THE FIRST FORTNIGHT.
A man must have been essentially a pessimist, or thoroughly acquainted with the Mexican character, to apprehend treachery on seeing the warm reception accorded to the Frenchmen by the inhabitants of Guaymas. It was a madness—a delirium impossible to describe. Leperos, rancheros, campesinos, rich hacenderos, all pressed round the French, vying with each other in offering them a hearty welcome. It seemed as if this little band of adventurers, who were only passing through the town, brought to Sonora peace, tranquillity, and liberty; in a word, all those things the Mexicans want, and for which they sigh in vain. The cries of, Viva los Franceses! Viva el conde! rose on all sides with a deafening sound.
So soon as the company landed, by Don Louis' orders, the ranks were speedily formed; and the count, having Colonel Florés on his right hand, Don Antonio on his left, led his men to the barrack prepared for them, clearing his way with difficulty through the dense masses of spectators. In front of the barrack the alcalde mayor, and the juez de letras—that is to say, the two principal authorities of the town—flanked by their ragged alguaciles, were awaiting the arrival of the company; and on perceiving them, Don Louis commanded a halt.
The two magistrates then walked a few paces toward the count, whom they saluted respectfully, and began a long address stuffed with all sorts of pompous Mexican hyperboles, from among which Don Louis managed to discover that the Sonorians rejoiced in the depths of their hearts at the arrival of the valiant French company; that they set on his courage all their hope of being protected against their ferocious neighbours, the Apaches; that the French had not landed on a foreign shore, but amid brethren and sincere friends, who would be delighted to have it in their power to prove their devotion; and a thousand other things too long to repeat here.
When the alcalde mayor had ended his discourse amid the warm applause of the crowd, the juez de letras began one in his turn, equally long, equally diffuse, and equally perfidious as the first, and which met with the same success.
We will remark here that the Mexicans adore long speeches.
At length, when the two magistrates had finished speaking, the count bowed gracefully, and replied to them with a few of those words which come straight from the heart. They produced a perfect frenzy. The crowd yelled with joy, waving their hats and handkerchiefs; while from every window a perfect shower of flowers escaped from the dainty hands of the señoritas, and literally inundated the adventurers, who cordially responded to this delicate attention.
The company then entered the barrack; it was a large house, with an enormous inner court, admirably adapted for the use to which it was put at this moment. Within an hour, the adventurers, with that eminent knack peculiar to Frenchmen, were comfortably installed, and appeared to have occupied their quarters for the last six months.
The count fancied he had got rid of the alcalde and juez de letras: but it was not so; they had still several requests to make of him before they left him at liberty, and would not neglect them.
As in all other centres of population in Mexico, at Guaymas everyone lives pretty much as he pleases, without troubling himself greatly about the authorities. This liberty, or rather license, may be advantageous to one portion of the population, but is evidently extremely prejudicial to the other; in this sense, that the rascals, having entire liberty to commit all the wicked actions Satan constantly breathes in their ear, the honest people are obliged to defend themselves, and not count in any way upon the protection of a problematical police, which, if it happen to exist, naturally makes common cause with the brigands.
The magistrates had judged in their wisdom to profit by the stay of the Frenchmen at Guaymas, in order to disperse the scoundrels of every description, with whom the city abounds, with a salutary terror. Consequently, they begged the count to guard the principal posts of the pueblo with men belonging to his company, and to organise patrols to traverse the streets by night, and watch over the tranquillity of the citizens and public security.
When, after much circumlocution, the magistrates at length ventilated their request, the count answered them with a smile, that he was entirely at the service of the Mexican government, and if they considered his assistance useful, they might dispose of him and his men as they thought proper. The magistrates thanked him heartily, and, incited by the facility with which the count granted their first request, they ventured to bring forward the second, which, in their idea being of much more delicate nature, they feared would be refused. It was as follows:—
Corpus Christi is the most important religious ceremony of Mexico. This festival, to augment the splendour of which the people undergo the heaviest sacrifices, fell this year just a few days after the arrival of the French in Sonora. They wished the count to promise to have his little mountain guns fired during the whole period the procession went about the streets.
