THE HACIENDA DEL ARENAL.
Four days had passed since the events recorded in our last chapter.
Count Ludovic de la Saulay and Oliver were still riding side by side,
but the place of the scene had completely changed.
All around them extended an immense plain covered with a luxuriant
vegetation, intersected by a few water courses, on the banks of which
were huddled the humble cabins of several unimportant pueblos; numerous
flocks browsed here and there, watched by mounted _vaqueros_, bearing
the reata on the saddle, a machete at their side, and a long lance in
its rest. Along a road, whose windings formed a yellow track on the
green carpet of the plain, appeared like black dots, teams of mules
hurrying toward the snowy mountains, which closed in the horizon in the
distance; gigantic clumps of trees diversified the landscape, and a
little to the right, on the top of a rather high hill, proudly rose the
massive walls of an important hacienda.
The two travellers were slowly following the last windings of a narrow
track that ran down with a gentle slope to the plain; the curtains
of trees which masked the view suddenly falling back on the right and
left, the landscape appeared suddenly to rise before them, as if it had
been created by the magic wand of a mighty enchanter.
The count stopped and burst into a cry of admiration at the sight of
the magnificent kaleidoscope which was displayed before them.
"Ah, ah," said Oliver, "I was aware that you were an amateur, and it
was a surprise I prepared for you; how do you like it?"
"It is admirable; I never saw anything so beautiful," the young man
exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Yes," the adventurer resumed with a stifled sigh, "it is very fair
for a country spoilt by the hand of man. As I have told you several
times, it is only in the savannahs of the great Mexican desert that it
is possible to see nature as God has made it; this is only theatrical
scenery in comparison; a conventional landscape which signifies
nothing."
The count smiled at this sally.
"Whether conventional or not, I consider this view admirable."
"Yes, yes, I repeat, it is a very fair success. Think how lovely this
landscape must have been in the early days of the world, since, in
spite of all their clumsy efforts, men have not succeeded in entirely
spoiling it."
The young man's laughter was redoubled at these words.
"On my faith," he said, "you are a charming companion, Mr. Oliver; and
when I part from you, I shall often regret your agreeable company."
"In that case get ready to regret me, my lord," he replied with a
smile, "for we have only a few minutes left to pass together."
"How so?"
"An hour at the most; but let us continue our journey. The sun is
beginning to grow hot, and the shadow of the trees down there will be
very agreeable to us."
They loosened their horses' bridles, and slowly went down the almost
insensible incline which would lead them to the plain.
"Are you not beginning to feel the want of a rest after your fatigue,
my lord?" the adventurer asked, as he carelessly rolled a cigarette.
"Really no, thanks to you; this journey has seemed to me delightful,
although slightly monotonous."
"How monotonous?"
"Well, in France frightful stories are told about countries beyond the
sea, where bandits are found in ambush every step you take, and you
cannot go ten leagues without risking your life twenty times; hence it
is with some degree of apprehension that we land on these shores. I had
my head stuffed with stories to make one's hair stand on end. I was
prepared for surprises, ambushes, desperate fights, and all that sort
of thing. Well, after all, I have made the most prosaic journey in the
world, without the slightest accident which I could narrate hereafter."
"You are not yet out of Mexico."
"That is true; but my illusions are destroyed. I no longer believe in
Mexican bandits or ferocious Indians; it is not worth the while to come
so far to see nothing more than is to be seen in this country. Confound
travelling! Four days ago I believed that we were going to have an
adventure; while you left me alone I formed tremendous plans of battle,
and then at the end of two long hours of absence, you returned with a
smiling face to announce to me that you were mistaken, and that you had
seen nothing, and I was obliged to dismiss all my warlike intentions.
This is really having ill luck."
"What would you have?" the adventurer replied, with an accent of almost
imperceptible irony; "Civilization is so gaining on us, that we nowaday
resemble the peoples of the old world, with the exception of a few
slight shades."
"Laugh away, make fun of me, I give you full liberty to do so; but let
us return to our subject, if you please."
"I wish nothing more, my lord. Did you not say among other things,
while talking with me, that you intended to go to the Hacienda del
Arenal, and that if you did not turn from the road instead of pushing
straight on to Mexico, it was because you were afraid of losing
yourself in a country which you do not know, and of not meeting persons
capable of putting you on the right track again?"
"I did say so, sir."
"Oh! Since that is the case, the question is becoming extraordinarily
simplified."
"How so?"
"Look before you, my lord. What do you see?"
"A magnificent building that resembles a fortress."
"Well, that building is the Hacienda del Arenal." The count uttered a
cry of astonishment.
