THE TWO HUNTERS.
About five miles from the town is the village of San José de Guaymas,
commonly known as the _Rancho_.
This miserable _pueblo_ is merely composed of a square of moderate size,
intersected at right angles by tumbledown cabins, which are inhabited by
Hiaqui Indians (a large number of whom hire themselves out annually at
Guaymas to work as porters, carpenters, masons, &c), and all those
nameless adventurers who have thronged to the shores of the Pacific
since the discovery of the Californian plains.
The road from Guaymas to San José runs through a parched and sandy
plain, on which only a few nopales and stunted cactuses grow, whose
withered branches are covered with dust, and produce the effect of white
phantoms at night.
The evening of the day on which our story commences, a horseman, folded
to the eyes in a zarapé, was following this road, and proceeding in a
gallop to the Rancho.
The sky, of a dark azure, was studded with glistening stars; the moon,
which had traversed one-third of her course, illumined the silent plain,
and indefinitely prolonged the tall shadows of the trees on the naked
earth.
The horseman, doubtlessly anxious to reach the end of a journey which
was not without peril at this advanced hour, incessantly urged on with
spur and voice his horse, which did not, however, appear to need this
constantly-renewed encouragement.
He had all but crossed the immense uncultivated plains, and was just
entering the woods which surround the Rancho, when his horse suddenly
leaped on one side, and pricked up its ears in alarm. A sharp sound
announced that the horseman had cocked his pistols; and, when this
precaution had been taken against all risk, he turned an inquiring
glance around.
"Fear nothing, caballero," a frank and sympathetic voice exclaimed; "but
have the kindness to go a little farther to the right, if it makes no
difference to you."
The stranger looked, and saw a man kneeling under his steed's feet, and
holding in his hands the head of a horse, which was lying nearly across
the road.
"What on earth are you doing there?" he asked.
"You can see," the other replied sorrowfully, "I am bidding good-by to
my poor companion. A man must have lived a long time in the desert to
appreciate the value of such a friend as he was."
"That is true," the stranger remarked, and immediately dismounting,
added, "Is he dead then?"
"No, not yet; but, unfortunately, he is as bad as if he were."
With these words he sighed.
The stranger bent over the animal, whose body was agitated by a nervous
quivering, opened its eyelids, and regarded it attentively.
"Your horse has had a stroke," he said a moment later. "Let me act."
"Oh!" the other exclaimed, "do you think you can save him?"
"I hope so," the first speaker laconically observed.
"_Caray!_ If you do that, we shall be friends for life. Poor Negro! My
old comrade!"
The horseman bathed the animal's temples and nostrils with rum and
water. At the end of a few moments, the horse appeared slightly
recovered, his faded eyes began to sparkle again, and he tried to rise.
"Hold him tight," the improvised surgeon said.
"Be quiet, then, my good beast. Come, Negro, my boy, _quieto, quieto;_
it is for your good," he said soothingly.
The intelligent animal seemed to understand. It turned its head towards
its master, and answered him with a plaintive neigh. The horseman,
during this period, had been feeling in his girdle; and bending again
over the horse,--
"Mind and hold him tightly," he again recommended.
"What are you going to do?"
"Bleed him."
"Yes, that is it. I knew it; but unfortunately I did not dare risk doing
it myself, through fear of killing the horse."
"All right?"
"Go on."
The horse made a hasty move, caused by the coldness of the wound; but
its master held it down and checked its struggles. The two men suffered
a moment of anxiety: the blood did not issue. At last a black drop
appeared in the wound, then a second, speedily followed by a long jet of
black and foaming blood.
"He is saved," the stranger said, as he wiped his lancet and returned it
to his fob.
"I will repay you this, on the word of Belhumeur!" the owner of the
horse said with much emotion. "You have rendered me one of those
services which are never forgotten."
And, by an irresistible impulse, he held out his hand to the man who had
so providentially crossed his path. The latter warmly returned the
vigorous pressure. Henceforth all was arranged between them. These two
men who a few moments previously were ignorant of each other's
existence, were friends, attached by one of those services which in
American countries possess an immense value.
The blood gradually lost its black tinge; it became vermillion, and
flowed abundantly. The breathing of the panting steed had grown easy and
regular. The first stranger made a copious bleeding, and when he
considered the horse in a fair way of recovery he stopped the effusion.
"And now," he said, "what do you propose doing?"
"My faith, I don't know. Your help has been so useful to me that I
should like to follow your advice."
"Where were you going when this accident occurred?"
"To the Rancho."
"I am going there too. We are only a few yards from it. You will get up
behind me. We will lead your horse, and start when you please."
"I ask nothing better. You believe that my horse cannot carry me?"
"Perhaps he could do so, for he is a noble animal; but it would be
imprudent, and you would run a risk of killing him. It would be better,
believe me, to act as I suggested."
