The Young Llanero Part 20

The general was pleased with my alacrity. He immediately ordered six of his own guard to escort my father, and afterwards to rejoin him at the foot of the hills.

I set off at the head of the men. My family had in the meantime recommenced their journey, and I met them approaching the bamboo-bridge.

Soon afterwards I had the satisfaction of seeing them cross it in safety, under the escort of the llaneros; for it was still entire, notwithstanding the severe strain put on it.

The doctor and the padre had meanwhile arrived; and having paid their respects to the general, they promised to rejoin him in the plains, and then hastened after my family. The doctor, as he was going, told me that he could not bring himself to abandon his chests, and that he hoped to find means to carry them in safety down the Orinoco to Angostura, whence he could s.h.i.+p them to Europe, he having learned that the whole of that part of the country was in the hands of the patriots.

For a few days I felt very strange with my wild, untutored a.s.sociates, but I soon got into their ways; and by never hesitating to perform any deed however daring, by activity, and unfailing attention to my duties, I gained their respect, and found that, young as I was, they obeyed me willingly. I had the satisfaction, too, of receiving the very kind commendations of the general, which encouraged me to persevere.

By rapid marches and desperate onslaughts we beat the Spaniards wherever we encountered them; though they were better clothed and disciplined, according to military notions, and often more numerous, than we were.

By a sudden dash we gained the city of Bogota; and the Spaniards being driven to the sea-coast, the whole of the mountainous part of the country declared for the Republican cause. We then descended into the plains, and lay encamped not far from the banks of the Rio Mita,--one of the numerous streams which, having their source in the Andes, flow into the Orinoco. The region was wild in the extreme; the river made its way between lofty cliffs rising perpendicularly out of the stream, which rushed down in a succession of cataracts between them.

The troops were engaged in getting ready for the coming campaign, which, it was expected, would be a brilliant one; repairing saddles, polis.h.i.+ng up their arms and appointments, and breaking-in fresh horses. I was fully occupied in my various duties; still, I was occasionally able to take my gun and go into the woods, with one or two companions, for a few hours. Neither the doctor nor the padre had yet made their appearance-- possibly from not being able to find us--so I had not for long heard of my family, and was feeling somewhat anxious about them.

I had taken my gun, one day, and was making my way along the bank of the river, when I stopped to observe one of the curious nests hanging at the extreme end of a palm-branch. Its structure was very curious; and I observed that it had a small hole in the side, which served as a doorway to the owner, a black bird--with an orange-yellow tail--about the size of a dove. I watched one bringing food to his mate; who put out her beak to receive it, and then fed her nestlings within. These nests are equally secure from snakes or monkeys, as neither can descend the delicate boughs to which they are pendent--nor can, indeed, climb the smooth stems of the trees. Before me rose a perpendicular cliff, like a wall of cyclopean masonry, surmounted by trees and shrubs; all around hung from the wide-stretching boughs a rich tracery of sepos and creepers of all sorts; vast arums hung suspended in the air, and numberless gay-coloured flowers; while at my feet rushed, boiling and foaming, the rapid stream, amid rocks, against which the water broke in ma.s.ses of spray.

It was a place where I could scarcely have believed it possible that any boat, however strongly-built, could have ventured to descend; yet, as I looked, I saw a canoe or pongo, guided by two natives with long poles-- the one in the bow and the other in the stern--while in the centre sat composedly, amidst a cargo of cases, a pa.s.senger, with his gun placed before him ready for use. In this pa.s.senger, as the canoe shot by, I recognised my friend the doctor. I shouted and waved to him, and then pointed down the stream, to let him understand that I would hurry on to the nearest landing-place and meet him. He waved in return; but the roar of the waters prevented our voices being heard by each other.

In a moment he was out of sight, so I hastened on, in the hope of finding before long some calm water where the canoe could have ventured to put in to the sh.o.r.e. I went on and on, but the water was still rus.h.i.+ng as furiously as at first. In vain did I look for the canoe; nothing could I see of her, and I began to fear that she had been dashed to pieces against some of the ugly dark rocks whose tops rose above the surface.

I had gone a mile or more, when I saw a person approaching, and soon afterwards the doctor and I were shaking hands.

"I have been a long time in coming," he said; "but I could find no men to convey my chests to the river: and when, at length, I did find them, and reached the first navigable portion, no canoe was forthcoming.

However, I was able at last to embark, having engaged two faithful fellows who promised to pilot me to the ocean, if I wished to go as far.

So you see me here: and if General Bermudez is still willing to accept my services, I will remain with him."

