The Young Llanero Part 3

I then told him that I wished we had tried to save the scout.

"We should probably have had our scalps hanging at the end of their spears long ere this, had we made the attempt," he answered; "you've run a narrow chance a second time this day of losing your life, young gentleman, and you should be thankful. It is as well, however, that we caught sight of the Indians; depend on it, they are in force at no great distance, and we may expect an attack from them before many days are over--perhaps before many hours are past--and we must lose no time in warning the commandant."

On entering the fort, the commandant, who happened to be near the gate, and saw our game-bags full, greeted us warmly, and invited the doctor to dinner.

"Very happy to do myself that honour," he answered. "And perhaps, senor commandante, you will allow me to present you with these birds, some of which it may be as well to cook forthwith; and in the meantime I will relate to you our adventures, and you can form your own conclusion."

The doctor then described our having seen the scout shot by the Indians, and expressed his belief that the place would be attacked ere long. The commandant took the information very coolly. He prided himself, I observed, on his dignified behaviour on all occasions; for though he had joined the Republicans, he could still boast that the bluest of blue blood of the ancient hidalgoes of Castille flowed in his veins.

"Care shall be taken that the sentries keep their eyes open," he replied; "and we will be prepared for the savages."

The news we brought very soon spread through the fort, and I observed that the sentries were doubled; but otherwise the people occupied themselves as before, in smoking, gambling, and c.o.c.k-fighting, which seemed especially to interest all cla.s.ses. My uncle listened attentively to the account I gave him.

"Possibly the enemy may not approach the fort for several days, and we shall lose the opportunity of a.s.sisting to defend it, for I cannot possibly delay beyond to-morrow," he remarked. "I hope, however, that our friends will be successful."

My uncle had made arrangements, I found, for starting at daybreak the next morning, and Tim was busily employed in getting the bongo--the boat we had engaged--ready for the voyage, and having our luggage conveyed on board. Finding that we were really about to start, the doctor asked leave to accompany us a part of the distance, observing that he liked good society, and that he hoped by his agreeable conversation to repay us for our kindness.

Tim had procured some mosquito-curtains, which we were to take with us on our voyage, when we should require them even more than at Cervanos.

We accordingly lay down within them at an early hour. It was pleasant to hear our abominable tormentors of the previous night humming about outside, and trying in vain to get at us; but we had to be very quick in closing the opening, or a host would otherwise have made their way in, in spite of us.

Having wished my uncle good-night, and ascertained that not a living mosquito was inside the curtain, I closed my eyes, and was in another instant asleep. Tim was to call us half-an-hour before daybreak, that we might take some chocolate before starting.

I had been asleep for some time, when I was awakened by the report of a musket, rapidly followed by several others; and the next instant the air was rent by the most terrific shrieks and yells, which seemed to come from all directions round the fort, while the voices of the officers shouting out their orders, and the tramp of the soldiers, were heard as they rushed to the ramparts.

"What can be the matter?" I exclaimed, as I crept from under my mosquito-curtain.

"The fort has been attacked, and I much fear that the sentries have been surprised," answered my uncle, who had at the same instant jumped up, and was hurriedly putting on his clothes. I followed his example; and we were thus engaged when Tim burst into the room.

"Quick, quick, Masther Concannan!--quick, Masther Barry, dear! and just come along with me," he exclaimed. "There's not a moment to be lost; the Indians are getting the best of it, and climbing over the walls in thousands, like so many imps, and the soldiers, do all they can, can't stop them."

"We must go and a.s.sist our friends," cried my uncle, buckling on his sword and seizing his rifle.

"Oh, Masther Denis, now don't," exclaimed Tim; "you'll be kilt entirely if you do that same. Come with me now; it's all up with the garrison, but we may have still time to get on board the boat and shove off into the lake. It's wiser to live and fight another day than get knocked on the head by an Indian tomahawk; and that's sure to be the lot of one and all of us if we stop."

Tim wrung his hands and leaped about in his agitation while speaking; and then, apparently doubting whether his arguments would prevail with my uncle, he seized my arm with one hand, while he picked up my gun and various other articles with the other, and dragged me along, determined at all events to try and save my life, though he might not induce my uncle to make his escape.

The din had by this time greatly increased; the roar of the heavy guns, the rattle of musketry, and the clas.h.i.+ng of steel, were heard amid the shrieks and shouts of the combatants. At first the reports of firearms gave me hope that the garrison were driving back their a.s.sailants; but suddenly the sound of the musketry ceased. Looking back, I was thankful to see my uncle following, carrying his portmanteau on his shoulder and my carpet-bag in his hand.

