CHAPTER XXVII.
THE CAPTURE OF THE CONVENT.
Since the invasion of the Araucanos, Crevel's hostelry had lost muchof its old splendour. No longer was heard the clink of glasses orthe smashing of window panes which the noisy customers broke whilediscussing their affairs. The bottles remained methodically arranged onthe shelves that lined the shop, and the time when Crevel earned a fewpiastres a month, merely by counting as new the cracked ones which hiscustomers threw at his head in the guise of a peroration, had passedaway. The most utter vacuum had taken the place of the overflow.
At the most, not more than one or two passers-by came in during thecourse of the day to drink a glass of pisco, which they paid for, andwent off again directly in spite of all the efforts and cajolery of thebanian, who tried to keep them in order to talk of public affairs andcheer his solitude.
On the day after Leon Delbes' arrest, however, the house offered, atabout ten in the evening, a lively appearance, which formed a strangecontrast with the calmness and tranquillity which the state of war hadimposed on it. The shop was literally encumbered with customers, whosmoked without saying a word.
The silence was so religiously observed by them that it was easy todistinguish the sound of the rain falling outside, and the hoofs of thepolice horses which echoed dully on the pebbles or in the muddy poolswhich covered the soil.
At nightfall the worthy landlord, who had not seen his thresholdcrossed since the morning by a single customer, was preparing to shutup, with sundry execrations, when an individual suddenly entered, thenthree, then four, then ten--in a word, so large a number that he foundit impossible to count them. All were wrapped in large cloaks, and hadtheir broad-brimmed hats pulled down over their eyes so as to rendertheir features unrecognisable.
Crevel, agreeably surprised, prepared to serve his guests, withthe assistance of his lads; but though the proverb says that it isimpossible to have too much of a good thing, the extraordinary numberof persons who seemed to have given each other the meeting at his houseassumed such proportions, that our landlord eventually became alarmed,as he did not know where to house the newcomers. The crowd, afterinvading the ground floor room, had, like a constantly-rising tideoverflowed into the adjoining one, and then ascended the stairs andtaken possession of the upper floors.
When ten o'clock struck, forty customers peopled the posada, and, aswe said, not a single syllable was exchanged between them. Crevelcomprehended that something extraordinary was taking place in hishouse; and he sought for means to get rid of these silent guests byaffecting preparations for closing his inn, but no one appeared tocatch his meaning. At this moment a sereno offered him the pretextwhich he was awaiting by shouting outside--
"Ave Maria purisima las diez han dado y llueve." The stereotyped phraseof the night watchman, though accompanied by modulations which wouldmake a cat cry, produced no impression on the company. Hence Crevelresolved to speak.
"Gentlemen," he said aloud, as he stood in the middle of the roomwith his hands on his hips, "it is ten o'clock, you hear, and I mustabsolutely close my establishment."
"Drink here!" the customers replied, in chorus--accompanying thesentence by dealing vigorous blows on the table with their pewtermeasures.
Crevel started back.
"Really, gentlemen," he tried to continue, "I would observe to youthat--"
"Drink here!" the topers observed, in a voice of thunder.
"Ah! that is the game, is it?" the exasperated landlord cried, who feltall his courage return with his passion. "Well, we will see whether Iam master of my own house."
He rushed towards the door, but had not taken a step in the street,when a newcomer seized him by the arm and unceremoniously thrust himback into the room, saying, with a mocking air--
"What imprudence, Master Crevel, to go out bareheaded in such weather!You will catch an awful cold."
Then, while the banian, confused and terrified by this rude shock, wastrying to restore a little order in his ideas, his addresser, behavingjust as if he were at home, and assisted by two customers, to whom hegave a signal, fastened the window shutters, bolted and locked the dooras well as Crevel's lads could have done it.
"Now let us talk," said the newcomer, as he turned to the stupefiedlandlord. "Do you not recognise me?" he added, as he doffed his hat.
"Monsieur Wilhelm!" Crevel exclaimed.
"Silence!" the other remarked.
And he led the master of the posada into a retired corner of the room.
"Have you any strange lodgers here?" he asked him, in a low voice.
"No! if you know this legion of big demons who have collected in myhouse during the last hour--"
"Well! I am not alluding to them. I ask you whether you have anystrangers lodging here. As for these gentlemen, you must know them aswell as I do."
