THE AMBUSCADE.
The European traveller, accustomed to the paltry landscapes which man
has carved out corresponding with his own stature and the conventional
nature he has, as it were, contrived to create, can in no way figure to
himself the grand and sublime aspect presented by the great American
forests, where all seems to sleep, and the ever open eye of God alone
broods over the world. The unknown rumours, without any apparent cause,
which incessantly rise from earth to sky like the powerful breathing of
sleeping nature, and mingle with the monotonous murmur of the streams,
as they rustle over the pebbles of their bed; and at intervals, the
mysterious breeze which passes over the tufted tops of the trees, slowly
bending them with a gentle rustling of leaves and branches--all this
leads the mind to reverie, and fills it with a religious respect for the
sublime works of the Creator.
We fancy we have given a sufficiently detailed account of the village of
the Antelope Comanches, to be able to dispense with further reference to
it; we will merely add that it was built in an amphitheatrical shape,
and descended with a gentle incline to the river. This position
prevented the enemy surrounding the village, whose approaches were
guarded from surprise by the trees having been felled for some distance.
Loyal Heart and his comrades advanced slowly, with their rifles on their
thigh, attentively watching the neighbourhood, and ready, at the
slightest suspicious movement in the tall grass, to execute a vigorous
charge. All, however, remained quiet round them; at times they heard a
coyote baying at the moon, or the noise of an owl concealed by the
foliage; but that was all, and a leaden silence fell again on the
savannah. At times they saw in the bluish rays of the moon indistinct
forms appear on the banks of the river; but these wandering shadows were
evidently wild beasts which had left their lurking places to come down
and drink.
The march continued thus without encumbrance or alarm of any
description, until the adventurers had reached the covert, when a dense
gloom suddenly enveloped them, and did not allow them to distinguish
objects ten yards ahead. Loyal Heart did not consider it prudent to
advance further in a neighbourhood he did not know, and where he saw the
risk at each step of falling into an ambuscade; consequently the little
band halted. The horses were made to lie down on their side, their legs
were fastened, and their nostrils drawn in with a rope, so that they
could neither stir nor make a sound, and the adventurers, concealing
themselves, waited while watching with the most profound attention.
From time to time they saw horsemen crossing a clearing, and all going
in different directions; some passed close enough to touch them without
perceiving the hunters, owing to the precautions the latter had taken,
and then disappeared in the forest. Several hours passed thus, the
hunters being quite unable to comprehend the delay, the reason for which
the reader, however, knows; the moon had disappeared, and the darkness
become denser. Loyal Heart, not knowing to what he should attribute
Black-deer's lengthened absence, and fearing some unforeseen misfortune
had burst on the village, was about to give the order for returning,
when Tranquil, who, by crawling on his hands and knees, had reached the
open plain where he remained for some time as scout, suddenly returned
to his comrades.
"What is the matter?" Loyal Heart whispered in his ear.
"I cannot say," the hunter answered, "I do not understand it myself.
About an hour back, an Indian suddenly sprung up by my side as if
emerging from the ground, and leaping on a horse of whose presence I was
equally ignorant, started at full speed in the direction of the
village."
"That is strange," Loyal Heart muttered; "and you do not know who the
Indian is?"
"Apache."
"Apache, impossible!"
"That is just the point that staggers me; how could an Apache venture to
the village alone?"
"There is something up we do not know; and then the signals we heard?"
"This man answered them."
"What is to be done?"
"Find out."
"But in what way?"
"Why, hang it, by rejoining our friends."
Loyal Heart shook his head.
"No," he said, "we must employ some other method, for I promised
Black-deer to help him in this expedition, and I will not break my
word."
"It is evident that important events have occurred among the tribe."
"That is my opinion too, but you know the prudence of the Indians, so we
will not despair yet; stay," he added, as he tapped his forehead, "I
have an idea, we shall soon know what is taking place; leave me to act."
"Do you require our help?"
"Not positively; I shall not go out of sight, but if you see me in
danger, come up."
"All right,"
Loyal heart took a long rope of plaited leather, which served him as a
picquet cord, and laying down his rifle, which might have impeded him in
the execution of the daring plan he had formed, lay down on the ground
and crawled away like a serpent. The plain was covered with dead trees
and enormous stones, while there were wide trenches at certain spots.
This open ground, so singularly broken up, offered, therefore, all the
facilities desirable for forming an ambuscade or a post of observation.
Loyal Heart stopped behind an enormous block of red granite, whose
height enabled him to stand up, in shelter on all sides save in the
direction of the forest. But he had no great risk to run from any
enemies concealed in the chaparral, for the night was so dark that it
would have been necessary to have followed the hunter's every movement,
to discover the spot where he now was.
