Read Ebook: The Scarlet Shoulders; or The Miner Rangers by Badger Jos E Joseph Edward

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Ebook has 322 lines and 37042 words, and 7 pages

"Thank God it was you. But listen. My Carlita is beautiful and good--even a father may say that--and she loves you, better far than life itself. And you--can you, do you love her?" anxiously asked Ventura.

"No, no, Marcos, my son, you are wrong," said Ventura. "I am not wandering; my brain is not crazed. Although the blessed Virgin knows that I have endured enough to make me so. I am speaking the truth when I say that if you marry Carlita, after I am gone, you will be wealthy; with gold that you could not count in a lifetime, and lands where you may gallop all day long, in a straight line, without touching an inch of ground that does not call you master."

"Well, let us go to the house, for I am fearfully hungry. I have not eaten a mouthful of food since last night," lightly returned Sayosa.

Her father had appeared at their present situation when she was yet an infant, and although, from the great contrast between the two, it was hinted they were not of such close relationship, yet he was her father.

With them had come a boy, Marcos Sayosa, who had been taught to call the one uncle and the other cousin. But when he grew older and began to ask about his parents, Tomas Ventura told him that he was not a nephew, or, indeed, any relation whatever. That a man and woman had come to his house, asking shelter, where he had been born. The father was badly wounded in the conflict with banditti in which they had lost their all, excepting the clothes they wore, and had managed to escape and wander to his hut. The man died of his wounds, and after Marcos' birth his mother sunk rapidly from grief for her husband, and on the third day she also died. They were buried side by side, and Ventura determined to adopt the child, calling it after its father's name, and had done so, rearing him as though he was of his own flesh and blood, although it was a constant struggle with him to obtain food for the mouths of those dependent upon him.

This was the story that Marcos had heard. Who or what his parents were he could not learn. They had been robbed of every thing--not even a scrap of paper was to be found--and in their woful condition Ventura had not ventured to question them; and no clue, excepting the one name, was dropped from their lips.

With this Sayosa was forced to be content, and as his years increased, he learned to love the sweet Carlita, and she him. They were pledged to each other, and until the hour in which he met Luisa Canelo, he had thoughts for none other. But now he was bewildered, and knew not what to do. Although he declared to himself that he loved Carlita, and her only, his thoughts would wander to Luisa, and her image was far oftener present to his mind than he would have cared to admit.

Luisa's eyes were fixed upon her brother's face, and the change in it was so sudden and strange, that she could not suppress an exclamation of alarm. His face blanched to an ashen white, and his form shook as though he had an ague-fit, while there was a wild, half-crazed glare in his eyes, that frightened her, she scarce knew why. But the sound of her voice recalled Felipe to his senses, and with an effort he regained his composure sufficiently to speak coherently.

"No, Pepe; he means no mischief, and even if he did, it is not one man who would get the better of me," laughed Felipe, but it was in a constrained manner. "Go now, and saddle Peralta, and fasten him at the gate. I will be there in five minutes. Come, Luisa, let us return to the house," he added, taking her arm and leaving the arbor.

"Felipe--brother, do not go to that man. I know that something dreadful will happen if you do," pleaded Luisa.

"But that would be better; then where there were so many around, he would not harm you," interrupted the maiden, eagerly.

"Not for the world would--I mean it would not be pleasant, sister; at least, just at present," stammered Felipe. "And there is no danger. Besides, I shall go armed. So say no more about it, and when I come back we will laugh heartily over your foolish fancies," he added, lightly.

That it was a secret topic they were discussing was plainly evidenced by the continual glances that were cast around them, as if to guard against espial or interruption, but they were directed beyond where the spy was crouched. Perhaps an hour afterward the two men separated, Felipe riding homeward slowly, the stranger galloping rapidly off toward Guanajuato.

When they moved out of sight the spy arose, and looking toward the point where the latter had disappeared, clenched his fist and shook it vindictively, hissing between his closed teeth as he did so.

"Carajo! yes; more than I could wish. He owes me for two nights' drinking, and what a head he has got, to be sure! He said you would see me paid."

"Very good. Include it with my bill. Send a bottle of wine and some cigarettes--not like the bundle you gave me the other day, or I will ram them down my pistol and use your head for a target."

"None. You rob the traveler in one way, I in another; ha, ha!" laughed Romulo, as he passed to the further end of the vacant room, where he seated himself at a small table.

"And the person's name is--?"

"One Marcos Sayosa, a miner of Los Rayas, and, I have heard, the chief of those who call themselves Scarlet Shoulders," returned the captain.

"Good, and at the same time I can discharge the little sum he owes me!" exclaimed Cohecho, clutching his long knife vindictively.

"Ah, you know him, then?"

For reply Don Sylva narrated the adventures of the night on which he had played the spy.

"Not to my knowledge. If you had, you would not be sitting here now."

"He is your enemy, and mine also. I shall claim the money within the week, perhaps before another night. But the other--"

"Is an altogether different affair. You will be paid for it, as I told you, just as soon as the work is done."

"Nothing--nothing at all," drawing a little back from the table, as if in expectation of an attack. "I only thought--"

"See that you do. I never warn twice."

"Have you any further orders?"

"None; except that you be here to-morrow night, to report progress in the first affair. Then you can attend to this miner, Sayosa."

