Meli-Antou and Tcharanguii listened in silence, while the Sayotkatta seemed to reflect; Leon noticed this, and hastened to add—
"Although Gualichu assists me, and allows me to triumph over the wicked spirit, it is necessary that my brother and the four warriors whom he selects should pass the night preceding the cure in the Chemiin sona, and deliver to the wise Sayotkatta twenty brood mares which have not yet foaled, that they may be sacrificed to Gualichu. Will my brother do this?"
"If I do it, will my prisoners be restored to me?" Tcharanguii objected, with a certain hesitation.
"The Spanish girls will not only be restored to my brother, but they will also feel the most lively gratitude to him. If he refuse, they will die."
"I will do it," Tcharanguii said, quickly.
"My son is a wise man," remarked the Sayotkatta, whose forehead grew clearer when Leon mentioned the gift of the mares; "Gualichu protects him."
"My father is too kind," Leon contented himself with answering with a feigned humility, while rejoicing in his heart at seeing the plan he had conceived so facilely accepted by the Indian.
Nothing could be more simple than this plan, which consisted in carrying off the maidens when they were on the hillock whence, a few days previously, he and Wilhelm had seen for the first time the walls of Garakouaïti. It was the sole chance of success possible, for he could not dream of carrying them off from the Jouimion Faré, and even admitting that Tahi-Mari had been willing to use his authority over the chief of the Jaos, by forcing him to restore his prisoners to liberty, Leon could not have recourse to him, as he was fighting far away from the holy city.
The delay of three days fixed by Leon before attempting his plan was necessary to give Wilhelm time to find Giacomo and return with him and the band commanded by Harrison to the spot where the captain had metamorphosed himself into an Indian.
These three days were employed in visits to the young ladies and prayers in the Temple of the Sun.
Still the time seemed long to the captain and the daughters of General Soto-Mayor, who continually trembled lest some fortuitous circumstances might derange their plan. On the last day, Leon, as usual, was conversing with Maria, recommending her passive obedience, when he heard a peculiar rustling at the door of the room in which the young ladies were. Immediately reassuming his borrowed face, he opened the door, and found himself face to face with the Sayotkatta, who recoiled with the promptness of a man caught in the act of spying. Had he heard what they had been saying in Spanish? Leon did not think so, still he considered it prudent to keep on his guard.
The night at length arrived. The young ladies, each carried in a hammock borne on the shoulders of powerful Indians, were taken to the hillock, which Leon had pointed out on the previous day to Tcharanguii, and deposited on the llama skin stretched out upon it. Leon made Tcharanguii a sign to post as sentries the four men who had carried the maidens. Then, after uttering a few mysterious sentences, and burning a handful of odoriferous herbs, he ordered the Indians and their chief to kneel down and implore Agriskoui.
During this time he looked down into the city, striving to see if anything extraordinary were happening in it. So soon as he was assured that all was calm, and that the deepest silence prevailed in the city, he rose to his feet.
"Let my brother listen to me," he said; "I am going to compel Mayoba to retire from the bodies of the palefaced squaws."
At this moment Maria and Inez gave a start of terror, but Leon did not appear to notice it.
"My brothers will come hither!" he commanded. The four sentries advanced with a hesitation which threatened to degenerate into terror at the slightest movement on the part of the smuggler.
"I am going to pray; but in order to prevent Mayoba from assailing you when he quits the maidens, drink this firewater which Gualichu has endowed with the virtue of causing those who drink it to resist the assaults of the evil spirit, and then return each of you to your place."
At the words "firewater," the Indians quivered, and their eyes sparkled with greed. Leon poured them out, as well as Tcharanguii, half a calabash of spirits, amply doctored with opium, which they swallowed at a draught.
"Now, on your knees, all of you!" said Leon.
The Indians obeyed. He alone remained on his feet, holding out his right hand in the direction of the East, and with the other making a gesture commanding Mayoba to obey his authority. A minute after he changed his posture, and began turning round, while making an evocation.
Half an hour had passed, and during this time one of the Indians had fallen with his face on the ground, as if prostrating himself through humility. Another followed his example, and Tcharanguii imitated him. In a word, the five men were soon all in the same position. Then Leon slightly touched with his foot the man nearest to him, and rolled him over on his side. The opium had thrown him into such a lethargy, that he could have been stripped without waking him. He did the same with the other four, who were equally stupefied by the opium. Then, suddenly turning to the young ladies, who were awaiting the close of this scene with ever-growing anxiety,
"Let us go," he said. "Collect all your strength and follow me, for it is a matter of life or death."
Taking a pistol in either hand, he went down the hillock, preceding Inez and Maria, and ran with them in the direction of the forest. On reaching its skirt they stopped, for the young ladies, exhausted with fatigue, felt that they could go no farther. Leon did not press them, but making them a signal to listen, he imitated with rare perfection the cry of an eagle of the Cordilleras, which he repeated twice. Within a minute, which seemed an hour to the smuggler, the same cry answered him. A quarter of an hour did not elapse ere sixty riders, having Wilhelm and Harrison at their head, debouched from the forest and surrounded the captain and the young ladies, whom they lifted on their saddles.
"Saved! great Heavens!" Leon exclaimed; "they are saved!"
At the same moment a flash crossed the horizon, a whistling was heard, and a bullet broke the branch of a tree a couple of feet from the captain.
"The Indians!" Leon exclaimed; "we must gallop, my lads."
It was indeed the Indians, who guided by Meli-Antou, were pursuing the smugglers with terrible imprecations. This is what had occurred.
We said that on the day of the escape Leon surprised the Sayotkatta in the act of listening at the door. He had not deceived himself; still, as Schymi-Tou was ignorant of Spanish, he had been unable to understand the young people's conversation, but he had noticed a certain animation which appeared to him suspicious. He did not dare, however, oppose the ceremony of exorcism which was about to take place, and contented himself with imparting his suspicions to Meli-Antou, who was astonished at the Sayotkatta's doubts, and treated them as chimeras.
But, as the old man seemed strongly inclined to suppose some machination, or, at least, some jugglery, on the part of the pretended conjuror, he resolved to watch what took place on the eminence, and hold himself in readiness to march with twenty men, to the help of Tcharanguii, if he were the dupe of the medicine man's trickery. A little while, then, after the young ladies started for the hillock, he followed on their track, accompanied by his warriors; and, on reaching the hill, he crawled up through the tall grass, and listened.
