THROUGH THE DESERT.
While, according to his orders, the captain of the soldados da
conquista caused the camp to be raised and the mules to be laden,
preparing everything for an immediate departure, the marquis--a prey
to a terrible agitation--strode about his tent, cursing the fate which
appeared to dog his steps, and obstinately to destroy his most skilful
plans, constantly removing far from him at the moment when he thought
to seize it, the rich treasure that he coveted--a treasure which, since
he had laid himself out to seek it, had cost him so much fatigue and
weariness of every kind, and for which he had during so long a time
braved immense perils, and almost lost his honour.
Suddenly he stopped, striking his forehead. A new idea crossed
his mind, giving a brightness to his eye; he tore a page from his
pocketbook, wrote some words in haste, and gave it to a slave, ordering
him to carry it, on his part, to doña Laura Antonia de Cabral.
The day was splendidly beautiful; the sun had risen, radiant on
the horizon in waves of purple and gold; the morning breeze gently
refreshed the atmosphere, and the birds, timidly perched under the
foliage, sang with full vigour their joyous songs.
All was joy and happiness in that scene, so calm and majestic, which
the hand of man had not yet deformed.
The black slaves, the half-caste hunters, and the Indian soldiers who
composed the caravan, felt, spite of themselves, the magnetic influence
of that delicious morning, and appeared to have forgotten their
past perils and fatigues to care for nothing but the future, which
appeared to them so sweet, and so full of seductive promise; it was in
laughing, in singing, and in talking gaily among themselves, that they
accomplished the rude task of raising the camp.
The marquis alone remained dull and pensive. It was because, scorched
by the shameful thirst for gold, his heart concealed a terrible
tempest, and remained insensible to the magnificent harmonies of nature
which acted so powerfully on the rude but honest organisations of the
Indians and Negroes.
However, the horses were saddled, the mules were again loaded, the
rolled up tents were placed on a waggon drawn by several oxen. Doña
Laura had stepped into her palanquin, which was immediately closed upon
her. They only waited the order of the marquis to put themselves en
route.
Don Roque was walking apart, absorbed in his thoughts; he appeared
to have forgotten that all was ready for the departure, and that the
moment had come to effect the descent of the mountain--to enter the
desert.
At last the captain ventured to touch him lightly on the arm.
"What do you want with me, Don Diogo?" asked Don Roque, drily.
"My lord," answered he, "we only await your pleasure to commence the
journey."
"If it is so, let us set out immediately," answered he, making a
movement towards his horse.
"Pardon, my lord," pursued the Indian; "before you give orders for the
march, I have some important information to submit to you."
"To me!" cried the marquis, looking at him with surprise.
"To you, my lord," coldly answered the Indian.
"Is it a new treason by which I am threatened?" pursued he, with a
bitter smile; "And do you wish to abandon me--you also, Don Diogo?"
"You are doubly unjust to me, my lord," sharply answered the Indian; "I
have no intention of abandoning you."
"If I am wrong, which is possible, excuse me, Don Diogo; and let us
come to business, I beg you. Time flies."
"Some minutes more or less do not matter, my lord; we shall arrive
quickly enough where we are going."
"What do you wish to say--explain yourself."
"What I have already had the honour to say to you this morning, my
lord, that not one of us will return from this expedition."
The marquis made a gesture of impatience--
"Is it then for you to repeat to me your sinister predictions that you
stop me thus?" he cried.
"By no means, your Excellency; I do not admit my right either to
control your acts or to oppose your plans. I have warned you, that is
all. I am now at your orders."
"You have not, I hope, whispered a word to anyone of these absurd
crotchets which possess your brain?"
"What use would it be, my lord, to speak without your authority of what
you term crotchets, and what I term certainties? The soldiers placed
under my orders know as well as I do what awaits them in the desert. As
to your slaves, what use would it be to frighten them beforehand? Is it
not better to leave them in entire ignorance? For, I repeat, to escape
will be impossible for us."
The marquis knitted his eyebrows, and crossed his arms with anger.
"Let us see," resumed he, with a subdued voice, but nevertheless, with
trembled emotion, "let us make amend for it, Diogo."
"I ask nothing better, your Excellency."
"Speak, but be brief; I repeat, time flies, an hour ago we ought to
have been on our journey."
The captain scratched his forehead with an embarrassed air, but
appearing all of a sudden to arrive at a decision.
"This is the state of the case, my lord," said he; "up to the present
time we have traversed civilised countries, or nearly so, where we have
only had to contend against ordinary dangers; that is to say, the bites
of wild beasts or those of reptiles."
"Well?"
