THE SIEGE.
While all this was going on, the hunters, as we mentioned before,
resumed their journey, so soon as the Apaches disappeared. The night was
clear, and the hunters marched in Indian file, that is to say, one after
the other; still, through a prudential motive, Carmela was placed
pillion-wise behind Tranquil, while Singing-bird rode with Black-deer.
The Canadian had whispered a few words to Lanzi and Quoniam, upon which
the two men, without replying, dug their spurs in, and started at a
gallop.
"When you have ladies with you," Tranquil said, with a laugh to Loyal
Heart, "it is necessary to take precautions."
The hunter, however, did not ask him for any explanation, and the four
men continued their march in silence. During the whole night nothing
occurred to disturb their journey; the Apaches kept their word
faithfully, and had really withdrawn. Tranquil had not for a moment
doubted their promise. At times the hunter turned to the maiden, and
asked her with ill-disguised anxiety if she felt fatigued, but Carmela
constantly replied in the negative. A few minutes before sunrise, he
bent down to her for the last time.
"Courage," he said, "we shall soon arrive."
The girl attempted to smile, but this long night spent on horseback had
crushed her; she could not even find the courage to answer, so
annihilated was she, and Tranquil, anxious for his daughter, hurried on.
Still in the sunbeams, whose warmth caressed her, the maiden felt
newborn, her courage returned, and she drew herself up with a sigh of
relief. The journey, then, became more gay; for each, on this much
desired appearance of day, had forgotten his fatigue and the emotions of
the past night. Two hours later they reached the base of a hill, halfway
up which was a natural grotto.
"Our friends are expecting us there," said Tranquil.
A few moments later, the little band entered the grotto on horseback,
without leaving any traces of its passage. This grotto, like many others
in that country, possessed several entrances, and through this
peculiarity it often served as a refuge to the wood rangers, who, being
thoroughly conversant with all its windings, could easily escape from
the search of any enemies who might have followed their trail. It was
divided into several compartments, without visible communication with
each other, and formed a species of maze, which ran with inextricable
windings under the whole of the hill. On the prairie the name of the
Jaguar's grotto had been given it.
The two hunters, sent forward by the Canadian, were seated by an
enormous fire of heather, and quietly roasting a magnificent haunch of
venison, as they silently smoked their pipes. Although they must have
been waiting a long time for their friends, on the arrival of Tranquil
and his comrades they contented themselves with a slight bow, and did
not evince the slightest desire to know what had occurred since their
departure, for these men had lived so long on the desert, that they had
grown to assume all the Indian habits. Tranquil led the two females into
a grotto a considerable distance from the principal one.
"Here," he said in a gentle whisper, "you must speak as little as
possible, and as low as you can, for you never know what neighbours you
may have; pay great attention to this piece of advice, for your safety
depends on it. If you require me, or have an inclination to join us, you
know where we are, and it is an easy matter for you to come; good-bye."
His daughter caught him by the arm for a moment, and whispered in his
ear. He bowed in reply, and went out. When the two females found
themselves alone, their first impulse was to fall into each other's
arms. This first emotion past, they lay on the ground with that feeling
of comfort which is experienced when you have sighed during a long
period for a rest, the want of which you greatly feel. At the expiration
of about an hour, Tranquil returned.
"Are we going to start again?" Carmela asked hurriedly, with an
ill-disguised agitation.
"On the contrary, I expect to remain here till sunset."
"Heaven be praised!" the maiden exclaimed.
"I have come to tell you that breakfast is ready, and that we are only
awaiting your presence to begin our meal."
"Eat without us, my dear papa," Carmela answered; "at this moment we
have more need of sleep than anything else."
"Sleep if you like; I have brought you, however, male clothing, which I
must ask you to put on."
"What, father, dress ourselves as men?" Carmela said in surprise, and
with a slight repugnance.
"You must, child--it is indispensable."
"In that case I will obey you, father."
"Thank you, my daughter."