He first heard the prayers of the five men, and was on the point of regretting that he had followed the Sayotkatta's advice, when Leon suddenly ceased speaking. He thought, however, that whispered prayers had succeeded the former ones. Still, as this silence was prolonged, he went a little higher, and was staggered at only seeing Tcharanguii and his four warriors, lying on the ground. Thinking them dead, he rushed toward them, and shouted to his men, whom he had left at the foot of the mound. They were soon with him, and shook the five sleepers, who at last woke up with a very confused idea of what had happened to them.
Meli-Antou guessed a portion of the truth, and, not doubting but that the fugitives had gone into the forest, he gave orders to pursue them. At the moment when they were setting out, they heard the eagle cries which had served as a signal to the smugglers, and dashed toward the spot whence they came. Meli-Antou was the first to perceive the fugitives, and fired at them, and, though he missed his mark, he hoped very soon to recapture them.
Before the smugglers had time to select the route which they must follow, the Indians were upon them. The young ladies were in the middle of the little band and in safety. Leon, therefore, gave orders to accept the fight and charge the enemy. Seizing a mace which had just fallen from the grasp of a wounded Indian, Leon rushed into the centre of the medley with the bounds of a tiger. The combatants, who were too close together to employ their firearms, fought with their knives, and dealt furious blows with their clubbed rifles or maces.
This frightful carnage lasted for more than half an hour, animated by the yells of the Indians and the shouts of the smugglers, who killed them to the last man—thanks to their numerical superiority—by a determined charge, which decided the victory. The victory, however, cost the smugglers eight of their party.
The next great point was to get away from the vicinity of the Indians before the news of the fight spread in Garakouaïti; for if it did so they would not have to contend only against twenty men, but against an entire army of redskins, animated with the desire to avenge their brothers. Leon assembled all his men, and they started for the forest, along the path which he and Wilhelm had cut, and which the smugglers were well acquainted with, through having come along it.
At sunrise they had got through the forest, and found themselves on the banks of the river where the captain, Wilhelm, and Giacomo had been so hotly pursued. Leon gave orders to halt—and it was high time, for the horses were panting with fatigue. Besides, whatever diligence the Indians might display to catch up the smugglers, the latter had a whole night's start of them; hence they could rest in perfect security.
While the men, in various groups, were preparing the meal or dressing their wounds, and the young ladies were sleeping on a pile of ponchos and sheepskins, Leon went to bathe, in order to remove the Indian paint that disfigured him; and, after resuming his European dress, he stationed himself near the spot where the ladies were reposing.
The first words of the latter, on awaking, were a torrent of thanks, which amply rewarded the captain for all that he had done to save them. Maria could not find expressions sufficiently strong to testify to Leon the joy which she felt at being restored to liberty by his assistance; and Inez, herself, gradually felt her heart expanding to a feeling more lively than that of gratitude.
Betrothed to Don Pedro Sallazar by her father's wish, she had accepted this alliance with perfect indifference, only seeing in this marriage greater liberty of action, and the pleasure of being the wife of a rich and brilliant gentlemen, who would devote his entire attention to satisfying her slightest caprices. But her heart had never beaten more violently than usual in the presence of the husband destined for her.
Such was the state of her heart, when the attack of the Indians at the Parumo of San Juan Bautista had suddenly modified her ideas by causing her to reflect on the conduct of the captain, who had not hesitated to risk his life to save her, while her betrothed husband had not even followed her track. Thus she guessed the grandeur and nobility of the smuggler's character, and at the same time conceived a love for him, which was the more violent because the man who was the object of it did not seem to notice it.
It was only at this moment that she understood why her sister had so often praised the young man's courageous qualities, and that she recognised the passion which they entertained for each other. A cruel grief gnawed at her heart, and it was in vain that she struggled against the horrible torture of a frenzied jealousy. She felt that she had no chance of being loved by Leon, who only lived for Maria; and yet, in spite of herself, she could not dispel the charm with which he inspired her. As for Leon, intoxicated with happiness, he revelled in the felicity with which the presence of Maria, who was seated by his side, inundated him.
After a few hours halt, they set out again, and on the morning of the fourth day reached the Parumo of San Juan Bautista, without having been molested in any way. Here they halted, and so soon as the camp was pitched, Leon went up to the maidens, and taking them by the hand, led them to the grave in which the Señora Soto-Mayor was interred.
"Kneel down," he said to them in a grave voice, "and pray, for here rests the body of your mother, whose soul is in heaven."
Maria and Inez mingled their prayers and sobs over the tomb of her who had taken care of their childhood, and both remained absorbed in profound grief. Leon had discreetly withdrawn, leaving the maidens to weep without witnesses: but at the expiration of an hour he went up to them, and by gentle words recalled them to a sense of the things of this world by speaking to them of their father, to whom he had pledged himself to restore them.
On hearing their father's name, the sisters wiped their tears and went back to join the smugglers, who were conversing about the combat which they had waged five weeks previously at that very spot. The men whom Hernandez and Joaquin had enlisted at Valparaíso listened to the narration with the greatest interest, and resolved, on the first opportunity, to avenge those whose places they had taken in Leon's band. The way in which they had behaved before Garakouaïti was, however, a sufficient guarantee of their good disposition.
From the Parumo of San Juan Bautista, the party proceeded to Talca; and after two days' march, the lofty peaks of the Cordilleras had gradually sunk behind the smugglers, who found themselves in the hot regions of the llanos, uninhabited by the Chilians.
Leon, who for more than a month had been unable to receive any news about the political events which had occurred during the period, and who desired to obtain some information about General Soto-Mayor, and whether on his return from Valdivia he had passed through Talca, gave orders to march straight on the latter town, where he intended to let the young ladies rest for two or three days. The nearer they drew to it the darker the captain's brow became; he frowned anxiously, and the glances which he cast in all directions revealed a profound preoccupation.
A great change had, indeed, taken place in these parts during the last month; the country had no longer that rich appearance which it formerly offered to the eye. Fields trampled by horses, the remains of burnt haciendas, and the ashes heaped up at places where flour mills had stood a few weeks previously—all these signs indicated that war had passed that way.
Two or three leagues farther, however, the houses of Talca could be seen on the horizon glistening in the sun. All was perfectly calm in the vicinity; no human being showed himself: no flocks grazed on the devastated prairies; on all sides, a leaden silence and a lugubrious tranquillity brooded over the landscape, and imparted a heart-breaking effect to the cheerful sunbeams.
