IN THE FOREST.
The unknown had struck into a dense forest, the last skirts of which
dwindled away close to the banks of the Rio Bermejo.
American forests have little resemblance to those of the Old World: in
the former, the trees shoot up hap-hazard, crossing and interlacing
each other, and sometimes leaving large spaces completely open, strewn
with dead trees, uprooted, and piled on each other in the strangest
manner.
Some trees, partially or wholly withered, show in their hollow remnants
of the strong and fruitful soil; others, equally ancient, are supported
by the entangled creepers, which, in process of time, have almost
attained the size of their former props--the diversity of foliage
forming here the most agreeable contrast; others, concealing within
their hollow trunks a hotbed, formed from the remains of their leaves
and half-dead branches, which has promoted the germination of the seed
that fell from them, seem to promise an indemnification for the loss of
the parent trees in the saplings they nourish.
One could imagine that nature had determined to put beyond the ravages
of time some of these old trees, when sinking under the weight of ages,
by clothing them in a mantle of gray moss, which hangs in long festoons
from the topmost branches to the ground. This moss, called _barbe
d'Espagnol_, gives to the trees a most fantastic aspect.
The ground of these forests, formed from the remains of trees falling,
in successive generations, for centuries, is most eccentric: sometimes
raising itself in the shape of a mountain, to descend suddenly into
a muddy swamp, peopled by hideous alligators wallowing in the green
slime, and by millions of mosquitoes swarming amidst the fetid vapours
exhaled, sometimes extending itself endlessly in plains of a monotony
and regularity truly depressing.
Rivers, without a name, traverse these unknown deserts, bearing nothing
on their silent waters save the black swans, which let themselves
carelessly float down the currents; while rosy flamingoes, posted
along the banks, fish philosophically for their dinners, with eyes
half-closed and sanctimonious air.
Even where the view seems most contracted, sudden clearings sometimes
open out prospects picturesque in the extreme and deliciously
fortuitous.
Incessant noises, nameless sounds, make themselves heard without
a break in these mysterious regions--the grand voices of the
solitude--the solemn hymn of the invisible world, created by the
Almighty.
In the bosom of these redoubtable forests the wild beasts and reptiles,
which abound in Mexico, find refuge; here and there one meets with
paths incessantly trodden for centuries by jaguars and bisons, and
which, after countless meanderings, all debouch on unknown drinking
holes.
Woe to the daring mortal who, without a guide ventures to tempt the
inextricable mazes of these immense seas of verdure! After ineffable
tortures, he succumbs, and falls a prey to the savage beasts. How
many hardy pioneers have died thus, without the possibility of the
veil being lifted which shrouds their miserable end! Their blanched
bones, discovered at the foot of some tree, alone can teach those who
come upon them that on that spot men have died, a prey to infinite
suffering, and that the same fate, perchance, awaits the finders.
The stranger must have been the constant guest of the forest into which
he had so audaciously plunged at the moment when the sun, quitting the
horizon, had left the earth to darkness--darkness rendered still denser
in the covert, in which the light even at midday could only struggle in
at intervals through the tufted branches.
Bending a little forward, eye and ear on the watch, the unknown
advanced as rapidly as the nature of the ground under his horse's hoofs
would let him, following unhesitatingly the capricious deviations of a
wild animal's path, whose traces were scarcely discoverable amidst the
tall grasses which strove continually to efface it.
He had already ridden for several hours without having slackened the
pace of his horse, plunging deeper and deeper into the forest.
He had forded several rivers, scaled many a steep ravine, hearing at a
short distance, on right and left, the hoarse growlings of the jaguar
and the mocking wailing of the tiger cat, which seemed to follow him
with their menacing yells.
Taking no heed of roar or tumult, he continued his route, although the
forest assumed a more dreary aspect at every step.
The bushes and trees of low growth had disappeared, to make room for
gigantic mahogany trees, century old cork trees, and the acajou, whose
sombre branches formed a vaulted roof of green eighty feet above his
head. The path had grown wider, and stretched, in a gentle incline,
towards a hillock of moderate height, entirely free from trees.
Arrived at the base of the hillock, the stranger halted; then, without
dismounting, cast a searching glance on all around.
The stillness of death pervaded everything; the howling of the wild
beasts was lost in the distance; no noise was audible, save that caused
by a slender stream of water, which, trickling through the crevices of
a rock, fell from a height of three or four yards into a natural basin.
