FOOTNOTES:[32]Literally, bottom of a valley.[33]The name of a species of cedar, whose presence almost always indicates the vicinity of a hidden spring. In Indian,ahuehuetlmeans lord of the waters.[34]The Veta Madre, wrought by the four mining companies of Valenciana, Cata, Mellado, and Rayas, was discovered by the French miner Laborde, and has yielded, between the years 1829 and 1837, ore to the value of almost six million two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling.[35]The miners are said to be inpartidowhen a share of the proceeds is given them as wages. In this case the employers furnish them with tools, gunpowder, and candles.
[32]Literally, bottom of a valley.
[32]Literally, bottom of a valley.
[33]The name of a species of cedar, whose presence almost always indicates the vicinity of a hidden spring. In Indian,ahuehuetlmeans lord of the waters.
[33]The name of a species of cedar, whose presence almost always indicates the vicinity of a hidden spring. In Indian,ahuehuetlmeans lord of the waters.
[34]The Veta Madre, wrought by the four mining companies of Valenciana, Cata, Mellado, and Rayas, was discovered by the French miner Laborde, and has yielded, between the years 1829 and 1837, ore to the value of almost six million two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling.
[34]The Veta Madre, wrought by the four mining companies of Valenciana, Cata, Mellado, and Rayas, was discovered by the French miner Laborde, and has yielded, between the years 1829 and 1837, ore to the value of almost six million two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling.
[35]The miners are said to be inpartidowhen a share of the proceeds is given them as wages. In this case the employers furnish them with tools, gunpowder, and candles.
[35]The miners are said to be inpartidowhen a share of the proceeds is given them as wages. In this case the employers furnish them with tools, gunpowder, and candles.
Description of, and descent into, a Silver Mine.—The Miner's Chapel.
When a mine is first begun, it is always left open to the sky, and the mineral is extracted by following the vein that contains it; but, as the mine gets deeper, two obstacles present themselves: the extraction of the ore becomes more costly, and the workmen are not long in meeting with hidden springs, the waters of which, unless removed, would drown the mine and stop the works. To provide against this danger, shafts are sunk, at the bottom of which a working gallery runs, that follows the vein of metal. The depth of the shaft depends upon the lode, which sometimes stretches so far down into the ground that two or three working galleries, one above the other, are obliged to be constructed. In the richest mines little paths of communication are added to these principal arteries, besides other works to assist in its exploration.
The ore and water are raised out of the mines by means of machines calledMalacates, placed at the mouth of the shaft. Large bags, some made of the stringy bark of the aloe, others of ox-hide, are fixed to the ends of ropes wound round an enormous drum, the former for raising the ore, the latter for the water, and these are constantly passing up and down the shaft. The motive power is given by horses, which are kept constantly at the gallop.
Besides the grand shaft (tiro general), the mine ofRayas has two others of less importance, one of which reaches a depth of nearly eight hundred feet. The tiro general, remarkable for the diameter of its shaft, which is thirty-four feet, and for its frightful depth, almost twelve hundred feet, communicates with three principal galleries, one above the other, and these shafts and galleries, together with their accessories, form the most complete series of gigantic workings that are to be found in the country. The exterior appearance of this mine is, however, far from giving one an idea of the constant activity which prevails within it. Some paltry wooden sheds, covered with tiles, which protect the malacates, or shelter the workmen; a few buildings of mean appearance, the offices of the administrators or overseers, and two or three whitewashed houses, huddled together without any regard to order on the neighboring mounds, scarcely convey to the visitor any notion of the wonders he is going to behold.
It was about midday when I arrived with my companion at the opening by which we were to be admitted into the mine. We dismounted, confided our horses to the care of one of the miners, and entered. Desiderio carried in his hand a huge torch. I stood for a short time at the mouth of this vast laboratory, thinking on the millions of money it had been the means of putting into circulation. My guide, his cloak thickly covered with gold lace, that appeared, as the light of the torch fell on its velvety folds, to be seamed with golden links, looked like the lordly genie of this subterranean kingdom. We descended for a long time a series of steps, every one of which had the dimensions of a terrace. Amid the profound darkness, which the torch dispelled but feebly, we made a series of turnings and windings, changing every minute ourtemperature and direction, and sometimes mounting an inclined plane only to descend it. In about a quarter of an hour I perceived in the distance some wandering lights, then a few gigantic shadows appeared on the moist walls of the vault. I still kept on, and soon found myself in a square which the piety of the miners had converted into a chapel. In the centre rose a low altar, ornamented with wax tapers, which burned before an image of a saint. A man, who seemed to be praying fervently, was kneeling upon the steps of the altar. He was the first human being I had seen since entering the mine.
My guide touched my arm.
"Take a good look at this man," he said, in a low tone. The suppliant miner was entirely naked. Without the light of the flambeau, which allowed you to see his gray hair and angular features, you would not have thought he was an old man, so much youth and vigor seemed still to possess his nervous members.
"Why?" I inquired of Desiderio.
