CHAPTER IX.
ON THE SIERRA.
The traveller who, proceeding south, leaves one fine morning the cityof Santiago, that magnificent capital of Chili which is destinedere long (if it be not destroyed by an earthquake, as has alreadyhappened twice), to become the finest city of South America,experiences--according as he belongs to one of the two classes oftravellers called by Sterne positive or enthusiastic travellers--asudden disillusion or a complete charm at the sight of the landscapespread out before him.
In fact, for a radius of fifty or sixty leagues round the capital,the country offers, with but few differences, the same appearance aswe meet with when we traverse the smiling plains of Beauce, or thedelicious province of Touraine, so poetically named the garden ofFrance.
On either side of wide and well-kept roads, lined with lofty trees,whose tufted crests meet and form a natural arch, which affords ashelter against the heat of the day, extend for an enormous distancevast fields covered with crops of wheat, barley, rice, and alfalfa, andorchards filled with apple, pear, and peach trees, and all the otherfruit trees which grow prolifically in these superb countries. On thehorizon, upon hills exposed to the rising sun, countless patches ofthat vine which Chili alone has succeeded in cultivating, and whichproduces a wine highly esteemed by connoisseurs, rejoice the eye whichcontemplates to satiety these enormous masses of gilded grapes destinedto supply the whole of South America with wine.
In the distance are seen on the prairies horses, mules, vicunas,viscachas, and llamas, which raise their head on the passage of thecaravans, and regard the travellers with their large eyes full ofgentleness and intelligence. An infinite number of small streams windwith capricious turns through this country, which they fertilize, andtheir limpid and silvery track is covered with formidable bands ofmajestic, black-headed swans.
But, after a journey of four days, when you leave the province ofSantiago to enter that of Colchagua, the country assumes a moreabrupt appearance. You can already begin to feel the rising of theground which gradually reaches, with undulation upon undulation,the Cordilleras of the Andes. The soil, ruder to the eye and morerebellious to cultivation, although it has not yet completely acquiredthose sublime, savage beauties which, a few leagues further on, willcause the blessings of civilization to be forgotten, holds a mid placebetween that nature of which man has made a conquest, which he changesand modifies according to his caprices, and that invincible natureagainst which all his efforts are impotent, and which victoriouslyretains the independence of its diversified, wild, and imposing scenery.
It was the sixth day after that fixed for the journey projected byGeneral Don Juan, and on the road that runs from Currio to Talca,that at about midday, a large party of travellers composed of fifteenmen, both masters and peons, and three ladies whose features it wasimpossible to distinguish, as they were careful to conceal them sothoroughly under their rebozos, was advancing with difficulty, tryingin vain to shelter themselves against the burning sunbeams which fellvertically.
No shadow allowed the men or beasts to breathe for a moment; there wasnot a single tree whose foliage might offer a little refreshment. Aheadof the horsemen a dozen mules, trotting one after the other, and eachloaded with two heavy bales, followed with a firm step the bell of theyegua madrina, which alone had the privilege of marching at liberty,and with no burthen, at the head of the caravan.
All our travellers, armed to the teeth, rode in groups behind themules, and were mounted on those capital Chilian horses which haveno equals for speed, and of which we might almost say that they areindefatigable.
The heat was stifling, and with the exception of the _area mula!_uttered from time to time by the muleteers, in order to stimulate thevigour of the poor brutes, no one said a word. Nothing was audible savethe sharp footfall of the animals echoing on the stones, and the clangof the heavy spurs which each rider had on his heels.
The road wound round a vast quebrada along the brink of which it ran,growing narrower every moment, which soon compelled the travellers toride one by one, having on their right a precipice of more than twelvehundred yards in depth, down which the slightest slip on the part oftheir steeds might hurl them, and on their left a wall of graniterising perpendicularly to an incalculable height. Still this precarioussituation, far from causing a feeling of terror among the persons ofwhom we are speaking, seemed, on the contrary, to give them a sensationof undefinable comfort.