"Why, you understand, my lord, we are about, in a few minutes, to enter
the territory of the redskins."
"To what are you driving, with these interminable preambles?" asked the
marquis.
"To this, your Excellency; you are a great lord, expert in everything
connected with civilised life, but pardon me for saying so, in complete
ignorance of life in the desert. I believe then, with all due respect
to you, my lord, that it would be well for you to permit me to take
upon myself alone, from today, the responsibility of the journey of the
caravan. There, your Excellency, that is what I wished to say to you."
The marquis remained some moments silent; his eyes fixed on the calm
and loyal countenance of the captain.
"What you ask of me is very serious, Don Diogo," at last answered the
marquis. "Treason surrounds me on every side; the men on whom I thought
I had the most right to count have been the first to abandon me; you
yourself consider this journey in advance to be a folly, and appear to
be afflicted by sad presentiments."
"Your Excellency, I am not surprised at the suspicions against me which
arise in your mind; on the contrary, I think them very natural. But the
soldados da conquista are all tried men, chosen with the greatest care,
and since the formation of this corps there has never been found a
traitor in it. I do not say this for myself, but the honourable manner
in which I have spoken to you--the things I have told you--ought to
inspire, if not entire confidence in me, at least the commencement of
it."
"Yes, I know; all your proceedings have been in good faith; you see
that I render you justice."
"Not sufficiently, your Excellency; you judge me according to the
knowledge acquired in civilised life, and not by that of the desert.
Permit me, then, to make a simple observation."
"Speak."
"We are fifty leagues from the nearest town, a few leagues only from
the Indian enemies, who only await an opportunity to attack us."
"That is true," murmured the marquis pensively,
"Good! You understand me, your Excellency; now, suppose I am a traitor?"
"I have not said so."
"Well! I admit nothing would be easier for me than to abandon you to
yourself where we now are--to leave with my soldiers, and believe me,
your Excellency, you would be as irremediably lost as if I gave you
over tomorrow, or any other day, to the Indians."
The marquis turned pale, and his head fell on his breast with a
troubled air. The logic of the captain's reason struck him to the
heart, showing him his own powerlessness, and the great devotion of the
man whom he accused, and who was ready so nobly to sacrifice his life
to serve him.
"Pardon me my unjust suspicions, Don Diogo," he said; "my doubts are
dissipated forever. I have faith in you; act in your own way, without
even consulting me, if you think necessary. I swear to you, on my word
of honour as a gentleman, that I will not embarrass you in anything;
and that, under all circumstances, I will be the first to set the
example of obedience."
"I regret that I only have a life to sacrifice for you, my lord,"
answered the captain.
"Do not speak any more of that, my friend, but act for the best."
"I will try to do so, my lord. First, will you inform me in what
direction you intend to proceed?"
"We must first reach the borders of a little lake which lies in the
neighbourhood of the Rio Bermejo."
"Oh, oh," answered the Indian, "the journey is long; we have to
traverse, before arriving there, all the country of the Guaycurus and
the Payagoas; then we shall pass the Rio Pilcomayo, to enter the Islano
de Manso. It is a rough way, your Excellency."
"I have always thought that Malco Diaz made us take a wrong direction."
"You are wrong, my lord. The manner in which he has abandoned you
shows that he had the greatest interest in bringing you as quickly as
possible to the Indian territory."
"That is true."
"Now, my lord, if you will please to mount horse, we will set out as
soon as you like."
"Immediately," answered the marquis.
The young man went towards the palanquin, in which doña Laura was shut
up, whilst the captain rejoined his soldiers, and prepared all for the
departure.
The marquis reined his horse to the right side of the palanquin, and
slightly leaning from his saddle--
"Doña Laura," said he, "do you hear me?"
"I hear you," answered the young girl, although she remained invisible.
"Will you listen to me for a few minutes?" pursued the marquis.
"It is impossible for me to do otherwise," murmured she.
"You have received my letter this morning? Have you read it?"
"I have read it."
"I thank you, Señorita."
"I do not accept thanks which I do not merit."
"For what reason?"
"Because this letter has not in the least influenced my immovable
determination."
The marquis made a gesture of scorn.
"You do not accept my conditions?"
"No."
"Consider, that a terrible danger threatens you."
"It will be welcome, whatever it may be, if it delivers me from the
slavery in which you hold me."
"That is your last word, Señorita?"
"The last."
"But such obstinacy is folly."
"Perhaps. In any case it avenges me of you."
"It is to death that you are proceeding."
"I hope so; but you only asked of me a few minutes for conversation.
