CHAPTER XXII.
THE SURPRISE.
The Jaguar spoke truly when he said that the task the conspirators wereabout to undertake was rude. Swimming side by side, the Texans advancedin a straight line in the direction of the fort, which the obscurityprevented them seeing. The sea was rough and lumpy; heavy waves pouredin, and rolled at every moment on their heads; the wind redoubled itsviolence; the terrible coromuel, the scourge of these coasts, where itcauses so many shipwrecks, had risen; there was not a star in the sky toguide these determined men.
They swam on--not a cry, moan, or sigh revealing any fatigue ordiscouragement on their part. At the head of the gloomy line formed bythe energetic heads of the conspirators, the Jaguar progressed alone.Three-quarters of an hour passed, during which all the strength andcourage the human will possesses were expended in this struggle ofgiants by these men, whom nothing could quell. Not one had broken down;the line was still compact, and they advanced with the same vigour.Before them, at about a musket shot distance, a denser shadow wasvisible in the gloom, thrown out by the enormous mass of the fortressthey were approaching!
Since the departure, the conspirators, with their eyes ardently fixedahead, had not exchanged a syllable. What could they have said? Theywere perfectly aware of the probable consequences of their madenterprise, and fully conscious of the danger they incurred. Besides,what was the good of speaking, when they could act? Hence they weresilent, but they acted vigorously. Still, as all the men swam likeotters, and were accustomed to the perfidious element in which they nowwere, they only expended the necessary amount of strength, and were verycareful to keep the line regular.
At length, after superhuman efforts, they succeeded in cutting throughthe current that dashed with extreme rapidity and strength into thestraits. The hardest work was over; from this moment they needed only tolet themselves drift gently ashore, while careful to keep the rightdirection.
"Courage!" the Jaguar said.
This word, the first the young man had uttered since the start, restoredthe strength of his comrades and aroused their ardour again. Thefortress stood out gloomy and imposing a short distance ahead, and theconspirators were already swimming in the shadow it cast. All at once acry disturbed the silence.
"_Tintorera!_"
A brilliant mass came to meet the conspirators, leave a longphosphorescent trail behind it.
"Tintorera!" a second voice shouted.
In fact, another shark was advancing from the open sea and swimmingstraight towards the conspirators, leaving a line of fire.
"Tintorera!" a third voice said, with an indescribable accent of agony.
Three tintoreras beset the swimmers and momentarily contracted thecircle in which they held them. The danger was serious.
"Forward, comrades," the Jaguar said, in his calm and sympathetic voice,"swim gently and noiselessly; you know that these monsters are almostblind, and more than half deaf, they have not seen us. John Davis?" headded.
"Here!" the American answered.
"Where are you?"
"I am the last but one on the right."
"Good! you will take the second tintorera and I the first. Lanzi!"
"Lanzi has just disappeared," a voice answered.
"Malediction!" said the Jaguar, "Can he be dead? who shall attack thethird tintorera?"
"Do not trouble yourself, Jaguar," the well-known voice of thehalf-breed answered, "I am after it."
"Good! swim on, comrades, and leave us to cope with these monsters."
The conspirators continued to advance silently, although they redoubledtheir efforts. The Jaguar dived immediately and dashed toward the shark,which was swimming at a moderate depth. The Chief and the monster weresoon so near that the brown fins of the tintorera grazed the shoulder ofthe daring Texan, who saw the glassy eye of the shark, half covered by amembrane, fixed upon him with an expression of cold malignity.
The Jaguar remounted to the surface of the water and clutched hisdagger, at the same instant the monster's silvery belly was visible, asit opened its enormous mouth, armed with terrible teeth, close set asthose of a harrow. The Jaguar drove in his dagger with all his strength,and ripped the belly for about one-third its length. The hideoustintorera, wounded to death, gave an enormous bound, while wildlybeating the water, and then fell back stark dead.
The Jaguar, half blinded by the blood-stained water, and tossed about inthe whirlpool it had caused in its flurry, did not regain his senses formore than a minute. At length, by a supreme effort, he returned to thesurface, inhaled the fresh air, and stifled a cry of triumph on seeingnear him the inanimate body of his foe the sport of the waves. Withoutstopping, he took an anxious glance around.
"It's all over," a voice said near him.
"Is that you, Lanzi?"
"It is," the half-bred answered, in a voice as tranquil as if he were onterra firma.
"Well?"
"The shark is dead."
"Now for the third, then. Where is John Davis? I do not see him."
"Let us go and see."
