CHAPTER VIII.
THE CAVERN OF VERDIGRIS.
Ten days had passed away since the events related in our last chapter.
We will conduct the reader, between three and four o'clock in theafternoon, into the grotto discovered by Belhumeur, of which Loyal Hearthad made his chosen habitation.
The interior of the cavern, lighted by numerous torches of that woodwhich the Indians call candlewood, which burned, fixed at distances onthe projections of the rock, presented the aspect of a halt of gipsies,or of an encampment of bandits, whichever the stranger might fancy, whoshould chance to be admitted to visit it.
Forty trappers and Comanche warriors were dispersed about here andthere; some were sleeping, others smoking, other cleaning their arms orrepairing their clothes; a few, crouching before two or three fires,over which were suspended cauldrons, and where enormous joints ofvenison were roasting, were preparing the repast for their companions.
At each place of issue two sentinels, motionless, but with eyes and earson the watch, silently provided for the common safety.
In a compartment separated naturally from the larger one by a block ofprojecting rock, two women and a man, upon seats rudely cut with thehatchet, were conversing in a low voice.
The two women were Dona Luz and the mother of Loyal Heart; the manwho looked at them, while smoking his husk cigarette, and mingledoccasionally in the conversation by an interjection drawn from him bysurprise, admiration, or joy, was Eusebio, the old Spanish servant, ofwhom we have often spoken in the course of our narrative.
At the entrance of this compartment, which formed a kind of separatechamber in the cavern, another man was walking backwards and forwards,with his hands behind his back, whistling between his teeth an air whichhe probably composed as his thoughts dictated.
This man was Black Elk.
Loyal Heart, Eagle Head, and Belhumeur were absent.
The conversation of the two women appeared to interest them greatly.The mother of the hunter often exchanged significant looks with herold servant, who had allowed his cigarette to go out, but who kept onsmoking it mechanically, without perceiving it.
"Oh!" said the old lady, clasping her hands with fervour, and raisingher eyes toward heaven, "the finger of the Almighty is in all this!"
"Yes," Eusebio replied, with profound conviction; "it is He who has doneit!"
"Tell me, my darling; during the two months of your journey, did youruncle, the general, never give you a glimpse, by his words, his actions,or his proceedings, of the object of this expedition?"
"Never!" Dona Luz replied.
"That is strange!" the old lady murmured.
"Strange, indeed," Eusebio repeated, who still persisted in endeavouringto draw smoke from his extinguished cigarette.
"But tell me," the mother of Loyal Heart resumed, "when you arrived inthe prairies, how did your uncle employ his time? Pardon me, my child,these questions which must surprise you, but which are not at alldictated by curiosity; hereafter you will understand me, and you willthen acknowledge that the lively interest I take in you alone leads meto interrogate you."
"I do not at all doubt it, senora," Dona Luz replied, with a charmingsmile; "therefore I have no difficulty in replying to you. My uncle,after our arrival in the prairies, became dull and preoccupied; hesought for the society of men accustomed to the life of the desert, andwhen he met with one, he would converse with him and interrogate him forhours together."
"And about what did he interrogate him, my child? Do you recollect?"
"Good heavens! senora, I must confess to my shame," the young girlreplied, blushing slightly, "that I did not give great attention to thisconversation, which I thought at least could interest me but little. I,a poor child, whose life up to that period had glided away sadly andmonotonously, and who had seen nothing of the world but through thegratings of my convent, admired the magnificent nature which had, as ifby enchantment, risen before me; I had only eyes enough to contemplatethese wonders; and I adored the Creator whose infinite power had beenrevealed to me thus suddenly."
"That is true, dear child; pardon me these questions, which fatigue you,and whose object you cannot perceive," said the good lady, imprinting akiss upon her brow; "if you wish it, we will speak of something else."
"As you please, senora," the young girl answered, returning her kiss. "Iam most happy to talk with you, and whatever subject you choose, I amsure I shall always take great interest in it."
"But we are talking idly, and forgetting my poor son, who has beenabsent since morning, and who, according to what he told me, ought tohave returned by this time."
"Oh! I hope nothing can have happened to him," cried Dona Luz.
"You take great interest in him, then?" the old lady remarked, with asmile.
"Ah! senora," she replied, with emotion, whilst a vivid blush rose toher cheeks, "can I do otherwise, after the services he has rendered us,and will continue to render us, I am sure?"
"My son has promised to deliver your uncle; be assured that he willfulfil his promise."
"Oh! I do not at all doubt it, senora. What a noble, grand character!"she cried with warmth; "how justly is he named Loyal Heart!"
The old lady and Eusebio looked at her and smiled; they were delightedwith the enthusiasm of the young girl.
Dona Luz perceived the attention with which they were looking at her.She stopped short in confusion, hung down her head, and blushed morethan ever.