The sky, of the deepest blue, was spangled with an infinite number
of brilliant stars; and the moon, sailing amidst a sea of whitish
clouds, cast her silvery rays in profusion on the hillock, whose sides,
fantastically lighted up, formed a striking contrast with the rest of
the landscape, merged, as it was, in the deepest obscurity.
During several minutes the unknown remained motionless as a statue,
listening to the faintest sound, ready to fire at the slightest
appearance of danger.
Convinced, at last, that all around was peaceful, and that nothing
unusual disturbed the silence of the solitude, he prepared to dismount,
when suddenly his horse threw up his head, laid back his ears, and
snorted loudly.
A moment more, and a violent crashing was heard among the underwood; a
noble moose deer rose from amidst the bushes, and, bounding to within a
short distance from the cavalier, rapidly traversed the path, tossing
his antlers in terror, and vanished in the darkness.
For a time the noise of its headlong course resounded over the dry
leaves, crushed under its feet in the constantly increasing speed of
its flight.
The cavalier, with a scarcely perceptible motion of the hand, backed
his horse gradually to the foot of the hillock, with his head always
turned in the direction of the forest, like a vidette who retires
before a superior force.
As soon as he reached the spot he had selected, the unknown leaped
lightly to the ground; and, making a rampart of his horse's body,
levelled his rifle, steadied the barrel across the saddle, and waited
patiently.
He had not to wait long: after a while the tread of several persons was
heard approaching his place of ambush.
Most likely the unknown had already divined who these persons might be,
even before he saw them; for he quitted his temporary shelter, passed
his arm through his horse's reins, and, uncocking his rifle, let the
butt drop on the ground, with every symptom of complete security, while
a smile of indefinable expression played about his lips.
At last the branches parted, and five persons appeared on the scene.
Of these five persons, four were men; two of them supported the
tottering form of a woman, whom they almost carried in their arms. And,
what was most wonderful in these regions, the strangers, whom it was
easy to recognise as white men by their dress and the colour of their
skin, had no horses with them.
They continued to advance without being aware of the presence of the
unknown, who, still motionless, marked their approach with mingled pity
and sadness.
Suddenly one of the strangers happened to lift his eyes.
"Praise be to God!" cried he, in Mexican, with lively satisfaction;
"We are saved. Here is a human being at last."
The five stopped. The one who had first observed the unknown came
rapidly towards him, and exclaimed, with a graceful inclination:
"Caballero, I entreat you to grant, what is seldom refused in the
wilderness, aid and protection."
The unknown, before he replied, threw a searching look at the speaker.
The latter was a man of some fifty years; his manner was polished, his
features noble, although his hair was growing white about his temples;
his figure, upright and compact, had no more bent an inch, nor his
black eyes lost a particle of their fire, than if he had been only
thirty. His rich dress and the ease of his manner clearly proved him to
belong to the highest grade of Mexican society.
"You have committed two grave errors in as many minutes, caballero,"
answered the unknown: "the first, in approaching me without precaution;
the second, in demanding aid and protection without knowing who I am."
"I do not understand you, señor," replied the stranger, with
astonishment. "Do not all men owe mutual assistance to each other?"
"In the civilised world it may be so," said the unknown, with a sneer;
"but in the wilderness, the sight of a man always forebodes danger: we
are savages here."
The stranger recoiled in astonishment.
"And thus," said be, "you would leave your fellow creatures to perish
in these horrible solitudes without stretching forth a hand to help
them?"
"My fellow creatures!" cried the unknown, with biting irony; "My fellow
creatures are the wild beasts of the prairie. What have I in common
with you men of towns and cities, natural enemies of every being that
breathes the pure air of liberty? There is nothing in common between
you and me. Begone, and weary me no more."
"Be it so," was the stranger's haughty answer. "I would not importune
you much longer; were it only a question of myself, I would not have
uttered a single prayer to you. Life is not so dear to me, that I
should seek to prolong it on terms repugnant to my honour; but it is
not a question of myself alone; here is a female, still almost a child,
my daughter who is in want of prompt assistance, and will die if it is
not rendered."
The unknown made no reply; he had turned away, as if reluctant to carry
on any further conversation.
The stranger slowly rejoined his companions, who had halted at the edge
of the forest.
"Well?" he asked uneasily.
"The señorita has fainted," sorrowfully replied one of the men.
The stranger uttered an exclamation of grief. He remained for some
moments fixing his eyes on the girl, with an indescribable expression
of despair.
