CHAPTER V.
THE ALLIANCE.
We must now return to Loyal Heart.
After walking straight forward about ten minutes, without giving himselfthe trouble to follow one of those innumerable paths that intersect theprairie in all directions, the hunter stopped, put the butt end of hisgun to the ground, looked round carefully on all sides, lent his earto those thousands of noises of the desert which all have a meaningfor the man accustomed to a prairie life; and, probably satisfied withthe result of his observations, he imitated, at three different equalintervals the cry of the pie, with such perfection, that several ofthose birds, concealed among the thickest of the trees, replied to himimmediately.
The third cry had scarcely ceased to vibrate in the air, ere the forest,mute till that moment, and apparently plunged in complete solitude,became animated as if by enchantment.
On all sides arose, from the midst of bushes and grass, in which theyhad been concealed, a crowd of hunters with energetic countenances andpicturesque costumes, who formed, in an instant, a dense crowd round thetrapper.
It chanced that the two first faces that caught the eye of Loyal Heartwere those of Black Elk and No Eusebio, both posted at a few paces fromhim.
"Oh!" he said, holding out his hand eagerly; "I understand it all, myfriends. Thanks! a thousand thanks for your cordial coming; but, praisebe to God! your succour is not necessary."
"So much the better!" said Black Elk.
"But how did you get out of the hands of those devilish redskins?" theold servant asked, eagerly.
"Don't speak ill of the Comanches," Loyal Heart replied, with a smile;"they are now my brothers."
"Do you speak seriously?" cried Black Elk, with warmth; "can you reallybe on good terms with the Indians?"
"You shall judge for yourself. Peace is made between them and me, myfriends. If agreeable to you, I will introduce you to each other."
"By Heaven! at the present moment nothing could fall out morefortunately," said Black Elk; "and as you are free, we shall be able toconcern ourselves for other people, who are, at this moment, in greatperil, and stand in need of our immediate assistance."
"What do you mean?" Loyal Heart asked, with a curiosity mingled withinterest.
"I mean, that some people to whom you have already rendered greatservices, on the occasion of the last fire in the prairie, are at thismoment surrounded by a band of pirates, who will soon attack them, ifthey have not already done so.
"We must fly to their assistance!" cried Loyal Heart, with an emotion hecould not control.
"Well, that was our intention; but we wished to deliver you first, LoyalHeart. You are the soul of our association; without you we should havedone no good."
"Thanks! my friends. But now, you see, I am free, so there is nothing tostop us; let us set forward immediately."
"I crave your pardon," Black Elk replied; "but we have to deal with astrong body. The pirates, who know they have no pity to look for, fightlike so many tigers. The more numerous we are, the better will be ourchance of success."
"That is true; but what do you aim at?"
"At this--since you have made, in our name, peace with the Indians, itcould be so managed that they----"
"By Heavens! you are right, Black Elk," Loyal Heart interrupted him,eagerly. "I did not think of that. The Indian warriors will be delightedat the opportunity we shall offer them of showing their valour. Theywill joyfully assist us in our expedition. I take upon myself topersuade them. Follow me, all of you. I will present you to my newfriends."
The trappers drew together, and formed a compact band of forty men.
Arms were reversed, in sign of peace, and all, following the steps ofthe hunter, directed their course towards the camp of the Comanches.
"And my mother?" Loyal Heart asked Eusebio, with a broken voice.
"She is in safety in the hatto of Black Elk."
"And how is she?"
"As well as you could expect, though suffering from great uneasiness,"the old man replied. "Your mother is a woman who only lives by theheart. She is endowed with immense courage, the greatest physical painsglide over her. She now feels but slightly the effects of the atrocioustortures she had begun to undergo."
"God be praised! But she must no longer be left in these mortal doubts;where is your horse?"
"Hidden, close by."
"Mount, and return to my mother. Assure her of my safety, and then bothof you retire to the grotto of Verdigris, where she will be out of alldanger. You will remain with her. That grotto is easily found; it issituated at a small distance from the rock of the Dead Buffalo. When youget there, you have nothing to do but to let loose my rastreros, whichI will leave you, and they will lead you straight to it. Do you clearlyunderstand me?"
"Perfectly."
"Begone then. Here we are at the camp; your presence is useless here,whilst yonder it is indispensable."
"I am gone!"
"Adieu! we'll meet again."
No Eusebio whistled the bloodhounds, which he leashed together; he then,after another shake of the hand with his young master, left the troop,turned to the right, and resumed the way to the forest. The hunters, inthe meantime, arrived at the entrance of the glade in which the camp ofthe Indians was established.
