SET A THIEF TO CATCH A THIEF.
We will now return to the hunters, whom we have too long neglected, for
during the events we have been narrating they had not remained entirely
inactive.
After the departure of the two Mexicans, Belhumeur and his friends
remained silent for an instant. The Canadian played with the charcoal
that had fallen from the brazier on to the ground; in fact, he was lost
in thought. Don Louis, with his chin resting on the palm of his hand,
was watching with distraught air the sparkles which crackled, glistened,
and went out. Eagle-head, alone of the party, wrapped up in his buffalo
robe, smoked his calumet with that stoicism and calm appearance which
belong exclusively to his race.
"However it may be," the Canadian suddenly said, replying to the ideas
which bothered him, and thinking aloud rather than intending to renew
the conversation, "the conduct of those two men seems to me
extraordinary, not to say something else."
"Would you suspect any treachery?" Don Louis asked, looking up.
"In the desert you must always suspect treachery," Belhumeur said
peremptorily, "especially from chance companions."
"Still this Tigrero, this Don Martial--that is his name I think--has a
very honest eye, my friend, to be a traitor."
"That is true; still you will agree that ever since we first met him his
conduct has been remarkably queer."
"I grant it; but you know as well as I how much passion blinds a man. I
believe him to be in love."
"So do I. Still notice, pray, that in all this affair which regards him
specially, and in which we have only mixed ourselves to do him a
service, while neglecting our own occupations, he has always kept in the
background, as if afraid to show himself."
At this moment Blas Vasquez, after stationing the peons a short distance
off, so as to remain unseen, came up and took his seat by the fire.
"There!" he said, "All is ready: the Apaches can come and attack us
whenever they think proper."
"One word, capataz," Belhumeur said.
"Two if you like."
"Do you know the man to whom you delivered a letter just now?"
"Why do you ask?"
"To gain some information about him."
"Personally I know very little of him. All I can tell you is that he
enjoys an excellent reputation through the whole province, and is
generally regarded as a caballero and gallant man."
"That is something," the Canadian muttered, shaking his head; "but, for
all that, I do not know why, but his sudden departure makes me very
restless."
"Wah!" Eagle-head suddenly said, withdrawing from his lips the tube of
his calumet, and bending forward, while bidding his comrades to silence.
All remained motionless, with their eyes fixed on the Indian.
"What is it?" Belhumeur at length asked.
"Fire," the other replied slowly. "The Apaches are coming: they are
burning the prairie before them."
"What?" Belhumeur exclaimed, rising and looking all around. "I see no
trace of fire."
"No, not yet; but the fire is coming--I can smell it."
"Hum! If the chief says so, it must be true; he is too experienced a
warrior to be deceived. What is to be done?"
"We have nothing to fear from fire here," the capataz observed.
"We have not," Don Louis quickly exclaimed; "but the inhabitants of the
hacienda?"
"Not more than we," Belhumeur replied. "See all the trees have been cut
down, and rooted up to too great a distance from the colony for the fire
to reach it; it is only a stratagem employed by the Indians to arrive
without being counted."
"Still I am of this caballero's opinion," the capataz said; "we should
do well to warn the hacienda."
"There is something even more urgent to do," Don Louis said, "and that
is to send off a clever scout to learn positively with whom we have to
deal, who our enemies are, if they are numerous."
"One does not prevent the other," Belhumeur remarked. "In a case like
the present, two precautions are worth more than one. This is my advice.
Eagle-head will reconnoitre the foe, while we proceed to the hacienda."
"All of us?" the capataz observed.
"No; your position here is secure, and you will be able, in the event of
an attack, to render important service. Don Louis and I will proceed
alone to the colony. Remember that you must not show yourselves under
any pretext. Whatever may happen, await the order for acting. Is that
agreed to?"
"Go, caballeros; I will not betray your confidence."
"Good! Now to work, I have no advice to offer you, chief: you will find
us at the hacienda if you learn anything of importance."
Upon this these men, so long accustomed to act without losing precious
time in useless words, separated; Don Louis and Belhumeur returning to
the mainland on the side of the hacienda, while the chief rode off in
the opposite direction. Blas Vasquez remained alone with his peons; but
as he had been for many years accustomed to Indian warfare, and
understood the responsibility he took on himself from this moment, he
felt that he must redouble his vigilance. Hence he posted sentinels at
every point, recommended them the utmost attention, came back to the
brazier, wrapped himself in his fresada, and went quietly to sleep,
certain that his men would carefully watch all that took place on the
mainland.