All of a sudden he turned abruptly, and rushed towards the unknown.
The latter had mounted, and was on the point of retiring.
"Stop!" called the stranger.
"What is it you want with me?" replied the unknown once more. Then
he added fiercely, "Let me begone; and thank God that our unforeseen
meeting in this forest has not been productive of graver consequences
to you."
The menace contained in these enigmatical words disturbed the stranger
in spite of himself. However, he would not be discouraged.
"It is impossible," he resumed vehemently, "that you can be as cruel as
you wish us to believe. You are too young for all feeling to have died
out of your heart."
The unknown laughed strangely.
"I have no heart," he said.
"I implore you, in the name of your mother, not to abandon us!"
"I have no mother."
"Then I beseech you in the name of the being you love most upon earth,
whoever that may be."
"I love no one."
"No one?" repeated the stranger, shuddering; "Then I pity you, for you
must be most unhappy."
The unknown trembled; a feverish glow stole over his face; but soon
recovering himself, he exclaimed:
"Now let me go."
"No; not before I learn who you are."
"Who I am! Have I not already told you? A wild beast; a being with only
the semblance of humanity, with a hatred towards all men which nothing
can ever appease. Pray to God you may never again encounter me on your
path. I am like the raven--the sight of me foretells evil. Adieu!"
"Adieu!" murmured the stranger; "And may God have mercy on you, and not
visit your cruelty upon you!"
Just at this moment a voice, feeble, but in its sad modulations
sweet and melodious as the notes of the _centzontle_, the American
nightingale, rose through the stillness.
"My father, my dear father!" it uttered. "Where are you? Do not abandon
me."
"I am here, I am here," exclaimed the stranger tenderly, as he turned
quickly to run to her who thus called him.
A cloud passed over the face of the unknown at the sound of these
melodious accents; his blue eye flashed like the lightning. He placed
his hand on his heart, trembling as if he had received an electric
shock.
After a short hesitation, he forced his horse to make a sudden bound
forward, and placing his hand on the stranger's shoulder:
"Whose voice is that?" he asked in singular accents.
"The voice of my daughter, who is dying, and calls me."
"Dying?" stammered the unknown, strangely moved. "She!"
"My father, my father!" repeated the girl in a voice which grew weaker
and weaker.
The unknown raised himself to his full height; his face assumed an
expression of indomitable energy.
"She shall not die!" said he in a low voice. "Come!"
They rejoined the group.
The young girl was stretched upon the ground, with her eyes closed, her
face pale as a corpse; the feeble gasps of her breathing alone evincing
that life had not completely left her.
The persons surrounding her watched her in profound sadness, while
tears rolled silently down their bronzed cheeks.
"Oh!" cried the father, falling on his knees beside the young girl,
seizing her hand and covering it with kisses, while his face was
inundated with tears; "My fortune--my life--to him who will save my
cherished child!"
The unknown had dismounted, and observed the girl with sombre and
pensive eye. At last, after several minutes of this mute contemplation,
he turned towards the stranger.
"What ails this girl?" he asked abruptly.
"Alas! An incurable ailment: she has been bitten by a grass snake."
The unknown frowned till his eyebrows nearly met together.
"Then she is lost indeed," said his deep voice.
"Lost! O Heavens! My daughter, my dearest daughter!"
"Yes; unless--" then, arousing himself: "How long is it since she was
bitten?"
"Scarcely an hour."
The face of the unknown lighted up. He remained silent for a moment,
during which the bystanders anxiously bent towards him, awaiting with
impatience the opinion he would probably pronounce.
"Scarcely an hour?" said he at last. "Then she may be saved."
The stranger uttered a sigh of joy.
"You will answer for it?" he cried.
"I?" returned the unknown, shrugging; his shoulders; "I will answer for
nothing, except that I will attempt impossibilities for the chance of
restoring her to you."
"Oh, save her, save her!" eagerly exclaimed the father; "And, whoever
you may be, I will bless you."
"It matters not to me what you may do. I do not try to save this girl
for your sake; and, whatever may be the motives inducing me, I exempt
you from all feelings of gratitude."
"You may possibly harbour such thoughts; but for myself--"
"Enough," rudely broke in the unknown; "we have already lost too much
time in idle words; let us make haste, if we would not be too late."
All were silent.
The unknown looked around.
