The Freebooters: A Story of the Texan War

The events had occurred with such rapidity, this coup-de-main, prepared long beforehand, had been carried out with such coolness and skill, and all had been so thoroughly foreseen, that the Commandant, after taking a despairing glance along the deck, was obliged to allow that he had only one chance of escape – laying down his arms. Still he hesitated, however, and El Alferez understood the combat that was going on in the heart of the brave officer.

"We are not pirates," he said, "Commandant Rodriguez, we are Texans; you can lay down your arms without shame – not to save your life, to which the defeat you have just suffered causes you to attach but slight value, and which you would doubtless readily sacrifice to expiate your misfortunes – but you are responsible before Heaven for the two hundred and fifty men forming your crew. Why needlessly shed precious blood! For the last time I invite you to surrender."

At this moment a thick shadow covered the deck of the corvette; the brig, which everyone had forgotten, had continued to advance; it had come within pistol shot, and its lofty sails stretched out over the vessel and intercepted the sunshine.

"Halloo the ship!" a voice shouted from the stern of the cruiser; "Send a boat aboard us with your captain."

This voice sounded like a thunderclap in the ears of the Mexicans. The brig had shortened sail, and was now lying motionless to starboard of the corvette. There was a moment of intense silence, during which all eyes were instinctively turned on the privateer; her yards were lined with topmen armed with muskets and hand grenades, through the open ports the men could be seen standing by the guns, and it literally held the corvette under its fire.

"Well," El Alferez continued, stamping his foot impatiently, "have you made up your mind; yes or no?"

"Sir," the Commandant answered, "by an infamous act of treachery you have become master of my vessel; as any resistance is henceforth useless, I surrender."

And with a gesture full of dignity the old sailor drew his sword, snapped the blade asunder, and after throwing the pieces into the sea, retired to the stern with a calm and resigned step.

"Captain Johnston," El Alferez shouted, "your corvette is ours; send a boat's crew on board."

A whistle was heard from the brig's deck; a boat was let down, and a few minutes after, twenty privateer's men, armed to the teeth, and commanded by the Captain in person, stepped on the corvette's deck. The disarmament of the crew was effected without the slightest resistance, and Commandant Rodriguez and his staff were at once transferred to the brig, in order that the Mexican sailors, who were much more numerous than their visitors, might be without a leader in the event of their attempting to regain possession of the corvette by a desperate effort. But this precaution was unnecessary, for the Mexicans had not the slightest idea of rising; on the contrary, most of them were natives of Texas, who found among the sailors of the brig many of their old friends and acquaintances; in a few moments the two crews were on the most cordial terms, and mixed up together.

Captain Johnson resolved to profit by this fortunate circumstance; the privateer was in a very difficult position, and literally experienced at this moment an embarrassment of wealth; he had, without striking a blow, captured a first class corvette, but that corvette required a crew, and the sailors he could dispose of by taking them from his own ship to put them aboard the prize were insufficient; the good understanding that had almost suddenly sprung up between the two crews, therefore, supplied him with the means of escape from the difficulty.

Sailors, as a general rule, are men hardened to fatigue; faithful, but unscrupulous in politics, whose questions are much too abstract for their intellect, which is naturally limited on all affairs relating to land. Accustomed to be sternly governed and have all the actions of their life directed, from the gravest down to the most trivial, sailors are only full-grown children, who appreciate but one thing – strength. A resolute man can always do what he likes with them, if he succeed in proving his superiority over them.

Captain Johnson was too old a hand not to know how he should act under the present circumstances. So soon as the disarmament was effected he mounted the quarterdeck, took up the speaking trumpet, and making no distinction among the sailors scattered about the deck, he ordered a series of manoeuvres, intended to habituate the men to the sound of his voice, and prove to them that he was a thorough sailor, which all recognised in a few minutes.

The orders were then executed with such rapidity and eagerness that the corvette, almost unserviceable an hour previously, was soon under jury masts, and in a condition to sail for any port to which it pleased its new commander to take it. The deck had been completely cleared, the running rigging cut during the action spliced – in short, an hour before sunset any stranger whom accident brought aboard the Libertad could have formed no idea of what had really taken place.

