CHAPTER XIV.
THE REDSKINS.
In the meanwhile the night had become more and more gloomy; the windhad risen in the north-east, driving before it heavy grey clouds, whichintercepted the moonbeams, and collected over the canyon. The count,obliged to keep silent, and worn out by the fatigue of a long ride,felt his eyelids involuntarily droop. At first he resisted the lethargythat assailed him; but, as he could not change his position, he soonfound it impossible to carry on the struggle. His head fell on hischest, his eyes closed, he let his rifle fall, and went fast asleep.The adventurer gazed at him for a moment with an expression of pitymingled with pride.
"A valiant soldier for all that," he muttered, "but incapable ofwithstanding the fatigue of a lengthened watch in the presence of theIndians; better for him to sleep in peace."
Then, with an anxiety which had something filial in its rough kindness,he took off his thick zarape, of Indian manufacture, and carefullywrapped him up, the speaker saying in a whisper--
"The dew is heavy at this season of the year, and the nights are cold."
And he resumed his watch, looking around him carefully, in order toassure himself that, during the few seconds he had employed in doingthis service to the count, no suspicious movement had occurred outside.Suddenly he started, and his eyes, obstinately fixed on an adjacentthicket, seemed trying to pierce the gloom. Gradually raising hisrifle, whose barrel was browned, in order that the moonbeams might notbe reflected from it, he cocked and raised it, but at the sound of thehammer a shadow emerged from the centre of the clump, and holding outits arms to the hunter, several times waved a buffalo robe.
At this signal of peace, which was familiar to him, the hunter, withoutlowering his rifle, so that he might be able to resist any attemptedtreachery, sharply asked the person standing motionless in front ofhim, who he was and what he wanted.
"My brother the Sumach is a great paleface brave," the strangeranswered; "a chief wishes to sit at his fire, and smoke in council withhim."
The hunter, on hearing the name of the Sumach, by which the Indiansordinarily designated him, understood that he was recognized; buthe cared very little about it, for he was perfectly aware that theredskins knew the number of white men hidden by the rocks.
"You are drunk, redskin," he answered sharply. "Go and sleep off yourmezcal and firewater. This is not the hour to try and enter a warencampment."
"The Sumach is wise," the Indian continued. "His medicine is powerful.What does he fear from one man? The White Crow is a great chief in hisnation, and his tongue is not forked."
"If you are really White Crow," the hunter answered, "your words aretrue; but what proof will you give me?"
"This," the Indian said.
And hurriedly stooping, he set fire to a pile of dry leaves and deadwood, which he had probably collected for the purpose. In a second thewood crackled, and a brilliant flame rose skywards, illumining allsurrounding objects, and especially the person of the Indian, who, withhis arms crossed on his chest, and head erect, had placed himself sothat not one of his features should escape the wood ranger's searchingglance.
"It is well, chief," the Canadian said, as he rested his rifle button the ground, assured, apparently, at any rate, that the Indian wasalone. "You can come and take your place by my fire."
At the noise caused by this interview, the Spaniards had risen andseized their weapons, in order to be ready for any event.
"What is the matter?" the count asked anxiously.
"Nothing out of the common in the rules of Indian tactics," the hunteranswered; "a redskin chief desires, before attacking us, to make usprobably unacceptable proposals."
"Why receive him, then?" the count continued.
"Refusing to do so would lead him and the demons hidden in the bushesto suppose that we are afraid; it is better to let him come. The timehe loses here in useless words will be so much gained by us."
"That is true," the count said with a smile; "and what part do youpropose we should play in this farce?"
"None at all. Go to sleep again, or, if your anxiety renders thatimpossible, pretend to sleep. This security on our part will producea greater effect on the chief's mind than a ridiculous display ofstrength."
"But suppose this man only comes to us for the purpose of laying atrap," the count said earnestly.
"There is no fear of that; although Indians are regarded by white menas savages, they are civilized in their fashion, and have an honour oftheir own. Once they have pledged their word it may be trusted to inperfect security."
"Very well, my friend. You know better than I how you should behave tomen with whose habits you are conversant, and therefore in the best waypossible for our general safety."
"Trust to me for that, senor. I am as interested as yourself in thematter."
The count and his comrades, upon this assurance of the hunter, resumedtheir places, and when the chief appeared at the entrance of theencampment, all led him to believe that they were asleep.
"My brother, White Crow, is welcome to my fire," the Canadian said tohim, "if he brings propositions of peace on behalf of his brothers."
"The intentions of the chief are good. It entirely depends on mybrother whether they remain so."
