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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Mr. Fortescue, by William Westall
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Mr. Fortescue
+
+Author: William Westall
+
+Release Date: January 24, 2005  [eBook #14779]
+
+Language: english
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MR. FORTESCUE***
+
+
+E-text prepared by the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading
+Team
+
+
+
+MR. FORTESCUE
+
+An Andean Romance
+
+by
+
+WILLIAM WESTALL
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+MATCHING GREEN.
+
+
+A quaint old Essex village of single-storied cottages, some ivy mantled,
+with dormer windows, thatched roofs, and miniature gardens, strewed with
+picturesque irregularity round as fine a green as you will find in the
+county. Its normal condition is rustic peace and sleepy beatitude; and it
+pursues the even tenor of its way undisturbed by anything more exciting
+than a meeting of the vestry, the parish dinner, the advent of a new
+curate, or the exit of one of the fathers of the hamlet.
+
+But this morning the place is all agog, and so transformed that it hardly
+knows itself. The entire population, from the oldest gaffer to the
+last-born baby, is out-of-doors; the two inns are thronged with guests,
+and the road is lined with all sorts and conditions of carriages, from the
+four-in-hand of the wealthy swell to the donkey-cart of the local
+coster-monger. From every point of the compass are trooping horsemen, some
+resplendent in scarlet coats, their nether limbs clothed in immaculate
+white breeches and shining top-boots, others in pan hats and brown
+leggings; and all in high spirits and eager for the fray; for to-day,
+according to old custom, the Essex Hunt hold the first regular meet of the
+season on Matching's matchless Green.
+
+The master is already to the fore, and now comes Tom Cuffe, the huntsman,
+followed by his hounds, whose sleek skins and bright coats show that they
+are "fit to go," and whose eager looks bode ill to the long-tailed
+denizens of copse and covert.
+
+It still wants a few minutes to eleven, and the interval is occupied in
+the interchange of greetings between old companions of the chase, in
+desultory talk about horses and hounds; and while some of the older
+votaries of Diana fight their battles o'er again, and describe thrice-told
+historic runs, which grow longer with every repetition, others discuss the
+prospects of the coming season, and indulge in hopes of which, let us
+hope, neither Jack Frost, bad scent, nor accident by flood or field will
+mar the fruition.
+
+Nearly all are talking, for there is a feeling of _camaraderie_ in the
+hunting-field which dispenses with the formality of introductions, its
+frequenters sometimes becoming familiar friends before they have learned
+each other's names.
+
+Yet there are exceptions; and one cavalier in particular appears to hold
+himself aloof, neither speaking to his neighbors nor mixing in the throng.
+As he does not look like a "sulky swell," rendered taciturn by an
+overweening sense of his own importance, he is probably either a new
+resident in the county or a "stranger from a distance"--which, none whom I
+ask seems to know. There is something about this man that especially
+attracts my attention; and not mine alone, for I perceive that he is being
+curiously regarded by several of my neighbors. His get-up is faultless,
+and he sits with the easy grace of a practiced horseman an animal of
+exceptional symmetry and strength. His well-knit figure is slim and almost
+youthful, and he holds himself as erect on his saddle as a dragoon on
+parade. But his closely cropped hair is turning gray, and his face that of
+a man far advanced in the fifties, if not past sixty. And a striking face
+it is--long and oval, with a straight nose and fine nostrils, a broad
+forehead, and a firm, resolute mouth. His complexion, though it bears
+traces of age, is clear, healthy, and deeply bronzed. Save for a heavy
+gray mustache, he is clean shaved; his dark, keenly observant eyes are
+overshadowed by black and all but straight brows, terminating in two
+little tufts, which give his countenance a strange and, as some might
+think, an almost sardonic expression. Altogether, it strikes me as being
+the face of a cynical yet not ill-natured or malicious Mephistopheles.
+
+Behind him are two grooms in livery, nearly as well mounted as himself,
+and, greatly to my surprise, he is presently joined by Jim Rawlings, who
+last season held the post of first whipper-in.
+
+What manner of man is this who brings out four horses on the same day, and
+what does he want with them all? Such horses, too! There is not one of
+them that has not the look of a two hundred-guinea hunter.
+
+I was about to put the question to Keyworth, the hunt secretary, who had
+just come within speaking distance, and was likely to know if anybody did,
+when the master gave the signal for a move, and huntsman and hounds,
+followed by the entire field, went off at a sharp trot.
+
+We had a rather long ride to covert, but a quick find, a fox being viewed
+away almost as soon as the hounds began to draw. It was a fast thing while
+it lasted, but, unfortunately, it did not last long; for, after a twenty
+minutes' gallop, the hounds threw up their heads, and cast as Cuffe might,
+he was unable to recover the line.
+
+The country we had gone over was difficult and dangerous, full of blind
+fences and yawning ditches, deep enough and wide enough to swallow up any
+horse and his rider who might fail to clear them. Fortunately, however, I
+escaped disaster, and for the greater part of the run I was close to the
+gentleman with the Mephistophelian face and Tom Rawlings, who acted as his
+pilot. Tom rode well, of course--it was his business--but no better than
+his master, whose horse, besides being a big jumper, was as clever as a
+cat, flying the ditches like a bird, and clearing the blindest fences
+without making a single mistake.
+
+After the first run we drew two coverts blank, but eventually found a
+second fox, which gave us a slow hunting run of about an hour, interrupted
+by several checks, and saved his brush by taking refuge in an unstopped
+earth.
+
+By this time it was nearly three o'clock, and being a long way from home,
+and thinking no more good would be done, I deemed it expedient to leave
+off. I went away as Mephistopheles and his man were mounting their second
+horses, which had just been brought up by the two grooms in livery.
+
+My way lay by Matching Green, and as I stopped at the village inn to
+refresh my horse with a pail of gruel and myself with a glass of ale, who
+should come up but old Tawney, Tom Cuffe's second horseman! Besides being
+an adept at his calling, familiar with every cross-road and almost every
+field in the county, he knew nearly as well as a hunted fox himself which
+way the creature meant to run. Tawney was a great gossip, and quite a mine
+of curious information about things equine and human--especially about
+things equine. Here was a chance not to be neglected of learning something
+about Mephistopheles; so after warming Tawney's heart and opening his lips
+with a glass of hot whiskey punch, I began:
+
+"You've got a new first whip, I see."
+
+"Yes, sir, name of Cobbe--Paul Cobbe. He comes from the Berkshire country,
+he do, sir."
+
+"But how is it that Rawlings has left? and who is that gentleman he was
+with to-day?"
+
+"What! haven't you heard!" exclaimed Tawney, as surprised at my ignorance
+as if I had asked him the name of the reigning sovereign.
+
+"I have not heard, which, seeing that I spent the greater part of the
+summer at sea and returned only the other day, is perhaps not greatly to
+be wondered at."
+
+"Well, the gentleman as Rawlings has gone to and as he was with to-day is
+Mr. Fortescue; him as has taken Kingscote."
+
+Kingscote was a country-house of no extraordinary size, but with so large
+a park and gardens, conservatories and stables so extensive as to render
+its keeping up very costly; and the owner or mortgagee, I know not which,
+had for several years been vainly trying to let it at a nominal rent.
+
+"He must be rich, then. Kingscote will want a lot of keeping up."
+
+"Rich is not the word, sir. He has more money than he knows what to do
+with. Why, he has twenty horses now, and is building loose-boxes for ten
+more, and he won't look at one under a hundred pounds. Rawlings has got a
+fine place, he has that."
+
+"I am surprised he should have left the kennels, though. He loses his
+chance of ever becoming huntsman."
+
+"He is as good as that now, sir. He had a present of fifty pounds to start
+with, gets as many shillings a week and all found, and has the entire
+management of the stables, and with a gentleman like Mr. Fortescue
+there'll be some nice pickings."
+
+"Very likely. But why does Mr. Fortescue want a pilot? He rides well, and
+his horses seem to know their business."
+
+"He won't have any as doesn't. Yes, he rides uncommon well for an aged
+man, does Mr. Fortescue. I suppose he wants somebody to show him the way
+and keep him from getting ridden over. It isn't nice to get ridden over
+when you're getting into years."
+
+"It isn't nice whether you are getting into years or not. But you cannot
+call Mr. Fortescue an old man."
+
+"You cannot call him a young 'un. He has a good many gray hairs, and them
+puckers under his eyes hasn't come in a day. But he has a young heart, I
+will say that for him. Did you see how he did that 'double' as pounded
+half the field?"
+
+"Yes, it was a very sporting jump. But who is Mr. Fortescue, and where
+does he come from?"
+
+"That is what nobody seems to know. Mr. Keyworth--he was at the kennels
+only yesterday--asked me the very same question. He thought Jim Rawlings
+might ha' told me something. But bless you, Jim knows no more than anybody
+else. All as he can tell is as Mr. Fortescue sometimes goes to London,
+that he is uncommon fond of hosses, and either rides or drives tandem
+nearly every day, and has ordered a slap-up four-in-hand drag. And he has
+got a 'boratory and no end o' chemicals and stuff, and electric machines,
+and all sorts o' gimcracks."
+
+"Is there a Mrs. Fortescue?"
+
+"Not as I knows on. There is not a woman in the house, except servants."
+
+"Who looks after things, then?"
+
+"Well, there's a housekeeper. But the head bottle-washer is a chap they
+call major-domo--a German he is. He looks after everything, and an
+uncommon sharp domo he is, too, Jim says. Nobody can do him a penny piece.
+And then there is Mr. Fortescue's body-servant; he's a dark man, with a
+big scar on one cheek, and rings in his ears. They call him Rumun."
+
+"Nonsense! There's no such name as Rumun."
+
+"That's what I told Jim. He said it was a rum 'un, but his name was Rumun,
+and no mistake."
+
+"Dark, and rings in his ears! The man is probably a Spaniard. You mean
+Ramon."
+
+"No, I don't; I mean Rumun," returned Tawney, doggedly. "I thought it was
+an uncommon rum name, and I asked Jim twice--he calls at the kennels
+sometimes--I asked him twice, and he said he was cock sure it was Rumun."
+
+"Rumun let it be then. Altogether, this Mr. Fortescue seems to be rather a
+mysterious personage."
+
+"You are right there, Mr. Bacon, he is. I only wish I was half as
+mysterious. Why, he must be worth thousands upon thousands. And he spends
+his money like a gentleman, he does--thinks less of a sovereign than you
+think of a bob. He sent Mr. Keyworth a hundred pounds for his hunt
+subscription, and said if they were any ways short at the end of the
+season they had only to tell him and he would send as much more."
+
+Having now got all the information out of Tawney he was able to give me, I
+stood him another whiskey, and after lighting a cigar I mounted my horse
+and jogged slowly homeward, thinking much about Mr. Fortescue, and
+wondering who he could be. The study of physiognomy is one of my fads, and
+his face had deeply impressed me; in great wealth, moreover, there is
+always something that strikes the imagination, and this man was evidently
+very rich, and the mystery that surrounded him piqued my curiosity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+TICKLE-ME-QUICK.
+
+
+Being naturally of a retiring disposition, and in no sense the hero of the
+tale which I am about to tell, I shall say no more concerning myself than
+is absolutely necessary. At the same time, it is essential to a right
+comprehension of what follows that I say something about myself, and
+better that I should say it now than interrupt the even flow of my
+narrative later on.
+
+My name is Geoffrey Bacon, and I have reason to believe that I was born at
+a place in Essex called (appropriately enough) Dedham. My family is one of
+the oldest in the county, and (of course) highly respectable; but as the
+question is often put to me by friends, and will naturally suggest itself
+to my readers, I may as well observe, once for all, that I am _not_ a
+descendent of the Lord Keeper Bacon, albeit, if he had had any children, I
+have no doubt I should have been.
+
+My poor mother died in giving me birth; my father followed her when I was
+ten years old, leaving me with his blessing (nothing else), to the care of
+his aunt, Miss Ophelia Bacon, by whom I was brought up and educated. She
+was very good to me, but though I was far from being intentionally
+ungrateful, I fear that I did not repay her goodness as it deserved. The
+dear old lady had made up her mind that I should be a doctor, and though I
+would rather have been a farmer or a country gentleman (the latter for
+choice), I made no objection; and so long as I remained at school she had
+no reason to complain of my conduct. I satisfied my masters and passed my
+preliminary examination creditably and without difficulty, to my aunt's
+great delight. She protested that she was proud of me, and rewarded my
+diligence and cleverness with a five-pound note. But after I became a
+student at Guy's I gave her much trouble, and got myself into some sad
+scrapes. I spent her present, and something more, in hiring mounts, for I
+was passionately fond of riding, especially to hounds, and ran into debt
+with a neighboring livery-stable keeper to the tune of twenty pounds. I
+would sometimes borrow the greengrocer's pony, for I was not particular
+what I rode, so long as it had four legs. When I could obtain a mount
+neither for love nor on credit, I went after the harriers on foot. The
+result, as touching my health and growth, was all that could be desired.
+As touching my studies, however, it was less satisfactory. I was spun
+twice, both in my anatomy and physiology. Miss Ophelia, though sorely
+grieved, was very indulgent, and had she lived, I am afraid that I should
+never have got my diploma. But when I was twenty-one and she seventy-five,
+my dear aunt died, leaving me all her property (which made an income of
+about four hundred a year), with the proviso that unless, within three
+years of her death, I obtained the double qualification, the whole of her
+estate was to pass to Guy's Hospital. In the mean time the trustees were
+empowered to make me an allowance of two guineas a week and defray all my
+hospital expenses.
+
+On this, partly because I was loath to lose so goodly a heritage, partly,
+I hope, from worthier motives, I buckled-to in real earnest, and before I
+was four-and-twenty I could write after my name the much coveted capitals
+M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. All this while I had not once crossed a horse or looked
+at a hound, yet the ruling passion was still strong, and being very much
+of Mr. Jorrock's opinion that all time not spent in hunting is lost, I
+resolved, before "settling down" or taking up any position which might be
+incompatible with indulgence in my favorite amusement, to devote a few
+years of my life to fox-hunting. At twenty-four a man does not give much
+thought to the future--at any rate I did not.
+
+The next question was how to hunt three or four days a week on four
+hundred a year, for though I was quite willing to spend my income, I was
+resolved not to touch my capital. To begin with, I sold my aunt's cottage
+and furniture and took a couple of rooms for the winter at Red Chimneys, a
+roomy farm-house in the neighborhood of Treydon. Then, acting on the great
+principle of co-operation, I joined at horse-keeping with my good friend
+and old school-fellow, Bertie Alston, a London solicitor. Being both of us
+light-weights, we could mount ourselves cheaply; the average cost of our
+stud of four horses did not exceed forty pounds apiece. Moreover, when
+opportunities offered, we did not disdain to turn an honest penny by
+buying an animal cheap and selling him dear, and as I looked after things
+myself, bought my own forage, and saw that I had full measure, our stable
+expenses were kept within moderate limits. Except when the weather was
+bad, or a horse _hors de combat_, I generally contrived to get four days'
+hunting a week--three with the fox-hounds and one with Mr. Vigne's
+harriers--for, owing to his professional engagements, Alston could not go
+out as often as I did. But as I took all the trouble and responsibility,
+it was only fair that I should have the lion's share of the riding.
+
+At the end of the season we either sold the horses off or turned them into
+a straw-yard, and I went to sea as ship's surgeon. In this capacity I made
+voyages to Australia, to the Cape, and to the West Indies; and the summer
+before I first saw Mr. Fortescue I had been to the Arctic Ocean in a
+whaler. True, the pay did not amount to much, but it found me in
+pocket-money and clothes, and I saved my keep.
+
+Having now, as I hope, done with digressions and placed myself _en
+rapport_ with my readers, I will return to the principal personage of my
+story.
+
+The next time I met Mr. Fortescue was at Harlow Bush. He was quite as well
+mounted as before, and accompanied, as usual, by Rawlings and two grooms
+with their second horses. On this occasion Mr. Fortescue did not hold
+himself nearly so much aloof as he had done at Matching Green, perhaps
+because he was more noticed; and he was doubtless more noticed because the
+fame of his wealth and the lavish use he made of it were becoming more
+widely known. The master gave him a friendly nod and a gracious smile, and
+expressed a hope that we should have good sport; the secretary engaged him
+in a lively conversation; the hunt servants touched their caps to him with
+profound respect, and he received greetings from most of the swells.
+
+We drew Latton, found in a few minutes, and had a "real good thing," a
+grand run of nearly two hours, with only one or two trifling checks,
+which, as I am not writing a hunting story, I need not describe any
+further than to remark that we had plenty of fencing, a good deal of hard
+galloping, a kill in the open, and that of the sixty or seventy who were
+present at the start only about a score were up at the finish. Among the
+fortunate few were Mr. Fortescue and his pilot. During the latter part of
+the run we rode side by side, and pulled up at the same instant, just as
+the fox was rolled over.
+
+"A very fine run," I took the liberty to observe, as I stepped from my
+saddle and slackened my horse's girths. "It will be a long time before we
+have a better."
+
+"Two hours and two minutes," shouted the secretary, looking at his watch,
+"and straight. We are in the heart of the Puckeridge country."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Fortescue, quietly, "it was a very enjoyable run. You like
+hunting, I think?"
+
+"Like it! I should rather think I do. I regard fox-hunting as the very
+prince of sports. It is manly, health-giving, and exhilarating. There is
+no sport in which so many participate and so heartily enjoy. We enjoy it,
+the horses enjoy it, and the hounds enjoy it."
+
+"How about the fox?"
+
+"Oh, the fox! Well, the fox is allowed to exist on condition of being
+occasionally hunted. If there were no hunting there would be no foxes. On
+the whole, I regard him as a fortunate and rather pampered individual; and
+I have even heard it said that he rather likes being hunted than
+otherwise."
+
+"As for the general question, I dare say you are right. But I don't think
+the fox likes it much. It once happened to me to be hunted, and I know I
+did not like it."
+
+This was rather startling, and had Mr. Fortescue spoken less gravely and
+not been so obviously in earnest, I should have thought he was joking.
+
+"You don't mean--Was it a paper-chase?" I said, rather foolishly.
+
+"No; it was not a paper-chase," he answered, grimly. "There were no
+paper-chases in my time. I mean that I was once hunted, just as we have
+been hunting that fox."
+
+"With a pack of hounds?"
+
+"Yes, with a pack of hounds."
+
+I was about to ask what sort of a chase it was, and how and where he was
+hunted, when Cuffe came up, and, on behalf of the master, offered Mr.
+Fortescue the brush.
+
+"Thank you," said Mr. Fortescue, taking the brush and handing it to
+Rawlings. "Here is something for you"--tipping the huntsman a sovereign,
+which he put in his pocket with a "Thank you kindly, sir," and a gratified
+smile.
+
+And then flasks were uncorked, sandwich-cases opened, cigars lighted, and
+the conversation becoming general, I had no other opportunity--at that
+time--of making further inquiry of Mr. Fortescue touching the singular
+episode in his career which he had just mentioned. A few minutes later a
+move was made for our own country, and as we were jogging along I found
+myself near Jim Rawlings.
+
+"That's a fresh hoss you've got, I think, sir," he said.
+
+"Yes, I have ridden him two or three times with the harriers; but this is
+the first time I have had him out with fox-hounds."
+
+"He carried you very well in the run, sir."
+
+"You are quite right; he did. Very well."
+
+"Does he lay hold on you at all, Mr. Bacon?"
+
+"Not a bit."
+
+"Light in the mouth, a clever jumper, and a free goer."
+
+"All three."
+
+"Yes, he's the right sort, he is, sir; and if ever you feel disposed to
+sell him, I could, may be, find you a customer."
+
+Accepting this as a delicate intimation that Mr. Fortescue had taken a
+fancy to the horse and would like to buy him, I told Jim that I was quite
+willing to sell at a fair price.
+
+"And what might you consider a fair price, if it is a fair question?"
+asked the man.
+
+"A hundred guineas," I answered; for, as I knew that Mr. Fortescue would
+not "look at a horse," as Tawney put it, under that figure, it would have
+been useless to ask less.
+
+"Very well, sir. I will speak to my master, and let you know."
+
+Ranger, as I called the horse, was a purchase of Alston's. Liking his
+looks (though Bertie was really a very indifferent judge), he had bought
+him out of a hansom-cab for forty pounds, and after a little "schooling,"
+the creature took to jumping as naturally as a duck takes to water. Sixty
+pounds may seem rather an unconscionable profit, but considering that
+Ranger was quite sound and up to weight, I don't think a hundred guineas
+was too much. A dealer would have asked a hundred and fifty.
+
+At any rate, Mr. Fortescue did not think it too much, for Rawlings
+presently brought me word that his master would take the horse at the
+price I had named, if I could warrant him sound.
+
+"In that case it is a bargain," I said, "for I can warrant him sound."
+
+"All right, sir. I'll send one of the grooms over to your place for him
+to-morrow."
+
+Shortly afterward I fell in with Keyworth, and as a matter of course we
+talked about Mr. Fortescue.
+
+"Do you know anything about him?" I asked.
+
+"Not much. I believe he is rich--and respectable."
+
+"That is pretty evident, I think."
+
+"I am not sure. A man who spends a good deal of money is presumably rich;
+but it by no means follows that he is respectable. There are such people
+in the world as successful rogues and wealthy swindlers. Not that I think
+Mr. Fortescue is either one or the other. I learned, from the check he
+sent me for his subscription, who his bankers are, and through a friend of
+mine, who is intimate with one of the directors, I got a confidential
+report about him. It does not amount to much; but it is satisfactory so
+far as it goes. They say he is a man of large fortune, and, as they
+believe, highly respectable."
+
+"Is that all?"
+
+"All there was in the report. But Tomlinson--that's my friend--has heard
+that he has spent the greater part of his life abroad, and that he made
+his money in South America."
+
+The mention of South America interested me, for I had made voyages both to
+Rio de Janeiro and several places on the Spanish Main.
+
+"South America is rather vague," I observed. "You might almost as well say
+'Southern Asia.' Have you any idea in what part of it?"
+
+"Not the least. I have told you all I know. I should be glad to know more;
+but for the present it is quite enough for my purpose. I intend to call
+upon Mr. Fortescue."
+
+It is hardly necessary to say that I had no such intention, for having
+neither a "position in the county," as the phrase goes, a house of my own,
+nor any official connection with the hunt, a call from me would probably
+have been regarded, and rightly so, as a piece of presumption. As it
+happened, however, I not only called on Mr. Fortescue before the
+secretary, but became his guest, greatly to my surprise, and, I have no
+doubt, to his, although he was the indirect cause; for had he not bought
+Ranger, it is very unlikely that I should have become an inmate of his
+house.
+
+It came about in this way. Bertie was so pleased with the result of his
+first speculation in horseflesh (though so far as he was concerned it was
+a pure fluke) that he must needs make another. If he had picked up a
+second cab-horse at thirty or forty pounds he could not have gone far
+wrong; but instead of that he must needs go to Tattersall's and give
+nearly fifty for a blood mare rejoicing in the name of "Tickle-me-Quick,"
+described as being "the property of a gentleman," and said to have won
+several country steeple-chases.
+
+The moment I set eyes on the beast I saw she was a screw, "and vicious at
+that," as an American would have said. But as she had been bought (without
+warranty) and paid for, I had to make the best of her. Within an hour of
+the mare's arrival at Red Chimneys, I was on her back, trying her paces.
+She galloped well and jumped splendidly, but I feared from her ways that
+she would be hot with hounds, and perhaps, kick in a crowd, one of the
+worst faults that a hunter can possess.
+
+On the next non-hunting day I took Tickle-me-Quick out for a long ride in
+the country, to see how she shaped as a hack. I little thought, as we set
+off, that it would prove to be her last journey, and one of the most
+memorable events of my life.
+
+For a while all went well. The mare wanted riding, yet she behaved no
+worse than I expected, although from the way she laid her ears back and
+the angry tossing of her head when I made her feel the bit, she was
+clearly not in the best of tempers. But I kept her going; and an hour
+after leaving Red Chimneys we turned into a narrow deep lane between high
+banks, which led to Kingscote entering the road on the west side of the
+park at right angles, and very near Mr. Fortescue's lodge-gates.
+
+In the field to my right several colts were grazing, and when they caught
+sight of Tickle-me-Quick trotting up the lane they took it into their
+heads to have an impromptu race among themselves. Neighing loudly, they
+set off at full gallop. Without asking my leave, Tickle-me-Quick followed
+suit. I tried to stop her. I might as well have tried to stop an
+avalanche. So, making a virtue of necessity, I let her go, thinking that
+before she reached the top of the lane she would have had quite enough,
+and I should be able to pull her up without difficulty.
+
+The colts are soon left behind; but we can hear them galloping behind us,
+and on goes the mare like the wind. I can now see the end of the lane, and
+as the great park wall, twelve feet high, looms in sight, the horrible
+thought flashes on my mind that unless I pull her up we shall both be
+dashed to pieces; for to turn a sharp corner at the speed we are going is
+quite out of the question.
+
+I make another effort, sawing the mare's mouth till it bleeds, and
+tightening the reins till they are fit to break.
+
+All in vain; she puts her head down and gallops on, if possible more madly
+than before. Still larger looms that terrible wall; death stares me in the
+face, and for the first time in my life I undergo the intense agony of
+mortal terror.
+
+We are now at the end of the lane. There is one chance only, and that the
+most desperate, of saving my life. I slip my feet from the stirrups, and
+when Tickle-me-Quick is within two or three strides of the wall, I drop
+the reins and throw myself from her back. Then all is darkness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+MR. FORTESCUE'S PROPOSAL.
+
+
+"Where am I?"
+
+I feel as if I were in a strait-jacket. One of my arms is immovable, my
+head is bandaged, and when I try to turn I suffer excruciating pain.
+
+"Where am I?"
+
+"Oh, you have wakened up!" says somebody with a foreign accent, and a dark
+face bends over me. The light is dim and my sight weak, and but for his
+grizzled mustache I might have taken the speaker for a woman, his ears
+being adorned with large gold rings.
+
+"Where are you? You are in the house of Senor Fortescue."
+
+"And the mare?"
+
+"The mare broke her wicked head against the park wall, and she has gone to
+the kennels to be eaten by the dogs."
+
+"Already? How long is it since?"
+
+"It was the day before yesterday zat it happened."
+
+"God bless me! I must have been insensible ever since. That means
+concussion of the brain. Am I much damaged otherwise, do you know?"
+
+"Pretty well. Your left shoulder is dislocated, one of your fingers and
+two of your ribs broken, and one of your ankles severely contused. But it
+might have been worse. If you had not thrown yourself from your horse, as
+you did, you would just now be in a coffin instead of in this comfortable
+bed."
+
+"Somebody saw me, then?"
+
+"Yes, the lodge-keeper. He thought you were dead, and came up and told us;
+and we brought you here on a stretcher, and the Senor Coronel sent for a
+doctor--"
+
+"The Senor Coronel! Do you mean Mr. Fortescue?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I mean Mr. Fortescue."
+
+"Then you are Ramon?"
+
+"_Hijo de Dios!_ You know my name."
+
+"Yes, you are Mr. Fortescue's body-servant."
+
+"Caramba! Somebody must have told you."
+
+"You might have made a worse guess, Senor Ramon. Will you please tell Mr.
+Fortescue that I thank him with all my heart for his great kindness, and
+that I will not trespass on it more than I can possibly help. As soon as I
+can be moved I shall go to my own place."
+
+"That will not be for a long time, and I do not think the Senor Coronel
+would like--But when he returns he will see you, and then you can tell him
+yourself."
+
+"He is away from home, then?"
+
+"The Senor Coronel has gone to London. He will be back to-morrow."
+
+"Well, if I cannot thank him to-day, I can thank you. You are my nurse,
+are you not?"
+
+"A little--Geist and I, and Mees Tomleenson, we relieve each other. But
+those two don't know much about wounds."
+
+"And you do, I suppose?"
+
+"_Hijo de Dios!_ Do I know much about wounds? I have nursed men who have
+been cut to pieces. I have been cut to pieces myself. Look!"
+
+And with that Ramon pointed to his neck, which was seamed all the way down
+with a tremendous scar; then to his left hand, which was minus two
+fingers; next to one of his arms, which appeared to have been plowed from
+wrist to elbow with a bullet; and lastly to his head, which was almost
+covered with cicatrices, great and small.
+
+"And I have many more marks in other parts of my body, which it would not
+be convenient to show you just now," he said, quietly.
+
+"You are an old soldier, then, Ramon?"
+
+"Very. And now I will light myself a cigarette, and you will no more talk.
+As an old soldier, I know that it is bad for a _caballero_ with a broken
+head to talk so much as you are doing."
+
+"As a surgeon, I know you are right, and I will talk no more for the
+present."
+
+And then, feeling rather drowsy, I composed myself to sleep. The last
+thing I remembered before closing my eyes was the long, swarthy,
+quixotic-looking face of my singular nurse, veiled in a blue cloud of
+cigarette-smoke, which, as it rolled from the nostrils of his big,
+aquiline nose, made those orifices look like the twin craters of an active
+volcano, upside down.
+
+When, after a short snooze, I woke a second time, my first sensation was
+one of intense surprise, and being unable, without considerable
+inconvenience, to rub my eyes, I winked several times in succession to
+make sure that I was not dreaming; for while I slept the swart visage,
+black eyes, and grizzled mustache of my nurse had, to all appearance, been
+turned into a fair countenance, with blue eyes and a tawny head, while the
+tiny cigarette had become a big meerschaum pipe.
+
+"God bless me! You are surely not Ramon?" I exclaimed.
+
+"No; I am Geist. It is my turn of duty as your nurse. Can I get you
+anything?"
+
+"Thank you very much; you are all very kind. I feel rather faint, and
+perhaps if I had something to eat it might do me good."
+
+"Certainly. There is some beef-tea ready. Here it is. Shall I feed you?"
+
+"Thank you. My left arm is tied up, and this broken finger is very
+painful. Bat I am giving you no end of trouble. I don't know how I shall
+be able to repay you and Mr. Fortescue for all your kindness."
+
+"_Ach Gott!_ Don't mention it, my dear sir. Mr. Fortescue said you were to
+have every attention; and when a fellow-man has been broken all to pieces
+it is our duty to do for him what we can. Who knows? Perhaps some time I
+may be broken all to pieces myself. But I will not ride your fiery horses.
+My weight is seventeen stone, and if I was to throw myself off a galloping
+horse as you did, _ach Gott!_ I should be broken past mending."
+
+Mr. Geist made an attentive and genial nurse, discoursing so pleasantly
+and fluently that, greatly to my satisfaction (for I was very weak), my
+part in the conversation was limited to an occasional monosyllable; but he
+said nothing on the subject as to which I was most anxious for
+information--Mr. Fortescue--and, as he clearly desired to avoid it, I
+refrained from asking questions that might have put him in a difficulty
+and exposed me to a rebuff.
+
+I found out afterward that neither he nor Ramon ever discussed their
+master, and though Mrs. Tomlinson, my third nurse (a buxom, healthy,
+middle-aged widow, whose position seemed to be something between that of
+housekeeper and upper servant), was less reticent, it was probably because
+she had so little to tell.
+
+I learned, among other things, that the habits of the household were
+almost as regular as those of a regiment, and that the servants, albeit
+kindly treated and well paid, were strictly ruled, even comparatively
+slight breaches of discipline being punished with instant dismissal. At
+half-past ten everybody was supposed to be in bed, and up at six; for at
+seven Mr. Fortescue took his first breakfast of fruit and dry toast.
+According to Mrs. Tomlinson (and this I confess rather surprised me) he
+was an essentially busy man. His only idle time was that which he gave to
+sleep. During his waking hours he was always either working in his study,
+his laboratory, or his conservatories, riding and driving being his sole
+recreations.
+
+"He is the most active man I ever knew, young or old," said Mrs.
+Tomlinson, "and a good master--I will say that for him. But I cannot make
+him out at all. He seems to have neither kith nor kin, and yet--This is
+quite between ourselves, Mr. Bacon--"
+
+"Of course, Mrs. Tomlinson, quite."
+
+"Well, there is a picture in his room as he keeps veiled and locked up in
+a sort of shrine; but one day he forgot to turn the key, and I--I looked."
+
+"Naturally. And what did you see?"
+
+"The picture of a woman, dark, but, oh, so beautiful--as beautiful as an
+angel.... I thought it was, may be, a sweetheart or something, but she is
+too young for the likes of him."
+
+"Portraits are always the same; that picture may have been painted ages
+ago. Always veiled is it? That seems very mysterious, does it not?"
+
+"It does; and I am just dying to know what the mystery is. If you should
+happen to find out, and it's no secret, would you mind telling me?"
+
+At this point Herr Geist appeared, whereupon Mrs. Tomlinson, with true
+feminine tact, changed the subject without waiting for a reply.
+
+During the time I was laid up Mr. Fortescue came into my room almost every
+day, but never stayed more than a few minutes. When I expressed my sense
+of his kindness and talked about going home, he would smile gravely, and
+say:
+
+"Patience! You must be my guest until you have the full use of your limbs
+and are able to go about without help."
+
+After this I protested no more, for there was an indescribable something
+about Mr. Fortescue which would have made it difficult to contradict him,
+even had I been disposed to take so ungrateful and ungracious a part.
+
+At length, after a weary interval of inaction and pain, came a time when I
+could get up and move about without discomfort, and one fine frosty day,
+which seemed the brightest of my life, Geist and Ramon helped me
+down-stairs and led me into a pretty little morning-room, opening into one
+of the conservatories, where the plants and flowers had been so arranged
+as to look like a sort of tropical forest, in the midst of which was an
+aviary filled with parrots, cockatoos, and other birds of brilliant
+plumage.
+
+Geist brought me an easy-chair, Ramon a box of cigarettes and the "Times,"
+and I was just settling down to a comfortable read and smoke, when Mr.
+Fortescue entered from the conservatory. He wore a Norfolk jacket and a
+broad-brimmed hat, and his step was so elastic, and his bearing so
+upright, and he seemed so strong and vigorous withal, that I began to
+think that in estimating his age at sixty I had made a mistake. He looked
+more like fifty or fifty-five.
+
+"I am glad to see you down-stairs," he said, helping himself to a
+cigarette. "How do you feel?"
+
+"Very much better, thank you, and to-morrow or the next day I must
+really--"
+
+"No, no, I cannot let you go yet. I shall keep you, at any rate, a few
+days longer. And while this frost lasts you can do no hunting. How is the
+shoulder?"
+
+"Better. In a fortnight or so I shall be able to dispense with the sling,
+but my ankle is the worst. The contusion was very severe. I fear that I
+shall feel the effects of it for a long time."
+
+"That is very likely, I think. I would any time rather have a clean flesh
+wound than a severe contusion. I have had experience of both. At Salamanca
+my shoulder was laid open with a sabre-stroke at the very moment my horse
+was shot under me; and my leg, which was terribly bruised in the fall, was
+much longer in getting better than my shoulder."
+
+"At Salamanca! You surely don't mean the battle of Salamanca?"
+
+"Yes, the battle of Salamanca."
+
+"But, God bless me, that is ages ago! At the beginning of the
+century--1810 or 1812, or something like that."
+
+"The battle of Salamanca was fought on the 21st of July, 1812," said my
+host, with a matter-of-fact air.
+
+"But--why--how?" I stammered, staring at him in supreme surprise. "That is
+sixty years since, and you don't look much more than fifty now."
+
+"All the same I am nearly fourscore," said Mr. Fortescue, smiling as if
+the compliment pleased him.
+
+"Fourscore, and so hale and strong! I have known men half your age not
+half so vigorous and alert. Why, you may live to be a hundred."
+
+"I think I shall, probably longer. Of course barring accidents, and if I
+continue to avoid a peril which has been hanging over me for half a
+century or so, and from which I have several times escaped only by the
+skin of my teeth."
+
+"And what is the peril, Mr. Fortescue?"
+
+"Assassination."
+
+"Assassination!"
+
+"Yes, assassination. I told you a short time ago that I was once hunted by
+a pack of hounds. I am hunted now--have been hunted for two
+generations--by a family of murderers."
+
+The thought occurred to me--and not for the first time--that Mr. Fortescue
+was either mad or a Munchausen, and I looked at him curiously; but neither
+in that calm, powerful, self-possessed face, nor in the steady gaze of
+those keen dark eyes, could I detect the least sign of incipient insanity
+or a boastful spirit.
+
+"You are quite mistaken," he said, with one of his enigmatic smiles. "I am
+not mad; and I have lived too long either to cherish illusions or conjure
+up imaginary dangers."
+
+"I--I beg your pardon, Mr. Fortescue--I had no intention," I stammered,
+quite taken aback by the accuracy with which he had read, or guessed, my
+thoughts--"I had no intention to cast a doubt on what you said. But who
+are these people that seek your life? and why don't you inform the
+police?"
+
+"The police! How could the police help me?" exclaimed Mr. Fortescue, with
+a gesture of disdain, "Besides, life would not be worth having at the
+price of being always under police protection, like an evicting Irish
+landlord. But let us change the subject; we have talked quite enough about
+myself. I want to talk about you."
+
+A very few minutes sufficed to put Mr. Fortescue in possession of all the
+information he desired. He already knew something about me, and as I had
+nothing to conceal, I answered all his questions without reserve.
+
+"Don't you think you are rather wasting your life?" he asked, after I had
+answered the last of them.
+
+"I am enjoying it."
+
+"Very likely. People generally do enjoy life when they are young. Hunting
+is all very well as an amusement, but to have no other object in life
+seems--what shall we say?--just a little frivolous, don't you think?"
+
+"Well, perhaps it does; but I mean, after a while, to buy a practice and
+settle down."
+
+"But in the mean time your medical knowledge must be growing rather rusty.
+I have heard physicians say that it is only after they have obtained their
+degree that they begin to learn their profession. And the practice you get
+on board these ships cannot amount to much."
+
+"You are quite right," I said, frankly, for my conscience was touched. "I
+am, as you say, living too much for the present. I know less than I knew
+when I left Guy's. I could not pass my 'final' over again to save my life.
+You are quite right: I must turn over a new leaf."
+
+"I am glad to hear you say so, the more especially as I have a proposal to
+make; and as I make it quite as much in my own interest as in yours, you
+will incur no obligation in accepting it. I want you to become an inmate
+of my house, help me in my laboratory, and act as my secretary and
+domestic physician, and when I am away from home, as my representative.
+You will have free quarters, of course; my stable will be at your disposal
+for hunting purposes, and you may go sometimes to London to attend
+lectures and do practical work at your hospital. As for salary--you can
+fix it yourself, when you have ascertained by actual experience the
+character of your work. What do you say?"
+
+Mr. Fortescue put this question as if he had no doubt about my answer, and
+I fulfilled his expectation by answering promptly in the affirmative. The
+proposal seemed in every way to my advantage, and was altogether to my
+liking; and even had it been less so I should have accepted it, for what I
+had just heard greatly whetted my curiosity, and made me more desirous
+than ever to know the history of the extraordinary man with whom I had so
+strangely come in contact, and ascertain the secret of his wealth.
+
+The same day I wrote to Alston announcing the dissolution of our
+partnership, and leaving him to deal with the horses at Red Chimneys as he
+might think fit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A RESCUE.
+
+
+My curiosity was rather long in being gratified, and but for a very
+strange occurrence, which I shall presently describe, probably never would
+have been gratified. Even after I had been a member of Mr. Fortescue's
+household for several months, I knew little more of his antecedents and
+circumstances than on the day when he made me the proposal which I have
+just mentioned. If I attempted to lead up to the subject, he would either
+cleverly evade it or say bluntly that he preferred to talk about something
+else. Save as to matters that did not particularly interest me, Ramon was
+as reticent as his master; and as Geist had only been with Mr. Fortescue
+during the latter's residence at Kingscote, his knowledge, or, rather, his
+ignorance was on a par with my own.
+
+Mr. Fortescue's character was as enigmatic as his history was obscure. He
+seemed to be destitute both of kinsfolk and friends, never made any
+allusion to his family, neither noticed women nor discussed them. Politics
+and religion he equally ignored, and, so far as might appear, had neither
+foibles nor fads. On the other hand, he had three passions--science,
+horses, and horticulture, and his knowledge was almost encyclopaedic. He
+was a great reader, master of many languages, and seemed to have been
+everywhere and seen all in the world that was worth seeing. His wealth
+appeared to be unlimited, but how he made it or where he kept it I had no
+idea. All I knew was that whenever money was wanted it was forthcoming,
+and that he signed a check for ten pounds and ten thousand with equal
+indifference. As he conducted his private correspondence himself, my
+position as secretary gave me no insight into his affairs. My duties
+consisted chiefly in corresponding with tradesmen, horse-dealers, and
+nursery gardeners, and noting the results of chemical experiments.
+
+Mr. Fortescue was very abstemious, and took great care of his health, and
+if he was really verging on eighty (which I very much doubted), I thought
+he might not improbably live to be a hundred and ten and even a hundred
+and twenty. He drank nothing, whatever, neither tea, coffee, cocoa, nor
+any other beverage, neither water nor wine, always quenching his thirst
+with fruit, of which he ate largely. So far as I knew, the only liquid
+that ever passed his lips was an occasional liquor-glass of a mysterious
+decoction which he prepared himself and kept always under lock and key.
+His breakfast, which he took every morning at seven, consisted of bread
+and fruit.
+
+He ate very little animal food, limiting himself for the most part to fish
+and fowl, and invariably spent eight or nine hours of the twenty-four in
+bed. We often discussed physiology, therapeutics, and kindred subjects, of
+which his knowledge was so extensive as to make me suspect that some time
+in his life he had belonged to the medical profession.
+
+"The best physicians I ever met," he once observed, "are the Callavayas of
+the Andes--if the preservation and prolongation of human life is the test
+of medical skill. Among the Callavayas the period of youth is thirty
+years; a man is not held to be a man until he reaches fifty, and he only
+begins to be old at a hundred."
+
+"Was it among the Callavayas that you learned the secret of long life, Mr.
+Fortescue?" I asked.
+
+"Perhaps," he answered, with one of his peculiar smiles; and then he
+started me by saying that he would never be a "lean and slippered
+pantaloon." When health and strength failed him he should cease to live.
+
+"You surely don't mean that you will commit suicide?" I exclaimed, in
+dismay.
+
+"You may call it what you like. I shall do as the Fiji Islanders and some
+tribes of Indians do, in similar circumstances--retire to a corner and
+still the beatings of my heart by an effort of will."
+
+"But is that possible?"
+
+"I have seen it done, and I have done it myself--not, of course, to the
+point of death, but so far as to simulate death. I once saved my life in
+that way."
+
+"Was that when you were hunted, Mr. Fortescue?"
+
+"No, it was not. Let us go to the stables. I want to see you ride Regina
+over the jumps."
+
+Mr. Fortescue had caused to be arranged in the park a miniature
+steeple-chase course about a mile round, on which newly-acquired hunters
+were always tried, and the old ones regularly exercised. He generally made
+a point of being present on these occasions, sometimes riding over the
+course himself. If a horse, bought as a hunter, failed to justify its
+character by its performance it was invariably returned.
+
+Sometimes Ramon gave us an exhibition of his skill as a gaucho. One of the
+wildest of the horses would be let loose in the park, and the old soldier,
+armed with a lasso and mounted on an animal trained by himself, and
+equipped with a South American saddle, would follow and try to "rope" the
+runaway, Mr. Fortescue, Rawlings, and myself riding after him. It was
+"good fun," but I fancy Mr. Fortescue regarded this sport, as he regarded
+hunting, less as an amusement than as a means of keeping him in good
+health and condition.
+
+Regina (a recent purchase) was tried and, I think, found wanting. I recall
+the instance merely because it is associated in my mind with an event
+which, besides affecting a momentous change in my relations with Mr.
+Fortescue and greatly influencing my own fortune, rendered possible the
+writing of this book.
+
+The trial over, Mr. Fortescue told me, somewhat abruptly, that he intended
+to leave home in an hour, and should be away for several days. As he
+walked toward the house, I inquired if there was anything he would like me
+to look after during his absence, whereupon he mentioned several chemical
+and electrical experiments, which he wished me to continue and note the
+results. He requested me, further, to open all letters--save such as were
+marked private or bore foreign postmarks--and answer so many of them as,
+without his instructions, I might be able to do. For the rest, I was to
+exercise a general supervision, especially over the stables and gardens.
+As for purely domestic concerns, Geist was so excellent a manager that his
+master trusted him without reserve.
+
+When Mr. Fortescue came down-stairs, equipped for his journey, I inquired
+when he expected to return, and on what day he would like the carriage to
+meet him at the station. I thought he might tell me where he was going;
+but he did not take the hint.
+
+"If it rains I will telegraph," he said; "if fine, I shall probably walk;
+it is only a couple of miles."
+
+Mr. Fortescue, as he always did when he went outside his park (unless he
+was mounted), took with him a sword-stick, a habit which I thought rather
+ridiculous, for, though he was an essentially sane man, I had quite made
+up my mind that his fear of assassination was either a fancy or a fad.
+
+After my patron's departure I worked for a while in the laboratory; and an
+hour before dinner I went for a stroll in the park, making, for no reason
+in particular, toward the principal entrance. As I neared it I heard
+voices in dispute, and on reaching the gates I found the lodge-keeper
+engaged in a somewhat warm altercation with an Italian organ-grinder and
+another fellow of the same kidney, who seemed to be his companion.
+
+The lodge-keepers had strict orders to exclude from the park all beggars
+without exception, and all and sundry who produced music by turning a
+handle. Real musicians, however, were freely admitted, and often
+generously rewarded.
+
+The lodge-keeper in question (an old fellow with a wooden leg) had not
+been able to make the two vagabonds in question understand this. They
+insisted on coming in, and the lodge-keeper said that if I had not
+appeared he verily believed they would have entered in spite of him. They
+seemed to know very little English; but as I knew a little Italian, which
+I eked out with a few significant gestures, I speedily enlightened them,
+and they sheered off, looking daggers, and muttering what sounded like
+curses.
+
+The man who carried the organ was of the usual type--short, thick-set,
+hairy, and unwashed. His companion, rather to my surprise, was just the
+reverse--tall, shapely, well set up, and comparatively well clad; and with
+his dark eyes, black mustache, broad-brimmed hat, and red tie loosely
+knotted round his brawny throat, he looked decidedly picturesque.
+
+On the following day, as I was going to the stables (which were a few
+hundred yards below the house) I found my picturesque Italian in the back
+garden, singing a barcarole to the accompaniment of a guitar. But as he
+had complied with the condition of which I had informed him, I made no
+objection. So far from that I gave him a shilling, and as the maids (who
+were greatly taken with his appearance) got up a collection for him and
+gave him a feed, he did not do badly.
+
+A few days later, while out riding, I called at the station for an evening
+paper, and there he was again, "touching his guitar," and singing
+something that sounded very sentimental.
+
+"That fellow is like a bad shilling," I said to one of the
+porters--"always turning up."
+
+"He is never away. I think he must have taken it into his head to live
+here."
+
+"What does he do?"
+
+"Oh, he just hangs about, and watches the trains, as if he had never seen
+any before. I suppose there are none in the country he comes from. Between
+whiles he sometimes plays on his banjo and sings a bit for us. I cannot
+quite make him out; but as he is very quiet and well-behaved, and never
+interferes with nobody, it is no business of mine."
+
+Neither was it any business of mine; so after buying my paper I dismissed
+the subject from my mind and rode on to Kingscote.
+
+As a rule, I found the morning papers quite as much as I could struggle
+with; but at this time a poisoning case was being tried which interested
+me so much that while it lasted I sent for or fetched an evening paper
+every afternoon. The day after my conversation with the porter I adopted
+the former course, the day after that I adopted the latter, and, contrary
+to my usual practice, I walked.
+
+There were two ways from Kingscote to the station; one by the road, the
+other by a little-used footpath. I went by the road, and as I was buying
+my paper at Smith's bookstall the station-master told me that Mr.
+Fortescue had returned by a train which came in about ten minutes
+previously.
+
+"He must be walking home by the fields, then, or we should have met," I
+said; and pocketing my paper, I set off with the intention of overtaking
+him.
+
+As I have already observed, the field way was little frequented, most
+people preferring the high-road as being equally direct and, except in the
+height of summer, both dryer and less lonesome.
+
+After traversing two or three fields the foot-path ran through a thick
+wood, once part of the great forest of Essex, then descending into a deep
+hollow, it made a sudden bend and crossed a rambling old brook by a
+dilapidated bridge.
+
+As I reached the bend I heard a shout, and looking down I saw what at
+first sight (the day being on the wane and the wood gloomy) I took to be
+three men amusing themselves with a little cudgel-play. But a second
+glance showed me that something much more like murder than cudgel-play was
+going on; and shortening my Irish blackthorn, I rushed at breakneck speed
+down the hollow.
+
+I was just in time. Mr. Fortescue, with his back against the tree, was
+defending himself with his sword-stick against the two Italians, each of
+whom, armed with a long dagger, was doing his best to get at him without
+falling foul of the sword.
+
+The rascals were so intent on their murderous business that they neither
+heard nor saw me, and, taking them in the rear, I fetched the
+guitar-player a crack on his skull that stretched him senseless on the
+ground, whereupon the other villain, without more ado, took to his heels.
+
+"Thank you," said Mr. Fortescue, quietly, as he put up his weapon. "I
+don't think I could have kept the brigands at bay much longer. A
+sword-stick is no match for a pair of Corsican daggers. The next time I
+take a walk I must have a revolver. Is that fellow dead, do you think? If
+he is, I shall be still more in your debt."
+
+I looked at the prostrate man's face, then at his head. "No," I said,
+"there is no fracture. He is only stunned." My diagnosis was verified
+almost as soon as it was spoken. The next moment the Italian opened his
+eyes and sat up, and had I not threatened him with my blackthorn would
+have sprung to his feet.
+
+"You have to thank this gentleman for saving your life," said Mr.
+Fortescue, in French.
+
+"How?" asked the fellow in the same language.
+
+"If you had killed me you would have been hanged. If I hand you over to
+the police you will get twenty years at the hulks for attempted murder,
+and unless you answer my questions truly I shall hand you over to the
+police. You are a Griscelli."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Which of them?"
+
+"I am Giuseppe, the son of Giuseppe."
+
+"In that case you are _his_ grandson. How did you find me out?"
+
+"You were at Paris last summer."
+
+"But you did not see me there."
+
+"No, but Giacomo did; and from your name and appearance we felt sure you
+were the same."
+
+"Who is Giacomo--your brother?"
+
+"No, my cousin, the son of Luigi."
+
+"What is he?"
+
+"He belongs to the secret police."
+
+"So Giacomo put you on the scent?"
+
+"Yes, sir. He ascertained that you were living in England. The rest was
+easy."
+
+"Oh, it was, was it? You don't find yourself very much at ease just now, I
+fancy. And now, my young friend, I am going to treat you better than you
+deserve. I can afford to do so, for, as you see, and, as your grandfather
+and your father discovered to their cost, I bear a charmed life. You
+cannot kill me. You may go. And I advise you to return to France or
+Corsica, or wherever may be your home, with all speed, for to-morrow I
+shall denounce you to the police, and if you are caught you know what to
+expect. Who is your accomplice--a kinsman?"
+
+"No, only compatriot, whose acquaintance I made in London. He is a
+coward."
+
+"Evidently. One more question and I have done. Have you any brothers?"
+
+"Yes, sir; two."
+
+"And about a dozen cousins, I suppose, all of whom would be delighted to
+murder me--if they could. Now, give that gentleman your dagger, and march,
+_au pas gymnastique_."
+
+With a very ill grace, Giuseppe Griscelli did as he was bid, and then,
+rising to his feet, he marched, not, however, at the _pas gymnastique_,
+but slowly and deliberately; and as he reached a bend in the path a few
+yards farther on, he turned round and cast at Mr. Fortescue the most
+diabolically ferocious glance I ever saw on a human countenance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THEREBY  HANGS  A  TALE.
+
+
+"You believe now, I hope," said Mr. Fortescue, as we walked homeward.
+
+"Believe what, sir?"
+
+"That I have relentless enemies who seek my life. When I first told you of
+this you did not believe me. You thought I was the victim of an
+hallucination, else had I been more frank with you."
+
+"I am really very sorry."
+
+"Don't protest! I cannot blame you. It is hard for people who have led
+uneventful lives and seen little of the seamy side of human nature to
+believe that under the veneer of civilization and the mask of convention,
+hatreds are still as fierce, men still as revengeful as ever they were in
+olden times.... I hope I did not make a mistake in sparing young
+Griscelli's life."
+
+"Sparing his life! How?"
+
+"He sought my life, and I had a perfect right to take his."
+
+"That is not a very Christian sentiment, Mr. Fortescue."
+
+"I did not say it was. Do you always repay good for evil and turn your
+check to the smiter, Mr. Bacon?"
+
+"If you put it in that way, I fear I don't."
+
+"Do you know anybody who does?"
+
+After a moment's reflection I was again compelled to answer in the
+negative. I could not call to mind a single individual of my acquaintance
+who acted on the principle of returning good for evil.
+
+"Well, then, if I am no better than other people, I am no worse. Yet,
+after all, I think I did well to let him go. Had I killed the brigand,
+there would have been a coroner's inquest, and questions asked which might
+have been troublesome to answer, and he has brothers and cousins. If I
+could destroy the entire brood! Did you see the look he gave me as he went
+away? It meant murder. We have not seen the last of Giuseppe Griscelli,
+Mr. Bacon."
+
+"I am afraid we have not. I never saw such an expression of intense hatred
+in my life! Has he cause for it?"
+
+"I dare say he thinks so. I killed his father and his grand-father."
+
+This, uttered as indifferently as if it were a question of killing hares
+and foxes, was more than I could stand. I am not strait-laced, but I draw
+the line at murder.
+
+"You did what?" I exclaimed, as, horror-struck and indignant, I stopped in
+the path and looked him full in the face.
+
+I thought I had never seen him so Mephistopheles-like. A sinister smile
+parted his lips, showing his small white teeth gleaming under his gray
+mustache, and he regarded me with a look of cynical amusement, in which
+there was perhaps a slight touch of contempt.
+
+"You are a young man, Mr. Bacon," he observed, gently, "and, like most
+young men, and a great many old men, you make false deductions. Killing is
+not always murder. If it were, we should consign our conquerors to
+everlasting infamy, instead of crowning them with laurels and erecting
+statues to their memory. I am no murderer, Mr. Bacon. At the same time I
+do not cherish illusions. Unpremeditated murder is by no means the worst
+of crimes. Taking a life is only anticipating the inevitable; and of all
+murderers, Nature is the greatest and the cruellest. I have--if I could
+only tell you--make you see what I have seen--Even now, O God! though half
+a century has run its course--"
+
+Here Mr. Fortescue's voice failed him; he turned deadly pale, and his
+countenance took an expression of the keenest anguish. But the signs of
+emotion passed away as quickly as they had appeared. Another moment and he
+had fully regained his composure, and he added, in his usual
+self-possessed manner:
+
+"All this must seem very strange to you, Mr. Bacon. I suppose you consider
+me somewhat of a mystery."
+
+"Not somewhat, but very much."
