Gustave Aimard

“ The cries of joy of the inhabitants, the rolling of drums, were mingled with the peals of thunder and the furious hissing of the tempest.
Don Tadeo was much moved by this proof of love which the population offered him. He felt that, however great private interests may be, they are small in comparison with those of a people; that it is great and noble to sacrifice them to it, and that he who knows how to die bravely for the welfare of his fellow citizens fulfils a holy and a grand mission. ”

“ Cæsar, covered by his master with a kind of cuirass of leather and armed with an enormous collar edged with steel points, inspired the Indians with the greatest terror—they knew not what to make of such a creature.
The battle raged as fiercely as ever; both Chilians and Araucanos fought upon heaps of carcases. The Indians gave up all hopes of conquering, but they did not even think of flying; resolved all to die, they determined to sell their lives as dearly as possible, and fought with the terrible despair of brave men who neither expect nor ask for quarter. ”

“ Another chief then arose and spoke in his turn.
"The whites are very cunning, as my father has said; they are foxes without courage—they can only massacre women and children, and run away at the sight of an Aucas warrior. But this necklace tells the truth, and translates their thoughts literally. Chiefs, we all have wives and children, and we ought in the first place to think of their safety. Let us be prudent, chiefs; let us not throw ourselves into a snare while we think we are laying one for our enemies." ”

“ Since my arrival in America my character has changed: the sight of great forests, lofty mountains, in short, of all the sublime magnificence which God has spread with a bountiful hand in the desert, has developed the instincts of a traveller, the germ of which I carried at the bottom of my heart; the constantly recurring changes of the adventurous life which I have led for some time, cause me to experience pleasures without bounds: in a word, I have become a passionate wood ranger, and I pant for the moment when I shall be permitted to resume my aimless rambles in the desert. ”

“ Valentine remarked.
"Antinahuel is encamped within a short distance; he knows now that we are not strong enough to contend with him. What will my brothers do? Our position is a serious one."
"Why did we not kill him?" Linda cried.
"No," he replied; "the Indian law prevented me; he presented himself as a friend at my fireside; a guest is sacred."
"What is done cannot be undone," said Valentine; "so it is of no use talking about it. We are in a scrape."
"We will die sooner than allow the wretch to take his prisoners again," said the count. ”

“ With every blow a man fell. The Aucas had plunged like a wedge into the square, and had broken it.
"Well," Don Tadeo asked of Valentine, "what do you think of these adversaries?"
"They are more than men!" he answered.
"Forward, forward! Chili! Chili!" Don Tadeo shouted, urging on his horse.
Followed by about fifty men, among whom were the two Frenchmen, he plunged into the thickest of the enemy's ranks. Don Gregorio and General Fuentes had divined from the persistency with which the Araucanos attacked the great square that their object was to take the general-in-chief prisoner. ”

“ Antinahuel resumed impassively, "I examined him attentively; when he did not think my brother was looking at him, he cast strange glances at him."
"I do not know him, I tell you, chief," the general replied; "and suppose he should be my enemy?"
"An enemy should never be despised," said Antinahuel; "the meanest are often the most dangerous. But let us return to the subject of our meeting: what are my brother's present intentions?"
"Listen to me in your turn, chief; we are henceforward bound to each other by our common interests. ”

“ Her delicate frame was convulsed with nervous quiverings, and her faint breathing painfully issued from her heaving chest.
"Poor girl!" the chief murmured.
"Why, chief!" said the Linda, with a sardonic smile. "I scarcely know you! Good Heavens! how love can change a man! What, you, intrepid warrior, pity the fate of this poor maudlin chit! I really believe you will weep over her like a woman, next!"
"Yes," the chief said; "my sister speaks truly, I scarcely know myself! Oh!" he added, bitterly, "is it possible that I, Antinahuel, to whom the Huincas have done so much wrong, can be so? ”