"Yes; but I am afraid--"
"What of?" the other sharply interrupted him. "Are we not friends?"
"That is true. I accept."
The horse sprang up somewhat actively, and the two men who had met so
strangely started at once, mounted on one horse. Twenty minutes later
they reached the first buildings of the Rancho. At the entrance of the
village the owner of the horse stopped, and turning to his companion,
said,--
"Where will you get down?"
"That is all the same to me; let us go first where you are going."
"Ah!" the horseman said, scratching his head, "the fact is, I am going
nowhere in particular."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh! You will understand me in two words. I landed today at Guaymas;
the Rancho is only the first station of a journey I meditate in the
desert, and which will probably last a long time."
By the moonlight, a ray of which now played on the stranger's face, his
companion attentively regarded his noble and pensive countenance, on
which grief had already cut deep furrows.
"So that," he at length said, "any lodging will suit you?"
"A night is soon spent. I only ask a shelter for horse and self."
"Well, if you will permit me to act in my turn as guide, you shall have
that within ten minutes."
"Agreed."
"I do not promise you a palace, but I will take you to a _pulquería_,
where I am accustomed to put up when accident brings me to these parts.
You will find the society rather mixed, but what would you have? And, as
you said yourself, a night is soon spent."
"In Heaven's name, then, proceed."
Then, passing his arm through that of his comrade, the new guide seized
the horse's reins, and steered to a house standing about two-thirds of
the way down the street where they were, whose badly fitting windows
gleamed in the night like the stoke holes of a furnace, while cries,
laughter, songs, and the shrill sound of the _jarabes_, indicated that,
if the rest of the _pueblo_ were plunged in sleep, there, at least,
people were awake.
The two strangers stopped before the door of this pothouse.
"Have you quite made up your mind?" the first said.
"Perfectly," the other answered.
The guide then rapped furiously at the worm-eaten door. It was long ere
anyone answered. At length a hoarse voice shouted from inside, while the
greatest silence succeeded, as if by enchantment, the noise that had
hitherto prevailed.
"_¿Quíen vive?"_
"_Gente de paz_," the stranger replied.
"Hum!" the voice went on, "That is not a name. What sort of weather is
it?"
"One for all--all for one. The _cormuel_ is strong enough to blow the
horns off the oxen on the top of the Cerro del Huérfano."
The door was immediately opened, and the strangers entered. At first
they could distinguish nothing through the thick and smoky atmosphere of
the room, and walked hap-hazard. The companion of the first horseman was
well known in this den; for the master of the house and several other
persons eagerly collected round him.
"Caballeros," he said, pointing to the person who followed him, "this
señor is my friend, and I must request your kindness for him."
"He shall be treated like yourself, Belhumeur," the host replied. "Your
horses have been led to the corral, where a truss of alfalfa has been
put before them. As for yourselves, the house belongs to you, and you
can dispose of it as you please."
During this exchange of compliments the strangers had contrived to find
their way through the crowd. They crossed the room, and sat down in a
corner before a table on which the host himself placed pulque, mezcal,
chinguirito, Catalonian refino, and sherry.
"Caramba, Señor Huesped!" the man whom we had heard called frequently
Belhumeur, said with a laugh, "You are generous today."
"Do you not see that I have an angelito?" the other answered gravely.
"What, your son Pedrito--?"
"Is dead. I am trying to give my friends a cordial welcome, in order the
better to feast the entrance into heaven of my poor boy, who, having
never sinned, is an angel by the side of God."
"That's very proper," Belhumeur said, hobnobbing with the rather stoical
parent.
The latter emptied his glass of refino at a draught, and
withdrew. The strangers, by this time accustomed to the atmosphere in
which they found themselves, began to look around them. The room of the
pulquería offered them a most singular sight.
In the centre some ten individuals, with faces enough to hang them,
covered with rags, and armed to the teeth, were furiously playing at
monte. It was a strange fact, but one which did not appear to astonish
any of the honourable gamblers that a long dagger was stuck in the table
to the right of the banker, and two pistols lay on his left. A few steps
further on, men and women, more than half intoxicated, were dancing and
singing, with lubricious gestures and mad shouts, to the shrill sounds
of two or three _vihuelas_ and _jarabes_. In a corner of the room thirty
people were assembled round a table, on which a child, four years of age
at the most, was seated in a wicker chair. This child presided over the
meeting. He was dressed in his best clothes, had a crown of flowers on
his head, and a profusion of nosegays was piled up on the table all
round him.
But alas! The child's brow was pale, his eyes glassy, his complexion
leaden and marked with violet spots. His body had the peculiar stiffness
of a corpse. He was dead. He was the angelito, whose entrance into
heaven the worthy pulquero was celebrating.
