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diff --git a/21241.txt b/21241.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ecd82ec --- /dev/null +++ b/21241.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11828 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rifle Rangers, by Captain Mayne Reid + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Rifle Rangers + +Author: Captain Mayne Reid + +Release Date: April 27, 2007 [EBook #21241] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RIFLE RANGERS *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + + +The Rifle Rangers +Adventures in South Mexico + +By Captain Mayne Reid +________________________________________________________________________ +Quite a lively story! At one point the hero is to die by hanging by the +heels over a precipice! At another he and his companions are attacked +by a pack of snarling bloodhounds! And many other tense situations. + +As usual with this prolific author the text is well interlarded with +Spanish words, and those from other languages, French, German, Latin, +Greek. We have done our best to get these words right, but beg to be +forgiven if you spot an error here and there. + +In addition to our difficulties with the Spanish, there is an Irish +member of the cast whose words are so mis-pronounced that they +practically constitute a language of their own. Here again we have +tried to get the spellings as they appear in the book, but you can +quite see how difficult that has been. + +This book first appeared in the 1850s, and went through several +editions in a few years. Forty years later there was a revival, and +again several editions appeared. There are people even nowadays who +revere "Captain" Mayne Reid as the first author to start this genre: +authentic books about the wilder parts of North America, and its +history. NH +________________________________________________________________________ + +THE RIFLE RANGERS +ADVENTURES IN SOUTH MEXICO + +BY CAPTAIN MAYNE REID + + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +THE LAND OF ANAHUAC. + +Away over the dark, wild waves of the rolling Atlantic--away beyond the +summer islands of the Western Ind--lies a lovely land. Its +surface-aspect carries the hue of the emerald; its sky is sapphire; its +sun is a globe of gold. It is the land of Anahuac! + +The tourist turns his face to the Orient--the poet sings the gone +glories of Greece--the painter elaborates the hackneyed pictures of +Apennine and Alp--the novelist turns the skulking thief of Italy into a +picturesque bandit, or, Don Quixote-like, betaking himself into the +misty middle age, entertains the romantic miss and milliner's apprentice +with stories of raven steeds, of plumed and impossible heroes. All-- +painter, poet, tourist, and novelist--in search of the bright and +beautiful, the poetic and the picturesque--turn their backs upon this +lovely land. + +Shall we? No! Westward, like the Genoese, we boldly venture--over the +dark wild waves of the rolling Atlantic; through among the sunny islands +of Ind--westward to the land of Anahuac. Let us debark upon its shores; +let us pierce the secret depths of its forests; let us climb its mighty +mountains, and traverse its table-plains. + +Go with us, tourist! Fear not. You shall look upon scenes grand and +gloomy, bright and beautiful. Poet! you shall find themes for poesy +worthy its loftiest strains. Painter! for you there are pictures fresh +from the hand of God. Writer! there are stories still untold by the +author-artist--legends of love and hate, of gratitude and revenge, of +falsehood and devotion, of noble virtue and ignoble crime--legends +redolent of romance, rich in reality. + +Thither we steer, over the dark wild waves of the rolling Atlantic; +through the summer islands of the Western Ind; onward--onward to the +shores of Anahuac! + +Varied is the aspect of that picture-land, abounding in scenes that +change like the tints of the opal. Varied is the surface which these +pictures adorn. Valleys that open deep into the earth; mountains that +lead the eye far up into heaven; plains that stretch to the horizon's +verge, until the rim of the blue canopy seems to rest upon their +limitless level; "rolling" landscapes, whose softly-turned ridges remind +one of the wavy billows of the ocean. + +Alas! word-painting can give but a faint idea of these scenes. The pen +can but feebly portray the grand and sublime effect produced upon the +mind of him who gazes down into the deep valleys, or glances upward to +the mighty mountains of Mexico. + +Though feeble be the effort, I shall attempt a series of sketches from +memory. They are the panoramic views that present themselves during a +single "Jornada." + +I stand upon the shores of the Mexican Gulf. The waves lip gently up to +my feet upon a beach of silvery sand. The water is pure and +translucent, of azure blue, here and there crested with the pearly froth +of coral breakers. I look to the eastward, and behold a summer sea that +seems to invite navigation. But where are the messengers of commerce +with their white wings? The solitary skiff of the savage "pescador" is +making its way through the surf; a lone "polacca" beats up the coast +with its half-smuggler crew; a "piragua" swings at anchor in a +neighbouring cove: this is all! Far as eye or glass can reach, no other +sail is in sight. The beautiful sea before me is almost unfurrowed by +the keels of commerce. + +From this I draw ideas of the land and its inhabitants--unfavourable +ideas of their moral and material condition. No commerce--no industry-- +no prosperity. Stay! What see I yonder? Perhaps I have been wronging +them. A dark, tower-like object looms up against the horizon. It is +the smoke of a steamer--sign of advanced civilisation--emblem of active +life. She nears the shore. Ha! a foreign flag--the flag of another +land trails over her taffrail; a foreign flag floats at her peak; +foreign faces appear above her bulwarks, and foreign words issue from +the lips of her commander. She is not of the land. My first conjecture +was right. + +She makes for the principal port. She lands a small parcel of letters +and papers, a few bales of merchandise, half a dozen slightly-formed +cadaverous men; and then, putting about, a gun is fired, and she is off +again. She soon disappears away upon the wide ocean; and the waves once +more roll silently in--their glistening surface broken only by the +flapping of the albatross or the plunge of the osprey. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +I direct my eyes northward. I behold a belt of white sand skirting the +blue water. I turn towards the south, and in this direction perceive a +similar belt. To both points it extends beyond the reach of vision-- +hundreds of miles beyond--forming, like a ribbon of silver, the selvage +of the Mexican Sea. It separates the turquoise blue of the water from +the emerald green of the forest, contrasting with each by its dazzling +whiteness. Its surface is far from being level, as is usual with the +ocean-strand. On the contrary, its millions of sparkling atoms, +rendered light by the burning sun of the tropic, have been lifted on the +wings of the wind, and thrown into hills and ridges hundreds of feet in +height, and trending in every direction like the wreaths of a great +snow-drift. I advance with difficulty over these naked ridges, where no +vegetation finds nourishment in the inorganic heap. I drag myself +wearily along, sinking deeply at every step. I climb sand-hills of +strange and fantastic shapes, cones, and domes, and roof-like ridges, +where the sportive wind seems to have played with the plastic mass, as +children with potter's clay. I encounter huge basins like the craters +of volcanoes, formed by the circling swirl; deep chasms and valleys, +whose sides are walls of sand, steep, often vertical, and not +unfrequently impending with comb-like escarpments. + +All these features may be changed in a single night, by the magical +breath of the "norther". The hill to-day may become the valley +to-morrow, and the elevated ridge have given place to the sunken chasm. + +Upon the summits of these sand-heights I am fanned by the cool breeze +from the Gulf. I descend into the sheltered gorges, and am burned by a +tropic sun, whose beams, reflected from a thousand crystals, torture my +eyes and brain. In these parts the traveller is often the victim of the +_coup-de-soleil_. + +Yonder comes the "_norte_" Along the northern horizon the sky suddenly +changes from light blue to a dark lead colour. Sometimes rumbling +thunder with arrowy lightning portends the change; but if neither seen +nor heard, it is soon felt. The hot atmosphere, that, but a moment +before, encased me in its glowing embrace, is suddenly pierced by a +chill breeze, that causes my skin to creep and my frame to shiver. In +its icy breath there is fever--there is death; for it carries on its +wings the dreaded "vomito". The breeze becomes a strong wind--a +tempest. The sand is lifted upwards, and floats through the air in dun +clouds, here settling down, and there rising up again. I dare not face +it, any more than I would the blast of the simoom. I should be blinded +if I did, or blistered by the "scud" of the angular atoms. The +"norther" continues for hours, sometimes for days. It departs as +suddenly as it came, carrying its baneful influence to lands farther +south. + +It is past, and the sand-hills have assumed a different shape. The +ridges trend differently. Some have disappeared, and valleys yawn open +where they stood! + +Such are the shores of Anahuac--the shores of the Mexican Sea. Without +commerce--almost harbourless--a waste of sand; but a waste of striking +appearance and picturesque beauty. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +To horse and inwards! Adieu to the bright blue waters of the Gulf! + +We have crossed the sand-ridges of the coast, and are riding through the +shadowy aisles of the forest. It is a tropical forest. The outlines of +the leaves, their breadth, their glowing colours all reveal this. The +eye roams with delight over a frondage that partakes equally of the gold +and the green. It revels along waxen leaves, as those of the magnolia, +the plantain, and the banana. It is led upward by the rounded trunks of +the palms, that like columns appear to support the leafy canopy above. +It penetrates the network of vines, or follows the diagonal direction of +gigantic llianas, that creep like monster serpents from tree to tree. +It gazes with pleased wonder upon the huge bamboo-briars and tree-ferns. +Wherever it turns, flowers open their corollas to meet its delighted +glance--tropical tree-flowers, blossoms of the scarlet vine, and +trumpet-shaped tubes of the bignonia. + +I turn my eyes to every side, and gaze upon a flora to me strange and +interesting. I behold the tall stems of the _palma real_, rising one +hundred feet without leaf or branch, and supporting a parachute of +feathery fronds that wave to the slightest impulse of the breeze. +Beside it I see its constant companion, the Indian cane--a small +palm-tree, whose slender trunk and low stature contrast oddly with the +colossal proportions of its lordly protector. I behold the _corozo_--of +the same genus with the _palma real_--its light feathery frondage +streaming outwards and bending downwards, as if to protect from the hot +sun the globe-shaped nuts that hang in grape-like clusters beneath. I +see the _abanico_, with its enormous fan-shaped leaves; the wax-palm +distilling its resinous gum; and the _acrocomia_, with its thorny trunk +and enormous racemes of golden fruits. By the side of the stream I +guide my horse among the columnar stems of the noble _coeva_, which has +been enthusiastically but appropriately termed the "bread of life" (_pan +de vida_). + +I gaze with wonder upon the ferns, those strange creatures of the +vegetable world, that upon the hillsides of my own far island-home +scarce reach the knee in height. Here they are arborescent-- +tree-ferns--rivalling their cousins the palms in stature, and like them, +with their tall, straight stems and lobed leaves, contributing to the +picturesqueness of the landscape. I admire the beautiful mammey with +its great oval fruit and saffron pulp. I ride under the spreading limbs +of the mahogany-tree, marking its oval pinnate leaves, and the egg-like +seed capsules that hang from its branches; thinking as well of the +brilliant surfaces that lie concealed within its dark and knotty trunk. +Onward I ride, through glistening foliage and glowing flowers, that, +under the beams of a tropic sun, present the varying hues of the +rainbow. + +There is no wind--scarcely a breath stirring; yet here and there the +leaves are in motion. The wings of bright birds flash before the eye, +passing from tree to tree. The gaudy tanagers, that cannot be tamed-- +the noisy lories, the resplendent trogons, the toucans with their huge +clumsy bills, and the tiny bee-birds (the _trochili_ and _colibri_)--all +glance through the sunny vistas. + +The carpenter-bird--the great woodpecker--hangs against the decayed +trunk of some dead tree, beating the hollow bark, and now and then +sounding his clarion note, which is heard to the distance of a mile. +Out of the underwood springs the crested curassow; or, basking in the +sun-lit glades, with outspread wings gleaming with metallic lustre, may +be seen the beautiful turkey of Honduras. + +The graceful roe (_Gervus Mexicanus_) bounds forward, startled by the +tread of the advancing horse. The caiman crawls lazily along the bank, +or hides his hideous body under the water of a sluggish stream, and the +not less hideous form of the iguana, recognised by its serrated crest, +is seen crawling up the tree-trunk or lying along the slope of a lliana. +The green lizard scuttles along the path--the basilisk looks with +glistening eyes from the dark interstices of some corrugated vine--the +biting peckotin glides among the dry leaves in pursuit of its insect +prey--and the chameleon advances sluggishly along the branches, while it +assumes their colour to deceive its victims. + +Serpent forms present themselves: now and then the huge boa and the +macaurel, twining the trees. The great tiger-snake is seen with its +head raised half a yard from the surface; the cascabel, too, coiled like +a cable; and the coral-snake with his red and ringed body stretched at +full length along the ground. The two last, though inferior in size to +the boas, are more to be dreaded; and my horse springs back when he sees +the one glistening through the grass, or hears the "skir-r-r-r" of the +other threatening to strike. + +Quadrupeds and quadrumana appear. The red monkey (_Mono Colorado_) runs +at the traveller's approach, and, flinging himself from limb to limb, +hides among the vines and _Tillandsia_ on the high tree-tops; and the +tiny ouistiti, with its pretty, child-like countenance, peers innocently +through the leaves; while the ferocious zambo fills the woods with its +hideous, half-human voice. + +The jaguar is not far distant, "laired" in the secret depths of the +impenetrable jungle. His activity is nocturnal, and his beautiful +spotted body may not be seen except by the silver light of the moon. +Roused by accident, or pressed by the dogs of the hunter, he may cross +my path. So, too, may the ocelot and the lynx; or, as I ride silently +on, I may chance to view the long, tawny form of the Mexican lion, +crouched upon a horizontal limb, and watching for the timid stag that +must pass beneath. I turn prudently aside, and leave him to his hungry +vigil. + +Night brings a change. The beautiful birds--the parrots, the toucans, +and the trogons--all go to rest at an early hour; and other winged +creatures take possession of the air. Some need not fear the darkness, +for their very life is light. Such are the "cocuyos", whose brilliant +lamps of green and gold and flame, gleam through the aisles of the +forest, until the air seems on fire. Such, too, are the "gusanitos", +the female of which--a wingless insect, like a glow-worm--lies along the +leaf, while her mate whirrs gaily around, shedding his most captivating +gleams as he woos her upon the wing. But, though light is the life of +these beautiful creatures, it is often the cause of their death. It +guides their enemies--the night-hawk and the "whip-poor-will", the bat, +and the owl. Of these last, the hideous vampire may be seen flapping +his broad dark wings in quick, irregular turnings, and the great +"lechuza" (_Strix Mexicana_), issuing from his dark tree-cave, utters +his fearful notes, that resemble the moanings of one who is being +hanged. Now may be heard the scream of the cougar, and the hoarser +voice of the Mexican tiger. Now may be heard the wild, disagreeable +cries of the howling monkeys (_alouattes_), and the barking of the +dog-wolf; and, blending with these, the croaking of the tree-toads and +the shrill tinkling of the bell-frog. Perhaps the air is no longer, as +in the daytime, filled with sweet perfumes. The aroma of a thousand +flowers has yielded to the fetid odour of the skunk (_Mephitis +chinga_)--for that singular creature is abroad, and, having quarrelled +with one of the forest denizens, has caused all of them to feel the +power of its resentment. + +Such are some of the features of the tropical forest that lies between +the Gulf and the Mexican mountains. But the aspect of this region is +not all wild. There are cultivated districts--settlements, though far +apart. + +The forest opens, and the scene suddenly changes. Before me is a +plantation--the hacienda of a "rico". There are wide fields tilled by +peon serfs, who labour and sing; but their song is sad. Its music is +melancholy. It is the voice of a conquered race. + +Yet the scene around them is gay and joyful. All but the people appears +to prosper. Vegetation luxuriates in its fullest growth. Both fruit +and flower exhibit the hues of a perfect development. Man alone seems +stunted in his outlines. + +There is a beautiful stream meandering through the open fields. Its +waters are clear and cool. They are the melted snows of Orizava. Upon +its banks grow clumps of the cocoa-palm and the majestic plantain. +There are gardens upon its banks, and orchards filled with the +fruit-trees of the tropics. I see the orange with its golden globes, +the sweet lime, the shaddock, and the guava-tree. I ride under the +shade of the aguacate (_Laurus Persea_), and pluck the luscious fruits +of the cherimolla. The breeze blowing over fields carries on its wings +the aroma of the coffee-tree, the indigo-plant, the vanilla bean, or the +wholesome cacao (_Theobroma Cacao_); and, far as the eye can reach, I +see glancing gaily in the sun the green spears and golden tassels of the +sugar-cane. + +Interesting is the aspect of the tropical forest. Not less so is that +of the tropical _field_. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +I ride onward and inward into the land. I am gradually ascending from +the sea-level. I no longer travel upon horizontal paths, but over hills +and steep ridges, across deep valleys and ravines. The hoof of my horse +no longer sinks in light sand or dark alluvion. It rings upon rocks of +amygdaloid and porphyry. The soil is changed; the scenery has undergone +a change, and even the atmosphere that surrounds me. The last is +perceptibly cooler, but not yet cold. I am still in the _piedmont_ +lands--the _tierras calientes_. The _templadas_ are yet far higher. I +am only a thousand yards or so above sea-level. I am in the +"foot-hills" of the Northern Andes. + +How sudden is this change! It is less than an hour since I parted from +the plains below, and yet the surface-aspect around me is like that of +another land. I halt in a wild spot, and survey it with eyes that +wander and wonder. The leaf is less broad, the foliage less dense, the +jungle more open. There are ridges whose sides are nearly naked of +tree-timber. The palms have disappeared, but in their place grow +kindred forms that in many respects resemble them. They are, in fact, +the palms of the mountains. I behold the great palmetto (_Chamcerops_), +with its fan-like fronds standing out upon long petioles from its lofty +summit; the yuccas, with their bayonet-shaped leaves, ungraceful, but +picturesque, with ponderous clusters of green and pulpy capsules. I +behold the _pita_ aloe, with its tall flower-stalk and thorny +sun-scorched leaves. I behold strange forms of the cactus, with their +glorious wax-like blossoms; the cochineal, the tuna, the opuntias--the +great tree-cactus "Foconoztle" (_Opuntia arborescens_), and the tall +"pitahaya" (_Cereus giganteus_), with columnar shafts and straight +upright arms, like the branches of gigantic candelabra; the +echino-cacti, too--those huge mammals of the vegetable world, resting +their globular or egg-shaped forms, without trunk or stalk, upon the +surface of the earth. + +There, too, I behold gigantic thistles (_cardonales_) and mimosas, both +shrubby and arborescent--the tree-mimosa, and the sensitive-plant +(_Mimosa frutescens_), that shrinks at my approach, and closes its +delicate leaflets until I have passed out of sight. This is the +favourite land of the acacia; and immense tracts, covered with its +various species, form impenetrable thickets (_chapparals_). I +distinguish in these thickets the honey-locust, with its long purple +legumes, the "algarobo" (carob-tree), and the thorny "mezquite"; and, +rising over all the rest, I descry the tall, slender stem of the +_Fouquiera splendens_, with panicles of cube-shaped crimson flowers. + +There is less of animal life here; but even these wild ridges have their +denizens. The cochineal insect crawls upon the cactus leaf, and huge +winged ants build their clay nests upon the branches of the acacia-tree. +The ant-bear squats upon the ground, and projects his glutinous tongue +over the beaten highway, where the busy insects rob the mimosse of their +aromatic leaves. The armadillo, with his bands and rhomboidal scales, +takes refuge in the dry recesses of the rocks, or, clewing himself up, +rolls over the cliff to escape his pursuer. Herds of cattle, half wild, +roam through the glassy glades or over the tufted ridges, lowing for +water; and black vultures (zopilotes) sail through the cloudless +heavens, waiting for some scene of death to be enacted in the thickets +below. + +Here, too, I pass through scenes of cultivation. Here is the hut of the +peon and the rancho of the small proprietor; but they are structures of +a more substantial kind than in the region of the palm. They are of +stone. Here, too, is the hacienda, with its low white walls and +prison-like windows; and the pueblita, with its church and cross and +gaily-painted steeple. Here the Indian corn takes the place of the +sugarcane, and I ride through wide fields of the broad-leafed +tobacco-plant. Here grow the jalap and the guaiacum, the sweet-scented +sassafras and the sanitary copaiba. + +I ride onward, climbing steep ridges and descending into chasms +(_barrancas_) that yawn deeply and gloomily. Many of these are +thousands of feet in depth; and the road that enables me to reach their +bottoms is often no more than a narrow ledge of the impending cliff, +running terrace-like over a foaming torrent. + +Still onward and upward I go, until the "foot-hills" are passed, and I +enter a defile of the mountains themselves--a pass of the Mexican Andes. + +I ride through, under the shadow of dark forests and rocks of blue +porphyry. I emerge upon the other side of the sierra. A new scene +opens before my eyes--a scene of such soft loveliness that I suddenly +rein up my horse, and gaze upon it with mingled feelings of admiration +and astonishment. I am looking upon one of the "valles" of Mexico, +those great table-plains that lie within the Cordilleras of the Andes, +thousands of feet above ocean-level, and, along with these mountains, +stretching from the tropic almost to the shores of the Arctic Sea. + +The plain before me is level, as though its surface were liquid. I see +mountains bounding it on all sides; but there are passes through them +that lead into other plains (_valus_). These mountains have no +foot-hills. They _stand up_ directly from the plain itself, sometimes +with sloping conical sides--sometimes in precipitous cliffs. + +I ride into the plain and survey its features. There is no resemblance +to the land I have left--the _tierra caliente_. I am now in the _tierra +templada_. New objects present themselves--a new aspect is before, a +new atmosphere around me. The air is colder, but it is only the +temperature of spring. To me it feels chilly, coming so lately from the +hot lands below; and I fold my cloak closely around me, and ride on. + +The view is open, for the _valu_ is almost treeless. The scene is no +longer wild. The earth has a cultivated aspect--an aspect of +civilisation: for these high plateaux--the _tierras templadas_--are the +seat of Mexican civilisation. Here are the towns--the great cities, +with their rich cathedrals and convents--here dwells the bulk of the +population. Here the rancho is built of unburnt bricks (_adobe's_)--a +mud cabin, often inclosed by hedges of the columnar cactus. Here are +whole villages of such huts, inhabited by the dark-skinned descendants +of the ancient Aztecs. + +Fertile fields are around me. I behold the maguey of culture (_Agave +Americana_), in all its giant proportions. The lance-like blades of the +zea maize wave with a rich rustling in the breeze, for here that +beautiful plant grows in its greatest luxuriance. Immense plains are +covered with wheat, with capsicum, and the Spanish bean (_frijoles_). +My eyes are gladdened by the sight of roses climbing along the wall or +twining the portal. Here, too, the potato (_Solanum tuberosum_) +flourishes in its native soil; the pear and the pomegranate, the quince +and the apple, are seen in the orchard; and the cereals of the temperate +zone grow side by side with the _Cucurbitacece_ of the tropics. + +I pass from one _valu_ into another, by crossing a low ridge of the +dividing mountains. Mark the change! A surface of green is before me, +reaching on all sides to the mountain foot; and upon this roam countless +herds, tended by mounted "vaqueros" (herdsmen). + +I pass another ridge, and another _valid_ stretches before me. Again a +change! A desert of sand, over the surface of which move tall dun +columns of swirling dust, like the gigantic phantoms of some +spirit-world. I look into another _valle_, and behold shining waters-- +lakes like inland seas--with sedgy shores and surrounded by green +savannas, and vast swamps covered with reeds and "tulares" (bulrush). + +Still another plain, black with lava and the scoriae of extinct +volcanoes--black, treeless, and herbless--with not an atom of organic +matter upon its desolate surface. + +Such are the features of the plateau-land--varied, and vast, and full of +wild interest. + +I leave it and climb higher--nearer to the sky--up the steep sides of +the Cordilleras--up to the _tierra fria_. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +I stand ten thousand feet above the level of the ocean. I am under the +deep shadows of a forest. Huge trunks grow around me, hindering a +distant view. Where am I? Not in the tropic, surely, for these trees +are of a northern _sylva_. I recognise the gnarled limbs and lobed +leaves of the oak, the silvery branches of the mountain-ash, the cones +and needles of the pine. The wind, as it swirls among the dead leaves, +causes me to shiver; and high up among the twigs there is the music of +winter in its moaning. Yet I am in the torrid zone; and the same sun +that now glances coldly through the boughs of the oak, but a few hours +before scorched me as it glistened from the fronds of the palm-tree. + +The forest opens, and I behold hills under culture--fields of hemp and +flax, and the hardy cereals of the frigid zone. The rancho of the +husbandman is a log cabin, with shingled roof and long projecting eaves, +unlike the dwellings either of the great _valus_ or the _tierras +calientes_. I pass the smoking pits of the "carbonero", and I meet the +"arriero" with his "atajo" of mules heavily laden with ice of the +glaciers. They are passing with their cargoes, to cool the wine-cups in +the great cities of the plains. + +Upward and upward! The oak is left behind, and the pine grows stunted +and dwarfish. The wind blows colder and colder. A wintry aspect is +around me. + +Upward still. The pine disappears. No vegetable form is seen save the +mosses and lichens that cling to the rocks, as within the Arctic Circle. +I am on the selvage of the snow--the eternal snow. I walk upon +glaciers, and through their translucent mass I behold the lichens +growing beneath. + +The scene is bleak and desolate, and I am chilled to the marrow of my +bones. + +_Excelsior! excelsior_! The highest point is not yet reached. Through +drifts of snow and over fields of ice, up steep ledges, along the +slippery escarpment that overhangs the giddy abysm, with wearied knees, +and panting breath, and frozen fingers, onward and upward I go. Ha! I +have won the goal. I am on the summit! + +I stand on the "cumbre" of Orizava--the mountain of the "burning star"-- +more than three miles above the ocean level. My face is turned to the +east, and I look downward. The snow, the cincture of lichens and naked +rocks, the dark belt of pines, the lighter foliage of the oaks, the +fields of barley, the waving maize, the thickets of yucca and acacia +trees, the palm forest, the shore, the sea itself with its azure waves-- +all these at a single vision! From the summit of Orizava to the shores +of the Mexican Sea, I glance through every gradation of the thermal +line. I am looking, as it were, from the pole to the equator! + +I am alone. My brain is giddy. My pulse vibrates irregularly, and my +heart beats with an audible distinctness. I am oppressed with a sense +of my own nothingness--an atom, almost invisible, upon the breast of the +mighty earth. + +I gaze and listen. I see, but I hear not. Here is sight, but no sound. +Around me reigns an awful stillness--the sublime silence of the +Omnipotent, who alone is here. + +Hark! the silence is broken! Was it the rumbling of thunder? No. It +was the crash of the falling avalanche. I tremble at its voice. It is +the voice of the Invisible--the whisper of a God! + +I tremble and worship. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Reader, could you thus stand upon the summit of Orizava, and look down +to the shores of the Mexican Gulf, you would have before you, as on a +map, the scene of our "adventures." + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note 1. Anahuac is Mexico. + +Note 2. Jornada is a day's journey. + +Note 3. Pescador is a fisherman. + +Note 4. Vomito is yellow-fever. + +Note 5. Mexico is divided into three regions, known as the "hot" +(_caliente_), "temperate" (_templada_), and "cold" (_fria_). + +Note 6. Carbonero is charcoal-burner. + +Note 7. Arriero is mule-driver. + + + +CHAPTER TWO. + +AN ADVENTURE AMONG THE CREOLES OF NEW ORLEANS. + +In the "fall" of 1846 I found myself in the city of New Orleans, filling +up one of those pauses that occur between the chapters of an eventful +life--doing nothing. I have said an _eventful_ life. In the retrospect +of ten years, I could not remember as many weeks spent in one place. I +had traversed the continent from north to south, and crossed it from sea +to sea. My foot had pressed the summits of the Andes, and climbed the +Cordilleras of the Sierra Madre. I had steamed it down the Mississippi, +and sculled it up the Orinoco. I had hunted buffaloes with the Pawnees +of the Platte, and ostriches upon the pampas of the Plata: to-day, +shivering in the hut of an Esquimaux--a month after, taking my _siesta_ +in an aery couch under the gossamer frondage of the corozo palm. I had +eaten raw meat with the trappers of the Rocky Mountains, and roast +monkey among the Mosquito Indians; and much more, which might weary the +reader, and ought to have made the writer a wiser man. But, I fear, the +spirit of adventure--its thirst--is within me slakeless. I had just +returned from a "scurry" among the Comanches of Western Texas, and the +idea of "settling down" was as far from my mind as ever. + +"What next? what next?" thought I. "Ha! the war with Mexico." + +The war between the United States and that country had now fairly +commenced. My sword--a fine Toledo, taken from a Spanish officer at San +Jacinto--hung over the mantel, rusting ingloriously. Near it were my +pistols--a pair of Colt's revolvers--pointing at each other in sullen +muteness. A warlike ardour seized upon me, and clutching, not the +sword, but my pen, I wrote to the War Department for a commission; and, +summoning all my patience, awaited the answer. + +But I waited in vain. Every bulletin from Washington exhibited its list +of new-made officers, but my name appeared not among them. In New +Orleans--that most patriotic of republican cities--epaulettes gleamed +upon every shoulder, whilst I, with the anguish of a Tantalus, was +compelled to look idly and enviously on. Despatches came in daily from +the seat of war, filled with newly-glorious names; and steamers from the +same quarter brought fresh batches of heroes--some legless, some +armless, and others with a bullet-hole through the cheek, and perhaps +the loss of a dozen teeth or so; but all thickly covered with laurels. + +November came, but no commission. Impatience and ennui had fairly +mastered me. The time hung heavily upon my hands. + +"How can I best pass the hour? I shall go to the French opera, and hear +Calve." + +Such were my reflections as I sat one evening in my solitary chamber. +In obedience to this impulse, I repaired to the theatre; but the +bellicose strains of the opera, instead of soothing, only heightened my +warlike enthusiasm, and I walked homeward, abusing, as I went, the +president and the secretary-at-war, and the whole government-- +legislative, judicial, and executive. "Republics _are_ ungrateful," +soliloquised I, in a spiteful mood. "I have `surely put in strong +enough' for it; my political connections--besides, the government owes +me a favour--" + +"Cl'ar out, ye niggers! What de yer want?" + +This was a voice that reached me as I passed through the dark corner of +the Faubourg Treme. Then followed some exclamations in French; a +scuffle ensued, a pistol went off, and I heard the same voice again +calling out: + +"Four till one! Injuns! Murder! Help, hyur!" + +I ran up. It was very dark; but the glimmer of a distant lamp enabled +me to perceive a man out in the middle of the street, defending himself +against four others. He was a man of giant size, and flourished a +bright weapon, which I took to be a bowie-knife, while his assailants +struck at him on all sides with sticks and stilettoes. A small boy ran +back and forth upon the banquette, calling for help. + +Supposing it to be some street quarrel, I endeavoured to separate the +parties by remonstrance. I rushed between them, holding out my cane; +but a sharp cut across the knuckles, which I had received from one of +the small men, together with his evident intention to follow it up, +robbed me of all zest for pacific meditation; and, keeping my eye upon +the one who had cut me, I drew a pistol (I could not otherwise defend +myself), and fired. The man fell dead in his tracks, without a groan. +His comrades, hearing me re-cock, took to their heels, and disappeared +up a neighbouring alley. + +The whole scene did not occupy the time you have spent in reading this +relation of it. One minute I was plodding quietly homeward; the next, I +stood in the middle of the street; beside me a stranger of gigantic +proportions; at my feet a black mass of dead humanity, half doubled up +in the mud as it had fallen; on the banquette, the slight, shivering +form of a boy; while above and around were silence and darkness. + +I was beginning to fancy the whole thing a dream, when the voice of the +man at my side dispelled this illusion. + +"Mister," said he, placing his arms akimbo, and facing me, "if ye'll +tell me yur name, I ain't a-gwine to forgit it. No, Bob Linkin ain't +that sorter." + +"What! Bob Lincoln? Bob Lincoln of the Peaks?" + +In the voice I had recognised a celebrated mountain trapper, and an old +acquaintance, whom I had not met for several years. + +"Why, Lord save us from Injuns! it ain't you, Cap'n Haller? May I be +dog-goned if it ain't! Whooray!--whoop! I knowed it warn't no +store-keeper fired that shot. Haroo! whar are yur, Jack?" + +"Here I am," answered the boy, from the pavement. + +"Kum hyur, then. Ye ain't badly skeert, air yur?" + +"No," firmly responded the boy, crossing over. + +"I tuk him from a scoundrelly Crow thet I overhauled on a fork of the +Yellerstone. He gin me a long pedigree, that is, afore I kilt the +skunk. He made out as how his people hed tuk the boy from the +Kimanches, who hed brought him from somewhar down the Grande. I know'd +it wur all bamboozle. The boy's white--American white. Who ever seed a +yeller-hided Mexikin with them eyes and ha'r? Jack, this hyur's Cap'n +Haller. If yur kin iver save his life by givin' yur own, yur must do +it, de ye hear?" + +"I will," said the boy resolutely. + +"Come, Lincoln," I interposed, "these conditions are not necessary. You +remember I was in your debt." + +"Ain't worth mentioning Cap; let bygones be bygones!" + +"But what brought you to New Orleans? or, more particularly, how came +you into this scrape?" + +"Wal, Cap'n, bein' as the last question is the most partickler, I'll gin +yur the answer to it fust. I hed jest twelve dollars in my pouch, an' I +tuk a idee inter my head thet I mout as well double it. So I stepped +into a shanty whar they wur a-playin' craps. After bettin' a good +spell, I won somewhar about a hundred dollars. Not likin' the sign I +seed about, I tuk Jack and put out. Wal, jest as I was kummin' roun' +this hyur corner, four fellers--them ye seed--run out and jumped me, +like so many catamounts. I tuk them for the same chaps I hed seed +parley vooin' at the craps-table; an' tho't they wur only jokin', till +one of them gin me a sockdolloger over the head, an' fired a pistol. I +then drewed my bowie, an' the skrimmage begun; an' thet's all I know +about it, cap'n, more'n yurself. + +"Let's see if it's all up with this'n," continued the hunter, stooping. +"I'deed, yes," he drawled out; "dead as a buck. Thunder! ye've gin it +him atween the eyes, plum. He _is_ one of the fellers, es my name's Bob +Linkin. I kud sw'ar to them mowstaches among a million." + +At this moment a patrol of night gendarmes came up; and Lincoln, and +Jack, and myself were carried off to the calaboose, where we spent the +remainder of the night. In the morning we were brought before the +recorder; but I had taken the precaution to send for some friends, who +introduced me to his worship in a proper manner. As my story +corroborated Lincoln's, and his mine, and "Jack's" substantiated both; +and as the comrades of the dead Creole did not appear, and he himself +was identified by the police as a notorious robber, the recorder +dismissed the case as one of "justifiable homicide in self-defence"; and +the hunter and I were permitted to go our way without further +interruption. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note. Craps is a game of dice. + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +A VOLUNTEER RENDEZVOUS. + +"Now, Cap," said Lincoln, as we seated ourselves at the table of a cafe, +"I'll answer t'other question yur put last night. I wur up on the head +of Arkansaw, an' hearin' they wur raisin' volunteers down hyur, I kim +down ter jine. It ain't often I trouble the settlements; but I've a +mighty _puncheon_, as the Frenchmen says, to hev a crack at them +yeller-bellies. I hain't forgot a mean trick they sarved me two yeern +ago, up thar by Santer Fe." + +"And so you have joined the volunteers?" + +"That's sartin. But why ain't you a-gwine to Mexico? That 'ere's a +wonder to me, cap, why you ain't. Thur's a mighty grist o' venturin', I +heern; beats Injun fightin' all holler, an' yur jest the beaver I'd +'spect to find in that 'ar dam. Why don't you go?" + +"So I purposed long since, and wrote on to Washington for a commission; +but the government seems to have forgotten me." + +"Dod rot the government! git a commission for yourself." + +"How?" I asked. + +"Jine us, an' be illected--thet's how." + +This had crossed my mind before; but, believing myself a stranger among +these volunteers, I had given up the idea. Once joined, he who failed +in being elected an officer was fated to shoulder a firelock. It was +neck or nothing then. Lincoln set things in a new light. They were +strangers to each other, he affirmed, and my chances of being elected +would therefore be as good as any man's. + +"I'll tell yur what it is," said he; "yur kin turn with me ter the +rendevooz, an' see for yurself; but if ye'll only jine, an' licker +freely, I'll lay a pack o' beaver agin the skin of a mink that they'll +illect ye captain of the company." + +"Even a lieutenancy," I interposed. + +"Ne'er a bit of it, cap. Go the big figger. 'Tain't more nor yur +entitled to. I kin git yur a good heist among some hunters thet's thur; +but thar's a buffalo drove o' them parleyvoos, an' a feller among 'em, +one of these hyur creeholes, that's been a-showin' off and fencin' with +a pair of skewers from mornin' till night. I'd be dog-gone glad to see +the starch taken out o' that feller." + +I took my resolution. In half an hour after I was standing in a large +hall or armoury. It was the rendezvous of the volunteers, nearly all of +whom were present; and perhaps a more variegated assemblage was never +grouped together. Every nationality seemed to have its representative; +and for variety of language the company might have rivalled the masons +of Babel. + +Near the head of the room was a table, upon which lay a large parchment, +covered with signatures. I added mine to the list. In the act I had +staked my liberty. It was an oath. + +"These are my rivals--the candidates for office," thought I, looking at +a group who stood near the table. They were men of better appearance +than the _hoi polloi_. Some of them already affected a half-undress +uniform, and most wore forage-caps with glazed covers, and army buttons +over the ears. + +"Ha! Clayley!" said I, recognising an old acquaintance. This was a +young cotton-planter--a free, dashing spirit,--who had sacrificed a +fortune at the shrines of Momus and Bacchus. + +"Why, Haller, old fellow! glad to see you. How have you been? Think of +going with us?" + +"Yes, I have signed. Who is that man?" + +"He's a Creole; his name is Dubrosc." + +It was a face purely Norman, and one that would halt the wandering eye +in any collection. Of oval outline, framed by a profusion of black +hair, wavy and perfumed. A round black eye, spanned by brows arching +and glossy. Whiskers that belonged rather to the chin, leaving bare the +jawbone, expressive of firmness and resolve. Firm thin lips, handsomely +moustached; when parted, displaying teeth well set and of dazzling +whiteness. A face that might be called beautiful; and yet its beauty +was of that negative order which we admire in the serpent and the pard. +The smile was cynical; the eye cold, yet bright; but the brightness was +altogether _animal_--more the light of instinct than intellect. A face +that presented in its expression a strange admixture of the lovely and +the hideous--physically fair, morally dark--beautiful, yet brutal! + +From some undefinable cause, I at once conceived for this man a strange +feeling of dislike. It was he of whom Lincoln had spoken, and who was +likely to be my rival for the captaincy. Was it this that rendered him +repulsive? No. There was a cause beyond. In him I recognised one of +those abandoned natures who shrink from all honest labour, and live upon +the sacrificial fondness of some weak being who has been enslaved by +their personal attractions. There are many such. I have met them in +the _jardins_ of Paris; in the _casinos_ of London; in the cafes of +Havanna, and the "quadroon" balls of New Orleans--everywhere in the +crowded haunts of the world. I have met them with an instinct of +loathing--an instinct of antagonism. + +"The fellow is likely to be our captain," whispered Clayley, noticing +that I observed the man with more than ordinary attention. "By the +way," continued he, "I don't half like it. I believe he's an infernal +scoundrel." + +"Such are my impressions. But if that be his character, how can he be +elected?" + +"Oh! no one here knows another; and this fellow is a splendid swordsman, +like all the Creoles, you know. He has used the trick to advantage, and +has created an impression. By the by, now I recollect, you are no +slouch at that yourself. What are you up for?" + +"Captain," I replied. + +"Good! Then we must go the `whole hog' in your favour. I have put in +for the first lieutenancy, so we won't run foul of each other. Let us +`hitch teams'." + +"With all my heart," said I. + +"You came in with that long-bearded hunter. Is he your friend?" + +"He is." + +"Then I can tell you that among these fellows he's a `whole team, and a +cross dog under the waggon' to boot. See him! he's at it already." + +I had noticed Lincoln in conversation with several leather-legging +gentry like himself, whom I knew from their costume and appearance to be +backwoodsmen. All at once these saturnine characters commenced moving +about the room, and entering into conversation with men whom they had +not hitherto deigned to notice. + +"They are canvassing," said Clayley. + +Lincoln, brushing past, whispered in my ear, "Cap'n, I understan' these +hyur critters better'n you kin. Yer must mix among 'em--mix and +licker--thet's the idee." + +"Good advice," said Clayley; "but if you could only take the shine out +of that fellow at fencing, the thing's done at once. By Jove! I think +you might do it, Haller!" + +"I have made up my mind to try, at all events." + +"Not until the last day--a few hours before the election." + +"You are right. It would be better to wait; I shall take your advice. +In the meantime let us follow that of Lincoln--`mix and licker'." + +"Ha! ha!" laughed Clayley; "let us come, boys," he added, turning to a +very thirsty-looking group, "let's all take a `smile'. Here, _Captain_ +Haller! allow me to introduce you;" and the next moment I was introduced +to a crowd of very seedy-looking gentlemen, and the moment after we were +clinking glasses, and chatting as familiarly as if we had been friends +of forty years' standing. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +During the next three days the enrolment continued, and the canvass was +kept up with energy. The election was to take place on the evening of +the fourth. + +Meanwhile my dislike for my rival had been strengthened by closer +observation; and, as is general in such cases, the feeling was +reciprocal. + +On the afternoon of the day in question we stood before each other, foil +in hand, both of us nerved by an intense, though as yet _unspoken_, +enmity. This had been observed by most of the spectators, who +approached and formed a circle around us; all of them highly interested +in the result--which, they knew, would be an index to the election. + +The room was an armoury, and all kinds of weapons for military practice +were kept in it. Each had helped himself to his foil. One of the +weapons was without a button, and sharp enough to be dangerous in the +hands of an angry man. I noticed that my antagonist had chosen this +one. + +"Your foil is not in order; it has lost the button, has it not?" I +observed. + +"Ah! monsieur, pardon. I did not perceive that." + +"A strange oversight," muttered Clayley, with a significant glance. + +The Frenchman returned the imperfect foil, and took another. + +"Have you a choice, monsieur?" I inquired. + +"No, thank you; I am satisfied." + +By this time every person in the rendezvous had come up, and waited with +breathless anxiety. We stood face to face, more like two men about to +engage in deadly duel than a pair of amateurs with blunt foils. My +antagonist was evidently a practised swordsman. I could see that as he +came to guard. As for myself, the small-sword exercise had been a +foible of my college days, and for years I had not met my match at it; +but just then I was out of practice. + +We commenced unsteadily. Both were excited by unusual emotions, and our +first thrusts were neither skilfully aimed nor parried. We fenced with +the energy of anger, and the sparks crackled from the friction of the +grazing steel. For several minutes it was a doubtful contest; but I +grew cooler every instant, while a slight advantage I had gained +irritated my adversary. At length, by a lucky hit, I succeeded in +planting the button of my foil upon his cheek. A cheer greeted this, +and I could hear the voice of Lincoln shouting out: + +"Wal done, cap'n! Whooray for the mountain-men!" This added to the +exasperation of the Frenchman, causing him to strike wilder than before; +and I found no difficulty in repeating my former thrust. It was now a +sure hit; and after a few passes I thrust my adversary for the third +time, drawing blood. The cheer rang out louder than before. The +Frenchman could no longer conceal his mortification; and, grasping his +foil in both hands, he snapped it over his knee, with an oath. Then, +muttering some word about "better weapons" and "another opportunity", he +strode off among the spectators. Two hours after the combat I was his +captain. Clayley was elected first lieutenant, and in a week from that +time the company was "mustered" into the service of the United States +government, and armed and equipped as an independent corps of "Rifle +Rangers". On the 20th of January, 1847, a noble ship was bearing us +over the blue water, toward the shores of a hostile land. + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +LIFE ON THE ISLAND OF LOBOS. + +After calling at Brazos Santiago, we were ordered to land upon the +island of Lobos, fifty miles north of Vera Cruz. This was to be our +"drill rendezvous." We soon reached the island. Detachments from +several regiments debarked together; the jungle was attacked; and in a +few hours the green grove had disappeared, and in its place stood the +white pyramids of canvas with their floating flags. It was the work of +a day. When the sun rose over Lobos it was a desert isle, thickly +covered with a jungle of mangrove, manzanel, and icaco trees, green as +an emerald. How changed the scene! When the moon looked down upon this +same islet it seemed as if a warlike city had sprung suddenly out of the +sea, with a navy at anchor in front of its bannered walls! + +In a few days six full regiments had encamped upon the hitherto +uninhabited island, and nothing was heard but the voice of war. + +These regiments were all "raw"; and my duty, with others, consisted in +"licking them into shape". It was drill, drill, from morning till +night; and, by early tattoo, I was always glad to crawl into my tent and +go to sleep--such sleep as a man can get among scorpions, lizards, and +soldier-crabs; for the little islet seemed to have within its boundaries +a specimen of every reptile that came safely out of the ark. + +The 22nd of February being Washington's birthday, I could not get to bed +as usual. I was compelled to accept an invitation, obtained by Clayley, +to the tent of Major Twing, where they were--using Clayley's own +words--"to have a night of it." + +After tattoo we set out for the major's marquee, which lay near the +centre of the islet, in a coppice of caoutchouc-trees. We had no +difficulty in finding it, guided by the jingling of glasses and the +mingling of many voices in boisterous laughter. + +As we came near, we could perceive that the marquee had been enlarged by +tucking up the flaps in front, with the addition of a fly stretched over +an extra ridge-pole. Several pieces of rough plank, spirited away from +the ship, resting upon empty bread-barrels, formed the table. Upon this +might be recognised every variety of bottles, glasses, and cups. Open +boxes of sardines, piles of ship-biscuits, and segments of cheese filled +the intervening spaces. Freshly-drawn corks and glistening fragments of +lead were strewed around, while a number of dark conical objects under +the table told that not a few champagne bottles were already "down among +the dead men." + +On each side of the table was a row of colonels, captains, subalterns, +and doctors seated without regard to rank or age, according to the order +in which they had "dropped in". There were also some naval officers, +and a sprinkling of strange, half-sailor-looking men, the skippers of +transport brigs, steamboats, etcetera; for Twing for a thorough +republican in his entertainments; besides, the _day_ levelled all +distinctions. + +At the head of the table was the major himself, who always carried a +large pewter flask suspended from his shoulders by a green string, and +without this flask no one ever saw Major Twing. He could not have stuck +to it more closely had it been his badge of rank. It was not unusual, +on the route, to hear some wearied officer exclaim, "If I only had a +pull at old Twing's pewter!" and "equal to Twing's flask" was an +expression which stamped the quality of any liquor as superfine. Such +was one of the major's peculiarities, though by no means the only one. + +As my friend and I made our appearance under the fly, the company was in +high glee, everyone enjoying himself with that freedom from restraint of +rank peculiar to the American army-service. Clayley was a great +favourite with the major, and at once caught his eye. + +"Ha, Clayley! that you? Walk in with your friend. Find seats there, +gentlemen." + +"Captain Haller--Major Twing," said Clayley, introducing me. + +"Happy to know you, Captain. Can you find seats there? No. Come up +this way. Cudjo, boy! run over to Colonel Marshall's tent, and steal a +couple of stools. Adge, twist the neck off that bottle. Where's the +screw? Hang that screw! Where is it anyhow?" + +"Never mind the screw, Mage," cried the adjutant; "I've got a patent +universal here." So saying, this gentleman held out a champagne bottle +in his left hand, and with a down-stroke of his right cut the neck off, +as square as if it had been filed. + +"Nate!" ejaculated Hennessy, an Irish officer, who sat near the head of +the table, and who evidently admired that sort of thing. + +"What we call a Kentucky corkscrew," said the adjutant coolly. "It +offers a double advantage. It saves time, and you got the wine clear +of--" + +"My respects, gentlemen! Captain Haller--Mr Clayley." + +"Thank you, Major Twing. To you, sir." + +"Ha! the stools at last! Only one! Come, gentlemen, squeeze yourselves +up this way. Here, Clayley, old boy; here's a cartridge-box. Adge! +up-end that box. So--give us your fist, old fellow; how are you? Sit +down, Captain; sit down. Cigars, there!" + +At that moment the report of a musket was heard without the tent, and +simultaneously a bullet whistled through the canvas. It knocked the +foraging-cap from the head of Captain Hennessy, and, striking a +decanter, shivered the glass into a thousand pieces! + +"A nate shot that, I don't care who fired it," said Hennessy, coolly +picking up his cap. "An inch of a miss--good as a mile," added he, +thrusting his thumb into the bullet-hole. + +By this time every officer present was upon his feet, most of them +rushing towards the front of the marquee. A dozen voices called out +together: + +"Who fired that gun?" + +There was no answer, and several plunged into the thicket in pursuit. +The chaparral was dark and silent, and these returned after a fruitless +search. + +"Some soldier, whose musket has gone off by accident," suggested Colonel +Harding. "The fellow has run away, to avoid being put under arrest." + +"Come, gentlemen, take your sates again," said Hennessy; "let the poor +divil slide--yez may be thankful it wasn't a shell." + +"You, Captain, have most cause to be grateful for the character of the +missile." + +"By my sowl, I don't know about that!--a shell or a twenty-four would +have grazed me all the same; but a big shot would have been mighty +inconvanient to the head of my friend Haller, here!" + +This was true. My head was nearly in range; and had the shot been a +large one, it would have struck me upon the left temple. As it was, I +felt the "wind" of the bullet, and already began to suffer a painful +sensation over the eye. + +"I'm mighty curious to know which of us the fellow has missed, Captain," +said Hennessy, turning to me as he spoke. + +"If it were not a `bull' I should say I hope neither of us. I'm +inclined to think, with Colonel Harding, that it was altogether an +accident." + +"By the powers! an ugly accident too, that has spoiled five dollars' +worth of an illigant cap, and a pint of as good brandy as ever was mixed +with hot water and lemon-juice." + +"Plenty left, Captain," cried the major. "Come, gentlemen, don't let +this damp us; fill up! till up! Adge, out with the corks! Cudjo, +where's the screw?" + +"Never mind the screw, Mage," cried the adjutant, repeating his old +trick upon the neck of a fresh bottle, which, nipped off under the wire, +fell upon a heap of others that had preceded it. + +And the wine again foamed and sparkled, and glasses circled round, and +the noisy revelry waxed as loud as ever. The incident of the shot was +soon forgotten. Songs were sung, and stories told, and toasts drunk; +and with song and sentiment, and toast and story, and the wild +excitement of wit and wine, the night waned away. With many of those +young hearts, old with hope and burning with ambition, it was the last +"Twenty-second" they would ever celebrate. Half of them never hailed +another. + + + +CHAPTER FIVE. + +A SKELETON ADVENTURE. + +It was past midnight when I withdrew from the scene of wassail. My +blood was flushed, and I strolled down upon the beach to enjoy the cool +fresh breeze that was flowing in from the Mexican Sea. + +The scene before me was one of picturesque grandeur, and I paused a +moment to gaze upon it. The wine even heightened its loveliness to an +illusion. + +The full round moon of the tropics was sweeping over a sky of cloudless +blue. The stars were eclipsed and scarcely visible, except a few of the +larger ones, as the belt of Orion, the planet Venus, and the luminous +radii of the Southern Cross. + +From my feet a broad band of silver stretched away to the horizon, +marking the meridian of the moon. This was broken by the line of coral +reef, over which the surf curled and sparkled with a phosphoric +brightness. The reef itself, running all round, seemed to gird the +islet in a circle of fire. Here only were the waves in motion, as if +pressed by some subaqueous and invisible power; for beyond, scarcely a +breath stirred the sleeping sea. It lay smooth and silent, while a +satellite sky seemed caved out in its azure depths. + +On the south, a hundred ships were in the deep roadstead, a cable's +length from each other--their hulls, spars, and rigging magnified to +gigantic proportions under the deceptive and tremulous moonbeam. They +were motionless as if the sea had been frozen around them into a solid +crystal. Their flags drooped listlessly down, trailing along the masts, +or warped and twined around the halyards. + +Up against the easy ascent extended the long rows of white tents, +shining under the silvery moonbeam like pyramids of snow. In one a +light was still gleaming through the canvas, where, perchance, some +soldier sat up, wearily wiping his gun, or burnishing the brasses upon +his belts. + +Now and then dark forms--human and uniformed--passed to and fro from +tent to tent, each returning from a visit to some regimental comrade. +At equal distances round the camp others stood upright and motionless, +the gleam of the musket showing the sentry on his silent post. + +The plunge of an oar, as some boat was rowed out among the anchored +ships--the ripple of the light breaker--at intervals the hail of a +sentinel, "Who goes there?"--the low parley that followed--the chirp of +the cicada in the dark jungle--or the scream of the sea-bird, scared by +some submarine enemy from its watery rest--were the only sounds that +disturbed the deep stillness of the night. + +I continued my walk along the beach until I had reached that point of +the island directly opposite to the mainland of Mexico. Here the +chaparral grew thick and tangled, running down to the water's edge, +where it ended in a clump of mangroves. As no troops were encamped +here, the islet had not been cleared at this point, and the jungle was +dark and solitary. + +The moon was now going down, and straggling shadows began to fall upon +the water. + +Certainly some one skulked into the bushes!--a rustling in the leaves-- +yes! some fellow who has strayed beyond the line of sentries and is +afraid to return to camp. Ha! a boat! a skiff it is--a net and buoys! +As I live, 'tis a Mexican craft!--who can have brought it here? Some +fisherman from the coast of Tuspan. No, he would not venture; it must +be-- + +A strange suspicion flashed across my mind, and I rushed through the +mangrove thicket, where I had observed the object a moment before. I +had not proceeded fifty yards when I saw the folly of this movement. I +found myself in the midst of a labyrinth, dark and dismal, surrounded by +a wall of leaves and brambles. The branches of the mangroves, rooted at +their tops, barred up the path, and vines laced them together. + +"If they be spies," thought I, "I have taken the worst plan to catch +them. I may as well go through now. I cannot be distant from the rear +of the camp. Ugh! how dismal!" + +I pushed on, climbing over fallen trunks, and twining myself through the +viny cordage. The creepers clung to my neck--thorns penetrated my +skin--the _mezquite_ slapped me in the face, drawing blood. I laid my +hand upon a pendent limb; a clammy object struggled under my touch, with +a terrified yet spiteful violence, and, freeing itself, sprang over my +shoulder, and scampered off among the fallen leaves. I felt its fetid +breath as the cold scales brushed against my cheek. It was the hideous +iguana. + +A huge bat flapped its sail-like wings in my face, and returned again +and again, breathing a mephitic odour that caused me to gasp. Twice I +struck at it with my sword, cutting only the empty air. A third time my +blade was caught in the trellis of parasites. It was horrible; I felt +terrified to contend with such strange enemies. + +At length, after a continued struggle, an opening appeared before me--a +glade; I rushed to the welcome spot. + +"What a relief!" I ejaculated, emerging from the leafy darkness. +Suddenly I started back with a cry of horror; my limbs refused to act; +the sword fell from my grasp, and I stood palsied and transfixed, as if +by a bolt from heaven. + +Before me, and not over three paces distant, the image of Death himself +rose out of the earth, and stretched forth his skeleton arms to clutch +me. It was no phantom. There was the white, naked skull, with its +eyeless sockets, the long, flesh-less limbs, the open, serrated ribs, +the long, jointed fingers of Death himself. + +As my bewildered brain took in these objects I heard a noise in the +bushes as of persons engaged in an angry struggle. + +"Emile, Emile!" cried a female voice, "you shall not murder him--you +shall not!" + +"Off! off!