All at once Wilhelm, who was riding a few paces ahead of the troop, stopped his horse with a start of terror, and anxiously leaned over his saddle. Leon dashed his spurs into his horse's flanks, and joined the smuggler. A hideous spectacle was presented to the two men; in a ditch bordering the road lay, pell-mell, a pile of Spanish corpses horridly disfigured, and all deprived of their scalps.
Leon commanded a halt, while asking himself what he had better do. Should he turn back, or advance on the town, which was evidently in the hands of the Indians? Hesitation was permissible. Still the captain understood that a determination, no matter what its nature, must be formed at once, and looking around him, he noticed a ruined hacienda about a league distant. It was a shelter, and it was better to seek refuge there, than remain on the open plain.
Twenty minutes had not elapsed before Leon leaped from his horse and rushed into the farm. The house bore traces of fire and devastation. The cracked walls were blackened with smoke, the windows broken, and amid the ruins that encumbered the patios lay the bodies of several men and women, assassinated and partly burnt.
Leon conducted the trembling ladies to a room which was cleared of the rubbish that obstructed the entrance; then, after recommending them not to leave it, he rejoined his comrades, who were establishing themselves as well as they could among the ruins.
"Caballeros," he said to them, "we are going to entrench ourselves here while four of you go out to reconnoitre; for we should commit a grave imprudence by entering the town before knowing in whose hands it is. Who are the four men who will undertake the duty?"
"I!—I!" all the smugglers replied, in chorus.
"Very good," Leon remarked, with a smile; "I shall be obliged to choose."
They were all silent.
"Giacomo, Hernandez, Joaquin, and Harrison, leave the ranks!"
The four advanced.
"You will go out," Leon said to them, "in four different directions as scouts. Do not stay away more than two hours, and find out what is going on. Above all, do not let yourselves be caught. Begone!"
The smugglers rushed to their horses, and set out at a gallop.
"Now," said Leon, addressing Wilhelm, "how many are there of us?"
"Fifty-four," a voice answered.
Leon felt himself strong. With fifty-four men he thought a good, deal could be done. His first care was to fortify the house in the best way he could; it was surrounded by a breast-high wall, like all the Chilian haciendas; he had the gateway blocked up, and then, returning to the house, he had loopholes pierced, and placed sentries near the wall and on the terrace. Then summoning Wilhelm, he gave him the command of twenty-five resolute men, and ordered him to ambuscade with this band behind a hillock, which was about two hundred yards from the house.
All these precautions taken, he waited. The scouts soon after returned, and their report was not reassuring:—The grand Molucho army, commanded by Tahi-Mari, had seized on Talca by surprise; the town was given over to pillage; and the Chilians, defeated in several engagements, were flying in the direction of Santiago. Parties of Indians were beating up the country on all sides; and it appeared evident that the smugglers could not go a league beyond the hacienda without falling into an ambuscade.
Hernandez, who was the last to arrive, brought with him some thirty Chilian soldiers and guasos, who had been wandering about for two days at the risk of being caught at any moment by the Indians, who pitilessly massacred all the white men that fell into their hands. Leon gladly welcomed the newcomers, for a reinforcement of thirty men was not to be despised. They were well armed, and could render him a great service. After distributing his men at the spots most exposed to attack, the captain went up on the terrace, and after lying down, carefully examined the country in the direction of Talca.
Nothing had altered, and the country was still deserted. This calmness appeared to him to be of evil augury. The sun set in a reddish mist, the light suddenly decreased, and night arrived with its darkness and mysteries. Leon went down, and proceeded to the room serving as refuge to the two sisters, in order to reassure them, and give them hopes which he was far from feeling. The maidens were sitting on the ground silently.
"Niñas," Leon said to them, "regain your courage. We are numerous, and shall be able to start again tomorrow morning without any fear of being disquieted by the Indians."
"Captain," Maria answered him, "it is vain for you to try and tranquillize us; we have heard what the soldiers are saying to one another, and they are prepared for an attack which appears to them inevitable."
"Señor Captain," Inez said, in her turn, "we are the daughters and sisters of soldiers, so you can tell us frankly to what we are exposed."
"Good heavens! do I know it myself?" Leon remarked. "I have taken all the precautions necessary to defend the hacienda dearly, but still I hope that we shall not be discovered."
"You are deceiving us again," Maria said with a smile, which was sorrowful, though full of grace and charms.
"Besides," Leon continued, without replying to the young lady's interruption, "be assured that, in the event of an attack, both I and my men will be dead ere an Indian crosses the threshold of this door."
"The Indians!" the young ladies could not help exclaiming, for they had before them the recollection of their captivity at Garakouaïti, and trembled at the mere thought of falling into their hands again.
Still, this terror was but momentary. Maria's face soon reassumed the delicious expression which was habitual to it, and it was with the softest inflexion of her voice that she addressed him.
"Captain," she said to him, "my sister and I wish to ask a favour of you—will you promise to grant it to us?"
"What is it, Señora? Speak, for you know that I am only too happy to obey the slightest wish of yours."
"Then you swear to grant it me, whatever it may be?"
"Without doubt," Leon answered; "but what is it?"
"Give me the pistols hanging from your girdle."
"Pistols! Great Heaven! what would you do with them?"
"Kill ourselves," Maria said, simply, "sooner than return to the Indian city."
"Oh! am I not here to defend you?"
"We know it," Inez added, "and know, too, that you are the noblest and bravest of all your comrades: but I join my entreaty to that of my sister, and beg you not to refuse us."
"If you were killed, Leon," Maria at length said, "must not I die too?"
Inez looked at her sister, and was silent.
Leon started, and drew the pistols from his girdle.
"Here they are," he said, as he handed them to the ladies.
And, without adding a word, he left the room, with his face buried in his hands. Maria and Inez threw themselves into each other's arms, and passionately embraced.
At the moment when Leon re-entered the patio, Harrison walked up to him, and said, as he pointed to several rows of black dots, which seemed crawling at no great distance from the hacienda—
"Look there, captain."
"They are Indians," Leon answered; "every man to his post."
An hour passed in horrible anxiety. All at once, the hideous head of a redskin appeared above the enclosing wall, and took a ferocious glance into the patio. Leon raised his axe, and the Indian's body fell back outside, while the head rolled at the captain's feet. Several attempts of the same nature, made at different points of the wall, were repulsed with equal success.
