The Insurgent Chief

"But it appears to me that if such were his design he has attained it to a certain extent."

"Perhaps he has realised the half of his plan, but the other half will not succeed so easily. This man is not only the enemy of our tribe, but he is your most implacable enemy, and his most anxious desire is to make you succumb to him."

"Me! But he does not know me, my friend."

"You think so, dear Gueyma; but I am in a better position than you to judge the matter; believe then, the truth of my words."

"It is sufficient; I am happy to know what you tell me."

"Why so?"

"Because the first time that chance brings me in his presence I shall make no scruple to cleave his head open."

"Be careful not to do that, my friend!" cried the Cougar, with a start of fear. "If – which I hope will not happen – you should find yourself face to face with him, it will be necessary for you to feign – I will not say friendship – but at least the most complete indifference to him. Remember this advice, and make use of it if occasion require. Vengeance has been prepared for him long ago, and will only succeed when a good opportunity offers. What I tell you appears to you, I know, incomprehensible; but soon, I hope, I shall be able to explain myself more clearly, and then you will acknowledge the truth of my words and how far I have been right in recommending prudence. I do not wish to insist anymore on this point; we shall not be long before we reach the spot assigned for the encampment, and, I have to speak to you of another person towards whom I shall be happy to see you process the most frank and amicable sentiments."

"And who is this person, if you please, my friend? Does he belong to our race, or is he a white?"

"I speak of a white, my dear Gueyma, and, moreover, of a white who, up to the present time, you have thought one of our deadliest enemies; in a word, I mean the chief, whom the Spaniards call Zeno Cabral."

"I admire the prudence which you manifested at the commencement of this conversation, in recommending me not to allow myself to express any mark of surprise, and to preserve an impassive countenance."

"Yes, you sneer," answered the Cougar, with a slight smile, "and apparently you are right; however, before long – as always happens when people have not been in a position to thoroughly examine facts – events will show you are wrong."

"Upon my word I avow to you, my friend, in all sincerity, that I ardently desire – and you can believe me, notwithstanding all the injury this chief has done us since the commencement of our expedition – I feel myself attracted towards him by a feeling that I cannot analyse, and which – in spite of the wish I have often had to do so – has always prevented me from hating him."

"Do you speak truth? Do you really feel this instinctive attraction towards this man?"

"I assure you it is so; I feel myself constrained to love him; and if you proved to me ever so little that he ought to be so, I assure you that I shall not feel any displeasure in following your injunction."

"Love him then, my friend; follow the impulse of your heart; it will not deceive you. This man is indeed, really worth your friendship, and you will soon have the proof of it."

"How so?"

"In the most simple way. I will soon present you to each other."

"You will make me acquainted with Zeno Cabral?"

"Yes."

"That is what astonishes me. Why, he will not dare to come into our camp!"

"In case of need, at my call, he would not hesitate to do so; but it is not in this way that we must act. He will not come into our camp; we, on the contrary, will go to find him."

"We?"

"Certainly."

"Oh! Oh! Have you well reflected, my friend, on the consequences of such a proceeding? If this man should spread a net for us?"

"We have nothing of that sort to fear from him."

Gueyma lowered his head with a pensive air. For a long time the two chiefs continued thus to ride side by side without exchanging a word, absorbed each by his own thoughts. At last the young man looked up and said:

"We shall soon be at the spot where we have decided to camp till the hottest part of the day passes. Have you nothing more to say to me?"

"Nothing at present, my friend. We shall soon resume this conversation; now we must instal our warriors in a secure position, for, perhaps, we shall remain in this encampment longer than you suppose."

"What! Shall we not set out again in a few hours?"

"It is scarcely probable, but for that matter you will decide for yourself when the time has come."

And as if he wished to prevent the young chief asking him a question that he probably would not have cared to answer, the Cougar checked his bridle, and stopping his horse, allowed his companion to pass him.

