CHAPTER XXIV.
THE UNWILLING VOLUNTEER.
It had fallen a very black night, we say. Not a star peeped out amongthe heavy clouds grazing the treetops and rim of the bowl in the centreof which Monte Tesoro flaunted its defiant colours. In the northward,long peals of thunder rolled without any lightning being visible.
Whether from the effect of the atmosphere, or by the presentimentof the assault by the multitude of besiegers being imminent, a kindof gloom seemed to reign in the hacienda; the courts were deserted,the sentries were almost unseen, and their "all's well" but feeblyre-echoed along the barriers. Not one light sparkled at an aperture tocheer the two watchers on the hill in the heart of the hostile camp.
On the other hand, without, at fires kindled far enough away not toexpose the crowds encircling them to gunshot, the rebels noisily keptholiday, shouting and cheering and singing.
In the tent, formed of curtains and carpets thrown over supports oftree stems, erected with all the ingenuity of a people expert bytradition in hut building, the three chiefs of the allied foes ofSonora were in conference.
Each had already gained a hold on the masses,--the Apache by havingshown with his handful of warriors that the Mexicans could be beardedin their houses; the Mexican by his notorious feud with the farmergentry; and Juan, the Yaqui, by having accumulated these hordes, afterhaving excited them to throw off the yoke.
Furthermore, the latter had brought the cannon and suggested itsemployment against the farm building; and Iron Shirt had distinguishedhimself in all the charges up to the very pickets, harassing theMexicans till they were no doubt weary from want of rest.
All the tendency of their conversation was towards taunting theone-legged robber chieftain for his backwardness in the attack.
Suddenly the Mexican, who had borne the innuendoes with deepphilosophy, as he smoked a cigarette or two, lifted his head, andlistening, said:
"I know that step! It is my spy's! Now, perhaps, I shall show you whatmanner of man is el Manco."
There was a slight exchange of questions and answers between the guardsof the tent, and then the three leaders beheld a dark figure's outlinesagainst the sky.
It was a peon, apparently.
"Speak," said Captain Pedrillo, as the Indian bowed low, "we three areone to hear you."
"Your Excellency," began the slave in a low, clear voice, eking out hisstory with signs, which were clearer to the comprehension of Iron Shirtthan his speech, "I have penetrated the farm even to the gardens."
"Ah!" cried the peon leader and the robber in a breath, whilst theApache's eyes gleamed transiently and gleefully.
"I have found a secret gate in the palisade. One or two men, evenmounted ones, would not be remarked, for the watches are worn out bythe day's guard. In truth, a mounted man would be thought, once withinthe corral, one of their officers. Thence, one can ride into the gardenwhere the ladies take the air. I am sure," added he, with ferocity,"that if we had half a dozen of us in their midst, while our brothersattacked the hacienda on all sides, that the defenders would be sodistracted by their shrieks and the war whoops that we would master theplace in a twinkling."
"You hear?" said the Mexican, complacently. "We might have hammered ourfists sore on the gate and made no headway. But thanks to my emissary,Juan--"
"Diego--."
"Diego, then; we can have the cursed proprietors at a disadvantage. Heshall lead a small force into the heart of the fortress during thisnight. Then let the sound of our cannon, hurling its huge balls intothe doomed dwelling, be their signal to seize the women enjoying theshade and shelter, and ours to assail the same from every quarter."
The Apache was not enthusiastic, and the peon was suspicious.
"He was a servant there," explained Captain Pedrillo, hastily, noticinghow little his agent and his project were approved. "Don Benito had himflogged for some peccadillo, and he has loved him, thirsted to show hislove for the family ever since."
The rebel leader grinned at the sarcasm; it opened an old sore.
"That is different," said he. "Diego, you are welcome now; and yet," hewent on, "Diego is Indian, yes; peon, yes; but Yaqui, no!"
"It is true, I am not a Yaqui," answered the other, with some pride,"but I am a Mayo. My people hunted over this ground, hither andthither, from the sea to the Aztec's land, from the Smoking Mountain tothe Pimas' cornfields; but now, their bow is broken, their gold gildsthe spurs of the Spaniard. Diego stands alone; the last of the Mayos isthe pointing dog of the Yaquis, the Apaches, and the Foe-to-all-men."
He locked his hands, and, bowing, remained like a statue before thetrio.
"Good!" said the Apache, "We are born diverse, but hatred makes usbrothers. I will bring a chosen band to the secret gate."
"And I," said the peon leader, "will set my brothers on the alert toattack the farm at every point."
"And I will manage the great gun," said Pedrillo, pleased at how patlythings were falling. "Here upon the hill--"
"Out of shot?" sneered Juan. "No! Your Mexicans can manage the cannon.You are the gentleman to handle the ladies with gloves; you, Captain,will accompany the spy."
"But I cannot move out of the saddle."
"But you heard Diego say a mounted man will be taken for one of theirown officers--"
"Still--"
"It is well," interrupted Iron Shirt; "my brother the Yaqui prepares tohurl his brothers on the pickets, whilst I and mine await at the gate.The captain will go with the Mayo, and when the big gun is fired, weall set to our work. It is spoken, the council is broken up."