Loyal Heart was a Mexican; like all his countrymen, whose skill is
proverbial in the management of certain weapons, from his youth he had
been familiarized with the lasso, that terrible arm which renders the
Mexican horsemen so formidable. The lasso or reata, for this weapon has
two names, is a strip of plaited leather, rendered supple by means of
grease. It is ordinarily forty-five to fifty feet in length, one of the
ends terminating in a running knot, the other being fastened to an iron
ring riveted in the saddle; the rider whirls it round his head, sets his
horse at a gallop, and on arriving within thirty or five-and-thirty
yards of the man or animal he is pursuing, he lets the lasso fly, so
that the running knot may fall on the shoulders of his victim. At the
same time that he lets the lasso go, the rider makes his horse suddenly
turn in the opposite direction, and the enemy he has lassoed is, in
spite of the most strenuous resistance, hurled down and dragged after
him. Such is the lasso and the way in which it is employed on horseback.
Afoot, matters are effected much in the same fashion, save that, as the
lassoer has no longer his horse to aid him, he is obliged to display
great muscular strength, and is often dragged along for a considerable
distance. In Mexico, where this weapon is in general use, people
naturally study the means to neutralize its effects, the most
efficacious being to cut the lasso. This is why all horsemen carry in
their boot, within arm's length, a long and sharp knife; still, as the
horseman is nearly always unexpectedly lassoed, he is strangled ere he
has had time to draw his knife. Of one hundred riders lassoed thus in a
combat or chase, seventy-five are inevitably killed, and the others only
escape by a miracle, so much skill, strength, and coolness are needed to
cut the fatal knot.
Loyal Heart had the simple idea of forming a running knot at the end of
his picquet rope, and lassoing the first rider who passed within reach.
On getting behind the rock he unrolled the long cord he had fastened
round his body; then, after making the slip knot with all the care it
demands, he coiled the lasso in his hand and waited. Chance seemed to
favour the project of the bold hunter, for, within ten minutes at the
most, he heard the gallop of a horse going at full speed. Loyal Heart
listened attentively; the sound approached with great rapidity, and soon
the black outline of a horseman stood out in the night. The direction
followed by the rider compelled him to pass within a short distance of
the block of granite behind which Loyal Heart was concealed. The latter
spread out his legs to have a firmer holdfast, bent his body slightly
forward, and whirled the lasso round his head. At the moment when the
horseman came opposite to him, Loyal Heart let the lasso fly, and it
fell with a whiz on the shoulders of the rider, who was roughly hurled
to the ground ere he knew what was happening to him. His horse, which
was at full speed, went on some distance further, but then perceiving
that its rider had left it, it slackened its pace, and presently halted.
In the meanwhile Loyal Heart bounded like a tiger on the man he had so
suddenly unsaddled. The latter had not uttered a cry, but remained
motionless at the spot where he had been hurled. Loyal Heart at first
fancied him dead, but it was not so; his first care was to free the
wounded man from the running knot, drawn so tightly round his neck, in
order to enable him to breathe; then, without taking the trouble to look
at his victim, he pinioned him securely, threw him over his shoulders,
and returned to the spot where his comrades were awaiting him.
The latter had seen, or at least heard, what had happened; and far from
dreaming of the means employed by the young man, although they were well
acquainted with it, they knew not to what they should attribute the
rough way in which the rider had been hurled from his horse.
"Oh, oh," Tranquil said, "I fancy you have made a fine capture."
"I think so too," Loyal Heart answered, as he deposited his burden on
the ground.
"How on earth did you manage to unsaddle him so cleverly?"
"Oh! In the simplest way possible. I lassoed him."
"By Jove!" the hunter exclaimed, "I suspected it. But let us see the
nature of the game. These confounded Indians are difficult to tame when
they take it into their heads not to unlock their teeth. This fellow
will not speak, in all probability."
"Who knows? At any rate we can question him."
"Yes--but let us first make sure of his identity, for it would not be
pleasant to have captured one of our friends."
"May the Lord forbid!" Loyal Heart said.
The hunters bent over the prisoner, who was apparently motionless, and
indifferent to what was said around.
"Oh," the Canadian suddenly said, "whom have we here? On my soul,
compadre, I believe it is an old acquaintance."
"You are right," Loyal Heart answered, "it is Blue-fox."
"Blue-fox?" the hunters exclaimed, in surprise.
