CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
BEGINS WITH GAUCHO HOMES AND DOMESTIC CONCERNS; CONTINUES WITH TWOFIGHTS, AND ENDS WITH A FRIEND AND A "PUZZLER."
That a hard ride and a thorough soaking do not interfere much with thecomfort of the young and healthy was proved that night in the Gauchocamp by the intense devotion paid by Lawrence and Quashy to the amplesupper set before them, and by the profundity of their slumbersthereafter.
True, the supper was not luxurious. It consisted of only one dish,--roasted mare's flesh--and one beverage,--water; but, happily, the tastesof our adventurers were simple.
The Gaucho hut in which they had found shelter was a very humbledwelling built of mud. It contained only one room, in which the wholefamily resided. Like other Gaucho huts--which are nearly all alike--itwas covered with long yellow grass, and bore so strong a resemblance tothe surrounding country, that, at a little distance, it might easilyhave been mistaken for a hillock. The kitchen of the establishment wasa detached shed a few yards off. After sunset the hut was lighted by afeeble lamp, made of bullock's tallow, which brought into strong reliefthe bridles, spurs, bolas, and lassos which hung from bone pegs on thewalls. Other objects of interest were revealed by the primitive lamp.In one corner a large dog lay sleeping. A naked negro child--a sort ofebony cupid--lay asleep beside it, with its little head pillowed on thedog's haunch. In another corner a hen was sitting on eggs, while itscompanions, guarded by a noble cock, roosted on one of the rafters, andseveral children, of ages ranging from four to sixteen, were seated orstanding about awaiting supper. Last, but not least in importance, aGaucho infant hung suspended from the rafters in a primitive cradle ofbullock's skin, the corners of which were drawn together by four stripsof hide. The place would have been insufferably close but for thefortunate circumstance that a number of holes in the dilapidated roofallowed free ventilation. They also allowed free entrance of rain inbad weather, but--Gauchos are not particular!
Although indifferent as to appearances, those Gauchos of the Pampas--many of whom are descendants of the "best" old families in Spain--retainmuch of the manners of their forefathers, being hospitable and politenot only to strangers but to each other.
When supper was ready the great iron spit on which the beef had beenroasted was brought in, and the point of it stuck into the dried mudfloor. The master of the hut then stepped forward with the air of ahidalgo and offered Lawrence the skeleton of a horse's head to sit upon.Quashy having been provided with a similar seat, the whole householddrew in their horse-heads, circled round the spit, and, drawing theirlong knives, began supper. They meant business. Hunger was the sauce.Water washed the viands down. There was little conversation, for largemouthfuls were the order of the evening. Lawrence and his man acquittedthemselves creditably, and supper did not terminate till the roast wasgone. Then they all spread their beds on the floor and retired for thenight. Each covered his or her head with a poncho, or other garment--nothing of the sleepers being left visible save their bare feet--afterwhich silence reigned around.
In summer, abodes of this kind are so animated with insect life that theinhabitants usually prefer to sleep on the ground in front of theirdwellings, but in the present case the recent storm had rendered thisluxury for the time impossible.
Little cared Lawrence and his man for that. Where they lay down torepose, there they remained without motion till daylight. Then themagnificent cock overhead raised his voice, and proclaimed the advent ofa new day. Quashy sat up, split his face across, displayed his internalthroat, and rubbed his eyes. Immediately the cock descended on hiswoolly head, flapped its wings, and crowed again. The people began tostir, and Lawrence went out with Quashy to saddle their horses, beinganxious to follow in the trail of the troops without delay. A prolongedsearch convinced them that their horses had either strayed or beenstolen, for they were nowhere to be found.
Returning to the hut, they observed that the Gauchos were exceedinglybusy round their corral, or enclosure for cattle.
"What can they be about?" said Lawrence, as they drew near.
"Killin' pigs, I t'ink."
"I think not; there seems too much excitement for that."
There certainly was a considerable noise of piggish voices, and theGauchos were galloping about in an unaccountable manner, but, as isusually the case, a little investigation explained the seeminglyunaccountable. The men were engaged in driving some cattle into theenclosure, and as these were more than half wild and self-willed, theprocess entailed much energy of limb and noise. As to the porcineyells, the whole of the almost superhuman skirling arose from one littlepig, which the ebony cupid before mentioned had lassoed by the hind leg.
Gaucho children--after being delivered from the cradle before described,and after passing through the crawling period of infancy and attainingto the dignity of the stagger--begin to copy their seniors. With lassosand bolas made of twine, they practise on little birds, or on the dogsand fowls of home. Our ebony cupid, though not indeed a Gaucho, but anegro infant, partook of the Gaucho spirit, and, although little morethan four years of age, had succeeded in catching his first pig.Violence seemed to have reached a white heat in the heart of that littlepig! Besides giving vent to intensified shrieking, it dragged itscaptor along, in a state of blazing triumph, until it overturned him,snapped the twine, and got away.
But cupid was not to be balked of his prey. With a staggering rush towhere several horses were standing ready bridled, he caught hold of thetail of a meek-looking animal, and scrambled by means of that appendageon to its back. Seizing the bridle, he uttered a wild though tinyshout, and dashed away after the fugitive.
