After the choice of volunteers had been made another Council of War was
called, and it was agreed that the rescue party should start at midday,
having in command Sir Francis Vane and Piñone, and that it should
consist besides these two of Aniwee, the remainder of our white friends,
Graviel, Blancha, the two girl volunteers, and sixteen young Warriors,
who had been selected for their skill in the chase, and for their
dexterity in handling the bolas, lasso, and rifle. Cuastral, as head
Cacique, was to remain behind to watch and safeguard the authority
against which Inacayal had plotted, and which he had so nearly succeeded
in overthrowing.
At midday, therefore, every one had assembled, and several pack-horses,
well loaded with ammunition and necessaries, had been added to the
group. Farewells were hastily exchanged, and the rescue party started
off, amidst the fervent good wishes of all, Shag of course accompanying
the expedition.
It took them four good hours of hard riding before they reached the spot
known to the Araucanians as Traucos’ Rest. The place was so called
because these hairy people often appeared thereon in small groups at a
certain time every year, and seemed to make it a kind of halting or
resting-place; but they never remained long, and always took their
departure soon after their arrival. Piñone, whose experience amongst
them now stood the searchers in good stead, declared that the Traucos
were a wandering people, never remaining long in one place, and betaking
themselves every year to the dense and lonely forests which bordered the
most inaccessible heights of the Cordilleras, to reach which passage was
made up a deep river, to whose source he and Cuastral had been able to
penetrate; and he was confident that the party of Traucos, into whose
hands the little Guardia had fallen, were making their way in that
direction. He had little hope, he declared, of overtaking them; for the
Trauco travels at great speed, a speed which no civilised or
semi-civilised human being could hope to emulate. Nevertheless, he did
believe, that with Shag’s sagacious assistance they might be able to
push rapidly forward on the track of the captors of his child.
“Well, we are in for a lark, and no mistake,” chuckled Freddy to Harry,
as the two cousins rode along side by side, talking over the events of
the past few days.
“Yes, indeed,” answered the latter gravely; “but Freddy, old chap, it is
just a little awe-inspiring when one realises how we are about to plunge
into the unknown, from which who knows if we shall ever return.”
“Oh! I say, Harry, you are gloomy indeed,” laughed his cousin lightly.
“For myself I have no misgivings, and I look forward to a very jolly
time, and all sorts of exciting adventures; at least, I hope so.”
“What’s that?” inquired Topsie, riding up; “what are you two boys
talking about?”
“Men, you mean, Topsie, I suppose?” remarked Harry demurely. “You should
never call a spade a shovel.”
“Oh, oh!” laughed Mary, mischievously, who, being in close attendance on
Topsie, had overheard the last two remarks. “You a man, indeed, Harry.
Funny class of man then, conceited person that you are.”
“Now look here, Miss Mary, I must exact respect,” exclaimed Harry, with
a comical attempt to look reproving; but the corners of his mouth
twitched, and he was obliged to give way to laughter. It was while
joking thus that the whole party arrived at Traucos’ Rest.
It now became a question as to whether they should continue the journey
on foot or on horseback. Traucos’ Rest itself consisted of a high
plateau, dotted here and there with shady trees, which gradually became
less wide apart as they neared the outskirts of the forest. Several
well-worn tracks led into this latter at this point, severally formed,
no doubt, by wild horses and the migrating Traucos. It was surmised that
these tracks led through the forest belts to the open valleys far away
below, and it appeared not unlikely that they would be worn enough to
permit of easy riding, if they had been traversed by the baguales. In
any case, it was resolved to stick to the horses as long as possible, a
horse’s back being second nature to an Araucanian, who finds himself
less at home on his legs.
A halt was here called, and the order of march arranged. Harry and
Topsie, as experienced in forest travelling, were deputed to head the
van, next to them being Aniwee and Piñone. Then followed Sir Francis and
Lady Vane, behind whom came Freddy, Willie, and Mary, and next in order
Graviel and Blancha. After these followed Coquet and Chorlo, the two
girl volunteers, and bringing up the rear, riding two abreast, were the
sixteen Araucanian braves, who had been chosen, as aforementioned, to
take part in the expedition.
As they entered the forest in the order described, every Indian,
including Piñone, bowed his head, and raised his hand to his forehead,
saluting thus the Gualichu and hidden spirits, whom they believed
haunted the forest, and whom they deemed it necessary to propitiate by
acts of obeisance. As they rode along Harry and Topsie kept a sharp
look-out, while Shag trotted ahead of them, with his nose to the ground,
wise as Solomon, and evidently extremely keen on scent of some kind.
“I wonder if it is Trauco spoor he is on,” remarked Topsie to her
brother as they watched the dog’s evident eagerness to get forward.
“Look how his bristles are up. It seems uncommonly like as if there was
danger ahead. I vote we get our rifles ready, Harry.”
“Right you are, dear,” answered her brother, as he unslung his weapon
from off his shoulder, and put himself into what he called an attention
attitude, Topsie doing the same.
Suddenly Shag halted, cocked his ears, sniffed the air two or three
times, and growled. Then he looked round rather anxiously at Topsie.
There was clearly something ahead which Shag regarded as disquieting,
for he kept on growling and showing his fine white teeth in a most
menacing fashion.