When he had obtained this result, Captain Johnson smiled in his moustache, and ordered Master Lovel, who had followed him on board, to pipe all hands on deck. At this familiar signal the sailors, who were now quite submissive, gaily ranged themselves at the foot of the mainmast, and waited patiently for their new Captain's orders. The latter knew how to address rude fellows like these; after complimenting them on the intelligent way in which they had comprehended his orders, he told them that he had no intention of keeping them prisoners, for the majority of them were Texans like himself, and as such had a claim to his entire sympathy. Consequently, those sailors who did not wish to serve the Texan Republic would be landed at the first place on Mexican territory the corvette touched at; as for those who consented to remain aboard and serve their country, their pay would be raised to twenty-five piastres a month, and in order to prove to them the good intentions of the Texan Government towards them, a month's pay would be distributed on the spot in the shape of bounty.

This generous proposition was greeted with shouts of joy by those men who began at once to calculate how many glasses of tafia and measures of pulque they could consume for this fabulous sum of twenty-five dollars.

The poor fellows, ever since they had been in the Mexican service, had only been paid in promises, and for a long time past had considered this pay far too meagre. The Captain was aware of this circumstance, he saw the effect he had produced, and continued in the midst of a religious silence —

"Then, that is settled, my men. You are free not to remain on board, where I have no desire to retain you as prisoners. Still, reflect on the propositions I make you, in the name of the Government I have the honour of serving, for I consider them in every way advantageous for you. Now, let those who wish to enter on board the corvette pass to larboard, while those who wish to be put ashore can remain where they are. The purser will draw up the agreement, and pay the bounty at once."

The Captain had installed the purser at the foot of the mizenmast, with a table before him, and bags of dollars at his feet. This display met with the greatest success, nothing more was wanting, and the sight of the piastres decided even the most irresolute. At the command of "Go," given by the Captain, the sailors crowded round the purser, who ere long did not know whom to attend to first, so anxious were all to receive the bounty. The Captain smiled at the result of his eloquence, but he considered it advisable to go to the aid of the purser, and by his orders, the sailors displayed a little less precipitation in presenting themselves to him.

The enlistment lasted two hours. All the sailors entered all now joyously clinked in their horny hands the handsome piastres they had received; and assuredly, if a Mexican ship had come up at the moment, the new crew would have given it a rude reception, and infallibly captured it. The result obtained by Captain Johnson was easy to foresee: in every sailor there is something of the privateer, and ready money is the only available argument with him.

But Captain Johnson was a cool and methodical man, on whom enthusiasm had but a slight effect. He was not at all intoxicated by the success he had met with; he knew very well, that when the first effervescence had worn off, reflection would come, and with reflection that insubordination so natural to the sailor's character. Above all, he must avoid giving any pretext for mutiny; and for that purpose, it was urgent to break up the unanimity which a lengthened dwelling together had produced among them. The means to effect this were simple, and the Captain employed them. His own brig had a crew of one hundred and ninety men; of these he only retained fifty, while the others went aboard the corvette, one hundred and forty of her crew being transferred to the brig; in this way the two crews were fused, and were completely at the disposal of the Captain, who became their entire master.

The various events we have described, and the incidents that followed them, had occupied a considerable period; the whole day had slipped away, and the organisation was not completed till an hour before sunset. Captain Johnson gave the command of the corvette to Don Serapio, with Don Cristoval as first lieutenant, and Ramirez as master; while he himself retained the command of the brig. Then, when all was in order, the Captain had the Mexican flag hoisted at the peak of the corvette, which immediately started for Galveston.

The Captain returned on board his own vessel, taking with him El Alferez, to whose determination and coolness the Texan Revolutionary Government owed the possession of a naval force. The result was grand, and surpassed even the expectations of the insurgents. But that was not enough: on getting aboard his brig, the Captain ordered the Texan flag to be struck, turned upside down, and hoisted again with the Mexican colours above it. The brig set sail, and kept up with the corvette, being careful to keep under her guns, as if really captured by her.

