CHAPTER XXIV.
THE RUINS OF THE HACIENDA.
It was indeed the Indians, who guided by Meli-Antou, were pursuing thesmugglers with terrible imprecations. This is what had occurred.
We said that on the day of the escape Leon surprised the Sayotkatta inthe act of listening at the door. He had not deceived himself; still,as Schymi-Tou was ignorant of Spanish, he had been unable to understandthe young people's conversation, but he had noticed a certain animationwhich appeared to him suspicious. He did not dare, however, opposethe ceremony of exorcism which was about to take place, and contentedhimself with imparting his suspicions to Meli-Antou, who was astonishedat the Sayotkatta's doubts, and treated them as chimeras.
But, as the old man seemed strongly inclined to suppose somemachination, or, at least, some jugglery, on the part of the pretendedconjuror, he resolved to watch what took place on the eminence, andhold himself in readiness to march with twenty men, to the help ofTcharanguii, if he were the dupe of the medicine man's trickery. Alittle while, then, after the young ladies started for the hillock, hefollowed on their track, accompanied by his warriors; and, on reachingthe hill, he crawled up through the tall grass, and listened.
He first heard the prayers of the five men, and was on the point ofregretting that he had followed the Sayotkatta's advice, when Leonsuddenly ceased speaking. He thought, however, that whispered prayershad succeeded the former ones. Still, as this silence was prolonged, hewent a little higher, and was staggered at only seeing Tcharanguii andhis four warriors, lying on the ground. Thinking them dead, he rushedtoward them, and shouted to his men, whom he had left at the foot ofthe mound. They were soon with him, and shook the five sleepers, who atlast woke up with a very confused idea of what had happened to them.
Meli-Antou guessed a portion of the truth, and, not doubting but thatthe fugitives had gone into the forest, he gave orders to pursue them.At the moment when they were setting out, they heard the eagle crieswhich had served as a signal to the smugglers, and dashed towardthe spot whence they came. Meli-Antou was the first to perceive thefugitives, and fired at them, and, though he missed his mark, he hopedvery soon to recapture them.
Before the smugglers had time to select the route which they mustfollow, the Indians were upon them. The young ladies were in the middleof the little band and in safety. Leon, therefore, gave orders toaccept the fight and charge the enemy. Seizing a mace which had justfallen from the grasp of a wounded Indian, Leon rushed into the centreof the medley with the bounds of a tiger. The combatants, who were tooclose together to employ their firearms, fought with their knives, anddealt furious blows with their clubbed rifles or maces.
This frightful carnage lasted for more than half an hour, animated bythe yells of the Indians and the shouts of the smugglers, who killedthem to the last man--thanks to their numerical superiority--by adetermined charge, which decided the victory. The victory, however,cost the smugglers eight of their party.
The next great point was to get away from the vicinity of the Indiansbefore the news of the fight spread in Garakouaiti; for if it did sothey would not have to contend only against twenty men, but againstan entire army of redskins, animated with the desire to avenge theirbrothers. Leon assembled all his men, and they started for the forest,along the path which he and Wilhelm had cut, and which the smugglerswere well acquainted with, through having come along it.
At sunrise they had got through the forest, and found themselves on thebanks of the river where the captain, Wilhelm, and Giacomo had beenso hotly pursued. Leon gave orders to halt--and it was high time, forthe horses were panting with fatigue. Besides, whatever diligence theIndians might display to catch up the smugglers, the latter had a wholenight's start of them; hence they could rest in perfect security.
While the men, in various groups, were preparing the meal or dressingtheir wounds, and the young ladies were sleeping on a pile of ponchosand sheepskins, Leon went to bathe, in order to remove the Indianpaint that disfigured him; and, after resuming his European dress, hestationed himself near the spot where the ladies were reposing.
The first words of the latter, on awaking, were a torrent of thanks,which amply rewarded the captain for all that he had done to save them.Maria could not find expressions sufficiently strong to testify to Leonthe joy which she felt at being restored to liberty by his assistance;and Inez, herself, gradually felt her heart expanding to a feelingmore lively than that of gratitude.
