The Trail-Hunter: A Tale of the Far West

by Gustave Aimard

  CHAPTER XXI.

  THE SURPRISE.

  So soon as the emotion caused by Don Pablo's prowess was calmed theybegan thinking about returning. The sun was rapidly descending in thehorizon: the whole day had been spent with the exciting incidents of thechase. The Hacienda de la Noria was nearly ten leagues distant: it was,therefore, urgent to start as speedily as possible, unless the partywished to run the risk of bivouacking in the open air.

  The men would easily have put up with this slight annoyance, which, in aclimate like that of New Mexico, and at this season of the year, hasnothing painful about it; but they had ladies with them. Left one or twoleagues in the rear, they must feel alarmed by the absence of thehunters--an absence which, as so frequently happens when out hunting,had been protracted far beyond all expectation.

  Don Miguel gave the vaqueros orders to brand the captured horses withhis cipher; and the whole party then returned, laughing and singing, inthe direction of the tents where the ladies had been left. The vaqueroswho had served as beaters during the day remained behind to guard thehorses.

  In these countries, where there is scarce any twilight, night succeedsthe day almost without transition. As soon as the sun had set thehunters found themselves in complete darkness; for, as the sun descendedon the horizon, the shade invaded the sky in equal proportions, and, atthe moment when the day planet disappeared, the night was complete. Thedesert, hitherto silent, seemed to wake up all at once: the birds,stupefied by the heat, commenced a formidable concert, in which joinedat intervals, from the inaccessible depths of the forest, the snappingof the _carcajous_ and the barking of the coyotes mingled with thehoarse howling of the wild beasts that had left their dens to come downand drink in the river.

  Then gradually the cries, the songs, and the howling ceased, and nothingwas audible save the hurried footfalls of the hunters' horses on thepebbles of the road. A solemn silence seemed to brood over this abruptand primitive scenery. At intervals the green tufts of the trees and thetall grass bowed slowly with a prolonged rustling of leaves andbranches, as if a mysterious breath passed over them, and compelled themto bend their heads. There was something at once striking and terriblein the imposing appearance offered by the prairie at this hour of thenight, beneath this sky studded with brilliant stars, which sparkledlike emeralds, in the presence of this sublime immensity, which onlysuffered one voice to be heard--that of Deity.

  The young and enthusiastic man to whom it is given to be present at sucha spectacle feels a thrill run over all his body: he experiences anundefinable feeling of happiness and extraordinary pleasure on lookinground him at the desert, whose unexplored depths conceal from him somany secrets, and display to him Divine Majesty in all its grandeur andomnipotence. Many a time during our adventurous journeys on the Americancontinent, when marching at hazard during these lovely nights so full ofcharms, which nothing can make those comprehend who have not experiencedthem, we have yielded to the soft emotions that overcame us. Isolatingand absorbing ourselves within ourselves, we, have fallen into a stateof beatitude, from which nothing had the power of drawing us.

  The hunters so gay and talkative at the start, had yielded to thisomnipotent influence of the desert, and advanced rapidly and silently,only exchanging a few syllables at lengthened intervals. The profoundestcalm still continued to reign over the desert; and while, owing to theastonishing transparency of the atmosphere, the eye could embrace ahorizon, nothing suspicious was visible.

  The fireflies buzzed carelessly round the top of the grass, and theflickering fires burning before the tents to which the hunters werebound could be already seen about half a league ahead. At a signal fromDon Miguel the party, which had, up to the present, only trotted, setout at a long canter; for each felt anxious to leave a scene which, inthe darkness, had assumed a sinister aspect.

  They thus arrived within a hundred yards of the fires, whose ruddy glowwas reflected on the distant trees, when suddenly a fearful yell crossedthe air, and from behind every bush out started an Indian horsemanbrandishing his weapons, and making his horse curvet round the whitemen, while uttering his war cry. The Mexicans, taken unawares, weresurrounded ere they sufficiently recovered from their stupor to thinkabout employing their weapons. At a glance Don Miguel judged theposition: it was a critical one. The hunters were at the most buttwenty: the number of Comanche warriors surrounding them was at leastthree hundred.

