Over the Border: A Novel
Page 38
XXXVIII: FIRE
Hitherto Bull had always ridden on Lee's right, but when the trailpermitted two to ride abreast he now, with instinctive delicacy, yieldedhis old place to Gordon. In this order they rode along the flank of themountain, their hoofs beating a dark tattoo to the lower rhythm ofcreaking leather, flapping holsters; rode on past the San Carlos trail,the Bowl forks, had almost reached the head of the ravine aboveAntonio's _fonda_ when Lee, who was riding ahead, reined in with anexclamation.
Out of the gloom that wrapped the plains below had burst a sudden glowwhich gave birth, as they gazed, to a flower of flame that quivered andswung under the breath of the night wind. It was too far away for themto see the buildings; but, clearly as though they were looking down uponit from the first rise, their minds filled in the picture; supplied theflames roaring through the Arboles _patio_, bursting from doors andwindows, scaling the guard-house, running a scarlet race along the rowsof adobes.
"My poor people!" Lee sat her horse and gazed.
The shock of realization is often less than anticipation; its finalitystrips away exaggeration. Down there everything Lee valued was going upin flames--her wardrobe, jewelry, girlish treasures; household effectsand _hacienda_ stores; that which she valued most of all, the trove ofold Spanish manuscripts and letters, doubly dear because so intimatelyconnected with her father's memory. Surely a great loss! but if itflashed up in her mind, regret was instantly wiped out by consumingindignation--not at her personal loss; not that her loved home was beingdestroyed under her eyes; but at that which it stood for; the malice,ignorance, wantonness, irresponsibility which has lighted a thousandsuch fires, would light a thousand more, laying waste all Mexico withits cruelties and lusts. When Sliver's voice broke in the darknessbehind her his attempt at rude comfort came almost as a shock.
"Never mind, Lady-girl. They kain't burn them yard-thick walls."
"An' we left word for the _ancianos_ to drive the stock into themountains," Jake added. "Must ha' b'en cl'ar away long before they gotthere."
"It isn't that." She spoke so low that only Gordon caught her whisper."My poor girls! I would give all, place and stock, to make sure theyescaped." As that bitter indignation resurged within her she added:"There's only one thing left. We must--"
Bull's heavy voice completed it for her,--"catch 'em before daylight."
While the horses slid and slipped down the steep trail his voice roseabove the scrape of hoofs, laying out his plan. After their long marchthe raiders would undoubtedly camp at Arboles! The fire proved onething--they had broken open the store and drunk up the stock of_aguardiente_! At dawn they would be found stretched in swinish sleep.And then--
His surmise was reasonable, founded on probabilities, but subject to thechange of circumstance. As they rode on down a red glow in the blackbowels of the ravine grew into a fire that dyed a deeper chrome theyellow walls of the _fonda_. It also restored a little color into thebronze faces of a score of refugees from Arboles, women and children,herded together like sheep around its blaze.
When Lee rode into the firelight they gave tongue in a chorus of joy,apprehension, every shade of feeling from fear to relief. From theirbabble she gathered, first, that they had been warned by a _peon_ whohad run in from Lovell's _rancho_; second, that the _ancianos_ haddriven the horses into the mountain pasture and scattered the cattleamong the ravines. Finally, from out of their midst a lad was thrustforward to tell his tale.
He had been sent to hunt stragglers from the herds. Feeling tired, withthat _peon_ indolence which is not to be disturbed by mere rumors ofraiders, he had curled up in a bunch of chaparral and gone to sleep.Awakened by voices, he had seen the raiders coming. Men of giganticstature and evil visage his excited fancy painted them, and among themhe recognized a _peon_ who had run away to the wars after being whippedfor some grossness by the senor Benson. So close did they pass, he heardthem quarreling among themselves. They appeared to be tired and downcastover their poor luck in obtaining horses; and he, the boy, heard therenegade's expressions of reassurance.
"Si, senores. A few miles more and you will rest with the women at LosArboles. There we shall find the finest horses, bred by bloodedstallions, fit for a general to ride. Or if they have run them away forsafe-keeping, 'twill not serve, for I, Pedro Gonzales, know the secretpasture in the great Bowl."
Flaming up under fresh fuel while the lad talked, the firelight showedthe Three deep in reflection. The same thought was in their minds: avivid mental picture of the raiders from Las Bocas ascending theprecarious zigzags of the Bowl staircase. If these others could becaught in the same way? Jake's remark expressed their joint conclusion.
"It 'u'd be a _cinch_!"
"Horses all tired out now, too," Sliver added. "If anythin' went wrong,we'd have no getaway. Not that I'd care, but we kain't take no chanceswith Lady-girl."
Bull's word decided. He made his dispositions, sent the youth to sleepout on the plains and bring early warning of the raiders' movements;posted other sentries at intervals. Finally, he saw first to the horses,that they were watered and fed and groomed; then to the serving of ameal.
He ate, but even his steady, methodical munching bespoke purpose, theconserving of strength for his ends. As he sat, after the meal, gazinginto the fire, even Lee failed to discern much difference from his usualself. But after the others, refugees and all, lay wrapped in theirserapes, dim, muffled figures under the red light of half a dozen fires,he still sat, a somber figure in black outline against the glow.
After Lee had cried herself to sleep he sat on. At midnight herawakening eyes showed him still there. When she awoke again he wasgone--on the round of sentries. He returned before she fell asleep againand sat on, staring into the fire, an ominous figure fraught withdanger.