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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:38:02 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:38:02 -0700 |
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diff --git a/28291-8.txt b/28291-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9e3e767 --- /dev/null +++ b/28291-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10232 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Our Home in the Silver West, by Gordon Stables + +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: Our Home in the Silver West + A Story of Struggle and Adventure + +Author: Gordon Stables + +Release Date: March 9, 2009 [EBook #28291] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUR HOME IN THE SILVER WEST *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank, Juliet Sutherland and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: The Figure Springs into the Air--See page 129.] + + + + +[Illustration: THE BOYS OWN BOOKSHELF] + +OUR HOME IN THE SILVER WEST + +A Story of Struggle and Adventure + +BY + +GORDON STABLES, C.M., M.D., R.N. + +AUTHOR OF 'THE CRUISE OF THE SNOWBIRD,' 'WILD ADVENTURES ROUND THE POLE,' +ETC., ETC. + +THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY + +56, Paternoster Row; 65, St. Paul's Churchyard and 164 Piccadilly + + + + +Richard Clay and Sons, Limited, +London and Bungay. + + + + +CONTENTS. + +CHAPTER PAGE + I. The Highland Feud. 11 + II. Our Boyhood's Life. 23 + III. A Terrible Ride. 30 + IV. The Ring and the Book. 44 + V. A New Home in the West. 54 + VI. The Promised Land at Last. 64 + VII. On Shore at Rio. 77 + VIII. Moncrieff Relates His Experiences. 86 + IX. Shopping and Shooting. 96 + X. A Journey That Seems Like a Dream. 106 + XI. The Tragedy at the Fonda. 115 + XII. Attack by Pampa Indians. 125 + XIII. The Flight and the Chase. 134 + XIV. Life on an Argentine Estancia. 146 + XV. We Build our House and Lay Out Gardens. 155 + XVI. Summer in the Silver West. 165 + XVII. The Earthquake. 175 + XVIII. Our Hunting Expedition. 185 + XIX. In the Wilderness. 197 + XX. The Mountain Crusoe. 209 + XXI. Wild Adventures on Prairie and Pampas. 221 + XXII. Adventure With a Tiger. 231 + XXIII. A Ride for Life. 244 + XXIV. The Attack on the Estancia. 255 + XXV. The Last Assault. 266 + XXV Farewell to the Silver West. 279 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + PAGE +The Figure Springs into the Air Frontispiece +Orla thrusts his Muzzle into my Hand 10 +Ray lay Stark and Stiff 18 +'Look! He is Over!' 33 +He pointed his Gun at me 41 +'I'll teach ye!' 74 +Fairly Noosed 99 +'Ye can Claw the Pat' 138 +Comical in the Extreme 195 +Tries to steady himself to catch the Lasso 203 +Interview with the Orang-outang 214 +On the same Limb of the Tree 236 +The Indians advanced with a Wild Shout 268 + + + + +[Illustration: Orla thrusts his Muzzle into my Hand] + + + + +OUR HOME IN THE SILVER WEST + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE HIGHLAND FEUD. + + +Why should I, Murdoch M'Crimman of Coila, be condemned for a period of +indefinite length to the drudgery of the desk's dull wood? That is the +question I have just been asking myself. Am I emulous of the honour and +glory that, they say, float halo-like round the brow of the author? Have I +the desire to awake and find myself famous? The fame, alas! that authors +chase is but too often an _ignis fatuus_. No; honour like theirs I crave +not, such toil is not incumbent on me. Genius in a garret! To some the +words may sound romantic enough, but--ah me!--the position seems a sad +one. Genius munching bread and cheese in a lonely attic, with nothing +betwixt the said genius and the sky and the cats but rafters and tiles! I +shudder to think of it. If my will were omnipotent, Genius should never +shiver beneath the tiles, never languish in an attic. Genius should be +clothed in purple and fine linen, Genius should---- 'Yes, aunt, come in; +I'm not very busy yet.' + +My aunt sails into my beautiful room in the eastern tower of Castle +Coila. + +'I was afraid,' she says, almost solemnly, 'I might be disturbing your +meditations. Do I find you really at work?' + +'I've hardly arrived at that point yet, dear aunt. Indeed, if the truth +will not displease you, I greatly fear serious concentration is not very +much in my line. But as you desire me to write our strange story, and as +mother also thinks the duty devolves on me, behold me seated at my table +in this charming turret chamber, which owes its all of comfort to your +most excellent taste, auntie mine.' + +As I speak I look around me. The evening sunshine is streaming into my +room, which occupies the whole of one story of the tower. Glance where I +please, nothing is here that fails to delight the eye. The carpet beneath +my feet is soft as moss, the tall mullioned windows are bedraped with the +richest curtains. Pictures and mirrors hang here and there, and seem part +and parcel of the place. So does that dark lofty oak bookcase, the great +harp in the west corner, the violin that leans against it, the +_jardinière_, the works of art, the arms from every land--the shields, the +claymores, the spears and helmets, everything is in keeping. This is my +garret. If I want to meditate, I have but to draw aside a curtain in +yonder nook, and lo! a little baize-covered door slides aside and admits +me to one of the tower-turrets, a tiny room in which fairies might live, +with a window on each side giving glimpses of landscape--and landscape +unsurpassed for beauty in all broad Scotland. + +But it was by the main doorway of my chamber that auntie entered, drawing +aside the curtains and pausing a moment till she should receive my +cheering invitation. And this door leads on to the roof, and this roof +itself is a sight to see. Loftily domed over with glass, it is at once a +conservatory, a vinery, and tropical aviary. Room here for trees even, for +miniature palms, while birds of the rarest plumage flit