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Their Mariposa Legend

A Romance of Santa Catalina

By Charlotte Herr

To Little Bruce Parker
Who Loved Stories

Part I

Sir Francis Starts It

It began to happen a long time ago, centuries ago, when, in a fragrant
rush of rain, spring came one day to Punagwandah, fairest of the Channel
Islands. Beneath the golden mists of sunrise danced a radiant sea. On
steeply sloping hillsides where thickets of wild lilac bloomed, the lark
shook from his tiny throat a tumult of glad music. In shadowed niches of
the canyons lilies waited to fill with light their gleaming ivory cups.
Spring in very truth was there.

And looking down upon it from her cavern bower high above the beach,
watched the Princess Wildenai. Kneeling there, the light of dawn shining
on her long black hair, she was, herself, the sweetest blossom of the
spring. Loveliest was she among all the maidens of the Mariposa and of
royal blood besides; although of this the great chief Torquam, who even
at that moment lay sleeping in his lodge of deerskin on the crescent
beach below, knew more than he had ever told.

With eyes rapt, her breath scarcely stirring the folds of softest
fawnskin drawn across her breast, the princess bent her gaze to where
the waves ran silver on the ocean's distant rim. There she knew the sun
must rise and, as the first dazzling ray sparkled across the water, she
rose slowly until she stood erect, a slender, graceful figure against
the dim, gray rocks, and stretching her arms toward the East, spoke in
the musical words of her people.

"Oh, Waken-ate, great spirit-father," she pleaded, "have mercy on me.
Grant to me, thy humble daughter, one only boon. Grant, I pray thee,
that it need not be I wed with Torquam's friend, the pale-face stranger.
Well knowest thou I would not disobey my father, him the bravest and
most powerful of all thy warriors, him whom his people delight to honor,
and whom I strive to please. All the more I feel my duty since, many
moons ago, they laid my mother underneath the flowers. Yet, even so, I
cannot find it in my heart to wed with Don Cabrillo, dearly as does my
father wish it. Can'st thou not then, in thy great power, turn his
heart, oh lord of spirits, that he no longer may desire it? Help me in
this, my only trial, I pray thee, and in all else will I be indeed his
loyal daughter, - in all else save alone in this one thing!"

Her arms fell. Slowly she sank again to her knees, bending her head
until her forehead touched the ground. For many minutes she lay thus
prostrate while the glory of the rising sun bathed the sea in splendor.
Yet, when at last she rose, her eyes were dim with tears.

But now from the beach below there drifted up to her the sounds of a
village astir. Shrill voices of women mingled with the crackling of
freshly kindled fires. A canoe, pushed hastily into the water, grated
harshly on the pebbles. Still the maiden did not stir. Leaning against
the rocky ledge, her chin in her hands, she gazed listlessly out over
the shining sea. If any interests lived for her among the dark-skinned
people beneath the cliffs, for the moment at least she gave no sign.

Then, suddenly, above the ordinary din of the Indian village, rose the
hoarse shouting of men. Wildenai lifted her eyes, - eyes that widened
first with wonder, then with fear. For there, far down the shoreline to
the south, her sails gleaming white against the walls of rock behind her
as she rounded a distant point, a ship came slowly into view. With
wildly beating heart the young girl watched the vessel tack to clear the
long curve of the coast. But once before in all her life had she seen
such another monster winged canoe, and that had been when Senor Don
Cabrillo first cast anchor in the Bay of Moons below, now almost a year
ago. For many a week had the young man lingered, renewing the friendship
with the Mariposa cemented more than eighteen years before when his
father, hindered by storms in his adventurous journey up the coast, cast
anchor off the shore, - the first white man to see their island. Nor was
the lingering without result. Torquam he taught to speak the Spanish
tongue, learning in his turn safer and easier routes to the gold fields
of the north, while not the least among the treasures carried with him
when at last he sailed away did he hold the promise that the beautiful
daughter of the chief should become his bride when next he touched upon
that shore. Could this, then, be the Spaniard's fleet returning? Was the
Great Spirit powerless, after all, to save her? In sore bewilderment and
terror Wildenai watched the distant ship.

