"I have said then," resumed Pepe, after a time, "that I pretended to be
always asleep. The _ruse_ succeeded equal to my best expectations, and
one night the captain sent for me. Good! said I to myself, there's an
eel under the stone--the captain is going to confide a post to me. Just
as I had anticipated he sent me to sleep--at least he thought so--on a
most important post; but for all that I did not sleep a wink during the
whole of that night."
Here Pepe paused for a moment, in order to swallow an enormous mouthful
of the roast mutton, that hindered the free use of the tongue.
"To be brief, then," resumed he, "a boat arrived with men, and I
permitted it to land. It was only afterwards that I learnt that it was
no smuggling business these men were bent upon, but an affair of blood--
of murder; and the thought that I was instrumental in aiding the
assassins causes me to this hour a feeling of remorse. I did not
conceal what I knew. Afterwards I denounced the murderer, by way of
atoning for my fault. A trial took place, but as in Spain justice goes
to the highest bidder, the assassin was set free, and I became a victim.
I was drummed out of my regiment, and transported to the fisheries of
Ceuta, on the unhealthy coast of Africa. There I was compelled to
remain for many years, till at last having made my escape, after a
thousand perilous adventures, I found myself on the prairies of
America."
"It was a rich man then--some powerful person--whom you denounced?"
"Yes; a grand senor. It was the old story of the pot of clay broken
against the pot of iron. But the desert here has no distinctions; and,
by the Virgin of Atocha! I shall prove that before many suns have gone
over my head. Ah! if I only had here a certain alcalde of the name of
Don Ramon Cohecho, and his damned friend, one Senor Cagatinta, I fancy I
should make them pass an uncomfortable quarter of an hour."
"Very well, then," said Bois-Rose, seeing the other had finished his
narrative; "very well. I quite approve of your intentions--let the
journey to Arispe stand over."
"It is an old story," said Pepe, in conclusion; "and if for ten years
you have been teaching me to handle a rifle, after many more spent in
the usage of a carbine in the service of her Catholic majesty, surely I
should be able to manage it now. I think I would scarcely miss an
object as large as him whom you have seen at the head of those horsemen
journeying towards the hacienda."
"Yes--yes," replied the Canadian, with a laugh; "but I remember the
time, Pepe, when you missed many a buffalo twice as big as he.
Nevertheless, I fancy I have made a passable shot of you at last,
although you still persist in mistaking the ear of an otter for his eye,
which always depreciates the value of the skin. Well, you know that I
myself was not brought up on the prairies. I was a sailor for many long
years; and perhaps I should have continued one but for--a sad event--a
melancholy affair--but what good is there in speaking of that which is
no more. Let the past be past! I find the life of the desert something
like that on the ocean--once a man has got used to it he cannot easily
quit it."
"Yes," rejoined Pepe; "the life of the forest and prairie has its
charms, and for my part--"
"Hush!" whispered the Canadian, interrupting the speech of his comrade
and placing himself in an attitude to listen. "I heard a rustle among
the branches. Other ears than mine may be listening to you."
Pepe cast a glance in the direction whence the sounds had been heard.
The dark form of a man was perceived among the trees coming from the
direction of the hacienda.
It was evident that the man was not trying to approach by stealth, for
his form was erect and he made no attempt to conceal himself behind the
branches.
This would have freed the mind of Pepe from all suspicion, but for the
circumstance that the stranger appeared to be coming direct from the
hacienda.
"Who goes there?" he hailed in a loud tone, as the dark shadow was seen
entering the glade.
"One who seeks an asylum by your fire," was the ready reply, delivered
in rather a feeble voice.
"Shall we allow him to come on? or beg him to continue his journey?"
muttered Pepe to the Canadian.
"God forbid we should deny him! Perhaps they have refused him a lodging
up at the house; and that voice, which I think I have heard before,
plainly denotes that he is fatigued--perhaps ill."
"Come on, Senor!" called out Pepe, without hesitating farther; "you are
welcome to our fire and our mess; come on!"
At this invitation the stranger advanced. It is needless to say that it
was Tiburcio Arellanos, whose cheeks as he came within the light of the
fire betrayed by their paleness the traces of some violent emotion, or
else of some terrible malady. This pallor, however, was partly caused
by the blood which he had lost in the conflict with Cuchillo.
As soon as the features of Tiburcio came fairly under the light, the
trappers recognised him as the young man they had met at La Poza; but
the ex-carabinier was struck with some idea which caused him to make an
involuntary gesture. The Canadian, on the other hand, regarded the
new-comer with that expression of condescending kindness which age often
bestows upon youth.
"Have you parted with the gentlemen in whose company we saw you?" asked
Pepe of Tiburcio.
"Yes."