The sailors did not at all comprehend this singular manoeuvre; but, as they had seen the Captain laugh, they suspected some stratagem, and, in spite of the shame they felt at seeing their colours beneath those of Mexico, they repressed their murmurs, in the hope of a speedy revenge.

In the meanwhile, the whole population of Galveston had since morning been plunged in the greatest anxiety. Assembled on the jetty, they had watched the obstinate pursuit until the vessels disappeared; the sound of cannon, repeated by the echo of the cliffs, had reached the city; a fight had, therefore, taken place, but what the result was everybody asked the other, and no one could answer.

The silence of the fort had also seemed inexplicable; they could not understand why it had not sunk the brig as it passed. Suddenly there was an outburst of shouts and cheers, for the brig and corvette reappeared at the entrance of the passage, with the Mexican colours proudly flying on the two ships over the Texan flag, which was disgracefully reversed. This delight knew no bounds when the ships were seen to anchor beneath the guns of the battery; the Mexicans were victors, and the Texan insurgents had suffered a defeat, from which they would not so easily recover.

CHAPTER XXI.

A STRANGE LEGEND

We will now return to the Jaguar, whom we left departing from the pulqueria, and proceeding at the head of his bold companions toward the fort of the Point. But, before going further, in order to make the reader understand the almost insurmountable difficulties which the Jaguar would meet with on the audacious expedition he was attempting, we ask leave to tell him the legend current about this fortress, a legend which has survived to this day, in all its quaint simplicity.

The European traveller who visits for the first time Texas, and all the coasts of Southern America generally, experiences a feeling of indefinable sorrow at the sight of these gloomy and sinister shores, which have witnessed so many accidents, and against which the dark waves of the Pacific break with mysterious murmurs. All, in fact, disposes to reverie in these poetic countries: the sky, which resembles a plate of red-hot iron; the lofty denuded cliffs, whose capricious outline looks as if it had been cut out by some artistic giant of past ages, and bearing at times on their proud crests the still imposing ruins of an old palace of the Incas, or a teocali, whose massive walls are lost in the clouds – the ancient lurking places of those ferocious priests of the Sun, who made all tremble around them, and raised their bloody titles both afloat and ashore. Before the conquest, at the time when the descendants of Quetzalcoatl, or the Serpent covered with feathers, peacefully reigned in these countries, the thick walls of the teocalis stifled many a groan, concealed and authorised many a crime.

Of all the stories told us in our last journey through Texas, about these mournful abodes scattered over the country, we will only relate one, which has reference to the narrative we have undertaken to tell.

It was a short while after the daring expedition, during which Columbus, while seeking a new road to India, had found America again; the fever of discovery had affected every imagination; each, with his eyes fixed on the New World, which had sprung up as if by magic, rushed toward these unknown regions with all that feverish activity we have seen suddenly rekindled with reference to the Californian placers.

Among the adventurers who went to try their fortunes, some were only urged by the hope of making discoveries, while others, on the contrary, only obeyed the thirst for gold, and renewed, on another stage, the fabulous exploits of the Scandinavians – those bold kings of the sea, whose life was a continued combat. Among these men was one who had made, with the unfortunate De La Salle, that unlucky expedition, during which he crossed over the whole of Texas. This adventurer, however, Don Estevan de Sourdis by name, caring little for the unprofitable adventures the brave Frenchman undertook, secretly quitted his Chief with the vessel he commanded, and sailed quietly along the coasts of the new land so recently discovered.

The idea was excellent, and the profits were great: in a few months the adventurer's vessel was filled with riches, more or less honourably acquired. Still, for reasons best known to himself, Don Estevan felt no desire to return to France. He therefore resolved to seek a spot where it would be possible for him to build a fortress capable of protecting him, and serve him as a secure retreat against the pirates who traversed these seas in the same way as he did; he therefore began carefully exploring the Texan coast, in order to find a suitable spot to carry out his plans.