Then the Indians, who had expected to surprise a few sleepy guasos, on seeing themselves so unpleasantly received, raised their war yell, and rising tumultuously from the ground on which they had hitherto been crawling, bounded upon the wall, which they tried to escalade on all sides at once. A belt of flame then flashed forth round the hacienda, and a shower of bullets greeted them. Several fell, but their impetuosity was not checked, and a fresh discharge, almost in their faces, which caused them enormous loss, was unable to repulse them.
Ere long, assailants and assailed were contending hand to hand. It was a fearful combat, in which men only loosed their hold to die, and in which the conquered, frequently dragging down the conqueror in his fall, strangled him in a last convulsion. For nearly half an hour it was impossible to judge how matters went; the shots and the blows of axes and sabres followed each other with marvellous rapidity.
At length the Indians fell back: the wall had not been scaled. But the truce was not long; the Indians returned to the charge, and the struggle recommenced with new obstinacy. This time, in spite of the prodigies of valour, the smugglers, surrounded by the mass of enemies who attacked them on all sides simultaneously, were compelled to fall back on the house, defending every inch of ground; their resistance could not last much longer.
At this moment shouts were heard in the rear of the Indians, and Wilhelm rushed upon them like a hurricane at the head of his band. The redskins, surprised at this unexpected attack, fell back in disorder, and dispersed over the country. Leon, taking advantage of the opportunity, dashed forward at the head of twenty men to support his ambuscading party and complete the defeat of his enemies. The pursuit did not last long, however, and the smugglers returned to the hacienda, for the Indians had vanished like shadows.
Two hours passed without any incident. Leon gave orders to repair the damage done by the enemy, and then went to the young ladies, in order to learn how they had endured this fearful assault. On entering the room, he stumbled over the body of an Indian. The captain recoiled; a cold perspiration bathed his face; a convulsive tremor seized upon him, and he was on the point of losing his senses. A terrible thought crossed his mind; he feared he should see the young ladies killed. Looking sharply about the room, he saw them crouching in a corner, and a cry of delight burst from him.
"Oh!" he exclaimed, "what has happened here?"
Maria, without answering, took the torch, which was burning in a ring against the wall, and illumined the Indian's countenance.
"Tcharanguii!" he exclaimed.
"Yes," she said, "and it was this that killed him." She displayed with savage energy the pistol that she held in her hand.
"Oh!" said Leon, falling on his knees, "Heaven be thanked!"
"Captain, captain!" Wilhelm shouted, as he rushed into the room, "here are the Indians!"
Leon hurried out. The fight had recommenced between his men and the Indians. Day was beginning to break, and discovered an entire army of Indians forming a circle round the hacienda.
"Comrades!" Leon said, in a thundering voice, addressing the smugglers, "we cannot hope to conquer, but we must die like brave men."
"We will!" they replied, with an accent of sublime resignation.
They were only twenty-nine in all, for sixty had been killed in the first two attacks.
"Do not let us waste our powder," Leon added; "but make sure of our aim."
The horizon was gradually growing clearer, and friend and foe could perfectly distinguish each other. There was something painful in this spectacle of twenty-nine calm and stoical men, who had all made a sacrifice of their life, and were preparing with heroic carelessness to support the onrush of thousands of implacable enemies.
All at once Leon uttered a cry of surprise; he had just recognised the grand chief of the Moluchos, who was advancing at the head of a portion of the army to carry the hacienda by storm.
"Diego!" he shouted.
"Leon!" Tahi-Mari replied.
And then turning to the fighting Indians, he commanded them to stop.
Then, rushing towards the man who had been his friend, he said—
"You here! Why, unhappy man, you must wish for death!"
"Yes," Leon replied.
"Oh! I will save you!"
"Thanks, Diego. But will you also save those who are with me?"
"Those who are with you have killed five hundred of my men during the night. Oh! the incarnate demons! Yes, I ought to have suspected it; you alone were able to withstand an army for a whole night in a dismantled ruin. Save them," he added—"no, it is impossible."
"In that case, good-bye," Leon said, as he prepared to turn away.
"Where are you going, brother?"
"To die with them, since their death is resolved."
"Oh, you will not do that?"
"Why should I not do it? Why have you forgotten, that you were for a long time their leader, but will now sacrifice them to your blind fury?"
"Oh! I cannot let the Soto-Mayor family escape thus!"
"That family left me at the Parumo of San Bautista, after the Indian bullets had killed the general's wife."
"Are you speaking the truth?"
"I have only two ladies with me."
"Wait!" said the chief of the redskins, and returned to his band.
Leon said a few words to Wilhelm, who dashed into the house to inform the young ladies that they were out of danger, but only on condition that they wrapped themselves so carefully in their rebozos that their features could not be recognised.
Leon saw Tahi-Mari talking with great animation for about ten minutes among the Molucho chiefs: at length they separated, and Diego returned to him.
"Brother," he said to him, "you are an adopted son of the Moluchos; you can retire withersoever you please with the men whom you command, without fear of being disquieted."
"Thanks, brother," Leon said; "I recognise you in that."
"Where will you go?" Diego asked again.
"To Valparaíso."
"Good-bye."
"Why good-bye; do you never wish to see me again?"
"How?"
"Listen; in a week I shall be free from any engagement. Where will you give me a meeting?"
"At the Rio Claro," said the Indian chief.
"I will be there."
The two friends parted as in the happy days of their friendship, and then the captain joined his men, while the Indian put himself at the head of his army again.
"To horse!" Leon then said.
The smugglers obeyed; and then forming a close squadron, they left the hacienda at a canter, having the two veiled ladies in their midst. The Indian army made way for them to pass; and the twenty-nine men rode with head erect through the dense ranks of the Moluchos, who watched them pass without evincing the slightest impression. Six days after, Maria and Inez de Soto-Mayor were in safety behind the walls of the convent of the Purísima Concepción.
The appearance of Valparaíso had greatly changed. It was no longer the careless, laughing town which we have described, echoing from morning to night with gay love songs, and whirling round with a wild sambacueca. No! its gaiety had faded away to make room for sombre anxieties. Although its sky was still as pure, its sun as hot, and its women as lovely, a veil of sadness had spread over the forehead of the inhabitants, and chilled the smile on every lip. The streets, usually so full of promenaders and so noisy, were gloomy and silent. The shops—nearly all deserted and closed—no longer displayed to purchasers from all countries those thousand charming trifles of which the Creoles are so fond.
Numerous troops of soldiers were encamped in all the squares; strong patrols marched through each district, and the ships anchored in the bay, with nettings triced up and ports opened, were awaiting the moment for action; while at intervals the beating of the drums or the dull ringing of the tocsin, terrified the timid citizens in their houses, where they hid themselves under triple bolts and locks.