He rose. The Yaqui bowed, accustomed already to yield immediately tothe superior ever-free Indian, and the Mexican concealed his disgust atbeing overruled.
There was a brief silence, during which Diego quitted the tent, thoughremaining still in view, just outside, apparently regarding thestronghold and not listening to the chiefs.
The storm was fast approaching, for the lightning was visible, and thethunder was borne on gusts which gave a damp feeling, though no rainhad fallen yet.
"Just the night for a surprise," remarked the Yaqui, assuming to thebest of his ability the air of one experienced in warfare.
"It is good," added the Apache, examining his weapons, conscientiously.
The Mexican looked from one to the other with diminishing hesitation.
"Good or not," said he, abruptly, "I see no harm in our takingprecautions."
The Apache paid no attention; he was fine edging his knife on a smallpiece of Arkansas whetstone which he carried in a satchel at his sideamong other little tools and his talismans. The Yaqui, however, lookedover at the speaker inquiringly.
"I want a few of my men to come with me. They know my ways--I knowtheirs."
Juan consulted Iron Shirt with a glance and then nodded carelessly.
"Let me have Garcia before me, my alferez."
He stepped to the opening, and blew a silver whistle hanging by a chainof the same metal around his long neck. Presently, the Mexican whom hethus summoned came striding to his commander.
"Stefano," said the latter, loudly enough for the others to hear, "Ibelieve you are devoted to me?"
"I ought to be," was the answer, "for I should have been hanged threemonths ago but for your honour plucking me out of the calaboose ofConcha Village. Since then I have been your trustiest lieutenant, Itake it."
"You have. Well, I am going on a forlorn hope, but a brave man thinksnothing of risking his life when the reward is great. I am going almostalone into the hacienda, with our Apache brothers, under the guidanceof our faithful peon yonder."
"Ah!" cried the ex-banker, incredulously.
"I shall be in the heart of the fortalice, in the gardens, where theladies recreate out of the reach of arrows, but not safe from the ballfrom our cannon. Now, as a gallant gentleman, Stefano, do not, inaiming at the house, fling your ball in among the dames."
"I won't, Captain, all the less likely, as I mean to aim at thebuilding low down. The b
all will play prettily with the foundationstone and the don's imported Spanish wines--more the pity."
"Then, if the ladies are safe," began the Mexican, relieved partly ofhis fears, "there's no more to be said."
"The house is my mark, rest tranquil, your Excellency."
"Very well," sighed Pedrillo, drawing his false leg out of the holewhich he had deeply drilled in the earth in his agitation. "I no longerhave any uneasiness. Now, let me have six men for my expedition."
"You can have six rogues, who will go anywhere under the leadership ofLa Chupa--"
"Stay; no, I would rather have your kinsman, Zagal, to be at theirhead."
"My cousin? This is a grievous slur on a caballero to choose hiskinsman as a kind of hostage, but 'tis wartime and we must act likewarriors. Zagal shall accompany you, Captain, as you please. Have nofear that I shall scalp him with a cannon shot," said Garcia with alaugh. "He owes me forty odd dollars, to be paid out of our plunder ofthe hacienda. Your honour is safe next him."
This arrangement completed, the captain had to go forth. He looked to abrace of revolvers in his sword belt, to the sabre that it should playfreely, put on a _poncho_, lined with India-rubber against the rain,and hobbled altogether from the tent. The peon guide awaited him, andlent him his shoulder on his lame side till he had mounted his horse.Already the Indians, to the number of fifty, were in the saddle; theyhad removed everything of a light colour or that glittered, and hadchosen whole-coloured horses with a dark skin.
"Hasten down the hill," said Pedrillo, as his half a dozen roguesgalloped up into the troop, "the storm will be on us in ten minutes,confound it! And all nocturnal excursions!"
Indeed, they were hardly out of the hollow, and mounting the slopewhich gradually brought them to the level of the farmhouse, before theywere deluged with rain. Fortunately the lightning was flashing on theother side of the pine forest, where the detachment from the besiegedwere gladly sheltering themselves, and no glimmer fell upon thecavalcade. The Apaches' bodies cast off the wet like ducks' plumage,whilst the thick blankets of the Mexicans were as serviceable as thechief salteador's waterproof.
The ditch was brimming with water, so much so as to be on the overflowat one or two places where the peons bad wantonly breached it, andthe rippling of the waste water was quite noisy. Two of the Indiansswam the moat as easily as beavers, plied their hatchets dexterouslyin the mud till a shelving landing place was formed, and there thetroop executed a passage. To ride up to the very stockade, of which theheight prevented even a horseman being perceived from the house, thoughnot from a sentinel on the enclosure, was no difficult task.
All remained as gloomy as silent. Beyond doubt, the falling rain hadpelted the watchmen into nooks.
Suddenly three figures started up under the very heads of the foremosthorses.
"Stay," said Diego, "they are peons. Yaqui?"
"Yaqui!" was the answer.
"What news?"
"Nothing."
"Where is the gate I found, and which I cannot surely lay my hand uponnow in the wet?"
"Here."