Calavar; or, The Knight of The Conquest, A Romance of Mexico

by Robert Montgomery Bird

  CHAPTER V.

  As the secretary anticipated, the tracks of the reinforcement wereplainly discernible over the sandy downs and by the margins of thepestilent fens, which gave an air of desolation to this part of theMexican coast, not much relieved by an occasional clump of palms, nor bythe spectacle, here and there disclosed, of the broad ocean blackeningamong the low islets; though the hazy and verdant ramparts whichstretched between these burning deserts and the imagined paradises ofthe interior, ever presented a field of refreshment and interest to theeyes of the travellers. The novelty of their situation, felt more orless intensely by all, was exciting: and many a dream of barbaricmonarchs reposing on thrones of gold and emeralds, and canopied byflowers and feathers,--of dusky armies deploying among green valleys andon the borders of fair lakes,--and perhaps of themselves doing the workof heroes among these mystic multitudes,--wandered through theirover-troubled fancies.

  Such visions flitted over the brain of Amador, but mingled with others,with which the past had more to do than the present; for, despite theeager longing with which he looked forward to a meeting with his goodknight and kinsman, and, notwithstanding his impatient ardour to gazewith his own eyes upon those scenes which were filling the minds of menwith wonder, he looked back from a sand-hill to the distant ships, andsighed, as, in an instant of time, his soul was borne from them, overthe broad surges to the pleasant hills of Spain.

  But with the view of the squadron vanished his memory and hismelancholy: the narrow belt of sand-hills along the coast had beenexchanged for the first zone of vegetation; the mimosa afforded itsshade; the breeze and the paroquet chattered together on its top; andwhen he came, at last, to journey among the shadows of a forest rich inmagnificent and unknown trees and plants, with here a lagoon fringedwith stately ceibas (the cotton-wood trees of Mexico) and giganticcanes, and there a water-course murmuring among palms and other tropicaltrees, he gave himself up to a complacent rapture. He remarked withsatisfaction the bright plumage of water-fowl,--the egret, the pelican,the heron, and sometimes the flamingo, sporting among the pools; gazedwith wonder after the little _picaflor_, or humming-bird, darting, likea sunbeam, from flower to flower; with still greater admiration listenedto the song of the calandra and the cardinal, and to the magical_centzontli_,--the hundred-tongued,--as it caught and repeated, as ifwith a thousand voices, the thousand roundelays of other songstersscattered among the boughs; and it was not until the notes of atrumpet, swelling suddenly in the distance, invaded his reveries, thathe roused from the voluptuous intoxication of such a scene.

  "It is the trumpet of the soldiers, senor!" cried the secretary,joyously; "and it rejoices me much, for I know not how much longer Icould have followed their obscure tracks through this forest. Andbesides, I find, as I must in honesty confess, I have in me so little ofthe skill of a leader, that I would gladly submit to be led myself,especially by your worship, though it were to follow you to battle as anhumble esquire."

  "I must commend your spirit, senor Lorenzo Fabueno," (for so thesecretary had called himself,) "though I must needs believe yourinexperience in all matters of war might render such an attemptexceedingly difficult, if not altogether impossible."

  "Senor," said the secretary, eagerly, "I have the wish, and doubtlessthe ability, in course of time, to learn all the duties, and to acquiresome of the skill, of a soldier; and under so noble a leader as yourfavour, I am sure I should advance much faster than ever I did in thelearning of a clerk. And, in addition to the little service I mightrender with my sword, I have such skill with the pen as might be of gooduse to your honour."

  "I have no certain assurance," said Amador, "that I shall have anyoccasion to use my own sword; it is utterly beyond my imagination todiscover to what use I could put the inkhorn of a secretary; andfinally, I know not how the course of events in these deserts mayrequire me to add to the number of my associates. Nevertheless, senorLorenzo, if it be the wish of his excellency the admiral, that hissecretary should be transformed into a soldier, I see not how I canrefuse to give my assistance to the conversion."

  "I know not why I should be dungeoned in a ship's cabin," said Lorenzo,with a sort of petulance, "when other youths are roaming at libertyamong these brave hills; and gnawing a quill with disgust, when all myold schoolmates are carving out reputation with more manly implements. Iam sure I was not born to slave forever at the desk."

  "This may be all true, as, in my opinion, it is both natural andreasonable," said Amador, with gravity; "for, it seems to me, man wasbrought into the world for a nobler purpose than to scribble on paper.Yet you have not made it apparent that the admiral's wishes are in thismatter consonant with your own."