The two men then bowed to each other with all the gravity demanded byIndian etiquette, and crouched down over the fire on which the Canadianhad thrown some handfuls of dry wood to revive the flame. The chiefthen drew his pipe from his girdle, filled it with _moriche_, or sacredtobacco, lit it by the help of a twig, for fear lest his fingersshould come in contact with the fire, and both men began smoking,silently passing the calumet to each other, from which they only drewthree or four puffs at a time.
White Crow was a tall, well-built man, whose thin limbs, however,seemed tolerably strong. As far as it is possible to recognize anIndian's age, he did not seem to have passed middle life; his featureswere noble and marked, and his glance intelligent; the expression ofhis face was generally kindly. He was in full paint, and wore the warmoccasins, which showed that he was on an expedition; excepting hisscalping knife, which was passed through his belt of untanned deerhide, he was unarmed, at least apparently so.
When all the tobacco was consumed, the chief shook out the ashes on histhumbnail, passed the pipe again through his belt, and turned to thehunter, who was waiting, cold and impassive, till he thought proper tospeak.
"The Comanches of the Lakes," he said, "are surprised at finding here agreat brave like my brother the Sumach. Can he have become a friend ofthe Yoris, or have they taken him prisoner in some ambuscade, and madehim their slave?"
"Neither one nor the other, chief; accident alone brought me into theircompany," the hunter sharply replied.
"The redskins have the eye of the eagle and the wisdom of the snake.They saw the Sumach enter the stone calli, which the whites call theHacienda del Barrio, accompanied by white men, and leave it in the samefashion."
"What does that prove, chief? Besides it concerns you but little, Isuppose, if I am a friend of the Yoris, as you call them."
"More than my brother the Sumach supposes. The Comanches of the Lakeslove the great heart of the east, they have met him on the war trail;they know that the Sumach is a great brave, and do not wish to see himenveloped in the ruin of their enemies."
"I thank you and yours, chief," the Canadian said, still perfectlycalm, "for the interest you are kind enough to show for me. I too loveyour brothers; I have never fought your tribe except against the grain,and I should be vexed to level my rifle at them."
"Wah! my brother speaks well; wisdom dwells in him. Let him follow thechief to his camp; his place is marked out at the council fire."
"I should be glad to do so, chief," the hunter said, with a sadshake of the head. "Heaven is my witness that I should like to avoidbloodshed between us. Unhappily, what you propose is impossible; honourforbids my acceptance. I have sworn to protect these men, and will dieor escape with them."
The Indian reflected for so
me minutes. "My brother's intention is mad,"he at length continued; "these Yoris must die."
"Why should it be so? Can they not ransom themselves? Why shed bloodunnecessarily? The Yoris will pay a ransom, and the Comanches willallow them to continue their journey in peace."
The Indian, in his turn, shook his head sadly several times.
"No," he said, "this is not the Mexican moon; the Comanches are notseeking booty, but want revenge. My brother must not press me further,but will abandon the Yoris. One of the great Comanche chiefs has beeninsulted, and the avenger of blood is behind the palefaces; they willdie; I have spoken."
The Canadian rose.
"Though I refuse to accept my brother's offer," he said, "I am not theless grateful for the step which he has uselessly taken, impelled bythe interest he feels for me. Let him return to his men and repeat mywords to them; they are those of a man whose heart is upright. Theirenemies are my brothers, and I will defend them, whatever may happen;if they fall I shall fall with them; but, at any rate, I shall have thesatisfaction of having done my duty, instead of committing a cowardlyact unworthy of a warrior and a Christian."
"My brother's blood will fall on his own head," the chief said, with anaccent of sadness, which he was unable to conceal entirely.
Then after bowing ceremoniously to the hunter, who returned his salute,he withdrew slowly, and soon disappeared in the darkness.
"Up, comrades," the Canadian said so soon as he was alone; "you willnow have to prove yourselves brave men, for I predict that we shall bevigorously attacked within ten minutes."
In an instant the Spaniards were armed and ambushed behind the rocks.The count walked up to the hunter and said, as he cordially pressed hishand--
"Senor Olivero, I heard all; you could save yourself by abandoning us,but refused to do so. I thank you."
"Nonsense," the adventurer replied laughingly; "did you not understandthat the Indian was setting a clumsy trap for me, into which I was notso simple as to fall?"
"Why try to reduce the merit of your loyal conduct? I know perfectlywell, and you know as well as I do, that this man spoke the truth."
"That is possible. Would you not have done the same in my place?"
"That is a singular question. Do you imagine, pray, that everybody hasyour heroism?"
