Gustave Aimard
The Buccaneer Chief: A Romance of the Spanish Main

CHAPTER XXI
THE MAJOR-DOMO'S STORY

Don Sancho, feeling very anxious about the state in which he saw his sister, hastily summoned her women who at once flocked around her. He confided her to their care, and retired to the apartment prepared for him, while ordering that he should be immediately warned so soon as Doña Clara displayed any signs of recovery.

Don Sancho de Peñaflor was a charming cavalier, gay, merry, enjoying life and repulsing with the egotism of his age and rank, every grief and even every annoyance.

Belonging to one of the first families of the Spanish aristocracy, destined to be one day immensely rich, and through his name to hold the highest offices and make one of those magnificent marriages of convenience, which render diplomatists so happy, by leaving their minds perfectly free for grand political combinations, – he strove, as far as lay in his power, to check the beating of his heart, and not to trouble by any unusual passion, the bright serenity of his existence. Captain in the army, while awaiting something better, and to have the air of doing something, he had followed his father as aide-de-camp to Mexico, when the latter was appointed viceroy of New Spain. But, being yet too young to regard life seriously and be ambitious, he had turned his attention to gambling and flirtations since his arrival in America, which greatly annoyed the Duke, for as the latter had passed the age of love, he had no mercy for young men sacrificing to the idol which he had himself worshipped for so long.

Don Sancho was generally an excellent hearted fellow and good companion, but affected, like all the Spaniards of that period, and perhaps of the present, by caste prejudices, regarding the Negroes and Indians as beasts of burden, created for his use, and disdaining to conceal the contempt and disgust he felt for these disinherited races.

In a word, Don Sancho, in accordance with the precept of his family, always looked above him and never below; he endured his equals, but established an impassable barrier of pride and disdain between himself and his inferiors.

Still, perhaps unconsciously, – for we will not give him the merit of it, – a tender feeling had glided into the cold atmosphere in which he was condemned to live, had penetrated to his heart, and at times threatened to overthrow all his transcendental theories about egotism.

This feeling was nothing else than the affection he felt for his sister, – an affection which might pass for adoration, for it was so truly devoted, respectful and disinterested; to please his sister he would have attempted impossibilities; a simple word that fell from her lips rendered him pliant and obedient as a slave; a desire she manifested became at once an order for him as serious, and perhaps more so, than if it had emanated from the King of Spain and the Indies, although that magnificent potentate haughtily flattered himself that the sun never set on his dominions.

The first words the Count uttered so soon as he found himself alone in his apartment, will show his character better than anything we can add.

"Well," he exclaimed as he sank despairingly into an easy chair, "instead of passing a few days agreeably here as I expected, I shall be obliged to listen to Clara's complaints and console her; the deuce take unhappy people, it really seems as if they had made agreement to trouble my tranquillity."

At the expiration of about three-quarters of an hour, a black slave came to inform him that Doña Clara had regained her senses, but still felt so weak and faint, that she begged him to refrain from seeing her that evening.

The young man was in his heart well pleased at the liberty granted him by his sister, and which dispensed him from recurring to a conversation which possessed no charm for him.

"Very good," he said to the slave, "give my respects to my sister, and order my supper to be served here; you will at the same time request the Major-domo to come to me as I want to speak to him. Begone!"

The slave went out and left him alone.

The young Count then threw himself back in his chair, stretched out his legs and plunged, not into any reverie, but into that state of somnolency which is neither waking or sleeping, during which the mind seems to wander in unknown regions, and which the Spaniards call a siesta.

While he was in this state, the slaves laid the table, being careful not to disturb him, and covered it with exquisite dishes.

But soon the steam of the dishes placed before him recalled the young man to the reality, he drew himself up and seated himself at the table.

"Why has not the Major-domo come," he asked, "have you neglected to tell him?"

"Pardon, Excellency, but the Major-domo is absent at this moment," a slave respectfully answered.

"Absent – for what motive?"

"He is paying his usual evening visit to the grounds, but will soon return; if your Excellency will be good enough to have a little patience, you will soon see him."

"Very good, although I do not understand the urgency of this visit. There are no wild beasts here, I suppose?"

"No, Excellency, thank heaven!"

"Then, what is the meaning of these precautions?"

"They are meant to guard the house from the attacks of the ladrones, Excellency."

"The ladrones again," he exclaimed, bounding from his seat, "why, it must be a wager! Everybody seems to have agreed to mystify me, heaven forgive me."

At this moment spurs could be heard clattering outside the room.

"Here is the Major-domo, Excellency," one of the Negroes said.

"That is lucky, let him come in."

Birbomono appeared, took off his hat, bowed respectfully to the Count, and waited to be addressed.