Tim took the way to the part of the fortifications nearest the landing-place. We quickly scrambled over the intrenchments, and my uncle, throwing his burdens to us, speedily followed. It was the only spot not a.s.sailed by the Indians; for what reason I could not tell, as they might have got in with little more difficulty than we had found in getting out. The triumphant yells of the Indians and the shrieks of the hapless garrison sounding in our ears, showed us too plainly what would have been the consequence of delay. We rushed down to the landing-place, and reached it just at the moment when the terrified crew of the bongo were shoving off, intending to leave us to our fate. Tim, springing forward, seized the gunwale of the boat and hauled her back, tumbling me in with an energy which almost sent me over on the other side.

"Jump in, Masther Denis, jump in; here come a whole host of Indians," he exclaimed, "and they'll be after scalping every mother's son of us if we stop a moment longer."

My uncle sprang into the boat, and Tim, following, was giving her a shove off, when, as I gazed through the darkness, I saw a number of figures brandis.h.i.+ng their tomahawks, and rus.h.i.+ng towards us. In front of them came a person evidently flying for his life.

"Stop, my friends, stop," he cried out, "or the fellows at my heels will have me scalped!"

I recognised the voice of Dr Stutterheim. He sprang after us; but his foot failing to reach the boat, heavily laden as he was with his gun and various articles, he fell into the water. Tim, however, leant over the bows and caught his hand before he sank: and my uncle and I a.s.sisting, we hauled him with all his traps on board, while the crew were paddling with might and main to escape from his pursuers, who in another minute would have been up with us. The doctor was too much exhausted to speak, and threw himself down in the bottom of the boat.

Before the Indians had time to stop and draw their bows, we were some distance from the sh.o.r.e; but that another minute's delay would have been fatal, was proved by the flight of arrows which followed us. Our black, brown, and swarthy rowers, however, did not cease their exertions till we had got far enough off to be invisible from the sh.o.r.e.

My uncle now gave the crew orders to cease paddling, that he might judge from the sounds what was taking place in the fort. Musketry shots were still heard, and the roar from several heavy guns proved that the garrison were still holding out in some part of the fort--the war-whoops of the Indians, which continually rent the air, giving us hopes that though fighting desperately they had not succeeded in mastering the place. My uncle expressed his regret that he had come away so suddenly, and feared that he should be accused of cowardice in not having afforded more a.s.sistance to his friends.

"Set your mind at rest on that score," observed the doctor; "had you remained, you would now have been numbered with the dead. Depend on it, the garrison have retreated to the citadel, and are there holding out; but as no reinforcements are likely to appear, they must ultimately yield and be cut to pieces--which is sure to be their fate, as no one in this war thinks of asking or giving quarter. We may, then, congratulate ourselves on our escape.

"This is the third time, young gentleman, in as many days, that you have run the risk of losing your life," he observed, turning to me.

I acknowledged that he was right, and felt that I ought to return thanks to Heaven for my having been so mercifully preserved.

Still, my uncle wished to go back, but the crew positively refused to obey him--Tim and the doctor siding with them.

"Let us be wise, Mr Concannan," observed the latter; "it is useless running our noses into danger when it can be avoided. And even if we were to go back, we could not save the lives of the commandant and the garrison. Let us console ourselves with the reflection that, should they be killed, they have died doing their duty."

At length my uncle yielded to the doctor's advice, and directed the crew to paddle on towards the upper part of the lake. As there were several narrow pa.s.sages to be pa.s.sed, leading from one lake into another, it was important that we should get through them before the Indians could reach the sh.o.r.e, whence they could pick us off with their arrows. It was satisfactory to know that they had no canoes in which to follow us, else our chances of escape would have been small indeed.

It was still dark when we reached the first pa.s.sage. Not a word was spoken, and we hoped, even if our enemies were on the sh.o.r.e, that we should get through without being perceived. Still, I could not help keeping an anxious watch on the banks, expecting every instant to see a party of Indians start out from behind the trees and send a flight of arrows after us.

I breathed more freely when, emerging from the channel, we were once more making our way across a broad expanse. Here daylight burst on us.

There would probably be less risk in pa.s.sing the next channel, as the Indians would not have had time to get so far from Cervanos; but it was possible that a party might have been despatched, before the attack was made, to prevent any boats going up or down. Still, as our four guns would hold in check a strong party armed only with bows and arrows, we had not much cause to fear.

The crew laid in their paddles to breakfast, that they might paddle with greater vigour through the channel; and we at the same time took our morning meal, was.h.i.+ng it down with some water from the lake, which was here perfectly fresh. While I was dipping my cup in the water, a long dark snout darted towards it; and I had barely time to withdraw my hand, letting the cup slip, when a pair of hideous jaws closed on it. They were those of a monstrous alligator. A blow from a paddle and the shouts of the men made the brute disappear; but I took good care not again to put my hand overboard while the boat was motionless. Several others rose a few feet from us, though none came so near the boat as the first had done; and as soon as the men began to move their paddles, the monsters, who are arrant cowards, kept their distance.