We will, for a moment, leave Don Louis and his friend, to follow
Eagle-head.
The mission the chief had undertaken was anything rather than easy; but
Eagle-head was a man of experience thoroughly versed in Indian tricks,
and endowed with that unalterable phlegm which is a great ingredient of
success in certain circumstances of life. After leaving his companions
he walked quietly down to the water's edge, and when he reached the spot
where he intended to cross the river his plan was all arranged in his
head.
The chief, instead of passing to that side of the river by which the
enemy would come, preceded by the conflagration, crossed to the other.
So soon as he reached the bank he allowed his horse a few moments for
breathing; then leaping at a bound onto the panther skin that served as
his saddle, he galloped at full speed in the direction of the enemy's
camp. This furious race lasted two hours. Night had long succeeded the
day; the pale gleams of the conflagration served as a beacon to the
chief and showed him in the darkness the road he should follow. At the
end of these two hours the chief found himself just opposite the most
advanced point of the island, where the Apaches were at this moment
engaged in collecting the driftwood they meant to use in the surprise of
the colony. Eagle-head stopped. On his right, far behind him, the
conflagration raged in the horizon; around him all was silence and
obscurity. For a long time the Indian attentively watched the island: a
secret presentiment warned him that there was the danger for him.
Still, after careful reflection, the chief resolved to advance a few
paces further, and recross the river at the point opposite this island,
which seemed to him more suspicious because it was so tranquil. However,
before carrying out this plan, a sudden inspiration flashed across his
mind. He dismounted, hid his horse in a thicket, laid aside his rifle
and buffalo robe; then, after attempting to pierce the surrounding
gloom, he stretched himself on the ground, and crawled to the river's
bank. He gently entered the water, and swimming and diving in turn,
proceeded to the island, which he presently reached.
But at the instant he landed, and was about to rise, an almost
imperceptible sound smote his ear; he fancied he could notice an
extraordinary commotion in the water all around him. Eagle-head plunged
again, and retired from the bank on which he had been on the point of
landing. Suddenly, at the moment he rose to the surface to take in a
fresh supply of air, he saw two burning eyes flashing before him; he
received a violent blow on the chest, and felt a powerful hand clutch
his throat as in a vice. Eagle-head saw that, unless he made a desperate
effort, he would be lost, and he attempted it. Seizing in his turn his
unknown foe who held him by the throat, he clung round him with the
vigour of despair.
Then a horrible and silent struggle commenced in the river--a sinister
struggle, in which he sought to kill his adversary, without thinking to
repel his attacks. The water, troubled by the efforts of the two
combatants, bubbled as if alligators were engaged. At length a bloody
and disfigured body rose inertly to the surface, and floated. A few
seconds later, and a head appeared above the water, casting startled
glances around.
At the sight of his enemy's corpse the victor indulged in a diabolical
smile; he seized him by his warlock, and swimming with one hand, dragged
the body, not to the island, but to the mainland.
Eagle-head had conquered the Apache who attacked him in so unforeseen a
manner. The chief reached the bank, but did not leave the corpse, which
he dragged along till it was completely out of the water; then he lifted
the scalp, placed the hideous trophy in his belt, and remounted his
horse.
The Indian had divined the Apaches' tactics; the attack of which he had
been so nearly the victim revealed to him the stratagem they designed.
It was unnecessary for him to push his investigations on the island
further. Still, had he abandoned to the current his enemy's corpse, it
would have infallibly floated down among his brothers, and revealed the
presence of a spy; so he had been careful to convey it to the bank,
where no one, save by some extraordinary accident, could discover it
before sunrise.
The few minutes' rest he had granted his horse would have been
sufficient to restore all its vigour. The chief might have returned to
his friends, for what he had discovered was of immense importance to
them; but Belhumeur had specially recommended him to discover the
strength and nature of the war detachment which was marching on the
colony. Eagle-head was anxious to accomplish his mission; and besides,
the struggle he has undergone, and from which he had emerged as victor
by a miracle, had produced a certain amount of excitement, urging him to
carry out the adventure to the end.
He plucked a few leaves to stop the blood from a slight wound he had
received in his left arm, fastened them on with a piece of bark, and
rode his horse once more into the river. But, as he had nothing to
examine, and did not wish to be discovered, he took care to pass at a
considerable distance from the island. On the other bank, owing to the
care taken by the Indians to burn everything, the trail was wide and
perfectly visible. In spite of the darkness the chief found no
difficulty in following it.
