The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 367, May 1846, by Various This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 367, May 1846 Author: Various Release Date: November 1, 2009 [EBook #30388] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH *** Produced by Brendan OConnor, Jonathan Ingram and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Library of Early Journals.) BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. NO. CCCLXVII. MAY, 1846. VOL. LIX. CONTENTS. THE STUDENT OF SALAMANCA. PART THE LAST, 513 SHAKESPEARE AND THE DRAMA, 534 BIRBONIANA; OR, ITALIAN ANTIQUARIES AND ANTICHITÀ, 543 THE AMERICANS AND THE ABORIGINES. PART I., 554 STATE OF IRELAND—ITS CONDITION—THE LIFE AND PROPERTY BILL—THE DEBATE, AND THE FAMINE, 572 THE MODERN PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, 604 THE ILIAD OF HOMER—BOOK THE FIRST. (IN ENGLISH HEXAMETERS,) 610 PROSPECTUS, 621 TRUTH AND BEAUTY, 624 THE CAMPAIGN OF THE SUTLEJ, 625 EDINBURGH: WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, 45, GEORGE STREET; AND 22, PALL-MALL, LONDON. To whom all Communications (post paid) must be addressed. [Pg 512] SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND HUGHES, EDINBURGH. BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND HUGHES, EDINBURGH. NO. CCCLXVII. MAY, 1846. VOL. LIX. THE STUDENT OF SALAMANCA. Part the Last. THERE WAS A CROWD AND A CLAMOUR IN THE PRINCIPAL COFFEE-HOUSE OF PAMPELUNA AT NINE O'CLOCK ON A JULY EVENING, THAT OF THE FIRST DAY AFTER DON BALTASAR'S ESCAPE FROM THE TOWN. THE NUMEROUS TABLES WERE SURROUNDED BY OFFICERS OF CORDOVA'S ARMY, STILL FLUSHED WITH THEIR RECENT VICTORY, AND EAGER TO ENJOY TO THE UTMOST A PERIOD OF RELAXATION, WHICH, FOR AUGHT THEY KNEW, THE NEXT DAY MIGHT BRING TO A CLOSE. GREAT WAS THE CLATTERING OF GLASSES AND THE CONSUMPTION OF ICES AND refrescos, RENDERED ESPECIALLY GRATEFUL BY THE EXTREME HEAT OF THE WEATHER; LONG AND LOUD WERE THE PEALS OF LAUGHTER THAT ECHOED THROUGH THE APARTMENTS, AND DENSE THE CLOUDS OF TOBACCO SMOKE, WHICH, IN SPITE OF OPEN DOORS AND WINDOWS, FLOATED ABOVE THE HEADS OF THE JOVIAL ASSEMBLY. IN ONE ROOM A PARTY OF MONTÉ-PLAYERS, GROUPED ROUND A BAIZE-COVERED TABLE, ON WHICH WERE DISPLAYED PILES OF GOLD AND SILVER COIN, AND PACKS OF SPANISH CARDS, WITH THEIR QUEER DEVICES OF HORSES, SUNS, AND VASES, NOTWITHSTANDING THE NUMEROUS GENERAL ORDERS PROHIBITING GAMBLING IN THE ARMY, WERE BUSY IN INCREASING OR GETTING RID OF A SMALL AND RECENTLY MADE ISSUE OF PAY. HERE COMPARATIVE STILLNESS REIGNED, ONLY BROKEN BY THE MONOTONOUS VOICES OF THE BANKERS, OR BY AN OCCASIONAL ANGRY EJACULATION FROM SOME UNLUCKY SUBALTERN WHO SAW HIS last dollar drawn into the vortex, without any means occurring to him whereby to replenish his empty pockets. The other APARTMENTS WERE THRONGED TO SUFFOCATION; EVEN THE BALCONIES WERE FILLED WITH IDLERS, LEANING OVER THE BALUSTRADE, PUFFING THEIR CIGARS AND LISTENING TO A BAND OF AMATEUR MUSICIANS, WHO PERFORMED A SERENADE, IN HONOUR OF HIS LATE VICTORY, UNDER the windows of the commander-in-chief. IN A CORNER OF THE COFFEE-HOUSE TWO PERSONS WERE SEATED, BOTH OF REMARKABLE APPEARANCE, ALTHOUGH IN VERY DIFFERENT styles. One was a young man of about six-and-twenty years, low in stature and slightly built; his features regular, without BEARD, AND OF AN EXPRESSION OF COUNTENANCE RATHER PLEASING THAN OTHERWISE. HIS DRESS WAS A SHORT BRAIDED JACKET, UNBUTTONED ON ACCOUNT OF THE SULTRINESS OF THE EVENING, AND DISCLOSING A SHIRT OF FINE TEXTURE, AND A COLOURED SILK HANDKERCHIEF TIED LOOSELY ABOUT HIS THROAT, WHICH WAS ROUND AND MOULDED AS THAT OF A WOMAN. HIS CAVALRY OVERALLS WERE STRAPPED AND TOPPED WITH LEATHER, AND HAD ROWS OF LARGE BRIGHT BUTTONS DOWN THE SIDES; DOUBLE-ROWELLED SPURS WERE FIXED TO HIS BOOTS, AND ON A CHAIR BESIDE HIM LAY A FORAGING-CAP AND A LIGHT SABRE. ALTHOUGH HIS FEATURES WERE SMALL AND DELICATELY CHISELLED, THERE WAS GREAT DARING AND DECISION IN THE THIN COMPRESSED LIPS, SLIGHTLY EXPANDED NOSTRIL, AND KEEN GREY EYE; AND WHEN HE SMILED, WHICH WAS BUT RARELY, CERTAIN LINES AROUND HIS MOUTH GAVE A CRUEL, ALMOST A SAVAGE EXPRESSION TO HIS OTHERWISE AGREEABLE PHYSIOGNOMY. A NAVARRESE BY BIRTH, AND OF A ROVING AND ADVENTUROUS DISPOSITION, THIS MAN, AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE CIVIL WAR, HAD ESPOUSED THE CAUSE OF DON CARLOS; BUT A VIOLENT QUARREL WITH A SUPERIOR OFFICER, PUNISHED, AS HE CONSIDERED, WITH UNDUE SEVERITY, SOON INDUCED HIM TO TRANSFER HIS SERVICES TO THE CHRISTINOS. HE RAISED A FREE CORPS, COMPOSED OF CARLIST DESERTERS, SMUGGLERS, AND DESPERADOES OF EVERY DESCRIPTION, AND MADE WAR UPON HIS FORMER FRIENDS WITH UNBOUNDED VINDICTIVENESS AND CONSIDERABLE SUCCESS. AT THE PERIOD NOW REFERRED TO, HE HAD ALREADY, BY VARIOUS WELL-PLANNED AND BOLDLY-ACHIEVED EXPEDITIONS, ACCOMPLISHED CHIEFLY IN THE NIGHTTIME, GAINED A HIGH REPUTATION, AND THE sobriquet, BY WHICH HE WAS GENERALLY KNOWN, OF EL MOCHUELO, OR THE NIGHT Owl. THE MAN SEATED OPPOSITE TO THE PARTISAN JUST DESCRIBED, WAS OF A TOTALLY DIFFERENT STAMP. SEVERAL INCHES TALLER THAN HIS COMPANION, BROAD-SHOULDERED AND POWERFUL, HE HAD THE CARELESS WEATHERBEATEN LOOK OF AN OLD CAMPAIGNER, EQUALLY READY TO DO HIS DEVOIR IN THE FIELD, OR TO ENJOY A TEMPORARY REPOSE IN SNUG QUARTERS. A BUSHY BEARD COVERED THE LOWER PART OF HIS FACE, WHICH WAS FURTHER ADORNED WITH A PURPLE SCAR REACHING COMPLETELY ACROSS ONE CHEEK, THE RESULT OF A sabre cut of no very ancient date. He wore a dragoon's uniform: his right arm, which rested on the table before him, was LARGE AND BRAWNY, APPARENTLY WELL FITTED TO WIELD THE PONDEROUS SWORD THAT HUNG FROM HIS HIP; BUT HIS LEFT HAD BEEN [Pg 513] [Pg 514] SEVERED BETWEEN WRIST AND ELBOW, AND IN ITS STEAD AN IRON HOOK PROTRUDED FROM THE EMPTY COAT-CUFF. ON HIS RIGHT shoulder a single epaulet, with long silver bullion, marked his rank as that of lieutenant of free corps. "I TELL YOU I'M SICK OF IT, VELASQUEZ," CRIED THE MOCHUELO, STRIKING THE TABLE IMPATIENTLY WITH HIS FIST. "WHY ARE WE IDLING IN TOWNS INSTEAD OF FOLLOWING UP OUR LATE VICTORY? WHEN THERE'S WORK TO BE DONE, DO IT AT ONCE, SAY I. IF THERE'S NO SIGN OF A move to-morrow, I shall venture something by myself, that I'm determined." "CAN'T SAY I'M SO IMPATIENT," RETURNED