A PRAIRIE APPARITION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 1641, 29 May 1873, Page 4

A PRAIRIE APPARITION.

{.From London Society.) (Continued.} Next morning, at sunrise, I descried the second copse, and rode on to it. There I saw the hill ; and arriving at its summit, perceived, to . my great gratification, that I w ( as upon known ground. Before midday I reached the cantonment ; where I found my brother officers — among them my late bunting companions— anxious about my safety. They were now curious to know the cause of my staying so long out, and overwhelmed me with inquiries. I was not in the mood to satisfy their curiosity. To say the truth, I was still under a sort of superstitious scare. Besides, 1 feared relating an adventure, savouring so mnch of the marvellous. It might be discredited, and myself made mock of. Soon, circumstances arose that drove all such thoughts out of my mind, replacing them by others more painful. About an hour after my arrival at the Fort a party of mounted men made their appearance on the parade-ground. : They were settlers of all classes, armed and equipped as for afigh'. By their gestures it was evident some event had arisen greatly to excite them. Ifc was soon communicated — a calamity such as iB frequent upon the Texan frontier. A band of Indians had been making maraud upon the settlements; and these men were starting in pursuit. They had come to claim th. assistance of " the soldiers." Where had the savageß shows themselves? was the ques tion put to the leader of the frontier men. " At the hacienda of a Mexican, about fifteen miles from the Fort." The answer gave me anxiety. " The name ?" I asked, in trembling apprehension. " Bon Lorenzo Zavala. They've itripped

the place of every thing, murdered Don Lorenzo himself, with most of his domestics, j and carried off his——-" "*' Oh, God 1" I groaned, in agony, without waiting the word. I knew it would be " daughter." It was ; she whose likeness was in the locket borne upon my breast. I felt cowed, crushed, weak almost to fainting. Only for an instant. Then aDger overmastering, roused me to the energy of action. I stayed for no further details, but afc once ordered " Boots and saddles !" to be sounded In ten minutes after we were upon the trail of the despoilers. At first there was a ■ trail, easily taken up. Fast we followed it — I with saddened heart, and brain half maddened. My heart felt yet more sad, my brain madder, when the trail became lost — as it at length did. It disappeared upon a dry, desert plain, where neither hoof of horse nor track of man was discernible. It was the ; prairie on which I had late strayed, when in pursuit of the pronghorn. We crossed and ! quartered it in every direction ; Bpent two days in exploriog its pathless wilds ; but met neither white man nor Indian — saw not a sign of either. With empty haversacks and hungry stomachs — suffering from thirst, too — we were compelled to return to the fort. This was now tbe third time the red freebooters bad attacked that same frontier settlement, made a successful coup, and escaped across this accursed prairie. The newspapers bad spoken disparagirtgly of myself and soldiers — alleging that we did" not do our duty in protecting the citizens. They made reference to our fondness for the chase ; adding that we gave more time to the hunting of pronghornß than the pursuing of redskins. You may conceive the feelings of my brethren in arms, officers as well as men. To them it was a chagTin, but to me far more. My cup of bitterness had an ingredient of sorrow none of them could know. We had returned to the cantonment only to reprovision, give our horses a short rest, and again go off. I had no thought of giving up the pursuit of the savages till I had recovered her, if alive — or, if dead, avenged her. It was night, and I had lain down upon my leathern catre, if possible to get a snatch of sleep. We were .to start by early day--1 break. It was close upon midnight, and my men were all abed, save the sentrieB — one stationed outside the door of my quarters. I tried to sleep but could not. Both heart and brain were too much excited ; the latter giving way to weird fancies. Among them was that strange apparition of the prairie — spirit or woman, whichever it may have been. I could not help connecting her with the affair now before us ; though in what way she could be concerned with a maraud of red Indians it was difficult to perceive. True, I had seen her in Indian garb ; but, for all that, she was hot Indian. Who were the " Spirits of the Prairie ?" Might it Hot be the very band that had baffled us ? Ah 1 might not Ramon be the ravisher ? It may seem strange I only thought of thi3 after returning disappointed, and that I bad not gone back to the place where the woman had been encountered. Tbe explanation is, we had trusted to trackers — guides of great experience and skill — who led us in a different direction. I bad now made up my mind to seek the spot where I had seen the prairie j apparition, and I fancied I could easily find I it. The hill, the copse of timber, the clump of palmillas — these, with the direction of the setting sun, would give me the guidance. I would go that way now. While astr.tch on my camp bedstead, thus cogitating, I became aware of a slight disturbance outside. It was an exchange of speech between the sentry and some one who had come up, and interrupted hira on his rounds. The colloquy was short, only a few words ; and 1 could perceive that those spoken by the intruder were in a feminine voice. I had no time to give way to wonder. Soon the 6eotry stood in -the doorway of my chamber. " After saluting, he said : " A woman, captain ; wishes to speak with you on business of importance — very pressin' she says, else I shouldn't " j " Show her into the next room," I said, j without waiting for the man to finish his apologetic speech. Springing to my feet, and hastily dressing, I passed into the apartment that served as my sitting-room. There a light was still burning. The woman was before me, standing just inside the door. She was a Mexican, judging by her dress ; and, by the same token, of the class called poblana. She wore the short-skirted enagua, with a rebozo over her head, covering her face, almost to the complete concealment of her features. The flash of a fiery eye was alone visible. She was of tall stature, her form approachißg embonpoint, withal indicating a graceful contour under the drapery that shrouded it. I bad no time to make more minute j observations. Almost on the instant of my appearance she said : " benor capitan, you have lost your sweetheart ?" Surprise at the interrogatory prevented me from making reply. She did not wait for it, but went on : " What will you give to recover her ?" " Anything— everything— nay whole for- i tune, if need be 1" " Carrambo ! A gallant speech 1 And he who makes it deserves to be rewarded. Come with me then, and you shall once more see your novia." " Safe ?" " That depends on time. She is safe hs yet. To-morrow I might not answer for her. Ones I am missed But come ! If you would rescue her, there's not an hour — nay, not a moment to be lost. How soon can you have your troopers in the saddle ?"- --" In twenty minutes, at most." " That will do. Give the order at once." « But who " " Santissima 1 Don't stay to question What matters who does you a service, bo .ong as it is done ? Ha 1 you still hesitate ! Then, look 1 Now do you remember me ?" She tossed the rebozo back, discovering a

