Chapter XV. Before Bernardo Galvez

The Free Rangers

by Joseph A. Altsheler

It took only a few minutes to reach the banks of the stream, and
they saw at once that an event was occurring. New Orleans could
rejoice, if she choose, in honor of an important arrival. A fleet of
a dozen large boats swung from the middle of the stream and made for
the levee. In the boats were men in uniform.

"I have an impression, though my impressions are often wrong and
my memory always weak, that yonder cavalier who sits haughtily in the
boat as if he were sole proprietor of the Mississippi, is your good
friend, Don Francisco Alvarez," said Lieutenant Bemal in his mincing
way.

They had all recognized Alvarez, and they expected quick
trouble. As it was bound to come they had no objection to its coming
at once. The boat of Alvarez made the landing and as he sprang out
he was followed by Braxton Wyatt, also in the uniform of a Spanish
officer. The eyes of the Captain instantly caught sight of "The
Galleon," then of the five, and then of Lieutenant Diego Bernal
standing near the Americans.

"Men," he cried to some of his soldiers who had landed. "Seize
this boat at once! It is my property, taken from me by these American
thieves!"

The soldiers moved to obey, but the little Catalan, Lieutenant
Diego Bernal stepped forward. Never was he more mincing, and it is
likely that he never felt more satisfaction than he did now at the
role that he was about to play.

"Gently! Gently! my good captain," he said. "I am a port
officer and boats cannot be seized at will in His Most Catholic
Majesty's city of New Orleans."

His manner stung Alvarez, who replied hotly:

"I repeat, it is my boat! It was stolen from me by these
thieves from Kaintock!"

"But that must be proved," and the lieutenant's voice was very
soft and silky. "The law is still administered in the City of New
Orleans. And let me assure you, my good captain, that the matter of
the boat is a trifle. What really concerns is your delay in coming
to New Orleans with your American captives, whom you held at your
place of Beaulieu. His Excellency, the Governor General, Don
Bernardo Galvez, is very much afraid that you have involved Spain in
serious difficulties with a friendly people."

Alvarez looked fiercely at Bernal. How much did this man know?
But the little lieutenant merely stroked his mustache, and his face
was expressionless.

"If explanations are due," said Alvarez, "I shall make them to
Don Bernardo."

"Very good! very good!" murmured the lieutenant. "I am quite
sure that Don Bernardo will be greatly pleased."

Alvarez turned angrily, gave some orders to his men, and then
stalked away followed by Wyatt and two others. The renegade had
never spoken a word, but he and the five had exchanged some
threatening glances.

Alvarez and Bernal had spoken in Spanish, but Henry and the
others surmised the import of their words. They knew, too, by the
manner of Alvarez that the little triumph had been with Bernal.

"He wanted the boat, did he not?" said Henry. "Yes," replied the
lieutenant, "but you can sleep in it to-night. I warn you, however,
to see Bernardo Galvez in the morning as soon as you can. After all,
you are Americans and foreigners, while Alvarez is a Spaniard and one
of us. You will have much to overcome."

They perceived the truth of his suggestion and thanked him. He
gave them a friendly good night and went away. The five went on
board "The Galleon" and prepared for sleep, having dismissed their
watchman with ample pay.

As the boat was securely tied there was no need to keep a watch
and all prepared for the night. But they did not go to sleep yet,
although they did not talk, every one being occupied with his own
thoughts.

Paul sat at the stern of the boat leaning against the side, and
his eyes were on New Orleans, where he saw the formless shapes of
buildings and twinkling lights here and there. The city, in a way,
attracted him and, in another way, it repelled him. It interested
him, but he had no desire to live there. It was a port, a gate, as
it were, opening into the vast old world, to which belonged the
centuries, and of which he had read and thought so much, but the
single taste of it turned Paul's heart with a stronger affection than
ever toward the New World to which he belonged. The great forests of
the north seemed clean and fresh to him as they had seemed to Jim.
There, at least, a man could know who were his friends and who were
his enemies.

He saw boats passing on the turbid, brown current of the
Mississippi and he heard snatches of strange, foreign songs. The
night had fully come and heavy darkness hung over land and water, but
New Orleans did not sleep. The smugglers, the adventurers, the
former galley slaves, the riff-raff of Europe, and the mixed bloods
of the West Indies were abroad in pursuit of either business or
pleasure, each equally favored by the dusk.

