“there is no danger to a man that knows
what life and death is.”
chapman.
it may be readily imagined that beatriz listened eagerly to a conversation which gave her the clue to all the tortuous actions of tolta in regard to herself and olmedo. he had no sooner gone than she entered, throwing back the covering to her face, which, amid the general excitement, had enabled her to pass unobserved among her companions, who, immediately coming after, imitated her example. notwithstanding the suddenness of her appearance, and the obscure light, olmedo knew her at once, and greeted her with an exclamation of joyful surprise. the guards, challenging the intruders, were about to take them into custody, but perceiving their young chiefess, and two of them recognizing their wives, they were at a loss what to do; whether to give an alarm, which would be their death-warrant, or by acquiescing in the sacrilege, run the risk of being themselves involved in their crime. their attachment to liliha proved stronger than their fears, as she partly appealed to their personal fealty, and partly commanded their[230] services, seconded by her women, who, having now irrevocably committed themselves, had no other resource than to bribe or cajole them to silence. still they were incurring, as they well knew, a fearful hazard, and they heartily wished themselves out of the net into which they had been led by their inexperienced mistress. she herself did not reflect how the adventure might terminate, now that she had missed her father, but was so absorbed in her desire to save beatriz, that she thought of nothing else. indeed she entered as impulsively into every act that had that in view, as she would have into any scheme of pleasure. it was the first time she had ever taken any serious responsibility upon herself, unknown to or unadvised by her father. up to this moment she had fully expected to meet him, not doubting but that, as usual, he would accede to her wishes. could she have read in his calm exterior the closely weighed policy which decided every question solely in reference to his ambition, and made him patient or impetuous, kind or cruel, priest or infidel, selfish or generous, only as interest swayed, she would have hesitated to approach him on such an errand. when he proposed to olmedo to save him by substituting another victim, he was sincere. not that he desired to spare him the pangs of the sacrifice, but that he might reserve him to gratify his inquisitive mind, after which he would have consigned him, with equal indifference, to death, or sent him back to kiana, as his policy prompted. the refusal of olmedo had perplexed him. it was an exhibition[231] of character not within his calculation. he would not risk his popularity with the expectant multitude, by refusing to sacrifice olmedo, as had been solemnly proclaimed; but, true to his promise to aid beatriz, and hoping from her to obtain further disclosures of the acts of tolta, he had set off soon after for his own residence. by taking the main road he missed liliha, who arrived at the fortress at the same time that he reached his own house. thus it was that the maiden was left solely to her own resources, as she was told by the guards her father had returned to his home, and would not be back before early morning.
when she heard this her heart failed her, and she wrung her hands, exclaiming, “what can be done? by morning it will be too late. i will go to pohaku. he will not refuse the daughter of hewahewa her petition.”
“nay, nay, our chiefess, you would bring ruin to us all, and to your father also. think not of this. he is as merciless as death. like a maddened boar, he will rend us all,” both women and guards exclaimed in one breath, as each began to discuss how to escape from their present perilous position.
while this was going on, beatriz had explained to olmedo all that had occurred since they parted, and he had told her his history. his first idea in seeing her was that she had been brought to share his fate, but finding that she was comparatively free and with friends, hope began to revive in each for the other. overhearing the discussion between the women and the guards, olmedo said, “these[232] friendly natives must not be put to death for me. we must either all depart, or you must go as you came, and leave me to my destiny. some other mode of escape may offer, which shall not risk so many lives for one.”
“i will never again leave you, olmedo. if you remain, i remain; if you go, i go. whatever your fate may be, i am here to share it,” said beatriz.
