The Free Rangers: A Story of the Early Days Along the Mississippi

by Joseph A. Altsheler

  CHAPTER IX

  PAUL AND THE SPANIARD

  Francisco Alvarez never suffered from the vice of humility. While he wasplanning to make himself Governor General of Louisiana he thought alsothat the selection was a most admirable one. Nor would he havecondescended now to cross a blade with this boy from the backwoods, buthis pride had been bitterly hurt by the deeds of Paul and his comrades.Such presumption must be punished, and the punishment must be of ahumiliating kind.

  The Spaniard took the point of his sword between his thumb and forefingerand bent the blade a little. The steel was flexible and true. Then he puthimself on guard, and physically he was a splendid figure of a man, tall,compact, and obviously skilled with his weapon.

  Long Jim Hart writhed again in his bonds. His heart yearned over Paul, hisyoung comrade.

  "Stop it! stop it!" he cried. "It's murder, I say, fur a man used to themweepins to set upon a boy."

  "Shall we gag this fellow, Captain?" asked Braxton Wyatt, who enjoyed thescene.

  "No," replied Alvarez, scornfully. "Let him make as much noise as hepleases."

  Paul heard Long Jim's second protest, but now he did not answer. He wasintently watching Alvarez. He had read the look in the eye of the Spanishleader, and he knew that Alvarez not only intended to punish him, but alsoto make that process as mortifying as possible. But Paul was yet unafraid.Although not as large and powerful as Henry, he was nevertheless a verystrong youth, used to the open air and exercise, and wonderfully flexibleand alert. He held the sword lightly but firmly with the point wellforward, ready for any movement by his antagonist.

  Alvarez came a step nearer. His sword flashed, but Paul dextrously caughtthe stroke upon his own weapon, and the blade glanced off, ringing.Alvarez was surprised. He had seen from Paul's position and the manner inwhich he held his weapon that he knew something about the sword, but hewas not prepared for such a skillful parry.

  "Good, Paul! Good!" cried Long Jim, a sudden hope bounding up in hisheart. "Go in! Trim him! Slice off his mustache for him!"

  Alvarez was stung by the taunt. Braxton Wyatt made an angry movementtoward Long Jim, but the Spaniard again waved him back. His own pridewould not permit him to silence the taunter in such a way. No, he wouldsilence him in another manner. But the cry of Long Jim had its effect uponPaul, too. It aroused him to a supreme effort. He leaped forwardsuddenly, thrust quick as lightning, and then leaped away. The Spaniardhad parried, but the blade nevertheless cut the cloth of his brilliantcoat, making a long gash. The cut was not in the flesh, only in the cloth,but Alvarez was stung by it and the sting became the more bitter when LongJim cried out:

  "Hooray, Paul! That wuz somethin' like! He thought he wuz goin' to murderyou, but he ain't!"

  Alvarez, furious, rushed in and Paul, keen of eye and alert of muscle,fought on the defensive. Lucky for him now that he remembered all thelessons taught to him by the old soldier of the great French and Indianwar, and lucky for him, too, that he had lived such a temperate life!Steel met steel and the ringing sound filled the little glade. The otherswere silent, leaning a little forward, lips slightly apart. A new elementof uncertainty had come into the combat, and even Braxton Wyatt shared inthe excitement that had been aroused by it.

  Alvarez uttered a cry of satisfaction and then stepped back. Paul stoodstill while the blood came slowly from a cut across his left arm and dyedhis sleeve. He had thrown out the arm just in time to ward off a thrust athis heart, but he received a slash in its place. The pain was considerablebut Paul scarcely felt it; his mind was too intent on the crisis, and hishead was yet clear and cool.

  "Never you mind, Paul! Never you mind!" cried Long Jim. "'Twas only alucky sweep uv his! you'll git him yet."

  Paul gave his informal second a smile of confidence, for second he waswith his encouraging tongue, even though bound and helpless otherwise.

  Paul suddenly rushed in, struck swiftly, and, although the blow wasparried, he thrust again so quickly that his blade passed inside the guardof Alvarez, pierced through his doublet, and wounded him in the side. Madwith pain and rage Alvarez struck furiously, but Paul caught the blow soskillfully that the Spaniard's sword broke in his hand.

  Long Jim shouted with delight.

  "You've beat him, Paul! you've beat him!" he cried. "Go in now and trimhis mustache right off his face!"

  Braxton Wyatt struck him a blow on the cheek.

  "Shut up, will you!" he cried.

