At no great distance from the cascade already introduced to the reader,
there rises a little hill, with a flat or table-shaped top, as if it had
once been a cone, whose apex had been cut off by some freak of nature.
As already observed, such eminences are not uncommon throughout the
plains of America, where they are generally termed _mesas_, or _cerros
de la mesa_ (table hills). The archaeologists of the province, in
speaking of the hill in question--which simply bore the name of
_Cerro-de-la-mesa_--declared it to be an ancient shrine of the
Zapoteques. Tradition says that a temple once stood upon it; but, if
so, it must have been constructed of very perishable materials; since no
ruin testifies to the truth of this tradition. Costal, however,
believed it, for the _tigrero_, though apparently a Christianised
Indian, was still a faithful believer in many of the pagan rites of his
fathers; and, influenced by a superstitious feeling, he was in the habit
of sleeping upon the summit of the _Cerro-de-la-mesa_, whenever the
necessities of his calling compelled him to remain over night in that
neighbourhood. A little hut which he had constructed out of bamboos,
with the broad leaves of bananas thrown over it for thatch, served him
sufficiently well for this occasional and temporary shelter.
Costal had told Clara no more than the truth. He was descended from the
ancient Caciques of Tehuantepec; and, while wandering through the midst
of the solitary savannas, the falling grandeur of his ancient race was
often the subject of his thoughts. Perfectly indifferent to the
political quarrels of the whites, he would have regarded the new
insurrection of Hidalgo without the slightest interest or enthusiasm;
but another motive had kindled within his breast the hope that in the
end he might himself profit by the revolutionary movement, and that by
the aid of the gold which he vainly dreamt of one day discovering, he
might revive in his own person the title of Cacique, and the sovereignty
which his ancestors had exercised. The pagan doctrines in which he had
been brought up, the solitudes in which he dwelt while engaged in his
calling of tiger-hunter, the contemplation of the boundless sea, whose
depths he had often explored--for previous to his becoming a _tigrero_
he had long practised the perilous profession of a pearl-diver--all
these circumstances had contributed to give to his character a tone of
singular exaltation which bordered upon frenzy.
Visionary dreamer though he was, he had acquired as much ascendancy over
the negro Clara as ever Don Quixote had over his squire Sancho Panza.
Nay more, for, unlike the _Manchego_ gentleman, he might easily have
persuaded his black associate that windmills were giants, since the
latter had already taken a captain in the Queen's dragoons for the Siren
with the dishevelled hair!
About an hour after this incident we find the two adventurers upon the
summit of the _Cerro-de-la-mesa_. Thither they had just transported the
canoe of Costal, which, being a light craft, they had carried up on
their shoulders without much difficulty. They had placed it keel
upwards close to the wall of the bamboo hovel.
"Ouf!" grunted the negro as he sat down upon it. "I think we have
fairly earned a minute's rest. What's your opinion, Costal?"
"Didn't you travel through the province of Valladolid?" asked the Indian
without replying to Clara's idle question.
"Of course I did," answered the black. "Valladolid, Acapulco, and
several other of the south-western provinces. Ah, I know them well--
from the smallest path to the most frequented of the great roads--every
foot of them. How could I help knowing them? for, in my capacity of
_mozo de mulas_, did I not travel them over and over again with my
master, Don Vallerio Trujano, a worthy man, whose service I only quitted
to turn proprietor in this province of Oajaca?"
Clara pronounced the word _proprietor_ emphatically, and with an
important air. His proprietorship consisted in being the owner of a
small _jacal_, or bamboo hut, and the few feet of ground on which it was
built--of which, however, he was only a renter under Don Mariano de
Silva. To the haciendado he hired himself out a part of each year,
during the gathering of the cochineal crop. The rest of his time he
usually passed in a sort of idle independence.
"Why do you ask me these questions?" he added.
"I don't see," said Costal, speaking as much to himself as to his
companion, "how we can enrol ourselves in the army of Hidalgo. As a
descendant of the Caciques of Tehuantepec, I am not above hiring myself
out as a tiger-hunter; but I can never consent to wear a soldier's
uniform."
"And why not?" asked Clara. "For my part, I think it would be very fine
to have a splendid green coat with red facings, and bright yellow
trowsers, like one of these pretty parroquets. I think, however, we
need not quarrel on that score. It's not likely that the Senor Hidalgo,
though he is generalissimo of the American insurgent army, will have
many uniforms to spare; and unless we enrol ourselves as officers, which
is not likely, I fear--"
"Stay!" said Costal, interrupting him. "Why couldn't we act as guides
and scouts, since you know the country so well? In that capacity we
could go and come as we pleased, and would have every opportunity to
search for the Siren with the dishevelled hair."
