The Pirates of the Prairies Part 58

"Oh!" Red Cedar shouted, with an accent of rage impossible to render; "I will escape in spite of Heaven and h.e.l.l!"

And he buried his spurs in his horse's flanks; the animal gave vent to a snort of agony, but remained motionless.

"My daughter, my daughter!" Don Miguel shouted, striving in vain to reach the Pirate.

"Come and take her, dog," the bandit yelled; "I will only give her to you dead."

CHAPTER x.x.xVI.

THE EARTHQUAKE.

A frightful change had suddenly taken place in Nature. The heavenly vault had a.s.sumed the appearance of a vast globe of yellow copper: the pallid moon emitted no beams; and the atmosphere was so transparent, that the most distant objects were visible. A stifling heat weighed on the earth, and there was not a breath in the air to stir the leaves. The Gila had ceased to flow.

The hoa.r.s.e roar which had been heard before was repeated with tenfold force: the river, lifted bodily, as if by a powerful and invisible hand, rose to an enormous height, and suddenly descended on the plain, over which it poured with incredible rapidity: the mountains oscillated on their base, hurling on to the prairie enormous blocks of rock, which fell with a frightful crash: the earth, opening on all sides, filled up valleys, levelled hills, poured from its bosom torrents of sulphurous water, which threw up stones and burning mud, and then began to heave with a slow and continuous movement.

"_Terremoto!_ (earthquake)," the hunters and gambusinos exclaimed, as they crossed themselves and recited all the prayers that recurred to their mind.

It was, in truth, an earthquake--the most fearful scourge of these regions. The ground seemed to boil, if we may employ the expression--rising and falling incessantly, like the waves of the sea during a tempest. The bed of the rivers and streams changed at each instant, and gulfs of unfathomable depth opened beneath the feet of the terrified men.

The wild beasts, driven from their lairs and repulsed by the river, whose waters constantly rose, came, mad with terror, to join the men.

Countless herds of buffaloes traversed the plain, uttering hoa.r.s.e lowings, das.h.i.+ng against each other, turning back suddenly to avoid the abysses that opened at their feet, and threatening in their furious course to trample under everything that offered an obstacle.

The jaguars, panthers, cougars, grizzly bears, and coyotes, pell-mell with the deer, antelopes, elks, and a.s.shatas, uttered howls and plaintive yells, not thinking of attacking each other, so thoroughly had fear paralysed their bloodthirsty instincts.

The birds whirled round, with wild croakings in the air impregnated with sulphur and bitumen, or fell heavily to the ground, stunned by fear, with their wings outstretched, and feathers standing on end.

A second scourge joined the former, and added, were it possible, to the horror of this scene. The fire lit in the gambusino camp by the Indians gradually gained the tall prairie gra.s.s; suddenly it was revealed in its majestic and terrible splendour, kindling all in its sparks with a whizzing sound.

A person must have seen a fire on the prairies of the Far West to form an idea of the splendid horror of such a sight. Virgin forests are burnt to the ground, their aged trees writhing, and uttering complaints and cries like human beings. The incandescent mountains resemble ill-omened light-houses, whose immense flames rise as spirals to the sky, which they colour for a wide distance with their blood-red hue.

The earth continued at intervals to suffer violent shocks; to the northwest the waters of the Gila were bounding madly forward; in the south-west, the fire was hurrying on with sharp and rapid leaps.

The unhappy redskins, the hunters, and the pirates their enemies, saw with indescribable terror the s.p.a.ce around them growing momentarily smaller, and every chance of safety cut off in turn.

In this supreme moment, when every feeling of hatred should have been extinguished in their hearts, Red Cedar and the hunters, only thinking of their vengeance, continued their rapid hunt, racing like demons across the prairie, which would soon doubtless serve as their sepulchre.

In the meanwhile, the two scourges marched towards one another, and the whites and redskins could already calculate with certainty how many minutes were left them, in their last refuge, ere they were buried beneath the waters, or devoured by the flames. At this terrible moment the Apaches all turned to Valentine as the only man who could save them; and at this supreme appeal, the hunter gave up for a few seconds his pursuit of Red Cedar.