A short time after this we entered the channel leading to a yet more southern lake. We eagerly peered among the trees on both sides, but no Indians could be seen, so we had reason to hope that we had completely distanced them. Among the numberless shrubs which adorned the sh.o.r.es were wild plantains and fig-trees, decked with flowers of brilliant and beautiful colours, which grew on the creepers, festooning the boughs, and often hanging down in long lines into the water. Birds of all sorts, and of magnificent plumage, flew amid the branches, or stood on the fallen trunks floating near the margin--beautiful milk-white herons, scarlet spoonbills, flamingoes, and various other water-fowl.

We were paddling on, when I caught sight of several figures moving among the trees. "Are those Indians?" I exclaimed, getting my gun ready to fire should they prove to be enemies.

"Save your powdher, Masther Barry," answered Tim; "shure they're only monkeys. We shall hear them howling loud enough at night-time; you might then fancy that they were a whole troop of Indians coming down to scalp us."

The animals at which we were looking were of considerable size, with a reddish tinge on their rough hair. The Spaniards called them "monas coloradas;" but they are generally known as howling monkeys. We saw many more among the trees as we paddled forward.

Having performed a long distance before night approached, it was considered that we might with safety land and sleep on sh.o.r.e, our bongo affording us no room to stretch our legs. We accordingly landed at the end of a ca.n.a.l through which we had been pa.s.sing; and a s.p.a.ce was quickly cleared for an encampment. Having the channel on one side and the lake on the other, we had only two sides to guard. A fire was soon lighted, and Tim set to work to cook our supper; while we put up our mosquito-curtains, and collected some dry leaves to form our couches.

The mosquito-curtains, I should say, were supported on four short poles stuck in the ground, on which rested four others, so that the whole arrangement looked like a long narrow box covered with fine muslin.

Without these contrivances it is utterly impossible to sleep with any degree of comfort on the banks of the Magdalena, or indeed of most of the rivers in that part of the country. There is only one opening, through which the person must creep, and then close it tightly on the inside.

To prevent surprise, we agreed to keep a vigilant watch. The first turn fell to me. I wondered that anybody could go to sleep with the terrific noises which came out of the forest. The howling monkeys were the most vociferous--now uttering loud groans, now yells of laughter and other strange sounds, truly making night hideous. Nearer at hand I could hear the alligators snapping their jaws as they caught some unfortunate fish or wild-fowl; while their snorts, as they chased each other, came from all sides. I kept my eye on the bank, for I had heard that the savage creatures often climb out of the water, and carry away the first person they can find. The doctor's dog seemed to be well aware of this; for he crouched down close to the fire, with one of his eyes always open, either at the water, or towards the forest, from whence a jaguar might spring and carry him off.

I soon got accustomed to the sounds of the howling monkeys, the cries of the night-birds, and any other noises which came out of the forest; but I never could feel comfortable while I heard that horrible snapping and crunching made by the alligators. While on the watch, there was no chance of becoming drowsy, for the mosquitoes all the time made the most determined a.s.saults on my face, and I had to keep my handkerchief constantly on the move to prevent them from settling. Fortunately, they cannot bite till then; but when once they have settled, it is better to allow them to suck their fill, for otherwise the inflammation is far worse.

The doctor was to follow me; so, after two hours, I called him, and remarked on the number of alligators I had heard near us.

"To-morrow morning we will put a stop to the snapping of some of them,"

he answered. "I shall awake before dawn, as I always do, and will call you, if you wish to exercise your skill on some of them."

I begged that he would do so; and having placed my gun safely under the curtains, I crept in and closed them. Two or three mosquitoes had managed to follow me; but the light from the fire streaming through enabled me to catch them and kill them, and in a few moments I was fast asleep.

I felt unwilling to get up when I heard the doctor's voice, till I remembered that we were to make war on the alligators. The feeling of utter detestation with which those creatures are regarded is not surprising, when it is recollected what a scourge they are to the people inhabiting the banks of the rivers and lakes of that part of the country. I was soon on foot; and having loaded my gun with ball, I accompanied the doctor to a little creek which ran at no great distance from the camp. Jumbo went with us. He knew exactly what to do. First he went to the sh.o.r.e of the lake and barked several times; then ran along, barking occasionally, till he reached the entrance of the creek, along the bank of which he ran. Soon after he barked several long snouts appeared above the surface; but Jumbo was wide-awake, never for a moment withdrawing his eyes from the water, so that should an alligator make a dash at him he might bound off out of harm's way.

After some time we saw a huge monster appear, who quickly put the other alligators to flight, and then came swimming up the creek towards Jumbo.