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New York 14609 USA igg (716) 482 - 0300 - Ptione ^S (716) 286 - 5989 - Fax r-Kb \.^' ,Av>-^', h. A • \ i'-^^J -^^ A. J S 1 An Idol of Bronze a I COMMIHED TO HIS CHARGE A CuadUn RooMsct. BY XATI and BOBXVA UIAM CrowH Svo^ cloth, 6s. . Athananm.— ' Thu book ii d«cld« srrongly suggeMive of George Eliot's " Scenes from Clerical Life. 1 AN IDOL OF BRONZE By LOUISE PALME.v HEAVEN Author of • Chata and Chinita * Cana^a GEO. N. MORANG & CO., LTD. TORONTO London: GREENING & CO., LTD. 1901 [A/i nights reserved] f^S'-^S7 / ::> \Hoi Copyright IN Great Britain IN The Dominion of Canada AND IN The United States of America 8^^ n n «^- An Idol of Bronze ■i CHAPTER I Upon the western slope of Southern Mexico the Titans wrestled long ages ago, and since they passed away Mother Nature has never had the heart to set in order their devas- tated and deserted playground. Great ridges of bare rock piled with volcanic boulders inter- sect the valleys, which are rich with tropical verdure. River courses, which have rent deep scars upon the mountain sides, are traced across the lowlands by wide wastes of sand or by lines of trees which throw pendant arms from their gnarled trunks to grasp the soil, and form webs of roots amid which riot flowering vines Birds are there, and coundess butterflies that mock the flowers by their brightness; andserpents and lizards glide silently like glints from irri- descent metal. Cat-like animals crouch in the shadows. 2 An Idol of Bronze During nine months of the year the un- clouded splendour of a sky of shimmering blue arches the giant mountain peaks, the jungles and the deep glens, through which water flows like the slenderest sliding thread. For the other three months clouds of purple, rent by lightning and tumultuous with the roar and crack of thunder, pour down floods of rain, which wash and tear every loosened atom from the clifFs, and fill the beds of the rivers with raging torrents and the debris of forest, swamp and field. Though no scene more beautiful may be found upon earth, there are few spots in this chaos of loveliness where man has made his home. The ' barrancas ' or mountain defiles are 'tierra del Gobierno,' literally no man's land. Southward two mountain ranges diverge sufliciently to allow a deep valley to stretch like a broad ribbon, which curves and twines with the sinuosities of the rocky boundaries, and there signs of human habitation appear. This inland haven or bay is flanked upon the east by frowning clifFs. Upon the west, the heights have sunk under volcanic fires to a ridge of hummocks. Upon this hardened scoria, where nothing w An Idol of Bronze ^ more delicate than the great organ cactus or the common '/««^' wiJI grow, the little village of Cruz-Roja has stood for generations. It is a tiny tradmg place, holding itself scorchingly aloof from the coolness and verdure of the valley .t overlooks. Its few inhabitants, though tZ ?''";;=.'^"^^!" ^'^ "^ore those of the Indian than Castihan claim, for the most part, distant kinship with the lordly 'hacendados' ^r land- owners of the district. But they have little in common with them except their names and their pride. They form, however, a critical public in the consideration of all matters of local interest and the « hacendados,' while carrying themselves' haughtily, never cease to be conscious of the censorship of the folk of the ' pueblo ' On the side of the valley opposite Cruz- Roja stands-loftiest and grandest-Ion the line of bare and precipitous peaks, that one which is known as ught; though Carmen avowed that she was looking for a man who was capable of a high of generous thought or action. ^ ' These dolis who talk of honour and bravery know as httle about it as Norberto,' she 3 say, but they are sometimes amusing, and helo to pass the time. Even the best of them think of nothing but eallantrw ,„.j ~ ■ '"™i tnink ' And noiv ^,T^ '"'^ 8»™""g at the club.' And poll ics-' began Dona Florencia. Politics laughed Carmen, with that cynical acuteness that often appeared even in her liVh es speeches, 'politics. The cackling '>/&'• sun pose they use their best powers V keeping ^ et^inrrr 7 '"■'"'"'•"' -«- 'Jin retaining the good graces of Don Porfirio.' >i^ 3'^ An Idol of Bronze ).