+
+Mr. Fortescue smiled (he never laughed) and reflected a moment.
+
+"I am thinking," he said, "how strangely things come about, and, so to
+speak, hang together. The greatest of all mysteries is fate. If that horse
+had not run away with you, these rascals would almost certainly have made
+away with me; and the incident of to-day is one of the consequences of
+that which I mentioned at our first interview."
+
+"When we had that good run from Latton. I remember it very well. You said
+you had been hunted yourself."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"How was it, Mr. Fortescue?"
+
+"Ah! Thereby hangs a tale."
+
+"Tell it me, Mr. Fortescue," I said, eagerly.
+
+"And a very long tale."
+
+"So much the better; it is sure to be interesting."
+
+"Ah, yes, I dare say you would find it interesting. My life has been
+stirring and stormy enough, in all conscience--except for the ten years I
+spent in heaven," said Mr. Fortescue, in a voice and with a look of
+intense sadness.
+
+"Ten years in heaven!" I exclaimed, as much astonished as I had just been
+horrified. Was the man mad, after all, or did he speak in paradoxes? "Ten
+years in heaven!"
+
+Mr. Fortescue smiled again, and then it occurred to me that his ten years
+of heaven might have some connection with the veiled portrait and the
+shrine in his room up-stairs.
+
+"You take me too literally," he said. "I spoke metaphorically. I did not
+mean that, like Swedenborg and Mohammed, I have made excursions to
+Paradise. I merely meant that I once spent ten years of such serene
+happiness as it seldom falls to the lot of man to enjoy. But to return to
+our subject. You would like to know more of my past; but as it would not
+be satisfactory to tell you an incomplete history, and to tell you
+all--Yet why not? I have done nothing that I am ashamed of; and it is well
+you should know something of the man whose life you have saved once, and
+may possibly save again. You are trustworthy, straightforward, and
+vigilant, and albeit you are not overburdened with intelligence--"
+
+Here Mr. Fortescue paused, as if to reflect; and, though the observation
+was not very flattering--hardly civil, indeed--I was so anxious to hear
+this story that I took it in good part, and waited patiently for his
+decision.
+
+"To relate it _viva voce_" he went on, thoughtfully, "would be troublesome
+to both of us."
+
+"I am sure I should find it anything but troublesome."
+
+"Well, I should. It would take too much time, and I hate travelling over
+old ground. But that is a difficulty which I think we can get over. For
+many years I have made a record of the principal events of my life, in the
+form of a personal narrative; and though I have sometimes let it run
+behind for a while, I have always written it up."
+
+"That is exactly the thing. As you say, telling a long story is
+troublesome. I can read it."
+
+"I am afraid not. It is written in a sort of stenographic cipher of my own
+invention."
+
+"That is very awkward," I said, despondently. "I know no more of shorthand
+than of Sanskrit, and though I once tried to make out a cipher, the only
+tangible result was a splitting headache."
+
+"With the key, which I will give you, a little instruction and practice,
+you should have no difficulty in making out my cipher. It will be an
+exercise for your intelligence"--smiling. "Will you try?"
+
+"My very best."
+
+"And now for the conditions. In the first place, you must, in stenographic
+phrase, 'extend' my notes, write out the narrative in a legible hand and
+good English. If there be any blanks, I will fill them up; if you require
+explanations, I will give them. Do you agree?"
+
+"I agree."
+
+"The second condition is that you neither make use of the narrative for
+any purpose of your own, nor disclose the whole or any part of it to
+anybody until and unless I give you leave. What say you?"
+
+"I say yes."
+
+"The third and last condition is, that you engage to stay with me in your
+present capacity until it pleases me to give you your _conge_. Again what
+say you?"
+
+This was rather a "big order," and very one-sided. It bound me to remain
+with Mr. Fortescue for an indefinite period, yet left him at liberty to
+dismiss me at a moment's notice; and if he went on living, I might have to
+stay at Kingscote till I was old and gray. All the same, the position was
+a good one. I had four hundred a year (the price at which I had modestly
+appraised my services), free quarters, a pleasant life, and lots of
+hunting--all I could wish for, in fact; and what can a man have more? So
+again I said, "Yes."
+
+"We are agreed in all points, then. If you will come into my room "--we
+were by this time arrived at the house--"you shall have your first lesson
+in cryptography."
+
+I assented with eagerness, for I was burning to begin, and, from what Mr.
+Fortescue had said, I did not anticipate any great difficulty in making
+out the cipher.
+
+But when he produced a specimen page of his manuscript, my confidence,
+like Bob Acre's courage, oozed out at my finger-ends, or rather, all over
+me, for I broke out into a cold sweat.
+
+The first few lines resembled a confused array of algebraic formula. (I
+detest algebra.) Then came several lines that seemed to have been made by
+the crawlings of tipsy flies with inky legs, followed by half a dozen or
+so that looked like the ravings of a lunatic done into Welsh, while the
+remainder consisted of Roman numerals and ordinary figures mixed up,
+higgledy-piggledy.
+
+"This is nothing less than appalling," I almost groaned. "It will take me
+longer to learn than two or three languages."
+
+"Oh, no! When you have got the clew, and learned the signs, you will read
+the cipher with ease."
+
+"Very likely; but when will that be?"
+
+"Soon. The system is not nearly so complicated as it looks, and the
+language being English--"
+
+"English! It looks like a mixture of ancient Mexican and modern Chinese."
+
+"The language being English, nothing could be easier for a man of ordinary
+intelligence. If I had expected that my manuscript would fall into the
+hands of a cryptographist, I should have contrived something much more
+complicated and written it in several languages; and you have the key
+ready to your hand. Come, let us begin."
+
+After half an hour's instruction I began to see daylight, and to feel that
+with patience and practice I should be able to write out the story in
+legible English. The little I had read with Mr. Fortescue made me keen to
+know more; but as the cryptographic narrative did not begin at the
+beginning, he proposed that I should write this, as also any other missing
+parts, to his dictation.
+
+"Who knows that you may not make a book of it?" he said.
+
+"Do you think I am intelligent enough?" I asked, resentfully; for his
+uncomplimentary references to my mental capacity were still rankling in my
+mind.
+
+"I should hope so. Everybody writes in these days. Don't worry yourself on
+that score, my dear Mr. Bacon. Even though you may write a book, nobody
+will accuse you of being exceptionally intelligent."
+
+"But I cannot make a book of your narrative without your leave," I
+observed, with a painful sense of having gained nothing by my motion.
+
+"And that leave may be sooner or later forthcoming, on conditions."
+
+As the reader will find in the sequel, the leave has been given and the
+conditions have been fulfilled, and Mr. Fortescue's personal
+narrative--partly taken down from his own dictation, but for the most part
+extended from his manuscript--begins with the following chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE TALE BEGINS.
+
+
+The morning after the battle of Salamanca (through which I passed
+unscathed) the regiment of dragoons to which I belonged (forming part of
+Anson's brigade), together with Bock's Germans, was ordered to follow on
+the traces of the flying French, who had retired across the River Tormes.
+Though we started at daylight, we did not come up with their rear-guard
+until noon. It consisted of a strong force of horse and foot, and made a
+stand near La Serna; but the cavalry, who had received a severe lesson on
+the previous day, bolted before we could cross swords with them. The
+infantry, however, remained firm, and forming square, faced us like men.
+The order was then given to charge; and when the two brigades broke into a
+gallop and thundered down the slope, they raised so thick a cloud of dust
+that all we could see of the enemy was the glitter of their bayonets and
+the flash of their musket-fire. Saddles were emptied both to the right and
+left of me, and one of the riderless horses, maddened by a wound in the
+head, dashed wildly forward, and leaping among the bayonets and lashing
+out furiously with his hind-legs, opened a way into the square. I was the
+first man through the gap, and engaged the French colonel in a
+hand-to-hand combat. At the very moment just as I gave him the point in
+his throat he cut open my shoulder, my horse, mortally hurt by a bayonet
+thrust, fell, half rolling over me and crushing my leg.
+
+As I lay on the ground, faint with the loss of blood and unable to rise,
+some of our fellows rode over me, and being hit on the head by one of
+their horses, I lost consciousness. When I came to myself the skirmish was
+over, nearly the whole of the French rear-guard had been taken prisoners
+or cut to pieces, and a surgeon was dressing my wounds. This done, I was
+removed in an ambulance to Salamanca.
+
+The historic old city, with its steep, narrow streets, numerous convents,
+and famous university, had been well-nigh ruined by the French, who had
+pulled down half the convents and nearly all the colleges, and used the
+stones for the building of forts, which, a few weeks previously,
+Wellington had bombarded with red-hot shot.
+
+The hospitals being crowded with sick and wounded, I was billeted in the
+house of a certain Senor Don Alberto Zamorra, which (probably owing to the
+fact of its having been the quarters of a French colonel) had not taken
+much harm, either during the French occupation of the town or the
+subsequent siege of the forts.
+
+Don Alberto gave me a hearty, albeit a dignified welcome, and being a
+Spanish gentleman of the old school, he naturally placed his house, and
+all that it contained, at my disposal. I did not, of course, take this
+assurance literally, and had I not been on the right side, I should
+doubtless have met with a very different reception. All the same, he made
+a very agreeable host, and before I had been his guest many days we became
+fast friends.
+
+Don Zamorra was old, nearly as old as I am now; and as I speedily
+discovered, he had passed the greater part of his life in Spanish America,
+where he had held high office under the crown. He could hardly talk about
+anything else, in fact, and once he began to discourse about his former
+greatness and the marvels of the Indies (as South and Central America were
+then sometimes called) he never knew when to stop. He had crossed the
+Andes and seen the Amazon, sailed down the Orinoco and visited the mines
+of Potosi and Guanajuata, beheld the fiery summit of Cotopaxi, and peeped
+down the smoky crater of Acatenango. He told of fights with Indians and
+wild animals, of being lost in the forest, and of perilous expeditions in
+search of gold and precious stones. When Zamorra spoke of gold his whole
+attitude changed, the fires of his youth blazed up afresh, his face glowed
+with excitement, and his eyes sparkled with greed. At these times I saw in
+him a true type of the old Spanish Conquestadores, who would baptize a
+cacique to save him from hell one day, and kill him and loot his treasure
+the next.
+
+Don Alberto had, moreover, a firm belief in the existence of the fabled El
+Dorado, and of the city of Manoa, with its resplendent house of the sun,
+its hoards of silver and gold, and its gilded king. Thousands of
+adventurers had gone forth in search of these wonders, and thousands had
+perished in the attempt to find them. Senor Zamorra had sought El Dorado
+on the banks of the Orinoco and the Rio Negro; others, near the source of
+the Rio Grande and the Maranon; others, again, among the volcanoes of
+Salvador and the canons of the Cordilleras. Zamorra believed that it lay
+either in the wilds of Guiana, or the unexplored confines of Peru and the
+Brazils.
+
+He had heard of and believed even greater wonders--of a stream on the
+Pacific coast of Mexico, whose pebbles were silver, and whose sand was
+gold; of a volcano in the Peruvian Cordillera, whose crater was lined with
+the noblest of metals, and which once in every hundred years ejected, for
+days together, diamonds, and rubies, and dust of gold.
+
+"If that volcano could only be found," said the don, with a convulsive
+clutching of his bony fingers, and a greedy glare in his aged eyes. "If
+that volcano could only be found! Why, it must be made of gold, and
+covered with precious stones! The man who found it would be the richest in
+all the world--richer than all the people in the world put together!"
+
+"Did you ever see it, Don Alberto?" I asked.
+
+"Did I ever see it?" he cried, uplifting his withered hands. "If I had
+seen that volcano you would never have seen me, but you would have heard
+of me. I had it from an Indio whose father once saw it with his own eyes;
+but I was too old, too old"--sighing--"to go on the quest. To undertake
+such an enterprise a man should be in the prime of life and go alone. A
+single companion, even though he were your own brother, might be fatal;
+for what virtue could be proof against so great a temptation--millions of
+diamonds and a mountain of gold?"
+
+All this roused my curiosity and fired my imagination--not that I believed
+it all, for Zamorra was evidently a visionary with a fixed idea, and as
+touching his craze, credulous as a child; but in those days South America
+had been very little written about and not half explored; for me it had
+all the charm and fascination of the unknown--a land of romance and
+adventure, abounding in grand scenery, peopled by strange races, and
+containing the mightiest rivers, the greatest forests, and highest
+mountains in the world.
+
+When my host dismounted from his hobby he was an intelligent talker, and
+told me much that was interesting about Mexico, Peru, Guatemala, and the
+Spanish Main. He had several books on the subject which I greedily
+devoured. The expedition of Piedro de Ursua and Lope de Aguirre in search
+of El Dorado and Omagua; "History of the Conquest of Mexico," by Don
+Antonio de Solis; Piedrolieta's "General History of the Conquest of the
+New Kingdom of Grenada," and others; and before we parted I had resolved
+that, so soon as the war was over, I would make a voyage to the land of
+the setting sun, and see for myself the wonders of which I had heard.
+
+"You are right," said Senor Zamorra, when I told him of my intention.
+"America is the country of the future. Ah, if I were only fifty years
+younger! You will, of course, visit Venezuela; and if you visit Venezuela
+you are sure to go to Caracas. I will give you a letter of introduction to
+a friend of mine there. He is a man in authority, and may be of use to
+you. I should much like you to see him and greet him on my behalf."
+
+I thanked my host, and promised to see his friend and present the letter.
+It was addressed to Don Simon de Ulloa. Little did I think how much
+trouble that letter would give me, and how near it would come to being my
+death-warrant.
+
+Zamorra then besought me, with tears in his eyes, to go in search of the
+Golden Volcano.
+
+"If you could give me a more definite idea of its whereabouts I might
+possibly make the attempt," I answered, with intentional vagueness; for
+though I no more believed in the objective existence of the Golden Volcano
+than in Aladdin's lamp, I did not wish to hurt the old man's feelings by
+an avowal of my skepticism.
+
+"Ah, my dear sir," he said, with a gesture of despair, "if I knew the
+whereabouts of the Golden Volcano, I should go thither myself, old as I
+am. I should have gone long ago, and returned with a hoard of wealth that
+would make me the master of Europe--wealth that would buy kingdoms. I can
+tell you no more than that it is somewhere in the region of the Peruvian
+Andes. It may be that by cautious inquiry you may light on an Indio who
+will lead you to the very spot. It is worth the attempt, and if by the
+help of St. Peter and the Holy Virgin you succeed, and I am still alive,
+send me out of your abundance a few arrobas (twenty-five pounds) of gold
+and a handful of diamonds. It is all I ask."
+
+It was all he asked.
+
+"When I find that volcano, Don Alberto," I said, "not a mere handful of
+diamonds, but a bucketful."
+
+This was almost our last talk, for the very same day news was brought that
+Lord Wellington, having been forced to raise the siege of Burgos, was
+retreating toward the Portuguese frontier, and that Salamanca would almost
+inevitably be recaptured by the French. Orders were given for the removal
+of the wounded to the Coa, where the army was to take up its winter
+quarters, and Zamorra and I had to part. We parted with mutual expressions
+of good-will, and in the hope, destined never to be realized, that we
+might soon meet again. I had seen Don Alberto for the last time.
+
+A few weeks later I was sufficiently recovered from my hurts to use my
+bridle-arm, and before the opening of the next campaign I was fit for the
+field and eager for the fray. It was the campaign of Vittoria, one of the
+most brilliant episodes in the military history of England. Even now my
+heart beats faster and the blood tingles in my veins when I think of that
+time, so full of excitement, adventure, and glory--the forcing of the
+Pyrenees, the invasion of France, the battles of Bayonne, Orthes, and
+Toulouse, and the march to Paris.
+
+But as I am not relating a history of the war, I shall mention only one
+incident in which I was concerned at this period--an incident that brought
+me in contact with a man who was destined to exercise a fateful influence
+on my career.
+
+It occurred after the battle of Vittoria. The French were making for the
+Pyrenees, laden with the loot of a kingdom and encumbered with a motley
+crowd of non-combatants--the wives and families of French officers, fair
+senoritas flying with their lovers, and traitorous Spaniards, who, by
+taking sides with the invaders, had exposed themselves to the vengeance of
+the patriots. So overwhelming was the defeat of the French, that they were
+forced to abandon nearly the whole of their plunder and the greater part
+of their baggage, and leave the fugitives and camp-followers to their
+fate.
+
+Never was witnessed so strange a sight as the valley of Vittoria presented
+at the close of that eventful day. The broken remains of the French army
+hurrying toward the Pamplona road, eighty pieces of artillery, served with
+frantic haste, covering their retreat; thousands of wagons and carriages
+jammed together and unable to move; the red-coated infantry of England,
+marching steadily across the plain; the boom of the cannon, the rattle of
+musketry, the scream of women as the bullets whistled through the air and
+shells burst over their heads--all this made up a scene, dramatic and
+picturesque, it is true, yet full of dire confusion and Dantesque horror;
+for death had reaped a rich harvest, and thousands of wounded lay writhing
+on the blood-stained field.
+
+Owing to the bursting of packages, the overturning of wagons, and the
+havoc wrought by shot and shell, valuable effects, coin, gems, gold and
+silver candlesticks and vessels, priceless paintings, the spoil of Spanish
+churches and convents, were strewed over the ground. There was no need to
+plunder; our men picked up money as they matched, and it was computed that
+a sum equal to a million sterling found its way into their knapsacks and
+pockets.
+
+Our Spanish allies, officers as well as privates, were less scrupulous.
+They robbed like highwaymen, and protested that they were only taking
+their own.
+
+While riding toward Vittoria to execute an order of the colonel's, I
+passed a carriage which a moment or two previously had been overtaken by
+several of Longa's dragoons, with the evident intention of overhauling it.
+In the carriage were two ladies, one young and pretty the other
+good-looking and mature; and, as I judged from their appearance, both
+being well dressed, the daughter and wife of a French officer of rank.
+They appealed to me for help.
+
+"You are an English officer," said the elder in French; "all the world
+knows that your nation is as chivalrous as it is brave. Protect us, I pray
+you, from these ruffians."
+
+I bowed, and turning to the Spaniards, one of whom was an officer, spoke
+them fair; for my business was pressing, and I had no wish to be mixed up
+in a quarrel.
+
+"Caballeros," I said, "we do not make war on women. You will let these
+ladies go."
+
+"_Carambo!_ We shall do nothing of the sort," returned the officer,
+insolently. "These ladies are our prisoners, and their carriage and all it
+contains our prize."
+
+"I beg your pardon, Senor Capitan, but you are, perhaps not aware that
+Lord Wellington has given strict orders that private property is to be
+respected; and no true caballero molests women."
+
+"_Hijo de Dios!_ Dare you say that I am no true caballero? Begone this
+instant, or--"
+
+The Spaniard drew his sword; I drew mine; his men began to look to the
+priming of their pistols, and had General Anson not chanced to come by
+just in the nick of time, it might have gone ill with me. On learning what
+had happened, he said I had acted very properly and told the Spaniards
+that if they did not promptly depart he would hand them over to the
+provost-marshal.
+
+"We shall meet again, I hope, you and I," said the officer, defiantly, as
+he gathered up his reins.
+
+"So do I, if only that I may have an opportunity of chastising you for
+your insolence," was my equally defiant answer.
+
+"A thousand thanks, monsieur! You have done me and my daughter a great
+service," said the elder of the ladies. "Do me the pleasure to accept this
+ring as a slight souvenir of our gratitude, and I trust that in happier
+times we may meet again."
+
+I accepted the souvenir without looking at it; reciprocated the wish in my
+best French, made my best bow, and rode off on my errand. By the same act
+I had made one enemy and two friends; therefore, as I thought, the balance
+was in my favor. But I was wrong, for a wider experience of the world than
+I then possessed has taught me that it is better to miss making a hundred
+ordinary friends than to make one inveterate enemy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+IN QUEST OF FORTUNE.
+
+
+When the war came to an end my occupation was gone, for both circumstances
+and my own will compelled me to leave the army. My allowance could no
+longer be continued. At the best, the life of a lieutenant of dragoons in
+peace time would have been little to my liking; with no other resource
+than my pay, it would have been intolerable. So I sent in my papers, and
+resolved to seek my fortune in South America. After the payment of my
+debts (incurred partly in the purchase of my first commission) and the
+provision of my outfit, the sum left at my disposal was comparatively
+trifling. But I possessed a valuable asset in the ring given me by the
+French lady on the field of Vittoria. It was heavy, of antique make,
+curiously wrought, and set with a large sapphire of incomparable beauty. A
+jeweler, to whom I showed it, said he had never seen a finer. I could have
+sold it for a hundred guineas. But as the gem was property in a portable
+shape and more convertible than a bill of exchange, I preferred to keep
+it, taking, however, the precaution to have the sapphire covered with a
+composition, in order that its value might not be too readily apparent to
+covetous eyes.
+
+At this time the Spanish colonies of Colombia (including the countries now
+known as Venezuela, New Granada, and Ecuador, as also the present republic
+of southern Central America) were in full revolt against the mother
+country. The war had been going on for several years with varying
+fortunes; but latterly the Spaniards had been getting decidedly the best
+of it. Caracas and all the seaport towns were in their possession, and the
+patriot cause was only maintained by a few bands of irregulars, who were
+waging a desperate and almost hopeless contest in the forests and on the
+llanos of the interior.
+
+My sympathies were on the popular side, and I might have joined the
+volunteer force which was being raised in England for service with the
+insurgents. But this did not suit my purpose. If I accepted a commission
+in the Legion I should have to go where I was ordered. I preferred to go
+where I listed. I had no objection to fighting, but I wanted to do it in
+my own way and at my own time, and rather in the ranks of the rebels
+themselves than as officer in a foreign force.
+
+This view of the case I represented to Senor Morena, one of the "patriot"
+agents in London, and asked his advice.
+
+"Why not go to Caracas?" he said.
+
+"What would be the use of that? Caracas is in the hands of the Spaniards."
+
+"You could get from Caracas into the interior, and do the cause an
+important service."
+
+"How?"
+
+Senor Morena explained that the patriots of the capital, being sorely
+oppressed by the Spaniards, were losing courage, and he wished greatly to
+send them a message of hope and the assurance that help was at hand. It
+was also most desirable that the insurgent leaders on the field should be
+informed of the organization of a British liberating Legion, and of other
+measures which were being taken to afford them relief and turn the tide of
+victory in their favor.
+
+But to communicate these tidings to the parties concerned was by no means
+easy. The post was obviously quite out of the question, and no Spanish
+creole could land at any port held by the Royalists without the almost
+certainty of being promptly strangled or shot. "An Englishman,
+however--especially an Englishman who had fought under Wellington in
+Spain--might undertake the mission with comparative impunity," said Senor
+Morena.
+
+"I understand perfectly," I answered. "I have to go in the character of an
+ordinary travelling Englishman, and act as an emissary of the insurgent
+junta. But if my true character is detected, what then?"
+
+"That is not at all likely, Mr. Fortescue."
+
+"Yet the unlikely happens sometimes--happens generally, in fact. Suppose
+it does in the present instance?"
+
+"In that case I am very much afraid that you would be shot."
+
+"I have not a doubt of it. Nevertheless, your proposal pleases me, and I
+shall do my best to carry out your wishes."
+
+Whereupon Senor Morena expressed his thanks in sonorous Castilian,
+protested that my courage and devotion would earn me the eternal gratitude
+of every patriot, and promised to have everything ready for me in the
+course of the week, a promise which he faithfully kept.
+
+Three days later Morena brought me a packet of letters and a memorandum
+containing minute instructions for my guidance. Nothing could be more
+harmless looking than the letters. They contained merely a few items of
+general news and the recommendation of the bearer to the good offices of
+the recipient. But this was only a blind; the real letters were written in
+cipher, with sympathetic ink. They were, moreover, addressed to secret
+friends of the revolutionary cause, who, as Senor Morena believed and
+hoped, were, as yet, unsuspected by the Spanish authorities, and at large.
+
+"To give you letters to known patriots would be simply to insure your
+destruction," said the senor, "even if you were to find them alive and at
+liberty."
+
+I had also Don Alberto's letter, and as the old gentleman had once been
+president of the _Audiencia Real_ (Royal Council), Morena thought it would
+be of great use to me, and serve to ward off suspicion, even though some
+of the friends to whom he had himself written should have meanwhile got
+into trouble.
+
+But as if he had not complete confidence in the efficacy of these
+elaborate precautions, Senor Morena strongly advised me to stay no longer
+in Caracas than I could possibly help.
+
+"Spies more vigilant than those of the Inquisition are continually on the
+lookout for victims," he said. "An inadvertent word, a look even, might
+betray you; the only law is the will of the military and police, and they
+make very short work of those whom they suspect. Yes, leave Caracas the
+moment you have delivered your letters; our friends will smuggle you
+through the Spanish line and lead you to one of the patriot camps."
+
+This was not very encouraging; but I was at an adventurous age and in an
+enterprising mood, and the creole's warnings had rather the effect of
+increasing my desire to go forward with the undertaking in which I had
+engaged than causing me to falter in my resolve. Like Napoleon, I believed
+in my star, and I had faced death too often on the field of battle to fear
+the rather remote dangers Morena had foreshadowed, and in whose existence
+I only half believed.
+
+The die being cast, the next question was how I should reach my
+destination. The Spaniards of that age kept the trade with their colonies
+in their own hands, and it was seldom, indeed, that a ship sailed from the
+Thames for La Guayra or any other port on the Main. I was, however, lucky
+enough to find a vessel in the river taking in cargo for the island of
+Curacoa, which had just been ceded by England to the Dutch, from whom it
+was captured in 1807, and for a reasonable consideration the master agreed
+to fit me up a cabin and give me a passage.
+
+The voyage was rather long--something like fifty days--yet not altogether
+uneventful; for in the course of it we were chased by an American
+privateer, overhauled by a Spanish cruiser, nearly caught by a pirate, and
+almost swamped in a hurricane; but we fortunately escaped these and all
+other dangers, and eventually reached our haven in safety.
+
+I had brought with me letters of credit on a Dutch merchant at Curacoa, of
+the name of Van Voorst, from whom I obtained as much coin as I thought
+would cover my expenses for a few months, and left the balance in his
+hands on deposit. With the help of this gentleman, moreover, I chartered a
+_falucha_ for the voyage to La Guayra. Also at his suggestion, moreover, I
+stitched several gold pieces in the lining of my vest and the waistband of
+my trousers, as a reserve in case of accident.
+
+We made the run in twenty-four hours, and as the _falucha_ let go in the
+roadstead I tore up my memorandum of instructions (which I had carefully
+committed to memory) and threw the fragments into the sea.
+
+A little later we were boarded by two revenue officers, who seemed more
+surprised than pleased to see me; as, however, my papers were in perfect
+order, and nothing either compromising or contraband was found in my
+possession, they allowed me to land, and I thought that my troubles (for
+the present) were over. But I had not been ashore many minutes when I was
+met by a sergeant and a file of soldiers, who asked me politely, yet
+firmly, to accompany them to the commandant of the garrison.
+
+I complied, of course, and was conducted to the barracks, where I found
+the gentleman in question lolling in a _chinchura_ (hammock) and smoking a
+cigar. He eyed me with great suspicion, and after examining my passport,
+demanded my business, and wanted to know why I had taken it into my head
+to visit Colombia at a time when the country was being convulsed with
+civil war.
+
+Thinking it best to answer frankly (with one or two reservations), I said
+that, having heard much of South America while campaigning in Spain, I had
+made up my mind to voyage thither on the first opportunity.
+
+"What! you have served in Spain, in the army of Lord Wellington!"
+interposed the commandant with great vivacity.
+
+"Yes; I joined shortly before the battle of Salamanca, where I was
+wounded. I was also at Vittoria, and--"
+
+"So was I. I commanded a regiment in Murillo's _corps d'armee_, and have
+come out with him to Colombia. We are brothers in arms. We have both bled
+in the sacred cause of Spanish independence. Let me embrace you."
+
+Whereupon the commandant, springing from his hammock, put his arms round
+my neck and his head on my shoulders, patted me on the back, and kissed me
+on both cheeks, a salute which I thought it expedient to return, though
+his face was not overclean and he smelled abominably of garlic and stale
+tobacco.
+
+"So you have come to see South America--only to see it!" he said. "But
+perhaps you are scientific; you have the intention to explore the country
+and write a book, like the illustrious Humboldt?"
+
+The idea was useful. I modestly admitted that I did cultivate a little
+science, and allowed my "brother-in-arms" to remain in the belief that I
+proposed to follow in the footsteps of the author of "Cosmos"--at a
+distance.
+
+"I have an immense respect for science," continued the commandant, "and I
+doubt not that you will write a book which will make you famous. My only
+regret is, that in the present state of the country you may find going
+about rather difficult. But it won't be for long. We have well-nigh got
+this accursed rebellion under. A few weeks more, and there will not be a
+rebel left alive between the Andes and the Atlantic. The Captain-General
+of New Granada reports that he has either shot or hanged every known
+patriot in the province. We are doing the same here in Venezuela. We give
+no quarter; it is the only way with rebels. _Guerra a la muerte!_"
+
+After this the commandant asked me to dinner, and insisted on my becoming
+his guest until the morrow, when he would provide me with mules for myself
+and my baggage, and give me an escort to Caracas, and letter of
+introduction to one of his friends there. So great was his kindness,
+indeed, that only the ferocious sentiments which he had avowed in respect
+of the rebels reconciled me to the deception which I was compelled to
+practise. I accepted his hospitality and his offer of mules and an escort,
+and the next morning I set out on the first stage of my inland journey.
+Before parting he expressed a hope--which I deemed it prudent to
+reciprocate--that we should meet again.
+
+Nothing can be finer than the ride to Caracas by the old Spanish road, or
+more superb than its position in a magnificent valley, watered by four
+rivers, surrounded by a rampart of lofty mountains, and enjoying, by
+reason of its altitude, a climate of perpetual spring. But the city itself
+wore an aspect of gloom and desolation. Four years previously the ground
+on which it stood had been torn and rent by a succession of terrible
+earthquakes in which hundreds of houses were levelled with the earth, and
+thousands of its people bereft of their lives. Since that time two sieges,
+and wholesale proscription and executions, first by one side and then by
+the other, had well-nigh completed its destruction. Its principal
+buildings were still in ruins, and half its population had either perished
+or fled. Nearly every civilian whom I met in the streets was in mourning.
+Even the Royalists (who were more numerous than I expected) looked
+unhappy, for all had suffered either in person or in property, and none
+knew what further woes the future might bring them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+IN THE KING'S NAME.
+
+
+I put up at the Posado de los Generales (recommended by the commandant),
+and the day after my arrival I delivered the letters confided to me by
+Senor Moreno. This done, I felt safe; for (as I thought) there was nothing
+else in my possession by which I could possibly be compromised. I did not
+deliver the letters separately. I gave the packet, just as I had received
+it, to a certain Senor Carera, the secret chief of the patriot party in
+Caracas. I also gave him a long verbal message from Moreno, and we
+discussed at length the condition of the country and the prospects of the
+insurrection. In the interior, he said, there raged a frightful guerilla
+warfare, and Caracas was under a veritable reign of terror. Of the
+half-dozen friends for whom I had brought letters, one had been garroted;
+another was in prison, and would almost certainly meet the same fate. It
+was only by posing as a loyalist and exercising the utmost circumspection
+that he had so far succeeded in keeping a whole skin; and if he were not
+convinced that he could do more for the cause where he was than elsewhere,
+he would not remain in the city another hour. As for myself, he was quite
+of Moreno's opinion, that the sooner I got away the better.
+
+"I consider it my duty to watch over your safety," he said. "I should be
+sorry indeed were any harm to befall an English caballero who has risked
+his life to serve us and brought us such good news."
+
+"What harm can befall me, now that I have got rid of that packet?" I
+asked.
+
+"In a city under martial law and full of spies, there is no telling what
+may happen. Being, moreover, a stranger, you are a marked man. It is not
+everybody who, like the commandant of La Guayra, will believe that you are
+travelling for your own pleasure. What man in his senses would choose a
+time like this for a scientific ramble in Venezuela?"
+
+And then Senor Carera explained that he could arrange for me to leave
+Caracas almost immediately, under excellent guidance. The _teniente_ of
+Colonel Mejia, one of the guerilla leaders, was in the town on a secret
+errand, and would set out on his return journey in three days. If I liked
+I might go with him, and I could not have a better guide or a more
+trustworthy companion.
+
+It was a chance not to be lost. I told Senor Carera that I should only be
+too glad to profit by the opportunity, and that on any day and at any hour
+which he might name I would be ready.
+
+"I will see the _teniente_, and let you know further in the course of
+to-morrow," said Carera, after a moment's thought. "The affair will
+require nice management. There are patrols on every road. You must be well
+mounted, and I suppose you will want a mule for your baggage."
+
+"No! I shall take no more than I can carry in my saddle-bags. We must not
+be incumbered with pack-mules on an expedition of this sort. We may have
+to ride for our lives."
+
+"You are quite right, Senor Fortescue; so you may. I will see that you are
+well mounted, and I shall be delighted to take charge of your belongings
+until the patriots again, and for the last time, capture Caracas and drive
+those thrice-accursed Spaniards into the sea."
+
+Before we separated I invited Senor Carera to _almuerzo_ (the equivalent
+to the Continental second breakfast) on the following day.
+
+After a moment's reflection he accepted the invitation. "But we shall have
+to be very cautious," he added. "The _posada_ is a Royalist house, and the
+_posadero_ (innkeeper) is hand and glove with the police. If we speak of
+the patriots at all, it must be only to abuse them.... But our turn will
+come, and--_por Dios!_--then--"
+
+The fierce light in Carera's eyes, the gesture by which his words were
+emphasized, boded no good for the Royalists if the patriots should get the
+upper hand. No wonder that a war in which men like him were engaged on the
+one side, and men like el Commandant Castro on the other, should be
+savage, merciless, and "to the death."
+
+As I had decided to quit Caracas so soon, it did not seem worth while
+presenting the letter to one of his brother officers which I had received
+from Commandant Castro. I thought, too, that in existing circumstances the
+less I had to do with officers the better. But I did not like the idea of
+going away without fulfilling my promise to call on Zamorra's old friend,
+Don Senor Ulloa.
+
+So when I returned to the _posada_ I asked the _posadero_ (innkeeper), a
+tall Biscayan, with an immensely long nose, a cringing manner, and an
+insincere smile, if he would kindly direct me to Senor Ulloa's house.
+
+"_Si, senor_," said the _posadero_, giving me a queer look, and exchanging
+significant glances with two or three of his guests who were within
+earshot. "_Si, senor_, I can direct you to the house of Senor Ulloa. You
+mean Don Simon, of course?"
+
+"Yes. I have a letter of introduction to him."
+
+"Oh, you have a letter of introduction to Don Simon! if you will come into
+the street I will show you the way."
+
+Whereupon we went outside, and the _posadero_, pointing out the church of
+San Ildefonso, told me that the large house over against the eastern door
+was the house I sought.
+
+"_Gracias, senor_," I said, as I started on my errand, taking the shady
+side of the street and walking slowly, for the day was warm.
+
+I walked slowly and thought deeply, trying to make out what could be the
+meaning of the glances which the mention of Senor Ulloa's name had evoked,
+and there was a nameless something in the _posadero's_ manner I did not
+like. Besides being cringing, as usual, it was half mocking, half
+menacing, as if I had said, or he had heard, something that placed me in
+his power.
+
+Yet what could he have heard? What could there be in the name of Ulloa to
+either excite his enmity or rouse his suspicion? As a man in authority,
+and the particular friend of an ex-president of the _Audiencia Real_, Don
+Simon must needs be above reproach.
+
+Should I turn back and ask the _posadero_ what he meant? No, that were
+both weak and impolitic. He would either answer me with a lie, or refuse
+to answer at all, _qui s'excuse s'accuse_. I resolved to go on, and see
+what came of it. Don Simon would no doubt be able to enlighten me.
+
+I found the place without difficulty. There could be no mistaking it--a
+large house over against the eastern door of the church of San Ildefonso,
+built round a _patio_, or courtyard, after the fashion of Spanish and
+South American mansions. Like the church, it seemed to have been much
+damaged by the earthquake; the outer walls were cracked, and the gateway
+was encumbered with fallen stones.
+
+This surprised me less than may be supposed. Creoles are not remarkable
+for energy, and it was quite possible that Senor Ulloa's fortunes might
+have suffered as severely from the war as his house had suffered from the
+earthquake. But when I entered the _patio_ I was more than surprised. The
+only visible signs of life were lizards, darting in and out of their
+holes, and a huge rattlesnake sunning himself on the ledge of a broken
+fountain. Grass was growing between the stones; rotten doors hung on rusty
+hinges; there were great gaps in the roof and huge fissures in the walls,
+and when I called no one answered.
+
+"Surely," I thought, "I have made some mistake. This house is both
+deserted and ruined."
+
+I returned to the street and accosted a passer-by.
+
+"Is this the house of Don Simon Ulloa?" I asked him.
+
+"_Si, Senor_," he said; and then hurried on as if my question had
+half-frightened him out of his wits.
+
+I could not tell what to make of this; but my first idea was that Senor
+Ulloa was dead, and the house had the reputation of being haunted. In any
+case, the innkeeper had evidently played me a scurvy trick, and I went
+back to the _posada_ with the full intention of having it out with him.
+
+"Did you find the house of Don Simon, Senor Fortescue?" he asked when he
+saw me.
+
+"Yes, but I did not find him. The house is empty and deserted. What do you
+mean by sending me on such a fool's errand?"
+
+"I beg your pardon, senor. You asked me to direct you to Senor Ulloa's
+house, and I did so. What could I do more?" And the fellow cringed and
+smirked, as if it were all a capital joke, till I could hardly refrain
+from pulling his long nose first and kicking him afterwards, but I
+listened to the voice of prudence and resisted the impulse.
+
+"You know quite well that I sought Senor Ulloa. Did I not tell you that I
+had a letter for him? If you were a caballero instead of a wretched
+_posadero_, I would chastise your trickery as it deserves. What has become
+of Senor Ulloa, and how comes it that his house is deserted?"
+
+"Senor Ulloa is dead. He was garroted."
+
+"Garroted! What for?"
+
+"Treason. There was discovered a compromising correspondence between him
+and Bolivar. But why ask me? As a friend of Senor Ulloa, you surely know
+all this?"
+
+"I never was a friend of his--never even saw him! I had merely a letter to
+him from a common friend. But how happened it that Senor Ulloa, who, I
+believe, was a _correjidor_, entered into a correspondence with the
+arch-traitor?"
+
+"That made it all the worse. He richly deserved his fate. His eldest son,
+who was privy to the affair, was strangled at the same time as his father;
+his other children fled, and Senora Ulloa died of grief."
+
+"Poor woman! No wonder the house is deserted. What a frightful state of
+things!"
+
+And then, feeling that I had said enough, and fearing that I might say
+more, I turned on my heel, lighted a cigar, and, while I paced to and fro
+in the _patio_, seriously considered my position, which, as I clearly
+perceived, was beginning to be rather precarious.
+
+As likely as not the innkeeper would denounce me, and then it would, of
+course, be very absurd, for I was utterly ignorant, and Zamorra, a
+Royalist to the bone, must have been equally ignorant that his friend
+Ulloa had any hand in the rebellion. The mere fact of carrying a harmless
+letter of introduction from a well-known loyalist to a friend whom he
+believed to be still a loyalist, could surely not be construed as an
+offense. At any rate it ought not to be. But when I recalled all I had
+heard from Morena, and the stories told me but an hour before by Carera, I
+thought it extremely probable that it would be, and bitterly regretted
+that I had not mentioned to the latter Ulloa's name. He would have put me
+on my guard, and I should not have so fatally committed myself with the
+_posadero_.
+
+But regrets are useless and worse. They waste time and weaken resolve. The
+question of the moment was, What should I do? How avoid the danger which I
+felt sure was impending? There seemed only one way--immediate flight. I
+would go to Carera, tell him all that had happened, and ask him to arrange
+for my departure from Caracas that very night. I could steal away unseen
+when all was quiet.
+
+"At once," I said to myself--"at once. If I exaggerate, if the danger be
+not so pressing as I fear, he is just the man to tell me; but, first of
+all, I will go into my room and destroy this confounded letter. The
+_posadero_ did not see it. All that he can say is--"
+
+"In the king's name!" exclaimed a rough voice behind me; and a heavy hand
+was laid on my arm.
+
+Turning sharply round, I found myself confronted by an officer of police
+and four alguazils, all armed to the teeth.
+
+"I arrest you in the king's name," repeated the officer.
+
+"On what charge?" I asked.
+
+"Treason. Giving aid and comfort to the king's enemies, and acting as a
+medium of communication between rebels against his authority."
+
+"Very well; I am ready to accompany you," I said, seeing that, for the
+moment at least, resistance and escape were equally out of the question;
+"but the charge is false."
+
+"That I have nothing to do with. The case is one for the military
+tribunal. Before we go I must search your room."
+
+He did so, and, except my passport, found nothing whatever of a
+documentary, much less of a compromising character. He then searched me,
+and took possession of Zamorra's unlucky letter to Ulloa and my
+memorandum-book, in which, however, there were merely a few commonplace
+notes and scientific jottings.
+
+This done he placed two of his alguazils on either side of me, telling
+them to run me through with their bayonets if I attempted to escape, and
+then, drawing his sword and bringing up the rear, gave the order to march.
+
+As we passed through the gateway I caught sight of the _posadero_,
+laughing consumedly, and pointing at me the finger of scorn and triumph.
+How sorry I felt that I had not kicked him when I was in the humor and had
+the opportunity!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+DOOMED  TO  DIE.
+
+
+My captors conducted me to a dilapidated building near the Plaza Major,
+which did duty as a temporary jail, the principal prison of Caracas having
+been destroyed by the earthquake and left as it fell. Nevertheless, the
+room to which I was taken seemed quite strong enough to hold anybody
+unsupplied with housebreaking implements or less ingenious than Jack
+Sheppard. The door was thick and well bolted, the window or grating (for
+it was, of course, destitute of glass) high and heavily barred, yet not
+too high to be reached with a little contrivance. Mounting the single
+chair (beside a hammock the only furniture the room contained), I gripped
+the bars with my hands, raised myself up, and looked out. Below me was a
+narrow, and, as it might appear, a little-frequented street, at the end of
+which a sentry was doing his monotonous spell of duty.
+
+The place was evidently well guarded, and from the number of soldiers whom
+I had seen about the gateway and in the _patio_, I concluded that, besides
+serving as a jail, it was used also as a military post. Even though I
+might get out, I should not find it very easy to get away. And what were
+my chances of getting out? As yet they seemed exceedingly remote. The only
+possible exits were the door and the window. The door was both locked and
+bolted, and either to open or make an opening in it I should want a brace
+and bit and a saw, and several hours freedom from intrusion. It would be
+easier to cut the bars--if I possessed a file or a suitable saw. I had my
+knife, and with time and patience I might possibly fashion a tool that
+would answer the purpose.
+
+But time was just what I might not be able to command. I had heard that
+the sole merit of the military tribunal was its promptitude; it never kept
+its victims long in suspense; they were either quickly released or as
+quickly despatched--the latter being the alternative most generally
+adopted. It was for this reason that, the moment I was arrested, I began
+to think how I could escape. As neither opening the door nor breaking the
+bars seemed immediately feasible, the idea of bribing the turnkey
+naturally occurred to me. Thanks to the precaution suggested by Mr. Van
+Voorst, I had several gold pieces in my belt. But though the fellow would
+no doubt accept my money, what security had I that he would keep his word?
+And how, even if he were to leave the door open, should I evade the
+vigilance of the sentries and the soldiers who were always loitering in
+the _patio_?
+
+On the whole, I thought the best thing I could do was to wait quietly
+until the morrow. The night is often fruitful in ideas. I might be
+acquitted, after all, and if I attempted to bribe the turnkey before my
+examination, and he should betray me to his superiors, my condemnation
+would be a foregone conclusion. The mere attempt would be regarded as an
+admission of guilt.
+
+A while later, the zambo turnkey (half Indian, half negro) brought me my
+evening meal--a loaf of bread and a small bottle of wine--and I studied
+his countenance closely. It was both treacherous and truculent, and I felt
+that if I trusted him he would be sure to play me false.
+
+As it was near sunset I asked for a light, and tried to engage him in
+conversation. But the attempt failed. He answered surlily, that a dark
+room was quite good enough for a damned rebel, and left me to myself.
+
+When it became too dark to walk about, I lay down in the hammock and was
+soon in the land of dreams; for I was young and sanguine, and though I
+could not help feeling somewhat anxious, it was not the sort of anxiety
+which kills sleep. Only once in my life have I tasted the agony of
+despair. That time was not yet.
+
+When I awoke the clock of a neighboring church was striking three, and the
+rays of a brilliant tropical moon were streaming through the barred window
+of my room, making it hardly less light than day.
+
+As the echo of the last stroke dies away, I fancy that I hear something
+strike against the grating.
+
+I rise up in my hammock, listening intently, and at the same instant a
+small shower of pebbles, flung by an unseen hand, falls into the room.
+
+A signal!
+
+Yes, and a signal that demands an answer. In less time than it takes to
+tell I slip from my hammock, gather up the pebbles, climb up to the
+window, and drop them into the street. Then, looking out, I can just
+discern, deep in the shadow of the building opposite, the figure of a man.
+He raises his arm; something white flies over my head and falls on the
+floor. Dropping hurriedly from the grating, I pick up the message-bearing
+missile--a pebble to which is tied a piece of paper. I can see that the
+paper contains writing, and climbing a second time up to the grating, I
+make out by the light of the moonbeams the words:
+
+"_If you are condemned, ask for a priest._"
+
+My first feeling was one of bitter disappointment. Why should I ask for a
+priest? I was not a Roman Catholic; I did not want to confess. If the
+author of the missive was Carera--and who else could it be?--why had he
+given himself so much trouble to make so unpleasantly suggestive a
+recommendation? A priest, forsooth! A file and a cord would be much more
+to the purpose.... But might not the words mean more than appeared? Could
+it be that Carera desired to give me a friendly hint to prepare for the
+worst?... Or was it possible that the ghostly man would bring me a further
+message and help me in some way to escape? At any rate, it was a more
+encouraging theory than the other, and I resolved to act on it. If the
+priest did me no good, he could, at least, do me no harm.
+
+After tearing up the bit of paper and chewing the fragments, I returned to
+my hammock and lay awake--sleep being now out of the question--until the
+turnkey brought me a cup of chocolate, of which, with the remains of the
+loaf, I made my first breakfast. About the middle of the day he brought me
+something more substantial. On both occasions I pressed him with questions
+as to when I was to be examined, and what they were going to do with me,
+to all of which he answered "_No se_" ("I don't know"), and, probably
+enough, he told the truth. However, I was not kept long in suspense. Later
+on in the afternoon the door opened for the third time, and the officer
+who had arrested me, followed by his alguazils, appeared at the threshold
+and announced that he had been ordered to escort me to the tribunal.
+
+We went in the same order as before; and a walk of less than fifteen
+minutes brought us to another tumble-down building, which appeared to have
+been once a court-house. Only the lower rooms were habitable, and at a
+door, on either side of which stood a sentry, my conductor respectfully
+knocked.
+
+"_Adelante!_" said a rough voice; and we entered accordingly.
+
+Before a long table at the upper end of a large, barely-furnished room,
+with rough walls and a cracked ceiling, sat three men in uniform. The one
+who occupied the chief seat, and seemed to be the president, was old and
+gray, with hard, suspicious eyes, and a long, typical Spanish face, in
+every line of which I read cruelty and ruthless determination. His
+colleagues, who called him "marquis," treated him with great deference,
+and his breast was covered with orders.
+
+It was evident that on this man would depend my fate. The others were
+there merely to register his decrees.
+
+After leading me to the table and saluting the tribunal, the officer of
+police, whose sword was still drawn, placed himself in a convenient
+position for running me through, in the event of my behaving
+disrespectfully to the tribunal or attempting to escape.
+
+The president, who had before him the letter to Senor Ulloa, my passport,
+and a document that looked like a brief, demanded my name and quality.
+
+I told him.
+
+"What was your purpose in coming to Caracas?" he asked.
+
+"Simply to see the country."
+
+He laughed scornfully.
+
+"To see the country! What nonsense is this? How can anybody see a country
+which is ravaged by brigands and convulsed with civil war? And where is
+your authority?"
+
+"My passport."
+
+"A passport such as this is only available in a time of peace. No stranger
+unprovided with a safe conduct from the _capitan-general_ is allowed to
+travel in the province of Caracas. It is useless trying to deceive us,
+senor. Your purpose is to carry information to the rebels, probably to
+join them, as is proved by your possession of a letter to so base a
+traitor as Senor Ulloa."
+
+On this I explained how I had obtained the letter, and pointed out that
+the very fact of my asking the _posadero_ to direct me to Ulloa's house,
+and going thither openly, was proof positive of my innocence. Had my
+purpose been that which he imputed to me, I should have shown more
+caution.
+
+"That does not at all follow," rejoined the president. "You may have
+intended to disarm suspicion by a pretence of ignorance. Moreover, you
+expressed to the _senor posadero_ sentiments hostile to the Government of
+his Majesty the King."
+
+"It is untrue. I did nothing of the sort," I exclaimed, impetuously.
+
+"Mind what you say, prisoner. Unless you treat the tribunal with due
+respect you shall be sent back to the _carcel_ and tried in your absence."
+
+"Do you call this a trial?" I exclaimed, indignantly. "I am a British
+subject. I have committed no offence; but if I must be tried I demand the
+right of being tried by a civil tribunal."
+
+"British subjects who venture into a city under martial law must take the
+consequences. We can show them no more consideration than we show Spanish
+subjects. They deserve much less, indeed. At this moment a force is being
+organized in England, with the sanction and encouragement of the British
+Government, to serve against our troops in these colonies. This is an act
+of war, and if the king, my master, were of my mind, he would declare war
+against England. Better an open foe than a treacherous friend. Do you hold
+a commission in the Legion, senor?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Know you anybody who does?"
+
+"Yes; I believe that several men with whom I served in Spain have accepted
+commissions. But you will surely not hold me responsible for the doings of
+others?"
+
+"Not at all. You have quite enough sins of your own to answer for. You may
+not actually hold a commission in this force of filibusters, but you are
+acquainted with people who do; and from your own admission and facts that
+have come to our knowledge, we believe that you are acting as an
+intermediary between the rebels in this country and their agents in
+England. It is an insult to our understanding to tell us that you have
+come here out of idle curiosity. You have come to spy out the nakedness of
+the land, and being a soldier you know how spies are dealt with."
+
+Here the president held a whispered consultation with his colleagues. Then
+he turned to me, and continued:
+
+"We are of opinion that the charges against you have been fully made out,
+and the sentence of the court is that you be strangled on the Plaza Major
+to-morrow morning at seven by the clock."
+
+"Strangled! Surely, senores, you will not commit so great an infamy? This
+is a mere mockery of a trial. I have neither seen an indictment nor been
+confronted by witnesses. Call this a sentence! I call it murder."
+
+"If you do not moderate your language, prisoner, you will be strangled
+to-night instead of to-morrow. Remove him, _capitan_"--to the officer of
+police. "Let this be your warrant"--writing.
+
+"Grant me at least one favor," I asked, smothering my indignation, and
+trying to speak calmly. "I have fought and bled for Spain. Let me at least
+die a soldier's death, and allow me before I die to see a priest."
+
+"So you are a Christian!" returned the president, almost graciously. "I
+thought all Englishmen were heretics. I think senores, we may grant Senor
+Fortescue's request. Instead of being strangled, you shall be shot by a
+firing party of the regiment of Cordova, and you may see a priest. We
+would not have you die unshriven, and I will myself see that your body is
+laid in consecrated ground. When would you like the priest to visit you?"
+
+"This evening, senor president. There will not be much time to-morrow
+morning."
+
+"That is true. See to it, _capitan_. Tell them at the _carcel_ that Senor
+Fortescue may see a priest in his own room this evening. _Adios senor!_"
+
+And with that my three judges rose from their seats and bowed as politely
+as if they were parting with an honored guest. Though this proceeding
+struck me as being both ghastly and grotesque, I returned the greeting in
+due form, and made my best bow. I learned afterward that I had really been
+treated with exceptional consideration, and might esteem myself fortunate
+in not being condemned without trial and strangled without notice.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+SALVADOR.
+
+
+Now that I knew beyond a doubt what would be my fate unless I could escape
+before morning, I became decidedly anxious as to the outcome of my
+approaching interview with the ghostly comforter for whom I had asked. It
+was my last chance. If it failed me, or the man turned out to be a priest
+and nothing more, my hours were numbered. The time was too short to
+arrange any other plan. Would he bring with him a file and a cord? Even if
+he did, we could hardly hope to cut through the bars before daylight. And,
+most important consideration of all, how would Carera contrive to send me
+the right man?
+
+The mystery was solved more quickly than I expected.
+
+After leaving the tribunal, my escort took me back by the way we had come,
+the police captain, who was showing himself much more friendly (probably
+because he looked on me as a good "Christian" and a dying man), walking
+beside instead of behind me; and when we were within a hundred yards or so
+of the _carcel_ I observed a Franciscan friar pacing slowly toward us.
+
+I felt intuitively that this was my man; and when he drew nearer a slight
+movement of his eyebrows and a quick look of intelligence told me that I
+was right.
+
+"I have no acquaintance among the clergy of Caracas," I said to my
+conductor. "This friar will serve my purpose as well as a regular priest."
+
+"As you like, senor. Shall I ask him to see you?"
+
+"_Gracias senor capitan_, if you please."
+
+Whereupon the officer respectfully accosted the friar, and after telling
+him that I had been condemned to die at sunrise on the morrow, asked if he
+would receive my confession and give me such religious consolation as my
+case required.
+
+"_Con mucho gusto, capitan_," answered the friar. "When would the senor
+like me to visit him?"
+
+"At once, father. My hours are numbered, and I would fain spend the night
+in meditation and prayer."
+
+"Come with us, father," said the captain. "The senor has the permission of
+the tribunal to see a priest in his own room."
+
+So we entered the prison together, and the captain, having given the
+necessary instructions to the turnkey, we were conducted to my room.
+
+"When you have done," he said, "knock at the door, and I will come and let
+you out."
+
+"Good! But you need not wait. I shall not be ready for half an hour or
+more."
+
+As the key turned in the lock, the _soi-disant_ friar threw back his cowl.
+"Now, Senor Fortescue," he said, with a laugh, "I am ready to hear your
+confession."
+
+"I confess that I feel as if I were in purgatory already, and I shall be
+uncommonly glad if you can get me out of it."
+
+"Well, purgatory is not the pleasantest of places by all accounts, and I
+am quite willing to do whatever I can for you. By way of beginning, take
+this ointment and smear your face and hands therewith."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"To make you look swart and ugly, like the zambo."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"And then? When the turnkey comes back we shall overpower, bind, and gag
+him--if he resists, strangle him. Then you will put on his clothes and don
+his sombrero, and as the moon rises late, and the prison is badly lighted,
+I have no doubt we shall run the gauntlet of the guard without
+difficulty.... That is a splendid ointment. You are almost as dark as a
+negro. Now for your feet."
