CHAPTER XIV.
“Aniwee, love of Piñone’s heart, do I see thee once more? Child of the breezy plain, doth Piñone dream?”
Such was the greeting of the Araucanian chief as he clasped to his breast the girl whom in his dreary captivity amongst the Trauco people, he had dreamt of, thought of day and night, yet never dared hope to see again.
And Aniwee, who had deemed him dead, who had thought of her young warrior husband as beyond the pale of human communication, in this moment of glad reunion, of joy indescribable, could find no words in which to answer him.
Large tears stood in her dark eyes; tears of joy they were. Like Piñone, she feared that this meeting must be a dream. But the sound of voices behind her aroused her from any further thoughts of such a kind, and brought speech back to her paralysed lips.
“Piñone,” she cried, “and hast thou been a prisoner all this time, and Aniwee so near, yet knowing nothing of it?”
“Ah! no, Carita; at one time Piñone and Cuastralwere far from this. They have descended a great river, and come from forest scenes, strange, weird, and wonderful. For the fortresses of the Traucos are hidden deep in the forests and amidst the awful crags that hold aloft the monster snow Gualichus, which tower so mightily to the skies.”
Thus answered Piñone, who shuddered as he recalled the scenes through which he had wandered as the captive of the Traucos.
As he spoke, Sir Francis, Lady Vane, Topsie, Freddy, and Harry arrived upon the scene; the first and the last being at once recognised by Piñone, who grasped their hands cordially, at the same time congratulating Topsie on her escape. Of course she had to relate all the circumstances of her recapture and deliverance, and hear in turn from Piñone and Cuastral how they had managed to elude their pursuers. The latter explained how both he and his son had adopted similar tactics in climbing a high tree, and remaining concealed in its thick bushy top, while the Traucos hunted the forest below. Their experience amongst these hairy people had taught them the fact, that although they possessed strong nasal powers for following ground scent, these powers did not extend further, and that they rarely sought to use them save in the former capacity. Thus the fugitives had remained safe in their perch, from which they had not descended for several hours. They had then betaken themselves to the heights in the hope of sighting some hilltops, which they might recognise, and which would serve as a guide to direct them in their flight. Then therifle shots had attracted their attention, and made them certain that the rescue party, which Topsie had told them she felt sure would come to her aid, was in the vicinity. After watching for some time they had caught sight of it, and had sought to attract its attention by wavings and gesticulations, with what success we already know.
Seated in the shade of the forest, the whole party feasted on the luscious apples, piñones, and araucarias that abounded, and rested after the real hard work they had undergone. The appearance which Piñone and his father presented was wild in the extreme, their hair having grown long and matted, while the roughly made skin clothing which they wore, added to their generally savage aspect. Harry and Topsie could not help comparing them with the smart, well-appointed men whom they had known two years previously, and mutually agreed that it was quite impossible for two people to be more unlike than the Cuastral and Piñone whom they had formerly known, and the Cuastral and Piñone whom they now saw before them.
Suffering, hardship, and superstitious dread had left their marks on Cuastral. The tall, stately Araucanian looked considerably aged, and grey hairs mingled thickly with the dark ones. His features were furrowed deeply, and testified to the sufferings which he had endured. After the first excitement and joy of this strange, unlooked-for, and unforeseen meeting had worn off, the thoughts of Aniwee flew away to her child, and she found herself growing anxious and nervous about it. And Piñone, too, when she had related the stirringevents of the past few days, was not a little distressed at the thought that La Guardia Chica was in the power of Inacayal, though he tried to reassure Aniwee and dispel her fears. She continued restless and miserable, however, and Sir Francis, noticing the nervous, yearning look in her face, gave the order to set out once more for the borders of the forest, where her followers were bivouacked, awaiting her.
It was a rough and stiff march, but aided by Shag, who guided them to the wild horse track, they reached their destination at last.
Feverish and eager to hear if there was good or bad news awaiting her, Aniwee had pushed on ahead, and as the sun, shooting its last farewell to-day, cast over the plain its warm, soft glow, she halted on the forest’s edge, and looked eagerly towards the bivouac. Then she started and uttered a low cry, as her eyes fell on Mary and Willie standing by the camp fire, and Graviel not far away, walking moodily up and down beside a figure stretched out upon the ground, and which appeared to lay motionless.
She could understand Willie and Mary being there, but the sight of Graviel increased her forebodings of evil. Had she not, in giving him the charge of her child, enjoined him not to leave her side for a moment? Yet there was Graviel, but where La Guardia Chica?
He heard the cry, and raised his head, which had sunk upon his breast as he kept guard over Kai Chileno. Then, as he caught sight of the Queen, he uttered a deep groan, but at once moved forward to meet her. In a moment she felt and knew the worstinstinctively, the dread of a great evil overcame her, and she stood still covering her face with her hands and trembling in every limb.
“Queen, have mercy; forgive Graviel!” she heard him imploring, and in a moment she had burst out wildly:
“Graviel, where is La Guardia Chica?”
“Stolen!” he answered in a broken voice. And then he proceeded rapidly to recount to her what had happened, ending up with the capture of Kai Chileno. “And yonder he lies,” he concluded savagely. “Graviel knows that he knows where La Guardia is, yet he will not open his lips, and but glares defiance upon me, as I ask him.” She rushed from his side towards the captive Indian, and as she did so the rescue party, with Topsie, Cuastral, and Piñone, hove in sight. Graviel stared. Then he rubbed his eyes, and stared again. What was it that he saw? Were they spectres of the lost and well-loved dead? Did others see them besides himself? What could they be?
