"Take the lead," he said, with a mocking accent; "it is only just that you should do the honours of this place which you so unexpectedly discovered. Forward, you others, and be on your guard," he added, turning to the peons.
The eight men then went into the cavern at the heels of the capataz, who raised the torches above his head, doubtless in order to cast a greater light on surrounding objects.
This cavern, like most of those found in these regions, seemed to have been formed through some subterranean convulsion. The walls were lofty, dry, and covered at various spots with an enormous quantity of night birds, which, blinded and startled by the light of the torches, took to flight with hoarse cries, and flew heavily in circles round the Mexicans. The latter drove them back with some difficulty by waving their muskets. But the further they got into the interior of the cavern, the greater the number of these birds became, and seriously encumbered the visitors by flapping them with their long wings, and deafening them with their discordant cries.
They thus reached a rather large hall, into which several passages opened. Although the Mexicans were a considerable distance from the entrance, they found no difficulty in breathing, owing doubtless to imperceptible fissures in the rock, through which the air was received.
"Let us halt here for a moment," the leader said, taking a torch from the capataz; "this hall, if the cavern has several issues as I suppose, will afford us a certain refuge: let us examine the spot where we are."
While speaking he walked round the hall, and convinced himself, by certain still existing traces of man's handiwork, that at a former period the cave had been inhabited. The peons seated themselves idly on the blocks of granite scattered here and there, and with their guns between their legs carelessly followed their master's movements.
The latter felt the suspicions aroused in his mind by the sudden nature of Carnero's discovery gradually dissipated. He felt certain that for many years no human being had entered this gloomy cave, for none of those flying traces which man always leaves in his passage, whatever precaution he may take to hide his presence, had been discovered by him. All, on the contrary, evidenced the most utter abandonment and solitude, and hence the leader of the caravan was not indisposed to retire to this spot, which was so easy of defence, instead of throwing up an intrenched camp, always a long and difficult task, and which had the inconvenience of leaving men and animals exposed to a deadly climate for individuals accustomed to the heat of the Mexican temperature.
"While continuing his explanations, the leader conversed with the capataz in a more friendly manner than he had done for a long time, congratulating him on his discovery, and explaining his views, to which the latter listened with his usual crafty smile. All at once he stopped and listened the two men were at this moment at the entrance of one of the passages to which we have referred.
"Listen," he said to the capataz, as he laid his hand on his arm to attract his attention, "do you not hear something?"
The latter bent his body slightly forward, and remained motionless for some seconds.
"I do," he said, drawing himself up, "it sounds like distant thunder."
"Is it not? or, perhaps, the rolling of subterranean waters."
"Madre de Dios! mi amo," the capataz exclaimed gleefully. "I can swear that you are right. It would be a piece of luck for us to find water in the cave, for it would add greatly to our security, as we should not be obliged to lead our horses, perhaps, a long distance to drink."
"I will assure myself at once if there is any truth in the supposition. The noise proceeds from that passage, so let us follow it. As for our men they can wait for us here; we have nothing to fear now, for if the pirates or the Indians were ambuscaded to surprise us, they would not have waited so long before doing so, and hence the assistance of our peons is unnecessary."
The capataz shook his head doubtfully.
"Hum," he said, "the Indians are very clever, mi amo; and who knows what diabolical projects those redskins revolve in their minds? I believe it would be more prudent to let the peons accompany us."
"Nonsense," said his master, "it is unnecessary; we are two resolute and well-armed men; we have nothing to fear, I tell you. Besides, if, against all probability, we are attacked, our men will hear the noise of the conflict, will run to our help, and will be at our side in an instant."
"It is not very probable, I grant, that we have any danger to apprehend; still I considered it my duty as a devoted servant, mi amo, to warn you, because in the event of Indians being hidden in these passages, of whose windings we are ignorant, we should be caught like rats in a trap, with no possibility of escape. Two men, however brave they may be, are incapable of resisting twenty or thirty enemies, and you know that Indians never attack white men save when they are almost certain of success."
These words seemed to produce a certain impression on the leader of the caravan. He remained silent for a moment, apparently reflecting seriously on what he had heard, but he soon raised his head, and shook it resolutely.
