At a glance Costal saw what the strange object was--a broad band of gold
lace encircling a _sombrero_, and placed, Mexican fashion, around the
under edge of the brim. The cigar illuminating the lace had deceived
the negro, guiding him to the idea of a diadem!
"_Carajo_!" muttered Costal between his teeth, "I told you so. Did I
not say that some profane white had hindered the Siren from appearing?"
"You were right," replied Clara, ashamed at the mistake he had made, and
from that time losing all belief in the _genius_ of the cascade.
"An officer!" murmured Costal, recognising the military equipments of
the dragoon, who, with a carbine in one hand, and his bridle in the
other, sat smoking his cigar, as immoveable as a statue.
"Who goes there?" cried Costal, saluting him in a loud, bold voice.
"Say, rather, who stands there?" responded Don Rafael, with equal
firmness, at the same moment that he recognised in the speaker the
Indian whose incantation he had witnessed.
"Delighted to hear you speak at last, my fine fellows," continued the
dragoon in his military off-hand way, at the same time causing his horse
to step forward face to face with the adventurers.
"Perhaps we are not so much pleased to hear you," replied Costal
roughly, as he spoke, shifting his gun from one shoulder to the other.
"Ah! I am sorry for that," rejoined the dragoon, smiling frankly
through his thick moustache, "for I'm not inclined to solitary habits,
and I'm tired of being here alone."
As Don Rafael said this, he placed his carbine back into its sling, and
rebuckled the straps around it, as if it was no longer required. This
he did notwithstanding the half-hostile attitude of the adventurers.
The act did not escape the quick perception of the Indian; and, along
with the good-humour manifest in the stranger's speech, made an
instantaneous impression upon him.
"Perhaps," added Don Rafael, plunging his hand into the pocket of his
_jaqueta_, "you have no good feeling towards me for disturbing you in
your proceedings, which I confess I did not understand. Neither did
they concern me; but you will excuse a strayed traveller, who wished to
inquire his way; and as I had no means of making myself heard to you, I
was forced to adopt the method I did to draw your attention. I hope
that on reflection you will do justice to my dexterity in taking care
that none of the stones should hit you."
As he finished speaking the dragoon took a dollar from his purse, and
offered it to the Indian.
"Thank you," said Costal, delicately refusing the piece, but which
Clara, less scrupulous, transferred to his pocket. "Thank you,
_cavallero_! May I ask where you are going?"
"To the hacienda Las Palmas."
"Las Palmas?"
"Yes--am I far from it?"
"Well," replied Costal, "that depends on the road you take."
"I wish to take the shortest. I am rather pressed for time."
"Well, then--the road which is the shortest is not that which you will
find the most easy to follow. If you wish to go by the one on which
there is the least danger of your getting astray, you will follow up the
course of this river. But if you wish a shorter route--one which avoids
the windings of the stream--you will go that way."
As Costal finished speaking, he pointed in a direction very different
from that which he had indicated as the course of the river.
The Indian had no design of giving a false direction. Even had the
little resentment, which he had conceived for the stranger, not entirely
passed, he knew that he dared not mislead a traveller on the way to the
hacienda, of which he was himself a servitor. But he no longer held any
grudge against the young officer, and his directions were honestly
meant.
While they were speaking, another of those terrible screams that had
perplexed the traveller broke in upon the dialogue. It was the cry of
the jaguar, and came from the direction in which lay the route indicated
by Costal as the shortest.
"What on earth is that?" inquired the officer.
"Only a jaguar searching for prey," coolly responded Costal.
"Oh!" said the dragoon, "is that all? I was fancying it might be
something more fearful."
"Your shortest route, then, lies that way," said Costal, resuming his
directions, and pointing with his gun towards the spot where the howl of
the tiger had been heard.
"Thank you!" said the horseman, gathering up his reins, and heading his
horse to the path. "If that is the shortest, I shall take it."
"Stay!" said Costal, approaching a little nearer, and speaking with more
cordiality than he had yet shown.
