In proportion as the insurrection spread through the province of Oajaca
did the Royalists increase their watchfulness in the capital; and Don
Mariano, having become suspected of a leaning towards the insurgent
cause, was ordered to leave the place.
Before taking his departure, he had despatched a messenger--the same
already made mention of--to the hacienda Del Valle. Upon what errand?
We shall know presently.
On the same day that the messenger had presented himself to the Catalan
lieutenant, and almost at the same hour, Don Rafael Tres-Villas was
galloping as a fugitive through the plain of Huajapam. On that morning,
also, Don Mariano de Silva took his departure from Oajaca, _en route_
for the hacienda San Carlos. The haciendado was accompanied by his
daughter Gertrudis, borne in a litter, and attended by a number of
mounted domestics. The pale cheeks of the young girl, contrasted with
the purplish circles around her eyes, proclaimed the mental agony she
had endured.
Finally, on that same day, only at a later hour, another important
personage of our history--the Captain Don Cornelio Lantejas--rode out
from the camp of Morelos--evidently bent upon a journey, as was
testified by the travelling costume that had replaced his military
uniform. He was accompanied by two men, easily recognised as the scouts
Costal and Clara.
Don Cornelio had been ordered by the insurgent general on a mission,
confidential as it was dangerous.
The summer solstice was close at hand; and the black and the Indian--the
latter having now accomplished his half century of years--were
discussing between themselves the best plan for raising the Siren of the
dishevelled hair from the waters of the mysterious lake, Ostuta, on
whose banks they expected to encamp, before Don Cornelio had finally
accomplished his mission.
Although this mission was of a secret and confidential character, it
will be no betrayal of confidence on our part to state at once what it
was.
The taking of the capital of Oajaca would not only render Morelos master
of the whole province, but of all the southern part of New Spain--from
the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. The insurgent general was,
therefore, anxious to complete this magnificent conquest before the
closing of that year's campaign.
Nevertheless, in the prospect of attacking a town so populous and well
garrisoned as Oajaca, he deemed it prudent to gain some information as
to its actual resources; and it was chiefly upon this errand he had
despatched his aide-de-camp Lantejas.
The mission of the Captain had another object, of secondary importance,
which, however, was the first to be accomplished. To the honour of the
cause which Morelos upheld, it was of urgent necessity to put an end to
the depredations of the two notorious guerilleros, Arroyo and Bocardo;
whose deeds of cruel atrocity were rapidly producing the effect of
rendering the insurrection as odious to its partisans as to its enemies.
The force which these two leaders had under their command was as little
known as the whereabouts in which they might be found; but their bloody
deeds had rendered them as much dreaded as if a numerous army had been
under their orders. The rapidity of their movements gave them the
opportunity of multiplying, to an indefinite extent, their acts of
ferocity, though at the same time a pursuer in search of them might
easily have found them by the ensanguined track which marked their
passage.
Arroyo, ever ready to imbrue his hands in blood--no matter whose--seemed
to find a savage pleasure in destroying life; and one of his favourite
habits was to be himself the executioner of his victims. He was endowed
with some brute courage, a quality altogether wanting to his associate,
Antonio Bocardo; for the latter was both cowardly and cruel, though in
general more inclined to robbery than murder.
Morelos had been apprised of the outrages committed by these two
bandits; and a message to them was one of the commissions with which
Captain Lantejas had been charged. The message was in the form of a
simple threat--it was to say to them, on the part of the insurgent
general, that, unless they discontinued those outrages which had so long
dishonoured the insurgent cause, they should both be drawn and
quartered.
From the reputation which these two brigands had acquired, of being
little mindful of military authority--as well as on account of the rigid
guard which the Spaniards had established in Oajaca--it will be seen
that we have spoken only the simple truth in saying that the mission of
Captain Lantejas was anything but a safe one. With melancholy mien,
therefore, he traversed the road leading from Huajapam to the Ostuta
river--upon the banks of which it was reported that Arroyo and his band
were at that time encamped.
Before proceeding farther, it will be necessary to give, at a bird's-eye
view--if we may use the expression--the topography of the country lying
in the triangle between Huajapam, Oajaca, and the Lake Ostuta: for this
is now to become the arena of the future events of our narrative.
Regarding Huajapam and the town of Oajaca as on the same line, we find a
road running from each--the two gradually converging until they meet.
The point of union is upon the banks of the Ostuta river, not far from
the lake, and where a ford crosses the stream. Before arriving at this
ford, the hacienda Del Valle lies to one side of the Oajaca road, while
about an hour's journey after crossing the river the domain of San
Carlos is reached. These two estates--each embracing an immense tract
of territory--would be contiguous to each other, but for the river which
flows between and separates them.
Arroyo, having returned to the neighbourhood, with the number of his
followers augmented by recent successes, as well as by the more
favourable prospects of the insurrection, had sworn not to leave a stone
of the hacienda Del Valle standing in its place; and to accomplish this
vow was the object of his presence on the banks of the Ostuta.
His band, divided into two encampments, held both sides of the river,
just by the crossing. Thus disposed, he could direct himself at will
either against San Carlos or Del Valle.
It was not only possible, but probable, that the messenger of Don
Mariano de Silva, going from Del Valle to Huajapam, would meet Don
Rafael coming in the opposite direction, and about half way; since, as
already stated, both had set out about the same time. It was also
likely enough that Don Mariano and his daughter, _en route_ for San
Carlos, would encounter Captain Lantejas, travelling from Huajapam
somewhere not far from the crossing of the Ostuta. The time at which
both had started on their respective journeys would favour this
probability. Finally, Don Rafael, making for the hacienda Del Valle,
unless some accident should detain him, might meet all those personages
almost at the same instant of time.
The principal characters of our history would thus be once more united
on the banks of the Ostuta.