silently from +bough to bough among the oranges, or lisp out the sweet lilts that have +descended to them from sires that sang in foreign lands. Yonder a +fountain plays and casts its spray over the most lovely feathery ferns. +The roof is very spacious, and the conservatory occupies the greater part +of it, leaving room outside, however, for a delightful promenade. After +sunset coloured lamps are often lit here, and the place then looks even +more lovely than before. All this, I need hardly say, was my aunt's +doing. + +I wave my hand, and the lady sinks half languidly into a fauteuil. + +'And so,' I say, laughingly, 'you have come to visit Genius in his +garret.' + +My aunt smiles too, but I can see it is only out of politeness. + +I throw down my pen; I leave my chair and seat myself on the bearskin +beside the ample fireplace and begin toying with Orla, my deerhound. + +'Aunt, play and sing a little; it will inspire me.' + +She needs no second bidding. She bends over the great harp and lightly +touches a few chords. + +'What shall I play or sing?' + +'Play and sing as you feel, aunt.' + +'I feel thus,' my aunt says, and her fingers fly over the strings, +bringing forth music so inspiriting and wild that as I listen, entranced, +some words of Ossian come rushing into my memory: + +'The moon rose in the East. Fingal returned in the gleam of his arms. The +joy of his youth was great, their souls settled as a sea from a storm. +Ullin raised the song of gladness. The hills of Inistore rejoiced. The +flame of the oak arose, and the tales of heroes were told.' + +Aunt is not young, but she looks very noble now--looks the very +incarnation of the music that fills the room. In it I can hear the +battle-cry of heroes, the wild slogan of clan after clan rushing to the +fight, the clang of claymore on shield, the shout of victory, the wail for +the dead. There are tears in my eyes as the music ceases, and my aunt +turns once more towards me. + +'Aunt, your music has made me ashamed of myself. Before you came I +recoiled from the task you had set before me; I longed to be out and away, +marching over the moors gun in hand and dogs ahead. Now I--I--yes, aunt, +this music inspires me.' + +Aunt rises as I speak, and together we leave the turret chamber, and, +passing through the great conservatory, we reach the promenade. We lean on +the battlement, long since dismantled, and gaze beneath us. Close to the +castle walls below is a well-kept lawn trending downwards with slight +incline to meet the loch which laps over its borders. This loch, or lake, +stretches for miles and miles on every side, bounded here and there by +bare, black, beetling cliffs, and in other places + + 'O'erhung by wild woods thickening green, + +a very cloudland of foliage. The easternmost horizon of this lake is a +chain of rugged mountains, one glance at which would tell you the season +was autumn, for they are crimsoned over with blooming heather. The season +is autumn, and the time is sunset; the shadow of the great tower falls +darkling far over the loch, and already crimson streaks of cloud are +ranged along the hill-tops. So silent and still is it that we can hear the +bleating of sheep a good mile off, and the throb of the oars of a boat far +away on the water, although the boat itself is but a little dark speck. +There is another dark speck, high, high above the crimson clouds. It comes +nearer and nearer; it gets bigger and bigger; and presently a huge eagle +floats over the castle, making homeward to his eyrie in the cliffs of Ben +Coila. + +The air gets cooler as the shadows fall; I draw the shawl closer round my +aunt's shoulders. She lifts a hand as if to deprecate the attention. + +'Listen, Murdoch,' she says. 'Listen, Murdoch M'Crimman.' + +She seldom calls me by my name complete. + +'I may leave you now, may I not?' + +'I know what you mean, aunt,' I reply. 'Yes; to the best of my ability I +will write our strange story.' + +'Who else would but you, Murdoch M'Crimman, chief of the house of Crimman, +chief of the clan?' + +I bow my head in silent sorrow. + +'Yes, aunt; I know. Poor father is gone, and I _am_ chief.' + +She touches my hand lightly--it is her way of taking farewell. Next moment +I am alone. Orla thrusts his great muzzle into my hand; I pat his head, +then go back with him to my turret chamber, and once more take up my pen. + + * * * * * + +A blood feud! Has the reader ever heard of such a thing? Happily it is +unknown in our day. A blood feud--a quarrel 'twixt kith and kin, a feud +oftentimes bequeathed from bleeding sire to son, handed down from +generation to generation, getting more bitter in each; a feud that not +even death itself seems enough to obliterate; an enmity never to be +forgotten while hills raise high their heads to meet the clouds. + +Such a feud is surely cruel. It is more, it is sinful--it is madness. Yet +just such a feud had existed for far more than a hundred years between our +family of M'Crimman and the Raes of Strathtoul. + +There is but little pleasure in referring back to such a family quarrel, +but to do so is necessary. Vast indeed is the fire that a small spark may +sometimes kindle. Two small dead branches rubbing together as the wind +blows may fire a forest, and cause a conflagration that shall sweep from +end to end of a continent. + +It was a hundred years ago, and forty years to that; the head of the house +of Stuart--Prince Charles Edward, whom his enemies called the +Pretender--had not yet set foot on Scottish shore, though there were +rumours almost daily that he had indeed come at last. The Raes were +cousins of the M'Crimmans; the Raes were head of the clan M'Rae, and their +country lay to the south of our estates. It was an ill-fated day for both +clans when one morning a stalwart Highlander, flying from glen to glen +with the fiery cross waving aloft, brought a missive to the chief of +Coila. The Raes had been summoned to meet their prince; the M'Crimman had +been _solicited_. In two