Майн Рид
Headless Horseman
Chapter Nine. The Frontier Fort
The “star-spangled banner” suspended above Fort Inge, as it flouts forth from its tall staff, flings its fitful shadow over a scene of strange and original interest.
It is a picture of pure frontier life — which perhaps only the pencil of the younger Vernet could truthfully portray — half military, half civilian — half savage, half civilised — mottled with figures of men whose complexions, costumes, and callings, proclaim them appertaining to the extremes of both, and every possible gradation between.
Even the mise-en-scène — the Fort itself — is of this miscegenous character. That star-spangled banner waves not over bastions and battlements; it flings no shadow over casemate or covered way, fosse, scarpment, or glacis — scarce anything that appertains to a fortress. A rude stockade, constructed out of trunks of algarobia, enclosing shed-stabling for two hundred horses; outside this a half-score of buildings of the plainest architectural style — some of them mere huts of “wattle and daub” — jacalés — the biggest a barrack; behind it the hospital, the stores of the commissary, and quartermaster; on one side the guardhouse; and on the other, more pretentiously placed, the messroom and officers’ quarters; all plain in their appearance — plastered and whitewashed with the lime plentifully found on the Leona — all neat and clean, as becomes a cantonment of troops wearing the uniform of a great civilised nation. Such is Fort Inge.
At a short distance off another group of houses meets the eye — nearly, if not quite, as imposing as the cluster above described bearing the name of “The Fort.” They are just outside the shadow of the flag, though under its protection — for to it are they indebted for their origin and existence. They are the germ of the village that universally springs up in the proximity of an American military post — in all probability, and at no very remote period, to become a town — perhaps a great city.
At present their occupants are a sutler, whose store contains “knick-knacks” not classed among commissariat rations; an hotel-keeper whose bar-room, with white sanded floor and shelves sparkling with prismatic glass, tempts the idler to step in; a brace of gamblers whose rival tables of faro and monté extract from the pockets of the soldiers most part of their pay; a score of dark-eyed señoritas of questionable reputation; a like number of hunters, teamsters, mustangers, and nondescripts — such as constitute in all countries the hangers-on of a military cantonment, or the followers of a camp.
The houses in the occupancy of this motley corporation have been “sited” with some design. Perhaps they are the property of a single speculator. They stand around a “square,” where, instead of lamp-posts or statues, may be seen the decaying trunk of a cypress, or the bushy form of a hackberry rising out of a tapis of trodden grass.
The Leona — at this point a mere rivulet — glides past in the rear both of fort and village. To the front extends a level plain, green as verdure can make it — in the distance darkened by a bordering of woods, in which post-oaks and pecâns, live oaks and elms, struggle for existence with spinous plants of cactus and anona; with scores of creepers, climbers, and parasites almost unknown to the botanist. To the south and east along the banks of the stream, you see scattered houses: the homesteads of plantations; some of them rude and of recent construction, with a few of more pretentious style, and evidently of older origin. One of these last particularly attracts the attention: a structure of superior size — with flat roof, surmounted by a crenelled parapet — whose white walls show conspicuously against the green background of forest with which it is half encircled. It is the hacienda of Casa del Corvo.
Turning your eye northward, you behold a curious isolated eminence — a gigantic cone of rocks — rising several hundred feet above the level of the plain; and beyond, in dim distance, a waving horizontal line indicating the outlines of the Guadalupe mountains — the outstanding spurs of that elevated and almost untrodden plateau, the Llano Estacado.
Look aloft! You behold a sky, half sapphire, half turquoise; by day, showing no other spot than the orb of its golden god; by night, studded with stars that appear clipped from clear steel, and a moon whose well-defined disc outshines the effulgence of silver.
Look below — at that hour when moon and stars have disappeared, and the land-wind arrives from Matagorda Bay, laden with the fragrance of flowers; when it strikes the starry flag, unfolding it to the eye of the morn — then look below, and behold the picture that should have been painted by the pencil of Vernet — too varied and vivid, too plentiful in shapes, costumes, and colouring, to be sketched by the pen.
