The White Chief: A Legend of Northern Mexico

by Mayne Reid

  CHAPTER FOUR.

  The sports continue. The bull thrown by the cibolero, now cowed, walksmoodily across the plain. He would not serve for a second run, so he islazoed and led off,--to be delivered to the victor as his prize.

  A second is brought forth and started, with a fresh dozen of horsemen athis heels.

  These seem to be better matched, or rather the bull has not run off sowell, as all overtake him at once, riding past him in their headlongspeed. Most unexpectedly the animal turns in his tracks, and runs back,heading directly for the stand!

  Loud screams are heard from the poblanas in the carretas--from thesenoras and senoritas. No wonder. In ten seconds the enraged brutewill be in their midst!

  The pursuing horsemen are still far behind him. The sudden turning intheir headlong race threw them out of distance. Even the foremost ofthem cannot come up in time.

  The other horsemen are all dismounted. No man on foot will dare tocheck the onward rush of a goaded bull!

  Confusion and loud shouting among the men, terror and screaming amongthe women, are the characteristics of the scene. Lives will be lost--perhaps many. None know but that they themselves may be the victims!

  The strings of carretas filled with their terrified occupants flank thestand on each side; but, running farther out into the plain, form withit a sort of semicircle. The bull enters this semicircle, and guided bythe carretas rushes down, heading directly for the benches, as thoughdetermined to break through in that direction. The ladies have risen totheir feet, and, half-frantic, seem as though they would leap down uponthe very horns of the monster they dread! It is a fearful crisis forthem.

  Just at this moment a man is seen advancing, lazo in hand, in front ofthe carretas. He is afoot. As soon as he has detached himself from thecrowd, he spins the lazo round his head, and the noose shooting out isseen to settle over the horns of the bull.

  Without losing a moment the man runs to a small tree that stands nearthe centre of the semicircle, and hastily coils the other end of thelazo around its trunk. Another moment, and he would have been too late.

  The knot is scarcely tied, when a heavy pluck announces that the bullhas reached the end of his rope, and the foiled brute is now seen thrownback upon his hips, with the _lazo_ tightly noosed over his horns. Hehas fallen at the very feet of the spectators!

  "_Bravo! viva_!" cried a hundred voices, as soon as their owners hadsufficiently recovered from their terror to call out.

  "_Viva. Viva_! Carlos the cibolero!"

  It was he who had performed this second feat of skill and daring.

  The bull was not yet conquered, however. He was only confined within acertain range--the circle of the lazo--and, rising to his feet, with afurious roar he rushed forward at the crowd. Fortunately the lazo wasnot long enough to enable him to reach the spectators on either side;and again he tumbled back upon his haunches. There was a scattering onall sides, as it was feared he might still slip the noose; but thehorsemen had now come up. Fresh lazoes were wound about his neck,others tripped up his legs, and he was at length flung violently uponthe ground and his quarters well stretched.

  He was now completely conquered, and would run no more; and as but twobulls had been provided for the occasion, the "coleo de toros" was forthat day at an end.

  Several lesser feats of horsemanship were next exhibited, whilepreparations were being made for another of the grand games of the day.Those were by way of interlude, and were of various kinds. One wasthrowing the lazo upon the foot of a person running at full speed,noosing him around the ankle, and of course tripping him up. This wasdone by men both mounted and afoot; and so many accomplished it, that itcould hardly be deemed a "feat:" nor was it regarded as such among themore skilful, who disdained to take part in it.

  Picking up the hat was next exhibited. This consisted in the riderthrowing his hat upon the ground, and then recovering it from thesaddle, while his horse swept past at full gallop. Nearly every rideron the spot was equal to this feat, and only the younger ones lookedupon it as a proof of skill. Of these some twenty could now be seenwheeling about at a gallop and ducking down for their sombreros, whichthey had previously dropped.

  But it is not so easy to pick up smaller objects, and a piece of coinlying flat upon the ground tries the skill of the best "cavallero."

  The Comandante Vizcarra now stepped forth and commanded silence.Placing a Spanish dollar upon the smooth turf, he called out--

  "This to the man who can take it up at the first trial. Five gold onzasthat Sergeant Gomez will perform the feat!"

  There was silence for a while. Five gold "onzas" (doubloons) was alarge sum of money. Only a "rico" could afford to lose such a sum.

  After a pause, however, there came a reply. A young ranchero steppedforth:--

  "Colonel Vizcarra," said he, "I will not bet that Sergeant Gomez cannotperform the feat; but I'll wager there's another on the ground can do itas well as he. Double the amount if you please."

  "Name your man!" said Vizcarra.

  "Carlos the cibolero."

  "Enough--I accept your wager. Any one else may have their trial,"continued Vizcarra, addressing the crowd. "I shall replace the dollarwhenever it is taken up--only one attempt, remember!"

  Several made the attempt and failed. Some touched the coin, and evendrew it from its position, but no one succeeded in lifting it.

  At length a dragoon mounted on a large bay appeared in the list, who wasrecognised as the Sergeant Gomez. He was the same that had first comeup with the bull, but failed to fling him; and no doubt that failuredwelling still in his thoughts added to the natural gloom of his verysallow face. He was a man of large size, unquestionably a good rider,but he lacked that symmetrical shape that gives promise of sinewyactivity.

  The feat required little preparation. The sergeant looked to hissaddle-girths, disencumbered himself of his sabre and belts, and thenset his steed in motion.

  In a few minutes he directed his horse so as to shave past the shiningcoin, and then, bending down, he tried to seize it. He succeeded inlifting it up from the ground; but, owing to the slight hold he hadtaken, it dropped from his fingers before he had got it to the height ofthe stirrup.

