Les scalpeurs blancs. English. by Gustave Aimard
CHAPTER XX.
THE BIVOUAC.
As we have already said, Texas had reached a decisive epoch:unfortunately, her future seemed as gloomy as that of the conquered: inspite of the heroic efforts attempted by the Insurgents, the rapidprogress of the invasion was watched with terror, and no possible meansof resistance could be seen. Still it was this moment, when all appeareddesperate, which the Convention, calm and moved by a love of libertymore ardent than ever, selected to hurl a last and supreme defiance atthe invaders. Not allowing itself to be intimidated by evil fortune, theconvention replied to the menaces of the conquerors by a statement ofrights, and the definitive declaration of the independence of a countrywhich was almost entirely occupied by, and in the power of the Mexicans.It improvised a constitution, created a provisional executive authority,decreed all the measures of urgency which the gravity of circumstancesdemanded, and finally nominated General Sam Houston Commander-in-Chief,with the most widely extended powers.
Unhappily the Texan army no longer existed, for its previous defeatshad completely annihilated it. But if military organization might belacking, the enthusiasm was more ardent than ever. The Texans had swornto bury themselves under the smoking ruins of their plundered towns andvillages, sooner than return beneath the detested yoke of theiroppressors. And this oath they were not only prepared to keep, but hadalready kept at Bejar and Goliad: however low a people may appear, andis really in the sight of its tyrants, when all its acting strength isconcentrated in the firm and immutable will, to live free or die, it iscertain to recover from its defeats, and to rise again one day aconqueror, and regenerated by the blood of the martyrs who havesuccumbed in the supreme struggle of liberty against slavery.
General Houston had scarce been appointed ere he prepared to obey, andhe reached the banks of the Guadalupe three days after the capture ofthe Alamo. The Texan troops amounted to _three hundred_ men, badlyarmed, badly clothed, almost dying of hunger, but burning to take theirrevenge. General Houston was a stern and sincere patriot; his name isrevered in Texas, like that of Washington in the United States, or ofLafayette in France. Houston was a precursor, or one of those geniuseswhom it pleases God to create when He desires to render a people free.At the sight of this army of three hundred men, Houston was notdiscouraged; on the contrary, he felt his enthusiasm redoubled, theheroic relics of the ten thousand victims who had succumbed since thebeginning of the war had not despaired of the salvation of theircountry: like their predecessors, they were ready to die for her. It wasa sacred phalanx with which he would achieve miracles.
Still, it was not with these three hundred men, however brave andresolute they might be, that General Houston could entertain a hope ofdefeating the Mexicans, who, rendered presumptuous by their pastsuccesses, eagerly sought the opportunity to finish once for all withthe Insurgents, by crushing the last relics of their army. GeneralHouston, before risking an action on which the fate of his new countrywould doubtless depend, resolved to form an army once more; for thispurpose, instead of marching on the enemy, he fell back on the Colorado,and thence on the Brazos, burning and destroying everything in hispassage, in order to starve the Mexicans out.
These clever tactics obtained all the success the General expected fromthem; for a very simple reason: as he fell back on the Mexican frontier,his army was daily augmented by fresh recruits, who, on the report ofhis approach, left their houses or farms to enlist under his banner;while the contrary happened to the Mexicans, who at each march they madein pursuit of the Insurgents, left a few laggards behind, who by so muchdiminished their strength.
The Texan General had a powerful motive for falling back on the Americanfrontier; he hoped to obtain some help from General Gaines, who, by theorder of President Jackson, had advanced on Texan territory as far asthe town of Nagogdoches. Such was the state of affairs between Houstonand Santa Anna, the one retreating, the other continually advancing;though ere long they must meet face to face, in a battle which woulddecide the great question of a nation's emancipation or servitude.
On the day when we resume our narrative it was about eight in theevening, the heat had been stifling throughout the day, and althoughnight had fallen long before, this heat, far from diminishing, had butincreased; there was not a breath of air, the atmosphere was oppressive,and low lightning-laden clouds rolled heavily athwart the sky; all, infact, foreboded a storm.
On the banks of a rather wide stream, whose yellowish and turbid watersflowed mournfully between banks clothed with cotton-wood trees, thebivouac fires of a small detachment of cavalry might be seen glisteninglike stars in the darkness. This stream was a confluent of the Colorado,and the men encamped on its banks were Texans. They were but twenty-fivein number, and composed the entire cavalry of the Army of Independence:they were commanded by the Jaguar.
While the horsemen were sadly crouching over the fires, not far fromwhich their horses were hobbled, and conversing in a low voice; theirChief, who had retired to a jacal made of branches and lighted by asmoky candil, was sitting on an equipal with his back leant against atree trunk, with his arms folded on his chest and gazing at vacancy. TheJaguar was no longer the young and ardent man we introduced to ourreaders; his face was pale, his features contracted, and eyes blood-shotwith fever, and, though faith still dwelt in his heart, hope was dead.