"Confound it," the young man said to him, "I asked for you an hour or more ago."

"I am in despair at it, Excellency, but I was only told of it this very instant."

"I know, I know. Have you dined?"

"Not yet, Excellency."

"Well then, seat yourself there, opposite to me."

The Major-domo who knew the Count's haughty character, hesitated; he did not at all understand the condescension on his part.

"Sit down, I say," the young man replied; "we are in the country, so it is of no consequence; besides, I want to talk with you."

The Major-domo then took the place pointed out to him, without further pressing.

The meal was short – for the Count ate without uttering a single word; when it was ended, he thrust away his plate, drank a glass of water after the Spanish fashion, lit an excellent cigar and gave another to the Major-domo.

"Smoke, I permit it," he said.

Birbomono gratefully accepted; but feeling more and more astonished, he could not refrain from asking himself mentally, what important motive his young master could have for treating him so condescendingly. When the table was cleared and the slaves had withdrawn, the two men remained alone. The night was magnificent and the atmosphere marvellously clear; a multitude of stars floated in æther, a sweet warm breeze penetrated through the windows, left expressly open, a profound silence lay over the landscape, and from the spot where the two men were seated, they perceived the dark mass of forest trees that closed the horizon.

"Now," said the Count, as he puffed out a cloud of bluish smoke, "let us talk."

"Very good, Excellency," the Major-domo replied.

"I have several things to ask you, Birbomono; you know me, I think, and that whether I threaten or promise, I always carry out what I say?"

"I am aware of it, Excellency!"

"Very good, that being settled, I will come to the fact without further preamble. I have certain very important information to ask of you; answering my questions is not betraying your mistress, who is my sister, and whom I love before all else; on the contrary, it is perhaps rendering her a service indirectly. Besides, if you refused to tell me what I want to know, I should learn it from another quarter, and you would forfeit any advantage to be derived from your frankness; you understand me, I suppose?"

"Perfectly, Excellency."

"Well then, what do you intend doing."

"My lord, I am devoted body and soul to your family, hence, I shall consider it a duty to answer, as best I can, all the questions you may deign to ask me, for I feel convinced that in questioning me, you have no other motive but that of being agreeable to my mistress."

"It is impossible to argue more correctly, Birbomono, I have always said that you were an intelligent man; and this answer proves to me that I was not mistaken. Now, I will begin, but let us proceed regularly, so inform me of what occurred between my sister and her husband, up to her arrival here; and the motives for her quitting St. Domingo."

"You know, Excellency, my lord Count de Bejar of Sousa, the husband of your lady sister and my master, is a gentleman not naturally given to speaking, but kind and sincerely attached to his wife, whose every wish he strives to satisfy, without even venturing a remark. At St. Domingo the Countess lived in the most absolute retirement, constantly shut up in her remotest apartments, to which only her women, her confessor and her physician had access. The Count visited her every morning and evening, remained about a quarter of an hour with her, conversing on indifferent subjects, and then withdrew."

"Hum! This mode of life of my dear sister appears to me rather monotonous; did it last long?"

"For several months, Excellency, and it would doubtless still be going on, had it not been for an event which no one but myself knows, and which induced her to come here."

"Ah, ah, and what was the event, if you please?"

"I will tell you, Excellency; one day a ship of our nation arrived at St. Domingo; during its passage through the islands, it had been attacked by the ladrones, from whom it had escaped by a miracle, capturing several of them."

"Ah! I must stop you here," the Count exclaimed suddenly sitting up; "before going further, one word about these ladrones, of whom persons are incessantly talking, and no one knows. Do you know what they are?"

"Certainly I do, Excellency."

"At last," the Count added joyously, "I have at length found what I wanted. As you know, I suppose you will tell me?"

"Most willingly, Excellency."

"Go on."

"Oh! It will not be long, Excellency."

"All the worse."

"But I believe that it will be interesting."

"All the better then, make haste."

"These ladrones are English and French adventurers, whose courage exceeds all belief; lying in ambush among the rocks in the straits through which our vessels must pass, for they have vowed a war of extermination against our nation, they dart out in wretched canoes half full of water, leap on board the ship they have surprised, capture it and carry it off. The injury done our marine by these ladrones is immense; any ship attacked by them, with but few exceptions, may be regarded as lost."

"Confusion! That is very serious; has nothing been done to clear the seas from these daring pirates?"

"Pardon me, Excellency; Don Fernando de Toledo, admiral of the fleet, sacked, by the king's orders, the island of St. Christopher, the refuge of the ladrones, carried off all he could seize, and did not leave one stone on the other in the colony they had founded."

"Ah, ah!" said the Count, rubbing his hands, "That was well done, it appears to me."