Betrothed to Don Pedro Sallazar by her father's wish, she had acceptedthis alliance with perfect indifference, only seeing in this marriagegreater liberty of action, and the pleasure of being the wife of arich and brilliant gentlemen, who would devote his entire attention tosatisfying her slightest caprices. But her heart had never beaten moreviolently than usual in the presence of the husband destined for her.
Such was the state of her heart, when the attack of the Indians at theParumo of San Juan Bautista had suddenly modified her ideas by causingher to reflect on the conduct of the captain, who had not hesitated torisk his life to save her, while her betrothed husband had not evenfollowed her track. Thus she guessed the grandeur and nobility of thesmuggler's character, and at the same time conceived a love for him,which was the more violent because the man who was the object of it didnot seem to notice it.
It was only at this moment that she understood why her sister hadso often praised the young man's courageous qualities, and that sherecognised the passion which they entertained for each other. A cruelgrief gnawed at her heart, and it was in vain that she struggledagainst the horrible torture of a frenzied jealousy. She felt that shehad no chance of being loved by Leon, who only lived for Maria; andyet, in spite of herself, she could not dispel the charm with which heinspired her. As for Leon, intoxicated with happiness, he revelled inthe felicity with which the presence of Maria, who was seated by hisside, inundated him.
After a few hours halt, they set out again, and on the morning of thefourth day reached the Parumo of San Juan Bautista, without havingbeen molested in any way. Here they halted, and so soon as the camp waspitched, Leon went up to the maidens, and taking them by the hand, ledthem to the grave in which the Senora Soto-Mayor was interred.
"Kneel down," he said to them in a grave voice, "and pray, for hererests the body of your mother, whose soul is in heaven."
Maria and Inez mingled their prayers and sobs over the tomb of herwho had taken care of their childhood, and both remained absorbed inprofound grief. Leon had discreetly withdrawn, leaving the maidens toweep without witnesses: but at the expiration of an hour he went up tothem, and by gentle words recalled them to a sense of the things ofthis world by speaking to them of their father, to whom he had pledgedhimself to restore them.
On hearing their father's name, the sisters wiped their tears andwent back to join the smugglers, who were conversing about the combatwhich they had waged five weeks previously at that very spot. Themen whom Hernandez and Joaquin had enlisted at Valparaiso listenedto the narration with the greatest interest, and resolved, on thefirst opportunity, to avenge those whose places they had taken inLeon's band. The way in which they had behaved before Garakouaiti was,however, a sufficient guarantee of their good disposition.
From the Parumo of San Juan Bautista, the party proceeded to Talca; andafter two days' march, the lofty peaks of the Cordilleras had graduallysunk behind the smugglers, who found themselves in the hot regions ofthe llanos, uninhabited by the Chilians.
Leon, who for more than a month had been unable to receive any newsabout the political events which had occurred during the period, andwho desired to obtain some information about General Soto-Mayor, andwhether on his return from Valdivia he had passed through Talca, gaveorders to march straight on the latter town, where he intended to letthe young ladies rest for two or three days. The nearer they drewto it the darker the captain's brow became; he frowned anxiously,and the glances which he cast in all directions revealed a profoundpreoccupation.
A great change had, indeed, ta
ken place in these parts during the lastmonth; the country had no longer that rich appearance which it formerlyoffered to the eye. Fields trampled by horses, the remains of burnthaciendas, and the ashes heaped up at places where flour mills hadstood a few weeks previously--all these signs indicated that war hadpassed that way.
Two or three leagues farther, however, the houses of Talca could beseen on the horizon glistening in the sun. All was perfectly calm inthe vicinity; no human being showed himself: no flocks grazed on thedevastated prairies; on all sides, a leaden silence and a lugubrioustranquillity brooded over the landscape, and imparted a heart-breakingeffect to the cheerful sunbeams.
All at once Wilhelm, who was riding a few paces ahead of the troop,stopped his horse with a start of terror, and anxiously leaned over hissaddle. Leon dashed his spurs into his horse's flanks, and joined thesmuggler. A hideous spectacle was presented to the two men; in a ditchbordering the road lay, pell-mell, a pile of Spanish corpses horridlydisfigured, and all deprived of their scalps.
