CHAPTER FORTY ONE.
A RUDE RECEPTION.
Don Rafael had now become known throughout all Oajaca as one of the mostenergetic foes of the insurrection. Among the country-people,therefore--the majority of whom were of Creole blood, and of courserevolutionary in principle--he need not expect to meet many friends.Every man whom he might encounter was pretty certain of being his enemy.For this reason, although it was only a league from the hacienda DelValle to that of Las Palmas, he deemed it prudent to take half-a-dozenof his troopers along with him--a wise precaution, as the event proved.
After crossing the chain of hills that separated the two estates, thedragoon captain and his escort rode direct for the postern of thehacienda Las Palmas, that opened to the rear of the building. This, forsome reason, had been recently walled up; and it became necessary forthem to go round to the main entrance in front. Scarce, however, hadthe horse of Don Rafael doubled the angle of the wall, when he and hislittle band were suddenly confronted by a score of horsemen of ruffianlyaspect, who opposed the passage, the leader of them vociferatingloudly:--
"Muera al traidor--mueran _los coyotes_!" (Death to the traitor!--deathto the jackals!)
At the same instant one of the assailants, charging recklessly forward,brought his horse into collision with that of Don Rafael, and with sucha violent shock that the steed of the dragoon officer was thrown to theground.
In this crisis the agility of Don Rafael, along with his herculeanstrength, enabled him to save himself. Instantly disengaging his limbsfrom the body of his horse, he sprang upon that of one of his escort whohad just fallen from his saddle, thrust through by one of theinsurgents; and after a short struggle, in which several of theassailants succumbed, Don Rafael, with his five remaining followers, wasenabled to retreat back to the ridge, where their enemies had not thecourage to follow them.
One of his men killed--with the loss of his favourite bay-brown--suchwas the result of Don Rafael's attempt to justify his conduct after twomonths of silence! No wonder that with bitter emotions he retraced hissteps to the hacienda Del Valle.
His heart was wrung with grief and disappointment. This hacienda of LasPalmas, where two months before he had been the honoured guest, nowsheltered the enemies that were thirsting for his blood.
These, after their unsuccessful attempt to possess themselves of theperson of Don Rafael, hastened back towards the entrance of thebuilding.
"You stupid sot!" exclaimed one of them, speaking in angry tones, andaddressing a companion by his side; "why did you not allow him to getinto the hacienda? Once inside, we should have had him at our mercy,and then--_Carajo_!"
The speaker, a man of ferocious and brutal aspect, here made a gestureof fearful meaning, as an appropriate finish to his speech.
"Don Mariano would not have permitted it," rejoined the other, by way ofexcusing himself for having been the cause of the dragoon officer'sescape. "Once under his roof, he would never have consented to ourmolesting him."
"Bah!" exclaimed the first speaker. "It's past the time when we requireto ask Don Mariano's permission. We are no longer his servants. Thetime is come when the servants shall be the masters, and the masters theservants, _Carajo_! What care I for the emancipation of the country?What I care for is blood and plunder."
The fierce joy that blazed in the eyes of the speaker as he pronouncedthe last words, told too plainly that these were his veritablesentiments.
The second of the two brigands who, though smaller in size and of a moreastute expression of countenance, was equally characterised by an aspectof brutal ferocity--for a moment appeared to quail before theindignation of his companion.
"_Carajo_!" continued the first, "we have got to shift our quarters. Ifthat furious captain finds out that _we_ are here, he will set fire tothe four corners of the hacienda, and roast us alive in it. Fool that Iwas to listen to you!"
"Who could have foreseen that he would get off so?" said the lesser man,still endeavouring to excuse himself.
"You, _Carrai_!" thundered the bandit; and overcome by rage and chagrinat the escape of his mortal enemy, he drew his poignard, and struck aleft-handed blow at the bosom of his associate. The latter severelywounded, uttering a cry of pain, fell heavily from his horse.
Without staying to see whether or not he had killed his comrade, theguerillero dashed through the gate of the hacienda; and, dismounting inthe courtyard, ran, carbine in hand, up the stone stairway that led tothe _azotea_.
Meanwhile Don Rafael and his five horsemen were ascending the hill thatsloped up from the rear of the building.
"_Santos Dios_! it is very strange!" remarked one of the troopers to acompanion. "It's the general belief that Arroyo and Bocardo havequitted the province, but if I'm not mistaken--"
"It was they, to a certainty," interrupted the second trooper. "I knowthem well, only I didn't wish to tell our captain. He is so furiousagainst these two fellows, that if he had only known it was they whoattacked us, we should not have had much chance of being permitted toretreat as we have done."
The man had scarce finished speaking when the report of a carbine, firedfrom the roof of the hacienda, reverberated along the ridge, and thetrooper fell mortally wounded from his saddle.
A bitter smile curled upon the lips of Don Rafael, and a sharp pang shotthrough his heart, as he compared the adieu he was now receiving fromthe inhabitants of the hacienda, with that which had accompanied hisdeparture but two months before.
The fatal bullet had struck that very trooper who had judged it prudentto conceal from his officer the names of his assailants.
"'Tis Arroyo who has fired the shot!" involuntarily exclaimed the other,who also believed that he had recognised the insurgent.
"Arroyo!" exclaimed the captain, in a tone of angry surprise; "Arroyowithin that hacienda, and you have not told me!" added he, in a furiousvoice, while his moustachios appeared to crisp with rage.
The trooper was for the moment in great danger of almost as rudetreatment as Arroyo had just given his associate. Don Rafael restrainedhimself, however; and, without waiting to reflect on consequences, heordered one of his followers--the best mounted of them--to proceed atonce to the hacienda Del Valle, and bring fifty men well armed, with apiece of cannon by which the gate of Las Palmas might be broken open.
The messenger departed at a gallop, while Don Rafael and his threeremaining troopers, screening themselves behind the crest of the ridge,sat in their saddles silently awaiting his return.
It was long before Don Rafael's blood began to cool; and in proportionas it did so, he experienced a degree of sorrow for the act of hostilityhe was about to undertake against the father of Gertrudis.
A violent contest commenced within his breast, between two opposingsentiments of nearly equal strength. Whether he persisted in hisresolution, or retreated from it, both courses seemed equally criminal.The voice of duty, and that of passion, spoke equally loud. To whichshould he listen?
The struggle, long and violent, between these antagonistic sentiments,had not yet terminated, when the detachment arrived upon the ground.This decided him. It was too late to retire from his firstdetermination. On towards the hacienda! Don Rafael drew his sword,and, placing himself at the head of his troop, rode down the hill. Thebugle sounding the "advance," warned the inhabitants of the haciendathat a detachment of cavalry was crossing the ridge.
A few minutes after, the squadron halted before the great gate, at alittle distance from the walls. A horseman advanced in front of theline, and once more having sounded the bugle, in the name of Don RafaelTres-Villas, Captain of the Royalist army, summoned Don Mariano de Silvato deliver up, dead or alive, the insurgents, Arroyo and Bocardo.
The demand having been made, Don Rafael, with pale face, and heartaudibly beating, sat motionless in his saddle to await the response.
Silence--profound silence alone made reply to the summons of thehorseman and the sound of his trumpet.