The adventurers were not mistaken; the Indian horseman, so skilfully
lassoed by Loyal Heart, was really the Apache Chief. The shock he had
received though very rude, had not been sufficiently so to make him
entirely lose his senses; with open eyes and disdainful countenance, but
with not a word of complaint at the treatment he had suffered, he waited
calmly till it should please his captors to decide his fate, not
considering it consistent with his dignity to be the first to speak.
After examining him attentively for a moment, Loyal Heart unfastened the
bonds that held him, and fell back a step.
"My brother can rise," he said: "only old women remain thus stretched on
the ground for an insignificant fall."
Blue-fox reached his feet at a bound.
"The Chief is no old woman," he said, "his heart is large; he laughs at
the anger of his enemies, and despises the fury which is impotent to
affect him."
"We are not your enemies, Chief, we feel no hatred or anger towards you;
it is you, on the contrary, who are our enemy. Are you disposed to
answer our questions?"
"I could refrain from doing so, were it my good pleasure."
"I do not think so," John Davis remarked, with a grin, "for we have
wonderful secrets to untie the tongue of those we cross-question."
"Try them on me," the Indian observed, haughtily.
"We shall see," said the American.
"Stop!" said Loyal Heart. "There is in all this something extraordinary,
which I wish to discover, so leave it to me."
"As you please," said John Davis.
The adventurers collected round the Indian, and waited anxiously.
"How is it," Loyal Heart presently went on, "that you, who were sent by
the Apaches to treat for peace with the Comanches, were thus leaving the
village in the middle of the night, not as a friend, but as a robber
flying after the commission of a theft?"
The Chief smiled contemptuously, and shrugged his shoulders.
"Why should I tell you what has passed? It would be uselessly losing
precious time; suffice it for you to know that I left the village with
the general consent of the Chiefs, and if I was galloping, it was
probably because I was in a hurry to reach the spot I am bound for."
"Hum!" said the hunter; "You will permit me to remark, Chief, that your
answer is very vague, and anything but satisfactory."
"It is the only one, however, I am enabled to give you."
"And do you fancy we shall be satisfied with it?"
"You must."
"Perhaps so, but listen; we are awaiting Black-deer at every moment, and
he shall decide your fate."
"As it pleases the Pale hunter. When the Comanche Chief arrives, my
brother will see that the Apache Sachem has spoken truly, that his
tongue is not forked, and that the words that from his lips are
sincere."
"I hope so."
At this moment the signal agreed on between Black-deer and the hunters
was heard: the hunter said at once to his prisoner.
"Here is the Chief."
"Good," the latter simply answered.
Five minutes later, the Sachem indeed reached the spot where the
adventurers were assembled. His first glance fell on the Apache,
standing upright with folded arms in the circle formed by the hunters.
"What is Blue-fox doing here?" he asked in surprise.
"The Chief can ask the Pale warriors, they will answer," said the
Apache.
Black-deer turned to Loyal Heart; the latter, not waiting till he was
addressed, related in the fullest detail what had occurred; how he had
captured the Chief, and the conversation he had had with him: Black-deer
seemed to reflect for a moment--
"Why did not my brother show the sign of recognition I gave him?" he
asked.
"For what good, as my brother was coming?"
The Comanche frowned.
"My brother will be careful to remember that he has passed his word, and
the mere appearance of treachery will cost his son's life."
A shudder passed over the Indian's body, although his features lost none
of their marble-like rigidity.
"Blue-fox has sworn on his totem," he replied; "that oath is sacred, and
he will keep it."
"Ocht! My brother is free, he can start without farther delay."
"I must find my horse again which has escaped."
"Does my brother take us for children, that he says such things to us?"
Black-deer replied angrily. "The horse of an Indian Chief never abandons
its master; let him whistle, and it will come up."
Blue-fox made no reply; his black eye shot forth a flash of fury, but
that was all; he bent forward, seemed to be listening for a few moments,
and then gave a shrill whistle, almost immediately after which there was
a rustling in the branches, and the Chief's horse laid its fine and
intelligent head on its master's shoulder. The latter patted the noble
animal, leaped on its back, and digging in his spurs, started at full
speed without taking further leave of the hunters, who were quite
startled by this hurried departure. John Davis, by an instinctive
movement swift as thought, raised his rifle, with the evident intention
of saluting the fugitive with a bullet, but Black-deer suddenly clutched
his arm.
"My brother must not fire," he said; "the sound would betray our
presence."
"That is true," the American said, as he took down his gun. "It is
unlucky, for I should have been very glad to get rid of that
ill-favoured scoundrel."
"My brother will find him again," said the Indian with an accent
impossible to describe.