-^ She swept a deep courtesy as she mentioned the name of the President of the Republic. ' And very right they are,' returned Dona Florencia. ' Where should we find another like him ? Pity it is,' she added musingly, ' that he is an Indian.' ' Vaya, my aunt ! ' cried Carmen, ' are we not all Mexicans ? Bat ii: is we, who have Castilian blood, whD should hide ourselves, or at least not be ashamed of the brown blood — the best blood — in us. The very viceroys were more tolerant than we moderns. My grandmother says it is a new thing to call any Mexican " Indian " as a reproach, and when I think of Guatemotzin and scores of others — of that greatest of all, Benito Jaurez — who gave us a place among nations, and Don Porfirio Diaz, who has maintained it, I say the same.' She stopped in some confusion, as her aunt laughed. ' Don Norberto's ancestry then must please you, if nothing else does,' she remarked. It had in truth been a regret to her that the pure Castilian blood of the Valdivias was to be darkened by the aboriginal strain, which was marked in the heir of Santa-Trinita. Carmen frowned. It annoyed her that every sentiment she exprv'ssed should be turned to is*^ ■wrasfwrr" ^■■^ An /do/ of Bronze Zi the apparent encouragement of the family plans concerning her. It should have been enough, she thought, that sne did not oppose them. It was not long after this that Carmen, we?.ried of the galluntry of the aristocrats of the Capital, began to manifest a sympathetic curiosity anent the doings and speeches of certain agitators, who proclaimed the dignity of labour and the innate superiority of sense and sensibility : possessed by the hewers of wood and drawers of water ; over that of the task- masters who lorded it over them. Carmen naturally Ic.ew little of the merits of the questions, but she burned to learn more, while Dona Florencia, alarmed, wrote to her mother that, for a young lady destined to become the bride of a hacendado of orthodox ideas, her niece perhaps knew too much already. That her education was much more advanced than even the most liberal member of her family could desire. There was a subtle suggestion in this episde that induced the anxious dam*, o write impera- tively to Fernando to return to the hacienda and bring his sister with him. Fernando was more disconcerted than was Carmen by the suddenness of this recall, and with far more reason. He was enrolled upon c 11 ^ms^ 34 An Idol of Bronze the list of members of the most aristocratic club of the city, where the stakes at cards were fabulously high, and where he had been one of the most daring tempters of fortune. As had happened to his father and uncle before him the goddess had first favoured and then abandoned him. He had lost some thousands, enough to seriously cripple his resources, and he was reluctant to retreat without making good his losses. But the struggle was vain, and one night the young man left the club uncertain whether he would not blow out his brains. But the morning brought gentler counsel, and he determined to act the part of the repentant prodigal. After all he reflected, when the interests of Tlaltelzingo were jomed to those of Santa-Trinita, the extra thousands he had lost would matter little. Meanwhile he was without money, and while he waited for remittances, was so domestic in his habits and tastes that he truly charmed his aunt and sister. There was a delay in the arrival of funds that indicated some embarrassment at the hacienda, and the rainy season was therefore well advanced before the returning wanderers found themselves approaching Cruz-Roja. As the train skirted the well-remembered valley they were somewhat dismayed to see a mmmd^j^ Alt Idol of Bnme ,, fine white mist drifting slowly from the mountam tops, filling ,he deep ravines ; and rendenng almost invisible the distant walls wh,ch the,r eyes eagerly sought. How unreal, how spectral they appeared ! As they had journeyed Carmen had thrilled with the expectant joy of home-coming, but as the tram lessened speed, preparatory to stopping to allow of th«r descent, her eyes filled with tears and her heart beat sufl^ocatingly. She knew not why. Who knows when he il passmg mto the atmosphere of crucial life? When Carmen Valdivia left Cruz-Roja she had worn a bnght-coloured if somewhat dingy gown and a flower-trimmed hat, which she h!d supposed eminently suitable for travelling, for the ethics of dress had been as totally unknown eturn 1 g^^^ndmother. Now, on her return she was ,n the strictest tailor-made garb and by the plainness of her appearance ^d^ disappointed the little group of village folk who had gathered to meet her. The men had to ned and : ''^^ TT '^"^ "''^ ^^ -- ciled and some of the women audibly expressed rT^er and ' *™™,T" "'' P'«^°™ were 2her and gayer and altogether more worthy the Senorita. The Senorita could have r^ :»*'s2flt^-«^»ji"i> '•"•-vrdsa-'nL'^nvi -.