Wood Rangers Part 29

"From what motive?" inquired the Spaniard.

"That motive which the hound has in taking the part of the hunter against the stag," answered the outlaw, with a significant smile; "they only follow their instincts, and they are two animals with formidable teeth."

At this moment the moon shone out, and gleaming upon the carbines and knives of the two adventurers, seemed to confirm the a.s.sertion of Cuchillo. But the light proved disadvantageous to Baraja and Oroche, for it enabled Don Estevan to perceive that they were far from steady in their seats.

"Why, these fellows are drunk!" cried he, turning upon the guide a look of furious reproach. "Are these the a.s.sistants you count upon?"

"True, your honour," replied Cuchillo, "they are not exactly sober; but I hope soon to cure them. I know of a remedy that will set them all right in five minutes. It is the fruit of the _jocuistle_, which grows abundantly in these parts. I shall find it as soon as we have reached the woods."

Don Estevan was forced to swallow his chagrin in silence. It was not the time for vain recriminations; and above all, Tiburcio had first to be found, before the services of either of the inebriated gentlemen would be called into requisition.

In a few seconds' time the party had reached the breach in the wall.

Cuchillo dismounted, and striking a light, pointed out to the others the traces left by Tiburcio. There could be seen some fragments freshly fallen from the wall, evidently detached by the feet of one pa.s.sing over; but what was of more consequence, they were stained with drops of blood. This must have been Tiburcio's.

"You see," said the outlaw to Don Estevan, "that he must have pa.s.sed this way. Ah! if I had only given him another inch or two. After all,"

added he, speaking to himself, "it is better I didn't. I shall be twenty onzas the richer that I didn't settle with him then. Now,"

continued he, once more raising his voice, "where can he have gone, unless to yonder fire in the woods?"

A little farther on in the direction of the forest, other spots of fresh blood were discovered upon the dry calcareous surface of the soil. This appeared to confirm the conjecture of the guide--that Tiburcio had proceeded towards the camp-fire.

"If your honour," resumed Cuchillo, addressing himself to his chief, "will go forward in company with the Senor Diaz, you will reach a stream running upon your left. By following down its bank for some distance, you will come to a bridge constructed with three or four trunks of trees. It is the bridge of the _Salto de Agua_. Just before reaching it, your honour will see a thick wood on the right. Under cover of that you can remain, until we three have finished our affair and rejoin you.

Afterwards we can overtake the domestics. I have ordered them forward, for the reason that such people should not be privy either to our designs or actions."

In this arrangement Cuchillo exhibited the consummate skill of the practiced bandit. Don Estevan, without offering any opposition to his plan, rode off as directed, in company with Diaz; while the outlaw, with his two chosen acolytes turned their horses' heads in the direction of the fire.

"The fire betokens a halt of travellers, beyond doubt," remarked Diaz to Don Estevan; "but who these travellers can be is a thing that puzzles me."

"Travellers like any others, I suppose," rejoined the Spaniard, with an air of abstraction.

"No, that is not likely. Don Augustin Pena is known for his generous hospitality for twenty leagues around. It is not probable that these travellers should have halted so near his hacienda without knowing it.

They must be strangers to the country I fancy, or if not, they have no good purpose in camping where they are."

Pedro Diaz was making almost the same observations that had occurred to Tiburcio at an earlier hour of the night.

Meanwhile, Cuchillo, with his two comrades, advanced towards the edge of the forest. As soon as they had reached it the guide dismounted from his horse.

"Stay here," said he, "while I go fetch something to cure you of your ill-timed drunkenness."

So saying he glided in among the trees, and in a few seconds came out again, carrying with him several oblong yellow-coloured fruits that resembled ripe bananas. They were the fruits of the _jocuistle_, a species of _asimina_, whose juice is an infallible remedy against the effects of intoxication. The two inebriates ate of the fruit according to Cuchillo's direction; and in a minute or two their heads were cleared of the fumes of the mezcal as if by enchantment.