"I hope so, and if it should happen, I assure you that no one will be
able to prevent me killing that reptile."
"No one will try to do so, my brother may rest assured."
"Nothing less than that certainly was needed to console me for the
magnificent opportunity you make me lose today, Chief."
The Indian laughed, and continued--
"I will explain to yon at another moment how it happens that this man is
free to retire in peace, when we are threatened by an ambuscade formed
by him. For the present, let us not lose precious time in idle talk, for
all is ready. My warriors are at their post, only awaiting the signal to
begin the contest; do my Pale brothers still intend to accompany us?"
"Certainly, Chief, we are here for that purpose, you can count upon us."
"Good, still I must warn my brothers that they will run a great risk."
"Nonsense," Loyal Heart replied, "it will be welcome, for are we not
accustomed to danger?"
"Then to horse, and let us start, as we have to deceive the deceivers."
"But are you not afraid," Loyal Heart observed, "lest Blue-fox has
warned his comrades that their tricks are discovered?"
"No, he cannot do so, he has sworn it."
The hunters did not insist further, they knew with what religious
exactness Indians keep oaths they make to each other, and the good faith
and loyalty they display in the accomplishment of this duty. The Chiefs
answer consequently convinced them that they had nothing to apprehend
from the Apache Sachem, and, in truth, he had gone off in a direction
diametrically opposite to that where his companions were hidden.
The horses were immediately lifted on their legs, the cords removed, and
the party set out. They followed a narrow path running between two
ravines covered with thick grass. This path, after running for a mile
and a half, debouched on a species of cross roads, where the
adventurers had halted for an instant. This spot, called by the Indians
the Elk Pass, had been selected by Black-deer as the gathering place of
some forty picked warriors, who were to join the white men and act with
them. This junction was effected as the Sachem arranged. The hunters had
hardly debouched at the crossroads, ere the Comanches emerged from
behind the thicket which had hitherto concealed them, and flocked up to
Black-deer.
The band was formed in close column, and flankers went ahead, preceding
it but a few yards, and attentively examining the thickets. For many an
hour they marched on, nothing attracting their attention, when suddenly
a shot was fired in the rear of the band. Almost simultaneously, and as
if at a given signal, the fusillade broke out on both sides of the war
path, and a shower of bullets and arrows hurtled upon the Comanches and
white men. Several men fell, and there was a momentary confusion,
inseparable from an unforeseen attack.
By assent of Black-deer, Loyal Heart assumed the supreme command. By his
orders, the warriors broke up into platoons, and vigorously returned the
fire, while retreating to the crossroads, where the enemy could not
attack them without discovering themselves; but they had committed the
imprudence of marching too fast--the crossroads were still a long way
off, and the fire of the Apaches extended along the whole line. The
bullets and arrows rained on the Comanches, whose ranks were beginning
to be thinned.
Loyal Heart ordered the ranks to be broken, and the men to scatter, a
manoeuvre frequently employed in Europe during the Vendean war, and
which the Chouans unconsciously obtained from the Indians. The cavalry
at once tried to leap the ravines and ditches that bordered the path
behind which the Apaches were hidden; but were repulsed by the musketry
and the long barbed arrows, which the Indians fired with extreme
dexterity. The Comanches and Whites leaped off their horses, being
certain of recovering them when wanted, and retreated, sheltering
themselves behind trees, only giving way inch by inch, and keeping up a
sustained fire with their enemies, who, feeling certain of victory,
displayed in their attack a perseverance far from common among savage
nations, with whom success nearly always depends on the first effort.
Loyal Heart, so soon as his men reached the clearing, made them form a
circle, and they offered an imposing front to the enemy on all sides. Up
to this moment, the Apaches had maintained silence, not a single war
yell had been uttered, not a rustling of the leaves had been heard.
Suddenly the firing ceased, and silence once again brooded over the
desert. The hunters and Comanches looked at each other with a surprise
mingled with terror. They had fallen into the trap their enemies had
laid for them, while fancying they could spoil it.
There was a terrible moment of expectation, whose anxious expression no
pen could depict. All at once the conches and chichikouès were heard
sounding on the right and left, in the rear and front! At this signal,
the Apaches rose on all sides, blowing their war whistles to excite
their courage, and uttering fearful yells. The Comanches were
surrounded, and nothing was left them but to die bravely at their posts!
At this terrible sight, a shudder of fear involuntarily rose along
those intrepid warriors, but it was almost instantaneously quelled, for
they felt that their destruction was imminent and certain.
Loyal Heart and Black-deer, however, had lost none of their calmness;
they hoped then, still, but what was it they expected?