CHAPTER XIX.
THE MANHUNT.
So soon as the party had quite disappeared in the forest, Leon turnedto his men, who were carelessly seated round the fire and smoking theircigarettes.
"Comrades," he said, "our expedition is about to change its course. Wehave no longer to escort travellers, but must go manhunting."
"All the better," remarked Wilhelm, "I prefer that; it is a lazy tradeto act as guide to Spaniards."
"It is a trade which is sometimes dangerous, and our brave comrades whosleep there," Leon said, pointing to one of the tombs, "are a proof ofit."
"That is true," Giacomo remarked; "but no matter; it is better to diewhile smuggling a few bottles of aguardiente under the very noses ofthe officers."
"However that may be," the captain resumed, "they are dead, and theywere brave fellows. As for you, listen carefully to this;--WhileI, Wilhelm, and Giacomo go into the mountains to seek Indian sign,Harrison will remain here, and await the arrival of the band underJoaquin's orders."
"The deuce!" Harrison exclaimed; "I would sooner go about the countrywith you."
"Yes, but I require that a courageous and resolute man should remain atthe meeting place I have fixed, and I could not apply to a better onethan yourself."
Leon was acquainted with the character of his comrades, and couldalways manage, by the clever employment of a bit of flattery, to makehimself obeyed not only punctually but enthusiastically. Harrison, onhearing the homage rendered by the captain to his martial virtues,drew up his head proudly, and manifested by a certain movement of themuscles, how flattered he felt at the good opinion Leon had of him.
"And you have done well, captain," he replied, proudly.
"You must not stir from here. As we know not what road we shall haveto follow, we will leave you our horses, which you will take care of.Build a hut; hunt; do all that you think proper, but remember that youmust not leave the Parumo of San Juan Bautista without my orders."
"That is settled, captain; and you can start when you please. You mayremain absent six months, and be certain of finding me here on yourreturn."
Leon rose.
"Very good," he said; "I reckon on you."
Then he whistled to his mustang, which ran up at his call, and laidits intelligent head on its master's shoulder to be petted. It was anoble animal, of considerable height, with a small head, but its eyessparkled with animation, while its broad chest and fine nervous legsdenoted a blood horse.
Leon seized the lasso which hung from the horse's saddle, and knottedit round his body; then, lightly tapping the croup of the animal, hewatched it retire. Wilhelm and Giacomo were provided with their weaponsand provisions, such as charqui, queso, and dried beans.
"Come let us be off," said Leon, as he laid his long rifle on hisshoulder.
"We are ready," the two men said.
"Good luck!" Harrison shouted to them, though unable to prevent a sighaccompanying these words, which proved how vexed he was at not beingallowed to join them.
"Thanks!" his comrades replied.
On leaving the clearing they began marching in Indian file, that is tosay, one after the other, the second placing his feet exactly in thefootsteps of the first, and the third in those of the second. The lastone took the additional precaution of effacing as well as he could thetraces left by his predecessors. Harrison, after looking after them forsome time, sat down again by the fireside.
"No matter," he said, talking to himself. "I shall not have much funhere, but what must be must."
And after this philosophic reflection he lit a cigarette, and beganquietly smoking, while eagerly following the wreaths which the smokeproduced, and inhaling its fragrance with the methodical phlegm of atrue Indian Sagamore.
In America, when a man is travelling through the Indian regions in wartime, and does not wish to be tracked by the Araucanos, he must goNorth if he has business in the South, and vice versa, and behave likea vessel which, when surprised by a contrary wind, is obliged to makeconstant tacks, which gradually bring it to the desired point.
Leon Delbes was too well acquainted with the intelligence and skill ofthe Indians not to act in the same way. Assuredly, his adoption by theAraucanos, which the captain had received in the council of the chiefof the twelve Molucho tribes, rendered him sacred to the latter; butnot knowing what Indian party he might fall in with, he judged it moreprudent to avoid any encounter. Moreover, he had fought the men who hadattacked the caravan, and it would have been ill grace to claim thebenefit of his adoption after the active part which he had taken in thestruggle. Hence he had a twofold reason to act on the defensive, andonly advance with the most extreme prudence.
