CHAPTER IX.
THE MEETING.
The preceding explanations given, we will resume our story at the pointwhere we left it at the end of chapter seven. Sunbeam, without speaking,offered the Spanish girl a piece of paper, a species of wooden skewer,and a shell filled with blue paint. The Gazelle gave a start of joy.
"Oh, I understand," she said.
The chief smiled.
"The whites have a great deal of knowledge," he said, "nothing escapesthem; my daughter will draw a collar for the pale chief."
"Yes," she murmured, "but will he believe me?"
"My daughter will put her heart in that paper, and the white hunter willrecognise it."
The girl heaved a sigh.
"Let us try," she said.
With a feverish movement she took the paper from Sunbeam's hand, hastilywrote a few words, and returned it to the young Indian, who stoodmotionless and stoical before her. Sunbeam rolled up the paper, andcarefully fastened it round an arrow.
"Within an hour it will be delivered," she said, and she disappeared inthe wood with the lightness of a startled fawn. This little affair tookher less time to perform than we have been employed in describing it.When the Indian girl, taught long before by Black Cat the part she hadto play, had gone off to deliver her message, the chief said--
"You see that, though we may not save them all, those who are dear to uswill at any rate escape."
"May Heaven grant that you are not mistaken, father," the girl said.
"Wacondah is great--his power is unbounded--he can do everything--mydaughter can hope."
After this a long conversation took place between the couple, at the endof which, White Gazelle glided unnoticed, among the trees, and proceededto a hill a short distance from the post occupied by the whites, calledElk Hill, where she had given Don Pablo the meeting. At the thought ofseeing the Mexican again, the girl had been involuntarily attacked by anundefinable emotion; she felt her heart contracted, and all her limbstrembled. The recollection of what had passed between her and him soshort a time back still troubled her ideas, and rendered the task shehad imposed on herself even more difficult.
At this moment she was no longer the rude amazon we have represented herto our readers, who, hardened since her childhood to the terrible scenesof prairie life, braved the greatest perils. She felt herself a woman;all the manliness in her had disappeared, only leaving a timid,trembling girl, who shuddered to find herself face to face with the manwhom she reproached herself with having so cruelly outraged, and who,perhaps, on seeing her, would not condescend to enter into anyexplanation, but turn his back on her.
All these thoughts and many others whirled about in her brain while sheproceeded with a furtive step to the place of meeting. The nearer shedrew the more lively her fears became, for her mind retraced withgreater force the indignity of her previous conduct. At length shearrived, and found the top of the hill still deserted. A sigh of reliefescaped from her oppressed chest, and she returned thanks to Heaven forgranting her a few moments' respite to prepare herself for the solemninterview she had craved.
But the first moment passed, another anxiety troubled her; she fearedlest Don Pablo would not accept her invitation, but despise the chanceof safety offered him. Then, with her head thrust forward, her eyesfixed on space, and striving to sound the depths of the gloom, shewaited anxiously, counting the seconds. No one has yet been able tocalculate how many centuries each moment is composed of to a person whois waiting. The girl was beginning to doubt Don Pablo's arrival; agloomy despair seized upon her, and she cursed the materialresponsibility which nailed her inactively to the spot.
Let us describe in a few words what was happening at this moment on theHill of Mad Buffalo. Valentine, Curumilla and Don Pablo, seated on thecrest of the hill, were silently smoking, each thinking apart of themeans to be employed to escape from the painful position in which theywere, when a shrill whistle was heard, and a long arrow, passing rapidlybetween the three men, buried itself deeply in the sods of the grassymount, at the foot of which they were seated.
"What is that?" Valentine, the first to regain his coolness, exclaimed."By heavens! Can the redskins be beginning the attack already?"
"Let us wake our friends," said Don Pablo.
"A friend!" grunted Curumilla, who had pulled the arrow out and examinedit attentively.
"What do you mean, chief?" the hunter asked.
"Look!" the Indian replied laconically, as he gave him the arrow, andpointed to the paper rolled round it.
"So it is," Valentine said, as he unfastened the paper, while Curumillapicked up a burning log and held it to him as a candle.
"Hum!" Don Pablo muttered, "this mode of corresponding appears to merather strange."
"We will see what it all means," the hunter answered.
He unfolded the paper, on which a few lines were written in Spanish, andread the following--
"The palefaces are lost; the Indian tribes, assembled from all parts and helped by the Pirates of the Prairies, surround them. The white men have no help to expect from anybody. Unicorn is too far off, Bloodson too much engaged in defending himself to have time to think of them. Don Pablo de Zarate can, if he likes, escape the death that menaces him, and save those who are dear to him. His fate is in his own hands. So soon as he has received this, let him leave his camp and proceed alone to Elk Hill, where he will meet a person prepared to supply him with the means he must seek in vain elsewhere; this person will await Don Pablo till sunrise. He is implored not to neglect this warning; tomorrow will be too late to save him, for he would infallibly succumb in a mad struggle.
"A FRIEND."