--Marie, let me go!" was shouted in the rough accents of a +man. + +"Oh, no!" continued the female, "you shall not--no--no--no!" + +"Curses on the woman! There, let me go now!" + +There was a sound as of someone struck with violence--a scream--and at +the same moment a human figure rushed out of the bushes, and, +confronting me, exclaimed: "Ha! Monsieur le Capitaine! _coup pour +coup_!" I heard no more; a heavy blow, descending upon my temples, +deprived me of all power, and I fell senseless to the earth. When I +returned to consciousness the first objects I saw were the huge brown +whiskers of Lincoln, then Lincoln himself, then the pale face of the boy +Jack; and, finally, the forms of several soldiers of my company. I saw +that I was in my own tent and stretched upon my camp-bed. + +"What?--howl--what's the matter!--what's this?" I said, raising my +hands to the bandage of wet linen that bound my temples. + +"Keep still, Cap'n," said Bob, taking my hand from the fillet and +placing it by my side. + +"Och! by my sowl, he's over it; thank the Lord for His goodness!" said +Chane, an Irish soldier. + +"Over what? what has happened to me?" I inquired. + +"Och, Captin, yer honour, you've been nearly murthered, and all by thim +Frinch scoundhrels; bad luck to their dirty frog-atin' picthers!" + +"Murdered! French scoundrels! Bob, what is it?" + +"Why, yer see, Cap'n, ye've had a cut hyur over the head; and we think +it's them Frenchmen." + +"Oh! I remember now; a blow--but the Death?--the Death?" + +I started up from the bed as the phantom of my night adventure returned +to my imagination. + +"The Death, Cap'n?--what do yer mean?" inquired Lincoln, holding me in +his strong arms. + +"Oh! the Cap'n manes the skilleton, maybe," said Chane. + +"What skeleton?" I demanded. + +"Why, an owld skilleton the boys found in the chaparril, yer honner. +They hung it to a three; and we found yer honner there, with the +skilleton swinging over ye like a sign. Och! the Frinch bastes!" + +I made no further inquiries about the "Death." + +"But where are the Frenchmen?" asked I, after a moment. + +"Clane gone, yer honner," replied Chane. + +"Gone?" + +"Yes, Cap'n; that's so as he sez it," answered Lincoln. + +"Gone! What do you mean?" I inquired. + +"Desarted, Cap'n." + +"How do you know that?" + +"Because they ain't here." + +"On the island?" + +"Searched it all--every bush." + +"But who? which of the French?" + +"Dubrosc and that 'ar boy that was always with him--both desarted." + +"You are sure they are missing?" + +"Looked high and low, Cap'n. Gravenitz seed Dubrosc steal into the +chaparril with his musket. Shortly afterwards we heern a shot, but +thought nothin' of it till this mornin', when one of the sodgers foun' a +Spanish sombrary out thar; and Chane heern some'dy say the shot passed +through Major Twing's markey. Besides, we foun' this butcher-knife +where yer was lyin'." + +Lincoln here held up a species of Mexican sword called a _machete_. + +"Ha!--well." + +"That's all, Cap'n; only it's my belief there was Mexicans on this +island, and them Frenchmen's gone with them." + +After Lincoln left me I lay musing on this still somewhat mysterious +affair. My memory, however, gradually grew clearer; and the events of +the preceding night soon became linked together, and formed a complete +chain. The shot that passed so near my head in Twing's tent--the boat-- +the French words I had heard before I received the blow--and the +exclamation, "_Coup pour coup_!"--all convinced me that Lincoln's +conjectures were right. + +Dubrosc had fired the shot and struck the blow that had left me +senseless. + +But who could the woman be whose voice I had heard pleading in my +behalf? + +My thoughts reverted to the boy who had gone off with Dubrosc, and whom +I had often observed in the company of the latter. A strange attachment +appeared to exist between them, in which the boy seemed to be the +devoted slave of the strong fierce Creole. Could this be a woman? + +I recollected having been struck with his delicate features, the +softness of his voice, and the smallness of his hands. There were other +points, besides, in the _tournure_ of the boy's figure that had appeared +singular to me. I had frequently observed the eyes of this lad bent +upon me, when Dubrosc was not present, with a strange and unaccountable +expression. + +Many other peculiarities connected with the boy and Dubrosc, which at +the time had passed unnoticed and unheeded, now presented themselves to +my recollection, all tending to prove the identity of the boy with the +woman whose voice I had heard in the thicket. + +I could not help smiling at the night's adventures; determined, however, +to conceal that part which related to the skeleton. + +In a few days my strength was restored. The cut I had received was not +deep--thanks to my forage-cap and the bluntness of the Frenchman's +weapon. + + + +CHAPTER SIX. + +THE LANDING AT SACRIFICIOS. + +Early in the month of March the troops at Lobos were re-embarked, and +dropped down to the roadstead of Anton Lizardo. The American fleet was +already at anchor there, and in a few days above a hundred sail of +transports had joined it. + +There is no city, no village, hardly a habitation upon this half-desert +coast. The aspect is an interminable waste of sandy hills, rendered +hirsute and picturesque by the plumed frondage of the palm-tree. + +We dared not go ashore, although the smooth white beach tempted us +strongly. A large body of the enemy was encamped behind the adjacent +ridges, and patrols could be seen at intervals galloping along the +beach. + +I could not help fancying what must have been the feeling of the +inhabitants in regard to our ships--a strange sight upon this desert +coast, and not a pleasing one to them, knowing that within those dark +hulls were concealed the hosts of their armed invaders. Laocoon looked +not with more dread upon the huge ribs of the Danaic horse than did the +simple peasant of Anahuac upon this fleet of "oak leviathans" that lay +within so short a distance of his shores. + +To us the scene possessed an interest of a far different character. We +looked proudly upon these magnificent models of naval architecture--upon +their size, their number, and their admirable adaptation. We viewed +with a changing cheek and kindling eye this noble exhibition of a free +people's strength; and as the broad banner of our country swung out upon +the breeze of the tropics, we could not help exulting in the glory of +that great nation whose uniform we wore around our bodies. + +It was no dream. We saw the burnished cannon and the bright epaulette, +the gleaming button and the glancing bayonet. We heard the startling +trumpet, the stirring drum, and the shrill and thrilling fife; and our +souls drank in all those glorious sights and sounds that form at once +the spirit and the witchery of war. + +The landing was to take place on the 9th, and the point of debarkation +fixed upon was the beach opposite the island of Sacrificios, just out of +range of the guns of Vera Cruz. + +The 9th of March rose like a dream, bright, balmy, and beautiful. The +sea was scarcely stirred by the gentlest breeze of the tropics; but this +breeze, light as it was, blew directly in our favour. + +At an early hour I observed a strange movement among the ships composing +the fleet. Signals were changing in quick succession, and boats gliding +rapidly to and fro. + +Before daybreak the huge surf-boats had been drawn down from their +moorings, and with long hempen hawsers attached to the ships and +steamers. + +The descent was about to be made. The ominous cloud which had hung dark +and threatening over the shores of Mexico was about to burst upon that +devoted land. But where? The enemy could not tell, and were preparing +to receive us on the adjacent shore. + +The black cylinder began to smoke, and the murky cloud rolled down upon +the water, half obscuring the fleet. Here and there a broad sail, +freshly unfurled, hung stiffly from the yard; the canvas, escaping from +its gasket fastenings, had not yet been braced round to the breeze. + +Soldiers were seen standing along the decks; some in full equipments, +clutching the bright barrels of their muskets, while others were +buckling on their white belts, or cramming their cartouche-boxes. + +Officers, in sash and sword, paced the polished quarter-decks, or talked +earnestly in groups, or watched with eager eyes the motions of the +various ships. + +Unusual sounds were heard on all sides. The deep-toned chorus of the +sailor, the creaking of the capstan, and the clanking of the iron cogs; +the "heave-ho!" at the windlass, and the grating of the huge +anchor-chain, as link after link rasped through the rusty ring--sounds +that warned us to make ready for a change. + +In the midst of these came the brisk rolling of a drum. It was answered +by another, and another, and still another, until all voices were +drowned by the deafening noise. Then followed the mingling shouts of +command, a rushing over the decks, and streams of blue-clad men poured +down the dark sides, and seated themselves in the surf-boats. These +were filled in a twinkling, and all was silent as before. Every voice +was hushed in expectation, and every eye bent upon the little black +steamer which carried the commander-in-chief. + +Suddenly a cloud of smoke rose up from her quarter; a sheet of flame +shot out horizontally; and the report of a heavy gun shook the +atmosphere like an earthquake. Before its echoes had subsided, a +deafening cheer ran simultaneously through the fleet; and the ships, all +together, as if impelled by some hidden and supernatural power, broke +from their moorings, and dashed through the water with the velocity of +the wind. Away to the north-west, in an exciting race; away for the +island of Sacrificios! + +On struggled the ships, bending to the breeze and cleaving the crystal +water with their bold bows; on the steamers, beating the blue waves into +a milky way, and dragging the laden boats in their foamy track. On +followed the boats through the hissing and frothy caldron. Loud rolled +the drum, loud brayed the bugle, and loud huzzas echoed from the +adjacent shores. + +Already the foe was alarmed and alert. Light horsemen with streaming +haste galloped up the coast. Lancers, with gay trappings and long +pennons, appeared through the openings of the hills. Foaming, prancing +steeds flew with light artillery over the naked ridges, dashing madly +down deep defiles, and crushing the cactus with their whirling wheels. +"Andela! Andela!" was their cry. In vain they urged their horses, in +vain they drove the spur deep and bloody into their smoking sides. The +elements were against them, and in favour of their foes. + +The earth and the water were their impediments, while the air and the +water were the allies of their enemies. _They_ clung and sweltered +through the hot and yielding sand or sank in the marshy borders of the +Mandinga and the Medellin, while steam and the wind drove the ships of +their adversaries like arrows through the water. + +The alarm spread up the coast. Bugles were sounding, and horsemen +galloped through the streets of Vera Cruz. The alarm-drum beat in the +plaza, and the long roll echoed in every _cuartel_. + +Signal rockets shot up from San Juan, and were answered by others from +Santiago and Concepcion. + +Thousands of dark forms clustered upon the roofs of the city and the +ramparts of the castle; and thousands of pale lips whispered in accents +of terror, "They come! they come!" + +As yet they knew not how the attack was to be made, or where to look for +our descent. + +They imagined that we were about to bombard their proud fortress of San +Juan, and expected soon to see the ships of these rash invaders +shattered and sunk before its walls. + +The fleet was almost within long range, the black buoyant hulls bounded +fearlessly over the water. The eager crowd thickened upon the walls. +The artillerists of Santiago had gathered around their guns, silent and +waiting orders. Already the burning fuse was sending forth its +sulphurous smell, and the dry powder lay temptingly on the touch, when a +quick, sharp cry was heard along the walls and battlements, a cry of +mingled rage, disappointment, and dismay. + +The foremost ship had swerved suddenly from the track; and bearing +sharply to the left, under the _manege_ of a skilful helmsman, was +running down under the shelter of Sacrificios. + +The next ship followed her guide, and the next, and the next; and, +before the astonished multitude recovered from their surprise, the whole +fleet had come to within pistol-shot of the island! + +The enemy now, for the first time, perceived the _ruse_, and began to +calculate its results. Those giant ships, that but a moment ago seemed +rushing to destruction, had rounded to at a safe distance, and were +preparing, with the speed and skilfulness of a perfect discipline, to +pour a hostile host upon the defenceless shores. In vain the cavalry +bugle called their horsemen to the saddle; in vain the artillery car +rattled along the streets; both would be too late! + +Meanwhile, the ships let fall their anchors, with a plunge, and a +rasping, and a rattle. The sails came down upon the yards; and sailors +swung themselves into the great surf-boats, and mixed with the soldiers, +and seized the oars. + +Then the blades were suddenly and simultaneously dropped on the surface +of the wave, a naval officer in each boat directing the movements of the +oarsmen. + +And the boats pulled out nearer, and by an echelon movement took their +places in line. + +Light ships of war were thrown upon our flanks, to cover the descent by +a cross fire. No enemy had yet appeared, and all eyes were turned +landward with fiery expectation. Bounding hearts waited impatiently for +the signal. + +The report of a single gun was at length heard from the ship of the +commander-in-chief; and, as if by one impulse, a thousand oars struck +the water, and flung up the spray upon their broad blades. A hundred +boats leaped forward simultaneously. The powerful stroke was repeated, +and propelled them with lightning speed. Now was the exciting race, the +regatta of war! The Dardan rowers would have been distanced here. + +On! on! with the velocity of the wind, over the blue waves, through the +snowy surf--on! + +And now we neared the shore, and officers sprang to their feet, and +stood with their swords drawn; and soldiers half sat, half crouched, +clutching their muskets. And the keels gritted upon the gravelly bed; +and, at the signal, a thousand men, in one plunge, flung themselves into +the water, and dashed madly through the surf. Thousands followed, +holding their cartridge-boxes breast-high; and blades were glancing, and +bayonets gleaming, and banners waving; and under glancing blades, and +gleaming bayonets, and waving banners, the dark mass rushed high upon +the beach. + +Then came a cheer, loud, long, and exulting. It pealed along the whole +line, uttered from five thousand throats, and answered by twice that +number from the anchored ships. It echoed along the shores, and back +from the distant battlements. + +A colour-sergeant, springing forward, rushed up the steep sides of a +sand-hill, and planted his flag upon its snowy ridge. + +As the well-known banner swung out upon the breeze, another cheer, wild +and thrilling, ran along the line; a hundred answering flags were hauled +up through the fleet; the ships of war saluted with full broadsides; and +the guns of San Juan, now for the first time waking from their lethargic +silence, poured forth their loudest thunder. + +The sun was just setting as our column commenced its advance inward. +After winding for a short distance through the defiles of the +sand-hills, we halted for the night, our left wing resting upon the +beach. + +The soldiers bivouacked without tents--sleeping upon their arms, with +the soft sand for their couch and the cartridge-box for their pillow. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note. Cuartel is the quarter of the city. + + + +CHAPTER SEVEN. + +THE CITY OF THE TRUE CROSS. + +Vera Cruz is a fortified city. Round and round it is girt by a wall, +with regular batteries placed at intervals. You enter it from the land +side by three gates (_garitas_), and from the sea by a beautiful pier or +mole that projects some distance into the water. The latter is a modern +construction; and when the sun is descending behind the Mexican +Cordilleras to the west, and the breeze blows in from the Gulf, this +mole--the seat of but little commercial activity--becomes the favourite +promenade of the dark-eyed Vera-Cruzanas and their pallid lovers. + +The city stands on the very beach. The sea at full tide washes its +battlements, and many of the houses overlook the water. On almost every +side a plain of sand extends to a mile's distance from the walls, where +it terminates in those lofty white sand-ridges that form a feature of +the shores of the Mexican Gulf. During high tides and "northers" the +sea washes over the surrounding sand-plain, and Vera Cruz appears almost +isolated amid the waves. On one side, however, towards the south, there +is variety in the aspect. Here appear traces of vegetation--some low +trees and bushes, a view of the forest inward into the country, a few +buildings outside the walls, a railway-station, a cemetery, an aqueduct, +a small sluggish stream, marshes and stagnant pools. + +In front of the city, built upon the coral reef, stands the celebrated +fortress-castle of San Juan de Ulloa. It is about one thousand yards +out from the mole, and over one of its angles towers a lighthouse. Its +walls, with the reef on which it stands (Gallega), shelter the harbour +of Vera Cruz--which, in fact, is only a roadstead--from the north winds. +Under the lee of San Juan the ships of commerce lie at anchor. There +are but few of them at any time. + +Another large fort (Concepcion) stands upon the beach at the northern +angle of the city, and a third (Santiago) defends it towards the south. +A circular bastion, with heavy pieces of ordnance, sweeps the plain to +the rear, commanding it as far as the sand-ridges. + +Vera Cruz is a pretty picture to look at, either from the sea or from +the sand-hills in the interior. Its massive domes--its tall steeples +and turreted roofs--its architecture, half Moorish, half modern--the +absence of scattered suburbs or other salient objects to distract the +eye--all combine to render the City of the True Cross an unique and +striking picture. In fact, its numerous architectural varieties, bound +as they are into compact unity by a wall of dark lava-stone, impress you +with the idea that some artist had arranged them for the sake of effect. +The _coup d'oeil_ often reminded me of the engravings of cities in +_Goldsmith's Epitome_, that used to be considered the bright spots in my +lessons of school geography. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +At break of day, on the 10th, the army took up its line of march through +hills of sand-drift. Division lapped upon division, regiment upon +regiment, extending the circle of investment by an irregular echelon. +Foot rifles and light infantry drove the enemy from ridge to ridge, and +through the dark mazes of the chaparral gorge. The column continued its +tortuous track, winding through deep denies, and over hot white hills, +like a bristling snake. It moved within range of the guns of the city, +screened by intervening heights. Now and then the loud cannon of +Santiago opened upon it, as some regiment displayed itself, crossing a +defile or pushing over the spur of a sand-hill. The constant rattling +of rifles and musketry told that our skirmishers were busy in the +advance. The arsenal was carried by a brilliant charge, and the +American flag waved over the ruins of the Convent Malibran. On the 11th +the Orizava road was crossed, and the light troops of the enemy were +brushed from the neighbouring hills. They retired sullenly under +shelter of their heavy guns, and within the walls of the city. + +On the morning of the 12th the investment was complete. Vera Cruz lay +within a semicircle, around its centre. The half circumference was a +chain of hostile regiments that embraced the city in their concave arc. +The right of this chain pitched its tents opposite the isle of +Sacrificios; while five miles off to the north, its left rested upon the +hamlet Vergara. The sea covered the complement of this circle, guarded +by a fleet of dark and warlike ships. + +The diameter hourly grew shorter. The lines of circum-vallation lapped +closer and closer around the devoted city, until the American pickets +appeared along the ridges of the nearest hills, and within range of the +guns of Santiago, Concepcion, and Xjuoa. + +A smooth sand-plain, only a mile in width, lay between the besiegers and +the walls of the besieged. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +After tattoo-beat on the night of the 12th, with a party of my brother +officers, I ascended the high hill around which winds the road leading +to Orizava. + +This hill overlooks the city of Vera Cruz. + +After dragging ourselves wearily through the soft, yielding sand, we +reached the summit, and halted on a projecting ridge. + +With the exception of a variety of exclamations expressing surprise and +delight, not a word for awhile was uttered by any of our party, each +individual being wrapped up in the contemplation of a scene of +surpassing interest. It was moonlight, and sufficiently clear to +distinguish the minutest objects on the picture that lay rolled out +before us like a map. + +Below our position, and seeming almost within reach of the hand, lay the +City of the True Cross, rising out of the white plain, and outlined upon +the blue background of the sea. + +The dark grey towers and painted domes, the Gothic turret and Moorish +minaret, impressed us with the idea of the antique; while here and there +the tamarind, nourished on some azotea, or the fringed fronds of the +palm-tree, drooping over the notched parapet, lent to the city an aspect +at once southern and picturesque. + +Domes, spires, and cupolas rose over the old grey walls, crowned with +floating banners--the consular flags of France, and Spain, and Britain, +waving alongside the eagle of the Aztecs. + +Beyond, the blue waters of the Gulf rippled lightly against the +sea-washed battlements of San Juan, whose brilliant lights glistened +along the combing of the surf. + +To the south we could distinguish the isle of Sacrificios, and the dark +hulls that slept silently under the shelter of its coral reef. + +Outside the fortified wall, which girt the city with its cincture of +grey rock, a smooth plain stretched rearward to the foot of the hill on +which we stood, and right and left along the crest of the ridge from +Punta Hornos to Vergara, ranged a line of dark forms--the picket +sentries of the American outposts, as they stood knee-deep in the soft, +yielding sand-drift. + +It was a picture of surprising interest; and, as we stood gazing upon +it, the moon suddenly disappeared behind a bank of clouds; and the lamps +of the city, heretofore eclipsed by her brighter beam, now burned up and +glistened along the walls. + +Bells rang merrily from church-towers, and bugles sounded through the +echoing streets. At intervals we could hear the shrill cries of the +guard, "_Centinela! alerte_!" (Sentinel, look out), and the sharp +challenge, "_Quien viva_?" (Who goes there?) + +Then the sound of sweet music, mingled with the soft voices of women, +was wafted to our ears, and with beating hearts we fancied we could hear +the light tread of silken feet, as they brushed over the polished floor +of the ball-room. + +It was a tantalising moment, and wistful glances were cast on the +beleaguered town; while more than one of our party was heard impatiently +muttering a wish that it might be carried by assault. + +As we continued gazing, a bright jet of flame shot out horizontally from +the parapet over Puerto Nuevo. + +"Look out!" cried Twing, at the same instant flinging his wiry little +carcase squat under the brow of a sand-wreath. + +Several of the party followed his example; but, before all had housed +themselves, a shot came singing past, along with the loud report of a +twenty-four. + +The shot struck the comb of the ridge, within several yards of the +group, and ricocheted off into the distant hills. + +"Try it again!" cried one. + +"That fellow has lost a champagne supper," said Twing. + +"More likely he has had it, or his aim would be more steady," suggested +an officer. + +"Oysters, too--only think of it!" said Clayley. + +"Howld your tongue, Clayley, or by my sowl I'll charge down upon the +town!" + +This came from Hennessy, upon whose imagination the contrast between +champagne and oysters and the gritty pork and biscuit he had been +feeding upon for several days past acted like a shock. + +"There again!" cried Twing, whose quick eye caught the blaze upon the +parapet. + +"A shell, by the powers!" exclaimed Hennessy. "Let it dhrop first, or +it may dhrop on ye," he continued, as several officers were about to +fling themselves on their faces. + +The bomb shot up with a hissing, hurtling sound. A little spark could +be seen as it traced its graceful curves through the dark heavens. + +The report echoed from the walls, and at the same instant was heard a +dull sound, as the shell buried itself in the sand-drift. + +It fell close to one of the picket sentinels, who was standing upon his +post within a few paces of the group. The man appeared to be either +asleep or stupefied, as he remained stock-still. Perhaps he had +mistaken it for the ricochet of a round shot. + +"It's big shooting for them to hit the hill!" exclaimed a young officer. + +The words had scarcely passed when a loud crash, like the bursting of a +cannon, was heard under our feet; the ground opened like an earthquake, +and, amidst the whistling of the fragments, the sand was dashed into our +faces. + +A cloud of dust hung for a moment above the spot. The moon at this +instant reappeared, and as the dust slowly settled away, the mutilated +body of the soldier was seen upon the brow of the hill, at the distance +of twenty paces from his post. + +A low cheer reached us from Concepcion, the fort whence the shell had +been projected. + +Chagrined at the occurrence, and mortified that it had been caused by +our imprudence, we were turning to leave the hill, when the "whish" of a +rocket attracted our attention. + +It rose from the chaparral, about a quarter of a mile in rear of the +camp, and, before it had reached its culminating point, an answering +signal shot up from the Puerto Nuevo. + +At the same instant a horseman dashed out of the thicket, and headed his +horse at the steep sand-hills. After three or four desperate plunges, +the fiery mustang gained the crest of the ridge upon which lay the +remains of the dead soldier. + +Here the rider, seeing our party, suddenly reined up and balanced for a +moment in the stirrup, as if uncertain whether to advance or retreat. + +We, on the other hand, taking him for some officer of our own, and +wondering who it could be galloping about at such an hour, stood silent +and waiting. + +"By heavens, that's a Mexican!" muttered Twing, as the ranchero dress +became apparent under a brighter beam of the moon. + +Before anyone could reply, the strange horseman wheeled sharply to the +left, and drawing a pistol, fired it into our midst. Then spurring his +wild horse, he galloped past us into a deep defile of the hills. + +"You're a set of Yankee fools!" he shouted back, as he reached the +bottom of the dell. + +Half a dozen shots replied to the taunting speech; but the retreating +object was beyond pistol range before our astonished party had recovered +from their surprise at such an act of daring audacity. + +In a few minutes we could see both horse and rider near the walls of the +city--a speck on the white plain; and shortly after we heard the grating +hinges of the Puerto Nuevo, as the huge gate swung open to receive him. +No one was hit by the shot of his pistol. Several could be heard +gritting their teeth with mortification as we commenced descending the +hill. + +"Did you know that voice, Captain?" whispered Clayley to me, as we +returned to camp. + +"Yes." + +"You think it was--" + +"Dubrosc." + + + +CHAPTER EIGHT. + +MAJOR BLOSSOM. + +On reaching the camp I found a mounted orderly in front of my tent. + +"From the general," said the soldier, touching his cap, and handing me a +sealed note. + +The orderly, without waiting a reply, leaped into his saddle and rode +off. + +I broke the seal with delight: + +"Sir,--You will report, with fifty men, to Major Blossom, at 4 a.m. +to-morrow. + +"By order,--" + +(Signed) "A.A.A.-G. + +"Captain Haller, commanding Co. Rifle Rangers." + +"Old Bios, eh? Quartermaster scouting, I hope," said Clayley, looking +over the contents of the note. + +"Anything but the trenches; I am sick of them." + +"Had it been anybody else but Blossom--fighting Daniels, for instance-- +we might have reckoned on a comfortable bit of duty; but the old whale +can hardly climb into his saddle--it _does_ look bad." + +"I will not long remain in doubt. Order the sergeant to warn the men +for four." + +I walked through the camp in search of Blossom's marquee, which I found +in a grove of caoutchouc-trees, and out of range of the heaviest metal +in Vera Cruz. The major himself was seated in a large Campeachy chair, +that had been "borrowed" from some neighbouring rancho, and perhaps it +was never so well filled as by its present occupant. + +It would be useless to attempt an elaborate description of Major +Blossom. That would require an entire chapter. + +Perhaps the best that can be done to give the reader an idea of him is +to say that he was a great, fat, red man, and known among his brother +officers as "the swearing major". If anyone in the army loved good +living, it was Major Blossom; and if anyone hated hard living, that man +was Major George Blossom. He hated Mexicans, too, and mosquitoes, and +scorpions, and snakes, and sand-flies, and all enemies to his rest and +comfort; and the manner in which he swore at these natural foes would +have entitled him to a high commission in the celebrated army of +Flanders. + +Major Blossom was a quarter-master in more senses than one, as he +occupied more quarters than any two men in the army, not excepting the +general-in-chief; and when many a braver man and better officer was cut +down to "twenty-five pounds of baggage", the private lumber of Major +Blossom, including himself, occupied a string of wagons like a +siege-train. + +As I entered the tent he was seated at supper. The viands before him +were in striking contrast to the food upon which the army was then +subsisting. There was no gravel gritting between the major's teeth as +he masticated mess-pork or mouldy biscuit. He found no _debris_ of sand +and small rocks at the bottom of his coffee-cup. No; quite the +contrary. + +A dish of pickled salmon, a side of cold turkey, a plate of sliced +tongue, with a fine Virginia ham, were the striking features of the +major's supper, while a handsome French coffee-urn, containing the +essence of Mocha, simmered upon the table. Out of this the major from +time to time replenished his silver cup. A bottle of _eau-de-vie_, that +stood near his right hand, assisted him likewise in swallowing his ample +ration. + +"Major Blossom, I presume?" said I. + +"My name," ejaculated the major, between two swallows, so short and +quick that the phrase sounded like a monosyllable. + +"I have received orders to report to you, sir." + +"Ah! bad business! bad business!" exclaimed the major, qualifying the +words with an energetic oath. + +"How, sir?" + +"Atrocious business! dangerous service! Can't see why they sent me." + +"I came, Major, to inquire the nature of the service, so that I may have +my men in order for it." + +"Dangerous service!" + +"It is?" + +"Infernal cut-throats! thousands of 'em in the bushes--bore a man +through as soon as wink. Those yellow devils are worse than--!" and +again the swearing major wound up with an exclamation not proper to be +repeated. + +"Can't see why they picked _me_ out. There's Myers, and Wayne, and +Wood, not half my size, and that thin scare-the-crows Allen; but no--the +general wants _me_ killed. Die soon enough in this infernal nest of +centipedes without being shot in the chaparral! I wish the chaparral +was--!" and again the major's unmentionable words came pouring forth in +a volley. + +I saw that it was useless to interrupt him until the first burst was +over. From his frequent anathemas on the "bushes" and the "chaparral", +I could gather that the service I was called upon to perform lay at some +distance from the camp; but beyond this I could learn nothing, until the +major had sworn himself into a degree of composure, which after some +minutes he accomplished. I then re-stated the object of my visit. + +"We're going into the country for mules," replied the major. "Mules, +indeed! Heaven knows there isn't a mule within ten miles, unless with a +yellow-hided Mexican on his back, and such mules we don't want. The +volunteers--curse them!--have scared everything to the mountains: not a +stick of celery nor an onion to be had at any price." + +"How long do you think we may be gone?" I inquired. + +"Long? Only a day. If I stay overnight in the chaparral, may a wolf +eat me! Oh, no! if the mules don't turn up soon, somebody else may go +fetch 'em--that's all." + +"I may ration them for one day?" said I. + +"Two--two; your fellows'll be hungry. Roberts, of the Rifles, who's +been out in the country, tells me there isn't enough forage to feed a +cat. So you'd better take two days' biscuit. I suppose we'll meet with +beef enough on the hoof, though I'd rather have a rump-steak out of the +Philadelphia market than all the beef in Mexico. Hang their beef! it's +as tough as tan leather!" + +"At four o'clock then, Major, I'll be with you," said I, preparing to +take my leave. + +"Make it a little later, Captain. I get no sleep with these cursed +gally-nippers and things; but, stay--how many men have you got?" + +"In my company eighty; but my order is to take only fifty." + +"There again! I told you so; want me killed--they want old Bios killed! +Fifty men, when a thousand of the leather-skinned devils have been seen +not ten miles off! Fifty men! great heavens! fifty men! There's an +escort to take the chaparral with!" + +"But they are fifty men worth a hundred, I promise you." + +"Bring all--every son of a gun--bugler and all." + +"But that, Major, would be contrary to the general's orders." + +"Hang the general's orders! Obey some generals' orders in this army, +and you would do queer things. Bring them all; take my advice. I tell +you, if you don't, our lives may answer for it. Fifty men!" + +I was about to depart when the major stopped me with a loud "Hilloa!" + +"Why," cried he, "I have lost my senses! Your pardon, Captain! This +unlucky thing has driven me crazy. They must pick upon _me_! What will +you drink? Here's some good brandy; sorry I can't say as much for the +water." + +I mixed a glass of brandy and water; the major did the same; and, having +pledged each other, we bade "good night", and separated. + + + +CHAPTER NINE. + +SCOUTING IN THE CHAPARRAL. + +Between the shores of the Mexican Gulf and the "foot-hills" (_piedmont_) +of the great chain of the Andes lies a strip of low lands. In many +places this belt is nearly a hundred miles in breadth, but generally +less than fifty. It is of a tropical character, termed in the language +of the country _tierra caliente_. It is mostly covered with jungly +forests, in which are found the palm, the tree-ferns, the mahogany and +india-rubber trees, dyewoods, canes, llianas, and many other gigantic +parasites. In the underwood you meet thorny aloes, the "pita" plant, +and wild mezcal; various Cactacese, and flora of singular forms, +scarcely known to the botanist. There are swamps, dark and dank, +overshadowed by the tall cypress, with its pendent streamers of silvery +moss (_Tillandsia usneoides_). From these arise the miasma--the mother +of the dreaded "vomito." + +This unhealthy region is but thinly inhabited; but here you meet with +people of the African race, and nowhere else in Mexico. In the towns-- +and there are but few--you see the yellow mulatto, and the pretty +quadroon with her black waving hair; but in the spare settlements of the +country you meet with a strange race--the cross of the negro with the +ancient inhabitants of the country--the "zamboes." + +Along the coast and in the black country, behind Vera Cruz, you will +find these people living a half-indolent, half-savage life, as small +cultivators, cattle-herds, fishermen, or hunters. In riding through the +forest you may often chance upon such a picture as the following:-- + +There is an opening in the woods that presents an aspect of careless +cultivation--a mere patch cleared out of the thick jungle--upon which +grow yams, the sweet-potato (_Convolvulus batata_), chile, melons, and +the calabash. On one side of the clearing there is a hut--a sort of +shed. A few upright poles forked at their tops; a few others laid +horizontally upon them; a thatch of palm leaves to shadow the burning +rays of the sun--that is all. + +In this shadow there are human beings--men, women, children. They wear +rude garments of white cotton cloth; but they are half-naked, and their +skins are dark, almost black. Their hair is woolly and frizzled. They +are not Indians, they are not negroes, they are "zamboes"--a mixture of +both. They are coarse-featured, and coarsely clad. You would find it +difficult, at a little distance, to distinguish their sex, did you not +know that those who swing in the hammocks and recline indolently upon +the palm-mats (_petates_) are the men, and those who move about and do +the work are the females. One of the former occasionally stimulates the +activity of the latter by a stroke of the "cuarto" (mule-whip). + +A few rude implements of furniture are in the shed: a "metate" on which +the boiled maize is ground for the "tortilla" cakes; some "ollas" (pots) +of red earthenware; dishes of the calabash; a rude hatchet or two; a +"machete"; a banjo made from the gourd-shell; a high-peaked saddle, with +bridle and "lazo"; strings of red-pepper pods hanging from the +horizontal beams--not much more. A lank dog on the ground in front; a +lean "mustang" tied to the tree; a couple of "burros" (donkeys); and +perhaps a sorry galled mule in an inclosure adjoining. + +The zambo enjoys his _dolce far niente_ while his wife does his work-- +what work there is, but that is not much. There is an air of neglect +that impresses you; an air of spontaneity about the picture--for the +yams and the melons, and the chile-plants, half choked with weeds, seem +to grow without culture, and the sun gives warmth, so as to render +almost unnecessary the operations of the spindle and the loom. + +The forest opens again, and another picture--a prettier one--presents +itself. It bears the aspect of a better cultivation, though still +impressing you with ideas of indolence and neglect. This picture is the +"rancho", the settlement of the small farmer, or "vaquero" +(cattle-herd). Its form is that of an ordinary house, with gables and +sloping roof, but its walls are peculiar. They are constructed of +gigantic bamboo canes, or straight poles of the _Fouquiera splendens_. +These are laced together by cords of the "pita" aloe; but the +interstices between are left open, so as freely to admit the breeze. +Coolness, not warmth, is the object of these buildings. The roof is a +thatch of palm-leaves, and with far-impending eaves casts off the heavy +rain of the tropics. The appearance is striking--more picturesque even +than the chalet of Switzerland. + +There is but little furniture within. There is no table; there are few +chairs, and these of raw hide nailed upon a rude frame. There are +bedsteads of bamboo; the universal tortilla-stone; mats of palm-leaf; +baskets of the same material; a small altar-like fireplace in the middle +of the floor; a bandolin hanging by the wall; a saddle of stamped +leather, profusely ornamented with silver nails and plates; a hair +bridle, with huge Mameluke bit; an escopette and sword, or machete; an +endless variety of gaily-painted bowls, dishes, and cups, but neither +knife, fork, nor spoon. Such are the movables of a "rancho" in the +_tierra caliente_. + +You may see the ranchero by the door, or attending to his small, wiry, +and spirited horse, outside. The man himself is either of Spanish blood +or a "mestizo" (half-breed). He is rarely a pure Indian, who is most +commonly a peon or labourer, and who can hardly be termed a "ranchero" +in its proper sense. + +The ranchero is picturesque--his costume exceedingly so. His complexion +is swarthy, his hair is black, and his teeth are ivory white. He is +often moustached, but rarely takes the trouble to trim or keep these +ornaments in order. His whisker is seldom bushy or luxuriant. His +trousers (_calzoneros_) are of green or dark velvet, open down the +outside seams, and at the bottoms overlaid with stamped black leather, +to defend the ankles of the wearer against the thorny chaparral. A row +of bell buttons, often silver, close the open seams when the weather is +cold. There are wide drawers (_calzoncillos_) of fine white cotton +underneath; and these puff out through the seams, forming a tasty +contrast with the dark velvet. A silken sash, generally of scarlet +colour, encircles the waist; and its fringed ends hang over the hips. +The hunting-knife is stuck under it. There is a short jacket of +velveteen, tastefully embroidered and buttoned; a white cambric shirt, +elaborately worked and plaited; and over all a heavy, broad-brimmed hat +(_sombrero_), with silver or gold band, and tags of the same material +sticking out from the sides. He wears boots of red leather, and huge +spurs with bell rowels; and he is never seen without the "seraph". The +last is his bed, his blanket, his cloak, and his umbrella. + +His wife may be seen moving about the rancho, or upon her knees before +the metate kneading tortillas, and besmearing them with _chile Colorado_ +(red capsicum). She wears a petticoat or skirt of a naming bright +colour, very short, showing her well-turned but stockingless ankles, +with her small slippered feet. Her arms, neck, and part of her bosom +are nude, but half concealed by the bluish-grey scarf (_rebozo_) that +hangs loosely over her head. + +The ranchero leads a free, easy life, burthened with few cares. He is +the finest rider in the world, following his cattle on horseback, and +never makes even the shortest journey on foot. He plays upon the +bandolin, sings an Andalusian ditty, and is fond of _chingarito_ (mezcal +whisky) and the "fandango." + +Such is the ranchero of the _tierra caliente_ around Vera Cruz, and such +is he in all other parts of Mexico, from its northern limits to the +Isthmus. + +But in the _tierra caliente_ you may also see the rich planter of +cotton, or sugar-cane, or cocoa (_cacao_), or the vanilla bean. His +home is the "hacienda". This is a still livelier picture. There are +many fields inclosed and tilled. They are irrigated by the water from a +small stream. Upon its banks there are cocoa-trees; and out of the rich +moist soil shoot up rows of the majestic plantain, whose immense +yellow-green leaves, sheathing the stem and then drooping gracefully +over, render it one of the most ornamental productions of the tropics, +as its clustering legumes of farinaceous fruit make it one of the most +useful. Low walls, white or gaily painted, appear over the fields, and +a handsome spire rises above the walls. That is the "hacienda" of the +planter--the "rico" of the _tierra caliente_, with its out-buildings and +chapel belfry. You approach it through scenes of cultivation. "Peons", +clad in white cotton and reddish leathern garments, are busy in the +fields. Upon their heads are broad-brimmed hats, woven from the leaf of +the sombrero palm. Their legs are naked, and upon their feet are tied +rude sandals (_guaraches_) with leathern thongs. Their skins are dark, +though not black; their eyes are wild and sparkling; their looks grave +and solemn; their hair coarse, long, and crow-black; and, as they walk, +their toes turn inward. Their downcast looks, their attitudes and +demeanour, impress you with the conviction that they are those who carry +the water and hew the wood of the country. It is so. They are the +"Indios mansos" (the civilised Indians): slaves, in fact, though freemen +by the letter of the law. They are the "peons", the labourers, the +serfs of the land--the descendants of the conquered sons of Anahuac. + +Such are the people you find in the _tierra caliente_ of Mexico--in the +environs of Vera Cruz. They do not differ much from the inhabitants of +the high plains, either in costume, customs, or otherwise. In fact, +there is a homogeneousness about the inhabitants of all Spanish +America--making allowance for difference of climate and other +peculiarities--rarely found in any other people. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Before daybreak of the morning after my interview with the "swearing +major", a head appeared between the flaps of my tent. It was that of +Sergeant Bob Lincoln. + +"The men air under arms, Cap'n." + +"Very well," cried I, leaping from my bed, and hastily buckling on my +accoutrements. + +I looked forth. The moon was still brightly shining, and I could see a +number of uniformed men standing upon the company parade, in double +rank. Directly in front of my tent a small boy was saddling a very +small horse. The boy was "Little Jack", as the soldiers called him; and +the horse was little Jack's mustang, "Twidget." + +Jack wore a tight-fitting green jacket, trimmed with yellow lace, and +buttoned up to the throat; pantaloons of light green, straight cut, and +striped along the seams; a forage-cap set jauntily upon a profusion of +bright curls; a sabre with a blade of eighteen inches, and a pair of +clinking Mexican spurs. Besides these, he carried the smallest of all +rifles. Thus armed and accoutred, he presented the appearance of a +miniature Ranger. + +Twidget had _his_ peculiarities. He was a tight, wiry little animal, +that could live upon mezquite beans or maguey leaves for an indefinite +time; and his abstemiousness was often put to the test. Afterwards, +upon an occasion during the battles in the valley of Mexico, Jack and +Twidget had somehow got separated, at which time the mustang had been +shut up for four days in the cellar of a ruined convent with no other +food than stones and mortar! How Twidget came by his name is not clear. +Perhaps it was some waif of the rider's own fancy. + +As I appeared at the entrance of my tent, Jack had just finished +strapping on his Mexican saddle; and seeing me, up he ran to assist in +serving my breakfast. This was hastily despatched, and our party took +the route in silence through the sleeping camp. Shortly after, we were +joined by the major, mounted on a tall, raw-boned horse; while a darkie, +whom the major addressed as "Doc", rode a snug, stout cob, and carried a +large basket. This last contained the major's commissariat. + +We were soon travelling along the Orizava road, the major and Jack +riding in advance. I could not help smiling at the contrast between +these two equestrians; the former with his great gaunt horse, looming up +in the uncertain light of the morning like some huge centaur; while Jack +and Twidget appeared the two representatives of the kingdom of Lilliput. + +On turning an angle of the forest, a horseman appeared at some distance +along the road. The major gradually slackened his pace, until he was +square with the head of the column, and then fell back into the rear. +This manoeuvre was executed in the most natural manner, but I could +plainly see that the mounted Mexican had caused the major no small +degree of alarm. + +The horseman proved to be a zambo, in pursuit of cattle that had escaped +from a neighbouring corral. I put some inquiries to him in relation to +the object of our expedition. The zambo pointed to the south, saying in +Spanish that mules were plenty in that direction. + +"_Hay muchos, muchissimos_," (There are many), said he, as he indicated +a road which led through a strip of forest on our left. + +Following his direction, we struck into the new path, which soon +narrowed into a bridle-road or trail. The men were thrown into single +file, and marched _a l'Indienne_. The road darkened, passing under +thick-leaved trees, that met and twined over our heads. + +At times the hanging limbs and joined parasites caused the major to +flatten his huge body upon the horn of the saddle; and once or twice he +was obliged to alight, and walk under the impeding branches of the +thorny acacias. + +Our journey continued without noise, silence being interrupted only by +an occasional oath from the major--uttered, however, in a low tone, as +we were now fairly "in the woods". The road at length opened upon a +small prairie or glade, near the borders of which rose a "butte", +covered with chaparral. + +Leaving the party in ambuscade below, I ascended the butte, to obtain a +view of the surrounding country. The day had now fairly broken, and the +sun was just rising over the blue waters of the Gulf. + +His rays, prinkling over the waves, caused them to dance and sparkle +with a metallic brightness; and it was only after shading my eyes that I +could distinguish the tall masts of ships and the burnished towers of +the city. + +To the south and west stretched a wide expanse of champaign country, +glowing in all the brilliance of tropical vegetation. Fields of green, +and forests of darker green; here and there patches of yellow, and belts +of olive-coloured leaves; at intervals a sheet of silver--the reflection +from a placid lake, or the bend of some silent stream--was visible upon +the imposing picture at my feet. + +A broad belt of forest, dotted with the lifelike frondage of the palm, +swept up to the foot of the hill. Beyond this lay an open tract of +meadow, or prairie, upon which were browsing thousands of cattle. The +distance was too great to distinguish their species; but the slender +forms of some of them convinced me that the object of our search would +be found in that direction. + +The meadow, then, was the point to be reached. + +The belt of forest already mentioned must be crossed; and to effect this +I struck into a trail that seemed to lead in the direction of the +meadow. + +The trail became lighter as we entered the heavy timber. Some distance +farther on we reached a stream. Here the trail entirely disappeared. +No "signs" could be found on the opposite bank. The underwood was +thick; and vines, with broad green leaves and huge clusters of scarlet +flowers, barred up the path like a wall. + +It was strange! The path had evidently led to this point, but where +beyond? + +Several men were detached across the stream to find an opening. After a +search of some minutes a short exclamation from Lincoln proclaimed +success; I crossed over, and found the hunter standing near the bank, +holding back a screen of boughs and vine-leaves, beyond which a narrow +but plain track was easily distinguished, leading on into the forest. +The trellis closed like a gate, and it seemed as if art had lent a hand +to the concealment of the track. The footprints of several horses were +plainly visible in the sandy bottom of the road. + +The men entered in single file. With some difficulty Major Blossom and +his great horse squeezed themselves through, and we moved along under +the shady and silent woods. + +After a march of several miles, fording numerous streams, and working +our way through tangled thickets of nopal and wild maguey, an opening +suddenly appeared through the trees. Emerging from the forest, a +brilliant scene burst upon us. A large clearing, evidently once +cultivated, but now in a state of neglect, stretched out before us. +Broad fields, covered with flowers of every hue--thickets of blooming +rose-trees--belts of the yellow helianthus--and groups of cocoa-trees +and half-wild plantains, formed a picture singular and beautiful. + +On one side, and close to the border of the forest, could be seen the +roof of a house, peering above groves of glistening foliage, and thither +we marched. + +We entered a lane, with its _guardarayas_ of orange-trees planted in +rows upon each side, and meeting overhead. + +The sunlight fell through this leafy screen with a mellowed and +delicious softness, and the perfume of flowers was wafted on the air. + +The rich music of birds was around us; and the loveliness of the scene +was heightened by the wild neglect which characterised it. + +On approaching the house we halted; and after charging the men to remain +silent, I advanced alone to reconnoitre. + + + +CHAPTER TEN. + +ADVENTURE WITH A CAYMAN. + +The lane suddenly opened upon a pasture, but within this a thick hedge +of jessamines, forming a circle, barred the view. + +In this circle was the house, whose roof only could be seen from +without. + +Not finding any opening through the jessamines, I parted the leaves with +my hands, and looked through. The picture was dream-like; so strange, I +could scarcely credit my senses. + +On the crest of the little hillock stood a house of rare construction-- +unique and unlike anything I had ever seen. The sides were formed of +bamboos, closely picketed, and laced together by fibres of the _pita_. +The roof--a thatch of palm-leaves--projected far over the eaves, rising +to a cone, and terminating in a small wooden cupola with a cross. There +were no windows. The walls themselves were translucent; and articles of +furniture could be distinguished through the interstices of the bamboos. + +A curtain of green _barege_, supported by a rod and rings, formed the +door. This was drawn, discovering an ottoman near the entrance, and an +elegant harp. + +The whole structure presented the _coup-d'oeil_ of a huge birdcage, with +its wires of gold! + +The grounds were in keeping with the house. In these, the evidence of +neglect, which had been noticed without, existed no longer. Every +object appeared to be under the training of a watchful solicitude. + +A thick grove of olives, with their gnarled and spreading branches and +dark-green leaves, stretched rearward, forming a background to the +picture. Right and left grew clumps of orange and lime trees. Golden +fruit and flowers of brilliant hues mingled with their yellow leaves; +spring and autumn blended upon the same branches! + +Rare shrubs--exotics--grew out of large vessels of japanned earthenware, +whose brilliant tints added to the voluptuous colouring of the scene. + +A _jet d'eau_, crystalline, rose to the height of twenty feet, and, +returning in a shower of prismatic globules, stole away through a bed of +water-lilies and other aquatic plants, losing itself in a grove of lofty +plantain-trees. These, growing from the cool watery bed, flung out +their broad glistening leaves to the length of twenty feet. + +So signs of human life met the eye. The birds alone seemed to revel in +the luxuriance of this tropical paradise. A brace of pea-fowl stalked +over the parterre in all the pride of their rainbow plumage. In the +fountain appeared the tall form of a flamingo, his scarlet colour +contrasting with the green leaves of the water-lily. Songsters were +trilling in every tree. The mock-bird, perched upon the highest limb, +was mimicking the monotonous tones of the parrot. The toucans and +trogons flashed from grove to grove, or balanced their bodies under the +spray of the _jet d'eau_; while the humming-birds hung upon the leaves +of some honeyed blossom, or prinkled over the parterre like straying +sunbeams. + +I was running my eye over this dream-like picture, in search of a human +figure, when the soft, metallic accents of a female voice reached me +from the grove of plantains. It was a burst of laughter--clear and +ringing. Then followed another, with short exclamations, and the sound +of water as if dashed and sprinkled with a light hand. + +What must be the Eve of a paradise like this! The silver tones were +full of promise. It was the first female voice that had greeted my ears +for a month, and chords long slumbering vibrated under the exquisite +touch. + +My heart bounded. My first impulse was "forward", which I obeyed by +springing through the jessamines. But the fear of intruding upon a +scene _a la Diane_ changed my determination, and my next thought was to +make a quiet retreat. + +I was preparing to return, and had thrust one leg back through the +hedge, when a harsh voice--apparently that of a man--mingled with the +silvery tones. + +"_Anda!--anda!--hace mucho calor. Vamos a volver_." (Hasten!