Beadle's Dime Library, No. 149 — page 15: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

cessantly occupied in ling one against the other a ie inte ble civil wars, did not under- stand the purport of the American immigration, which they encouraged at the outset. eight ears had elapsed since the arrival of the first Americans in Texas, when they formed nearly the entire population. The Washington Cabinet no longer concealed its intentions, and spoke openly of buying from the Mexicans the territory of Texas, in which the Spanish element had almost entirely disappeared, to make room for the daring and mercantile spirit of the Anglo-Saxons, The Mexican Government, at last aroused from its long lethargy, understood the danger that threaten- ed it from the double invasion of the inhabitants of Missouri and Texasinto the State of Santa Fe. It tried to arrest the American immigration, but it was too late; the law Pe ant by the Mexican Congress was powerless, and the colonization was not arrest- ed, in spite of the Mexican military posts scattered along the border, with orders to turn the immigrants back, General Bustamante, President of the Republic, seeing that he would soon have to fight with the Americans, silently prepared for the conflict, and sent under different pretexts to Red river and the Sabina various bodies of troops, which presently at- tained to the number of 1200 men. Still, everything remained quiet apparently; and nothing evidenced the period when the struggle would commence, which a perfidy on the part of the governor of the Eastern provinces caused to break out at the moment when least expected. The facts were as follow: The Commandant of Anahuac arrested and put in prison several American colonists, without any plausible grounds. The Texans had hitherto patiently endured the in- numerable vexations which the Mexican officers made them undergo, but at thislast abuse of force they rose as if by one accord, and went under arms to the commandant, demanding with threats and angry shouts the immediate liberation of their fel- low-citizens. The commandant, too weak to resist openly, feigned to grant what was asked of him. but repre- sented that he required two days to fulfill certain formalities, and cover his own responsibility. The insurgents granted this delay, by which the commandant profited to send in all haste the Nacog- ar = garrison to help him, This age eee arrived at the moment. when the in- surgents, confiding on the governor’s promise, were withdrawing. Furious at having been so perfidiously deceived, the latter returned and made such an energetic de- monstration ‘that the Mexican officer considered himself fortunate in escaping a fight by surrendér- ing his prisoners. At this period, a pronvnciamento in favor of Santa Anna hurled General Bustamante from power to the cry of “‘ Long live the Federation!” Texas was extremely afraid of the system of cen- tralization, from which it would never have obtained the recognition of its independence as a separate State. and hence the people were unanimous for Federalism, The colonists rose, and joining the insurgents of Anahuae who were still under arms, marched reso- lutely on Fort Velasco, to which they laid —— The rallying cry was still ‘‘Lo live Federa- tion!’ But this time it concealed the cry of Inde- pendence, which the Texans were as yet too weak to raise. Fort Velasco was defended by a small Mexican garrison, commanded by a brave officer of the name of Ugartechea. During this extraordinary siege, in which the as- sailants only replied to the cannon with rifle bullets, both Texans and Mexicans performed prodigies of valor and displayed extraordinary obstinacy. The colonists, skillful marksmen, hidden behind enormous barricades, fired as at a mark, and killed the Mexican gunners whenever they showed them- selves to load their guns. Matters reached sucha point that the commandant, seeing his bravest sol- diers fall round him, devoted himself and set to work as artilleryman. Struck by this heroic cour- age, the Texans, who could have killed the brave commandant twenty tithes, ceased their fire, and Ugartechea at length surrendered, giving up a de- fense which was henceforth impossible. The success filled the colonists with joy, but Santa Anna was not deceived as to the object of the Texan insurrection; he understood that Federalism con- cealed a well-devised aw oer acal § movement, and far from trusting to the apparent devotion of the colonists, so soon as his