The Pirates of the Prairies: Adventures in the American Desert

"Good morning, child; did you have a good night?"

"I could not have had a better; I feel in glorious spirits this morning."

"All the better, dear girl, all the better; for I have to present to you an old comrade, who ardently desires to see you again."

"I know whom you are alluding to, father," the girl replied. "I was not asleep last night when he arrived, and even supposing I had been so the noise you made would have awakened me."

"You heard our conversation, then?"

"From one end to the other."

"And what is your advice?"

"Before answering, tell me who are the people we are to attack."

"Do you not know?"

"No; since I ask you."

"Hang it; they are Americans, I believe."

"But what sort of Americans? Are they Gringos or Gachupinos?"

"I did not inquire into such details; to me all Americans are alike; and provided they are attacked, I ask for nothing more."

"That is possible, old father," the girl answered, with a little pout; "but I make a grand difference between them."

"I do not exactly see the use of it."

"I am free to think as I please, I suppose," she interrupted him, as she stamped her foot impatiently.

"Yes, my child, yes – do not be angry, I entreat you."

"Very good; but pay attention to what I am going to tell you. Red Cedar is a man on whom I do not put the slightest trust. He is ever accustomed to pursue a gloomy object, which escapes his partners; they only serve him as a cat's paw in all his undertakings; and he abandons them unblushingly so soon as they are of no further use to him. The affair Red Cedar proposes to you is magnificent at the first glance; but, on reflecting, far from offering us profits, it may bring a multitude of annoyances on us, and bring us into a wasp's nest, whence we cannot emerge."

"Then, your opinion is to decline?"

"I do not say that; but I wish to know what you intend doing, and what our chances of success are?"

During this conversation, the other bandits had left their cells and ranged themselves round the speakers, whose discussion they followed with the deepest interest.

"On my word, my dear child, I do not know what answer to make you. Last evening Red Cedar spoke to me of the affair, and it appeared to us grand; but if it does not please you we will give it up. We will not mention it again; and that's all about it."

"That is how you always are, Sandoval; it is impossible to discuss any point with you. At the slightest objection offered you flare up, and will not listen to the reasons which may be given to you."

"I am not so, my child; I only state facts. However, here is Red Cedar; have it out with him."

"That will not take long," the girl answered; and turning to the squatter, who entered the grotto, bearing on his shoulders a magnificent elk he had shot, and which he threw on the ground, she said —

"Answer me a single question, Red Cedar."

"Twenty, if it be agreeable to you, charming Gazelle," the bandit said, with a constrained smile, which rendered him hideous.

"No, one will be sufficient. Who are the people you are engaged with?"

"A Mexican family."

"I want to know their name."

"I will tell it you. It is the Zarate family, one of the most influential in New Mexico."

At this answer a vivid flush ran over the girl's face, and she displayed marks of profound emotion.

"I also propose," the bandit continued, whose notice this flush had not escaped, "to finish with that demon, Bloodson, on whom we have so many insults to avenge."

"Good!" she said with increasing emotion.

The astounded brigands gazed anxiously on the girl. At length, by a violent effort, the Gazelle succeeded in reassuming an air of coolness; and, addressing the Pirates, said to them, in a voice whose accent revealed a great internal agitation —

"That entirely changes the question. Bloodson is our most cruel enemy. If I had known that at first, I should not have opposed the enterprise as I did."

"Then – ?" Sandoval ventured to interrupt. "I consider the idea excellent; and the sooner we put it in execution, the better."

"Very good," Red Cedar exclaimed. "I felt sure that the niña would support me."

The Gazelle smiled on him.

"Whoever could understand women?" Sandoval muttered in his moustache.

"Now," the young girl added, with extraordinary animation, "let us hasten to make our preparations for departure, as we have not an instant to lose."

"Caspita! I am glad we are going to do something at last," said Orson, as he prepared to cut up the elk brought in by Red Cedar: "we were beginning to moulder in this damp hole."

"Leonard," Sandoval said, "look after the horses; fetch them from the corral, and bring them to the subterraneous passage."

"Hang it all," said Red Cedar; "talking about horses, I haven't one."