--it is +hot. Let us return.) + +"_Ah, no, Pepe! un ratito mas_." (Ah, no, Pepe! a little while longer.) + +"_Vaya, carrambor_!" (Quick, then!) + +Again the clear laughter rang out, mingled with the clapping of hands +and short exclamations of delight. + +"Come," thought I, once more entering the parterre, "as there appears to +be one of my own sex here already, it cannot be very _mal a propos_ to +take a peep at this amusement, whatever it be." + +I approached the row of plantain-trees, whose leaves screened the +speakers from view. + +"_Lupe! Lupe! mira! que bonito_!" (Lupe! Lupe! look here! What a +pretty thing!) + +"_Ah, pobrecito! echalo, Luz, echalo_." (Ah! poor little thing! fling +it back, Luz.) + +"_Voy luego_," (Presently.) + +I stooped down, and silently parted the broad, silken leaves. The sight +was divine! + +Within lay a circular tank, or basin, of crystal water, several rods in +diameter, and walled in on all sides by the high screen of glossy +plantains, whose giant leaves, stretching out horizontally, sheltered it +from the rays of the sun. + +A low parapet of mason-work ran around, forming the circumference of the +circle. This was japanned with a species of porcelain, whose deep +colouring of blue and green and yellow was displayed in a variety of +grotesque figures. + +A strong jet boiled up in the centre, by the refraction of whose ripples +the gold and red fish seemed multiplied into myriads. + +At a distant point a bed of water-lilies hung out from the parapet; and +the long, thin neck of a swan rose gracefully over the leaves. Another, +his mate, stood upon the bank drying her snowy pinions in the sun. + +A different object attracted me, depriving me, for awhile, of the power +of action. + +In the water, and near the jet, were two beautiful girls clothed in a +sort of sleeveless, green tunic, loosely girdled. They were immersed to +the waist. So pellucid was the water that their little feet were +distinctly visible at the bottom, shining like gold. + +Luxuriant hair fell down in broad flakes, partially shrouding the snowy +development of their arms and shoulders. Their forms were strikingly +similar--tall, graceful, fully developed, and characterised by that +elliptical line of beauty that, in the female form more than in any +other earthly object, illustrates the far-famed curve of Hogarth. + +Their features, too, were alike. "Sisters!" one would exclaim, and yet +their complexions were strikingly dissimilar. The blood, mantling +darker in the veins of one, lent an olive tinge to the soft and wax-like +surface of her skin, while the red upon her cheeks and lips presented an +admixture of purple. Her hair, too, was black; and a dark shading along +the upper lip--a moustache, in fact--soft and silky as the tracery of a +crayon, contrasted with the dazzling whiteness of her teeth. Her eyes +were black, large, and almond-shaped, with that expression which looks +_over_ one; and her whole appearance formed a type of that beauty which +we associate with the Abencerrage and the Alhambra. This was evidently +the elder. + +The other was the type of a distinct class of beauty--the golden-haired +blonde. Her eyes were large, globular, and blue as turquoise. Her hair +of a chastened yellow, long and luxuriant; while her skin, less soft and +waxen than that of her sister, presented an effusion of roseate blushes +that extended along the snowy whiteness of her arms. These, in the sun, +appeared as bloodless and transparent as the tiny gold-fish that +quivered in her uplifted hand. + +I was riveted to the spot. My first impulse was to retire, silently and +modestly, but the power of a strange fascination for a moment prevented +me. Was it a dream? + +"_Ah! que barbara! pobrecito--ito--ito_!" (Ah! what a barbarian you +are! poor little thing!) + +"_Comeremos_." (We shall eat it.) + +"_Por Dios! no! echalo, Luz, o tirare la agua en sus ojos_." (Goodness! +no! fling it in, Luz, or I shall throw water in your eyes.) And the +speaker stooped as if to execute the threat. + +"_Ya--no_," (Now I shall not), said Luz resolutely. + +"_Guarda te_!" (Look out, then!) + +The brunette placed her little hands close together, forming with their +united palms a concave surface, and commenced dashing water upon the +perverse blonde. + +The latter instantly dropped the gold-fish, and retaliated. + +An exciting and animated contest ensued. The bright globules flew +around their heads, and rolled down their glittering tresses, as from +the pinions of a swan; while their clear laughter rang out at intervals, +as one or the other appeared victorious. + +A hoarse voice drew my attention from this interesting spectacle. +Looking whence it came, my eye rested upon a huge negress stretched +under a cocoa-tree, who had raised herself on one arm, and was laughing +at the contest. + +It was her voice, then, I had mistaken for that of a man! + +Becoming sensible of my intrusive position, I turned to retreat, when a +shrill cry reached me from the pond. + +The swans, with a frightened energy shrieked and flapped over the +surface, the gold-fish shot to and fro like sunbeams, and leaped out of +the water, quivering and terrified, and the birds on all sides screamed +and chattered. + +I sprang forward to ascertain the cause of this strange commotion. My +eye fell upon the negress, who had risen, and, running out upon the +parapet with uplifted arms, shouted in terrified accents: + +"_Valgame Dios--ninas! El cayman! el cayman_!" + +I looked across to the other side of the pond. A fearful object met my +eyes--the cayman of Mexico! The hideous monster was slowly crawling +over the low wall, dragging his lengthened body from a bed of aquatic +plants. + +Already his short fore-arms, squamy and corrugated, rested upon the +inner edge of the parapet, his shoulders projecting as if in the act to +spring! His scale-covered back, with its long serrated ridge, glittered +with a slippery moistness; and his eyes, usually dull, gleamed fierce +and lurid from their prominent sockets. + +I had brought with me a light rifle. It was but the work of a moment to +unsling and level it. The sharp crack followed, and the ball impinged +between the monster's eyes, glancing harmlessly from his hard skull as +though it had been a plate of steel. The shot was an idle one, perhaps +worse; for, stung to madness with the stunning shock, the reptile sprang +far out into the water, and made directly for its victims. + +The girls, who had long since given over their mirthful contest, seemed +to have lost all presence of mind; and, instead of making for the bank, +stood locked in each other's arms terrified and trembling. + +Their symmetrical forms fell into an agonised embrace; and their rounded +arms, olive and roseate, laced each other, and twined across their +quivering bodies. + +Their faces were turned to heaven, as though they expected succour from +above--a group that rivalled the Laocoon. + +With a spring I cleared the parapet, and, drawing my sword, dashed madly +across the basin. + +The girls were near the centre; but the cayman had got the start of me, +and the water, three feet deep, impeded my progress. The bottom of the +tank, too, was slippery, and I fell once or twice on my hands. I rose +again, and with frantic energy plunged forward, all the while calling +upon the bathers to make for the parapet. + +Notwithstanding my shouts, the terrified girls made no effort to save +themselves. They were incapable from terror. + +On came the cayman with the velocity of vengeance. It was a fearful +moment. Already he swam at a distance of less than six paces from his +prey, his long snout projecting from the water, his gaunt jaws +displaying their quadruple rows of sharp glistening teeth. + +I shouted despairingly. I was baffled by the deep water. I had nearly +twice the distance before I could interpose myself between the monster +and its victims. + +"I shall be too late!" + +Suddenly I saw that the cayman had swerved. In his eagerness he had +struck a subaqueous pipe of the jet. + +It delayed him only a moment; but in that moment I had passed the +statue-like group, and stood ready to receive his attack. + +"_A la orilla! a la orilla_!" (To the bank! to the bank!) I shouted, +pushing the terrified girls with one hand, while with the other I held +my sword at arm's-length in the face of the advancing reptile. + +The girls now, for the first time awaking from their lethargy of terror, +rushed towards the bank. + +On came the monster, gnashing his teeth in the fury of disappointment, +and uttering fearful cries. + +As soon as he had got within reach I aimed a blow at his head; but the +light sabre glinted from the fleshless skull with the ringing of steel +to steel. + +The blow, however, turned him out of his course, and, missing his aim, +he passed me like an arrow. I looked around with a feeling of despair. +"Thank heaven, they are safe!" + +I felt the clammy scales rub against my thigh; and I leaped aside to +avoid the stroke of his tail, as it lashed the water into foam. + +Again the monster turned, and came on as before. + +This time I did not attempt to cut, but thrust the sabre directly for +his throat. The cold blade snapped between his teeth like an icicle. +Not above twelve inches remained with the hilt; and with this I hacked +and fought with the energy of despair. + +My situation had now grown critical indeed. The girls had reached the +bank, and stood screaming upon the parapet. + +At length the elder seized upon a pole, and, lifting it with all her +might, leaped back into the basin, and was hastening to my rescue, when +a stream of fire was poured through the leaves of the plantains: I heard +a sharp crack--the short humming whiz of a bullet--and a large form, +followed by half a dozen others, emerged from the grove, and, rushing +over the wall, plunged into the pond. + +I heard a loud plashing in the water--the shouts of men, the clashing of +bayonets; and then saw the reptile roll over, pierced by a dozen wounds. + + + +CHAPTER ELEVEN. + +DON COSME ROSALES. + +"Yur safe, Cap'n!" It was Lincoln's voice. Around me stood a dozen of +the men, up to their waists. Little Jack, too, (his head and forage-cap +just appearing above the surface of the water), stood with his eighteen +inches of steel buried in the carcase of the dead reptile. I could not +help smiling at the ludicrous picture. + +"Yes, safe," answered I, panting for breath; "safe--you came in good +time, though!" + +"We heern yur shot, Cap'n," said Lincoln, "an' we guessed yur didn't +shoot without somethin' ter shoot for; so I tuk half a dozen files and +kim up." + +"You acted right, sergeant; but where are the--" + +I was looking towards the edge of the tank where I had last seen the +girls. They had disappeared. + +"If yez mane the faymales," answered Chane, "they're _vamosed_ through +the threes. Be Saint Patrick, the black one's a thrump anyhow! She +looks for all the world like them bewtiful crayoles of Dimmerary." + +Saying this, he turned suddenly round, and commenced driving his bayonet +furiously into the dead cayman, exclaiming between the thrusts: + +"Och, ye divil! bad luck to yer ugly carcase! You're a nate-looking +baste to interfere with a pair of illigant craythers! Be the crass! +he's all shill, boys. Och, mother o' Moses! I can't find a saft spot +in him!" + +We climbed out upon the parapet, and the soldiers commenced wiping their +wet guns. + +Clayley appeared at this moment, filing round the pond at the head of +the detachment. As I explained the adventure to the lieutenant, he +laughed heartily. + +"By Jove! it will never do for a despatch," said he; "one killed on the +side of the enemy, and on ours not a wound. There is one, however, who +may be reported `badly scared'." + +"Who?" I asked. + +"Why, who but the bold Blossom?" + +"But where is he?" + +"Heaven only knows! The last I saw of him, he was screening himself +behind an old ruin. I wouldn't think it strange if he was off to camp-- +that is, if he believes he can find his way back again." + +As Clayley said this, he burst into a loud yell of laughter. + +It was with difficulty I could restrain myself; for, looking in the +direction indicated by the lieutenant, I saw a bright object, which I at +once recognised as the major's face. + +He had drawn aside the broad plantain-leaves, and was peering cautiously +through, with a look of the most ludicrous terror. His face only was +visible, round and luminous, like the full moon; and, like her, too, +variegated with light and shade, for fear had produced spots of white +and purple over the surface of his capacious cheeks. + +As soon as the major saw how the "land lay", he came blowing and +blustering through the bushes like an elephant; and it now became +apparent that he carried his long sabre drawn and nourishing. + +"Bad luck, after all!" said he as he marched round the pond with a bold +stride. "That's all--is it?" he continued, pointing to the dead cayman. +"Bah! I was in hopes we'd have a brush with the yellow-skins." + +"No, Major," said I, trying to look serious, "we are not so fortunate." + +"I have no doubt, however," said Clayley with a malicious wink, "but +that we'll have them here in a squirrel's jump. They must have heard +the report of our guns." + +A complete change became visible in the major's bearing. The point of +his sabre dropped slowly to the ground, and the blue and white spots +began to array themselves afresh on his great red cheeks. + +"Don't you think, Captain," said he, "we've gone far enough into the +cursed country? There's no mules in it--I can certify there's not--not +a single mule. Had we not better return to camp?" + +Before I could reply, an object appeared that drew our attention, and +heightened the mosaic upon the major's cheeks. + +A man, strangely attired, was seen running down the slope towards the +spot where we were standing. + +"Guerillas, by Jove!" exclaimed Clayley, in a voice of feigned terror; +and he pointed to the scarlet sash which was twisted around the man's +waist. + +The major looked round for some object where he might shelter himself in +case of a skirmish. He was sidling behind a high point of the parapet, +when the stranger rushed forward, and, throwing both arms about his +neck, poured forth a perfect cataract of Spanish, in which the word +_gracias_ (thanks) was of frequent occurrence. + +"What does the man mean with his _grashes_?" exclaimed the major, +struggling to free himself from the Mexican. + +But the latter did not hear him, for his eyes at that moment rested upon +my dripping habiliments; and dropping the major, he transferred his +embrace and _gracias_ to me. + +"Senor Capitan," he said, still speaking in Spanish, and hugging me like +a bear, "accept my thanks. Ah, sir! you have saved my children; how can +I show you my gratitude?" + +Here followed a multitude of those complimentary expressions peculiar to +the language of Cervantes, which ended by his offering me his house and +all it contained. + +I bowed in acknowledgment of his courtesy, apologising for being so ill +prepared to receive his "hug", as I observed that my saturated vestments +had wet the old fellow to the skin. + +I had now time to examine the stranger, who was a tall, thin, sallow old +gentleman, with a face at once Spanish and intelligent. His hair was +white and short, while a moustache, somewhat grizzled, shaded his lips. +Jet-black brows projected over a pair of keen and sparkling eyes. His +dress was a roundabout of the finest white linen, with waistcoat and +pantaloons of the same material--the latter fastened round the waist by +a scarf of bright red silk. Shoes of green morocco covered his small +feet, while a broad Guayaquil hat shaded his face from the sun. + +Though his costume was transatlantic--speaking in reference to Old +Spain--there was that in his air and manner that bespoke him a true +hidalgo. + +After a moment's observation I proceeded, in my best Spanish, to express +my regret for the fright which the young ladies--his daughters, I +presumed--had suffered. + +The Mexican looked at me with a slight appearance of surprise. + +"Why, Senor Capitan," said he, "your accent!--you are a foreigner?" + +"A foreigner! To Mexico, did you mean?" + +"Yes, Senor. Is it not so?" + +"Oh! of course," answered I, smiling, and somewhat puzzled in turn. + +"And how long have you been in the army, Senor Capitan?" + +"But a short time." + +"How do you like Mexico, Senor?" + +"I have seen but little of it as yet." + +"Why, how long have you been in the country, then?" + +"Three days," answered I; "we landed on the 9th." + +"_Por Dios_! three days, and in our army already!" muttered the +Spaniard, throwing up his eyes in unaffected surprise. + +I began to think I was interrogated by a lunatic. + +"May I ask what countryman you are?" continued the old gentleman. + +"What countryman? An American, of course!" + +"An American?" + +"_Un Americano_," repeated I, for we were conversing in Spanish. + +"_Y son esos Americanos_?" (And are these Americans?) quickly demanded +my new acquaintance. + +"_Si, Senor_," replied I. + +"_Carrambo_!" shouted the Spaniard, with a sudden leap, his eyes almost +starting from their sockets. + +"I should say, not exactly Americans," I added. "Many of them are +Irish, and French, and Germans, and Swedes, and Swiss; yet they are all +Americans now." + +But the Mexican did not stay to hear my explanation. After recovering +from the first shock of surprise, he had bounded through the grove; and +with a wave of his hand, and the ejaculation "_Esperate_!" (wait!) +disappeared among the plantains. The men, who had gathered around the +lower end of the basin, burst out into a roar of laughter, which I did +not attempt to repress. The look of terrified astonishment of the old +Don had been too much for my own gravity, and I could not help being +amused at the conversation that ensued among the soldiers. They were at +some distance, yet I could overhear their remarks. + +"That Mexikin's an unhospitable cuss!" muttered Lincoln, with an +expression of contempt. + +"He might av axed the captain to dhrink, after savin' such a pair of +illigant craythers," said Chane. + +"Sorra dhrap's in the house, Murt; the place looks dry," remarked +another son of the Green Isle. + +"Och! an' it's a beautiful cage, anyhow," returned Chane; "and beautiful +birds in it, too. It puts me in mind of ould Dimmerary; but there we +had the liquor, the raal rum--oshins of it, alanna!" + +"That 'ere chap's a greelye, I strongly 'spect," whispered one, a +regular down-east Yankee. + +"A what?" asked his companion. + +"Why, a greelye--one o' them 'ere Mexikin robbers." + +"Arrah, now! did yez see the rid sash?" inquired an Irishman. + +"Thim's captin's," suggested the Yankee. "He's a captin or a kurnel; +I'll bet high on that." + +"What did he say, Nath, as he was running off?" + +"I don't know 'zactly--somethin' that sounded mighty like 'spearin' on +us." + +"He's a lanzeer then, by jingo!" + +"He had better try on his spearin'," said another; "there's shootin' +before spearin'--mighty good ground, too, behind this hyur painted +wall." + +"The old fellow was mighty frindly at first; what got into him, anyhow?" + +"Raoul says he offered to give the captain his house and all the +furnishin's." + +"Och, mother o' Moses! and thim illigant girls, too!" + +"Ov coorse." + +"By my sowl! an' if I was the captain, I'd take him at his word, and +lave off fightin' intirely." + +"It _is_ delf," said a soldier, referring to the material of which the +parapet was constructed. + +"No, it ain't." + +"It's chaney, then." + +"No, nor chaney either." + +"Well, what is it?" + +"It's only a stone wall painted, you greenhorn!" + +"Stone-thunder! it's solid delf, I say." + +"Try it with your bayonet, Jim." + +_Crick_--_crick_--_crick_--_crinell_! reached my ears. Turning round, I +saw that one of the men had commenced breaking off the japanned work of +the parapet with his bayonet. + +"Stop that!" I shouted to the man. + +The remark of Chane that followed, although uttered _sotto voce_, I +could distinctly hear. It was sufficiently amusing. + +"The captain don't want yez to destroy what'll be his own some day, when +he marries one of thim young Dons. Here comes the owld one, and, by the +powers! he's got a big paper; he's goin' to make over the property!" + +Laughing, I looked round, and saw that the Don was returning, sure +enough. He hurried up, holding out a large sheet of parchment. + +"Well, Senor, what's this?" I inquired. + +"_No soy Mexicano--soy Espanol_!" (I am no Mexican--I am a Spaniard), +said he, with the expression of a true hidalgo. + +Casting my eye carelessly over the document, I perceived that it was a +_safeguard_ from the Spanish consul at Vera Cruz, certifying that the +bearer, Don Cosme Rosales, was a native of Spain. + +"Senor Rosales," said I, returning the paper, "this was not necessary. +The interesting circumstances under which we have met should have +secured you good treatment, even were you a Mexican and we the +barbarians we have been represented. We have come to make war, not with +peaceful citizens, but with a rabble soldiery." + +"_Es verdad_ (Indeed). You are wet, Senor? you are hungry?" + +I could not deny that I was both the one and the other. + +"You need refreshment, gentlemen; will you come to my house?" + +"Permit me, Senor, to introduce you to Major Blossom--Lieutenant +Clayley--Lieutenant Oakes: Don Cosme Rosales, gentlemen." + +My friends and the Don bowed to each other. The major had now recovered +his complacency. + +"_Vamonos, caballeros_!" (Come on, gentlemen), said the Don, starting +towards the house. + +"But your soldiers, Capitan?" added he, stopping suddenly. + +"They will remain here," I rejoined. + +"Permit me to send them some dinner." + +"Oh! certainly," replied I; "use your own pleasure, Don Cosme, but do +not put your household to any inconvenience." + +In a few minutes we found our way to the house, which was neither more +nor less than the cage-looking structure already described. + + + +CHAPTER TWELVE. + +A MEXICAN DINNER. + +"_Pasan adentro, Senores_," said Don Cosme, drawing aside the curtain of +the rancho, and beckoning us to enter. + +"Ha!" exclaimed the major, struck with the _coup-d'oeil_ of the +interior. + +"Be seated, gentlemen. _Ya vuelvo_." (I will return in an instant.) + +So saying, Don Cosme disappeared into a little porch in the back, +partially screened from observation by a close network of woven cane. + +"Very pretty, by Jove!" said Clayley, in a low voice. + +"Pretty indeed!" echoed the major, with one of his customary +asseverations. + +"Stylish, one ought rather to say, to do it justice." + +"Stylish!" again chimed in the major, repeating his formula. + +"Rosewood chairs and tables," continued Clayley; "a harp, guitar, piano, +sofas, ottomans, carpets knee-deep--whew!" + +Not thinking of the furniture, I looked around the room strangely +bewildered. + +"Ha! Ha! what perplexes you, Captain?" asked Clayley. + +"Nothing." + +"Ah! the girls you spoke of--the nymphs of the pond; but where the deuce +are they?" + +"Ay, where?" I asked, with a strange sense of uneasiness. + +"Girls! what girls?" inquired the major, who had not yet learned the +exact nature of our aquatic adventure. + +Here the voice of Don Cosme was heard calling out-- + +"Pepe! Ramon! Francisco! bring dinner. _Anda! anda_!" (Be quick!) + +"Who on earth is the old fellow calling?" asked the major, with some +concern in his manner. "I see no one." + +Nor could we; so we all rose up together, and approached that side of +the building that looked rearward. + +The house, to all appearance, had but one apartment--the room in which +we then were. The only point of this screened from observation was the +little veranda into which Don Cosme had entered; but this was not large +enough to contain the number of persons who might be represented by the +names he had called out. + +Two smaller buildings stood under the olive-trees in the rear; but +these, like the house, were _transparent_, and not a human figure +appeared within them. We could see through the trunks of the olives a +clear distance of a hundred yards. Beyond this, the mezquite and the +scarlet leaves of the wild maguey marked the boundary of the forest. + +It was equally puzzling to us whither the girls had gone, or whence +"Pepe, Ramon, and Francisco" were to come. + +The tinkling of a little bell startled us from our conjectures, and the +voice of Don Cosme was heard inquiring: + +"Have you any favourite dish, gentlemen?" + +Someone answered, "No." + +"Curse me!" exclaimed the major, "I believe he can get anything we may +call for--raise it out of the ground by stamping his foot or ringing a +bell. Didn't I tell you?" + +This exclamation was uttered in consequence of the appearance of a train +of well-dressed servants, five or six in number, bringing waiters with +dishes and decanters. They entered from the porch; but how did they get +into it? Certainly not from the woods without, else we should have seen +them as they approached the cage. + +The major uttered a terrible invocation, adding in a hoarse whisper, +"This must be the Mexican Aladdin!" + +I confess I was not less puzzled than he. Meantime the servants came +and went, going empty, and returning loaded. In less than half an hour +the table fairly creaked under the weight of a sumptuous dinner. This +is no figure of speech. There were dishes of massive silver, with huge +flagons of the same metal, and even cups of gold! + +"_Senores, vamos a comer_" (Come, let us eat, gentlemen), said Don +Cosme, politely motioning us to be seated. "I fear that you will not be +pleased with my _cuisine_--it is purely Mexican--_estilo del pais_." + +To say that the dinner was not a good one would be to utter a falsehood, +and contradict the statement of Major George Blossom, of the U.S. +quarter-master's department, who afterwards declared that it was the +best dinner he had ever eaten in his life. + +Turtle-soup first. + +"Perhaps you would prefer _julienne_ or _vermicelli_, gentlemen?" +inquired the Don. + +"Thank you; your turtle is very fine," replied I, necessarily the +interpreter of the party. + +"Try some of the _aguacate_--it will improve the flavour of your soup." + +One of the waiters handed round a dark, olive-coloured fruit of an +oblong shape, about the size of a large pear. + +"Ask him how it is used, Captain," said the major to me. + +"Oh, I beg your pardon, gentlemen. I had forgotten that some of our +edibles may be strange to you. Simply pare off the rind, and slice it +thus." + +We tried the experiment, but could not discover any peculiar improvement +in the flavour of the soup. The pulp of the aguacate seemed singularly +insipid to our northern palates. + +Fish, as with us, and of the finest quality, formed the second course. + +A variety of dishes were now brought upon the table; most of them new to +us, but all piquant, pleasant to the taste, and peculiar. + +The major tried them all, determined to find out which he might like +best--a piece of knowledge that he said would serve him upon some future +occasion. + +The Don seemed to take a pleasure in helping the major, whom he honoured +by the title of "Senor Coronel." + +"_Puchero_, Senor Coronel?" + +"Thank you, sir," grunted the major, and tried the puchero. + +"Allow me to help you to a spoonful of _mole_." + +"With pleasure, Don Cosme." + +The _mole_ suddenly disappeared down the major's capacious throat. + +"Try some of this _chile relleno_." + +"By all means," answered the major. "Ah, by Jove! hot as fire!--whew!" + +"_Pica! Pica_!" answered Don Cosme, pointing to his thorax, and smiling +at the wry faces the major was making. "Wash it down, Senor, with a +glass of this claret--or here, Pepe! Is the Johannisberg cool yet? +Bring it in, then. Perhaps you prefer champagne, Senores?" + +"Thank you; do not trouble yourself, Don Cosme." + +"No trouble, Capitan--bring champagne. Here, Senor Coronel, try the +_guisado de pato_." + +"Thank you," stammered the major; "you are very kind. Curse the thing! +how it burns!" + +"Do you think he understands English?" inquired Clayey of me in a +whisper. + +"I should think not," I replied. + +"Well, then, I wish to say aloud that this old chap's a superb old gent. +What say you, Major? Don't you wish we had him on the lines?" + +"I wish his kitchen were a little nearer the lines," replied the other, +with a wink. + +"Senor Coronel, permit me--" + +"What is it, my dear Don?" inquired the major. + +"_Pasteles de Moctezuma_." + +"Oh, certainly. I say, lads, I don't know what the plague I'm eating-- +it's not bad to take, though." + +"Senor Coronel, allow me to help you to a _guana_ steak." + +"A guana steak!" echoed the major, in some surprise. + +"_Si, Senor_," replied Don Cosme, holding the steak on his fork. + +"A guana steak! Do you think, lads, he means the ugly things we saw at +Lobos." + +"To be sure--why not?" + +"Then, by Jove, I'm through! I can't go lizards. Thank you, my dear +Don Cosme; I believe I have dined." + +"Try this; it is very tender, I assure you," insisted Don Cosme. + +"Come, try it, Major, and report," cried Clayey. + +"Good--you're like the apothecary that poisoned his dog to try the +effect of his nostrums. Well,"--with an oath--"here goes! It can't be +very bad, seeing how our friend gets it down. Delicious, by Jupiter! +tender as chicken--good, good!"--and amidst sundry similar ejaculations +the major ate his first guana steak. + +"Gentlemen, here is an ortolan pie. I can recommend it--the birds are +in season." + +"Reed-birds, by Jove!" said the major, recognising his favourite dish. + +An incredible number of these creatures disappeared in an incredibly +short time. + +The dinner dishes were at length removed, and dessert followed: cakes +and creams, and jellies of various kinds, and blancmange, and a +profusion of the most luxurious fruits. The golden orange, the ripe +pine, the pale-green lime, the juicy grape, the custard-like cherimolla, +the zapote, the granadilla, the pitahaya, the tuna, the mamay; with +dates, figs, almonds, plantains, bananas, and a dozen other species of +fruits, piled upon salvers of silver, were set before us: in fact, every +product of the tropical clime that could excite a new nerve of the sense +of taste. We were fairly astonished at the profusion of luxuries that +came from no one knew where. + +"Come, gentlemen, try a glass of curacoa. Senor Coronel, allow me the +pleasure." + +"Sir, your very good health." + +"Senor Coronel, would you prefer a glass of Majorca?" + +"Thank you." + +"Or perhaps you would choose _Pedro Ximenes_. I have some very old +_Pedro Ximenes_." + +"Either, my dear Don Cosme--either." + +"Bring both, Ramon; and bring a couple of bottles of the Madeira--_sello +verde_," (green seal). + +"As I am a Christian, the old gentleman's a conjuror!" muttered the +major, now in the best humour possible. + +"I wish he would conjure up something else than his infernal wine +bottles," thought I, becoming impatient at the non-appearance of the +ladies. + +"_Cafe_, Senores?" A servant entered. + +Coffee was handed round in cups of Sevres china. + +"You smoke, gentlemen? Would you prefer a Havanna? Here are some sent +me from Cuba by a friend. I believe they are good; or, if you would +amuse yourself with a cigaritto, here are Campeacheanos. These are the +country cigars--_puros_, as we call them. I would not recommend them." + +"A Havanna for me," said the major, helping himself at the same time to +a fine-looking "regalia." + +I had fallen into a somewhat painful reverie. + +I began to fear that, with all his hospitality, the Mexican would allow +us to depart without an introduction to his family; and I had conceived +a strong desire to speak with the two lovely beings whom I had already +seen, but more particularly with the brunette, whose looks and actions +had deeply impressed me. So strange is the mystery of love! My heart +had already made its choice. + +I was suddenly aroused by the voice of Don Cosme, who had risen, and was +inviting myself and comrades to join the ladies in the drawing-room. + +I started up so suddenly as almost to overturn one of the tables. + +"Why, Captain, what's the matter!" said Clayley. "Don Cosme is about to +introduce us to the ladies. You're not going to back out?" + +"Certainly not," stammered I, somewhat ashamed at my _gaucherie_. + +"He says they're in the drawing-room," whispered the major, in a voice +that betokened a degree of suspicion; "but where the plague that is, +Heaven only knows! Stand by, my boys!--are your pistols all right?" + +"Pshaw, Major! for shame!" + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +A SUBTERRANEAN DRAWING-ROOM. + +The mystery of the drawing-room, and the servants, and the dishes, was +soon over. A descending stairway explained the enigma. + +"Let me conduct you to my cave, gentlemen," said the Spaniard: "I am +half a subterranean. In the hot weather, and during the northers, we +find it more agreeable to live under the ground. Follow me, Senores." + +We descended, with the exception of Oakes, who returned to look after +the men. + +At the foot of the staircase we entered a hall brilliantly lighted. The +floor was without a carpet, and exhibited a mosaic of the finest marble. +The walls were painted of a pale blue colour, and embellished by a +series of pictures from the pencil of Murillo. These were framed in a +costly and elegant manner. From the ceiling were suspended chandeliers +of a curious and unique construction, holding in their outstretched +branches wax candles of an ivory whiteness. + +Large vases of waxen flowers, covered with crystals, stood around the +hall upon tables of polished marble. Other articles of furniture, +candelabra, girandoles, gilded clocks, filled the outline. Broad +mirrors reflected the different objects; so that, instead of one +apartment, this hall appeared only one of a continuous suite of splendid +drawing-rooms. + +And yet, upon closer observation, there seemed to be no door leading +from this hall, which, as Don Cosme informed his guests, was the +_ante-sala_. + +Our host approached one of the large mirrors, and slightly touched a +spring. The tinkling of a small bell was heard within; and at the same +instant the mirror glided back, reflecting in its motion a series of +brilliant objects, that for a moment bewildered our eyes with a blazing +light. + +"_Pasan adentro, Senores_," said Don Cosme, stepping aside, and waving +us to enter. + +We walked into the drawing-room. The magnificence that greeted us +seemed a vision--a glorious and dazzling hallucination--more like the +gilded brilliance of some enchanted palace than the interior of a +Mexican gentleman's habitation. + +As we stood gazing with irresistible wonderment, Don Cosme opened a +side-door, and called aloud, "_Ninas, ninas, ven aca_!" (Children, come +hither!) + +Presently we heard several female voices, blending together like a +medley of singing birds. + +They approached. We heard the rustling of silken dresses, the falling +of light feet in the doorway, and three ladies entered--the senora of +Don Cosme, followed by her two beautiful daughters, the heroines of our +aquatic adventure. + +These hesitated a moment, scanning our faces; then, with a cry of +"_Nuestro Salvador_!" both rushed forward, and knelt, or rather +crouched, at my feet, each of them clasping one of my hands and covering +it with kisses. + +Their panting agitation, their flashing eyes, the silken touch of their +delicate fingers, sent the blood rushing through my veins like a stream +of lava; but in their gentle accents, the simple ingenuousness of their +expressions, the childlike innocence of their faces, I regarded them +only as two beautiful children kneeling in the _abandon_ of gratitude. + +Meanwhile Don Cosme had introduced Clayley and the major to his senora, +whose baptismal name was Joaquina; and taking the young ladies one in +each hand, he presented them as his daughters, Guadalupe and Maria de la +Luz (Mary of the Light). + +"Mama," said Don Cosme, "the gentlemen had not quite finished their +cigars." + +"Oh! they can smoke here," replied the senora. + +"Will the ladies not object to that?" I inquired. + +"No--no--no!" ejaculated they simultaneously. + +"Perhaps you will join us?--we have heard that such is the custom of +your country." + +"It _was_ the custom," said Don Cosme. "At present the young ladies of +Mexico are rather ashamed of the habit." + +"We no smoke--Mamma, yes," added the elder--the brunette--whose name was +Guadalupe. + +"Ha! you speak English?" + +"Little Englis speak--no good Englis," was the reply. + +"Who taught you English?" I inquired, prompted by a mysterious +curiosity. + +"Un American us teach--Don Emilio." + +"Ha! an American?" + +"Yes, Senor," said Don Cosme: "a gentleman from Vera Cruz, who formerly +visited our family." + +I thought I could perceive a desire upon the part of our host not to +speak further on this subject, and yet I felt a sudden, and, strange to +say, a painful curiosity to know more about Don Emilio, the American, +and his connection with our newly-made acquaintance. I can only explain +this by asking the reader if he or she has not experienced a similar +feeling while endeavouring to trace the unknown past of some being in +whom either has lately taken an interest--an interest stronger than +friendship? + +That mamma smoked was clear, for the old lady had already gone through +the process of unrolling one of the small cartouche-like cigars. Having +re-rolled it between her fingers, she placed it within the gripe of a +pair of small golden pincers. + +This done, she held one end to the coals that lay upon the _brazero_, +and ignited the paper. Then, taking the other end between her thin, +purlish lips, she breathed forth a blue cloud of aromatic vapour. + +After a few whiffs she invited the major to participate, offering him a +cigarrito from her beaded cigar-case. + +This being considered an especial favour, the major's gallantry would +not permit him to refuse. He took the cigarrito, therefore; but, once +in possession, he knew not how to use it. + +Imitating the senora, he opened the diminutive cartridge, spreading out +the edges of the wrapper, but attempted in vain to re-roll it. + +The ladies, who had watched the process, seemed highly amused, +particularly the younger, who laughed outright. + +"Permit me, Senor Coronel," said the Dona Joaquina, taking the cigarrito +from the major's hand, and giving it a turn through her nimble fingers, +which brought it all right again. + +"Thus--now--hold your fingers thus. Do not press it: _suave, suave_. +This end to the light--so--very well!" + +The major lit the cigar, and, putting it between his great thick lips, +began to puff in a most energetic style. + +He had not cast off half a dozen whiffs when the fire, reaching his +fingers, burned them severely, causing him to remove them suddenly from +the cigar. The wrapper then burst open; and the loose pulverised +tobacco by a sudden inhalation rushed into his mouth and down his +throat, causing him to cough and splutter in the most ludicrous manner. + +This was too much for the ladies, who, encouraged by the cachinnations +of Clayley, laughed outright; while the major, with tears in his eyes, +could be heard interlarding his coughing solo with all kinds of oaths +and expressions. + +The scene ended by one of the young ladies offering the major a glass of +water, which he drank off, effectually clearing the avenue of his +throat. + +"Will you try another, Senor Coronel?" asked Dona Joaquina, with a +smile. + +"No, ma'am, thank you," replied the major, and then a sort of internal +subterraneous curse could be heard in his throat. + +The conversation continued in English, and we were highly amused at the +attempts of our new acquaintances to express themselves in that +language. + +After failing, on one occasion, to make herself understood, Guadalupe +said, with some vexation in her manner: + +"We wish brother was home come; brother speak ver better Englis." + +"Where is he?" I inquired. + +"In the ceety--Vera Cruz." + +"Ha! and when did you expect him?" + +"Thees day--to-night--he home come." + +"Yes," added the Senora Joaquina, in Spanish: "he went to the city to +spend a few days with a friend; but he was to return to-day, and we are +looking for him to arrive in the evening." + +"But how is he to get out?" cried the major, in his coarse, rough +manner. + +"How?--why, Senor?" asked the ladies in a breath, turning deadly pale. + +"Why, he can't pass the pickets, ma'am," answered the major. + +"Explain, Captain; explain!" said the ladies, appealing to me with looks +of anxiety. + +I saw that concealment would be idle. The major had fired the train. + +"It gives me pain, ladies," said I, speaking in Spanish, "to inform you +that you must be disappointed. I fear the return of your brother to-day +is impossible." + +"But why, Captain?--why?" + +"Our lines are completely around Vera Cruz, and all intercourse to and +from the city is at an end." + +Had a shell fallen into Don Cosme's drawing-room it could not have +caused a greater change in the feelings of its inmates. Knowing nothing +of military life, they had no idea that our presence there had drawn an +impassable barrier between them and a much-loved member of their family. +In a seclusion almost hermetical they knew that a war existed between +their country and the United States; but that was far away upon the Rio +Grande. They had heard, moreover, that our fleet lay off Vera Cruz, and +the pealing of the distant thunder of San Juan had from time to time +reached their ears; but they had not dreamed, on seeing us, that the +city was invested by land. The truth was now clear; and the anguish of +the mother and daughters became afflicting when we informed them of what +we were unable to conceal--that it was the intention of the American +commander to _bombard the city_. + +The scene was to us deeply distressing. + +Dona Joaquina wrung her hands, and called upon the Virgin with all the +earnestness of entreaty. The sisters clung alternately to their mother +and Don Cosme, weeping and crying aloud, "_Pobre Narcisso! nuestro +hermanito--le asesinaran_!" (Poor Narcisso, our little brother!--they +will murder him!) + +In the midst of this distressing scene the door of the drawing-room was +thrown suddenly open, and a servant rushed in, shouting in an agitated +voice, "_El norte! el norte_!" + + + +CHAPTER FOURTEEN. + +"The Norther." + +We hurried after Don Cosme towards the _ante-sala_, both myself and my +companions ignorant of this new object of dread. + +When we emerged from the stairway the scene that hailed us was one of +terrific sublimity. Earth and heaven had undergone a sudden and +convulsive change. The face of nature, but a moment since gay with +summer smiles, was now hideously distorted. The sky had changed +suddenly from its blue and sunny brightness to an aspect dark and +portentous. + +Along the north-west a vast volume of black vapour rolled up over the +Sierra Madre, and rested upon the peaks of the mountains. From this, +ragged masses, parting in fantastic forms and groupings, floated off +against the concavity of the sky as though the demons of the storm were +breaking up from an angry council. Each of these, as it careered across +the heavens, seemed bent upon some spiteful purpose. + +An isolated fragment hung lowering above the snowy cone of Orizava, like +a huge vampire suspended over his sleeping victim. + +From the great "parent cloud" that rested upon the Sierra Madre, +lightning-bolts shot out and forked hither and thither or sank into the +detached masses--the messengers of the storm-king bearing his fiery +mandates across the sky. + +Away along the horizon of the east moved the yellow pillars of sand, +whirled upward by the wind, like vast columnar towers leading to heaven. + +The storm had not yet reached the rancho. The leaves lay motionless +under a dark and ominous calm; but the wild screams of many birds--the +shrieks of the swans, the discordant notes of the frightened pea-fowl, +the chattering of parrots as they sought the shelter of the thick olives +in terrified flight--all betokened the speedy advent of some fearful +convulsion. + +The rain in large drops fell upon the broad leaves with a soft, plashing +sound; and now and then a quick, short puff came snorting along, and, +seizing the feathery frondage of the palms, shook them with a spiteful +and ruffian energy. + +The long green stripes, after oscillating a moment, would settle down +again in graceful and motionless curves. + +A low sound like the "sough" of the sea or the distant falling of water +came from the north; while at intervals the hoarse bark of the _coyote_ +and the yelling of terrified monkeys could be heard afar off in the +woods. + +"_Tapa la casa! tapa la casa_!" (Cover the house!) cried Don Cosme as +soon as he had fairly got his head above ground. "_Anda_!--_anda con +los macates_!" (Quick with the cords!) With lightning quickness a roll +of palmetto mats came down on all sides of the house, completely +covering the bamboo walls, and forming a screen impervious to both wind +and rain. This was speedily fastened at all corners, and strong stays +were carried out and warped around the trunks of trees. In five minutes +the change was complete. The cage-looking structure had disappeared, +and a house with walls of yellow _petate_ stood in its place. + +"Now, Senores, all is secured," said Don Cosme. "Let us return to the +drawing-room." + +"I should like to see the first burst of this tornado," I remarked, not +wishing to intrude upon the scene of sorrow we had left. + +"So be it, Captain. Stand here under the shelter, then." + +"Hot as thunder!" growled the major, wiping the perspiration from his +broad, red cheeks. + +"In five minutes, Senor Coronel, you will be chilled. At this point the +heated atmosphere is now compressed. Patience! it will soon be +scattered." + +"How long will the storm continue?" I asked. "_Por Dios_! Senor, it +is impossible to tell how long the `_norte_' may rage: sometimes for +days; perhaps only for a few hours. This appears to be a `_huracana_'. +If so, it will be short, but terrible while it lasts. _Carrambo_!" + +A puff of cold, sharp wind came whistling past like an arrow. Another +followed, and another, like the three seas that roll over the stormy +ocean. Then, with a loud, rushing sound, the broad, full blast went +sweeping--strong, dark, and dusty--bearing upon its mane the screaming +and terrified birds, mingled with torn and flouted leaves. + +The olives creaked and tossed about. The tall palms bowed and yielded, +flinging out their long pinions like streamers. The broad leaves of the +plantains flapped and whistled, and, bending gracefully, allowed the +fierce blast to pass over. + +Then a great cloud came rolling down; a thick vapour seemed to fill the +space; and the air felt hot and dark and heavy. A choking, sulphureous +smell rendered the breathing difficult, and for a moment day seemed +changed to night. + +Suddenly the whole atmosphere blazed forth in a sheet of flame, and the +trees glistened as though they were on fire. An opaque darkness +succeeded. Another flash, and along with it the crashing thunder--the +artillery of heaven--deafening all other sounds. + +Peal followed peal; the vast cloud was breached and burst by a hundred +fiery bolts; and like an avalanche the heavy tropical rain was +precipitated to the earth. + +It fell in torrents, but the strength of the tempest had been spent on +the first onslaught. The dark cloud passed on to the south, and a +piercing cold wind swept after it. + +"_Vamos a bajar, senores_!" (Let us descend, gentlemen), said Don Cosme +with a shiver, and he conducted us back to the stairway. + +Clayley and the major looked towards me with an expression that said, +"Shall we go in?" There were several reasons why our return to the +drawing-room was unpleasant to myself and my companions. A scene of +domestic affliction is ever painful to a stranger. How much more +painful to us, knowing, as we did, that our countrymen--that _we_--had +been the partial agents of this calamity! We hesitated a moment on the +threshold. + +"Gentlemen, we must return for a moment: we have been the bearers of +evil tidings--let us offer such consolation as we may think of. Come!" + + + +CHAPTER FIFTEEN. + +A LITTLE FAIR WEATHER AGAIN. + +On re-entering the _sala_ the picture of woe was again presented, but in +an altered aspect. A change, sudden as the atmospheric one we had just +witnessed, had taken place; and the scene of wild weeping was now +succeeded by one of resignation and prayer. + +On one side was Dona Joaquina, holding in her hands a golden rosary with +its crucifix. The girls were kneeling in front of a picture--a portrait +of Dolores with the fatal dagger; and the "Lady of Grief" looked not +more sorrowful from the canvas than the beautiful devotees that bent +before her. + +With their heads slightly leaning, their arms crossed upon their +swelling bosoms, and their long loose hair trailing upon the carpet, +they formed a picture at once painful and prepossessing. + +Not wishing to intrude upon this sacred sorrow, we made a motion to +retire. + +"No, Senores," said Don Cosme, interrupting us. "Be seated; let us talk +calmly--let us know the worst." + +We then proceeded to inform Don Cosme of the landing of the American +troops and the manner in which our lines were drawn around the city, and +pointed out to him the impossibility of anyone passing either in or out. + +"There is still a hope, Don Cosme," said I, "and that, perhaps, rests +with yourself." + +The thought had struck me that a Spaniard of Don Cosme's evident rank +and wealth might be enabled to procure access to the city by means of +his consul, and through the Spanish ship of war that I recollected was +lying off San Juan. + +"Oh! name it, Captain; name it!" cried he, while at the word "hope" the +ladies had rushed forward, and stood clinging around me. + +"There is a Spanish ship of war lying under the walls of Vera Cruz." + +"We know it--we know it!" replied Don Cosme eagerly. + +"Ah! you know it, then?" + +"Oh, yes!" said Guadalupe. "Don Santiago is on board of her." + +"Don Santiago?" inquired I; "who is he?" + +"He is a relation of ours, Captain," said Don Cosme; "an officer in the +Spanish navy." + +This information pained me, although I scarcely knew why. + +"You have a friend, then, aboard the Spanish ship," said I to the elder +of the sisters. "'Tis well; it will be in his power to restore to you +your brother." + +A ring of brightening faces was around me while I uttered these cheering +words; and Don Cosme, grasping me by the hand, entreated me to proceed. + +"This Spanish ship," I continued, "is still allowed to keep up a +communication with the town. You should proceed aboard at once, and by +the assistance of this friend you may bring away your son before the +bombardment commences. I see no difficulty; our batteries are not yet +formed." + +"I will go this instant!" said Don Cosme, leaping to his feet, while +Dona Joaquina and her daughters ran out to make preparations for his +journey. + +Hope--sweet hope--was again in the ascendant. + +"But how, Senor?" asked Don Cosme, as soon as they were gone; "how can I +pass your lines? Shall I be permitted to reach the ship?" + +"It will be necessary for me to accompany you, Don Cosme," I replied; +"and I regret exceedingly that my duty will not permit me to return with +you at once." + +"Oh, Senor!" exclaimed the Spaniard, with a painful expression. + +"My business here," continued I, "is to procure pack-mules for the +American army." + +"Mules?" + +"Yes. We were crossing for that purpose to a plain on the other side of +the woods, where we had observed some animals of that description." + +"'Tis true, Captain; there are a hundred or more; they are mine--take +them all!" + +"But it is our intention to pay for them, Don Cosme. The major here has +the power to contract with you." + +"As you please, gentlemen; but you will then return this way, and +proceed to your camp?" + +"As soon as possible," I replied. "How far distant is this plain?" + +"Not more than a league. I would go with you, but--" Here Don Cosme +hesitated, and, approaching, said in a low tone: "The truth is, Senor +Capitan, I should be glad if you could take them _without my consent_. +I have mixed but little in the politics of this country; but Santa Anna +is my enemy--he will ask no better motive for despoiling me." + +"I understand you," said I. "Then, Don Cosme, we will take your mules +by force, and carry yourself a prisoner to the American camp--a Yankee +return for your hospitality." + +"It is good," replied the Spaniard, with a smile. + +"Senor Capitan," continued he, "you are without a sword. Will you +favour me by accepting this?" + +Don Cosme held out to me a rapier of Toledo steel, with a golden +scabbard richly chased, and bearing on its hilt the eagle and nopal of +Mexico. + +"It is a family relic, and once belonged to the brave Guadalupe +Victoria." + +"Ha! indeed!" I exclaimed, taking the sword; "I shall value it much. +Thanks, Senor! thanks! Now, Major, we are ready to proceed." + +"A glass of maraschino, gentlemen?" said Don Cosme, as a servant +appeared with a flask and glasses. "Thank you--yes," grunted the major; +"and while we are drinking it, Senor Don, let me give you a hint. You +appear to have plenty of _pewter_." Here the major significantly +touched a gold sugar-dish, which the servant was carrying upon a tray of +chased silver. "Take my word for it, you can't bury it too soon." + +"It is true, Don Cosme," said I, translating to him the major's advice. +"We are not French, but there are robbers who hang on the skirts of +every army." + +Don Cosme promised to follow the hint with alacrity, and we prepared to +take our departure from the rancho. + +"I will give you a guide, Senor Capitan; you will find my people with +the _mulada_. Please _compel_ them to lasso the cattle for you. You +will obtain what you want in the corral. _Adios, Senores_!" + +"Farewell, Don Cosme!" + +"_A dios, Capitan! adios! adios_!" + +I held out my hand to the younger of the girls, who instantly caught it +and pressed it to her lips. It was the action of a child. Guadalupe +followed the example of her sister, but evidently with a degree of +reserve. What, then, should have caused this difference in their +manner? + +In the next moment we were ascending the stairway. + +"Lucky dog!" growled the major. "Take a ducking myself for that." + +"Both beautiful, by Jove!" said Clayley; "but of all the women I ever +saw, give me `Mary of the Light'!" + + + +CHAPTER SIXTEEN. + +THE SCOUT CONTINUED, WITH A VARIETY OF REFLECTIONS. + +Love is a rose growing upon a thorny bramble. There is jealousy in the +very first blush of a passion. No sooner has a fair face made its +impress on the heart than hopes and fears spring up in alternation. +Every action, every word, every look is noted and examined with a +jealous scrutiny; and the heart of the lover, changing like the +chameleon, takes its hues from the latest sentiment that may have +dropped from the loved one's lips. And then the various looks, words, +and actions, the favourable with the unfavourable, are recalled, and by +a mental process classified and marshalled against each other, and +compared and balanced with as much exactitude as the _pros_ and +_contras_ of a miser's bank-book; and in this process we have a new +alternation of hopes and fears. + +Ah, love! we could write a long history of thy rise and progress; but it +is doubtful whether any of our readers would be a jot the wiser for it. +Most of them ere this have read that history in their own hearts. + +I felt and knew that I was in love. It had come like a thought, as it +comes upon all men whose souls are attuned to vibrate under the mystical +impressions of the beautiful. And well I knew _she_ was beautiful. I +saw its unfailing index in those oval developments--the index, too, of +the intellectual; for experience had taught me that _intellect takes a +shape_; and that those peculiarities of form that we admire, without +knowing why, are but the material illustrations of the diviner +principles of mind. + +The eye, too, with its almond outline, and wild, half-Indian, half Arab +expression--the dark tracery over the lip, so rarely seen in the +lineaments of her sex--even these were attractions. There was something +picturesque, something strange, something almost fierce, in her aspect; +and yet it was this indefinable something, this very fierceness, that +had challenged my love. For I must confess mine is not one of those +curious natures that I have read of, whose love is based only upon the +goodness of the object. That _is not love_. + +My heart recognised in her _the heroine of extremes_. One of those +natures gifted with all the tenderness that belongs to the angel idea-- +woman; yet soaring above her sex in the paralysing moments of peril and +despair. Her feelings, in relation to her sister's cruelty to the +gold-fish, proved the existence of the former principle; her actions, in +attempting my own rescue when battling with the monster, were evidence +of the latter. One of those natures that may err from the desperate +intensity of one passion, that knows no limit to its self-sacrifice +short of destruction and death. One of those beings that may fall--but +_only once_. + +"What would I not give--what would I not do--to be the hero of such a +heart?" + +These were my reflections as I quitted the house. + +I had noted every word, every look, every action, that could lend me a +hope; and my memory conjured up, and my judgment canvassed, each little +circumstance in its turn. + +How strange her conduct at bidding adieu! How unlike her sister! Less +friendly and sincere; and yet from this very circumstance I drew my +happiest omen. + +Strange--is it not? My experience has taught me that love and hate for +the _same_ object can exist in the _same_ heart, and at the _same_ time. +If this be a paradox, I am a child of error. + +I believed it then; and her apparent coldness, which would have rendered +many another hopeless, produced with me an opposite effect. + +Then came the cloud--the thought of Don Santiago--and a painful feeling +shot through my heart. + +"Don Santiago, a naval officer, young, handsome. Bah! hers is not a +heart to be won by a face." + +Such were my reflections and half-uttered expressions as I slowly led my +soldiers through the tangled path. + +Don Santiago's age and his appearance were the creations of a jealous +fancy. I had bidden adieu to my new acquaintances knowing nothing of +Don Santiago beyond the fact that he was an officer on board the Spanish +ship of war, and a relation of Don Cosme. + +"Oh, yes! Don Santiago is on board! Ha! there was an evident interest. +Her look as she said it; her manner--furies! But he is a relation, a +cousin--_a cousin--I hate cousins_!" + +I must have pronounced the last words aloud, as Lincoln, who walked in +my rear, stepped hastily up, and asked: + +"What did yer say, Cap'n?" + +"Oh! nothing, Sergeant," stammered I, in some confusion. + +Notwithstanding my assurance, I overheard Lincoln whisper to his nearest +comrade: + +"What ther old Harry hes got into the cap?" + +He referred to the fact that I had unconsciously hooked myself half a +dozen times on the thorny claws of the pita-plant, and my overalls began +to exhibit a most tattered condition. + +Our route lay through a dense chaparral--now crossing a sandy spur, +covered with mezquite and acacia; then sinking into the bed of some +silent creek, shaded with old cork-trees, whose gnarled and venerable +trunks were laced together by a thousand parasites. Two miles from the +rancho we reached the banks of a considerable stream, which we +conjectured was a branch of the Jamapa River. + +On both sides a fringe of dark forest-trees flung out long branches +extending half-way across the stream. The water flowed darkly +underneath. + +Huge lilies stood out from the banks--their broad, wax-like leaves +trailing upon the glassy ripple. + +Here and there were pools fringed with drooping willows and belts of +green _tule_. Other aquatic plants rose from the water to the height of +twenty feet; among which we distinguished the beautiful "iris", with its +tall, spear-like stem, ending in a brown cylinder, like the pompon of a +grenadier's cap. + +As we approached the banks the pelican, scared from his lonely haunt, +rose upon heavy wing, and with a shrill scream flapped away through the +dark aisles of the forest. The cayman plunged sullenly into the sedgy +water; and the "Sajou" monkey, suspended by his prehensile tail from +some overhanging bough, oscillated to and fro, and filled the air with +his hideous, half-human cries. + +Halting for a moment to refill the canteens, we crossed over and +ascended the opposite bank. A hundred paces farther on the guide, who +had gone ahead, cried out from an eminence, "_Mira la caballada_!" +(Yonder's the drove!) + + + +CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. + +ONE WAY OF TAMING A BULL. + +Pushing through the jungle, we ascended the eminence. A brilliant +picture opened before us. The storm had suddenly lulled, and the +tropical sun shone down upon the flowery surface of the earth, bathing +its verdure in a flood of yellow light. It was several hours before +sunset, but the bright orb had commenced descending towards the snowy +cone of Orizava, and his rays had assumed that golden red which +characterises the ante-twilight of the tropics. The short-lived storm +had swept the heavens, and the blue roof of the world was without a +cloud. The dark masses had rolled away over the south-eastern horizon, +and were now spending their fury upon the dyewood forests of Honduras +and Tabasco. + +At our feet lay the prairie, spread before us like a green carpet, and +bounded upon the farther side by a dark wall of forest-trees. Several +clumps of timber grew like islands on the plain, adding to the +picturesque character of the landscape. + +Near the centre of the prairie stood a small rancho, surrounded by a +high picket fence. This we at once recognised as the "corral" mentioned +by Don Cosme. + +At some distance from the inclosure thousands of cattle were browsing +upon the grassy level, their spotted flanks and long upright horns +showing their descent from the famous race of Spanish bulls. Some of +them, straggling from the herd, rambled through the "mottes", or lay +stretched out under the shade of some isolated palm-tree. Ox-bells were +tinkling their cheerful but monotonous music. Hundreds of horses and +mules mingled with the herd; and we could distinguish a couple of +leather-clad _vaqueros_ (herdsmen) galloping from point to point on +their swift mustangs. + +These, as we appeared upon the ridge, dashed out after a wild bull that +had just escaped from the corral. + +All five--the vaqueros, the mustangs, and the bull--swept over the +prairie like wind, the bull bellowing with rage and terror; while the +vaqueros were yelling in his rear, and whirling their long lazos. Their +straight black hair floating in the wind--their swarthy, Arab-like +faces--their high Spanish hats--their red leather calzoneros, buttoned +up the sides--their huge jingling spurs, and the ornamental trappings of +their deep saddles--all these, combined with the perfect _manege_ of +their dashing steeds, and the wild excitement of the chase in which they +were engaged, rendered them objects of picturesque interest; and we +halted a moment to witness the result. + +The bull came rushing past within fifty paces of where we stood, +snorting with rage, and tossing his horns high in the air--his pursuers +close upon him. At this moment one of the vaqueros launched his lazo, +which, floating gracefully out, settled down over one horn. Seeing +this, the vaquero did not turn his horse, but sat facing the bull, and +permitted the rope to run out. It was soon carried taut; and, scarcely +checking the animal, it slipped along the smooth horn and spun out into +the air. The cast was a failure. + +The second vaquero now flung his lazo with more success. The heavy +loop, skilfully projected, shot out like an arrow, and embraced _both_ +horns in its curving noose. With the quickness of thought the vaquero +wheeled his horse, buried his spurs deep into his flanks, and, pressing +his thighs to the saddle, galloped off in an opposite direction. The +bull dashed on as before. In a moment the lariat was stretched. The +sudden jerk caused the thong to vibrate like a bowstring, and the bull +lay motionless on the grass. The shock almost dragged the mustang upon +his flanks. + +The bull lay for some time where he had fallen; then, making an effort, +he sprang up, and looked around him with a bewildered air. He was not +yet conquered. His eye, flashing with rage, rolled around until it fell +upon the rope leading from his horns to the saddle; and, suddenly +lowering his head, with a furious roar he rushed upon the vaquero. + +The latter, who had been expecting this attack, drove the spurs into his +mustang, and started in full gallop across the prairie. On followed the +bull, sometimes shortening the distance between him and his enemy, while +at intervals the lazo, tightening, would almost jerk him upon his head. + +After running for a hundred yards or so, the vaquero suddenly wheeled +and galloped out at right angles to his former course. Before the bull +could turn, himself the rope again tightened with a jerk and flung him +upon his side. This time he lay but an instant, and, again springing to +his feet, he dashed off in fresh pursuit. + +The second vaquero now came up, and, as the bull rushed past, launched +his lazo after, and snared him around one of the legs, drawing the noose +upon his ankle. + +This time the bull was flung completely over, and with such a violent +shock that he lay as if dead. One of the vaqueros then rode cautiously +up, and, bending over in the saddle, unfastened both of the lariats, and +set the animal free. + +The bull rose to his feet, and, looking around in the most cowed and +pitiful manner, walked quietly off, driven unresistingly towards the +corral. + +We commenced descending into the place, and the vaqueros, catching a +glimpse of our uniforms, simultaneously reined up their mustangs with a +sudden jerk. We could see from their gestures that they were frightened +at the approach of our party. This was not strange, as the major, +mounted upon his great gaunt charger, loomed up against the blue sky +like a colossus. The Mexicans, doubtless, had never seen anything in +the way of horseflesh bigger than the mustangs they were riding; and +this apparition, with the long line of uniformed soldiers descending the +hill, was calculated to alarm them severely. + +"Them fellers is gwine to put, Cap'n," said Lincoln, touching his cap +respectfully. + +"You're right, Sergeant," I replied; "and without them we might as well +think of catching the wind as one of these mules." + +"If yer'll just let me draw a bead on the near mustang, I kin kripple +him 'ithout hurtin' the thing thet's in the saddle." + +"It would be a pity. No, Sergeant," answered I. "I might stop them by +sending forward the guide," I continued, addressing myself rather than +Lincoln; "but no, it will not do; there must be the appearance of force. +I have promised. Major, would you have the goodness to ride forward, +and prevent those fellows from galloping off?" + +"Lord, Captain!" said the major, with a terrified look, "you don't think +I could overtake such Arabs as them? Hercules is slow--slow as a crab!" + +Now, this was _a lie_, and I knew it! for Hercules, the major's great, +raw-boned steed, was as fleet as the wind. + +"Then, Major, perhaps you will allow Mr Clayley to make trial of him," +I suggested. "He is light weight. I assure you that, without the +assistance of these Mexicans, we shall not be able to catch a single +mule." + +The major, seeing that all eyes were fixed upon him, suddenly +straightened himself up in his stirrups, and, swelling with courage and +importance, declared, "If that was the case, he would go himself." +Then, calling upon "Doc" to follow him, he struck the spurs into +Hercules, and rode forward at a gallop. + +It proved that this was just the very course to start the vaqueros, as +the major had inspired them with more terror than all the rest of our +party. They showed evident symptoms of taking to their heels, and I +shouted to them at the top of my voice: + +"_Alto! somos amigos_!" (Halt! we are friends). + +The words were scarcely out of my mouth when the Mexicans drove the +rowels into their mustangs, and galloped off as if for their lives in +the direction of the corral. + +The major followed at a slashing pace, Doc bringing up the rear; while +the basket which the latter carried over his arm began to eject its +contents, scattering the commissariat of the major over the prairie. +Fortunately, the hospitality of Don Cosme had already provided a +substitute for this loss. + +After a run of about half a mile Hercules began to gain rapidly upon the +mustangs, whereas Doc was losing distance in an inverse ratio. The +Mexicans had got within a couple of hundred yards of the rancho, the +major not over a hundred in their rear, when I observed the latter +suddenly pull up, and, jerking the long body of Hercules round, commence +riding briskly back, all the while looking over his shoulder towards the +in closure. + +The vaqueros did not halt at the corral, as we expected, but kept across +the prairie, and disappeared among the trees on the opposite side. + +"What the deuce has got into Blossom?" inquired Clayley; "he was clearly +gaining upon them. The old bloat must have burst a blood-vessel." + + + +CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. + +A BRUSH WITH THE GUERILLEROS. + +"Why, what was the matter, Major?" inquired I, as the major rode up +blowing like a porpoise. + +"Matter!" replied he, with one of his direst imprecations; "matter, +indeed! You wouldn't have me ride plump into their works, would you?" + +"Works!" echoed I, in some surprise; "what do you mean by that, Major?" + +"I mean works--that's all. There's a stockade ten feet high, as full as +it can stick of them." + +"Full of what?" + +"Full of the enemy--full of rancheros. I saw their ugly copper faces--a +dozen of them at least--looking at me over the pickets; and, sure as +heaven, if I had gone ten paces farther they would have riddled me like +a target." + +"But, Major, they were only peaceable rancheros--cow-herds--nothing +more." + +"Cow-herds! I tell you, Captain, that those two that galloped off had a +sword apiece strapped to their saddles. I saw them when I got near: +they were decoys to bring us up to that stockade--I'll bet my life upon +it!" + +"Well, Major," rejoined I, "they're far enough from the stockade now; +and the best we can do in their absence will be to examine it, and see +what chances it may offer to corral these mules, for, unless they can be +driven into it, we shall have to return to camp empty-handed." + +Saying this, I moved forward with the men, the major keeping in the +rear. + +We soon reached the formidable stockade, which proved to be nothing more +than a regular corral, such as are found on the great _haciendas de +ganados_ (cattle farms) of Spanish America. In one corner was a house, +constructed of upright poles, with a thatch of palm-leaves. This +contained the lazos, _alparejas_, saddles, etcetera, of the vaqueros; +and in the door of this house stood a decrepit old zambo, the only human +thing about the place. The zambo's woolly head over the pickets had +reflected itself a dozen times on the major's terrified imagination. + +After examining the corral, I found it excellent for our purpose, +provided we could only succeed in driving the mules _into_ it; and, +throwing open the bars, we proceeded to make the attempt. The mules +were browsing quietly at the distance of a quarter of a mile from the +corral. + +Marching past the drove, I deployed the company in the form of a +semicircle, forming a complete cordon round the animals; then, closing +in upon them slowly, the soldiers commenced driving them towards the +pen. + +We were somewhat awkward at this new duty; but by means of a shower of +small rocks, pieces of _bois de vache_, and an occasional "heigh, +heigh!" the mules were soon in motion and in the required direction. + +The major, with Doc and little Jack, being the mounted men of the party, +did great service, especially Jack, who was highly delighted with this +kind of thing, and kept Twidget in a constant gallop from right to left. + +As the _mulado_ neared the gates of the inclosure, the two extremes of +the semi-circumference gradually approached each other, closing in +toward the corral. + +The mules were already within fifty paces of the entrance, the soldiers +coming up about two hundred yards in the rear, when a noise like the +tramping of many hoofs arrested our attention. The quick, sharp note of +a cavalry bugle rang out across the plain, followed by a wild yell, as +though a band of Indian warriors were sweeping down upon the foe. + +In an instant every eye was turned, and we beheld with consternation a +cloud of horsemen springing out from the woods, and dashing along in the +headlong velocity of a charge. + +It required but a single glance to satisfy me that they were +guerilleros. Their picturesque attire, their peculiar arms, and the +parti-coloured bannerets upon their lances were not to be mistaken. + +We stood for a moment as if thunderstruck; a sharp cry rose along the +deployed line. + +I signalled to the bugler, who gave the command, "Rally upon the +centre!" + +As if by one impulse, the whole line closed in with a run upon the gates +of the inclosure. The mules, impelled by the sudden rush, dashed +forward pell-mell, blocking up the entrance. + +On came the guerilleros, with streaming pennons and lances couched, +shouting their wild cries: + +"_Andela! andela! Mueran los Yankees_!" (Forward! forward! Death to +the Yankees!) + +The foremost of the soldiers were already upon the heels of the crowded +mules, pricking them with bayonets. The animals began to kick and +plunge in the most furious manner, causing a new danger in front. + +"Face about--fire!" I commanded at this moment. + +An irregular but well-directed volley emptied half a dozen saddles, and +for a moment staggered the charging line; but, before my men could +reload, the guerilleros had leaped clear over their fallen comrades, and +were swooping down with cries of vengeance. A dozen of their bravest +men were already within shot-range, firing their escopettes and pistols +as they came down. + +Our position had now grown fearfully critical. The mules still blocked +up the entrance, preventing the soldiers from taking shelter behind the +stockade; and before we could reload, the rearmost would be at the mercy +of the enemy's lances. + +Seizing the major's servant by the arm, I dragged him from his horse, +and, leaping into the saddle, flung myself upon the rear. Half a dozen +of my bravest men, among whom were Lincoln, Chane, and the Frenchman +Raoul, rallied around the horse, determined to receive the cavalry +charge on the short bayonets of their rifles. Their pieces were all +empty! + +At this moment my eye rested on one of the soldiers, a brave but +slow-footed German, who was still twenty paces in the rear of his +comrades, making every effort to come up. Two of the guerilleros were +rushing upon him with couched lances. I galloped out to his rescue; but +before I could reach him the lance of the foremost Mexican crashed +through the soldier's skull, shivering it like a shell. The barb and +bloody pennon came out on the opposite side. The man was lifted from +the ground, and carried several paces upon the shaft of the lance. + +The guerillero dropped his entangled weapon; but before he could draw +any other, the sword of Victoria was through his heart. + +His comrade turned upon me with a cry of vengeance. I had not yet +disengaged my weapon to ward off the thrust. The lance's point was +within three feet of my breast, when a sharp crack was heard from +behind; the lancer threw out his arms with a spasmodic jerk; his long +spear was whirled into the air, and he fell back in his saddle, dead. + +"Well done, Jack! fire and scissors! who showed yer that trick? whooray! +whoop!" and I heard the voice of Lincoln, in a sort of Indian yell, +rising high above the din. + +At this moment a guerillo, mounted upon a powerful black mustang, came +galloping down. This man, unlike most of his comrades, was armed with +the sabre, which he evidently wielded with great dexterity. He came +dashing on, his white teeth set in a fierce smile. + +"Ha! Monsieur le Capitaine," shouted he, as he came near, "still alive? +I thought I had finished you on Lobos; not too late yet!" + +I recognised the deserter, Dubrosc! + +"Villain!" I ejaculated, too full of rage to utter another word. + +We met at full speedy but with my unmanageable horse I could only ward +off his blow as he swept past me. We wheeled again, and galloped +towards each other--both of us impelled by hatred; but my horse again +shied, frightened by the gleaming sabre of my antagonist. Before I +could rein him round, he had brought me close to the pickets of the +corral; and on turning to meet the deserter, I found that we were +separated by a band of dark objects. + +It was a detachment of mules that had backed from the gates of the +corral and were escaping to the open plain. We reined up, eyeing each +other with impatient vengeance; but the bullets of my men began to +whistle from the pickets; and Dubrosc, with a threatening gesture, +wheeled his horse and galloped off to his comrades. They had retired +beyond range, and were halted in groups upon the prairie, chafing with +disappointment and rage. + + + +CHAPTER NINETEEN. + +A HERCULEAN FEAT. + +The whole skirmish did not occupy two minutes. It was like most charges +of Mexican cavalry--a dash, a wild yelling, half a dozen empty saddles, +and a hasty retreat. + +The guerilleros had swerved off as soon as they perceived that we had +gained a safe position, and the bullets of our reloaded pieces began to +whistle around their ears. Dubrosc alone, in his impetuosity, galloped +close up to the inclosure; and it was only on perceiving himself alone, +and the folly of exposing himself thus fruitlessly, that he wheeled +round and followed the Mexicans. The latter were now out upon the +prairie, beyond the range of small-arms, grouped around their wounded +comrades, or galloping to and fro, with yells of disappointed vengeance. + +I entered the corral, where most of my men had sheltered themselves +behind the stockades. Little Jack sat upon Twidget, reloading his +rifle, and trying to appear insensible to the flattering encomiums that +hailed him from all sides. A compliment from Lincoln, however, was too +much for Jack, and a proud smile was seen upon the face of the boy. + +"Thank you, Jack," said I, as I passed him; "I see you can use a rifle +to some purpose." + +Jack held down his head, without saying a word, and appeared to be very +busy about the lock of his piece. + +In the skirmish, Lincoln had received the scratch of a lance, at which +he was chafing in his own peculiar way, and vowing revenge upon the +giver. It might be said that he had taken this, as he had driven his +short bayonet through his antagonist's arm, and sent him off with this +member hanging by his side. But the hunter was not content; and, as he +retired sullenly into the inclosure, he turned round, and, shaking his +fist at the Mexican, muttered savagely: + +"Yer darned skunk! I'll know yer agin. See if I don't git yer yit!" + +Gravenitz, a Prussian soldier, had also been too near a lance, and +several others had received slight wounds. The German was the only one +killed. He was still lying out on the plain, where he had fallen, the +long shaft of the lance standing up out of his skull. Not ten feet +distant lay the corpse, of his slayer, glistening in its gaudy and +picturesque attire. + +The other guerillero, as he fell, had noosed one of his legs in the lazo +that hung from the horn of his saddle, and was now dragged over the +prairie after his wild and snorting mustang. As the animal swerved, at +every jerk his limber body bounded to the distance of twenty feet, where +it would lie motionless until slung into the air by a fresh pluck on the +lazo. + +As we were watching this horrid spectacle, several of the guerilleros +galloped after, while half a dozen others were observed spurring their +steeds towards the rear of the corral. On looking in this direction we +perceived a huge red horse, with an empty saddle, scouring at full speed +across the prairie. A single glance showed us that this horse was +Hercules. + +"Good heavens! the Major!" + +"Safe somewhere," replied Clayley; "but where the deuce can he be? He +is not _hors de combat_ on the plain, or one could see him even ten +miles off. Ha! ha! ha!--look yonder!" + +Clayley, yelling with laughter, pointed to the corner of the rancho. + +Though after a scene so tragic, I could hardly refrain from joining +Clayley in his boisterous mirth. Hanging by the belt of his sabre upon +a high picket was the major, kicking and struggling with all his might. +The waist-strap, tightly drawn by the bulky weight of the wearer, +separated his body into two vast rotundities, while his face was +distorted and purple with the agony of suspense and suspension. He was +loudly bellowing for help, and several soldiers were running towards +him; but, from the manner in which he jerked his body up, and screwed +his neck, so as to enable him to look over the stockade, it was evident +that the principal cause of his uneasiness lay on the "other side of the +fence." + +The truth was, the major, on the first appearance of the enemy, had +galloped towards the rear of the corral, and, finding no entrance, had +thrown himself from the back of Hercules upon the stockade, intending to +climb over; but, having caught a glance of some guerilleros, he had +suddenly let go his bridle, and attempted to precipitate himself into +the corral. + +His waist-belt, catching upon a sharp picket, held him suspended midway, +still under the impression that the Mexicans were close upon his rear. +He was soon unhooked, and now waddled across the corral, uttering a +thick and continuous volley of his choicest oaths. + +Our eyes were now directed towards Hercules. The horsemen had closed +upon him within fifty yards, and were winding their long lazos in the +air. The major, to all appearance, had lost his horse. + +After galloping to the edge of the woods, Hercules suddenly halted, and +threw up the trailing-bridle with a loud neigh. His pursuers, coming +up, flung out their lazos. Two of these, settling over his head, noosed +him around the neck. The huge brute, as if aware of the necessity of a +desperate effort to free himself, dropped his nose to the ground, and +stretched himself out in full gallop. + +The lariats, one by one tightening over his bony chest, snapped like +threads, almost jerking the mustangs from their feet. The long +fragments sailed out like streamers as he careered across the prairie, +far ahead of his yelling pursuers. + +He now made directly for the corral. Several of the soldiers ran +towards the stockade, in order to seize the bridle when he should come +up; but Hercules, spying his old comrade--the horse of the "Doctor"-- +within the inclosure, first neighed loudly, and then, throwing all his +nerve into the effort, sprang high over the picket fence. + +A cheer rose from the men, who had watched with interest his efforts to +escape, and who now welcomed him as if he had been one of themselves. + +"Two months' pay for your horse, Major!" cried Clayley. + +"Och, the bewtiful baste! He's worth the full of his skin in goold! By +my sowl! the capten ought to have 'im," ejaculated Chane; and various +other encomiums were uttered in honour of Hercules. + +Meanwhile, his pursuers, not daring to approach the stockade, drew off +towards their comrades with gestures of disappointment and chagrin. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY. + +RUNNING THE GAUNTLET. + +I began to reflect upon the real danger of our situation--corralled upon +a naked prairie, ten miles from camp, with no prospect of escape. I +knew that we could defend ourselves against twice the number of our +cowardly adversaries; they would never dare to come within range of our +rifles. But how to get out? how to cross the open plain? Fifty +infantry against four times that number of mounted men--lancers at +that--and not a bush to shelter the foot-soldier from the long spear and +the iron hoof! + +The nearest _motte_ was half a mile off, and that another half a mile +from the edge of the woods. Even could the motte be reached by a +desperate run, it would be impossible to gain the woods, as the enemy +would certainly cordon our new position, and thus completely cut us off. +At present they had halted in a body about four hundred yards from the +corral; and, feeling secure of having us in a trap, most of them had +dismounted, and were running out their mustangs upon their lazos. It +was plainly their determination to take us by siege. + +To add to our desperate circumstances, we discovered that there was not +a drop of water in the corral. The thirst that follows a fight had +exhausted the scanty supply of our canteens, and the heat was excessive. + +As I was running over in my mind the perils of our position, my eye +rested upon Lincoln, who stood with his piece at a carry, his left hand +crossed over his breast, in the attitude of a soldier waiting to receive +orders. + +"Well, Sergeant, what is it?" I inquired. + +"Will yer allow me, Cap'n, ter take a couple o' files, and fetch in the +Dutchman? The men 'ud like ter put a sod upon him afore them thievin' +robbers kin git at him." + +"Certainly. But will you be safe? He's at some distance from the +stockade." + +"I don't think them fellers 'll kum down--they've had enuf o' it just +now. We'll run out quick, and the boys kin kiver us with their fire." + +"Very well, then; set about it." + +Lincoln returned to the company and selected four of the most active of +his men, with whom he proceeded towards the entrance. I ordered the +soldiers to throw themselves on that side of the inclosure, and cover +the party in case of an attack; but none was made. A movement was +visible among the Mexicans, as they perceived Lincoln and his party rush +out towards the body; but, seeing they would be too late to prevent them +from carrying it off, they wisely kept beyond the reach of the American +rifles. + +The body of the German was brought into the inclosure and buried with +due ceremony, although his comrades believed that before many hours it +would be torn from its "warrior grave", dragged forth to feed the coyote +and vulture, and his bones left to whiten upon the naked prairie. Which +of us knew that it might not in a few hours be his own fate? + +"Gentlemen," said I to my brother officers, as we came together, "can +you suggest any mode of escape?" + +"Our only chance is to fight them where we stand. There are four to +one," replied Clayey. + +"We have no other chance, Captain," said Oakes, with a shake of the +head. + +"But it is not their intention to fight _us_. Their design is to starve +us. See! they are picketing their horses, knowing they can easily +overtake us if we attempt to leave the inclosure." + +"Cannot we move in a hollow square?" + +"But what is a hollow square of fifty men? and against four times that +number of cavalry, with lances and lazos? No, no; they would shiver it +with a single charge. Our only hope is that we may be able to hold out +until our absence from camp may bring a detachment to our relief." + +"And why not send for it?" inquired the major, who had scarcely been +asked for his advice, but whose wits had been sharpened by the extremity +of his danger. "Why not send for a couple of regiments?" + +"How are we to send, Major?" asked Clayley, looking on the major's +proposition as ridiculous under the circumstances. "Have you a pigeon +in your pocket?" + +"Why?--how? There's Hercules runs like a hare; stick one of your +fellows in the saddle, and I'll warrant him to camp in an hour." + +"You are right, Major," said I, catching at the major's proposal; "thank +you for the thought. If he could only pass that point in the woods! I +hate it, but it is our only chance." + +The last sentence I muttered to myself. + +"Why do you hate it, Captain?" inquired the major, who had overheard me. + +"You might not understand my reasons, Major." + +I was thinking upon the disgrace of being trapped as I was, and on my +first scout, too. + +"Who will volunteer to ride an express to camp?" I inquired, addressing +the men. + +Twenty of them leaped out simultaneously. + +"Which of you remembers the course, that you could follow it in a +gallop?" I asked. + +The Frenchman, Raoul, stood forth, touching his cap. + +"I know a shorter one, Captain, by Mata Cordera." + +"Ha! Raoul, you know the country. You are the man." + +I now remembered that this man joined us at Sacrificios, just after the +landing of the expedition. He had been living in the country previous +to our arrival, and was well acquainted with it. + +"Are you a good horseman?" I inquired. + +"I have seen five years of cavalry service." + +"True. Do you think you can pass them? They are nearly in your track." + +"As we entered the prairie, Captain; but my route will lie past this +motte to the left." + +"That will give you several points. Do not stop a moment after you have +mounted, or they will take the hint and intercept you." + +"With the red horse there will be no danger, Captain." + +"Leave your gun; take these pistols. Ha! you have a pair in the +holsters. See if they are loaded. These spurs--so--cut loose that +heavy piece from the saddle: the cloak, too; you must have nothing to +encumber you. When you come near the camp, leave your horse in the +chaparral. Give this to Colonel C." + +I wrote the following words on a scrap of paper:-- + +"Dear Colonel, + +"Two hundred will be enough. Could they be stolen out after night? If +so, all will be well--if it gets abroad... + +"Yours, + +"H.H." + +As I handed the paper to Raoul, I whispered in his ear-- + +"To Colonel C's own hand. Privately, Raoul--privately, do you hear?" + +Colonel C. was my friend, and I knew that he would send a _private_ +party to my rescue. + +"I understand, Captain," was the answer of Raoul. + +"Ready, then! now mount and be off." + +The Frenchman sprang nimbly to the saddle, and, driving his spurs into +the flanks of his horse, shot out from the pen like a bolt of lightning. + +For the first three hundred yards or so he galloped directly towards the +guerilleros. These stood leaning upon their saddles, or lay stretched +along the green-sward. Seeing a single horseman riding towards them, +few of them moved, believing him to be some messenger sent to treat for +our surrender. + +Suddenly the Frenchman swerved from his direct course, and went sweeping +around them in the curve of an ellipse. + +They now perceived the _ruse_, and with a yell leaped into their +saddles. Some fired their escopettes; others, unwinding their lazos, +started in pursuit. + +Raoul had by this time set Hercules's head for the clump of timber which +he had taken as his guide, and now kept on in a track almost +rectilinear. Could he but reach the motte or clump in safety, he knew +that there were straggling trees beyond, and these would secure him in +some measure from the lazos of his pursuers. + +We stood watching his progress with breathless silence. Our lives +depended on his escape. A crowd of the guerilleros was between him and +us; but we could still see the green jacket of the soldier, and the +great red flanks of Hercules, as he bounded on towards the edge of the +woods. Then we saw the lazos launched out, and spinning around Raoul's +head, and straggling shots were fired; and we fancied at one time that +our comrade sprang up in the saddle, as if he had been hit. Then he +appeared again, all safe, rounding the little islet of timber, and the +next moment he was gone from our sight. There followed a while of +suspense--of terrible suspense--for the motte hid from view both +pursuers and pursued. Every eye was straining towards the point where +the horseman had disappeared, when Lincoln, who had climbed to the top +of the rancho, cried out: + +"He's safe, Cap'n! The dod-rotted skunks air kummin 'ithout him." + +It was true. A minute after, the horsemen appeared round the motte, +riding slowly back, with that air and attitude that betoken +disappointment. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note. A motte is an eminence. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY ONE. + +A SHORT FIGHT AT "LONG SHOT". + +The escape of Raoul and Hercules produced an affect almost magical upon +the enemy. Instead of the listless defensive attitude lately assumed, +the guerilleros were now in motion like a nest of roused hornets, +scouring over the plain, and yelling like a war-party of Indians. + +They did not surround the corral, as I had anticipated they would. They +had no fear that we should attempt to escape; but they knew that, +instead of the three days in which they expected to kill us with thirst +at their leisure, they had not three hours left to accomplish that +object. Raoul would reach the camp in little more than an hour's time, +and either infantry or mounted men would be on them in two hours after. + +Scouts were seen galloping off in the direction taken by Raoul, and +others dashed into the woods on the opposite side of the prairie. All +was hurry and scurry. + +Along with Clayley I had climbed upon the roof of the rancho, to watch +the motions of the enemy, and to find out, if possible, his intentions. +We stood for some time without speaking, both of us gazing at the +manoeuvres of the guerilleros. They were galloping to and fro over the +prairie, excited by the escape of Raoul. + +"Splendidly done!" exclaimed my companion, struck with their graceful +horsemanship. "One of those fellows, Captain, as he sits, at this +minute, would--" + +"Ha! what--?" shouted he, suddenly turning and pointing towards the +woods. + +I looked in the direction indicated. A cloud of dust was visible at the +_debouchement_ of the Medellin road. It appeared to hang over a small +body of troops upon the march. The sun was just setting, and, as the +cloud lay towards the west, I could distinguish the sparkling of bright +objects through its dun volume. The guerilleros had reined up their +horses, and were eagerly gazing towards the same point. + +Presently the dust was wafted aside, a dozen dark forms became visible, +and in the midst a bright object flashed under the sun like a sheet of +gold. At the same instant an insulting shout broke from the +guerilleros, and a voice was heard exclaiming: + +"_Cenobio! Cenobio! Los canones_!" (Cenobio! Cenobio! the cannon!) + +Clayley turned towards me with an inquiring look. + +"It is true, Clayley; by heavens, we'll have it now!" + +"What did they say?" + +"Look for yourself--well?" + +"A brass piece, as I live!--a six-pound carronade!" + +"We are fighting the guerilla [Note 1] of Cenobio, a small army of +itself. Neither stockade nor motte will avail us now." + +"What is to be done?" asked my companion. + +"Nothing but die with arms in our hands. We will not die without a +struggle, and the sooner we prepare for it the better." + +I leaped from the roof, and ordered the bugler to sound the _assembly_. + +In a moment the clear notes rang out, and the soldiers formed before me +in the corral. + +"My brave comrades!" cried I, "they have got the advantage of us at +last. They are bringing down a piece of artillery, and I fear these +pickets will offer us but poor shelter. If we are driven out, let us +strike for that island of timber; and, mark me--if we are broken, let +every man fight his way as he best can, or die over a fallen enemy." + +A determined cheer followed this short harangue, and I continued: + +"But let us first see how they use their piece. It is a small one, and +will not destroy us all at once. Fling yourselves down as they fire. +By lying flat on your faces you may not suffer so badly. Perhaps we can +hold the corral until our friends reach us. At all events we shall +try." + +Another cheer rang along the line. + +"Great heaven, Captain! it's terrible!" whispered the major. + +"What is terrible?" I asked, feeling at the moment a contempt for this +blaspheming coward. + +"Oh! this--this business--such a fix to be--" + +"Major! remember you are a soldier." + +"Yes; and I wish I had resigned, as I intended to do, before this cursed +war commenced." + +"Never fear," said I, tempted to smile at the candour of his cowardice; +"you'll drink wine at Hewlett's in a month. Get behind this log--it's +the only point shot-proof in the whole stockade." + +"Do you think, Captain, it _will_ stop a shot?" + +"Ay--from a siege-gun. Look out, men, and be ready to obey orders!" + +The six-pounder had now approached within five hundred yards of the +stockade, and was leisurely being unlimbered in the midst of a group of +the enemy's artillerists. + +At this moment the voice of the major arrested my attention. + +"Great heaven, Captain! Why do you allow them to come so near?" + +"How am I to prevent them?" I asked, with some surprise. + +"Why, my rifle will reach farther than that. It might keep them off, I +think." + +"Major, you are dreaming!" said I. "They are two hundred yards beyond +range of our rifles. If they would only come within that, we should +soon send them back for you." + +"But, Captain, mine will carry twice the distance." + +I looked at the major, under the belief that he had taken leave of his +senses. + +"It's a _zundnadel_, I assure you, and will kill at eight hundred +yards." + +"Is it possible?" cried I, starting; for I now recollected the +curious-looking piece which I had ordered to be cut loose from the +saddle of Hercules. "Why did you not tell me that before? Where is +Major Blossom's rifle?" I shouted, looking around. + +"This hyur's the major's _gun_" answered Sergeant Lincoln. "But if it's +a rifle, I never seed sich. It looks more like a two-year old cannon." + +It was, as the major had declared, a Prussian needle-gun--then a new +invention, but of which I had heard something. + +"Is it loaded, Major?" I asked, taking the piece from Lincoln. + +"It is." + +"Can you hit that man with the sponge?" said I, returning the piece to +the hunter. + +"If this hyur thing'll carry fur enuf, I kin," was the reply. + +"It will kill at a thousand yards, point blank," cried the major, with +energy. + +"Ha! are you sure of that, Major?" I asked. + +"Certainly, Captain. I got it from the inventor. We tried it at +Washington. It is loaded with a conical bullet. It bored a hole +through an inch plank at that distance." + +"Well. Now, Sergeant, take sure aim; this may save us yet." + +Lincoln planted himself firmly on his feet, choosing a notch of the +stockade that ranged exactly with his shoulder. He then carefully wiped +the dust from the sights; and, placing the heavy barrel in the notch, +laid his cheek slowly against the stock. + +"Sergeant, the man with the shot!" I called out. + +As I spoke, one of the artillerists was stooping to the muzzle of the +six-pounder, holding in his hand a spherical case-shot. Lincoln pressed +the trigger. The crack followed, and the artillerist threw out his +arms, and doubled over on his head without giving a kick. + +The shot that he had held rolled out upon the green-sward. A wild cry, +expressive of extreme astonishment, broke from the guerilleros. At the +same instant a cheer rang through the corral. + +"Well done!" cried a dozen of voices at once. + +In a moment the rifle was wiped and reloaded. + +"This time, Sergeant, the fellow with the linstock." + +During the reloading of the rifle, the Mexicans around the six-pounder +had somewhat recovered from their surprise, and had rammed home the +cartridge. A tall artillerist stood, with linstock and fuse, near the +breech, waiting for the order to fire. + +Before he received that order the rifle again cracked; his arm new up +with a sudden jerk, and the smoking rod, flying from his grasp, was +projected to the distance of twenty feet. + +The man himself spun round, and, staggering a pace or two, fell into the +arms of his comrades. + +"Cap'n, jest allow me ter take that ere skunk next time." + +"Which one, Sergeant?" I asked. + +"Him thet's on the black, makin' such a dot-rotted muss." + +I recognised the horse and figure of Dubrosc. + +"Certainly, by all means," said I, with a strange feeling at my heart as +I gave the order. + +But before Lincoln could reload, one of the Mexicans, apparently an +officer, had snatched up the burning fuse, and, running up, applied it +to the touch. + +"On your faces, men!" + +The ball came crashing through the thin pickets of the corral, and, +whizzing across the inclosure, struck one of the mules on the flank, +tearing open its hip, causing it to kick furiously as it tumbled over +the ground. + +Its companions, stampeding, galloped for a moment through the pen; then, +collecting in a corner, stood cowered up and quivering. A fierce yell +announced the exultation of the guerilleros. + +Dubrosc was sitting on his powerful mustang, facing the corral, and +watching the effects of the shot. + +"If he wur only 'ithin range ov my own rifle!" muttered Lincoln, as he +glanced along the sights of the strange piece. + +The crack soon followed--the black horse reared, staggered, and fell +back on his rider. + +"Ten strike, set 'em up!" exclaimed a soldier. + +"Missed the skunk!" cried Lincoln, gritting his teeth as the horseman +was seen to struggle from under the fallen animal. + +Rising to his feet, Dubrosc sprang out to the front, and shook his fist +in the air with a shout of defiance. + +The guerilleros galloped back; and the artillerists, wheeling the +six-pounder, dragged it after, and took up a new position about three +hundred yards farther to the rear. + +A second shot from the piece again tore through the pickets, striking +one of our men, and killing him instantly. + +"Aim at the artillerists, Sergeant. We have nothing to fear from the +others." + +Lincoln fired again. The shot hit the ground in front of the enemy's +gun; but, glancing, it struck one of the cannoniers, apparently wounding +him badly, as he was carried back by his comrades. + +The Mexicans, terror-struck at this strange instrument of destruction, +took up a new position, two hundred yards still farther back. + +Their third shot ricocheted, striking the top of the strong plank behind +which the major was screening himself, and only frightening the latter +by the shock upon the timber. + +Lincoln again fired. + +This time his shot produced no visible effect, and a taunting cheer from +the enemy told that they felt themselves beyond range. + +Another shot was fired from the _zundnadel_, apparently with a similar +result. + +"It's beyond her carry, Cap'n," said Lincoln, bringing the butt of his +piece to the ground, with an expression of reluctant conviction. + +"Try one more shot. If it fail, we can reserve the other for closer +work. Aim high!" + +This resulted as the two preceding ones; and a voice from the +guerilleros was heard exclaiming: + +"_Yankees bobos! mas adelante_!" (A little farther, you Yankee fools!) + +Another shot from the six-pounder cracked through the planks, knocking +his piece from the hands of a soldier, and shivering the dry stock-wood +into fifty fragments. + +"Sergeant, give me the rifle," said I. "They must be a thousand yards +off; but, as they are as troublesome with that carronade as if they were +only ten, I shall try one more shot." + +I fired, but the ball sank at least fifty paces in front of the enemy. + +"We expect too much. It is not a twenty-four pounder. Major, I _envy_ +you two things--your rifle and your horse." + +"Hercules?" + +"Of course." + +"Lord, Captain! you may do what you will with the rifle; and if ever we +get out of the reach of these infernal devils, Hercules shall be--." + +At this moment a cheer came from the guerilleros, and a voice was heard +shouting above the din: + +"_La metralla! la metralla_!" (The howitzer!) + +I leaped upon the roof, and looked out upon the plain. It was true. A +howitzer-carriage, drawn by mules, was debouching from the woods, the +animals dragging it along at a gallop. + +It was evidently a piece of some size, large enough to tear the light +picketing that screened us to atoms. + +I turned towards my men with a look of despair. My eye at this moment +rested on the drove of mules that stood crowded together in a corner of +the pen. A sudden thought struck me. Might we not mount them and +escape? There were more than enough to carry us all, and the rancho was +filled with bridles and ropes. I instantly leaped from the roof, and +gave orders to the men. + +"Speedily, but without noise!" cried I, as the soldiers proceeded to +fling bridles upon the necks of the animals. + +In five minutes each man, with his rifle slung, stood by a mule, some of +them having buckled on _tapadas_, to prevent the animals from kicking. + +The major stood ready by his horse. + +"Now, my brave fellows," shouted I in a loud voice, "we must take it +cavalry fashion--Mexican cavalry, I mean." The men laughed. "Once in +the woods, we shall retreat no farther. At the words `_Mount and +follow_', spring to your seats and follow Mr Clayley. I shall look to +your rear--don't stop to fire--hold on well. If anyone fall, let his +nearest comrade take him up. Ha! anyone hurt there?" A shot had +whistled through the ranks. "Only a scratch," was the reply. + +"All ready, then, are you? Now, Mr Clayley, you see the high timber-- +make direct for that. Down with the bars! `_Mount and follow_'!" + +As I uttered the last words, the men leaped to their seats; and Clayley, +riding the bell-mule, dashed out of the corral, followed by the whole +train, some of them plunging and kicking, but all galloped forward at +the sound of the bell upon their guide. + +As the dark cavalcade rushed out upon the prairie, a wild cry from the +guerilleros told that this was the first intimation they had had of the +singular _ruse_. They sprang to their saddles with yells, and galloped +in pursuit. The howitzer, that had been trailed upon the corral, was +suddenly wheeled about and fired; but the shot, ill-directed in their +haste, whistled harmlessly over our heads. + +The guerilleros, on their swift steeds, soon lessened the distance +between us. + +With a dozen of the best men I hung in the rear, to give the foremost of +the pursuers a volley, or pick up any soldier who might be tossed from +his mule. One of these, at intervals, kicked as only a Mexican mule +can; and when within five hundred yards of the timber, his rider, an +Irishman, was flung upon the prairie. + +The rearmost of our party stopped to take him up. He was seized by +Chane, who mounted him in front of himself. The delay had nearly been +fatal. The pursuers were already within a hundred yards, firing their +pistols and escopettes without effect. A number of the men turned in +their seats and blazed back. Others threw their rifles over their +shoulders, and pulled trigger at random. I could perceive that two or +three guerilleros dropped from their saddles. Their comrades, with +shouts of vengeance, closed upon us nearer and nearer. The long lazos, +far in advance, whistled around our heads. + +I felt the slippery noose light upon my shoulders. I flung out my arms +to throw it off, but with a sudden jerk it tightened around my neck. I +clutched the hard thong, and pulled with all my might. It was in vain. + +The animal I rode, freed from my _manege_, seemed to plunge under me, +and gather up its back with a vicious determination to fling me. It +succeeded; and I was launched in the air, and dashed to the earth with a +stunning violence. + +I felt myself dragged along the gravelly ground. I grasped the weeds, +but they came away in my hands, torn up by the roots. There was a +struggle above and around me. I could hear loud shouts and the firing +of guns. I felt that I was being strangled. + +A bright object glistened before my eyes. I felt myself seized by a +strong, rough hand, and swung into the air and rudely shaken, as if in +the grasp of some giant's arm. + +Something twitched me sharply over the cheeks. I heard the rustling of +trees. Branches snapped and crackled, and leaves swept across my face. +Then came the flash--flash, and the crack--crack--crack of a dozen +rifles, and under their blazing light I was dashed a second time with +violence to the earth. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note 1. Troop of guerillas, who in Spanish are properly _guerilleros_. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY TWO. + +THE RESCUE. + +"Rough handlin', Cap'n. Yer must excuse haste." + +It was the voice of Lincoln. + +"Ha! in the timber? Safe, then!" ejaculated I in return. + +"Two or three wounded--not bad neither. Chane has got a stab in the +hip--he gin the feller goss for it. Let me louze the darned thing off +o' your neck. It kum mighty near chokin' yer, Cap'n." + +Bob proceeded to unwind the noose end of a lazo that, with some six feet +of a raw hide thong, was still tightly fastened around my neck. + +"But who cut the rope?" demanded I. + +"I did, with this hyur toothpick. Yer see, Cap'n, it warn't yer time to +be hung just yet." + +I could not help smiling as I thanked the hunter for my safety. + +"But where are the guerilleros?" asked I, looking around, my brain still +somewhat confused. + +"Yander they are, keepin' safe out o' range o' this long gun. Just +listen to 'em!--what a hillerballoo!" + +The Mexican horsemen were galloping out on the prairie, their arms +glistening under the clear moonlight. + +"Take to the trees, men!" cried I, seeing that the enemy had again +unlimbered, and were preparing to discharge their howitzer. + +In a moment the iron shower came whizzing through the branches without +doing any injury, as each of the men had covered his body with a tree. +Several of the mules that stood tied and trembling were killed by the +discharge. + +Another shower hurtled through the bushes, with a similar effect. + +I was thinking of retreating farther into the timber, and was walking +back to reconnoitre the ground, when my eye fell upon an object that +arrested my attention. It was the body of a very large man lying flat +upon his face, his head buried among the roots of a good-sized tree. +The arms were stiffly pressed against his side, and his legs projected +at full stretch, exhibiting an appearance of motionless rigidity, as +though a well-dressed corpse had been rolled over on its face. I at +once recognised it as the body of the major, whom I supposed to have +fallen dead where he lay. + +"Good heavens! Clayley, look here!" cried I; "poor Blossom's killed!" + +"No, I'll be hanged if I am!" growled the latter, screwing his neck +round like a lizard, and looking up without changing the attitude of his +body. Clayley was convulsed with laughter. The major sheathed his head +again, as he knew that another shot from the howitzer might soon be +expected. + +"Major," cried Clayley, "that right shoulder of yours projects over at +least six inches." + +"I know it," answered the major, in a frightened voice. "Curse the +tree!--it's hardly big enough to cover a squirrel;" and he squatted +closer to the earth, pressing his arms tighter against his sides. His +whole attitude was so ludicrous that Clayley burst into a second yell of +laughter. At this moment a wild shout was heard from the guerilleros. + +"What next?" cried I, running toward the front, and looking out upon the +prairie. + +"Them wild-cats are gwine to cla'r out, Cap'n," said Lincoln, meeting +me. "I kin see them hitchin' up." + +"It is as you say! What can be the reason?" + +A strange commotion was visible in the groups of horsemen. Scouts were +galloping across the plain to a point of the woods about half a mile +distant, and I could see the artillerists fastening their mules to the +howitzer-carriage. Suddenly a bugle rang out, sounding the "Recall", +and the guerilleros, spurring their horses, galloped off towards +Medellin. + +A loud cheer, such as was never uttered by Mexican throats, came from +the opposite edge of the prairie; and looking in that direction I beheld +a long line of dark forms debouching from the woods at a gallop. Their +sparkling blades, as they issued from the dark forest, glistened like a +cordon of fireflies, and I recognised the heavy footfall of the American +horse. A cheer from my men attracted their attention; and the leader of +the dragoons, seeing that the guerilleros had got far out of reach, +wheeled his column to the right and came galloping down. + +"Is that Colonel Rawley?" inquired I, recognising a dragoon officer. + +"Why, bless my soul!" exclaimed he, "how did you get out? We heard you +were jugged. All alive yet?" + +"We have lost two," I replied. + +"Pah! that's nothing. I came out expecting to bury the whole kit of +you. Here's Clayley, too. Clayley, your friend Twing's with us; you'll +find him in the rear." + +"Ha! Clayley, old boy!" cried Twing, coming up; "no bones broken? all +right? Take a pull; do you good--don't drink it all, though--leave a +thimbleful for Haller there. How do you like that?" + +"Delicious, by Jove!" ejaculated Clayey, tugging away at the major's +flask. + +"Come, Captain, try it." + +"Thank you," I replied, eagerly grasping the welcome flask. + +"But where is old Bios? killed, wounded, or missing?" + +"I believe the major is not far off, and still uninjured." + +I despatched a man for the major, who presently came up, blowing and +swearing like a Flanders trooper. + +"Hilloa, Bios!" shouted Twing, grasping him by the hand. + +"Why, bless me, Twing, I'm glad to see you!" answered Blossom, throwing +his arms around the diminutive major. "But where on earth is your +pewter?" for during the embrace he had been groping all over Twing's +body for the flask. + +"Here, Cudjo! That flask, boy!" + +"Faith, Twing, I'm near choked; we've been fighting all day--a devil of +a fight! I chased a whole squad of the cursed scoundrels on Hercules, +and came within a squirrel's jump of riding right into their nest. +We've killed dozens; but Haller will tell you all. He's a good fellow, +that Haller; but he's too rash--rash as blazes! Hilloa, Hercules! glad +to see you again, old fellow; you had a sharp brush for it." + +"Remember your promise, Major," said I, as the major stood patting +Hercules upon the shoulder. + +"I'll do better, Captain. I'll give you a choice between Hercules and a +splendid black I have. Faith! it's hard to part with you, old Herky, +but I know the captain will like the black better: he's the handsomest +horse in the whole army; bought him from poor Ridgely, who was killed at +Monterey." + +This speech of the major was delivered partly in soliloquy, partly in an +apostrophe to Hercules, and partly to myself. + +"Very well, Major," I replied. "I'll take the black. Mr Clayley, +mount the men on their mules: you will take command of the company, and +proceed with Colonel Rawley to camp. I shall go myself for the Don." + +The last was said in a whisper to Clayley. + +"We may not get in before noon to-morrow. Say nothing of my absence to +anyone. I shall make my report at noon tomorrow." + +"And, Captain--" said Clayley. + +"Well, Clayley?" + +"You will carry back my--." + +"What? To which friend?" + +"Of course, to Mary of the Light." + +"Oh, certainly!" + +"In your best Spanish." + +"Rest assured," said I, smiling at the earnestness of my friend. + +I was about moving from the spot, when the thought occurred to me to +send the company to camp under command of Oakes, and take Clayley along +with me. + +"Clayley, by the way," said I, calling the lieutenant back, "I don't see +why you may not carry your compliments in person. Oakes can take the +men back. I shall borrow half a dozen dragoons from Rawley." + +"With all my heart!" replied Clayley. + +"Come, then; get a horse, and let us be off." + +Taking Lincoln and Raoul, with half a dozen of Rawley's dragoons, I bade +my friends good-night. + +These started for camp by the road of Mata Cordera, while I with my +little party brushed for some distance round the border of the prairie, +and then climbed the hill, over which lay the path to the house of the +Spaniard. + +As I reached the top of the ridge I turned to look upon the scene of our +late skirmish. + +The cold, round moon, looking down upon the prairie of La Virgen, saw +none of the victims of the fight. + +The guerilleros in their retreat had carried off their dead and wounded +comrades, and the Americans slept underground in the lone corral: but I +could not help fancying that gaunt wolves were skulking round the +inclosure, and that the claws of the coyote were already tearing up the +red earth that had been hurriedly heaped over their graves. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY THREE. + +THE COCUYO. + +A night-ride through the golden tropical forest, when the moon is +bathing its broad and wax-like frondage--when the winds are hushed and +the long leaves hang drooping and silent--when the paths conduct through +dark aisles and arbours of green vine-leaves, and out again into bright +and flowery glades--is one of those luxuries that I wish we could obtain +without going beyond the limits of our own land. + +But no. The romance of the American _northern_ forest--the romance that +lingers around the gnarled limbs of the oak, and the maple, and the +elm--that sighs with the wintry wind high up among the twigs of the +shining sycamore--that flits along the huge fallen trunks--that nestles +in the brown and rustling leaves--that hovers above the bold cliff and +sleeps upon the grey rock--that sparkles in the diamond stalactites of +the frost, or glides along the bosom of the cold black river--is a +feeling or a fancy of a far different character. + +These objects--themselves the emblems of the stony and iron things of +nature--call up associations of the darker passions: strange scenes of +strife and bloodshed; struggles between red and white savages; and +struggles hardly less fierce with the wild beasts of the forest. The +rifle, the tomahawk, and the knife are the visions conjured up, while +the savage whoop and the dread yell echo in your ear; and you dream of +_war_. + +Far different are the thoughts that suggest themselves as you glide +along under the aromatic arbours of the American _southern_ forest, +brushing aside the silken foliage, and treading upon the shadows of +picturesque palms. + +The cocuyo lights your way through the dark aisles, and the nightingale +cheers you with his varied and mimic song. A thousand sights and +sounds, that seem to be possessed of some mysterious and narcotic power, +lull you into silence and sleep--a sleep whose dream is _love_. + +Clayey and I felt this as we rode silently along. Even the ruder hearts +of our companions seemed touched by the same influence. + +We entered the dark woods that fringed the arroyo, and the stream was +crossed in silence. Raoul rode in advance, acting as our guide. + +After a long silence Clayey suddenly awoke from his reverie and +straightened himself up in the saddle. + +"What time is it, Captain?" he inquired. + +"Ten--a few minutes past," answered I, holding my watch under the +moonlight. + +"I wonder if the Don's in bed yet." + +"Not likely: he will be in distress; he expected us an hour ago." + +"True, he will not sleep till we come; all right then." + +"How all right then?" + +"For our chances of a supper; a cold pasty, with a glass of claret. +What think you?" + +"I do not feel hungry." + +"But I do--as a hawk. I long once more to sound the Don's larder." + +"Do you not long more to see--" + +"Not to-night--no--that is until after supper. Everything in its own +time and place; but a man with a hungry stomach has no stomach for +anything but eating. I pledge you my word, Haller, I would rather at +this moment see that grand old stewardess, Pepe, than the loveliest +woman in Mexico, and that's `Mary of the Light'." + +"Monstrous!" + +"That is, until after I have supped. Then my feelings will doubtless +take a turn." + +"Ah! Clayey, you can never love!" + +"Why so, Captain?" + +"With you, love is a sentiment, not a passion. You regard the fair +blonde as you would a picture or a curious ornament." + +"You mean to say, then, that my love is `all in my eye'?" + +"Exactly so, in a literal sense. I do not think it has reached your +heart, else you would not be thinking of your supper. Now, I could go +for days without food--suffer any hardship; but, no--you cannot +understand this." + +"I confess not. I am too hungry." + +"You could forget--nay, I should not be surprised if you have already +forgotten--all but the fact that your mistress is a blonde, with bright +golden hair. Is it not so?" + +"I confess, Captain, that I should make but a poor portrait of her from +memory." + +"And, were I a painter, I could throw _her_ features upon the canvas as +truly as if they were before me. I see her face outlined upon these +broad leaves--her dark eyes burning in the flash of the cocuyo--her long +black hair drooping from the feathery fringes of the palm--and her--" + +"Stop! You are dreaming, Captain! Her eyes are not dark--her hair is +not black." + +"What! Her eyes not dark?--as ebony, or night!" + +"Blue as a turquoise!" + +"Black! What are you thinking of?" + +"`Mary of the Light'." + +"Oh, that is quite a different affair!" and my friend and I laughed +heartily at our mutual misconceptions. + +We rode on, again relapsing into silence. The stillness of the night +was broken only by the heavy hoof bounding back from the hard turf, the +jingling of spurs, or the ringing of the iron scabbard as it struck +against the moving flanks of our horses. + +We had crossed the sandy spur, with its chaparral of cactus and +mezquite, and were entering a gorge of heavy timber, when the practised +eye of Lincoln detected an object in the dark shadow of the woods, and +communicated the fact to me. + +"Halt!" cried I, in a low voice. + +The party reined up at the order. A rustling was heard in the bushes +ahead. + +"_Quien viva_?" challenged Raoul, in the advance. + +"_Un amigo_," (A friend), was the response. + +I sprang forward to the side of Raoul and called out: + +"_Acercate! acercate_!" (Come near!) + +A figure moved out of the bushes, and approached. + +"_Esta el Capitan_?" (Is it the captain?) + +I recognised the guide given me by Don Cosme. + +The Mexican approached, and handed me a small piece of paper. I rode +into an opening, and held it up to the moonlight; but the writing was in +pencil, and I could not make out a single letter. + +"Try this, Clayley. Perhaps your eyes are better than mine." + +"No," said Clayley, after examining the paper. "I can hardly see the +writing upon it." + +"_Esperate mi amo_!" (Wait, my master), said the guide, making me a +sign. We remained motionless. + +The Mexican took from his head his heavy _sombrero_, and stepped into a +darker recess of the forest. After standing for a moment, hat in hand, +a brilliant object shot out from the leaves of the _palma redonda_. It +was the cocuyo--the great firefly of the tropics. With a low, humming +sound it came glistening along at the height of seven or eight feet from +the ground. The man sprang up, and with a sweep of his arm jerked it +suddenly to the earth. Then, covering it with his hat, and inverting +his hand, he caught the gleaming insect, and presented it to me with the +ejaculation: + +"_Ya_!" (Now!) + +"_No muerde_," (It does not bite), added he, as he saw that I hesitated +to touch the strange, beetle-shaped insect. + +I took the cocuyo in my hand, the green, golden fire flashing from its +great round eyes. I held it up before the writing, but the faint +glimmer was scarcely discernible upon the paper. + +"Why, it would require a dozen of these to make sufficient light," I +said to the guide. + +"_No, Senor; uno basti--asi_;" (No, sir; one is enough--thus); and the +Mexican, taking the cocuyo in his fingers, pressed it gently against the +surface of the paper. It produced a brilliant light, radiating over a +circle of several inches in diameter! + +Every point in the writing was plainly visible. + +"See, Clayley!" cried I, admiring this lamp of Nature's own making. +"Never trust the tales of travellers. I have heard that half a dozen of +these insects in a glass vessel would enable you to read the smallest +type. Is that true?" added I, repeating what I had said in Spanish. + +"_No, Senor; ni cincuenta_," (No, sir; nor fifty), replied the Mexican. + +"And yet with a single cocuyo you may. But we are forgetting--let us +see what's here." + +I bent my head to the paper, and read in Spanish: + +"_I have made known your situation to the American commander_." + +There was no signature nor other mark upon the paper. + +"From Don Cosme?" I inquired, in a whisper to the Mexican. + +"Yes, Senor," was the reply. + +"And how did you expect to reach us in the corral?" + +"_Asi_," (So), said the man, holding up a shaggy bull's hide, which he +carried over his arm. + +"We have friends here, Clayley. Come, my good fellow, take this!" and I +handed a gold eagle to the peon. + +"Forward!" + +The tinkling of canteens, the jingling of sabres, and the echo of +bounding hoofs recommenced. We were again in motion, filing on through +the shadowy woods. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR. + +LUPE AND LUZ. + +Shortly after, we debouched from the forest, entering the open fields of +Don Cosme's plantation. There was a flowery brilliance around us, full +of novelty. We had been accustomed to the ruder scenes of a northern +clime. The tropical moon threw a gauzy veil over objects that softened +their outlines; and the notes of the nightingale were the only sounds +that broke the stillness of what seemed a sleeping elysium. + +Once a vanilla plantation, here and there the aromatic bean grew wild, +its ground usurped by the pita-plant, the acacia, and the thorny cactus. +The dry reservoir and the ruined _acequia_ proved the care that had in +former times been bestowed on its irrigation. _Guardarayas_ of palms +and orange-trees, choked up with vines and jessamines, marked the +ancient boundaries of the fields. Clusters of fruit and flowers hung +from the drooping branches, and the aroma of a thousand sweet-scented +shrubs was wafted upon the night air. We felt its narcotic influence as +we rode along. The helianthus bowed its golden head, as if weeping at +the absence of its god; and the cereus spread its bell-shaped blossom, +joying in the more mellow light of the moon. + +The guide pointed to one of the guardarayas that led to the house. We +struck into it, and rode forward. The path was pictured by the +moonbeams as they glanced through the half-shadowing leaves. A wild roe +bounded away before us, brushing his soft flanks against the rustling +thorns of the mezquite. + +Farther on we reached the grounds, and, halting behind the jessamines, +dismounted. Clayley and myself entered the inclosure. + +As we pushed through a copse we were saluted by the hoarse bark of a +couple of mastiffs, and we could perceive several forms moving in front +of the rancho. We stopped a moment to observe them. + +"_Quitate, Carlo! Pompo_!" (Be off, Carlo! Pompo!) The dogs growled +fiercely, barking at intervals. + +"_Papa, mandalos_!" (Papa, order them off!) + +We recognised the voices, and pressed forward. + +"_Afuera, malditos perros! abajo_!" (Out of the way, wicked dogs!-- +down!) shouted Don Cosme, chiding the fierce brutes and driving them +back. + +The dogs were secured by several domestics, and we advanced. + +"_Quien es_?" inquired Don Cosme. + +"_Amigos_" (Friends), I replied. + +"_Papa! papa! es el capitan_!" (Papa, it is the captain!) cried one of +the sisters, who had run out in advance, and whom I recognised as the +elder one. + +"Do not be alarmed, Senorita," said I, approaching. + +"Oh! you are safe--you are safe!--papa, he is safe!" cried both the +girls at once; while Don Cosme exhibited his joy by hugging my comrade +and myself alternately. + +Suddenly letting go, he threw up his hands, and inquired with a look of +anxiety: + +"_Y el senor gordo_?" (And the fat gentleman?) + +"Oh! he's all right," replied Clayley, with a laugh; "he has saved his +bacon, Don Cosme; though I imagine about this time he wouldn't object to +a little of yours." + +I translated my companion's answer. The latter part of it seemed to act +upon Don Cosme as a hint, and we were immediately hurried to the +dining-room, where we found the Dona Joaquina preparing supper. + +During our meal I recounted the principal events of the day. Don Cosme +knew nothing of these guerilleros, although he had heard that there were +bands in the neighbourhood. Learning from the guide that we had been +attacked, he had despatched a trusty servant to the American camp, and +Raoul had met the party coming to our rescue. + +After supper Don Cosme left us to give some orders relative to his +departure in the morning. His lady set about preparing the sleeping +apartments, and my companion and I were left for some time in the sweet +companionship of Lupe and Luz. + +Both were exquisite musicians, playing the harp and guitar with equal +cleverness. Many a pure Spanish melody was poured into the delighted +ears of my friend and myself. The thoughts that arose in our minds were +doubtless of a similar kind; and yet how strange that our hearts should +have been warmed to love by beings so different in character! The gay, +free spirit of my comrade seemed to have met a responsive echo. He and +his brilliant partner laughed, chatted, and sang in turns. In the +incidents of the moment this light-hearted creature had forgotten her +brother, yet the next moment she would weep for him. A tender heart--a +heart of joys and sorrows--of ever-changing emotions, coming and passing +like shadows thrown by straggling clouds upon the sun-lit stream! + +Unlike was _our_ converse--more serious. We may not laugh, lest we +should profane the holy sentiment that is stealing upon us. There is no +mirth in love. There are joy, pleasure, luxury; but laughter finds no +echo in the heart that loves. Love is a feeling of anxiety--of +expectation. The harp is set aside. The guitar lies untouched for a +sweeter music--the music that vibrates from the strings of the heart. +Are our eyes not held together by some invisible chain? Are not our +souls in communion through some mysterious means? It is not language-- +at least, not the language of words; for we are conversing upon +indifferent things--not indifferent, either. Narcisso, Narcisso--a +theme fraternal. His peril casts a cloud over our happiness. + +"Oh! that he were here--then we could be happy indeed." + +"He will return; fear not--grieve not; to-morrow your father will easily +find him. I shall leave no means untried to restore him to so fond a +sister." + +"Thanks! thanks! Oh! we are already indebted to you so much." + +Are those eyes swimming with love, or gratitude, or both at once? +Surely gratitude alone does not speak so wildly. Could this scene not +last for ever? + +"Good-night--good-night!" + +"_Senores, pasan Vds. buena noche_!" (Gentlemen, may you pass a +pleasant night!) + +They are gone, and those oval developments of face and figure are +floating before me, as though the body itself were still present. It is +the soft memory of love in all its growing distinctness! + +We were shown to our sleeping apartments. Our men picketed their horses +under the olives, and slept in the bamboo rancho, a single sentry +walking his rounds during the night. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note. Vds. _Usted_, contraction of _Vuestra merced_, "your grace", +usually written as Vd., is the polite form of address in Spanish. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. + +A TOUGH NIGHT OF IT AFTER ALL. + +I entered my chamber--to sleep? No. And yet it contained a bed fit for +Morpheus--a bed canopied and curtained with cloth from the looms of +Damascus: shining rods roofed upwards, that met in an ornamental design, +where the god of sleep, fanned by virgins of silver, reclined upon a +couch of roses. + +I drew aside the curtains--a bank of snow--pillows, as if prepared for +the cheek of a beautiful bride. I had not slept in a bed for two +months. A close crib in a transport ship--a "shake-down" among the +scorpions and spiders of Lobos--a single blanket among the sand-hills, +where it was not unusual to wake up half-buried by the drift. + +These were my _souvenirs_. Fancy the prospect! It certainly invited +repose; and yet I was in no humour to sleep. My brain was in a whirl. +The strange incidents of the day--some of them were mysterious--crowded +into my mind. My whole system, mental as well as physical, was flushed; +and thought followed thought with nervous rapidity. + +My heart shared the excitement--chords long silent had been touched--the +divine element was fairly enthroned. I was in love! + +It was not the first passion of my life, and I easily recognised it. +Even jealousy had begun to distil its poison--"Don Santiago!" + +I was standing in front of a large mirror, when I noticed two small +miniatures hanging against the wall--one on each side of the glass. + +I bent over to examine, first, that which hung upon the right. I gazed +with emotion. They were _her_ features; "and yet," thought I, "the +painter has not flattered her; it might better represent her ten years +hence: still, the likeness is there. Stupid artist!" I turned to the +other. "Her fair sister, no doubt. Gracious heaven! Do my eyes +deceive me? No, the black wavy hair--the arching brows--the sinister +lip--_Dubrosc_!" + +A sharp pang shot through my heart. I looked at the picture again and +again with a kind of incredulous bewilderment; but every fresh +examination only strengthened conviction. "There is no mistaking those +features--they are his!" Paralysed with the shock, I sank into a chair, +my heart filled with the most painful emotions. + +For some moments I was unable to think, much less to act. + +"What can it mean? Is this accomplished villain a fiend?--the fiend of +my existence?--thus to cross me at every point, perhaps in the end +to--." + +Our mutual dislike at first meeting--Lobos--his reappearance upon the +sand-hills, the mystery of his passing the lines and again appearing +with the guerilla--all came forcibly upon my recollection; and now I +seized the lamp and rushed back to the pictures. + +"Yes, I am _not_ mistaken; it is he--it is she, her features--all--all. +And thus, too!--the position--side by side--counterparts! There are no +others on the wall; matched--mated--perhaps betrothed! His name, too, +Don Emilio! The American who taught them English! _His_ is Emile--the +voice on the island cried `Emile!' Oh, the coincidence is complete! +This villain, handsome and accomplished as he is, has been here before +me! Betrothed--perhaps married--perhaps--Torture! horrible!" + +I reeled back to my chair, dashing the lamp recklessly upon the table. +I know not how long I sat, but a world of wintry thoughts passed through +my heart and brain. A clock striking from a large picture awoke me from +my reverie. I did not count the hours. Music began to play behind the +picture. It was a sad, sweet air, that chimed with my feelings, and to +some extent soothed them. I rose at length, and, hastily undressing, +threw myself upon the bed, mentally resolving to forget all--to forget +that I had ever seen her. + +"I will rise early--return to camp without meeting her, and, once there, +my duties will drive away this painful fancy. The drum and the fife and +the roar of the cannon will drown remembrance. Ha! it was only a +passing thought at best--the hallucination of a moment. I shall easily +get rid of it. Ha! ha!" + +I laid my fevered cheek upon the soft, cold pillow. I felt composed-- +almost happy. + +"A Creole of New Orleans! How could he have been here? Oh! have I not +the explanation already? Why should I dwell on it?" + +Ah, jealous heart--it is easy to say "forget!" + +I tried to prevent my thoughts from returning to this theme. I directed +them to a thousand things: to the ships--to the landing--to the army--to +the soldiers--to the buttons upon their jackets and the swabs upon their +shoulders--to everything I could think of: all in vain. Back, back, +back! in painful throes it came, and my heart throbbed, and my brain +burned with bitter memories freshly awakened. + +I turned and tossed upon my couch for many a long hour. The clock in +the picture struck, and played the same music again and again, still +soothing me as before. Even despair has its moments of respite; and, +worn with fatigue, mental as well as physical, I listened to the sad, +sweet strain, until it died away into my dreams. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SIX. + +THE LIGHT AFTER THE SHADE. + +When I awoke all was darkness around me. I threw out my arms and opened +the damask curtains. Not a ray of light entered the room. I felt +refreshed, and from this I concluded I must have slept long. I slipped +out upon the floor and commenced groping for my watch. Someone knocked. + +"Come in!" I called. + +The door opened, and a flood of light gushed into the apartment. It was +a servant bearing a lamp. + +"What is the hour?" I demanded. + +"Nine o'clock, _mi amo_," (my master), was the reply. + +The servant set down the lamp and went out. Another immediately +entered, carrying a salver with a small gold cup. + +"What have you there?" + +"_Chocolate_, master; Dona Joaquina has sent it." + +I drank off the beverage, and hastened to dress myself. I was +reflecting whether I should pass on to camp without seeing any one of +the family. Somehow, my heart felt less heavy. I believe the morning +always brings relief to pain, either mental or bodily. It seems to be a +law of nature--at least, so my experience tells me. The morning air, +buoyant and balmy, dulls the edge of anguish. New hopes arise and new +projects appear with the sun. The invalid, couch-tossing through the +long watches of the night, will acknowledge this truth. + +I did not approach the mirror. I dared not. + +"I will not looked upon the loved, the hated face--no, on to the camp!-- +let Lethe--. Has my friend arisen?" + +"Yes, master; he has been up for hours." + +"Ha! where is he?" + +"In the garden, master." + +"Alone?" + +"No, master; he is with the _ninas_." + +"Happy, light-hearted Clayley! No jealous thoughts to torture him!" +mused I, as I buckled on my stock. + +I had observed that the fair-haired sister and he were kindred spirits-- +sympathetic natures, who only needed to be placed _en rapport_ to "like +each other mightily"--beings who could laugh, dance, and sing together, +romp for months, and then get married, as a thing of course; but, should +any accident prevent this happy consummation, could say "good-bye" and +part without a broken heart on either side; an easy thing for natures +like theirs; a return exchange of numerous _billets-doux_, a laugh over +the past, and a light heart for the future. Such is the history of many +a love. I can vouch for it. How different with-- + +"Tell my friend, when he returns to the house, that I wish to see him." + +"Yes, master." + +The servant bowed and left the room. + +In a few minutes Clayley made his appearance, gay as a grasshopper. + +"So, good lieutenant, you have been improving your time, I hear?" + +"Haven't I, though? Such a delicious stroll! Haller, this _is_ a +paradise." + +"Where have you been?" + +"Feeding the swans," replied Clayley, with a laugh. "But, by the way, +your _chere amie_ hangs her pretty head this morning. She seems hurt +that you have not been up. She kept constantly looking towards the +house." + +"Clayley, will you do me the favour to order the men to their saddles?" + +"What! going so soon? Not before breakfast, though?" + +"In five minutes." + +"Why, Captain, what's the matter? And such a breakfast as they are +getting! Oh, Don Cosme will not hear of it." + +"Don Cosme--." + +Our host entered at that moment, and, listening to his remonstrances, +the order was rescinded, and I consented to remain. + +I saluted the ladies with as much courtesy as I could assume. I could +not help the coldness of my manner, and I could perceive that with _her_ +it did not pass unobserved. + +We sat down to the breakfast-table; but my heart was full of bitterness, +and I scarcely touched the delicate viands that were placed before me. + +"You do not eat, Captain. I hope you are well?" said Don Cosme, +observing my strange and somewhat rude demeanour. + +"Thank, you, Senor, I never enjoyed better health." + +I studiously avoided looking towards her, paying slight attentions to +her sister. This is the game of piques. Once or twice I ventured a +side-glance. Her eyes were bent upon me with a strange, inquiring look. + +They are swimming in tears, and soft, and forgiving. They are swollen. +She has been weeping. That is not strange. Her brother's danger is, no +doubt, the cause of her sorrow. + +Yet, is there not reproach in her looks? Reproach! How ill does my +conduct of last night correspond with this affected coldness--this +rudeness! Can she, too, be suffering? + +I arose from the table, and, walking forth, ordered Lincoln to prepare +the men for marching. + +I strolled down among the orange-trees. Clayley followed soon after, +accompanied by both the girls. Don Cosme remained at the house to +superintend the saddling of his mule, while Dona Joaquina was packing +the necessary articles into his portmanteau. + +Following some silent instinct, we--Guadalupe and I--came together. +Clayley and his mistress had strayed away, leaving us alone. I had not +yet spoken to her. I felt a strange impulse--a desire to know the +worst. I felt as one looking over a fearful precipice. + +Then I will brave the danger; it can be no worse than this agony of +suspicion and suspense. + +I turned towards her. Her head was bent to one side. She was crushing +an orange-flower between her fingers, and her eyes seemed to follow the +dropping fragments. + +How beautiful was she at that moment! + +"The artist certainly has not flattered you." + +She looked at me with a bewildered expression. Oh, those swimming eyes! + +She did not understand me. + +I repeated the observation. + +"Senor Capitan, what do you mean?" + +"That the painter has not done you justice. The portrait is certainly a +likeness, yet the expression, I think, should have been younger." + +"The painter! What painter? The portrait! What portrait, Senor?" + +"I refer to your portrait, which I accidentally found hanging in my +apartment." + +"Ah! by the mirror?" + +"Yes, by the mirror," I answered sullenly. + +"But, it is not _mine_, Senor Capitan." + +"Ha!--how? Not yours?" + +"No; it is the portrait of my cousin, Maria de Merced. They say we were +much alike." + +My heart expanded. My whole frame quivered under the influence of +joyful emotions. + +"And the gentleman?" I faltered out. + +"Don Emilio? He was cousin's lover--_huyeron_," (they eloped). + +As she repeated the last word she turned her head away, and I thought +there was a sadness in her manner. + +I was about to speak, when she continued: + +"It was her room--we have not touched anything." + +"And where is your cousin now?" + +"We know not." + +"There is a mystery," thought I. I pressed the subject no farther. It +was nothing to me now. My heart was happy. + +"Let us walk farther, Lupita." + +She turned her eyes upon me with an expression of wonder. The change in +my manner--so sudden--how was she to account for it? I could have knelt +before her and explained all. Reserve disappeared, and the confidence +of the preceding night was fully restored. + +We wandered along under the _guardarayas_, amidst sounds and scenes +suggestive of love and tenderness. Love! We heard it in the songs of +the birds--in the humming of the bees--in the voices of all nature +around us. We felt it in our own hearts. The late cloud had passed, +making the sky still brighter than before; the reaction had heightened +our mutual passion to the intensity of non-resistance; and we walked on, +her hand clasped in mine. We had eyes only for each other. + +We reached a clump of cocoa-trees; one of them had fallen, and its +smooth trunk offered a seat, protected from the sun by the shadowy +leaves of its fellows. On this we sat down. There was no resistance-- +no reasoning process--no calculation of advantages and chances, such as +is too often mingled with the noble passion of love. We felt nothing of +this--nothing but that undefinable impulse which had entered our hearts, +and to whose mystical power neither of us dreamed of offering +opposition. Delay and duty were alike forgotten. + +"I shall ask the question now--I shall know my fate at once," were my +thoughts. + +In the changing scenes of a soldier's life there is but little time for +the slow formalities, the zealous vigils, the complicated _finesse_ of +courtship. Perhaps this consideration impelled me. I have but little +confidence in the cold heart that is won by a series of assiduities. +There is too much calculation of after-events--too much selfishness. + +These reflections passed through my mind. I bent towards my companion, +and whispered to her in that language--rich above all others in the +vocabulary of the heart: + +"_Guadalupe, tu me amas_?" (Guadalupe, do you love me?) + +"_Yo te amo_!" was the simple reply. Need I describe the joyful +feelings that filled my heart at that moment? My happiness was +complete. + +The confession rendered her sacred in my eyes, and we sat for some time +silent, enjoying that transport only known to those who have truly, +purely loved. + +The trampling of hoofs! It was Clayley at the head of the troop. They +were mounted, and waiting for me. Don Cosme was impatient; so was the +Dona Joaquina. I could not blame them, knowing the cause. + +"Ride forward! I shall follow presently." + +The horsemen filed off into the fields, headed by the lieutenant, beside +whom rode Don Cosme, on his white mule. + +"You will soon return, Enrique?" + +"I shall lose no opportunity of seeing you. I shall long for the hour +more than you, I fear." + +"Oh! no, no!" + +"Believe me yes, Lupita! Say again you will never cease to love me." + +"Never, never! _Tuya--tuya--hasta la muerte_!" (Yours--yours--till +death!) + +How often has this question been asked! How often answered as above! + +I sprang into the saddle. A parting look--another from a distance--a +wave of the hand--and the next moment I was urging my horse in full +gallop under the shadowy palms. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. + +A DISAPPOINTMENT AND A NEW PLAN. + +I overtook my companions as they were entering the woods. Clayley, who +had been looking back from time to time, brushed alongside, as if +wishing to enter into conversation. + +"Hard work, Captain, to leave such quarters. By Jove! I could have +stayed for ever." + +"Come, Clayley--you are in love." + +"Yes; they who live in glass houses--. Oh! if I could only speak the +lingo as you do!" + +I could not help smiling, for I had overheard him through the trees +making the most he could of his partner's broken English. I was curious +to know how he had sped, and whether he had been as `quick upon the +trigger' as myself. My curiosity was soon relieved. + +"I tell you, Captain," he continued, "if I could only have talked it, I +would have put the question on the spot. I did try to get a `yes' or a +`no' out of her; but she either couldn't or wouldn't understand me. It +was all bad luck." + +"Could you not make her understand you? Surely she knows English enough +for that?" + +"I thought so too; but when I spoke about love she only laughed and +slapped me on the face with her fan. Oh, no; the thing must be done in +Spanish, that's plain; and you see I am going to set about it in +earnest. She loaned me these." + +Saying this, he pulled out of the crown of his foraging-cap a couple of +small volumes, which I recognised as a Spanish grammar and dictionary. +I could not resist laughing aloud. + +"Comrade, you will find the best dictionary to be the lady herself." + +"That's true; but how the deuce are we to get back again? A mule-hunt +don't happen every day." + +"I fancy there will be some difficulty in it." + +I had already thought of this. It was no easy matter to steal away from +camp--one's brother-officers are so solicitous about your appearance at +drills and parades. Don Cosme's rancho was at least ten miles from the +lines, and the road would not be the safest for the solitary lover. The +prospect of frequent returns was not at all flattering. + +"Can't we steal out at night?" suggested Clayley. "I think we might +mount half a dozen of our fellows, and do it snugly. What do you say, +Captain?" + +"Clayley, I cannot return without this brother. I have almost given my +word to that effect." + +"You have? That is bad! I fear there is no prospect of getting him out +as you propose." + +My companion's prophetic foreboding proved but too correct, +for on nearing the camp we were met by an aide-de-camp of the +commander-in-chief, who informed me that, on that very morning, all +communication between the foreign ships of war and the besieged city had +been prohibited. + +Don Cosme's journey, then, would be in vain. I explained this, advising +him to return to his family. + +"Do not make it known--say that some time is required, and you have left +the matter in my hands. Be assured I shall be among the first to enter +the city, and I shall find the boy, and bring him to his mother in +safety." + +This was the only consolation I could offer. + +"You are kind, Capitan--very kind; but I know that nothing can now be +done. We can only hope and pray." + +The old man had dropped into a bent attitude, his countenance marked by +the deepest melancholy. + +Taking the Frenchman, Raoul, along with me, I rode back until I had +placed him beyond the danger of the straggling plunderer, when we shook +hands and parted. As he left me, I turned to look after him. He still +sat in that attitude that betokens deep dejection, his shoulders bent +forward over the neck of his mule, while he gazed vacantly on the path. +My heart sank at the spectacle, and, sad and dispirited, I rode at a +lagging pace towards the camp. + +Not a shot had as yet been fired against the town, but our batteries +were nearly perfected, and several mortars were mounted and ready to +fling in their deadly missiles. I knew that every shot and shell would +carry death into the devoted city, for there was not a point within its +walls out of range of a ten-inch howitzer. Women and children must +perish along with armed soldiers; and the boy--he, too, might be a +victim. Would this be the tidings I should carry to his home? And how +should I be received by her with such a tale upon my lips? Already had +I sent back a sorrowing father. + +"Is there no way to save him, Raoul?" + +"Captain?" inquired the man, starting at the vehemence of my manner. + +A sudden thought had occurred to me. + +"Are you well acquainted with Vera Cruz?" + +"I know every street, Captain." + +"Where do those arches lead that open from the sea? There is one on +each side of the mole." + +I had observed these when visiting a friend, an officer of the navy, on +board his ship. + +"They are conductors, Captain, to carry off the overflow of the sea +after a norther. They lead under the city, opening at various places. +I have had the pleasure of passing through them." + +"Ha! How?" + +"On a little smuggling expedition." + +"It is possible, then, to reach the town by these?" + +"Nothing easier, unless they may have a guard at the mouth; but that is +not likely. They would not dream of anyone's making the attempt." + +"How would _you_ like to make it?" + +"If the Captain wishes it, I will bring him a bottle of _eau-de-vie_ +from the Cafe de Santa Anna." + +"I do not wish you to go alone. I would accompany you." + +"Think of it, Captain; there is risk for _you_ in such an undertaking. +_I_ may go safely. No one knows that I have joined you, I believe. If +_you_ are taken--." + +"Yes, yes; I know well the result." + +"The risk is not great, either," continued the Frenchman, in a +half-soliloquy. "Disguised as Mexicans, we might do it; you speak the +language as well as I. If you wish it, Captain--." + +"I do." + +"I am ready, then." + +I knew the fellow well: one of those dare-devil spirits, ready for +anything that promised adventure--a child of fortune--a stray waif +tumbling about upon the waves of chance--gifted with head and heart of +no common order--ignorant of books, yet educated in experience. There +was a dash of the heroic in his character that had won my admiration, +and I was fond of his company. + +It was a desperate adventure--I knew that; but I felt stronger interest +than common in the fate of this boy. My own future fate, too, was in a +great degree connected with his safety. There was something in the very +danger that lured me on to tempt it. I felt that it would be adding +another chapter to a life which I have termed "adventurous." + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT. + +A FOOLHARDY ADVENTURE. + +At night Raoul and I, disguised in the leathern dresses of two +rancheros, stole round the lines, and reached Punta Hornos, a point +beyond our own pickets. Here we "took the water", wading waist-deep. + +This was about ten o'clock. The tide was just setting out, and the +night, by good fortune, was as dark as pitch. + +As the swell rolled in we were buried to the neck, and when it rolled +back again we bent forward; so that at no time could much of our bodies +be seen above the surface. + +In this manner, half wading, half swimming, we kept up to the town. + +It was a toilsome journey, but the water was warm, and the sand on the +bottom firm and level. We were strengthened--I at least--by hope and +the knowledge of danger. Doubtless my companion felt the latter +stimulant as much as I. + +We soon reached the battlements of Santiago, where we proceeded with +increased caution. We could see the sentry up against the sky, pacing +along the parapet. His shrill cry startled us. We thought we had been +discovered. The darkness alone prevented this. + +At length we passed him, and came opposite the city, whose battlements +rested upon the water's edge. + +The tide was at ebb, and a bed of black, weed-covered rocks lay between +the sea and the bastion. + +We approached these with caution, and, crawling over the slippery +boulders, after a hundred yards or so found ourselves in the entrance of +one of the conductors. + +Here we halted to rest ourselves, sitting down upon a ledge of rock. We +were in no more danger here than in our own tents, yet within twenty +feet were men who, had they known our proximity, would have strung us up +like a pair of dogs. + +But our danger was far from lying at this end of the adventure. + +After a rest of half an hour we kept up into the conductor. My +companion seemed perfectly at home in this subterranean passage, walking +along as boldly as if it had been brilliantly lighted with gas. + +After proceeding some distance we approached a grating, where a light +shot in from above. + +"Can we pass out here?" I inquired. + +"Not yet, Captain," answered Raoul in a whisper. "Farther on." + +We passed the grating, then another and another, and at length reached +one where only a feeble ray struggled downward through the bars. + +Here my guide stopped, and listened attentively for several minutes. +Then, stretching out his hand, he undid the fastening of the grate, and +silently turned it upon its hinge. He next swung himself up until his +head projected above ground. In this position he again listened, +looking cautiously on all sides. + +Satisfied at length that there was no one near, he drew his body up +through the grating and disappeared. After a short interval he +returned, and called down: + +"Come, Captain." + +I swung myself up to the street. Raoul shut down the trap with care. + +"Take marks, Captain," whispered he; "we may get separated." + +It was a dismal suburb. No living thing was apparent, with the +exception of a gang of prowling dogs, lean and savage, as all dogs are +during a siege. An image, decked in all the glare of gaud and tinsel, +looked out of a glazed niche in the opposite wall. A dim lamp burned at +its feet, showing to the charitable a receptacle for their offerings. A +quaint old steeple loomed in the darkness overhead. + +"What church?" I asked Raoul. + +"La Magdalena." + +"That will do. Now onward." + +"_Buenas noches, Senor_!" (good-night) said Raoul to a soldier who +passed us, wrapped in his great-coat. + +"_Buenas noches_!" returned the man in a gruff voice. + +We stole cautiously along the streets, keeping in the darker ones to +avoid observation. The citizens were mostly in their beds; but groups +of soldiers were straggling about, and patrols met us at every corner. + +It became necessary to pass through one of the streets that was +brilliantly lighted. When about half-way up it a fellow came swinging +along, and, noticing our strange appearance, stopped and looked after +us. + +Our dresses, as I have said, were of leather; our calzoneros, as well as +jackets, were shining with the sea-water, and dripping upon the pavement +at every step. + +Before we could walk beyond reach, the man shouted out: + +"_Carajo! caballeros_, why don't you strip before entering the _bano_?" + +"What is it?" cried a soldier, coming up and stopping us. + +A group of his comrades joined him, and we were hurried into the light. + +"_Mil diablos_!" exclaimed one of the soldiers, recognising Raoul; "our +old friend the Frenchman! _Parlez-vous francais_, _Monsieur_?" + +"Spies!" cried another. + +"Arrest them!" shouted a sergeant of the guard, at the moment coming up +with a patrol, and we were both jumped upon and held by about a dozen +men. + +In vain Raoul protested our innocence, declaring that we were only two +poor fishermen, who had wet our clothes in drawing the nets. + +"It's not a fisherman's costume, Monsieur," said one. + +"Fishermen don't usually wear diamonds on their knuckles," cried +another, snatching a ring from my finger. + +On this ring, inside the circlet, were engraven my name and rank! + +Several men, now coming forward, recognised Raoul, and stated, moreover, +that he had been missing for some days. + +"He must, therefore," said they, "have been with the Yankees." + +We were soon handcuffed and marched off to the guard-prison. There we +were closely searched, but nothing further was found, except my purse +containing several gold eagles--an American coin that of itself would +have been sufficient evidence to condemn me. + +We were now heavily chained to each other, after which the guard left us +to our thoughts. They could not have left us in much less agreeable +companionship. + + + +CHAPTER TWENTY NINE. + +HELP FROM HEAVEN. + +"I would not care a _claco_ for my own life," said Raoul, as the gate +closed upon us, "but that you, Captain--_helas! helas_!" and the +Frenchman groaned and sank upon the stone bench, dragging me down also. + +I could offer no consolation. I knew that we should be tried as spies; +and, if convicted--a result almost certain--we had not twenty hours to +live. The thought that I had brought this brave fellow to such a fate +enhanced the misery of my situation. To die thus ingloriously was +bitter indeed. Three days ago I could have spent my life recklessly; +but now, how changed were my feelings! I had found something worth +living to enjoy; and to think I should never again--"Oh! I have become +a coward!" I cursed my rashness bitterly. + +We passed the night in vain attempts at mutual consolation. Even our +present sufferings occupied us. Our clothes were wet through, and the +night had become piercingly cold. Our bed was a bench of stone; and +upon this we lay as our chains would allow us, sleeping close together +to generate warmth. It was to us a miserable night; but morning came at +last, and at an early hour we were examined by the officer of the guard. + +Our court-martial was fixed for the afternoon, and before this tribunal +we were carried, amidst the jeers of the populace. We told our story, +giving the name of the boy Narcisso, and the house where he was lodged. +This was verified by the court, but declared to be a _ruse_ invented by +my comrade--whose knowledge of the place and other circumstances +rendered the thing probable enough. Raoul, moreover, was identified by +many of the citizens, who proved his disappearance coincident with the +landing of the American expedition. Besides, my ring and purse were +sufficient of themselves to condemn us--and condemned we were. We were +to be _garrotted_ on the following morning! + +Raoul was offered life if he would turn traitor and give information of +the enemy. The brave soldier indignantly spurned the offer. It was +extended to me, with a similar result. + +All at once I observed a strange commotion among the people. Citizens +and soldiers rushed from the hall, and the court, hastily pronouncing +our sentence, ordered us to be carried away. We were seized by the +guard, pulled into the street, and dragged back towards our late prison. +Our conductors were evidently in a great hurry. As we passed along we +were met by citizens running to and fro, apparently in great terror-- +women and children uttering shrieks and suddenly disappearing behind +walls and battlements. Some fell upon their knees, beating their +breasts and praying loudly. Others, clasping their infants, stood +shivering and speechless. + +"It is just like the way they go in an earthquake," remarked Raoul, "but +there is none. What can it be, Captain?" + +Before I could reply, the answer came from another quarter. + +Far above, an object was hissing and hurtling through the air. + +"A shell from ours! Hurrah!" cried Raoul. + +I could scarcely refrain from cheering, though we ourselves might be the +victims of the missile. + +The soldiers who were guarding us had flung themselves down behind walls +and pillars, leaving us alone in the open street! + +The bomb fell beyond us, and, striking the pavement, burst. The +fragments went crashing through the side of an adjoining house; and the +wail that came back told how well the iron messengers had done their +work. This was the second shell that had been projected from the +American mortars. The first had been equally destructive; and hence the +extreme terror of both citizen and soldier. Every missile seemed +charged with death. + +Our guard now returned and dragged us onward, treating us with increased +brutality. They were enraged at the exultation visible in our manner; +and one, more ferocious than the rest, drove his bayonet into the fleshy +part of my comrade's thigh. After several like acts of inhumanity, we +were thrown into our prison and locked up as before. + +Since our capture we had tasted neither food nor drink, and hunger and +thirst added to the misery of our situation. + +The insult had maddened Raoul, and the pain of his wound now rendered +him furious. He had not hands to touch it or dress it. Frenzied by +anger and pain to a strength almost superhuman, he twisted off his iron +manacles, as if they had been straws. This done, the chain that bound +us together was soon broken, and our ankle "jewellery" followed. + +"Let us live our last hours, Captain, as we have our lives, free and +unfettered!" + +I could not help admiring the spirit of my brave comrade. + +We placed ourselves close to the door and listened. + +We could hear the heavy cannonade all around, and now and then the +distant shots from the American batteries. We would wait for the +bursting of the bombs, and, as the hoarse thunder of crumbling walls +reached our ears, Raoul would spring up, shouting his wild, half-French, +half-Indian cries. + +A thought occurred to me. + +"We have arms, Raoul." I held up the fragments of the heavy chain that +had yoked us. "Could you reach the trap on a run, without the danger of +mistaking your way?" + +Raoul started. + +"You are right, Captain--I can. It is barely possible they may visit us +to-night. If so, any chance for life is better than none at all." + +By a tacit understanding each of us took a fragment of the chain--there +were but two--and sat down by the door to be ready in case our guards +should open it. We sat for over an hour, without exchanging a word. We +could hear the shells as they burst upon the housetops, the crashing of +torn timbers, and the rumbling of walls rolling over, struck by the +heavy shot. We could hear the shouts of men and the wailing of women, +with now and then a shriek louder than all others, as some missile +carried death into the terror-struck crowd. + +"_Sacre_!" said Raoul; "if they had only allowed us a couple of days, +our friends would have opened these doors for us. _Sacr-r-r-e_!" + +This last exclamation was uttered in a shriek. Simultaneously a heavy +object burst through the roof, tearing the bricks and plaster, and +falling with the ring of iron on the floor. + +Then followed a deafening crash. The whole earth seemed to shake, and +the whizzing of a thousand particles filled the air. A cloud of dust +and lime, mixed with the smoke of sulphur, was around us. I gasped for +breath, nearly suffocated. I endeavoured to cry out, but my voice, +husky and coarse, was scarcely audible to myself. I succeeded at length +in ejaculating: + +"Raoul! Raoul!" + +I heard the voice of my comrade, seemingly at a great distance. I threw +out my arms and groped for him. He was close by me, but, like myself, +choking for want of air. + +"It was a shell," said he, in a wheezing voice, "Are you hurt, Captain?" + +"No," I replied; "and you?" + +"Sound as a bell--our luck is good--it must have struck every other part +of the cell." + +"Better it had not missed us," said I, after a pause; "we are only +spared for the _garrotte_." + +"I am not so sure of that, Captain," replied my companion, in a manner +that seemed to imply he had still hopes of an escape. + +"Where that shell came in," he continued, "something else may go out. +Let us see--was it the roof?" + +"I think so." + +We groped our way hand in hand towards the centre of the room, looking +upwards. + +"_Peste_!" ejaculated Raoul; "I can't see a foot before me--my eyes are +filled--_bah_!" + +So were mine. We stood waiting. The dust was gradually settling down, +and we could perceive a faint glimmer from above. _There was a large +hole through the roof_! + +Slowly its outlines became defined, and we could see that it was large +enough to pass the body of a man; but it was at least fourteen feet from +the floor, and we had not timber enough to make a walking-stick! + +"What is to be done? We are not cats, Raoul. We can never reach it!" + +My comrade, without making a reply, lifted me up in his arms, telling me +to climb. I mounted upon his shoulders, balancing myself like a +Bedouin; but with my utmost stretch I could not touch the roof. + +"Hold!" cried I, a thought striking me. "Let me down, Raoul. Now, if +they will only give us a little time." + +"Never fear for them; they've enough to do taking care of their own +yellow carcases." + +I had noticed that a beam of the roof formed one side of the break, and +I proceeded to twist our handcuffs into a clamp, while Raoul peeled off +his leather breeches and commenced, tearing them into strips. In ten +minutes our "tackle" was ready, and, mounting upon my comrade's +shoulders, I flung it carefully at the beam. It failed to catch, and I +came down to the floor, my balance being lost in the effort. I repeated +the attempt. Again it failed, and I staggered down as before. + +"_Sacre_!" cried Raoul through his teeth. The iron had struck him on +the head. + +"Come, we shall try and try--our lives depend upon it." + +The third attempt, according to popular superstition, should be +successful. It _was_ so with us. The clamp caught, and the string hung +dangling downwards. Mounting again upon my comrade's shoulders, I +grasped the thong high up to test its hold. It was secure; and, +cautioning Raoul to hold fast lest the hook might be detached by my +vibration, I climbed up and seized hold of the beam. By this I was +enabled to squeeze myself through the roof. + +Once outside I crawled cautiously along the azotea, which, like all +others in Spanish houses, was flat, and bordered by a low parapet of +mason-work. I peeped over this parapet, looking down into the street. +It was night, and I could see no one below; but up against the sky, upon +distant battlements, I could distinguish armed soldiers busy around +their guns. These blazed forth at intervals, throwing their sulphureous +glare over the city. + +I returned to assist Raoul, but, impatient of my delay, he had already +mounted, and was dragging up the thong after him. + +We crawled from roof to roof, looking for a dark spot to descend into +the street. None of the houses in the range of our prison were more +than one story high, and, after passing several, we let ourselves down +into a narrow alley. It was still early, and the people were running to +and fro, amidst the frightful scenes of the bombardment. The shrieks of +women were in our ears, mingled with the shouts of men, the groans of +the wounded, and the fierce yelling of an excited rabble. The constant +whizzing of bombs filled the air, and parapets were hurled down. A +round-shot struck the cupola of a church as we passed nearly under it, +and the ornaments of ages came tumbling down, blocking up the +thoroughfare. We clambered over the ruins and went on. There was no +need of our crouching into dark shadows. No one thought of observing us +now. + +"We are near the house--will you still make the attempt to take him +along?" inquired Raoul, referring to the boy Narcisso. + +"By all means! Show me the place," replied I, half-ashamed at having +almost forgotten, in the midst of our own perils, the object of our +enterprise. + +Raoul pointed to a large house with portals and a great door in the +centre. + +"There, Captain--there it is." + +"Go under that shadow and wait. I shall be better alone." + +This was said in a whisper. My companion did as directed. + +I approached the great door and knocked boldly. + +"_Quien_?" cried the porter within the _saguan_. + +"_Yo_," I responded. + +The door was opened slowly and with caution. + +"Is the Senorito Narcisso within?" I inquired. + +The man answered in the affirmative. + +"Tell him a friend wishes to speak with him." + +After a moment's hesitation the porter dragged himself lazily up the +stone steps. In a few seconds the boy--a fine, bold-looking lad, whom I +had seen during our trial--came leaping down. He started on recognising +me. + +"Hush!" I whispered, making signs to him to be silent. "Take leave of +your friends, and meet me in ten minutes behind the church of La +Magdalena." + +"Why, Senor," inquired the boy without listening, "how have you got out +of prison? I have just been to the governor on your behalf, and--." + +"No matter how," I replied, interrupting him; "follow my directions-- +remember your mother and sisters are suffering." + +"I shall come," said the boy resolutely. + +"_Hasta luego_!" (Lose no time then). "_Adios_!" + +We parted without another word. I rejoined Raoul, and we walked on +towards La Magdalena. We passed through the street where we had been +captured on the preceding night, but it was so altered that we should +not have known it. Fragments of walls were thrown across the path, and +here and there lay masses of bricks and mortar freshly torn down. + +Neither patrol nor sentry thought of troubling us now, and our strange +appearance did not strike the attention of the passengers. + +We reached the church, and Raoul descended, leaving me to wait for the +boy. The latter was true to his word, and his slight figure soon +appeared rounding the corner. Without losing a moment we all three +entered the subterranean passage, but the tide was still high, and we +had to wait for the ebb. This came at length, and, clambering over the +rocks, we entered the surf and waded as before. After an hour's toil we +reached Punta Hornos, and a little beyond this point I was enabled to +hail one of our own pickets, and to pass the lines in safety. + +At ten o'clock I was in my own tent--just twenty-four hours from the +time I had left it, and, with the exception of Clayley, not one of my +brother officers knew anything of our adventure. + +Clayley and I agreed to "mount" a party the next night and carry the boy +to his friends. This we accordingly did, stealing out of camp after +tattoo. It would be impossible to describe the rejoicing of our new +acquaintances--the gratitude lavishly expressed--the smiles of love that +thanked us. + +We should have repeated our visits almost nightly; but from that time +the guerilleros swarmed in the back-country, and small parties of our +men, straggling from camp, were cut off daily. It was necessary, +therefore, for my friend and myself to chafe under a prudent impatience, +and wait for the fall of Vera Cruz. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY. + +A SHOT IN THE DARK. + +The "City of the True Cross" fell upon the 29th of March, 1847, and the +American flag waved over the castle of San Juan de Ulloa. The enemy's +troops marched out upon parole, most of them taking their way to their +distant homes upon the table-lands of the Andes. + +The American garrison entered the town, but the body of our army +encamped upon the green plains to the south. + +Here we remained for several days, awaiting the order to march into the +interior. + +A report had reached us that the Mexican forces, under the celebrated +Santa Anna, were concentrating at Puente Nacional; but shortly after it +was ascertained that the enemy would make his next stand in the pass of +the Cerro Gordo, about half-way between Vera Cruz and the mountains. + +After the surrender of the city we were relieved from severe duty, and +Clayley and I, taking advantage of this, resolved upon paying another +stolen visit to our friends. + +Several parties of light horse had been sent out to scour the country, +and it had been reported that the principal guerilla of the enemy had +gone farther up towards the Puente Nacional. We did not, therefore, +anticipate any danger from that source. + +We started after nightfall, taking with us three of our best men-- +Lincoln, Chane, and Raoul. The boy Jack was also of the party. We were +mounted on such horses as could be had. The major had kept his word +with me, and I bestrode the black--a splendid thoroughbred Arab. + +It was a clear moonlight, and as we rode along we could not help +noticing many changes. + +War had left its black mark upon the objects around. The ranchos by the +road were tenantless--many of them wrecked, not a few of them entirely +gone; where they had stood, a ray of black ashes marking the outline of +their slight walls. Some were represented by a heap of half-burned +rubbish still smoking and smouldering. + +Various pieces of household furniture lay along the path torn or +broken--articles of little value, strewed by the wanton hand of the +ruthless robber. Here a petate, or a palm hat--there a broken olla; a +stringless bandolon, the fragments of a guitar crushed under the angry +heel, or some flimsy articles of female dress cuffed into the dust; +leaves of torn books--_misas_, or lives of the _Santisima Maria_--the +labours of some zealous padre; old paintings of the saints, Guadalupe, +Remedios, and Dolores--of the Nino of Guatepec--rudely torn from the +walls and perforated by the sacrilegious bayonet, flung into the road, +kicked from foot to foot--the dishonoured _penates_ of a conquered +people. + +A painful presentiment began to harass me. Wild stories had lately +circulated through the army--stories of the misconduct of straggling +parties of our soldiers in the back-country. These had stolen from +camp, or gone out under the pretext of "beef-hunting." + +Hitherto I had felt no apprehension, not believing that any small party +would carry their foraging to so distant a point as the house of our +friends. I knew that any detachment, commanded by an officer, would act +in a proper manner; and, indeed, any respectable body of American +soldiers, without an officer. But in all armies, in war-time, there are +robbers, who have thrown themselves into the ranks for no other purpose +than to take advantage of the licence of a stolen foray. + +We were within less than a league of Don Cosme's rancho, and still the +evidence of ruin and plunder continued--the evidence, too, of a +retaliatory vengeance; for on entering a glade, the mutilated body of a +soldier lay across the path. He was upon his back, with open eyes +glaring upon the moon. His tongue and heart were cut out, and his left +arm had been struck off at the elbow-joint. Not ten steps beyond this +we passed another one, similarly disfigured. We were now on the neutral +ground. + +As we entered the forest my forebodings became painfully oppressive. I +imparted them to Clayley. My friend had been occupied with similar +thoughts. + +"It is just possible," said he, "that nobody has found the way. By +heavens!" he added, with an earnestness unusual in his manner, "I have +been far more uneasy about the other side--those half-brigands and that +villain Dubrosc." + +"On! on!" I ejaculated, digging the spurs into the flanks of my horse, +who sprang forward at a gallop. + +I could say no more. Clayley had given utterance to my very thoughts, +and a painful feeling shot through my heart. + +My companions dashed after me, and we pressed through the trees at a +reckless pace. + +We entered an opening. Raoul, who was then riding in the advance, +suddenly checked his horse, waving on us to halt. We did so. + +"What is it, Raoul?" I asked in a whisper. + +"Something entered the thicket, Captain." + +"At what point?" + +"There, to the left;" and the Frenchman pointed in this direction. "I +did not see it well; it might have been a stray animal." + +"I seed it, Cap'n," said Lincoln, closing up; "it wur a mustang." + +"Mounted, think you?" + +"I ain't confident; I only seed its hips. We were a-gwine too fast to +get a good sight on the critter; but it wur a mustang--I seed that cl'ar +as daylight." + +I sat for a moment, hesitating. + +"I kin tell yer whether it wur mounted, Cap'n," continued the hunter, +"if yer'll let me slide down and take a squint at the critter's tracks." + +"It is out of our way. Perhaps you had better," I added, after a little +reflection. "Raoul, you and Chane dismount and go with the sergeant. +Hold their horses, Jack." + +"If yer'll not object, Cap'n," said Lincoln, addressing me in a whisper, +"I'd rayther go 'ithout kump'ny. Thar ain't two men I'd like, in a +tight fix, better'n Rowl and Chane; but I hev done a smart chance o' +trackin' in my time, an' I allers gets along better when I'm by myself." + +"Very well, Sergeant; as you wish it, go alone. We shall wait for you." + +The hunter dismounted, and having carefully examined his rifle, strode +off in a direction nearly opposite to that where the object had been +seen. + +I was about to call after him, impatient to continue our journey; but, +reflecting a moment, I concluded it was better to leave him to his +"instincts". In five minutes he had disappeared, having entered the +chaparral. + +We sat in our saddles for half an hour, not without feelings of +impatience. I was beginning to fear that some accident had happened to +our comrade, when we heard the faint crack of a rifle, but in a +direction _nearly opposite to that which Lincoln had taken_. + +"It's the sergeant's rifle, Captain," said Chane. + +"Forward!" I shouted; and we dashed into the thicket in the direction +whence the report came. + +We had ridden about a hundred yards through the chaparral, when we met +Lincoln coming up, with his rifle shouldered. + +"Well?" I asked. + +"'Twur mounted, Cap'n--'tain't now." + +"What do you mean, Sergeant?" + +"That the mustang hed a yeller-belly on his back, and that he hain't got +ne'er a one now, as I knows on. He got cl'ar away from me--that is, the +mustang. The yeller-belly didn't." + +"What! you haven't--?" + +"But I hev, Cap'n. I had good, soun' reason." + +"What reason?" I demanded. + +"In the first place, the feller wur a gurillye; and in the next, he wur +an outpost picket." + +"How know you this?" + +"Wal, Cap'n, I struck his trail on the edge of the thicket. I knowed he +hedn't kum fur, as I looked out for sign whar we crossed the crik +bottom, an' seed none. I tuk the back track, an' soon come up with him +under a big button-wood. He had been thar some time, for the ground wur +stamped like a bullock-pen." + +"Well?" said I, impatient to hear the result. + +"I follered him up till I seed him leanin' for'ard on his horse, clost +to the track we oughter take. From this I suspicioned him; but, gettin' +a leetle closter, I seed his gun an' fixin's strapped to the saddle. So +I tuk a sight, and whumelled him. The darned mustang got away with his +traps. This hyur's the only thing worth takin' from his carcage: it +wudn't do much harm to a grizzly b'ar." + +"Good heaven!" I exclaimed, grasping the glittering object which the +hunter held towards me; "what have you done?" + +It was a silver-handled stiletto. I recognised the weapon. I had given +it to the boy Narcisso. + +"No harm, I reckin, Cap'n?" + +"The man--the Mexican? How did he look?--what like?" I demanded +anxiously. + +"Like?" repeated the hunter. "Why, Cap'n, I 'ud call him as ugly a +skunk as yer kin skeer up any whar--'ceptin' it mout be among the Digger +Injuns; but yer kin see for yurself--he's clost by." + +I leaped from my horse, and followed Lincoln through the bushes. Twenty +paces brought us to the object of our search, upon the border of a small +glade. The body lay upon its back, where it had been flung by the +rearing mustang. The moon was shining full upon the face. I stooped +down to examine it. A single glance was sufficient. I had never seen +the features before. They were coarse and swart, and the long black +locks were matted and woolly. He was a zambo; and, from the +half-military equipments that clung around his body, I saw that he had +been a guerillero. Lincoln was right. + +"Wal, Cap'n," said he, after I had concluded my examination of the +corpse, "ain't he a picter?" + +"You think he was waiting for us?" + +"For us or some other game--that's sartin." + +"There's a road branches off here to Medellin," said Raoul, coming up. + +"It could not have been for us: they had no knowledge of our intention +to come out." + +"Possibly enough, Captain," remarked Clayley in a whisper to me. "That +villain would naturally expect us to return here. He will have learned +all that has passed: Narcisso's escape--our visits. You know he would +watch night and day to trap either of us." + +"Oh, heavens!" I exclaimed, as the memory of this man came over me; +"why did I not bring more men? Clayley, we must go on now. Slowly, +Raoul--slowly, and with caution--do you hear." + +The Frenchman struck into the path that led to the rancho, and rode +silently forward. We followed in single file, Lincoln keeping a +look-out some paces in the rear. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY ONE. + +CAPTURED BY GUERILLEROS. + +We emerged from the forest and entered the fields. All silent. No sign +or sound of a suspicion. The house still standing and safe. + +"The guerillero must have been waiting for someone whom he expected by +the Medellin road. Ride on, Raoul!" + +"Captain," said the man in a whisper, and halting at the end of the +_guardaraya_ (enclosure). + +"Well?" + +"Someone passed out at the other end." + +"Some of the domestics, no doubt. You may ride on, and--never mind; I +will take the advance myself." + +I brushed past, and kept up the guardaraya. In a few minutes we had +reached the lower end of the pond, where we halted. Here we dismounted; +and, leaving the men, Clayley and I stole cautiously forward. We could +see no one, though everything about the house looked as usual. + +"Are they abed, think you?" asked Clayley. + +"No, it is too early--perhaps below, at supper." + +"Heaven send! we shall be most happy to join them. I am as hungry as a +wolf." + +We approached the house. Still all silent. + +"Where are the dogs?" + +We entered. + +"Strange!--no one stirring. Ha! the furniture gone!" + +We passed into the porch in the rear, and approached the stairway. + +"Let us go below--can you see any light?" + +I stooped and looked down. I could neither hear nor see any signs of +life. I turned, and was gazing up at my friend in wonderment, when my +eye was attracted by a strange movement upon the low branches of the +olive-trees. The next moment a dozen forms dropped to the ground; and, +before we could draw sword or pistol, myself and comrade were bound hand +and foot and flung upon our backs. + +At the same instant we heard a scuffle down by the pond. Two or three +shots were fired; and a few minutes after a crowd of men came up, +bringing with them Chane, Lincoln, and Raoul as prisoners. + +We were all dragged out into the open ground in front of the rancho, +where our horses were also brought and picketed. + +Here we lay upon our backs, a dozen guerilleros remaining to guard us. +The others went back among the olives, where we could hear them +laughing, talking, and yelling. We could see nothing of their +movements, as we were tightly bound, and as helpless as if under the +influence of nightmare. + +As we lay, Lincoln was a little in front of me. I could perceive that +they had doubly bound him in consequence of the fierce resistance he had +made. He had killed one of the guerilleros. He was banded and strapped +all over, like a mummy, and he lay gnashing his teeth and foaming with +fury. Raoul and the Irishman appeared to take things more easily, or +rather more recklessly. + +"I wonder if they are going to hang us to-night, or keep us till +morning? What do you think, Chane?" asked the Frenchman, laughing as he +spoke. + +"Be the crass! they'll lose no time--ye may depind on that same. +There's not an ounce av tinder mercy in their black hearts; yez may +swear till that, from the way this eel-skin cuts." + +"I wonder, Murt," said Raoul, speaking from sheer recklessness, "if +Saint Patrick couldn't help us a bit. You have him round your neck, +haven't you?" + +"Be the powers, Rowl! though ye be only jokin', I've a good mind to thry +his holiness upon thim. I've got both him and the mother undher me +jacket, av I could only rache thim." + +"Good!" cried the other. "Do!" + +"It's aisy for ye to say `Do', when I can't budge so much as my little +finger." + +"Never mind. I'll arrange that," answered Raoul. "_Hola, Senor_!" +shouted he to one of the guerilleros. + +"_Quien_?" (Who?) said the man, approaching. + +"_Usted su mismo_," (Yourself), replied Raoul. + +"_Que cosa_?" (What is it?) + +"This gentleman," said Raoul, still speaking in Spanish, and nodding +towards Chane, "has a pocket full of money." + +A hint upon that head was sufficient; and the guerilleros, who, +strangely enough, seemed to have overlooked this part of their duty, +immediately commenced rifling our pockets, ripping them open with their +long knives. They were not a great deal the richer for their pains, our +joint purse yielding about twenty dollars. Upon Chane there was no +money found; and the man whom Raoul had deceived repaid the latter by a +curse and a couple of kicks. + +The saint, however, turned up, attached to the Irishman's neck by a +leathern string; and along with him a small crucifix, and a pewter image +of the Virgin Mary. + +This appeared to please the guerilleros; and one of them, bending over +the Irishman, slackened his fastenings a little--still, however, leaving +him bound. + +"Thank yer honner," said Chane; "that's dacent of ye. That's what +Misther O'Connell wud call _amaylioration_. I'm a hape aysier now." + +"_Mucho bueno_," said the man, nodding and laughing. + +"Och, be my sowl, yes!--_mucho bueno_. But I'd have no objecshun if yer +honner wud make it _mucho bettero_. Couldn't ye just take a little turn +aff me wrist here?--it cuts like a rayzyer." + +I could not restrain myself from laughing, in which Clayley and Raoul +joined me; and we formed a chorus that seemed to astonish our captors. +Lincoln alone preserved his sullenness. He had not spoken a word. + +Little Jack had been placed upon the ground near the hunter. He was but +loosely tied, our captors not thinking it worth while to trouble +themselves about so diminutive a subject. I had noticed him wriggling +about, and using all his Indian craft to undo his fastenings; but he +appeared not to have succeeded, as he now lay perfectly still again. + +While the guerilleros were occupied with Chane and his saints, I +observed the boy roll himself over and over, until he lay close up +against the hunter. One of the guerilleros, noticing this, picked Jack +up by the waistbelt, and, holding him at arm's length, shouted out: + +"_Mira, camarados! qui briboncito_!" (Look, comrades! what a little +rascal!) + +Amidst the laughing of the guerilleros, Jack was swung out, and fell in +a bed of shrubs and flowers, where we saw no more of him. As he was +bound, we concluded that he could not help himself, and was lying where +he had been thrown. + +My attention was called away from this incident by an exclamation of +Chane. + +"Och! blood, turf, and murther! If there isn't that Frinch scoundhrel +Dubrosc!" + +I looked up. The man was standing over us. + +"Ah, Monsieur le Capitaine!" cried he, in a sneering voice, "_comment +vous portez-vous_? You came up dove-hunting--_eh_? The birds, you see, +are not in the cot." + +Had there been only a thread around my body, I could not have moved at +that moment. I felt cold and rigid as marble. A thousand agonising +thoughts crowded upon me at once--my doubts, my fears on _her_ account, +drowning all ideas of personal danger. I could have died at that +moment, and without a groan, to have ensured her safety. + +There was something so fiendish in the character of this man--a polished +brutality, too--that caused me to fear the worst. + +"Oh, heaven!" I muttered, "in the power of such a man!" + +"Ho!" cried Dubrosc, advancing a pace or two, and seizing my horse by +the bridle, "a splendid mount! An Arab, as I live! Look here, Yanez!" +he continued, addressing a guerillero who accompanied him, "I claim +this, if you have no objection." + +"Take him," said the other, who was evidently the leader of the party. + +"Thank you. And you, Monsieur le Capitaine," he added ironically, +turning to me, "thank you for this handsome present. He will just +replace my brave mustang, for whose loss I expect I am indebted to you, +you great brute!--_sacre_!" + +The last words were addressed to Lincoln; and, as though maddened by the +memory of La Virgen, he approached the latter, and kicked him fiercely +in the side. + +The wanton foot had scarcely touched his ribs, when the hunter sprang +up, as if by galvanic action, _the thongs flying from his body_ in fifty +spiral fragments. With a bound he leaped to his rifle; and, clutching +it--he knew it was empty--struck the astonished Frenchman a blow upon +the head. The latter fell heavily to the earth. In an instant a dozen +knives and swords were aimed at the hunter's throat. Sweeping his rifle +around him, he cleared an opening, and, dashing past his foes with a +wild yell, bounded off through the shrubbery. The guerilleros followed, +screaming with rage; and we could hear an occasional shot, as they +continued the pursuit into the distant woods. Dubrosc was carried back +into the rancho, apparently lifeless. + +We were still wondering how our comrade had untied himself, when one of +the guerilleros, lifting a piece of the thong, exclaimed: + +"_Carajo! ha cortado el briboncito_!" (The little rascal has cut it!) +and the man darted into the shrubbery in search of little Jack. It was +with us a moment of fearful suspense. We expected to see poor Jack +sacrificed instantly. We watched the man with intense emotion, as he +ran to and fro. + +At length he threw up his arms with a gesture of surprise, calling out +at the same time: + +"_Por todos santos! se fue_!" (By all the saints! he's gone!) + +"Hurrah!" cried Chane; "holies!--such a gossoon as that boy!" + +Several of the guerilleros dived into the thicket; but their search was +in vain. + +We were now separated, so that we could no longer converse, and were +more strictly watched, two sentries standing over each of us. We spent +about an hour in this way. Straggling parties at intervals came back +from the pursuit, and we could gather, from what we overheard, that +neither Lincoln nor Jack had yet been retaken. + +We could hear talking in the rear of the rancho, and we felt that our +fate was being determined upon. It was plain Dubrosc was not in command +of the party. Had he been so, we should never have been carried beyond +the olive-grove. It appeared we were to be hung elsewhere. + +At length a movement was visible that betokened departure. Our horses +were taken away, and saddled mules were led out in front of the rancho. +Upon these we were set, and strapped tightly to the saddles. A serape +was passed over each of us, and we were blinded by tapojos. A bugle +then sounded the "forward". We could hear a confusion of noises, the +prancing of many hoofs, and the next moment we felt ourselves moving +along at a hurried pace through the woods. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY TWO. + +A BLIND RIDE. + +We rode all night. The mule-blinds, although preventing us from seeing +a single object, proved to be an advantage. They saved our eyes and +faces from the thorny claws of the acacia and mezquite. Without hands +to fend them off, these would have torn us badly, as we could feel them, +from time to time, penetrating even the hard leather of the tapojos. +Our thongs chafed us, and we suffered great pain from the monotonous +motion. Our road lay through thick woods. This we could perceive from +the constant rustle of the leaves and the crackling of branches, as the +cavalcade passed on. + +Towards morning our route led over hills, steep and difficult, we could +tell from the attitudes of our animals. We had passed the level plains, +and were entering among the "foothills" of the Mexican mountains. There +was no passing or repassing of one another. From this I concluded that +we were journeying along a narrow road, and in single file. + +Raoul was directly in front of me, and we could converse at times. + +"Where do you think they are taking us, Raoul?" I inquired, speaking in +French. + +"To Cenobio's hacienda. I hope so, at least!" + +"Why do you hope so?" + +"Because we shall stand some chance for our lives. Cenobio is a noble +fellow." + +"You know him, then?" + +"Yes, Captain; I have helped him a little in the contraband trade." + +"A smuggler, is he?" + +"Why, in this country it is hardly fair to call it by so harsh a name, +as the Government itself dips out of the same dish. Smuggling here, as +in most other countries, should be looked upon rather as the offspring +of necessity and maladministration than as a vice in itself. Cenobio is +a _contrabandisto_, and upon a large scale." + +"And you are a political philosopher, Raoul!" + +"Bah! Captain; it would be bad if I could not defend my own calling," +replied my comrade, with a laugh. + +"You think, then, that we are in the hands of Cenobio's men." + +"I am sure of it, Captain. _Sacre_! had it been Jarauta's band, we +would have been in heaven--that is, our souls--and our bodies would now +be embellishing some of the trees upon Don Cosme's plantation. Heaven +protect us from Jarauta! The robber-priest gives but short shrift to +any of his enemies; but if he could lay his hands on your humble +servant, you would see hanging done in double-quick time." + +"Why think you we are with Cenobio's guerilla?" + +"I know Yanez, whom we saw at the rancho. He is one of Cenobio's +officers, and the leader of this party, which is only a detachment. I +am rather surprised that _he_ has brought us away, considering that +Dubrosc is with him; there must have been some influence in our favour +which I cannot understand." + +I was struck by the remark, and began to reflect upon it in silence. +The voice of the Frenchman again fell upon my ear. + +"I cannot be mistaken. No--this hill--it runs down to the San Juan +River." + +Again, after a short interval, as we felt ourselves fording a stream, +Raoul said: + +"Yes, the San Juan--I know the stony bottom--just the depth, too, at +this season." + +Our mules plunged through the swift current, flinging the spray over our +heads. We could feel the water up to the saddle-flaps, cold as ice; and +yet we were journeying in the hot tropic. But we were fording a stream +fed by the snows of Orizava. + +"Now I am certain of the road," continued Raoul, after we had crossed. +"I know this bank well. The mule slides. Look out, Captain." + +"For what?" I asked, with some anxiety. + +The Frenchman laughed as he replied: + +"I believe I am taking leave of my senses. I called to you to look out, +as if you had the power to help yourself in case the accident should +occur." + +"What accidents?" I inquired, with a nervous sense of some impending +danger. + +"Falling over: we are on a precipice that is reckoned dangerous on +account of the clay; if your mule should stumble here, the first thing +you would strike would be the branches of some trees five hundred feet +below, or thereabout." + +"Good heaven!" I ejaculated; "is it so?" + +"Never fear, Captain; there is not much danger. These mules appear to +be sure-footed; and certainly," he added, with a laugh, "their loads are +well packed and tied." + +I was in no condition just then to relish a joke, and my companion's +humour was completely thrown away upon me. The thought of my mule +missing his foot and tumbling over a precipice, while I was stuck to him +like a centaur, was anything else than pleasant. I had heard of such +accidents, and the knowledge did not make the reflection any easier. I +could not help muttering to myself: + +"Why, in the name of mischief, did the fellow tell me this till we had +passed it?" + +I crouched closer to the saddle, allowing my limbs to follow every +motion of the animal, lest some counteracting shock might disturb our +joint equilibrium. I could hear the torrent, as it roared and hissed +far below, appearing directly under us; and the "sough" grew fainter and +fainter as we ascended. + +On we went, climbing up--up--up; our strong mules straining against the +precipitous path. It was daybreak. There was a faint glimmer of light +under our tapojos. At length we could perceive a brighter beam. We +felt a sudden glow of heat over our bodies; the air seemed lighter; our +mules walked on a horizontal path. We were on the ridge, and warmed by +the beams of the rising sun. + +"Thank heaven we have passed it!" + +I could not help feeling thus: and yet perhaps we were riding to an +ignominious death! + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY THREE. + +A DRINK A LA CHEVAL. + +The guerilleros now halted and dismounted. We were left in our saddles. +Our mules were picketed upon long lazos, and commenced browsing. They +carried us under the thorny branches of the wild locust. The maguey, +with its bill-shaped claws, had torn our uniform overalls to shreds. +Our limbs were lacerated, and the cactus had lodged its poisoned +prickles in our knees. But these were nothing to the pain of being +compelled to keep our saddles, or rather saddle-trees--for we were upon +the naked wood. Our hips ached intensely, and our limbs smarted under +the chafing thong. + +There was a crackling of fires around us. Our captors were cooking +their breakfasts, and chattering gaily over their chocolate. Neither +food nor drink was offered to us, although we were both thirsty and +hungry. We were kept in this place for about an hour. + +"They have joined another party here," said Raoul, "with pack-mules." + +"How know you?" I inquired. + +"I can tell by the shouts of the arrieros. Listen!--they are making +ready to start." + +There was a mingling of voices--exclamations addressed to their animals +by the arrieros, such as: + +"_Mula! anda! vaya! levantate! carrai! mula--mulita!--anda!--st!--st_!" + +In the midst of this din I fancied that I heard the voice of a woman. + +"Can it be--?" + +The thought was too painful. + +A bugle at length sounded, and we felt ourselves again moving onward. + +Our road appeared to run along the naked ridge. There were no trees, +and the heat became intense. Our serapes, that had served us during the +night, should have been dispensed with now, had we been consulted in +relation to the matter. I did not know, until some time after, why +these blankets had been given to us, as they had been hitherto very +useful in the cold. It was not from any anxiety in regard to our +comfort, as I learned afterwards. + +We began to suffer from thirst, and Raoul asked one of the guerilleros +for water. + +"_Carajo_!" answered the man, "it's no use: you'll be choked by and by +with something else than thirst." + +The brutal jest called forth a peal of laughter from his comrades. + +About noon we commenced descending a long hill. I could hear the sound +of water ahead. + +"Where are we, Raoul?" I inquired faintly. + +"Going down to a stream--a branch of the Antigua." + +"We are coming to another precipice?" I asked, with some uneasiness, as +the roar of the torrent began to be heard more under our feet, and I +snuffed the cold air from below. + +"There is one, Captain. There is a good road, though, and well paved." + +"Paved! why, the country around is wild--is it not?" + +"True; but the road was paved by the priests." + +"By the priests!" I exclaimed with some astonishment. + +"Yes, Captain; there's a convent in the valley, near the crossing; that +is, there _was_ one. It is now a ruin." + +We crept slowly down, our mules at times seeming to walk on their heads. +The hissing of the torrent grew gradually louder, until our ears were +filled with its hoarse rushing. + +I heard Raoul below me shouting some words in a warning voice, when +suddenly he seemed borne away, as if he had been tumbled over the +precipice. + +I expected to feel myself next moment launched after him into empty +space, when my mule, uttering a loud whinny, sprang forward and +downward. + +Down--down! the next leap into eternity! No--she keeps her feet! she +gallops along a level path! I am safe! + +I was swung about until the thongs seemed to cut through my limbs; and +with a heavy plunge I felt myself carried thigh-deep into water. + +Here the animal suddenly halted. + +As soon as I could gain breath I shouted at the top of my voice for the +Frenchman. + +"Here, Captain!" he answered, close by my side, but, as I fancied, with +a strange, gurgling voice. + +"Are you hurt, Raoul?" I inquired. + +"Hurt? No, Captain." + +"What was it, then?" + +"Oh! I wished to warn you, but I was too late. I might have known they +would stampede, as the poor brutes have been no better treated than +ourselves. Hear how they draw it up!" + +"I am choking!" I exclaimed, listening to the water as it filtered +through the teeth of my mule. + +"Do as I do, Captain," said Raoul, speaking as if from the bottom of a +well. + +"How?" I asked. + +"Bend down, and let the water run into your mouth." + +This accounted for Raoul's voice sounding so strangely. + +"They may not give us a drop," continued he. "It is our only chance." + +"I have not even that," I replied, after having vainly endeavoured to +reach the surface with my face. + +"Why?" asked my comrade. + +"I cannot reach it." + +"How deep are you?" + +"To the saddle-flaps." + +"Ride this way, Captain. It's deeper here." + +"How can I? My mule is her own master, as far as I am concerned." + +"_Parbleu_!" said the Frenchman. "I did not think of that." + +But, whether to oblige me, or moved by a desire to cool her flanks, the +animal plunged forward into a deeper part of the stream. + +After straining myself to the utmost, I was enabled to "duck" my head. +In this painful position I contrived to get a couple of swallows; but I +should think I took in quite as much at my nose and ears. + +Clayley and Chane followed our example, the Irishman swearing loudly +that it was a "burnin' shame to make a dacent Christyin dhrink like a +horse in winkers." + +Our guards now commenced driving our mules out of the water. As we were +climbing the bank, someone touched me lightly upon the arm; and at the +same instant a voice whispered in my ear, "Courage, Captain!" + +I started--it was the voice of a female. I was about to reply, when a +soft, small hand was thrust under the tapojo, and pushed something +between my lips. The hand was immediately withdrawn, and I heard the +voice urging a horse onward. + +The clatter of hoofs, as of a horse passing me in a gallop, convinced me +that this mysterious agent was gone, and I remained silent. + +"Who can it be Jack? No. Jack has a soft voice--a small hand; but how +could he be here, and with his hands free? No--no--no! Who then? It +was certainly the voice of a woman--the hand, too. What other should +have made this demonstration? I know no other--it must--it must have +been--." + +I continued my analysis of probabilities, always arriving at the same +result. It was both pleasant and painful: pleasant to believe _she_ was +thus, like an angel, watching over me--painful to think that she might +be in the power of my fiendish enemy. + +But is she so? Lincoln's blow may have ended him. We have heard +nothing of him since. Would to heaven--! + +It was an impious wish, but I could not control it. + +"What have I got between my lips? A slip of paper! Why was it placed +there, and not in my bosom or my button-hole? Ha! there is more +providence in the manner of the act than at first thought appears. How +could I have taken it from either the one or the other, bound as I am? +Moreover it may contain what would destroy the writer, if known to--. +Cunning thought--for one so young and innocent, too--but love--." + +I pressed the paper against the tapojo, covering it with my lips, so as +to conceal it in case the blind should be removed. + +"Halted again?" + +"It is the ruin, Captain--the old convent of Santa Bernardina." + +"But why do they halt here?" + +"Likely to noon and breakfast--that on the ridge was only their +_desayuna_. The Mexicans of the _tierra caliente_ never travel during +mid-day. They will doubtless rest here until the cool of the evening." + +"I trust they will extend the same favour to us," said Clayley: "God +knows we stand in need of rest. I'd give them three months' pay for an +hour upon the treadmill, only to stretch my limbs." + +"They will take us down, I think--not on our account, but to ease the +mules. Poor brutes! they are no parties to this transaction." + +Raoul's conjecture proved correct. We were taken out of our saddles, +and, being carefully bound as before, we were hauled into a damp room, +and flung down upon the floor. Our captors went out. A heavy door +closed after them, and we could hear the regular footfall of a sentry on +the stone pavement without. For the first time since our capture we +were left alone. This my comrades tested by rolling themselves all over +the floor of our prison to see if anyone was present with us. It was +but a scant addition to our liberty; but we could converse freely, and +that was something. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note. Desayuna is a slight early meal. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR. + +AN ODD WAY OF OPENING A LETTER. + +"Has any of you heard of Dubrosc on the route?" I inquired of my +comrades. + +No; nothing had been heard of him since the escape of Lincoln. + +"Faix, Captain," said the Irishman, "it's meself that thinks Mister +Dubrosc won't throuble any ov us any more. It was a purty lick that +same, ayquil to ould Donnybrook itself." + +"It is not easy to kill a man with a single blow of a clubbed rifle," +observed Clayley; "unless, indeed, the lock may have struck into his +skull. But _we_ are still living, and I think that is some evidence +that the deserter is dead. By the way, how has the fellow obtained such +influence as he appeared to have among them, and so soon, too?" + +"I think, Lieutenant," replied Raoul, "Monsieur Dubrosc has been here +before." + +"Ha! say you so?" I inquired, with a feeling of anxiety. + +"I remember, Captain, some story current at Vera Cruz, about a Creole +having married or run away with a girl of good family there. I am +almost certain Dubrosc was the name; but it was before my time, and I am +unacquainted with the circumstances, I remember, however, that the +fellow was a gambler, or something of the sort; and the occurrence made +much noise in the country." + +I listened with a sickening anxiety to every word of these details. +There was a painful correspondence between them and what I already knew. +The thought that this monster could be in any way connected with _her_ +was a disagreeable one. I questioned Raoul no further. Even could he +have detailed every circumstance, I should have dreaded the relation. + +Our conversation was interrupted by the creaking of a rusty hinge. The +door opened, and several men entered. Our blinds were taken off, and, +oh, how pleasant to look upon the light! The door had been closed +again, and there was only one small grating, yet the slender beam +through this was like the bright noonday sun. Two of the men carried +earthen platters filled with frijoles, a single tortilla in each +platter. They were placed near our heads, one for each of us. + +"It's blissid kind of yez, gentlemen," said Chane; "but how are we goin' +to ate it, if ye plaze?" + +"The plague!" exclaimed Clayley; "do they expect us to lick this up +without either hands, spoons, or knives?" + +"Won't you allow us the use of our fingers?" asked Raoul, speaking to +one of the guerilleros. + +"No," replied the man gruffly. + +"How do you expect us to eat, then?" + +"With your mouths, as brutes should. What else?" + +"Thank you, sir; you are very polite." + +"If you don't choose that, you can leave it alone," added the Mexican, +going out with his companions, and closing the door behind them. + +"Thank you, gentlemen!" shouted the Frenchman after them, in a tone of +subdued anger. "I won't please you so much as to leave it alone. By my +word!" he continued, "we may be thankful--it's more than I expected from +Yanez--that they've given us any. Something's in the wind." So saying, +the speaker rolled himself on his breast, bringing his head to the dish. + +"Och! the mane haythins!" cried Chane, following the example set by his +comrade; "to make dacent men ate like brute bastes! Och! murder an' +ouns!" + +"Come, Captain; shall we feed?" asked Clayley. + +"Go on. Do not wait for me," I replied. + +Now was my time to read the note. I rolled myself under the grating, +and, after several efforts, succeeded in gaining my feet. The window, +which was not much larger than a pigeon-hole, widened inwards like the +embrasure of a gun-battery. The lower slab was just the height of my +chin; and upon this, after a good deal of dodging and lip-jugglery, I +succeeded in spreading out the paper to its full extent. + +"What on earth are you at, Captain?" inquired Cayley, who had watched my +manoeuvres with some astonishment. + +Raoul and the Irishman stopped their plate-licking and looked up. + +"Hush! go on with your dinners--not a word!" I read as follows: + + _To-night your cords shall be cut, and you must escape as you best can + afterwards. Do not take the road back, as you will be certain to be + pursued in that direction; moreover, you run the risk of meeting other + parties of the guerilla. Make for the National Road at San Juan or + Manga de Clavo. Your posts are already advanced beyond these points. + The Frenchman can easily guide you. Courage, Captain! Adieu_! + + _P.S.--They waited for you. I had sent one to warn you; but he has + either proved traitor or missed the road. Adieu! adieu_! + +"Good heavens!" I involuntarily exclaimed; "the man that Lincoln--." + +I caught the paper into my lips again, and chewed it into a pulp, to +avoid the danger of its falling into the hands of the guerilla. + +I remained turning over its contents in my mind. I was struck with the +masterly style--the worldly cunning exhibited by the writer. There was +something almost _unfeminine_ about it. I could not help being +surprised that one so young, and hitherto so secluded from the world, +should possess such a knowledge of men and things. I was already aware +of the presence of a powerful intellect, but one, as I thought, +altogether unacquainted with practical life and action. Then there was +the peculiarity of her situation. + +Is she a prisoner like myself? or is she disguised, and perilling her +life to save mine? or can she be--Patience! To-night may unravel the +mystery. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE. + +THE COBRA-DI-CAPELLO. + +Up to this moment my intention had been engrossed with the contents of +the note, and I had no thought of looking outward. I raised myself on +tiptoe, stretching my neck as far as I could into the embrasure. + +A golden sunlight was pouring down upon broad, green leaves, where the +palms grew wildly. Red vines hung in festoons, like curtains of scarlet +satin. There were bands of purple and violet--the maroon-coloured +morus, and the snowy flowers of the magnolia--a glittering opal. +Orange-trees, with white, wax-like flowers, were bending under their +golden globes. The broad plumes of the corozo palm curved gracefully +over, their points trailing downwards, and without motion. + +A clump of these grew near, their naked stems laced by a parasite of the +lliana species, which rose from the earth, and, traversing diagonally, +was lost in the feathery frondage above. These formed a canopy, +underneath which, from tree to tree, three hammocks were extended. One +was empty; the other two were occupied. The elliptical outlines, +traceable through the gauzy network of Indian grass, proved that the +occupants were females. + +Their faces were turned from me. They lay motionless: they were asleep. + +As I stood gazing upon this picture, the occupant of the nearest hammock +awoke, and turning, with a low murmur upon her lips, again fell asleep. +Her face was now towards me. My heart leaped, and my whole frame +quivered with emotion. I recognised the features of Guadalupe Rosales. + +One limb, cased in silk, had fallen over the selvage of her pendent +couch, and hung negligently down. The small satin slipper had dropped +off, and was lying on the ground. Her head rested upon a silken pillow, +and a band of her long black hair, that had escaped from the comb, +straggling over the cords of the hammock, trailed along the grass. Her +bosom rose with a gentle heaving above the network as she breathed and +slept. + +My heart was full of mixed emotions--surprise, pleasure, love, pain. +Yes, pain; for she could thus sleep--sleep sweetly, tranquilly--while I, +within a few paces of her couch, was bound and brutally treated! + +"Yes, she can sleep!" I muttered to myself, as my chagrin predominated +in the tumult of emotions. "Ha! heavens!" + +My attention was attracted from the sleeper to a fearful object. I had +noticed a spiral-like appearance upon the lliana. It had caught my eye +once or twice while looking at the sleeper; but I had not dwelt upon it, +taking it for one vine twined round another--a peculiarity often met +with in the forests of Mexico. + +A bright sparkle now attracted my eye; and, on looking at the object +attentively, I discovered, to my horror, that the spiral protuberance +upon the vine was nothing else than the folds of a snake! Squeezing +himself silently down the parasite--for he had come from above--the +reptile slowly uncoiled two or three of the lowermost rings, and +stretched his glistening neck horizontally over the hammock. Now, for +the first time, I perceived the horned protuberance on his head, and +recognised the dreaded reptile--the _macaurel_ (the _cobra_ of America). + +In this position he remained for some moments, perfectly motionless, his +neck proudly curved like that of a swan, while his head was not twelve +inches from the face of the sleeper. I fancied that I could see the +soft down upon her lip playing under his breath! + +He now commenced slowly vibrating from side to side, while a low, +hissing sound proceeded from his open jaws. His horns projected out, +adding to the hideousness of his appearance; and at intervals his forked +tongue shot forth, glancing in the sun like a purple diamond. + +He appeared to be gloating over his victim, in the act of charming her +to death. I even fancied that her lips moved, and her head began to +stir backward and forward, following the oscillations of the reptile. + +All this I witnessed without the power to move. My soul as well as my +body was chained; but, even had I been free, I could have offered no +help. I knew that the only hope of her safety lay in silence. Unless +disturbed and angered, the snake might not bite; but was he not at that +moment distilling some secret venom upon her lips? + +"Oh, Heaven!" I gasped out, in the intensity of my fears, "is this the +fiend himself? She moves!--now he will strike! Not yet--she is still +again. Now--now!--mercy! she trembles!--the hammock shakes--she is +quivering under the fascin-- Ha!" + +A shot rang from the walls--the snake suddenly jerked back his head--his +rings flew out, and he fell to the earth, writhing as if in pain! + +The girls started with a scream, and sprang simultaneously from their +hammocks. + +Grasping each other by the hand, with terrified looks they rushed from +the spot and disappeared. + +Several men ran up, ending the snake with their sabres. One of them +stooped, and examining the carcase of the dead reptile, exclaimed: + +"_Carai_! there is a hole in his head--he has been shot!" + +A moment after, half a dozen of the guerilleros burst open the door and +rushed in, crying out as they entered: + +"_Quien tira_?" (Who fired?) + +"What do you mean?" angrily asked Raoul, who had been in ill-humour ever +since the guerillero had refused him a draught of water. + +"I ask you who fired the shot?" repeated the man. + +"Fired the shot!" echoed Raoul, knowing nothing of what had occurred +outside. "We look like firing a shot, don't we? If I possessed that +power, my gay friend, the first use I should make of it would be to send +a bullet through that clumsy skull of yours." + +"_Santissima_!" ejaculated the Mexican, with a look of astonishment. +"It could not be these--they are all tied!" + +And the Mexicans passed out again, leaving us to our reflections. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY SIX. + +THE HEAD-QUARTERS OF THE GUERILLA. + +Mine were anything but agreeable. I was pained and puzzled. I was +pained to think that _she_--dearer to me than life--was thus exposed to +the dangers that surrounded us. It was her sister that had occupied the +other hammock. + +"Are they alone? Are they prisoners in the hands of these half-robbers? +May not their hospitality to us have brought them under proscription? +And are they not being carried--father, mother, and all--before some +tribunal? Or are they travelling for protection with this band-- +protection against the less scrupulous robbers that infest the country?" + +It was not uncommon upon the Rio Grande, when rich families journeyed +from point to point, to pay for an escort of this sort. This may +elucidate--. + +"But I tell yez I did hear a crack; and, be my sowl! it was the +sargint's rifle, or I've lost me sinses intirely." + +"What is it?" I asked, attracted to the conversation of my comrades. + +"Chane says he heard a shot, and thinks it was Lincoln's," answered +Clayley. + +"His gun has a quare sound, Captain," said the Irishman, appealing to +me. "It's diffirint intirely from a Mexican piece, and not like our own +nayther. It's a way he has in loadin' it." + +"Well--what of that?" + +"Why, Raowl says one of them axed him who fired. Now, I heerd a shot, +for my ear was close till the door here. It was beyant like; but I cud +swear upon the blissed crass it was ayther the sargint's rifle or +another as like it as two pays." + +"It is very strange!" I muttered, half in soliloquy, for the same +thought had occurred to myself. + +"I saw the boy, Captain," said Raoul; "I saw him crossing when they +opened the door." + +"The boy!--what boy?" I asked. + +"The same we brought out of the town." + +"Ha! Narcisso!--you saw him?" + +"Yes; and, if I'm not mistaken, the white mule that the old gentleman +rode to camp. I think that the family is with the guerilla, and that +accounts for our being still alive." + +A new light flashed upon me. In the incidents of the last twenty hours +I had never once thought of Narcisso. Now all was clear--clear as +daylight. The zambo whom Lincoln had killed--poor victim!--was our +friend, sent to warn us of danger; the dagger, Narcisso's--a token for +us to trust him. The soft voice--the small hand thrust under the +tapojo--yes, all were Narcisso's! + +A web of mystery was torn to shreds in a single moment. The truth did +not yield gratification. No--but the contrary. I was chagrined at the +indifference exhibited in another quarter. + +"She must know that I am here, since her brother is master of the fact-- +here, bleeding and bound. Yet where is her sympathy? She sleeps! She +journeys within a few paces of me, where I am tied painfully; yet not a +word of consolation. No! She is riding upon her soft cushion, or +carried upon a _litera_, escorted, perhaps, by this accomplished +villain, who plays the gallant cavalier upon my own barb! They converse +together, perhaps of the poor captives in their train, and with jest and +ridicule--he at least; and _she_ can hear it, and then fling herself +into her soft hammock and sleep--sleep sweetly--calmly?" + +These bitter reflections were interrupted. The door creaked once more +upon its hinges. Half a dozen of our captors entered. Our blinds were +put on, and we were carried out and mounted as before. + +In a few minutes a bugle rang out, and the route was resumed. + +We were carried up the stream bottom--a kind of glen, or _Canada_. We +could feel by the cool shade and the echoes that we were travelling +under heavy timber. The torrent roared in our ears, and the sound was +not unpleasant. Twice or thrice we forded the stream, and sometimes +left it, returning after having travelled a mile or so. This was to +avoid the _canons_, where there is no path by the water. We then +ascended a long hill, and after reaching its summit commenced going +downwards. + +"I know this road well," said Raoul. "We are going down to the hacienda +of Cenobio." + +"_Pardieu_!" he continued. "I ought to know this hill!" + +"For what reason?" + +"First, Captain, because I have carried many a _bulto_ of cochineal and +many a bale of smuggled tobacco over it; ay, and upon nights when my +eyes were of as little service to me as they are at present." + +"I thought that you _contrabandistas_ hardly needed the precaution of +dark nights?" + +"True, at times; but there were other times when the Government became +lynx-eyed, and then smuggling was no joke. We had some sharp +skirmishing. _Sacre_! I have good cause to remember this very hill. I +came near making a jump into purgatory from the other side of it." + +"Ha! how was that?" + +"Cenobio had got a large lot of cochineal from a crafty trader at +Oaxaca. It was _cached_ about two leagues from the hacienda in the +hills, and a vessel was to drop into the mouth of the Medellin to take +it on board. + +"A party of us were engaged to carry it across to the coast; and, as the +cargo was very valuable, we were all of us armed to the teeth, with +orders from the _patrone_ to defend it at all hazards. His men were +just the fellows who would obey that order, coming, as it did, from +Cenobio. + +"The Government somehow or other got wind of the affair, and slipped a +strong detachment out of Vera Cruz in time to intercept us. We met them +on the other side of this very hill, where a road strikes off towards +Medellin." + +"Well! and what followed?" + +"Why, the battle lasted nearly an hour; and, after having lost half a +score of their best men, the valiant lancers rode back to Vera Cruz +quicker than they came out of it." + +"And the smugglers?" + +"Carried the goods safe on board. Three of them--poor fellows!--are +lying not far off, and I came near sharing their luck. I have a +lance-hole through my thigh, here, that pains me at this very moment." + +My ear at this moment caught the sound of dogs barking hoarsely below. +Horses of the cavalcade commenced neighing, answered by others from the +adjacent fields, who recognised their old companions. + +"It must be near night," I remarked to Raoul. + +"I think, about sunset, Captain," rejoined he. "It _feels_ about that +time." + +I could not help smiling. There was something ludicrous in my comrade's +remark about "feeling" the sunset. + +The barking of the dogs now ceased, and we could hear voices ahead +welcoming the guerilleros. + +The hoofs of our mules struck upon a hard pavement, and the sounds +echoed as if under an arched way. + +Our animals were presently halted, and we were unpacked and flung rudely +down upon rough stones, like so many bundles of merchandise. + +We lay for some minutes listening to the strange voices around. The +neighing of horses, the barking and growling of dogs, the lowing of +cattle, the shouts of the arrieros unpacking their mules, the clanking +of sabres along the stone pavement, the tinkling of spurs, the laughter +of men, and the voices of women--all were in our ears at once. + +Two men approached us, conversing. + +"They are of the party that escaped us at La Virgen. Two of them are +officers." + +"_Chingaro_! I got this at La Virgen, and a full half-mile off. 'Twas +some black jugglery in their bullets. I hope the _patrone_ will hang +the Yankee savages." + +"_Quien sabe_?" (Who knows?) replied the first speaker. "Pinzon has +been taken this morning at Puenta Moreno, with several others. They had +a fandango with the Yankee dragoons. You know what the old man thinks +of Pinzon. He'd sooner part with his wife." + +"You think he will exchange them, then?" + +"It is not unlikely." + +"And yet he wouldn't trouble much if you or I had been taken. No--no; +he'd let us be hanged like dogs!" + +"Well; that's always the way, you know." + +"I begin to get tired of him. By the Virgin! Jose, I've half a mind to +slip off and join the Padre." + +"Jarauta?" + +"Yes; he's by the Bridge, with a brave set of Jarochos--some of our old +comrades upon the Rio Grande among them. They are living at free +quarters along the road, and having gay times of it, I hear. If Jarauta +had taken these Yankees yesterday, the zopilote would have made his +dinner upon them to-day." + +"That's true," rejoined the other; "but come--let us un-blind the devils +and give them their beans. It may be the last they'll ever eat." + +With this consoling remark, Jose commenced unbuckling our _tapojos_, and +we once more looked upon the light. The brilliance at first dazzled us +painfully, and it was some minutes before we could look steadily at the +objects around us. + +We had been thrown upon the pavement in the corner of the _patio_--a +large court, surrounded by massive walls and flat-roofed houses. + +These buildings were low, single-storied, except the range in front, +which contained the principal dwellings. The remaining three sides were +occupied by stables, granaries, and quarters for the guerilleros and +servants. A portale extended along the front range, and large vases, +with shrubs and flowers, ornamented the balustrade. The portale was +screened from the sun by curtains of bright-coloured cloth. These were +partially drawn, and objects of elegant furniture appeared within. + +Near the centre of the patio was a large fountain, boiling up into a +reservoir of hewn mason-work; and around this fountain were clumps of +orange-trees, their leaves in some places dropping down into the water. +Various arms hung or leaned against the walls--guns, pistols, and +sabres--and two small pieces of cannon, with their caissons and +carriages, stood in a prominent position. In these we recognised our +old acquaintances of La Virgen. + +A long trough stretched across the patio, and out of this a double row +of mules and mustangs were greedily eating maize. The saddle-tracks +upon their steaming sides showed them to be the companions of our late +wearisome journey. + +Huge dogs lay basking upon the hot stones, growling at intervals as +someone galloped in through the great doorway. Their broad jaws and +tawny hides bespoke the Spanish bloodhound--the descendants of that race +with which Cortez had harried the conquered Aztecs. + +The guerilleros were seated or standing in groups around the fires, +broiling jerked beef upon the points of their sabres. Some mended their +saddles, or were wiping out an old carbine or a clumsy escopette. Some +strutted around the yard, swinging their bright mangas, or trailing +after them the picturesque serape. Women in rebozos and coloured skirts +walked to and fro among the men. + +The women carried jars filled with water. They knelt before smooth +stones, and kneaded tortillas. They stirred chile and chocolate in +earthen ollas. They cooked frijoles in flat pans; and amidst all these +occupations they joked and laughed and chatted with the men. + +Several men--officers, from their style of dress--came out of the +portale, and, after delivering orders to the guerilleros on guard, +returned to the house. + +Packages of what appeared to be merchandise lay in one corner of the +court. Around this were groups of arrieros, in their red leathern +garments, securing their charge for the night, and laying out their +_alparejas_ in long rows by the wall. + +Over the opposite roofs--for our position was elevated--we could see the +bright fields and forest, and far beyond, the Cofre de Perote and the +undulating outlines of the Andes. Above all, the white-robed peak of +Orizava rose up against the heavens like a pyramid of spotless snow. + +The sun had gone down behind the mountains, but his rays still rested +upon Orizava, bathing its cone with a yellow light, like a mantle of +burnished gold. Clouds of red and white and purple hung like a glory +upon his track, and, descending, rested upon the lower summits of the +Cordillera. The peak of the "Burning Star" alone appeared above the +clouds, towering in sublime and solitary grandeur. + +There was a picturesque loveliness about the scene--an idea of +sublimity--that caused me for the moment to forget where I was or that I +was a captive. My dream was dispelled by the harsh voice of Jose, who +at that moment came up with a couple of peons, carrying a large earthen +dish that contained our supper. + +This consisted of black beans, with half a dozen tortillas; but as we +were all half-famished we did not offer any criticism on the quality of +the viands. The dish was placed in our midst, and our arms were untied +for the first time since our capture. There were neither knives, forks, +nor spoons; but Raoul showed us the Mexican fashion of "eating our +spoons", and, twisting up the tortillas, we scooped and swallowed "right +ahead." + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN. + +CHANE'S COURTSHIP. + +The dish was emptied, as Clayley observed, in a "squirrel's jump." + +"Be my sowl! it ates purty well, black as it is," said Chane, looking +ruefully into the empty vessel. "It's got a worse complaint than the +colour, didn't yez fetch us a thrifle more of it, my darlint boy?" he +added, squinting up at Jose. + +"_No entiende_," (Don't understand), said the Mexican, shaking his head. + +"No in tin days!" cried Chane, mistaking the "_no entiende_" for a +phrase of broken English, to which, indeed, its pronunciation somewhat +assimilates it. "Och! git out wid you! Bad luck to yer picther! In +tin days it's Murtagh Chane that'll ayther be takin' his tay in +purgathory or atin' betther than black banes in some other part of the +world." + +"_No entiende_," repeated the Mexican as before. + +"Tin days, indade! Sure we'd be did wid hunger in half the time. We +want the banes _now_." + +"_Que quiere_?" (What do you want?) asked the Mexican, speaking to +Raoul, who was by this time convulsed with laughter. + +"Phwhat's that he sez, Raowl?" inquired Chane sharply. + +"He says he don't understand you." + +"Thin spake to him yerself, Raowl. Till him we want more banes, and a +few more ov thim pancakes, if he plazes." + +Raoul translated the Irishman's request. + +"_No hay_" (There are none), answered the Mexican, shaking his +forefinger in front of his nose. + +"No I--is that phwhat ye say, my darlint? Well, iv yez won't go +yerself, sind somebody else; it's all the same thing, so yez bring us +the ateables." + +"_No entiende_" said the man, with the same shake of the head. + +"Oh! there agin with your tin days--but it's no use; yez understand me +well enough, but yez don't want to bring the banes." + +"He tells you there is no more," said Raoul. + +"Oh! the desavin' Judas! and five hundred ov thim grazers atin' over +beyant there. No more banes! oh, the lie!" + +"_Frijoles--no hay_," said the Mexican, guessing at the purport of +Chane's remarks. + +"Fray holeys!" repeated Chane, imitating the Mexican's pronunciation of +the word "frijoles". "Och! git out wid your fray holeys! There isn't +the size of a flay of holiness about the place. Git out!" + +Raoul, and indeed all of us except the Irishman himself, were bursting +with laughter. + +"I'm chokin'," said the latter, after a pause; "ask him for wather, +Raowl--sure he can't deny that, with that purty little sthrame boilin' +up undher our noses, as clear as the potteen of Ennishowen." + +Raoul asked for water, which we all needed. Our throats were as dry as +charcoal. The Mexican made a sign to one of the women, who shortly came +up with an earthen jar filled with water. + +"Give it first to the captin, misthress," said Chane, pointing to me; +"sarve all ayqually, but respict rank." + +The woman understood the sign, and handed me the jar. I drank +copiously, passing it to my comrades, Clayley and Raoul. Chane at +length took the jar; but instead of drinking immediately, as might have +been expected, he set it between his knees and looked quizzically up at +the woman. + +"I say, my little darlint," said he, winking, and touching her lightly +under the ribs with his outstretched palm, "my little _moochacha_-- +that's what they call thim--isn't it, Raowl?" + +"_Muchacha_? oh yes!" + +"Well, thin, my purty little _moochacha_, cudn't yez?--ye know what I +mane--cudn't yez? Och! ye know well enough--only a little--jist a +mouthful to take the cowld taste aff the wather." + +"_No entiende_," said the woman, smiling good-naturedly at Chane's +comical gestures. + +"Och, the plague! there's that tin days agin. Talk to her, Raowl. Tell +her what I mane." + +Raoul translated his comrade's wishes. + +"Tell her, Raowl, I've got no money, becase I have been rabbed, de ye +see? but I'll give her ayther of these saints for the smallest thrifle +of agwardent;" and he pulled the images out of his jacket as he spoke. + +The woman, seeing these, bent forward with an exclamation; and, +recognising the crucifix, with the images of the saint and Virgin, +dropped upon her knees and kissed them devoutly, uttering some words in +a language half Spanish, half Aztec. + +Rising up, she looked kindly at Chane, exclaiming, "_Bueno Catolico_!" +She then tossed the rebozo over her left shoulder, and hurried off +across the yard. + +"De yez think, Raowl, she's gone after the licker?" + +"I am sure of it," answered the Frenchman. + +In a few minutes the woman returned, and, drawing a small flask out of +the folds of her rebozo, handed it to Chane. + +The Irishman commenced undoing the string that carried his "relics." + +"Which ov them de yez want, misthress?--the saint, or the Howly Mother, +or both?--it's all the same to Murtagh." + +The woman, observing what he was after, rushed forward, and, placing her +hands upon his, said in a kind tone: + +"_No, Senor. Su proteccion necesita usted_." + +"Phwhat diz she say, Raowl?" + +"She says, keep them; you will need their protection yourself." + +"Och, be me sowl! she's not far asthray there. I need it bad enough +now, an' a hape ov good they're likely to do me. They've hung there for +tin years--both of thim; and this nate little flask's the first raal +binifit I iver resaved from ayther of them. Thry it, Captin. It'll do +yez good." + +I took the bottle and drank. It was the _chingarito_--a bad species of +_aguardiente_ from the wild aloe--and hot as fire. A mouthful sufficed. +I handed the flask to Clayley, who drank more freely. Raoul followed +suit, and the bottle came back to the Irishman. + +"Your hilth, darlint!" said he, nodding to the Mexican woman. "May yez +live till _I_ wish ye dead!" + +The woman smiled, and repeated, "_No entiende_." + +"Och! nivir mind the tin days--we won't quarrel about that. Ye're a +swate crayteur," continued he, winking at the woman; "but sure yer +petticoats is mighty short, an' yez want a pair of stockin's bad, too; +but nivir mind--yez stand well upon thim illigant ankles--'dade ye do; +and yez have a purty little futt into the bargain." + +"_Que dice_?" (What does he say?) asked the Mexican, speaking to Raoul. + +"He is complimenting you on the smallness of your feet," answered the +Frenchman. + +The woman was evidently pleased, and commenced cramping up what was in +fact a very small foot into its faded satin slipper. + +"Tell me, my dear," continued Chane, "are yez married?" + +"_Que dice_?" again asked the woman. + +"He wants to know if you are married." + +She smiled, waving her forefinger in front of her nose. + +Raoul informed the Irishman that this was a negative answer to his +question. + +"By my sowl, thin," said Chane, "I wudn't mind marryin' ye meself, an' +joinin' the thribe--that is, if they'll let me off from the hangin'. +Tell her that, Raowl." + +As desired, Raoul explained his comrade's last speech, at which the +woman laughed, but said nothing. + +"Silence gives consint. But tell her, Raowl, that I won't buy a pig in +a poke: they must first let me off from the hangin', de ye hear?--tell +her that." + +"_El senor esta muy alegre_," (The gentleman is very merry), said the +woman; and, picking up her jar, with a smile, she left us. + +"I say, Raowl, does she consint?" + +"She hasn't made up her mind yet." + +"By the holy vistment! thin it's all up wid Murt. The saints won't save +him. Take another dhrap, Raowl!" + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT. + +THE DANCE OF THE TAGAROTA. + +Night fell, and the blazing fagots threw their glare over the patio, +striking upon objects picturesque at all times, but doubly so under the +red light of the pine fires. The grouping of guerilleros--their broad, +heavy hats, many of them plumed--their long black hair and pointed +beards--their dark, flashing eyes--their teeth, fierce and white--the +half-savage expression of their features--their costumes, high-coloured +and wild-like--all combined in impressing us with strange feelings. + +The mules, the mustangs, the dogs, the peons, the slippered wenches, +with their coarse trailing tresses, the low roofs, the iron-barred +windows, the orange-trees by the fountain, the palms hanging over the +wall, the glistening cocuyos, were all strange sights to us. + +The sounds that rang in our ears were not more familiar. Even the +voices of the men, unlike the Saxon, sounded wild and sharp. It was the +Spanish language, spoken in the _patois_ of the Aztec Indians. In this +the guerilleros chatted, and sang, and swore. There was a medley of +other sounds, not less strange to our ears, as the dogs howled and +barked their bloodhound notes--as the mustangs neighed or the mules +whinnied--as the heavy sabre clanked or the huge spur tinkled its tiny +bells--as the _poblanas_ (peasant-women), sitting by some group, touched +the strings of their bandolons, and chanted their half-Indian songs. + +By a blazing pile, close to where we sat, a party of guerilleros, with +their women, were dancing the _tagarota_, a species of fandango. + +Two men, seated upon raw-hide stools, strummed away upon a pair of +bandolons, while a third pinched and pulled at the strings of an old +guitar--all three aiding the music with their shrill, disagreeable +voices. + +The dancers formed the figure of a parallelogram, each standing opposite +his partner, or rather moving, for they were never at rest, but kept +constantly beating time with feet, head, and hands. The last they +struck against their cheeks and thighs, and at intervals clapped them +together. + +One would suddenly appear as a hunchback, and, dancing out into the +centre of the figure, perform various antics to attract his partner. +After a while she would dance up--deformed also--and the two, bringing +their bodies into contact, and performing various disgusting +contortions, would give place to another pair. These would appear +without arms or legs, walking on their knees, or sliding along on their +hips! + +One danced with his head under his arm, and another with one leg around +his neck; all eliciting more or less laughter, as the feat was more or +less comical. During the dance every species of deformity was imitated +and caricatured, for this is the tagarota. It was a series of grotesque +and repulsive pictures. Some of the dancers, flinging themselves flat, +would roll across the open space without moving hand or foot. This +always elicited applause, and we could not help remarking its +resemblance to the gymnastics we had lately been practising ourselves. + +"Och, be me sowl! we can bate yez at that!" cried Chane, who appeared to +be highly amused at the tagarota, making his comments as the dance went +on. + +I was sick of the scene, and watched it no longer. My eyes turned to +the portale, and I looked anxiously through the half-drawn curtains. + +"It is strange I have seen nothing of _them_! Could they have turned +off on some other route? No--they must be here. Narcisso's promise for +to-night! He at least is here. And she?--perhaps occupied within--gay, +happy, indifferent--oh!" + +The pain shot afresh through my heart. + +Suddenly the curtain was drawn aside, and a brilliant picture appeared +within--brilliant, but to me like the glimpse which some condemned +spirit might catch over the walls of Paradise. Officers in bright +uniforms, and amongst these I recognised the elegant person of Dubrosc. +Ladies in rich dresses, and amongst these--. Her sister, too, was +there, and the Dona Joaquiana, and half a dozen other ladies, rustling +in silks and blazing with jewels. + +Several of the gentlemen--young officers of the band--wore the +picturesque costume of the guerilleros. + +They were forming for the dance. + +"Look, Captain!" cried Clayley; "Don Cosme and his people, by the living +earthquake!" + +"Hush! do not touch me--do not speak to me!" + +I felt as though my heart would stop beating. It rose in my bosom, and +seemed to hang for minutes without moving. My throat felt dry and +husky, and a cold perspiration broke out upon my skin. + +He approaches her--he asks her to dance--she consents! No: she refuses. +Brave girl! She has strayed away from the dancers, and looks over the +balustrade. She is sad. Was it a sigh that caused her bosom to rise? +Ha! he comes again. She is smiling!--he touches her hand! + +"Fiend! false woman!" I shouted at the top of my voice as I sprang up, +impelled by passion. I attempted to rush towards them. My feet were +bound, and I fell heavily upon my face! + +The guards seized me, tying my hands. My comrades, too, were re-bound. +We were dragged over the stones into a small room in one corner of the +patio. + +The door was bolted and locked, and we were left alone. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTY NINE. + +A KISS IN THE DARK. + +It would be impossible to describe my feelings as I was flung upon the +floor of our prison. This was cold, damp, and filthy; but I heeded not +these grievances. Greater sorrows absorbed the less. There is no +torture so racking, no pain so painful as the throbbings of a jealous +heart; but how much harder to bear under circumstances like mine! She +could sleep, smile, dance--dance by my prison, and with my jailer! + +I felt spiteful--vengeful. I was stung to a desire for retaliation, and +along with this came an eagerness to live for the opportunity of +indulging in this passion. + +I began to look around our prison, and see what chances it afforded for +escape. + +"Good heavens! if our being transferred to the cell should destroy the +plans of Narcisso! How is he to reach us? The door is double-locked, +and a sentry is pacing without." + +After several painful efforts I raised myself upon my feet, propping my +body against the side of the prison. There was an aperture--a window +about as large as a loophole for musketry. I spun myself along the wall +until I stood directly under it. It was just the height of my chin. +Cautioning my companions to silence, I placed my ear to the aperture and +listened. A low sound came wailing from the fields without. I did not +heed this. I knew it was the wolf. It rose again, louder than before. +A peculiarity in the howl struck me, and I turned, calling to Raoul. + +"What is it, Captain?" inquired he. + +"Do you know if the prairie wolf is found here?" + +"I do not know if it be the true prairie wolf, Captain. There is one +something like the _coyote_." + +I returned to the aperture and listened. + +"Again the howl of the prairie wolf--the bark! By heavens! it is +Lincoln!" + +Now it ceased for several minutes, and then came again, but from another +direction. + +"What is to be done? if I answer him, it will alarm the sentry. I will +wait until he comes closer to the wall." + +I could tell that he was creeping nearer and nearer. + +Finding he had not been answered, the howling ceased. I stood listening +eagerly to every sound from without. My comrades, who had now become +apprised of Lincoln's proximity, had risen to their feet and were +leaning against the walls. + +We were about half an hour in this situation, without exchanging a word, +when a light tap was heard from without, and a soft voice whispered: + +"_Hola, Capitan_!" + +I placed my ear to the aperture. The whisper was repeated. It was not +Lincoln--that was clear. + +It must be Narcisso. + +"_Quien_?" I asked. + +"_Yo, Capitan_." + +I recognised the voice that had addressed me in the morning. + +It is Narcisso. + +"Can you place your hands in the aperture?" said he. + +"No; they are tied behind my back." + +"Can you bring them opposite, then?" + +"No; I am standing on my toes, and my wrists are still far below the +sill." + +"Are your comrades all similarly bound?" + +"All." + +"Let one get on each side of you, and raise you up on their shoulders." + +Wondering at the astuteness of the young Spaniard, I ordered Chane and +Raoul to lift me as he directed. + +When my wrists came opposite the window I cautioned them to hold on. +Presently a soft hand touched mine, passing all over them. Then I felt +the blade of a knife pressed against the thong, and in an instant it +leaped from my wrists. I ordered the men to set me down, and I listened +as before. + +"Here is the knife. You can release your own ankles and those of your +comrades. This paper will direct you further. You will find the lamp +inside." + +A knife, with a folded and strangely shining note, was passed through by +the speaker. + +"And now, Capitan--one favour," continued the voice, in a trembling +tone. + +"Ask it! ask it!" + +"I would kiss your hand before we part." + +"Dear, noble boy!" cried I, thrusting my hand into the aperture. + +"Boy! ah, true--you think me a boy. I am no boy, Capitan, but _a +woman--one who loves you with all her blighted, broken heart_!" + +"Oh, heavens! It is, then--dearest Guadalupe!" + +"Ha! I thought as much. Now I will not. But no; what good would it be +to me? No--no--no! I shall keep my word." + +This appeared to be uttered in soliloquy, and the tumult of my thoughts +prevented me from noticing the strangeness of these expressions. I +thought of them afterwards. + +"Your hand! your hand!" I ejaculated. + +"You would kiss my hand? Do so!" The little hand was thrust through, +and I could see it in the dim light, flashing with brilliants. I caught +it in mine, covering it with kisses. It seemed to yield to the fervid +pressure of my lips. + +"Oh!" I exclaimed, in the transport of my feelings, "let us not part; +let us fly together! I was wronging you, loveliest, dearest +Guadalupe--!" + +A slight exclamation, as if from some painful emotion, and the hand was +plucked away, leaving one of the diamonds in my fingers. The next +moment the voice whispered, with a strange sadness of tone, as I +thought: + +"Adieu, Capitan! adieu! _In this world of life we never know who best +loves us_!" + +I was puzzled, bewildered. I called out, but there was no answer. I +listened until the patience of my comrades was well-nigh exhausted, but +still there was no voice from without; and with a strange feeling of +uneasiness and wonderment I commenced cutting the thongs from my ankles. + +Having set Raoul at liberty, I handed him the knife, and proceeded to +open the note. Inside I found a cocuyo; and, using it as I had been +already instructed, I read: + + "_The walls are adobe. You have a knife. The side with the loop-hole + fronts outward. There is a field of magueys, and beyond this you will + find the forest. You may then trust to yourselves. I can help you no + farther_. Carissimo caballero, adios!" + +I had no time to reflect upon the peculiarities of the note, though the +boldness of the style struck me as corresponding with the other. I +flung down the firefly, crushing the paper into my bosom; and, seizing +the knife, was about to attack the adobe wall, when voices reached me +from without. I sprang forward, and placed my ear to listen. It was an +altercation--a woman--a man! "By heaven! it is Lincoln's voice!" + +"Yer cussed whelp! ye'd see the cap'n hung, would yer?--a man that's +good vally for the full of a pararer of green-gutted greasers; but I +ain't a-gwine to let _you_ look at his hangin'. If yer don't show me +which of these hyur pigeon-holes is his'n, an' help me to get him outer +it, I'll skin yer like a mink!" + +"I tell you, Mister Lincoln," replied a voice which I recognised as the +one whose owner had just left me, "I have this minute given the captain +the means of escape, through that loophole." + +"Whar!" + +"This one," answered the female voice. + +"Wal, that's easy to circumstantiate. Kum along hyur! I ain't a-gwine +to let yer go till it's all fixed. De ye hear?" + +I heard the heavy foot of the hunter as he approached, and presently his +voice calling through the loophole in a guarded whisper: + +"Cap'n!" + +"Hush, Bob! it's all right," I replied, speaking in a low tone, for the +sentries were moving suspiciously around the door. + +"Good!" ejaculated he. "Yer kin go now," he added to the other, whose +attention I endeavoured to attract, but dared not call to loud enough, +lest the guards should hear me. "Dash my buttons! I don't want yer to +go--yer a good 'un arter all. Why can't yer kum along? The cap'n 'll +make it all straight agin about the desartion." + +"Mr Lincoln, I cannot go with you. Please suffer me to depart!" + +"Wal! yer own likes! but if I can do yer a good turn, you can depend on +Bob Linkin--mind that." + +"Thank you! thank you!" + +And before I could interfere to prevent it, she was gone. I could hear +the voice, sad and sweet in the distance, calling back, "_Adios_!" + +I had no time for reflection, else the mystery that surrounded me would +have occupied my thoughts for hours. It was time to act. Again I heard +Lincoln's voice at the loophole. + +"What is it?" I inquired. + +"How are yer ter get out, Cap'n?" + +"We are cutting a hole through the wall." + +"If yer can give me the spot, I'll meet yer half-ways." + +I measured the distance from the loophole, and handed the string to +Lincoln. We heard no more from the hunter until the moonlight glanced +through the wall upon the blade of his knife. Then he uttered a short +ejaculation, such as may be heard from the "mountain men" at peculiar +crises; and after that we could hear him exclaiming: + +"Look out, Rowl! Hang it, man! ye're a-cuttin' my claws!" + +In a few minutes the hole was large enough to pass our bodies; and one +by one we crawled out, and were once more at liberty. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY. + +MARIA DE MERCED. + +There was a deep ditch under the wall, filled with cactus-plants and dry +grass. We lay in the bottom of this for some minutes, panting with +fatigue. Our limbs were stiff and swollen, and we could hardly stand +upright. A little delay then was necessary, to bring back the blood and +determine our future course. + +"We had best ter keep the gully," whispered Lincoln. "I kum across the +fields myself, but that 'ar kiver's thin, and they may sight us." + +"The best route is the ditch," assented Raoul: "there are some windows, +but they are high, and we can crawl under them." + +"Forward, then!" I whispered to Raoul. + +We crept down the ditch on all-fours, passing several windows that were +dark and shut. We reached one, the last in the row, where the light +streamed through. Notwithstanding our perilous situation, I resolved to +look in. There was an impulse upon me which I could not resist. I was +yearning for some clue to the mystery that hung around me. + +The window was high up, but it was grated with heavy bars; and, grasping +two of these, I swung myself to its level. Meanwhile my comrades had +crept into the magueys to wait for me. + +I raised my head cautiously and looked in. It was a room somewhat +elegantly furnished, but my eye did not dwell long on that. A man +sitting by the table engrossed my attention. This man was Dubrosc. The +light was full upon his face, and I gazed upon its hated lines until I +felt my frame trembling with passion. + +I can give no idea of the hate this man had inspired me with. Had I +possessed firearms, I could not have restrained myself from shooting +him; and but for the iron grating, I should have sprung through the sash +and grappled him with my hands. I have thought since that some +providence held me back from making a demonstration that would have +baffled our escape. I am sure at that moment I possessed no restraint +within myself. + +As I gazed at Dubrosc, the door of the apartment opened, and a young man +entered. He was strangely attired, in a costume half-military, +half-ranchero. There was a fineness, a silky richness, about the dress +and manner of this youth that struck me. His features were dark and +beautiful. + +He advanced and sat down by the table, placing his hand upon it. +Several rings sparkled upon his fingers. I observed that he was pale, +and that his hand trembled. + +After looking at him for a moment, I began to fancy I had seen the +features before. It was not Narcisso; him I should have known; and yet +there was a resemblance. Yes--he even resembled _her_! I started as +this thought crossed me. I strained my eyes; the resemblance grew +stronger. + +Oh, Heaven! could it be?