Ole Devil and the Caplocks (26 page)

On telling how her ambush
had failed, laying all the blame on her now scattered or dead
associates, Madeline had warned that there was a possibility that
the two sections of the enemies’ party were reunited. Although she
had not lingered in the vicinity of San Phillipe, she had felt sure
that the bell-mare had been replaced. In which case, she could
count upon Ole Devil Hardin and Diamond-Hitch Brindley to waste no
time in putting the new animal to use. For all that, it rankled to
learn that the young couple had once again proved to be so capable
and efficient. However, the woman found some consolation in
considering that both of them would be at Santa Cristobal Bay, and
the full strength of Company “C” of the Texas Light Cavalry and the
Brindleys’
Tejas
mule packers were less than half the number of the Arizona
Hopi
Activos
Regiment.

“That will save us going
looking for them,” Villena called out and the other officers
mumbled their agreement.

“The time has come for us
to ride, gentlemen,” Alarcon stated. “But I don’t need to warn any
of you to use cold steel and not to fall into their
error.”

“May I accompany you.
Colonel?” Madeline inquired.

“
It
won’t be any place for a lady,
señora
,” Alarcon pointed
out.

“Nor do I expect it to
be,” the woman declared and her emotions turned her face ugly. “But
they murdered my husband and I have a score to settle with
them.”

For a few seconds, Alarcon
did not offer to reply. While he had read the woman’s
identification pass, he was not familiar with
Presidente
Antonio Lopez de Santa
Anna’s signature. So he could not tell whether the document was
genuine or not. However, he was aware of what his fate would be if
it should be authentic and he had not honored it. Nor would his
future career be improved if he allowed a friend of el
Presidente
to be
harmed.

“
Very
well,
señora
,” the colonel finally said. “You may come. But it must be on
the understanding that you do so at your own risk and knowing there
will be a very great element of danger.”

“That is fully understood
and accepted, Colonel,” Madeline replied, her hatred for the girl
and the Texian driving out any thought of the perils she would be
facing. She nodded to the listening officers, going on, “These
gentlemen are witnesses that I insisted upon going and that no
blame shall attach itself to you in the event of my being killed or
injured.”

“
My
thanks,
señora
, and well said,” Alarcon answered, but decided that
precautions might still be in order. “I must only ask that you stay
close to me—”

“
Perhaps
you’d be good enough to put me under Major Villena y Danvila’s
care,
señor,
” the woman suggested, guessing that—having captured the
leader of the Texians and allowing him to escape—the officer in
question would be the best choice for her purpose. He would want to
remove the stain on his reputation by killing Ole Devil Hardin and
would put her in the best position to achieve the same end. “If he
doesn’t object, that is.”

“
It will
be my privilege,
señora,
” Villena stated. “Very
well,” the colonel authorized, realizing that the major could be
made to bear the brunt of the recriminations if anything should
befall the female renegade. “I trust you will take no unnecessary
chances,
señora?”

“I’ve no wish to be
killed. Colonel,” Madeline replied.

On rejoining their men,
the officers removed the outer clothing which they had donned to
combat the inclement weather. Although travel-stained, their
uniforms looked martial and impressive; particularly when compared
with the way the men under their command were dressed.

Wanting a greater freedom
of movement, Madeline peeled off her cloak-coat. Taking the
“Pepperbox” from the pocket, she tucked its barrel into her
waistband. Then she handed the heavy outer garment to one of the
small party of
mozos
who were waiting to take care of the officers’ property.
Having done so, she joined Villena and his lieutenants.

With his force mounted,
Alarcon gave the order to advance. Following his plan, each company
formed into three ranks. The youngest braves and the lieutenants
were in front, with the older warriors and senior officers bringing
up the rear. Nor had either the junior officers nor the Hopis seen
anything unusual in the formation. To the Indians’ way of thinking,
such an arrangement was not only logical but honorable
^lvi
and such of the lieutenants as bothered to give it any
consideration accepted that it was being done to satisfy the
preferences of the men under their command.

Madeline de Moreau was not
alone in feeling that such an arrangement had merit. Seeing the
advantages, the colonel and the three majors had been only too
happy to go along with the Hopis’ tradition. It gave them a greater
chance of survival and the woman saw it in the same
light.

Although the colonel and
Chief Jesus had contrived to reach a point of vantage from which
they could study the enemy without being detected, they had
realized that there was no chance of such a large body of men
meeting with equal success. Nor did he mean for them to waste time
trying. Instead, they were heading straight for their objective.
Once the Texians saw them coming, he would be able to find out if a
very important aspect of his strategy was correct. He hoped that it
would be, for he had used it as a major argument when the dangers
of a frontal attack upon what would probably be prepared positions
had been raised.

Before the Hopis were
within a hundred yards of the strip of almost open land, the
defenders had seen them. Finding themselves located, the front rank
let out whoops and urged their horses forward at an increased
pace.

Looking between the men
ahead of him, Alarcon gave a sigh of relief. Just as he had
anticipated, instead of waiting to deliver volley firing when the
Indians reached the fringe of the sheltered terrain—which would
have proved advantageous to him, provided the other factor
happened—first one and then many of the other men in the pits began
to open fire.

Or tried to!

Only a few of the rifles
spoke!