The fire kindled by the Indians had not caused such ravages as might be
supposed. All that part of the prairie, with the exception of a few
scattered clumps of poplars at great distances apart, was covered with
long grass, already half burned up by the torrid beams of a summer sun.
This grass had burned rapidly, producing what the incendiaries
desired--a large quantity of smoke, but scarcely heating the ground,
which had allowed the redskins to march rapidly on the colony.
Owing to his headlong speed, and the few hours those who preceded him
had been compelled to lose, the chief arrived almost simultaneously with
them before the hacienda; that is to say, he came up with them at the
moment when, after making a futile assault on the isthmus battery they
fled pursued by a shower of grape, which decimated their ranks; for,
having burnt everything, they had no trees to shelter them. Still the
majority managed to escape, owing to the speed of their horses.
Eagle-head found himself unexpectedly in the very midst of the
fugitives. At first each man was too anxious about his own safety to
have time to notice him, and the chief profited by it to turn aside and
step behind a rock. But then a strange thing happened. The chief had
scarce escaped from the fugitives, and examined them for a moment, ere a
strange smile played on his lips; he spurred his horse, and bounded into
the very midst of the Indians, uttering twice a shrill, peculiar cry. At
this cry the Indians stopped in their flight, and rushing from all sides
toward the man who uttered it, they ranged themselves tumultuously
round--the chief with an expression of superstitious fear, and passive
and respectful obedience.
The Eagle-head looked haughtily on the crowd that surrounded him, for he
was taller by a head than any man present.
"Wah!" he at length said in a guttural voice, with an accent of bitter
reproach. "Have the Comanches become timid antelopes that they fly like
Apache dogs before the bullets of the palefaces?"
"Eagle-head! Eagle-head!" the warriors shouted with joy mingled with
shame, looking down before the chiefs flashing glance.
"Why have my sons left the hunting grounds of the Del Norte without the
order of a sachem? Are they now the _rastreros_ (bloodhounds) of the
Apaches?"
A suppressed murmur ran through the ranks at this cruel reproach.
"A sachem has spoken," Eagle-head continued sharply. "Is there no one to
answer him? Have the Comanches of the Lakes no chiefs left to command
them?"
A warrior then broke through the ranks of the Comanches, approached
Eagle-head, and bowed his head respectfully down to his horse's neck.
"The Jester is a chief," he said in a gentle and harmonious voice.
Eagle-head's face was unwrinkled--his features instantaneously lost
their expression of fury. He turned on the warrior who had addressed him
a glance full of tenderness, and, offering him his right hand, palm
upwards,--
"Och! My heart is joyous at seeing my son, the Jester. The warriors will
camp here while the two sachems hold a council."
And making an imperious sign to the chief, he withdrew with him,
followed by the eyes of the redskins, who hastened to obey the order he
had so peremptorily given. Eagle-head and the Jester had gone so far
that their conversation could not be overheard.
"Let us hold a council," the chief said, as he sat down on a stone, and
signed to the Jester to take a place by his side. The latter obeyed
without reply. There was a long silence, during which the two Indians
examined each other attentively, in spite of the indifference they
affected. At length Eagle-head spoke in a slow and accentuated voice.
"Eagle-head is a warrior renowned in his nation," he said; "he is the
first sachem of the Comanches of the Lakes; his totem shelters beneath
its mighty and protecting shadow the innumerable sons of the great
sacred tortoise, _Chemiin-Antou_, whose glistening shell has supported the
world since the Wacondah hurled into space the first man and the first
woman after their fault. The words which come from the breast of
Eagle-head are those of a sagamore; his tongue is not forked--a
falsehood never sullied his lips. Eagle-head acted as a father to the
Jester; he taught him how to tame a horse, pierce with his arrows the
rapid antelope, or to stifle in his arms the mighty boar. Eagle-head
loves the Jester, who is the son of his third wife's sister. Eagle-head
gave a place at the council fire to the Jester; he made a chief of him;
and when he went away from the villages of his nation he said to him,
'My son will command my warriors: he will lead them to hunt, to fish and
to war.' Are these words true? Does Eagle-head speak falsely?"
"My father's words are true," the chief answered with a bow: "wisdom
speaks through his lips."
"Why, then, has my son allied himself with the enemies of his nation to
fight the friends of his father, the sachem?"
The chief let his head fall in confusion.
"Why, without consulting the man who has ever aided and supported him by
his counsel, has he undertaken an unjust war?"
"An unjust war?" the chief remarked with a certain degree of animation.
"Yes, as it is carried on in concert with the enemies of our nation."
"The Apaches are redskins."
