EL MESON.
The day on which our story commences the village of the Paso del Norte
presented an extraordinary appearance. The bells were ringing out full
peals, for the three hundredth anniversary of its foundation was
celebrated. The population of Paso, greatly diminished since the
proclamation of Mexican independence, was hurrying to the churches,
which flashed with silver and gold. The houses were decorated with rich
tapestry, and the streets strewn with flowers.
Toward nightfall the inhabitants, whom the intolerable heat of the
tropical sun had kept prisoners in the interior of the houses, flocked
out to inhale the sharp perfumes of the desert breeze, and bring back a
little fresh air into their parched lungs. The town, which had for
several hours appeared deserted, suddenly woke up: shouts and laughter
were heard afresh. The walks were invaded by the mob, and in a few
minutes the _mesóns_ were thronged with idlers, who began drinking
pulque and mezcal, while smoking their cigarettes, and strumming the
jarabe and vihuela.
In a house of poor appearance, built like all its neighbours, of earth
bricks, and situated at the angle formed by the Plaza Mayor and the
Calle de la Merced, some twenty-five fellows, whom it was easy to
recognise as adventurers by the feather in their hats, their upturned
moustaches, and specially by the long bronzed-hilted sword they wore on
the thigh, were drinking torrents of aguardiente and pulque at the
gambling tables, while yelling like deaf men, swearing like pagans, and
threatening at every moment to unsheathe their weapons.
In a corner of the room occupied by these troublesome guests two men,
seated opposite each other at a table, seemed plunged in deep thought,
and looked round them absently, not thinking about drinking the contents
of their glasses, which had not been emptied for more than half an hour.
These two men presented the most striking contrast. They were still
young. The first, aged twenty-five at the most, had one of those frank,
honest, and energetic faces which call for sympathy, and attract
respect. His pallid brow, his face of a delicate hue, surrounded by his
long black curls, his straight and flexible nose, his mouth filled with
a double row of teeth of dazzling whiteness, and surmounted by a slight
brown moustache, gave him a stamp of distinction, which was the more
striking owing to the strict, and perhaps common, style of his attire.
He wore the costume of the wood rangers; that is to say, the Canadian
_mitasse_, fastened round the hips, and descending to the ankle; _botas
vaqueras_ of deer skin, fastened at the knee; and a striped zarapé of
brilliant colours. A panama straw hat was thrown on the table, within
reach of his hand, by the side of an American rifle and two
double-barrelled pistols. A machete hung on his left side, and the hilt
of a long knife peeped out of his left boot.
His companion was short and thick-set; but his well-knit limbs and his
outstanding muscles indicated no ordinary strength. His face, the
features of which were commonplace enough, had a cunning look, which
suddenly disappeared to make room for a certain nobility whenever under
the influence Of any sudden emotion; his eyebrows contracted; and his
glance, ordinarily veiled, flashed forth. He wore nearly the same garb
as his comrade; but his hat stained with rain, and the colours of his
zarapé faded by the sun, evidenced lengthened wear. Like the first one
we described, he was well armed.
It was easy to see at the first glance that these two men did not belong
to the Hispano-American race, indeed, their conversation would have
removed any doubts on that head, for they spoke in the French dialect
employed in Canada.
"Hum!" the first said, taking up his glass, which he carelessly raised
to his lips. "After due consideration, Harry, I believe we shall do
better by mounting our horses again, and starting, instead of remaining
in this horrible den, amid these _gachupinos_, who croak like frogs
before a storm."
"Deuce take your impatience!" the other replied ill-temperedly. "Can't
you remain a moment at rest?"
"You call it a moment, Harry. Why, we have been here an hour."
"By Jove! Dick, you're a wonderful fellow," the other continued with a
laugh. "Do you think that business can be settled all in a moment?"
"After all, what is our game? For may the old one twist my neck, or a
grizzly give me a hug, if I know the least in the world! For five years
we have hunted and slept side by side. We have come from Canada together
to this place. I have grown into a habit--I cannot say why--of referring
to you everything that concerns our mutual interests. Still I should not
be sorry to know, if only for the rarity of the fact, why on earth we
left the prairies, where we were so well off, to come here, where we are
so badly off."
"Have you ever repented, up to today, the confidence you placed in me?"
"I do not say so, Harry. Heaven forbid! Still I think--"
"You think wrong," the young man sharply interrupted. "Let me alone, and
before three months you shall have three times your hat full of massive
gold, or call me a fool."
At this dazzling promise the eyes of Dick, the smaller of the hunters,
glistened like two stars. He regarded his comrade with a species of
admiration.
"Oh, oh!" he said in a low voice, "It is a placer, is it?"
"Hang it!" the other said, with a shrug of his shoulders, "were it not,
should I be here? But silence, our man has arrived."
In fact, a man entered at this moment. On his appearance a sudden
silence fell on the mesón; the adventurers gambling and cursing at all
the tables, rose as if moved by a spring, respectfully took off their
plumed hats, and ranged themselves with downcast eyes to let him pass.
The man remained for an instant on the threshold of the venta, took a
profound glance at the company, and then walked toward the two hunters.
This man wore the gown of a monk; he had the ascetic face, with the
harsh features and sharply-marked lines, that forms, as it were, the
type of the Spanish monks of which Titian has so admirably caught the
expression on his canvas. He passed through the adventurers, holding out
right and left his wide sleeves, which they reverentially kissed. On
approaching the two hunters he turned round.
"Continue your sports, my sons," he said to the company; "my presence
need not disturb your frolics, for I only wish to speak for a few
moments with those two gentlemen."
