THE EXPIATION.
Outside the rancho the yells of the Comanches still went on. After a
momentary silence, Loyal Heart continued his narrative, which emotion
had compelled him to interrupt.
"It was in vain," he said, "that I implored my mother to leave me to the
care of Heaven, and return to the hacienda with No Eusebio. Her
resolution was formed--she was inflexible.
"'Ever since I married your father,' she said to me, 'however unjust or
extraordinary his demands might be, he found in me rather a submissive
and devoted slave than a wife, whose rights were equal to his. A
complaint has never passed my lips; I have never attempted to oppose one
of his wishes. But today the measure is full; by exiling you as he has
done coldly repulsing my prayers, and despising my tears, he has at
length allowed me to read his heart, and the little egotism and cruel
pride by which he allows himself to be governed. This man, who coldly
and deliberately had the barbarity to do what he has done to the
firstborn of his children, possesses not a spark of good feeling. The
condemnation he pronounced against you I pronounce, in my turn, against
him. It is the law of retaliation, the law of the desert in which we are
going henceforth to live. Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'
"Like all timid natures, accustomed to bow their heads timidly beneath
the yoke, my mother, when the spirit of revolt entered her heart,
assumed an obstinacy at the least equal to her ordinary docility. The
way in which she uttered those words proved to me that all my prayers
would be useless, and that it was better to yield to her determination.
I therefore turned to No Eusebio; but at the first word I addressed to
him the worthy man laughed in my face, saying distinctly and
peremptorily that he had seen me born, and meant to see me die.
"As there was nothing to be gained on this side, I gave up the contest.
I merely observed to my mother that, so soon as my father noticed her
departure, he would probably start, at the head of all his tenants, in
pursuit of her, and that we should be inevitably discovered, if we did
not start at once. My mother and No Eusebio had come on horseback, but
unhappily one of the animals had foundered, and was incapable of
following us; saddle and bridle were removed, and we left it to its
fate; my mother mounted the other horse, No Eusebio and myself following
on foot, while the rastreros cleared the way.
"We knew not whither we were going, and did not trouble ourselves at all
about it; plains succeeded forests, streams rivers, and we continued our
forward march, hunting to support life, and camping wherever night
surprised us, without regret for the past or anxiety for the future. We
advanced thus straight ahead for nearly a month, avoiding, as far as
possible, any encounter with the wild beasts, or the savages, whom we
believed to be as ferocious as them.
"One day--a Sunday--the march was interrupted, and we spent it in pious
conversation, and my mother read the Bible and explained it to No
Eusebio and myself. About three in the afternoon, when the great heat of
the day was beginning to yield, I rose and took my gun, with the
intention of killing a little game, as our provisions were nearly
exhausted, and I was absolutely compelled to renew them. My mother made
no objection, though, as I have stated, Sundays were generally
consecrated to rest: and I went off with the two rastreros. I went on
for a long distance without seeing anything deserving powder and shot,
and was thinking of turning back, when my two dogs, which were running
on ahead, according to their wont, came to halt, while evidencing
unusual signs of terror and restlessness.
"Although I was still a novice in the wood ranger's art, I judged it
necessary to act with prudence, as I did not know what enemy I might
find before me. I therefore advanced step by step, watching the
neighbourhood closely, and listening to the slightest noise. My
uncertainty did not last long, for terrible cries soon reached my ear.
My first impulse was flight, but my curiosity restrained me, and,
cocking my rifle, so as to be ready for all events, I continued to
advance in the direction whence the cries came, now louder and more
desperate than before.
"Ere long all was revealed to me; I perceived through the trees, in a
rather spacious clearing, five or six Indian warriors, fighting with the
fury of despair, against a threefold number of enemies. These Indians
had doubtless been surprised in their camp, for their horses were
hobbled, their fire was just going out, and several corpses, already
robbed of their scalps, lay on the ground. These warriors, in spite of
the numerical superiority of their foes, fought with desperate courage,
not yielding an inch, and boldly replying with their war yell to that
of their opponents.
"The Indian who appeared the Chief of the weaker party, was a tall young
man, of twenty, at the most, powerfully built, with a leonine face, and
who, while dealing terrible blows, did not cease exciting his men to
resist to the death. Neither of the parties had firearms, they were
fighting with axes and long barbed lances. All at once, several men
rushed simultaneously on the young Chief, and, despite his desperate
efforts, succeeded in throwing him down, then a hand seized his long
scalp lock, and I saw a knife raised above his head.
