“To say nothing of the Chinas,” interrupted Lopez, as he arose from the table. “But remember; be diligent, and meet me here at this hour to-morrow night,” and he turned away, without a look of recognition for the obsequious bow of the unabashed ruffian, who then resumed his seat with an air of relief, darting a venomous glance after his master, and refilling his glass.
“Yes, you may strut and put on airs for a while longer, you cursed dog, but only for a little while. Let me once receive my gold, and then—I will give you a receipt in full! Oh, won’t it be delicious when I am free, and settle your curses and your jeers with the knife? When I strike you to the heart, and then, as you gasp out your life at my feet, I will do as you have threatened me—pluck out your tongue and thrust it down your throat! I could die then, perfectly happy. No, not die; oh, no! I shall be rich then, and with the gold you give me, I will double and double it, until I can count it by thousands of ounces! No, no, not die; life would be too sweet then, and I will live for years—years of pleasure and feasting. Oh, the gold, and wine, and women! for them I will live—live forever!” murmured the hideous ruffian, as he drank repeatedly from the bottles before him, lost to the present, busied only with gorgeous images of the future.
CHAPTER VIII.
A FEARFUL PERIL.
It was true, as Sylva Cohecho had stated, that the miners had again returned to work. The overwhelming defeat experienced by the Melladios had utterly awed them, and as the spies sent out by Lucas Planillas returned with the news of their resuming their everyday occupation, the Scarlet Shoulders doffed their insignia for the time being, and fell into their old routine. But there was a code of signals and a plan of communication arranged, by which the band could be collected in an hour’s time, whenever such a step should be deemed necessary.
We must now ask the reader to accompany us to the interior of the mine of Los Rayas, second only to that of Valenciana, in the state of Guanajuato. Its history presents a new feature in the mining system of Mexico, a brief explanation of which is necessary to a right understanding of the operations of the mining code.
Over the fertile valleys in the vicinity of Guanajuato the Cordellera rears its metaliferous crest, whose sides are veined with lodes of gold and silver, and which delivers to the tarreta of the miner the immense treasures of the Veta Madre, or Mother Vein, perhaps the richest lode of silver in the world. The striking contrast that is visible between the laborer and the miner is nowhere so apparent as in this portion of the Bajio, or “bottom of the valley.” Humble and submissive, the Indian husbandman is at every one’s mercy. The miner, haughty and independent, takes a higher rank; and this claim is justified by the importance of the duty which he performs. Obliged to submit to labor which yields him only limited results, the husbandman finishes his work in silence; while the pickax of the miner resounds, so to speak, to the end of the world, and at every stroke he is continually adding to the riches of mankind. Prosperity is not long in coming to him. The slopes of the hills, the ravines, and even the summits of the mountains swarm with a dense population, among whom the lucky finders of a new lode scatter their hard-earned money with a thoughtless liberality, and squander in one day the earnings of six months. From the French miner, Laberde, who discovered the “Mother Vein,” and lavished thousands upon cathedrals, down to the meanest peon, the history of this bold workman has been the same.
Fortune is the only God he worships. He goes to his dangerous occupation as if specially sent there by Divine Providence; and this proud thought is, by the laws of the country, highly favored, the privilege according the title of nobility to the worker in the mines. Even at this day, he can not be dispossessed by his creditor of his mine, if he can afford to work it.
Besides a knowledge of metals to guide him in his search, the miner must be endowed with a number of rare qualities, from that vigorous strength indispensable to one who has to raise heavy burdens, and support all day the enervating fatigue of underground work, down to activity and pliancy of limb, united with undaunted resolution and coolness. Sometimes, after toiling for a month, during which he has barely earned enough to live upon, in a week, or even in a day, he recompenses himself for his long privations. The miner then thanks Dame Fortune. He scatters his gold with a lavish hand, and returns to his work only when all his gains are exhausted.
When he strikes a bonanza, as a very rich portion of the vein is called, those who work in partido, or when a share of the proceeds is given him as wages, what he receives is often enough to keep him in comfort all his life. But such is not his nature.
Besides the grand shaft (tiro general) Los Rayas has two others of less magnitude, one of which reaches a depth of nearly eight hundred feet. The tiro general, remarkable for the diameter of its shaft, of thirty-four feet, and for its frightful depth, of almost twelve hundred feet, communicates with three principal galleries, one above the other. These shafts and galleries, together with their accessories, form the most complete set of gigantic workings that are to be found in the country. Of its vast and gloomy grandeur we shall not speak; better pens than ours have described them. Nor of the workings continually going on in their depths.