countenance no one could look upon and ever again forget. It was that I had seen upon the prairie ; the profuse chevelure that framed it no longer hanging loose under a circlet of painted plumes, but " clubbed " and confined by a comb. " Quick, capitan \" she cried ; "I tell you there's no time to be lost. Do you still hesitate ?" " What preof have I that you are not going to lead me into an ambush ?" " Vaga !" she exclaimed, with a scornful toss of the head ; " what proof do you require ? Were you not in my power three days ago ? And did I not then release you ? Look at the locket — which I perceive still hanging on your breast. There you have the proof of my fidelity — the key to all my actions. If you want more, I will give ifc On the prairie I mistook you for a man named Ramon. You remember that ? All lies in one little word — jealousy. Now do yda comprehend me ?" « I think I do." ~" There's no time for talking. If you don't act at once she will be lost — your sweetheart, and, what is sweeter still — to me —revenge 1" The final word was enunciated with an emphasis that told of intense passion, further accentuated by the angry flashing of her eyes. » With a gesture of impatience, she added : " Are you ready to go ?" " I will be, in twenty minutes." In less time I was in the saddle and out upon the plain, the strange woman by my side, with fifty troopers filing behind. It was a moonless night ; but there were stars, and these gave us guidance — she reading them for the direction. We travelled fast, most of the time going at a gallop. This by her advice, wbich I was but too eager to follow. " We must get there before morning," she said, " before lam missed. If not, we may still be too late." I understood her meaning, and commanded the " double quick." Day was nigh dawning when we at length came to a halt. But the moon had now arisen, her beams bathing the prahie in soft silvery light, disclosing its surface to our view for miles around. We saw nothing afar, but afc our feet something that stayed us. It was a dark line, apparently a crack in the plain. In depth and width it was not more than an ordinary ditch; but as the eye followed its course it appeared to get deeper jand wider. " Dismount your soldiers 1" said the woman, in a whisper; " let them leave their horses here ; they will be better without them." I did as directed, without a word, except that commanding my men to get afoot. A few took charge of the horses; the rest stood in readiness for whafc was to follow — whatever thi3 should be. It was soon made known by the guide dropping down into the dark cleft, where she was almost hidden from" our view. The mystery of her former disappearance, as well as appearance — the strange suddenness of both — were now made known to me. We were at the entrance of a barranca — one of those singular chasms peculiar to the Mexican table-land, stretching for miles across the plain, yawning deep into the earth, unseen, till you stand upon the very edge of its escarpment. They begin in a mere crack, or arrayo, the conduit of rains;. .growing deeper and wider as they descend towards some cliff-enclosed stream. It was into this the woman had dropped, as into a trap on the stage of a theatre. "After me !" she said, on descending ; "keep close; tread lightly; and don't speak a word to one another. Make the slightest noise, and the Spirits of the Prairie may be roused. If so, then— — Hush I come on 1" As she finished speaking her head sank below the level of the prairie, and I saw she was keeping along the cleft, in the direction towards which it deepened. Letting myself down, as she had done, I commanded my men to follow me. Soon we fell into single file; so descending through a gap that gradually grew deeper without becoming much wider. Its jaws on each side rose precipitous above our heads, until we saw but a streak of sky dimly discernible by the light of the moon. For several, hundred -yards we continued to descend. Then the chasm opened, our \ ath debouching into a ravine of greater width, with a torrent rushing along its bed. Into this we turned, following our guide, who again cautioned us to silence. The ravine soon became a valley, with an open meadowlike expanse, and trees growing around it. On its edge the woman stopped, and pointed to a spot overshadowed by tbe precipice rising above ihem. " Now, senor capitan," she said, "you see those white spots under the shadow of the cliff? 'lhey are tents. In one of them is Dona Sacramenta Zavala. Go on and rescue her !" I was aware of whafc the woman meant. On the way she had told me all. With stealth we advanced upon the tents. Inside we f. und men— more than a dozen— and in one of them a woman. It was Sacramenta; she was safe ! Among the men was " Ramon," the chief of the robber band — "white men and Mexicans — who, in the guise of Indians, had been accustomed to make descent upon the settlement of Texas. The friendship of a foster sister saved my Sacramenta; for in this relationship stood the " Apparition of the Prairie." No doubl other motives had to do with it; as she her self admitted, jealousy and revenge, lhe robber chief was becoming too fond of hie captive. Fear alone had hindered him-from accomplishing her ruin ; fear of the strange woman who led us to their lair. The drama had its denouement in somewholesale hanging. We carried the brigands ->ack, and delivered them over to justice. With fcheir crimes already recorded, it was a short shrift for them; and all ended theii career upon the scaffold.