We have already said that the strangers had halted at the edge of the
forest; over their heads the last trees of the covert expanded their
mighty branches.
Approaching the trees, the unknown examined them carefully, apparently
in search of something he could not find.
All of a sudden, he uttered a cry of joy; and, unsheathing the long
knife fastened to his right knee, he cut a branch from a creeper, and
returned to the strangers, who were anxiously watching his proceedings.
"Here," said he to one of the party, who looked like a _peon_ (a serf),
"strip all the leaves from this branch, and pound them. Be quick; every
second is worth a century to her whom we wish to save."
The _peon_ set himself actively to the allotted task.
Then the unknown turned to the father:
"In what part of the body has this child been bitten?"
"A little below the left ankle."
"Has she much courage?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Answer! Time presses."
"The poor child is quite worn out; she is very weak."
"Then we must hesitate no longer; the operation must be performed."
"An operation!" cried the stranger, affrighted.
"Would you rather she should die?"
"Is this operation indispensable?"
"It is: we have already lost too much time."
"Then perform it. God grant you may succeed!"
The girl's leg was horribly swollen; the part round the serpent's bite,
terribly tumefied, was already taking a greenish hue.
"Alas," muttered the unknown, "there is not a moment to spare. Hold the
child so that she cannot stir while I perform the operation."
In these last words the voice of the unknown had assumed such an accent
of command, that the strangers obeyed without hesitation.
The former seated himself on the ground, took the limb of the girl
upon his knee, and made his preparations. Luckily the moon shone at
this moment so clearly, that her vivid rays flooded the landscape, and
everything was almost as visible as in broad daylight.
When the girl had first felt the bite, she had immediately, and happily
for herself, torn off her silk stocking. The unknown grasped the blade
of his knife an inch from the point, and, lowering his brow with
terrible determination, buried the point in the wound, and made a
cruciform incision about six lines deep, and more than an inch long.
The poor child must have felt terrible anguish; for she gave utterance
to a dreadful scream, and twisted herself about nervously.
"Hold her tight, _cuerpo de Cristo!_" shouted the unknown in a voice of
thunder, while with admirable coolness and skill he pressed the lips
of the wound, so as to force out the black and decomposing blood it
contained; "And now the leaves--the leaves!"
The _peon_ ran up.
The unknown took the leaves, parted asunder the lips of the wound,
and gently, carefully expressed their juice on the palpitating flesh.
Making a kind of plaster of the same leaves, he applied it to the
wound, tied it down firmly with a bandage, placed the foot carefully on
the ground, and rose.
As soon as a certain quantity of the sap of the creeper had fallen
upon the wound, the girl had seemed to experience a sensation of great
relief; the nervous spasms began to abate; she closed her eyes; and
finally she leaned back without attempting to struggle any longer with
the persons who held her in their arms.
"You may leave her now," whispered the unknown; "she is asleep."
In fact, the regular though feeble breathing of the patient proved her
to be plunged in a profound slumber.
"God be praised!" exclaimed the poor father, clasping his hands in
ecstasy; "Then she is really saved?"
"She is," answered the unknown leisurely; "bating unforeseen accidents,
she has nothing more to fear."
"But what is the extraordinary remedy you have employed to obtain such
a happy result?"
The unknown smiled with disdain, and did not seem willing to reply;
however, after a short hesitation, yielding perhaps to that secret
vanity which induces us all to make a parade of our wisdom, he decided
upon giving the information demanded.
"The pettiest things astonish you fellows who dwell in cities," said he
ironically; "the man who has passed his whole life in the wilderness
knows many things of which the inhabitants of your brilliant towns
are ignorant, although, with the sole aim of humiliating, they take
pleasure in parading their false science before us poor savages.
Nature hides not the secret of her mysterious harmonics from him who
ceaselessly pries into the darkness of night and the brightness of
day, with a patience beyond proof, without suffering himself to be
discouraged by failure. The sublime Architect, when he had created
this immense universe, did not let it fall from his omnipotent hands
until it had been made perfect, nor till the amount of good should
counterbalance everywhere the amount of evil--placing, so to say, the
antidote side by side with the poison."
The stranger listened with increasing surprise to the words of this
man, whose real character was an enigma to him, and who at every
moment showed himself in lights diametrically opposed, and under forms
entirely distinct.
"But," continued the unknown, "pride and presumption make man blind.
