CHAPTER XI.
THE PLAN OF THE CAMPAIGN.
The count returned the young man's affectionate pressure, but shook hishead sorrowfully and remained silent.
"Why do you not answer me?" the captain asked him. "Do you doubt mywillingness to be of service to you?"
"It is not that," the count said sadly. "I know that your heart is nobleand generous, and that you will not hesitate to come to my aid."
"Whence arises this hesitation, then?"
"Friend," the count answered with a melancholy smile, "I reproach myselfat this moment for having come to find you."
"For what reason?"
"Need I tell you? This land you cultivate, only a few years back, wasa virgin forest, serving as a lurking place for wild beasts: now,thanks to your labour and intelligence, it has been metamorphosed intoa fertile and cultivated plain; numerous flocks feed in your prairies;the desolation and neglect of this frontier have disappeared to makeroom for the incessant toil of civilisation. This colony of Guetzalli,founded with so much trouble, bedewed with so much blood, prospers, andis beginning to repay amply the toil and perspiration it cost you. Theday is at hand when, stimulated by your example, other colonists willcome to join you, and, by aiding you to repulse the Indios Bravos intotheir impenetrable deserts, will for ever protect the Mexican frontiersfrom the depredations of the savages, and restore to this magnificentcountry its pristine splendour.
"Well?" the captain remarked.
"Well," the count continued, "is it fitting for me, a stranger, a man towhom you owe nothing, to drag you into a contest without any probableissue--to mix you up in a quarrel which does not concern you, and inwhich you have everything to lose, so that tomorrow the land you have,after so many efforts, torn from desolation, should fall back into itsprimitive barbarism? In a word, my friend, I ask myself by what titleand by what right I should drag you down in my fall."
"By what title and right? I will tell you," the young captain saidnobly. "We are here six thousand leagues from our country, on theextreme limits of the desert, having no protection to hope, or help toseek, other than from ourselves. At such a distance from their countryall Frenchmen must consider each other as brothers, and be responsiblefor each other. All must resent an insult offered to a Frenchman. It isbecause we are few in number, and consequently exposed to the insultsof our enemies, that we ought to defend one another, and demand thatjustice should be done us. By acting thus we not only protect our ownhonour, but defend our country, and guard from any insult that title ofFrenchmen of which we are justly proud."
"You speak well, captain," Valentine interrupted him. "Your words arethose of a man of heart. It is abroad that patriotism must be strong andinflexible. We have no right to allow wretched enemies to lower thatnational honour which our brothers in France have intrusted to us; foreach of us here represents our beloved country, and must at his risk andperil make it be respected by all, no matter under what circumstances."
"Yes," the captain answered quickly, "the Mexican Government, byinsulting the Count de Prebois Crance, by breaking all its engagementswith him, and betraying him in so cowardly a fashion, has not insulteda Frenchman, an individual, or nameless adventurer, but the whole ofFrance. Well, France must reply to it, and, by heavens! we will pickup the glove thrown to us. We will fight to avenge our honour; and ifwe succumb, we shall have fallen nobly in the arena, and believe me,gentlemen, our blood will not have been shed in vain: our country willpity while admiring us, and our fall will create us avengers. Besides,my dear count," he added, "you are in no way a stranger to the colonyof Guetzalli; for did you not lend us the support of your arm and yourcounsels under critical circumstances? It is our turn now, and we shallonly pay our debts after all."
The count could not refrain from smiling.
"Well," he said with emotion, "be it so: I accept your generousdevotion. Any further resistance would not only be ridiculous, but mightappear in your eyes ungrateful."
"Very good," the captain said gaily; "we are now beginning to understandeach other. I was certain that I should end by convincing you."
"You are a charming companion," the count retorted; "it is impossible toresist you."
"By Jove! you arrive at the very moment to obtain speedy help."
"How so?"
"Just imagine that two days later you would not have found me at home."
"Impossible!"
"Did you not notice, on your arrival, the wagons and carts arranged inone of the courts you crossed?"
"I did."
