Gustave Aimard

“ The marquis looked.
"Why, wretch!" cried he, after a moment, "If you are not a traitor, you are grossly deceived."
"As you please, my lord."
"It is a manada of wild horses."
"Exactly so, my lord," answered the captain, with a smile of disdain; "you have not the least experience of the style in which the Guaycurus fight, nor of life in the desert. This is probably the last thing I shall teach you, but it is well you should know it. The Guaycurus are the best horsemen in the world. This is the ruse they employ to surprise the enemy. ”

“ When that miserable Malco betrayed you, I understood the responsibility that the treason caused to devolve upon me."
"But," interrupted the marquis, "that is no reason why you should sacrifice your life."
"It is not to you, my lord, it is to myself that I make this sacrifice—to my honour, which would be wounded if I did not, if necessary, fall by your side, in trying, up to the last moment, to protect you, and to make a shield for you by my body. But," added he, with a sad smile, "of what use is it to dwell on this subject my lord? ”

“ It ill becomes you to me," answered the warrior, "to boast of the sweetness of slavery."
"Are you then come, crossing my route, to insult me?" said the captain, with an ill-suppressed accent of rage. "My arm is long, and my patience short."
The warrior made a gesture of disdain.
"Who would dare to flatter himself to frighten Tarou Niom?" said he.
"I know you; I know that you are famed in your nation for your courage in combat and your wisdom in council. Cease, then, from vain romancing and bombast."
"A fool sometimes gives good counsel," was the warrior's repartee; "what you say is just. ”

“ The Guaycurus, painted as a warrior, proudly draped in his poncho, boldly sitting on his horse—as untamed as himself—his flashing eye firmly fixed on the man who advanced towards him, whilst a smile of proud disdain played upon his lips, would have well represented in the eyes of an observer the type of that powerful race, confident in its right and in its power, which, since the first day of its discovery, has sworn an implacable hatred to the whites; has retreated step by step before them, without ever having turned their back ”

“ A funereal silence characterised the attentive crowd of the Montoneros.
It is always a serious matter, that condemnation to death, pronounced coldly, resolutely, and without appeal, even for men habituated to stake their lives on the hazard of a die, like those who were assisting at this scene; thus, in spite of themselves, they felt themselves seized with a secret fright, increased by the doleful sounds of the voice of the wretch who was writhing with fear in their midst, and imploring with sobs the pity of their chief. ”

“ On a sudden Malco Diaz bounded in advance, overturned the marquis, and seizing doña Laura by the hair, he lifted her up, threw her on the neck of his horse, and darted off across the desert.
The young girl uttered a terrible cry, and fainted.
This cry Diogo had heard. The captain leaped over the body of the marquis, and overturning everything before him, rushed off in pursuit.
But what can a man on foot do against a horseman riding at full speed?
Malco Diaz stopped, a flash of fury darted from his eyes, and he shouldered his gun.
"It is my last charge," murmured Diogo; "it shall be for her." ”

“ It was Emavidi Chaime who first broke silence.
"My brother, the Grand Sarigue, is the bearer of a message from Tarou Niom to me?" said he.
"Yes," answered Diogo.
"Is this message personal, or is it addressed to the other captains of the nation, and to the grand council?"
"It is only for my brother, Emavidi Chaime."
"Epoï, does my brother think proper to communicate it to me at once, or does he prefer to wait and take some hours of repose?"
"The Guaycurus warriors are not weak women," answered Diogo; "a journey of a few hours on horseback takes nothing from their vigour." ”

“ I cannot blame you."
"What are you doing, Captain?" cried the count, with violence.
"Eh, mon Dieu! My dear count, I am doing what I must do. It must be one of two things—either this stranger is an honest man, in whom we ought to have confidence, or he is a rogue who will deceive us at the first opportunity. In one case, as in the other, we ought to trust his word. If he is honest, he will keep it; if not, he will succeed in escaping."
"Perfectly reasoned, Señor," answered the artist. "The word that I have given you, believe me, binds me more strongly towards you than the best forged chain." ”

“ This explanation that Diogo, with a saturnine air, gave to Malco, further increased his fury.
"You have killed a horse that I loved—a noble beast, that I shall with difficulty replace. I ought, then, to kill you, Malco; but I shall not redden my knife with your blood."
"You would do wrong, Diogo," sullenly answered Malco, "for I swear to you, that on the first opportunity I will kill you."
"You will act according to your instincts, Malco. I know that you are a wicked man." ”

“ Although riding at a gallop, they advanced in good order; their chests covered with a cuirass of buffalo skin, intended to shield them from the Indian arrows, the lance fixed in the stirrup, the blunderbuss in the bow, the turned sabre in the scabbard, knocking against the spur with a metallic sound.
At ten paces in advance of the troop came a young man of haughty mien, of proud and noble features, with a full black eye, a sarcastic mouth, shaded by a fine black moustache, coquettishly oiled and turned up at the ends. ”

