CHAPTER XIII.

CHAPTER XIII.

When Willie and Mary rode out of the Araucanian camp with Graviel, they had little or no notion in which direction to proceed, and small idea how to act. Graviel himself was half distraught with misery, and seemed quite beside himself. Wounded, suffering, still under the influence of the drug which Guaitu had administered, it may readily be supposed that he was not a fit subject from whom to seek counsel or advice. The youth was faithful and brave. He could sacrifice anything for the child of Piñone; he would fight to the death in her defence; but when that child had been spirited away by the evil machinations of the Gualichu, where could he turn, what could he do to find her again? To feel that she was gone—he knew not where—was maddening to the poor lad.

Silently, and utterly broken down with misery, Graviel sat on his horse, not seeming to care in which direction it proceeded, and hardly noticing Mary and Willie when they spoke to him. It was at once evident to the children that they must rely on their own ideasand plans in this emergency, and leave the Indian’s counsel out of the question.

“I tell you what we will do, Willie,” said Mary at length. “We will make for the plain where we caught the wild horses yesterday, and passing through the gorge where Topsie was last seen, ride on in that direction. It is quite possible that whoever stole the poor wee baby may have made for the forest, in which case we shall come upon his tracks, and at any rate meet Aniwee and the others returning with Topsie, for, Willie dear, I don’t for a moment think that any great harm will have befallen her; she is far too clever.”

It must be explained that Mary possessed the greatest admiration for Topsie, up to whom she looked with a veneration and awe inexpressible. Nothing that her beautiful cousin did was short of perfection in Mary’s eyes; and though she was anxious about her, she could not bring herself to believe that any difficulty existed out of which Topsie could not disentangle herself.

“All right,” assented Willie. The boy was game for anything which promised adventure of some sort or other, and was quite willing to be guided by his sister as to the direction they should take.

So they rode briskly forward, over the same ground across which they had galloped the previous day before sighting the wild horses, little dreaming that their father, mother, brother, cousin, and Aniwee were at that very moment struggling through the dense untrodden forest in the wake of Shag, and on the track of Topsie and her captor. Little did they dream either of thestrange adventures through which their cousin had gone the previous day, of her meeting with the captive Araucanians, of her desperate attempt at escape, of her recapture and despairing abandonment thereafter. Ignorance is bliss, they say. Certainly on this occasion it was so to Mary, who, could she have seen Topsie at that moment, stretched outside the Trauco’s hut, where she had sobbed herself to sleep after her recapture, would certainly have endured throes of intense misery, the very idea of which is painful even to contemplate.

Suddenly Graviel looked up, and inquired in a quick, sharp voice, “Where are we going, Señors?”

“Where to, but in search of the young Cacique?” answered Mary, looking at him reprovingly. “It has struck me, Graviel, that her captor may have made for the forest; and as Guaitu will be searching eastward, I thought it best to ride westward.”

“Guaitu is a traitor!” burst out the youth furiously. “Graviel always hated him with his cunning, snake-like face. Is he not a Caciquillo in the pay of Inacayal? Did he not last night give Graviel to drink, and was there not poison in that hated water of hell? Then the Gualichu, with evil intent, took possession of Graviel and Blancha; he laid the hand of sleep heavy on their eyes, so that when the thief stole in they saw him not, and thus was La Guardia Chica spirited away. Ah! ma mia Guardia, where art thou? Child of Aniwee and Piñone, where art thou, my beautiful?”

He dropped the reins on his horse’s neck as he spoke, and stretched out his hand and arm with animploring gesture. The other arm lay helpless in a sling, and his poor slashed face bore a most piteous expression. His whole appearance touched Mary deeply.

“Graviel,” she said earnestly; “do not fret, my poor Graviel. We will assuredly find the young Cacique, and you shall be happy once more; only, Graviel, try and keep up your spirits and your wits, for we shall need them all. Won’t you try, for La Guardia Chica’s sake?”

His face brightened, and he smiled softly as he answered:

“For La Guardia Chica, Graviel would die.”

“Then come on, Graviel, and let us see if we can find any trace of her in the forest direction,” said Mary encouragingly, at the same time putting her horse into a canter. The drug must have worn off, for Graviel after this became more himself again.

They galloped along the same plain in which they had tackled the wild horses the previous day, and as they did so they perceived a mounted figure coming through the gorge at the far end. Apparently the noise of their horses’ hoofs attracted his attention, for he reined up, kept his horse still for a few seconds, and then turning him round retreated along the route he had just come.

“Did you see that, Graviel?” exclaimed Willie hastily; and then he added, addressing Topsie in English: “The beggar fights shy of us; depend upon it he is up to no good.”

Yes, Graviel had seen him; and though the distant figure was quite three-quarters of a mile away, thoughtthat he had recognised him. The Indian youth’s eyes gleamed fire, and he urged his horse into a swinging gallop, muttering at the same time, “May the bones of my fathers smother me if that is not Kai Chileno who brought the message to Inacayal yesterday. What does he there? Why is he not with Inacayal? Oh yes, there is treachery, treachery indeed.”