"That is true," Sandoval replied; "you arrived on foot yesterday; but I fancied you had left your horse in the chaparral."

"No, it was killed in an ambuscade, where I all but left my hide. Since then, my dog has carried the saddle."

"We have more horses than we want, so Leonard shall bring one to you."

"Thanks, I will make it up to you."

Leonard and another bandit collected the harness and went off. When the meal was finished, which did not take long, as the Pirates were anxious to start, the separations forming the rooms were taken down, and two or three Pirates, arming themselves with powerful levers, moved an enormous rock, under which was the hole, serving as cache to the band, when obliged to leave its den temporarily. In this hole they placed any objects of value which the grotto contained, and the rock was then returned to its place.

This duty accomplished, Sandoval shouted as he proceeded to the mouth of the grotto —

"Some men to help."

At a sign from Sandoval, half a dozen men seized the end of a tree serving as a bridge, lifted it, balanced it for a moment in the air, and hurled it into the precipice, down which it rolled, with a sound resembling the discharge of a park of artillery. The exterior of the grotto was then covered with shrubs, in order to conceal it as far as possible.

"Ouf," Sandoval said, "at present all is in order; we will start when you please."

"At once!" the girl said, who seemed a prey to a great impatience, and who during all these lengthened preparations had not ceased to, scold the Pirates for their delay.

The band entered the passage without further delay; and, after a march of about half an hour, entered a ravine, where the horses, under the guard of a Pirate, were nibbling the pea vines and young tree shoots.

All mounted. The White Gazelle allowed her comrades to pass, and managed to remain a little in the rear. Then, approaching Red Cedar, she looked at him in a peculiar way, and laid her dainty hand on his shoulder.

"Tell me, scalp hunter," she muttered, in a low and concentrated voice, "it is really Don Miguel de Zarate, the father of Don Pablo, whom you wish to crush?"

"Yes, señorita," the squatter answered, feigning astonishment at this question. "Why do you ask me that?"

"Nothing," she said, with a shrug of her shoulders; "merely an idea."

And, spurring her horse, which bounded forward with a snort of pain, she rejoined the band, which started at a long trot.

"Why does she take such interest in Don Pablo?" Red Cedar asked himself, so soon as he was alone. "I must know that! Perhaps it may help me to – "

A sinister smile curled the corners of his thin lips, and he added, as he watched the girl gallop on —

"You fancy your secret well kept. Poor fool! I shall soon know it."

CHAPTER XI

THE APACHES

The little band galloped silently through one of those primitive landscapes which owe nothing to art, and whose imposing and grand aspect makes us understand the infinite power of the Creator, and plunges the soul into a gentle reverie. It was one of those fresh, but lovely autumn mornings, on which travelling is so pleasant. The sun, gently rising in the horizon, spread its vivifying heat over nature, which seemed smiling on it. When you look around you in the valleys, all seemed spotted with white and blackish gray. The hills bore on their crests enormous mushrooms of granite, which affected the quaintest shapes. The soil of these hills was grayish white, and was only covered with a few faded plants already in seed.

In the plain the vegetation was yellow; here and there in the distance a few male buffaloes were scattered over the prairie like black dots. The flying locusts, some with brown wings, but the majority of a light yellow colour, were so numerous, that they literally covered the earth at certain spots.

At a slight distance off rose the lofty Bears-hand mountain, whose crest was already covered by a slight layer of snow. The crows formed vast circles in the air, and the buffaloes, elks, asshatas, and bighorns ran and bounded in every direction, bellowing and lowing.

The pirates, insensible to the charms of the scenery, and having no other moving principle than greed, galloped in the direction of the village of the Buffalo tribe, of which Stanapat (the handful of blood) was the Sachem, gradually approaching the banks of the Gila, which was still invisible, but whose course could now soon be traced, owing to the mass of vapour that rose from its bosom, and floated majestically over it, incessantly drawn up by the sunbeams.

Toward midday the band stopped to let the horses breathe, but, owing to the impatience of Red Cedar, and specially of the White Gazelle, soon started again. After descending a very steep hill, and marching for some distance in a deep ravine, that formed a species of cañon, the band at length debouched on the banks of the Gila.

