Part 21 (1/2)

There, too, are the black vultures, some in the air, some on the ground, in flocks so thick as to darken both earth and sky. They antic.i.p.ated a plenteous repast--they have not been disappointed.

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.

AT THE ALTAR.

The last scene of our tale lies in the _pueblita_ of Santa Gertrudes; a mining village chiefly supported by the _minera_ bearing the same name, whose works, with the specialities of crus.h.i.+ng-sheds, smelting-houses, and tall chimneys, are seen just outside its suburbs.

All have a modern look, as well they may. On the ground where they stand, but three years before grew a thick _chapparal_ of mezquite, cactus, yucca, and other plants characteristic of desert vegetation.

For Santa Gertrudes is in the very heart of the Sonora desert, remote from any other civilised settlement.

Its prosperity, however, has attracted settlers; for not only does the population of the village itself receive constant increase, but many fertile tracts in the country around have been taken up, and are occupied by a goodly number of graziers and agriculturists, whose chief purpose is to supply the comestibles required by the miners and their dependants.

The growth of Santa Gertrudes has been remarkably rapid, almost unprecedently so. From the first opening of the mine, every vein worked has proved a _bonanza_, enriching the owners, Don Estevan Villanueva and Robert Tresillian. For it is the _vela_ discovered, denounced, and made over to them by Pedro Vicente.

The gold-seeker himself has also become rich, by the conditions already mentioned as attached to the conveyance of the property. In short, all concerned have benefited thereby--every one of that travelling party delayed, with lives endangered, on the summit of the Cerro Perdido.

In and around Santa Gertrudes--name bestowed in honour of the Senora Villanueva and her daughter, or rather their patroness saint--is every evidence of advancement. The cottages of the miners are trim and clean, the shops that supply them showing an abundance of goods, even to articles of _luxe_ and adornment. A pretty _capella_, with spire and belfry, stands central by the side of the public square, for, as in all Spanish-American towns, Santa Gertrudes has its _plaza_.

Two other sides of the same are occupied by houses of superior pretension, with ornamental grounds--the respective residences of Don Estevan and his English partner--while here and there a house larger and better than the common denotes the dwelling of an official of the _minera_, some head of a department.

On this day Santa Gertrudes is _en fete_. Its _plaza_ is full of people; the miners in their gala dresses, and, mingling with them, _rancheros_--the new settlers from the country around--resplendent in their picturesque costume. Soldiers, too, mix with the crowd, in the gay uniform of the Zacatecas Lancers. For Colonel Requenes and his regiment, on return from an expedition to the northern frontier, have halted at the _pueblita_, and are encamped on the plain outside. The tall chimneys of the _minera_ send forth no smoke, no sound proceeds from the crus.h.i.+ng-sheds or the smelting-houses; all is silent, and work suspended as if it were a Sunday.