CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE.
DOUBLE MOUNTED.
The labourers hoeing among the young maize plants, and the _tlachiquero_drawing the sap from his magueys, saw a sight to astonish them. Twohorses of unusual size, both carrying double, and going at full gallopas if running a race--on one of them two men in cloaks, blue andscarlet; the other ridden by a giant, with a mis-shapen monkey-likecreature clinging on the croup behind--harness bridles, with collarsdancing loose around their necks--chains hanging down and clanking atevery bound they made--all this along field paths, in an out-of-the-wayneighbourhood where such horses and such men had never been seen before!To the cultivator of "milpas" and the collector of "aguamiel" it was asight not only to astonish, but inspire them with awe, almost causingthe one to drop his hoe, the other his half-filled hog-skin, and take totheir heels. But both being of the pure Aztecan race, long subdued andsubmissive, yet still dreaming of a return to its ancient rule andglories, they might have believed it their old monarchs, Monctezuna andGuatimozin, come back again, or the god Oatluetzale himself.
In whatever way the spectacle affected them, they were not permittedlong to look upon it. For the galloping pace was kept up without haltor slowing; the strange-looking horses--with the men upon their backs,still stranger to look at--soon entered a _chapparal_, which borderedthe maize and maguey fields, and so passed out of sight.
"We're near the end of our ride now," said Rivas to Kearney, after theyhad been some time threading their way through the thicket, the horsesfrom necessity going at a walk. "If 'twere not for this ironmongeryaround our ankles, I could almost say we're safe. Unfortunately, wherewe've got to go the chains will be a worse impediment than ever. Thefile! Have we forgotten it?"
"No," answered Kearney, drawing it from under his cloak, and holding itup.
"Thoughtful of you, _caballero_. In the haste, I had; and we shouldhave been helpless without it, or at all events awkwardly fixed. If weonly had time to use it now. But we haven't--not so much as a minute tospare. Besides the lances from Chapultepec, there's a cavalry troop ofsome kind--huzzars I take it--coming on from the city. While we werecutting loose from the carriage, I fancied I heard a bugle-call in thedirection cityward. Of course, with guns and bells signalling, we mayexpect pursuit from every point of the compass. Had we kept to theroads, we'd have been met somewhere. As it is, if they give us anotherten minutes' grace, I'll take you into a place where there's not muchfear of our being followed--by mounted men, anyhow."
Kearney heard this without comprehending. Some hiding-place, hesupposed, known to the Mexican. It could only mean that. But where?Looking ahead, he saw the mountains with their sides forest-clad, andthere a fugitive might find concealment. But they were miles off; andhow were they to be reached by men afoot--to say nothing of the chains--with cavalry in hue and cry all around them? He put the question.
"Don't be impatient, _amigo_!" said the Mexican in response; "you'llsoon see the place I speak of, and that will be better than anydescription I could give. It's a labyrinth which would have delightedDaedalus himself. _Mira_! You behold it now!"
He pointed to a _facade_ of rock, grey, rugged, and precipitous,trending right and left through the _chapparal_ far as they could see.A cliff, in short, though of no great elevation; on its crest, growingyuccas, cactus, and stunted mezquite trees.
"The _Pedregal_!" he added, in a cheerful voice, "and glad am I to seeit. I've to thank old Vulcan or Pluto for making such a place. It hassaved my life once before, and I trust will do the same now, for all ofus. But we must be quick about it. _Adelante_!"
The horses were urged into a final spurt of speed, and soon afterarrived at the base of the rocky escarpment, which would have barredthem further advance in that direction, had the intention been to takethem on. But it was not.
"We must part from them, now," said Rivas. "Dismount all!"
All four slipped off together, Rock taking hold of both bridles, as ifhe waited to be told what to do.
"We mustn't leave them here," said the Mexican. "They might neigh, andso guide our pursuers to the spot. In another hour, or half that, weneedn't care; it'll be dark then--"
He interrupted himself, seeming to reflect, which, the Texan observing,said to Kearney--
"He weeshes the anymals sent off, do he?"
"Just that, Cris."
"I war thinkin' o' thet same, meself. The groun' for a good spell backhez been hard as flint, an' we hain't left much o' trail, nothin' as aset o' bunglin' yaller-bellies air like ter take up. As for startin'the horses, that's easy as fallin' off a log. Let me do it."
"Do it."
"Take holt o' one then, Cap. Unbuckle the neck strap and pull off thebridle, when you see me do so wi' t'other. It is a pity to act cruel tothe poor brutes arter the sarvice they've did us; but thar ain't no helpfor 't. Riddy, air ye?"
"Ready!"
The Texan had taken out his knife; and in another instant its blade wasthrough the horse's ear, the bridle jerked off at the same time. Theanimal, uttering a terrified snort, reared up, spun round, and brokeaway in frenzied flight through the thorny _chapparal_. The other, alsoreleased, bounded after, both soon passing out of sight.
"_Bueno_--_bravo_!" cried the Mexican, admiringly, relieved of hisdilemma. "Now, senors, we must continue the march afoot, and overground that'll need help from our hands, too. _Vamonos_!"
Saying which, he took up the bridles, and tossed them over the crest ofthe cliff; then ascended himself, helping Kearney. There was no path;but some projections of the rock--ledges, with the stems of cactusplants growing upon their--made the ascent possible. The Texan swarmedup after, with hunchback at his heels; as he got upon the top, turningsuddenly round, laying hold of the chain, and with a "Jee up," hoistingthe creature feet foremost!
Another second and they were all out of sight; though not a second toosoon. For as they turned their backs upon the cliff, they could hearbehind, on the farther edge of the thicket through which they hadpassed, the signal calls of a cavalry bugle.