ON THE ROAD.
The brilliant gleams of dawn were already colouring the crests of the
distant mountains; the warm beams of the rising sun, issuing from a
mass of golden and purple clouds, dissipated the fog; the vapour rose
like a curtain and revealed in all its majestic grandeur the splendid
landscape of which the Hacienda del Barrio formed the centre. On the
right extended the verdant valley through which the Río Grande del
Norte forced its capricious windings. On the left, in the midst of a
profusion of clumps of trees, rocks and hills, girt with a garland of
verdure, extended a great lake, whose surface, slightly ruffled by the
pure and refreshing morning breeze, sparkled in the sunbeams. Lofty
mountains, scarped rocks, and banks, on which grew sumachs, mahoganies,
and cork trees, framed in this magnificent sheet of water, and the
harmonious rustling of the dew-laden leaves seemed to impart a sort of
life to this calm scenery which the hand of man had not yet deformed,
and which rose radiant beneath the powerful breath of the Creator.
The coming dawn had scarce begun to disperse the gloom ere all was in
motion at the hacienda. The peons fetched the animals from the corrals
while the cavaliers led their horses to the watering place, or went
in search of dry wood to rekindle the bivouac fires and prepare the
morning repast. Don Aníbal's numerous visitors gave their followers
orders to load the mules and saddle the horses, so as to be ready to
start at the first signal.
The Count de Melgosa quitted the apartment in which he had passed the
night, and accompanied by the hacendero, who insisted on seeing him
off, he proceeded to the first patio, where his people were already
waiting, as was the Canadian adventurer, who, at the first beam of day,
left without much regret the hard bed on which he had slumbered for
only two or three hours.
"What!" Don Aníbal said with surprise, on seeing the count's small
escort, "Did you venture to come here so weakly escorted in this time
of trouble and disorder?"
"Why not?" the count said, carelessly; "The six men you see are devoted
to me; they are old soldiers, accustomed to fire. Moreover, what have I
to fear?" he added with an ironical smile. "Are we not at peace?"
"Yes, for the present at any rate; but the long wars we have had
to endure have, as you know, ruined and reduced many people to
desperation; the country is infested with marauders, and this frontier
especially, exposed to the continual incursions of the Indians, is
anything but safe. I repeat, Señor Conde, that you committed a serious
act of imprudence in bringing so few people with you, and, with your
permission, I will give you an escort to protect you from all danger."
"Do nothing of the sort, my friend," the count answered, quickly;
"although I sincerely thank you for the solicitude you display, I am
convinced that your fears are exaggerated."
"Still--" the hacendero continued.
"Not a word more on the subject, I beg; you would seriously annoy me by
pressing it further. Moreover," he said with a laugh, as he pointed to
the Canadian, "my escort is augmented by an ally who, in case of need,
I am persuaded, would not hesitate to come to my help. So, say no more
about it, and good-bye. Excuse my leaving you so suddenly, but we have
a long ride before us along roads which, you know as well as I do, are
very bad, and it is time for me to start."
"Since you insist, count, I can only wish you a prosperous journey, and
take my leave of you."
"Good-bye, my friend," he said, as he affectionately pressed Don
Aníbal's hand. "I trust that we shall soon meet again, under
circumstances more agreeable to you and me."
"Whatever may happen, or whatever fate destiny reserves for us, be
assured that nothing can alter the friendship I feel for you."
"I know it, and thank you," the count said, as he got into the saddle.
"Are you ready to accompany me, señor?" he asked the Canadian.
"I have been waiting some time for you, señor," the latter answered, in
his usual rough way.
The count examined him for a moment, smiled slightly, shrugged his
shoulders, but made no remark. After exchanging a few more affectionate
remarks with the hacendero, he slightly raised his hat, gave the order
to depart, and the little band left the hacienda at a sharp trot. The
horsemen, splendidly armed, and rifle on thigh, traversed in good order
the camp formed outside the hacienda, without replying to the sarcasms
or jests of the Mexicans, who collected as they passed, and showered on
them witticisms, which were at times offensive. The count rode gravely
at the head of the little party, looking neither to the right nor left,
apparently indifferent to the coarse jokes levelled upon him.