"The Apaches are cowardly and thievish dogs, whose deceitful tongues I
will pluck out."
"But the palefaces are the enemies of the Indians."
"Those whom my son attacked last night are not Yoris; they are
the friends of Eagle-head."
"My father will pardon the warrior: he did not know it."
"If the Jester really was ignorant of it, is he ready to repair the
fault he has committed?"
"The Jester has three hundred warriors beneath his totem. Eagle-head has
come: they are his."
"Good! I see that the Jester is still my well-beloved son. With what
chief has he made alliance? It cannot be with the Black Bear, the
implacable enemy of the Comanches, the man who but four moons past
burned two villages of my nation?"
"A cloud had passed over the mind of the Jester: his hatred for the
white men blinded him; wisdom deserted him; he has allied himself with
the Black Bear."
"Wah! Eagle-head did right to return toward the villages of his fathers.
Will my son obey the sachem?"
"Whatever he orders I will do."
"Good! Let my son follow me."
The two chiefs rose. Eagle-head proceeded towards the isthmus, waving
his buffalo robe in his right hand as a sign of peace. The Jester
followed a few paces behind. The Comanches beheld with amazement their
sachems asking an interview with the Yoris; but accustomed to obey their
leaders without discussing the orders they were pleased to give, they
evinced no anger at this step, whose object, however, they did not
understand. The sentries posted behind the isthmus battery easily
distinguished in the moon's rays the pacific movements of the Indians,
and allowed them to come as far as the trench.
"A sachem wishes an interview with the chief of the palefaces,"
Eagle-head then said.
"Good!" a voice replied in Spanish from the inside. "Wait a
moment--I will send for him."
The two Comanche warriors bowed, crossed their hands on their breast,
and waited.
Don Louis and Belhumeur had had a long conversation with Don Sylva and
the count, in which they revealed to them in what way they had learnt
that the Indians meant to attack them; the name of the man who had
informed them so correctly; and his singular conduct, in that, after
having in a measure compelled them to mix themselves up in a dangerous
affair which did not at all concern them, he had suddenly abandoned them
without any valid reason, under the futile pretext of returning to
Guaymas, where he said that important business claimed his presence with
the least possible delay.
This news had a lively effect on the two hearers: Don Sylva especially,
could not repress a movement of anger on hearing that the man was no
other than Don Martial. He guessed at once the Tigrero's object--that he
hoped to carry off Doña Anita during the confusion. Still Don Sylva
would not impart his suspicions to his future son-in-law, intending to
tell him, were it absolutely necessary, at the last moment, but resolved
to watch his daughter closely, for this sudden departure of Don Martial
seemed to him to conceal a snare.
Belhumeur then explained to the count the position in which he had
placed the capataz and his peons, and the mission Eagle-head had
undertaken, the result of which he would probably soon come to the
hacienda to tell. The count warmly thanked the two men who, without
knowing him, rendered him such eminent services; he offered them all the
refreshments they might need and then went to give his lieutenant orders
to warn him so soon as an Indian presented himself for a parley.
On his side, Don Sylva retired with the ostensible object of reassuring
his daughter, but in reality to inspect the sentries stationed at the
rear of the hacienda. When the Comanches attacked the isthmus, the
French, put on their guard, received them so warmly that in the very
first attack the Indians recognised the futility of their attempt, and
retired in disorder.
Monsieur de Lhorailles was talking with the two visitors about the
incidents of the fight, and was astonished at the prolonged absence of
Don Sylva, who had disappeared during the last hour without leaving a
trace, when Lieutenant Leroux entered the room where the three men were
conversing.
"What do you want?" the count asked him.
"Captain," he answered, "two Indians are waiting at the trench for
permission to enter."
"Two?" Belhumeur asked.
"Yes, two."
"That is strange," the Canadian continued.
"What shall we do?" the count said.
"Go and have a look at them."
They proceeded to the battery.
"Well?" the count said.
"Well, sir, one of these men is certainly Eagle-head; but I do not know
the other."
"And your advice is--"
"To let them come in. As this Indian, who is apparently a chief, comes
in the company of Eagle-head, he can only be a friend."
"Be it so, then."
The count gave a signal; the drawbridge was lowered, and the two chiefs
entered. The Indian sachems saluted all present with that native dignity
that distinguishes them, and then Eagle-head, on Belhumeur's invitation,
gave an account of his mission. The Frenchmen listened to him with an
attention mingled with admiration, not only for the skill he had
displayed, but also the courage of which he had given proof.