--dressed thus? No, no! those eyes--ha! I +remember! The boy at the rendezvous--on board the transport--the +island--the picture! It is she--the cousin--_Maria de Merced_! + +These recollections came with the suddenness of a single thought, and +passed as quickly. Later memories crowded upon me. The adventure of +the morning--the strange words uttered at the window of my prison--the +small hand! This, then, was the author of our deliverance. + +A hundred mysteries were explained in a single moment. The unexpected +elucidation came like a shock--like a sudden light. I staggered back, +giving way to new and singular emotions. + +"Guadalupe knows nothing of my presence, then. _She_ is innocent." + +This thought alone restored me to happiness. A thousand others rushed +through my brain in quick succession--some pleasant, others painful. + +There was an altercation of voices over my head. I caught the iron +rods, and, resting my toes upon a high bank, swung my body up, and again +looked into the room. Dubrosc was now angrily pacing over the floor. + +"Bah!" he ejaculated, with a look of cold brutality; "you think to make +me jealous, I believe. That isn't possible. I was never so, and _you_ +can't do it. I know you love the cursed Yankee. I watched you in the +ship--on the island, too. You had better keep him company where he is +going. Ha, ha! Jealous, indeed! Your pretty cousins have grown up +since I saw them last." + +The insinuation sent the blood in a hot stream through my veins. + +It appeared to have a similar effect upon the woman; for, starting from +her seat, she looked towards Dubrosc, her eyes flashing like globes of +fire. + +"Yes!" she exclaimed; "and if you dare whisper your polluting thoughts +to either of them, lawless as is this land, you know that I still +possess the power to punish _you_. You are villain enough, Heaven +knows, for anything; but _they_ shall not fall: one victim is enough-- +and such a one!" + +"Victim, indeed!" replied the man, evidently cowed by the other's +threat. "You call yourself victim, Marie? The _wife_ of the handsomest +man in Mexico? Ha, ha!" + +There was something of irony in the latter part of the speech, and the +emphasis placed on the word "wife." + +"Yes; you may well taunt me with your false priest, you unfeeling +wretch! _Oh, Santisima Madre_!" continued she, dropping back into her +chair, and pressing her head between her hands. "Beguiled--beggared-- +almost unsexed! and yet I never loved the man! It was not love, but +madness--madness and fascination!" + +The last words were uttered in soliloquy, as though she regarded not the +presence of her companion. + +"I don't care a claco," cried he fiercely, and evidently piqued at her +declaration; "not one claco whether you ever loved me or not! That's +not the question now, but _this is_: You must make yourself known to +your Croesus of an uncle here, and demand that part of your fortune that +he still clutches within his avaricious old fingers. You must do this +to-morrow." + +"I will not!" + +"But you shall, or--." + +The woman rose suddenly, and walked towards the door as if she intended +to go out. + +"No, not to-night, dearest!" said Dubrosc, grasping her rudely by the +arm. "I have my reasons for keeping you here. I noted you to-day +speaking with that cursed Yankee, and you're just traitor enough to help +him to escape. I'll look to him myself, so you may stay where you are. +If you should choose to rise early enough to-morrow morning, you will +have the felicity of seeing him dance upon the tight-rope. Ha! ha! ha!" + +And with a savage laugh the Creole walked out of the room, locking the +door behind him. + +A strange expression played over the features of the woman--a blending +of triumph with anxiety. She ran forward to the window, and, pressing +her small lips close to the glass, strained her eyes outward. + +I held the diamond in my fingers, and, stretching up until my hand was +opposite her face, I wrote the word "_Gracias_." + +At first seeing me she had started back. There was no time to be lost. +My comrades were already chafing at my delay; and, joining them, we +crept through the magueys, parting the broad, stiff leaves with our +fingers. We were soon upon the edge of the chaparral wood. + +I looked back towards the window. The woman stood holding the lamp, and +its light was full upon her face. She had read the scrawl, and was +gazing out with an expression I shall never forget. Another bound, and +we were "in the woods." + + + +CHAPTER FORTY ONE. + +THE PURSUIT. + +For a time there was a strange irresolution in my flight. The idea of +leaving Guadalupe in such company--that after all they might be +prisoners, or, even if not, the thought that they were in the power of +Dubrosc to any extent--was enough to render me wretched and irresolute. +But what could we do--five men, almost unarmed? + +"It would be madness to remain--madness and death. The woman--she +possesses some mysterious power over this brute, her paramour: she will +guard them." + +This thought decided me, and I yielded myself freely to flight. We had +but little fear of being caught again. We had too much confidence, +particularly Lincoln and myself, in our forest-craft. Raoul knew all +the country, the thickets and the passes. We stopped a moment to +deliberate on the track we should take. A bugle rang out behind us, and +the next instant the report of a cannon thundered in a thousand echoes +along the glen. + +"It is from the hacienda," said Raoul; "they have missed us already." + +"Is that a `sign', Rowl," asked Lincoln. + +"It is," replied the other; "it's to warn their scouts. They're all +over these hills. We must look sharp." + +"I don't like this hyur timber; it's too scant. Cudn't yer put us in +the crik bottom, Rowl?" + +"There's a heavy chaparral," said the Frenchman, musing; "it's ten miles +off. If we could reach that we're safe--a wolf can hardly crawl through +it. We must make it before day." + +"Lead on, then, Rowl!" + +We stole along with cautious steps. The rustling of a leaf or the +cracking of a dead stick might betray us; for we could hear signals upon +all sides, and our pursuers passing us in small parties, within earshot. + +We bore to the right, in order to reach the creek bottom of which +Lincoln had spoken. We soon came into this, and followed the stream +down, but not on the bank. Lincoln would not hear of our taking the +bank path, arguing that our pursuers would be "sartin ter foller the +cl'ar trail." + +The hunter was right, for shortly after a party came down the stream. +We could hear the clinking of their accoutrements, and even the +conversation of some of the men, as follows: + +"But, in the first place, how did they get loose within? and who cut the +wall from the outside, unless someone helped them? _Carajo_! it's not +possible." + +"That's true, Jose," said another voice. "Someone must, and I believe +it was that giant that got away from us at the rancho. The shot that +killed the snake came from the chaparral, and yet we searched and found +nobody. Mark my words, it was he; and I believe he has hung upon our +track all the way." + +"_Vaya_!" exclaimed another; "I shouldn't much like to be under the +range of his rifle; they say he can kill a mile off, and hit wherever he +pleases. He shot the snake right through the eyes." + +"By the Virgin!" said one of the guerilleros, laughing, "he must have +been a snake of good taste, to be caught toying around that dainty +daughter of the old Spaniard! It reminds me of what the Book tells +about Mother Eve and the old serpent. Now, if the Yankee's bullet--." + +We could hear no more, as the voices died away in the distance and under +the sound of the water. + +"Ay," muttered Lincoln, finishing the sentence; "if the Yankee's bullet +hadn't been needed for the varmint, some o' yer wudn't a' been waggin' +yer clappers as ye air." + +"It _was_ you, then?" I asked, turning to the hunter. + +"'Twur, Cap'n; but for the cussed catawampus, I 'ud 'a gin Mister +Dubrosc _his_ ticket. I hed a'most sighted him when I seed the flash o' +the thing's eye, an' I knowed it wur a-gwine to strike the gal." + +"And Jack?" I inquired, now for the first time thinking of the boy. + +"I guess he's safe enuf, Cap'n. I sent the little feller back with word +ter the kurnel." + +"Ha! then we may expect them from camp?" + +"No doubt on it, Cap'n; but yer see, if they kum, they may not be able +to foller us beyond the rancho. So it'll be best for us not to depend +on them, but ter take Rowl's track." + +"You are right. Lead on, Raoul!" + +After a painful journey we reached the thicket of which Raoul had +spoken; and, dragging ourselves into it, we came to a small opening, +covered with long dry grass. Upon this luxurious couch we resolved to +make a bivouac. We were all worn down by the fatigues of the day and +night preceding, and, throwing ourselves upon the grass, in a few +minutes were asleep. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY TWO. + +A NEW AND TERRIBLE ENEMY. + +It was daylight when I awoke--broad daylight. My companions, all but +Clayley, were already astir, and had kindled a fire with a species of +wood known to Raoul, that produced hardly any smoke. They were +preparing breakfast. On a limb close by hung the hideous, human-like +carcass of an iguana, still writhing. Raoul was whetting a knife to +skin it, while Lincoln was at some distance, carefully reloading his +rifle. The Irishman lay upon the grass, peeling bananas and roasting +them over the fire. + +The iguana was soon skinned and broiled, and we all of us commenced +eating with good appetites. + +"Be Saint Pathrick!" said Chane, "this bates frog-atin' all hollow. +It's little meself dhramed, on the Owld Sod, hearin' of thim niggers in +furrin parts, that I'd be turning kannybawl meself some day!" + +"Don't you like it, Murtagh?" asked Raoul jocosely. + +"Och! indade, yes; it's betther than an empty brid-basket; but if yez +could only taste a small thrifle ov a Wicklow ham this mornin', an' a +smilin' pratie, instid of this brown soap, yez--." + +"Hisht!" said Lincoln, starting suddenly, and holding the bite half-way +to his mouth. + +"What is it?" I asked. + +"I'll tell yer in a minit, Cap'n." + +The hunter waved his hand to enjoin silence, and, striding to the edge +of the glade, fell flat to the ground. We knew he was listening, and +waited for the result. We had not long to wait, for he had scarce +brought his ear in contact with the earth when he sprang suddenly up +again, exclaiming: + +"_Houn's trailin' us_!" + +He wore a despairing look unusual to the bold character of his features. +This, with the appalling statement, acted on us like a galvanic shock, +and by one impulse we leaped from the fire and threw ourselves flat upon +the grass. + +Not a word was spoken as we strained our ears to listen. + +At first we could distinguish a low moaning sound, like the hum of a +wild bee; it seemed to come out of the earth. After a little it grew +louder and sharper; then it ended in a yelp and ceased altogether. +After a short interval it began afresh, this time still clearer; then +came the yelp, loud, sharp, and vengeful. There was no mistaking that +sound. _It was the bark of the Spanish bloodhound_. + +We sprang up simultaneously, looking around for weapons, and then +staring at each other with an expression of despair. + +The rifle and two case-knives were all the weapons we had. + +"What's to be done!" cried one, and all eyes were turned upon Lincoln. + +The hunter stood motionless, clutching his rifle and looking to the +ground. + +"How fur's the crik, Rowl?" he asked after a pause. + +"Not two hundred yards; this way it lies." + +"I kin see no other chance, Cap'n, than ter take the water: we may +bamfoozle the houn's a bit, if thar's good wadin'." + +"Nor I." I had thought of the same plan. + +"If we hed hed bowies, we mouter fit the dogs whar we air, but yer see +we hain't; an' I kin tell by thar growl thar ain't less nor a dozen on +'em." + +"It's no use to remain here; lead us to the creek, Raoul;" and, +following the Frenchman, we dashed recklessly through the thicket. + +On reaching the stream we plunged in. It was one of those mountain +torrents common in Mexico--spots of still water alternating with +cascades, that dash, and foam over shapeless masses of amygdaloidal +basalt. We waded through the first pool, and then, clambering among the +rocks, entered a second. This was a good stretch, a hundred yards or +more of still, crystal water, in which we were waist-deep. + +We took the bank at the lower, and on the same side, and, striking back +into the timber, kept on parallel to the course of the stream. We did +not go far away from the water, lest we might be pushed again to repeat +the _ruse_. + +All this time the yelping of the bloodhounds had been ringing in our +ears. Suddenly it ceased. + +"They have reached the water," said Clayley. + +"No," rejoined Lincoln, stopping a moment to listen: "they're chawin' +the bones of the varmint." + +"There again!" cried one, as their deep voices rang down the glen in the +chorus of the whole pack. The next minute the dogs were mute a second +time, speaking at intervals in a fierce growl that told us they were at +fault. + +Beyond an occasional bark we heard nothing of the bloodhounds until we +had gained at least two miles down the stream. We began to think we had +baffled them in earnest, when Lincoln, who had kept in the rear, was +seen to throw himself flat upon the grass. We all stopped, looking at +him with breathless anxiety. It was but a minute. Rising up with a +reckless air, he struck his rifle fiercely upon the ground, exclaiming: + +"They're arter us agin!" + +By one impulse we all rushed back to the creek, and, scrambling over the +rocks, plunged into the water and commenced wading down. + +A sudden exclamation burst from Raoul in the advance. We soon learnt +the cause, and to our dismay. We had struck the water at a point where +the stream canoned. + +On each side rose a frowning precipice, straight as a wall. Between +these the black torrent rushed through a channel only a few feet in +width so swiftly that, had we attempted to descend by swimming, we +should have been dashed to death against the rocks below. + +To reach the stream farther down it would be necessary to make a circuit +of miles; and the hounds would be on our heels before we could gain +three hundred yards. + +We looked at each other and at Lincoln, all panting and pale. + +"Stumped at last!" cried the hunter, gritting his teeth with fury. + +"No!" I shouted, a thought at that moment flashing upon me. "Follow +me, comrades! We'll fight the bloodhounds upon the cliff." + +I pointed upward. A yell from Lincoln announced his approval. + +"Hooray!" he cried, leaping on the bank; "that idee's jest like yer, +Cap. Hooray! Now, boys, for the bluff!" + +Next moment we were straining up the gorge that led to the precipice; +and the next we had reached the highest point, where the cliff, by a +bold projection, butted over the stream. There was a level platform +covered with tufted grass, and upon this we took our stand. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY THREE. + +A BATTLE WITH BLOODHOUNDS. + +We stood for some moments gathering breath and nerving ourselves for the +desperate struggle. I could not help looking over the precipice. It +was a fearful sight. In a vertical line two hundred feet below, the +stream rushing through the canon broke upon a bed of sharp, jagged +rocks, and then glided on in seething, snow-white foam. There was no +object between the eye and the water; no jutting ledge, not even a tree, +to break the fall--nothing but the spiky boulders below, and the foaming +torrent that washed them. + +It was some minutes before our unnatural enemies made their appearance, +but every howl sounded nearer and nearer. Our trail was warm, and we +knew they were scenting it on a run. At length the bushes crackled, and +we could see their white breasts gleaming through the leaves. A few +more springs, and the foremost bloodhound bounded out upon the bank, +and, throwing up his broad jaw, uttered a hideous "growl." + +He was at fault where we had entered the water. His comrades now dashed +out of the thicket, and, joining in a chorus of disappointment, +scattered among the stones. + +An old dog, scarred and cunning, kept along the bank until he had +reached the top of the canon. This was where we had made our crossing. +Here the hound entered the channel, and, springing from rock to rock, +reached the point where we had dragged ourselves out of the water. A +short yelp announced to his comrades that he had lifted the scent, and +they all threw up their noses and came galloping down. + +There was a swift current between two large boulders of basalt. We had +leaped this. The old dog reached it, and stood straining upon the +spring, when Lincoln fired, and the hound, with a short "wough", dropped +in upon his head, and was carried off like a flash. + +"Counts one less to pitch over," said the hunter, hastily reloading his +rifle. + +Without appearing to notice the strange conduct of their leader, the +others crossed in a string, and, striking the warm trail, came yelling +up the pass. It was a grassy slope, such as is often seen between two +tables of a cliff; and as the dogs strained upward we could see their +white fangs and the red blood that had baited them clotted along their +jaws. Another crack from Lincoln's rifle, and the foremost hound +tumbled back down the gorge. + +"Two rubbed out!" cried the hunter; and at the same moment I saw him +fling his rifle to the ground. + +The hounds kept the trail no longer. Their quarry was before them; +their howling ended, and they sprang upon us with the silence of the +assassin. The next moment we were mingled together, dogs and men, in +the fearful struggle of life and death! + +I know not how long this strange encounter lasted. I felt myself +grappling with the tawny monsters, and hurling them over the cliff. Now +they sprang at my throat, and I threw out my arms, thrusting them +fearlessly between the shining rows of teeth. Then I was free again, +and, seizing a leg, or a tail, or the loose flaps of the neck, I dragged +a savage brute towards the brink, and, summoning all my strength, dashed +him against its brow, and saw him tumble howling over. + +Once I lost my balance and nearly staggered over the precipice, and at +length, panting, bleeding, and exhausted, I fell to the earth. I could +struggle no longer. + +I looked around for my comrades. Clayley and Raoul had sunk upon the +grass, and lay torn and bleeding. Lincoln and Chane, holding a hound +between them, were balancing him over the bluff. + +"Now, Murter," cried the hunter, "giv' him a good heist, and see if we +kin pitch him cl'ar on t'other side; hee-woop!--hoo!" + +And with this ejaculation the kicking animal was launched into the air. +I could not resist looking after. The yellow body bounded from the face +of the opposite cliff, and fell with a heavy plash upon the water below. + +He was the last of the pack! + + + +CHAPTER FORTY FOUR. + +AN INDIAN RUSE. + +A wild shout now drew our attention, and, looking up the creek, we saw +our pursuers just debouching from the woods. They were all mounted, and +pressing their mustangs down to the bank, where they halted with a +strange cry. + +"What is that, Raoul? Can you tell the meaning of that cry?" + +"They are disappointed, Captain. They must dismount and foot it like +ourselves; there is no crossing for horses." + +"Good! Oh, if we had but a rifle each! This pass--." I looked down +the gorge. We could have defended it against the whole party, but we +were unarmed. + +The guerilleros now dismounted, tying their horses to the trees and +preparing to cross over. One, who seemed to be their leader, judging +from his brilliant dress and plumes, had already advanced into the +stream, and stood upon a projecting rock with his sword drawn. He was +not more than three hundred yards from the position we occupied on the +bluff. + +"Do you think you can reach him?" I said to Lincoln, who had reloaded +his gun, and stood eyeing the Mexican, apparently calculating the +distance. + +"I'm feerd, Cap'n, he's too fur. I'd guv a half-year's sodger-pay for a +crack out o' the major's Dutch gun. We can lose nothin' in tryin'. +Murter, will yer stan' afore me? Thar ain't no kiver, an' the feller's +watchin'. He'll dodge like a duck if he sees me takin' sight on 'im." + +Chane threw his large body in front, and Lincoln, cautiously slipping +his rifle over his comrade's shoulder, sighted the Mexican. + +The latter had noticed the manoeuvre, and, perceiving the danger he had +thrust himself into, was about turning to leap down from the rock when +the rifle cracked--his plumed hat flew off, and throwing out his arms, +he fell with a dead plunge upon the water! The next moment his body was +sucked into the current, and, followed by his hat and plumes, was borne +down the canon with the velocity of lightning. + +Several of his comrades uttered a cry of terror; and those who had +followed him out into the open channel ran back towards the bank, and +screened themselves behind the rocks. A voice, louder than the rest, +was heard exclaiming: + +"_Carajo! guardaos!--esta el rifle del diablo_!" (Look out! it is the +devil's rifle!) + +It was doubtless the comrade of Jose, who had been in the skirmish of La +Virgen, and had felt the bullet of the _zundnadel_. + +The guerilleros, awed by the death of their leader--for it was Yanez who +had fallen--crouched behind the rocks. Even those who had remained with +the horses, six hundred yards off, sheltered themselves behind trees and +projections of the bank. The party nearest us kept loading and firing +their escopettes. Their bullets flattened upon the face of the cliff or +whistled over our heads. Clayley, Chane, Raoul, and myself, being +unarmed, had thrown ourselves behind the scarp to avoid catching a stray +shot. Not so Lincoln, who stood boldly out on the highest point of the +bluff, as if disdaining to dodge their bullets. + +I never saw a man so completely soaring above the fear of death. There +was a sublimity about him that I remember being struck with at the time; +and I remember, too, feeling the inferiority of my own courage. It was +a stupendous picture, as he stood like a colossus clutching his deadly +weapon, and looking over his long brown beard at the skulking and +cowardly foe. He stood without a motion--without even winking--although +the leaden hail hurtled past his head, and cut the grass at his feet +with that peculiar "zip-zip" so well remembered by the soldier who has +passed the ordeal of a battle. + +There was something in it awfully grand--awful even to us; no wonder +that it awed our enemies. + +I was about to call upon Lincoln to fall back and shelter himself, when +I saw him throw up his rifle to the level. The next instant he dropped +the butt to the ground with a gesture of disappointment. A moment +after, the manoeuvre was repeated with a similar result, and I could +hear the hunter gritting his teeth. + +"The cowardly skunks!" muttered he; "they keep a-gwine like a bull's +tail in fly-time." + +In fact, every time Lincoln brought his piece to a level, the +guerilleros ducked, until not a head could be seen. + +"They ain't as good as thar own dogs," continued the hunter, turning +away from the cliff. "If we hed a lot of loose rocks, Cap'n, we mout +keep them down thar till doomsday." + +A movement was now visible among the guerilleros. About one-half of the +party were seen to mount their horses and gallop off up the creek. + +"They're gone round by the ford," said Raoul: "it's not over a mile and +a half. They can cross with their horses there and will be on us in +half an hour." + +What was to be done? There was no timber to hide us now--no chaparral. +The country behind the cliff was a sloping table, with here and there a +stunted palm-tree or a bunch of "Spanish bayonet" (_Yucca +angustifolia_). This would be no shelter, for from the point we +occupied, the most elevated on the ridge, we could have descried an +object of human size five miles off. At that distance from us the woods +began; but could we reach them before our pursuers would overtake us? + +Had the guerilleros all gone off by the ford we should have returned to +the creek bottom, but a party remained below, and we were cut off from +our former hiding-place. We must therefore strike for the woods. + +But it was necessary first to decoy the party below, otherwise they +would be after us before the others, and experience had taught us that +these Mexicans could run like hares. + +This was accomplished by an old Indian trick that both Lincoln and +myself had practised before. It would not have "fooled" a Texan Ranger, +but it succeeded handsomely with the guerilleros. + +We first threw ourselves on the ground in such a position that only our +heads could be seen by the enemy, who still kept blazing away from their +escopettes. After a short while our faces gradually sank behind the +crest of the ridge, until nothing but our forage-caps appeared above the +sward. We lay thus for some moments, showing a face or two at +intervals. Our time was precious, and we could not perform the +pantomime to perfection; but we were not dealing with Comanches, and for +"Don Diego" it was sufficiently artistical. + +Presently we slipped our heads one by one out of their covers, leaving +the five caps upon the grass inclining to each other in the most natural +positions. We then stole back lizard-fashion, and, after sprawling a +hundred yards or so, rose to our feet and ran like scared dogs. We +could tell that we had duped the party below, as we heard them firing +away at our empty caps long after we had left the scene of our late +adventure. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY FIVE. + +A COUP D'ECLAIR. + +Many an uneasy look was thrown over our shoulders as we struggled down +that slope. Our strength was urged to its utmost; and this was not +much, for we had all lost blood in our encounter with the sleuth-hounds, +and felt weak and faint. + +We were baffled, too, by a storm--a fierce, tropical storm. The rain, +thick and heavy, plashed in our faces, and made the ground slippery +under our feet. The lightning flashed in our eyes, and the electric +sulphur shortened our breathing. Still we coughed and panted and +staggered onward, nerved by the knowledge that death was behind us. + +I shall never forget that fearful race. I thought it would never end. +I can only liken it to one of those dreams in which we are always making +endeavours to escape from some horrible monster, and are as often +hindered by a strange and mysterious helplessness. I remember it now as +then. I have often repeated that flight in my sleep, and always awoke +with a feeling of shuddering horror. + +We had got within five hundred yards of the timber. Five hundred yards +is not much to a fresh runner; but to us, toiling along at a trot that +much more resembled a walk, it seemed an infinity. A small prairie, +with a stream beyond, separated us from the edge of the woods--a smooth +sward without a single tree. We had entered upon it--Raoul, who was +light of foot, being in the advance, while Lincoln from choice hung in +the rear. + +An exclamation from the hunter caused us to look back. We were too much +fatigued and worn out to be frightened at the sight. Along the crest of +the hill a hundred horsemen were dashing after us in full gallop, and +the next moment their vengeful screams were ringing in our ears. + +"Now, do yer best, boys!" cried Lincoln, "an' I'll stop the cavortin' of +that 'ere foremost feller afore he gits much furrer." + +We trailed our bodies on, but we could hear the guerilleros fast closing +upon us. The bullets from their escopettes whistled in our ears, and +cut the grass around our feet. I saw Raoul, who had reached the timber, +turn suddenly round and walk back. He had resolved to share our fate. + +"Save yourself, Raoul!" I called with my weak voice, but he could not +have heard me above the din. + +I saw him still walking towards us. I heard the screams behind; I heard +the shots, and the whizzing of bullets, and the fierce shouts. + +I heard the clatter of hoofs and the rasping of sabres as they leaped +out of their iron sheaths; and among these I heard the crack of +Lincoln's rifle, and the wild yell of the hunter. Then a peal of +thunder drowned all other sounds: the heavens one moment seemed on fire, +then black--black. I felt the stifling smell of sulphur--a hot flash--a +quick stroke from some invisible hand--and I sank senseless to the +earth! + +Something cool in my throat and over my face brought back the +consciousness that I lived. It was water. + +I opened my eyes, but it was some moments before I could see that Raoul +was bending over me, and laving my temples with water from his boot. I +muttered some half-coherent inquiries. + +"It was a _coup d'eclair_, Captain," said Raoul. + +Good heavens! _We had been struck by lightning_! Raoul, being in the +advance, had escaped. + +The Frenchman soon left me and went to Clayley, who, with Chane and the +hunter, lay close by--all three, as I thought, dead. They were pale as +corpses, with here and there a spot of purple, or a livid line traced +over their skins, while their lips presented the whitish, bloodless hue +of death. + +"Are they dead?" I asked feebly. + +"I think not--we shall see;" and the Frenchman poured some water into +Clayley's mouth. + +The latter sighed heavily, and appeared to revive. + +Raoul passed on to the hunter, who, as soon as he felt the water, +started to his feet, and, clutching his comrade fiercely by the throat, +exclaimed: + +"Yur cussed catamount! yer wud hang me, wud yur?" + +Seeing who it was, he stopped suddenly, and looked round with an air of +extreme bewilderment. His eye now fell upon the rifle, and, all at once +seeming to recollect himself, he staggered towards it and picked it up. +Then, as if by instinct, he passed his hand into his pouch and coolly +commenced loading. + +While Raoul was busy with Clayley and the Irishman, I had risen to my +feet and looked back over the prairie. The rain was falling in +torrents, and the lightning still flashed at intervals. At the distance +of fifty paces a black mass was lying upon the ground motionless--a mass +of men and horses, mingled together as they had fallen in their tracks. +Here and there a single horse and his rider lay prostrate together. +Beyond these, twenty or thirty horsemen were galloping in circles over +the plain, and vainly endeavouring to head their frightened steeds +towards the point where we were. These, like Raoul, had escaped the +stroke. + +"Come!" cried the Frenchman, who had now resuscitated Clayley and Chane; +"we have not a moment to lose. The mustangs will get over their fright, +and these fellows will be down upon us." + +His advice was instantly followed, and before the guerilleros could +manage their scared horses we had entered the thicket, and were crawling +along under the wet leaves. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY SIX. + +A BRIDGE OF MONKEYS. + +Raoul thought that their superstition might prevent the enemy from +pursuing us farther. They would consider the lightning as an +interference from above--a stroke of the _hrazos de Dios_. But we had +little confidence in this, and, notwithstanding our exhaustion, toiled +on through the chaparral. Wearied with over-exertion, half-famished-- +for we had only commenced eating when roused from our repast in the +morning--wet to the skin, cut by the bushes, and bitten by the poisoned +teeth of the bloodhounds--blinded, and bruised, and bleeding, we were in +but poor travelling condition. + +Even Lincoln, whose buoyancy had hitherto borne up, appeared cowed and +broken. For the first mile or two he seemed vexed at something and "out +of sorts", stopping every now and again, and examining his rifle in a +kind of bewilderment. + +Feeling that he was once more "in the timber", he began to come to +himself. + +"Thet sort o' an enemy's new ter me," he said, speaking to Raoul. +"Dog-gone the thing! it makes the airth look yeller!" + +"You'll see better by and by," replied his comrade. + +"I had need ter, Rowl, or I'll butt my brainpan agin one of these hyur +saplin's. Wagh! I cudn't sight a b'ar, if we were to scare him up jest +now." + +About five miles farther on we reached a small stream. The storm had +abated, but the stream was swollen with the rain, and we could not cross +it. We were now a safe distance from our pursuers--at least, we thought +so--and we resolved to "pitch our camp" upon the bank. + +This was a simple operation, and consisted in pitching ourselves to the +ground under the shade of a spreading tree. + +Raoul, who was a tireless spirit, kindled a fire, and commenced knocking +down the nuts of the corozo palm, that hung in clusters over our heads. +We dried our wet garments, and Lincoln set about dressing our numerous +wounds. In this surgical process our shirts suffered severely; but the +skill of the hunter soothed our swelling limbs, and after a frugal +dinner upon palm-nuts and pitahayas we stretched ourselves along the +greensward, and were soon asleep. + +I was in that dreamy state, half-sleeping half-waking, when I was +aroused by a strange noise that sounded like a multitude of voices--the +voices of children. Raising my head I perceived the hunter in an +attitude of listening. + +"What is it, Bob?" I inquired. + +"Dod rot me if I kin tell, Cap'n! Hyur, Rowl! what's all this hyur +channerin?" + +"It's the _araguatoes_," muttered the Frenchman, half-asleep. + +"Harry-gwaters! an what i' the name o' Nick's them? Talk plain lingo, +Rowl. What are they?" + +"Monkeys, then," replied the latter, waking up, and laughing at his +companion. + +"Thar's a good grist on 'em, then, I reckin," said Lincoln, throwing +himself back unconcernedly. + +"They are coming towards the stream. They will most likely cross by the +rocks yonder," observed Raoul. + +"How?--swim it?" I asked. "It is a torrent there." + +"Oh, no!" answered the Frenchman; "monkeys would rather go into fire +than water. If they cannot leap the stream, they'll bridge it." + +"Bridge it! and how?" + +"Stop a moment, Captain; you shall see." + +The half-human voices now sounded nearer, and we could perceive that the +animals were approaching the spot where we lay. Presently they appeared +upon the opposite bank, headed by an old grey-bearded chieftain, and +officered like a regiment of soldiers. + +They were, as Raoul had stated, the _araguatoes_ (_Simia ursina_) of the +tribe of "_alouattes_," or "_howlers_." They were of that species known +as "_monos colorados_" (red monkeys). They were about the size of +foxhounds, though there was a difference in this respect between the +males and females. Many of the latter were mothers, and carried their +human-like infants upon their shoulders as they marched along, or, +squatted upon their hams, tenderly caressed them, fondling and pressing +them against their _mammas_. Both males and females were of a tawny-red +or lion-colour; both had long beards, and the hair upon their bodies was +coarse and shaggy. Their tails were, each of them, three feet in +length; and the absence of hair on the under side of these, with the +hard, _callous_ appearance of the cuticle, showed that these appendages +were extremely prehensile. In fact, this was apparent from the manner +in which the young "held on" to their mothers; for they appeared to +retain their difficult seats as much by the grasp of their tails as by +their arms and hands. + +On reaching the bank of the "arroyo" the whole troop came to a sudden +halt. One--an _aide-de-camp_, or chief pioneer, perhaps--ran forward +upon a projecting rock; and, after looking across the stream, as if +calculating its width, and then carefully examining the trees overhead, +he scampered back to the troop, and appeared to communicate with the +leader. The latter uttered a cry--evidently a command--which was +answered by many individuals in the band, and these instantly made their +appearance in front, and running forward upon the bank of the stream, +collected around the trunk of a tall cotton-wood that grew over the +narrowest part of the arroyo. After uttering a chorus of discordant +cries, twenty or thirty of them were seen to scamper up the trunk of the +cotton-wood. On reaching a high point, the foremost--a strong fellow-- +ran out upon a limb, and, taking several turns of his tail around it, +slipped off and hung head downwards. The next on the limb--also a stout +one--climbed down the body of the first, and, whipping his tail tightly +around the neck and fore-arm of the latter, dropped off in his turn, and +hung head down. The third repeated this manoeuvre upon the second, and +the fourth upon the third, and so on, until the last one upon the string +rested his fore-paws upon the ground. + +The living chain now commenced swinging backwards and forwards, like the +pendulum of a clock. The motion was slight at first, but gradually +increased, the lowermost monkey striking his hands violently on the +earth as he passed the tangent of the oscillating curve. Several others +upon the limbs above aided the movement. The absence of branches upon +the lower part of the tree, which we have said was a cotton-wood +(_Populus angulata_), enabled them to execute this movement freely. + +The oscillation continued to increase until the monkey at the end of the +chain was thrown among the branches of a tree on the opposite bank. +Here, after two or three vibrations, he clutched a limb and held fast. +This movement was executed adroitly, just at the culminating point of +the "swing", in order to save the intermediate links from the violence +of a too sudden jerk. + +The chain was now fast at both ends, forming a complete +suspension-bridge, over which the whole troop, to the number of four or +five hundred, passed with the rapidity of thought. + +It was one of the most comical sights I ever beheld, to witness the +quizzical expression of countenances along that living chain. To see +the mothers, too, making the passage, with their tiny infants clinging +to their backs, was a sight at once comical and curious. + +The monkeys that formed the chain kept up an incessant talking, and, as +we fancied, _laughing_, and frequently they would bite at the legs of +the individuals passing over, as if to hurry them on! + +The troop was soon on the other side; but how were the animals forming +the bridge to get themselves over? This was the question that suggested +itself. Manifestly, thought we, by number one letting go his tail. But +then the _point d'appui_ on the other side was much lower down, and +number one, with half a dozen of his neighbours, would be dashed against +the opposite bank, or soused into the water. + +Here, then, was a problem, and we waited with some curiosity for its +solution. + +It was soon solved. A monkey was now seen attaching his tail to the +lowest on the bridge; another girdled him in a similar manner, and +another, and so on until a dozen more were added to the string. These +last were all powerful fellows; and running up to a high limb, they +lifted the bridge into a position almost horizontal. + +Then a scream from the last monkey of the new formation warned the _tail +end_ that all was ready; and the next moment the whole chain was swung +over, and landed safely on the opposite bank! + +The lowermost links now dropped off to the ground, while the higher ones +leaped to the branches and came down by the trunk. The whole troop then +scampered off into the chaparral and disappeared. + +"Aw, be the powers of Moll Kelly! iv thim little crayteurs hasn't more +sinse than the humans av these parts! It's a quare counthry, anyhow. +Be me sowl! it bates Banagher intirely!" + +A general laugh followed the Irishman's remarks; and we all sprang to +our feet, refreshed by our sleep, and lighter in spirits. + +The storm had disappeared, and the sun, now setting, gleamed in upon us +through the broad leaves of the palms. The birds were abroad once +more--brilliant creatures--uttering their sweet songs. Parrots and +trogons, and tanagers flashed around our heads; and the great-billed and +silly-looking toucans sat silent in the branches above. + +The stream had become fordable, and leaving our "lair", we crossed over, +and struck into the woods on the opposite side. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN. + +THE JARACHOS. + +We headed towards the National Bridge. Raoul had a friend half-way on +the route--an old comrade upon whom he could depend. His rancho was in +a secluded spot, near the road that leads to the rinconada [Note 1] of +San Martin. We should find refreshment there; and, if not a bed, "at +least", said Raoul, "a roof and a petate." We should not be likely to +meet anyone, as it was ten miles off, and it would be late when we +reached it. + +It _was_ late--near midnight--when we dropped in upon the +contrabandista, for such was the friend of Raoul; but he and his family +were still astir, under the light of a very dull wax candle. + +Jose Antonio--that was his name--was a little "sprung" at the five +bareheaded apparitions that burst so suddenly upon him; but, recognising +Raoul, we were cordially welcomed. + +Our host was a spare, bony old fellow, in leathern jacket and +_calzoneros_ (breeches), with a keen, shrewd eye, that took in our +situation at a single glance, and saved the Frenchman a great deal of +explanation. Notwithstanding the cordiality with which his friend +received him, I noticed that Raoul seemed uneasy about something as he +glanced around the room; for the rancho, a small cane structure, had +only one. + +There were two women stirring about--the wife of the contrabandista, and +his daughter, a plump, good-looking girl of eighteen or thereabout. + +"_No han cenado, caballeros_?" (You have not supped, gentlemen), +inquired, or rather affirmed, Jose Antonio, for our looks had answered +the question before it was asked. + +"_Ni comido--ni almorzado_!" (Nor dined--nor breakfasted!) replied +Raoul, with a grin. + +"_Carambo! Rafaela! Jesusita_!" shouted our host, with a sign, such +as, among the Mexicans, often conveys a whole chapter of intelligence. +The effect was magical. It sent Jesusita to her knees before the +tortilla-stones; and Rafaela, Jose's wife, seized a string of tassajo, +and plunged it into the olla. Then the little palm-leaf fan was +handled, and the charcoal blazed and crackled, and the beef boiled, and +the black beans simmered, and the chocolate frothed up, and we all felt +happy under the prospect of a savoury supper. + +I had noticed that, notwithstanding all this, Raoul seemed uneasy. In +the corner I discovered the cause of his solicitude in the shape of a +small, spare man, wearing the shovel-hat and black _capote_ of a priest. +I knew that my comrade was not partial to priests, and that he would +sooner have trusted Satan himself than one of the tribe; and I +attributed his uneasiness to this natural dislike of the clerical +fraternity. + +"Who is he, Antone?" I heard him whisper to the contrabandista. + +"The cure of San Martin," was the reply. + +"He is new, then?" said Raoul. + +"_Hombre de bien_," (A good man), answered the Mexican, nodding as he +spoke. + +Raoul seemed satisfied, and remained silent. + +I could not help noticing the "_hombre de bien_" myself; and no more +could I help fancying, after a short observation, that the rancho was +indebted for the honour of his presence more to the black eyes of +Jesusita than to any zeal on his part regarding the spiritual welfare of +the contrabandista or his family. + +There was a villainous expression upon his lips as he watched the girl +moving over the floor; and once or twice I caught him scowling upon +Chane, who, in his usual Irish way, was "blarneying" with Jesusita, and +helping her to fan the charcoal. + +"Where's the padre?" whispered Raoul to our host. + +"He was in the _rinconada_ this morning." + +"In the _rinconada_!" exclaimed the Frenchman, starting. + +"They're gone down to the Bridge. The band has had a fandango with your +people and lost some men. They say they have killed a good many +stragglers along the road." + +"So he was in the _rinconada_, you say? and this morning, too?" inquired +Raoul, in a half-soliloquy, and without heeding the last remark of the +contrabandista. + +"We've got to look sharp, then," he added, after a pause. + +"There's no danger," replied the other, "if you keep from the road. +Your people have already reached El Plan, and are preparing to attack +the Pass of the Cerro. `_El Cojo_,' they say, has twenty thousand men +to defend it." + +During this dialogue, which was carried on in whispers, I had noticed +the little padre shifting about uneasily in his seat. At its conclusion +he rose up, and bidding our host "_buenas noches_," was about to +withdraw, when Lincoln, who had been quietly eyeing him for some time +with that sharp, searching look peculiar to men of his kidney, jumped +up, and, placing himself before the door, exclaimed in a drawling, +emphatic tone: + +"_No, yer don't_!" + +"_Que cosa_?" (What's the matter?) asked the padre indignantly. + +"Kay or no kay--cosser or no cosser--yer don't go out o' hyur afore we +do. Rowl, axe yur friend for a piece o' twine, will yer?" + +The padre appealed to our host, and he in turn appealed to Raoul. The +Mexican was in a dilemma. He dared not offend the cure, and on the +other hand he did not wish to dictate to his old comrade Raoul. +Moreover, the fierce hunter, who stood like a huge giant in the door, +had a voice in the matter; and therefore Jose Antonio had three minds to +consult at one time. + +"It ain't Bob Linkin 'd infringe the rules of hospertality," said the +hunter; "but this hyur's a peculiar case, an' I don't like the look of +that 'ar priest, nohow yer kin fix it." + +Raoul, however, sided with the contrabandista, and explained to Lincoln +that the padre was the peaceable cure of the neighbouring village, and +the friend of Don Antonio; and the hunter, seeing that I did not +interpose--for at the moment I was in one of those moods of abstraction, +and scarcely noticed what was going on--permitted the priest to pass +out. I was recalled to myself more by some peculiar expression which I +heard Lincoln muttering after it was over than by the incidents of the +scene itself. + +The occurrence had rendered us all somewhat uneasy; and we resolved upon +swallowing our suppers hastily, and, after pushing forward some +distance, to sleep in the woods. + +The tortillas were by this time ready, and the pretty Jesusita was +pouring out the chocolate; so we set to work like men who had appetites. + +The supper was soon despatched, but our host had some _puros_ in the +house--a luxury we had not enjoyed lately; and, hating to hurry away +from such comfortable quarters, we determined to stay and take a smoke. + +We had hardly lit our cigars when Jesusita, who had gone to the door, +came hastily back, exclaiming: + +"_Papa--papa! hay gente fuera_!" (Papa, there are people outside!) + +As we sprang to our feet several shadows appeared through the open +walls. Lincoln seized his rifle and ran to the door. The next moment +he rushed back, shouting out: + +"I told yer so!" And, dashing his huge body against the back of the +rancho, he broke through the cane pickets with a crash. + +We were hastening to follow him when the frail structure gave way; and +we found ourselves buried, along with our host and his women, under a +heavy thatch of saplings and palm-leaves. + +We heard the crack of our comrade's rifle without--the scream of a +victim--the reports of pistols and escopettes--the yelling of savage +men; and then the roof was raised again, and we were pulled out and +dragged down among the trees, and tied to their trunks and taunted and +goaded, and kicked and cuffed, by the most villainous-looking set of +desperadoes it has ever been my misfortune to fall among. They seemed +to take delight in abusing us--yelling all the while like so many demons +let loose. + +Our late acquaintance--the cure--was among them; and it was plain that +he had brought the party on us. His "reverence" looked high and low for +Lincoln; but, to his great mortification, the hunter had escaped. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note 1. Rinconada. Literally _corner_; here it means a village. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT. + +PADRE JARAUTA. + +We were not long in learning into whose hands we had fallen; for the +name "Jarauta" was on every tongue. _They were the dreaded "Jarochos" +of the bandit priest_. + +"We're in for it now," said Raoul, deeply mortified at the part he had +taken in the affair with the cure. "It's a wonder they have kept us so +long. Perhaps _he's_ not here himself, and they're waiting for him." + +As Raoul said this the clatter of hoofs sounded along the narrow road; +and a horseman came galloping up to the rancho, riding over everything +and everybody with a perfect recklessness. + +"That's Jarauta," whispered Raoul. "If he sees _me_--but it don't +matter much," he added, in a lower tone: "we'll have a quick shrift all +the same: he can't more than _hang_--and that he'll be sure to do." + +"Where are these Yankees?" cried Jarauta, leaping out of his saddle. + +"Here, Captain," answered one of the Jarochos, a hideous-looking griffe +[Note 1] dressed in a scarlet uniform, and apparently the lieutenant of +the band. + +"How many?" + +"Four, Captain." + +"Very well--what are you waiting for?" + +"To know whether I shall _hang_ or _shoot_ them." + +"Shoot them, by all means! _Carambo_! we have no time for +neck-stretching!" + +"There are some nice trees here, Captain," suggested another of the +band, with as much coolness as if he had been conversing about the +hanging of so many dogs. He wished--a curiosity not uncommon--to +witness the spectacle of hanging. + +"_Madre de Dios_! stupid! I tell you we haven't time for such silly +sport. Out with you there! Sanchez! Gabriel! Carlos! send your +bullets through their Saxon skulls! Quick!" + +Several of the Jarochos commenced unslinging their carbines, while those +who guarded us fell back, to be out of range of the lead. + +"Come," exclaimed Raoul, "it can't be worse than this--we can only die; +and I'll let the padre know whom he has got before I take leave of him. +I'll give him a _souvenir_ that won't make him sleep any sounder +to-night. _Oyez, Padre Jarauta_!" continued he, calling out in a tone +of irony; "have you found Marguerita yet?" + +We could see between us and the dim rushlight that the Jarocho started, +as if a shot had passed through his heart. + +"Hold!" he shouted to the men, who were about taking aim; "drag those +scoundrels hither! A light there!--fire the thatch! _Vaya_!" + +In a moment the hut of the contrabandista was in flames, the dry +palm-leaves blazing up like flax. + +"Merciful Heaven! _they are going to roast us_!" + +With this horrible apprehension, we were dragged up towards the burning +pile, close to which stood our fierce judge and executioner. + +The bamboos blazed and crackled, and under their red glare we could now +see our captors with a terrible distinctness. A more demon-like set, I +think, could not have been found anywhere out of the infernal regions. + +Most of them were zamboes and mestizoes, and not a few pure Africans of +the blackest hue, maroons from Cuba and the Antilles, many of them with +their fronts and cheeks tattooed, adding to the natural ferocity of +their features. Their coarse woolly hair sticking out in matted tufts, +their white teeth set in savage grins, their strange armour and +grotesque attitudes, their wild and picturesque attire, formed a _coup +d'oeil_ that might have pleased a painter in his studio, but which at +the time had no charm for us. + +There were Pintoes among them, too--spotted men from the tangled forests +of Acapulco--pied and speckled with blotches of red, and black, and +white, like hounds and horses. They were the first of this race I had +ever seen, and their unnatural complexions, even at that fearful moment, +impressed me with feelings of disgust and loathing. + +A single glance at this motley crew would have convinced us, had we not +been quite sure of it already, that we had no favour to expect. There +was not a countenance among them that exhibited the slightest trait of +grace or mercy. No such expression could be seen around us, and we felt +satisfied that our time had come. + +The appearance of their leader did not shake this conviction. Revenge +and hatred were playing upon his sharp sallow features, and his thin +lips quivered with an expression of malice, plainly habitual. His nose, +like a parrot's beak, had been broken by a blow, which added to its +sinister shape; and his small black eyes twinkled with metallic +brightness. + +He wore a purplish-coloured manga, that covered his whole body, and his +feet were cased in the red leather boots of the country, with heavy +silver spurs strapped over them. A black sombrero, with its band of +gold bullion and tags of the same material, completed the _tout +ensemble_ of his costume. He wore neither beard nor moustache; but his +hair, black and snaky, hung down trailing over the velvet embroidery of +his _manga_. [See Note 2]. + +Such was the Padre Jarauta. + +Raoul's face was before him, upon which he looked for some moments +without speaking. His features twitched as if under galvanic action, +and we could see that his fingers jerked in a similar manner. + +They were painful memories that could produce this effect upon a heart +of such iron devilry, and Raoul alone knew them. The latter seemed to +enjoy the interlude; for he lay upon the ground, looking up at the +Jarocho with a smile of triumph upon his reckless features. + +We were expecting the next speech of the padre to be an order for +flinging us into the fire, which now burned fiercely. Fortunately, this +fancy did not seem to strike him just then. + +"Ha, monsieur!" exclaimed he at length, approaching Raoul. "I dreamt +that you and I would meet again; I dreamt it--ha! ha! ha!--it was a +pleasant dream, but not half so pleasant as the reality--ha! ha! ha! +Don't _you_ think so?" he added, striking our comrade over the face with +a mule quirt. "Don't _you_ think so?" he repeated, lashing him as +before, while his eyes sparkled with a fiendish malignity. + +"Did _you_ dream of meeting Marguerita again?" inquired Raoul, with a +satirical laugh, that sounded strange, even fearful, under the +circumstances. + +I shall never forget the expression of the Jarocho at that moment. His +sallow face turned black, his lips white, his eyes burned like a +demon's, and, springing forward with a fierce oath, he planted his +iron-shod heel upon the face of our comrade. The skin peeled off, and +the blood followed. + +There was something so cowardly--so redolent of a brutal ferocity--in +the act, that I could not remain quiet. With a desperate wrench I freed +my hands, skinning my wrists in the effort, and, flinging myself upon +him, I clutched at the monster's throat. + +He stepped back; my ankles were tied, and I fell upon my face at his +feet. + +"Ho! ho!" cried he, "what have we here? An officer, eh? Come!" he +continued, "rise up from your prayers and let me look at you. Ha! a +captain? And this?--a lieutenant! Gentlemen, you're too dainty to be +shot like common dogs; we'll not let the wolves have you; we'll put you +out of their reach; ha! ha! ha! Out of reach of wolves, do you hear! +And what's this?" continued he, turning to Chane and examining his +shoulders. + +"Bah! _soldado raso--Irlandes, carajo_!" (A common soldier--an +Irishman, too!) "What do _you_ do fighting among these heretics against +your own religion? There, renegade!" and he kicked the Irishman in the +ribs. + +"Thank yer honner!" said Chane, with a grunt, "small fayvours thankfully +received; much good may it do yer honner!" + +"Here, Lopez!" shouted the brigand. + +"Now for the fire!" thought we. + +"Lopez, I say!" continued he, calling louder. + +"_Aca, aca_!" (here!) answered a voice, and the griffe who had guarded +us came up, swinging his scarlet manga. + +"Lopez, these I perceive are gentlemen of rank, and we must send them +out of the world a little more gracefully, do you hear?" + +"Yes, Captain," answered the other, with stoical composure. + +"Over the cliffs, Lopez. _Facilis descensus Averni_--but you don't +understand Latin, Lopez. Over the cliffs, do you hear? You understand +that?" + +"Yes, Captain," repeated the Jarocho, moving only his lips. + +"You will have them at the Eagle's Cave by six in the morning; by six, +do you hear?" + +"Yes, Captain," again replied the subordinate. + +"And if any of them is missing--is missing, do you hear?" + +"Yes, Captain." + +"You will take his place in the dance--the dance--ha! ha! ha! You +understand that, Lopez?" + +"Yes, Captain." + +"Enough then, good Lopez--handsome Lopez! beautiful Lopez!--enough, and +good-night to you!" + +So saying, the Jarocho drew his quirt several times across the red cheek +of Raoul, and with a curse upon his lips he leaped upon his mustang and +galloped off. + +Whatever might be the nature of the punishment that awaited us at the +Eagle's Cave, it was evident that Lopez had no intention of becoming +proxy in it for any of us. This was plain from the manner in which he +set about securing us. We were first gagged with bayonet-shanks, and +then dragged out into the bushes. + +Here we were thrown upon our backs, each of us in the centre of four +trees that formed a parallelogram. Our arms and legs were stretched to +their full extent, and tied severally to the trees; and thus we lay, +spread out like raw hides to dry. Our savage captors drew the cords so +taut that our joints cracked under the cruel tension. In this painful +position, with a Jarocho standing over each of us, we passed the +remainder of the night. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +Note 1. Griffe, a cross-breed between a negro and a Carib. + +Note 2. Manga, a jacket with loose sleeves. + + + +CHAPTER FORTY NINE. + +A HANG BY THE HEELS. + +It was a long night--the longest I can remember--a night that fully +illustrated the horror of monotony. I can compare our feelings to those +of one under the influence of the nightmare. But, no--worse than that. +Our savage sentries occasionally sat down upon our bodies, and, lighting +their cigaritos, chatted gaily while we groaned. We could not protest; +we were gagged. But it would have made little difference; they would +only have mocked us the more. + +We lay glaring upon the moon as she coursed through a cloudy heaven. +The wind whistled through the leaves, and its melancholy moaning sounded +like our death-dirge. Several times through the night I heard the howl +of the prairie wolf, and I knew it was Lincoln; but the Jarochos had +pickets all around, and the hunter dared not approach our position. He +could not have helped us. + +The morning broke at last; and we were taken up, tied upon the backs of +vicious mules, and hurried off through the woods. We travelled for some +distance along a ridge, until we had reached its highest point, where +the cliff beetled over. Here we were unpacked, and thrown upon the +grass. About thirty of the Jarochos guarded us, and we now saw them +under the broad light of day; but they did not look a whit more +beautiful than they had appeared under the glare of the blazing rancho +on the preceding night. + +Lopez was at their head, and never relaxed his vigilance for a moment. +It was plain that he considered the padre a man of his word. + +After we had remained about half an hour on the brow of the cliff, an +exclamation from one of the men drew our attention; and, looking round, +we perceived a band of horsemen straggling up the hill at a slow gallop. +It was Jarauta, with about fifty of his followers. They were soon +close up to us. + +"_Buenos dias, caballeros_!" (Good day, gentlemen!) cried their leader +in a mocking tone, leaping down and approaching us, "I hope you passed +the night comfortably. Lopez, I am sure, provided you with good beds. +Didn't you, Lopez?" + +"Yes, Captain," answered the laconic Lopez. + +"The gentlemen rested well; didn't they, Lopez?" + +"Yes, Captain." + +"No kicking or tumbling about, eh?" + +"No, Captain." + +"Oh! then they rested well; it's a good thing: they have a long journey +before them--haven't they, Lopez?" + +"Yes, Captain." + +"I hope, gentlemen, you are ready for the road. Do you think you are +ready?" + +As each of us had the shank of a bayonet between his teeth, besides +being tied neck and heels, it is not likely that this interrogatory +received a reply; nor did his "reverence" expect any, as he continued +putting similar questions in quick succession, appealing occasionally to +his lieutenant for an answer. The latter, who was of the taciturn +school, contented himself, and his superior too, with a simple "yes" or +"no." + +Up to this moment we had no knowledge of the fate that awaited us. We +knew we had to die--that we knew; but in what way we were still +ignorant. I, for one, had made up my mind that the padre intended +pitching us over the cliffs. + +We were at length enlightened upon this important point. We were not to +take that awful leap into eternity which I had been picturing to myself. +A fate more horrible still awaited us. _We were to be hanged over the +precipice_! + +As if to aid the monster in his inhuman design, several pine-trees grew +out horizontally from the edge of the cliff; and over the branches of +these the Jarochos commenced reeving their long lazos. Expert in the +handling of ropes, as all Mexicans are, they were not long in completing +their preparations, and we soon beheld our gallows. + +"According to rank, Lopez," cried Jarauta, seeing that all was ready; +"the captain first--do you hear?" + +"Yes, Captain," answered the imperturbable brigand who superintended the +operations. + +"I shall keep _you_ to the last, Monsieur," said the priest, addressing +Raoul; "you will have the pleasure of bringing up the rear in your +passage through purgatory. Ha! ha! ha! Won't he, Lopez?" + +"Yes, Captain." + +"Maybe some of you would like a priest, gentlemen." This Jarauta +uttered with an ironical grin that was revolting to behold. "If you +would," he continued, "say so. I sometimes officiate in that capacity +myself. Don't I, Lopez?" + +"Yes, Captain." + +A diabolical laugh burst from the Jarochos, who had dismounted, and were +standing out upon the cliff, the better to witness the spectacle of our +hanging. + +"Well, Lopez, does any of them say `yes'?" + +"No, Captain." + +"Ask the Irishman there; ask him--he ought to be a good Catholic." + +The question was put to Chane, in mockery, of course, for it was +impossible for him to answer it; and yet he _did_ answer it, for his +look spoke a curse as plainly as if it had been uttered through a +trumpet. The Jarochos did not heed that, but only laughed the louder. + +"Well, Lopez, what says Saint Patrick? `Yes' or `no'?" + +"`No', Captain." + +And a fresh peal of ruffian laughter rang out. + +The rope was now placed around my neck in a running noose. The other +end had been passed over the tree, and lay coiled near the edge of the +cliff. Lopez held it in his hand a short distance above the coil, in +order to direct its movements. + +"All ready there, Lopez?" cried the leader. + +"Yes, Captain." + +"Swing off the captain, then--no, not yet; let him look at the floor on +which he is going to dance; that is but fair." + +I had been drawn forward until my feet projected over the edge of the +precipice, and close to the root of the tree. I was now forced into a +sitting posture, so that I might look below, my limbs hanging over. +Strange to say, I could not resist doing exactly what my tormentor +wished. Under other circumstances the sight would have been to me +appalling; but my nerves were strung by the protracted agony I had been +forced to endure. + +The precipice on whose verge I sat formed a side of one of those yawning +gulfs common in Spanish America, and known by the name _barrancas_. It +seemed as if a mountain had been scooped out and carried away. Not two +hundred yards horizontally distant was the twin jaw of the chasm, like a +black burnt wall; yet the torrent that roared and foamed between them +was full six hundred feet below my position! I could have flung the +stump of a cigar upon the water; in fact, an object dropping vertically +from where I sat--for it was a projecting point--must have fallen plumb +into the stream. + +It was not unlike the canon where we had tossed over the dogs; but it +was higher, and altogether more hell-like and horrible. + +As I looked down, several small birds, whose species I did not stay to +distinguish, were screaming below, and an eagle on his broad, bold wing +came soaring over the abyss, and flapped up to my very face. + +"Well, Captain," broke in the sharp voice of Jarauta, "what do you think +of it? A nice soft floor to dance upon, isn't it, Lopez?" + +"Yes, Captain." + +"All ready there? Stop! some music; we must have music: how can he +dance without music? _Hola_, Sanchez, where's your bugle?" + +"Here, Captain!" + +"Strike up, then! Play `Yankee Doodle'. Ha! ha! ha! `Yankee Doodle', +do you hear?" + +"Yes, Captain," answered the man; and the next moment the well-known +strains of the American national air sounded upon my ear, producing a +strange, sad feeling I shall never forget. + +"Now, Lopez!" cried the padre. + +I was expecting to be swung out, when I heard him again shout, "Stay!" +at the same time stopping the music. + +"By heavens! Lopez, I have a better plan," he cried: "why did I not +think of it before? It's not too late yet. Ha! ha! ha! _Carambo_! +They shall dance upon their heads! That's better--isn't it, Lopez?" + +"Yes, Captain." + +A cheer from the Jarochos announced their approval of this change in the +programme. + +The padre made a sign to Lopez, who approached him, appearing to receive +some directions. + +I did not at first comprehend the novelty that was about to be +introduced. I was not kept long in ignorance. One of the Jarochos, +seizing me by the collar, dragged me back from the ledge, and +transferred the noose from my neck to my ankles. Horror heaped upon +horror! I was to be _hung head downwards_! + +"That will be much prettier--won't it, Lopez?" + +"Yes, Captain." + +"The gentleman will have time to make himself ready for heaven before he +dies--won't he, Lopez?" + +"Yes Captain." + +"Take out the gag--let him have his tongue free; he'll need that to pray +with--won't he, Lopez?" + +"Yes, Captain." + +One of the Jarochos jerked the bayonet roughly from my mouth, almost +dislocating my jaw. The power of speech was gone. I could not, if I +had wished it, have uttered an intelligible word. + +"Give him his hands, too; he'll need them to keep off the zopilotes; +won't he, Lopez?" + +"Yes, Captain." + +The thong that bound my wrists was cut, leaving my hands free. I was on +my back, my feet towards the precipice. A little to my right stood +Lopez, holding the rope that was about to launch me into eternity. + +"Now the music--take the music for your cue, Lopez; then jerk him up!" +cried the sharp voice of the fiend. + +I shut my eyes, waiting for the pull. It was but a moment, but it +seemed a lifetime. There was a dead silence--a stillness like that +which precedes the bursting of a rock or the firing of a jubilee-gun. +Then I heard the first note of the bugle, and along with it a crack--the +crack of a rifle; a man staggered over me, besprinkling my face with +blood, and, falling forward, disappeared! + +Then came the pluck upon my ankles, and I was jerked head downwards into +the empty air. I felt my feet touching the branches above, and, +throwing up my arms, I grasped one, and swung my body upwards. After +two or three efforts I lay along the main trunk, which I embraced with +the hug of despair. I looked downward. A man was hanging below--far +below--at the end of the lazo! It was Lopez. I knew his scarlet manga +at a glance. He was hanging by the thigh in a snarl of the rope. + +His hat had fallen off. I could see the red blood running over his face +and dripping from his long, snaky locks. He hung head down. I could +see that he was dead! + +The hard thong was cutting my ankles, and--oh, heaven!