This resulted from the fact that on this gorge the sun did not reachthem, and they were able to refresh their lungs by inhaling a littlefresh air, which it had been impossible for them to do during the lastthree hours. Hence, without troubling themselves about the spot whichthey had reached, any more than if they had been in a forest glade,they threw off the folds in which they had wrapped themselves, in orderto avoid the heat, and prepared to enjoy for a few minutes the trucewhich the sun had granted them. Gaiety had returned, the muleteers werebeginning to strike up those interminable complaints with which, if wemay be allowed to use the expression, they seem to keep the mules instep, and the masters lit their paper cigarettes. They rode on thusfor about half an hour, and then, after having followed the thousandwindings of the mountains, the caravan came out upon an immense plaincovered with a tall close grass, of a dark green hue, in which thehorses disappeared up to the chest, and on which clumps of trees grewat intervals. The mountains opened on the right and left like a fan,and displayed on the horizon their denuded and desolate crests.
"Baya Pius, gentlemen," one of the horsemen said, as he spurred hishorse and wiped his forehead; "we shall halt within two hours."
"I hope so, captain; for I frankly confess to you that I am exhaustedwith fatigue."
"Stay, Don Juan," the first of the two men continued, as he stretchedout his hand in the direction they were following; "do you perceive alittle to the left that larch tree wood stretching out at the foot ofthe mound, down which a torrent rushes?"
"Yes, yes, I see it, Senor Leon," the general, whom our readers havedoubtless recognized, answered the captain of the smugglers.
"Well, general, that is where we shall camp tonight."
"Heaven be praised!" a sweet maiden voice exclaimed, mingling in theconversation; "but are you not mistaken, Senor Captain, in saying thatwe shall not reach that spot before two hours?"
Leon eagerly turned his head, and replied, while accompanying his wordswith a look in which the love he felt was seen--
"I have been about the mountains too long, Dona Maria, to be mistakenas to a thing so simple for us sons of the Sierra as a calculation ofdistance; but if you feel too fatigued, senorita, speak, and we willcamp here."
"Oh, no," the maiden quickly replied, "on the contrary, let us goon; for the great heat has now passed, and the rising breeze is soagreeable, that I feel as if I could canter thus all night."
Leon bent to his saddle-bow, and after courteously saluting Dona Mariaand the ladies with her, he hurried on and joined Diego, who wasmarching ahead, with his eye on the watch and a frown on his brow, inthe attitude of a man who seems afraid he shall not find the traceswhich he is in search of. He had rejoined the caravan two days before,and as yet not a syllable had been exchanged between him and Leon:still the latter had noticed in the half-breed's countenance, since hisarrival, an air of satisfaction, which proved that he had succeeded inhis plans.
And yet, though Dona Maria was riding a few yards from him, had Diegobrought the two young people together according to his promises?Evidently not; since at the hour when the Vaquero left Leon, the younglady arrived under the safeguard of one of her father's servants. Hencethe half-breed's satisfaction must be attributed to some other motive.
While Leon was striving to divine it--while curiously examining hisfriend's slightest gesture, let us relate, in a few words, what hadtaken place between the captain and the Soto-Mayor family during thesix days which had elapsed since his visit to the Convent of thePurisima Concepcion. Returning at full speed, Leon reached the RioClaro during the night
, and after two or three hours' repose among thesmugglers, he started at the head of his men for the general's countryhouse, where the persons whom he had engaged to escort as far asValdivia were awaiting him.
At the moment when Leon entered the drawing room to announce that themules and the horses were ready to start, a loud exclamation burstfrom a young lady whom the captain's eyes had been greedily seekingever since his entrance into the house. It was Maria, who recognisedher saviour.
Not one of the persons present, who were engaged with the finalpreparations for the start, noticed the cry of surprise uttered by themaiden. Leon at once felt it echo to his heart, and a flash of joyescaping from his glance illuminated Maria's soul. In the space of asecond they both understood that they were loved.
The journey they were about to undertake appeared to them a moresplendid festival than their imagination could conceive. They hadscarce hoped to see each other again, and they were about to live sideby side for a week. Was not this such perfect happiness that it seemeda miracle?
An hour later, the young couple were riding along together. Althoughthe captain was obliged to remain pretty constantly at the head ofthe small party which he commanded, he seized the slightest excuse toget near Maria, who, forgetting everything else in this world, kepther eyes incessantly fixed on this man, the mere sight of whom causedher heart to beat. And there was no lack of excuses: at one moment hemust encourage by a shout or a signal the young lady's horse which waschecking its speed; at another he must recommend her to guard herselfagainst a whirlwind of dust, or remove a stone from her horse's hoof.And Maria ever thanked him with a smile of indescribable meaning.
