Mine were anything but agreeable. I was pained and puzzled. I was
pained to think that _she_--dearer to me than life--was thus exposed to
the dangers that surrounded us. It was her sister that had occupied the
other hammock.
"Are they alone? Are they prisoners in the hands of these half-robbers?
May not their hospitality to us have brought them under proscription?
And are they not being carried--father, mother, and all--before some
tribunal? Or are they travelling for protection with this band--
protection against the less scrupulous robbers that infest the country?"
It was not uncommon upon the Rio Grande, when rich families journeyed
from point to point, to pay for an escort of this sort. This may
elucidate--.
"But I tell yez I did hear a crack; and, be my sowl! it was the
sargint's rifle, or I've lost me sinses intirely."
"What is it?" I asked, attracted to the conversation of my comrades.
"Chane says he heard a shot, and thinks it was Lincoln's," answered
Clayley.
"His gun has a quare sound, Captain," said the Irishman, appealing to
me. "It's diffirint intirely from a Mexican piece, and not like our own
nayther. It's a way he has in loadin' it."
"Well--what of that?"
"Why, Raowl says one of them axed him who fired. Now, I heerd a shot,
for my ear was close till the door here. It was beyant like; but I cud
swear upon the blissed crass it was ayther the sargint's rifle or
another as like it as two pays."
"It is very strange!" I muttered, half in soliloquy, for the same
thought had occurred to myself.
"I saw the boy, Captain," said Raoul; "I saw him crossing when they
opened the door."
"The boy!--what boy?" I asked.
"The same we brought out of the town."
"Ha! Narcisso!--you saw him?"
"Yes; and, if I'm not mistaken, the white mule that the old gentleman
rode to camp. I think that the family is with the guerilla, and that
accounts for our being still alive."
A new light flashed upon me. In the incidents of the last twenty hours
I had never once thought of Narcisso. Now all was clear--clear as
daylight. The zambo whom Lincoln had killed--poor victim!--was our
friend, sent to warn us of danger; the dagger, Narcisso's--a token for
us to trust him. The soft voice--the small hand thrust under the
tapojo--yes, all were Narcisso's!
A web of mystery was torn to shreds in a single moment. The truth did
not yield gratification. No--but the contrary. I was chagrined at the
indifference exhibited in another quarter.
"She must know that I am here, since her brother is master of the fact--
here, bleeding and bound. Yet where is her sympathy? She sleeps! She
journeys within a few paces of me, where I am tied painfully; yet not a
word of consolation. No! She is riding upon her soft cushion, or
carried upon a _litera_, escorted, perhaps, by this accomplished
villain, who plays the gallant cavalier upon my own barb! They converse
together, perhaps of the poor captives in their train, and with jest and
ridicule--he at least; and _she_ can hear it, and then fling herself
into her soft hammock and sleep--sleep sweetly--calmly?"
These bitter reflections were interrupted. The door creaked once more
upon its hinges. Half a dozen of our captors entered. Our blinds were
put on, and we were carried out and mounted as before.
In a few minutes a bugle rang out, and the route was resumed.
We were carried up the stream bottom--a kind of glen, or _Canada_. We
could feel by the cool shade and the echoes that we were travelling
under heavy timber. The torrent roared in our ears, and the sound was
not unpleasant. Twice or thrice we forded the stream, and sometimes
left it, returning after having travelled a mile or so. This was to
avoid the _canons_, where there is no path by the water. We then
ascended a long hill, and after reaching its summit commenced going
downwards.
"I know this road well," said Raoul. "We are going down to the hacienda
of Cenobio."
"_Pardieu_!" he continued. "I ought to know this hill!"
"For what reason?"
"First, Captain, because I have carried many a _bulto_ of cochineal and
many a bale of smuggled tobacco over it; ay, and upon nights when my
eyes were of as little service to me as they are at present."
"I thought that you _contrabandistas_ hardly needed the precaution of
dark nights?"
"True, at times; but there were other times when the Government became
lynx-eyed, and then smuggling was no joke. We had some sharp
skirmishing. _Sacre_! I have good cause to remember this very hill. I
came near making a jump into purgatory from the other side of it."
"Ha! how was that?"
"Cenobio had got a large lot of cochineal from a crafty trader at
Oaxaca. It was _cached_ about two leagues from the hacienda in the
hills, and a vessel was to drop into the mouth of the Medellin to take
it on board.
"A party of us were engaged to carry it across to the coast; and, as the
cargo was very valuable, we were all of us armed to the teeth, with
orders from the _patrone_ to defend it at all hazards. His men were
just the fellows who would obey that order, coming, as it did, from
Cenobio.
"The Government somehow or other got wind of the affair, and slipped a
strong detachment out of Vera Cruz in time to intercept us. We met them
on the other side of this very hill, where a road strikes off towards
Medellin."
"Well! and what followed?"
"Why, the battle lasted nearly an hour; and, after having lost half a
score of their best men, the valiant lancers rode back to Vera Cruz
quicker than they came out of it."
"And the smugglers?"
"Carried the goods safe on board. Three of them--poor fellows!--are
lying not far off, and I came near sharing their luck. I have a
lance-hole through my thigh, here, that pains me at this very moment."
My ear at this moment caught the sound of dogs barking hoarsely below.
Horses of the cavalcade commenced neighing, answered by others from the
adjacent fields, who recognised their old companions.
"It must be near night," I remarked to Raoul.
"I think, about sunset, Captain," rejoined he. "It _feels_ about that
time."
I could not help smiling. There was something ludicrous in my comrade's
remark about "feeling" the sunset.