Accident led him to the mouth of the Rio Trinidad, a few miles from the spot where Galveston was built at a later date, in a wild and uninhabited country, whose appearance attracted him at the first glance. Like the old pirate he was, the Count admired the magnificent block of granite that commanded the entrance of the bay he had put into; and, seeing the importance of a citadel built on this rock, and the power it would eventually give his family, he resolved to form his nest there.

When his choice was made, the pirate had his vessel drawn ashore, camped with his men at the foot of the rock, and began reflecting on the means of carrying out his bold scheme. A good many things troubled him – in the first place, where should he procure the stones necessary for such an edifice; and if the stones were found, where should he get the masons to put them together.

Count Estevan de Sourdis and his comrades were excellent sailors – killing, pillaging, and ravishing conscientiously each time that the opportunity offered itself; but, as a general rule, they were very poor masons, and nothing of architects. And then again, supposing the stones were found, squared, and brought to the foot of the rock, how were they to be raised to the top? This was really the insurmountable difficulty; and any other than the bold pirate would have renounced the execution of a plan which he recognised as impossible.

But the Count was obstinate; he said to himself with a certain show of reason, that the greater the difficulties to overcome, the stronger and better protected from attack his castle would be.

In consequence, far from recoiling, he armed his people with iron crowbars, and began forming in the rock a path which wound round it and was to finish at the summit. This path, three feet wide at the most, was so steep and abrupt, that the slightest false step sufficed to hurl those who ventured on it down an abyss, at the bottom of which they were crushed to death. After a year of superhuman toil, the path was formed, and the count, scaling it on his horse, at the risk of breaking his neck one hundred times, planted his banner on the top of the rock, with a shout of pride and joy.

Another cry answered his, but it was so ironical and mocking that the old pirate, whose nerves were as hard as cords, and who had never trembled in his life, felt a shudder of terror run over all his limbs; his hair stood erect in horror, and an icy perspiration beaded on his temples.

The Count turned round; a man wrapped in a large black cloak, and with a red plumed hat on his head, was standing by his side. The man's face was ashy, his eyes glistened with a gloomy fire, and his parched up lips grimaced a mournful smile. The Count regarded him for a moment with surprise; but as, after all, he was a brave sailor who feared nothing in the world, he asked the stranger, in a firm voice, who he was, and how he happened to be at this spot. To these two questions the unknown answered politely that he had heard say that the Count de Sourdis was seeking an architect capable of building him a strong and handsome castle, and that he had come to treat with him. The chieftain bowed courteously, and the following dialogue took place between the speakers.

"Do you not think, master," the pirate said, "that this spot is excellently chosen for the place I meditate?"

"Excellency," the stranger replied, "you could not have found a better site all along the coast."

The pirate smiled proudly.

"Yes," he said, "and when my castle is built, no one will be able to assail it."

"Oh, of course."

"Look here," he continued, making the stranger a sign to follow him, "this is what I propose doing."

And walking round the plateau, he described the plan in its fullest details: the stranger approved of it by nodding his head and smiling his crafty smile. In the meanwhile time was passing: for about an hour day had given way to night, and gloom had gradually invaded the rock; the pirate, carried away by the irresistible attraction a man ever feels in ventilating his ideas, specially to a person who seems to approve of them, continued his demonstrations without noticing that the darkness had grown too dense for the person he was addressing to derive great profit from what he was saying; at length he turned to the stranger.

"Well," he asked him, "what do you think of it?"

"It is perfect," the other answered.

"Is it not?" the Chief asked, with an air of conviction.

"Yes, but – "

"Ah," said the pirate, "there is a but then?"

"There is always one," the stranger objected judiciously.

"That is true," the old pirate muttered.

"You are aware that I am an architect?"

"You told me so."

"Well, I have made a plan too."

"Indeed, indeed!"

"Yes, if you will permit me, Excellency, I shall have the honour of submitting it to you."