"This man," said he, "is no stranger to the history of the hand upon the wall that you gazed at with so much curiosity this morning; and, though that history is as well known to me as to him, perhaps from his lips it would have an additional interest, as his son was concerned in it."
I fancied that I had at last found an opportunity for shaking off Desiderio by insinuating that the narrator would probably go more into detail if he were telling the story to me alone. This time he took the hint.
"I am neither irritable nor quarrelsome," cried he; "but your lordship seems very desirous to get rid of his devoted servant."
"I must protest against the meaning you put upon my words."
Fuentes seemed to be calming down.
"Come," said he, with an air of raillery, "I will renounce my desire of accompanying you through these subterranean abodes, seeing you wish it. Besides, I must find out the meaning of the comedy played this morning by Planillas upon the carcass of the mule. You must visit the mine without me; and I shall tell you what I have learned about this fellow after you have come up the grand shaft, for, to crown your achievement, you must be drawn up by means of the malacate."
I was in such a hurry to be quit of this personage that I promised all he asked, without remarking the ironical smile with which he welcomed my reply. At this moment the miner had finished his prayer. Fuentes exchanged a few words with him in a low tone, and walked rapidly away. I felt relieved.
"Señor Cavalier," said the new-comer to me, "my comrade Fuentes has made me acquainted with your desire to know the story of my son from my own lips—about him who was the pride of the corporation of miners. This desire does me honor; but at present I can not accede to your wish. I am on my way to fire a charge in the mine. If I am still in being after that operation, I shall be with you in two hours, and place myself entirely at your disposal, for I love the brave, to whatever nation they may belong."
"And who told you I was brave?" I asked, with an air of astonishment.
"Caramba!a man who visits a mine for the first time, and who, as Fuentes tells me, has a strong desire to make the perilous ascent by means of thetiro!Well, we shall go up together, and on our journey I shall tell you the story. I shall meet you, then, in two hours at the bottom of the last gallery, close upon the grand shaft."
I could scarcely have avoided this pompous eulogium; but I could not help feeling a certain sinking of heart at the very thought of being forced, as it were, against my will, to make this difficult and dangerous ascent. I was again indebted to Fuentes for this new annoyance. However, I promised to meet the old miner at the time appointed, and, being alone, I profited by my independence so far as to examine at my leisure the new world into which I found myself transported. I had the torch which Desiderio had left with me, and walked about at my pleasure. Above me, fancifully hollowed out in the living rock, and studded with brilliant spangles, stretched vaults of unequal grandeur, some sustained by wooden props, others letting their sharp points descend, like the pendant of a Gothic lamp, till they threatened to fall and bruise one to pieces. A few tiny streamlets, which flowed along the bottom of the rough pilasters, gleamed brightly as the light of the torch fell upon them. At a distance, large drops of water escaped from the fissures in the rocks, and fell on the stony soil with the dull, regular beat of a pendulum. Before me several dark squares opened; the noise of footsteps reverberated in the sombre caves, and died away in the distance. Various lights from time to time struggled through the deep gloom; these were the miners passing and repassing, with a rush-light stuck behind their ear, looking like the gnomes of the magicians, who, with a light on their forehead, watch over the hidden treasures of their masters.
I advanced with all caution; for, left without a guide in this labyrinth, I did not know which way to go. I soon heard in the distance the dull sound of the pickaxes with which they were hewing away the rock, mingled with mysterious noises which seemed to come from a lower gallery. These sounds, though very indistinct, served to guide me. Since entering the mine, I had seen only those passages in which the ore had been all extracted. I was now impatient to behold a spot in which the miners were actually at work. Such a locality is called thelabor—that is to say, the place where they are following the vein of silver. A dusky, obscure glimmer indicated that the proximity of the place was not far off; and I soon reached the orifice of a shaft not very deep, from which a strong light proceeded. I descended it by means of a wooden ladder placed zigzag. I hesitated at first to trust myself to this rickety ladder; but, emboldened by the shallowness of the shaft, I ventured to descend, and arrived safely at the bottom. A passage about five feet wide, and six hundred in length, conducted me along this underground hive, the air in which was as hot and stifling as if it had left the mouth of a crater. Lost in the midst of this crowd of workmen, who were too busy to notice my presence, I could examine at my ease the fantastic tableau which there met my eyes. A number of candles, stuck to the walls, threw a dull, confused light upon the miners, the greater portion of whom, up to their waists in water, were attacking the living rock with vigorous strokes of theirbarretas. Others trudged off loaded with sacks of ore, the weight of which brought their muscles into tension, while the lighted rush-light which they carried upon their heads shone full upon their bronzed bodies,trickling with sweat, and their long floating hair. The sharp sound of the pickaxes striking the rock—the splash of the stones in the water—the voices of the miners—their shrill cries, and wheezy breathings, seemed at times to shake the very vault. The reddish glare of the candles reflected in the water—the dust—the vapor, which filled the place like a mist—the coppery veins which ran in all directions through the rock, all combined to increase the singularity of the spectacle.