The Comanches formed, a few paces behind the first lines of their camp,a vast semicircle, in the centre of which stood their chiefs.
To do honour to their newly-arrived friends, they had put on theirhandsomest costumes. They were painted and armed for war.
Loyal Heart halted his troop, and continuing to march on alone, heunfolded a buffalo robe, which he waved before him.
Eagle Head then quitted the other chiefs, and advanced on his part tomeet the hunter, also waving a buffalo robe in sign of peace.
When the two men were within three paces of each other they stopped.Loyal Heart spoke the first.
"The Master of Life," he said, "sees into our hearts. He knows thatamong us the road is good and open, and that the words which our lungsbreathe and our mouths pronounce are sincere. The white hunters come tovisit their red friends."
"They are welcome!" Eagle Head replied cordially, bowing with the graceand majestic nobleness which characterize Indians.
After these words the Comanches and the hunters discharged their piecesinto the air, amidst long and loud cries of joy. Then all ceremony wasbanished; the two bands mingled, and were confounded so thoroughly that,at the end of a few minutes, they only formed one.
Loyal Heart, however, who knew from what Black Elk had told him howprecious the moments were, took Eagle Head aside, and explained to himfrankly what he expected from his tribe.
The chief smiled at this request.
"My brother shall be satisfied," he said, "let him but wait a little."
Leaving the hunter, he joined the other chiefs. The crier quicklymounted upon the roof of a hut, and convoked with loud cries the mostrenowned warriors to a meeting in the hut of council.
The demand of Loyal Heart met with general approbation. Ninety chosenwarriors, commanded by Eagle Head, were selected to accompany thehunters, and co-operate with all their power to secure the success ofthe expedition.
When the decision of the chiefs was made known, it created a general joythroughout the tribe.
The allies were to set forward at sunset, in order to surprise the enemy.
The great war-dance, with all the ceremonies usual upon such occasions,was danced, the warriors the while continually repeating in chorus:--
"Master of Life, look upon me with a favourable eye, thou hast given methe courage to open my veins."
When they were on the point of setting out, Eagle Head, who knew whatdangerous enemies they were going to attack, selected twenty warriorsupon whom he could depend, and sent them forward as scouts, after havinggiven them some scotte wigwas, or bark wood, in order that they mightimmediately light a fire as a warning in case of alarm.
He then examined the arms of his warriors, and, satis
fied with theinspection, he gave the orders for departure.
The Comanches and the trappers took the Indian file, and, preceded bytheir respective chiefs, they quitted the camp, amidst the good wishesand exhortations of their friends, who accompanied them to the firsttrees of the forest.
The little army consisted of a hundred and thirty resolute men,perfectly armed, and commanded by chiefs whom no obstacle could stop, noperil could make recede.
The darkness was dense; the moon, veiled by large black clouds, whichfloated heavily in space, only shed at intervals a dull, rayless light,which, when it disappeared, gave objects a fantastic appearance.
The wind blew in gusts, and filled the ravines with dull, plaintivemoans.
In short, this night was one of those which in the history of humanityseemed destined to witness the accomplishment of dismal tragedies.
The warriors marched in silence; they looked in the darkness like acrowd of phantoms escaped from a sepulchre, hastening to accomplish awork without a name, accursed of God, which night alone could veil withits shadow.
At midnight the word "halt" was pronounced in a low voice.
They encamped to await news of the scouts.
That is to say, everyone, whether well or ill placed, laid himself downexactly where he happened to be, in order to be ready at the firstsignal.
No fire was lighted.
The Indians, who depend upon their scouts, never post sentinels whenthey are upon the warpath.
Two hours passed away.
The camp of the Mexicans was not more than three miles distant at most;but, before venturing nearer, the chief wished to ascertain whetherthe route were free or not; in case it should not be so, what were thenumbers of the enemy who barred the passage, and what plan of attackthey had adopted.
At the moment when Loyal Heart, a prey to impatience, was preparingto go himself to ascertain what was going on, a rustling, almostimperceptible at first, but which by degrees increased in enormousproportions, was heard in the bushes, and two men appeared.
The first was one of the Comanche scouts, the other was the doctor.
The state of the poor savant was truly pitiable.
He had lost his wig; his clothes were in rags; his face was convulsedwith terror; in short, his whole person bore evident traces of struggleand combat.
When he was brought before Loyal Heart and Eagle Head, he fellhead-foremost to the ground and fainted.
Earnest endeavours were immediately made to restore him to life.