"Oh!" said the old lady, taking her hand, "you may go on, my child;I am pleased to hear you speak thus of my son. Yes," she added, in amelancholy tone, and as if talking to herself, "yes; his is a grand andnoble character. Like all exalted natures, he is misunderstood: butpatience! God is trying him, and the day will come when justice will berendered him in the face of all men."
"Can he, then, be unhappy?" the young girl ventured to ask, timidly.
"I do not say he is, my child," the good mother answered, with a stifledsigh. "In this world who can flatter himself with being happy? Everyonehas his troubles, which he must bear; the Almighty measures the burdenaccording to the strength of every man."
A movement was heard in the grotto; several men entered.
"Here is your son, senora," said Black Elk.
"Thank you, my friend," she replied.
"Oh! I am so glad!" said Dona Luz, springing up joyfully.
But ashamed of this inconsiderate movement, the girl sank back, confusedand blushing, into her seat again.
It was, in fact Loyal Heart, but he was not alone. Belhumeur and EagleHead accompanied him, as did several other trappers.
As soon as he was in the grotto, the young man directed his stepshastily towards his mother's retreat; he kissed her, and then turningtowards Dona Luz, he bowed to her with a degree of embarrassment thatwas not natural to him, and which the old lady could not but remark.
The young lady returned him a salutation not less confused than his own.
"Well," he said, with a cheerful smile, "you must have been very tiredof waiting for me, my noble prisoners. Time must travel slowly in thishorrible grotto. Pardon me for having confined you to such a hideousdwelling, Dona Luz--you are made to inhabit splendid palaces. Alas! thisis the most magnificent of my habitations."
"With the mother of him who has saved my life, senor," the girl replied,nobly, "I think myself lodged like a queen, whatever be the place Iinhabit."
"You are a thousand times too good, senora," the hunter stammered; "youreally make me confused."
"Well, my son," the old lady interrupted, with the evident intention ofgiving another turn to the conversation, which began to be embarrassingfor the two young people, "what have you done today? Have you any goodnews to give us? Dona Luz is very uneasy about her uncle; she longs tosee him again."
"I can quite understand the senora's anxiety," the hunter replied,"which I hope soon to be able to put an end to. We have not done muchtoday; we have found it impossible to get upon the track of the bandits.It is eno
ugh to drive a man wild with vexation. Fortunately, as wereturned, at a few paces from the grotto, we met with the doctor, who,according to his praiseworthy custom, was seeking herbs in the cleftsof the rocks, and he told us that he has seen a man of suspiciousappearance prowling about the neighbourhood. We immediately went uponthe hunt, and were not long in discovering an individual whom we tookprisoner, and have brought hither with us."
"You see, senor," said Dona Luz, with a playful air, "that it issometimes of use to be seeking simples. Our dear doctor has, accordingto all appearance, rendered you a great service."
"Without his will being concerned in the matter," said Loyal Heart,laughing.
"I do not say the contrary," the young girl rejoined, banteringly, "butit exists none the less; it is to the herbs you owe it."
"Seeking for herbs may have a good purpose, I agree; but everything inits proper time; without unjustly reproaching him, the doctor has notalways known when to choose it."
Notwithstanding the seriousness of the facts to which these wordsreferred, the hearers could not repress a smile at the expense of theunlucky savant.
"Come! come!" said Dona Luz, "I will not have my poor doctor attacked;he has been sufficiently punished for his forgetfulness by the grief towhich he has been a prey since that inauspicious day."
"You are right, senora, and I will say no more about it. Now I mustbeg your permission to leave you; my companions are literally dying ofhunger, and the brave fellows wait for me to take their repast."
"But," Eusebio asked, "the man you have taken--what do you mean to dowith him?"
"I do not know yet; as soon as our meal is over, I mean to interrogatehim; his replies will most likely dictate my conduct with regard to him."
The cauldrons were taken off the fire, the quarters of venison were cutinto slices, and the trappers and Indians sat down fraternally near eachother, and ate their repast with a good appetite.
The ladies were served apart in their retreat by No Eusebio, whoperformed the delicate functions of house steward with a care and aseriousness worthy of a more suitable scene.
The man who had been arrested near the grotto had been placed under theguard of two stout trappers, armed to the teeth, who never took theireyes off him; but he seemed to entertain no wish to escape; on thecontrary, he did honour vigorously to the food that was placed beforehim.
As soon as the meal was over, the chiefs drew together apart, andconversed for a few minutes among themselves in a low voice. Then, uponthe order of Loyal Heart, the prisoner was brought forward, and theyprepared to interrogate him.
This man, at whom they had scarcely looked, was recognized the moment hewas face to face with the chiefs, who could not repress an expression ofsurprise.
"Captain Waktehno!" said Loyal Heart, in perfect astonishment.
"Himself, gentlemen!" the pirate replied, with haughty irony; "what haveyou to ask of him? He is here ready to answer you."