The Pearl of the Andes: A Tale of Love and Adventure

The warriors who had brought the senator remained without, to execute the orders they might receive.

"You said," the general continued, as soon as they were in the toldo, "that you were going home at Casa Azul."

"Yes, general."

"Why that sigh? nothing that I am aware of will be opposed to the continuation of your journey."

"Do you mean that?" the senator exclaimed.

"Hum! that depends entirely upon yourself."

"How so?"

"Deliver up to the Toqui the order which Don Tadeo de León has charged you."

"What order do you mean, general?"

"Why, the one you probably have."

"You are mistaken, general; I am not charged with any mission to General Fuentes, I am sure."

"And yet the Toqui asserts the contrary."

"This man lies; he must have a necklace," said Antinahuel.

"It is very easy to ascertain that." said the general, coolly. "Black Stag, my friend, please to have this caballero suspended by the thumbs to the next tree."

The senator shuddered.

"I beg you to observe," the general continued, "that we do not commit the rudeness of searching you."

"But I assure you I have no order."

"Bah! and I am certain you will find one – there is nothing like being suspended by the thumbs."

"Come," said Black Stag.

The senator bounded away from him with fear.

"Well, I think I recollect – " he stammered.

"There, you see."

"That I am the bearer of a letter."

"Just as I said you were."

"But I am ignorant of its contents."

"Caramba! that is very likely."

"Well, to General Fuentes, I suppose. But if I give you up the paper shall I be free?" he asked.

"Hum! the position is changed. If you had given it up with a good grace I could have guaranteed your freedom."

"Still!"

"Come, give it to me."

"Here it is," said the senator, drawing it from his bosom.

The general took the paper, ran his eye rapidly over it, then drawing Antinahuel to the other extremity of the toldo, they talked together for some minutes in a low voice. At length the general turned towards the senator.

"Unhappy fool!" he said, sternly; "Is it thus you betray me, after the proofs of friendship I have given you?"

"I assure you, general – " the other began.

"Silence, you miserable spy!" the general replied; "You wished to sell me to my enemies, but God has not permitted the execution of so black a project."

The senator was annihilated.

"Take away this man," said Antinahuel.

The poor wretch struggled in vain in the hands of the Indian warriors, who seized him roughly, and dragged him out of the toldo, in spite of his cries and tears. Black Stag led them to the foot of an enormous espino, whose thick branches formed a wide shadow on the hill. When they arrived there, Don Ramón made a last and powerful effort, escaped from the hands of his surprised guards, and darted away like a madman up the steep acclivity of the mountain.

But this wild race lasted only a few minutes, and quite exhausted his strength. When the Indian warriors overtook him, which they easily did, terror had already nearly killed him. The warriors placed the noose of a lasso round his neck, and then threw it up over the principal branch of the espino. But he was dead when they hanged him – fright had killed him. It was written that poor Don Ramón Sandias, the victim of a foolish ambition, should never see Casa Azul again.

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE AUCA-COYOG

The tragical death of the senator was only the consequence of his well-known pusillanimity. If the general had believed it possible to place any reliance upon his word, he would have released him immediately.

Immediately after the execution of the senator, the heralds convened the chiefs to a grand Auca-coyog. Thirty Ulmens and Apo-Ulmens were quickly assembled at the place appointed. Antinahuel soon appeared, followed by General Bustamente. Antinahuel held in his hand the letter taken from Don Ramón, and he spoke as follows: —

"Ulmens, Apo-Ulmens, and chiefs of the four Uthal-mapus of the Araucanian confederacy, I have convoked you by the heralds to communicate to you a necklace taken from the spy who by my order has just been put to death. This necklace will cause us to alter our arrangements, I think, for the malocca, on account of which we have assembled. Our ally, the Great Eagle of the Whites, will explain it to you. Let my brother read," he added, turning towards the general.