•»'i*'*i,vs>. wr -*«■ 36 A n Idol of Bronzi assured them on that point. Tlaltelztngo was to see such glories as only London or Paris create. But though her garb was less brilliant than of yore, the Senorita herself seemed to all eyes to have passed through some process of magical transformation. What a glow was on the cheeks that had been used to keep an ivory paleness ! What lustre in the large dark eyes ! How the brown hair twined and glistened under the brim of her black hat ! How slender and lithe was the figure that sprang unaided down the steps, to be clasped in the embrace of her uncle Don Isidor, and then to turn with a pretty air of coquetry to the young man standing at his side ! It was Don Norberto Sanchez, in the blackest and newest of riding suits, booted and spurred as a cavalier should be. But suddenly the on- lookers became aware that Don Norberto was at a disadvantage, a sudden cloud seemed to have fallen upon him. He was vaguely impressed and irritated by it himself as he bent over the hand extended to him. He was awkward and ill at ease, and Carmen, as she heard his voice and felt his touch, became conscious of a subtle inferiority in his personality which she had never before recognised. S-^STS*!"!^- ■ swTi^raBttr An Idol of Bronze 17 * She is beautiful ! She is fit to be the bride of a prince,' thought the young man. ^Caramba! She will find I am Prince in Santa- Trinita.' * Vaya ! this is good bread, no doubt,' re- flected Carmen, in the proverbial phraseology her people use so freely, ' but bread choices one.' She h;id acquired a taste for forbidden ctes, though she did not herself know it. The village folk who crowded the platform — the hale bringing with them their cherished breadwinners, the lame, deformed, and blind beggars — made way for the Senores as they turned towards a group from the hacienda, which was gathered under the trees, a little distance in the rear. The people in the waiting train thought it a pretty sight as they saw all the picturesque elements that indicated the roadside excitement — the beggars forgetting to whine, the vendors to offer their fruits, and the leathern-clad and sandalled porters to work, — while the young lady passed smiling through their midst. The heavy and cumbrous Spanish carriage (that had seen service for at least half a century), and to which were harnessed four strong mules, was in waiting, and also a cart for the baggage, iVia»i»t^"-="r ^i^J^f^^ ■yv >v 38 An Idol of Bronze but the travellers did not wait to see it laden. It was five o'clock, and the rain was expected every moment. The drivers glanced anxiously up at the clouds, and the horsemen unrolled their ponchos from their saddles and threw them over their shoulders. Carmen, her maid, and Don Isidor who, in rainy weather, was gouty, took their seats in the carriage. The packages, of which there were many, for they seem to spring up spontaneously around a Mexican traveller, were piled around them. Carmen kissed her hand to the departing train, which rolled away amid a flutter of white handker- chiefs. The gentlemen mounted their horses, the servants, or mozos, formed an irregular escort, the horses snorted with the excitement produced by the coming storm, and, with igle of accoutrements and a rattle of wheels, the party dashed rapidly away. To the observers on the train and in the village it appeared to plunge headlong down a precipice, for, by a turn in the canon, or in the dense mist which grew more impenetrable each moment, men and horses, even the great bulk of the swaying carriage, were instantly lost to view. The villagers crossed themselves. ' Valgame Dios / ' they said, ' the Senores were mad to leave here to-night. Any roof "-■ ii^k ^■^'fcsrs^iKrfl&fs! PP -■'« An Idol of Bronze 39 would have been better, even that of a dog kennel, than what they are likely to find over them before they reach Tlaltelzingo. Our Lady of Succors be with them ! ' ,3*'f - ■-■« ?1 X5 CHAPTER III The travellers had scarcely left Cruz-Roja in the rear before they, too, commended themselves to their patron saints. Fog and heat rolled up from the valley and enwrapped them in a dull, white film of miasmatic vapours, through which surrounding objects loomed ghostlike. It had been many years since any of the party had encountered such effects of cloud and terrestrial exhalations, for they prevailed only after long drought and when it was about to be ended by floods. There had been seven successive years of dry weather, during which the nominal rainy season had been passed with scorching days and dewless nights. Crops had failed, the cattle upon the hills had died from lack of water and pasturage, and the beauty of the valley had greatly waned. The hills around stood like brass, and only straggling vines, bearing flaunt- ing, poisonous blossoms, and forming the hiding-places for serpents and savage beasts, had flourished and run rampant. This year, as 40 ^ An Idol of Bronze 4» upon its predecessors, rain had been anxiously looked for, and its first appearance had been hailed with delight. It had come in May, anticipating the usual time by nearly a month. Carmen's return had been planned so as to escape any probability of encountering it, and as the drenched days passed while she was still detained in