Leon commanded a halt, while asking himself what he had better do.Should he turn back, or advance on the town, which was evidently in thehands of the Indians? Hesitation was permissible. Still the captainunderstood that a determination, no matter what its nature, must beformed at once, and looking around him, he noticed a ruined haciendaabout a league distant. It was a shelter, and it was better to seekrefuge there, than remain on the open plain.
Twenty minutes had not elapsed before Leon leaped from his horse andrushed into the farm. The house bore traces of fire and devastation.The cracked walls were blackened with smoke, the windows broken, andamid the ruins that encumbered the patios lay the bodies of several menand women, assassinated and partly burnt.
Leon conducted the trembling ladies to a room which was cleared of therubbish that obstructed the entrance; then, after recommending them notto leave it, he rejoined his comrades, who were establishing themselvesas well as they could among the ruins.
"Caballeros," he said to them, "we are going to entrench ourselves herewhile four of you go out to reconnoitre; for we should commit a graveimprudence by entering the town before knowing in whose hands it is.Who are the four men who will undertake the duty?"
"I!--I!" all the smugglers replied, in chorus.
"Very good," Leon remarked, with a smile; "I shall be obliged tochoose."
They were all silent.
"Giacomo, Hernandez, Joaquin, and Harrison, leave the ranks!"
The four advanced.
"You will go out," Leon said to them, "in four different directionsas scouts. Do not stay away more than two hours, and find out what isgoing on. Above all, do not let yourselves be caught. Begone!"
The smugglers rushed to their horses, and set out at a gallop.
"Now," said Leon, addressing Wilhelm, "how many are there of us?"
"Fifty-four," a voice answered.
Leon felt himself strong. With fifty-four men he thought a good, dealcould be done. His first care was to fortify the house in the best wayhe could; it was surrounded by a breast-high wall, like all the Chilianhaciendas; he had the gateway blocked up, and then, returning to thehouse, he had loopholes pierced, and placed sentries near the wall andon the terrace. Then summoning Wilhelm, he gave him the command oftwenty-five resolute men, and ordered him to ambuscade with this bandbehind a hillock, which was about two hundred yards from the house.
All these precautions taken, he waited. The scouts soon afterreturned, and their report was not reassuring:--The grand Moluchoarmy, commanded by Tahi-Mari, had seized on Talca by surprise; thetown was given over to pillage; and the Chilians, defeated in severalengagements, were flying in the direction of Santiago. Parties ofIndians were beating up the country on all sides; and it appearedevident that the smugglers could not go a league beyond the haciendawithout falling into an ambuscade.
Hernandez, who was the last to arrive, brought with him some thirtyChilian soldiers and guasos, who had been wandering about for twodays at the risk of being caught at any moment by the Indians, whopitilessly massacred all the white men that fell into their hands.Leon gladly welcomed the newcomers, for a reinforcement of thirty menwas not to be despised. They were well armed, and could render him agreat service. After distributing his men at the spots most exposedto attack, the captain went up on the terrace, and after lying down,carefully examined the country in the direction of Talca.
Nothing had altered, and the country was still deserted. This calmnessappeared to him to be of evil augury. The sun set in a reddish mist,the light suddenly decreased, and night arrived with its darkness andmysteries. Leon went down, and proceeded to the room serving as refugeto the two sisters, in order to reassure them, and give them hopeswhich he was far from feeling. The maidens were sitting on the groundsilently.
"Ninas," Leon said to them, "regain your courage. We are numerous, andshall be able to start again tomorrow morning without any fear of beingdisquieted by the Indians."
"Captain," Maria answered him, "it is vain for you to try andtranquillize us; we have heard what the soldiers are saying to oneanother, and they are prepared for an attack which appears to theminevitable."
"Senor Captain," Inez said, in her turn, "we are the daughters andsisters of soldiers, so you can tell us frankly to what we are exposed."
"Good heavens! do I know it myself?" Leon remarked. "I have taken allthe precautions necessary to defend the hacienda dearly, but still Ihope that we shall not be discovered."