Guaymas had many guns in the forts; but unfortunately they were dismounted, and completely honeycombed with rust.
It may be easily understood, that in the mind of the superstitious Sonorians, on so solemn a festival as this, the bells were not sufficient, and that the ceremony would entirely lose its solemn character, unless a few gunshots were fired.
The worthy magistrates little expected that they were causing the count a lively pleasure, by asking of him two things as a favour, which, had he dared, he would have claimed as a right, for the following reasons.
Since the discovery of gold, so many scamps of every description had sought refuge in San Francisco, that the Californian population justly enjoyed a frightful reputation for vice, crime, and debauchery, in all the adjacent countries, and especially in the Pacific ports, on which they sometimes pounced like swarms of predacious birds. The count ardently desired on behalf of his undertaking, to show the Sonorians among whom they were destined to live, that the French emigrants had nothing in common with these sinister bandits, and that the men he had the honour to command were brave men, resolved to behave themselves properly, wherever chance took them, and never to molest the Mexican population.
As for the second question, it was even more serious in the count's eyes. The Mexicans are not only ignorant and superstitious, but even more. Although they do not understand a syllable of the religion they profess, or perhaps on account of that, they are exaggerated fanatics, and sooner pardon a murder than an insult, however slight in its nature, not to the religion itself, but merely to its exaggerated ceremonial. This fanaticism, carefully maintained during the Spanish dominion, was intended to keep foreigners, that is to say the English, whom they feared greatly, from the shores of New Spain. At that time, indeed, the English were almost the only Europeans who ventured to visit the Spanish colonies.
The monks profited by the difference of our religion, to make the most exaggerated portraits of the English to their parishioners, investing them with horns and claws, as the children of Lucifer must necessarily have. The Indians, credulous as babes, accepted, with closed eyes, all the fables the monks thought proper to tell them; and, with them, every foreigner became an Englishman, that is to say a heretic, a gringo.
The declaration of independence, while enabling the Mexicans to see foreigners of all nations, made no change in their convictions; for it is not so easy to destroy a prejudice rooted for centuries. They continued, as in the past, to see in foreigners only Englishmen, and consequently gringos; hence, that smouldering hatred which breaks out every time that occasion offers, and that secret horror they experience at the sight of every European.
Being on the point of burying himself with his company in the heart of Mexico—of passing through fanatic, credulous, and ignorant tribes, with whom it was important to live in peace, and give them no pretext for quarrelling—it was of the highest interest to the count to show by an undeniable proof that the French were not gringos, but, on the contrary, as good catholics as the Sonorians.
Hence he favourably greeted the magistrates' request—a request which probably concealed a trap—and promised them not only that the guns should thunder during the whole period of the procession, but that the company would be happy to accompany the holy sacrament during its progress through the streets of the town. The more so, the count added, because the French were catholics, and would eagerly seize the opportunity to manifest their fervour for their revered religion.
The magistrates, having at length obtained all they desired, took leave of the count with great demonstrations of gratitude and respect. The count breathed again, for the sederunt had been long. Still, all was not over yet, as the count soon perceived.
Don Antonio, and his inseparable friend the colonel, would not so easily loose their hold, and only consented to withdraw when the count promised to be present that same evening with all his officers at a banquet Don Antonio had prepared, to fête the arrival of the French company. The count gave his word, and was at length left at liberty for a few hours.
Now that the company had arrived at Guaymas, that is to say, the first halt on the road to the mines, the expedition had really commenced, the first obstacles were cleared. According to the count's idea, all required now was to give his men a few days' rest, and then push resolutely onward.
Profiting by the first impression produced by the Frenchmen, the count, without loss of a moment, had his papers put in order, and easily obtained his passports for the interior. Several days passed thus, the French reigned as masters in Guaymas, petted and caressed by the inhabitants whom their gaiety and carelessness pleased above all, and who, having hitherto seen a few ragged outcast Mexican soldiers, could not leave off admiring the training, martial aspect, and the perfect dexterity with which the foreigners manoeuvred and managed their weapons.