As he was obliged, in order not to excite suspicion, to pay similarattention to the Senora Soto-Mayor and her other daughter, thesmuggler's manner delighted the general, who applauded himself with allhis heart for having laid his hand on such a polite and attentive man.
During the first night's bivouac, Leon managed for a few moments toleave the rest of the party and approach Maria, who was admiring themagnificent spectacle which the moonlight offered, by casting itsopaline rays over the lofty trees which surrounded the spot where theyhad halted.
"Senorita," he said to her, in a voice trembling with emotion, "do younot fear lest the fresh night breeze may injure your health?"
"Thanks, Senor Leon," the maiden replied; "I am about to return tocamp, but the night is so long that I cannot weary of admiring thissuperb landscape. I am so happy in contemplating all that I see aroundme."
"Then you do not regret your abode in the convent, senorita?"
"Regret it! when I feel as if God had wished to inundate my heart withall the joy which it can feel! Oh, Caballero, you do not think so. Butwhy do you say it to me?"
"Forgive me," Leon continued, noticing the expression of sorrow whichhad suddenly overclouded the maiden's features; "the fact is, that mythoughts ever revert to the moment when I saw you, pale and dumb withterror, leave the ranks of the nuns of the Purisima Concepcion."
"Oh, speak not so; and since Heaven has permitted that I should leavethose convent walls to see you again, do not remind me that I must soonreturn to them, to remain there till death liberates me from them."
"What!" Leon exclaimed, "see you again and then lose you! Oh; forgiveme, senorita; forgive my speaking to you thus; but I am mad, andsorrow renders me distracted."
"What do you say?"
"Nothing! nothing! senorita: forget what I may have said to you, butbelieve that if I were called on to sacrifice my life to save you anypain, however slight in its nature, I would do so at a moment," saidLeon.
Maria replied, raising her eyes to heaven, "God is my witness that thewords which you have just uttered will never pass from my mind: but asI told you, I am happy now, and when the convent gate has again closedon me, I shall have neither pain nor sorrow to endure, for I shall die."
A dull cry burst from Leon's breast; he looked at the maiden, who wassmiling calmly and tranquilly.
"And now," she said to Leon, "I will join my sister again, for I fancyI am beginning to be chilled."
And hurriedly proceeding to the tent, under which the principal membersof her family were assembled, she left Leon to his thoughts. From thismoment, Leon abandoned himself with delight to the irresistible charmof the love which he felt for Maria. This man, with the nerves ofsteel, who had witnessed the most terrible scenes without turning pale,who with a smile on his lips had braved the greatest dangers, foundhimself without the strength to combat the strange feeling which hadunconsciously settled in his heart. Hitherto squandering his youth'senergy in wild saturnalia, Leon felt for the first time in his lifethat he loved, and he did not question the future, reserved for apassion whose issue could not be favourable.
Still, and although illusion was almost impossible, the young man, withthat want of logic of love which seems to grow in proportion to theinsurmountable obstacles opposed to it, yielded to the torrent whichbore him away, confiding to chance, which may at any moment effect amiracle.
In addition to the numberless obstacles which Leon might expect tofind on the road, Diego's plans of vengeance alarmed him more than allthe rest. He knew that the half-breed's will did not recoil before anyexcess; that if he had resolved to avenge himself on the Soto-Mayorfamily, no power would be strong enough to prevent him. Hence a shudderpassed through Leon's veins when he was rejoined by Diego, and thelatter, on perceiving Leon, had said to him--
"The girl you love is near you without any interference on my part; allthe better, brother, it is your duty to watch over her henceforth, andI will take charge of the others."
Leon was about to open his mouth to reply, but a look from thehalf-breed caused the words to expire on his lips. The reader now knowswhy the captain, after saluting the ladies, started to place himself atthe head of the band and watch Diego.
The sun was on the point of disappearing upon the horizon when theparty reached the wood which Leon had indicated to Don Juan as the spotwhere they would pass the night. All halted, and the preparations forcamping were made.
In Chili, and generally throughout South America, you do not find onthe roads that infinite number of inns and hostelries which encumberours, and where travellers are so pitilessly plundered. In thesecountries, which are almost deserted, owing to the tyrannical rule ofthe Spaniards and the philanthropy of the English, this is how peoplebehave in order to obtain rest after a long day's journey.