Fenimore Cooper, the immortal historian of the Indians of NorthAmerica, has initiated us in his excellent works into the tricksemployed by the Mohicans and Hurons, when they wish to foil the searchof their enemies; but without offence to those persons who have sogreatly admired the sagacity of young Uncas, that magnificent type ofthe Delaware nation, of which he was the last hero, the Indians of theNorth are mere children when compared with the Moluchos, who may beregarded as their masters in every respect.
The reason for this is very simple and easy to understand. The Northerntribes never really existed as a political power; each of them exercisea separate government; the Indians composing them rarely intermarrywith their neighbours, and constantly lead a nomadic life. Hencethey have never possessed more than the instincts, highly developedwe allow, of men who incessantly inhabit the woods,--that is to say,a marvellous agility, a great fineness of hearing, and a miraculouslength of sight, qualities, however, which are found to the same extentamong the Arabs, and generally with all wandering nations, no matterwhat corner of the earth they dwell in. As for artfulness and craft,they learned these from the wild beasts, and merely imitated them.
The South American Indians join to these advantages the remains of anadvanced civilization--a civilization which, since the conquest, hassought a refuge in inaccessible lurking places, but for all that doesnot the less exist. The tribes or families regard themselves as partsof the same whole--the nation.
Now the aborigines, continually on terms of hostility with theSpaniards, have felt the necessity of doubling their strength in orderto triumph, and their descendants have gradually modified whatevermight be injurious in their manners, to appropriate those of theiroppressors, and fight them with their own weapons. They have carriedthese tactics--which, by the way, have saved them from the yoke up tothe present day--so far that they are thorough masters in roguery andtrickery; their ideas have been enlarged, their intellect is developed,and they have succeeded in surpassing their enemies in astuteness anddiplomacy, if we may be allowed to employ that expression.
This is so true, that not only have the Spaniards been unable tosubjugate them during the past three hundred years, but have beenactually obliged to pay them, with more or less goodwill, an annualtribute. Can we really regard as savages these men who, formerly drivenback by their terror of firearms and dogs--animals of whose existencethey were ignorant--to the heart of the Cordilleras, have defendedtheir territory inch by inch, and in some regions have reconquered aportion of their native soil?
We know better than anybody that savages exist in America--savages inthe full meaning of the term; but these are daily disappearing from thesurface of the globe, as they have neither the necessary intellect tounderstand nor the energy to defend themselves. These are the Indianswho, before being subjected to the Spaniards, were so to the Mexicansor Moluchos, owing to their intellectual organization, which scarceraises them above the brute.
These tribes which are but exceptions in the species, must not beconfounded, then, with the great Molucho nations of which we arespeaking, and whose manners we are describing--manners which arenecessarily being modified; for, in spite of the efforts they make toescape from it, the European civilization, which they despise morethrough hereditary hatred of their conquerors than for any othermotive, crushes and invades them on a
ll sides.
Within a hundred years of this time the emancipated Indians, who smilewith pity at the paltry struggles carried on by the phantom republicsthat surround them, will take their place in the world again and carrytheir heads high. And this will be just, for they are heroic men withrichly endowed characters, and capable of undertaking and successfullycarrying out great things. We will quote in support of this statementone fact which will speak better than words:--The best history of SouthAmerica which has been published in Spanish up to this day was writtenby an Inca. Is not this conclusive?
Let us return to Leon and his two comrades Wilhelm and Giacomo. Theywere three determined men. Our readers know Leon, so we will say nomore of him; but we will sketch in a few outlines the appearance ofWilhelm and his comrade Giacomo. These worthy gentlemen, who were boundtogether by a hearty friendship, formed the most singular contrastimaginable.
Giacomo, a native of Naples, whence he escaped one morning under theexcuse that the house he lived in was too near Vesuvius, but in realityon account of the visits paid him repeatedly by the sbirri, whom hewas not particularly anxious to see, was the real type of a lazzarone,careless, slothful, thievish, and yet capable of extraordinary bravery,and bursts of energy and devotion. Well built, with an intelligent andcrafty face, and endowed with far from common muscular strength, heseemed to be born for the smuggler's trade.
