Don Tadeo

“ I hastened to reply to Don Tadeo, counting myself happy in having met him, and begged a few minutes' private conversation.
"With the greatest pleasure," he replied. "I am quite ready to take up your affair; but let us first enter the house; we can then speak more at our ease." At the same time, he struck the pommel of his sword against the door behind him. "My profession," added he, "obliges me to employ many precautions. You will immediately comprehend why. Do not be astonished at my queer domicile. ”

“ Don Gregorio interrupted. "Your companions elected me King of Darkness in your place, that is, they placed in my hands an immense power, as they had done in yours, of which I was left the uncontrolled disposal. Death unbound the oath of silence imposed upon the brethren. Your name was unknown to all; I was as ignorant that you were the energetic chief who had made our society a power, as you were, my dear friend, that I was one of your soldiers. But, thanks be to God, you are saved, Don Tadeo! ”

“ As Don Tadeo had predicted to Valentine, the battle was rudely contested along the whole line; the Araucanos, with their tenacity which nothing can repel, and their contempt of death, allowed themselves to be slaughtered by the Chilian bayonets without yielding. Antinahuel was in the van of his warriors, animating them with his gestures and his voice.
"What men!" the count could not refrain from exclaiming; "what mad rashness!"
"Is it not?" Don Tadeo replied; "They are demons."
"Pardieu!" Valentine cried. "What brave soldiers! Why, they will all be killed if they go on so." ”

“ 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. ”

“ A moment of silence followed this appeal, during which Don Tadeo appeared a prey to profound despair. At length, looking at the unknown, he said with bitter despondency—
"What is to be done? Heaven is my witness that my only desire, my sole happiness, would be to see my country free. But during the twenty years we have been struggling we have done nothing, alas! but pass from one tyranny to another, each time riveting afresh the chains which bind us. No! Heaven itself seems to forbid our contending longer against an implacable destiny. ”

“ The father had at length revealed himself; the stoicism of the statesman had sunk before paternal love!—But human nature has its limits, beyond which it cannot go; the moral shock which Don Tadeo had received, the immense efforts he had made to conceal it, had completely exhausted his strength, and he sank upon the slabs of the floor like a proud oak struck by thunder. He had fainted. Valentine contemplated him for a moment with pity and grief. ”

“ The conversation was long—so long, that we think it useless to repeat it here in detail, but will satisfy ourselves with giving our readers the end of it, which sums it up perfectly.
"I will not insist," said Don Tadeo, "although you will not tell us your motives. I believe you to be too considerate a man, Don Valentine, not to be convinced that the reasons which force you to leave us are serious." ”

“ Don Tadeo replied, in a stern voice, "you are not mistaken, Don Pancho; I am Don Tadeo de Leon, whom you caused to be shot upon the Plaza Mayor of Santiago. Your spies have informed you correctly."
"Man or demon," the General shouted, half choking with rage, "I will not yield to you! I will fight you as a man, and send you back again to the hell from which you have escaped!" ”

“ Don Tadeo continued, "before we separate, I have to call down your justice upon one of our brothers, who, having entered deeply into our secrets, has been false to the society several times for a little gold; I have the proofs in my hands. The circumstances are of the utmost importance; one word—a single word—may ruin our cause and us! Say, what chastisement does this man deserve?"
"Death!" the conspirators responded, coolly, but simultaneously.
"I know this man," Don Tadeo continued; "let him come forth from the ranks, and not oblige me to tear off his mask, and hurl his name in his face." ”

“ Antinahuel."
"I suspected as much," Don Tadeo cried, angrily; "that man has deceived us. He is a scoundrel only living by cunning, and whose devouring ambition leads him to sacrifice, when occasion offers, the dearest interests, and falsify the most sacred oaths. He has been playing a double game; he feigned to be the partisan of General Bustamente, as he appeared to be ours, building upon our mutual ruin his own fortunes and his future elevation. But he has thrown off the mask too hastily. ”

“ Accustomed to Araucanian manners, which permit every man to take as many wives as he can support, he found the action of Don Tadeo perfectly natural. This did not escape Doña Maria: an ironical smile curled for a second the corners of her lips, and she continued, negligently, but looking earnestly in the face of the chief—
"Yes, the woman is called, as I hear, Doña Rosario de Mendoz; and is, they say, a beautiful creature!" ”

“ Don Tadeo gave the General a melancholy glance.
"To what purpose?" he murmured.
"I beg of you."
"You insist on knowing?"
"I do."
"General Bustamente is a great criminal. While a leader in power, he wished to change the form of government against the will of the people from whom he held his position, and in contempt of the laws, which he shamelessly trampled underfoot."
"That is but too true," said the General, whose brow turned crimson.
"General Bustamente has been implacable during the course of his too long career; you know that he who sows the wind can only hope to reap the tempest." ”

“ Don Tadeo replied, "or hideous, whichever you please."
"Hum! man is not perfect," said Valentine, philosophically.
"Fortunately not; if he were, he would be execrable," Don Tadeo remarked.
They entered the cabildo, the doors of which were guarded by a detachment of Dark-Hearts. The vast saloons of the palace were invaded by an eager crowd, who came to salute the rising sun; that is to say, they came to offer the spectacle of their baseness to the fortunate man, whom, no doubt, they would have stoned if success had not crowned his audacious attempt. ”

“ 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." ”