“ Moments are precious. General Bustamente has allied himself with Antinahuel, the Grand Toqui of the Araucanos, in order the more easily to regain his power. This is the reason why he made his pronunciamiento in this remote province. Delivered by the Araucanos, he has taken refuge among them. We shall soon see him at the head of those ferocious warriors, invading our frontiers and desolating our richest provinces. I repeat to you our moments are precious! A bold initiative alone can save us. ”

“ Valentine looked after his foster brother as long as he was to be seen, then turning toward Trangoil-Lanec, said;
"And we must start directly?"
"Everything is ready," the chief replied.
"Now," Valentine said to Don Tadeo, "our fate is in the hands of God: we have done everything it was humanly possible to do to escape capture or death; upon His will now depends our safety."
"Valentine! Valentine!" Don Tadeo cried, warmly, "you are as devout as you are intelligent. God will not abandon us." ”

“ Don Tadeo was well acquainted with the Indians, and knew that they only spoke when necessity required.
"What is my brother's name?" he resumed.
"Joan," the Indian said; "in remembrance of a warrior of the palefaces whom I killed."
"Good," Don Tadeo replied, with a melancholy smile; "my brother is a chief renowned in his tribe."
Joan smiled haughtily.
"My brother has arrived from his village; he has, no doubt, business to transact with the palefaces."
"My father is mistaken," the Indian replied sharply; "Joan asks the help of no one; when he is insulted, his own lance avenges him." ”

“ Valentine and the chief discharged their guns almost at hazard among the crowd. Two men fell, and the Indians suddenly disappeared among the thick bushes and high grass. The silence, for an instance disturbed, was restored so promptly, that if the bodies of the two Indians had not remained stretched upon the sand, the scene might have passed for a dream. The young man took advantage of the minutes respite afforded by the enemy to descend into the grotto. At the noise of the fusillade and of the cry of the Indians, Doña Rosario had started from her sleep in great terror. ”

“ The man who has just left us, Antinahuel, the chief of the Araucanos, is a vile wretch! He has conceived a passion for you, an impure, monstrous passion. His mother wished to divert his mind from this passion, and he killed his mother."
"Oh!" the young girl exclaimed, penetrated with horror.
"You tremble, do you not?" the Linda continued; "that man is an abject being! He has no heart but for crime! He knows no laws but those which his passions and vices impose upon him! ”

“ I cannot believe it is the thirst for gold which urges you to leave me. Your heart is too noble for that odious passion to gain possession of it."
"Don Tadeo, you do us but justice," the count replied; "it is not the thirst for gold which actuates us, for our intention on leaving you is to retire among the Aucas Indians." ”

“ As may be perceived, Joan bravely doubled the number of his soldiers.
"Oh! oh!" said the Toqui, joyfully, "a man may be pardoned for coming late when he brings so numerous a troop with him."
"My father knows I am devoted," the Indian replied.
"I know you are; my son is a brave warrior. Has he seen the Huincas?"
"I have seen them."
"Are they far distant?"
"No; they are coming—in less than three-quarters of an hour they will be here."
"We have not an instant to lose. My son will place his warriors in ambush." ”

“ Marching in close older, they withdrew step by step, not like cowards who fled, but like warriors proudly abandoning a field of battle which they contested no longer, but retreated from in good order. As a rearguard a platoon of a hundred men sustained this brave retreat. All at once a fusillade broke out with a sinister hissing, and some Chilian horsemen appeared, charging at speed.
The Indians, without giving way an inch, received them on the points of their long lances. Most of the fugitives scattered over the plain had rallied to their companions and faced the enemy. ”

“ At the summons of the herald all his warriors abandoned him. One after the other, some with joy, others with sorrow. He who five minutes before counted more than eight hundred warriors under his orders, saw their numbers diminish so rapidly that soon only thirty-eight were left.
The Lynx called out an ironical farewell to him from a distance, and departed at a gallop with all his troop. When Antinahuel counted the small number of friends left to him, an immense grief weighed upon his heart; he sank down at the foot of a tree, covered his face with his poncho, and wept. ”

