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Hortlan
BY GOULD & ELWELL,
Office 80 Middle, near Corner of Exchange St.
b
Cranscript.
‘RMS: $1,50 PER YEAR.
TE.
One Dollar for Eight Months, in advance
AN INDEPENDENT FAMILY JOURNAL OF LITBRATURE, NEWS, 2G.
VOLUME XY.
SELECT TALE.
[Translated from the “ Revue des Deux Mondes.”]
THE SOLDIER CURENO.
A TALE OF THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION.
ART IL
The route from Guadalajara to Tessic traverses
the Sierra-Madre. There yet remain in this chain
of mountains, with their barren sides rising in sharp
peaks, and descending in rugged precipices, indeli-
ble marks of the War of Independence. | I was
impatient to visit this interesting part of Mexico,
and Captain Don Ruperto, on his part, eagerly de-
sired to return to those plains of the Sierra, which
reminded him of many adventurous days and nights
of his youth ; it was not, however, until we arrived
at the plain of Santa-Isabel, two days after leaving
the village of Ahuacatlan, that we at length per-
ceived the blue summits of the Cordillera. From
that moment we hastened our steps by mutual con-
sent, and a few hours’ riding’ across ‘the tall grass
brought us in front of a bamboo hut, which Cap-
tain Ruperto had previously indicated as our halt-
ing-place.
“ Yfalloo! Currno,” cried the Captain reining in
his his horse before the hut ;-“ halloo ! are you dead
or alive ?”
“Who calls ?” replied a broken and feeble voice
from the interior of the cabin.
“The Captain Castanos, con mil diablos !”” return-
ed the warrior, “ who fired the cannon of which
your back was the supporter.”
A frightful figure appeared on the threshold of
the hut; it was that of an old man terribly distort-
ed, whose spine seemed dislocated and bent. Thi
poor creature was unable to walk, he could only
crawl. Iis features, although contracted by old age
and suffering, still retained an expression of no-
bleness and pride which struck me. On his fore-
head, marked by deep wrinkles, and projecting
veins, his long white hair fell in disorder. Mis
arms were’ encircled with yeins as thick as the
branches of an ivy, which has grown old while
clinging to a fine oak. At the sight of this aged
man, With his wrinkled face half concealed by his
abundant hair, one might have compared him to a
decrepit lion maimed in the flower of his age and
strength by the ball of the hunter.
“ Well, my good Cureno,” exclaimed the Cap-
tain. “Iam happy to find one of the ‘ruins of an-
cient times still alive.”
“Our ranks are getting thinner, it is true,” re-
plied the old man; “in a few years they will seck
in vain for the first soldiers of the Independence.”
“And Guanajuatena, is she not here?” asked
Castanos,
“T have been alone for a year past. She sleeps
yonder.”
He pointed to a tamarind-tree -situated at a few
steps from the hut.
“May God rest her soul!”. said the Captain
‘but you must acknowledge, my good fellow, that
your services have been ill recompensed.”
“ What do I need beyond a little corner of ground
to Jive and be buried in?” calmly replied the old
man, “Was it the hope of a recompense that
made us of old willing to exhaust our ‘strength 1—
Posterity will remember the name of Cureno, and
that is sufficient.”
I The question of Don Ruperto, and the reply of
the old soldier, made me believe that I beheld one
of those men whom, after having sacrificed them, a
fatal destiny had consigned to oblivion. But what
unknown hero did I then behold? That I knew
not. We dismounted near the hut, into which we
entered.» There I listened, without understanding
a syllable, toa conversation which’ turned exclu-
sively on the events of the war against the Span-
iards... Unfortunately I did not possess the key of
the facts which the two spenkers were recalling —
At the end of about half an hour, as we had some
distance to go in order to’ reach the venta, which
way situated at the foot of the Sicrra-Madre, we
prepared to continue our journey.
“You have a capital charger there,” said our
host to me, approaching my horse as Tt was putting
my foot into the stirrup.
