EL VOLADERO DE LAS ÁNIMAS.
We have already said that Don Fernando Carril, or Stoneheart, had
passed the greater part of his life in the wilderness. Brought up
by the Tigercat in the perilous calling of a bee-hunter, chance had
occasionally brought him, most unwillingly we confess, to the district
in which he now found himself. Thus he was well acquainted with the
Voladero de las Ánimas, even to its inmost recesses. He had often
sought shelter in the cavern where Doña Hermosa was now a prisoner, and
found it again without difficulty, although the access to it was so
well masked by certain features of the mountain, that any other would
have been some time in discovering it. The cavern, one of the greatest
curiosities of this part of the country; contains several chambers,
extending far into the hill, and two broad passages, which terminate
in two apertures, like gigantic windows, exactly under the peak of
the Voladero, where they hang at a height of a thousand feet over
the plain; the conformation of the mountain being so singular that,
looking down from them, nothing is to be seen but the tops of the trees
below.
Stoneheart entered the cavern, which by another remarkable peculiarity,
was lighted throughout its whole extent by innumerable fissures in the
rock, admitting sufficient daylight to enable objects to be perceived
at a distance of twenty or twenty-five paces. He was very restless;
the conditions imposed by Tigercat depressed his spirit to a degree
he could not shake off. He could not help asking himself why the old
chief had insisted on his remaining two days with Doña Hermosa on the
mountain before he rejoined the camp. He suspected some treachery in
these conditions; but of what kind? That was the riddle he could not
solve.
He walked slowly through the cavern, looking right and left in the
hope of finding her; and, for more than half an hour, could see no
indications of her presence.
The sun was already disappearing below the horizon when Stoneheart had
issued from the forest; the cavern, sombre enough in the daytime, was
at this hour in almost total darkness; so he retraced his steps, to
obtain a light for the purpose of resuming a search which otherwise
the obscurity rendered impossible. On reaching the entrance to the
cavern, he availed himself of the last gleam of daylight to look about
him. Some torches of ocote wood were carefully arranged close to the
entrance. Producing flint and steel, he speedily procured a light; and,
arming himself with a kindled torch, again made his way into the cave.
He traversed several chambers without success: and had begun to suspect
that the Tigercat had duped him, when he perceived a faint glimmer at
some distance in advance of him, which gradually approached, until its
light was sufficient to reveal the form of Doña Hermosa.
She too held a torch in her hand. She was walking with a slow and
unsteady step, her head sunk on her breast, in an attitude of poignant
sorrow. Doña Hermosa came nearer and nearer, till she was within fifty
paces of Stoneheart. Uncertain how to attract her attention, he was
on the point of calling to her, when she chanced to raise her head.
On seeing a man before her, she stopped, and haughtily demanded: "Why
have you entered this corridor? Have you forgotten that your chief has
forbidden anyone to enter it and annoy me?"
"Forgive me, señorita," replied Stoneheart gently; "the order was
unknown to me."
"Heavens!" cried she; "That voice! Is it a a dream?" She dropped
her torch, and hastened to approach Stoneheart, who likewise rushed
towards her. "Don Fernando!" she exclaimed; "Don Fernando here, in
this horrible den! Great God! what further evil is at hand? Have I not
suffered enough yet?"
Overcome by emotion, she lost all consciousness, and sank, fainting,
into the arms of Stoneheart. Alarmed at the occurrence, and not knowing
how to recall her to her senses, he hurried her back to the entrance to
the cavern, hoping that the fresh air might restore her. He placed her
carefully on a heap of dry leaves, and left her to herself. Stoneheart
was a man whose courage reached the verge of temerity. A hundred times
he had looked death in the face with a smile; but when he saw the girl
lying before him, her features rigid, and pale as death, he trembled
like a child; a cold sweat broke out over his forehead, and tears--the
first he had ever shed--rolled down his face.
"My God, my God!" he exclaimed; "I have killed her!"
"Who speaks?" said Doña Hermosa in feeble accents, the current of air
rushing into the cave having somewhat revived her. "Do I really hear
Don Fernando? Can it be he?"
"It is I; it is indeed I, Hermosa. Collect yourself, and forgive me
for causing this sudden fright."
"I am not alarmed," she answered; "on the contrary, your presence
relieves me, Don Fernando, if your appearance in this dreadful place
augurs no new misfortune."
"Calm yourself, señorita," he said, drawing gently near her; "I am no
omen of evil; I bring good tidings."
"Why seek to deceive me, my friend? Are not you too a prisoner of the
monster in human shape who has kept me captive so long?" She rose; the
colour returned to her cheeks. She extended her hand to Stoneheart,
who, kneeling, clasped it in both his own, and covered it with kisses.
"Now we shall no longer be alone; we shall suffer together," she said,
fixing an earnest look upon him.
"Dearest Hermosa, your sufferings are at an end; I do indeed bring you
good tidings."
"What is it you say, Don Fernando? Your words are incomprehensible. How
can you talk of good tidings, while we are both in the power of the
Tigercat."
"No, señorita; you are no longer in his power."
"Free!" she exclaimed in ecstasy; "Is it possible O my father! My
father! I shall see you once more!"
"You shall see him very soon, Hermosa. Your father is not far hence,
with all you love--Don Estevan and Ña Manuela."
Doña Hermosa fell on her knees, with an expression on her face
impossible to describe. Lifting her clasped hands to heaven, she
uttered a long, silent, and fervent prayer.