  "I know not that they are," replied the secretary, "but, as I now feelmyself at liberty, with both horse and sword, I cannot help feeling thatthey ought to be. How I can ever have the heart to return to my bondageagain, is more than I can tell; and I am confident, if it were yourfavour's desire he should grant me permission to follow you through thisland, he would make no opposition, the more particularly that yourfavour is his kinsman."

  "I doubt whether the consent would not be wrung from his courtesy; and Icannot well agree to rob him of one who may be a valuable servant.Neither, under such circumstances, can I think of encouraging you inyour ardour, or recommending you, at present, to change your pursuits,for which you are better fitted than for mine. Nay," said the cavaliergood-naturedly, observing the chagrin of the youth, "if you areresolutely bent on your purpose, it is my advice you make your petitionsto his excellency; and when he has granted them, as doubtless he will,you can, with a free mind, seek the patronage of some cavalier engagedin these armies of invasion.--Hark! the trumpet sounds louder andnearer, and by my faith, I see on yonder rising ground the bodies of menand the glimmer of weapons! Spur thy horse a little; (and, I pr'ythee,fling thy shoulders a jot backwards, sitting erect and at ease; for Ipromise thee, this manner of riding, as if thou wouldst presently behugging at thy nag's neck, is neither becoming nor advantageous;)--spurme up a little, and we will join company with them."

  The long and straggling train with which the travellers caught up, justas it issued from the forest upon an open tract of low sandy hills andplains, was composed of motley materials. A few mounted men, who, bytheir armour and bustling activity, seemed the leaders and commanders,were scattered among a horde of footmen, a portion of whom were armedand ranked as a company of military, but the greater part being theordinary native labourers, who served the office of mules, and bore ontheir backs the burdens of the invaders. Some five or six score of theseswarthy creatures, followed by a dozen Castilian crossbowmen and asingle horseman, brought up the rear. They stalked in a line one afteranother, each bending to his burden; and in their uniformity ofequipment, gait, muscular figures, and solemn visages, added not alittle to the singularity of the spectacle. A narrow strip of somevegetable texture, so rude and coarse that it seemed rather a mat than acloth, was wrapped round the loins of each, leaving their strong andtawny bodies otherwise naked. No sandal protected their soles from theheated soil; and no covering, save only the long and matted locksswinging about their countenances, defended their heads from thescorching sun. A huge basket of cane, the _petlacalli_, or _petaca_ ofthe Spaniards, carelessly covered with matting, and evidently wellcharged with military stores and provision, weighed upon the shouldersof each, while it was connected by a broad strap to the forehead. Thusburthened, however, and thus exposed to a temperature which, as the dayadvanced, seemed, in the open plains, nearly intolerable to theirChristian companions, they strode on with a slow but vigorous step, eachbearing a knot of gay flowers or of brilliant feathers, wherewith hedefended his face from insects, and perhaps, occasionally, his eyes fromthe dazzling reflection of the soil. These were the _Tlameme_, orcarriers of Mexico.

  The eye of Amador, though at first attracted by this singular train,dwelt with more surprise and curiosity on the crossbowmen, who weresweltering, in common with nearly every Christian of the party,
underthe thick and uncouth investment of the _escaupil_, a sort of armourwhich the invaders of Mexico had not disdained to borrow from theirdespised enemies. This consisted of nothing more than garments ofwoollen or cotton cloth, cut as much after the fashions of Spain as waspossible, quilted so thickly with cotton as to be able to resist thearrow heads and lance-points of the Indians; which virtue, added to thefacility with which it could be obtained and adapted to every part ofthe body, gave the escaupil a decided preference over the few pieces ofiron mail which the poverty of the combatants denied them the power ofextending to the whole frame. In truth, so common had become thisarmour, that there were few among the cavaliers of the conquest, exceptthose leaders who despised so unknightly and so unsightly an attire, whowere provided with any other. Nevertheless many distinguished captainsconcealed garments of this material under their iron armour; and thecommon soldiers of Cortes, after long experience, had fallen upon theplan of quilting it in pieces imitative of morions and breast-plates,which were far from being uncouth or unwieldy. But its efficacy, thoughstrongly explained and urged by the secretary Fabueno, could not blindDon Amador to its ungainliness, as seen in the fashions of raw recruits;and even the solemn gravity of Baltasar was changed to a grin ofineffable derision, and the good-humoured vivacity of Lazaro to a laughof contempt, when the secretary advised the cavalier to provide hisfollowers with such coats of mail.