+
+"My feet! I see! I must go out barefoot."
+
+"Of course. Who ever heard of a zambo turnkey wearing shoes? I will hide
+yours under my habit, and you can put them on afterward."
+
+"You are a friend of Carera's, of course?"
+
+"Yes; I am Salvador Carmen, the _teniente_ of Colonel Mejia, at your
+service."
+
+"Salvador Carmen! A name of good omen. You are saving me."
+
+"I will either save you or perish with you. Take this dagger. Better to
+die fighting than be strangled on the plaza."
+
+"Is this your plan or Carera's?" I asked, as I put the dagger in my belt.
+
+"Partly his and partly mine, I think. When he heard of your arrest, he
+said that it concerned our honor to effect your rescue. The idea of
+throwing a stone through the window was Carera's; that of personating a
+priest was mine."
+
+"But how did Carera find out where I was? and what assurance had you that
+when I asked for a priest they would bring you?"
+
+"That was easy enough. This is a small military post as well as an
+occasional prison, some of the soldiers are always drinking at the
+_pulperia_ round the corner, and they talk in their cups. I even know the
+countersign for to-night. It is 'Baylen.' I saw them take you to the
+tribunal, and as I knew that when you asked for a priest they would call
+in the first whom they saw, just to save themselves the trouble of going
+farther, I took care to be hereabout in this guise as you returned. I was
+fortunate enough to meet you face to face, and you were sharp enough to
+detect my true character at a glance."
+
+"I am greatly indebted to you and Senor Carera--more than I can say. You
+are risking your lives to save mine."
+
+"That is nothing, my dear sir. I often risk my life twenty times in a day.
+And what matters it? We are all under sentence of death. A few years and
+there will be an end of us."
+
+Salvador Carmen may have been twenty-six or twenty-eight years old. He was
+of middle height and athletic build, yet wiry withal, in splendid
+condition, and as hard as nails. Though darker than the average Spaniard,
+his short, wavy hair and powerful, clear-cut features showed that his
+blood was free from negro or Indian taint. His face bespoke a strange
+mixture of gentleness and resolution, melancholy and ferocity, as if an
+originally fine nature had been annealed by fiery trials, and perhaps
+perverted by some terrible wrong.
+
+"Yes, senor, we carry our lives in our hands in this most unhappy
+country," he continued, after a short pause. "Three years ago I was one of
+a family of eight, and no happier family could be found in the whole
+_capitanio-general_ of Caracas.... Of those eight, seven are gone; I am
+the only one left. Four were killed in the great earthquake. Then my
+father took part in the revolutionary movement, and to save his life had
+to leave his home. One night he returned in disguise to see my mother. I
+happened to be away at the time; but my brother Tomas was there, and the
+police getting wind of my father's arrival, arrested both them and him. My
+father was condemned as a rebel; my mother and brother were condemned for
+harboring him, and all were strangled together on the plaza there."
+
+"Good heaven! Can such things be?" I said, as much moved by his grief as
+by his tale of horror.
+
+"I saw them die. Oh, my God! I saw them die, and yet I live to tell the
+tale!" exclaimed Carmen, in a tone of intense sadness. "But"--fiercely--"I
+have taken a terrible revenge. With my own hand have I slain more than a
+hundred European Spaniards, and I have sworn to slay as many as there were
+hairs on my mother's head.... But enough of this! The night is upon us. It
+is time to make ready. When the zambo comes in, I shall seize him by the
+throat and threaten him with my dagger. While I hold him you must stuff
+this cloth into his mouth, take off his shirt and trousers--he has no
+other garments--and put them on over your own. That done, we will bind him
+with this cord, and lock him in with his own key. Are you ready?"
+
+"I am ready."
+
+Carmen knocked loudly at the door.
+
+Two minutes later the door opens, and as the zambo closes it behind him,
+Carmen seizes him by the throat and pushes him against the wall.
+
+"A word, a whisper, and you are a dead man!" he hisses, sternly, at the
+same time drawing his dagger. "Open your mouth, or, _per Dios_--The cloth,
+senor. Now, off with your shirt and trousers."
+
+The turnkey obeys without the least attempt at resistance. The shaking of
+his limbs as I help him to undress shows that he is half frightened to
+death.
+
+Then Carmen, still gripping the man's throat and threatening him with his
+dagger, makes him lie down, and I bind his arms with the cord.
+
+That done, I slip the man's trousers and shirt over my own, don his
+sombrero, and take his key.
+
+"So far, well," says Carmen, "if we only get safely through the _patio_
+and pass the guard! Put the sombrero over your face, imitate the zambo's
+shuffling gait, and walk carelessly by my side, as if you were conducting
+me to the gate and a short way down the street. Have you your dagger!
+Good! Open the door and let us go forth. One word more! If it comes to a
+fight, back to back. Try to grasp the muskets with your left and stab with
+your right--upward!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+OUT OF THE LION'S MOUTH.
+
+
+As the short sunset of the tropics had now merged into complete darkness,
+we crossed the _patio_ without being noticed; but near the gateway several
+soldiers of the guard were seated round a small table, playing at cards by
+the light of a flickering lamp.
+
+"Hello! Who goes there?" said one of them, looking up. "Pablo, the
+turnkey, and a friar! Won't you take a hand, Pablo? You won a _real_ from
+me last night; I want my revenge."
+
+"He is going with me as far as the plaza. It is dark, and I am very
+near-sighted," put in Carmen, with ready presence of mind. "He will be
+back in a few minutes, and then he will give you your revenge, won't you,
+Pablo?"
+
+"_Si, padre, con mucho gusto_," I answered, mimicking the deep guttural of
+the zambo.
+
+"Good! I shall expect you in a few minutes," said the soldier. "_Buene
+noche, padre!_"
+
+"Good-night, my son."
+
+"Now for the sentry," murmured Carmen; "luckily we have the password,
+otherwise it might be awkward."
+
+"We must try to slip past him."
+
+But it was not to be. As we step through the gateway into the street, the
+man turns right about face and we are seen.
+
+"_Halte! Quien vive?_" he cried.
+
+"Friends."
+
+"Advance, friends, and give the countersign."
+
+"As you see, I am a friar. I have been shriving a condemned prisoner. You
+surely do not expect me to give the countersign!" said Carmen, going close
+up to him.
+
+"Certainly not, _padre_. But who is that with you?"
+
+"Pablo, the turnkey."
+
+"Advance and give the countersign, Pablo."
+
+"Baylen."
+
+"Wrong; it has been changed within the last ten minutes. You must go back
+and get it, friend Pablo."
+
+"It is not worth the trouble. He is only seeing me to the end of the
+street," pleaded Carmen.
+
+"I shall not let him go another step without the countersign," returned
+the sentry, doggedly. "I am not sure that I ought to let you go either,
+father. He has only to ask--"
+
+A sudden movement of Carmen's arm, a gleam of steel in the darkness, the
+soldier's musket falls from his grasp, and with a deep groan he sinks
+heavily on the ground.
+
+"Quick, senor, or we shall be taken! Round the corner! We must not run;
+that would attract attention. A sharp walk. Good! Keep close to the wall.
+Two minutes more and we shall be safe. A narrow escape! If the sentry had
+made you go back or called the guard, all would have been lost."
+
+"How was it? Did you stab him?"
+
+"To the heart. He has mounted guard for the last time. So much the better.
+It is an enemy and a Spaniard the less."
+
+"All the same, Senor Carmen, I would rather kill my enemies in fair fight
+than in cold blood."
+
+"I also; but there are occasions. As likely as not this soldier would have
+been in the firing party told off to shoot you to-morrow morning. There
+would not have been much fair fight in that. And had I not killed him, we
+should both have been tried by drum-head court-martial, and shot or
+strangled to-night. This way. Now, I defy them to catch us."
+
+As he spoke, Carmen plunged into a heap of ruins by the wayside, with the
+intricacies of which, despite the darkness, he appeared to be quite
+familiar.
+
+"Nobody will disturb us here," he said at length, pausing under the shadow
+of a broken wall. "These are the ruins of the Church of Alta Gracia,
+which, in its fall during the great earthquake, killed several hundred
+worshippers. People say they are haunted; after dark nobody will come near
+them. But we must not stay many minutes. Take off the zambo's shirt and
+trousers, and put on your shoes and stockings--there they are--and I shall
+doff my cloak of religion."
+
+"What next?"
+
+"We must make off with all speed and by devious ways--though I think we
+have quite thrown our pursuers off the scent--to a house in the outskirts
+belonging to a friend of the cause, where we shall find horses, and start
+for the llanos before the moon rises, and the hue and cry can be raised."
+
+"What is the journey?"
+
+"That depends on circumstances. Four or five days, perhaps. _Vamanos!_
+Time presses."
+
+We left the ruins at the side opposite to that at which we had entered
+them, and after traversing several by-streets and narrow lanes reached the
+open country, and walked on rapidly till we came to a lonesome house in a
+large garden.
+
+Carmen went up to the door, whistled softly, and knocked thrice.
+
+"Who is there?" asked a voice from within.
+
+"Salvador."
+
+On this the gate of the _patio_, wide enough to admit a man on horseback,
+was thrown open, and the next moment I was in the arms of Senor Carera.
+
+"Out of the lion's mouth!" he exclaimed, as he kissed me on both cheeks.
+"I was dying of anxiety. But, thank Heaven and the Holy Virgin, you are
+safe."
+
+"I have also to thank you and Senor Carmen; and I do thank you with all my
+heart."
+
+"Say no more. We could not have done less. You were our guest. You
+rendered us a great service. Had we let you perish without an effort to
+save you, we should have been eternally disgraced. But come in and refresh
+yourselves. Your stay here must be brief, and we can talk while we eat."
+
+As we sat at table, Carmen told the story of my rescue.
+
+"It was well done," said our host, thoughtfully, "very well done. Yet I
+regret you had to kill the sentry. But for that you might have had a
+little sleep, and started after midnight. As it is, you must set off
+forthwith and get well on the road before the news of the escape gets
+noised abroad. And everything is ready. All your things are here, Senor
+Fortescue. You can select what you want for the journey and leave the rest
+in my charge."
+
+"All my things here! How did you manage that, Senor Carera?"
+
+"By sending a man, whom I could trust, in the character of a messenger
+from the prison with a note to the _posadero_, as from you, asking him to
+deliver your baggage and receipt your bill."
+
+"That was very good of you, Senor Carera. A thousand thanks. How much--"
+
+"How much! That is my affair. You are my guest, remember. Your baggage is
+in the next room, and while you make your preparations, I will see to the
+saddling of the horses."
+
+A very few minutes sufficed to put on my riding boots, get my pistols, and
+make up my scanty kit. When I went outside, the horses were waiting in the
+_patio_, each of them held by a black groom. Everything was in order. A
+_cobija_ was strapped behind either saddle, both of which were furnished
+with holsters and bags.
+
+"I have had some _tasajo_ (dried beef) put in the saddle-bags, as much as
+will keep you going three or four days," said Senor Carera. "You won't
+find many hotels on the road. And you will want a sword, Mr. Fortescue. Do
+me the favor to accept this as a souvenir of our friendship. It is a fine
+Toledo blade, with a history. An ancestor of mine wore it at the battle of
+Lepanto. It may bend but will never break, and has an edge like a razor. I
+give it to you to be used against my country's enemies, and I am sure you
+will never draw it without cause, nor sheathe it without honor."
+
+I thanked my host warmly for his timely gift, and, as I buckled the
+historic weapon to my side, glanced at the horse which he had placed at my
+disposal. It was a beautiful flea-bitten gray, with a small, fiery head,
+arched neck, sloping shoulders, deep chest, powerful quarters, well-bent
+hocks, and "clean" shapely legs--a very model of a horse, and as it
+seemed, in perfect condition.
+
+"Ah, you may look at Pizarro as long as you like, Senor Fortescue, and he
+is well worth looking at; but you will never tire him," said Carera. "What
+will you do if you meet the patrol, Salvador?"
+
+"Evade them if we can, charge them if we cannot."
+
+"By all means the former, if possible, and then you may not be pursued.
+And now, Senor, I trust you will not hold me wanting in hospitality if I
+urge you to mount; but your lives are in jeopardy, and there may be death
+in delay. Put out the lights, men, and open the gates. _Adios_, Senor
+Fortescue! _Adios_, my dear Salvador. We shall meet again in happier
+times. God guard you, and bring you safe to your journey's end."
+
+And then we rode forth into the night.
+
+"We had better take to the open country at once, and strike the road about
+a few miles farther on. It is rather risky, for we shall have to get over
+several rifts made by the earthquake and cross a stream with high banks.
+But if we take to the road straightway, we are almost sure to meet a
+patrol. We may meet one in any case; but the farther from the city the
+encounter takes place, the greater will be our chance of getting through."
+
+"You know best. Lead on, and I will follow. Are these rifts you speak of
+wide?"
+
+"They are easily jumpable by daylight; but how we shall do them in the
+dark, I don't know. However, these horses are as nimble as cats, and
+almost as keen-sighted. I think, if we leave it to them, they will carry
+us safely over. The sky is a little clearer, too, and that will count in
+our favor. This way!"
+
+We sped on as swiftly and silently as the spectre horseman of the story,
+for Venezuelan horses being unshod and their favorite pace a gliding run
+(much less fatiguing for horse and rider than the high trot of Europe)
+they move as noiselessly over grass as a man in slippers.
+
+"Look out!" cried Carmen, reining in his horse. "We are not far from the
+first grip. Don't you see something like a black streak running across the
+grass? That is it."
+
+"How wide, do you suppose?"
+
+"Eight or ten feet. Don't try to guide your horse. He won't refuse. Let
+him have his head and take it in his own way. Go first; my horse likes a
+lead."
+
+Pizarro went to the edge of the rift, stretched out his head as if to
+measure the distance, and then, springing over as lightly as a deer,
+landed safely on the other side. The next moment Carmen was with me. After
+two or three more grips (all of unknown depth, and one smelling strongly
+of sulphur) had been surmounted in the same way, we came to the stream.
+The bank was so steep and slippery that the horses had to slide down it on
+their haunches (after the manner of South American horses). But having got
+in, we had to get out. This proved no easy task, and it was only after we
+had floundered in the brook for twenty minutes or more, that Carmen found
+a place where he thought it might be possible to make our exit. And such a
+place! We were forced to dismount, climb up almost on our hands and knees,
+and let the horses scramble after us as they best could.
+
+"That is the last of our difficulties," said Carmen, as we got into our
+saddles. "In ten minutes we strike the road, and then we shall have a free
+course for several hours."
+
+"How about the patrols? Do you think we have given them the slip?"
+
+"I do. They don't often come as far as this."
+
+We reached the road at a point where it was level with the fields; and a
+few miles farther on entered a defile, bounded on the left by a deep
+ravine, on the right by a rocky height.
+
+And then there occurred a startling phenomenon. As the moon rose above the
+Silla of Caracas, the entire savanna below us seemed to take fire, streams
+as of lava began to run up (not down) the sides of the hills, throwing a
+lurid glare over the sleeping city, and bringing into strong relief the
+rugged mountains which walled in the plain.
+
+"Good heavens, what is that!" I exclaimed.
+
+"It is the time of drought, and the peons are firing the grass to improve
+the land," said Carmen. "I wish they had not done it just now, though.
+However, it is, perhaps, quite as well. If the light makes us more visible
+to others, it also makes others more visible to us. Hark! What is that?
+Did you not hear something?"
+
+"I did. The neighing of a horse. Halt! Let us listen."
+
+"The neighing of a horse and something more."
+
+"Men's voices and the rattle of accoutrements. The patrol, after all. What
+shall we do? To turn back would be fatal. The ravine is too deep to
+descend. Climbing those rocks is out of the question. There is but one
+alternative--we must charge right through them."
+
+"How many men does a patrol generally consist of?"
+
+"Sometimes two, sometimes four."
+
+"May it not be a squadron on the march?"
+
+"It may. No matter. We must charge them, all the same. Better die sword in
+hand than be garroted on the plaza. We have one great advantage. We shall
+take these fellows by surprise. Let us wait here in the shade, and the
+moment they round that corner, go at them, full gallop."
+
+The words were scarcely spoken, when two dragoons came in sight, then two
+more.
+
+"Four!" murmured Carmen. "The odds are not too great. We shall do it. Are
+you ready? Now!"
+
+The dragoons, surprised by our sudden appearance, pulled up and stood
+stock-still, as if doubtful whether our intentions were hostile or
+friendly; and we were at them almost before they had drawn their swords.
+
+As I charged the foremost Spaniard, his horse swerved from the road, and
+rolled with his rider into the ravine. The second, profiting by his
+comrade's disaster, gave us the slip and galloped toward Caracas. This
+left us face to face with the other two, and in little more than as many
+minutes I had run my man through, and Carmen had hurled his to the ground
+with a cleft skull.
+
+"I thought we should do it," he said as he sheathed his sword. "But before
+we ride on let us see who the fellows are, for, 'pon my soul, they have
+not the looks of a patrol from Caracas."
+
+As he spoke, Carmen dismounted and closely examined the prostrate men's
+facings.
+
+"_Caramba!_ They belong to the regiment of Irun."
+
+"I remember them. They were in Murillo's _corp d'armee_ at Vittoria."
+
+"I wish they were at Vittoria now. Their headquarters are at La Victoria!
+Worse luck!"
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because there may be more of them. You suggested just now the possibility
+of a squadron. How if we meet a regiment?"
+
+"We should be in rather a bad scrape."
+
+"We are in a bad scrape, _amigo mio_. Unless, I am greatly mistaken the
+regiment of Irun, or, at any rate, a squadron of it is on the march
+hitherward. If they started at sunrise and rested during the heat of the
+day, this is about the time the advance-guard would be here. Having no
+enemy to fear in these parts, they would naturally break up into small
+detachments; there has been no rain for weeks, and the dust raised by a
+large body of horsemen is simply stifling. However, we may as well go
+forward to certain death as go back to it. Besides, I hate going back in
+any circumstances. And we have just one chance. We must hurry on and ride
+for our lives."
+
+"I don't quite see that. We shall meet them all the sooner."
+
+Carmen made some reply which I failed to catch, and as the way was rough
+and Pizarro required all my attention, I did not repeat the question.
+
+We passed rapidly up the brow, and when we reached more even ground, put
+our horses to the gallop and went on, up hill and down dale, until Carmen,
+uttering an exclamation, pulled his horse into a walk.
+
+"I think we can get down here," he said.
+
+We had reached a place where, although the mountain to our right was still
+precipitous, the ravine seemed narrower and the sides less steep.
+
+"I think we can," repeated Carmen. "At any rate, we must try."
+
+And with that he dismounted, and leading his horse to the brink of the
+ravine, incontinently disappeared.
+
+"Come on! It will do!" he cried, dragging his horse after him.
+
+I followed with Pizarro, who missing his footing landed on his head. As
+for myself, I rolled from top to bottom, the descent being much steeper
+than I had expected.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+BETWEEN TWO FIRES.
+
+
+The ravine was filled with shrubs and trees, through which we partly
+forced, partly threaded our way, until we reached a spot where we were
+invisible from the road.
+
+"Now off with your _cobija_ and throw it over your horse's head," said
+Carmen. "If they don't hear they won't neigh, and a single neigh might be
+our ruin."
+
+"You mean to stay here until the troops have gone past?"
+
+"Exactly, I knew there was a good hiding-place hereabout, and that if we
+reached it before the troops came up we should be safe. If there be any
+more of them they will pass us in a few minutes. Now, if you will hitch
+Pizarro to that tree--oh, you have done so already. Good! Well, let us
+return to the road and watch. We can hide in the grass, or behind the
+bushes."
+
+We returned accordingly, and choosing a place where we could see without
+being seen, we lay down and listened, exchanging now and then a whispered
+remark.
+
+"Hist!" said Carmen, presently, putting his ear to the ground. He had been
+so long on the war-path and lived so much in the open air, that his senses
+were almost as acute as those of a wild animal.
+
+"They are coming!"
+
+Soon the hum of voices, the neighing of steeds, and the clang of steel
+fell on my ear, and peering between the branches I could see a group of
+shadows moving toward us. Then the shadows, taking form and substance,
+became six horsemen. They passed within a few feet of our hiding-place. We
+heard their talk, saw their faces in the moonlight, and Carmen whispered
+that he could distinguish the facings of their uniforms.
+
+"It is as I feared," he muttered, "the entire regiment of Irun, shifting
+their quarters to Caracas. We are prisoners here for an hour or two. Well,
+it is perhaps better to have them behind than before us."
+
+"What will happen when they find the bodies of the two troopers?"
+
+"That is precisely the question I am asking myself. But not having met us
+they will naturally conclude that we have gone on toward Caracas."
+
+"Unless they are differently informed by the man who escaped us."
+
+"I don't think he would be in any hurry to turn back. He went off at a
+devil of a pace."
+
+"He might turn back for all that, when he recovered from his scare. He
+could not help seeing that we were only two, and if he informs the others
+they will know of a surety that we are hiding in the ravine."
+
+"And then there would be a hunt. However, at the speed they are riding it
+will take them an hour or more to reach the scene of our skirmish, and
+then there is coming back. Everything depends on how soon the last of them
+go by. If we have only a few minutes start they will never overtake us,
+and once on the other side of Los Teycos we shall be safe both from
+discovery and pursuit. European cavalry are of no use in a Venezuelan
+forest; and I don't think these Irun fellows have any blood-hounds."
+
+"Blood-hounds! You surely don't mean to say that the Spaniards use
+blood-hounds?"
+
+"I mean nothing else. General Griscelli, who holds the chief command in
+the district of San Felipe, keeps a pack of blood-hounds, which he got
+from Cuba. But, though a Spanish general, Griscelli is not a Spaniard
+born. He is either a Corsican or an Italian. I believe he was originally
+in the French army, and when Dupont surrendered at Baylen he went over to
+the other side, and accepted a commission from the King of Spain."
+
+"Not a very good record, that."
+
+"And he is not a good man. He outvies even the Spaniards in cruelty. A
+very able general, though. He has given us a deal of trouble. Down with
+your head! Here comes some more."
+
+A whole troop this time. They pass in a cloud of dust. After a short
+interval another detachment sweeps by; then another and another.
+
+"_Gracias a Dios!_ they are putting on more speed. At this rate we shall
+soon be at liberty. But, _caramba_, how they might have been trapped,
+Senor Fortescue! A few men on that height hurling down rocks, the defile
+lined with sharp-shooters, half a hundred of Mejia's _llaneros_ to cut off
+their retreat, and the regiment of Irun could be destroyed to a man."
+
+"Or taken prisoners."
+
+"I don't think there would be many prisoners," said Carmen, grimly. "These
+must almost be the last, I think--they are. See! Here come the tag-rag and
+bobtail."
+
+The tag-rag and bob-tail consisted of a string of loaded mules with their
+_arrieros_, a dozen women riding mules, and as many men on foot.
+
+"Let us get out of this hole while we may, and before any of them come
+back. Once on the road and mounted, we shall at least be able to fight;
+but down here--"
+
+"All the same, this hole has served our turn well. However, I quite agree
+with you that the best thing we can do is to get out of it quickly."
+
+This was more easily said than done. It was like climbing up a precipice.
+Pizarro slipped back three times. Carmen's mare did no better. In the end
+we had to dismount, fasten two lariats to each saddle, and haul while the
+horses scrambled. A little help goes a long way in such circumstances.
+
+All this both made noise and caused delay, and it was with a decided sense
+of relief that we found ourselves once more in the saddle and _en route_.
+
+"We have lost more time than I reckoned on," said Carmen, as we galloped
+through the pass. "If any of the dragoons had turned back--However, they
+did not, and, as our horses are both fresher than theirs and carry less
+weight, they will have no chance of overtaking us if they do; and, as the
+whole of the regiment has gone on, there is no chance of meeting any more
+of them--_Caramba!_ Halt!"
+
+"What is it?" I asked, pulling up short.
+
+"I spoke too soon. More are coming. Don't you hear them?"
+
+"Yes; and I see shadows in the distance."
+
+"The shadows are soldiers, and we shall have to charge them whether they
+be few or many, _amigo mio_; so say your prayers and draw your Toledo. But
+first let us shake hands, we may never--"
+
+"I am quite ready to charge by your side, Carmen; but would it not be
+better, think you, to try what a little strategy will do?"
+
+"With all my heart, if you can suggest anything feasible. I like a fight
+immensely--when the odds are not too great--and I hope to die fighting.
+All the same, I have no very strong desire to die at this particular
+moment."
+
+"Neither have I. So let us go on like peaceable travellers, and the
+chances are that these men, taking for granted that the others have let us
+pass, will not meddle with us. If they do, we must make the best fight we
+can."
+
+"A happy thought! Let us act on it. If they ask any questions I will
+answer. Your English accent might excite suspicion."
+
+The party before us consisted of nine horsemen, several of whom appeared
+to be officers.
+
+"_Buene noche, senores_," said Carmen, so soon as we were within speaking
+distance.
+
+"_Buene noche, senores_. You have met the troops, of course. How far are
+they ahead?" asked one of the officers.
+
+"The main body are quite a league ahead by this time. The pack-mules and
+_arrieros_ passed us about fifteen minutes ago."
+
+"_Gracias!_ Who are you, and whither may you be wending, senores?"
+
+"I am Sancho Mencar, at your service, _senor coronel_, a Government
+messenger, carrying despatches to General Salazar, at La Victoria. My
+companion is Senor Tesco, a merchant, who is journeying to the same place
+on business."
+
+"Good! you can go on. You will meet two troopers who are bringing on a
+prisoner. Do me the favor to tell them to make haste."
+
+"Certainly, _senor coronel. Adios, senores_."
+
+"_Adio senores._"
+
+And with that we rode on our respective ways.
+
+"Two troopers and prisoner," said Carmen, thoughtfully.
+
+"So there are more of them, after all! How many, I wonder? If this
+prisoner be a patriot we must rescue him, senor Fortescue."
+
+"With all my heart--if we can."
+
+"Only two troopers! You and I are a match for six."
+
+"Possibly. But we don't know that the two are not followed by a score!
+There seems to be no end of them."
+
+"I don't think so. If there were the colonel would have asked us to tell
+them also to hurry up. But we shall soon find out. When we meet the
+fellows we will speak them fair and ask a few questions."
+
+Ten minutes later we met them.
+
+"_Buene noche, senores!_" said Carmen, riding forward. "We bring a message
+from the colonel. He bids you make haste."
+
+"All very fine. But how can we make haste when we are hampered by this
+rascal? I should like to blow his brains out."
+
+"This rascal" was the prisoner, a big powerful fellow who seemed to be
+either a zambo or a negro. His arms were bound to his side, and he walked
+between the troopers, to whose saddles he was fastened by two stout cords.
+
+"Why don't you blow his brains out?"
+
+"Because we should get into trouble. He is the colonel's slave, and
+therefore valuable property. We have tried dragging him along; but the
+villain throws himself down, and might get a limb broken, so all we can do
+is prod him occasionally with the points of our sabres; but he does not
+seem to mind us in the least. We have tried swearing; we might as well
+whistle. Make haste, indeed!"
+
+"A very hard case, I am sure. I sympathize with you, senores. Is the man a
+runaway that you have to take such care of him?"
+
+"That is just it. He ran away and rambled for months in the forest; and if
+he had not stolen back to La Victoria and been betrayed by a woman, he
+would never have been caught. After that, the colonel would not trust him
+at large; but he thinks that at Caracas he will have him safe. And now,
+senores, with your leave we must go on."
+
+"Ah! You are the last, I suppose?"
+
+"We are; curse it! The main body must be a league ahead by this time, and
+we shall not reach Caracas for hours. _Adios!_"
+
+"Let us rescue the poor devil!" I whispered to Carmen.
+
+"By all means. One moment, senores; I beg your pardon--now, Fortescue!"
+
+And with that we placed our horses across the road, whipped out our
+pistols and pointed them at the troopers' heads, to their owners'
+unutterable surprise.
+
+"We are sorry to inconvenience you, senores," said my companion, politely;
+"but we are going to release this slave, and we have need of your horses.
+Unbuckle your swords, throw them on the ground, and dismount. No
+hesitation, or you are dead men! Shall we treat them as they proposed to
+treat the slave, Senor Fortescue? Blow out their brains? It will be safer,
+and save us a deal of trouble."
+
+"No! That would be murder. Let them go. They can do no harm. It is
+impossible for them to overtake the others on foot."
+
+Meanwhile the soldiers, having the fear of being shot before them, had
+dismounted and laid down their weapons.
+
+"Go!" said Carmen, pointing northward, and they went.
+
+"Your name?" (to the prisoner whose bonds I was cutting with my sword).
+
+"Here they call me Jose. In my own country I was called Gahra--"
+
+"Let it be Gahra, then. It is less common than Jose. Every other peon in
+the country is called Jose. You are a native of Africa?"
+
+"_Si, senor._"
+
+"How came you hither?"
+
+"I was taken to Cuba in a slave-ship, brought to this country by General
+Salazar, and sold by him to Colonel Canimo."
+
+"You have no great love for the Spaniards, I suppose?"
+
+Gahra pointed to his arms which had been chafed by the rope till they were
+raw, and showed us his back which bore the marks of recent stripes.
+
+"Can you fight?"
+
+"Against the Spaniards? Only give me the chance, and you shall see,"
+answered the negro in a voice of intense hate.
+
+"Come with us, and you shall have many chances. Mount one of those horses
+and lead the other."
+
+Gahra mounted, and we moved on.
+
+We were now at the beginning of a stiff ascent. The road, which though
+undulating had risen almost continuously since we left Caracas, was
+bordered with richly colored flowers and shrubs, and bounded on either
+side by deep forests. Night was made glorious by the great tropical moon,
+which shone resplendent under a purple sky gilding the tree-tops and
+lighting us on our way. Owing to the nature of the ground we could not see
+far before us, but the backward view, with its wood-crowned heights, deep
+ravines, and sombre mountains looming in the distance, was fairy-like and
+fantastic, and the higher we rose the more extensive it became.
+
+"Is this a long hill?" I asked Carmen.
+
+"Very. An affair of half an hour, at least, at this speed; and we cannot
+go faster," he answered, as he turned half round in his saddle.
+
+"Why are you looking backward?"
+
+"To see whether we are followed. We lost much time in the _quebrado_, and
+we have lost more since. Have you good eyes, Gahara? Born Africans
+generally have."
+
+"Yes, sir. My name, Gahra Dahra, signifies Dahra, the keen sighted!"
+
+"I am glad to hear it. Be good enough to look round occasionally, and if
+you see anything let us know."
+
+We had nearly reached the summit of the rise when the negro uttered an
+exclamation and turned his horse completely round.
+
+"What is it?" asked Carmen and myself, following his example.
+
+"I see figures on the brow of yonder hill."
+
+"You see more than I can, and I have not bad eyes," said Carmen, looking
+intently. "What are they like, those figures?"
+
+"That I cannot make out yet. They are many; they move; and every minute
+they grow bigger! That is all I can tell."
+
+"It is quite enough. The bodies of the two troopers have been found, the
+alarm has been given, and we are pursued. But they won't overtake us. They
+have that hill to descend, this to mount; and our horses are better than
+theirs."
+
+"Are you going far, senor?" inquired Gahra.
+
+"To the llanos."
+
+"By Los Teycos?"
+
+"Yes. We shall easily steal through Los Teycos, and I know of a place in
+the forest beyond, where we can hide during the day."
+
+"Pardon me for venturing to contradict you, senor; but I fear you will not
+find it very easy to steal through Los Teycos. For three days it has been
+held by a company of infantry and all the outlets are strictly guarded. No
+civilian unfurnished with a safe conduct from the captain-general is
+allowed to pass."
+
+"_Caramba!_ We are between two fires, it seems. Well, we must make a dash
+for it. The sentries cannot stop us, and we can gallop through before they
+turn out the guard."
+
+"The horses will be very tired by that time, senor, and the troopers can
+get fresh mounts at Los Teycos. But I know a way--"
+
+"The Indian trail! Do you know the Indian trail?"
+
+"Yes, sir. I know the Indian trail, and I can take you to a place in the
+forest where there is grass and water and game, and we shall be safe from
+pursuit as long as we like to stay."
+
+"How far off?"
+
+"About two leagues."
+
+"Good. Lead on in heaven's name. You are a treasure, Gahra Dahra. In
+rescuing you from those ruffianly Spaniards we did ourselves, as well as
+you, a good turn."
+
+Our pursuers, who numbered a full score, could now be distinctly seen, but
+in a few minutes we lost sight of them. After a sharp ride of half an
+hour, the negro called a halt.
+
+"This is the place. Here we turn off," he said.
+
+"Here! I see nothing but the almost dry bed of a torrent."
+
+"So much the better. We shall make no footmarks," said Carmen. "Go on,
+Gahra. But first of all turn that led horse adrift. Are you sure this
+place you speak of is unknown to the Spaniards?"
+
+"Quite. It is known only to a few wandering Indians and fugitive slaves.
+We can stay here till sunrise. It is impossible to follow the Indian trail
+by night, even with such a moon as this."
+
+After we had partly ridden, partly walked (for we were several times
+compelled to dismount) about a mile along the bed of the stream, which was
+hemmed in between impenetrable walls of tall trees and dense undergrowth,
+Gahra, who was leading, called out: "This way!" and vanished into what
+looked like a hole, but proved to be a cleft in the bank so overhung by
+vegetation as to be well-nigh invisible.
+
+It was the entrance to a passage barely wide enough to admit a horse and
+his rider, yet as light as a star-gemmed mid-night, for the leafy vault
+above us was radiant with fireflies, gleaming like diamonds in the dark
+hair of a fair woman.
+
+But even with this help it was extremely difficult to force our way
+through the tangled undergrowth, which we had several times to attack,
+sword in hand, and none of us were sorry when Gahra announced that we had
+reached the end.
+
+"_Por todos los santos!_ But this is fairyland!" exclaimed Carmen, who was
+just before me. "I never saw anything so beautiful."
+
+He might well say so. We were on the shore of a mountain-tarn, into whose
+clear depths the crescent moon, looking calmly down, saw its image
+reflected as in a silver mirror. Lilies floated on its waters, ferns and
+flowering shrubs bent over them, the air was fragrant with sweet smells,
+and all around uprose giant trees with stems as round and smooth as the
+granite columns of a great cathedral; and, as it seemed in that dim
+religious light, high enough to support the dome of heaven.
+
+I was so lost in admiration of this marvellous scene that my companions
+had unsaddled and were leading their horses down to the water before I
+thought of dismounting from mine.
+
+Apart from the beauty of the spot, we could have found none more suitable
+for a bivouac! We were in safety and our horses in clover, and, tethering
+them with the lariats, we left them to graze. Gahra gathered leaves and
+twigs and kindled a fire, for the air at that height was fresh, and we
+were lightly clad. We cooked our _tasajo_ on the embers, and after smoking
+the calumet of peace, rolled ourselves in our _cobijas_, laid our heads on
+our saddles, and slept the sleep of the just.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+ON THE LLANOS.
+
+
+Only a moment ago the land had been folded in the mantle of darkness. Now,
+a flaming eye rises from the ground at some immeasurable distance, like an
+outburst of volcanic fire. It grows apace, chasing away the night and
+casting a ruddy glow on, as it seems, a vast and waveless sea, as still as
+the painted ocean of the poem, as silent as death, a sea without ships and
+without life, mournful and illimitable, and as awe-inspiring and
+impressive as the Andes or the Alps.
+
+So complete is the illusion that did I not know we were on the verge of
+the llanos I should be tempted to believe that supernatural agency had
+transported us while we slept to the coasts of the Caribbean Sea or the
+yet more distant shores of the Pacific Ocean.
+
+Six days are gone by since we left our bivouac by the mountain-tarn: three
+we have wandered in the woods under the guidance of Gahra, three sought
+Mejia and his guerillas, who, being always on the move, are hard to find.
+Last night we reached the range of hills which form, as it were, the
+northern coast-line of the vast series of savannas which stretch from the
+tropics to the Straits of Magellan; and it is now a question whether we
+shall descend to the llanos or continue our search in the sierra.
+
+"It was there I left him," said Carmen, pointing to a _quebrada_ some ten
+miles away.
+
+"Where we were yesterday?"
+
+"Yes; and he said he would be either there or hereabout when I returned,
+and I am quite up to time. But Mejia takes sudden resolves sometimes. He
+may have gone to beat up Griselli's quarters at San Felipe, or be making a
+dash across the llanos in the hope of surprising the fortified post of
+Tres Cruces."
+
+"What shall we do then; wait here until he comes back?"
+
+"Or ride out on the llanos in the direction of Tres Cruces. If we don't
+meet Mejia and his people we may hear something of them."
+
+"I am for the llanos."
+
+"Very well. We will go thither. But we shall have to be very circumspect.
+There are loyalist as well as patriot guerillas roaming about. They say
+that Morales has collected a force of three or four thousand, mostly
+Indios, and they are all so much alike that unless you get pretty close it
+is impossible to distinguish patriots from loyalists."
+
+"Well, there is room to run if we cannot fight."
+
+"Oh, plenty of room," laughed Carmen. "But as for fighting--loyalist
+guerillas are not quite the bravest of the brave, yet I don't think we
+three are quite a match for fifty of them, and we are not likely to meet
+fewer, if we meet any. But let us adventure by all means. Our horses are
+fresh, and we can either return to the sierra or spend the night on the
+llanos, as may be most expedient."
+
+Ten minutes later we were mounted, and an hour's easy riding brought us to
+the plain. It was as pathless as the ocean, yet Carmen, guided by the sun,
+went on as confidently as if he had been following a beaten track. The
+grass was brown and the soil yellow; particles of yellow dust floated in
+the air; the few trees we passed were covered with it, and we and our
+horses were soon in a like condition. Nothing altered as we advanced; sky
+and earth were ever the same; the only thing that moved was a cloud,
+sailing slowly between us and the sun, and when Carmen called a halt on
+the bank of a nearly dried-up stream, it required an effort to realize
+that since we left our bivouac in the hills we had ridden twenty miles in
+a direct line. Hard by was a deserted _hatto_, or cattle-keeper's hut,
+where we rested while our horses grazed.
+
+"No sign of Mejia yet," observed Carmen, as he lighted his cigar with a
+burning-glass. "Shall we go on toward Tres Cruces, or return to our old
+camping-ground in the hills?"
+
+"I am for going on."
+
+"So am I. But we must keep a sharp lookout. We shall be on dangerous
+ground after we have crossed the Tio."
+
+"Where is the Tio?"
+
+"There!" (pointing to the attenuated stream near us).
+
+"That! I thought the Tio was a river."
+
+"So it is, and a big one in the rainy season, as you may have an
+opportunity of seeing. I wish we could hear something of Mejia. But there
+is nobody of whom we can inquire. The country is deserted; the herdsmen
+have all gone south, to keep out of the way of guerillas and brigands, all
+of whom look on cattle as common property."
+
+"Somebody comes!" said Gahra, who was always on the lookout.
+
+"How many?" exclaimed Carmen, springing to his feet.
+
+"Only one."
+
+"Keep out of sight till he draws near, else he may sheer off; and I should
+like to have a speech of him. He may be able to tell us something."
+
+The stranger came unconcernedly on, and as he stopped in the middle of the
+river to let his horse drink, we had a good look at him. He was well
+mounted, carried a long spear and a _macheto_ (a broad, sword-like knife,
+equally useful for slitting windpipes and felling trees), and wore a
+broad-brimmed hat, shirt, trousers, and a pair of spurs (strapped to his
+naked feet).
+
+As he resumed his journey across the river, we all stepped out of the
+_hatto_ and gave him the traditional greeting, "_Buenas dias, senor._"
+
+The man, looking up in alarm, showed a decided disposition to make off,
+but Carmen spoke him kindly, offered him a cigar, and said that all we
+wanted was a little information. We were peaceful travellers, and would
+much like to know whether the country beyond the Tio was free from
+guerillas.
+
+The stranger eyed us suspiciously, and then, after a moment's hesitation,
+said that he had heard that Mejia was "on the war-path."
+
+"Where?" asked Carmen.
+
+"They say he was at Tres Cruces three days ago; and there has been
+fighting."
+
+"And are any of Morale's people also on the war-path?"
+
+"That is more than I can tell you, senores. It is very likely; but as you
+are peaceful travellers, I am sure no one will molest you. _Adoiso,
+senores._"
+
+And with that the man gave his horse a sudden dig with his spurs, and went
+off at a gallop.
+
+"What a discourteous beggar he is!" exclaimed Carmen, angrily. "If it
+would not take too much out of my mare I would ride after him and give him
+a lesson in politeness."
+
+"I don't think he was intentionally uncivil. He seemed afraid."
+
+"Evidently. He did not know what we were, and feared to commit himself.
+However, we have learned something. We are on Mejia's track. He was at
+Tres Cruces three days since, and if we push on we may fall in with him
+before sunset, or, at any rate, to-morrow morning."
+
+"Is it not possible that this man may have been purposely deceiving us, or
+be himself misinformed?" I asked.
+
+"Quite. But as we had already decided to go on it does not matter a great
+deal whether he is right or wrong. I think, though, he knew more about
+the others than he cared to tell. All the more reason for keeping a sharp
+lookout and riding slowly."
+
+"So as to save our horses?"
+
+"Exactly. We may have to ride for our lives before the sun goes down. And
+now let us mount and march."
+
+Our course was almost due west, and the sun being now a little past the
+zenith, its ardent rays--which shone right in our faces--together with the
+reverberations from the ground, made the heat almost insupportable. The
+stirrup-irons burned our feet; speech became an effort; we sat in our
+saddles, perspiring and silent; our horses, drooping their heads, settled
+into a listless and languid walk. The glare was so trying that I closed my
+eyes and let Pizarro go as he would. Open them when I might, the outlook
+was always the same, the same yellow earth and blue sky, the same
+lifeless, interminable plain, the same solitary sombrero palms dotting the
+distant horizon.
+
+This went on for an hour or two, and I think I must have fallen into a
+doze, for when, roused by a shout from Gahra, I once more opened my eyes
+the sun was lower and the heat less intense.
+
+"What is it," asked Carmen, who, like myself, had been half asleep. "I see
+nothing."
+
+"A cloud of dust that moves--there!" (pointing).
+
+"So it is," shading his eyes and looking again. "Coming this way, too.
+Behind that cloud is a body of horsemen. Be they friends or enemies--Mejia
+and his people or loyalist guerillas?"
+
+"That is more than I can say, senor. Mejia, I hope."
+
+"I also. But hope is not certainty, and until we can make sure we had
+better hedge away toward the north, so as to be nearer the hills in case
+we have to run for it."
+
+"You think we had better make for the hills in that case?" I asked.
+
+"Decidedly. Mejia is sure to return thither, and Morale's men are much
+less likely to follow us far in that direction than south or east."
+
+So, still riding leisurely, we diverged a little to the right, keeping the
+cloud-veiled horsemen to our left. By this measure we should (if they
+proved to be enemies) prevent them from getting between us and the hills,
+and thereby cutting off our best line of retreat.
+
+Meanwhile the cloud grew bigger. Before long we could distinguish those
+whom it had hidden, without, however, being able to decide whether they
+were friends or foes.
+
+Carmen thought they numbered at least two hundred, and there might be more
+behind. But who they were he could, as yet, form no idea.
+
+The nearer we approached them the greater became our excitement and
+surprise. A few minutes and we should either be riding for our lives or
+surrounded by friends. We looked to the priming of our pistols, tightened
+our belts and our horses' girths, wiped the sweat and dust from our faces,
+and, while hoping for the best, prepared for the worst.
+
+"They see us!" exclaimed Carmen. "I cannot quite make them out, though. I
+fear.... But let us ride quietly on. The secret will soon be revealed."
+
+A dozen horsemen had detached themselves from the main body with the
+intention, as might appear, of intercepting our retreat in every
+direction. Four went south, four north, and four moved slowly round to our
+rear.
+
+"Had we not better push on?" I asked. "This looks very like a hostile
+demonstration."
+
+"So it does. But we must find out--And there is no hurry. We shall only
+have the four who are coming this way to deal with, the others are out of
+the running. All the same, we may as well draw a little farther to the
+right, so as to give them a longer gallop and get them as far from the
+main body as may be."
+
+The four were presently near enough to be distinctly seen.
+
+"Enemies! _Vamonos!_" cried Carmen, after he had scanned their faces. "But
+not too fast. If they think we are afraid and our horses tired they will
+follow us without waiting for the others, and perhaps give us an
+opportunity of teaching them better manners. Your horse is the fleetest,
+senor Fortescue. You had better, perhaps, ride last."
+
+On this hint I acted; and when the four guerillas saw that I was lagging
+behind they redoubled their efforts to overtake me, but whenever they drew
+nearer than I liked, I let Pizarro out, thereby keeping their horses,
+which were none too fresh, continually on the stretch. The others were too
+far in the rear to cause us concern. We had tested the speed of their
+horses and knew that we could leave them whenever we liked.
+
+After we had gone thus about a couple of miles Carmen slackened speed so
+as to let me come up with him and Gahra.
+
+"We have five minutes to spare," he said. "Shall we stop them?"
+
+I nodded assent, whereupon we checked our horses, and wheeling around,
+looked our pursuers in the face. This brought them up short, and I thought
+they were going to turn tail, but after a moment's hesitation they lowered
+their lances and came on albeit at no great speed, receiving as they did
+so a point-blank volley from our pistols, which emptied one of their
+saddles. Then we drew our swords and charged, but before we could get to
+close quarters the three men sheered off to the right and left, leaving
+their wounded comrade to his fate. It did not suit our purpose to follow
+them, and we were about to go on, when we noticed that the other
+guerillas, who a few minutes previously were riding hotly after us, had
+ceased their pursuit, and were looking round in seeming perplexity. The
+main body had, moreover, come to a halt, and were closing up and facing
+the other way. Something had happened. What could it be?
+
+"Another cloud of dust," said Gahra, pointing to the north-west.
+
+So there was, and moving rapidly. Had our attention been less taken up
+with the guerillas this new portent would not so long have escaped us.
+
+"Mejia! I'll wager ten thousand piasters that behind that cloud are Mejia
+and his braves," exclaimed Carmen, excitedly. _Hijo de Dios!_ Won't they
+make mince-meat of the Spaniard? How I wish I were with them! Shall we go
+back Senor Fortescue?"
+
+"If you think--"
+
+"Think! I am sure. I can see the gleam of their spears through the dust.
+By all means, let us join them. The Spaniards have too much on their hands
+just now to heed us. But I must have a spear."
+
+And with that Carmen slipped from his horse and picked up the lance of the
+fallen guerilla.
+
+"Do you prefer a spear to a sword?" I asked, as we rode on.
+
+"I like both, but in a charge on the llanos I prefer a spear decidedly.
+Yet I dare say you will do better with the weapon to which you have been
+most accustomed. If you ward off or evade the first thrust and get to your
+opponent's left rear you will have him at your mercy. Our _llaneros_ are
+indifferent swordsmen; but once turn your back and you are doomed. Hurrah!
+There is Mejia, leading his fellows on. Don't you see him? The tall man on
+the big horse. Forward, senors! We may be in time for the encounter even
+yet."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+CAUGHT.
+
+
+A smart gallop of a few minutes brought us near enough to see what was
+going on, though as we had to make a considerable _detour_ in order to
+avoid the Spaniards, we were just too late for the charge, greatly to
+Carmen's disappointment.
+
+In numbers the two sides were pretty equal, the strength of each being
+about a thousand men. Their tactics were rather those of Indian braves
+than regular troops. The patriots were, however, both better led and
+better disciplined than their opponents, and fought with a courage and a
+resolution that on their native plains would have made them formidable
+foes for the "crackest" of European cavalry.
+
+The encounter took place when we were within a few hundred yards of
+Mejia's left flank. It was really a charge in line, albeit a very broken
+line, every man riding as hard as he could and fighting for his own land.
+All were armed with spears, the longest, as I afterward learned, being
+wielded by Colombian _gauchos_. These portentous weapons, fully fourteen
+feet long, were held in both hands, the reins being meanwhile placed on
+the knees, and the horses guided by voice and spur. The Spaniards seemed
+terribly afraid of them, as well they might be, for the Colombian spears
+did dire execution. Few missed their mark, and I saw more than one trooper
+literally spitted and lifted clean out of his saddle.
+
+Mejia, distinguishable by his tall stature, was in the thick of the fray.
+After the first shock he threw away his spear, and drawing a long
+two-handed sword, which he carried at his back, laid about like a
+_coeur-de-lion_. The combat lasted only a few minutes, and though we were
+too late to contribute to the victory we were in time to take part in the
+pursuit.
+
+It was a scene of wild confusion and excitement; the Spaniards galloping
+off in all directions, singly and in groups, making no attempt to rally,
+yet when overtaken, fighting to the last, Mejia's men following them with
+lowered lances and wild cries, managing their fiery little horses with
+consummate ease, and _making no prisoners_.
+
+"Here is a chance for us; let us charge these fellows!" shouted Carmen, as
+eight or nine of the enemy rode past us in full retreat; and without
+pausing for a reply he went off at a gallop, followed by Gahra and myself;
+for although I had no particular desire to attack men who were flying for
+their lives and to whom I knew no quarter would be given, it was
+impossible to hold back when my comrades were rushing into danger. Had the
+Spaniards been less intent on getting away it would have fared ill with
+us. As it was, we were all wounded. Gahra got a thrust through the arm,
+Carmen a gash in the thigh; and as I gave one fellow the point in his
+throat his spear pierced my hat and cut my head. If some of the patriots
+had not come to the rescue our lives would have paid the forfeit of our
+rashness.
+
+The incident was witnessed by Mejia himself, who, when he recognized
+Carmen, rode forward, greeted us warmly and remarked that we were just in
+time.
+
+"To be too late," answered Carmen, discontentedly, as he twisted a
+handkerchief round his wounded thigh.
+
+"Not much; and you have done your share. That was a bold charge you made.
+And your friends? I don't think I have the pleasure of knowing them."
+
+Carmen introduced us, and told him who I was.
+
+"I am delighted to make your acquaintance, senor," he said, graciously,
+"and I will give you of my best; but I can offer you only rough fare and
+plenty of fighting. Will that content you?"
+
+I bowed, and answered that I desired nothing better. The guerilla leader
+was a man of striking appearance, tall, spare, and long limbed. The
+contour of his face was Indian; he had the deep-set eyes, square jaws, and
+lank hair of the abonguil race. But his eyes were blue, his hair was
+flaxen, and his skin as fair as that of a pure-blooded Teuton. Mejia, as I
+subsequently heard, was the son of a German father and a mestizma mother,
+and prouder of his Indian than his European ancestry. It was probably for
+this reason that he preferred being called Mejia rather than Morgenstern y
+Mejia, his original appellation. His hereditary hatred of the Spaniards,
+inflamed by a sense of personal wrong, was his ruling passion. He spared
+none of the race (being enemies) who fell into his hands. Natives of the
+country, especially those with Indian blood in their veins, he treated
+more mercifully--when his men would let him, for they liked killing even
+more than they liked fighting, and had an unpleasant way of answering a
+remonstrance from their officers with a thrust from their spears.
+
+Mejia owed his ascendancy over them quite as much to his good fortune in
+war as to his personal prowess and resolute character.
+
+"If I were to lose a battle they would probably take my life, and I should
+certainly have to resign my command," he observed, when we were talking
+the matter over after the pursuit (which, night being near, was soon
+abandoned); "and a _llanero_ leader must lead--no playing the general or
+watching operations from the rear--or it will be the worse for him."
+
+"I understand; he must be first or nowhere."
+
+"Yes, first or nowhere; and they will brook no punishment save death. If a
+man disobeys me I either let it pass or shoot him out of hand, according
+to circumstances. If I were to strike a man or order him under arrest, the
+entire force would either mutiny or disband. _Si senor_, my _llaneros_ are
+wild fellows."
+
+They looked it. Most of them wore only a ragged shirt over equally ragged
+trousers. Their naked feet were thrust into rusty stirrups. Some rode
+bare-backed, and there were among them men of every breed which the
+country produced; mestizoes, mulattoes, zambos, quadroons, negroes, and
+Indios, but all born _gauchos_ and _llaneros_, hardy and in high
+condition, and well skilled in the use of lasso and spear. They were
+volunteers, too, and if their chief failed to provide them with a
+sufficiency of fighting and plunder, they had no hesitation in taking
+themselves off without asking for leave of absence.
+
+When Mejia heard that a British force was being raised for service against
+the Spaniards, he was greatly delighted, and offered me on the spot a
+command in his "army," or, alternatively, the position of his principal
+aide-de-camp. I preferred the latter.
+
+"You have decided wisely, and I thank you, _senor coronel_. The advice and
+assistance of a soldier who has seen so much of war as you have will be
+very valuable and highly esteemed."
+
+I reminded the chief that, in the British army, I had held no higher rank
+than that of lieutenant.
+
+"What matters that? I have made myself a general, and I make you a
+colonel. Who is there to say me nay?" he demanded, proudly.
+
+Though much amused by this summary fashion of conferring military rank, I
+kept a serious countenance, and, after congratulating General Mejia on his
+promotion and thanking him for mine, I said that I should do my best to
+justify his confidence.
+
+We bivouacked on the banks of a stream some ten miles from the scene of
+our encounter with the loyalists. On our way thither, Mejia told us that
+he had taken and destroyed Tres Cruces, and was now contemplating an
+attack on General Griscelli at San Felipe, as to which he asked my
+opinion.
+
+I answered that, as I knew nothing either of the defense of San Felipe or
+of the strength and character of the force commanded by General Griscelli,
+I could give none. On this, Mejia informed me that the place was a large
+village and military post, defended by earthworks and block-houses, and
+that the force commanded by Griscelli consisted of about twenty-five
+hundred men, of whom about half were regulars, half native auxiliaries.
+
+"Has he any artillery?" I asked.
+
+"About ten pieces of position, but no field-guns."
+
+"And you?"
+
+"I have none whatever."
+
+"Nor any infantry?"
+
+"Not here. But my colleague, General Estero, is at present organizing a
+force which I dare say will exceed two thousand men, and he promises to
+join me in the course of a week or two."
+
+"That is better, certainly. Nevertheless, I fear that with one thousand
+horse and two thousand foot, and without artillery, you will not find it
+easy to capture a strong place, armed with ten guns and held by
+twenty-five hundred men, of whom half are regulars. If I were you I would
+let San Felipe alone."
+
+Mejia frowned. My advice was evidently not to his liking.
+
+"Let me tell you, _senor coronel_" he said, arrogantly, "our patriot
+soldiers are equal to any in the world, regular or irregular. And, don't
+you see that the very audacity of the enterprise counts in our favor? The
+last thing Griscelli expects is an attack. We shall find him unprepared
+and take him by surprise. That man has done us a great deal of harm. He
+hangs every patriot who falls into his hands, and I have made up my mind
+to hang him!"
+
+After this there was nothing more to be said, and I held my peace. I soon
+found, moreover, that albeit Mejia often made a show of consulting me he
+had no intention of accepting my advice, and that all his officers (except
+Carmen) and most of his men regarded me as a _gringo_ (foreign interloper)
+and were envious of my promotion, and jealous of my supposed influence
+with the general.