Not troubling themselves about their comrades, who were swimming towardsland, the two lion-hearted men dashed to the American's help. But allwas gloomy and silent around them; in vain did they cross-question thedarkness, nothing appeared, neither man nor tintorera.
"Can he be dead?" the Jaguar muttered, in a hollow voice.
"Oh, I cannot think so," Lanzi answered, "he is so brave and clever."
"Suppose we hail him? He may be wounded."
"But we shall be heard from the fort."
"No, the wind is off shore."
"Help, help!" a voice shouted at the moment close by.
"That is he," said the Jaguar; "here we are, John, so have courage."
And redoubling their efforts they proceeded in the direction whence thecry for help had come.
"Help, help!" the voice repeated with such an expression of agony, thatthe two men felt themselves shudder, although they were so inaccessibleto fears. There is in the parting cry of agony of a strong man conqueredby necessity, so poignant and crushing an expression, that it stirs thehearer to the depths of the soul.
"Courage, courage!" the two men repeated, redoubling their alreadyprodigious efforts.
All at once they saw a black mass swirling at about a yard from them andthen sink. The Jaguar immediately plunged and brought it to the surface;this mass, which they had been unable to discover in the darkness, wasthe body of John Davis. It was high time for them to arrive; theAmerican, finding himself conquered in the obstinate struggle he had solong sustained against death, was sinking. Still, he had not entirelylost his senses; being held above water, he inhaled the fresh air, andwas soon in a condition to answer the questions his comrades asked him.
"Are you wounded?" said the Jaguar.
"Yes."
"What's the matter?"
"I fancy my shoulder bone is put out; the monster, in dying, dealt me ablow with his tail which all but made me faint. Had it not been for you,I was lost. But good bye, and thanks; lose no further time with a manwho is half dead."
"We shall not abandon you if you do not abandon yourself, John. Lanziand I, two powerful men, are ready to do everything to save you."
"We are too far from land."
"You are mistaken, we are almost touching it; a few more strokes and weshall find ground; let us act."
"Be it so, as you insist on it."
"Can you support yourself in the water by putting one hand on Lanzi'sshoulder and the other on mine?"
"I will try, brother."
"Come on then."
John Davis, stifling the horrible sufferings he underwent, succeeded indoing what the Jaguar asked him, and all three then advanced towards theshore, which was, in truth, no great distance off, and, in spite of thedarkness, its outline could be distinctly marked. But, in spite of allhis courage, Davis's sufferings were so atrocious, that he felt his eyesgrow dim and his strength all at once fail him.
"No," he said, "it is
impossible and letting loose the support that hadhitherto kept him up, he sunk.
"Cuerpo de Cristo!" the Jaguar exclaimed, with a sublime outburst ofgrief, "I will save him or perish with him."
He plunged boldly seized his friend by his black hair, and mountingagain with him, held his head above water, while he swam gently with hisright hand. Lanzi had in no way attempted to oppose the heroic action ofthe Chief of the Freebooters, but at the same time had not deserted him;he swam close to him, ready to come to his aid if needed.
Fortunately for the Jaguar, the enormous mass of rock on which the fortwas built neutralized the effects of the wind, and produced a factitiouscalm which allowed the young man to reach with his precious burden thenarrow tongue of land, where his comrades were already awaiting him; buton landing he fainted. Human strength has limits which it cannotsurpass; so long as the danger endured, the Jaguar had struggledenergetically, but, once it was over, and his friend saved, he had been,compelled to confess himself conquered, and rolled on the sand withterror.
The conspirators were terrified at the condition in which they saw theirChief, for what could they do without him--what would become of them?Lanzi reassured them by stating what had happened, and then all crowdedround the young man and the American, whose condition was far moreserious, since he had received an injury.
As we have said, only fatigue and moral over-excitement had caused theJaguar's fainting fit. Thanks to the eager and intelligent attention ofhis comrades, he speedily regained his senses, and returned to fullpossession of his faculties. Time pressed, and they must act withoutdelay, if they did not wish to be surprised by the return of the tide.So soon as the Jaguar had recovered, his first care was to count hiscomrades; nine were missing. These nine men had died without venting acry or uttering a complaint; when fatigue crushed them, they had sunksooner than claim assistance, which would probably have occasioned theloss of their comrades by compelling them to offer assistance, whichwould have exhausted their strength in a few moments. Great causes aloneproduce such acts of devotion.
The conspirators were at the very foot of the rock, at the top of whichthe fort was built. It was a great step made, but it was as nothing solong as the rock was not escaladed. But how to attempt that feat on adark night and with a coromuel, which every moment blew with greaterforce, and threatened to hurl to destruction the man who was so rash asto venture to attempt such an ascent!