Nearer and nearer it came. But, as its outline grew each moment more
distinct, gradually her fears departed. For this was not the clumsy
Spanish galleon she remembered. The prow was not nearly so high, nor was
the incoming vessel as large in any respect as had been that other. Yet,
though fear died, wonder grew. What new variety of strangers, then, was
about to visit them? For that the ship intended to anchor she was by
this time sure. Steadily it bore on until within a scant half mile of
the crescent shaped beach where lay the royal village of the tribe. At
length, as if in fear to trust themselves closer to the rocky shore, the
crew were seen to bring the vessel sharply about. An anchor was cast
over, the creaking of the hawsers distinctly audible in the clear
morning air, and a few moments later a small boat was lowered. Into this
boat immediately several sailors swung themselves and after a short
delay, amidst the shouting of the Indians, now running in wild
excitement up and down the beach, the men picked up their oars and
started for the land.

"Alla-hoa, Wildenai!"

Up the stony trail leading to her cavern scrambled an Indian runner, a
lithe youth who flung himself breathless at her feet.

"Thy father, oh princess, sends me to summon thee to his lodge.
Strangers, - paleface strangers, - enemies, who can tell, are coming.
See, - the ship!" With dark forefinger he pointed toward the sea.
"Torquam would have thee hide with the rest of the women in the cave at
the Great Rock. There Kathah-galwa wilt keep thee safe, he says. Make
haste, oh Wildenai!"

"And am I not as safe up here?" returned the princess, calmly. "Be not
so lost in thy terror, oh Norqua. I, too, have seen the ship and I fear
not. Yet will I obey if so my father bids," she added quickly. "Go thou
ahead. I follow." And hastily gathering together some reeds and colored
grasses lying on the ledge, parts of an unfinished basket upon which,
evidently, she had during some previous visit been at work, she flung
them into a corner of the cavern and ran lightly down the narrow path
leading to the village.

Here all by this time was tense excitement, the dramatic, ungoverned
excitement of children. While with shrill cries two or three of the
women gathered the little ones together, the rest pulled frantically at
the poles holding each tepee in place. Still apparently quite unmoved,
Wildenai sought first her father standing surprised but unafraid in the
doorway of his lodge. Tall and spare and stern he looked, straight as
some lonely pine on the slopes of distant San Jacinto. Yet even in the
stress of such a moment a tender light stole into his eyes as they
rested upon his motherless daughter.

Wildenai made obeisance and for a brief moment the two surveyed each
other in silence. Then,

"It is well thou art come, my beloved one," spoke the chief. "Stranger
pale-faces will soon be amongst us."

"Wildenai feels no fear, my father," quietly answered the girl.

"If they come in friendship," quickly Torquam replied, "then indeed may
all be well. But the ship is not of the Senor's fleet, and if so be that
we must fight, thou wert better hidden in the cave. We shall see."

Bending her head in mute acquiescence the girl moved away to join the
group of women now almost ready to depart.

Meantime the vessel's long boat, driven onward by the stout arms of
three strong sailors, steadily approached the bay.

"What think'st thou then, Rufus Broadmead, of this fool's errand to the
savages?" inquired one of these, resting upon his oars for a moment that
he might the better listen to the tumult on the shore. "Wot ye not that
if water had been the only boon he craves the captain had fared much
better on the mainland? Besides, did not I myself overhear the Apache
only yesterday tell him of a certainty that the tribes over there were
away on the warpath? But no, by the mass, here must we risk our precious
scalps to row into the very teeth of the heathen, and that to humor the
whim of as obstinate an Englishman as ever sailed aboard Her Majesty's
fleets!" and without awaiting any reply he lowered his oars in disgust.

The others laughed.

"Hast been, then, so stupid, brother Giles, for all thy listening with
thy big ears, as not to know 'tis Spanish treasure ever and naught else
our captain seeks? Water, - pouf!" the speaker made a rough grimace,
"water may well serve as an excuse, and what to bold Sir Francis were
the lives of half a dozen seamen when booty for the queen lies in the
balance? The Apache told him, too, - thou see'st thou hast not played
the listening game alone, for, hiding behind the fo'castle door myself,
I heard him say it, - that here lay that famous island, San - how is't
they call it? San Catlina - I know not how 'tis spoken, - some Spanish
lingo not fit for English tongues! At any rate 'twas here your Spanish
robber, Don Cabrillo, and, for the matter of that, his precious son as
well, stopped to seek direction ere they found the land of gold. The
savage sware besides they were a gentle tribe, not given to war and
murder like the rest. I hearkened well, forsooth, knowing past doubt I
would be een one o' those chosen to try 'em out. The devil take the
Apache an he lied," he added fiercely, "I'll break his head across till
even he shrieks out for help when I get back!"

