THE ALLIANCE.
We must now return to Loyal Heart.
After walking straight forward about ten minutes, without giving himself the trouble to follow one of those innumerable paths that intersect the prairie in all directions, the hunter stopped, put the butt end of his gun to the ground, looked round carefully on all sides, lent his ear to those thousands of noises of the desert which all have a meaning for the man accustomed to a prairie life; and, probably satisfied with the result of his observations, he imitated, at three different equal intervals the cry of the pie, with such perfection, that several of those birds, concealed among the thickest of the trees, replied to him immediately.
The third cry had scarcely ceased to vibrate in the air, ere the forest, mute till that moment, and apparently plunged in complete solitude, became animated as if by enchantment.
On all sides arose, from the midst of bushes and grass, in which they had been concealed, a crowd of hunters with energetic countenances and picturesque costumes, who formed, in an instant, a dense crowd round the trapper.
It chanced that the two first faces that caught the eye of Loyal Heart were those of Black Elk and Nô Eusebio, both posted at a few paces from him.
"Oh!" he said, holding out his hand eagerly; "I understand it all, my friends. Thanks! a thousand thanks for your cordial coming; but, praise be to God! your succour is not necessary."
"So much the better!" said Black Elk.
"But how did you get out of the hands of those devilish redskins?" the old servant asked, eagerly.
"Don't speak ill of the Comanches," Loyal Heart replied, with a smile; "they are now my brothers."
"Do you speak seriously?" cried Black Elk, with warmth; "can you really be on good terms with the Indians?"
"You shall judge for yourself. Peace is made between them and me, my friends. If agreeable to you, I will introduce you to each other."
"By Heaven! at the present moment nothing could fall out more fortunately," said Black Elk; "and as you are free, we shall be able to concern ourselves for other people, who are, at this moment, in great peril, and stand in need of our immediate assistance."
"What do you mean?" Loyal Heart asked, with a curiosity mingled with interest.
"I mean, that some people to whom you have already rendered great services, on the occasion of the last fire in the prairie, are at this moment surrounded by a band of pirates, who will soon attack them, if they have not already done so.
"We must fly to their assistance!" cried Loyal Heart, with an emotion he could not control.
"Well, that was our intention; but we wished to deliver you first, Loyal Heart. You are the soul of our association; without you we should have done no good."
"Thanks! my friends. But now, you see, I am free, so there is nothing to stop us; let us set forward immediately."
"I crave your pardon," Black Elk replied; "but we have to deal with a strong body. The pirates, who know they have no pity to look for, fight like so many tigers. The more numerous we are, the better will be our chance of success."
"That is true; but what do you aim at?"
"At this—since you have made, in our name, peace with the Indians, it could be so managed that they——"
"By Heavens! you are right, Black Elk," Loyal Heart interrupted him, eagerly. "I did not think of that. The Indian warriors will be delighted at the opportunity we shall offer them of showing their valour. They will joyfully assist us in our expedition. I take upon myself to persuade them. Follow me, all of you. I will present you to my new friends."
The trappers drew together, and formed a compact band of forty men.
Arms were reversed, in sign of peace, and all, following the steps of the hunter, directed their course towards the camp of the Comanches.
"And my mother?" Loyal Heart asked Eusebio, with a broken voice.
"She is in safety in the hatto of Black Elk."
"And how is she?"
"As well as you could expect, though suffering from great uneasiness," the old man replied. "Your mother is a woman who only lives by the heart. She is endowed with immense courage, the greatest physical pains glide over her. She now feels but slightly the effects of the atrocious tortures she had begun to undergo."
"God be praised! But she must no longer be left in these mortal doubts; where is your horse?"
"Hidden, close by."
"Mount, and return to my mother. Assure her of my safety, and then both of you retire to the grotto of Verdigris, where she will be out of all danger. You will remain with her. That grotto is easily found; it is situated at a small distance from the rock of the Dead Buffalo. When you get there, you have nothing to do but to let loose my rastreros, which I will leave you, and they will lead you straight to it. Do you clearly understand me?"
"Perfectly."
"Begone then. Here we are at the camp; your presence is useless here, whilst yonder it is indispensable."
"I am gone!"
"Adieu! we'll meet again."
Nô Eusebio whistled the bloodhounds, which he leashed together; he then, after another shake of the hand with his young master, left the troop, turned to the right, and resumed the way to the forest. The hunters, in the meantime, arrived at the entrance of the glade in which the camp of the Indians was established.
