The Silent Rifleman! A tale of the Texan prairies Read online

  CHAPTER II.

  THE LIEUTENANT'S STORY.

  The Partisan had not sat long alone, ere the young officer returnedand joined him; yet, in that brief space, almost all the actions andadventures of a not uneventful life had passed through his mind; sostrongly had his imagination been excited by the occurrences of theevening.

  "Come, Mr. Gordon," said the Partisan, "I fancy that by this time youhave got your men settled for the night. Had you not better take yourpipe, and sit down with me, that we may talk matters over. By somethingyou let fall a while ago, it seems that you have been expecting to meetme at San Antonio, although I knew it not, nor have been there thesetwo months. Now, you must have had some end in seeking me; and, until Iknow what end that is, I am at a loss to see how I can aid you."

  "To make you understand that, Major Delacroix--"

  "Pardon me, sir," replied the Partisan, hastily, "I have no greatrespect for titles of any kind, least of all for military titles, whennot backed by military rank and command. So, if you please, you willcall me Pierre, or Delacroix, or Partisan."

  "Very well," replied Gordon. "It is on you that we have counted allalong for taking us safely to our journey's end."

  "Well, we have gained something at least. Now where may that verydefinite place, which you call your journey's end, be? And, as the nextquestion, what made you count upon me?"

  "Our journey's end--Taylor's camp, of course--where else _should_ itbe?"

  "Anywhere else, I should think, considering the means you have ofgetting thither, and the company you have with you. You do not reallymean to say that you contemplate carrying that beautiful and delicateyoung woman with you to head-quarters?--the thing is utter madness."

  "And yet my destination is headquarters; and she has no home, save mytent."

  "Julia Forester--John Forester's daughter no home!" cried the Partisan,in far louder tones than he was wont to use, and starting to his feet,half indignant and half astonished. "Did I understand you aright, youngsir? Did you say Julia Forester has no home save in the tent of asecond lieutenant of dragoons?"

  "I did say precisely that, Pierre Delacroix," answered the soldier,nettled a little by the manner of the questioner, and shaking off hismomentary embarrassment the instant he was put upon his mettle.

  "When I knew Colonel John Forester, he was reputed to be worth amillion of dollars," said Pierre.

  "When I knew him," replied Arthur Gordon, "he was reputed to be worthtwo, at the lowest figure."

  "And has he become a bankrupt since then, or a beggar?" asked theother, sharply.

  "Neither, that I ever heard. _Au contraire_, he is, all but one or two,the richest man they say in Louisiana."

  "And why the devil, then, did he give you his daughter for a wife, andnot give you the means to sustain her."

  "I never said that he did give her to me," said the other, steadily.

  "You said she was your wife."

  "I did say so, and do. But I will substitute a short story for a longdebate."

  "Pray let us do so."

  "It is six years since I first visited New Orleans; and being thebearer of letters to Colonel Forester was received hospitably andentertained in his house, where he then lived nominally alone, with theexception of his only daughter, Julia, at that time a beautiful girlof fourteen. Being very young myself, we were thrown much together, asort of childish affection, half-liking and half love, grew up betweenus--not altogether childish either; for it constantly increased duringthe three years which I spent in the city, until it became a powerfulpassion. When I entered the army, on the first raising of the seconddragoon regiment, and before leaving the city for the north-west, I hadan explanation with the colonel; and it was understood, and agreed,that at some future period, which was left undecided, Julia should bemy wife. We were permitted to correspond, and I mounted my horse androde away with my regiment, as light-hearted and as happy a soldieras ever set jack boot in steel stirrup. I received letters from mybetrothed, of which I shall only say that they were all that the mostsanguine lover could desire.

  "After a while, however, a difference in their tone became apparent.Not, indeed, in the manifestation of affection, but of hope. At lengthher letters ceased altogether; and I was months without receiving anytidings from her. When the present war broke out I was eastward torecruit and had no opportunity of visiting New Orleans, although mybrain and my heart were both on fire to do so. Three months since Ireceived, the first time for nearly a year, a short, hurried, agonizingnote from Julia, entreating me to come near her, without an instant'sdelay, as her mistress was too great to be endured, and one way orother she must release herself from it. For once, fortune favouredme; for the same post which brought her letter brought orders to thecaptain of my company to send me forward instantly with the men we hadraised, to the very city in which I most desired to be. A fortnightafterward I was on the spot, and learned all the infamous and horridtruth.