The Canadian began laughing, and the conversation broke off here forthe present, for an immense belt of flame rose from the bank anddispelled the gloom as if by enchantment; the Indians were beginningtheir attack by firing the grass, so that they might see the enemy'scamp at their ease. At the same instant a cloud of arrows and ahailstorm of bullets hailed over the camp, though it was impossible forthe Spaniards to distinguish a single enemy.
"Spare your ammunition," the Canadian recommended his companions; "donot fire till you are certain; who knows how long this may last? Do notexpose yourselves unless you wish to be traversed by an arrow or hit bya bullet; we are waging an Indian war, in which courage is most shownin prudence."
The hunter, however, with his body bent forward, was attentivelyseeking an opportunity to fire, following the direction of the shots;but the redskins knew by experience the infallible precision of hisaim, and were not at all anxious to serve as his target; hence theyredoubled their precautions. Suddenly the Canadian fancied he saw aslight movement behind some logs collected on the bank and fired. Atthe same instant an Indian leapt up like a wounded buck, and then fellback; several warriors dashed forward to pick up his body, and fourfresh shots produced four more corpses. The Indians thereupon fled,abandoning their wounded, who writhed, in the last convulsions ofdeath, and all fell back into such deep silence that had it not beenfor the sight of the corpses and the increasing conflagration, it mighthave been supposed that all had been a dream.
"Well," the count said, as he reloaded his gun, "it was a sharpskirmish, but the lesson was a good one, and I hope they will profit byit."
"Do not fancy that they will so easily give up getting hold of you.Have a little patience and you will see them return. Have we anywounded?"
"Not a soul."
"Heaven be blessed! Let us redouble our vigilance, for it is probablethat they are at this moment inventing some diabolical stratagem todeceive us."
Nearly two hours elapsed, and the redskins did not make the slightestmovement indicating their desire to attempt a fresh attack.
"I believe, my friend," the count said, "that you are mistaken, andthat these demons have definitively given up the contest."
The Canadian shook his head, as he sought to distinguish what was goingon upon the river bank by the expiring flames of the conflagration.Suddenly he burst into a passionate cry, "iViva Dios!" he shouted;"Look at those demons incarnate, they are rolling trunks of trees,behind which they are sheltered like cunning opossums; if we do nottake care we shall have them upon us within a quarter of an hour."
The hunter had guessed correctly. The redskins, after cutting down aconsiderable number of trees, had formed them into a sort of flyingbarricade, behind which they advanced till they reached the river bank,and had but a few yards to go in order to arrive at the rocks. Oncethere, they would begin a hand to hand fight, in which their numericalsuperiority would infallibly gain them the advantage. The situationwas growing critical for the besieged; each moment rendered it worse,for they were compelled to keep up an incessant fire on invisibleenemies, who continued to advance without taking the trouble to reply,being protected by the bullets and arrows of several of their party,who remained behind, and skirmished with the Spaniards, whom they thusobliged to display great caution to avoid being hit, and in consequencecould not fire with their usual skill. On reaching the spot where thebelt of rocks began, the Indians rose all together and bounded forwardlike a pack of tigers, uttering horrible yells.
"We must die now," the Canadian exclaimed.
Seven guns were discharged together, and seven enemies fell. Butthe others pressed on; they leapt over the bodies and rushed at theSpaniards. Then began a struggle impossible to describe, of seven menagainst thirty; a gigantic struggle, heroically though hopelesslysustained by the white men, who, in spite of prodigious efforts, sawthe moment rapidly approaching when they must succumb.
The count especially fought with admirable energy against the Indians,who pressed him closely and seemed anxious to seize his person. Severaltimes, had it not been for the Canadian's devotion, he would have beencarried off by the redskins. Several Spaniards lay dead or seriouslywounded, a few moments more, a few seconds perhaps, and all would beover with the white men--when a strange event suddenly occurred. Ahorrible clamour began among the Indians, who, for no apparent cause,were attacked by a panic and fled in all directions, crying with anaccent of indescribable despair--
"Woe, woe! The Queen of the Savannah, the Queen of the Savannah!"
At the same instant three riders appeared in the canyon, drivingbefore them the redskins, who did not attempt to resist, but fled inall directions. The Spaniards were saved at the very moment when theyfancied themselves lost. Indeed, it was time for this help to arrive,for of eight, only three remained on their feet, the rest were dead!
The flight of the Indians gradually became converted into a thoroughrout; the strange riders, at the head of whom it was easy todistinguish a female, passed the Spanish encampment like a tornado, anddisappeared in the darkness, still obstinately pursuing the fugitives.The travellers, so miraculously saved, remained alone, suffering fromgreat perplexity, not knowing whether they were really delivered, orhad another attack to apprehend from their ferocious and implacablefoes.