Confessions Of Con Cregan Part 47

Not a creature of any kind was seen to move over this great plain; not a wing cleaved the air above; not a sound broke the stillness beneath. It was a solitude the most complete I ever conceived,--grand and imposing!

How my heart sank within me as I sat and looked, thinking I was there alone, without one creature near me, to linger out, perhaps, some few days or hours of life, and die unseen, un-watched, uncared for! And to this sad destiny had ambition brought me! Were it not for the craving desire to become something above my station, to move in a sphere to which neither my birth nor my abilities gave me any t.i.tle, and I should be now the humble peasant, living by my daily labor in my native land, my thoughts travelling in the worn track those of my neighbors journeyed, and I neither better nor worse off than they.

And for this wish--insensate, foolish as it was--the expiation is indeed heavy. I hid my head within my hands, and tried to pray, but I could not. The mind hara.s.sed by various conflicting thoughts is not in the best mood for supplication. I felt like the criminal of whom I had once read, that, when the confessor came to visit him the night before his execution, seemed eager and attentive for a while, but at last acknowledged that his thoughts were centred upon one only theme,--escape! "To look steadfastly at the next world, you must extinguish the light of this one;" and how difficult is that!--how hard to close every c.h.i.n.k and fissure through which hope may dart a ray,--hope of life, hope of renewing the struggle in which we are so often defeated, and where even the victory is without value!

"Be it so," sighed I, at last; "the game is up!" and I lay down at the foot of a rock to die. My strength, long sustained by expectation, had given way at last, and I felt that the hour of release could not be distant. I drew my hand across my eyes,--I am ashamed to own there were tears there--and just then, as if my vision had been cleared by the act, I saw, or I thought I saw, in the plain beneath, the glittering sparkle of flame. Was it the reflection of a star, of which thousands were now studding the sky, in some pool of rain-water? No! it was real fire, which now, from one red spark, burst forth into a great blaze, rolling out volumes of black smoke which rose like a column into the air.

Were they Indians who made it, or trappers? or could it be the party in whose track I had so long been following; and, if so, by what path had they descended? Speculation is half-brother to Hope. No sooner had I begun to canva.s.s this proposition than it aroused my drooping energies, and rallied my failing courage.

I set about to seek for some clew to the descent, and by the moonlight, which was now full and strong, I detected foot-tracks in the clayey soil near the verge of the cliff. A little after I found a narrow pathway, which seemed to lead down the face of the bluff. The trees were scratched, too, in many places with marks familiar to prairie travellers, but which to me only betokened the fact that human hands had been at work upon them. I gained courage by these, which at least I knew were not "Indian signs," no more than the foot-tracks were those of Indian feet.

The descent was tedious, and often perilous; the path, stopping abruptly short at rocks, from which the interval to the next footing should be accomplished by a spring, or a drop of several feet, was increased in danger by the indistinct light. In the transit I received many a sore bruise, and ere I reached the bottom my flannel drapery was reduced to a string of rags which would have done no credit to a scarecrow.

When looking from the top of the cliff, the fire appeared to be immediately at its foot; but now I perceived it stood about half a mile off in the plain. Thither I bent my steps, half fearing, half hoping, what might ensue. So wearied was I by the fatigue of the descent, added to the long day's journey, that even in this short s.p.a.ce I was often obliged to halt and take rest. Exhaustion, hunger, and la.s.situde weighed me down, till I went along with that half-despairing effort a worn-out swimmer makes as his last before sinking.

A more pitiable object it would not be easy to picture. The blood oozing from my wound, re-opened by the exertion, had stained my flannel dress, which, ragged and torn, gave glimpses of a figure reduced almost to a skeleton. My beard was long, adding to the seeming length of my gaunt and lantern jaws, blue with fatigue and fasting. My shoes were in tatters, and gave no protection to my bleeding feet; while my hands were torn and cut by grasping the rocks and boughs in my descent.

Half-stumbling, half-tottering, I came onward till I found myself close to the great fire, at the base of a mound--a "Prairie roll," as it is called--which formed a shelter against the east wind.