  Paul, sword in hand, turned away. He would not cut down an unarmed man,and some strain of chivalry hidden beneath the Spaniard's ambition andcruelty recognized the boy's nobility. He stepped aside and rebukedBraxton Wyatt for striking Long Jim. Then he took off his doublet and oneof the men bound up his wound, which was painful but not at all dangerous.His heart was full of rage and chagrin, but he did not show either.

  "You have done well with the sword," he said to Paul, "I admit it, and Iam in a position to know. But you must surrender it, and come as myprisoner. Your sword can be no defense against the bullets of mysoldiers."

  Paul yielded his weapon. It would have been folly to resist when thesoldiers stood close by, loaded guns in hand, but he felt, nevertheless, adeep satisfaction. He had performed a deed of valor, worthy of Shif'lessSol or Henry, and he proudly took his place by the side of the otherprisoner, Long Jim. The wound in his arm had already stopped bleeding.

  "I didn't know it was in you, Paul," whispered Long Jim, "but I never hadanything in my life do me more good. A lot uv wicked hopes wuzdisapp'inted when you give him that slash in the side, an' then broke hissword."

  "I did better than I expected," replied Paul briefly, "but the result isnot likely to endear us to Captain Alvarez."

  "Ef I'd been keepin' the right kind uv a watch," said Long Jim, "thiswouldn't have happened. We could a' got 'The Gall-yun' out in the streaman' away."

  "No, Jim," replied Paul, "it was no fault of yours. Cunning was at work.They had located us in some manner and they prepared a surprise."

  Alvarez and Braxton Wyatt went on ahead. Paul and Jim followed in themidst of a strong guard of soldiers. The road led again through corn andgrain fields where cultivation was making a struggle against theluxuriance of a semi-tropical wilderness, although with small success, asyet.

  A stooping figure with a hideous, feline face shambled up by the side ofPaul, and purposely struck his elbow against the wound upon his arm. Itwas The Cat, but Paul, whose arms had been left unbound, whirled, withouthesitation, and struck the Natchez in the face.

  The Cat staggered but he promptly drew a knife and Paul might have beenslain, but a soldier knocked the knife from the Indian's hand and rebukedhim severely. The soldier was Luiz, a Spaniard of height and strength. Hehad fared badly at the hands of the five, but his life had also been savedby one of them, and he was not ungrateful. He did not mean that these twoprisoners should be treated any worse than the captain ordered. Hecompelled The Cat to fall back, and he smiled pleasantly at Paul and LongJim.

  "I'll take it that we've got one friend in this crowd," said Long Jim.

  "Yes," said Paul, "and we'll need all we can get. Alvarez seems to have abig place here, a sort of feudal estate."

  It seemed to Paul that he had come into another world; the differencebetween this and Kentucky was so enormous. There, in the littlesettlements, every man spoke his mind and the life was all freedom. Here,fear and suspicion abounded, there were degrees of importance, and Alvarezwas an autocrat who could make or mar as he pleased. It was an atmosphereheavy to Paul's lungs, and, like Long Jim, he longed for the great forestsof the Ohio River country. Behind the chateau were some low, heavy outbuildings of logs, and Paul and Long Jim were thrust into one of these,the door being fastened behind them with a huge padlock. Alvarez detailedLuiz, who seemed to rank a little above his fellows, and three others tokeep watch and then, feeling that he held his prisoners securely, thecommander went into the chateau. But he stopped at the door and orderedthat a gold coin and as much rum as he could drink should
be given to TheCat.

  "It was due to his wonderful instinct and cunning," he said, "that wecaptured these fellows and recovered my boat. It was an importantachievement."

  Braxton Wyatt looked with intense interest at the chateau, which wasunlike anything that he had ever seen before. It was a strange compound ofluxury and roughness. The walls were of wood, often ill-hewn, but severalpieces of beautifully-woven tapestry hung upon them. Some of the floorswere entirely bare, others were covered partly by Eastern rugs. Carved andcurved weapons of many lands adorned the walls, and in one room were amandolin and guitar.

  Alvarez led the way to an inner court or patio, waving back all exceptBraxton Wyatt. The patio was large, with little beds of flowers in thecorners, and a pool of pure, fresh water in the center. The pool was fedby a little stream that ran from a brook near the chateau, and it wasdrained by a similar stream.

  The patio was enclosed by a narrow, interior veranda, and the veranda helddeep cane chairs, one of which Alvarez took, waving Braxton Wyatt toanother.

