Roblado entered the chapparal, the boy Esteban stepping a few paces in
advance of his horse's head. For half-a-mile or so he traversed a
leading road that ran between the town and one of the passes. He then
struck into a narrow path, but little used except by hunters or vaqueros
in search of their cattle. This path conducted him, after a ride of two
or three miles, to the base of the cliffs, and there was found the
object of his journey--the dwelling-place of the hunters.
It was a mere hut--a few upright posts supporting a single roof, which
slanted up, with a very slight inclination, against the face of the
rock. The posts were trunks of a species of arborescent yucca that grew
plentifully around the spot, and the roof-thatch was the stiff loaves of
the same, piled thickly over each other. There was a sort of rude door,
made of boards split from the larger trunks of the yucca, and hung with
strong straps of _parfleche_, or thick buffalo leather. Also a hole
that served for a window, with a shutter of the same material, and
similarly suspended. The walls were a wattle of vines and slender poles
bent around the uprights, and daubed carelessly with a lining of mud.
The smooth vertical rock served for one side of the house--so that so
much labour had been spared in the building--and the chimney, which was
nothing better than a hole in the roof, conducted the smoke in such a
manner that a sooty streak marked its course up the face of the cliff.
The door entered at one end, close in by the rock, but the window was in
the side or front. Through the latter the inmates of the hut could
command a view of any one approaching by the regular path. This,
however, was a rare occurrence, as the brace of rude hunters had but few
acquaintances, and their dwelling was far removed from any frequented
route. Indeed, the general track of travel that led along the bottom
line of the bluffs did not approach within several hundred yards of this
point, in consequence of the indentation or bay in which the hut was
placed. Moreover, the thick chapparal screened it from observation on
one side, while the cliffs shut it in upon the other.
Behind the house--that is, at the hinder end of it--was a small
_corral_, its walls rudely constructed with fragments of rock. In this
stood three lean and sore-backed mules, and a brace of mustangs no
better off. There was a field adjoining the corral, or what had once
been a field, but from neglect had run into a bed of grass and weeds. A
portion of it, however, showed signs of cultivation--a patch here and
there--on which stood some maize-plants, irregularly set and badly hoed,
and between their stems the trailing tendrils of the melon and calabash.
It was a true squatter's plantation.
Around the door lay half-a-dozen wolfish-looking dogs; and under the
shelter of the overhanging rock, two or three old pack-saddles rested
upon the ground. Upon a horizontal pole two riding saddles were set
astride--old, worn, and torn--and from the same pole hung a pair of
bridles, and some strings of jerked meat and pods of chile pepper.
Inside the house might have been seen a couple of Indian women, not over
cleanly in their appearance, engaged in kneading coarse bread and
stewing tasajo. A fire burnt against the rock, between two stones--
earthen pots and gourd dishes lay littered over the floor.
The walls were garnished with bows, quivers, and skins of animals, and a
pair of embankments of stones and mud, one at each corner of the room--
there was but one room--served as bedstead and beds. A brace of long
spears rested in one corner, alongside a rifle and a Spanish _escopeta_;
and above hung a machete or sword-knife, with powder-horns, pouches, and
other equipments necessary to a hunter of the Rocky Mountains. There
were nets and other implements for fishing and taking small game, and
these constituted the chief furniture of the hovel. All these things
Roblado might have seen by entering the hut; but he did not enter, as
the men he was in search of chanced to be outside--the mulatto lying
stretched along the ground, and the zambo swinging in a hammock between
two trees, according to the custom of his native country--the
coast-lands of the _tierra caliente_.
The aspect of these men, that would have been displeasing to almost any
one else, satisfied Roblado. They were just the men for his work. He
had seen both before, but had never scrutinised them till now; and, as
he glanced at their bold swarthy faces and brawny muscular frames, he
thought to himself, "These are just the fellows to deal with the
cibolero." A formidable pair they looked. Each one of them, so far as
appearance went, might with safety assail an antagonist like the
cibolero--for either of them was bigger and bulkier than he.
