We have narrated in the "Border Rifles" what took place, and how truly worthy the General's express was of the confidence placed in him.
The Mexican camp stood in the centre of a beautiful plain, facing the defile through which the conducta must pass, according to the General's instructions. It was evening, and the sun had set for about an hour. Don José Maria, rendered anxious by the Captain's delay, and beginning to suspect a mishap, had sent off scouts in different directions to bring him news, and a prey to an agitation, which each moment that passed augmented, was walking anxiously about his tent, cursing and swearing in a low voice, frowning and stopping every now and then to listen to those thousand noises which arise at night without apparent cause, and pass as if borne on the wings of the Djinns.
General Don José Maria Rubio was still a young man; he was about forty-two, though he seemed older, through the fatigues of a military life, which had left rude marks on his martial and open countenance; he was tall and well-built; his muscular limbs, his wide and projecting chest denoted great vigour; and though his close-shaven hair was beginning to turn grey, his black eye had a brilliancy full of youth and intelligence.
Contrary to the habits of Mexican general officers, who, under all circumstances, make a great display of embroidery, and are gilded and plumed like charlatans, his uniform had a simplicity and severity which added to his military appearance, and gave him that aspect of reflection and majesty which is so befitting the chief of an army.
A sabre and a pair of holster pistols were carelessly thrown across a map on the table in the centre of the room, over which the General frequently bent in his agitated walk. The gallop of a horse, at first distant, but which rapidly drew nearer, was heard. The sentinel outside the tent challenged, "Who goes there?"
The horseman stopped, leapt to the ground, and a moment later the curtain of the tent was thrust aside, and a man appeared.
It was Captain Don Juan Melendez.
"Here you are, at last!" the General exclaimed, as his countenance grew brighter.
But on noticing the impression of sorrow spread over the officer's features, the General, who had walked two steps toward him, stopped, and his face again assumed an anxious look.
"Oh, oh!" he said, "What can have happened? Captain, has any mishap occurred to the conducta?"
The officer bowed his head.
"What is the meaning of this, Caballero?" the General continued, angrily; "Have you suddenly grown dumb?"
The Captain made an effort. "No, General," he answered.
"The conducta! Where is the conducta?" he went on, violently.
"Captured!" Don Juan replied, in a hollow voice.
"Viva Dios!" the General shouted, as he gave him a terrible glance, and stamped his foot: "The conducta captured, and yourself alive to bring me the news?"
"I could not get myself killed."
"I really believe, Heaven pardon me!" the General said, ironically, "that you have not even received a scratch."
"It is true."
The General walked up and down the tent in the utmost agitation. "And your soldiers, Caballero," he went on, a minute later, stopping before the officer, "I suppose they fled at the first shot?"
"My soldiers are dead, General."
"What do you say?"
"I say, General, that my soldiers fell to the last man defending the trust confided to their honour."
"Hum, hum!" the General remarked, "Are they all dead?"
"Yes, General, all lie in a bloody grave; I am the only survivor of fifty brave and devoted men."
There was a second silence. The General knew the Captain too well to doubt his courage and honour. He began to suspect a mystery.
"But I sent you a guide," he at length said.
"Yes, General, and it was that guide who led us into the trap laid by the insurgents."
"A thousand demons! If the scoundrel "
"He is dead," the Captain interrupted him, "I killed him."
"Good. But there is something about the affair I cannot understand."
"General," the young man exclaimed, with some animation, "though the conducta is lost, the fight was glorious for the Mexican name. Our honour has not suffered; we were crushed by numbers."
"Come, Captain, you are one of those men above suspicion, whom not the slightest stain can affect. If necessary, I would give bail for your loyalty and bravery before the world. Report to me frankly, and without any beating round the bush, all that has happened, and I will believe you; give me the fullest details about this action, in order that I may know whether I have to pity or punish you."
"Listen, then, General. But I swear to you that if after my report the slightest doubt remains in your heart as to my honour and the devotion of my soldiers, I will blow out my brains in your presence."
"Speak first, Caballero, we will see afterwards what your best course should be."
The Captain bowed, and began an exact report of what had taken place.
CHAPTER VI.
THE HUNTER'S COUNCIL
We will now return to Tranquil, whom we have too long neglected. The Canadian had left his friends two musket shots from the Texan encampment, intending, were it required, to call in Carmela: but that was not necessary; the young man, though unwillingly, had consented to all the Canadian asked of him, with which the latter was delighted, for without knowing exactly why, he would have been sorry to facilitate an interview between the young people.