About a horse's length behind him, the Canadian, whose indifference
was not at all feigned, for all he heard concerned him very slightly,
was reflecting on the way in which he should perform the singular
commission so strangely entrusted to him, and though he was as yet only
at the outset of the expedition, he was already beginning to feel a
lively desire to be freed from the company in which he found himself,
and for which he felt no sympathy.
The other travellers, six in number, were, as the count had said to Don
Aníbal, old soldiers, regardless of danger, entirely devoted to their
master, and who, at a sign from him, would let themselves be bravely
killed, without taking the trouble to discover the motive for the order
given them. However, all these men, their master included, seemed to
possess a considerable amount of gravity and pride, which did not
conduce to confidence, and prevented any familiarity. The adventurer
had judged his companions at the first glance, and bravely put up with
the annoyance which they would cause him during the journey; hence he
resolved to imitate them, and be equally reserved.
After traversing the camp, the small party turned to the left, and
proceeded to the lake, whose umbrageous banks they intended to follow
for several miles. As we have stated, the morning was magnificent, all
nature was laughing, a multitude of birds of every description and
colour, hidden beneath the foliage, were singing merrily; squirrels
leapt from branch to branch, and splendid elks, terrified by the
approach of the travellers, bounded away a few yards from them, while
hideous alligators wallowed in the mud pell-mell with enormous frogs
which uttered frightful croaks.
Our travellers rode thus for some two hours, and not a word had been
spoken since the start, each seeming to be buried in thought, when
suddenly a great movement was heard beneath the trees and shrubs
around them. The birds suddenly became silent, and, leaving their
nests, went to the foot of the trees, where they timidly concealed
themselves in the grass, while the frogs croaking on the nymphæas
dashed into the water. At the same moment the shadow of two mighty
wings was visible on the sand; the Canadian mechanically raised his
eyes, and he perceived a white-headed eagle soaring in the blue sky.
The eagle, after hovering in wide circles for some minutes almost
over the head of the travellers, dropped with lightning speed into a
copse, whence it emerged almost immediately, holding in its powerful
claws a luckless parrot, which uttered pitiable cries of distress, and
struggled vainly to escape from the deadly grasp of its implacable
foe. The eagle rose with extraordinary rapidity, and soon attained an
enormous elevation. The Canadian had anxiously followed the incidents
of this drama, and perhaps instinctively cocked his rifle.
"All the worse," he muttered, at the moment when the eagle, which only
appeared like a black dot in the air, was about to become invisible. "I
will save it."
With a movement swift as thought he raised his rifle and pulled
the trigger. The Spaniards halted, and looked in amazement at the
adventurer; but the latter, whose eyes were obstinately fixed on the
sky, did not seem to notice the attention of which he was the object.
The eagle, suddenly arrested in its flight, fell with headlong speed,
turning in space. Suddenly its claws relaxed, and the delivered victim,
half wild with terror, though unwounded, fell perpendicularly for some
seconds with its enemy; but, suddenly opening its wings, the poor
parrot soared, and then resumed its flight with a long cry of delight,
while the eagle writhed in its death throe at the hunter's feet. The
Canadian's bullet had passed right through its body.
"Ah!" the wood ranger said, gladly; "Though a powder charge is precious
in the desert, I do not repent this one."
The Spaniards could not restrain a cry of admiration at this miraculous
display of skill. The Canadian dismounted, and seizing his rifle by the
barrel, advanced upon the eagle, which, with body thrown back and wings
extended, looked undauntedly at him. With one blow of the butt, dealt
with no ordinary strength, the adventurer settled the bird, which did
not make the slightest effort to avoid the blow.
"Will you sell me that bird?" the count said, at the moment when the
hunter stooped to pick up the royal bird.
"I will give it you if you like to accept it," the Canadian replied.
"Very good," the count said, making one of his men a sign to pick the
bird up and place it on his horse.
The Canadian remounted, and they continued their silent march. At the
end of an hour they reached the spot where the count proposed to stop
and breakfast, and allow the great heat to pass before he started
again. It was a rather large clearing, in the midst of which glistened
a pool of water so clear and limpid that the sky was reflected in it,
with all its lights and shadows. This pool discharged its overflow
into the lake by means of a shallow stream, which ran murmuring over a
bed of pebbles, half hidden by the numerous tufts of nymphæas which
bordered it. Singular to say, not a bird, not an insect, peopled this
solitude.