hours' time the straths were all astir with +preparations for the march. No boy or man who could carry arms, 'twixt the +ages of sixteen and sixty, but buckled his claymore to his side and made +ready to leave. Listen to the wild shout of the men, the shrill notes of +bagpipes, the wailing of weeping women and children! Oh, it was a stirring +time; my Scotch blood leaps in all my veins as I think of it even now. +Right on our side; might on our side! We meant to do or die! + + 'Rise! rise! lowland and highland men! + Bald sire to beardless son, each come and early. + Rise! rise! mainland and island men, + Belt on your claymores and fight for Prince Charlie. + Down from the mountain steep-- + Up from the valley deep-- + Out from the clachan, the bothy and shieling; + Bugle and battle-drum, + Bid chief and vassal come, + Loudly our bagpipes the pibroch are pealing.' + +M'Crimman of Coila that evening met the Raes hastening towards the lake. + +'Ah, kinsman,' cried M'Crimman, 'this is indeed a glorious day! I have +been summoned by letter from the royal hands of our bold young prince +himself.' + +'And I, chief of the Raes, have been summoned by cross. A letter was none +too good for Coila. Strathtoul must be content to follow the pibroch and +drum.' + +'It was an oversight. My brother must neither fret nor fume. If our prince +but asked me, I'd fight in the ranks for him, and carry musket or pike or +pistol.' + +[Illustration: Ray lay Stark and Stiff] + +'It's good being you, with your letter and all that. Kinsman though you +be, I'd have you know, and I'd have our prince understand, that the Raes +and Crimmans are one and the same family, and equal where they stand or +fall.' + +'Of that,' said the proud Coila, drawing himself up and lowering his +brows, 'our prince is the best judge.' + +'These are pretty airs to give yourself, M'Crimman! One would think your +claymore drank blood every morning!' + +'Brother,' said M'Crimman, 'do not let us quarrel. I have orders to see +your people on the march. They are to come with us. I must do my duty.' + +'Never!' shouted Rae. 'Never shall my clan obey your commands!' + +'You refuse to fight for Charlie?' + +'Under your banner--yes!' + +'Then draw, dog! Were you ten times more closely related to me, you should +eat your words or drown them in your blood!' + +Half an hour afterwards the M'Crimmans were on the march southwards, their +bold young chief at their head, banners streaming and pibroch ringing! +but, alas! their kinsman Rae lay stark and stiff on the bare hillside. + +There and then was established the feud that lasted so long and so +bitterly. Surrounded by her vassals and retainers, loud in their wailing +for their departed chief, the widowed wife had thrown herself on the body +of her husband in a paroxysm of wild, uncontrollable grief. + +But nought could restore life and animation to that lowly form. The dead +chief lay on his back, with face up-turned to the sky's blue, which his +eyes seemed to pierce. His bonnet had fallen off, his long yellow hair +floated on the grass, his hand yet grasped the great claymore, but his +tartans were dyed with blood. + +Then a brother of the Rae approached and led the weeping woman gently +away. Almost immediately the warriors gathered and knelt around the +corpse and swore the terrible feud--swore eternal enmity to the house of +Coila--'to fight the clan wherever found, to wrestle, to rackle and rive +with them, and never to make peace + + 'While there's leaf on the forest + Or foam on the river.' + +We all know the story of Prince Charlie's expedition, and how, after +victories innumerable, all was lost to his cause through disunions in his +own camps; how his sun went down on the red field of Culloden Moor; how +true and steadfast, even after defeat, the peasant Highlanders were to +their chief; and how the glens and straths were devastated by fire and +sword; and how the streams ran red with the innocent blood of old men and +children, spilled by the brutal soldiery of the ruthless duke. + +The M'Crimmans lost their estates. The Raes had never fought for Charlie. +Their glen was spared, but the hopes of M'Rae--the young chief--were +blighted, for after years of exile the M'Crimman was pardoned, and fires +were once more lit in the halls of Castle Coila. + +Long years went by, many of the Raes went abroad to fight in foreign lands +wherever good swords were needed and lusty arms to wield them withal; but +those who remained in or near Strathtoul still kept up the feud with as +great fierceness as though it had been sworn but yesterday. + +Towards the beginning of the present century, however, a strange thing +happened. A young officer of French dragoons came to reside for a time in +Glen Coila. His name was Le Roi. Though of Scotch extraction, he had never +been before to our country. Now hospitality is part and parcel of the +religion of Scotland; it is not surprising, therefore, that this young son +of the sword should have been received with open arms at Coila, nor that, +dashing, handsome, and brave himself, he should have fallen in love with +the winsome daughter of the then chief of the M'Crimmans. When he sought +to make her his bride explanations were necessary. It was no uncommon +thing in those days for good Scotch families to permit themselves to be +allied with France; but there must be rank on both sides. Had a +thunderbolt burst in Castle Coila then it could have caused no greater +commotion than did the fact when it came to light that Le Roi was a direct +descendant of the chief of the Raes. Alas! for the young lovers now. Le +Roi in silence and sorrow ate his last meal at Castle Coila. Hospitality +had never been shown more liberally than it was that night, but ere the +break of day Le Roi had gone--never to return to the glen _in propriâ +personâ_. Whether or not an aged harper who visited the castle a month +thereafter was Le Roi in disguise may never be known; but this, at least, +is fact--that same