Costal imparted this information in a tone but little calculated to inspire the Captain with a relish for his mission.

He endeavoured to conceal his uneasiness, however; and, raising his voice to a tone of a.s.sumed boldness, he inquired:--

"It is to the ford of the Ostuta, then, we are to go?"

"Yes, Senor Captain, whenever it pleases your honour to move forward."

"We have plenty of time," replied Don Cornelio, evidently reluctant to make any further advance. "I wish to take a few hours of rest before going thither. And your old master, Don Mariano de Silva--did you hear anything of him?"

"Yes. He has long ago left the hacienda Las Palmas, and is living in Oajaca. As to that of Del Valle, it is still occupied by the Royalist garrison."

"So then we have enemies on all sides of us?" rejoined the Captain.

"Arroyo and Bocardo," said Costal, "should scarcely be enemies to an officer bearing despatches from the General Morelos. As for Clara and myself, we are that sort whom these bandits never frighten."

"I agree with you there," rejoined the Captain, "certainly I do-- meanwhile--nevertheless--I should prefer--ah! who is that horseman who is galloping in this direction, carbine in hand?"

"If one may judge the master by the servant, and if this fellow chances to have a master, that master ought to be one of the greatest rogues on earth."

As Costal was delivering this figurative speech, he stretched forth his hand and seized hold of his own old and trusty piece.

The horseman in question was no other than Gas.p.a.cho--the courier who had brought to Arroyo the evil news from the hacienda Del Valle.

He rode forward as one rides in a conquered country; and without making any obeisance addressed himself to the Captain--who, from being a white, appeared to him the most considerable of the three strangers.

"Tell me, friend--" said he.

"Friend!" cried Costal, interrupting him, and evidently ill pleased with his looks, "a captain in the army of General Morelos is no friend to such as you."

"What does this brute of an Indian say?" demanded Gas.p.a.cho, regarding Costal with an air of contempt.

The eyes of Costal fairly blazed with rage; and his movements promised for Gas.p.a.cho a terrible chastis.e.m.e.nt, when Don Cornelio interposed to prevent it. "What is your wish?" asked he of the follower of Arroyo.

"To know if you have seen anything of that rascal, Juan de Zapote, and his worthy companion, Gaspar?"

"We have seen neither Zapote nor Gaspar."

"If they're not found, then, my friend Perico--who met and permitted them to pa.s.s him--is likely to spend a most uncomfortable quarter of an hour--when he appears in the presence of our Captain Arroyo."

"Ah! you are in Arroyo's service then?"

"I have the honour."

"Perhaps you can tell me where I shall be most likely to find him?"

"_Quien sabe_? By the ford of the Ostuta you may find him--if he's not gone elsewhere--to the hacienda of San Carlos, for example."

"This hacienda does not belong to the royalists then?" inquired the Captain.

"Perhaps I may be mistaken," ironically answered Gas.p.a.cho. "In any case, if you wish to see the Captain--which rather astonishes me--you will have to cross the ford all the same; and there you may hear of his whereabouts. My faith! that is a splendid cloak you have got on your shoulders. It appears a mile too big for you; and looks as if it would just fit a man of my dimensions."

On saying these words, the bandit put spurs to his horse and galloped off--leaving Don Cornelio with an unpleasant impression upon his mind, caused by his ambiguous speeches and the admiration the stranger had expressed for his cloak.

"I fear we have fallen among wicked people here," said he, addressing himself to Costal. "You see how little this ragged fellow makes of an officer of Morelos; and doubtless his master will make still less.

Well--we must be prudent, and wait until night before we attempt to go forward among them."

"Prudence is not always a bad subst.i.tute for courage," remarked Costal, with a shrug. "We shall do as you desire, Senor Captain; and I shall be careful we do not fall either into the hands of the loyalists, or those of the followers of Arroyo, before arriving in the presence of that gentleman himself. Otherwise, I might lose the one peculiar day of my life, that I have so long looked forward to. Trust to me. I think you can say that I never let you remain long in a dangerous situation?"

"You are my providence," cried the Captain, with friendly warmth. "It is true; and it will always give me pleasure to acknowledge it."

"No, no," interrupted Costal, "what I may have done for you is not worth talking about. Meanwhile, we will act wisely to take a wink of sleep-- Clara and myself more especially: since, during all this night, we shan't have another opportunity to close our eyes."