He paused to gaze fearfully at the stern cliffs now looming close at
hand, beneath which the excited natives still ran back and forth,
pointing with frantic gestures at the boat.

The third man spoke. He was smaller than the other two and darker, with
a sly look about his eyes and mouth in strong contrast to the bluff
frankness of his comrades. So far he had appeared content to listen in
amused silence, but now with a short laugh he interrupted.

"The Apache did not lie. This is the island Santa Catalina, though that,
mark you, is not the Indian name. And right well can the chief who rules
here direct our captain also to the goldfields of the north. But
hearkee, comrades. 'Tis not Drake will reap the profits this time!" He
lowered his voice mysteriously as though fearful of being overheard,
albeit nothing was nearer than his two companions and the clear, green
stretch of water. "Have ye not observed the boy who travels with the
captain? - the boy I serve, - the one they call Sir Harry? To my mind,
cub though he be, 'tis he who rules the ship. Hast never noticed how the
great Drake himself bends to his slightest wish?"

"Aye, marry, that have I! And who, then, is he, think'st thou?" inquired
the man who had spoken first.

"Some close kin to the queen, - that much I know," the other answered
quickly, "the heir to some great dukedom, mayhap, in disguise to see the
world and make a fortune. 'Tis his desire we land, so much he told me,
and 'tis to learn more than directions, my hearties, and that I'll
warrant ye! But, look ye, the water grows too shallow! We can use the
oars no longer."

And even as he spoke the boat grated upon the pebbles. An incoming
breaker would have carried it ashore, but before the sailors could take
advantage of this help or even so much as ship their oars, half a dozen
swarthy youths had waded out and, with shouts and gestures, whether of
welcome or hostility the Englishmen had no means of knowing, pushed it
high upon the beach. At once, then, for well they realized the danger of
delay, and with a stolid courage born of many a like adventure, the
seamen leaped fearlessly out upon the sand. In their hands they held
aloft bolts of brightly colored cloth snatched on the instant from the
bottom of the boat. These they offered for the wondering inspection of
the women who, observing the small number of invaders, were cautiously
returning. To the warriors grouped about the chief they proffered knives
of which the steel blades, set in strong handles of bone, glistened in
the sun. Eagerly, yet with a certain unexpected formality, the men
accepted these, passing them for examination from one to another with
many a grunt of satisfaction. To be sure, no brave among them but might
the next moment decide to try out the merits of his gift upon the
bestower, but this danger the adventurers had to risk. More timidly the
women, their eyes fixed wistfully upon the gaudy red and yellow cloth,
approached the strangers, offering in their turn bits of abalone shell
polished to iridescent beauty.

They seemed in truth a gentle, friendly people, so much so that at
length the sailors, deeming it safe to undertake the second part of
their errand, began to plead for water and to request, besides, an
interview between their captain and the chief. All this by means of
signs in which they displayed no little wit and skill, the Englishmen
accomplished until, well on toward the middle of the morning, they made
ready to return to the ship, the casks they had brought brimming with
sweet mountain water, while with them they bore as well the promise of
an interview of state between the great chief Torquam and Sir Francis
Drake, to take place upon the beach at sunset.

And then at once the little village of Toyobet seethed again with
excitement. For these good paleface friends and their god-like commander
a fitting welcome must be prepared. Fleet-footed messengers, bearing
flaming torches, sped in hot haste along the mountain trails that all
who saw might know without words spoken of the assembling of the tribe.
To the distant village at the isthmus they hurried, and to the cove on
the western coast, some twenty miles away, to which a band of warriors
had gone several days before to hunt the otter. That no one among his
people might remain in ignorance of his command, Torquam even caused
signal fires to be kindled on each of the twin peaks, extinct volcanoes,
near the center of the island. Smoke rising there was visible from every
corner of his land, and woe to any subject who dared to disregard that
warning!