  "Your friend, the high and honoured soldier, whom I had known ofold--the very pattern and impersonation of uprightness, and chivalry,and true nobility of soul--had so far lapsed in the decline of hisintellectual powers from his once glorious standard, as to havemade a coloured woman--his own emancipated slave, and formerly hismistress--his lawful wife and the partner of his fortunes; placingher openly at the head of his table, and bringing his illegitimatedaughters, the offspring of his foul concubinage, into equality ofstation and society with his own beautiful, and pure, and noblechild--with my Julia!"

  "Great God!" exclaimed the Partisan, bounding to his feet almost infury; "great God! can this be so? Would that I had been near to him;for, by the Lord that liveth, if neither argument nor entreaty shouldhave been power to prevail over such low and beast-like passion, myhand--my own hand, which has caressed his cheeks and played with hisgrey hairs so often--my own hand should have spared him the infamy, andslain him in his untainted honour."

  "But this was not all, nor half of all, that poor Julia suffered; forthe incarnate devil, whom I must call Mrs. Forester, not contentwith forcing the deluded old man into the rescinding of his will, andbequeathing all but a mere pittance to herself and base-born children,never ceased persecuting him day or night, till she procured hispromise to send Julia secretly away to Europe, there to be immured ina convent; fearing unquestionably that if she should be married to anAmerican gentleman and soldier, her husband would find some means tofrustrate the enormities she had planned so artfully, and secure ashare at least of the partial old man's fortunes. I had an interviewwith him, though not without much difficulty; I offered to foregoall--to sign away all claim on her behalf and my own, provided hewould give me her hand, portionless and alone. For a while I thought Ihad prevailed; but the fiend entered the room, and I saw the old manquail before the gaze of her fierce, snake-like eye, and all was lost.Then, I, too, lost my temper; and I swore by the God who made me, andby the hell to which that woman's deeds were leading her, that herplans should be frustrated, and that Julia should be my wife in spiteof man or devil. I got brief leave of absence on the promise to joinat head-quarters before the last day of the present month--embarkedmy recruits with my second lieutenant; and on the third day after,Forester's garden wall was scaled, his daughter's window broken, andbefore the day dawned she was my bride.

  "Still flight was needful, and we fled; for by his wrath, and theunscrupulous wickedness of her who prompted him, we might still havebeen separated for a while, if not for ever. We fled, I say, toNatchez, and thence to Natchitoches, where by good fortune I found thelittle squad of dragoons who escort me, making their way down the riverto join my party, which they had been detailed to enter as a veterannucleus. With them, and this letter to yourself from an old friend ofmine, who has, I believe, lived with you, Frank Arrowsmith of ours, Ihave made my way thus far safely.

  "He gave me a letter to you, commending us to your care. He told methat if you would undertake it, you could guide us in safety intoTaylor's camp, through all the guerrillas in Mexico."
/>   "He did me too little and too much justice. Too little, in supposingthat there was any _if_ about it. The idea of Pierre Delacroix refusingto guide or assist a lady in the midst of danger. As to my being _able_to carry you safely into Taylor's camp, that's quite another thing."

  "Is there so much danger?"

  "The country is alive with horse. Every village is in arms, everyrancho has turned out its riders; and keen riders they are, I assureyou. Why, between us and the fences, and all the way towards Encinos,there are not less than a thousand men scattered about in little bands,from six to fifty and upward. And now, you go and bid your men to putno more wood on the fires, and lie down one and all, and get all thesleep they can. They will need it before we reach Monterey."

  "What! will you have no sentinel?"

  "I would rather have my brown horse, Emperor, for a sentinel, than allthe dragoons in the United States, or out of it. Do what I bid you, andthen get to your bed yourself. I will wake you before the morning staris up to-morrow."

  Gordon arose, well satisfied that the Partisan knew his business farbetter than he, and went away to do his bidding, much to the delight ofthe unfortunate dragoon, who was pacing up and down with his carbine inthe hollow of his arm, envying his more lucky comrades their sound andhealthy slumbers.

  This duty done, the young officer hurried back to his tent and his fairbride; and, in doing so, passed close to the bivouac of the Partisan.

  He had wrapped himself close in the handsome blanket, with his knifedrawn in one hand, and his pistol in the other, ready for instantdefense on the least alarm; and, with his head resting in the hollowof his large Spanish saddle, was already buried in deep and dreamlesssleep.

  In ten minutes more there was not an eyelid open, of man or animal, inthe encampment; and the broad, lustrous, Northern moon, sailing in aflood of silver glory through the azure firmament, alone watched overthem, like the unsleeping eye of an all-seeing Providence.