FORWARD!
In the meanwhile, Master Lovel made his men row vigorously, in order to
reach land as soon as possible. But whatever desire he might have for
haste, it was impossible for him to reach the shore so soon as he might
have wished, for not knowing the coast, and steering, as it were,
blindly, his boat ran several times upon submarine reefs, which caused
him to lose a considerable amount of time by forcing him to change his
course; hence, when he at last reached the shore, the Captain had landed
long before.
The old sailor had his boat tied up to the Captain's, in order that they
could be used if required, and then leaped ashore, followed by his men,
and advanced cautiously inland. He had not proceeded many yards,
however, ere a tremendous noise reached his ears, and he saw the sailors
who accompanied the Captain debouch from the hollow way in disorder, and
closely pursued by Mexican soldiers.
Master Lovel did not lose his heart under these critical circumstances:
instead of rushing into the medley, he ambushed his men behind a clump
of Peru and mahogany trees that stood a short distance off, and prepared
with perfect coolness to make a diversion in favour of his comrades when
the favourable moment arrived.
The Texans, with their backs to a rock, not ten yards from the sea, were
fighting desperately against an immense number of enemies. A minute
later, and all would have been over, but suddenly the cry of "Forward!
_Texas y Libertad!_" was raised in the rear of the Mexicans,
accompanied by a tremendous noise and a deadly discharge, almost at
point-blank range, scattered terror and disorder through their ranks. It
was Master Lovel effecting his diversion, in order to save his Captain,
or his adopted son, as he called him in his simple devotion.
The Mexicans, who already believed themselves victors, were terrified at
this unforeseen attack, which, owing to the vigour with which it was
carried out, they supposed to be made by a considerable body of these
terrible freebooters, commanded by the Jaguar, whose reputation was
already immense in the ranks of the American army. Persuaded that the
Texans had landed in force, and had only given way in order to make them
fall more surely into the trap, they hesitated, fell back in their turn,
and finally being seized with a panic terror which their officers could
not succeed in mastering, they broke and fled in all directions,
throwing their arms away.
The Texans, revived by the providential arrival of the old sailor, and
excited by their Captain's voice, redoubled their efforts. Tranquil tied
a handkerchief round his thigh, and supported by Quoniam, who, during
the action, had not left him for an instant, he retreated to the boats,
leading Carmela, and followed by the Captain and his brave sailors. The
latter, like lions at bay, turned at each instant to dash with axes and
bayonets at the few soldiers their officers had at length succeeded in
rallying, but who did not venture to press too closely the terrible
adversaries, whom, since the beginning of the action, they had learned
to appreciate and consequently to fear.
Still fighting, the sailors at length reached the boats prepared for
their reception. Captain Johnson ordered the wounded to be placed in the
launch, and getting into the other boat with Tranquil, Quoniam, and the
sound men, he put off from the shore, towing the boat that served as an
ambulance. This daring retreat, effected under the enemy's fire, was
carried out with admirable precision and skill. One part of the crew of
the pinnace fired at the Mexicans who lined the beach, while the other
portion pulled vigorously in the direction of the brig.
Ere long the coast disappeared in the fog, the shouts of the enemy
became less distinct, the shots ceased, the lights flashing on the shore
died out one after the other, and all grew silent again.
"Ah!" the Captain said with a sigh of relief, as he offered his hand to
Master Lovel, "without you, father, we were lost."
"Aha!" the old sailor answered with a hearty grin, and rubbing his hands
joyously, "I suspected that if you had a secret from me, it was because
you meditated some act of folly, so that is why I came after you."
The Captain merely replied to his worthy mate's remark by a fresh
squeeze of the hand. Carmela, with her hands clasped and eyes raised
above, was praying fervently, while returning thanks to Heaven for her
miraculous deliverance.
"This is the girl you have saved," Tranquil said; "it is to you I owe
the recovery of my daughter, and I shall not forget it, Captain."
"Nonsense, old hunter," the Captain said, laughingly, "I only kept the
promise I made you; did I not pledge myself to help you, even at the
risk of my life?"