Immediately after his conversation with the leader of the Freebooters, the hunter rose, and, in spite of the Jaguar's efforts to retain him, left the camp. He then remounted his horse, and, only half satisfied by his conversation with the Jaguar, returned thoughtfully to the spot where his friends were camping. The latter were awaiting him anxiously, and Carmela especially was suffering from a terrible uneasiness.
It was a strange fact, which women alone can explain, that the maiden, perhaps unconsciously, entertained toward the Jaguar and Captain Melendez feelings which she was afraid to analyze, but which led her to take an equal interest in the fate of those two men, and fear a collision between them, whatever the result might have proved. But for all that, it is certain that if she had been obliged to explain the reason which impelled her to act thus, she would have been unable to answer; and had anybody told her that she loved one or the other, she would have energetically protested; under the honest conviction that she spoke the truth.
Still, she felt herself, perhaps from different motives, irresistibly attracted toward them. She started at their approach; the sound of their voices caused her an internal thrill of happiness; if she remained long without news of them, she grew sad, pensive, and anxious; their presence restored her all her gaiety and birdlike freedom.
Was it friendship, or was it love? Who can answer?
Tranquil found his friends comfortably located in a narrow clearing, near a fire, over which their next meal was cooking. Carmela, a little apart, questioned with an impatient glance the path by which she knew the hunter must arrive. So soon as she perceived him, she uttered a suppressed cry of delight, and made a movement to run and meet him; but she checked herself with a flush, let her head droop, and concealed herself timidly behind a clump of floripondios.
Tranquil peacefully dismounted, took the bridle off his horse, which he sent with a friendly slap on the croup to join its comrades, and then sat down by the side of Loyal Heart.
"Ouf!" he said, "Here I am, back again, and not without difficulty."
"Did you run any dangers?" Loyal Heart asked, eagerly.
"Not at all; on the contrary, the Jaguar received me, as he was bound to do, that is, as a friend; and I have only to complain of his courtesy; besides, we have known each other too long for it to be otherwise."
Tranquil peacefully dismounted, took the bridle off his horse, which he sent with a friendly slap on the croup to join its comrades, and then sat down by the side of Loyal Heart.
"Ouf!" he said, "Here I am, back again, and not without difficulty."
"Did you run any dangers?" Loyal Heart asked, eagerly.
"Not at all; on the contrary, the Jaguar received me, as he was bound to do, that is, as a friend; and I have only to complain of his courtesy; besides, we have known each other too long for it to be otherwise."
Carmela had softly come up to the hunter; she suddenly bent her graceful head down to him, and offered him her forehead to kiss.
"Good day, father," she said, demurely, "you have already returned?"
"Already!" Tranquil answered, as he kissed her and laughed, "Hang it, girl, it seems as if my absence did not appear to you long."
"Pardon me, father, I did not mean that," she said, in great confusion.
"What did you mean, then, my child?"
"Oh, nothing."
"Yes you did, you little rogue! But you cannot deceive me, with all your tricks; I am too old a fox to be taken in by a girl."
"You are unkind, father," she answered, with a pout, "you always give a false meaning to what I say."
"Only think of that, señorita! Well, do not be in a passion, I have brought you good news."
"Do you mean it?" she said, clasping her hands joyfully.
"Would you doubt my word?"
"Oh, no, father."
"Very good, so now sit down by my side and listen."
"Speak, speak, father," she exclaimed eagerly, as she took the seat allotted her.
"You seem to take great interest in Captain Melendez, my child?"
"I, father!" she exclaimed with a start of surprise.
"Hang it! I fancy a young lady must feel a lively interest in a person, to take such a step for his sake as you have done."
The maiden became serious.
"Father," she said a moment later with that little, resolute tone spoilt children know so well how to assume; "I could not tell you why I acted as I did; I swear that it was against my will, I was mad; the thought that the Captain and the Jaguar were about to engage in a mortal combat, made me chill at heart; and yet I assure you, now that I am cool, I question myself in vain to discover the reason which urged me to intercede with you to prevent that combat."
The hunter shook his head.
"All that is not clear, Niña," he replied; "I do not at all understand your arguments. Hang it! I am only a poor woodranger, possessing no more learning than I have drawn from the great scenes of nature I constantly have before my eyes, and a woman's heart is to me a closed book, in which I could not decipher a line. Still, girl, believe me, take care, and do not play imprudently with weapons whose strength and mechanism you are ignorant of; though the antelope be so light and active when it is leaping from rock to rock on the verge of precipices, the moment arrives when it grows giddy, its head turns, and it rolls into the abyss I have often seen similar catastrophes in the forests. Take care, my girl, take care, and believe in the old hunter's experience."