“Halt!” called out the girl to those behind her, at the same time
raising her hand in a warning attitude.
“Look out for squalls!” shouted Harry, at the same time bringing his
rifle to his shoulder. As he did so an angry roar reverberated through
the forest, and the next moment a messenger of death pinged forth from
the young midshipman’s rifle, which was followed by a roar fiercer and
more menacing than the one which had preceded it.
“A black jaguar!” shouted Topsie excitedly. “Have a care, all of you!
Harry must have hit him, for he has bolted into the undergrowth. We
shall have to be wary, for if he is lying in wait, he will spring out on
some one as we ride by, and woe to the person on whom he springs.”
The jaguar had disappeared from view, but Shag’s angry attitude bespoke
his near proximity. Topsie had to speak sternly to the dog, to prevent
him springing forward in the track of the savage beast, a blow from
whose paw, she knew well, would finish Shag’s career for ever, and apart
from the great love which she bore the faithful animal, his life was too
valuable to the success of the expedition, to permit of his courting the
great danger of a personal encounter with the jaguar. Now what was to be
done? To advance would be rash, to remain all huddled together in the
narrow track impossible. In this dilemma Piñone came to the rescue.
During his sojourn amongst the Traucos, he had seen these people attack
both the jaguar and the puma, and he determined to copy their tactics on
this occasion.
Dismounting from his horse, he handed the reins to Aniwee, and taking
his spear out of its rest in the saddle, as well as two short
javelin-looking darts, he walked boldly forward in front of the growling
Shag. Then he began to limp as if in pain, and to moan pitifully,
keeping, however, a sharp look-out in all directions for the sign, which
he knew would shortly appear.
It came at last in the shape of two gleaming balls of fire, which showed
all the more vividly that they were encased in the gloom of the thick
forest. Then at once Piñone sprang to attention, knowing well that the
gleaming balls were the jaguar’s eyes, and that if he did not strike
quickly, the savage beast would do so instead. Like lightning the young
Cacique drew himself up, and poised his darts, one after the other, in
quick succession, hurling them with full force at the two gleaming
lights. Then he grasped his spear and sprang forward, for the darts,
aimed by a master hand, had struck straight home into the jaguar’s eyes.
With a savage cry of agony and fury the poor brute reared himself up,
every claw distended, and gnashing his teeth in mad fury, while his tail
swept his sides with dull thuds terrible to hear. Yet even as he
alighted with a crash amongst the undergrowth, from which he had just
sprung, Piñone’s spear struck straight home into his heart, and passing
right through his body, pinned him tightly to the earth. A shudder ran
through his form as he gave one feeble wriggle and then lay still.
“That is how the Trauco kill the lione,” the Indian observed coolly, as
the rest pressed forward to congratulate him on his prowess.
“What! the Traucos have darts, have they?” inquired Lady Vane in some
surprise.
“Not so,” replied Piñone, “but they have arrows, which they shoot into
the brute’s eyes, even as I flung the darts, and then they advance and
stab their victim with their golden knives. It is of them that Piñone
learned to kill the lione in this wise.”
“Are there many of these black jaguars about, Piñone?” inquired Topsie,
as she knelt beside the splendid beast, and smoothed its soft, glossy
skin. “It is the second black jaguar that I have ever seen. Alas! the
first one was under circumstances sad enough.”
“Do not talk of it, Topsie,” exclaimed Harry hastily. He could never
bear reference being made to the day when, as we have read in “The Young
Castaways,” his imprudence brought about the death of his ancient
relative Sir Harry Vane, the hermit of the Andes.
Of course a halt had to be called while two of the braves skinned and
cut up the lione, a name which the Indians give alike to pumas and
jaguars. In point of fierceness, however, the two animals cannot be
compared, the latter being far and away the most dangerous to encounter,
being more powerful, more determined and brave than their yellow
_confrères_.
They had been riding almost continuously for five hours, and the sun was
beginning to get low, so that when the jaguar had been skinned and cut
up, and his meat divided amongst the Indians, it was decided to halt in
the very next clearing reached, which was sure to be provided with one
of the numerous torrents that hurled their waters forward to the valley
far below. They were not long before they came upon one of them, and
then the horses were unsaddled, and picketed amongst the rich grass,
which they thoroughly appreciated. To have turned them loose would have
been dangerous, for the Indian horse has a proclivity for finding his
way home, besides which, if a herd of wild horses crossed his path,
there would be no hope of ever seeing him again.
Freddy, Willie, and Mary, to whom this wild forest life was quite new,
worked hard to make a comfortable bivouac. They collected wood, and
helped to light the fires, fetched water from the torrent, got out the
maté from the pack-saddles, and made themselves extremely useful. Meat
was put on to boil, and soon the whole party were enjoying their evening
meal. Then the Indians coiled themselves up in their fur robes, and lit
their pipes preparatory to seeking repose. Sentries or watchers had to
be set, and Piñone offered to take the first watch along with Aniwee and
Sir Francis. Topsie thought this a good opportunity to prefer a request.
“Piñone,” she said, “if we sit around this fire, will you tell me the
story of your captivity amongst the Traucos?”
“Hurrah!” shouted Harry, as Piñone gravely assented.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]