Meanwhile, the pathway broadened more and more, the forest became less dense, and, after having turned a corner, the Indians came out on to a kind of rather large esplanade, entirely denuded of trees, although covered with a tall and coarse grass. This esplanade formed what in Mexico they call a voladero, that is to say, that from this side the base of the mountain – which the Guaycurus had traversed almost without perceiving it, by a gentle declivity, worn away by the streams, or by an inundation produced by one of those convulsions so frequent in this country – formed beneath the esplanade an enormous cavity, which gave it the appearance of a gigantic balcony, and rendered it on this side almost impossible to attack.

On the opposite side, the flanks of the mountain were escarped in abrupt blocks of rock, on the edge of which the vicuñas and the lamas alone would have been able to place their delicate feet without fear of falling.

The only accessible points were those by which the esplanade was reached – that is to say, the path itself – a point most easy to defend by means of some trunks of trees thrown across it.

Gueyma could not retain a smile of satisfaction at the sight of this natural fortress.

"What a misfortune that we must in a few hours abandon so advantageous a position!" murmured he.

The Cougar smiled without answering, and proceeded to organise the camp. Some warriors went to seek the wood necessary for the fires, others felled several trees, leaving all the branches on, and which thus formed an almost impregnable entrenchment.

The horses were unsaddled and set at liberty, so that they could get at the green grass, which they began to eat heartily.

The fires lighted, they prepared the morning meal, and the Guaycurus warriors soon found themselves installed on the esplanade in as firm a position as if they intended to make a long stay, instead of only stopping there in passing.

When the sentinels were stationed, the meal was finished, and the warriors were stretched here and there to repose – according to the invariable custom of Indians, who do not think that, unless in exceptional circumstances, they should remain awake when they can sleep – the Cougar approached Gueyma.

"You feel fatigued?" he asked, with a significant gesture.

"Not at all," answered he; "but why this question?"

"Simply because I intend to go out a little on discovery, to assure myself that the country is clear – that we have no ambuscade to fear on our march; and that if you like to accompany me while our warriors repose, we will go together."

"I should like nothing better," answered Gueyma, who felt that the excursion was but a pretext to deceive the warriors, and to account for their own departure.

"If it is to be so," pursued the Cougar, "let us set out without waiting any longer; we have not a moment to lose."

The young man immediately rose and took his gun.

"We go on foot?" said he.

"Certainly, our horses would embarrass us; they would only retard our progress, which, moreover, ought to be secret."

"Let us go then."

The two chiefs immediately quitted the camp by the point opposite to that by which they had arrived, but not without having recommended an older chief to replace them during their absence, and to watch with the greatest vigilance over the common safety.

They were not long in disappearing in the midst of the thick shrubbery and trees by which the track was bordered on either side.

They walked at a good pace, contenting themselves by at times casting an enquiring look around them, without taking any other precaution to conceal their presence.

Gueyma silently followed the Cougar, inwardly asking himself what was the design of this mysterious excursion.

As to the old man, he advanced without any hesitation, proceeding through this labyrinth of verdure with a certainty which showed a perfect knowledge of the place, and previously determined plan, for the two chiefs had left the track, and without following any path they walked straight on, surmounting the obstacles which from time to time came in their way, without turning to right or left.

In about half an hour they reached the dry bed of a torrent, which formed a large hollow in the mountain, and clinging with hands and feet, with that skill which characterises the Indians, to the rugged stones, the tufts of grass, and the branches of shrubbery, they began to descend rapidly by a rather rude declivity, and which, to any other men, would have presented great difficulty, and even danger.

About halfway down, the Cougar stepped on a fragment of rock, before a natural excavation, whose gaping mouth opened just before him.

After looking in all directions, the old man made a sign to his companion to place himself near him, and pointing to the cavern:

"It is there we are going," said he, in a low voice.

"Ah!" answered the young man, with as smiling an air as he could affect, although his curiosity was much excited; "If that is the case, let us not stop here any longer; let us enter."