The latter read with a loud voice: —

"'MY DEAR GENERAL, – I have submitted to the council assembled at Valdivia the objections you have thought it your duty to make on the subject of the plan of the campaign. These objections have been found just; consequently the following plan has been modified according to your observations. You will continue, then, to cover the province of Concepción, by holding the line of the Bio Bio, which you will not cross without fresh orders. On my side, with seven thousand men, I will march upon Arauca, of which I will take possession and destroy. This plan offers us the more chances of success, from the enemy being, as we learn from trustworthy spies, in a deceitful security with regard to our movements. The bearer of this order is a person you know, whose nullity itself will facilitate the means of passing through the enemy's lines. You will get rid of this individual by sending him to his home, with an injunction not to leave it.'"

"'Signed,DON TADEO DE LEÓN,'""'Dictator and General-in-Chief of'""'the Army of Liberation."

The reading of this despatch was listened to by the chiefs with the deepest attention.

"This necklace," said Antinahuel, "was traced in private characters, which our brother the paleface has succeeded in deciphering. What do the Ulmens think?"

One of the ancient Toquis arose.

"The palefaces are very cunning," he said; "they are foxes in malice and jaguars in ferocity. This order is a snare for the good faith of the Aucas. But Aucas warriors are wise; they will laugh at the machinations of the Huincas, and will continue to guard the ford of the Bio Bio. The communications of the whites are cut off, like a serpent whose body has been divided by a stroke of the hatchet: they in vain seek to unite the various trunks of their army, but they will not succeed. I have spoken."

This speech, pronounced in a firm, clear voice, by one of the most justly respected chiefs of the nation, produced a certain effect.

"The chief has spoken well," said the general; "I coincide entirely with his opinion."

Another chief then arose and spoke in his turn.

"The whites are very cunning, as my father has said; they are foxes without courage – they can only massacre women and children, and run away at the sight of an Aucas warrior. But this necklace tells the truth, and translates their thoughts literally. Chiefs, we all have wives and children, and we ought in the first place to think of their safety. Let us be prudent, chiefs; let us not throw ourselves into a snare while we think we are laying one for our enemies."

The Araucanos have a deep affection for their families; and the idea of leaving them behind, exposed to the disasters of war, gave them great uneasiness. General Bustamente anxiously followed the fluctuations of the council.

"What my brother has remarked is just, but his opinions only rest upon an hypothesis; the whites do not employ forces in such numbers to attempt an invasion of the Araucano territory. Let my brothers leave in the camp a thousand resolute warriors to defend the passage, and at nightfall cross the Bio Bio boldly, and I will answer for their success."

"My brother is a skilful warrior," said Antinahuel; "the plan he proposes shows his experience. As he says, until I have proof to the contrary, I shall believe the necklace to be a deceit; and that we ought, this very night, to invade the territories of the whites."

The general breathed freely; his cause, he thought, was gained. Suddenly Black Stag entered, and took his place in the assembly.

"What is going on?" the Toqui asked.

"Listen!" said Black Stag, in a solemn tone; "Illecura, Borea, and Nagotten have been given up to the flames, and the inhabitants put to the sword; another body of troops, still more considerable than the first, is acting in the flat country in the same manner as the other in the maritime country."

The most violent agitation seized on the Ulmens; nothing was heard but cries of rage and despair.

"What do we wait for, chiefs of the Aucas?" cried the chief who had advised retreat, in a shrill, excited tone; "Do you not hear the cries of your wives and children calling upon you for succour? Do you not see the flames which are consuming your dwellings and devouring your harvests? To arms! warriors, to arms!"

"To arms!" the warriors yelled, rising as one man.

Indescribable confusion followed. General Bustamente retired with death in his heart.

"Well!" the Linda asked, on seeing him enter, "what is going on? What mean these cries and this frightful tumult? Have the Indians revolted?"

"No," the general explained, "Don Tadeo, that demon, bent upon my destruction, has disconcerted all my plans. The Indian army is about to retreat."

"To retreat!" the Linda cried furiously, and rushing towards Antinahuel —

"What! you! you fly! you confess yourself conquered! Don Tadeo de León, the executioner of your family, is marching against you, and you are frightened! Coward! coward! put on petticoats; you are not a warrior! you are not a man; you are an old woman."

The Toqui put her back with disdain.

"Woman, you are mad!" he said. "What can one man do against fate? I do not fly from my enemy, I go to meet him."

"My sister cannot remain here," he said, in a softened tone; "the camp is about to be broken up."