What was occurring, however, was sufficient to excuse the terror of the alarmed population. Tahi-Mari, the great Molucho chief, at the head of the twelve allied Araucano nations, after seizing the forts of Araucas and Tulcapel, and massacring their garrisons, had taken Valdivia, which he plundered, and continuing his march with more than two hundred thousand Indians, had subjugated Talcahueno, Concepción, Maule, and Talca. In spite of the desperate efforts and courage of General Don Pedro Sallazar, who at the head of six thousand men had vainly attempted to arrest the invader, the Spanish army, conquered in five successive actions, was dispersed, leaving Tahi-Mari at liberty to march upon Santiago, the capital of Chili.
Only one resource was left Don Pedro Sallazar, that of collecting the relics of his defeated army, and entrenching himself on the banks of the Massucho, in order to dispute its passage with the Indians, who were preparing to cross the river. This he did with the help; of four thousand men, whom Don Juan brought to him, though not without difficulty.
The President of the Republic had called under arms all the youth of Chili, and in the towns, pueblos, and villages, the citizens had eagerly placed themselves at the disposal of the military authorities, who had armed and sent them off to Valparaíso, which was selected as headquarters, owing to the proximity of that town and Santiago.
On the eighth day after the arrival of General Soto-Mayor's daughters at the convent of the Purísima Concepción, at about midday, three or four thousand men, forming the volunteer contingent, were piously kneeling in the Plaza del Gobernador and attending the divine service, which the Bishop of Valparaíso was celebrating in the cathedral for the success of their arms. In all the towns of the republic, novenas and public prayers had been ordered, to implore heaven to save the country from the immense danger which menaced it.
When mass was ended, the soldiers rose to their feet and closed up in line. Then a brilliant staff, composed of general officers, at the head of whom was the commandant of Valparaíso, came out of the cathedral and stood on the last step of the peristyle. The governor stretched out his arm as a signal that he wished to speak, and the drums beat a prolonged roll. When silence was re-established, he said:—
"Chilians! the hand of God presses heavily upon us: the ferocious Indians have rushed upon our territory like wild beasts; they are firing our towns, and plundering, burning, massacring, and violating on their passage. Soldiers, you are about to fight for your homes; you are the last hope of your country, who is looking at you and counting on your courage; will you deceive its expectations?"
"No!" the volunteers shouted, brandishing their weapons frenziedly. "Lead us against the Indians!"
"Very good," the general continued; "I am happy to see the noble ardour which animates you, and I know that I can trust to your promise. The President of the Republic, in his solicitude for you, has chosen as your commander one of the noblest veterans of our War of Independence, who has claimed the honour of marching at your head—General Don Juan de Soto-Mayor."
"Long live General Soto-Mayor," the soldiers cried. The general, upon this, stationed himself by the side of the governor, and all were silent for the sake of listening to him.
"Soldiers!" he exclaimed, in a fierce voice, and with a glance sparkling with enthusiasm, "I have sworn to the President of the Republic that the enemy should only reach Santiago by passing over our corpses."
"Yes, yes, we will all die. Long live General Soto-Mayor!"
At this moment the doors of the cathedral, which had been shut, were noisily opened; a religious band could be heard; the bells rang out loudly; a cloud of incense obscured the air; and an imposing procession, with the bishop at its head, came out under the portico, and ranged itself there while singing pious hymns. On seeing this, soldiers and generals knelt down.
"Christians!" said the bishop, a venerable, white-haired old man, whom two vicars held under the arms, "go whither duty summons you. Save your country, or die for it. I give you my pastoral blessing."
Then, seizing a magnificent standard, on which sparkled a figure of the Virgin, embroidered in gold, he said—
"Take this consecrated flag. I place it in the hands of your general, and Nuestra Señora de la Merced will give you the victory!"
At these words, pronounced by the worthy bishop, a perfect delirium seized upon his hearers, and they swore with many imprecations and with tears in their eyes to defend the flag which General Soto-Mayor waved over their heads with a martial air, and to conquer or die in following him. The volunteers then marched past the staff and the clergy, and returned to their cantonments at the Almendral.
The general had already taken leave of the governor, as the troops had completely evacuated the square, and was preparing to return to the mansion which he had inhabited since his arrival from Valdivia, when he heard his name pronounced behind him just as he was on the point of mounting his horse. He turned his head quickly, and uttered a cry of joy on recognising Captain Leon Delbès.
"You here!" he said.
"Heaven be praised, I have found you, general!"
"Where are my girls?" the old gentleman asked, anxiously.
"Saved."
The general opened his arms to the young man, who rushed into them.
"Oh, my friend, what do I not owe you! My poor children! for mercy's sake take me at once to them. Where have you left them?"
"At the convent of the Purísima Concepción, general, as I pledged myself to do."
"Thanks! Come then with me; while we are going we will talk together, and you will tell me how I can recompense the eminent service which you have done me."
"General, I beg you do not revert to this subject. When I started to seek the two young ladies who had been torn from you I accomplished a duty, and I cannot and will not accept any reward."
The general looked at Leon, seeking to read his thoughts in his face, but he could not divine anything.
"Ah!" he answered, "we shall see. Caramba! You are a man of heart, but I have a desire to be a man of my word. Let us hasten at once to the convent, for I am longing to embrace my poor girls."
"But, general, my presence may perhaps be inopportune—I am only a stranger, and—"
"Sir! the man who devoted himself to save my children cannot be regarded as a stranger either by them or me."
The captain bowed.
"Let us start," Don Juan continued. "You are on foot, so I will send my horse home."
"Pray do not do so, general, for my horse is waiting a few yards off."
Leon whistled in a peculiar manner, and almost immediately the general saw a horseman, leading another horse by the bridle, turn out of the Calle San Agostino. It was our old acquaintance, Wilhelm.
"Here it is," said Leon.
Wilhelm had come up, and after saluting the general, said to the smuggler, in a low voice:
"Captain, here is a letter which has arrived for you, and which Master Crevel bade me to give you, adding that it was very pressing."
"Very good," said Leon, taking it and putting it in his pocket, without even looking at the handwriting. And he leapt on his horse.
"Follow us," he shouted to Wilhelm.
"All right, captain."
The two gentlemen rode off in the direction of the convent, escorted by Wilhelm, and followed by the general's servant. On the road the general overwhelmed Leon with questions as to the way in which he had contrived to find his daughters; and the captain described his expedition to him. When he came to the rescue which he accomplished by pretending to deliver Inez and Maria from the possession of the fiend, the general could not restrain a burst of laughter.