"Can it be possible? You are not deceiving me?" he asked.
"For what purpose?" the adventurer said gently.
"Why! In this way the surprise is even more charming than I at first
supposed it."
"Ah! By the bye. I forgot one circumstance, which, however is of some
importance to you; your servants and all your baggage have been at the
hacienda for the last two days."
"But how were my servants informed?"
"I warned them."
"You have hardly left me."
"That is true, only for a few minutes, but that was sufficient."
"You are an amiable companion, Mr. Oliver, I thank you sincerely for
all your attentions to me."
"Nonsense, you are joking."
"Do you know the owner of this hacienda?"
"Don Andrés de la Cruz? Very well."
"What sort of man is he?"
"Morally or physically?"
"Morally."
"A true hearted and intelligent man, he does a great deal of good, and
is accessible to the poor as well as the rich."
"Hum! You are drawing a magnificent portrait."
"It is below the truth; he has a great many enemies."
"Enemies?"
"Yes, all the scoundrels in the country, and thanks to God, they swarm
in this blessed country."
"And his daughter, Dolores?"
"Is a delicious girl of sixteen, even better hearted than she is
beautiful, innocent and pure; her eyes reflect heaven, she is an angel
whom God has allowed to descend on earth, doubtless to shame human
beings."
"You will accompany me to the hacienda, sir, I suppose?" said the count.
"No, I shall not see señor don Andrés; in a few minutes I shall have
the honour of taking leave of you."
"To meet again soon, I hope!"
"I dare not promise it you, my lord."
They rode on silently, side by side, for a few moments longer.
They had hurried on their horses, and were now rapidly nearing the
hacienda, whose buildings now appeared in their full extent.
It was one of those magnificent residences built in the earliest times
of the conquest, half palace, half fortress, such as the Spaniards
erected at that day on their estates, in order to hold the Indians in
check, and resist their attacks during the numerous revolts which left
a bloody stain on the first years of the European invasion.
The _almenas_, or battlements that crowned the walls, testified to the
nobility of the owner of the hacienda; as gentlemen alone possessed the
right of placing battlements on their mansions, and were very jealous
of their right.
The dome of the hacienda chapel which rose above the walls, could be
seen glistening in the ardent sunbeams.
The nearer the travellers approached, the more lively the landscape
appeared; at each instant they met horsemen, arrieros with their mules.
Indians running with burdens hanging on their back by a thong passed
round their forehead. Then came herds, driven by _vaqueros_, to change
their pasturage, monks trotting on mules, women, children, in a word
busy persons of all ranks and sexes, who were coming and going, and
crossing each other in all directions.
When they reached the foot of the hill crowned by the hacienda, the
adventurer stopped his horse at the moment when it was entering the
path that led to the main gate of the hacienda.
"My lord," he said, turning to the young man, "we have now reached our
journey's end; permit me to take my leave of you."
"Not before you have promised to see me again."
"I cannot promise that, Count, as our roads are diametrically opposite.
Besides, it will perhaps be better if we never meet again."
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing insulting or personal to you; permit me to shake your hand ere
we part."
"Oh, most willingly," the young man exclaimed, as he warmly offered him
his hand.
"And now farewell--farewell, once again, time flies rapidly, and I
ought to have been a long way from here before now."
The adventurer bent over his horse's neck, and darted with the speed of
an arrow along a track in which he speedily disappeared.
The count looked after him as long as it was possible to see him; and
when he was hidden by a turn in the road, the young man heaved a sigh.
"What a singular character," he muttered in a low voice. "Oh! I shall
see him again, it must be."
The young man lightly gave his horse the spur, and entered the path,
which would lead him in a few minutes to the top of the hill, and the
principal gate of the hacienda.
The young man dismounted in the first courtyard, and handed his horse
to a groom, who led it away.
At the moment when the count was walking towards a large door
surmounted by a verandah, and which gave admission to the apartment,
don Andrés went out, ran eagerly toward him, pressed him warmly to his
heart, and embraced him several times, while saying--
"Heaven be praised! Here you are, at last! We were beginning to be in a
mortal anxiety about you."
The count, thus suddenly taken by surprise, had allowed himself to be
seized and embraced without exactly comprehending what was happening
to him, or with whom he had to deal; but the old gentleman, perceiving
the amazement he felt, and which, in spite of his efforts, he could
not succeed in completely concealing, did not leave him long in
embarrassment, but stated his name, adding--
"I am your near relative, my dear Count--your cousin; hence, stand on
no ceremony--act here as if you were at home: this house, with all it
contains, is at your disposal, and belongs to you."