In the tableau you distinguish soldiers in uniform — the light blue of the United States infantry, the darker cloth of the dragoons, and the almost invisible green of the mounted riflemen.
You will see but few in full uniform — only the officer of the day, the captain of the guard, and the guard itself.
Their comrades off duty lounge about the barracks, or within the stockade enclosure, in red flannel shirts, slouch hats, and boots innocent of blacking.
They mingle with men whose costumes make no pretence to a military character: tall hunters in tunics of dressed deerskin, with leggings to correspond — herdsmen and mustangers, habited à la Mexicaine — Mexicans themselves, in wide calzoneros, serapés on their shoulders, botas on their legs, huge spurs upon their heels, and glazed sombreros set jauntily on their crowns. They palaver with Indians on a friendly visit to the Fort, for trade or treaty; whose tents stand at some distance, and from whose shoulders hang blankets of red, and green, and blue — giving them a picturesque, even classical, appearance, in spite of the hideous paint with which they have bedaubed their skins, and the dirt that renders sticky their long black hair, lengthened by tresses taken from the tails of their horses.
Picture to the eye of your imagination this jumble of mixed nationalities — in their varied costumes of race, condition, and calling; jot in here and there a black-skinned scion of Ethiopia, the body servant of some officer, or the emissary of a planter from the adjacent settlements; imagine them standing in gossiping groups, or stalking over the level plain, amidst some half-dozen halted waggons; a couple of six-pounders upon their carriages, with caissons close by; a square tent or two, with its surmounting fly — occupied by some eccentric officer who prefers sleeping under canvas; a stack of bayoneted rifles belonging to the soldiers on guard, — imagine all these component parts, and you will have before your mind’s eye a truthful picture of a military fort upon the frontier of Texas, and the extreme selvedge of civilisation.
About a week after the arrival of the Louisiana planter at his new home, three officers were seen standing upon the parade ground in front of Fort Inge, with their eyes turned towards the hacienda of Casa del Corvo.
They were all young men: the oldest not over thirty years of age. His shoulder-straps with the double bar proclaimed him a captain; the second, with a single cross bar, was a first lieutenant; while the youngest of the two, with an empty chevron, was either a second lieutenant or “brevet.”
They were off duty; engaged in conversation — their theme, the “new people” in Casa del Corvo — by which was meant the Louisiana planter and his family.
“A sort of housewarming it’s to be,” said the infantry captain, alluding to an invitation that had reached the Fort, extending to all the commissioned officers of the garrison. “Dinner first, and dancing afterwards — a regular field day, where I suppose we shall see paraded the aristocracy and beauty of the settlement.”
“Aristocracy?” laughingly rejoined the lieutenant of dragoons. “Not much of that here, I fancy; and of beauty still less.”
“You mistake, Hancock. There are both upon the banks of the Leona. Some good States families have strayed out this way. We’ll meet them at Poindexter’s party, no doubt. On the question of aristocracy, the host himself, if you’ll pardon a poor joke, is himself a host. He has enough of it to inoculate all the company that may be present; and as for beauty, I’ll back his daughter against anything this side the Sabine. The commissary’s niece will be no longer belle about here.”
“Oh, indeed!” drawled the lieutenant of rifles, in a tone that told of his being chafed by this representation. “Miss Poindexter must be deuced good-looking, then.”
“She’s all that, I tell you, if she be anything like what she was when I last saw her, which was at a Bayou Lafourche ball. There were half a dozen young Creoles there, who came nigh crossing swords about her.”
“A coquette, I suppose?” insinuated the rifleman.
“Nothing of the kind, Crossman. Quite the contrary, I assure you. She’s a girl of spirit, though — likely enough to snub any fellow who might try to be too familiar. She’s not without some of the father’s pride. It’s a family trait of the Poindexters.”
“Just the girl I should cotton to,” jocosely remarked the young dragoon. “And if she’s as good-looking as you say, Captain Sloman, I shall certainly go in for her. Unlike Crossman here, I’m clear of all entanglements of the heart. Thank the Lord for it!”