  "What thinkest thou, Lazaro, rogue?" said Don Amador, merrily. "Thouwert but a bitter groaner over the only cut it was ever thy good hap tomeet: and that was by a fair and courteous pistol-shot, which hathsomething of an oily way about it: whereas these infidel flints andhard woods gash as painfully as an oyster-shell. What sayest thou? ShallI give thee an escaupil, to save thee from new lamentation?"

  "May your honour live a thousand years!" said the serving-man. "Thetortoise to his shell, the Turk to his turban: heaven never thrust ahornet into the cocoon of a caterpillar, nor a lion into a sheep's skin.Wherefore I will keep my sting and my claws free from the cotton bags;the only merit of which is, that when a man is wounded in them, he haslint ever ready at his fingers."

  "For my part," said Baltasar, "I am, in this matter, much of Lazaro'sway of thinking. Howsoever, please your favour, when I see theselubberly lumps fight more courageously than myself in my iron trifles, Iwill straightway change my mind on the subject."

  "Hold thy tongue, then," said the cavalier, "lest thou give offence tosome of these worthy cotton-coats, who have, in no manner, furnishedthee with cause for a quarrel."

  The cavalier rode on, followed closely by his attendants, courteouslyreturning the salutations which were everywhere rendered to his apparentrank and martial appearance by the Spanish portion of the train; thoughnot even the glitter of his mail, the proud tramp of his war-horse, northe stout appearance of his followers, drew a glance from the Tlameme.The dull apathy which the oppression of ages has flung over the spiritsof Mexicans at the present epoch, had already been instilled into thehearts of this class of natives, which with some others, under theprevalence of the common feudalism of barbarians, were little betterthan bondmen. He rode slowly by them, admiring the sinewy bulk of theirlimbs, and the ease with which they moved under their heavy burdens.

  The van of the train was formed by a score of footmen, all arrayed inthe escaupil, and all, with the exception of some five or six, who borefirelocks, armed with sword and spear. A cavalier of goodly presence,and well mounted, rode at their head; and Amador, thinking he perceivedin him the tokens of gentle blood and manners, pressed forward to salutehim. The ringing of Fogoso's heels arrested the attention of the leader,who, turning round and beholding the gallant array of the stranger,instantly returned upon his path, and met him with many courteousexpressions. At the very moment of meeting, Amador's eye was attractedby a figure, which, in making way for the steed of the leader, hadwell-nigh been trodden under the hoofs of his own; and in which, whenremoved from this peril, he instantly remarked the spare person andhaggard countenance of the Moor. Holding fast to the hand of theAlmogavar, and indeed, for an instant, while the danger lasted, wrappedanxiously in his arms, was a boy, whose youth and terror might have wona second notice, had not the salutation of the officer immediatelyoccupied his attention.

  "The senor Amador de Leste," said he--"Thou varlet of an infidel, I willstrike thee with my lance!" (This menacing objurgation was addressed tothe Moor, at the moment when, most endangered, he wavered with his boybetween the horses.) "The senor Amador de Leste," he continued, as theMoor, recovering himself, cowered away, "will not be surprised to findhis coming expected, and his presence welcomed, by the general Narvaez,or by his excellency's humble friend and captain, Juan Salvatierra."

  "Senor Salvatierra, I give you good thanks," replied Amador; "andalthough I know not what avant-courier has proclaimed the approach of soobscure an individual as myself, I will not, for that reason, receiveyour courtesy less gratefully."

  "I have with me here," said Salvatierra, with a stately condescension,"several of your fellow-voyagers of the caravel; among whom it wouldhave been strange indeed if any had forgotten the name of so honourablea companion."

  "Those cavaliers of the caravel," said Amador, dryly, "who condescend toclaim me as a companion, do me thereby a greater honour than I amdesirous to do myself. Sly companions are, as you may see, my twomen-at-arms; to which we will at present add the young senor Fabueno,whom, as the secretary of his excellency the admiral Cavallero, I am notindisposed to acknowledge."

  There was something in the tone of the haughty and even arrogantneophyte, that might have nettled his new friend; but its only effect,beside bringing a little colour upon his rather pallid cheeks, was torob his suavity of somewhat of its loftiness.