"Perhaps you are not aware that there is a house close by. I do not
know the owner, but I fancy he would not refuse you a night's lodging,
and he could entertain you better than we. Perhaps," continued he,
observing that Tiburcio made no reply, "you have been up to the house
already?"
"I have," answered Tiburcio. "I have no reproach to make against its
owner, Don Augustin Pena; he has not refused me hospitality; but there
are other guests under his roof with whom my life is not safe."
"Oh, that!" exclaimed Pepe, appearing to become more interested; "has
anything happened to you?"
Tiburcio lifted his serape, exhibiting the wound in his right arm from
which the blood was yet oozing.
Both Pepe and the Canadian rose hastily to their feet and stepped
forward to examine the wound. Having done so, they immediately set
about dressing it, which they effected with as much dexterity and
despatch as might have been shown by practised surgeons; at the same
time the rude physiognomy of each was marked by an expression of
interest almost amounting to tenderness. While the Canadian kept
bathing the wound with water from his canteen, Pepe proceeded into the
woods in search of a peculiar plant noted for its healing properties.
This plant was the _oregano_. Presently he returned, bringing with him
several slices which he had cut from the succulent stem of the plant;
the pulp of these, mashed between two stones, was placed over the wound,
and then secured by Tiburcio's own scarf of China crape wound several
times around the arm; nothing more could be done than await the effect
of the application.
"Now," said the Canadian, "you will soon feel better. There is no
danger of inflammation--nothing beats the oregano for preventing that,
and you need not be afraid of fever. Meanwhile, if you feel inclined,
there's a bit of roast mutton and a glass of _eau de vie_ at your
service; after which you had best lie down by the fire and take some
sleep--for I can see that you're weary."
"In truth," replied Tiburcio, "I am fatigued. I thank you for your
offer, but I do not feel inclined either to eat or drink; I have more
need of sleep, and with your permission shall try and get some. One
request I would make of you: that you will not permit me to sleep too
long; there are reasons why I should soon be awake again."
"Very well," said Pepe; "we don't want your reasons. If you wish us to
watch the hacienda, I beg you will only say so, and you shall have two
pair of good eyes at your service; therefore make your mind easy, and
sleep without fear of any enemy coming upon you unawares."
Tiburcio stretched himself upon the grass, and overcome by fatigue and
the many violent emotions he had that day experienced, soon fell into a
lethargic slumber.
For some time Bois-Rose sat regarding the sleeper in silence, but with
an air of strange interest.
"What age do you think he is?" he at length inquired of his comrade.
"Twenty-four, I should fancy," replied the ex-coast-guard.
"Just what I was thinking," said the Canadian, speaking in a tone of
half soliloquy, while a melancholy expression appeared to tone down his
rude physiognomy. "Yes, just the age he ought to be if still alive."
"He! who are you talking of?" brusquely interrupted his companion, in
whose heart the words of the Canadian seemed to find an echo.
"No matter," said Bois-Rose, still speaking in a tone of melancholy;
"the past is past; and when it has not been as one would have wished it,
it is better forgotten. But come! let us have done with idle regrets
and finish our supper--such souvenirs always spoil my appetite."
"The same with me," agreed Pepe, as he seized hold of a large
mutton-bone, and commenced an attack upon it in a fashion that proved
that his appetite was not yet quite gone.
After a while Pepe again broke the silence.
"If I had the pleasure," said he, "of a personal acquaintance with this
Don Augustin Pena, who appears to be the proprietor here, I would
compliment him upon the fine quality of his mutton; and if I thought his
horses were of as good a sort, I think I should be tempted to borrow
one--one horse would never be missed out of the great herds we have seen
galloping about, no more than a sheep out of his vast flocks; and to me
a good horse would be a treasure."
"Very well," said the Canadian. "If you feel inclined for a horse, you
had better have one; it will be no great loss to the owner, and may be
useful to us. If you go in search of one, I can keep watch over this
young fellow, who sleeps as if he hadn't had a wink for the last month."
"Most probably no one will come after him; nevertheless, Bois-Rose, keep
your eye open till I return. If anything happens, three howls of the
coyote will put me on my guard."
As he said this, Pepe took up a lazo that lay near, and turning his face
in the direction in which he was most likely to find a drove of horses,
he walked off into the woods.
Bois-Rose was left alone. Having thrown some dry branches upon the
fire, in order to produce a more vivid light, he commenced regarding
anew the young man who was asleep; but after a while spent in this way
he stretched himself alongside the prostrate body, and appeared also to
slumber.
The night-breeze caused the foliage to rustle over the heads of these
two men, as they lay side by side. Neither had the least suspicion that
they were here re-united by strange and providential circumstances--that
twenty years before, they had lain side by side--then lulled to sleep by
the sound of the ocean, just as now by the whispering murmurs of the
forest.