After spending there a considerable time, I resolved to make my way to a lower gallery, at the end of which I was to meet the old miner. The ascent I was to make from that place did not seem so perilous as I at first imagined, and I should, besides, be saved going over the same ground. I requested one of the miners to conduct me to this place, as I feared to lose my way in the maze, the paths crossing and recrossing each other in all directions. I began, also, to feel the necessity of breathing a purer air, and followed my new guide with pleasure.
I went down an inclined plane so long that the joints of my legs knocked together, and arrived at last, worn out and breathless, at the extremity of the last gallery, which formed a right angle with the grand shaft, whose black mouth yawned right at my feet. This shaft was carried down still lower. The miner had not yet arrived. To a solitary workman, who seemed to have been forgotten in these vast catacombs, was assigned a most dangerous and frightful task. Close at hand, another shaft full of water was in process of being slowly emptied by means of an enormous bag of ox-hide attached to the cable of the malacate. When full, it was raised by means of the invisiblemachine twelve hundred feet above; but, being violently drawn in an oblique direction toward the axis of the grand shaft, the bag, distended with water, was in danger of being cut against the sharp rocks, had not the workman deadened the impulse it had received from the first motion of the malacate. On a narrow space between the two pits, in the midst of almost utter darkness, the peon held on to a double rope passed round the cable, whose two extremities he held in his hands; then, as he was pulled with a fearful rapidity to the mouth of the gulf, he let go all at once one of the ends of the rope, and the bag struck the opposite side of the rock very gently; but, had he made one false step, or let go the rope a second too late, he would have been dashed down an almost unfathomable abyss. I regarded the unhappy wretch who, every quarter of an hour during the whole day, hazarded his life for scanty wages with a feeling of pity and commiseration.
The bag had already ascended and descended four times; that is to say, an hour had elapsed, and not a single person had yet appeared. I must confess that, at the sight of the dark, gloomy shaft which I had to ascend, I felt my spirits sink somewhat; and as the old miner did not make his appearance, I pardoned him in my heart with a good grace, when, through the thick darkness, the cable of the malacate came in sight. A feeble glimmer lighted up the damp walls, and a voice, which was not unknown to me, called out,
"Halloo! friend, is there not a gentleman waiting here to go up by the tiro?"
I had scarcely answered that I was ready than a packet fell at my feet. I untied mechanically the cordwhich encircled it. The parcel contained a vest, trowsers of thick wool, a leathern baton, and a kind of plaited rope made of the bark of the aloe. I asked in some terror if the vest and trowsers were quite sufficient to deaden a fall of twelve hundred feet. As for the leathern baton and the plaited strap, I guessed their use at once. The workmen near me described the use of each of these articles. The woolen clothing was to keep me from being wet by the water, which shot forth in fine rain at certain places in the shaft. I was to attach myself to the cable by means of the plaited strap, and the baton was to prevent me from being dashed to pieces on the rock by the oscillations of the rope.
"Make haste!" cried my invisible guide; "we have no time to lose."
I put on the clothes with all speed, drew the cable toward me, and grasped it firmly with my hands, crossing my legs likewise over it. The peon passed the strap twice or thrice round my body and under my thighs, so as to form a kind of seat, tied the two ends firmly to the cable, and placed the baton in my hands. He had scarcely finished ere I felt myself lifted from the ground by an invisible power. I spun round three or four times, and, when I recovered from my astonishment, found myself already swinging over the gulf. A little above my head I perceived the legs of my guide, who was grasping the cable tightly. Although he carried a torch, I could discover but imperfectly his copper body, half naked, which, at certain moments, gleamed like Florentine bronze. However, I could make out his words quite well.
"Am I well enough tied to the cable, do you think?" I asked, seeing that not a single knot or roughness inthe rope could prevent the strap that bound me from slipping to the bottom.
"Well, I suppose you are, unless the peon has done his business ill," replied the miner, in a calm tone; "but, should that not be the case, you can grasp the rope with your hands with all your might."
I clutched the cable convulsively. Unfortunately, I could hardly compass it with my two hands.
"How long shall we be in going up?"
"Twelve minutes commonly, but in this instance half an hour—a favor which I have obtained solely on your account, to allow you more time to observe the wonders of the mine."
"And does any accident ever happen in the ascent?"
"Pardon me. An Englishman, who happened to be ill bound to the rope, fell almost from the top to the very bottom, and so suddenly and quietly that a fellow-workman of mine, who was his guide, had not remarked his disappearance till he was at the top of the shaft."
I thought it best to ask no more questions. When I considered that five minutes had elapsed since the first movement of the malacate, I ventured to look above and below me. The shaft seemed to be divided into three distinct zones. At my feet a thick darkness dimmed the horror of that gulf which no eye could fathom; white tepid vapors rose slowly from the dark bottom and mounted toward us. Around me, the guide's torch lighted up with a smoky glimmer the green walls of rock, cut and torn in all directions by the pickaxe and the wedge. In the upper region a column of thick mist pressed round the circle of light produced by our torch, and shut us out completely from the light of day. At this moment the machinestopped to give the horses breath. I clutched the cable anew as if it were slipping from me, and shut my eyes to avoid looking downward.
