CHAPTER XXVII.
THE AUCA-COYOG
The tragical death of the senator was only the consequence of his well-known pusillanimity. If the general had believed it possible to place any reliance upon his word, he would have released him immediately.
Immediately after the execution of the senator, the heralds convened the chiefs to a grand Auca-coyog. Thirty Ulmens and Apo-Ulmens were quickly assembled at the place appointed. Antinahuel soon appeared, followed by General Bustamente. Antinahuel held in his hand the letter taken from Don Ramón, and he spoke as follows: —
"Ulmens, Apo-Ulmens, and chiefs of the four Uthal-mapus of the Araucanian confederacy, I have convoked you by the heralds to communicate to you a necklace taken from the spy who by my order has just been put to death. This necklace will cause us to alter our arrangements, I think, for the malocca, on account of which we have assembled. Our ally, the Great Eagle of the Whites, will explain it to you. Let my brother read," he added, turning towards the general.
The latter read with a loud voice: —
"'MY DEAR GENERAL, – I have submitted to the council assembled at Valdivia the objections you have thought it your duty to make on the subject of the plan of the campaign. These objections have been found just; consequently the following plan has been modified according to your observations. You will continue, then, to cover the province of Concepción, by holding the line of the Bio Bio, which you will not cross without fresh orders. On my side, with seven thousand men, I will march upon Arauca, of which I will take possession and destroy. This plan offers us the more chances of success, from the enemy being, as we learn from trustworthy spies, in a deceitful security with regard to our movements. The bearer of this order is a person you know, whose nullity itself will facilitate the means of passing through the enemy's lines. You will get rid of this individual by sending him to his home, with an injunction not to leave it.'"
"'Signed,
DON TADEO DE LEÓN,'"
"'Dictator and General-in-Chief of'"
"'the Army of Liberation."
The reading of this despatch was listened to by the chiefs with the deepest attention.
"This necklace," said Antinahuel, "was traced in private characters, which our brother the paleface has succeeded in deciphering. What do the Ulmens think?"
One of the ancient Toquis arose.
"The palefaces are very cunning," he said; "they are foxes in malice and jaguars in ferocity. This order is a snare for the good faith of the Aucas. But Aucas warriors are wise; they will laugh at the machinations of the Huincas, and will continue to guard the ford of the Bio Bio. The communications of the whites are cut off, like a serpent whose body has been divided by a stroke of the hatchet: they in vain seek to unite the various trunks of their army, but they will not succeed. I have spoken."
This speech, pronounced in a firm, clear voice, by one of the most justly respected chiefs of the nation, produced a certain effect.
"The chief has spoken well," said the general; "I coincide entirely with his opinion."
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."
The Araucanos have a deep affection for their families; and the idea of leaving them behind, exposed to the disasters of war, gave them great uneasiness. General Bustamente anxiously followed the fluctuations of the council.
"What my brother has remarked is just, but his opinions only rest upon an hypothesis; the whites do not employ forces in such numbers to attempt an invasion of the Araucano territory. Let my brothers leave in the camp a thousand resolute warriors to defend the passage, and at nightfall cross the Bio Bio boldly, and I will answer for their success."
"My brother is a skilful warrior," said Antinahuel; "the plan he proposes shows his experience. As he says, until I have proof to the contrary, I shall believe the necklace to be a deceit; and that we ought, this very night, to invade the territories of the whites."
The general breathed freely; his cause, he thought, was gained. Suddenly Black Stag entered, and took his place in the assembly.
"What is going on?" the Toqui asked.
"Listen!" said Black Stag, in a solemn tone; "Illecura, Borea, and Nagotten have been given up to the flames, and the inhabitants put to the sword; another body of troops, still more considerable than the first, is acting in the flat country in the same manner as the other in the maritime country."
The most violent agitation seized on the Ulmens; nothing was heard but cries of rage and despair.
"What do we wait for, chiefs of the Aucas?" cried the chief who had advised retreat, in a shrill, excited tone; "Do you not hear the cries of your wives and children calling upon you for succour? Do you not see the flames which are consuming your dwellings and devouring your harvests? To arms! warriors, to arms!"
"To arms!" the warriors yelled, rising as one man.
Indescribable confusion followed. General Bustamente retired with death in his heart.