Still, they must act, and the Jaguar did not hesitate. He had not riskedhis own life and that of his comrades to be arrested by any obstacle,whatever its nature might be; impossibilities themselves must not stayhim, for, although he might be killed, he would not recoil an inch.Still the means he had at his disposal were extremely limited; he hadbut a silken cord about a hundred fathoms in length rolled round hisbody, and his comrades had no other weapons than their daggers.
The persons who have read the early scenes of this story will doubtlessremember the portrait we drew of the Jaguar. Although still very young,or at least appearing so, he joined exceptional strength to marvellousagility and skill; his adventurous character found delight inextraordinary things, and impossibilities alone offered any attractionto him. After reflecting for a few moments, he advised his comrades tolie down at the foot of the rock, lest they should be blown away by thecoromuel, which was raging at the moment, passed two daggers through hisbelt, and began examining with the most scrupulous attention the rock hewished to attack.
This granitic mass, whose base was bathed in the sea and beaten by thewaves, had never been seriously investigated by anyone, for who had anyinterest in such a thing? The Jaguar alone, since the thought hadoccurred to him of carrying the fort by surprise, had, on severaloccasions and for hours together, examined it with a telescope.Unluckily, through fear of exciting suspicions, he could only inspect itfrom a long distance, and hence many details escaped his notice, as heperceived at once when he began a serious investigation.
In fact, this rock, which at a distance seemed to form an almostperpendicular wall, was hollowed out at several points, and fissures hadbeen opened by time--that great demolisher, which wears away the hardestgranite. Though the ascent was still extremely difficult, it was notimpossible; the Jaguar welcomed this certainty with a quick start ofdelight.
"It is all right, brothers," he said to his comrades, "so take courage;now, I entertain firm hopes of success."
And he prepared to mount. Lanzi followed him.
"Where are you going?" the Jaguar asked him.
"With you," the half-breed answered, laconically.
"For what good? One man is sufficient for what I am going to do."
"Yes," he answered; "but two are better."
"Well, come on, then." And then, turning to his attentive comrades, headded, "so soon as the rope falls, cling on to it without fear."
"Yes," the conspirators said.
The Jaguar then planted his dagger in a crevice above his head, and withthe help of his hands and feet, raised himself sufficiently to thrust ina second dagger above the first. The first step was taken; from daggerto dagger the Jaguar reached, in a few minutes, a species of platformabout two square yards in width, where it was possible to draw breath.Lanzi arrived almost with him.
"Well," said the latter, "this trip is rather amusing; it is only a pitythat it is so dark."
"All the better; on the contrary," the Jaguar replied, "we need not feara dizziness."
"By my faith, that is true," said the half-breed, who cared as littlefor a dizziness as he did for a grain of sand.
They examined the spot where they were. It was a species of hollow,probably excavated by time in the sides of the rock. Unfortunately, overthis hollow the rock formed a projection, rendering any further ascentimpossible. While the Jaguar was seeking on either side the means tocontinue his climb, the half-breed, thinking it useless to fatiguehimself, sat down quietly in the crevice to shelter himself from thewind.
The end of the hollow was covered by a thick curtain of shrubs, againstwhich Lanzi leaned with the confiding delight of a man who is glad torest himself, if only for a moment, after his fatigue; but the shrubsgave way under his weight, and the half-breed fell down at his fulllength.
"Hilloa!" he said, with that magnificent coolness which never desertedhim, "What's this?"
"Will you be quiet?" the Jaguar exclaimed, as he hurried up, "or weshall be found out. What has happened to you?"
"I do not know. Look for yourself."
The two men then advanced with outstretched arms, owing to the darkness.
"Why, it is a grotto. Viva Dios!" the Jaguar exclaimed a moment later.
"It looks to me very like one," said the half-breed, with his oldcoolness.
In fact, this excavation, which at a distance appeared a narrow fissure,concealed the entrance to a natural grotto, completely masked by theshrubs which accident had planted there, and which an equally greataccident had enabled the half-breed to discover. What was this passagethrough? Did it go up and down? And was it known to the garrison? Suchwere the questions which the adventurers asked themselves, and theynaturally could not answer them.
"What shall we do?" Lanzi asked.
"Por Dios! That is not difficult to guess," the Jaguar replied; "we willexplore this cave."
"That is my opinion too; but I think there is a matter of inquiry to dobefore that."
"What is it?"
