CHAPTER X.
LOVE.
Dona Luz and Loyal Heart were placed with regard to each other, in asingular position.
Both young, both handsome, they loved without daring to confess it tothemselves, almost without suspecting it.
Both, although their lives had been spent in conditions diametricallyopposite, possessed equal freshness of feeling, equal ingenuousness ofheart.
The childhood of the maiden had passed away, pale and colourless, amidstthe extravagant religious practices of a country where the religion ofChrist is rather a paganism than the pure, noble, and simple faith ofEurope.
She had never felt a beating of the heart. She was as ignorant of loveas she was of sorrow.
She lived thus like the birds of heaven, forgetting the days gone by,careless of the morrow.
The journey she had undertaken had completely changed the colour of herexistence.
At the sight of the immense horizons which spread out before her inthe prairie, of the majestic rivers which she crossed, of the grandmountains round whose feet she was often obliged to travel, and whosehoary heads seemed to touch heaven, her ideas had become enlarged,a bandage was, so to say, removed from her eyes, and she had learntthat God had created her for something else than to drag out a uselessexistence in a convent.
The appearance of Loyal Heart, under the extraordinary circumstances inwhich he had presented himself to her, had won upon her mind, which wasat that time particularly open to all sensations, and ready to retainall the strong impressions it might receive.
In presence of the exalted nature of the hunter, of that man in wildcostume, but possessing a manly countenance, handsome features and noblebearing, she had felt agitated without comprehending the reason.
The fact was, that unknown to herself, by the force of the secretsympathies which exist between all the beings of the great human family,her heart had met the heart she sought for.
Delicate and frail, she stood in need of this energetic man, with thefascinating glance, the leonine courage, and an iron will, to supporther through life, and defend her with his omnipotent protection.
Thus had she, therefore, from the first moment, yielded with a feelingof undefinable happiness, to the inclination which drew her towardsLoyal Heart; and love had installed himself as master in her heart,before she was aware of it, or had even thought of resisting.
Recent events had awakened with intense force the passion which had beenslumbering at the bottom of her heart. Now that she was near him, thatshe heard, at every instant, his praises from the mouth of his mother,or from those of his companions, she had come to consider her love asforming part of her existence, she could not comprehend how she couldhave lived so long without loving this man, whom it appeared she musthave known from her very birth.
She no longer lived but for him and by him; happy at a look or a smile,joyful when she saw him, sad when he remained long absent from her.
Loyal Heart had arrived at the same result by a very different route.
Brought up, so to say, in the prairies, face to face with the Divinity,he was accustomed to adore in the great works he had constantly beforehis eyes, the sublime spectacles of nature; the incessant struggles hehad to sustain, whether against Indians or wild beasts, had developedhim, morally and physically, in immense proportions. As, by his muscularstrength and his skill with his weapons, he had overcome all obstaclesthat had been opposed to him; so, by the grandeur of his ideas and thedelicacy of his sentiments, he was capable of comprehending all things.Nothing that was good and nothing that was great seemed to be unknown tohim. As it always happens with superior organisations early placed atwar with adversity, and given up without other defences than themselvesto the terrible chances of life, his mind had developed itself ingigantic proportions, still remaining in strange unconsciousness ofcertain sensations, which were unknown to him, and would always haveremained so, but for a providential chance.
The daily wants of the agitated and precarious life he led, had stifledwithin him the germ of the passions; his solitary habits had, unknown tohimself, led him to a taste for a contemplative life.
Knowing no other woman but his mother, for the Indians, by theirmanners, inspired him with nothing but disgust, he had reached the ageof six-and-thirty without thinking of love, without knowing what it was,and, what is more, without ever having heard pronounced that word whichcontains so many things in its four letters, and which, in this world,is the source of so many sublime devotions and so many horrible crimes.
After a long day's hunting through woods and ravines, or after havingbeen engaged fifteen or sixteen hours in trapping beavers, when, in theevening, they met in the prairie at their bivouac fire, the conversationof Loyal Heart and his friend Belhumeur, who was as ignorant as himselfin this respect, could not possibly turn upon anything but the events ofthe day.
Weeks, months, years passed away without bringing any change in hisexistence, except a vague uneasiness, whose cause was unknown, butwhich weighed upon his mind, and for which he could not account. Naturehas her imprescriptible rights, and every man must submit to them, inwhatever condition he may chance to be placed.
Thus, therefore, when accident brought Dona Luz before him, by the samesentiment of instinctive and irresistible sympathy which acted upon theyoung girl, his heart flew towards her.
The hunter, astonished at the sudden interest he felt for a stranger,whom, according to all appearances, he might never see again, wasalmost angry with her on account of that sentiment which was awakeningwithin him, and gave to his intercourse with her an asperity which wasunnatural to him.
Like all exalted minds, who have been accustomed to see everything bendbefore them without resistance, he felt himself irritated at beingsubdued by a girl, at yielding to an influence from which he no longercould extricate himself.
But when, after the fire in the prairie, he quitted the Mexican camp,notwithstanding the precipitation of his departure, he carried away theremembrance of the fair stranger with him.
And this remembrance increased with absence.
He always fancied he heard the soft and melodious notes of the younggirl's voice sounding in his ears, however strong the efforts he madeto forget her; in hours of watching or of sleep, she was always there,smiling upon him, and fixing her enchanting looks upon him.
The struggle was severe. Loyal Heart, notwithstanding the passion thatdevoured him, knew what an insuperable distance separated him fromDona Luz, and how senseless and unrealizable this love was. All theobjections possibly to be made in such cases, he made, in order to provehe was mad.