  The Spanish commander with a great air of relief and luxury leaned back inhis cane chair. He loved the south and the sunshine to which he was born,and, although bold and hardy, he had little liking for the great, coldforests of the North. He clapped his hand and a servant brought glassesand wine. Alvarez filled the glasses himself and handed the firstcourteously to Wyatt.

  "Drink," he said, "I am glad that expedition is over. The Governor Generalwished me to go, to explore, to make treaties, and to secure our title,but the wilderness, though interesting, grows monotonous."

  "It is comfortable here," said Braxton Wyatt, stretching himself in thegreat cane chair. He was entirely recovered from his own wound and heappreciated the luxury of the place.

  "Yes, it is indeed grateful to the tired body and limbs. I could feel acomplete sense of rest and victory, if it were not for the sting of thewound that boy gave me. Who could have thought that I should be defeatedwith the sword by a boy from the woods of Kaintock?"

  The Spaniard frowned and narrowed his cruel blue eyes. Braxton Wyattmurmured some words of sympathy, but in his heart he was not sorry becauseof the incident. He thought that Alvarez at times had patronized him toomuch, had assumed too lofty an air, and he was willing to see him suffermortification. Moreover, he could use the hurt pride of Alvarez as anadditional incitement against the five whom he hated.

  "You told me once," said Alvarez "that the three comrades of the two, thethree whom we have not captured, are much to be dreaded, and we have hadproof of it?"

  "It is so."

  "But what can they do now?"

  "But little," answered the renegade. "It was farther north in the greatwilderness, where they are so much at home, that they could do us harm.Here within the fringe of the French and Spanish settlements, they will behampered too much."

  "Yes, I should think so," said Alvarez thoughtfully. "As you perhapssurmise, I am going to stay here indefinitely, Wyatt. This place of mine,Beaulieu, I call it, is at a suitable distance from New Orleans and I aman absolute monarch while I remain. Here, on the border, I am as amilitary commander, practically lord of life and death, and on one excuseor another I can hold the troops as long as I please."

  "Which seems to me to be very convenient for all our plans," said BraxtonWyatt.

  The Spaniard smiled, but speedily contracted his brows again. The cut thatPaul had given him was hurting.

  "I should like to punish that boy in some spectacular manner," he said. "Ishould want him to be humiliated in the presence of others as I was."

  Suddenly he raised his head, which he had bent in thought, and his lipscurled in laughter under his yellow mustache.

  "I have it!" he exclaimed. "An idea! Since young Kaintock can use thesword I shall give him a chance to do it again! Oh, I shall give him everyopportunity!"

  Then he leaned over and spoke in lower tones to Braxton Wyatt. Therenegade's eyes lighted up with delight.

  "The very thing!" he exclaimed. "I'd have it done at once!"

  Paul and Long Jim Hart meanwhile were resting in their log prison. Jim'sarms had been unbound and, after rubbing them freely, he said that thecirculation was restored. Then the two turned their attention to theirprison. Paul surmised that it had been built as a tool house or storehouse, but at present it was empty save for himself and his comrade, LongJim.

  The only light came from two little windows made merely by cutting out asection of log and quite too small to admit a human body. They tried thedoor but it was so strong that they could not shake it. Then Long Jim laycalmly down on the floor.

  "Paul," he said, "I don't believe I wuz ever fastened up in sech a littleplace ez this afore. Ef I stretch out my legs my feet will hit the wallover thar, an' the place is so close an' hot I don't breathe good."

  "We'll have to stand it for a while," said Paul philosophically.

  "That's so," said Long Jim, "I don't s'pose they mean to murder us ezwe're not at real war with the Spaniards, so I wonder what they mean todo."

  Paul shook his head. But he understood better than Long Jim the dangers oftheir situation. He knew the temper and character of Alvarez, and he knew,too, that at this distant chateau he was omnipotent. Alvarez was bent onmaking war upon the settlers in Kentucky, and nothing would stop him.

  "Henry an' Sol an' Tom are free," said Long Jim. "They'll git us out,shore."

  They remained a long time undisturbed, and the air in the room was soclose and hot that both became languorous and sleepy. Nor was there anysound except the droning of some flies overhead and this added to theheaviness. Paul finally rose and gazed through the little windows, but hesaw only an empty field and the edge of the forest. Save for this glimpseof green they were completely cut off from the world. He sat down again onthe floor and composed his figure as comfortably as he could.

  "How long do you think we hev been in here, Paul?" asked Long Jim.

  "About four hours."

  "Four hours! why, I thought it wuz four months. Paul, I don't believe Icould stand this more'n a week, no matter ef they fed me upon the finestthings in the land. At the end uv a week I'd turn right over an' die, an'when they examined me to see the cause uv my death, they'd find that myheart wuz broke in two, right squar' down the middle."