"No, Excellency, and for this reason. These ladrones, scattered but not destroyed, spread over the other islands; some of them, it is true, returned to St. Christopher, but the greater part of them had the audacity to seek a refuge in Hispaniola itself."

"Yes, but they have been expelled, I hope."

"It has been tried, at any rate, Excellency, but without success; since that period they have managed to maintain themselves in the part of the island they invaded, and have resisted all the forces sent against them. Instead of being assailed they have become assailants, and pushed on to the Spanish frontier, burning, plundering and sacking everything they met on their passage; they did this the more easily, because they inspire our soldiers with extreme terror, who as soon as they see them or even hear them, take to flight without looking behind them. This has reached such a pitch, Excellency, that the Count de Bejar, our governor, has been compelled to take their fusils from the detachments called the Fifties, ordered to protect the frontiers, and arm them with lances."

"What! Take away their fusils! And for what motive? Great heaven! this seems to me almost too incredible."

"Still, it can be easy understood, Excellency – the soldiers feel so great a terror of the ladrones, that when they found themselves in regions frequented by them, and were consequently afraid of meeting them, they discharged their fusils, expressly to warn them of their presence, and thus invite them to retire, which the ladrones never failed to do; and knowing in this way the position of the soldiers, they went off to plunder in another direction, certain of not being disturbed."

"It is almost incredible. Do you fear their visit here?"

"They have not yet come on this side; still, it is as well to be on one's guard."

"I believe so – that is excessively prudent, and I approve of it; but now let us return to the story you were telling me when I interrupted you to give me this valuable information; you were saying that a Spanish man-o'-war had arrived at Saint Domingo, having on board several ladrones as prisoners."

"Yes, Excellency. Now, you must know that the ladrones are hung so soon as they are caught."

"That measure is very wise."

"These were reserved to make an example of on the island itself, and terrify their accomplices; they were, therefore, landed, and placed in Capilla, while awaiting their execution. It was Fray Arsenio who undertook to reconcile the wretches with Heaven if it were possible."

"A rude task; but who is Fray Arsenio?"

"The confessor of my lady Countess."

"Very good; proceed."

"Just imagine, Excellency, that these ladrones are very pious men; they never attack a vessel without offering up prayers to Heaven, and sing the Magnificat and other church hymns while boarding; hence Fray Arsenio had no difficulty in making them perform their religious duties. The Governor had decided that, in order that the example should benefit the rest, these ladrones should be hung on the Spanish frontier; they were, therefore, taken out of prison, securely bound, and traversed the town in carts, guarded by a numerous escort, and passing through the crowds, who overwhelmed them with maledictions and cries of anger and threatening. But the ladrones seemed to pay no attention to this manifestation of the public hatred; they were five in number, young, and apparently very powerful. All at once, at the moment when the carts, which were going very slowly, owing to the crowd, arrived in front of the Governor's palace, the ladrones rose altogether, uttered a loud cry, and, leaping into the street, took refuge in the palace, whose guard they disarmed, and closed the gates after them; they had succeeded in cutting their bonds, no one knew how. There was at first a moment of profound stupor among the crowd on seeing such a desperate deed, but ere long the soldiers regained their courage, and marched boldly on the palace, where the ladrones received them with musket shots. The fight was bravely carried on on both sides, but all the disadvantage was on the side of our men, who were exposed to the shots of invisible enemies, and renowned marksmen, every shot from whom brought down a victim. Some twenty dead, and as many wounded, were already lying on the square; the soldiers hesitated to continue this deadly contest, when the Governor, warned of what was going on, came up at full speed, followed by his officers. Fortunately for him, the Count was not at home when the ladrones seized his palace; but the Countess was there, and the Count trembled lest she should fall into the hands of these villains. He summoned them to surrender; they only replied by a discharge, which killed several persons by the Governor's side, and slightly wounded himself."

"The daring villains!" the Count muttered – "I hope they were hung."

"No, Excellency; after holding all the forces of the town in check for two hours, they proposed a capitulation, which was accepted."

"What!" the Count exclaimed, "Accepted! Oh! This is too much."

"It is the exact truth, however, Excellency; they threatened, unless they were allowed to retire in peace, to blow themselves up with the palace, which would have entailed the general ruin of the town, and to cut the throats of the prisoners in their power – that of the Countess first of all; the Governor tore out his hair with rage, but they only laughed."

"Why they are not men!" the Count exclaimed, stamping his foot passionately.