night the chief's daughter was spirited away and seen +no more in Coila. + +There was talk, however, of a marriage having been solemnized by +torchlight, in the little Catholic chapel at the foot of the glen, but of +this we will hear more anon, for thereby hangs a tale. + +In course of time Coila presented the sad spectacle of a house without a +head. Who should now be heir? The Scottish will of former chiefs notified +that in event of such an occurrence the estates should pass 'to the +nearest heirs whatever.' + +But was there no heir of direct descent? For a time it seemed there would +be or really was. To wit, a son of Le Roi, the officer who had wedded into +the house of M'Crimman. + +Now our family was brother-family to the M'Crimmans. M'Crimmans we were +ourselves, and Celtic to the last drop of blood in our veins. + +Our claim to the estate was but feebly disputed by the French Rae's son. +His father and mother had years ago crossed the bourne from which no +traveller ever returns, and he himself was not young. The little church or +chapel in which the marriage had been celebrated was a ruin--it had been +burned to the ground, whether as part price of the terrible feud or not, +no one could say; the priest was dead, or gone none knew whither; and old +Mawsie, a beldame, lived in the cottage that had once been the Catholic +manse. + +Those were wild and strange times altogether in this part of the Scottish +Highlands, and law was oftentimes the property of might rather than +right. + +At the time, then, our story really opens, my father had lived in the +castle and ruled in the glens for many a long year. I was the first-born, +next came Donald, then Dugald, and last of all our one sister Flora. + +What a happy life was ours in Glen Coila, till the cloud arose on our +horizon, which, gathering force amain, burst in storm at last over our +devoted heads! + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +OUR BOYHOOD'S LIFE. + + +On our boyhood's life--that, I mean, of my brothers and myself--I must +dwell no longer than the interest of our strange story demands, for our +chapters must soon be filled with the relation of events and adventures +far more stirring than anything that happened at home in our day. + +And yet no truer words were ever spoken than these--'the boy is father of +the man.' The glorious battle of Waterloo--Wellington himself told us--was +won in the cricket field at home. And in like manner our greatest pioneers +of civilisation, our most successful emigrants, men who have often +literally to lash the rifle to the plough stilts, as they cultivate and +reclaim the land of the savage, have been made and manufactured, so to +speak, in the green valleys of old England, and on the hills and moors of +bonnie Scotland. + +Probably the new M'Crimman of Coila, as my father was called on the lake +side and in the glens, had mingled more, far more, in life than any chief +who had ever reigned before him. He would not have been averse to drawing +the sword in his country's cause, had it been necessary, but my brothers +and I were born in peaceful times, shortly after the close of the war with +Russia. No, my father could have drawn the claymore, but he could also use +the ploughshare--and did. + +There were at first grumblers in the clans, who lamented the advent of +anything that they were pleased to call new-fangled. Men there were who +wished to live as their forefathers had done in the 'good old +times'--cultivate only the tops of the 'rigs,' pasture the sheep and +cattle on the upland moors, and live on milk and meal, and the fish from +the lake, with an occasional hare, rabbit, or bird when Heaven thought fit +to send it. + +They were not prepared for my father's sweeping innovations. They stared +in astonishment to see the bare hillsides planted with sheltering spruce +and pine trees; to see moss and morass turned inside out, drained and made +to yield crops of waving grain, where all was moving bog before; to see +comfortable cottages spring up here and there, with real stone walls and +smiling gardens front and rear, in place of the turf and tree shielings of +bygone days; and to see a new school-house, where English--real +English--was spoken and taught, pour forth a hundred happy children almost +every weekday all the year round. + +This was 'tempting Providence, and no good could come of it;' so spoke the +grumblers, and they wondered indeed that the old warlike chiefs of +M'Crimman did not turn in their graves. But even the grumblers got fewer +and further between, and at last long peace and plenty reigned contentedly +hand in hand from end to end of Glen Coila, and all around the loch that +was at once the beauty and pride of our estate. + +Improvements were not confined to the crofters' holdings; they extended to +the castle farm and to the castle itself. Nothing that was old about the +latter was swept away, but much that was new sprang up, and rooms long +untenanted were now restored. + +A very ancient and beautiful castle was that of Coila, with its one huge +massive tower, and its dark frowning embattled walls. It could be seen +from far and near, for even the loch itself was high above the level of +the sea. I speak of it, be it observed, in the past tense, solely because +I am writing of the past--of happy days for ever fled. The castle is still +as beautiful--nay, even more so, for my aunt's good taste has completed +the improvements my father began. + +I do not think any one could have come in contact with father, as I +remember him during our early days at Coila, without loving and respecting +him. He was our hero--my brothers' and mine--so tall, so noble-looking, so +handsome, whether ranging over the heather in autumn with his gun on his +shoulder, or labouring with a hoe or rake in hand in garden or meadow. + +Does it surprise any one to know that even a Highland chieftain, descended +from a long line of warriors, could handle a hoe as deftly as a claymore? +I grant he