HIS COMPANION. "FIGHTING IS VERY WELL IN ITS WAY, AND I BELIEVE I TAKE TO IT AS KINDLY AS MOST MEN; BUT A FEAST AFTER A FRAY, THAT'S FAIR PLAY AND THE SOLDIER'S PRIVILEGE. BUT YOU ARE NEVER EASY WITHOUT YOUR FOOT is in the stirrup. Give the poor devils a day's rest; if it's only time to shake their feathers after their last thrashing." "CURSE THEM!" CRIED THE MOCHUELO; "NOT AN HOUR, IF I COULD HELP IT. THEY TREATED ME LIKE A DOG, AND MY DEBT OF ILL-USAGE is not half paid. No, to-morrow I move out, come what may." "AND WHY NOT TO-NIGHT, MOCHUELO?" SAID A YOUNG STAFF-OFFICER WHO HAD APPROACHED THE TABLE AND OVERHEARD THE LAST words of the revengeful guerilla. "It is yet early, the night is dark, why not at once?" The Mochuelo sprang to his feet. "DO YOU BRING ME ORDERS, SEÑOR TORRES?" SAID HE IN A LOW EAGER TONE TO THE AIDE-DE-CAMP. "SO MUCH THE BETTER! Whither to go? In half an hour my men are ready." "NOT SO FAST, AMIGO," ANSWERED MARIANO TORRES, SMILING AT THE GUERILLA'S IMPATIENCE. "IT'S NO ORDINARY OR EASY EXPEDITION THAT I PROPOSE TO YOU, NOR NEED YOU UNDERTAKE IT UNLESS YOU CHOOSE. I BRING THE GENERAL'S AUTHORIZATION, NOT HIS ORDER. THE RISK IS GREAT, AND THE OBJECT A PRIVATE ONE; BUT BY ACCOMPLISHING IT YOU WILL LAY MY FRIEND CAPTAIN HERRERA, AND consequently myself, under deep obligation. "I WOULD GLADLY OBLIGE CAPTAIN HERRERA," SAID THE MOCHUELO, BOWING TO LUIS, WHO ACCOMPANIED TORRES. "VELASQUEZ once served in his squadron." And he pointed to his one-handed companion. "YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN SERGEANT VELASQUEZ, CAPTAIN," SAID THE LATTER. "HE ESCAPED THE AMBUSCADE IN WHICH YOU WERE TAKEN prisoner. You see I've got the epaulet at last." "I remember you well," replied Herrera, cordially shaking the hand of his former subordinate. "Your promotion has been dearly purchased," added he, glancing at the mutilated limb; "and I am sure well deserved." "No time for compliments, señor," said the Mochuelo. "To business." HE AGAIN SEATED HIMSELF, AND THE OTHERS FOLLOWING HIS EXAMPLE, HERRERA IN FEW WORDS EXPOSED TO THE GUERILLA THE NATURE of the projected expedition. NOTWITHSTANDING THE PRECAUTIONS TAKEN TO PREVENT DON BALTASAR FROM LEAVING PAMPELUNA, PRECAUTIONS WHICH, AS THE READER ALREADY KNOWS, PROVED FRUITLESS, HERRERA, FINDING AFTER A LAPSE OF TWENTY-FOUR HOURS THAT NO TIDINGS WERE OBTAINED OF THE FUGITIVE, RESOLVED NOT TO TRUST TO THE CHANCE OF HIS RECAPTURE, BUT AT ONCE TO EXECUTE THE PLAN HE HAD FORMED WHEN FIRST HE BECAME AWARE OF RITA'S STATE OF DURANCE. THIS PLAN, IT WILL BE REMEMBERED, WAS TO PENETRATE CLANDESTINELY AND WITH A SMALL FORCE INTO THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY, TO SURPRISE THE CONVENT AND RESCUE HIS MISTRESS. IMPRACTICABLE WHEN FIRST DEVISED AT ARTAJONA, THE DIFFICULTIES BESETTING THE SCHEME, ALTHOUGH DIMINISHED BY THE COMPARATIVE PROXIMITY OF PAMPELUNA TO RITA'S PRISON, STILL APPEARED ALMOST INSUPERABLE. COULD THE EXPEDITION HAVE COMMENCED AND TERMINATED BETWEEN SUNSET AND SUNRISE, A PARTY OF ACTIVE GUERILLAS, WELL ACQUAINTED WITH THE COUNTRY AND ACCUSTOMED TO SUCH ENTERPRISES, MIGHT HAVE ACCOMPLISHED IT WITHOUT INCURRING MORE THAN A MODERATE AMOUNT OF DANGER; BUT, AT THAT SEASON OF THE YEAR ESPECIALLY, A GREAT PART OF THE MARCH WOULD HAVE TO BE MADE IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, THROUGH A DISTRICT WHOSE POPULATION WAS EXCLUSIVELY CARLIST, AND WHICH WAS OCCUPIED BY DETACHMENTS AND GARRISONS OF THE PRETENDER'S TROOPS. INDEED THE RISK WAS SO GREAT AND MANIFEST, AND THE CHANCES OF SUCCESS APPARENTLY SO SLENDER, THAT CORDOVA, WHEN APPLIED TO BY HERRERA, AT FIRST POSITIVELY REFUSED TO ALLOW HIM TO GO ON SO MAD AN EXPEDITION. HE AT LAST YIELDED TO THE YOUNG MAN'S REITERATED ENTREATIES, AND EVEN PERMITTED TORRES TO ACCOMPANY HIS FRIEND, BUT REFUSED TO GIVE THEM ANY TROOPS OF THE LINE, SAYING, HOWEVER, THAT THE MOCHUELO MIGHT GO, IF WILLING. THAT HE WAS SO, THE READER, AFTER THE GLIMPSE THAT HAS BEEN GIVEN OF THE GUERILLA'S DARING CHARACTER AND IMPATIENCE OF INACTION, WILL HAVE SMALL DIFFICULTY IN CONJECTURING. HE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THE PROPOSED EXPEDITION WAS MOST DIFFICULT AND DANGEROUS; BUT CONFIDENT IN HIS OWN RESOURCES, AND IN THE MEN UNDER HIS COMMAND, HE BY NO MEANS DESPAIRED OF ITS BEING SUCCESSFUL. HE SHOULD HAVE LIKED, HE SAID, TO POSTPONE IT FOR TWO OR THREE DAYS, IN ORDER TO SEND OUT SPIES AND ASCERTAIN THE EXACT POSITION OF THE CARLIST TROOPS; BUT ON LEARNING FROM HERRERA HOW URGENT IT WAS TO LOSE NO TIME, AND HOW FATAL MIGHT BE THE DELAY OF EVEN A SINGLE DAY, HE made no further difficulties, but agreed to start at once. ALTHOUGH IN THE MONTH OF JULY, THE NIGHT WAS OVERCAST AND DARK WHEN THE LITTLE BAND WHO UNDERTOOK THIS PERILOUS SERVICE LEFT THE TOWN OF PAMPELUNA, AND, PASSING THROUGH THE OUTER FORTIFICATIONS, STRUCK INTO THE OPEN COUNTRY. IT CONSISTED OF FOUR HORSEMEN AND TWO TO THREE HUNDRED FOOT SOLDIERS, THE LATTER ALMOST WITHOUT EXCEPTION YOUNG MEN BETWEEN TWENTY AND THIRTY YEARS OF AGE, SCARCELY ONE OF WHOM BUT MIGHT HAVE BEEN CITED AS AN EXAMPLE OF THE HIGHEST PERFECTION OF HARDINESS AND ACTIVITY TO WHICH THE HUMAN FRAME CAN BE BROUGHT BY CONSTANT EXPOSURE TO CLIMATE, BY HABIT OF EXERTION AND ENDURANCE OF FATIGUE. LONG-LIMBED, MUSCULAR AND WIRY, LIGHTLY CLAD IN COSTUMES REMARKABLE FOR THEIR PICTURESQUE AND FANTASTICAL VARIETY; UNENCUMBERED BY KNAPSACKS, OR BY ANY BAGGAGE SAVE A LINEN BAG SLUNG ACROSS THE BACK, AND CONTAINING RATIONS FOR TWO DAYS; THEIR LONG MUSKETS OVER THEIR SHOULDERS; BELTS, FULL OF CARTRIDGES AND SUPPORTING BAYONETS, [Pg 515] STRAPPED TIGHTLY ROUND THEIR WAISTS, THEY STRODE OVER HILL AND DALE AT A PACE WHICH KEPT THE OFFICERS' HORSES AT AN AMBLE. FINE STUDIES WERE THESE FOR A PAINTER DESIROUS OF DEPICTING BANDITTI OR GUERILLAS. THEIR MARKED FEATURES AND SUNBURNT CHEEKS WERE SHADED BY BROAD FLAT CAPS, FROM BENEATH WHICH SHINING RINGLETS OF BLACK HAIR HUNG DOWN TO THEIR BARE BRONZED NECKS. CONTEMPT OF DANGER AND RECKLESS DARING WERE LEGIBLY WRITTEN ON EVERY ONE OF THEIR COUNTENANCES, ACCOMPANIED, IT IS TRUE, IN SOME INSTANCES, BY THE EXPRESSION OF LESS LAUDABLE QUALITIES. IN THE PLAIN AND IN A REGULAR action, they might have BEEN NO MATCH FOR MORE HIGHLY DISCIPLINED TROOPS; BUT IT WAS EVIDENT