“ He is a mameluco; his name is Malco Diaz."
"I have seen him," laconically said the chief, letting his head fall with a pensive air on his breast.
There was a silence of some instants; it was the Guaycurus who broke it.
"Has my brother ever seen," he said, "the jaguars make war upon each other?"
"Never," replied the Payagoas chief.
"Then why does the chief believe in the faith of this man? The Indian blood, if he has some drops of it, is so mingled in his veins with that of the whites and blacks, that it has lost all its vigour." ”

“ When he saw the desert plain spread out before him, he leant over the neck of his horse, refreshed and invigorated by two hours of repose, touched it with the spur, and began to dart along with the rapidity of the wind.
On a sudden, at the turn of a path, he came across a horseman who was coming towards him with a rapidity equal to his own.
Diogo could not repress an exclamation of surprise, and almost of fear. In this horseman he recognised Malco Diaz.
"Fortune turns," grumbled he between his teeth, at the same time urging forward his horse, which appeared to annihilate space. ”

“ The second Indian was about the same age as his companion; his features, notwithstanding the paint and tattooing which disfigured them, were handsome, and his countenance possessed great flexibility. He was dressed and armed like the first; only by the headdress, made with the fibrous and elastic cocoon of the flower of the ubassa palm tree, it was easy to recognise him as a Payagoas chief, a nation nearly as powerful as that of the Guaycurus.
The last Indian was a poor devil, half-naked, lean, and of a timid and sickly appearance—to all appearance a slave. ”

“ The painter, wearied with the secondary part which he was playing in the midst of people whose aspirations it was impossible for him to understand, and whose enthusiasm he could not share, had left the corner of the room where he had so long remained alone, admiring in silence the scene of excitement which passed before him; and he sought to open up a passage through the crowd, and reach the square incognito—hoping easily to escape during the tumult caused by the arrival of the Montoneros—when he felt himself touched lightly on the shoulder. ”

“ The affair became very embarrassing; the half-caste did not know what to think; he asked himself whether he had not been deceived—if the corpse he had discovered was really that of the Grand Sarigue?
All of a sudden a bright idea crossed his mind; there was evidently treason, the man whom he had met wore a disguise!
One man only could have assumed with such rare skill another costume and bearing. That man was Diogo.
As soon as this thought had occurred to Malco Diaz, it gave certainty to his mind. ”

“ Captain Quiroga is a brave and worthy soldier, whom I love and appreciate very highly myself, but that is no reason why he should have the figure of Adonis."
"A matter about which he cares very little, without doubt, gentlemen," said Zeno Cabral, mingling in the conversation; "he contents himself with being one of our bravest and most experienced officers."
"¡Caramba! General; and we also all love him—the brave old man who might be our father, and who tells us during the nights of bivouac such pleasant tales of old times."
The chief of the party smiled, without answering. ”

“ Don Roque felt emotion in spite of himself, at the artless loyalty of this half-civilised man.
"You are worth more than I am," he said, holding out his hand.
"Why, no, my lord; I am less civilised, that is all; and," he continued, "now that I have answered your question, we will, if you please, return to our business."
"I do not ask anything better, Captain; you told me, I think, that you intended to quit the camp?"
"We have not an instant to lose to try and gain information; we have to do, do not forget, with Indian bravos—the cleverest and bravest of the desert. They are tough adversaries." ”

“ Well, your Excellency, the undulation of the grass without apparent cause, since there is not a breath of air stirring, the mad course of the nandus and the seriemas, and the frightened flight of the guaros and the kamichis, simply mean that the Guaycurus are on our track."
"But in an hour we shall have crossed the river."
"With our horses that is impossible; it is with difficulty that they can put one foot before the other."
"That is true," murmured the marquis, "but then what is to be done?"
"Prepare ourselves to die."
"Oh, that is not true that you say, Diogo." ”

“ The mameluco shrugged his shoulders.
"A traitor!" said he, with irony; "Am I then one of your people; do I belong to your nation; have you confided this secret, forbidding me to reveal it?"
"But, then, if you have sold your secret to these men, why do you now denounce them to us?"
"That is my affair, and concerns me only; as to you, see if it will suit you to allow strangers to penetrate into your country."
"Listen," said Tarou Niom severely; "you are just the man that your colour shows you; that is to say, a faithless white man. You sell your brethren. What price do you demand? ”

“ The caravan slowly descended the mountain, its track cleared right and left by the soldiers sent out by the captain as scouts.
By degrees, as the travellers approached the desert, the landscape changed, and assumed a more imposing and grand aspect.
Some moments more, and the descent would be finished.
Don Roque approached Don Diogo, and touching him lightly on the shoulder—
"Well," said he, smiling, "we shall soon be on the plain, and we have not seen a living soul. Believe me, captain, the threats made by the Indians are but rodomontade; they have tried to frighten us, that is all." ”

“ The marquis, occupied at this time in speaking with animation to doña Laura, did not perceive this butchery, till it was too late to oppose it.
"What are you doing?" cried he.
"Entrenchments," impassively answered Diogo. "Behind these bodies we shall shelter ourselves."
"But how, then, shall we fly after the combat?"
The Indian burst into a nervous and discordant laugh.
"We shall not fly, inasmuch as we shall be dead."
The marquis could find nothing to answer.
Doña Laura had thrown herself on the ground, a prey to profound despair. Her horse was the only one that had not been killed. ”