Wilhelm, on the contrary, was one of those cold and systematic Germanswho do nothing save by weights and measures. Only speaking when he wascompelled, he seemed ever to be dreaming though he thought of nothing,and concealed, under an apparent simplicity and proverbial phlegm, anexcellent disposition, and a certain amount of intelligence. He wastall, smoke-dried, thin, and angular, and his flat face, disfiguredby the smallpox, was rendered still uglier by gimlet eyes deep set intheir orbits.
His hair, of a flaxen hue, fell in flat curls on his enormous ears,and gave him one of those countenances which provoke hilarity. Hismagnificent teeth, however, and a mouth which had a remarkably cleverexpression, formed a happy diversion with the grotesqueness of hisfeatures. He had been a member of the Cuadrilla for two years, and hadentered it, as he said, in consequence of a violent love disappointment.
On leaving the clearing, the three smugglers took the road to Talca,which they followed the whole day; at nightfall they encamped in theneighbourhood, and then next morning, after a hasty breakfast on apiece of queso saturated with pimento, they went down to the bottomof the quebrada, by clinging with hands and feet to the asperities ofthe ground. Here they found themselves in a species of canyon, andwere obliged to march on the bed of a half-dried torrent, where theirfootsteps left no imprint.
After two days' journeying which offered no incident worthy of mention,our adventurers reached the beginning of the llanos of the templadaregion, situated on the other watershed of the Cordilleras, which theyhad just crossed.
The verdure came back, and the heat began to be felt again. Our menwere perfectly revived by this gentle and balmy atmosphere, the azuresky and dazzling sun, which took the place of the grey sullen sky ofthe Cordilleras, and the narrow horizon covered by mist and fog. On thethird day Leon perceived in the distance the green crest of a forest,toward which he had directed his march, and gave vent to a cry ofsatisfaction.
"Courage, my friends," he said to his comrades, "we shall soon havethe shadow and freshness which we want for here."
"In truth, captain, I confess that I should infinitely prefer theslightest tree, provided that its branches afforded us means to restfor a moment in their shadow, to a forced march with this great rogueof a sun who burns our bones."
It was Giacomo who spoke; the poor lad seemed to be troubled by theheat, and could scarce succeed in mopping up the perspiration whichpoured down his face. It was midday, the time for the siesta, and theex-lazzarone, who every day of his life never failed to sacrifice anhour to this pleasant habit, said to himself with reason, that it wasmore than ever advisable to enjoy it now, because, in addition to thehour which invited them, they were also strongly impelled by the ardentheat which they could not guard against, and their fatigue.
"And where the deuce do you mean to take your siesta?" Leon asked."Don't you see, on the contrary, that we must push on in order to gainsome shelter?"
"Alas!" said Giacomo. And patiently enduring his woes, the smugglercontinued his march without uttering a word.
"Hallo!" Wilhelm suddenly exclaimed, as he stooped down, "what is this?"
And rising, he showed Leon a small gold cross hanging from a narrowvelvet ribbon.
"Maria's cross!" Leon exclaimed; "yes, I recognise it! We are on thetraces of the ravishers!"
"In that case," said Wilhelm, "we must move ahead."
Leon kissed the precious relic, and carefully hid it in his bosom.
"My lads, we must now learn where the Moluchos have sought refuge; weare on the right track, and the forest which we perceive ahead of usserves as a retreat for some tribe, I imagine."
Then examining with scrupulous attention the ground they trod on, theycontinued to advance, seeking, but in vain, signs corroborating that ofthe cross which they had found. At the end of two hours they at lengthreached a spot suitable for a halt. Four magnificent royal palms, whosebranches were intertwined and formed a dome of foliage, appeared asmiling oasis on this denuded prairie, which was burnt up by the beamsof a fiery sun.
Wilhelm and Giacomo fell asleep, but Leon remained awake, and whileinhaling the smoke of his papelito, sought to determine the directionin which the Indians had proceeded. Suddenly a fresh idea germinated inhis brain. He remembered that, on several occasions, when conversingwith Diego, the latter had spoken of an Indian town which the Araucanosregarded as sacred, and which no European could enter. This town wascalled Garakouaiti, and was about sixty leagues from the Parumo of SanJuan Bautista, hidden in a virgin forest.