"This halt is especially for you," said my guide. "I had forgotten that I was to tell you a story, and this affords me time."
Without waiting for my reply, the miner commenced a recital whose incidents and minute details could not, in a dangerous ascent like this, fail to be deeply engraven on my memory. The attention I gave to the narrator kept my mind from dwelling upon the dangerous position in which I was at the moment, and this cessation of thought I would have welcomed at almost any price.
Story of the Passer of the Rio Atotonilco, Osorio.—Felipe.—The young Miner.—A Duel in the Mine.
"You are perhaps aware," said the miner, "that in passing from San Miguel el Grande[36]to Dolores, the traveler is obliged to cross the Rio Atotonilco. In the rainy season the passage of this river can not be made by any but those who know the principal fords. The stream is about sixty yards wide at the place where the road to San Miguel meets it. The impetuosity of its waters, and the heavy, imposing noise of its yellow waves, produce an involuntary terror in anyone who requires to cross it at this place. On the opposite bank, a few cabins, formed of branches, shelter a few wretched families, who make a scanty living by piloting the passengers across by the fords, with which they are acquainted. Often, when the traveler on the other side sees the poor half-clad people wandering upon the bank, and throwing themselves into the water, he hesitates, turns his bridle, and gallops off. A sad event proved that too little confidence can not be placed in men who will not be contented with the scanty living they pick up at this dangerous employment. Some years ago, an old miner of Zacatecas, who had rendered himself obnoxious to justice, and had quitted that province, came and established himself among the passers of the Rio Atotonilco. This man, whose strength and prowess rendered him formidable, was marked as having a singularly unlucky hand. Once or twice, the travelers whom he had engaged to convey across had been ingulfed by the waters of the river. One stormy night, believing himself alone, and seeing a traveler on the opposite bank, the passer crossed the ford to tender his services. He was observed by one of his comrades who had followed him, but who had hid himself among a thick clump of osiers on the brink of the river for the purpose of watching all that passed. The passer, having crossed the river, soon reappeared, followed by the cavalier, whose horse he led by the bridle. When half way across he mounted behind, and, a few seconds after, the splash of some one falling into the water was heard. One only of the horsemen remained in the saddle. This man reached the opposite bank at a considerable distance from the hamlet, and was soon lost in the darkness. The witness to the crime wasa young man whom the passer had, a few days before, brutally ill used, and he was now seeking an opportunity for revenge. Thinking he had found it, he threw himself into the water, swam after the sinking body, and soon succeeded in dragging the unhappy man to the other bank, whom, by his tonsure and dress, he guessed to be a priest. Overcome with fatigue, the youth fainted. When he recovered his senses it was broad daylight, and the body of the priest was gone—carried off, doubtless, by some charitably-disposed persons who had been passing. That circumstance did not check the young man's eagerness to make his deposition before the alcalde of the nearest village; but, though a pursuit was set on foot, it was unsuccessful."
My guide checked himself at this moment. As if we had arrived in the region of clouds, a mist enveloped us, which gradually converted itself into a fine and almost impalpable, but soaking rain. The torch sputtered, and gave forth a very feeble glimmer. The water ran off the bronzed body of the miner in streams. The machine again stopped, and I felt a new sinking of heart, similar to the feeling one has on the deck of a laboring ship, when he thinks that every moment he is going to the bottom. A short and terrible apprehension increased the fear of immediate danger which had come over me. I fancied that the strap which bound me to the cable had slipped, and I was sliding downward. I gave a convulsive shudder.