  "It is for hidalgos and cavaliers of knightly orders," he said, "and notfor ignoble adventurers, to aspire to the fellowship of a valiant knightof San Juan."

  "I am no knight of San Juan," said Amador, "but a simple novice, who mayone day claim admission to the illustrious order (by right of birth,) ornot, as it may please the destinies and mine own humour. Nevertheless Ihave much pleasure to speak of the order and its valiant brothers, atevery opportunity, and at the present moment I am moved to ask yourfavour, as relying much on your knowledge, what tidings have been lasthad of the good knight Calavar, an eminent branch of that most lordly,though thunder-stricken, stock."

  "Concerning the knight of Calavar," said Salvatierra blandly, "it is mygrief to assure you that his madness----"

  "Call it his melancholy! or his humour!" said Amador, sternly; "and letit be some mitigation to your surprise, if my correction sound like arebuke, to know that I am his kinsman."

  Again did the colour mount into the cheeks of the cavalier, and againdid his courtesy, or his discretion, get the better of the impulse thatraised it.

  "The kinsman of that valiant and renowned gentleman," he said politely,"shall command me to any epithet he chooses. The senor De Leste willdoubtless lament to hear that his kinsman, with an eccentricity scarceworthy his high birth and knightly dignity, still stoops to be thefollower of an inferior and rebel, the outcast and proclaimed outlaw,Hernan Cortes."

  "As far as my own judgment is concerned in this matter, senorcaballero," said Amador coolly, "I very much doubt whether I shalllament that circumstance at all. The knight Calavar will not disparagehis dignity or his profession, by choosing to serve where alittle-minded man might covet to command. Such a condescension in him,besides being a new proof of magnanimity and fidelity to his vows,whereby he is sworn never to make peace with the infidel, is only anevidence to me that the cavalier Cortes, whom you call a rebel andoutlaw, must be a man worthy of much more respectful appellations; asindeed, methinks, your own reflections should show you must be the dueof any associate of the knight of Calavar."

  The unaffected surprise, and even consternation, with which the followerof Narvaez heard the neophyte thus speak of his leader's enemy, mightperhaps have urged Amador to the utterance of commendations still more
unequivocal, had not his eye at that moment been caught by the shadow onthe sand of a man striding nearer to the flanks of Fogoso than he hadsupposed any footman to be. His own position was near the side of thecompany of musketeers and spearmen mentioned before; his followers, notbeing willing to obtrude upon the privacy of the cavaliers, had fallen alittle back; and the Morisco, as he took it for granted, was laggingsome distance behind. His surprise was therefore not a little excited,when looking round, he beheld the Almogavar so close at his side as tobe able to overhear all that was said, and drinking his words with anexpression of the intensest interest.

  "Son of a dog!" cried Salvatierra, who beheld him at the same time, andwho was not unwilling to vent some of the gall that Amador had raisedin his bosom, upon so legitimate an object,--"I will see if I cannotteach thee how to thrust thyself among soldiers and hidalgos!"

  "Softly, senor Caballero!" cried Amador, observing the captain raisinghis lance; "strike not Abdalla; for I have it in my power to inform you,that, although in some sense your prisoner, and, to the eye of astranger, a most helpless and wretched varlet, he has shown himself tobe possessed of a spirit so worthy of respect, that you will do yourselffoul shame to strike him."

  The lance of the cavalier was turned away from the shrinking Moor.

  "Don Amador de Leste shall command my weapon, whether it be to smite orto spare," said Salvatierra, smothering the rage which every word andaction of the neophyte seemed fated to inspire, and advancing to thehead of the train.

  "Hark'ee, Sidi Abdalla," continued Amador, beckoning complacently to theretiring Morisco, "it is not in my nature to see indignity of any kindheaped upon a man who hath not the power of vengeance, and especially aman who hath in him the virtue of courage, without raising a hand in hisdefence."

  "My lord speaks the truth," said Abdoul, with a subdued voice; "theAlmogavar hath not the power of vengeance:--The strong man may strikehim, the proud may trample, and he cannot resist; the cavalier may woundwith the lance, the soldier may smite with the unthonged bow.--It is allone;--his head is bare, his breast open, his hand empty:--he can neitherresist nor avenge."