"Now to business!" cried Cuchillo, without listening to the apologies his comrades were disposed to make--"to business! You will dismount and lead your horses forward by the bridle, until you can see the fire; and when you hear the report of my gun, be ready, for I shall then fall back upon you."

"All right," responded Oroche, "we are both ready--the Senor Baraja and myself--to sacrifice all private interests to the common good."

Cuchillo now parted with the two, leading his horse ahead of them. A little farther on he tied the animal to the branch of a tree, and then stooping downward he advanced on foot. Still farther on he dropped upon his hands and knees, and crept through the underwood like a jaguar stealing upon its prey.

Now and then he paused and listened. He could hear the distant lowing of the wild bulls, and the crowing of the c.o.c.ks at the hacienda, mingled with the lugubrious notes of the great wood owl, perched near him upon a branch. He could hear the distant sound of water--the cataract of the _Salto de Agua_--and, in the same direction, the continuous howling of the jackals.

Again the a.s.sa.s.sin advanced--still creeping as before. Presently he saw before him the open glade, lit up by the flame of the camp-fire. On the edge nearest him, stood a huge b.u.t.ton-wood tree, from whose base extended a number of flat ridge-like processes, resembling the bastions of a fortification. He perceived that, behind these he would be concealed from the light of the fire; while he himself could command a view of every object within the glade.

In another moment he was crouching under the trunk of the b.u.t.ton-wood.

His eyes gleamed with a fierce joy, as he gazed in the direction of the fire, around which he could distinguish the forms of three men--two of them seated, the other stretched along the ground, and apparently asleep.

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.

THE WOOD-RANGERS.

Behind the Hacienda del Venado--that is, to the northward of it--the surface of the country was still in a state of nature; as we have already said, the edge of the forest lay almost within gun-shot of the walls; and this vast tract of woods extended for many leagues to the north, till it ended in the great deserts of Tubac.

The only road that trended in a northerly direction, was that leading to the Presidio of Tubac--though in reality it was not a road, but simply an Indian trail. At a short distance beyond the hacienda, it was crossed by a turbulent and rapid stream--the same that pa.s.sed near the house--augmented by several tributaries that joined it in the woods.

Where the road crossed it, and for a long distance above and below, this stream partook rather of the nature of a torrent, running in a deep bed, between rocky banks--a _canon_. Over this canon the crossing was effected by means of a rude bridge consisting simply of the trunks of two or three trees, laid side by side, and reaching from bank to bank.

About half-way between the hacienda and this bridge, and but a short distance from the side of the road, was the fire which had already attracted so much attention.

This fire had been kindled near the centre of a little glade, but its flame cast a red glare upon the trees at a distance, until the grey bark of the b.u.t.ton-wood, the pale foliage of the acacias, and the scarlet leaves of the sumac, all appeared of one colour: while the darker llianas, stretching from tree to tree, encircled the little glade with a series of festoons.

At the hour when Tiburcio was about leaving the hacienda, two persons were seated by this fire, in the att.i.tude of men who were resting after a day of fatigue. These persons were the trappers, who had already made their appearance at La Poza.

There was nothing remarkable in two men having made their camp-fire in the woods; it was their proximity to a hacienda--and that, too, the Hacienda del Venado--that rendered the fact significant. The trappers knew well enough that the hacienda was close at hand; it followed, then, that they had some reasons of their own for not availing themselves of its hospitality. A large pile of f.a.gots lay near the fire, evidently collected to feed it, and this proved that the men who had kindled it intended to pa.s.s the night on the spot.

The appearance of these two men would have been striking, even in the light of day; but under that of the fire it was picturesque--almost fantastic. The older of the two was habited in a costume half Indian, half Canadian; on his head was a sort of bonnet, shaped like a truncated cone, and made out of the skin of a fox; a blue striped cotton s.h.i.+rt covered his shoulders, and beside him upon the ground lay a sort of woollen surtout--the _capote_ of the Canadians. His legs were encased in leathern leggins, reaching from the thigh downward to the ankle; but instead of moccasins he wore upon his feet a pair of strong iron-bound shoes, capable of lasting him for a couple of years at the least. A large buffalo-horn, suspended from the shoulder, contained his powder; and upon his right side hung a leathern pouch, well filled with bullets.