Accustomed to make all things bear upon himself, imagining that all
existence has been specially created for his convenience, he takes no
pains to study the secrets of nature further than they seem to have a
direct influence on his personal welfare, not caring to make inquiry
into her simplest actions. So, for instance, the region in which we
now are, being low and marshy, is naturally infested with reptiles,
which are so much the more dangerous and to be dreaded, because they
are half-calcined and rendered furious by the rays of a torrid sun.
Therefore provident nature has produced in abundance throughout
these same regions a creeper called _mikania_--the one I have just
used--which is an infallible remedy for the bites of serpents."
"I cannot doubt it, after having witnessed its efficacy; but how
were the virtues of this creeper discovered?" said the stranger,
involuntarily interested in the highest degree.
"A hunter of the woods," continued the unknown, with a certain
self-complacency, "observed that the black falcon, better known as
the _guaco_, a bird which feeds chiefly upon reptiles, takes special
delight in exterminating serpents. This hunter had also observed that
if, during the struggle, the serpent contrived to wound the _guaco_,
the latter immediately retired from the combat, and flying to the
_mikania_, tore off a few leaves, which it bruised in its beak. It
afterwards returned to the fight more resolute than ever, until it had
vanquished its redoubtable enemy. The hunter was an astute man, and of
great experience; one who knew that animals, being devoid of reason,
are more especially under the providence of God, and that all their
actions proceed from laws laid down at the beginning. After mature
reflection, he resolved to test his experience upon himself."
"And did he execute his project?" cried the stranger.
"He did. He let a coral snake bite him, the deadliest of all; but,
thanks to the _mikania_, the bite proved as harmless to him as the
prick of a thorn. That is the manner in which this precious remedy was
discovered. But," added the unknown, suddenly changing his tone, "I
have complied with your wishes in bringing help to your daughter; she
is safe. Adieu! I may stay no longer."
"You must not go before you have told me your name."
"What good will this pertinacity do you?"
"I wish to embalm the name in my memory as that of a man to whom I have
vowed a gratitude which will only end with my life."
"You are mad!" rudely answered the unknown. "It is useless to pronounce
to you a name which you will very likely learn but too soon."
"Let it be so; I will not persist, nor ask the reasons which compel
you to act thus. I will not seek to learn it in despite of you; but,
if you refuse to teach me your name, you cannot prevent my making you
acquainted with my own--I am called Don Pedro de Luna. Although until
today I have never penetrated thus far into the prairies, my residence
is not very far off. I am proprietor of the Hacienda de las Norias
de San Antonio, close to the frontiers of the Despoblado, near the
_embouchure_ of the Rio San Pedro."
"I know the Hacienda de las Norias de San Antonio. Its owner ought to
belong to the happy ones of earth, according to the opinion of those
who dwell in cities. So much the better: if it does belong to you, I do
not envy riches with which I should not know what to do. Now, you have
nothing more to say, have you? Well, then, adieu!"
"What! Adieu! You will leave us?"
"Certainly; do you think I intend to remain all night with you?"
"I hoped, at least, you would not leave unfinished the work you have
undertaken."
"I do not understand you; caballero."
"Will you abandon us thus? Will you leave my daughter in her present
state, lost in the wilderness, without the means of escape,--in the
depths of this forest, which has been so nearly fatal to her?"
The unknown frowned several times, then cast a stolen look on the girl.
A violent struggle seemed to commence in his bosom; he remained silent
for several minutes, uncertain how to decide. At last he raised his
head.
"Listen," said he in a constrained voice; "I have never learnt to lie.
At a short distance I have a _jacal_ (hovel), as you would call the
miserable _calli_ (cottage) which shelters me; but, believe me, it is
better for you to remain here than to follow me there."
"And why?" said the stranger, surprised.
"I have no explanation to give you, and I will not lie. I only repeat:
believe me, and remain here. Nevertheless, if you persist in following
me, I will not oppose it; I will be your faithful guide."
"Danger menace us under your roof? I will not stop on such an
hypothesis: hospitality is sacred in the prairies."
"Perhaps so; I will neither answer yes nor no. Do you decide; only make
your resolve quickly, for I am in haste to have the matter decided."
Don Pedro de Luna threw a sorrowful look at his daughter; then
addressing the unknown--
"Whatever may happen," said he, "I will follow you. My daughter cannot
stay here; you have done too much for her not to wish to save her. I
confide in you; show me the way."
"Agreed," replied the unknown laconically. "I have warned you; take
care you are on your guard."