The poor girl followed mechanically, without reply.

A few minutes later the camp was struck, and the Araucanos abandoned the impregnable position. At the reiterated entreaties of Bustamente, Antinahuel consented to leave a chosen band of eight hundred warriors to defend the passage.

Black Stag was a prudent warrior. As soon as the night came on, he dispersed scouts in all directions upon the banks of the river. Yielding, in spite of himself, to the influence produced by the report of the spies, he had, in the first moment, advised retreat; but, upon reflection, it was not long before he suspected a ruse de guerre.

His suspicions had not deceived him. Between eleven and twelve o'clock at night, his scouts came hastily in to warn him that a long line of horsemen had lately left the Chilian bank, and were gliding along like an immense serpent near the ford. Black Stag had but two hundred and fifty warriors armed with guns, so he placed them in the first line upon the bank, supported by his lancers. When they deemed them within range the Araucano warriors made a discharge upon the horsemen who were crossing the river. Several fell. At the same instant four pieces of cannon were unmasked on the opposite bank, which spread death and terror among the Indians.

A strong detachment had, in the meantime, cleared the ford, and fell upon them with the utmost fury. From that time the struggle had no equality. The Aucas, notwithstanding their courage, were obliged to give ground, leaving nearly two hundred dead on the banks of the river.

The plan conceived by Don Tadeo de León had completely succeeded. The army of General Fuentes had forced the passage of the Bio Bio. Thus, thanks to the ruse employed by the dictator, the ground upon which the quarrel was to be decided was changed, and the Aucas were forced to defend themselves at home. Instead of invaders, as they wished to be, they found themselves, on the contrary, the invaded; the campaign might now be terminated by the gaining of a single battle.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE HUMAN SACRIFICE

The army commanded by General Fuentes was composed of two thousand foot, eight hundred horse, and six pieces of cannon. It was an imposing force for these countries, where the population is very small, and where infinite pains are often required to raise an army half as numerous. As soon as the passage was effected, and the banks cleared of the fugitives, the general encamped his troops, resolved to give them a few hours' repose before resuming his march to form a junction with Don Tadeo de León. After giving these orders, as he was entering his marquee, an Indian came towards him.

"What do you want, Joan?" asked he.

"The great chief no longer needs me; Joan wishes to return to him who sent him."

"You are at liberty to do as you please, my friend; but I think you had better accompany the army."

The Indian shook his head.

"I promised my father to return immediately," he said.

"Go, then; I neither can nor wish to detain you; you can report what you have seen; a letter might compromise you in case of a surprise."

"I will do as the great chief commands."

"Well, good fortune attend you; but be particularly careful not to be taken in passing the enemy's lines."

"Joan will not be taken."

"Farewell! then, my friend," said the general, waving his hand as he entered his tent.

Joan took advantage of the permission granted and left the camp without delay. The night was dark; the moon was concealed behind thick clouds. The Indian directed his course with difficulty in the obscurity. He was more than once forced to retrace his steps, and to go wide about to avoid places which he thought dangerous. He proceeded thus, feeling his way as it were, till daybreak. At the first glimmering of dawn he glided like a serpent through the high grass, raising his head occasionally, and trembling in spite of himself, for he found he had, in the darkness, stumbled upon an Indian encampment. He had, inadvertently, got into the midst of the detachment commanded by Black Stag, who had succeeded in collecting the remains of his troops, and who, at that moment, formed the rearguard of the Araucanian army, whose bivouac fires smoked on the horizon, within distance of two leagues at the most.

But Joan was not a man to be easily disconcerted; he noticed that the sentinels had not yet perceived him, and he did not despair of getting out of the scrape he had blundered into. He did not, however deceive himself or attempt to fancy his position not critical; but as he confronted it coolly, he resolved to do all he could to extricate himself, and took his measures accordingly. After reflecting for a few seconds, he crept in a direction opposite to that he had before followed, stopping at intervals to listen. Everything went on well for a few minutes; nothing stirred. A profound silence seemed to hover over the country; Joan was beginning to breathe freely; in a few minutes he should be safe. Unfortunately, at that moment chance brought Black Stag directly before him; the vigilant chief had been making the round of his posts. The vice-Toqui turned his horse towards him.

