Gustave Aimard
The Smuggler Chief: A Novel
"Oh, oh!" Diego exclaimed, "ever treacherous; but we are too old enemies not to know each other, and hence I was on my guard, general."
The old man, without replying, drew another pistol with his left hand and fired. But the badly aimed shot only grazed slightly the Indian's chest; and the bullet, after making a scratch along one of his ribs, entered the panel of a door. Diego bounded like a lion on the old man, who had fallen to the ground, and whose blood was streaming from the frightful wound he had on his arm. Then he seized his long white hair, pulled up his head violently, and compelled him to look him in the face.
"At last, Soto-Mayor, you are conquered!" he shouted.
The old man collected the little strength left him in a supreme effort; his eyes sparkled with fury, his countenance was contracted with disgust, and he spat in his enemy's face. At this supreme insult Diego uttered a frightful howl, and then drew his knife with a demoniacal grin.
In the meanwhile the sound of the pistol shots had spread an alarm among the volunteers, and a party of them rushed tumultuously into the house. When the soldiers entered the general's bedroom, after breaking in the door, they found the window open and the old man stretched out on the floor, bathed in blood. In addition to the horrible mutilation of his arm, he had a hideous wound on his head, from which the blood streamed down his face. Diego had scalped the unfortunate Don Juan de Soto-Mayor.
A cry of horror burst from every mouth, and they hastily gave the wounded man all the care which his wretched condition required.
CHAPTER XXVII
THE CAPTURE OF THE CONVENT
Since the invasion of the Araucanos, Crevel's hostelry had lost much of its old splendour. No longer was heard the clink of glasses or the smashing of window panes which the noisy customers broke while discussing their affairs. The bottles remained methodically arranged on the shelves that lined the shop, and the time when Crevel earned a few piastres a month, merely by counting as new the cracked ones which his customers threw at his head in the guise of a peroration, had passed away. The most utter vacuum had taken the place of the overflow.
At the most, not more than one or two passers-by came in during the course of the day to drink a glass of pisco, which they paid for, and went off again directly in spite of all the efforts and cajolery of the banian, who tried to keep them in order to talk of public affairs and cheer his solitude.
On the day after Leon Delbès' arrest, however, the house offered, at about ten in the evening, a lively appearance, which formed a strange contrast with the calmness and tranquillity which the state of war had imposed on it. The shop was literally encumbered with customers, who smoked without saying a word.
The silence was so religiously observed by them that it was easy to distinguish the sound of the rain falling outside, and the hoofs of the police horses which echoed dully on the pebbles or in the muddy pools which covered the soil.
At nightfall the worthy landlord, who had not seen his threshold crossed since the morning by a single customer, was preparing to shut up, with sundry execrations, when an individual suddenly entered, then three, then four, then ten – in a word, so large a number that he found it impossible to count them. All were wrapped in large cloaks, and had their broad-brimmed hats pulled down over their eyes so as to render their features unrecognisable.
Crevel, agreeably surprised, prepared to serve his guests, with the assistance of his lads; but though the proverb says that it is impossible to have too much of a good thing, the extraordinary number of persons who seemed to have given each other the meeting at his house assumed such proportions, that our landlord eventually became alarmed, as he did not know where to house the newcomers. The crowd, after invading the ground floor room, had, like a constantly-rising tide overflowed into the adjoining one, and then ascended the stairs and taken possession of the upper floors.
When ten o'clock struck, forty customers peopled the posada, and, as we said, not a single syllable was exchanged between them. Crevel comprehended that something extraordinary was taking place in his house; and he sought for means to get rid of these silent guests by affecting preparations for closing his inn, but no one appeared to catch his meaning. At this moment a sereno offered him the pretext which he was awaiting by shouting outside —
"Ave Maria purísima las diez han dado y llueve." The stereotyped phrase of the night watchman, though accompanied by modulations which would make a cat cry, produced no impression on the company. Hence Crevel resolved to speak.
"Gentlemen," he said aloud, as he stood in the middle of the room with his hands on his hips, "it is ten o'clock, you hear, and I must absolutely close my establishment."
"Drink here!" the customers replied, in chorus – accompanying the sentence by dealing vigorous blows on the table with their pewter measures.
Crevel started back.
"Really, gentlemen," he tried to continue, "I would observe to you that – "
"Drink here!" the topers observed, in a voice of thunder.
"Ah! that is the game, is it?" the exasperated landlord cried, who felt all his courage return with his passion. "Well, we will see whether I am master of my own house."