"And you were uncommonly near losing your stake," Master Lovel observed.
"After all, though," he added gallantly, "though I am no connoisseur, I
can perfectly understand a man risking his skin to board so neat a
corvette."
This sally restored the gaiety of the sailors, which the grave events
that had occurred had temporarily dissipated.
"Are we really out of danger, father?" the maiden asked with a shudder
of fear, which she was unable to conceal.
"Yes, my child; keep your spirits up," the hunter answered, "we are now
in safety."
At this very moment, the sailors, as if wishing to confirm the
Canadian's assurance, or perhaps with the wish to mock the enemies they
had so barely escaped, struck up one of those cadenced songs which serve
to mark time, and the words of which each repeats as he lays out on his
oars. Master Lovel, after turning and returning several times the
enormous quid that swelled his right cheek, made a signal to the crew of
the pinnace, and struck up in a rough voice a stanza, which all repeated
in chorus after him. This song, which was as interminable as a sailor's
yarn, would, in all probability, have lasted much longer, if the Captain
had not suddenly ordered silence by an imperious gesture.
"Is a new danger threatening us?" Tranquil inquired anxiously.
"Perhaps so," the Captain replied, who had for some time been scanning
the horizon with a frowning brow.
"What do you mean?" the hunter asked.
"Look!" the Captain said, extending his hand in the direction of the
fishing Tillage, to which we before alluded.
Tranquil hastily took up the night glass: a dozen large boats, crowded
with soldiers, were leaving a small creek, and pulling out to sea. The
water was lumpy, the breeze blew strongly, and the over-crowded long
boat advanced but slowly, as it was compelled to tow the pinnace. The
peril which they fancied they had escaped, burst out again in a
different shape, and this time assumed really terrific proportions, for
the Mexicans were rapidly approaching, and would soon be within gunshot.
The brig, whose tall masts were visible, was, it is true, only two
cables' length, at the most, from the Texan boats, but the few men left
on board were not nearly sufficient to make the requisite manoeuvres to
enable the brig to help its boats effectually. The position grew with
each moment more critical, and the Captain sprang up.
"Lads," he said, "the ten best swimmers among you will jump into the
sea, and go to the ship with me."
"Captain," the hunter exclaimed, "what do you propose doing?"
"To save you," he simply answered, as he prepared to carry out his
design.
"Oh, oh," Master Lovel said hastily, "I will not allow such an act of
madness."
"Silence, sir," the Captain interrupted him rudely. "I am the sole
commander."
"But you are wounded!" the Master objected. In fact, Captain Johnson had
received an axe stroke, which laid open his right shoulder.
"Silence! I tell you. I allow no remarks."
The old sailor bowed his head, and wiped away a tear. After squeezing
the hunter's hand, the Captain and his ten sailors leaped boldly into
the sea, and disappeared in the darkness. At the news of fresh danger,
Carmela had fallen, completely overwhelmed, in the bottom of the boat.
Master Lovel, leaning out, tried to discover his chief. Heavy tears
coursed down his bronzed cheeks, and all his limbs were agitated by a
convulsive quivering. The Mexicans approached nearer and nearer; they
were already close enough for the number of their boats to be
distinguished, and a schooner was already leaving the creek, and coming
up under press canvas, to ensure the success of the attack.
At this moment a mournful cry, desperate as the last shriek of a dying
man, came over the waters, and terrified all the men whom no danger
could affect.
"Oh, the unhappy man!" Tranquil cried, as he rose and made a move to
leap overboard. But Lovel seized him by the waist belt, and in spite of
his resistance, compelled him to sit down again.
"What are you about?" he asked him.
"Well," Tranquil replied, "I want to pay my debt to your captain; he
risked his life for me, and I am going in return to risk mine to save
him."
"Good!" the Master exclaimed, "By heaven! You are a man. But keep quiet,
that doesn't concern you; it is my business."