"My brother must be tired; he has crept through the grass like a viper so long," he said, with an ironical smile; "he had better change his position."

"That is just what I am going to do," said Joan, without displaying the least astonishment.

And bounding up like a panther, he leaped upon the horse behind the chief, and seized him round the body.

"Help!" Black Stag cried, in a loud voice.

"One word more and you are a dead man!" Joan whispered in a threatening tone.

But it was too late; the chief's cry of alarm had been heard, and a crowd of warriors hastened to his succour.

"Cowardly dog!" said Joan, who saw his chance was gone, but who did not yet despair; "die then!" He plunged his poisoned dagger between his shoulders and cast him onto the ground, where the chief writhed in the agonies of death, and expired as if struck by thunderbolt. Joan lifted his horse with his knees and dashed full speed against the Indians who barred his passage. This attempt was a wild one. A warrior armed with a gun took a steady aim, the horse rolled upon the ground, with its skull crushed, and dragging its rider with it in the fall. Twenty warriors rushed upon Joan, and bound him before he could make a movement to defend himself. But he had time to conceal the dagger, which the Indians did not even think of looking for, as they did not know what weapon he had employed.

The death of Black Stag, one of the most respected warriors of the nation, threw the Araucanos into a state of consternation. An Ulmen immediately took the command in his place, and Joan and a Chilian soldier captured in the preceding combat, were sent together to the camp of Antinahuel. The latter felt great regret at receiving the news of the death of Black Stag; it was more than a friend he had lost, it was a right arm!

Antinahuel, in order to reanimate the courage of his people, resolved to make an example, and sacrifice the prisoners to Guecubu, the genius of evil – a sacrifice which we must admit is becoming more and more rare among the Aucas, but to which they have recourse sometimes when they wish to strike their enemies with terror, and to prove that they mean to carry on a war without mercy. Time pressed, the army must continue its march, therefore Antinahuel determined that the sacrifice should take place at once.

At some distance beyond the camp the principal Ulmens and warriors formed a circle, in the centre of which was planted the Toqui's hatchet. The prisoners were brought thither. They were not bound, but in derision were mounted upon a horse without ears and without a tail. Joan, as the more culpable, was to be sacrificed last, and witness the death of his companion as a foretaste. But if at that fatal moment everything seemed to have abandoned the valiant Indian, he had not abandoned himself.

The Chilian prisoner was a rough soldier, well acquainted with Araucanian manners, who knew perfectly what fate awaited him. He was placed near the hatchet, with his face turned toward the Chilian frontiers. They made him dismount from his horse, placed in his hands a bundle of small rods and a pointed stick, with which they obliged him to dig a trench, in which to plant one after the other the little wands, while pronouncing the names of the Araucano warriors he had killed in the course of his long career. To every name the soldier pronounced, he added some cutting speech addressed to his enemies who replied to him by horrible execrations. When all the wands were planted Antinahuel approached.

"The Huinca is a brave warrior," said Antinahuel; "he will fill up this trench with earth in order that the glory and valour of which he has given proofs during his life may remain buried in this place."

"So be it!" said the soldier; "but you will soon see that the Chilians possess more valiant soldiers."

And he carelessly threw the earth into the trench. This terminated, the Toqui made him a sign to place himself close to the hatchet; the soldier obeyed. Antinahuel raised his club and crushed his skull. The poor wretch fell, but was not quite dead, and he struggled convulsively. Two machis immediately sprang upon him, opened his breast and tore out his heart, which they presented, palpitating as it was, to the Toqui. The latter sucked the blood, and then passed the heart to the Ulmens, who followed his example.

In the meantime, the crowd of warriors seized upon the carcass, which they cut to pieces in a few minutes, reserving the bones to make war whistles of. They then placed the head of the prisoner on a pike, and danced round it to the sound of a frightful song, accompanied by the pipes made from the bones.