He rushed towards the door, but had not taken a step in the street, when a newcomer seized him by the arm and unceremoniously thrust him back into the room, saying, with a mocking air —
"What imprudence, Master Crevel, to go out bareheaded in such weather! You will catch an awful cold."
Then, while the banian, confused and terrified by this rude shock, was trying to restore a little order in his ideas, his addresser, behaving just as if he were at home, and assisted by two customers, to whom he gave a signal, fastened the window shutters, bolted and locked the door as well as Crevel's lads could have done it.
"Now let us talk," said the newcomer, as he turned to the stupefied landlord. "Do you not recognise me?" he added, as he doffed his hat.
"Monsieur Wilhelm!" Crevel exclaimed.
"Silence!" the other remarked.
And he led the master of the posada into a retired corner of the room.
"Have you any strange lodgers here?" he asked him, in a low voice.
"No! if you know this legion of big demons who have collected in my house during the last hour – "
"Well! I am not alluding to them. I ask you whether you have any strangers lodging here. As for these gentlemen, you must know them as well as I do."
"From the cellar to the garret there is not a soul beside these gentlemen; but as I have not yet been able to see so much as the end of their noses, it was impossible for me to recognise them."
"These are all men belonging to the captain's band, you humbug!"
"Nonsense! In that case, why do they hide their faces?"
"Probably, Master Crevel, because they do not wish them to be seen; and now send your lads to bed, being careful to lock them carefully into their attic, and after that we will see."
"Then, something is going to be done?"
"When you are told you will know. In the meanwhile, execute my orders."
"All right! all right!"
And Crevel, without any further urging, went off to carry out the order he had received, with the promptitude of a man who knows how to obey when he hopes to makes a profit by his obedience. When he had left the room, Wilhelm turned to his comrades, who, during the conversation, had remained motionless and apparently indifferent to what was going on.
"Up, gentlemen!" he said to them.
They all rose.
"Call down your companions from upstairs," Wilhelm said again.
One of the men went upstairs, and two minutes after the whole of the smugglers were collected round the German.
"Are you all here?" he asked.
"Yes," they replied.
"Armed?"
"Yes."
"You know that we have assembled to deliver the captain?"
"Yes; we are ready."
At this moment three knocks were heard on the outside shutter.
"Wait," said Wilhelm. "Silence!"
He walked to the door.
"What do you want?" he said.
"Diego and Leon," a voice replied.
"Very good."
The door was opened, and Tahi-Mari entered.
"Diego!" the smugglers exclaimed, joyfully.
"Myself, lads," the half-breed answered, as he cordially pressed the hands offered him. "I have come to help you to deliver Leon."
"Bravo! long live Diego!"
"Silence, my friends! we must be prudent if we wish to succeed, for we have two expeditions to attempt: hence we must arrange our plans carefully in order to make no mistake. The first is against the Convent of the Purísima Concepción."
The smugglers made a face.
"The second," Diego continued, without appearing to notice the effect which the word convent had produced on the smugglers, "is against the Calabozo, where the captain is locked up."
"Good!" the smugglers said; "we are listening." He then explained to them all the details of his plan, and when everything was settled, they prepared to set out.
"Hilloh, though," Diego suddenly exclaimed, "what has become of Crevel?"
"He has gone to lock up his lads," Wilhelm replied.
"A good precaution; but he is a long time over it."
"Here he is," a smuggler remarked.
"Señor Don Diego!" Crevel said with amazement, on perceiving the ex-lieutenant of the band.
"Good evening, Crevel. I am delighted to find you in such good health."
"Thanks, caballero, but you are too obliging."
"Come, make haste, take off your apron, put on your cloak, and come with us."
"I?" the landlord said, with a start of terror.
"Yes, you."
"But how can I be of any service to you?"
"I will tell you. Captain Leon informed me that you stood well with the sisters of the Convent of the Purísima Concepción."
"Oh, oh! up to a certain point," Crevel answered.
"No false modesty. I know you possess the power to have the gates opened whenever you think proper, and hence I invite you to accompany us for that purpose."
"Oh, Lord! what can you be thinking of?" the startled banian remarked.
"No remarks; make haste, or by Nuestra Señora de la buena Esperanza, I will set fire to your hovel."
A heavy groan escaped from Crevel's breast as he prepared to obey. It was striking half-past ten by the cathedral dock. A second later the Voice of the sereno croaked close to the posada.
"Ave Maria Purísima, las diez y media han dado y señora," he cried.
