CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR.
TOPOGRAPHICAL DETAILS.
In proportion as the insurrection spread through the province of Oajacadid the Royalists increase their watchfulness in the capital; and DonMariano, having become suspected of a leaning towards the insurgentcause, was ordered to leave the place.
Before taking his departure, he had despatched a messenger--the samealready made mention of--to the hacienda Del Valle. Upon what errand?We shall know presently.
On the same day that the messenger had presented himself to the Catalanlieutenant, and almost at the same hour, Don Rafael Tres-Villas wasgalloping as a fugitive through the plain of Huajapam. On that morning,also, Don Mariano de Silva took his departure from Oajaca, _en route_for the hacienda San Carlos. The haciendado was accompanied by hisdaughter Gertrudis, borne in a litter, and attended by a number ofmounted domestics. The pale cheeks of the young girl, contrasted withthe purplish circles around her eyes, proclaimed the mental agony shehad endured.
Finally, on that same day, only at a later hour, another importantpersonage of our history--the Captain Don Cornelio Lantejas--rode outfrom the camp of Morelos--evidently bent upon a journey, as wastestified by the travelling costume that had replaced his militaryuniform. He was accompanied by two men, easily recognised as the scoutsCostal and Clara.
Don Cornelio had been ordered by the insurgent general on a mission,confidential as it was dangerous.
The summer solstice was close at hand; and the black and the Indian--thelatter having now accomplished his half century of years--werediscussing between themselves the best plan for raising the Siren of thedishevelled hair from the waters of the mysterious lake, Ostuta, onwhose banks they expected to encamp, before Don Cornelio had finallyaccomplished his mission.
Although this mission was of a secret and confidential character, itwill be no betrayal of confidence on our part to state at once what itwas.
The taking of the capital of Oajaca would not only render Morelos masterof the whole province, but of all the southern part of New Spain--fromthe Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. The insurgent general was,therefore, anxious to complete this magnificent conquest before theclosing of that year's campaign.
Nevertheless, in the prospect of attacking a town so populous and wellgarrisoned as Oajaca, he deemed it prudent to gain some information asto its actual resources; and it was chiefly upon this errand he haddespatched his aide-de-camp Lantejas.
The mission of the Captain had another object, of secondary importance,which, however, was the first to be accomplished. To the honour of thecause which Morelos upheld, it was of urgent necessity to put an end tothe depredations of the two notorious guerilleros, Arroyo and Bocardo;whose deeds of cruel atrocity were rapidly producing the effect ofrendering the insurrection as odious to its partisans as to its enemies.The force which these two leaders had under their command was as littleknown as the whereabouts in which they might be found; but their bloodydeeds had rendered them as much dreaded as if a numerous army had beenunder their orders. The rapidity of their movements gave them theopportunity of multiplying, to an indefinite extent, their acts offerocity, though at the same time a pursuer in search of them mighteasily have found them by the ensanguined track which marked theirpassage.
Arroyo, ever ready to imbrue his hands in blood--no matter whose--seemedto find a savage pleasure in destroying life; and one of his favouritehabits was to be himself the executioner of his victims. He was endowedwith some brute courage, a quality altogether wanting to his associate,Antonio Bocardo; for the latter was both cowardly and cruel, though ingeneral more inclined to robbery than murder.
Morelos had been apprised of the outrages committed by these twobandits; and a message to them was one of the commissions with whichCaptain Lantejas had been charged. The message was in the form of asimple threat--it was to say to them, on the part of the insurgentgeneral, that, unless they discontinued those outrages which had so longdishonoured the insurgent cause, they should both be drawn andquartered.
From the reputation which these two brigands had acquired, of beinglittle mindful of military authority--as well as on account of the rigidguard which the Spaniards had established in Oajaca--it will be seenthat we have spoken only the simple truth in saying that the mission ofCaptain Lantejas was anything but a safe one. With melancholy mien,therefore, he traversed the road leading from Huajapam to the Ostutariver--upon the banks of which it was reported that Arroyo and his bandwere at that time encamped.
Before proceeding farther, it will be necessary to give, at a bird's-eyeview--if we may use the expression--the topography of the country lyingin the triangle between Huajapam, Oajaca, and the Lake Ostuta: for thisis now to become the arena of the future events of our narrative.
Regarding Huajapam and the town of Oajaca as on the same line, we find aroad running from each--the two gradually converging until they meet.The point of union is upon the banks of the Ostuta river, not far fromthe lake, and where a ford crosses the stream. Before arriving at thisford, the hacienda Del Valle lies to one side of the Oajaca road, whileabout an hour's journey after crossing the river the domain of SanCarlos is reached. These two estates--each embracing an immense tractof territory--would be contiguous to each other, but for the river whichflows between and separates them.
Arroyo, having returned to the neighbourhood, with the number of hisfollowers augmented by recent successes, as well as by the morefavourable prospects of the insurrection, had sworn not to leave a stoneof the hacienda Del Valle standing in its place; and to accomplish thisvow was the object of his presence on the banks of the Ostuta.
His band, divided into two encampments, held both sides of the river,just by the crossing. Thus disposed, he could direct himself at willeither against San Carlos or Del Valle.
It was not only possible, but probable, that the messenger of DonMariano de Silva, going from Del Valle to Huajapam, would meet DonRafael coming in the opposite direction, and about half way; since, asalready stated, both had set out about the same time. It was alsolikely enough that Don Mariano and his daughter, _en route_ for SanCarlos, would encounter Captain Lantejas, travelling from Huajapamsomewhere not far from the crossing of the Ostuta. The time at whichboth had started on their respective journeys would favour thisprobability. Finally, Don Rafael, making for the hacienda Del Valle,unless some accident should detain him, might meet all those personagesalmost at the same instant of time.
The principal characters of our history would thus be once more unitedon the banks of the Ostuta.