The mulatto was the taller of the two. He was also superior in
strength, courage, and sagacity. A more unamiable countenance it would
have been difficult to meet in all that land, without appealing to that
of the zambo. There you found its parallel.
The skin of the former was dull yellow in colour, with a thin beard over
the cheeks and around the lips. The lips were negro-like, thick, and
purplish, and behind them appeared a double row of large wolfish teeth.
The eyes were sunken--their whites mottled with yellowish flakes. Heavy
dark brows shadowed them, standing far apart, separated by the broad
flatfish nose, the nostrils of which stood so widely open as to cause a
protuberance on each side. Large ears were hidden under a thick
frizzled shock that partook of the character both of hair and wool.
Over this was bound, turban fashion, an old check Madras kerchief that
had not come in contact with soap for many a day; and from under its
folds the woolly hair straggled down over the forehead so as to add to
the wild and fierce expression of the face. It was a countenance that
proclaimed ferocity, reckless daring, cunning, and an utter absence of
all humane sentiment.
The dress of the man had little in it differing from others who lead the
life of a prairie-hunter. It was a mixture of leather and blanket. The
head-dress only was peculiar. That was an old souvenir of the Southern
States and their negro life.
The zambo had a face as ferocious in its expression as that of his
confrere. It differed in colour. It was a coppery black--combining the
hues of both races from whom he derived his origin. He had the thick
lips and retreating forehead of the negro, but the Indian showed itself
in his hair, which scarcely waved, but hung in long snaky tresses about
his neck and shoulders. He was altogether less distinguished-looking
than his comrade the mulatto. His dress partook of the character of his
tribe--wide trousers of coarse cotton stuff, with a sleeveless shirt of
the same material,--a waist scarf, and coarse serape. Half the upper
part of his body was nude, and his thick copper-coloured arms were quite
bare.
Roblado arrived just in time to witness the _finale_ of an incident that
would serve to illustrate the character of the zambo.
He was half sitting, half-lying in his hammock, in the enjoyment of a
husk cigar, and occasionally striking at the flies with his raw-hide
whip. He called out to one of the women--his wife for the time--
"Nina! I want to eat something--is the _guisado_ ready?"
"Not yet," answered a voice from the hut.
"Bring me a tortilla then, with chile Colorado."
"_Querido_--you know there is no chile Colorado in the house," was the
reply.
"Nina! come here! I want you."
The woman came out, and approached the hammock, but evidently with some
mistrust.
The zambo sat perfectly silent until she was close enough for his
purpose, and then, suddenly raising the raw-hide, which he had hitherto
held behind him, he laid it with all his strength over her back and
shoulders. A thin chemisette was all that intervened to hinder the full
severity of the blows, and these fell thick end fast, until the sufferer
took courage and retreated out of reach!
"Now, Nina, dear love! the next time I call for a tortilla with chile
Colorado you'll have it--won't you, dear pet?"
And then laying himself back in his hammock, the savage uttered a roar
of laughter, in which he was joined by the mulatto, who would have done
just the same by his better half for a like provocation!
It was just at this crisis Roblado pulled up in front of the hovel.
Both got to their feet to receive him, and both saluted him with a
gesture of respect. They knew who he was. The mulatto, as the
principal man, took the principal part in the conversation, while the
zambo hung in the background.
The dialogue was carried on in a low tone on account of the woman and
the boy Esteban. It resulted, however, in the hunters being engaged, as
the padre had suggested, to track and follow the cibolero Carlos to
death or capture. If the former, a large sum was to be their reward--if
the latter, a sum still larger--nearly double!
With regard to assistance from the troops, neither mulatto nor zambo
wished for any. Quite the contrary. They had no desire that the
magnificent bounty should be diminished by subdivision. As it stood, it
would be a small fortune to both of them, and the brilliant prospect
whetted their appetite for the success of the job.
His errand having been thus accomplished, the officer rode back to the
Presidio; while the man-hunters immediately set about making
preparations for expedition.