"And now," the chief continued on ending his report, "the Jester has
understood the error into which a hatred threw him; he breaks the
alliance he formed with the Apaches, and is resolved to obey in all
respects his father Eagle-head, in order to repent his fault. Eagle-head
is a sachem--his word is granite. He places three hundred Comanche
warriors at the disposition of his brothers the palefaces."
The count looked hesitatingly at the Canadian: knowing the trickery of
the Indians, he felt a repugnance to trust them. Belhumeur shrugged his
shoulders imperceptibly.
"The great pale chief thanks my brother Eagle-head: he accepts his offer
with joy. His hand will ever be open, and his heart pure, for the
Comanches. The war detachment of my brother will be divided into two
parts: one, under the command of the Jester, will be concealed on the
other side of the river, to cut off the retreat of the Apaches; the
other will enter the hacienda with Eagle-head, in order to support the
palefaces. The Yori warriors are hidden in the isle, two bow-shots from
the great lodge; they will accompany the Jester."
"Good!" Eagle-head replied; "all shall be done as my brother desires."
The two chiefs took leave and withdrew. Belhumeur then explained to the
count the arrangements he had made with the Comanche sachem.
"Hang it!" De Lhorailles said, "I confess that I have not the slightest
confidence in the Indians. You know that treachery is their favourite
weapon."
"You do not know the Comanches; and, above all, you do not know
Eagle-head. I take on myself all the responsibility."
"Act, then, as you please. I am too much indebted to you to thwart your
projects, especially when you are acting for my good."
Belhumeur went himself to advise the capataz of the change effected in
the defensive measures. The Jester and one hundred and fifty warriors,
accompanied by the forty peons, at once crossed the river, and ambushed
themselves on the opposite bank in a clump of mangroves, ready to appear
at the first signal. The Frenchmen, with Eagle-head and a second troop
of Indians, were left to defend the isthmus, a point where they were
almost certain of not being attacked. All the other colonists concealed
themselves in the dense thickets that masked the rear of the hacienda,
with strict orders to remain invisible till the word was given to fire.
Then, when all the arrangements were made, the count and his comrades
awaited with a beating heart the Indians' attack. They had not long to
wait; and we have seen in what fashion the Black Bear was received.
The Apache chief was brave as a lion; his warriors were picked men. The
collision was terrible; the redskins did not give way an inch.
Incessantly repulsed, incessantly they returned to the charge, fighting
hand to hand with the French, who, in spite of their bravery, their
discipline, and superiority of weapons, could not rout them. The combat
had degenerated into a horrible carnage, in which the fighters clutched
each other, stabbing and mangling, without loosing hold. Belhumeur saw
that he must attempt a decisive blow to finish with these demons, who
seemed invincible and invulnerable. He stooped down to Louis, who was
fighting by his side, and whispered a few words in his ear. The
Frenchman disembarrassed himself of the foe with whom he was fighting,
and ran off.
A few minutes later the war cry of the Comanches was heard, strident and
terrible; and the redskin warriors bounded like jaguars on the Apaches,
swinging their clubs and long lances. At first the Black Bear fancied
assistance had arrived for him, and that the colony was in the power of
the allies but this hope did not endure a second. Then demoralisation
seized on the Apaches; they hesitated, and suddenly turned their backs,
rushing into the river, and leaving on the battlefield more than
two-thirds of their comrades.
The colonists contented themselves with firing a few rounds of canister
at the fugitives, feeling certain they woould not escape the ambuscade
prepared for them. In fact, the musket shots of the peons could soon be
heard mingled with the war-cry of the Comanches. In this unfortunate
expedition the Black Bear lost in an hour the most renowed warriors of
his nation. The chief, covered with wounds, and only accompanied by a
dozen men, escaped with great difficulty from the carnage. The victory
of the French was complete. For a lont time the colony, through his
glorious achievement, was protected from the attacks of the redskins.
When the combat was ended, people sought in vain in every direction for
Don Sylva and his daughter: both had disappeared, and no one knew how.
This mysterious and inexplicable event struck the inhabitants of the
colony with consternation, and changed the joy of the triumph into
mourning, for the same idea suddenly occurred to all:--
"Don Sylva and his daughter have been carried off by the Black Bear!"
When the count, after repeated researches, was compelled to allow that
the hacendero and his daughter had really disappeared without leaving
the slightest trace, he gave way to all the violence of his character,
vowed a terrible hatred against the Apaches, and swore to pursue them,
without truce or mercy, until he found her whom he considered his wife,
and whose loss destroyed at one blow the brilliant future he had dreamed
of.