"But is the Siren to be seen everywhere?" naively inquired Clara.
"Certainly; she can appear at any place to her faithful worshippers,
wherever there is a pool of water in which she can mirror herself, a
stream or a cascade in which she may bathe herself, or in the great sea
where she searches for pearls to adorn her hair."
"And did you never see her when you were yourself a pearl-fisher on the
coast of the Gulf?"
"Certainly I have," replied Costal; "yes, more than once, too, I have
seen her at night; and by moonlight I have heard her singing as she
combed out her shining hair and twisted long strings of pearls about her
neck, while _we_ could not find a single one. Several times, too, I
have invoked her without feeling the slightest sensation of fear, and
intreated her to show me the rich pearl-banks. But it was all to no
purpose: no matter how courageous one is, the Siren will not do anything
unless there are two men present."
"What can be the reason of that?" inquired Clara. "Perhaps her husband
is jealous, and don't allow her to talk to one man alone."
"The truth is, friend Clara," continued Costal, without congratulating
the negro on the cleverness of his conjecture, "I have not much hopes of
seeing her until after I am fifty years old. If I interpret correctly
the traditions I have received from my fathers, neither Tlaloc nor
Matlacuezc ever reveal their secrets to any man who is less than half a
century old. Heaven has willed it that from the time of the conquest up
to my day none of my ancestors has lived beyond his forty-ninth year. I
have passed that age; and in me alone can be verified the tradition of
my family, which has been passed down in regular succession from father
to son. But there is only one day in which it may be done: the day of
full moon after the summer solstice of the year, in which I am fifty.
That is this very year."
"Ah, then," said the negro, "that will explain why all our efforts to
invoke the Siren has proved fruitless. The time has not yet come."
"Just so," said Costal. "It will be some months yet before we can be
certain of seeing her. But whatever happens we must start to-morrow for
Valladolid. In the morning we can go to the hacienda in our canoe, and
take leave of our master Don Mariano as two respectable servants ought
to do."
"Agreed," said Clara; "but are we not forgetting an important matter?"
"What?"
"The student whom the officer left near the tamarind trees? Poor devil!
he's in danger of being caught by the inundation!"
"I had not forgotten him," rejoined Costal. "We can go that way in the
morning, and take him to the hacienda in the canoe along with us--that
is, if we still find him alive. I hope he will have sense enough,
before the flood reaches him, to climb into one of the trees."
As Costal said this, he rose from his seat, and glanced westward over
the plain. Already the hoarse murmur of the inundation was making
itself heard in the direction of the hacienda.
"Listen!" said he, "to the growling of the waters. _Carrambo_! Who
knows if the officer himself has had time to escape? He would have done
better had he passed the night with us here. He appeared so anxious
about going on to the hacienda. Probably he has his own private reasons
for that; besides, I never thought of asking him to stay with us."
"Well," said Clara, "we may congratulate ourselves upon being safe here;
but I feel rather hungry just now; do you chance to have a bit of
_tasajo_ in any corner of your cabin? I could put up with that and a
drink of water."
"I think I can manage to find a morsel or two," said Costal, going
inside the hut, whither he was followed by the negro.
A fire of dried sticks soon crackled upon the hearth, among the embers
of which, as soon as they had burnt to a certain degree of redness,
Costal placed several pieces of jerked meat--which he had taken from a
string suspended across the room. This species of viand requires but a
slight process of cooking; and, as soon as it was deemed sufficiently
done, the two adventurers entered upon their frugal repast, which a keen
appetite rendered palatable, if not absolutely luxurious.
Supper over, they stretched themselves along the floor, and for a time
lay listening to the hoarse mutterings of the flood that every moment
grew louder and louder. To this, however, they paid but little
attention, having full confidence in the security of their elevated
position; and even the noise of the water as the great waves came
dashing against the hill did not hinder Costal from falling into a
profound slumber. The negro also fell asleep, but awoke from time to
time--fancying that he heard the screams of the jaguars mingling with
the confused surging of the waters! In truth it was no fancy. What the
negro heard was in reality the voices of the savage creatures they had
that evening encountered. On becoming aware of the approach of the
inundation, all four of them had made for the _Cerro-de-la-mesa_; but
perceiving that its summit was already occupied by the two men, they had
halted by its base, and stood for some moments growling their chagrin.
The near approach of the waters inspiring them with terror, started them
off afresh; and bounding rapidly onward, they were soon far distant from
the hill, fleeing at utmost speed from the danger of the inundation,
well understood even by them.