"Well!" the Linda asked, on seeing him enter, "what is going on? What mean these cries and this frightful tumult? 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.
"Woman, you are mad!" he said. "What can one man do against fate? I do not fly from my enemy, I go to meet him."
"My sister cannot remain here," he said, in a softened tone; "the camp is about to be broken up."
The poor girl followed mechanically, without reply.
A few minutes later the camp was struck, and the Araucanos abandoned the impregnable position. At the reiterated entreaties of Bustamente, Antinahuel consented to leave a chosen band of eight hundred warriors to defend the passage.
Black Stag was a prudent warrior. As soon as the night came on, he dispersed scouts in all directions upon the banks of the river. Yielding, in spite of himself, to the influence produced by the report of the spies, he had, in the first moment, advised retreat; but, upon reflection, it was not long before he suspected a ruse de guerre.
His suspicions had not deceived him. Between eleven and twelve o'clock at night, his scouts came hastily in to warn him that a long line of horsemen had lately left the Chilian bank, and were gliding along like an immense serpent near the ford. Black Stag had but two hundred and fifty warriors armed with guns, so he placed them in the first line upon the bank, supported by his lancers. When they deemed them within range the Araucano warriors made a discharge upon the horsemen who were crossing the river. Several fell. At the same instant four pieces of cannon were unmasked on the opposite bank, which spread death and terror among the Indians.
A strong detachment had, in the meantime, cleared the ford, and fell upon them with the utmost fury. From that time the struggle had no equality. The Aucas, notwithstanding their courage, were obliged to give ground, leaving nearly two hundred dead on the banks of the river.
The plan conceived by Don Tadeo de León had completely succeeded. The army of General Fuentes had forced the passage of the Bio Bio. Thus, thanks to the ruse employed by the dictator, the ground upon which the quarrel was to be decided was changed, and the Aucas were forced to defend themselves at home. Instead of invaders, as they wished to be, they found themselves, on the contrary, the invaded; the campaign might now be terminated by the gaining of a single battle.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE HUMAN SACRIFICE
The army commanded by General Fuentes was composed of two thousand foot, eight hundred horse, and six pieces of cannon. It was an imposing force for these countries, where the population is very small, and where infinite pains are often required to raise an army half as numerous. As soon as the passage was effected, and the banks cleared of the fugitives, the general encamped his troops, resolved to give them a few hours' repose before resuming his march to form a junction with Don Tadeo de León. After giving these orders, as he was entering his marquee, an Indian came towards him.
"What do you want, Joan?" asked he.
"The great chief no longer needs me; Joan wishes to return to him who sent him."
"You are at liberty to do as you please, my friend; but I think you had better accompany the army."
The Indian shook his head.
"I promised my father to return immediately," he said.
"Go, then; I neither can nor wish to detain you; you can report what you have seen; a letter might compromise you in case of a surprise."
"I will do as the great chief commands."
"Well, good fortune attend you; but be particularly careful not to be taken in passing the enemy's lines."
"Joan will not be taken."
"Farewell! then, my friend," said the general, waving his hand as he entered his tent.
Joan took advantage of the permission granted and left the camp without delay. The night was dark; the moon was concealed behind thick clouds. The Indian directed his course with difficulty in the obscurity. He was more than once forced to retrace his steps, and to go wide about to avoid places which he thought dangerous. He proceeded thus, feeling his way as it were, till daybreak. At the first glimmering of dawn he glided like a serpent through the high grass, raising his head occasionally, and trembling in spite of himself, for he found he had, in the darkness, stumbled upon an Indian encampment. He had, inadvertently, got into the midst of the detachment commanded by Black Stag, who had succeeded in collecting the remains of his troops, and who, at that moment, formed the rearguard of the Araucanian army, whose bivouac fires smoked on the horizon, within distance of two leagues at the most.
But Joan was not a man to be easily disconcerted; he noticed that the sentinels had not yet perceived him, and he did not despair of getting out of the scrape he had blundered into. He did not, however deceive himself or attempt to fancy his position not critical; but as he confronted it coolly, he resolved to do all he could to extricate himself, and took his measures accordingly. After reflecting for a few seconds, he crept in a direction opposite to that he had before followed, stopping at intervals to listen. Everything went on well for a few minutes; nothing stirred. A profound silence seemed to hover over the country; Joan was beginning to breathe freely; in a few minutes he should be safe. Unfortunately, at that moment chance brought Black Stag directly before him; the vigilant chief had been making the round of his posts. The vice-Toqui turned his horse towards him.
