lips and temples, and, after a comparatively short period, had the +satisfaction of seeing her open her eyes again. + +"Oh!" she murmured, in a voice soft and melodious as a bird's song, +"Those men--those demons! Oh! Heaven! Protect me!" + +"Reassure yourself, Senorita," the traveller answered; "you have +nothing further to fear from those villains." + +The maiden started at the sound of this strange voice; she fixed +her eyes on the stranger without giving him any answer, and made an +instinctive movement to rise. She doubtless took the man who had spoken +for one of her pursuers. The latter smiled mournfully, and pointed to +the two bandits lying on the ground. + +"Look, Senorita," he said to her; "you have only a friend here." + +At this sight an expression of unbounded gratitude illumined the +wounded girl's face, and a sickly smile appeared on her lips; but +almost immediately her features grew saddened again. She sprang up, +and raising herself on the tips of her small feet, she stretched out +her right arm toward a point on the horizon, and exclaimed in a voice +broken by terror-- + +"There, there! Look!" + +The stranger turned to the indicated direction. A party of horsemen +were coming up at full speed, preceded about a rifle shot distance by +another horseman, evidently better mounted than they, and whom they +appeared to be pursuing. The stranger then remembered the furious +galloping he had heard a few moments previously. + +"Oh!" the girl exclaimed, clasping her hands in entreaty, "Save him, +Senor! Save him!" + +"I will try, Senorita," he replied, gently; "all that a man can do, I +swear to do." + +"Thank you," she said, offering him her pretty little hand; "you are a +noble-hearted man, and Heaven will aid you." + +"You must not remain here exposed to the insults of these men, who are +evidently the comrades of those from whom you have just escaped." + +"That is true," she said; "but what can I do? Where shall I seek +shelter?" + +"Follow me behind these trees; we have not a moment to lose." + +"Come," she said, resolutely. "But you will save him! Will you not?" + +"At least I will try. I have only my life to offer the person in whom +you take an interest; and believe me, Senorita, I shall not hesitate to +make the sacrifice." + +The maiden looked down with a blush, and silently followed her guide. +They soon reached the thicket in which the stranger had established his +quarters for the night. + +"Whatever happens," he said, while reloading his rifle, "remain here, +Senorita. You are in safety in this hollow rock, where no one will +dream of seeking you. For my part, I am going to help your friend." + +"Go," she said, as she knelt down on the ground; "while you are +fighting I will pray for you--and Heaven will grant my prayer." + +"Yes," the stranger answered, mournfully, "God listens gladly to the +voice of angels, so let us hope for the best." + +He leaped on his horse; and after giving a parting glance at the +maiden, who was praying fervently, he dashed at full speed in the +direction of the newcomers. There were seven in number--bandits with +stern faces and dangerous aspect, who dashed up brandishing their +weapons and uttering horrible yells. + +The pursued horseman, on seeing a man emerge so unexpectedly from the +thicket, and come towards him at full speed, rifle in hand, naturally +supposed that assistance was arriving for his foes, and dashed on one +side to avoid a man whom he assumed, with some show of reason, to be an +adversary the more. But the bandits were not mistaken when they saw the +stranger not only let their prey escape, but stop in front of them and +cock his rifle. + +Two shots were fired at the same moment, one by a bandit the other +by the stranger, with the difference, however, that the bandit's +shot, being fired haphazard was harmless; while the stranger's, being +deliberately aimed, struck exactly in the mass of his serried foes. + +A few seconds later, one of them let go his bridle, beat the air with +his arms, fell back on his horse, and at length on the ground, tearing +with his huge spurs the sides of his steed, which reared, kicked, and +started off like an arrow. + +A war so frankly declared could not have a sudden termination: four +shots succeeding each other with extreme rapidity on either side were +a sufficient proof of this. But the stranger's position was growing +critical: his rifle was discharged, and he had only his revolvers left. + +The revolver, by the way, is a weapon more convenient than useful in +a fight, for if you wish to hit your man, you must fire at him almost +point blank, otherwise the bullets have a tendency to stray. This is a +sufficient explanation why, in spite of the immoderate use the North +Americans make of this weapon, the number of murders among them is +proportionately limited. + +The stranger was, therefore, somewhat embarrassed, and was preparing in +his emergency for a hand-to-hand fight, when help he had been far from +calculating on suddenly reached him. + +The pursued horseman, on hearing the firing, and yet finding no bullets +whizzed past him, understood that something unusual was taking place, +and that some strange incident must have occurred in his favour. +Hence he turned back, and saw one of his enemies fall. Recognising +his mistake, he made up his mind at once: though only armed with a +_machete_, he wheeled his horse round and bravely drew up alongside +his defender. + +Then the two men, without exchanging a word, resolutely dashed at the +bandits. The contest was short--the success unhoped for. Moreover, the +sides were nearly equal, for of the seven pirates only four were now +alive. + +The attack was so sudden, that the pirates had not time to reload. Two +were killed with revolver shots. The third fell with his head severed +by a _machete_ blow from the horseman, who was burning to take an +exemplary vengeance; while the fourth, finding himself alone leaped his +horse over the corpses of his comrades, and fled at full speed without +attempting to continue longer a combat which could not but be fatal to +him. + +The two men consequently remained masters of the battlefield. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +ON THE PRAIRIE. + + +When the last bandit had disappeared in the darkness, the horseman +turned to his generous defender, in order to thank him; but the latter +was no longer by his side, and he saw him galloping some distance off +on the plain. + +The horseman knew not to what he should attribute this sudden +departure--(for the stranger was following a direction diametrically +opposite to that on which the pirate had fled)--till he saw him return, +leading another horse by the bridle. + +The stranger had thought of the young lady he had so miraculously +saved; and on seeing the horses of the killed bandits galloping about, +he resolved at once to capture the best of them, in order to enable +her to continue her journey more comfortably; and when the animal was +lassoed, he returned slowly towards the man to whom he had rendered so +great a service. + +"Senor," the horseman said, as soon as they met again, "all is not over +yet; I have a further service to ask of you." + +"Speak, Caballero," the stranger replied, starting at the sound of the +voice, which he fancied he recognised. "Speak, I am listening to you." + +"A woman, an unhappy girl--my sister, in a word, is lost in this +horrible desert. Some of the scoundrels started in pursuit of her, and +I know not what may have happened to her. I am in mortal agony, and +must rejoin her at all risks; hence do not leave the good action you +have so well begun unfinished; help me to find my sister's track,--join +with me in seeking her." + +"It is useless," the stranger answered, coldly. + +"What, useless!" the horseman exclaimed with horror; "Has any +misfortune happened to her? Ah! I remember now; I fancied, while I was +flying, that I heard several shots. Oh, Heaven, Heaven!" he added, +writhing his hands in despair, "My poor sister, my poor Marianita!" + +"Reassure yourself, Caballero," the stranger continued in the same cold +deliberate accent; "your sister is in safety, temporarily at least, and +has nothing to fear. Heaven permitted that I should cross her path." + +"Are you stating truth?" he exclaimed, joyfully. "Oh, bless you, Senor, +for the happy news! Where is she? Let me see her! Let me press her to +my heart. Alas! How shall I ever acquit my debt to you?" + +"You owe me nothing," the stranger answered in a rough voice; "it was +chance, or God, if you prefer it, that did everything, and I was only +the instrument. My conduct would have been the same to any other +person; so keep your gratitude--which I do not ask of you. Who knows," +he added ironically, "whether you may not some day repent of having +contracted any obligations toward me?" + +The horseman felt internally pained at the way in which his advances +were received by a man who scarce five minutes previously had saved his +life. Not knowing to what he should attribute this sudden change of +temper, he pretended not to notice anything offensive the words might +contain, and said, with exquisite politeness-- + +"The spot is badly chosen for a lengthened conversation, Caballero. We +are still, if not strangers, at least unknown to each other. I trust +that ere long all coldness and misunderstanding will cease between us, +and make room for perfect confidence." + +The other smiled bitterly. + +"Come," he said, "your sister is near here, and must be impatient to +see you." + +The horseman followed him without replying; but asking himself mentally +who this singular man could be, who risked his life to defend him, and +yet appeared anxious to treat him as an enemy. + +All the sounds of the combat had reached the maiden's ear: she had +heard them while kneeling on the ground, half dead with terror, and +searching her troubled memory in vain for a prayer to address to Heaven. + +Then the firing had ceased: a mournful silence again spread over the +desert--a silence more terrifying a thousandfold than the terrible +sounds of the fight, and she remained crouching in a corner and +suffering from nameless agony, alone, far from all human help, not +daring to retain a single hope, and fearing at each moment to see a +frightful death awaiting her. The poor girl could not have said how +long she remained thus crushed beneath the weight of her terror. A +person must really have suffered, to know of how many centuries a +minute is composed when life or death is awaited. + +Suddenly she started: her strong nerves relaxed, a fugitive flush +tinged her cheek, she fancied she had heard a few words uttered in a +low voice not far from her. Were her enemies again pursuing her? Or was +her saviour returning to her side? + +She remained anxious and motionless, not daring to make a movement or +utter a cry to ask for help; for a movement might reveal her presence, +a cry hopelessly ruin her. + +But, ere long, the bushes were parted by a powerful hand; and two +horsemen appeared at the base of the rock. The maiden stretched out her +hands to them with an exclamation of delight; and, too weak to support +this last emotion, she fainted. + +She had recognised in the men, who arrived side by side, her brother +and the stranger to whom she owed her life. + +When she regained her senses, she was lying on furs in front of a large +fire. The two men were sitting on her right and left; while in the rock +cave, three horses were eating their provender of alfalfa. + +Somewhat in the shadow a few paces from her, the maiden perceived a +mass, whose form it was impossible for her to distinguish at the first +glance, but which a more attentive examination enabled her to recognise +as a bound man lying on the ground. + +The maiden was anxious to speak and thank her liberator; but the shock +she had received was so rude, the emotion so powerful, that it was +impossible for her to utter a word--so weak did she feel. She could +only give him a glance full of all the gratitude she felt, and then +fell back into a state of feverish exhaustion and morbid apathy, which +almost completely deprived her of the power of thinking and feeling, +and which rendered her involuntarily ignorant of all that was going on +around her. + +"It is well," said the stranger, as he carefully closed a gold mounted +flask and concealed it in his bosom. "Now, Caballero, there is nothing +more to fear for the Senorita; the draught I have administered to her, +by procuring her a calm and healthy sleep, will restore her strength +sufficiently for her to be able to continue her journey at sunrise, +should it be necessary." + +"Caballero," the stranger answered, "you are really performing the part +of Providence towards me and my sister, I know not, in truth, how to +express to you the lively gratitude I feel for a procedure which is the +more generous as I am a perfect stranger to you." + +"Do you think so?" he answered sarcastically. + +"The more I examine your face, the more convinced I am that I have met +you tonight for the first time." + +"You would not venture to affirm it?" + +"Yes, I would. Your features are too remarkable for me not to remember +them if I had seen you before; but I repeat, if you fancy you know me, +you are mistaken, and an accidental resemblance to some other person is +the cause of your error." + +There was a momentary silence, and then the stranger spoke again, with +a politeness too affected for the irony it concealed not to be seen-- + +"Be it so, Caballero," he answered, with a bow; "perhaps I am mistaken. +Be good enough, therefore, if you have no objection, to tell me who +you are, and by what fortuitous concourse of circumstances I have +been enabled to render you what you are kind enough to call a great +service?" + +"And it is an immense one, in truth, Caballero," the stranger +interrupted with warmth. + +"I will not discuss that subject any longer with you, Caballero; I am +awaiting your pleasure." + +"Senor, I will not abuse your patience for long. My name is Don Ruiz +de Moguer, and I reside with my father at a hacienda in the vicinity +of Arispe. For reasons too lengthy to explain to you, and which would +but slightly interest you, the presence of my sister (who has been at +school for some years at the Convent of the Conception at El Rosario) +became indispensable at the hacienda. By my father's orders I set out +for El Rosario a few months ago, in order to bring my sister back to +her family. I was anxious to rejoin my father; and hence, in spite of +the observations made to me by persons acquainted with the dangers +attending so long a journey through a desert country, I resolved to +take no escort, but start for home merely accompanied by two peons, on +whose courage and fidelity I could rely." + +"My sister who had been separated from her family for several years, +was as eager as myself to quit the convent; and hence we soon set +out. For the first few days all went well; our journey was performed +under the most favourable auspices, and my sister and I laughed at the +anxiety and apprehensions of our friends, for we had begun to believe +ourselves safe from any dangerous encounter." + +"But yesterday at sunset, just as we were preparing our camp for the +night, we were suddenly attacked by a party of bandits, who seemed +to emerge from the ground in front of us, so unforeseen was their +apparition. Our poor brave peons were killed while defending us; and +my sister's horse, struck by a bullet in the head, threw her. But the +brave girl, far from surrendering to the bandits, who rushed forward +to seize her, began flying across the savannah. Then I tried to lead +the aggressors off the scent, and induce them to pursue me. You +know the rest, Caballero; and had it not been for your providential +interference, it would have been all over with us." + +There was a silence, which Don Ruiz was the first to break. + +"Caballero," he said, "now that you know who I am, tell me the name of +my saviour?" + +"What good is that?" the stranger answered, sadly. "We have come +together for a moment by chance, and shall separate tomorrow never to +meet again. Gratitude is a heavy burden. Not knowing who I am, you will +soon have forgotten me. Believe me, Senor Don Ruiz, it is better that +it should be so. Who knows if you may not regret some day knowing me?" + +"It is the second time you have said that, Caballero. Your words +breathe a bitterness that pains me. You must have suffered very +grievously for your thoughts to be so sad and your heart so +disenchanted at an age when the future ordinarily appears so full of +promise." + +The stranger raised his head, and bent on his questioner a glance that +seemed trying to read to the bottom of his soul: the latter continued, +however, with some degree of vivacity-- + +"Oh! Do not mistake the meaning I attach to my words, Caballero. I +have no intention to take your confidence by surprise, or encroach on +your secrets. Every man's life belongs to himself--his actions concern +himself alone; and I recognise no claim to a confidence which I neither +expect nor desire. The only thing I ask of you is to tell me your name, +that my sister and myself may retain it in our hearts." + +"Why insist on so frivolous a matter?" + +"I will answer--What reason have you to be so obstinate in remaining +unknown?" + +"Then you insist on my telling you my name?" + +"Oh, Caballero, I have no right to insist; I only ask it." + +"Very good," said the stranger, "you shall know my name; but I warn you +that it will teach you nothing." + +"Pardon me, Caballero," Don Ruiz remarked, with a touch of exquisite +delicacy, "this name, repeated by me to my father, will tell him every +hour in the day that it is to the man who bears it that he owes the +life of his children, and a whole family will bless you." + +In spite of himself, the stranger felt affected. By an instinctive +movement he offered his hand to the young man, which the latter pressed +affectionately. But, as if suddenly reproaching himself for yielding +to his feelings, this strange man sharply drew back his hand, and +reassuming the expression of sternness, which had for a moment departed +from him, said, with a roughness in his voice that astonished and +saddened the young Mexican, "You shall be satisfied." + +We have said that Dona Marianita, in looking round her, fancied she saw +the body of a man stretched on the ground a few paces from the fire. +The maiden was not mistaken; it was really a man she saw, carefully +gagged and bound. It was in a word, one of the two bandits who had +pursued her so long, and the one whom the stranger had almost killed +with a blow of his rifle butt. + +After recommending Don Ruiz to be patient by a wave of his hand, the +stranger rose, walked straight up to the bandit, threw him on his +shoulders, and laid him at the feet of the young Mexican, perhaps +rather roughly--for the pirate, in spite of the thorough Indian +stoicism he affected, could not suppress a stifled yell of pain. + +"Who is this man, and what do you purpose doing with him?" Don Ruiz +asked, with some anxiety. + +"This scoundrel," the stranger answered, harshly, "was one of the band +that attacked you; we are going to try him." + +"Try him?" the young gentleman objected; "We?" + +"Of course," the stranger said, as he removed the bandit's gag, and +unfastened the rope that bound his limbs. "Do you fancy that we are +going to trouble ourselves with the scoundrel till we find a prison +in which to place him, without counting the fact that, if we were so +simple as to do so, the odds are about fifty to one that he would +escape from us during the journey, and slip through our fingers like an +opossum, to attack us a few hours later at the head of a fresh band of +pirates of his own breed. No, no; that would be madness. When the snake +is dead, the venom is dead, too; it is better to try him." + +"But by what right can we constitute ourselves the judges of this man?" + +"By what right?" the stranger exclaimed, in amazement. "The Border law, +which says, 'Eye for eye; tooth for tooth.' Lynch law authorizes us to +try this bandit, and when the sentence is pronounced, to execute it +ourselves." + +Don Ruiz reflected for a moment, during which the stranger looked at +him aside with the most serious attention. + +"That is possible," the young man at length answered; "perhaps you are +right in speaking thus. This man is guilty--he is evidently a miserable +assassin covered with blood; and, had my sister and myself fallen into +his hands, he would not have hesitated to stab us, or blow out our +brains." + +"Well?" the stranger remarked. + +"Well," the young man continued, with generous animation in his voice; +"this certainly does not authorize us in taking justice into our own +hands; besides, my sister is saved." + +"Then it is your opinion--" + +"That as we cannot hand this man over to the police, we are bound to +set him at liberty, after taking all proper precautions that he cannot +injure us." + +"You have, doubtless, carefully reflected on the consequences of the +deed you advise?" + +"My conscience orders me to act as I am doing." + +"Your will be done!" and, addressing the bandit, who throughout the +conversation had remained gloomy and silent, though his eyes constantly +wandered from one to the other of the speakers, he said to him, "Get +up!" + +The pirate rose. + +"Look at me," the stranger continued; "do you recognise me?" + +"No," the bandit said. + +The stranger seized a lighted brand, and held it up near his face. + +"Look at me more carefully, Kidd," he said, in a sharp, imperious voice. + +The scoundrel, who had bent forward, drew himself back with a start of +fear. + +"Stronghand!" he exclaimed, in a voice choked by dread. + +"Ah!" the horseman said, with a sardonic smile; "I see that you +recognise me now." + +"Yes," the bandit muttered. "What are your orders?" + +"I have none. You heard all we have been saying, I suppose?" + +"All." + +"What do you think of it?" + +The pirate did not answer. + +"Speak, and be frank! I insist." + +"Hum!" he said, with a side-glance. + +"Will you speak? I tell you I insist." + +"Well!" he answered, in a rather humbling voice, but yet with a tinge +of irony easy to notice; "I think that when you hold your enemy, you +ought to kill him." + +"That is really your opinion?" + +"Yes." + +"What do you say to that?" the stranger asked, turning to Don Ruiz. + +"I say," he replied, simply, "that as this man is not my enemy, I +cannot and ought not to take any vengeance on him." + +"Hence?" + +"Hence, justice alone has the right to make him account for his +conduct. As for me, I decline." + +"And that is truly the expression of your thoughts?" + +"On my honour, Caballero. During the fight I should not have felt the +slightest hesitation in killing him--for in that case I was defending +the life he tried to take; but now that he is a prisoner, and unarmed, +I have no longer aught to do with him." + +In spite of the mask of indifference the stranger wore on his face, he +could not completely hide the joy he experienced at hearing these noble +sentiments so simply expressed. + +There was a moment's silence, during which the three men seemed +questioning each other's faces. At length Stronghand spoke again, +and addressed the bandit, who remained motionless, and apparently +indifferent to what was being said-- + +"Go! You are free!" he said, as he cut the last bonds that held him. +"But remember, Kidd, that if it has pleased this Caballero to forget +your offences, I have not pardoned them. You know me, so do your best +to keep out of my way, or you will not escape, so easily as this day, +the just punishment you have deserved. Begone!" + +"All right, Stronghand, I will remember," the bandit said, with a +covert threat. + +And at once gliding into the bushes, he disappeared, without taking +further leave of the persons who had given him his life. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE BIVOUAC. + + +For some moments the bandit's hurried footsteps were audible, and then +all became silent once again. + +"You wished it," Stronghand then said, looking at Don Ruiz from under +his bent brows. "Now, be certain that you have at least one implacable +enemy on the prairie; for you are not so simple, I assume, as to +believe in the gratitude of such a man?" + +"I pity him, if he hates me for the good I have done him in return for +the harm he wished to do me, but honour ordered me to let him escape." + +"Yours will be a short life, Senor, if you are obstinate in carrying +out such philanthropic precepts in our unhappy country." + +"My ancestors had a motto to which they never proved false." + +"And pray what may that motto be, Caballero?" + +"Everything for honour, no matter what may happen," the young man said, +simply. + +"Yes," Stronghand answered, with a harsh laugh; "the maxim is noble, +and Heaven grant it prove of service to you; but," he continued, after +looking round him, "the darkness is beginning to grow less thick, the +night is on the wane, and within an hour the sun will be up. You know +my name, which, as I told you beforehand, has not helped you much." + +"You are mistaken, Caballero," Don Ruiz interrupted him, eagerly; "for +I have frequently heard the name mentioned, of which you fancied me +ignorant." + +Stronghand bent a piercing glance on the young man. + +"Ah!" he said, with a slight tremor in his voice; "And doubtless, +each time you heard that name uttered, it was accompanied by far from +flattering epithets, which gave you but a poor opinion of the man who +bears it." + +"Here again you are mistaken, Senor; it has been uttered in my presence +as the name of a brave man, with a powerful heart and vast intellect, +whom unknown and secret sorrow has urged to lead a strange life, to +fly the society of his fellow men, and to wander constantly about the +deserts; but who, under all circumstances, even spite of the examples +that daily surrounded him, managed to keep his honour intact and retain +a spotless reputation, which even the bandits, with whom the incidents +of an adventurous life too often bring him into contact, are forced +to admire. That, Senor, is what this name, which you supposed I was +ignorant of, recalls to my mind, and the way in which I have ever heard +the man who bears it spoken of." + +Stronghand smiled bitterly. + +"Can the world really be less wicked and unjust than I supposed it?" he +muttered, in self-colloquy. + +"Do not doubt it," the young man said, eagerly. "God, who has allowed +the good and the bad to dwell side by side on this earth, has yet +willed that the amount of good should exceed that of bad, so that, +sooner or later, each should be requited according to his works and +merits." + +"Such words," he answered, ironically, "would be more appropriate in +the mouth of a priest or missionary, whose hair has been blanched, and +back bowed by the weight of the incessant struggles of his apostolic +mission, than in that of a young man who has scarce reached the dawn +of life, whom no tempest has yet assailed, and who has only tasted the +honey of life. But no matter; your intention is good, and I thank you. +But we have far more serious matters to attend to than losing our time +in philosophical discussions which would not convince either of us." + +"I was wrong, Caballero, I allow," Don Ruiz answered; "it does not +become me, who am as yet but a child, to make such remarks to you; so, +pray pardon me." + +"I have nothing to pardon you, Senor," Stronghand replied with a smile; +"on the contrary, I thank you. Now let us attend to the most pressing +affair--that is to say, what you purpose doing to get out of your +present situation." + +"I confess to you that I am greatly alarmed," Don Ruiz replied, +with a slight tinge of sadness, as he looked at the girl, who was +still sleeping. "What has happened to me, the terrible danger I have +incurred, and from which I only escaped, thanks to your generous help--" + +"Not a word more on that subject," Stronghand interrupted him quickly. +"You will disoblige me by pressing it further." + +The young man bowed. + +"Were I alone," he said, "I should not hesitate to continue my journey. +A brave man, and I believe myself one, nearly always succeeds in +escaping the perils that threaten him, if he confront them: but I have +my sister with me--my sister, whose energy the terrible scene of this +night has broken, and who, in the event of a second attack from the +pirates of the prairies, would become an easy prey to the villains--the +more so because, too weak to save her, I could only die with her." + +Stronghand turned away, murmuring to himself compassionately. + +"That is true, poor child;" then he said to Don Ruiz, "Still, you must +make up your mind." + +"Unfortunately I have no choice; there is only one thing to be done: +whatever may happen, I shall continue my journey at sunrise, if my +sister be in a condition to follow me." + +"That need not trouble you. When she awakes, her strength will be +sufficiently recovered for her to keep on horseback without excessive +fatigue; but from here to Arispe the road is very long." + +"I know it: and it is that which frightens me for my poor sister." + +"Listen to me. Perhaps there is a way for you to get out of the scrape, +and avoid up to a certain point the dangers that threaten you. Two +days' journey from here there is a military post, placed like an +advanced sentry to watch the frontier, and prevent the incursions of +the Indios bravos, and other bandits of every description and colour, +who infest these regions. The main point for you is to reach this post, +when it will be easy for you to obtain from the Commandant an escort to +protect you from any insult for the rest of your journey." + +"Yes; but, as you remark, I must reach the post." + +"Well?" + +"I do not know this country: one of the two peons who accompanied me +acted as guide; and now he is dead, it is utterly impossible for me to +find my way. I am in the position of a sailor, lost without a compass +on an unknown sea." + +Stronghand looked at him with surprise mingled with compassion. + +"Oh!" he exclaimed, "How improvident is youth! What! Imprudent boy! +You dared to risk yourself in the desert, and entrust to a peon your +sister's precious life?" But, recollecting himself immediately, he +continued, "Pardon me; reproaches are ill suited at this moment; the +great thing is to get you out of the danger in which you are." + +He let his head fall on his hands, and plunged into serious +reflections, while Don Ruiz looked at him with mingled apprehension and +hope. The young man did not deceive himself as to his position: the +reproaches which Stronghand spared him, he had already made himself, +cursing his improvident temerity; for things had reached such a point, +that if the man to whom he owed his life, refused to afford him his +omnipotent protection, he and his sister were irremediably lost. + +Stronghand, after a few minutes, which seemed to last an age, rose, +seized his rifle, went up to his horse, saddled it, mounted, and said +to Don Ruiz, who followed all his movements with anxious curiosity-- + +"Wait for me, however long my absence may be; do not stir from here +till I return." + +Then, without waiting for the young man's answer, he bent lightly over +his horse's neck, and started at a gallop. Don Ruiz watched the black +outline, as it disappeared in the gloom; he listened to the horse's +footfalls so long as he could hear them, and then turned back and +seated himself pensively at the fire, and looked with tearful eyes at +his sleeping sister. + +"Poor Marianita!" he murmured, with a heart-rending outburst of pity. + +He bowed his head on his chest, and with pale and gloomy face awaited +the return of Stronghand--a return which, in his heart, he doubted, +although, with the obstinacy of desperate men, who try to deceive +themselves by making excuses whose falsehood they know, he sought to +prove its certainty. + +We will take advantage of this delay in our narrative to trace rapidly +the portraits of Don Ruiz de Moguer and his sister Marianita. We will +begin with the young lady, through politeness. + +Dona Mariana--or rather Marianita, as she was generally called at +the convent, and by her family--was a charming girl scarce sixteen, +graceful in her movements, and with black lustrous eyes. Her hair had +the bluish tinge of the raven's wing; her skin, the warm and gilded +hues of the sun of her country; her glance, half veiled by her long +brown eyelashes, was ardent; her straight nose, with its pink flexible +nostrils, was delicious; her laughing mouth, with its bright red lips, +gave her face an expression of simple, ignorant candour. Her movements, +soft and indolent, had that indescribable languor and serpentine +undulation alone possessed in so eminent a degree by the women of Lima +and Mexico, those daughters of the sun in whose veins flows the molten +lava of the volcanoes, instead of blood. In a word, she was a Spanish +girl from head to foot--but Andalusian before all. Hers was an ardent, +wild, jealous, passionate, and excessively superstitious nature. But +this lovely, splendid statue still wanted the divine spark. Dona +Mariana did not know herself; her heart had not yet spoken; she was as +yet but a delicious child, whom the fiery breath of love would convert +into an adorable woman. + +Physically, Don Ruiz was, as a man, the same his sister was a woman. +He was a thorough gentleman, and scarce four years older than Dona +Mariana. He was tall and well built; but his elegant and aristocratic +form denoted great personal strength. His regular features--too regular +perhaps, for a man--bore an unmistakable stamp of distinction; his +black eye had a frank and confident look; his mouth, which was rather +large, but adorned with splendid teeth, and fringed by a fine brown +moustache, coquettishly turned up, still retained the joyous, careless +smile of youth; his face displayed loyalty, gentleness, and bravery +carried to temerity;--in a word, all his features offered the most +perfect type of a true-blooded gentleman. + +Brother and sister, who, with the exception of a few almost +imperceptible variations, had the most perfect physical likeness, also +resembled each other morally. Both were equally ignorant of things of +the world. With their pure and innocent hearts they loved each other +with the holiest of all loves, fraternal affection, and only lived +through and for each other. + +Hence, Dona Mariana had felt a great delight and great impatience to +quit the convent, when Don Ruiz, in obedience to his father's commands, +came to fetch her from the Rosario. This impatience obliged Don Ruiz +not to consent to wait for an escort on his homeward journey, for fear +of vexing his sister. It was an imprudence that caused the misfortunes +we have already described, and for which, now they had arrived, Don +Ruiz reproached himself bitterly. He cursed the weakness that had made +him yield to the whims of a girl, and accused himself of being, through +his weakness, the sole cause of the frightful dangers from which she +had only escaped by a miracle, and of those no less terrible, which, +doubtless, still threatened her on the hundred and odd leagues they +had still to go before reaching the hacienda del Toro, where dwelt her +father, Don Hernando de Moguer. + +Still the hours, which never stop, continued to follow each other +slowly. The sun had risen; and, through its presence on the horizon, +immediately dissipated the darkness and heated the ground, which was +chilled by the abundant and icy dew of morning. + +Dona Marianita, aroused by the singing of the thousands of birds +concealed beneath the foliage, opened her eyes with a smile. The calm +sleep she had enjoyed for several hours restored not only her strength, +which was exhausted by the struggles of the previous evening, but also +her courage and gaiety. The girl's first glance was for her brother, +who, anxious and uneasy, was attentively watching her slumbers, and +impatiently awaiting the moment for her to awake. + +"Oh, Ruiz," she said, in her melodious voice, and offering her hand and +cheek simultaneously to the young man, "what a glorious sleep I have +had." + +"Really, sister," he exclaimed, kissing her, gladly, "you have slept +well." + +"That is to say," she continued, with a smile, "that at the convent I +never passed so delicious a night, accompanied by such charming dreams; +but it is true there were two of you to watch over my slumbers--two +kind and devoted hearts, in whom I could trust with perfect confidence." + +"Yes, sister; there were two of us." + +"What?" she asked in surprise mingled with anxiety. "You were--What do +you mean, Ruiz?" + +"What I say; nothing else, dear sister." + +"But I do not see the caballero to whom we have incurred so great an +obligation. Where is he?" + +"I cannot tell you, little sister. About two hours ago he mounted his +horse and left me, telling me not to stir from here till his return." + +"Oh, in that case I am quite easy. His absence alarmed me; but now that +I know he will return--" + +"Do you believe so?" he interrupted. + +"Why should I doubt it?" she continued with some animation in her +voice; "Did he not promise to return?" + +"Certainly." + +"Well! A caballero never breaks his pledged word. He said he would +come, and he will come." + +"Heaven grant it!" Don Ruiz muttered. + +And he shook his head sadly, and gave a profound sigh. The maiden felt +herself involuntarily assailed by anxiety. This persistency undoubtedly +terrified her. + +"Come, Ruiz," she said, turning very pale, "explain yourself. What has +happened between this caballero and yourself?" + +"Nothing beyond what you know, sister. Still, in spite of the man's +promise, I know not why, but I fear. He is a strange, incomprehensible +being--at one moment kind, at another cruel--changing his character, +and almost his face, momentarily. He frightens and repels, and yet +attracts and interests me. I am afraid he will abandon us, and fear +that he will return. A secret foreboding seems to warn me that this man +will have a great influence over your future and mine. Perhaps it is +our misfortune that we have met him." + +"I do not understand you, Ruiz. What means this confusion in your +ideas? Why this stern and strange judgment of a man whom you do not +know, and who has only done you kindness?" + +At the moment when Don Ruiz was preparing to answer, the gallop of a +horse became audible in the distance. + +"Silence, brother!" she exclaimed, with an emotion she could not +repress; "Silence, here he comes!" + +The young man looked at his sister in amazement. + +"How do you know it?" he asked her. + +"I have recognised him," she stammered, with a deep blush. "Stay--Look!" + +In fact, at this moment the shrubs parted, and Stronghand appeared in +the open space. Don Ruiz, though surprised at the singular remark which +had escaped his sister, had not time to ask her for an explanation. +Without dismounting, Stronghand, after bowing courteously to the young +lady, said, hurriedly-- + +"To horse!--To horse! Make haste! Time presses!" + +Don Ruiz at once saddled his own horse and his sister's, and a few +minutes later the two young people were riding by the hunter's side. + +"Let us start!" the latter continued. "_Cuerpo de Cristo_, Caballero, I +warned you that you were doing an imprudent action in liberating that +villain. If we do not take care, we shall have him at our heels within +an hour." + +These words sufficed to give the fugitives wings, and they started at +full gallop after the bold wood ranger. An hour elapsed ere a word +was exchanged between the three persons; bent over the necks of their +steeds they devoured the space--looking back anxiously from time to +time, and only thinking how to escape the unknown dangers by which +they felt themselves surrounded. About eight o'clock in the morning, +Stronghand checked his horse, and made his companions a sign to follow +his example. + +"Now," he said, "we have nothing more to fear. When we have crossed +that wood, which stretches out in front of us like a curtain of +verdure, we shall see the Port of San Miguel, whose walls will offer us +a certain shelter against the attacks of all the bandits of the desert, +were there ten thousand of them." + +"Last night I fancy that you spoke to me of a more distant post," Don +Ruiz said. + +"Yes; for I fancied San Miguel abandoned, if not in ruins. Before I +gave you what might prove a fallacious hope, I wished to assure myself +of the truth of the case." + +"Do you believe that the Commandant will consent to receive us?" the +young lady asked. + +"Certainly, Senorita, for a thousand reasons. In the first place, the +frontier posts are only established for the purpose of watching over +the safety of travellers; and then, again, San Miguel is commanded by +one of your relations--or, at any rate, an intimate friend of your +family." + +The young people looked at each other in surprise. + +"Do you know this Commandant's name?" Don Ruiz asked. + +"I was told it: he is Don Marcos de Niza." + +"Oh!" Dona Mariana exclaimed, joyfully; "I should think we do know him: +Don Marcos is a cousin of ours." + +"In that case, all is for the best," the hunter answered, coldly. "Let +us continue our journey; for there is a cloud of dust behind us that +forebodes us no good, if it reaches us before we have entered the post." + +The young people, without answering, resumed their gallop, crossed the +wood, and entered the little fort. + +"Look!" Stronghand said to Don Ruiz and his sister, the moment the gate +closed upon them. They turned back. A numerous band of horsemen issued +from the wood at this moment, and galloped up at full speed, uttering +ferocious yells. + +"This is the second time you have saved our lives, Caballero," Dona +Mariana said to the partizan, with a look of gratitude. + +"Why count them, Senorita?" he replied, with a sadness mingled with +bitterness. "Do I do so?" + +The maiden gave him a look of undefinable meaning, turned her head away +with a blush, and silently followed her brother. + +The Spaniards, whatever may be the opinion the Utopians of the old +world express about their mode of civilization, and the way in which +they treated the Indians of America, understood very well how to +enhance the prosperity of the countries they had been endowed with by +the strong arms of those heroic adventurers who were called Cortez, +Pizarro, Bilboa, Alvadaro, &c., and whose descendants, if any by +chance exist, are now in the most frightful wretchedness, although +their ancestors gave a whole world and incalculable riches to their +ungrateful country. + +When the Spanish rule was established in America, the first care of +the conquerors--after driving back the Indians who refused to accept +their iron yoke into frightful deserts, where they hoped want would +put an end to them--was to secure their frontiers, and prevent those +indomitable hordes, impelled by hunger and despair, from entering the +newly conquered country and plundering the towns and the haciendas. +For this purpose they established along the desert line a cordon of +presidios and military posts, which were all connected together, and +could, in case of need, assist each other, not so much through their +proximity--for they were a great distance apart, and scattered over +a great space--but by means of numerous patrols of lanceros, who +constantly proceeded from one post to the other. + +At present, since the declaration of independence, owing to the neglect +of the governments which have succeeded each other in this unhappy +country, most of the presidios and forts no longer exist. Some have +been burned by the Indians, who became invaders in their turn, and are +gradually regaining the territory the Europeans took from them; while +others have been abandoned, or so badly kept up, that they are for +the most part in ruins. Still, here and there you find a few, which +exceptionable circumstances have compelled the inhabitants to repair +and defend. + +As these forts were built in all the colonies on the same plan, in +describing the post of San Miguel, which still exists, and which we +have visited, the reader will easily form an idea of the simple and yet +effective defence adopted by the Europeans to protect them from the +surprises of their implacable and crafty foes. + +The post of San Miguel is composed of four square pavilions, connected +together by covered ways, the inner walls of which surround a courtyard +planted with lemon trees, peach trees, and algarrobas. On this court +opens the room intended for travellers, the barracks, &c. The outer +walls have only one issue, and are provided with loopholes, which can +only be reached by mounting a platform eight feet high and three wide. +All the masonry is constructed of _adobes_, or large blocks of earth +stamped and baked in the sun. + +Twenty feet beyond this wall is another, formed of cactuses, planted +very closely together, and having their branches intertwined. This +vegetable wall, if we may be allowed the use of the expression, is +naturally very thick, and protected by formidable prickles, which +render it impenetrable for the half-clad and generally badly-armed +Indians. The only entrance to it is a heavy gate, supported by posts +securely bedded in the ground. The soldiers, standing at the loopholes +of the second wall, fire in perfect shelter, and command the space +above the cactuses. + +On the approach of the Indians, when the Mexican Moon is at hand--that +is to say, the invariable season of their invasions--the sparse +dwellers on the border seek refuge inside San Miguel, and there in +complete safety wait till their enemies are weary of a siege which can +have no result for them, or till they are put to flight by soldiers +sent from a town frequently fifty leagues off. + +Don Marcos de Niza was a man of about forty, short and plump, but +withal active and quick. His regular features displayed a simplicity +of character, marked with intelligence and decision. He was one of +those educated honest professional officers, of whom the Mexican army +unfortunately counts too few in its ranks. Hence, as he thoroughly +attended to his duties, and had never tried to secure promotion by +intrigue and party manoeuvres, he had remained a captain for ten years +past, without hope of promotion, in spite of his qualifications (which +were recognised and appreciated by all) and his irreproachable conduct. +The post he occupied at this moment as Commandant of the Blockhouse +of San Miguel proved the value the Governor of the province set upon +him; for the frontier posts, constantly exposed to the attacks of the +Redskins, can only be given to sure men, who have long been accustomed +to Indian warfare. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE POST OF SAN MIGUEL. + + +As the dangerous honour of commanding one of the border forts like +San Miguel is not at all coveted by the brilliant officers accustomed +to clatter their sabres on the stones of the Palace in Mexico, it +is generally only given to brave soldiers who have no prospect of +promotion left to them. + +Informed by a cabo, or corporal, of the names of the guests who thus +suddenly arrived, the Captain rose to meet them with open arms and a +smile on his lips. + +"Oh, oh," he exclaimed, gleefully; "this is a charming surprise! +Children, I am delighted to see you." + +"Do not thank us, Don Marcos," Dona Mariana answered, smilingly. "We +are not paying you a visit, but have come to ask shelter and protection +of you." + +"You have them already. iRayo de Dios! Are we not relations, and very +close ones, too?" + +"Without doubt, cousin," Don Ruiz said; "hence, in our misfortune, it +is a great happiness for us to come across you." + +"Hilloh! You have something serious to tell me," the Captain continued, +his face growing gloomy. + +"So serious," the young man said, with a bow to the partizan, who stood +motionless by his side, "that had it not been for the help of this +caballero, in all probability we should be lying dead in the desert." + +"Oh, oh; my poor children! Come, dismount and follow me; you must need +rest and refreshment after such an alarm. Cabo Hernandez, take charge +of the horses." + +The corporal took the horses, which he led to the corral; and the young +people followed the Captain, after having been kissed and hugged by him +several times. Don Marcos pressed the hunter's hand, and made him a +sign to follow them. + +"There," he said, after introducing his guests into a room modestly +furnished with a few butacas; "sit down, children; and when you have +rested, we will talk." + +Refreshments had been prepared on the table. While the young people +enjoyed them, the Captain quitted them, and went with the hunter into +another room. So soon as they were alone, the two men became serious, +and the joy that illumined the Captain's face was suddenly extinguished. + +"Well," he asked Stronghand, after making him a sign to sit down, "what +news?" + +"Bad," he answered, distinctly. + +"I expected it," the officer muttered, with a sad toss of the head; "we +must put on our harness again, and push out into the savannah, in order +to prove to these bandits that we are able to punish them." + +The hunter shook his head several times, but said nothing. The Captain +looked at him attentively for some minutes. + +"What is the matter, my friend?" he at length asked him, with growing +anxiety; "I never saw you so sad and gloomy before." + +"The reason is," he answered, "because circumstances have never been so +serious." + +"Explain yourself, my friend; I confess to you that you are really +beginning to alarm me. With the exception of a few insignificant +marauders, the borders have never appeared to me more quiet." + +"It is a deceitful calm, Don Marcos, which contains the tempest in its +bosom--and a terrible tempest, I, assure you." + +"And yet our spies are all agreed in assuring us that the Indians are +not at all thinking of an expedition." + +"It proves that your spies betray you, that's all." + +"Possibly so; but still, I should like some proof or sign." + +"I ask for nothing better; I am enabled to give you the most positive +information." + +"Very good; that is the way to speak. I am listening to you." + +"Before all, is your garrison strong?" + +"I consider it large enough." + +"Perhaps so: how many men have you?" + +"Sixty or seventy, about." + +"That is not enough." + +"What! Not enough? The garrisons of blockhouses are never more +numerous." + +"In a time of peace, it may be so; but under present circumstances, I +repeat to you, that they are not enough, and you will soon agree with +me on that score. You must send off a courier, without the loss of a +moment, to ask for a reinforcement of from one hundred and fifty to two +hundred men. Do not deceive yourself, Captain; you will be the first +attacked, and the attack will be a rude one. I warn you." + +"Thanks for the hint. Still, my good friend, you will permit me not to +follow it till you have proved to me that there are urgent reasons for +doing so." + +"As you please, Captain; you are the commandant of the post, and your +responsibility must urge you to prudence. I will therefore abstain from +making any farther observations on the subject which only concerns me +very indirectly." + +"You are annoyed, and wrongly so, my friend; the responsibility to +which you refer demands that I should not let myself be led by vague +rumours to take measures I might have cause to regret. Give me the +explanation I expect of you; and, probably, when I know the imminence +of the danger that threatens me, I shall follow your advice." + +"I wish for nothing more than to satisfy you; so listen to me. What I +have to tell you will not take long." + +At this moment the room door opened and Corporal Hernandez appeared. +The Captain, annoyed at being thus inopportunely disturbed, turned +sharply round and angrily addressed the man-- + +"Well Corporal," he said, "what the fiend do you want now?" + +"Excuse me, Captain," the poor fellow said, astounded at this rough +greeting, "but the Lieutenant sent me." + +"Well, what does the Lieutenant want? Speak! But be brief, if that is +possible." + +"Captain, the sentry has seen a large party of horsemen coming at full +gallop towards the fort, and the Lieutenant ordered me to warn you." + +"Eh," said the Captain, looking uneasily at the hunter, "were you in +the right? and is this troop the vanguard of the enemy you threaten us +with?" + +"This troop," the hunter answered, with an equivocal smile, "has been +following Don Ruiz and myself since the morning. I do not believe that +these horsemen are Indians." + +"What's the Lieutenant's opinion about these scamps?" the Captain asked +the corporal. + +"They are too far off yet, and too hidden by the dust they raise, +Captain, for it to be possible to recognise them," the non-commissioned +officer replied with a bow. + +"That is true. We had better, I believe, go and look for ourselves. +Will you come?" + +"I should think so," the hunter said, as he seized his rifle, which he +had deposited in a corner of the room; and they went out. + +Don Ruiz and his sister were talking together, while doing ample +justice to the refreshment placed at their disposal. On seeing the +Captain, the young man rose and walked up to him. + +"Cousin," he said to him, with a bow, "I hear that you are on the point +of being attacked; and as it is to some extent my cause you are going +to defend, for the bandits who threaten you at this moment are allies +of those with whom I had a fight last night, pray allow me to fire a +shot by your side." + +"iViva Dios! Most heartily, my dear cousin," the Captain answered, +gaily: "although these scoundrels are not worth the trouble. Come +along!" + +"That's a fine fellow!" the Captain whispered in the hunter's ear. + +The latter made no answer. He contented himself with shrugging his +shoulders, and turned away. + +"Oh," Dona Mariana exclaimed, "Ruiz, what are you going to do? Stay +with me, I implore you, brother!" + +"Impossible, sister," the young man answered, as he kissed her; "what +would our cousin think of me were I to skulk here when fighting was +going on?" + +"Fear nothing, Nina; I am answerable for your brother," the Captain +said with a smile. + +The girl sat down again sadly on the butaca from which she had risen, +and the four men then left the room, and proceeded to the patio, or +court. Here everybody was busy. The Lieutenant, an old experienced +soldier, with a grey moustache and face furrowed by sabre cuts, and +whose whole life had been spent on the borders, had not lost his time. +While, by his order, Corporal Hernandez warned the Captain, he had +ordered the "fall-in" to be beaten, had placed the best shots at the +loopholes, and made all arrangements to avoid a surprise and give a +warm reception to the enemy who advanced so daringly against the fort. + +When the Captain set foot in the court, he stopped, embraced at a +glance the wise and intelligent arrangements made by his Lieutenant, +and a smile of satisfaction spread over his features. + +"And now," he said to the hunter, "let us go and see who the enemy is +with whom we have to deal." + +"It is unnecessary; for I can tell you, Captain," the other replied; +"they are the pirates." + +"Pirates!" Don Marcos exclaimed in amazement. "What! Those villains +would dare--" + +"Alone, certainly not," Stronghand quickly interrupted him; "but with +the certainty of being supported by the Indians, of whom they are +only the vanguard, they will not hesitate to do so. However, unless +I am greatly mistaken, their attack will not be serious; and their +object is probably to discover in what state of defence the post is. +Receive them, then, in such a way as to leave them no doubt on this +head, and prove to them that you are perfectly on your guard; and this +demonstration will without doubt be sufficient to send them flying." + +"You are right," said the Captain. "Viva Dios! They shall have their +answer, I promise you." + +He then gave the Corporal an order in a low voice; the latter bowed, +and went off hurriedly. For some minutes a deep silence prevailed in +the fort. The moments that precede a contest bring with them something +solemn, which causes the bravest men to reflect, and prepare for the +struggle, either by a powerful effort of the will, or by mentally +addressing a last and fervent prayer to Heaven. + +All at once, horrible yells were heard, mingled with the furious +galloping of many horses; and then the enemy appeared, leaning over +the necks of their steeds, and brandishing their weapons with an air +of defiance. When they came within pistol shot, the word to fire was +given from the walls, and a general discharge burst forth like a clap +of thunder. + +The horsemen fell into confusion, and turned back precipitately and in +the greatest disorder, followed by the Mexican bullets, which, directed +by strong arms and sure eyes, made great ravages in their ranks at +every step. Still, they had not fled so fast but that they could be +recognised for what they really were--that is, pirates of the prairies. +Half naked for the most part, and without saddles, they brandished +their rifles and long lances, and excited their horses by terrific +yells. + +Two or three individuals, probably chiefs, with their heads covered by +a species of turban, were noticeable through their ragged uniforms, +doubtless torn off murdered soldiers; their repulsive dirt and +ferocious appearance inspired the deepest disgust. No doubt was +possible: these wretches were certainly whites and half-breeds. What a +difference between these sinister bandits and the Apaches, Comanches, +and Arapahoes--those magnificent children of nature, so careful in the +choice of their weapons--so noble in their demeanour. + +After a rather long race, they stopped to hold counsel, out of range of +the firearms. They were at this moment joined by a second band, whose +leader began speaking and gesticulating with the utmost excitement, +pointing to the fort each moment with his rifle. The two bands, united, +might possibly amount to one hundred and fifty horsemen. + +After a rather long discussion, the pirates started again, and stopped +at the very foot of the walls. Captain Niza, wishing to inflict a +severe chastisement on them, had given orders not to fire, but to let +them do as they pleased. Hidden by the thick cactus hedge, the bandits +had suddenly become invisible; but the Mexicans, confiding in the +strength of their position and the solidity of the posts and gates, +felt no fear. + +Reassured by the silence of the garrison, some thirty pirates, among +whom were several of their chiefs, escaladed the great gate in turn, +and rushed toward the second wall. Unluckily for the success of their +plan, the wall was too lofty to be cleared in the same way; hence they +scattered. Some sought stones and posts to beat in the second gate; +while others tried, though in vain, to open the one they had so easily +scaled. + +The Mexicans could distinctly hear the pirates in the second +_enceinte_ explaining to their comrades the difficulty they experienced +in penetrating into the fort, and they must force the gate, in order +to allow a passage for those who remained outside. The latter then +threw their _reatas_, which, caught upon the posts, were tightened by +the combined efforts of the men and horses, and seemed on the point of +pulling the gate off its hinges; but the posts held firmly, and were +not even shaken by this supreme effort. + +"What are you waiting for, Captain?" Don Ruiz whispered in the +Commandant's ear. "Why do you not kill these vermin?" + +"There are not enough yet in the trap," he answered, with a cunning +look; "let them come." + +In fact, as if the bandits had wished to obey the old soldier, some +twenty more clambered over the gale, so that there were fifty of the +pirates between the cactus and the stone wall. Encouraged by their +numbers, which momentarily increased, they made a general assault. But, +all at once, every loophole was lit up by a sinister flash, and the +bullets began showering uninterruptedly on the wretches, who, through +their own position, found it impossible to answer the plunging fire of +the Mexicans. Recognising the fault they had committed, and the trap +they had so stupidly entered, the pirates became demoralized, fear +seized upon them, and they only thought of flight. + +Then they dashed at the outer gate, to clamber over it and reach the +plain; there the bullets dashed them down again--suffering from a +desperation which was the greater because they had no help to hope for +from their friends outside, whom, at the first check, they had heard +start off at full speed; and consequently they felt they were lost. + +The Mexicans, pitiless in their vengeance, fired incessantly on +the wretches, some of whom, by crawling on their hands and knees, +succeeded in reaching the foot of the wall below the loopholes--a +position in which they could not be attacked, unless the Mexicans +exposed themselves, and ran the risk of being killed or wounded. Of +fifty bandits who had scaled the gate, fourteen still lived; the others +were dead, and not one had succeeded in making his escape. + +"Ha! Ha!" said the Captain, rubbing his hands gleefully. "I fancy that +the lesson will be useful, though it may have been a trifle rough." + +But, on the reiterated entreaties of Don Ruiz, the worthy Commandant, +who in his heart was not cruel, consented to ask the survivors if they +were willing to surrender, a proposition which the pirates greeted with +yells of rage and defiance. These fourteen men, though their rifles +were discharged, were not enemies to despise, armed as they were with +long and heavy _machetes_, and resolved to die. The Mexicans were +acquainted with them, and knew that in a hand-to-hand fight they would +prove tough customers. + +Still there must be an end to it. At an order from the Captain the +gate of the second wall was suddenly opened, and some twenty horsemen +charged at full gallop the bandits, who, far from recoiling, awaited +them with a firm foot. The _melee_ was terrible, but short. Three +Mexicans were killed, and five others seriously wounded; but the +pirates, after an obstinate resistance, fell never to rise again. + +Only one of them--profiting by the disorder and the attention which the +soldiers remaining at the loopholes paid to the fight--succeeded by a +miracle of resolution and strength in scaling the wall and flying. This +pirate, the only one who escaped the massacre, was Kidd. On reaching +the plain he stopped for a second, turned to the fort with a gesture of +menace and defiance, and, leaping on a riderless horse, went off amid +a shower of bullets, not one of which struck him. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE STAY IN THE FOREST. + + +When the fight was over, and order restored at the post, the Captain +bade his Lieutenant have the bodies lying on the battlefield picked +up and hung by the feet to the trees on the plain, so that they +might become the prey of wild beasts, though not until they had been +decapitated. The heads were to remain exposed on the walls of the +forts, and act as an object of terror to the bandits, who, after this +act of summary justice, would not venture to approach the neighbourhood +of the post. + +Then, when all these orders had been given, the Commandant returned +to his residence, where Don Ruiz had already preceded him in order to +re-assure his sister as to the result of the fight. Don Marcos was +radiant: he had gained a great advantage--at least he thought so--over +the border ruffians; he had inflicted on them an exemplary punishment +at the expense of an insignificant loss, and supposed that for a long +time no one would venture to attack the post entrusted to him. + +Unfortunately, the wood ranger was not of the same opinion: each time +the Captain smiled and rubbed his hands at the recollection of some +episode in the fight, Stronghand shook his head sadly, and frowned +anxiously. This was done so frequently, that at last the worthy +Commandant was compelled to take notice of it. + +"What's the matter with you now?" he asked him, with an air half +vexed, half pleased. "You are, on my soul, the most extraordinary man +I know. Nothing satisfies you; you are always in a bad temper. Hang +it! I do not know how to treat you. Did we not give those scoundrels a +remarkable thrashing, eh? Come, answer!" + +"I allow it," the hunter replied laconically. + +"Hum! It is lucky you allow so much. And yet they fought bravely, I +fancy." + +"Yes; and it is that which frightens me." + +"I do not understand you." + +"Was I not giving you important information when we were interrupted by +the Cabo Hernandez?" + +"That is to say, you were going to give it me." + +"Yes; and with your permission, now that we have no fear of being +interrupted for a while, I will impart the news to you." + +"I ask nothing better; although I suppose that the defeat the pirates +have experienced must deprive the news of much of its importance." + +"The pirates play but a very small part in what I have to tell you." + +"Speak, then! I know that you are too earnest a man to try and amuse +yourself at my expense by inspiring me with ridiculous alarm." + +"You shall judge for yourself the perils of the situation in which you +may find yourself at any moment, if you do not employ the greatest +precaution and the most excessive prudence." + +The two men seated themselves on butacas, and the Commandant, who was +more excited than he wished to show by this startling preamble, made +the hunter a sign to commence his revelations. + +"About two months ago," the latter began, "I was at the Presidio of +San Estevan, whither certain personal matters had called me. This +Presidio, which, as you know, is about two days' journey from here, is +very important, and serves to some extent in connecting all the posts +scattered along the Indian border." + +The Captain gave a nod of assent. + +"I am," the hunter continued, "on rather intimate terms with Don +Gregorio Ochova, the Colonel commanding the Presidio, and during my +last stay at San Estevan I had opportunities for seeing him rather +frequently. You know the savageness of my character, and the species of +instinctive repulsion with which anything resembling a town inspires +me; hence, I need hardly say, that no sooner was my business ended than +I made preparations to depart, and, according to my custom, intended +to leave the Presidio at a very early hour. I did not like to go away +without saying good-bye to the Colonel and shaking hands with him; +so I went to his house for the purpose of taking leave. I found him +in a state of extreme agitation, walking up and down, and apparently +affected by a violent passion or great anxiety. On seeing me, he +uttered an exclamation of delight, and ran up to me, exclaiming--" + +"'Oh, Stronghand! Where on earth have you been hiding? I have been +seeking you everywhere for the last two hours, and have put a dozen +soldiers on your heels, who could not possibly find you.'" + +"I looked at the Colonel in surprise." + +"'You were seeking for me, Don Gregorio? I assure you that I was close +to you, and very easy to find.'" + +"'It seems not. But here you are--that is the main point; and I care +little where you were, or what you were doing. Do you think about +making any lengthened stay at San Estevan?'" + +"'No, Colonel,' I answered at once, 'my affairs are settled; I intend +to start at an early hour tomorrow, and I have just come to say +good-bye, and thank you for the hospitality you have shown me during my +stay at the Presidio.'" + +"'Good!' he said eagerly, 'that is all for the best but,' he added, +recollecting himself, and taking my hand in a kindly way, 'do not +suppose that it is my desire to see you depart that makes me speak +thus.'" + +"'I am convinced of the contrary,' I remarked with a bow." + +"He continued,--'You can, Stronghand, do me a great service, if you +will.'" + +"'I am at your command.'" + +"'This is the matter,' he said, at once entering on the business. 'For +some days past, the most alarming reports have been spreading through +the Presidio, though it is impossible to find out their origin.'" + +"'And what may they be?' I asked." + +"'It is said--(notice, I say it is said, and affirm nothing, as I know +nothing positive)--it is said, then, that a general uprising against us +is preparing--that the Indians, laying aside for a moment their private +hatreds, and forgetting their clannish quarrels to think only of the +hereditary hatred they entertain for us, are combining to attempt a +general attack on the posts, which they purpose to destroy, in order +to devastate our borders more freely. Their object is said to be, not +only the destruction of the posts, but also the invasion of several +States, such as Sonora and Sinaloa, in which they intend to establish +themselves permanently after expelling us.'" + +"'The reports are serious,' I remarked, 'but nothing has as yet +happened to confirm their truth.'" + +"'That is true; but you know that there is always a certain amount of +truth in every vague rumour, and it is that truth I should like to +know.'" + +"'Is no nation mentioned by name among those which are to take up +arms?'" + +"'Yes; more particularly the Papayos--that is to say, the grand league +of the Apaches, Axuas, Gilenos, Comanches, Mayos, and Opatas. But the +more serious thing is, always according to the report, that the white +and half-bred marauders on the border are leagued with them, and mean +to help them in their expedition against us.'" + +"'That is really serious,' I answered; 'but, pardon me for questioning +you, Colonel; what do you purpose doing to make head against the +imminent danger that threatens you?'" + +"'That is exactly why I want you, my friend; and you would do me a real +service by assisting me in this affair.'" + +"'I am ready to do anything that depends on myself to oblige you.'" + +"'I was certain of that answer, my friend. This is the matter, then. +You understand that I cannot remain thus surrounded by vague rumours +and terrors that have no apparent cause, but still carry trouble into +families and cause perturbation in trade. During the last few weeks, +especially, various serious events have given a certain consistency +to these rumours--travellers have been murdered, and several valuable +waggon trains plundered, almost at the gates of the Presidio. It is +time for this state of things to cease, and for us to know definitively +the truth or falsehood of the rumours; for this purpose I require a +brave, devoted man, thoroughly acquainted with Indian manners and +customs, who would consent--'" + +"I interrupted him quickly." + +"'I understand what you want, Colonel; seek no further, for I am the +man you stand in need of. Tomorrow at sunrise I will start: and within +two months I pledge myself to give you the most explicit information, +and tell you what you may have to fear, and what truth there is in all +that is being said around you.'" + +"The Colonel thanked me warmly, and the next morning I set out on my +tour of investigation, as we had arranged." + +"Well," the Captain exclaimed, who had followed this long story with +ever increasing interest; "and what information have you picked up?" + +"This information," the hunter answered, "is of a nature far more +serious than even public report had said. The situation is most +critical, and not a moment must be lost in preparing for defence. I was +going to San Estevan, where Colonel Don Gregorio must be awaiting my +return with the utmost impatience, when I thought of seeing whether the +Post of San Miguel, which had been so long unoccupied, had received a +garrison. That is how chance, my dear Captain, made us meet here when I +thought I should see you at the Presidio." + +The Captain shook his head thoughtfully. "A month ago," he said, "Don +Gregorio ordered me to come here and hold my ground, though he did not +inform me of the motives that compelled him so suddenly to place San +Miguel in a state of defence." + +"Well; now you know the reasons." + +"Yes; and I thank you for having told me. But, between ourselves, are +matters so serious as you lead me to suppose?" + +"A hundred times more so. I have traversed the desert in all +directions; I have been present at the meetings of the chiefs--in +a word, I know the most private details of the expedition that is +preparing." + +"_iViva Dios!_ I will not let myself be surprised--be at your ease +about that; but you were right in advising me to ask for help, as my +garrison is too weak to resist a well-arranged assault. This morning's +attack has made me reflect; so I will immediately--" + +"Do not take the trouble," the hunter interrupted him; "I will act as +your express." + +"What! Are you going to leave us at once?" + +"I must, my dear Captain; for I have to give Don Gregorio an account of +the mission he confided to me. Reflect what mortal anxiety he must feel +at not seeing me return." + +"That is true. In spite of the lively pleasure I should feel in keeping +you by me, I am compelled to let you go. When do you start?" + +"This moment." + +"Already?" + +"My horse has rested; there are still five or six hours of daylight +left, and I will take advantage of them?" He made a movement to leave +the room. + +"You have not said good-bye to Don Ruiz and his sister," the Captain +observed. + +The hunter stopped, his brows contracted, and he seemed to be +reflecting. + +"No," he said, ere long, "it would make me lose precious time. You will +make my apologies to them, Captain. Moreover," he added with a bitter +smile, "our acquaintance is not sufficiently long, I fancy, for Don +Ruiz and his sister to attach any great importance to my movements, so +for the last time, good-bye." + +"I will not press you," the Captain answered; "do as you please. Still, +it would have perhaps been more polite to take leave." + +"Nonsense," he said, ironically; "am I not a savage? Why should I +employ that refinement of politeness which is only customary among +civilized people?" + +The Captain contented himself with shrugging his shoulders as an +answer, and they went out. Five minutes later the hunter was mounted. + +"Do not fail to report to the Colonel," Don Marcos said, "what happened +here today; and, above all, ask him for assistance." + +"All right, Captain; and do not you go to sleep." + +"_Caray_--I shall feel no inclination. So now, good-bye, and good luck!" + +"Good-bye, and many thanks." + +They exchanged a last shake of the hand, the hunter galloped out into +the plain, and the Captain returned to his house, muttering to himself. + +"What a strange man! Is he good or bad? Who can say?" + +When the supper hour arrived, the two young people, astonished at the +hunter's absence, asked after him of the captain. When the latter told +them of his departure, they felt grieved and hurt at his having gone +without bidding them farewell; and Dona Mariana especially was offended +at such unaccountable behaviour on the part of a caballero; for which, +in her desire to excuse him, she in vain sought a reason. Still they +did not show their feelings, and the evening passed very pleasantly. + +At the hour for retiring, Don Ruiz, more than ever eager to rejoin +his father, reminded the Captain of the offer of service he had made +him, and asked for an escort, in order to continue his journey on +the morrow; but Don Marcos answered with a peremptory refusal, that +not only would he give no escort, but he insisted on his relations +remaining temporarily under his guard. + +Don Ruiz naturally asked an explanation of his cousin; which he did not +hesitate to give, by telling them of the conversation between himself +and the hunter. Don Ruiz and his sister had been too near death to +expose themselves again to the hazards of a long journey in the desert +alone, and unable to offer any effectual defence against such persons +as thought proper to attack them; still the young man, annoyed at this +new delay, asked the Captain at what period they might hope to regain +their liberty. + +"Oh! Your seclusion will not be long," the latter replied with a +smile; "so soon as I have received the reinforcements I expect from San +Estevan--that is to say, in seven or eight days at the most--I will +pick you out an escort, and you can be off." + +Don Ruiz, forced to satisfy himself with this promise, thanked him +warmly; and the young people made their arrangements to pass the +week in the least wearisome way possible. But life is very dull at a +frontier post, especially when you are expecting a probable attack from +the Indians, and when, consequently, all the gates are kept shut, when +sentries are stationed all around, and the only amusement is to look +out on the plain through the loopholes. + +The Captain, justly alarmed by the news the hunter had given him, had +made the best arrangements his limited resources allowed to resist any +attack from the Indians, if they appeared before the succour arrived +from San Estevan. By his orders all the rancheros and small landowners +established within a radius of fifteen leagues had been warned of an +approaching invasion, and received an invitation to take shelter within +the post. + +The majority, recognising the gravity of this communication, hastened +to pack up their furniture and most valuable articles; and driving +before them their horses and cattle, hurried from all sides at once to +the fort, with a precipitation which proved the profound terror the +Indians inspired them with. In this way, the interior of San Miguel +was soon encumbered with young men and old men, women, and children, +and cattle--most of whom, unable to find lodgings in the houses, were +forced to bivouac in the yards; which, however, was but a trifling +inconvenience to them in a country where it hardly ever rains, and +where the nights are not cold enough to render sleeping in the open air +unpleasant. + +The Captain organized this heterogeneous colony to the best of his +ability. The women, children, and old men were sheltered under tents or +_jacales_ made of branches, to protect them from the copious morning +dew, while all the men capable of bearing arms were exercised, so as in +case of attack to assist in the common defence. + +But this enormous increase of population required an enormous stock +of provisions; and hence the Captain sent out numerous patrols for +the purpose of procuring the required corn and cattle. Don Ruiz took +advantage of this to make excursions in the vicinity; while his sister, +in the company of young girls of her own age, of whom several had +entered the fort with their families, tried to forget, or rather cheat, +the weariness of their seclusion. + +The appearance of the post had completely changed; and, thanks to the +Captain's intelligence, ten days after the hunter's departure San +Miguel had become a really formidable fortress. Large trenches had been +dug, and barricades erected; but, unfortunately, the garrison, though +numerous enough to resist a sudden attack, was too weak to sustain a +long siege. + +One morning, at sunrise, the sentries signalized a thick cloud of dust +advancing towards the post with the headlong speed of a whirlwind. The +alarm was immediately given; the walls were lined with soldiers; and +preparations were made to resist these men, who, though invisible, were +supposed to be enemies. + +Suddenly, on coming within gunshot, the horsemen halted, the dust +dispersed, and the garrison perceived with delight that all these men +wore the Mexican uniform. A quarter of an hour later, eighty lanceros, +each carrying an infantry man behind him, entered the fort, amid the +deafening shouts of the garrison and the farmers who had sought refuge +behind the walls. It was the succour requested by the Captain, and +sent off from San Estevan by Colonel Don Gregorio. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +A GLANCE AT THE PAST. + + +In Spanish America, and especially in Peru and Mexico, all the Creoles +of the pure white breed pretend to be descended in a straight line +from the first Conquistadors. We have no need to discuss this claim, +whose falsehood is visible to any man at all conversant with the +sanguinary history of the numberless civil wars--a species of organized +massacre--which followed the establishment of the Spaniards in these +rich countries. + +Still there are in America some families, very few in number it is +true, which can justly boast of this glorious origin. Most of these +families live on the estates conceded to their ancestors--they only +marry among themselves, and only interfere against the grain in the +political events of the day. With their eyes turned to the past, +which is so full of great memories for them, they have kept up the +old traditions of the chivalrous loyalty of the time of Charles V., +which are forgotten everywhere else. They maintain the national honour +unsullied, and those patriarchal virtues of the old time which they +alone still practise with a proud and simple majesty. + +The Creoles, half-breeds, and Indians, in spite of the hatred they +affect for their old masters, and the principles of so-called +republican equality which they profess with such absurd emphasis in +the presence of strangers, feel for these families a respect bordering +on veneration; for they seem to understand inwardly the superiority of +these powerful natures, which no political convulsion has been able to +level or even bind, over their own vicious decrepit natures, which have +grown old without ever having been young. + +A few leagues from Arispe, the old capital of the Intendancy of Sonora, +but now greatly fallen, and only a second-class city, there stands like +an eagle's nest, on the summit of an abrupt rock, a magnificent showy +mansion, whose strong and haughty walls are crowned with _Almenas_, +which at the time of the Spanish conquest were only permitted to +families of the old and pure nobility, and they alone had the right to +have battlements on their houses. + +This fortress-palace--which dates from the first days of the conquest, +and whose antiquity is written on its walls, which have seen so many +bullets flatten, so many arrows break against them, but which time, +that grand destroyer of the most solid things, is gradually crumbling +away by a continuous effort, under the triple influences of the air, +the sun, and rain--has never changed masters since the day of its +construction, and the chiefs of the same family, on dying, have ever +left it to their descendants. + +This family is one of those to which we just now referred, whose +origin dates back to the first conquerors, and whose name is Tobar de +Moguer--(Moguer was added at a later date, doubtless in memory of the +Spanish town whence the chief of the family came.) + +In 1541, Don Antonio de Mendoza, Viceroy of New Spain, organized +the expedition to Cibola, a mysterious country, visited a few years +previously by Alvaro Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, and about which the most +marvellous and extraordinary reports were spread, all the better suited +to inflame the avarice and unextinguishable thirst for gold by which +the Spanish adventurers were devoured. + +The expedition, consisting of 300 Spaniards and 800 Indian allies, +started from Compostela, the capital of New Galicia, on April 17, 1541, +under the orders of Don Francisco Vasquez de Coronado. The officers +nominated by the Viceroy were all gentlemen of distinction; among them +as standard bearer was Don Pedro de Tobar, whose father, Don Fernando +de Tobar, had been Majordomo-Major in the reign of Jane the Mad, mother +of the Emperor Charles V. + +We will only say a few words about this expedition, the preparations +for which were immense; and which would have doubtless furnished better +results, and proved to the advantage of all, had the chief thought less +of the immense fortune he left behind in New Spain, and more of the +immense responsibility weighing upon him. + +After innumerable fatigues, the expedition reached Cibola, which, +instead of being the rich and magnificent city they expected to see, +was only a wretched insignificant village, built on a rock, and which +the Spaniards seized after an hour's fighting. Still, the Indians +defended themselves bravely, and several Spaniards were wounded. The +General himself, hurled down by a stone, would have been infallibly +killed, had it not been for the devotion of Don Pedro de Tobar and +another officer, who threw themselves before him, and gave their chief +time to rise and withdraw from the fight. + +The Spaniards, half discouraged by the extraordinary fatigue they were +forced to endure, and the continual deceptions that awaited them at +every step, but still urged on by that spirit of adventure which never +deserted them, resolved after the capture of Cibola to push further +on and try their fortunes once again. Thus they reached, with extreme +difficulty, the last country visited by Cabeza de Vaca, to which he had +given the name of the Land of Hearts (Tierra de los Corazones)--not, +as might be supposed, because the inhabitants had seemed so gentle and +amiable, but solely because, at the period of his passing, the only +food they offered him had been stags' hearts. + +On reaching this place the Spaniards halted. Don Tristan de Arellano, +who had taken the command of the army in place of Don Francisco +Coronado, who was ailing from the wound received at Cibola, seeing the +rich and fertile appearance of this country, resolved to found a town, +which he called San Hieronima de los Corazones. This town was, however, +almost immediately abandoned by the Spaniards, who carried the various +elements further, and started a new town, to which they gave the name +of Senora, afterwards corrupted into Sonora, which eventually became +the name of the province. + +During this long expedition Don Pedro de Tobar distinguished himself +on several occasions. At the head of seventeen horsemen, four foot +soldiers, and a Franciscan monk of the name of Fray Juan de Padella +who in his youth had been a soldier, Don Pedro de Tobar discovered the +province of Tutaliaco, which contained several towns, the houses being +of several storeys. All these towns, or rather villages, were carried +by storm by Don Pedro, and the province was subjugated in a few days. + +When, twenty years after, the Viceroy wishing to recompense Don +Pedro's services, offered him estates, the latter, who held Senora +in pleasant recollection, asked that land should be granted him in +this province, which reminded him of the prowess of his youth, and +to which he was attached by the very fatigues he had undergone and +the dangers he had incurred. During the twenty years that had elapsed +since Coronado's expedition, Don Pedro had married the daughter of Don +Rodrigo Maldonado, brother-in-law of the Duke of Infantado, and one +of his old comrades in arms. As Don Rodrigo had settled in Sonora, +Don Pedro, in order to be near him, took up his abode on the site of +Cibola, which had long been destroyed and abandoned, and built on the +crest of the rock the magnificent Hacienda del Toro, which, as we have +said, remained for centuries in the family, with the immense estates +dependent on it. + +Like all first-class haciendas in Mexico, El Toro was rather a town +than a simple habitation, according to the idea formed in Europe of +private estates. It comprised all the old territory of Cibola. On all +sides its lofty walls, built on the extremity of the rock, hung over +the abyss. It contained princely apartments for the owners, a chapel, +workshops of every description, storehouses, barracks, quarters for the +pious, and corrals for the horses and cattle, with an immense _huerta_, +planted with the finest trees and the most fragrant flowers. In a word, +it was, and probably still is, one of those gigantic abodes which +appear built for Titans, and of which the finest feudal chateaux in the +Old World offer but an imperfect idea. + +The fact is, that at the time when the conquerors built these vast +residences, inhabitants were sparse in these countries, as is indeed +the case now. The owners having their elbows at liberty, could take +what land they liked, and hence each ultimately became, without +creating any surprise, possessors of a territory equal in size to one +of our counties. + +It was in 1811, twenty-nine years before the period when our story +begins, at the dawn of that glorious Mexican revolution the first +cry of which had been raised on the night of September 16, 1810, by +Hidalgo--at that time a simple parish priest in the wretched town of +Dolores, and whose success, sixteen months later, was so compromised +by the disastrous battle of Calderon, in which countless bands of +fantastic Indians were broken by the discipline of the old Spanish +troops--that the most sensible men regarded it as an unimportant +insurrection--a fatal error which caused the ruin of the Spanish +domination. + +But on November 25, 1811, the day on which we begin this narrative, the +insurgents had not yet been conquered at Calderon; on the contrary, +their first steps had been marked by successes; from all sides Indians +came to range themselves beneath their banner, and their army, badly +disciplined, it is true, but full of enthusiasm, amounted to 80,000 +men. Already master of several important towns, Hidalgo assembled +all his forces with the evident design of dealing a great blow, and +generalizing the insurrection, which had hitherto been confined to two +provinces. + +About two in the afternoon, that is to say, the time when in these +climes the heat is most oppressive, a horseman, mounted on a +magnificent mustang, was following at a gallop the banks of a small +stream, half dried up by the torrid heat of the southern sun, and by +whose side a few sickly cottonwood trees were withering. + +The dust, reduced to impalpable atoms, formed a dense cloud round the +horseman, who, plunged into sad and gloomy thought, with pale forehead +and brows contracted till they touched, continued his journey without +noticing the desolate aspect of the country he was traversing, and the +depressing calm that prevailed around him. In fact, an utter silence +brooded over this desert: the birds had hidden themselves gasping +under the foliage, and no other sound could be heard save the shrill, +harsh cry of the grasshoppers, which occupied in countless myriads +the calcine grass that bordered the road, or rather the track, the +traveller was following. + +This rider appeared to be about twenty-five years of age; his features +were handsome, his glance proud, and the expression of his face +haughty, although marked with kindness and courtesy. He was tall and +well built; his gestures, which were pleasing, though not stiff, +indicated a man who, through his position in the world, was accustomed +to a certain deference, and to win the respect of those who surrounded +him. His dress had nothing remarkable about it: it was that usually +worn by wealthy Spaniards when travelling; still, a short sword in a +silver sheath and with a curiously carved hilt, the only weapon he +openly carried, showed him to be a gentleman; besides, his complexion, +clearer than that of the Creoles, left no doubt as to his Spanish +origin. + +This horseman, who had left Arispe at sunrise, had been travelling, up +to the moment we join him, without stopping or appearing to notice the +stifling heat that made the perspiration run down his cheek--so deep +was he in thought. On reaching a spot where the track he was following +turned sharply to the left, his horse suddenly stopped. The rider, thus +aroused from his reverie, raised his head and looked before him, with +grief, almost despair, in his glance. + +He was at the foot of the rock on the summit of which stands the +Hacienda del Toro in all its gloomy majesty. For some minutes he gazed +with an expression of regret and sorrow at these frowning buildings, +which doubtless recalled happy memories. He shook his head several +times, a sigh escaped from his overburdened chest, and, seemed to form +a supreme resolution, he said, in a choking voice, "I will go;" and +letting his horse feel the spur, he began slowly scaling the narrow +path that led to the summit of the rock and the hacienda gate. A +violent contest seemed to be going on in his mind: his flexible face +changed each moment, and reflected the various feelings that agitated +him; several times his clenched hand drew up the bridle, as if he +wished to check his horse and turn back. But each time his will was +the more powerful; he constantly overcame the instinctive repugnance +that seemed to govern him, and he continued his ascent, with his eyes +constantly looking ahead, as if he expected to see someone whose +presence he feared come round an angle of the track. But he did not see +a soul the whole way. + +When he reached the hacienda gate, it was open, and the drawbridge +lowered; but though he was evidently expected, there was no one to bid +him welcome. + +"It must be so," he murmured sadly. "I return to my paternal roof, not +as a master, but as a stranger, a fugitive--an accursed man, perhaps." + +He crossed the drawbridge, the planks of which re-echoed his horse's +footfall, and entered the first courtyard. Here, too, there was no one +to greet him. He dismounted; but instead of throwing the bridle on +his horse's neck, he held it in his hand and fastened it to a ring in +the wall, saying, in a low, concentrated voice--"Wait for me, my poor +Bravo; you, too, are regarded as an accursed one: be patient; we shall +doubtless soon set out again." + +The noble animal as if understanding its master's words and sharing in +his grief, turned its delicate, intelligent head toward him, and gave a +soft and plaintive whine. The young man after giving a parting glance +at his steed, crossed the first yard with a firm and resolute step, and +entered a second one considerably larger. At the end of this court two +men were standing motionless on the first step of a magnificent marble +staircase, apparently leading to the apartments of the master of the +hacienda. + +On seeing these two men, the young horseman drew himself up; his face +assumed a gloomy and ironical expression, and he walked rapidly toward +them. They still remained motionless and stiff, with their eyes fixed +on him. When he was but a few paces from them, they uncovered by an +automatic movement, and bowed ceremoniously. + +"The Marquis is waiting for you, Senor Conde," one of them said. + +"Very good," the strange visitor answered; "one of you can announce my +arrival to his lordship my father, while the other will guide me to the +apartment where I am expected." + +The two men bowed a second time, and with heads still uncovered, +preceded the young man, who followed with a firm and measured tread. +On reaching the top of the steps, one of the servants hurried forward, +while the second, slightly checking his speed, continued to guide the +horseman. When the footsteps of the first man died out in the immense +corridors, the face of the second one suddenly lost its indifferent +expression, and he turned round, his eyes full of tears. + +"Oh, my young master!" he said, in a voice broken by emotion, "What a +misfortune! Oh, Heavens! What a misfortune!" + +"What?" the young man asked anxiously; "Has anything happened to the +marquis? Or is my lady mother ill?" + +The old servant shook his head sadly. "No," he answered; "Heaven be +blessed! Both are in good health: but why did you leave the paternal +mansion, your lordship? Alas! Now the misfortune is irremediable." + +A cloud of dissatisfaction flitted across the young man's forehead. + +"What has happened so terrible during my absence, Perote?" + +"Does not your Excellency know?" the servant asked in amazement. + +"How should I know, my friend?" he answered, mildly. "Have you +forgotten that I have been absent from the hacienda for two years?" + +"That is true, Excellency;--forgive me, I had forgotten it. Alas! Since +the misfortune has burst upon us, my poor head has been so bad." + +"Recover yourself, my good fellow," the young man said, kindly. "I know +how much you love me. You have not forgotten," he added, with a bitter +sorrow, "that your wife, poor Juana, nourished me with her milk. I know +nothing; am even ignorant why my father ordered me so suddenly to come +hither. The servant who handed me the letter was doubtless unable to +tell anything, and, indeed, I should not have liked to question him." + +"Alas! Excellency," the old servant continued, "I am myself ignorant +why you have been summoned to the hacienda; but Hernando, he may know." + +"Ah!" said the young man, with a nervous start, "My brother is here, +then?" + +"Did you not know it?" + +"Have I not already told you that I am utterly ignorant of everything +connected with this house?" + +"Yes, yes, Excellency. Don Hernando is here, and has been here a long +time. Heaven guard me from saying anything against my master's son; +but perhaps it would have been better had he remained at Guadalajara, +for all has greatly changed since his arrival. Take care, Sir, for Don +Hernando does not love you." + +"What do I care for my brother's hatred?" the young man answered +haughtily. "Am I not the elder son?" + +"Yes, yes," the old servant repeated, sadly, "you are the elder son; +and yet your brother commands here as master. Since his arrival, it +seems as if everything belonged to him already." + +The young man let his head sink on his chest, and remained for some +minutes crushed; but he soon drew himself up, with flashing eye, and +gently laid his hand on the old servant's shoulder. + +"Perote," he said to him affectionately, "what is the motto of my +family?" + +"What do you mean, Excellency?" the manservant asked, startled at the +singular question his master asked him. + +"You do not remember it," the young man continued, with a smile, as he +pointed to an escutcheon over a door. "Well; look, what do you read +there?" + +"What does your Excellency want?" + +"Read--read, I tell you." + +"You know that motto better than I do, as it was given to one of your +ancestors by King Don Ferdinand of Castile himself." + +"Yes, Perote, I know it," he replied, in a firm voice; "and since you +will not read it, I will repeat it to you. The motto is: 'Everything +for honour, no matter what may happen.' That motto dictates my conduct +to me; and be assured, Perote, that I will not fail in what it orders +me." + +"Oh, your Excellency, once again take care. I am only a poor servant of +your family, but I saw you born, and I tremble as to what may happen in +the coming interview." + +"Do not be anxious, my old friend," he answered, with an expression of +haughty pride, full of nobleness. "Whatever may happen, I will remember +not only what I owe to the memory of my ancestors, but also what I owe +to myself; and, without going beyond the limits of that obedience and +respect those who gave me birth have a right to, I shall be able to +defend myself against the accusations which will doubtless be brought +against me." + +"Heaven grant, Sir, that you may succeed in dissipating the unjust +suspicions so long gathering in the minds of your noble parents, and +carefully kept up by the man who, during your lifetime, dares to look +with an eye of covetousness on your rich inheritance." + +"What do I care for this inheritance?" the young man exclaimed, +passionately. "I would gladly abandon it entirely to my brother, if he +would cease to rob me of a more precious property, which I esteem a +hundred times higher--the love of my father and my mother." + +Old Perote only answered with a sigh. + +"But," the young man continued, "let us not delay any longer. His +lordship must be informed of my arrival; and the slight eagerness +I seem to display in proceeding to him and obeying his orders will +probably be interpreted to my injury by the man who has for so many +years conspired my ruin." + +"Yes, you are right: we have delayed too long as it is; come, follow +me." + +"Where are you taking me?" the young man remarked. "My father's +apartments are not situated in this part of the hacienda." + +"I am not leading your Excellency to them," he answered, sorrowfully. + +"Where to, then?" he asked, stopping in surprise. + +"To the Red Room," the old servant remarked in a low voice. + +"Oh!" the young man muttered; "Then my condemnation is about to be +pronounced." + +Perote only answered by a sigh; and his young master, after a moment's +hesitation, made him a sign to go on; and he silently followed him, +with a slow step that had something almost solemn in it. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE FAMILY TRIBUNAL. + + +The Hacienda del Toro, like many feudal mansions, contained one room +which remained constantly closed, and was only opened on solemn +occasions. The head of the family was conveyed there to die, and +remained on a bed of state till the day of his funeral: and the wife +was confined there. There, too, marriage contracts were signed. In a +word, all the great acts of life were performed in this room, which +inspired the inhabitants of the hacienda with a respect greatly +resembling terror; for on the few occasions on which the Marquises de +Tobar found themselves compelled to punish any member of their family, +it served as the tribunal where the culprit was tried and sentence +pronounced. + +This room, situated at the end of the hacienda, was a large hall of +oblong shape, paved with alternate large black and white slabs, and +lighted by four lofty windows, which only allowed a gloomy and doubtful +light to penetrate. + +Tapestry, dating from the fourteenth century, and representing with all +the simplicity of the age the different episodes of the mournful battle +of Xeres--which delivered Spain to the Moors, and in which Don Rodrigo, +the last Gothic king, was killed--covered the walls, and imprinted an +indescribable character of sepulchral majesty on this cold and mournful +hall, which was probably called the "Red Room" from the prevalence of +that colour in the tapestry work. + +The young Count de Tobar had never entered this room since the day of +his birth; and, however far back his thoughts reverted in childhood, +he never remembered to have seen it open. Hence, in spite of all his +courage, and the firmness with which he had thought it wise to arm +himself for this decisive interview with his father, he could not +restrain a slight start of fear on learning that his parents were +prepared to receive him there. + +The folding doors were open, and on reaching the threshold the young +man took in the room at a single glance. At one end, on a dais covered +with a petate, the Marquis and Marchioness of Tobar were seated, +gloomy and silent, beneath a canopy of black velvet with gold fringe +and tassels. Candles, lit in tall, many-branched candelabra, in order +to overcome the habitual gloom of the room, threw their flickering +light on the aged couple, and imparted to their faces an expression of +sternness and harshness that probably did not belong to them. + +At the foot of the dais, and almost touching it, stood a young man of +three or four-and-twenty, with handsome and distinguished features, +whose elegant attire contrasted with the simple dress of the aged +couple: this gentleman was Don Hernando de Tobar, younger son of the +Marquis. A footman, the same who had preceded the Count in order to +announce his arrival to his master, took a step forward on perceiving +the young man. + +"El Senor Conde, Don Rodolfo de Tobar y Moguer," he said, in a loud and +marked voice. + +"Show in the Count," the Marquis said, in a voice which, though broken, +was still powerful. + +The manservant discreetly retired, and the door closed upon him. The +Count walked up to the foot of the dais: on reaching it, he bowed a +second time, then drew himself up, and respectfully awaited till it +pleased his father to address him. + +So profound a silence prevailed for some minutes in the room, that +the hearts of the four persons might have been heard beating in their +bosoms. Don Hernando took cunning side-glances at his brother, whom +the aged couple examined with a mixture of sadness and severity. + +The young Count, as we said, was standing motionless in front of the +dais. His posture was full of nobility, without being in any way +provocative: with his right foot in front, his hand on his sword guard, +and the other holding his hat, whose long feather swept the ground, and +his head slightly thrown back, he looked straight before him, without +any display of arrogance or disdain. He waited, with a brow rather +pale, it is true, owing to the internal emotions he felt; but the +expression of his features, far from being that of a culprit, was, on +the contrary, that of a man convinced of his innocence, and who expects +to see his conduct approved rather than blamed. + +"You have arrived, then, Senor Conde," the Marquis at length said, +sharply. + +The young man bowed, but did not answer. + +"You did not display any great eagerness in obeying my invitation." + +"My lord, I only received very late last night the letter you did me +the honour to send me," the Count answered, gently. "This morning +before sunrise I mounted my horse, and rode twenty leagues without +stopping, so anxious was I to obey you." + +"Yes," the Marquis said, ironically, "I know that; for you are a most +obedient son--in words, if not otherwise." + +"Excuse me, my lord," he replied, respectfully, "but I do not +understand to what you deign to allude at this moment." + +The old gentleman bit his lips angrily. "It is because we probably no +longer speak the same language, Senor Conde," he said, drily; "but I +will try to make myself better understood." + +There was a silence, during which the Marquis seemed to be reflecting. + +"You are the elder son of the family, sir," he presently continued, +"and, as such, responsible for its honour, which your ancestors handed +down to you unsullied. You are aware of this, I presume?" + +"I am, my lord." + +"Since your birth your sainted mother and myself have striven to place +before you only examples of loyalty; during your childhood we took +pleasure in training you in all the chivalrous virtues which for a long +succession of centuries have been the dearest appanage of the race of +worthies from whom you are descended. We continuously kept before your +eyes the noble motto of our family, of which it is so justly proud. +How is it, then, sir, that, suddenly forgetting what you owe to our +care and the lessons you received from us, you suddenly, without your +mother's permission or mine, abandoned without any plausible motive +the paternal roof, and that, deaf to the remonstrances and tearful +entreaties of your mother, and rebellious against my orders, you have +so completely separated your life from ours, that, with the exception +of the name you continue to bear, you have become a perfect stranger?" + +"My lord!" the young man stammered. + +"It is not an accusation I bring against you, Don Rodolfo," the Marquis +continued, quickly; "but I expect a frank and honourable explanation +of your conduct. But, take care; the explanation must be clear and +unreserved." + +"My lord," the Count answered, throwing up his head proudly, "my heart +reproaches me with nothing: my conduct has been ever worthy of the +name I have the honour to bear. My object, in obeying your orders so +eagerly, has not been to justify myself, as I am not guilty of any +fault, but to assure you of my respect and obedience." + +An incredulous smile played round Don Hernando's month, and the Marquis +continued with the same tone of frigid sternness-- + +"I expected another answer from you, sir. I hoped to find you eagerly +seize the opportunity my kindness offered you to justify yourself in my +sight." + +"My lord," the young man replied, respectfully but firmly, "in order +that the justification you demand may be possible, I must know the +charges brought against me." + +"I will not press this subject for the present, sir; but since, as you +say, you profess such great respect for my orders, I wish to give you +an immediate opportunity to prove your obedience to me." + +"Oh, speak, father!" the Count exclaimed, warmly; "Whatever you may ask +of me--" + +"Do not be overhasty in pledging yourself, sir," the Marquis coldly +interrupted him, "before you know what I am about to ask of you." + +"I shall be so happy to prove to you how far from my heart are the +intentions attributed to me." + +"Be it so, sir. I thank you for those excellent feelings; hence I will +not delay in telling you what you must do to reinstate yourself in my +good graces." + +"Speak,--speak, my lord!" + +The old man, cold and impassive, still regarded his son with the same +stern look. The Marchioness, restrained by her husband's presence, +fixed on the young man's eyes filled with tears, without daring, poor +mother, to interfere on his behalf. Don Hernando smiled cunningly +aside. As for Don Rodolfo, his father's last words had filled him with +fear; and in spite of the pleasure he affected, he trembled inwardly, +for he instinctively suspected a snare beneath this pretended kindness. + +"My son," the Marquis continued, with a slight tinge of sadness in his +voice, "your mother and I are growing old. Years count double at our +age, and each step brings us nearer the tomb, which will soon open for +us." + +"Oh, father!" Don Rodolfo exclaimed. + +"Do not interrupt me, my son," the Marquis continued, with a commanding +gesture. "You are our firstborn, the hope of our name and race; you +are four-and-twenty years of age; you are handsome, well built, +instructed by us in all the duties of a gentleman; in short, you are an +accomplished cavalier, of whom we have just reason to be proud." + +The Marquis paused for a little while. Don Rodolfo felt himself +growing more and more pale. His eyes turned wildly to his mother, who +sorrowfully bowed her head, in order that his anxious glance might not +meet hers. He was beginning to understand what sacrifice his father was +about to demand of his filial obedience, and he trembled with terror +and despair. The old man continued, in a firm and more marked voice-- + +"Your mother and I, my son, may be called away soon to appear before +the Lord; but as I do not wish to repose in the tomb without having +the satisfaction of knowing that our name will not die with us, but be +continued in our grandchildren--this desire, which I have several times +made known to you, my son, the moment has now arrived to realise; and +by marrying, you can secure the tranquillity of the few days still left +us to spend on this earth." + +"Father--" + +"Oh, re-assure yourself, Count," the old gentleman continued, +pretending to misunderstand his son's meaning. "I do not intend to +force on you one of those marriages in which a couple, united against +their wish, only too soon hate one another through the instinctive +aversion they feel. No; the wife I intend for you has been chosen by +your mother and myself with the greatest care. She is young, lovely, +rich, and of a nobility almost equal to ours;--in a word, she combines +all the qualities necessary not only to render you happy, but also to +revive the brilliancy of our house and impart a fresh lustre to it." + +"Father!" Don Rodolfo stammered again. + +"My son!" the Marquis continued, with a proud intonation in his voice, +as if the name he was about to utter must remove all scruples; "my son, +be happy, for you are about to marry Dona Aurelia de la Torre Azul, +cousin in the fifth degree to the Marquis del Valle." + +"Oh, my son!" the Marchioness added entreatingly "this alliance, which +your father so dearly desires, will soothe my last days." + +The young man was of livid pallor. He tottered, his eyes wandered +hesitatingly around, and his hand, powerfully pressed to his heart, +seemed trying to stifle its beating. + +"You know my will, sir," the Marquis continued, not appearing to +perceive his unhappy son's condition. "I hope that you will soon +conform to it: and now, as you must be fatigued after a long ride in +the great heat of the day, withdraw to your apartments. Tomorrow, when +you have rested, we will consult as to the means of introducing you to +your future wife as soon as possible." + +After uttering these words, in the same cold and peremptory tone he +employed during the whole interview, the Marquis prepared to rise. + +By an effort over himself the young count succeeded in repressing the +storm that was raging in his heart. Affecting a tranquillity he was far +from feeling, he took a step forward, and bowed respectfully to the +Marquis. + +"Pardon me, my lord," he said, in a voice which emotion involuntarily +caused to tremble, "but may I say a few words now?" + +The old gentleman frowned. + +"Did I not say tomorrow, sir?" he answered drily. + +"Yes, my lord," the young man answered, sadly; "but, alas! If you do +not consent to listen to me today, tomorrow may be too late." + +"Ah!" said the Marquis, biting his lips with a passion that was +beginning to break out, "And for what reason, sir?" + +"Because, father," the young man said, firmly, "tomorrow I shall have +left this house never to reenter it." + +The Marquis gave him a thundering look from under his grey eyelashes. + +"Ah, ah!" he exclaimed, "Then I was not deceived; what I have been told +is really true." + +"What have you been told?" + +"Do you wish to know?" the old gentleman exclaimed, furiously. "After +all, you are right; it is time that this pitiable farce should end." + +"Sir,--sir!" the Marchioness said, with deep grief, "remember that he +is your son--your firstborn!" + +"Silence, madam!" the old man said, harshly; "This rebellious son has +played with us long enough; the hour of punishment has pealed, and, by +Heaven! It shall be terrible and exemplary." + +"In God's name, sir," the Marchioness continued, "do not be inexorable +to your child. Let me speak to him; perhaps you are too harsh with +him, although you love him. I am his mother; I will convince him, and +induce him to carry out your wishes: a mother can find words in her +heart to soften her son, and make him understand that he ought not to +reject his father's orders." + +The old man seemed to hesitate for a moment, but immediately recovered. + +"Why should I consent to what you ask, madam?" he replied, with a +roughness mingled with pity; "Do you not know that the sole quality, +or rather the sole vice, of his race which this rebellious son has +retained is obstinacy? You will get nothing from him." + +"Oh, permit me to say, sir," the old lady continued, in a suppliant +voice, "he is my son as well as yours. In the name of that love and +that unswerving obedience you have ever found in me, I beseech you +to let me make a final attempt to break his resistance, and lead him +penitent to your feet." + +"And then, my lord," Don Hernando, who had hitherto remained an +apparent stranger to all that was taking place, remarked in a mocking +voice, "perhaps we are mistaken; do not condemn my brother without +hearing him; he is too good a gentleman, and of too old a family, to +have committed the faults of which he is accused." + +"That is well, Hernando; I am delighted thus to hear you undertake your +brother's defence," said the old lady, smiling through her tears, and +deceived by his words. + +"Certainly, mother; I love my brother too dearly," the young man said +ironically, "to let him be accused without proof. That Rodolfo has +seduced the daughter of the principal Cacique of the Opatas and made +her his mistress is evident, and known to all the world as true, but +it is of very little consequence. But what I will never believe until +it is proved to me is, that he has married this creature, any more +than I will put faith in the calumnies that represent him not only +as one of the intimate friends of the Curate Hidalgo, but also as one +of his most active and influential partisans in this province. No; a +thousand times No! A gentleman of the name and blood of Tobar knows +too well what honour demands to commit such infamy! Acting so would +be utter apostasy, and complete forgetfulness of all that a noble +Castilian owes to himself, his ancestors, and that honour of which he +is only the holder. Come, Rodolfo; come, my brother, raise your head: +confound the calumniators: give a solemn denial to those who have dared +to sully your reputation! One word from you, but one that proves your +perfect innocence, and the storm unjustly aroused against you will +be dispersed; my father will open his arms to you, and all will be +forgotten." + +During this speech, whose deep perfidy the Count recognised, he +was suffering from extreme emotion. At the first words his brother +uttered, he started as if he felt the sting of a viper; but gradually +his anger had made way for contempt in his heart; and it was with a +smile of crushing disdain that he listened to the emphatic and mocking +conclusion. + +"Well, my son," the marquis said, "you see everybody defends you here, +while I alone accuse you! What will you answer to prove your innocence +to me?" + +"Nothing, father!" the young man said, coolly. + +"Nothing?" the old gentleman repeated, angrily. + +"No, father!" he continued; "because, if I attempted to justify myself, +you would not listen to me; and that, supposing you consented to listen +to me, you would not comprehend me. Oh! Do not mistake my meaning," he +said, on seeing the Marquis about to speak; "you would not understand +me, father, not through want of intellect, but through pride. Proud of +your name and the privileges it gives, you are accustomed to judge men +and things from a peculiar point of view, and understand honour in your +own fashion." + +"Are there two sorts of honour, then?" the Marquis exclaimed, +involuntarily. + +"No, father," Don Rodolfo answered, calmly, "there is only one; but +there are two ways of comprehending it: and my brother, who a moment +back told you without incurring your disapproval that a gentleman had +the right to abuse the love of a maiden and make her his mistress, +but that the honour of his name would forbid him marrying her, seems +to me to have studied the point thoroughly, and is better able than I +to discuss it. As you said yourself, father, we must come to an end. +Well, be it so. I will not attempt to continue an impossible struggle +with you. When I received orders to come to you, I knew I was condemned +beforehand, and yet I obediently attended your summons; it was because +my resolution was irrevocably formed. What am I reproached with? Having +married the daughter of an Indian Cacique? It is true; I avow openly +that I have done so: her birth is perhaps as good as mine, but most +certainly her heart is greater. What is the next charge--that I am a +friend of the Curate Hidalgo, and one of his firmest adherents? That +is also true; and I am happy and proud of this friendship: I glory in +these aspirations for liberty with which you reproach me as a crime. +Descendants of the first conquerors of Mexico, this land, discovered +and subjugated by our fathers, has become our country; for the last +three centuries we have not been Spaniards, but Mexicans. The hour has +at length arrived for us to shake off the yoke of this self-called +country, which has so long been battening on our blood and tears, and +enriching itself with our gold. In speaking thus to you, my venerated +father, my heart is broken, for Heaven is my witness that I have a +profound respect and love for you. I know that I am invoking on my head +all the weight of your anger, and that anger will be terrible! But, in +my sorrow, one sublime hope is left to me. Faithful to the motto of our +ancestors, I have done everything for honour; my conscience is calm; +and some day--soon, perhaps--you will forgive me, for you will see that +I have not failed in fealty." + +"Never!" the Marquis shouted in a voice the more terrible because the +constraint he had been forced to place on himself, in order to hear his +son's speech to the end, had been so great. "Begone! I no longer know +you! You are no longer my son! Begone!--villain! I give you my--" + +"Oh!" the Marchioness shrieked, as she threw herself into his arms, +"Do not curse him, sir! Do not add that punishment to the one you have +inflicted on him. The unhappy boy is already sufficiently punished. No +one has the right to curse him; a father less than any other--for in +that case it is God who avenges." + +The Marquis stood for a moment silent and gloomy, then stretched out +his arms to his son, and shook his head sadly. + +"Begone!" he said in a hollow voice. "May God watch over you--for +henceforth you have no family. Farewell!" + +The young man pale and trembling, bent beneath the weight of this +sentence; then rose and tottered out of the room without saying a word. + +"My son!--My son!" the Marchioness exclaimed in a heart-rending voice. + +The implacable old man quickly stopped her at the moment when, +half-mad with grief, she was rushing from the dais, and pointed to Don +Hernando, who was bowing hypocritically to her. + +"You have only one son, madam," he said, in a harsh voice, "and that +son is here." + +The Marchioness uttered a cry of despair, and, crushed with grief, fell +senseless at her husband's feet; who, also overcome in this fearful +struggle of pride of race against paternal love, sank into a chair and +buried his face in his hands, while a mighty sob escaped from his bosom. + +Don Hernando had rushed after his brother, not for the purpose of +consoling or bringing him back, but solely not to let the joy be +seen which covered his face at this mournful scene, all the fearful +incidents in which he had been so long preparing with feline patience. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE TWO BROTHERS. + + +After quitting the Red Room, Don Rodolfo, under the weight of the +condemnation pronounced against him, with broken heart and burning head +had rushed onwards, flying the paternal anger, and resolved to leave +the hacienda as quickly as possible, never to return to it. His horse +was still in the first yard, where he had tied it up. The young man +went up to it, seized the bridle, and placed his foot in the stirrup. +At the same moment a hand was laid on his shoulder--Don Rodolfo turned +as if seared with a hot iron. His brother was standing before him. + +A feverish redness suffused his face; his hands closed, and his eyes +flashed lightning; but at once extinguishing the fire of his glance and +affecting a forced calmness, he said, in a firm voice-- + +"What do you want brother?" + +"To press your hand before your departure, Rodolfo," the young man +said, with a whining voice. + +Rodolfo looked at him for a moment with an expression of profound +disdain, then unhooking the sword that hung at his side, he handed it +to his brother. + +"There, Hernando," he said, ironically, "it is only right that, since +you will henceforth bear the name and honour of our family, this sword +should revert to you. You desired my inheritance, and success has +crowned your efforts." + +"Brother," the young man stammered. + +"I am not reproaching you," Don Rodolfo continued, haughtily. "Enjoy +in peace those estates you have torn from me. May Heaven grant that +the burden may not appear to you some day too heavy, and that the +recollection of the deed you have done may not poison your last years. +Henceforth we shall never meet again on this earth. Farewell!" And +letting the sword he had offered his brother fall on the ground, he +leaped on his horse and went off at full speed, without even giving a +parting glance at those walls which had seen his birth, and from which +he was now eternally banished. Don Hernando stood for a moment with +hanging head and pale face, crushed by the shame and consciousness +of the bad action he had not feared to commit. Already remorse was +beginning to prey on him. At length, when the galloping of the horse +had died away in the distance, he raised his eyes, wiped away the +perspiration that inundated his face, and picked up the sword lying at +his feet. + +"Poor Rodolfo!" he muttered, stifling a sigh; "I am very guilty." + +And he slowly returned to the hacienda. Count Don Rodolfo de Moguer +kept the word he had given his brother: he never reappeared. Nothing +was ever heard of him, and his intimate friends never saw him again +after his journey to the hacienda, nor knew what had become of him. The +next year, a few Indians who escaped from the massacre at the bridge +of Calderon, when Hidalgo was defeated by the Spanish General Calleja, +spread the report that Don Rodolfo, who during the whole action kept by +Hidalgo's side, was killed in a desperate charge he made into the heart +of the Spanish lines, in the hope of restoring the fortunes of the day; +but this rumour was not confirmed. In spite of all the measures taken +by the Marquis, the young man's body was not found among the dead, and +his fate remained a mystery for the family. + +In the meanwhile, Don Hernando, by his father's orders, had succeeded +to his brother's title, and almost immediately married Dona Aurelia de +la Torre Azul, originally destined for Don Rodolfo. The Marquis and +Marchioness lived some few years longer. They died a few days after +one another, bearing with them a poisoned sting of remorse for having +banished their firstborn son from their presence. + +But, inflexible up to his dying hour, the Marquis never once made a +complaint, and died without mentioning his son's name. However, the +Marquis's hopes were realized ere he descended to the grave, for he +had the supreme consolation of seeing his family continued in his +grandchildren. + +At the funeral, a man was noticed in the crowd wrapped up in a wide +cloak, and his features concealed by the broad brim of his hat being +pulled over them. No one was able to say who this man was, although one +old servant declared he had recognised Don Rodolfo. Was it really the +banished son who had come for the last time to pay homage to his father +and weep on his tomb? The arrival of the stranger was so unexpected, +and his departure so sudden, that it was impossible to get at the truth +of the statement. + +Then, time passed away, important events succeeded each other, and Don +Rodolfo, of whom nothing was heard, was considered dead by his family +and friends, and then forgotten; and Don Hernando inherited without +dispute the title and estates. + +The Marquis de Moguer, in spite of the light under which we have shown +him to our readers, was not a wicked man, as might be supposed; but +as a younger son, with no other hope than the tonsure, devoured by +ambition, and freely enjoying life, he internally rebelled against the +harsh and unjust law which exiled him from the pleasures of the world, +and condemned him to the solitude of the cloister. Assuredly, had his +brother frankly accepted his position as firstborn, and consented to +undertake its duties, Don Hernando would never have thought for a +moment of defrauding him of his rights. But when he saw Don Rodolfo +despise the old tradition of his race--forget what he owed to his +honour as a gentleman, so far as to marry an Indian girl and make +common cause with the partisans of the Revolution, he eagerly seized +the opportunity chance so providentially offered him to seize the power +lost by his brother, and quietly put himself in his place. He thought +that, in acting thus he was not committing a bad action, but almost +asserting a right by substituting himself for a man who seemed to care +very little for titles and fortune. + +Don Hernando, while whitewashing himself in this way, only obeyed that +law of justice and injustice which God has placed in the heart of man, +and which impels him, when he does any dishonourable deed, to seek +excuses in order to prove to himself that he was bound to act as he +had done. Still, the Marquis did not dare to confess to himself that +the chance by which he profited he had helped by all his power, by +envenoming by his speeches and continual insinuations his brother's +actions, ruining him gradually in his father's mind, and preparing, +long beforehand, the condemnation eventually uttered in the Red Room +against the unfortunate Rodolfo. + +And yet strange contradiction of the human heart, Don Hernando dearly +loved his brother; he pitied him--he would like to hold him back on +the verge of the precipice down which he thrust him, as it were. Once +master of the estates and head of the family, he would have liked to +find his brother again, in order to share with him this badly-acquired +fortune, and gain pardon for his usurpation. + +Unfortunately these reflections came too late--Don Rodolfo had +disappeared without leaving a trace, and hence the Marquis was +compelled to restrict himself to sterile regrets. At times, tortured +with the ever-present memory of the last scene at the hacienda, he +asked himself whether it would not have been better for him to have +had a frank explanation with his brother, after which Don Rodolfo, +whose simple tastes agreed but badly with the exigencies of a great +name, would have amicably renounced in his favour the rights which his +position as elder brother gave him. + +But now to continue our narrative, which we have too long interrupted. + +At the beginning of 1822, on a day of madness which was to be expiated +by years of disaster, the definitive separation took place between +Spain and Mexico, and the era of _pronunciamientos_ set in. After the +ephemeral reign of the Emperor Iturbide, Mexico reverted to a republic, +or, more correctly, to a military government. Under the pressure of +an army of 20,000 soldiers, which had 24,000 officers, the Presidents +succeeded each other with headlong speed, burying the nation deeper +and deeper in the mire, in which it is now struggling, and which will +eventually swallow it up. + +By _pronunciamiento_ on _pronunciamiento_ Mexico had reached the period +when this story begins; but her wealth had been swallowed up in the +tornado--her commerce was annihilated, her cities were falling in +ruins, and New Spain had only retained of her old splendours fugitive +recollections and piles of ruins. The Spaniards had suffered greatly +during the War of Independence, as had their partisans, whose property +had been burned and plundered by the revolutionists. The fatal decree +of 1827, pronouncing the expulsion of the Spaniards, dealt the final +and most terrible blow to their fortunes. + +The Marquis de Moguer was one of the persons most affected by this +measure, although, during the entire War of Independence and the +different governments that succeeded each other, he had taken the +greatest care not to mix himself up at all in politics, and remained +neutral between all parties. This position, which it was difficult and +almost impossible to maintain for any length of time, had compelled him +to make concessions painful to his pride: unfortunately, his fortune +consisted of land and mines, and if he left Mexico he would be a ruined +man. + +His friends advised him frankly to join the Mexican government, and +give up his Spanish nationality. The Marquis, forced by circumstances, +followed their advice; and, thanks to the credit some persons enjoyed +with the President of the Republic, Don Hernando was not only not +disturbed, but authorized to remain in the country, where he was +naturalized as a Mexican. + +But things had greatly changed with the Marquis. His immense fortune +had vanished with the Spanish government. During the ten years of the +War of Independence, his estates had lain fallow, and his mines, +deserted by the workmen he formerly employed, had gradually become +filled with water. They could not be put in working order again except +by enormous and most expensive works. The situation was critical, +especially for a man reared in luxury and accustomed to sow his money +broadcast. He was now compelled to calculate every outlay with the +utmost care, if he did not wish to see the hideous spectre of want rise +implacable before him. + +The pride of the Marquis was broken in this struggle against poverty; +his love for his children restored his failing courage, and he bravely +resolved to make head against the storm. Like the ruined gentleman who +tilled the soil, with their sword by their side, as a proof of their +nobility, he openly became hacendero and miner,--that is to say, he +cultivated his estates on a large scale, and bred cattle and horses, +while trying to pump out the water which had taken possession of his +mines. Unfortunately, he was deficient in two important things for the +proper execution of his plans: the necessary knowledge to assist the +different operations he meditated: and, above all, money, without which +nothing was possible. The Marquis was therefore compelled to engage a +majordomo, and borrow on mortgage. For the first few years all went +well, or appeared to do so. The majordomo, Don Jose Paredes, to whom +we shall have occasion to refer more fully hereafter, was one of those +men so valuable in haciendas, whose life is spent on horseback, whose +attention nothing escapes, who thoroughly understand the cultivation of +the soil, and know what it ought to produce, almost to an arroba. + +But if the estates of the Marquis were beginning to regain their +value under the skilful direction of the bailiff, it was not the same +with the mines. Taking advantage of the convulsions in which Mexico +was writhing, the independent Indians, no longer held in subjection +by the fear of the powerful military organization of the Spaniards, +had crossed the frontiers and regained a certain portion of their +territory. They had permanently settled upon it, and would not allow +white men to encroach on it. Most of the Marquis's mines being situated +in the very country now occupied by the Indians, were consequently +lost to him. The others, almost entirely inundated, in spite of the +incessant labour bestowed on them, did not yet hold out any hopes of +becoming productive again. + +What Don Hernando gained on one side he lost on the other; and his +position, in spite of his efforts, became worse and worse, and the +abyss of debt gradually enlarged. The Marquis saw with terror the +moment before him when it would be impossible for him to continue the +struggle. Sad and aged by sorrow rather than years, the Marquis no +longer dared to regard the future, which daily became more gloomy for +him. He watched in mournful resignation the downfall of his house--the +decay of his race; seeking in vain, like the man without a compass on +the mighty ocean, from what point of the horizon the vessel that would +save him from shipwreck would arrive. + +But, alas! Days succeeded days without bringing any other change in +the position of the Marquis, save greater poverty, and more nearly +impending ruin. In proportion as the misfortune came nearer, the +Marquis had seen his relations and friends keep aloof from him; all +abandoned him, with that selfish indifference which seems a fundamental +law of every organized society, when the precept, "Each man for +himself," is put in practice, with all the brutal force of the _vae +victis_. + +Hence Don Hernando resided alone, with his son, at the Hacienda del +Toro; for he had lost his wife several years before, and his daughter +was being educated in a convent at the town of Rosario; with that +noble pride which so admirably becomes men of well-tempered minds, the +Marquis had accepted without a murmur the ostracism passed upon him. +Far from indulging in useless recriminations with men, the majority of +whom had, in other days, received obligations from him, he had made his +son a partner in his labours, and, aided by him, redoubled his efforts +and his courage. + +Some months before the period when our story begins, ill fortune had +seemed, not to grow weary of persecuting the Marquis, but desirous +of granting him a truce--this is how a gleam of sunshine penetrated +the gloomy atmosphere of the hacienda. One morning, a stranger, who +appeared to have come a great distance, stopped at the gate, leading a +mule loaded with two bales. This man, on reaching the first courtyard, +threw the mule's bridle to a peon, with the simple remark,--"For Signor +Don Hernando de Moguer--" and, without awaiting an answer, he started +down the rocky road at a gallop and was lost in the windings of the +path ere the peon had recovered from the surprise caused by the strange +visit. The Marquis, at once warned, had the mule unloaded, and the +bales conveyed to his study. They each contained twenty-five thousand +piastres in gold, or nearly eleven thousand pounds of our money: on a +folded paper was written one word--Restitution. + +It was in vain that the Marquis ordered the most minute researches; +the strange messenger could not be found. Don Hernando was therefore +compelled to keep this large sum, which arrived so opportunely to +extricate him from a difficult position, for he had a considerable +payment to make on the morrow. Still, it was only on the repeated +assurances of Don Ruiz and the majordomo, that the money was really +his, that he consented to use it. + +Cheered by this change of fortune, Don Hernando at length consented +that Don Ruiz should go and fetch his sister, and bring her back to the +hacienda, where her presence had been long desired; though there had +been an obstacle, in the dangers of such a journey. + +We will now resume our narrative, begging the reader to forgive this +long digression, which was indispensable for the due comprehension of +what is about to follow, and lead him to the Hacienda del Toro, a few +hours before the arrival of Don Ruiz and his sister; that is to say, +about three weeks since we left them at the post of San Miguel. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A NEW CHARACTER. + + +Although, owing to its position on the shores of the Pacific, Sonora +enjoys the blessings of the sea breeze, whose moisture at intervals +refreshes the heated atmosphere; still, for three hours in the +afternoon, the earth incessantly heated by the torrid sunbeams produces +a crushing heat. At such times the country assumes a really desolate +aspect beneath the cloudless sky, which seems an immense plate of +red-hot iron. The birds suddenly cease their songs, and languidly hide +themselves beneath the thick foliage of the trees, which bow their +proud crests towards the ground. Men and domestic animals hasten to +seek shelter in the houses, raising in their hurried progress a white, +impalpable, and calcined dust, which enters mouth and nostrils. For +some hours Sonora is converted into a vast desert from which every +appearance of life and movement has disappeared. + +Everybody is asleep, or at least reclining in the most shady rooms, +with closed eyes, and with the body abandoned to that species of +somnolency which is neither sleeping nor waking, and which from that +very fact is filled with such sweet and voluptuous reveries--inhaling +at deep draughts the artificial breeze produced by artfully contrived +currents of air, and in a word indulging in what is generally called in +the torrid zones a siesta. + +These are hours full of enjoyment, of those sweet and beneficent +influence on body and mind we busy, active Englishmen are ignorant, +but which people nearer the sun revel in. The Italians call this state +the _dolce far niente_, and the Turks, that essentially sensual race, +_keff_. + +Like that city in the "Arabian Nights," the inhabitants of which the +wicked enchanter suddenly changed into statues by waving his wand, life +seemed suddenly arrested at the Hacienda del Toro, for the silence was +so profound: peons, vaqueros, craidos, everybody in fact, were enjoying +their siesta. It was about three in the afternoon; but that indistinct +though significant buzz which announces the awakening of the hour that +precedes the resumption of labour was audible. Two gentlemen alone had +not yielded to sleep, in spite of the crushing midday heat; but seated +in an elegantly furnished _cuarto_, they had spent the hours usually +devoted to slumber in conversation. The cause for this deviation from +the ordinary custom must have been most serious. The Hispano-American, +and especially the Mexican, does not lightly sacrifice those hours of +repose during which, according to a Spanish proverb, only dogs and +Frenchmen are to be seen in the sun. + +Of these two gentlemen, one, Don Hernando de Moguer, is already known +to us. Years, while stooping his back, had furrowed some wrinkles on +his forehead, and mingled many silver threads with his hair; but the +expression of his face, with the exception of a tinge of melancholy +spread over his features by lengthened misfortunes, had remained nearly +the same, that is to say, gentle and timid, although clever; slightly +sarcastic and eminently crafty. + +As for the person with whom Don Hernando was conversing at this moment, +he deserves a detailed description, physically at least, for the +reader will soon be enabled to appreciate his moral character. He was +a short, plump man, with a rubicund face and apoplectic look, though +hardly forty years of age. Still his hair, which was almost white, +his deeply wrinkled forehead, and his grey eyes buried beneath bushy +whiskers, gave him a senile appearance, harmonizing but little with the +sharp gesticulation and youthful manner he affected. His long, thin, +violet nose was bent like a parrot's beak over a wide mouth filled with +dazzling white teeth; and his prominent cheekbones, covered with blue +veins, completed a strange countenance, the expression of which bore a +striking likeness to that of an owl. + +This species of nutcracker, with his prominent stomach and short +ill-hung limbs, whose whole appearance was most disagreeable, had such +a mobility of face as rendered it impossible to read his thoughts +on his features, in the event of this fat man's carcase containing +a thought. His cold blue eyes were ever pertinaciously fixed on the +person addressing him, and did not reveal the slightest emotion; in +short, this man produced at the first contact that invariable antipathy +which is felt on the approach of reptiles, and which, after nearer +acquaintance, is converted into disgust and contempt. + +He was a certain Don Rufino Contreras, one of the richest landowners in +Sonora, and a year previously had been elected senator to the Mexican +Congress for the province. + +At the moment when we enter the _cuarto_, Don Hernando, with arms +folded at his back and frowning brow, is walking up and down, while Don +Rufino, seated on a butaca, with his body thrown back, is following his +movements with a crafty smile on his lips while striving to scratch +off an invisible spot on his knee. For some minutes, the hacendero +continued his walk, and then stopped before Don Rufino, who bent on him +a mocking, inquiring glance. + +"Then," he said, in a voice whose anxious expression he sought in vain +to conceal, "you must positively have the entire sum within a week?" + +"Yes," the fat man replied, still smiling. + +"Why, if that is the case, did you not warn me sooner?" + +"It was through delicacy, my dear sir." + +"What--through delicacy?" Don Hernando repeated, with a start of +surprise. + +"You shall judge for yourself." + +"I shall be glad to do so." + +"I believe you do me the justice of allowing that I am your friend?" + +"You have said you are, at least." + +"I fancy I have proved it to you." + +"No matter; but let us pass over that." + +"Very well. Knowing that you were in a critical position at the moment, +I tried to procure the sum by all possible means, as I did not wish to +have recourse to you, except in the last extremity. You see, my dear +Don Hernando, how delicate and truly friendly my calculations were. +Unfortunately, at the present time it is very difficult to get money +in, owing to the stagnation of trade produced by the new conflict +which threatens to break out between the President of the Republic and +the Southern States. It was therefore literally impossible for me to +obtain the smallest sum. In such a perplexing position, I leave you to +judge what I was obliged to do. The money I must have; you have owed it +for a long time, and I applied to you--what else could I do?" + +"I do not know. Still, I think you might have sent a peon to warn me, +before you left Sonora." + +"No, my dear sir, that is exactly what I should not do. I have not come +direct to you: in pursuance of the line of conduct I laid down I hoped +to collect the required sum on my road, and not be obliged to come all +the way to your hacienda." + +Don Hernando made no reply. He began his walk again after giving the +speaker a glance which would have given him cause for thought, had he +noticed it; but the latter gentleman had begun rubbing the invisible +spot again with more obstinacy than before. In the meanwhile the +sunbeams had become more and more oblique; the hacienda had woke up +to its ordinary life; outside the shouts of the vaqueros pricking the +oxen or urging on the horses could be heard mingled with the lowing and +neighing of the draught cattle. Don Hernando walked up to a window, the +shutters of which he threw open, and a refreshing breeze entered the +_cuarto_. Don Rufino gave a sigh of relief and sat up in his _butaca_. + +"Ouf," he said, with an expression of comfort, "I was very tired; not +through the long ride I was compelled to make this morning, so much as +through the stifling heat." + +Don Hernando started at this insinuation, as if he had been stung by +a serpent; he had neglected all the laws of Mexican hospitality; for +Don Rufino's visit had so disagreeably surprised him, and made him +forget all else before the sudden obligation of satisfying the claims +of a merciless creditor. But at Don Rufino's remarks he understood how +unusual his conduct must have seemed to a weary traveller, hence he +rang a bell, and a peon at once came in. + +"Refreshment," he said. + +The peon bowed, and left the room. + +"You will excuse me, Caballero," the hacendero continued, frankly, +"but your visit so surprised me, that at the moment I did not think +of offering the refreshment which a tired traveller requires so much. +Your room is prepared, rest yourself tonight, and tomorrow we will +resume our conversation, and arrive at a solution I trust mutually +satisfactory." + +"I hope so, my dear sir. Heaven is my witness that it is my greatest +desire," Don Rufino answered, as he raised to his lips the glass of +orangeade brought by the peon. "Unhappily I fear that, with the best +will in the world, we cannot come to a settlement unless--" + +"Unless!" Don Hernando sharply interrupted. Don Rufino quietly sipped +his orangeade, placed the glass on the table, and said, as he threw +himself back on the _butaca_, and rolled a cigarette-- + +"Unless you pay me in full what you owe me, which, from what you have +said, appears to me to be difficult, I confess." + +"Ah!" Don Hernando remarked with an air of constraint, "What makes you +suppose that?" + +"I beg your pardon, my dear sir, I suppose nothing: you told me just +now that you were hardly pressed." + +"Well, and what conclusion do you derive from that?" the hacendero +asked impatiently. + +"A very simple thing--that seventy thousand piastres form a rather +round sum, and that however rich a man may be, he does not always have +it in his hands, especially when he is pressed." + +"I can make sacrifices." + +"Believe me, I shall be sincerely sorry." + +"But can you not wait a few days longer?" + +"Impossible, I repeat: let us understand our respective positions, in +order to avoid any business misunderstanding, which should always be +prevented between honourable gentlemen holding a certain position. I +lent you that sum, and only stipulated for small interest, I believe." + +"I allow it, Senor, and thank you for it." + +"It is not really worth the trouble; I was anxious to oblige you. I +did so, and let us say no more about it; but remember that I made one +condition which you accepted." + +"Yes," Don Hernando said, with an impatient start, "and I was wrong." + +"Perhaps so; but that is not the question. This condition which you +accepted was to the effect that you should repay me the sum I advanced +upon demand." + +"Have I said the contrary?" + +"Far from it; but now that I want the money, I ask you for it, and +that is natural: I have in no way infringed the conditions. You ought +to have expected what is happening today, and taken your precautions +accordingly." + +"Hence, if I ask a month to collect the money you claim?" + +"I should be heartbroken, but should refuse; for I want the money, not +in a month, but in a week. I can quite put myself in your position, and +comprehend how disagreeable the matter must be; but unluckily so it is." + +What most hurt Don Hernando was not the recall of the loan, painful as +it was to him, so much as the way in which the demand was made; the +show of false good nature employed by his creditor, and the insulting +pity he displayed. Carried away involuntarily by the rage that filled +his heart, he was about to give Don Rufino an answer which would have +broken off all friendly relations between them for ever, when a great +noise was heard in the hacienda, mingled with shouts of joy and the +stamping of horses. Don Hernando eagerly leant out of the window, and +at the expiration of a moment turned round to Don Rufino, who was +sucking his cigarette with an air of beatitude. + +"Here are my children, Caballero," he said; "not a word of this affair +before them, I entreat." + +"I know too well what I owe you, my dear Senor," the other replied, as +he prepared to rise. "With your permission, however, I will withdraw, +in order to allow you entire liberty for your family joy." + +"No, no!" Don Hernando added, "I had better introduce you at once to my +son and daughter." + +"As you please, my dear sir. I shall be flattered to form the +acquaintance of your charming family." + +The door opened, and Don Jose Parades appeared. The majordomo was a +half-breed of about forty years of age, tall and powerfully built, with +bow legs and round shoulders that denoted his capacity as a horseman; +in fact, the worthy man's life was spent in the saddle, galloping about +the country. He took a side-glance at Don Rufino, bowed to his master, +and lowering his usual rough tone, said-- + +"Senor amo, the nino and nina have arrived in good health, thanks to +Our Lady of Carnerno." + +"Thanks, Don Jose," Don Hernando replied; "let them come in. I shall be +delighted to see them." + +The majordomo gave a signal outside, and the two young people rushed +into the room. With one bound they were in their father's arms, who +for a moment pressed them to his heart; but then he pushed them +away, remarking that a stranger was present. The young couple bowed +respectfully. + +"Senor Don Rufino," the Marquis said, "I present to you my son, Don +Ruiz de Moguer, and my daughter, Dona Marianita: my children, this is +Senor Don Rufino Contreras, one of my best friends." + +"A title of which I am proud," Don Rufino replied, with a bow, while +giving the young lady a cold searching glance, which made her look down +involuntarily and blush. + +"Are the apartments ready, Don Jose?" Don Hernando continued. + +"Yes, Excellency," the majordomo said, who was contemplating the young +people with a radiant face. + +"If Senor Don Rufino will permit it, you can go and lie down, my +children," the hacendero said. "You must be tired." + +"You will also allow me to rest, Don Hernando?" the Senator then said. +The hacendero bowed. + +"We will resume our conversation at a more favourable moment," he +continued, as he took a side-glance at Donna Marianita, who was just +leaving the room with her brother. "However, my dear Senor, do not feel +too anxious about my visit; for I believe I have discovered a way of +arranging matters without inconveniencing you too much." + +And, bowing to his knees to the Marquis, who was astounded at this +conduct, which he was so far from expecting, Don Rufino left the room, +smiling with an air of protection. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +DON JOSE PAREDES. + + +Several days had elapsed since the return of Don Ruiz and his sister +to the hacienda, and Don Rufino had not said a word about the money +which occasioned his visit. The hacendero, while employing all the +means in his power to procure the necessary sum to pay his debt, had +been careful not to allude to the conversation he had held with his +creditor on the first day; the more so because Don Rufino seemed to +have forgotten the pressing want of money he had at first given as his +excuse for not granting any delay. + +At the hacienda everything had returned to its old condition. Don Ruiz +went out on horseback in the morning with Jose Paredes, in order to +watch the peons and vaqueros, leaving to his father and sister the +care of doing the honours to Don Rufino. For the first two or three +days Dona Marianita had been considerably embarrassed by their guest's +obsequious smiles and passionate glances; but she soon made up her +mind, and only laughed at the craving look and absurd postures of the +stout gentleman. The latter, while perceiving the effect he produced +on the young lady, appeared to take no heed of it, and conscientiously +continued his manoeuvres with the tenacity that formed the basis of his +character. Probably in acting thus, and by openly paying his court to +Dona Marianita, in the presence of her father and brother, Don Rufino +was carrying out a pre-arranged plan, in order to gain an end which may +be easily guessed. + +It was evident to everybody that Don Rufino was seeking to obtain the +hand of Dona Marianita. Don Hernando, in spite of the secret annoyance +this pursuit caused him, for this man was the last he would have +desired as his son-in-law, did not dare, however, let his vexation be +seen, owing to his delicate position, and the sword of Damocles which +Don Rufino held in suspense over his head. He contented himself with +watching him closely, while leaving him free to act, hoping everything +from him, and striving to collect all his resources in order to pay +him off as speedily as possible; and once liberty was regained, to +dismiss him. Unfortunately, money was difficult to obtain. Most of Don +Hernando's debtors failed in meeting their engagements; and it was with +great difficulty he obtained at the end of a fortnight one quarter the +sum he owed Don Rufino, and this sum even could not be employed in +liquidating the debt, for it was indispensable for the continuation of +the works at the hacienda. + +Since his arrival at the hacienda, Don Rufino had sent off messengers +in several directions, and received letters. One morning he entered Don +Hernando's study with an easy air, where the latter passed nearly the +day, engaged in the most abstruse calculations. The hacendero raised +his head with amazement on seeing the Senator; it was the first time +the latter had come to seek him in this room. He suffered a heart pang; +but he succeeded in hiding his emotion, and good-humouredly invited his +visitor to take a seat. + +"My dear Senor," Don Rufino began, as he comfortably stretched +himself out upon a butaca, "excuse me for pursuing you into your last +entrenchments, but I want to talk seriously with you, and so I frankly +knocked at this door." + +"You have done well," Don Hernando answered, with ill-dissembled agony: +"you know that I am entirely at your disposal. How can I be of any +service to you?" + +"I will not trouble you long: I am not fond of lengthy conversations, +and have merely come to terminate the affair which we began on the day +when I arrived at the hacienda." + +The hacendero felt a cold perspiration stand on his temples at this +brutally frank avowal. + +"I had not forgotten you," he replied: "at this very moment I was +making arrangements which, I trust, will enable me to discharge the +debt in a few days." + +"That is not the point," Don Rufino remarked, airily: "I do not want +the money, and request you to hold it for me as long as you possibly +can." + +Don Hernando looked at him in amazement. "That surprises you," the +Senator continued, "and yet the affair is very simple. I was anxious to +prove to you that you had in me not a pressing creditor, but a truly +devoted friend. When I saw that it would greatly embarrass you to repay +me this trifle, and as you are a gentleman I am anxious to oblige, I +turned to another quarter." + +"Still," Don Hernando, who feared a snare, objected: "you said to me--" + +"I believed it," Don Rufino interrupted him. "Fortunately it was not +so, as I have recently acquired the proof: not only have I been able to +meet my payment, but I have a considerable sum left in my hands which +I do not know what to do with, and which I should feel much obliged +by your taking; for I do not know a more honourable gentleman than +yourself, and I wish to get rid of the money, which is useless to me at +the moment." + +Don Hernando, confounded by this overture, which he had been so far +from expecting from a man who had at first been so harsh with him, was +silent, for he knew not what to answer, or to what he should attribute +this so sudden and extraordinary change. + +"Good gracious!" continued Don Rufino, with a smile; "During the +few days I have been with you, my dear Senor, I have been enabled +to appreciate the intelligent way in which you manage your immense +estate; and it is evident to me that you must realize enormous profits. +Unfortunately for you, you are in the position of all men who +undertake great things with limited resources. You are short of capital +just at the moment when it is most necessary; but as this is a common +case, you cannot complain. You have made sacrifices, and will have to +make more before obtaining real results. The money you want I have, +and I offer it to you. I trust you will not insult me by doubting my +friendship, or my desire to be of service to you." + +"Certainly, Caballero. Still," Don Hernando stammered, "I am already +your debtor to a heavy amount." + +"Well, what matter? You will be my debtor for a larger amount, that is +all." + +"I understand all the delicacy and kindness of your conduct, but I +fear--" + +"What?--That I may demand repayment at an inconvenient moment?" + +"I will not conceal from you--" + +"You are wrong, Don Hernando. I wish to deal with you as a friend, and +do you a real service. You owe me seventy thousand piastres, I believe?" + +"Alas, yes!" + +"Why that 'alas?'" the senator asked, with a smile. "Seventy thousand +piastres, and fifty thousand more I am going to hand you directly, +in six bills payable at sight, drawn on Wilson and Co., Bankers, at +Hermosillo, will form a round sum, for which you will give me your +acceptance payable--come, what date will suit you best?" + +Don Hernando hesitated. Evidently Don Rufino, in making him so strange +a proposal, had an object; but that object he could not see. The +Senator's love for his daughter could not impel him to do such a +generous act: this unexpected kindness evidently concealed a snare; +but what was the snare? Don Rufino carefully followed the different +feelings that were reflected on Don Hernando's face. + +"You hesitate," he said to him, "and you are wrong. Let us talk +candidly. You cannot possibly hope to realize any profit within eight +months, so it will be impossible for you to pay me so large a sum +before that period." Then, opening his pocketbook and taking out +the six bills, which he laid on the table, he continued: "Here are +the fifty thousand piastres; give me an acceptance for one hundred +and twenty thousand, payable at twelve months' date. You see that +I give you all necessary latitude to turn yourself round. Well, +supposing--which is not probable--that you are unable to pay me when +the bill falls due; we will renew it, that is all. _iCuerpo de Cristo!_ +I am not a harsh creditor. Come, is the matter settled, or must I take +the bills back?" + +Money, under whatever shape it presents itself, has an irresistible +attraction in the eyes of the speculator and embarrassed man. Don +Hernando, in spite of all his efforts--in spite of all the numerous +sacrifices he had made, felt himself rapidly going down the incline of +ruin, on which it is impossible for a man to stop; but time might save +him. Don Rufino, whatever his wishes might be, rendered him an immense +service by giving him, not only time, but also the money he required, +and which he despaired of obtaining elsewhere. Any longer hesitation +on his part would therefore have been unjustifiable; hence he took the +bills, and gave his acceptance. + +"That's settled," Don Rufino said, as he folded the document and +carefully placed it in his pocketbook. "My dear Senor, you are really a +singular man. There is more difficulty in getting you to accept money +than there would be in getting another to pay it." + +"I really do not know how to thank you, Don Rufino, for the service +you have rendered me, and which I am now free to confess has arrived +very opportunely." + +"Money is always opportune," the Senator replied, with a laugh; "but +let us say no more about that. If you happen to have a safe man, send +him off at once to cash these bills at Hermosillo, for money is too +scarce to be allowed to lie idle." + +"This very day my majordomo, Don Jose Paredes, shall set out for the +_ciudad_." + +"Very good. Now I have one request to make of you." + +"Speak, speak! I shall be delighted to prove to you how grateful I am." + +"This is the matter: now that I am, temporarily at least, no longer +your creditor, I have no decent pretext for remaining at the hacienda." + +"Well, what does that matter?" + +"It matters a great deal to me. I should like to remain here a few days +longer, in order to enjoy your agreeable society." + +"Are you jesting, Don Rufino? The longer you remain at the hacienda, +the greater honour you will do us; we shall be delighted to keep you, +not for a few days, but for all the time you may be pleased to grant +us." + +"Very good; that is what I desired. Now, I shall go away and leave you +to your business." + +When the majordomo returned to the hacienda at about eleven o'clock in +the morning, Don Hernando sent for him. Without taking the time to pull +off his vaquero boots or unbuckle his heavy spurs, Jose Parades hurried +to his master. + +"Have you a good horse?" the hacendero asked, so soon as the majordomo +entered the study. + +"I have several, Excellency," he answered. + +"I mean by a good horse, one capable of going a long distance." + +"Certainly, mi amo; I have a mustang on which I could ride to +Hermosillo and back without giving it any further rest than that of the +camping hours." + +"I want to send you to Hermosillo." + +"Very good, Excellency; when must I start?" + +"Why, as soon as possible after you have rested." + +"Rested from what?" + +"The ride you have taken this morning." + +The majordomo shrugged his shoulders with a smile. "I am never tired, +Excellency; in half an hour I shall have lassoed my horse, saddled it, +and mounted, unless you wish me to defer my journey." + +"The hours for the siesta will soon be here, and the heat will be +insufferable." + +"You are aware, Excellency, that we half-Indians are children of the +sun; its heat does not affect us." + +"You have an answer for everything, Don Jose." + +"For you, Excellency, I feel myself capable of performing +impossibilities." + +"I know that you are devoted to my house." + +"Is it not just, Excellency? For two centuries my family has eaten the +bread of yours; and, if I acted otherwise than I am doing, I should be +unworthy of those from whom I am descended." + +"I thank you, my friend; you know the esteem and affection I have for +you. I am about to intrust an important commission to you." + +"Be assured that I shall perform it, Excellency." + +"Very good. You will start at once for Hermosillo, where you will cash +these bills for fifty thousand piastres, at the bank of Wilson and Co." + +"Fifty thousand piastres!" the majordomo repeated, with surprise. + +"It surprises you, my friend, to whom I have confided my most secret +affairs, that I have so large a sum to receive. You ask yourself, +doubtless, in what way I managed to obtain it." + +"I ask nothing, Excellency; it does not concern me. I am here to carry +out your orders, and not permit myself improper observations." + +"This money has been lent me by a friend whose kindness is +inexhaustible." + +"Heaven grant that you are not mistaken, Excellency; and that the man +from whom you have this money is really a friend." + +"What do you mean, Don Jose? To what are you alluding?" + +"I make no allusion, mi amo; I merely think that friends who lend +fifty thousand piastres from hand to hand--pardon my frankness, +Excellency--to a man whose affairs are in such a condition as yours, +are very rare at present; and that, before forming a definite judgment +about them, it would be wiser to wait and learn the cause of such +singular generosity." + +Don Hernando sighed. He shared his majordomo's opinions, though he +would not allow it. Following the tactics of all men who have not good +reasons to allege, he suddenly turned the conversation. + +"You can take three or four persons with you," he said. + +"What to do, Excellency?" + +"Why, to act as escort on your return." + +The majordomo began laughing. + +"What use is an escort, Excellency? You want your money here? I will +buy a mule at Hermosillo, and load the money on it, and it will take a +very clever fellow to rob me, I assure you." + +"Still, it would be, perhaps, better to have an escort." + +"Permit me to remark, Excellency, that it would be the best way of +setting robbers on my track." + +"_iViva Dios!