I replied that, as we were about to recommence operations against the enemy, I was sure that the general would be glad that he should remain.

I then eagerly inquired about my family.

"They are living in a cottage hastily put up near your old house, which your father is engaged in rebuilding," answered the doctor; "and I understand that your uncles are re-roofing and repairing Castle Concannan."

I asked him if my father had received any intelligence from Don Fernando Serrano--whether his house had escaped an attack from Aqualonga.

"Yes," he said. "The very day before I left, a messenger arrived from Don Fernando, bringing an invitation to the ladies of your family to stay with him while your house is rebuilding; and I believe it was accepted by your sister Norah, though your mother preferred remaining with the children in their present abode. The messenger told us that they had been greatly alarmed by the near approach of the bandit chief; but that, happily, he was encountered by some of the patriot troops and put to flight--though he is supposed to be still in arms in the mountains. Our friend Kanimapo has returned to his tribe, many of his people, influenced by Spanish emissaries, being in a state of insubordination."

"I trust that Norah will have a good escort, if she undertakes the journey," I observed. "I wish that I could have been at home to accompany her; for with these banditti still in arms on the one side, and the wild Indians on the other, she would run a greater risk than I should like her to be exposed to."

The doctor laughed at what he called my brotherly anxiety, and remarked that the distance was but short; that my father would certainly send Tim, and probably Gerald, with two or three trustworthy, well-armed blacks to escort her.

On reaching the pongo, the doctor directed his men to remain where they were while he accompanied me to the camp. The general was pleased to see him, and at once sent a mule to bring back his portmanteau, medicine-chest, and surgical instruments; giving him a free pa.s.s for his men, with a letter to a store-keeper at Angostura, to whom he recommended him to confide his cases till he could despatch them to Europe.

Soon after this we were on the march, and were joined by other bodies of cavalry. I was gratified to see that none surpa.s.sed those of General Bermudez, however, either in their appointments, discipline, or the appearance of the horses and men.

General Bolivar was at Angostura with most of the infantry regiments of the Republic, with General Paez and other leaders of distinction; while the Spaniards held most of the towns on the northern coast. Our object was to hara.s.s the enemy in every possible way: to cut off their supplies of provisions; to attack their foraging-parties; and prevent them from communicating with each other. For this work our llaneros were specially suited.

It was wild work in which we were engaged. Sometimes, in the darkness of night, we discovered the enemy's position by their camp-fires,--when, advancing at a slow pace, so that our horses' hoofs might not be heard till we were close upon them, at a signal from our chief we dashed forward like a whirlwind, swooping down upon our sleeping foe; and before a man had time to seize his arms, we were in their midst, cutting down all we encountered, traversing the camp from end to end, and carrying off all the horses we could capture,--then galloping off to a distance, out of the reach of their musketry.

We now heard that the Spanish generals, Morillo and La Torre, had drawn off their forces from Caracas,--the first to Valencia, and the latter to Calabozo; leaving but a small garrison in the former city. No sooner did our active general receive this information, than he resolved to attempt the capture of the chief city of the province.

Our forces were at once put in motion. Each one carried his own provisions in his haversack, and forage of some sort was always to be obtained for our hardy steeds, so that we marched across the country with incredible rapidity. As the inhabitants of the district through which we pa.s.sed were in our favour, no one gave information of our movements to the enemy; and in a few days we reached the neighbourhood of the beautiful city--just at nightfall. The greater part of the night was spent in recruiting our horses and ourselves; and before dawn we were again in the saddle, pus.h.i.+ng on at a rapid rate towards our destination. We halted but for a few moments, to form our ranks, as the city appeared in sight. Then the order to advance was given; and almost before the garrison were aware of our approach, we were rus.h.i.+ng through the gates. But little or no opposition was offered, for the Spanish troops threw down their arms and endeavoured to conceal themselves.

Those who were discovered were, I am sorry to say, slain without mercy; and in a few minutes the city was ours.

Most of the inhabitants were in our favour, so that we had no difficulty in holding it till some infantry regiments arrived to relieve us and garrison the place.

General Bermudez then led us into the plains of Apure, where the Independent army was preparing to go in search of the Spanish forces.

On the march the general sent for me, and told me that he wished to send some important despatches to Bolivar, and asked if I would undertake to convey them. "There is some danger in the undertaking, for you will have to pa.s.s near places occupied by the Spaniards; but I trust to your courage and sagacity to avoid them," he observed.

"I am ready to go wherever you desire to send me, general," I answered.

"I knew that I could count on you," he replied in a satisfied tone.

"When will the despatches be ready?" I asked.

"They are already written. Here they are!" he said, putting them into my hand.