"One moment," pursued the Cougar, "let us first assure ourselves that he has arrived."

"Arrived! Who?" asked the young man.

"He whom we wish to see, probably," said the old man.

"Ah! Very well; only it is you, not I, who wish to see the person of whom you speak."

"Let us not play upon words, my friend; it is as important to you as to me, believe me, that this interview takes place."

"You know that I allow myself to be entirely guided by you; I think I have even given proof of exemplary docility. After this conversation which is about to take place, I shall probably be in a better position to know of what importance to me is this proceeding, which, I avow, I only enter upon with misgiving; although, I repeat, I feel myself attracted towards this man."

The Cougar opened his lips as though he was about to answer, but immediately changing his mind, he turned with an abrupt movement, and, after having again explored the locality by looking around him, he imitated twice the cry of the condor.

Almost immediately a similar cry came from the cavern.

The old man quickly approached the entrance, and slightly leaning forward, as he cocked his gun to be ready for any emergency:

"We have walked a long time, we are fatigued," said he, as if he addressed his companion; "let us rest here a few minutes; this solitary place appears to me to be safe."

"You will be received there by good friends," immediately replied a voice from the interior of the cavern.

The sound of steps was heard, and a man appeared.

The newcomer, clothed in the picturesque costume of the Banda Oriental, was no other than Zeno Cabral.

Gueyma remarked, with a surprise which he did not attempt to conceal, that the chief of the Montonero had no arms, at least, apparently.

"Welcome," said he, bowing with graceful courtesy to the two Indian chiefs; "I have waited for you some time, I am happy to see you."

The Guaycurus captains bowed silently, and followed him, without hesitation, into the cavern.

CHAPTER V

THE ROYAL ARMY

We will abandon for some time the Guaycurus chiefs, to transport ourselves twenty leagues off, in the very heart of the Cordilleras, where were certain personages which have much to do with this narrative, and where, two or three days before that we have reached, events had passed which we must relate.

The civil war, in destroying the old hierarchy, established by the Castilians in their colonies, and in overturning ranks and castes, had brought to the surface of Hispano-American society certain persons very interesting to study, and amongst whom the Pincheyras undoubtedly held the most prominent place.

Let us state who were these Pincheyras, whose name has already several times been mentioned, and from whence came that dark and mysterious celebrity, which, even now, after so many years, surrounds their name with so much horror.

Pincheyra began, like the greater part of the partisans of this epoch – that is to say, that at first he was a bandit. Born at San Carlos, in the centre of that province of Manli whose inhabitants never bowed to the yoke of the Incas, and only submitted to that of the Spaniards, Don Pablo Pincheyra was an Indian from head to foot; the blood of the Araucans flowed almost unmixed in his veins; so that when he was outlawed, and constrained to seek a refuge among the Indians, the latter responded with alacrity to his first call, and came joyfully around him, to form the nucleus; of that redoubtable squadron which afterwards was to be called the royal army.

Pincheyra had three brothers. These men, who had gained but a scanty subsistence in wielding by turns the lasso and the hatchet – that is to say, in working on the farms and as woodcutters – seized the opportunity which their elder brother offered them, and attached themselves to him, in company with all the scapegraces it was possible to recruit.

Thus, the Pincheyras, as they were called, were not long in becoming the terror of the country that they had been pleased to choose as the theatre of their exploits.

When they had pillaged the great chacras, and put the hamlets to ransom, they took refuge in the desert, and here they braved with impunity the powerful rage of their enemies.

In fact, in these far-off regions, Justice, too weak, cannot make herself respected, and her agents, notwithstanding their good will, were obliged to remain spectators of the depredations daily committed by the bandits.

Don Pablo Pincheyra was far from being an ordinary man. Nature had been bountiful to him. To the courage of a lion he added a rare sagacity, a keenness of perception which was uncommon, united to manners full of nobility and affability.