_ I should be curious to know how you arrive at that +conclusion." + +"You will easily understand me, mi amo. A single man is certain to pass +unnoticed, especially when, as at this moment, the roads are infested +with bandits of every description and every colour." + +"Hum! what you are saying is not re-assuring, Don Jose, do you know +that?" Don Hernando remarked, with a smile, for his majordomo's +reasoning amused him. + +"On the contrary, the bandits to whom I am referring, Excellency, are +clever, too clever, and it is that which ruins them; they will never +imagine that a poor devil of a half-breed, leading a sorry mule, can be +carrying fifty thousand piastres. Deceived by my appearance, they will +let me pass, without even pretending to see; while if I take persons +with me, it will arouse their suspicions, they will want to know why I +am guarded, and I shall be plundered." + +"You may really be right, Don Jose." + +"I am certain I am, Excellency." + +"Well, I will not argue any longer; do what you think proper." + +"All right, Excellency; I will deliver the money to you, without the +loss of a real, I promise you." + +"May Heaven grant it: here are the bills, and now--you can start +whenever you please." + +"I shall be gone within an hour, Excellency," the majordomo answered. + +He took up the bills, hid them in his bosom, and, after bowing to his +master, left the study. Jose Paredes went straight to the corral, where +in a few minutes he had lassoed a mustang with small head and flashing +eye, which he began saddling, after he had carefully rubbed it down. +Then he inspected his weapons, laid in a stock of powder and ball, +placed some provisions in his alforjas, and mounted. But, instead of +leaving the hacienda, he proceeded to a separate building, and twice +gently tapped a window before which he pulled up. The window opened, +and Don Ruiz appeared. + +"Ah! Is that you, Paredes; going back to the plantations already?" he +said; "Well, wait a minute, and I will be with you." + +The majordomo shook his head. + +"Do not disturb yourself, Nino," he said. "I am not going to the +plantations, but on a journey." + +"A journey?" the young man asked, in surprise. + +"Yes; but only for a few days. The Marquis has sent me, and I shall +soon be back." + +"Can you tell me the reason why you are going, and whither?" + +"The master will tell you himself, Nino." + +"Good! But I suppose you have some other motive for coming to wish me +good-bye?" + +"Yes, Nino; I wished to give you a piece of advice before leaving the +hacienda." + +"Advice?" + +"Yes; and of a serious nature. Nino, during my absence, watch carefully +the man who is here!" + +"Whom do you mean, Paredes?" + +"The Senator, Don Rufino Contreras." + +"For what reason?" + +"Watch him, Nino, watch him! And now, good-bye for the present." + +And without awaiting the question the young man was about to ask him, +the majordomo dug his spurs into his horse's flanks, and left the +hacienda at a gallop. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +ON THE ROAD. + + +Mexico, considering its size, is one of the least populated countries +in the world. With but few exceptions, the old Spanish colonies, +since they have proclaimed their independence and become free +republics, having been constantly engaged in war with each other, or +in overthrowing the government they themselves elected, have seen all +the ties attaching families to the soil broken in turn. Foreigners, no +longer finding the necessary safety for their speculations in countries +incessantly troubled by revolutions, have gone away. Trade has been +annihilated; commerce has fallen into a state of atrophy; and the +population has frightfully decreased, with such rapidity, that sensible +men, who sought a remedy for this incurable evil, called emigration to +the help of these states, which nothing can galvanise, and which only +possess a factitious existence. + +Unfortunately, the Hispano-American race is essentially haughty and +jealous. Poor fellows, who let themselves be seduced by the brilliant +promises made them, and who consented to cross the sea to settle in +this country, found, on their arrival, and especially in Mexico, an +ill-disguised hatred and contempt, which was displayed in all classes +of society by ill will and aversion. Hence, being disgusted by their +reception, and recognising the slight trust they could place in the +promises of the men who had summoned them, they hastened to leave a +country in which they had only found unjust prejudices and deplorable +ill faith, and went to ask of the United States the protection refused +them by those who had so pressingly summoned them. + +Mexico, in spite of a certain varnish of civilization, the last +reminiscence of the Spanish occupation, which may still be found in +the large cities and their environs, is, therefore, in reality plunged +into a state of barbarism relatively greater than it was fifty years +ago. The Pacific States, especially, being less frequently visited +by strangers, and left, as it were, to themselves, have retained a +peculiar physiognomy, whose picturesque savageness and rough manners +would cause the tourist's heart to beat with joy, if ever a tourist +ventured into these countries; but which inspire an involuntary fear, +justified, however, by everything the traveller, forced to visit this +land on business, witnesses. + +In Europe and all civilized countries, the means of transport are +numerous and convenient, but in Mexico only one is known--the horse. In +the Central States, and those which run along the Atlantic seaboard, +some towns possess diligences, which change horses at the _tambos_, +a species of inn, where the travellers stop to pass the night. But +these _tambos_ and _mesones_, which possess a great resemblance to +the Sicilian hostelries and Spanish ventas, supply absolutely nothing +to the guests they shelter, excepting a roof, reduced to its simplest +expression; that is to say, the traveller is compelled to take his +bed with him, in addition to provisions, if he does not wish to sleep +wrapped up in his cloak. + +In spite of the numberless disagreements which the uncomfortable +mode of progressing from one place to another entails, the traveller +derives one advantage from it--that of not being exposed, in a fickle +atmosphere like that of Mexico, where after burning days the nights +are chilly, to the attacks of the climate. In the Pacific States, +matters are no longer thus; the traveller who proceeds from one town to +another is forced to do so on horseback, without any hope of finding +for a distance of sixty or eighty leagues the smallest inn, or even +most wretched rancho, where he can shelter himself from wind and rain +at nightfall. At sunset he camps where he is in the open air, and +begins his journey again on the morrow Still, as Providence has been +in its wisdom careful to give an equal amount of good and evil, the +robbers, salteadores, and brigands of every description, who infest all +the roads in the interior, on which they reign as masters, plundering +travellers in open day and assassinating them with the most perfect +impunity, are rarely found in Sonora. In this country the roads in this +respect enjoy a relatively complete security, except when the Indians +have risen, or a fresh _pronunciamiento_ has let bands of revolted +soldiers loose on the country. These fellows have no scruple about +imitating professional robbers, and killing and plundering people, +whose unlucky stars have exposed them to their tender mercies. + +Jose Paredes, though he had in reality only fifty leagues to go, a +distance which in most European countries is comfortably performed +in a railway carriage in a few hours, was obliged, on account of the +bad state of the roads, and the indispensable precautions he had +to take, to remain at least four days on the road before reaching +Hermosillo. This journey, which would have been very painful to any +man accustomed to the ease and luxuries of life, was only a pleasure +trip for the worthy majordomo, a real Centaur, whose life was spent +on horseback--who slept more frequently in the open air than under a +roof, and whose powerful constitution rendered him insensible to the +annoyances inseparable from a journey made under such conditions. The +Mexicans have two expressions which admirably depict the class of men +to whom the majordomo belonged; they call them _Jinetes_ and _Hombres +de a Caballo_. + +Jose Paredes, then, rode along jauntily on his horse, at one moment +carelessly smoking a husk cigarette, at another humming a _jarabe_ +or a _seguedilla_, while keeping his eye and ear on the watch, and +his finger prudently laid on the trigger of his gun, which was placed +across his saddle-bow. His second day's ride was drawing to a close; +he had left Arispe far behind him, which town he had passed through +without stopping longer than he required to lay in fresh provisions and +forage for his horse. + +The sun was rapidly declining on the horizon; a rather powerful wind +blew in gusts, raising clouds of dust, which blinded the horseman and +formed a thick fog round him, in the midst of which he almost entirely +disappeared. Although, as we have said, the day was drawing to a close, +the heat was stifling, the sky had assumed a livid appearance; yellow +clouds gradually collected in the horizon and were rapidly brought +up by the wind. The birds whirled in the air, uttering shrill and +discordant cries; sharp noises and shrill whistlings rose from among +the rocks that on both sides flanked the narrow ravine the majordomo +was now following, and large drops of rain fell on the calcined soil, +which easily imbibed them. The horse pricked its ears, shook its head, +and snorted in terror. All presaged one of those storms which it is +only possible to witness in these regions--veritable cataclysms which +rend and uproot the largest trees, force streams from their beds, and +overthrow the soil, as if the earth were struggling wildly beneath the +grasp of those horrible convulsions of Nature, which completely change +within a few hours the aspect of the country over which they have swept +with the fury of the African simoom. + +"Hum!" Jose Paredes muttered to himself, as he took an anxious glance +along the road; "If I am not greatly mistaken, within an hour we shall +have one of the most tremendous _cordonazos_ that has been seen for +some time. That will be most agreeable for me, and my position will +not fail to be most amusing. Confound the temporal! Why could it not +have waited for another eight-and-forty hours?" + +The majordomo lost no time in vain lamentation. The situation in which +he found himself was really critical: he knew that if the temporal +surprised him on this ravine, he would have enormous difficulties +to overcome in escaping its violence. He therefore resolved at all +hazards to attempt the greatest efforts in getting out of the scrape. +Minutes were precious; hesitation was impossible, and he must form a +decision at once. Jose Paredes was a resolute man, long accustomed +only to reckon on his courage, strength, and energy, to get him out +of difficult situations; he therefore carefully wrapped himself in +his zarape, pulled his hat down over his forehead, and, bending over +his horse's neck, dug his spurs, while crying, sharply, one word: +"Santiago!" a cry employed in this country to excite horses. The noble +animal, astonished that its master should deem it necessary to employ +spurs to give it ardour, gave a snort of passion, and started at a +headlong pace. + +In the meanwhile the clouds had completely covered the blue sky; the +atmosphere was gradually growing darker; the sunbeams had lost their +heat; the horse still dashed on, rendered furious by the incessant +prick of the spurs, which the majordomo dug into his panting flanks. +At length Paredes uttered a cry of joy, for he had reached the end of +the ravine, and before him extended a vast plain, bordered by tall +mountains in the horizon. These mountains the majordomo wanted to +reach, for there alone had he chance of safety. Although his position +had greatly improved after leaving the ravine, it was still extremely +difficult, if the storm were to burst before he had succeeded in +crossing the plains, which afforded him no shelter to brave the +tornado. Hence, the traveller, after exploring the neighbourhood with a +rapid glance, and assuring himself that he had no hope of escaping the +tempest, and the barren sandy plain which was only traversed by a few +streams, repeated his cry of "Santiago," and set out on his mad ride +once more. + +As always happens, and as anyone who has studied the admirable instinct +of the horse can certify, the noble animal the majordomo rode seemed +to have identified itself with its master. Through the effort of +that magnetic current, whose power is no longer doubted, it appeared +to understand that their common safety depended on its efforts; and +it literally devoured the space, darting across the plain with the +fantastic rapidity of the spectre steed of the German ballad. + +All at once a vivid flash broke through the clouds, followed by a +tremendous thunderclap. The horse gave a start of terror, but quickly +checked by its rider, started again through the torrents of rain which +were beginning to fall. Night bad suddenly set in; the sun, veiled by +the clouds, had become invisible, and it was in condemned obscurity +that the majordomo was compelled to attempt the supreme efforts on +which life or death depended. Still, Paredes was not discouraged, +and his will seemed to grow fearless in the struggle; while sitting +firmly in the saddle, like a granite statue, with contracted brows +and eyes looking ahead, as if constantly trying to pierce the gloom, +and exciting his horse with spur and voice, his features were as calm +and impassive as if he were merely in one of the thousand ordinary +accidents of his adventurous life in the desert. In the meanwhile the +tempest had changed into a fearful hurricane, and raged with extreme +fury. The unchained winds whistled violently, dashing the rain, and +upraising masses of mud, which flew along the ground. + +An ill-omened swashing made the unhappy traveller, who was surprised by +the tornado, understand that the streams were beginning to overflow and +inundate the plain. By the vivid flashes which uninterruptedly followed +each other, the majordomo could see all around large grey pools of +water, which constantly widened and enclosed him in an incessantly +contracting circle; distant sounds borne by the breeze heightened his +apprehensions. An hour more, he felt, and the plains would only form +one vast lake, in the midst of which he would infallibly perish. Warned +by that instinct which never deceives them, the wild beasts had left +their lairs, and were flying madly, while uttering hoarse roars of +terror. When a flash lit up the horizon, Paredes could see indistinct +forms pass by his side, which were no other than the dangerous denizens +of the prairie. All was overthrown and confounded. The swash of the +water was mingled with the artillery of the thunder and the howling of +the wind. But the horse still galloped on straight ahead, sustained by +the very terror which maddened it and spurred it on better than the +sharpest knife could have done. + +Suddenly the majordomo uttered a cry of terror and anger, drew himself +up, and pulled bridle with such strength that the horse stopped short +on his trembling legs. He fancied he had heard the distant sound of a +bell. When an inundation comes, the hacenderos have all their bells +rung, in order to warn straggling travellers and tell them of a place +of refuge. The majordomo listened; in a few seconds a sound, faint as +a sigh, reached the ear. The practised hunter was not mistaken; it +was really the expiring sound of a bell that reached him, and the +sound, came from a direction diametrically opposite to the one he was +following. In the darkness he had left his track; he was lost in the +midst of an entirely submerged country without chance of help. In spite +of his indomitable bravery the majordomo felt an internal horror; an +icy perspiration stood on his forehead, and he shook all over. At this +supreme moment the man had but one terrible thought that he would bear +with him to the tomb the fortune entrusted to him by his master, and on +which the future of his children perhaps depended. Paredes felt burning +tears start from his eyes, and a choking sob from his bosom. He cared +little for life; he would gladly have sacrificed it for his master; but +the thought of dying thus, and completing his master's ruin, caused +him indescribable grief. For some minutes this lion-hearted man, this +bold wood ranger, who had faced without blenching the most terrible +dangers, felt weaker than a child. But this prostration only lasted a +short time, and a reaction quickly took place; ashamed of the passing +despondency to which he had yielded, the majordomo became the firmer +when all seemed to abandon him, and resolved to sustain the insensate +struggle till he drew his last breath. + +Rendered stronger by his energetic resolution, the majordomo, whose +arteries were beating as if about to burst, passed the back of his band +over his eyes, addressed to Heaven that mental prayer which the most +intrepid men find in their hearts at the supreme moment when life or +death only hangs by a thread; and, instead of going on, he waited for +a flash, by which he could examine his position, and decide the new +course he had to take. He had not to wait long; almost immediately a +flash shot athwart the sky. Paredes uttered a cry of joy and surprise: +he had seen, a few paces from him on his right, a rather tall hill, +on the top of which he fancied he noticed a horseman, motionless and +upright as an equestrian statue. + +With that coolness which powerful men alone possess in critical +circumstances, the majordomo, although he felt that the water was +rapidly encircling him, and was almost up to his horse's girths, would +not leave anything to chance. Fearing he had been deceived by one of +those optical illusions, so frequent when the senses are overexcited, +he resolved to wait for a second flash, and kept his eyes fixed on the +spot where the hill must be, which he fancied he must have seen as in +a dream. All at once, at the moment when the desired flash lit up the +darkness, a voice, that overpowered the roar of the tempest, reached +his ear: + +"Courage! Keep straight on," he heard. + +The majordomo uttered a cry of delight, which resembled a yell; and, +lifting his horse with his bridle and knees, he dashed toward the hill, +pursued by the seething waters which were powerless to arrest him; and, +after an ascent that lasted scarce ten minutes, he fell fainting into +the arms of the man whose summons had saved him. From this moment he +had nothing to fear: an inundation could not reach the top of the hill +where he had found such a providential refuge. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A CONVERSATION BY NIGHT. + + +The majordomo's fainting fit, caused rather by the moral struggle he +had sustained than by the physical fatigue he had endured, was not of +any duration: when he re-opened his eyes, he was alone on the top of +the hill. He threw off the furs and blankets laid over him, to protect +him, doubtless from the icy cold of the night, and looked curiously +round him. The tempest was still raging, but it had lost a great deal +of its violence. The rain had ceased: the deep blue sky was gradually +becoming studded with twinkling stars, which shed an uncertain light, +and gave the landscape an aspect of strange and desolate wildness. +The wind blew furiously, and formed waves on the seething top of the +waters, which had now almost risen to the spot where the majordomo lay. +A few yards from its master, his horse was quietly grazing; it was +eating the young tree shoots, and the tall close grass that covered the +ground like a thick carpet of verdure. Another horse was browsing close +by. + +"Good!" Paredes muttered to himself, "My saviour has not gone away; I +hope he is not far off, and that I shall see him soon. Where can he be? +At his own business, of course, though I cannot guess the nature of his +occupation at such a moment. Well, the best plan will be to wait for +him." + +The Mexican had scarce ended his soliloquy, ere a shadow stood out in +the gloom, and the man of whom he was speaking appeared. + +"Ah, ah!" he said, gaily, "You are all right again, I see: all the +better; I would sooner have you in that position than the one you were +in just now." + +"Thanks," the majordomo cordially answered. "I fancy I must have looked +very pitiable, stretched out like a half-throttled _novillo_. Is it not +disgraceful for a strong man to faint like a child or a feeble woman?" + +"Not the least in the world, _companero_," the other said, frankly. +"Accident decreed that I should be for a long time the involuntary +witness of the contest you waged, though it was impossible to help +you, and _iViva Dios!_ I declare that you are a tough combatant; you +sustained the shock bravely, and many others in your place--I the +first, perhaps--would not have got out of the scrape so well." + +This answer completely broke the ice, and made the two men +comparatively friends at once. + +"I confess," Paredes remarked, as he offered his hand to his new +friend, "that for a moment I believed myself lost, and had it not been +for you I should have been so." + +"Nonsense," the other replied, as he pressed the hand offered him. +"You owe me nothing, for, by Jove! You saved yourself all alone. But +let us not dwell on this point any longer. Although we are in relative +safety, as the water cannot reach us here, our position is not the most +agreeable; and I fancy it would be the best for us to try and get out +of it as quickly as possible." + +"That is my opinion, too; but, unluckily, the means at our disposal are +very limited." + +"Perhaps so; at any rate, with your consent, we will hold an Indian +council." + +"That is the best thing we can do at this moment. However," he added, +as he looked up to the sky, "day will not break for three hours." + +"We have time before us, in that case." + +Daring this short conversation the storm had entirely ceased, and the +wind only blew in gusts. + +"Before all," the majordomo said, "let us light a fire; now that the +tempest has ceased, the wild beasts, whose instinct is infallible, will +seek the shelter of this hill, swarm round us, and, if we do not take +care, carry our position by assault." + +"Excellently argued; I see that you are a hunter." + +"I was one for some time," Paredes replied, with a sigh of regret, "but +now it is all over; my adventures in the desert are ended." + +"I pity you sincerely," the stranger said, with an accent of sincerity; +"for no existence is comparable with it." + +"The finest years of my life were those I spent in the desert." + +While conversing thus, the two men had dug a hole with their machetes +at the foot of an enormous larch tree, to act as a hearth. In this +hole they piled up all the resinous wood they were able to procure, +lit it with some gunpowder rolled up in leaves, and in a few minutes +a long jet of flame sprung up and joyously ascended to the sky, while +the wood crackled and emitted millions of sparks. Fire has an immense +influence upon the human mind; among other benefits, it has the faculty +of restoring joy and hope; and while warming a man with its reviving +heat, it often makes him forget perils incurred and fatigues endured. +The two men, who were as wet as if they had been in a river, dried +themselves for a considerable time, enjoying the pleasant sensations +which the heat made them experience, in proportion as it penetrated +into the pores, causing the blood to circulate with greater vivacity, +and restoring elasticity to their benumbed limbs. It was the majordomo +who was the first to resume the conversation. + +"iViva Dios!" he said, shaking himself joyously; "I am now quite a +different man. What a fine thing a fire is when you are cold. Suppose +we make use of it, comrade?" + +"Do so, pray," the stranger replied, with a laugh; "but in what way?" + +"Oh, that is very easy; you shall see. Are you not hungry?" + +"_Caray_, it is fourteen hours since I have eaten; but unluckily I have +no provisions." + +"Well, I have, and we will share them." + +"Very good. I see that you are a first-rate fellow." + +The majordomo rose, fetched the alforjas which were fastened to his +saddle, and then seated himself again by the fire. + +"There!" he said, displaying his provisions with some degree of +complacency. + +"_iCaramba!_" the other remarked, with a laugh; "Food was never more +welcome." + +The provisions which caused such delight to the two men would have +made our European good wives smile with pity. They consisted of some +slices of _tasajo_, _cicuia_, a lump of goat's cheese, and a few +maize tortillas; but the majordomo produced a leather bottle, full +of excellent mezcal, which had the privilege of restoring to the two +adventurers all their merry carelessness. + +The _tasajo_ was laid on the coals, where it was soon done to a turn, +and the two friends heartily attacked the supper. The frugal meal +ended, they washed it down with a few sips of mezcal, fraternally +passing the bottle to each other; then they lit their cigarettes, the +_obligado_ supplement of every Mexican repast, and began to smoke, +while attentively surveying the heavy sky, which was already striped +with dark bands under the influence of the early morning hours. + +"Now, let us hold a council, if you are agreeable," the stranger said, +as he inhaled an enormous mouthful of smoke, which he sent forth +through his mouth and nostrils. + +"As you are my senior on this territory," the majordomo remarked, with +a laugh, "and are better acquainted with its resources than I am, you +have the right to speak first." + +"Very good: we are surrounded by water, and though the temporal has +ceased, the streams will not return to their bed for several hours: +moreover, the whole day will pass before the water is entirely absorbed +by the sand." + +"That is true," the majordomo said, with a significant shake of the +head: "and yet we must get away from here." + +"That is the question. To do so, we can only employ two means." + +"Yes, we must either wait till the ground is dry, and that +unfortunately will take a long time, which I cannot afford, as I am in +a hurry: or at sunrise we can mount our horses, and bravely swim off, +and reach the mountains, which cannot be very far distant." + +"You forgot another way which is still at our service." + +"I do not think so." + +"We can get into a canoe, and tow our horses after us, which will tire +them less than carrying us; and enable us to reach the mountains to +which you refer with greater ease; and they are only two leagues at the +most, from this point." + +"Your opinion is certainly good, and I approve of it with all my heart; +unluckily we want one very important thing to carry it out." + +"What is that?" + +"Why, hang it all--the canoe." + +"You are mistaken, _compadre_, we have one." + +"Nonsense; how can that be possible?" + +"While you were in a faint," the stranger continued, with a smile, +"I explored our domain. You know that, in this country, when the +rainy season arrives, the inhabitants are accustomed to hide canoes +in bushes, and even in trees, in order to give travellers who are +surprised by the inundation the means of saving themselves." + +"That is true; have you found a canoe?" + +"Yes; and hidden behind the very tree against which you are leaning." + +"Heaven be praised! In that case we run no risk; but is the canoe in +good condition?" + +"I have assured myself of that fact, and even found two pairs of new +paddles." + +"Heaven is very certainly on your side. In that case we will start at +sunrise, if that suits you." + +"Excellently; though I am not in such a hurry as you appear to be, and +for certain reasons I must remain in these parts for some days longer." + +"Shall we employ the few hours left us in having a sleep?" + +"You can sleep if you like, but as I am not at all fatigued, I shall +watch over our common safety." + +"I accept your proposal as frankly as you make it. Yet, with your +permission, I will not close my eyes till I have become better +acquainted with you." + +"How so? Are we not friends already?" + +"Certainly, I am your friend, at least; but we do not know one another." + +"That is to say--" + +"We do not know one another--I mean who we are." + +"Oh, when travelling, what value can such formalities possess?" + +"A greater value than you suppose; in a few hours we shall part, it is +true, perhaps never to meet again; but perhaps, at some distant period, +we may require each other's assistance; now, how could I summon you, if +I did not know your name?" + +"You're right, comrade; as for me, I am only a poor devil of a hunter, +wood ranger, or trapper--whichever you please, and my companions call +me Stronghand, because, as they say, when I hold out my hand to a +friend he can trust to it in perfect confidence." + +"_iViva Dios_, caballero! you are well named, as I can declare; your +reputation has already reached me, and I am delighted at the chance +that has brought us together, as I had already desired to form your +personal acquaintance." + +"I thank you," the hunter replied, with a bow. + +"As for me," the Mexican continued, "my name is Jose Paredes, and I am +majordomo to the Marquis de Moguer." + +"What!" Stronghand said, with a surprise he did not try to conceal; +"you are majordomo at the Hacienda del Toro?" + +"Yes, what do you find surprising in that?" + +"The man whom his master sent two days ago to Hermosillo, to receive +cash for heavy bills drawn on an English banker?" + +"How do you know that?" Paredes exclaimed, in his turn overwhelmed with +surprise. + +"What matter, so long as I know it?" the hunter replied. "Believe me," +he added, with an accent that caused the majordomo deep reflection, +"our meeting is truly providential, and Heaven led us toward each +other." + +"That is strange," Paredes muttered; "how is it possible that a secret +which my master confided to me alone should be in your possession?" + +The hunter smiled. "A secret known to three persons," he said, "does +not long remain a secret." + +"But that third person, to whom you refer, has no right to divulge it." + +"How do you know that? I will say to you in my turn, Master Paredes. +Sufficient for you, for the present, to learn that I am aware of the +cause of your journey. I think you said you had heard speak of me +before we met?" + +"That is true, Senor." + +"What terms did the persons who spoke of me employ?" + +"The best, I must allow. They represented you to me as a man of +unspotted loyalty and dauntless courage." + +"Good! Does that report satisfy you--have you confidence in me?" + +"Yes; for I am convinced that you are an honest man." + +"I hope that your opinion of me will not alter. I will soon prove to +you that it is fortunate for you and the Marquis that we have met at +the moment when you least expected it; for I was looking for you." + +"Looking for me? I do not understand you." + +"You do not require to understand me at the present moment; but set +your mind at rest, everything will be explained ere long." + +"I hope so." + +"And I am certain of it. Are you devoted to your master?" + +"My family have lived on the estate for two hundred years." + +"That is not a reason; answer distinctly." + +"I am devoted to him body and soul, and would willingly lay down my +life for him." + +"That is the way to answer; however, I knew it already, and only +desired that your lips should confirm what I have been told." + +"My master has no secrets from me." + +"I know that also. Well, now, listen to me attentively, Senor Paredes, +for what I have to reveal to you is of the utmost gravity." + +"I am listening to you, Senor." + +"Your master is at this moment in danger of being utterly ruined. He +is the plaything of villains who have sworn to destroy him. The sum +you are going to fetch they intend to take from you, and everything +is prepared to make you fall into an infamous trap, in which you will +infallibly perish." + +"Are you certain of what you assert?" the majordomo exclaimed, in +horror. + +"I know all, I repeat to you: the men from whom I obtained your secret, +who little expected that I was listening to them, at the same time +revealed to me the means they intended to employ in assassinating you." + +"Why, that is infamous!" + +"I am completely of your opinion, and that is why, instead of setting +my traps in the desert, as I ought to be doing, I am now here. I wish +to foil the plots of these villains, and confound them." + +"But what interest induces you to act thus?" the majordomo asked, with +a shadow of distrust. + +"That question I cannot answer. You must for the present lay aside all +curiosity; you must place entire confidence in me, and give me, in what +I propose doing, as much help as I shall offer you. Does this suit you? +I fancy that the bargain I offer is entirely to your advantage, and +that you will run no risk beyond what I do myself." + +There was a lengthened silence. The majordomo was reflecting on what +he had just heard, while the hunter, with his eyes fixed on him, was +patiently waiting till he thought proper to renew the conversation. At +length Paredes raised his head, and held out his hand to the hunter, +who pressed it. + +"Listen, Stronghand," he said to him; "all that you have told me +appears extraordinary, and I confess that at once: but there is such +frankness in your voice, and your reputation is so well established +among your brethren, the wood rangers, who all proclaim your loyalty, +that I do not hesitate to confide in you without any reservation, for +I am convinced that you can have no idea of betraying me, up to the +moment when you think proper to reveal to me the names of the villains +into whose hands I should have infallibly fallen, had it not been for +you, and who have sworn the ruin of my beloved master. I will do what +you ask of me--resign my will entirely; you may regard me as a thing +belonging entirely to you. Come, go, act as you think proper, and I +will obey you in everything, without asking any explanation of your +conduct. Now, in your turn, say if it suits you." + +"Yes, my worthy friend, that pleases me. You have guessed my thought. +I require this liberty to give me the means of succeeding in what I +wish to do. Believe the word of an honest man. If anything can add +to the confidence you have placed in me, and of which I am proud, I +swear to you, by all that is most sacred in the world, that no one is +more interested than I am in the Marquis de Moguer, or more sincerely +desires to see him happy." + +"We shall still start at sunrise, eh?" + +"Yes; but not to proceed to Hermosillo. Before going to that town, we +must take certain indispensable precautions. We have to deal with the +most crafty bandits on the border, and must beat them by cunning. They +are on our track, and we must cheat the cheaters." + +"Good, good! I will call to mind my old hunter's profession." + +"Remember, above all, the prairie proverb, 'The trees have eyes and the +leaves ears.' Fortunately for us, the villains who are watching for you +do not disturb me in any way. I reckon principally on that ignorance to +foil their plots." + +"But if we do not go to Hermosillo, where are we going?" + +"Tomorrow, when it is daylight," the hunter answered, sententiously, +"when the bright sunbeams permit me to convince myself that no one can +hear us, I will tell you. For the present, sleep, rest yourself, so +that you may be able to support the fatigue that awaits you." + +And, as if to avoid fresh questioning, the hunter wrapped himself in +his zarape, leant his back against the larch tree, stretched out his +legs to the fire, and closed his eyes. The majordomo, in spite of his +lively desire to continue the conversation, imitated him; and a few +minutes later, overcome by the fatigue of every description he had +endured for some days, he was fast asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE REAL DE MINAS. + + +For some years past--that is to say, since the day when Captain Sutter, +while digging a well at his plantation in San Francisco, accidentally +found a lump of virgin gold--the discovery of the rich mines of the New +World has so aroused interest and excited admiration, by giving a fresh +impulse to avarice and covetousness, that we consider it necessary to +say a few words here about the mines. Of course we shall allude to +those situated in the country where our scene is laid--that is, in +Sonora. + +Sonora is the richest mining country in the world. We assured ourself +by official data that six hundred bars of silver and sixty bars of +gold, worth together a million of piastres, were brought to the Mint +of Hermosillo in 1839. To this large amount a nearly equal sum must +be added, which is not brought to be assayed, in order to avoid the +payment of the duty, which is five per cent, on silver and four per +cent, on gold. This country also possesses most valuable copper mines, +but the population generally abandons the other metals to seek virgin +gold. + +No country in the world possesses auriferous strata so rich and so +extensive (_criaderos or placeres de oro_). The metal is found in +alluvial soil in ravines after rain, and always on the surface or at +a depth of a few feet. In the north of the province of Arispe, the +placers of Quitoval and Sonoitac, which were found again in 1836, +and to which we shall soon have to allude more specially, produced +for three years two hundred ounces of gold per day,--that is to say, +reducing it to our money, the large sum of two hundred and fifty +thousand pounds. + +The gold seekers restrict themselves to turning up the soil with a +pointed stick, and only collect the nuggets that are visible; but +if the streams were diverted from their course, and large washings +undertaken, the profits would be far more considerable. It is not rare +to find nuggets weighing several pounds; we saw at Arispe, in the +hands of a miner, one that was worth nine thousand piastres, or about +eighteen hundred pounds; and the Royal Cabinet at Madrid contains +several magnificent specimens. We will soon describe how and why the +working of these strata was interrupted. + +Most of the buildings of the _pueblos_, or Missions of Sonora, serve +as the gathering place of the nomadic workmen and traders who collect +round any important mine so soon as its working is begun. The place +where the workmen assemble takes the name of _Real de Minas_ or +_Mineral;_ and if the mine promises to be productive for any length +of time, the population definitively settles round it. Many important +towns of Mexico had no other origin. The facility with which the miners +earn large sums explains the enormous consumption of European goods +which takes place in the provinces. Simple rancheros may frequently +be seen spending in a few days seven or eight pounds of gold, which +only cost them a week's toil. Unhappily, the ruinous passion for +gambling--that shameful leprosy of Mexico, whose inhabitants it +degrades--prevents the great mine owners from keeping a large capital +on their hands, and thus checks works on a great scale. + +Before resuming our narrative, we must also give the reader certain +information about the Indian nations that inhabit the territory of +Sonora. There are in this province five distinct tribes; the Yaquis, +the Opatas, the Mayos, the Gilenos, and the Apaches. The Yaquis and +Mayos occupy the country to the south of Guaymas, as far as the Rio +del Huerto; they let themselves out to the creoles as farm labourers, +masons, servants, miners, and divers. Their number is about forty +thousand. The Opatas reside along the bank of the San Miguel de +Horcasitos, the Arispe, the Los Ures, and the Oposina; they are very +good workmen and excellent soldiers. They have always served the +government faithfully, both Spanish and Mexican, and their number is +estimated at thirty thousand. + +The Gilenos spread along the banks of the Gila and Colorado rivers. +The Axuas and Apaches, who belong to the Sierra Madre, are confounded +under the name of Papazos. These Indians are nomadic, and only live +by hunting and plunder; they were formerly encamped to the north of +Chihuahua and Sonora; but being driven back by the progress of the +Americans and Texans, they threw themselves upon the Mexican territory, +where they cause immense damage, for they are well supplied with +firearms, which they obtained in exchange for peltry and cattle at the +American establishments at the Arkansas, the Missouri, and the Rio +Bravo del Norte. In order to complete this brief enumeration of the +Indian nations of Sonora, we will mention a mission established at the +gates of Hermosillo, and in which five hundred Seris Indians lived; a +thousand members of the same tribe, formerly one of the most powerful +in this country, but now almost extinct, dwelt on the coast to the +north of Guaymas, and in Tiburon or Sharkesland. + +We will now temporarily leave Stronghand and Jose Paredes at the top of +the hill, where they found a shelter from the inundation, and lead the +reader to the Real de Minas of Quitoval, where certain important events +are about to take place. + +It was the evening: the streets and plazas of the pueblo were crowded +with individuals of every description: Yaquis Indians, hunters, miners, +gambusinos, monks, and adventurers, who composed the motley population +of the Mineral, mounted and foot, incessantly jostled each other, and +bowed, spoke, laughed, or quarrelled. Some were returning from the +placer, where they had been at work all day; others were leaving their +houses to enjoy the evening breeze; others, and they were the larger +number, were entering the drinking shops, through whose doors could be +heard the songs of the topers, and the shrill, inharmonious tinkling +jarabes and vihuelas. + +One of these _tendajos_, of a more comfortable and less dirty +appearance than the rest, seemed to have the privilege of attracting a +greater number of customers than all the rival establishments. After +passing through a low door and descending two steps of unequal height, +the visitor found himself in a species of hideous den, resembling at +once a cellar and a shed, whose earthen flooring, rendered uneven by +the mud constantly brought in by customers, caused persons to stumble +at each step who visited the place for the first time! A hot heavy +vapour, impregnated with alcoholic fumes and mephitic exhalations, +escaped through the door of this den, as from the mouth of Hades, and +painfully affected mouth and eyes, before the latter became accustomed +to the close, obscure aspect of the place, and were enabled to pierce +the thick curtain of vapour, which was constantly drawn from one side +to the other by the movements of the customers. They perceived, by the +dubious light of a few _candils_ scattered here and there, a large and +lofty room, whose once whitewashed walls had become black at the lower +part by the constant friction of heads, backs, and shoulders, to which +they served as a support. + +Facing the door was a dais, raised about a foot above the ground; this +dais occupied the entire width of the room, and was divided into two +parts; that on the right contained a table forming a bar, behind which +stood a tall, active fellow, with false look and ill-tempered face, the +master of the tendajo. Above the head of this respectable personage, +who answered to the harmonious name of Cospeto, a niche had been made +in the wall, in which was a statue of the Virgin, holding the Holy +Infant in her arms; in front of the statue a dozen small wax tapers, +fixed on a row of iron points, were burning. The left hand portion of +the dais was occupied by the musicians, or performers on jarabes and +vihuelas. + +On each side of the room, the centre of which remained free for the +dancers, ran rickety, badly made, and dirty tables, occupied at +this moment by a crowd of customers, some seated on benches, others +standing, laughing, talking, shouting, quarrelling; drinking mezcal, +refino, pulque, or infusion of tamarinds, or else staking at monte the +gold earned during the day at the mine, and which their dirty hands +fetched from the pockets of the shapeless rags that served them as +garments. A few women, creatures without a name, whose features were +sodden with debauchery, and eyes deep sunk with drinking, were mingled +with the crowd; and all, both men and women, were smoking either cigars +or husk cigarettes. + +Nothing can describe the hideous aspect of this infamous Pandemonium, +the refuge of all the vices of the province, overlooked by the gentle, +smiling face of the statue of the Virgin, whose features, in the light +of the tapers, assumed an expression of wondrous pity and sorrow. + +At the moment when we invite the reader to enter this drinking shop +with us the fun was at its height, the room was full of drinkers and +dancers, and the whole mob laughed, yelled, and made a row which would +have rendered the saint herself deaf. On the left, near the door, a +man, wrapped up in a thick cloak, one end of which was raised to his +face, and completely concealed his features, was sitting motionless at +a separate table, looking absently and carelessly at the dancers who +whirled round him. When a newcomer entered the tendajo, this man looked +toward the door, and then turned his head away with an air of ill +humour when he perceived that the newcomer was not the person that he +had been so long expecting, for he had been sitting alone at this table +for upwards of two hours. Still no one paid, or seemed to pay, any +attention to him--all were too much absorbed in their own occupations +to think about a man who obstinately remained gloomy and silent amid +this revelry. The stranger, so often deceived in his expectations, at +length gave up looking toward the door; he let his head fall on his +chest and went to sleep, or pretended to do so, either for the sake of +not attracting attention, or else to indulge with greater freedom in +his reflections. + +All at once a formidable disturbance broke out at one end of the +room; a table was upset by a vigorous blow; oaths crossed each other +in the air, and knives were drawn from boots; musicians and dancers +stopped short, and a circle was formed round two men who, with frowning +brows, eyes sparkling with intoxication and passion, a zarape rolled +as a buckler round the left arm, and a navaja in their right hand, +were preparing, according to all appearance, to attack each other +vigorously. The tendajero, or master of the house, then proved himself +equal to the position he occupied--he leaped like a jaguar over the +counter behind which he had hitherto stood coldly and indifferently, +merely engaged in watching his waiters and serving customers; he closed +the front door, against which he leant his powerful shoulders, in order +to prevent any customer bolting without payment of his score, and +prepared with evident interest to witness the fight. + +The two men, with outstretched legs, left arm advanced, bodies bent +forward, and knife held by the middle of the blade, were standing +looking in each other's eyes, ready for attack, defence, or parry. All +at once the mysterious sleeper appeared to wake with a start, as if +surprised by the voice of one of the adversaries, took a hasty glance +at the combatants, and then darted between them. + +"What is the matter?" he asked, in a firm voice, the sound of which +affected the duellists, who were astounded at an interference they had +been far from expecting. + +"This man," one of them answered, "has lost three ounces to me at +monte, through the unexpected turn up of the ace of spades." + +"Well?" the stranger interjected. + +"He refuses to pay me," the gambler continued; "because he declares +that the cards were packed, and that consequently I cheated him, which +is not true, for--_viva Dios;_ I am known to be a caballero." + +At this affirmation, which was slightly erroneous, a smile of singular +meaning, but which no one saw, curled the stranger's lip; he continued, +in a more serious voice--"It is true that you are a caballero, and I +would affirm it were it necessary; but the most honest man is subject +to deceive himself, and I am convinced that this has happened to you. +Hence instead of fighting with this caballero, whose honour and +loyalty cannot either be doubted, prove to him that you recognise +your error by paying him the three ounces, which you claimed of him +through an oversight; this gentleman will apologize for having used +certain ugly expressions, and all will then be settled to the general +satisfaction." + +"Certainly, I am convinced that this caballero is a man of honour; I +am ready to proclaim it anywhere, and I regret with all my soul the +misunderstanding which momentarily divided us," said the individual who +had not yet spoken, though he remained on the defensive, a position +that slightly contradicted the apparent good humour of his remark. + +The stranger then turned to the man whose friend he had so unexpectedly +made himself, and gave him a sign which the other appeared to +understand. + +"Well, caballero," he said, with an irony whose expression was hardly +noticeable, "what do you think of this apology? For my part, I consider +it complete and most honourable." + +The man thus addressed hesitated for a moment; a combat was evidently +going on in his mind; his furious glances seemed to challenge the +company; and had he perceived on the face of one of the spectators an +expression of contempt, however fugitive it might have been, he would +doubtless have immediately picked another quarrel. But all the persons +who surrounded him were cold and indifferent; curiosity alone was +legible on their features. He unrolled his cloak, returned the knife to +his boot, and held out his hand to his adversary at the same time that +he gave him three ounces. + +"Pardon me an involuntary error at which I am trully confused," he +said, with a courteous bow, but with a sigh he could not restrain. + +The other took the ounces without pressing, thrust them away in +his capacious pockets with far from ordinary dexterity, returned +the salute, and mingled with the crowd, who, through a lengthened +acquaintance with the two men, did not at all comprehend this peaceful +result. + +"Now, Master Kidd," the stranger continued, as he laid his hand on the +shoulder of the adventurer, who stood motionless in the middle of the +room, "I suppose that all your business here is settled; so, with your +permission, we will withdraw." + +"As you please," Kidd answered, carelessly, for this man was no other +than the bandit we came across in the opening of our story. + +The groups had broken up, the crowd had dispersed, musicians +and dancers had returned to their places, and the two men could +consequently leave without attracting attention. The stranger, when +he reached the purer atmosphere of the street, took several deep +inspirations, as if trying to expel from his lungs the vitiated air +he had been constrained to swallow for so long. Then he turned to his +companion, who was walking silently by his side. + +"_iCuerpo de Cristo!_ Master Kidd," he said, in a tone of ill humour, +"you are, it must be confessed, a singular fellow; you compel me, the +commandant of this pueblo, to come and hunt you up at this filthy +den, where, on your entreaty, I consented to meet you, and instead of +watching for my arrival, you leave me among the most perfect collection +of bandits I ever saw in my life." + +"Excess of zeal, captain; so you must not be angry with me for that," +the bandit answered, with a cunning look. "In order to be punctual at +the rendezvouz I gave you, I had been for nearly four hours at worthy +Senor Cospeto's. Not knowing how to spend my time, I played at cards. +You know what month is; once I have the cards in my hand, and the gold +on the table, I forget everything." + +"Good, good," the stranger answered. "I am willing to believe you. +Still, I pledge you my word, that if you dupe me in the affair you have +proposed, and the information you offer to sell me is false, you will +repent it. You know me, I think, Master Kidd?" + +"Yes, Captain Don Marcos de Niza, and I suppose that you know me too; +but of what use is this discussion? Let us settle our business first, +and then you can act as you think proper." + +The Captain gave him a suspicious glance. "It is well," he said, as he +rapped at the door; "come in, this is my house; I prefer treating with +you here to the tendajo." + +"As you please," the bandit said, and followed the Captain into his +house, the doors of which were closed behind them. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE BARGAIN. + + +Captain Don Marcos de Niza, whom we left commanding the post of San +Miguel, and defending it against the Indians, had been a few days +previously summoned to the political and military government of the +Mineral of Quitoval, by an order that arrived from Mexico, and emanated +from the President of the Republic himself. The fact was, that during +the last few days certain events had occurred which demanded energetic +action on the part of the President. All at once, at a moment when no +discontent was supposed to exist among the Indians, the latter, after +long councils they had held together, revolted, and had, without any +declaration of war, invaded the Mexican territory at several points +simultaneously. This revolt suddenly assumed serious proportions; +and had become the more formidable within a short time, because the +revolters were the Gilenos, that is to say, the Comanches, Apaches, and +Axuas, whose dangerous country is known by the name of the Papazos. + +The General commanding Sonora and Sinaloa, the two states most exposed +to the depredations of the Indians, saw that he must oppose to the +Indians a man who, through a lengthened residence on the borders, had +acquired great experience as to their way of fighting and the tricks +they employ. Only one officer fulfilled these conditions, and that +officer was Captain de Niza; he, therefore, received orders to quit the +post of San Miguel after dismantling it, and proceed immediately to the +Mineral of Quitoval. The Captain obeyed with that promptitude which old +soldiers alone can display in the execution of the orders they receive. +His first care, on reaching the Mineral, was to protect the pueblo, +as far as was possible, from a surprise, by digging a large trench, +throwing up entrenchments, and barricading the principal streets. + +Unfortunately, the general commanding the provinces had but a very +limited military force at his disposal; scarce amounting to six hundred +infantry and two hundred cavalry, without field artillery. Hence, in +spite of his lively desire to give the Captain a respectable force, as +he was obliged to scatter his troops along the whole seaboard of the +two states, he found it impossible to send to Quitoval more than one +hundred infantry and fifty cavalry. In spite of the numerical weakness +of his troops the Captain did not despair. He was one of those men to +whom the performance of duty was everything; and who carry out without +a murmur the most extraordinary order. + +Still, as he expected to be attacked at any moment by an army of ten +or fifteen thousand veteran Indians, amply supplied with firearms, and +who, through being accustomed to fight with Spaniards, could not be +easily terrified, he had to augment the number of his soldiers, so as +to have men enough to line the entrenchments he had thrown up round the +town. He had two means by which to obtain this result, and he employed +them. The first consisted in making the great mine owners understand +that they must participate in the defences of the pueblo, either +personally or by arming and placing under his orders a certain number +of the peons they employed; for if the Indians succeeded in seizing the +Mineral, the source of their wealth would be at once dried up. + +The great owners understood the Captain's reasons the more easily +because their interests were at stake. They therefore enthusiastically +followed his advice, and raised at their common charge a corps of one +hundred and fifty Opatas--brave soldiers, thoroughly devoted to the +Whites. They placed this corps under the Captain's orders, pledging +themselves to pay and support it so long as the danger lasted. Don +Marcos thus doubled his army at one stroke. This success, which he had +been far from expecting, owing to his profound knowledge of the apathy +and selfishness of his countrymen, induced him to try the second plan. + +This was very simple. It consisted in enlisting, for a certain bounty, +as many as he could of the adventurers who always swarm on the borders, +and whose neutrality is at times more formidable than declared enmity. +The sum offered by the Captain was two ounces per man, one payable on +enlistment, the other at the termination of the campaign. This offer, +seductive though it was, did not produce all the effect the Captain +expected from it. The adventurers responded but feebly to the appeal +made to them. These men, in whose hearts patriotic love does not +exist, and who only care for pillage, saw in the insurrection of the +Indians a source of disorder, and, consequently, of rapine. They cared +very little about defending a state of things which their predacious +instincts led them, on the contrary, to attack. + +Thirty or forty adventurers, however, responded to the call; and these +immoral men, who were impatient at the yoke of discipline, were rather +an embarrassment than an assistance to the Captain; still as, take +them altogether, they were sturdy fellows, and thoroughly acquainted +with Indian warfare, he attached them to his cavalry, which was thus +raised to a strength of one hundred men. Don Marcos thus found himself +at the head of two hundred and fifty infantry and one hundred horse--a +force which appeared to him, if well directed, more than sufficient to +withstand, behind good entrenchments, the effort of the whole Indian +army. + +We are aware that this number of men defending a town will produce a +smile of pity among European readers, who are accustomed to see on +battlefields masses of three hundred thousand men come into collision. +But all is relative in this world. In America, where the population +is comparatively small, great things have often been decided at the +bayonet's point by armies whose relative strength did not exceed that +of one of our line regiments. In the last battle fought between the +Texans and Mexicans--a battle which decided the independence of Texas, +the two armies together did not amount to two thousand men, and yet +the collision was terrible, and victory obstinately disputed. In the +actions between white men and Indians, the latter, in spite of their +indomitable valour, were almost always defeated in a pitched battle, +in spite of their crushing superiority of numbers. Not through the +courage of their enemies, but by their discipline and military skill. +The latter is certainly very limited, but sufficient for adversaries +such as they have to combat. + +One night, when the Captain returned home after his usual visit to +the pueblo to assure himself that all was in order, a ragged lepero, +more than half intoxicated with mezcal and pulque, handed him with an +infinitude of bows a dirty slip of paper folded up in the shape of a +letter. Don Marcos de Niza was not accustomed to neglect anything. He +attached as much importance to apparently frivolous events as to those +which seemed to possess a certain gravity. He stopped, took the letter, +gave a real to the lepero, who went away quite satisfied, and entered +his house, which was situated on the Plaza Mayor, in the centre of the +pueblo. + +After throwing his cap and sword on a table, the Captain opened the +letter. He read it at first rather carelessly; but ere long he began +frowning, and read the letter a second time, attentively weighing each +word. Then at the end of a moment he folded up the letter, and said in +a low voice--"I will go." + +This letter came from Kidd. The Captain had been long acquainted with +the bandit, and knew certain peculiar facts about him which would +have been most disagreeable to the bandit, had the latter suspected +that the Captain was so thoroughly initiated in the secrets of his +vagabond life. Hence Don Marcos fancied he had no right to neglect +the overtures the other was pleased to make; while keeping on his +guard and determined to punish him severely if he deceived him. The +Captain, therefore, proceeded without hesitation to the place where the +adventurer appointed to meet him. He had waited for him for several +hours with exemplary patience, and would probably have waited longer +still, had not chance suddenly brought them face to face in the way we +have described. + +When the two men had entered the house, and the door closed after them, +Don Marcos de Niza, still closely followed by the bandit, who, in spite +of his impudence, looked around him timidly, like a wolf caught in a +sheepfold, led him into a room the door of which he carefully closed. +The Captain pointed to a chair, sat down at a table, laid a brace of +pistols ostentatiously within his reach, and said-- + +"Now I am ready to hear you." + +"_iCaray!_" the bandit said, impudently; "that is possible; but the +point is whether I am disposed to speak." + +"And why not, pray, my excellent friend?" + +"Hang it, Captain," he said, as he pointed to the pistols, "there are +two playthings not at all adapted to set my tongue wagging." + +Don Marcos looked at him in a way that made the adventurer +involuntarily let his eyes fall, and then leant his elbows on the table. + +"Master Kidd," he then said, in a stern voice, though a certain tone of +sarcasm was perceptible in it, "I like a distinct understanding; let us +therefore, before anything establish our relative positions. You have +led a very agitated life, Master Kidd; your vagabond humour, your mad +desire to appropriate certain things to which you have a very dubious +claim have led you into a few mistakes, whose results might prove +remarkably disagreeable to you." + +The bandit shook his head in denial. + +"I will not dwell," the Captain continued, mockingly, "on a subject +which must make your modesty greatly suffer, and will come at once +to the motives of your presence here, and the positions we must hold +towards each other. I am commandant of this pueblo, and in that +capacity compelled to watch over its external safety as well as its +internal tranquillity, I think you will agree with me." + +"Yes, Captain," the bandit answered, somewhat reassured at finding the +conversation turned away from such delicate topics. + +"Very good; you wrote me this letter, appointing a meeting and offering +to sell--that is your own word--certain most important information, as +you say, for the continuance of the safety and tranquillity which I am +bound to maintain. Another man might have treated you in the Indian +fashion. After having you arrested, he would have ordered a cord to be +fastened round your temples; or your suspension by your thumbs--as you +have done yourself, if report be true, on various occasions with less +valid reasons; and have so thoroughly loosened your tongue that you +would not have kept a single secret back. I have preferred dealing with +you as an honest man." + +The bandit breathed again. + +"Still, as you are one of those persons with whom it is advisable to +take precautions, and in whom a confidence cannot be placed, as they +would not scruple to abuse it on the first opportunity, I retain not +only the right, but also the means of blowing out your brains if you +have the slightest intention of deceiving me." + +"Oh, Captain, what an idea! Blow out my brains!" the bandit stammered. + +"Do you fancy, my dear Senor," the Captain continued, still +sarcastically, "that your friends will pity you greatly, if such a +misfortune happened to you?" + +"Hum! to tell you the truth, I do not exactly know," the adventurer +answered, with at attempt to jest; "people are so unkind. But, since +you accept the bargain offered to you--for you do accept it, I think, +Captain?" + +"I do." + +"What then, will you give me in exchange for what I shall tell you?" + +"You sell; I buy; it is your place to make your conditions; and, if +they are not exorbitant--if, in a word, they seem to me fair, I will +accept them; so, speak, what do you ask?" + +"_iCaray!_ Captain; it is a delicate question, for I am an honest man." + +"That is allowed," Don Marcos interrupted him with a laugh. "Name your +price." + +"Fifty ounces; would that be too much?" the bandit ventured. + +"Certainly not, if the thing be worth it." + +"Then," Kidd exclaimed, joyfully, "that is understood, fifty ounces." + +"I repeat, if it be worth it." + +"Oh, you shall judge for yourself," he remarked, rubbing his hands. + +"I ask nothing better but to buy, and to prove to you that I have no +intention of cheating you," he added, as he opened a drawer and took +out a rather heavy purse, "here is the amount." + +And the Captain made two piles each of twenty-five ounces, exactly +between the pistols. At the sight of the gold the bandit's eyes +sparkled like those of a wild beast. + +"_iRayo de Dios!_ Captain," he exclaimed; "There is a pleasure in +treating with you. I will remember it another time." + +"I ask nothing better, Master Kidd. Now speak, I am listening." + +"Oh, I have not much to say; but you will judge whether it is +important." + +"Go on; I am all ears." + +"In two words, this is the matter; the Papazos have not elected a +chief, but an emperor!" + +"An emperor?" + +"Yes." + +"What do they assert, then?" + +"They mean to be free, and wish to constitute their Independence upon a +solid basis." + +"Do you know this emperor?" + +"I have seen him, at least." + +"Who is he?" + +"A man who is the more formidable because he appears to belong to the +white rather than the red race; and is thoroughly conversant with all +the means hitherto employed by the Indians." + +"Is he young?" + +"He is sixty; but as active as if he were only twenty." + +"Very good; proceed." + +"Is that important?" + +"Very important. But not worth fifty ounces, for all that." + +"The Yaquis, Mayos, and Seris have allowed themselves to be seduced, +and have entered the Confederation. They have taken up again their old +plans of 1827--you remember, at the time of their great revolution?" + +"Yes; go on." + +"The first expedition the Chief of the Confederation means to undertake +is the capture of the Real de Minas." + +"I am aware of it." + +"Yes; but do you know, Captain, that the Indians have spies even among +the garrison; that all is ready for the attack, and that the Papazos +intend to surprise you within the next two days?" + +"Who gave you this information?" + +The bandit smiled craftily. + +"What use my telling you, Captain," he answered, "if the information is +correct?" + +"Do you know the men who have entered into negotiations with the enemy?" + +"I do." + +"In that case tell me their names." + +"It would be imprudent, Captain." + +"Why so?" + +"Judge for yourself. Suppose I were to tell you their names, what would +happen?" + +"_iViva Dios!_" the Captain sharply interrupted him. "I should shoot +them like the miserable dogs they are, and to serve as a warning to +others." + +"Well, that is the mistake, Captain." + +"How a mistake?" + +"Why, yes; suppose you shoot ten men?" + +"Twenty, if necessary!" + +"Say twenty, it is of no consequence to me; but those who remain, whom +neither you nor I know, will sell you to the Indians, so that the only +result will be precipitating the evil instead of preventing it." + +"Ah, ah!" the Commandant said, with an expressive glance at the bandit. +"And what would you do in my place?" + +"Oh, a very simple thing." + +"Well, what is it?" + +"I would leave the scamps at liberty to prepare their treachery, while +carefully watching them; and when the moment for attack arrived, +I would have them quietly arrested; so that the Indians would be +surprised, instead of surprising us, and we should cheat the cunning +cheats." + +The Captain appeared to reflect for a moment, and then said--"The +plan you recommend seems to me good, and for the present I see no +inconvenience in carrying it out. Give me the names of the traitors." + +Kidd mentioned a dozen names, which the Captain wrote down after him. + +"Now," Don Marcos continued, "there are your fifty ounces, and I shall +give as many each time you bring me information as valuable as that of +today. I pay you dearly, so it is your interest to serve me faithfully; +but remember, that if you deceive me, nothing can save you from the +punishment I will inflict on you, and that punishment, I warn you, will +be terrible." + +The adventurer bounded on the money like a wild beast on a prey it +has long coveted, concealed it with marvellous dexterity in his wide +pockets, and said to the Captain with a bow--"Senor Don Marcos, I have +always thought that in this world gold was the sovereign master, and +that it alone had the right to command." + +After accompanying these singular words with a smiling and almost +mocking expression, Kidd bowed for the last time and disappeared, +leaving the Captain to his reflections. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE PAPAZOS. + + +We will not return to Stronghand and Jose Paredes, whom we have left +too long at the top of the hill. The night passed without any incident, +the majordomo sleeping like a man overcome by fatigue; as for the +hunter, he did not close his eyes once. The sun had risen for a long +time; it was nearly nine o'clock, but the hunter, forgetting apparently +what he had said to his comrade, did not dream of departure. Jose +Paredes slept on. It was a magnificent day; the sky, swept by the +night hurricane, was cloudless; the sun darted down its glowing beams; +and yet the atmosphere, tempered by the storm, retained an agreeable +freshness. The water was disappearing with a rapidity almost equalling +that it bad displayed in rising, being drunk by the thirsty sand or by +the hot sunbeams; the plain had lost its lacustrine appearance; and all +led to the supposition that by midday the ground would be firm enough +to be ventured on in safety. + +As the canoe was unnecessary, the hunter did not try to get it down +from the tree; with his back leant against the larch tree, his hands +folded, and his head bowed on his chest, he was thinking, and at +times taking an anxious glance at his sleeping comrade. At length the +majordomo turned, stretched out his arms and legs, opened his eyes, and +gave a formidable yawn. + +"_iCaramba!_" he said, as he measured the height of the sun; "I fancy I +have forgotten myself; it must be very late." + +"Ten o'clock," the hunter answered with a smile. + +"Ten o'clock!" Jose exclaimed, as he leaped up; "And you have let me +idle thus instead of waking me." + +"You slept so soundly, my friend, that I had not the courage to do so." + +"Hum!" Paredes replied, half laughing, half vexed; "I know not whether +I ought to complain or thank you for this weakness, for we have lost +precious time." + +"Not at all; see, the water has disappeared; the ground is growing firm +again, and when the great heat of the day is spent we will mount our +horses and catch up in a few hours the time you are regretting." + +"That is true, and you are right, comrade," said the majordomo, as +he looked around with the practised glance of a man accustomed to a +desert life. "Well, as it is so," he added, with a laugh, "suppose we +breakfast, for that will enable us to kill some time." + +"Very good," the hunter replied, good humouredly. They breakfasted as +they had supped on the previous night. When the hour for starting at +length arrived, they saddled their horses and led them down the hill; +for the ascent which they had escaladed so actively by night, under +the impulse of the pressing danger that threatened them, now proved +extremely steep, abrupt, and difficult. When they mounted, Stronghand +said--"My friend, I am going to take you to an _atepetl_ of the +Redskins. Do you consider that disagreeable?" + +"Not personally, but I will ask what advantage my master can derive +from it?" + +"That question I am unable to answer at the moment. You must know, +though, that we are taking this step on your master's behalf, and that +his affairs, instead of suffering by it, will be greatly benefited." + +"Let us go, then. One word, however, first. Are the Redskins, to whom +we are proceeding, a long distance off?" + +"It would be almost a journey for any persons but us." + +"Hum!" said Paredes. + +"But you and I," the hunter continued, "who are true guides, and who +have also the advantage of being well mounted, will reach the village +at three or four o'clock tomorrow afternoon at the latest." + +"In that case it is not very distant." + +"I told you so." + +"And in what direction is the village?" + +"You must have often heard it spoken of, if chance has never led your +footsteps thither." + +"Why so?" + +"Because it is only a dozen leagues at the most from the Hacienda del +Toro." + +"Wait a minute," the majordomo said, frowning like a man who is +collecting his thoughts; "you are right, I have never been to that +village, it is true, but I have often heard it spoken of. Is not one +of the chiefs a white man?" + +The hunter blushed slightly. + +"So people say," he answered. + +"Is it not strange," the majordomo continued, "that a white man should +consent to abandon entirely the society of his fellows to live with +savages?" + +"Why so?" + +"Hang it! Because the Indians are devoid of reason, as everybody knows." + +The hunter gave his companion a glance of indefinable meaning, slightly +shrugged his shoulders, but made no reply; probably from the reason +that he had too much to say, and considered the majordomo's rather +heavy mind incapable of appreciating it. The day passed without any +occurrences to interrupt the monotony of their ride, which they +continued with great speed till night, only stopping from time to time +to shoot a few birds for supper. Galloping, talking, and smoking, they +at length reached the spot where they intended to bivouac. The road +they had followed in no way resembled the one the majordomo had taken +on leaving the hacienda, although they were returning in the direction +of Arispe. This resulted from the fact that Paredes had kept in the +regular road, while this time the two men rode Indian fashion, that is +to say, straight ahead without troubling themselves about roads. They +galloped on as the bird flies, crossing mountains and swimming rivers +whenever they came to them, without losing time in seeking a ford. + +This mode of travelling, generally adopted by the wood rangers of the +savannah, where the only roads are tracks made by the wild beasts, +would not be possible in civilized countries, where there are so many +towns and villages; but in Mexico, especially on the Indian border, +towns are excessively rare: by riding in this way distances are +marvellously shortened and a considerable tract is covered between two +sunrises. This is what happened to the two adventurers; for in one day +they went a greater distance than Paredes had done in eight-and-forty +hours, though he was well mounted. At night they camped in a wood +beyond the Hacienda del Toro, which building they saw rising gloomy and +tranquil like an eagle's nest on the top of its rock, and they passed +close to it during the afternoon. + +The country assumed a wilder and more abrupt aspect; the grass was +thicker, the trees were larger, older, and closer together; it was +evident that the travellers were at the extreme limit of civilization, +and would soon find themselves in the Red territory, although +nominally, at least on the maps, this territory figured among the +possessions of the Mexican Confederation. This feature, by the way, is +found everywhere throughout the New World. Even in the United States, +which pretend, erroneously, we believe, to be more civilized than their +neighbours, towns with high-flown names may be seen on the maps of +their large possessions, which only exist in reality as a name painted +on a solitary post, planted in the centre of a plain or on the bank of +a river, without even a keeper to watch over the preservation of this +post, which, worn by wind and sun, eventually disappears, though the +town never sprung up in its place. During our travels we were too often +the victim of this humorous Yankee mystification not to feel angry with +this eccentric nation, which repeats to every newcomer that it marches +at the head of civilization, and has a mission to regenerate the New +World. + +The two men, after lighting their watch fire, supped with good +appetite, rolled themselves in their zarapes, and fell asleep, +trusting to the instinct of their horses to warn them of the approach +of any enemy, whether man or wild beast, that attempted to surprise +them during their slumbers. But nothing disturbed them; the night was +quiet; at sunrise they awoke, mounted, and continued their journey, +which would only take a few hours longer. + +"I am mistaken," the hunter said suddenly, turning to his companion. + +"How so?" the latter asked. + +"Because," Stronghand replied, "I told you yesterday we should not +reach the _atepetl_ till the afternoon." + +"Well?" + +"We shall be there by eleven o'clock." + +"_iCaramba!_ That is famous news." + +"When we have crossed that hill we shall see the village a short +distance ahead of us, picturesquely grouped on the side of another +hill, and running into the plain, where the last houses are built on +the banks of a pretty little stream, whose white and limpid waters +serve as a natural rampart." + +"Tell me, comrade, what do you think of the reception that will be +offered us?" + +"The Papazos are hospitable." + +"I do not doubt it; unluckily, I have no claims to the kindness of the +Redskins. Moreover, I know that they are very suspicious, and never +like to see white men enter their villages." + +"That depends on the way in which white men try to enter them." + +"There is another reason which, I confess, supplies me with reason for +grave thought." + +"What is it?" + +"It is said--mark me, I do not assert it--" + +"All right; go on." + +"It is said that the Papazos are excited, and on the point of +revolting, if they have not done so already." + +"They rose in insurrection some days ago," Stronghand coolly answered. + +"What?" the majordomo exclaimed, greatly startled, "and you are leading +me to them?" + +"Why not?" + +"Because we shall be massacred, that's all." + +The hunter shrugged his shoulders. + +"You are mad." + +"I am mad--I am mad!" Paredes repeated, shaking his head very +dubiously; "it pleases you to say that, but I am not at all desirous, +if I can avoid it, of thus placing myself in the power of men who must +be my enemies." + +"I repeat that nothing will happen to you. _iViva Dios!_ do you fancy +me capable of leading you into a snare?" + +"No; on my honour that is not my thought; but you may be mistaken, and +credit these savages with feelings they do not possess." + +"I am certain of what I assert. Not only have you nothing to fear, but +you will have an honourable reception." + +"Honourable?" the majordomo remarked, with an air of incredulity; "I am +not very certain of that." + +"You shall see. Woe to the man who dared to hurt a hair of your head +while you are in my company." + +"Who are you, to speak thus?" + +"A hunter, nothing else; but I am a friend of the Papazos, and adopted +son of one of their tribes; and every man, though he were the mortal +enemy of the nation, must for my sake, be received as a brother by the +sachems and warriors." + +"Well, be it so," the majordomo muttered, in the tone of a man forced +in his last entrenchments, and who resolves to make up his mind. + +"Besides," the hunter added, "any hesitation would now be useless and +perhaps dangerous." + +"Why so?" + +"Because the Indians have their scouts scattered through the woods and +over the plain already; they saw and signalled our approach long ago, +and if we attempted to turn back, it would justly appear suspicious; +and then we should suddenly see Indians rise all round us, and be +immediately made prisoners, before we even thought of defending +ourselves." + +"_iDemonio!_ that makes the matter singular, comrade; then you believe +we have been seen already?" + +"Would you like to have a proof on the spot?" the hunter asked, +laughingly. + +"Well, I should not mind, for I should then know what I have to expect." + +"Well, I will give you the proof." + +The travellers had reached the foot of the hill, and were at this +moment concealed by the tall grass that surrounded them. Stronghand +stopped his horse, and imitated the cry of the mawkawis twice. Almost +immediately the grass parted, an Indian bounded from a thick clump of +trees with the lightness of an antelope, and stopped two yards from the +hunter, on whom he fixed his black, intelligent eyes, without saying +a word. The apparition of the Redskin was so sudden, his arrival so +unexpected, that, in spite of himself, the majordomo could not restrain +a start of surprise. + +This Indian was a man of three-and-twenty years of age at the most, +whose exquisite proportions made him resemble a statue of Florentine +bronze; the whole upper part of his body was naked: his unloosened hair +hung in disorder over his shoulders; his clothing merely consisted of +trousers sewn with horsehair, fastened round the loins by a belt of +untanned leather, and tied at the ankles. A tomahawk and a scalping +knife--weapons which the Indians never lay aside--hung from his +belt, and he leant with careless grace upon a long rifle of American +manufacture. The hunter bowed, and after stretching out his arm, +with the palm turned down and the fingers straight, said in a gentle +voice--"Wah! The Waconda protects me, since the first person I see, on +returning to my people, is Sparrowhawk." + +The young Indian bowed in his turn with the native courtesy +characteristic of the Redskin, and replied in a guttural voice, which, +however, was very gentle--"For a long time the sachems have been +informed of the coming of the Great Bear of their Nation; they thought +that only one chief was worthy saluting Stronghand on his return. +Sparrowhawk is happy that he was chosen by them." + +"I thank the sachems of my nation," the hunter said, with a meaning +glance at the majordomo, "for having designed to do me so signal an +honour. Will my son return to the village with us, or will he precede +us?" + +"Sparrowhawk will go ahead, in order that the guest of Stronghand, my +father, may be received with the honours due to a man who comes in the +company of the Great Bear." + +"Good! My brother will act as becomes a chief. Stronghand will not +detain him longer." + +The young Indian bowed his head in assent, leapt backwards, and +disappeared in the thicket whence he had emerged, with such rapidity, +that if the grass had not continued to undulate after his departure, +his apparition would have seemed like a dream. + +"We can now start again," the hunter said to the majordomo, who was +utterly confounded. + +"Let us go!" the latter answered, mechanically. + +"Well," answered Stronghand, "do you now believe that you have anything +to fear among the Papazos?" + +"Excuse me; as you said, I was a madman to fear it." + +They crossed the plain, following a wild beast track which, after +numberless windings, reached a ford, and in about an hour they arrived +at the bank of the river. Twelve Papazo Indians, dressed in their war +paint and mounted on magnificent horses, were standing motionless and +in single file in front of the ford. + +So soon as they perceived the two travellers, they uttered loud shouts +and dashed forward to meet them, firing their guns, brandishing +their weapons, and waving their white female buffalo robes, which, +by-the-bye, only the most renowned sachems of the nation have the +right to wear. The two white men, on their side, spurred their horses, +responding to the shouts of the Indians, and firing their guns. +All at once, at a signal from one of the chiefs, all the horsemen +stopped, and arranged themselves round the travellers, to act as an +escort. The whole party crossed the ford and entered the village, +amid the deafening shouts of the women and children, with which were +inharmoniously blended the bark of dogs, the hoarse notes of the +shells, and the shrill sounds of the _chichikoues_. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE ATEPETL. + + +Many persons imagine that all Indians are alike, and that the men +acquainted with the manners of one tribe knows them all. This is a +serious error, which it is important to dissipate. Among the Indians, +properly so called--that is to say, the aborigines of America--will +be found as many differences in language, dialect, &c., as among the +nations of the Old Continent, if not more. The number of dialects +spoken by the Indians is infinite; the manners of one nation form a +complete contrast with those of another living only a few leagues +away; and any person who, after travelling for some time in the Far +West, asserted that he was thoroughly acquainted with the character of +the Indians and their mode of life, would be quite deceived; and more +serious still, would deceive those whom he pretended to instruct. + +The Indians are divided into two great families: the cultivating +Indians--that is to say, those who are sedentary and attached to +the soil they till; and hunter or nomadic Indians, who have a great +resemblance to the Touaricks of Africa and the Tartars of Asia. The +hunting Indians, known as _Indios Bravos_, inhabit leathern huts, easy +of transport from one place to another, and only remain stationary so +long as the country supplies them with the necessary forage for their +horses, and the game indispensable for the men. The tame Indians, or +_Indios Mansos_, on the other hand, are permanently established at a +carefully selected spot; they have built actual houses, in which they +shelter themselves and keep their winter provisions. These Indians, +though they follow the customs of their fathers, recognise the Mexican +laws, obey them ostensibly, are apparent Christians, though they +secretly practise all the rites of their old faith; and their chief +assumes the title of Alcalde. In a word, they are nearly as much +civilized as the majority of the creoles. + +The confederation of the Papazos was composed of several nations, +combining both Indios Mansos and Indios Bravos. The latter, though +harmless, and consequently nomadic, had, in the heart of unexplored +forests or the gorges of the Sierra Madre, their winter villages--a +collection of huts made of branches, and covered with mud, where, in +the event of war, their squaws found refuge, and which served them, +after an expedition, to hide the plunder they had made. + +The Gilenos, whose powerful nation was composed of one hundred and +eighteen distinct tribes, each of which had its private totem or +standard, formed the principal branch of the Confederation of the +Papazos. The Gilenos are essentially agricultural. At a period which +it would be impossible to state with certainty, because the Indians +do not write anything down, but trust to tradition, the Comanche +nation, which proudly calls itself the "Queen of the Prairies," and +asserts, perhaps justly, that it is descended in a straight line from +the Chichimeques, the first conquerors of Mexico, was divided into two +parts after a council held by the chiefs, for the sake of terminating +a dispute that threatened to degenerate into a civil war. One half the +nation continued to wander in the immense prairies of the Far West, +and retained the name of Comanche. The other tribes settled on the +banks of the Rio Gila, gave up hunting for agriculture, while retaining +their independence, and only nominally obeying the Spaniards and +Mexicans. Eventually they received the name of Gilenos, from the river +on whose banks they originally settled. But, although separated, the +two divisions of the Comanche nations continued to maintain friendly +relations, recognised each other as springing from the same stem, and +helping one another whenever circumstances demanded it. + +The Gilenos piously preserved the faith of their fathers, maintained +their customs; among others that of never drinking spirituous liquors: +and never permitted the Mexican Government to establish among them that +system of annoyance and rapine under which it mercilessly bows the +other Indian Mansos. The Gileno villages are distinguished from all +the others by their singular construction, which admirably displays the +character of this people. We will attempt to convey an idea of them to +the reader. + +Stronghand had pointed out to the majordomo clusters of storied houses, +suspended as it were from the flank of the hill. But these houses were +only built temporarily, and in case of an attack on the village would +be immediately destroyed. The hill, doubtless in consequence of one of +those natural convulsions so common in these regions, was separated +into two parts by a quebrada of enormous depth, which served as the bed +of an impetuous torrent. On either side of this quebrada the Indians +had built an enormous construction, of pyramidal shape, upwards of +two hundred and fifty feet in height. These two towers contained the +lodgings of the inhabitants, their granaries and storehouses. More +than eight hundred beings, men, women, and children, resided in these +singular buildings, which were connected together at the top by a +bridge of lianas, boldly thrown across the abyss. These towers could +only be entered by a ladder, which was drawn up each night; for as +a last and essential precaution, the doors were sixty feet from the +ground, in order to guard against surprise. + +Nothing could be more curious or picturesque than the appearance +offered at a distance by this strange village, with its two massive +towers, having ladders for stairs, up and down which people were +constantly moving. A few days previously, for greater safety, and to +guard the village from a surprise, the chiefs had a trench dug, and +a palisade erected, composed of stakes fastened together by lianas. +The Indians had taken this precaution, to prevent their horses, on +which they especially calculated for the success of the meditated +expedition, being carried off by surprise, as so frequently happens on +the border. + +The travellers were conducted with great ceremony by the chiefs, +who had come to receive them at the entrance of the village, to the +square, on one side of which stood the "Ark of the First Man;" on the +other, "The Great Medicine Lodge, or Council Hut." During the ride the +majordomo fancied he saw among the crowd several individuals belonging +to the white race, and mentioned it to his comrade. + +"You are not mistaken," the latter replied; "several Mexicans reside in +the village and trade with the Indians; but that must not surprise you, +for you are aware that the Gilenos are mansos. Stay, here is a monk." + +In fact, at this moment a stout, rubicund monk crossed the square, +distributing blessings right and left, of which the Indians seemed to +take but little notice. + +"These worthy Frayles," the hunter continued, "lead here a rather +monastic life, but in spite of the trouble they take, they cannot +succeed in making proselytes. The Comanches are too attached to their +religion to accept another; still, as they are too savage to be +intolerant," he added, ironically, "they allow these poor monks entire +liberty, on the express condition that they do not interfere with them. +They have even permitted them to build a chapel, a very poor and simple +edifice, in which a few passing adventurers offer up their prayers; for +the inhabitants of the village never set foot in it." + +"I will go to it," said Paredes. + +"And you will act rightly. However, I will do this justice to the four +monks who, through a love of proselytism, have confined themselves +to this forgotten nook, of stating that they bear an excellent +reputation, do all the good they can, and are generally beloved and +respected by the population. This praise is the more valuable, because +the Mexican clergy do not enjoy a great reputation for sanctity." + +"But now that war is declared, what will become of these monks?" + +"What do you think? They will remain peacefully, without fearing insult +or annoyance. However savage the Indians may be, they are not so +savage, be assured, as to make the innocent suffer for the crimes of +the guilty." + +"Forgive me, Stronghand, if I remark that I notice, with sorrow, in +your mode of expressing yourself, a certain bitterness which seems to +me unjust. The secret sympathies of an honest man ought not, in any +case, to render him partial." + +"I allow that I am wrong, my friend. When you know me better, you +will be indulgent, I doubt not, to this bitterness which I frequently +unconsciously display in my language. But here we are at the square, +and other more urgent matters claim all our attention." + +The plaza, which the travellers now reached, formed a parallelogram, +and rose with a gentle ascent to the foot of the tower on the left of +the village. Several streets opened into it, and the houses built on +either side of it had an appearance of cleanliness and comfort which +is but rarely found in Indian villages; and if this pueblo had been +inhabited by white creoles, it would certainly have obtained the title +of _ciudad_. In front of the council lodge stood three men, whom it +was easy to recognise as the principal chiefs of the village by their +hats of raccoon skin, surrounded by a gold golilla, and the silver +mounted cane, like that of our beadles, which they held in their right +hand. The Mexicans, among other customs they took from the Spaniards, +have retained that of investing the Indian chiefs with authority. +This investiture, generally performed by a delegate of the governor of +the province, consists in giving them the hat and stick to which we +have referred. These three chiefs, therefore, ostensibly held their +power from the Mexican government, but in reality the latter had only +obeyed the feudal claims of the tribes assembled at this village, by +conferring the authority on these men whom their countrymen had long +previously recognised as chiefs. + +The procession halted before the alcaldes, or, to use the Indian term, +the sachems. The latter were men of a ripe age, with a haughty and +imposing mien. The eldest of them, who stood in the centre, had in +his look and the expression of his features something indescribably +majestic. He appeared about sixty years of age; a long white beard +fell in snowy flakes on his chest; his tall form, his broad forehead, +his black eyes, and his slightly aquiline nose, rendered him a very +remarkable man. He did not wear the Indian costume, but that adopted +by the hunters and wood rangers; a blue cotton shirt, fastened round +his hips by a leather girdle, which held his arms and ammunition, wide +_calzoneras_ of deer hide buckled below the knee, and heavy boots, +whose heels were armed with formidable spurs, the wheel of which was as +large as a saucer. + +In conclusion, the personage we have attempted to describe did not +belong to the Indian race, as could be seen at the first glance; but +in addition, the fine, elegant, nervous type of the pure Spanish +race could be noticed in him. The majordomo could not check a start +of surprise at the sight of this man, whose presence seemed to him +incomprehensible at such a place and among such people. He leant over +to Stronghand, and asked him, in a low voice, choked by involuntary +emotion,--"Who is that man?" + +"You can see," the hunter replied, drily, "he is the Alcalde Mayor of +the pueblo. But silence! The persons surrounding us are surprised to +see us conversing in whispers." + +Paredes held his tongue, though his eyes were obstinately fixed on the +man to whom the hunter had ironically given the title of Alcalde Mayor. +A little to the rear of the chiefs, a warrior was holding a totem of +the tribe, representing a condor, the sacred bird of the Incas. A +crowd of Indians of both sexes, nearly all armed, filled the square, +and pressed forward to witness a scene which was not without a certain +grandeur. So soon as the procession halted, Sparrowhawk dismounted and +walked up to the sachems. + +"Fathers of my nation," he said, "the Great Bear of our tribe has +returned, bringing with him a paleface, his friend." + +"He is welcome," the three chiefs answered, unanimously, "as well as +his friend, whoever he may be; so long as he pleases to remain among us +he will be regarded as a brother." + +The hunter then advanced, and bowed respectfully to the sachems. + +"Thanks for myself and friend," he said; "the journey we have made was +long, and we are worn with fatigue. May we be permitted to take a few +hours' rest?" + +The Indians were astonished to hear the hunter, a man of iron power, +whose reputation for vigour was well established among them, speak of +the fatigue he felt. But understanding that he had secret reasons for +asking this, no one made a remark. + +"Stronghand and his friend are at liberty to proceed to the calli +prepared for them," one of the chiefs answered: "Sparrowhawk will guide +them." + +The two adventurers bowed respectfully, and, preceded by Sparrowhawk, +passed through the crowd, which opened before them, and proceeded to +the calli appointed for them. Let us state at once that this calli +was the property of Stronghand, who inhabited it whenever business +or accident brought him to the village. By the order of the chiefs, +however, it had been prepared for the reception of two persons. So +soon as the travellers reached the calli, Sparrowhawk retired, after +whispering a few words in the ear of the hunter. The latter replied by +a sign of assent, and then turned to the majordomo, who was already +engaged in unsaddling his horse. + +"You are at home, comrade," he said to him; "use this house as you +think proper. I have to see a person to whom I will introduce you +presently. I will, therefore, leave you for the present, but I shall +not be absent long." + +And without awaiting an answer, the hunter turned his horse, and +started at a gallop. + +"Hum!" the Mexican muttered, so soon as he was alone, "all this is not +clear; did I do wrong in trusting to this man? I will be on my guard." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE SPY. + + +After installing the majordomo in the calli, Stronghand proceeded +through the village, taking an apparently careless glance around, +but in reality not letting anything unusual escape his notice. The +Indians whom the hunter met addressed him as an old acquaintance; +the very women and children tried to attract his attention by their +hearty bursts of laughter and their greetings of welcome. For all and +for each the hunter had a pleasant remark, and thus satisfied the +frequently indiscreet claims of those who pressed around him. Thus +occupied, he went right through the village, and, on reaching the foot +of the left-hand pyramid, dismounted, threw his horse's bridle to a +boy, bidding him lead the horse to his calli, and forced his way with +some difficulty through the crowd, whose curiosity seemed to increase +instead of diminishing. He walked up to the ladder, and after waving +his hand to the Indians, hurried up it, and disappeared inside the +pyramid. + +This strange building, which was almost shapeless outside, was +internally arranged with the utmost care and most perfect intelligence. +The hunter, who was doubtless anxious to reach his destination, +only took a hurried glance at the rooms he passed through; he went +up an internal staircase, and soon reached the top of the pyramid. +Sparrowhawk was standing motionless before a cougar's skin hung up in +lieu of a door, and on seeing the hunter he bowed courteously. + +"My father has not delayed," he said, with a good-tempered smile. + +"Has the council begun yet?" Stronghand asked. + +"For four suns the elders of the nation have remained without taking +rest round the council fire; the arrival of my father was alone able to +make them suspend their labours for an hour." + +The hunter frowned. + +"Cannot I speak to the great sachem for a moment?" + +"I cannot give my father any information on that point." + +"Good!" the hunter continued, apparently forming a determination. "Has +Sparrowhawk no instructions for me?" + +"None, but to await Stronghand, and announce his arrival." + +"Wah! here I am; my brother's instructions are fulfilled." + +Without replying, Sparrowhawk raised the curtain, and allowed the +hunter to pass into the council hall. + +In a large room, which was entirely destitute of furniture--unless +that name can be given to dried buffalo skulls employed as seats--some +twenty persons were gravely seated in a circle, smoking a calumet +silently, whose mouthpiece constantly passed from hand to hand. In +the centre of the circle was a golden brasier, in which burned the +sacred fire of Motecuhzoma, a fire which must never go out. According +to tradition, the last Emperor of Mexico shared it among his dearest +partisans on the eve of his death; and this fire, it is also said, +derives its origin from the sun itself. + +The presence of this fire in the room, which was generally kept in a +subterraneous vault, inaccessible to the sight of the common herd, +and which is only shown to the people on grand occasions, proved the +gravity of the matters the council had to discuss. Moreover, the +appearance of the chiefs assembled in the room had about it something +stern and imposing that inspired respect. Contrary to Indian habits, +they were all unarmed. This precaution, which was owing to the advice +of the principal sachem of the nation, was justified not only by the +considerable number of chiefs present, but also by their belonging to +various nations. Each tribe of the grand confederation of the Papazos +had its representative in this assembly, where were also the sachems of +nations ordinarily at war with it, but who, in the hope of a general +revolt against the whites, the implacable enemies of the red race, had +forgotten their hatred for a season. Here could be seen Yaquis, Mayos, +Seris, and even free hunters and trappers, white and half-bred, in +their grand war paint, with their heels adorned with wolves' tails, an +honorary distinction to which only the great braves have a right. + +Thunderbolt, the old man whose portrait we have just drawn, presided +over the assembly. On the entrance of Stronghand, all the warriors +rose, turned to him, and after bowing gracefully, invited him to take a +seat among them. The hunter, flattered in his heart by the honour done +him, bowed gravely to the members of the council, and seated himself on +the right of Thunderbolt, after handing his weapons to Sparrowhawk, who +carried them into an adjoining room. There was a rather long silence, +during which the hunter smoked the calumet which had been eagerly +offered him. At length Thunderbolt began speaking. + +"My son could not arrive at a better moment," he said, addressing +Stronghand; "his return was eagerly desired by his brothers. He has +come from the country inhabited by our enemies; without doubt he will +give us news." + +The hunter rose, looked round the meeting, and replied--"I have been +among the Gachupinos, I have entered their towns, I have seen their +pueblos, presidios, and posts; like ourselves, they are preparing for +war; they understand the extent of the danger that threatens them, and +are trying to neutralize it by all means." + +"The news is not very explicit; we hoped that Stronghand would give us +more serious information about the movements of the enemy," Thunderbolt +remarked, with a reproachful accent. + +"Perhaps I could do so," the hunter remarked, calmly. + +"Then why are you silent?" + +The young man hesitated for a moment beneath the glances fixed on him. + +"The white men have a proverb," he said, at length, "whose justice I +specially recognise at this moment." + +"What is it?" + +"Words are silver, but silence is gold." + +"Which means?" Thunderbolt continued, eagerly. + +"The most formidable weapon of the white man is treachery," the hunter +continued, not appearing to heed the interruption; "they have even +conquered by treachery the Redskins, whom they did not dare meet face +to face. Questions so interesting as those we have to settle, such +serious interests as we have to discuss, must not be treated in so +large an assembly ere it is quite certain that a traitor has not glided +in among us. So long as merely general questions are discussed this +is of slight consequence; but so soon as we discuss the means to be +employed in carrying on the war, it is urgent that the enemy should not +be warned of the result of our deliberations." + +"We cannot act otherwise than we are doing. Yes, and that is why the +whites are cleverer than we: so soon as war is declared, they appoint +a commission, composed of three members, or five at the most, who have +to draw up the plan of the campaign. Why do we not do the same? Nothing +is more simple, it seems to me: choose, among the chiefs assembled +here, a certain number of wise men accustomed to command; these men +will assemble in secret, and decide on the means to be employed in +conquering our enemy: in this way, if the Spaniards are informed +of our movements, the traitor cannot escape us for long. The other +chiefs, and the deputies of the friendly natives and other confederated +tribes, will settle in the Grand Council the common interests of the +Indian natives, and the terms to be established among them, in order +to stifle for ever those germs of discord which frequently spring up +from a misunderstanding, and almost always degenerate into sanguinary +and interminable quarrels. I have spoken: my brothers will determine +whether my words deserve being taken into consideration." + +After bowing to the audience, the hunter sat down again, and seemed to +be plunged into deep thought. One of the instinctive qualities of the +Indian race is good sense. The chiefs, in spite of the circumlocution +in which the hunter had thought it necessary to envelop his remarks, +had perfectly understood him: they had caught the justice of his +reasoning, and the advantage of a speedy decision on a subject so +interesting to the entire confederation: they guessed, under the +hunter's reticence, a name which, for secret reasons of his own, he +did not wish to utter, and hence his speech was greeted with a buzz of +satisfaction, which is always flattering to the ears of an orator, no +matter the nature of his hearers. Thunderbolt questioned the members of +the council by a glance; all replied with an affirmative shake of their +heads. + +"Your plan is adopted," the chief said; "we recognise the necessity of +carrying it out. But this time again we must apply to you to choose the +members of the council whom we have to elect." + +"Chance alone must decide the solution. All the sachems collected in +this hall are great braves of their tribes, and the picked warriors of +their nations. No matter on whom the lot falls, the members will behave +honourably in the new council." + +"Stronghand has spoken well, as he always does, when he is called upon +to give his opinion in the council of the chiefs; now let him finish +what he has so well begun, by instructing us of the way in which we are +to consult chance." + +"Be it so: I will obey my father." + +The hunter rose and left the hall, but his absence lasted only a few +minutes. During this interval the chiefs remained motionless and +silent. Stronghand soon returned, followed by Sparrowhawk, who, as he +had been ordered by the sachems to keep the door, had not taken part in +the deliberations, though he had a right to do so. This chief carried a +blanket tied up so as to form a bag. + +"In this blanket," the hunter then said, "I have placed a number of +bullets equal to that of the chiefs assembled in council: I have taken +these bullets from the ammunition bag of every one of the chiefs. I +have noticed that our guns are of different bores, and hence some of +the bullets are larger, others smaller. Each of us will draw a bullet +haphazard; when all have one, they will be examined; and the three +chiefs, if you fix on that number, or the five, if you prefer that +number, to whom chance has given the largest bullets, will compose the +new council." + +"That is a simple way, and will prevent any annoyance," Thunderbolt +said; "I believe that we shall do well by adopting it." + +The chiefs bowed their assent. + +"But," the sachem continued, "before we begin drawing, let us first +settle of how many members the council shall consist; shall there be +three or five?" + +A white trapper rose and asked leave to speak. It was a man of about +forty years of age, with frank and energetic features and muscular +limbs, well known all over the western prairies by the singular name of +the Whistler. + +"If I may be allowed," he said, "to offer my opinion on such a matter +before wise men and renowned warriors--for I am only a poor rogue of a +hunter--I would call your attention to the fact that, with a committee +whose duties are so serious, three men are not sufficient to discuss a +question advantageously, because it is so easy to obtain a majority. On +the other hand, five men mutually enlighten each other, by exchanging +their ideas and starting objections: hence, I am of opinion that the +council ought to be composed of five members. I will add one word: Will +the white and half-breed hunters and trappers here present take part in +the election?" + +"Do they not fight with us?" Thunderbolt asked. + +"This is true," the Whistler continued; "still it would be, perhaps, +better for you to settle the matter among yourselves; we are, in +reality, only your allies." + +"You are our brothers and friends; in the name of the chiefs of the +confederation. I thank you, Whistler, for the delicate proposal you +have made; but we do not accept your offer, for all must be in common +between you and us." + +"You will do as you please. I spoke for your good; and it does not suit +you, say no more about it." + +While these remarks were exchanged between the trapper and Thunderbolt, +the chiefs had decided that the military commission should be composed +of five members. The drawing at once began; each warrior went, in his +turn, to draw a bullet from the bag held by Sparrowhawk; then the +verification was begun with that good faith and impartiality which the +Indians display in all their actions when dealing with one another. +On this occasion chance was intelligent, as happens more frequently +than is supposed, when it is left free to act: the chiefs chosen to +form the committee were exactly those who, if another mode of election +had been employed, would have gained all the votes through their +talent, experience, and wisdom. Hence, the sachems frankly applauded +the decision of fate, and in their superstition, derived from this +caprice of accident a favourable augury for the result of the war. The +committee was composed as follows Thunderbolt, Sparrowhawk, Stronghand, +the Whistler, and a renowned Apache chief, whose name was the Peccary. + +When the election was over, just as the chiefs were returning to their +seats, Stronghand approached a trapper, who, ever since his entrance, +had seemed to shun his eye, and conceal himself, as far as possible, +behind the other chiefs. Tapping him on the shoulder, he said in a low +but imperative voice--"Master Kidd, two words, if you please." + +The adventurer, for it was really he, started at the touch, but +immediately recovering himself, he turned his smiling face to the +hunter's, and said, with a respectful bow--"I am quite at your service, +caballero; can I be so happy as to be able to help you in anything?" + +"Yes," the hunter answered, drily. + +"Speak, caballero, speak; and as far as lies in my power--" + +"A truce to these hypocritical protestations," Stronghand rudely +interrupted him, "and let us come to facts." + +"I am listening to you," the other said, trying to hide his anxiety. + +"This is the point--rightly or wrongly, your presence here offends me." + +"What can I do to prevent that, my dear Senor?" + +"A very simple thing." + +"What is it, if you please?" + +"Leave the tower at once, mount your horse, and be off." + +"Oh!" the bandit said, with a forced laugh, "Allow me to remark, my +dear senor, that the idea seems to me a singular one." + +"Do you think so?" the hunter remarked, coldly; "Well, opinions differ. +For my part, I consider it quite natural." + +"Of course you are jesting." + +"Do you fancy me capable of jesting--before all, with a man like you? +I think not. Well, I repeat, be off; be off as quickly as possible. I +advise you for your own good." + +"I must have an excuse for such a flight. What will the Indian chiefs +who did me the honour of summoning me to their grand council, and my +friends the hunters suppose, on seeing me thus abandon them without any +apparent motive, at the very moment when the war is about to begin?" + +"That does not concern me; I want you to be off at once; if not--" + +"Well?" + +"I shall blow out your brains in the presence of all as a traitor and a +spy. You understand me now, my master, I think?" + +The bandit started violently; his face became livid, and for some +minutes he fixed his viper eye on the hunter, who examined him +ironically; then bending down to his ear, he said, in a voice choked +with rage and shame, "Stronghand, you are the stronger, and any +resistance on my part would be mad; I shall go, therefore; but remember +this, I shall be avenged." + +Stronghand shrugged his shoulders contemptuously. "Do so," he said, +"if you can; but, in the meanwhile, be off if you do not wish me to +carry out my threat!" and he turned his back on the bandit. Kidd gave +him a parting look of fury, and without adding a word, left the hall. +Ten minutes later he was galloping on the road to the Real de Minas, +revolving the most sinister schemes. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE COUNCIL OF THE SACHEMS. + + +Although the chiefs had guessed from Stronghand's gestures what was +going on between him and the American bandit, not one of them made the +slightest allusion to Kidd's departure, or even seemed to notice it. +The Canadian trapper, named Whistler, alone went up to the hunter, and +pressing his hand, said, with a coarse laugh-- + +"By heavens! Comrade, you did not miss your game, but brought it down +at the first shot. Receive my sincere congratulations for having freed +us of that skunk, who is neither fish nor flesh, and whose roguish face +did not at all please me." + +"It would please you much less, my good fellow, if you knew him," the +hunter replied, with a smile. + +"I beg you to believe that I have no desire to form a closer +acquaintance with that picaro; only too many like him may be met on the +prairies." + +The chiefs had resumed their seats, and the council which had been +momentarily interrupted, was re-opened by Thunderbolt. The Indians, +though people think proper to regard them as savages, could give +lessons in urbanity and good breeding to the members of parliamentary +assemblies in old Europe. Among them a speaker is never interrupted +by those coarse and inopportune noises for which some M.P.'s seem to +possess a privilege. Each speaks in his turn. The speakers, who are +listened to with a religious silence, have the liberty of expressing +their ideas without fearing personalities, which are frequently +offensive. When the debate is closed, the speaker--that is to say, the +oldest chief, or the one of the highest position either through bravery +or wisdom--sums up the discussion in a few words, takes the opinion of +the other chiefs, who vote by nodding their heads, and the minority +always accepts, without complaint or recrimination of any sort, the +resolution of the majority. + +Before going further, we will explain, in a few words, the cause of +the dissatisfaction which had induced the Indians to revolt once +again against the whites. At the period of the Spanish conquests, +the Indians, in spite of the obstinate assertions to the contrary, +were happy, or at any rate were, through the intelligent care of +the Government, placed in a situation which insured their existence +under very satisfactory conditions. It is indubitable that if Spain +had retained her colonies for fifty or sixty years longer, she would +have gradually succeeded in converting the aborigines of her vast +territories, attaching them to the cultivation of the soil, and making +them give up a nomadic existence, and adopt the far preferable life in +villages. + +All Spanish America, both North and South, was covered with missions; +that is to say, agricultural colonies, established on a large scale; +where monks, in every way respectable, through their complete +abnegation of the enjoyments of the world, and their inexhaustible +charity, taught the Indians not only the paternal precepts of the +Gospel, and their duty to their neighbour, but preaching by example, +they became weavers, labourers, cobblers, and blacksmiths, in order to +make their docile apprentices more easily understand the way to set to +work. These missions contained, at the time of the War of Independence, +several hundred thousand Indians, who had given up their nomadic life +of hunting, and patiently assumed the yoke of civilization. This +magnificent result, obtained by courage and perseverance, and which +would have speedily resulted in the solution of a problem declared +to be insoluble--the emancipation of the red race, and its aptitude +to assume the sedentary condition of a town life, was unhappily not +carried further. + +When the Mexicans had proclaimed their independence, their first care +was to destroy all that the Spaniards had raised, and utterly overthrow +the internal governmental system established by them. Naturally, the +missions were not exempted from this general overthrow; they were +perhaps more kindly treated than the institutions created by the old +oppressors. The philosophic spirit of the eighteenth century, when +it forced its way into Mexico, was naturally misunderstood and ill +appreciated by men who were plunged into the grossest ignorance, and +who believed that they displayed the independence and nobility of +their character by deadly hatred of the clergy, and abolishing their +prerogatives at one stroke. It is true that, by an inevitable reaction, +the Mexicans, whose revolution was almost entirely effected by priests, +and who, at the outset, displayed themselves as such daring skeptics, +ere long fell again, through their superstition, beneath the power of +the same clergy, and became more devoted slaves to them than ever. + +Unfortunately, the death blow had been dealt to the missions or +agricultural colonies, although the Government recognized its mistake, +and sought by all means to palliate it. They never recovered, only +languished, and eventually the majority of them fell into ruin, and +were utterly abandoned by the Indians, who returned to that desert life +from which they had been drawn with such difficulty. Nothing is so +heart-rending as the sight now offered by these missions, which were +once so rich, so full of life, and so flourishing; only a few Indians +can be seen, wandering about like ghosts in the deserted cloisters, led +by an old, white-haired monk, whom they would not leave, and who had +vowed to die among his children. + +The Mexican Government did not stop here. Returning to the old errors +of the conquistadors, it grew accustomed to regard the Indians as +slaves; imposing on them exorbitant tariffs for articles of primary +necessity, which it sold to them through special agents, bowing them +to any Draconian law, and carrying their injustice so far as to deny +them intellect, and brand them with the name of _Gente sin razon_, or +people without reason. The consequences of such a system can be easily +comprehended. The Indians, who, at the outset, contented themselves +with passively withdrawing, and seeking in the desert the liberty that +was refused them, on finding themselves so unjustly treated, and urged +to desperation by such insults, thought about avenging themselves, and +requiting evil for evil. + +Then recommenced those periodical invasions of the Indian borders which +the Spaniards had repressed with such difficulty and such bloodshed. +Murder and pillage were organized on a grand scale, and with such +success, that the Comanches and Apaches, to vex the whites, gave the +ironical name of the "Mexican moon" to the month they selected to +commit their periodical depredations. The subjected Indians--that is to +say, those who, in spite of the constant vexations to which they were +victims, remained attached to their villages--revolted several times, +and on each occasion the Mexican government succeeded in making them +return to their duty by promises and concessions, which were violated +and forgotten so soon as the Redskins had laid down their arms. The +war, consequently, became generalized and permanent in the Border +states of the confederation. + +But with the exception of a few invasions more serious than others, +the Indians had almost entirely confined themselves to keeping the +whites on the alert, when the great insurrection of 1827 broke out, +which all but succeeded in depriving Mexico of her richest provinces. +This insurrection was the more terrible, because on this occasion +the Indians, guided by experienced chiefs, possessing firearms, and +carrying out tactics entirely different from those they had hitherto +employed, waged a serious war, and insisted on retaining the provinces +they had seized. The Redskins elected an emperor and established +a government; they displayed a settled intention of definitively +regaining their independence and reconstituting their nationality. + +The Mexicans, justly terrified by these manifestations, made the +greatest sacrifices in order to quell this formidable revolt, and +succeeded, though rather owing to the treachery and disunion they +managed to sow among the chiefs than by the power of their arms. But +this uprising had caused them to reflect, and they saw that it was high +time to come to an arrangement with these men, whom they had hitherto +been accustomed to regard as irrational beings. Peace was concluded on +conditions very advantageous to the Indians and their forces; and the +Mexicans, owing to the fright they had endured, were compelled to keep +their promises, or, to speak more correctly, pretended to do so. + +For several years the Indians, satisfied with this apparent +amelioration in the relations between them and the whites, remained +peacefully in their villages, and the Mexicans had only to defend +their borders against the attacks of the wild or unsubjected Indians. +This was a task, we are bound to confess, in which they were not very +successful; for the Indians eventually passed the limits the Spaniards +had imposed on them, permanently established themselves on the ruins +of the old Creole villages, and by degrees, and gaining ground each +year, they reduced the territory of the Mexican Government in an +extraordinary way. + +Still, when the remembrance of the great Indian insurrection seemed +to have died out, and the Indios Mansos had apparently accepted the +sovereignty of Mexico, the annoyances recommenced. Though at first +slight, they gradually became more and more frequent, owing to the +apathetic resignation of the Indians, and the patience with which they +uncomplainingly endured the unjust aggressions of which they were made +the systematic victims. The concessions granted under the pressure of +fear were brutally withdrawn, and matters returned to the same state as +before the insurrection. The Indians continued to suffer, apparently +resigned to endure all the insults it might please their oppressors to +make them undergo: but this calm concealed a terrific storm, and the +Mexicans would shortly be aroused by a thunderclap. + +The Redskins behaved, under the circumstances, with rare prudence +and circumspection, in order not to alarm the persons they wished to +surprise. They would certainly have succeeded in deceiving the Mexicans +as to their plans, had it not been for the treachery of the agents of +the Mexican Government, continually kept in their villages to watch +them, among whom was Kidd, whom Stronghand had so suddenly unmasked and +contemptuously turned out. Still these agents, in spite of their lively +desire to make themselves of importance by magnifying facts, had only +been able to give very vague details about the conspiracy the Indians +were secretly forming. They knew that an emperor had been elected, and +that he was a white man, but they did not know who he was or his name. +They also knew that the Confederation of the Papazos had placed itself +at the head of the movement, and intended to deal the first blow, but +no one was aware when or how hostilities would commence. + +This information, however, incomplete though it was, appeared to the +Mexicans, on whose minds at once rushed the sanguinary memories of the +last revolution, sufficiently serious for them to place themselves in +a position to resist the first attack of the Redskins, which is always +so terrible, and to place their frontiers in such a state as would +prevent a surprise--a thing they had never yet succeeded in effecting. +The Mexican Government, warned of what was going on by the commandants +of the States of Sonora and Sinaloa, the two most menaced of the +Confederation, and recognising the gravity of the case, resolved to +send troops from the capital to reinforce the border garrisons. This +plan, unfortunately, could not be carried out, and was the cause of +fresh and very dangerous complications. + +It is only in the old Spanish colonies, which are in the deepest state +of neglect and disorganization, that such acts are possible. The troops +told off to proceed to Sonora, so soon as they learned that they were +intended to oppose the Indians, peremptorily refused to march, alleging +as the reason, that they were not at all desirous of fighting savages +who did not respect the law of nations, and had no scruples about +scalping their prisoners. The President of the republic, strong in his +right and the danger the country ran, tried to insist and force them to +set out. Then a thing that might be easily foreseen occurred: not only +did the troops obstinately remain in revolt, but set the seal on it by +making a pronunciamiento in favour of the general chosen to command the +expedition, and who, we may do him the justice of saying, had been the +first to declare against the departure of the troops from the capital. + +This pronunciamiento was the spark that fired the powder train. In a +few days the whole of Mexico was a prey to the horrors of civil war; +so that the governors of the two States, being reduced to their own +forces, and not knowing whether they would retain their posts under +the new president, were more embarrassed than ever, did not dare +take any initiative, and contented themselves with throwing up such +intrenchments as they could, though they had quite enough to do in +keeping their troops to their duty, and keeping them from deserting. +Such was the state of things at the moment we have now reached. This +information, upon which we have purposely laid a stress, in order +to make the reader understand certain facts which, without this +precaution, would seem to belong rather to the regions of fancy than to +that of history, as they are so strange and incredible, was reported +by Stronghand to the council of the sachems, and listened to in a +religious silence. + +"Now," he added, in conclusion, "I believe that the moment has arrived +to strike the grand blow for which we have so long been preparing. Our +enemies hesitate; they are demoralized; their soldiers tremble; and I +am convinced they will not withstand the attack of our and the great +Beaver's warriors. This is what I wished to say to the council. Still +it was not advisable that such important news should reach the ears of +our enemies. The sachems will judge whether I have acted well, or if my +zeal carried me too far in dismissing from the council a paleface who, +I am convinced, is a traitor sold to the Mexicans. I have spoken." + +A flattering murmur greeted the concluding remarks of the young man, +who sat down, blushing. + +"It appears to me," Whistler then said, "that the debate need not be +a long one. As war is decided on, the council of the Confederation +has only to seek allies among the other Indian nations, in order to +augment the number of our warriors, if that be possible. As regards the +operations, and the period when the Mexican territory is to be invaded, +that will devolve on the military committee, who pledge themselves to +the profoundest secrecy about their discussions, until the hour for +action arrives. I have spoken." + +Thunderbolt rose. + +"Chiefs and sachems of the Confederation of the Papazos," he said in +his sympathetic and sonorous voice, "and you, warriors, our allies, the +moment for dissolving your council has at length arrived. Henceforth +the committee of the five chiefs will alone sit. Each of you will +return to his tribe, arm his warriors, and order the scalp dance to +be performed round the war post; but the eighth sun must see you here +again at the head of your warriors, in order that all may be ready to +act when the invasion is decided on. I have spoken. Have I said well, +powerful men?" + +The chiefs rose in silence, resumed their weapons, and immediately left +the village, starting in different directions at a gallop. Thunderbolt +and Stronghand were left alone. + +"My son," the old man then said, "have you nothing to tell me?" + +"Yes, father," the young man respectfully answered; "I have very +serious news for you." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE RANCHO. + + +Before describing the conversation between Thunderbolt and Stronghand, +we are obliged to go back, and tell the reader certain facts which had +occurred at the Hacienda del Toro, a few days before the majordomo set +out for Hermosillo. Mexican girls, born and bred on the Indian border, +enjoy a liberty which the want of society renders indispensable. Always +on horseback upon these immense estates, which extend for twenty or +five-and-twenty leagues, their life is spent in riding over hill and +dale, visiting the wretched huts of the vaqueros and peons, relieving +their wants, and rendering themselves beloved by their simple graces +and affecting goodness of heart. + +Dona Mariana, who had been exiled for several years at a convent, so +soon as she returned home, eagerly renewed her long rides through +forests and prairies, to see again the persons in her father's employ, +with whom she had sported as a child, and of whom she had such a +pleasant recollection. At times followed by a servant, specially +attached to her, but more usually alone, the maiden had therefore +recommenced her rides, going to visit one and the other, enjoying her +gallop, careless as a bird, pleased with everything--the flowers she +culled as she passed, the reviving breeze she inhaled, and smiling +gaily at the sun which bronzed her complexion; in a word, she revealed +the voluptuous and egotistic apathy of a child in whom the woman is not +yet revealed, and who is ignorant that she possesses a heart. + +Most usually Dona Marianna guided her horse to a rancho situated about +three leagues from the hacienda, in the midst of a majestic forest of +evergreen oaks and larches. This rancho, which was built of adobes, +and whitewashed, stood on the bank of a stream, in the centre of a +field sufficiently cleared to grow the grain required for the support +of the poor inhabitants of the hovel. In the rear of the rancho was +an enclosure, serving as a corral, and containing two cows and four +or five horses, the sole fortune of the master of this rancho, which, +however, internally was not so poverty stricken as the exterior seemed +to forebode. It was divided into three parts, two of which served +as bedrooms, and the third as sitting room, saloon, kitchen, &c. In +the latter, the fowls impudently came to pick up grain and pieces of +tortillas which bad been allowed to fall. + +On the right was a sort of low fireplace, evidently for culinary +purposes; the middle of the room was occupied by a large oak table with +twisted legs; at the end, two doors opened into the bedrooms, and the +walls were covered with those hideous coloured plates which Parisian +trade inundates the New World with, and under which intelligent hawkers +print the names of saints, to render the sale more easy. Among these +engravings was one representing Napoleon crossing the St. Bernard, +accompanied by a guide, holding his horse. It bore the rather too +fanciful title, "The great St. Martin dividing his cloak with a +beggar." A fact which imparts incomparable meaning to this humorous +motto is, that the general, far from wishing to give his cloak to the +guide, who does not want it, seems to be shivering with cold, and +wrapping himself up with extreme care. Lastly, a few _butacas_ and +_equipales_ completed the furniture, which, for many reasons, might +be considered elegant in a country where the science of comfort is +completely ignored, and the wants of material life are reduced to their +simplest expression. + +This rancho had been for many years inhabited by the same family, who +were the last relics of the Indians dwelling here when the country +was discovered by the Spaniards. These Indians, who were mansos, and +long converted to Christianity, had been old and faithful servants of +the Marquises de Moguer, who were always attached to them, and made +it a point of honour to heighten their comforts, and give them their +protection under all circumstances. Hence the devotion of these +worthy people to the Moguer family was affecting, through its simple +self-denial. They had forgotten their Indian name, and were only known +by that of Sanchez. + +At the moment when we introduce this family to the reader, it consisted +of three persons: the father, a blind old man, but upright and hale, +who, in spite of his infirmity, still traversed all the forest tracks +without hesitation or risk of losing himself, merely accompanied by +his dog Bouchaley; the mother, a woman about forty years of age, tall, +robust, and possessing marked features, which, when she was younger, +must have been very handsome; and the son, a young man of about twenty, +well built, and a daring hunter, who held the post of tigrero at the +hacienda. + +Luisa Sanchez had been nurse to Dona Marianna, and the young lady, +deprived at an early age of her mistress, had retained for her not +merely that friendship which children generally have for their nurse, +and which at times renders the mother jealous, but that craving for +affection, so natural in young hearts, and which Dona Marianna, +restrained by her father's apparent sternness, could not indulge. The +maiden's return to the hacienda caused great joy at the rancho; father, +mother, and son at once mounted and proceeded to the Toro to embrace +their child, as they simply called her. Halfway they met Dona Marianna, +who, in her impatience to see them again, was galloping like a mad +girl, followed by her brother, who was teasing her about this love for +her nurse. + +Since then, not a day passed on which the young lady did not carry +the sunshine of her presence to the rancho, and shared the breakfast +of the family--a frugal meal, composed of light cakes, roasted on +an iron plate, boiled beef seasoned with chile Colorado, milk, and +_quesadillas_, or cheesecakes, hard and green and leathery, which the +young lady, however, declared to be excellent, and heartily enjoyed. +Bouchaley, like everybody else at the rancho, entertained a feeling +of adoration for Dona Marianna. He was a long-haired black and white +mastiff, about ten years old, and spiteful and noisy as all his +congeners. In reality, the dog possessed but one good quality--its +well-tried fidelity to its master, whom it never took its eyes off, +and constantly crouched at his feet. Since the young lady's return, +the heart of the worthy quadruped had opened to a new affection; each +morning it took its post on the road by which Dona Marianna came, and +as soon as it saw her, saluted her by leaps and deafening barks. + +Mariano Sanchez, the tigrero, had for his foster sister an affection +heightened by the similarity of name--a similarity which in Spanish +America gives a right to a sort of spiritual relationship. This +touching custom, whose origin is entirely Indian, is intended to draw +closer the relations between _tocayo_ and _tocaya_, and they are almost +brother and sister. Hence the tigrero, in order to be present each +morning at his tocaya's breakfast, often rode eight or ten leagues in +the morning, and found his reward in a smile from the young lady. As +for Father Sanchez, since the return of his child, as he called her, he +only felt one regret. It was that he could not see her and admire her +beauty; but he consoled himself by embracing her. + +It was about eleven o'clock in the morning; the sun illumined the hut; +the birds were singing merrily in the forest. Father Sanchez had taken +up the hand mill, and was grinding the wheat, while his wife, after +sifting the wheat, pounded it, and formed it into light cakes, called +tortillas, which, after being griddled, would form the solid portion of +the breakfast. + +Bouchaley was at his post on the road, watching for the arrival of the +young lady. + +"How is it," the old man asked, "that Mariano is not here yet? I +generally hear the sound of his horse earlier than this." + +"Poor lad! Who knows where he is at this moment?" the mother answered. +"He has for some days been watching a band of jaguars that have bitten +several horses at the hacienda. He is certainly ambushed in some +thicket. I only trust he will not be devoured some day by the terrible +animals." + +"Nonsense, wife," the old man continued, with a shrug of the shoulders. +"Maternal love renders you foolish. Mariano devoured by the tigers!" + +"Well, I see nothing impossible in that." + +"You might just as well say that Bouchaley is capable of chasing a +peccary; one thing is as possible as the other. Besides, you forget +that our son never goes out without his dog Bigote, a cross between a +wolf and a Newfoundland dog, as big as a six months' old colt, and who +is capable of breaking the loins of a coyote at one snap." + +"I do not say no, father; I do not say no," she continued, with a shake +of her head; "that does not prevent his being a dangerous trade, which +may one day or another, cost him his life." + +"Stuff! Mariano is too clever a hunter for that; besides, the trade +is lucrative; each jaguar skin brings him in fourteen piastres--a sum +we cannot afford to despise, since my infirmity has prevented me from +working. It would be better for my old carcass to return to the earth, +as I am no longer good for anything." + +"Do not speak so, father; especially before our daughter, for she would +not forgive you: for what you are saying is unjust; you have worked +enough in your time to rest now, and your son take your place." + +"Well, tell me, wife," the old man said, laughingly, "was I devoured by +the jaguar? And yet I was a tigrero for more than forty years, and the +jaguars were not nearly so polite in my time as they are now." + +"That is all very well; it is true that you have not been devoured, but +your father and your grandfather were. What answer have you to that?" + +"Hem!" the old man went on, in some embarrassment; "I will answer--I +will answer--" + +"Nothing, and that will be the best," she continued; "for you could not +say anything satisfactory." + +"Nonsense! What do you take me for, mother? If my father and +grandfather were devoured, and that is true, it was--" + +"Well, what? I am anxious to hear." + +"Because they were treacherously attacked by the jaguars," he at length +said, with a triumphant air; "the wretches knew whom they had to deal +with, and so played cunning. Otherwise they would never have got the +best of two such clever hunters as my father and grandfather." + +The ranchera shrugged her shoulders with a smile, but she considered it +unnecessary to answer, as she was well aware she would not succeed in +making her husband change his opinion as to her son's dangerous trade. +The old man, satisfied with having reduced his wife to silence, as he +fancied, did not abuse his victory; with a crafty smile he rolled and +lit a cigarette, while Na Luisa laid the table, arranged and dusted +everything in the rancho, and listened anxiously to assure herself that +the footfall of her son's horse was not mingled with the sounds that +incessantly rose from the forest. + +All at once Bouchaley was heard barking furiously. The old man drew +himself up in his butaca, while Na Sanchez rushed to the doorway, in +which Dona Marianna appeared, fresh and smiling. + +"Good morning, father! Good morning, mother!" she exclaimed in her +silvery voice, and kissed the forehead of the old man, who tenderly +pressed her to his heart. "Come, Bouchaley, come, be quiet!" she added, +patting the dog, which still gamboled round her. "Mother, ask my tocayo +to put Negro in the corral, for the good animal has earned its alfalfa." + +"I will go, Querida," the old man said; "for today I take Mariano's +place." And he left the rancho without awaiting an answer. + +"Mother," the young lady continued, with a shade of anxiety, "where is +my foster brother? I do not see him." + +"Has not arrived yet, nina." + +"What! Not arrived?" + +"Oh, I trust he will soon be here," she said, while stifling a sigh. + +The maiden looked at her for a moment sympathetically. + +"What is the matter, mother?" she at length said, as she seized the +poor woman's hand; "Can any accident have happened?" + +"The Lord guard us from it, Querida," Luisa said, clasping her hands. + +"Still, you are anxious, mother. You are hiding something from me. Tell +me at once what it is." + +"Nothing, my child; forgive me. Nothing extraordinary has occurred, and +I am hiding nothing from you; but--" + +"But what?" Dona Marianna interrupted her. + +"Well, since you insist, Querida, I confess to you that I am alarmed. +You know that Mariano is tigrero to the hacienda?" + +"Yes; what then?" + +"I am always frightened lest he should meet with an accident, for that +happens so easily." + +"Come, come, mother; do not have such thoughts as these. Mariano is an +intrepid hunter, and possesses far from common skill and tact." + +"Ah, hija, you are of the same opinion as my old man. Alas! If I lost +my son, what would become of you?" + +"Oh, mother, why talk in that way? Mariano, I hope, runs no danger. The +delay that alarms you means nothing; you will soon see him again." + +"May you be saying the truth, dear child!" + +"I am so convinced of it, mamita, that I will not sit down to table +till he arrives." + +"Well, you will not have to wait long, hijita," the old man said, as he +re-entered the rancho. + +"Is he coming?" the mother joyously exclaimed, as she furtively wiped +away a tear. + +"I knew it," the maiden remarked. + +"There, do you hear his horse?" the old man said. In fact, the furious +gallop of a horse echoed in the forest, and approached with the +rapidity of a hurricane. The two females darted to the door. At this +moment a horseman appeared on the skirt of the clearing, riding at full +speed, with his hair floating in the breeze, and his face animated by +the speed at which he rode. This horseman, who was powerfully and yet +gracefully built, and had a manly, energetic face, was Mariano, the +tigrero. His dog, a black and white Newfoundland, with powerful chest +and enormous head, was running by the side of the horse, and looking up +intelligently every moment. + +"iViva Dios! iQuerida tocaya!" the young man exclaimed, as he leaped +from his horse. "I am glad to see you, for I was afraid that I should +arrive too late. Bigote," he added, addressing his dog and throwing +the bridle to it, which the animal seized with its mouth, "lead Moreno +to the corral." + +The dog immediately proceeded thither, followed by the horse, while +Mariano and the two females returned to the rancho. The young man +kissed his father's forehead, and took his hand, saying, "Good morning, +papa!" and then returned to his mother, whom he embraced several times. + +"Cruel child," she said to him, "why did you delay so long?" + +"Pay no attention to what your mother says, muchacho," the old man +remarked; "she is foolish." + +"Fie! You must not say that!" the young lady exclaimed; "You would do +better in scolding Mariano, for I, too, felt alarmed." + +"Do not be angry with me," the young man replied; "I have been for some +days on the track of a family of jaguars, which is prowling about the +neighbourhood, and I could not possibly come sooner." + +"Are they about here?" + +"No; they are prowlers brought here by the drought; and are the more +dangerous because, as they do not belong to these parts, they rest +where they please--sometimes at one place, sometimes at another, and it +becomes very difficult to follow their trail." + +"I only hope they will not think of coming here," the mother said, +anxiously. + +"I do not believe they will, for wild beasts shun the vicinity of man. +Still, Dona Marianna had better, for some days to come, restrict her +rides, and not venture too far into the forest." + +"What can I have to fear?" + +"Nothing, I hope; still it is better to act prudently. Wild beasts are +animals whose habits it is very difficult to discover, especially when +they are in unknown parts, as these are." + +"Nonsense!" the young lady said, with a laugh; "You are trying to +frighten me, tocayo." + +"Do not believe that; I will accompany you with Bigote to the hacienda." + +The dog, which had returned to its master's side after performing its +duties, wagged its tail, and looked up in her face. + +"I will not allow that, tocayo," the young lady replied, as she passed +her hand through the dog's silky coat, and pulled its ears; "let Bigote +have a rest. I came alone, and will return alone; and mounted on Negro, +I defy the tigers to catch me up, unless they are ambuscaded on my +road." + +"Still, nina--" Mariano objected. + +"Not a word more on the subject, tocayo, I beg; let us breakfast, +for I am literally dying of hunger; and were the tigers here," she +added, with a laugh, "they might frighten me, but not deprive me of my +appetite." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +LOST! + + +They sat down to table; but the meal, in spite of Dona Marianna's +efforts to enliven it, suffered from the anxiety which two of the party +felt, and tried in vain to conceal. The tigrero was vexed with his +foster sister for not letting him accompany her, for he had not liked +to express his fears, lest the young lady on her return to the hacienda +might meet the ferocious animals he had been pursuing for some days +past, without being able to shoot them. + +The jaguar, which, is very little known in Europe, is one of the +scourges of Mexico, and would figure advantageously in zoological +gardens. There is only one in the Parisian Jardin des Plantes, and +that is a very small specimen. Let us describe this animal, which is +more feared by the Indians and white men of North America, than is the +lion by the Arabs. The jaguar _(Felis onca, or onza)_ is, next to the +tiger and lion, the largest of the animals of its genus; it is the +great wild cat of Cuvier, and is called indiscriminately "the American +tiger," and the "panther of the furriers." It is a quadruped of the +feline race; its total length is about nine feet, and its height about +twenty-seven inches. Its skin is handsome, and in great request; while +of a bright tawny hue on the back, it is marked on the head, neck, and +along the flanks with black spots: the lower part of the body is white, +with irregular black spots. + +But few animals escape the pursuit of the jaguar: it obstinately hunts +horses, bulls, and buffaloes; it does not hesitate to leap into rivers +to catch certain fish it is fond of, fights the alligator, devours +otters and picas, and wages a cruel warfare with the monkeys, owing to +its agility, which enables it to mount to the top of trees, even when +they are devoid of branches, and upwards of eighty feet high. Although, +like all the carnivora of the New World, it shuns the proximity of man, +it does not hesitate to attack him when urged by hunger or tracked by +hunters; in such cases it fights with the utmost bravery, and does not +dream of flight. + +Such were the animals the tigrero had been pursuing for the last few +days, and had not been able to catch up. According to the sign he had +found, the jaguars were four in number--the male, female, and two cubs. +We can now understand what the young man's terror must be on thinking +of the terrible dangers to which his foster sister ran a risk of being +exposed on her return to the hacienda: but he knew Dona Marianna too +well to hope he could make her recall her decision. Hence, he did not +try to bring the conversation back to the subject, but resolved to +follow her at a distance, in order to come to her aid if circumstances +required it. + +As always happens under such circumstances, Dona Marianna, seeing that +no one referred again to the jaguars, was the first to talk about +them, asking her foster brother the details of their appearance in +the country, and the mischief they had done, in what way he meant to +surprise them, and a multitude of other questions; to which the young +man replied most politely, but limiting himself to brief answers, and +without launching into details, which are generally so agreeable to +a hunter. The tigrero displayed such laconism in the information he +gave the young lady, that the latter, vexed in spite of herself at +seeing him so cold upon a subject to which he had seemed to attach +such importance a few moments before, began jeering him, and ended by +saying, with a mocking look, that she was convinced he had only said +what he did to frighten her, and that the jaguars had only existed in +his imagination. Mariano gaily endured the raillery, confessed that he +had perhaps displayed more anxiety than the affair deserved, and taking +down a jarabe that hung on the wall, he began strumming a fandango with +the back of his hand, in order to turn the conversation. + +Several hours passed in laughing, talking, and singing. When the moment +for departure at length arrived, Mariano went to the corral to fetch +the young lady's horse, saddled it with the utmost care, and led it to +the door of the rancho, after saddling his own horse, so that he might +start so soon as Dona Marianna was out of sight of the rancho. + +"You remained a long time in the corral, tocayo," she said with a +laugh; "pray, have you discovered any suspicious sign?" + +"No, Nina; but as I am also going to leave the rancho, after saddling +your horse, I saddled mine." + +"Of course you are going to hunt your strange jaguars again?" + +"Oh, of course," he answered. + +"Well," she said, with feigned terror, "if you do meet them, pray do +not miss them." + +"I will do all in my power to avoid that, because I desire to make you +a present of their skins, in order to prove to you that they really +existed." + +"I thank you for your gallantry, Tocayo," she replied with a laugh; +"but you know the proverb--'A hunter must not sell the skin of +a--jaguar, before--'" + +"Well, well, we shall soon know who is right, and who wrong," he +interrupted her. + +The maiden, still laughing, embraced the ranchero and his wife, lightly +bounded into the saddle, and bending down gracefully offered her hand +to Mariano. + +"We part friends, tocayo," she said to him. "Are you coming my way?" + +"I ought to do so." + +"Then why not accompany me?" + +"Because you would suppose, Nina, that I wished to escort you." + +"Ha! Ha! Ha!" the young lady said, merrily; "I had forgotten your +proposal of this morning. Well, I hope you will be successful in your +bunt; and so, good-bye till tomorrow. Come, Negro." + +After uttering these words, she gave a parting wave of the hand to her +nurse, and started at a gallop. The young man, after watching her for +a while, to be certain of the road she followed, then re-entered the +rancho, took his gun, and loaded it with all the care which hunters +display in this operation, when they believe that life depends on the +accuracy of their aim. + +"Are you really about to start at once?" his mother asked him, +anxiously. + +"At once, mother." + +"Where are you going?" + +"To follow my foster sister to the hacienda, without her seeing me." + +"That is a good idea. Do you fear any danger for her?" + +"Not the slightest. But it is a long distance from here to the +hacienda; the Indians are moving, it is said. We are no great distance +from the border, and, as no one can foresee the future, I do not wish +my sister to be exposed to any chance encounter." + +"Excellently reasoned, muchacho. The nina is wrong in thus crossing the +forest alone." + +"Poor child!" the ranchero said; "An accident happens so easily; lose +no time, muchacho, but be off. On reflection, I think you ought to have +insisted on accompanying her." + +"You know, father, she would not have consented." + +"That is true; it is better that it should be as it is, for she will +be protected without knowing it. The first time I see Don Ruiz, I will +recommend him not to let his sister go out thus alone, for times are +not good." + +But the young man was no longer listening to his father: so soon as his +gun was loaded, he left the rancho, followed by his dog. Two minutes +later he was in the saddle, and riding at full speed in the direction +taken by Dona Marianna. + +So soon as the young lady found herself at a sufficient distance from +the rancho, she had checked her horse's pace, which was now proceeding +at an amble. It was about five in the afternoon; the evening breeze +was rising, and gently waving the tufted crests of the trees; the +sun, now almost level with the ground, only appeared on the horizon in +the shape of a reddish globe; the atmosphere, refreshed by the breeze, +was perfumed by the gentle emanations from the flowers and herbs; the +birds, aroused from the heavy lethargy produced by the heat, were +singing beneath all the branches, and filling the air with their joyous +songs. + +Dona Marianna, whose mind was impressionable, and open to all +sensations, gently yielded to the impressions of this scene, which was +so full of ineffable harmony, and gradually forgetting where she was +and surrounding objects, had fallen into a voluptuous reverie. What was +she meditating? She certainly could not have said; she was yielding +unconsciously to the influence of this lovely evening, and travelling +into that glorious country of fancy of which life is but too often the +nightmare. Dona Marianna was too young, too simple, and too pure yet +to possess any memory either sad or sweet; her life had hitherto been +an uninterrupted succession of sunshiny days; but she was a woman, and +listened for the beatings of her heart, which she was surprised at not +hearing. With that curiosity which is innate in her sex, the maiden +tried with a timid hand to raise a corner of the veil that covered the +future, and to divine mysteries which are incomprehensible, so long as +love has not revealed them by sufferings, joy, or grief. + +Dona Marianna had rather a long ride through the forest before reaching +the plain; but she had so often ridden the road at all hours of the +day, she was so thoroughly persuaded that no danger menaced her, that +she let the bridle hang on her horse's neck, while she plunged deeper +and deeper into the delicious reverie which had seized on her. In the +meanwhile, the shades grew deeper; the birds had concealed themselves +in the foliage, and ceased their songs; the sun had disappeared, and +the hot red beams it had left on the horizon were beginning to die +out; the wind blew with greater force through the branches, which +uttered long murmurs; the sky was assuming deeper tints, and night +was rapidly approaching. Already the shrill cries of the coyotes rose +in the quebradas and in the unexplored depths of the forest; hoarse +yells disturbed the silence, and announced the awakening of the savage +denizens of the forest. + +All at once a long, startling, strident howl, bearing some resemblance +to the miauling of a cat, burst through the air, and fell on the +maiden's ear with an ill-omened echo. Suddenly startled from her +reverie, Dona Marianna looked up, and took an anxious glance around +her. A slight shudder of fear passed over her body, for her horse, so +long left to its own devices, had left the beaten track, and the maiden +found herself in a part of the forest unknown to her--she had lost her +way. A person lost in an American forest is dead! + +These forests are generally entirely composed of trees of the same +family, which render it impossible to guide oneself, unless gifted with +that miraculous intuition which the Indians and hunters possess, and +which enables them to march with certainty in the most inextricable +labyrinths. Wherever the eye may turn, it only perceives immense +arcades of verdure, infinitely prolonged, wearying the eye by their +desperate monotony, and only crossed at intervals by the tracks of +wild beasts, which are mixed strangely together, and eventually lead +to unknown watering places, nameless streams, that run silently and +gloomily beneath the covert, and whose windings cannot possibly be +followed. + +The spot where the maiden was, was one of the most deserted in the +forest; the trees, of prodigious height and size, grew closely +together, and were connected by a network of lianas, which, growing +in every direction, formed an impassable wall; from the end of the +branches hung, in long festoons to the ground, that greyish moss known +as Spanish beard, while the tall straight grass that everywhere covered +the ground, showed that human foot had not trodden the soil here for +a lengthened period. The maiden felt an invincible terror seize upon +her. Night had almost completely set in; then the stories her foster +brother had told her in the morning about the jaguars returned to her +mind in a flood, and were rendered more terrible by the darkness that +surrounded her, and the mournful howling that burst forth on all sides. +She shuddered, and turned pale as death at the thought of the fearful +danger to which she had so imprudently exposed herself. + +Then, collecting all her strength for a last appeal, she uttered a cry; +but her voice died out without raising an echo. She was alone--lost in +the desert by night. What could she do? What would become of her? + +The maiden tried to find the route by which she had come, but the road +followed haphazard through the herbage no longer existed; the grass +trodden by her horse's hoof had sprung up again behind it. Moreover, +the night was so dark that Dona Marianna could not see four paces ahead +of her; and she soon found that her efforts to find the road would +only result in leading her further astray. Under such circumstances, +a man would have been in a comparatively far less dangerous position. +He could have lit a fire to combat the night chill, and keep the wild +beasts at bay; in the event of an attack, his weapons would have +allowed him to defend himself: but Dona Marianna had not the means +to light a fire; she had no weapons, and had she possessed them, +she would not have known how to use them. She was forced to remain +motionless at the spot where she was for the whole night, at the hazard +of dying of cold or terror. + +This position was frightful. How she now regretted her imprudent +confidence, which was the cause of what was now occurring! But it was +too late; neither complaints nor recrimination aught availed. She must +yield to her fate. With energetic natures, however little accustomed +they may be to peril, when that peril proves inevitable, and they +recognise that nothing can protect them from it, a reaction takes +place; their thoughts become clearer, their courage grows with their +will, and they accept, with a proud and resolute resignation, all the +consequences of the danger they are compelled to confront, however +terrible they may be. This was what happened to the maiden when she +perceived that she was really lost. A profound despair seized upon +her--for a moment the weakness natural to her sex gained the upper +hand, and she fell sobbing on the ground; but gradually the reaction +set in, and, pious as all Spanish women are, she clasped her bands, and +addressed a fervent and touching prayer to God, who was her last hope. + +It has been justly said that prayer not only consoles, but strengthens +and restores hope. Prayer, with those who sincerely believe, is the +expression of the real feelings of the soul; only those who have looked +death in the face, either on the battlefield or during a storm at sea, +will understand the sublimity of prayer--the last appeal of the weak +victim to the omnipotent Intelligence which can alone save him. Dona +Marianna prayed, and then rose calmer, and, above all, stronger. She +had placed herself in the hands of Deity, and, in her simple faith, was +convinced that He would not abandon her. + +Her horse, whose bridle she had not let loose, was standing motionless +by her side. The maiden gently patted the noble animal, the only friend +left to her; then, by a sudden inspiration, she began unfastening the +girths, tearing her little hands without knowing it, and lacerating her +fingers with the iron tongues of the buckles. + +"Poor Negro," she said, in a soft voice, as she removed the trappings, +"you must not be the victim of my imprudence; resume your liberty; for +the noble instinct with which your Creator has endowed you will perhaps +enable you to find your road. Go, my poor Negro; you are now free." + +The animal gave a whinnying of delight, made a prodigious leap, and +disappeared in the darkness. Dona Marianna was alone--really alone, now. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +STRONGHAND. + + +It is impossible to imagine what terrors night brings with it under +its thick mantle of mist, when the earth is no longer warmed by the +sparkling sunbeams, and darkness reigns as supreme lord. At that time +everything changes its aspects, and assumes in the flickering rays +of the moon a fantastic appearance; the mountains seem loftier, the +rivers wider and deeper; the trees resemble spectres--gloomy denizens +of the tomb, watching for you to pass, and ready to clutch you in their +fleshless arms. The imagination becomes heated, ideas grow confused, +you tremble at the fall of a leaf, at the moaning of the night breeze, +at the breakage of a branch; and, suffering from a horrible nightmare, +you fancy at every moment that your last hour is at hand. + +In the American forests, night has mysteries still more terrible. +Beneath these immense domes of verdure, which the sun is powerless +to pierce even at midday, and which remain constantly buried in an +undecided clear obscure, the darkness may, so to speak, be felt; +nothing could produce a flash in this chaos, excepting, perhaps, +the luminous eyeballs of the wild beasts, that dart electric sparks +from the thickets. Here Night is truly the mistress; the darkness is +peopled by the sinister denizens of the forest, whom the obscurity +drives from their unknown hiding places, and who begin their mournful +prowling in search of prey. From each clump, from each ravine, issue +confused sounds that have no name in human language; some clear and +sharp, others hoarse and low, and others, again resembling miauling, +or sardonic laughter, are blended in horrible concert. Then come the +heavy footfalls on the ground, and the sullen flapping of birds' wings, +as well as that incessant indistinct murmur, which is nought else but +the continual buzz of the infinitely little, mingled with the hollow +moan always heard in the desert, and which is only the breath of Nature +travailing with her incomprehensible secrets. A night passed in the +forest, without fire or weapons, is a terrible thing for a man; but the +situation becomes far more frightful for a woman--a girl--a frail and +delicate creature, accustomed to all the comforts of life, and unable +to find within herself those thousand resources which a strong man, +habituated to struggle, manages to procure, even in the most desperate +situations. + +Without dwelling further on the subject, the reader can imagine without +difficulty the painful situation in which Dona Marianna found herself. +So long as she could hear the sound of her horse's hoofs, as it fled +at full speed, she stood with her body bent forward and outstretched +ears, attaching herself to life, and, perchance, to hope, through the +sound which was so familiar to her; but when it had died out in the +distance, when a leaden silence once again weighed on her, the maiden +shuddered, and, folding her hands on her chest, sank in a half-fainting +condition at the foot of a tree--no longer thinking or hoping, but +awaiting death. For what succour could she expect in the tomb of +verdure, which, though so spacious, was not the less secure? + +How long did she remain plunged in this state of prostration, which +was only an anticipated death--one hour or five minutes? She could not +have said. For wretched people, whom everything, even hope, abandons, +time seems to stand still--minutes become ages, and an hour seems as +if it would never end. All at once a feeble, almost indistinguishable +sound smote her ear, and she instinctively listened. This sound grew +louder with every second, and ere long she could not be mistaken; it +was a rapid mad gallop through the forest. This sound Dona Marianna +recognised with terror; for it was produced by the return of her +horse. For the noble animal to come back with such velocity, it must +be pursued, and that closely, by ferocious animals, such was Dona +Marianna's idea, and, unfortunately, she only too soon recognised its +correctness. The horse gave a snort of terror, which was immediately +answered by two loud, sharp growls. Then, as if dreaming, Dona Marianna +heard prodigious leaps; she saw ill-omened shadows pass before her with +the rapidity of a lightning flash, and then a fearful struggle, in +which groans of agony were mingled with yells of delight. + +However terrible the maiden's position might be she felt tears slowly +course down her cheeks--her horse, her last comrade, had succumbed--the +liberty she had granted it had only precipitated its destruction. +Strange to say, though, at this supreme moment Dona Marianna did +not think for an instant that the death of her horse probably only +preceded her own by a brief space, and that it was a sinister warning +to her to prepare for being devoured. + +When terror has attained a certain degree, a strange effect is produced +upon the individual; animal life still exists in the sense that the +arteries pulsate, the heart palpitates; but intellectual life is +completely suspended; the brain, struck by a temporary paralysis, no +longer receives the thought; the eyes look without seeing; the voice +itself cannot force its way through the contracted throat; in a word, +terror produces a partial catalepsy, by destroying for a period, longer +or shorter, all the noblest faculties of man. Dona Marianna had reached +such a point that, even had she possessed the means of flight, she +would have been incapable of employing them, so thoroughly was every +feeling extinct in her--even the instinct of self-preservation, which +usually remains when all the others are destroyed. + +Fortunately for the girl, the jaguars--for there were several of +them--were to leeward; moreover, they had tasted blood, and this was a +double reason which temporarily saved her, by depriving their scent of +nearly all its delicacy. No other sound was audible, save that produced +by the crushing of the horse's bones, which the wild beasts were +devouring, mingled with growls of anger, when one of the banqueters +tried to encroach on its neighbour's share of the booty. There could be +no doubt about the fact; the animals enjoying this horrible repast were +the jaguars, so long hunted by the tigrero, and which her evil star had +brought across the maiden's track. + +By degrees, Dona Marianna became--not familiarized with the danger +hanging over her head, for that would have been impossible; but as, +according to the law of nature, anything that reaches its culminating +point must begin to descend, her first terror, though it did not +abandon her, produced a strange phenomenon. She felt involuntarily +attracted towards these horrible animals, whose black outlines she +could distinguish moving in the darkness; suffering from a species of +vertigo with her body bent forward, and her eyes immoderately dilated, +without, even accounting for the strange feeling that urged her to +act thus, she kept her eyes eagerly fixed upon them, following with a +febrile interest their slightest movements, and experiencing at the +sight a feeling of inexplicable pleasure, which produced a mingled +shudder of joy and pain. Let who will try to explain this singular +anomaly of human nature; but the fact is certain, and among our readers +many will, doubtless, bear witness to its truth. + +All at once the jaguars, which had hitherto been greedily engaged with +the corpse of the horse, without thinking of anything beyond making +a hearty meal, raised their heads and began sniffing savagely. Dona +Marianna saw their eyes, sparkling like live coals, fixed upon her; +she understood that she was lost; instinctively she closed her eyes +to escape the fascination of those metallic eyeballs, which seemed in +the darkness to emit electric sparks, and prepared to die. Still the +jaguars did not stir; they were crouching on the remains of the horse, +and, while continuing to gaze at the maiden, gracefully passed their +paws over their ears with a purr of pleasure--in a word, they were +coquettishly performing their toilet, appearing not only most pleased +with the meal they had just ended, but with that which was awaiting +them. + +Still, in spite of the calmness affected by the two animals--for the +cubs were sleeping, rolled up like kittens--it was evident that for +some unknown motive they were restless; they lashed the ground with +their weighty tails, or laid back their ears with a roar of anger, +and, turning their heads in all directions, sniffed the air. They +scented a danger; but of what nature was it? As for Dona Marianna, they +appeared so sure of seizing her whenever they thought proper, and saw +how harmless she was, that they contented themselves with crouching +before her, and did not deign to advance a step. All at once the male, +without stirring, uttered a sharp, quick yell. The female rose, bounded +forward, seized one of her cubs in her mouth, and with one backward +leap disappeared in a thicket; almost immediately she reappeared, +and removed the second in the same way; then she returned calmly and +boldly to place herself by the side of the male, whose anxiety had now +attained formidable proportions. + +At the same instant a flash traversed the air--a shot echoed far and +wide--and the male jaguar writhed on the ground with a roar of agony. +Almost immediately a man dashed from the tree at the foot of which Dona +Mariana was crouching, stood in front of her, and received the shock +of the female, which, at the shot, had instinctively bounded forward. +The man tottered, but for all that kept his feet: there was a frightful +struggle for a few minutes, and then the jaguar fell back with a last +and fearful yell. + +"Come," the hunter said, as he wiped on the grass the long machete with +which he had stabbed the beast, "my arrangements were well made, but I +fancy that I arrived only just in time. Now for the cubs; for I must +not show mercy to any member of this horrible family." + +Then this man, who seemed to possess the faculty of seeing in the +darkness, walked without hesitation towards the spot where the female +had hidden her cubs. He resolutely entered the thicket, and came out +again almost immediately, holding a cub in either hand. He smashed +their heads against the trunk of a tree, and threw the bodies on those +of their father and mother. + +"That is a very tidy butchery," he said; "but what on earth is Don +Hernando's tigrero about, that I am obliged to do his work?" + +While saying this, the hunter had collected all the dry wood within +reach, struck a light, and within a few minutes a bright flame +rose skywards. This duly accomplished, the stranger hurried to the +assistance of Dona Marianna, who had fainted. + +"Poor girl!" he muttered, with an accent of gentle pity, as he lifted +her in his arms, and carried her to the fire; "How is it that the +fright has not killed her?" + +He gently laid her on some firs he had arranged for her bed, and gazed +at her for a moment with a look of delight impossible to describe. But +then he felt considerably embarrassed. Accustomed to the hardships of +a desert life, and a skilful hunter as he had proved himself, this man +was naturally a very poor sick nurse. He knew how, at a pinch, to dress +a wound or extract a bullet, but he was quite ignorant how to bring a +fainting woman round. + +"Still, I cannot leave her in this state, poor girl," gazing on her +sorrowfully; "but what am I to do?--how can I relieve her?" + +At length he knelt down by the young lady's side, gently raised her +lovely head, which he laid on his knee, and, opening with his dagger +point her closed lips, poured in a few drops of Catalonian refino +contained in a gourd. The effect of this remedy was instantaneous. A +nervous tremour passed over the maiden's body; she heaved a sigh, and +opened her lips. At the first moment she looked around her wildly, but +ideas seemed gradually to return to her brain; her contracted features +grew brighter, and fixing her eyes on the hunter, who was still bending +over her, she muttered, with an expression of gratitude which made the +young man's heart beat, "Stronghand!" + +"Have you recognised me, senorita?" he exclaimed, with joyous surprise. + +"Are you not my Providence?" she answered. "Do you not always arrive +when I have to be saved from some fearful danger?" + +"Oh, senorita!" he murmured, in great embarrassment. + +"Thanks! Thanks, my saviour!" she continued, seizing his hand, +and pressing it to her heart; "Thanks for having come to my help, +Stronghand, for this time again. I should have been lost without you." + +"I really believe," he said, with a smile, "that I arrived just in +time." + +"But how is it that you came so opportunely?" she asked, curiously, as +she sat up and wrapped herself in the furs, for the feminine instinct +had regained its power over her. + +At this question, simple though it was, the hunter turned red. + +"Oh," he said, "it is very simple. I have been hunting in these parts +for some days past. I had tracked this family of jaguars, which I +obstinately determined to kill, I know not why; but now I understand +that it was a presentiment. After pursuing them all day, I had lost +them out of sight, and was seeking their trail, when your horse enabled +me to recover it." + +"What!--my horse?" she exclaimed, in amazement. + +"Do you not remember that it was I who gave you this poor Negro on our +first meeting?" + +"That is true," she murmured, as she let her eyes fall beneath the +hunter's ardent glance. + +"I saw you for a moment this morning when you were going to Sanchez' +rancho." + +"Ah!" she remarked. + +"Sanchez is a friend, of mine," he continued, as if to explain his +remark. + +"Go on." + +"On seeing the horse, which I at once recognised, I feared that some +accident had happened to you, and set out after it. But the jaguars had +scented it at the same time, and in spite of my thorough acquaintance +with this forest, it was impossible for me to run as fast as they did. +Luckily, they were hungry, and amused themselves by devouring poor +Negro; otherwise I should not have arrived in time." + +"But how was it that you came by this strange road?" + +"In the first place, I was bound to save your life, as I knew that if +I killed one jaguar, the other would leap upon you, in order to avenge +it." + +"But you ran the risk of being torn in pieces by the horrible animals," +she said, with a shudder of retrospective terror, as she thought of the +frightful dangers from which she had been so miraculously preserved. + +"That is possible," he said, with an unmistakable expression of joy; +"but I should have died to save you, and I desired nothing else." + +The maiden made no reply. Pensive and blushing, she bowed her head +on her chest. The hunter thought that he had offended her, and also +remained silent and constrained. This silence lasted several minutes. +At length Dona Marianna raised her head and offered her hand to the +young man. + +"Thank you again!" she said, with a gentle smile. + +"Your heart is good. You did not hesitate to sacrifice your life for +me, whom you scarce know, and I shall feel eternally grateful to you." + +"I am too amply repaid for my services by these words, senorita," he +replied, with marked hesitation; "still I have a favour to ask you, and +I should be pleased if you would deign to grant it." + +"Oh, speak, speak! Tell me what I can do!" + +"I know not how to explain it; my request will appear to you so +strange, so singular--perhaps so indiscreet." + +"Speak; for I feel convinced that the favour you pretend to ask of me +is merely another service you wish to render me." + +Stronghand bent a searching glance on the maiden, and then seemed to +make up his mind. + +"Well, senorita," he said, "it is this:--should you ever, for any +reason neither you nor I can foresee, need advice, or the help of a +friend, either for yourself or any member of your family, do nothing +till you have seen me, and explained to me unreservedly the motives +that impelled you to come to me." + +Dona Marianna reflected, while the hunter gazed at her attentively. + +"Be it so," she at length said; "I promise to act as you wish. But how +am I to find you?" + +"Your foster brother is my friend, senorita; you will request him to +lead you to me, and he will do so; or, if you prefer it, you can warn +me through him to proceed to any place you may point out." + +"Agreed." + +"I can count on your promise?" + +"Have I not passed my word?" + +All at once a loud noise, resembling the passage of a wild beast, was +heard in the forest glade; the maiden started, and instinctively clung +to the hunter. + +"Fear nothing, senorita," the latter said; "do you not recognise a +friend?" + +At the same moment the tigrero's dog leaped up to fondle her, followed +almost instantaneously by Mariano. + +"Heaven be blessed!" he said, joyfully, "She is saved!" and pressing +the hunter's hand cordially, he added, "Thanks; it is a service I owe +you, brother." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE RETURN. + + +How was it that the tigrero, whom we saw leave the rancho almost as +soon as Dona Marianna, and follow in her track, arrived so late? We +will explain this in a few sentences. The young man, feeling certain +that his foster sister thoroughly knew the road she had to follow, +which was, moreover, properly traced, had not dreamed of the chance of +her missing her way, and not troubling himself to follow the horse's +footmarks, he pushed straight on, fancying Dona Marianna ahead of him, +crossed the forest, and then entered the plain, without perceiving the +person he fancied he was following. + +Still, on reaching the cultivated land, he looked carefully ahead of +him, for he was surprised at the advance the young lady had gained on +him in so short a time. But, though he examined the horizon all around, +he saw nothing of her. Mariano was beginning to grow anxious; still, +as there was a chaparral some distance ahead, whose tufted trees might +conceal her whom he sought, he became reassured, and pushed onward, +increasing the already rapid pace of his steed. It took him some time +to pass through the chaparral; when he reached its skirt, and again +entered the plain, the sun had set about half an hour previously, and +darkness was invading the earth; the darkness was, indeed, so thick, +that in spite of all his exertions, he could distinguish nothing a few +paces ahead of him. + +The tigrero halted, dismounted, placed his ear on the ground, and +listened. A moment later he heard, or fancied he heard, a distant +sound resembling a horse's gallop; his alarm was at once dissipated. +Convinced that the young lady was in front of him, he mounted again and +pushed on. As he was only two leagues from the Hacienda del Toro, he +soon reached the foot of the rock. Here he stopped, and asked himself +whether he had better go up, or regard his mission as fulfilled, and +turn back. While unable to form any decision, he saw a black outline +gliding along the path, and soon distinguished a horseman coming toward +him. + +"_Buena noche, Caballero_," he said, when the latter crossed him. + +"_Dios le de a usted buena_," the other politely replied, and he passed +on, but suddenly turned round again. The tigrero rode to meet him. + +"Ah!" the horseman said, when they met, "I felt sure that I was not +mistaken. How is No Mariano?" + +"Very well, and at your service," the tigrero answered, recognising the +majordomo; "and you, No Paredes?" + +"The same, thank you; are you going up to the toro, or returning to the +rancho?" + +"Why that question?" + +"Because in the former case I would bid you good night, while in the +latter we would ride together." + +"Are you going to the rancho?" + +"Yes; the Senor Marquis has sent me." + +"Tell me, No Paredes, would there be any indiscretion on my part in +asking you what you are going to do at the rancho at so late an hour?" + +"Not the slightest, compadre. I am simply going to fetch Dona Marianna, +who has remained today later than usual with her nurse. Her father is +anxious about her long absence, and asked me to go and meet her if she +were on her road home, or if not, push on to the rancho." + +This revelation was a thunderclap for the young man, who fancied that +he had misunderstood. + +"What!" he exclaimed, anxiously, "Is not Dona Marianna at the hacienda?" + +"It seems not," the majordomo answered, "since I am going to fetch her." + +"Why, that is impossible!" the other continued, in extreme agitation. + +"Why so?" said Paredes, beginning to grow anxious in his turn. "What do +you mean?" + +"I mean that Dona Marianna left the rancho full three hours ago; that I +followed her without her knowledge to watch over her safety, and that +she must have been at the hacienda for more than half an hour." + +"Are you quite sure of what you assert?" + +"iCaray! I have asserted it." + +"In that case, Heaven have pity on the poor girl! For I apprehend a +frightful misfortune." + +"But she may have entered the hacienda without your seeing her." + +"Nonsense, compadre; that is impossible. But come, we'll convince +ourselves." + +Without losing time in longer argument the two men dashed up the +rock at a gallop, and in a few minutes reached the first gate of the +hacienda. No one had seen Dona Marianna. The alarm was instantly +given; Don Hernando wished to ride off at the head of his people, and +beat up the country in search of his daughter; and it was with great +difficulty that he was induced to abandon the project. Don Ruiz and +the majordomo, followed by some twenty peons, provided with ocote wood +torches, started in two different directions. + +Mariano had an idea of his own. When he was quite certain that his +foster sister had not returned, he presumed the truth--that she was +lost in the forest. He did not consider for a moment that she had been +carried off by Indian marauders, for he had not noticed any trace of a +party of horsemen; and Bigote, whose nose was infallible, had evinced +no anxiety during the ride. Hence Dona Marianna must be lost in the +forest. The tigrero let Don Ruiz, the majordomo, and the peons pass +him, and then bent his steps towards the rancho, closely followed +by his dog, in spite of the exhortations of his young master and No +Paredes, who wanted him to accompany them. When he was in the forest +he stopped for a moment, as if to look round him; then, after most +carefully examining the spot where he was, he dismounted, fastened his +horse's bridle to the pommel, tied the stirrups together to keep them +from clanking, and gave his horse a friendly smack on the crupper. + +"Go along, Moreno," he said to it; "return to the rancho. I shall not +want you again tonight." + +The horse turned its fine intelligent head to its master, gave a +neigh of pleasure, and started at a gallop in the direction of the +rancho. The tigrero carefully examined his gun, the priming of which +he renewed, and began inspecting the ground by the light of a torch. +Bigote, gravely seated on its hind legs, followed its master's every +movement, and was evidently much perplexed. After a very lengthened +search, the tigrero probably found what he was looking for, for he rose +with an air of satisfaction, and whistled his dog, which at once ran up. + +"Bigote," he said, "smell these marks; they were made by the horse of +your mistress, Marianna; do you recognise them?" + +The noble animal did as its master ordered, then fixed its sparkling +eyes upon him with an almost human expression, and wagged its tail with +delight. + +"Good, Bigote! Good, my famous dog!" the tigrero continued, as he +patted it; "And now let us follow the trail; forward, Bigote, pick it +up clean." + +The dog hesitated for a moment, then it set out with its nose to the +ground, closely followed by its master, who had extinguished his torch, +which would henceforth be useless. But all we have narrated occupied +considerable time; and the tigrero would have arrived too late to save +the maiden, had not Heaven sent the hunter across her path. The dog did +not once check its speed through the numberless windings of the course +Negro had followed; and master and dog together reached the spot where +the horrible drama we recently described occurred. + +"When I heard Stronghand's shot," the tigrero added, as he concluded +his narrative, "I experienced a sound of deadly agony, for I understood +that a frightful struggle was going on at the moment, and that the +beast might conquer the man. Well, tocaya, will you now believe in the +jaguars?" + +"Oh, silence, Mariano!" the young lady said, with a shudder; "I almost +went mad with terror when I saw the eyes of the horrible animals fixed +upon me. Oh! Had it not been for this brave and honest hunter, I should +have been lost." + +"Brave and honest, indeed!" the tigrero, said, with frank affection; +"You are right, senorita, for Stronghand might just as fairly be called +Goodheart, for he is ever so ready to assist strangers, and relieve the +unfortunate." + +Dona Marianna listened with lively pleasure to this praise of the man +who had saved her life; but Stronghand felt terribly embarrassed, and +suffered in his heart at a deed which he thought so simple, and which +he was so delighted to have done, being rated so highly. + +"Come, come, Mariano," he said, in order to cut short the young man's +compliments, "we cannot remain here any longer; remember that while +we are quietly resting by the fireside and talking nonsense, this +young lady's father and brother are suffering from deadly anxiety, and +scouring the plain without any hope of finding her. We must arrange how +to get away from here as soon as possible, and return to the hacienda." + +"Caray, master, you are right, as usual; but what is to be done? Both +you and I are on foot, and we cannot dream for a moment that the +senorita could walk such a distance." + +"Oh, I am strong," she said with a smile; "under your escort, my +friends, I fear nothing, and can walk." + +"No, senorita," the hunter said, with an accent of gentle authority, +"your strength would betray your courage; on so dark a night, and +in a forest like this, a man accustomed to desert life could hardly +expect to walk without falling at every step. Put yourself in our +hands, for we know better than you do what is best to be done under the +circumstances." + +"Very good," she answered; "act as you think proper. I have suffered +enough already today, by refusing to listen to the advice of my tocayo, +to prevent me being obstinate now." + +"That is the way to talk," the tigrero said gaily. "What are we going +to do, Stronghand?" + +"While you skin the jaguars--for I suppose you do not wish to leave +them as they are--" + +"What!" the tigrero interrupted him, "Those skins belong to you, and I +have no claim to them, as you killed the beasts." + +"Pooh!" the hunter said with a laugh, "I am not a tigrero, except by +accident; the skins are yours, and fairly so; so you had better take +them." + +"Since that is the case I will not decline; but as for my part, I +promised to give my foster sister the skins to make a rug, I will beg +her to accept them." + +"Very good," she answered, giving the hunter a look which filled him +with joy; "they will remind me of the fearful danger I incurred, and +the way in which I escaped it." + +"That is settled, then," the hunter said; "and I will; cut down with my +machete some branches to form a litter." + +"Caray, that is an idea which would not have occurred to me," Mariano +remarked, with a laugh; "but it is very simple. To work." + +Hunters and trappers are skilful and most expeditious men; in a +few minutes Mariano had skinned the jaguars, and Stronghand formed +the litter; the skins, after being carefully folded, were securely +fastened on the back of Bigote, who did not at all like the burden +imposed on him; but after a while he made up his mind to put up with +it. Stronghand covered the litter with leaves and grass, over which +he laid the saddlecloth of the horse the jaguars had devoured; then +he requested the young lady to seat herself on this soft divan, which +was so suddenly improvised, and the two men, taking it on their strong +shoulders, started in the direction of the hacienda, joined by Bigote, +who trotted in front with glad barks. + +Although the hunters had, from excess of precaution, formed torches +of ocote wood to help them, the darkness was so complete--the trees +were so close together--that it was with extreme difficulty that +they succeeded in advancing in this inextricable labyrinth. Forced +to take continual _detours_--obliged at times to walk in water up to +their waists--deafened by the discordant cries of the birds, which the +flash of the torches aroused--they saw all around them the wild beasts +flying, with hoarse roars and eyes glaring through the darkness. It +was then that Dona Marianna fully comprehended what frightful peril +she had escaped, and how certain her death would have been, had not +the hunter come to her assistance with such noble self-devotion; and +at the remembrance of all that had occurred, and which was now but a +dream, a convulsive tremor passed over her limbs, and she felt as if +she were about to faint. Stronghand, who seemed to guess what was going +on in the maiden's mind, frequently spoke to her, in order to change +the current of her ideas by compelling her to answer him. They had been +marching for a long distance, and the forest seemed as savage as when +they started. + +"Do you believe," Dona Marianna asked, "that we are on the right road?" + +"Even admitting, senora, what might be possible," the hunter answered, +"that Mariano and myself were capable of falling into an error, we have +with us an infallible guide in Bigote, who, you may be quite certain, +will not lead us astray." + +"Within ten minutes, senorita," the tigrero said, "we shall enter the +road that runs from the rancho to the hacienda." + +All at once the two men stopped. At the same moment Dona Marianna heard +shouts that seemed to answer each other in various directions. + +"Forward! Forward!" said Stronghand; "Let us not leave your relatives +and friends in anxiety longer than we can help." + +"Thanks," she answered. + +They continued their march; and, as the tigrero had announced, in +scarce ten minutes they reached the road to the hacienda. + +"What shall we do now?" Marianna asked. + +"I think," Stronghand answered, "that we ought to announce our presence +by a cry for help, and then proceed in the direction of those who +answer us. What is your opinion, senora?" + +"Yes," she said, "I think we ought to do so; for otherwise we run a +risk of reaching the hacienda without meeting any of the persons sent +to seek me, and who might continue their search till morning, which +would be ingratitude on my part." + +"You are right, nina; for all these worthy people are attached to you, +and besides, your brother and Don Paredes are also seeking you." + +"That is a further reason why we should hasten to announce our return," +the young lady answered. + +The two hunters, after consulting for a moment, uttered together that +long shrill yell, which, in the desert as in the mountains, serves as +the rallying cry, and may be heard for an enormous distance. Almost +immediately the whole forest seemed to be aroused; similar cries broke +out in all directions, and the hunters noticed red dots running with +extreme rapidity between the trees, and all converging on the spot +where they stood, as if they radiated from a common centre. Certain +of having been heard, the hunters once again uttered their shout for +help. The reply was not delayed; the galloping of horses soon became +distinct, and then riders, holding torches, appeared from all parts of +the forest coming at full speed, waving their hands, and resembling +the fantastic huntsmen of the old German legends. In a few minutes +all the persons were assembled round the litter on which the young +lady reclined; and Don Ruiz and the majordomo were not long ere they +arrived. We will not describe the joy of brother and sister on seeing +each other again. + +"Brother," Dona Marianna said to Don Ruiz, "if you find me still alive, +you owe it to the man who before saved us both from the pirates of the +prairies; had it not been for him, I should have been lost." + +"You may safely say that, and no mistake," Marianna said, in +confirmation. + +"Where is he?" Don Ruiz asked--"Where is he? that I may express all my +gratitude to him." + +But he was sought for in vain. During the first moment of confusion, +Stronghand had summoned a peon to take his place--had glided unnoticed +into the forest and disappeared--no one being able to say in what +direction he had gone. + +"Why this flight?" Dona Marianna murmured, with a stifled sigh; "Does +this strange man fear lest our gratitude should prove too warm?" + +And she thoughtfully bowed her head on her bosom. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +CHANCE WORK. + + +Although he allowed nothing to be visible, Don Ruiz was vexed at heart +with the affectation the hunter seemed to display in avoiding him, and +escaping from his thanks. This savageness in a man to whom he owed +such serious obligations appeared to him to conceal either a disguised +enmity, or dark schemes whose accomplishment he feared, though he could +not assign any plausible motive for them, especially after the manner +in which the hunter had not hesitated on two occasions to imperil +his life in assisting himself and his sister. These thoughts, which +incessantly thronged to the mind of Don Ruiz, plunged him into deep +trouble for some moments; still, when the peons he had sent off to +seek the hunter all returned one after the other, declaring that they +could not possibly find his trail, the young man shook his head several +times, frowned, and then gave orders for the start. + +Dona Marianna's return to the hacienda was a real triumphal procession. +The peons, delighted at having found their mistress again safe and +sound, gaily bore her on their shoulders, laughing, singing, and +dancing along the road, not knowing how otherwise to express their joy, +and yet desirous to make her comprehend the pleasure they felt. In +spite of the fatigue that crushed her, and the state of exhaustion into +which she had fallen through the terrific emotions she had undergone, +Dona Marianna, sensible of these manifestations of gratitude, made +energetic efforts in order to appear to share their joy, and prove to +them how greatly she was affected by it. But, although she gave them +her sweetest smiles and gentlest words, she could not have endured much +longer the constraint, and she was really exhausted when the little +party at length reached the hacienda. + +The Marquis, who was suffering the most frightful agitation, had gone +to the last gate to meet them, and would possibly have gone further +still, had not Don Ruiz taken the precaution, so soon as his sister was +found, to send off a peon to tranquillize his mind and announce the +successful result. At the first moment the Marquis completely forgot +his aristocratic pride, only to think of the happiness of pressing +to his heart the child he feared he had lost for ever. Don Rufino +Contreras, carried away by the example, shared in the general joy, +and pretended to pump up a tear of sympathy while fixing on the young +lady his huge grey eyes, to which he tried in vain to give a tender +expression. + +The maiden threw herself with an outburst of tears into her father's +arms, and at length, yielding to her feelings, fainted--an accident +which, by arousing the anxiety of the spectators, cut short all the +demonstrations. Dona Marianna was conveyed to her apartments, and the +peons were dismissed after the majordomo had, by the order of the +Marquis, distributed among them _pesetas_ and tragos of refino, which +set the crown of the delight of these worthy fellows. + +In spite of the offer of No Paredes, who invited him to spend the +night at the hacienda, the tigrero would not consent; and after +freeing Bigote from the jaguars' skins, which seemed to cause the dog +considerable pleasure, they both started gaily for the rancho. It was +about two o'clock, a.m., and a splendid night, and the tigrero, with +his gun under his arm and his dog at his heels, was walking at a steady +pace while whistling a merry jarana, when, just as he was entering the +shadow of the forest, Stronghand suddenly emerged from a thicket two +paces ahead of him. + +"Hilloh!" the tigrero said, on recognising him; "Where the deuce did +you get to just now, that it was impossible to find you? What bee was +buzzing in your bonnet?" + +The hunter shrugged his shoulders. + +"Do you fancy," he replied, "that it is so very pleasant to be stared +at by those semi-idiotic peons for performing so simple a deed as mine +was?" + +"Well, opinions are free, compadre, and I will not argue with you on +that score; still, I should not have run off in that way." + +"?Quien sabe? You are more modest than you like to show, brother; and I +feel certain that, under similar circumstances, you would have acted as +I did." + +"That is possible, though I do not believe it; still, I thank you," he +added, with a laugh, "for having discovered in me a quality which I was +not aware I possessed. But where on earth are you going at such an +hour?" + +"I was looking for you." + +"In that case all is for the best, since you have found me; what do you +want of me?" + +"To ask hospitality of you for a few days." + +"Our house is not large, but sufficiently so to contain a guest, +especially when you are he; you can remain with us so long as you +please." + +"I thank you, gossip, but I shall not abuse your complaisance; I am +obliged to remain for a few days in these parts, and, as the nights are +fresh, I will confess that I prefer passing them under a roof instead +of the star spangled arch of heaven." + +"As you please, Stronghand; the door of my humble rancho is ever +open to let you in or out. I do not want to know the reason for your +stay here; but the longer you remain with us, the greater honour and +pleasure you will afford us." + +"Thanks, comrade." + +All was settled in a few words. The two men continued their walk, and +soon reached the rancho. The tigrero led the hunter to his bedroom, +where they lay down side by side, and soon fell asleep. A few days +elapsed, during which the hunter saw Dona Marianna several times, +while careful not to let her notice him, although it was evident to +Stronghand that the young lady would have liked nothing better than +meeting him; perhaps she really desired it, without daring to confess +it to herself. + +One day, about a week after the scene with the jaguars, the hunter was +lying half asleep in a copse whose leafy branches completely hid him +from sight, and quietly enjoying his siesta during the great midday +heat, when he fancied he heard the sound of footsteps not far from the +spot where he was. He instinctively opened his eyes, raised himself +on his elbow, and looked carefully around him; he checked a cry of +surprise on recognising the man, who had stopped close to the thicket +and dismounted, like a man who has reached the spot he desired. This +man was Kidd, the bandit, with whom the reader has already formed +acquaintance. + +"What does that scoundrel want here?" the hunter asked himself. "He is +doubtless plotting some infamy, and I bless the chance that brings him +within earshot, for this demon is one of the men who cannot be watched +too closely." + +In the meanwhile Kidd had removed his horse's bit, in order to let it +graze freely; he himself sat down on a rock, lit a husk cigarette, and +began smoking with all the _nonchalance_ of a man whose conscience +is perfectly at its ease. Stronghand racked his brains in vain to try +and discover the motive for the presence of the bandit in these parts, +so remote from the ordinary scene of his villainy, when chance, which +had already favoured him, gave him the clue to the enigma, which he had +almost despaired of obtaining. A sound made him turn his head, and he +saw a stout horseman, with rubicund face and handsomely dressed, coming +up at an amble. When he reached the adventurer, the latter rose, bowed +respectfully, and assisted him to dismount. + +"Ouf!" the stout man said, with a sigh of relief, "What a confounded +ride!" + +"Well," the bandit replied with a grin, "you must blame yourself, Don +Rufino, for you arranged it. May the fiend twist my neck if I would +damage myself, no matter for what purpose, and ride across the plain at +this hour of the day." + +"Everybody is the best judge of his own business, Master Kidd," Don +Rufino remarked, drily, as he wiped his steaming face, with a fine +cambric handkerchief. + +"That is possible; but if I had the honour to be Don Rufino Contreras, +enormously rich, and senator to boot, hang me if I would put myself +out of my way to run after an adventurer like Master Kidd, whatever +pleasure I might take at other times in the conversation of that worthy +caballero." + +The senator began laughing. + +"Ha! Ha! Scoundrel; you have scented something." + +"Hang it!" the bandit replied, impudently, "I do not deceive myself, +and am well aware that whatever attractions my conversation may offer, +you would not have come this distance expressly to hear it." + +"That is possible, scamp. However, listen to me." + +"I can see from your familiarity that the job will be an expensive one; +well, I do not dislike that way of entering upon the subject, for it +forebodes a good business." + +The senator shrugged his shoulders with ill-disguised contempt. "Enough +of this," he said, "let us come to facts." + +"I ask nothing better." + +"Are you fond of money?" + +"I certainly have a weakness for gold." + +"Good. Would you hesitate about killing a man to earn it?" + +"What do you mean?" + +"I ask you, scoundrel, whether in a case of necessity you would kill a +man for money?" + +"I perfectly understood you." + +"Then why make me repeat it?" + +"Because your doubt is offensive to my feelings." + +"How so?" + +"Hang it, I fancy I speak clearly. Killing a man is nothing when you +are well paid for it." + +"I will pay well." + +"Beforehand?" + +"Yes, if you like." + +"How much?" + +"I warn you that the man I refer to is but a poor fellow." + +"Yes, a poor fellow who is troublesome to you. Well, go on." + +"One thousand piastres. Is that enough?" + +"It is not too much." + +"Confound it, you are expensive." + +"That is possible; but I do my work conscientiously. Well, tell me who +the man is that is in your way." + +"Jose Paredes." + +"The majordomo at the Toro?" + +"Yes." + +"Do you know that he is not an easy man to kill? You must owe him a +sore grudge, I suppose?" + +"I do not know him." + +The bandit looked in amazement at the speaker. + +"You do not know him, and yet offer one thousand piastres for his +death? Nonsense!" + +"It is so." + +"But you must have a reason. Caray, a man is not killed as one twists a +fowl's neck. I know that, bandit though I am." + +"You said it just now. He is in my way." + +"That is different," the adventurer replied, convinced by this +peremptory reason. + +"Listen to me attentively, and engrave my words on your mind." + +"Go on, senor. I will not lose a word." + +"In two or three days the majordomo will leave for Hermosillo, carrying +bills to a considerable amount." + +"Good," the bandit said, rubbing his hands gleefully; "I will kill him +as he passes, and take possession of the bills." + +"No, you will let him go on in peace, and you will kill him on his +return, when he has cashed the bills." + +"That is true. Where the deuce was my head? That will be much better." + +Don Rufino looked at him ironically. + +"You will deliver to me the sum this man is the bearer of," he said. + +The bandit gave a start of alarm, + +"I suppose the sum is large?" + +"Fifty thousand piastres." + +"iViva Dios! Surrender such a fortune? I would sooner be burned alive." + +"You must, though," + +"Never, senor." + +"Nonsense," the senator remarked, contemptuously. "You know you are in +my hands. All the worse for you if you hesitate, for you will then lose +two thousand piastres." + +"You said one thousand." + +"I made a mistake." + +"And when will you give them to me?" + +"At once." + +"Have you the amount about you?" + +"Yes." + +Suddenly the bandit's eye gleamed with a sinister flash; he drew +himself up, and leaped, knife in hand, upon the senator. But the +adventurer had a powerful adversary. Don Rufino had long known the man +he was treating with, and, while conversing, had not once taken his eye +off, and attentively watched all his movements. Hence, though Kidd's +action was so rapid, Don Rufino was before him; he seized his arm with +his left hand, while with the right he placed a pistol to his chest. + +"Hilloh, my master," he said, coldly, and with the most perfect +tranquillity, "are you mad, or has a wasp stung you?" + +Abashed by his failure, the bandit gave him a savage look. + +"Let me loose!" + +"Not before you have thrown your knife away, scoundrel!" + +Kidd opened his hand, the knife fell on the ground, and Don Rufino put +his foot upon it. + +"You are not half clever enough," he said, sarcastically; "you deserve +to have your brains blown out, in order to teach you to take your +measures better another time." + +"I do not always miss my mark," he replied, with a menacing accent. + +There was a moment of silence between the two men. Stronghand still +watched them, not losing one of their words or gestures, which +interested him to the highest degree. At length Don Rufino spoke. + +"Have you reflected?" he asked the bandit. + +"Of what?" the latter remarked, roughly; "Of this proposal?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, I accept." + +"But you understand," the senator continued, laying a stress upon every +word, "you must deal frankly this time. No trickery, eh?" + +"No, no," Kidd answered, with a shake of the head; "you may be sure of +that." + +"I reckon on your honesty. Moreover, profit by what has occurred today. +I am not always so good tempered; and if a misunderstanding, like that +just now, again arose between us, the consequences might be very +serious to you." + +These few words were uttered with an intonation of voice, and +accompanied by a look, that produced a profound impression on the +bandit. + +"All right," he said, shrugging his shoulders savagely; "there is no +need to threaten, as all is settled." + +"Very good." + +"Where shall I come to you after the business?" + +"Do not trouble yourself about that. I shall manage to find you." + +"Ah!" he said, with a side-glance; "then that is your affair?" + +"Yes." + +"Very good. Give me the money." + +"Here it is. But remember, if you deceive me--" + +"Nonsense," the bandit interrupted him. "Did I not tell you that it was +all settled?" + +The senator drew from his pocket a long purse, through whose meshes +gold coins could be seen. He weighed it for an instant in his hand, and +then threw it twenty paces from him. + +"Go and fetch it," he said. + +The bandit dashed at the gold, which as it fell produced a ringing +sound. Don Rufino took advantage of this movement to get into his +saddle. + +"Good-bye," he said to the bandit. "Remember!" and he started at a +gallop. Kidd made no reply, for he was too busy counting the ounces +contained in the purse. + +"All right," he at last said, with a smile upon his features, as he hid +the purse in his bosom. "No matter," he added, as he looked savagely +after the senator, "I allow that I am in your power, demon; but if I +ever had you in my hands as you had me today, and I manage to discover +one of your secrets, I should not be so mad as to show you any mercy." + +After this soliloquy the bandit went up to his horse, tightened the +girths, and set out in his turn, but in a direction opposite to that +which the senator had taken. So soon as he was alone, the hunter rose. + +"Oh, oh!" he muttered, "That is a dark plot. That man cannot want to +kill Paredes merely to rob him; it is plain that the blow is meant for +the Marquis. I will be on my guard." + +We have already seen that the hunter religiously kept his promise. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +FATHER AND SON. + + +Now that we have given the reader all necessary information about +the events accomplished at the Hacienda del Toro, we will resume our +narrative at the point where we were compelled to leave it--that is to +say, we will return to the village of the Papazos, and be present at +the conversation between Thunderbolt and Stronghand in the Pyramid. +The two men, walking side by side, went up to the top of the Pyramid. +They traversed the bridge of lianas thrown over the Quebrada at a great +height, and entered the Pyramid on the right. They descended to the +first floor--the Indians they met bowing respectfully to them--and +stopped before a securely fastened door. On reaching it, Thunderbolt +gave it two slight taps; an inner bolt was drawn, the door opened, +and they went in. They had scarce crossed the threshold ere the young +Indian who had opened the door closed it again after them. A strange +change had taken place in the two men; the Indian stoicism they had +hitherto affected made way for manners that revealed men used to +frequent the highest society of cities. + +"Maria," Thunderbolt said to the girl, "inform your mistress that +her son has returned to the village." In giving this order the old +gentleman employed Spanish, and not the Comanche idiom which he had +used up to the present. + +"The senora was already aware of her son's return, _mi amo_," Maria +answered, with a smile. + +"Ah!" said the old man, "then she has seen somebody." + +"The venerable Padre Fray Serapio came an hour ago to pay the senora a +visit, and he is still with her." + +"Very good; announce us, my child." + +The girl bowed and disappeared, returning a moment after to tell the +two gentlemen that they could enter. They were then introduced into a +rather spacious room, lighted by four glazed windows--an extraordinary +luxury in such a place--in front of which hung heavy red damask +curtains. This room, entirely lined with stamped Cordovan leather, was +furnished in the Spanish style, with that good taste which only the +Castilians of the old race have kept, and was, through its arrangement, +half drawing room, half oratory. In one corner an ebony _prie-dieu_, +surmounted by an ivory crucifix, which time had turned yellow, and +several pictures of saints, signed by Murillo and Zurbaran, would have +caused the apartment to be taken for an oratory, had not comfortable +sofas, tables loaded with books, and butacas, proved it to be a drawing +room. Near a silver brasero two persons were sitting in butacas. + +Of these, one was a lady, the other a Franciscan monk; both had passed +midlife, or, to speak more correctly, were close on fifty years of age. + +The lady wore the Spanish garb fashionable in her youth--that is to +say, some thirty years before. Although her hair was beginning to grow +white, and a few deep wrinkles altered the purity of her features, +still it was easy to see that she must have been very lovely once on a +time. Her skin, of a slightly olive hue, was extremely fine, and in the +firm marked lines of her face, the distinctive character of the purest +Aztec race could be recognised. Her black eyes, shaded by long lashes, +and whose corners rose slightly, like those of the Mongolians, had an +expression of strange gentleness, and her whole face revealed mildness +and intelligence. Although she was below the ordinary height of women, +she still retained the elegance of youth; and her exquisitely modelled +hands and feet were almost of a microscopic smallness. Fray Serapio was +the true type of the Spanish monk--handsome, majestic, and dreamy--and +seemed as if he had stepped out of a picture by Zurbaran. When the two +gentlemen entered, the lady and the Padre rose. + +"You are welcome, my darling child," the old lady said, opening her +arms to her son. + +The latter rushed into them, and for some minutes there was an +uninterrupted series of caresses between mother and son. + +"Forgive me, Padre Serapio," Stronghand at length said, as he freed +himself from the gentle bondage; "but it is so long since I had the +pleasure of embracing my mother, that I cannot leave off." + +"Embrace your mother, my child," the monk answered, with a smile; "a +mother's caresses are the only ones that do not entail regret." + +"What are you about, Padre?" Thunderbolt asked; "Are you going to leave +us already?" + +"Yes; and pray excuse me for going away so soon; but after a lengthened +separation, you must have much to say to one another, and a third +person, however friendly he may be, is always in the way at such a +time. Moreover, my brothers and I have a good deal to do at present, +owing to so many white hunters and trappers being in the village." + +"Are you satisfied with your neophytes?" + +The monk shook his head mournfully. + +"No," he at length answered; "the Indians love and respect us, owing to +the protection you have deigned to afford us, Senor Don--" + +"Silence!" the chief interrupted him, with a smile; "no other name but +that of Thunderbolt." + +"That is true; I always forget that you have surrendered the one +received at your baptism; still it is one of the most noble in the +martyrology. Well," he continued with a sigh, "the will of Heaven be +done! The glorious days of conversion have passed since we have become +Mexicans; the Indians no longer believe in the Spanish good faith, and +sooner than accept our God, persist in their old errors. This makes me +remember that I have a favour to ask of you." + +"Of me? Oh, it is granted beforehand, if it be in my power to satisfy +you." + +"Dona Esperanza, with whom I have spoken about it, leads me to hope +that you will not refuse it." + +"Did you not say to me one day that the senora's name brought you good +luck? It will probably be the same today." + +The monk took a furtive glance at the old lady. + +"This is the matter, my dear," she said, mingling in the conversation; +"the good father wishes your authority to follow, with another monk, +the warriors during the coming expedition." + +"That is a singular idea, father; and what may your object be? For I +presume you do not intend to fight in our ranks." + +"No," the monk answered with a smile, "my tastes are not warlike enough +for that; but if I may judge from the preparations I see you making, +this will be a serious expedition." + +"It will," the old man answered, pensively. + +"I have noticed that generally, during these expeditions, the wounded +are left without assistance. I should like to accompany the Indians, in +order to attend to their wounds, and console those whose hurts are so +serious that they cannot recover; still, if the request appear to you +exorbitant, I will recall it, though I shall do so reluctantly." + +The old gentleman gazed at the monk for a moment with an expression of +admiration and tenderness impossible to describe. + +"I grant your request, Padre," he at length said, affectionately +pressing his hand. "Still, I am bound to make one remark." + +"What is it?" + +"You run a risk of falling into the hands of the Mexicans." + +"Well, what matter? Can they regard it as a crime if I perform on the +battlefield the duties which my religion imposes on me?" + +"Who knows? Perhaps they will regard you as a rebel." + +"And in that case--" + +"Treat you as such." + +"That is to say--" + +"You will run a risk, father, of being shot; and that is worth thinking +about, I suppose." + +"You are mistaken, my friend; between duty and cowardice no hesitation +is possible. I will die, if it be necessary--but with the conviction +that I have fulfilled to the close the sacred mission I have +undertaken. Then you grant my request?" + +"I do so, father, and thank you for having made it." + +"Blessings on your kindness, my son; and now the Lord be with you. I +shall retire." + +In spite of much pressing, the worthy father insisted on going away, +and was conducted to the door of the apartment by the two gentlemen, in +spite of his efforts to escape a mark of honour of which he considered +himself unworthy. When the door closed after him, and the three persons +were really alone, Dona Esperanza, after a long look at her son, gently +drew him towards her, and obliging him to sit down on an equipal, she +lovingly parted off his forehead his clustering locks, and said in +a sweet, harmonious voice, in which all the jealous tenderness of a +mother was revealed-- + +"I find you sad, Diego; your face is pale, your features are worn, and +your eyes sparkle with a gloomy fire. What has happened to you during +your absence?" + +"Nothing extraordinary, mother," he answered, with an embarrassment +he tried in vain to conceal. "As usual, I have hunted a great deal, +travelled a long distance, and consequently, endured great fatigue; +hence, doubtless, comes the pallor you notice upon my face." + +The old lady shook her head with an incredulous air. + +"A mother cannot be deceived, my boy," she said, gently. "Since you +have been a man I have seen you return only too often, alas, from long +and perilous expeditions. You were fatigued--at times ill, but that was +all; while today you are gloomy, restless--" + +"Mother!" + +"Do not argue, for my mind is made up, and nothing will alter it. If +you refuse me your confidence, Heaven grant that you may select a +confidant who understands you so thoroughly." + +"Oh, mother! This is the first time a reproach has passed your lips." + +"Because, Diego, this is the first time you have refused to let me read +your heart." + +The young man sighed and hung his head, without replying. Thunderbolt, +who had hitherto been a silent spectator of the scene, gave Dona +Esperanza a meaning glance, and walked up to her son. + +"Diego," he said to him, as he laid his hand on his shoulder, "you +forget that you have to give me a report of the mission I entrusted to +you." + +Stronghand started, and eagerly sprang up. + +"That is true, father," he replied; "forgive me. I am ready to furnish +you with all the details you desire of what I have been doing during my +absence from the village." + +"Sit down, my son; your mother and I give you permission." + +The young man took a chair, and after reflecting for a few seconds, at +a further remark from his father, he commenced the recital of all he +had been doing while away. The narrative was long, and lasted nearly +two hours; but we will not relate it, because the reader is acquainted +with most of the facts the young man stated. Thunderbolt and Dona +Esperanza listened without interruption, and gave unequivocal signs of +the liveliest interest. When he had concluded his story, his mother +fondly embraced him, while congratulating him on his noble and generous +conduct. But Thunderbolt regarded the matter from another point of view. + +"Then," he asked his son, "the man who arrived with you is the +majordomo of this Don Hernando de Moguer?" + +"Yes, father." + +"Though I am an Indian by adoption, I will not forget that Spanish +blood flows in my veins. You will pay this Paredes, as you call him, +the amount of the bills, and I will send them to Hermosillo to be +cashed hereafter. You did well in bringing him with you, for an honest +man must not fall a victim to a villain. Although this affair does not +in any way concern us, I am not sorry to do a service to an old fellow +countryman. Let the majordomo leave the village this very night; in +order to prevent any accident on the road, you will have him escorted +to the hacienda by Whistler and Peccary, and three or four warriors. +They will be more than sufficient to frighten any scoundrels that may +attempt to stop him; and as, moreover, we are in a direction entirely +opposed to that in which the Hermosillo road runs, no one will think of +stopping him." + +"I can accompany him myself, with your permission, father." + +The old gentleman gave him a piercing glance, which compelled him to +look down. + +"No," he replied; "I want you here." + +"As you please, father," he said, with feigned indifference. + +And he rose. + +"Where are you going?" + +"To carry out your orders, father." + +"There is no hurry; the day is not very advanced yet, and I want to +talk with you; so return to your chair." + +The young man obeyed. Thunderbolt reflected for a moment, and then +said-- + +"How do you call this hacienda?" + +"El Toro." + +"Let me see," the old man continued, as if striving to remember; "it is +not built on the exact site of the ancient Cosala?" + +"So people say, father." + +Dona Esperanza listened to this conversation with considerable anxiety. +In vain did she try to discover her husband's meaning, and ask herself +why he thus obstinately brought the conversation back to so hazardous a +subject. + +"Is it not a strong place?" the sachem continued. + +"Yes, father; substantially built, and crowned with almenas." + +"In truth, I now remember having seen it formerly! It is an excellent +strategical position." + +Dona Esperanza looked at her husband with amazement blended with alarm; +she could neither account for his coldness nor his persistence. He +continued-- + +"Have you ever entered this hacienda." + +"Never, father." + +"That is vexatious; still, I presume you are acquainted with some of +its inhabitants. A man cannot save," he added, ironically, "the life of +such a man as this Don Hernando de Moguer must be, without his trying +to testify his gratitude to the man who did him the service." + +"I know not whether that is Don Hernando's idea, for I never had the +honour of seeing him." + +"That is strange, Don Diego; and I cannot understand why you did not +try to form his acquaintance; however, that is of little consequence, +as far as my plans are concerned." + +"Your plans, father?" the young man asked, in amazement. + +"I will explain to you that we intend to commence the expedition with +a thunder stroke; our first attempt will be to seize the Real de +Minas of Quitovar, where the main body of the Mexican forces is now +collected. The Hacienda del Toro, situated scarce ten leagues from +Arispe, commanding the three roads to Hermosillo, Ures, and Sonora, +and built at a very strong position, is of immense importance to us for +the success of the war. I had thought of appointing you to carry it +by surprise, but as you have no friends in the place, and seem not to +care greatly about it, let us say no more on the subject. I will give +the command of the expedition to Whistler and Peccary; they are two +experienced chiefs, endowed with far from common tact, and will carry +the hacienda by a surprise, because the Spaniards, not anticipating +such an attack, will not be on their guard. As for you, my son, you +will follow me to the Real de Minas. And now, my dear Diego, I have +nothing more to say to you, and you can withdraw." + +The young man had listened in secret horror to this revelation of his +father's plans. He was so full of terror that he did not notice that +Thunderbolt, though he pretended at the beginning not to know the +hacienda even by name, had described its position with a precision that +showed that, on the contrary, he must be perfectly acquainted with it. +He stood for a moment crushed by the thought of the terrible danger +Dona Marianna would incur if the Apaches took the hacienda. His father +took a side-glance at him, and attentively watched the various feelings +reflected in his face. + +"Forgive me, father," the young man at length said, with an effort; +"but I should like to offer an objection." + +"What is it, my son? Speak, I am listening." + +"I do not think it would be prudent to try and surprise, with a band of +savages, a house so far advanced in the interior of the country." + +"That is why I selected you. You would have taken a band of white and +half-breed trappers and hunters, and would have passed unnoticed, +owing to the colour of your skins. Your refusal greatly annoys me, I +confess; but, as I do not wish to force your inclinations--" + +"But I did not refuse, father," the young man exclaimed. + +"What! You did not refuse?" + +"No, father; on the contrary, I ardently wish to be entrusted with this +confidential mission." + +"In that case, I misinterpreted your silence and ambiguous remarks. +Then you accept?" + +"Gladly, father." + +"Very good; that is settled. Now go and send off that Paredes, for it +is time for him to return to his master. As for you, my son, breathe +not a syllable of what we have discussed; you understand the importance +of discretion under such circumstances. Embrace your mother, and leave +us." + +The young man threw himself into his mother's arms, who tenderly +embraced him, and whispered in his ear, "Hope!" + +Then he withdrew, after bowing respectfully to his father. + +"Well, Esperanza," the old gentleman said, rubbing his hands, so soon +as his son had left the room, "do you now begin to guess my plans?" + +"No," she answered with a gentle smile; "but I believe that I +understand them." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +THE HATCHET. + + +Stronghand quitted the Pyramid in a state of indescribable agitation. +The word his mother had whispered in his ear at parting incessantly +recurred to his mind, and led him to suppose that Dona Esperanza, with +that miraculous intuition Heaven has given to mothers, that they may +discover the most hidden feelings of their children, had divined the +secret he fancied he had buried in the remotest corner of his heart, +and which he did not dare avow to himself. On the other hand, the +strange conversation he had held with his father, and the proposal +which concluded it, plunged him into extraordinary perplexity. His +father's conduct appeared to him extraordinary, in the sense that he +did not understand how the old gentleman, who justly enjoyed among +the Indians a reputation for stainless honour, could be preparing +treacherously to attack the man to whose succour he came at the same +moment with such noble disinterestedness. All this seemed to him +illogical, incomprehensible, and in direct opposition with the word +"hope," which he fancied he could still hear buzzing in his ear. Still, +as he was obliged to cross the torrent, and go some distance before +reaching his calli, he had time to restore some degree of order in his +ideas, and resume his coolness and self-mastery before he reached his +own door. Two men were standing there--Whistler and Peccary. + +"Come along, Stronghand," the trapper shouted, so soon as he saw him; +"we have been waiting for you a long while." + +"Waiting for me?" he asked, in surprise. + +"Yes. Sparrowhawk warned us, on the part of Thunderbolt, that the chief +and myself were to hold ourselves in readiness to escort the man who +entered the village with you wherever he thinks proper to go." + +"Ah! Whistler has spoken well," Peccary remarked, laconically. + +"What else has happened?" + +"Nothing, except that Thunderbolt has made this man a present of a +mule, laden with rich wares, as Sparrowhawk says. But go on, and he +will tell you about it himself." + +Stronghand entered, and found the majordomo busily engaged in making +his preparations for a start. So soon as he saw the hunter, Paredes +eagerly walked up to him, and shook his hand several times. + +"You are welcome, comrade," he said. "iCaray! you are a man of your +word, so forgive me." + +"Forgive you for what?" the young man asked, with a smile. + +"For having doubted you, caramba." + +"Doubted me?" + +"Yes, on my word. When I saw you leave me this morning in this hole, +like a useless or noxious animal, I doubted your sincerity. In a word, +as you know, anger is an evil counsellor; still, all sorts of stupid +thoughts occurred to me, and I was on the point of running away." + +"You would have done wrong." + +"Caray! I see it now; hence I feel quite confused at my folly, and beg +you once again to forgive me." + +"Nonsense," the hunter said, with a laugh, "it is not worth while to +torment yourself about such a trifle. An escort of resolute men will +accompany you to the hacienda, and as in all probability your master, +on seeing that you have brought the money he sent you to fetch, will +not ask about what may have happened to you on your journey, I think it +unnecessary for you to give him details which would interest him but +very slightly, and give rise to unpleasant comments." + +"That's enough," the majordomo said, with a knowing smile; "I will not +breathe a syllable." + +"That will be the best." + +"Be easy. Ah! that reminds me that, as I have received the money from +you, you must have the bills. Here they are, and once again I thank +you." + +The hunter took the bills and concealed them in his bosom. There was +a moment of silence. The majordomo walked about the calli with an air +of embarrassment, though his purpose was now finished, and the hunter +comprehended that he had something to say, but did not know how to +begin it. + +"Come," he asked him, "what else is there that troubles you, my friend? +Let me hear." + +"On my faith," the Mexican replied, at length forming a resolution. "I +confess that I should be delighted to prove my gratitude to you for the +service you have done me, and I should not like to leave without doing +so; but, unluckily, it embarrasses me more than I can express." + +"What, is that all?" the hunter said, gaily. "Why that is a very easy +matter." + +"Is it?" he remarked, with surprise. "Well, you will not believe that +I have been racking my brains over it for more than half an hour, and +brought nothing out." + +"Because you seek badly, my friend; that is all." + +"Then you have found it?" + +"You shall see." + +"iCaray! You cannot imagine what pleasure you will cause me." + +"You know that I frequently hunt in your parts?" + +"Yes; I am aware of that." + +"Well, the first time I find myself near the hacienda, I will come and +ask hospitality of you." + +"Ah! That is what I call a good idea; and even if you brought ten +comrades with you, you would see how I should receive you. I only say +this much,--I am in a position to treat you well." + +"I take you at your word; so that is settled." + +"You pledge me your word?" + +"I do." + +"Very good. Now I shall start happy. Come by day or night, as you may +think proper, and you will always be welcome." + +"I fancy it would be rather difficult to get into the hacienda by +night." + +"Not at all. You will only have to mention my name." + +"Well, that is settled; and now be off. Only four hours of daylight +remain, so do not delay any longer." + +"You are right; so good-bye. Do not be long ere you remind me of my +promise." + +"I will bear you in mind." + +They left the calli. Seven or eight hunters and Indians were mounted, +and awaiting at the door their guest's good pleasure to start. The +majordomo shook the hunter's hand for the last time, mounted his +horse, gave the signal for departure, and the little band started at +a gallop through a crowd of women and children that had collected +through curiosity. Stronghand looked after them as long as he could +see them, and then thoughtfully returned to the calli. For a very long +time he remained plunged in earnest thought, then he stamped his foot +passionately, and exclaimed, in Spanish--"No; a thousand times no. I +will not take advantage of the man's kindness to abuse his confidence +like a coward. It would be a disgraceful deed." + +These words doubtless contained the result of the hunter's reflections, +and were the expression of the resolutions he had just formed. + +Several days elapsed, and nothing of an interesting nature occurred +in the village. The military committee sat several hours during the +interval. The plan of the coming campaign was definitively arranged and +the collection of the Indian forces was the only thing that delayed the +outbreak of hostilities. Whistler returned to the village four days +after his departure, and reported to the hunter that Paredes reached +the hacienda without any accident, and nothing had disturbed the +tranquillity of the journey. + +In the meanwhile, the different Indian tribes forming the great +confederation of the Papazos began flocking into the village. Ere long +there were no quarters left for them, and they were compelled to camp +on the plain, which, however, was no hardship to men accustomed to +brave all weather. On the twelfth day after Paredes' departure, the +hachesto convened all the chiefs to a general meeting at sunset, in +order to perform the mystic rites of the great medicine before opening +the campaign. At the moment when the sun disappeared below the horizon +in clouds of purple vapour, the amantzin, or first sorcerer of the +nation, mounted the roof of the medicine hut, and by a sign commanded +silence. + +"The sun has withdrawn its vivifying heat from us," he said in a +powerful voice, "the earth is covered with darkness, and this is the +mystic hour when man must prepare for the struggle with the genius of +evil--begin the great medicine." + +At the same instant, animals of every description appeared from all the +lodges, from the corners of the streets, gliding down the ladders of +the pyramids, or coming from the plain; quadrupeds, birds, and reptiles +collected in the village square, with horrible cries, overflowed the +streets on all sides, and spread out over the country for a league +round. These animals were Indian chiefs, clothed in the skins of the +beasts they wished to represent. Not only do the Indians imitate with +rare perfection the different cries of animals, but they have also +made a special study of their manners, habits, mode of progression, +and even of the way in which they eat and sleep. Nothing can furnish +an idea of the horrible concert composed of these cries--hisses, +snapping, and roars, mingled with the furious barking of the dogs. +There was something savage and primitive that powerfully affected the +imagination. At intervals silence was suddenly re-established, and the +sorcerer's voice rose alone in the night. + +"Is the evil principle conquered?" he asked; "Have my brothers trampled +it under foot?" + +The animals responded by horrible yells, and the noise began again +worse than before. This lasted the whole night through. A few minutes +before sunrise the sorcerer repeated the question for the last time, +which had received no other answer but furious yells. This time the +pure and melodious voice of a young girl rose in the silence, and +pronounced these words:--"The Master of Life has pity on his red +children; he sends the sun to their help. The evil principle is +conquered." + +At the same instant the sun appeared in its radiance. The Indians +saluted it with a cry of joy, and throwing off their disguises, they +fell on their knees, with faces turned up to heaven. The sorcerer, +holding in his right hand a calabash full of water, in which was a +sprig of wormwood, sprinkled a few drops to each of the cardinal +points, crying with an inspired air--"Hail, O sun! Visible minister of +the invisible Master of Life! Listen to the prayers of thy red sons. +Their cause is just; give them the scalps of their enemies, that they +may attach them to their waist belts. Hail, O sun! All hail!" + +All the Indians repeated in chorus-- + +"Hail, O Sun! All hail!" + +Then they rose to their feet. The first part of the mysteries of +the great medicine was accomplished, and the sorcerer retired. The +hachesto, or public crier took his place, and invited the principal +chiefs of the confederation to dig up the war hatchet. This +characteristic ceremony consists in going in procession into the +medicine lodge, where the oldest chief digs up the ground with his +scalping knife at a spot the sorcerer indicates, and draws out the +great war hatchet, the emblem of the strife about to commence. When the +hatchet is unburied, the chiefs quit the hut in the same way as they +entered it. At their head marches, with the chief entrusted with the +sacred token of the nation, and the brave of the great calumet, the +chief who has dug up the hatchet, which he holds with both hands to his +breast, with the edge turned outwards. On leaving the lodge, chiefs +silently draw up in front of the ark of the first man, opposite the war +post, and chance decides which chief shall have the honour of dealing +the first blow on the emblematic post with the sacred hatchet. + +The Indians, like all primitive peoples, are extremely superstitious; +hence they attach an immense importance to this ceremony, because they +fancy they can draw a good omen from the way in which the blow has been +dealt, and the depth of the notch made by the edge of the blade. Lots +were drawn, and chance selected Stronghand. A flattering murmur greeted +this name, which was loved by the Indians, and belonged to a man whom +they regarded as one of their greatest heroes. Stronghand quitted the +ranks, walked into the open space in front of the ark of the first man, +and seizing the hatchet which the chief presented to him, he raised +it above his head, whirled it round with extreme dexterity, and then +dealt a terrible stroke at the war post. The blow was dealt with such +violence, the hatchet penetrated the wood so deeply, that when the +sorcerer attempted to withdraw it, according to the usual custom, in +spite of all his efforts he could not succeed, and was obliged to give +up the attempt. + +The warriors uttered a shout of joy, which, spreading along the crowd +assembled to witness the ceremony, was soon converted into a hideous +clamour. The war would be lucky. The omens were excellent. Never, even +by the confession of the oldest sachems, had such a blow been dealt the +post. Stronghand was congratulated by the chiefs and warriors, who were +delighted at the result he had obtained. When the hatchet was at length +removed from the post, the warriors retired to make way for the squaws, +and the scalp dance began. + +This dance is exclusively performed by women, and in this affair +alone the men make way for them. This dance, which is regarded as +sacred by the untamed Indian nations, only takes place under grand +circumstances--at the beginning of an expedition, or at its close, when +it has been successful--that is to say, when the warriors bring back +many scalps and horses, and have suffered no loss themselves. The women +display an excitement in this dance which speedily degenerates into a +frenzy, which fills the minds of the warriors with martial ardour. When +this dance was ended, and the squaws had ceased their insensate cries +and gestures, the final ceremony was proceeded with. This ceremony, of +which we only find vestiges among a few tribes of the Upper Missouri, +and the Aucas, or Pampas Indians, seems peculiar to the Papazos. It +consists in sacrificing a brood mare, which has not yet foaled, and +reading the future in its entrails. + +We can easily understand that the sorcerer who undertakes the +explanation says what He pleases, and must be believed through the +impossibility of contradicting his statements. On this occasion, either +because he wished to share in the general joy, or that, through +deceiving others, he had succeeded in deceiving himself, and putting +faith in his own falsehoods, he announced to the attentive warriors the +most splendid and successful results for the coming expedition. These +prophecies were greeted as they deserved to be--that is to say, with +the greatest favour--and, according to custom, the body of the mare was +given to the sorcerer; and this was, doubtless, the greatest profit he +derived from the whole affair. + +Then, when all the rites were performed, the order was given for each +warrior to prepare his horses, his weapons, and his provisions, for +the expedition might set out at any moment. The Papazos chiefs had +succeeded in collecting beneath their totems 30,000 warriors, all +mounted on excellent horses, and about 4000 armed with guns. It is true +that the Indians, though so skilful in the use of the axe, the lance, +and the bow, are deplorable marksmen, and have an instinctive dread of +firearms, which prevents their taking a proper aim. Still, some of them +succeed in attaining a relative skill, and are dangerous in a fight. +But the greatest strength of the Indian army consisted of the sixty +or eighty white and half-breed hunters, whom the hope of plunder had +induced to join them. + +Thunderbolt, while retaining the supreme command of the army, appointed +three chiefs as generals of division; they were Sparrowhawk, Whistler, +and Peccary. Stronghand took the command of twenty-five white hunters, +whom he selected among the bravest and most honourable, and was +entrusted with a special mission by his father. All being then in +readiness to begin the war, the Indians, according to their invariable +custom, only awaited a moonless night to invade the territory of their +enemies under cover of the darkness. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE WHITE-SKINS. + + +The return of Jose Paredes to the hacienda caused Don Hernando a lively +pleasure. Still, the sum he brought, though considerable, was far from +sufficing for the constant outlay in working the mine, and would hardly +coyer the demands of the moment. Don Rufino did not in any way show the +amazement the sight of the majordomo occasioned him, after the measures +he had taken to get rid of him. Still this surprise was converted into +anxiety, and ere long into terror, when he reflected on the time that +had elapsed since his departure. + +In fact, it would take three weeks to proceed from the hacienda to +Hermosillo and back, even at a good pace, and yet the majordomo had +only been absent for nine days. It was evident to the senator that +Paredes had not been to Hermosillo, and yet he brought back the money +for the bills! What did all this mean? There was something obscure in +the whole affair, which Don Rufino burned to clear up; but, unhappily, +that was very difficult, if not impossible. + +He was supposed to be ignorant of the motive of the majordomo's +journey, and consequently could not interrogate him; and then, again, +even had he ventured to do so, Paredes would probably not have answered +him, or, if he had done so, it would only have been in mockery; for the +worthy majordomo, with the infallible scent which upright and faithful +men possess, had detected the wolf in sheep's clothing, and although +he had no apparent motive, as he was unaware that the senator was the +concoctor of the plot to which he had all but fallen a victim, he +felt an instinctive aversion for that person, and displayed a marked +affectation in trying to avoid any meeting with him. + +In Sonora, as in other countries, it is not easy to meet at a moment's +notice persons who will discount large bills to render you a service. +The man who had given the money for these must be very rich, and most +desirous to assist the Marquis. However much the senator thought of +the subject, he could not call to mind any landowner for fifty leagues +round capable of acting in such a way. Moreover, the discounter +must have been aware of the plot formed against the majordomo, for +otherwise he would not have proposed to take the bills. Could Kidd be +the traitor? In a moment the senator recognised the absurdity of such +a suspicion. It was not probable that the bandit had declined to kill +the majordomo; but that he should have allowed him to escape without +robbing him was an utterly unlikely circumstance. Moreover, Kidd had +everything to fear from the senator, and would not have risked playing +him such a malicious trick. + +As always happens when a man indulges in probabilities without any +settled starting point, and proceeds from one deduction to another, +Don Rufino attained such a monstrous conclusion, that he was really +terrified by it. Still, throughout all his wanderings, a very logical +remark escaped him, which proved that, if he had not discovered the +truth, he was not very far from it. + +"The Redskins are right," he muttered, "and their proverb is true. In +the desert, trees have ears, and leaves have eyes. I remember that +my conversation with that picaro of a Kidd took place near a very +close growing thicket; perhaps it contained a traitor. Henceforward I +will only discuss business at the top of an entirely unwooded hill; +and yet," he added with a sigh, "who knows whether a spy may not be +concealed in a prairie-dog hole?" + +All these reflections the senator made while walking in extreme +agitation up and down the room, when the door opened, and Don Ruiz made +his appearance. + +"Senor Don Rufino," he said to him, after a mutual exchange of +compliments, "will you kindly come to the drawing room? Our majordomo, +who, as you may have noticed, has been absent for some days, has +brought most important news, which my father would like you to hear." + +The senator started imperceptibly, and gave the young man a suspicious +glance; but nothing in Don Ruiz's open face caused him to suppose any +hidden meaning in his words. + +"Is anything extraordinary happening, my dear Don Ruiz?" he asked, in a +mellifluous voice. + +"I have as yet received but very imperfect information about the grave +events that threaten us; but if you will kindly follow me, you will +soon learn all." + +"Be it so, my dear sir--I am at your service;" and he followed Don Ruiz +to the saloon, where Dona Marianna, the Marquis, and Jose Paredes were +already assembled. + +"Why, what can be the matter, my dear senor?" the senator asked, as he +entered; "I confess that Don Ruiz has startled me." + +"You will be more startled when you know the events. But sit down, +pray," the Marquis answered, and then said to the majordomo, "you have +your information from a good source?" + +"I can assert that all I have told you is true, _mi amo_. The Papazos +have allied themselves with I know not how many other tribes of +ferocious pagans, and we may expect to see them burst upon us at any +moment." + +"iCaspita! that is serious," the senator said. + +"Much more than you suppose; for the Indians are this time resolved to +expel the white men for ever from Sonora, and establish themselves in +their place," answered Paredes. + +"Oh, oh," Don Rufino said, "they are undertaking a rude task." + +"Laugh if you like, but it is so." + +"I do not laugh, my worthy friend; still, I do not believe the Indians +capable of attempting so mad an enterprise." + +"In the first place, I am not your friend, senor," the majordomo said, +roughly; "and next, it is probable that when you have seen the Indians +at work, your opinions about them will be considerably modified." + +The senator pretended not to notice the bitterness contained in +this remark, and replied, lightly--"I never saw any wild Redskins, +and Heaven preserve me from doing so. Still, I strongly suspect the +inhabitants of this country of making them more formidable than they +really are." + +"You are wrong to have such an opinion, my friend; and if you remain +any time with us, will soon have proof of it," the Marquis said. + +"Are you going to remain here, exposed to the attacks of the pagans, +papa?" Dona Marianna asked with terror. + +"We have nothing to fear from the Indians," the Marquis replied. "The +rock on which my hacienda is built is too hard for them. They will +break their nails before they can pull out a single stone." + +"Still, father, we cannot be too prudent," Don Ruiz observed. + +"You are right, my son; and as I do not wish your sister to retain even +a shadow of anxiety, we will immediately place ourselves in a position +of defence, though it is unnecessary. During the grand insurrection +of 1827, the Indians did not once attempt to approach El Toro, and I +greatly doubt whether they will attack it this time." + +"_Mi amo_," Paredes replied, "believe me, do not neglect any +precaution; this insurrection will be terrible." + +"Come, come," Don Rufino asked, "tell me, Senor Majordomo, who the +person is that informed you so well?" + +Paredes gave him a side-glance, and replied, with a shrug of his +shoulders--"It is enough that I know it; no matter the name of the man +to whom I owe the information. If you fancy that it is a friend who +warned me, you will be near the truth." + +"Permit me, senor," the senator answered, with a frown, "this is more +important than you fancy. You must not thus create an alarm in a +family, and then refuse to give proofs in support of your assertions." + +"My master knows me, senor; he knows that I am devoted to him, and also +that I am incapable of uttering a falsehood." + +"I do not doubt, senor, either your honesty or your truthfulness; +still, a thing so serious as you announce requires, before being +taken into consideration, to be based on evidence with proofs, or a +respectable name, in default of anything else." + +"Stuff! Stuff! The main point is to be on your guard." + +"Yes, when we know whether we really ought to do so. Consequently, +in my quality as a magistrate--and I ask the Senor Marquis a million +pardons for acting thus in his presence--I command you to reveal to me +at once the name of the man who gave you these alarming news." + +"Nonsense!" The majordomo said, with a shrug of his shoulders; "What +good would it do if I were to tell you the name of an individual you do +not know, and whom you never heard mentioned?" + +"That is not the question. Be good enough to answer me, if you please." + +"It is possible that you may be a magistrate, senor, and I do not care +if you are. I recognise no other masters but the Senor Marquis and his +children here present; they alone have the right to question me, and +them alone I will answer." + +The senator bit his lips, and turned to the Marquis. + +"Come, Paredes, answer," the latter said. "I really do not at all +understand your obstinacy." + +"Since you order me to speak, _mi amo_," the majordomo continued, "you +must know that the person who told me of the insurrection of the pagans +is a white hunter, called Stronghand." + +"Stronghand?" brother and sister exclaimed simultaneously. + +"Is not that," the Marquis asked, "the hunter to whom we already are so +greatly indebted?" + +"Yes, _mi amo_," the majordomo replied, musingly; "and it is probable +that he has not yet finished." + +Although it was the first time the senator heard the hunter's name +mentioned, by a kind of intuition he felt a species of emotion for +which he could not account. + +"Oh," Dona Marianna cried, eagerly, "we must place entire confidence in +Stronghand's statements." + +"Certainly we must," Don Ruiz added. "It is plain that he wished to +warn us, and put us on our guard." + +"But who is this man who inspires you with such profound sympathy?" the +senator asked. + +"A friend," Dona Marianna replied, warmly, "for whom I shall feel an +eternal gratitude." + +"And whom we all love," the Marquis added, with emotion. + +"Then you accept his bail for Paredes?" + +"Yes; and believe me, my friend, that I shall not neglect the advice he +gives me." + +"Very good, senor; you will therefore permit me to remark that Senor +Paredes' obstinacy in not revealing his name must fairly appear to me +extraordinary." + +"Senor Rufino, Paredes is an old servant who enjoys a very pardonable +freedom, and believes that he has acquired the right of being believed +on his word. Now," he added, "let us discuss the means to prevent a +surprise. Paredes, you will at once mount your horse, and order all the +peons and vaqueros to bring the ganado and horses into the hacienda. +You, Don Ruiz, will prepare the necessary corrals and cuartos to lodge +the men and animals; collect as much forage and provisions as you can, +for, in the event of a siege, we must not run the risk of being reduced +by famine. How many peons have you under your orders, Paredes?" + +"Excellency, we have about eighty able to bear arms, and do active +duty, without counting the women, children, and old men, whom we can +always turn to some account." + +"Oh, oh," the Marquis said, "there are many more than we require; I see +that it will be unnecessary to summon our miners from Quitovar." + +"The more so," Paredes objected, "because Captain de Niza, whose +position is far more exposed than ours will already have enlisted them +in his service." + +"That is probable," the Marquis answered, as he rose. "Go and carry out +my orders without delay." + +The majordomo bowed to his master, and went out. + +"Will it please you, senor, to grant me a moment's interview?" the +senator then said. + +"I am at your orders, senor." + +"Oh, do not disturb yourselves," the senator said, addressing Don Ruiz +and his sister, who had risen to leave the room: "I have nothing secret +to say to the Marquis." + +The young people sat down again. + +"I confess to you that what this man has just said," Don Rufino +continued, "has greatly startled me. I never saw any Indian bravos, and +have a horrible fear of them. I should therefore wish, Don Hernando, +however strange so sudden a request may appear to you, to obtain your +permission to leave you so soon as possible." + +"Leave me!" the Marquis replied, with amazement, "At this moment?" + +"Yes; it seems as if coming events will be very serious. I am not a +man of war, nor anything like it, for I am frightened at anything +that bears a likeness to a quarrel; but Congress claims my immediate +presence at Mexico, were it only to inform the Government of the +situation in which this state is, and urge it to assume energetic +measures." + +"Senor Don Rufino, you are at liberty to act as you please. Still, +I fear that the roads are not quite safe, and that you will expose +yourself to serious dangers by obstinately insisting on departing." + +"I have thought of that; but I fancy that when I have once reached +Arispe, which is no great distance from here, I shall have nothing more +to fear. Will you allow Don Senor Ruiz to escort me to that town?" + +"I can refuse you nothing, senor. My son will accompany you, since you +do him the honour of desiring his escort." + +"Yes," the senator continued, taking a side-glance at Dona Marianna, +who had let her head drop on her chest; "I wish to entrust Don Ruiz +with an important letter for you." + +"Why write? It would be far more simple to tell me what you wish in a +couple of words." + +"No! No! That is impossible," Don Rufino answered, with a smile that +resembled a grimace; "that would demand too much time: moreover, dear +sir, you know better than I do that there are certain things which can +only be settled by ambassadors." + +"As you please, senor. When do you propose to start?" + +"I frankly confess that, in spite of the regret I feel at leaving you, +I fancy that the sooner I set out the better." + +"It is only ten o'clock," said Don Ruiz, as he rose; "by hurrying a +little, we can reach Arispe tonight." + +"Famous! That is better. Allow me, Don Hernando, to take leave of you, +as well as of your charming daughter, and pray accept my thanks for the +noble hospitality I have received in your mansion." + +"What! Are you not afraid of travelling in the great heat of the day?" + +"I only fear the sight of the Indians, and that fear is enough to +make me forget all others. Excuse me, therefore, for leaving you so +suddenly, but I feel convinced that I should die of terror if I heard +the war cry of those frightful savages echo in my ears." + +Don Ruiz had left the room to give the requisite orders, and his sister +followed him, after making a silent curtsey to the senator, whose +intention she was far from suspecting. The apprehension expressed by +Don Rufino was greatly exaggerated, if it was not entirely fictitious; +but he instinctively felt that the ground was beginning to burn beneath +his feet at the hacienda, and he wanted to get away, not only to guard +himself against the perils he foresaw from the ill success of his +plot, but also to try and refasten the broken threads of his intrigue, +and carry out his plans with the shortest possible delay. + +The revolt of the Indians, by interrupting the work, paralyzing +commercial transactions, and consequently creating enormous +difficulties for the Marquis, admirably assisted the senator in the +realization of the plans he had long been forming in the dark. Moreover +he desired, during the short ride he was going to take with Don Ruiz, +to obtain in the young man a precious ally, who would serve him the +better because he would do so without any afterthought, and without +seeing Don Rufino's object. He also thought it better to write and +detail his intentions to the Marquis in a letter, rather than discuss +them with him, for the grand diplomatic reason that the man who writes +is the only speaker, must be heard, and consequently does not fear a +refutation till he has completely explained his ideas. + +After a few moments, Don Ruiz returned to state that the escort had +mounted, and that all was ready for a start. Don Rufino repeated his +farewells to the Marquis, but the latter would not let him depart +before he had drunk, according to the hospitable fashion of the +country, the stirrup cup--that is to say, a glass of iced orangeade. +Then all three left the room, for in spite of the entreaties and +objections of the senator, his host insisted on accompanying him to +the patio, and witnessing his departure. Two minutes later, Don Rufino +Contreras, accompanied by Don Ruiz, and followed by six confidential +peons, well armed and mounted, left the hacienda, and took the +direction of Arispe, which they reached at nightfall; after a rather +fatiguing journey, it is true, but which, however, was not troubled +by any accident of an alarming nature. The only thing the travellers +noticed, and which proved to them how thoroughly the news of an +approaching invasion of the Indians had spread along the border, was +the complete solitude of the country, which resembled a desert. + +All the ranchos they passed were deserted; the doors, windows, and +furniture had been removed by the inhabitants, and carried off by them +in their flight; they had burned or destroyed all they were compelled +to leave behind them; their horses and cattle had also disappeared, +which gave a look of indescribable melancholy to the numerous plains +the little party crossed. The crops had been cut in the green, or +burned, in order that the Indians might not profit by them; and thus, +ere the wretched country was ravaged by the Redskins, it had already +been completely ruined by its inhabitants. + +Don Rufino contemplated with stupor the desolate aspect of the +country, for he could not at all understand the strange tactics of the +inhabitants. When they reached the gates of Arispe, they found them +closed, and guarded by powerful detachments of soldiers and civicos--a +species of national militia, paid by the rich inhabitants to repress +the devastation of the marauders who swarm on the Indian border. It +was only after interminable debates and infinite precautions that the +barrier guards at length consented to let the travellers pass. All +the streets in Arispe were defended by strong barricades. The town +resembled one large camp. The soldiers were bivouacked on all the +squares, and sleeping round the bivouac fires, which were lighted as +much to keep off the sharp night cold, as to cook their scanty rations. + +Don Rufino possessed, on the Plaza Mayor of Arispe, a large and +handsome mansion, at which he resided when business summoned him to +Arispe. It took him more than an hour to reach it, owing to the +numberless turnings he was compelled to take, and the barricades he was +forced to scale. The door of the house was open, and a dozen soldiers +were quietly bivouacked in the zaguan and patio; but Don Rufino did not +at all protest against this arbitrary violation of his domicile; on the +contrary, he boasted of his senatorial title, and seemed very pleased +with the liberty the soldiers had taken. Don Rufino would not allow Don +Ruiz and his peons to seek a shelter anywhere but in his own house; +he forced them to accept his hospitality, and they did so without any +excessive pressure, for both men and horses were beginning to feel the +want of a few hours' rest, after an entire day's journey, made in the +stifling heat of the sun. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +SERIOUS EVENTS. + + +Nothing equals the rapidity with which a new fortune is established, +except, perhaps, that with which an old family falls, through the +eternal balancing of accident, which elevates some and lowers others, +thus producing incessant contrasts, which are one of the claims of +existing society, and of the equilibrium that presides over the things +of this world. With a few exceptions, the first and last of a race +are always two powerful men, created by the struggle, endowed with +great and noble qualities, and who are always equal to circumstances. +Unfortunately, of these two men, one, sustained by capricious chance +and the benign influence of his star, sees all obstacles fall before +him, and his rashest combinations succeed. In a word, success +frequently crowns his efforts, contrary to his expectations. The other, +on the contrary, unconsciously yielding through the law of contrast to +the malign influence attaching to his race--having fallen by the fault +of his predecessors from an elevated position--compelled to struggle +on unequal terms with enemies prejudiced against him, and who render +him responsible for the long series of errors of which his ancestors +have been solely culpable--sees himself, so to speak, placed without +the pale of the common law; his most skilful combinations only succeed, +in delaying for a few years an inevitable fall, and frequently render +that fall the more startling and certain. + +What we say here is applicable to all the degrees of the social stage; +not only to royal families, but to the miserable beggar's brood. Each +revolution that changes the face of an empire, by bringing up to the +surface unknown geniuses, at the same time plunges into an abyss of +wretchedness and opprobrium those who for centuries have oppressed +entire generations, and have in their time placed themselves on a level +with the Deity, by believing everything allowed them. + +Time, that impassive leveller, bringing progress in its train, +incessantly passes its inexorable square over all that raises its head +too high--thus pleasing itself by raising some and humiliating others. +It has constituted itself the sole arbiter of human ambitions, and the +real representative of that moral equality which would be an Utopia, +if the great organic law of the harmony of the universe had not thus +proclaimed its astonishing principles. + +On the very day when Don Ruiz, after escorting Don Rufino Contreras +to Arispe, returned to the hacienda, a courier arrived simultaneously +with him. This man, who was mounted on an utterly exhausted steed, had +apparently ridden a great distance, and was in an excessive hurry. +No sooner had he reached the Toro than he was introduced into the +Marquis's study with whom he remained shut up for a long time. Then the +courier, on leaving the study, remounted his horse, and set off again +without speaking to a soul. The almost fantastic apparition of this +man caused the occupiers of the hacienda that instinctive fear which +people generally experience from things they cannot account for. + +The Marquis, whose face was usually imprinted with an expression of +sad and resigned melancholy, had, after this interview, become of +a cadaverous pallor; deep wrinkles furrowed his forehead, and his +eyes stared wildly. He walked up and down the huerta for a long time +in extreme agitation, with his arms crossed on his back, and his +head bowed over his chest. At times he stopped, beat his forehead +furiously, uttered incoherent words, and then resumed his walk +mechanically--obeying an imperious want of locomotion rather than any +other motive. + +Dona Marianna, seated at a window of her boudoir, behind a muslin +curtain, followed her father's movements, for she felt frightened at +his state, and had a foreboding that she would have to share some of +the sorrow which had fallen on him. The Marquis at length stopped, +looked round him like a man who is waking up, and, after a moment of +reflection, returned to his apartments. A few minutes after, a servant +came to inform Dona Marianna that her father was awaiting her in the +red chamber. In spite of herself, the maiden felt her apprehensions +redoubled, but hastened to obey. + +This red chamber, into which we have already had opportunity to +introduce the reader, and which Don Hernando had not entered since the +day when his brother was so inexorably disinherited by their father, +was as cold and gloomy as when we saw it. The sole difference was, +that time, by tarnishing the lustre of the hangings and tapestry, and +blackening the furniture, had imparted to it a tinge of sadness, which +made the visitor shudder as soon as he entered. When Dona Marianna +reached the red chamber, she found her father already there; he gave +her a silent sign to take a seat, and she sank into an armchair in +a state of undisguised alarm. A few minutes after Don Ruiz entered, +followed by Jose Paredes. The Marquis then seated himself in the +spacious armchair that occupied the centre of the dais; he ordered the +majordomo to close the door, and began in a feeble, trembling voice-- + +"My children, I have summoned you hither because we have to discuss +matters of the deepest gravity. I have called to our council Paredes, +as an old servant of the family, whose devotions we have known so long, +and I trust you will not think that I have exceeded my rights in doing +so." + +The young people bowed their assent, Paredes placed himself by their +side, and the Marquis continued--"My children, our family has for +many years been tried by adversity. Hitherto, respecting the happy +carelessness of childhood, I have sought to keep within my own breast +the annoyances and grief with which I was incessantly crushed; for, +after all, of what good would it have proved to lay a portion of the +burden on your shoulders? Misfortune advances with gigantic strides; it +catches us up one after the other, and it was better to let you enjoy +the too short days of your happy youth. I have therefore struggled +for all of us, concealing the grief which at times overwhelmed me, +restraining my tears, and always offering to you the calm brow and +the tranquil appearance of a man, who, if he were not entirely happy, +was satisfied with his share of good and evil Heaven had allotted to +him. Believe me, my children I should have continued this conduct, and +kept to myself all the cares and annoyances of such a life as I lead, +had not a sudden, terrible, and irremediably misfortune, which has +fallen on me today, forced me, against my will, to impart to you the +melancholy, frightful condition we are now in, and acquaint you with +the posture of my affairs, which are yours, for I am only entrusted +with the fortune which will be yours some day if we succeed in saving +it." + +The Marquis stopped for a moment, overcome by the emotion which +contracted his throat. + +"Father," Don Ruiz replied, "you have ever been the best of parents to +my sister and myself. Be assured that we have anxiously awaited this +confidence, which has been so long delayed in the fear of causing us a +temporary sorrow; for we hoped we might be able to assume a portion of +the burden, and thus restore you the courage necessary to support the +gigantic struggle in which you have engaged with adverse fortune." + +"My son," the Marquis said, "I know your heart and your sister's. +I am aware of the respectful affection you feel for me; and in the +misfortune that is now bursting on me, it is a great satisfaction to +have the intimate conviction that my children will heartily combine in +supporting and consoling me." + +"Be kind enough then, father, to tell us what the matter is, without +further delay. The courier with whom you were shut up so long this +morning cannot be a stranger to the determination you have formed. +Doubtless he was the bearer of evil tidings?" + +"Alas! My son," the Marquis answered, "for some years past fortune has +been treating our house with incomprehensible severity; everything +is leagued against us, and our fortune, which was immense under the +Spanish rule, has constantly diminished since the proclamation of +Mexican independence. In vain have I tried to contend against the +torrent which carried us away; in vain have I forgotten all I owe +to my name and rank, and attempted to regain what I had lost by +honourable enterprise. All has been of no avail, and my efforts have +only served to prove the inutility of my attempts. Still, I had hoped a +few days back that I should be able to render fortune more favourable +to me. I foresaw a chance of saving some fragments of our old fortunes; +but today I have attained the melancholy conviction that I am entirely +ruined unless a miracle intervene." + +"Oh, things cannot be so bad as that, father!" Dona Marianna exclaimed. + +"Yes, my children, we are ruined--reduced to utter misery," the +Marquis continued sadly. "We have lost everything; even this hacienda, +built by one of our ancestors, which will be speedily sold--perhaps +tomorrow--for the benefit of our creditors." + +"But how has such a great misfortune occurred?" + +"Alas! in the same way as misfortunes always happen when fate has +resolved on ruining a man. For a long time past business has been +in a state of collapse, owing to the disastrous negligence of the +Government; and the news of the fresh revolt of the Indian mansos and +bravos has raised the alarm of the merchants to the highest pitch. The +panic is general among the bankers and persons whose capital is engaged +in mines; several houses at Hermosillo, Ures, Arispe, Sonora, and even +Mexico, have already suspended payment, and thus everything has been +paralyzed at a single blow. Then, to complicate matters even more, a +pronunciamiento has taken place in Mexico, and at this moment we have +not only an Indian border war, but the interior of the country is +suffering from all the horrors of a civil war." + +"Do you know this officially, father?" + +"Unfortunately, I cannot entertain the slightest doubt on the subject. +For this reason; under such circumstances as the present, one thing +inevitably happens. Creditors insist on the immediate repayment of +their advances, while persons indebted to you, if they do not fail, +defer payment so long that it is practically of no service. Now, the +letters I received this morning, and they are numerous, may be divided +into two classes; my debtors refuse to pay me, while my creditors, +fearing a loss, have taken out writs against me, so that if I have +not paid them within eight days the round sum of 380,000 piastres, I +shall be declared bankrupt, imprisoned, expelled from my estate, and +this hacienda, the last thing left us, will be put up to auction, and +probably purchased for a trifle by one of the ex-vassals of our family, +who has grown rich at our expense, and does not blush to take our +place." + +"Three hundred and eighty thousand piastres!" Don Ruiz muttered with +stupor. + +"That is the amount." + +"How can we possibly get it together?" + +"It is useless to dream of it for the present, my son. This hacienda +alone is worth double. At other times I could have offered a mortgage, +and as I have nearly 300,000 piastres owing to me, you see that I could +have easily confronted this fresh stroke of fortune. But now it cannot +be thought of; it will be better to give way, and allow our creditors +to divide the spoil. I hope you do hot suppose, Ruiz, that I have the +intention of defrauding my creditors of the little that is left me?" + +"Oh no, father; but what do you propose doing?" + +"iCaray!" Paredes then said, "that is easily settled. I possess, +through the liberality of the Moguer family a rancho, which owes +nothing to anybody. It is yours, _mi amo_. My mother and I can easily +find another shelter. Well, if this wretched lodging is not so fine or +handsome as this, it will, at any rate, afford you a shelter, and save +you from applying for it to strangers. Is it so, Excellency? Will you +honour the old house of your servant by your presence?" + +The Marquis seemed to reflect for a moment, and then held out his hand +to Paredes, who kissed it. + +"Be it so, my friend. I accept your offer," he said. "Not that I intend +to inconvenience you for any length of time, but merely during the +few days I shall require to save, if possible, some fragments of my +children's fortune from the general shipwreck." + +"Do not think of us, father," Dona Marianna said, with emotion. "We are +young, and will work." + +Paredes was delighted at the acceptance of his offer. + +"Oh, do not be frightened, _mi amo_," he said; "the old rancho is not +so dilapidated and miserable as might be supposed. I trust, with the +help of Heaven, that you will not be very uncomfortable there, and, at +any rate, you will have no cause to fear the visits of certain parties." + +"You are unjust, Paredes," the Marquis replied. "Don Rufino Contreras, +to whom you allude, is one of my best friends, and I must speak of his +behaviour in the highest terms of praise." + +"That is possible, _mi amo_, that is possible," the majordomo said, +shaking his head with an air of conviction; "but if I may be permitted +to express an opinion about that gentleman, I fancy we had better wait +a while before fully making up our minds about him." + +"What do you mean?" + +"Nothing, _mi amo_, really nothing. I have an idea, that is all." + +"That reminds me, father, that on leaving me, Don Rufino gave me a +letter, which he begged me to deliver to you so soon as I reached the +hacienda." + +"Yes; he informed me of his intention of writing." + +"Hum!" the majordomo said, between his teeth, but loudly enough for +the Marquis to hear him; "I always had a bad idea of men who prefer +blackening paper to explain themselves frankly in words." + +During this aside, the Marquis had opened and read the letter. + +"This time, at any rate," he said, "Don Rufino cannot be accused of +want of frankness, or of not explaining himself clearly. He warns me +of the measures taken against me, and after showing me, in a most +gentlemanly manner, the precarious nature of my position, he ends by +offering me the means of escaping from it in the most honourable way; +in one word, he asks for my daughter's hand, and offers her a dowry of +one and a half million piastres, besides liquidating my debts." + +Dona Marianna was crushed by the blow so suddenly dealt her. +The Marquis continued, with the bitter accent he had hitherto +employed--"Such is the state we have reached, my children; we, the +descendants of a race of worthies noble as the king, and whose +escutcheon is unstained, have so fallen from our lofty social +position, that we are too greatly honoured by the offer of a man whose +grandfather was our vassal. But such is the way of the world, and why +blame it when we live in an age in which everything is possible?" + +"What answer will you give to this strange letter, father?" Don Ruiz +asked, anxiously. + +Don Hernando drew himself up proudly. + +"My son," he replied, "however poor I may be, I do not the less remain +the Marquis de Moguer, the only thing, perhaps, which cannot be taken +from me. I know the obligations I owe to the honour of my name. Your +sister is free to accept or reject the offer made her. I do not wish, +under any pretext, to influence her determination in so serious a +matter. She is young, and has still many years to live; I have no right +to enchain her existence with that of a man she does not love. She +will reflect, and follow the impulse of her own heart. Whatever her +resolution may be, I approve of it beforehand." + +"Thanks, father," the maiden answered, gently. "And now grant me a last +favour." + +"What is it, my child?" + +"I wish for a week before answering this request, for I am so surprised +and confused, that it would be impossible for me to form any resolution +at present." + +"Very good, my child; in eight days you will give me your answer. And +now withdraw: but do you remain, Paredes; before leaving the hacienda +for ever, I wish to make some arrangements in which your help will be +necessary." + +Brother and sister, after bowing respectfully to their father, slowly +quitted this fatal chamber, which persons never entered save through a +misfortune. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +THE TIGRERO. + + +Don Ruiz and his sister left the red chamber together, gloomy, sad, +and despairing, and not daring to communicate their impressions, +because they knew that they had nothing to hope from an exchange of +conventional consolation. When they reached the hall whence ran the +stairs leading to their different suites of rooms, Don Ruiz let loose +his sister's arm, and kissed her on the forehead. + +"Courage, Marianna," he said, gently. + +"Are you leaving me, brother?" she remarked, with a slight tinge of +reproach in her voice. + +"Are you not going to your own rooms?" he asked her. + +"And what do you intend doing?" + +"To tell you the honest truth, sister," he replied, "after what has +occurred in the red chamber, I feel in such a state of excitement, that +I want to breathe the fresh air; did I not, I fancy I should be ill." + +"Do you propose going out, then?" + +"In leaving you, my dear sister, it is my firm intention to saddle +Santiago, and ride about the country for two or three hours." + +"If that be the case, Ruiz, I will ask you to do me a service." + +"What is it?" + +"Saddle Madrina at the same time." + +"Your mare?" + +"Yes." + +"Are you going out too?" + +"I want to pay a visit to my nurse, whom I have not seen for a long +time. I am anxious to speak a few words with her." + +"Will you go alone to the rancho?" + +"Unless you give me the pleasure of your company." + +"Do you doubt it, sister?" + +"Yes and no, Ruiz." + +"Why this reticence?" + +"I will explain it to you, brother. To be frank with you, I want to +see my nurse, and I may spend the night at the rancho; in the event of +that happening, I do not wish you to make an attempt to dissuade me by +entreaty or otherwise." + +"Reflect, sister, that the country is not tranquil, and that you may +incur danger in a wretched rancho, where any resistance would be +impossible." + +"I have thought of that, and calculated all the chances. But I repeat +to you, I must go to the rancho, and may be obliged to pass there not +only a night, but a day or two." + +Don Ruiz reflected for a moment. + +"Sister," he then said, "you are no ordinary woman, and everything you +do is carefully calculated. Although you do not tell me the motives +for this visit, I guess that they are serious, and hence will make no +attempt to thwart your wishes. Act as you please, and I will do all you +wish." + +"Thank you, Ruiz," she answered, warmly; "I anticipated you would say +that, for you understand me: my visit has a serious motive, as you have +divined." + +"Then I will go and saddle the horses," he remarked, with a smile. + +"Do so, brother," she replied, as she gently pressed his hand. "I will +wait for you here." + +"I only require five minutes." + +The young man went out. Dona Marianna leant on the balustrade, and +fell into deep thought. Don Ruiz returned, leading the horses by the +bridle: brother and sister mounted, and at once left the hacienda. It +was about four in the afternoon; the great heat of the day was spent, +the birds were singing gaily beneath the foliage; the sun, now level +with the lowest branches, had lost much of its heat; and the coming +breeze, which was beginning to rise, refreshed the atmosphere, and bore +far away the clouds of mosquitoes which had for several hours darkened +the air. The young people galloped silently side by side, absorbed in +their thoughts, and only taking absent glances at the splendid scenery +unfolded around them as they advanced further into the country. They +thus reached the rancho without exchanging a word. + +Bouchaley, faithful to his friendship for Dona Marianna, had long +before announced her arrival to the inhabitants of the rancho, who had +hurried out to welcome her. With a hurried glance, Marianna assured +herself of the presence of her foster brother, which seemed to cause +her great satisfaction. + +"Goodness! You here so late, nina?" the ranchero said, in his delight; +"What blessed wind has blown you?" + +"The desire of seeing you, madresita," the young lady answered, with a +smile; "it is so long since I embraced you, that I could not wait any +longer." + +"It is a good idea, nina," the ranchero said; "unfortunately it is +late, and we shall only be able to converse with you for a few moments." + +"How do you know, old father?" she replied, as she leaped off her +horse, and threw her arms round his neck; "Who told you I should not +spend the night at the rancho?" + +"Oh, oh, you would not do us that honour, nina," the old man answered. + +"You are mistaken, father, and the proof is that I ask my brother to +leave me here, and return alone to the hacienda." + +"Then I am discharged," Don Ruiz said, laughingly. + +"Yes, brother; but you have no cause of complaint, for I warned you." + +"That is true; hence I do not complain, little sister; still, before we +part, tell me at what hour I am to come and fetch you tomorrow?" + +"Do not trouble yourself about that, Ruiz; Mariano will bring me home." + +"And this time I shall not behave as the last, nina: may the Lord +confound me if I lose sight of you even for a moment," the tigrero +said, as he took the horse's bridle to lead it to the corral. + +"Will you be so cruel, Marianna," Ruiz observed, "as to force me thus +to return at once?" + +"No; I grant you an hour to rest and refresh yourself, but when that +time has elapsed you will start." + +"Agreed, little sister." + +They entered the rancho: No Sanchez, with that hospitable speed all +Mexican rancheros display, had already covered the table with pulque, +mezcal, Catalonian refino, orangeade, and infusion of tamarinds. The +young people, thirsty from their long ride, and not wishing to grieve +the worthy persons who received them so kindly, did honour to the +refreshments thus profusely offered them. Don Ruiz, while teasing his +sister about her strange fancy for spending the night at the rancho, +though he felt convinced that she must have a very serious reason for +it, conversed gaily according to his fashion, and displayed a dazzling +wit which is easier in Mexico than elsewhere; for, owing to the natural +intelligence of the people, no matter their rank, they are certain to +understand. When day began to fall, the young gentleman took leave of +the rancheros, mounted his horse, and started for the hacienda. + +In Mexico, as in all intertropical countries, evening is the +pleasantest part of the day: at that time the inhabitants are all +in the open air. At night they sit in front of the rancho doors, +conversing, singing, or dancing; two or three in the morning arrives +before they dream of going to bed. But on this day, contrary to her +habit when she paid her nurse a visit, Dona Marianna seemed fatigued: +at times she had difficulty in checking a yawn, and her desire for rest +was so evident that the nurse was the first to invite her to retire. +The young lady required no pressing, and after bidding the old folks +good night, entered the rancho, and the room prepared for her. So soon +as Marianna had left them, the old couple also retired to rest. As for +Mariano, after making his usual tour of inspection round the rancho, +he hung up a hammock under the portico, as he preferred sleeping in +the open air to being shut up within walls which the sun's heat had +rendered stifling. An hour later all the inhabitants of the rancho were +plunged into the deepest sleep. + +Suddenly the tigrero felt a hand gently laid on his shoulder; he opened +his eyes, and by the light of the stars, which was as brilliant as day, +recognised Dona Marianna. The young man who had thrown himself fully +dressed upon the hammock, started up, and looked at his foster sister +anxiously. + +"What is the matter with you, nina?" he asked, in evident alarm. + +"Silence, Mariano!" she answered in a low voice, and laying her finger +on her lips; "All is quiet, at least I suppose so, but I wish to speak +with you." + +"Go on, tocaya," he replied, as he leaped from the hammock and folded +it up. + +"Yes, but I am sorry at having woken you; you were sleeping so soundly, +that I looked at you for nearly a quarter of an hour ere I dared to +disturb your rest; for sleep is such a blessed thing." + +"Nonsense," he answered with a laugh; "you were wrong, nina; we wood +rangers sleep so quickly that an hour is sufficient to rest us, and +if I am not mistaken, I have been lying down for more than two. Hence +speak, nina; I am attentive, and shall not miss a word of what you say +to me." + +The young lady reflected for a moment. + +"You love me, I think, Mariano?" she at length said, with a certain +hesitation in her voice. + +"Like a sister, nina," he said, warmly; "in truth, are we not tocayo +and tocaya? Why ask such a question?" + +"Because I want you to do me an important service." + +"Me, nina? iCaray! Do not be alarmed; I am devoted to you body and +soul, and whatever you may ask--" + +"Do not pledge yourself too hastily, tocayo," she interrupted him, with +a meaning laugh. + +"A man cannot do that when he firmly intends to keep his promise." + +"That is true; still there are things from which a man at times +recoils." + +"There may be such, nina, but I do not know them; however, explain your +wishes to me, frankly." + +"I think, Mariano, that you are on friendly terms with the hunter, +called Stronghand?" + +"Very intimate, nina; but why do you ask the question?" + +"Is he an honest man?" + +The tigrero looked at her. + +"What do you mean by that?" he asked her. + +"Why," she said, with considerable embarrassment, "I mean a man of +heart--a man, in short, whose word may be taken." + +Mariano became serious. + +"Senorita," he said, "Stronghand saved my life under circumstances +when my only hope was in Heaven. I have seen this man perform deeds of +incredible courage and audacity, for the sole object of serving people +who frequently did not feel the slightest gratitude to him. To me he is +more than a friend--more than a brother; whatever he bade me I would +do, even if I had to lay down the life he saved, and which belongs to +him. Such, nina, is my opinion about the hunter called Stronghand." + +The young lady gave a glance of pleasure. + +"You are deeply attached to him?" she murmured. + +"As I told you, he is more to me than a brother." + +"And you often see him?" + +"When I want him, or he wants me." + +"Does he live in the neighbourhood, then?" + +"A short time back he stayed several days at the rancho." + +"And will he return?" + +"Who knows?" + +"What did he during his stay here?" + +"I am not aware; I believe that he hunted, though I did not see a +single head of game he had killed whilst he was here." + +"Ah!" she said, pensively. + +There was a silence. Mariano looked at her, somewhat surprised that +she should have woke him for the sake of asking him such unimportant +questions. + +"Well," she continued, presently; "if you wanted to see Stronghand, do +you know where to find him?" + +"I think so." + +"You are not certain?" + +"Forgive me, nina, I am certain; we have a spot where we are safe to +meet." + +"But he might not be there." + +"That might happen." + +"What would you do in that case?" + +"Go and seek him at another place, where I should be sure of finding +him." + +"Ah! And where is that?" + +"At the village he inhabits." + +"What village is that? I know of none in the vicinity." + +"Pardon me, nina; there is one." + +"A long way from here, I presume?" + +"Only a few leagues." + +"And what is this pueblo?" + +"A village of the Papazos." + +"What?" + +"Yes, I have forgotten to tell you that. Although he is a white man, +Stronghand has, for reasons I am ignorant of, joined the Indians, and +been adopted by one of their most powerful tribes." + +"That is singular," the young lady murmured. + +"Is it not?" the tigrero replied; understanding less than ever the +object of the conversation. + +The maiden shook her head coquettishly, and seemed to form a sudden +resolution. + +"Mariano," she said, "I asked you to do me a service." + +"Yes, nina, and I answered that I was ready to do it." + +"That is true; are you still of the same mind?" + +"Why should I have altered it?" + +"This is what I want of you." + +"Speak." + +"I wish to see Stronghand." + +"Very good; when?" + +"At once." + +"What?" he asked, in amazement. + +"Do you refuse?" + +"I do not say that, but--" + +"There is a but, then?" + +"There always is one." + +"Let me hear yours." + +"It is long past midnight." + +"What matter is that?" + +"Not much, I allow." + +"Well, what next?" + +"It is a long journey." + +"Our horses are good." + +"We risk not finding the hunter at our usual meeting place." + +"We will push on to his village." + +The tigrero looked at her attentively. + +"You have a great need to see Stronghand in that case?" he asked. + +"Most extreme." + +"It is more serious than you suppose, senorita." + +"Why so?" + +"Hang it! It is not so easy to enter an Indian village." + +"But you do so." + +"That is true; but I am alone and well known." + +"Well, I will go on after you; that is all." + +"Are you aware that the Indians have revolted?" + +"That does not concern you, as you are a friend of theirs." + +Mariano shook his head. + +"You ask a very difficult thing again, tocaya," he said, "in which you +run a great risk." + +"Yes, if I fail; but I shall succeed." + +"It would be better to give up this excursion." + +"Confess at once," she said, impatiently, "that you do not wish to keep +the promise you made me." + +"You are unjust to me; I am only trying to dissuade you from an +enterprise which you will repent when it is too late." + +"That is my business, I repeat, Mariano," she continued, with a marked +stress in her words; "it is not to gratify a caprice that I wish to +see the hunter. I have reasons of the utmost importance for wishing to +speak with him; and, to tell you all, he urged me to summon him under +certain circumstances, and told me I need only apply to you in order to +find him. Are you satisfied now? will you adhere to your doubts, and +still refuse to accompany me?" + +The young man had listened to Dona Marianna with earnest attention. +When she had ended, he replied--"I no longer hesitate, nina; as +things are so, I am bound to obey you. Still, I beg you not to make me +responsible for any events that may happen." + +"Whatever may occur, my kind Mariano, be assured that I shall be +grateful to you for the immense service you have rendered me." + +"And you wish to start at once?" + +"How far have we to ride?" + +"Some ten or twelve leagues." + +"Oh, that is nothing." + +"Not on a regular road; but I warn you that we shall be compelled to +follow hardly visible wild beast tracks." + +"The night is clear; we shall have sufficient light to guide us, so let +us start." + +"If you wish it," the young man answered. + +A few minutes later they left the rancho at a gallop. It was about +two in the morning; and the moon, which was at its full, lit up the +landscape as in bright day. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +THE EXCURSION. + + +As we have already said, Dona Marianna, although still so young, was +gifted with an ardent soul and an energetic character, which the +unusual dangers of a border life had, so to speak, unconsciously +ripened. In life these select organizations do not know themselves; +events alone, by exciting their living strength, reveal to them what +they are capable of at a given moment, by urging them bravely to endure +the attack of malignant fortune, and to contend resolutely with their +adversary. When the Marquis, forced by the necessities of his unhappy +condition, had a frank explanation with his children, and confessed to +them into what difficulties he was suddenly thrown, Dona Marianna had +listened to him with the most sustained attention. Then, by degrees, a +species of revolution took place in her. Stronghand's words reverted to +her mind, and she had a vague idea that he could avert the danger that +was suspended over her father's head. + +On recapitulating all that had occurred to her since her departure from +Rosario--the help the hunter had rendered her on various occasions with +unexampled devotion--the conversation she had held with him a few days +previously, and the promise she had made him--it appeared evident to +her that Stronghand, better informed than perhaps the Marquis himself +was about the machinations of his enemies, held in his hands the means +of saving the Moguer family, and parrying the blows which were about to +be dealt them in the dark. + +Then, full of hope, and confiding in the promises of this man, who had +never made his appearance except to prove his devotion to her, her +resolution was spontaneously formed, and without informing anyone of +the project she had conceived, for fear lest an effort might be made +to dissuade her, she went to her nurse's rancho, in order to obtain +an interview with the hunter by the agency of her foster mother. +Under existing circumstances, the step taken by Dona Marianna was +not at all easy, or without dangers. The daughter of the Marquis de +Moguer galloping at night along the Indian border, only accompanied by +one man--devoted, it is true, but who, in spite of all his courage, +would be powerless to defend her against an attack--displayed more +than temerity in this action; and however great her bravery was, and +the confidence she had in the honesty of the enterprise she was thus +blindly undertaking, still she could not refrain from an internal +shudder on thinking of her isolated position, and the ease with which +she might be surprised, carried off, or even massacred by the revolted +Indians. Too proud, however, to allow any of the secret fears that +agitated her to be seen, Dona Marianna affected a tranquillity and +freedom of mind she was far from feeling. She conversed in a low voice +with her foster brother, teasing and scolding him about the difficulty +he had made in granting her request, and describing her delight at a +ride through such exquisite scenery on so magnificent a night. + +Mariano did not think, and consequently did not understand what he +supposed was a girl's fancy. Accustomed since childhood to yield to +all the wishes of his foster sister, and obey her as a slave, he had +on this occasion done what she desired without trying to account for +such an unusual excursion, so happy did he feel at obliging her. At +the same time, he felt a lively pleasure at accompanying her, and thus +passing a few hours in her company. We must not mistake the feelings +that animated the tigrero for Dona Marianna. He loved his foster sister +with his whole soul, and would have gladly died for her; but this +feeling, lively as it was, had nothing personal or interested about +it; it was merely friendship, but a friendship elevated to the most +complete self-denial and the most entire devotion--in a word, to the +most sublime degree which this feeling can attain in the human heart. +Hence the tigrero, comprehending the responsibility weighing on him, +rode on, as is commonly said, with his beard on his shoulder, carefully +examining the bushes, listening to the desert sounds, and ready, on +the slightest alarm, bravely to defend the girl who had placed herself +under his guard. The country they were traversing, though rather +varied, was not, however, completely wooded: owing to the transparent +brightness of the night, the view extended for a great distance, which +removed all fears of a surprise, and gave a certain security to the +travellers; still, they at times, fancied they saw great shadows moving +on the riverbank, and flying at their approach. The young lady looked +round her curiously, and then asked the tigrero whether they would +soon reach the spot where Stronghand was. Mariano pointed out to her a +gentle eminence forming a bend of the river, on the top of which the +fugitive gleams of an expiring fire could be seen at intervals. + +"That is where we are going," he said. + +"Then we have only a few minutes' ride, and it is useless to hurry our +horses." + +"You are mistaken, nina. Not only is the track we are following very +winding, and will detain us, but, through an optical illusion easy to +be understood, this hill which you fancy so near to us is at least two +leagues distant as the crow flies; so that, taking into account the +windings, the distance is nearly doubled." + +"Can we not cut across country, and thus shorten the distance?" + +"Heaven forbid, nina! We should get into trembling prairies, in which +we should be swallowed up in a few minutes." + +"I trust to you in that case, Mariano; besides, now that, thanks to +that fire, I am certain of meeting the hunter, my anxiety is less +lively, and I will await patiently." + +"Permit me to remark, my dear tocaya, that I did not say certainly that +we should find Stronghand at this bivouac." + +"What did you tell me, then?" + +"Simply that we might hope to meet him here, because it is the spot +where he generally encamps when hunting in these parts." + +"Still, as we can perceive the flame of that watch fire--for that is +really a flame, is it not?" + +"Certainly; still, we have yet to learn whether this fire has been +kindled by Stronghand or some other hunter. This mound is one of the +most suitable places of encampment, owing to the height of the hill, +which allows the country to be surveyed, and thus avoid a surprise." + +"Then probably we shall not find the hunter at the encampment?" + +"I do not say that either, nina," Mariano answered, with a laugh. + +"But what do you mean?" the young lady said, impatiently patting the +pommel of her saddle with her little hand; "you are really unendurable." + +"Do not be angry, tocaya; I may be mistaken. If Stronghand is not here, +perhaps we may find a hunter who will tell us where he is." + +"Why not an Indian?" + +"Because there are no Indians at that campfire." + +"Tocayo, I must really ask this time how you can possibly know that?" + +"Very easily, nina; I do not require to be a sorcerer to guess so +simple a thing." + +"Do you consider it so simple?" + +"Certainly; nothing can be more so." + +"In that case I will ask you to explain, for it is always worth while +learning." + +"You fancy you are joking, nina; and yet there is always something to +be learned in the desert." + +"Good, good, tocayo; I know that; but I am waiting for your +explanation." + +"Listen then. This fire, as I told you, is not an Indian fire." + +"That is not exactly what you said to me. Go on, however." + +"The Indians, when they camp on the white man's border, never light a +fire, for fear of revealing their presence; or if compelled to light +one in order to cook their food, they are most careful to diminish the +flame, in the first place by digging a deep hole in the ground, and +next by only using extremely dry wood, which burns without crackling, +flaming, or producing smoke, and which they carry with them for long +distances, in case they might not find it on their road." + +"But, my friend, that fire is scarce visible." + +"That is true; but still it is sufficiently so for us to have perceived +it a long distance off, and thus discovered the existence of a bivouac +at this spot which, under present circumstances, would entail the +surprise and consequent death of the imprudent men who lit it, if they +were Indians instead of hunters." + +"Excellently reasoned, companero, and like a man accustomed to a desert +life!" A rough, though good-humoured voice suddenly said, a few yards +from them. + +The travellers started and pulled up sharply, while anxiously +investigating the surrounding thickets. Mariano, however, did not lose +his head under these critical circumstances; but with a movement swift +as thought raised his rifle, and covered a man who was standing by the +side of a thicket, with his hands crossed on the muzzle of a long gun. + +"Hold, compadre!" the stranger continued, not at all disturbed by the +tigrero's hostile demonstration; "Pay attention to what you are about. +A thousand fiends! Do you know that you run a risk of killing a friend?" + +Mariano hesitated for a moment; and then, without raising his rifle, +remarked-- + +"I fancy I recognise that voice." + +"By Jove!" the other said, "It would be a fine joke if you did not." + +"Wait a minute; are you not Whistler?" + +"All right, you remember now," the Canadian said with a laugh; for the +person was really the hunter whom the reader saw for a moment at the +village of the Papazos. + +The tigrero uncocked his rifle, which he threw over his shoulder, and +said to Marianna--"It is a friend." + +"Are you quite sure of this man?" she asked in a low, quick voice. + +"As of myself." + +"Who is he?" + +"A Canadian hunter or trapper. He has all the defects of the race, but +at the same time all its qualities." + +"I will believe you, for his countrymen are generally regarded as +honest men. Ask him what he was doing on the skirt of the track." + +Mariano obeyed. + +"I was attending to my business," Whistler replied with a grin; "and +pray what may you be doing, so poorly accompanied at this hour of the +night, when the Indians have taken the field?" + +"I am travelling, as you see." + +"Yes, but every journey has an object, I suppose." + +"It has." + +"Well, I do not see what end yours can achieve by continuing in that +direction." + +"Still, we are going to do so till we have found the man we are in +search of." + +"I will not ask you any questions, although I may perhaps have a right +to do so; still, I fancy you would act more wisely in turning back than +in obstinately going on." + +"I am not able to do so." + +"Why not?" + +"Because I have not the command of the expedition, and I cannot +undertake such a responsibility." + +"Ah, who is the chief, then? I only see two persons." + +"You seem to forget, senor," Dona Marianna said, joining in the +conversation for the first time, "that one of these two persons is a +female." + +"Of course she must command," the trapper answered with a courteous +bow; "pray excuse me, madam." + +"I the more willingly do so, because I hope to obtain from you +important information about the object of the journey we have +undertaken, perhaps somewhat too carelessly, in these desolate +regions." + +"I shall be too happy to be agreeable to you, my lady, if it be in my +power." + +"Permit me, in that case, to ask you a few questions." + +"Pray do so." + +"I wish to know what the camp is whose watch fires I perceive a short +distance off." + +"A hunter's bivouac." + +"Only hunters?" + +"Yes, they are all white hunters or trappers." + +"I thank you, senor. Do you know these men?" + +"Very well, considering I am a member of the band." Dona Marianna +hesitated for a moment. + +"Forgive me, sir," she continued, "I am in search of a hunter with whom +grave reasons force me to desire an immediate interview; perhaps he is +among your comrades." + +"Do you know him personally, madam?" + +"Yes, and am under great obligations to him. He is called Stronghand." + +The trapper eagerly walked up to the young lady, and attentively +examined her. + +"You wish to have an immediate interview with Stronghand?" + +"Yes, I repeat, senor, for reasons of the highest importance." + +"In case you are Dona Marianna de Moguer." + +"What!" she exclaimed, in surprise, "You know my name?" + +"That needs not astonish you, madam," he said, with the most exquisite +politeness; "I am the intimate friend of Stronghand. Without entering +into any details that might justly offend you, my friend told me that +you might perchance come and ask for him at our campfire." + +"He knew it, then," she murmured, in a trembling voice; "but how did he +learn it?" + +Though these words were uttered in a whisper, Whistler heard them. + +"He doubtless hoped it would be so, without daring to credit it, +madam," he answered. + +"Good heavens!" she continued, "What does this mean?" + +"That my friend, in his eager desire to be agreeable to you, and +foreseeing the chance of your coming during his absence, warned me, +in order to spare you a very difficult search, and thus induce you to +grant me a little of that confidence you deign to honour him with." + +"I thank you, sir. Now that you know me, would it be taxing your +courtesy too greatly to ask you to guide my companion and myself to +your bivouac?" + +"I am at your orders, madam, and believe me that you will receive a +proper reception, even though my friend does not happen to be there at +the moment." + +"What!" she said, suddenly checking her horse, "Can he be absent?" + +"Yes, but do not let that cause you any anxiety; he will soon return. + +"Good heavens!" she murmured, clasping her hands in grief. + +"Madam," Whistler again continued, "I understand that the reasons +which urged you to undertake such a journey must be of the utmost +importance; let me, therefore, go on ahead to the camp, and make all +the preparations for your reception." + +"But Stronghand, senor?" + +"Warned through me, madam, he will be back by daybreak." + +"You promise me that, senor." + +"On my honour." + +"Go, then, and may Heaven requite you for the goodwill and courtesy you +show me." + +Whistler bowed respectfully to the young lady, took his rifle under his +arm, and soon disappeared in the forest. + +"We can now go on without fear," said Mariano; "I know Whistler to be +an honest, worthy fellow, and he will do what he has promised." + +"Heaven grant I may see the man whom I have come so far to meet." + +"You will see him, be assured; moreover, all precautions were taken in +the event of your visit." + +"Yes," she murmured, pausing; "and it is this which renders me alarmed. +Well, I put my trust in the Virgin." + +And flogging her horse, she went on her way, followed by the tigrero, +who, according to his habit, could not at all comprehend this remark, +after the desire the young lady had evinced to see the hunter. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +THE HUNTER'S CAMP. + + +It was no great distance to the bivouac, and the travellers reached it +about half an hour after Whistler. Still, though this period was so +short, the worthy Canadian had profited by it to erect for the young +lady, who thanked him by a smile, a jacal of branches, under which she +found a shelter as comfortable as desert life permits. The hunters' +camp had a military look, which greatly perplexed Dona Marianna. Strong +wooden palisades defended all the approaches; the horses, which were +ready saddled, were fastened to pickets; several watch fires, lighted +at regular distances, sufficiently illumined the plain to prevent +the approach of an enemy, whether man or beast; and four sentinels, +standing rifle in hand on the entrenchments, followed with a vigilant +eye the slightest undulations of the lofty pass. Some thirty men, +with harsh and irregular features, clothed after the fashion of wood +rangers, in fur caps, cotton shirts, and leather calzoneras, were lying +in front of the fires, rifle in hand, in order to be ready for the +first alarm. + +Orders had probably been given beforehand by Whistler, for the +sentinels allowed the two travellers to pass unquestioned through a +breach in the entrenchments, which was immediately closed after them +again. The Canadian was awaiting them in front of the jacal; he helped +Dona Marianna to dismount, and the horses were led to join the others, +and supplied with a copious meal of alfalfa. + +"You are welcome among us, senora," he said with a respectful bow; +"in this jacal, which no one will enter save yourself, there is a +bed of skins, on which you can take a few hours' rest while awaiting +Stronghand's arrival." + +"I thank you, senor, for this graceful attention, by which I cannot +profit, however, till you have reiterated your promise." + +"Senorita, two horsemen have already set out to fetch Stronghand, but I +repeat, that he cannot be here for some hours; now, if you will accept +the humble refreshment prepared for you--" + +"I only require rest, senor; still I am not the less obliged to you for +your offer. With your permission, I will retire." + +"You are the mistress here, madam." + +The young lady smiled, pressed her foster brother's hand, and entered +the jacal. So soon as Dona Marianna had let fall after her the blanket +which formed the doorway, the tigrero quietly removed his zarape from +his shoulders, and laid it on the ground. + +"What is that for, comrade?" Whistler asked, astonished at the +performance. + +"You see, compadre, I am making my bed." + +"Do you mean to sleep there?" + +"Why not?" + +"As you please; still, you will be cold, that is all." + +"Nonsense! A night is soon spent, especially when so far advanced as +this one is." + +"I trust that you do not doubt us." + +"No, Whistler, no; but Dona Marianna is my foster sister, and I am +bound to watch over her." + +"That care concerns me at the moment; so do not be at all alarmed." + +"Two sentries are better than one; besides, you know me, do you not? +Although I place the utmost confidence in you, I will not surrender +the guardianship of my tocaya to another man; that is my idea, whether +right or wrong, and I shall not give it up." + +"As you please," the trapper said, with a laugh. + +And he left him at liberty to make his arrangements as he pleased. The +tigrero, though he knew most of the hunters, or, perhaps, because he +knew them, did not wish to leave his foster sister unprotected among +these reckless men, who, accustomed to the utter license of a desert +life, might, under the influence of strong liquors, forget the sacred +duties of hospitality, and insult Dona Marianna. In this the young man, +in spite of his desert experience, was completely mistaken. + +We have no intention to attempt the rehabilitation of these men, who, +generally endowed with evil instincts, and who do not wish to yield to +the demands of civilization, retire into the desert in order to live as +they like, and seek liberty in license; still, we will mention in their +honour, that a nomadic life, after a certain lapse of time, completely +modifies their character, curbs their passions, and so subjects them +that they gradually become purified by constant danger and privations, +by getting rid of all that was bad in them, and retaining beneath their +rough bark and coarse manners principles of honesty and devotion of +which they would have been considered incapable at an earlier period. +What we say here is scrupulously true of about two-thirds at least of +the bold pioneers who traverse in all directions the vast savannahs of +the New World; the others are incorrigible, and within a given time +end by becoming real bandits, and carry their contingent of crime to +those formidable bands of pirates of the prairies, who ambush like +hideous birds of prey to await the passage of caravans, and plunder and +massacre the travellers. + +But, whether good or bad, the dwellers on the prairie--no matter if +whites, half-breeds, or Redskins, trappers, pirates, or Indians--have +one virtue in common, and whose duties they carry out with remarkable +punctuality and generosity, and that is hospitality. A traveller +surprised by night, and wearied by a long journey, may, if he see a +campfire in the huts of an Indian village, present himself without +fear, and claim hospitality. From that moment he is sacred to the men +he applies to, no matter if they be Indians, bravos, hunters, or even +pirates. These individuals, who would not have scrupled to assassinate +him by the side of a ditch, treat him like a brother, show him the most +delicate attentions, and will never make any insulting allusions to +the length of his stay among them; on the contrary, he is at liberty +to remain as long as he pleases, and when he takes leave his hosts say +good-bye regretfully. At the same time it is true that, if they meet +him a week after in the forest, they will kill him without mercy to +raise his hair and take his weapons; but this need only be apprehended +with the pirates and some Indian tribes of the far west. As for the +hunters, when a stranger has once slept by their side and shared their +food, he is for ever sacred to them. + +The tigrero, therefore, was completely mistaken when he feared lest +Dona Marianna might be insulted by these men, who, although coarse, +were honest and loyal in the main; and who, flattered by the confidence +this lovely, innocent girl placed in them, would, on the contrary, have +gladly defended her had it been necessary. + +Whistler went off with a laugh, and lay down by the side of his +comrades. As we have already said, the night was far advanced when Dona +Marianna and her travelling companion reached the camp of the hunters; +a few hours at the most separated them from sunrise: and the young +lady, who at first resolved to spend these hours awake, overcome by +fatigue, had yielded to sleep, and enjoyed a calm and refreshing rest. +So soon as day began to appear, Dona Marianna repaired as well as she +could the disorder produced in her dress by her lengthened journey, +rose and went to the door of the jacal. The camp was still plunged in +the deepest silence: with the exceptions of the sentries still on the +watch, the hunters were fast asleep. + +The dawn was just breaking, and striping the horizon with wide +vermillion bands; the sharp and rather cold morning breeze rustled +softly through the branches; the flowers that enamelled the prairie +raised themselves, and expanded the corollas to receive the first +sunbeams; the numberless streams, whose silvery waters made their way +through the tall grass, murmured over the white and grey pebbles as +they bore their tribute to the Rio Bravo del Norte, whose capricious +windings could be guessed in the distance, owing to the thick cloud +of vapour that constantly rose from it and brooded over its bed. +The birds, still hidden beneath the foliage, were timidly preluding +their harmonious concert; the glad earth, the bright sky, the serene +atmosphere, the pure light--all, in a word, revealed that the day +which had now entirely appeared was about to be tranquil and lovely. + +The maiden, refreshed by the rest she had enjoyed, felt herself newborn +as she breathed the first exhalations of the flowers and the sharp +odour which is found in the desert alone. Without venturing to quit +the jacal, in front of which the tigrero was lying, she surveyed the +surrounding landscape, which, thanks to the elevation she stood at, +lay expanded at her feet for a long distance. The profound calmness +of reawakening nature, the powerful harmonies of the desert, filled +the maiden's heart with a gentle melancholy; she pensively indulged +in those thoughts which the great spectacles of nature ever arouse in +minds unaffected by human passions. In the meanwhile the sun ascended +the horizon, and the last shadows melted away in the dazzling beams +propelled by the daystar. Suddenly the girl uttered an exclamation of +delight, for she noticed a band of horsemen fording the stream, and +apparently coming in the direction of the hill. At the cry his foster +sister uttered, the tigrero bounded to his feet and stood by her side, +rifle in hand, ready to defend her if necessary. + +"Good morning, tocayo," she said to him. + +"Heaven keep you, nina!" he replied, with a shade of anxiety. "Have you +slept well?" + +"I could not have done so better, Mariano." + +"All right then; but why did you utter that cry?" + +"I cried out, my friend, and scarce know why." + +"Ah, yes--stay; look at those horsemen coming up at full speed." + +"Caray! How they gallop! They will be here within half an hour." + +"Do you think that Stronghand is among them?" + +"I suppose so, nina." + +"And I am sure of it," said Whistler, with a respectful bow to the +young lady; "I have recognised him, senorita; so will you allow that I +have kept my promise?" + +"Most fully, senor; and I know not how to express my thanks for the +hearty hospitality you have given me." + +"I have no claim to any thanks from you, senorita, as I have only +carried out my friend's intention; nina, it is to him alone you should +offer thanks, if you consider that you ought to make them." + +In the meanwhile the camp was aroused; the hunters were yawning, and +turned to their daily avocations; some led their horses to the watering +place, others kindled the fires; some cut the wood requisite to keep +them up, while two or three of the older men acted as cooks, and got +breakfast ready for the party. The camp changed its appearance in a +minute; it lived the nervous, agitated life of the desert, in which +each man performs his task with the feverish speed of persons who are +aware of the value of time, and do not wish to lose it. The young lady, +at first surprised by the cries, laughter, and unaccustomed movement +that prevailed around her, began to grow used to it, and eagerly +watched the occupations of the men she had beneath her eyes. A sharp +challenge of "Who goes there?" suddenly made her raise her head. + +"A friend!" a voice she at once recognised answered from without. + +Suddenly a band of horsemen entered the camp, at their head being +Stronghand. The young man dismounted, and after exchanging a few words +with Whistler, he went straight up to the maiden, who was standing +motionless in the doorway of the jacal, and watching his approach +with amazement. In fact, as we have said, Stronghand was not alone; +several persons accompanied him, among them being Thunderbolt and Dona +Esperanza; the rest were confidential Indian servants. When Stronghand +came in front of the young lady, he bowed to her respectfully, and then +turned to the persons who accompanied him. + +"Permit me, senorita," he said to her, "to present to you my mother, +Dona Esperanza, and my father; both love you, though they do not know +you, and insisted on accompanying me." + +The maiden, blushing with joy at this delicate attention on the part +of the hunter, who thus placed their interview beneath the safeguard +of his father and mother, replied with emotion--"I am delighted, +senor, with this kind inspiration of your heart; it augments, were it +possible, the confidence I have placed in you, and the gratitude I felt +for the eminent services you have rendered me." + +Dona Esperanza and the sachem embraced the girl, who, at once ashamed +and joyous at the friendship of these persons, whose exterior was at +once so imposing and so venerable, knew not how to respond to their +caresses and the kindness they evinced to her. In the meanwhile the +hunters had raised, with great skill and speed, a tent, under which +the four persons were at once protected from the curious glances of +the persons who surrounded them. Through that innate feeling of women, +which makes them love or detest each other at the first glance, Dona +Esperanza and the young lady at once felt attracted to each other by +a natural movement of sympathy, and leaving the gentlemen to their +occupations, they withdrew on one side, and began an animated and +friendly conversation. Dona Marianna, subjugated by Dona Esperanza's +seductive manner, and drawn toward her by a feeling of attraction for +which she did not attempt to account, as she felt so happy with her, +spoke to her open-heartedly; but then she was greatly surprised to see +that this lady, whom she was bound to suppose an entire stranger, was +perfectly acquainted with all that related to her family, and knew her +father's affairs better than she did herself; her amazement increased +when Dona Esperanza explained in the fullest details the reasons that +occasioned her presence in the hunter's camp, and the precarious +position to which the Marquis de Moguer was reduced. + +"I could add many more surprising things, my dear girl," Dona Esperanza +continued with a smile, "but I do not wish to fatigue you at present; +sufficient for you to know that we really take an interest in your +family, and that it will not be our fault if your father is not soon +freed from all his cares." + +"Oh, how good you are, madam!" the young lady exclaimed, warmly; "How +can I have merited such lively interest on your part?" + +"That must not trouble you at all, my dear girl; the step you have +taken today to come to your father's assistance, and the confidence +you have placed in my son, are for us proofs of the loftiness of your +feelings and the purity of your heart. Although we are almost Indians," +she added with a smile, "we have white blood enough in our veins to +remember what we owe to persons of that race." + +The conversation went on thus between the two ladies on a footing of +frank friendliness, until the moment when Stronghand came to interrupt +it, by stating that breakfast was ready, and that they were only +waiting for them to sit down. The tigrero and the Canadian had both +been invited to share the meal, but they declined the invitation under +the pretext that they did not like to eat with persons so high above +them in rank, but in reality, because the worthy wood rangers preferred +breakfasting without ceremony. Stronghand did not press them, and +allowed them to do as they pleased. Dona Marianna bit her lips in order +to suppress a smile when the hunter informed her that they were about +to sit down to table; for, owing to her recent journey and her life on +the Indian border, the young lady was well aware that such meals were +extremely simple, and eaten on the grass. Hence her surprise was at its +height when, after passing into a separate compartment of the tent, +she perceived a table laid with a luxury which would have been justly +admired even in Mexico: nothing was wanting, even to massive plate +and valuable crystal. The dishes, it is true, were simple, and merely +consisted of venison and fruit; but all had a stamp of true grandeur, +which it was impossible not to appreciate at the first glance. The +contrast offered by this table, so elegantly and comfortably laid, was +the greater, because, behind the canvas of the tent, desert life could +be seen in all its simplicity. + +The young lady seated herself between Thunderbolt and Dona Esperanza, +Stronghand sat down opposite to her, and two menservants waited. In +spite of the agreeable surprise which the impromptu comfort of this +repast, prepared for her alone, caused her, the young lady did not at +all display her surprise, but she ate heartily and gaily, thus thanking +her hosts for the delicate attentions they showed her. When the +dainties were placed on the table, and the meal was drawing to a close, +Stronghand bowed to Dona Marianna. + +"Senorita," he said, with a smile, "before we begin a serious +conversation, which might, at this moment, appear to you untimely, be +kind enough to permit my mother to tell us one of the charming Indian +legends with which she generally enlivens the close of our meals." + +Dona Marianna was at first surprised by this proposition, made, +without any apparent motive, at the close of a lively conversation; +but imagining that the hunter's remarks concealed a serious purpose, +and that the legend, under its frivolous aspect, would entail valuable +results for her, she answered with her sweetest smile--"I shall listen +with the greatest pleasure to the narrative the senora is about to tell +us, because my nurse, who is of Indian origin, was wont to lull me to +sleep with these legends, which have left a deep and most agreeable +impression on my mind." