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Show ( 48 ) oth ·r pa rty of ei~hteen men, about fifteen miles from the fort, whi · tiler they now return ed together. . Valerio's habitation had, in the mean tnne, become the scene of :a most intcre ti tinp; drama, in which different chara.cters were more than hithcrt0 developed. One day had elapsed after the departure o~ the rnn_in body ?f ?ur party, when Valerio arrived from Pueblo, qu1te :1sto~1~ ·h d 1.1t_fllldm~ so many strangers at his habitation; b~t when h1s w~le told h11n who lhey' were, and how they h_ad c?n:e thtthcr, :~nd particul arly w!1cn he re c o~nise I his friend Sylv10, h1s JOY wa .. sull g~·eatcJ: th an lw; s.urprisc had been. They immediately acquainted h1m wtth every tl~1n ~ concerning Munoz, 'vho was expcct.cJ every mome~l, and 1111 ~ ht have cau 'ed f~ttal mi ~ tukes and mt sch1cf; but after th1s expl:mauon Valerio was ready to receive his former rivt.J I like a brother. When Valerio learned the cause why the other visiters were there, he expressed to them his henrt- !'clt oratitude for their generosity, and after consulting Teresa, he declared himself and his wife willing; to join the Phalanx, if the other members would adopt them 11 :1 their brother and sister. Adam took the rcspo11 ::- ibility to an wer 111 the name of all, th at they both, with their Alejico, should from that moment be considered as belongin~ to the Phalanx. They no \\" resolved upon leaving the habitation all toJ,!;elher for the Phalanx fort as soon as Valerio and his family should be re~dy, which he e:x.pected would be in two or three days. They were interrupted in their conversation by seeing; a company of about twenty armed men arrive and encamp at a little distan'ce from the habitntion. " Munoz and his companions," cried Valerio and Teresa. A few moments after l.VIunoz knocl{ecl at the door, which they opened, re~ eiving him with all the aflcction due to a repentant sinner. He would begin an apologizing conversation with Valerio, but was cordially requested by him, once for all, never to speak of the 1:ast; whereupon he acquainted him with Sylvio, Waanataa, Yonka and Adam, as members of a company on their journey to California, whose maiu body were residing in a fort about fifty miles distant, with sixty or lieventy mules and horses. Valerio added, that he and his "vife would a~ o join the company, and emi~rat.e to California, hut Munoz dtd not Jtsten to that, and seemed deeply lost in thou_g;ht for some moments. At length he said: "l hope that no more persons have been here lately, who belong to that company." ' ' \Vhy not?" asked Teresa. "Certainly; fifteen or twenty mor-e of them have been here." "\Vith mul es?" inrtuired 1\'J unoz anxiously. "Yes," nnswered Ter sa; '· e very one of them had two mules." . Jv1unoz then gave, in Spanish, the following account which Sylvio interpreted: ' . "A few miles from here I met with Mateo and his band, consist- 111p; of n_bout one hundred Camancbos. The fool is almost crazy With pnde to me the commander-in-chief ef so large a body of rna- • ( 49 ) r r1ud1ng rc~ ~l - ski n s. H e asked me, whether I and my eig;ht<.: J J .. panionf had not yet ~iv e n up out· 'fooli~Sh f:1ncy,' as he callea it, to h ve honestty <HJd rob no more. I of cour ... e answered negatively , and told birn tl 1at he had better follow my example. He laughetl scornfull y , a11d said "~ Munrn, what big foo15 are you a1l! Look here at these hun ... d red bra re Camanchos. They arc all on foot now, like your p.oor fellow , but before this evening some fifty mules shall p·robably be ours, and as many of us shall then be Caballeros.* One of rn y spies has di scovered about here a whole c:-~balleria; (cavalcade,) co n sistin~ of twenty me n, nineteen Amerieanos and one Indio, each with two mules, besides one .1\tl~jicana \\o ith one Hijico mounted on a pony, and one Indio mounted on another pony. My fello w, a cunning Camancho, was lyin~ in a bush, ohs~rving the caballcria, and coLtnting the number of their animals, when the ra~cally red-skin and his squaw· discovered him, cre e pin~ a little way to a plac ~ where he would be more concealed fr e>m their sight, and they both be~an immed iately a chase after him, followed by the whole cab::dleria. The 5quaw wa5 forerltoBt, as her pony ran like a diablo, and would have vro bably d e:-~ p i1 1. e hed hirn with her double-b arrelled ri fk if she had reac hed hirn, but he had too ~ood a start of her and the other re d ~ sk in , nnd suddenly vani ~ il e d, jumpin~ inlo a narrow pr cipi cc whi t her t hey coul'd not and durst not follow him. But he will soon ha ve an opport.uni Ly to pay them for that chase.'' They all agreed in the opinion that they were in a most horrible s i tu at ion~ as it wa• llOre th an prob.thle th at lVlateo and his band lay in the vicinily or even around the habitation, expecting to cat <.:h therein the whole company wit h all the animuls at once. 'There is no u~e in fighting," said .Muuoz, after some reflection! "as we are too few, being only twenty-four or twenty-five in nurn ~ her, while Mateo has a hundred savage rascals at his command, who would kill and scalp us all in Jess th<.~n one hour, even . if we shoulcl fight like lions, being one against four. Let us therefore act with cunning, instead of fighting, until your other fr·iends will come hither and a~~ist us in beating off these marauding ruffians, for the pur~ pose of which a message must be sent to your fort. [ would under~ take to perform that service if I could leave yo11, but I must sta.v here and protect you, by keeping Mateo in check throu.t;h my still l'emaininp; influence on him; so the difficulty now is to carry thf' message to the fort and to give up your animals to th se rascal s, whie;h sacrifice, I think, is necessary to satisfy the lalt<.;r in the rnean tirue, and which we may perhaps recover by our succeeding victory." ' Your suggestions, Don Munoz, are excellent," said Ad nm, "and ·~"' ith your assistance we may :,ave ourselves, by sacrillcing for the present our animals, and by fighting afterward!:'l all together and v an~ 'luishing ~bteo and his band." "!\1y fellows might leave you and join Mateo's .band," said Mu ~ • Caballero means Cavalier and Geuflem:m. \ |
