CHAPTER XXVII.
THE GUIDE.
Military law is inflexible--it has its rules, from which it neverdeparts, and discipline allows of neither hesitation nor tergiversation;the oriental axiom, so much in favour at despotic courts, "to hear is toobey," is rigorously true from a military point of view. Still, howeverhard this may appear at the first blush, it must be so, for if the rightof discussion were granted inferiors with reference to the orders theirsuperiors gave them, all discipline would be destroyed; the soldiershenceforth only obeying their caprices, would grow ungovernable, and thearmy, instead of rendering the country the services which it has a rightto expect from it, would speedily become a scourge.
These reflections, and many others, crossed the Captain's mind, while hethoughtfully followed the guide whom his General's despatch had sosingularly forced on him; but the order was clear and peremptory, he wasobliged to obey, and he did obey, although he felt convinced that theman to whom he was compelled to trust was unworthy of the confidenceplaced in him, if he were not an utter traitor.
As for the trooper, he galloped carelessly at the head of the caravan,smoking, laughing, singing, and not seeming to suspect the doubtsentertained about him.
It is true that the Captain carefully kept secret the ill opinion he hadformed of the guide, and ostensibly placed the utmost confidence in him:for prudence demanded that in the critical situation in which theconducta was placed, those who composed it should not suspect theirChief's anxiety, lest they might be demoralized by the fear of animpending, treachery.
The Captain, before starting, had given the most severe orders that thearms should be in a good state; he sent off scouts ahead, and on theflanks of the troops, to explore the neighbourhood, and be assured thatthe road was free, and no danger to be apprehended; in a word, he hadtaken most scrupulously all the measures prudence dictated, in order toguarantee the safety of the journey.
The guide, who was an impassive witness of all these precautions, onwhose behalf they were taken with so much ostentation, appeared toapprove of them, and even drew attention to the skill theborder-ruffians have in gliding through bushes and grass without leavingtraces, and the care the scouts must devote to the accomplishment of themission entrusted to them.
The further the conducta advanced in the direction of the mountains, themore difficult and dangerous the march became; the trees, at firstscattered over a large space, became imperceptibly closer, and at lastformed a dense forest, through which, at certain spots, they werecompelled to cut their way with the axe, owing to the masses of creepersintertwined in each other, and forming an inextricable tangle; thenagain, there were rather wide streams difficult of approach, which thehorses and mules were obliged to ford in the midst of iguanas andalligators, having frequently the water up to their girths.
The immense dome of verdure under which the caravan painfully advanced,utterly hid the sky, and only allowed a few sunbeams to filter throughthe foliage, which was not sufficient entirely to dissipate the gloomwhich prevails almost constantly in the virgin forests, even at mid-day.
Europeans, who are only acquainted with the forests of the old world,cannot form even a remote idea of those immense oceans of verdure whichin America are called virgin forests.
There the trees form a compact mass, for they are so entwined in eachother, and fastened together by a network of lianas which wind roundtheir stems and branches, plunging in the ground to rise again like thepipes of an immense organ, or forming capricious curves, as they riseand descend incessantly amid tufts of the parasite called Spanish beard,which falls from the ends of the branches of all the trees; the soil,covered with detritus of every sort, and humus formed of trees that havedied of old age, is hidden beneath a thick grass several feet in height.The trees, nearly all of the same species, offer so little variety, thateach of them seems only a repetition of the others.
These forests are crossed in all directions by paths formed centuriesagone by the feet of wild beasts, and leading to their mysteriouswatering-places; here and there beneath the foliage are stagnantmarshes, over which myriads of mosquitoes buzz, and from which densevapours rise that fill the forest with gloom; reptiles and insects ofall sorts crawl on the ground, while the cries of birds and the hoarsecalls of the wild beasts form a formidable concert which the echoes ofthe lagoons repeat.
The most hardened wood-rangers enter in tremor the virgin forests, forit is almost impossible to find one's way with certainty, and it is farfrom safe to trust to the tracks which cross and are confounded; thehunters know by experience that once lost in one of these forests,unless a miracle supervene, they must perish within the walls formed bythe tall grass and the curtain of lianas, without hope of being helpedor saved by any living being of their own species.
It was a virgin forest the caravan entered at this moment.
The guide pushed on, without the least hesitation, appearing perfectlysure of the road he followed, contenting himself by giving at lengthenedintervals a glance to the right or left, but not once checking the paceof his horse.
It was nearly mid-day; the heat was growing stifling, the horses andmen, who had been on the march since four in the morning along almostimpracticable roads, were exhausted with fatigue, and imperiouslyclaimed a few hours' rest, which was indispensable before proceedingfurther.
