Having returned to his original design—the scheme of atrocity1 so coolly and jestingly declared, Uraga takes steps towards its execution.
The first is, to order his own horse, or rather that of Hamersley, to be saddled, bridled2, and tied behind his own tent. The same for that ridden by Roblez. Also the mustang mare3 which belongs to Adela Miranda—her own “Lolita”—and the mule4 set apart for the mestiza. The troop horses already caparisoned are to remain so.
Ignorant of their object, the troopers wonder at these precautions, though not so much as might be expected. They are accustomed to receive mysterious commands, and obey them without cavil5 or question.
Not one of the ten but would cut a throat at Gil Uraga’s bidding, without asking the reason why.
The picket6 placed on a spin of the cliff has orders to signal if any one is seen coming up the creek7. If Indians appear he is to gallop8 into the camp, and report in person.
The alarm thus started will easily be fostered into a stampede, and at the onslaught of the savages9 the lancers will rush to their horses and ride off without offering resistance. In the sauve qui peut none of them will give a thought to the two prisoners lying tied under the tree. These are to be left behind to the tender mercies of the Tenawa chief. It will be an act of gallantry to save the female captives by carrying them off. This Uraga reserves for himself, assisted by Roblez.
Such is his scheme of vicarious assassination10; in the atrocity of conception unequalled, almost incredible. He has no anxiety as to its success. For himself he is more than ever determined11; while Roblez, restrained by the fiasco following his advice, no longer offers opposition12.
Uraga has no fear the Tenawa chief will fail him. He has never done so before, and will not now.
The new proposal, which the colonel supposes to have reached the hands of Horned Lizard13 in that letter carried by Pedrillo, will be eagerly accepted. Barbato will bring the chief with his cut-throats to the Arroyo14 de Alamo, sure as there is a sun in the sky.
It is but a question of time. They may come up at any hour—any minute; and having arranged all preliminaries, Uraga remains15 in his tent to await the cue for action. He little dreams at the moment he is thus expecting his red-skinned confederate, that the latter, along with the best braves of his band, has gone to the happy hunting grounds, while his go-between, Barbato, is in safe keeping elsewhere.
As the hours pass, and no one is reported as approaching, he becomes impatient; for the time has long elapsed since the Tenawa chief should have been upon the spot.
Chafing16, he strides forth17 from the tent, and proceeds towards the place where the look-out has been stationed. Reaching it, he reconnoitres for himself, with a telescope he has taken along, to get a better view down the valley.
At first, levelling the glass, no one can be seen. In the reach of open ground, dotted here and there with groves18, there are deer browsing19, and a grizzly20 bear is seen crossing between the cliffs, but no shape that resembles a human being.
He is about lowering the telescope when a new form comes into its field of view—a horseman riding up the creek. No the animal is a mule. No matter the rider is a man.
Keenly scrutinising, he perceives it is an Indian, though not one of the wild sort. His garb21 betokens22 him of the tamed.
Another glance through the glass and his individuality declares itself, Uraga recognising him as one of the messengers sent to the Tenawas’ town. Not the principal, Pedrillo, but he of secondary importance, José.
“Returning alone!” mutters the Mexican to himself. “What does that mean? Where can Pedrillo be? What keeps him behind, I wonder?”
He continues wondering and conjecturing23 till José has ridden up to the spot, when, perceiving his master, the latter dismounts and approaches him.
In the messenger’s countenance24 there is an expression of disappointment, and something more. It tells a tale of woe25, with reluctance26 to disclose it.
“Where is Pedrillo?” is the first question asked in anxious impatience27.
“Oh, señor coronel!” replies José, hat in hand, and trembling in every joint28. “Pedrillo! Pobre Pedrillito!”
“Well! Poor Pedrillito—what of him? Has anything happened to him?”
“Yes, your excellency, a terrible mischance I fear to tell it you.”
“Tell it, sirrah, and at once! Out with it, whatever it is!”
“Alas, Pedrillo is gone!”
“Gone—whither?”
“Down the river.”
“What river?”
“The Pecos.”
“Gone down the Pecos? On what errand?” inquired the colonel, in surprise.
“On no errand, your excellency.”
“Then what’s taken him down the Pecos? Why went he?”
“Señor coronel, he has not gone of his own will. It is only his dead body that went; it was carried down by the flood.”
