THE PIRATE'S CONFESSION.
A few moments passed, during which the Pirate seemed painfully
collecting his thoughts before speaking. White Gazelle, with her eyes
fixed on him, waited with anxious curiosity.
At length, the bandit seized the gourd, raised it to his lips a second
time, and after drinking heartily, replaced it by his side. A feverish
flush immediately spread over his cheeks, his eyes grew brighter, and he
said, in a firmer voice than might have been expected--
"Listen to me attentively, child, and profit by what you are about to
hear. I am dying and men do not lie at such a moment. The words I shall
utter are true. You well know me."
He stopped for some seconds, and then continued with an effort--
"I have not always been a pirate of the prairies, or tiger with a human
face--one of those wretches whom it is permissible to hunt like wild
beasts. No! there was a time when I was young, handsome, and rich; at
that remote period I was called Walter Stapleton, and was so rich that I
did not know the amount of my fortune. Like everyone else you fancied me
a Spaniard, and have been equally deceived--I am a citizen of the United
States, descended from an old puritan family, long settled at New York.
My parents died before I was twenty years of age; master of an immense
fortune, I had become connected with all the scamps in the city; two
especially became my intimate friends, and succeeded in a short time in
getting such a hold on me, that I only acted on their impulses and by
their suggestions. One of them was born in New York like myself, the
other was a Mexican. Both were, like myself, young, good-looking, and
rich, or, at least, they appeared so, for they squandered enormous sums.
Their names were--but why tell you them?" he added, "I am not speaking
of them here, but only of myself. One day the Mexican came to me with a
letter in his hand; his family called him home, for he was to enter the
church; but he would not, or, at least, could not leave New York at the
moment. I never knew the reason; but one month later we were all three
compelled to seek a refuge in Mexico, after a mournful tragedy, in which
my two friends played the chief part, leaving behind them a trail of
blood. I repeat to you that I never learned the circumstances."
At this moment a rustling was audible in the bushes against which the
bandit was leaning; but the Gazelle, overcome by the increasing interest
of the story, did not notice it. There was an interruption for some
minutes. Pedro Sandoval was growing perceptibly weaker.
"I must finish, however," he said; and making an effort, he continued:
--"We were at Mexico, where we lived nobly. In a short time I gained the
reputation of a finished gentleman. A great gambler, and adored by
women, shall I repeat to you the follies and extravagances that filled
my days? What good would it be? Suffice it for you to know that I
deserved this reputation in every respect. One day, a stranger arrived
in Mexico. He was, it was said, a caballero from an upcountry province,
enormously rich, and travelling for his pleasure. This man in a short
time displayed such recklessness, that his reputation soon equalled and
even surpassed mine. I, who had always been the first in every wild
scheme, was placed in the second rank. My friends laughed at the sudden
change effected, and by this incessant raillery augmented my anger and
detestation of this Don Pacheco de Tudela, as the man was called.
Several times already we had met face to face at the tertulias, and each
time our glances crossed like sword blades. I comprehended that this man
hated me. For my part, a dull jealousy devoured me when his name was
mentioned in my presence.
"A crisis was imminent, and we both sought it. One evening, when we were
both at the tertulia of the Governor of Arispe, a game of monte was
arranged. You know that game, which is the ruling passion of the
Mexicans. I had held the bank for some hours, and an incredible run of
luck had made me gain immense sums, which were piled up before me, and
covered nearly the whole of the table. The gamblers, terrified by this
constant good luck, retired in terror. I was about to collect and send
off my money, when I heard a few paces from me Don Pacheco saying
ironically to a party of friends:--'I am not jealous of señor
Stapleton's good luck. I have allowed him to win that he may repair his
ruined fortune, and stop the cries of his creditors, who have been
yelping for a long time at his heels.'
"These words wounded me the more because they were true. My fortune,
mortgaged beyond its value, only existed on paper, and numerous
creditors incessantly pursued me. I walked up to Don Pacheco, and looked
him boldly in the face.
"'To prove to you that I do not fear losing,' I said to him, 'I offer to
stake on one hand with you all it has taken me so many hours to win.'
"The stranger looked at me in his turn; then he said, in his cutting
voice, and with the sarcastic accent habitual to him:--
"'You are wrong, my dear sir. This money is very necessary to you; and,
if I were mad enough to play with you, I warn you that you would lose.'
"He laughed in my face, and turned his back on me.
"'Oh!' I said to him, 'you are afraid--and then, again, you probably do
not possess one quarter the sum there, and that is why you dare not
play.'
"Don Pacheco shrugged his shoulders without replying to me, and
addressed the richest banker of Arispe, who was standing near him:--
"'Señor Don Julio Baldomero,' he said to him, 'how much do you think
there is on that table?'
"The banker took a glance in my direction, and then answered:--
"'Six hundred thousand piastres, or nearly so, señor.'
"'Very good,' the other said. 'Don Julio, be good enough to give me a
bill for twelve hundred thousand piastres, payable at sight, on your
bank.'