Thus, events aiding, the bold chief of the bandits, far from being disquieted by his incessant acts of brigandage, knew how to make himself acceptable, not only as a partisan, but also to be sought after and solicited by those whose interest it had so long been to crush him, but who now found themselves obliged to claim his aid.

Don Pablo did not allow himself to be dazzled by this new caprice of fortune; he found himself at once equal to the part which chance called on him to play, and he boldly declared for Spain against the revolution.

His troop, considerably augmented by the deserters and volunteers who came to range themselves under his banner, was by degrees disciplined, thanks to some European officers which Don Pablo had succeeded in obtaining, and the old squadron of bandits was metamorphosed almost immediately into a regular troop – nearly an army – since it numbered in infantry and cavalry more than 1,500 combatants, a considerable number at that time in these sparsely populated countries.

When he considered that the royal army, as he emphatically called it, was in a position to take the field, Don Pablo Pincheyra boldly took the offensive, and commenced hostilities against the insurgents, falling upon them suddenly, and defeating them in several encounters.

The Pincheyras knew the most secret hiding places in the Cordilleras. Their expeditions over, they withdrew into these retreats, so much the more inaccessible, as they were defended not only by desolate solitude, but by the terror which these redoubtable partisans inspired. They cared for nothing, and spared neither children, women, nor old men, dragging them after them, attached by the wrists to the tails of their horses.

Another partisan chief – a brave and honest Castilian officer – also fought for the defence of the losing cause of Spain. He was named Zinoxain.

Thus, at the time when South America, from Mexico to the frontiers of Patagonia, rose at once against the odious yoke of Spain, and boldly proclaimed its independence, two isolated men, without any other prestige than their indomitable energy, sustained only by Indian bravos, and adventurers of all nations, heroically struggled against the current which was carrying them away, and endeavoured to place the colonies again under the domination of Castile.

Notwithstanding the misdeeds of these men – the Pincheyras especially, whose savage cruelty often led them into unjustifiable acts of barbarism – there was, nevertheless, something really grand in this determination not to abandon the fortune of their old masters, and to perish rather than betray their cause. Accordingly, even now, after so many years, their names in these countries are surrounded with a kind of halo of glory, and they have become to the mass of the people legendary beings, whose incredible exploits are related with respectful fear, as, after the hard labours of day, they peacefully talk round the watch fire on the Pampas, drinking their maté, and smoking their cigarettes.

At about twenty leagues from the spot where the Guaycurus had stopped till the hottest part of the day had passed – in the centre of a vast valley, crowned on all sides by the snowy and inaccessible peaks of the Cordillera – Don Pablo Pincheyra had established his camp.

This camp, placed near the source of two rivers, was not provisional, but permanent; so it rather resembled a town than a bivouac of soldiers. The huts – made in the Indian fashion, in the form of toldos, with stakes crossed at the top, and covered with leather from the hides of cows and mares – affected a kind of symmetry in their position, forming streets, squares, and crossways, having corrals, filled with oxen and horses. Some of them had little gardens, where were grown, as well as it could be done considering the region of the climate, a few kitchen herbs.

In the centre of the camp were the toldos of the officers, and of the four brothers Pincheyra —toldos, better built, better furnished, and much cleaner than those of the soldiers.

Entrance could only be had into the valley where the camp was established by two narrow canyons, situated one at the east, and the other at the southwest of the camp; but these two canyons were so fortified by means of heaps of wood massed together, apparently pell-mell, but perfectly arranged nevertheless, that any attempt to force the double entry of these canyons would have been vain. The sentinels planted there, however – their eyes fixed on the windings of the defiles – watched attentively over the common safety, while their companions, withdrawn under their toldos, lounged at their occupations with an easy carelessness which showed they were certain they had no serious danger to fear.