"I know not what I felt on seeing this, or what dizziness seized upon
me, but, by a mechanical movement, I raised my rifle and fired; then,
rushing into the clearing with loud cries, I discharged my pistols at
the men nearest me. An extraordinary thing occurred, which I was far
from expecting, and certainly had not foreseen. The Indians, terrified
by my three shots, followed by my sudden apparition, believed that help
was arriving to their adversaries, and without dreaming of resisting,
they began flying with that intuitive rapidity peculiar to Indians, at
the first repulse they meet with.
"I thus found myself alone with those I came to deliver. It was the
first time I had been engaged in a fight, if such a name can be given to
the share I took in the struggle, hence I felt that emotion inseparable
from a first event of this nature; I neither saw nor heard anything. I
was standing in the centre of the clearing, like a statue, not knowing
whether to advance or retire, flanked by my two bloodhounds, which had
not left me, but showed their teeth with hoarse growls of anger.
"I know not who was the first to say that ingratitude was a white vice,
and gratitude an Indian virtue; but, whoever he was, he spoke the truth.
The Chief I had so miraculously saved, and his comrades, pressed around
me, and began overwhelming me with marks of respect and gratitude. I let
them do so, mechanically replying as well as I could, in Spanish, to the
compliments the Indians lavished on me in their sonorous language, of
which I did not understand a syllable. When a little while had elapsed,
and their joy was beginning to grow more sedate, the Chief, who had been
slightly wounded in the fight, made me sit down by the fire; while his
comrades conscientiously raised the scalps of their enemy who had
fallen, and he began questioning me in Spanish, which language he spoke
clearly.
"After warmly thanking me, and repeating several times that I was a
great brave, he told me that his name was Nocobotha, that is to say, the
Tempest; that he belonged to the great and powerful nation of the
Comanches, surnamed the Queen of the Prairies, and was related to a
renowned Sachem called Black-deer. Having set out with a few warriors to
chase antelopes, he had been surprised by a detachment of Apaches, the
sworn enemies of his nation, and if the Master of Life had not brought
me to their help, he and his comrades would infallibly have succumbed,
an opinion the justice of which I was compelled to recognise. The Chief
then asked me who I was, saying to me that he should henceforth regard
me as his brother, that he wished to conduct me to his tribe, and that
he would never consent to separate from the man who had saved his life.
"Nocobotha's words suggested an idea to me; I was greatly alarmed about
the existence I led, not for myself, for this free and unrestrained
life charmed me to the highest degree, but for my poor mother, who,
accustomed to all the comforts of civilization, would not, I feared,
endure for long the fatigues she undertook through her affection for me.
I immediately resolved to profit by the gratitude and goodwill of my new
acquaintance, to obtain my mother an asylum, where, if she did not find
the comfort she had lost, she would run no risk of dying of want. I
therefore frankly told Nocobotha the situation I was placed in, and by
what accident I had providentially arrived just in time to save his
scalp. The Chief listened to me with the most earnest attention.
"'Good,' he said with a smile, when I had ended, and squeezed my hand.
'Nocobotha is the brother of Loyal Heart. (Such was the name he gave me,
and I have retained ever since.) Loyal Heart's mother will have two
sons.'
"I thanked the Chief, as I was bound to do, and remarked to him that, as
I had now left my mother for some time, I was afraid she might feel
alarmed at my lengthened absence, and that, if he permitted me, I would
return to her side to reassure her, and tell her all that had happened;
but the Comanche shook his head.
"'Nocobotha will accompany his brother,' he said; 'he does not wish to
leave him.'
"I accepted the proposition, and we at once started to return to my
encampment. We did not take long in going, for we were mounted; but on
seeing me arrive with six or seven Indians, my poor mother was terribly
alarmed, for she fancied me a prisoner, and menaced with the most
frightful punishment, I soon succeeded, however, in reassuring her, and
her terror was converted into joy on hearing the good tidings I brought
her. Moreover, Nocobotha, with that graceful politeness innate in
Indians, soon entirely comforted, and managed to gain her good graces.
Such, my dear Tranquil, is the manner in which I became a wood ranger,
trapper, and hunter.
"On reaching the tribe, the Indians received me as a friend, a brother.
These simple and kind men knew not how to prove their friendship. For my
part, on growing to know them better, I began to love them as if they
had been my brothers. I was adopted by the Sachems collected round the
council fire, and from that moment regarded as a child of the nation.