THAT AS LIGHT INFANTRY, AND FOR mountain warfare, their qualifications were unsurpassed, if not unequalled, by any troops of any country. WHILST A FEW OF THE GUERILLAS ACTED AS SCOUTS, AND, SCATTERING THEMSELVES OVER THE FIELDS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE ROAD WHICH THEIR COMRADES FOLLOWED, KEPT A SHARP LOOK-OUT FOR LURKING FOES AND AMBUSHED DANGER, THE REMAINDER MOVED ONWARDS IN COMPACT ORDER AND PROFOUND SILENCE. IN FRONT CAME HERRERA AND TORRES, THE FORMER THOUGHTFUL AND ANXIOUS, THE LATTER SANGUINE AND insouciant AS USUAL, AMBLING ALONG AS CONTENTEDLY AS IF HE WERE RIDING TO A RENDEZVOUS WITH HIS MISTRESS, INSTEAD OF ON AN EXPEDITION WHENCE HIS RETURN WAS, TO SAY THE LEAST, DOUBTFUL. VELASQUEZ ACCOMPANIED THEM, THE BRIDLE HOOKED ON TO HIS IRON SUBSTITUTE FOR A HAND, AND GUIDING HIS HORSE RATHER BY LEG THAN REIN. AT STARTING, THE MOCHUELO, WHO HAD HAD LITTLE TIME TO MATURE A PLAN OF OPERATIONS, APPEARED GRAVE AND PRE-OCCUPIED. FOR A WHILE HE RODE IN REAR OF HIS MEN, TALKING IN LOW TONES WITH PACO THE MULETEER, WHO ACCOMPANIED THE PARTY, AND WITH AN OLD GRIM-VISAGED FRENCHMAN, A SERGEANT IN HIS CORPS, WHO, ON ACCOUNT OF HIS HAVING BUT ONE EYE, WENT BY THE NAME OF EL TUERTO. THE RESULT OF HIS CONVERSATION WITH THESE TWO MEN SEEMED SATISFACTORY TO HIM, AND, ON TAKING HIS PLACE AT THE HEAD OF THE COLUMN, HE TOLD HERRERA THAT HE HAD GOOD HOPES OF SUCCESS. SILENCE, HOWEVER, WAS THE ORDER OF THE NIGHT, AND HE ENTERED INTO NO DETAILS. PACO AND THE TUERTO KEPT NEAR HIM, APPARENTLY AS GUIDES. THE FORMER HAD TESTIFIED NO SLIGHT SURPRISE ON RECOGNISING HIS ANTAGONIST IN THE BALL-COURT, AND THE SKIRMISH, IN THE NEW CHARACTER OF A COMMISSIONED OFFICER; BUT RESPECT FOR THE EPAULET, AND A FEW FRIENDLY WORDS ADDRESSED TO HIM BY VELASQUEZ, DISSIPATED HIS ANGRY FEELINGS, IF such indeed he still harboured, and he marched peaceably along beside the stirrup of his former opponent. STEADILY AND SILENTLY THE LITTLE PARTY CONTINUED ITS MARCH, WINDING LIKE SOME DARK AND MANY-JOINTED SNAKE OVER THE INEQUALITIES OF THE GROUND, NOW DISAPPEARING IN THE HOLLOW OF A RAVINE, THEN TOILING ITS WAY UP RUGGED MOUNTAIN SIDES. THE ROAD HAD LONG BEEN ABANDONED, AND ONLY HERE AND THERE THE ADVENTUROUS TROOP WERE ABLE TO AVAIL THEMSELVES OF A CART track or country lane, whose deep ruts, however, rendered it but little preferable to the fields and waste land over which THEY AT OTHER TIMES PROCEEDED. AFTER LEAVING THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY OF PAMPELUNA, AND DURING SEVERAL HOURS' MARCH, BUT FEW WORDS WERE EXCHANGED BETWEEN ANY OF THE PARTY, AND THOSE FEW WERE UTTERED IN A CAUTIOUS WHISPER. ALTHOUGH THE PACE WAS A KILLING ONE, NO MAN HAD FLAGGED OR STRAGGLED; WHEN AT LAST, AFTER COMPLETING A TORTUOUS AND RUGGED DESCENT, THE MOCHUELO COMMANDED A HALT. THE PLACE WHERE THIS OCCURRED WAS IN A NARROW GORGE BETWEEN TWO LINES OF HILLS, OR IT SHOULD RATHER BE SAID OF MOUNTAINS; FOR ALTHOUGH THEIR ALTITUDE WAS ONLY HERE AND THERE VERY CONSIDERABLE, THEIR CRAGGED AND PRECIPITOUS CONFORMATION AND ROCKY MATERIAL ENTITLED THEM TO THE LATTER DENOMINATION. THE PASSAGE BETWEEN THEM CONTINUED NARROW ONLY FOR A FEW HUNDRED YARDS, AFTER WHICH, AT EITHER OF ITS EXTREMITIES, THE MOUNTAINS RECEDED, AND THE VALLEY OPENED INTO PLAINS OF SOME EXTENT. TO THE RIGHT OF THE DEFILE WAS A CONSIDERABLE TRACT OF UNDULATING AND WOODED COUNTRY; THE LEVEL ON THE LEFT EXTENDED TO A LESS DISTANCE, BEFORE THE HILLS, CLOSING IN AGAIN, RESTRICTED IT WITHIN NARROW limits. THE THICK CLOUDS WHICH HAD VEILED THE SKY DURING THE EARLY PART OF THE NIGHT, HAD NOW BROKEN AND DISPERSED, THE STARS SHONE OUT AND DISCLOSED THE OUTLINE OF SURROUNDING OBJECTS, ASSUMING IN THE DIM LIGHT ALL MANNER OF FANTASTIC FORMS. A COOL WIND, THE FORERUNNER OF MORNING, SWEPT ACROSS THE VALLEY, BRINGING PLEASANT REFRESHMENT TO THE HEATED SOLDIERY, AS THEY LEANED UPON THEIR MUSKETS AND WAITED THE ORDERS OF THEIR CHIEF. ON EITHER HAND VIDETTES WERE ADVANCED, KEEPING vigilant watch. El Mochuelo exchanged a few words with Paco and the Tuerto, and then turned to Herrera. "WE ARE NOW," SAID THE GUERILLA, "WITHIN A SHORT LEAGUE OF THE CONVENT. IT IS IN THE VALLEY BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS IN OUR FRONT. BUT WE ARE ALSO WITHIN LESS THAN AN HOUR OF DAYBREAK, AND IF WE EXECUTE THE SURPRISE NOW, OUR RETURN TO PAMPELUNA WILL BE SCARCELY POSSIBLE. THE COUNTRY IN OUR REAR SWARMS WITH CARLISTS; THE FIRST SHOT WILL BRING OVERPOWERING NUMBERS AGAINST US, AND WE SHALL BE CUT OFF. OUR MARCH HAS BEEN RAPID AND FATIGUING, AND WE SHALL HAVE LITTLE CHANCE OF ESCAPE FROM FRESH AND UNWEARIED TROOPS. HAZARDOUS AS IT MAY APPEAR TO YOU, CAPTAIN HERRERA, I HAVE DECIDED TO PASS THE DAY IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THIS SPOT, AND TO DEFER OUR VISIT TO THE CONVENT TILL NIGHTFALL. UNDER COVER OF THE DARKNESS, and guided by these men," he pointed to Paco and the old sergeant, "our retreat will be comparatively easy, even should THE ENEMY GET THE ALARM, WHICH, AS WE HAVE NO RESISTANCE TO EXPECT AT THE CONVENT, I TRUST MAY BE AVOIDED. WHAT SAY you to my plan?" "I AM WILLING," REPLIED HERRERA, "TO BE GUIDED BY YOU IN THE MATTER; BUT THIS ARRANGEMENT STRIKES ME AS EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS. WHERE CAN THREE HUNDRED MEN CONCEAL THEMSELVES DURING A WHOLE DAY, EVEN IN THIS WILD AND THINLY PEOPLED DISTRICT, WITHOUT IMMINENT RISK OF DISCOVERY? REMEMBER THAT A GLIMPSE OBTAINED BY A PASSING PEASANT OF BUT ONE OF OUR NUMBER, ENSURES OUR DESTRUCTION. THE FORESTS AND MOUNTAIN PASSES ARE TRAVERSED BY WOODCUTTERS AND SHEPHERDS; THE CHANCES AGAINST US WOULD BE INNUMERABLE. IS IT NOT BETTER, WITHOUT LOSS OF TIME, TO PROCEED TO THE CONVENT, ACCOMPLISH our object, and cut our way back to Pampeluna?" "NOT ONE OF US WOULD EVER ENTER ITS GATES," ANSWERED THE MOCHUELO. "IT WOULD BE CERTAIN DEATH TO US ALL. BUT MY PLAN IS NOT SO DESPERATE AS IT SEEMS. EL TUERTO, HERE, IS WELL ACQUAINTED WITH THESE MOUNTAINS, AND HAS HAD MANY A NARROW ESCAPE AMONGST THEM WHILST PURSUING A LESS HONEST CALLING THAN THE PRESENT. HE HAS TOLD ME OF A PLACE OF CONCEALMENT, WHERE IT IS SCARCELY POSSIBLE WE SHOULD BE DISCOVERED. AT ANY RATE WE MUST LEAVE THIS SPOT, OR SOME EARLY-RISING PEASANT will stumble upon us. There is