“ Before dying, and going to hunt in the blessed prairies with the just warriors, my father called me to him, and placing his mouth to my ear—'My son, he said, thou art the last of our race; Don Tadeo de León is also the last of his; since the coming of the palefaces, the family of that man has been always fatally opposed to ours, everywhere and under all circumstances. Swear to kill that man whom it has never been in my power to reach!' I swore to do it. ”

“ General Cornejo would willingly have been so, likewise, but suddenly a knee pressed heavily upon his chest, and obliged him to sink upon the ground.
"Pancho! Pancho!" Doña Maria cried, with the laugh of a demon, for it was she, "see how I kill your enemies!"
Don Pancho had not even heard the exclamation of the courtesan, so fully was he engaged in defending himself. At the sight of the odious murder committed by the Linda, Don Ramón shouted—
"Viper! I will not kill you, because you are a woman; but I will mar your future means of doing evil." ”

“ The general placed his hand resolutely on his shoulder, at which the Toqui turned sharply round.
"What does the white chief want?" he asked.
"To tell you this, chief," the general replied, coolly; "of what consequence are thirty men, when you can immolate thousands? What you have done today is the height of policy. By sending away these soldiers, you appear to accept your defeat, and renounce, as feeling yourself too weak, all hopes of vengeance." ”

“ Antinahuel gave him an ironical glance.
"What have I obtained?" he replied; "that man has baffled me."
"Tomorrow we will fight," said the general. "Who knows? All is not lost yet."
"Who knows?" the chief exclaimed, violently; "Tomorrow, if it costs me all my warriors, that man shall be in my power!"
Without condescending to give any further explanation, the Toqui shut himself up in his toldo with some of his chiefs.
Don Tadeo returned to his tent.
"Well!" cried General Fuentes, "I told you to beware of treachery!"
"You are right, general," the dictator replied, with a smile. ”

“ Joan had carried off the young, pale, blue-eyed maiden; Curumilla might have killed Joan; he was not willing to do so; he preferred making a friend of him."
"Curumilla is good," Don Tadeo replied; "his heart is large and his soul is not cruel."
"Joan was the chief of those who carried off the young white girl. Curumilla changed clothes with him," the Indian continued, sententiously; "and said 'Go and seek the Great Eagle of the Whites, and tell him that Curumilla will save the young maiden, or perish!' Joan has come." ”

“ Curumilla remained silent.
"Perhaps not!" said the count: "I know the chief; he is not the man to cause his friends embarrassment without having the means of showing them how to avoid the peril he reveals to them."
"Unfortunately," Don Tadeo replied, "there exists no other passage but that cursed defile; it must absolutely be cleared, and five hundred resolute men might not there only hold a whole army in check, but cut it to pieces." ”

“ At a signal from Antinahuel, the Indians threw themselves on each side of the defile, and scaled the rocks with incredible velocity under a shower of bullets.
The combat was over. The Araucanos had disappeared. The Chilians counted their losses, and found them great; seventy men had been killed, and a hundred and forty-three were wounded. Several officers, among whom was General Cornejo, had fallen. It was in vain they searched for Joan. The intrepid Indian had become invisible.
Don Gregorio was in despair at the escape of General Bustamente. ”

“ Have the Indians revolted?"
"No," the general explained, "Don Tadeo, that demon, bent upon my destruction, has disconcerted all my plans. The Indian army is about to retreat."
"To retreat!" the Linda cried furiously, and rushing towards Antinahuel—
"What! you! you fly! you confess yourself conquered! Don Tadeo de León, the executioner of your family, is marching against you, and you are frightened! Coward! coward! put on petticoats; you are not a warrior! you are not a man; you are an old woman."
The Toqui put her back with disdain. ”