"My brother must be tired; he has crept through the grass like a viper so long," he said, with an ironical smile; "he had better change his position."
"That is just what I am going to do," said Joan, without displaying the least astonishment.
And bounding up like a panther, he leaped upon the horse behind the chief, and seized him round the body.
"Help!" Black Stag cried, in a loud voice.
"One word more and you are a dead man!" Joan whispered in a threatening tone.
But it was too late; the chief's cry of alarm had been heard, and a crowd of warriors hastened to his succour.
"Cowardly dog!" said Joan, who saw his chance was gone, but who did not yet despair; "die then!" He plunged his poisoned dagger between his shoulders and cast him onto the ground, where the chief writhed in the agonies of death, and expired as if struck by thunderbolt. Joan lifted his horse with his knees and dashed full speed against the Indians who barred his passage. This attempt was a wild one. A warrior armed with a gun took a steady aim, the horse rolled upon the ground, with its skull crushed, and dragging its rider with it in the fall. Twenty warriors rushed upon Joan, and bound him before he could make a movement to defend himself. But he had time to conceal the dagger, which the Indians did not even think of looking for, as they did not know what weapon he had employed.
The death of Black Stag, one of the most respected warriors of the nation, threw the Araucanos into a state of consternation. An Ulmen immediately took the command in his place, and Joan and a Chilian soldier captured in the preceding combat, were sent together to the camp of Antinahuel. The latter felt great regret at receiving the news of the death of Black Stag; it was more than a friend he had lost, it was a right arm!
Antinahuel, in order to reanimate the courage of his people, resolved to make an example, and sacrifice the prisoners to Guecubu, the genius of evil – a sacrifice which we must admit is becoming more and more rare among the Aucas, but to which they have recourse sometimes when they wish to strike their enemies with terror, and to prove that they mean to carry on a war without mercy. Time pressed, the army must continue its march, therefore Antinahuel determined that the sacrifice should take place at once.
At some distance beyond the camp the principal Ulmens and warriors formed a circle, in the centre of which was planted the Toqui's hatchet. The prisoners were brought thither. They were not bound, but in derision were mounted upon a horse without ears and without a tail. Joan, as the more culpable, was to be sacrificed last, and witness the death of his companion as a foretaste. But if at that fatal moment everything seemed to have abandoned the valiant Indian, he had not abandoned himself.
The Chilian prisoner was a rough soldier, well acquainted with Araucanian manners, who knew perfectly what fate awaited him. He was placed near the hatchet, with his face turned toward the Chilian frontiers. They made him dismount from his horse, placed in his hands a bundle of small rods and a pointed stick, with which they obliged him to dig a trench, in which to plant one after the other the little wands, while pronouncing the names of the Araucano warriors he had killed in the course of his long career. To every name the soldier pronounced, he added some cutting speech addressed to his enemies who replied to him by horrible execrations. When all the wands were planted Antinahuel approached.
"The Huinca is a brave warrior," said Antinahuel; "he will fill up this trench with earth in order that the glory and valour of which he has given proofs during his life may remain buried in this place."
"So be it!" said the soldier; "but you will soon see that the Chilians possess more valiant soldiers."
And he carelessly threw the earth into the trench. This terminated, the Toqui made him a sign to place himself close to the hatchet; the soldier obeyed. Antinahuel raised his club and crushed his skull. The poor wretch fell, but was not quite dead, and he struggled convulsively. Two machis immediately sprang upon him, opened his breast and tore out his heart, which they presented, palpitating as it was, to the Toqui. The latter sucked the blood, and then passed the heart to the Ulmens, who followed his example.
In the meantime, the crowd of warriors seized upon the carcass, which they cut to pieces in a few minutes, reserving the bones to make war whistles of. They then placed the head of the prisoner on a pike, and danced round it to the sound of a frightful song, accompanied by the pipes made from the bones.