In spite of their wild, unkempt appearance Graviel recognised at once the features of Cuastral and his own beloved master Piñone. Yet he never dreamed that they were themselves in living life. His tortured brain imagined them spectres, risen from the dead, and approaching to menace and destroy him, for the loss of the baby Cacique.
With a terrible cry he turned and fled, fear and horror gleaming in his eyes, and Willie and Mary, as they rushed forward to welcome the rescue party and their much-loved cousin, stopped petrified by the madappearance which he presented. The Indians, who had been lying or squatting around the fire, all sprang up at the sight of Aniwee. Several of them set off in pursuit of Graviel, whom they thought had been stricken with madness, while the remainder stood and stared, as though turned to stone, at the sight of their long-lost chiefs, whom they had mourned as dead; for had not Inacayal testified most positively to their deaths?
Piñone was the first to break the silence. In a few brief words he sought to reassure the terrified Araucanians, and to impress them with the reality of his presence and that of Cuastral’s; for, like Graviel, they deemed they saw spectres before them—the spectres of those dead men whom Inacayal had so graphically described as stretched in life’s last sleep.
As they crowded round the great Cuastral and his son Graviel was led up, and then Piñone’s eye fell upon Aniwee, who was kneeling by Kai Chileno.
He at once hurried to her side. “Aniwee,” he cried, “why is Graviel here, and why does he look so wild? Where is La Guardia Chica?”
“Stolen!” she wailed forth, “and Kai Chileno knows where she is, as such Graviel affirms; but see, he will not speak or answer, as I entreat him.”
“Does a Queen entreat a common Indian?” inquired Piñone proudly. “The Warrior Queen in her grief forgets who she is. Come hither, Aniwee. We will have Kai Chileno brought before us, and he shall answer or die under torture.”
He drew the girl Queen away as he spoke, and in the old authoritative voice of yore bade the Warriorsbring up the prisoner before Cuastral. All this while Mary and Willie had been hastily explaining to their parents and the others, the stirring events which had taken place during their absence in regard to the kidnapping of the baby Cacique, and at the recital of which the indignation of Sir Francis, Lady Vane, Topsie, Harry, and Freddy knew no bounds.
“You did well, my girl, to choose this route,” said Lady Vane approvingly. “What a wonderful providence of God that you did so, otherwise that scoundrel Kai Chileno would have escaped.”
“Yes, mother, I thank God that He put it into my head to do so, for, as you truly say, that thief would otherwise have got clean away.”
“Look there; they are bringing him up before Cuastral,” put in Harry quickly. “Perhaps he will confess what he has done with the poor little Cacique. Poor Aniwee, how miserable she looks; and Graviel, I believe, has gone out of his mind. What a terrible spectacle he presents!”
A large circle had formed around the captive, who stood sullenly facing Cuastral and Piñone. It was strange, this latter thought, that Kai Chileno evinced no surprise at beholding his father and himself, a fact which at once impressed the young warrior with the belief, that this conspirator knew something of the plot, whereby he and Cuastral had been carried away captives from their people, and handed over to the mercies of the Traucos.
“Speak, Kai Chileno,” exclaimed Cuastral vehemently, “or by slow torture you die. What know you of thefate of the child of Piñone and Aniwee? Whither has it been spirited? Thou knowest Cuastral of old; beware that thou dost not lie.”
“And if I tell thee, Cuastral, that I know not, what then?” inquired the sullen thief, looking up boldly at the Araucanian Cacique.
“Then, as I have told thee, thou shalt die. Once only has Cuastral been fooled, and that was when a traitor betrayed him into the hands of the Cristianos. It shall never more happen, I tell thee, Kai Chileno,” answered the chief in a stern voice.
“But how can my lips tell thee that which I do not know?” continued the accused stubbornly.
The Cacique waved his hand.
“Warriors,” he commanded peremptorily, “place the prisoner on the fire, and let him burn to death.”
The wretch eyed first the Cacique and then the gleaming wood of the bivouac fire. Then he looked back at Cuastral. He saw nothing but a stern, determined face, and he knew that he must either confess or die.
“Be it so,” he answered sullenly. “If I must know I must; but first promise me my life, Cuastral.”
The Araucanian chief bent his eyes fiercely upon the speaker.
“Thy life, Kai Chileno, depends entirely on the life of La Guardia Chica. Speak quickly, or you die.”
“Even so,” answered the prisoner. “Inacayal framed the plot. It was arranged that I should ride into the Queen’s camp and report a raid from the Cristianos on the north, and that I should bring withme a child of the same age as the young Cacique. Inacayal’s object was to withdraw Aniwee and her warriors from the Araucanian camp, and when they were gone Guaitu was to drug those who remained, including Blancha and Graviel. Then, while all slept, the young Cacique was to be stolen by Guaitu, and the other child put in its place, the little Queen being handed to me. All this was done, with the exception, that Inacayal took Aniwee’s place during her absence with the Señors.”
“And where is La Guardia Chica?” cried Aniwee, springing forward and glaring fiercely at the man who had robbed her of her child.
Kai Chileno smiled. There was a gleam of triumph in his eyes as he replied carelessly:
“Of a certain, O Queen, I know not now. But I left her upon the hill we call ‘Traucos’ Rest,’ and as I rode away, I saw the Traucos issue from the forest and cluster round the babe. Of a sooth she is a Trauco’s baby now.”
He ceased suddenly, as with a savage yell Graviel sprang upon him like a wild beast, and bore him to the ground.