"You wrong me, master. Remember, there are many little bribes to give that I can not avoid, and--"

"Yes, you may strut and put on airs for a while longer, you cursed dog, but only for a little while. Let me once receive my gold, and then--I will give you a receipt in full! Oh, won't it be delicious when I am free, and settle your curses and your jeers with the knife? When I strike you to the heart, and then, as you gasp out your life at my feet, I will do as you have threatened me--pluck out your tongue and thrust it down your throat! I could die then, perfectly happy. No, not die; oh, no! I shall be rich then, and with the gold you give me, I will double and double it, until I can count it by thousands of ounces! No, no, not die; life would be too sweet then, and I will live for years--years of pleasure and feasting. Oh, the gold, and wine, and women! for them I will live--live forever!" murmured the hideous ruffian, as he drank repeatedly from the bottles before him, lost to the present, busied only with gorgeous images of the future.

Fortune is the only God he worships. He goes to his dangerous occupation as if specially sent there by Divine Providence; and this proud thought is, by the laws of the country, highly favored, the privilege according the title of nobility to the worker in the mines. Even at this day, he can not be dispossessed by his creditor of his mine, if he can afford to work it.

Besides a knowledge of metals to guide him in his search, the miner must be endowed with a number of rare qualities, from that vigorous strength indispensable to one who has to raise heavy burdens, and support all day the enervating fatigue of underground work, down to activity and pliancy of limb, united with undaunted resolution and coolness. Sometimes, after toiling for a month, during which he has barely earned enough to live upon, in a week, or even in a day, he recompenses himself for his long privations. The miner then thanks Dame Fortune. He scatters his gold with a lavish hand, and returns to his work only when all his gains are exhausted.

Ever willing to accommodate, the young miner signified his readiness, and began the necessary preparation, looking somewhat curiously at the stranger who was brave enough to risk the ascent upon his first visit to the mine. Another miner was assisting him to dress in a sort of jacket and trowsers, of thick wool, intended to prevent the water, that shot forth in fine rain at several places along the shaft, from penetrating his clothes. A long stick, or baton, was used to prevent his being dashed to pieces against the rocks, by the oscillation of the rope, to which they were fastened by means of a plaited rope made from the bark of the aloe. Sayosa was about to take the post of danger, or the upper position, when the stranger spoke, in a courteous voice:

"And do you know the danger?" asked the astonished miner.

"Perfectly. I have often ascended that of Fresvillo, at Zacatecas."

"Very well. If you are willing I am." But he looked curiously at the stranger, who, however, did not appear to notice this, as he was attending to his strap.

He was rather tall, well-dressed, and of a handsome form that was not impaired by his apparent age. Indeed, his lithe, springy movements did not accord with his long, gray hair and beard that almost covered his face. The gray skull cap was drawn close down to his eyebrows, and made the disguise, if such it was, perfect. For a moment Marcos was slightly suspicious; but when he heard the voice of the stranger this was lulled, and he banished all such thoughts.

The signal was now given, and the two adventurers slowly ascended into the shaft. For perhaps five minutes they advanced foot by foot, and then the horses above paused for breath. Each of the men carried a torch in his hand, but the light of which was rendered faint and uncertain by the damp vapor that arose from the subterranean recesses.

For a novice it would have been a trying situation, replete with real and imaginary dangers. Suppose the cable should break, or the strap in which they sat should slip down the rope, or become untied? There was no knot at the end to stop such. And then the fall!

To one the shaft seems to be divided into three distinct zones. At his feet a thick darkness dimmed the horror of that gulf which no eye could fathom. The very vagueness of the danger renders it tenfold more trying, while the white, tepid vapors arise slowly from the dark bottom, mounting toward them.

Close around them the torches lighted up with a smoky glimmer the green, slime-covered rocks, cut and torn in all directions by the pickax and the wedge. As the rope slowly twisted around, or oscillated from side to side, the rough and jagged profiles appeared endowed with life, now taking the form of some fearful monster, or assuming the shape of some one of the horrible demons with which the fertile imagination of the miners had peopled the bowels of the earth--guardian spirits of the countless wealth, and by the illusion of a fanciful brain, excited at the novel position, they appeared to be moving stealthily around to gain your rear, and one half closes his eyes with the momentary expectation of receiving its leap.

In the upper region a dense column of thick mist pressed around the circle of light cast by the torches, shutting one completely out from the light of day. It is a trying ordeal, even to a strong mind, and yet it has its charm.

Then the ascent was resumed and the visions vanished. The stranger now lighted a bundle of tow, steeped in pitch, at his torch, and dropped it down the shaft. Their eyes could scarcely follow it, as it slowly descended the pit, like a globe of fire, until it seemed as small as one of those pole stars, whose light scarcely reaches the earth. Once more the ascent paused.

"And for what?" returned Marcos, a little startled at the changed tones of his companion.

"Because I wished it. We are now just half way from the bottom. Do you know what would be the fate of a man who should fall from this distance?"

"His body would be dashed to pieces upon the floor, but he would not know it. He would be dashed to pieces before he reached it. But why do you ask?"

"Oh, from a mere whim of mine, I suppose," laughed the stranger, a wild, half-sneering, half-ferocious laugh, that startled Sayosa, he scarcely knew why.

"But why did you wish to pause here? The damp is not pleasant, and my time is valuable," he asked, a little impatiently.

"I wished to examine the walls, and tell you a little story. But fear not. I will recompense you for lost time when we reach the upper world, if we ever do."

"If we ever do--what do you mean?"

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