may have been the first who ever did so from choice, but was he +demeaned thereby? Assuredly not; and work in the fields never went half so +cheerfully on as when father and we boys were in the midst of the +servants. Our tutor was a young clergyman, and he, too, used to throw off +his black coat and join us. + +At such times it would have done the heart of a cynic good to have been +there; song and joke and hearty laugh followed in such quick succession +that it seemed more like working for fun than anything else. + +And our triumph of triumphs was invariably consummated at the end of +harvest, for then a supper was given to the tenants and servants. This +supper took place in the great hall of the castle--the hall that in +ancient days had witnessed many a warlike meeting and Bacchanalian feast. + +Before a single invitation was made out for this event of the season every +sheaf and stook had to be stored and the stubble raked, every rick in the +home barn-yards had to be thatched and tidied; 'whorls' of turnips had to +be got up and put in pits for the cattle, and even a considerable portion +of the ploughing done. + +'Boys,' my father would say then, pointing with pride to his lordly stacks +of grain and hay, 'Boys, + + '"Peace hath her victories, + No less renowned than war." + +And now,' he would add, 'go and help your tutor to write out the +invitations.' + +So kindly-hearted was father that he would even have extended the right +hand of peace and fellowship to the Raes of Strathtoul. The head of this +house, however, was too proud; yet his pride was of a different kind from +father's. It was of the stand-aloof kind. It was even rumoured that Le +Roi, or Rae, had said at a dinner-party that my good, dear father brought +disgrace on the warlike name of M'Crimman because he mingled with his +servants in the field, and took a very personal interest in the welfare of +his crofter tenantry. + +But my father had different views of life from this semi-French Rae of +Strathtoul. He appreciated the benefits and upheld the dignity, and even +sanctity, of honest labour. Had he lived in the days of Ancient Greece, he +might have built a shrine to Labour, and elevated it to the rank of +goddess. Only my father was no heathen, but a plain, God-fearing man, who +loved, or tried to love, his neighbour as himself. + +If our father was a hero to us boys, not less so was he to our darling +mother, and to little Sister Flora as well. So it may be truthfully said +that we were a happy family. The time sped by, the years flew on without, +apparently, ever a bit of change from one Christmas Day to another. Mr. +Townley, our tutor, seemed to have little ambition to 'better himself,' as +it is termed. When challenged one morning at breakfast with his want of +desire to push, + +'Oh,' said Townley, 'I'm only a young man yet, and really I do not wish to +be any happier than I am. It will be a grief to me when the boys grow +older and go out into the world and need me no more.' + +Mr. Townley was a strict and careful teacher, but by no means a hard +taskmaster. Indoors during school hours he was the pedagogue all over. He +carried etiquette even to the extent of wearing cap and gown, but these +were thrown off with scholastic duties; he was then--out of doors--as +jolly as a schoolboy going to play at his first cricket-match. + +In the field father was our teacher. He taught us, and the 'grieve,' or +bailiff, taught us everything one needs to know about a farm. Not in +headwork alone. No; for, young as we were at this time, my brothers and I +could wield axe, scythe, hoe, and rake. + +We were Highland boys all over, in mind and body, blood and bone. +I--Murdoch--was fifteen when the cloud gathered that finally changed our +fortunes. Donald and Dugald were respectively fourteen and thirteen, and +Sister Flora was eleven. + +Big for our years we all were, and I do not think there was anything on +dry land, or on the water either, that we feared. Mr. Townley used very +often to accompany us to the hills, to the river and lake, but not +invariably. We dearly loved our tutor. What a wonderful piece of +muscularity and good-nature he was, to be sure, as I remember him! Of both +his muscularity and good-nature I am afraid we often took advantage. Flora +invariably did, for out on the hills she would turn to him with the utmost +_sang-froid_, saying, 'Townley, I'm tired; take me on your back.' And for +miles Townley would trudge along with her, feeling her weight no more than +if she had been a moth that had got on his shoulders by accident. There +was no tiring Townley. + +To look at our tutor's fair young face, one would never have given him the +credit of possessing a deal of romance, or believed it possible that he +could have harboured any feeling akin to love. But he did. Now this is a +story of stirring adventure and of struggle, and not a love tale; so the +truth may be as well told in this place as further on--Townley loved my +aunt. It should be remembered that at this time she was young, but little +over twenty, and in every way she was worthy to be the heroine of a +story. + +Townley, however, was no fool. Although he was admitted to the +companionship of every member of our family, and treated in every respect +as an equal, he could not forget that there was a great gulf fixed between +the humble tutor and the youngest sister of the chief of the M'Crimmans. +If he loved, he kept the secret bound up in his own breast, content to +live and be near the object of his adoration. Perhaps this hopeless +passion of Townley's had much to do with the formation of his history. + + * * * * * + +Those dear old days of boyhood! Even as they were passing away we used to +wish they would last for ever. Surely that is proof positive that we were +very happy, for is it not common for boys to wish they were men? We never +did. + +For we had everything we could desire to make our little lives a pleasure +long drawn out. Boys who were born in towns--and