+
+We bivouacked in a valley on the verge of the llanos, and the next few
+days were spent in raiding cattle and preparing _tasajo_. We had also
+another successful encounter with a party of Morale's guerillas. This
+raised Mejia's spirits to the highest point, and made him more resolute
+than ever to attack San Felipe. But when I saw General Estero's infantry
+my misgivings as to the outcome of the adventure were confirmed. His men,
+albeit strong and sturdy and full of fight, were badly disciplined and
+indifferently armed, their officers extremely ignorant and absurdly
+boastful and confident. Estero himself, though like Mejia, a splendid
+patriotic leader, was no general, and I felt sure that unless we caught
+Griscelli asleep we should find San Felipe an uncommonly hard nut to
+crack. I need hardly say, however, that I kept this opinion religiously to
+myself. Everybody was so confident and cock-sure, that the mere suggestion
+of a doubt would have been regarded as treason and probably exposed me to
+danger.
+
+A march of four days partly across the llanos, partly among the wooded
+hills by which they were bounded, brought us one morning to a suitable
+camping-ground, within a few miles of San Felipe, and Mejia, who had
+assumed the supreme command, decided that the attack should take place on
+the following night.
+
+"You will surely reconnoitre first, General Mejia," I ventured to say.
+
+"What would be the use? Estero and I know the place. However, if you and
+Carmen like to go and have a look you may."
+
+Carmen was nothing loath, and two hours before sunset we saddled our
+horses and set out. I could speak more freely to him than to any of the
+others, and as we rode on I remarked how carelessly the camp was guarded.
+There were no proper outposts, and instead of being kept out of sight in
+the _quebrado_, the men were allowed to come and go as they liked. Nothing
+would be easier than for a treacherous soldier to desert and give
+information to the enemy which might not only ruin the expedition but
+bring destruction on the army.
+
+"No, no, Fortescue, I cannot agree to that. There are no traitors among
+us," said my companion, warmly.
+
+"I hope not. Yet how can you guarantee that among two or three thousand
+men there is not a single rascal! In war, you should leave nothing to
+chance. And even though none of the fellows desert it is possible that
+some of them may wander too far away and get taken prisoners, which would
+be quite as bad."
+
+"You mean it would give Griscelli warning?"
+
+"Exactly, and if he is an enterprising general he would not wait to be
+attacked. Instead of letting us surprise him he would surprise us."
+
+"_Caramba!_ So he would. And Griscelli is an enterprising general. We must
+mention this to Mejia when we get back, _amigo mio_."
+
+"You may, if you like. I am tired of giving advice which is never heeded,"
+I said, rather bitterly.
+
+"I will, certainly, and then whatever befalls I shall have a clear
+conscience. Mejia is one of the bravest men I know. It is a pity he is so
+self-opinionated."
+
+"Yes, and to make a general a man must have something more than bravery.
+He must have brains."
+
+Carmen knew the country we were in thoroughly, and at his suggestion we
+went a roundabout way through the woods in order to avoid coming in
+contact with any of Griscelli's people. On reaching a hill overlooking San
+Felipe we tethered our horses in a grove of trees where they were well
+hidden, and completed the ascent on foot. Then, lying down, and using a
+field-glass lent us by Mejia, we made a careful survey of the place and
+its surroundings.
+
+San Felipe, a picturesque village of white houses with thatched roofs, lay
+in a wide well-cultivated valley, looking south, and watered by a shallow
+stream which in the rainy season was probably a wide river. At each corner
+of the village, well away from the houses, was a large block-house, no
+doubt pierced for musketry. From one block-house to another ran an earthen
+parapet with a ditch, and on each parapet were mounted three guns.
+
+"Well, what think you of San Felipe, and our chances of taking it?" asked
+Carmen, after a while.
+
+"I don't think its defences are very formidable. A single mortar on that
+height to the east would make the place untenable in an hour; set it on
+fire in a dozen places. It is all wood. But to attempt its capture with a
+force of infantry numerically inferior to the garrison will be a very
+hazardous enterprise indeed, and barring miraculously good luck on the one
+side or miraculously ill luck on the other cannot possibly succeed, I
+should say. No, Carmen, I don't think we shall be in San Felipe to-morrow
+night, or any night, just yet."
+
+"But how if a part of the garrison be absent? Hist! Did not you hear
+something?"
+
+"Only the crackling of a branch. Some wild animal, probably. I wonder
+whether there are any jaguars hereabout--"
+
+"Oh, if the garrison be weak and the sentries sleep it is quite possible
+we may take the place by a rush. But, on the other hand, it is equally
+possible that Griscelli may have got wind of our intention, and--"
+
+"There it is again! Something more than a wild animal this time,
+Fortescue," exclaims Carmen, springing to his feet.
+
+I follow his example; but the same instant a dozen men spring from the
+bushes, and before we can offer any resistance, or even draw our swords,
+we are borne to the ground and despite our struggles, our arms pinioned to
+our sides.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+AN OLD ENEMY.
+
+
+Our captors were Spanish soldiers.
+
+"Be good enough to rise and accompany us to San Felipe, senores," said the
+non-commissioned officer in command of the detachment, "and if you attempt
+to escape I shall blow your brains out."
+
+"_Dios mio!_ It serves us right for not keeping a better lookout," said
+Carmen, with a laugh which I thought sounded rather hollow. "We shall be
+in San Felipe sooner than we expected, that is all. Lead on, sergeant; we
+have a dozen good reasons for not trying to escape, to say nothing of our
+strait waistcoats."
+
+Whereupon we were marched down the hill and taken to San Felipe, two men
+following with our horses, from which and other circumstances I inferred
+that we had been under observation ever since our arrival in the
+neighborhood. The others were doubtless under observation also; and at the
+moment I thought less of our own predicament (in view of the hanging
+propensities of General Griscelli, a decidedly unpleasant one) than of the
+terrible surprise which awaited Mejia and his army, for, as I quickly
+perceived, the Spaniards were quite on the alert, and fully prepared for
+whatever might befall. The place swarmed with soldiers; sentries were
+pacing to and fro on the parapets, gunners furbishing up their pieces, and
+squads of native auxiliaries being drilled on a broad savanna outside the
+walls.
+
+Many of the houses were mere huts--roofs on stilts; others, "wattle and
+dab;" a few, brown-stone. To the most imposing of these we were conducted
+by our escort. Above the doorway, on either side of which stood a sentry,
+was an inscription: "Headquarters: General Griscelli."
+
+The sergeant asked one of the sentries if the general was in, and
+receiving an answer in the affirmative he entered, leaving us outside.
+Presently he returned.
+
+"The general will see you," he said; "be good enough to come in."
+
+We went in, and after traversing a wide corridor were ushered into a large
+room, where an officer in undress uniform sat writing at a big table.
+Several other officers were lounging in easy-chairs, and smoking big
+cigars.
+
+"Here are the prisoners, general," announced our conductor.
+
+The man at the table, looking up, glanced first at Carmen, then at me.
+
+"_Caramba!_" he exclaimed, with a stare of surprise, "you and I have met
+before, I think."
+
+I returned the stare with interest, for though I recognized him I could
+hardly believe my own eyes.
+
+"On the field of Salamanca?"
+
+"Of course. You are the English officer who behaved so insolently and got
+me reprimanded." (This in French.)
+
+"I did no more than my duty. It was you that behaved insolently."
+
+"Take care what you say, senor, or _por Dios_--There is no English general
+to whom you can appeal for protection now. What are you doing here?"
+
+"Not much good, I fear. Your men brought me: I had not the least desire to
+come, I assure you."
+
+"You were caught on the hill yonder, surveying the town through a glass,
+and Sergeant Prim overheard part of a conversation which leaves no doubt
+that you are officers in Mejia's army. Besides, you were seen coming from
+the quarter where he encamped this morning. Is this so?"
+
+Carmen and I exchanged glances. My worst fears were confirmed--we had been
+betrayed.
+
+"Is this so? I repeat."
+
+"It is."
+
+"And have you, an English officer who has fought for Spain, actually sunk
+so low as to serve with a herd of ruffianly rebels?"
+
+"At any rate, General Griscelli, I never deserted to the enemy."
+
+The taunt stung him to the quick. Livid with rage he sprung from his chair
+and placed his hand on his sword.
+
+"Do you know that you are in my power?" he exclaimed. "Had you uttered
+this insult in Spanish instead of in French, I would have strung you up
+without more ado."
+
+"You insulted me first. If you are a true caballero give me the
+satisfaction which I have a right to demand."
+
+"No, senor; I don't meet rebels on the field of honor. If they are common
+folk I hang them; if they are gentlemen I behead them."
+
+"Which is in store for us, may I ask?"
+
+"_Por Dios!_ you take it very coolly. Perhaps neither."
+
+"You will let me go, then?"
+
+"Let you go! Let you go! Yes, I _will_ let you go," laughing like a man
+who has made a telling joke, or conceived a brilliant idea.
+
+"When?"
+
+"Don't be impatient, senor; I should like to have the pleasure of your
+company for a day or two before we part. Perhaps after--What is the
+strength of Mejia's army?"
+
+"I decline to say."
+
+"I think I could make you say, though, if it were worth the trouble. As it
+happens, I know already. He has about two thousand infantry and one
+thousand cavalry. What has he come here for? Does the fool actually
+suppose that with a force like that he can capture San Felipe? Such
+presumption deserves punishment, and I shall give him a lesson he will not
+easily forget--if he lives to remember it. Your name and quality, senor"
+(to Carmen).
+
+"Salvador Carmen, _teniente_ in the patriot army."
+
+"I suppose you have heard how I treat patriots?"
+
+"Yes, general, and I should like to treat you in the same way."
+
+"You mean you would like to hang me. In that case you cannot complain if I
+hang you. However I won't hang you--to-day. I will either send you to the
+next world in the company of your general, or let you go with--"
+
+"Senor Fortescue?"
+
+"Thank you--with Senor Fortescue. That is all, I think. Take him to the
+guard-house, sergeant--Stay! If you will give me your parole not to
+leave the town without my permission, or make any attempt to escape, you
+may remain at large, Senor Fortescue."
+
+"For how long?"
+
+"Two days."
+
+As the escape in the circumstances seemed quite out of the question, I
+gave my parole without hesitation, and asked the same favor for my
+companion.
+
+"No" (sternly). "I could not believe a rebel Creole on his oath. Take him
+away, sergeant, and see that he is well guarded. If you let him escape I
+will hang you in his stead."
+
+Despite our bonds Carmen and I contrived to shake hands, or rather, touch
+fingers, for it was little more.
+
+"We shall meet again." I whispered. "If I had known that he would not take
+your parole I would not have given mine. Let courage be our watchword.
+_Hasta manana!_"
+
+"Pray take a seat, Senor Fortescue, and we will have a talk about old
+times in Spain. Allow me to offer you a cigar--I beg your pardon, I was
+forgetting that my fellows had tied you up. Captain Guzman (to one of the
+loungers), will you kindly loose Mr. Fortescue? _Gracias!_ Now you can
+take a cigar, and here is a chair for you."
+
+I was by no means sure that this sudden display of urbanity boded me good,
+but being a prisoner, and at Griscelli's mercy, I thought it as well to
+humor him, so accepted the cigar and seated myself by his side.
+
+After a talk about the late war in Spain, in the course of which Griscelli
+told some wonderful stories of the feats he had performed there (for the
+man was egregiously vain) he led the conversation to the present war in
+South America, and tried to worm out of me where I had been and what I had
+done since my arrival in the country. I answered him courteously and
+diplomatically, taking good care to tell him nothing that I did not want
+to be known.
+
+"I see," he said, "it was a love of adventure that brought you here--you
+English are always running after adventures. A caballero like you can have
+no sympathy with these rascally rebels."
+
+"I beg your pardon; I do sympathize with the rebels; not, I confess, as
+warmly as I did at first, and if I had known as much as I know now, I
+think I should have hesitated to join them."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"They kill prisoners in cold blood, and conduct war more like savages than
+Christians."
+
+"You are right, they do. Yes, killing prisoners in cold blood is a brutal
+practice! I am obliged to be severe sometimes, much to my regret. But
+there is only one way of dealing with a rebellion--you must stamp it out;
+civil war is not as other wars. Why not join us, Senor Fortescue? I will
+give you a command."
+
+"That is quite out of the question, General Griscelli; I am not a mere
+soldier of fortune. I have eaten these people's salt, and though I don't
+like some of their ways, I wish well to their cause."
+
+"Think better of it, senor. The alternative might not be agreeable."
+
+"Whatever the alternative may be, my decision is irrevocable. And you said
+just now you would let me go."
+
+"Oh, yes, I will let you go, since you insist on it" (smiling). "All the
+same, I think you will regret your decision--Mejia, of course, means to
+attack us. He can have come with no other object--by your advice?"
+
+"Certainly not."
+
+"That means he is acting against your advice. The man is mad. He thought
+of taking us by surprise, I suppose. Why, I knew he was on his way hither
+two days ago! And if he does not attack us to-night--and we are quite
+ready for him--I shall capture him and the whole of his army to-morrow. I
+want you to go with us and witness the operation--in the character of a
+spectator."
+
+"And a prisoner?"
+
+"If you choose to put it so."
+
+"In that case, there is no more to be said, though for choice, I would
+rather not witness the discomfiture of my friends."
+
+Griscelli gave an ironical smile, which I took to mean that it was
+precisely for this reason that he asked me to accompany him.
+
+"Will you kindly receive Senor Fortescue, as your guest, Captain Guzman,"
+he said, "take him to your quarters, give him his supper, and find him a
+bed."
+
+"_Con mucho gusto._ Shall we go now, Senor Fortescue?"
+
+I went, and spent a very pleasant evening with Captain Guzman, and several
+of his brother-officers, whom he invited to join us, for though the
+Spaniards of that age were frightfully cruel to their enemies, they were
+courteous to their guests, and as a guest I was treated. As, moreover,
+most of the men I met had served in the Peninsular war, we had quite
+enough to talk about without touching on topics whose discussion might
+have been incompatible with good fellowship.
+
+When, at a late hour, I turned into the hammock provided for me by Guzman,
+it required an effort to realize that I was a prisoner. Why, I asked
+myself, had Griscelli, who was never known to spare a prisoner, whose face
+was both cruel and false, and who could bear me no good-will--why had this
+man treated me so courteously? Did he really mean to let me go, and if so,
+why; or was the promise made to the ear merely to be broken to the hope?
+
+"Perhaps to-morrow will show," I thought, as I fell asleep; and I was not
+far out, for the day after did. Guzman, whose room I shared, wakened me
+long before daylight.
+
+"The bugle has sounded the reveille, and the troops are mustering on the
+plaza," he said. "You had better rise and dress. The general has sent word
+that you are to go with us, and our horses are in the _patio_."
+
+I got up at once, and after drinking a hasty cup of coffee, we mounted and
+joined Griscelli and his staff.
+
+The troops were already under arms, and a few minutes later we marched,
+our departure being so timed, as I heard the general observe to one of his
+aides-de-camp, that we might reach the neighborhood of the rebel camp
+shortly before sunrise. His plan was well conceived, and, unless Mejia had
+been forewarned or was keeping a sharper lookout than he was in the habit
+of doing, I feared it would go ill with him.
+
+The camping-ground was much better suited for concealment than defence. It
+lay in a hollow in the hills, in shape like a horse-shoe, with a single
+opening, looking east, and was commanded in every direction by wooded
+heights. Griscelli's plan was to occupy the heights with skirmishers, who,
+hidden behind the trees and bushes, could shoot down the rebels with
+comparative security. A force of infantry and cavalry would meanwhile take
+possession of the opening and cut off their retreat. In this way, thought
+Griscelli, the patriots would either be slaughtered to a man, or compelled
+to surrender at discretion.
+
+I could not deny (though I did not say so) that he had good grounds for
+this opinion. The only hope for Mejia was that, alarmed by our
+disappearance, he had stationed outposts on the heights and a line of
+vedettes on the San Felipe road, and fortified the entrance to the
+_quebrada_. In that case the attack might be repulsed, despite the
+superiority of the Spanish infantry and the disadvantages of Mejia's
+position. But the probabilities were against his having taken any of these
+precautions; the last thing he thought of was being attacked, and I could
+hardly doubt that he would be fatally entangled in the toils which were
+being laid for him.
+
+While these thoughts were passing through my mind we were marching rapidly
+and silently toward our destination, lighted only by the stars. The force
+consisted of two brigades, the second of which, commanded by General
+Estero, had gone on half an hour previously. I was with the first and rode
+with Griscelli's staff. So far there had not been the slightest hitch, and
+the Spaniards promised themselves an easy victory.
+
+It had been arranged that the first brigade should wait, about a mile from
+the entrance to the valley until Estero opened fire, and then advance and
+occupy the outlet. Therefore, when we reached the point in question a halt
+was called, and we all listened eagerly for the preconcerted signal.
+
+And then occurred one of those accidents which so often mar the best laid
+plans. After we had waited a full hour, and just as day began to break,
+the rattle of musketry was heard on the heights, whereupon Griscelli,
+keenly alive to the fact that every moment of delay impaired his chances
+of success, ordered his men to fall in and march at the double. But,
+unfortunately for the Spaniards, the shots we had heard were fired too
+soon. The way through the woods was long and difficult, Estero's men got
+out of hand; some of them, in their excitement, fired too soon, with the
+result that, when the first division appeared in the valley, the patriots,
+rudely awakened from their fancied security, were getting under arms, and
+Mejia saw at a glance into what a terrible predicament his overconfidence
+had led him. He saw also (for though an indifferent general he was no
+fool) that the only way of saving his army from destruction, was to break
+out of the valley at all hazards, before the Spaniards enclosed him in a
+ring of fire.
+
+Mejia took his measures accordingly. Placing his _llaneros_ and _gauchos_
+in front and the infantry in the rear, he advanced resolutely to the
+attack; and though it is contrary to rule for light cavalry to charge
+infantry, this order, considering the quality of the rebel foot, was
+probably the best which he could adopt.
+
+On the other hand, the Spanish position was very strong, Griscelli massed
+his infantry in the throat of the _quebrada_, the thickets on either side
+of it being occupied in force. The reserve consisted exclusively of horse,
+an arm in which he was by no means strong. Mejia was thus encompassed on
+three sides, and had his foes reserved their fire and stood their ground,
+he could not possibly have broken through them. But the Spaniards opened
+fire as soon as the rebels came within range. Before they could reload,
+the _gauchos_ charged, and though many saddles were emptied, the rebel
+horse rode so resolutely and their long spears looked so formidable, that
+the Spaniards gave way all along the line, and took refuge among the
+trees, thereby leaving the patriots a free course.
+
+This was the turning-point of the battle, and had the rebel infantry shown
+as much courage as their cavalry the Spaniards would have been utterly
+beaten; but their only idea was to get away; they bolted as fast as their
+legs could carry them, an example which was promptly imitated by the
+Spanish cavalry, who instead of charging the rebel horse in flank as they
+emerged from the valley, galloped off toward San Felipe, followed _nolens
+volens_ by Griscelli and his staff.
+
+It was the only battle I ever saw or heard of in which both sides ran
+away. If Mejia had gone to San Felipe he might have taken it without
+striking a blow, but besides having lost many of his brave _llaneros_, he
+had his unfortunate infantry to rally and protect, and the idea probably
+never occurred to him.
+
+As for the Spanish infantry, they stayed in the woods till the coast was
+clear, and then hied them home.
+
+Griscelli was wild with rage. To have his well-laid plans thwarted by
+cowardice and stupidity, the easy victory he had promised himself turned
+into an ignominious defeat at the very moment when, had his orders been
+obeyed, the fortunes of the day might have been retrieved--all this would
+have proved a severe trial for a hero or a saint, and certainly Griscelli
+bore his reverse neither with heroic fortitude nor saintly resignation. He
+cursed like the jackdaw of Rheims, threatened dire vengeance on all and
+sundry, and killed one of the runaway troopers with his own hand. I
+narrowly escaped sharing the same fate. Happening to catch sight of me
+when his passion was at the height he swore that he would shoot at least
+one rebel, and drawing a pistol from his holster pointed it at my head. I
+owed my life to Captain Guzman, who was one of the best and bravest of his
+officers.
+
+"Pray don't do that, general," he said. "It would be an ill requital for
+Senor Fortescue's faithful observance of his parole. And you promised to
+let him go."
+
+"Promised to let him go! So I did, and I will be as good as my word,"
+returned Griscelli, grimly, as he uncocked his pistol. "Yes, he shall go."
+
+"Now?"
+
+"No. To-night. Meet me, both of you, near the old sugar-mill on the
+savanna when the moon rises; and give him a good supper, Guzman; he will
+need it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE AZUFERALES.
+
+
+"What is General Griscelli's game? Does he really mean to let me go, or is
+he merely playing with me as a cat plays with a mouse?" I asked Guzman, as
+we sat at supper.
+
+"That is just the question I have been asking myself. I never knew him let
+a prisoner go before, and I know of no reason why he should treat you more
+leniently than he treats others. Do you?"
+
+"No. He is more likely to bear me a grudge," and then I told Guzman what
+had befallen at Salamanca.
+
+"That makes it still less probable that he will let you go away quietly.
+Griscelli never forgives, and to-day's fiasco has put him in a devil of a
+temper. He is malicious, too. We have all to be careful not to offend him,
+even in trifles, or he would make life very unpleasant for us, and I fear
+he has something very unpleasant in store for you. You may depend upon it
+that he is meditating some trick. He is quite capable of letting you go as
+far as the bridge, and then bringing you back and hanging you or fastening
+you to the tail of a wild mustang or the horns of a wild bull. That also
+would be letting you go."
+
+"So it would, in a fashion! and I should prefer it to being hanged."
+
+"I don't think I would. The hanging would be sooner over and far less
+painful. And there are many other ways--he might have your hands tied
+behind your back and cannon-balls fastened to your feet, and then leave
+you to your own devices."
+
+"That would not be so bad. We should find some good soul to release us,
+and I think I could contrive to untie Carmen's bonds with my teeth."
+
+"Or he might cut off your ears and put out your eyes--"
+
+"For Heaven's sake cease these horrible suggestions! You make my blood run
+cold. But you cannot be serious. Is Griscelli in the habit of putting out
+the eyes of his prisoners?"
+
+"Not that I am aware of; but I have heard him threaten to do it, and known
+him to cut off a rebel's ears first and hang him afterward. All the same I
+don't think he is likely to treat you in that way. It might get to the
+ears of the captain-general, and though he is not very particular where
+rebels are concerned, he draws the line at mutilation."
+
+"We shall soon see; we have to be at the old sugar-mill when the moon
+rises," I said, gloomily, for the prospect held out by Guzman was anything
+but encouraging.
+
+"And that will be soon. If I see any way of helping you, without
+compromising myself, I will. Hospitality has its duties, and I cannot
+forget that you have fought and bled for Spain. Have another drink; you
+don't know what is before you! And take this knife--it will serve also as
+a dagger--and this pocket-pistol. Put them where they will not be seen.
+You may find them useful."
+
+"_Gracias!_ But you surely don't think we shall be sent adrift weaponless
+and on foot?"
+
+"That is as it may be; but it is well to provide for contingencies. And
+now let us start; nothing irritates Griscelli so much as having to wait."
+
+So, girding on our swords (mine had been restored to me "by special
+favor," when I gave my parole), we mounted our horses, which were waiting
+at the door, and set out.
+
+The savanna was a wide stretch of open ground outside the fortifications,
+where reviews were held and the troops performed their evolutions; it lay
+on the north side of the town. Farther on in the same direction was a
+range of low hills, thickly wooded and ill provided with roads. The
+country to the east and west was pretty much in the same condition.
+Southward it was more open, and a score of miles away merged into the
+llanos.
+
+"We are in good time; the moon is only just rising, and I don't think
+there is anybody before us," said Guzman, as we neared the old sugar-mill,
+a dilapidated wooden building, shaded by cebia-trees and sombrero palms.
+
+"But there is somebody behind us," I said, looking back. "A squadron of
+cavalry at the least."
+
+"Griscelli, I suppose, and Carmen. But why is the general bringing so many
+people with him, I wonder? And don't I see dogs?"
+
+"Rather! A pack of hounds, I should say."
+
+"You are right; they are Griscelli's blood-hounds. Is it possible that a
+prisoner or a slave has escaped, and Griscelli will ask us to join in the
+hunt?"
+
+"Join in the hunt! You surely don't mean that you hunt men in this
+country?"
+
+"Sometimes--when the men are slaves or rebels. It is a sport the general
+greatly enjoys. Yet it seems very strange; at this time of night,
+too--_Dios mio!_ can it be possible?"
+
+"Can what be possible, Captain Guzman?" I exclaimed, in some excitement,
+for a terrible suspicion had crossed my mind.
+
+"Can what be possible? In Heaven's name speak out!"
+
+But, instead of answering, Guzman went forward to meet Griscelli. I
+followed him.
+
+"Good-evening, gentlemen," said the general; "I am glad you are so
+punctual. I have brought your friend, Senor Fortescue. As you were taken
+together, it seems only right that you should be released together. It
+would be a pity to separate such good friends. You see, I am as good as my
+word. You don't speak. Are you not grateful?"
+
+"That depends on the conditions, general."
+
+"I make no conditions whatever. I let you go--neither more nor
+less--whither you will. But I must warn you that, twenty minutes after you
+are gone, I shall lay on my hounds. If you outrun them, well and good; if
+not, _tant pis pour vous_. I shall have kept my word. Are you not
+grateful, senor Fortescue?"
+
+"No; why should I be grateful for a death more terrible than hanging. Kill
+us at once, and have done with it. You are a disgrace to the noble
+profession of arms, general, and the time will come--"
+
+"Another word, and I will throw you to the hounds without further parley,"
+broke in Griscelli, savagely.
+
+"Better keep quiet; there is nothing to be gained by roiling him,"
+whispered Carmen.
+
+I took his advice and held my peace, all the more willingly as there was
+something in Carmen's manner which implied that he did not think our case
+quite so desperate as might appear.
+
+"Dismount and give up your weapons," said Griscelli.
+
+Resistance being out of the question, we obeyed with the best grace we
+could; but I bitterly regretted having to part with the historic Toledo
+and my horse Pizarro; he had carried me well, and we thoroughly understood
+each other. The least I could do was to give him his freedom, and, as I
+patted his neck by way of bidding him farewell, I slipped the bit out of
+his mouth, and let him go.
+
+"Hallo! What is that--a horse loose? Catch him, some of you," shouted
+Griscelli, who had been talking with his huntsman and Captain Guzman,
+whereupon two of the troopers rode off in pursuit, a proceeding which made
+Pizarro gallop all the faster, and I knew that, follow him as long as they
+might, they would not overtake him.
+
+Griscelli resumed his conversation with Captain Guzman, an opportunity by
+which I profited to glance at the hounds, and though I was unable just
+then to regard them with very kindly feelings, I could not help admiring
+them. Taller and more strongly built than fox-hounds, muscular and
+broad-chested, with pendulous ears and upper lips, and stern, thoughtful
+faces, they were splendid specimens of the canine race; even sized too,
+well under control, and in appearance no more ferocious than other hounds.
+Why should they be? All hounds are blood-hounds in a sense, and it is
+probably indifferent to them whether they pursue a fox, a deer, or a man;
+it is entirely a matter of training.
+
+"I am going to let you have more law than I mentioned just now" said
+Griscelli, turning to Carmen and me. "Captain Guzman, here, and the
+huntsmen think twenty minutes would not give us much of a run--these
+hounds are very fast--so I shall make it forty. But you must first submit
+to a little operation. Make them ready, Jose."
+
+Whereupon one of the attendants, producing a bottle, smeared our shoes and
+legs with a liquid which looked like blood, and was, no doubt, intended to
+insure a good scent and render our escape impossible. While this was going
+on Carmen and I took off our coats and threw them on the ground."
+
+"When I give the word you may start," said Griscelli, "and forty minutes
+afterward the hounds will be laid on--Now!"
+
+"This way! Toward the hills!" said Carmen. "Are you in good condition?"
+
+"Never better."
+
+"We must make all the haste we can, before the hounds are laid on. If we
+can keep this up we shall reach the hills in forty minutes--perhaps less."
+
+"And then? These hounds will follow us for ever--no possibility of
+throwing them out--unless--is there a river?"
+
+"None near enough, still--"
+
+"You have hope, then--"
+
+"Just a little--I have an idea--if we can go on running two hours--have
+you a flint and steel?"
+
+"Yes, and a loaded pistol and a knife."
+
+"Good! That is better than I thought. But don't talk. We shall want every
+bit of breath in our bodies before we have done. This way! By the
+cane-piece there!"
+
+With heads erect, arms well back, and our chests expanded to their utmost
+capacity we sped silently onward; and although we do not despair we
+realize to the full that we are running for our lives; grim Death is on
+our track and only by God's help and good fortune can we hope to escape.
+
+Across the savanna, past corn-fields and cane-pieces we race without
+pause--looking neither to the right nor left--until we reach the road
+leading to the hills. Here we stop a few seconds, take a few deep breaths,
+and then, on again. So far, the road has been tolerable, almost level and
+free from obstructions. But now it begins to rise, and is so rugged withal
+that we have to slow our speed and pick our way. Farther on it is the dry
+bed of a torrent, cumbered with loose stones and erratic blocks, among
+which we have to struggle painfully.
+
+"This is bad," gasps Carmen. "The hounds must be gaining on us fast."
+
+"Yes, but the scent will be very catching among these stones. They won't
+run fast here. Let us jump from block to block instead of walking over the
+pebbles. It will make it all the better for us and worse for them."
+
+On this suggestion we straightway act, but we find the striding and
+jumping so exhausting, and the risk of slipping and breaking a limb so
+great, that we are presently compelled to betake ourselves once more to
+the bed of the stream.
+
+"Never mind," says Carmen, "we shall soon be out of this valley of stones,
+and the hounds will not find it easy to pick up the scent hereabout. If we
+only keep out of their jaws another half-hour!"
+
+"Of course, we shall--and more--I hope for ever. We can go on for another
+hour. But what is your point?"
+
+"The _azuferales_."
+
+"The _azuferales_! What are the _azuferales_"
+
+"I cannot explain now. You will see. If we get there ten or fifteen
+minutes before the hounds we shall have a good chance of escaping them."
+
+"And how long?"
+
+"That depends--perhaps twenty."
+
+"Then, in Heaven's name, lead on. It is life or death? Even five minutes
+may make all the difference. Which way?"
+
+"By this trail to the right, and through the forest."
+
+The trail is a broad grass-grown path, not unlike a "ride" in an English
+wood, bordered by trees and thick undergrowth, but fairly lighted by the
+moonbeams, and, fortunately for us, rather downhill, with no obstacles
+more formidable than fallen branches, and here and there a prostrate
+monarch of the forest, which we easily surmount.
+
+As we go on I notice that the character of the vegetation begins to
+change. The trees are less leafy, the undergrowth is less dense, and a
+mephitic odor pervades the air. Presently the foliage disappears
+altogether, and the trees and bushes are as bare as if they had been
+stricken with the blast of an Arctic winter; but instead of being whitened
+with snow or silvered with frost they are covered with an incrustation,
+which in the brilliant moonlight makes them look like trees and bushes of
+gold. Over their tops rise faint wreaths of yellowish clouds and the
+mephitic odor becomes more pronounced.
+
+"At last!" shouts Carmen, as we reach the end of the trail. "At last!
+_Amigo mio_, we are saved!"
+
+Before us stretches a wide treeless waste like a turf moor, with a
+background of sombre forest. The moor, which is broken into humps and
+hillocks, smokes and boils and babbles like the hell-broth of Macbeth's
+witches, and across it winds, snake-wise, a steaming brook. Here and there
+is a stagnant pool, and underneath can be heard a dull roar, as if an
+imprisoned ocean were beating on a pebble-strewed shore. There is an
+unmistakable smell of sulphur, and the ground on which we stand, as well
+as the moor itself, is of a deep-yellow cast.
+
+This, then, is the _azuferales_--a region of sulphur springs, a brimstone
+inferno, a volcano in the making. No hounds will follow us over that
+hideous heath and through that Stygian stream.
+
+"Can we get across and live?" I ask. "Will it bear?"
+
+"I think so. But out with your knife and cut some twigs; and where are
+your flint and steel?"
+
+"What are you going to do ?"
+
+"Set the forest on fire--the wind is from us--and instead of following us
+farther--and who knows that they won't try?--instead of following us
+farther they will have to hark back and run for their lives."
+
+Without another word we set to work gathering twigs, which we place among
+the trees. Then I dig up with my knife and add to the heap several pieces
+of the brimstone impregnated turf. This done, I strike a light with my
+flint and steel.
+
+"Good!" exclaims Carmen. "In five minutes it will be ablaze; in ten, a
+brisk fire;" and with that we throw on more turf and several heavy
+branches which, for the moment, almost smother it up.
+
+"Never mind, it still burns, and--hark! What is that?"
+
+"The baying of the hounds and the cries of the hunters. They are nearer
+than I thought. To the _azuferales_ for our lives!"
+
+The moor, albeit in some places yielding and in others treacherous, did
+not, as I feared, prove impassable. By threading our way between the
+smoking sulphur heaps and carefully avoiding the boiling springs we found
+it possible to get on, yet slowly and with great difficulty; and it soon
+became evident that, long before we gain the forest the hounds will be on
+the moor. Their deep-throated baying and the shouts of the field grow
+every moment louder and more distinct. If we are viewed we shall be lost;
+for if the blood-hounds catch sight of us not even the terrors of the
+_azuferales_ will balk them of their prey. And to our dismay the fire does
+not seem to be taking hold. We can see nothing of it but a few faint
+sparks gleaming through the bushes.
+
+But where can we hide? The moor is flat and treeless, the forest two or
+three miles away in a straight line, and we can go neither straight nor
+fast. If we cower behind one of the smoking brimstone mounds we shall be
+stifled; if we jump into one of the boiling springs we shall be scalded.
+
+"Where can we hide?" I ask.
+
+"Where can we hide?" repeated Carmen.
+
+"That pool! Don't you see that, a little farther on, the brook forms a
+pool, and, though it smokes, I don't think it is very hot."
+
+"It is just the place," and with that Carmen runs forward and plunges in.
+
+I follow him, first taking the precaution to lay my pistol and knife on
+the edge. The water, though warm, is not uncomfortably hot, and when we
+sit down our heads are just out of the water.
+
+We are only just in time. Two minutes later the hounds, with a great
+crash, burst out of the forest, followed at a short interval by half a
+dozen horsemen.
+
+"Curse this brimstone! It has ruined the scent," I heard Griscelli say, as
+the hounds threw up their heads and came to a dead stop. "If I had thought
+those _ladrones_ would run hither I would not have given them twenty
+minutes, much less forty. But they cannot be far off; depend upon it, they
+are hiding somewhere.--_Por Dios_, Sheba has it! Good dog! Hark to Sheba!
+Forward, forward!"
+
+It was true. One of the hounds had hit off the line, then followed another
+and another, and soon the entire pack was once more in full cry. But the
+scent was very bad, and seemed to grow worse; there was a check every few
+yards, and when they got to the brook (which had as many turns and twists
+as a coiled rope), they were completely at fault. Nevertheless, they
+persevered, questing about all over the moor, except in the neighborhood
+of the sulphur mounds and the springs.
+
+While this was going on the horsemen had tethered their steeds and were
+following on foot, riding over the _azuferales_ being manifestly out of
+the question. Once Griscelli and Sheba, who appeared to be queen of the
+pack, came so near the pool that if we had not promptly lowered our heads
+to the level of the water they would certainly have seen us.
+
+"I am afraid they have given us the slip," I heard Griscelli say. "There
+is not a particle of scent. But if they have not fallen into one of those
+springs and got boiled, I'll have them yet--even though I stop all night,
+or come again to-morrow."
+
+"_Mira! Mira!_ General, the forest is on fire!" shouted somebody. "And the
+horses--see, they are trying to get loose!"
+
+Then followed curses and cries of dismay, the huntsman sounded his horn to
+call off the hounds and Carmen and I, raising our heads, saw a sight that
+made us almost shout for joy.
+
+The fire, which all this time must have been smouldering unseen, had burst
+into a great blaze, trees and bushes were wrapped in sulphurous flames,
+which, fanned by the breeze, were spreading rapidly. The very turf was
+aglow; two of the horses had broken loose and were careering madly about;
+the others were tugging wildly at their lariats.
+
+Meanwhile Griscelli and his companions, followed by the hounds, were
+making desperate haste to get back to the trail and reach the valley of
+stones. But the road was rough, and in attempting to take short cuts
+several of them came to grief. Two fell into a deep pool and had to be
+fished out. Griscelli put his foot into one of the boiling springs, and,
+judging from the loud outcry he made, got badly scalded.
+
+By the time the hunters were clear of the moor the loose horses had
+disappeared in the forest, and the trees on either side of the trail were
+festooned with flames. Then there was mounting in hot haste, and the
+riders, led by Griscelli (the two dismounted men holding on to their
+stirrup leathers), and followed by the howling and terrified hounds, tore
+off at the top of their speed.
+
+"They are gone, and I don't think they will be in any hurry to come back,"
+said Carmen, as he scrambled out of the pool. "It was a narrow shave,
+though."
+
+"Very, and we are not out of the wood yet. Suppose the fire sweeps round
+the moor and gains the forest on the other side?"
+
+"In that case we stand a very good chance of being either roasted or
+starved, for we have no food, and there is not a living thing on the moor
+but ourselves."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+A  TIMELY  WARNING.
+
+
+The involuntary bath which saved our lives served also to restore our
+strength. When we entered it we were well-nigh spent; we went out of it
+free from any sense of fatigue, a result which was probably as much due to
+the chemical properties of the water as to its high temperature.
+
+But though no longer tired we were both hungry and thirsty, and our
+garments were wringing wet. Our first proceeding was to take them off and
+wring them; our next, to look for fresh water--for the _azuferales_ was
+like the ocean-water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.
+
+As we picked our way over the smoking waste by the light of the full moon
+and the burning forest, I asked Carmen, who knew the country and its ways
+so much better than myself, what he proposed that we should do next.
+
+"Rejoin Mejia."
+
+"But how? We are in the enemies' country and without horses, and we know
+not where Mejia is."
+
+"I don't think he is far off. He is not the man to retreat after a drawn
+battle. Until he has beaten Griscelli or Griscelli has beaten him, you may
+be sure he won't go back to the llanos; his men would not let him. As for
+horses, we must appropriate the first we come across, either by stratagem
+or force."
+
+"Is there a way out of the forest on this side?"
+
+"Yes, there is a good trail made by Indian invalids who come here to drink
+the waters. Our difficulty will not be so much in finding our friends as
+avoiding our enemies. A few hours' walk will bring us to more open
+country, but we cannot well start until--"
+
+"Good heavens! What is that?" I exclaimed, as a plaintive cry, which ended
+in a wail of anguish, such as might be given by a lost soul in torment,
+rang through the forest.
+
+"It's an _araguato_, a howling monkey," said Carmen, indifferently.
+"That's only some old fellow setting the tune; we shall have a regular
+chorus presently."
+
+And so we had. The first howl was followed by a second, then by a third,
+and a fourth, and soon all the _araguatoes_ in the neighborhood joined in,
+and the din became so agonizing that I was fain to put my fingers in my
+ears and wait for a lull.
+
+"It sounds dismal enough, in all conscience--to us; but I think they mean
+it for a cry of joy, a sort of morning hymn; at any rate, they don't
+generally begin until sunrise. But these are perhaps mistaking the fire
+for the sun."
+
+And no wonder. It was spreading rapidly. The leafless trees that bordered
+the western side of the _azuferales_ were all alight; sparks, carried by
+the wind, had kindled several giants of the forest, which, "tall as mast
+of some high admiral," were flaunting their flaring banners a hundred feet
+above the mass of the fire.
+
+It was the most magnificent spectacle I had ever seen, so magnificent that
+in watching it we forgot our own danger, as, if the fire continued to
+spread, the forest would be impassable for days, and we should be
+imprisoned on the _azuferales_ without either food or fresh water.
+
+"Look yonder!" said Carmen, laying his hand on my shoulder. A herd of deer
+were breaking out of the thicket and bounding across the moor.
+
+"Wild animals escaping from the fire?"
+
+"Yes, and we shall have more of them."
+
+The words were scarcely spoken when the deer were followed by a drove of
+peccaries; then came jaguars, pumas, antelopes, and monkeys; panthers and
+wolves and snakes, great and small, wriggling over the ground with
+wondrous speed, and creatures the like of which I had never seen before--a
+regular stampede of all sorts and conditions of reptiles and beasts, and
+all too much frightened to meddle either with us or each other.
+
+Fortunately for us, moreover, we were not in their line of march, and
+there lay between us and them a line of hot springs and smoking sulphur
+mounds which they were not likely to pass.
+
+The procession had been going on about half an hour when, happening to
+cast my eye skyward, I saw that the moon had disappeared; overhead hung a
+heavy mass of cloud, the middle of it reddened by the reflection from the
+fire to the color of blood, while the outer edges were as black as ink. It
+was almost as grand a spectacle as the burning forest itself.
+
+"We are going to have rain," said Carmen.
+
+"I hope it will rain in bucketfuls," was my answer, for I had drunk
+nothing since we left San Felipe, and the run, together with the high
+temperature and the heat of the fire, had given me an intolerable thirst.
+I spoke with difficulty, my swollen tongue clove to the roof of my mouth,
+and I would gladly have given ten years of my life for one glass of cold
+water.
+
+Carmen, whose sufferings were as great as my own, echoed my hope. And it
+was not long in being gratified, for even as we gazed upward a flash of
+lightning split the clouds asunder; peal of thunder followed on peal, the
+rain came down not in drops nor bucketfuls but in sheets, and with weight
+and force sufficient to beat a child or a weakling to the earth, It was a
+veritable godsend; we caught the beautiful cool water in our hands and
+drank our fill.
+
+In less than an hour not a trace of the fire could be seen--nor anything
+else. The darkness had become so dense that we feared to move lest we
+might perchance step into one of the boiling springs, fall into the jaws
+of a jaguar, or set foot on a poisonous snake. So we stayed where we were,
+whiles lying on the flooded ground, whiles standing up or walking a few
+paces in the rain, which continued to fall until the rising of the sun,
+when it ceased as suddenly as it had begun.
+
+The moor had been turned into a smoking swamp, with a blackened forest on
+one side and a wall of living green on the other. The wild animals had
+vanished.
+
+"Let us go!" said Carmen.
+
+When we reached the trees we took off our clothes a second time, hung them
+on a branch, and sat in the sun till they dried.
+
+"I suppose it is no use thinking about breakfast till we get to a house or
+the camp, wherever that may be?" I observed, as we resumed our journey.
+
+"Well, I don't know. What do you say about a cup of milk to begin with?"
+
+"There is nothing I should like better--to begin with--but where is the
+cow?"
+
+"There!" pointing to a fine tree with oblong leaves.
+
+"That!"
+
+"Yes, that is the _palo de vaca_ (cow-tree), and as you shall presently
+see, it will give us a very good breakfast, though we may get nothing
+else. But we shall want cups. Ah, there is a calabash-tree! Lend me your
+knife a minute. _Gracias!_"
+
+And with that Carmen went to the tree, from which he cut a large
+pear-shaped fruit. This, by slicing off the top and scooping out the pulp
+he converted into a large bowl. The next thing was to make a gash in the
+_palo de vaca_, whereupon there flowed from the wound a thick milky fluid
+which we caught in the bowl and drank. The taste was agreeable and the
+result satisfactory, for, though a beefsteak would have been more
+acceptable, the drink stayed our hunger for the time and helped us on our
+way.
+
+The trail was easily found. For a considerable distance it ran between a
+double row of magnificent mimosa-trees which met overhead at a height of
+fully one hundred and fifty feet, making a glorious canopy of green leaves
+and rustling branches. The rain had cooled the air and laid the dust, and
+but for the danger we were in (greater than we suspected) and the
+necessity we were under of being continually on the alert, we should have
+had a most enjoyable walk. Late in the afternoon we passed a hut and a
+maize-field, the first sign of cultivation we had seen since leaving the
+_azuferales_, and ascertained our bearings from an old peon who was
+swinging in a grass hammock and smoking a cigar. San Felipe was about two
+leagues away, and he strongly advised us not to follow a certain trail,
+which he described, lest haply we might fall in with Mejia's caballeros,
+some of whom he had himself seen within the hour a little lower down the
+valley.
+
+This was good news, and we went on in high spirits.
+
+"Didn't I tell you so?" said Carmen, complacently. "I knew Mejia would not
+be far off. He is like one of your English bull-dogs. He never knows when
+he is beaten."
+
+After a while the country became more open, with here and there patches of
+cultivation; huts were more frequent and we met several groups of peons
+who, however, eyed us so suspiciously that we thought it inexpedient to
+ask them any questions.
+
+About an hour before sunset we perceived in the near distance a solitary
+horseman; but as his face was turned the other way he did not see us.
+
+"He looks like one of our fellows," observed Carmen, after scanning him
+closely. "All the same, he may not be. Let us slip behind this acacia-bush
+and watch his movements."
+
+The man himself seemed to be watching. After a short halt, he rode away
+and returned, but whether halting or moving he was always on the lookout,
+and as might appear, keenly expectant.
+
+At length he came our way.
+
+"I do believe--_Por Dios_ it is--Guido Pasto, my own man!" and Carmen,
+greatly excited, rushed from his hiding-place shouting, "Guido!" at the
+top of his voice.
+
+I followed him, equally excited but less boisterous.
+
+Guido, recognizing his master's voice, galloped forward and greeted us
+warmly, for though he acted as Carmen's servant he was a free _llanero_,
+and expected to be treated as a gentleman and a friend.
+
+"_Gracias a Dios!_" he said; "I was beginning to fear that we had passed
+you. Gahra and I have been looking for you all day!"
+
+"That was very good of you; and Senor Fortescue and I owe you a thousand
+thanks. But where are General Mejia and the army?"
+
+"Near the old place. In a better position, though. But you must not go
+there--neither of you."
+
+"We must not go there! But why?"
+
+"Because if you do the general will hang you."
+
+"Hang us! Hang Senor Fortescue, who has come all the way from England to
+help us! Hang _me_, Salvador Carmen! You have had a sunstroke and lost
+your wits; that's what it is, Guido Pasto, you have lost your wits--but,
+perhaps you are joking. Say, now, you are joking."
+
+"No, _senor_. It would ill become me to make a foolish joke at your
+expense. Neither have I lost my wits, as you are pleased to suggest. It is
+only too true; you are in deadly peril. We may be observed, even now. Let
+us go behind these bushes, where we may converse in safety. It was to warn
+you of your danger that Gahra and I have been watching for you. Gahra will
+be here presently, and he will tell you that what I say is true."
+
+"This passes comprehension. What does it all mean? Out with it, good
+Guido; you have always been faithful, and I don't think you are a fool."
+
+"Thanks for your good opinion, senor. Well, it is very painful for me to
+have to say it; but the general believes, and save your own personal
+friends, all the army believes, that you and senor Fortescue are
+traitors--that you betrayed them to the enemy."
+
+"On what grounds?" asked Carmen, highly indignant.
+
+"You went to reconnoitre; you did not come back; the next morning we were
+attacked by Griscelli in force, and Senor Fortescue was seen among the
+enemy, seen by General Mejia himself. It was, moreover, reported this
+morning in the camp that Griscelli had let you go."
+
+"So he did, and hunted us with his infernal blood-hounds, and we only
+escaped by the skin of our teeth. We were surprised and taken prisoners.
+Senor Fortescue was a prisoner on parole when the general saw him. I
+believe Griscelli obtained his parole and took him to the _quebrada_ for
+no other purpose than to compromise him with the patriots. And that I, who
+have killed more than a hundred Spaniards with my own hand, should be
+suspected of deserting to the enemy is too monstrous for belief."
+
+"Of course, it is an absurd mistake. Appearances are certainly rather
+against us--at any rate, against me; but a word of explanation will put
+the matter right. Let us go to the camp at once and have it out."
+
+"Not so fast, Senor Fortescue. I should like to have it out much. But
+there is one little difficulty in the way which you may not have taken
+into account. Mejia never listens to explanations, and never goes back on
+his word. If he said he would hang us he will. He would be very sorry
+afterward, I have no doubt; but that would not bring us back to life, and
+it would be rather ridiculous to escape Griscelli's blood-hounds, only to
+be hanged by our own people."
+
+"And that is not the worst," put in Guido.
+
+"Not the worst! Why what can be worse than being hanged?"
+
+"I mean that even if the general did not carry out his threat you would be
+killed all the same. The Colombian gauchos swear that they will hack you
+to pieces wherever they find you. When Gahra comes he will tell you the
+same."
+
+"You have heard; what do you say?" asked Carmen, turning to me.
+
+"Well, as it seems so certain that if we return to the camp we shall
+either be hanged or hacked to pieces, I am decidedly of opinion that we
+had better not return."
+
+"So am I. At the same time, it is quite evident that we cannot remain
+here, while every man's hand is against us. Is there any possibility of
+procuring horses, Guido?"
+
+"Yes, sir. I think Gahra and I will be able to bring you horses and arms
+after nightfall."
+
+"Good! And will Gahra and you throw in your lot with us?"
+
+"Where you go I will go, senor. Let Gahra speak for himself. He will be
+here shortly. He is coming now. I will show myself that he may know we are
+here" (stepping out of the thicket).
+
+When the negro arrived he expressed great satisfaction at finding us alive
+and well. He did not think there would be any great difficulty in getting
+away and bringing us horses. The _lleranos_ were still allowed to come and
+go pretty much as they liked, and if awkward questions were asked it would
+be easy to invent excuses. The best time to get away would be immediately
+after nightfall, when most of the foraging parties would have returned to
+camp and the men be at supper.
+
+It was thereupon agreed that the attempt should be made, and that we
+should stay where we were until we heard the howl of an _araguato_, which
+Guido could imitate to perfection. This would signify that all was well,
+and the coast clear.
+
+Then, after giving us a few pieces of _tasajo_ and a handful of cigars,
+the two men rode off; for the night was at hand, and if we did not escape
+before light of moon, the chances were very much against our escaping at
+all.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+A NEW DEPARTURE.
+
+
+"We seem always to be escaping, _amigo mio_," said Carmen, as we sat in
+the shade, eating our _tasajo_. "We got out of one scrape only to get into
+another. Your experience of the country so far has not been happy."
+
+"Well, I certainly have had rather a lively time of it since I landed at
+La Guayra, if that is what you mean."
+
+"Very. And I should almost advise you to leave the country, if that were
+possible. But reaching the coast in present circumstances is out of the
+question. All the ports are in possession of the Spaniards, and the roads
+thither beset by guerillas. I see nothing for it but to go on the llanos
+and form a guerilla band of our own."
+
+"Isn't guerilla merely another name for brigand?"
+
+"Too often. You must promise the fellows plunder."
+
+"And provide it."
+
+"Of course, or pay them out of your own pocket."
+
+"Well, I am not disposed to become a brigand chief; and I could not keep a
+band of guerillas at my own charge even if I were disposed. As we cannot
+get out of the country either by the north or east, what do you say to
+trying south?"
+
+"How far? To the Brazils?"
+
+"Farther. Over the Andes to Peru."
+
+"Over the Andes to Peru? That is a big undertaking. Do you think we could
+find that mountain of gold and precious stones you were telling me about?"
+
+"I never entertained any idea so absurd. I merely mentioned poor old
+Zamorra's crank as an instance of how credulous people could be."
+
+"Well, perhaps the idea is not quite so absurd as you suppose. Even
+stranger things have happened; and we do know that there is gold pretty
+nearly everywhere on this continent, to say nothing of the treasure hidden
+in times past by Indians and Spaniards, and we might find both gold and
+diamonds."
+
+"Of course we might; and as we cannot stay here, we may as well make the
+attempt."
+
+"You are not forgetting that it will be very dangerous? We shall carry our
+lives in our hands."
+
+"That will be nothing new; I have carried my life in my hands ever since I
+came to Venezuela."
+
+"True, and if you are prepared to encounter the risk and the hardship--As
+for myself, I must confess that the idea pleases me. But have you any
+money? We shall have to equip our expedition. If there are only four of us
+we shall not get beyond the Rio Negro. The Indians of that region are as
+fierce as alligators."
+
+"I have a few _maracotes_ in the waistband of my trousers and this ring."
+
+"That ring is worth nothing, my friend; at any rate not more than a few
+reals."
+
+"A few reals! It contains a ruby, though you don't see it, worth fully
+five hundred piasters--if I could find a customer for it."
+
+"I don't think you will easily find a customer for a ruby ring on the
+llanos. However, I'll tell you what. An old friend of mine, a certain
+Senor Morillones, has a large estate at a place called Naparima on the
+Apure. Let us go there to begin with. Morillones will supply us with
+mules, and we may possibly persuade some of his people to accompany us.
+Treasure-hunting is always an attraction for the adventurous. What say
+you?"
+
+"Yes. By all means let us go."
+
+"We may regard it as settled, then, that we make in the first instance for
+Naparima."
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"That being the case the best thing we can do is to have a sleep. We got
+none last night, and we are not likely to get any to-night."
+
+As Carmen spoke he folded his arms and shut his eyes. I followed his
+example, and we knew no more until, as it seemed in about five minutes, we
+were roused by a terrific howl.
+
+We jumped up at once and ran out of the thicket. Gahra and Guido were
+waiting for us, each with a led horse.
+
+"We were beginning to think you had been taken, or gone away," said Guido,
+hoarsely. "I have howled six times in succession. My voice will be quite
+ruined."
+
+"It did not sound so just now. We were fast asleep."
+
+"Pizarro!" I exclaimed, greatly delighted by the sight of my old favorite.
+"You have brought Pizarro! How did you manage that, Gahra?"
+
+"He came to the camp last night. But mount at once, senor. We got away
+without difficulty--stole off while the men were at supper. But we met an
+officer who asked us a question; and though Guido said we were taking the
+horses by order of General Mejia himself, he did not appear at all
+satisfied, and if he should speak to the general something might happen,
+especially as it is not long since we left the camp, and we have been
+waiting here ten minutes. Here is a spear for you, and the pistols in your
+holsters are loaded and primed."
+
+I mounted without asking any more questions. Gahra's news was disquieting,
+and we had no time to lose; for, in order to reach the llanos without the
+almost certainty of falling into the hands of our friend Griscelli, we
+should have to pass within a mile of the patriot camp, and if an alarm
+were given, our retreat might be cut off. This, however, seemed to be our
+only danger; our horses were fleet and fresh, and the llanos near, and,
+once fairly away, we might bid defiance to pursuit.
+
+"Let us push on," said Carmen. "If anybody accosts us don't answer a word,
+and fight only at the last extremity, to save ourselves from capture or
+death; and, above all things, silence in the ranks."
+
+The night was clear, the sky studded with stars, and, except where trees
+overhung the road, we could see some little distance ahead, the only
+direction in which we had reason to apprehend danger.