“say not so, my daughter, my beatriz. go with those who brought you here. they can guard you safely back to juan. if you remain with me, they are lost. surely you would not cost them their lives. go while there is yet time. god will guard you. as for me, i am a soldier of the cross, and it is meet that i should offer up my life rather than violate its holy principles. there,” said olmedo, tenderly taking her hand and putting it into that of liliha, “depart with her. she will rescue you and restore you to your brother.”
withdrawing her hand from liliha’s, beatriz took olmedo’s, and fixing her expressive eyes on his, firmly and slowly said, “my resolution is formed. did you ever know me to swerve from my decision? go, i pray you,” said she, turning to liliha. “may the holy virgin reward you for your kindness, dear sister. embrace me. your father, should he come to know this, would not be cruel to his daughter for her love to the white maiden.”
but liliha clung convulsively to her and refused to part. “i cannot give you up,” said she. “i am your sister. if you stay, i will stay. you shall not die so cruel a death,” and she sobbed like an[233] infant, while her women, terrified at her words, urged her to delay no longer. the guards added their entreaties, for at any moment some of the priests might return, and then all would be lost.
olmedo, seeing the unfortunate turn beatrix’s endeavor to save him was taking, here interposed, as a new idea suggested itself, saying, “calm yourselves and listen to me. if these good men,” speaking of his guards, “will consent, we can be all saved.”
“how! what do you propose? i will answer for my people,” eagerly exclaimed liliha.
“then let us all fly at once, taking the shortest and safest route to kiana’s territory. some of you must know the country well. he will reward you all to the extent of your desires, and protect you from the vengeance of your chief.”
“and leave my father! what will he think of me? i must not forsake him,” said liliha, with a filial firmness that threatened to extinguish the last hope of rescue for beatriz.
“it will be but for a short time, noble maiden,” urged olmedo. “he will pardon you for an act of mercy—for saving the life of your friend and sister. you have gone so far that there is safety in no other course. finish your merciful work, my daughter, and the blessings of the god of the christian will ever attend you, and his holy saints have you always in their keeping. the great god wills it. your heart is too tender to leave her to suffer so cruelly from the malice of a stranger to your race and ours. your women, too; think of[234] them; their visit here cannot long be concealed. as soon as it is known, they will be inhumanly tortured, and sacrificed to demons. would you have the blood of all these upon your head? no. your father will not blame you.”
“the stranger priest speaks well,” interposed umi, the captain of the guards, glad of an opportunity to desert the service of pohaku for that of kiana, and seeing in this affair an occasion to recommend himself to that chieftain. “by sunrise we can reach the territories of kiana if we start now. i know a city of refuge near the frontier, where we can be in safety until he comes to our rescue. let us go at once.”
“for my sake, for the love you bear your father, save mine,” pleaded beatriz, embracing her.
the women and guards added their entreaties, so that liliha hesitated no longer. “be it so,” said she, “i yield for your sakes, but my heart misgives me for deserting my father.” but there was no time for further indecision, so they bore her half-reluctantly forward, leaving the heiau by the gate farthest from the fortress, fortunately meeting no one. it wanted an hour and a half of midnight. the moon rose as they reached a path that skirted the crater on its northern side. by its light they made tolerably quick progress over the rough country, in the direction of the eastern shore of hawaii.
they had been gone about three hours, when tolta walked once more towards the heiau, desirous of seeing his captive again before he was wholly given up to hewahewa, for the terrible rites of the[235] dawning festival. surprised and angry at finding the temple wholly deserted, his first thought was, that the guards and priests, whose duty required them to have been there at that hour, had left their captive and gone to indulge in the orgies at the fort. he searched everywhere without finding a trace of olmedo, and was on the point of going back to seek hewahewa, and demand why the prisoner had been removed, when he saw something bright lying on the ground, close by the gate farthest from pohaku’s quarters. picking it up he recognized the well-known rosary of beatriz. immediately the misgiving crossed his mind that by some means he was unable to account for, she had been able to release olmedo, and they had fled. alone and unassisted, such a deed was impossible. she must, therefore, have secured aid from some one, able either to overawe or bribe those who had the custody of olmedo. his suspicion fell at once upon hewahewa. “he seeks to ingratiate himself with kiana,” thought he, “by revealing the plot and restoring the prisoners. but why? what motive can there be for such a step, when our joint plans were so nigh success?” confiding his discovery to no one, he went back to the fortress, hoping that he might find hewahewa, and learn from him that he was wrong in his conjecture. he was as unsuccessful in getting tidings of him as of olmedo. doubt now ripened into certainty, and he felt sure that hewahewa had not only released the prisoners, but accompanied them in their flight. “the traitor, does he think to foil me thus? i will have his head[236] and one rival the less. i never liked his ominous silence,—his thought is as secret as the grave. but they cannot have gone far. i must pursue and capture them before this gets to the ears of pohaku. caught in the act, he will then be sure not to spare even his favorite priest. beatriz must still be kept from his sight. the war once begun, he will hence have enough to glut his passions without thinking of the white woman. it will go hard with me if some lucky blow may not put an end to him. then, tolta, you are supreme.”