Men, women and children were drinking and laughing, as they reminded the
poor mother, who made heroic efforts not to burst into tears, of the
precocious intelligence, goodness and prettiness of the little creature
she had just lost.
"All this is hideous," the first traveller muttered, with signs of
disgust.
"Is it not so?" the other assented. "Let us not notice it, but isolate
ourselves amid these scoundrels, who have already forgotten our
presence, and talk."
"Willingly, but unhappily we have nothing to say to each other."
"Perhaps we have. In the first place, we might let each other know who
we are."
"That is true."
"You agree with me? Then I will give you the example of confidence and
frankness."
"Good. After that my turn will come."
Belhumeur looked round at the company. The orgy had recommenced with
fresh fury; it was evident that no one troubled himself about them. He
rested his elbows on the table, leant over to his comrade, and began:--
"As you already know, my dear mate, my name is Belhumeur. I am a
Canadian; that is to say almost a Frenchman. Circumstances too long to
narrate at present, but which I tell you some day, brought me, when a
lad into this country. Twenty years of my life have passed in traversing
the desert in every direction: there is not a stream or a by-path which
I do not know. I could, if I would, live quietly and free from care with
a dear friend, an old companion, who has retired to a magnificent
hacienda which he possesses a few leagues from Hermosillo; but the
existence of a hunter has charms which only those who have lived it can
understand: it always compels them to renew it in spite of themselves. I
am still a young man, hardly five-and-forty years of age. An old friend
of mine, an Indian chief of the name of Eagle-head, proposed to me to
accompany him on an excursion he wished to make in Apacheria. I allowed
myself to be tempted; said good-by to those I love, and who tried in
vain to hold me back; and free from all ties, without regret for the
past, happy in the present, and careless of the future, I went gaily
ahead, bearing with me those inestimable treasures for the hunter, a
strong heart, a gay character, excellent arms, and a horse accustomed,
like his master, to good fortune and ill; and so here I am. And now,
mate, you know me as well as if we had been friends for the last ten
years."
The other had listened attentively to this story, fixing a thoughtful
glance on the bold adventurer, who sat smiling before him. He gazed with
interest on this man, with the loyal face and sharply-cut features,
whose countenance exhaled the rude and noble frankness of a man who is
really good and great.
When Belhumeur was silent he remained for some moments without replying,
doubtlessly plunged in profound and earnest reflections; then, offering
him across the table a white, elegant, and delicate hand, he replied
with great emotion, and in the best French ever spoken in these distant
regions,--
"I thank you, Belhumeur, for the confidence you have placed in me. My
history is not longer, but more mournful than yours. You shall have it
in a few words."
"Eh?" the Canadian exclaimed, vigorously pressing the hand offered him.
"Do you happen to be a Frenchman?"
"Yes, I have that honour."
"By Jove! I ought to have suspected it," he burst out joyously. "Only to
think that for an hour we have been stupidly talking bad Spanish,
instead of employing our own tongue; for I come from Canada, and the
Canadians are the French of America, are they not?"
"You are right."
"Well, then, it is agreed, no more Spanish between us."
"No, nothing but French."
"Bravo! Here's your health, my worthy fellow countryman! And now," he
added, returning his glass to the table after emptying it, "let us have
your story. I am listening."
"I told you that it is not long."
"No matter; go ahead. I am certain 'twill interest me enormously."
The Frenchman stifled a sigh.
"I, too, have lived the life of a wood ranger," he said; "I, too, have
experienced the intoxicating charms of that feverish existence, full of
moving incidents, no two of which are alike. Far from the country where
we now are, I have traversed vast deserts, immense virgin forests, in
which no man prior to myself had left the imprint of his footstep. Like
you, a friend accompanied me in my adventurous travels, sustaining my
courage, maintaining my gaiety by his inexhaustible humour and his
unbounded courage. Alas! That was the happiest period of my life.
"I fell in love with a woman and married her. So soon as my friend saw
me rich and surrounded by a family he left me. His departure was my
first grief--a grief from which I never recovered, which each day
rendered more poignant and which now tortures me like a remorse. Alas!
Where is now that strong heart, that devoted friend who ever interposed
between danger and myself, who loved me like a brother, and for whom I
felt a son's affection? He is probably dead!"
In uttering the last words the Frenchman let his head sink in his hands,
and yielded to a flood of bitter thoughts, which rose from his heart
with every reminiscence he recalled. Belhumeur looked at him in a
melancholy manner, and pressing his hand, said in a low and sympathising
voice, "Courage, my friend."