The adventurers did not let the invitation be repeated, but took their
places again tumultuously, and soon cries and oaths recommenced with
equal intensity. The monk smiled, took a butaca, and seated himself
between the two hunters, while bending a searching glance on them. The
latter had followed with a mocking eye all the interludes of this little
scene, and without making a movement, they let the monk seat himself by
their side. So soon as he had done so, Harry poured him out a large
glass of pulque, and placed within his reach the squares of maize leaf
and tobacco.
"Drink and smoke, señor padre," he said to him.
The monk, without any observation, rolled a cigarette, emptied the glass
of pulque at a draught, and then leaning his elbows on the table and
bending forward, said,--
"You are punctual."
"We have been waiting an hour," Dick observed in a rough voice.
"What is an hour in the presence of eternity?" the monk said with a
smile.
"Let us not lose any more time," Harry continued. "What have you to
propose to us?"
The monk looked around him suspiciously, and lowered his voice.
"I can, if you like, make you rich in a few days."
"What is the business?" Dick asked.
"Of course," the monk continued, "this fortune I offer you is a matter
of indifference to me. If I have an ardent desire to obtain it, it is,
in the first place, because it belongs to nobody, and will permit me to
relieve the wretchedness of the thousands of beings confided to my
charge."
"Of course, señor padre," Harry answered seriously. "Let us not weigh
longer on these details. According to what you told me a few days back,
you have discovered a rich placer."
"Not I," the monk sharply objected.
"No consequence, provided that it exists," Dick answered.
"Pardon me, but it is of great consequence to me. I do not wish to take
on myself the responsibility of such a discovery. If, as I believe,
people will go in search of it, it may entail the death of several
persons, and the church abhors bloodshed."
"Very good: you only desire to profit by it."
"Not for myself."
"For your parishioners. Very good; but let us try to come to an
understanding, if possible, for our time is too precious for us to waste
it in empty talk."
"_Válgame Dios_!" the monk said, crossing himself, "How you have
retained the impetuosity of your French origin! Have a little patience,
and I will explain myself."
"That is all we desire."
"But you will promise me--"
"Nothing," Dick interrupted. "We are honest hunters, and not accustomed
to pledge ourselves so lightly before knowing positively what is asked
of us."
Harry supported his friend's words by a nod. The monk drank a glass of
pulque, and took two or three heavy puffs at his cigarette.
"Your will be done," he then said. "You are terrible men. This is the
affair."
"Go on."
"A poor scamp of a gambusino, lost, I know not how, in the great desert,
discovered at a considerable distance off, between the Rio Gila and the
Colorado, the richest placer the wildest imagination can conceive.
According to his statement the gold is scattered over the surface, for
an extent of two or three miles, in nuggets, each of which would make a
man's fortune. This gambusino, dazzled by such treasures, but unable to
appropriate them alone, displayed the greatest energy, and braved the
utmost perils, in order to regain civilised regions. It was only through
boldness and temerity that he succeeded in escaping the countless
enemies who spied, and tracked him on all sides; but Heaven at length
allowed him to reach Paso safe and sound."
"Very good," Dick observed. "All this may very possibly, be true; but
why did you not bring this gambusino, instead of talking to us about the
placer, of which you know as little as we do? He would have supplied us
with information which is indispensable for us, in the event of our
consenting to help you in looking for this treasure."
"Alas!" the monk replied, hypocritically casting his eyes down, "the
unhappy man was not destined to profit by this discovery, made at the
price of so many perils. Scarce two days after his arrival at Paso, he
quarrelled with another gambusino, and received a stab which sent him a
few hours later to the tomb."
"In that case," Harry observed, "how did you learn all these details,
señor padre?"
"In a very simple way, my son. It was I who reconciled the poor wretch
in his last moments with Heaven; and," he added, with an air of
compunction splendidly assumed, "when he understood that his end was at
hand, and that nothing could save him, he confided to me, in gratitude
for the consolation I bestowed on him, what I have just told you,
revealed to me the situation of the placer, and for greater certainty
gave me a clumsy chart he had drawn out on the spot. You see that we can
proceed almost with certainty."
"Yes," Harry said, thoughtfully; "but why, instead of first applying to
the Mexicans, your countrymen, did you propose to us to help you in your
enterprise?"
"Because the Mexicans are men who cannot be trusted, and before reaching
the placer we should have to fight the Apaches and Comanches, on whose
territory it is situated."
After these words, there was a lengthened silence between the three
speakers: each was reflecting deeply on what he had just heard. The monk
tried to read with cunning eye the impression produced on the hunters by
his confidence; but his hopes were deceived. Their faces remained
unmoved. At length Dick spoke in a rough voice, after exchanging a
meaning look with his comrade.
"All that is very fine," he said; "but it is absurd to suppose that two
men, however brave they may be, can attempt such an enterprise in
unknown regions peopled by ferocious tribes. It would require at least
fifty resolute and devoted men, otherwise nothing could be possible."
"You are right, and hence I did not calculate on you alone. You will
have determined men under your orders, chosen carefully by myself, and I
shall also accompany you."
"Unluckily, if you have counted on us, you are mistaken, señor padre,"
Harry said, peremptorily. "We are honest hunters; but the trade of a
gambusino does not at all suit us. Even if we had a chance of gaining an
incalculable fortune, we would not consent to take part in an expedition
of gold seekers."
"Not even if Red Cedar were at the head of the expedition, and consented
to take the direction?" the monk said in a honeyed voice, and with a
side glance.
The hunter started, a feverish blush suffused his face, and it was in a
voice choked by emotion that he exclaimed,--
"Have you spoken with him about it?"
"Here he is; you can ask him," the monk answered.
In fact, a man was entering the mesón at this moment. Harry looked down
in confusion, while Dick tapped the table with his dagger and whistled.
A smile of undefinable meaning wandered over the monk's pallid lips.