  The Comanches and Apaches are the most implacable foes of the whiterace. In their periodical invasions of the frontiers they hardly evermake any prisoners: they mercilessly kill all who fall into their hands.Still the Mexicans rallied. Certain of the fate that awaited them, theywere resolved to sell their lives dearly. There was a moment of supremeexpectation before the commencement of the deadly combat, when suddenlyan Indian galloped out of the ranks of the warriors, and rode withinthree paces of the little band of Mexicans. On arriving there hestopped, and waved his buffalo robe in sign of peace. The governor ofthe provinces prepared to speak.

  "Let me carry on the negotiations," Don Miguel said. "I know the Indiansbetter than you do, and perhaps I shall succeed in getting out of thisawkward position."

  "Do so," the governor answered.

  General Ibanez was the only one who had remained calm and impassivesince the surprise: he did not make a move to seize his weapons; on thecontrary, he crossed his arms carelessly on his chest, and took amocking glance at his comrades as he hummed a seguidilla between histeeth. Don Pablo had placed himself by his father's side, ready todefend him at the peril of his life. The Indian chief took the word.

  "Let the palefaces listen," he said; "an Indian sachem is about tospeak."

  "We have no time to spare in listening to the insidious words which youare preparing to say to us," Don Miguel replied in a haughty voice."Withdraw, and do not obstinately bar our passage, or there will beblood spilt."

  "The palefaces will have brought it on themselves," the Comancheanswered in a gentle voice. "The Indians mean no harm to the palewarriors."

  "Why, then, this sudden attack? The chief is mad. We do not letourselves be so easily deceived as he seems to suppose: we know verywell that he wants our scalps."

  "No; Unicorn wishes to make a bargain with the palefaces."

  "Come, chief, explain yourself; perhaps your intentions are as youdescribe them. I do not wish to reproach myself with having refused tolisten to you."

  The Indian smiled.

  "Good!" he said. "The great white chief is becoming reasonable. Let himlisten, then, to the words Unicorn will pronounce."

  "Go on, chief; my comrades and myself are listening."

  "The palefaces are thieving dogs," the chief said in a rough voice;"they carry on a continual war with the redskins, and buy their scalpsas if they were peltry; but the Comanches are magnanimous warriors, whodisdain to avenge themselves. The squaws of the white men are in theirpower: they will restore them."

  At these words a shudder of terror ran along the ranks of the hunters;their courage failed them; they had only one desire left--that of savingthose who had so wretchedly fallen into the hands of these bloodthirstymen.

  "On what conditions will the Comanches restore their prisoners?" DonMiguel asked, whose heart was contracted at the thought of his daughter,who was also a prisoner. He secretly cursed Valentine, whose fataladvice was the sole cause of the frightful evil that assailed him atthis moment.

  "The palefaces," the chief continued, "will dismount and arrangethemselves in a line. Unicorn will choose from among his enemies thosewhom he thinks proper to carry off as prisoners; the rest will be free,and all the women restored."

  "Those conditions are harsh, chief. Can you not modify them?"

  "A chief has only one word. Do the palefaces consent?"

  "Let us consult together for a few moments at any rate."

  "Good! Let the white men consult. Unicorn grants them ten minutes," thechief made answer.

  And turning his horse, he went back to his men. Don Miguel thenaddre
ssed his friends.

  "Well; what do you think of what has occurred?"

  The Mexicans were terrified: still they were compelled to allow that theconduct of the Indians was extraordinary, and that they had never beforeevinced such lenity. Now that reflection had followed on the firstfeeling of excitement, they understood that a struggle against enemiesso numerous was insensate, and could only result in rendering theirposition worse than it was before, and that the chiefs conditions, harshas they were, offered at least some chance of safety for a portion ofthem, and the ladies would be saved.

  This last and all powerful consideration decided them. Don Miguel had nooccasion to convince them of the necessity of submission. Whateverstruggle it cost them, they dismounted and arranged themselves in aline, as the chief had demanded, Don Miguel and his son placingthemselves at the head.

