CHAPTER XL.
THE HURRICANE.
Louis had not been able to restrain himself; instead of waiting, hehad persuaded Valentine and Curumilla to follow him, and all three hadadvanced, gliding through bushes and underwood, to within twenty pacesof the Indian camp, so that Trangoil-Lanec met them almost immediately.
"Well?" the count asked anxiously.
"All is right! Come on!"
The chief quickly retraced his steps, and led his friends towards theprisoners. At the sight of the four men a smile of ineffable sweetnesslit up the beautiful countenance of Rosario; even her prudence couldnot repress a half-uttered cry of joy, Don Tadeo arose, and wasbeginning to thank them.
"Caballero," cried the count, who was upon hot coals, "let us be quick.These men will soon be awake again."
"Yes," Valentine added; "because if they were to surprise us we shouldbe compelled to have a brush."
All were aware of the justness of this observation and Trangoil-Lanechaving unfastened the horses of the prisoners, which were grazingquietly among those of the Aucas, Don Tadeo and his daughter mounted.The Linda, of whom nobody seemed to take any notice, sprang upon ahorse. If Valentine had not been afraid of her giving the alarm, hewould have compelled her to remain behind. The little troop set offwithout impediment, and directed their course towards the naturalgrotto where the horses had been left. As soon as they arrived,Valentine made a sign.
"You had better rest here for a short time," he said; "the night isvery dark; in a few hours we will set off again; you will find in thisgrotto two beds of leaves."
These words, pronounced in the usual blunt, offhand style of theParisian, brought a cheerful smile to the lips of the Chilians. Whenthey had lain down upon the leaves heaped up in the grotto, the countcalled his sagacious dog to him, and said--
"Pay attention to what I order you, Caesar: you see this young lady, doyou not, my good dog? You must be answerable for her to me."
Caesar listened to his master, staring at him with his largeintelligent eyes and gently wagging his tail; he then laid himselfquietly down at the feet of Rosario, licking her hand. The young girlseized his great head in her arms, and hugged him several times,smiling at the count. Poor Louis blushed to the eyes, and left thegrotto, staggering like a drunken man--happiness almost deprived him ofhis senses. He went and threw himself on the ground at a short distanceto think over, at leisure the joy which inundated his heart. He didnot observe Valentine, who leaning against a tree, followed him with amelancholy look, for Valentine also loved Dona Rosario.
Yes, the sight of Dona Rosario had revealed to him a thing which he hadhardly thought possible, and that was, that besides this so warm andso strong feeling, there was in his heart room for another at least aswarm and as strong.
Leaning against a tree, with his eye fixed upon the entrance to thegrotto, and his chest heaving, he recalled the smallest incidents ofhis meeting with the young lady, their journey through the forest, thewords she addressed to him and smiled delightedly at the remembranceof those delicious moments, without suspecting the danger of theseremembrances of the new feeling which had been just born in his soul.
Two hours had thus glided away, and Valentine had taken no heed oftheir passage, so absorbed was he in his fantastic contemplation, whenthe two Indians came up to him--
"Is our brother asleep that he does not see us?"
"No," Valentine replied, passing his hand over his burning brow, "I wasthinking."
"My brother was with the genius of dreams; he was happy,"Trangoil-Lanec remarked, with a smile.
"Do you want me?"
"Whilst my brother has been reflecting, we have returned to the camp ofthe Black Serpents. We have taken their horses, and after leading themto a considerable distance have let them loose on the plain."
"If that is the case we may be at our ease for a few hours?" Valentinesuggested.
"I hope so," said Trangoil-Lanec, "but we must not be too confident,the Black Serpents are cunning fellows."
"What had we better do, then?"
"Mislead our enemies by putting them upon a false track. I will set offwith the three horses of the palefaces, whilst my brother, his friend,and Curumilla descend the rivulet, walking in its bed."
Trangoil-Lanec cut a reed a foot and a half long, and fastened eachextremity of it to the bits of the horses, in order that they might notbe able to approach each other too near, and then set off. Valentineentered the grotto, where he found the Linda seated near her husbandand daughter, guarding their slumbers.
Louis had prepared everything; he placed Don Tadeo upon Valentine'shorse, and the Linda and Rosario upon his own, and led them into therivulet, after having carefully effaced their footsteps in the sand.
The little caravan advanced silently, listening to the noises of theforest, watching the movements of the bushes, fearing at every instantto see the ferocious eye of a Black Serpent gleam through the shade.