"_Oigate, senor cavallero_! A brave man like you does not need to be
warned of every danger; but one ought to be informed of the dangers one
must meet."
Don Rafael checked his horse.
"Speak, friend," said he; "I shall not listen to you ungratefully."
"To reach from here the hacienda of Las Palmas," continued Costal,
"without going astray, or making detours, be careful always to keep the
moon to your left, so that your shadow may be thrown on the right--a
little slanting--just as you are at this moment. Moreover, when you
have started, never draw bridle till you have reached the house of Don
Mariano de Silva. If you meet a ditch, or brake, or ravine, cross them
in a direct line, and don't attempt to go round them."
The Indian gave these directions in so grave a tone of voice, and with
such solemnity of manner, that Don Rafael was struck with surprise.
"What frightful danger is it that threatens me?" he inquired at length.
"A danger," replied Costal, "compared with which that of all the tigers
that ever howled over these plains is but child's play--the danger of
the _inundation_! Perhaps before an hour has passed, it will come
sweeping over these savannas like a foaming sea. The _arriero_ and his
mules, as well as the shepherd and his flocks, will be carried away by
its flood, if they don't succeed in reaching the shelter of that very
hacienda where you are going. Ay! the very tigers will not escape, with
all their swiftness."
"I shall pay strict attention to the directions you have given me," said
the officer--once more about to ride off--when just then he remembered
his fellow-traveller whom he had left on the road.
In a few hurried words he made known to the Indian the situation of the
young student of theology.
"Make your mind easy about him," replied the latter. "We shall bring
him to the hacienda to-morrow, if we find him still alive. Think only
of yourself, and those who might bewail your death. If you meet the
jaguars don't trouble yourself about them. Should your horse refuse to
pass them, speak to him. If the brutes come too near you, let them hear
you as well. The human voice was given us to procure respect, which it
will do from the most ferocious of animals. The whites don't know
this--because fighting the tiger is not their trade, as it is that of
the red man; and I can tell you an adventure of this kind that I once
had with a jaguar--Bah; he's gone!"
The last exclamatory phrases were drawn from the speaker, on perceiving
that the horseman, instead of staying to listen to his tale of
adventure, had put spurs to his horse, and suddenly ridden away.
In another instant he was beyond earshot, galloping over the moonlit
plain in the direction of the hacienda Las Palmas.
"Well!" cried Costal, as he stood gazing after him, "he's a frank brave
fellow, and I should be very sorry if any mischance were to happen to
him. I was not pleased about his interrupting us. It was a pity, to be
sure; but after all, had I been in his place I should have done just as
he did. Never mind," he added, after a pause, "all is not over--we
shall find another opportunity."
"Hum!" said Clara, "I think the sooner we get out of the neighbourhood
of these tigers the better for our skins. For my part, I've had enough
adventure for one day."
"Bah! still frightened about the tigers! For shame, Clara! Look at
this young man, who never saw a jaguar in his life; and heeds them no
more than so many field mice. Come along!"
"What have we to do now?"
"The spirit of the waters," replied Costal, "does not show herself in
the cascade alone. She appears also to those who invoke her with the
conch, amidst the yellow waves of the inundation. To-morrow we may try
again."
"What about the young fellow whom the officer has recommended to our
care?"
"We shall go to look after him in the morning. Meanwhile, we must have
some rest ourselves. Let us climb out of the ravine, and carry the
canoe up to the summit of the _Cerro de la Mesa_. There we shall sleep
tranquilly, without fear either of floods or jaguars."
"That's just the thing," said Clara, his black face brightening up at
the prospect of a good night's rest. "To say the truth, friend Costal,
I'm tired enough myself. Our gymnastics up yonder, on the _ahuehuetes_,
have made every bone in my body as sore as a blister."
And as the two _confreres_ ended their dialogue, they stepped briskly
forward, and were soon at the top of the precipitous path that led up
from the ravine.