The ridges inclosing the little valley were crowned with trees of thick frondage, which, nourished by the evaporation of the water, appeared green and vigorous, and protected the cistern from the burning rays of the sun. The green gra.s.s that grew around, the cool shadow of the trees, and the freshness of the air, rendered the well of La Poza, in the middle of the desert, a delicious little oasis. Besides serving as excellent resting-place for travellers, it was a favourite resort of hunters, who used it as a stalking-ground for animals--elks and deer--as well as jaguars and other fierce beasts that in great numbers came to the well to drink.
At a short distance from the cistern of La Poza commenced a tract of thick forest through which ran the path leading to the Hacienda del Venado. Nearer to the edge of the little valley, upon the side of this path, the travellers had kindled an enormous fire, partly to defend themselves from the the cold night air, and partly to frighten off any jaguars or pumas that might be in the neighbourhood of the water.
Not far from this fire the servants had placed the camp-beds of the Senator and Don Estevan; and while a large saddle of mutton was being roasted for supper, a skin bottle of wine was cooling in the fresh water with which the trough had been filled.
After a painful day"s march, it was an attractive spectacle which this scene presented to the eyes of the travellers.
"_Mine_! your halting-place, Tiburcio," said Cuchillo, as they rode into the camp, and speaking in a tone of pretended friendliness in order to conceal the real rancour which he felt. "Dismount here, while I go and report your arrival to our chief. It is Don Estevan de Arechiza himself under whose orders we are enrolled; so, too, may you be, if you desire it; and between ourselves, _amigo_, it is the best thing you can do."
Cuchillo fearing that his victim might escape him, now wished more than ever that he should join the expedition. He pointed out Don Estevan and the Senator seated on their camp-beds, and visible in the light of the great fire, while Tiburcio was not yet seen by them. Cuchillo himself advanced toward Don Estevan.
"I am desirous, Senor Don Estevan," said he, addressing himself to the Spaniard, "to say two words to your honour, with the permission of his excellency the Senator."
Don Estevan arose from his seat and made a sign to Cuchillo to accompany him into one of the dark alleys of the forest, the same by which the path entered that led to the hacienda.
"You could hardly guess, Senor Don Estevan, who is the man your generosity has saved--for I have brought him with me safe and sound, as you see?"
Without making answer, Don Estevan took from his purse the piece of gold he had promised, and handed it to Cuchillo.
"It is the young Tiburcio Arellanos to whom you have given life,"
continued the outlaw. "As for me I only followed the dictates of my heart; but it may be that we have both done a very foolish action."
"Why that?" asked the Spaniard. "This young man will be easily watched so long as he is near us; and I presume he is decided to be one of our expedition?"
"He has asked twenty-four hours to reflect upon it."
"Do you think he knows anything of--"
"I have my fears," replied Cuchillo, in a melancholy tone, little regarding the lie he was telling, and the purpose of which was to render the Spaniard suspicious of the man he had himself vowed to kill. "In any case," continued he, with a significant smile, "we have saved his life, and that will serve as _t.i.t for tat_."
"What do you mean to say?"
"Only that my conscience a.s.sures me it will be perfectly tranquil if-- if--Carramba!" added he, brusquely--"if I should send this young fellow to be broiled with his mother in the other world."
"G.o.d forbid that!" exclaimed the Spaniard, in a lively tone. "What need? Admit that he knows all: I shall be in command of a hundred men, and he altogether alone. What harm can the fellow do us. I have no uneasiness about him. I am satisfied, and so must you be."
"Oh! I am satisfied if you are," growled Cuchillo, like a dog whose master had hindered him from biting some one, "quite satisfied," he continued, "but perhaps hereafter--"
"I shall see this young man," said the Spaniard, interrupting him, and advancing in the direction where Tiburcio stood, while Cuchillo followed, talking to himself:
"What the devil possessed him to ask how long I had owned my horse? Let me see! the animal stumbled, I remember, and it was just then he dismounted and threatened me. I can"t understand it, but I suspect what I do not understand."
When Arechiza and Cuchillo reached the camp, an excitement was observed among the horses, that gathered around the _capitansa_, at a short distance from the fire, and to all appearance in a state of extreme terror, were uttering a wild and continuous neighing. Some danger yet afar, but which the animals" instincts enabled them to perceive, was the cause of this sudden _stampede_.