Joan's eye and ear were on the watch at the moment when this frightful saturnalia were at their apogee, he judged the time propitious, turned his horse, and fled as fast as he could. A few minutes confusion ensued, of which Joan took full advantage; but the Araucanos hastened to pursue him. He soon perceived that the distance between him and his enemies rapidly diminished. He was passing by the side of a hill, whose steep ascent could not be climbed by horses, and with the quickness of conception peculiar to brave men he divined that this would be his only chance of safety. He guided his horse so as, in a manner, to brush the hill, and get upright in his saddle. The Araucanos came up, uttering loud cries. All at once, seizing a strong branch of a tree, he sprang from his saddle, and climbed up the branch with the velocity of a tiger cat. The warriors shouted with rage and astonishment at beholding this extraordinary feat.
Nevertheless, the Araucanos had by no means given up all hopes of retaking their prisoner. They left their horses at the foot of the mountain, and half a score of the most zealous and active set off upon Joan's track. But the latter had now some space in advance. He continued to mount, clinging by feet and hands, and only stopping when nature commanded to take breath.
But he found that a longer struggle would be useless; that at length he was really lost.
The Araucanos came up panting from their long run, brandishing their lances and clubs with cries of triumph. They were not more than fifty paces from him at the most. At this awful moment Joan heard a voice whisper —
"Lower your head!"
He obeyed, without thinking of what was going on around him, or of whence this recommendation could come. The sound of four shots rattled sharply in his ears, and four Indian warriors rolled lifeless on the ground before him. Restored to himself by this unhoped-for succour, Joan bounded forward and stabbed one of his adversaries, whilst four fresh shots stretched four more upon the earth.
Joan was saved! He looked around him to ascertain to whom he owed his life. Valentine, Louis, and the two Indian chiefs stood beside him. These were the four friends who, watching from a distance the camp of the Araucanos, had witnessed the desperate flight of Joan, and had come bravely to his aid.
"Well, Joan, old fellow!" said Valentine, laughing, "you have had a narrow escape!"
"Thanks!" said Joan, warmly; "I shall not forget."
"I think we should act wisely if we now placed ourselves in safety," Louis observed.
"Don Louis is right." said Trangoil-Lanec.
The five men plunged into the woods of the mountain; but they had no occasion to dread an attack. Antinahuel, upon hearing the reports which the warriors who had escaped the Frenchmen's rifles gave of the number of enemies they had to combat, was persuaded that the position was occupied by a strong detachment of the Chilian army: consequently, he struck his camp, and went away in one direction, whilst the adventurers escaped in another.
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE KING OF DARKNESS
Don Tadeo de León had manoeuvred with the greatest skill and promptitude: supporting his left upon the sea, and pivoting upon Arauca, the capital of the confederation, he had extended his right along the mountains, so as to cut off the communications of the enemy, who, by his junction with General Fuentes, found themselves placed between two fires.
Antinahuel, deceived by the false message found on Don Ramón, had committed the unpardonable fault of raising his camp of the Bio Bio, and thus leaving a free passage for General Fuentes. General Bustamente had viewed with despair the faults his ally had committed, faults which the latter would not allow till it was too late to remedy.
Doña Maria, the woman who had been his evil genius, abandoned him now. The Linda, faithful to her hatred, only thought of one thing – to make Doña Rosario suffer as much as she could.
Antinahuel had endeavoured to throw himself into the mountains, but all his efforts had been in vain, and he had only obtained the result he wished to avoid – that is to say, he had placed himself between three corps d'armée, which, by degrees, closed round him, and had ended by placing him in the annoying obligation of fighting upon ground which it pleased the enemy to choose instead of in his own country, Don Gregorio Peralta closed up his passage towards the sea; Don Tadeo de León on the side of the Arauca; whilst General Fuentes defended the approach to the mountains.
All the marches and counter-marches which led to this result had lasted a fortnight. Don Tadeo was anxious to strike a great blow, and terminate the war in a single battle. On the day with which we resume the course of our narrative, the Araucanos and Chilians were at length in presence: Don Tadeo de León, shut up in his tent with Don Gregorio, General Fuentes, and several other superior officers of his staff, was giving them his last orders, when a summons of trumpets was heard from without. The Chilians immediately replied; an aide-de-camp entered the tent, and announced that the Grand Toqui of the Araucanos demanded an interview.
"Do not go, Don Tadeo," said General Fuentes; "it is nothing but some villainy these demons have planned."