“Well, Mr Hancock,” rejoined the infantry officer, a gentleman of sober inclinings, “I’m not given to betting; but I’d lay a big wager you won’t say that, after you have seen Louise Poindexter — that is, if you speak your mind.”
“Pshaw, Sloman! don’t you be alarmed about me. I’ve been too often under the fire of bright eyes to have any fear of them.”
“None so bright as hers.”
“Deuce take it! you make a fellow fall in love with this lady without having set eyes upon her. She must be something extraordinary — incomparable.”
“She was both, when I last saw her.”
“How long ago was that?”
“The Lafourche ball? Let me see — about eighteen months. Just after we got back from Mexico. She was then ‘coming out’ as society styles it: —
“A new star in the firmament, to light and glory born!”
“Eighteen months is a long time,” sagely remarked Crossman — “a long time for an unmarried maiden — especially among Creoles, where they often get spliced at twelve, instead of ‘sweet sixteen.’ Her beauty may have lost some of its bloom?”
“I believe not a bit. I should have called to see; only I knew they were in the middle of their ‘plenishing,’ and mightn’t desire to be visited. But the major has been to Casa del Corvo, and brought back such a report about Miss Poindexter’s beauty as almost got him into a scrape with the lady commanding the post.”
“Upon my soul, Captain Sloman!” asseverated the lieutenant of dragoons, “you’ve excited my curiosity to such a degree, I feel already half in love with Louise Poindexter!”
“Before you get altogether into it,” rejoined the officer of infantry, in a serious tone, “let me recommend a little caution. There’s a bête noir in the background.”
“A brother, I suppose? That is the individual usually so regarded.”
“There is a brother, but it’s not he. A free noble young fellow he is — the only Poindexter I ever knew not eaten up with pride, he’s quite the reverse.”
“The aristocratic father, then? Surely he wouldn’t object to a quartering with the Hancocks?”
“I’m not so sure of that; seeing that the Hancocks are Yankees, and he’s a chivalric Southerner! But it’s not old Poindexter I mean.”
“Who, then, is the black beast, or what is it — if not a human?”
“It is human, after a fashion. A male cousin — a queer card he is — by name Cassius Calhoun.”
“I think I’ve heard the name.”
“So have I,” said the lieutenant of rifles.
“So has almost everybody who had anything to do with the Mexican war — that is, who took part in Scott’s campaign. He figured there extensively, and not very creditably either. He was captain in a volunteer regiment of Mississippians — for he hails from that State; but he was oftener met with at the monté-table than in the quarters of his regiment. He had one or two affairs, that gave him the reputation of a bully. But that notoriety was not of Mexican-war origin. He had earned it before going there; and was well known among the desperadoes of New Orleans as a dangerous man.”
“What of all that?” asked the young dragoon, in a tone slightly savouring of defiance. “Who cares whether Mr Cassius Calhoun be a dangerous man, or a harmless one? Not I. He’s only the girl’s cousin, you say?”
“Something more, perhaps. I have reason to think he’s her lover.”
“Accepted, do you suppose?”
“That I can’t tell. I only know, or suspect, that he’s the favourite of the father. I have heard reasons why; given only in whispers, it is true, but too probable to be scouted. The old story — influence springing from mortgage money. Poindexter’s not so rich as he has been — else we’d never have seen him out here.”
“If the lady be as attractive as you say, I suppose we’ll have Captain Cassius out here also, before long?”
“Before long! Is that all you know about it? He is here; came along with the family, and is now residing with them. Some say he’s a partner in the planting speculation. I saw him this very morning — down in the hotel bar-room — ‘liquoring up,’ and swaggering in his old way.”
“A swarthy-complexioned man, of about thirty, with dark hair and moustaches; wearing a blue cloth frock, half military cut, and a Colt’s revolver strapped over his thigh?”
“Ay, and a bowie knife, if you had looked for it, under the breast of his coat. That’s the man.”
“He’s rather a formidable-looking fellow,” remarked the young rifleman. “If a bully, his looks don’t belie him.”
“Damn his looks!” half angrily exclaimed the dragoon. “We don’t hold commissions in Uncle Sam’s army to be scared by looks, nor bullies either. If he comes any of his bullying over me, he’ll find I’m as quick with a trigger as he.”