"No, Excellency, I told you, they are demons. The Count's officers persuaded him to accept the capitulation; the bandits insisted that the streets should be cleared for their passage; they had horses brought for them, and two for the Countess and one of her servants, whom they retained as hostages till they were in safety; and they went out well armed, leading in their midst my poor mistress, trembling with terror, and more dead, than alive. The ladrones did not hurry, they went at a foot pace, laughing and talking together, turning round, and even stopping now and then to stare at the crowd, which followed them at a respectful distance. They left the town in this way, but religiously kept their promise; two hours later, my lady the Countess, to whom they had behaved with great courtesy, returned to Saint Domingo, accompanied to the palace by the acclamations and glad shouts of the populace, who fancied her lost. The next day the Count ordered me to accompany the Countess here, where the physicians recommended her to live for a while, in order to rest from the terrible emotions she had doubtless experienced while she was in the power of the bandits."

"And since your installation at the hatto I presume nothing extraordinary has occurred?"

"Yes, Excellency, something has happened, and that is why I told you at the beginning that I alone knew the event which had modified my mistress's mode of living. One of the ladrones had a very long interview with her before they left her, an interview I saw, too far off to hear what was said, it is true, but near enough to judge of the interest she felt in it, and the impression it produced on her, for I had followed my mistress, resolved not to abandon her, and help her, were it necessary, at the risk of my life."

"That is the behaviour of a good servant, Birbomono, and I thank you for it."

"I only did my duty, Excellency; so soon as the ladrones left her alone I approached my mistress, and escorted her back to the town. A few days after our arrival here my mistress dressed herself in man's clothes, left the hatto unseen, only followed by myself and Fray Arsenio, who had refused to leave her, and led us to a secluded bay on the coast, where one of the ladrones was awaiting us. This man had another long conversation with my mistress, then, bidding us get into a canoe, he took us to a Spanish brigantine, tacking in sight of the coast. I afterwards learnt that this brigantine had been freighted by Fray Arsenio by my mistress's orders. So soon as we were on board this vessel, sail was set, and we put out to sea; the ladrón had returned ashore in the canoe."

"Nonsense!" the young man violently interjected; "What fables are you telling me, Birbomono?"

"Excellency, I am only telling you the truth you asked of me, without adding or omitting anything."

"Well, I am willing to believe you, incredible though the whole affair appears."

"Shall I break off here, Excellency, or continue my narration?"

"Go on, in the Fiend's name! Perhaps some light will eventually issue from all this chaos."

"Our brigantine began tacking between the islands, at a great risk of being snapped up as it passed by the ladrones; but, through some incomprehensible miracle, it succeeded in passing unseen, so that in eight days it reached an island in the form of a mountain, called Nevis, I believe, and only separated by a narrow channel from St. Kitts."

"But, from what you told me yourself, St, Christopher is the den of the ladrones."

"Yes, Excellency, and so it is; the brigantine did not anchor, it merely backed sails, and lowered a boat. My mistress, the monk, and I, got into it, and we were landed on the island; but, as she put her little foot on land, the Countess turned to me, and fixing on me a glance which nailed me to the boat I was on the point of leaving, she said – 'Here is a letter, which you will carry to St. Christopher, there you will inquire for a celebrated Chief of the ladrones, whose name is Montbarts: you will have him pointed out to you; follow him, and place this letter in his own hands. Go, I count on your fidelity.' What could I do? Only obey: you will agree with me, Excellency. The sailors in the boat, as if warned beforehand, conveyed me to St. Christopher, where I landed unseen: I was lucky enough to meet this Montbarts, and hand him the letter, and then I slipped away; the boat which had been waiting for me took me back to Nevis, and the Señora thanked me. At sunset Montbarts arrived at Nevis; he talked for nearly an hour with the monk, while Doña Clara was concealed in a tent, and then went away: a few minutes later, the Countess and Fray Arsenio returned aboard the brigantine, which conveyed us back to Hispaniola with the same good fortune. The monk remained in the French part of the island, for some reason I do not know, while my mistress and I, as soon as we landed, returned to the hatto, where we arrived just ten days ago."

"And then?" the Count asked, seeing that the Major-domo was silent.

"That is all, Excellency," he answered; "since then Doña Clara has remained shut up in her apartments, and nothing has happened to trouble the monotony of our existence."

The Count rose without replying, walked up and down the room in considerable agitation, and then turned to Birbomono.

"Very good, Major-domo," he said to him – "I thank you; keep your mouth shut about this, and now you can retire. Remember, that no one in the household must suspect the importance of the conversation we have had together."

"I shall be dumb, Excellency," the Major-domo answered, and retired with a respectful bow.

"It is evident," the young man muttered, so soon as he was alone, "that there is at the bottom of this affair a frightful secret, of which my sister in all probability will condemn me to take my share. I am afraid that I have fallen into a trap. Hang it all! Why could not Clara let me live at my ease in Saint Domingo?"