"On my word, captain, what you did there denotes on your part great boldness and profound skill. I knew that you were a courageous fellow, but I now see that you are a man of genius."
Leon tried to defend himself against such a flattering qualification, but the general insisted, while repeating the expression of his gratitude. In this way they reached the convent gates, and the general and Leon went in. Here again the young man was obliged to repeat to the curious abbess the details of his Odyssey.
The general yielded to all the transports of a real joy, and never tired of lavishing the tenderest caresses on those whom he had thought eternally lost. It was then that the memory of the beloved wife who no longer lived returned to him with all the greater force. Heavy tears poured from his eyes, and were mingled with those of his daughters.
"My children," he said to them, "Heaven has recalled your mother from my side, and your brother, Don Juan, is at this moment exposed to all the horrors of civil war. Hence I should only have you to cherish if my son succumbed beneath the blows of our cruel enemies. Remain here, then, my children, in this holy house, until the re-establishment of peace restores us better days."
"What! are you going away again, father?" Inez asked.
"I must. I have been intrusted with the command of a division, and I owe the little blood left me to the defence of my country."
"Oh, Heaven!" the young ladies exclaimed.
"Reassure yourselves: I hope to see you again soon: the walls of this convent will preserve you from external dangers. I leave you here without anxiety, until I return to be present at your taking the veil, my good Maria, and your marriage with Don Pedro Sallazar, my dear Inez."
The young ladies made no reply, but simultaneously glanced at the smuggler, whose face was extremely pale.
"It is to you that I confide them, my sister," the general continued, addressing the abbess. "Watch carefully over them, and whatever may happen, only act on my orders, or those of my son, if I am killed, as regards Maria's taking the veil or Inez's departure, for the war may—produce great changes and unforeseen catastrophes."
"You shall be obeyed, general," the abbess replied.
The general embraced his daughters for the last time, and prepared to depart; but at the moment of separating from their father they appeared visibly affected. Maria looked at Leon, striving to read in his face an encouragement to confess to the general the slight inclination she felt for a conventual life. The captain understood the maiden's desire, but his face did not speak, and hence Maria's lips did not move.
On her side Inez appeared to have formed some violent resolution, for with purpled cheeks she addressed the general, while repressing the beating of her heart.
"Father," she said to him, with an effort, "before you leave us, I wish to say a few words to you without witnesses."
The tone in which these words were uttered produced a certain impression on the general.
"What have you to tell me, my child?"
"You shall know directly, father."
"Allow me to withdraw, general," said Leon; "besides," he added, "I have some business to settle, and—"
"Señor, Inez has secrets to reveal to me," the old gentleman said, with a smile. "I will let you go; but only on condition that you come and see me tonight before I set out for Santiago."
"I shall not fail, general."
"Good-bye then, for the present, captain."
Leon bowed, and after exchanging a few compliments with the persons present, left the room. The abbess also retired, though somewhat reluctantly, followed by Maria, and the general found himself alone with Inez. Let us leave him and his daughter together for a moment, and accompany Leon, who found Wilhelm waiting at the gate.
"What is the matter with you?" he asked him, as he mounted his horse; "you have a very singular look today."
"Well," the German replied, "it is because I see some fellows I do not like prowling about here."
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing, except that we had better be on our guard."
"Nonsense, you are mad!"
"We shall see."
"In the meanwhile, let us make haste, for Diego is waiting for us at the Rio Claro, and time is slipping away."
The two smugglers rode off in the direction of the spot fixed by Diego for the meeting he had given the captain. Leon was thinking of the scene which he had just witnessed at the convent, and was asking himself what Inez could have to say to her father. Wilhelm was looking around him suspiciously. They rode on thus for about ten minutes, when just as they were turning the corner of the great Almendral street and preparing to leave Valparaíso, a dozen alguaciles barred their passage.
"In the name of the law I arrest you, Señor Delbès!" one of them said, addressing Leon.
"I beg your pardon," the smuggler said, laying his hands on his pistols, and raising his head.
Wilhelm followed his example.
"Shall we drop them?" he asked, eagerly, in a whisper.
"We two could certainly kill eight!" Leon replied; "but I fancy that would do us no good, as we are beset."
In fact, the first two men were joined by other ten, and a large band of serenos speedily surrounded them.
"Surrender!" said the man who had before spoken.
"I must do so," Leon replied; "but tell me why you arrest me?" Then he bent down to Wilhelm and whispered—"You know where we were going; proceed there alone, and tell Diego what has happened to me."
"All right; trust to me."
"Gentlemen," Leon continued, "I have asked you for what motive you arrest me; will you be good enough to tell me?"
"We do not know," the head of the serenos answered. "I have orders to make certain of your body and the rest does not concern me. For the third time, are you willing to follow us peaceably?"
Leon reflected for a few seconds, and answered in the affirmative.
"In that case, uncock your pistols."
He raised his arms and discharged his pistols in the air.
"Why, what are you about?" the sereno exclaimed; "you will give an alarm!"
"You told me to uncock my pistols, and I did more, I unloaded them. What more would you have?"
"Enough argument; march!" said the man.
"March!" the captain repeated.
And surrounded by a strong squad of police, Leon was carried off to the governor's house. This arrest, and the two shots heard in this part of the town, had brought to the spot a large number of curious persons. Wilhelm mingled among them, and joined the mob that was awaiting the prisoner coming out.
Ten minutes passed, and at the expiration of that time Leon reappeared, escorted by twenty serenos, who led him to the Calabozo, situated on the Almendral, at no great distance from the Convent of the Purísima Concepción, where he was safely placed under lock and key. Wilhelm understood that he would have no hope of seeing his captain again by waiting longer.
"Good!" he said to himself, "I know where to find him now: let us make haste to go and warn Diego or Tahi-Mari, for I really do not know what to think of our friend and foe, the captain's lieutenant."
Whereupon the worthy German buried his wide spurs in his horse's flanks, which started at a gallop in the direction of the Rio Claro.
"No matter; all this does not appear to me clear," the smuggler muttered. "Well, we shall see."
Night was beginning to fall. As he left the town, the angelus was ringing in all the churches, and the tattoo sounding in all the streets of Valparaíso.
