Part 53 (1/2)
”Ah! you wish to see him?” responded Gas.p.a.cho. ”That rather surprises me. You shall have the pleasure of seeing him soon enough, I fancy.
Come along!”
The guerilleros continued on to the house, conducting their prisoner along with them.
As they drew near to the walls, the attention of Don Cornelio was again attracted to the singular lights that seemed to be burning within the house. It could not be the flame of a conflagration, else the building would long since have been consumed.
A few minutes brought them up to the gate. It was shut, and one of the men knocked against it with the hilt of his sabre, at the same time giving utterance to a pa.s.sword, which Don Cornelio did not understand.
What he did comprehend was, that the moment had come when, _bon gre mal gre_, he was called upon to acquit himself of the commission with which Morelos had entrusted him.
It often happens that danger in prospective is more dreaded than when it is present; and so was it in this instance: for, on his arrival at the gate, Don Cornelio felt less embarra.s.sed with apprehensions than he had been ever since his departure from the camp at Huaj.a.pam.
The huge door turned upon its heavy hinges to admit the hors.e.m.e.n--in the midst of whom the prisoner was carried into a large, paved courtyard, illuminated by the flames of several fires that burned in the open air.
Around these fires could be distinguished the forms of men--to the number of one hundred or more--grouped in different att.i.tudes, or lying asleep upon the pavement. Along the walls stood as many horses, completely equipped for the road. The bridles only were off, and hanging suspended over the saddle-bow--in order that the animals might consume their rations of maize, served to them in wooden troughs. Here and there, stacks of carbines, lances, and sabres, glanced under the light of the fires, and Don Cornelio could not help s.h.i.+vering with terror as he looked upon these fierce bandits, in the midst of their picturesque accoutrements.
Most of them remained as they were, without offering to stir. The sight of a fresh prisoner was nothing new to them. One only coming forward, asked Gas.p.a.cho, in a tone of indifference, what had taken him out at that hour of the night.
”Well!” exclaimed the cloak-robber in reply. ”They say that the mistress of the hacienda has escaped by a window. Her husband says she is absent. I don't care whether it's true or not. All I know is, that we can see nothing of her without; and we should have returned empty-handed, if good fortune hadn't thrown into our hands this gentleman here. I have no doubt he is a royalist spy, since he wanted to pa.s.s himself off for our old comrade--the Lieutenant Lantejas.”
”Ah!” rejoined the other, ”he would ill like to be Lantejas just now.”
And as the man said this he returned to the fire, which he had for the moment forsaken.
The captors of Don Cornelio were soon lost amidst the groups of their a.s.sociates--Gas.p.a.cho alone staying to guard him.
Only a few seconds did the cloak-robber remain in the courtyard; after which, making a sign to his prisoner to follow him, he commenced reascending the stone _escalera_ that led to the second storey of the building.
CHAPTER SIXTY SEVEN.
THE COLONEL OF COLONELS.
The day upon which these various events took place was anything but a happy one for Arroyo. It appeared to him as if the re-appearance in the neighbourhood of his deadliest foe--Don Rafael Tres-Villas--had been the signal for the series of disappointments which had occurred to him. Ten of his followers had fallen in a sortie of the besieged, besides two more killed by the hand of Don Rafael--who had himself escaped, as well as the prisoner Gaspar and the deserter Juan el Zapote.
The bloodthirsty disposition of the guerilla chief had been strengthened by these disappointments, and in order to give solace to his vexed spirit, he resolved to possess himself of the hacienda of San Carlos without further delay.
In addition to the wicked desires--which the promptings of Bocardo had excited within him--there was another reason urging him to carry out this design. The hacienda of San Carlos, with a little labour, could be converted into a fortress of considerable strength, and such as he might yet stand in need of.
He saw that he had miscalculated the power of resistance of the royalist garrison of Del Valle; and, still ignorant of its real strength, he deemed it better to call off the besieging force until after the taking of San Carlos. Then he could go back with his whole band, and make a determined a.s.sault against the place.
He had, for these reasons, ordered the besiegers to return to camp; and, striking his tent, had marched with all his followers to the capture of San Carlos. This will explain why Don Cornelio and his companions had been able to pa.s.s the hacienda Del Valle--and afterwards the ford of the Ostuta--without seeing anything of Arroyo or his band--Gas.p.a.cho alone excepted.
Numerous as were the servants of Don Fernando Lacarra--the proprietor of San Carlos--their master did not for a moment dream of making resistance. It would have been worse than useless against an experienced _guerilla_ numbering in all above a hundred men. At the first summons, therefore, the gates of the hacienda were opened to Arroyo and his followers.
Having hitherto practised a strict neutrality, and being known to have a strong sympathy with the cause of the Independence, the young Spaniard believed that Arroyo only intended demanding from him a contribution in provisions--and perhaps money--for the support of his troops; and that with this he would be contented.
Although not suspecting the designs of the brigand in regard to his wife, he had deemed it prudent, before opening the gates, that she should conceal herself in one of the secret chambers of the mansion-- where he was also in the habit of keeping his money and plate. There he fancied she would be safe enough--unless, indeed, the whole building should be ransacked and pillaged.
To strengthen this precaution, Don Fernando had informed the brigands on their entering the house, that his wife, Marianita, was not at home.