A strange spectacle was the result: on both sides the stream a number of Indians apparently encamped at the spot, although their village stood a little distance off at the top of a hill, in accordance with the fashion of the Pueblos, to convert their habitations into little fortresses, were running and seeking in every direction, shrieking, gesticulating, and making the most fearful disturbances.

So soon as they perceived strangers advancing in a straight line toward them, and not attempting to conceal themselves, but marching in perfect order, they uttered frenzied yells, and rushed to meet them, brandishing their weapons, and making ready for a fight.

"Confound it!" said Sandoval, "the Indians do not seem in a good temper. Perhaps we do wrong in accosting them at this moment: from their present appearance they may play us a trick, so we will keep on our guard."

"Bah! Let me act. I take everything on myself," Red Cedar answered, with assurance.

"I ask for nothing better, my friend," Sandoval remarked; "do exactly what you please; deuce take me if I try to interfere. Caray, I know those demons too well to get into trouble with them rashly."

"Very good! That is agreed; do not trouble yourself any further."

At a sign from Red Cedar the Pirates stopped, waiting impatiently what was going to happen, and resolved, at any rate, with that brutal egotism characteristic of scamps of that sort, to remain unmoved spectators. The squatter, not displaying the slightest trepidation, threw back his rifle on its sling, and taking off his buffalo robe which he waved before him, advanced towards the Apaches.

The latter, seeing the strangers halt with their hands on their guns, and this man advancing alone as ambassador, hesitated for a moment. They formed a group, and consulted; after a hurried deliberation, two men moved forward, and also waving their buffalo robes, stood about ten paces in front of the hunter.

"What does my brother want of the warriors of my nation?" one of the Indians said, in a haughty voice; "Does he not know that the hatchet has been dug up between the palefaces and redskins, or has he brought us his scalp, to save us the trouble of going to fetch it?"

"Is my brother a chief?" the Pirate answered, displaying no emotion.

"I am a chief," the Indian replied – "my brothers call me Black Cat."

"Very good," Red Cedar continued. "I will therefore answer my brother that I have known for a long time that the hatchet has been dug up for a long time between the 'Great hearts of the East' and the Apaches. As for my scalp, I am weak enough to set an enormous value on it, gray as it is, and I have no intention of letting it be raised."

"In that case my brother acted very imprudently in coming to deliver himself up."

"The future will prove the truth of that. Will my brother hear the propositions I am commissioned to make him?"

"My brother can speak, but he must be brief, for my sons are impatient."

"What I have to say only concerns Black Cat."

"My ears are open."

"I have come to offer my brother the help of my comrades and my own – that is to say, the eleven best rifles in the prairie. By the council fire, I will explain to the chiefs what we can do to deliver them from their implacable enemy, Bloodson."

"Bloodson is a cowardly dog," the chief answered; "the Indian women despise him. My brother has spoken well, but the whites have a forked tongue: what proof will my brother give me of his sincerity?"

"This," the Pirate intrepidly answered, as he approached near enough to touch the Indian, "I am Red Cedar, the scalp hunter."

"Wah!" the chief said, his eyes flashing.

The squatter continued, without displaying any emotion —

"I have to avenge myself on Bloodson – to succeed in it I have come to you, who, till this day, have been my enemies, and on whom I have inflicted so many injuries, and I place myself in your hands, with my comrades, frankly and unreservedly, bringing you as proof of my sincerity a skin full of firewater, three plugs of tobacco, and two female buffalo-robes, white as the snows of the Bears-hand. My brother will decide – I await his answer."

The Indians, who display extraordinary temerity, are good judges of courage. A bold action always pleases them, even from an enemy; on the other hand, a present of firewater makes them forget the deepest insults.

In the meanwhile Black Cat consulted for some minutes with the chief who accompanied him. After a very long discussion, cupidity doubtless gained the victory in the Apache's mind over the desire for vengeance, as his countenance brightened up, and he held out his hand to the squatter, saying —

"The chiefs of my tribe will smoke the calumet with my brother and his companions."