"Whatever this cave may be, and no matter where it ends, it is certainthat it will, at any rate, offer us an excellent shelter. Supposing, atany rate, as is possible, that we cannot succeed in effecting the ascentof the rock this night, we will hide ourselves here during tomorrow, andbe ready to finish on the following night what we shall not have timeto effect during the present one."
"That is an excellent idea," the Jaguar remarked, "and we willimmediately carry it into effect."
The young man unfastened the rope round his hips, and after securelyattaching one end round a point of rock, and a stone to the other end,that the win
d might not blow it about, he let it fall. In a few minutesthe rope stiffened--the conspirators watching on the beach had seizedit. Ere long a man made his appearance, then a second, and so on tillall reached the platform. As they arrived, Lanzi sent them into thegrotto.
"And John Davis?" the Jaguar asked reproachfully; "have you abandonedhim?"
"Certainly not," the conspirator who mounted last answered. "Uponleaving I was careful to put the rope several times round his body, inspite of his objections. We only succeeded in overcoming his obstinacyby persuading him that the weight of his body would keep the rope taut,and facilitate my ascent."
"Thank you," said the Jaguar. "Now, lads, to work; we must not abandonour brother."
At the Chiefs order, or rather entreaty, eight or ten men seized therope, and the American was soon hoisted on to the platform.
"What is the use of taking so much trouble about me?" he said. "I can beof no service to you: on the contrary, I shall only be in the way, andimpede your operations. It would have been better to leave me to die;the rising tide would have formed my winding sheet."
The Jaguar made no answer, but had him conveyed into the grotto, wherehe was laid down on the ground. The young Chief then collected hiscomrades, and explained to them how, by a providential accident, Lanzihad discovered the entrance of the grotto. Still, it had not yet beenexplored, and it was of urgency to find out in what direction it ran."Unfortunately," the young man added, "the darkness is dense, and wehave no means of procuring fire."
"Listen, Jaguar," John Davis said, who had attentively followed theChiefs remarks; "I will give you fire."
"You!" the young man said with a start of delight; "but no, that isimpossible."
In spite of his sufferings the American attempted to smile.
"What! You a wood ranger," he said, "did not think of that! And yet itis very simple. Just feel in the right-hand pocket of my calzoneras, andtake out a packet."
The Jaguar hastily obeyed; he drew out a small parcel about seven inchesin length, carefully wrapped up in shagreen and tied with thread.
"What does this parcel contain?" he asked in some curiosity.
"A dozen _cabos_, which I brought with me on the chance," the Americancalmly replied.
"Candles! _Viva Dios!_" the young man exclaimed with delight; "that is abrilliant idea. You are an invaluable man, John. But," he added sadly amoment later, "of what use will they be?"
"To light us, of course."
"Unfortunately, all our matches are damped by the sea."
"Not mine. Do you imagine, Jaguar, that I am the man to neglect anyprecautions, and do things by halves? Feel in the left-hand pocket of mycalzoneras, friend."
The Jaguar did not allow the intimation to be repeated. He found asecond parcel smaller than the first, equally preserved from the wet,containing a gold mechero with its flint and steel.
"Oh," the young Chief said, "now we are saved!"
"I hope so," the American said, as he fell back on the ground, where heremained motionless, conquered by pain.
A few minutes later, four candles were lighted, and illumined theinterior of the grotto. The conspirators restrained with difficulty acry of terror, for, thanks to the precautions taken by John Davis, theywere saved, but not in the sense meant by the Jaguar. This grottoextended a long distance; its walls were lofty, and it seemed to ascend;but in the centre was an opening, stretching across about two-thirds ofits width, and whose depth appeared enormous: one step further into theinterior of the cavern, and the conspirators would have disappeared inthe abyss.
There are some dangers which go beyond the range of all human foresight,and which, through that very reason, render the most intrepid man frozenwith terror. These men, who for some hours past had risked their livestwenty times in a mad struggle, and who only lived yet through amiracle, shuddered on thinking of the horrible danger they had escapedby a providential accident.
"Oh!" the Jaguar exclaimed with an expression impossible to render, "Itis evident that Heaven is on our side, and we shall succeed. Follow me,brothers, for you must be as anxious as myself to hold the clue of thisenigma."
All rushed after him. The cave took several windings, but, contrary towhat is generally found in most natural grottos, it did not appear tohave any other arteries save the one in which the conspirators foundthemselves.