"You are deceiving us again," Maria said with a smile, which wassorrowful, though full of grace and charms.
"Besides," Leon continued, without replying to the young lady'sinterruption, "be assured that, in the event of an attack, both I andmy men will be dead ere an Indian crosses the threshold of this door."
"The Indians!" the young ladies could not help exclaiming, for they hadbefore them the recollection of their captivity at Garakouaiti, andtrembled at the mere thought of falling into their hands again.
Still, this terror was but momentary. Maria's face soon reassumed thedelicious expression which was habitual to it, and it was with thesoftest inflexion of her voice that she addressed him.
"Captain," she said to him, "my sister and I wish to ask a favour ofyou--will you promise to grant it to us?"
"What is it, Senora? Speak, for you know that I am only too happy toobey the slightest wish of yours."
"Then you swear to grant it me, whatever it may be?"
"Without doubt," Leon answered; "but what is it?"
"Give me the pistols hanging from your girdle."
"Pistols! Great Heaven! what would you do with them?"
"Kill ourselves," Maria said, simply, "sooner than return to the Indiancity."
"Oh! am I not here to defend you?"
"We know it," Inez added, "and know, too, that you are the noblest andbravest of all your comrades: but I join my entreaty to that of mysister, and beg you not to refuse us."
"If you were killed, Leon," Maria at length said, "must not I die too?"
Inez looked at her sister, and was silent.
Leon started, and drew the pistols from his girdle.
"Here they are," he said, as he handed them to the ladies.
And, without adding a word, he left the room, with his face buried inhis hands. Maria and Inez threw themselves into each other's arms, andpassionately embraced.
At the moment when Leon re-entered the patio, Harrison walked up tohim, and said, as he pointed to several rows of black dots, whichseemed crawling at no great distance from the hacienda--
"Look there, captain."
"They are Indians," Leon answered; "every man to his post."
An hour passed in horrible anxiety. All at once, the hideous head of aredskin appeared above the enclosing wall, and took a ferocious glanceinto the patio. Leon raised his axe, and the Indian's body fell backoutside, while the head rolled at the captain's feet. Several attemptsof the same nature, made at different points of the wall, were repulsedwith equal success. br />
Then the Indians, who had expected to surprise a few sleepy guasos,on seeing themselves so unpleasantly received, raised their war yell,and rising tumultuously from the ground on which they had hithertobeen crawling, bounded upon the wall, which they tried to escaladeon all sides at once. A belt of flame then flashed forth round thehacienda, and a shower of bullets greeted them. Several fell, but theirimpetuosity was not checked, and a fresh discharge, almost in theirfaces, which caused them enormous loss, was unable to repulse them.
Ere long, assailants and assailed were contending hand to hand. It wasa fearful combat, in which men only loosed their hold to die, and inwhich the conquered, frequently dragging down the conqueror in hisfall, strangled him in a last convulsion. For nearly half an hour itwas impossible to judge how matters went; the shots and the blows ofaxes and sabres followed each other with marvellous rapidity.
At length the Indians fell back: the wall had not been scaled. Butthe truce was not long; the Indians returned to the charge, and thestruggle recommenced with new obstinacy. This time, in spite of theprodigies of valour, the smugglers, surrounded by the mass of enemieswho attacked them on all sides simultaneously, were compelled to fallback on the house, defending every inch of ground; their resistancecould not last much longer.
At this moment shouts were heard in the rear of the Indians, andWilhelm rushed upon them like a hurricane at the head of his band.The redskins, surprised at this unexpected attack, fell back indisorder, and dispersed over the country. Leon, taking advantage of theopportunity, dashed forward at the head of twenty men to support hisambuscading party and complete the defeat of his enemies. The pursuitdid not last long, however, and the smugglers returned to the hacienda,for the Indians had vanished like shadows.
Two hours passed without any incident. Leon gave orders to repair thedamage done by the enemy, and then went to the young ladies, in orderto learn how they had endured this fearful assault. On entering theroom, he stumbled over the body of an Indian. The captain recoiled;a cold perspiration bathed his face; a convulsive tremor seized uponhim, and he was on the point of losing his senses. A terrible thoughtcrossed his mind; he feared he should see the young ladies killed.Looking sharply about the room, he saw them crouching in a corner, anda cry of delight burst from him.