"From the cellar to the garret there is not a soul beside thesegentlemen; but as I have not yet been able to see so much as the end oftheir noses, it was impossible for me to recognise them."
"These are all men belonging to the captain's band, you humbug!"
"Nonsense! In that case, why do they hide their faces?"
"Probably, Master Crevel, because they do not wish them to be seen; andnow send your lads to bed, being careful to lock them carefully intotheir attic, and after that we will see."
"Then, something is going to be done?"
"When you are told you will know. In the meanwhile, execute my orders."
"All right! all right!"
And Crevel, without any further urging, went off to carry out the orderhe had received, with the promptitude of a man who knows how to obeywhen he hopes to makes a profit by his obedience. When he had left theroom, Wilhelm turned to his comrades, who, during the conversation, hadremained motionless and apparently indifferent to what was going on.
"Up, gentlemen!" he said to them.
They all rose.
"Call down your companions from upstairs," Wilhelm said again.
One of the men went upstairs, and two minutes after the whole of thesmugglers were collected round the German.
"Are you all here?" he asked.
"Yes," they replied.
"Armed?"
"Yes."
"You know that we have assembled to deliver the captain?"
"Yes; we are ready."
At this moment three knocks were heard on the outside shutter.
"Wait," said Wilhelm. "Silence!"
He walked to the door.
"What do you want?" he said.
"Diego and Leon," a voice replied.
"Very good."
The door was opened, and Tahi-Mari entered.
"Diego!" the smugglers exclaimed, joyfully.
"Myself, lads," the half-breed answered, as he cordially pressed thehands offered him. "I have come to help you to deliver Leon."
"Bravo! long live Diego!"
"Silence, my friends! we must be prudent if we wish to succeed, forwe have two expeditions to attempt: hence we must arrange our planscarefully in order to make no mistake. The first is against the Conventof the Purisima Concepcion."
The smugglers made a face.
"The second," Diego continued, without appearing to notice the effectwhich the word convent had produced on the smugglers, "is against theCalabozo, where the captain is locked up."
"Good!" the smugglers said; "we are listening." He then explained tothem all the details of his plan, and when everything was settled,they prepared to set out.
"Hilloh, though," Diego suddenly exclaimed, "what has become of Crevel?"
"He has gone to lock up his lads," Wilhelm replied.
"A good precaution; but he is a long time over it."
"Here he is," a smuggler remarked.
"Senor Don Diego!" Crevel said with amazement, on perceiving theex-lieutenant of the band.
"Good evening, Crevel. I am delighted to find you in such good health."
"Thanks, caballero, but you are too obliging."
"Come,
make haste, take off your apron, put on your cloak, and comewith us."
"I?" the landlord said, with a start of terror.
"Yes, you."
"But how can I be of any service to you?"
"I will tell you. Captain Leon informed me that you stood well with thesisters of the Convent of the Purisima Concepcion."
"Oh, oh! up to a certain point," Crevel answered.
"No false modesty. I know you possess the power to have the gatesopened whenever you think proper, and hence I invite you to accompanyus for that purpose."
"Oh, Lord! what can you be thinking of?" the startled banian remarked.
"No remarks; make haste, or by Nuestra Senora de la buena Esperanza, Iwill set fire to your hovel."
A heavy groan escaped from Crevel's breast as he prepared to obey. Itwas striking half-past ten by the cathedral dock. A second later theVoice of the sereno croaked close to the posada.
"Ave Maria Purisima, las diez y media han dado y senora," he cried.
"It seems that it has left off raining?" said Wilhelm. "All the better."
"Come, make haste," said Diego, with a sign to the German.
"I understand, lieutenant."
Wilhelm crept out of the posada, whose door was only on the jar. Amoment later, a fall, a stifled groan, and a whistle were heard.
"Let us be off," Diego went on, pointing to the door, through whichCrevel passed meekly. All the smugglers glided out of the inn, andwalked a few yards behind each other, careful to remain in the shadow,and preserving the deepest silence. A few minutes after, they came upto Wilhelm, who was bearing on his shoulders a bundle, whose shape itwas at the first glance impossible to recognise.
"Here is the sereno," he said; "what shall I do with him?"
And the German pointed to the bundle on his shoulders, which wasnothing else, in fact, but the hapless watchman.
"Take him with us," Diego answered. "A passer-by might liberate him,and that would be enough to raise an alarm."