The remainder proved to be
suffering from a terribly dangerous fault of the flintlock
mechanism under such climatic conditions!
^lvii
Having been affected by the damp air, the powder in the
priming pans was failing to ignite and set off the main charges in
the barrels.

Seeing that their
colonel’s prediction was justified even the more cautious of the
older braves cast aside their doubts. When rifle after rifle
misfired, they added their war whoops to those of the leading ranks
and signaled for their mounts to go faster.

Dashing through the bushes
and other cover, the three companies were prepared to launch a
determined and, what they felt sure would be, an unstoppable
charge. With the way the Texians’ weapons were failing to function,
they could have done little to save themselves even if they had
been sufficiently well disciplined to wait and deliver a
volley.

Or so thought the
attacking force.

Although the attackers did
not realize it, they were being lured into a trap!

Ole Devil Hardin had been
counting upon the Red River Volunteer Dragoons contingent’s lack of
discipline to help him spring it. That was why he had selected them
to occupy the rifle pits. For the success of his scheme, he needed
men upon whom he could rely implicitly below the rim and concealed
from the enemies’ view.

However, while guessing
that any attempt at volley firing would be doomed to failure where
the Dragoons were concerned, Ole Devil had given one command to
them. Only a few owned percussion-fired weapons and he had insisted
that they employed their personal arms before bringing the Caplocks
he had lent to them into action. He had also threatened to shoot
any man who attempted to touch the new rifles before he gave
permission. It said much for the respect, or fear, which he
inspired among them that not one had offered to go against his
orders even after their pieces failed to function.

Knowing what was at stake,
Di, Mannen, Tommy Okasi, Rassendyll and Joe Galton had not fired so
much as a shot between them. While the discovery of a rifle which
could keep on pumping out lead without apparently needing to be
reloaded might have had a salutary effect upon the Indians,
^lviii
from the defenders’ point of view, Mannen doubted whether any
of them would notice it in the excitement and confusion of the mass
charge. So he was saving the five bullets until they could be put
to a more useful purpose. Nor was the little Oriental using his
bow, preferring to economize where the arrows were
concerned.

Reaching the open ground,
the Hopis and their Mexican officers made an awesome sight.
Brandishing lances, throwing sticks, bows and arrows, or in the
lieutenants’ cases, some kind of a sword, they swept
onward.

“
Now!”
Ole Devil roared, swinging the butt of his Browning Slide Repeating
rifle to his shoulder. “Give them the Caplocks.
Dragoons!”

Eagerly and with great
relief, the enlisted men in the pits discarded their own arms to
snatch up the first of their reserve rifles. Every one of them
hoped that the Caplocks would prove more effective than the weapons
which had failed to function.

However, the sight of the
Dragoons changing rifles was not the attackers’ main source of
consternation. To their amazement, many more gringos began to
appear over what the majority of the Mexicans and Indians had
assumed to be the edge of the cliff. Each of the newcomers was
holding a rifle ready for use and had a second, with a bayonet
attached, suspended by an improvised sling across his
back.

Shock and alarm burst
through Alarcon as he realized that he had been tricked into
greatly underestimating the number of the enemy. There was,
however, no time for him to wonder if his informant had been a
party to the deception.
^lix
Other matters of more immediate importance were demanding his
undivided attention, particularly the way in which the newcomers
were behaving. From all appearances, they were far better
disciplined than the occupants of the pits. Although they might not
be acting with the puppet like precision of some of the crack
European regiments he had heard and read about, they advanced from
the rim and, halting in a fairly straight line, lifted their rifles
to the aiming position so nearly simultaneously as to be
impressive—

And, but for the lethal
fault of the flintlock mechanism, frightening.

Alarcon and his men
doubted whether more than a fraction of the weapons being pointed
at them would perform in a more satisfactory manner than those of
their previous assailants.

“Fire!” bellowed Major
Ludwig von Lowenbrau, having been assigned to perform the duty as
he could see when the men from below the rim were ready whereas Ole
Devil could not without looking away from the enemy.

Over sixty rifles roared
and Tommy Okasi’s long bow twanged in a ragged, but adequately
concentrated volley. It was followed by the shots from those of the
Dragoons who had been less speedy in exchanging weapons.

Already halfway across the
open strip, the tightly packed ranks of the Arizona Hopi
Activos
Regiment’s three
companies were ideally positioned to be caught by the holocaust,
and they suffered grievously. Horses and men went down like wheat
before a mower’s scythe.

Being in the forefront of
the attackers, not one of the Mexican lieutenants survived the
onslaught. Their colonel had not been alone in appreciating the
tactical and moral value of removing officers and the Texians had
acted accordingly. What was more, practically every member of the
front rank felt the effects of the volley. Although they bore the
brunt of the casualties, some of the bullets found billets in the
men who were following them after having passed between—or
through—their bodies. In fact, those who were behind horses which
were struck down might have counted themselves fortunate. At
something around a hundred yards, the lead could not pass through
the length of the animal’s body and emerge to fly on with
sufficient velocity to claim a second victim.

Just how well Ole Devil
had laid his plans was shown by the success which his party had
attained. With the single, well-delivered volley, the assault by
the much larger force had been disrupted and brought to a halt.
What was more, the effect went even further than he had
anticipated. He had not suspected that the Mexican colonel would
have counted upon his men being armed with flintlocks and that
these would misfire in the damp air.

Nor were the Texians
finished!