Joan's eye and ear were on the watch at the moment when this frightful saturnalia were at their apogee, he judged the time propitious, turned his horse, and fled as fast as he could. A few minutes confusion ensued, of which Joan took full advantage; but the Araucanos hastened to pursue him. He soon perceived that the distance between him and his enemies rapidly diminished. He was passing by the side of a hill, whose steep ascent could not be climbed by horses, and with the quickness of conception peculiar to brave men he divined that this would be his only chance of safety. He guided his horse so as, in a manner, to brush the hill, and get upright in his saddle. The Araucanos came up, uttering loud cries. All at once, seizing a strong branch of a tree, he sprang from his saddle, and climbed up the branch with the velocity of a tiger cat. The warriors shouted with rage and astonishment at beholding this extraordinary feat.

Nevertheless, the Araucanos had by no means given up all hopes of retaking their prisoner. They left their horses at the foot of the mountain, and half a score of the most zealous and active set off upon Joan's track. But the latter had now some space in advance. He continued to mount, clinging by feet and hands, and only stopping when nature commanded to take breath.

But he found that a longer struggle would be useless; that at length he was really lost.

The Araucanos came up panting from their long run, brandishing their lances and clubs with cries of triumph. They were not more than fifty paces from him at the most. At this awful moment Joan heard a voice whisper —

"Lower your head!"

He obeyed, without thinking of what was going on around him, or of whence this recommendation could come. The sound of four shots rattled sharply in his ears, and four Indian warriors rolled lifeless on the ground before him. Restored to himself by this unhoped-for succour, Joan bounded forward and stabbed one of his adversaries, whilst four fresh shots stretched four more upon the earth.

Joan was saved! He looked around him to ascertain to whom he owed his life. Valentine, Louis, and the two Indian chiefs stood beside him. These were the four friends who, watching from a distance the camp of the Araucanos, had witnessed the desperate flight of Joan, and had come bravely to his aid.

"Well, Joan, old fellow!" said Valentine, laughing, "you have had a narrow escape!"

"Thanks!" said Joan, warmly; "I shall not forget."

"I think we should act wisely if we now placed ourselves in safety," Louis observed.

"Don Louis is right." said Trangoil-Lanec.

The five men plunged into the woods of the mountain; but they had no occasion to dread an attack. Antinahuel, upon hearing the reports which the warriors who had escaped the Frenchmen's rifles gave of the number of enemies they had to combat, was persuaded that the position was occupied by a strong detachment of the Chilian army: consequently, he struck his camp, and went away in one direction, whilst the adventurers escaped in another.

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE KING OF DARKNESS

Don Tadeo de León had manoeuvred with the greatest skill and promptitude: supporting his left upon the sea, and pivoting upon Arauca, the capital of the confederation, he had extended his right along the mountains, so as to cut off the communications of the enemy, who, by his junction with General Fuentes, found themselves placed between two fires.

Antinahuel, deceived by the false message found on Don Ramón, had committed the unpardonable fault of raising his camp of the Bio Bio, and thus leaving a free passage for General Fuentes. General Bustamente had viewed with despair the faults his ally had committed, faults which the latter would not allow till it was too late to remedy.

Doña Maria, the woman who had been his evil genius, abandoned him now. The Linda, faithful to her hatred, only thought of one thing – to make Doña Rosario suffer as much as she could.

Antinahuel had endeavoured to throw himself into the mountains, but all his efforts had been in vain, and he had only obtained the result he wished to avoid – that is to say, he had placed himself between three corps d'armée, which, by degrees, closed round him, and had ended by placing him in the annoying obligation of fighting upon ground which it pleased the enemy to choose instead of in his own country, Don Gregorio Peralta closed up his passage towards the sea; Don Tadeo de León on the side of the Arauca; whilst General Fuentes defended the approach to the mountains.

All the marches and counter-marches which led to this result had lasted a fortnight. Don Tadeo was anxious to strike a great blow, and terminate the war in a single battle. On the day with which we resume the course of our narrative, the Araucanos and Chilians were at length in presence: Don Tadeo de León, shut up in his tent with Don Gregorio, General Fuentes, and several other superior officers of his staff, was giving them his last orders, when a summons of trumpets was heard from without. The Chilians immediately replied; an aide-de-camp entered the tent, and announced that the Grand Toqui of the Araucanos demanded an interview.