The hunter withdrew, and the two young women soon fell asleep. Their
sleep lasted a long time, for the sun was beginning to sink beneath the
horizon, when they awoke, completely recovered from their fatigue.
Carmela, fresh and rosy, felt no effects of the long sleeplessness of
the preceding night; and the Indian girl, stronger, or more hardened,
had not suffered so much as her companion. The two girls then began,
while chattering and laughing, to prepare everything necessary for the
disguise the hunter had recommended them.
"Let us begin our toilette," Carmela said gaily to Singing-bird.
At the moment when they were removing their dresses, they heard the
noise of footsteps near them, and turned like two startled fawns,
thinking that Tranquil was coming to see whether they were awake yet;
but a couple of words distinctly pronounced, caused them to listen, and
stand quivering with emotion, surprise, and curiosity.
"My brother has been a long time," the voice had said, which seemed to
belong to a man standing scarce three paces from them; "I have been
expecting him for two hours."
"By Heaven, Chief, your remark is perfectly correct; but it was
impossible for me to come sooner," another person immediately answered,
whose strongly pronounced accent proved to be a foreigner.
"My brother will speak without loss of tune."
"That is what I intend doing,"
At this moment Tranquil came up. The young women laid the forefinger on
their lips, recommending silence; the hunter understood what this meant,
and advanced on tiptoe to listen.
"The Jaguar," the second speaker continued, "desires most eagerly that,
in accordance with the promise you made him, you should join his army
with your warriors."
"Up to the present that has been impossible."
"Blue-fox!" Tranquil muttered.
"I warn you that he accuses you of breach of faith."
"The Pale Chief is wrong; a Sachem is not a chattering old woman who
knows not what he says. This evening I shall join him with two hundred
picked warriors."
"We shall see, Chief."
"At the first song of the mankawis, the Apache warriors will enter the
camp."
"All the better. The Jaguar is preparing a general assault on the fort,
and only awaits your arrival to give the signal of attack."
"I repeat to my brother that the Apaches will not fail."
"Those confounded Mexicans fight like demons; the man who commands them
seems to have galvanized them, they second him so well. There was only
one good officer in the Mexican army, and we are obliged to fight
against him. It is really most unlucky."
"The Chief of the Yoris is not invulnerable. The arrows of the Apaches
are long--they will kill him."
"Nonsense," the other said ill-temperedly; "this man seems to have a
charm that protects him. Our Kentuckian rifles are wonderfully true, and
our marksmen possess a far from common skill; but no bullet can hit
him."
"While coming to this grotto, Blue-fox raised the scalp of a Chief of
the Yoris."
"Ah!" the first speaker observed with indifference.
"Here it is; this man was the bearer of a necklace."
"A letter, by Heavens!" the other exclaimed anxiously; "What have you
done with it? You have not destroyed it, I trust?"
"No, the Chief has kept it."
"You did well. Show it to me, perhaps it is important."
"Wah! It is some medicine of the Palefaces; a Chief does not want it; my
brother can take it."
"Thanks!"
There was a moment's silence, during which the hearts of the three
hearers might have been heard beating in unison, so great was their
anxiety.
"By Jove!" the white man suddenly burst out; "A letter addressed to
Colonel Don Juan Melendez de Gongora, Commandant of the Larch-tree, by
General Rubio. You were in luck's way, Chief. Are you sure that the
bearer of this letter is dead?"
"It was Blue-fox who killed him."
"In that case I feel confident, for I can trust to you. Now, this is
what you must do: so soon as----"
But while speaking thus, the two men had withdrawn, and the sound of
their voices was lost in the distance, so that it was impossible to hear
the termination of the sentence, or guess its purport.
The two women turned round. Tranquil had disappeared, and they were
again alone. Carmela, after listening to this strange conversation, of
which accident allowed her to catch a few fragments, had fallen into a
profound reverie, which her companion, with that sense of propriety
innate in Indians, was careful not to disturb.