From this time I did not leave the Comanches again. All longed to instal
me into the secrets of desert life. My progress was rapid, and I was
soon renowned as one of the best and bravest hunters of the tribes. In
several meetings with the enemy, I had opportunities to render them
signal service. My influence increased; and now I am not only a warrior
but a Sachem, respected and beloved by all. Nocobotha, that noble lad,
whom his courage ever bore to the front, at length fell in an ambuscade
formed by the Apaches. After an obstinate struggle, I managed to bear
him home, though covered with wounds. I was myself dangerously wounded.
On reaching the village, I fell senseless with my precious burden. In
spite of the most devoted and assiduous care my mother lavished on my
poor brother, she was unable to save him, and he died thanking me for
not having left him in the hands of his foes, and having kept his scalp
from being raised, which is the greatest disgrace for a Comanche
warrior.
"In spite of the marks of friendship and sympathy the Sachems did not
cease to bestow on me for the manner in which I had defended my brother.
I was for a long time inconsolable at his loss; and even now, though so
long a period has elapsed since that frightful catastrophe, I cannot
speak of him without tears coming into my eyes. Poor Nocobotha! Kind and
simple soul! Noble and devoted heart! Shall I ever find again a friend
so certain and so devoted?"
"Now, my dear Tranquil, you know my life as well as I do myself. My kind
and revered mother, honoured by the Indians, to whom she is a visible
Providence, is happy, or at least seems to be so. I have completely
forgotten my colour, to live the life of the Redskins, who, when my
brethren spurned me, received me as a son, and their friendship has
never failed me. I only remember my origin when I have to assist any
unhappy man of my own complexion. The white trappers and hunters of
these regions affect, I know not why, to regard me as their Chief, and
eagerly seize the opportunity to show me their respect, whenever it
offers. I am therefore in a position relatively enviable; and yet, the
more years slip away, the more lively does the memory of the events that
brought me to the desert recur to my mind, and the more I fear never to
obtain the pardon of my crimes."
He was silent. The hunters looked at each other with a mingled feeling
of admiration and respect for this man, who confessed so simply a crime
which so many others would have regarded at the utmost as a pecadillo,
and who repented of it so sincerely.
"By Jove!" Tranquil exclaimed all at once, "Heaven will be careful not
to pardon you if it has not been done so long ago. Men like you are
somewhat rare in the desert, comrade!"
Loyal Heart smiled gently at this simple outburst of the hunter.
"Come, my friend, now that you know me thoroughly, give me your advice
frankly; whatever it may be, I promise you to follow it."
"Well, my advice is very simple; it is that you should come with us."
"But I tell you I am a Mexican."
The Canadian burst into a laugh.
"Eh, eh," he said; "I fancied you stronger than that, on my honour."
"What do you mean?"
"Hang it, it is as clear as day."
"I am convinced, my friend, that you can only offer me honourable
advice, so I am listening to you with the most serious attention."
"Well, you shall judge; I shall not take long to convince you."
"I ask nothing better."
"Well, let us proceed regularly. What is Mexico?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well; is it a kingdom or an empire?"
"It is a Confederation."
"Very good; that is to say, Mexico is a republic, formed of several
Confederated States."
"Yes," Loyal Heart said, with a smile.
"Better still; then Sonora and Texas, for instance, are free States, and
able to separate from the Confederation, if they think proper?"
"Ah, ah," said Loyal Heart, "I did not expect that."
"I thought you did not. Well, you see, my friend, that the Mexico of
today, which is neither that of Motecuhzoma nor that of the Spaniards,
since the first merely comprised the plateau of Mexico, and the second,
under the name of New Spain, a part of central America, is only
indirectly your country, since you were born neither in Mexico nor
Veracruz, but in Sonora. You said so yourself. Hence, if you, a
Sonorian, assist the Texans, you only follow the general example, and
are no traitor to your country. What have you to answer to that?"
"Nothing; save that your reasoning, though specious, is not without a
certain amount of logic."
"Which means that you are convinced?"
"Not the least in the world. Still, I accept your proposition, and will
do what you wish."
"That is a conclusion I was far from expecting, after the beginning of
your sentence."
"Because, under the Texan idea, there is another, and it is that I wish
to help you in carrying out."
"Ah!" the Canadian remarked, in surprise.
Loyal Heart bent over to him.
"Have you not a certain affair to settle with the White Scalper, or have
you forgotten it?"
The hunter started, and warmly pressed the young man's hand.
"Thanks," he said.
At this moment Black-deer entered the rancho.
"I wish to speak with my brother," he said to Loyal Heart.
"Is my brother willing to speak before my friends the pale hunters?"
"The pale hunters are the guests of the Comanches; Black-deer will speak
before them," the Chief answered.