The young man began protesting, but don Andrés once more interrupted
him.
"I am an old fool," he said. "I am keeping you here, listening to my
maundering, and forget that you have had a long ride, and must need
rest. Come, I wish to have the pleasure of conducting you myself to
your apartments, which have been ready for you for some days past."
"My dear cousin," the count answered; "I thank you a thousand times for
your kind attention; but I think it would be only polite for you to
introduce me to doña Dolores, ere I retire."
"There is no hurry for that, my dear Count: my daughter is at this
moment shut up in her boudoir with her women. Let me announce
you first, for I know better than you what is proper under the
circumstances,--and go and rest yourself."
"Very well, my cousin; I will follow you. I will indeed confess, since
you are so good as to place me so thoroughly at my ease, that I shall
not be at all sorry to take a few hours' rest."
"Did I not know it?" don Andrés replied, gaily; "But all young people
are the same--they doubt nothing."
The hacendero thereupon led his guest to the apartments which had been
tastefully prepared and furnished under the immediate inspection of
don Andrés, and were intended to serve as the count's abode during the
whole of the period he might be pleased to spend at the hacienda.
The suite of rooms, though not large, was arranged in a very sensible
and comfortable manner, considering the resources of the country.
It consisted of four rooms. The count's bedroom, with dressing room and
bathroom attached, a study, serving as a drawing room, an antechamber,
and a room for the count's valets; so that he might have them within
call by day and night.
By means of a few partitions, the suite bad been separated from and
rendered entirely independent of the other apartments in the hacienda.
It was entered by three doors, one opening on the vestibule, the second
into the common court yard, and the third leading by a flight of steps
to the magnificent huerta, which, through its extent, might pass for a
park.
The count, newly landed in Mexico, and who, like all foreigners, formed
a false idea of a country which he did not know, was far from expecting
to find at the Hacienda del Arenal a lodging so convenient, and in
such conformity with his rather serious tastes and habits, hence he
was really ravished by everything he saw. He warmly thanked don Andrés
for the trouble he had been kind enough to take in rendering his stay
in the house agreeable to him, and assured him that he was far from
expecting so cordial a reception.
Don Andrés de la Cruz, highly pleased with this compliment, rubbed his
hands in glee, and at length withdrew, leaving his relative at liberty
to repose, if he thought proper.
When left alone with his valet, the count, after changing his dress,
and assuming another more suitable to the country than the one he was
wearing, questioned his servant as to the way in which he had performed
the journey from Veracruz, and the reception offered him on his arrival
at the hacienda.
This valet was a man of about the same age as the count, deeply
attached to his master, whose foster brother he was; a powerfully-built
fellow, tolerably good looking, very brave, and possessing a quality
very precious in a servant--that of seeing nothing, hearing nothing,
and only speaking when he received an express order to do so, and even
then he did it as concisely as possible.
The count was very fond of him, and placed unbounded confidence in him.
His name was Raimbaut, and was a Basque; continually particular about
etiquette, and professing a profound respect for his master. He never
spoke of him save in the third person, and at whatever hour of the day
or night the count might call him, he never presented himself before
him, unless dressed in the strict garb he had adopted, and which was
composed of a black coat with a stand-up collar and gold buttons, a
black waistcoat, black knee breeches, white silk stockings, buckled
shoes, and white cravat. Thus dressed, with the exception of powder,
which he did not wear, Raimbaut presented an amazing likeness to the
steward of a great nobleman in the last century.
The count's second servant was a tall lad, twenty years of age, robust
and sturdy--godson of Raimbaut, who had undertaken to train him for
his duties. He did the heavy work, and wore the count's livery--blue
and silver: his name was Lanca Ibarru. He was devoted to his master,
and awfully afraid of his godfather, for whom he professed a profound
veneration. He was active, courageous, crafty, and intelligent; but
these qualities were slightly tarnished by his gluttony and pronounced
taste for the _dolce far niente_.
Raimbaut's story was a short one. Nothing at all had happened to him,
with the exception of the order which a strange man had delivered to
him, as from his master, not to continue his journey to Mexico, but to
have himself conducted to the Hacienda del Arenal, which order he had
obeyed.
The count recognized the truth of what the adventurer had told him: he
dismissed his valet, sat down on a butaca, took up a book, and very
shortly after fell fast asleep.
At about four in the afternoon, just as he was waking, Raimbaut entered
the room, and announced that don Andrés de la Cruz was waiting for him
to sit down to table, as the hour for the evening meal had arrived.
The count cast a glance at his toilette, and, preceded by Raimbaut, who
acted as his guide, proceeded to the dining room.