"The banker bowed, took out his pocketbook, and wrote a few words on a
leaf which he tore out, and handed to Don Pacheco.
"'Do you believe, sir,' the Mexican said to me, 'that this bill
represents the sum before you?'
"These words were accompanied by the sarcastic smile this man constantly
had on his lips, and which drove me wild.
"'Yes,' I replied haughtily, 'and I am awaiting your determination.'
"'It is formed,' he said. 'Ask for new cards, and let us begin. Still,
you can recall your word, if you like.'
"'Nonsense,' I said, as I undid a fresh pack of cards.
"Although our altercation had been short, as everybody knew our feelings
toward each other, the conversation had broken off, and all the guests
at the tertulia had collected around us. A profound silence prevailed in
the room, and the faces expressed the curiosity and interest aroused by
this strange scene. After shuffling the cards for some time, I handed
them to my opponent to cut. The stranger laid his right hand on the
pack, and said to me impertinently:--
"'There is yet time.'
"I shrugged my shoulders as reply. He cut, and I began dealing. At the
fourth hand I had lost, and was ruined!"
The pirate stopped. For some time his voice had been growing weaker, and
it was only by making extreme efforts that he succeeded in speaking
distinctly.
"Drink!" he said so softly that the girl scarce heard him. She caught up
a skin of water.
"No," he said, "brandy."
White Gazelle obeyed him.
The pirate eagerly drank two or three mouthfuls.
"All was over," he continued, in a firm voice, with sparkling eye, and
face flushed by the fever preying on him. "Concealing my rage in my
heart, I prepared to leave the table with a smile on my lips.
"'One moment, sir,' my opponent said. 'The game is not over yet.'
"'What do you want more?' I answered him. 'Have you not won?'
"'Oh!' he said, with a gesture of supreme contempt: 'That is true. I
have won this wretched sum. But you have a stake still to risk.'
"'I do not understand you, sir.'
"'Perhaps so! Listen to me. There are on this table eighteen hundred
thousand piastres, that is to say, a fabulous fortune, which would form
the happiness of a dozen families.'
"'Well?' I answered in a surprise.
"'Well, I will play you for them, if you like. Hang it, my dear sir, I
am in luck at this moment, and I will not let fortune escape me while I
hold her.'
"'I have nothing more to stake, sir, and you know it,' I said in a loud
and haughty voice. 'I do not understand what you are alluding to.'
"To this he replied, without seeming in the least disconcerted, 'You
love Doña Isabella Izaguirre?'
"'How does that concern you?'
"'If I may believe public rumour, you are to marry her in a few days,' he
continued calmly. 'Well, I too love Doña Isabel, and I have made up my
mind she shall be mine by fair means or foul.'
"'And?' I interrupted him violently.
"'And, if you like, I will stake these eighteen hundred thousand
piastres against her hand. You see that I appreciate her value,' he
added, as he carelessly lit his panatellas.
"'_Canario!_ A splendid game! What a magnificent stake! A man cannot act
more gallantly!' Such were the remarks made around me by the witnesses
of this scene.
"'You hesitate?' Don Pacheco asked me in his ironical way.
"I looked defiantly round me, but no one accepted my challenge.
"'No,' I answered in a hollow voice, my teeth clenched with rage. 'I
accept.'
"The audience uttered a cry of admiration. Never in the memory of
players at Arispe, had a game of monte afforded such interest, and all
eagerly collected round the table. I felt for Doña Isabel that profound
love which constitutes a man's existence.
"'Who is to deal?' I asked my adversary.
"'You!' he replied, with his infernal smile.
"Five minutes later, I had lost my mistress!"
There was a moment's silence; a nervous tremor had assailed the pirate,
and for some instants it was only by an extraordinary effort that he had
been enabled to utter the words that seemed to choke him. It was evident
that the wound in his heart was as vivid as on the day when he received
it, and that only a strong interest induced him to refer to it.
"At length," he continued with a certain volubility, as he wiped away
the cold perspiration that beaded on his forehead, and mingled with the
blood that oozed from his wound, "the stranger approached me.
"'Are you satisfied?' he said.
"'Not yet,' I replied in a gloomy voice: 'we have still one game to play
out.'
"'Oh,' he said, ironically, 'I fancied you had nothing more to lose.'
"'You were mistaken. You have still my life to gain from me.'
"'That is true,' he said, 'and by heaven, I will win it from you. I wish
to cover your stake to the end, so let us go out.'
"'Why do that?' I said to him. 'This table served as the arena for the
first two games, and the third shall be decided upon it.'
"'Done!' he said. 'By Jupiter! You are a fine fellow! I may kill you,
but I shall be proud of my victory.'