Shif'less Sol and Long Jim were already asleep, but Paul was
restless and slumber would not come. Henry, too, was wakeful, and
Paul at last suggested that they walk in the city. Henry accepted,
and with a word to Tom Ross they sprang ashore.

New Orleans was even more interesting to them by night than by
day, as it had now a peculiarly uncanny look added to its other
qualities. The night was close, heavy, and warm, and the brown
current of the river showed but dismally through it. Lights were
still moving on the Mississippi, but the boats that bore them were
invisible. From the side of the river pleasant odors came to their
nostrils, the clean, sweet scents of vast, undefiled woods and
prairies, the flavor of a wind blowing over wild flowers, but from
the side of the city the smells were as variegated and repellent as
ever.

Nevertheless the two youths turned into the city, lit faintly by
the flaring oil lanterns, and walked along through one street and
another seeing what they could see. The night life was active and
much of it was sodden. Oaths played a great part in the, talk they
heard and intoxication was a prevalent note. Sounds of strife,
either without or within, arose now and then, but Henry and Paul,
wishing to keep clear of all trouble, never stayed to see the result.
They more than suspected that knives shone too often in these
orgies.

They stopped a few moments by the old church in front of the
Place d'Armes. The church was flanked on one side by a low brick
building, very white with roof of red and yellow tiles, while to the
left of the church stood a villa-like house half hidden among the
trees. They admired the effect of the moonlight on the tiles, and
then, passing through the wooden fence that enclosed it, they entered
the deserted Place d'Armes.

"I can breathe better here," said Henry. "I know that I shall
never be fond of towns."

But the imaginative Paul shuddered.

"Look," he said, "the gallows!"

He pointed to the huge gallows that stood in the Place d'Armes,
ready for frequent use. The moonlight had now grown dim. In its
wavering beams the gallows rose to immense proportions and seemed
also to take on the semblance of life. It reached out its long
wooden arm as if to grasp Paul and with another shudder he turned his
back to it.

The two continued down one side of the Place d'Armes in the
shade of magnolias and cypresses that drooped over the wooden fence.
As they passed they heard the sound of a shot.

"Somebody in the city fighting with a rifle or pistol instead of
a knife," said Paul.

But Henry stood motionless and silent for a moment or two. He
had distinctly felt the rush of air on his face as a bullet passed
by. He was seeking to see whence the shot had come and he thought he
caught a glimpse of a figure among the cypresses.

"No, Paul," he exclaimed, "that shot was aimed at me!"

He sprang over the wooden fence and was followed by Paul. They
searched diligently among the trees but found nothing. Then they
looked at each other, and each read the same opinion in the other's
eyes.

"It was either Braxton Wyatt or somebody else in the service of
Alvarez," said Henry.

"Yes," said Paul, nodding assent, "and I think that 'The
Galleon' is a much safer place for us at night than the City of New
Orleans."

"That is true," said Henry, "and it is not worth while for us to
make a complaint about being shot at. We cannot prove anything, and
New Orleans is too turbulent a place to pay attention to a stray
rifle or pistol shot at night."

They were back at the boat in a few minutes. Shif'less Sol and
Long Jim still slept soundly, but Tom Ross was awake. They told him
briefly what had occurred, and Tom shook his head sagely.

"Better stay on the boat ez long ez we kin keep it," he said.
"Ez fur me, I'd rather be shot at by Injuns in the woods uv Kentucky
than be hevin' white men drawin' beads on me here in a town. It
looks more nateral. Uv course it wuz Braxton Wyatt or some other
tool uv that wicked Spaniard, Alvarez."

Early the next morning the five, after hiring the same watchman
to care again for their boat, went to the house of the Governor
General, the large, low building at the corner of Toulouse Street and
Rue de Ia Levee. Early as they were they were not the first to
arrive.

A tall man, neatly dressed in a fine brown suit with fine,
snow-white, puffed linen, silver-buckled shoes, and hair, tied in a
powdered queue, stood on the veranda. He had a frank, open face, and
the five knew at once that he was an American. Had not his
appearance proclaimed his nationality, his speech would have done it
for him.