danger here." [Pg 516] [Pg 517] AT THAT MOMENT, AS IF TO CONFIRM HIS LAST WORDS, THE NOTE OF A BUGLE, SOUNDED APPARENTLY AT LESS THAN A MILE OFF, WAS borne upon the breeze to the ears of the adventurers. "YOU HEAR," SAID THE MOCHUELO. "WE MUST BEGONE, AND QUICKLY. THERE ARE CANTONMENTS OF THE ENEMY A LITTLE TO OUR RIGHT. Call in the videttes." THE ORDER WAS OBEYED, AND, TURNING TO THE LEFT, THE GUERILLAS QUITTED THE DEFILE AND ENTERED THE SMALLER OF THE TWO VALLEYS CONNECTED BY IT. GUIDED BY THE TUERTO, THEY PRESENTLY APPROACHED A PROJECTING HILL, JUTTING OUT INTO THE VALLEY LIKE SOME HUGE BUTTRESS PLACED THERE TO SUPPORT THE MOUNTAIN WALL. IT WAS OF SMALL ELEVATION, BUT ITS SIDES WERE TOO PERPENDICULAR TO BE CLIMBED, ALTHOUGH THAT CIRCUMSTANCE WAS PARTIALLY CONCEALED BY THE TREES GROWING AT ITS BASE. ITS SUMMIT ALSO WAS COVERED WITH TREES, AND ITS ROCKY FLANKS WERE CLOTHED WITH IVY. THE GUERILLAS TURNED INTO A WOOD EXTENDING TO SOME DISTANCE ALONG THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN, AND MADE THEIR WAY WITH SOME DIFFICULTY THROUGH THE CLOSELY PLANTED TRUNKS AND THICK BRUSHWOOD. PRESENTLY THE SOUND OF FALLING WATER WAS AUDIBLE, INCREASING IN LOUDNESS AS THEY PROCEEDED, UNTIL ITS CAUSE BECAME VISIBLE IN A CASCADE THAT SPLASHED DOWN THE MOUNTAIN SIDE. A ROCKY POOL RECEIVED THE FOAMING ELEMENT, AND FED A PELLUCID STREAM THAT SOON DISAPPEARED AMONGST THE TREES, ON ITS WAY TO IRRIGATE AND FERTILIZE THE NEIGHBOURING FIELDS. THE WATER FELL FROM THE LEAST ELEVATED PART OF THE MOUNTAIN BUTTRESS ABOVE DESCRIBED, A HEIGHT OF SEVENTY OR EIGHTY feet. "THIS IS THE PLACE," SAID EL TUERTO TO THE MOCHUELO. THE LATTER NODDED, AND AGAIN ORDERING A HALT, PASSED THE WORD FOR THE MEN TO SIT DOWN UPON THE GRASS AND OBSERVE THE STRICTEST SILENCE. DIVESTING THEMSELVES OF THEIR BELTS AND MUSKETS, EL TUERTO AND PACO NOW APPROACHED A LOFTY TREE GROWING AT A SHORT DISTANCE FROM THE CASCADE, AND WHOSE UPPER BOUGHS REACHED TO THE TOP OF THE PRECIPICE, AND TO THE ASTONISHMENT OF HERRERA AND TORRES, AND INDEED OF ALL WHO WERE SUFFICIENTLY NEAR TO DISTINGUISH THEIR MOVEMENTS, BEGAN TO CLIMB ITS KNOTTY AND UNEVEN TRUNK. IN OBEDIENCE, HOWEVER, TO THE ORDER FOR SILENCE, NO ONE ASKED A QUESTION OF THE MOCHUELO, WHO ALONE SEEMED AWARE OF THE MEANING OF THIS MANŒUVRE. SOON THE TWO CLIMBERS REACHED THE UPPERMOST LIMITS OF THE GIGANTIC TREE, AND CREEPING CAUTIOUSLY ALONG ONE OF THEM, LANDED SAFELY AT THE TOP OF THE PRECIPICE. FOR AN INSTANT THEY WERE VISIBLE LIKE DARK SHADOWS AGAINST THE STARRY sky, and then they disappeared amongst the trees. SCARCELY FIVE MINUTES HAD ELAPSED, WHEN HERRERA AND TORRES, WHO WERE NEAREST TO THE TORRENT, OBSERVED, TO THEIR GREAT SURPRISE, THAT THE FALL OF WATER SEEMED OF LESS VOLUME. THEY WATCHED IT, THE DIMINUTION CONTINUED, AND PRESENTLY ITS BED REMAINED BARE AND DRY, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A SLIGHT TRICKLING, WHICH EACH MOMENT LESSENED. AT THE SAME INSTANT, PACO AND EL TUERTO RE-APPEARED ON THE SUMMIT OF THE PRECIPICE, AND BEGAN TO DESCEND THE WATER-COURSE. HERRERA NOW PERCEIVED THAT THE LATTER WAS IN FACT A RUDE AND IRREGULAR STAIRCASE, OR RATHER A LADDER OF STEPS CUT IN THE ROCKY SURFACE, SOME PERHAPS NATURALLY INDENTED, BUT OTHERS EVIDENTLY CHISELLED OUT BY THE HANDS OF MAN. BY MEANS OF THESE STEPS, WHICH AFFORDED A SLIPPERY BUT SUFFICIENT FOOTING, IT WAS NOT DIFFICULT FOR ACTIVE MEN TO ASCEND AND DESCEND IN PERFECT SAFETY. TO INCREASE THIS FACILITY, WOODEN PEGS HAD IN VARIOUS PLACES BEEN DRIVEN INTO THE INTERSTICES OF THE ROCK; BUT WHEN THE WATER flowed, both these and the steps were so far concealed as not to attract notice. WHILST HERRERA GAZED IN MUTE ASTONISHMENT AT THIS SINGULAR STAIRCASE, THE MOCHUELO APPROACHED AND TAPPED HIM ON THE shoulder. "WHAT SAY YOU TO YONDER HIDING-PLACE?" SAID HE, POINTING UP TO THE WOODEN PLATFORM ABOVE THEM. "WILL THEY SEEK US there, think you? Could we not lie hidden for a week instead of a day?" "IF THAT BE THE ONLY ROAD TO IT," SAID HERRERA, INDICATING THE WATER-COURSE, "WE NEED HARDLY FEAR INTRUDERS. BUT CAN IT NOT be approached from the mountains in the rear?" "Hardly," answered the Mochuelo, "as you shall see when there is light enough. We shall be safe there, señor." "And the horses?" said Herrera. "SHALL BE CARED FOR," REPLIED THE MOCHUELO. "WE MUST RISK THEIR LOSS, ALTHOUGH EVEN THAT IS NOT PROBABLE. BUT WE SHALL have daylight here directly. Time is precious." IT WAS AS HE SAID. ALREADY A BRIGHTNESS WAS VISIBLE IN THE EASTERN SKY, AND THE STARS IN THAT QUARTER OF THE HEAVENS BEGAN TO FADE AND DISAPPEAR. A WORD FROM THE MOCHUELO BROUGHT HIS MEN TO THEIR FEET, AND, SLINGING THEIR MUSKETS ON THEIR BACKS, THEY ASCENDED THE WATER-COURSE. MEANWHILE THE HORSES WERE STRIPPED OF THEIR EQUIPMENTS, AND, TAKING HOLD OF THE HALTERS, PACO AND EL TUERTO LED THEM INTO THE WOOD. A CORD WAS LOWERED FROM THE TOP OF THE PRECIPICE, AND THE SADDLES WERE DRAWN UP. THE MEN CONTINUED TO ASCEND. VELASQUEZ, ON ACCOUNT OF HIS MUTILATION, HAD SOME DIFFICULTY IN CLIMBING; BUT BY THE AID OF A POWERFUL GUERILLA, WHO WENT BEHIND, AND AFFORDED HIM SUPPORT, HE SUCCEEDED IN REACHING THE TOP. THE MOCHUELO, AFTER ASCERTAINING BY THE REPORT OF HIS SERGEANTS THAT ALL THE MEN WHO HAD LEFT PAMPELUNA WITH HIM WERE PRESENT, STILL STOOD WITH HERRERA AT THE FOOT OF THE WATER-COURSE, WAITING FOR EL TUERTO AND PACO, WHO IN A FEW minutes made their appearance. "You have disposed of the horses?" said the Mochuelo. THE ANSWER WAS IN THE AFFIRMATIVE. THE HORSES HAD BEEN SECURELY TETHERED IN THE THICKEST PART OF THE WOOD, AND LEFT WITH AN AMPLE FEED OF CORN BEFORE THEM. IT WAS MOST IMPROBABLE THAT THEY SHOULD BE DISCOVERED DURING THE FEW HOURS THEY MUST REMAIN THERE; BUT EVEN IF THEY WERE, THEIR PRESENCE IN THAT RETIRED SPOT, WHATEVER SURPRISE IT MIGHT AWAKEN, COULD AFFORD, OWING TO THE ABSENCE OF THE SADDLES AND TRAPPINGS, NO CLUE TO THEIR OWNERS. TO OBVIATE ANY RISK OF THEIR HOOF- [Pg 518] PRINTS BEING TRACED, PACO HAD HAD THE FORETHOUGHT TO TAKE THEM INTO THE STREAM, AND LEAD THEM FOR SOME DISTANCE ALONG its shallow bed. UPON REACHING THE TOP OF THE PRECIPICE, THE FIRST CARE OF THE MOCHUELO WAS TO ASSEMBLE HIS MEN, AND WARN THEM OF THE NECESSITY OF PERFECT SILENCE AND EXTREME CAUTION, UPON WHICH THE LIVES OF ALL DEPENDED. UNDER