His horse was going at racing pace now, and he called out to Mary and Willie to urge theirs on to their topmost speed, at the same time pointing to the vanishing figure in front of them, who, having passed through the gorge, bore away to the right at a headlong pace.

But Graviel held on. He knew that Kai Chileno was a big and heavy man, and that a horse could not hope with such a weight to keep up the same pace long. He knew that he himself, Mary, and Willie were light weights, and, moreover, being mounted on three of Aniwee’s picked hunters, could gain ground on the flying Araucanian. He had put two and two together in the twinkling of an eye the moment that he had recognised this Indian, and saw him fly. He felt sure that a diabolical plot had been hatched, in which Inacayal, Guaitu, and the villainous Kai Chileno had each a part; for was not this Kai Chileno reputed a very desperado among the Araucanians, a wild, free-booting robber, who for pay would be willing to embark in any villainy? Graviel saw it all plainly. He clearly perceived that the summons northwards against the Cristianos was a mere trick to draw off thewarriors from the Indian camp, in order to enable Guaitu to carry out his fell purpose during their absence. Yet Graviel, as he read the plot clearly enough now, knew that Guaitu and Kai Chileno were mere tools in the hands of an arch-conspirator, and he had not the slightest doubt but that this arch-conspirator was Inacayal himself. Still, if Kai Chileno could be captured, threats or bribes might induce him to disclose the plot, and reveal where the baby Queen was hidden, therefore Graviel felt that he must be captured at any cost.

“Ride, Señors, ride!” he called out to the children; “yonder Indian must be captured. He is the thief, the thief who has stolen La Guardia Chica. Ride, Señors, ride!”

Thus abjured, as may be supposed, Mary and Willie did their best, and beneath their light weights, their game little horses raced across the rough pampa at an amazing pace. They very soon reached the gorge through which Kai Chileno had disappeared, and having crossed it emerged into the other and greater plain which former chapters have described. They could see the fugitive still far ahead of them, urging his horse towards the broad river that flowed eastwards, and which came from a westerly direction.

“We will ride down the wily fox,” gasped Graviel exultingly. “Let the Señors keep pace with me, and assuredly we will gain upon him ere long. Ah! he may gallop, but the rich-blooded baguales of the Warrior Queen can gallop faster.”

Graviel spoke truly. There was both speed andstamina in the horses which he, Mary, and Willie bestrode. The more they galloped the keener they became, and showed no signs of slackening speed or failing “staying powers.”

Imperceptibly almost, yet gradually and by degrees, they lessened the distance between themselves and Kai Chileno. This latter had made for the river at first, but for some reason or other had changed his mind, and wheeling more to the left, had pointed towards the forest, that same forest where Topsie had disappeared, and into which the rescue party had penetrated in search of her. He did not know that ahead of him a small party of Araucanians were bivouacked, awaiting the return of their Queen, and he rode on entirely unsuspecting the trap into which he was fast galloping. Every now and then he would glance back and curse aloud, for the hoofs of his pursuers’ horses were getting nearer and nearer, and he could hear their thunder closer and closer every minute. He dug the spurs savagely into the heaving sides of his fast tiring horse, and strove to urge him to renewed exertion.

Graviel, Mary, and Willie noticed the fast failing movements of the fugitive’s horse, and became highly exultant in consequence. Graviel could ill contain his triumph, and more than once shouted aloud the war cry of his tribe.

Kai Chileno breasted a low hill with difficulty which lay barely half a mile distant from the forest; but what was his horror when his eyes alighted suddenly on the bivouac of Araucanians already referred to.

Turn back he could not. He was unarmed, and his horse was done to a turn. His only chance was to reach the forest and take refuge therein; but Graviel was close behind him shouting his war-whoop, and he could see the Araucanians rushing to their horses, and mounting in hot haste.

The bivouac had been seen by the pursuers as well, and they sought to attract its members’ attention to Kai Chileno by loud shouts and cries. These had decidedly the desired effect, for the Indians thus appealed to began galloping quickly across the path of the hunted man, apparently with the intention of intercepting and arresting him. Then Kai Chileno bethought himself of a last attempt at escape. As the Indians bore down upon him he began shouting his war cry, and pointing towards the forest, as though he would implore them to gallop in that direction to avert some dreaded danger. For a moment the Indians hesitated, as if not knowing what to make of the rival cries and gesticulations, and this gave the fugitive a good chance of escape.

“Stop him!” yelled Graviel in a frenzy of desperation, urging on his horse to its utmost speed, while the sweat sprung out in large beads on his anxious-stricken face. At the same time two shots rang out beside him from Mary’s rifle. The girl had unslung it, and fired twice after the flying Indian.

Then the Araucanians grasped the situation, and with terrific yells set out in pursuit of Kai Chileno. In vain the desperate man spurred his horse, and sought by every means to urge him forward. The poorbrute was done to a turn, and could do no more. Staggering forward a few paces, it came with a crash to the ground. But Kai, prepared for the collapse, deftly landed on his feet—only fifty paces from the forest! He strove to reach it. Vainly. In another second a bolas whizzed out and encircled his legs, and he fell to the ground a helpless captive.

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