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +THE LEGEND. + + +Dona Esperanza exchanged a look with the sachem, and after reflecting +a moment, as if recalling her ideas, she said to Dona Marianna, in +her gentle, sympathising voice--"My dear girl, before beginning my +narrative, I must inform you that I belong to the Aztec race, and am +descended in a direct line from the kings of that people. Hence, the +story you are about to hear, though simple in its form, is completely +exact, and has dwelt among us intact for generations. I trust," she +added, with a stress, "that it will interest you." + +Then turning to one of the criados who stood motionless behind the +guests, she said--"The quipos." + +The criado went out, and almost immediately returned with a bag of +perfumed tapir skin, which he handed his mistress with a bow. The +latter opened it, and drew out several cords plaited of different +coloured threads, divided at regular distances by knots mingled with +shells and beads. These cords are called quipos, and are employed by +the Indians to keep up the memory of events that have occurred during +a long course of years, and thus represent books. Still, it requires +a special study to understand these quipos, and few people are capable +of deciphering them, the more so as the Indians, who are very jealous +about keeping their historical secrets, only permit a small number +of adepts to learn the explanation, which renders any knowledge of +Indian history almost impossible for white men. Dona Esperanza, after +attentively examining the quipos, selected one, replaced the others in +the bag, and letting the knots of the rope glide through her fingers, +much as a monk does with his beads when telling his rosary, she began +her narrative. + +For fear of injuring this story, whose truth cannot be doubted, +and which we ourselves heard told in an atepetl of the Papazos, we +will leave it in all its native rudeness, without attempting to +adorn it with flowers of European metaphors, which, in our opinion, +would deprive it of its peculiar character. Dona Esperanza spoke as +follows:--"At a certain period of the year," she said, while beginning +to feel the quipos, which served her, as it were, as a book, "long +before the appearance of white men on the red territory, a numerous +band of Chichimeques and Toltequez, who originally dwelt at the lakes, +becoming dissatisfied, resolved to emigrate to the south-west in +pursuit of the buffaloes, and carried out their resolve." + +"At Salt Lake they divided, and those who remained continued to +bear their primitive name; while the others, for an unknown motive, +assumed that of Comanches. These Comanches, more enterprising than +their brothers, continued their journey till they reached the banks +of the Rio Gila, where they encamped and divided again. One band, +which resolved not to go farther, was christened by the others, who +determined to press on, the 'Great Ears;' but the whites who first +discovered them called them 'Opatas.' The remainder of the band +continued to march in the same direction, and found the Rio Bravo +del Norte at the mouth of the Rio Puerco. They had only two principal +chiefs left, and gave themselves the name of Neu-ta-che, which means, +'those who reach the river's mouth.' One of the chiefs had an only son, +and the other a lovely daughter, and the young people loved each other. +But this raised the anger of the father of the unhappy girl to such a +height, that he made his band arm and prepare to fight. But the father +and the young man crossed the Rio Gila, and buried themselves with +their band in the territory afterwards called by the white man Senora +or Sonora, where they settled, and continued to reside peacefully +until the period when the whites, ever in search of new lands, arrived +there in their turn, and after many cruel wars, succeeded in gaining +possession of the country." + +"The Comanches had founded several towns in Sonora, and, in accordance +with their constant habit, in the neighbourhood of the gold and +silver mines they discovered, and begun to work. One of their towns, +perhaps the richest and most populous, had for its chief a warrior +justly renowned for his wisdom in council, and valour in the combat. +This chief was called Quetzalmalin--that is to say, the 'Twisted +Feather.' His nobility was great, and very ancient; he justly declared +that he was descended in a direct line from Acamapichtzin, first +king of Mexico, whose hieroglyphic he retained on the totem of his +tribe, through that veneration which our fathers displayed for their +ancestors. This hieroglyphic, which his descendants have preciously +retained, is composed of a hand grasping a number of reeds, which is +the literal translation of the name of the noble chief of the race. +Twisted Feather had a daughter, eighteen summers old, lovely and +graceful: her name was Ova, and she ran over the prairie grass without +bending it; gentle, pensive, and timid as the virgin of the first +loves, her black eyes had not yet been fixed on one of the warriors of +the tribe, who all sought to please her." + +"Ova wore a tunic of water-green colour, fastened round her waist by +a wampum belt, with a large golden buckle. When she danced before her +father, the old man's forehead became unwrinkled, and a sunbeam passed +into his eyes. Her father had often told her that it was time for her +to marry, but Ova shook her head with a smile; she was happy, and the +little bird that speaks to the heart of maidens had not yet sung to her +the gentle strains of love." + +"Still a moment arrived when Ova lost all her careless gaiety. The +young girl, so laughing and so wild, became suddenly pensive and +dreamy--she loved." + +"Ova went to find her father. The chief at this moment was presiding +over the great council of the nation in the great medicine calli. The +maiden advanced, and knelt respectfully before her father." + +"'What is it, my daughter?' the chief said, as he passed his hand +gently through her long hair, which was fine as aloe threads." + +"'My father,' she replied, looking down modestly, 'I love, and am +beloved.'" + +"'My daughter, what is the name of the chief who is so happy that your +choice should have fallen on him?'" + +"'He is not a chief, my father; he is, perchance, one of the most +obscure warriors of the tribe, although he is one of the bravest. He +works in the gold mine that belongs to you.'" + +"The chief frowned, and a flash of anger sparkled in his glance." + +"'My father,' the maiden continued, as she embraced his legs, 'if I did +not marry him, I should die.'" + +"The chief gazed at his daughter for a moment, and saw her so sad and +resigned, that pity entered his heart. He, too, loved his daughter--his +only child; for the Master of Life had called away the others to the +happy hunting grounds. The aged man did not wish his daughter to die." + +"'You shall marry the man you love,' he said to her." + +"'Do you promise it to me on the sacred totem of the nation, father?'" + +"'On the sacred totem of the nation I promise it; speak, therefore, +without fear. What is the name of the man you love?'" + +"'He is called the Clouded Snake, father.'" + +"The old man sighed." + +"'He is very poor,' he muttered." + +"'I am rich enough for both.'" + +"'Be it so. You shall marry him, my daughter.'" + +"Ova rose, sparkling with joy and happiness, bowed to the assembly, and +left the medicine lodge." + +"Clouded Snake was poor, it is true--even very poor, since he was +constrained to work in the gold mine; but he was young, he was brave, +and was considered the handsomest of all the warriors of his age." + +"Tall, robust, and muscular, Clouded Snake formed as complete a +contrast with Ova, who was pale and frail, as a noble buffalo does with +a graceful antelope. Perhaps their love emanated from this contrast." + +"The young man, though he was so poor, found means to give his +betrothed perfumes of grizzly bears' grease, necklaces of alligators' +teeth, and wampum girdles." + +"The young people Were happy. On the eve of the marriage, Clouded Snake +laid at Ova's feet buckles of gold and two bracelets of shells, mingled +with beads of pure gold." + +"Ova accepted these presents with a smile, and said to her betrothed, +as she left him,--" + +"'Farewell; we part today to see each other tomorrow, and tomorrow we +shall be united for ever.'" + +"On the next day Clouded Snake did not come. Ova waited for several +months; Clouded Snake did not reappear." + +"In vain, by the chief's orders, was the young man sought for +throughout the country; no one had seen him, no one had heard speak of +him." + +"Clouded Snake no longer existed, except in the heart of Ova." + +"She wept for him, and people tried to make her believe that he had +gone to fight the white men; but Ova shook her head, and wiped away her +tears." + +"Forty times did the snow cover the summit of the mountains, and yet +it had been impossible to clear up the mystery of Clouded Snake's +disappearance." + +"One day some labourers at work in the gold mine, which had belonged +to Ova's father, and was now her property, while going far down an old +gallery which had been abandoned for a long time, exhumed a corpse as +miraculously preserved as the mummies of the _teocallis_ are in their +bandages." + +"The warriors flocked up to see this strange corpse, clothed in a dress +belonging to another age, and no one recognised it." + +"Ova, who was then old, and who, to please her father had married +the great chief of his nation when her last hope expired, went with +her husband to the spot where the corpse was exposed to the sight of +visitors." + +"Suddenly she started, and tears darted from her eyes; she had +recognised Clouded Snake, as handsome as on the day when she left him +with the hope of a speedy reunion. She, on the other hand, aged and +bowed down more by grief than years, was weak and tottering." + +"Ova wished that the corpse of the man whom she had been on the point +of marrying, and whom the evil spirit had torn from her, should be +restored to the mine from which it had been removed after forty years. +The mine, by the orders of the chief's wife, although extremely rich, +was abandoned and shut up." + +"Ova ordered a hieroglyphic to be carved on the stone that covers the +body of her betrothed, which may be thus translated:--'This sepulchre +is without a body; this body is without a sepulchre; but by itself it +is a sepulchre and a body.'" + +"Such," Dona Esperanza added, as she finished the legend, and laid +down the quipos, "is the story of the lovely Ova, daughter of the +great chief Twisted Feather, and of Clouded Snake the miner, just as +it occurred, and just as Ova herself ordered it to be preserved by a +special quipos for future ages." + +Dona Esperanza stopped, and there was a moment's silence. + +"Well, senorita," the sachem asked, "has the legend interested you?" + +"Through its simplicity it is most touching, senor," the young lady +answered; "still, there is something vague and unsettled about the +whole story, which impairs its effect." + +Thunderbolt smiled gently. + +"You find, do you not, that we are not told the precise spot where +the events of the narrative occurred, that Sonora is very large, and +that the town in which Twisted Feather commanded is not sufficiently +indicated?" + +"Pardon me, senor," the young lady remarked, with a blush, "such +geographical notions, though doubtless very useful in settling the spot +where events have occurred, interest me personally very slightly. What +I find incomplete is the story itself; the rest does not concern me." + +"More so than you suppose, perhaps, senorita," the sachem remarked; +"but pray be good enough to state your objections more fully." + +"Excuse me, senor, but I have not yet recovered from the surprise which +the events that have occurred during the last few hours have occasioned +me, and I explain myself badly, in spite of my efforts." + +"What do you mean, senorita, and to what events are you referring?" + +"To those which are taking place at this very moment. Having started +from home to ask an interview of a wood ranger, whom I naturally +supposed encamped in the open air, and shared the life of privations +of his fellows, I meet, on the contrary, persons who overwhelm me +with attentions, and, under an Indian appearance, conceal all the +refinements of the most advanced civilization. You can understand how +this strange contrast with what surrounds me must surprise, almost +frighten me, who am a young girl, ignorant of the world, and have +undertaken a step which many persons would disapprove if they knew it." + +"You are going too far, my dear child," Dona Esperanza replied, as +she tenderly embraced her; "what you have seen here ought not to +surprise you. My husband is one of the principal chiefs of the great +Confederation of the Papazos; but he and I, in other times, lived the +life of white men. When we withdrew to the desert, we took with us our +civilized habits, and that is the entire mystery. As for the step you +have taken, it has nothing that is not most honourable to you." + +"I thank you for these kind remarks, and the interpretation you are +pleased to give to a step conceived, perhaps, a little too giddily, +and executed more giddily still." + +"Do not regret it, senorita," said Thunderbolt; "perhaps it has helped +your father's affairs more than you suppose." + +"As for the story of Ova," Dona Esperanza continued, with a gentle +smile, "this is how it ended:--the poor woman died of despair a few +days after the discovery of the man she ought to have married, and whom +she had held in such tender memory for so long a time. At her last hour +she expressed a desire to be united in death to the man from whom she +had been separated in life. This last wish was carried out. The two +betrothed repose side by side in the mine, which was at once closed +again, and no one has dreamed of opening it up to the present day." + +"I thank you, senora, for completing your narrative. Still," Marianna +said, with a sigh, "this gold mine must, in my opinion, be very poor, +since the Spaniards, when they seized the country, did not attempt to +work it." + +"Not at all, my dear child; on the contrary, it is excessively rich. +But Ova's secret has been so well kept that the Spaniards remained in +ignorance of its existence." + +The two ladies were by this time alone, as the sachem and his son had +left the tent. + +"It is strange," the maiden murmured, answering her own thoughts rather +than Dona Esperanza's remark. + +The earnestness with which the lady insisted on referring to the legend +astounded and interested her. A secret foreboding warned her that the +story had a hidden object, whose importance still escaped her, though +she was burning to discover it. Dona Esperanza attentively followed in +her face the various feelings that agitated her, and were reflected +in her expressive face as in a mirror. She continued--"This is why +the mine was not discovered when the Spaniards seized the town where +it was situated. It had been stopped up for a very long time. The old +inhabitants were killed or expelled by the conquerors; and those who +escaped were careful not to reveal this secret to their oppressors. +The latter destroyed the town, and built an immense hacienda over its +mines." + +"But--pardon me for questioning you thus, senora--how have all these +facts come to your knowledge?" + +"For a very simple reason, my dear child. Ova was my ancestress, and +the knowledge of this mine is consequently a family secret for us. I +am, perhaps, the only person in the world who at the present day knows +its exact position." + +"Yes, I understand you," the young lady said, becoming very pensive. + +"Still you are trying to discover, are you not, my dear child?" the old +lady continued, kindly interrogating her, "Why, instead of letting you +speak of the important matters that brought you here, my son urged you +to ask this story of me; and why, without pity for your filial sorrow, +I consented to do so; and why, now that it is ended, I am anxious for +you to learn the minutest details." + +The girl hid her face in the old lady's bosom, and burst into tears. + +"Yes," she said, "you have understood me, madam, and pray pardon me." + +"Pardon you for what, my dear child? For loving your father? On the +contrary, you are quite right. But yours is no common nature, my +child; though we have only been acquainted for a few hours, you have +sufficiently appreciated my character, I think, to recognise the +interest I take in you." + +"Yes, yes, I believe you, madam; I must believe you." + +"Well, console yourself, my dear girl; do not weep thus, or I shall be +forced to follow your example; and I have still some details to add to +this interminable story." + +The maiden smiled through her tears. "Oh, you are so kind, madam," she +answered. + +"No, I love you, that is all, and," she added, with a sigh, "I have +done so for a long time." + +Dona Marianna gazed at her with amazement. + +"Yes, that surprises you," she continued, "and I can well understand +it. But enough of this subject for the present, my darling, and let us +return to what I wanted to say to you." + +"Oh, I am listening to you, madam." + +"I will now tell you where Ova's town stood, and its name. It was +called Cibola." + +"Cibola!" the girl exclaimed. + +"Yes, dear child, the very spot where the Hacienda del Toro was +afterwards built by your ancestor, the Marquis de Moguer. Now do you +understand me?" + +Without replying, Dona Marianna threw herself into the old lady's arms, +who pressed her tenderly to her bosom. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +KIDD REAPPEARS. + + +Kidd had left the atepetl of the Papazos with rage in his heart, and +revolved in his mind the most terrible schemes of vengeance. Not +that the bandit had in his gangrened heart any sensitive chord which +noble sentiment could cause to vibrate; to him it was a matter of the +slightest importance that he had been publicly branded and expelled +like the lowest scoundrel; humiliation glided over him without +affecting him, and what most enraged him was to see the fortune dried +up which Don Marcos de Niza had momentarily flashed before his greedy +eyes, and which he hoped, by dissimulation and treachery, to invest +in his capacious pocket in the shape of gold ounces. Now he could no +longer dream of it; the slightest information he could henceforth +accidentally pick up would not be sufficiently important to be paid for +at the price given for the first. + +There was something desperate in such an alternative for a man like +the bandit; but what should he do? With all his other qualities, the +adventurer combined the rather strange one, for him, of only being +brave like the Coyotes, which only attack in pairs, and when they are +certain of conquering; that is to say, he was an utter coward when +compelled to meet an enemy face to face, although he would not hesitate +to kill him from behind a bush. The adventurer did not deceive himself +about this peculiarity of his character, and the mere idea of picking +a quarrel with Stronghand caused him an instinctive terror, externally +revealed by a general trembling. + +He therefore very sadly and despairingly proceeded, along the road to +the Real de Minas, not knowing yet whether he should enter the pueblo, +or push further on and seek fortune elsewhere, when his attention was +attracted to the left hand of the road he was following by an unusual +and continuous undulation of the tall grass. The bandit's first impulse +was to stop, dismount, and conceal himself and his horse behind an +aloe tree, which afforded a temporary shelter. It is extraordinary to +see how villains, who care nothing for the life of others, display +remarkable instinct of self-preservation, and what tricks they employ +to escape an often imaginary danger. When the bandit believed himself +in safety, at least for the moment, he began watching most carefully +the undulation of the grass, which incessantly drew nearer to him. + +A quarter of an hour passed thus; then the grass parted, and the bandit +perceived three horsemen coming towards him, entirely dressed in black. +With that peculiar scent scoundrels have for detecting policemen, +Kidd did not deceive himself; he at once recognised the three persons +as belonging to the noble corporation of Alguaciles. A fourth, also +dressed in black, in whose ugly features an expression of bestial craft +and wickedness seemed to be reflected, was evidently the leader of the +party,--an Alguacil mayor, a race of rapacious vultures, without heart +or entrails; a manso Indian, dressed in torn trousers, and with bare +head, arms, and legs, was running in front of the others, and evidently +acting as guide. + +"Hold, Jose!" the most important of the men shouted to the Indian, +employing the general nickname of these poor fellows. "Hold, Jose! +Mind you do not lead us astray, scoundrel, if you do not want to have +your ribs broken; we must arrive this night at the Real de Minas of +Quitovar, whither important business summons us." + +"You would arrive there before two o'clock, Excellency," the Indian +answered, with a crafty laugh, "if instead of riding at a foot pace +you would consent to give your mule the spurs; if not we shall not get +there till after sunset." + +"_iValgame dios!_" the first speaker said, angrily; "What will my +honourable client, El Senor Senator Don Rufino Contreras say, who +must have been awaiting my arrival for several days with the utmost +impatience?" + +"Nonsense, Excellency! You will arrive soon enough to torture honest +people." + +"What do you dare to say, scoundrel?" the bailiff exclaimed, raising +the chicote he held in his hand. + +The Indian parried with a stick the blow which would have otherwise +fallen on his loins, and answered drily, as he seized the mule by the +bridle, and made it rear, to the great alarm of the rider,-- + +"Take care, senor; though you call me Jose, and treat me no better nor +worse than a brute, we are no longer in one of your civilized towns, +but on the prairie; here I have my foot on my native heath, and will +not put up with the slightest insult from you. Treat me as an idiot, +if you like, and I shall not care for it, as it comes from one whom I +utterly despise; but bear this in mind,--on the slightest threatening +gesture you make, I will immediately thrust my knife into your heart." + +And while saying this, the man flashed in the bailiffs terrified face a +long knife, whose blue blade had a sinister lustre. + +"You are mad, Jose--quite mad," the other answered, affecting a +tranquillity he was far from feeling at the announcement; "I never +intended to insult you, and I shall never do so; so let go my mule's +bridle, pray, and we will continue our journey in peace." + +"That will do," the Indian said, with his eternal grin; "that is the +way you must speak for us to remain good friends during the period we +shall have to pass together." + +And after letting go the mule, he began trotting in front with that +swinging pace of which Indians alone possess the secret, and which +enables them to follow a trotting horse for several days, without +becoming tired. + +The conversation had taken place sufficiently near to Kidd's lurking +place for him to overhear every syllable. Suddenly he started. An idea +doubtless crossed his mind, for after allowing the horsemen to go on, +but not too far for him to catch them up, he left his thicket, and +went after them, growling between his teeth,--"What the deuce relations +can these birds of night have with Don Rufino Contreras? Well, we shall +soon see." + +On turning into the track he saw the party a short distance ahead of +him. The latter, whom the sound of his horse's hoofs stamping on the +dry ground, had already warned, looked back rather anxiously, the more +so because the bandit, in spite of the ease he tried to effect, had +nothing very prepossessing about his appearance or face. Policemen +could form no mistake about him. Hence they did not do so, and at the +first glance recognised him as what he really was--that is to say, +a bandit. But in Mexico, as in many other countries which pretend, +rightly or wrongly, to be civilized, policemen and ruffians have the +best possible reasons for living on friendly terms; and had it not +been for the solitary spot where he was, Don Parfindo Purro (such was +the Alguacil's name) saw nothing very disagreeable in meeting the +adventurer. The latter continued to advance, talking to his horse, +tickling its flanks with his spur, galloping, with his fist proudly +placed on his hip, and his hat pulled impudently over his right ear. + +"_Santas tardes, caballeros_," he said, as he joined the party of men +in black, and slightly checked his horse, so that it should keep pace +with the others, "by what fortunate accident do I meet you so late on +this desolate road?" + +"Fortune is with us, caballero," Don Parfindo answered, politely; +"this accursed Indian has led us a roundabout road; I really believe, +whatever he may say, that we have lost our way, or shall soon do so." + +"That is possible," Kidd observed; "and without being too curious, will +you allow me to ask whither you are going? Moreover, to set you at your +ease by displaying confidence, I will inform you that I am going to +Quitovar." + +"Ah!" said the bailiff, "That is very lucky." + +"Why so?" + +"Because I am going there too, in the first instance. Are we still a +great distance from the pueblo?" + +"Only a few leagues; we shall arrive before two o'clock, and if you +will allow me to take your guide's place, I shall be delighted to show +you the way, which, I confess, is not very easy to find." + +"Your proposal delights me, caballero, and I most heartily accept it." + +"That is agreed; if you do not know the pueblo, I will take you to a +capital house, where you will be excellently treated." + +"I thank you, caballero; it is the first time I have been to Real de +Minas. I am a bailiff at Hermosillo." + +"A bailiff!" the bandit said; "iCaray! That is a famous profession." + +"At your service, were I competent for it," Don Parfindo said, puffing +himself out. + +"I do not say no," Kidd continued, giving himself an air of importance. +"When a man carries on a large business, as I do, the acquaintance +of a caballero so distinguished as you appear to be can only be most +advantageous." + +"You confound me, senor." + +"Oh, do not thank me, for what I say I really think; I was speaking +about it only a few days back to Don Rufino Contreras, who is also very +rich, and consequently has numerous trials." + +"Do you know Don Rufino?" the bailiff asked, with rising respect. + +"Which one?--The illustrious senator?" + +"Himself." + +"He is one of my most intimate friends. Are you acquainted with him +too?" + +"He has instructed me to proceed in his name against certain debtors of +his." + +"_iViva Dios!_ This is a strange meeting," the adventurer exclaimed, +with a radiant face. + +"What a worthy senor!" the bailiff remarked, "And so honourable!" + +The two scoundrels understood each other. The acquaintance was formed, +and confidence sprang up quite naturally. The conversation was +continued on the best possible terms; Kidd adroitly led the other to +make a general confession, and the latter, believing that he had to do +with an intimate of Don Rufino, told him the secret of the negotiations +he was intrusted with, without any visible pressure. Altogether this is +what the adventurer learned:--Don Rufino Contreras, impelled by some +motive unknown, had secretly bought up the claims of all the persons to +whom the Marquis de Moguer was indebted. So soon as he held them, he +had taken out writs, through a third party, against the Marquis, so as +to dispossess him of the small property left him--among other things, +the Hacienda del Toro, which he evinced a great desire to possess. His +proposal to marry Dona Marianna was only a bait offered to the good +faith of Don Hernando, in order to lull his prudence and remove his +suspicions. What he wanted was to become, at any price, proprietor of +the hacienda. But still, wishing to retain the mask of friendship, by +the aid of which he had hitherto deceived the Marquis, he had put the +matter in the hands of a man of his own, who had orders to push matters +to extremities, and accept no arrangement. Don Parfindo Purro was the +bailiff selected: he was the bearer of the most perverse instructions +and strictest orders, and was resolved to accomplish to the letter +what he emphatically called his duty. + +In Mexico, we are compelled to allow that justice is the most derisive +buffoon and horrible thing imaginable. The judges, most of whom are +utterly ignorant, and who act _gratis_, as their salaries are never +paid, requite themselves for this annoyance on the contending parties, +whom they plunder without pity or shame; and this is carried to such +an extent, that, so soon as the trial is begun, it is known who will +win and who lose. It is little consequence whether the trial be +criminal or civil. Money decides everything. To give only one instance: +A man commits a murder, the fact is confirmed--known by all; the +assassination has been performed in bright day, in the open street, and +in the presence of a hundred persons. The relations of the victim go +before the _juez de lettras_--that is to say, the criminal judge; he +lets them explain the affair in its fullest details, and gives no signs +of approval or disapproval; but when they have finished, he asks them +the simple question-- + +"Have you any witnesses?" + +"Yes," the relatives answer. + +"Very good; and these witnesses are doubtless men of good position and +of a certain value?" + +"Certainly. Each of them is worth a thousand piastres." + +"Well," says the judge, "and how many may there be?" + +"Ten." + +"What a pity!" he then continues, in his mildest accents; "Your +adversary, who between ourselves, appears to me a highly distinguished +caballero, has exactly the same number of witnesses as you; but his are +far more important people, for each is worth two thousand piastres." + +The matter is settled. If the relatives of the murdered man are not +rich enough to make a higher bid, the assassin is not only acquitted, +but discharged without a stain on his character, and is at perfect +liberty, if he think proper, to kill another of his enemies on the +same day and the same terms. Such is the way in which the Mexicans +understand justice. We can therefore understand how an enormously rich +man like Don Rufino Contreras could defeat the Marquis, the state of +whose fortune did not allow him to buy the judges. + +The adventurer listened with the most earnest attention to the +revelations the bailiff made with a certain degree of complacency. +Kidd, who was accustomed to fish in troubled waters, had found an +opportunity for a famous haul in these revelations. His plan was +at once formed, and so soon as he came in sight of the pueblos his +arrangements were made. It was late when the travellers reached the +barriers of the Real de Minas; the sun had set long before, and the +sentries, although they recognised the adventurer as one of their side, +made some difficulty about letting him and his companions into the +town. They were engaged for nearly an hour in parleying outside, and +it was only by the express orders of the commandant that they obtained +permission at last to enter the pueblo, which had been converted into a +regular fortress. + +Kidd, still continuing to act as guide to his comrades, led them +straight to a meson, where he left them at liberty to rest themselves, +after warmly recommending them to the landlord. Then the bandit, after +placing his horse in the corral, and carefully wrapping himself up in +his zarape, and pulling the brim of his hat over his eyes to escape +recognition, glided through the darkness to the house of Don Marcos de +Niza, which he entered. The captain, as we said, was accessible at all +hours of the day or night, to any person who had news to communicate. +At this moment he was in the same study where he had already held a +conversation with Master Kidd. On noticing the adventurer, the captain +raised his eyes, and without leaving his chair, he said--"Ah, is that +you, Master Kidd? Your absence has been long; but for all that, you are +welcome, if you bring good news." + +The bandit gave a meaning smile. + +"My news is excellent, captain," he said, laying a marked stress on the +words, "especially for you." + +"_iCuerpo de Cristo!_ I hope so, for am I not commandant of the town?" + +"Yes; but I am not going to talk with you about politics at present, +Excellency." + +"In that case, go to the deuce, scoundrel," the captain said, shrugging +his shoulders angrily; "do you think I have nothing more important to +do than listen to the rubbish you may please to invent and tire my ears +with?" + +"I invent nothing, Excellency. Fortune has this very day granted me +the opportunity of catching a secret it is most important for you to +know--that is all." + +"Well, tell me what this mighty secret is." + +"It relates to your private affairs, Excellency." + +"My affairs!" the captain repeated, bursting into a laugh; "Hang it +all! Have I any?" + +"If the secret does not relate directly to you, it interests in a most +eminent degree one of your nearest relatives?" + +"Ah! who is he?" + +"The Marquis de Moguer." + +The captain became serious; he frowned with a menacing expression, +which made Kidd tremble in spite of his well-bred effrontery. + +"Speak, and be brief," he said to him. + +"Nothing will suit me better." + +The captain took several ounces from the table drawer, which he threw +to the bandit, who caught them in their flight, and stowed them away +with a grin of satisfaction in his huge pockets. + +"You will not regret your money, Excellency," he said. + +"I hope not; and now go on, scoundrel, as you are paid." + +Kidd, without further pressing, related in its fullest details all that +had occurred between himself and the bailiff on the road. The captain +listened with the most earnest attention. + +"Is that all?" he asked, when the other stopped. + +"Yes, Excellency." + +"Good; now be off. You will continue to watch this man, and report to +me all he does." + +And he dismissed him with a wave of the hand. The adventurer bowed, and +went away. When alone, the captain reflected for a few minutes, and +then wrote a letter, sealed it, and summoned his orderly, who at once +made his appearance. + +"Isidro," the captain said to him, "at all risks this letter must be in +the hands of the Marquis de Moguer within six hours at the most. You +understand me? --at all risks?" + +"It shall be done, captain." + +"Take this for yourself,"--and he handed him some gold coins,--"and +this pass, which will enable you to go in and out. You must be off at +once." + +Without replying, the soldier withdrew, after concealing the letter in +the breast of his uniform. + +"And now," the captain muttered to himself; "let them come on." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +COMPLICATIONS. + + +After leaving the captain's study, Kidd halted in the anteroom, not +because he had any plan formed, but through that instinct which urges +villains of his species not to leave a good place till compelled. He +had heard the captain summon his asistente. The latter, after a few +moments' absence, returned to the anteroom with a look of importance +which at once caused the adventurer to reflect, and suggested to him +the idea of knowing what the conversation was the soldier had held +with his chief. Isidro, the captain's asistente, was an Opatas Indian, +of tried bravery and fidelity. Unluckily, though he did his duty in +the battlefield, his intellect was rather restricted, and, like all +Indians, he had a propensity for strong liquors, which had several +times brought him to great grief. Kidd was familiar with the soldier, +and knew his weakness; hence his plan was formed in a moment. + +"Since you remain here," he said to him, "I shall be off: when I came +to speak to the captain, I left a nearly full bottle of mezcal at the +tocanda of Master Cospeto, and on my word I feel inclined to go and +finish it. I will not invite you to accompany me, for your duty keeps +you here; otherwise you may be assured that I should be delighted to +empty it with you." + +"My duty does not keep me here," the Indian answered; "on the contrary, +I have a long ride to make this very night." + +"A long ride!" the adventurer exclaimed; "iCaray! It is the same case +with me, and as I know no better preservative against the night cold +than mezcal, that is why I meant to empty the bottle before mounting. +If your inclinations lie the same way, it is at your service." + +We will allow that the asistente hesitated. + +"Have you also a ride to take?" he asked. + +"Yes, and I suspect that yours is as long as mine: well, I am going a +long distance; what direction do you follow?" + +"The captain sends me to Arispe," the bandit answered, boldly. + +"Why, how singular that is! We shall follow the same road." + +"That is indeed strange. Well, is it settled?--Will you drink the +stirrup-cup with me?" + +"Upon due reflection, I see no harm in it." + +"Let us make haste, then," the brigand continued, for he feared lest +the captain might catch him with his asistente; "we have no time to +lose." + +For reasons best known to himself, the adventurer left the Indian at +the house door, bidding him bring his horse to Cospeto's rancho, where +he would join him in a few minutes, and they would set out on their +journey together. Kidd merely wanted to warn the mesonero, with whom he +had lodged the bailiff, not to let him go away on any excuse--"Watch +him closely, and at the slightest suspicious movement go and inform +Captain Don Marcos Niza"--who, for reasons connected with the public +safety, did not wish to let these strangers out of sight. The mesonero +promised to carry out his instructions faithfully; and, re-assured on +this point, the adventurer fetched his horse from the corral, and went +to join the Opatas at Senor Cospeto's rancho, as had been agreed on. +On reaching the inn by one street, to his great satisfaction he saw +the orderly arriving by another, mounted, and ready to start. The two +friends entered the rookery to which we have already conducted the +reader. + +The adventurer honourably kept his word: not only did he order a bottle +of mezcal, but at the same time one of excellent Catalonian refino. +The Indian's prudence was entirely routed by such generosity; the +more so because he had no reason to distrust the bandit, with whom he +had already made several excursions, and regarded him as an excellent +comrade. Kidd, in order to avoid any doubts on the part of his comrade, +was careful not to ask him any questions; he merely poured him out +glass after glass, and when the bottles were empty, the Indian had +drunk the greater part of their contents, as Kidd desired to retain his +coolness. When they had finished, the bandit rose, paid the score, and +called for another bottle of refino. + +"This is for the road," he said. + +"An excellent idea," remarked the asistente, whose eyes flashed like +carbuncles, and who was beginning to have a very vague notion of the +state of affairs. They left the rancho, and mounted their horses. +Kidd was rather anxious as to how he should get out of the rancho, as +he had no pass of any sort; for if it were difficult to get into the +Real de Minas, it was quite as much to get out of it. Luckily, for the +adventurer, Isidro's pass was in perfect order, and when he showed it +at the gate, where he was perfectly well known to all the soldiers on +duty, he said, pointing to Kidd, "This caballero goes with me." The +soldiers, aware that Isidro was the confidential man of the captain, +did not offer the slightest difficulty, but allowed them to pass, and +wished them a lucky journey. When the adventurer found himself in +the open country he drew a deep breath of relief, as he gave his too +confiding comrade a sarcastic glance. + +"Now," he said, "we must take the shortest road, in order to arrive +sooner." + +"What, are there two roads?" Isidro asked. + +"There are ten," Kidd replied coolly; "but the shortest runs almost in +a right line, and passes close to the Hacienda del Toro." + +"Let us take that, then." + +"Why that more than another?" + +"Because I am going to the hacienda." + +"Ah," the adventurer said, pleasantly, "let us take a drink, and +start." Uncorking the bottle, he took a pull, and then handed it to his +companion, who imitated him, with an evident expression of pleasure. + +"You say, then," Kidd resumed, as he smacked his lips, "That you are +going to the Hacienda del Toro?" + +"Yes, I am." + +"It is a good house, and most hospitable." + +"Do you know it?" + +"iCaray! I should think so. The majordomo is my intimate friend. What +happy days I have spent with that excellent Senor Paredes!" + +"Since it is your road, why not call there with me as you are certain +of a kind reception?" + +"I do not say I will not; I suppose you are going to ask the Marquis +for some men, as soldiers are scarce at the pueblo?" + +"I do not think that is the case. Don Hernando has already authorized +the captain to enlist his miners, and the peons left him he will need +to defend the hacienda in the event of an attack." + +"That is true; besides, it is no business of mine. Let every man have +his own secrets." + +"Oh, I do not think there is any great secret in the matter: the +captain is a near relation of the Marquis; they often write to each +other, and the letter I am ordered to deliver will only refer, I +expect, to family matters and private interests." + +"That is probable; the more so, because it is said that the Marquis's +affairs are in a very bad state at present." + +"So it is said; but I have heard that they are about to be settled." + +"iCaray! I wish it with all my heart, for it is a pity to see one of +the oldest families of the province reduced. Suppose we drink the +health of the Marquis?" + +"With pleasure." + +The bottle was hugged for the second time by the two companions. A +man may be an Opatas Indian, that is to say, of herculean stature, +with a breast arched like a tortoiseshell; but he cannot swallow with +impunity such a prodigious quantity of alcohol as Isidro had absorbed +without beginning to feel intoxicated. The asistente, strong though he +was, tottered on his horse: his eyes began to close, and his tongue to +grow thick. But, excited as he was by liquor, the more difficulty he +experienced in speaking the more he wanted to do so. The adventurer +eagerly followed the progress of his comrade's intoxication, while +careful not to let him see that he was aware of his condition. + +"Yes, yes," the Indian continued, "the affairs of the Marquis might +easily be arranged sooner than is supposed, comrade." + +"With his name it cannot be difficult for him to procure money." + +"Nonsense! That is not the point, and I know what I know." + +"Exactly, Senor Isidro; and as what you know may be a secret, I will +not urge you to tell it me." + +"Did I say that it was a secret?" the Indian objected. + +"No, but I suppose so." + +"You are wrong to suppose so; and, besides, you are my friend, are you +not?" + +"I believe so," the adventurer answered, modestly. + +"Well, if you are my friend, I have nothing to conceal from you." + +"That is true; still, if you consider it your duty to hold your +tongue--" + +"Hold my tongue! Why so? Have you any pretence to silence me?" + +"I? Heaven forbid, and the proof is, here's your health." + +The Indian began laughing. + +"That is what is called an unanswerable argument," he said, as +he placed the bottle to his lips and threw back his head, as if +contemplating the stars. + +He remained in this position till all the remaining liquor had passed +down his throat. + +"Ah!" he said, with an accent of regret, "It was good." + +"What do you mean?" Kidd exclaimed, with pretended surprise; "Is there +none left?" + +"I do not think so," the Indian remarked, with a drunkard's gravity; +"it is a pity that these bottles are so small." + +And with that he threw it into the road. + +"I agree with you that the rancheros are robbers." + +"Yes," said the asistente, with a hiccough, "robbers; but soon--we +shall drink as much as we like." + +"Eh, eh, that will not be unpleasant; but where will it be?" + +"Where? Why, at the Hacienda del Toro." + +"Yes, they never refuse a draught of mezcal to an honest man in that +house." + +"Nonsense, a draught! You are jesting, comrade; whole bottles would +be nearer the truth. Besides, do you fancy the Marquis will look into +matters so closely at his daughter's marriage." + +"What?" + +"Where on earth do you come from, that you are ignorant of that? +Nothing else is spoken of in the country." + +"It is the first I have heard of it." + +"Well, all the better; I will tell you. Dona Marianna, a pretty girl, +caray, is going to marry a senator, no one less." + +The adventurer suddenly pricked up his ears. + +"A senator?" he repeated. + +"This seems to surprise you. Why should not a pretty girl marry a +senator? I consider you a curious comrade to doubt my word." + +"I do not doubt it." + +"Yes, you do; ugly brute that you are." + +The intoxication of the Opatas was at its height. Excited even more by +the horse's gallop and the adventurer's artfully managed contradiction, +Isidro felt passion mount to his head. The intoxication of Indians is +horrible: they become raving madmen; their heated brain gives birth +to the strangest hallucinations, and under the influence of spirits +they are capable of the greatest crimes. The bandit was aware of all +these peculiarities, by which he hoped to profit; he had drawn from +the Indian all that he wanted to learn from him; he had squeezed him +like a lemon, and now only wanted to throw away the peel. We need +hardly say that at this hour of the night the road the two travellers +were following was completely deserted, and that Kidd did not fear +any overlookers of what he intended doing. They were riding at this +moment along the course of a small stream, a confluent of the Rio Bravo +del Norte, whose wooded banks afforded sufficient concealment. The +adventurer made his horse bound on one side, and drawing his machete, +exclaimed-- + +"Brute yourself, you drunken Opatas!" At the same moment he dealt the +poor follow such a sudden blow that he fell off his horse like a log. +But he rose to his feet tottering, and though stunned by the attack, +and seriously wounded, he drew his sabre, and rushed on the bandit with +a yell of fury. But the latter was on his guard; he attentively watched +his enemy's movements, and urged his horse forwards. The Indian, thrown +down by the animal's chest, rolled on the ground where he lay without +stirring. Was he dead? Kidd supposed so; but the bandit was a very +prudent man, Indians are crafty, and this death might be a feint. Kidd +therefore watched quietly a few paces from his victim, for he was in no +hurry. + +A quarter of an hour elapsed, and the Indian had not made a movement. +Reassured by this complete immobility, the bandit resolved to dismount +and go up to him. All at once the Opatas rose; with a tiger leap he +bounded on the adventurer, twined his arms round him, and the two +men rolled on the ground, uttering savage yells, and trying to take +each other's life. It was a short but horrible struggle. The Opatas, +in spite of his wounds, derived a factitious strength from the fury +that animated him and the excitement produced by intoxication, which +was heightened by his ardent desire to take revenge for the cowardly +treachery of which he was the victim. + +Unhappily, the efforts he was compelled to make opened his wounds, +and his blood flowed in streams; and with his blood he felt his +life departing. He made a supreme effort to strangle the miserable +adventurer in his clenched fingers; but the latter, by a sudden and +cleverly calculated movement, succeeded in liberating himself from +the Indian's iron grasp. He rose quickly, and at the moment when the +asistente recovered from his surprise, and prepared to renew the fight, +Kidd; raised his machete, and cleft the poor fellow's head. + +"Dog! Accursed dog!" he yelled. + +The Indian remained on his feet for a moment, tottering from right to +left; he took a step forward with outstretched arms, and then fell with +his face to the ground and the death rattle in his throat. This time he +was really dead. + +"Well," Kidd muttered, as he thrust his machete several times into +the ground, in order to remove the blood, "that was tough work; these +demons of Indians must be killed twice to make sure they do not +recover. What is to be done now?" + +He reflected for a few moments; then walked up to the corpse, turned +it over, and opened the breast of the uniform to obtain the letter. +He had no difficulty in finding it; he placed it in his own pocket, +and then stripped his victim, on the chance that he might want to use +his uniform. But two things troubled him: the first was the soldier's +horse; the second, his bag. The horse he made no attempt to seize; so +soon as its master was wounded, the animal started off at a gallop into +the wood; and as it would have been madness to try and find it on so +dark a night, the adventurer did not attempt it. Still the flight of +the horse alarmed him. Any person who found it would take it back to +the pueblo, and then suspicions would be aroused which might soon be +fixed on him, although he felt almost certain that the soldiers who saw +him leave the town with the asistente had not recognized him; but his +absence from the pueblo would appear suspicious to the captain, who was +acute, and as he knew Kidd so well, would not hesitate to accuse him. + +The affair was embarrassing; but luckily for him, the adventurer was a +man of resources. Any other person would have fastened a stone to the +body, and thrown it into the stream, but the bandit carefully avoided +that. Such an expeditious method, while getting rid of the victim, +would only have increased the suspicions; besides water is not a good +keeper of secrets; one day or another the body would rise perhaps to +the surface, and then the nature of the wounds would reveal the hand +that dealt them. Kidd hit upon a more simple or sure plan, or at least +he thought so. With horrible coolness he scalped the corpse, and threw +the scalp into the stream, after rolling it round a large stone; this +first profanation accomplished, he made a cross cut on the victim's +chest, plucked out his heart, which he also threw into the river, and +then plaiting together a few flexible lianas, he formed a cord, which +he fastened to the feet of the corpse, and hung it from the main branch +of a tree. + +"There!" he said, with satisfaction, when the horrible task was +completed, "That is all right, caray! I am ready to wager my share of +paradise with the first comer that the cleverest people will be taken +in. The Indians are in the field at this very moment, and hang me if +everyone will not be convinced that this drunken scoundrel was scalped +by the Apaches." + +In fact, all the hideous mutilating which this villain has made his +victim undergo is employed by the Indian bravos upon their enemies. +Frightful though the deed was, Kidd consequently, in the impossibility +he found of disposing of the body, had employed the best mode in which +to divert suspicion. + +Before leaving the scene of the murder, the bandit carefully washed the +soldier's clothes, and removed any blood stains from his own; then, +after assuring himself by a searching glance that there was nothing +to denounce the crime of which he had been guilty, he whistled up his +horse, and mounted, after carefully fastening the soldier's uniform +behind him. He rolled a cigarette, lit it, and set out again, with +the satisfaction of a man who had just succeeded in a most important +affair, which had caused him great anxiety. + +It was somewhat by chance that Kidd originally told the asistente that +he was proceeding to Arispe; but the discovery of the letter, and +the soldier's confidential remarks, had converted this chance into +certainty. The bandit had discovered, amid all poor Isidro's drunken +maundering, one leading idea, and scented a profitable stroke of +business. He comprehended of what importance it would be to Don Rufino +to be informed of all that was going on at the pueblo at the Hacienda +del Toro, that he might be able to arrange his plans with certainty. +Consequently, the adventurer resolved to ride at full speed to Arispe, +determined to make the senator pay dearly for the news he brought, +while making a mental reservation, with that adventurous logic he was +so skilful in, to betray Don Rufino on the first opportunity, if his +own interests demanded that painful sacrifice of him. All this being +thoroughly settled in his mind, the bandit started at full speed in the +direction of Arispe, which city he reached by sunrise. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +TWO VILLAINS. + + +As Kidd was well known, he easily obtained admission to the town; +but when he had passed the gates, he reflected that it was too early +for him to call on the senator, who would still be asleep. Hence he +proceeded straight to a rancho he knew, a suspicious den, the usual +gathering place of fellows of his sort, where he was certain of a +hearty welcome by payment. In fact, the ranchero, who on first seeing +him assumed an ill-omened grimace, greeted him with the most agreeable +smile when he flashed before his eyes some piastres and gold coins. + +The adventurer entered the rancho, left his horse in the corral, and +immediately began to arrange his toilette, which was as a general rule +neglected, but which his struggle with the asistente and his hurried +ride had rendered more disorderly than usual; and then waited, smoking +and drinking, for the hour to arrive when he should pay his respects to +Don Rufino. + +The ranchero, who was thoroughly acquainted with his man and his +habits, prowled round him in vain to try and sound him and learn the +causes of his appearance in Arispe, where, for certain reasons the +police did not care to see him. This rendered his journeys to that town +rather few and far between; for the police there, as elsewhere, are +very troublesome to a certain class of citizens. But vainly did the +ranchero try all his cleverest ruses, his most delicate insinuations; +Kidd only answered his questions by insignificant phrases, crafty +smiles and winks; but in the end he remained perfectly impenetrable, a +want of confidence by which the ranchero was greatly insulted, and he +swore to himself to be avenged on the bandit for it some day. + +When the Cabildo clock struck nine, Kidd thought it was time to be off; +he rose, majestically threw a piastre on the table in payment of his +score, wrapped his zarape round him, and left the house. + +"Whom can he have assassinated to be so rich?" the ranchero asked +himself, as he cunningly watched him depart. + +A reflection which proved that the worthy ranchero was well acquainted +with his man. + +Kidd felt he was watched, and hence carefully avoided going straight to +the senator's house; on the contrary, affecting the careless demeanour +of a lounger, he set out in the diametrically opposite direction. The +adventurer then walked about the town for half an hour, while carefully +avoiding the more frequented streets, for fear of attracting attention +on himself; thus he gradually approached the senator's mansion, and +hurriedly slipped under the zaguan, after assuring himself by a glance +all around that no one had seen him enter. + +"Halloa, you fellow!" a voice suddenly shouted to him, making him start +and stop; "Where the deuce are you going like that? And what do you +want here?" The adventurer raised his eyes, and saw an individual of a +certain age, easily to be recognized as a domestic by his clothing, who +was standing in the hall door, and resolutely barring his way. + +"What do I want?" the bandit repeated, to give himself time to seek an +answer. + +"Yes, what do you want? That is clear enough, I suppose?" + +"iCaray! It is clear; what can I want except to see his Excellency, +Senator Don Rufino Contreras?" + +"Excellent," the other said, derisively; "and do you suppose his +Excellency will receive you without knowing who you are?" + +"And why not, if you please, senor?" + +"Because you do not look like drawing room company." + +"Do you think so?" the bandit said, haughtily. + +"Why, that is plain enough; you much more resemble a lepero than a +caballero." + +"You are not polite, my good fellow; what you say may be correct, +but the remark is uncalled for; patched clothes often conceal very +honourable caballeros, and if I have been ill treated by fortune, that +is no reason why you should throw it in my teeth so sharply." + +"Enough of this, and be off." + +"I shall not stir till I have seen the senator." + +The manservant gave him a side look, which the other endured with +imperturbable coolness. + +"Do you mean that?" he asked him. + +"I really do." + +"For the last time, I order you to be gone," the valet went on, +menacingly. + +"Take care of what you are doing, comrade; I have to talk with the +senor, and he is expecting me." + +"Expecting you?" + +"Yes, me!" the scoundrel answered, majestically. The servant shrugged +his shoulders contemptuously: still he reflected, and asked with a more +conciliatory tone than he had yet employed--"Your name?" + +"You do not want to know it; merely tell your master that I have just +come from the Hacienda del Toro." + +"If that is the case, why did you not tell me so before?" + +"Probably because you did not ask me. Go and announce me to your +master; you have kept me waiting too long already." + +The domestic went off without replying, and Kidd took advantage of his +departure to instal himself in the vestibule. For a hundred reasons +he did not like the vicinity of the street, and he was glad to be no +longer exposed to the curious glances of passers-by. The absence of the +servant was not long, and when he returned, his manner was entirely +changed. + +"Caballero," he said, with a bow, "if you will do me the honour of +following me, his Excellency is waiting for you." + +"Fellow! Too insolent before, too humble now," the adventurer said, +crushing him with a contemptuous glance; "show the way." + +And, laughing in his beard, he followed the footman, who was red with +anger and shame at this haughty reprimand. + +Mexican houses, except in the great cities, are ordinarily built but +one story high; they are generally very slightly constructed, owing +to the earthquakes, which are extremely frequent in intertropical +countries, and destroy in a few seconds towns, and entirely ruin them. +The result of this mode of building is that nearly all the apartments +are on the ground floor; and then there are no staircases to ascend +or descend, which, in our opinion, is very agreeable. The adventurer +remarked with some degree of pleasure that the valet led him through +several rooms before reaching the one in which the senator was sitting; +at length he turned the handle of the door, threw it open, and stepped +aside to let the bandit pass. The latter walked in boldly, like a man +certain of a hearty reception. + +"Ah!" said the senator, starting slightly at seeing him, "It is you." + +"Yes," he replied, with a graceful bow. + +"Retire," Don Rufino said to the valet; "I am not at home to anyone, +and do not come in till I call you." The valet bowed, went out, and +closed the door behind him. As if by common accord, the two stood +silently listening till the valet's footsteps died away in the +distance; then, without saying a word, Kidd threw open the folding +doors. + +"Why do you do that?" Don Rufino asked him. + +"Because we have to talk about serious matters; the _tapetes_ spread +over the floors of your rooms deaden footsteps, and your servant has an +excellent spy's face." + +The senator made no remark; he doubtless recognised the correctness of +his singular visitor's argument. + +"It is you then, bandit," he said at last. + +"I fancy I can notice that you did not expect me?" + +"I confess it; I will even add that I did not in the slightest desire +your visit." + +"You are very forgetful of your friends, Don Rufino, and it makes me +feel sorry for you," the bandit answered, with a contrite air. + +"What do you mean, scoundrel, by daring to use such language to me?" + +Kidd shrugged his shoulders, drew up a butaca, and fell into it with a +sigh of relief. + +"I must observe," he said, with the most imperturbable coolness, "that +you forgot to offer me a chair." + +Then, crossing one leg over the other, he began rolling a cigarette, +a task to which he gave the most serious attention. The senator +frowningly examined the adventurer; for this bandit to dare assume such +a tone with him, he must have very powerful weapons in his hands, or be +the bearer of news of the highest importance. In either case he must be +humoured. Don Rufino immediately softened the expression of his face, +and handed the adventurer a beautifully chased gold mechero. + +"Pray, light your cigarette, my dear Kidd," he said, with a pleasant +smile. + +The bandit took the mechero, and examined it with admiration. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, with a splendidly feigned regret, "I have dreamed +for years that I possessed such a toy, but, unluckily, fortune has ever +thwarted me." + +"If it please you so much," Don Rufino answered, with a mighty effort, +"I shall be delighted to make you a present of it." + +"You are really most generous. Believe me, senor, that any present +coming from you will always be most precious in my eyes." + +And, after lighting his cigarette, he unceremoniously placed the +mechero in his pocket. + +"Of course your visit Has an object?" the senator said, after a +moment's interval. + +"They always have, senor," the other answered, as he enveloped himself +in a cloud of blue smoke, which issued from his nose and mouth; "the +first was to see you." + +"I thank you for the politeness; but I do not think that is sufficient +reason for forcing your way in here." + +"Forcing is rather a harsh word, senor," the bandit said, sorrowfully; +but he suddenly changed his tone, and assumed his usual sharp, quick +way. "Come, Don Rufino, let us deal fairly, and not waste our time in +compliments which neither of us believes." + +"I wish nothing better; speak, then, and the plague take you." + +"Thank you. I prefer that mode of speech, for at least I recognise you. +I am about to give you an example of frankness; I have come, not to +propose a bargain, but to sell you certain information, and a letter of +the utmost importance to you, which I obtained--no matter how--solely +on your account." + +"Good; let us see whether I can accept the bargain." + +"In the first place, allow me to say two words, so as to thoroughly +establish our reciprocal position. Our situation has greatly changed +during the last few days; I no longer fear you, but you, on the +contrary, are afraid of me." + +"I afraid of you?" + +"Yes, senor, because I hold your secret, and you can no longer threaten +to kill me, as you did at our last interview." + +"Oh! Oh! And why not, if you please?" the senator asked. + +"Because we are alone, you are unarmed, I am stronger than you, and +at your slightest movement would blow out your brains like those of +a wild beast. Do you now comprehend me, my dear sir?" he added, as he +drew a brace of pistols from under his zarape; "what do you think of +these playthings?" + +"They are tolerably good, I should fancy," the senator replied, coldly; +"and what do you say to these?" he added, as he uncovered a brace of +magnificent pistols hidden under the papers scattered over the table at +which he was seated. + +"They are detestable." + +"Why so?" + +"Because you would not dare use them." + +The senator smiled ironically. + +"Laugh, if you like, my master; I like best to see you treat the +matter in that way; but I repeat that you are in my power this time, +instead of my being in yours. I have delivered to Captain Don Marcos +Niza certain papers, which, were they opened by him, might, I fear, +gravely compromise you: there is one among them, the tenor of which +is as follows:--'I, the undersigned, declare that my valet, Lupino +Contrarias, has treacherously assassinated and deserted me in a +frightful desert, and there plundered me of everything I possessed, +consisting of two mules laden with gold dust, and two thousand three +hundred gold ounces in current money. On the point of appearing before +my God, and not hoping to survive my wounds, I denounce this wretch, +etc. etc. Signed--.' Shall I tell the name of the signer? But what is +the matter with you, my dear sir? Do you feel ill? You are as pale as a +corpse." + +In truth, on hearing the narrative, which the bandit told with a +species of complacency, the senator was seized with such a violent fit +of terror, that for a moment he was on the point of fainting. + +"It is extraordinary," the bandit continued, "how nothing can be +trusted to in this world. Just take the case of this excellent Lupino, +who had arranged a most delicious trap in the adroitest manner: for +more surety, he waited till they were on the other side of the Indian +border, at a spot where not a soul passes once in two years; he fires +his pistols point blank into his master's back, and goes off, of course +taking with him the fortune so honourably acquired. Well, fatality +decrees that the master whom he had every reason for believing dead is +not quite so; he has time to take out his tablets, and write in pencil +a perfectly regular denunciation, and then this demon of a fatality, +which never does things by halves, brings to these parts a hunter, +who picks up the tablets. It is enough to make a man turn honest, +deuce take me if it is not, had he not quite made up his mind to the +contrary." + +During this long harangue the senator had time to recover from the +shock, and regain his coolness. By a supreme effort of the will he had +restored calmness to his face, and forced his lips to smile. + +"iCaray!" he said, with a laugh that resembled gnashing of teeth, "that +is a wonderful story, and admirably arranged. Permit me, dear senor, to +congratulate you on your inventive faculty; it is charming, on my word. +But who on earth do you expect to believe such a story?" + +"You, first of all, senor, for you know the truth of the story better +than anybody." + +"Nonsense! You are mad, upon my honour." + +"Not quite so mad as you fancy, for the proofs are in my hands." + +"I do not say they are not; but admitting the reality of the facts you +allege, they took place a long time ago; this Lupino Contrarias has +disappeared; he is dead, perhaps: as for his master, the pistols were +too well loaded to give him a chance of escape. Who takes any interest +in a dead man--especially in our country?" + +"How do you know that the weapons were so carefully loaded?" + +"I suppose so." + +"Suppositions are always the plague in business matters. Between +ourselves, do you think it would be so difficult to find this Lupino +Contrarias in Rufino Contreras? I think not." + +The senator felt his face flush involuntarily. + +"Senor," he said, "such an insinuation--" + +"Has nothing that needs offend you," Kidd interrupted him, calmly; "it +is a supposition, nothing more; now, continuing our suppositions, let +us admit for a moment that this master, whom his valet is persuaded he +killed, should be, on the contrary, alive and--" + +"Oh, that is quite impossible." + +"Do not interrupt me so, senor. And, I say, were to lay his hand on +his valet's shoulder, as I lay mine on yours, and assert, 'This is my +assassin!' what answer would you give to that?" + +"I--I!" the senator exclaimed, wildly; "What answer should I give?" + +"You would give none," the bandit continued, as he took and thrust into +his belt the pistols which the senator, in his trouble, had let fall; +"overcome by the evidence, and crushed by the very presence of your +victim, you would be irretrievably lost." + +There was a second of horrible silence between these two men, who +looked at each other as if about to have a frightful contest. At length +the senator's emotion was calmed by its very violence; he passed his +hand over his damp forehead, and, drawing himself up to his full +height, said, sharply-- + +"After this, what would you of me?" + +"I am waiting to hear your resolution before I offer any conditions." + +Don Rufino Contreras remained for some minutes plunged in deep thought. +Kidd watched him attentively, ready to make use of his weapons if +he saw the senator attempt any suspicious movement; but the latter +did not even dream of it. Annihilated by the adventurer's staggering +revelation, he looked round him wildly, racking his mind in vain to +discover some way of escape from the terrible dilemma in which he was +placed. At length he raised his head, and looked the bandit fiercely in +the face. + +"Well, yes," he said to him resolutely, "all that you have narrated +is true. I cowardly assassinated, to rob him of his fortune, the man +who offered me a helping hand in my misery, and treated me as a friend +rather than a servant. But this fortune, however badly it may have +been acquired, I possess; by its means I have acquired a position in +the world; by roguery and falsehood I have succeeded in imposing on +everybody; I have rank and a name; and death alone could make me resign +this position, so hardly attained. Now that I have spoken frankly +with you, it is your turn to do the same. Tell me the conditions you +intend to impose on me, and if they are fair, I will accept them; if +not, whatever the consequences may be, I shall refuse them. Take care, +for I am not the man to remain at the mercy of a villain like you; +sooner than accept so horrible a situation I would denounce myself, and +drag you down in my fall. Reflect carefully, then, before answering +me, comrade, for my proposition is in earnest. Once the bargain is +concluded between us, we will say no more about it. I give you ten +minutes to answer me." + +This clear and categorical proposal affected the bandit more than he +liked to show. He understood that he had to do with one of those +indomitable men who, once they have made their mind up, never alter +it. The adventurer had nothing to gain by ruining Don Rufino, on the +contrary; moreover, that never entered into his plan: he hoped to +terrify him, and had succeeded; and now the only thing to be done by +these two men, so well suited to understand each other, since they had +frankly settled facts, was to attack the pecuniary question, and treat +it as skilfully as they could; Kidd, therefore prepared to begin the +assault. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +A FRIENDLY BARGAIN. + + +Don Rufino, with his head resting on his right hand, was carelessly +playing with a paper knife, and patiently waiting till his visitor +thought proper to speak. This affected indifference perplexed the +adventurer: men of Kidd's species instinctively distrust all that does +not appear to them natural, and he felt embarrassed by this coolness, +for which he could not account, and which he feared might contain a +snare. At length he suddenly broke the silence. + +"Before all, Don Rufino," he said, "I must tell you the motives of my +visit." + +"I do not at all care about them," the senator answered, negligently; +"still, if you think my knowledge of them may be useful, pray let me +hear them." + +"I think that when you have heard me, you will change your opinion, +senor, and recognise the importance of the service I propose to do you." + +"That is possible, and I do not deny it," the senator said, ironically; +"but you will allow, my dear Senor Kidd, that you interfere so +thoroughly in my affairs, that it is difficult for me to decide, among +all the combinations your mind takes pleasure in forming, whether your +intentions are good or bad." + +"You shall judge." + +"Pray speak, then." + +"I will tell you, in the first place, that a certain Alguacil, Don +Parfindo Purro by name, arrived yesterday at the pueblo of Quitovar." + +"Very good," the senator answered, looking fixedly at the bandit. + +"Now, I do not know how it is, but the bailiff had scarce reached the +pueblo ere by some strange fatality, Captain de Niza was informed of +his arrival." + +"Only think of that," the senator remarked, ironically; "ever that +fatality of which you now spoke to me; it is really being the plaything +of misfortune." + +In spite of the strong dose of effrontery with which nature had endowed +him, the adventurer felt involuntarily troubled. + +Don Rufino continued, with a light laugh-- + +"And still, through this implacable fatality, the captain was not only +informed of the arrival of this worthy Don Parfindo, but also of the +reasons that brought him." + +"How do you know that?" Kidd exclaimed, with pretended surprise. + +"Oh, I guess it, that is all," the senator replied, with a slight shrug +of his shoulders; "but go on, pray; what you tell me is beginning to +become most interesting." + +The bandit went on with imperturbable coolness. + +"As you are aware, the captain is a relation of the Marquis de Moguer." + +"Yes, and a very near relation." + +"Hence he did not hesitate, but at once sent off a messenger to the +Hacienda del Toro, carrying a letter in which he probably gave the +most circumstantial details about the bailiff, and the mission he is +charged with." + +At this revelation, Don Rufino suddenly doffed the mask of indifference +he had assumed, and smote the table fiercely with his fist. + +"Ah, that letter!" he exclaimed, "That letter! I would give its weight +in gold for it." + +"Very well, senor," the bandit remarked, with a smile; "as I am anxious +to prove to you the honesty of my intentions, I give it you for +nothing." + +He took the letter from his pocket, and handed it to the senator; the +latter bounded on it like a tiger on its prey, and tore it from Kidd's +hands. + +"Gently, gently; be good enough to remark that the seal is not broken, +and that, as the letter has not yet been opened, I am naturally +ignorant of its contents." + +"That is true," the senator muttered, as he turned it over and over; "I +thank you for your discretion, senor." + +"You are most kind," Kidd replied, with a bow. + +"But," the senator continued, "how did this letter, addressed to Don +Hernando de Moguer, fall into your hands?" + +"Oh, very simply," the other replied, lightly; "just fancy that the man +the captain selected to carry his missive was a friend of mine. As I +intended to pay you a visit at Arispe, and as I felt grieved at seeing +this man traverse such a dangerous road alone by night, I offered to +accompany him, and he consented. I do not know how it occurred, but on +the road we began quarrelling. In short, without any evil intentions +on my part, I declare to you, in the heat of the argument I gave him a +blow on the head with my machete, so well dealt that he was compelled +to die. It grieved me deeply, but there was no remedy; and as I was +afraid lest the letter might get into bad hands, I carried it off. That +is the whole story." + +"It is really most simple," Don Rufino remarked, with a smile, and +broke the seal. + +Kidd discreetly sat down again in his butaca, in order to leave the +senator at liberty to peruse this despatch, which seemed to interest +him greatly. He read it through with the utmost attention, and then let +his head hang on his chest, and fell into deep thought. + +"Well," the adventurer at length asked, "is the news that letter +conveys so very bad, that it must entirely absorb you?" + +"The news is of the utmost importance to me, senor; still, I ask myself +for what purpose you seized it?" + +"Why, to do you a service, it strikes me." + +"That is all very well; but, between ourselves, you had another object." + +The bandit burst into a laugh. + +"Did I not tell you that I wish to make a bargain?" + +"That is true; but I am awaiting a full explanation from you." + +"That is very difficult, senor." + +"I admit that it is; well, I will put you at your ease." + +"I wish for nothing better." + +"I will offer you the bargain you do not like to propose." + +"I see that you are beginning to understand me, and that, between the +pair of us, we shall come to something." + +"You are not rich," the senator remarked, frankly approaching the point. + +"I am forced to confess that I am not actually rolling in wealth," he +answered, with an ironical glance at his more than ragged attire. + +"Well, if you like I will make you a rich man at one stroke." + +"What do you mean by rich, senor?" the bandit asked, distrustfully. + +"I mean to put you in possession of a sum which will not only protect +you from want, but also allow you to indulge your fancy, while living +honestly." + +"Honesty is a virtue only within reach of those who can spend money +without wanting it," the adventurer remarked sententiously. + +"Be it so; I will render you rich, to use your language." + +"It will cost a good deal," Kidd answered, impudently, "for I have very +peculiar tastes." + +"I dare say; but no matter. I have in Upper California a hacienda, of +which I will hand you the title deeds this very day." + +"Hum!" said Kidd, thrusting out his upper lip contemptuously; "Is the +hacienda a fine one?" + +"Immense; covered with ganado and manadas of wild horses; it is +situated near the sea." + +"That is something, I allow; but that is not wealth." + +"Wait a minute." + +"I am waiting." + +"I will add to this hacienda a round sum of one hundred thousand +piastres in gold." + +The bandit's eyes were dazzled. + +"What," he said, rising as if moved by a spring, and turning pale with +joy, "did you say--one hundred thousand?" + +"Yes, I repeat," the senator continued, internally satisfied with the +effect he had produced; "do you think that with such a sum as that it +is possible to be honest?" + +"_iViva Cristo!_ I should think so!" he exclaimed, gleefully. + +"It only depends on yourself to possess it within a week." + +"Oh, yes, I understand; there is a condition. iCaray! It must be very +hard for me to refuse it." + +"This is the condition; listen to me, and, above all, understand me +thoroughly." + +"iCaray! I should think I would listen; a hacienda and one hundred +thousand piastres--I should be a fool to refuse them." + +"You must not impede my prospects in any way; allow me to espouse Dona +Marianna, and on the day of the marriage hand me the tablets which you +took from the gentleman so unhappily assassinated by his valet." + +"Very well. Is that all?" + +"Not yet." + +"Very good; go on." + +"I insist that when you deliver me the tablets, you will supply proof +that the writer is really dead." + +"iCaray! That will be difficult." + +"That does not concern me; it is your business." + +"That is true; and how long will you give me for that?" + +"Eight days." + +"_iCuerpo de Cristo!_ It is not enough; the man is not so easily to be +taken unawares." + +"Yes; but once that he is dead, you will be rich." + +"I know that, and it is a consideration. No matter; caray! It will be a +tough job, and I shall risk my hide." + +"You can take it or leave it." + +"I take it, _viva Cristo!_ I take it. Never shall I find again such a +chance to become an honest man." + +"Then that matter is quite settled between us?" + +"Most thoroughly; you can set your mind at rest." + +"Very good; but as you may change your mind someday, and feel an +inclination to betray me--" + +"Oh, senor, what an idea!" + +"No one knows what may happen. You will at once sign a paper on which +these conditions will be fully detailed." + +"iCaray! What you ask is most compromising." + +"For both of us, as my proposals will be equally recorded." + +"But, in that case, what is the good of writing such a paper, as it +will compromise you as much as me?" + +"For the simple reason that if some day you feel inclined to betray +me, you cannot ruin me without ruining yourself, which will render you +prudent, and oblige you to reflect whenever a bad thought crosses your +brain." + +"Do you distrust me, senor?" + +"Have you any excessive confidence in me?" + +"That is different; I am only a poor scamp." + +"In one word, you will either accept the conditions I offer, or any +bargain between us will be impossible." + +"Still, supposing, senor, I were to use the paper I hold, as you employ +such language to me?" + +"You would not dare." + +"Not dare!" he exclaimed; "And pray why not?" + +"I do not know the motive; but I feel sure that if you could have used +that document, you would have done so long ago. I know you too well to +doubt it, Senor Kidd; it would be an insult to your intellect, whose +acuteness, on the contrary, it affords me pleasure to bear witness to. +Hence, believe me, senor, do not try to terrify me further with this +paper, or hold it to my chest like a loaded pistol, for you will do no +good. Your simplest plan will be to accept the magnificent offer I make +you." + +"Well, be it so, since you are so pressing," he replied; "I will do +what you ask, but you will agree with me that it is very hard." + +"Not at all; that is just where you make the mistake; I simply take a +guarantee against yourself, that is all." + +The adventurer was not convinced; still, the bait conquered him, and, +with a sigh of regret, he offered no further resistance. Don Rufino +immediately wrote down the conditions agreed on between the two men +--a sword of Damocles, which the senator wished to hold constantly in +suspense over the head of his accomplice, and which, if produced in +a court of justice, would irretrievably destroy them both. While the +senator was writing, the bandit sought for the means to escape this +formidable compromise, and destroy the man who forced it on him when he +had received the money. We should not like to assert that Don Rufino +had not the same idea. When the senator had concluded this strange deed +of partnership, which rendered them mutually responsible, and riveted +them more closely together than a chain would have done, he read in a +loud voice what he had written. + +"Now," he said, after reading, "have you any remark to offer?" + +"Deuce take the remarks!" the bandit exclaimed, roughly; "Whatever I +might say, you would make no alteration, so it is better to leave it as +it is." + +"That is my opinion, too--so sign; and to soften any painful effect it +may produce on you, I will give you one hundred ounces." + +"Very good," he replied, with a smile; and taking the pen from Don +Rufino's hand, he boldly placed his signature at the foot of this +document, which might cost him his life. But the promise of the +hundred ounces made him forget everything; and besides, Kidd was a +bit of a fatalist, and reckoned on chance to liberate him from his +accomplice ere long. + +When Kidd had signed with the greatest assurance, the senator sprinkled +gold dust over the paper, folded it, and placed it in his bosom. + +"And here," he said, as he thrust his hand into a coffer, "is the +promised sum." + +He piled the ounces on the table, and Kidd pocketed them with a smile +of pleasure. + +"You know that I am at your orders, and ready to obey you," he said; +"and, as a beginning, I restore you the pistols, which I no longer +require." + +"Thanks. Have you anything to detain you at Arispe?" + +"Not the slightest." + +"Then you would offer no objection to leaving the town?" + +"On the contrary, I intend to do so as soon as possible." + +"That is most fortunate; I will give you a letter for Senor Parfindo, +to whom I will ask you to deliver it immediately on your arrival." + +"Then you want to send me to the pueblo?" + +"Have you any repugnance to return there?" + +"Not the slightest; still, I shall not remain there on account of that +night's business." + +"Ah, yes, that is true, the soldier's death--take care." + +"Oh, I shall only remain at the pueblo just long enough to perform the +duty you entrust to me, and then leave it immediately." + +"That will be most prudent. But no, stay; upon reflection, I think it +will be better for you not to return to the Real de Minas. I will send +my letter by another person." + +"I prefer that. Have you any other order to give me?" + +"None; so you can do what you think proper: but remember that I expect +you in a week, and so act accordingly." + +"I shall not forget it, caray!" + +"In that case, I will not detain you. Good-bye." + +"Till we meet again, senor." + +The senator struck a gong, and the manservant appeared almost +immediately. Don Rufino and Kidd exchanged a side-glance. It was +evident that the criado, curious, like all servants, had listened at +the door, and tried to learn for what reason his master remained so +long shut up with a man of the adventurer's appearance; but, thanks to +the precautions Kidd had taken, even the sound of the voices, which +were purposely suppressed, did not reach him. + +"Show this caballero out," the senator said. + +The two men bowed for the last time, as if they were the best friends +in the world, and then separated. + +"Villain!" Don Rufino exclaimed, so soon as he was alone; "if ever I +can make you pay me for all the suffering you have forced on me today, +I will not spare you." + +And he passionately dashed down a splendid vase, which was unluckily +within his reach. + +For his part, the adventurer, while following the servant through +the apartment, indulged in reflections which were anything but rosy +coloured. + +"Hang it all!" he said to himself; "The affair has been hot. I believe +that I shall act wisely in distrusting my friend: the dear senor is far +from being tender-hearted, and if he has a chance of playing me an ill +turn he will not let it slip. I did act wrong to sign that accursed +paper; but, after all, what have I to fear? He is too much in danger to +try and set a trap for me; but for all, I will be prudent, for that can +do me no harm." + +When he had ended this soliloquy he found himself under the zaguan, +where the manservant took leave of him with a respectful bow. The +adventurer pulled his wide hat brim over his eyes, and departed. In +returning to the rancho he employed the same precautions he had used +in going to the senator's house, for he was not at all anxious to be +recognised and arrested by the Alguaciles; for, as we know, the streets +of the town, for certain reasons, were not at all healthy for him. +Kidd found the ranchero standing in his doorway, with straddled legs, +attentively surveying the approaches to his house. + +"Eh!" the host said, with a bow, "Back already?" + +"As you see, compadre; but let me have my breakfast at once, for I have +a deal to do." + +"Are you going to leave us already?" + +"I do not know; come, pray make haste." + +The ranchero served him without further questioning. The adventurer +made a hearty meal, paid liberally to appease his host's ill temper, +saddled his horse, and set out, without saying whether he should return +or not. A quarter of an hour later he was in the open country, and +inhaling with infinite pleasure the fresh, fragrant breeze that reached +him from the desert. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +THE HACIENDA DEL TORO. + + +We will now leap over an interval of a fortnight, and return to the +Hacienda del Toro; but before resuming our story we will cursorily +describe the events that occurred during this fortnight, in order to +make the reader thoroughly understand by what a strange concourse of +events accident brought all our characters face to face, and produced a +collision among them, from which an unforeseen _denouement_ issued. + +Dona Marianna, persuaded by Dona Esperanza, or, perhaps, unconsciously +attracted by the secret longings of her heart, had consented to remain +a couple of days with her. These days were occupied with pleasant +conversation, in which the maiden at length disclosed the secret which +she imagined to be buried in the remotest nook of her heart. Dona +Esperanza smiled with delight at this simple revelation of a love which +she already suspected, and which everything led her to encourage. + +Stronghand, for his part, had yielded to the magical fascination the +maiden exercised over him. Feeling himself beloved, his restraint and +coldness melted away to make room for an honest admiration. Carried +away by the feelings that agitated him, he displayed all the true +prudence and goodness contained in his character, which was, perhaps, +rather savage, but it was that loyal and powerful savageness which +pleases women, by creating in them a secret desire to conquer these +rebellious natures, and dominate them by their delicious seductions. +Women, as a general rule, owing to their very weakness, have always +liked to subdue energetic men, and those who are reputed indomitable; +for a woman is proud to be protected, and blushes when she is compelled +to defend the man whose name she bears. Contempt kills love. A woman +will never love a man except when she has the right to be proud of him, +and can say to him, "Spare foes too weak for you, and unworthy of your +anger." + +During the two days the young couple did not once utter the word love, +and yet they clearly explained it and no longer entertained a doubt as +to their mutual attachment. + +Still it was time to think about returning to the hacienda. It was +settled that Dona Marianna should inform her father about what she had +learned from Dona Esperanza, that she should not positively refuse Don +Rufino's hand, and quietly await events. + +"Take care," the maiden said, as she held out her hand to the hunter; +"my only hope is in you: if you fail in your plans I shall be left +alone defenceless, and death alone will remain to me, for I shall not +survive the loss of all my hopes." + +"Trust to me, Dona Marianna; I have staked my happiness and my life on +the terrible game I am preparing to play, and I feel convinced that I +shall win it." + +"I will pray to Heaven for both you and myself with such fervour, that +I feel confident my prayers will be granted." + +These words, with which the young people parted, were equivalent to a +mutual engagement. Dona Esperanza tenderly embraced the maiden. + +"Remember the legend," she said to her, and Dona Marianna replied with +a smile. + +The tigrero held the horses by the bridle. Stronghand and ten hunters +prepared to follow the travellers at a distance, in order to help them, +should it be necessary. The journey was performed in silence. Dona +Marianna was too much engaged in restoring some degree of order to her +thoughts, which were upset by what had happened during the two days she +spent among the hunters, to dream of saying a word to her companion; +while he, for his part, confounded by the way in which he had been +treated in camp, tried to explain the luxury and comfort which he had +never before witnessed in the desert, and which plunged him into a +state of amazement from which he could not recover. + +As Dona Marianna had expressed a wish to reach their journey's end as +quickly as possible, Mariano took a different road from that which he +had previously followed, and which ran to El Toro without passing by +the rancho. + +At about 3 p.m. they came in sight of the rock, and began scaling the +path, and then noticed the hunters, commanded by Stronghand, drawn up +in good order on the skirt of the forest. When the young lady reached +the first gate of the hacienda, the sound of a shot reached her ear, +and a white puff of smoke floating over the horsemen made her guess who +it was that had fired it. Dona Marianna waved her handkerchief in the +air. A second shot was fired, as if to show her that the signal was +seen, and then the hunters turned round and disappeared in the forest. +Dona Marianna entered the hacienda, and the first person she met was +Paredes. + +"_iValgame dios!