CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE ULTIMATUM.
Antinahuel had rejoined the mosotones to whom he had confided DonaRosario two days previously. The two troops now formed but one. TheToqui had at first entertained the intention of crossing the firstplateau of the Andes. But the battle they had lost had producedterrible consequences; their principal tolderias had been burned by theSpaniards, their towns sacked, and the inhabitants either killed orcarried away. Such as had been able to fly had at first wandered aboutthe woods without an object; but as soon as they learned that the Toquihad succeeded in escaping, they re-assembled, and sent envoys to him todemand assistance.
Antinahuel rejoiced at the movement of reaction which was going onamong his countrymen. He changed his itinerary, and had, at the headof a hundred men only, returned back in the direction of the Bio Bio;whilst by his order his other warriors dispersed throughout the Aucasterritory for the purpose of rousing the people to arms. The Toquihad no intention now of extending the Araucanian dominions; his onlydesire now was to obtain, arms in hand, a peace which might not be toodisadvantageous for his country.
For a reason only known to Antinahuel, Don Tadeo and Rosario werecompletely ignorant that they were so near to each other.
Antinahuel had pitched his camp at the summit of the mountain, wheresome days before he had been with the whole Indian army, in the strongposition which commanded the ford of the Bio Bio.
It was about two o'clock in the afternoon. With the exception of a fewAraucanian sentinels, leaning motionless upon their long lances, thecamp appeared a desert; silence reigned everywhere. Suddenly a trumpetcall was sounded from the opposite side of the river. The Ulmen chargedwith the care of the advanced posts ordered a reply to be sounded,and went out to inquire the cause. Three horsemen, clothed in richuniforms, stood upon the bank; close to them was a trumpeter, waving aflag of truce. The Ulmen hoisted a similar flag, and advanced into thewater to meet the horsemen.
"What do the chiefs of the white faces want?" the Ulmen asked,haughtily.
One of the horsemen immediately replied--
"Go and tell the Toqui that a general officer has an importantcommunication to make to him."
The wild eye of the Indian flashed at this insult; but he said,disdainfully--
"I will go and inquire whether our great Toqui is disposed to receiveyou; but I much doubt whether he will condescend to listen toCheapolo-Huincas."
"Fool!" the other replied angrily; "make haste."
"Be patient, Don Gregorio, in Heaven's name!" one of the two officersexclaimed.
At the expiration of a few minutes a sign was made from the bank thatthe Chilians might advance. Antinahuel, seated under the shade of amagnificent espino, awaited the officers. They stopped before him, andremained motionless.
"What is your will?" he asked, in a stern voice.
"Listen to my words, and mark them carefully," Don Gregorio replied.
"Speak, and be brief," said Antinahuel.
Don Gregorio shrugged his shoulders disdainfully,
"Don Tadeo de Leon is in your hands," he said.
"Yes; the man is my prisoner."
"Very well. If tomorrow, by the third hour of the day, he is not givenup to us safe and sound, the hostages we have taken, and more thaneighty others, will be shot within sight of the two camps."
"You will do as you please, but this man shall die!" the chief replied,coldly.
"Oh! that is the case, is it? Very well! I, Don Gregorio Peralta, swearto you, on my part, that I will strictly keep the promise I have madeyou."
And turning his horse sharply round he departed.
And yet there was more bravado than anything else in the threat made byAntinahuel. If pride had not prevented him, he would have renewed theparley. He returned to his camp buried in thought, and went straightto his toldo. The Linda, who was seated in a corner upon sheepskins,was as much absorbed in thought as the chief; Dona Rosario had fallenasleep. At the sight of the young girl the chief experienced a peculiaremotion, the blood flowed back forcibly to his heart, and springingtowards her, he imprinted a burning kiss upon her half-open lips, DonaRosario, suddenly awakened, bounded to the extremity of the toldo,uttering a cry of terror.
"What is the meaning of all this?" the chief exclaimed angrily; "Whencecomes this terror?"
And he took several steps towards her.
"Advance no further! advance no further! in Heavens name!" she shrieked.
"What is the use of all this folly? You are mine."
"Never!" she said, in an agony of grief.
"Nonsense!" he said; "I am not a paleface, the tears of women have noeffect upon me."
And he advanced again towards her. The Linda, still apparently buriedin her reflections, seemed not to be aware of what was going on.
"Senora, senora!" the maiden cried; "in the name of all that is sacreddefend me, I implore you!"