The travellers choose the spot which appears to them most suitable,generally on the banks of a river, the mules are unloaded, and they areleft for the night to their own instincts, which never deceive them,and enable them to find pasture. The bales are placed upon one anotherin a circle of sixty or eighty feet; in the middle of this enclosure alarge fire is lit and carefully kept up in order to keep wild beasts atbay, and each man placing his weapons by his side arranges himself topass the night as comfortably as he can.
Our travellers installed themselves in the way we have described, withthis distinction, that as General Soto-Mayor had a tent among hisbaggage, the peons put it up in the centre of the camp, and as it wasdivided into two parts, it formed sleeping rooms for Don Juan, hiswife, and his daughters. After a supper of jerked beef and ham, themuleteers, wearied with their day's journey, took a glance around tosee that all was in order, and then lay down, with the exception of onewho remained up as sentry.
Diego, Leon, and the Soto-Mayor family were sitting round the fire andtalking of the distance they still had to go before reaching theirdestination. In these countries there is no twilight, and the supperwas hardly over before it became pitch dark.
"Miguel!" the general said to a peon standing close behind him, "giveme the bota."
The peon fetched a large goatskin, which might contain some fifteenquarts, and was full of rum.
"Gentlemen!" the general continued, addressing the smugglers, "be kindenough to taste this rum; it is a present made me by General SaintMartin, in memory of the battle of Maypa, in which I was woun
ded whilecharging a Spanish square."
The bota passed from hand to hand, while the ladies, seated oncarpets, were sipping water and smoking their cigarettes.
"It is excellent," said Leon, after swallowing a mouthful; "it is realJamaica."
"I am delighted that it pleases you," Don Juan continued, kindly; "forin that case, you will not refuse to accept this bota, which willremind you of our journey when we have separated."
"Oh!" Leon exclaimed, casting a fiery look at Maria, whose cheeksturned purple, "I shall remember it, believe me, and I thank yousincerely for this present."
"Say no more about it, pray, my dear captain; and tell me whether youthink we are still far from Talca."
"By starting early tomorrow we shall be by ten in the forenoon at themountain of Amehisto, and two hours later at Talca."
"So soon?" Maria murmured.
Leon looked at the maiden, and there was a silence; the generalcalculated the distance that separated Talca from Valdivia, the ladiessmoked, and Diego was deep in thought. Suddenly the sound of gallopinghorses could be heard, the sound soon grew louder, and the sentryshouted, "Who goes there?"
In a second everybody was up, the men leaped to their weapons, and theladies, by Leon's orders, went into the tent to lie down on the groundand remain perfectly motionless. No one had answered the sentry'schallenge.
"Who goes there?" he repeated, as he cocked his piece.
"Amigos!" a powerful voice answered, which re-echoed in the silence ofthe night.
Every heart beat anxiously; a dozen horsemen could be noticed movingin the darkness about thirty yards off; but the gloom was so dense thatit was impossible to recognise them, or know with whom they had to deal.
"Say what you want or I fire," the sentry shouted for the third time,as he levelled his piece.
"Down with your arms, friends," the same voice, still perfectly calm,repeated; "I am Don Pedro Sallazar."
"Yes! yes!" the general exclaimed, joyfully, as he threw down his gun,"I recognise him: let Don Pedro enter, my friends."
Four men hastily removed some bales to make a passage for the officerwho entered the camp, while his escort remained outside. The generalstepped forward to meet the newcomer.
"How is it you are here?" he asked him. "I fancied you were atSantiago."
"You will soon learn," Pedro replied, "for I have importantcommunications to make to you. But first permit me to give someinstructions to the men who accompany me."
Then turning to his soldiers, he said, "Cabo Lopez, take care that noone leaves the camp, and post yourself here, and try to be on goodterms with the worthy persons here present."
"Yes, general," the corporal answered, with a bow.
"What? general!" Don Juan asked, with surprise. "Are you really ageneral, my dear Don Pedro?"
"I will explain all that to you," Don Pedro replied, with a smile;"in the meanwhile, however, lead me to your tent, for what I have tocommunicate to you does not require any witnesses."
"Certainly; and make haste, that I may present you to these ladies,who will be agreeably surprised at seeing you."
Don Pedro bowed, and followed the general, who led him into the tentwhere the ladies had taken refuge in apprehension of an attack. Duringthis time the smugglers did the honours of the camp to the soldierswith all the courtesy they were capable of displaying under suchcircumstances. At the end of a quarter of an hour they fraternized inthe most cordial way, thanks to the aguardiente of Pisco, with whichthe lanceros were abundantly provided.