+
+Carmen and I rode in front; Gahra and Guido a few yards in the rear.
+
+We had not been under way more than a few minutes when Gahra uttered an
+exclamation.
+
+"Hist, senores! Look behind!" he said.
+
+Turning half round in our saddles and peering intently into the gloom we
+could just make out what seemed like a body of horsemen riding swiftly
+after us.
+
+"Probably a belated foraging party returning to camp," said Carmen.
+"Deucedly awkward, though! But they have, perhaps, no desire to overtake
+us. Let us go on just fast enough to keep them at a respectful distance."
+
+But it very soon became evident that the foraging party--if it were a
+foraging party--did desire to overtake us. They put on more speed; so did
+we. Then came loud shouts of "_Halte!_" These producing no effect, several
+pistol shots were fired.
+
+"_Dios mio!_" said Carmen; "they will rouse the camp, and the road will be
+barred. Look here, Fortescue; about two miles farther on is an open glade
+which we have to cross, and which the fellows must also cross if they
+either meet or intercept us. The trail to the left leads to the llanos. It
+runs between high banks, and is so narrow that one resolute man may stop a
+dozen. If any of the _gauchos_ get there before us we are lost. Your horse
+is the fleetest. Ride as for your life and hold it till we come."
+
+Before the words were well out of Carmen's mouth, I let Pizarro go. He
+went like the wind. In six minutes I had reached my point and taken post
+in the throat of the pass, well in the shade. And I was none too soon,
+for, almost at the same instant, three _llaneros_ dashed into the
+clearing, and then, as if uncertain what to do next, pulled up short.
+
+"Whereabout was it? What trail shall we take?" asked one.
+
+"This" (pointing to the road I had just quitted).
+
+"Don't you hear the shouts?--and there goes another pistol shot!"
+
+"Better divide," said another. "I will stay here and watch. You, Jose, go
+forward, and you, Sanchez, reconnoitre the llanos trail."
+
+Jose went his way, Sanchez came my way.
+
+Still in the shade and hidden, I drew one of my pistols and cocked it,
+fully intending, however, to reserve my fire till the last moment; I was
+loath to shoot a man with whom I had served only a few days before. But
+when he drew near, and, shouting my name, lowered his lance, I had no
+alternative; I fired, and as he fell from his horse, the others galloped
+into the glade.
+
+"Forward! To the llanos!" cried Carmen; "they are close behind us. A
+fellow tried to stop me, but I rode him down."
+
+And then followed a neck-or-nothing race through the pass, which was more
+like a furrow than a road, steep, stony, and full of holes, and being
+overshadowed by trees, as dark as chaos. Only by the marvellous cleverness
+of our unshod horses and almost miraculous good luck did we escape dire
+disaster, if not utter destruction, for a single stumble might have been
+fatal.
+
+But Carmen, who made the running, knew what he was about. His seeming
+rashness was the truest prudence. Our pursuers would either ride as hard
+as we did or they would not; in the latter event we should have a good
+start and be beyond their ken before they emerged from the pass; in the
+former, there was always the off chance of one of the leading horsemen
+coming to grief and some of the others falling over him, thereby delaying
+them past the possibility of overtaking us.
+
+Which of the contingencies came to pass, or whether the guerillas, not
+having the fear of death behind them, rode less recklessly than we did, we
+could form no idea. But their shouts gradually became fainter; when we
+reached the llanos they were no more to be heard, and when the moon rose
+an hour later none of our pursuers were to be seen. Nevertheless, we
+pushed on, and except once, to let our animals drink and (relieved for a
+moment of their saddles) refresh themselves with a roll, after the want of
+Venezuelan horses, we drew not rein until we had put fifty miles between
+ourselves and Generals Mejia and Griscelli.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+DON ESTEBAN'S DAUGHTER.
+
+
+Ten days after our flight from San Felipe we were on the banks of the
+Apure. We received a warm welcome from Carmen's friend, Senor Morillones,
+a Spanish creole of the antique type, grave, courtly, and dignified, the
+owner of many square miles of fertile land and hundreds of slaves, and as
+rich in flocks and herds as Job in the heyday of his prosperity. He had a
+large house, fine gardens, and troops of servants. A grand seigneur in
+every sense of the word was Senor Don Esteban Morillones. His assurance
+that he placed himself and his house and all that was his at our disposal
+was no mere phrase. When he heard of our contemplated journey, he offered
+us mules, arms, and whatever else we required and he possessed, and any
+mention of payment on our part would, as Carmen said, and I could well
+see, have given our generous host dire offense.
+
+We found, moreover, that we could easily engage as many men as we wanted,
+on condition of letting them be our co-adventurers and share in the finds
+which they were sure we should make; for nobody believed that we would
+undertake so long and arduous a journey with any other purpose than the
+seeking of treasure. Our business being thus satisfactorily arranged, we
+might have started at once, but, for some reason or other--probably
+because he found our quarters so pleasant--Carmen held back. Whenever I
+pressed the point he would say: "Why so much haste, my dear fellow? Let us
+stay here awhile longer," and it was not until I threatened to go without
+him that he consented to "name the day."
+
+Now Don Esteban had a daughter, by name Juanita, a beautiful girl of
+seventeen, as fresh as a rose, and as graceful as a gazelle, a girl with
+whom any man might be excused for falling in love, and she showed me so
+much favor, and, as it seemed, took so much pleasure in my company, that
+only considerations of prudence and a sense of what was due to my host,
+and the laws of hospitality, prevented me from yielding myself a willing
+captive to her charms. But as the time fixed for our departure drew near,
+this policy of renunciation grew increasingly difficult. Juanita was too
+unsophisticated to hide her feelings, and I judged from her ways that,
+without in the least intending it, I had won her heart. She became silent
+and preoccupied. When I spoke of our expedition the tears would spring to
+her eyes, and she would question me about its dangers, say how greatly she
+feared we might never meet again, and how lonely she should feel when we
+were gone.
+
+All this, however flattering to my _amour propre_, was both embarrassing
+and distressing, and I began seriously to doubt whether it was not my
+duty, the laws of hospitality to the contrary notwithstanding, to take
+pity on Juanita, and avow the affection which was first ripening into
+love. She would be my advocate with Don Esteban, and seeing how much he
+had his daughter's happiness at heart, there could be little question that
+he would pardon my presumption and sanction our betrothal.
+
+Nevertheless, the preparations for our expedition went on, and the time
+for our departure was drawing near, when one evening, as I returned from a
+ride, I found Juanita alone on the veranda, gazing at the stars, and
+looking more than usually pensive and depressed.
+
+"So you are still resolved to go, Senor Fortescue?" she said, with a sigh.
+
+"I must. One of my principal reasons for coming to South America is to
+make an expedition to the Andes, and I want much to travel in parts
+hitherto unexplored. And who knows? We may make great discoveries."
+
+"But you might stay with us a little longer."
+
+"I fear we have trespassed too long on your hospitality already."
+
+"Our hospitality is not so easily exhausted. But, O senor, you have
+already stayed too long for my happiness."
+
+"Too long, for your happiness, senorita! If I thought--would you really
+like me to stay longer, to postpone this expedition indefinitely, or
+abandon it altogether?"
+
+"Oh, so much, senor, so much. The mere suggestion makes me almost happy
+again."
+
+"And if I make your wish my law, and say that it is abandoned, how then?"
+
+"You will make me happier than I can tell you, and your debtor for life."
+
+"And why would it make you so happy, dear Juanita?" I asked, tenderly, at
+the same time looking into her beautiful eyes and taking her unresisting
+hand.
+
+"Why! Oh, don't you know? Have you not guessed?"
+
+"I think I have; all the same, I should like the avowal from your own
+lips, dear Juanita."
+
+"Because--because if you stay, dear," she murmured, lowering her eyes, and
+blushing deeply, "if you stay, dear Salvador will stay too."
+
+"Dear Salvador! Dear Salvador! How--why--when? I--I beg your pardon,
+senorita. I had no idea," I stammered, utterly confounded by this
+surprising revelation of her secret and my own stupidity.
+
+"I thought you knew--that you had guessed."
+
+"I mean I had no idea that it had gone so far," I said, recovering my
+self-possession with a great effort. "So you and Carmen are betrothed."
+
+"We love. But if he goes on this dreadful expedition I am sure my father
+would not consent, and Salvador says that as he has promised to take part
+in it he cannot go back on his word. And I said I would ask you to give it
+up--Salvador did not like--he said it would be such a great
+disappointment; and I am so glad you have consented."
+
+"I beg your pardon, senorita, I have not consented."
+
+"But you said only a minute ago that you would do as I desired, and that
+my will should be your law."
+
+"Nay, senorita, I put it merely as a supposition, I said if I did make
+your wish my law, how then? Less than ever can I renounce this
+expedition."
+
+"Then you were only mocking me! Cruel, cruel!"
+
+"Less than ever can I renounce this expedition. But I will do what will
+perhaps please you as well. I will release Carmen from his promise. He has
+found his fortune; let him stay. I have mine to make; I must go."
+
+"O senor, you have made me happy again. I thank you with all my heart. We
+can now speak to my father. But you are mistaken; it is not the same to me
+whether you go or stay so long as you release Salvador from his promise. I
+would have you stay with us, for I know that he and you are great friends,
+and that it will pain you to part."
+
+"It will, indeed. He is a true man and one of the bravest and most
+chivalrous I ever knew. I can never forget that he risked his life to save
+mine. To lose so dear a friend will be a great grief, even though my loss
+be your gain, senorita."
+
+"No loss, Senor Fortescue. Instead of one friend you will have two. Your
+gain will be as great as mine."
+
+My answer to these gracious words was to take her proffered hand and press
+it to my lips.
+
+"_Caramba!_ What is this? Juanita? And you, senor, is it the part of a
+friend? Do you know?"
+
+"Don't be jealous, Salvador," said Juanita, quietly to her lover, who had
+come on the balcony unperceived. "Senor Fortescue is a true friend. He is
+very good; he releases you from your promise. And he seemed so sorry and
+spoke so nobly that the least I could do was to let him kiss my hand."
+
+"You did right, Juanita. I was hasty; I cry _peccavi_ and ask your
+forgiveness. And you really give up this expedition for my sake, dear
+friend? Thanks, a thousand thanks."
+
+"No; I absolve you from your promise. But I shall go, all the same."
+
+Carmen looked very grave.
+
+"Think better of it, _amigo mio_," he said. "When we formed this project
+we were both in a reckless mood. Much of the country you propose to
+explore has never been trodden by the white man's foot. It is a country of
+impenetrable forests, fordless rivers, and unclimbable mountains. You will
+have to undergo terrible hardships, you may die of hunger or of thirst,
+and escape the poisoned arrows of wild Indians only to fall a victim to
+the malarious fevers which none but natives of the country can resist."
+
+"When did you learn all this? You talked very differently a few days ago."
+
+"I did, but I have been making inquiries."
+
+"And you have fallen in love."
+
+"True, and that has opened my eyes to many things."
+
+"To the dangers of this expedition, for instance; likewise to the fact
+that fighting Spaniards is not the only thing worth living for."
+
+"Very likely; love is always stronger than hate, and I confess that I hate
+the Spaniards much less than I did. Yet, in this matter, I assure you that
+I do not in the least exaggerate. You must remember that your companions
+will be half-breeds, men who have neither the stamina nor the courage for
+really rough work. When the hardships begin they are almost sure to desert
+you. If we were going together we might possibly pull through, as we have
+already pulled through so many dangers."
+
+"Yes, I shall miss you sorely. All the same, I am resolved to go, even
+were the danger tenfold greater than you say it is."
+
+"I feared as much. Well, if I cannot dissuade you from attempting this
+enterprise, I must e'en go with you, as I am pledged to do. To let you
+undertake it alone, after agreeing to bear you company were treason to our
+friendship. It would be like deserting in the face of the enemy."
+
+"Not so, Carmen. The agreement has been cancelled by mutual consent, and
+to leave Juanita after winning her heart would be quite as bad as
+deserting in face of the enemy. And I have a right to choose my company.
+You shall not go with me."
+
+Juanita again gave me her hand, and from the look that accompanied it I
+thought that, had I spoken first--but it was too late; the die was cast.
+
+"You will not go just yet," she murmured; "you will stay with us a little
+longer."
+
+"As you wish, senorita. A few days more or less will make little
+difference."
+
+Several other attempts were made to turn me from my purpose. Don Esteban
+himself (who was greatly pleased with his daughter's betrothal to Carmen),
+prompted thereto by Juanita, entered the lists. He expressed regret that
+he had not another daughter whom he could bestow upon me, and went even so
+far as to offer me land and to set me up as a Venezuelan country gentleman
+if I would consent to stay.
+
+But I remained firm to my resolve. For, albeit, none perceived it but
+myself I was in a false position. Though I was not hopelessly in love with
+Juanita I liked her so well that the contemplation of Carmen's happiness
+did not add to my own. I thought, too, that Juanita guessed the true state
+of the case; and she was so kind and gentle withal, and her gratitude at
+times was so demonstrative that I feared if I stayed long at Naparima
+there might be trouble, for like all men of Spanish blood, Carmen was
+quite capable of being furiously jealous.
+
+I left them a month before the day fixed for their marriage. My companions
+were Gahra, and a dozen Indians and mestizoes, to each of whom I was
+enabled, by Don Esteban's kindness, to give a handsome gratuity
+beforehand.
+
+To Juanita I gave as a wedding-present my ruby-ring, to Carmen my horse
+Pizarro.
+
+Our parting was one of the most painful incidents of my long and checkered
+life. I loved them both and I think they loved me. Juanita wept
+abundantly; we all embraced and tried to console ourselves by promising
+each other that we should meet again; but when or where or how, none of us
+could tell, and in our hearts we knew that the chances against the
+fruition of our hopes were too great to be reckoned.
+
+Then, full of sad thoughts and gloomy forebodings, I set out on my long
+journey to the unknown.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE HAPPY VALLEY.
+
+
+My gloomy forebodings were only too fully realized. Never was a more
+miserably monotonous journey. After riding for weeks, through sodden,
+sunless forests and trackless wastes we had to abandon our mules and take
+to our feet, spend weeks on nameless rivers, poling and paddling our canoe
+in the terrible heat, and tormented almost to madness by countless
+insects. Then the rains came on, and we were weather-stayed for months in
+a wretched Indian village. But for the help of friendly aborigines--and
+fortunately the few we met, being spoken fair showed themselves
+friendly--we must all have perished. They gave us food, lent us canoes,
+served us as pilots and guides, and thought themselves well paid with a
+piece of scarlet cloth or a handful of glass beads.
+
+My men turned out quite as ill as I had been led to expect. Several
+deserted at the outset, two or three died of fever, two were eaten by
+alligators, and when we first caught sight of the Andes, Gahra was my sole
+companion.
+
+We were in a pitiful plight. I was weak from the effects of a fever, Gahra
+lame from the effects of an accident. My money was nearly all gone, my
+baggage had been lost by the upsetting of a canoe, and our worldly goods
+consisted of two sorry mules, our arms, the ragged clothes on our backs,
+and a few pieces of silver. How we were to cross the Andes, and what we
+should do when we reached Peru was by no means clear. As yet, the fortune
+which I had set out to seek seemed further off than ever. We had found
+neither gold nor silver nor precious stones, and all the coin I had in my
+waist-belt would not cover the cost of a three days' sojourn at the most
+modest of _posaderos_.
+
+But we have left behind us the sombre and rain-saturated forests of the
+Amazon and the Orinoco, and the fine country around us and the magnificent
+prospect before us made me, at least, forget for the moment both our past
+privations and our present anxieties. We are on the _montana_ of the
+eastern Cordillera, a mountain land of amazing fertility, well wooded, yet
+not so thickly as to render progress difficult; the wayside is bordered
+with brilliant flowers, cascades tumble from rocky heights, and far away
+to the west rise in the clear air the glorious Andes, alps on alps, a vast
+range of stately snow-crowned peaks, endless and solemn, veiled yet not
+hidden by fleecy clouds, and as cold and mysterious as winter stars
+looking down on a sleeping world.
+
+For a long time I gaze entranced at the wondrous scene, and should
+probably have gone on gazing had not Gahra reminded me that the day was
+well-nigh spent and that we were still, according to the last information
+received, some distance from the mission of San Andrea de Huanaco,
+otherwise Valle Hermoso, or Happy Valley.
+
+One of our chief difficulties had been to find our way; maps we had none,
+for the very sufficient reason that maps of the region we had traversed
+did not at that time exist; our guides had not always proved either
+competent or trustworthy, and I had only the vaguest idea as to where we
+were. Of two things only was I certain, that we were south of the equator
+and within sight of the Andes of Peru (which at that time included the
+countries now known as Ecuador and Bolivia).
+
+A few days previously I had fallen in with an old half-caste priest, from
+whom I had heard of the Mission of San Andrea de Huanaco, and how to get
+there, and who drew for my guidance a rough sketch of the route. The
+priest in charge, a certain Fray Ignacio, a born Catalan, would, he felt
+sure, be glad to find me quarters and give me every information in his
+power.
+
+And so it proved. Had I been his own familiar friend Fray Ignacio could
+not have welcomed me more warmly or treated me more kindly. A European
+with news but little above a year old was a perfect godsend to him. When
+he heard that I had served in his native land and the Bourbons once more
+ruled in France and Spain, he went into ecstasies of delight, took me into
+his house, and gave me of his best.
+
+San Andrea was well named Valle Hermoso. It was like an alpine village set
+in a tropical garden. The mud houses were overgrown with greenery, the
+rocks mantled with flowers, the nearer heights crested with noble trees,
+whose great white trunks, as smooth and round as the marble pillars of an
+eastern palace, were roofed with domes of purple leaves.
+
+Through the valley and between verdant banks and blooming orchards
+meandered a silvery brook, either an affluent or a source of one of the
+mighty streams which find their homes in the great Atlantic.
+
+The mission was a village of tame Indians, whose ancestors had been
+"Christianized," by Fray Ignacio's Jesuit predecessor. But the Jesuits had
+been expelled from South America nearly half a century before. My host
+belonged to the order of St. Francis. The spiritual guide, as well as the
+earthly providence of his flock, he managed their affairs in this world
+and prepared them for the next. And they seemed nothing loath. A more
+listless, easy-going community than the Indians of the Happy Valley it
+were difficult to imagine. The men did little but smoke, sleep, and
+gamble. All the real work was done by the women, and even they took care
+not to over-exert themselves. All were short-lived. The women began to age
+at twenty, the men were old at twenty-five and generally died about
+thirty, of general decay, said the priest. In my opinion of pure laziness.
+Exertion is a condition of healthy existence; and the most active are
+generally the longest lived.
+
+Nevertheless, Fray Ignacio was content with his people. They were docile
+and obedient, went regularly to church, had a great capacity for listening
+patiently to long sermons, and if they died young they got so much the
+sooner to heaven.
+
+All the same, Fray Ignacio was not so free from care as might be supposed.
+He had two anxieties. The Happy Valley was so far untrue to its name as to
+be subject to earthquakes; but as none of a very terrific character had
+occurred for a quarter of a century he was beginning to hope that it would
+be spared any further visitations for the remainder of his lifetime. A
+much more serious trouble were the occasional visits of bands of wild
+Indians--_Indios misterios_, he called them; what they called themselves
+he had no idea. Neither had he any definite idea whence they came; from
+the other side of the Cordilleras, some people thought. But they neither
+pillaged nor murdered--except when they were resisted or in drink, for
+which reason the father always kept his _aguardiente_ carefully hidden.
+Their worst propensity was a passion for white girls. There were two or
+three _mestizo_ families in the village, some of whom were whiter, or
+rather, less coppery than the others, and from these the _misterios_ would
+select and carry off the best-looking maidens; for what purpose Fray
+Ignacio could not tell, but, as he feared, to sacrifice to their gods.
+
+When I heard that these troublesome visitors generally numbered fewer than
+a score, I asked why, seeing that the valley contained at least a hundred
+and fifty men capable of bearing arms, the raiders were not resisted. On
+this the father smiled and answered, that no earthly consideration would
+induce his tame Indians to fight; it was so much easier to die. He could
+not even persuade the _mestizoes_ to migrate to a safer locality. It was
+easier to be robbed of their children occasionally than to move their
+goods and chattels and find another home.
+
+I asked Fray Ignacio whether he thought these robbers of white children
+were likely to pay him a visit soon.
+
+"I am afraid they are," he said. "It is nearly two years since their last
+visit, and they only come in summer. Why?"
+
+"I have a curiosity to see these; and I think I could save the children
+and give these wild fellows such a lesson that they would trouble you no
+more--at any rate for a long time to come."
+
+"I should be inexpressibly grateful. But how, senor?"
+
+Whereupon I disclosed my scheme. It was very simple; I proposed to turn
+one of the most likely houses in the village into a small fortress which
+might serve as a refuge for the children and which Gahra and I would
+undertake to defend. We had two muskets and a pair of double-barrelled
+pistols, and the priest possessed an old blunderbuss, which I thought I
+could convert into a serviceable weapon. In this way we should be able to
+shoot down four or five of the _misterios_ before any of them could get
+near us, and as they had no firearms I felt sure that, after so warm a
+reception, they would let us alone and go their way. The shooting would
+demoralize them, and as we should not show ourselves they could not know
+that the garrison consisted only of the negro and myself.
+
+"Very well," said the priest, after a moment's thought. "I leave it to
+you. But remember that if you fail they will kill you and everybody else
+in the place. However, I dare say you will succeed, the firearms may
+frighten them, and, on the whole, I think the risk is worth running!"
+
+The next question was how to get timely warning of the enemy's approach. I
+suggested posting scouts on the hills which commanded the roads into the
+valley. I thought that, albeit the tame Indians were good for nothing
+else, they could at least sit under a tree and keep their eyes open.
+
+"They would fall asleep," said Fray Ignacio.
+
+So we decided to keep a lookout among ourselves, and ask the girls who
+tended the cattle to do the same. They were much more wide-awake than the
+men, if the latter could be said to be awake at all.
+
+The next thing was to fortify the priest's house, which seemed the most
+suitable for our purpose. I strengthened the wall with stays, repaired the
+old _trabuco_, which was almost as big as a small cannon, and made ready
+for barricading the doors and windows on the first alarm.
+
+This done, there was nothing for it but to wait with what patience I
+might, and kill time as I best could. I walked about, fished in the river,
+and talked with Fray Ignacio. I would have gone out shooting, for there
+was plenty of game in the neighborhood, only that I had to reserve my
+ammunition for more serious work.
+
+For the present, at least, my idea of exploring the Andes appeared to be
+quite out of the question. I should require both mules and guides, and I
+had no money either to buy the one or to pay the other.
+
+And so the days went monotonously on until it seemed as if I should have
+to remain in this valley surnamed Happy for the term of my natural life,
+and I grew so weary withal that I should have regarded a big earthquake as
+a positive god-send. I was in this mood, and ready for any enterprise,
+however desperate, when one morning a young woman who had been driving
+cattle to an upland pasture, came running to Fray Ignacio to say that she
+had seen a troop of horsemen coming down from the mountains.
+
+"The _misterios_!" said the priest, turning pale. "Are you still resolved,
+senor?"
+
+"Certainly," I answered, trying to look grave, though really greatly
+delighted. "Be good enough to send for the girls who are most in danger.
+Gahra and I will take possession of the house, and do all that is
+needful."
+
+It was further arranged that Fray Ignacio should remain outside with his
+tame Indians, and tell the _misterios_ that all the good-looking
+_mestiza_, maidens were in his house, guarded by braves from over the
+seas, who would strike dead with lightning anybody who attempted to lay
+hands on them.
+
+By the time our preparations were completed, and the frightened and
+weeping girls shut up in an inner room, the wild Indians were at the upper
+end of the big, straggling village, and presently entered a wide, open
+space between the ramshackle old church and Ignacio's house. The party
+consisted of fifteen or sixteen warriors mounted on small horses. All rode
+bare-back, were naked to the waist, and armed with bows and arrows and the
+longest spears I had yet seen.
+
+The tame Indians looked stolidly on. Nothing short of an earthquake would
+have disturbed their self-possession. Rather to my surprise, for he had
+not so far shown a super-abundance of courage, Fray Ignacio seemed equal
+to the occasion. He was tall, portly, and white-haired, and as he stood at
+the church door, clad in his priestly robes, he looked venerable and
+dignified.
+
+One of the _misterios_, whom from his remarkable head-dress--a helmet made
+of a condor's skull--I took to be a cacique, after greeting the priest,
+entered into conversation with him, the purport of which I had no
+difficulty in guessing, for the Indian, laughing loudly, turned to his
+companions and said something that appeared greatly to amuse them. Neither
+he nor they believed Fray Ignacio's story of the great pale-face chief and
+his death-dealing powers.
+
+The cacique, followed by a few of his men, then rode leisurely toward the
+house. He was a fine-looking fellow, with cigar-colored skin and features
+unmistakably more Spanish than Indian.
+
+My original idea was to shoot the first two of them, and so strike terror
+into the rest. But the cacique bore himself so bravely that I felt
+reluctant to kill him in cold blood; and, thinking that killing his horse
+might do as well, I waited until they were well within range, and, taking
+careful aim, shot it through the head. As the horse went down, the cacique
+sprang nimbly to his feet; he seemed neither surprised nor dismayed, took
+a long look at the house, then waved his men back, and followed them
+leisurely to the other side of the square.
+
+"What think you, Gahra? Will they go away and leave us in peace, or shall
+we have to shoot some of them?" I said as I reloaded my musket.
+
+"I think we shall, senor. That tall man whose horse you shot did not seem
+much frightened."
+
+"Anything but that, and--what are they about now?"
+
+The wild Indians, directed by their chief, were driving the tame Indians
+together, pretty much as sheep-dogs drive sheep, and soon had them penned
+into a compact mass in an angle formed by the church and another building.
+Although the crowd numbered two or three hundred, of whom a third were
+men, no resistance was offered. A few of exceptionally energetic character
+made a languid attempt to bolt, but were speedily brought back by the
+_misterios_, whose long spears they treated with profound respect.
+
+So soon as this operation was completed the cacique beckoned peremptorily
+to the _padre_, and the two, talking earnestly the while, came toward the
+house. It seemed as if the Indian chief wanted a parley; but, not being
+quite sure of this, I thought it advisable, when he was about fifty yards
+off, to show him the muzzle of my piece. The hint was understood. He laid
+his weapons on the ground, and, when he and the padre were within speaking
+distance, the _padre_, who appeared very much disturbed, said the cacique
+desired to have speech of me. Not to be outdone in magnanimity I opened
+the door and stepped outside.
+
+The cacique doffed his skull-helmet and made a low bow. I returned the
+greeting, said I was delighted to make his acquaintance, and asked what I
+could do to oblige him.
+
+"Give up the maidens," he answered, in broken Spanish.
+
+"I cannot; they are in my charge. I have sworn to protect them, and, as
+you discovered just now, I have the means of making good my word."
+
+"It is true. You have lightning; I have none, and I shall not sacrifice my
+braves in a vain attempt to take the maidens by force. Nevertheless, you
+will give them up."
+
+"You are mistaken. I shall not give them up."
+
+"The great pale-face chief is a friend of these poor tame people; he
+wishes them well?"
+
+"It is true, and for that reason I shall not let you carry off the seven
+maidens."
+
+"Seven?"
+
+"Yes, seven."
+
+"How many men and women and maidens are there yonder, trembling before the
+spears of my braves like corn shaken by the wind--fifty times seven?"
+
+"Probably."
+
+"Then my brother--for I also am a great chief--my brother from over the
+seas holds the liberty of seven to be of more account than the lives of
+fifty times seven."
+
+"My brother speaks in riddles," I said, acknowledging the cacique's
+compliment and adopting his style.
+
+"It is a riddle that a child might read. Unless the maidens are given
+up--not to harm, but to be taken to our country up there--unless they are
+given up the spears of my braves will drink the blood of their kinsfolk,
+and my horses shall trample their bodies in the dust."
+
+The cacique spoke so gravely and his air was so resolute that I felt sure
+he would do as he said, and I did not see how I could prevent him. His men
+were beyond the range of our pieces, and to go outside were to lose our
+lives to no purpose. We might get a couple of shots at them, but, before
+we could reload, they would either shoot us down with their bows or spit
+us with their spears.
+
+Fray Ignacio, seeing the dilemma, drew me aside.
+
+"You will have to do it," he said. "I am very sorry. The girls will either
+be sacrificed or brought up as heathens; but better so than that these
+devils should be let loose on my poor people, for, albeit some might
+escape, many would be slaughtered. Why did you shoot the horse and let the
+savage and his companion go scathless?"
+
+"You may well ask the question, father. I see what a grievous mistake I
+made. When it came to the point, I did not like to kill brave men in cold
+blood. I was too merciful."
+
+"As you say, a grievous mistake. Never repeat it, senor. It is always a
+mistake to show mercy to _Indios brutos_. But what will you do?"
+
+"I suppose give up the girls; it is the smaller evil of the two. And
+yet--I promised that no evil should befall them--no, I must make another
+effort."
+
+And with that I turned once more to the cacique.
+
+"Do you know," I said, laying my hand on the pistol in my belt--"do you
+know that your life is in my hands?"
+
+He did not flinch; but a look passed over his face which showed that my
+implied threat had produced an effect.
+
+"It is true; but if a hair of my head be touched, all these people will
+perish."
+
+"Let them perish! What are the lives of a few tame Indians to me, compared
+with my oath? Did I not tell you that I had sworn to protect the
+maidens--that no harm should befall them? And unless you call your men off
+and promise to go quietly away--" Here I drew my pistol.
+
+It was now the cacique's turn to hesitate. After a moment's thought he
+answered:
+
+"Let the lightning kill me, then. It were better for me to die than to
+return to my people empty-handed; and my death will not be unavenged. But
+if the pale-face chief will go with us instead of the maidens, he will
+make Gondocori his friend, and these tame Indians shall not die."
+
+"Go with you! But whither?"
+
+Gondocori pointed toward the Cordillera.
+
+"To our home up yonder, in the heart of the Andes."
+
+"And what will you do with me when you get me there?"
+
+"Your fate will be decided by Mamcuna, our queen. If you find favor in her
+sight, well."
+
+"And if not--?"
+
+"Then it would not be well--for you. But as she has often expressed a wish
+to see a pale-face with a long beard, I think it will be well; and in any
+case I answer for your life."
+
+"What security have I for this? How do I know that when I am in your power
+you will carry out the compact?"
+
+"You have heard the word of Gondocori. See, I will swear it on the emblem
+you most respect."
+
+And the cacique pressed his lips to the cross which hung from Ignacio's
+neck. It was a strange act on the part of a wild Indian, and confirmed the
+suspicion I already entertained, that Condocori was the son of a Christian
+mother.
+
+"He is a heathen; his oath is worthless; don't trust him, let the girls
+go," whispered the padre in my ear.
+
+But I had already made up my mind. It was on my conscience to keep faith
+with the girls; I wanted neither to kill the cacique nor see his men kill
+the tame Indians, and whatever might befall me "up yonder" I should at any
+rate get away from San Andrea de Huanaco.
+
+"The die is cast; I will go with you," I said, turning to Gondocori.
+
+"Now, I know, beyond a doubt, that my brother is the bravest of the brave.
+He fears not the unknown."
+
+I asked if Gahra might bear me company.
+
+"At his own risk. But I cannot answer for his safety. Mamcuna loves not
+black people."
+
+This was not very encouraging, and after I had explained the matter to
+Gahra I strongly advised him to stay where he was. But he said he was my
+man, that he owed me his liberty, and would go with me to the end, even
+though it should cost him his life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+A FIGHT FOR LIFE.
+
+
+We have left behind us the _montano_, with its verdant uplands and waving
+forests, its blooming valleys, flower-strewed savannas, and sunny waters,
+and are crawling painfully along a ledge, hardly a yard wide, stern gray
+rocks all round us, a foaming torrent only faintly visible in the
+prevailing gloom a thousand feet below. Our mules, obtained at the last
+village in the fertile region, move at the speed of snails, for the path
+is slippery and insecure, and one false step would mean death for both the
+rider and the ridden,
+
+Presently the gorge widens into a glen, where forlorn flowers struggle
+toward the scanty light and stunted trees find a precarious foothold among
+the rocks and stones. Soon the ravine narrows again, narrows until it
+becomes a mere cleft; the mule-path goes up and down like some mighty
+snake, now mounting to a dizzy height, anon descending to the bed of the
+thundering torrent. The air is dull and sepulchral, an icy wind blows in
+our faces, and though I am warmly clad, and wrapped besides in a thick
+_poncho_, I shiver to the bone.
+
+At length we emerge from this valley of the shadow of death, and after
+crossing an arid yet not quite treeless plain, begin to climb by many
+zigzags an almost precipitous height. The mules suffer terribly, stopping
+every few minutes to take breath, and it is with a feeling of intense
+relief that, after an ascent of two hours, we find ourselves on the
+_cumbre_, or ridge of the mountain.
+
+For the first time since yesterday we have an unobstructed view. I
+dismount and look round. Backward stretches an endless expanse of bleak
+and stormy-swept billowy mountains; before us looms, in serried phalanx,
+the western Cordillera, dazzling white, all save one black-throated
+colossus, who vomits skyward thick clouds of ashes and smoke, and down
+whose ragged flanks course streams of fiery lava.
+
+After watching this stupendous spectacle for a few minutes we go on, and
+shortly reach another and still loftier _quebrada_. Icicles hang from the
+rocks, the pools of the streams are frozen; we have reached an altitude as
+high as the summit of Mont Blanc, and our distended lips, swollen hands,
+and throbbing temples show how great is the rarefaction of the air.
+
+None of us suffer so much from the cold as poor Gahra. His ebon skin has
+turned ashen gray, he shivers continually, can hardly speak, and sits on
+his mule with difficulty.
+
+The country we are in is uninhabited and the trail we are following known
+only to a few Indians. I am the first white man, says Gondocori, by whom
+it has been trodden.
+
+We pass the night in a ruined building of cyclopean dimensions, erected no
+doubt in the time of the Incas, either for the accommodation of travellers
+by whom the road was then frequented or for purposes of defence. But being
+both roofless, windowless, and fireless, it makes only a poor lodging. The
+icy wind blows through a hundred crevices; my limbs are frozen stiff, and
+when morning comes many of us look more dead than alive.
+
+I asked Condocori how the poor girls of San Andrea could possibly have
+survived so severe a journey.
+
+"The weaker would have died. But I did not expect this cold. The winter is
+beginning unusually early this year. Had we been a few days later we
+should not have got through at all, and if it begins to snow it may go ill
+with us, even yet. But to-morrow the worst will be over."
+
+The cacique had so far behaved very well, treating me as a friend and an
+equal, and doing all he could for my comfort. His men treated me as a
+superior. Gondocori said very little about his country, still less about
+Queen Mamcuna, whom he also called "Great Mother." To my frequent
+questions on these subjects he made always the same answer: "Patience, you
+will see."
+
+He did, however, tell me that his people called their country Pachatupec
+and themselves Pachatupecs, that the Spaniards had never subdued them or
+even penetrated into the fastnesses where they dwelt, and that they spoke
+the ancient language of Peru.
+
+Gondocori admitted that his mother was a Christian, and to her he no doubt
+owed his notions of religion and the regularity of his features. She had
+been carried off as he meant to carry off the seven maidens of the Happy
+Valley, for the _misterios_ had a theory that a mixture of white and
+Indian blood made the finest children and the boldest warriors. But white
+wives being difficult to obtain, _mestiza_ maidens had generally to be
+accepted, or rather, taken in their stead.
+
+We rose before daybreak and were in the saddle at dawn. The ground and the
+streams are hard frozen, and the path is so slippery that the trembling
+mules dare scarcely put one foot before the other, and our progress is
+painfully slow. We are in a broad, stone-strewed valley, partly covered
+with withered puma-grass, on which a flock of graceful _vicunas_ are
+quietly grazing, as seemingly unconscious of our presence as the great
+condors which soar above the snowy peaks that look down on the plain.
+
+As we leave the valley, through a pass no wider than a gateway, the
+cacique gives me a word of warning.
+
+"The part we are coming to is the most dangerous of all," he said. "But it
+is, fortunately, not long. Two hours will bring us to a sheltered valley.
+And now leave everything to your mule. If you feel nervous shut your eyes,
+but as you value your life neither tighten your reins nor try to guide
+him."
+
+I repeat this caution to Gahra, and ask how he feels.
+
+"Much better, senor; the sunshine has given me new life. I feel equal to
+anything."
+
+And now we have to travel once more in single file, for the path runs
+along a mountain spur almost as perpendicular as a wall; we are between
+two precipices, down which even the boldest cannot look without a shudder.
+The incline, moreover, is rapid, and from time to time we come to places
+where the ridge is so broken and insecure that we have to dismount, let
+our mules go first, and creep after them on our hands.
+
+At the head of the file is an Indian who rides the _madrina_ (a mare) and
+acts as guide, next come Gondocori, myself and Gahra, followed by the
+other mounted Indians, three or four baggage-mules, and two men on foot.
+
+We have been going thus nearly an hour, when a sudden and portentous
+change sets in. Murky clouds gather round the higher summits and shut out
+the sun, a thick mist settles down on the ridge, and in a few minutes we
+are folded in a gloom hardly less dense than midnight darkness.
+
+"Halt!" shouts the guide.
+
+"What shall we do?" I ask the cacique, whom, though he is but two yards
+from me, I cannot see.
+
+"Nothing. We can only wait here till the mist clears away," he shouts in a
+muffled voice.
+
+"And how soon may that be?"
+
+"_Quien Sabe?_ Perhaps a few minutes, perhaps hours."
+
+Hours! To stand for hours, even for one hour, immovable in that mist on
+that ridge would be death. Since the sun disappeared the cold had become
+keener than ever. The blood seems to be freezing in my veins, my beard is
+a block of ice, icicles are forming on my eyelids.
+
+If this goes on--a gleam of light! Thank Heaven, the mist is lifting, just
+enough to enable me to see Gondocori and the guide. They are quite white.
+It is snowing, yet so softly as not to be felt, and as the fog melts the
+flakes fall faster.
+
+"Let us go on," says Gondocori. "Better roll down the precipice than be
+frozen to death. And if we stop here much longer, and the snow continues,
+the pass beyond will be blocked, and then we must die of hunger and cold,
+for there is no going back."
+
+So we move on, slowly and noiselessly, amid the fast-falling snow, like a
+company of ghosts, every man conscious that his life depends on the
+sagacity and sure-footedness of his mule. And it is wonderful how wary the
+creatures are. They literally feel their way, never putting one foot
+forward until the other is firmly planted. But the snow confuses them.
+More than once my mule slips dangerously, and I am debating within myself
+whether I should not be safer on foot, when I hear a cry in front.
+
+"What is it?" I ask Gondocori, for I cannot see past him.
+
+"The guide is gone. The _madrina_ slipped, and both have rolled down the
+precipice."
+
+"Shall we get off and walk?"
+
+"If you like. You will not be any safer, though you may feel so. The mules
+are surer footed than we are, and they have four legs to our two. I shall
+keep where I am."
+
+Not caring to show myself less courageous than the _cacique_, I also keep
+where I am. We get down the ridge somehow without further mishaps, and
+after a while find ourselves in a funnel-shaped gully the passage of
+which, in ordinary circumstances, would probably present no difficulty.
+But just now it is a veritable battle-field of the winds, which seem to
+blow from every point of the compass at once. The snow dashes against our
+faces like spray from the ocean, and whirls round us in blasts so fierce
+that, at times, we can neither see nor hear. The mules, terrified and
+exhausted, put down their heads and stand stock-still. We dismount and try
+to drag them after us, but even then they refuse to move.
+
+"If they won't come they must die; and unless we hurry on we shall die,
+too. Forward!" cried Gondocori, himself setting the example.
+
+Never did I battle so hard for very life as in that gully. The snow nearly
+blinded me, the wind took my breath away, forced me backward, and beat me
+to the earth again and again. More than once it seemed as if we should
+have to succumb, and then there would come a momentary lull and we would
+make another rush and gain a little more ground.
+
+Amid all the hurly-burly, though I cannot think consecutively (all the
+strength of my body and every faculty of my mind being absorbed in the
+struggle), I have one fixed idea--not to lose sight of Gondocori, and,
+except once or twice for a few seconds, I never did. Where he goes I go,
+and when, after an unusually severe buffeting, he plunges into a
+snow-drift at the end of the ravine, I follow him without hesitation.
+
+Side by side we fought our way through, dashing the snow aside with our
+hands, pushing against it with our shoulders, beating it down with our
+feet, and after a desperate struggle, which though it appeared endless
+could have lasted only a few minutes, the victory was ours; we were free.
+
+I can hardly believe my eyes. The sun is visible, the sky clear and blue,
+and below us stretches a grassy slope like a Swiss "alp." Save for the
+turmoil of wind behind us and our dripping garments I could believe that I
+had just wakened from a bad dream, so startling is the change. The
+explanation is, however, sufficiently simple: the area of the _tourmente_
+is circumscribed and we have got out of it, the gully merely a passage
+between the two mighty ramparts of rock which mark the limits of the
+tempest and now protect us from its fury.
+
+"But where are the others?"
+
+Up to that moment I had not given them a thought. While the struggle
+lasted thinking had not been possible. After we abandoned the mules I had
+eyes only for Gondocori, and never once looked behind me.
+
+"Where are the others?" I asked the _cacique_.
+
+"Smothered in the snow; two minutes more and we also should have been
+smothered."
+
+"Let us go back and see. They may still live."
+
+"Impossible! We could not get back if we had ten times the strength and
+were ten instead of two. Listen!"
+
+The roar of the storm in the gully is louder than ever; the drift, now
+higher than the tallest man, grows even as we look.
+
+Fifteen men buried alive within a few yards of us, yet beyond the
+possibility of help! Poor Gahra! If he had loved me less and himself more,
+he would still be enjoying the _dolce far niente_ of Happy Valley, instead
+of lying there, stark and stiff in his frozen winding-sheet. A word of
+encouragement, a helping hand at the last moment, and he might have got
+through. I feel as if I had deserted him in his need; my conscience
+reproaches me bitterly. And yet--good God! What is that? A black hand in
+the snow!
+
+"With a single bound I am there. Gondocori follows, and as I seize one
+hand he finds and grasps the other, and we pull out of the drift the
+negro's apparently lifeless body.
+
+"He is dead," says the _cacique_.
+
+"I don't think so. Raise him up, and let the sun shine on him."
+
+I take out my pocket-flask and pour a few drops of _aguardiente_ down his
+throat. Presently Gahra sighs and opens his eyes, and a few minutes later
+is able to stand up and walk about. He can tell very little of what passed
+in the gully. He had followed Gondocori and myself, and was not far behind
+us. He remembered plunging into the snow-drift and struggling on until he
+fell on his face, and then all was a blank. None of the Indians were with
+him in the drift; he felt sure they were all behind him, which was likely
+enough, as Gahra, though sensitive to cold, was a man of exceptional
+bodily strength. It was beyond a doubt that all had perished.
+
+"I left Pachatupec with fifteen braves. I have lost my braves, my mules,
+and my baggage, and all I have to show are two men, a pale-face and a
+black-face. Not a single maiden. How will Mamcuna take it, I wonder?" said
+Gondocari, gloomily. "Let us go on."
+
+"You think she will be very angry?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"Is she very unpleasant when she is angry?"
+
+"She generally makes it very unpleasant for others. Her favorite
+punishment for offenders is roasting them before a slow fire."
+
+"And yet you propose to go on?"
+
+"What else can we do? Going back the way we came is out of the question,
+equally so is climbing either of those mountain-ranges. If we stay
+hereabout we shall starve. We have not a morsel of food, and until we
+reach Pachatupec we shall get none."
+
+"And when may that be?"
+
+"By this time to-morrow."
+
+"Well, let us go on, then; though, as between being starved to death and
+roasted alive, there is not much to choose. All the same, I should like to
+see this wonderful queen of whom you are so much afraid."
+
+"You would be afraid of her, too, and very likely will be before you have
+done with her. Nevertheless, you may find favor in her sight, and I have
+just bethought me of a scheme which, if you consent to adopt it, may not
+only save our lives, but bring you great honor."
+
+"And what is that scheme, Gondocori?"
+
+"I will explain it later. This is no time for talk. We must push on with
+all speed or we shall not get to the boats before nightfall."
+
+"Boats! You surely don't mean to say that we are to travel to Pachatupec
+by boats. Boats cannot float on a frozen mountain torrent!"
+
+But the cacique, who was already on the march, made no answer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+THE CACIQUE'S SCHEME.
+
+
+Shortly before sunset we arrived at our halting-place for the night and
+point of departure for the morrow--a hollow in the hills, hemmed in by
+high rocks, almost circular in shape and about a quarter of a mile in
+diameter. The air was motionless and the temperature mild, the ground
+covered with grass and shrubs and flowers, over which hovered clouds of
+bright-winged butterflies. Low down in the hollow was a still and silent
+pool, and though, so far as I could make out, it had no exit, two large
+flat-bottomed boats and a couple of canoes were made fast to the side.
+Hard by was a hut of sun-dried bricks, in which were slung three or four
+grass hammocks.
+
+There was also fuel, so we were able to make a fire and have a good
+warming, of which we stood greatly in need. But as nothing in the shape of
+food could be found, either on the premises or in the neighborhood, we had
+to go supperless to bed.
+
+Before we turned in Gondocori let us into the secret of the scheme which
+was to propitiate Queen Mamcuna, and bring us honor and renown, instead of
+blame and (possibly) death.
+
+"I shall tell her," said the cacique, "that though I have lost my braves
+and brought no maidens, I have brought two famous medicine-men, who come
+from over the seas."
+
+"Very good. But how are we to keep up the character?"
+
+"You must profess your ability to heal the sick and read the stars."
+
+"Nothing easier. But suppose we are put to the test? Are there any sick in
+your country?"
+
+"A few; Mamcuna herself is sick; you have only to cure her and all will be
+well."
+
+"Very likely; but how if I fail?"
+
+"Then she would make it unpleasant for all of us."
+
+"You mean she would roast us by a slow fire?"
+
+"Probably. There is no telling, though. Our Great Mother is very ingenious
+in inventing new punishments, and to those who deceive her she shows no
+mercy."
+
+"I understand.  It is a case of kill or cure."
+
+"Exactly. If you don't cure her she will kill you."
+
+"I will do my best, and as I have seen a good deal of practical surgery,
+helped to dress wounds and set broken limbs, and can let blood, you may
+truthfully say that I have some slight knowledge of the healing art. But
+as for treating a sick woman--However, I leave it to you, Gondocori. If
+you choose to introduce me to her Majesty as a medicine-man I will act the
+part to the best of my ability."
+
+"I ask no more, senor; and if you are fortunate enough to cure Mamcuna of
+her sickness--"
+
+"Or make her believe that I have cured her."
+
+"That would do quite as well; you will thank me for bringing you to
+Pachatupec, for although the queen can make things very unpleasant for
+those who offend her, she can also make them very pleasant for those whom
+she likes. And now, senores, as we must to-morrow travel a long way
+fasting, let us turn into our hammocks and compose ourselves to sleep."
+
+Excellent advice, which I was only too glad to follow. But we were awake
+long before daylight--for albeit fatigue often acts as an anodyne, hunger
+is the enemy of repose--and at the first streak of dawn wended to the
+silent pool.
+
+As we stepped into the canoe selected by Gondocori (the boats were
+intended for the transport of mules and horses) I found that the water was
+warm, and, on tasting it, I perceived a strong mineral flavor. The pool
+was a thermal spring, and its high temperature fully accounted for the
+fertility of the hollow and the mildness of the air. But how were we to
+get out of it? For look as I might, I could see no signs either of an
+outlet or a current. Gondocori, who acted as pilot, quickly solved the
+mystery. A buttress of rock, which in the distance looked like a part of
+the mass, screened the entrance to a narrow waterway. Down this waterway
+the cacique navigated the canoe. It ran in tortuous course between rocks
+so high that at times we could see nothing save a strip of purple sky,
+studded with stars. Here and there the channel widened out, and we caught
+a glimpse of the sun; and at an immeasurable height above us towered the
+_nevados_ (snowy slopes) of the Cordillera.
+
+The stream, if that can be called a stream which does not move, had many
+branches, and we could well believe, as Gondocori told us, that it was as
+easy to lose one's self in this watery labyrinth as in a tropical forest.
+In all Pachatupec there were not ten men besides himself who could pilot a
+boat through its windings. He told us, also, that this was the only pass
+between the eastern and western Cordillera in that part of the Andes, that
+the journey from San Andrea to Pachatupec by any other route would be an
+affair not of days but of weeks. The water was always warm and never
+froze. Whence it came nobody could tell. Not from the melting of the snow,
+for snow-water was cold, and this was always warm, winter and summer. For
+his own part he thought its source was a spring, heated by volcanic fires,
+and many others thought the same. Its depth was unknown; he himself had
+tried to fathom it with the longest line he could find, yet had never
+succeeded in touching ground.
+
+Meanwhile we were making good progress, sometimes paddling, sometimes
+poling (where the channel was narrow) and toward evening when, as I
+reckoned, we had travelled about sixty miles, we shot suddenly into a
+charming little lake with sylvan banks and a sandy beach.
+
+Gondocori made fast the canoe to a tree, and we stepped ashore.
+
+We are on the summit of a spur which stands out like a bastion from the
+imposing mass of the Cordillera, through the very heart of which runs the
+mysterious waterway we have just traversed. Two thousand feet or more
+below is a broad plain, bounded on the west by a range of gaunt and
+treeless hills ribbed with contorted rocks, which stretch north and south
+farther than the eye can reach. The plain is cultivated and inhabited.
+There are huts, fields, orchards, and streams, and about a league from the
+foot of the bastion is a large village.
+
+"Pachatupec?" I asked.
+
+"_Si, senor_, that is Pachatupec, a very fair land, as you see, and yonder
+is Pachacamac, where dwells our queen," said Gondocori, pointing to the
+village; and then he fell into a brown study, as if he was not quite sure
+what to do next.
+
+The sight of his home did not seem to rejoice the cacique as much as might
+be supposed. The approaching interview with Mamcuna was obviously weighing
+heavily on his soul, and, to tell the truth, I rather shared his
+apprehensions. A savage queen with a sharp temper who occasionally roasted
+people alive was not to be trifled with. But as delay was not likely to
+help us, and I detest suspense, and, moreover, felt very hungry, I
+suggested that we had better go on to Pachacamac forthwith.
+
+"Perhaps we had. Yes, let us get it over," he said, with a sigh.
+
+After descending the bastion by a steep zigzag we turned into a pleasant
+foot-path, shaded by trees, and as we neared our destination we met (among
+other people) two tall Indians, whose condor-skull helmets denoted their
+lordly rank. On recognizing Gondocori (who had lost his helmet in the
+snow-storm and looked otherwise much dilapidated) their surprise was
+literally unspeakable. They first stared and then gesticulated. When at
+length they found their tongues they overwhelmed him with questions, eying
+Gahra and me the while as if we were wild animals. After a short
+conversation, of which, being in their own language, I could only guess
+the purport, the two caciques turned back and accompanied us to the
+village. Save that there was no sign of a church, it differed little from
+many other villages which I had met with in my travels. There were huts,
+mere roofs on stilts, cottages of wattle and dab, and flat-roofed houses
+built of sun-dried bricks. Streets, there were none, the buildings being
+all over the place, as if they dropped from the sky or sprung up
+hap-hazard from the ground.
+
+About midway in the village one of the caciques left us to inform the
+queen of our arrival and to ask her pleasure as to my reception. The other
+cacique asked us into his house, and offered us refreshments. Of what the
+dishes set before us were composed I had only the vaguest idea, but hunger
+is not fastidious and we ate with a will.
+
+We had hardly finished when cacique number one, entering in breathless
+haste, announced that Queen Mumcuna desired to see us immediately,
+whereupon I suggested to Gondocori the expediency of donning more courtly
+attire, if there was any to be got.
+
+"What, keep the queen waiting!" he exclaimed, aghast. "She would go mad.
+Impossible! We must go as we are."
+
+Not wanting her majesty to go mad, I made no further demur, and we went.
+
+The palace was a large adobe building within a walled inclosure, guarded
+by a company of braves with long spears. We were ushered into the royal
+presence without either ceremony or delay. The queen was sitting in a
+hammock with her feet resting on the ground. She wore a bright-colored,
+loosely-fitting bodice, a skirt to match, and sandals. Her long black hair
+was arranged in tails, of which there were seven on each side of her face.
+She was short and stout, and perhaps thirty years old, and though in early
+youth she might have been well favored, her countenance now bore the
+impress of evil passions, and the sodden look of it, as also the
+blood-streaks in her eyes, showed that her drink was not always water. At
+the same time, it was a powerful face, indicative of a strong character
+and a resolute will. Her complexion was bright cinnamon, and the three or
+four women by whom she was attended were costumed like herself.
+
+On entering the room the three caciques went on their knees, and after a
+moment's hesitation Gahra followed their example. I thought it quite
+enough to make my best bow. Mamcuna then motioned us to draw nearer, and
+when we were within easy speaking distance she said something to Gondocori
+that sounded like a question or a command, on which he made a long and, as
+I judged from the vigor of his gesture and the earnestness of his manner,
+an eloquent speech. I watched her closely and was glad to see that though
+she frowned once or twice during its delivery, she did not seem very
+angry. I also observed that she looked at me much more than at the
+cacique, which I took to be a favorable sign. The speech was followed by a
+lively dialogue between Mamcuna and the cacique, after which the latter
+turned to me and said, as coolly as if he were asking me to be seated:
+
+"The queen commands you to strip."
+
+"Commands me to strip! What do you mean?"
+
+"What I say; you have to strip--undress, take off your clothes."
+
+"You are joking."
+
+"Joking! I should like to see the man who would dare to take such a
+liberty in the audience-chamber of our Great Mother. Pray don't make words
+about it, senor. Take off your clothes without any more bother, or she
+will be getting angry."
+
+"Let her get angry. I shall do nothing of the sort--No, don't say that;
+say that English gentlemen--I mean pale-face medicine-men from over the
+seas, never undress in the presence of ladies; their religion forbids it."
+
+Gondocori was about to remonstrate again when the queen interposed and
+insisted on knowing what I said. When she heard that I refused to obey her
+behest she turned purple with rage, and looked as if she would annihilate
+me. Then her mood, or her mind, changing, she laughed loudly, at the same
+time pointing to the door and making an observation to the cacique.
+
+Having meanwhile reflected that I was not in an English drawing-room, that
+this wretched woman could have me stripped whether I would or no, and that
+refusal to comply with her wishes might cost me my life, I asked Gondocori
+why the queen wanted me to undress.
+
+"She wants to see whether your body is as hairy as your face (I had not
+shaved since I left Naperima), and your face as fair as your body."
+
+"Will it satisfy her if I meet her half-way--strip to the waist? You can
+say that I never did as much for any woman before, and that I would not do
+it for the queen of my own country, whatever might be the consequence."
+
+The cacique interpreted my proposal, and Mamcuna smiled assent. "The queen
+says, 'let it be as you say;' and she charges me to tell you that she is
+very much pleased to know that you will do for her what you would not do
+for any other woman."