"What do my brothers ask?" he said.

"That the great Hunter of the palefaces should save them," Black Cat said without hesitation.

Valentine smiled mournfully, as he took a look at all these men who awaited their safety from him.

"G.o.d alone can save you," he said, "for He is omnipotent; His hand has weighed heavily on us. What can I, a poor creature, do?"

"The pale hunter must save us," the Apache chief repeated.

The hunter gave a sigh.

"I will try," he said.

The Indians eagerly collected around him. The simple men considered that this hunter, whom they were accustomed to admire, and whom they had seen do so many surprising deeds, had a superhuman power at his command: they placed a superst.i.tious faith in him.

"My brothers will listen;" Valentine went on: "only one chance of safety is left them--a very weak one, but it is at present the only one they can attempt. Let each take his arms, and without loss of time kill the buffaloes madly running about the prairie; their skins will serve as canoes to fly the fire that threatens to devour everything."

The Indians gave vent to a shout of joy and hope, and without further hesitation attacked the buffaloes, which, half mad with terror, let themselves be killed without offering the slightest resistance.

So soon as Valentine saw that his allies were following his advice, and were busily engaged in making their canoes, he thought once more of the pirates, who, for their part, had not remained idle. Directed by Red Cedar, they had collected some uprooted trees, attached them together with their la.s.sos, and after this, forming a raft which would bear them all, they thrust it into the water, and entrusted themselves to the current.

Don Pablo, seeing his enemy on the point of escaping him a second time, did not hesitate to cover him with his rifle. But Andres Garote had a spite on the Mexican, and taking advantage of the opportunity he quickly raised his rifle, and fired. The bullet, disturbed by the oscillation of the raft, did not hit the young man, but hit his rifle in his hands, at the moment he was pulling the trigger.

The pirates uttered a shout of triumph which was suddenly changed into a cry of anger. Senor Andres Garote fell into their arms with a bullet through his chest, presented to him by Curumilla.

Just at this moment the sun rose gloriously on the horizon, lighting up the magnificent picture of travailing nature, and restoring a little courage to the men.

The redskins, after making, with their peculiar quickness and skill, some twenty canoes, were already beginning to launch them. The hunters tried to la.s.so the raft, and draw it to them, while the pirates on the other hand, employed the utmost efforts to keep it in the current.

Curumilla had succeeded in throwing his la.s.so so as to entangle it in the trees, but Red Cedar cut it twice with his knife.

"We must finish with that bandit," Valentine said, "kill him at all risks."

"One moment, I implore you," Don Miguel entreated, "let me first speak to him, perhaps I may move his heart."

"Humph!" the hunter muttered, as he rested his rifle on the ground, "it would be easier to move a tiger."

Don Miguel walked a few paces forward. "Red Cedar," he exclaimed, "have pity on me--give me back my daughter."

The pirate grinned, but gave no answer.

"Red Cedar," Don Miguel went on, "have pity on me, I implore you, I will pay any ransom you ask; but in the name of what there is most sacred on earth, restore me my daughter; remember that you owe your life to me."

"I owe you nothing," the squatter said brutally; "the life you saved you tried to take from me again; we are quits."

"My daughter! Give me my daughter."

"Where is mine? Where is Ellen? restore her to me; perhaps, after that, I will consent to give you your daughter."

"She is not with us, Red Cedar, I swear it to you; she went away to join you."

"A lie!" the Pirate yelled, "A lie!"

At this moment, Dona Clara, whose movements n.o.body was watching, boldly leaped into the water. But, at the sound of the dive, Red Cedar turned and plunged in after her. The hunters began firing again on the Pirate, who, as if he had a charmed life, shook his head with a sarcastic laugh at every bullet that struck the water near him.

"Help!" the maiden cried in a panting voice; "Valentine, my father, help me!"

"I come," Don Miguel answered: "courage, my child, courage!"