The Scalp Hunters Part 18

"I will not dwell on the beauty of Adele, at this time. You may imagine that for yourself; and, monsieur, you may a.s.sist your imagination by allowing it to dwell on those graces you appear to have discovered in her daughter, for the little Zoe is a type of what her mother was.

"At the time I speak of she was still in the bloom of her beauty. The fame of that beauty was on every tongue, and had piqued the vanity of the wanton tyrant. For this reason I became the object of his friendly a.s.siduities.

"I had divined this; but confiding in the virtue of my wife, I took no notice of his conduct. No overt act of insult as yet claimed my attention.

"Returning on one occasion from a long absence at the mines, Adele informed me what, through delicacy, she had hitherto concealed--of insults received from his excellency at various times, but particularly in a visit he had paid her during my absence.

"This was enough for Creole blood. I repaired to Albuquerque; and on the public plaza, in presence of the mult.i.tude, I chastised the insulter.

"I was seized and thrown into a prison, where I lay for several weeks.

When I was freed, and sought my home again, it was plundered and desolate. The wild Navajo had been there; my household G.o.ds were scattered and broken, and my child, oh, G.o.d! my little Adele, was carried captive to the mountains!"

"And your wife? your other child?" I inquired, eager to know the rest.

"They had escaped. In the terrible conflict--for my poor peons battled bravely--my wife, with Zoe in her arms, had rushed out and hidden in a cave that was in the garden. I found them in the ranche of a vaquero in the woods, whither they had wandered."

"And your daughter Adele--have you heard aught of her since?"

"Yes, yes, I will come to that in a moment.

"My mine, at the same time, was plundered and destroyed; many of the workmen were slaughtered before they could escape; and the work itself, with my fortune, became a ruin.

"With some of the miners, who had fled, and others of Valverde, who, like me, had suffered, I organised a band, and followed the savage foe; but our pursuit was vain, and we turned back, many of us broken in health and heart.

"Oh, monsieur, you cannot know what it is to have thus lost a favourite child! you cannot understand the agony of the bereaved father!"

The speaker pressed his head between his hands, and remained for a moment silent. His countenance bore the indications of heartrending sorrow.

"My story will soon be told--up to the present time. Who knows the end?

"For years I hung upon the frontiers of the Indian country, hunting for my child. I was aided by a small band, most of them unfortunates like myself, who had lost wife or daughter in a similar manner. But our means became exhausted, and despair wore us out. The sympathies of my companions grew old and cold. One after another gave up. The Governor of New Mexico offered us no aid. On the contrary, it was suspected then--it is now known--that the Governor himself was in secret league with the Navajo chiefs. He had engaged to leave them unmolested; while they, on their side, promised to plunder only his enemies!

"On learning this terrible secret, I saw the hand that had dealt me the blow. Stung by the disgrace I had put upon him, as well as by my wife's scorn, the villain was not slow to avenge himself.

"Since then his life has been twice in my power, but the taking of it would, most probably, have forfeited my own, and I had objects for which to live. I may yet find a reckoning day for him.

"I have said that my band melted away. Sick at heart, and conscious of danger in New Mexico, I left the province, and crossed the Jornada to El Paso. Here for a while I lived, grieving for my lost child.

"I was not long inactive. The frequent forays made by the Apaches into Sonora and Chihuahua had rendered the government more energetic in the defence of the frontier. The presidios were repaired and garrisoned with more efficient troops, and a band of rangers organised, whose pay was proportioned to the number of scalps they might send back to the settlements.

"I was offered the command of this strange guerilla; and in the hope that I might yet recover my child, I accepted it--I became a scalp-hunter.

"It was a terrible commission; and had revenge alone been my object, it would long since have been gratified. Many a deed of blood have we enacted; many a scene of retaliatory vengeance have we pa.s.sed through.

"I knew that my captive daughter was in the hands of the Navajoes. I had heard so at various times from prisoners whom I had taken; but I was always crippled for want of strength in men and means. Revolution after revolution kept the states in poverty and civil warfare, and our interests were neglected or forgotten. With all my exertions, I could never raise a force sufficient to penetrate that desert country north of the Gila, in which lie the towns of the savage Navajoes."

"And you think--"

"Patience! I shall soon finish. My band is now stronger than ever. I have received certain information, by one just escaped from a captivity among the Navajoes, that the warriors of both tribes are about to proceed southward. They are mustering all their strength, with the intention of making a grand foray; even, as we have heard, to the gates of Durango. It is my design, then, to enter their country while they are absent, and search for my daughter."

"And you think she still lives?"

"I know it. The same man who brought me this news, and who, poor fellow, has left his scalp and ears behind him, saw her often. She is grown up, and is, he says, a sort of queen among them, possessed of strange powers and privileges. Yes, she still lives; and if it be my fortune to recover her, then will this tragic scene be at an end. I will go far hence."

I had listened with deep attention to the strange recital. All the disgust with which my previous knowledge of this man's character had inspired me vanished from my mind, and I felt for him compa.s.sion--ay, admiration. He had suffered much. Suffering atones for crime, and in my sight he was justified. Perhaps I was too lenient in my judgment.

It was natural I should be so.

When the revelation was ended, I was filled with emotions of pleasure.

I felt a vivid joy to know that she was not the offspring of the demon I had deemed him.

He seemed to divine my thoughts; for there was a smile of satisfaction, I might say triumph, on his countenance, as he leaned across the table to refill the wine.

"Monsieur, my story must have wearied you. Drink!"

There was a moment's silence as we emptied the gla.s.ses.

"And now, sir, you know the father of your betrothed, at least somewhat better than before. Are you still in the mind to marry her?"

"Oh, sir! she is now, more than ever, to me a sacred object."

"But you must win her, as I have said, from me."

"Then, sir, tell me how. I am ready for any sacrifice that may be within my power to make."

"You must help me to recover her sister."

"Willingly."

"You must go with me to the desert."

"I will."

"Enough. We start to-morrow." And he rose, and began to pace the room.

"At an early hour?" I inquired, half fearing that I was about to be denied an interview with her whom I now more than ever longed to embrace.

"By daybreak," he replied, not seeming to heed my anxious manner.

"I must look to my horse and arms," said I, rising, and going towards the door, in hopes of meeting her without.

"They have been attended to; G.o.de is there. Come, boy! She is not in the hall. Stay where you are. I will get the arms you want. Adele!

Zoe! Oh, doctor, you are returned with your weeds! It is well. We journey to-morrow. Adele, some coffee, love! and then let us have some music. Your guest leaves you to-morrow."

The bright form rushed between us with a scream.

"No, no, no, no!" she exclaimed, turning from one to the other, with the wild appeal of a pa.s.sionate heart.

"Come, little dove!" said the father, taking her by the hands; "do not be so easily fluttered. It is but for a short time. He will return again."