"Good morning," he exclaimed, cheerily, "you are the gentlemen
from Kentucky who arrived yesterday? Yes, you must be! All New
Orleans has heard of the feat of strength and dexterity, performed by
one of you last night in Monsieur Gilibert's Inn of Henri Quatre!
And he who did it could be none other than you, my friend!"

He looked fixedly and admiringly at Henry, and the youth blushed
under his tan.

"It was merely done to stop an annoyance," he said. "I did not
mean to make any display."

The prepossessing stranger laughed.

"Doubtless," he said, "but you have received a great
advertisement, nevertheless. Some rumor concerning the cause of your
visit has also spread in New Orleans, and for this reason I am here
to meet you at the door of the Governor General."

The five looked at him inquiringly. He smiled, and they liked
him better than ever.

"I don't mean to make a mystery of anything," he said. "My name
is Pollock, Oliver Pollock."

"Ah," exclaimed Paul, his face alight, "you are the head of the
company of Philadelphia, New York and Boston merchants that is
sending arms from New Orleans up the Mississippi and Ohio to
Pittsburg, where they are landed and taken across the country for the
use of our hard-pressed brethren in the east!"

The shrewd merchant's eyes twinkled.

"I see, my young friend," he said to Paul, "that you are alert,
even if you have just come out of the wilderness. Yes, I am that
man, and I am proud to be the head of such a company. I tell you,
too, that you have come at the right time. The English, as you know,
are forbidden for the present to trade at New Orleans, while we are
unrestricted. But England is powerful, far more powerful than Spain,
and she is pushing hard for the privilege. If she gets it we shall
be hit in a vital spot. Moreover, an exceedingly strong faction
here, one with great influence, is striving continually to help
England and to crush us."

"Alvarez!" exclaimed Henry and Paul together. "Yes, Alvarez! We
must not underrate his strength and cunning, but if he is engaged in
plotting, in actual treason, or what is very near it, your coming may
help us to prove it and thus strengthen the hand of Bernardo Galvez,
who is our friend."

"There is no doubt of the fact!" said Henry earnestly. "He is
planning to make himself Governor General in place of Galvez!"

"Ah, but to prove it! To prove it! You are strangers and
foreigners, and Alvarez is before you here. No, don't blame
yourselves, you could not help it. But he is the commander of the
Spanish forces in Northern Louisiana. He came, summoned urgently on
the King's business, and he gained access to Bernardo Galvez last
night. Oh, he's a shrewd man, and a cunning one, and we know not
what plausible tale he may have poured out to the Governor General.
But come, the sentinel here wishes to know our business and I shall
go in with you, if I may."

"Of course," said Henry. "We thank you for your aid."

They saw in a moment how valuable this help could be as Mr.
Pollock spoke rapidly in Spanish to one of the sentinels, who seemed
impressed, and who quickly disappeared within the house. They spent
some anxious minutes in waiting, but the sentinel returned in a few
minutes with word that they would be received.

"That is good," said Mr. Pollock to the five. "It is well to
strike before the blow of Alvarez sinks in too deeply."

They entered an ante-chamber furnished with a splendor that the
Kentuckians had never seen before. There were pictures and the arms
of Spain upon the walls, and rich heavy rugs upon the floor. The
sentinel said something in Spanish to Mr. Pollock and the merchant
laughed.

"He makes the polite request," said Mr. Pollock, "that you leave
your rifles here. Ah, you see that the fame of the Kentucky rifle
has already reached New Orleans. They will be perfectly safe, I
assure you."

The five leaned their rifles in a row against the wall, long,
slender-barreled weapons, which were destined to make one day an
unparalleled record before this very city of New Orleans.

A wide door was thrown open and an attendant dressed in gorgeous
Spanish livery announced their names as they entered a large room
furnished with as great a degree of state as could be reproduced at
that time in New Orleans. An armed soldier stood on either side of
the door, and, at the far end of the room, waiting in a great chair
on a slightly raised platform, was a handsome, youngish man in the
uniform of a Spanish colonel. He had a strong, open countenance, and
the five knew that it was Bernardo Galvez, the Governor General of
Louisiana. The favorable impression of him that they had received
from reports was confirmed by his appearance.