The Captain resolved to let the troop camp in one of those vastclearings, so many of which are found in these parts, and are formed bythe fall of trees overthrown by a hurricane, or dead of old age.
The command to halt was given. The soldiers and arrieros gave a sigh ofrelief, and stopped at once.
The Captain, whose eyes were accidentally fixed at this moment on theguide, saw a cloud of dissatisfaction on his brow; still, feeling hewas watched, the man at once recovered himself, pretended to share thegeneral joy, and dismounted.
The horses and mules were unsaddled, that they might browse freely onthe young tree shoots and the grass that grew abundantly on the ground.
The soldiers enjoyed their frugal meal, and lay down on their zarapes tosleep.
Ere long, the individuals composing the caravan were slumbering, withthe exception of two, the Captain and the guide.
Probably each of them was troubled by thoughts sufficiently serious todrive away sleep, and keep them awake, when all wanted to repose.
A few paces from the clearing, some monstrous iguanas were lying in thesun, wallowing in the grayish mud of a stream whose water ran with aslight murmur through the obstacles of every description that impededits course. Myriads of insects filled the air with the continued buzzingof their wings; squirrels leaped gaily from branch to branch; the birds,hidden beneath the foliage, were singing cheerily, and here and thereabove the tall grass might be seen the elegant head and startled eyes ofa deer or an ashata, which suddenly rushed beneath the covert with a lowof terror.
But the two men were too much occupied with their thoughts to noticewhat was going on around them.
The Captain raised his head at the very moment when the guide had fixedon him a glance of strange meaning: confused at being thus takenunawares, he tried to deceive the officer by speaking tohim--old-fashioned tactics, however, by which the latter was not duped.
"It is a hot day, Excellency," he said, with a nonchalant air.
"Yes," the Captain answered, laconically.
"Do you not feel any inclination for sleep?"
"No."
"For my part, I feel my eyelids extraordinarily heavy, and my eyes closeagainst my will; with your permission I will follow the example of ourcomrades, and take a few moments of that refreshing sleep they seem toenjoy so greatly."
"One moment--I have something to say to you."
"Very good," he said, with an air of the utmost indifference.
He rose, stifling a sigh of regret, and seated himself by the Captain'sside, who withdrew to make room for him under the protecting shadow ofthe large tree which stretched out above his head its giant arms, loadedwith vines and Spani
sh beard.
"We are about to talk seriously," the Captain went on.
"As you please."
"Can you be frank?"
"What?" the soldier said, thrown off his guard by the suddenness of thequestion.
"Or, if you prefer it, can you be honest?"
"That depends."
The Captain looked at him.
"Will you answer my questions?"
"I do not know."
"What do you say?"
"Listen, Excellency," the guide said, with a simple look, "my mother,worthy woman that she was, always recommended me to distrust two sortsof people, borrowers and questioners, for she said, with considerablesense, the first attack your purse, the others your secrets."
"Then you have a secret?"
"Not the least in the world."
"Then what do you fear?"
"Not much, it is true. Well, question me, Excellency, and I will try toanswer you."
The Mexican peasant, the Manzo or civilized Indian, has a good deal ofthe Norman peasant about him, in so far as it is impossible to obtainfrom him a positive answer to any question asked him. The Captain wascompelled to be satisfied with the guide's half promise, so he wenton:--
"Who are you?"
"I?"
"Yes, you."
The guide began laughing.
"You can see plainly enough," he said.
The Captain shook his head.
"I do not ask you what you appear to be, but what you really are."
"Why, senor, what man can answer for himself, and know positively who heis?"
"Listen, scoundrel," the Captain continued, in a menacing tone, "I donot mean to lose my time in following you through all the stories youmay think proper to invent. Answer my questions plainly, or, if not--"
"If not?" the guide impudently interrupted him.
"I blow out your brains like a dog's!" he replied, as he drew a pistolfrom his belt, and hastily cocked it.
The soldier's eye flashed fire, but his features remained impassive, andnot a muscle of his face stirred.
"Oh, oh, senor Captain," he said, in a sombre voice, "you have asingular way of questioning your friends."
"Who assures me that you are a friend? I do not know you."
"That is true, but you know the person who sent me to you; that personis your Chief as he is mine. I obeyed him by coming to find you, as youought to obey him by following the orders he has given you."
"Yes, but those orders were sent me through you."
"What matter?"
"Who guarantees that the despatch you have brought me was really handedto you?"
"Caramba, Captain, what you say is anything but flattering to me," theguide replied with an offended look.