The Linda raised her head, looked at her coldly, and, with a drynervous laugh, said--
"Have I not told you what you had to expect?"
Then she thrust her roughly from her.
"Oh!" cried Dona Rosario, in a piercing voice, "maldicion on you,heartless woman!"
Again the chief approached, and again his victim darted to the otherside of the apartment, but unfortunately as she passed he caught herdress in his iron grasp. And now the noble energy that never desertsvirtue in distress returned to her. She drew herself up proudly, andfixed her eyes steadfastly on her pursuer. "Stand back!" she cried,brandishing her dagger. "Stand back! or I will kill myself!"
In spite of himself the demon stood motionless. He was convinced thatit was not a vain threat the girl uttered. At that moment the hideous,scarred, grinning face of the Linda was bent towards his ear.
"Appear to yield," she whispered; "I will tame her, leave her to me!"
Antinahuel looked at her with a suspicious eye. The Linda smiled.
"Do you promise me?" he said, in a hoarse voice.
"On my soul I do," she replied.
In the meantime Dona Rosario--her arm elevated and her body bentforward--awaited the denouement of this frightful scene. With afacility which the Indians alone possess, Antinahuel composed hiscountenance so as entirely to change its expression.
"My sister will pardon me," he said, in a soft voice; "I was mad,reason is restored to my mind."
After again bowing to the young lady, who did not know to what toattribute this sudden change, he left the toldo.
Upon reflection, Antinahuel resolved to strike his camp and depart.
The Linda and Dona Rosario were sent in advance, under the guard ofsome mosotones. The young girl, weakened by the terrible emotions shehad undergone, could scarcely sit her horse; a burning fever had seizedher. "I am thirsty--so thirsty!" she murmured.
At a sign from the Linda one of the mosotones approached her, andunfastened a gourd.
"Let my sister drink," he said.
The maiden seized the gourd eagerly, applied it to her lips, and dranka large draught.
"Good!" said the Linda to herself.
"Thank you," Dona Rosario murmured, restoring the gourd almost empty.But ere long her eyes gradually grew heavy, and she sank back,murmuring in a faint voice--
"Good Heaven! what can be the matter with me? I am dying."
One of the mosotones caught her in his arms, and placed her before himon his saddle. All at once she for a moment recovered herself as if byan electric shock, opened her eyes, and cried with a piercing voice,"Help, help!" and relapsed into insensibility.
On hearing this agonised cry, the Linda, in spite of herself, felt herheart fail her, but quickly recovering, she said, with a bitter smile--
"Am I growing foolish?"
She made a sign to the mosotone who carried Dona Rosario to drawnearer, and examined her attentively.
"She is asleep," she muttered, with an expression of satisfied hatred;"when she awakes I shall be avenged."
At this moment Antinahuels position wa
s very critical. Too weak toattempt anything serious against the Chilians, whom he wished toinduce to make a peace advantageous for his country, he endeavoured togain time by moving about on the frontier, so that his enemies, notknowing where to find him, could not force conditions upon him whichhe ought not to accept. Although the Aucas responded to the appeal ofhis emissaries, and rose eagerly to come and join his ranks, it wasnecessary to give the tribes, most of them remote, time to concentrateupon the point he had named.
On their side the Spaniards, whose internal tranquillity was for thefuture secured by the death of General Bustamente, had very littledesire to carry on a war which had no longer any interest for them.They stood in need of peace to repair the evils created by the civilwar, they therefore confined themselves to arming their frontiers, andendeavoured by every means to bring about serious conferences withthe principal Araucan chiefs. Don Gregorio Peralta had been blamedfor the threat he had so hastily made to Antinahuel, and he himselfacknowledged the folly of his conduct when he heard of the Toquisdeparture with his prisoner. Another system had in consequence beenadopted. Only ten of the principal chiefs were detained as hostages.The others, well instructed and loaded with presents, were set atliberty. Everything rendered it probable that these chiefs on theirreturn to their respective tribes would employ their influence toconclude a peace, and unmask before the council the proceedings ofAntinahuel, proceedings which had brought the nation to the verge ofruin.
The Araucanos are passionate in their love of liberty; for them everyconsideration gives way to that of being free. Hence it was easy toforesee that the Aucas, in spite of their veneration for their Toqui,would not hesitate to depose him when their chiefs on the one part andthe friendly captains on the other, made it clear to them that thatliberty was compromised, and that they exposed themselves to beingdeprived of it forever, and falling under the Spanish yoke if theycontinued their aggressive policy.