Whether he recaptured it or not Lawrence never found out, for at thatmoment a subject of greater interest claimed his attention.
Besides the hut in which they had spent the night, there were severalother huts near the corral, and Lawrence now perceived that the placewas a sort of hamlet, surrounded by a small ditch by way of defence.While our hero was glancing round him he observed that Quashy stoppedsuddenly, and gazed at something in front of him as if transfixed with asurprise which threw quite into the shade all his previous expressionsof astonishment, and convinced his master that he had not yet fathomedhalf the depth of meaning that could be thrown into that sablecountenance. Quashy bent slightly forward, extended his arms, spreadout his ten fingers, opened his mouth, and tried to speak.
"S-S-Soo--!" he began, and gasped.
"S-Soo--Sooz'n!" he shouted.
Yes, there she stood, in the doorway of a hut, as black as life, andwith a glare of joyful surprise that was only surpassed by that of heradmirer.
A moment later they recovered. They rushed into each other's arms, andtheir lips met.
Pistols and carbines! what a smack it was!
In his joy Quashy lifted Susan fairly off her feet and danced with heruntil he was exhausted, then he set her down and danced round her.
Susan had recovered her composure by that time. Whether Quashy's modeof treatment is characteristic of negroes of the Pampas we do notpretend to say, but the girl stood there with a modestly pleasedexpression of face, while Quashy continued to dance round her.
Susan's modesty and blackness were alike set off by her costume, whichconsisted of a short white frock, while her simple adornments were apair of gold ear-rings and a necklace of red coral.
Alas for the fleeting nature of human joys! While Quashy was thusevincing his delight at the unexpected recovery of his betrothed, a wildshouting was heard, and several horsemen were seen flying over theplains towards the huts at a speed and with an action that betokenedthem the bearers of important news. They proved to be men of thevillage who had encountered a large band of Indians on their way toattack the place.
Instantly all the men of the hamlet, amounting perhaps to about fifty,prepared for defence, placing the women and children in the huts forsafety. Of course Lawrence and his man would have volunteered theirservices even if self-defence had not required that lin
e of conduct.
We have said that the hamlet was surrounded by a shallow ditch. Thiswas backed by a hedge of prickly pears. Behind the hedge the mendispersed themselves, armed with several rusty flint-lock guns, some oldswords, a few Indian spears, and other less warlike weapons.
Lawrence and Quashy took up a position at the entrance to the littlefortress, the opening of which was blocked by cactus-bushes. Their hostof the previous night stood beside them. Light though such defencesseemed, they were more effective than might have been supposed, forIndian horses as a rule will not leap even a shallow ditch, and cannotbe made to burst through prickly pears, though, doubtless, there may besome exceptions.
The defenders had not long to wait. Their preparations were barelycompleted when horsemen were descried on the horizon, and in a verybrief space of time a band of above a hundred naked savages camethundering down on them, uttering terrific screams or yells, andbrandishing long spears. They rode straight towards the opening in thedefences.
The chief Gaucho was evidently a man of courage, for although he knewwell that capture meant death--perhaps with torture--he stood firmwithout blanching, his eyes fixed sternly on the approaching foe, andhis strong hands grasping the stock of a rusty old musket, the very lookof which might have caused anxiety to its handler.
"Now Quash," whispered Lawrence, "don't fire till I do--and keep cool."
"Yes, massa. I's cool as a lump o' hice."
The savage who led the assailants was a tall, powerful fellow on asplendid horse. When within about sixty yards of the defences helevelled his spear and made a tremendous rush as if resolved to beardown all obstacles. The Gaucho chief--if we may so style him--presentedhis musket and pulled the trigger. It missed fire!
"I'll try him with shot first," remarked Lawrence to Quashy, presentinghis double-barrelled gun.
At the distance of fifty yards or so the shot, when it entered thesavage leader, was well scattered, so that horse and man were pepperedall over. The latter dropped his lance and almost fell off, while theformer, getting on its hind-legs, executed a pirouette which brought itstail to the rear and sent it charging wildly back upon its friends. Thesecond in command, receiving the other barrel, at even shorter range,went through the same performance with greater impetuosity. At the samemoment the old musket was prevailed on to go off, and Quashy deliveredfour pistol-shots in quick succession, with the result that several menand horses were wounded, and the entire body of Indians turned and fledin a state of frenzied surprise.
They soon pulled up, however, and held a momentary consultation out ofrange. Then, being bold fellows, they charged again, but this time intwo bands, one of which attacked the place in rear.
As before, the band which attacked the front was vigorously repelled,but in rear the defenders were less successful. How it was managedLawrence never found out, but he had barely succeeded in driving off thefoe in front, and was congratulating Quashy on his coolness, when hefound himself suddenly surrounded by yelling savages.