“ For ten years we have sacrificed everything for the cause you now betray; we know how to die for that liberty which you abandon! Farewell, Don Tadeo! The Chilian people will succumb, but you will recover your daughter. Farewell! I know you no longer!"
"Oh, stop! stop!" Don Tadeo cried, "Retract those frightful words! I will die with you! Let us be gone!—Let us be gone! My daughter!" he added—"pardon me!"
"Oh! I have found my brother again!" Don Gregorio exclaimed. "No! with such a champion liberty can never perish!"
"Don Tadeo," Valentine cried, "go where duty calls you ”

“ 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." ”

“ Don Gregorio said.
"But whither am I to go?" Don Tadeo asked, with a sardonic smile. "Am I not legally dead in the eyes of all? My house is no longer mine."
"That is true," the lieutenant of the Dark-Hearts murmured. "Well, never mind that! Tomorrow the news of your miraculous resurrection will be a thunderclap to our enemies! Their awaking will be terrible! They will learn with stupor that the invincible athlete, whom they thought they had for ever crushed beneath their feet, is up again, and ready to renew the contest." ”

“ As soon as they were outside of the house, the masked men, at a sign from the leader, dispersed in various directions. When they had disappeared round the corners of the neighbouring streets, the chief turned towards Don Tadeo, who, scarce recovered from the trying emotions he had successively gone through, and weakened by the blood he had lost, as well as by the prodigious efforts his last struggle had cost him, was leaning, half fainting against the wall of the house he had been so fortunately enabled to quit. ”

“ At the present day, the family of Don Estevan has but one representative, Don Tadeo—a representative formidable through his courage, his fortune, and the immense influence, he exercises over his compatriots. He, personally, has never injured the Aucas; he seems even to be ignorant of the inveterate hatred which exists between his family and that of the Toqui; but the descendants of Cadegual do not forget it: they are strong, numerous, and powerful in their turn; the hour of vengeance has struck, they will not let it escape! ”

“ It was expressly to find you that I left Valdivia a few hours ago."
"I do not understand you," said Don Tadeo.
Don Gregorio did not appear to notice him, but, making a sign to the two Frenchmen and Don Tadeo to follow him, he retired a few paces.
"You have asked me why I sought you, Don Tadeo;" he continued, "Yesterday I set out, sent to you by our brothers, the patriots, and by all the Dark Hearts of Chili, of whom you are the leader and the king, with the mission to repeat this to you when I met with you: 'King of Darkness, our country is in danger! One man alone can save it ”

“ This time Don Tadeo and his friend rode side by side, talking as they went, in a low voice of the means to be taken to thwart the attempts of General Bustamente. Don Tadeo had recovered all his coolness. His ideas had again become clear. One man alone was a stranger to all we have related. This was Don Ramón Sandias. The poor senator, soaked with rain, terrified at the storm, and muffled in his cloak up to the eyes, seemed to live quite mechanically. ”

“ Don Tadeo waited for an instant, but finding that the man whom he summoned imagined he should remain unknown, and not be discovered beneath his mask, he made a signal, and Don Gregorio rose and advanced towards the group of conspirators, which opened at his approach, and laid his hand roughly on the shoulder of a man who had instinctively retreated before him, until the wall forced him to stop. ”

“ You alone, under present circumstances, are able to fill worthily the post which our confidence has assigned you. Become again the King of Darkness! But," he added, in a deep, concentrated tone, "remember that we are the avengers; that we ought to be without pity for ourselves as for others; that one feeling, and one alone, ought to live in our souls—the love of our country!"
Then followed a short silence; the two men appeared to be reflecting deeply. At length Don Tadeo raised his head proudly.
"Thanks, Don Gregorio!" ”

“ I will retire."
"One instant more! I am the great-grandson of the Toqui Cadegual; a hereditary hatred divides us; I have sworn to kill you, dog! rabbit! thief!"
And, with a movement as quick as thought, he drew out his hand, and struck Don Tadeo with a dagger full in the breast. ”

“ Don Tadeo continued, "as I told you, a bold initiative alone can save us. We must defeat our adversary by promptness. You know the man, you know he possesses all the necessary qualities for a good general; he will not therefore fall asleep in a false security; while his ally, Antinahuel, is an intrepid chief, endowed with boundless ambition. ”

“ Very well, then; at the moment of your departure, my major-domo shall place, on my part, written instructions in your hands."
"Caramba!" said Valentine, laughing; "here am I transformed into an ambassador!"
"Do not joke, my friend," said Don Tadeo, seriously. "The mission I confide to you is delicate—dangerous, even; I do not conceal that from you. If the papers of which you will be the bearer are found upon you, you will be exposed to great dangers. Are you still willing to be my emissary?"
"Pardieu! Wherever there is danger there is pleasure. ”

“ Nay, I often employ them to do certain pieces of business for me, which Mexican justice gives up as impossible. The assassin is still a useful instrument for me; one, too, that I can crush at a word, but whom I prefer employing in the service of my numerous clients."
Another pause. The toll of the bell was still heard. "I never saw my beloved again, who is now in a convent," continued Don Tadeo; "but I learned from a sure quarter that she has been long in a deep consumption. You will now understand why the bell-peal of the Bernardines made me shudder." ”

“ Don Tadeo interrupted.
"That Antinahuel has been wounded, and will not depart without vengeance."
Don Tadeo was struck with the just reasoning of the Indian.
"For all that, we cannot remain here," said the young man. "It is incontestable that in a few days we shall fall into the hands of these demons."
"Yes." said Curumilla.
"Well, I confess," the count continued, "that this prospect is not flattering. But I think there exists no position so bad that men cannot be extricated from." ”