"Has the strap got loose?" cried the miner; then, looking downward, and seeing me always at the same distance from him, he continued, with imperturbable calmness: "A short time after the disappearance of the passer, about whom the strangest stories werenoised abroad, a new miner came to work at Rayas, which is about a dozen leagues from Rio Atotonilco. He said he had served his apprenticeship in the neighboring state of Cinaloa, and by his good-humor and liberality (for he appeared to have other resources besides his daily pay) soon gained the friendship of all his fellow-workmen. My son Felipe was the one he attached himself to more than any of the others. There was, however, between him and Osorio (that was the new miner's name) a complete dissimilarity in age and disposition. Felipe was a rough, unpolished workman, jealous of the reputation he had acquired, and haughty as a miner ought to be; for we have no need of ancient privileges to distinguish us from the vulgar, our profession ennobling the right that is granted us. Osorio, on the other hand, who was twice the age of Felipe, seemed to look upon labor as a burden, and passed his time in thrumming a guitar and preaching insubordination to themandones(overseers). However, their friendship might have been of a lasting nature had they not both fallen in love with the same woman. This was the first time that they ever had a sentiment in common, in spite of their intimacy, and this was what produced the first quarrel. They continued, however, in spite of these differences, to pay their attentions to the fair damsel; for, though she preferred Felipe, she could not give up Osorio's music and merry good-humor. The frequent absence of the latter gave a great advantage to Felipe. During one of Osorio's times of absence, a report spread abroad that the Cathedral of Guanajuato had been burglariously entered, and that a monstrance of massy gold, adorned with precious stones, had disappeared from the place in which it was usually put. Thissacrilegious theft struck the clergymen of the town with horror; but all their exertions to discover the daring robber were in vain. In the absence of Osorio, Felipe had succeeded in gaining the first place in the affections of the maiden to whom both had been paying their addresses. Her parents resolved to marry her to him, as it would tend to cut short the incessant quarrels that were ever taking place between them. The wedding was to take place in a short time, and all the friends of both families assembled at the young woman's house to celebrate their betrothal. Brandy andpulqueflowed profusely, and music enlivened the feast, when an unexpected occurrence brought every thing to a stand-still. A man stood in the midst of the guests; that man was Osorio. Every one knew his violent disposition, and his sudden appearance caused all to tremble. Felipe alone remained cool, and waited, knife in hand, the attack of his rival; but he, without putting his hand to his belt, advanced into the circle, and apologized for having come without an invitation; then, taking a guitar from one of the musicians, he seated himself on a barrel ofpulque, and began to improvise a bolero. This unexpected event caused a general surprise, and the merriment was redoubled. The party, interrupted for a moment, became more boisterous, and it broke up to assemble again on the eighth day afterward."
Here the narrator paused. We were gradually approaching the mouth of the tiro, as I could discover by the light shining through the fog which still enveloped us; besides, the higher we got, the gulf below appeared more frightful.
"Do you know what distance we are from the bottom of the mine?" cried the guide. "Five and a halftimes the height of the towers of the Cathedral of Mexico."
To confirm this assertion, the miner drew from his belt a bundle of tow steeped in pitch, which he lighted at his torch. My strained eye could scarcely follow it as it slowly descended the pit like a globe of fire, till it gradually became small as one of those pale stars whose light scarcely reaches our earth. The voice of the miner, who again began his recital, turned my mind away from this reflection.
"From that night on which Osorio showed himself at the betrothal, Felipe was annoyed in a thousand ways by some unknown hand. On the very next day a blast was fired close to him, and covered him with fragments of rock; another time, when he was at a considerable height in one of the galleries, the rope to which he was suspended broke suddenly. These attempts being unsuccessful, vague assertions began to be bruited abroad, accusing poor Felipe as the thief who had stolen the monstrance. The brave young man was unwilling to recognize in Osorio the author of these foul calumnies. His eyes could hardly have been opened to the evidence that he was his calumniator, had not a young miner, who constantly watched Osorio, and who had lately entered the mine, apprised Felipe of the snares that were laid for him. Felipe resolved to seek his revenge. On the evening of the day on which the marriage was to take place (for all this had passed in less than a week), Osorio and Felipe met in the subterranean galleries of the mine. Felipe reproached Osorio with his treachery; Osorio replied by recounting the injuries he had suffered; the two then drew their knives. They were alone and almost naked; theirfrazadaswere their only shields.Osorio was the stronger, Felipe the more agile; the issue of the combat was therefore uncertain. All at once the young miner of whom I have spoken threw himself between the two combatants. 'Allow me,' said he, to Felipe, 'to punish this sacrilegious robber; my claim is anterior to yours.' Osorio gnashed his teeth and threw himself on the young miner, who stood grimly on his defense. The two then began to fight by the light of Felipe's torch, who had now become a spectator instead of an actor. With their frazadas wound round their left arms to hide their lunges, they commenced the combat. Perhaps the struggle would have been a long-protracted one had not the young miner adopted the following stratagem: he took such a position as allowed the covering on his arm to sweep the ground; then, behind the veil which masked his movements, he slipped his knife into his other hand, and gave his adversary a mortal wound. Osorio fell. He was drawn up by the grand shaft in acostal.[37]By chance apadrehappened to be passing the mine at that moment. They besought him to come and confess the wounded man; but scarcely had the dying man and the padre looked at one another than a cry of horror broke from the priest. The holy father had recognized in the wounded man the passer of the Rio Atotonilco. Osorio discovered in the priest the man he thought he had drowned, but who had escaped as if by a miracle from almost certain death. After that, by the investigations of justice, many mysteries were cleared up. The passer of the Rio Atotonilco, the sacrilegious robber, the miner of Zacatecas, and also of Rayas, were one and the same person. The garrote did justice to the crimes of this wretch, and it washis hand you saw nailed to the wall in the grand square of Guanajuato. I must now tell you what became of Felipe. The providential recognition of the victim and his assassin was soon noised abroad, and a few hours afterward a band of alguazils appeared to arrest the miner who had stabbed Osorio. Unluckily, on that day Felipe had quitted his work sooner than ordinary. I do not know by what fatal mistake he had been pointed out as the murderer of Osorio; perhaps it was an additional token of good-heartedness on that caitiff's part—at any rate, the alguazils came to seize him. The victorious combatant had escaped, and I need not tell you that this mortal enemy of Osorio's was no other than the young man whom he had ill used, and who was a witness of the crime he had committed on the Rio Atotonilco. Had Felipe remained under ground, the alguazils would not have ventured into the inner workings of the mine, for the miners would not have suffered any injury to be inflicted on a comrade in theirfueros. The alguazils perceived the young man in one of the courts of the mine buildings, and immediately set off in pursuit. Felipe saw he was lost; but he resolved to die a miner's death, and not suffer himself to be dishonored by the touch of the bailiffs. Having arrived at the brink of this very shaft quite out of breath, 'I will not be insulted as if I were a vile lépero,' he cried; 'a miner is more than man; he is the instrument whom God delights to employ!' Then, with pale face and gleaming eyes, he leaped over the balustrade surrounding the shaft, and disappeared in the black gulf which now yawns beneath your feet."
