Having returned to his original design--the scheme of atrocity so coolly
and jestingly declared, Uraga takes steps towards its execution.
The first is, to order his own horse, or rather that of Hamersley, to be
saddled, bridled, and tied behind his own tent. The same for that
ridden by Roblez. Also the mustang mare which belongs to Adela
Miranda--her own "Lolita"--and the mule set apart for the _mestiza_.
The troop horses already caparisoned are to remain so.
Ignorant of their object, the troopers wonder at these precautions,
though not so much as might be expected. They are accustomed to receive
mysterious commands, and obey them without cavil or question.
Not one of the ten but would cut a throat at Gil Uraga's bidding,
without asking the reason why.
The picket placed on a spin of the cliff has orders to signal if any one
is seen coming up the creek. If Indians appear he is to gallop into the
camp, and report in person.
The alarm thus started will easily be fostered into a stampede, and at
the onslaught of the savages the lancers will rush to their horses and
ride off without offering resistance. In the _sauve qui peut_ none of
them will give a thought to the two prisoners lying tied under the tree.
These are to be left behind to the tender mercies of the Tenawa chief.
It will be an act of gallantry to save the female captives by carrying
them off. This Uraga reserves for himself, assisted by Roblez.
Such is his scheme of vicarious assassination; in the atrocity of
conception unequalled, almost incredible. He has no anxiety as to its
success. For himself he is more than ever determined; while Roblez,
restrained by the fiasco following his advice, no longer offers
opposition.
Uraga has no fear the Tenawa chief will fail him. He has never done so
before, and will not now.
The new proposal, which the colonel supposes to have reached the hands
of Horned Lizard in that letter carried by Pedrillo, will be eagerly
accepted. Barbato will bring the chief with his cut-throats to the
Arroyo de Alamo, sure as there is a sun in the sky.
It is but a question of time. They may come up at any hour--any minute;
and having arranged all preliminaries, Uraga remains in his tent to
await the cue for action. He little dreams at the moment he is thus
expecting his red-skinned confederate, that the latter, along with the
best braves of his band, has gone to the happy hunting grounds, while
his go-between, Barbato, is in safe keeping elsewhere.
As the hours pass, and no one is reported as approaching, he becomes
impatient; for the time has long elapsed since the Tenawa chief should
have been upon the spot.
Chafing, he strides forth from the tent, and proceeds towards the place
where the look-out has been stationed. Reaching it, he reconnoitres for
himself, with a telescope he has taken along, to get a better view down
the valley.
At first, levelling the glass, no one can be seen. In the reach of open
ground, dotted here and there with groves, there are deer browsing, and
a grizzly bear is seen crossing between the cliffs, but no shape that
resembles a human being.
He is about lowering the telescope when a new form comes into its field
of view--a horseman riding up the creek. No the animal is a mule. No
matter the rider is a man.
Keenly scrutinising, he perceives it is an Indian, though not one of the
wild sort. His garb betokens him of the tamed.
Another glance through the glass and his individuality declares itself,
Uraga recognising him as one of the messengers sent to the Tenawas'
town. Not the principal, Pedrillo, but he of secondary importance,
Jose.
"Returning alone!" mutters the Mexican to himself. "What does that
mean? Where can Pedrillo be? What keeps him behind, I wonder?"
He continues wondering and conjecturing till Jose has ridden up to the
spot, when, perceiving his master, the latter dismounts and approaches
him.
In the messenger's countenance there is an expression of disappointment,
and something more. It tells a tale of woe, with reluctance to disclose
it.
"Where is Pedrillo?" is the first question asked in anxious impatience.
"Oh, _senor coronel_!" replies Jose, hat in hand, and trembling in every
joint. "Pedrillo! _Pobre Pedrillito_!"
"Well! Poor Pedrillito--what of him? Has anything happened to him?"
"Yes, your excellency, a terrible mischance I fear to tell it you."
"Tell it, sirrah, and at once! Out with it, whatever it is!"
"Alas, Pedrillo is gone!"
"Gone--whither?"
"Down the river."
"What river?"
"The Pecos."
"Gone down the Pecos? On what errand?" inquired the colonel, in
surprise.
"On no errand, your excellency."
"Then what's taken him down the Pecos? Why went he?"
"_Senor coronel_, he has not gone of his own will. It is only his dead
body that went; it was carried down by the flood."
"Drowned? Pedrillo drowned?"
"_Ay de mi_! 'Tis true, as I tell you--too true, _pobrecito_."
"How did this happen, Jose?"
"We were crossing at the ford, senor. The waters were up from a _norte_
that's just passed over the plains. The river was deep and running
rapid, like a torrent, Pedrillo's _macho_ stumbled, and was swept off.
It was as much as mine could do to keep its legs. I think he must have
got his feet stuck in the stirrups, for I could see him struggling
alongside the mule till both went under. When they came to the surface
both were drowned--dead. They floated on without making a motion,
except what the current gave them as their bodies were tossed about by
it. As I could do nothing there, I hastened here to tell you what
happened. _Pobre Pedrillito_!"
The cloud already darkening Uraga's brow grows darker as he listens to
the explanation. It has nothing to do with the death of Pedrillo, or
compassion for his fate--upon which he scarce spends a thought--but
whether there has been a miscarriage of that message of which the
drowned man was the bearer. His next interrogatory, quickly put, is to
get satisfied on this head.
"You reached the Tenawa town?"
"We did, _senor coronel_."
"Pedrillo carried a message to the Horned Lizard, with a letter for
Barbato. You know that, I suppose?"
"He told me so."
"Well, you saw him deliver the letter to Barbato?"
"He did not deliver it to Barbato."
"To the chief, then?"
"To neither, your Excellency. He could not."
"Could not! Why?"
"They ere not there to receive it. They are no longer in this world--
neither the Horned Lizard nor Barbato. Senor Coronel, the Tenawas have
met with a great misfortune. They've had a fight with a party of
Tejanos. The chief is killed, Barbato is killed, and nearly half of
their braves. When Pedrillo and I reached the town we found the tribe
in mourning, the women all painted black, with their hair cut off; the
men who had escaped the slaughter cowed, and keeping concealed within
their lodges."
A wild exclamation leaps from the lips of Uraga as he listens to these
disclosures, his brow becoming blacker than ever.
"But, Pedrillo," he inquires, after a pause; "what did he say to them?
You know the import of his message. Did he communicate it to the
survivors?"
"He did, your Excellency. They could not read your letter, but he told
them what it was about. They were to meet you here, he said. But they
refused to come. They were in too great distress about the death of
their chief, and the chastisement they had received. They were in fear
that the Tejanos would pursue them to their town; and were making
preparations to flee from it when Pedrillo and myself came away. _Pobre
Pedrillito_!"
Uraga no longer stays listening to the mock humanity of his whining
messenger. No more does he think of the drowned Pedrillo. His thoughts
are now given to a new design. Murder by proxy has failed. For all
that, it must still be done. To take counsel with his adjutant about
the best mode of proceeding, he hastens back to the camp; plunges into
his tent; and there becomes closeted--the lieutenant along with him.