The young Kentuckian was half frenzied by the insult he had received.
The proud blood of his republican citizenship was boiling within his
veins. What was he to do?
In the agony of his dilemma he put the question to the gentleman who,
beyond all doubt, had restrained him from committing manslaughter.
The latter was an entire stranger to him--never seen him before. He was
a man of less than thirty years of age, wearing a broad-brimmed hat upon
his head, a cloth jacket, slashed _calzoneras_, and a red crape scarf
around his waist--in short, the _ranchero_ costume of the country.
Still, there was a military bearing about him that corresponded to the
title by which the lancer captain had addressed him.
"Caballero," he said in reply, "if your own safety be of any consequence
to you I should advise you to take no further notice of the incident
that has arisen, however much it may have exasperated you, as no doubt
it has done."
"Pardon me, senor; but not for all the world would I follow your
advice--not for my life. I am an American--a Kentuckian. We do not
take blows without giving something of the same in return. I must have
redress."
"If you seek it by the law I may as well warn you, you won't have much
chance of finding it."
"I know that. The law! I did not think of such a thing. I am a
gentleman; I suppose this Captain Uraga supposes himself to be the same,
and will not refuse to give me the usual satisfaction."
"He may refuse, and very likely will, on the plea of your being a
stranger--only a barbarian, a _Tejano_ or _gringo_, as he has put it."
"I am alone here--what am I to do?"
The Kentuckian spoke half in soliloquy, his countenance expressing
extreme chagrin.
"_Fuez, senor_!" responded the Mexican colonel, "if you're determined on
a _desafio_ I think I might arrange it. I feel that I am myself a
little compromised by my interference; and if you'll accept of me for
your second, I think I can answer for it that Captain Uraga will not
dare to deny us."
"Colonel Miranda--your name, I believe--need I attempt to express my
thanks for so much generosity? I cannot--I could not. You have removed
the very difficulty that was in my way; for I am not only a stranger to
you, but to every one around. I arrived at Chihuahua but yesterday, and
do not know a soul in the place."
"Enough; you shall not be disappointed in your duel for the want of a
second. As a preliminary, may I ask if you are skilled in the use of
the sword?"
"Sufficiently to stake my life upon it."
"I put the question, because that is the weapon your adversary will be
certain to choose. You being the challenger, of course he has the
choice; and he will insist upon it, for a reason that may perhaps amuse
you. It is that we Mexican gentlemen believe you Americans somewhat
_gauche_ in the handling of the rapier, though we know you to be adepts
in the use of the pistol. I take Captain Gil Uraga to be as thorough a
poltroon as ever wore epaulettes, but he will have to meet you on my
account; and he would perhaps have done so anyhow--trusting to the
probability of your being a bad swordsman."
"In that he may find himself disappointed."
"I am glad to hear it; and now it only needs to receive your
instructions. I am ready to act."
The instructions were given, and within two hours' time Captain Gil
Uraga, of the Zacatecas Lancers, was in receipt of a challenge from the
Kentuckian--Colonel Miranda being its bearer.
With such a voucher the lancer officer could not do otherwise than
accept, which he did with cooler confidence for the very reason Miranda
had made known. A _Tejano_, was his reflection--what should he know of
the sword?
And swords were the weapons chosen.
Had the captain of Zacatecas Lancers been told that his intended
adversary had spent a portion of his life among the Creoles of New
Orleans, he would have been less reliant on the chances likely to turn
up in his favour.
We need not describe the duel, which, if different from other encounters
of the kind, was by being on both sides bitter, and of deadly intent.
Suffice it to say, that the young Kentuckian displayed a skill in
swordsmanship sufficient to disarrange several of Gil Uraga's front
teeth, and make an ugly gash in his cheek. He had barely left to him
sufficient command of his mouth to cry "Basta!" and so the affair ended.
"Senor Hamersley," said the man who had so effectively befriended him,
after they had returned from the encounter, and were drinking a bottle
of Paso wine in the posada, "may I ask where you intend going when you
leave Chihuahua?"
"To Santa Fe, in New Mexico; thence to the United States, along with one
of the return caravans."
"When do you propose starting?"
"As to that, I am not tied to time. The train with which I am to cross
the plains will not be going for six months to come. I can get to Santa
Fe by a month's travel, I suppose?"
"Less than that. It is not a question of how soon you may arrive there,
but when you leave here. I advise you to start at once. I admit that
two days is but a short time to see the sights of even so small a place
as Chihuahua. But you have witnessed one of them--enough, I should say.
If you take my advice you will let it content you, and kick the
Chihuahua-ense dust from your feet before another twenty-four hours have
passed over your head."
"But why, Colonel Miranda?"
"Because so long as you remain here you will be in danger of losing your
life. You don't know the character of the man with whom you have
crossed swords. I do. Although wearing the uniform of an officer in
our army, he is simply a _salteador_. A coward, as I told you, too. He
would never have met you if he had thought I would have given him a
chance to get out of it. Perhaps he might have been tempted by the
hopes of an easy conquest from your supposed want of skill. It would
have given him something to boast about among the dames of Chihuahua,
for Captain Gil deems himself no little of a lady-killer. You have
spoilt his physiognomy for life; and, depend upon it, as long as life
lasts, he will neither forget nor forgive that. I shall also come in
for a share of his spite, and it behoves both of us to beware of him."
"But what can he do to us?"
"Caballero, that question shows you have not been very long in this
country, and are yet ignorant of its customs. In Mexico we have some
callings not congenial to your people. Know that stilettoes can here be
purchased cheaply, with the arms of assassins to use them. Do you
understand me?"
"I do. But how do you counsel me to act?"
"As I intend acting myself--take departure from Chihuahua this very day.
Our roads are the same as far as Albuquerque, where you will be out of
reach of this little danger. I am returning thither from the city of
Mexico, where I've had business with the Government. I have an escort;
and if you choose to avail yourself of it you'll be welcome to its
protection."
"Colonel Miranda, again I know not how to thank you. I accept your
friendly offer."
"Reserve your thanks till I have done you some service beyond the simple
duty of a gentleman, who sees another gentleman in a dilemma he had no
hand in creating. But enough, senor; we have no time to spend in
talking. Even now there may be a couple of poignards preparing for us.
Get your things ready at once, as I start two hours before sunset. In
this sultry weather we are accustomed to travel in the cool of the
evening."
"I shall be ready."
That same afternoon, two hours before the going down of the sun, a party
of horsemen, wearing the uniform of Mexican dragoons of the line, issued
from the _garita_ of Chihuahua, and took the northern road leading to
Santa Fe, by El Paso del Norte. Colonel Miranda, his ranchero dress
changed for the fatigue uniform of a cavalry officer, was at its head,
and by his side the stranger, whose cause he had so generously and
gallantly espoused.