Around the immense blaze sat a party, some of whom in shadow, others in strong light, presented a group the strangest ever my eyes beheld.

Bronzed and bearded countenances, whose fierce expression glowed fiercer in the ruddy glare of the fire, were set off by costumes the oddest imaginable.

Many wore coats of undressed sheepskin, with tall caps of the same material; others had ragged uniforms of different services. One or two were dressed in "ponchos" of red-brown cloth, like Mexicans, and some, again, had a kind of buff coat studded with copper ornaments,--a costume often seen among the half-breeds. All agreed in one feature of equipment, which was a broad leather belt or girdle, in which were fastened various shining implements, of which a small pickaxe and a hammer were alone distinguishable where I stood. Several muskets were piled near them, and on the scorched boughs of the cedars hung a little armory of cutla.s.ses, pistols, and "bowies," from which I was able to estimate the company at some twenty-eight or thirty in number. Packs and knapsacks, with some rude cooking utensils, were strewn around; but the great carcase of a deer which I saw in the flames, supported by a chevaux-de-frise of ramrods, was the best evidence that the cares of "cuisine" did not demand any unnecessary aid from "ca.s.seroles."

A couple of great earthen pitchers pa.s.sed rapidly from hand to hand round the circle, and, by the a.s.sistance of some blackhead, served to beguile the time while the "roast" was being prepared.

Creeping noiselessly nearer, I gained a little clump of brushwood scarcely more than half-a-dozen paces off, and then lay myself down to listen what language they were speaking. At first the whole buzz seemed one unmeaning jargon, more like the tongue of an Indian tribe than anything else; but as I listened I could detect words of French, Spanish, and German. Eager to make out some clew to what cla.s.s they might belong, I leaned forward on a bough and listened attentively. A stray word, a chance phrase, could I but catch so much, would be enough; and I bent my ear with the most watchful intensity. The spot I occupied was the crest of the little ridge, or "Prairie roll," and gave me a perfect view over the group, while the black smoke rolling upwards effectually concealed me from _them_.

As I listened, I heard a deep husky voice say something in English.

It was only an oath, but it smacked of my country, and set my heart a-throbbing powerfully. I lay out upon the branch to catch what might follow, when smash went the frail timber, and, with a cry of terror, down I rolled behind them. In a second every one was on his legs, while a cry of "The jaguars! the jaguars!" resounded on all sides. The sudden shock over, their discipline seemed perfect; for the whole party had at once betaken themselves to their arms, and stood in a hollow square, prepared to receive any attack. Meanwhile, the smoke and the falling rubbish effectually shut me out from view. As these cleared away, they caught sight of me, and truly never was a formidable file of musketry directed upon a more pitiable object. Such seemed their own conviction; for after a second or two pa.s.sed in steady contemplation of me, the whole group burst out into a roar of savage laughter. "What is't?"

"It's not human!" being the exclamations which, in more than one strange tongue, were uttered.

Unable to speak, in part from terror, in part from shock, I sat up on my knees, and, gesticulating with my hands, implored their mercy, and bespoke my own defencelessness. I conclude that I made a very sorry exhibition, for again the laughter burst forth in louder tones than before, when one, taking a brand of the burning firewood, came nearer to examine me. He threw down his torch, and, springing backward with horror, screamed out, a "lepero!" a "lepero!" In a moment every musket was again raised to the shoulder, and directed towards me.

"I'm not a lepero--never was!" cried I, in Spanish. "I'm a poor Englishman who has made his escape from the Lazaretto." I could not utter more, but fell powerless to the earth.

"I know him; we were messmates," cried a gruff voice. "Halt! avast there! don't fire! I say, my lad, crawl over to leeward of the fire.

There, that will do. Dash a bucket of water over him, Perez."

Perez obeyed with a vengeance, for I was soaked to the skin, and at the same time exposed to the scorching glare of the great fire, where I steamed away like a swamp at sundown.

"A'n't you Cregan, I say?" cried the same English voice which spoke before; "a'n't you little Con, as we used to call you?"

"Yes," said I, overjoyed by the recognition, without knowing by whom it was made, "I am the little Con you speak of."