"Oh!" he exclaimed, "what has happened here?"
Maria, without answering, took the torch, which was burning in a ringagainst the wall, and illumined the Indian's countenance.
"Tcharanguii!" he exclaimed.
"Yes," she said, "and it was this that killed him." She displayed withsavage energy the pistol that she held in her hand.
"Oh!" said Leon, falling on his knees, "Heaven be thanked!"
"Captain, captain!" Wilhelm shouted, as he rushed into the room, "hereare the Indians!"
Leon hurried out. The fight had recommenced between his men and theIndians. Day was beginning to break, and discovered an entire army ofIndians forming a circle round the hacienda.
"Comrades!" Leon said, in a thundering voice, addressing the smugglers,"we cannot hope to conquer, but we must die like brave men."
"We will!" they replied, with an accent of sublime resignation.
They were only twenty-nine in all, for sixty had been killed in thefirst two attacks.
"Do not let us waste our powder," Leon added; "but make sure of ouraim."
The horizon was gradually growing clearer, and friend and foe couldperfectly distinguish each other. There was something painful in thisspectacle of twenty-nine calm and stoical men, who had all made asacrifice of their life, and were preparing with heroic carelessness tosupport the onrush of thousands of implacable enemies.
All at once Leon uttered a cry of surprise; he had just recognised thegrand chief of the Moluchos, who was advancing at the head of a portionof the army to carry the hacienda by storm.
"Diego!" he shouted.
"Leon!" Tahi-Mari replied.
And then turning to the fighting Indians, he commanded them to stop.
Then, rushing towards the man who had been his friend, he said--
"You here! Why, unhappy man, you must wish for death!"
"Yes," Leon replied.
"Oh! I will save you!"
"Thanks, Diego. But will you also save those who are with me?"
"Those who are with you have killed five hundred of my men during thenight. Oh! the incarnate demons! Yes, I ought to have suspected it; youalone were able to withstand an army for a whole night in a dismantledruin. Save them," he added--"no, it is impossible."
"In that case, good-bye," Leon said, as he prepared to turn away.
"Where are you going, brother?"
"To die with them, since their death is resolved."
"Oh, you will not do that?"
"Why should I not do it? Why have you forgotten, that you were for along time their leader, but will now sacrifice them to your blind fury?"
"Oh! I cannot let the Soto-Mayor family escape thus!"
"That family left me at the Parumo of San Bautista, after the Indianbullets had killed the general's wife."
"Are you speaking the truth?"
"I have only two ladies with me."
"Wait!" said the chief of the redskins, and returned to his band.
Leon said a few words to Wilhelm, who dashed into the house to informthe young ladies that they were out of danger, but only on conditionthat they wrapped themselves so carefully in their rebozos that theirfeatures could not be recognised.
Leon saw Tahi-Mari talking with great animation for about ten minutesamong the Molucho chiefs: at length they separated, and Diego returnedto him.
"Brother," he said to him, "you are an adopted son of the Moluchos;you can retire withersoever you please with the men whom you command,without fear of being disquieted."
"Thanks, brother," Leon said; "I recognise you in that."
"Where will you go?" Diego asked again.
"To Valparaiso."
"Good-bye."
"Why good-bye; do you never wish to see me again?"
"How?"
"Listen; in a week I shall be free from any engagement. Where will yougive me a meeting?"
"At the Rio Claro," said the Indian chief.
"I will be there."
The two friends parted as in the happy days of their friendship, andthen the captain joined his men, while the Indian put himself at thehead of his army again.
"To horse!" Leon then said.
The smugglers obeyed; and then forming a close squadron, they left thehacienda at a canter, having the two veiled ladies in their midst. TheIndian army made way for them to pass; and the twenty-nine men rodewith head erect through the dense ranks of the Moluchos, who watchedthem pass without evincing the slightest impression. Six days after,Maria and Inez de Soto-Mayor were in safety behind the walls of theconvent of the Purisima Concepcion.