Mexico by Fer- nando's affairs, her relatives were tormented 'oy the most serious apprehensions for her safety. As for Fernando, he became for the time quite a secondary personage. He nad brought fresh complexities into the affairs of the hacienda, and who but Carmen could right them ? Yet now her way home was threatened with danger. The railroad was liable to impassable washouts, and, even the road through the valley from Cruz-Roja, to inundations from the streams — often invisible — that crossed it ; and which were likely at any hour to become roaring torrents and effectually bar the passage of man or beast. Till this time, however, the parched earth had absorbed the abundant rains ; the watercourses had remained within their bounds, and it had not been doubted that the young travellers could be conducted to their home in safety. But suddenly the indications had changed. 42 An Idol of Bronze The weather-wise shook their heads and mut- tered together ominously. The driver urged the panting mules to their utmost, and the escort maintained a steady pace some rods in advance in order to encourage them. The road wound for some distance through a precipitous canon, in which there was semi-darkness, and which was scattered with rocks and dSris car- ried down from the hillsides by the recent rains. A cloud of impenetrable blackness presently seemed to sink downward and arch the walls of the canon. It was thought possible it might float southward and empty itself below the river ford. But the pressure of the atmosphere became greater and greater ; the cloud filled the canon ; and this, added to the asperities of the road, made the descent to the valley a veritable torture. Carmen had soon ceased to ask news of the hacienda, or to attempt to entertain her uncle with the gossip of the Capital. * Valgame Bios ! ' she exclaimed, as the mules tore on at full speed and the lumbering carriage almost das'ied against the walls of the canon, * those animals surely have never been in harness before, and Pancho, the driver, has been drinking too much mescal. For mercy's sake, uncle, stop him ! This is unbearable.' 'r-^KT.i^^ii&iflfr* '^"s fT*^ ~t, :\ An Idol of Bronze 43 Don Isidor leaned out of the window and looked anxiously upward before he answered. He could catch no glimpse of the sky, but he shouted reassuringly to the driver, — 'We shall be all right, Pancho, if we can reach the relay-house before the river rises.' * It is not raining yet,' he added to Carmen, but the hiss of the whip and the cries of the men almost made his words inaudible. The mules perceptibly slackened their pace. Car- men could see their black hides, specked with foam, glittering through the mist. Their ears lay flat upon their heads ; they trembled as they strained. The figures of the escort, before and behind the carriage, loomed up in giant proportions. It was intensely hot, and a menacing silence was bodily felt. The maid on the front seat crossed herself, and Carmen did the same ; but when the maid began to tell her beads Carmen suddenly laughed. She was becoming wildly excited. Something terrible, but new, strange, vivid encompassed her. Someone rode up to the side of the carriage and looked in upon her, as though her voice had summoned him. It was so dark that she could scarcely discern the man's face, but with surprise she saw that it was not that of her brother or of Norberto. i,. . f 44 An Idol of Bronze There was no other that should have dared to approach her. She drew back, puzzled for an instant, and the lurching of the carriage took her breath, then she cried gaspingly, — ' Why, uncle, Cosme Rul is here. 1 thought you had driven him from the hacienda? Did he not nearly kill his stepfather a few months ago ? I thought you had forbidden him to go near Tlaltelzingo because he beat the man so cruelly ? ' 'So I did,' answered Don Isidor, who was glad to talk of anything to divert the thoughts of his niece, ' but it appeared afterwards that the boy was right, and besides, there is not such a vaquero to be found. That sly Pedro is beyond doubt a brute who habitually beats his wife and children. He is a robber too. Some say when he was first married he induced the boy to join him. Be that as it may, there appears to be much bad blood between them now. I am glad it is so. It would be danger- ous to peaceful men should two such strong fellows be in league against them.' 'It is strange the boy has such an evil reputation,' said Carmen. 'Well, yes,' assented her uncle, 'but the fellow is surly with his mates. There is always something suspicious about that, and even the 'M^^. ii ■ An Idol of Bronze 45 padre says he has no right to keep his mother from her husband, bad ai he man is. How- ever, Cosme Rul is a hard worker, and supports the woman and her family. But she, poor creature, is a fool, and ^oes about berating her defender, and bemoaning her buen castigo as she calls her worthless husband. If the boy were wise he would leave her to her deserts, but it fills him with rage that his mother should be beaten, and he swears he will kill Pedro if he goes near her again.' 