"Very good," said Wilhelm, and he followed the party.
The smuggler had simply waited for the sereno at the corner of a house,and when he saw him at a convenient distance, lassoed, gagged, andbound him, and threw him across his wide shoulders, no more or lessthan if he had been a bale of goods.
The band proceeded toward the Almendral. All the serenos they metunderwent the same fate as the first; like him, they were preventedfrom stirring or shouting, and taken on a smuggler's back. Thanks tothis clever manoeuvre, they reached the walls of the convent withoutobstacle. Eight serenos had been captured during the walk, and whenthey reached their destination Diego ordered his men to lay them at thefoot of the wall which surrounded the convent. Then he turned to Creveland said--
"Now, compadre, we have reached our destination; we are in front of theconvent; and it is your business to get us inside."
"But, in Heaven's name, how do you expect me to do that? You do notreflect that I have no means to--"
"Listen," Diego said, imperiously. "You understand that I have noleisure to discuss the point with you. You will either introduce usinto the convent--in which case this purse, containing two hundredand fifty gold onzas, is yours--or you refuse, and then," he added, ashe coldly drew a pistol from his pocket, "I blow out your brains withthis."
A cold perspiration broke out on Crevel's forehead, who knew Diego toowell to insult him by doubting his intentions.
"Well?" the other asked, as he cocked the pistol. "Do not play withthat thing, lieutenant; I will try my best."
"To give you a better chance of success, here is the purse," thehalf-breed said, throwing it to him.
Crevel seized it with a start of delight which it would be impossibleto describe; then he walked toward the convent gate, while racking hisbrains as to how he should contrive to earn the money and run the leastpossible risk. A luminous thought crossed his brain, and it was with asmile on his lips that he raised the hammer to knock. All at once thehalf-breed stopped his arm.
"What is it?" Crevel asked.
"It has struck eleven long since; everybody is asleep in the convent,and so it would perhaps be better to try some other method."
"You are mistaken," the banian replied; "the portress is awake."
"Are you sure of that?"
"Hang it all!" the other replied, who had his plan, and was afraid thathe must restore the money if Diego drew back from his resolution; "theconvent of the Concepcion is open day and night to people who come insearch of medicines; so leave me alone."
"In that case, go on," said the leader of the party as he let go hisarm.
Crevel did not allow the permission to be repeated, and, through fearof a fresh objection, hastened to let the knocker fall, which echoednoisily on the copper boss. Diego and his men were standing in theshadow of the wall. A moment after, the trapdoor was pulled back, andthe wrinkled face of the sister porter appeared in the opening.
"Who are you, my brother?" she asked, in a sleepy voice; "and why haveyou knocked at our gate at such an hour?"
"Ave Maria Purisima!" Crevel said, in his most sanctified voice.
"Sin pecado concebida. Brother, are you ill?"
"I am a poor sinner whom you know, sister, and my soul is plunged inaffliction."
"Who may you be, brother? I fancy I recognize your voice, but the nightis so dark that I cannot see your face."
"And I sincerely hope that you will not see it," Crevel mentallyremarked; and added aloud--"Oh, sister, you know me perfectly well. Iam Signor Dominique, the Italian, and keep a locanda on the Port."
"Oh yes, I remember you now, brother."
"I fancy she is nibbling," Crevel muttered.
"What do you want, brother? hasten to inform me, in our Saviour's name;for the air is very cold, and I must continue my orisons."
"My wife and two children are ill, sister, and the reverend paterguardian of the Carmelites recommended me to come and ask you for threebottles of your miraculous water."
"Good gracious!" the old woman exclaimed, her eyes sparkling withdelight; "three bottles!"
"Yes, sister; and I will ask your permission to rest myself a moment,for I am so fatigued that I can scarce stand."
"Poor man!" the sister porter said, pityingly.
"Oh! it would really be an act of charity, sister."
"Senor Dominique, pray be good enough to look about and see that thereis no one in the street, for we are living in such bad times that it isimpossible to take sufficient precautions."
"There is nobody, sister," the banian answered, as he made his comradesa signal to hold themselves in readiness.
"In that case, I will open."
"Heaven will reward you for it, sister."
The creaking of a key in a lock could be heard, and the door opened.
"Come in quickly, brother," the nun said.