+
+On that I took off my upper garments and Mamcuna, rising from her hammock,
+examined me as closely as a military surgeon examines a freshly caught
+recruit. She felt the muscles of my arms, thumped my chest, took note of
+the width of my back, punched my ribs, and finally pulled a few hairs out
+of my beard. Then, smiling approval, she retired to her chinchura.
+
+"You may put on your clothes; the inspection is over," said Gondocori. "I
+am glad it has passed off so well. I was rather afraid, though, when she
+began to pinch you."
+
+"Afraid of what?"
+
+"Well, the queen is rather curious about skin and color and that, and does
+curious things sometimes. She once had a strip of skin cut out of a
+mestiza maiden's back, to see whether it was the same color on both sides.
+But she seems to have taken quite a liking for you; says you are the
+prettiest man she ever saw; and if you cure her of her illness I have no
+doubt she will give you a condor's skull helmet and make you a cacique."
+
+"I am greatly obliged to her Majesty, I am sure, and very thankful she did
+not take a fancy to cut a piece out of my back. As for curing her, I must
+first of all know what is the matter."
+
+"Shall I ask her to describe her symptoms?"
+
+"If you please." In reply to the questions which I put, through Gondocori,
+the queen said that she suffered from headache, nausea, and sleeplessness,
+and that, whereas only a few years ago she was lithe, active, and gay, she
+was now heavy, indolent, and melancholy, adding that she had suffered much
+at the hands of the late court medicine-man, who did not understand her
+case at all, and that to punish him for his ignorance and presumption she
+made him swallow a jarful of his own physic, from the effects of which he
+shortly afterward expired in great agony. The place was now vacant, and if
+I succeeded in restoring her to health she would make me his successor and
+always have me near her person.
+
+I cannot say that I regarded this prospect as particularly encouraging;
+nevertheless, I tried to look pleased and told Gondocori to assure the
+queen of my gratitude and devotion and ask her to show me her tongue. He
+put this request with evident reluctance, and Mamcuna made an angry reply.
+
+"I knew how it would be," said the cacique. "You have put her in a rage.
+She thinks you want to insult her, and absolutely refuses to make herself
+hideous by sticking out her tongue."
+
+"She will of course do as she pleases. But unless she shows me her tongue
+I cannot cure her. I shall not even try. Tell her so."
+
+To tell the truth I had really no great desire to look at the woman's
+tongue, but having made the request I meant to stand to my guns.
+
+After some further parley she yielded, first of all making the three
+caciques and Gahra look the other way. The appearance of her tongue
+confirmed the theory I had already formed that she was suffering from
+dyspepsia, brought on by overeating and a too free indulgence in the wine
+of the country (a sort of cider) and indolent habits.
+
+I said that if she would follow my instructions I had no doubt that I
+could not only cure her but make her as lithe and active as ever she was.
+Remembering, however, that as even the highly civilized people object to
+be made whole without physic and fuss, and that the queen would certainly
+not be satisfied with a simple recommendation to take less food and more
+exercise, I observed that before I could say anything further I must
+gather plants, make decoctions, and consult the stars, and that my black
+colleague should prepare a charm which would greatly increase the potency
+of my remedies and the chances of her recovery.
+
+Mamcuna answered that I talked like a medicine-man who understood his
+business and her case, that she would strictly obey my orders, and so soon
+as she felt better give me a condor's skull helmet. Meanwhile, I was to
+take up my quarters in her own house, and she ordered the caciques to send
+me forthwith three suits of clothes, my own, as she rightly remarked, not
+being suitable for a man of my position.
+
+"Now, did not I tell you?" said Gondocori, as we left the room. "Oh, we
+are going on swimmingly; and it is all my doing. I do believe that if I
+had not protested that you were the greatest medicine-man in the world,
+and had come expressly to cure her, she would have had you roasted or
+ripped up by the man-killer or turned adrift in the desert, or something
+equally diabolical. Your fate is in your own hands now. If you fail to
+make good your promises, it will be out of my power to help you. You heard
+how she treated your predecessor."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+YOU ARE THE MAN.
+
+
+Early next morning I sent Gahra secretly up to the lake on the bastion for
+a jar of chalybeate water, which, after being colored with red earth and
+flavored with wild garlic, was nauseous enough to satisfy the most
+exacting of physic swallowers. Then the negro sacrificed a cock in the
+royal presence, and performed an incantation in the most approved African
+fashion, and we made the creature's claws and comb into an amulet, which I
+requested the queen to hang round her neck.
+
+This done, I gave my instructions, assuring her that if she failed in any
+particular to observe them my efforts would be vain, and her cure
+impossible. She was to drink nothing but water and physic (of the latter
+very little), eat animal food only once a day, and that sparingly, and
+walk two hours every morning; and finding that she could ride on horseback
+(like a man), though she had lately abandoned the exercise, I told her to
+ride two hours every evening. I also laid down other rules, purposely
+making them onerous and hard to be observed, partly because I knew that a
+strict regimen was necessary for her recovery, partly to leave myself a
+loop-hole, in the event of her not recovering, for I felt pretty sure that
+she would not do all that I had bidden her, and if she came short in any
+one thing I should have an excuse ready to my hand.
+
+But to my surprise she did not come short. For Mamcuna to give up her
+cider and her flesh pots, and, flabby and fat as she was, to walk and ride
+four hours every day, must have been very hard, yet she conformed to
+regulations with rare resolution and self-denial. As a natural consequence
+she soon began to mend, at first slowly and almost imperceptibly,
+afterward rapidly and visibly, as much to my satisfaction as hers; for if
+my treatment had failed, I could not have said that the fault was hers.
+
+Meanwhile I was picking up information about her people, and acquiring a
+knowledge of their language, and as I was continually hearing it spoken I
+was soon able to make myself understood.
+
+The Pachatupecs, though heathens and savages, were more civilized than any
+of the so-called _Indios civilizados_ with whom I had come in contact.
+They were clean as to their persons, bathing frequently, and not filthy in
+their dwellings; they raised crops, reared cattle, and wore clothing,
+which for the caciques consisted of a tunic of quilted cotton, breeches
+loose at the knees, and sandals. The latter virtue may, however, have been
+due to the climate, for though the days were warm the nights were chilly,
+and the winters at times rather severe, the country being at a
+considerable height above the level of the sea. On the other hand, the
+Pachatupecs were truculent, gluttonous, and not very temperate; they
+practised polygamy, and all the hard work devolved on the women, whose
+husbands often brutally ill-used them. It was contrary to etiquette to ask
+a man questions about his wives, and if you went to a cacique's house you
+were expected either to ignore their presence or treat them as slaves, as
+indeed they were, and the condition of captive Christian girls was even
+worse than that of the native women.
+
+Considering the light esteem in which women were held I was surprised that
+the Pachatupecs consented to be ruled by one of the sex. But Gondocori
+told me that Mamcuna came of a long line of princes who were supposed to
+be descended from the Incas, and when her father died, leaving no male
+issue, a majority of the caciques chose her as his successor, in part out
+of reverence for the race, in part out of jealousy of each other, and
+because they thought she would let them do pretty much as they liked. So
+far from that, however, she made them do as she liked, and when some of
+the caciques raised a rebellion she took the field in person, beat them in
+a pitched battle, and put all the leaders and many of their followers to
+death. Since that time there had been no serious attempt to dispute her
+authority, which, so far as I could gather, she used, on the whole, to
+good purpose. Though cruel and vindictive, she was also shrewd and
+resolute, and semi-civilized races are not ruled with rose-water. She
+could only maintain order by making herself feared, and even civilized
+governments often act on the principle that the end justifies the means.
+
+Mamcuna had never married because, as she said, there was no man in the
+country fit to mate with a daughter of the Incas; but as Gondocori and
+some others thought, the man did not exist with whom she would consent to
+share her power.
+
+The Pachatupec braves were fine horsemen and expert with the lasso and the
+spear and very fine archers. They were bold mountaineers, too, and
+occasionally made long forays as far as the pampas, where, I presume, they
+had brought the progenitors of the _nandus_, of which there were a
+considerable number in the country, both wild and tame. The latter were
+sometimes ridden, but rather as a feat than a pleasure. The largest flock
+belonged to the queen.
+
+By the time I had so far mastered the language as to be able to converse
+without much difficulty, the queen had fully regained her health. This
+result--which was of course entirely due to temperate living and regular
+exercise--she ascribed to my skill, and I was in high favor. She made me a
+cacique and court medicine-man; I had quarters in her house, and horses
+and servants were always at my disposal. Had her Majesty's gratitude gone
+no further than this I should have had nothing to complain of; but she
+never let me alone, and I had no peace. I was continually being summoned
+to her presence; she kept me talking for hours at a time, and never went
+out for a ride or a walk without making me bear her company. Her
+attentions became so marked, in fact, that I began to have an awful fear
+that she had fallen in love with me. As to this she did not leave me long
+in doubt.
+
+One day when I had been entertaining her with an account of my travels,
+she startled me by inquiring, _a propos_ to nothing in particular, if I
+knew why she had not married.
+
+"Because you are a daughter of the Incas, and there is no man in
+Pachatupec of equal rank with yourself."
+
+"Once there was not, but now there is."
+
+I breathed again; she surely could not mean me.
+
+"There is now--there has been some time," she continued, after a short
+pause. "Know you who he is?"
+
+I said that I had not the slightest idea.
+
+"Yourself, senor; you are the man."
+
+"Impossible, Mamcuna! I am of very inferior rank, indeed--a common
+soldier, a mere nobody."
+
+"You are too modest, senor; you do yourself an injustice. A man with so
+white a skin, a beard so long, and eyes so beautiful must be of royal
+lineage, and fit to mate even with the daughter of the Incas."
+
+"You are quite mistaken, Mamcuna; I am utterly unworthy of so great an
+honor."
+
+"You are not, I tell you. Please don't contradict me, senor" (she always
+called me 'senor'); "it makes me angry. You are the man whom I delight to
+honor and desire to wed; what would you have more?"
+
+"Nothing--I would not have so much. You are too good; but it would be
+wrong. I really cannot let you throw yourself away on a nameless
+foreigner. Besides what would your caciques say?"
+
+"If any man dare say a word against you I will have his tongue torn out by
+the roots."
+
+"But suppose I am married already--that I have left a wife in my own
+country?" I urged in desperation.
+
+"That would not matter in the least. She is not likely to come hither, and
+I will take care that I am your only wife in this country."
+
+"Your condescension quite overwhelms me. But all this is so sudden; you
+must really give me a little time--"
+
+"A little time! why? You perhaps think I am not sincere, that I do not
+mean what I say, that I may change my mind. Have no fear on that score.
+There shall be no delay. The preparations for our wedding shall be begun
+at once, and ten days hence, dear senor, you will be my husband."
+
+What could I say? I had, of course, no intention of marrying her--I would
+as lief have married a leopardess. But had I given her a peremptory
+negative she might have had me laid by the heels without more ado, or
+worse. So I bowed my head and held my tongue, resolving at the same time
+that, before the expiration of the ten days' respite, I would get out of
+the country or perish in the attempt. Whereupon Mamcuna, taking my silence
+for consent, showed great delight, patted me on the back, caressed my
+beard, fondled my hands, and called me her lord. Fortunately, kissing was
+not an institution in Pachatupec.
+
+One good result of our betrothal, if I may so call it, was that the
+preparations for the wedding took up so much of Mamcuna's time that she
+had none left for me, and I had leisure and opportunity to contrive a plan
+of escape, if I could, for, as I quickly discovered, the difficulties in
+the way were almost if not altogether insurmountable. I could neither go
+back to the eastern Cordillera by the road I had come, nor, without
+guides, find any other pass, either farther north or farther south.
+Westward was a range of barren hills bounded by a sandy desert, destitute
+of life or the means of supporting life, and stretching to the desolate
+Pacific coast, whence, even if I could reach it, I should have no means of
+getting away.
+
+There was, moreover, nobody to whom I could appeal for counsel or help.
+Gondocori thought me the most fortunate of men, and was quite incapable of
+understanding my scruples. Gahra, albeit willing to go with me, knew no
+more of the country than I did, and there was not a man in it who could
+have been induced even by a bribe either to act as my guide or otherwise
+connive at my escape; and I had no inducement to offer.
+
+Nevertheless, the opportunity I was looking for came, as opportunities
+often do come, spontaneously and unexpectedly, yet in shape so
+questionable that it was open to doubt whether, if I accepted it, my
+second condition would not be worse than my first.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+IN THE TOILS.
+
+
+Five days after I had been wooed by the irresistible Mamcuna, and as I was
+beginning to fear that I should have to marry her first and run away
+afterward, I chanced to be riding in the neighborhood of the village, when
+a woman darted out of the thicket and, standing before my horse, held up
+her arms imploringly. I had never spoken to her, but I knew her as the
+white wife of one of the caciques.
+
+"Save me, senor!" she exclaimed, "for the love of heaven and in the name
+of our common Christianity, I implore you to save me!"
+
+"From what?"
+
+"From my wretched life, from despair, degradation, and death." And then
+she told me that, while travelling in the mountains with her husband, a
+certain Senor de la Vega, and several friends, they were set upon by a
+band of Pachatupecs who, after killing all the male members of the party,
+carried her off and brought her to Pachacamac, where she had been
+compelled to become one of the wives of the cacique Chimu, and that
+between his brutality and the jealousy of the other women, her life, apart
+from its ignominy, was so utterly wretched that, unless she could escape,
+she must either go mad or be driven to commit suicide.
+
+"I should be only too glad to rescue you if I could. I want to escape
+myself; but how? I see no way."
+
+"It is not so difficult as you think, senor; if we can get horses and a
+few hours' start, I will act as guide and lead you to a civilized
+settlement, where we shall be safe from pursuit. I know the country well."
+
+"Are you quite sure you can do this, senora? It will be a hazardous
+enterprise, remember."
+
+"Quite sure."
+
+"And you are prepared to incur the risk?"
+
+"I will run any risk rather than stay where I am."
+
+"Very well, I will see what can be done. Meet me here to-morrow at this
+hour. And now, we had better separate; if we are seen together it will be
+bad for both of us. _Hasta manana_."
+
+And then she went her way and I went mine.
+
+I had said truly "a hazardous enterprise." Hazardous and difficult in any
+circumstances, the hazard and the difficulty would be greatly increased by
+the presence of a woman; and the fact of a cacique's wife being one of the
+companions of my flight would add to the inveteracy of the pursuit. I
+greatly doubted, moreover, whether Senora de la Vega knew the country as
+well as she asserted. She was so sick of her wretched condition that she
+would say or do anything to get away from it--and no wonder. But was I
+justified in letting her run the risk? The punishment of a woman who
+deserted her husband was death by burning; were Senora de la Vega caught,
+this punishment would be undoubtedly inflicted; were it even suspected
+that she had met me or any other man, secretly, Chimu would almost
+certainly kill her. Pachatupec husbands had the power of life and death
+over their wives, and they were as jealous and as cruel as Moors. Yet
+death was better than the life she was compelled to lead, and as she was
+fully cognizant of the risk it seemed my duty to do all that I could to
+facilitate her escape.
+
+Then another thought occurred to me. Could this be a trap, a "put up job,"
+as the phrase goes. Though the _caciques_ had not dared to make any open
+protest against Mamcuna's matrimonial project, I knew that they were
+bitterly opposed to it, and nothing, I felt sure, would please them better
+than to kindle the queen's jealousy by making it appear that I was engaged
+in an intrigue with one of Chimu's wives.
+
+Yet no, I could not believe it. No Christian woman would play so base a
+part. Senora de la Vega could have no interest in betraying me. She hated
+her savage husband too heartily to be the voluntary instrument of my
+destruction, and she was so utterly wretched that I pitied her from my
+soul.
+
+A creole of pure Spanish blood and noble family, bereft of her husband,
+forced to become the slave of a brutal Indian, and the constant associate
+of hardly less brutal women, painfully conscious of her degradation,
+hopeless of any amendment of her lot, poor Senora de la Vega's fate would
+have touched the hardest heart. And she had little children at home! My
+suspicions vanished even more quickly than they had been conceived, and
+before I reached my quarters I had decided that, come what might, the
+attempt should be made.
+
+The next question was how and when. Clearly, the sooner the better; but
+whether we had better set off at sunrise or sunset was open to doubt. By
+leaving at sunset we should be less easily followed; on the other hand, we
+should have greater difficulty in finding our way and be sooner missed. It
+was generally about sunset that Mamcuna sent for me, and I knew that at
+this time it would be well-nigh impossible for Senora de la Vega to leave
+Chimu's house without being observed and questioned, perhaps followed. So
+when we met as agreed, I told her that I had decided to make the attempt
+on the next morning, and asked her to be in a grove of plantains, hard by,
+an hour before dawn. I besought her, whatever she did, to be punctual; our
+lives depended on our stealing away before people were stirring.
+
+Meanwhile Gahra and I had laid our plans. He was to give out the night
+before that we were setting off early next morning on a hunting
+expedition. This would enable us, without exciting suspicion, to take a
+supply of provisions, arms, and a led horse (for carrying any game we
+might kill) and, as I hoped, give us a long start. For even when Senora de
+la Vega was missed nobody would suspect that she had gone with us.
+
+In the event--as we hoped, the improbable event--of our being overtaken or
+intercepted, Gahra and I were resolved not to be taken alive; but we had,
+unfortunately, no firearms; they were all lost in the snow-storm. Our only
+weapons were bows and arrows and machetes. I carried the former merely as
+a make-believe, to keep up my character as a hunter; for the same reason
+we took with us a brace of dogs. If it came to fighting I should have to
+put my trust in my _machete_, a long broad-bladed sword like a knife,
+formidable as a lethal weapon, yet chiefly used for clearing away brambles
+and cutting down trees.
+
+All went well at the beginning. We were up betimes and off with our horses
+before daylight. The braves on duty asked no questions, there was no
+reason why they should, and we passed through the village without meeting
+a soul.
+
+So far, good. The omens seemed favorable, and my hopes ran high. We should
+get off without anybody knowing which way we had taken, and several hours
+before Senora de la Vega was likely to be missed.
+
+But when we reached the rendezvous she was not there. I whistled and
+called softly; nobody answered.
+
+"She will be here presently, we must wait," I said to Gahra.
+
+It was terribly annoying.  Every minute was precious. The Pachatupecs are
+early risers, and if Senora de la Vega did not join us before daylight we
+might be seen and the opportunity lost. The sun rose; still she did not
+come, and I had just made up my mind to put off our departure until the
+next morning, and try to communicate with Senora de la Vega in the
+meantime, when Gahra pointed to a pathway in the wood, where his sharp
+eyes had detected the fluttering of a robe.
+
+At last she was coming. But too late. To start at that time would be
+madness, and I was about to tell her so, send her back, and ask her to
+meet me on the next morning, when she ran forward with terrified face and
+uplifted hands.
+
+"Save me! Save me!" she cried, "I could not get away sooner. I have been
+watched. They are following me, even now."
+
+This was a frightful misfortune, and I feared that the senora had acted
+very imprudently. But it was no time either for reproaches or regrets, and
+the words were scarcely out of her mouth when I lifted her into the
+saddle; as I did so, I caught sight of two horsemen and several
+foot-people, coming down the pathway.
+
+"Go!" I said to Gahra, "I shall stay here."
+
+"But, senor--"
+
+"Go, I say; as you love me, go at once. This lady is in your charge. Take
+good care of her. I can keep these fellows at bay until you are out of
+sight and, if possible, I will follow. At once, please, at once!"
+
+They went, Gahra's face expressing the keenest anguish, the senora half
+dead with fear. As they rode away I turned into the pathway and prepared
+for the encounter. The foot-people might do as they liked, they could not
+overtake the fugitives, but I was resolved that the horsemen should only
+pass over my body.
+
+The foremost of them was Chimu himself. When he saw that I had no
+intention of turning aside, he and his companion (who rode behind him)
+reined in their horses. The cacique was quivering with rage.
+
+"My wife has gone off with your negro," he said, hoarsely.
+
+I made no answer.
+
+"I saw you help her to mount. You have met her before. Mamcuna shall know
+of this, and my wife shall die."
+
+Still I made no answer.
+
+"Let me pass!"
+
+I drew my _machete_.
+
+Chimu drew his and came at me, but he was so poor a swordsman, that I
+merely played with him, my object being to gain time, and only when the
+other fellow tried to push past me and get to my left-rear, did I cut the
+cacique down. On this his companion bolted the way he had come. I galloped
+after him, more with the intention of frightening than hurting him, and
+was just on the point of turning back and following the fugitives, when
+something dropped over my head, my arms were pinioned to my side, and I
+was dragged from my saddle.
+
+The foot-people had lassoed me.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+THE  MAN-KILLER.
+
+
+I was as helpless as a man in a strait waistcoat.  When I tried to rise,
+my captors tautened the rope and dragged me along the ground. Resistance
+being futile, I resigned myself to my fate.
+
+On seeing what had happened, the flying brave (a kinsman of Chimu's)
+returned, and he and the others held a palaver. As Mamcuna's affianced
+husband, I was a person of importance, and they were evidently at a loss
+how to dispose of me. If they treated me roughly, they might incur her
+displeasure. The discussion was long and rather stormy. In the result, I
+was asked whether I would go with them quietly to the queen's house or be
+taken thither, _nolens volens_. On answering that I would go quietly, I
+was unbound and allowed to mount my horse.
+
+I do not think I am a coward, and in helping Senora de la Vega to escape
+and sending her off with Gahra, I knew that I had done the right thing.
+Yet I looked forward to the approaching interview with some misgiving.
+Barbarian though Mamcuna was, I could not help entertaining a certain
+respect for her. She had treated me handsomely; in offering to make me her
+husband she had paid me the greatest compliment in her power; and how
+little soever you may reciprocate the sentiment, it is impossible to think
+altogether unkindly of the woman who has given you her love. And my
+conscience was not free from reproach; I had let her think that I loved
+her--as I now perceived, a great mistake. Courageous herself, she could
+appreciate courage in others, and had I boldly and unequivocally refused
+her offer and given my reasons, I did not believe she would have dealt
+hardly with me.
+
+As it was Mamcuna might well say that, having deliberately deceived her, I
+deserved the utmost punishment which it was in her power to inflict. At
+the same time, I was not without hope that when she heard my defence she
+would spare my life.
+
+By the time we reached the queen's house my escort had swollen into a
+crowd, and one of the caciques went in to inform Mamcuna what had befallen
+and ask for her instructions.
+
+In a few minutes he brought word that the queen would see me and the
+people who had taken part in my capture forthwith. We found her sitting in
+her _chinchura_, in the room where she and I first met. Bather to my
+surprise she was calm and collected; yet there was a convulsive twitching
+of her lips and an angry glitter in her eyes that boded ill for my hopes
+of pardon.
+
+"Is it true, this they tell me, senor--that you have been helping Chimu's
+wife to escape, and killed Chimu?" she asked.
+
+"It is true."
+
+"So you prefer this wretched pale-face woman to me?"
+
+"No, Mamcuna."
+
+"Why, then, did you help her to escape and kill her husband? Don't trifle
+with me."
+
+"Because I pitied her."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Chimu treated her ill, and she was very wretched. She wanted to go back
+to her own country, and she has little children at home."
+
+"What was her wretchedness to you? Did you not know that you were
+incurring my displeasure and risking your own life?"
+
+"I did. But a Christian caballero holds it his duty to protect the weak
+and deliver the oppressed, even at the risk of his own life."
+
+Mamcuna looked puzzled. The sentiment was too fine for her comprehension.
+
+"You talk foolishness, senor. No man would run into danger for a woman
+whom he did not desire to make his own."
+
+"I had no desire to make Senora de la Vega my wife. I would have done the
+same for any other woman."
+
+"For any other woman! Would you risk your life for me, senor?"
+
+"Surely, Mamcuna, if you were in sorrow or distress and I could do you any
+good thereby."
+
+"It is well, senor; your voice has the ring of truth," said the queen,
+softly, and with a gratified smile, "and inasmuch as you went not away
+with Chimu's pale-faced wife, but let her depart with the negro--"
+
+"The senor would have gone also had we not hindered him," interposed
+Chimu's kinsman. "We saw him lift the woman into the saddle, and he was
+turning to follow her when Lurin caught him with the lasso."
+
+"Is this true; would you have gone with the woman?" asked the queen,
+sternly, her smile changing into an ominous frown.
+
+"It is true; but let me explain--"
+
+"Enough; I will not hear another word. So you would have left me, a
+daughter of the Incas, who have honored you above all other men, and gone
+away with a woman you say you do not love! Your heart is full of deceit,
+your mouth runs over with lies. You shall die; so shall the white woman
+and the black slave. Where are they? Bring them hither."
+
+The caciques and braves who were present stared at each other in
+consternation. In their exultation and excitement over my capture the
+fugitives had been forgotten.
+
+"Mules! Idiots! Old women! Follow them and bring them back. They shall be
+burned in the same fire. As for you, senor, because you cured me of my
+sickness and were to have been my husband I will let you choose the method
+of your death. You may either be roasted before a slow fire, hacked to
+pieces with _machetes_, or fastened on the back of the man-killer and sent
+to perish in the desert. Choose."
+
+"Just one word of explanation, Mamcuna. I would fain--"
+
+"Silence! or I will have your tongue torn out by the roots. Choose!"
+
+"I choose the man-killer."
+
+"You think it will be an easier death than being hacked to pieces. You are
+wrong. The vultures will peck out your eyes, and you will die of hunger
+and thirst. But as you have said so let it be. Tie him to the back of the
+man-killer, men, and chase it into the desert. If you let him escape you
+die in his place. But treat him with respect; he was nearly my husband."
+
+And then Mamcuna, sinking back into her _chinchura_, covered her face with
+her hands; but she showed no sign of relenting, and I was bound with ropes
+and hurried from the room.
+
+The man-killer was a nandu[1] belonging to the queen, and had gained his
+name by killing one man and maiming several others who unwisely approached
+him when he was in an evil temper. Save for an occasional outburst of
+homicidal mania and his abnormal size and strength, the man-killer did not
+materially differ from the other nandus of Mamcuna's flock. His keeper
+controlled the bird without difficulty, and I had several times seen him
+mount and ride it round an inclosure.
+
+    [1] The American ostrich.
+
+The desert, as I have already mentioned, lies between the Cordillera and
+the Pacific Ocean, stretching almost the entire length of the Peruvian
+coast, with here and there an oasis watered by one or other of the few
+streams which do not lose themselves in the sand before they reach the
+sea. It is a rainless, hideous region of naked rocks and whirling sands,
+destitute of fresh water and animal life, a region into which, except for
+a short distance, the boldest traveller cares not to venture.
+
+After leaving the queen's house I was placed in charge of a party of
+braves commanded by a cacique, and we set out for the place where my
+expiation was to begin. The nandu, led by his keeper and another man, of
+course went with us. My conductors, albeit they made no secret of their
+joy over my downfall, did their mistress's bidding, and treated me with
+respect. They loosed my bonds, taking care, however, so to guard me as to
+render escape impossible, and, when we halted, gave me to eat and drink.
+But their talk was not encouraging. In their opinion, nothing could save
+me from a horrible death, probably of thirst. The best that I could hope
+for was being smothered in a sandstorm. The man-killer would probably go
+on till he dropped from exhaustion, and then, whether I was alive or dead,
+birds of prey would pick out my eyes and tear the flesh from my bones.
+
+About midday we reached the mountain range which divides Pachatupec from
+the desert. Anything more lonesome and depressing it were impossible to
+conceive. Not a tree, not a shrub, not a blade of grass nor any green
+thing; neither running stream nor gleam of water could be seen. It was a
+region in which the blessed rain of heaven had not fallen for untold ages,
+a region of desolation and death, of naked peaks, rugged precipices, and
+rocky ravines. The heat from the overhead sun, intensified by the
+reverberations from the great masses of rock around us, and unrelieved by
+the slightest breath of air, was well-nigh suffocating.
+
+Into this plutonic realm we plunged, and, after a scorching ride, reached
+the head of a pass which led straight down to the desert. Here the cacique
+in command of the detachment told me, rather to my surprise, that we were
+to part company. They were already a long way from home and saw no reason
+why they should go farther. The desert, albeit four or five leagues
+distant, was quite visible, and, once started down the pass, the nandu
+would be bound to go thither. He could not climb the rocks to the right or
+the left, and the braves would take care that he did not return.
+
+As objection, even though I had felt disposed to make it, would have been
+useless, I bowed acquiescence. The thought of resisting had more than once
+crossed my mind, and, by dint of struggling and fighting, I might have
+made the nandu so restive that I could not have been fastened on his back.
+But in that case my second condition would have been worse than my first;
+I should have been taken back to Pachatupec and either burned alive or
+hacked to pieces, and, black as seemed the outlook, I clung to the hope
+that the man-killer would somehow be the means of saving my life.
+
+The binding was effected with considerable difficulty. It required the
+united strength of nearly all the braves to hold the nandu while the
+cacique and the keepers secured me on his back. As he was let go he kicked
+out savagely, ripping open with his terrible claws one of the men who had
+been holding him. The next moment he was striding down the steep and stony
+pass at a speed which, in a few minutes, left the pursuing and shouting
+Pachatupecs far behind. The ground was so rough and the descent so rapid
+that I expected every moment we should come to grief. But on we went like
+the wind. Never in my life, except in an express train, was I carried so
+fast. The great bird was either wild with rage or under the impression
+that he was being hunted. The speed took my breath away; the motion make
+me sick. He must have done the fifteen miles between the head of the pass
+and the beginning of the desert in little more than as many minutes. Then,
+the ground being covered with sand and comparatively level, the nandu
+slacked his speed somewhat, though he still went at a great pace.
+
+The desert was a vast expanse of white sand, the glare of which, in the
+bright sunshine, almost blinded me, interspersed with stretches of rock,
+swept bare by the wind, and loose stones.
+
+Instead of turning to the right or left, that is to say, to the north or
+south, as I hoped and expected he would, the man-killer ran straight on
+toward the sea. As for the distance of the coast from that part of the
+Cordillera I had no definite idea--perhaps thirty miles, perhaps fifty,
+perhaps more. But were it a hundred we should not be long in going thither
+at the speed we were making; and vague hopes, suggesting the possibility
+of signalling a passing ship or getting away by sea, began to shape
+themselves in the mind. The nandu could not go on forever; before reaching
+the sea he must either alter his course or stop, and if he stopped only a
+few minutes and so gave me a chance of steadying myself I thought that, by
+the help of my teeth, I might untie one of the cords which the movements
+of the bird and my own efforts had already slightly loosened, and once my
+arms were freed the rest would be easy.
+
+An hour (as nearly as I could judge) after leaving the Cordillera I
+sighted the Pacific--a broad expanse of blue water shining in the sun and
+stretching to the horizon. How eagerly I looked for a sail, a boat, the
+hut of some solitary fisherman, or any other sign of human presence! But I
+saw nothing save water and sand; the ocean was as lonesome as the desert.
+There was no salvation thitherward.
+
+Though my hope had been vague, my disappointment was bitter; but a few
+minutes later all thought of it was swallowed up in a new fear. The sea
+was below me, and as the ground had ceased to fall I knew that the desert
+must end on that side in a line of lofty cliffs. I knew, also, that nandus
+are among the most stupid of bipeds, and it was just conceivable that the
+man-killer, not perceiving his danger until too late, might go over the
+cliffs into the sea.
+
+The hoarse roar of the waves as they surge against the rocks, at first
+faint, grows every moment louder and deeper. I see distinctly the land's
+end, and mentally calculate from the angle it makes with the ocean, the
+height of the cliffs.
+
+Still the man-killer strides on, as straight as an arrow and as resolutely
+as if a hundred miles of desert, instead of ten thousand miles of water,
+stretched before him. Three minutes more and--I set my teeth hard and draw
+a deep breath. At any rate, it will be an easier end than burning, or
+dying of thirst--Another moment and--
+
+But now the nandu, seeing that he will soon be treading the air, makes a
+desperate effort to stop short, in which failing he wheels half round,
+barely in time to save his life and mine, and then courses madly along the
+brink for miles, as if unable to tear himself away, keeping me in a state
+of continual fear, for a single slip, or an accidental swerve to the
+right, and we should have fallen headlong down the rocks, against which
+the waves are beating.
+
+As night closes in he gradually--to my inexpressible relief--draws inland,
+making in a direction that must sooner or later take us back to the
+Cordillera, though a long way south of the pass by which we had descended
+to the desert. But I have hardly sighted the outline of the mighty
+barrier, looming portentously in the darkness, when he alters his course
+once again, wenching this time almost due south. And so he continues for
+hours, seldom going straight, now inclining toward the coast, anon facing
+toward the Cordillera but always on the southward tack, never turning to
+the north.
+
+It was a beautiful night. The splendor of the purple sky with its myriads
+of lustrous stars was in striking contrast with the sameness of the white
+and deathlike desert. A profound melancholy took hold of me. I had ceased
+to fear, almost to think, my perceptions were blinded by excitement and
+fatigue, my spirits oppressed by an unspeakable sense of loneliness and
+helplessness, and the awful silence, intensified rather than relieved by
+the long drawn moaning of the unseen ocean, which, however far I might be
+from it, was ever in my ears.
+
+I looked up at the stars, and when the cross began to bend I knew that
+midnight was past, and that in a few hours would dawn another day. What
+would it bring me--life or death? I hardly cared which; relief from the
+torture and suspense I was enduring would be welcome, come how it might.
+For I suffered cruelly; I had a terrible thirst. The cords chafed my limbs
+and cut into my flesh. Every movement gave an exquisite pain; I was
+continually on the rack; rest, even for a moment, was impossible, as,
+though the nandu had diminished his speed, he never stopped. And then a
+wind came up from the sea, bringing with it clouds of dust, which
+well-nigh choked and half blinded me; filled my ears and intensified my
+thirst. After a while a strange faintness stole over me; I felt as if I
+were dying, my eyes closed, my head sank on my breast, and I remembered no
+more.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+ANGELA.
+
+
+"_Regardez mon pere, regardez! Il va mieux, le pauvre homme._"
+
+"_C'est ca, ma fille cherie, faites le boire._"
+
+I open my eyes with an effort, for the dust of the desert has almost
+blinded me.
+
+I am in a beautiful garden, leaning against the body of the dead ostrich,
+a lovely girl is holding a cup of water to my parched lips, and an old man
+of benevolent aspect stands by her side.
+
+"_Merci mademoiselle, vous etes bien bonne_," I murmur.
+
+"Oh, father, he speaks French."
+
+"This passes comprehension. Are you French, monsieur?"
+
+"No, English."
+
+"English! This is stranger still. But whence come you, and who bound you
+on the nandu?"
+
+"I will tell you--a little more water, I pray you, mademoiselle."
+
+"Let him drink again, Angela--and dash some water in his face; he is
+faint."
+
+"_Le pauvre homme!_ See how his lips are swollen! Do you feel better,
+monsieur?" she asked compassionately, again putting the cup to my lips.
+
+"Much. A thousand thanks. I can answer your question now (to the old man).
+I was bound on the nandu by order of the Queen of the Pachatupec Indians."
+
+"The Pachatupec Indians! I have heard of them. But they are a long way
+off; more than a hundred leagues of desert lies between us and the
+Pachatupec country. Are you quite sure, monsieur?"
+
+"Quite. And seeing that the nandu went at great speed, though not always
+in a direct line, and we must have been going fifteen or sixteen hours, I
+am not surprised that we have travelled so far."
+
+"_Mon dieu!_ And all that time you have neither eaten nor drunk. No wonder
+you are exhausted! Come with us, and we will give you something more
+invigorating than water. You shall tell us your story afterward--if you
+will."
+
+I tried to rise, but my stiffened and almost paralyzed limbs refused to
+move.
+
+"Let us help you. Take his other arm, Angela--thus, Now!" And with that
+they each gave me a hand and raised me to my feet.
+
+"How was it? Who killed the nandu?" I asked as I hobbled on between them.
+
+"We saw the creature coming toward us with what looked like a dead man on
+his back, and as he did not seem disposed to stop I told Angela, who is a
+famous archer, to draw her bow and shoot him. He fell dead where he now
+lies, and when we saw that, though unconscious, you still lived, we
+unloosed you."
+
+"And saved my life. Might I ask to whom I am indebted for this great
+service, and to what beautiful country the nandu has brought me?"
+
+"Say nothing about the service, my dear sir. Helping each other in
+difficulty and distress is a duty we owe to Heaven and our common
+humanity. I count your coming a great blessing. You are the first visitor
+we have had for many years, and the Abbe Balthazar gives you a warm
+welcome to San Cristobal de Quipai. The name is of good omen, Quipai being
+an Indian word which signifies 'Rest Here,' and I shall be glad for you to
+rest here so long as it may please you."
+
+"Nigel Fortescue, formerly an officer in the British Army, at present a
+fugitive and a wanderer, tenders you his warmest thanks, and gratefully
+accepts your hospitality--And now that we know each other, Monsieur
+l'Abbe, might I ask the favor of an introduction to the young lady to whom
+I owe my deliverance from the nandu?"
+
+"She is Angela, monsieur. My people call her Senorita Angela. It pleases
+me sometimes to speak of her as Angela Dieu-donnee, for she was sent to us
+by God, and ever since she came among us she has been our good angel."
+
+"I am sure she has. Nobody with so sweet a face could be otherwise than
+good," I said, with an admiring glance at the beautiful girl which dyed
+the damask of her cheek a yet deeper crimson.
+
+It was no mere compliment. In all my wanderings I have not beheld the
+equal of Angela Dieu-donnee. Though I can see her now, though I learned to
+paint in order that, however inadequately, I might make her likeness, I am
+unable to describe her; words can give no idea of the comeliness of her
+face, the grace of her movements, and the shapeliness of her form. I have
+seen women with skins as fair, hair as dark, eyes as deeply blue, but none
+with the same brightness of look and sweetness of disposition, none with
+courage as high, temper as serene.
+
+To look at Angela was to love her, though as yet I knew not that I had
+regained my liberty only to lose my heart. My feelings at the moment
+oscillated between admiration of her and a painful sense of my own
+disreputable appearance. Bareheaded and shoeless, covered with the dust of
+the desert, clad only in a torn shirt and ragged trousers, my arms and
+legs scored with livid marks, I must have seemed a veritable scarecrow.
+Angela looked like a queen, or would have done were queens ever so
+charming, or so becomingly attired. Her low-crowned hat was adorned with
+beautiful flowers; a loose-fitting alpaca robe of light blue set off her
+form to the best advantage, and round her waist was a golden baldrick
+which supported a sheaf of arrows. At her breast was an orchid which in
+Europe would have been almost priceless, her shapely arms were bare to the
+shoulder, and her sandaled feet were innocent of hosen.
+
+I was wondering who could have designed this costume, in which there was a
+savor of the pictures of Watteau and the court of Versailles, how so
+lovely a creature could have found her way to a place so remote as San
+Cristobal de Quipai, when the abbe resumed the conversation.
+
+"Angela came to us as strangely and unexpectedly as you have come,
+Monsieur Nigel" (he found my Christian name the easier to pronounce),
+"and, like you, without any volition on her part or previous knowledge of
+our existence. But there is this difference between you: she came as a
+little child, you come as a grown man. Sixteen years ago we had several
+severe earthquakes. They did us little harm down here, but up on the
+Cordillera they wrought fearful havoc, and the sea rose and there was a
+great storm, and several ships were dashed to pieces against our
+iron-bound coast, which no mariner willingly approaches. The morning after
+the tempest there was found on the edge of the cliffs a cot in which lay a
+rosy-cheeked babe. How it came to pass none could tell, but we all thought
+that the cot must have been fastened to a board, which became detached
+from the cot at the very moment when the sea threw it on the land. The
+babe was just able to lisp her name--'Angela,' which corresponded with the
+name embroidered on her clothing. This is all we know about her; and I
+greatly fear that those to whom she belonged perished in the storm. Even
+the wreckage that was washed ashore furnished no clew; it was part of two
+different vessels. The little waif was brought to me and with me she has
+ever since remained."
+
+"And will always remain, dear father," said Angela, regarding the old
+priest with loving reverence. "All that I lost in the storm has he been to
+me--father, mother, instructor, and friend. You see here, monsieur, the
+best and wisest man in all the world."
+
+"You have had so wide an experience of the world and of men, _mignonne_!"
+returned the abbe, with an amused smile. "Sir, since she could speak she
+has seen two white men. You are the second.--Ah, well, if I were not
+afraid you would think we had constituted ourselves into a mutual
+admiration society I should be tempted to say something even more
+complimentary about her."
+
+"Say it, Monsieur l'Abbe, say it, I pray you," I exclaimed, eagerly, for
+it pleased me more than I can tell to hear him sound Angela's praises.
+
+"Nay, I would rather you learned to appreciate her from your own
+observation. Yet I will say this much. She is the brightness of my life,
+the solace of my old age, and so good that even praise does not spoil her.
+But you look tired; shall we sit down on this fallen log and rest a few
+minutes?"
+
+To this proposal I gladly assented, for I was spent with fatigue and faint
+with hunger. Angela, however, after glancing at me compassionately and
+saying she would be back in a few minutes, went a little farther and
+presently returned with a bunch of grapes.
+
+"Eat these," she said, "they will refresh you."
+
+It was a simple act of kindness; but a simple act of kindness, gracefully
+performed, is often an index of character, and I felt sure that the girl
+had a kind heart and deserved all the praise bestowed on her by the abbe.
+
+I was thanking her, perhaps more warmly than the occasion required, when
+she stopped the flow of my eloquence by reminding me that I had not yet
+told them why the Indian queen caused me to be fastened on the back of the
+_nandu_.
+
+On this hint I spoke, and though the abbe suggested that I was too tired
+for much talking, I not only answered the question but briefly narrated
+the main facts of my story, reserving a fuller account for a future
+occasion.
+
+Both listened with rapt attention; but of the two Angela was the more
+eager listener. She several times interrupted me with requests for
+information as to matters which even among European children are of common
+knowledge, for, though the abbe was a man of high learning and she an apt
+pupil, her experience of life was limited to Quipai; and he had been so
+long out of the world that he had almost forgotten it. As for news, he was
+worse off than Fray Ignacio. He had heard of the First Consul but nothing
+of the Emperor Napoleon, and when I told him of the restoration of the
+Bourbons he shed tears of joy.
+
+"Thank God!" he exclaimed, fervently, "France is once more ruled by a son
+of St. Louis. The tricolor is replaced by the _fleur-de-lis_. You are our
+second good angel, Monsieur Fortescue; you bring us glad tidings of great
+joy--You smile, but I am persuaded that Providence has led you hither in
+so strange a way for some good purpose, and as I venture to hope, in
+answer to my prayers; for albeit our lives here are so calm and happy, and
+I have been the means of bringing a great work to a successful issue, it
+is not in the nature of things that men should be free from care, and my
+mind has lately been troubled with forebodings--"
+
+"And you never told me, father!" said Angela, reproachfully. "What are
+they, these forebodings?"
+
+"Why should you be worried with an old man's difficulties? One has
+reference to my people, the other--but never mind the other. It may be
+that already a way has been opened.--If you feel sufficiently rested,
+Monsieur Nigel, I think we had better proceed. A short walk will bring us
+to San Cristobal, and it would be well for us to get thither before the
+heat of the day."
+
+I protested that the rest and the bunch of grapes had so much refreshed me
+that I felt equal to a long walk, and we moved on.
+
+"What a splendid garden!" I exclaimed for the third or fourth time as we
+entered an alley festooned with trailing flowers and grape-vines from
+which the fruit hung in thick clusters.
+
+"All Quipai is a garden," said the abbe, proudly. "We have fruit and
+flowers and cereals all the year round, thanks to the great _azequia_
+(aqueduct) which the Incas built and I restored. And such fruit! Let him
+taste a _chirimoya ma fille cherie_."
+
+From a tree about fifteen feet high Angela plucked a round green fruit,
+not unlike an apple, but covered with small knobs and scales. Then she
+showed me how to remove the skin, which covered a snow-white juicy pulp of
+exquisite fragrance and a flavor that I hardly exaggerated in calling
+divine. It was a fruit fit for the gods, and so I said.
+
+"We owe it all to the great _azequia_," observed the abbe. "See, it feeds
+these rills and fills those fountains, waters our fields, and makes the
+desert bloom like the rose and the dry places rejoice. And we have not
+only fruit and flowers, but corn, coffee, cocoa, yuccas, potatoes, and
+almost every sort of vegetable."
+
+"Quipai is a land of plenty and a garden of delight."
+
+"A most apt description, and so long as the great _azequia_ is kept in
+repair and the system of irrigation which I have established is maintained
+it will remain a land of plenty and a garden of delight."
+
+"And if any harm should befall the _azequia_?"
+
+"In that case, and if our water-supply were to fail, Quipai, as you see it
+now, would cease to exist. The desert, which we are always fighting and
+have so far conquered, would regain the mastery, and the mission become
+what I found it, a little oasis at the foot of the Cordillera, supporting
+with difficulty a few score families of naked Indians. One of these days,
+if you are so disposed, you shall follow the course of the _azequia_ and
+see for yourself with what a marvellous reservoir, fed by Andean snows,
+Nature has provided us. But more of this another time. Look! Yonder is San
+Cristobal, our capital as I sometimes call it, though little more than a
+village."
+
+The abbe said truly. It was little more than a village; but as gay, as
+picturesque, and as bright as a scene in an opera--two double rows of
+painted houses forming a large oval, the space between them laid out as a
+garden with straight walks and fountains and clipped shrubs, after the
+fashion of Versailles; in the centre a church and two other buildings, one
+of which, as the abbe told me, was a school, the other his own dwelling.
+
+The people we met saluted him with great humility, and he returned their
+salutations quite _en grand seigneur_, even, as I thought, somewhat
+haughtily. One woman knelt in the road, kissed his hand, and asked for his
+blessing, which he gave like the superior being she obviously considered
+him. It was the same in the village. Everybody whom we met or passed stood
+still and uncovered. There could be no question who was master in San
+Cristobal. Abbe Balthazar was both priest and king, and, as I afterward
+came to know, there was every reason why he should be.
+
+He kept a large establishment, for the country, and lived in considerable
+state. On entering his house, which was surrounded by a veranda and
+embowered in trees, the abbe, asked if I would like a bath, and on my
+answering in the affirmative ordered one of the servants, all of whom
+spoke Spanish, to take me to the bath-room and find me a suit of clothes.
+
+The bath made me feel like another man, and the fresh garments effected as
+great a change in my personal appearance. There was not much difficulty
+about the fit. A cotton undershirt, a blue jacket with silver buttons, a
+red sash, white breeches, loose at the knee, and a pair of sandals, and I
+was fully attired. Stockings I had to dispense with. They were not in
+vogue at San Cristobal.
+
+When I was ready, the servant, who had acted as my valet, conducted me to
+the dining-room, where I found Angela and the abbe.
+
+"_Parbleu!_" exclaimed the latter, who occasionally indulged in
+expressions that were not exactly clerical. "_Parbleu!_ I had no idea that
+a bath and clean raiment could make so great an improvement in a man's
+appearance. That costume becomes you to admiration, Monsieur Nigel. Don't
+you think so, Angela?"
+
+"You forget, father, that he is the only caballero I ever saw. Are all
+caballeros like him?"
+
+"Very few, I should say. It is a long time since I saw any; but even at
+the court of Louis XV. I do not remember seeing many braver looking
+gentlemen than our guest."
+
+As I bowed in acknowledgment of the compliment Angela gave me a quick
+glance, blushed deeply, and then, turning to the abbe, proposed that we
+should take our places at the table.
+
+I was so hungry that even an indifferent meal would have seemed a
+luxurious banquet, but the repast set before us might have satisfied an
+epicure. We had a delicious soup, something like mutton-cutlets,
+land-turtle steaks, and capon, all perfectly cooked; vegetables and fruit
+in profusion, and the wine was as good as any I had tasted in France or
+Spain. After dinner coffee was served and the abbe inquired whether I
+would retire to my room and have a sleep, or smoke a cigarette with him
+and Angela on the veranda.
+
+In ordinary circumstances I should probably have preferred to sleep; but I
+was so fascinated with Mademoiselle Dieu-donnee, so excited by all that I
+had seen and heard, so curious to know the history of this French priest,
+who talked of the court of Louis XV., who had created a country and a
+people, and contrived, in a region so remote from civilization, to
+surround himself with so many luxuries, that I elected without hesitation
+for the cigarettes and the veranda.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+ABBE BALTHAZAR.
+
+
+Though my wounds had not ceased their smarting nor my bones their aching
+my happiness was complete. The splendid prospect before me, the glittering
+peaks of the Cordillera, the gleaming waters of the far Pacific, the
+gardens and fountains of San Cristobal, the charm of Angela's presence,
+and the abbe's conversation made me oblivious to the past and careless of
+the future. The hardships and perils I had lately undergone, my weary
+wanderings in the wilderness, the dull monotony of the Happy Valley, the
+passage of the Andes, my terrible ride on the _nandu_, all were forgotten.
+The contrast between my by-gone miseries and present surroundings added
+zest to my enjoyment. I felt as one suddenly transported from Hades to
+Elysium, and it required an effort to realize that it was not all a dream,
+destined to end in a rude awaking.
+
+After some talk about Europe, the revolt of the Spanish colonies, and my
+recent adventures, the abbe gave me an account of his life and adventures.
+The scion of a noble French family, he had been first a page of honor at
+Versailles, then an officer of the _garde du corps_, and among the gayest
+of the gay. But while yet a youth some terrible event on which he did not
+like to dwell--a disastrous love affair, a duel in which he killed one who
+had been his friend--wrought so radical a change in his character and his
+ideals that he resigned his commission, left the court, and joined the
+Society of Jesus, under the name of Balthazar. Being a noble he became an
+abbe (though he had never an abbey) as a matter of course, and full of
+religious ardor and thirsting for distinction in his new calling he
+volunteered to go out as a missionary among the wild tribes of South
+America.
+
+After long wanderings, and many hardships, Balthazar and two fellow
+priests accidentally discovered Quipai, at that time a mere collection of
+huts on the banks of a small stream which descended from the gorges of the
+Cordillera only to be lost in the sands of the desert. But all around were
+remains which showed that Quipai had once been a place of importance and
+the seat of a large population--ruined buildings of colossal dimensions,
+heaps of quarried stones, a cemetery rich in relics of silver and gold;
+and a great _azequia_, in many places still intact, had brought down water
+from the heart of the mountains for the irrigation of the rainless region
+of the coast.
+
+Balthazar had moreover heard of the marvellous system of irrigation
+whereby the Incas had fertilized nearly the whole of the Peruvian desert;
+and as he surveyed the ruins he conceived the great idea of restoring the
+aqueduct and repeopling the neighboring waste. To this task he devoted his
+life. His first proceeding was to convert the Indians and found a mission,
+which he called San Cristobal de Quipai; his next to show them how to make
+the most of the water-privileges they already possessed. A reservoir was
+built, more land brought under cultivation, and the oasis rendered capable
+of supporting a larger population. The resulting prosperity and the abbe's
+fame as a physician (he possessed a fair knowledge of medicine) drew other
+Indians to Quipai.
+
+After a while the gigantic undertaking was begun, and little by little,
+and with infinite patience and pain accomplished. It was a work of many
+years, and when I travelled the whole length of the _azequia_ I marvelled
+greatly how the abbe, with the means at his command, could have achieved
+an enterprise so arduous and vast. The aqueduct, nearly twenty leagues in
+length, extended from the foot of the snow-line to a valley above Quipai,
+the water being taken thence in stone-lined canals and wooden pipes to the
+seashore. In several places the _azequia_ was carried on lofty arches over
+deep ravines: and there were two great reservoirs, both remarkable works.
+The upper one was the crater of an extinct volcano, of unknown depth,
+which contained an immense quantity of water. It took so long to fill that
+the abbe, as he laughingly told me, began to think that there must be a
+hole in the bottom. But in the end it did fill to the very brim, and
+always remained full. The second reservoir, a dammed up valley, was just
+below the first; it served to break the fall from the higher to the lower
+level and receive the overflow from the crater.
+
+A bursting of either of the reservoirs was quite out of the question; at
+any rate the abbe so assured me, and certainly the crater looked strong
+enough to hold all the water in the Andes, could it have been got therein,
+while the lower reservoir was so shallow--the out-flow and the loss by
+evaporation being equal to the in-take--that even if the banks were to
+give way no great harm could be done.
+
+I mention these particulars because they have an important bearing on
+events that afterward befell, and on my own destiny.
+
+Only a born engineer and organizer of untiring energy and illimitable
+patience could have performed so herculean a labor. Balthazar was all
+this, and more. He knew how to rule men despotically yet secure their
+love. The Indians did his bidding without hesitation and wrought for him
+without pay. In the absence of this quality his task had never been done.
+On the other hand, he owed something to fortune. All the materials were
+ready to his hand. He built with the stone quarried by the Incas. His work
+suffered no interruption from frost or snow or rain. His very isolation
+was an advantage. He had neither enemies to fear, friends to please, nor
+government officers to propitiate.
+
+On the landward side Quipai was accessible only by difficult and little
+known mountain-passes which nobody without some strong motive would care
+to traverse, and passing ships might be trusted to give a wide berth to an
+iron-bound coast destitute alike of harbors and trade.
+
+So it came to pass that, albeit the mission of Quipai was in the dominion
+of the King of Spain, none of his agents knew of its existence, his writs
+did not run there, and Balthazar treated the royal decree for the
+expulsion of the Jesuits from South America (of which he heard two or
+three years after its promulgation) with the contempt that he thought it
+deserved. Nevertheless, he deemed it the part of prudence to maintain his
+isolation more rigidly than ever, and make his communications with the
+outer world few and far between, for had it become known to the
+captain-general of Peru that there was a member of the proscribed order in
+his vice-royalty, even at so out of the way a place as Quipai he would
+have been sent about his business without ceremony. The possibility of
+this contingency was always in the abbe's mind. For a time it caused him
+serious disquiet; but as the years went on and no notice was taken of him
+his mind became easier. The news I brought of the then recent events in
+Spain and the revolt of her colonies made him easier. The viceroy would
+have too many irons in the fire to trouble himself about the mission of
+Quipai and its chief, even if they should come to his knowledge, which was
+to the last degree improbable. We sat talking for several hours, and
+should probably have talked longer had not the abbe kindly yet
+peremptorily insisted on my retiring to rest.
+
+Early next morning we started on an excursion to the valley lake, each of
+us mounted on a fine mule from the abbe's stables, and attended by an
+_arriero_. North as well as south of San Cristobal (as the village was
+generally called) the country had the same garden-like aspect. There was
+none of the tangled vegetation which in tropical forests impedes the
+traveller's progress; except where they had been planted by the roadside
+for protection from the sun, or bent over the water-courses, the trees
+grew wide apart like trees in a park. Men and women were busy in the
+fields and plantations, for the abbe had done even a more wonderful thing
+than restoring the great _azequia_--converted a tribe of indolent
+aborigines into an industrious community of husbandmen and craftsmen;
+among them were carpenters, smiths, masons, weavers, dyers, and cunning
+workers in silver and gold. The secret of his power was the personal
+ascendancy of a strong man, the naturally docile character of his
+converts, the inflexible justice which characterized all his dealings with
+them, and the belief assiduously cultivated, that as he had been their
+benefactor in this world he could control their destinies in the next.
