CHAPTER FIFTY EIGHT.
AN UNEXPECTED RECEPTION.
From that portion of Gaspacho's report which related to Don RafaelTres-Villas, the reader will easily guess the purpose of the eighthorsemen assembled in the glade of the forest of Ostuta: they were noother than the soldiers who from the besieging party had gone in pursuitof the Royalist Colonel. It will be remembered, however, that ten wasthe number mentioned by Gaspacho, while only eight now composed thegroup that occupied the clearing.
We shall presently learn how their number became thus reduced: but firstlet us recount the adventures of Don Rafael himself--from the time ofhis quitting the camp of Huajapam, to the moment when we find him asleepupon his arboreal couch.
As soon as the song of triumph raised by the soldiers of Trujano hadceased to echo in his ears, Don Rafael proceeded to reflect upon his ownsituation. He perceived at once that, in order to traverse with safetysome thirty leagues of a country almost entirely in the hands of theinsurgents, certain precautions would be absolutely necessary. Hisgold-laced uniform, his helmet, all his equipments, in short, wouldbetray him to an insurgent enemy. Moreover he was badly armed--havingbroken his sword in the conflict; and for such a perilous journey it wasnecessary to be provided with better weapons than a dagger and pistols.
He knew it was impossible to return to his marquee to re-equip himself.The camp was already filled with the insurgent soldiers, and no doubthis tent had been pillaged long before that time.
After a moment's reflection it occurred to him that on the field ofbattle--that part of it most distant from Huajapam, where Callejas hadsustained the first shock of Morelos' army--he might find the necessaryarticles he desired; and turning a little out of his course, he directedhimself thither.
His judgment proved correct. A two-edged sword soon rewarded hissearch; and he was able to exchange for his dragoon helmet the felt hatof an insurgent soldier, with a brass front-plate, bearing in ill-formedletters the inscription, _Independencia o' muerte_!
Scornfully tearing off the tablet and trampling it under his feet, DonRafael placed the felt hat upon his head, and continued hisexplorations. Shortly after he exchanged the _jaqueta_ of an insurgentsoldier for his cavalry uniform; and then looking to the state of hispistols, and seeing that his cartridge-box was well garnished he putspurs to Roncador and rode briskly away from the ground.
It is not necessary to detail the many precautions which he adopted fromhour to hour to keep out of the hands of the insurgents, who were on allsides scouring the country through which he had to pass. Suffice it tosay that for the most part he journeyed only by night. Even travellingthus, he was not always safe; and more than once he found occasion toemploy all the courage and presence of mind with which Nature hadendowed him.
On the evening of the third day, just at the hour of twilight, hearrived in the neighbourhood of his own hacienda. He was expecting soonto be in security within its walls, when the two videttes alreadymentioned perceived and rushed forward to capture him. This behaviourwas in conformity with the orders of Arroyo, who had commanded thatevery one seen near the hacienda should be made prisoner and broughtinto his presence.
Don Rafael was at first uncertain as to the enemy with which he had todeal; but he was not the man to submit tamely to conduct so brusque anduncourteous as was that of the videttes. His resistance ended inputting both of them _hors de combat_; but the circumstances of theencounter, for certain reasons, had been somewhat misrepresented byGaspacho.
It is true that one of the two soldiers had his shoulder fractured by ashot; but the bullet had also passed so near his heart, that the man wasdead in an hour after. As to the other, it was true that the Coloneldashed him to the ground as described; but, before doing so, he hadtaken the precaution to plunge his dagger into the breast of this secondadversary.
Although he had left both deprived of the power to give the alarm,unfortunately the report of his pistol had betrayed his presence to theguerilleros. In a few moments half a score of them were riding inpursuit; for, by the orders of their chief, one half their horses werekept saddled and bridled both day and night.
After disembarrassing himself of his two adversaries, the Colonel hadhesitated a moment, as to whether he should return on his path orcontinue on to the hacienda. It was during this interval of hesitationthat the pursuing horsemen drew near, and that one of them (Pepe Lobosby name) caught sight of and recognised him, while the snorting ofRoncador as he galloped off confirmed the guerillero in his belief.
It is likely enough that the extreme hatred which Arroyo bore for theColonel was at this crisis the means of saving his life. Theguerilleros, knowing the desire of their chief that Tres-Villas shouldbe captured alive, reflected upon the rich recompense they might expectif they should so take him. Otherwise the volley of carbine shots,which they would have delivered on the instant, might have terminatedthe existence of their dreaded foe.
On seeing the horsemen, Don Rafael suddenly wheeled round and gallopedback as he had come. His hope lay in being able to distance hispursuers, and afterwards find a temporary refuge in the thick forest hehad just been traversing, and through which ran the road to Huajapam.With this purpose in view, he returned along the route at full gallop.
When he deemed himself at a sufficient distance in advance of hispursuers, he wheeled suddenly from the road and headed his steed intothe thick underwood, through which he spurred onward, until his passagewas fairly barred up by an impenetrable network of vines and bushes.Here he halted; and, dismounting, led his horse to a tree. He thencommenced groping about, to find some spot where he might in safetyobtain a few hours of repose, after the fatigues he had encounteredduring the day.
A few paces further on he perceived a cedrela tree of giganticdimensions, and so thickly loaded with leaves that it seemed to promisea secure hiding-place among its branches. Still apprehensive that hispursuers might discover his track, Don Rafael resolved to climb thecedrela, whose dark foliage would screen him from the sharpest eyes. Onapproaching the tree, he perceived by the vast circumference of itstrunk that he could not climb up by embracing it. Neither could hereach to even the lowest of its limbs. A means, however, presenteditself of getting over the difficulty.
An enormous lliana, stretching from among the top branches, reached theground in a diagonal direction; and up this Don Rafael was enabled tomake his ascent.
Placing his body between two large boughs, he disposed himself, as besthe could, to pass the remainder of the night, leaving it for the day tobring him to some further determination.
He commenced reflecting upon the pursuit. He was in hopes that hispursuers, having lost his track, might separate into small parties oftwo or three, in order the more thoroughly to scour the woods. In thiscase, he might be able to defeat the whole party, taking them in detail,and favoured by his own superior courage and strength, in which he feltthe most perfect confidence.
The night had already advanced, and the moon from the high vault of thestarry heavens poured down her floods of light over the spray of theforest. A few feeble raylets, penetrating through the thick masses offoliage, reached the retreat where Don Rafael had hidden himself.
He remained for some moments listening attentively. He could hearnothing--at least no sound that betokened the presence of human beings.The breeze sighing among the leaves, the distant howl of the coyote, thesweet note of the mimic night-thrush, or perchance the rustling causedby the iguana as it scampered over the dead leaves, were the only soundsthat broke the stillness of the night.
The fresh balmy air that he was breathing, the shadow of night thatenwrapped him, the imposing tranquillity that reigned around, allconspired to beget the desire for repose. He felt his eyelids graduallygrow heavier and heavier; and after a while an invincible torpor seizedupon his whole frame.
Without being in any great degree uneasy about his situation, Don Rafaelnevertheless felt the necessity of keeping awake as long as he might beable. With this intent he
struggled for a time against sleep, but invain. Seeing that it was about to overpower him, he unwound the sashfrom his waist, and with this attached himself firmly between thebranches. Having thus provided against the danger of a fall, hesurrendered himself the moment after to a profound and silent slumber.