'How odd it is,' remarked Carmen, 'that most men love women best who are fools. They even prefer that their own mothers should be without reason.' She peered out into the fog. The walls of the canon were still close upon them, though they were near the point where it opened upon the lower level of the valley. The mules plodded on, only for infrequent moments breaking into the gallop to which they were urged by the driver and his soto. The air was closer than ever, and the black cloud pressed lower. Suddenly a forked fire like a red-hot bayonet, darted through it, revealing for a moment the lurid sky. A terrific crash reverberated through the canon. A wind rushed by, bringing with it great scattering 46 An Idol of Bronze drops of rain. The mist was swept away like a scroll. Electric bolts seemed to hurl them- selves from side to side, splitting the rocks, which cracked with echoing detonations, and then followed floods of rain, bringing darkness filled with the roar of thunder. Men had sprung from their horses and closed the windows of the carriage, than regained their horses, as the alarmed and cowering animals turned their flanks to the storm, and gathered for protection under the lee of the clifl=s. The mules, on the contrary, reared in their traces, and strove to turn in the narrow roadway, and the driver and the soto had much ado to keep them from dashing themselves, and the carriage, to pieces against the walls of the canon. As the vehicle reeled and lurched in the terrible glare and confusion of the electric storm, and apparently under the glittering hoofs of the mules, the imprisoned travellers thought their destruction was inevit- able. Don Isidor and the maid sank low on the cushions, almost paralysed with dismay, but Carmen experienced an exultant vigour of mind and body, as though she were made part of the elemental forces about her. At length the storm seemed to expire under torrents of blinding rain, and in the melancholy An Idol of Bronze 47 darkness Carmen sank in the arms of her reviv- ing uncle, more exhausted by the excitement than the terror of the scene, while the reaction wrung from her agonising sobs, that recalled the old gentleman to a remembrance of his duties as her support and protector. Presently the rain lessened to a steady downpour, the escort resumed their places, and the mules plodded heavily forward. After plunging for some time through the almost obliterated road of the canon, they emerged upon the oozing black mud of swamps, tangled with reeds and giant ferns. The valley in its arable portions was largely planted with sugar-cane, and in some places there were enclosures of giant cacti, behind which rose a solitary bamboo hut, roofed with knife-grass ; but all were of tiny dimensions, and so filled with drenched and wretched occupants that the travellers could not hope to obtain shelter within them. A halt was at last imperative. The river was close at hand, and it was decided that it would prove impossible to cross it that night. They had been obliged to abandon the road to the relay-house, and the mules were exhausted and would probably be drowned, should they be forced to attempt the ford. 48 An Idol of Bronze Carmen, who had regained her calmness, looked disconsolately out upon the group of men, each wrapped to his eyes in his dripping serape^ with his wide hat pulled over his brows. Their drenched horses panted under them, seemingly ready to sink into the ground. How wretched and helpless seemed both men and beasts, the masters perhaps more so than the servants. From the comparatively dry interior of the carriage, Don Isidor demanded impatiently what was to be done, and the men naturally looked to the young Senores for orders. Don Norberto feebly proposed that the party should return to Cruz-Roja for the night, though he knew as well as anyone how impossible it would be to retrace the precipitous path. Fernando suggested that an outrider should be sent to look at the river, but it was easy enough to guess its condition from the dull roar that reached their ears, and the overflow that eddied round them in the bogs and swamps. Through the deep forest upon their left was seen, under shallow water, a narrow vereda, or bridle-path, over which boughs hung so low that a horse might scarcely pass beneath them ; but during the conference one of the mozos forced his way in, and after a short reconnais- An Idol of Bronze 49 sance returned, to advise the party to do the same, as there was a hut not far away where both the travellers