When Willie and Mary rode out of the Araucanian camp with Graviel, they
had little or no notion in which direction to proceed, and small idea
how to act. Graviel himself was half distraught with misery, and seemed
quite beside himself. Wounded, suffering, still under the influence of
the drug which Guaitu had administered, it may readily be supposed that
he was not a fit subject from whom to seek counsel or advice. The youth
was faithful and brave. He could sacrifice anything for the child of
Piñone; he would fight to the death in her defence; but when that child
had been spirited away by the evil machinations of the Gualichu, where
could he turn, what could he do to find her again? To feel that she was
gone—he knew not where—was maddening to the poor lad.
Silently, and utterly broken down with misery, Graviel sat on his horse,
not seeming to care in which direction it proceeded, and hardly noticing
Mary and Willie when they spoke to him. It was at once evident to the
children that they must rely on their own ideas and plans in this
emergency, and leave the Indian’s counsel out of the question.
“I tell you what we will do, Willie,” said Mary at length. “We will make
for the plain where we caught the wild horses yesterday, and passing
through the gorge where Topsie was last seen, ride on in that direction.
It is quite possible that whoever stole the poor wee baby may have made
for the forest, in which case we shall come upon his tracks, and at any
rate meet Aniwee and the others returning with Topsie, for, Willie dear,
I don’t for a moment think that any great harm will have befallen her;
she is far too clever.”
It must be explained that Mary possessed the greatest admiration for
Topsie, up to whom she looked with a veneration and awe inexpressible.
Nothing that her beautiful cousin did was short of perfection in Mary’s
eyes; and though she was anxious about her, she could not bring herself
to believe that any difficulty existed out of which Topsie could not
disentangle herself.
“All right,” assented Willie. The boy was game for anything which
promised adventure of some sort or other, and was quite willing to be
guided by his sister as to the direction they should take.
So they rode briskly forward, over the same ground across which they had
galloped the previous day before sighting the wild horses, little
dreaming that their father, mother, brother, cousin, and Aniwee were at
that very moment struggling through the dense untrodden forest in the
wake of Shag, and on the track of Topsie and her captor. Little did they
dream either of the strange adventures through which their cousin had
gone the previous day, of her meeting with the captive Araucanians, of
her desperate attempt at escape, of her recapture and despairing
abandonment thereafter. Ignorance is bliss, they say. Certainly on this
occasion it was so to Mary, who, could she have seen Topsie at that
moment, stretched outside the Trauco’s hut, where she had sobbed herself
to sleep after her recapture, would certainly have endured throes of
intense misery, the very idea of which is painful even to contemplate.
Suddenly Graviel looked up, and inquired in a quick, sharp voice, “Where
are we going, Señors?”
“Where to, but in search of the young Cacique?” answered Mary, looking
at him reprovingly. “It has struck me, Graviel, that her captor may have
made for the forest; and as Guaitu will be searching eastward, I thought
it best to ride westward.”
“Guaitu is a traitor!” burst out the youth furiously. “Graviel always
hated him with his cunning, snake-like face. Is he not a Caciquillo in
the pay of Inacayal? Did he not last night give Graviel to drink, and
was there not poison in that hated water of hell? Then the Gualichu,
with evil intent, took possession of Graviel and Blancha; he laid the
hand of sleep heavy on their eyes, so that when the thief stole in they
saw him not, and thus was La Guardia Chica spirited away. Ah! ma mia
Guardia, where art thou? Child of Aniwee and Piñone, where art thou, my
beautiful?”
He dropped the reins on his horse’s neck as he spoke, and stretched out
his hand and arm with an imploring gesture. The other arm lay helpless
in a sling, and his poor slashed face bore a most piteous expression.
His whole appearance touched Mary deeply.
“Graviel,” she said earnestly; “do not fret, my poor Graviel. We will
assuredly find the young Cacique, and you shall be happy once more;
only, Graviel, try and keep up your spirits and your wits, for we shall
need them all. Won’t you try, for La Guardia Chica’s sake?”
His face brightened, and he smiled softly as he answered:
“For La Guardia Chica, Graviel would die.”
“Then come on, Graviel, and let us see if we can find any trace of her
in the forest direction,” said Mary encouragingly, at the same time
putting her horse into a canter. The drug must have worn off, for
Graviel after this became more himself again.
They galloped along the same plain in which they had tackled the wild
horses the previous day, and as they did so they perceived a mounted
figure coming through the gorge at the far end. Apparently the noise of
their horses’ hoofs attracted his attention, for he reined up, kept his
horse still for a few seconds, and then turning him round retreated
along the route he had just come.
“Did you see that, Graviel?” exclaimed Willie hastily; and then he
added, addressing Topsie in English: “The beggar fights shy of us;
depend upon it he is up to no good.”
Yes, Graviel had seen him; and though the distant figure was quite
three-quarters of a mile away, thought that he had recognised him. The
Indian youth’s eyes gleamed fire, and he urged his horse into a swinging
gallop, muttering at the same time, “May the bones of my fathers smother
me if that is not Kai Chileno who brought the message to Inacayal
yesterday. What does he there? Why is he not with Inacayal? Oh yes,
there is treachery, treachery indeed.”
