by Mayne Reid
CHAPTER FORTY ONE.
TRAVELLING TANDEM.
An odd spectacle the trio of trackers would afford to anyone seeing themon the _salitral_ now, without knowing what they are at; one ridingdirectly in the wake and on the track of the other, with over a hundredyards between each pair. And, as all are going at full gallop, it mightbe supposed that the foremost is fleeing from the other two--one of thepursuers having a blown horse and fallen hopelessly behind!
Nor do they proceed in silence. Instead, the hindmost is heard to utterloud shouts which the one midway repeats, as if in echo; while he aheadalone says nothing. Even this would strengthen the supposition of itsbeing a chase; the pursued party speechless from the intensity of hisfears, and the effort he is making to escape his pursuers.
One near enough, however, to note the expression upon the faces of allthree, and hear the words spoken, would know that the three gallopinghorsemen, though oddly apart, are in friendly communication with oneanother. Since in their shouts, though loud, is nothing to tell ofhostility or anger. Nor yet any great variety of speech--only the twowords, "right" and "left;" these uttered at short but irregularintervals, first by the hindmost, then taken up by the one ridingmidway, and passed on to him who leads; the last, as he hears them,shaping his course in accordance.
In this quaint fashion they have proceeded several leagues, when theleader, Ludwig, is seen to swerve suddenly to the left, without anydirection having reached him from behind; this, too, at an angle of fullfifty degrees.
"Right!" calls Cypriano from the rear, the tone of his voice telling ofsurprise, while the same is visible on his face.
Gaspar repeats the word in like accent of astonishment. Cypriano oncemore vociferating, "Right! to the right!"
But, although Ludwig must have heard them both, to neither gives he ear,nor pays the slightest attention to the directions called out to him.Instead, he still holds on in the new course, which he seems to havechosen for himself.
Has his horse shied, and escaped from his control? That is the firstthought of the other two, who by this time have both reined up, and sitlooking after him. Then a more painful apprehension forces itself uponthem; he may have gone astray in another sense, than from the track heshould have taken. Is he still under the influence of the animalelectricity, which might account for his seemingly eccentric behaviour?For eccentric it certainly appears, if not something worse--as indeedthey half-suspect it to be.
While they continue watching him, they see, as well as hear, what goesfar towards confirming their suspicions. For after galloping some twoor three hundred yards, and without once looking back, he suddenly pullsup, raises the hat from his head, and holding it aloft, waves it roundand round, all the while uttering cries as of one in a frenzy!
"_Pobrecito_!" mutters Gaspar to himself, "the excitement has been toomuch for him. So long on the strain--no wonder. _Ay de mi_? Anotherof that poor family doomed--and to worse than death!"
At the same time Cypriano is reflecting in a somewhat similar fashion,though he makes no remark. The strange exhibition saddens him beyondthe power of speech. His cousin has gone crazed!
They had headed their horses, and were about to ride rapidly after, whenthey saw him stop; and now moving gently forward with their eyes on him,they see him replace the cap upon his head, and bend downward, with gazegiven to the ground. Some new fancy dictated by a disordered brain,think they. What will he do next? What will they see?
And what _do_ they see on drawing nearer to him? That which makes bothof them feel foolish enough; at the same time that it rejoices them tothink they have been the victims of a self-deception. For before theyare quite up to the spot where he has halted, they perceive a largespace of whitish colour, where the surface mud has been tossed and mixedup with the substratum of saltpetre--all done by the hoofs of horses, aseven at a distance they can tell.
"Come along here, you laggards!" cries Ludwig in a tone of triumph;"I've something to show you. Feast your eyes upon this!"
While speaking he nods to the ground by his horse's head, indicating thedisturbed tract; then, adding as he raises his hand, and pointsoutward--
"And on that!"
The "that" he refers to is a white list leading away westward as far asthey can see--evidently the trail taken by those they are in pursuit of.
Long ere this, both Gaspar and Cypriano have full comprehension of whatperplexed while alarming them. But neither says a word of thesuspicions they had entertained concerning him. Each in his own mindhas resolved never to speak of them, the gaucho, as he comes up again,crying out--
"Bravo!" then adding with an air of gracious humility, "So, SenorLudwig, you, too, have beaten me! Beaten us all! You've set us on theright trail now; one which, if I mistake not, will conduct us to the endof our journey, without need of sunshine, or any other contrivance."
"And that end," interposes Cypriano, "will be in a town or camp of TovasIndians, at the tent of the scoundrel Aguara;" then, adding excitedly,"Oh! that I were there now!"
"Have patience, _hijo mio_," counsels Gaspar; "you'll be there in goodtime, and that very soon. For, from something I remember, I don't thinkwe've much more journey to make. But before proceeding further, let ustake a look at this curious thing here, and see what we can make of it.Besides, our animals need breathing a bit."
So saying, he dismounts, as do the others; and leaving their horses tostand at rest, all three commence examination of the tract which showsstirred and trampled.
They see hoof-marks of horses--scores of them--all over the ground forthe space of several perches, and pointed in every direction; among themalso the foot-prints of men, with here and there smooth spots as ifwhere human bodies had reclined. That both men and horses had beenthere is evident, and that they had gone off by the trace runningwestward, equally so. But how they came thither is a question not soeasily answered; since the same halting-place shows no track of eitherhorse or man leading towards it!
Odd all this might appear, indeed inexplicable, to one unacquainted withthe nature of a dust-storm, or unaware of the incidents which havepreceded. But to Gaspar, the gaucho, everything is as clear asdaylight; and, after a short inspection of the "sign," he thustruthfully interprets it:--
"The redskins had just got thus far, when the _tormenta_ came on. Itcaught them here, and that's why we see these smooth patches; they laydown to let it blow by. Well; there's one good turn it's done us: wenow know the exact time they passed this spot; or, at all events, whenthey were on it. That must have been just after we entered the cave,and were engaged with the _tigre_--I mean it Number 1. No doubt by thetime we tackled the old Tom, they were off again. As, you see,_muchachos_, some little rain has sprinkled that trail since they passedover it, which shows they went away in the tail of that terrific shower.So," he adds, turning round, and stepping back towards his horse,"there's nothing more to be done but ride off after them; which we maynow do as rapidly as our animals can carry us."
At this they all remount, and setting their horses' heads to the Indiantrail, proceed upon it at a brisk pace; no longer travelling tandem, butbroadly abreast.