"Nonsense! I do not believe in the danger you seem to apprehend; after all, if it really exist, it will be welcome. Wait here, my men, and be ready to join us at the first signal," he added, addressing the peons, who answered by rising and collecting in the middle of the hall.
Their master left them a torch to light them during his exploration, took the other, and turning to Carnero, said, "Let us go."
They then entered the passage. It was very narrow, and ran downwards with a steep incline, so that the two men, who were unacquainted with its windings, were obliged to walk with the most serious attention, and carefully examining all the spots they passed.
The further they proceeded, the more distinct the sound of water became; it was evident that at a very short distance from the spot where they were, perhaps but a few steps, there ran one of those subterranean streams so frequently found in natural caverns, and which are generally rivers swallowed up by an earthquake.
All at once, without being warned by the slightest sound, the leader of the caravan felt himself seized round the waist, his torch was snatched roughly from his hand, and extinguished against a rock, and himself thrown down and securely bound, before he was able to attempt the slightest resistance, so sudden and well calculated had the attack been. Carnero had been thrown down at the same time as his master, and bound.
"Cowards, demons!" the Mexican yelled, as he made a superhuman effort to rise and burst his bonds; "show yourself, at least, so that I may know with whom I have to deal."
"Silence! General Don Sebastian Guerrero," a rough voice said to him, whose accent made him start, in spite of all his courage; "resign yourself to your fate, for you have fallen into the power of men who will not liberate you till they have had a thorough explanation with you."
General Guerrero, whom the readers of the "Indian Chief" will doubtless remember, made a movement of impotent rage, but he was silent; he perceived that the originators of the snare of which he was a victim were implacable enemies, as they had not feared to call him by his name, and more formidable than the pirates of the prairies or the redskins, with whom he at first thought he had to deal. Moreover, he thought that the darkness that surrounded him would soon cease, and then he would see his enemies face to face, and recognize them.
But his expectations were deceived. When his conquerors had borne him to the hall, where his peons were disarmed and guarded by peons, he saw, by the light of the torch that faintly illumined the hall, that among the men who surrounded him few wore the Mexican costume, it was true, but had their faces hidden by a piece of black crape, forming a species of mask, and so well fastened round their necks, that it was entirely impossible to recognize them.
But his expectations were deceived. When his conquerors had borne him to the hall, where his peons were disarmed and guarded by peons, he saw, by the light of the torch that faintly illumined the hall, that among the men who surrounded him few wore the Mexican costume, it was true, but had their faces hidden by a piece of black crape, forming a species of mask, and so well fastened round their necks, that it was entirely impossible to recognize them.
"What do these men want with me?" he muttered as he let his head fall on his chest sadly.
"Patience!" said the man who had already spoken, and who overheard the general's remark, "you will soon know."
CHAPTER VII.
THE EXPLANATION
There was a short delay, during which the conquerors appeared to be consulting together in a low voice; while doing so, an Indian chief, who was no other than the Jester, entered the hall, and uttered a few words in Comanche.
The general and the capataz were again picked up by the redskins, and at a sign from one of the masked men, transported on to the voladero. The appearance of the terrace had entirely changed during the general's short absence, and offered at this moment a most singular and picturesque scene.
One hundred and fifty to two hundred Indians, mostly armed with guns, and ranged in good order round the terrace, the centre of which remained free, faced the cavern, having among them the disarmed Mexicans, the baggage, horses, and mules of the caravan.
The tent still stood solitary in the middle of what Was to have been the encampment; but the curtain Was raised, and a horseman was standing in front of it, as if to defend the entrance, and protect the precious articles it contained from pillage.
At the moment when the party emerged from the cave, and appeared on the terrace, the horsemen drawn up at the entrance of the defile opened out to the right and left, leaving a passage for a small troop of men dressed in hunters' garb, and whom it was easy to recognize as white men, by the colour of their skin, although it was bronzed and freckled by the sun; two ladies, mounted on ambling mules, were in the midst of them.
This troop of strangers was composed of eight persons altogether, leading with them two baggage mules. As the men were disarmed, and walked on foot amid some fifty Indian horsemen, they had, in all probability, been surprised by a party of redskins, and made prisoners in some skilfully-arranged ambuscade.
