The Buccaneer Chief: A Romance of the Spanish Main

"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 When the table was cleared and the slaves had withdrawn, the two men remained alone.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."