The Smuggler Chief

tended on one side from the lofty peaks of the Cordilleras down to the sea, and on the other covered the Pampas of Buenos Aires, of Paraguay-in a word, all

the bed of the sea. But one day strange news spread among them: it was said that white men, who

r to reduce the unhappy Indians to slavery, for it is a story which everybody knows. But what you are possibly ignorant of is, that during one of the dark and stormy nights w

he Araucano nation. Among them was a man whom they respectfully obeyed. He was the son of the sister of the valiant Atahualpa, King of Quit

aniards, who, after killing two of his sons, set fire to his palace, Tahi-Mari, followed by his three son

ered with a terrified multitude, who fled in all directions with terrible cries from the pursuit of the Spanish soldiers, who, intoxicated with blood and carnage, massacred mercilessly old men, women, and children, in order to tear from their qu

unded it on all sides, and from the interior could be heard the groans of the hapless virgins who were expiring in the tortures of a horrible death. Without

thing; in vain did frightful burns devour his hands and face: he felt nothi

hter! my

Tahi-Mari, forgetting all that he had suffered, weepingly opened his arms to the maiden, when a Spaniard, dressed in a brilliant gar

erto listened to his comrade's story in s

t a sinister smile play

her, when the Spaniard dealt him such a fierce blow that he lost his c

mous," Leon

Don Ruíz de Soto-Mayor," Di

Leon m

; let us continue, for

, Tahi-Mari, accompanied by his three sons and some faithful friends, succ

of them, the venerable Kouni-hous-koui (he who is respected), a descendant of one of the oldest families of the Sagamores of the nation, exchan

and wisdom, acquired the esteem of those who

tate of security, when suddenly and without any justification for the aggression, a Spanish fleet consisting of more than thirty brigantines sail

esolved to keep the Spaniards constantly on their defence, by carrying on against them a war of snares and ambushes

l daily under the blows of invisible enemies, who seemed to inhabit hollow trees, the tops of mountains, or the entrails of the earth, they tu

hery. And yet this was destined to happen. There was among the Indian prisoners-alas! it is disgraceful to say it, but it was so-a man who, given to habits of intoxication and

imself out as an escaped prisoner, and, after inquiring into his plans, urge him to surprise the Spaniards, of whose numbers, position, and plan

transports of joy, and then questioned him as to the enemy's strength and means of defence. This was what the Indian was waiting for: he answered the questions asked him by

ht following the traitor's arrival, five hundred men picked from the bravest, and led by Tahi-Mari, descended the mountain under the guidance of the

ot escape the piercing glances of the Indians. This line formed an immense circle, which surrounded them and b

ed for man hunting, rushed upon them. They were compelled to fight, and a terrible massacre began, which lasted all night. Tahi-Mari performed prodigies of valour. In the height of the action his eyes were injected with blood and a lurid pallor c

lready whirling above the head of the Spaniard to deal him the final blow, when Tahi-Mari fell back, uttering a yell of pain: an enormous hound coming to the officer's assista

re of Valdivia, in the presence of a few Indians, who had only escaped the sword o

ho had felt his heart q

ked in his turn; "I who am the las

repressed, that on the day when it broke out no power in the world would be strong enough to check the terrible effects of its explosion. He hung his head, for he

is that the descendants of that family have faithfully followed the conduct of the murderers of Tahi-Mari. Oh! there are strange fatalities in a man's life! One day-and that day is close at hand-you shall

hich a tiger feels when it holds a quivering prey under i

t him to death because he dreamed of the independence of his cou

has cruelly

d lovely. One day when she left the mountain to visit my father, who was expiating within the walls of Valparaíso prison his participation

er prayers and supplications, she could not liberate herself from the villain's arms. On the morrow Lieutenant Don Juan de Soto-Mayor wa

er punishment, sorrow, shame, or humiliation. Each time that one of us has reddened American soil with his blood, it was a Soto

choose among the weapons which hung from my girdle the one which should pierce his heart?-why I have not some night, when all were sleepin

ng in the agonies of death. But I am the son of Tahi-Mari, and I have another cause to defend beside my own-that of my nation. And on the day

y? Well, brother, the supreme moment is close at hand; the blood of the Spaniard will

amily to Valdivia, for my plans are marvellously served by this journey. As for the girl you love, as I told you,

moment later he resumed

ke against the Spaniards; but before going further it is right that I should know if I can count on yo

tating their ruin. On the other hand, the sincere friendship which he felt for the Vaquero, whose life he had shared during the last four years, rendered it a duty to assi

n his turn, "before answering y

ther!" Dieg

mean to do wi

she love you, she will be my sister; if she refuse y

to fear till I have seen he

! I swea

ccess shall be mine, and whatever be the road you follow, or the means y

would support me in the struggle, for it is

u go a

, I

ll I see

than I think; in that case I will join you on the Talca road. Besides, you do not require me to escort

rue; but D

se, and I will meet you this day week, whatever may happen, in the Del Sol

xt Wednesday at the Del Solar wood, and if you wish to

od; now

e in what direction he was going. Profoundly affected by the varied events of the preceding day, and the story which Diego had told h

fore his eyes; he saw her pale and trembling after he had saved her from his horse's rush, and then, carrying himself mentally within the walls of the convent of the Purísima Concepción,

a Maria loved him? and would not the Vaquero be compelled to employ violence in carrying out his promis

uick and impetuous character, resolved to fix his uncertainty by assuring himself of the impression which h

of the laws of civilization; but in Chili, as in the whole of South America, love, ardent as the fires of the sun which illumines it, bursts forth

metamorphosed him, that gradually his tastes, habits, and wants had become identified with those of the inhabitants of Chili, whom he regar

g his watch; "I have time to ride to Ciudad, set Crevel

f the Port, after bidding the ten men of the escort to start