It was about ten o'clock at night. It was cold and foggy; the wind whistled violently, and heavy black clouds coming from the south dropped heavy rain upon the ground. Between Valparaíso and Rio Claro —that is to say, in the gorge which had many times served as a refuge for the smugglers, and which our readers are already acquainted with—Tahi-Mari indolently lying at the foot of a tree, was rolling a papelito in his fingers, while lending an attentive ear to the slightest sounds which the gust conveyed to him and at times darting glances around him which seemed trying to pierce the obscurity.
"Ten o'clock already," he said, "and Leon not yet arrived: what can detain him? It is not possible that he can have forgotten the hour of our meeting. I will wait longer," he added, as he drew his mechero from his pocket and lit his cigarette, "for Leon must come back to me—he must absolutely."
Suddenly a sound so light that only an Indian's ear could seize it, crossed the space.
"What is that?" Diego asked himself.
He rose cautiously, and after concealing his horse in a dense thicket, hid himself behind the trunk of an enormous tree close by. The sound gradually drew nearer, and it was soon easy to recognise the gallop of a horse at full speed. A few minutes later a rider turned into the clearing; but he had not gone a few yards when his horse stumbled against a stone, tottered, and in spite of the efforts of the man on its back, slipped with all four feet, and fell.
"Der Teufel! Carajo! Sacrebleu!" Wilhelm shouted, as he fell, borrowing from all the languages he spoke the expressions best adapted to render the lively annoyance which he felt at the accident which had happened to him.
But the German was a good horseman, and the fall of the horse did not at all take him unawares. He freed his feet from the stirrups and found himself on his legs. Still, on looking around him, he noticed that the clearing which was deserted on his arrival, had become peopled, as if by enchantment, by some fifty Indians, who seemed to have sprung out of the ground.
"The deuce!" thought Wilhelm; "I fancy there will be a row, and I am afraid that I shall come off second best."
At this moment a shrill whistle was heard, and the Indians disappeared so rapidly that the German rubbed his eyes to see whether he was awake.
"Hilloh!" he asked himself, "is this an apparition, and are they demons or men?"
Then, seeing that he was really alone, he busied himself with raising his horse.
"There," he continued, when the animal was on its legs again, "I will wait till Señor Diego arrives. Plague take the spot; it does not appear to me so sure as formerly, and our ex-lieutenant might have chosen another."
"Here I am, Wilhelm!" Diego said, suddenly, as he stood before the smuggler.
"Well, I am not sorry for it, lieutenant," the German answered, phlegmatically.
"What do you want here?" the other asked him, sharply.
"I have come because the captain ordered me to do so, that is all."
"Why did Leon send you in his place? I was expecting him here."
"Ah, that is another matter, and you must not be angry with him."
"But," Diego continued, biting his moustache savagely, "what does he expect me to do with you?"
"Hang it all—whatever you like."
"But where is he?"
"He is arrested."
"How!—arrested?"
"Yes; and it was before being imprisoned in the Calabozo, that he ordered me to go in all haste and warn you."
"Arrested!" the half-breed said, stamping his foot; "that scoundrel of a Crevel has betrayed me, and shall pay dearly for it."
"Crevel, do you say, lieutenant? Well, it is possible; and yet I do not think so."
"I am sure of it."
"Why so?"
"I sent him a letter which he was to deliver to Leon, and in which I warned the latter of the danger that menaced him."
"A letter, you say; and when did you send it?"
"This morning early."
"Ah!" said Wilhelm, "I have it."
And he told Diego how—as Leon had gone out when the letter arrived at Crevel's—the latter asked him to deliver it to the captain, and that when he received it, he put it in his pocket without reading, absorbed as he was in his conversation with General Soto-Mayor.
"What! is the general at Valparaíso?" Diego asked, interrupting the smuggler.
"Yes, lieutenant; but he will not be so for long."
"Why not?"
"Because the governor had just given him command of the new body of volunteers, who are going to reinforce the Chilian army at Santiago."
"That is well."
Tahi-Mari whistled in a peculiar way, and an Indian appeared. The chief of the Molucho army said a few words to him in a low voice. The Indian bowed as a sign of obedience, and, gliding through the herbage, disappeared. Wilhelm looked on at the scene, whistling to give himself a careless air. When the Indian had gone, Tahi-Mari turned to him, and laid his hand on his shoulder.
"Wilhelm," he said to him, "you love your captain, do you not, my lad?"
While uttering these words his searching glance was plunged into the smuggler's eyes, as if questioning his thoughts.
"I love the captain? Der Teufel! do you doubt it, lieutenant?"
"No! that will do; you are an honest fellow."
"All right."
"But listen to me. Will you save him?"
"Certainly. What am I to do for that?"
"I will tell you. Where is Leon's band?"
"At Valparaíso."
"How many men does it consist of at this moment?"
"Forty."
"Would they all die for their captain?"
"I should think so."
"In that case, you will assemble them tomorrow at Crevel's."
"At what hour?"
"Eleven o'clock at night."
"Settled."
"Pay attention that Crevel does not open the door to any persons who do not rap thrice, and say Diego and Leon."
"I will open it myself."
"That will be better still."
"After that, what are we to do?"
"Nothing; the rest is my business: remember my instructions, and be off."
"Enough, lieutenant."
Wilhelm remounted his horse and set out on his return. At about a league from Valparaíso he met the column of volunteers marching to Santiago, and gaily advancing while singing patriotic airs. Wilhelm who was not at all desirous of being arrested as a suspicious person for travelling at this hour of the night, drew up by the wayside, and allowed the men to defile past him. When the last had disappeared in the distance, the German returned to the high road, and half an hour later re-entered Valparaíso, puzzling over the remarks of Tahi-Mari, whose plans he could not divine.
In the meanwhile, the volunteers continued to advance, filling the air with their martial strains. They formed a body of about four thousand men; but of this number only one-half were armed with muskets—the rest had pikes, lances, or forks; but their enthusiasm—powerfully inflamed by the copious libations of aguardiente which the inhabitants of Valparaíso had furnished to them—knew no limits, and made them discount beforehand a victory which they regarded as certain.
These soldiers of the moment had been selected from the lowest classes of society, and retained a turbulence and want of discipline which nothing could conquer. The citizens of Valparaíso, who feared them almost as much as if they had been Indians, were delighted at their departure, for, during their short stay in the town, they had, so to speak, organized plunder, and made robbery their vocation.