"People attempted in vain to prevent the duel; but neither the stranger
nor myself would listen to it. At length they consented to give us the
weapons we asked for; and then, moreover, this strange combat in the
flower-adorned room, on the table covered with gold, among lovely young
women, whose freshness and beauty the lights heightened, had something
fatal about it which inflamed the imagination. The two heroes of Arispe,
the men who had for so long a time formed the sole topic of
conversation, had at length decided to settle which should definitely
hold the palm.
"I leaped on the table, and my opponent at once followed my example. I
enjoyed the reputation of being a fine swordsman, and yet, at the second
pass, I fell with my chest pierced through and through. For three months
I hovered between life and death, and when my youth and powerful
constitution at length triumphed over my horrible wound, and I was
approaching convalescence, I inquired about my adversary. On the day
after our duel, this man had married Doña Isabel; a week later, both
disappeared, and no one could tell me in what direction they had gone.
"I had only one object, one desire--to revenge myself on Don Pacheco.
So soon as I was sufficiently recovered to leave the house, I sold the
little left me, and quitted Arispe in my turn, followed by my friends,
who were as poor as myself, for the blow that had struck me had struck
them too, and, like myself, they only desired revenge on Don Pacheco.
For a long time our researches were vain, and many years elapsed ere I
grew weary of seeking their trail. There were only two of us now to do
it, for the third had left us.
"What had become of him? I do not know, but one day, by chance, at an
American frontier village where I had gone to sell my peltry, Satan
brought me face to face with this friend, whom I never expected to meet
again. He wore a monk's gown, and so soon as he perceived me, walked up
to me. The first words he addressed to me after our lengthened
separation were:
"'I have found them again.'
"I understood without it being necessary for him to make any further
explanation, for my hatred had taken such deep root in my heart. What
more shall I tell you, Niña?" he added, with an effort, while a fearful
smile crisped his blue lips. "I took my revenge. Oh! This vengeance was
long in coming, but it was terrible!... Our foe had become one of the
richest hacenderos in Texas; he lived happily with his wife and
children, respected and loved by all who surrounded him. I bought a farm
near his, and then, on the watch, like a jaguar with its prey, I
followed his every movement, and introduced myself into his house. So
lengthened a period had elapsed since our last meeting, that he did not
recognise me, although a foreboding seemed from the outset to warn him
that I was his enemy.
"One night, at the head of a band of pirates and Apaches, my two friends
and myself, after assuring ourselves that all were quietly sleeping in
Don Pacheco's hacienda, glided like serpents through the darkness; the
walls were escaladed, and our vengeance began. The hacienda was given up
to the flames; Don Pacheco and his wife, surprised in their sleep, were
pitilessly massacred, after undergoing atrocious tortures. I tore both
yourself and your sister from the arms of your dying mother, who sobbed
at our feet, imploring me to spare you in memory of my old love for her.
"I swore it, and kept my promise. I do not know what became of your
sister; I did not even trouble myself about her. As for you, Niña, have
you had ever any cause to reproach me?"
The girl had listened to this fearful revelation with frowning eyebrows
and livid cheeks. When the bandit stopped, she said harshly:
"Then you are the murderer of my father and mother?"
"Yes," he replied, "but not alone; there were three of us, and we took
our revenge."
"Wretch!" she burst forth; "Vile assassin!"
The girl uttered these words with such an implacable accent, that the
bandit shuddered.
"Ah!" he said, "I recognise the lioness. You are truly my enemy's
daughter. Courage, child, courage. Assassinate me in your turn. What
restrains you? Rob me of the short span of life still left me, but make
haste, or Heaven will prevent your vengeance."
And he fixed on her his eye, which was still proud, but already clouded
by the hand of death. The girl gave no answer.
"You prefer seeing me die; well, receive this last present," he said,
plucking from his bosom a bag, suspended from a steel chain; "in it you
will find two letters, one from your father, the other from your mother;
you will learn who you are, and what name you should bear in the world,
for the one I mentioned is false; I wished to deceive you to the end.
That name is my last vengeance.... Niña, you will remember me."
The girl bounded on to the bag and seized it.
"Now, good-bye," the Pirate said; "my work is accomplished on this
earth."
And seizing the pistol Red Cedar had left him, he blew out his brains,
fixing on the girl a glance of strange meaning. But she did not seem to
notice this tragical end, for she was tearing the bag with her teeth.
When she succeeded in opening it, she unfolded the papers it contained,
and hurriedly perused them. Suddenly she uttered a shriek of despair,
and fell back, clutching the letters in her hand.
The Indians and pirates ran up to help her, but, quicker than lightning,
a horseman darted from the chaparral, reaching the girl without checking
the speed of his horse; he bent down, raised her up in his powerful
arms, threw her across his saddle-bow, and passed like a tornado through
the astounded spectators.
"We shall meet again soon, Red Cedar," he said in a loud voice, as he
passed the squatter.
Before the latter and his comrades could recover from their surprise,
the horseman had disappeared in the distance in a cloud of dust.
The horseman was Bloodson!
Red Cedar shook his head sadly.
"Can what the priests say be true?" he muttered; "Is there really a
Providence?"