"Yes," the Frenchman continued, "that was what he always said to me
when, prostrated by grief, I felt hope failing me. 'Courage,' he would
say to me in his rough voice, laying his hand on my shoulders; and I
would feel galvanised by the touch, and draw myself up at the sound of
that cherished voice, ready to recommence the struggle, for I felt
myself stronger. Several years passed in the midst of a felicity which
nothing came to trouble. I had a wife I adored, charming children for
whom I formed dreams of the future; in short, I wanted for
nothing save my poor comrade, about whom I could discover nothing from
the moment he left me, in spite of my constant inquiries. Now, my
happiness has faded away never to return. My wife, my children are
dead--cruelly murdered in their sleep by Indians, who carried my
hacienda by storm. I alone remained alive amid the smoking ruins of that
abode where I had spent so many happy days. All I loved was eternally
buried beneath the ashes. My heart was broken, and I did not wish to
survive all that was dear to me; but a friend, the only one that
remained to me, saved me. He carried me off by main force to his tribe,
for he was an Indian. By his care and devotion he recalled me to life,
and restored to me, if not the hope of a happiness henceforth
impossible for me, at least the courage to struggle against that destiny
whose blows had been so rude. He died only a few months back. Before
closing his eyes for ever he made me swear to do all he asked of me. I
promised him. 'Brother,' he said, 'every man must proceed in life toward
a certain object. So soon as I am dead, go in search of that friend from
whom you have so long been separated. You will find him, I feel
convinced. He will trace your line of conduct.' Two hours later the
worthy chief died in my arms. So soon as his body was committed to the
earth I set out. This very day, as I told you, I reached Guaymas. My
intention is to bury myself immediately in the wilderness; for if my
poor friend be still alive, I can only find him there."
There was a lengthened silence, at length broken by Belhumeur.
"Hum! All that is very sad, mate, I must allow," he said, tossing his
head. "You are rushing upon a desperate enterprise, in which the chances
of success are almost null. A man is a grain of sand lost in the desert.
Who knows, even supposing he still lives, at what place he may be at
this moment; and if, while you are seeking him on one side, he may not
be on the other? Still, I have a proposition to make to you, which, I
believe, can only prove advantageous."
"I know it, my friend, before you tell it me. I thank you, and accept
it," the Frenchman replied quickly.
"It is agreed then. We start together. You will come with me into
Apacheria?"
"Yes."
"By Jove! I am in luck. I have hardly separated from Loyal Heart ere
Heaven brings me together with a friend as precious as he is."
"Who is that Loyal Heart you mention?"
"The friend with whom I lived so long, and whom you shall know some day.
But come, we will start at daybreak."
"Whenever you please."
"I have the meeting with Eagle-head two days' journey from here. I am
much mistaken, or he is waiting for me by this time."
"What are you going to do in Apacheria?"
"I do not know. Eagle-head asked me to accompany him, and I am going. It
is my rule never to ask my friends more of their secrets than they are
willing to tell me. In that way we are more free."
"Excellent reasoning, my dear Belhumeur; but, as we shall be together
for a long time, I hope, at least--"
"I, too."
"It is right," the Frenchman continued, "that you should know my name,
which I have hitherto forgotten to tell you."
"That need not trouble you; for I could easily give you one if you had
reasons for preserving your incognito."
"None at all: my name is Count Louis de Prébois Crancé."
Belhumeur rose as if moved by a spring, took off his fur cap, and bowing
before his new friend, said--
"Pardon me, sir count, for the free manner in which I have addressed
you. Had I known in whose company I had the honour of being, I should
certainly not have taken so great a liberty."
"Belhumeur, Belhumeur," the count said with a mournful smile, and
seizing his hand quickly, "is our friendship to commence in that way?
There are here only two men ready to share the same life, run the same
dangers, and confront the same foes. Let us leave to the foolish
inhabitants of cities those vain distinctions which possess no
significance for us; let us be frankly and loyally brothers. I only wish
to be to you Louis, your good comrade, your devoted friend, in the same
way as you are to me only Belhumeur, the rough wood ranger."
The Canadian's face shone with pleasure at these words.
"Well spoken," he said gaily, "well spoken, on my soul! I am but a poor
ignorant hunter; and, by my faith, why should I conceal it? What you
have just said to me has gone straight to my heart. I am yours, Louis,
for life and death; and I hope to prove to you soon, comrade, that I
have a certain value."
"I am convinced of it; but we understand each other now, do we not?"
"By Jove--!"
At this moment there was such a tremendous disturbance in the street,
that it drowned that in the room. As always happens under such
circumstances, the adventurers assembled in the pulquería were silent of
a common accord, in order to listen. Shouts, the clashing of sabres, the
stamping of horses, drowned at intervals by the discharge of fire arms,
could be clearly distinguished.
"Caray!" Belhumeur exclaimed, "there's fighting going on in the street."
"I am afraid so," the pulquero laconically answered, who was more than
half drunk, as he swallowed a glass of refino.
Suddenly from sabre hilts and pistol butts resounded vigorously on the
badly-joined plank of the door, and a powerful voice shouted angrily,--
"Open, in the devil's name, or I'll smash in your miserable door!"