The truth was that death had begun to make frightful gaps around him;his dearest friends, the most devoted supporters of the cause hedefended, had fallen one after the other in this implacable struggle. ElAlferez, Captain Johnson, Ramirez, Fray Antonio, were lying in theirbloody graves; of others he received no news, nor knew what had becomeof them; he therefore stood alone, like an oak bowed by the wind andbeaten by the storm, resisting intrepidly, but foreseeing hisapproaching fall.
General Houston, in his calculated retreat, had confided the command ofthe rear guard, that is to say, the most honourable and dangerous post,to the Jaguar; a post he had accepted with gloomy joy, as he felt surethat he would fall gloriously, while watching over the safety of all.
In the meantime the night became blacker and blacker, the horizon moremenacing; a white and sharp rain began piercing the grey fog; the stormwas rapidly approaching, and must soon burst forth. The soldiers watchedwith terror the progress of the storm, and instinctively sought shelteragainst this convulsion of nature, which was far more terrible than theother dangers which menaced them. For no one, who has not witnessed it,can form even a remote idea of an American hurricane, which twists treeslike wisps of straw, fires forests, levels mountains, drives streamsfrom their bed, and in a few hours convulses the surface of the soil.
Suddenly a dazzling flash furrowed the darkness, and a crashing burst ofthunder broke the majestic silence that brooded over the landscape. Atthe same instant the sentry stationed a few paces in front of thebivouac challenged. The Jaguar sprang up as if he had received anelectric shock, and bounding forward, as he mechanically seized theweapons lying within reach, listened. The dull sound of horses' hoofscould he heard on the soddened ground.
"Who's there?" the sentry challenged a second time.
"Friends," a voice replied.
"_?Que gente?_"
"Texas."
The Jaguar emerged from the jacal.
"To arms!" he shouted to his men, we must not let ourselves besurprised.
"Come, come," the voice continued, "I see that I have not diverged fromthe track, since I can hear the Jaguar."
"Halloh!" the latter said in surprise, "who are you, that you know me sowell?"
"By Jove! A friend whose voice should be familiar to you, at any rate."
"John Davis!" the young man exclaimed with a joy he did not attempt toconceal.
"All right!" the American continued gaily. "I thought that we shouldunderstand one another presently."
"Come, come; let him pass, men, he is a friend."
Five or six horsemen entered the camp and dismounted.
At this moment the storm burst forth furiously, passing like a w
For nearly three hours the hurricane raged, levelling everything in itspassage; at length, at about one in the morning, the rain became lessdense, the wind gradually calmed, the thunder rolled at longerintervals, and the sky, swept clean by a final effort of the tempest,appeared again blue and star-spangled; the hurricane had gone away tovent its fury in other regions. The men and horses rose; all breathedagain, and tried to restore a little order in the camp. This was no easytask, for the jacal had been carried away, the fires extinguished, andthe logs dispersed in all directions; but the Texans were tried men,long accustomed to the dangers and fatigues of desert life. The tempest,instead of crushing them, had, on the contrary, restored their strengthand patience, though not their courage, for that had never failed them.
They set gaily to work, and in two hours all the injury caused by thetempest was repaired as well as the precarious resources they had attheir disposal permitted; the fires were lighted again, and the jacalreconstructed. Any stranger who had entered the camp at this momentwould not have supposed that so short a time previously they had beenassailed by so fearful a hurricane. The Jaguar was anxious to talk withJohn Davis, whom he had only seen since his arrival, and had found itimpossible to exchange a syllable. When order was restored, therefore,he went up to him and begged him to enter the jacal.
"Permit me," the American said, "to bring with me three of my comradeswhom I am convinced you will be delighted to meet."
"Do so," the Jaguar answered; "who are they?"
"I will not deprive you," Davis, said, with a smile, "of the pleasure ofrecognizing them yourself."
The young Chief did not press the matter, for he knew the ex-slavedealer too well not to place the most perfect confidence in him. A fewminutes later, according to his promise, Davis entered the jacal withhis comrades; the Jaguar gave a start of joy at seeing them, and quicklywalked up to offer his hand. These three men were Lanzi, Quoniam, andBlack-deer.
"Oh, oh!" he exclaimed, "Here you are, then. Heaven be praised! I didnot dare hope for your return."
"Why not?" Lanzi asked; "As we are still alive, thanks to God! You oughtto have expected us."
"So many things have happened since our parting, so many misfortuneshave assailed us, so many of our friends have fallen not to rise again,that, on receiving no news of you, I trembled at the thought that youmight also be dead."
"You know, my friend," the American said, "that we have been absent avery long time, and are consequently quite ignorant of what has happenedsince our departure."
"Well, I will tell you all. But first one word."
"Speak."
"Where is Tranquil?"