  A shout, half of applause and half of disapprobation, came from thecrowd. Most were disposed to favour him on Vizcarra's account. Notthat they loved Colonel Vizcarra, but they _feared_ him, and that madethem loyal.

  The cibolero now rode forth upon his shining black. All eyes wereturned upon him. His handsome face would have won admiration, but forits very _fairness_. Therein lay a secret prejudice. They knew _he wasnot of their race_!

  Woman's heart has no prejudice, however; and along that line ofdark-eyed "doncellas" more than one pair of eyes were sparkling withadmiration for the blond "Americano," for of such race was Carlos thecibolero.

  Other eyes than woman's looked favourably on the cibolero, and otherlips murmured applause. Among the half-brutalised Tagnos, with bentlimbs and downcast look, there were men who dreamt of days gone by; whoknew that their fathers were once free; who in their secret assembliesin mountain cave, or in the deep darkness of the "estufa," still burnedthe "sacred fire" of the god Quetzalcoatl--still talked of Moctezuma andFreedom.

  These, though darker than all others, had no prejudice against the fairskin of Carlos. Even over their benighted minds the future had castsome rays of its light. A sort of mysterious presentiment, apparentlyinstinctive, existed among them, that their deliverers from the yoke ofSpanish tyranny would yet come from the East--from beyond the greatplains!

  The cibolero scarce deigned to make any preparation. He did not evendivest himself of his manga, but only threw it carelessly back, and leftits long skirt trailing over the hips of his horse.

  Obedient to the voice of his rider, the animal sprang into a gallop; andthen, guided by the touch of the knees, he commenced circling round theplain, increasing his speed as he went.

  Having gained a wide reach, t
he rider directed his horse towards theglittering coin. When nearly over it he bent down from the saddle,caught the piece in his fingers, flung it up into the air, and then,suddenly checking his horse underneath, permitted it to drop into hisoutstretched palm!

  All this was done with the ease and liability of a Hindoo juggler. Eventhe prejudiced could not restrain their applause; and loud _vivas_ for"Carlos the cibolero" again pealed upon the air.

  The sergeant was humiliated. He had for a long time been victor inthese sports--for Carlos had not been present until this day, or hadnever before taken part in them. Vizcarra was little better pleased.His favourite humbled--himself the loser of ten golden onzas--no smallsum, even to the Comandante of a frontier Presidio. Moreover, to bejibed by the fair senoritas for losing a wager he had himselfchallenged, and which, no doubt, he felt certain of winning. From thatmoment Vizcarra liked not "Carlos the cibolero."

  The next exhibition consisted in riding at full gallop to the edge of adeep "zequia" which passed near the spot. The object of this was toshow the courage and activity of the rider as well as the high trainingof the steed.

  The zequia--a canal used for irrigation--was of such width that a horsecould not well leap over it, and deep enough to render it no verypleasant matter for a horseman to get into. It therefore required bothskill and daring to accomplish the feat. The animal was to arrive uponthe bank of the canal in full run, and to be drawn up suddenly, so thathis four feet should rest upon the ground inside a certain line. Thisline was marked at less than two lengths of himself from the edge of thedrain. Of course the bank was quite firm, else the accomplishment ofsuch a feat would have been impossible.

  Many succeeded in doing it to perfection; and an admirable piece ofhorsemanship it was. The horse, suddenly checked in his impetuousgallop, upon the very brink of the zequia, and drawn back on hishaunches, with head erect, starting eyeballs, and open smoking nostrils,formed a noble picture to look upon. Several, however, by way ofcontrast, gave the crowd a ludicrous picture to laugh at. These wereeither faint-hearted riders, who stopped short before arriving near thebank, or bold but unskilful ones, who overshot the mark, and went plungeinto the deep muddy water. Either class of failure was hailed by groansand laughter, which the appearance of the half-drowned and drippingcavaliers, as they weltered out on the bank, rendered almost continuous.On the other hand, a well-executed manoeuvre elicited _vivas_ ofapplause.

  No wonder that, under such a system of training and emulation, thesepeople are the finest riders in the world, and such they certainly are.

  It was observed that Carlos the cibolero took no part in this game.What could be the reason? His friends alleged that he looked upon it asunworthy of him. He had already exhibited a skill in horsemanship of asuperior kind, and to take part in this would be seeking a superfluoustriumph. Such was in fact the feeling of Carlos.

  But the chagrined Comandante had other views. Captain Roblado as well--for the latter had seen, or fancied he had seen, a strange expression inthe eyes of Catalina at each fresh triumph of the cibolero. The two"militarios" had designs of their own. Base ones they were, andintended for the humiliation of Carlos. Approaching him, they inquiredwhy he had not attempted the last feat.

  "I did not think it worth while," answered the cibolero, in a modesttone.

  "Ho!" cried Roblado, tauntingly; "my good fellow. You must have otherreasons than that. It is not so contemptible a feat to rein up on theedge of that `zanca.' You fear a ducking, I fancy?"

  This was uttered in a tone of banter, loud enough for all to hear; andCaptain Roblado wound up his speech with a jeering laugh.

  Now, it was just this ducking that the militarios wished to see. Theyhad conceived hopes, that, if Carlos attempted the feat, some accident,such as the slipping or stumbling of his horse, might lead to thatresult; which to them would have been as grateful as it would have beenmortifying to the cibolero. A man floundering out of a muddy ditch, anddrenched to the skin, however daring the attempt that led to it, wouldcut but a sorry figure in the eyes of a holiday crowd; and in such asituation did they wish to see Carlos placed.

  Whether the cibolero suspected their object did not appear. His replydoes not show. When it was heard, the "zequia" and its muddy water wereat once forgotten. A feat of greater interest occupied the attention ofthe spectators.