PAIN OF SEVERE PUNISHMENT, HE COMMANDED THEM TO AVOID THE SLIGHTEST NOISE, AND FORBADE THEIR WALKING ABOUT, OR LEAVING THE PLACE HE ASSIGNED TO THEM. THIS WAS UNDER THE SHADOW OF SOME ANCIENT TREES, WHOSE BUSHY CROWNS AND BRANCHES WERE MINGLED AND INTERLACED, SO AS TO FORM A ROOF IMPERVIOUS TO THE SUN, AND ALMOST TO RAIN. AMONGST THEM MEANDERED ONE OF TWO SMALL STREAMS, WHICH, RISING AT DIFFERENT POINTS OF THE ADJACENT MOUNTAINS, FLOWED DOWN TO THE PLATFORM, AND UNITING UPON IT, DASHED OVER ITS BRINK, AND FORMED THE WATERFALL ALREADY DESCRIBED. FOR THE PRESENT, AT LEAST, THERE WAS LITTLE NEED OF THE MOCHUELO'S COMMAND TO ENSURE SILENCE. WEARIED BY THEIR RAPID AND TOILSOME MARCH, THE GUERILLAS STRETCHED THEMSELVES UPON THE GRASS, AND SEEMED DISPOSED TO MAKE AMENDS BY A MORNING NAP FOR THE VIGILANCE AND FATIGUES OF THE night. THE MOCHUELO TOOK HERRERA'S ARM. "I WILL SHOW YOU," HE SAID, "THAT I HAVE NOT OVERRATED THE SECURITY OF OUR HIDING- place." FOLLOWING THE COURSE OF THE RIVULET, HE LED HIM TO A PLACE WHERE A CONTRIVANCE OF GREAT SIMPLICITY EXPLAINED THE SUDDEN, AND, AS IT HAD SEEMED, MIRACULOUS CESSATION OF THE WATERFALL. JUST ABOVE THE CONFLUENCE OF THE TWO STREAMS, WHICH WERE OF MODERATE WIDTH, AND NOT DEEP, BUT WHICH RECEIVED, EVEN IN THE SUMMER MONTHS, AN ABUNDANT SUPPLY OF WATER FROM THE MOUNTAIN-SPRINGS, WERE A COUPLE OF ROUGH-FASHIONED SLUICE-GATES, CONSISTING OF STRONG BOARDS, SLIDING DOWN BETWEEN GROOVED POSTS, AND WHICH THE STRENGTH OF TWO MEN SUFFICED TO REMOVE OR RETURN TO THEIR PLACES. ABOVE THESE GATES, TRENCHES, NOW OVERGROWN WITH GRASS AND BUSHES, HAD BEEN CUT; SO THAT WHEN THE SLUICES WERE CLOSED, AND THE CONFINED WATER ROSE TO A CERTAIN HEIGHT, IT FOUND A VENT IN ANOTHER DIRECTION, AND THE ORIGINAL CHANNEL REMAINED DRY. THE GATES HAD BEEN TAKEN OUT AND CONCEALED AMONGST THE BRUSHWOOD, WHERE PACO AND EL TUERTO HAD FOUND THEM, AND, BY FORCING THEM DOWN THE GROOVES, HAD STOPPED THE WATERFALL. THEY WERE NOW BUSIED IN REMOVING THEM, AND THE MOCHUELO AND HERRERA, ON APPROACHING THE EDGE OF THE ROCK, FOUND THE TORRENT ONCE MORE PLASHING DOWN ITS ACCUSTOMED BED, AND THE strange staircase, by which their ascent had been accomplished, concealed by its flow. IN REPLY TO HERRERA'S ENQUIRIES AS TO THE ORIGINAL AUTHORS OF THIS CURIOUS CONTRIVANCE, AND THE MANNER IN WHICH HE HAD DISCOVERED IT, THE MOCHUELO INFORMED HIM THAT THE FRENCHMAN, ROCHE, OR EL TUERTO, AS HIS SPANISH COMRADES STYLED HIM, HAD, PREVIOUSLY TO THE WAR, BEEN ONE OF A BAND OF OUTLAWS, SMUGGLERS AVOWEDLY, AND ON OCCASION, AS IT WAS AFFIRMED, SOMETHING WORSE, WHO FOR A CONSIDERABLE PERIOD HAD CARRIED ON THEIR ILLEGAL AVOCATIONS IN THE NAVARRESE PYRENEES AND THEIR CONTIGUOUS RANGES. EXPOSED TO FREQUENT PURSUIT, THEY HAD DISCOVERED AND CONTRIVED HIDING-PLACES IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE DISTRICT THEY INFESTED, AND THAT NOW OCCUPIED BY THE GUERILLAS WAS THE ONE ON THE INGENUITY OF WHICH THEY MOST PRIDED THEMSELVES. IN ORDER TO KEEP IT SECRET, THEY RESORTED THITHER ONLY IN EXTREME CASES, USUALLY CONTRIVING TO ARRIVE AND DEPART IN THE NIGHTTIME, AND CAREFULLY AVOIDED MAKING ANY OF THE PEASANTRY AWARE OF ITS EXISTENCE. THE SCANTY POPULATION OF THE DISTRICT, WHICH CONSISTED CHIEFLY OF ROCK AND MOUNTAIN, FOREST AND WASTE LAND, FAVOURED THE PRESERVATION OF THEIR SECRET. AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE WAR THE GANG BROKE UP, AND ITS MEMBERS JOINED VARIOUS GUERILLA CORPS. ROCHE WAS FOR SOME TIME WITH THE CARLISTS, BUT FINDING PAY AND PLUNDER LESS PLENTIFUL THAN HARD DUTY AND long marches, he deserted, and put himself under the orders of the Mochuelo. The latter knew something of his previous HISTORY, AND, ON LEAVING PAMPELUNA, HAD CONSULTED HIM AS A PERSON LIKELY TO POSSESS VALUABLE INFORMATION CONCERNING THE wild district whither they were about to proceed. IT SEEMED PROBABLE, FROM THE APPEARANCE OF THE PLATFORM, THAT IT HAD BEEN UNVISITED, CERTAINLY UNFREQUENTED, SINCE THE DISSOLUTION OF THE HONOURABLE SOCIETY TO WHICH EL TUERTO HAD BELONGED. THE GRASS WAS LONG AND UNTRODDEN; NO WOODMAN'S AXE HAD BEEN BUSY WITH THE TREES; SAVE FOXES AND BIRDS, NO LIVING CREATURE HAD LEFT TRACES OF ITS PRESENCE. ONLY IN ONE PLACE HERRERA AND THE MOCHUELO DISCOVERED A NUMBER OF SHEEP BONES SCATTERED AMONGST THE LONG GRASS, REMNANTS DOUBTLESS OF SOME FORMER BANQUET OF THE SMUGGLERS; AND NOT FAR OFF, IN THE HOLLOW OF A TREE, SERVING AS A NICHE, A SMALL PLASTER FIGURE OF THE VIRGIN AND CHILD, THAT HAD ONCE BEEN PAINTED, BUT OF WHICH THE DAMP HAD LONG SINCE STRANGELY confounded the colours, told of a lingering devotional qualm on the part of the wild law-breakers. STILL KEEPING UNDER SHELTER OF THE ABUNDANT TREES, THE MOCHUELO LED HIS COMPANION TO THE REAR OF THE PLATFORM. THERE THE MOUNTAINS ROSE IN PRECIPICES, AND THE MOST CAREFUL EXAMINATION ONLY SHOWED ONE PATH, THAT BEING SUCH AS FEW BESIDES A MOUNTAIN-GOAT OR A CHAMOIS-HUNTER WOULD WILLINGLY HAVE VENTURED UPON, BY WHICH THE LURKING-PLACE OF THE GUERILLAS COULD ON THAT SIDE BE APPROACHED. AT THE FOOT OF THIS PATH, CONCEALED AMONGST THE BUSHES, CROUCHED TWO SENTRIES. AT ANOTHER POINT ALSO, WHERE, FROM THE LOFTIEST PART OF THE PLATFORM, A VIEW WAS OBTAINED OVER THE TREE-TOPS UP THE DEFILE BETWEEN THE MOUNTAINS, OTHER TWO WATCHERS WERE STATIONED, STRETCHED AT FULL LENGTH AMONGST THE FERN, AND PEERING OUT THROUGH laurel bushes, with whose dark foliage their bronzed physiognomies were confounded beyond a possibility of detection. FULLY SATISFIED OF THE SECURITY OF THEIR POSITION, THE MOCHUELO AND HERRERA RETURNED TO THEIR COMPANIONS. THE SOLDIERS WERE FOR THE MOST PART ASLEEP; SOME FEW, WHOSE APPETITE WAS EVEN GREATER THAN THEIR DROWSINESS, WERE BREAKING THEIR FAST WITH BLACK RATION-BREAD, SEASONED WITH AN ONION OR SAUSAGE, AND WASHED DOWN, IN THE ABSENCE OF BETTER BEVERAGE, WITH DRAUGHTS FROM THE DIAMOND-BRIGHT STREAM THAT RUSHED AND TINKLED PAST THEM. TORRES, WITH HIS HEAD ON HIS SADDLE, WAS SOUNDLY SLEEPING; HIS DREAMS, TO JUDGE BY THE SMILE ON HIS PLEASANT COUNTENANCE, BEING OF A MORE AGREEABLE NATURE THAN THE REALITIES OF HIS POSITION. VELASQUEZ HAD FOLLOWED HIS EXAMPLE, AND SNORED IN A KEY THAT ALMOST INDUCED HIS CHIEF to awaken him, lest his nasal melody should be heard at too great a distance. [Pg 519] [Pg 520] "CAN YOU