When the count had given orders to halt, all dismounted. Two men
stationed themselves as sentries at either end of the path which ran
through the clearing; two others took the horses by the bridle, and led
them to drink from the lake, which was only one hundred yards distant;
while the last two lit the fire and got breakfast ready, employing the
water they carried in their leathern bottles to boil the _frijoles_,
as they would sooner reduce their stock than take water from this
pool--which, however, was so inviting, especially for men wearied by
a long ride in the burning beams of a tropical sun, and whose throats
were parched by thirst.
The fact was that this pond, apparently so inoffensive and pure,
contained death in its waters--a frightful, inexorable, almost
instantaneous death. In a word, this water, though no one was able
to explain the cause, contained a violent poison, whose effects were
so terrible, that the very animals, whose admirable instinct never
deceives them, did not dare drink it, but shunned its vicinity as if it
were impregnated with the poison it contained. This was the cause of
the utter solitude which reigned in this clearing, which travellers,
however, brought to these parts by accident, sought for its delicious
coolness, and the security they enjoyed against the attacks of wild
beasts.
The adventurer, after carefully rubbing his horse down, hobbling it,
and giving it its ration of maize on his zarapé, lay down on the grass,
and fumbling in his _alforjas_, produced a ship biscuit and a piece of
goat's milk cheese, which he was preparing to eat with good appetite,
when the count, who had curiously watched the arrangements of this
frugal meal, walked up and bowed courteously to him.
"Caballero," he said, "will you do me the honour of sharing my
breakfast?"
The Canadian raised his head, and looked at the speaker in surprise.
"Why do you make me this offer, señor?" he asked.
"Because," the count answered frankly, "I wish to break the ice, and
remove the coolness prevailing between us. What I have seen you do
today," he added, pointing to the eagle's body, "proves to me that you
are a man of heart. People of your stamp are rare, and I wish to have
your esteem, if not your friendship."
"What I did to save a wretched bird, caballero, I would not hesitate,
under any circumstances, to do for a man; but permit me to remark that
I see nothing in it but what is perfectly natural."
"Perhaps so; but, unhappily, few men comprehend their duties in the
same way."
"I pity them, caballero, though I dare not blame them, for each man
acts according to the instincts which God has implanted in his heart."
"Do you accept the modest breakfast which I have had the honour of
offering you?"
"Although I am naturally very sober, and usually content myself with
the smallest thing, I should think I was offering you an insult by
declining, señor. Hence, I gratefully accept your invitation."
The two men sat down side by side, and a peon placed before them a few
dishes, which, though far from delicate, were of a quality superior
to the Canadian's repast. The count felt, perhaps unconsciously,
an interest in the Canadian, the cause of which he could not have
explained, and was attracted by this blunt but frank man, with his
short but always honest remarks. He divined beneath this rough husk a
good nature and a strong heart, which aroused his sympathy and were a
relief after the roguery and cowardly adulation of the men with whom
he usually came in contact. While eating (the adventurer heartily, and
the count scarce touching what was served up), they talked without the
slightest restraint. Oliver related, without any boasting or pride, the
incidents of his life as a wood ranger, his hunts and fights with the
Indians, his adventurous excursions at the head of his bold comrades,
who had unanimously elected him their chief, and the incessant joys
and sorrows of this varied existence. The count listened with ever
increasing interest. When the adventurer came to his enrolment among
the Mexican insurgents, his hearer interrupted him--
"This time," he said, "I think you have not acted consistently with
your principles."
"How so?" Oliver asked in surprise.
"Why," the count continued, "it appears to me that you let yourself be
led away by the pride of rank and hope of gain."
"You are mistaken, señor, nothing would have induced me to join the
Mexicans if I had not been convinced in my heart that their cause was a
good one. This reason alone decided me, and besides," he added in a low
voice, as he took a sly glance at the other, "I had a personal motive."
The count shook his head dubiously, but made no answer, and the
conversation stopped at this point.
Four hours later, the Spaniards started again in the hope of reaching
their journey's end at eight in the evening. But the count and the
adventurer now rode side by side conversing amicably together.