The sudden shock occasioned by the perception of a peril so proximate
and imminent paralysed every tongue. Even the ex-herdsman himself was
silent, and appeared to reflect what had best be done to avoid the
danger.
At this instant the voice of Don Estevan broke the temporary silence
that reigned within the camp.
"Get your weapons ready!" shouted he.
"It is useless, master," rejoined the old vaquero, whose experience
among jaguars gave a certain authority to his words, "the best thing to
be done, is to keep the fire ablaze."
And saying this, he flung an armful of fagots upon it, which, being as
dry as tinder, at once caught flame--so as to illumine a large circle
around the camp.
"If they are not choking with thirst," said Benito, "these demons of
darkness will not dare come within the circle of the fire. But, indeed,
they are often choking with thirst, and then--"
"Then!" interrupted one of the domestics, in a tone of anxiety.
"Then," continued the herdsman, "then they don't regard either light or
fire; and if we are not determined to defend the water against their
approach, we had better get out of their way altogether. These animals
are always more thirsty than hungry."
"How when they have drunk?" asked Baraja, whose countenance, under the
light of the fire, betrayed considerable uneasiness.
"Why, then they seek to appease their hunger."
At this moment a second cry from the jaguar was heard, but farther off
than the first. This was some relief to the auditory of Benito, who,
relying upon his theory, was satisfied that the animal was not yet at
the extreme point of suffering from thirst. All of them preserved
silence--the only sounds heard being the crackling of the dry sticks
with which Baraja kept the fire profusely supplied.
"Gently there, Baraja! gently!" called out the vaquero, "if you consume
our stock of firewood in that fashion, you will soon make an end of it,
and, _por Dios_! _amigo_, you will have to go to the woods for a fresh
supply."
"There! hold your hand," continued he, after a pause, "and try to make
the fagots last as long as possible, else we may get in darkness and at
the mercy of the tiger. He is sure to come back again in an hour or
two, and far thirstier than before."
If Benito had desired to frighten his companions, he could not have
succeeded better. The eyes of one and all of them were anxiously bent
upon the heap of dried sticks that still remained by the fire, and which
appeared scarcely sufficient to last for another hour. But there was
something so earnest in the tone of the ex-herdsman, despite the jesting
way in which he spoke, that told he was serious in what he had said.
Of course, Don Estevan had postponed the interview with Tiburcio; and
the young man, still ignorant that it was to Don Estevan he really owed
his life, did not think of approaching to offer him thanks. Moreover,
he saw that the moment would be ill-timed to exchange compliments of
courtesy with the chief of the expedition, and for this reason he
remained standing where Cuchillo had left him.
Nevertheless Don Estevan could not hinder himself from casting an
occasional glance in the direction where the young man stood--though
through the obscurity he could make no exact observation of his
features.
The silence continued. Don Estevan and the Senator remained seated on
their camp-beds, carbine in hand, while Benito, surrounded by the other
domestics, formed a group by the side of the fire. The horses had all
approached within a few feet of their masters, where they stood
trembling and breathing loudly from their spread nostrils. Their
behaviour indicated an instinct on their part that the danger was not
yet over.
Several minutes passed, in which no human voice broke the silence. In
the midst of greatest perils there is something consolatory in the sound
of a man's voice--something which makes the danger appear less; and as
if struck by this idea, some one asked Benito to continue the narrative
of his adventures.
"I have told you then," resumed the ex-herdsman, "that I saw the tiger
springing after my horse, and that in the chase both disappeared from my
sight. The moment after, the horse came galloping back; but I knew that
it was his last gallop, as soon as by the light of the moon I saw the
terrible rider that he carried. The jaguar was upon his back, flattened
over his shoulders, with the neck of the poor horse fast between his
jaws.
"They had not gone a dozen paces before I heard a crackling sound--as if
some bone had been crushed--and on the instant I saw the horse stumble
and fall. Both tiger and horse rolled over and over in a short but
terrible struggle, and then my poor steed lay motionless.
"For safety I stole away from the dangerous proximity; but returning
after daylight, I found only the half-stripped skeleton of a horse that
had carried me for many a long year.
"And now, amigo," continued the ex-herdsman, turning to the man who had
first spoken, "do you still think that the jaguar attacks only foals?"
No one made reply, but Benito's audience turned their glances outward
from the fire, fearing that in the circle around they might see shining
the eyes of one of these formidable animals.
Another interval of silence succeeded to the narrative of the vaquero.
This was broken by the young man Tiburcio, who, used to the wild life of
the plains and forests, was very little frightened by the presence of
the jaguars.
"If you have a horse," said he, "you need not much fear the jaguar; he
is sure to take your horse first. Here, we have twenty horses and only
one tiger."
"The young man reasons well," rejoined Baraja, reassured by the
observation of Tiburcio.
"Twenty horses for one tiger--yes," replied Benito; "but suppose the
horses don't choose to remain here. Supposing, what is likely enough to
happen, we have an _estampeda_--the horses will be off. Now the jaguar
knows very well he cannot overcome a horse unless he does so in the
first bound or two. I will not follow the horses then, but will stay by
the water, and of course by us as well. Besides, the jaguars that hunt
by these springs are likely enough to have tasted human flesh before
now; and if so, they will not, as the young man affirms, prefer the
flesh of a horse."
"Very consoling, that," interrupted Cuchillo.