In fine, a long rifle, with a barrel nearly six feet in length, rested near his hand; and this, with a large hunting-knife stuck in his belt, completed his equipment. His hair already showed symptoms of turning grey and a long scar which crossed his temples, and appeared to run all round his head, showed that if his scalp was still there he had some time or other run the risk of having it _raised_. His bronzed complexion denoted a long exposure to sun, wind, and rain; but for all this, his countenance shone with an expression of good-humour. This was in conformity with his herculean strength--for nature usually bestows upon these colossal men a large share of kind-heartedness.

The other trapper appeared to be some five or six years younger; and although by no means a man of small stature, he was but a pigmy alongside his gigantic companion. His countenance also lacked the serenity which distinguished that of the other--his black eyes gave out an expression of boldness approaching to effrontery; and the play of his features indicated a man whose pa.s.sions, fiery by nature, once aroused, would lead him into acts of violence--even of cruelty. Everything about him bespoke the second trapper to be a man of different race from his companion--a man in whose veins ran the hot blood of the south.

Although his style of dress did not differ very much from that of his comrade, there were some points in it that denoted him to be more of a horseman. Nevertheless, his well-worn shoes bore witness to his having made more than one long journey on foot.

The Canadian, half reclining upon the gra.s.s, was watching with especial interest a large piece of mutton, which, supported upon a spit of iron-wood, was frizzling and sputtering in the blaze of the fire. He appeared to enjoy the savoury odour that proceeded from the joint; and so much was his attention taken up by his gastronomic zeal, that he scarce listened to what his companion was saying.

"Well, I have often told you," said the latter, "that when one is on the trace of an enemy, whether it be an Indian or a white, one is pretty sure of coming on his tracks somewhere."

"Yes," rejoined the Canadian; "but you forgot that we shall just have time to reach Arispe, to receive the pay for our two years' campaign; besides, by our not going to the hacienda, we lose the bounty upon these three skins, and miss selling them besides."

"I never forget my interests," replied the other; "no more than I do the vows which I make: and the best proof of it is, that twenty years ago I made one which I believe I shall now be able to accomplish. We can always force them to pay us what is due at Arispe, and we shall find many an opportunity of getting rid of the skins: but the chance which has turned up in the middle of these deserts, of bringing me in contact with the man against whom I have sworn vengeance may not offer again during my whole lifetime."

"Bah!" exclaimed the Canadian, "vengeance is like many other kinds of fruit, sweet till you have tasted it, and afterwards bitter as gall."

"For all that, Senor Bois-Rose, you do not appear to practise your own doctrine with the Apaches, Sioux, Crows, and other Indians with whom you are at enmity! Your rifle has cracked many a skull--to say nothing of the warriors you have ripped open with your knife!"

"Oh! that is different, Pepe. Some of these would have robbed me of my peltries--others would have taken my scalp, and came very near doing so, as you see--besides, it is blessed bread to clear the prairies of these red vermin; but I have never sought to revenge myself against one of my own race and colour. I never hated one of my own kind sufficiently to kill him."

"Ah! Bois-Rose; it is just those of one's own race we hate most--that is when they have given us the reason for doing so--and this man has furnished me with such motives to hate him as can never be forgotten.

Twenty years have not blunted my desire for vengeance; though, on account of the great distance that separated us, I supposed I should never find an opportunity of fulfilling my vow. Strange it is that two men, with relations like ours, should turn up together in the middle of these desert plains. Well! strange though it be, I do not intend to let the chance escape me."

Pepe appeared to have fixed his resolution upon this matter, and so firmly that his companion saw the folly of attempting to dissuade him by any further advice. The Canadian, moreover, was of an easy disposition, and readily yielded to the arguments of a friend.

"After all," said he, "perhaps, if I fully understood your motives, I might entirely approve of the resolution you have made."