Then, taking off his cap of antelope hide, adorned with feathers, he placed it himself on Red Cedar's head, adding – "My brother is now sacred; he and his companions can follow me without fear – no insult will be offered them."

The Pirates had anxiously watched the phases of this conversation. Though too far off to overhear it, they followed all the gestures of the speakers. When Black Cat placed his cap on their comrade's head, they immediately advanced, without waiting for him to give them the signal. They knew that from this moment they had nothing to fear; but, on the contrary, they would be treated with the greatest respect and utmost consideration by all the members of the tribe.

A strange fact, worthy of remark, is the way in which the American races understand and practice hospitality. The most ferocious tribes, and those most addicted to pillage, respect in the highest degree the stranger who takes a seat at their fire. This man may have killed one of the members of the family which shelters him; he may have the most precious articles about him, and be alone, but no one will dare to insult him; everyone will strive to do him all sorts of services, and supply him with everything that may be useful to him, reserving the right of mercilessly killing him a week later, if they meet him on the prairie.

The Pirates were, consequently, received with open arms by the Apaches; a tent was put up expressly for them, and they were supplied with everything they could want.

The first care of Red Cedar was to carry out his bargain with Black Cat, and pay him what he had promised. The chief was delighted; his little eyes sparkled like carbuncles, he leaped, gesticulated, and was half out of his mind. The squatter had paid him a royal ransom, which he was far from expecting ever to receive. Hence he did not leave his new friend again, whom he overwhelmed with attentions.

When the Pirates had rested and had their food, Red Cedar turned to Black Cat.

"When the council assembles," he said, "I will point out to the chief the spot where Bloodson now is."

"My brother knows it?"

"I suspect it."

"In that case I will warn the hachesto, that he may assemble the chiefs round the council fire."

"Why not light the fire here, instead of returning to the village, which will occasion a great loss of time?"

"My brother is right," the chief answered.

He rose, and immediately quitted the tent. A few moments after, the hachesto of the hill mounted a species of hillock, and shaking his chichikoui with all his strength, invited the chiefs of the nation to assemble in council. The same announcement was made in the camp on the other side of the Gila.

An hour later, the principal Apache chiefs were crouching round the council fire, lit in the prairie at a short distance from the tent of the white men.

At the moment when Black Cat rose and was preparing to utter a few words, probably with the intention of explaining the reason of the meeting, a great noise was heard, and a mounted Indian galloped up, shouting —

"The Buffaloes! Stanapat, Stanapat!"

Another Indian arriving at equal speed from the opposite direction, shouted at the same time:

"The Siksekaï! The Siksekaï!"

"Here are our allies," Black Cat then said; "my sons will prepare to receive them."

The council was broken up. The warriors hurriedly assembled, formed in two large bands, flanked on the wings by horsemen, and ranged themselves for battle in the two directions indicated by the scouts.

The war detachment of the Buffaloes appeared descending a hill, and advancing in good order. It was composed of about five hundred warriors, perfectly armed and painted for war, and looking most martial.

A detachment of the Siksekaï of about equal strength appeared immediately after, marching in good order.

So soon as the four Indian bands saw each other, they uttered their war cry, discharged their muskets and brandished their lances, while the horsemen, starting at full speed, executed the most singular evolutions, rushing on each other as if charging, turning and curvetting round the detachments which marched on at quick step, singing, shouting, firing their guns, rattling their chichikouis, blowing their shells, and incessantly sounding their war whistles.

There was something really imposing in the aspect of these savage warriors, with their stern faces, clothed in fantastic costumes, and covered with feathers and hair, which the wind blew in every direction.

When the four parties arrived at a short distance from each other, they stopped and the noise ceased. Then the principal chiefs, holding in their hand the totem of their tribe, left the ranks, followed by the pipe-bearer, carrying a great sacred calumet; they walked a few paces toward each other, and planted the totem on their right.

The pipe-bearers filled the calumets, lighted them, bowed to the four cardinal points, and handed them in turn to the chief, while holding the bowls in their hands, and being careful that no one was passed over.

