CHAPTER IV.
The rapture with which Don Amador de Leste exchanged the confined decksof the caravel for the boundless sands of Ulua, and these again for theback of his impatient steed, was fully as great as he had promisedhimself. Profound was his joy to find the demon of ennui, which hadbeset the cribbed and confined charger as sorely as the cabined master,flying from his dilated nostrils, and giving place to the mettlesomeardour which had won him the title of the Fiery. The neigh that he sentforth was like the welcome of the battle; the fire that flashed in hiseye was bright as the red reflection of a banner; and when he reared upunder his rider, it was as if to paw down the opposition of crouchingspearmen. A few snuffs of the morning breeze, a few bounds over thesandy hillocks, and the beast that had pined in stupefaction in a narrowstall on the sea, was converted into an animal fit for the seat of awarrior.
The cavalier galloped about for a few moments, while his attendants madetheir preparations for the journey. Then returning, like a thoughtfulleader, to inquire into their welfare, he beheld them with greatsatisfaction, both horse and man, in good condition to commence theiradventurous campaign.
The elder of his followers was a personage of years and gravity; a massof grizzled locks fell from under his iron skull-cap, and a shaggy beardof the same reverend hue ornamented his cheeks and throat. He had seenlong and sharp service, for besides the many scars that marked hisswarthy visage, one of which, from its livid hue, seemed to have beenwon in recent combat, a sabre-cut, extending over his left cheek andbrow, had darkened the sinister eye forever. But his frame, thoughsomewhat short and squat, was robust and even gigantic in proportions;and the muscles springing under the narrow cuishes, which, together witha heavy breast-plate, made nearly the whole of his defensive armour, didnot seem less of iron than their covering. He was truly a man-at-armsworthy to follow at the heels of a valiant cavalier.
The second attendant, though armed with little more care than theformer, had contrived, by the judicious distribution of riband-knots andsashes about his person, to assume a more gallant appearance: and inaddition, he had the smoother features and gayer looks of youth. Bothwere provided with horses strong and not inactive; and both, as Amadorreturned, were busily engaged in disposing the mails and accoutrementsof the cavalier about the bulky loins of their animals.
"Hearken, Lazaro, thou varlet, that flingest my mailed shirt over thycrupper, as if it were a vile horse-cloth," he cried to the youngerfollower, "have more care what thou art doing. Give my helmet toBaltasar, and let him sling it, with my buckler, over his broadshoulders. I will not entrust thee with such matters; nor, by 'r lady,with my pistols neither."
"If I may make bold to speak," said Baltasar, bending his eye bluffly,and with a sort of rude affection on his young lord, "I can advise a wayto dispose of both casque and buckler more agreeably and usefully thanon the back of either Lazaro or myself."
"Thou meanest upon mine own, no doubt," said Amador: "I have ever foundthee fonder of carrying the arms of a dead foeman than of a livingmaster, though it were the knight Calavar himself."
"That is very true," said the veteran, chuckling grimly at thecompliment disguised in the sarcasm.
"I am never loath to do such duty: because, then, my conscience tells meI am bearing arms which can no longer be of use to their owner."
"And thou desirest now to intimate, that, if I were arrayed in myharness, I might put it to some use?"
"Quien sabe? who knows?" said Baltasar, looking around him with anearnest eye. "We are now in a strange land, possessed by barbarians, whoare good at spear and bow, and fonder of fighting from an ambuscado thanon an open field; and with no true companions that I can see, to lookthat they be not lurking among yonder woodlands, some of which, I takeit for granted, we have to pass. I should grieve sorely to see an arrow,even in a boy's hand, aimed at your honour's present hauberk of clothand velvet."
"Well, thy wisdom will not perish for want of utterance," said Amador;"and, in very truth, I must own, it has sometimes stood me in goodstead. I will therefore relieve thee of thy burthen, and Lazaro shallhang it to my own shoulders."
He descended, and the linked surcoat soon invested his person.
"I will also presume to recommend your honour to have these snapdragonshung to your saddle-bow," said Baltasar, extending the rude andponderous pistols,--weapons then scarcely creeping into notice, butwithin twenty years, not uncommon in the hands of horsemen; "for if itshould come to pass, that some cut-throat pagan should discharge amissile at us from the bushes, it will doubtless afford your honour muchsatisfaction to shoot him dead on the spot; a punishment that would notbe so certain with the weapons in my own hands, or in Lazaro's. Andbefore I could bring my cross-bow from my back, it is possible the knavemight have another opportunity to do us mischief."
"In this matter also," said Amador good-humouredly, "I will follow thyinstructions. But, I give thee warning, there is something in thefeeling of my hauberk under this raging sun, that admonishes me how soonmy brain would seethe, as in a stew-pan, under the cover of a steelhelmet. Wherefore I will have thee carry that in thine own hands, until,from the change of atmosphere, or the appearance of an enemy, I may seefit to alter my resolution."
"I have ever found," said Baltasar, with the pertinacity of age, and,perhaps, of a favourite, "that, under a broiling sun, a well-polishedcasque of metal is something cooler than a cloth cap; a fact, the reasonfor which I do not myself understand, and which I should esteem toomarvellous for belief, had I not oft-times put it to the proof."