At that moment the bugle brayed out the call for morning parade — a ceremony observed at the little frontier fort as regularly as if a whole corps-d’armée had been present — and the three officers separating, betook themselves to their quarters to prepare their several companies for the inspection of the major in command of the cantonment.
Chapter Ten. Casa Del Corvo
The estate, or “hacienda,” known as Casa del Corvo, extended along the wooded bottom of the Leona River for more than a league, and twice that distance southwards across the contiguous prairie.
The house itself — usually, though not correctly, styled the hacienda — stood within long cannon range of Fort Inge; from which its white walls were partially visible; the remaining portion being shadowed by tall forest trees that skirted the banks of the stream.
Its site was peculiar, and no doubt chosen with a view to defence: for its foundations had been laid at a time when Indian assailants might be expected; as indeed they might be, and often are, at the present hour.
There was a curve of the river closing upon itself, like the shoe of a racehorse, or the arc of a circle, three parts complete; the chord of which, or a parallelogram traced upon it, might be taken as the ground-plan of the dwelling. Hence the name — Casa del Corvo — “the House of the Curve” (curved river).
The façade, or entrance side, fronted towards the prairie — the latter forming a noble lawn that extended to the edge of the horizon — in comparison with which an imperial park would have shrunk into the dimensions of a paddock.
The architecture of Casa del Corvo, like that of other large country mansions in Mexico, was of a style that might be termed Morisco-Mexican: being a single story in height, with a flat roof — azotea — spouted and parapeted all round; having a courtyard inside the walls, termed patio, open to the sky, with a flagged floor, a fountain, and a stone stairway leading up to the roof; a grand entrance gateway — the saguan — with a massive wooden door, thickly studded with bolt-heads; and two or three windows on each side, defended by a grille of strong iron bars, called reja. These are the chief characteristics of a Mexican hacienda; and Casa del Corvo differed but little from the type almost universal throughout the vast territories of Spanish America.
Such was the homestead that adorned the newly acquired estate of the Louisiana planter — that had become his property by purchase.
As yet no change had taken place in the exterior of the dwelling; nor much in its interior, if we except the personnel of its occupants. A physiognomy, half Anglo-Saxon, half Franco-American, presented itself in courtyard and corridor, where formerly were seen only faces of pure Spanish type; and instead of the rich sonorous language of Andalusia, was now heard the harsher guttural of a semi-Teutonic tongue — occasionally diversified by the sweeter accentuation of Creolian French.
Outside the walls of the mansion — in the village-like cluster of yucca-thatched huts which formerly gave housing to the peons and other dependants of the hacienda — the transformation was more striking. Where the tall thin vaquero, in broad-brimmed hat of black glaze, and chequered serapé, strode proudly over the sward — his spurs tinkling at every step — was now met the authoritative “overseer,” in blue jersey, or blanket coat — his whip cracking at every corner; where the red children of Azteca and Anahuac, scantily clad in tanned sheepskin, could be seen, with sad solemn aspect, lounging listlessly by their jacalés, or trotting silently along, were now heard the black sons and daughters of Ethiopia, from morn till night chattering their gay “gumbo,” or with song and dance seemingly contradicting the idea: that slavery is a heritage of unhappiness!
Was it a change for the better upon the estate of Casa del Corvo?
There was a time when the people of England would have answered — no; with a unanimity and emphasis calculated to drown all disbelief in their sincerity.
Alas, for human weakness and hypocrisy! Our long cherished sympathy with the slave proves to have been only a tissue of sheer dissembling. Led by an oligarchy — not the true aristocracy of our country: for these are too noble to have yielded to such, deep designings — but an oligarchy composed of conspiring plebs, who have smuggled themselves into the first places of power in all the four estates — guided by these prurient conspirators against the people’s rights — England has proved untrue to her creed so loudly proclaimed — truculent to the trust reposed in her by the universal acclaim, of the nations.
On a theme altogether different dwelt the thoughts of Louise Poindexter, as she flung herself into a chair in front of her dressing-glass, and directed her maid Florinda to prepare her for the reception of guests — expected soon to arrive at the hacienda.