The miner paused, and the light of his torch grew dim. High above our heads, at the mouth of theshaft, appeared the first gleam of daylight, like the pale blushes of early morning. The impression which the miner's story had made upon me was so great that I could not help trembling in every limb.
"It was very nearly ten years ago," said the miner, in a hollow voice, "since Felipe threw himself down this abyss, and I have never ascended the shaft since, and that has been often, without having a strong desire to cut the cable."
And the madman brandished a large knife, as if he were preparing to carry it really into effect. I would have called aloud for assistance, but, as in a frightful dream, my tongue refused to perform its office. My hands even refused to grasp the rope. Besides, what good would it do me? the cable was going to be cut right above my head. I threw a mournful look at the pale light which was tinging the green walls of the shaft, and listened to the indefinite noises which told me we were slowly approaching the haunts of men—the dusky daylight appeared so beautiful—the confused noises above seemed such delightful harmony. At this moment a peal of subterranean thunder burst up under my feet, and the mine roared through its many mouths like a growling volcano. The compressed air being inclosed in this enormous siphon, a powerful blast, equal to that of a strong whirlwind, shook the cable like a silk thread, and we received several severe bruises against the rocks. The torch was blown out; but, luckily, the terrible knife slipped from the miner's hands, and went whirring down the shaft.
"Cascaras!a new knife gone, worth two piastres," cried a voice, which I immediately recognized as that of Fuentes. I had scarcely pronounced his name erea great shout of laughter burst forth right above me. It was Fuentes indeed, who had come down to serve me as a guide, and play the part of the old miner. The extreme eagerness I had shown to get rid of him prompted him to this kind of revenge.
"Do you know, Señor Cavalier," he remarked, "that you are not easily frightened? In a situation such as would have tried the nerves of the bravest man, you did not even condescend to shout for help."
"Certainly not," I replied, with an impudence which surpassed his own; "you see you have only made yourself ridiculous by trying to frighten me."
The malacate now stopped; we had finished our ascent. Desiderio was first unloosed, and I waited my turn in feverish anxiety. When the strap which bound me to the cable had been untied, I could scarcely keep myself from fainting outright. I soon recovered my senses, however. I pressed the earth with a kind of rapture. Never had Nature seemed so beautiful, so resplendent, as on that day.
In the interval that passed while our horses were getting ready, Fuentes, who had resumed his gaudy dress, stood silently by, and I took care not to be the first to speak. My foot was already in the stirrup when an old man came up to me. I could scarcely recognize, in the person whose dress vied in richness with that of Fuentes, the old miner whom I had seen a few hours before kneeling at the altar.
"You will pardon me for having broken my word," said he to me; "but my work detained me longer than I expected. You must have heard the explosion in the mine: it took place not half an hour ago."
"True," I replied. "I have been also told a touching and very mournful story."
"My boy behaved nobly," replied the old man, raising his head proudly; "and you can tell in your own country that the miners are a race by themselves, and that they know how to prefer death to dishonor."
I have seen the gold-seekers in the state of Sonora, and could not help admiring the kind of grandeur which characterizes their physiognomy, for every thing in the desert takes the largest proportions; but in the towns the type of the miner was far from exercising upon me a like fascination. The whimsical and capricious character of Fuentes, and the immorality of Planillas, had brought about this disenchantment. The story I had heard, while it helped to make up my mind partly about the class, proved that the miner had not quite degenerated: the vices of Planillas, and the oddities of Fuentes, like the dark shades in a picture, disappeared before the austere figure of that old stoic who had bidden me farewell with such haughty expressions, and I forgot Osorio only when I called Felipe to remembrance.
FOOTNOTES:[36]A small town near Guanajuato, celebrated for its manufactures of zarapes, which almost rival those of Saltillo. Dolores is a market-town, still more celebrated for having been the cradle of Mexican independence.[37]A kind of basket formed from the filaments of the aloe.