They have nearly passed. Spare me then, Señor, speaking anymore to me,
for I shall not answer you. Moreover, I perceive that your bandits are
resuming their journey."
Indeed, the caravan began to descend the slope of the mountain, the
path narrowed more and more, and a long conversation became absolutely
impossible.
"Oh; curses on you," cried the marquis with rage.
The young girl only answered by a burst of mocking laughter. Don Roque
made a last gesture of menace, and buried his spurs in the flanks of
his horse.
The captain had brought to bear on his arrangements for the march the
qualities both of a soldier and an experienced trapper.
The soldados da conquista, accustomed for a long period to make war on
the Indians, had been placed in advance by him, and on the flanks of
the caravan, under orders to clear the route, and to carefully watch
the thickets both to the right and left.
The half-caste hunters, formed in a single compact troop, advanced,
fusil on thigh and finger on trigger, with eye and ear on the watch.
The Negro slaves formed the rearguard.
The caravan, thus disposed, could not but present a considerably
extended and imposing line. It was composed of fifty-five men in
all, of whom about forty-five were resolute fellows, for a long time
accustomed to track the desert, and who could be reasonably counted on
in case of need. As to the other ten, they were Negro or mulatto slaves
who had never seen fire.
The caravan slowly descended the mountain, its track cleared right and
left by the soldiers sent out by the captain as scouts.
By degrees, as the travellers approached the desert, the landscape
changed, and assumed a more imposing and grand aspect.
Some moments more, and the descent would be finished.
Don Roque approached Don Diogo, and touching him lightly on the
shoulder--
"Well," said he, smiling, "we shall soon be on the plain, and we have
not seen a living soul. Believe me, captain, the threats made by the
Indians are but rodomontade; they have tried to frighten us, that is
all."
"Do you speak seriously, my lord?" said the Indian. "Do you really
believe what you say?"
"Certainly, dear Don Diogo; and everything, it appears to me, gives me
reason to do so."
"Then you are taking a wrong view of it, your Excellency, for I certify
to you that the Guaycurus have advanced nothing that they do not intend
to carry out."
"Do you fear an attack?" said the marquis.
"An attack--not, perhaps, immediately, but at least a summons."
"A summons; on the part of whom?"
"Why, on the part of the Guaycurus, probably."
"Come, you are jesting. On what do you base such supposition?"
"I do not suppose, your Excellency, I see."
"What, you see--"
"Yes, and it is easy for you to do the same, for before a quarter of an
hour the man whom I warn you of will be before you."
"Oh, oh! That is good."
"Look, your Excellency," said Diogo, stretching his arm in a certain
direction; "do you see that grass which quivers and bends with a
regular movement?"
"Yes, I see it; well?"
"You remark, do you not, that this movement is only partial, and
continually advances towards us?"
"Just so; but what does that prove?"
"That proves, your Excellency, that an Indian is coming towards us at a
gallop."
"Come, you are jesting, captain."
"Not the least in the world, my lord; you will soon have a proof of it."
"I shall only believe it when I see it."
"If it is so," pursued the captain, hiding a smile, "believe, then, for
here he is."
At that moment a Guaycurus Indian, armed as a warrior, and mounted on
a magnificent horse, suddenly emerged from the high grass, and boldly
reined up across the path, within a pistol shot of the Brazilians,
waving in his hand a tapir skin.
"Fire on that vagabond," cried the marquis, shouldering his carbine.
"Do not do that," said the captain.
"What! Is he not an enemy?" pursued the marquis.
"That may be, your Excellency; but at this moment he is an envoy."
"As an envoy--that savage? You are jesting with me without doubt,"
cried the marquis.
"By no means, my lord; let us hear what this man has to say to us."
"What good will it be?" said he, with scorn.
"If it were only to know the projects of those who have sent him."
The marquis hesitated an instant, then placing his carbine again in his
shoulder belt--
"Well, that is possible," murmured he; "better allow him to explain
himself. Who knows? Perhaps they desire to treat with us."
"It is not probable," answered the captain laughing; "but, in any case,
if you will permit me, my lord, I will go and question him."
"Do so, do so, Don Diogo; I am curious to know this message."
The captain bowed; then, after having thrown down his tromblon, his
sabre, and his knife, he proceeded at a trot towards the Indian.
"You are mad," cried Don Roque, darting towards him; "what, do you
abandon your arms? Do you wish, then, to be assassinated?"
Don Diogo smiled, shrugging his shoulders with disdain, and, holding
back the marquis's horse by the bridle to prevent him advancing any
further--
"Do you not see that that man is without arms?" said he.
The marquis made a gesture of surprise, and stopped; he had not
remarked that circumstance.