"There is even much truth in what thou art saying," quoth the cavalier,"and I have perhaps philosophy enough to explain the marvel to thee, butthat I know philosophy is not much to thy liking. There must be a coldhead, however, under the bright cap; otherwise, and with a brain asinflammable as my own, I am very well convinced that bright steel wouldbe just as ignitible as dull iron." And so saying, he again bestrode thechamping Fogoso.
"It must be as your honour says," muttered the man-at-arms. "But, as weare all as well prepared now to begin our journey as we will beto-morrow, I would fain know of your favour whither lies our path, orwhere lags the jackanapes that is to guide us? I heard some talk in thecaravel of a great troop of horse and foot, that was to accompany us;but unless it may have been the herd of vagabonds, who, a full hoursince, took up their march along the sands, I know not where to look forthem among these few tinkers and sailors that are strolling yonder amongthe huts of bamboo."
"I have much reliance on the friendship and courtesy of my cousin, theadmiral," said Amador hastily; "but I must confess, that, saving theappearance of yonder bridled horse, (which may be in waiting for theofficer he told me of,) it looks very much, now, as if he had left me tomine own guidance. Nay, I wrong the worthy senor," he cried quickly, asturning with some doubt and indignation towards the ship, he beheld aboat leave her, and approach the shore with all the speed of oars; "theguide he promised me is, without doubt, in that barge; and the bridledhorse, which, as I can perceive even at this distance, is none of thebravest, is the beast whereon he will keep us company."
As Amador conjectured, the boat contained his promised companion, whoinstantly sprang upon the beach and on the caparisoned animal, and in afew moments was at the side of the cavalier. He was young and handsome,an adult in stature, but scarcely a man in deportment, for as he removedhis cap to make the obeisance of an inferior, there was a strongtincture of confusion and trepidation in his countenance. This wasperhaps owing, in part, to a consciousness of having merited a reprimandfor over-delay, and in part also to his suddenly finding himselfconfronted with so warlike a personage as the neophyte. Amador of thecaravel was a different person from Amador armed and mounted; and,indeed, as he sat on his noble bay, mailed and sworded, and with twogoodly armsmen at his back, he was such a martial figure as might havemoved an older messenger to reverence.
"Senor caballero," said the youth, with a stammering voice, "my masterand patron, the admiral, has appointed me, hi
s secretary, to be yourguide to the Indian city Zempoala; and I have to beg your pardon, if,waiting for the letters wherewith it was his excellency's will to chargeme, and to make some needful preparation of my own, I have detained yourfavour somewhat longer than was agreeable."
"I am ever bound to thank his excellency," said Amador; "and as I wellsuppose, your own preparations had some weighty relation to the businessyou have in charge, I will not take it upon me to express anydissatisfaction with your delay."
"In truth," said the secretary, ingenuously, "I was loath to departwithout such armour about me as should beseem the attendant of a truecavalier; in the fitting of which I fell into some perplexity, as notfinding a corselet that did not, in some manner, incommode my ribs; andbesides, the sabres were all so unwieldy and rough about the hilts, Iwas in some despair I should never find one to my liking."
"Senor secretario," said Amador, with a smile of good-humoured contempt,surveying the youth, and observing the cuirass chosen with no discretionand donned without skill, "I am of opinion, that in the company ofmyself and my attendants, you will find no occasion for such troublesomeapparel; and it is my advice, grounded on your admission of inexperiencein such matters, that, should we, on our march, be beset by any enemies,you take post instantly behind my veteran Baltasar, whose broad breastwill stand you in greater stead than your ill-chosen cuirass, and whosearm will do you better service than the sabre in your own hands."
"Senor," said the youth, colouring, "I am no soldier nor cavalier; Ihave ever had my breast more bruised by the scribe's table than theweight of a breast-plate, and my fingers have heretofore known more ofthe goose-quill than the sword. Nevertheless I am both willing anddesirous to be placed where the knowledge of weapons may be obtained,and to encounter such risks as are the helpers to knowledge. It was fromno lack of beseeching on mine own part, that his excellency hasheretofore denied me permission to try my fate among the cavaliersashore; nor should I have hoped that pleasure so early, but that I foundhis excellency was bent to do you honour, by making a confidentialservant your attendant, and was therefore easily persuaded to give methe opportunity I have so long coveted, of looking a little into thestrange sights of this marvellous land."
"I am to understand then," said Amador gravely, "that his excellency,the admiral, has entrusted the charge of guiding me to Zempoala to anindividual who has never before put foot on the wilderness that dividesus from it?"
"It is true, senor," said the secretary, "that I have never been toZempoala. But I hope your favour will not doubt me for that reason, nortake offence at the admiral. I am enjoined to conduct you to thereinforcement that set out an hour ago. Its tracks are plain enoughalong the beach; and as it is composed principally of footmen, there isno doubt we will overtake it before another hour has elapsed. I amconfident I can lead your favour without difficulty to the party; amongwhich are guides well acquainted with the country."
"Let us set out then, in heaven's name," said the cavalier: "the day iswasting apace; the sun climbs high in the vault; and the sooner we aresheltered from its fury among some of yonder distant forests, the betterwill it be for us. St. John be our guide, and the Holy Virgin favourus.--Amen! Let us depart."