In the meanwhile, time slipped away, the gloom grew denser in the
grotto, for night had set in; the two young women, afraid to remain
alone in the obscurity, were preparing to rejoin their companions, when
they heard the sound of footsteps, and Tranquil entered.
"What!" he said to them, "Not ready yet? Make haste to put on your
masculine attire, for every minute is an age."
The girls did not allow this to be repeated; they disappeared in an
adjoining compartment, and returned a few minutes later, entirely
disguised.
"Good," the Canadian said, after examining them for a moment; "we are
going to try and enter the Larch-tree hacienda. Now follow me, and be
prudent."
The eight persons left the grotto, gliding along in the darkness like
phantoms.
No one, unless he has tried the experiment, can imagine what a night
march on the desert is, when you are afraid each moment of falling into
the hands of invisible enemies, who watch you behind every bush.
Tranquil had placed himself at the head of the little party, who marched
in Indian file, at times stooping to the ground, going on his hands and
knees, or crawling on his stomach so as to avoid notice.
Doña Carmela, in spite of the extraordinary difficulties she had to
surmount, advanced with admirable courage, never complaining, and
enduring, without seeming to notice them, the scratches of the roots and
brambles, which lacerated her hands, and caused her atrocious suffering.
After three hours of gigantic effort in following Tranquil's trail, the
latter stopped, and had them look around them. They raised their heads,
and found themselves in the camp of the Texan insurgents. All around
them, in the moonbeams, they could see the elongated shadows of Indian
sentries, leaning on their long lances, motionless as equestrian
statues, who were watching over the safety of their Paleface brothers.
The young women felt a thrill of terror run over their persons at this
sight, which was not of a nature to reassure them.
Fortunately for them, the Indians keep very bad guard, and most
generally only place sentries to frighten the enemy. On this occasion,
as they knew very well, they had no sortie to apprehend on the part of
the Larch-tree garrison, the sentinels were nearly all asleep; but the
slightest badly-calculated move, the merest false step, might arouse
them, for these men, who are habituated in keeping their senses alive,
can hardly ever be taken unawares.
At about two hundred yards at the most from the adventurers were the
advanced works of the Larch-tree, gloomy, silent, and apparently, at
least, abandoned or plunged in sleep. Tranquil had only stopped to let
his comrades fully understand the imminent danger to which they were
exposed, and urge them to redouble their caution, for, at the slightest
weakness, they would be lost. After this they started again. They
advanced thus for one hundred yards, or about half the distance
separating them from the Larch-tree, when suddenly, at the moment when
Tranquil stretched out his arms to shelter himself behind a sandhill,
several men, crawling in the opposite direction found themselves face to
face with him. There was a second of terrible anxiety.
"Who goes there?" a low and menacing voice asked.
"Oh!" he said; "We are saved! It is I--Tranquil the Tigrero."
"Who are the persons with you?"
"Wood rangers, for whom I answer."
"Very good; pass on."
The two parties separated, and crawled in opposite directions. The band
with which the hunters exchanged these few words was commanded by Don
Felix Paz, who, more vigilant than the Texans, was making a round of the
glacis to assure himself that all was quiet, and no surprise need be
feared. It was very lucky for Tranquil and his companions that the
Jaguar, in order to do honour to Blue-fox, had this night intrusted the
camp guard to his warriors, and that, confiding in the Redskins, the
Texans had gone to sleep, with that carelessness characteristic of
Americans; for, with other sentries than those through whom they had
glided unseen, the adventurers must infallibly have been captured.
Ten minutes after their encounter with Don Felix, which might have
turned out so fatally for them, the hunters reached the gates, and at
the mention of Tranquil's name a passage was at once granted them. They
were at length in safety within the hacienda, and it was high time that
they should arrive; a few minutes longer and, Carmela and her companion
would have fallen by the wayside. In spite of all their courage and
goodwill, the girls could no longer keep up, their strength was
exhausted. Hence, so soon as the danger had passed, and the nervous
excitement, which alone sustained them, ceased, they fell down
unconscious.