DEPEND ON YOUR MEN?" SAID HERRERA TO THE MOCHUELO. "A DESERTION WOULD BE RUIN, AND YET THE TEMPTATION IS great. What would the man get who delivered the dreaded Mochuelo and his band into the hands of the enemy?" "THANKS AND REWARD TO-DAY, DISTRUST AND DISGRACE TO-MORROW," REPLIED THE GUERILLA. "EVEN THOSE WHO PROFIT BY TREASON, HATE AND DESPISE THE TRAITOR. BESIDES, MOST OF MY FELLOWS HAVE BEEN WITH THE CARLISTS, AND HAVE LITTLE FANCY TO RETURN THITHER. AT THE SAME TIME, AS THE MAJORITY OF THEM ARE INFERNAL SCOUNDRELS, I NEGLECT NO PRECAUTION. THERE ARE ONLY TWO WAYS OF LEAVING THIS PLATFORM WITHOUT THE CERTAINTY OF BREAKING ONE'S NECK; THE MOUNTAIN-PATH, WHERE TWO OF MY MOST DEVOTED FOLLOWERS ARE ON SENTRY, AND THE WATERFALL, WHERE PACO AND ROCHE HAVE TAKEN THE FIRST TURN OF GUARD. YOU MAY go to sleep, therefore, in all security, and it is what I would advise you to do; for if our last-night's work was severe, you MAY BE SURE THAT OUR NEXT WILL BE FAR MORE SO. AND SO GOOD-NIGHT, OR RATHER GOOD-MORNING." AND, THROWING HIMSELF ON the grass, the guerilla, accustomed to snatch sleep at all hours, had his eyes shut in an instant. ALTHOUGH NOT LESS IN WANT OF REPOSE, HERRERA WAS HARDLY IN A FRAME OF MIND TO OBTAIN IT SO EASILY. HIS REASON, AS WELL AS THE CONSCIOUSNESS THAT OPPOSITION WOULD BE UNAVAILING, HAD INDUCED HIM TO AGREE TO THE DELAY DEEMED NECESSARY BY THE MOCHUELO, BUT HE WAS NOT THE LESS IMPATIENT AND IRRITATED AT THE INACTION TO WHICH HE SAW HIMSELF CONDEMNED. IF BALTASAR HAD SUCCEEDED IN LEAVING PAMPELUNA, AND THE FRUITLESSNESS OF THE MINUTE SEARCH MADE FOR HIM CAUSED HERRERA TO FEAR THAT SUCH HAD BEEN THE CASE, THE TWELVE HOURS' DELAY MIGHT FRUSTRATE ALL HIS HOPES OF LIBERATING RITA. IN THE ANTICIPATION OF A FORWARD MOVEMENT OF CORDOVA'S ARMY, IT WAS HIGHLY PROBABLE THAT BALTASAR WOULD REMOVE HER TO SOME LESS ACCESSIBLE PART OF THE CARLIST COUNTRY; PERHAPS, EVEN, EXASPERATED BY THE SEVERITY WITH WHICH HE HAD BEEN TREATED AT PAMPELUNA, AND BY THE REPROACHES AND MENACES OF THE COUNT, HE MIGHT PROCEED TO EXTREMITIES, OF WHICH HERRERA SHUDDERED TO THINK. THE FEVERED AND EXCITED IMAGINATION OF LUIS CONJURED UP THE MOST MADDENING VISIONS. HE SAW RITA DRAGGED HALF- LIFELESS TO THE ALTAR, COMPELLED BY ATROCIOUS MENACES TO PLACE HER HAND IN THAT OF HER ABHORRED KINSMAN, WHILST A VENAL priest BLESSED THE UNHOLY UNION. HE HEARD THE CRIES OF THE TREMBLING VICTIM IMPLORING MERCY FROM THOSE WHO KNEW NOT THE NAME, AND CALLING ON HIM, BY WHOM SHE DEEMED HERSELF DESERTED, FOR SUCCOUR IN HER EXTREMITY. TORTURED BY THESE AND SIMILAR IMAGININGS, HERRERA PACED WILDLY UP AND DOWN IN THE GLOOM AND SILENCE OF THE FOREST, AND ACCUSED HIMSELF OF INDIFFERENCE AND COWARDICE FOR YIELDING TO THE REPRESENTATIONS OF THE MOCHUELO, PLAUSIBLE AND WEIGHTY THOUGH THEY WERE, AND FOR NOT PROCEEDING AT ONCE, ALONE EVEN, AND UNAIDED, TO THE ASSISTANCE OF THE DEFENCELESS AND BELOVED BEING, THE UNCERTAINTY OF WHOSE FATE THUS RACKED HIS SOUL. COOLER REFLECTION, HOWEVER, CAME TO HIS AID, DISSIPATING, OR AT LEAST UNVEILING, THESE PHANTOMS OF A DISEASED FANCY, AND CONVINCING HIM THAT PRECIPITATION COULD BUT RUIN HIS LAST CHANCE OF SUCCESS. IT WOULD INDEED, HE FELT, BE IMPRACTICABLE TO REGAIN THE CHRISTINO LINES IN BROAD DAYLIGHT. HAD HIS OWN LIFE ALONE BEEN AT STAKE, THAT HE HAD WILLINGLY SET UPON THE HAZARD; OR RATHER HE WOULD AT ONCE AND JOYFULLY HAVE SACRIFICED IT TO RESTORE RITA TO THE ARMS OF HER FATHER. BUT THE SAME CONFLICT IN WHICH HE PERISHED, WOULD ALSO ENSURE THE RETURN OF RITA TO HER CAPTIVITY AND ITS TERRIBLE CONSEQUENCES. MOREOVER, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN AN UNGENEROUS REQUITAL OF THE PROMPTNESS WITH WHICH THE MOCHUELO HAD UNDERTAKEN A MOST PERILOUS ENTERPRISE, SOLELY TO OBLIGE HERRERA, AND WITHOUT A CHANCE OF ADVANTAGE TO HIMSELF, HAD HE INSISTED UPON HIS CONVERTING THE RISK INTO ALMOST THE CERTAINTY OF DESTRUCTION. PATIENCE, THEN, WAS THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE; AND, FEELING THE NECESSITY OF REPOSE AFTER THE FATIGUES AND AGITATION OF THE PRECEDING NIGHT, HERRERA LAY DOWN UPON THE GROUND, AND PHYSICAL EXHAUSTION OVERCOMING MENTAL ACTIVITY, HE SANK INTO AN UNEASY AND broken slumber. IT WAS AFTERNOON, AND THE VALLEY AND MOUNTAINS WERE GLOWING AND GLITTERING IN THE ARDENT SUN-RAYS, ALTHOUGH WITHIN THE BOWER OF FOLIAGE WHERE THE GUERILLAS HAD ESTABLISHED THEMSELVES, ALL WAS COOL AND DARK, WHEN THE MOCHUELO AWAKENED Herrera. With a vague fear of having slept too long, Luis started to his feet. "Is it time to move?" he hurriedly demanded. "Hush!" said the guerilla. "Come with me." ONE OF THE MOCHUELO'S MEN STOOD BY: HE LED THE WAY TO THAT LOFTY PART OF THE PLATFORM WHENCE A VIEW OF THE DEFILE WAS COMMANDED. ON APPROACHING IT, THE TWO GUERILLAS THREW THEMSELVES ON THEIR HANDS AND KNEES, AND MAKING SIGNS TO HERRERA TO IMITATE THEM, CREPT FORWARD TILL THEY GAINED THE BUSHES FRINGING THE PRECIPICE. THROUGH THESE A SMALL PARTY OF CAVALRY WAS VISIBLE, RIDING ALONG THE MOUNTAIN PASS. BY AID OF HIS FIELD-GLASS, HERRERA WAS ENABLED TO DISTINGUISH ALMOST THE FEATURES OF THE MEN. AT THE HEAD OF THE DETACHMENT RODE AN OFFICER, WHOSE FIGURE AND GENERAL APPEARANCE HE THOUGHT he recognized. A second glance confirmed his first impression. The leader of the troop was Baltasar de Villabuena. Utterly bewildered by what he saw, Herrera turned to the Mochuelo. "What are they?" he demanded, "and whither going?" "You see what they are," answered the partisan. "Carlist lancers. They are going, I fear, to the convent." "How, to the convent? Does that road lead to it?" "IT DOES. AT SOME DISTANCE UP THIS VALLEY THE MOUNTAINS SINK, AND THERE IS A TRACK OVER THEM PRACTICABLE FOR HORSEMEN; THE SAME WHICH WE SHALL FOLLOW. WHEN THEY REACH THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN THEY ARE WITHIN TEN MINUTES' RIDE OF THE convent." Herrera remained for a moment as if petrified by what he heard. "THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT," HE EXCLAIMED, "THEY GO TO REMOVE HER. BALTASAR IS WITH THEM. WE SHALL COME TOO LATE. MOCHUELO, YOU WILL NO LONGER REFUSE TO ACT, AND THAT ON THE INSTANT. WE MUST SURPRISE AND DESTROY THE DETACHMENT, THEN [Pg 521] AT ONCE ATTACK THE CONVENT AND MAKE OUR WAY BACK TO PAMPELUNA AS BEST WE MAY. IF WE WAIT