Carmela pensively leant her blushing brow on the Canadian's shoulder, and lifted to him her large blue eyes full of tears.
"I am suffering, father," she murmured sadly.
"Good Heavens! My child, you are suffering, and did not tell me are you ill?" he exclaimed anxiously; "How imprudent it was of you to be out in the desert by night."
"You are mistaken, father," she replied with a faint smile; "I am not ill, it is not that."
"What is it then?"
"I do not know, but my heart is contracted, my bosom is oppressed. Oh, I am very unhappy!"
And hiding her head in her hands, she burst into tears. Tranquil looked at her for a moment with an astonishment mingled with terror.
"You, unhappy!" he at length exclaimed as he smote his head passionately. "Oh, whatever has been done to her, that she should weep thus!"
There was a silence of some minutes' duration, when the conversation seemed to take a confidential turn. Loyal Heart and Lanzi rose quietly, and soon disappeared in the chaparral. Tranquil and the maiden were hence alone. The hunter was suffering from one of those cold fits of passion which are so terrible because so concentrated; adoring the girl, he fancied in his simple ignorance that it was he who, without suspecting it, through the coarseness and frivolity of his manner, rendered her unhappy, and he accused himself in his heart for not having secured her that calm and pleasant life he had dreamed for her.
"Forgive me, my child," he said to her with emotion; "forgive me for being the involuntary cause of your suffering. You must not be angry with me, for really it is no fault of mine, I have always lived alone in the desert, and never learned how to treat natures so frail as those of women; but henceforth I will watch myself. You will have no reason to reproach me again. I promise you I will do all you wish, my darling child well, does that satisfy you?"
By a sudden reaction, the maiden wiped away her tears, and bursting into a joyous laugh, threw her arms round the hunter's neck, and kissed him repeatedly.
"It is you who should pardon me, father," she said in her wheedling voice, "for I seem to take pleasure in tormenting you, who are so kind to me; I did not know what I was saying just now; I am not unhappy, I do not suffer, I am quite happy, and love you dearly, my good father; I only love you."
Tranquil looked at her in alarm; he could not understand these sudden changes of humour, whose cause escaped him.
"Good Heavens!" he exclaimed, clasping his hands in terror; "My daughter is mad!"
At this exclamation, the laughing girl's gaiety was augmented. The silvery sound of her laugh would have made a nightingale die of envy.
"I am not mad, father," she said, "I was so just now when I spoke to you in the way I did, but now the crisis has past; forgive me, and think no more about it."
"Hum!" the hunter muttered, as he raised his eyes to Heaven in great embarrassment; "I desire nothing more, Niña; but I am no further on than I was before, and on my word I understand nothing of what is passing through your mind."
"What matter, so long as I love you, father? All girls are so, and no importance must be attached to their caprices."
"Good, good, it must be so since you say it, little one. But for all that, I suffered terribly, your words rent my heart."
Carmela lovingly kissed him.
"And the Jaguar?" she asked.
"All is arranged; the Captain has nothing to fear from him."
"Oh, the Jaguar has a noble heart; if he has pledged his word, he may be trusted."
"He has given it to me."
"Thanks, father. Well, now that all is arranged according to our wishes "
"Your wishes?" the hunter interrupted.
"Mine or yours, father is that not the same thing?"
"That is true, I was wrong go on."
"Well, I say, call your friends, who are walking about close by, I suppose, and let me eat, for I am dying of hunger."
"Are you?" he said eagerly.
"Indeed, I am; but I was ashamed to tell you."
"In that case you will not have long to wait."
The Canadian whistled; and the two men, who probably only awaited this signal, made their appearance at once. The venison was removed from the fire, laid on a leaf, and all seated themselves comfortably.
"Hilloh!" Tranquil said all at once, "Why, where is Quoniam?"
"He left us shortly after your departure," Loyal Heart made answer "to go to the Larch-tree hacienda, as he told us."
"All right, I did not think of that; I am not anxious about my old comrade, for he will manage to find us again."
Each then began eating with good appetite, and troubled themselves no further about the Negro's absence. It is a noteworthy fact, that men whom the life they lead compels to a continual employment of their physical faculties, whatever may be the circumstances in which they are, or the dangers that surround them always eat with a good appetite, and sleep soundly, so indispensable for them is the satisfaction of these two material wants, in order that they may successfully resist the incessant incidents of their existence, which is so varied, and full of accidents of every description.