power was sufficiently | strengthened to allow him to act energetically against them, ha sent off Colonel Mexia with four hundred men, to re-establish in Texas the greatly shaken Mexican authority. After many hesitations and diplomatic dodges, which had no possible result with ies, beth of which employed perfidy as their chief weapon, the war at le public safe gle. ) The civil war, however, had not yet officially broken out, when the man at length a “ld who was destined to decide the fate of TexXas, and for whom the glory of liberating it was reserved—we | ailude to Samuel Houston. From this moment the timid and pu less in- eurrection of Texas became a revolution. Still the | Mexican government remained apparenily the legiti- mate master of the colony, an nat denominated insurgents, and treated such, when they fell into the hands of their ene- mies; that is to say, they were without trial hung, drowned, or shot, according as the spot where they werempe tts suited one of these three modes of death. At the period when our story opens, the e tion a the Mexicans and the enthusiasm for the noble cause of Independence had reached their acme, About three weeks et a serious engage: ment had taken place between the garrison of Bejar and a detachment of Texan volunteers, commanded by Austin, one of the most renowned chiefs of the insurgents; in spite of their inferiority in numbers ee tt TL SSS SS s=ssss=sss—sseseseen—e <tt broke out furiously; a committee of | was organized at San Felipe, and the | Deore were called upon to take part in the strug-_ affirmation; “ you are deucedly clever, ny boy.” ’ and orance of tactics, fo sem bravely, and worked their. ski ully, that the Mexican after un serious losses, were compelled to retreat preci - ly on Bejar This action was the first on the west of Texas after the capture of Fort Velasco; it decided the revolu- tionary movement which ran through the country like a train of gunpowder. On all sides the towns raised troops to join the army of liberation; resistance was organized on a grand scale,and bold guerrilla chiefs began traversing the country in every direction, making war on their own account, and serving after their fashion the cause they embraced and which they were supposed to be defending. Captain Don Juan Melendez, surrounded by ene- mies the more dangerous because it was impossible for him to know their numbers or guess their move- ments; intrusted with an extreme delicate mission ; having at each my a prescience of treachery inces- ne menacing, though ignorant where, when, or how it would burst on him; was com lied to em- ploy extreme precautions and a merciless severity, if he wished to get safe home the precious charge confided to him; hence he had not hesitated before the necessity of instituting an example by roughly punishing Padre Antonio, For along time past, grave ee had been gather ne over the monk; his ambiguous conduct ad aroused distrust, and caused presumptions in no way favorable to his honesty. Don Juan had determined toclear up his doubts at the first ame oer ni that offered; we have stated in what way he had succeeded by springing a counter- mine, thatis to say, by having the spy watched by others more skillful than himself, and catching him almost red-handed. 4 Still, we must do the worthy monk the justice of declaring that his conduct had not the slightest po- litical motive; his thoughts were not so elevated as that; knowing that the captain was intrusted with the mpeg of a conducta de plata, he had only tried to draw him into a trap, for the sake of having a share in the plunder, and making his fortune at a stroke, in order that he might enjoy those indul- gences he had hitherto gone without; his ideas did not extend further, the worthy man was simply a highway robber, but there was nothing of the poli- tician about him. We will leave him for the present to follow the two hunters to whom he was indebted for the rude chas- tisement he received, and who quitted the camp im- mediately after the execution of the sentence. These two men went off at great , and, after descending the hill, buried themselves in a thic's wood, where two magnificent prairie horses, hali- tamed mustangs, with flashing eye and cate limbs, were quietly browsing, while waiting fur tix riders; they were saddled in readiness forinw bits in their mouths, mounted, and digging iu t... spurs, started at a sharp gallop. —————— mee eC --— wes After unfastening the napeses the huntors ) .