  "By St. John of Jerusalem," said the cavalier warmly, moved to astronger feeling for the friendless Morisco, "I remember, as wasconfessed by that beast of a Canary captain, that when thine enemieswere on thy decks, and thy friends fled from thy side, (for which theydeserved to sink to the bottom, as they did;) thou hadst the courage todischarge thy mangonneau into the victorious trader; for which reasonchiefly, but partly because thou hast avowed thyself a Christianproselyte, I will take it upon me, as far as it may be in my power, tobe thy protector and champion."

  "My lord is good," said the Moor, bending his head low on his breast;"and in the day of my death I will not forget his benevolence. TheAlmogavar was born to grief; trouble came at his first hour; his firstbreath was the sigh of Granada, his first cry was mingled with thegroans of his enslaved people, his first look was on the tears of hisfather. Sorrow came in youth, anguish in manhood, and misery is in thefootsteps of years. My lord is great and powerful; he protects me fromthe blow of a spear.--He can save me from a grief that strikes deeperthan a thousand spears!"

  "As I am a true gentleman and Christian," said Amador, "I will hold tomy word, to give thee protection and aid, as far as my power lies."

  "The feeble boy that totters over these scorching sands!" said the Moor,raising his eyes wistfully to the cavalier, and turning them for aninstant with a look of unspeakable wildness to his son.--The cavalierlooked back, in that momentary pause, and beheld the young Morisco. Heseemed a boy of not more than twelve years. The soldier judged only fromhis stature, for a garment of escaupil of unusual thickness completelyinvested and concealed his figure; while his face drooping, as if fromweariness, on his breast, was hidden by a cap slouching in disorder, andby long ringlets that fell in childish profusion over his shoulders.

  "The boy!" continued Abdalla, turning again to the neophyte, and raisinghis clasped hands as if in supplication. "Is it fit his tender yearsshould be passed among the horrors of a camp? among the dangers of awild war? among the vices and contaminations of a brutal soldiery? If itwere possible,"--and here the voice of the Almogavar trembled witheagerness;--"if it were possible that boy could be sent toGranada,--nay, to Barbary,--anywhere, where, for his father's sake, heshould be granted a refuge and asylum; then might the curse be uttered,the blow struck, and Abdoul, receiving it as the payment of his debt,would not call upon his lord for vengeance."

  "Thou heardest from the admiral," said Amador, "how impossible would bethe gratification of such a wish; since, even were he parted from thisshore, it rests with another, who, I can, upon mine own knowledge,assure thee, is not likely to help him on his way, whether he shall notwaste his days among the planters of the islands; who, according tocommon report, are not a whit less wild and debauched than their friendshere in Mexico."

  "God is just!" cried the Moor, clasping his hands in despair.

  "Nevertheless," continued Amador, "I will not fail to make thy petition,backed with my own request, to the senor Narvaez; and at the worst, itis not improbable some good cavalier may be found who will consent toreceive him as a page, and treat him with kindness."

  "God is just!" reiterated the Moor, with a gloomy sorrow; "and the arrowof the savage may save him from the wrong of the Christian."

  "I tell thee again," said Amador, "I will not forget to do my best forhis welfare, at the first opportunity. But tell me, Abdalla"--TheMorisco was dropping behind: he returned.--"I had forgotten to ask theea question for which I first called thee. I was speaking to thishot-tempered captain of the knight Calavar--By heaven! it was thus I sawthine eyes sparkle before! Is there any magic in the name, that itshould move thee to such emotion?"

  "The knight Calavar," said the Morisco, "was among the conquerors of theAlpujarras; and how can I hear his name, and not bethink me of the blackday of my country? His name is in our Moorish ballads; and when theorphan sings them, he mourns over the fate of his father."

  "That the knight Calavar did good service among those rebelliousmountaineers, I can well believe," said the cavalier, hastily; "but thathe did not temper his valour with mercy, is an assertion which no mancan make to me with perfect safety. As to those ballads of which youspeak, I am not certain if they be not the invention of some devilishmagician, opposed to honourable war and glory; since it is their solepurpose to keep one thinking of certain sorrowful particulars, that maybe a consequence of victory and conquest, such as tearful widows anddestitute orphans; and I must declare, for mine own part, such is themischievous tendency of these madrigals, that sometimes, after hearingthem, I have had my imagination so enchanted, as to look with disgust atwar, and almost to lament that I ever had struck at the life of a humanbeing. I shall like well to have thy boy sing to me; but, as I will tellhim beforehand, it must be of lovelorn knights, and of knights going tobattle, and never a word about widows and orphans."