It was the day fixed for the “house-warming,” and about an hour before the time appointed for dinner to be on the table. This might have explained a certain restlessness observable in the air of the young Creole — especially observed by Florinda; but it did not. The maid had her own thoughts about the cause of her mistress’s disquietude — as was proved by the conversation that ensued between them.
Scarce could it be called a conversation. It was more as if the young lady were thinking aloud, with her attendant acting as an echo. During all her life, the Creole had been accustomed to look upon her sable handmaid as a thing from whom it was not worth while concealing her thoughts, any more than she would from the chairs, the table, the sofa, or any other article of furniture in the apartment. There was but the difference of Florinda being a little more animated and companionable, and the advantage of her being able to give a vocal response to the observations addressed to her.
For the first ten minutes after entering the chamber, Florinda had sustained the brunt of the dialogue on indifferent topics — her mistress only interfering with an occasional ejaculation.
“Oh, Miss Looey!” pursued the negress, as her fingers fondly played among the lustrous tresses of her young mistress’s hair, “how bewful you hair am! Like de long ’Panish moss dat hang from de cyprus-tree; only dat it am ob a diff’rent colour, an shine like the sugar-house ’lasses.”
As already stated, Louise Poindexter was a Creole. After that, it is scarce necessary to say that her hair was of a dark colour; and — as the sable maid in rude speech had expressed it — luxuriant as Spanish moss. It was not black; but of a rich glowing brown — such as may be observed in the tinting of a tortoise-shell, or the coat of a winter-trapped sable.
“Ah!” continued Florinda, spreading out an immense “hank” of the hair, that glistened like a chestnut against her dark palm, “if I had dat lubbly hair on ma head, in’tead ob dis cuss’d cully wool, I fotch em all to ma feet — ebbry one oh dem.”
“What do you mean, girl?” inquired the young lady, as if just aroused from some dreamy reverie. “What’s that you’ve been saying? Fetch them to your feet? Fetch whom?”
“Na, now; you know what dis chile mean?”
“’Pon honour, I do not.”
“Make em lub me. Dat’s what I should hab say.”
“But whom?”
“All de white gen’l’m. De young planter, de officer ob de Fort — all ob dem. Wif you hair, Miss Looey, I could dem all make conquess.”
“Ha — ha — ha!” laughed the young lady, amused at the idea of Florinda figuring under that magnificent chevelure. “You think, with my hair upon your head, you would be invincible among the men?”
“No, missa — not you hair alone — but wif you sweet face — you skin, white as de alumbaster — you tall figga — you grand look. Oh, Miss Looey, you am so ’plendidly bewful! I hear de white gen’l’m say so. I no need hear em say it. I see dat for masef.”
“You’re learning to flatter, Florinda.”
“No, ’deed, missa — ne’er a word ob flattery — ne’er a word, I swa it. By de ’postles, I swa it.”
To one who looked upon her mistress, the earnest asseveration of the maid was not necessary to prove the sincerity of her speech, however hyperbolical it might appear. To say that Louise Poindexter was beautiful, would only be to repeat the universal verdict of the society that surrounded her. A single glance was sufficient to satisfy any one upon this point — strangers as well as acquaintances. It was a kind of beauty that needed no discovering — and yet it is difficult to describe it. The pen cannot portray swell a face. Even the pencil could convey but a faint idea of it: for no painter, however skilled, could represent upon cold canvas the glowing ethereal light that emanated from her eyes, and appeared to radiate over her countenance. Her features were purely classic: resembling those types of female beauty chosen by Phidias or Praxiteles. And yet in all the Grecian Pantheon there is no face to which it could have been likened: for it was not the countenance of a goddess; but, something more attractive to the eye of man, the face of a woman.
A suspicion of sensuality, apparent in the voluptuous curving of the lower lip — still more pronounced in the prominent rounding beneath the cheeks — while depriving the countenance of its pure spiritualism, did not perhaps detract from its beauty. There are men, who, in this departure from the divine type, would have perceived a superior charm: since in Louise Poindexter they would have seen not a divinity to be worshipped, but a woman to be loved.