  "They say that some wild animals die in captivity, and you might call itof a broken heart."

  "I'm one uv them kind. I like lots uv room. I want it to be clean woodsan' prairie runnin' a thousan' miles from me in every direction. An' Idon't want too many people trampin' 'roun' in them woods either, saveInjuns to keep you lookin' lively, an' mebbe twenty or thirty white menpurty well scattered. I reckon I'd call that my estate, Paul, an' I'd wantit swarmin' with b'ars an' buffaler an' deer, an' all kinds uv big an'little game. Then I'd want a couple uv good rifles, one to take the placeuv tother when it went bad, an' a couple uv huts p'raps three or fourhundred miles apart to sleep in, when the weather wuz too tarnation bad,lots uv ammunition an', Paul, I'd be happy on that thar estate uv mine."

  "Aren't you a little bit grasping, Jim?" asked Paul.

  "Me, graspin'," replied Long Jim in a surprise. "What makes you ask sech afoolish question, Paul? Why, all I ask is to range ez fur an' ez long ez Ilike an' not to be bothered by no interlopers. I don't want to crowdnobody, an' I don't want nobody to crowd me. But, Paul, ef a feller coulddo that fur about a thousand years wouldn't it be a life wuth livin'? Justthink uv all the deer hunts an' buffaler hunts an' b'ar hunts you couldhev! An' the long beaver trappin' trips, you could go on? An' the newrivers an' new mountings you could find! The Injuns has the right ideaabout Heaven, Paul. They make it the happy huntin' grounds. Them huntin'grounds o' theirs run ten million miles in every direction. You couldn'tever come to any end. No matter how fur you went you'd see oceans uvgreen trees ahead uv you, an' on one side uv you prairies covered withbuffaler herds so big that they'd be a week passin' you, an' then they'dstill be passin'."

  Long Jim heaved a deep sigh and was silent for a while. P
aul, too, wassilent. At last Long Jim said:

  "I s'pose it don't pay, Paul, to be drawin' sech splendiferous pictures uvwhat ain't. Now I've gone an' made myself onhappy, talkin' uv themglorious huntin' grounds that stretch away without end, when here we arein this hot box so narrer I can't straighten out my legs. Besides, I'mgittin' pow'ful hungry. I wonder ef they mean to starve us to death.Strikes me that's an awful mean way uv killin' a man. He not only dies buthe's so terrible hungry sech a long time."

  But Long Jim's forebodings were not fulfilled. When the light that camethrough the little windows began to grow dusky, the door was thrown openand Luiz and another man entered with food and water. Luiz could not speakEnglish, but he could make pantomime, and in that dumb but suggestive wayhe invited them to partake freely. Long Jim's good humor returned.

  "Don't keer ef I do, Mr. Spaniard," he said jovially. "It's a failin' uvmine to want to eat whenever I'm hungry, an' since you're invitin', why,I'll jest accept."

  The door was left open while Luiz and the soldier were inside, butseveral other soldiers were on guard at the opening, and there was nochance for a dash. But fresh air came in, the cooler air of the evening,and Paul and Long Jim were greatly relieved. Yet Jim Hart cast many alonging glance at the open door. Outside was the wide world, and his placewas there. Darkness was coming, but darkness would have no terrors forLong Jim, if only there were no walls about him.

  When hunger and thirst were satisfied, Luiz and his comrade fell backrespectfully. A tall figure, followed by a man bearing a torch, enteredthe doorway.

  The man was Francisco Alvarez, but neither Paul nor Long Jim rose, Paulbecause he disliked the Spaniard and considered him a bitter enemy of hispeople, Long Jim because he saw no reason why he should rise for anybody.

  Alvarez looked down at them and the sight of the two caused him a mixtureof anger and triumph. His wound still stung, but at the bottom of hisheart was a feeling that he had deserved it. In the presence of his ownretainers, and with all the circumstances in his favor, he had sought tohumiliate a boy. But this faint feeling was not enough to inducecorresponding action. He was also something of a statesman, and he saw thepower behind these two who had come out of the woods. They were foresters,they wore the tanned skin of the deer, but they belonged to the soil; theywere natives, while he, in all his brilliant uniform and gold lace, was aforeigner, merely the long, extended arm of a power four thousand milesaway. The two were but a vanguard, others would come and yet others in avolume, always increasing. The only possibility of saving Louisiana was tocut off the stream at the fountain head, while it was yet a thin andtrickling rill, and he, Francisco Alvarez, was the man for the deed.