General Soto-Mayor did not at all deceive himself as to the qualities of the men whom he commanded, and perceived at the first glance that it would be impossible to obtain from them the obedience which he had a right to demand. In spite of the repeated orders which he gave them at starting to observe, the greatest silence on the march, through fear of being surprised by the Indians, he found himself constrained to let them act as they pleased, and he resolved to let the army bivouac on the road, while he proceeded to his country house, whence he could dispatch a courier to Santiago, requesting officers to be sent him who could aid him in restoring some degree of order among the men he commanded. It was evident that such a disorderly and noisy march exposed them to be murdered to a man in the first ambuscade which the Araucanos prepared for him.
It was about one in the morning when the volunteers arrived at the general's country house. It was plunged in profound obscurity; all the shutters were closed, and the watch dogs barked mournfully in the deserted courtyards. After ordering a halt for some hours the general proceeded towards his residence. At the sound of the bell a heavy footfall was heard inside, and a grumbling voice asked who was knocking at such an hour, and what he wanted.
When the general had made himself known, the gate turned heavily on its hinges, and Señor Soto-Mayor entered, not without a painful contraction of the heart, the house which recalled to him such affecting recollections. Alas! long past were the happy days which he had spent in this charming retreat, surrounded by all those to whom he was attached, and resting from the fatigues of a gloriously occupied life.
The old gentleman's first care was to send off the courier, and then, after taking out of the manservant's hand the candle which he held, he entered the apartments. This splendid residence, which he had left so brilliant and so animated, was now solitary and deserted. The rooms he passed through, on whose floor his foot echoed dully, were cold; the atmosphere which he breathed was impregnated with a close and unhealthy odour, which testified the little care the guardians of the house had displayed in removing it; on all sides were abandonment and sadness.
At times the general's eyes fell upon an object which had belonged to his wife, and then they filled with tears, while a deep sigh issued from his oppressed chest. At length, after visiting in turn all the apartments in the house with that painful pleasure which persons feel in evoking a past which cannot return, the general opened the door of the room which had served as his bedroom. He could not restrain a start of terror. A man, seated in an easy chair, with his arms folded on his chest, seemed to be awaiting somebody.
It was Diego.
"Come in, my dear general," he said, as he rose and bowed courteously.
"Señor!" said the general.
"Yes; I understand. It astonishes you to see me here: but what would you have? Circumstances allowed me no choice; and I am sure that you will pardon me this slight infraction of etiquette."
The general was dumb with surprise at the sight of such audacity. Still, when the first flush of indignation had passed, feeling curious to know the object of the person who behaved to him so strangely, he restrained his anger and awaited the result of this singular interview.
"Sit down, general, pray," Diego continued, keeping up his tone of assurance.
"I thank, you, sir, for your politeness in doing the honours of my house; but before aught else, I should wish to know the reason which has procured me this visit."
"I beg your pardon, general," the other replied, with a slight tremor in his voice; "but perhaps you do not recognize me, and so I will—"
"It is unnecessary, sir. I remember you perfectly well; you are a smuggler, called Diego the Vaquero, who abandoned us after engaging to escort us, as did Captain Leon Delbès, in whose service I believe you were."
"That is perfectly correct, general; still the name of Diego is not the only one which I have the right to bear."
"That concerns me but slightly."
"Perhaps not."
"Explain yourself."
"If the Spaniards call me Diego, the Indians call me Tahi-Mari."
This name produced the same effect on the general as an electric shock.
"Tahi-Mari!" he exclaimed. "You!"
"Myself!"
A flash of hatred animated the eyes of the two men, who seemed measuring each other like two tigers brought face to face. After a moment's silence, the general continued:
"Can you be ignorant that I have round the house in which we now are four thousand men ready to hurry up at my first summons?"
"No, general; but you do not seem to know that I, too, have in this house two hundred Indians, who are watching each of your movements, and who would rush on you at the slightest signal I gave."
The general's lips blanched.
"Ah! I understand," he said. "You have come to assassinate me after killing my wife, for now I no longer doubt but that it was you who had us surprised in such a cowardly fashion in the Parumo of San Juan Bautista."
"You are mistaken, general: it was not I who made you a widower; and it was in order that none of my men should tear from me the prey I covet, that I have come myself to fetch it."
"But what impels you to be so furious against those of my race, so that the name of Tahi-Mari may be equivalent to that of the murderer of the Soto-Mayors."
"Because the Soto-Mayors are all cowards and infamous."
"Villain!"
"Yes, infamous! and it is because I have sworn to exterminate the last of the accursed family that I have come to take your life!"
"Assassin!"
"Nonsense; a Tahi-Mari fights, but he does so honourably—face to face. Here are two swords," Diego continued, pointing to the weapons lying on a cheffonier, "choose the one you please; or if you like, you have your sabre, and here is mine. On guard! and may heaven protect the last of the Tahi-Maris, while destroying the last of the Soto-Mayors!"
"I have a son who will avenge me," the general exclaimed.
"Perhaps not, Señor Don Juan, for you know not whether he is dead or alive."
"My son!—oh!"
And the general, overpowered by a feverish excitement, furiously drew the pistol which he had in his belt and discharged it point-blank at Diego. But the latter was following his movements, and at the moment when the general's hand was lowered at him, he cut through his wrist with a sabre-stroke. The general uttered a cry of pain, and the bullet broke a mirror.
"Oh, oh!" Diego exclaimed, "ever treacherous; but we are too old enemies not to know each other, and hence I was on my guard, general."
The old man, without replying, drew another pistol with his left hand and fired. But the badly aimed shot only grazed slightly the Indian's chest; and the bullet, after making a scratch along one of his ribs, entered the panel of a door. Diego bounded like a lion on the old man, who had fallen to the ground, and whose blood was streaming from the frightful wound he had on his arm. Then he seized his long white hair, pulled up his head violently, and compelled him to look him in the face.
"At last, Soto-Mayor, you are conquered!" he shouted.
The old man collected the little strength left him in a supreme effort; his eyes sparkled with fury, his countenance was contracted with disgust, and he spat in his enemy's face. At this supreme insult Diego uttered a frightful howl, and then drew his knife with a demoniacal grin.
In the meanwhile the sound of the pistol shots had spread an alarm among the volunteers, and a party of them rushed tumultuously into the house. When the soldiers entered the general's bedroom, after breaking in the door, they found the window open and the old man stretched out on the floor, bathed in blood. In addition to the horrible mutilation of his arm, he had a hideous wound on his head, from which the blood streamed down his face. Diego had scalped the unfortunate Don Juan de Soto-Mayor.
A cry of horror burst from every mouth, and they hastily gave the wounded man all the care which his wretched condition required.