It was there, Diego had also told him, that the Moluchos hid all theirmost precious articles, as they felt sure that no one would come tofind them. A secret presentiment made Leon suppose that the Indians,after carrying off the two young ladies, must have conveyed them toGarakouaiti as an inaccessible spot.
It was to that city, then, that he must proceed. But he rememberedthat, as the entrance to the city was interdicted to Europeans, hecould not hope to obtain admission, and he sought for an excuse forintroducing himself by imagining some stratagem. As the advice of hiscompanions might be useful to him, he woke them, and consulted as tothe way he should contrive to enter Garakouaiti, supposing that hediscovered that city.
The means were not so easy to find, and as the most pressing thingat present was to march toward the city, the three smugglers set outagain, while reflecting on the plan of conduct which they shouldfollow. All the rest of the day was passed in this way, and nightsurprised them on the banks of a rather wide stream, whose proximitythe branches had hidden from them, though they had heard the murmurs ofits waters for some time past.
As it was quite dark, Leon resolved to wait till the morrow, to lookfor a ford by which to cross it. They therefore halted, but throughprudence lit no fire, and the three men were soon lying on the ground,wrapped in their ponchos. The moon was descending on the horizon, thestars were glistening in the heavens, and Leon, whose eyes were closedby fatigue, was on the point of falling asleep, when a strange andunexpected sound made him start. He listened. A slight tremor agitatedthe leaves bordering the stream, whose calm waters looked like a longsilver ribbon. There was not a breath of wind in the air. Leon nudgedhis comrades, who opened their eyes.
"The Indians!" the captain whispered to them. "Silence."
Then, crawling on his hands and knees, he went down the bank andentered the water. He looked round him and saw nothing; all was calm,and he waited with fixed eye and expanded ear. Half an hour passedthus, and the sound which had attracted his attention was not repeated.It was in vain that he tried to pierce the obscurity; the night was sodark, that at ten yards off he could distinguish nothing; and th
ough helistened attentively, no sound troubled the silence of the night.
Plunged as he was up to the waist in the water, an icy coldnessgradually spread over his whole body. At length, feeling worn out andfancying himself mistaken, he was preparing to remount the bank, when,just at the moment when he was about to beat a retreat, a hard logslightly grazed his chest.
He looked down and instinctively thrust out his hand. It was thegunwale of a canoe, which was gliding noiselessly through the reeds,which it parted in its passage. This canoe, like nearly all Indianvessels, was simply the stem of a tree hollowed out by the help offire. Leon regarded this mysterious canoe, which seemed to be advancingwithout the help of any human being, and rather drifting with thecurrent, than being guided in a straight line. Still, what astonishedhim was, that it went straight on without any oscillation. Evidentlysome invisible being, an Indian probably, was directing it; but wherewas he stationed, and was he alone? These facts it was impossible toknow.
The captain's anxiety was extreme; he dared not make the slightestmovement through fear of being surprised, and yet the canoe was stillthere. Desirous, however, of knowing how matters really stood, Leonsoftly drew his knife from his boot, and, holding his breath, croucheddown in the river, only leaving his face above water.
All at once he gave a start; he had seen flashing in the dark, like twolive coals, the eyes of a savage, who, swimming behind the canoe, waspushing it forward with his arm. The Indian held his head above water,and was looking about him inquiringly.
Suddenly Leon, on whom the eyes had first been fixed, leaped forwardwith the activity of a panther, seized the Indian by the throat, andbefore he was able to defend himself or utter a cry of alarm, plungedhis knife into his heart.
The Indian's face became black; his eyes were enormously dilated; hebeat the water with his legs and arms, then his limbs stiffened andhe sank, carried away by the current, and leaving behind him a slightreddish track. He was dead.
Leon, without the loss of a moment, got into the canoe, and holding bythe reeds, looked in the direction where he had left his comrades. Bothhad followed him, bringing with them the rifle which Leon had laid onthe ground, and which they were careful to keep above water, as well astheir own.
Then the three men, making as little noise as possible, disengaged thecanoe from the reeds which had barred its progress, and lay down in thebottom, after placing it in mid-stream, and making it feel the current.They went on thus for some time, believing themselves already safe fromthe invisible enemies who surrounded them, when all at once a terribleclamour broke out, and awoke the echoes.