This preliminary ceremony accomplished, the principal sorcerer of the Buffaloes placed himself between the totems, and turned to the sun.

"Home of light!" he said, "thou who vivifiest everything in nature, servant and visible representative of the Great Invisible Spirit who governs the world which he has created, thy children long separated are assembling today to defend their villages and hunting grounds, unjustly and incessantly attacked by men without faith or country, whom Niang, the Spirit of Evil, has let loose upon them. Smile on their efforts, O Sun, and grant them the scalps of their enemies! Grant that they be victorious, and accept this offering made thee by thy most fervent adorer, to render thee favourable to thy sons, and make thy Apache children invincible!"

While uttering these words, he seized a light stone axe hanging at his girdle, and placing his left arm on a rock, laid open his wrist with one blow.

The blood poured profusely from this horrible wound; but the sorcerer, impassive and apparently insensible to pain, drew himself up with an eye flashing with enthusiasm and religious fanaticism, and shaking his arm in every direction, sprinkled the chiefs with his blood, while shouting in a loud voice:

"Sun, Sun, grant us our enemies, as I have given thee my hand!"

All the Indians repeated the same prayer.

The yells recommenced, and in an instant the redskins, seized with a spirit of frenzy, rushed upon each other, brandishing their weapons to the sound of the chichikouis and war whistles, and imitating all the evolutions of a real battle.

The sorcerer, still stoical, wrapped up his mutilated arm in grass, and retired with a slow and measured step, saluted on his passage by the Indians whom his action had electrified. When the tumult was slightly calmed, the chiefs assembled for the second time round the council fire, whose circle had been enlarged to make room for the allies.

The newly arrived warriors were mingled with those of Black Cat, and the greatest cordiality prevailed among those ferocious men, whose number amounted at this moment to nearly two thousand, and who only dreamed of blood, murder, and pillage.

"Confederate sachems of the powerful nation of the Apaches," Stanapat said, "you know the cause which once again draws us up arms in hand against the perfidious white men. It is, therefore, useless to enter into details you know; still, I believe, that since the hatchet has been dug up, we ought to use it till it is completely blunted. The palefaces daily invade our territory more and more; they respect none of our laws; they kill us like wild beasts. Let us forget our personal habits for an instant, to combine against the common foe, that Bloodson, whom the genius of evil has created for our ruin. If we can manage to remain united, we shall exterminate him, for we shall be the stronger! When we have conquered, we will share the spoils of our enemy. I have spoken."

Stanapat sat down again, and Black Cat rose in his turn. "We are unanimous enough to commence the war with advantage; within a few days other auxiliaries will have found us. Why wait longer? Ten white hunters of the prairies, our allies, offer to surrender to us the den of the long knives of the East, in which they tell me they have friends. What do we wait for? Let us utter our war cry and start at once; any delay may be deadly for us, by giving our enemies time to prepare a desperate resistance, against which all our efforts will be broken. Let my brothers reflect. I have spoken."

"My brother has spoken well," Stanapat answered; "we must fall like lightning on our enemy, who will be terrified by an unexpected attack; but we should not be imprudent. Where are the white hunters?"

"Here," Black Cat replied.

"I ask," the sachem continued, "that they be heard by the council."

The other chiefs bowed their heads in assent, and Black Cat rose and went to the Pirates, who were impatiently awaiting the result of the deliberation of the sachems.

CHAPTER XII

BLACK CAT

In order to understand the ensuing incidents, we are compelled to return to the maidens whom we left at the moment when they escaped from Red Cedar's camp, escorted by the Canadian hunters.

The fugitives stopped a few moments before sunrise on a little tongue of sand forming a species of promontory a few yards in length on the waters of Gila, which were rather deep at this point, whence the river or prairie could be surveyed.

All was calm and tranquil in the desert. The impetuous Gila rolled along its yellowish stream between two banks clothed with wood and thick chaparral. Amid the dark green branches thousands of birds were striking up a concert, with which was mingled at intervals the lowing of the buffaloes.

The first care of the hunters was to kindle a fire and prepare the morning meal, while their hobbled horses nibbled the young tree shoots.