The barking of the dogs now ceased, and we could hear voices ahead
welcoming the guerilleros.
The hoofs of our mules struck upon a hard pavement, and the sounds
echoed as if under an arched way.
Our animals were presently halted, and we were unpacked and flung rudely
down upon rough stones, like so many bundles of merchandise.
We lay for some minutes listening to the strange voices around. The
neighing of horses, the barking and growling of dogs, the lowing of
cattle, the shouts of the arrieros unpacking their mules, the clanking
of sabres along the stone pavement, the tinkling of spurs, the laughter
of men, and the voices of women--all were in our ears at once.
Two men approached us, conversing.
"They are of the party that escaped us at La Virgen. Two of them are
officers."
"_Chingaro_! I got this at La Virgen, and a full half-mile off. 'Twas
some black jugglery in their bullets. I hope the _patrone_ will hang
the Yankee savages."
"_Quien sabe_?" (Who knows?) replied the first speaker. "Pinzon has
been taken this morning at Puenta Moreno, with several others. They had
a fandango with the Yankee dragoons. You know what the old man thinks
of Pinzon. He'd sooner part with his wife."
"You think he will exchange them, then?"
"It is not unlikely."
"And yet he wouldn't trouble much if you or I had been taken. No--no;
he'd let us be hanged like dogs!"
"Well; that's always the way, you know."
"I begin to get tired of him. By the Virgin! Jose, I've half a mind to
slip off and join the Padre."
"Jarauta?"
"Yes; he's by the Bridge, with a brave set of Jarochos--some of our old
comrades upon the Rio Grande among them. They are living at free
quarters along the road, and having gay times of it, I hear. If Jarauta
had taken these Yankees yesterday, the zopilote would have made his
dinner upon them to-day."
"That's true," rejoined the other; "but come--let us un-blind the devils
and give them their beans. It may be the last they'll ever eat."
With this consoling remark, Jose commenced unbuckling our _tapojos_, and
we once more looked upon the light. The brilliance at first dazzled us
painfully, and it was some minutes before we could look steadily at the
objects around us.
We had been thrown upon the pavement in the corner of the _patio_--a
large court, surrounded by massive walls and flat-roofed houses.
These buildings were low, single-storied, except the range in front,
which contained the principal dwellings. The remaining three sides were
occupied by stables, granaries, and quarters for the guerilleros and
servants. A portale extended along the front range, and large vases,
with shrubs and flowers, ornamented the balustrade. The portale was
screened from the sun by curtains of bright-coloured cloth. These were
partially drawn, and objects of elegant furniture appeared within.
Near the centre of the patio was a large fountain, boiling up into a
reservoir of hewn mason-work; and around this fountain were clumps of
orange-trees, their leaves in some places dropping down into the water.
Various arms hung or leaned against the walls--guns, pistols, and
sabres--and two small pieces of cannon, with their caissons and
carriages, stood in a prominent position. In these we recognised our
old acquaintances of La Virgen.
A long trough stretched across the patio, and out of this a double row
of mules and mustangs were greedily eating maize. The saddle-tracks
upon their steaming sides showed them to be the companions of our late
wearisome journey.
Huge dogs lay basking upon the hot stones, growling at intervals as
someone galloped in through the great doorway. Their broad jaws and
tawny hides bespoke the Spanish bloodhound--the descendants of that race
with which Cortez had harried the conquered Aztecs.
The guerilleros were seated or standing in groups around the fires,
broiling jerked beef upon the points of their sabres. Some mended their
saddles, or were wiping out an old carbine or a clumsy escopette. Some
strutted around the yard, swinging their bright mangas, or trailing
after them the picturesque serape. Women in rebozos and coloured skirts
walked to and fro among the men.
The women carried jars filled with water. They knelt before smooth
stones, and kneaded tortillas. They stirred chile and chocolate in
earthen ollas. They cooked frijoles in flat pans; and amidst all these
occupations they joked and laughed and chatted with the men.
Several men--officers, from their style of dress--came out of the
portale, and, after delivering orders to the guerilleros on guard,
returned to the house.
Packages of what appeared to be merchandise lay in one corner of the
court. Around this were groups of arrieros, in their red leathern
garments, securing their charge for the night, and laying out their
_alparejas_ in long rows by the wall.
Over the opposite roofs--for our position was elevated--we could see the
bright fields and forest, and far beyond, the Cofre de Perote and the
undulating outlines of the Andes. Above all, the white-robed peak of
Orizava rose up against the heavens like a pyramid of spotless snow.
The sun had gone down behind the mountains, but his rays still rested
upon Orizava, bathing its cone with a yellow light, like a mantle of
burnished gold. Clouds of red and white and purple hung like a glory
upon his track, and, descending, rested upon the lower summits of the
Cordillera. The peak of the "Burning Star" alone appeared above the
clouds, towering in sublime and solitary grandeur.
There was a picturesque loveliness about the scene--an idea of
sublimity--that caused me for the moment to forget where I was or that I
was a captive. My dream was dispelled by the harsh voice of Jose, who
at that moment came up with a couple of peons, carrying a large earthen
dish that contained our supper.
This consisted of black beans, with half a dozen tortillas; but as we
were all half-famished we did not offer any criticism on the quality of
the viands. The dish was placed in our midst, and our arms were untied
for the first time since our capture. There were neither knives, forks,
nor spoons; but Raoul showed us the Mexican fashion of "eating our
spoons", and, twisting up the tortillas, we scooped and swallowed "right
ahead."