At the sight of that distorted being creeping, thus
to speak, up to him, the animal took fright, and at-
"Tera
PORTLAND,
tempted to rear; but at that moment the arm of
Cureno was extended towards him, and the horse
remained ii ri ig from terror.
“ What is the matter? ” said: I.
“It is nothing,” replied the old man in his fee-
ble voice ; “ I am holding your horse under you.”
I leaned forward on my saddle, and saw, with
amazement, that one of the legs of the horse seem-
ed as if riveted to the earth by a chain of
iron.
“Shall I.loose my hold?” said the old man,
laughing.
“If it is your good pleasure,” replied I, to. this
Milo of Crotona; ‘ for I see my horse is not the
stronger of the two.”
Scarcely was he disengaged from this formida-
Jo restraint, when the terrified animal sprang
aside, and I had the greatest difficulty in bringing
him back again to the hut.
“ Alas,” said the old _man, sighing, “ since a cer-
tain. blow from a cannon, which this Don Ruperto
fired, I stoop more and more every day.”
“ What were you, then,” ‘in your youth, Signor
Coreno ?” asked I,
“ Castanos will tell you,” replied the old soldier,
of whom we took leave as soon as the Captain had
promised to spend a whole day with him in the hut
on his return.
After two hours’ riding we reached the venta, a
white house surrounded by colonnades, and ‘roofed
with red tiles, like all the ventas of Mexico, and
having done ample justice to a repast ordered by
Don Ruperto, we strolled into the grounds before
the hotel. We were on the point of leaving an ay-
enue overgrown with moss, when the Captain sud-
denly stopped, and pointed to the ground. At our
fect I perecived, half embedded in the soil, a can-
non which the insurgents had dragged from the
borders of the Pacific Ocean to this remote boun-
dary of the State of Jalisco. The soldicr seated
himself on the cannon, and invited me to place my-
self beside him. The decp blue sky. was bespan-
gled with innumerable stars; the air was mild;
around the fires, before the venta, were seated the
muleteers, singing their simple tunes; the ringing
of the little bells of the mules reached us, accom-
panicd by the soft sounds of the guitar; the watch-
logs answered by their plaintive barking to the in-
distinct and distant sounds, which were wafted by
the evening breeze. Jn leading me to this retired
spot, the Captain said he had deemed the time and
place suitable for continuing the relation of his
military adventures. I hastened to, express my
coneurrence with this opinion, and Don Ruperto,
thus encouraged, commenced a long narration, to
which I listened ‘attentively, seated on the rusted
‘cannon, round which large tufts of wild wormwood
ioveniaeed their stems, and diffused their powerful
orate a series of skirmishes (commenced the
Captain), we halted at a place called Las Animas.
‘A sad spectacle was presented by our troops on
that day. Panting from thirst and fatigue, we lay
on a soil strewn with the carcases of our horses
and mules of burden.’ A gloomy silence overspread
the camp, interrupted from time to time by the ag-
onizing cries of the wounded, who, tortured by
thirst, wildly craved a drop of water to refresh
their parched mouths. A few soldiers moved like
specters amonst these bodies, of whom some were
apparently dying, others were already dead.’ The
sentinels had scarcely strength to hold their mus-
kets during the tumult around the camp.’ I, my-
self, ‘was almost worn out, and to disguise my
thirst, had pressed the hilt of my sabre to my ‘lips.
Not far from me, ‘the woman to whom Albion
Caute had entrusted the care of his son, and whom.