On reading this strange missive, the young man let his head sink on hischest, and remained for a long time plunged in deep thought.
"What is to be done?" he muttered.
"Why go, hang it all!" Valentine answered; "Who knows whether this scrapof paper may not contain the salvation of all of us?"
"But suppose it is treachery?"
"Treachery! Nonsense, my friend, you must be joking. The Indians arethorough rogues and traitors, I grant; but they have a fearful terror ofanything written, which they believe emanates from the genius of evil.No, this letter does not come from the Indians. As for the pirates, theycan use a rifle very well, but are completely ignorant of a goose quill;and I declare, from here to Monterey on one side and to New York, on theother, you will not find one who knows how to write. This letter,therefore, emanates from a friend; but who that friend is, is moredifficult to guess."
"Then your opinion is to grant the meeting?"
"Why not? Taking, of course, all the precautions usual in such a case."
"Must I go alone?"
"_Canarios!_ people always go alone to such meetings: that is settled,"Valentine said with a grin; "still, they are accompanied, and would befools were they not."
"Assuming that I am willing to follow your advice, I cannot leave myfather alone here."
"Your father is safe for the present; besides, he has with him thegeneral and Curumilla, who, I answer for it, will not let him besurprised in our absence. However, that is your affair; still, I wouldobserve, that under circumstances so critical as ours, all secondaryconsiderations ought to be laid aside. Canarios, friend! Think that thesafety of all of us may be the reward of the venture."
"You are right, brother," the young man said boldly; "who knows whetherI might not have to reproach myself with your death and my father's if Ineglected this hint? I go."
"Good," the hunter said, "do so; for my part, I know what is left me todo. Be at your ease," he added with his ironical smile; "you will goalone to the meeting, but if you need help, I shall not be long inmaking my appearance."
"Very good; but the chief point is to leave this place and reach ElkHill unnoticed by the thousand tiger-cat eyes the Apaches are probablyfixing on us at this moment."
; "Trust to me for that," the hunter answered.
In fact, a few minutes later, Don Pablo, guided by Valentine, wasclimbing up Elk hill, unnoticed by the Apaches.
In the meanwhile, White Gazelle was still waiting, her body bentforward, and listening for the slightest sound that would reveal thepresence of the man she had so earnestly begged to come. Suddenly arough hand was laid on her shoulder, and a mocking voice muttered in herear:--
"Hilloh, Nina, what are you doing so far from the camp? Are you afraidlest your enemies should escape?"
The Spaniard turned with an ill-disguised movement of disgust, and sawNathan, Red Cedar's eldest son.
"Yes, it is I," the bandit went on; "does that astonish you, Nina? Wearrived an hour ago with the finest collection of vultures that can beimagined."
"But what are you doing here?" she said, scarce knowing why she askedthe question.
"Oh!" he continued, "I have also come to revenge myself; I left myfather and the others down there, and, have come to explore the countrya little. But," he added, with a sinister laugh, "that is not thequestion at this moment. What the deuce sets you roaming about at thistime of night, at the risk of having an unpleasant encounter?"
"What have I to fear--am I not armed?"
"That is true," the pirate replied with a grin; "but you are pretty,and, devil take me if I don't know fellows who, in my place, would laughat the playthings you have in your girdle. Yes, you are very pretty,Nina, don't you know it? Hang me, as no one has yet told you so, I feelvery much inclined to do so; what's your opinion, eh?"
"The wretch is mad with drink," the girl muttered, as she saw thebrigand's flushed face, and his staggering legs.
"Leave me," she said to him, "the hour is badly chosen for jesting, wehave, more important matters to arrange."
"Stuff, we are all mortal, and hang me if I care what may happentomorrow! On the contrary, I find the hour splendidly chosen; we arealone, no one can over hear us; what prevents us, then, from expressingour adoration of one another?"
"No one, were it true," the girl answered resolutely; "but I am not inthe humour to listen to your chattering; so be good enough to withdraw. Iam awaiting here the war party of the Buffalo Apaches, who will soonarrive and take up their position on this hill; instead of losingprecious time, you would do better to join Red Cedar and Stanapat, withwhom you must settle all the details of the enemy's attack."
"That is true," the bandit answered, the words having slightly soberedhim. "You are right, Nina, I will go; but what is put off is not lost; Ihope on some other day to find you not so wild, my dear. Good bye!"
And, carelessly turning, the bandit threw his rifle on his shoulder, andwent down the hill in the direction of the Apache camp. The youngSpaniard, left alone, congratulated herself on escaping the danger thathad momentarily threatened her, for she had trembled lest Don Pablomight arrive while Nathan was with her. Still, the news of Red Cedar'sposition heightened White Gazelle's apprehensions and redoubled heralarm about those whom she had resolved to save at all hazards. At themoment when she no longer hoped to see the young man, and was lookingout for him more to satisfy her conscience than in the chance of seeinghim, she saw, a little distance off, a man hurriedly walking towardsher, and guessed, more than recognised, that it was Don Pablo.