"It seems that it has left off raining?" said Wilhelm. "All the better."
"Come, make haste," said Diego, with a sign to the German.
"I understand, lieutenant."
Wilhelm crept out of the posada, whose door was only on the jar. A moment later, a fall, a stifled groan, and a whistle were heard.
"Let us be off," Diego went on, pointing to the door, through which Crevel passed meekly. All the smugglers glided out of the inn, and walked a few yards behind each other, careful to remain in the shadow, and preserving the deepest silence. A few minutes after, they came up to Wilhelm, who was bearing on his shoulders a bundle, whose shape it was at the first glance impossible to recognise.
"Here is the sereno," he said; "what shall I do with him?"
And the German pointed to the bundle on his shoulders, which was nothing else, in fact, but the hapless watchman.
"Take him with us," Diego answered. "A passer-by might liberate him, and that would be enough to raise an alarm."
"Very good," said Wilhelm, and he followed the party.
The smuggler had simply waited for the sereno at the corner of a house, and when he saw him at a convenient distance, lassoed, gagged, and bound him, and threw him across his wide shoulders, no more or less than if he had been a bale of goods.
The band proceeded toward the Almendral. All the serenos they met underwent the same fate as the first; like him, they were prevented from stirring or shouting, and taken on a smuggler's back. Thanks to this clever manoeuvre, they reached the walls of the convent without obstacle. Eight serenos had been captured during the walk, and when they reached their destination Diego ordered his men to lay them at the foot of the wall which surrounded the convent. Then he turned to Crevel and said —
"Now, compadre, we have reached our destination; we are in front of the convent; and it is your business to get us inside."
"But, in Heaven's name, how do you expect me to do that? You do not reflect that I have no means to – "
"Listen," Diego said, imperiously. "You understand that I have no leisure to discuss the point with you. You will either introduce us into the convent – in which case this purse, containing two hundred and fifty gold onzas, is yours – or you refuse, and then," he added, as he coldly drew a pistol from his pocket, "I blow out your brains with this."
A cold perspiration broke out on Crevel's forehead, who knew Diego too well to insult him by doubting his intentions.
"Well?" the other asked, as he cocked the pistol. "Do not play with that thing, lieutenant; I will try my best."
"To give you a better chance of success, here is the purse," the half-breed said, throwing it to him.
Crevel seized it with a start of delight which it would be impossible to describe; then he walked toward the convent gate, while racking his brains as to how he should contrive to earn the money and run the least possible risk. A luminous thought crossed his brain, and it was with a smile on his lips that he raised the hammer to knock. All at once the half-breed stopped his arm.
"What is it?" Crevel asked.
"It has struck eleven long since; everybody is asleep in the convent, and so it would perhaps be better to try some other method."
"You are mistaken," the banian replied; "the portress is awake."
"Are you sure of that?"
"Hang it all!" the other replied, who had his plan, and was afraid that he must restore the money if Diego drew back from his resolution; "the convent of the Concepción is open day and night to people who come in search of medicines; so leave me alone."
"In that case, go on," said the leader of the party as he let go his arm.
Crevel did not allow the permission to be repeated, and, through fear of a fresh objection, hastened to let the knocker fall, which echoed noisily on the copper boss. Diego and his men were standing in the shadow of the wall. A moment after, the trapdoor was pulled back, and the wrinkled face of the sister porter appeared in the opening.
"Who are you, my brother?" she asked, in a sleepy voice; "and why have you knocked at our gate at such an hour?"
"Ave Maria Purísima!" Crevel said, in his most sanctified voice.
"Sin pecado concebida. Brother, are you ill?"
"I am a poor sinner whom you know, sister, and my soul is plunged in affliction."
"Who may you be, brother? I fancy I recognize your voice, but the night is so dark that I cannot see your face."
"And I sincerely hope that you will not see it," Crevel mentally remarked; and added aloud – "Oh, sister, you know me perfectly well. I am Signor Dominique, the Italian, and keep a locanda on the Port."
"Oh yes, I remember you now, brother."
"I fancy she is nibbling," Crevel muttered.
"What do you want, brother? hasten to inform me, in our Saviour's name; for the air is very cold, and I must continue my orisons."
"My wife and two children are ill, sister, and the reverend pater guardian of the Carmelites recommended me to come and ask you for three bottles of your miraculous water."
"Good gracious!" the old woman exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with delight; "three bottles!"
"Yes, sister; and I will ask your permission to rest myself a moment, for I am so fatigued that I can scarce stand."