Stoneheart gazed upon her with reverential admiration. The sudden
transition from sorrow and despair to this excess of joy excited him
infinitely. He felt intensely happy--happier than he had ever known
himself before.
When Doña Hermosa rose from her knees, she had regained her calmness.
"And now, Don Fernando," she said in gentle accents, "as we are really
free, let us sit down outside the cave. Tell me all that has happened
since I was torn away from my father."
They left the cavern, and sat down, side by side, on the green turf,
canopied by the night, which hung cool and odorous above them; and
Stoneheart began his story. It lasted a long time; for Doña Hermosa
frequently interrupted him, to make him repeat details concerning Don
Pedro, and night had sped away before the recital ended. "It is your
turn, señorita," said Stoneheart, as soon as he had finished. "You
have now to relate what has happened to you."
"As for me," she replied, with a charming smile, "the month has passed
in sorrowful thoughts of those from whom I was torn. But I must be
just enough to confess, that the man who bore me away treated me
with respect--nay, on several occasions he sought to console me and
alleviate my grief, by holding out hopes of my soon seeing those whom I
love so dearly."
"The Tigercat's conduct is incomprehensible," said Stoneheart
thoughtfully. "Why did he carry you off, when he has restored you to us
again with so little demur?"
"It is strange," said she; "what could his object be? But I am tree!
Thank Heaven, I shall see my father again!"
"Tomorrow we will go to him."
Doña Hermosa looked at him in surprise.
"Tomorrow!" she exclaimed; "Why not today? Why not at once?"
"Alas!" said he, "I have sworn not to leave this place until tomorrow!
The Tigercat would only restore you to liberty on this condition."
"How singular! Why should that man wish to keep us here?"
"I will tell you the reason!" cried Don Estevan, suddenly appearing
before them.
"Estevan!" they exclaimed, rushing towards him.
"What happy chance brings you here?" asked Stoneheart.
"It is no chance, brother. God has permitted me to overhear words
spoken by the Tigercat, which have given me as clear an insight into
his plans as if he himself had revealed them."
"Explain your words, Estevan?"
"Yesterday, when I left you, Fernando, you turned your steps to the
cavern, while we retraced ours to the forest. I know not why, but my
heart was heavy, and I felt loth to quit you. I could not help fancying
that the Tigercat's urbanity covered some deadly purpose against you.
So I went slowly down the hill. I happened to turn when I reached the
forest, and saw that the chief had ceased to follow us. He had halted a
few paces from me. He was rubbing his hands with ferocious delight; his
eyes were earnestly fixed on the cave, and I distinctly heard him utter
these words: 'At last I am sure of my revenge!' It was like a sudden
gleam of light; the diabolical plan the monster had conceived started
forth in all its hideousness. Don Fernando, you remember how we became
acquainted?"
"I do, Estevan; the remembrance is too near for me to forget it."
"You recollect your conversation on the island with the Tigercat, which
I overheard? The insinuations of the man? The implacable hatred to Don
Pedro he openly avowed?"
"I recollect it all, Estevan; but to what does it lead?"
"To this, Fernando: the Tigercat, despairing to reach Don Pedro
himself, endeavours to strike him through his daughter. Hence the
long-concocted plan in which he has made you an involuntary accomplice.
You love Doña Hermosa; you have done everything to save her; he
proposes to restore her to you on the simple condition of remaining two
days here in her company: do you understand me now?"
"It is frightful!" indignantly exclaimed Stoneheart.
Doña Hermosa covered her face with her hands to conceal her tears.
"Forgive the pain I have caused you," continued Estevan. "I wished to
save you from yourselves; and I could only do so by bluntly laying
his machinations open before you. The question is now, whence this
inveterate hatred to Don Pedro? Satan alone can tell. But let us not
mind that; his plans are unmasked; we have nothing to fear from him."
"Thanks, Estevan," said Doña Hermosa, holding out her hand.
"But how were you able to return?" cried Stoneheart.
"Easily enough. I had nothing to do but to tell the Tigercat plainly
that I did not choose to travel in his company any longer. Our man was
thunderstruck at my deliberate desertion; but found no words to oppose
me. As for me, I had nothing more to say, so, at the first turn of the
road, I left him."
"It was a capital idea, Estevan, and I thank you heartily. But now,
what are we to do? I have given my word."
"Nonsense, Fernando! You must be mad. Are we obliged to keep promises
which have only been extorted from us to do us harm? If you take my
advice, you will leave this place instantly, to thwart any new plots
this man may brew."
"True, true!" cried Doña Hermosa. "Estevan, you are right. We will
follow your counsel, and go."
"Let us go," said Stoneheart, "since you wish it. As for me, there is
nothing I should like better than to leave this accursed cavern. But
how are we to get Doña Hermosa through the forest?"
"In the same way I crossed it before," she said firmly.
"How was that?" cried Estevan.
"On a kind of litter, which ought to be here still. It was carried on
men's shoulders. You know, the snakes do not spring very high."
"And we will wrap you in a buffalo hide, so that you will be safe from
all danger."
Don Estevan went in search of the litter, and soon found it, while
Stoneheart got the buffalo hide ready. All was prepared in a few
minutes.
"We have not broken the conditions of the treaty," said Estevan to his
friend.
"How so?"
"Did you not agree to meet the chief at the camp today, and not before?"
"I did; and it would have been impossible to do so, had we remained
here the stated time."
"Well, who knows whether the Tigercat did not take that into account
too?" replied Estevan.
This observation gave our three personages ample food for reflection;
and they began their journey without any further attempt at
conversation.