we knew many of these, +and invited them occasionally to visit us at our Highland home--we used to +pity from the bottom of our hearts. How little they knew about country +sports and country life! + +One part of our education alone was left to our darling mother--namely, +Bible history. Oh, how delightful it used to be to listen to her voice as, +seated by our bedside in the summer evenings, she told us tales from the +Book of Books! Then she would pray with us, for us, and for father; and +sweet and soft was the slumber that soon visited our pillows. + +Looking back now to those dear old days, I cannot help thinking that the +practice of religion as carried on in our house was more Puritanical in +its character than any I have seen elsewhere. The Sabbath was a day of +such solemn rest that one lived as it were in a dream. No food was cooked; +even the tables in breakfast-room and dining-hall were laid on Saturday; +no horse left the stables, the servants dressed in their sombrest and +best, moved about on tiptoe, and talked in whispers. We children were +taught to consider it sinful even to think our own thoughts on this holy +day. If we boys ever forgot ourselves so far as to speak of things +secular, there was Flora to lift a warning finger and with terrible +earnestness remind us that this was God's day. + +From early morn to dewy eve all throughout the Sabbath we felt as if our +footsteps were on the boundaries of another world--that kind, loving +angels were near watching all our doings. + +I am drawing a true picture of Sunday life in many a Scottish family, but +I would not have my readers mistake me. Let me say, then, that ours was +not a religion of fear so much as of love. To grieve or vex the great Good +Being who made us and gave us so much to be thankful for would have been a +crime which would have brought its own punishment by the sorrow and +repentance created in our hearts. + +Just one other thing I must mention, because it has a bearing on events to +be related in the next chapter. We were taught then never to forget that a +day of reckoning was before us all, that after death should come the +judgment. But mother's prayers and our religion brought us only the most +unalloyed happiness. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A TERRIBLE RIDE. + + +I have but to gaze from the window of the tower in which I am writing to +see a whole fieldful of the daftest-looking long-tailed, long-maned ponies +imaginable. These are the celebrated Castle Coila ponies, as full of +mischief, fun, and fire as any British boy could wish, most difficult to +catch, more difficult still to saddle, and requiring all the skill of a +trained equestrian to manage after mounting. As these ponies are to-day, +so they were when I was a boy. The very boys whom I mentioned in the last +chapter would have gone anywhere and done anything rather than attempt to +ride a Coila pony. Not that they ever refused, they were too courageous +for that. But when Gilmore led a pony round, I know it needed all the +pluck they could muster to put foot in stirrup. Flora's advice to them was +not bad. + +'There is plenty of room on the moors, boys,' she would say, laughing; and +Flora always brought out the word 'boys' with an air of patronage and +self-superiority that was quite refreshing. 'Plenty of room on the moors, +so you keep the ponies hard at the gallop, till they are quite tired. +Mind, don't let them trot. If you do, they will lie down and tumble.' + +Poor Archie Bateman! I shall never forget his first wild scamper over the +moorland. He would persist in riding in his best London clothes, spotless +broad white collar, shining silk hat, gloves, and all. Before mounting he +even bent down to flick a little tiny bit of dust off his boots. + +The ponies were fresh that morning. In fact, the word 'fresh' hardly +describes the feeling of buoyancy they gave proof of. For a time it was as +difficult to mount one as it would be for a fly to alight on a top at full +spin. We took them to the paddock, where the grass and moss were soft. +Donald, Dugald, and I held Flora's fiery steed _vi et armis_ till she got +into the saddle. + +'Mind to keep them at it, boys,' were her last words, as she flew out and +away through the open gateway. Then we prepared to follow. Donald, Dugald, +and I were used to tumbles, and for five minutes or more we amused +ourselves by getting up only to get off again. But we were not hurt. +Finally we mounted Archie. His brother was not going out that morning, and +I do believe to this day that Archie hoped to curry favour with Flora by a +little display of horsemanship, for he had been talking a deal to her the +evening before of the delights of riding in London. + +At all events, if he had meant to create a sensation he succeeded +admirably, though at the expense of a portion of his dignity. + +No sooner was he mounted than off he rode. Stay, though, I should rather +say that no sooner did we mount him than off he was carried. That is a way +of putting it which is more in accordance with facts, for we--Donald, +Dugald, and I--mounted him, and the pony did the rest, he, Archie, being +legally speaking _nolens volens_. When my brothers and I emerged at last, +we could just distinguish Flora waiting on the horizon of a braeland, her +figure well thrown out against the sky, her pony curveting round and +round, which was Flora's pet pony's way of keeping still. Away at a +tangent from the proper line of march, Archie on his steed was being +rapidly whirled. As soon as we came within sight of our sister, we +observed her making signs in Archie's direction and concluded to follow. +Having duly signalled her wishes, Flora disappeared over the brow of the +hill. Her intention was, we afterwards found out, to take a cross-cut and +intercept, if possible, the mad career of Archie's Coila steed. + +'Hurry up, Donald,' I shouted to my nearest brother; 'that pony is mad. It +is making straight for the cliffs of