Tranquil raised Carmela in his arms, and carried her to the interior of
the hacienda; while Black-deer, who, in spite of his apparent
insensibility, adored his squaw, hurried up to restore her to life.
The unexpected arrival of Tranquil caused a general joy among the
inhabitants of the hacienda, who all had a deep friendship for this man,
whose glorious character they had had so many opportunities of
appreciating. The hunter was still busied with his daughter, who was
just beginning to recover her senses, when Don Felix Paz, who had
finished his rounds, entered the cuarto, with a message from the Colonel
to the Canadian, begging the latter to come to him at once.
Tranquil obeyed, for Doña Carmela no longer required his assistance--the
maiden had scarce regained her senses, ere she fell into a deep sleep,
the natural result of the enormous fatigue she had endured during
several days. While proceeding to the Colonel's apartments, Tranquil
questioned the major-domo, with whom he had been connected for several
years, and who had no scruples about answering the hunter's queries.
Matters were far from being well at the Larch-tree; the siege was
carried on with an extraordinary obstinacy on both sides, and with many
strange interludes. The insurgents, greatly annoyed by the artillery of
the fort, which killed a great many of them, and to which they could not
reply, owing to their absolute want of cannon, had adopted a system of
reprisals, which caused the besieged considerable injury. This simple
system was as follows: The insurgents, who were mostly hunters, were
exceedingly skilful marksmen, and renowned as such in a country where
the science of firing is carried to its extreme limits. A certain number
of these marksmen sheltered themselves behind the epaulments of the
camp; and each time a gunner attempted to load a piece, they infallibly
shot away his hands.
This had been carried so far, that nearly all the gunners were _hors de
combat_, and it was only at very long intervals that a gun was fired
from the fort. This isolated shot, badly aimed, owing to the
precipitancy with which the men laid the gun, through their fear of
being mutilated, caused but insignificant damage to the insurgents, who
applauded, with reason, the good result of their scheme.
On the other hand, the fort was so closely invested, and watched with
such care, that no one could enter or quit it. It was impossible for
those in the fort to understand how it was that the adventurers had
managed to slip in after traversing the whole length of the enemy's
camp. We must state, too, in order to treat everybody with justice, that
the adventurers understood it less than anybody.
The garrison of the hacienda lived, then, as if they had been roughly
cut off from the world, for no sound transpired without, and no news
reached them. This situation was extremely disagreeable to the
Mexicans; unfortunately for them, it was daily aggravated, and
threatened to become, ere long, completely intolerable. Colonel
Melendez, since the beginning of the siege, had proved himself what he
was, that is to say, an officer of rare merit, with a vigilance nothing
could foil, and a trustworthy bravery. Seeing his gunners so cruelly
decimated by the Texan bullets, he undertook to take their place,
loading the guns at his own peril, and firing them at the insurgents.
Such courage struck the Texans with so great admiration, that although
it would several times have been easy for them to kill their daring foe,
their rifles had constantly turned away from this man, who seemed to
find a delight in braving death at every moment. The Jaguar, while
closely investing the fort, and eagerly desiring to carry it, had given
peremptory orders to spare the life of his friend, whom he could not
refrain from pitying and admiring, as much for his courage as for his
devotion to the cause he served.
Although it was near midnight, the Colonel was still up; at the moment
when the hunter was brought to him, he was walking thoughtfully up and
down his bedroom, consulting from time to time a detailed plan, of the
fortifications that lay open on a table.
Tranquil's arrival caused him great satisfaction, for he hoped to obtain
from him news from without. Unfortunately, the hunter did not know much
about the political state of the country, owing to the isolated life he
led in the forests. Still, he answered with the greatest frankness all
the questions the Colonel thought proper to ask him, and gave him the
little information he had been enabled to collect; then he told him the
various incidents of his own journey. At the name of Carmela the young
officer was slightly troubled, and a vivid flush suffused his face; but
he recovered, and listened attentively to the hunter's story. When the
latter came to the incident in the grotto, and the fragment of
conversation he had overheard between the Apache Chief and the Texan,
his interest was greatly excited, and he made him repeat the story.