[36]A small town near Guanajuato, celebrated for its manufactures of zarapes, which almost rival those of Saltillo. Dolores is a market-town, still more celebrated for having been the cradle of Mexican independence.
[36]A small town near Guanajuato, celebrated for its manufactures of zarapes, which almost rival those of Saltillo. Dolores is a market-town, still more celebrated for having been the cradle of Mexican independence.
[37]A kind of basket formed from the filaments of the aloe.
[37]A kind of basket formed from the filaments of the aloe.
Rencounter with Don Tomas Verduzco.
I fancied a favorable moment had at last arrived for taking leave of Fuentes, for whom I entertained no good feeling, though a regard for myself caused me to conceal it.
"What!" said he, "are you going to town? I am going there also; and you will find it more cheerful to have a companion by the way."
We set out. Daylight was fast ebbing away, andit was doubtful if we should reach Guanajuato before nightfall. Desiderio kept up a continual flow of talk about the sayings and doings of the miners, and what an excellent profession he belonged to; but I took no interest in his conversation, and inwardly imprecated the bore whom I could not shake off. All at once he stopped, and struck his forehead with the palm of his hand.
"Voto al demonio!" cried he. "I have forgotten the unhappy devil for these two hours, and he may have bled to death by this time."
"Whom do you refer to?"
"Planillas, to be sure."
Almost at the same moment Fuentes went off at a gallop. I had now got a capital opportunity of ridding myself of him; but my curiosity prevailed, and I hastened after him. When we had arrived at a place not far from where we had that morning met Planillas plunged in grief, sitting on the carcass of the mule, Desiderio paused, and made a gesture of surprise.
"I don't see any body," I said.
"No more do I, and that's what astonishes me. True, he must have been tired waiting. It is very shabby of him; and another time I won't believe him. However, it is more than probable that some charitable person has removed him, for he had excellent reasons for remaining there till the sounding of the last trump."
"What has happened to him?"
"Look!" said Fuentes, pointing to the earth dyed in blood, and to the mule which the vultures were then preying upon. The miner added that, in the morning after leaving me, he had returned to ask somequestions of Planillas, whose crooked morality made him an object of suspicion. Not finding either him or the mule at the place he had left them, he had followed their traces, and having arrived at the spot where we now were, found poor Florencio lying on the ground almost insensible, and bleeding profusely. He had then learned the truth from the lips of the wounded man. The mule, which Florencio and his companion were dragging to a solitary place, had died, it is true, in the hacienda de platas; but Florencio had never seen the animal till that day, and the cause of his tender solicitude was, that its flanks contained a number of silver ingots which Planillas had stolen and hidden there, so that the clerk of the mines might not discover them. The stratagem had been successful; but when they came to divide the spoil, after having drawn it to a still more solitary spot, a quarrel arose, and the result was, that Planillas got nothing but a couple of stabs from the ready knife of his neighbor, which had placed his life in great danger.
"You can guess the rest," continued Fuentes. "I could not help being sorry for the fellow, and went away, promising to send him assistance. I can't tell how it is, but I completely forgot the poor devil."
Fuentes was right in not boasting of his second impulse. As for this reckless indifference to human life, I had seen too many similar instances in Mexico to be at all astonished at it. I rode sadly back to Guanajuato, still in the company of Fuentes, who did not fail to stop me at the little pent-house in which the hand of the sacrilegious robber was exposed. This memorial of a barbarous justice reminded me that I had observed some imperfections in the miner's story.
"If I understood you aright," I said, "of the threepersons, actors and witness, who were present at the duel between Osorio and the young miner, two are dead, and the third escaped. How comes it, then, that you can speak so positively about actions of which no person could have informed you?"
"Very simply," replied Fuentes. "I had forgotten to tell you that it was I who killed Osorio; it was I who witnessed the deed on the Rio Atotonilco. Don't think, however, that I am an utterly heartless bravo like that Don Tomas, surnamedVerdugo.[38]I have given, it is true, more than one stroke in my time; but in Mexico one must see a little justice done to one's self. Were you not yourself on the very point of killing a man this morning? And don't you think that a similar case might perchance happen to me?"
I shuddered at this rude speech, which reminded me of the danger I ran by remaining any longer in Guanajuato. The man whose life I had threatened that day was, I had no doubt, the murderer of Don Jaime. It may be easily imagined that I felt some degree of satisfaction in finding myself safe at the door of my hotel.
"Ah! you live here?" said Fuentes, grasping my hand; "I am very glad I know; I shall call on you to-morrow, and we shall have a pleasant day together."
"Well, to-morrow," I said. We parted, and I entered the inn.
My valet Cecilio waited on me with as much impatience as curiosity in his countenance. He had been long obliged to make himself acquainted with all the particulars of my life, but seldom had he been necessitated to follow me into such a maze of disagreeable incidents. I interrupted his questions by orderinghim to have our horses saddled at midnight, as I wished to avoid both Fuentes and the treacherous designs of Don Tomas.
"After this," said I, "we shall travel only at night; it is better for the health."