"I know it; unhappily we live at a time when it is so difficult todistinguish friends from foes, that I cannot take too many precautionsto avoid falling into a snare; I am entrusted by Government with a verydelicate mission, and must therefore behave with great reserve towardpersons who are strangers to me."
"You are right, Captain; hence, in spite of the offensive nature of yoursuspicions, I will not feel affronted by what you say, for exceptionalpositions require exceptional measures. Still, I will strive by myconduct to prove to you how mistaken you are."
"I shall be glad if I am mistaken; but take care. If I perceive anythingdoubtful, either in your actions or your words, I shall not hesitate toblow out your brains. Now that you are warned, it is your place to actin accordance."
"Very good, Captain, I will run the risk. Whatever happens. I feelcertain that my conscience will absolve me, for I shall have acted forthe best."
This was said with an air of frankness which, in spite of hissuspicions, had its effect on the Captain.
"We shall see," he said; "shall we soon get out of this infernal forestin which we now are?"
"We have only two hours' march left; at sunset we shall join the personswho are awaiting us."
"May Heaven grant it!" the Captain muttered.
"Amen!" the soldier said boldly.
"Still, as you have not thought proper to answer any of the questions Iasked you, you must not feel offended if I do not let you out of sightfrom this moment, and keep you by my side when we start again."
"You can do as you please, Captain; you have the power, if not theright, on your side, and I am compelled to yield to your will."
"Very good, now you can sleep if you think proper."
"Then you have nothing more to say to me?"
"Nothing."
"In that case I will avail myself of the permission you are kind enoughto grant me, and try to make up for lost time."
The soldier then rose, stiffing a long yawn, walked a few paces off, laydown on the ground, and seemed within a few minutes plunged in a deepsleep.
The Captain remained awake. The conversation he had held with his guideonly increased his anxiety, by proving to him that this man concealedgreat cunning beneath an abrupt and trivial manner. In fact, he had notanswered one of the questions asked him, and after a few minutes hadsucceeded in making the Captain turn from the offensive to thedefensive, by giving him speciously logical arguments to which theofficer was unable to raise any objection.
Don Juan was, therefore at this moment in the worst temper a man ofhonour can be in, who is dissatisfied with himself and others, fullyconvinced that he was in the right, but compelled, to a certain extent,to allow himself in the wrong.
The soldiers, as generally happens in such cases, suffered from theirchief's ill temper; for the officer, afraid of adding the darkness tothe evil chances he fancied he had against him, and not at all desirousto be surprised by night in the inextricable windings of the forest, cutthe halt short much sooner than he would have done under differentcircumstances.
At about two o'clock P.M. he ordered the boot and saddle to be sounded,and gave the word to start.
The greatest heat of the day had passed over, the sunbeams being moreoblique, had lost a great deal of their power, and the march wascontinued under conditions comparatively better than those whichpreceded it.
As he had warned him, the Captain intimated to the guide that he was toride by his side, and, so far as was possible, did not let him out ofsight for a second.
The latter did not appear at all troubled by this annoying inquisition;he rode along quite as gaily as heretofore, smoking his husk cigarette,and whistling fragments of jarabes between his teeth.
The forest began gradually to grow clearer, the openings became morenumerous, and the eye embraced a wider horizon; all led to thepresumption that they would soon reach the limits of the covert.
Still, the ground began rising slightly on both sides, and the path theconducta followed grew more and more hollow, in proportion as itadvanced.
"Are we already reaching the spurs of the mountains?" the Captain asked.
"Oh, no, not yet," the guide answered.
"Still we shall soon be between two hills?"
"Yes, but of no height."
"That is true; still, if I am not mistaken, we shall have to passthrough a defile."
"Yes, but of no great length."
"You should have warned me of it."
"Why so?"
"That I might have sent some scouts ahead."
"That is true, but there is still time to do so if you like; the personswho are waiting for us are at the end of that gorge."
"Then we have arrived?"
"Very nearly so."
"Let us push on in that case."
"I am quite ready."
They went on; all at once the guide stopped.
"Hilloh!" he said, "Look over there, Captain; is not that a musketbarrel glistening in the sunbeams?"
The Captain sharply turned his eyes in the direction indicated by thesoldier.
At the same moment a frightful discharge burst forth from either side ofthe way, and a shower of bullets poured on the conducta.
Before the Captain, ferocious at this shameful treachery
, could draw apistol from his belt, he rolled on the ground, dragged down by hishorse, which had a ball right through its heart.
The guide had disappeared, and it was impossible to discover how he hadescaped.