« the | ~ } trade is a queer one, as you know, and it is poesiine thal some 7 Re ‘other this accursed pat l may play us an ck.” “Don’t bother about him; what we did was all fairin war. Be assured-that, under similar circum- stances, the monk would not have spared us.” “That is true; so let him go to the deuce; the more so as the prey we covet could net be in a bet- tos ey poem for us. Ishould never pardon myself et it ym ‘“*Shall we remain here in ambush?” “That is the safest way; we shall have time to re- join our comrades when we see the recua enter the ; aevurt and, besides, have we not to meet somebody ere?’’ “That is true, I forgot it.” “And stay, when you speak of the devil—here is our man.” The hunters rose quickly, seized their rifles, and hid themselves behind a rock, so as to be ready for any event. . e rapid gallop of a horse became’ audible, ap- proaching nearer and nearer; ere long a rider emerged from the gorge and poles up calmly and haughtily at about two paces from the hunters. | The latter rushed for their ambuscade, and ad- vanced toward him, with the right arm extended, and the palm of the hand open in sign of peace, The horseman, who was an Indian warrior, re- nded to these pacific demonstrations by err a his buffalo robe float out; then he dismoun an without further ceremony, shook the hands o ered ‘*'You are welcome, chief,’’ John said; “‘we were awaiting you impatiently.’ " **My pale brothers can look at the sun,” the In- answered; ‘‘ Blue-fox is punctual.’* “That is true, chief; there is nothing to be said, for you are remarkably punctual.” ' aS Tim e waits for no man; warriors are not women; Blue-fox would like to hold a council with his pale. brothers.”’ “Be it so,” John went on; “ your observation is just, chief, so let us deliberate; I am anxious to come to a definite mpperstanding: Wap FOU do. W The Indian bowed gravely the speaker, sat down, lit his pipe, and gan smoking with e t pleasures the hunters took seats by his side, ¢ i ike him, remained silent during the whole 0 their tobacco lasted. ) st At length the chief shook the ashes out of the bow] on his thumb-nail, and aes Felgen igh Aft the same instant a detonation was heard, and . pallies cut away a branch just over the chief's. ead, ' ee ~~ The three men leaped to their feet, and seizing their arms, prepared bravely to repulse the enemies who attacked them so suddenly. - CHAPTER XVII. THE PANTHER-KILLER, ; ree BrrwerEn the Larch-tree hacienda and the Venta . They rode for a long distance, bent over their | del Potrero, just spor ey | between the two places, r horses’ necks, following no regular path, but going straight on, caring little for the obstacles they met on their passage, and which they cleared with in- finite skill; about an hour before sunrise they at length stopped. They had reached the entrance of a narrow gorge, flanked on both sides by lofty wooded hills, the put of the mountains, whose denuded erests seemed from their proximity to hang over the landscape. The hunters dismounted before entering the BOrRe, and after hoppling their horses, which they hid in a clump of floripondios, they began exploring the neighborhood with the care and sagacity of Indian warriors see booty on the war-trail. Their researches remained for a long time sterile, which could easily be perceived from the exclama- tions of disappointment they every now and then vented in a low voice: at length, after two hours, the first beams of the sun dissipated the darkness, and the reeived some almost imperceptible traces which made them start with joy. Probably feeling now liberated from the anxiety that tormented them, they returned to their horses, lay down on the ground, and after fumbling in their alforjas, drew from them the materials for a modest breakfast, to which they did honor with the formid. able appetite of men who have spent the whole pages in the saddle, riding over mountains and val- eys. | since their departure from the Mexican camp the hunters had not exchanged a syllable, apparently acting under the influence of a dark preoccupation, which rendered any conversation unnecessary. In fact, the silence of men accustomed to desert life is peculiar; they pass whole days without utter- ing a word, only speaking when necessity obliges them, and generally substituting for oral language that language of signs which, in the first place, has the incontestable advantage of not betraying the presence of those who employ it to the ears ‘%of in- visible enemies constantly on the watch, and ready to leap, like birds of prey, on the imprudeut persons. who allow themselves to be surprised. When the hunters’ appetite was ap whom the captain called John lit his short ipe, ples it in the corner of his mouth, and handed e bacco-pouch to,his comrade, ‘Well, Sam,” he said in a low voice, as if afraid of being overheard, ‘* I fancy we have succeeded, eh?” ‘1 think so too, John,” Sam replied with a nod of there paniards; ‘““No matter; the captain fell into the hole in a “* Nonsense,’ the eos said disdainful ) is no merit in deceiving those brutes of | they are stupid as bustards,”’ the colonists were | as | glorious way.’’ ‘*Hum! it was not he I was afraid of; for he and I have been oy friends for a long time; but it was the confounded monk.” “Eh, eh, if he had not arrived just in time, he would probably have spoiled our fun; what is your opinion, John?” “I think you are right, Sam. By jabers, I la a0 at os =e writhe ee ae eee ‘It was certainly a glorious t; but are you not afraid that he may avenge himself? these monks are devi spiteful.” ‘*Bah! what have we to fear from such vermin? he will never dare to look usin the face,”’ ‘*No matter, we had better be on our guard. Our —— — bles and shru , the one. or at about forty miles from either, two men were sitting on the banks of a nameless stream, and con- versing, as they supped on pemmican and a few boiled camotes, These two men were Tranquil, the Canadian, and Quoniam, the negro. ' | About fifty yards from them, in a copse of bram- bo a young colt about two months old was fastened to the trunk of a gigantic catalpa. The poor animal, after making vain efforts to the cord that held it, had at length recogni the inutility of its attempts, and had sorrowfully lain down on the ground. The two men, whom we left young at the end of our prologue, had now reached the second half of life. Although age had got but a slight grasp on their iron bodies, a few gray whitey vid tem to silver the . hunter’s scalp, and wrinkles furrowed his face, - which was bronzed by the changes of the seasons. Still, with the exception of these slight ares which serve asa seal to ripened age, nothing | noted ny weakening p. he een de: the con- trary, his eye was 8 gh is equall straight, Fe his limbs just as muscular, e ; As for the negro, no apparent change had taken lace in him, and he seemed as young as ever; he ad merely prom lustier, but had lost none of his unparalleled activity. : he spot where the two wood-rangers had was certainly one of the most picturesque on the prairie. The midnight breeze had swept the sky, wh dark blue vault seemed studded with innume spangles of diamonds, in the midst of which the southern cross shone; the moon poured forth white rays, which imparted to objects a fantastic appearance; the night had that velvety transparence peculiar to twilight; at each gust of wind the trees shook their damp heads, and rained a shower, which pattered on the shrubs. The river flowed on calmly between its mposed | banks, looking in the distance like asiiver riband, and reflecting in its peaceful mirror the trembling rays of the moon, which had proceeded about two- thirds of its course. pe al So great was tho silence of the d that the fall of a withered leaf, or the rustling of a branch agi- tated by the passage of a reptile, could be heard. The two men were conversing in a low voice; but, singularly enough with men so habituated to desert life, their night encampment, instead of , ac- cording to the invariable rules of the prairie, te on the top of a hillock, was placed on the slope that descended gently to the river, and inthe mud of which numerous footprints of more than a suspi- cious nature were incrusted, the majority belonging to the family of the great Carnivora, : In spite of the sharp cold of night, and the icy dew which e them tremble, the hunters had lit no fire; still they would assuredly have derived great comfort from warming their bs over the. , flames; the negro scially, who was ligh a.” in drawers that left his legs uncovered, and @ trembling ment of a zarape, full of holes, was over. | Tranquil, who was more warmly attirea in the garb of Mexican Campesinos, did not the cold Ay all; with his rile naan cen his’ legs, he gazed out in e dar or listened to any sound perceptible to him shane, while he talked to the COMIcboo ) ; * 7 —— oa : i - . a : We “ e - R: a, . - - Pee . a, > > . ™ 4 sea : oa » % : P . . ‘ ~~, ¢ . — ss _ > : Pz x he 4 —— . _. , * ) 3 : 1, «« .