But Crevel had prudently withdrawn, and made way for Diego. The latterseized the portress by the throat, and pressing her neck in both hishands like a vice, whispered in her ear--
"One word, wretch, and I kill you!"
Horror-struck by this sudden attack, the old woman fell backunconscious.
"Deuce take the old devil!" Diego said, angrily; "who can guide us now?"
He tried to recall the sister to her senses, but seeing that it wasimpossible to do so, he made a sign to his men, who had rushed intothe convent after him, to gag her and bind her securely. Then, afterleaving two smugglers as sentries at the gate, he took the bunch ofkeys with which the portress was entrusted, and prepared to enter thebuilding occupied by the nuns.
It was no easy task to discover in this immense Thebais the celloccupied by Dona Maria--for our readers will have understood thatthe object of the expedition attempted by Diego, was to carry offthat young lady. It remains for us now to explain what the half-breedintended to do with her, and by what reasons he had been urged tocommit such a deed.
We must say in the first place, that Diego had the most lively desireto attach to his cause, Leon,
whom he knew to be a man of bravery andenergy, and was urged to do so not only because he intended to givehim a command in the Araucano army, but also because he had no soonerparted with Leon after the altercation which they had while escortingthe family of General Soto-Mayor, than he regretted the rupture, nowsought every means in his power to effect a reconciliation with Leon,the only person in the world he loved.
The first thing he did for this object was to grant Leon what thelatter had demanded so pressingly, the liberation of Don Juan, theold general's son. He knew that he must not dream of thwarting hisfriend's love for Maria, and awaited the end of this love in order toact, thinking that the captain, at the moment when he saw himself onthe point of being separated from her whom he loved, would not recoilfrom the idea of carrying her off. When he afterwards came across himin the half-burned hacienda, and delivered him from the false positionin which he was placed, Diego did not at all suspect that one of thefemales with him was no other than Maria; and great was his surprisewhen the result of his enquiries told him that Leon had himselfconducted the young lady back to the Convent of the Purisima Concepcion.
Certain that Delbes had only acted thus in obedience to the chivalrouspromptings of his heart, and not wishing him to be the dupe of thehonourable feelings which had dictated his conduct by losing Maria forever, the half-breed resolved to restore her to him in spite of himselfby simply carrying her off; and he calculated that the rumours andscandal produced by such an event, would prevent the Soto-Mayor familyfrom offering any opposition to the marriage. We see that although thisreasoning was brutal, it was to a certain extent logical.
Now, in order to carry off Maria, she must be found, and it was thisthat embarrassed Diego and his men, once that they had entered theconvent by stratagem. At the moment, however, when they were beginningto lose all hope, an incident produced by their inopportune presencecame to their assistance. The smugglers had spread through thecourtyards and cloisters, careless of the consequences which theirinvasion might produce, and with shouts and oaths seemed desirous ofsearching the convent from cellar to garret.
The nuns, habituated to silence and calmness, were soon aroused tothis disturbance, and believing that the fiend was the author of it,they hurriedly leaped from their beds, and, scarce clothed, ran toseek shelter in the cell of the abbess, while uttering heart-rendingcries of terror. The latter lady, sharing the error of her sisters,had hurriedly dressed herself, and assembling her flock around her,advanced resolutely toward the spot whence the noise proceeded, holdingin the one hand a holy water brush, and in the other her pastoralstaff, with the intention of exorcising the demon. Suddenly sheperceived the smugglers, but ere she could utter a cry Diego rushedtoward her.
"Silence!" he said; "we do not intend you any harm; leave us alone."
Dumb with terror at the sight of so many armed men, the women stoodas if petrified. All at once, Diego noticed a novice who was clingingconvulsively to her companions.
"That is the girl!" he said to his men; "it is she whom I want!"
And joining actions to words, he seized Maria, while the othersmugglers kept back the abbess and the other sisters, who were moredead than alive. Two men gagged the young lady, and prepared to carryher off.
"Let us begone!" said Diego.
"Villain!" the abbess at length exclaimed, thinking of the terribleaccount which she would have to render to General Soto-Mayor, "if youhave the slightest fear of heaven, restore me that young lady!"
"Silence!" Diego replied.
And pointing a cocked pistol at the abbess, he forced her to be aspectatress of what was going on. At this moment, another young lady,with agitated features and garments in disorder, rushed toward thehalf-breed, and, clinging to him, shrieked despairingly--
"My sister!--give me back my sister!"