Throughout the long bright day the women toiled, preparing a ceremonial
feast. Three antelope, a deer, and half a dozen of the wild sheep which
roamed the hills were killed and placed for roasting over deep pits dug
in the sand. Nor did any member of the tribe forget in his own crude
fashion to deck himself for the occasion. The warriors adorned their
heads with feathers and daubed their cheeks and lips with ochre. The
women clothed themselves in loose-hanging tunics of doeskin girt with
strings of wampum, and hung about their tawny shoulders the lovely
greens and blues of uncut turquoise. Meanwhile, also, the great chief
Torquam donned his ceremonial dress, a string of eagle feathers held by
the crimsoned quills of the porcupine and extending down his back until
almost it touched the ground. About his neck, as token of his
priesthood, he threw the bear-claw necklace, known far and wide among
the tribes for its famous powers of healing. Wildenai alone made no
change except to bind the satin black of her hair still more smoothly
within a fillet of silver. In the center of the band, so that it rested
just above her brow, a strange device appeared, a circle enclosing many
rays, - the royal insignia of the tribe which only the daughter of the
chief might wear.

Then at last when, in the sunset, level rays of light rested golden on
the bay and turned to amethyst the distant mountains on the mainland,
all was ready. Once again, this time to the weird music of tom-toms and
the beating of drums, a boat was lowered from the ship while on the
shore the Indians watched.

It was in truth a picture not soon to be forgotten. Behind the mirrored
Bay of Moons, its crescent of sand gleaming white against the rocks, the
bands of dusky men and women stood motionless as statues in the quiet
light of the setting sun, while in the doorway of his lodge, his
daughter close beside him, Torquam waited with simple dignity to receive
his guests, the fair-skinned strangers.

At length along the beach advanced the little group of English, friends
and fellow adventurers with the most renowned of all their great queen's
buccaneers. Beside Sir Francis himself marched young Harold of Wessex,
little more than a boy in years, yet dreaded and feared in his own land
even then - a possible heir to Elizabeth's throne. Some short distance
in front of these two, standard bearers carried the flags of Merry
England, each glorious with fringes and tassels of gold. Well might such
banners dazzle the eyes and wits of simple savages.

Yet, possibly, for all that, had it not been for the lengthy ceremonial
of the peace-pipe, Wildenai could not have taken time to observe so
closely, in stolen glances from beneath her long black lashes, the
splendor of the young noble standing proudly erect beside his captain;
nor could he have stared so often, with no attempt to hide his
admiration, at the dark beauty of the princess.

Perhaps, too, if fate had not contrived to place them side by side at
the feast which followed, young Harold might never have discovered that
an Indian girl, however beautiful, possessed the wit to learn a foreign
language. Yet it was certainly Spanish and that well spoken in which, at
length, she softly asked of her father a question intended obviously for
himself.

Under cover of one of the Indian dances with which, from time to time,
the feast was enlivened, he leaned impulsively toward her.

"Can'st speak the Spanish tongue?" he hastily inquired.

The princess dropped her eyes. For a moment she remained silent as if
debating to what extent such boldness might involve her. Then, with a
glance as shy as if some deer gazed at him startled from the thicket,

"Yes, mon senor," she answered simply. "I learned it when Don Cabrillo
came to Punagwandah many moons ago."

After that it was only that one thing led to another, as was sometimes
true of men and maidens even in the days so long gone by. For, as if by
common consent, then, they drew a little apart from the rest, where,
throwing himself on the sand beside her while the firelight threw
flickering shadows among the rocks, the young man related fragments of
his story, - of the long journey across the sea, something of his home
in England, and of the brilliant court of the great queen wherein he had
served as gentleman-in-waiting. So had he served, yet soon, but here her
guest had suddenly flushed and paused as though he spoke too hastily or
of what he should not. To all of it the princess listened with
fast-beating heart and a desire, ever growing, to make herself a place
in this splendid stranger's world. Was not she then, also, the daughter
of a king? Yet how different and how unimportant beside that wonderful
woman of whom he spoke! For father she boasted the great chief Torquam,
feared by every tribe in the north and rich because of the gold hidden
in many a canyon among the distant mountains; yet her woman's instinct
told her that to this proud Englishman her people were at best little
more than a curiosity, almost, indeed, a cause for laughter.

When at last the feast was finished, Torquam rose, and removing with
slow solemnity his crest of eagle feathers, he placed it upon the head
of Sir Francis, a seal of everlasting friendship. With difficulty young
Harold suppressed a smile. But the older man, as well aware of what the
situation demanded as he was keenly alive to its danger, received the
attention with a gravity fully equal to that of his host. Indeed, he
went still further.