and their animals might find shelter. This information was brought by Cosme Rul, and, had the need been less pressing, would have probably been received with misgiving, but as there was not the least hope that the ford could be crossed, no shelter which offered for the night was to be rejected. Don Fernando gave orders at once that the peon should lead them mto the wood. It was readily apparent that the carriage could not enter, and it was decided to leave it to the care of the driver and his soto or helper ; but it was a much more perplexing matter to ascertain how Carmen was to be transported, with even partial shelter from the rain which still fell— with less violence— but with steady persistence. The young girl scarcely knew how the matter was determined, but in a i^^ moments she found herself wrapped in a man's strap, seated on the neck of a horse, and clinging to an arm which, as unyielding as steel, was clasped around her waist. She felt no tremor of timidity, for her childhood's days were not so distant that she had forgotten journeys made on the saddle-bow of some trusted servant. Even had her lover 50 An Idol of Bronze been her conductor, reserve under the circum- stances would have been superfluous, but it was to one of the expert horsemen — a servant — to whom she had been consigned, and she thought with some anger, a singularly rough one. He forced his horse to a mad pace, and made neither stop nor pause, though the path was blocked with fallen trees and stones, and so crowded by thorny bushes that Carmen expected every moment to be pulled to the ground. But there was no chance of that. The man's grasp did not relax for an instant, and his horse leaped every obstacle, lifted and guided by the sinewy hand that Carmen felt at her side. Pre- sently she felt a wild exultation in her rapid flight and the sense of power which was about her. So might have felt a nymph of old in the clasp of a god. She glanced back. Not a creature was in sight. Then forward to what seemed im- penetrable solitude. Then, with a gasp, she descried the dark face of the man who was bearing her away. She had not before known that he was Cosme Rul. He was not looking at her, but forward into the gloom, as though defying any hindrance to the act he had resolved upon. Her conversation with her uncle flashed upon her mind. Why had they trusted her with this An Idol of Bronze 5 1 man? Wild memories of plajios, or kidnap- pmg for the sake of ransom, passed through her brain. She knew, too, that such reflections must be tormenting those who had given her from their keeping ; but, in reality, their fears were more terrible than she could conceive of. They had supposed that a detour of a few yards would bring them to the hut of which he had spoken, but it proved to lie a mile or more from the main road, and the time which elapsed before it came in view seemed interminable to the anxious Don Isidor, and both Fernando and Norberto were seething with rage when they at last saw Cosme Rul standing calmly in the low doorway of an adobe building, covered with vines, which rendered it barely distinguishable from the surrounding forest. Carmen stood there also, laughing, though evide itly relieved from soi,..- nervous tension. The bui'ding was too considerable a one to be the homt of a mere field labourer or shep- herd. The sheds around it were many, and were filled with barley and straw, and, it might be seen, many horses were habitually stabled m them, though not one was there at that time. In the hut itself were a number of rude beds mere benches of adobe, ranged around the wall and covered with sheepskins. Broken g-;n ft S'i An Idol of Bronze stocks and other implements scattered about indicated that the place was used as a rendezvous rather than as a p Tmanent dwelling-place. Though glad of the shelter, there was not a man — gentle or simple — but that looked askance at hiri who had led them to it. Who but a ladron would have been able to conduct them so readily and so safely to this robbers* den? For that such it was no one could doubt. While the horses were being stabled the gentlemen communicated their suspicions to each other in low voices. Fernando, in an adventurous spirit, exhibited a lively relish of the situation, while Don Norberto counselled an immediate retreat, representing earnestly to Don Isidor the dangers to whi Carmen would be ex- posed should ^;.j bandits return to their stronghold . ♦Bah ! Let them come,' cried Fernando. • They will find to their cost that their landlord is in possession.' The hut indeed stood upon the lands of Tlaltelzingo, and was one of many of which the owners had no cognisance. ' Let them come. We are not cowards, and our arms are ready.' ♦ It is strange,' said Don Isidor, ' that in all their searchings the rurales — mounted police —