The Comanches formed, a few paces behind the first lines of their camp, a vast semicircle, in the centre of which stood their chiefs.
To do honour to their newly-arrived friends, they had put on their handsomest costumes. They were painted and armed for war.
Loyal Heart halted his troop, and continuing to march on alone, he unfolded a buffalo robe, which he waved before him.
Eagle Head then quitted the other chiefs, and advanced on his part to meet the hunter, also waving a buffalo robe in sign of peace.
When the two men were within three paces of each other they stopped. Loyal Heart spoke the first.
"The Master of Life," he said, "sees into our hearts. He knows that among us the road is good and open, and that the words which our lungs breathe and our mouths pronounce are sincere. The white hunters come to visit their red friends."
"They are welcome!" Eagle Head replied cordially, bowing with the grace and majestic nobleness which characterize Indians.
After these words the Comanches and the hunters discharged their pieces into the air, amidst long and loud cries of joy. Then all ceremony was banished; the two bands mingled, and were confounded so thoroughly that, at the end of a few minutes, they only formed one.
Loyal Heart, however, who knew from what Black Elk had told him how precious the moments were, took Eagle Head aside, and explained to him frankly what he expected from his tribe.
The chief smiled at this request.
"My brother shall be satisfied," he said, "let him but wait a little."
Leaving the hunter, he joined the other chiefs. The crier quickly mounted upon the roof of a hut, and convoked with loud cries the most renowned warriors to a meeting in the hut of council.
The demand of Loyal Heart met with general approbation. Ninety chosen warriors, commanded by Eagle Head, were selected to accompany the hunters, and co-operate with all their power to secure the success of the expedition.
When the decision of the chiefs was made known, it created a general joy throughout the tribe.
The allies were to set forward at sunset, in order to surprise the enemy.
The great war-dance, with all the ceremonies usual upon such occasions, was danced, the warriors the while continually repeating in chorus:—
"Master of Life, look upon me with a favourable eye, thou hast given me the courage to open my veins."
When they were on the point of setting out, Eagle Head, who knew what dangerous enemies they were going to attack, selected twenty warriors upon whom he could depend, and sent them forward as scouts, after having given them some scotte wigwas, or bark wood, in order that they might immediately light a fire as a warning in case of alarm.
He then examined the arms of his warriors, and, satisfied with the inspection, he gave the orders for departure.
The Comanches and the trappers took the Indian file, and, preceded by their respective chiefs, they quitted the camp, amidst the good wishes and exhortations of their friends, who accompanied them to the first trees of the forest.
The little army consisted of a hundred and thirty resolute men, perfectly armed, and commanded by chiefs whom no obstacle could stop, no peril could make recede.
The darkness was dense; the moon, veiled by large black clouds, which floated heavily in space, only shed at intervals a dull, rayless light, which, when it disappeared, gave objects a fantastic appearance.
The wind blew in gusts, and filled the ravines with dull, plaintive moans.
In short, this night was one of those which in the history of humanity seemed destined to witness the accomplishment of dismal tragedies.
The warriors marched in silence; they looked in the darkness like a crowd of phantoms escaped from a sepulchre, hastening to accomplish a work without a name, accursed of God, which night alone could veil with its shadow.
At midnight the word "halt" was pronounced in a low voice.
They encamped to await news of the scouts.
That is to say, everyone, whether well or ill placed, laid himself down exactly where he happened to be, in order to be ready at the first signal.
No fire was lighted.
The Indians, who depend upon their scouts, never post sentinels when they are upon the warpath.
Two hours passed away.
The camp of the Mexicans was not more than three miles distant at most; but, before venturing nearer, the chief wished to ascertain whether the route were free or not; in case it should not be so, what were the numbers of the enemy who barred the passage, and what plan of attack they had adopted.
At the moment when Loyal Heart, a prey to impatience, was preparing to go himself to ascertain what was going on, a rustling, almost imperceptible at first, but which by degrees increased in enormous proportions, was heard in the bushes, and two men appeared.
The first was one of the Comanche scouts, the other was the doctor.
The state of the poor savant was truly pitiable.
He had lost his wig; his clothes were in rags; his face was convulsed with terror; in short, his whole person bore evident traces of struggle and combat.
When he was brought before Loyal Heart and Eagle Head, he fell head-foremost to the ground and fainted.
Earnest endeavours were immediately made to restore him to life.