  It was because such thoughts as these were passing through his head thathe did not speak for at least a minute, but stood steadily regarding Pauland Long Jim. He knew instinctively that it was Paul to whom he mustspeak, the boy with the thoughtful, dreamy eye, who, like himself, wouldgaze far into the future.

  "Where are your comrades?" he asked, "the other three who helped you tosteal my boat?"

  "Captured it, you mean," replied Paul, calmly. "So long as you use thewords 'steal' and 'thief,' you can talk to the air. I've nothing to say."

  "Nor me either, Paul," said Long Jim, "I can't remember another time in mylife when I felt so little like talkin'."

  Long Jim leaned his head against the wall and half closed his eyes. Hismanner expressed the utmost indifference. Alvarez frowned, but heremembered that they were wholly in his power and he had plans.

  "I'll change the words," he said, "but I repeat the question. Where areyour comrades?"

  "I don't know," replied Paul, and feeling a sudden happy thrill ofdefiance he added: "They are probably somewhere arranging the details ofour rescue."

  Alvarez frowned again.

  "That is impossible," he said. "Perhaps you do not know your position. Youare not at New Orleans. Here I am both the civil and military chief andthis is my own place. I can put you to death as brigands or guerillas,caught red-handed upon Spanish soil."

  "Both charges, you know, are false," said Paul, "you know, too, that wehave come to defeat, if we can, a conspiracy between you and BraxtonWyatt, a renegade whose life is doubly forfeit to his people. He carriesplans, maps, and full information of our settlements in Kentucky, and heexpects that you will go with many soldiers and cannon to help him and thetribes destroy us. What plans you and he have beyond this I do not know,but these, my friends and I hope to defeat, and we feel we could not beengaged in a greater or holier task."

  Paul spoke with great fire and eloquence. His soul was revealed in hiseyes, and Alvarez felt that he was in touch with a mind of no commonorder.

  "Imagination!" said the Spaniard trying to laugh the impression away. "Ifind in Senor Wyatt a pleasant and intelligent assistant. He understandsthe rights of the King of Spain in these vast regions, and has a dueregard for them. You and your comrades are outlaws, subject to the penaltyof death and I hold you in my hand. Yet I am disposed to be generous.Give me your oath that you and your comrade here and the three in thewoods will go back to Kaintock at once and remain there, and I willrelease you."

  Paul regarded him steadily. Bold man as he was, the Spaniard's eyes fellat last.

  "We can give no such promise," said Paul. "I think that the reasons why weshould go on to New Orleans are exceedingly strong."

  "Ez fur me," said Long Jim, "I ain't ever been fond uv goin' back on myown tracks until I git good an' ready."

  "I merely came here to give you a chance," said Alvarez, still addressinghimself to Paul. "Do you think that a few woodsmen can stand in the pathof Spain? Do you think that a great ancient monarchy can be held back bystray settlers?"

  "You seem to be afraid of it yourself," said Paul who was regarding himclosely.

  A flush, despite himself, came into the Spaniard's cheeks, and it waspartly of anger because a boy had read his mind so well. It was not athing to be endured.

  "I repeat that I came merely to give you a chance," he said. "Whatever youmay suffer you can now bear in mind that you are the cause of it. Come,Luiz, I have wasted too much time."

  He walked out followed by the soldier, but Francisco Alvarez had knownbefore entering the prison that his offer would be declined. He merelywished to clear away any light burden that might rest on his conscience,before proceeding with another plan that he had in mind.

  Paul and Jim did not say a word until the door was fastened and they wereleft to the darkness. Then it was Jim who unburdened himself.

  "Paul," he said, "did you ever see a panther gittin' ready to jump? Noticehow his eyes turn a yellery-green, 'cause he thinks he's goin' to git whathe wants right away? Notice how his mouth is slobberin' 'cause he thinkshe's goin' to hev his dinner on the spot. Notice how his body is drawedup, an' his tail is slowly movin' side to side, 'cause he thinks he'sgoin' to sink his claws in tender flesh the next second! Wa'al thatpanther makes me think uv this here Spaniard, Alvarez. I think we kin lookfur jest about ez much kindness an' gentlin' from him ez a fawn couldexpect from a hungry panther."

  "You are certainly right, Jim," said Paul.

  "Uv course! Ef I didn't know thar wuz so many soldiers about, I'd send awhoop through one uv them little winders thar, an' bring Henry, Tom, an'Sol here to let us out."

  "As we can't do that, Jim," said Paul, "I think I'll go to sleep."