"I am not of your opinion, general," the dictator replied. "I ought, as leader, to seek every means of preventing the effusion of blood; that is my duty, and nothing will make me fail in it."
"Caspita!" said Don Gregorio, "you wish to prevent our taking them in spite of you."
The place chosen for the conference was a small eminence, situated between the two camps. A Chilian flag and an Araucanian flag were planted at twenty paces from each other; at the foot of these flags forty Aucas lancers on the one side, and a similar number of Chilian soldiers placed themselves. When these diverse precautions were taken, Don Tadeo, followed by two aides-de-camp advanced toward Antinahuel, who came to meet him with two Ulmens. When they arrived near their respective soldiers, the two leaders ordered their officers to wait for them, and met in the space left free for them. Antinahuel was the first to break the silence.
"The Aucas know and venerate my father," he said, bowing courteously; "they know that he is good, and loves his Indian children. A cloud has arisen between him and his sons; is it impossible to dissipate it?"
"Chief," said Don Tadeo, "the whites have always protected the Indians. Often have they given them arms to defend themselves with, corn to feed them, and warm clothing to cover them in winter. But the Araucanos are ungrateful – when the evil is past they forget the service rendered. Why have they today taken up arms against the whites? Let the chief reply in his turn; I am ready to hear all he can advance in his defence."
"The chief will not defend himself," Antinahuel said, deferentially; "he acknowledges his errors; he is convinced of them; he is ready to accept the conditions it shall please his white father to impose."
"Tell me, in the first place, what conditions you offer, chief; I shall see if they are just."
Antinahuel hesitated, and then said —
"My father knows that his Indian sons are ignorant. A great chief of the whites presented himself to them; he offered them immense territories, much pillage, and fair women if the Araucanos would consent to defend his interests. The Indians are children; they allowed themselves to be seduced by this man who deceived them."
"Very well," said Don Tadeo.
"The Indians," Antinahuel continued, "are ready, if my father desires it, to give up to him this man."
"Chief," replied Don Tadeo, with indignation, "are these the proposals you have to make me? What! Do you pretend to expiate one treachery by committing one still greater and more odious? The Araucanian people are a chivalrous people, unacquainted with treachery: not one of your companions can have possibly suggested anything so infamous; you alone, chief, you alone must have conceived it!"
Antinahuel knitted his brows; but quickly resuming his Indian impassiveness, he said —
"I have been wrong; my father will pardon me: I wait to hear the condition he will impose."
"The conditions are these: the Araucanian army will lay down their arms, the two women who are in their camp will be placed this very day in my hands, the Grand Toqui, and twelve of the principal Apo-Ulmens, shall remain as hostages at Santiago, until I think proper to send them back."
A smile, of disdain curled the thin lips of Antinahuel.
"Will my father not impose less harsh conditions?"
"No," Don Tadeo answered, firmly.
The Toqui drew himself up proudly.
"We are ten thousand warriors resolved to die; my father must not drive us to despair," he said.
"Tomorrow that army will have fallen under the blows of my soldiers, like corn beneath the sickle of the reaper."
"Listen, you who impose such arrogant conditions upon me," the chief replied; "do you know who I am – I who have humbled myself before you?"
"Of what consequence is it to me? 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. But the arm of the assassin was seized and dislocated by the iron-muscled hand of the King of Darkness, and the weapon was broken like glass against the cuirass which he had put on under his clothes, to guard against treachery.
"Do not fire!" he said to the soldiers; "the wretch is sufficiently punished, since his execrable project has failed. Go back, assassin!" he added, contemptuously; "return and hide your shame among your warriors. Begone, unclean dog!"
Without saying a word more, Don Tadeo turned his back and regained his camp.
"Oh!" Antinahuel said, stamping with rage, "all is not ended yet! Tomorrow I shall have my turn."
"Well," Don Pancho asked, as soon as he saw him, "what have you obtained?"
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. "But the wretch is punished."
"No," the old soldier retorted, somewhat angrily; "when we meet with a viper in our path, we crush it without mercy beneath the heel of our boot; if we did not, it would rise and bite the imprudent man who had spared it or disdained it."
"Come, come, general!" Don Tadeo said, gaily; "you are a bird of ill-omen. Think no more about the wretch, other cares call upon us."
The general shook his head with an air of doubt, and went to visit the outposts.
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