"Ah, I remembered your voice the moment I heard it," said he. "Don't you remember me?"

"Caramba!" broke in a savage-looking Spaniard; "we 're not going to catch a leprosy for the sake of your reminiscences. Tell the fellow to move off, or I'll send a bullet through him."

"And I 'll follow you."

"And I; and I," cried two or three more, who, suiting the action to the speech, threw back the pan of the flint-muskets to examine the priming.

"And shall I tell you what I 'll do?" said the Englishman. "I'll lay the first fellow's skull open with this hanger that fires a shot at him."

"Will you so?" said a thin, athletic fellow, springing to his legs, and drawing a long, narrow-bladed knife from his girdle.

"A truce there, Rivas," said another; "would you quarrel with the Capitan for a miserable lepero?"

"He's not a Capitan of my making," said Rivas, sulkily.

"I don't care of whose making," said the Englishman, in his broken Spanish; "I'm the leader of this expedition: if any one deny it, let him stand out and say so. If half a dozen of you deny it, come out one by one: I ask nothing better than to show you who's the best man here."

A low muttering followed this speech, but whether it were of admiration or anger, I could not determine. Meanwhile my own resolve was formed, as, gathering my limbs together, I rolled upon one knee and said,--

"Hear me for one instant, Senhors. It would be unworthy of you to quarrel about an object so poor and worthless as I am. Although not a lepero, I have made my escape from the Lazaretto, and travelled hither on foot, with little clothing and less food: an hour or two more will finish what fatigue and starving have all but accomplished. If you will be kind enough to throw me a morsel of bread, and give me time to move away, I'll try and do it; or, if you prefer doing the humane thing, you 'll come a few paces nearer and send a volley into me."

"I vote for the last," shouted one; but, strange to say, none seconded his motion. A change had come over them, possibly by the very recklessness of my own proposal. At last one called out, "Creep away some fifty yards or so, and burn those rags of yours: we 'll give you something to wear instead of them."

"Ay, just so," said another; "the poor devil doesn't deserve death for what he's done."

"That's spoken like honest fellows and good comrades," said the Englishman. "And now, my hearty, move down to leeward there, and put on your new toggery, and we 'll see if a hot supper won't put some life in you."

I could scarcely credit my own alacrity as this prospect of better days inspired me with fresh vigor; I recovered my feet at once, and, in something which I intended should resemble a trot, set out in the direction indicated, and where already a small bundle of clothes had been placed for my acceptance.

A piece of lighted charcoal and some firewood also apprised me of the office required at my hands, and which I performed with a most hearty good-will; and as I threw the odious rags into the flames, I felt that I was saying adieu to the last tie that bound me to the horrible Lazaretto of Bexar.

"Let him join us now," said the Englishman; "though I think if the poor fellow has walked from Bexar, you might have been satisfied he could n't carry the leprosy with him."

"I've known it go with a piece of gun-wadding from Bexar to the Rio del Norte," said one.

"I saw a fellow who caught it from the rind of a watermelon a lepero had thrown away."

"There was a comrade of ours at Puerta Naval took it from sitting on the bench beside a well on the road where a lepero had been resting the day before," cried a third.

"Let him sit yonder, then," said the Englishman "You 're more afeard of that disease than the bite of a cayman; though you need n't be squeamish, most of you, if it 'a your beauty you were thinking of."

And thus amid many a tale of the insidious character of this fell disorder, and many a rude jest on the score of precaution against it, I was ordered to seat myself at about a dozen or twenty paces distant, and receive my food as it was thrown towards me by the others,--too happy at this humble privilege to think of anything but the good fortune of such a meeting.

"Don't you remember me yet?" cried the Englishman, standing where the full glare of the fire lit up his marked features.

"Yes," said I, "you 're Halkett."

"To be sure I am, lad. I 'm glad you don't forget me."

"How should I? This is not the first time you saved my life."

"I scarcely thought I had succeeded so well," said he, "when we parted last; but you must tell me all about that to-morrow, when you are rested and refreshed. The crew here is not very unlike what you may remember aboard the yacht: don't cross them, and you 'll do well with them."

"What are they?" said I, eagerly.