I took them, and placed them in a leathern case slung over my back.

"I will lose no time in starting," I remarked, as I left him.

On the way to my quarters I met the doctor, and told him where I was going.

"I wish I could accompany you," he said; "for I have little or nothing to do among your fellows. They are so hardy that not one is sick in a month; and even the wounds they receive heal without my aid."

"I should like your company, my dear doctor," I replied; "but I doubt if your horse would carry you as fast as I must make mine go. And I would rather you remained behind, that you may inform my family as to what you suppose has become of me, should I not return."

"Don't talk of that, Harry," he exclaimed. "You must take care not to be captured by those bloodthirsty Spaniards; for if you are, they will certainly put you to death."

"You may depend on my doing my best to escape them," I said, laughing-- not that I had any fears on the subject.

I was quickly ready, and off I set, making my horse move over the ground as llaneros are wont to do when work is before them. I had not gone far, however, before I learned from the peasantry that there were numerous parties of Spaniards stationed in all directions, to cut off the supplies of the patriot army; and that the undertaking in which I was engaged was likely to prove far more dangerous than I had expected.

Accordingly, I had to use the greatest caution--galloping on only at night, and concealing myself and my horse during the day in any clump of trees I could find, or in some recess of the mountains, except when the country appeared sufficiently open to enable me to put forth the powers of my steed, and trust to his speed for escape.

I had gone on for several leagues, and, believing that I had pa.s.sed the last party of Spaniards, I was proceeding rather more leisurely than at first, along a zigzag path cut in the side of a mountain, with a steep precipice below me, when I saw a strong body of men posted on a height at some distance above me. To turn back was as full of risk as to push forward. I determined on the latter course, therefore; and digging the spurs into my horse's flanks, I dashed at headlong speed along the road.

I had already placed the Spaniards behind me, when they, suspecting that I was an enemy, opened fire, and their shot whizzed thickly about my ears. On I dashed; but a false step might have sent me and my horse into the abyss below, down which the stones clattered. Suddenly I heard a thud, such as a bullet produces when striking a substance; and feeling my gallant steed give a convulsive spring, I knew he was wounded.

Still, he went on for nearly a hundred yards; then he began to stagger; and I had just time to clear my feet of the stirrups, and throw myself off his back, ere he rolled over into the rocky ravine. I did not stop a moment to see what became of him, but ran forward as fast as my legs could carry me; unslinging my despatch-case as I did so, and taking out the despatches, which I hid beneath my s.h.i.+rt. I then gave the case a whirl in the air, so that my pursuers might see it, and swung it from me into the ravine.

Having still some hopes of escaping, as it was possible my pursuers might attempt to secure the leathern case, and allow me time to distance them before they could discover that it was empty, I dashed on,--not even looking back to ascertain if they were following. At length I stopped; but what was my dismay, on taking a glance over my shoulder, to see that half-a-dozen of the most active of the party were pressing hard after me! Had the path continued down-hill, I should have succeeded in escaping; but, unhappily, I found that the only way I could follow led directly up the steep side of a mountain, where I must be exposed to the view of my pursuers. Could I, however, reach the top, so that I might once more have only to run down-hill, I might be safe; and I knew that I could climb up-hill faster than they could. I held on, therefore.

Their object had probably been to take me alive, that they might obtain information from me as to the movements of the combatants; but seeing that I might escape them, they halted, and brought their muskets to their shoulders.

As I turned my head for an instant, I saw what they were about. Yet even then I did not despair, and on I bounded up the hill. The next moment I heard the bullets strike the ground round me, and at the same time felt a peculiar sensation in my leg, as if the cold end of a lance had entered it. I knew that I was. .h.i.t, but that no bone or muscle worth speaking of had been injured. Though wounded, I felt capable of considerable exertion; and so, casting another look behind me, to ascertain what my enemies were about,--not dreaming of giving in,--I saw that they were reloading. Still, I might gain the top of the hill.

Once more the rattle of musketry sounded in my ears; and a very unpleasant sound it is, for the person at whom the b.a.l.l.s are aimed. "A miss, however, is as good as a mile;" and though two or three bullets whistled close to my ears, and another went through the sleeve of my jacket, I was sure that I had escaped this second salvo.

The top of the hill appeared just above me, when I felt myself seized with faintness, against which I struggled in vain. I staggered for a few yards farther, and then sank on the ground. I must have lost consciousness; for the next moment, as it seemed to me, when I opened my eyes I saw my enemies standing round me.

"He is an Englishman," I heard one of them say.

"We must not kill him now; he has made a brave attempt to escape,"