Craigiemore.' + +On we went at furious speed. It was in reality, or appeared to be, a race +for life; but should we win? The terrible cliffs for which Archie's pony +was heading away were perpendicular bluffs that rose from a dark slimy +morass near the lake. Fifty feet high they were at the lowest, and pointed +unmistakably to some terrible convulsion of Nature in ages long gone by. +They looked like hills that had been sawn in half--one half taken, the +other left. + +Our ponies were gaining on Archie's. The boy had given his its head, but +it was evident he was now aware of his danger and was trying to rein in. +Trying, but trying in vain. The pony was in command of the situation. + +On--on--on they rush. I can feel my heart beating wildly against my ribs +as we all come nigher and nigher to the cliffs. Donald's pony and Dugald's +both overtake me. Their saddles are empty. My brothers have both been +unhorsed. I think not of that, all my attention is bent on the rider +ahead. If he could but turn his pony's head even now, he would be saved. +But no, it is impossible. They are on the cliff. There! they are over it, +and a wild scream of terror seems to rend the skies and turn my blood to +water. + +[Illustration: 'Look! He is Over!'] + +But lo! I, too, am now in danger. My pony has the bit fast between his +teeth. He means to play at an awful game--follow my leader! I feel dizzy; +I have forgotten that I might fling myself off even at the risk of broken +bones. I am close to the cliff--I--hurrah! I am saved! Saved at the very +moment when it seemed nothing could save me, for dear Flora has dashed in +front of me--has cut across my bows, as sailors would say, striking my +pony with all the strength of her arm as she is borne along. Saved, yes, +but both on the ground. I extricate myself and get up. Our ponies are all +panting; they appear now to realize the fearfulness of the danger, and +stand together cowed and quiet. Poor Flora is very pale, and blood is +trickling from a wound in her temple, while her habit is torn and soiled. +We have little time to notice this; we must ride round and look for the +body of poor Archie. + +It was a ride of a good mile to reach the cliff foot, but it took us but a +very short time to get round, albeit the road was rough and dangerous. We +had taken our bearings aright, but for a time we could see no signs of +those we had come to seek. But presently with her riding-whip Flora +pointed to a deep black hole in the slimy bog. + +'They are there!' she cried; then burst into a flood of tears. + +We did the best we could to comfort our little sister, and were all +returning slowly, leading our steeds along the cliff foot, when I stumbled +against something lying behind a tussock of grass. + +The something moved and spoke when I bent down. It was poor Archie, who +had escaped from the morass as if by a miracle. + +A little stream was near; it trickled in a half-cataract down the cliffs. +Donald and Dugald hurried away to this and brought back Highland +bonnetfuls of water. Then we washed Archie's face and made him drink. How +we rejoiced to see him smile again! I believe the London accent of his +voice was at that moment the sweetest music to Flora she had ever heard in +her life. + +'What a pwepostewous tumble I've had! How vewy, _vewy_ stoopid of me to be +wun away with!' + +Poor Flora laughed one moment at her cousin and cried the next, so full +was her heart. But presently she proved herself quite a little woman. + +'I'll ride on to the castle,' she said, 'and get dry things ready. You'd +better go to bed, Archie, when you come home; you are not like a Highland +boy, you know. Oh, I'm so glad you're alive! But--ha, ha, ha! excuse +me--but you do look _so_ funny!' and away she rode. + +We mounted Archie on Dugald's nag and rode straight away to the lake. Here +we tied our ponies to the birch-trees, and, undressing, plunged in for a +swim. When we came out we arranged matters thus: Dugald gave Archie his +shirt, Donald gave him a pair of stockings, and I gave him a cap and my +jacket, which was long enough to reach his knees. We tied the wet things, +after washing the slime off, all in a bundle, and away the procession went +to Coila. Everybody turned out to witness our home-coming. Well, we did +look rather motley, but--Archie was saved. + +My own adventures, however, had not ended yet. Neither my brothers nor +Flora cared to go out again that day, so in the afternoon I shouldered my +fishing rod and went off to enjoy a quiet hour's sport. + +What took my footsteps towards the stream that made its exit from the +loch, and went meandering down the glen, I never could tell. It was no +favourite stream of mine, for though it contained plenty of trout, it +passed through many woods and dark, gloomy defiles, with here and there a +waterfall, and was on the whole so overhung with branches that there was +difficulty in making a cast. I was far more successful than I expected to +be, however, and the day wore so quickly away that on looking up I was +surprised to find that the sun had set, and I must be quite seven miles +from home. What did that matter? there would be a moon! I had Highland +legs and a Highland heart, and knew all the cross-cuts in the country +side. I would try for that big trout that had just leapt up to catch a +moth. It took me half an hour to hook it. But I did, and after some pretty +play I had the satisfaction of landing a lovely three-pounder. I now +reeled up, put my rod in its canvas case, and prepared to make the best of +my way to the castle. + +It was nearly an hour since the sun had gone down like a huge crimson +ball in the west, and now slowly over the hills a veritable facsimile of +it was rising, and soon the stars came out as gloaming gave place to +night, and moonlight flooded all the woods and glen. + +The scene around me was lovely, but lonesome in the extreme, for there was +not a house anywhere near, nor a sound to break the stillness except now +and