Benito appeared to be a man fond of the most frightful suggestions, for
not contented with what he had already said, he continued--
"If there be but one jaguar, then he will be satisfied with one of us,
but in case he should chance to be accompanied by his female, then--"
"Then what, by all the devils?" demanded Cuchillo.
"Why, then--but I don't wish to frighten you."
"May thunder strike you! Speak out," cried Baraja, suffering at the
suspense.
"Why, in that case," coolly added Benito, "the tiger would undoubtedly
show his gallantry to his female by killing a pair of us."
"Carramba!" fervently exclaimed Baraja. "I pray the Lord that this
tiger may be a bachelor," and as he said this he flung a fresh armful of
fagots on the fire.
"Gently, amigo! gently," interrupted the ex-herdsman, lifting off some
of the sticks again. "We have yet at least six hours of night, and
these fagots will scarce serve to keep up the light for one. Gently, I
say! We have still three chances of safety: the first that the jaguar
may not be thirsty; the second, that he may content himself with one of
our horses; and the third, that he may, as you have wished it, be a
_bachelor_ tiger."
There was no response, and another interval of silence succeeded.
During this it was some consolation to the travellers to see the moon,
which now, rising above the horizon, lit up the plains with her white
beams, and flung her silvery effulgence over the trees. From the
direction of the woods came the mournful notes of the great horned owl,
and the sound of flapping wings, caused by the vampire bat, as it glided
through the aisles of the forest. No other sounds appeared to indicate
the presence of living thing except those made by the horses or the
travellers themselves.
"Do you think," said Baraja, addressing himself to Benito, "that the
jaguar is likely to return again? I have known these animals howl at
night around my hut, and then go off altogether."
"Yes," replied Benito, "that may be when their drinking place is left
free to them. Here we have intercepted their approach to the water.
Besides, here are both men and horses--both food and drink in one place;
it is not likely they have gone away from a spot that promises to
furnish them with both. No, I warrant you, they are still in the
neighbourhood."
At this moment the cry of the jaguar was heard once more, proving the
correctness of Benito's judgment.
"There!" cried he, "just as I said; the beast is nearer too--no doubt
his thirst is increasing--the more so that he is hindered from
approaching the spring. Ha! do you hear that?"
This exclamation was caused by another roar of the jaguar, but evidently
not the one that had been already frightening the travellers--for this
cry came from the opposite side of the camp.
"Ave Maria!" screamed Baraja, in anguish, "the tiger has a wife!"
"You speak true," said Benito, "there are two of them, and they must be
a male and female, since two male jaguars never hunt in company."
"_Carrai_!" exclaimed Cuchillo, "may the devil take me if ever I passed
a night in the company of such a man as this old herdsman. He would
frighten the hair off one's head if he could."
"After all," said Baraja, "I think there can't be much danger, so long
as we have got the horses between us and these terrible brutes."
Unhappily, this chance of safety was not to exist much longer, for just
then the jaguars recommenced their growling, both of them nearer than
ever. The effect upon the horses was now exhibited in a complete
_estampeda_,--for these animals, seeing they could no longer rely upon
their masters for protection, preferred trusting to their heels, and one
and all of them broke away in a wild gallop.
As this last chance of security was gone, the old vaquero, leaving the
fire, approached the spot where Don Estevan and the Senator were seated,
and thus addressed them:--
"Gentlemen," said he, "prudence requires that you will not remain so far
from the rest of us. As you perceive there is danger on both sides, it
will be best that we should all keep close together, and as near the
fire as possible."
The affrighted look of the Senator offered a striking contrast to the
countenance of Don Estevan, which still preserved its calm rigidity.
"It is good advice this faithful servant gives us," said Tragaduros,
rising to do as Benito had suggested.
"Come, Benito," said Don Estevan, "these are nothing but hunter's
stories you have been telling, and you wish to frighten these novices?
Is it not so?"
"As I live, Senor Don Estevan, 'tis the truth!"
"There is a real danger, then?"
"Certain there is, my master!"
"Very well, in that case I shall remain where I am."
"Are you in earnest?" asked the frightened Tragaduros.
"Quite so--the duty of a leader is to protect his followers," said the
Spaniard, proudly, "and that is what I mean to do. If the danger is
only from the right and left as it appears to be--I shall guard the
right here. There are two bullets in my gun, and with these and a sure
eye, what care I for a jaguar? You, Senor Don Vicente, can take your
stand on the left of the fire, and watch that side. If it appears
prudent to you to keep near the men, do so."
This compromise appeared to the taste of Tragaduros, who had no idea of
exposing the person of a man who was to be the future proprietor of a
million of dollars dowry. He lost no time, therefore, in crossing over
to the fire, and although he made a feint to keep watch on the opposite
side from that guarded by Don Estevan, he took care to remain within a
few feet of the group of attendants.
These dispositions had scarce been completed, when a formidable dialogue
was struck up between the two fierce beasts that were approaching on
opposite sides of the camp. Now they would utter a hoarse roaring, then
a series of screams and yells, succeeded by a shrill mewing that
resembled the caterwauling of cats--only louder and more terrific in its
effect. Though Benito and Tiburcio knew that all these noises were
caused by a single pair of tigers, the others imagined that not less
than a dozen must be engaged in the frightful chorus.
The gun of the Senator shook in his hand--Baraja commended his soul to
all the saints in the Spanish calendar--Cuchillo clutched his carbine,
as if he would crush it between his fingers--while the chief himself
coolly awaited the denouement of the drama.