The company performed the police duties of the town with the greatest care; thefts and assassinations ceased as if by enchantment; and the Sonorians slept tranquilly, on the faith of their new friends.
On Corpus Christi day, as had been arranged, the French cannon were fired during a portion of the day, and the adventurers accompanied the procession, bearing bouquets in their muzzles, and behaving with the greatest decency. Their presence at church produced all the effect the count anticipated from it; and the certainty acquired by the inhabitants that the strangers were good catholics, still further increased the friendship they entertained for them.
Matters went on thus for several days, and nothing occurred to trouble the azure of the count's projects. In fact, the most perfect harmony prevailed between him and the magistrates, at least apparently; hence, with the native frankness of his character, the count began to reproach himself secretly for the distrust he had at first felt, or rather Valentine inspired him with; and in his heart he accused his friend of having yielded to unjust prejudices against men who seemed to study not merely to satisfy him, but to anticipate the slightest desires of the members of the expedition.
Indeed, how could the count suspect treachery? He had only come on the entreaty of the Mexican government. It was that government which demanded that his company should be trained, numerous, and well armed. The chief authorities of the country had a greater interest in the success of the enterprise, because they were nearly all shareholders. To suppose that, under such circumstances, these persons intended to cheat him, the count must have at first admitted that they were insane; for no one ever carries on war at his own expense, and the Mexicans are generally known to have a clutching hand for money.
In the meanwhile, time passed rapidly; the count was afraid, lest the morale of his comrades might suffer by a longer stay in the heart of a Sonorian city. He was burning to set out; but, unfortunately, it was impossible for him to do so, until depôts of provisions had been made along the road, and the government of the state had arranged with him the definitive movements of the company on its march to the mines.
Don Louis complained bitterly both to the colonel and Don Antonio of the continual delays he was obliged to suffer, and the pretexts, more or less plausible, employed to keep him in disgraceful inaction. The governor, who declined to quit Pitic, only made evasive answers to his letters, or declared that he had received no instructions.
This state of things could not, and must not, last longer. As there was a risk of the company dissolving, and all the fruit of the preliminary labours being lost, before the enterprise had been seriously entered on, Don Louis resolved at all risks to emerge from this equivocal position. Consequently, after having formally stated his wishes to Colonel Florés and Don Antonio, he informed them that since General Guerrero did not appear to understand the tenour of his letters, he was resolved to proceed himself to Pitic, and have a categorical explanation with him.
The two men started with joy at this news; for they required the count's absence for the success of the plans they had formed. Instead, therefore, of turning him from his project, they urged him warmly to put it in execution without delay, and start as soon as possible. Don Louis had no need to be stimulated and urged on thus. So soon as he left the two men, he proceeded to the barrack, assembled the company, and told them of his speedy departure, which was joyfully heard by all these energetic and ardent men whom rest fatigued, and on whom idleness began to weigh heavily. The count intrusted the temporary command to one of the officers on whom he thought he could most count, giving him the order that, if he heard nothing from him within four days, the company would start at once to join him, and after again urging the men to keep up the strictest discipline, the count finally quitted the barrack.
At his house he found Valentine awaiting him. The latter approved his conduct, but refused to accompany him, giving as his reason, that he believed he should serve the good cause better by remaining at Guaymas. The truth was, that the hunter did not wish to leave out of sight the men he had undertaken to watch, until he had discovered their machinations.
Louis did not insist. He knew that with a man of Valentine's character there was no chance of discussing, when he had once formed a determination. Followed by Don Cornelio and an escort of ten well-mounted horsemen, the count set out, after once again pressing his friend's hand, and proceeded toward Pitic, where—at least he hoped so—he should at length find the word of the enigma.
"Hum!" Valentine muttered, following him with a thoughtful glance; "either I am greatly mistaken, or, now that he is no longer here, to thwart by his presence the gloomy machinations of the scoundrels who wish to make him their dupe, we shall soon have something new."
After this aside, the hunter walked with his usual measured step toward the barrack, where he arrived in a few moments, and found the adventurers in a state of great excitement, produced by the departure of their leader.