And ere Tranquil had time to answer him, he plunged into the waves. The
Captain had presumed too much on his strength, he was hardly in the
water ere his wound caused him intolerable suffering, and his arm was
paralyzed. With that tenacity which formed the basis of his character,
he tried to contend against the pain, and overcome it, but nature had
proved more powerful than his will and energy, a dizziness had come
over his sight, and he felt himself slowly sinking. At this moment he
uttered that parting cry for help to which Lovel had responded by flying
to his aid. Ten minutes passed, minutes of agony, during which the
persons who remained in the boat scarce dared to breathe.
"Courage, my lads," the panting voice of Lovel was suddenly heard
saying, "he is saved!"
The sailors burst into a shout of joy, and laying on their oars,
redoubled their efforts. A frightful discharge answered them, and the
balls flattened against the sides of the pinnace and dashed up the water
around. The Mexicans, who had come within range, opened a terrible fire
on the Texans, but the latter did not reply.
A dull noise was heard, followed by cries of despair and imprecations,
and a black mass passed to windward of the long boat. It was the brig
coming to the assistance of its crew, and in passing it sunk and
dispersed the enemy's boats.
When she set foot on the deck of the brig, Carmela, at length succumbing
to her emotions, lost her senses. Tranquil raised her in his arms, and,
aided by Quoniam and the Captain, carried her hastily down to the cabin.
"Captain," a sailor shouted, as he rushed after him, "the Mexicans, the
Mexicans!"
While the Texans were engaged in taking their wounded aboard, feeling
convinced that the Mexican boats had been all, or at any rate the
majority of them, sunk by the brig, they had not dreamed of watching an
enemy they supposed crushed. The latter had cleverly profited by this
negligence to rally, and collecting beneath the bows of the brig, had
boldly boarded her, by climbing up the main chains, the spritsails, and
any ropes' ends they had been able to seize. Fortunately, Master Lovel
had the boarding nettings triced up on the previous evening, and through
this wise precaution on the part of the old sailor, the desperate
surprise of the Mexicans did not meet with the success they anticipated
from it.
The Texans, obeying the voice of their Captain, took up their weapons
again and rushed on the Mexicans, who were already all but masters of
the forepart of the ship. Tranquil, Quoniam, Captain Johnson, and Lovel,
armed with axes, had flown to the front rank, and by their example
excited the crew to do their duty properly. There, on a limited space of
ten square yards at the most, one of those fearful naval combats without
order or tactics began, in which rage and brutal strength represent
science. A horrible struggle, a fearful carnage, with pikes, axes, and
cutlasses; a struggle in which each wound is mortal, and which recalls
those hideous combats of the worst days of the middle ages, when brute
strength alone was the law.
The White Scalper had never before fought with such obstinacy. Furious
at the loss of the prey he had so audaciously carried off, half mad with
rage, he seemed to multiply himself, rushing incessantly with savage
yells into the densest part of the fight, seeking Carmela, and longing
to kill the man who had so bravely torn her from him. Accident seemed
for a moment to smile on him, by bringing him suddenly face to face with
the Captain.
"Now for my turn," he exclaimed with a ferocious shout of joy.
The Captain wised his axe.
"No, no!" said Tranquil, as he threw himself hurriedly before him; "this
victim is reserved for me; I must kill this human-faced tiger. Besides,"
he added, with a grin, "it is my profession to kill wild beasts, and
this one will not escape me."
"Ah," the White Scalper said, "it is really fatality which brings you
once more face to face with me. Well, be it so! I will settle with you
first."
"It is you who will die, villain!" the Canadian replied. "Ah, you
carried off my daughter and fancied yourself well concealed, did you?
But I was on your trail; for the last three months I have been following
you step by step, and watching for the favourable moment for vengeance."
On hearing these words the Scalper rushed furiously on his enemy. The
latter did not make a movement to avoid him; on the contrary, he seized
him in his powerful arms, and tried to throw him down, while stabbing
him in the loins with his dagger. These two men, with flashing eyes and
foaming lips, animated by an implacable hatred, intertwined breast to
breast, face to face, each trying to kill his adversary, caring little
to live provided that his enemy died, resembled two wild beasts
determined to destroy each other.