The toldo of Don Pablo Pincheyra was easy to recognise at the first glance. Two sentinels paced before it, and several horses, saddled and ready to be mounted, were attached to pickets at some paces from the door, over which, from a long lance fixed in the ground, floated majestically the Spanish flag, in the inconstant play of the fresh morning breeze. Women – amongst whom several were young and pretty, though their features were for the most part tarnished by sorrow and excessive labour – traversed the streets of the camp, carrying water, wood, or provisions; some at the entrance of the toldos were occupied in the cares of the house; and soldiers mounted on strong horses, and armed with long lances, drove the animals out of the corrals, and led them to the pasturage outside the camp. In fact, all was bustle and animation in this strange repair of the bandits, who called themselves the royal army; and yet, through all this excitement and apparent disorder it was easy to recognise a regulating mind, and a powerful will which directed all, without ever meeting objection or even hesitation on the part of the subordinates.

At the moment we enter the camp a man wearing the costume of the Gauchos of the Pampas Of Buenos Aires, lifted the frazada, a covering serving for a door to a toldo, built with some regularity, and after having cast around him a curious and anxious look, he left the toldo, though with some hesitation, and entered the street.

Like all the inhabitants of this singular centre of population, this man was armed to the teeth, with a sabre which hung at his left side, a pair of long pistols passed through his girdle, a knife with a straight blade fixed on his right polena, and the horn handle of which rested on his thigh, and a double-barrelled gun, which was thrown on his shoulder.

Notwithstanding this formidable arsenal which he carried with him, the man of whom we speak appeared by no means at his ease. His hesitating walk, the furtive glances which he continually threw around him – all denoted a misgiving which he tried vainly to conceal, but which he could not succeed in conquering.

"Parbleu!" murmured he, in a low voice, "I am an idiot, upon my honour! One man is as good as another; and if it should come to blows, it must. If I am killed – well, so much the better, for then all will be over. I should like that the more, as this absurd existence begins to weigh heavily on me. Never mind, I doubt whether Salvator Rosa, when he was among the brigands, ever saw such a complete collection of bandits as those with whom I have had the happiness of living for the last two months. What magnificent vagabonds! It would be impossible, I think, to meet their equals. Ah!" added he, with a sigh of regret, "If it were only possible for me to sketch some of them! But no, these fellows have no love for art; it is impossible to trace them for a moment. To the devil with that queer notion which made me stupidly abandon France to come here."

And Emile Gagnepain – for the reader has doubtless already recognised him – gave a second sigh, more profound than the first, and cast upward a despairing look.

Meanwhile, he continued to advance hastily towards one of the outlets of the camp. His step had become by degrees more firm: he had proudly raised his head, and had succeeded – with great difficulty, no doubt – in affecting the most complete carelessness.

The painter had nearly traversed the entire length of the camp; he had reached a rather large toldo, serving as a corps de garde for the soldiers, watching at the entrenchments; and he hastened his pace with the design, no doubt, of escaping the inquisitive questions of some lazy partisan, when he felt himself tapped on the shoulder. Although this touch had nothing aggressive in it, and was, on the contrary, quite friendly, the young man started; but, putting a good face on it, he immediately turned, and, assuming the most amiable look that he could, he held out his hand to him who had thus come upon him unawares, and smilingly saluted him with the buenos días caballero, which is the rule throughout Spanish territory.

"And you, Señor Frenchman," gaily answered his visitor, returning his salute, and gently pressing his hand, "you are well, I hope. It must be by chance like this for me to have the pleasure of glancing at your friendly face."

The painter was for a moment taken aback at this speech, the malicious tone of which did not escape him; but, conquering his emotion, and feigning the most complete friendliness —

"What do you wish, Don Pablo?" he answered; "This apparent negligence of which you complain is by no means my fault. The cares of your command occupy and absorb you so much that you become unapproachable, whatever desire I may have to visit you."

Don Pablo Pincheyra – for it was he – smiled craftily.

"Is that really the motive which makes you avoid me?" said he.

"Avoid you?"

"Well, find another expression if you can – I am agreeable; I will say abstain from seeking me, if you prefer it."