Her only reply vouchsafed to Florinda’s earnest asseveration was a laugh — careless, though not incredulous. The young Creole did not need to be reminded of her beauty. She was not unconscious of it: as could be told by her taking more than one long look into the mirror before which her toilet was being made. The flattery of the negress scarce called up an emotion; certainly not more than she might have felt at the fawning of a pet spaniel; and she soon after surrendered herself to the reverie from which the speech had aroused her.
Florinda was not silenced by observing her mistress’s air of abstraction. The girl had evidently something on her mind — some mystery, of which she desired the éclaircissement — and was determined to have it.
“Ah!” she continued, as if talking to herself; “if Florinda had half de charm ob young missa, she for nobody care — she for nobody heave do deep sigh!”
“Sigh!” repeated her mistress, suddenly startled by the speech. “What do you mean by that?”
“Pa’ dieu, Miss Looey, Florinda no so blind you tink; nor so deaf neider. She you see long time sit in de same place; you nebber ’peak no word — you only heave de sigh — de long deep sigh. You nebba do dat in de ole plantashun in Loozyanny.”
“Florinda! I fear you are taking leave of your senses, or have left them behind you in Louisiana? Perhaps there’s something in the climate here that affects you. Is that so, girl?”
“Pa’ dieu, Miss Looey, dat question ob youself ask. You no be angry case I ’peak so plain. Florinda you slave — she you lub like brack sisser. She no happy hear you sigh. Dat why she hab take de freedom. You no be angry wif me?”
“Certainly not. Why should I be angry with you, child? I’m not. I didn’t say I was; only you are quite mistaken in your ideas. What you’ve seen, or heard, could be only a fancy of your own. As for sighing, heigho! I have something else to think of just now. I have to entertain about a hundred guests — nearly all strangers, too; among them the young planters and officers whom you would entangle if you had my hair. Ha! ha! ha! I don’t desire to enmesh them — not one of them! So twist it up as you like — without the semblance of a snare in it.”
“Oh! Miss Looey, you so ’peak?” inquired the negress with an air of evident interest. “You say none ob dem gen’l’m you care for? Dere am two, tree, berry, berry, berry han’som’. One planter dar be, and two ob de officer — all young gen’l’m. You know de tree I mean. All ob dem hab been ’tentive to you. You sure, missa, tain’t one ob dem dat you make sigh?”
“Sigh again! Ha! ha! ha! But come, Florinda, we’re losing time. Recollect I’ve got to be in the drawing-room to receive a hundred guests. I must have at least half an hour to compose myself into an attitude befitting such an extensive reception.”
“No fear, Miss Looey — no fear. I you toilette make in time — plenty ob time. No much trouble you dress. Pa’ dieu, in any dress you look ’plendid. You be de belle if you dress like one ob de fiel’ hand ob de plantashun.”
“What a flatterer you are grown, Florinda! I shall begin to suspect that you are after some favour. Do you wish me to intercede, and make up your quarrel with Pluto?”
“No, missa. I be friend nebber more wid Pluto. He show hisseff such great coward when come dat storm on de brack prairee. Ah, Miss Looey! what we boaf do if dat young white gen’l’m on de red hoss no come ridin’ dat way?”
“If he had not, cher Florinde, it is highly probable neither of us should now have been here.”
“Oh, missa! wasn’t he real fancy man, dat ’ere? You see him bewful face. You see him thick hair, jess de colour ob you own — only curled leetle bit like mine. Talk ob de young planter, or dem officer at de Fort! De brack folk say he no good for nuffin, like dem — he only poor white trash. Who care fo’ dat? He am de sort ob man could dis chile make sigh. Ah! de berry, berry sort!”
Up to this point the young Creole had preserved a certain tranquillity of countenance. She tried to continue it; but the effort failed her. Whether by accident or design, Florinda had touched the most sensitive chord in the spirit of her mistress.
She would have been loth to confess it, even to her slave; and it was a relief to her, when loud voices heard in the courtyard gave a colourable excuse for terminating her toilette, along with the delicate dialogue upon which she might have been constrained to enter.