"I was on the point of starting, at the head of eighty picked men, to goand work certain mines we have heard about."
"Ah, ah!"
"Yes; but for the present the expedition will remain _in statu quo_, forthe band I intended to lead into the desert will join you, or at least Ipresume so."
"What! you presume so?"
"Yes, because I cannot dispose of the band, or change the object of theexpedition, without the general assent."
"That is true," said the count; and his features grew solemn.
"But do not feel alarmed," the captain continued; "we shall easilyobtain that assent when the colonists know what interests I propose toserve."
"May Heaven grant it!"
"I guarantee success. You have, I suppose, all the stores necessary forentering on a campaign?"
"Nearly so; but I regret to say that all my arrieros have deserted me,and left my camp furtively."
"The deuce! and naturally they took their mules with them?"
"All, without exception; and this renders it very embarrassing to movemy baggage and draw my guns."
"Good, good! We will provide for all that. I have here, as you saw,excellent wagons; I am also well supplied with mules; and there are inthe colony men perfectly capable of leading them."
"You will render me no slight service."
"I hope to render you others far greater than that."
The three men had returned to the room in which the conference withColonel Suarez had taken place. The captain struck the bell, and a peonentered.
"This evening, after _oracion_, at the end of the day's labour, thecolonists will assemble in the patio to hear an important communicationI have to make to them," he said.
The domestic bowed.
"Bring the dinner," the captain added. Then, turning to his guests,he said, "I presume you will dine with me, for you cannot start againbefore tomorrow?"
"That is true. Still we expect to be off before sunrise."
"Where is your camp?"
"At the mission of Nuestra Senora de los Angeles."
"That is close by."
"Oh! some thirty leagues at the most."
"Yes, and the position is very strong. You do not intend, though, tostay there long?"
"No; I mean to strike a heavy blow."
"You are right: you must cause the terror of your name to precede you."
At this moment the peons brought in the dinner.
"To table, gentlemen," the captain said.
The meal was, as might be expected in this extreme frontier, excessivelyfrugal. It was only composed of venison, maize tortillas, red beans,and pimiento, the whole washed down with pulque, mezcal, and Catalonianrefino, the strongest spirit in the known world. The guests had a truehunter's appetite; that is to say, they were nearly dead of hunger, forthe count and Valentine had eaten nothing for thirty hours. Hence theyvigorously attacked the provisions placed before them.
The peons had retired immediately after bringing in the dinner, so asto leave the party full liberty for conversation. Hence, so soon as therough edge was taken off their appetite, the discussion was begun againexactly where it left off, which always occurs with men whose minds arepreoccupied by any difficult project.
"So," the captain asked, "war is decidedly declared between you and theMexican Government?"
"Without remedy."
"Although the cause you sustain is just, as you are fighting for themaintenance of a right, sti
ll you will inscribe something on the banneryou display?"
"Of course. I inscribe the only thing which can guarantee me theprotection of the people through whom I pass, and make the oppressed andthe malcontents flock to me."
"Hum! what is it?"
"Only four words."
"And they are?"
"_Independencia de la Sonora._"
"Yes, the idea is a happy one. If a particle of nobility and generosityis left in the hearts of the inhabitants of this unhappy country (which,however, I confess to you I greatly doubt), those four words willsuffice to produce a revolution."
"I hope so, without daring to count on it. You know, like myself, theMexican character--a strange composite of all good and bad instincts,about which it is impossible to form a decided opinion."
"Why, my dear count, the Mexicans are like every people that has beenfor a long time enslaved. After remaining children for ages, they grewtoo fast, and had the pretension of being men, when they scarcely beganto comprehend their emancipation, or were in a position to derive anybenefit from it."
"Still we will attempt to galvanise them. The revolutionary race is,perhaps, not completely extinct in this country, and what remains willbe sufficient to enkindle the sacred flame in the hearts of all."
"What do you intend to do?"
"Hasten onwards, so as not to let myself be attacked, which alwaysimplies inferiority, if not timidity."
"That is true."