"Only a few leagues from here, and you will soon see him; he sent meforward, indeed, to warn you of his speedy arrival."
"Thanks," the young man replied, pensively.
"Is that all you desire to know?"
"Nearly so, for of course you have received no news of ----?"
"News of whom?" the American asked, seeing that the Jaguar hesitated.
"Of Carmela?" he at length said, with a tremendous effort.
"Of Carmela?" John Davis exclaimed, in surprise: "How could we havereceived any news? Tranquil, on the contrary, hopes to hear some fromyou."
"From me?"
"Hang it! You must know better than any of us how the dear child is."
"I do not understand you."
"And yet it is very clear. I will not remind you in what way wesucceeded, after the capture of the Larch-tree, in saving the poor girlfrom that villain who carried her off; I will merely remind you that onthe very day when Tranquil and I, by your express orders, started tojoin Loyal Heart, the maiden was confided in your presence to CaptainJohnson, who would convey her to the house of a respectable lady atGalveston, who was willing to offer her a shelter."
"Well?"
"What do you mean by, well?"
"Yes, I knew all that, so it was useless to tell it me. What I ask youis, whether, since Carmela went to, Galveston, you have received anynews of her?"
"Why, it is impossible, my friend; how could we have received any?Remember that we proceeded to the desert."
"That is true," the young man replied, disconsolately; "I am mad.Forgive me."
"What is the matter? Why this pallor, my friend, this restlessness I seein your eyes?"
"Ah!" he said, with a sigh, "It is because I have received news ofCarmela, if you have not."
"You, my friend?"
"Yes, I."
"A long time ago, I presume?"
"No--yesterday evening," he said, with a bitter smile.
"I do not at all understand you."
"Well, listen to me. What I am going to tell you is not long, but it isimportant, I promise you."
"I am listening."
"We form, as you are doubtless aware, the extreme rear guard of the Armyof Liberation."
"Yes, I know that, and it helped me in finding your trail."
"Very good; hence hardly a day passes in which we do not exchange musketshots and sabre cuts with the Mexicans."
"Go on."
"Yesterday--you see it is not stale--we were suddenly charged by fortyMexican Horse; it was about three in the afternoon, when General Houstonwas crossing the river with the main body. We had orders to offer adesperate resistance, in order to protect the retreat. This order wasneedless; at the sight of the Mexicans we rushed madly upon them, andthe action at once commenced. After a few minutes' fighting the Mexicansgave way, and finally fled, leaving three or four dead on thebattlefield. Too weak to pursue the enemy, I had given my soldiersorders to return, and was myself preparing to do the same, when twoflying Mexicans, instead of continuing their flight, stopped, andfastening their handkerchiefs to their sabre blades, made me a signalthat they desired to parley. I approached the two men, who bore agreater likeness to bandits than to soldiers; and one of them, a man oftall stature and furious looks, said to me at once, when I asked themwhat they wanted--
"'To do you a service, if you are, as I suppose, the Jaguar.'
"'Yes, I am he,' I answered, 'but what is your name? Who are you?'
"'It is of little consequence who I am, provided that my intentions aregood.'
"'Still, I must know them.'
"'Hum!' he said, 'you are very distrustful, Comirado.'
"'Come, Sandoval,' the other horseman said, in a voice gentle as awoman's, as he suddenly joined in the conversation, 'do not beat aboutthus, but finish your business.'
"'I ask nothing better than to finish,' he replied, coarsely; 'it isthis gentleman who compels me to swerve, when I wished to go straightahead.'
"The second rider, shrugged his shoulders with a disdainful smile, andturned to me.
"'In a word, Caballero, here is a paper, which a person, in whom youtake great interest, requested us to deliver to you.'"
"I eagerly seized the paper, and prepared to open it, for a secretforeboding warned me of misfortune.
"'No,' the Mexican continued eagerly arresting my hand, 'wait till youhave joined your men again, to read that letter.'
"'I consent,' I said, 'but I presume you do not intend to do me agratuitous service, whatever its nature may be?'
"'Why so?'
"'Because you do not know me, and the interest you take in me must bevery slight.'
"'Perhaps so,' the rider answered; 'still, pledge yourself to nothing, Iwarn you, till you know the contents of that letter.'
"Then he made a signal to his comrade, and after bowing slightly, theystarted at a gallop, and left me considerably embarrassed at the way inwhich this singular interview had ended, and twisting in my fingers theletter I did not dare open."
"Well," the American muttered, "what did you, so soon as the men leftyou alone?"
"I looked after them a long time, and then, suddenly recalled to my dutyby several carbine shots whose bullets whizzed past my ears, I bent downover my horse's neck and regained the bivouac at full gallop. Onarriving, I opened the letter, for I was burning with impatience andcuriosity."
"And it was?"
"From Carmela."
"By Heavens!" the American said, as he slapped his thigh; "I would havewagered it."