The latter went on, following their leader step by step. The deeper theygot into the cavern, the ruder became the ascent. The Jaguar advancedwith extreme caution and doubt, for it seemed to him impossible thatthis passage should be unknown to the Commandant of the garrison. Onreflection he supposed--and with some semblance of truth--that this cavehad been excavated, in earlier times, by human hands, and that the abyssinto which he and his comrades had all but fallen, was nought else thana well, intended to supply the garrison in the event of a siege.
He soon obtained a proof that his surmises were correct, for aftermarching for a few minutes longer, the conspirators were arrested by aniron-bound door, which barred their way. At a sign from the Jaguar, theyremained motionless, with their hands on their dagger hilts. The momentfor action had arrived: this door evidently opened into the fort.
The Jaguar examined the lock for an instant, and then ordered the lightsto be put out, which was immediately obeyed, and the conspirators wereagain in darkness. This door, which was very old, and probably had notbeen opened for a long series of years, could not offer any seriousresistance. The young Chieftain thrust the point of his dagger betweenthe bolt and the staple, and pressed on it. The staple fell to theground, but the door still resisted; it was fastened on the other sideby strong bolts.
There was a moment of extreme anxiety and discouragement for theconspirators. How was the door to be opened? Must they turn back, andlose all the profit of such perils overcome, and difficulties incurred?The position was serious; but, as we have said, the Jaguar was a man whoonly took a delight in impossibilities. He lit a candle again, andexamined the door with the most minute attention. The wood, acted uponby age and damp, fell off in scales, and melted into dust at theslightest effort.
When the candle had been again extinguished, the young man knelt downbefore the door, and began cutting it with his dagger, taking thegreatest care to make no noise for fear of alarming the garrison; forthough he was convinced that this door opened into the fort, he couldnot know to what point it led. After ten minutes of slow and continuedtoil, the whole lower part of the door was removed. The Jaguar crawledthrough the orifice, and, not trying to discover where he was, he gotup, felt for the bolts, drew them one after the other, and quietlyopened the door, through which his comrades silently slipped.
The conspirators then groped their way along the walls, not wishing tolight a candle, for fear of giving an alarm, and trusting to chance tolead them in the right road. They were justified in doing so, for Lanzireached a door, which he mechanically pushed, and which was ajar. Thisdoor opened into a long corridor lighted by a lamp, and the insurgentsboldly entered the passage, after taking the precaution to take down thelamp and put it out.
It was now about half-past four in the morning, and day was beginning tobreak. At the end of the passage, the Jaguar perceived a motionlessshadow leaning against the wall. At an order from his Chief, thehalf-breed glided like a serpent up to this shadow, which was nothingless than a sentry, who was quietly asleep, with his musket by his side,and on coming within reach, the half-breed bounded like a tiger at thethroat of the sleeper, whom he threw down without giving him time toutter a cry. The poor fellow was bound and gagged, ere he wassufficiently awake to understand what was happening to him.
This sentry was stationed at the entrance of a guard-room, in which somefifteen soldiers were sleeping. The post was carried, without a blow, bythe insurgents, who bound the soldiers, and took possession of theirarms. The expedition was going on famously; but unluckily, while thescene we have referred to was taking place in the guard-room, the sentryin the passage, who had been neglected, succeeded in loosing his
bondsand giving the alarm. The position had become serious.
"Come," the Jaguar said quickly, "it seems as if we shall have a fightof it. Well, several of you are now armed: comrades, remember myorders--no quarter!"
The insurgents, not at all anxious to be besieged in the guard-room,where it would have been easy to overpower them, then went out. At themoment when they appeared in the passage, they perceived some thirtysoldiers, at the head of whom three officers in uniform marched, comingboldly to meet them.
"Fire!" the Jaguar thundered, "and then forward!"
Ten muskets were discharged, the three officers fell, and the Texansrushed ferociously on the soldiers. The latter, terrified by thisfurious attack, and seeing their leaders dead, offered but a weakresistance; after a few minutes of hand-to-hand fighting, sustainedrather to save the military honour than in the hope of conquering theassailants, they asked leave to capitulate.
The Jaguar ordered a suspension of fighting, and ordered the garrison tolay down their arms, which they readily did. During the short fight, theTexans had lost eight men killed at the bayonet point. The fort of thePoint, which was supposed to be impregnable, had been surprised bytwenty-five men only armed with daggers. But these twenty-five foughtfor a holy and great idea--they were resolved to conquer or perish. TheJaguar had accomplished the task which had been allotted to him in thevast plan conceived by the Texan insurgents, and the capture of the fortmust inevitably lead to the surrender of the town, if El Alferezsucceeded in making himself master of the _Libertad_ corvette.
We have seen how, on his side, that Chief had behaved, and what resulthe had achieved.