"Do so, my dear fellow, do so," the Chief said with a condescending smile, for he was convinced in his heart that his plan was the better of the two.

"Directly."

"But I have an idea."

"What is it?"

"Why, it is rather dark, and in order to judge of your plan – "

"A light would be necessary, I suppose you mean, Excellency."

"Why yes," the pirate replied, "I fancy it would prove useful."

"Pray do not put yourself out of the way," said the stranger, "I will procure one."

With the greatest possible coolness, he took off the feather that adorned his hat, and stuck it in the ground, when it suddenly burst into a flame, just as if it had been a torch. The Count was astounded at this marvel, but as, after all, he was a good Christian, and he was beginning to distrust his companion considerably, he mechanically prepared to cross himself. But the stranger eagerly caught hold of his arm.

"Let us lose no time, Excellency," he said.

And drawing a roll of parchment from under his cloak he unrolled and laid it before the pirate, who was in extasies at the magnificent plan he saw.

"What do you, think of that, Excellency?" the architect said, in a sweet, bitter voice.

"Sublime!" he exclaimed, transported with admiration.

"You are a judge," the other answered, "this is what I propose doing."

And in his turn he began entering into the most minute details, to which the old sailor listened with gaping mouth and flashing eyes, never leaving off looking at the splendid fortress drawn on the parchment. When the architect ceased speaking, the pirate was so confounded by all he had heard, that he remained for a moment stunned, and tried in vain to restore the regular flow of his thoughts.

"Well," he at last asked with a certain shade of incredulity, which involuntarily betrayed itself in his voice, "do you fancy yourself capable of carrying out such a masterpiece?"

"Nothing is easier."

"But we have no building stones."

"I will find them."

"I have no masons."

"I will procure them."

"But iron, wood – in a word, all the articles necessary for such a building, how to procure them?"

"I will take it on myself."

"But it will cost me a tremendous sum," said the Count, pressingly, for fear was more and more overpowering him.

"Pooh!" the stranger said, carelessly, and thrusting out his lower lip in disdain, "less than nothing, a trifle."

"And how long will you require to finish my fortress as it stands on the parchment?"

"Wait," the other said, calculating on his fingers, and scratching his forehead like a man who is seeking the solution of a difficult problem; "it is about nine o'clock, I think?"

"About," the Count said, not at all understanding the stranger's meaning.

"Well! By sunrise all will be ready, and you can take possession of your new residence."

"What, why, you must be the demon!" the Count exclaimed in utter stupefaction.

The stranger rose, bowed to the pirate courteously, and answered him with great politeness and a most gentlemanly manner.

"In person, Excellency. On my honour," he added, "I never could leave a worthy man in a difficulty. I was affected by your perplexity, and resolved to come to your aid."

"You are most kind," the old sailor muttered mechanically, not knowing what he was saying.

"That is my motive," said the other, with a modest bow.

"Thanks; and you ask me – "

"I have told you already – a mere trifle."

"Still – "

"We shall come to an agreement; besides, I am too much of the gentleman to treat you as a greenhorn. Still, to keep things straight, just sign this simple agreement."

"Pardon me; but I cannot read. I can sign nothing; besides, you can easily understand that I am not at all desirous to give you my soul."

"Come, Excellency," said Mephistopheles, "you can hardly suppose that I have any intention of taking you in?"

"What?

"Hang it all! Your soul has been mine for a long time, and I do not require your authorization to take it."

"Nonsense," said the worthy pirate, who was quite rebuffed, "do you think our Lord will not look twice before condemning a man of my sort?"

"Not the least in the world," the demon continued good-humouredly; "so reassure yourself. It is not that I intend to ask of you."

"Speak, then; and, on the word of a gentleman adventurer, I will grant it."

"Done!" said Satan, graciously stretching out his hand.

"Done!" the pirate replied.

"Come, that is settled. Well, you will surrender to me the first living creature you address in the morning when you wake. You see that I am not exigent, for I might have charged you much more dearly."