TILL EVENING, THE EXPEDITION might as well not have been attempted. It will be too late." FOR AN INSTANT OR TWO THE MOCHUELO STOOD SILENT AND THOUGHTFUL, ENDEAVOURING TO RECONCILE IN HIS MIND COMPLIANCE WITH Herrera's passionately urged wishes, and the dictates of common prudence. "IT IS IMPOSSIBLE, CAPTAIN HERRERA," SAID HE. "IF THERE WERE ONLY ONE CHANCE IN TWENTY IN OUR FAVOUR I WOULD ATTEMPT IT, BUT THERE WOULD NOT BE ONE IN A THOUSAND. IF WE LEAVE THIS BEFORE EVENING, WE SHALL NEVER SEE TO-MORROW'S SUN. MUCH against my will I must refuse your request." THE FIRM AND DECIDED TONE OF THIS REFUSAL EXASPERATED HERRERA, ALREADY ALMOST FRANTIC AT THE THOUGHTS OF THE NEW PERIL TO WHICH RITA WAS TO BE EXPOSED. HE LOST ALL SELF-COMMAND, HIS LIP CURLED WITH A SMILE OF SCORN, HIS LOOK AND TONE expressed the most cutting contempt as he again addressed the Mochuelo. "WHAT!" CRIED HE, "IS THIS THE RENOWNED, THE FEARLESS GUERILLA, WHOSE DEEDS HAVE MADE HIM THE DREAD OF HIS FOES AND THE ADMIRATION OF HIS FRIENDS! THIS THE DARING SOLDIER WHOM NO PERIL DETERS, WHO NOW TALKS OF DANGER, AND CALCULATES CHANCES LIKE A RECRUIT OR A WOMAN! OH, NO! IT IS NOT THE SAME, OR IF IT BE, HIS COURAGE HAS LEFT HIM, AND COWARDICE HAS REPLACED daring." ON HEARING HIMSELF THUS UNJUSTLY AND INTEMPERATELY REPROACHED, THE MOCHUELO TURNED VERY PALE, AND HIS LEFT HAND SUNK DOWN AS THOUGH SEEKING THE HILT OF HIS SABRE. HIS TWO FOLLOWERS, ON SENTRY AMONG THE BUSHES, WHO HAD NOT LOST A WORD OF THE BRIEF DIALOGUE, TURNED THEIR HEADS AND GLARED SAVAGELY AT THE MAN WHO DARED TO ACCUSE THEIR LEADER OF COWARDICE. ONE OF THEM MUTTERED A HALF-AUDIBLE OATH, AND WAS ABOUT TO SPRING TO HIS FEET, BUT A GESTURE FROM THE MOCHUELO CHECKED HIM. THE CARLIST CAVALRY HAD NOW PASSED THE DEFILE, AND WERE NO LONGER VISIBLE ON THE PLATFORM. THE MOCHUELO TURNED AWAY AND WALKED IN THE DIRECTION OF THE BIVOUAC, AND HERRERA MECHANICALLY FOLLOWED HIM, RAGE AND DESPAIR IN HIS HEART. WHEN OUT OF EARSHOT OF THE SENTRIES THE GUERILLA PAUSED, AND, LEANING HIS BACK AGAINST A TREE, FOLDED HIS ARMS ON HIS BREAST. HIS FEATURES, STILL PALE, HAD ASSUMED AN EXPRESSION OF CALM DIGNITY, STRONGLY CONTRASTING WITH THE HUSHED AND agitated countenance of his companion. "SEÑOR DE HERRERA," SAID THE MOCHUELO, "YOU HAVE SURPRISED ME. BEFORE TWO OF MY MEN YOU HAVE TAXED ME WITH COWARDICE—FORTUNATELY THEY KNOW ME WELL ENOUGH TO DESPISE THE ACCUSATION, AND DISCIPLINE WILL NOT SUFFER. OF THE OUTRAGE TO MYSELF I SAY NOTHING. I MAKE ALL ALLOWANCE FOR YOUR EXCITED STATE. MANY WOULD THINK IT NECESSARY TO REPAY YOUR HARD WORDS BY A SHOT OR A STAB; I CAN AFFORD TO LAUGH AT ANY WHO BLAME MY FORBEARANCE. WHEN NEXT WE MEET THE ENEMY, LOOK WHERE THE FIRE IS HOTTEST, AND YOU WILL BE CONVINCED THAT THE NAMES OF COWARD AND OF THE MOCHUELO CAN never be coupled." TOUCHED BY THIS MANLY ADDRESS, AND ALREADY ASHAMED OF THE INTEMPERATE WORDS WHICH MENTAL SUFFERING HAD WRUNG FROM him, Herrera held out his hand to the Mochuelo. "PARDON ME," HE SAID "PARDON A MAN WHOSE AGONY AT SEEING ALL HE LOVES ON EARTH ABOUT TO BE SNATCHED AWAY, HAS MADE HIM FORGET WHAT IS DUE TO YOU AND TO HIMSELF. MISERY IS EVER SELFISH; BUT BELIEVE ME I AM NOT UNGRATEFUL FOR YOUR WILLING AID. ALL THAT HUMAN COURAGE CAN ACCOMPLISH I KNOW YOU WILL DO. BUT ALAS! ALAS! THIS FATAL THOUGH UNAVOIDABLE DELAY IS THE ruin of all my hopes." "PERHAPS NOT," SAID THE MOCHUELO CHEERINGLY, AND CORDIALLY PRESSING HERRERA'S HAND. "THE HORSES WE SAW PASS MUST BE WEARIED BY THEIR MID-DAY MARCH. UNSUSPICIOUS OF DANGER, BALTASAR WILL PROBABLY REMAIN A WHILE AT THE CONVENT. THE CASE IS BY NO MEANS SO HOPELESS AS YOU IMAGINE. AT ANY RATE WE WILL RISK SENDING A SCOUT TO KEEP AN EYE UPON THEIR movements. For that service Paco is the man." WITHIN TEN MINUTES AFTER THIS CONVERSATION, PACO LEFT THE PLATFORM AND COMMENCED THE ASCENT OF THE MOUNTAIN. A CONTRIBUTION HAD BEEN LEVIED AMONGST THE MOTLEY HABILIMENTED GUERILLAS TO EQUIP HIM IN A MANNER UNLIKELY TO ATTRACT SUSPICION, AND IT WAS IN THE DRESS OF A PEASANT OF THE PROVINCE THAT HE DEPARTED ON HIS HAZARDOUS MISSION. HERRERA WOULD FAIN HAVE UNDERTAKEN IT, BUT FOR THE ARGUMENTS OF THE MOCHUELO AND TORRES, WHO CONVINCED HIM HOW MUCH MORE EFFECTUALLY IT WOULD BE PERFORMED BY THE MULETEER. STATIONING HIMSELF AT THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN, HE WATCHED PACO, AS, WITH EXTRAORDINARY DARING AND ACTIVITY, HE CLIMBED ITS RUGGED SIDES, AVAILING HIMSELF, WITH INTUITIVE SKILL AND JUDGMENT, OF EVERY DESCRIPTION OF COVER, CREEPING UP WATER-COURSES AND AMONGST BUSHES; AND WHEN COMPELLED TO EXPOSE HIMSELF TO OBSERVATION FROM THE VALLEY IN HIS REAR, BOUNDING AND STRIDING ALONG AS IF INSENSIBLE ALIKE TO FATIGUE AND TO THE SCORCHING HEAT OF THE SUN. IN HALF THE TIME THAT APPEARED NECESSARY FOR THE PAINFUL ASCENT, HE DISAPPEARED OVER THE SUMMIT OF THE mountain. AN HOUR ELAPSED, AND HERRERA, WHO HAD NOT CEASED TO WATCH FOR PACO'S RE-APPEARANCE, BECAME IMPATIENT AND UNEASY. THE MULETEER HAD BEEN ORDERED TO GO NO FARTHER THAN WAS NECESSARY TO GET A VIEW OF THE CONVENT, AND THAT, EL TUERTO AFFIRMED, HE WOULD OBTAIN WITHIN A FEW HUNDRED YARDS OF THE MOUNTAIN-TOP. THE MOCHUELO ARGUED FAVOURABLY FROM HIS PROLONGED ABSENCE, WHICH PROVED, HE SAID, THAT BALTASAR'S PARTY WERE STILL AT THE CONVENT, AND THAT PACO WAS WATCHING THEIR MOVEMENTS. BUT WHEN A SECOND HOUR LAGGED BY WITH LIKE RESULT, THE GUERILLA, IN HIS TURN, BECAME ANXIOUS; WHILST HERRERA MADE SURE THAT PACO HAD VENTURED TOO FAR, AND FALLEN INTO THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY. IN THAT CASE THE MOCHUELA FEARED THAT, TO SAVE HIS LIFE, HE MIGHT BETRAY THEIR HIDING-PLACE; BUT LUIS'S ASSURANCES OF THE STANCH AND FAITHFUL CHARACTER of the muleteer, partly dissipated his apprehensions. Nevertheless, additional videttes were posted round the edge of the PLATFORM, THE GUERILLAS LOOKED TO THEIR ARMS, AND EVERY PRECAUTION WAS TAKEN AGAINST A SUDDEN ATTACK. IF DISCOVERED, SAID [Pg 522] [Pg 523] THE MOCHUELO, THEY COULD NONE OF THEM HOPE TO ESCAPE; BUT THE NATURAL FORTRESS WHICH THEY OCCUPIED WOULD ENABLE THEM to sell their lives at a dear rate. IN THIS STATE OF SUSPENSE WE WILL TEMPORARILY LEAVE HERRERA AND HIS FRIENDS, TO FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE MULETEER. SO RAPID HAD BEEN HIS ASCENT