"At last!" she exclaimed joyfully, as she rushed to meet him.
The young man was soon by her side, but on perceiving who it was, hefell back a pace.
"You," he said; "did you write to ask me here?"
"Yes," she answered, in a trembling voice, "I did."
"What can there be in common between us?" Don Pablo said,contemptuously.
"Oh! Do not crush me; I now can understand how culpable and unworthy myconduct was: pardon a madness which I deplore. Listen to me; in Heaven'sname do not despise the advice I am about to give you, for your life andthat of those you love are at stake."
"Thank Heaven, madam," the young man replied coldly; "during the fewhours we were together, I learnt to know you sufficiently to place nofaith in any of your protestations; I have only one regret at thismoment, and that is, in having allowed myself to enter the snare youhave laid for me."
"I lay a snare for you!" she exclaimed indignantly, "when I would gladlyshed the last drop of my blood to save you."
"Save me--nonsense! Ruin me, you mean," Don Pablo continued, with asmile of contempt; "do you fancy me so foolish? Be frank, at least; yourproject has succeeded, and I am in your hands; produce your accomplices,who are doubtless hidden behind those trees, and I will not do them thehonour of disputing my life with them."
"Oh, Heaven!" the girl exclaimed, as she writhed her hands in despair,"Am I not sufficiently punished, Don, Pablo? Listen to me, for mercy'ssake! In a few minutes it will be too late; I wish to save you, I say."
"You lie impudently," Valentine exclaimed, as he leaped from a thicket;"only a moment ago, at that very spot, you told Nathan, the worthy sonof your accomplice, Red Cedar, of the arrival of an Apache war party;deny it, if you dare."
This revelation was a thunderbolt for the girl; she felt that it wouldbe impossible for her to disabuse the man she loved, and convince him ofher innocence, in the face of this apparently so evident proof of hertreachery. She fell crushed at the young man's feet.
"Oh," he said with disgust, "this wretched woman is my evil genius."
He made a movement to retire.
"A moment," Valentine exclaimed, as he stopped him; "matters must notend thus: let us destroy this creature, ere she causes us to bemassacred."
He coldly placed the muzzle of a pistol on the girl's temple, and shedid not flinch to escape the fate that threatened her. But Don Pablohastily seized his arm.
"Valentine," he said, "what are you about, my friend?"
"It is true," the hunter replied; "when so near death, I will notdishonour myself by killing this wretch."
"Well done, brother," Don Pablo said, as he gave a glance of scorn tothe Gazelle, who implored him in vain; men like us do not assassinatewomen. "Let us leave her and sell our lives dearly."
"Nonsense; death, perhaps, is not so near as you may fancy; for my part,I do not despair about getting out of this wasps nest."
They took an anxious glance into the valley to reconnoitre theirposition; the darkness was almost dissipated; the sun, though stillinvisible, tinged the sky with those reddish gleams which precedes itsappearance by a few moments. As far as the eye could reach, the plainwas covered by powerful Indian detachments.
The two men saw that they had but a very slight chance of regainingtheir fortress; still, accustomed as they were to attemptimpossibilities daily, they were not discouraged in the presence of theimminent danger that menaced them. After silently shaking hands, thesetwo brave men raised their heads proudly, and with calm brow andflashing eye prepared to confront the horrible death that awaited them,if they were discovered.
"Stay, in Heaven's name," the maiden exclaimed, as she dragged herselfon her knees to Don Pablo's feet.
"Back, viper," the latter answered, "let us die bravely."
"But I will not have you die," she replied, with a piercing cry; "Irepeat that I will save you, if you consent."
"Save us! God alone can do that," the young man said mournfully; "beglad that we will not sully our hands with your perfidious blood, and donot trouble us further."
"Oh! Nothing will convince you then!" she said, with despair.
"Nothing," the Mexican answered coldly.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, her eye beaming with joy, "I have found it. Followme, and you shall join your friends again."
Don Pablo, who had already gone some yards, turned back with hesitation.
"What do you fear?" she said; "you will still be able to kill me if Ideceive you. Oh," she added madly, "what do I care for death, so that Isave you!"
"In fact," Valentine remarked, "she is in the right, and then in ourposition, we must let no chance slip. Perhaps, after all, she speaks thetruth."
"Yes, y
es," the girl implored; "trust to me."
"Well, we will try it," said Valentine.
"Go on," Don Pablo answered laconically; "go on, we follow."
"Oh, thanks, thanks," she said eagerly, covering the the young man'shand with kisses and tears, which she had seized against his will; "youshall see that I can save you."
"Strange creature," the hunter said, as he wiped his eyes with the backof his rough hand; "she is quite capable of doing what she says."
"Perhaps so," Don Pablo replied, shaking his head gloomily: "but ourposition is truly desperate, my friend."
"A man can only die once, after all," the hunter remarkedphilosophically, as he threw his rifle over his shoulder; "I am mostcurious to know how all this will end."
"Come!" the Spanish girl said.
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