"Oh, that letter," he muttered several times, "that letter; what would I
not give to know its contents!"
Unhappily, that was impossible. After a moment, the Colonel begged
Tranquil to continue his story. The hunter then told him in what way he
had managed to cross the enemy's lines and introduce himself into the
fort. This bold action greatly struck the Colonel.
"You were more fortunate than prudent," he said, "in thus venturing into
the midst of your enemies."
The hunter smiled good-temperedly.
"I was almost certain of succeeding," he said.
"How so?"
"I have had a long experience of Indian habits, which enables me to make
nearly certain with them."
"Granted; but in this case you had not Indians to deal with."
"Pardon me, Colonel."
"I do not understand you, so be kind enough to explain."
"That is an easy matter. Blue-fox entered the Texan camp this evening,
at the head of two hundred warriors."
"I was not aware of it," the Colonel said, in surprise.
"The Jaguar, to do honour to his terrible allies, confided to them the
camp guard for this night."
"Hence?"
"Hence, Colonel, all the Texans are sleeping soundly at this moment,
while the Apaches are watching, or, at least, ought to be watching over
the safety of their lives."
"What do you mean by ought to be watching?"
"I mean that the Redskins do not at all understand our manner of
carrying on war, are not accustomed to sentinel duty, and so everybody
is asleep in the camp."
"Ah!" said the Colonel, as he began once more, with a thoughtful air,
the promenade he had interrupted to listen to the hunter's story.
The latter waited, taking an interrogative glance at Don Felix, who had
remained in the room till it pleased the Commandant to dismiss him. A
few minutes passed, and not a syllable was exchanged; Don Juan seemed to
be plunged in serious thought. All at once he stopped before the hunter,
and looked him full in the face.
"I have known you for a long time by reputation," he said, sharply. "You
pass for an honest man, who can be trusted."
The Canadian bowed, not understanding to what these preliminaries
tended.
"I think you said the enemy's camp was plunged in sleep?" the Colonel
continued.
"That is my conviction," Tranquil answered; "we crossed their lines too
easily for it to be otherwise."
Don Felix drew nearer.
"Yes," the young officer muttered, "we might give them a lesson."
"A lesson they greatly need," the Major-domo added.
"Ah, ah!" the Colonel said, with a smile; "Then you understand me, Don
Felix?"
"Of course."
"And you approve?"
"Perfectly."
"It is one in the morning," the Colonel went on, as he looked at a clock
standing on a console; "at this moment sleep is the deepest. Well, we
will attempt a sortie; have the officers of the garrison aroused."
The Major-domo went out: five minutes later the officers, still
half-asleep, obeyed their Chief's orders.
"Caballeros," the latter said to them, so soon as he saw them all
collected round him, "I have resolved to make a sortie against the
rebels, surprise them, and fire their camp, if it be possible. Select
from your soldiers one hundred and fifty men, in whom you can trust;
supply them with inflammable matters, and in five minutes let them be
drawn up in the Patio. Go; and before all, I recommend you the deepest
silence."
The officers bowed, and at once left the room. The Colonel then turned
to Tranquil.
"Are you tired?" he asked him.
"I am never so."
"You are skilful?"
"So they say."
"Very good. You will serve as our guide; unfortunately, I want two
others."
"I can procure them for your Excellency."
"You?"
"Yes, a wood ranger and a Comanche Chief, who entered the fort with me,
and for whom I answer with my life; Loyal Heart and Black-deer.
"Warn them, then, and all three wait for me in the Patio."
Tranquil hastened to call his friends.
"If that hunter has spoken the truth, and I believe he has," the Colonel
continued, addressing the Major-domo, "I am convinced we shall have an
excellent opportunity for repaying the rebels a hundredfold the harm
they have done us. Do you accompany me, Don Felix?"
"I would not for a fortune leave you one inch, under such
circumstances."
"Come, then, for the detachment must be ready by this time."
They went out.