Towards four o'clock in the morning the Islet of the Guanaco appearedto the delighted eyes of our travellers like a port of safety, afterthe fatigues of a journey made entirely in the water. On the mostadvanced point of the islet a horseman stood motionless--it wasTrangoil-Lanec; and near him the horses of the Spaniards were peaceablygrazing upon the high grass of the banks. The travellers found a fireready lighted, upon which was cooking the quarter of a doe, camotes andmaize tortillas.
"Eat," said Trangoil-Lanec, laconically; "but, above all, eat quickly!"Without asking the chief for any explanation, the hungry travellers satdown in a circle, and vigorously attacked the provisions.
"Bah!" said Valentine, gaily; "after us the end of the world--letus eat while we can! Here is a roast joint that appears to me to betolerably well cooked!"
At these words of the spahi Dona Rosario looked a little surprised; theyoung man was struck dumb, blushing at his rudeness, and began to eatwithout venturing another word.
As soon as breakfast was over; Trangoil-Lanec, assisted by Curumilla,employed himself in preparing one of those canoes, made of buffalohides sewn together, which are employed by the Indians to crossthe rivers in the desert. After placing it in the water, the chiefrequested the three Spaniards to take their seats in it. The Indiansafterwards entered it for the purpose of steering it; whilst the twoFrenchmen, still in the water, led the horses by their bridles. Thepassage was not long; at the end of an hour they landed, and theycontinued their journey by land.
For some hours past, as it often happens in that country, the weatherhad completely changed. The sun had assumed a red tint, and appeared toswim in an ocean of vapour, which intercepted its warm rays.
"What do you think of this weather, chief?" the count asked anxiouslyto Trangoil-Lanec.
"Bad--very bad," the latter replied, "unless we could possibly pass theSorcerer's Leap."
"Are we in danger, then?"
"We are lost," the Indian replied.
"Hum! that is not very comforting," said Valentine. "Do you think,then, that the peril is so great?"
"Much greater than I can tell my brother. Do you think it possible toresist the hurricane, here?"
"That is true," Valentine muttered, hanging his head. "May Heavenpreserve us!"
In fact the situation of the travellers appeared desperate. They werefollowing one of those roads cut in the living rock which wind roundthe Andes, a road of scarcely four feet in its greatest width, which onone side was bordered by a wall of granite more than a thousand feethigh, and on the other by precipices of incalculable depth, at thebottom of which invisible waters coursed with dull, mysterious murmurs.In such a spot all hope of safety seemed little short of madness. Andyet the travellers proceeded, advancing in Indian file--that is, oneafter the other, silent and gloomy.
"Are we still far from the Sorcerer's Leap?" Valentine asked, after along silence.
"We are approaching it," Trangoil-Lanec replied.
Suddenly the brown veil which concealed the horizon was rent violentlyasunder, a pale flash of light
ning illuminated the heavens.
"Dismount!" Trangoil-Lanec shouted, "dismount, for your lives! Lie downon the ground, and cling to the points of the rocks!"
Everyone followed the advice of the chief. The animals, left tothemselves, understood the danger instinctively, folded their legsunder them, and laid themselves down also upon the ground.
All at once the thunder burst forth in frightful peals, and the rainfell like a deluge. It is not given to human pen to describe the awfulhurricane which vented its fury upon those mountains. Enormous blocksof rock, yielding to the force of the wind and undermined by thewaters, were precipitated from the top to the bottom of the ravineswith a horrible crash; trees, hundreds of years Old, were twisted andtorn up by the roots by the blast.
Suddenly a piercing cry of agony filled the air.
"My daughter!--save my daughter!"
Heedless of the danger to which he exposed himself, Don Tadeo stoodupright in the road, his arms extended towards heaven, his hairfloating in the wind, and the lightning playing around his brow. DonaRosario, too weak and too delicate to cling to the sharp points ofthe rocks by which her fingers were torn had been seized and carriedaway, and dashed down the precipice by the tempest. The Linda, withoutpronouncing a word, turned and plunged into the gulf.
"Oh!" the count cried frantically, "I will bring her back or----"
And he sprang forward; but a powerful hand withheld him.
"Stay, brother," said Valentine, in a melancholy but firm tone--"let meencounter this peril."
"But, Valentine!"
"I insist upon it!--of what consequence is it if I die?" he added, withan expression of bitterness. "I am not beloved!" and turning towardsDon Tadeo he said, "Courage my friend. I will restore your daughter orperish with her!" and whistling his dog--"Find her, Caesar--find her."he said.
The noble animal uttered a plaintive howl, sniffed the air for aninstant in all directions, then, after a minute's hesitation wagged histail, turned towards his master, and dashed down the steep precipice.