Diego turned, his eyes sparkled, and his face assumed an expression ofhatred which made the nuns turn pale.
"Oh, oh!" he said, with a ferocious joy; "Inez here?"
"Yes, I am Inez de Soto-Mayor, and this is my sister; for mercy's sake,restore her to me."
"Your sister? Yes, I will restore her to you, but not yet;" and seizingthe poor girl in his powerful arms, he raised her in his arms, andthrew her over his shoulder.
"Now, let us be off, my men," he shouted to the smugglers, who stoodround him gloomy and silent, as if ashamed of their cowardly conduct.Ten minutes later, no one remained in the convent but its peaceableinmates. Once outside, Diego ordered Wilhelm and Crevel to carry Mariato the posada kept by the latter, with instructions to deposit her inthe green room. Then wrapping Inez in a poncho, he entrusted her totwo other smugglers, whom he led into a little lane, where a man onhorseback was waiting. This done, he rejoined his band, who advancedprudently towards the Calabozo, keeping in the shadow of the walls, andredoubling their precautions.
This time they would not have to deal with harmless women, but withsoldiers. And let us say it in praise of the men whom Diego commanded,they were desirous of fighting with enemies capable of defendingthemselves, in order to expiate the disgraceful part which they hadplayed in the affair of the convent.
A sentry was walking up and down in front of the prison, and a cavalrypicket was stationed a short distance off. The smugglers had dispersed,and anxiously waited till Diego should form a decision. The latter wascursing the presence of the cavalry, and knew not what he had bestdo. All at once the prison gate opened: two torches gleamed in theobscurity, and Diego saw the Governor of Valparaiso come out, and, athis side, Captain Leon Delbes, with whom he was conversing.
The half-breed made a sign to his men to conceal themselves in thedoorways, and walked alone toward the two gentlemen, while feigning themovements of a belated passer-by. The torch bearers had re-entered theprison, and the governor was mounting his horse, and taking leave ofLeon.
"I thank you, general," the latter said, "for the eagerness you havedisplayed in setting me at liberty."
"On learning your arrest, captain, General Soto-Mayor hurried to tellme that he would be answerable for you, and to beg me to release youfrom prison, which I should have done sooner had I not been compelledto be absent from Valparaiso the whole day, for an affair of thehighest importance."
"Pray believe, general, in my deep gratitude."
"Do not forget, if any misadventure were again to happen to you, toapply to me, and I will hasten to come to your aid."
Leon bowed his thanks for the last time, and the two gentlemen parted.The general, followed by his escort, returned to the palace, and Leonwalked toward the Calle San Agostino. He had not gone twenty yards whenhe came face to face with Diego, who had turned back to meet him.
"Good evening, Leon," he said to him.
"Diego! you here! what do you want here, imprudent man?"
"I came to save you, but I see that you do not require my assistance,and I congratulate you on it."
"Thanks, brother!" Leon answered, with emotion. "As you see, I am free."
"In that case, I have only to withdraw with the men who joined me forthis enterprise."
The smugglers had left their lurking places, and thronged round theircaptain.
"Thanks, my friends, thanks for what you intended to do. I shall notforget it."
"Now," Diego continued, "I have nothing more to do here, and so I amoff. Good-bye, Leon; you will soon hear from me."
"What! are you going?"
"To join my friends. And you?"
"I intend to remain at Valparaiso."
"Good! I need not repeat that, whenever you like to join us, you haveonly to come."
"Thanks, brother! I have not forgotten it."
"Once again, good-bye."
"Let me at least accompany you."
"No; do you go to Crevel's, for your presence may be necessary there."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You will soon learn."
And, without further explanation, Diego proceeded to the spot where thesmugglers who guarded Inez were waiting for him. The ma
n on horsebackdismounted. Diego took his place, and, throwing Inez across the saddle,he dashed off at full speed along the Santiago road, shouting--
"Each his share! I have mine!"
The two smugglers rejoined their comrades, and then the band dividedin two parts: one moiety returned to Dominique, the Italian's, wherethey were lodged, while careful to hide from their landlord thecompromising part which Crevel had thought proper to make him playin the drama at the convent. The other smugglers scattered about theobscure hostelries of which there were such a large number on theAlmendral.