  Unicorn, with that cool courage characteristic of the Indians, thenadvanced alone toward the Mexicans, who still held their weapons, andwho, impelled by their despair, and at the risk of being all massacred,would have sacrificed him to their vengeance. The chief had alsodismounted. With his hands crossed on his back, and frowning brow, henow commenced his inspection.

  Many a heart contracted at his approach, for a question of life anddeath was being decided for these hapless men: only the perspective ofthe atrocious tortures which menaced the ladies could have made themconsent to this humiliating and degrading condition. The Unicorn,however, was generous: he only selected eight of the Mexicans, and therest received permission to mount their horses, and leave the fatalcircle that begirt them. Still, by a strange accident, or apremeditation of which the reason escaped them, these, eightprisoners--among whom were the governor, General Isturitz, and thecriminal judge, Don Luciano Perez--were the most important personages inthe party, and the members of the Provincial Government.

  It was not without surprise that Don Miguel observed this; theComanches, however, faithfully fulfilled their compact, and the ladieswere at once set at liberty. They had been treated with the greatestrespect by the Indians, who had surprised their camp, and seized themalmost in the same way as they had done the hunters--that is to say, thecamp was invaded simultaneously on all sides. It was a matter worthy ofremark in an Indian ambuscade that not a drop of blood had been spilt.

  After the moments given up to the happiness of seeing his daughter againsafe and sound, Don Miguel resolved to make a last attempt with Unicornin favour of the unhappy men who remained in his hands. The chieflistened with deference, and let him speak without interruption; then hereplied with a smile whose expression the hacendero tried in vain toexplain,--

  "My father has Indian blood in his veins; the redskins love him: neverwill they do him the slightest injury. Unicorn would like to restore himimmediately the prisoners, for whom he cares very little; but that isimpossible. My father himself would speedily regret Unicorn's obedienceto his Wish; but, in order to prove to my father how much the chiefdesires to do a thing that will be agreeable to him, the prisoners willnot be ill-treated, and will be let off with a few days' annoyance.Unicorn consents to accept a ransom for them, instead of making themslaves. My father can himself tell them this good news."

  "Thanks, chief," Don Miguel answered. "The nobility of your charactertouches my heart: I shall not forget it. Be persuaded that, under allcircumstances, I shall be happy to prove to you how grateful I am."

  The chief bowed gracefully and withdrew, in order to give the hacenderoliberty to communicate with his companions. The latter were seated sadlyon the ground, gloomy and downcast. Don Miguel repeated to them theconversation he had held with Unicorn, and the promise he had made withrespect to them. This restored them all their courage; and, with themost affectionate words and marks of the liveliest joy, they thanked thehacendero for the attempt he had made in their favour.

  In fact, thanks to the promise of liberating them for a ransom at theend of a week, and treating them well during the period of theircaptivity, there was nothing so very terrifying about the prospect; andit was one of those thousand annoyances to which men are exposed byaccident, but whose proportions had been so reduced in their eyes, that,with the carelessness which forms the staple of the national character,they were the first to laugh at their mishap.

  Don Miguel, however, was anxious to retire; so he took leave of hiscompanions, and rejoined the chief. The latter repeated his assurancesthat the prisoners should be free within a week, if they consented eachto pay a ransom of one thousand piastres, which was a trifle. He assuredthe hacendero that he was at liberty to withdraw whenever he pleased,and he should not oppose his departure.

  Don Miguel did not allow the invitation to be repeated. His friends andhimself immediately mounted their horses, together with the ladies, whowere placed in the centre of the detachment; and after taking leave ofUnicorn, the Mexicans dug their spurs into their horses, and started ata gallop, glad to have got off so cheaply. The campfires were soon leftfar behind them, and General Ibanez then approached his friend, andbending down to his ear, whispered,--

  "Don Miguel, can the Comanches be our allies? I fancy that they havethis night given a bold push to the success of our enterprise."

  This thought, like a ray of light, had already crossed the hacendero'sbrain several times.

  "I do not know," he said with a clever smile; "but at any rate, my deargeneral, they are very adroit foes."

  The little band continued to advance rapidly toward the hacienda, whichwas now no great distance, and which they hoped to reach before sunrise.The events we have described had occurred in less than an hour.