“Drowned? Pedrillo drowned?”
“Ay de mi! ’Tis true, as I tell you—too true, pobrecito.”
“How did this happen, José?”
“We were crossing at the ford29, señor. The waters were up from a norte that’s just passed over the plains. The river was deep and running rapid, like a torrent30, Pedrillo’s macho stumbled, and was swept off. It was as much as mine could do to keep its legs. I think he must have got his feet stuck in the stirrups, for I could see him struggling alongside the mule till both went under. When they came to the surface both were drowned—dead. They floated on without making a motion, except what the current gave them as their bodies were tossed about by it. As I could do nothing there, I hastened here to tell you what happened. Pobre Pedrillito!”
The cloud already darkening Uraga’s brow grows darker as he listens to the explanation. It has nothing to do with the death of Pedrillo, or compassion31 for his fate—upon which he scarce spends a thought—but whether there has been a miscarriage32 of that message of which the drowned man was the bearer. His next interrogatory, quickly put, is to get satisfied on this head.
“You reached the Tenawa town?”
“We did, señor coronel.”
“Pedrillo carried a message to the Horned Lizard, with a letter for Barbato. You know that, I suppose?”
“He told me so.”
“Well, you saw him deliver the letter to Barbato?”
“He did not deliver it to Barbato.”
“To the chief, then?”
“To neither, your Excellency. He could not.”
“Could not! Why?”
“They ere not there to receive it. They are no longer in this world—neither the Horned Lizard nor Barbato. Señor Coronel, the Tenawas have met with a great misfortune. They’ve had a fight with a party of Tejanos. The chief is killed, Barbato is killed, and nearly half of their braves. When Pedrillo and I reached the town we found the tribe in mourning, the women all painted black, with their hair cut off; the men who had escaped the slaughter33 cowed, and keeping concealed34 within their lodges35.”
A wild exclamation36 leaps from the lips of Uraga as he listens to these disclosures, his brow becoming blacker than ever.
“But, Pedrillo,” he inquires, after a pause; “what did he say to them? You know the import of his message. Did he communicate it to the survivors37?”
“He did, your Excellency. They could not read your letter, but he told them what it was about. They were to meet you here, he said. But they refused to come. They were in too great distress38 about the death of their chief, and the chastisement39 they had received. They were in fear that the Tejanos would pursue them to their town; and were making preparations to flee from it when Pedrillo and myself came away. Pobre Pedrillito!”
Uraga no longer stays listening to the mock humanity of his whining40 messenger. No more does he think of the drowned Pedrillo. His thoughts are now given to a new design. Murder by proxy41 has failed. For all that, it must still be done. To take counsel with his adjutant about the best mode of proceeding42, he hastens back to the camp; plunges43 into his tent; and there becomes closeted—the lieutenant44 along with him.
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1
atrocity
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| n.残暴，暴行 | |
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2
bridled
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| 给…套龙头( bridle的过去式和过去分词 )； 控制； 昂首表示轻蔑（或怨忿等）； 动怒，生气 | |
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3
mare
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| n.母马，母驴 | |
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4
mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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5
cavil
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| v.挑毛病，吹毛求疵 | |
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6
picket
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| n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫 | |
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7
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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8
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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9
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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10
assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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11
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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12
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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13
lizard
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| n.蜥蜴，壁虎 | |
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14
arroyo
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| n.干涸的河床，小河 | |
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15
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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16
chafing
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| n.皮肤发炎v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的现在分词 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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17
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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18
groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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19
browsing
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| v.吃草( browse的现在分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息 | |
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20
grizzly
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| adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊 | |
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21
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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22
betokens
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| v.预示，表示( betoken的第三人称单数 ) | |
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23
conjecturing
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| v. & n. 推测，臆测 | |
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24
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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25
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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26
reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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27
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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28
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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29
Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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30
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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31
compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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32
miscarriage
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| n.失败，未达到预期的结果；流产 | |
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33
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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34
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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35
lodges
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| v.存放( lodge的第三人称单数 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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36
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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37
survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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38
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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39
chastisement
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| n.惩罚 | |
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40
whining
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| n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚 | |
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41
proxy
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| n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人 | |
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42
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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43
plunges
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| n.跳进，投入vt.使投入，使插入，使陷入vi.投入，跳进，陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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44
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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