+Though he never punished he was always obeyed, and there was probably not
+a man or woman under his sway who would have hesitated to obey him, even
+to death.
+
+The lake was small yet picturesque, its verdant banks deepening by
+contrast the dark desolation of the arid mountains in which it was
+embosomed. Some three thousand feet above it rose the extinct volcano, the
+slopes of which in the days of the Incas were terraced and cultivated.
+Angela and I half rode, half walked to the top; but the abbe, on the plea
+that he had some business to look after, stayed at the bottom.
+
+The crater was about eight hundred yards in diameter and filled nearly to
+the brim with crystal water, which outflowed by a wide and well made
+channel into the lake, the supply being kept up by the in-flow from the
+_azequia_, whose course we could trace far into the mountains.
+
+The view from our coigne of vantage was unspeakably grand. Behind us rose
+the stupendous range of the Andes, with its snow-white peaks and smoking
+volcanoes; before us the oasis of Quipai rolled like a river of living
+green to the shores of the measureless ocean, whose shining waters in that
+clear air and under that azure sky seemed only a few miles away, while, as
+far as the eye could reach, the coast-line was fringed with the dreary
+waste where I had so nearly perished.
+
+The oasis, as I now for the first time discovered, was a valley, a broad
+shallow depression in the desert falling in a gentle slope from the foot
+of the Cordillera to the sea, whereby its irrigation was greatly
+facilitated.
+
+"How beautiful Quipai looks, and how like a river!" said Angela. "That is
+what I always think when I come here--how like a river!"
+
+"Who knows that long ago the valley was not the bed of a river!"
+
+"It must be very long ago, then, before there was any Cordillera.
+Rain-clouds never cross the Andes, and for untold ages there can have been
+no rain here on the coast."
+
+"You are right. Without rain you cannot have much of a river, and if the
+_azequia_ were to fail there would be very little left of Quipai."
+
+"Don't suggest anything so dreadful as the failure of the _azequia_. It is
+the Palladium of the mission and the source of all our prosperity and
+happiness. Besides, how could it fail? You see how solidly it is built,
+and every month it is carefully inspected from end to end."
+
+"It might be destroyed by an earthquake."
+
+"You are pleased to be a Job's comforter, Monsieur Nigel. Damaged it might
+be, but hardly destroyed, except in some cataclysm which would destroy
+everything, and that is a risk which, like all dwellers in countries
+subject to earthquakes, we must run. We cannot escape from the conditions
+of our existence; and life is so pleasant here, we are spared so many of
+the miseries which afflict our fellow-creatures in other parts of the
+world--war, pestilence, strife, and want--that it were as foolish and
+ungrateful to make ourselves unhappy because we are exposed to some remote
+danger against which we cannot guard, as to repine because we cannot live
+forever."
+
+"You discourse most excellent philosophy, Mademoiselle Angela."
+
+"Without knowing it, then, as Monsieur Jourdan talked prose."
+
+"So! You have read Moliere?"
+
+"Over and over again."
+
+"Then you must have a library at San Cristobal."
+
+"A very small one, as you may suppose; but a small library is not
+altogether a disadvantage, as the abbe says. The fewer books you have the
+oftener you read them; and it is better to read a few books well than many
+superficially."
+
+"The abbe has been your sole teacher, I suppose?"
+
+"Has been! He is still. He has even written books for me, and he is the
+author of some of the best I possess--But don't you think, monsieur, we
+had better descend to the valley? The abbe will have finished his business
+by this time, and though he is the best man in the world he has the fault
+of kings; he does not like to wait."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+I BID YOU STAY.
+
+
+"You have been here a month, Monsieur Nigel, living in close intimacy with
+Angela and myself," said the abbe, as we sat on the veranda sipping our
+morning coffee. "You have mixed with our people, seen our country, and
+inspected the great _azequia_ in its entire length. Tell me, now, frankly,
+what do you think of us?"
+
+"I never passed so happy a month in my life, and--"
+
+"I am glad to hear you say so, very glad. My question, however, referred
+not to your feelings but your opinion. I will repeat it: What think you of
+Quipai and its institutions?"
+
+"I know of but one institution in Quipai, and I admire it more than I can
+tell."
+
+"And that is?"
+
+"Yourself, Monsieur l'Abbe."
+
+The abbe smiled as if the compliment pleased him, but the next moment his
+face took the "pale cast of thought," and he remained silent for several
+minutes.
+
+"I know what you mean," he said at length, speaking slowly and rather
+sadly. "You mean that I am Quipai, and that without me Quipai would be
+nowhere."
+
+"Exactly, Monsieur l'Abbe. Quipai is a miracle; you are its creator, yet I
+doubt whether, as it now exists, it could long survive you. But that is a
+contingency which we need not discuss; you have still many years of life
+before you."
+
+"I like a well-turned compliment, Monsieur Nigel, because in order to be
+acceptable it must possess both a modicum of truth and a _soupcon_ of wit.
+But flattery I detest, for it must needs be insincere. A man of ninety
+cannot, in the nature of things, have many years of life before him. What
+are even ten years to one who has already lived nearly a century? This is
+a solemn moment for both of us, and I want to be sincere with you. You
+were sincere just now when you said Quipai would perish with me. And it
+will--unless I can find a successor who will continue the work which I
+have begun. My people are good and faithful, but they require a prescient
+and capable chief, and there is not one among them who is fitted either by
+nature or education to take the place of leader. Will you be my successor,
+Monsieur Nigel?"
+
+This was a startling proposal. To stay in Quipai for a few weeks or even a
+few months might be very delightful. But to settle for life in an Andean
+desert! On the other hand, to leave Quipai were to lose Angela.
+
+"You hesitate. But reflect well, my friend, before denying my request.
+True, you are loath to renounce the great world with its excitements,
+ambitions, and pleasures. But you would renounce them for a life free from
+care, an honorable position, and a career full of promise. It will take
+years to complete the work I have begun, and make Quipai a nation. As I
+said when you first came, Providence sent you here, as it sent Angela, for
+some good end. It sent the one for the other. Stay with us, Monsieur
+Nigel, and marry Angela! If you search the world through you could find no
+sweeter wife."
+
+My hesitation vanished like the morning mist before the rising sun.
+
+"If Angela will be my wife," I said, "I will be your successor."
+
+"It is the answer I expected, Monsieur Nigel. I am content to let Angela
+be the arbiter of your fate and the fate of Quipai. She will be here
+presently. Put the question yourself. She knows nothing of this; but I
+have watched you both, and though my eyes are growing dim I am not blind."
+
+And with that the abbe left me to my thoughts. It was not the first time
+that the idea of asking Angela to be my wife had entered my mind. I loved
+her from the moment I first set eyes on her, and my love has become a
+passion. But I had not been able to see my way. How could I ask a
+beautiful, gently nurtured girl to share the lot of a penniless wanderer,
+even if she could consent to leave Quipai, which I greatly doubted. But
+now! Compared with Angela, the excitements and ambitions of which the abbe
+had spoken did not weigh as a feather in the balance. Without her life
+would be a dreary penance; with her a much worse place than Quipai would
+be an earthly paradise.
+
+But would she have me? The abbe seemed to think so. Nevertheless, I felt
+by no means sure about it. True, she appeared to like my company. But that
+might be because I had so much to tell her that was strange and new; and
+though I had observed her narrowly, I had detected none of that charming
+self-consciousness, that tender confusion, those stolen glances, whereby
+the conventional lover gauges his mistress's feelings, and knows before he
+speaks that his love is returned. Angela was always the same--frank, open,
+and joyous, and, except that her caresses were reserved for him, made no
+difference between the abbe and me.
+
+"A _chirimoya_ for your thoughts, senor!" said a well-known voice, in
+musical Castilian. "For these three minutes I have been standing close by
+you, with this freshly gathered chirimoya, and you took no notice of me."
+
+"A thousand pardons and a thousand thanks, senorita!" I answered, taking
+the proffered fruit. "But my thoughts were worth all the chirimoyas in the
+world, delicious as they are, for they were of you."
+
+"We were thinking of each other then."
+
+"What! Were you thinking of me?"
+
+"_Si, senor._"
+
+"And what were you thinking, senorita?"
+
+"That God was very good in sending you to Quipai."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"For several reasons."
+
+"Tell me them."
+
+"Because you have done the abbe good. Aforetime he was often sad. You
+remember his saying that he had cares. I know not what, but now he seems
+himself again."
+
+"Anything else?"
+
+"_Si, senor._ You have also increased my happiness. Not that I was unhappy
+before, for, thanks to the dear abbe, my life has been free from sorrow;
+but during the last month--since you came--I have been more than happy, I
+have been joyous."
+
+"You don't want me to go, then?"
+
+"O senor! Want you to go! How can you--what have I done or said?"
+exclaimed the girl, impetuously and almost indignantly. "Surely, sir, you
+are not tired of us already?"
+
+"Heaven forbid! If you want me to stay I shall not go. It is for you to
+decide. _Angela mia_, it depends on you whether I go away soon--how or
+whither I know not--or stay here all my life long."
+
+"Depends on me! Then, sir, I bid you stay."
+
+"Oh, Angela, you must say more than that. You must consent to become my
+wife; then do with me what you will."
+
+"Your wife! You ask me to become your wife?"
+
+"Yes, Angela. I have loved you since the day we first met; every day my
+love grows stronger and deeper, and unless you love me in return, and will
+be my wife, I cannot stay; I must go--go at once."
+
+"_Quipai, senor_," said Angela, archly, at the same time giving me her
+hand.
+
+"Quipai! I don't quite understand--unless you mean--"
+
+"Quipai," she repeated, her eyes brightening into a merry smile.
+
+"Unless you mean--"
+
+"Quipai."
+
+"Oh, how dull I am! I see now. Quipai--rest here."
+
+"_Si, senor._"
+
+"And if I rest here, you will--"
+
+"Do as you wish, senor, and with all my heart; for as you love me, so I
+love you."
+
+"Dearest Angela!" I said, kissing her hand, "you make me almost too happy.
+Never will I leave Quipai without you."
+
+"And never will I leave it without you. But let us not talk of leaving
+Quipai. Where can we be happier than here with the dear abbe? But what
+will he say?"
+
+"He will give us his blessing. His most ardent wish is that I should be
+your husband and his successor."
+
+"How good he is? And I, wicked girl that I am, repay his goodness with
+base ingratitude. Ah me! How shall I tell him?"
+
+"You repay his goodness with base ingratitude? You speak in riddles, my
+Angela."
+
+"Since the waves washed me to his feet, a little child, the abbe has
+cherished me with all the tenderness of a mother, all the devotion of a
+father. He has been everything to me; and now you are everything to me. I
+love you better than I love him. Don't you think I am a wicked girl?" And
+she put her arm within mine, and looking at me with love-beaming eyes,
+caressing my cheek with her hand.
+
+"I will grant you absolution, and award you no worse penance than an
+embrace, _ma fille cherie_," said the abbe, who had returned to the
+veranda just in time to overhear Angela's confession. "I rejoice in your
+happiness, _mignonne_. To-day you make two men happy--your lover and
+myself. You have lightened my mind of the cares which threatened to darken
+my closing days. The thought of leaving you without a protector and Quipai
+without a chief was a sore trouble. Your husband will be both. Like Moses,
+I have seen the Promised Land, and I shall be content."
+
+"Talk not of dying, dear father or you will make me sad," said Angela,
+putting her arms round his neck.
+
+"There are worse things than dying, my child. But you are quite right;
+this is no time for melancholy forebodings. Let us be happy while we may;
+and since I came to Quipai, sixty years ago, I have had no happier day
+than this."
+
+As the only law at Quipai was the abbe's will, and we had neither
+settlements to make, trousseaux to prepare, nor house to get ready (the
+abbe's house being big enough for us all), there was no reason why our
+wedding should be delayed, and the week after Angela and I had plighted
+our troth, we were married at the church of San Cristobal.
+
+The abbe's wedding-present to Angela was a gold cross studded with large
+uncut diamonds. Where he got them I had no idea, but I heard
+afterward--and something more.
+
+All this time nothing, save vague generalities, had passed between us on
+the subject of religion--rather to my surprise, for priests are not wont
+to ignore so completely their _raison d'etre_, but I subsequently found
+that Balthazar, albeit a devout Christian, was no bigot. Either his early
+training, his long isolation from ecclesiastical influence, or his
+communings with Nature had broadened his horizon and spiritualized his
+beliefs. Dogma sat lightly on him, and he construed the apostolic
+exhortations to charity in their widest sense. But these views were
+reserved for Angela and myself. With his flock he was the Roman
+ecclesiastic--a sovereign pontiff--whom they must obey in this world on
+pain of being damned in the next. For he held that the only ways of
+successfully ruling semi-civilized races are by physical force, personal
+influence, or their fear of the unseen and the unknown. At the outset
+Balthazar, having no physical force at his command, had to trust
+altogether to personal influence, which, being now re-enforced by the
+highest religious sanctions, made his power literally absolute. Albeit
+Quipai possessed neither soldiers, constables, nor prison, his authority
+was never questioned; he was as implicitly obeyed as a general at the head
+of an army in the field.
+
+I have spoken of the abbe's communings with Nature. I ought rather to have
+said his searchings into her mysteries; for he was a shrewd philosopher
+and keen observer, and despite the disadvantages under which he labored,
+the scarcity of his books, and the rudeness of his instruments, he had
+acquired during his long life a vast fund of curious knowledge which he
+placed unreservedly at my disposal. I became his pupil, and it was he who
+first kindled in my breast that love of science which for nearly
+three-score years I have lived only to gratify.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+THE ABBE'S LEGACY.
+
+
+Life was easy at Quipai, and we were free from care. On the other hand, we
+had so much to do that time sped swiftly, and though we were sometimes
+tired we were never weary. The abbe made me the civil governor of the
+mission, and gave orders that I should be as implicitly obeyed as himself.
+My duties in this capacity, though not arduous, were interesting,
+including as they did all that concerned the well-being of the people, the
+maintenance of the _azequia_, and the irrigation of the oasis. My leisure
+hours were spent in study, working in the abbe's laboratory, and with
+Angela, who nearly always accompanied me on my excursions to the head of
+the aqueduct which, as I have already mentioned was at the foot of the
+snow-line, two days' journey from the valley lake.
+
+It was during one of these excursions that we planned our new home, a
+mountain nest which we would have all to ourselves, and whither at the
+height of summer we might escape from the heat of the oasis, for albeit
+the climate of Quipai was fine on the whole, there were times when the
+temperature rose to an uncomfortable height. The spot on which we fixed
+was a hollow in the hills, some two miles beyond the crater reservoir and
+about eight thousand feet above the level of the sea. By tapping the
+_azequia_ we turned the barren valley into a garden of roses, for in that
+rainless region water was a veritable magician, whatsoever it touched it
+vivified. This done we sent up timber, and built ourselves a cottage,
+which we called Alta Vista, for the air was superb and the view one of the
+grandest in the world.
+
+Angela would fain have persuaded the abbe to join us; yet though I made a
+well-graded road and the journey was neither long nor fatiguing he came
+but seldom. He was so thoroughly acclimatized that he preferred the warmth
+of San Cristobal to the freshness of Alta Vista, and the growing burden of
+his years indisposed him to exertion, and made movement an effort. We
+could all see, and none more clearly than himself, that the end was not
+far off. He contemplated it with the fortitude of a philosopher and the
+faith of a Christian. For the spiritual wants of his people he provided by
+ordaining (as in virtue of his ecclesiastical rank he had the right to
+do), three young men, whom he had carefully educated for the purpose; the
+reins of government he gave over entirely to me.
+
+"I have lived a long life and done a good work, and though I shall be
+sorry to leave you, I am quite content to go," he said one day to Angela
+and me. "It is not in my power to bequeath you a fortune, in the ordinary
+sense of the word, for money I have none, yet so long as the mission
+prospers you will be better off than if I could give you millions. But
+everything human is ephemeral and I cannot disguise from myself the
+possibility of some great disaster befalling you. Those mountains contain
+both gold and silver, and an invasion of treasure-seekers, either from the
+sea or the Cordillera would be the ruin of the mission. My poor people
+would be demoralized, perhaps destroyed, and you would be compelled to
+quit Quipai and return to the world. For that contingency, though I hope
+it will never come to pass, you must be prepared, and I will point out the
+way. The mountains, as I have said, contain silver and gold; and contain
+something even more precious than silver and gold--diamonds, I made the
+discovery nearly half a century ago, and I confess that, for a time, the
+temptation was almost more than I could withstand. With such wealth as I
+saw at my disposal I might do anything, be anything, enrich my order, win
+distinction for myself, and attain to high rank, perhaps the highest, in
+the church, or leave it and become a power in the world, a master of men
+and the guest of princes. Yes, it was a sore temptation, but with God's
+help, I overcame it and chose the better part, the path of duty, and I
+have my reward. I brought a few diamonds away with me, some of which are
+in Angela's cross; but I have never been to the place since. I told you
+not this sooner, my son, partly because there seemed no need, partly
+because, not knowing you as well as I know you now, I thought you might be
+tempted in like manner as I was and we pray not to be led into temptation.
+But though I tell you where these precious stones are to be found, I am
+sure that you will never quit Quipai."
+
+"I have no great desire to know the whereabout of this diamond mine,
+father. Tell me or not as you think fit. In any case, I shall be true to
+my trust and my word. I promise you that I will not leave Quipai till I am
+forced, and I hope I never may be."
+
+"All the same, my son, it is the part of a wise man to provide for even
+unlikely contingencies. Remember, it is the unexpected that happens, and I
+would not have you and our dear Angela cast on the world penniless. For
+her, bred as she has been, it would be a frightful misfortune; and up
+yonder are diamonds which would make you rich beyond the dreams of
+avarice. Promise me that you will go thither, and bring away as many as
+you can conveniently carry about your persons in the event of your being
+compelled to quit the oasis at short notice."
+
+"I promise. Nevertheless, I see no probability--"
+
+"We are discussing possibilities not probabilities, my son. And during the
+last few days I have had forebodings, if I were superstitious I should say
+prophetic visions, else had I not broached the subject. Regard it, if you
+like, as an old man's whim--and keep a look-out on the sea."
+
+"Why particularly on the sea?"
+
+"It is the quarter whence danger is most to be apprehended. If some
+Spanish war-ship were to sight the oasis and send a boat ashore, either
+out of idle curiosity or for other reasons, a report would be made to the
+captain-general, or to whomsoever is now in authority at Lima, and there
+would come a horde of government functionaries, who would take possession
+of everything, and you would have to go. But take your pen and note down
+the particulars that will enable you to find the diamond mine."
+
+Though Angela and I listened to the abbe's warnings with all respect, they
+made little impression on our minds. We regarded them as the vagaries of
+an old man, whose mind was affected by the feebleness of his body, and a
+few weeks later he breathed his last. His death came in the natural order
+of things, and, as he had outlived his strength, it was for him a happy
+release; yet, as we had loved him much, we sorrowed for him deeply, and I
+still honor his memory. Take him all in all, Abbe Balthazar was the best
+man I have ever known.
+
+Shortly after we laid him in the ground I made a visit to the diamond
+ground, the situation of which the abbe had so fully described that I
+found it without difficulty. But the undertaking, besides proving much
+more arduous than I had anticipated, came near to costing me my life. I
+took with me an _arriero_ and three mules, one carrying an ample supply of
+food, and, as I thought, of water, for the abbe had told me that a
+mountain-stream ran through the valley where I was to look for the
+diamonds. As ill-luck would have it, however, the stream was dried up. Had
+it not been that I did not like to return empty-handed I should have
+returned at once, for our stock of water was exhausted and we were two
+days' journey from Quipai.
+
+I spent a whole day seeking among the stones and pebbles, and my search
+was so far successful that I picked up two score diamonds, some of
+considerable size. If I could have stayed longer I might have made a still
+richer harvest; and I had an idea that there were more under than above
+ground. But I had stayed too long as it was. The mules were already
+suffering for want of water; all three perished before we reached Quipai,
+and the arriero and myself got home only just alive.
+
+Nevertheless, had not Angelo put her veto on the project, I should have
+made another visit to the place, provided with a sufficiency of water for
+the double journey. I, moreover, thought that with time and proper tools I
+could find water on the spot. However, I went not again, and I renounced
+my design all the more willingly as I knew that the diamonds I had already
+found were a fortune in themselves. I added them to my collection of
+minerals which I kept in my cabinet at Alta Vista. My Quipais being honest
+and knowing nothing whatever of precious stones I had no fear of robbers.
+
+For several years after Balthazar's death nothing occurred to disturb the
+even tenor of our way, and I had almost forgotten his warnings, and that
+we were potentially "rich beyond the dreams of avarice," when one day a
+runner brought word that two men had landed on the coasts and were on the
+way to San Cristobal.
+
+This was startling news, and I questioned the messenger closely, but all
+he could tell me was that the strangers had arrived in a small boat, half
+famished and terribly thirsty, and had asked, in broken Spanish, to be
+taken to the chief of the country, and that he had been sent on to inform
+me of their coming.
+
+"The abbe!" exclaimed Angela, "you remember what he said about danger from
+the sea."
+
+"Yes; but there is nothing to fear from two hungry men in a small boat--as
+I judge from the runner's account, shipwrecked mariners."
+
+"I don't know; there's no telling, they may be followed by others, and
+unless we keep them here--"
+
+"If necessary we must keep them here; as, however, they are evidently not
+Spaniards it may not be necessary. But as to that I can form no opinion
+till I have seen and questioned them."
+
+We were still talking about them, for the incident was both suggestive and
+exciting, when the strangers were brought in. As I expected, they were
+seamen, in appearance regular old salts. One was middle-sized, broad
+built, brawny, and large-limbed--a squat Hercules, with big red whiskers,
+earrings and a pig-tail. His companion was taller and less sturdy, his
+black locks hung in ringlets on either side of a swarthy, hairless face,
+and the arms and hands of both, as also their breasts were extensively
+tattooed.
+
+Their surprise on beholding Angela and me was almost ludicrous. They might
+have been expecting to see a copper-colored cacique dressed in war-paint
+and adorned with scalps.
+
+"White! By the piper that played before Moses, white!" muttered the
+red-whiskered man. "Who'd ha' thought it! A squaw in petticoats, too, with
+a gold chain round her neck! Where the hangmant have we got to?"
+
+"You are English?" I said, quietly.
+
+"Well, I'll be--yes, sir! I'm English, name of Yawl, Bill Yawl, sir, of
+the port of Liverpool, at your service. My mate, here, he's a--"
+
+"I'll tell my own tale, if you please, Bill Yawl," interrupted the other
+as I thought rather peremptorily. "My name is Kidd, and I'm a native of
+Barbadoes in the West Indies, by calling, a mariner, and late second mate
+of the brig Sulky Sail, Jones, master, bound from Liverpool to Lima, with
+a cargo of hardware and cotton goods."
+
+"And what has become of the Sulky Sail?"
+
+"She went to the bottom, sir, three days ago."
+
+"But there has been no bad weather, lately."
+
+"Not lately. But we made very bad weather rounding the Horn, and the ship
+sprang a leak, and though, by throwing cargo overboard, and working hard
+at the pumps, we managed to keep her afloat nearly a month; she foundered
+at last."
+
+"And are you the only survivors?"
+
+"No, sir; the master and most of the crew got away in the long boat. But
+as the ship went down the dinghy was swamped. Bill and me managed to right
+her and get aboard again, but the others as was with us got drowned."
+
+"And the long boat?"
+
+"We lost each other in the night, and, having no water, and only a tin of
+biscuits, Bill and me made straight for the coast, and landed in the
+little cove down below this morning. All we have is what we stand up in.
+And we shall feel much obliged if you will kindly give us food and shelter
+until such time as we can get away."
+
+On this I assured Mr. Kidd that I was sorry for their misfortune, and
+would gladly find them food and lodging, and whatever else they might
+require, but as for getting away, I did not see how that was possible,
+unless by sea, and in their own dinghy.
+
+"We are very grateful for your kindness, sir; but I don't think we should
+much like to make another voyage in the dinghy."
+
+"She ain't seaworthy," growled Yawl, "you've to bale all the time, and if
+it came on to blow she'd turn turtle in half a minute."
+
+"May be some vessel will be touching here, sir," suggested Kidd.
+
+"Vessels never do touch here, except to be dashed in pieces against the
+rocks."
+
+"Well, I suppose we shall have to wait till a chance happens out. This
+seems a nice place, and we are in no hurry, if you aren't."
+
+So the two castaways became my guests; and if they waited to be taken off
+by a passing ship they were likely to remain my guests as long as they
+lived.
+
+For a few days they rambled about the place with their hands in their
+pockets and cigars (with which I supplied them liberally) in their mouths.
+But after a while time began to hang heavy on their hands, and one day
+they came to me with a proposal.
+
+"We are tired of doing nothing, Mr. Fortescue," said Kidd.
+
+"It is the hardest work I ever put my hand to, and not a grog-shop in the
+place," interposed Yawl.
+
+"Hold your jaw, Bill, and let me say my say out. We are tired of doing
+nothing, and if you like we will build you a sloop."
+
+"A sloop! To go away in, I suppose?"
+
+"That is as you please, sir. Anyhow, a sloop, say of fifteen or twenty
+tons, would be very useful. You might take a sail with your lady now and
+again, and explore the coast. Yawl has been both ship's carpenter and
+bo'son--he'll boss the job; and I'm a very fair amateur cabinet-maker. If
+you want anything in that line doing at your house, sir, I shall be glad
+to do it for you."
+
+The project pleased me; an occasional cruise would be an agreeable
+diversion, and I assented to Kidd's proposal without hesitation. There was
+as much wreckage lying on the cliff as would build a man-of-war, and a
+small cove at the foot of the oasis where the sloop could lie safely at
+anchor.
+
+So the work was taken in hand, some of my own people helping, and after
+several months' labor the Angela, as I proposed to call her, was launched.
+She had a comfortable little cabin and so soon as she was masted and
+rigged would be ready for sea.
+
+In the mean time I asked Kidd to superintend some alterations I was making
+at Alta Vista, and among other things construct larger cabinets for my
+mineral and entomological specimens. He did the work quite to my
+satisfaction, but before it was well finished I made a portentous
+discovery--several of my diamonds were missing. There could be no doubt
+about it, for I knew the number to a nicety, and had counted them over and
+over again. Neither could there be any doubt that Kidd was the thief.
+Besides my wife, myself, and one or two of our servants, no one else had
+been in the room; and our own people would not have taken the trouble to
+pick up a diamond from the ground, much less steal one from my house.
+
+My first impulse was to accuse Kidd of the theft and have him searched.
+And then I reflected that I was almost as much to blame as himself.
+Assuming that he knew something of the value of precious stones, I had
+exposed him to temptation by leaving so many and of so great value in an
+open drawer. He might well suppose that I set no store by them, and that
+half a dozen or so would never be missed. So I decided to keep silence for
+the present and keep a watch on Mr. Kidd's movements. It might be that he
+and Yawl were thinking to steal a march on me and sail away secretly with
+the sloop, and perhaps something else. They had both struck up rather
+close friendships with native women.
+
+But as I did not want to lose any more of my diamonds, and there was no
+place at Alta Vista where they would be safe so long as Kidd was on the
+premises, I put them in a bag in the inside pocket of a quilted vest which
+I always wore on my mountain excursions, my intention being to take them
+on the following day down to San Cristobal and bestow them in a secure
+hiding-place.
+
+I little knew that I should never see San Cristobal again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+THE QUENCHING OF QUIPAI.
+
+
+The cottage at Alta Vista had expanded little by little into a long,
+single storied flat-roofed house, shaded by palm-trees and set in a fair
+garden, which looked all the brighter from its contrast with the brown and
+herbless hill-sides that uprose around it.
+
+In the after part of the day on which I discovered the theft, Angela and
+myself were sitting under the veranda, which fronted the house and
+commanded a view of the great reservoir, the oasis and the ocean. She was
+reading aloud a favorite chapter in "Don Quixote," one of the few books we
+possessed. I was smoking.
+
+Angela read well; her pronunciation of Spanish was faultless, and I always
+took particular pleasure in hearing her read the idiomatic Castilian of
+Cervantes. Nevertheless, my mind wandered; and, try as I might, I could
+not help thinking more of the theft of the diamonds than the doughty deeds
+of the Don and the shrewd sayings of Sancho Panza. Not that the loss gave
+me serious concern. A few stones more or less made no great difference,
+and I should probably never turn to account those I had. But the incident
+revived suspicions as to the good faith of the two castaways, which had
+been long floating vaguely in my mind. From the first I had rather doubted
+the account they gave of themselves. And Kidd! I had never much liked him;
+he had a hard inscrutable face, and unless I greatly misjudged him was
+capable of bolder enterprises than petty larceny. He was just the man to
+steal secretly away and return with a horde of unscrupulous
+treasure-seekers, for he knew now that there were diamonds in the
+neighborhood, and he must have heard that we had found gold and silver
+ornaments and vessels in the old cemetery--
+
+"_Dios mio!_ What is that?" exclaimed Angela, dropping her book and
+springing to her feet, an example which I instantly followed, for the
+earth was moving under us, and there fell on our ears, for the first time,
+the dread sound of subterranean thunder.
+
+"An earthquake!"
+
+But the alarm was only momentary. In less time than it takes to tell the
+trembling ceased and the thunder died away.
+
+"Only a slight shock, after all," I said, "and I hope we shall have no
+more. However, it is just as well to be prepared. I will have the mules
+got out of the stable; and if there is anything inside you particularly
+want you had better fetch it. I will join you in the garden presently."
+
+As I passed through the house I saw Kidd coming out of the room where I
+kept my specimens.
+
+"What are you doing there?" I asked him, sharply.
+
+"I went for a tool I left there" (holding up a chisel). "Did you feel the
+shock?"
+
+"Yes, and there may be another. Tell Maximiliano to get the mules out."
+
+"If he has been after the diamonds," I thought, "he must know that I have
+taken them away. I had better make sure of them." And with that I stepped
+into my room, put on my quilted jacket, and armed myself with a small
+hatchet and a broad-bladed, highly tempered knife, given to me by the
+abbe, which served both as a dagger and a _machete_.
+
+When I had seen the mules safely tethered, and warned the servants and
+others to run into the open if there should be another shock, I returned
+to Angela, who had resumed her seat in the veranda.
+
+"Equipped for the mountains! Where away now, _caro mio_?" she said,
+regarding me with some surprise.
+
+"Nowhere. At any rate, I have no present intention of running away. I have
+put on my jacket because of these diamonds, and brought my hatchet and
+hunting-knife because, if the house collapses, I should not be able to get
+them at the very time they would be the most required."
+
+"If the house collapses! You think, then, we are going to have a bad
+earthquake?"
+
+"It is possible. This is an earthquake country; there has been nothing
+more serious than a slight trembling since long before the abbe died; and
+I have a feeling that something more serious is about to happen.
+Underground thunder is always an ominous symptom.--Ah! There it is again.
+Run into the garden. I will bring the chairs and wraps."
+
+The house being timber built and one storied, I had little fear that it
+would collapse; but anything may happen in an earthquake, and in the
+garden we were safe from anything short of the ground on which we stood
+actually gaping or slipping bodily down the mountain-side.
+
+The second shock was followed by a third, more violent than either of its
+predecessors. The earth trembled and heaved so that we could scarcely
+stand. The underground thunder became louder and continuous and, what was
+even more appalling, we could distinctly see the mountain-tops move and
+shake, as if they were going to fall and overwhelm us.
+
+But even this shock passed off without doing any material mischief, and I
+was beginning to think the worst was over when one of the servants drew my
+attention to the great reservoir. It smoked and though there was no wind
+the water was white with foam and running over the banks.
+
+This went on several minutes, and then the water, as if yielding to some
+irresistible force, left the sides, and there shot out of it a gigantic
+jet nearly as thick as the crater was wide and hundreds of feet high. It
+broke in the form of a rose and fell in a fine spray, which the setting
+sun hued with all the colors of the rainbow.
+
+It was the most splendid sight I had ever seen and the most
+portentous--for I knew that the crater had become active, and remembering
+how long it had taken to fill I feared the worst.
+
+The jet went on rising and falling for nearly an hour, but as the mass of
+the water returned to the crater, very little going over the sides, no
+great harm was done.
+
+"Thank Heaven for the respite!" exclaimed Angela, who had been clinging to
+me all the time, trembling yet courageous. "Don't you think the danger is
+now past, my Nigel?"
+
+"For us, it may be. But if the crater has really become active. I fear
+that our poor people at San Cristobal will be in very great danger
+indeed."
+
+"No! God alone--Hearken!"
+
+A muffled peal of thunder which seemed to come from the very bowels of the
+earth, followed by a detonation like the discharge of an army's artillery,
+and the sides of the crater opened, and with a wild roar the pent-up
+torrent burst forth, and leaping into the lake, rolled, a mighty avalanche
+of water, toward the doomed oasis.
+
+We looked at each other in speechless dismay. Nothing could resist that
+terrible flood; it would sweep everything before it, for, though its
+violence might be lessened before it reached the sea, only the few who
+happened to be near the coast could escape destruction.
+
+Nobody spoke; the roar of the cataract deafened us, the awfulness of the
+catastrophe made us dumb. We were as if stunned, and I was conscious of
+nothing save a sickening sense of helplessness and despair.
+
+For an hour we stood watching the outpouring of the water. In that hour
+Quipai was destroyed and its people perished.
+
+As the blood-red sun sank into the bosom of the broad Pacific, a great
+cloud of smoke and steam, mingled with stones and ashes, was puffed out of
+the crater and a stream of fiery lava, bursting from the breach in the
+side of the mountain, followed in the wake of the water.
+
+The uproar was terrific; explosion succeeded explosion; great stones
+hurled through the air and fell back into the crater with a din like
+discharges of musketry, and whenever there came a lull we could hear the
+hissing of the water as it met the lava.
+
+We remained in the garden the night through. Nobody thought of going
+indoors; but after a while we became so weary with watching and
+overwrought with excitement that, despite the danger and the noise we
+could not keep our eyes open. Before the southern cross began to bend we
+were all asleep, Angela and I wrapped in our cobijas, the others on the
+turf and under the trees.
+
+When I opened my eyes the sun was rising majestically above the
+Cordillera, but its rays had not yet reached the ocean. I rose and looked
+around. The crater was still smoking, and a mist hung over the oasis, but
+the lava had ceased to flow, and not a zephyr moved the air, not a tremor
+stirred the earth. Only the blackened throat of the volcano and the
+ghastly rent in its side were there to remind us of the havoc that had
+been wrought and the ruin of Quipai.
+
+I roused the people and bade them prepare breakfast, for though thousands
+may perish in a night, the survivors must eat on the morrow. The house,
+albeit considerably shaken, was still intact, but several of the doors
+were so tightly jammed that I had to break them open with my hatchet.
+
+When breakfast was ready I woke Angela.
+
+"Is it real, or have I been dreaming?" she asked, with a shudder, looking
+wildly round.
+
+"It is only too real," I said, pointing to the smoking crater.
+
+"_Misericordia!_ what shall we do?"
+
+"First of all, we must go down to the oasis and see whether any of the
+people are left alive."
+
+"You are right. When we have done what we can for the others it will be
+time enough to think about ourselves."
+
+"Are there any others?" I thought, for I greatly doubted whether we should
+find any alive, except, perhaps, Yawl and the three or four men who were
+helping him. But I kept my misgivings to myself, and after breakfast we
+set off. Angela and myself were mounted, and I assigned a mule to Kidd.
+The man might be useful, and, circumstanced as we were, it would have been
+bad policy to give him the cold shoulder. We also took with us provisions,
+clothing, and a tent, for I was by no means sure that we should find
+either food or shelter on the oasis.
+
+As we passed the volcano I looked into the crater. Nearly level with the
+breach made by the water was a great mass of seething lava, which I
+regarded as a sure sign that another eruption might take place at any
+moment. The valley lake had disappeared; banks, trees, soil, dwellings,
+all were gone, leaving only bare rocks and burning lava. Of San Cristobal
+there was not a vestige; the oasis had been converted into a damp and
+steaming gully, void of vegetation and animal life. But, as I had
+anticipated, the force of the flood was spent before it reached the coast.
+Much of the water had overflowed into the desert and been absorbed by the
+sand, and the little that remained was now sinking into the earth and
+being evaporated by the sun.
+
+For hours Angela and I rode on in silence; our distress was too deep for
+words.
+
+"Quipai is gone," she murmured at length, shuddering and looking at me
+with tear-filled eyes.
+
+"Yes, gone and forever. As entirely as if it had never been. It is worse
+than the carnage of a great battle. These poor people! Nature is more
+cruel than man."
+
+"But surely! will you not try to restore the oasis and re-create Quipai?"
+
+"To do that, _cara mia_, would require another Abbe Balthazar and sixty
+years of life. And to what end? Sooner or later our work would be
+destroyed as his has been, even if we were allowed to begin it. The
+volcano may be active for ages. We must go."
+
+"Whither?"
+
+"Back to the world, that in new scenes and occupation we may perchance
+forget this crowning calamity."
+
+"It is something to have been happy so long."
+
+"It is much; it is almost everything. Whatever the future may have in
+store for us, darling, nothing can deprive us of the sunny memories of the
+past, and the happiness we have enjoyed at Quipai."
+
+"True, and if this misfortune were not so terrible--But God knows best. It
+ill becomes me, who never knew sorrow before, to repine.--Yes, let us go.
+But how?"
+
+"By sea. I fear you would never survive the hazards and hardships of a
+journey over the Cordillera, and dearly as I love you--because I love
+you--I would rather have you die than be captured by Indians and made the
+wife of some savage cacique. Yes, we must go by sea, in the sloop built by
+these two castaways. Yet, even in that there will be a serious risk; for
+if they suspect I have the diamonds in my possession--and I am afraid the
+suspicion is inevitable--they will probably--"
+
+"What?"
+
+"Try to murder us."
+
+"Murder us!  For the diamonds?"
+
+"Yes, my Angela, for the diamonds. In the world which you have never seen
+men commit horrible crimes for insignificant gains, and I have here in my
+pocket the value of a king's ransom. Even the average man could hardly
+withstand so great a temptation, and all we know of these sailors is that
+one of them is a thief."
+
+"What will you do then?"
+
+"First of all, I must find a safer hiding-place for our wealth than my
+pockets; and we must be ever on our guard. The voyage will not be long,
+and we shall be three against two."
+
+"Three! You will take Ramon, then?"
+
+"Certainly--if he will go with us."
+
+"Of course he will. Ramon would follow you to the world's end. And the
+other sailor--Yawl--may have been drowned in the flood."
+
+"I don't think so. The flood did not go much farther than this, and Yawl
+was busy with his boat. But we shall soon know; the cliffs are in sight."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+NORTH BY WEST.
+
+
+Besides Yawl and his helpers, we found on the beach about thirty men and
+women, the saved of two thousand. Among them was one of the priests
+ordained by the abbe. All had lived in the lower part of the oasis, and
+when the volcano began spouting water, after the third earthquake, they
+fled to the coast and so escaped. Though naturally much distressed (being
+bereft of home, kindred, and all they possessed), they bore their
+misfortunes with the uncomplaining stoicism so characteristic of their
+race.
+
+The immediate question was how to dispose of these unfortunates. I could
+not take them away in the sloop, and I knew that they would prefer to
+remain in the neighborhood where they were born. But the oasis was
+uninhabitable. A few weeks and it would be merged once more in the desert
+from which it had been so painfully won. Therefore I proposed that they
+should settle at Alta Vista under charge of the priest. Alta Vista being
+above the volcano no outburst of lava could reach them, and the _azequia_
+being intact beyond that point they could easily bring more land under
+cultivation and live in comfort and abundance.
+
+To this proposal the survivors and the priest gladly and gratefully
+assented. They were very good, those poor Indians, and seemed much more
+concerned over our approaching departure than their own fate, beseeching
+us, with many entreaties, not to leave them. Angela would have yielded,
+but I was obdurate. I could not see that it was in any sense our duty to
+bury ourselves in a remote corner of the Andes for the sake of a score or
+two of Indians who were very well able to do without us. What could be the
+good of building up another colony and creating another oasis merely that
+the evil genii of the mountains might destroy them in a night? Had the
+abbe, instead of spending a lifetime in making Quipai, devoted his
+energies to some other work, he might have won for himself enduring fame
+and permanently benefited mankind. As it was, he had effected less than
+nothing, and I was resolved not to court his fate by following his
+example.
+
+Those were the arguments I used to Angela, and in the end she not only
+fully agreed with me that it was well for us to go, but that the sooner we
+went the better. The means were at hand. Yawl could have the yacht ready
+for sea within twenty-four hours. There was little more to do than head
+the sails and get water and provisions on board. I had the casks filled
+forthwith--for the water in the channels was fast draining away--set some
+of the people to work preparing _tasajo_, and sent Ramon with the mules
+and two _arrieros_ to Alta Vista for the remainder of our clothing,
+bedding, and several other things which I thought would be useful on the
+voyage.
+
+Ramon, I may mention, was my own personal attendant. He had been brought
+up and educated by Angela and myself, and was warmly attached to us. In
+disposition he was bright and courageous, in features almost European;
+there could be little doubt that he was descended from some white
+castaway, who had landed on the coast and been adopted by this tribe. He
+said it would break his heart if we left him behind, so we took him with
+us, and he has ever since been the faithful companion of my wanderings and
+my trusty friend.
+
+My wife and I slept in our tent, Kidd and Yawl on the sloop. As the sails
+were not bent nor the boat victualled, I had no fear of their giving us
+the slip in the night. In the morning Ramon and the _arrieros_ returned
+with their lading, and by sunset we had everything on board and was ready
+for a start.
+
+The next thing was to settle our course.   I wanted to reach a port where
+I could turn some of my diamonds into cash and take shipping for England,
+the West Indies, or the United States. We were between Valparaiso and
+Callao, and the former place, as being on the way, seemed the more
+desirable place to make for. But as the prevailing winds on the coast are
+north and northwest a voyage in the opposite direction would involve much
+beating up and nasty fetches, and, in all probability, be long and
+tedious. For these reasons I decided in favor of Callao, and told Kidd to
+shape our course accordingly.
+
+"Just as you like, sir," he said; "it is all the same to Yawl and me where
+we go. But it's a longish stretch to Callao. Don't you think we had better
+make for some nearer place? There's Islay, and there's Arica; and I doubt
+whether our water will last out till we get to Callao."
+
+"We must make it last till we get to Callao," I answered, sharply; "except
+under compulsion I will put in neither at Islay nor Arica."
+
+"All right, sir! We are under your orders, and what you say shall be done,
+as far as lies in our power."
+
+Kidd's answer was civil but his manner was surly and defiant, and it
+struck me that he might have some special reason for desiring to avoid
+Callao. But I was resolved to go thither, so that in case of need I might
+claim the protection of the British consul, whom I was sure to find there.
+I was by no means sure that I should find one either at Islay or Arica. I
+knew something of the ways of Spanish revenue officers, and as I had no
+papers, it was quite possible that (in the absence of a consul) I might be
+cast into prison and plundered of all I possessed, especially if Mr. Kidd
+should hint that it included a bag of diamonds.
+
+The sloop's accommodation for passengers was neither extensive nor
+luxurious. The small cabin aft was just big enough to hold Angela and
+myself, and once in it, we were like rats in a hole, as, to get out, we
+had to climb an almost perpendicular ladder. Kidd and Yawl were to sleep,
+turn and turn about, in a sort of dog-house which they had contrived in
+the bows. Ramon would roll himself in his _cobija_ and sleep anywhere.
+
+Before going on board I made such arrangements as I hoped would insure us
+against foul play. I stitched one half of the diamonds in my waist-belt;
+the other half my wife hid away in her dress. Among the things brought
+down from Alta Vista was an exquisite little dagger with a Damascened
+blade, which I gave to Angela. I had my hunting-knife, and Ramon his
+_machete_.
+
+I laid it down as a rule from which there was to be no departure, that
+Ramon and I were neither to sleep at the same time nor be in the cabin
+together, and that when we had anything particular to say we should say it
+in Quipai. As it happened, he knew a little English; I had taught my wife
+my mother-tongue, and Ramon, by dint of hearing it spoken, and with a
+little instruction from me and from her, had become so far proficient in
+the language that he could understand the greater part of what was said.
+This, however, was not known to Kidd and Yawl; I told him not to let them
+know; but whenever opportunity occurred to listen to their conversation,
+and report it to me. I thought that if they meditated evil against us I
+might in this way obtain timely information of their designs; and I
+considered that, in the circumstances (our lives being, as I believed, in
+jeopardy), the expedient was quite justifiable.
+
+We sailed at sunset and got well away, and the clear sky and resplendent
+stars, the calm sea and the fair soft wind augured well for a prosperous
+voyage. Yet my heart was sad and my spirits were low. The parting with our
+poor Indians had been very trying, and I could not help asking myself
+whether I had acted quite rightly in deserting them, whether it would not
+have been nobler (though perhaps not so worldly wise) to throw in my lot
+with theirs and try to recreate the oasis, as Angela had suggested. I also
+doubted whether I was acting the part of a prudent man in embarking my
+wife, my fortune, and myself on a wretched little sloop (which would
+probably founder in the first storm), under the control of two men of whom
+I knew no good, and who, as I feared, might play us false?
+
+But whether I had acted wisely or unwisely, there was no going back now,
+and as I did not want Angela to perceive that I was either dubious or
+downcast, I pulled myself together, put on a cheerful countenance, and
+spoke hopefully of our prospects.
+
+She was with us on deck, Kidd being at the helm.
+
+"I have no very precise idea how far we maybe from Callao," I said, "but
+if this wind lasts we should be there in five or six days at the outside.
+Don't you think so, Kidd?"
+
+"May be. You still think of going to Callao, then?"
+
+"Still think of going to Callao! I am determined to go to Callao. Why do
+you ask? Did not I distinctly say so before we started?"
+
+"I thought you had maybe changed your mind. And Callao won't be easy to
+make. Neither Yawl nor me has ever been there; we don't know the bearings,
+and we have no compass, and I don't know much about the stars in these
+latitudes."
+
+"But I do, and better still, I have a compass."
+
+"A compass! Do you hear that, Bill Yawl? Mr. Fortescue has got a compass.
+Go to Callao! Why, we can go a'most anywhere. Where have you got it,
+sir--in the cabin?"
+
+"Yes, Abbe Balthazar and I made it, ever so long since. It is only rudely
+fashioned, and has never been adjusted, but I dare say it will answer the
+purpose as well as another."
+
+"Of course it will, and if you'll kindly bring it here, it'll be a great
+help. I reckon if I keep her head about--"
+
+"Nor' by west."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir, that's it, I have no doubt. If I keep her head nor' by west,
+I dare say we shall fetch Callao as soon as you was a-saying just now. But
+Bill and me should have the compass before us when we're steering; and
+to-morrow we'll try to rig up a bit of a binnacle. You, perhaps, would not
+mind fetching it now, sir?--Bring that patent lantern of yours, Bill."
+
+I fetched the compass and Yawl the lantern, made of a glass bottle and a
+piece of copper sheeting (like the rest of our equipments, the spoil of
+the sea).
+
+Kidd was quite delighted with the compass, the card of which was properly
+marked and framed in a block of wood, and said it could easily be
+suspended on gimbals and fixed on a binnacle.
+
+After a while, Angela, who felt tired, went below, and I with her, but
+only to fetch my _cobija_ and a pillow, for, as I told Kidd, I intended to
+remain on deck all night, the cabin being too close and stuffy for two
+persons. This was true, yet not the whole truth. I had another reason; I
+saw that nothing would be easier than for Kidd or Yawl to slip on the
+cabin-hatch while I was below, and so have us at their mercy, for Ramon,
+though a stalwart youth enough, could not contend with the two sailors
+single-handed.
+
+"Just as you like, sir; it's all the same to me," answered Kidd, rather
+shortly, and then relapsed into thoughtful silence.
+
+I felt sure that he was scheming something which boded us no good, though,
+as yet, I had no idea what it could be. His motive for desiring to take
+the sloop to Islay or Arica, rather than to Callao, was pretty obvious,
+but why he should change his mind on the subject simply because of the
+compass, passed my comprehension. We could make Callao merely by running
+up the coast, with which, despite his disclaimer, I had not the least
+doubt he was quite familiar; and even if he were not, there was nothing in
+a compass to enlighten him.
+
+But whatever his scheme might be I did not think he would attempt to use
+force--unless he could take us at a disadvantage. Man for man, Ramon and I
+were quite equal to Kidd and Yawl. We were, moreover, better armed, as so
+far as I knew, they had no weapons, save their sailors' knives. In a
+personal struggle, they might come off second best; were, in any case,
+likely to get badly hurt, and unless I was much mistaken, they wanted to
+get hold of my diamonds with a minimum of risk to themselves. Wherefore,
+so long as we kept a sharp lookout, we had little to fear from open
+violence. As for the scheme which was seething in Kidd's brain, I must
+needs wait for further developments before taking measures to counteract
+it.
+
+When I had come to this conclusion I told Ramon, in Quipai, to lie down,
+and that when I wanted to sleep I would waken him.
+
+I watched until midnight, at which hour Yawl relieved Kidd at the helm,
+and Kidd turned in. Shortly afterward I roused Ramon, and bade him keep
+watch while I slept.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+FOUND  OUT.
+
+
+When I awoke it was broad daylight, Yawl at the helm, the sloop bowling
+along at a great rate before a fresh breeze. But, to my utter surprise,
+there was no land in sight.
+
+"How is this, Yawl?" I asked; "we are out of doors. How have you been
+steering?"
+
+"The course you laid down sir, nor' by west."
+
+"That is impossible. I am not much of a seaman, yet I know that if you had
+been steering nor' by west, we should have the coast under our lee, and we
+cannot even see the peaks of the Cordillera."
+
+"Of course you cannot; they are covered with a mist," put in Kidd.
+
+"I see no mist; moreover, the Cordillera is visible a hundred miles away,
+and by good rights we should not be more than thirty or forty miles from
+the coast."
+
+"It's the fault of your compass, then. The darned thing is all wrong.
+Better chuck it overboard and have done with it."
+
+"If you do, I'll chuck you overboard. The compass is quite correct. You
+have been steering due west for some purpose of your own, against my
+orders."
+
+"Oh, that's your game, is it? You are the skipper, and us a brace of
+lubbers as doesn't know north from west, I suppose. Let him sail the
+cursed craft hissel, Bill."
+
+Yawl let go the tiller, on which the sloop broached to and nearly went on
+her beam ends. This was more than I could bear, and calling on Ramon to
+follow me, I sprang forward, seized Kidd by the throat, and, drawing my
+dagger, told him that unless he promised to obey my orders and do his
+duty, I would make an end of him then and there. Meanwhile, Ramon was
+keeping Yawl off with his _machete_, flourishing it around his head in a
+way that made the old salt's hair nearly stand on end. Seeing that
+resistance was useless, Kidd caved in.
+
+"I ask your pardon, Mr. Fortescue," he said, hoarsely, for my hand was
+still on his throat. "I ask your pardon, but I lost my temper, and when I
+lose my temper it's the very devil; I don't know what I'm doing; but I
+promise faithfully to obey your orders and do my duty."
+
+On this I loosed him, and bade Ramon put up his _machete_ and let Yawl go
+back to his steering. In one sense this was an untoward incident. It made
+Kidd my personal enemy. Quite apart from the question of the diamonds, he
+would bear me a grudge and do me an ill turn if he could. He was that sort
+of a man. Henceforward it would be war to the knife between us, and I
+should have to be more on my guard than ever. On the other hand, it was a
+distinct advantage to have beaten him in a contest for the mastery; if he
+had beaten me, I should have had to accept whatever conditions he might
+have thought fit to impose, for I was quite unable to sail the sloop
+myself.
+
+A light was thrown on his motive for changing the sloop's course by
+something Ramon had told me when the trouble was over. Shortly before I
+awoke he heard Kidd say to Yawl that he would very much like to know where
+I had hidden the diamonds, and that if they could only keep her head due
+west, we should make San Ambrosio about the same time that I was expecting
+to make Callao.
+
+I had never heard of San Ambrosio before; but the fact of Kidd wanting to
+go thither was reason enough for my not wanting to go, so I bade Yawl
+steer due north, that is to say, parallel with the coast, and as the
+continent of South America trends considerably to the westward, about
+twenty degrees south of the equator, I reckoned that this course should
+bring us within sight of land on the following day, or the day after,
+according to the speed we made.
+
+I not only told Yawl and Kidd to steer north, but saw that they did it, as
+to which, the compass being now always before us, there was no difficulty.
+Thinking it was well to learn to steer, I took a hand now and again at the
+tiller, under the direction of Kidd, whose manners my recent lesson had
+greatly improved. He was very affable, and obeyed my orders with alacrity
+and seeming good-will.
+
+The next day I began to look out for land, without, however, much
+expectation of seeing any, but when a second day, being the third of our
+voyage, ended with the same result or, rather, want of result, I became
+uneasy, and expressed myself in this sense to Kidd.
+
+"You have miscalculated the distance," he said, "and there's nothing so
+easy, when you've no chart and can take no observations. And how can you
+tell the sloop's rate of sailing? The wind is fair and constant--it always
+is in the trades--but how do you know as there is not a strong current
+dead against us? I don't think there's the least use looking for land
+before to-morrow."
+
+This rather reassured me. It was quite true that the sloop might not be
+going so fast as I reckoned, and the coast be farther off than I
+thought--although I did not much believe in the current.
+
+But the morrow came and went, and still no sign of land, and again, on the
+fifth day, the sun rose on an unbroken expanse of water. In clear
+weather--and no weather could be clearer--the Andes, as I had heard, were
+visible to mariners a hundred and fifty miles out at sea. Yet not a peak
+could be seen. Then I knew beyond a doubt that something was wrong. What
+could it be? Sailing as swiftly as we had been for five days, it was
+inconceivable that we should not have made land if we had been steering
+north, and for that I had the evidence of my senses. Where, then, was the
+mystery?
+
+As I asked myself this question, Ramon touched me on the shoulder, and
+whispered in Quipai:
+
+"Just now Yawl said to Kidd that it was quite time we sighted San
+Ambrosio, and that if we missed it, after all, it would be cursed awkward.
+And Kidd answered that 'if we fell in with Hux it would be all right.'"
+
+This was more puzzling still. He had said before that, if we continued on
+the westward tack, we should make San Ambrosio at the time I was expecting
+to sight Callao, and now, although we were sailing due north, the villains
+counted on making San Ambrosio all the same.
+
+Where was San Ambrosio? Not on the coast, for they were clearly looking
+for it then, had probably been looking for it some time, and the mainland
+must be at least two hundred miles away. If not on the coast San Ambrosio
+was an island, yet how it could lie both to the west and to the north was
+not quite obvious. And who was Hux, and why should falling in with him
+make matters all right for my interesting shipmates? Of one thing I felt
+sure--all right for these meant all wrong for me, and it behooved me to
+prevent the meeting--but how?