OF THE MOUNTAIN, THAT WHEN HE REACHED ITS SUMMIT THE CARLISTS HAD NOT YET COMPLETED THEIR CIRCUIT, AND ENTERED THE VALLEY WHERE THE CONVENT STOOD. WITH A FEELING OF HUGE SATISFACTION PACO LOOKED DOWN UPON HIS FORMER PRISON, AND CHUCKLED AT THE THOUGHT THAT HE SHOULD SOON HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY OF REVENGING HIMSELF FOR HIS SUFFERINGS WITHIN ITS WALLS. TO MAKE THE MOST OF HIS TIME BEFORE THE APPEARANCE OF BALTASAR, HE HASTILY DESCENDED THE NAKED ROCK ON WHICH HE STOOD, AND SOUGHT SHELTER AMONGST THE BUSHES AND STRAGGLING TREES CLOTHING THE MIDDLE AND LOWER SLOPES OF THE MOUNTAIN. THENCE HE COMMANDED A NEAR VIEW OF THE CONVENT. NO CHANGE WAS VISIBLE IN THE GREY, GHOSTLY-LOOKING EDIFICE; SO STILL WAS EVERY THING ABOUT IT, THAT IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN DEEMED UNINHABITED BUT FOR THE PORTRESS, WHO SAT KNITTING IN THE SHADOW OF THE GATEWAY, AND FOR THE OCCASIONAL APPARITION OF SOME ANCIENT NUN, SHOWING HER FACE, YELLOW AND SHRIVELLED AS PARCHMENT, AT A CASEMENT, OR FLITTING WITH BOWED HEAD, AND HANDS LOST IN THE WIDE SLEEVES OF HER ROBE, ACROSS THE SPACIOUS AND SOLITARY COURT. THE RED MOSS MANTLED THE OLD WALLS, THE BRIGHT GREEN CREEPERS DANGLED FROM THEIR SUMMITS, THE GARDENS AND VINEYARD COVERING THE SLOPE IN FRONT OF THE CONVENT, TEEMED WITH VEGETABLE LIFE. FROM WHERE HE STOOD PACO COULD DISCOVER THE VERY POINT WHERE HE HAD ENTERED THE FOREST AFTER HIS ESCAPE FROM THE DUNGEON. AS HE GAZED, IT SUDDENLY OCCURRED TO HIM THAT THE SAME FRIENDLY SHELTER WHICH HAD ENABLED HIM TO LEAVE THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE CONVENT UNPERCEIVED, PUT IT IN HIS POWER TO RETURN THITHER WITHOUT DETECTION. BOLD TO TEMERITY, AND FORGETFUL OF THE MOCHUELO'S INJUNCTIONS TO EXPOSE HIMSELF TO NO RISK OF DISCOVERY, PACO NO SOONER CONCEIVED THE PROJECT THAN HE PROCEEDED TO EXECUTE IT. THE CONVENT, IT WILL BE REMEMBERED, WAS SITUATED AT THE EXTREMITY OF THE VALLEY; THE PASS OR RATHER DIP IN THE SURROUNDING HILLS, BY WHICH BALTASAR AND HIS COMPANIONS WOULD APPROACH IT, WAS TO THE EAST OF THE BUILDING; WHEREAS PACO, BY THE SHORT CUT HE HAD TAKEN, FOUND HIMSELF ON THE CONTRARY OR WESTERN SIDE. CONCEALED AMONGST THE TREES, HE MOVED STEALTHILY BUT SWIFTLY ALONG, AND WAS WITHIN A FEW HUNDRED YARDS OF THE SPOT WHENCE HE PROPOSED TO RECONNOITRE THE ENEMY'S PROCEEDINGS, WHEN HE HEARD THE JINGLING NOISE OF CAVALRY AT THE TROT, AND, LOOKING THROUGH THE BRANCHES, HE SAW BALTASAR AND HIS PARTY SWEEP ROUND THE BASE OF THE LITTLE EMINENCE ON WHICH THE CONVENT STOOD, AND ASCEND THE PATH LEADING TO ITS GATE. BALTASAR ALONE ENTERED THE COURT; THE TROOPERS, ABOUT THIRTY IN NUMBER, HALTED OUTSIDE, AND REMAINED MOUNTED. PACO PLUNGED DEEPER INTO THE FOREST; FIVE MORE MINUTES COMPLETED HIS CIRCUIT, AND HE FOUND HIMSELF, STILL CONCEALED BY THE TREES, WITHIN A FEW PACES OF THE CONVENT WALL. OPPOSITE TO HIM WAS THE WINDOW WHENCE RITA HAD HELD HER CONVERSATION WITH THE GIPSY; BELOW IT, PACO SAW TRACES OF THE LOOPHOLE THROUGH WHICH HE HAD ESCAPED. THE LONG GRASS AND BUSHES HAD BEEN CLEARED AWAY, AND THE RUSTY GRATING WHICH PACO HAD SO EASILY REMOVED WAS REPLACED BY SOLID MASONRY. AT NONE OF THE CASEMENTS ON THAT SIDE OF THE CONVENT WAS ANY PERSON VISIBLE. BOTH SHUTTERS AND WINDOWS WERE OPEN; BUT VENETIAN BLINDS MASKED THE INTERIOR OF THE APARTMENTS FROM THE VIEW OF THE MULETEER, WHO STOOD STILL AND LISTENED. SCARCELY A MINUTE ELAPSED, WHEN A LOUD NOISE, AS OF A DOOR DASHED VIOLENTLY OPEN, REACHED HIS EARS. THIS WAS SUCCEEDED BY A BURST OF FURIOUS VOCIFERATION IN A VOICE WHICH PACO KNEW TO BE THAT OF BALTASAR. ALTHOUGH HIS TONES WERE LOUD, HIS UTTERANCE WAS SO RAPID AND INCOHERENT, THE EFFECT APPARENTLY OF PASSION, THAT ONLY A WORD HERE AND THERE WAS INTELLIGIBLE TO THE MULETEER, AND THESE WORDS WERE FOR THE MOST PART EXECRATIONS. HE SEEMED TO LASH HIMSELF INTO THE MOST UNBOUNDED FURY AGAINST SOME PERSON WHO HAD ENTERED THE APARTMENT IN HIS COMPANY, AND FROM THE EPITHETS HE MADE USE OF, IT WAS CLEAR THAT THAT PERSON WAS A WOMAN. AT FIRST NO REPLY WAS MADE TO HIS VIOLENCE, ALTHOUGH PACO COULD DISTINGUISH THAT HE PUT QUESTIONS, AND BECAME MORE AND MORE INFURIATED AT THE SILENCE OF HER TO WHOM THEY WERE ADDRESSED. PRESENTLY THERE WAS A MOMENTARY PAUSE, AND A FEMALE VOICE WAS HEARD. The accents were distinct though tremulous. "Never!" it said, "never! You may murder me; but that, never!" A BLASPHEMY TOO HORRIBLE TO TRANSCRIBE, BURST FROM THE LIPS OF BALTASAR. A BLOW FOLLOWED—A HEAVY, CRUEL, UNMANLY blow; there was a faint cry and the sound of a fall. Paco's blood grew cold in his veins, he ground his teeth, and his hand PLAYED CONVULSIVELY WITH THE KNIFE IN HIS POCKET. HE LOOKED UP AT THE WINDOW AS THOUGH HE WOULD HAVE SPRUNG TO THE ASSISTANCE OF THE HELPLESS VICTIM OF BALTASAR'S BARBARITY. AGAIN THE ROOM-DOOR OPENED, AND WAS AGAIN VIOLENTLY SLAMMED. All was now silent in the chamber. WITH HEAVY HEART, AND A COUNTENANCE PALE WITH HORROR AND SUPPRESSED RAGE, PACO LEFT THE SPOT, AND HASTENED TO ANOTHER, WHENCE HE COULD SEE THE FRONT OF THE CONVENT. THE CARLIST HORSEMEN WERE FILING IN AT THE GATE. LOOKING AROUND him, Paco selected a lofty tree, easy of ascent; in an instant he was amongst its branches. Thence he commanded a view OF THE INTERIOR OF THE COURT. BALTASAR WAS THERE GIVING ORDERS TO HIS MEN, WHO UNBRIDLED AND WATERED THEIR HORSES AT A FOUNTAIN IN THE CENTRE OF THE COURT. THIS DONE, THEY PROCEEDED TO FEED THEM, AND TO CLEANSE THE LEGS AND BELLIES OF THE WEARIED ANIMALS FROM THE SWEAT AND DUST. BREAD AND A SKIN OF WINE WERE PRESENTLY BROUGHT OUT OF THE CONVENT; AND BY THESE AND OTHER INDICATIONS, PACO BECAME CONVINCED THAT A HALT OF SOME DURATION, FOR THE PURPOSE OF REST AND REFRESHMENT, WAS INTENDED, ALTHOUGH, FROM THE NON-REMOVAL OF THE SADDLES, IT WAS EVIDENT THAT THE CARLISTS WOULD NOT PASS THE NIGHT THERE. HAVING NOW OBTAINED ALL THE INFORMATION HE COULD HOPE FOR, AND FAR MORE THAN HE HAD EXPECTED TO get, the indefatigable muleteer set out on his return to the platform. MEANWHILE PACO'S PROLONGED ABSENCE HAD CAUSED HERRERA AND THE MOCHUELO THE MOST SERIOUS UNEASINESS; AND AS LUIS KNEW HIM TO BE INCAPABLE OF TREACHERY, AND VOUCHED FOR HIS FIDELITY, THEY COULD ONLY SUPPOSE THAT HE HAD BEEN TAKEN PRISONER, OR HAD FALLEN AND KILLED OR...