so musing, pleased at the opportunity that offered for catching hewahewa in the same net which he had been spreading, and not doubting but that in a few hours he should return successful from the pursuit, he apprised his most trusty partisans that he had need of their services, and without letting them know his object until fairly upon the road, he made all possible haste to come up with the fugitives. trained to forest warfare, his men once upon the route found no difficulty in tracking, even by the uncertain light of the moon, the party in advance, whose progress, encumbered as it was with women, was necessarily much slower than their own.
while tolta was pursuing olmedo, hewahewa, surprised at not finding his daughter and beatriz at his own house, was on his return to the fortress to learn further tidings of them. his people knew only that they were missing, and that a party of women had left quite early in the day in that direction. they supposed that their mistress, curious to witness the spectacle, had secretly gone for that[237] purpose. the high-priest arrived at the stronghold in about an hour after tolta had left, presuming he should have no difficulty in detecting liliha through any disguise. he anxiously sought for her among the different groups that were prolonging their carousings into the morning, and searched every house, but equally in vain. at last he went to the temple, though believing it impossible that she could have braved the terrors of the tabu, either from curiosity or to gratify the white woman. he was more astonished than even tolta at its desertion, and could scarcely credit his sight. the heiau was a complete solitude. its foul offerings polluted the night air, and sent up their reeking incense to impish idols, unwatched by human eyes. excited as his feelings were for the safety of the only being he loved, never had the gloomy precincts of the sacred enclosure and its disgusting rites appeared to him as they did now. he was repelled and disgusted, and as he recalled the words and resolute self-denial of olmedo, he felt disposed to proclaim the whole a delusion. but the thought was only momentary. as he discovered the absence of olmedo, he remembered what the white priest had told him of the proffered treachery of tolta, and he suspected that olmedo might have relented at the last moment and consented to his plans. liliha no doubt had been seduced to conduct beatriz to the fortress in disguise, and the whole party had fled with the guards. instead, therefore, of surprising kiana, that chieftain, led by tolta, would shortly be down upon them with all[238] his force. enraged at the abduction of his daughter, which he attributed to the mexican, and hoping to defeat his intentions, he hurried to pohaku, and related the circumstances and his conclusions.
that chief was still engaged with the sorcerers, and as the auguries had not improved, his temper was in its most savage mood. he heard, however, without interrupting, the story through.
starting up, he roared rather than spoke, “the lying hound, the whelp of a wild dog—no marvel that the sacred signs failed before his false eyes. arm ye, all, and pursue the traitor. my richest valley shall be the prize of his capturer—off men to the hunt, but leave him to be dealt with by me. he who lags behind shall feel my spear.”
clutching his weapons he rushed out, followed by the fiercest and most resolute of his retainers, who, eager to win the reward, tumultuously pushed forward; but pohaku, maddened by his abortive witchcraft, and the deceit of his tempter, soon outstripped them all, and intent upon revenge, went on at a pace to which few of his men were equal.
hewahewa perceived that tolta had not gone alone, as many able fighting men were missing. he concluded, therefore, that he had partisans, and would make fight, should he be overtaken before joining kiana. the fury of pohaku might defeat its object, unless sustained by his regular force. so calling together as many companies of the warriors under their chiefs, as the debauch had left fit for immediate service, he led them in military array[239] after pohaku. thus it happened that within a few hours, these different parties, actuated by such conflicting emotions, in wild chase of or from each other, were on the road to kiana’s territories.