The two ladies, one of whom was of a certain age while the other appeared scarce eighteen, and who might be supposed closely related, through the resemblance of their features, were treated with an exquisite politeness they were far from expecting by the Indians, and conducted to the tent, which they were requested to enter. The curtain was then lowered, to conceal them from the glances of the Indians, whose expression, although respectful, must necessarily be disagreeable to them.
The new comers, at a signal from their conductors, ranged themselves with the other prisoners; they were powerful men with marked features, whom the Indians had probably not given a chance to fight, otherwise they looked as if they would sooner be killed than yield.
They displayed neither fear nor depression, but their flashing looks and frowning brows showed that though they silently submitted to their fate, they were far from being resigned, and would eagerly seize the first opportunity to regain the liberty of which they had been so treacherously deprived.
Still, in spite of the determination they had doubtless formed to remain indifferent as to what took place around them, they soon felt themselves interested more than they liked in the strange drama which they involuntarily witnessed, and whose gloomy preparations were of a nature to arouse their curiosity to an eminent degree.
At the base of the rocks several blocks of granite had been arranged in a semicircle, thus forming a resemblance to that terrible Vehmic tribunal, which in olden times held its formidable assize on the banks of the Rhine, before which kings and even emperors were at times summoned to appear, and the resemblance was rendered more striking by the care the assailants took in hiding their features.
Two masked men took their seats on the granite blocks, and the Indians who carried the general laid him on the ground in front of this species of tribunal. The person who seemed to be the president of this sinister assembly gave a sign, the prisoner's bonds at once fell off, and he found himself once more able to move his limbs.
The general drew himself up, crossed his hands on his chest, threw his body back haughtily, raised his head and looked at the men who had apparently constituted themselves his judges with a glance of withering contempt.
"What do you want with me, bandits?" he said; "enough of this; these insolent manoeuvres will not alarm me."
"Silence!" the president said coldly, "it is not your place to speak thus."
Then he remarked to the Jester, who was standing a few paces from him
"Bring up the other prisoners, old and new; everybody must hear what is going to be said to this man."
The Jester gave a signal to the warriors; some of them dismounted, approached the prisoners, and, after loosening the cord that bound the capataz, they led him, as well as the peons and the prisoners of the second caravan, in front of the tribunal, where they ranged themselves in line. Then, at a signal from the Jester, the horsemen closed up round the white men, who were thus hemmed in by Comanche warriors.
The spectacle offered by this assemblage of men, with their marked features and quaint garb, grouped without any apparent regularity on this voladero, which was suspended as if artificially over a terrible gulf, and leant against lofty mountains, with their abrupt flanks and snowy crest, was not without a certain grandeur.
A deadly silence brooded at this moment over the esplanade; all chests were heaving, every heart was oppressed. Redskins, hunters, and Mexicans all understood instinctively that a grand drama was about to be performed; invisible streams could be heard hoarsely murmuring in the cavern, and at times a gust of wind whistled over the heads of the horsemen.
The prisoners, affected by a vague and undefined terror, waited with secret anxiety, not knowing what fate these ferocious victors reserved for them, but certain that, whatever the decision formed about them might be, prayers would be impotent to move them, and that they would have to endure the atrocious torture to which they would doubtless be condemned.
The president looked round the assembly, rose in the midst of a profound silence, stretched out his arm towards the general, who stood cold and passionless before him, and, after darting at him a withering glance through the holes made in the crape that concealed his face, he said in a grave, stern, and impressive voice
"Caballeros, remember the words you are about to hear, listen to them attentively, so as to understand them, and not to be in error as to our intentions. In the first place, in order to reassure you and restore your entire freedom of mind, learn that you have not fallen into the hands of Indians thirsting for your blood, or of pirates who intend to plunder you first and assassinate you afterwards. No, you need not feel the slightest alarm. When you have acted as impartial witnesses, and are able to render testimony of what you have seen, should it be required, you will be at liberty to continue your journey, without the forfeiture of a single article. The men seated on my right and left, although masked, are brave and honest hunters. The day may perhaps arrive when you will know them; but reasons, whose importance you will speedily recognize, compel them to remain unknown for the present. I was bound to say this, señores, to you, against whom we bear no animosity, before coming to a final settlement with this man."