Bernardo Galvez rose with punctilious courtesy and saluted
Oliver Pollock, who introduced in turn the five, to every one of whom
the Governor General gave a bow and a friendly word. Like all others
in New Orleans who had seen them, he bestowed an admiring look upon
their size, their straightness, and above all, the extraordinary air
of independence and resolution that characterized every one of them,
indicated, not by the words they said or the things they did, but by
an atmosphere they created, something that cannot be described. They
had never been in such a room before, one containing so much of the
splendor of old Europe, but they were not awed in the least by it,
and Bernardo Galvez knew it.

Oliver Pollock, the shrewd merchant and patriot, man of affairs,
and judge of his kind, observed them closely and, observing, he felt
a great thrill of satisfaction. The five, boys though two of them
were, had felt the vast importance of their mission and, now that
they had come, he too felt it was a most critical and delicate moment
for the struggling young nation. He knew much of Francisco Alvarez,
and he surmised more.

"I have heard of you," said the Governor General to the five,
and his tones became judicial and severe, as became the ruler of a
million square miles of fertile territory belonging to His Most
Catholic Majesty, the King of Spain. "You are the subject of formal
complaint made by the captain of our forces in the North, Don
Francisco Alvarez."

It was now Paul, the scholar, youth of imagination, and future
statesman, who responded and it seemed fitting to all that he should
do so.

"Will Your Excellency state the complaint against us?" he asked
in a grave and manly way.

"I will leave it to Don Francisco to state it," replied Bernardo
Galvez. "I expected that you would be here this morning, so I have
chosen to confront you with him. Each side shall tell its story."

This seemed fair, and the five, who had been waved to seats by a
great window with Mr. Pollock, made no protest. There they sat in
silence for a few minutes, while the Governor General dictated to a
secretary who sat at a little table by his side and who wrote with a
goose-quill.

The wide door was at length thrown open again, and the usher
announced Don Francisco and his aide, Senior Braxton Wyatt. The five
were amazed and indignant at the assurance of the renegade, but the
said nothing.

Alvarez walked into the room, cool, dignified, and austere, his
manner was not calculated to ruffle his superior officer. It seemed
rather to indicate a confidence that the Governor General would
punish as was fitting the impertinence of the intruders from
Kaintock. He bestowed only a single glance upon them, as if his
victory over such insignificant opponents were already assured. The
blood slowly rose to the fates of Paul and Henry, but they were about
to witness an extraordinary exhibition of Spanish pliancy and
dexterity.

Braxton Wyatt was as thoroughly the Spaniard as clothes could
make him, which was not thorough at all, and he imitated his leader
even to the supercilious glance at the Kentuckians and the following
look of assured victory. The five took no notice of him.

Alvarez gave to the Governor General a military salute, which
Galvez returned in like fashion. Then the captain sat down in a
chair near the Governor General, and the latter said, maintaining his
judicial tone:

"Those against whom you made the complaint last night are here,
Don Francisco. Will you state again the charges? It is but fair
that they should hear and make reply, if they can."

He spoke in English that the five might under-and Alvarez
replied in the same language.

"Your Excellency," he said, and his tone seemed frank, open, and
convincing - the five were amazed that he could have such a truthful
look and manner of injured innocence - "you know that I have been a
most faithful guardian of the interests of our master, the King. I
have done long and hard service in the far north, in a wilderness
infested by hostile savages."

"No one doubts your courage and endurance, Don Francisco," said
Bernardo Galvez.

"My devotion to Spain is the great passion of my life,"
continued Alvarez in a gratified tone.

"You know how jealously I have sought to guard against
incursions from Kaintock. The settlements of the Americans there are
but two or three year old, yet these people press already upon the
Mississippi and threaten His Majesty's territory of Louisiana."

"I think that we wander a little from the subject," said Galvez.
"It would be better to state the core of your complaint."

Alvarez made a deprecating gesture.

"I deemed the preamble necessary to a full understanding of what
has followed," he said. "When I tell of Kaintock I tell what these
men are. Suffice it now to say that, of their own accord and by
their own hands, they have made war upon Spain. They have stolen
away a boat of mine, loaded with arms and stores, they have fired
upon His Majesty's subjects, and one of them has slain a Natchez
trailer, a faithful, valuable man in my service."