Thad taken into my service in compliance with the
dying requests of my former companion, was re-
sneating her rosary in teats, and imploring all the
saints in Paradise to send us a cloud charged with
rain. The saints, unfortunately, were not in the
humor to listen to us that evening, for the sun set
gloriously ina sky of undisturbed serenity. As
for me, I prayed God that some marauders of my
troop, who had left the camp on the discovery of
some concealed springs, might succeed in their ex-
pedition, and, above all, not forget their captain—
God was more gracious than the saints invoked by
the poor woman who was praying at my side; he
heard me favorably, for soon I discovered one of
SATURDAY,
JUNE 21,1 8 51.
our marautlers returning to the camp with rapid
strides. It was the man you have seen, the com-
panion of Guanajuatena. At that time he had not
changed the name of Valdivia for that of Cureno,
nor was he so frightfully maimed as you have seen
him ; the trunk of a pine was not straighter nor
more robust than his form. You yourself, have
had a proof of his herculean strength; I need not
say more about it, I shall content myself with
telling you that his intelligence and courage equal-
led his physical powers. On every occasion, even
the most critical, Valdivia knew how to act.
“Signor Capitano,” said he, advancing mysterious-
ly towards me, enveloped in the cloak of a Span-
ish dragoon, which he had picked up on the field
of battle, “I have brought you a leather bottle con-
taining a few drops of water for yourself, the child,
and his nurse, but I should wish no one to sce us,”
“Some water!” cried I, too much delighted to
heed Valdivia’s prudent advice.
“Hush !” resumed he ; “if you attend tome, you
will not drink until night, and when you have
quenched your thirst, I will tell you where there is
water in abundance, and make a proposition you
will like.”
T eagerly extended my hand to seize the bottle.
“Give it to me, for God’s sake !” exclaimed I, “my
thirst is consuming me, and can I wait till night ?”
“In ten minutes it will be dark. On_ reflection,
I will keep the water,tor I do not wish the furious
soldiers to attempt to kill you, in order to obtain it.
In the meantime, get your horse saddled, and then
join me under that “mesquite,” where mine is all
ready. We shall be obliged to’ mount’ directly —
There remains here about a hundred horseman ;
give them orders to wait for us yonder in the plain.
We will tell the sentinels we are going in search of
water, and they will let us pass without waking the
general.’
Valdivia walked away, and, in spite of my en-
treaties, took with him the bottle of water. I has-
tened to obey his injunctions, and, at night-fall, our
horsemen, quite prepared for departure, awaited us
in the place appointed. Itook my horse by the
bridle, led away the woman and child, and rejoined
Valdivia, Instead of a few drops of water, as he
had promised, he presented me with a bottleful of
that precious liquid.» So great was my thirst, that
I found considerable ‘difficulty in preventing ‘my-
self from draining the contents ‘of the bottle; how-
ever, I left a sufficient quantity for the woman an
little Albion, and when the bottle was empty—“Let | "erm!
us hear,” said Ito Valdivia, “what you have to
propose.”
“To go,” returned he, “with your hundred horse-
men and take possession of a hacienda, two leagues
from here, where there is water in abundance, and
which is now occupied by a Spanish ' detachment.”
“We will go, said I, “but if it is so, why should
you not inform the general, and ask fora thousand
men ?”
“Why ?” returned Valdivia, “because the Gencr-
al is no longer master of his troops, and any order
he might give at this moment would but hasten the
explosion of a conspiracy for delivering the army
to the Spanish. Yes, Signor Capitano, if we do not
instantly take possession of the hacienda of San
Eustaquio, into which Thave been able to creep
alone and fill this bottle, to-morrow Gencral Rayou
will not have a soldier; there is a traitor among
us, and this traitor is no other than General Ponce.”
As Valdivia finished speaking, a great tumult
was heard at one extremity of the camp, It soon
increased. Torches flared on all sides, illuminat-
ing groups of soldiers, whose cries reached us. —
By the gleam of the torches we perceived General
Rayou leaving his tent, and advancing alone, bare-
headed, towards the most infuriated ; but his voice,
generally so much respected, seemed unrecog-
nised.
«J was mistakrn by a day,” said Valdivia, “how-
ever the General will probably quiet the ‘malcon-
tents until sunrise. Let us be off, there’s no time
to lose, this night we must be back and able to an-
nounce to the General that the troops shall be sup-
plied with water to-morrow.
The tumult continued, salthough it was less clam-
orous, and the voice of the General, which we were
able to hear, prevailed by degrees over that of the
mutineers. I mounted my horse, and advised Val-
divia to do the same.
