The Valiant Runaways [38]
the hills, lest his ill-nature should be the cause
of wild disorder.
The vaqueros handled their dangerous charges with admirable skill,
keeping those to be branded in groups of a hundred or more at some
distance from the corral, riding round them constantly with peremptory
shouts. Other vaqueros, belonging to the same herd, segregated the
animals immediately required and drove them in a straight line for the
corral. There was not a moment of pause. The vaqueros, the brander, and
his assistants seemed impervious to fatigue; the cattle, shifting
uneasily in their bands, leaped eagerly from the lines at the first
signal from the vaquero bearing down on them like a fury from the
corral. On the far side, otherwise deserted, the sore indignant beasts
scampered as fast as their legs could carry them whithersoever their
vaquero chose to drive.
After two hours or more, the atmosphere was charged with a certain
breathless excitement, as was natural enough. The constant cyclonic rush
of vaqueros and cattle, the angry bellowings, the increasing masses of
animals, the furious shouts of the men, had changed a peaceable
landscape into a vast theatre full of tragic possibilities. The waiting
cattle were growing more and more restless, and there was a low rumble
among them. Don Tiburcio motioned to his guests that it was time to
leave; moreover, it was nearing the dinner hour.
"Rafael!" he called. His son turned his head impatiently, but prepared
to obey; the Californian youth was brought up on rigid lines.
"Ay, must we go?" cried Adan. "I could stand here till night, even
without dinner, my friends."
"I, too, am sorry," began Roldan. "But what is the matter?"
The great masses of cattle had begun to heave suddenly. They were
uttering hoarse growls of terror. The mustangs of the vaqueros stood
suddenly still, quivering. Then, abruptly, a horrible stillness fell.
All things breathing seemed to petrify. But only for numbered seconds.
From beneath came a low roar, gathering in volume like the progression
of a tidal wave; then the world heaved and rocked.
"Temblor! temblor!" went up as from one mighty horrified throat. The
priest shouted to the boys: "Stay where you are;" to Don Tiburcio and
his guests: "With all your speed after me."
They understood his meaning. The cattle were leaping over one another,
bellowing madly, giving no heed to the hoarse cries of the terrified
vaqueros. In a moment a blaze of colour was flying down the valley, a
long brown arm lifted high above it. In twenty seconds five thousand
tossing horns and blazing eyes and heaving flanks were in pursuit.
The vaqueros did their best, although their faces were white and their
lips shaking. Three that were between the uniting herds, had their legs
crushed into their mustangs' sides, and were borne along and aloft,
shrieking horribly, adding to the fury of the stampede. Another, trying
to head the cattle off, rode into a sudden split in the hard adobe soil
and went down beneath those iron feet.
The boys clung together. The wall was broad, but it rocked continuously,
whether from other shocks or from the hoof-assaulted earth it would have
been impossible to say. A curving outer flank of the flying mass bulged
against it, and it quivered horribly with the impact. The boys strained
their eyes after the retreating points of colour. Would they escape?
Were the frightened mustangs fleeter of foot than those maddened brutes?
And if they were--the Casa!
"I think," said Roldan, "that we had better get down on the other side.
This wall may go down any minute; and the cattle are all looking in one
direction."
"You are right," said Rafael. "This way--Ay de mi!"
There was another heave of the earth, distinct from the steady vibration
of stampeding cattle. The adobe wall rocked violently, sprang, twisted,
crumbled to the ground, a heap of dust.
For a moment the boys were invisible. Then they emerged, one by one,
choking and spitting, rubbing their eyes with their knuckles. When they
had recovered some
of wild disorder.
The vaqueros handled their dangerous charges with admirable skill,
keeping those to be branded in groups of a hundred or more at some
distance from the corral, riding round them constantly with peremptory
shouts. Other vaqueros, belonging to the same herd, segregated the
animals immediately required and drove them in a straight line for the
corral. There was not a moment of pause. The vaqueros, the brander, and
his assistants seemed impervious to fatigue; the cattle, shifting
uneasily in their bands, leaped eagerly from the lines at the first
signal from the vaquero bearing down on them like a fury from the
corral. On the far side, otherwise deserted, the sore indignant beasts
scampered as fast as their legs could carry them whithersoever their
vaquero chose to drive.
After two hours or more, the atmosphere was charged with a certain
breathless excitement, as was natural enough. The constant cyclonic rush
of vaqueros and cattle, the angry bellowings, the increasing masses of
animals, the furious shouts of the men, had changed a peaceable
landscape into a vast theatre full of tragic possibilities. The waiting
cattle were growing more and more restless, and there was a low rumble
among them. Don Tiburcio motioned to his guests that it was time to
leave; moreover, it was nearing the dinner hour.
"Rafael!" he called. His son turned his head impatiently, but prepared
to obey; the Californian youth was brought up on rigid lines.
"Ay, must we go?" cried Adan. "I could stand here till night, even
without dinner, my friends."
"I, too, am sorry," began Roldan. "But what is the matter?"
The great masses of cattle had begun to heave suddenly. They were
uttering hoarse growls of terror. The mustangs of the vaqueros stood
suddenly still, quivering. Then, abruptly, a horrible stillness fell.
All things breathing seemed to petrify. But only for numbered seconds.
From beneath came a low roar, gathering in volume like the progression
of a tidal wave; then the world heaved and rocked.
"Temblor! temblor!" went up as from one mighty horrified throat. The
priest shouted to the boys: "Stay where you are;" to Don Tiburcio and
his guests: "With all your speed after me."
They understood his meaning. The cattle were leaping over one another,
bellowing madly, giving no heed to the hoarse cries of the terrified
vaqueros. In a moment a blaze of colour was flying down the valley, a
long brown arm lifted high above it. In twenty seconds five thousand
tossing horns and blazing eyes and heaving flanks were in pursuit.
The vaqueros did their best, although their faces were white and their
lips shaking. Three that were between the uniting herds, had their legs
crushed into their mustangs' sides, and were borne along and aloft,
shrieking horribly, adding to the fury of the stampede. Another, trying
to head the cattle off, rode into a sudden split in the hard adobe soil
and went down beneath those iron feet.
The boys clung together. The wall was broad, but it rocked continuously,
whether from other shocks or from the hoof-assaulted earth it would have
been impossible to say. A curving outer flank of the flying mass bulged
against it, and it quivered horribly with the impact. The boys strained
their eyes after the retreating points of colour. Would they escape?
Were the frightened mustangs fleeter of foot than those maddened brutes?
And if they were--the Casa!
"I think," said Roldan, "that we had better get down on the other side.
This wall may go down any minute; and the cattle are all looking in one
direction."
"You are right," said Rafael. "This way--Ay de mi!"
There was another heave of the earth, distinct from the steady vibration
of stampeding cattle. The adobe wall rocked violently, sprang, twisted,
crumbled to the ground, a heap of dust.
For a moment the boys were invisible. Then they emerged, one by one,
choking and spitting, rubbing their eyes with their knuckles. When they
had recovered some