+
+While these thoughts were passing through my mind, I was pacing to and fro
+on the sloop's deck, where was also Angela, sitting on a _cobija_, and
+leaning against the taffrail, Kidd being at the helm, and Ramon and Yawl
+smoking in the bows, for though they did not quite trust each other, they
+occasionally exchanged a not unfriendly word. Now and then I glanced
+mechanically at the compass. As I have already mentioned, it was not an
+ordinary ship compass in a brass frame, but a makeshift affair, in a
+wooden frame, to which Kidd had attached makeshift gimbals and hung on a
+makeshift binnacle, the latter being fixed between the tiller and the
+cabin-hatch. The deck was very narrow, and to lengthen my tether I
+generally passed between the tiller and the binnacle, sometimes exchanging
+a word with Angela. Once, as I did so, the sun's rays fell athwart the
+sloop's stern, and, happening the same moment to look at the compass, I
+made a discovery that sent the blood with sudden rush first to my heart
+and then to my brain; a small piece of iron, invisible in an ordinary
+light, had been driven into the framework of the compass, close to that
+part of the card marked "W," thereby deflecting the needle to the point in
+question, so that ever since our departure from Quipai, we had been
+steering due west, instead of north by west, as I intended and believed.
+The dodge might not have deceived a seaman, but it had certainly deceived
+me.
+
+"You infernal scoundrel, I have found you out. Look there!" I shouted,
+pointing at the piece of iron. As I spoke Kidd let go the tiller, and
+quick as lightning gave me a tremendous blow with his fist between the
+shoulders, which just missed throwing me head foremost down the
+cabin-hatch, and sent me face downward on the deck breathless and half
+stunned. Before I could even think of rising, Kidd, who, as he struck,
+shouted to Yawl to "kill the Indian," was kneeling on my back with his
+fingers round my windpipe.
+
+"At last! I have you now, you conceited jackanapes, you d----d sea-lawyer.
+Where have you got them diamonds? You won't answer! Shall I throttle you,
+or brain you with this belaying-pin? I'll throttle you; then there'll be
+none of your dirty blood to swab up."
+
+With that the villain squeezed my windpipe still tighter, and quite unable
+either to struggle or speak, I was giving myself up for lost, when his
+hold suddenly relaxed, and groaning deeply, he sank beside me on the deck.
+Freed from his weight, I staggered to my feet to find that I owed my life
+to Angela, who had used her dagger to such purpose that Kidd was like
+never to speak again.
+
+"Ramon! Ramon! Haste, or that man will kill him," she cried, all in a
+tremble, and pale with horror at the thought of her own boldness.
+
+Yawl's onslaught was so sudden that the boy had been unable to draw his
+_machete_, and after a desperate bout of tugging and straining, the sailor
+had got the upper-hand and was now kneeling on Ramon's chest, and feeling
+for his knife. Though sorely bruised with my fall, and still gasping for
+breath, I ran to the rescue, and gripping Yawl by the shoulders, bore him
+backward on the deck. Another moment, and we had him at our mercy; I held
+down his head, while Ramon, astride on his body, pinioned his arms.
+
+"Now, look here, Yawl!" I said. "You have tried to commit murder and
+deserve to die; your comrade and accomplice is dead, but I will spare your
+life on conditions. You must promise to obey my orders as if I were your
+captain, and you under articles of war, and help me to work the sloop to
+Callao, or some other port on the mainland. In return, I promise not to
+bring any charge against you when we get there."
+
+"All right, sir! Kidd was my master, and I obeyed him; now you are my
+master and I will obey you."
+
+I quite believed that the old salt was speaking sincerely. He had been so
+completely under Kidd's influence as to have no will of his own.
+
+"Good! but there is something else. I must have those diamonds he stole
+from my house at Alta Vista. Where are they?"
+
+"Stitched inside his jersey, under the arm-hole."
+
+I went to Kidd's body, cut open his jersey, and found the diamonds in two
+small canvas bags. They were among the largest I had and (as I
+subsequently found) worth fifty thousand pounds. After we had thrown the
+body overboard, I ordered Yawl to put the sloop on the starboard tack, and
+myself taking the helm changed the course to due north. Then I asked him
+who he and Kidd were, whence they came, and why they had so shamefully
+deceived me as to the course we were steering.
+
+On this Yawl answered in a dry, matter-of-fact manner, as if it were all
+in the way of business, that Kidd had been captain and he boatswain and
+carpenter of a "free-trader," known as the Sky Scraper, Sulky Sail, and by
+several other aliases; that the captain and crew fell out over a division
+of plunder, of which Kidd wanted the lion's share, the upshot being that
+he and Yawl, who had taken sides with him, were shoved into the dinghy and
+sent adrift. In these circumstances they naturally made for the nearest
+land, which proved to be Quipai, and deeming it inexpedient to confess
+that they were pirates, pretended to be castaways. They built the sloop
+with the idea of stealing away by themselves, and but for my discovery of
+the theft of the diamonds and the bursting of the crater would have done
+so. As I suspected, Kidd allowed us to go with them, solely with a view to
+cutting our throats and appropriating the remainder of the diamonds. This
+design being frustrated by our watchfulness, he next conceived the notion
+of putting in at Arica or Islay, charging me with robbing him, and, in
+collusion with the authorities, whom he intended to bribe, depriving me of
+all I possessed. This plan likewise failing, and having a decided
+objection to Callao, where he was known and where there might be a British
+cruiser as well as a British consul, Kidd hit on the brilliant idea of
+doctoring the compass and making me think we were going north by west,
+while our true course was almost due west, his object being to reach San
+Ambrosio, a group of rocky islets some three hundred miles from the coast,
+and a pirate stronghold and trysting-place. If they did not find any old
+comrades there, they would at least find provisions, water, and firearms,
+and so be able, as they thought, to despoil me of my diamonds. Also Kidd
+had hopes of falling in with Captain Hux, a worthy of the same kidney, who
+commanded the "free-trader" Culebra, and whose favorite cruising-ground
+was northward of San Ambrosio.
+
+"But in my opinion," observed Mr. Yawl, coolly, when he had finished his
+story, "in my opinion we passed south of the islands last night, and so I
+told Kidd; they're very small, and as there's no lights, easy missed."
+
+"We must be a long way from Callao, then. How far do you suppose?"
+
+"That is more than I can tell; may be four hundred miles."
+
+"And how long do you think it will take us to get there, assuming it to be
+four hundred miles?"
+
+"Well, on this tack and with this breeze--you see, sir, the wind has
+fallen off a good deal since sunrise--with this breeze, about eight days."
+
+"Eight days!" I exclaimed, in consternation. "Eight days! and I don't
+think we have food and water enough for two. Come with me below, Ramon,
+and let me see how much we have left."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+GRIEF AND PAIN.
+
+
+It was even worse than I feared. Reckoning neither on a longer voyage than
+five or six days nor on being so far from the coast that, in case of
+emergency, we could not obtain fresh supplies, we had used both provisions
+and water rather recklessly, and now I found that of the latter we had no
+more than, at our recent rate of consumption, would last eighteen hours,
+while of food we had as much as might suffice us for twenty-four. It was
+necessary to reduce our allowance forthwith, and I put it to Yawl whether
+we could not make for some nearer port than Callao. Better risk the loss
+of my diamonds than die of hunger and thirst. Yawl's answer was
+unfavorable. The nearest port of the coast as to distance was the farthest
+as to time. To reach it, the wind being north by west, we should have to
+make long fetches and frequent tacks, whereas Callao, or the coast
+thereabout, could be reached by sailing due north. So there seemed nothing
+for it but to economize our resources to the utmost and make all the speed
+we could. Yet, do as we might, it was evident that, unless we could obtain
+a supply of food and water from some passing ship we should have to put
+ourselves on a starvation allowance. I was, however, much less concerned
+for myself and the others, than for Angela. Accustomed as she had been to
+a gentle, uneventful, happy life, the catastrophe of Quipai, the anxieties
+we had lately endured, and the confinement of the sloop, were telling
+visibly on her health. Moreover, Kidd's death, richly as he deserved his
+fate, had been a great shock to her. She strove to be cheerful, and
+displayed splendid courage, yet the increasing pallor of her cheeks and
+the sadness in her eyes, showed how much she suffered. We men stinted
+ourselves of water that she might have enough, but seeing this she
+declined to take more than her share, often refusing to drink when she was
+tormented with thirst.
+
+And then there befell an accident which well-nigh proved fatal to us all.
+A gust of wind blew the mainsail (made of grass-cloth) into ribbons, the
+consequence being that our rate of sailing was reduced to two knots an
+hour, and our hope of reaching Callao to zero.
+
+Meanwhile, Angela grew weaker and weaker, she fell into a low fever, was
+at times even delirious, and I began to fear that, unless help speedily
+came, a calamity was imminent, which for me personally would be worse than
+the quenching of Quipai. And when we were at the last extremity, mad with
+thirst and feeble with fasting, help did come. One morning at daylight
+Yawl sighted a sail--a large vessel a few miles astern of us, but a point
+or two more to the west, and on the same tack as ourselves. We altered the
+sloop's course at once so as to bring her across the stranger's bows, for
+having neither ensign to reverse, nor gun wherewith to fire a signal of
+distress, it was a matter of life and death for us to get within
+hailing-distance.
+
+"What is she! Can you make her out?" I asked Yawl, as trembling with
+excitement, we looked longingly at the noble ship in which centered our
+hopes.
+
+"Three masts! A merchantman? No, I'm blest if I don't think she's a
+man-of-war. So she is, a frigate and a firm 'un--forty or fifty guns, I
+should say."
+
+"Under what flag?"
+
+"I'll tell you in a minute--Union Jack! No, stars and stripes. She belongs
+to Uncle Sam, she do, sir, and he's no call to be ashamed of her; she's a
+perfect beauty and well handled. By--I do believe they see us. They are
+shortening sail. We shall be alongside in a few minutes."
+
+"Who are you and what do you want?" asked a voice from the frigate, so
+soon as we were within hail.
+
+"We are English and starving. For God's sake, throw us a rope!" I
+answered.
+
+The rope being thrown and the sloop made fast, I asked the officer of the
+watch to take us on board the frigate, as seeing the condition of our boat
+and ourselves, I did not think we could possibly reach our destination,
+that my wife was very sick, and unless she could have better attention
+than we were able to give her, might not recover.
+
+"Of course we will take you on board--and the poor lady. Pass the word for
+the doctor, you there! But what on earth are you doing with a lady in a
+craft like that, so far out at sea, too?"
+
+Without waiting for an answer to his question, the officer ordered a
+hammock to be lowered, in which we carefully placed Angela, who was
+thereupon hoisted on the frigate's deck. We men followed, and were
+received by a fine old gentleman with a florid face and white hair, whom I
+rightly conjectured to be the captain.
+
+"Well," he said, quietly, "what can I do for you?"
+
+"Water," I gasped, for the exertion of coming on board had been almost too
+much for me.
+
+"Poor fellow! Certainly. Why did I not think of it before? You shall have
+both food and drink. Somebody bring water with a dash of rum in it--not
+too much, they are weak. And Mr. Charles, tell the wardroom steward to get
+a square meal ready for this gentleman. Might I ask your name, sir?"
+
+"Nigel Fortescue."
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Fortescue. Mine is Bigelow, and I have the honor to
+command the United States ship Constellation. Here's the water! I hope you
+have not forgotten the dash of rum, Tomkins.--There! Take a long drink.
+You will feel better now, and when you have had a square meal, you shall
+tell me all about it. And the others? You are an old salt, anybody can see
+that."
+
+"Yes, sir. Bill Yawl at your service, an old man-o'-war's man, able-bodied
+seaman, bo's'n, and ship's carpenter, anything you like sir. Ax your
+pardon, sir, but a glass of half-water grog--"
+
+"Not until you have eaten. Then you may have two glasses. Tomkins, take
+these men to the purser and tell him to give them a square meal. The
+doctor is attending to your wife, Mr. Fortescue. She is in my state-room
+and shall have every comfort we can give her."
+
+"I thank you with all my heart, Captain Bigelow. You are really too good,
+I can never--"
+
+"Tut, tut, tut, my dear sir. Pray don't say a word. I have only given her
+my spare state-room. Mr. Charles will take you to the ward-room, we can
+talk afterward. Meanwhile, I shall have your belongings got on board, and
+then, I suppose, we had better sink that craft of yours. If we leave her
+to knock about the ocean she may be knocking against some ship in the
+night and doing her a mischief."
+
+After I had eaten the "square meal" set for me in the ward-room, and spent
+a few minutes with Angela, I joined the captain and first lieutenant in
+the former's state-room, and over a glass of grog, told them briefly, but
+frankly, something of my life and adventures.
+
+"Well, it is the queerest yarn I ever heard; but I dare say none the less
+true on that account," said Captain Bigelow, when I had finished. "With
+that sweet lady for your wife and your belt full of diamonds, you may
+esteem yourself one of the most fortunate of men. And you did quite right
+to get away from that place. But what was your point? where did you expect
+to get to with that sloop of yours?"
+
+"Callao."
+
+"Callao! Why the course you were on would never have taken you to Callao.
+Callao lies nor' by east, not nor' by west. If you had not fallen in with
+us, I am afraid you would never have got anywhere."
+
+"I am sure we should not. Three days more and we should have died of
+thirst."
+
+"Where shall we put you ashore?"
+
+"That is for you to say. Where would it be convenient?"
+
+"How would Panama suit you?"
+
+"It is just the place. We could cross the isthmus to Chagres; but before
+going to England, I should like to call at La Guayra, and find out whether
+my friend Carmen still lives."
+
+"You can do that easily; but if I were you, and had all those diamonds in
+my possession, I would get home as quickly as possible, and put them in a
+place of safety. There are men who would commit a thousand murders for one
+of them."
+
+"Well, I shall see. Perhaps I had better consign them to London through
+some merchant, and have them insured."
+
+"Perhaps you had, especially if you can get somebody to insure the
+insurer. And take my advice, don't tell a soul on board what you have told
+us. My crew are passably honest, but if they knew how many diamonds you
+carried about you, I should be very sorry to go bail for them."
+
+As I went on deck after our talk, I was met by the surgeon.
+
+"A word with you, Mr. Fortescue," he said, gravely, taking me aside, "your
+wife--"
+
+"Yes, sir, what about my wife?" I asked, with a sudden sinking of the
+heart, for the man's manner was even more portentous than his words.
+
+"She is very ill."
+
+"She was very ill, and if we had remained longer on the sloop--but
+now--with nourishing food and your care, doctor, she will quickly regain
+her strength. Indeed, she is better already."
+
+"For the moment. But she is very much reduced and the symptoms are grave.
+A recurrence of the fever--"
+
+"But such a fever is so easily cured. I know what you are hinting at,
+doctor. Yet I cannot think--You will not let her die. After surmounting so
+many dangers, and being so miraculously rescued, and with prospects so
+fair, it would be too cruel."
+
+"I will do my best, sir, you may be sure. But I thought it my duty to
+prepare you for the worst. The issue is with God."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+This is a part of my story on which I care not to dwell. Even yet I cannot
+think of it without grief and pain. My dear wife was taken from me. She
+died in my arms, her hand in mine, as sweetly and serenely as she had
+lived. But for Captain Bigelow and his officers I should have buried
+myself with Angela in the fathomless sea. I owed him my life a second
+time--such as it was--more, for he taught me the duty and grace of
+resignation, showed me that, though to cherish the memory of a great
+sorrow ennobles a man, he who abandons himself to unmeasured grief is as
+pusillanimous as he who shirks his duty on the field of battle.
+
+Captain Bigelow had a great heart and a chivalrous nature. After Angela's
+death he treated me more as a cherished son than as a casual guest. Before
+we reached Panama we were fast friends. He provided me with clothing and
+gave me money for my immediate wants, as to have attempted to dispose of
+any of my diamonds there, or at Chagres, might have exposed me to
+suspicion, possibly to danger. In acknowledgement of his kindness and as a
+souvenir of our friendship, I persuaded him to accept one of the finest
+stones in my collection, and we parted with mutual assurances of goodwill
+and not without hope of meeting again.
+
+Ramon of course, went with me. Bill Yawl, equally of of course, I left
+behind. He had slung his hammock in the Constellation's fo'castle, and
+became captain of the foretop.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+OLD FRIENDS AND A NEW FOE.
+
+
+I had made up my mind to see Carmen, if he still lived; and finding at
+Chagres a schooner bound for La Guayra I took passages in her for myself
+and Ramon, all the more willingly as the captain proposed to put in at
+Curacoa. It occurred to me that Van Voorst, the Dutch merchant in whose
+hands I had left six hundred pounds, would be a likely man to advise me as
+to the disposal of my diamonds--if he also still lived.
+
+Rather to my surprise, for people die fast in the tropics, I did find the
+old gentleman alive, but he had made so sure of my death that my
+reappearance almost caused his. The pipe he was smoking dropped from his
+mouth, and he sank back in his chair with an exclamation of fear and
+dismay.
+
+"Yor need not be alarmed, Mynheer Van Voorst," I said; "I am in the
+flesh."
+
+"I am glad to see you in the flesh. I don't believe in ghosts, of course.
+But I happened to be in what you call a brown study, and as I had heard
+you were shot long ago on the llanos you rather startled me, coming in so
+quietly--that rascally boy ought to have announced you. But I was not
+afraid--not in the least. Why should one be afraid of a ghost! And I saw
+at a glance that, as you say, you were in the flesh. I suppose you have
+come to inquire about your money. It is quite safe, my dear sir, and at
+your disposal, and you will find that it has materially increased. I will
+call for the ledger, and you shall see."
+
+The ledger was brought in by a business-looking young man, whom the old
+merchant introduced to me as his nephew and partner, Mynheer Bernhard Van
+Voorst.
+
+"This is Mr. Fortescue, Bernhard," he said, "the English gentleman who was
+dead--I mean that I thought he was dead, but is alive--and who many years
+ago left in my hands a sum of about two thousand piasters. Turn to his
+account and see how much there is now to his credit?"
+
+"At the last balance the amount to Mr. Fortescue's credit was six thousand
+two hundred piasters."[2]
+
+    [2] At the time in question, "piaster" was a word often used as an
+        equivalent for "dollar," both in the "Gulf ports" and the West
+        Indies.
+
+"You see! Did I not say so? Your capital is more than doubled."
+
+"More than doubled! How so?"
+
+"We have credited you with the colonial rate of interest--ten per
+cent.--as was only right, seeing that you had no security, and we had used
+the money in our business; and my friend, compound interest at ten per
+cent, is a great institution. It beats gold-mining, and is almost as
+profitable as being President of the Republic of Venezuela. How will you
+take your balance, Mr. Fortescue? We will have the account made up to
+date. I can give you half the amount in hard money--coin is not too
+plentiful just now in Curacoa, half in drafts at seven days' sight on the
+house of Goldberg, Van Voorst & Company, at Amsterdam, or Spring &
+Gerolstein, at London. They are a young firm, but do a safe business and
+work with a large capital."
+
+"I am greatly obliged to you but all I require at present is about five
+hundred piasters, in hard money."
+
+"Ah then, you have made money where you have been?" observed Mr. Van
+Voorst, eying me keenly through his great horn spectacles.
+
+"Not money, but money's worth," I replied, for I had quite decided to make
+a confident of the honest old Dutchman, whom I liked all the better for
+going straight to the point without asking too many questions.
+
+"Then it must be merchandise and merchandise is money--sometimes."
+
+"Yes, it is merchandise."
+
+"If it be readily salable in this island or on the Spanish Main we shall
+be glad to receive it from you on consignment and make you a liberal
+advance against bills of lading. Hardware and cotton prints are in great
+demand just now, and if it is anything of that sort we might sell it to
+arrive."
+
+"It is nothing of that sort, Mr. Van Voorst."
+
+"More portable, perhaps?"
+
+"Yes, more portable."
+
+"If you could show me a sample--"
+
+"I can show you the bulk."
+
+"You have got it in the schooner?"
+
+"No, I have got it here."
+
+"Gold dust?"
+
+"Diamonds. I found them in the Andes, and shall be glad to have your
+advice as to their disposal."
+
+"Diamonds! Ach! you are a happy man. If you would like to show me them I
+can perhaps give you some idea of their value. The house of Goldberg & Van
+Voorst, at Amsterdam, in which I was brought up, deal largely in precious
+stones."
+
+On this I undid my belt and poured the diamonds on a large sheet of white
+paper, which Mr. Van Voorst spread on his desk.
+
+"_Mein Gott! Mein Gott!_" he exclaimed in ecstacy, glaring at the diamonds
+through his big glasses and picking out the finest with his fat fingers.
+"This is the finest collection of rough stones I ever did see. They are
+worth--until they are weighed and cut it is impossible to say how
+much--but at least a million dollars, probably two millions. You found
+them in the Andes? You could not say where, could you, Mr. Fortescue?"
+
+"I could, but I would rather not."
+
+"I beg your pardon. I should have known better than to ask. You intend to
+go there again, of course?"
+
+"Never! It would be at the risk of my life--and there are other reasons."
+
+"There is no need. You are rich already, and enough is as good as a feast.
+You ask my advice as to the disposal of these stones. Well, my advice is
+that you consign them, through us, to the house of Goldberg, Van Voorst &
+Company. They are honest and experienced. They will get them cut and sell
+them for you at the highest price. They are, moreover, one of the richest
+houses in Amsterdam, trustworthy without limit. What do you say?"
+
+"Yes, I will act on your advice, and consign these stones to your friends
+for sale at Amsterdam, or elsewhere, as they may think best. And be good
+enough to ask them to advise me as to the investment of the proceeds."
+
+"They will do that with pleasure, mine friend, and having financial
+relations with every monetary centre in Europe they command the best
+information. And now we must count and weigh these stones carefully, and I
+shall give you a receipt in proper form. They must be shipped in three or
+four parcels so as to divide the risk, and I will write to Goldberg & Van
+Voorst to take out open policies 'by ship or ships'--for how much shall we
+say?"
+
+"That I must leave to you, Mr. Van Voorst."
+
+"Then I will say two million dollars--better make it too much than too
+little--and two millions may not be too much. I do not profess to be an
+expert, and, as likely as not, my estimate is very wide of the mark."
+
+After the diamonds had been counted and weighed, and a receipt written
+out, in duplicate and in two languages, I informed Mr. Van Voorst of my
+intention to visit Caracas and asked whether things were pretty quiet
+there.
+
+"At Caracas itself, yes. But in the interior they are fighting, as usual.
+The curse of Spanish rule has been succeeded by the still greater curse of
+chronic revolution."
+
+"But foreigners are admitted, I suppose? I run no risk of being clapped in
+prison as I was last time?"
+
+"Not the least. You can go and come as you please. You don't even require
+a passport. The Spaniards, who were once so hated, are now almost popular.
+I hear that several Spanish officers, who served in the royal army during
+the war, are now at Caracas, and have offered their swords to the
+government for the suppression of the present rebellion. Do you intend to
+stay long in Venezuela?"
+
+"I think not. In any case I shall see you before I leave for Europe. Much
+depends on whether I find my friend Carmen alive."
+
+"Carmen, Carmen! I seem to know the name. Is he a general?"
+
+"Scarcely, I should think. He was only a _teniente_ of guerillas when we
+parted some ten years ago."
+
+"They are all generals now, my dear sir, and as plentiful as frogs in my
+native land. If you are ever in doubt as to the rank of a Venezolano, you
+are always safe in addressing him as a general. Yes, I fancy you will find
+your friend alive. At any rate, there is a General Carmen, rather a
+leading man among the Blues, I think, and sometimes spoken of as a
+probable president. You will, of course, put up at the Hotel de los
+Generales. Ah, here is Bernhard with the five hundred dollars in hard
+money, for which you asked. If you should want more, draw on us at sight.
+I will give you a letter of introduction to the house of Bluehm & Bluthner
+at Caracas, who will be glad to cash your drafts at the current rate of
+exchange, and to whose care I will address any letters I may have occasion
+to write to you."
+
+This concluded my business with Mr. Van Voorst, and three days later I was
+once more in Caracas. I found the place very little altered, less than I
+was myself. I had entered it in high spirits, full of hope, eager for
+adventure, and intent on making my fortune. Now my heart was heavy with
+sorrow and bitter with disappointment. Though I had made my fortune, I had
+lost, as I thought, both the buoyancy of youth and the capacity for
+enjoyment, and I looked forward to the future without either hope or
+desire.
+
+As I rode with Ramon into the _patio_ of the hotel, where I had been
+arrested by the alguazils of the Spanish governor, a man came forward to
+greet me, so strikingly like the ancient _posadero_ that I felt sure he
+was the latter's son. My surmise proved correct, and I afterwards heard,
+not without a sense of satisfaction, that the father was hanged by the
+patriots when they recaptured Caracas.
+
+After I had engaged my rooms the _posadero_ informed me (in answer to my
+inquiry) that General Salvador Carmen (this could be none other than my
+old friend) was with the army at La Victoria, but that he had a house at
+Caracas where his wife and family were then residing. He also mentioned
+incidentally that several Spanish officers of distinction, who had arrived
+a few days previously, were staying in the _posada_--doubtless the same
+spoken of by Van Voorst.
+
+The day being still young, for I had left La Guayra betimes, I thought I
+could not do better than call on Juanita, who lived only a stone's throw
+from the Hotel de los Generales. She recognized me at once and received
+me--almost literally--with open arms. When I essayed to kiss her hand, she
+offered me her cheek.
+
+"After this long time! It is a miracle!" she exclaimed. "We mourned for
+you as one dead; for we felt sure that if you were living we should have
+had news of you. How glad Salvador will be! Where have you been all this
+time, and why, oh why, did you not write?"
+
+"I have been in the heart of the Andes, and I did not write because I was
+as much cut off from the world as if I had been in another planet."
+
+"You must have a long story to tell us, then. But I am forgetting the most
+important question of all. Are you still a bachelor?"
+
+"Worse than that, Juanita. I am a widower. I have lost the sweetest
+wife--"
+
+"_Misericordia! Misericordia! Pobre amigo mio!_ Oh, how sorry I am; how
+much I pity you!" And the dear lady, now a stately and handsome matron,
+fell a-weeping out of pure tenderness, and I had to tell her the sad story
+of the quenching of Quipai and Angela's death. But the telling of it,
+together with Juanita's sympathy, did me good, and I went away in much
+better spirits than I had come. Salvador, she said, would be back in a few
+days, and she much regretted not being able to offer me quarters; it was
+contrary to the custom of the place and Spanish etiquette for ladies to
+entertain gentlemen visitors during their husbands' absence.
+
+After leaving Juanita I walked round by the guard-house in which I had
+been imprisoned, and through the ruins where Carmen and I had hidden when
+we were making our escape. They suggested some stirring memories--Carera
+(who, as I learned from Juanita, had been dead several years) and his
+chivalrous friendship; Salvador and his reckless courage; our midnight
+ride; Gahra and the bivouac by the mountain-tarn (poor Gahra, what had
+become of him?); Majia and his guerillas; Griscelli and his blood-hounds
+(how I hated that man, but surely by this time he had got his deserts);
+Gondocori and Queen Mamcuna; the man-killer; and Quipai.
+
+My mind was still busied with these memories when I reached the hotel.
+There seemed to be much more going on than there had been earlier in the
+day--horsemen were coming and going, servants hurrying to and fro, people
+promenading on the _patio_, a group of uniformed officers deep in
+conversation. One of them, a tall, rather stout man, with grizzled hair, a
+pair of big epaulettes, and a coat covered with gold lace, had his back
+toward me, and as my eye fell on his sword-hilt it struck me that I had
+seen something like it before. I was trying to think where, when the owner
+of it turned suddenly round, and I found myself face to face
+with--GRISCELLI!!
+
+For some seconds we stared at each other in blank amazement. I could see
+that though he recognized me, he was trying to make believe that he did
+not; or, perhaps, he really doubted whether I was the man I seemed.
+
+"That is my sword," I said, pointing to the weapon by his side, which had
+been given to me by Carera.
+
+"Your sword! What do you mean?" "You took it from me eleven years ago,
+when I fell into your hands at San Felipe, and you hunted my friend Carmen
+and myself with bloodhounds."
+
+"What folly is this? Hunted you with bloodhounds, forsooth! Why, this is
+the first time I ever set eyes on you--the man is mad--or drunk"
+(addressing his friends).
+
+"You lie, Griscelli; and you are not a liar merely, but a murderer and a
+coward."
+
+"_Por Dios_, you shall pay for this insult with your heart's blood!" he
+shouted, furiously, half drawing his sword.
+
+"It is like you to draw on an unarmed man." I said, laying hold of his
+wrist. "Give me a sword, and you shall make me pay for the insult with my
+blood--if you can. Senores" (by this time all the people in the _patio_
+had gathered round us), "Senores, are there here any Venezuelan caballeros
+who will bear me out in this quarrel. I am an Englishman, by name
+Fortescue; eleven years ago, while serving under General Mejia on the
+patriot side, I fell into the hands of General Griscelli, who deprived me
+of the sword he now wears, which I received as a present from Senor
+Carera, whose name you may remember. Then, after deceiving us with false
+promises--my friend General Carmen and myself--he hunted us with his
+bloodhounds, and we escaped as by a miracle. Now he protests that he never
+saw me before. What say you, senores, am I not right in stigmatizing him
+as a murderer and liar?"
+
+"Quite right!" said a middle-aged, soldierly-looking man. I also served in
+the war of liberation, and remember Griscelli's name well. It would serve
+him right to poniard him on the spot."
+
+"No, no. I want no murder. I demand only satisfaction."
+
+"And he shall give it you or take the consequences. I will gladly act as
+one witness, and I am sure my friend here, Senor Don Luis de Medina, who
+is also a veteran of the war, will act as the other. Will you fight,
+Griscelli?"
+
+"Certainly--provided that we fight at once, and to the death. You can
+arrange the details with my friends here."
+
+"Be it so." I said, "_A la muerte._"
+
+"To the death! To the death!" shouted the crowd, whose native ferocity was
+now thoroughly roused.
+
+After a short conference and a reference to Griscelli and myself, the
+seconds announced that we were to fight with swords in Senor de Medina's
+garden, whither we straightway wended, for there were no police to meddle
+with us, and at that time duels _a la muerte_ were of daily occurrence in
+the city of Caracas. When we arrived at the garden, which was only a
+stone's-throw walk from the _posada_, Senor de Medina produced two swords
+with cutting edges, and blades five feet long; for we were to fight in
+Spanish fashion, and Spanish duelists both cut and thrust, and, when
+occasion serves, use the left hand as a help in parrying.
+
+Then the spectators, of whom there were fully two score, made a ring, and
+Griscelli and I (having meanwhile doffed our hats, coats, and shirts),
+stepped into the arena.
+
+I had not handled a sword for years, and for aught I knew Griscelli might
+be a consummate swordsman and in daily practice. On the other hand, he was
+too stout to be in first-rate condition, and, besides being younger, I had
+slightly the advantage in length of arm.
+
+When the word was given to begin, he opened the attack with great energy
+and resolution, and was obviously intent on killing me if he could. For a
+minute or two it was all I could do to hold my own; and partly to test his
+strength and skill, partly to get my hand in, I stood purposely on the
+defensive.
+
+At the end of the first bout neither of us had received a scratch, but
+Griscelli showed signs of fatigue while I was quite fresh. Also he was
+very angry and excited, and when we resumed he came at me with more than
+his former impetuosity, as if he meant to bear me down by the sheer weight
+and rapidity of his strokes. His favorite attack was a cut aimed at my
+head. Six several times he repeated this manoeuvre, and six times I
+stopped the stroke with the usual guard. Baffled and furious, he tried it
+again, but--probably because of failing strength--less swiftly and
+adroitly. My opportunity had come. Quick as thought I ran under his guard,
+and, thrusting his right arm aside with my left hand, passed my sword
+through his body.
+
+Then there were cries of bravo, for the popular feeling was on my side,
+and my seconds congratulated me warmly on my victory. But I said little in
+reply, my attention being attracted by a young man who was kneeling beside
+Griscelli's body and, as it might seem, saying a silent prayer. When he
+had done he rose to his feet, and as I looked on his face I saw he was the
+dead man's son.
+
+"Sir, you have killed my father, and I shall kill you," he said, in a calm
+voice, but with intense passion. "Yes, I shall kill you, and if I fail my
+cousins will kill you. If you escape us all, then we will charge our
+children to avenge the death of the man you have this day slain. We are
+Corsicans, and we never forgive. I know your name; mine is Giuseppe
+Griscelli."
+
+"You are distraught with grief, and know not what you say," I said as
+kindly as I could, for I pitied the lad. "But let not your grief make you
+unjust. Your father died in fair fight. If I had not killed him he would
+have killed me, and years ago he tried to hunt me to death for his
+amusement."
+
+"And I and mine--we will hunt you to death for our revenge. Or will you
+fight now? I am ready."
+
+"No, I have no quarrel with you, and I should be sorry to hurt you."
+
+"Go your way, then, but remember--"
+
+"Better leave him; he seems half-crazed," interposed Medina. "Come into my
+house while my slaves remove the body."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+A  NOVEL  WAGER.
+
+
+Three days afterward Carmen, apprised by his wife of my arrival, returned
+to Caracas, and I became their guest, greatly to my satisfaction, for the
+duel with Griscelli, besides making me temporarily famous, had brought me
+so many friends and invitations that I knew not how to dispose of them.
+
+In discussing the incident with Salvador, I expressed surprise that
+Griscelli should have dared to return to a country where he had committed
+so many cruelties and made so many enemies.
+
+"He left Venezuela the year after you disappeared, and much is forgotten
+in ten years," was the answer. "All the same, I don't suppose he would
+have come back if Olivarez--the last president and a Yellow--had not made
+it known that he would bestow commissions on Spanish officers of
+distinction and give them commands in the national army. It was a most
+absurd proceeding. But we shot Olivarez three months ago, and I will see
+that these Spanish interlopers are sent out of the country forthwith, that
+young spark who threatens to murder you, included."
+
+"Let him stay if he likes. I doubt whether he meant what he said."
+
+"I have no doubt of it, whatever, _amigo mio_, and he shall go. If he
+stayed in the country I could not answer for your safety; and if you come
+across any of the Griscellis in Europe, take my advice and be as watchful
+as if you were crossing a river infested with _caribe_ fish."
+
+Carmen was much discouraged by the state of the republic, as well he might
+be. By turning out the Spaniards the former colonies had merely exchanged
+despotism for anarchy; instead of being beaten with whips they were beaten
+with scorpions. But though discouraged Carmen was not dismayed. He
+belonged to the Blues, who being in power, regarded their opponents, the
+Yellows, as rebels; and he was confident that the triumph of his party
+would insure the tranquillity of the country. As he was careful to explain
+to me, he was a Blue because he was a patriot, and he pressed me so warmly
+to return with him to La Victoria, accept a command in his army, and aid
+in the suppression of the insurrection, that I ended by consenting.
+
+At Carmen's instance, the president gave me the command of a brigade, and
+would have raised me to the rank of general. But when I found that there
+were about three generals for every colonel I chose the nominally inferior
+but actually more distinguished grade.
+
+I remained in Venezuela two years, campaigning nearly all the time. But it
+was an ignoble warfare, cruel and ruthless, and had I not given my word to
+Carmen, to stand by him until the country was pacified, I should have
+resigned my commission much sooner than I did. Ramon, who acted as one of
+my orderlies, bore himself bravely and was several times wounded.
+
+In the meanwhile I received several communications from Van Voorst, and
+made two visits to Curacoa. The cutting and disposal of my diamonds being
+naturally rather a long business, it was nearly two years after I had
+shipped them to Holland before I learned the result of my venture.
+
+After all expenses were paid they brought me nearly three hundred thousand
+pounds, which account Goldberg, Van Voorst & Company "held at my
+disposal."
+
+It was to arrange and advise with the Amsterdam people, as to the
+investment of this great fortune, that I went to Europe. But I did not
+depart until my promise was fulfilled. I left Venezuela pacified--from
+exhaustion--and Carmen in somewhat better spirits than I had found him.
+
+His last words were a warning, which I have had frequent occasion to
+remember: "Beware of the Griscellis."
+
+I sailed from Curacoa (Ramon, of course, accompanying me), in a Dutch
+ship, bound for Rotterdam, whither I arrived in due course, and proceeding
+thence to Amsterdam, introduced myself to Goldberg, Van Voorst & Company.
+They were a weighty and respectable firm in every sense of the term, and
+received me with a ponderous gravity befitting the occasion.
+
+Though extremely courteous in their old-fashioned way, they neither wasted
+words nor asked unnecessary questions. But they made me a momentous
+proposal--no less than to become their partner. They had an ample capital
+for their original trade of diamond merchants; but having recently become
+contractors for government loans, they had opportunities of turning my
+fortune to much better account than investing it in ordinary securities.
+Goldberg & Company did not make it a condition that I should take an
+active part in the business--that would be just as I pleased. After being
+fully enlightened as to the nature of their transactions, and looking at
+their latest balance-sheets, I closed with the offer, and I have never had
+occasion to regret my decision. We opened branch houses in London and
+Paris; the firm is now one of the largest of its kind in Europe; we reckon
+our capital by millions, and, as I have lived long, and had no children to
+provide for, the amount standing to my credit exceeds that of all the
+other partners put together, and yields me a princely income.
+
+But I could not settle down to the monotonous career of a merchant, and
+though I have always taken an interest in the business of the house, and
+on several important occasions acted as its special agent in the greater
+capitals, my life since that time--a period of nearly fifty years--has
+been spent mainly in foreign travel and scientific study. I have revisited
+South America and recrossed the Andes, ridden on horseback from Vera Cruz
+to San Francisco, and from San Francisco to the headwaters of the
+Mississippi and the Missouri. I served in the war between Belgium and
+Holland, went through the Mexican campaign of 1846, fought with Sam
+Houston at the battle of San Jacinto, and was present, as a spectator, at
+the fall of Sebastopol and the capture of Delhi. In the course of my
+wanderings I have encountered many moving accidents by flood and field.
+Once I was captured by Greek brigands, after a desperate fight, in which
+both Ramon and myself were wounded, and had to pay four thousand pounds
+for my ransom. For the last twenty years, however, I have avoided serious
+risks, done no avoidable fighting, and travelled only in beaten tracks;
+and, unless I am killed by one of the Griscelli, I dare say I shall live
+twenty years longer.
+
+While studying therapeutics and pathology under Professor Giessler, of
+Zurich, shortly after my return to Europe, I took up the subject of
+longevity, as to which Giessler had collected much curious information,
+and formed certain theories, one being that people of sound constitution
+and strong vitality, with no hereditary predisposition to disease may, by
+observing a correct regimen, easily live to be a hundred, preserving until
+that age their faculties virtually intact--in other words, only begin to
+be old at a hundred. So far I agree with him, but as to what constituted a
+"correct regimen" we differed. He held that the life most conducive to
+length of years was that of the scholar--his own, in fact--regular,
+uneventful, reflective, and sedentary. I, on the other hand, thought that
+the man who passed much of his time in the open air, moving about and
+using his limbs, would live the longer--other things being equal, and
+assuming that both observed the accepted rules of health.
+
+The result of our discussion was a friendly wager. "You try your way; I
+will try mine," said Giessler, "and we will see who lives the longer--at
+any rate, the survivor will. The survivor must also publish an account of
+his system, _pour encourageur les autres_."
+
+As we were of the same age, equally sound in constitution and strong in
+physique, and not greatly dissimilar in temperament, I accepted the
+challenge. The competition is still going on. Every New Year's day we
+write each other a letter, always in the same words, which both answers
+and asks the same questions: "Still alive?" If either fails to receive his
+letter at the specified time, he will presume that the other is _hors de
+combat_, if not dead, and make further inquiry. But I think I shall win.
+Three years ago I met Giessler at the meeting of the British Association,
+and, though he denied it, he was palpably aging. His shoulders were bent,
+his hearing and eye-sight failing, and the _area senilis_ was very
+strongly marked, while I--am what you see.
+
+I have, however, had an advantage over the professor, which it is only
+fair to mention. In my wanderings I have always taken occasion, when
+opportunity offered, to observe the habits of tribes who are remarkable
+for longevity. None are more remarkable in this respect than the
+Callavayas of the Andes, and I satisfied myself that they do really live
+long, though perhaps not so long as some of them say. Now, these people
+are herbalists, and when they reach middle age make a practice of drinking
+a decoction which, as they believe, has the power of prolonging life. I
+brought with me to Europe specimens and seeds of the plant (peculiar to
+the region) from which the simple is distilled, analyzed the one and
+cultivated the other. The conclusion at which I arrived was, that the
+plant in question did actually possess the property of retarding that
+softening of the arteries which more than anything else causes the
+decrepitude of old age. It contains a peculiar alkaloid of which, for
+thirty years past, I had taken (in solution) a much-diluted dose almost
+daily. You see the result. I also give Ramon an occasional dose, and he is
+the most vigorous man of his years I know. I sent some to Giessler, but he
+said it was an empirical remedy, and declined to take it. He preferred
+electric baths. I take my electric baths by horseback exercise, and riding
+to hounds.
+
+Yes, I believe I shall finish my century--without becoming senile either
+in body or mind--if I can escape the Griscelli. I was in hopes that I had
+escaped them by coming here; but I never stay long in Europe that they
+don't sooner or later find me out. I think I shall have to spend the
+remainder of my life in America or the East. The consciousness of being
+continually hunted, that at any moment I may be confronted with a murderer
+and perchance be murdered, is too trying for a man of my age. To tell the
+truth, I am beginning to feel that I have nerves; though my elixir delays
+death, it does not insure perpetual youth; and propitiating these people
+is out of the question--I have tried it.
+
+Three years after my return from Venezuela, Guiseppe, son of the man whom
+I killed at Caracas, tried to kill me at Amsterdam, fired at me
+point-blank with a duelling pistol, and so nearly succeeded that the
+bullet grazed my cheek and cut a piece out of my ear. Yet I not only
+pardoned him, but bribed the police to let him go, and gave him money.
+Well, seven years later he repeated the attempt at Naples, waylaid me at
+night and attacked me with a dagger, but I also happened to be armed, and
+Guiseppi Griscelli died.
+
+At Paris, too--indeed, while the empire lasted--I found it expedient to
+shun France altogether. At that time Corsicans were greatly in favor;
+several members of the Griscelli family belonged to the secret police and
+had great influence, and as I never took an _alias_ and my name is not
+common, I was tracked like a criminal. Once I had to leave Paris by
+stealth at dead of night; another time I saved my life by simulating
+death. But why recount all the attempts on my life? Another time, perhaps.
+The subject is not a pleasant one, but this I will say: I never spared a
+Griscelli that I had not cause to regret my clemency. The last I spared
+was the young man who tried to murder me down in the wood there; and if he
+does not repay my forbearance by repeating the attempt, he will be false
+to the traditions of his race.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+EPILOGUE.
+
+
+It is scarcely necessary to observe that the deciphering of Mr.
+Fortescue's notes and the writing of his memoirs were not done in a day.
+There were gaps to be filled up, obscure passages to be elucidated, and
+parts of several chapters and the whole of the last were written to his
+dictation, so that the summer came and went, and another hunting-season
+was "in view," before my work, in its present shape, was completed. I
+would fain have made it more complete by giving a fuller account of Mr.
+Fortescue's adventures (some of which must have been very remarkable)
+between his first return from South America and his appearance at Matching
+Green, and I should doubtless have been able to do so (for he had promised
+to continue and amplify his narrative during the winter, as also to give
+me the recipe of his elixir), had not our intercourse been abruptly
+terminated by one of the strangest events in my experience and, I should
+think, in his.
+
+But, before going further, I would just observe that Mr. Fortescue's
+cynicism, which, when I first knew him, had rather repelled me, was only
+skin-deep. Though he held human life rather cheaper than I quite liked, he
+was a kind and liberal master and a generous giver. His largesses were
+often princely and invariably anonymous, for he detested everything that
+savored of ostentation and parade. On the other hand, he had no more
+tolerance for mendicants in broadcloth than for beggars in rags, and to
+those who asked he gave nothing. As an instance of his dislike of
+publicity, I may mention that I had been with him several months before I
+discovered that he had published, under a pseudonym, several scientific
+works which, had he acknowledged them, would have made him famous.
+
+After Guiseppe Griscelli's attempt on his life, I prevailed on Mr.
+Fortescue never to go outside the park gates unaccompanied; when he went
+to town, or to Amsterdam, Ramon always went with him, and both were armed.
+I also gave strict orders to the lodge-keepers to admit no strangers
+without authority, and to give me immediate information as to any
+suspicious-looking characters whom they might see loitering about.
+
+These precautions, I thought, would be quite sufficient to prevent any
+attack being made on Mr. Fortescue in the daytime. It was less easy to
+guard against a surprise during the night, for the park-palings were not
+so high as to be unclimbable; and the idea of a night-watchman was
+suggested only to be dismissed, for the very sufficient reason that when
+he was most wanted he would almost certainly be asleep. I had no fear of
+Griscelli breaking in at the front door; but the house was not
+burglar-proof, and, as it happened, the weak point in our defence was one
+of the windows of Mr. Fortescue's bedroom. It looked into the orchard,
+and, by climbing a tree which grew hard by, an active man could easily
+reach it, even without a ladder. The danger was all the greater, as, when
+the weather was mild, Mr. Fortescue always slept with the window open. I
+proposed iron bars, to which he objected that iron bars would make his
+room look like a prison. And then I had a happy thought.
+
+"Let us fix a strong brass rod right across the window-frame," I said, "in
+such a way that nobody can get in without laying hold of it, and by
+connecting it with a strong dynamo-battery inside, make sure that the man
+who does lay hold of it will not be able to let go."
+
+The idea pleased Mr. Fortescue, and he told me to carry it out, which I
+did promptly and effectively, taking care to make the battery so powerful
+that, if Mr. Griscelli should try to effect an entrance by the window, he
+would be disagreeably surprised. The circuit was, of course, broken by
+dividing the rod in two parts and interposing a non-conductor between
+them.
+
+To prevent any of the maids being "shocked," I told Ramon (who acted as
+his master's body servant) to connect the battery every night and
+disconnect it every morning. From time to time, moreover, I overhauled the
+apparatus to see that it was in good working order, and kept up its
+strength by occasionally recharging the cells.
+
+Once, when I was doing this, Mr. Fortescue said, laughingly: "I don't
+think it is any use, Bacon; Griscelli won't come in that way. If, as some
+people say, it is the unexpected that happens, it is the expected that
+does not happen."
+
+But in this instance both happened--the expected and the unexpected.
+
+As I mentioned at the outset of my story, the habits of the Kingscote
+household were of an exemplary regularity. Mr. Fortescue, who rose early,
+expected everybody else to follow his example in this respect, and, as a
+rule, everybody did so.
+
+One morning, at the beginning of October, when the sun rose about six
+o'clock, and we rose with it, I got up, donned my dressing-gown, and went,
+as usual, to take my matutinal bath. In order to reach the bath-room I had
+to pass Mr. Fortescue's chamber-door. As I neared it I heard within loud
+exclamations of horror and dismay, in a voice which I recognized as the
+voice of Ramon. Thinking that something was wrong, that Mr. Fortescue had
+perchance been taken suddenly ill, I pushed open the door and entered
+without ceremony.
+
+Mr. Fortescue was sitting up in bed, looking with startled gaze at the
+window; and Ramon stood in the middle of the room, aghast and dismayed.
+
+And well he might, for there hung at the window a man--or the body of
+one--his hands convulsively grasping the magnetized rod, the distorted
+face pressed against the glass, the lack-lustre eyes wide open, the jaw
+drooping. In that ghastly visage I recognized the features of Giuseppe
+Griscelli!
+
+"Is he dead, doctor?" asked Mr. Fortescue.
+
+"He has been dead several hours," I said, as I examined the corpse.
+
+"So much the better; the brood is one less, and perhaps after this they
+will let me live in peace. They must see that so far as their attempts
+against it are concerned, I bear a charmed life. You have done me a great
+service, Doctor Bacon, and I hold myself your debtor."
+
+Ramon and I disconnected the battery and dragged the body into the room.
+We found in the pockets a butcher's knife and a revolver, and round the
+waist a rope, with which the would-be murderer had doubtless intended to
+descend from the window after accomplishing his purpose.
+
+This incident, of course, caused a great sensation both at Kingscote and
+in the country-side, and, equally of course, there was an inquest, at
+which Mr. Fortescue, Ramon, and myself, were the only witnesses. As Mr.
+Fortescue did not want it to be known that he was the victim of a
+_vendetta_, and detested the idea of having himself and his affairs
+discussed by the press, we were careful not to gainsay the popular belief
+that Griscelli was neither more nor less than a dangerous and resolute
+burglar, and, as his possession of lethal weapons proved, a potential
+murderer. As for the cause of death I said, as I then fully believed
+(though I have since had occasion to modify this opinion somewhat), that
+the battery was not strong enough to kill a healthy man, and that
+Griscelli had died of nervous shock and fear acting on a weak heart. In
+this view the jury concurred and returned a verdict of accidental death,
+with the (informal) rider that it "served him right." The chairman, a
+burly farmer, warmly congratulated me on my ingenuity, and regretted that
+he had not "one of them things" at every window in his house.
+
+So far so good; but, unfortunately, a London paper which lived on
+sensation, and happened at the moment to be in want of a new one, took the
+matter up. One of the editor's jackals came down to Kingscote, and there
+and elsewhere picked up a few facts concerning Mr. Fortescue's antecedents
+and habits, which he served up to his readers in a highly spiced and
+amazingly mendacious article, entitled "old Fortescue and his Strange
+Fortunes." But the sting of the article was in its tail. The writer threw
+doubt on the justice of the verdict. It remained to be proved, he said,
+that Griscelli was a burglar, and his death accidental. And even burglars
+had their rights. The law assumed them to be innocent until they were
+proved to be guilty, and it could be permitted neither to Mr. Fortescue
+nor to any other man to take people's lives, merely because he suspected
+them of an intention to come in by the window instead of the door. By what
+right, he asked, did Mr. Fortescue place on his window an appliance as
+dangerous as forked lightning, and as deadly as dynamite? What was the
+difference between magnetized bars in a window and spring-guns on a
+game-preserve? In conclusion, the writer demanded a searching
+investigation into the circumstances attending Guiseppe Griscelli's death,
+likewise the immediate passing of an act of Parliament forbidding, under
+heavy penalties, the use of magnetic batteries as a defence against
+supposed burglars.
+
+This effusion (which he read in a marked copy of the paper obligingly
+forwarded by the enterprising editor) put Mr. Fortescue in a terrible
+passion, which made him, for a moment, look younger than ever I had seen
+him look before. The outrage rekindled the fire of his youth; he seemed to
+grow taller, his eyes glowed with anger, and, had the enterprising editor
+been present, he would have passed a very bad quarter of an hour.
+
+"The fellow who wrote this is worse than a murderer!" he exclaimed. "I'll
+shoot him--unless he prefers cold steel, and then I shall serve him as I
+served General Griscelli; and 'pon my soul I believe Griscelli was the
+least rascally of the two! I would as lief be hunted by blood-hounds as be
+stabbed in the back by anonymous slanderers!"
+
+And then he wanted me to take a challenge to the enterprising editor, and
+arrange for a meeting, which rendered it necessary to remind him that we
+were not in the England of fifty years ago, and that duelling was
+abolished, and that his traducer would not only refuse to fight, but
+denounce his challenger to the police and gibbet him in his paper. I
+pointed out, on the other hand, that the article was clearly libellous,
+and recommended Mr. Fortescue either to obtain a criminal information
+against the proprietor of the paper, or sue him for damages.
+
+"No, sir!" he answered, with a gesture of indignation and disdain--"no,
+sir, I shall neither obtain a criminal information nor sue for damages.
+The man who goes to law surrenders his liberty of action and becomes the
+sport of chicaning lawyers and hair-splitting judges. I would rather lose
+a hundred thousand pounds!"
+
+Mr. Fortescue passed the remainder of the day at his desk, writing and
+arranging his papers. The next morning I heard, without surprise, that he
+and Ramon were going abroad.
+
+"I don't know when I shall return," said Mr. Fortescue, as we shook hands
+at the hall door, "but act as you always do when I am from home, and in
+the course of a few days you will hear from me."
+
+I did hear from him, and what I heard was of a nature so surprising as
+nearly to take my breath away.
+
+"You will never see me at Kingscote again," he wrote; "I am going to a
+country where I shall be safe, as well from the attacks of Corsican
+assassins as from the cowardly outrages of rascally newspapers." And then
+he gave instructions as to the disposal of his property at Kingscote.
+Certain things, which he enumerated, were to be packed up in cases and
+forwarded to Amsterdam. The furniture and effects in and about the house
+were to be sold, and the proceeds placed at the disposal of the county
+authorities for the benefit of local charities. Every outdoor servant was
+to receive six months' pay, every in-door servant twelve months' pay, in
+lieu of notice. Geirt was to join Mr. Fortescue in a month's time at
+Damascus; and to me, in lieu of notice, and as evidence of his regard, he
+gave all his horses, carriages, saddlery, harness, and stable equipments
+(not being freehold) of every description whatsoever, to be dealt with as
+I thought fit for my personal advantage. His solicitors, with my help,
+would wind up his affairs, and his bankers had instructions to discharge
+all his liabilities.
+
+His memoirs, or so much of them as I had written down, I might (if I
+thought they would interest anybody) publish, but not before the fiftieth
+year of the Victorian era, or the death of the German emperor, whichever
+event happened first. The letter concluded thus: "I strongly advise you to
+buy a practice and settle down to steady work. We may meet again. If I
+live to be a hundred, you shall hear from me. If I die sooner you will
+probably hear of my demise from the house at Amsterdam, to whom please
+send your new address."
+
+I was exceedingly sorry to lose Mr. Fortescue. Our intercourse had been
+altogether pleasant and agreeable, and to myself personally in a double
+sense profitable; for he had taught me many things and rewarded me beyond
+my deserts. Also the breaking up of Kingscote and the disposal of the
+household went much against the grain. Yet I freely confess that Mr.
+Fortescue's splendid gift proved a very effective one, and almost
+reconciled me to his absence.
+
+All the horses and carriages, except five of the former, and two traps, I
+sent up to Tattersall's. As the horses, without exception, were of the
+right sort, most of them perfect hunters, and it was known that Mr.
+Fortescue would not have an unsound or vicious animal in his stables, they
+fetched high prices. The sale brought me over six thousand pounds.
+Two-thirds of this I put out at interest on good security; with the
+remainder I bought a house and practice in a part of the county as to
+which I will merely observe that it is pleasantly situated and within
+reach of three packs of hounds. The greater part of the year I work hard
+at my profession; but when November comes round I engage a second
+assistant and (weather permitting) hunt three and sometimes four days a
+week, so long as the season lasts.
+
+And often when hounds are running hard and I am well up, or when I am
+"hacking" homeward after a good day's sport, I think gratefully of the man
+to whom I owe so much, and wonder whether I shall ever see him again.
+
+
+
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