His horse was going at racing pace now, and he called out to Mary and
Willie to urge theirs on to their topmost speed, at the same time
pointing to the vanishing figure in front of them, who, having passed
through the gorge, bore away to the right at a headlong pace.
But Graviel held on. He knew that Kai Chileno was a big and heavy man,
and that a horse could not hope with such a weight to keep up the same
pace long. He knew that he himself, Mary, and Willie were light weights,
and, moreover, being mounted on three of Aniwee’s picked hunters, could
gain ground on the flying Araucanian. He had put two and two together in
the twinkling of an eye the moment that he had recognised this Indian,
and saw him fly. He felt sure that a diabolical plot had been hatched,
in which Inacayal, Guaitu, and the villainous Kai Chileno had each a
part; for was not this Kai Chileno reputed a very desperado among the
Araucanians, a wild, free-booting robber, who for pay would be willing
to embark in any villainy? Graviel saw it all plainly. He clearly
perceived that the summons northwards against the Cristianos was a mere
trick to draw off the warriors from the Indian camp, in order to enable
Guaitu to carry out his fell purpose during their absence. Yet Graviel,
as he read the plot clearly enough now, knew that Guaitu and Kai Chileno
were mere tools in the hands of an arch-conspirator, and he had not the
slightest doubt but that this arch-conspirator was Inacayal himself.
Still, if Kai Chileno could be captured, threats or bribes might induce
him to disclose the plot, and reveal where the baby Queen was hidden,
therefore Graviel felt that he must be captured at any cost.
“Ride, Señors, ride!” he called out to the children; “yonder Indian must
be captured. He is the thief, the thief who has stolen La Guardia Chica.
Ride, Señors, ride!”
Thus abjured, as may be supposed, Mary and Willie did their best, and
beneath their light weights, their game little horses raced across the
rough pampa at an amazing pace. They very soon reached the gorge through
which Kai Chileno had disappeared, and having crossed it emerged into
the other and greater plain which former chapters have described. They
could see the fugitive still far ahead of them, urging his horse towards
the broad river that flowed eastwards, and which came from a westerly
direction.
“We will ride down the wily fox,” gasped Graviel exultingly. “Let the
Señors keep pace with me, and assuredly we will gain upon him ere long.
Ah! he may gallop, but the rich-blooded baguales of the Warrior Queen
can gallop faster.”
Graviel spoke truly. There was both speed and stamina in the horses
which he, Mary, and Willie bestrode. The more they galloped the keener
they became, and showed no signs of slackening speed or failing “staying
powers.”
Imperceptibly almost, yet gradually and by degrees, they lessened the
distance between themselves and Kai Chileno. This latter had made for
the river at first, but for some reason or other had changed his mind,
and wheeling more to the left, had pointed towards the forest, that same
forest where Topsie had disappeared, and into which the rescue party had
penetrated in search of her. He did not know that ahead of him a small
party of Araucanians were bivouacked, awaiting the return of their
Queen, and he rode on entirely unsuspecting the trap into which he was
fast galloping. Every now and then he would glance back and curse aloud,
for the hoofs of his pursuers’ horses were getting nearer and nearer,
and he could hear their thunder closer and closer every minute. He dug
the spurs savagely into the heaving sides of his fast tiring horse, and
strove to urge him to renewed exertion.
Graviel, Mary, and Willie noticed the fast failing movements of the
fugitive’s horse, and became highly exultant in consequence. Graviel
could ill contain his triumph, and more than once shouted aloud the war
cry of his tribe.
Kai Chileno breasted a low hill with difficulty which lay barely half a
mile distant from the forest; but what was his horror when his eyes
alighted suddenly on the bivouac of Araucanians already referred to.
Turn back he could not. He was unarmed, and his horse was done to a
turn. His only chance was to reach the forest and take refuge therein;
but Graviel was close behind him shouting his war-whoop, and he could
see the Araucanians rushing to their horses, and mounting in hot haste.
The bivouac had been seen by the pursuers as well, and they sought to
attract its members’ attention to Kai Chileno by loud shouts and cries.
These had decidedly the desired effect, for the Indians thus appealed to
began galloping quickly across the path of the hunted man, apparently
with the intention of intercepting and arresting him. Then Kai Chileno
bethought himself of a last attempt at escape. As the Indians bore down
upon him he began shouting his war cry, and pointing towards the forest,
as though he would implore them to gallop in that direction to avert
some dreaded danger. For a moment the Indians hesitated, as if not
knowing what to make of the rival cries and gesticulations, and this
gave the fugitive a good chance of escape.
“Stop him!” yelled Graviel in a frenzy of desperation, urging on his
horse to its utmost speed, while the sweat sprung out in large beads on
his anxious-stricken face. At the same time two shots rang out beside
him from Mary’s rifle. The girl had unslung it, and fired twice after
the flying Indian.
Then the Araucanians grasped the situation, and with terrific yells set
out in pursuit of Kai Chileno. In vain the desperate man spurred his
horse, and sought by every means to urge him forward. The poor brute was
done to a turn, and could do no more. Staggering forward a few paces, it
came with a crash to the ground. But Kai, prepared for the collapse,
deftly landed on his feet—only fifty paces from the forest! He strove to
reach it. Vainly. In another second a bolas whizzed out and encircled
his legs, and he fell to the ground a helpless captive.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]