"Poor man!" the sister porter said, pityingly.
"Oh! it would really be an act of charity, sister."
"Señor Dominique, pray be good enough to look about and see that there is no one in the street, for we are living in such bad times that it is impossible to take sufficient precautions."
"There is nobody, sister," the banian answered, as he made his comrades a signal to hold themselves in readiness.
"In that case, I will open."
"Heaven will reward you for it, sister."
The creaking of a key in a lock could be heard, and the door opened.
"Come in quickly, brother," the nun said.
But Crevel had prudently withdrawn, and made way for Diego. The latter seized the portress by the throat, and pressing her neck in both his hands like a vice, whispered in her ear —
"One word, wretch, and I kill you!"
Horror-struck by this sudden attack, the old woman fell back unconscious.
"Deuce take the old devil!" Diego said, angrily; "who can guide us now?"
He tried to recall the sister to her senses, but seeing that it was impossible to do so, he made a sign to his men, who had rushed into the convent after him, to gag her and bind her securely. Then, after leaving two smugglers as sentries at the gate, he took the bunch of keys with which the portress was entrusted, and prepared to enter the building occupied by the nuns.
It was no easy task to discover in this immense Thebaïs the cell occupied by Doña Maria – for our readers will have understood that the object of the expedition attempted by Diego, was to carry off that young lady. It remains for us now to explain what the half-breed intended to do with her, and by what reasons he had been urged to commit such a deed.
We must say in the first place, that Diego had the most lively desire to attach to his cause, Leon, whom he knew to be a man of bravery and energy, and was urged to do so not only because he intended to give him a command in the Araucano army, but also because he had no sooner parted with Leon after the altercation which they had while escorting the family of General Soto-Mayor, than he regretted the rupture, now sought every means in his power to effect a reconciliation with Leon, the only person in the world he loved.
The first thing he did for this object was to grant Leon what the latter had demanded so pressingly, the liberation of Don Juan, the old general's son. He knew that he must not dream of thwarting his friend's love for Maria, and awaited the end of this love in order to act, thinking that the captain, at the moment when he saw himself on the point of being separated from her whom he loved, would not recoil from the idea of carrying her off. When he afterwards came across him in the half-burned hacienda, and delivered him from the false position in which he was placed, Diego did not at all suspect that one of the females with him was no other than Maria; and great was his surprise when the result of his enquiries told him that Leon had himself conducted the young lady back to the Convent of the Purísima Concepción.
Certain that Delbès had only acted thus in obedience to the chivalrous promptings of his heart, and not wishing him to be the dupe of the honourable feelings which had dictated his conduct by losing Maria for ever, the half-breed resolved to restore her to him in spite of himself by simply carrying her off; and he calculated that the rumours and scandal produced by such an event, would prevent the Soto-Mayor family from offering any opposition to the marriage. We see that although this reasoning was brutal, it was to a certain extent logical.
Now, in order to carry off Maria, she must be found, and it was this that embarrassed Diego and his men, once that they had entered the convent by stratagem. At the moment, however, when they were beginning to lose all hope, an incident produced by their inopportune presence came to their assistance. The smugglers had spread through the courtyards and cloisters, careless of the consequences which their invasion might produce, and with shouts and oaths seemed desirous of searching the convent from cellar to garret.
The nuns, habituated to silence and calmness, were soon aroused to this disturbance, and believing that the fiend was the author of it, they hurriedly leaped from their beds, and, scarce clothed, ran to seek shelter in the cell of the abbess, while uttering heart-rending cries of terror. The latter lady, sharing the error of her sisters, had hurriedly dressed herself, and assembling her flock around her, advanced resolutely toward the spot whence the noise proceeded, holding in the one hand a holy water brush, and in the other her pastoral staff, with the intention of exorcising the demon. Suddenly she perceived the smugglers, but ere she could utter a cry Diego rushed toward her.
"Silence!" he said; "we do not intend you any harm; leave us alone."
Dumb with terror at the sight of so many armed men, the women stood as if petrified. All at once, Diego noticed a novice who was clinging convulsively to her companions.
"That is the girl!" he said to his men; "it is she whom I want!"
And joining actions to words, he seized Maria, while the other smugglers kept back the abbess and the other sisters, who were more dead than alive. Two men gagged the young lady, and prepared to carry her off.
"Let us begone!" said Diego.
"Villain!" the abbess at length exclaimed, thinking of the terrible account which she would have to render to General Soto-Mayor, "if you have the slightest fear of heaven, restore me that young lady!"