"It is some jaguar they have scented," suggested one of the domestics.
"Bah!" replied another, "the jaguars attack only young foals--they wouldn"t dare to a.s.sault a strong vigorous horse."
"Do you think so?" demanded the first speaker. "Ask Benito here, who, himself, lost a valuable animal taken by the jaguars."
Benito, hearing this reference to himself, advanced towards the two speakers.
"One day," he began, "or rather, one night just like this, I chanced to be at a distance from the Hacienda del Venado, where I was a _vaquero_ at the time. I was in search of a strayed horse, and not finding him, had made up my mind to pa.s.s the night at the spring of _Ojo da Agua_. I tied my horse at a good distance off--where there was better gra.s.s--and I was sleeping, as a man sleeps after riding twenty leagues, when I was suddenly awakened by all the howlings and growlings of the devils. The moon shone so clear you might have fancied it daylight. All at once my horse came galloping toward me with the lazo hanging round his neck, which he had broken at the risk of hanging himself.
""Here then," said I, "I shall now have two horses to go in search of instead of one."
"I had scarce made this reflection, when I observed, under the light of the moon, a superb jaguar bounding after my horse. He scarce appeared to touch the ground, and each leap carried him forward twenty feet or more.
"I saw that my poor steed was lost. I listened with anxiety, but for a while heard nothing. At the end of a quarter of an hour, however, a terrible roar--"
The speaker paused, and stood trembling.
"_Virgen Santa_!" cried he, "that"s it!" as the fearful cry of a jaguar at that moment echoed through the camp, succeeded by a deathlike stillness, as if both men and animals had been alike terrified into silence.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
NOCTURNAL VISITORS.
The sudden shock occasioned by the perception of a peril so proximate and imminent paralysed every tongue. Even the ex-herdsman himself was silent, and appeared to reflect what had best be done to avoid the danger.
At this instant the voice of Don Estevan broke the temporary silence that reigned within the camp.
"Get your weapons ready!" shouted he.
"It is useless, master," rejoined the old vaquero, whose experience among jaguars gave a certain authority to his words, "the best thing to be done, is to keep the fire ablaze."
And saying this, he flung an armful of f.a.gots upon it, which, being as dry as tinder, at once caught flame--so as to illumine a large circle around the camp.
"If they are not choking with thirst," said Benito, "these demons of darkness will not dare come within the circle of the fire. But, indeed, they are often choking with thirst, and then--"
"Then!" interrupted one of the domestics, in a tone of anxiety.
"Then," continued the herdsman, "then they don"t regard either light or fire; and if we are not determined to defend the water against their approach, we had better get out of their way altogether. These animals are always more thirsty than hungry."
"How when they have drunk?" asked Baraja, whose countenance, under the light of the fire, betrayed considerable uneasiness.
"Why, then they seek to appease their hunger."
At this moment a second cry from the jaguar was heard, but farther off than the first. This was some relief to the auditory of Benito, who, relying upon his theory, was satisfied that the animal was not yet at the extreme point of suffering from thirst. All of them preserved silence--the only sounds heard being the crackling of the dry sticks with which Baraja kept the fire profusely supplied.
"Gently there, Baraja! gently!" called out the vaquero, "if you consume our stock of firewood in that fashion, you will soon make an end of it, and, _por Dios_! _amigo_, you will have to go to the woods for a fresh supply."
"There! hold your hand," continued he, after a pause, "and try to make the f.a.gots last as long as possible, else we may get in darkness and at the mercy of the tiger. He is sure to come back again in an hour or two, and far thirstier than before."
If Benito had desired to frighten his companions, he could not have succeeded better. The eyes of one and all of them were anxiously bent upon the heap of dried sticks that still remained by the fire, and which appeared scarcely sufficient to last for another hour. But there was something so earnest in the tone of the ex-herdsman, despite the jesting way in which he spoke, that told he was serious in what he had said.
Of course, Don Estevan had postponed the interview with Tiburcio; and the young man, still ignorant that it was to Don Estevan he really owed his life, did not think of approaching to offer him thanks. Moreover, he saw that the moment would be ill-timed to exchange compliments of courtesy with the chief of the expedition, and for this reason he remained standing where Cuchillo had left him.