"Most gracious hast thou been, oh Torquam, all wise chief of the
Mariposa," he began in carefully chosen Spanish, "nor shall thy kingly
gift remain unrequited. Listen, oh Torquam! On yonder vessel I carry
steeds like those of which I told you. For a journey over the mountains
of the north we have brought them. One there is, swifter of foot than
all the rest. Him will I cause my men to lower into the boat and bring
to you after our return tonight."

In silence Torquam inclined his head. Nothing could have pleased him
more. He would be the first then, of all his tribe to own one of those
strange yet wondrous creatures never before seen in his world until the
Spanish landed! Yet only the eager gleam in his eyes betrayed his
pleasure. But Harold of Wessex stared at his captain in blank
astonishment, for the gift he had just bestowed with such apparent
carelessness was the most valuable bit of cargo in the ship, a costly
Arabian horse intended for the young noble's own special comfort and
convenience during the search for gold on which they were bound. Was
Drake gone suddenly mad, then, thus to throw away, and that without
permission, his choicest property on a mere savage? Hot with resentment
he was about to interfere; but before he could obey the rash impulse his
better judgment prevailed, and just in time he remembered how, on
several other such occasions, his very life had been saved by some swift
expedient of Drake's and his tact in handling the natives.

Slowly Sir Francis continued, and now one watching intently might have
sensed from the gleam in his eyes that he had reached the real point in
the interview.

"One question, nevertheless, would I ask of all-wise Torquam before we
part." He hesitated, searching the impassive face of the Indian. "Can'st
tell me of a Spaniard, one Cabrillo, son to that arch pirate of Spain,
who, since his father's death, still sails upon these waters? To him I
bear a message," - again he paused while the heart of Wildenai beat in
sudden panic beneath her fawnskin tunic; but Torquam's face remained
blank as a page unwritten, - "a message from our queen," added Drake.
The last words were uttered with significance.

The Indian slowly shook his head.

"The noble white chief asks what is unknown to any man," he answered.
"The young Cabrillo once landed, 'tis true, on Punagwandah. Many moons
ago it was. Where he is now, how should Torquam know?"

In his bitter disappointment the hand of the Englishman sought the hilt
of his sword. Instantly a ring of warriors closed darkly about the
chief.

Drake laughed.

"Nay then, 'tis but by chance I asked thee, thinking thou mightst tell
me. It matters not. The gift I promised thee will come, as I said,
tonight."

He turned to go and young Harold rose to follow. Then, perceiving the
dark eyes of the princess fixed wistfully upon him, he hesitated and,
obeying a sudden impulse, he stepped hastily to her side.

"When they return with the gift for thy father," he whispered, "I will
come with them," he smiled into her soft eyes shining with pleased
surprise, "and I will bring a gift to thee as well, oh Wildenai, fairest
of maidens!"

Drake gave a sharp command. His followers sprang to their feet, and
without further ceremony the party passed quickly down the beach to
their boat.

But the princess Wildenai did not leave the feasting ground. Hidden by
deepening shadows she watched the ship's lights glimmer across the
water. Glad indeed was she of the darkness, for a warm flush glowed in
her cheeks and her heart throbbed with a strange new pleasure, a
pleasure bordering close on fear, yet wholly sweet.

But when, at length, the quiet of sleep had descended upon the village,
once again she sought her father. He, too, within the open doorway of
his lodge, watched intently the distant ship. Without surprise he saw
his daughter enter and, as she knelt upon the blanket beside him, he
stretched a hand and drew her close.

"It grows cold. The wind is rising. 'Twere best to wait inside." He
spoke in the musical Indian tongue. For a moment he stroked her hair in
silence, then -

"What think'st thou by now of the English, Wildenai, my little wild
rose?" he asked.

But the princess seemed not to have heard his question.

"My father," she began after another short silence, "I have a favor to
ask of thee."

"And what may that be, my daughter?" he returned gravely.

But again the young girl made no answer and for many minutes they
watched the tremulous paths of light in the wake of the vessel.

After a time he felt her hand tighten upon his arm.

"It is but the old boon over again, my father." Her voice was low as the
sighing of the wind among the oak trees. "I would be freed from my
promise to wed with Don Cabrillo."

An Indian is not given to caresses. Much more used was Torquam's hand to
wield the war-club or the hatchet. Yet it was with fingers gentle as any
woman's that he stroked the smooth black head at his knee.

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