The place known by the name "La Poza" was the only one, within a circle
of many leagues, where at this time of the year water could be found.
There was here a natural cistern or well--partly nourished by a spring,
and partly by rain from the skies. It was hollowed at the bottom of a
little crater-shaped valley, only a few paces in circumference, the
sloping side's of which served to conduct to the well the rain-water
that fell around.
The ridges inclosing the little valley were crowned with trees of thick
frondage, which, nourished by the evaporation of the water, appeared
green and vigorous, and protected the cistern from the burning rays of
the sun. The green grass that grew around, the cool shadow of the
trees, and the freshness of the air, rendered the well of La Poza, in
the middle of the desert, a delicious little oasis. Besides serving as
excellent resting-place for travellers, it was a favourite resort of
hunters, who used it as a stalking-ground for animals--elks and deer--as
well as jaguars and other fierce beasts that in great numbers came to
the well to drink.
At a short distance from the cistern of La Poza commenced a tract of
thick forest through which ran the path leading to the Hacienda del
Venado. Nearer to the edge of the little valley, upon the side of this
path, the travellers had kindled an enormous fire, partly to defend
themselves from the the cold night air, and partly to frighten off any
jaguars or pumas that might be in the neighbourhood of the water.
Not far from this fire the servants had placed the camp-beds of the
Senator and Don Estevan; and while a large saddle of mutton was being
roasted for supper, a skin bottle of wine was cooling in the fresh water
with which the trough had been filled.
After a painful day's march, it was an attractive spectacle which this
scene presented to the eyes of the travellers.
"_Mine_! your halting-place, Tiburcio," said Cuchillo, as they rode into
the camp, and speaking in a tone of pretended friendliness in order to
conceal the real rancour which he felt. "Dismount here, while I go and
report your arrival to our chief. It is Don Estevan de Arechiza himself
under whose orders we are enrolled; so, too, may you be, if you desire
it; and between ourselves, _amigo_, it is the best thing you can do."
Cuchillo fearing that his victim might escape him, now wished more than
ever that he should join the expedition. He pointed out Don Estevan and
the Senator seated on their camp-beds, and visible in the light of the
great fire, while Tiburcio was not yet seen by them. Cuchillo himself
advanced toward Don Estevan.
"I am desirous, Senor Don Estevan," said he, addressing himself to the
Spaniard, "to say two words to your honour, with the permission of his
excellency the Senator."
Don Estevan arose from his seat and made a sign to Cuchillo to accompany
him into one of the dark alleys of the forest, the same by which the
path entered that led to the hacienda.
"You could hardly guess, Senor Don Estevan, who is the man your
generosity has saved--for I have brought him with me safe and sound, as
you see?"
Without making answer, Don Estevan took from his purse the piece of gold
he had promised, and handed it to Cuchillo.
"It is the young Tiburcio Arellanos to whom you have given life,"
continued the outlaw. "As for me I only followed the dictates of my
heart; but it may be that we have both done a very foolish action."
"Why that?" asked the Spaniard. "This young man will be easily watched
so long as he is near us; and I presume he is decided to be one of our
expedition?"
"He has asked twenty-four hours to reflect upon it."
"Do you think he knows anything of--"
"I have my fears," replied Cuchillo, in a melancholy tone, little
regarding the lie he was telling, and the purpose of which was to render
the Spaniard suspicious of the man he had himself vowed to kill. "In
any case," continued he, with a significant smile, "we have saved his
life, and that will serve as _tit for tat_."
"What do you mean to say?"
"Only that my conscience assures me it will be perfectly tranquil if--
if--Carramba!" added he, brusquely--"if I should send this young fellow
to be broiled with his mother in the other world."
"God forbid that!" exclaimed the Spaniard, in a lively tone. "What
need? Admit that he knows all: I shall be in command of a hundred men,
and he altogether alone. What harm can the fellow do us. I have no
uneasiness about him. I am satisfied, and so must you be."
"Oh! I am satisfied if you are," growled Cuchillo, like a dog whose
master had hindered him from biting some one, "quite satisfied," he
continued, "but perhaps hereafter--"
"I shall see this young man," said the Spaniard, interrupting him, and
advancing in the direction where Tiburcio stood, while Cuchillo
followed, talking to himself:
"What the devil possessed him to ask how long I had owned my horse? Let
me see! the animal stumbled, I remember, and it was just then he
dismounted and threatened me. I can't understand it, but I suspect what
I do not understand."
When Arechiza and Cuchillo reached the camp, an excitement was observed
among the horses, that gathered around the _capitansa_, at a short
distance from the fire, and to all appearance in a state of extreme
terror, were uttering a wild and continuous neighing. Some danger yet
afar, but which the animals' instincts enabled them to perceive, was the
cause of this sudden _stampede_.
"It is some jaguar they have scented," suggested one of the domestics.
"Bah!" replied another, "the jaguars attack only young foals--they
wouldn't dare to assault a strong vigorous horse."
"Do you think so?" demanded the first speaker. "Ask Benito here, who,
himself, lost a valuable animal taken by the jaguars."
Benito, hearing this reference to himself, advanced towards the two
speakers.
"One day," he began, "or rather, one night just like this, I chanced to
be at a distance from the Hacienda del Venado, where I was a _vaquero_
at the time. I was in search of a strayed horse, and not finding him,
had made up my mind to pass the night at the spring of _Ojo da Agua_. I
tied my horse at a good distance off--where there was better grass--and
I was sleeping, as a man sleeps after riding twenty leagues, when I was
suddenly awakened by all the howlings and growlings of the devils. The
moon shone so clear you might have fancied it daylight. All at once my
horse came galloping toward me with the lazo hanging round his neck,
which he had broken at the risk of hanging himself.
"`Here then,' said I, `I shall now have two horses to go in search of
instead of one.'
"I had scarce made this reflection, when I observed, under the light of
the moon, a superb jaguar bounding after my horse. He scarce appeared
to touch the ground, and each leap carried him forward twenty feet or
more.
"I saw that my poor steed was lost. I listened with anxiety, but for a
while heard nothing. At the end of a quarter of an hour, however, a
terrible roar--"
The speaker paused, and stood trembling.
"_Virgen Santa_!" cried he, "that's it!" as the fearful cry of a jaguar
at that moment echoed through the camp, succeeded by a deathlike
stillness, as if both men and animals had been alike terrified into
silence.