_ nina," the worthy majordomo exclaimed; "Where have +you come from? The Marquis has been excessively anxious about you." + +"Does not my father know that I have been to pay a visit to my nurse?" + +"Your brother told him so, nina; but as your absence was so prolonged, +the Marquis was afraid that some accident had happened to you." + +"You see that it was not so, my good Paredes; so set your mind at rest, +and go and re-assure my father, to whom I shall be delighted to pay my +respects." + +"Don Hernando will be pleased at your return, nina; he is at this +moment engaged with Don Ruiz in inspecting the walls on the side of the +huerta, in order to make certain that they are in a sound condition for +we fear more and more an attack from the Indians." + +"In that case do not disturb my father, and I will go and rest in the +drawing room, for I am exhausted with fatigue; and when my father has +completed his inspection, you will inform him of my return. It is +unnecessary to importune him now." + +"Importune him!" exclaimed the honest majordomo, "Excuse me, senorita, +if I am not of your opinion on that head. _iViva dios!_ the Marquis +would not forgive me if I did not immediately inform him of your +return." + +"In that case, act as you think proper, my worthy Paredes." + +The majordomo, who had probably only been waiting for this permission, +ran off. + +"My dear Mariano," the young lady then said, addressing her foster +brother, "it is not necessary to tell what we have been doing during +our absence. Everybody must suppose that I have not quitted my nurse's +rancho; you understand, and I count on your discretion. When the time +arrives, I intend myself to inform my father of all that has occurred." + +"Enough, nina; you know that your wishes are orders for me. I will not +say a word--besides, it is no business of mine." + +"Very well, Mariano; now receive my sincere thanks for the services you +have rendered me." + +"You know that I am devoted to you, nina; I have merely done my duty, +and you have no occasion to thank me for that." + +The young lady offered him her hand with a smile, and entered her +apartments. The tigrero, when left alone, took the bridles of the two +horses, and led them to the corral, through the crowd of rancheros, +who, by the Marquis's orders, had sought refuge in the hacienda, and +had erected their jacales in all the courtyards. Dona Marianna was not +sorry to be alone for a few minutes, in order to have time to prepare +the conversation she intended to have with her father and brother, +whose difficulties she did not at all conceal from herself. + +The hacienda was very large, and hence, in spite of all his diligence, +it was not till he had spent half an hour in sterile search, that the +majordomo succeeded in finding his master. Don Hernando heard, with +a lively feeling of joy, of his daughter's return, and immediately +gave up his inspection in order to hurry to her. The more heavily +misfortune pressed upon the Marquis, the greater became the affection +he entertained for his children; he felt a necessity for resting on +them, and drawing more closely the family ties. When he entered, with +Don Ruiz, the room in which Dona Marianna was awaiting him, he opened +his arms and embraced her tenderly. + +"Naughty girl!" he exclaimed; "What mortal anxiety you have caused me! +Why did you remain so long absent in these troublous times?" + +"Forgive me, my dear father," the girl answered, as she returned his +caresses; "I incurred no danger." + +"Heaven be praised! But why did you stay away from us for three days." + +The young lady blushed. + +"Father," she answered, as she lavished on her parent those tender +blandishments of which girls so thoroughly possess the secret, "during +my entire absence I was only thinking of you." + +"Alas!" the Marquis murmured, with a choking sigh, "I know your heart, +my poor child; unhappily my position is so desperate that nothing can +save me." + +"Perhaps you may be saved, father," she said, with a toss of her head. + +"Do not attempt to lead me astray by false hopes, which, in the end, +would render our frightful situation even more cruel than it is." + +"I do not wish to do so, father," she said, earnestly, "but I bring you +a certainty." + +"A certainty, child! That is a very serious word in the mouth of a +girl. Where do you suppose it possible to find the means to conjure ill +fortune?" + +"Not very far off, father; at this very place, if you like." + +Don Hernando made no reply, but let his head drop on his chest +mournfully. + +"Listen to Marianna, father," Don Ruiz then said; "she is the angel of +our home. I believe in her, for I am certain that she would not make a +jest of our misfortunes." + +"Thanks, Ruiz. Oh, you are right; I would sooner die than dream of +increasing my father's grief." + +"I know it, child," the Marquis answered, with sad impatience; "but you +are young, inexperienced, and doubtless accept the wishes of your heart +as certainties." + +"Why not listen to what my sister has to say, father?" Don Ruiz said. +"If she is deceiving herself--if what she wishes to tell us does not +produce on you the effect she expects from it, at any rate she will +have given an undeniable proof of the lively interest she takes in +your affairs; and were it only for that reason, both you and I owe her +thanks." + +"Of what good is it, children?" + +"Good heavens, father! In our fearful situation we should neglect +nothing. Who knows? Very frequently the weakest persons bring the +greatest help. Listen to my sister first, and then you will judge +whether her remarks deserve to be taken into consideration." + +"As you press it, Ruiz, I will hear her." + +"I do not press, father--I entreat. Come, speak, little sister; speak +without fear, for we shall listen--at least I shall--with the liveliest +interest." + +Dona Marianna smiled sweetly, threw her arms round her father's neck, +and laid her head on his shoulder with a charming gesture. + +"How I love you, my dear father!" she said; "How I should like to see +you happy! I have nothing to tell you, for you will not believe me; and +what I might have to say is so strange and improbable, that you would +not put faith in it." + +"You see, child, that I was right." + +"Wait a moment, father," she continued; "if I have nothing to tell you, +I have a favour to ask." + +"A favour!--yes, my dear." + +"Yes, father, a favour; but what I desire is so singular--coming from +a girl--that I really do not know how to make my request, although the +thought is perfectly clear in my mind." + +"Oh, oh, little maid," the Marquis said, with a smile, though he +was much affected, "what is this thing which requires such mighty +preparations? It must be very terrible for you to hesitate so in +revealing it to me." + +"No, father, it is not terrible; but, I repeat, it will appear to you +wild." + +"Oh, my child," he continued, as he shrugged his shoulders with an +air of resignation, "I have seen so many wild things for some time +past, that I shall not attach any importance to one now; hence you can +explain yourself fully, without fearing any blame from me." + +"Listen to me, father; the favour I have to ask of you is this--and, in +the first place, you must promise to grant it to me." + +"iCaramba!" he said, good-humouredly, "you are taking your +precautions, senorita. And suppose that I refuse?" + +"In that case, father, all would be at an end," she replied, +sorrowfully. + +"Come, my child, re-assure yourself: I pledge you my word, which you +ask for so peremptorily. Are you satisfied now?" + +"Oh, father, how kind you are! You really mean it now. You pledge your +word to grant me what I ask of you?" + +"Yes, yes, little obstinate, I do pledge my word." + +The girl danced with delight, as she clapped her pretty little hands, +and warmly embraced her father. + +"On my word, this little girl is mad!" the Marquis said, with a smile. + +"Yes, father, mad with delight; for I hope soon to prove to you that +your fortune has never been more flourishing than it now is." + +"Why, her mind is wandering now." + +"No, father," said Don Ruiz, who, with his eyes fixed on his sister, +was listening with sustained interest, and was attentively following +the play of her flexible face, on which the varied emotions that +agitated her were reflected; "I believe, on the contrary, that Marianna +is at this moment revolving in her mind some strange scheme, for +carrying out which she requires full and entire liberty." + +"You have read the truth, Ruiz. Yes, I have a great project in my head; +but in order that it may be thoroughly successful, I must be mistress +of my actions, without control or remarks, from eight o'clock this +evening till midnight. Do you grant me this power, father?" + +"I have promised it," Don Hernando replied, with a smile. "A gentleman +has only his word; as you desire, from eight o'clock till midnight you +will be sole mistress of the hacienda: no one, not even myself, will +have the right to make a remark about your conduct. Must I announce +this officially to our people?" he added, sportively. + +"It is unnecessary, father: only two persons need be told." + +"And who are these two privileged persons, if you please?" + +"My foster brother Mariano, the tigrero, and Jose Paredes." + +"Come, I see you know where to place your confidence. Those two men are +entirely devoted to us, and this gives me trust in the future. Go on, +my child; what must be done further?" + +"These men must be provided with picks, spades, crowbars, and lanterns." + +"I see you are thinking about digging." + +"Possibly," she said, with a smile. + +"Stories about buried treasure are thoroughly worn out in this country, +my child," he said, with a dubious shake of his head; "all those that +have been buried were dug up long ago." + +"I can offer you no explanation, father. You are ignorant of my plan, +and hence cannot argue upon a matter you do not know: moreover, you +must make no remarks, and be the first to obey me," she said, with an +exquisite smile. "You ought not to give an example of rebellion to my +new subjects." + +"That is perfectly true, my dear child; I am in the wrong, and offer +you an ample apology. Be good enough to go on with your instructions." + +"I have only a word to add, father. You and Ruiz must also provide +yourselves with tools, for I expect you all four to work." + +"Oh, oh, that is rather hard--not on me who am young," Don Ruiz +exclaimed, laughingly, "but on our father. Come, little sister, do not +expect such toil from him." + +"I may have to lend a hand myself," Dona Marianna replied. "Believe +me, Don Ruiz, you should not treat this affair lightly; it is far more +serious than you suppose, and the consequence will be of incalculable +importance for my father and the honour of our name. In my turn I will +take an oath, since you refuse to believe my word." + +"Not I, sister." + +"Yes, Ruiz, you doubt it, although you do not like to allow it. Well, I +swear to you and my father, by all I hold dearest in the world--that is +to say, you two--that I am perfectly well aware of what I am doing, and +am certain of success." + +Such enthusiasm sparkled in the girl's brilliant eyes, there was such +an expression of sincerity in her accent, that the two gentlemen at +length confessed themselves vanquished; her conviction had entered +their minds, and they were persuaded. + +"What you desire shall be done, daughter," Don Hernando said; "and, +whatever the result may be, I shall feel grateful to you for the +efforts you are making." + +Don Ruiz, by his father's orders, warned the majordomo and the tigrero, +who was already preparing to return to the rancho. But so soon as +the young man knew that his presence was necessary at the hacienda, +he remained without the slightest remark, and delighted at having an +opportunity to prove to his masters how greatly he was devoted to them. +Then what always happens under similar circumstances occurred: while +Dona Marianna was calmly awaiting the hour she had herself fixed for +action, the Marquis and his son, on the other hand, suffered from a +feverish curiosity, which did not allow them a moment's rest, and made +them regard the delay as interminable. At length eight o'clock struck. + +"It is time!" said Dona Marianna. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +THE HUERTA. + + +All southern nations are fond of shade, flowers, and birds; and as the +heat of the climate compels them, so to speak, to live in the open air, +they have arranged their gardens with a degree of comfort unknown among +us. The Italians and Spaniards, whose houses, during the greater part +of the year, are only inhabitable for a few hours a day, have striven +to make their gardens veritable oases, where they can breathe the fresh +evening air without being annoyed by those myriads of mosquitoes and +gnats unknown in temperate climates, but which in tropical latitudes +are a real plague. At midday they may be seen wheeling in countless +myriads in every sunbeam. The Hispano-Americans especially have raised +the gardening art to a science, being always engaged in trying to solve +the problem of procuring fresh air during the hottest hours of the +day--that is to say, between midday and three p.m., during which time +the earth, which has been heated since dawn by the burning heat of a +torrid sun, exhales deadly effluvia, and so decomposes the air that it +is impossible to breathe it. + +The Spanish language, which is so rich in expressions of every +description, has two words to signify a garden. There is the word +_jardin_, by which is meant the parterre properly so called--the garden +in which flowers are cultivated that in those countries grow in the +open air, but with us only in hothouses, where they are stunted and +decrepit; and, secondly, the _huerta_, which means the kitchen-garden, +the vineyard, and their clumps of trees, wide avenues, cascades, +streams, and lakes--in a word, all that we, very improperly in my +opinion, have agreed to call a park. The Hacienda del Toro possessed a +huerta, which the Marquises de Moguer had in turn sought to embellish. +This huerta, which in Europe would have seemed very large--for life +among us has been reduced to the conditions of a mean and shabby +comfort--was considered small in that country. It contained in all +only thirty acres--that is to say, a surface of about twelve square +miles; but this relative smallness was made up for by an admirable +disposition of the ground, and an extent of shade, which had made a +great reputation for the Huerta del Toro throughout Sonora. + +At eight o'clock precisely the curfew was rung, as was the custom +at the hacienda. At the sound of the chapel bell all the peons and +vaqueros retired to their jacales in order to sleep. Paredes had placed +sentinels at night on the walls ever since an attack from the Indians +had been apprehended, and the precaution was the more necessary at +this time, as there was no moon, and it is that period of the month +which the Redskins always select to begin their invasions. When the +majordomo had assured himself that the sentries were at their posts, +he made a general inspection of the whole hacienda to have the lights +extinguished, and then proceeded, accompanied by the tigrero, to the +Blue Room, where Don Hernando and his son and daughter were assembled. + +"All is in order, _mi amo_," he said; "everybody has retired to his +jacal, the hacienda gates are closed, and the sentries placed on the +walls." + +"You are quite certain, Paredes, that no one is walking about the +corals or huerta?" + +"No one; I made my rounds with the greatest strictness." + +"Very good; now, daughter, you can give your orders, and we are ready +to obey you." + +Dona Marianna bowed to her father with a smile. + +"Paredes," she said, "have you procured the tools my brother ordered +you to provide?" + +"Nina," he answered, "I have placed six picks, six crowbars, and six +spades in a clump of carob trees at the entrance of the large flower +garden." + +"Why such a number of tools?" she asked, laughingly. + +"Because, senorita, some may break; the work we have to do must be +performed quickly, and had I not taken this precaution, we might have +met with delay." + +"You are right. Follow me, senora." + +"And the lanterns?" Don Ruiz observed. + +"We will take them with us, but not light them till we reach the +spot whither I am taking you. Although the night is dark, with your +knowledge of localities we shall be able to guide ourselves without +difficulty through the darkness. Our lights might be seen and arouse +suspicions, and that is what we must avoid most of all." + +"Excellently reasoned, daughter." + +Dona Marianna rose, and the four men followed her in silence. They +crossed the apartments instead of passing through the _patios_, which +were thronged with sleepers, and entered the huerta by large double +doors, from which the garden was reached by a flight of steps. On +leaving the Blue Room Dona Marianna took the precaution to blow out the +candles, so that the hacienda was plunged into complete darkness, and +all appeared asleep. The night was very dark; the sky, in which not +a single star twinkled, seemed an immense pall; the breeze whistled +hoarsely through the trees, whose branches rustled with an ill-omened +murmur. In the distance could be heard the snapping bark of the +coyotes, and at times the melancholy hoot of the owl arose in the dark, +and broke the mournful silence which brooded over nature. This night +was excellently chosen for a mysterious expedition of such a nature as +Dona Marianna was about to attempt. + +After an instant--not of hesitation, for the maiden, although her heart +was beating loudly, was firm and resolute--but of reflection, Dona +Marianna rapidly descended the steps and entered the garden, closely +followed by the four men, who also experienced an internal emotion for +which they could not account. They had gone but a few yards when they +halted; they had reached the thicket in which the tools were concealed. +The majordomo and the tigrero took them on their shoulders, while the +Marquis and his son carried the lanterns. In spite of the darkness, +which was rendered even more intense by the dense shadow cast by the +old trees in the huerta, the young lady rapidly advanced, scarce making +the sand creak beneath her little feet, and following the winding walks +with as much ease as if she were traversing them in the bright sunshine. + +The Marquis and his son felt their curiosity increase from moment to +moment. They saw the girl so gay, and so sure of herself, that they +involuntarily began to hope, although they found it impossible to +explain the nature of their hopes to themselves. Paredes and Mariano +were also greatly puzzled about the purpose of the expedition in which +they were taking part; but their thoughts did not travel beyond this: +they supposed that there was some work for them to do, and that was all. + +The young lady still walked on, stopping at times and muttering a +few words in a low voice, as if trying to remember the instructions +she had previously received, but never hesitating, or taking one walk +for another; in a word, she did not once retrace her steps when she +had selected her course. Night, especially when it is dark, imparts +to scenery a peculiar hue, which completely changes the appearance of +the most familiar spots; it gives the smallest object a formidable +aspect; all is confounded in one mass, without graduated tints, +from which nothing stands out: a spot which is very cheerful in the +sunshine becomes gloomy and mournful when enveloped in darkness. The +huerta, which was so pretty and bright by day, assumed on this night +the gloomy and majestic proportions of a forest; the fall of a leaf, +the accidental breaking of a branch, the dull murmur of invisible +waters--things so unimportant in themselves--made these men start +involuntarily, although they were endowed with great energy, and any +real danger would not have made them blench. + +But darkness possesses the fatal influence over the human organization +of lessening its faculties, and rendering it small and paltry. A man +who, in the midst of a battle, electrified by the sound of the cannon, +intoxicated by the smell of powder, and excited by the example of his +comrades, performs prodigies of valour, will tremble like a child on +finding himself alone in the shadow of night, and in the presence of an +unknown object, which causes him to apprehend a danger which frequently +only exists in his sickly imagination. Hence our friends involuntarily +underwent the formidable influence of darkness, and felt a certain +uneasiness, which they tried in vain to combat, and which they could +not succeed in entirely dispelling, in spite of all their efforts. They +walked on silent and gloomy, pressing against each other, looking +around them timidly, and in their hearts wishing to reach as speedily +as possible the end of this long walk. At length Dona Marianna halted. + +"Light the lanterns," she said. + +This was the first remark made since they left the Blue Room. The +lanterns were instantly lighted. Dona Marianna took one, and handed +another to her brother. + +"Show me a light, Ruiz," she said to him. + +The spot where they found themselves was situated at nearly the centre +of the huerta; it was a species of grass plot, on which only stubbly, +stunted grass grew. In the centre rose a sort of tumulus, formed of +several rocks piled on one another without any apparent symmetry, and +which the owners of the hacienda had always respected in consequence +of its barbarous singularity. An old tradition asserted that one of +the old kings of Cibola, on the ruins of which town the hacienda was +built, had been buried at the spot, which was called "The Tomb of the +Cacique" after the tradition, whether it were true or false. The first +Marquis de Moguer, who was a very pious man, like all the Spanish +conquistadors, had to some extent authorized this belief, by having the +mound blessed by a priest, under the pretext--a very plausible one at +that time--that the tomb of a pagan attracted demons, who would at once +retire when it was consecrated. + +With the exception of the name it bore, this mound had never been held +in bad repute, and no suspicious legend was attached to it. It was +remote from the buildings of the hacienda, and surrounded on all sides +by dense and almost impenetrable clumps of trees. Persons very rarely +visited it, because, as it stood in the centre of an open patch of +grass, it offered no shelter against the sun; hence the place was only +known to the family and their oldest servants. + +"Ah! Ah!" said the Marquis, "So you have brought us to the cacique's +tomb, my girl?" + +"Yes, father; we can now begin operations without fear of being seen." + +"I greatly fear that your hopes have led you astray." + +"You promised, father, to make no remarks." + +"That is true, and so I will hold my tongue." + +"Very good, father," she said, with a smile; "be assured that this +exemplary docility will soon be duly rewarded." + +And the young lady continued her investigations. She looked attentively +at every stone, seeming to study its position carefully, while +comparing it with a point of the compass. + +"In which direction does the clump of old aloes lie?" she at length +asked. + +"That I cannot tell you," said Don Ruiz. + +"With your permission, I will do so," Paredes observed. + +"Yes, yes," she said, eagerly. + +The majordomo looked about for a moment, and then, placing himself in +a certain direction, said,--"The aloes of Cibola, as we call them, are +just facing me." + +"Are you certain of it, Paredes?" + +"Yes, nina, I am." + +The young lady immediately placed herself by the majordomo's side, +and bending down over the stones, examined them with extreme care and +attention. At length she drew herself up with a start of joy. + +"My father," she said, with emotion, "the honour of dealing the first +stroke belongs to you." + +"Very good, my child; where am I to strike?" + +"There!" she said, pointing to a rather large gap between two stones. + +Don Hernando drove in the pick, and, pressing on it forcibly, detached +a stone, which rolled on the grass. + +"Very good," said the girl. "Now stop, father, and let these young men +work; you can join them presently, should it prove necessary. Come, +Ruiz--come tocayo--come, Paredes--to work, my friends! Enlarge this +hole, and make it large enough for us to pass through." + +The three men set to work ardently, excited by Dona Marianna's +words, and soon the stones, leaping from their bed of earth, began +to strew the ground around in large numbers. Not one of the three +men suspected the nature of the task he was performing, and yet +such is the attraction of a secret, that they drove in their picks +with extraordinary ardour. Ruiz alone possibly foresaw an important +discovery behind the task, but could not have explained what its nature +was. The work, in the meanwhile, progressed; the hole became with every +moment larger. The stones, which had been apparently thrown upon each +other, were not bound by any mortal, and hence, so soon as the first +was removed, the others came out with extreme facility. Now and then +the labourers stopped to draw breath; but this interruption lasted +only a short time, so anxious were they to obtain the solution of the +problem. All at once they stopped in discouragement, for an enormous +mass of rock resisted their efforts. This rock, which was about six +feet square, was exactly under the stones they had previously removed, +and as no solution of continuity could be perceived, everything led to +the supposition that this rock was really very much larger, and that +only a portion of it was laid bare. + +"Why are you stopping, brother?" Dona Marianna asked. + +"Because we have reached the rock, and should break our picks, without +getting any further." + +"What! Reached the rock? Impossible!" + +The Marquis leant over the excavation. + +"It would be madness to try and get any further," he said; "it is plain +that we have reached the rock." Dona Marianna gave an angry start. + +"I tell you again that it is impossible," she continued. + +"Look for yourself, sister." + +The young lady took a lantern and looked; then, without answering her +brother, she turned to Paredes and the tigrero. + +"You," she said, "are old servants of the family, and I can order you +without any fear of being contradicted; so obey me. Remove, as rapidly +as possible, all the stones round that supposed rock, and when that is +done, I fancy I shall convince the most incredulous." + +The two men resumed work; and Don Ruiz, piqued by his sister's remark, +imitated them. The Marquis with folded arms and head bowed on his +chest, was overcome by such persistency, and began to hope again. Ere +long the stones were removed, and the mass of rock stood solitary. + +The young lady turned to the Marquis. + +"Father," she said to him, "you dealt the first blow, and must deal the +last; help these three men in removing this block." + +Without replying, the Marquis seized a pick, and placed himself +by the side of the workers. The four men dug their tools into the +friable earth which adhered to the rock; then, with a common and +gradual effort, they began raising the stone until it suddenly lost +its balance, toppled over, and fell on the ground, revealing a deep +excavation. At the sight of this, all uttered a cry of surprise. + +"Burn some wood to purify the air," the young lady said. + +They obeyed with that feverish activity which, in great circumstances, +seizes on apparently the slowest natures. + +"Now come, father," Dona Marianna said, as she seized a lantern and +boldly entered the excavation. + +The Marquis went in, and the rest followed him. After proceeding for +about one hundred yards along a species of gallery, they perceived the +body of a man, lying on a sort of clumsy dais, in a perfect state of +preservation, and rather resembling a sleeping person than a corpse. +Near the body the fleshless bones of another person were scattered on +the ground. + +"Look!" said the maiden. + +"Yes," the Marquis answered, "it is the body interred under the +tumulus." + +"You are mistaken, father; it is the body of a miner, and the fancied +tumulus is nothing but a very rich gold mine, which has remained for +ages under the guard of this insensate body, and which it has pleased +Heaven to make known to you, in order that you may recover the fortune +which you were on the point of losing. Look around you," she said, +raising the lantern. + +The Marquis uttered a cry of delight and admiration, doubt was no +longer possible. All around he saw enormous veins of gold, easy of +extraction almost without labour. The Marquis was dazzled; weaker in +joy than in suffering, he fell unconscious on the floor of this mine, +whose produce was about to restore him all that he had lost. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +THE ASSAULT ON QUITOVAR. + + +While these events were taking place at the Hacienda del Toro, others +of an even more important nature were being carried out at the Real +de Minas. Kidd the adventurer, had scarce left Don Rufino Contreras, +after the interesting conversations we have recorded, ere the senator +made his preparations for departure, and at once set out for the Real +de Minas, though careful to be accompanied by a respectable escort, +which protected him from the insults of marauders. At eight a.m. of the +following day the senator entered the pueblo, and his first business +was to present himself to the town commandant, Don Marcos de Niza. The +captain not only received him coldly, but with a certain amount of +constraint. This did not escape the senator's quick eye, but he was not +at all affected by it. + +"My dear captain," he said, after the usual compliments, "I am +pleased at having been selected by the Presidential Government as its +delegate to the military authorities of the State of Sonora for two +reasons, apart from the honour I shall acquire by accomplishing this +confidential duty." + +The captain bowed, but said nothing. + +"The first of these reasons," the senator continued with his eternal +smile, "is that I make the acquaintance of an excellent caballero in +yourself; the second, that before being joined in the command with +you, and desiring to make myself as agreeable to you as I could, I +asked for the rank of lieutenant-colonel for you, a step which, between +ourselves, you have long deserved, and I was so fortunate as to obtain +it for you. Permit me to hand you the commission with my own hands." + +And drawing from his pocketbook a large folded paper, he laid it in the +hand which the captain mechanically held out. The senator had justly +counted on the skilfully managed surprise. The captain, confounded +by the tardy justice done him, could not find a word to answer, but +from this moment Don Rufino's cause was gained in his mind; and unless +some unforeseen event occurred, the senator was convinced that he had +nothing now to fear from this man, whom he had cleverly managed to lay +under an obligation, without it costing him anything. The truth was, +that a few days previously the captain's nomination had reached the +Governor of Arispe from Mexico; the senator accidentally heard of it, +and offered to deliver it to the captain. As the governor had no reason +to refuse, he entrusted the nomination to the senator, and he turned it +to the good purpose we have seen. + +"And now," he continued, cutting short the thanks which the new +colonel thought himself bound to offer him, "permit me to change the +conversation, my dear colonel, and speak to you about things which +interest me privately." + +"I am listening to you caballero," Don Marcos answered; "and if I can +be of any service to you--" + +"Oh, merely to give me some information," the senator interrupted him; +"I will explain the matter in two words. I am, as you are probably +aware, very intimate with a relative of yours, the Marquis de Moguer, +and an alliance between us is being arranged at this moment." + +Don Marcos gave a deep bow. + +"Now," the senator continued, "the Marquis, as you of course know, +has been seriously tried of late; in a word, between ourselves, he +is almost ruined. Several times already I have been so fortunate as +to render him important services; but, as you know, where misfortune +is pressing a family, the best intentions often can only succeed in +retarding an inevitable downfall. Being most desirous to save a man +with whom I shall be probably closely connected within a few days, +not merely by the ties of friendship, but also by the closer links +of relationship, I have bought up all his debts; in a word, I have +become his sole creditor, and that is as much as telling you that the +Marquis does not owe a farthing now. The man whom I entrusted with this +difficult negotiation will arrive immediately in this town, where I +gave him the meeting." + +"He arrived some days ago," the colonel remarked. + +"Indeed!" Don Rufino exclaimed, affecting surprise, "It seems in that +case that he has worked quicker than I expected. But that is a thousand +times better, as I will claim a service at your hands." + +"A service!" Don Marcos exclaimed, with instinctive distrust. + +"Yes," the senator continued, tranquilly; "I hardly know how to explain +it to you, for it is so difficult, however friendly you may be with +a man whose daughter you are about to marry, to say to him 'You owed +enormous sums; I have bought up your debts, here are the receipts; burn +them, for you owe nothing now;' it would be looking so much like trying +to impose conditions to act thus--in a word, to make a bargain--that +I feel a repugnance from it; and if a common friend does not consent +to come to my assistance in the matter, I confess to you that I am +completely ignorant how I shall get out of the difficulty." + +"What!" the colonel exclaimed, in admiration, "Would you do that?" + +"I never had any other thought," the senator replied simply. + +"Oh, it is a great and generous action, caballero." + +"Not at all; on the contrary, it is quite natural. Don Hernando is my +intimate friend; I am going to marry his daughter, and my line of duty +is plain. I only did what anyone else in my place would have done." + +"No, no," Don Marcos said, shaking his head with an air of conviction; +"no, senor, no one would have acted as you have done, I feel certain. +Alas! Hearts like yours are rare." + +"All the worse, all the worse, and I feel sorry for humanity," Don +Rufino said, as he raised his eyes piously to the ceiling. + +"What is the service you expect from me, senor?" + +"A very simple thing. I will give you in a few moments those unlucky +receipts, which I will ask you to be kind enough to hand to the +Marquis. You can make him understand better than I can the purity of my +intentions in this affair; and, above all, pray assure him that I have +not done it for the purpose of forcing him to give me his daughter's +hand." + +The senator went away, leaving the colonel completely under the charm. +He proceeded hastily to the meson where Don Parfindo was lodged; he +took the receipts from him, rewarded him handsomely, and did not leave +him till he saw him and his bailiff out of the pueblo; then he walked +slowly back to the colonel's house, rubbing his hands, and muttering, +with an ironical smile-- + +"I fancy that I shall soon have no cause to fear that worthy Senor +Kidd's denunciations. By the bye, where can he be? His absence from +Quitovar is not natural, and I must free myself from him at our next +interview." + +The senator's conversation with his agent had occupied some time, and +when Don Rufino returned to the colonel's house, he found the latter +busy in making known his new rank to his officers. The colonel eagerly +took advantage of the opportunity to introduce the senator to them, and +to tell them that Don Rufino was delegated by the Government to watch +the operations of the army, and that hence they must obey him like +himself. The officers bowed respectfully to the senator, made their +bows, and retired. When the two gentlemen were alone again, the ice +was completely broken between them, and they were the best friends in +the world. + +"Well," the colonel asked. + +"All is settled," the senator replied, as he produced the vouchers. + +"iCaramba! You have lost no time." + +"The best things are those done quickly. Take all these documents, and +make what use of them you think proper. I am delighted at having got +rid of them." While saying this, Don Rufino threw the papers on the +table with an excellent affectation of delight. + +"With your leave, caballero," the colonel said, with a laugh, "I will +take these papers, since you insist on it, but I will give you a +receipt." + +"Oh, no," the senator exclaimed, "that would spoil the whole business." + +"Still--" + +"Not a word," he interrupted him, quickly; "I do not wish to have in my +possession the shadow of a claim upon Don Hernando." + +The colonel would have probably pressed the point, had not a great +noise been heard in the anteroom, and a man rushed into the colonel's +sanctum, shouting at the top of his lungs, "The Indians! The Indians!" + +The colonel and the senator rose. The man was Kidd; his clothes were +torn and disordered; his face and hands were covered with blood and +dust, and all apparently proved that he had just escaped from a sharp +pursuit. A strange uproar outside the house, which soon assumed +formidable proportions, corroborated his statement. + +"Is that you, Kidd?" the colonel exclaimed. + +"Yes," he replied; "but lose no time, captain; here are the pagans! +They are at my heels, and I am scarce half an hour ahead of them." + +Without waiting to hear anything more, the colonel dashed out of the +room. + +"Where have you come from?" Don Rufino asked the bandit, so soon as he +was alone with him. + +The latter gave a start of disappointment on recognising the senator, +whom he had not noticed at the first moment. This start did not escape +Don Rufino. + +"How does that concern you?" the adventurer answered, roughly. + +"I want to know." + +Kidd made a meaning grimace. + +"Every man has his own business," he said. + +"Some treachery you have been preparing, of course." + +"That is possible," he replied, with a knowing grin. + +"Against me, perhaps." + +"Who knows?" + +"Will you speak?" + +"What is the use of speaking, since you have guessed it?" + +"Then you are still trying to deceive me?" + +"I mean to take my precautions, that is all." + +"Scoundrel!" the senator exclaimed, with a menacing gesture. + +"Nonsense!" the other said, with a shrug of his shoulders; "I am not +afraid of you, for you would not dare kill me." + +"Why not?" + +"In the first place, because it would cause a row, and because I do not +think you such a friend of the captain that you would venture to take +such a liberty in his house." + +"You are mistaken, villain, and you shall have a proof of it." + +"Holloa!" the adventurer exclaimed, as he retired precipitately to the +door. + +But, with a gesture rapid as thought, Don Rufino seized one of Don +Marcos's pistols, cocked it, and ere Kidd could effect the retreat he +was meditating, he fired, and the adventurer lay on the ground with a +bullet in his chest. + +"Die, brigand!" the senator shouted, as he threw down the weapon he had +used. + +"Yes," the bandit muttered, "but not unavenged. It was well played, +master; but your turn will soon arrive--" + +And stiffening with a final convulsion, the ruffian expired, retaining +on his features even after death an expression of mocking defiance, +which caused the senator an involuntary tremor. + +"What is the matter here?" the colonel asked, suddenly entering. + +"Nothing very important," Don Rufino said, carelessly. "I was carried +away by my passion, and settled this scoundrel." + +"_iViva Dios!_ You were right, senor; I only regret that you have +anticipated me, for I have proofs of his treachery.--Ho, there! Remove +this carrion, and throw it out," he shouted to some soldiers who +accompanied him, and had remained in the anteroom. + +The soldiers obeyed, and the adventurer's body was thrown +unceremoniously into the street. + +"Are the Indians really coming up?" + +"The dust raised by their horses' hoofs can already be perceived. We +have not a moment to lose in preparing for defence. I suppose I can +reckon on you?" + +"_iRayo de Dios!_! I should hope so." + +"Come, then, for time presses." + +Kidd had in reality prepared, with his usual Machiavelism, a new +treachery, of which, unluckily for him, he was destined to be the first +victim. The whole pueblo was in an uproar: the streets were crowded +with soldiers proceeding to their posts; with women, children, and +aged persons flying in terror; with rancheros, who arrived at a gallop +to find shelter in the town, and heightened the general alarm by the +terror depicted on their faces; cattle were dashing madly about the +streets, deserted by their herds, who were compelled to proceed to the +intrenchments; and on the distant plain the body of Indians could be +seen through the dust clouds, coming up at headlong speed. + +"They are numerous," the senator whispered to the colonel. + +"Too many," the latter answered; "but silence! Let us look cheerful." + +There were twenty minutes of indescribable anxiety, during which the +defenders of the pueblo were enabled to examine their enemies, and form +an idea of the terrible danger that menaced them. + +Unhappily, the sun was on the point of setting, and it was evident that +the Redskins had calculated their march so as to arrive exactly at +that moment, and continue the attack through the night. The colonel, +foreseeing that he might possibly be compelled to have recourse to +flight, collected a band of fifty resolute horsemen, whom he gave +orders not to leave the Plaza Major, and be ready for any eventuality. +After their first charge the Indians retired out of musket range, and +did not renew their attack. A few horsemen, better mounted than the +rest, were scattered over the plain, picking up the dead and wounded, +and capturing the straggling horses; but the colonel gave orders that +they should not be fired at--not through humanity, but in order to +spare his ammunition, of which he possessed a very small stock. + +Night set in, and a deep gloom covered the earth; but the redskins +lit no fires. This circumstance alarmed the colonel; but several +hours passed, and nothing led to the possibility of an attack +being suspected. Profound silence brooded over the pueblo and the +surrounding plains, and the Indians seemed to have disappeared as if by +enchantment. The Mexicans tried in vain to distinguish any suspicious +forms in the darkness; they saw and heard nothing. This expectation of +a danger, which all felt to be imminent and terrible, had something +frightful for the besieged. + +Suddenly an immense light lit up the plain; the black outlines of the +Indians rose like diabolical apparitions, galloping in all directions; +a horrible, discordant, and shrill yell echoed in the ears of the +Mexicans, and clouds of blazing arrows fell upon them from all sides +at once, while the hideous heads of the Redskins appeared on the crest +of the entrenchments. Then, in the light of a forest, kindled by the +Indians to serve them as a beacon, an obstinate hand-to-hand fight +began between the white men and redskins. + +The pueblo was captured; any further resistance became not only +impossible, but insensate. Several houses were already ablaze, and in +a few minutes the Real de Minas would only be one immense furnace. The +senator and the colonel had fought bravely so long as a gleam of hope +was left them and the struggle appeared possible. At this moment they +thought of saving the few wretches who still existed, and had escaped +the frightful massacre by a miracle. Collecting around them all the men +they possessed, they dashed to the Plaza Major, where, in spite of the +fight raging round them, the squadron picked by Don Marcos had remained +motionless, and leaping on their horses, they gave the order to start. +Then the little band rushed forward like a hurricane, overthrowing and +crushing all the obstacles that stood in their way; and after losing +one-third their number, the rest succeeded in leaving the pueblo, +traversing the enemy's lines, and taking the road to the Hacienda del +Toro, without any close pursuit. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +THE VENGEANCE OF HEAVEN. + + +The Marquis's faint lasted but a short time, thanks to the attentions +his son and daughter paid him. He had scarce regained his senses ere he +drew Dona Marianna gently to him. + +"My dear child," he muttered, as he pressed her to his heart, "you are +our saviour." + +The girl, delighted with this praise, freed herself, with a blush, from +her father's embrace. + +"Then," she said, with a pretty toss of her head, "you now allow, I +think, father, that I have really kept my word." + +"Oh, my child," he said, with much emotion, as he looked around him in +delight, "there are here fifty fortunes equal to the one I have lost." + +The girl clapped her hands in delight. + +"Ah, how happy I am! I felt certain that she would not deceive me." + +This remark, which escaped from the fullness of Dona Marianna's heart, +struck Don Hernando. + +"To whom are you alluding, daughter? And who is this person who +inspires you with such confidence?" + +"The one who revealed the existence of this treasure to me, father," +she answered. + +The Marquis did not press her. + +"Mariano," he said to the tigrero, "you will pass the night here; allow +no one to approach this excavation, for it would be imprudent to let +strangers know of the existence of such a treasure before we have time +to take certain precautions indispensable for its safety." + +"You can go without fear, _mi amo_," the brave lad answered; "no one +shall approach the mine while I am alive." + +"Besides," Don Hernando continued, "your watch will cease at sunrise." + +"As long as you please, _mi amo_." + +And the tigrero, collecting the tools and lanterns, installed himself +in the excavation itself, a few yards from the body still lying on the +dais. + +The other four slowly returned to the hacienda, conversing about this +marvellous discovery, which, at the moment when all seemed desperate, +saved the family. In fact, the gold veins were so rich, that it would +be possible to detach in a single day enough nearly to cover all the +debts contracted by the Marquis. They re-entered the blue room; and +though it was very late, not one of them felt the slightest inclination +to sleep; on the contrary, they wanted still to converse about the mine. + +"Well," the Marquis said, "you did not dream that so rich a mine +existed on the estate; you allowed as much just now." + +"In truth, father, someone was kind enough to give me the information +by which I found it." + +"But who can this person be, who is better acquainted than myself +with a property which has been in the hands of the family more than +three hundred years, and yet nobody suspected that it contained this +treasure?" + +"The probability is that the secret was well kept, father." + +"Of course; but by whom?" + +"By the old owners of the soil, of course." + +"Nonsense! You are jesting, daughter. Those poor Indians disappeared +long ago from the face of the earth." + +"I am not of that opinion, father," Don Ruiz observed. + +"The more so," Paredes struck in, "because I know for a fact that the +tribe to which you allude still exists; it is one of the most powerful +in the great confederation of the Papazos." + +"And you know, father, with what religious exactitude the Indians +preserve secrets confided to their conscience." + +"That is true; but in that case some man must have spoken." + +"Or some woman," Dona Marianna said, smilingly. + +"Well, be it so--a woman," the Marquis continued; "that is already a +valuable piece of news. I know that you have obtained your information +about the mine from a woman, my child." + +"Unhappily, father, I am prohibited from saying any more." + +"Humph! Prohibited!" + +"Yes, father. However, re-assure yourself: this mine is really +yours--your lawful property. Its owner has freely surrendered it in +your favour." + +Don Hernando frowned with an air of dissatisfaction. + +"Charity!" he muttered. + +"Oh, no, but a gift you can accept, father, I swear to you. Besides, +the person to whom you are indebted for it promised me to make herself +known to you ere long." + +On the next morning, by the orders of the Marquis, the majordomo +selected ten confidential rancheros and peons from those who had sought +shelter at the hacienda, and the work commenced at once. The mine had +been abandoned exactly in the state in which it was when the body of +the miner was found by the Indians; hence the mere sweepings formed a +considerable amount, and at the expiration of four or five days the +sum collected was sufficient, not only to pay off all the debts, but +also to leave at the disposal of the Marquis a sum thrice as large as +he owed. With the exception of the legitimate anxiety caused by the +apprehension of an Indian attack, joy had returned to the hacienda; +the Marquis had begun to smile again, and seemed younger--so great is +the privilege of wealth to alter men. The first thought that occurred +to the Marquis was to settle with his creditors, and determine his +position. + +"My dear child," he said one evening to Dona Marianna, at the moment +when she was about to retire for the night, "you have not yet given +me an answer on the subject of Don Rufino Contrera's request for +your hand; but the week has long since passed. Tomorrow, Paredes is +going to start to place in his hands certain letters of importance +for the settlement of my affairs, and I wish to take advantage of the +opportunity. What answer shall I give Don Rufino?" + +The young lady blushed; but at length, subduing the trouble that +agitated her, she said, with a slight tremour in her voice,-- + +"Father, I am doubtless highly honoured by this Caballero's demand; but +do you not think as I do, that the moment is badly chosen for such a +thing, menaced as we incessantly are by terrible dangers?" + +"Very good, daughter; I do not at all wish to force your inclinations. +I will answer the senator in that sense; but if he come himself to seek +his answer, what shall we do?" + +"It will be time enough to think of it then," she replied, with a laugh. + +"Well, well, that is true, and I was wrong to dwell on the matter so. +Good night, my child, and sleep soundly. As for me, I shall probably +spend the whole night in my study with your brother, engaged with my +accounts." + +The young lady withdrew. + +"Senor Marquis," said Paredes, suddenly opening the door, "excuse my +disturbing you so late; but Mariano, the tigrero, has just arrived at +the hacienda with his whole family; he is the bearer of such strange +and terrible news, that you will perhaps sooner hear it from his lips +than from mine." + +"What does he say?" Don Ruiz asked, who entered the room at this moment. + +"He says that the Indians have risen, that they have surprised +the Mineral of Quitovar, fired the pueblo, and massacred all the +inhabitants." + +"Oh, that is frightful!" the Marquis exclaimed. + +"Our poor cousin!" the young man added. + +"That is true; our unhappy cousin commanded at the pueblo. What a +horrible disaster! Send the tigrero in to me, Paredes; go and fetch him +at once." + +Mariano was shown in, and related in their fullest details, though with +some exaggeration, the events recorded in our last chapter, which threw +his hearers into a profound stupor. Among all the incomprehensible +things which daily occur, there is one which will never be explained; +it is the rapidity with which all news spreads even for considerable +distances. Thus, the capture of Quitovar was unhappily only too true, +and the details furnished by Mariano were substantially correct; but +how could the tigrero have become acquainted with a fact that had +happened scarce three hours previously, and at more than ten leagues +from the hacienda? He could not have explained this himself; he had +heard it from somebody, but could not remember whom. + +This terrible news caused the Marquis to reflect deeply. Now that +the roads were probably infested with marauders, and communication +intercepted by the Indians, he could not think of sending Paredes +to Hermosillo, and the journey had become literally impossible. He +must busy himself without delay in organizing the defence of the +hacienda, in order vigorously to repulse the attack which would, in +all probability, not be long delayed. In spite of the advanced hour, +all were at work in an instant at the Toro; the walls were lined with +defenders, and reserves established in all parts of the hacienda. + +The whole night was spent in preparations. About two hours after +sunrise, at the moment when the Marquis, wearied by a long watch, was +preparing to take a little repose, the sentries signalled the approach +of a body of horsemen, coming at full gallop towards the hacienda. +The Marquis went up on the walls, took a telescope, and had a look at +them. After a short examination, he perceived that these horsemen were +Mexicans, although, owing to the distance, he could not distinguish +whether they were soldiers or rancheros. Still, he had all preparations +made to give them a hearty reception, if they evinced a desire to +halt at the hacienda, as the direction they were following seemed to +indicate. + +Some time elapsed ere these horsemen, who were climbing the hill, +reached the hacienda gates. Then all doubts were removed: they were +soldiers, and a few paces ahead of the troop rode Don Rufino Contreras +and Colonel Don Marcos de Niza. But both leaders and soldiers were in +such disorder, so blackened with gunpowder, so covered with dust and +blood, that it was plain they had come from a recent fight, from which +they had escaped as fugitives. Men and horses were utterly exhausted, +not alone by the extraordinary fatigue they had undergone, but also by +the gigantic struggle they had sustained ere they dreamed of flight. +It was unnecessary to ask them any questions. The Marquis ordered +refreshments to be served them, and beds got ready. + +Don Marcos de Niza and the senator had hardly the strength to say a few +words explanatory of the wretched condition in which they presented +themselves, and yielding to fatigue and want of sleep, they fell down +in a state of complete insensibility, from which no attempt was made +to rouse them, but they were both carried to bed. The Marquis then +withdrew to his room, leaving his son to watch over the safety of the +hacienda in his stead, for in all probability it would be speedily +invested by the Redskins. + +At three in the afternoon a fresh band of horsemen was signalled in +the plain. This considerable party was composed entirely of hunters +and wood rangers. Don Ruiz gave orders to let them advance, for the +arrival of these hunters, nearly one hundred in number, was a piece +of good fortune for the hacienda, as the number of its defenders was +augmented by so many. Still, when Don Ruiz saw them enter the track, +he noticed such a regularity in their movements, that a doubt crossed +his mind like a flash of lightning, and a thought of treachery rose to +his brain. Hence he rushed to the outer gate of the hacienda to give +Paredes orders not to open; but the majordomo checked him at the first +word. + +"You cannot have looked, nino," he said, "when you order such a thing." + +"On the contrary, I do so because I have looked," he replied. + +"Then you must have seen badly," the majordomo said; "otherwise you +would have perceived that the horseman at their head is one of your +most devoted friends." + +"Whom do you mean?" + +"Who else than Stronghand?" + +"Is Stronghand coming with those horsemen?" + +"He is at the head of the column, nino." + +"Oh, in that case let them enter." + +"Ah, I felt certain of it." + +The hunters had no necessity even of parleying; they found the hacienda +gates wide open, and rode straight in without drawing rein. Don Ruiz +recognised Stronghand, who, on his side, rode up to him and held out +his hand. + +"Grant me one favour, Don Ruiz," he said. + +"Speak," the young man answered. + +"Two words of conversation in your sister's presence; but wait a +moment, another person must accompany me, for reasons you will soon +appreciate; this person desires temporarily to maintain the most +inviolable incognito. Do you consent?" + +Don Ruiz hesitated. + +"What do you fear?" the hunter continued; "Do you not put faith in me? +Do you believe me capable of abusing your confidence?" + +"No; I do not wish even to suppose it, I pledge you my word." + +"And I mine, Don Ruiz." + +"Act as you think proper." + +The hunter gave a signal, and a horseman dismounted and came up to +them. A long cloak entirely covered him, and the broad brim of his hat +was pulled down over his eyes. He bowed silently to the young man, who, +though greatly perplexed by this mystery, made no remark; and after +requesting the majordomo to take care of the newcomers, he led his +guests to the room in which Dona Marianna was seated, engaged with her +tambour-work. The young lady, on hearing the door open, mechanically +raised her eyes. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, joyfully, "Stronghand!" + +"Myself, senorita," the young man replied, with a respectful bow; "I +have come to ask the fulfilment of your promise." + +"I shall keep it, no matter what may happen." + +"Thanks, senorita." + +"Ruiz," she said to her brother, eagerly; "until further orders, my +father must not know of the presence of these caballeros here." + +"What you ask of me is very difficult, sister; think of the immense +responsibility I assume in acting thus." + +"I know it, Ruiz; but it must be, my dear brother, for my happiness is +at stake," she continued, clasping her hands imploringly; "and besides, +what have you to fear? Do you not know this hunter?" + +"Yes, I know him; I am even under great obligations to him; but his +companion?" + +"I answer for him, Ruiz." + +"You know, then, who he is?" + +"No matter what I know, brother; I only beg you to grant what I ask." + +"Well, for your sake I will be silent." + +"Oh! Thanks, thanks, brother!" + +At this moment a sound of footsteps was heard in the adjoining room. + +"What is to be done?" the maiden murmured. + +Stronghand laid his finger on his lips, and, leading away his +companion--who, through the thick cloak he wore, resembled a phantom +rather than a man--disappeared behind a curtain. At the same instant +a door opened, and two persons entered. They were Don Marcos and the +senator. They had scarce exchanged the first compliments with Don Ruiz +and Dona Marianna, when the Marquis entered the room. + +"You are up at last, I am happy to see," he said, cheerfully. "_iViva +Dios!_ You were in a most deplorable state on your arrival; I am glad +to see you so fully recovered." + +"A thousand thanks, cousin, for your hospitality, of which we stood in +great need." + +"No more about that; I am the more pleased at the chance which has +brought us together, Don Rufino, because I intended to write to you +immediately." + +"My dear sir," the senator said, with a bow. + +"Are you not expecting an answer from me?" + +"It is so, but I did not dare to hope." + +The Marquis cut him short. + +"Let us come to the most important point first," he continued, with +a smile. "Don Rufino, you have behaved to me like a real friend. By +a miracle--for I can only attribute to a miracle the good fortune +that has befallen me--I am in a position to arrange my affairs, +and discharge my debt to you, although, be assured, I shall never +forget the services you have rendered me, and the obligations I have +contracted toward you." + +The senator was so surprised, that he turned pale, and took a +side-glance at the colonel. + +"Obligations far greater than you suppose," the latter said, warmly. + +"What do you mean, cousin?" the Marquis asked, in surprise. + +"I mean that Don Rufino, unaware of the happy change in your fortunes, +and wishing to save you from the frightful position in which you were, +had bought up all your liabilities, and so soon as he had all the +vouchers in his possession, he hurried with them to me, and implored me +to destroy them. Here they are, cousin," he added, as he drew a bundle +of papers from his pocket. + +The various actors in this singular scene were affected by strange +feelings. Don Ruiz and his sister exchanged a look of despair, for +they understood that the Marquis would now be unable to refuse his +consent to his daughter's marriage. + +"Oh!" the Marquis exclaimed, "I cannot accept such an act of +generosity." + +"From a stranger, certainly not," Don Rufino remarked, in an +insinuating voice; "but I flattered myself that I was not such to you, +my dear sir." + +There was a silence. + +"What is going on at this moment is so strange; I feel taken so +unawares," the Marquis presently continued; "my thoughts are so +confused, that I must beg you, Don Rufino, to defer till tomorrow the +remainder of this conversation. By that time I shall have been able to +regain my coolness, and then, believe me, I will answer you in the way +that I ought to do." + +"My dear sir, I understand the delicacy of your remarks, and will wait +as long as you think proper," the senator replied, with a bow, and an +impassioned glance at Dona Marianna, who was pale and trembling. + +"Yes," said the colonel, "let us put off serious matters till tomorrow; +the shock we have suffered has been too rough for us to be fit for any +discussion just at present." + +"What has happened to you? The pagans have not seized the Mineral de +Quitovar? Or at least I hope not." + +"Yes, they have, cousin; the pueblo has been captured by the Redskins, +sacked, and burnt. We had great difficulty in making our escape, and +passed through extraordinary dangers ere we were so lucky as to reach +your hacienda." + +"That is disastrous news, cousin; I had been told of it, but was +unwilling to believe it." + +"It is unhappily but too true." + +"Well, thank Heaven, cousin, you are in safety here. As for you, Don +Rufino, I am happy that you escaped from the horrible massacre; you are +not a soldier, you are--" + +"An assassin!" a sepulchral voice suddenly exclaimed, and a hand was +laid heavily on the senator's shoulder. + +The company turned with horror. Stronghand's companion had let fall the +hat and cloak that disguised him, and was standing, stern and menacing, +behind the senator. + +"Oh!" the latter exclaimed, as he recoiled with terror, "Rodolfo! Don +Rodolfo!" + +"Brother, do I see you again after so many years?" the Marquis said, +joyfully, as he advanced towards the stranger. + +"The great sachem," Dona Marianna murmured. + +The sachem thrust back with a gesture of sovereign contempt the +startled senator, and walked into the centre of the group. + +"Yes, it is I, brother; I, the proscript, the disinherited, who enter +the house of my father after an absence of twenty years, in order to +save the last representative of my family." + +"Oh, brother! Brother!" the Marquis exclaimed, sorrowfully. + +"Recover yourself, Hernando! I entertain no feelings of hatred or +rancour for you; on the contrary, I have always loved you, and though +I was far away from you I have never lost you out of sight. Come to +my arms, brother; let us forget the past, only to think of the joy of +being reunited." + +The Marquis threw himself into his brother's arms; Don Ruiz and Dona +Marianna imitated him, and for some minutes there was an uninterrupted +interchange of embraces among the members of this family, who had so +long been separated. + +"It was through me that you received the sum which Paredes was to +receive at Hermosillo", Don Rodolfo continued; "to me you also owe +the discovery of the gold mine which has saved you. But I have not +come here solely to embrace you and yours, brother; I have come to +punish a villain! This man," he said, pointing to the senator, who was +trembling with rage and terror--"this man was my valet; in order to +rob me, he attempted to assassinate me cowardly, treacherously, and +behind my back. Such is the man whose dark machinations had succeeded +in deceiving you, and to whom you were on the point of giving your +daughter: let him contradict me if he dare!" + +"Oh!" the senator muttered, with a furious gesture. + +"Villain!" the Marquis exclaimed; "Help! Help! seize the monster!" + +Several servants rushed into the room, but before they could reach +Don Rufino the latter had bounded with a tiger leap upon Don Rodolfo, +and buried a dagger in his chest. The sachem fell back with a cry of +pain into the arms of his brother and his son. After the crime was +committed, the assassin threw down his weapon, and said to the startled +spectators, with an air of defiance and satisfied hatred,-- + +"Now you can do whatever you like to me, for I am avenged." + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +FUNERAL OF A SACHEM. + + +Two days had elapsed since the atrocious attack made by Don Rufino on +Don Rodolfo de Moguer. The Papazos had captured the hacienda without a +blow, as the gates were opened to them; for the stupor and terror of +the Mexicans at this horrible crime were so great, that they forgot all +precautions. But we must do the Redskins the justice of stating that, +contrary to their habits, they committed no excesses in the hacienda, +either by virtue of superior orders, or in consequence of the sorrow +which the wound of their great sachem caused them. Dona Esperanza had +arrived with Padre Serapio at the same time as the Indian warriors, and +she and Dona Marianna did not leave the wounded man's bed. + +Don Hernando was inconsolable, and the colonel could not forgive +himself for having supposed for a moment that the senator was an honest +man. The whole hacienda was plunged into sorrow, and Don Rodolfo +alone watched death approach with a calm brow. Fray Serapio dressed +his wound: his night was tolerably quiet, and in the morning the monk +entered the wounded man's room. At a sign from Don Rodolfo his wife and +niece, who had watched the whole night through by his bedside, withdrew. + +"Now, padre," he said, when they left the room, "it is our turn." + +And he helped him to remove the bandages. The monk frowned. + +"I am condemned, am I not?" said Don Rodolfo, who attentively followed +in the monk's face the feelings that agitated him. + +"God can perform a miracle," the Franciscan stammered, in a faint voice. + +The sachem smiled softly. + +"I understand you," he replied; "answer me, therefore, frankly and +sincerely. How many hours have I still to live?" + +"What good is that, my dear, good master?" the monk murmured. + +"Padre Serapio," the chief interrupted him, in a firm voice, "I want to +know, in order that I may settle my affairs on earth, before I appear +in the presence of God." + +"Do you insist on my telling you the truth?" + +"Pray do so--the entire truth." + +The poor man stifled a sigh, and answered, in a voice broken by +emotion--"Unless a miracle occur, you will give back your soul to your +Creator at sunset." + +"I thank you, my friend," the sachem said, his austere face not +displaying the slightest trace of emotion. "Ask my brother to come +here, for I have to talk with him. Keep back my wife and niece until I +ask for them. Go, father; I will see you again before I die." + +The worthy monk withdrew, choked with sobs. The interview of the two +brothers was long, for Don Hernando had many faults to ask pardon for +at the hands of him whose place he had taken. But Don Rodolfo, far from +reproaching him, tried on the contrary to console him, by talking to +him in a cheerful voice, and reminding him of the happy days of their +childhood. He also thanked his brother warmly for having freed him from +the heavy burden of supporting the family honour, and allowing him to +live in accordance with his tastes and humour. Many other things were +talked of, after which the Marquis retired, with pale brow and eyes +swollen with tears, which he tried in vain to repress, that he might +not sadden the last moments of the man whose great soul was revealed +to him at this supreme moment--of the brother whom he had so cruelly +misunderstood, and who had even sacrificed his life to insure his +brother's happiness. + +Dona Marianna and Dona Esperanza then returned to the dying man's room, +followed by Padre Serapio, and a few moments after the Marquis came +back, accompanied by Stronghand. The young man, in spite of his Indian +education and affected stoicism, knelt down sobbing by his father's +side. For some moments father and son talked together in a low voice; +no one save God knew what words were uttered by these two men during +the solemn interview. + +"Come here, niece," Don Rodolfo at length said, addressing Dona +Marianna. + +The maiden knelt down sobbing by the hunter's side. The aged man looked +for a moment tenderly at their two young faces, pale with sorrow, which +were piously leaning over him; then making an effort to sit up, and +supported on one side by his brother, on the other by Dona Esperanza, +he said, in a voice that trembled with emotion--"Niece, answer me as +you would answer God; for the dying, you know, no longer belong to this +world. Do you love my son?" + +"Yes, uncle," the maiden answered through her tears--"yes, I love him." + +"And you, Diego, my son, do you love your cousin?" + +"Father, I love her," the young man answered, in a voice crushed by +emotion. + +Don Rodolfo turned to his brother, who understood his glance. + +"Bless our children, brother," he said, "according to the wish you +expressed to me; Padre Serapio will unite them in your presence." + +The wounded man stretched out his trembling hands over the two young +people. + +"Children," he said, in a powerful voice, though with an accent of +ineffable tenderness, "I bless you; be happy." + +And, crushed by the efforts he had been forced to make, he fell back +in a half-fainting state on his bed. When he regained consciousness, +through the attention of Don Esperanza and his niece, he perceived +an altar by the side of his bed. On his expressing a desire that the +ceremony should take place at once, Padre Serapio, assisted by Jose +Paredes, who was weeping bitterly, read the marriage mass. After the +nuptial benediction, Don Rodolfo received the last sacraments, amid the +tears and sobs of all present. + +"And, now, my friends," he said, "that I have accomplished my duties +as a Christian and Spanish gentleman, it is time for me to perform my +duties as an Indian chief; so allow the Papazo warriors to enter." + +The doors opened, and the warriors entered: they were sad, gloomy, +and thoughtful. The sachem had sat up to receive them, supported by +his son Stronghand. The warriors silently surrounded the bed on which +their venerated chief lay, among them being Sparrowhawk and Peccary. +The sachem looked calmly round the circle, and then spoke in a calm and +deeply accentuated voice:-- + +"The Master of Life has suddenly recalled me to Him. I did not fall +in action, but beneath the dagger of a cowardly assassin. I regret +leaving my nation before I had completed the task which I undertook +for their happiness. What I had not time to do, another will doubtless +terminate. My brothers must continue the war they have so happily +and gloriously commenced; and though I am leaving them, my mind will +remain among them. The warriors of my nation must never forget that +the Master of Life created them free, and that they must live and die +free. The Papazos are brave men, invincible warriors, and slavery is +not made for them. On the point of appearing before the Master of Life, +I implore the chiefs not to forget that the white persons who surround +me form part of my family. If my brothers retain after my death any +recollection of the good which I have continually sought to do them, +they will be kind to the palefaces whom I love. I have only one more +word to add: I desire to give back my soul to the Master of Life +beneath the buffalo hide cabin of the warriors of my nation, and in +the midst of my nation. I desire also that all the rites customary at +the death of the chiefs should be performed for me." + +A tremor of joy ran along the ranks of the redskin warriors on hearing +the last words; for they had feared in their hearts that the sachem +would wish to be interred after the fashion of the white men. The +Peccary then replied, in the name of all-- + +"My father's wishes are orders for his children; never, so long as +the powerful confederation of the Papazos exists, shall an insult be +offered to the palefaces whom he loves. Our father can die in peace; +all his wishes will be religiously carried out by his children." + +A flash of joy sparkled in the sachem's eye at this promise, which he +knew would be strictly kept. The Peccary continued-- + +"The Papazos chiefs are sad; their hearts are swollen by the thought of +losing their father: they fear lest his death may be the cause of great +disorder in their confederation, and injure the success of the war +which had scarce begun." + +"I belong to my sons till the last moment of my existence; what can I +do for them?" + +"My father can do a great deal," the chief answered. + +"My ears are open; I am waiting for my son to explain himself." + +"The chiefs," continued Peccary, "and the great braves of the +confederation, assembled at sunrise round the council fire: they +desire, in order that no discord may spring up among them, that our +father, the great sachem, should himself appoint his successor; for +they feel persuaded that our father's choice will fall on a brave and +wise chief, worthy to command men." + +The sachem reflected for a moment. + +"Be it so," he said at length; "the determination of the sachems is +wise, and I approve of it. Sparrowhawk will command in my place when +I am called away by the Great Spirit; no one is more worthy to be the +first sachem of the nation." + +Sparrowhawk quitted the ranks, stepped forward, and bowed respectfully +to the dying man. + +"I thank my father," he said, "for the signal honour he has done me; +but I am very young to command chiefs and renowned warriors, and I fear +that I shall break down in the heavy task imposed on me. My father +leaves a son; Stronghand is one of the great braves of our nation, and +his wisdom is renowned." + +"My son is a paleface; he does not know the wants of the Papazos so +well as Sparrowhawk. Sparrowhawk will command." + +"I obey my father since he insists; but Stronghand will ever be one of +the great chiefs of my nation." + +A flattering murmur greeted these clever remarks. + +"I thank my son Sparrowhawk in the name of Stronghand. Modesty becomes +a chief so celebrated as is my son," the sachem continued; "the Great +Spirit will inspire him, and he will do great things. I have spoken. Do +the chiefs approve my choice?" + +"We could not have chosen better," Peccary answered. "We sincerely +thank our father for having anticipated our dearest wishes by choosing +Sparrowhawk." + +This scene so simple in its grandeur, and so truly patriarchal, +affected all the spectators, who felt their hearts swollen by sorrow. +The sachem continued-- + +"I feel my strength rapidly leaving me, and life is abandoning me; the +Great Spirit will soon call me to Him. My sons will carry me beneath a +tent of my nation, in order that I may breathe my last sigh in their +midst." + +Stronghand, the Marquis, Peccary, and Sparrowhawk gently lifted the +wounded man on their shoulders, and carried him to the front yard +of the hacienda, followed by all the rest, who walked silently and +thoughtfully in the rear. A lodge, formed of stakes covered with +buffalo hides, had been prepared to receive the great chief; the bed +on which he was lying was softly put down, and the chief's eyes were +turned toward the setting sun. Then all the warriors and their squaws, +whom messengers had informed of the sachem's wound, and who had hurried +to the hacienda, surrounded the tent. The Mexicans themselves mingled +with the crowd, and a deadly silence brooded over the hacienda, in +which, however, more than six thousand persons were assembled at this +moment. + +All eyes were turned toward the dying sachem, by whose side were +standing the members of his family, Padre Serapio, and the principal +chiefs of the Papazos. Now and then the aged man uttered a few words, +which he addressed at times to the monk, at others to his brother, +or to the Indian chiefs. When the sun was beginning to sink on the +horizon, the wounded man's breathing began to grow panting, his eyes +gradually became covered by a mist, and he did not speak; but he +tightly grasped his son's and wife's hands in his right hand, and +Sparrowhawk's in his left. + +All at once a nervous tremor passed over the dying man's body; his +cheeks were tinged; his half closed eyes opened again; he sat up +without any extraneous help, and shouted, in a strong, clear voice, +which was heard by all--"I come, Lord! Papazos, farewell! Esperanza! +Esperanza! We shall meet again!" + +His eyes closed; a livid pallor spread over his face; his limbs +stiffened, and he fell back heavily as he exhaled his last sigh. He was +dead. His last thought was for his wife, whom he had so dearly loved. +The sobs, hitherto restrained, burst forth suddenly and violently +among the crowd. + +"Our father is dead!" Sparrowhawk shouted, in a thundering voice. + +"Vengeance!" the Redskins yelled. + +In fact the murderer of the chief was still alive. The white men who +did not wish to witness the horrible scene that was about to take +place, withdrew. Stronghand, the colonel, Paredes, and Mariano alone +remained. The body of the defunct sachem was at once surrounded by the +squaws: they painted it with several bright colours, dressed it in a +buffalo robe, formed his hair into a tuft as a sign of his rank, and +stretched him out on a dais. The assassin, who was pale but resolute, +was then brought up. + +Sparrowhawk placed himself at the head of the corpse, and began a long +funeral oration, which was frequently interrupted by the sobs of his +audience; then, pointing with an expressive gesture to the murderer, +who was still standing motionless in the midst of the Indians who +guarded him, he said-- + +"Commence the punishment." + +We will not describe the frightful punishment which was inflicted on +the senator; such horrible details are repulsive to our pen. We will +restrict ourselves to stating that he was flayed alive, and that all +his joints were cut in succession. He suffered indescribable agony for +three long hours ere he died. Night had set in during this interval. +When the wretched assassin was dead, chosen warriors took their chief's +body on their shoulders, and proceeded by the light of torches to the +huerta, at the spot where the hacienda hung over the precipice. On +reaching this spot the chief's magnificent steed was brought up. On +his back his master's corpse was securely tied with deerskin thongs, +holding his totem in one hand and his gun in the other; the scalps of +his foes were fastened to his saddle-bow, and on his neck and arms were +his bead necklaces and copper ornaments. Then, amid the sobs of the +squaws, the horse was led to the plateau, where the Papago warriors, +mounted and dressed in their war paint, formed a semicircle, whose ends +reached the precipice. + +Then took place a scene whose savage grandeur could only be compared to +the funeral rites performed at the death of the barbarous chiefs during +those great national migrations which produced the overthrow of the +Roman Empire. By the glare of the torches--whose flames, agitated by +the wind, imparted a fantastic aspect to the gloomy and stern landscape +in this part of the huerta--the horse was placed in the midst of the +semicircle, and the horsemen, brandishing their weapons, struck up +their war song with a savage energy. The startled horse bounded on to +the plateau, bearing the corpse, to which each of its bounds imparted +such an oscillating movement that the rider appeared to be restored to +life. On reaching the brink of the precipice the horse recoiled with +terror, with flaming nostrils; then, suddenly turning round, it tried +to burst the living rampart, which was constantly contracted behind +it. Several times the animal renewed the same exertions; but at last, +attacked by a paroxysm of terror, pursued by the yells of the Indians, +and wounded by their long lances, it rose on its hind legs, uttered a +terrible snort, and leaped into the gulf with its burden. At the same +moment all the torches were extinguished, the tumult was followed by a +mournful silence, and the warriors retired. + +On the morrow, at sunrise, the Redskins left the hacienda, to which +they did not once return during the whole of the war, which lasted +three years. We may possibly some day tell what was the termination of +this grand uprising of the Indians, who on several occasions all but +deprived the Mexican republic of its finest and richest, provinces. + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Stronghand, by Gustave Aimard + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STRONGHAND *** + +***** This file should be named 44672.txt or 44672.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/6/7/44672/ + +Produced by Camille Bernard & Marc D'Hooghe at +http://www.freeliterature.org (Images generously made +available by the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford) + + +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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