NUMBER 10.
“I must first bring you one of the enemy's sen-
tinels with whom I have taken care to provide my-
self.”
Without waiting to explain these enigmatical
words, Valdivia departed, but soon I saw him re-
turning” with a black moving mass under his arm.
When he approached, I discovered that this mass
was a man dressed in the costume of a Spanish
lancer. Valdivia set the man down on the ground,
loosened his cords, and made him mount behind.—
My robust companion had found that the shortest
method of reaching the well of the hacienda was,
to bind the sentinel placed near the cistern, and .
take him with us as a necessary guide in our noc-
turnal excursion. Tow had he effected this hardy
enterprise ? how had he taken from bis post the
Spanish lancer and bound him on his horse?
Valdivia had no need to tell me ; his neryous arms
gave me more information on that subject than his
words. The camp had again become calm, during
the short absence of Valdivia; it only remained
for us bravely to continue’ the undertaking so hap-
pily commenced. We then went without delay to
rejoin the horsemen who awaited us in the plain,
and at the head of this small troop, we rode to-
wards the hacienda,’ spuring to the utmost our
weary horses. During the journey, we interrogat-
ed the prisoner concerning the situation and
strength of the Spanish garrison whica occupied
the hacienda of San-Eustaquio. This’ garrison
was Composed,’ said the lancer, of about 500 men,
under’ the orders of Commandant Larrainzar, a
proud, brutal man, detested by his soldiers. We
obtained still further information of the position’ of
the troops, and the places Ieast defended. ‘It was
not, however, without great difliculty that we were
able, with our attenuated horses, and on terrible
roads, to clear the two or three leagues which sep-
arated the hacienda from our camp. You will
readily understand why the route was so difficult,
when I explain our situation: to you. Not far
from the town of Zacateca, which General Rayou
sought to obtain, although he knew it to be oceu-
pied by the enemy, the Sicrra-Madre is divided into
two branches. The first, that on which we are now
stationed, rans from north to south, parallel with
the shores of the Pacific; the other runs from north
to east, following the curve of the Gulf of Mexico.
On one’ of the most elevated points of this last
ramification was situated the hacienda of which we
| Wished to possess ourselves. Tt occupied the ex-
tremity of one of the largest plains of the Cor-
PART I1.—THE VOLADERO.
Having arrived at the hacienda unpereeived,
thanks to the obscurity of a moonless night, wé
came to a halt under some large trees, at some dis~
tance from the building, and I rode forward from
my troop in order to reconnoiter the place. The
hacienda, so far as I could see in gliding across the’
trees, formed a’ huge’ massive parallelogram,
strengthened ‘by enormous buttresses of hewn
stone. The rear was protected by an unfathoma-
ble abyss. “Along this chasm, the walls of the ha-
cienda almost formed the continuation of another
perpendicular, one chiselled by nature herself in
the rocks, to the bottom of which the eye could not
penetrate, for the mists which incessantly” boiled
up from below did not allow it to measure their
awful depth. This place was known j in the coun.
try by the name of “The Vol
Thad explored all sides of the building except
this, when I know not what scruple of military
honor incited me to continue my ride along the ra~
vine whioh protected the ravine of the hacienda —
Between the walls and the precipice, there was a
narrow pathway about six fect wide; by day, the
passage would not have been dangerous, bat by
night it was a perilous enterprise. The walls of
the farm took an extensive sweep, the path ‘crept
around their entire basement, and to follow it ‘to
the end in the darkness, only two paces’ from’ the
edge of a perpendicular chasm, was no very easy
task even for us practised a horseman as myself—
Neavertheless, I did not hesitate, but boldly “urged
my horse between the walls of the farm-housé and
the abyss of the Voladero. I had got over half the
distance without accident, when all of a sudden my,
horse neighed aloud. "This neigh made me shud~
der. I had reached a pass where the ground was:
but just wide enough for the four legs of a horse,
and it was impossible to retrace my steps.
J
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