Then, when he had convinced himself that an abyss separated him from herhe loved, overcome by the terrible conflict he had maintained againsthimself, supported perhaps by that hope which never abandons energeticmen, far from frankly acknowledging his defeat, but yielding to thepassion which was from that time to constitute his sole joy, his solehappiness, he continued doggedly to struggle against it, despisinghimself for a thousand little weaknesses which his love was continuallymaking him commit.
He shunned, with an obstinacy that ought to have offended the maiden,all opportunities of meeting her. When by chance they happened to betogether, he became taciturn and sullen, only answering with difficultythe questions she put to him, and, with that awkwardness peculiar tounpractised lovers, seizing the first opportunity for leaving her.
The young lady looked after him sadly, sighed quietly but deeply, andsometimes a liquid pearl flowed silently down her rosy cheeks at seeingthis departure, which she took for indifference, and which was inreality love.
But during the few days that had passed since the taking of the campthe young people had progressed without suspecting it, and this wasgreatly assisted by the mother of Loyal Heart, who, with that secondsight with which all mothers worthy of the name are endowed, had divinedthis passion, and the honourable combats of her son, and had constitutedherself the secret confidante of their love, assisting it unknown tothem, and protecti
ng it with all her power, whilst both lovers werepersuaded that their secret was buried in the depths of their own hearts.
Such was the state of things two days after the proposal made by thecaptain to Dona Luz.
Loyal Heart appeared more sad and more preoccupied than usual; he walkedabout the grotto with hasty strides, showing signs of the greatestimpatience, and at intervals casting uneasy glances around him.
At length, leaning against one of the projections of the grotto, he lethis head sink on his chest, and remained plunged in profound meditation.
He had stood thus for some time, when a soft voice murmured in his ear--
"What is the matter, my son? Why are your features clouded with suchsadness? Have you received any bad news?"
Loyal Heart raised his head, like a man suddenly awakened from sleep.
His mother and Dona Luz were standing before him, their arms interlaced,and leaning upon each other.
He cast upon them a melancholy glance, and replied with a stifled sigh,--
"Alas! mother, tomorrow is the last day. I have as yet been able toimagine nothing that can save Dona Luz, and restore her uncle to her."
The two women started.
"Tomorrow!" Dona Luz murmured; "that is true; it is tomorrow that thatman is to come!"
"What will you do, my son?"
"How can I tell, mother?" he replied impatiently. "Oh! this man isstronger than I am. He has defeated all my plans. Up to the presentmoment we have not possibly been able to discover his retreat. All ourresearches have proved useless."
"Loyal Heart," the young lady said, softly, "will you then abandon me tothe mercy of this bandit? Why, then, did you save me?"
"Oh!" the young man cried, "that reproach kills me."
"I am not reproaching you, Loyal Heart," she said warmly; "but I am veryunhappy. If I remain, I cause the death of the only relative I have inthe world; if I depart, I am dishonoured!"
"Oh, to be able to do nothing!" he cried, with great excitement. "To seeyou weep, to know that you are unhappy, and to be able to do nothing!Oh!" he added, "to spare you the least anxiety I would sacrifice my lifewith joy. God alone knows what I suffer from this want of power."
"Hope, my son, hope!" the old lady said, with an encouraging accent."God is good. He will not abandon you."
"Hope! how can you tell me to do so, mother? During the last two days myfriends and I have attempted things that would appear impossible--andyet without result. Hope! and in a few hours this miserable wretch willcome to claim the prey he covets! Better to die than see such a crimeconsummated."
Dona Luz cast upon him a glance of a peculiar expression, a melancholysmile for a moment passed over her lips, and then she gently laid herdelicate little hand upon his shoulder,--
"Loyal Heart," she said, with her melodious, clear voice, "do you loveme?"
The young man started; a tremor pervaded every limb.
"Why that question?" he said, in a deeply agitated tone.
"Answer me," she replied, "without hesitation, as I put the question toyou; the hour is a solemn one; I have a favour to ask of you."
"Oh! name it, senora; you know I can refuse you nothing!"
"Answer me, then," she said, trembling with emotion; "do you love me?"
"If it be love to desire to sacrifice my life for you--if it be loveto suffer martyrdom at witnessing the flowing of a tear which I wouldpurchase with my whole blood--if it be love to have the courage to seeyou accomplish the sacrifice that will be required from you tomorrow inorder to save your uncle--oh! yes, senora, I love you with all my soul!Therefore, speak without fear: whatever you ask of me I will performwith joy."
"That is well, my dear friend," she said, "I depend upon your word;tomorrow I will remind you of it when that man presents himself; but, inthe first place, my uncle must be saved, if it were to cost me my life.Alas! he has been a father to me: he loves me as his daughter. It was onmy account that he fell into the hands of the bandits. Oh! swear to me,Loyal Heart, that you will deliver him," she added, with an expressionof anguish impossible to be described.
Loyal Heart was about to reply when Belhumeur and Black Elk entered thegrotto.
"At last!" he cried, springing towards them.
The three men talked for a few minutes together in a low voice: then thehunter returned hastily towards the two women.
His face was glowing with animation.
"You were right, my dear mother," he exclaimed, in a cheerful tone, "Godis good: He will not abandon those who place their confidence in Him.Now it is my turn to say, Hope, Dona Luz, I will soon restore your uncleto you."
"Oh!" she cried, joyfully, "can it be possible?"
"Hope! I repeat! Adieu, mother! Implore God to second me; I am about,more than ever, to stand in need of His help!"
Without saying more the young man rushed out of the grotto, followed bythe greater part of his companions.
"What did he mean by what he said?" Dona Luz asked, anxiously.
"Come with me, my daughter," the old lady replied, sorrowfully; "come,let us pray for him."
She drew her softly towards the retired part of the grotto which theyinhabited.
There only remained about half a score men charged with the defence ofthe two women.