Texans and Mexicans had ceased fighting as if by common accord, and
remained horrified spectators of this atrocious combat. At length the
Canadian, who had been severely wounded before, fell, dragging his enemy
down with him. The latter uttered a yell of triumph, which was soon
converted into a groan of despair: Quoniam rushed madly upon him, but,
unfortunately, he had miscalculated his distance, and they both fell
into the sea, which closed over them with a hollow and ill-omened
sound.
The Mexicans, deprived of their Chief, now only thought of flight, and
rushed in mad disorder to their boats; a moment later, they had all
quitted the brig. Quoniam reappeared, the worthy Negro was dripping with
water. He tottered a few paces and fell by the side of Tranquil, to whom
Carmela and the Captain were paying the most assiduous attention, and
who was beginning to recover his senses. A few minutes later the hunter
felt strong enough to try and rise.
"Well!" he asked Quoniam, "Is he dead?"
"I believe so," the Negro replied; "look here," he added, as he offered
him a small object he held in his hand.
"What is it?" the hunter asked.
Quoniam shook his head mournfully. "Look at it," he said.
After having attentively regarded the Negro for an instant, whose
features expressed singular despondency, strange in a man of this stamp,
he asked him in alarm:--
"Are you seriously wounded?"
The Negro shook his head.
"No," he said, "I am not wounded."
"What is the matter, then?"
"Take this," he said, stretching his arm out a second time, "take this
and you will know."
Astonished at this singular persistence, Tranquil stretched out his arm,
too.
"Give it here," he said.
Quoniam handed him an article which he seemed anxious to conceal from
the persons present; the Canadian uttered a cry of surprise on seeing
it.
"Where did you find this?" he asked anxiously.
"When I rushed on that man, I know not how it was, but this chain and
the articles attached to it were placed, as it were, in my hand. When I
fell into the sea, I clung to the chain; there it is, do what you please
with it."
Tranquil, after again examining the mysterious object, concealed it in
his chest, and gave vent to a profound sigh. All at once, Carmela
started up in horror.
"Oh, look, look, father!" she shrieked, "Woe, woe, we are lost!"
The hunter started at the sound of the girl's voice, and his eyes filled
with tears.
"What is the matter?" he asked in a weak voice
"The matter is," the Captain said rudely, "that unless a miracle take
place, we are really lost this time, as Doña Carmela says."
And he pointed to some thirty armed boats, which were pulling up and
converging round the brig, so as to enclose it in a circle, whence it
would be impossible for it to escape.
"Oh! Fate is against us!" Carmela exclaimed in despair.
"No, it is impossible," Tranquil said quickly; "God will not abandon us
thus!"
"We are saved!" Master Lovel shouted; "we are saved! Look, look! The
boats are turning back!"
The crew burst into a shout of joy and triumph; in the beams of the
rising sun, the _Libertad_ corvette could be seen passing through
Galveston straits, hardly two cannon shots' distance from the brig. The
Mexican boats pulled at full speed in the direction of land, and soon
all had disappeared. The brig drifted down to the corvette, and both
returned to their old anchorage, which they reached an hour later.
The two ships had scarce let their anchor fall, ere a boat came
alongside the brig, from the fort, containing; the Jaguar and El
Alferez. The prisoners had been handed over to the Jaguar, who, while
ordering them to be closely watched, thought it advisable to let them
move freely about the fortress.
The success of the two hazardous expeditions attempted by the Texans,
had given the cause they defended a great impulse. In a few hours the
revolt had become a revolution, and the insurgent Chiefs men whose
existence must henceforth be recognised. The Jaguar desired to push
matters on actively, and wished to profit by the probable discouragement
of the Mexicans to secure the surrender of the town without a blow, if
it were possible.
In his conversation with Colonel Melendez, the young Chief had purposely
startled him with the news of the success of the two expeditions,
calculating for the success of future operations on the stupor General
Rubio would experience on being told of them. But ere undertaking
anything, the Jaguar desired a conference with his friends, in order to
settle definitively the way in which he must behave under such serious
circumstances, as he was not at all anxious to assume the responsibility
of the undertaking that might be formed. This was acting not only with
prudence, but also with perfect self-denial, especially after the way in
which he had behaved since the commencement of hostilities, and the high
position he had attained among his party.