When Alvarez spoke of The Cat, he pointed at Shif'less Sol - he
was acting on a hint of Wyatt's. The look of Alvarez followed the
accusing finger, but the shiftless one rose undaunted.

"That part of what he tells is true," said Shif'less Sol. "I
slew that Injun - an' a meaner face I never saw in fa'r fight. He
slipped upon me in the dark to murder me, an' thar wuzn't nothin'
else left 'fur me to do."

Freed of his speech and his wrath, the shiftless one sat down
again. Alvarez and the renegade gave him looks of sneering
incredulity, but the look of Bernardo Galvez was one of interest and
surprise.

"What of the other charges? " he asked, turning to Paul, the
spokesman.

The gift of imagination often implies the orator's tongue and
Paul had an inspired moment. He stood up, his cheeks flushing and
his eyes alight, as they always were when he was deeply moved.

"It is true," he said, "that we took a boat belonging to Captain
Alvarez, but it was because he forced us to do it. It is he who
first made war upon Kentucky, not we upon Spain. I went into his
camp upon a peaceful mission. He seized and held me a prisoner. I
was rescued by my comrades, although they inflicted no harm upon any
of the men of Captain Alvarez. He has sought in every way to destroy
us, and because he was the beginner of violence and because he is
planning a great treason and war upon Kentucky, we took his boat and
have come to New Orleans for the sole purpose of appearing before
you."

Alvarez burst into a sneering laugh and Braxton Wyatt, as a
matter of course, imitated him, but Bernardo Galvez asked in a grave
tone:

"What do you mean by a great treason? No, Don Francisco, wait!
Let him speak! It is their right."

"I mean," said Paul boldly, "that he expects to become Governor
General of Louisiana in your place. It is not the policy of Spain to
attack us. Yet Red Eagle and Yellow Panther, the head chiefs of the
powerful Shawnee and Miami nations were in his camp, and he has
agreed to help them with Spanish soldiers and Spanish cannon in a
raid upon Kentucky."

"This is an extraordinary statement," said Bernardo Galvez.
"Your proof?"

"Yes, your proof!" sneered Alvarez, and Braxton Wyatt sneered,
too.

"This man," said Paul, pointing to the renegade, "is from
Kentucky. We were boys together but he deserted the white people,
his own people, to go with the red. He has continually urged the
Indian attack upon us and he has brought to Captain Alvarez complete
maps of every settlement in Kentucky, Wareville, Marlowe, Lexington,
Harrodsburg, and all the others. Why is he here! Why has he come to
New Orleans, if not to bind the red chiefs and Captain Alvarez
together in such an enterprise?"

Alvarez again burst into a laugh, ironical and taunting. Paul
flushed deeply.

"I know," he exclaimed, "that we cannot bring you absolute
proofs, but it is true, nevertheless. The Indian chiefs, Yellow
Panther and Red Eagle, have his agreement made without any authority
from you, and there are the maps."

"A map does not necessarily mean war," said Alvarez, "even if
they should exist, and they do not exist. I took these people, arms
in hand, upon His Majesty's soil, and it was my intention to bring
them to New Orleans for examination and punishment by you."

"Doubtless it is so," said Bernardo Galvez, "but you were in no
hurry to perform the mission. I was forced to send a message to you
at Beaulieu to come to New Orleans with your prisoners, but it seems
they have escaped and come of their own accord."

"And I may state, your Excellency," said Henry Ware rising,
"that while my comrade, Paul Cotter, was a prisoner at Beaulieu, he
was forced into a ring and a professional swordsman was set upon him.
That, Captain Alvarez cannot deny. It was witnessed by too many
people."

Bernardo Galvez gave Alvarez a surprised and stern look. The
captain winced, but it was only for a moment.

"Is this true, Don Francisco?" asked the Governor General
gravely. "Did you do this thing?"

Alvarez made a gesture as if it were true, but yet a trifle. "I
confess, Your Excellency," he said. "I had forgotten the
circumstance, but, since I am reminded of it, I will not deny. The
thing seems much worse in the telling than it was in the happening.
The young man had shown great skill with the sword-he had disarmed me
in a little encounter; I admit that, too-and we wished to test his
agility and courage against a master, who was instructed not to hurt
him seriously under any circumstances."