The Gaucho chief made a desperate fight towards his own hut, which hegained and entered in safety. Lawrence and Quashy tried to follow, butwere too much pressed by numbers. Back to back they fought, and Quashyused his sword with such agility and vigour that in a few seconds hesent several Indians bleeding to the rear. Lawrence, despising theweapons of civilised warfare, held his now empty gun in his left hand,using it as a sort of shield, and brandished his favourite cudgel withsuch effect that he quickly strewed the ground around him withcrown-cracked men. Unfortunately a stone struck him on the temple, andhe fell. Thus left unsupported, Quashy, after slicing the nose half offa too ardent savage, was struck from behind, and also fell.
When our hero recovered consciousness, he found himself lying on theground, afflicted with a strange inability to move hand or foot, andconscious, chiefly, of a splitting headache. Presently a voice besidehim whispered--
"Is you bery bad, massa?"
Lawrence turned his head with great difficulty and beheld his faithfulfollower lying like himself on the ground, firmly bound to a stout sparor pole. His own inability to move was at once explained, for he soonperceived that he was in the same bound condition.
"D'you know what has happened, Quashy?"
"Ho yes, massa. De reptiles has took de place, an' tied you an' me tosticks. What for I don' know, but I s'pose dey means to skin us alive,or roast us, p'r'aps, to 'muse deir women an' child'n."
"More likely that they hope to have us ransomed," returned Lawrence,with a shudder.
"What's ramsumd, massa?"
"Try to get our friends to give them money for us. Have they killedmany of the men--or got hold of the women and children?" asked Lawrence,anxiously.
"Yes, dey's kill a few ob de men, but not many, for some hab got into dehuts, an' some into de corral, an' dey'll fight to de last. De savagesam holdin' a palaver jist now--see, dey's agwine to begin again. Screwyour head roun' to de right an' you see."
Lawrence obeyed, and saw the savages assembled on a knoll. Afterdriving the defenders into the huts, they had held a brief consultation,and seemed on the eve of renewing the attack. Filled with deep anxietyfor the fate of the poor women and children, our hero made a desperatestruggle to snap his bonds.
"No use, massa," remarked Quashy. "I's tried dat till I nearly bu'sted.Better lie still. P'r'aps dey forgit us."
Lawrence groaned. He felt so helpless, and consequently hopeless, thathe almost gave way to despair.
The spot where they had been flung down after their capture was socovered with rank grass that they could not see far in any direction.What they did see, however, aroused curiosity, if it did not inspirehope, for the savages seemed suddenly to have changed their plans. Theywere talking excitedly together on the knoll, and pointing eagerlytowards the horizon.
"Das funny, massa," remarked the negro.
"It is indeed. Perhaps they see some of their friends coming."
"Or inimies," suggested Quashy.
The latter was right. In a few minutes the Indians were seen to rundown to the defences of the place. Our unfortunates lost sight of themin a few seconds, but they could hear the sound of horsemen approachingat full gallop. In a few minutes they heard shouting; then the yells,fearful cries, and imprecations of men in mortal combat. Soon afterthat a savage passed the place where they lay, at full speed. Thenanother and another. It became quickly evident that the defenders ofthe place were getting the worst of it. At last there was a generalflight, and as the savages passed by, the new assailants appeared. Itwas easy to see that they were composed of all classes, a band ofrunaway soldiers and escaped convicts.
"Banditti!" exclaimed Lawrence, bitterly.
"Dey've got pris'ners. Look, massa."
Our poor hero looked, and his hearts nearly stood still with horror, forhe saw a horseman pass whose figure was strangely like to that ofColonel Marchbanks. His arms were bound, and a villainous-looking manled his horse. Immediately after another bandit-like fellow rode pastwith a female form seated in front of him. Of course it could be noother than Manuela, and in the agony of the moment Lawrence was about torenew his frantic effort to burst his bonds, when a man on foot ranclose past him. Recognising him at once, Lawrence shouted--
"Ignacio!"
The old hunter, for it was he, stopped abruptly, and listened.
Another shout brought him to the side of our hero.
"Good luck!" exclaimed Ignacio, heartily.
"We have been bound by the scoundrels you are chasing," cried Lawrence,quickly; "cut us free, good Ignacio."
The hunter drew his long knife and knelt with the apparent intention ofreleasing them, but suddenly paused.
"No--better as you are," he muttered, hurriedly, "your friends are indanger--"
"I know it," interrupted Lawrence, almost wild with anxiety andsurprise; "why not, then, release us?"
"There is no time to explain," said Ignacio, quickly, almost fiercely."Listen. I and others
are secret enemies in this band of outlaws. Whenyou are free be silent, be wise. You will need all your manhood. Youmust not know me--be silent--wise, but--"
The old hunter leaped up hastily, sheathed his knife and ran on, for atthe moment he saw a group of the bandits running towards him. Diverginga little and hailing them, he drew them away from the spot whereLawrence and his man still lay bound.
"Das a puzzler, massa," gasped Quashy, who had been rendered almostspeechless by surprise, "if de bu'stin'-power what's in my heart justnow would on'y go into my muscles, I'd snap dem ropes like Samson."
As the bursting-power referred to declined to go into the muscles ofeither master or man, they were fain to lie still with as much patienceas they could assume, and await the course of events.