But as the heart of even the purest and most honourable man is never
exempt from those weaknesses inherent in human nature, the Jaguar,
though perhaps not daring to avow it to himself had another motive that
urged him to go aboard the brig so speedily. This motive, of a
thoroughly private nature, was the desire to learn as soon as possible
the result of the expedition attempted by Captain Johnson and Tranquil
against the rancho of the White Scalper.
Hence, the young man had scarce reached the deck, ere, without returning
the salutes of his friends who hurried to greet him at the ladder, he
enquired after Tranquil, feeling justly surprised at not seeing him
among the persons assembled. The Captain gave him no other answer than a
sign to follow. The young man, not understanding this reserve, though
feeling seriously alarmed, went below, where he saw Tranquil reclining
in a berth, and a weeping female seated on a chair by his side. The
Jaguar turned pale, for in the female he recognized Doña Carmela; his
emotion was so extreme, that he was obliged to lean against the
partition lest he should fall. At the sound of his approaching
footsteps, the maiden raised her head.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands with joy, "It is you! You have
come at last then!"
"Thanks, Carmela," he replied in a gasping voice; "thanks for this
kindly greeting! It proves to me that you have not forgotten me."
"Forget you, to whom, next to my father, I owe everything! Oh, you know
that was impossible."
"Thank you once again. You do not, you cannot know how happy you render
me at this moment, Carmela. My whole life, employed in your service,
would not suffice to repay the good you do me. You are free at last!
Brave Tranquil, I felt sure that he would succeed!"
"Alas, my friend, this success costs him dear."
"What do you mean? I trust that he is not dangerously wounded?"
"I fear the contrary, my friend."
"Oh! We will save him."
"Come hither, Jaguar," the hunter then said in a feeble voice; "give me
your hand, that I may press it in mine."
The young man walked quickly up to him.
"Oh, with all my heart!" he said, as he held out his hand.
"The affair was a tough one, my friend," the Canadian went on; "that man
is a lion."
"Yes, yes, he is a rude adversary; but you got the better of him at
last?"
"Thanks to Heaven, yes; but I shall keep his mark all my life, if God
permit me to rise again."
"Canarios! I trust that will soon happen."
The hunter shook his head.
"No, no," he answered, "I am a connoisseur in wounds, through having
inflicted a good many, and received more than my proper share: these are
serious."
"Have you no hopes of recovery, then?"
"I do not say so, I merely repeat that many days will pass ere I can
return to the desert," the hunter replied, with a stifled sigh.
"Nonsense, who knows? Any wound that does not kill is soon cured, the
Indians say, and they are right. And what has become of that man?"
"In all probability he is dead," Tranquil said, in a hollow voice.
"That is all for the best."
At this moment Captain Johnson opened the door.
"A boat, bearing a flag of truce, is hailing the brig; what is to be
done?" he asked.
"Receive it, Sangre de Dios! my dear Johnson. This boat, if I am not
mistaken, is a bearer of good news."
"Our friends would like you to be present to hear the proposals which
will doubtless be made."
"What do you say, Tranquil?" the young Chief asked, turning to the old
hunter.
"Go, my boy, where duty calls you," the latter answered; "I feel that I
need repose. However, you will not be away long."
"Certainly not, and so soon as I am at liberty again I will return to
your side, but merely to have you carried ashore; your condition demands
attention you cannot obtain here."
"I accept, my friend, the more so as I believe the land air will do me
good."
"That is settled then," the Jaguar said, joyously; "I shall be back
soon."
"All right," Tranquil replied, and fell back in his berth.
The young man, after bowing to Carmela, who returned the salute with a
gentle and sad glance, left the cabin with the Captain and returned on
deck.
[In our next volume, "THE WHITE SCALPER," we shall again come across all
the characters of this long history, for the great stake is about to be
played for: liberty and tyranny are at length face to face, and the
destiny of a people will probably depend on the fate of a battle.]
THE END.