He spoke rapidly and lightly, almost convincingly. But Henry
Ware interrupted.

"His object," he said, "was to have Paul Cotter killed."

Benard Galvez looked from one to the other and back again. It
was the word of a stranger and a foreigner against that of a Spanish
captain in his service, a man of noble lineage, and with powerful
friends at the Court of Madrid. But the seeds of doubt had been sown
nevertheless. The youth, Paul, and his comrade Henry, also, had
spoken with singular earnestness. Moreover, Francisco Alvarez was an
ambitious man, and Bernardo Galvez also believed him to be
unscrupulous. If he aimed at the place of Governor General and the
commitment of Spain to an alliance with England, it was a daring
thing to do.

Bernardo Galvez was sorely troubled and he looked from Alvarez
to the five and then back again. Alvarez sat smiling. His look was
that of one who was right, who knew that he was right, and who knew
that others knew it. Oliver Pollock sitting by the big window, close
to the five, was also watching shrewdly in order that he might draw
from all this coil some capital for the patriot cause.

"In any event," said Bernardo Galvez at last, speaking slowly,
as if he carefully considered each word, "you were wrong, Don
Francisco, to expose this youth to such an encounter. If, as you
say, it was merely a little sport, then the sport was ill-chosen and
ill-timed. Whether that or another was your purpose, it reflects
upon your judgment and sense of humanity."

He paused, and Alvarez flushed darkly, but he was still master
of his supple self.

"Your words are none too severe, Your Excellency," he said. "I
did indeed do a foolish thing. It was a thoughtless impulse."

"But," resumed Galvez, as if Alvarez had not spoken, "you are an
officer high in the service of His Majesty, and these who accuse you
are strangers belonging to another race. They do not bring the proof
of their charges, and the fact that they have violently seized and
put to their own use the property of Spain cannot be denied, as the
boat is now anchored at the levee."

Francisco Alvarez and Braxton Wyatt lifted their chins in
triumph and the five were downcast. But the face of Oliver Pollock,
the shrewd merchant and far-seeing judge of affairs and men, showed
nothing.

"Therefore," continued the Governor General, "the boat must be
returned at once to Don Francisco, and for the present those who
seized it must be the prisoners of Spain."

Paul was about to spring up in protest, but Henry's hand on his
arm held him down. Oliver Pollock, too, gave him a warning glance.
Yet the triumphant looks of the Spanish captain and the renegade were
hard to bear.

"On the other hand," continued the Governor General, still
weighing his words, "the actions of Don Francisco have not been
beyond rebuke. He seems to have regarded those from Kaintock as the
prisoners of himself and not of Spain. He made no report of these
matters to me, his superior officer, and he has lingered at his place
of Beaulieu as if he were subject to no orders save those of his own
will."

Alvarez again flushed and raised his hand in protest, but
Bernardo Galvez went on, disregarding him:

"Because these offenses give some color to the charges against
him, it is my order that he be relieved for the present of his
command, and that he do not depart, under any circumstance, from the
City of New Orleans until he receive further instructions."

Alvarez sprang up in anger, but a commanding gesture from the
Governor General waved him down in silence.

"I do not wish to hear any protests, Don Francisco," he said,
"but I do intend to look further into these matters."

"If we have not won, neither has the Spaniard," whispered Henry
in Paul's ear.

Oliver Pollock glanced out of the big window and the turning of
his head hid the twinkle in his eye. Yes, these were very delicate
matters, and two great nations and another that hoped to be great,
too, were involved, but one might make progress nevertheless.

Bernardo Galvez spoke to his secretary, who left the room, but
returned in a few minutes with no less a personage than Lieutenant
Diego Bernal, mincing, scrupulously dressed, but very alert of
eye.

"You will take six soldiers," said the Governor General to him,
"and escort these five to the fortress. Treat them well, but hold
them until further orders."

Oliver Pollock gave a nod to Henry. It said plainly, "go
without protest." Henry and his comrades rose and followed
Lieutenant Bernal from the Governor General's house. Thence they
went to one of the forts in the wall that surrounded the town.