By traveling at night and sleeping during the day, I reasonably hoped to baffle all pursuit. However, grown bolder by success, I returned to my ordinary habits; and when I came to the venta of Arroyo Zarco, it was midday before I arrived, after having passed the night at San Juan del Bio, and journeying almost the whole day. In this last stage of my excursion many sorrowful remembrances crowded into my mind. The plain, the venta, alike reminded me of Don Jaime. It was while musing sadly on this young man, so prematurely cut off, that I found myself, almost without knowing it, at the very spot where he had lighted his fire. Of so many dreams of love and fortune, what was left behind? A corpse three hundred miles away, a few burned sticks, and some ashes which the winds of the plain were scattering about! The supper-hour approaching, I went to pass away an idle hour, if not at the common table, at least in a room where all the travelers, and they were numerous on that day, were generally accustomed to take their meals. The company consisted, as it had done before, of a curious mixture of all classes of Mexican society, but I had no end in view as I had then, and accordingly seated myself in a corner after looking around me with a careless eye. I thought for some time on the cruel isolation to which foreigners are subjected in those countries inhabited by people of Spanish extraction, when the hostess pronounced, almost at my ear, the name of a person that made me start.
"Señor Don Tomas," cried the hostess, "here is a foreigner who was inquiring after you a fortnight ago, and whom I was telling you about just now."
I jumped up. In the man whom the hostess had addressed, and which a secret feeling in my own mind convinced me was the person, I recognized the sinister companion of Planillas. A cold shudder ran through my whole frame. I looked at the by-standers, but I could see on their countenances only that expression of apathetic indifference which makes a comedy or a tragedy a matter of mere moonshine to them. Almost immediately, and before I was able to prevent it, I was strained between two strong muscular arms. I disengaged myself without any ceremony, but he affected not to perceive the repugnance with which he had inspired me.
"Ah!" cried he, with an impudence seldom to be met with, "how happy am I at meeting here a cavalier who has won my entire regard! What! were you inquiring after me? In what can I serve you?"
"It was all a misconception on my part, I can assure you; but, if you have not forgotten your visit to theSecunda Monterilla,[39]you may perhaps recall to your memory your object in coming there."
"Doyoulive there? You can then boast that you have come more than two leagues in search of me."
"I have gone two hundred and forty to meet you," I answered, "and find you here at last."
The bravo replied by the same constrained smile I had seen his face wear the first time I met him. "I was seeking for a foreigner with whom I had been engaged to do a little business, and an error that I now recognize alone conducted me to you; but I knowyou now, Señor Cavalier, and will not commit the same blunder a second time. I only need to see a person once to remember him ever after. I never forget faces, even at the end of twenty years."
These last words were accented in such a way as to leave me in no doubt of the ruffian's meaning. I said not a word, but the bravo seemed to have repented of having shown any resentment. Turning to the hostess, and in a tone of rough gayety,
"Halloo,Patrona!" cried he; "you have doubtless supplied this cavalier, whom I hold in particular esteem, with the best fare your house affords?"
"I have supped," I said, interrupting him, "and I must only express my perfect satisfaction with our hostess's arrangements; besides, I am not hungry."
"Well, we shall drink to our unexpected meeting. Patrona, bring us a bottle of Catalonian brandy."
I was quite at a loss how to decline this forced invitation that prudence was urging me to accept, when Captain Don Blas P——, or rather lieutenant, for he held the former title only by courtesy, rose from the table, and advanced to welcome me.
"You are one of us, captain, I hope?" said the bravo.
The captain accepted his offer; but, emboldened by his presence, I formally refused.
"I am much jaded and tired," I said, "and would rather go to my room. Captain Don Blas, if your road lies the same way as mine, I should be happy to profit by your company, and to-morrow at break of day we might pursue our journey to Mexico together."
Don Blas excused himself at not being able to agree to my proposal by stating that certain very important business would detain him all next day in theneighborhood. He then sat down opposite Don Tomas, before whom the hostess had already placed the bottle of Catalonian brandy.
"Good-night, then, señores," I exclaimed. "I hope your slumbers will be as refreshing as mine."
I settled my bill, and, disguising my precipitate retreat under an air of haughty defiance, quitted the room with measured steps, the bravo all the while regarding my motions with indirect glances. I reached my room, fearing more the oily silkiness of Don Tomas than his anger. I found Cecilio sleeping on our saddles.
"Listen!" I said, awakening him. "Saddle our horses immediately without any noise; then bring them round to the back of the venta, and wait for me there. In a quarter of an hour I shall be with you."
That time had hardly elapsed when I quitted the hostelry without being observed. My flight at this time formed a striking contrast to that which I had shared so cheerfully with Don Jaime. I need not say that we covered the distance between Arroyo Zarco and Mexico still more rapidly than on our departure: the parts only were changed. The man before whom I was flying was that very person I had been pursuing so long. Thank heaven, the issue of this adventure was not tragical, as I feared at one time it would have become.