"Silence!" Diego replied.
And pointing a cocked pistol at the abbess, he forced her to be a spectatress of what was going on. At this moment, another young lady, with agitated features and garments in disorder, rushed toward the half-breed, and, clinging to him, shrieked despairingly —
"My sister! – give me back my sister!"
Diego turned, his eyes sparkled, and his face assumed an expression of hatred which made the nuns turn pale.
"Oh, oh!" he said, with a ferocious joy; "Inez here?"
"Yes, I am Inez de Soto-Mayor, and this is my sister; for mercy's sake, restore her to me."
"Your sister? Yes, I will restore her to you, but not yet;" and seizing the poor girl in his powerful arms, he raised her in his arms, and threw her over his shoulder.
"Now, let us be off, my men," he shouted to the smugglers, who stood round him gloomy and silent, as if ashamed of their cowardly conduct. Ten minutes later, no one remained in the convent but its peaceable inmates. Once outside, Diego ordered Wilhelm and Crevel to carry Maria to the posada kept by the latter, with instructions to deposit her in the green room. Then wrapping Inez in a poncho, he entrusted her to two other smugglers, whom he led into a little lane, where a man on horseback was waiting. This done, he rejoined his band, who advanced prudently towards the Calabozo, keeping in the shadow of the walls, and redoubling their precautions.
This time they would not have to deal with harmless women, but with soldiers. And let us say it in praise of the men whom Diego commanded, they were desirous of fighting with enemies capable of defending themselves, in order to expiate the disgraceful part which they had played in the affair of the convent.
A sentry was walking up and down in front of the prison, and a cavalry picket was stationed a short distance off. The smugglers had dispersed, and anxiously waited till Diego should form a decision. The latter was cursing the presence of the cavalry, and knew not what he had best do. All at once the prison gate opened: two torches gleamed in the obscurity, and Diego saw the Governor of Valparaíso come out, and, at his side, Captain Leon Delbès, with whom he was conversing.
The half-breed made a sign to his men to conceal themselves in the doorways, and walked alone toward the two gentlemen, while feigning the movements of a belated passer-by. The torch bearers had re-entered the prison, and the governor was mounting his horse, and taking leave of Leon.
"I thank you, general," the latter said, "for the eagerness you have displayed in setting me at liberty."
"On learning your arrest, captain, General Soto-Mayor hurried to tell me that he would be answerable for you, and to beg me to release you from prison, which I should have done sooner had I not been compelled to be absent from Valparaíso the whole day, for an affair of the highest importance."
"Pray believe, general, in my deep gratitude."
"Do not forget, if any misadventure were again to happen to you, to apply to me, and I will hasten to come to your aid."
Leon bowed his thanks for the last time, and the two gentlemen parted. The general, followed by his escort, returned to the palace, and Leon walked toward the Calle San Agostino. He had not gone twenty yards when he came face to face with Diego, who had turned back to meet him.
"Good evening, Leon," he said to him.
"Diego! you here! what do you want here, imprudent man?"
"I came to save you, but I see that you do not require my assistance, and I congratulate you on it."
"Thanks, brother!" Leon answered, with emotion. "As you see, I am free."
"In that case, I have only to withdraw with the men who joined me for this enterprise."
The smugglers had left their lurking places, and thronged round their captain.
"Thanks, my friends, thanks for what you intended to do. I shall not forget it."
"Now," Diego continued, "I have nothing more to do here, and so I am off. Good-bye, Leon; you will soon hear from me."
"What! are you going?"
"To join my friends. And you?"
"I intend to remain at Valparaíso."
"Good! I need not repeat that, whenever you like to join us, you have only to come."
"Thanks, brother! I have not forgotten it."
"Once again, good-bye."
"Let me at least accompany you."
"No; do you go to Crevel's, for your presence may be necessary there."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You will soon learn."
And, without further explanation, Diego proceeded to the spot where the smugglers who guarded Inez were waiting for him. The man on horseback dismounted. Diego took his place, and, throwing Inez across the saddle, he dashed off at full speed along the Santiago road, shouting —
"Each his share! I have mine!"
The two smugglers rejoined their comrades, and then the band divided in two parts: one moiety returned to Dominique, the Italian's, where they were lodged, while careful to hide from their landlord the compromising part which Crevel had thought proper to make him play in the drama at the convent. The other smugglers scattered about the obscure hostelries of which there were such a large number on the Almendral.
