The White Chief | Page 9

his sabre and belts, and then
set his steed in motion.
In a few minutes he directed his horse so as to shave past the shining
coin, and then, bending down, he tried to seize it. He succeeded in

lifting it up from the ground; but, owing to the slight hold he had taken,
it dropped from his fingers before he had got it to the height of the
stirrup.
A shout, half of applause and half of disapprobation, came from the
crowd. Most were disposed to favour him on Vizcarra's account. Not
that they loved Colonel Vizcarra, but they feared him, and that made
them loyal.
The cibolero now rode forth upon his shining black. All eyes were
turned upon him. His handsome face would have won admiration, but
for its very fairness. Therein lay a secret prejudice. They knew he was
not of their race!
Woman's heart has no prejudice, however; and along that line of
dark-eyed "doncellas" more than one pair of eyes were sparkling with
admiration for the blond "Americano," for of such race was Carlos the
cibolero.
Other eyes than woman's looked favourably on the cibolero, and other
lips murmured applause. Among the half-brutalised Tagnos, with bent
limbs and downcast look, there were men who dreamt of days gone by;
who knew that their fathers were once free; who in their secret
assemblies in mountain cave, or in the deep darkness of the "estufa,"
still burned the "sacred fire" of the god Quetzalcoatl--still talked of
Moctezuma and Freedom.
These, though darker than all others, had no prejudice against the fair
skin of Carlos. Even over their benighted minds the future had cast
some rays of its light. A sort of mysterious presentiment, apparently
instinctive, existed among them, that their deliverers from the yoke of
Spanish tyranny would yet come from the East--from beyond the great
plains!
The cibolero scarce deigned to make any preparation. He did not even
divest himself of his manga, but only threw it carelessly back, and left
its long skirt trailing over the hips of his horse.

Obedient to the voice of his rider, the animal sprang into a gallop; and
then, guided by the touch of the knees, he commenced circling round
the plain, increasing his speed as he went.
Having gained a wide reach, the rider directed his horse towards the
glittering coin. When nearly over it he bent down from the saddle,
caught the piece in his fingers, flung it up into the air, and then,
suddenly checking his horse underneath, permitted it to drop into his
outstretched palm!
All this was done with the ease and liability of a Hindoo juggler. Even
the prejudiced could not restrain their applause; and loud vivas for
"Carlos the cibolero" again pealed upon the air.
The sergeant was humiliated. He had for a long time been victor in
these sports--for Carlos had not been present until this day, or had
never before taken part in them. Vizcarra was little better pleased. His
favourite humbled--himself the loser of ten golden onzas--no small sum,
even to the Comandante of a frontier Presidio. Moreover, to be jibed by
the fair senoritas for losing a wager he had himself challenged, and
which, no doubt, he felt certain of winning. From that moment Vizcarra
liked not "Carlos the cibolero."
The next exhibition consisted in riding at full gallop to the edge of a
deep "zequia" which passed near the spot. The object of this was to
show the courage and activity of the rider as well as the high training of
the steed.
The zequia--a canal used for irrigation--was of such width that a horse
could not well leap over it, and deep enough to render it no very
pleasant matter for a horseman to get into. It therefore required both
skill and daring to accomplish the feat. The animal was to arrive upon
the bank of the canal in full run, and to be drawn up suddenly, so that
his four feet should rest upon the ground inside a certain line. This line
was marked at less than two lengths of himself from the edge of the
drain. Of course the bank was quite firm, else the accomplishment of
such a feat would have been impossible.

Many succeeded in doing it to perfection; and an admirable piece of
horsemanship it was. The horse, suddenly checked in his impetuous
gallop, upon the very brink of the zequia, and drawn back on his
haunches, with head erect, starting eyeballs, and open smoking nostrils,
formed a noble picture to look upon. Several, however, by way of
contrast, gave the crowd a ludicrous picture to laugh at. These were
either faint-hearted riders, who stopped short before arriving near the
bank, or bold but unskilful ones, who overshot the mark, and went
plunge