"You are right--I perfectly agree with you. Let us all have some sleep then."

As the sun was still hot, Clara and Costal stretched themselves under the shadow of a spreading tree, and both, with that indifference to danger to which a life of adventures had habituated them, were soon buried in profound slumber; during which the negro was constantly endeavouring, in dreams, to capture the Siren with dishevelled hair, and force her to reveal to him some rich _placer_ of gold.

As for Don Cornelio, he lay for a long time awake: anxious and apprehensive about the result of his approaching interview with the guerilla chief. At length, imitating the example of his two _compagnons de voyage_, he also fell asleep.

CHAPTER SIXTY FOUR.

THE TALISMAN TRANSMITTED.

It was only after a long and desperate effort to subdue the pa.s.sion with which Don Rafael Tres-Villas had inspired her, that Gertrudis de Silva resolved upon making use of the talisman she had so carefully preserved--that message, which Don Rafael had sworn to obey without a moment's hesitation--even though it should reach him on the instant when his hand was raised to strike down his most mortal enemy.

When the young girl at length reluctantly yielded to the determination of once more seeing Don Rafael, her first emotion was one of profound pleasure. She could not convince herself of the fact, that her former lover could now be indifferent, or that from his mouth she should hear the avowal that he no longer loved her. She believed that the message would convey to him a happiness similar to that she herself felt in sending it; and it was for this reason, and also the better to secure his fidelity and zeal, that she had led the messenger to expect a magnificent reward, on the accomplishment of his errand. Under the critical circ.u.mstances in which the messenger found himself, after setting out from Oajaca, it was well that such a golden lure glistened before his mental vision--else the precious talisman might have stood less chance of arriving at its destination.

On the departure of the messenger, Gertrudis felt as if inspired with new life; but this joyful state was but of short duration. Doubt soon took the place of certainty. Between herself and her lover more than one misunderstanding had arisen, all the result of imperious circ.u.mstances. She was no longer loved--this was her reflection. The distant proof she had for a while believed in--the affair of Aguas Calientes--was perhaps only a wild freak on the part of the Colonel; and if he no longer loved her, it was because he loved another.

Moreover, her messenger would have to traverse a country disturbed by civil war, and there was every chance of his failing to accomplish his mission. This doubt also added to the torture she was undergoing.

Overcome by such sad thoughts, and at times devoured by black and bitter jealousy, her heart was lacerated to the extreme of endurance. Her cheek had paled to the hue of the lily; while the purple circle round her eyes told of the mental agony the young Creole was enduring.

In this condition was she when Don Mariano set out on the journey from Oajaca--only three days after the departure of the messenger Gaspar.

The fond father beheld with apprehension the extreme melancholy that had taken possession of his daughter; and, convinced of the inutility of the efforts he had already made to cure her of her pa.s.sion for Don Rafael-- by representing the latter as unworthy of her--he had altogether changed his tactics in that regard. He now endeavoured to extenuate the faults of the Colonel; and, in the place of an accuser, became his benevolent champion.

"The n.o.bility and frankness of his character," Don Mariano would say, "is enough to set aside all suspicion of his perfidy. His silence may be explained by the events through which he has been involuntarily borne, and by the political relationships that surround him."

Gertrudis smiled sadly at the words of her father, but her heart was not the less torn with grief.

In this unpleasant state of mind they pa.s.sed three days, while journeying from Oajaca to the borders of the lake Ostuta. On the route they had met with no particular adventures nor encountered any obstacle; though from rumours that reached them from time to time--of the sanguinary deeds perpetrated by the ferocious Arroyo--they could not help experiencing a certain amount of apprehension.

It was on the third evening of the journey that they reached the Ostuta river and had halted upon its banks at the spot already described.

During the night Don Mariano, rendered uneasy by hearing certain confused noises in the adjoining forest, had despatched one of the trustiest of his servants in the direction of the crossing, with directions to reconnoitre the place.

Two hours afterwards the domestic returned, with the report, that, near the ford he had seen numerous fires blazing along the bank of the river and on both sides of the ford. These could be no other than the fires of Arroyo's camp: since they had heard several times along their route, that the brigand was encamped at the crossing of the Ostuta.