"How many men do you expect to be able to give me?"
"Eighty horsemen, commanded by myself, as I told you."
"Thanks! But when will these horsemen (who, by the way, will be veryuseful to me, as I possess so few at the moment) be able to join me?"
"This evening they will be granted you, and in two days they will reachthe mission."
"Could you send off the mules, wagons, and muleteers tomorrow with me?"
"Certainly."
"Very good. I will set out at once for Magdalena: it is a large pueblo,commanding the two roads from Ures and Hermosillo."
"I know it."
"Proceed there direct, for that will save a loss of time."
"Agreed. I shall arrive there at the same time as yourself, which willbe the more easy as I shall send off my baggage to your head quarters."
"Very good."
"You intend, then, to act energetically?"
"Yes; I mean to try a grand stroke. If I succeed in taking one of thethree capitals of Sonora I shall have gained the campaign."
"Such an enterprise is surely rash."
"I know it; but in my position I dare not calculateconsequences--boldness alone can and must save me.
"You are right, and I will not add a word. But now let us proceed to themeeting, for our men are assembled. In their present temper I am certainthat the request I am about to make of them will be granted withoutdifficulty."
They went out. As the captain had announced, all the colonists wereassembled in the courtyard, broken up into scattered groups, eagerlydiscussing the reasons which caused their assemblage. When the captainappeared, accompanied by his two friends, silence was immediatelyestablished, curiosity closing the mouths of the most talkative.
The Count de Prebois Crance was known to most of the colonists: hisappearance was consequently hailed with sympathetic greetings, foreach retained in his memory the recollection of the services he hadrendered when Guetzalli was so rudely assailed by the Apaches. Thecaptain cleverly availed himself of this goodwill, on which he had,indeed, built, in order to explain his request clearly to the colonists,while accounting for the causes which obliged the count to come and seekallies at Guetzalli.
The men would not have been the hearty adventurers they really were,had they received such a request coldly. Seduced, as was natural, bythe strangeness and even the temerity of the enterprise proposed tothem, they consented to range themselves under the count's banner withenthusiastic shouts and delight. The first expedition projected, and forwhich all the preparations had been made, was completely forgotten, andthe only question was the enfranchisement of Sonora. Had the count askedfor two hundred men, he would certainly have obtained them on the spotwithout the slightest difficulty.
Captain de Laville, delighted at the prodigious success he had achieved,warmly thanked his comrades, both in the count's name and his own, andimmediately began getting ready to start. The wagons were carefullyinspected to see that they were all in order, and were then laden withall the articles requisite for the coming campaign. At about an hourbefore sunrise all was ready for starting; the wagons were loaded, andhorses attached; the mules, carefully selected, were intrusted to steadymen.
Louis and Valentine mounted; the captain accompanied them about a leaguefrom the company; and then they parted, agreeing to meet again threedays later at La Magdalena.
Mules and wagons progress very slowly in Mexico, where there are inreality no roads, and where you are generally forced to cut a path withthe axe. Louis and his foster brother, whose presence was imperativelydemanded at the mission, felt in despair at this slowness. In thisextremity the count resolved to leave the caravan, and push on ahead.In consequence they left the arrieros, after recommending the greatestdiligence to them, and burying their spurs in their horses' flanks, setout at full speed for the mission.
The American horses, descended from the old Arabs of the conquerorsof New Spain, have several incontestable advantages over ours. In thefirst place they are temperate: a little alfalfa in the morning, afterwashing their mouths out, enables them to go a whole day without food,drink, or rest. These horses seem indefatigable, and, indeed, they haveonly one pace--the gallop; and at the end of the day, after going twentyleagues at that pace, they have not turned a hair, and do not displaythe slightest fatigue.
As our two horsemen were mounted on crack steeds, they reached themission in a comparatively very short period. At the first barricade aman was waiting for them: it was Curumilla.
"Someone is waiting for you," he said. "Come."
They followed him, asking each other with a glance what reason could beso important as to draw such a long sentence from Curumilla.