--under our united +weight the roots were cracking! Appalling thought! "_The tree will +give way_!" I held fast with one arm. I drew forth my knife-- +fortunately I still had one--with the other. I opened the blade with my +teeth, and, stretching backward and downward, I drew it across the +thong. It parted with a "snig", and the red object left me like a flash +of light. There was a plunge upon the black water below--a plunge and a +few white bubbles; but the body of the Jarocho, with its scarlet +trappings, was seen no more after that plunge. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTY. + +A VERY SHORT TRIAL. + +During all this time shots were ringing over me. I could hear the +shouts and cheering of men, the trampling of heavy hoofs, and the +clashing of sabres. I knew that some strange deliverance had reached +us. I knew that a skirmish was going on above me, but I could see +nothing. I was below the level of the cliff. + +I lay in a terrible suspense, listening. I dared not change my +posture--I dared not move. The weight of the Jarocho's body had +hitherto held my feet securely in the notch; but that was gone, and my +ankles were still tied. A movement and my legs might fall off the limb +and drag me downward. I was faint, too, from the protracted struggle +for life and death, and I hugged the tree and held on like a wounded +squirrel. + +The shots seemed less frequent, the shouts appeared to recede from the +cliffs. Then I heard a cheer--an Anglo-Saxon cheer--an American cheer, +and the next moment a well-known voice rang in my ears. + +"By the livin' catamount, he's hyur yit! Whooray--whoop! Niver say +die! Hold on, Cap'n, teeth an' toenail! Hyur, boys! clutch on, a lot +o' yer! Quick!--hook my claws, Nat! Now pull--all thegether!--Hooray!" + +I felt a strong hand grasping the collar of my coat, and the next moment +I was raised from my perch and landed upon the top of the cliff. + +I looked around upon my deliverers. Lincoln was dancing like a lunatic, +uttering his wild, half-Indian yells. A dozen men, in the dark-green +uniform of the "mounted rifles", stood looking on and laughing at this +grotesque exhibition. Close by another party were guarding some +prisoners, while a hundred others were seen in scattered groups along +the ridge, returning from the pursuit of the Jarochos, whom they had +completely routed. + +I recognised Twing, and Hennessy, and Hillis, and several other officers +whom I had met before. We were soon _en rapport_, and I could not have +received a greater variety of congratulations had it been the hour after +my wedding. + +Little Jack was the guide of the rescue. + +After a moment spent in explanation with the major, I turned to look for +Lincoln. He was standing close by, holding in his hands a piece of +lazo, which he appeared to examine with a strange and puzzled +expression. He had recovered from his burst of wild joy and was +"himself again." + +"What's the matter, Bob?" I inquired, noticing his bewildered look. + +"Why, Cap'n, I'm a sorter bamfoozled yeer. I kin understan' well enuf +how the feller; irked yer inter the tree afore he let go. But how did +this hyur whang kum cuf? An' whar's the other eend?" + +I saw that he held in his hand the noose of the lazo which he had taken +from my ankles, and I explained the mystery of how it had "kum cut". +This seemed to raise me still higher in the hunter's esteem. Turning to +one of the riflemen, an old hunter like himself, he whispered--I +overheard him: + +"I'll tell yer what it is, Nat: he kin whip his weight in wild-cats or +grizzly b'ars any day in the year--_he_ kin, or my name ain't Bob +Linkin." + +Saying this, he stepped forward on the cliff and looked over; and then +he examined the tree, and then the piece of lazo, and then the tree +again, and then he commenced dropping pebbles down, as if he was +determined to measure every object, and fix it in his memory with a +proper distinctness. + +Twing and the others had now dismounted. As I turned towards them +Clayley was taking a pull at the major's pewter--and a good long pull, +too. I followed the lieutenant's example, and felt the better for it. + +"But how did you find us, Major?" + +"This little soldier," said he, pointing to Jack, "brought us to the +rancho where you were taken. From there we easily tracked you to a +large hacienda." + +"Ha! you routed the guerilla, then?" + +"Routed the guerilla! We saw no guerilla." + +"What! at the hacienda?" + +"Peons and women; nothing more. Yes, there was, too--what am I thinking +about? There was a party there that routed _us_; Thornley and Hillis +here have both been wounded, and are not likely to recover--poor +fellows!" + +I looked towards these gentlemen for an explanation. They were both +laughing, and I looked in vain. + +"Hennessy, too," said the major, "has got a stab under the ribs." + +"Och, by my soul have I, and no mistake!" cried the latter. + +"Come, Major--an explanation, if you please." + +I was in no humour to enjoy this joke. I half divined the cause of +their mirth, and it produced in me an unaccountable feeling of +annoyance, not to say pain. + +"Be my faith, then, Captain," said Hennessy, speaking for the major, "if +ye must know all about it, I'll tell ye myself. We overhauled a pair of +the most elegant crayteurs you ever clapped eyes upon; and rich--rich as +Craysus--wasn't they, boys?" + +"Oh, plenty of tin," remarked Hillis. + +"But, Captain," continued Hennessy, "how they took on to your `tiger'! +I thought they would have eaten the little chap, body, bones, and all." + +I was chafing with impatience to know more, but I saw that nothing worth +knowing could be had in that quarter. I determined, therefore, to +conceal my anxiety, and find an early opportunity to talk to Jack. + +"But beyond the hacienda?" I inquired, changing the subject. + +"We trailed you down stream to the canon, where we found blood upon the +rocks. Here we were at fault, when a handsome, delicate-looking lad, +known somehow or other to your Jack, came up and carried us to the +crossing above, where the lad gave us the slip, and we saw no more of +him. We struck the hoofs again where he left us, and followed them to a +small prairie on the edge of the woods, where the ground was strangely +broken and trampled. There they had turned back, and we lost all +trace." + +"But how, then, did you come here?" + +"By accident altogether. We were striking to the nearest point on the +National Road when that tall sergeant of yours dropped down upon us out +of the branches of a tree." + +"Whom did you see, Jack?" I whispered to the boy, after having drawn +him aside. + +"I saw them all, Captain." + +"Well?" + +"They asked where you were, and when I told them--" + +"Well--well!" + +"They appeared to wonder--" + +"Well?" + +"And the young ladies--" + +"And the young ladies?" + +"They ran round, and cried, and--" + +Jack was the dove that brought the olive-branch. + +"Did they say where they were going?" I inquired, after one of those +sweet waking dreams. + +"Yes, Captain, they are going up the country to live." + +"Where--where?" + +"I could not recollect the name--it was so strange." + +"Jalapa? Orizava? Cordova? Puebla? Mexico?" + +"I think it was one of them, but I cannot tell which. I have forgotten +it, Captain." + +"Captain Haller!" called the voice of the major; "here a moment, if you +please. These are some of the men who were going to hang you, are they +not?" + +Twing pointed to _five_ of the Jarachos who had been captured in the +skirmish. + +"Yes," replied I, "I think so; yet I could not swear to their identity." + +"By the crass, Major, I can swear to ivery mother's son av thim! There +isn't a scoundhrel among thim but has given me rayzon to remimber him, +iv a harty kick in the ribs might be called a rayzon. Oh! ye ugly +spalpeens! kick me now, will yez?--will yez jist be plazed to trid upon +the tail av my jacket?" + +"Stand out here, my man," said the major. + +Chane stepped forward, and swore away the lives of the five Jarochos in +less than as many minutes. + +"Enough!" said the major, after the Irishman had given his testimony. +"Lieutenant Claiborne," continued he, addressing an officer the youngest +in rank, "what sentence?" + +"Hang!" replied the latter in a solemn voice. + +"Lieutenant Hillis?" + +"Hang!" was the reply. + +"Lieutenant Clayley?" + +"Hang!" said Clayley in a quick and emphatic tone. + +"Captain Hennessy?" + +"Hang them!" answered the Irishman. + +"Captain Haller?" + +"Have you determined, Major Twing?" I asked, intending, if possible, to +mitigate this terrible sentence. + +"We have no time, Captain Haller," replied my superior, interrupting me, +"nor opportunity to carry prisoners. Our army has reached Plan del Rio, +and is preparing to attack the pass. An hour lost, and we may be too +late for the battle. You know the result of that as well as I." + +I knew Twing's determined character too well to offer further +opposition, and the Jarochos were condemned to be hung. + +The following extract from the major's report of the affair will show +how the sentence was carried out: + + _We killed five of them, and captured as many more, but the leader + escaped. The prisoners were tried, and sentenced to be hung. They + had a gallows already rigged for Captain Haller and his companions, + and for want of a better we hanged them upon that_. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTY ONE. + +A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF A BATTLE. + +It was still only an hour by sun as we rode off from the Eagle's Cave. +At some distance I turned in my saddle and looked back. It was a +singular sight, those _five_ hanging corpses, and one not easily +forgotten. What an appalling picture it must have been to their own +comrades, who doubtless watched the spectacle from some distant +elevation! + +Motionless they hung, in all the picturesque drapery of their strange +attire--draggling--dead! The pines bent slightly over, the eagle +screamed as he swept past, and high in the blue air a thousand bald +vultures wheeled and circled, descending at every curve. + +Before we had ridden out of sight the Eagle's Cliff was black with +zopilotes, hundreds clustering upon the pines, and whetting their fetid +beaks over their prey, still warm. I could not help being struck with +this strange transposition of victims. + +We forded the stream below, and travelled for some hours in a westerly +course over a half-naked ridge. At mid-day we reached an arroyo--a +clear, cool stream that gurgled along under a thick grove of the _palma +redonda_. Here we "nooned", stretching our bodies along the +green-sward. + +At sundown we rode into the _pueblito_ (hamlet) of Jacomulco, where we +had determined to pass the night. Twing levied on the _alcalde_ for +forage for "man and beast". The horses were picketed in the plaza, +while the men bivouacked by their fires--strong mounted pickets having +been thrown out on the roads or tracks that led to the village. + +By daybreak we were again in our saddles, and, riding across another +ridge, we struck the Plan River five miles above the bridge, and +commenced riding down the stream. We were still far from the water, +which roared and "soughed" in the bottom of a barranca, hundreds of feet +below our path. + +On crossing an eminence a sight suddenly burst upon us that caused us to +leap in our saddles. Directly before us, and not a mile distant, rose a +high round hill like a semi-globe, and from a small tower upon its top +waved the standard of Mexico. + +Long lines of uniformed men girdled the tower, formed in rank. Horsemen +in bright dresses galloped up and down the hill. We could see the +glitter of brazen helmets, and the glancing of a thousand bayonets. The +burnished howitzer flashed in the sunbeams, and we could discern the +cannoniers standing by their posts. Bugles were braying and drums +rolling. So near were they that we could distinguish the call. _They +were sounding the "long roll_!" + +"Halt! Great Heaven!" cried Twing, jerking his horse upon its haunches; +"we are riding into the enemy's camp! Guide," he added, turning +fiercely to Raoul, and half-drawing his sword, "what's this?" + +"The hill, Major," replied the soldier coolly, "is `El Telegrafo'. It +is the Mexican head-quarters, I take it." + +"And, sir, what mean you? It is not a mile distant?" + +"It is ten miles, Major." + +"Ten! Why, sir, I can trace the eagle upon that flag! It is not one +mile, by Heaven!" + +"By the eye, true; but by the road, Major, it is what I have said--ten +miles. We passed the crossing of the barranca some time ago; there is +no other before we reach El Plan." + +It was true. Although within range of the enemy's lightest metal, we +were ten miles off! + +A vast chasm yawned between us and them. The next moment we were upon +its brink, and, wheeling sharply to the right, we trotted on as fast as +the rocky road would allow us. + +"O heavens! Haller, we shall be too late. Gallop!" shouted Twing, as +we pressed our horses side by side. + +The troop at the word sprang into a gallop. El Plan, the bridge, the +hamlet, the American camp with its thousand white pyramids, all burst +upon us like a flash--below, far below, lying like a map. We are still +opposite El Telegrafo! + +"By heavens!" cried Twing, "our camp is empty!" + +A few figures only were visible, straggling among the tents: the +teamster, the camp-guard, the invalid soldier. + +"Look! look!" + +I followed the direction indicated. Against the long ridge that rose +over the camp a dark-blue line could be traced--a line of uniformed men, +glistening as they moved with the sparkle of ten thousand bayonets. It +wound along the hill like a bristling snake, and, heading towards El +Telegrafo, disappeared for a moment behind the ridge. + +A gun from the globe-shaped hill--and then another! another! another!--a +roll of musketry!--drums--bugles--shouts--cheering! + +"The battle's begun!" + +"We are too late!" + +We were still eight miles from the scene of action. We checked up, and +sat chafing in our saddles. + +And now the roll of musketry became incessant, and we could hear the +crack! crack! of the American rifles. And bombs hurtled and rockets +hissed through the air. + +The round hill was shrouded in a cloud of sulphur, and through the smoke +we could see small parties creeping up from rock to rock, from bush to +bush, firing as they went. We could see some tumbling back under the +leaden hail that was poured upon them from above. + +And then a strong band debouched from the woods below, and strained +upwards, daring all danger. Up, up!--and bayonets were crossed, and +sabres glistened and grew red, and wild cries filled the air. And then +came a cheer, long, loud, and exulting, and under the thinning smoke +thousands were seen rushing down the steep, and flinging themselves into +the woods. + +We knew not as yet which party it was that were thus flying. We looked +at the tower in breathless suspense. The cloud was around its base, +where musketry was still rolling, sending its deadly missiles after the +fugitives below. + +"Look! look!" cried a voice: "the Mexican flag--it is down! _See_! +`_the star-spangled banner_!'" + +The American standard was slowly unfolding itself over the blue smoke, +and we could easily distinguish the stripes, and the dark square in the +corner with its silvery stars; and, as if with one voice, our troops +broke into a wild "Hurrah!" + +In less time than you have taken in reading this account of it the +battle of Cerro Gordo was lost and won. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTY TWO. + +AN ODD WAY OF ESCAPING FROM A BATTLE-FIELD. + +We sat on our horses, facing the globe-shaped summit of El Telegrafo, +and watching our flag as it swung out from the tower. + +"Look yonder! what is that?" cried an officer, pointing across the +barranca. + +All eyes were now turned in the direction indicated. A white line was +slowly moving down the face of the opposite cliff. + +"Rein back, men! rein back!" shouted Twing, as his eye rested upon the +strange object. "Throw yourselves under cover of the hill!" + +In a minute our whole party--dragoons, officers, and all--had galloped +our horses into the bed of a dry arroyo, where we were completely +screened from observation. Three or four of us, dismounting, along with +Twing, crept cautiously forward to the position we had just left, and, +raising our heads over the bunch-grass, looked across the chasm. We +were close to its edge, and the opposite "cheek" of the barranca, a huge +wall of trap-rock, about a mile horizontally distant, rose at least a +thousand feet from the river bottom. Its face was almost perpendicular, +with the exception of a few stairs or platforms in the basaltic strata, +and from these hung out stunted palms, cedars, and dark, shapeless +masses of cacti and agave. + +Down this front the living line was still moving--slowly, zigzag--along +narrow ledges and over jutting points, as though some white liquid or a +train of gigantic insects were crawling down the precipice. The +occasional flash of a bright object would have told us the nature of +this strange phenomenon, had we not guessed it already. They were armed +men--Mexicans--escaping from the field of battle; and in a wood upon the +escarpment of the cliff we could perceive several thousands of their +comrades huddled up, and waiting for an opportunity to descend. They +were evidently concealed, and out of all danger from their pursuers on +the other side. Indeed, the main body of the American army had already +passed their position, and were moving along the Jalapa road, following +up the clouds of dust that hung upon the retreating squadrons of Santa +Anna. + +We lay for some time observing the motions of these cunning fugitives as +they streamed downward. The head of their line had nearly reached the +timbered bottom, through whose green fringes the Plan River swept +onward, curving from cliff to cliff. + +Impatient looks were cast towards the major, whose cold grey eye showed +no signs of action. + +"Well, Major--what's to be done?" asked one. + +"Nothing!" was the impressive reply. + +"Nothing!" echoed everyone. + +"Why, what could we do?" + +"Take them prisoners--every one of them." + +"Whom prisoners?" + +"These Mexicans--these before us." + +"Ha! before you they are--a long way, too. Bah! they are ten miles off, +and, even if we could ride straight down the bluff with winged horses, +what could our hundred men do in that jungle below? Look yonder!--there +are a thousand of them crawling over the rocks?" + +"And what signify numbers?" asked I, now speaking for the first time. +"They are already defeated and flying--half of them, I'll wager, without +arms. Come, Major, let us go! We can capture the whole party without +firing a shot." + +"But, my dear Captain, we cannot reach them where they are." + +"It is not necessary. If we ride up the cliffs, they will come to us." + +"How?" + +"You see this dark line. It is not three miles distant. You know that +timber like that does not grow on the naked face of a cliff. It is a +gorge, and, I'll warrant, a watercourse too. They will pass through +it." + +"Beautiful! We could meet them as they came up it," cried several at +once. + +"No, lads--no! You are all wrong. They will keep the bottom--the heavy +timber, I warrant you. It's no use losing time. We must round to the +road, and forward. Who knows that we may not find work enough yet? +Come!" + +So saying, our commanding officer rose up, and, walking back to the +arroyo, leapt into his saddle. Of course we followed his example, but +with no very amiable feelings. I, for one, felt satisfied that we might +have made a dashing thing of it, and entered the camp with flying +colours. I felt, and so did my friend Clayley, like a schoolboy who had +come too late for his lesson, and would gladly have been the bearer of a +present to his master: moreover, we had learned from our comrades that +it was the expressed intention of the commander-in-chief to capture as +many of the enemy as possible on this occasion. This determination +arose from the fact, well authenticated, that hundreds who had marched +out of Vera Cruz on parole had gone direct to Cerro Gordo, with the +intention of fighting us again; and no doubt some of these honourable +soldiers were among the gentry now climbing down the barranca. + +With these feelings, Clayley and I were anxious to do something that +might cover our late folly, and win our way back to favour at +head-quarters. + +"Let me take fifty of your men and try this. You know, Major Twing, I +have a score to rub out." + +"I cannot, Captain--I cannot. We must on. Forward!" + +And the next moment we were moving at a trot in the direction of El +Plan. + +For the first time I felt angry at Twing; and, drawing my bridle +tighter, I fell back to the rear. What would I not have given for the +"Rifle Rangers" at that moment? + +I was startled from a very sullen reverie by a shot, the whistling of a +rifle bullet, and the loud "Halt" of the major in front. Raising myself +on the instant, I could see a greenish-looking object just disappearing +over the spur of a ridge. It was a vidette, who had fired and run in. + +"Do you think they are any of our people?" + +"That 'ar's one of our kump'ny, Cap'n; I seed the green on his cap," +said Lincoln. + +I galloped to the front. Twing was just detaching a small party to +reconnoitre. I fell in along with this, and after riding a hundred +yards we looked over the ridge, and saw, not four hundred yards distant, +a ten-inch howitzer, that had just been wheeled round, and now stood +gaping at us. In the rear of the gun stood a body of artillerists, and +on their flanks a larger body of what appeared to be light infantry or +rifles. It would have been anything but a pleasing sight, but that a +small flag with red and white stripes was playing over the gun; and our +party, heedless of their orders, leaped their horses on the ridge, and, +pulling off their caps, saluted it with a cheer. + +The soldiers by the battery still stood undecided, not knowing what to +make of our conduct, as they were the advanced outpost in this +direction, when a mounted rifleman galloped up and displayed the flag of +his regiment. + +A wild cheer echoed back from the battery; and the next moment both +parties had met, and were shaking each other's hands with the hearty +greetings of long-parted friends. + +Not the least interesting to me was the fact that my own corps, under +the command of its lieutenant, formed the principal guard of the gun; +and the welcome of our old comrades was such as we should have received +had we come back from the grave. They had long since made up their +minds that they had seen the last of us; and it was quite amusing to +witness these brave _tirailleurs_ as they gathered around Lincoln and +his comrades to hear the story of our adventures. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTY THREE. + +A WHOLESALE CAPTURE. + +In a few minutes our greetings were over. Twing moved on, taking with +him his squadron of mounted men. I had made up my mind to take the +_opposite road_--the "back track". I was now in command of a force--my +own--and I felt keenly the necessity of doing something to redeem my +late folly. Clayley was as anxious as myself. + +"You do not need them any longer?" said I to Ripley, a gallant young +fellow, who commanded the howitzer. + +"No, Captain; I have thirty artillerists here. It is strange if we +can't keep the piece and manage it against ten times that number of such +heroes as we have seen over yonder." And he pointed to the flying enemy +on the other side of the barranca. + +"What say you to going with us?" + +"I should like it well; but duty, my dear H.--duty! I must stay by the +gun." + +"Good-bye, then, comrade! We have no time to lose--farewell!" + +"Good-bye; and if you're whipped, fall back on me. I'll keep the piece +here until you return, and there'll be a good load of grape ready for +anybody that may be in pursuit of you." + +The company had by this time formed on the flank of the howitzer, and at +the words "Forward!--quick time!" started briskly across the hills. + +In a few minutes we had reached the point where the road trended for +some distance along the brow of the precipice. Here we halted a moment; +and taking Lincoln and Raoul, I crawled forward to our former point of +observation. + +Our time spent at the battery had been so short that, with the +difficulty which the enemy experienced in descending the cliff, the head +of their line had only now reached the bottom of the barranca. They +were running in twos and threes towards the stream, which, near this +point, impinged upon the foot of the precipice. With a small glass that +I had obtained from Ripley I could see their every movement. Some of +them were without arms--they had doubtless thrown them away--while +others still carried their muskets, and not a few were laden with +knapsacks, and heavy burdens too; the household gods--perhaps stolen +ones--of their own camp. As they reached the green-sward, dropping down +in a constant stream, they rushed forward to the water, scrambling into +it in thirsty crowds, and falling upon their knees to drink. Some of +them filled their canteens and went on. + +"They intend to take the hills," thought I. I knew there was no water +for miles in that direction. + +As I swept the glass round the bottom of the cliff, I was struck with an +object that stood in a clump of palm-trees. It was a mule saddled, and +guarded by several soldiers more richly uniformed than the masses who +were struggling past them. + +"They are waiting for some officer of rank," thought I. I moved the +glass slowly along the line of descending bodies, and upward against the +rocks to a small platform, nearly halfway up the cliff. Several bright +uniforms flashed upon the lens. The platform was shaded with palms; and +I could see that this party had halted a moment for the purpose (as I +then conjectured) of allowing the foremost fugitives to pioneer the +wooded bottom. I was right. As soon as these had crossed the stream, +and made some way in the jungle along its banks, the former continued +their descent; and now I saw what caused my pulse to beat feverishly-- +that one of these carried a dark object on his back. An object?--a +man--and that man could be no other than the lame tyrant of Mexico. + +I can scarcely describe my feelings at this moment. The young hunter +who sees noble game--a bear, a panther, a buffalo--within reach of his +rifle for the first time, might feel as I did. I hated this man, as all +honest men must and should hate a cowardly despot. During our short +campaign I had heard many a well-authenticated story of his base +villainy, and I believe at that moment I would have willingly parted +with my hand to have brought him as near to me as he appeared under the +field of the telescope. I thought I could even distinguish the lines, +deep furrowed by guilt, on his dark, malice-marked face; and, as I +became sure of the identity, I drew back my head, cautioning my +companions to do the same. + +Now was the time for action, and, putting up the glass, we crawled back +to our comrades. I had learned from Raoul that the dark line which I +had noticed before was, as I had conjectured, the canon of a small +arroyo, heavily timbered, and forming a gap or pass that led to the Plan +River. It was five miles distant, instead of three. So much the +better, and with a quick, crouching gait we were once more upon our way. +I had told my comrades enough to make some of them as eager as I. Many +of them would have given half a life for a shot at game like that. Not +a few of them remembered they had lost a brother on the plains of +Goliad, or at the fortress of the Alamo. + +The Rangers, moreover, had been chafing "all day for a fight", and now, +so unexpectedly led at something like it, they were just in the humour. +They moved as one man, and the five miles that lay between us and the +gorge were soon passed to the rear. We reached it, I think, in about +half an hour. Considering the steep pass through which the enemy must +come, we knew there was a breathing-time, though not long, for us; and +during this I matured my plans, part of which I had arranged upon the +route. + +A short survey of the ground convinced us that it could not have been +better fitted for an ambuscade had we chosen it at our leisure. The +gorge or canon did not run directly up the cliff, but in a _zigzag_ +line, so that a man at the top could only alarm another coming up after +him by shouting or firing his piece. This was exactly what we wanted, +knowing that, although we might capture a few of the foremost, those in +the rear, being alarmed, could easily take to the river bottom and make +their escape through the thickets. It was our design to make our +prisoners, if possible, without firing a single shot; and this, under +the circumstances, we did not deem an impossible matter. + +The pass was a dry arroyo, its banks fringed with large pines and +cotton-woods, matted together by llianas and vines. Where the gorge +debouched into the uplands its banks were high and naked, with here and +there a few scattered palmettos that grew up from huge hassocks of +bunch-grass. + +Behind each of these branches a rifleman was stationed, forming a +deployed line, with its concave arc facing the embouchure of the gorge, +and gradually closing in, so that it ended in a clump of thick chaparral +upon the very verge of the precipice. At this point, on each side of +the path, were stationed half a dozen men, in such a position as to be +hidden from any party passing upward, until it had cleared the canon and +its retreat was secured against. At the opposite end of the elliptical +deployment a stronger party was stationed, Clayley in command and Raoul +to act as interpreter. Oakes and I took our places, commanding the +separate detachments on the brow. + +Our arrangements occupied us only a few minutes. I had to deal with +men, many of whom had "surrounded" buffaloes in a somewhat similar +manner; and it did not require much tact to teach them a few +modifications in the game. In five minutes we were all in our places, +waiting anxiously and in perfect silence. + +As yet not a murmur had reached us from below, except the sighing of the +wind through the tall trees, and the "sough" of the river as it tumbled +away over its pebbly bed. Now and then we heard a stray shot, or the +quick, sharp notes of a cavalry bugle; but these were far off, and only +told of the wild work that was still going on along the road towards +Encerro and Jalapa. + +Not a word was spoken by us to each other. The men who were deployed +along the hill lay hidden behind the hassocks of the palmettos, and from +our position not one of them was to be seen. + +I must confess I felt strange emotions at this moment--one of the most +anxious of my life; and although I felt no hate towards the enemy--no +desire to injure one of them, excepting him of whom I have spoken--there +was something so wild, so thrilling, in the excitement of thus +entrapping _man_, the highest of all animals, that I could not have +foregone the inhuman sport. I had no intention that it should be +inhuman. I well knew what would be their treatment as prisoners of war; +and I had given orders that not a shot should be fired nor a blow +struck, in case they threw down their arms and yielded without +resistance. But for _him_--humanity had many a score to settle with +him; and at the time I did not feel a very strong inclination to resist +what would be the Rangers' desire on that question. + +"Is not all our fine ambuscade for nothing?" I said to myself, after a +long period of waiting, and no signs of an enemy. + +I had begun to fancy as much, and to suspect that the flying Mexicans +had kept along the river, when a sound like the humming of bees came up +the pass. Presently it grew louder, until I could distinguish the +voices of men. _Our_ hearts as yet beat louder than their voices. Now +the stones rattled, as, loosened from their sloping beds, they rolled +back and downwards. + +"_Guardaos, hombre_!" (Look out, man!) shouted one. + +"_Carrajo_!" cried another; "take care what you're about! I haven't +escaped the Yankee bullets to-day to have my skull cloven in that +fashion. _Arriba! arriba_!" + +"I say, Antonio--you're sure this road leads out above?" + +"Quite sure, _camarado_." + +"And then on to Orizava?" + +"On to Orizava--_derecho, derecho_" (straight). + +"But how far--_hombre_?" + +"Oh! there are halting-places--_pueblitos_." + +"_Vaya_! I don't care how soon we reach them. I'm as hungry as a +famished coyote." + +"_Carrai_! the coyotes of these parts won't be hungry for some time. +_Vaya_!" + +"Who knows whether they've killed `El Cojo'?" + +"`Catch a fox, kill a fox.' No. He's found some hole to creep through, +I warrant him. + + "`El que mata un ladron + Tiene cien anos de perdon.'" + +(He who kills a robber will receive a hundred years of pardon for the +offence.) + +This was hailed with a sally by the very men who, only one hour ago, +were shouting themselves hoarse with the cries of "_Viva el general, +Viva Santa Anna_!" And on they scrambled, talking as before, one of +them informing his comrades with a laugh that if "los Tejanos" could lay +their hands upon "El Cojo", they, the Mexicans, would have to look out +for a new president. + +They had now passed us. We were looking at their backs. The first +party contained a string of fifteen or twenty, mostly soldiers of the +"raw battalions"--conscripts who wore the white linen jackets and wide, +sailor-looking pantaloons of the volunteer. + +Raw as these fellows were, either from their position in the battle, or, +more likely, from a better knowledge of the country, they had been able +thus far to make their escape, when thousands of their veteran +companions had been captured. But few of them were armed; they had +thrown their guns away in the hurry of flight. + +At this moment we could distinguish the voice of Raoul: + +"_Alto! abajo las armas_!" (Halt! down with your arms!) + +At this challenge we could see--for they were still in sight--that some +of the Mexicans leaped clear up from the ground. One or two looked +back, as if with the intention of re-entering the gorge, but a dozen +muzzles met their gaze. + +"_Adelante! adelante_!--_somos amigos_." (Forward!--we are friends), I +said to them in a half-whisper, fearing to alarm their comrades in the +rear, at the same time waving them onward. + +As on one side Clayley presented a white flag, while on the other there +was to be seen a bunch of dark yawning tubes, the Mexicans were not long +in making their choice. In a minute they had disappeared from our +sight, preferring the companionship of Clayley and Raoul, who would know +how to dispose of them in a proper manner. + +We had scarcely got rid of these when another string debouched up the +glen, unsuspicious as were their comrades of the fate that awaited them. + +These were managed in a similar manner; and another and another party, +all of whom were obliged to give up their arms and fling themselves to +the earth, as soon as they had reached the open ground above. + +This continued until I began to grow fearful that we were making more +prisoners than we could safely hold, and on the knowledge of this fact +they might try to overpower us. + +But the tempting prize had not yet appeared. He could not be far +distant, and, allured by this prospect, I determined to hold out a while +longer. + +A termination, however, to our wholesale trapping was brought about by +an unexpected event. A party, consisting of some ten or fifteen men, +many of them officers, suddenly appeared, and marched boldly out of the +gorge. + +As these struck the level ground we could hear the "_Alto_!" of Raoul; +but instead of halting, as their companions had done, several of them +drew their swords and pistols and rushed down the pass. + +A volley from both sides stopped the retreat of some; others escaped +along the sides of the cliff; and a few--not over half a dozen-- +succeeded in entering the gorge. It was, of course, beyond our power to +follow them; and I ordered the deployed line to close in around the +prisoners already taken, lest they should attempt to imitate their +braver comrades. + +We had no fear of being assailed from the ravine. Those who had gone +down carried a panic along with them that would secure us from that +danger. At the same time we knew that the tyrant would now be alarmed +and escape. + +Several of the Rangers--_souvenirs_ of Santa Fe and San Jacinto-- +requested my permission to go upon his "trail" and pick him off. + +This request, under the circumstances, I could not grant, and we set +about securing our prisoners. Gun-slings and waist-belts were soon +split into thongs, and with these our captives were tied two and two, +forming in all a battalion of a hundred and fifteen files--two hundred +and thirty men. + +With these, arranged in such a manner as we could most conveniently +guard them, we marched triumphantly into the American camp. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR. + +A DUEL, WITH AN ODD ENDING. + +After the battle of Cerro Gordo, our victorious troops pursued the enemy +on to Jalapa, where the army halted to bring up its wounded, and prepare +for an advance upon the capital of Mexico. + +The Jalapenos did not receive us inhospitably--nor the Jalapenas either. +They expected, as a matter of course, that we would sack their +beautiful city. This we did not do, and their gratitude enabled our +officers to pass their time somewhat agreeably. The gay round that +always succeeds a battle--for dead comrades are soon forgotten amidst +congratulations and new titles--had no fascination for me. + +The balls, the _tertulias_, the _dias de campo_, were alike insipid and +tiresome. _She_ was not there--and where? I knew not. I might never +see her again. All I knew was that they had gone up the country-- +perhaps to Cordova or Orizava. + +Clayley shared my feelings. The bright eyes in the balconies, the sweet +voices in the orange-shaded patios of Jalapa, had neither brightness nor +music for us. We were both thoroughly miserable. + +To add to this unhappy state of things, a bad feeling had sprung up +among the officers of our army--a jealousy between the old and the new. +Those of the old standing army, holding themselves as a species of +military aristocracy, looked upon their brethren of the new regiments as +"interlopers"; and this feeling pervaded all ranks, from the +commander-in-chief down to the lowest subaltern. + +It did not, however, interest all individuals. There were many +honourable men on both sides who took no part in a question so +ridiculous, but, on the contrary, endeavoured to frown it down. It was +the child of idleness and a long spell of garrison duty. On the eve of +a battle it always disappeared. I have adverted to this, not that it +might interest the reader, but as explaining a result connected with +myself. + +One of the most prominent actors in this quarrel, on the side of the +"old regulars", was a young officer named Ransom, a captain in an +infantry regiment. He was a good fellow in other respects, and a brave +soldier, I believe; his chief weakness lay in a claim to be identified +with the "aristocracy." + +It is strange that this miserable ambition is always strongest where it +should exist with the least propriety. I have observed, in travelling +through life--and so has the reader, no doubt--that _parvenus_ are the +greatest sticklers for aristocratic privilege; and Captain Ransom was no +exception to this rule. In tumbling over some old family papers, I had +found a receipt from the gallant captain's grandfather to my own +progenitor, acknowledging the payment of a bill for leather breeches. + +It so happened that this very receipt was in my portmanteau at the time; +and, nettled at the "carryings-on" of the tailor's grandson, I drew it +forth and spread it out upon the mess-table. My brethren of the mess +were highly tickled at the document, several of them copying it off for +future use. + +A copy soon reached Ransom, who, in his hour of indignation, made use of +certain expressions that, in their turn, soon reached me. + +The result was a challenge, borne by my friend Clayley, and the affair +was arranged for the following morning. + +The place chosen for our morning's diversion was a sequestered spot upon +the banks of the river Zedena, and along the solitary road that leads +out towards the Cofre de Perote. + +At sunrise we rode out in two carriages, six of us, including our +seconds and surgeons. About a mile from town we halted, and leaving the +carriages upon the road, crossed over into a small glade in the midst of +the chaparral. + +It was as pretty a spot for our purpose as the heart could wish for, and +had often, we were informed, been used for similar morning exercises-- +that was, before chivalry had died out among the descendants of Cortez +and the conquerors. + +The ground was soon lined off--ten paces--and we took our stands, back +to back. We were to wheel at the word "Ready!" and fire at "One, two, +three!" + +We were waiting for the word with that death-like silence which always +precedes a similar signal, when Little Jack, who had been left with the +carriages, rushed into a glade, calling with all his might: + +"Captain! Captain!" + +Every face was turned upon him with scowling inquiry, when the boy, +gasping for breath, shouted out: + +"The Mexicans are on the road!" + +The words had scarcely passed his lips when the trampling of hoofs +sounded in our ears, and the next moment a band of horsemen came driving +pell-mell into the opening. At a single glance we recognised the +guerilla! + +Ransom, who was nearest, blazed away at the foremost of the band, +missing his aim. With a spring the guerillero was over him, his sabre +raised for the blow. I fired, and the Mexican leapt from his saddle +with a groan. + +"Thank you, Haller," cried my antagonist, as we rushed side by side +towards the pistols. + +There were four pairs in all, and the surgeons and seconds had already +armed themselves, and were pointing their weapons at the enemy. We +seized the remaining two, cocking them as we turned. + +At this moment my eye fell upon a black horse, and, looking, I +recognised the rider. He saw and recognised me at the same moment, and, +driving the spurs into his horse's flanks, sprang forward with a yell. +With one bound he was over me, his white teeth gleaming like a tiger's. +His sabre flashed in my eyes--I fired--a heavy body dashed against me--I +was struck senseless to the earth! + +I was only stunned, and in a few moments I came to my senses. Shots and +shouts rang around me. I heard the trampling of hoofs and the groans of +wounded men. + +I looked up. Horsemen in dark uniforms were galloping across the glade +and into the woods beyond. I recognised the yellow facings of the +American dragoons. + +I drew my hand over my face; it was wet with blood. A heavy body lay +across mine, which Little Jack, with all his strength, was endeavouring +to drag off. I crawled from under it, and, bending over, looked at the +features. I knew them at a glance. I muttered to my servant: + +"Dubrosc! He is dead!" + +His body lay spread out in its picturesque attire. A fair form it was. +A bullet--my own--had passed through his heart, killing him instantly. +I placed my hand upon his forehead. It was cold already, and his +beautiful features were white and ashy. His eyes glared with the +ghastly expression of death. + +"Close them!" I said to the boy, and turned away from the spot. + +Wounded men lay around, dragoons and Mexicans, and some were already +dead. + +A party of officers was at the moment returning from the pursuit, and I +recognised my late adversary, with our seconds and surgeons. My friend +Clayley had been wounded in the _melee_, and I observed that he carried +his arm in a sling. A dragoon officer galloped up. + +It was Colonel Harding. + +"These fellows, gentlemen," cried he, reining up his horse, "just came +in time to relieve me from a disagreeable duty. I have orders from the +commander-in-chief to arrest Captains Haller and Ransom. + +"Now, gentlemen," he continued with a smile, "I think you have had +fighting enough for one morning, and if you will promise me to be quiet +young men, and keep the peace, I shall, for once in my life, take the +liberty of disobeying a general's orders. What say you, gentlemen?" + +It needed not this appeal. There had been no serious cause of quarrel +between my adversary and myself, and, moved by a similar impulse, we +both stepped forward and grasped one another by the hand. + +"Forgive me, my dear Haller," said Ransom, "I retract all. I assure you +my remarks were only made upon the spur of the moment, when I was angry +about those cursed leather breeches." + +"And I regret to have given you cause," I replied. "Come with me to my +quarters. Let us have a glass of wine together, and we shall light our +cigars with the villainous document." + +A burst of laughter followed, in which Ransom good-naturedly joined; and +we were soon on our way to town, seated in the same carriage, and the +best friends in creation! + +Some of the soldiers who had "rifled" the body of Dubrosc found a paper +upon him which proved that the Frenchman was a spy in the service of +Santa Anna. He had thrown himself into the company at New Orleans with +the intention of gaining information, and then deserting on his arrival +at Mexico. This he succeeded in doing in the manner detailed. Had he +been in command of the "Rifle Rangers", he would doubtless have found an +opportunity to deliver them over to the enemy at La Virgen or elsewhere. + + + +CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE. + +AN ADIOS. + +Clayley had now recovered, and I once more enjoyed the society of my +light-hearted friend. But neither that nor the smiles of the hospitable +Jalapenas could make me happy. My thoughts dwelt upon Guadalupe, and +often was I harassed with the painful apprehension that I should never +see her again. Better fortune, however, was in store for me. + +One day Clayley and I were sitting over our wine, along with a gay party +of friends, in the Fonda de Diligencias, the principal hotel of Jalapa, +when Jack touched me on the shoulder, and whispered in my ear: + +"Captain, there's a Mexican wants to see ye." + +"Who is it?" I demanded, somewhat annoyed at the interruption. + +"It's the brother," replied Jack, still speaking in a whisper. + +"The brother! What brother?" + +"Of the young ladies, Captain." + +I started from my chair, overturning a decanter and several glasses. + +"Hilloa! what's the matter?" shouted several voices in a breath. + +"Gentlemen, will you excuse me?--one moment only--I--I--will--" + +"Certainly! certainly!" cried my companions, all at once, wondering what +_was_ the matter. + +The next moment I was in the _ante-sala_, embracing Narcisso. "And so +you are all here! When did you arrive?" + +"Yesterday, Captain. I came to town for you, but could not find you." + +"And they are well?--all well?" + +"Yes, Captain. Papa expects you will come this evening, with the +lieutenant and the other officer." + +"The other officer! Who, Narcisso!" + +"I think he was with you on your first visit to La Virgen--_un senor +gordo_." + +"Oh! the major! Yes, yes, we shall come; but where have you been since +we met, Narcissito?" + +"To Orizava. Papa has a tobacco-farm near Orizava; he always goes to it +when he comes up here. But, Captain, we were so astonished to hear from +your people that you had been a prisoner, and travelling along with us! +We knew the guerillos had some American prisoners, but we never dreamt +of its being you. _Carambo_! if I had known that!" + +"But how came you, Narcisso, to be with the guerilla?" + +"Oh! papa had many things to carry up the country; and he, with some +other families, paid Colonel Cenobio for an escort--the country is so +full of robbers." + +"Ah! sure. Tell me, Narcisso, how came I by this?" + +I held out the dagger. + +"I know not, Captain. I am ashamed to tell you that I lost it the day +after you gave it to me!" + +"Oh! never mind. Take it again, and say to your papa, I shall bring +`_el senor gordo_' (the fat gentleman) along with me." + +"You will know the way, Captain. Yonder is our house." And the lad +pointed to the white turrets of an aristocratic-looking mansion that +appeared over the tree-tops, about a mile distant from the town. + +"I shall easily find it." + +"Adieu, then, Captain; we shall be impatient till you arrive--_hasta la +tarde_!" (till the evening). + +So saying, the youth departed. + +I communicated to Clayley the cause of my temporary withdrawal; and, +seizing the earliest opportunity, we left our companions over their +cups. + +It was now near sundown, and we were about to jump into our saddles, +when I recollected my promise to bring the major. Clayley proposed +leaving him behind and planning an apology; but a hint that he might be +useful in "keeping off" Don Cosme and the senora caused the lieutenant +suddenly to change his tactics, and we set out for Blossom's quarters. + +We had no difficulty in persuading "_el senor gordo_" to accompany us, +as soon as he ascertained where we were going. He had never ceased to +remember _that_ dinner. Hercules was brought out and saddled, and we +all three galloped off for the mansion of our friends. + +After passing under the shadows, of green trees, and through copses +filled with bright flowers, we arrived at the house, one of the fairest +mansions it had ever been our fortune to enter. We were just in time to +enjoy the soft twilight of an eternal spring--of a landscape _siempre +verde_; and, what was more to the major's mind, in time for a supper +that rivalled the well-remembered dinner. + +As I had anticipated, the major proved exceedingly useful during the +visit. In his capacity of quarter-master he had already picked up a +little Spanish--enough to hold Don Cosme in check over the wine; while +Clayley and myself, with "Lupe" and "Luz", walked out into the verandah +to "take a peep at the moon". Her light was alluring, and we could not +resist the temptation of a stroll through the gardens. + +It was celestial night; and we dallied along _dos y dos_ (two and two), +under the pictured shadows of the orange-trees, and sat upon +curiously-formed benches, and gazed upon the moon, and listened to the +soft notes of the tropic night-birds. + +The perils of the past were all forgotten, and the perils of the +future--we thought not of them. + +It was late when we said "_buenas noches_" to our friends, and we parted +with a mutual "_hasta la manana_." It is needless to say that we kept +our promise in the morning, and made another for the following morning, +and kept that too; and so on till the awful bugle summoned us once more +to the "route." + +The detail of our actions during these days would have no interest for +the reader, though to us the most interesting part of our lives. There +was a sameness--a monotony, it is true; but a monotony that both my +friend and myself could have endured for ever. + +I do not even remember the details. All I can remember is, that on the +eve of our march I found myself "cornering" Don Cosme, and telling him +plainly, to his teeth, that I meant to marry one of his daughters; and +that my friend--who had not yet learned the "lingo", and had duly +commissioned me as his "go-between"--would be most happy to take the +other off his hands. + +I remember very well, too, Don Cosme's reply, which was given with a +half-smile, half-grin--somewhat cold, though not disagreeable in its +expression. It was thus: + +"Captain--_when the war is over_." + +Don Cosme had no intention that his daughters should become widows +before they had fairly been wives. + +And we bade adieu once more to the light of love, and walked in the +shadow of war; and we toiled up to the high tables of the Andes, and +crossed the burning plains of Perote; and we forded the cold streams of +Rio Frio, and climbed the snowy spurs of Popocatepec; and, after many a +toilsome march, our bayonets bristled along the borders of the Lake +Tezcoco. Here we fought--a death-struggle, too--for we knew there was +no retreat. But our struggle was crowned with victory, and the starry +flag waved over the ancient city of the Aztecs. + +Neither my friend nor myself escaped unhurt. We were shot "all over"; +but, fortunately, no bones were broken, and neither of us was converted +into a cripple. + +And then came the "piping times of peace", and Clayley and I spent our +days in riding out upon the Jalapa road, watching for that great old +family-carriage, which, it had been promised, should come. + +And it came rumbling along at length, drawn by twelve mules, and +deposited its precious load in a palace in the Calle Capuchinas. + +And shortly after, two officers in shining uniforms entered the portals +of that same palace, sent up their cards, and were admitted on the +instant. Ah! these were rare times! But rarer still--for it should +only occur once in a man's lifetime--was an hour spent in the little +chapel of San Bernardo. + +There is a convent--Santa Catarina--the richest in Mexico; the richest, +perhaps, in the world. There are nuns there--beautiful creatures--who +possess property (some of them being worth a million of dollars); and +yet these children of heaven never look upon the face of man! + +About a week after my visit to San Bernardo, I was summoned to the +convent, and permitted--a rare privilege for one of my sex--to enter its +sacred precincts. It was a painful scene. Poor "Mary of Mercy"! How +lovely she looked in her snow-white vestments!--lovelier in her sorrow +than I had ever seen her before. May God pour out the balm of oblivion +into the heart of this erring but repentant angel! + +I returned to New Orleans in the latter part of 1848. I was walking one +morning along the Levee, with a fair companion on my arm, when a +well-known voice struck on my ear, exclaiming: + +"I'll be dog-goned, Rowl, if it ain't the cap'n!" + +I turned, and beheld Raoul and the hunter. They had doffed the +regimentals, and were preparing to "start" on a trapping expedition to +the Rocky Mountains. + +I need not describe our mutual pleasure at meeting, which was more than +shared by my wife, who had often made me detail to her the exploits of +my comrades. I inquired for Chane. The Irishman, at the breaking up of +the "war-troops", had entered one of the old regiments, and was at this +time, as Lincoln expressed it, "the first sargint of a kump'ny." + +I could not permit my old ranging comrades to depart without a +_souvenir_. My companion drew off a pair of rings, and presented one to +each on the spot. The Frenchman, with the gallantry of a Frenchman, +drew his upon his finger; but Lincoln, after trying to do the same, +declared, with a comical grin, that he couldn't "git the eend of his +wipin' stick inter it." He wrapped it up carefully, however, and +deposited it in his bullet-pouch. + +My friends accompanied us to our hotel, where I found them more +appropriate presents than the rings. To Raoul I gave my revolving +pistols, not expecting to have any further use for them myself; and to +the hunter, that which he valued more than any other earthly object, the +major's "Dutch gun". Doubtless, ere this, the _zundnadel_ has slain +many a "grisly b'ar" among the wild ravines of the Rocky Mountains. + +Courteous reader! I was about to write the word "adieu", when "Little +Jack" handed me a letter, bearing the Vera Cruz post-mark. It was +dated, "_La Virgen, November 1, 1849_." It concluded as follows: + + "You were a fool for leaving Mexico, and you'll never be half as happy + anywhere else as I am here. You would hardly know the `ranche'--I + mean the fields. I have cleared off the weeds, and expect next year + to take a couple of hundred bales off the ground. I believe I can + raise as good cotton here as in Louisiana; besides, I have a little + corner for vanilla. It would do your heart good to see the + improvements; and little Luz, too, takes such an interest in all I do. + Haller, I'm the happiest man in creation. + + "I dined yesterday with our old friend Cenobio; and you should have + seen him when I told him the man he had in his company. I thought he + would have split his sides. He's a perfect old trump this Cenobio, + notwithstanding his smuggling propensities. + + "By the way, you have heard, I suppose, that our `other old friend', + the padre, has been shot. He took part with Paredes against the + Government. They caught him at Queretaro, and shot him with a dozen + or so of his `beauties' in less than a squirrel's jump. + + "And now, my dear Haller, a last word. We all want you to come back. + The house at Jalapa is ready for you, and Dona Joaquina says it is + yours, and she wants you to come back. + + "Don Cosme, too--with whom it appears Lupe was the favourite--he wants + you to come back. Old Cenobio, who is still puzzled about how you got + the knife to cut through the adobes, he wants you to come back. Luz + is fretting after Lupe, and she wants you to come back. And, last of + all, _I_ want you to come back. So `stand not on the order' of your + coming, but come at once. + + "Yours for ever,-- + + "Edward Clayley." + +Reader, do _you_ want me to come back? + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rifle Rangers, by Captain Mayne Reid + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RIFLE RANGERS *** + +***** This file should be named 21241.txt or 21241.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/2/4/21241/ + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + +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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