then the eerisome cry of the brown owl that flitted silently past +overhead. Had I been very timid I could have imagined that figures were +creeping here and there in the flickering shadows of the trees, or that +ghosts and bogles had come out to keep me company. My nearest way home +would be to cross a bit of heathery moor and pass by the neglected +graveyard and ruined Catholic chapel; and, worse than all, the ancient +manse where lived old Mawsie. + +I never believed that Mawsie was a witch, though others did. She was said +to creep about on moonlight nights like a dry aisk,[1] so people said, +'mooling' among heaps of rubbish and the mounds over the graves as she +gathered herbs to concoct strange mixtures withal. Certainly Mawsie was no +beauty; she walked 'two-fold,' leaning on a crutch; she was gray-bearded, +wrinkled beyond conception; her head was swathed winter and summer in +wraps of flannel, and altogether she looked uncanny. Nevertheless, the +peasant people never hesitated to visit her to beg for herb-tea and oil to +rub their joints. But they always chose the daylight in which to make +their calls. + +'Perhaps,' I thought, 'I'd better go round.' Then something whispered to +me, 'What! you a M'Crimman, and confessing to fear!' + +That decided me, and I went boldly on. For the life of me, however, I +could not keep from mentally repeating those weird and awful lines in +Burns' 'Tam o' Shanter,' descriptive of the hero's journey homewards on +that unhallowed and awful night when he forgathered with the witches: + + 'By this time he was 'cross the ford + Whare in the snaw the chapman smo'red;[2] + And past the birks[3] and meikle stane + Whare drunken Charlie brak's neck-bane; + And through the furze and by the cairn + Where hunters found the murdered bairn, + And near the thorn, aboon the well, + Where Mungo's mither hanged hersel', + When glimmering through the groaning trees, + Kirk Alloway seemed in a bleeze.' + +I almost shuddered as I said to myself, 'What if there be lights +glimmering from the frameless windows of the ruined chapel? or what if old +Mawsie's windows be "in a bleeze"?' + +Tall, ghostly-looking elder-trees grew round the old manse, which people +had told me always kept moving, even when no breath of wind was blowing. + +If I had shuddered before, my heart stood still now with a nameless dread, +for sure enough, from both the 'butt' and the 'ben' of the so-called +witch's cottage lights were glancing. + +What could it mean? She was too old to have company, almost an invalid, +with age alone and its attendant infirmities--so, at least, people said. +But it had also been rumoured lately that Mawsie was up to doings which +were far from canny, that lights had been seen flitting about the old +churchyard and ruin, and that something was sure to happen. Nobody in the +parish could have been found hardy enough to cross the glen-foot where +Mawsie lived long after dark. Well, had I thought of all this before, it +is possible that I might have given her house a wide berth. It was now too +late. I felt like one in a dream, impelled forward towards the cottage. I +seemed to be walking on the air as I advanced. + +To get to the windows, however, I must cross the graveyard yard and the +ruin. This last was partly covered with tall rank ivy, and, hearing sounds +inside, and seeing the glimmer of lanterns, I hid in the old porch, quite +shaded by the greenery. + +From my concealment I could notice that men were at work in a vault or pit +on the floor of the old chapel, from which earth and rubbish were being +dislodged, while another figure--not that of a workman--was bending over +and addressing them in English. It was evident, therefore, those people +below were not Highlanders, for in the face of the man who spoke I was +able at a glance to distinguish the hard-set lineaments of the villain +Duncan M'Rae. This man had been everything in his time--soldier, +school-teacher, poacher, thief. He was abhorred by his own clan, and +feared by every one. Even the school children, if they met him on the +road, would run back to avoid him. + +Duncan had only recently come back to the glen after an absence of years, +and every one said his presence boded no good. I shuddered as I gazed, +almost spellbound, on his evil countenance, rendered doubly ugly in the +uncertain light of the lantern. Suppose he should find me! I crept closer +into my corner now, and tried to draw the ivy round me. I dared not run, +for fear of being seen, for the moonlight was very bright indeed, and +M'Rae held a gun in his hand. + +After a time, which appeared to be interminable, I heard Duncan invite the +men into supper, and slowly they clambered up out of the pit, and the +three prepared to leave together. + +All might have been well now, for they passed me without even a glance in +my direction; but presently I heard one of the men stumble. + +'Hullo!' he said; 'is this basket of fish yours, Mr. Mac?' + +'No,' was the answer, with an imprecation that made me quake. 'We are +watched!' + +In another moment I was dragged from my place of concealment, and the +light was held up to my face. + +'A M'Crimman of Coila, by all that is furious! And so, youngster, you've +come to watch? You know the family feud, don't you? Well, prepare to meet +your doom. You'll never leave here alive.' + +He pointed his gun at me as he spoke. + +'Hold!' cried one of the men. 'We came from town to do a bit of honest +work, but we will not witness murder.' + +'I only wanted to frighten him,' said M'Rae, lowering his gun. 'Look you, +sir,' he continued, addressing me once more, 'I don't want revenge, even +on a M'Crimman of Coila. I'm a poacher; perhaps I'm a distiller in a quiet +way. No matter, you know what an oath is. You'll swear ere you leave here, +not to breathe a word of what you've seen. You hear?' + +'I promise I won't,' I faltered. + +He handled his fowling-piece threateningly once again. Verily, he had just +then a terribly evil look. + +'I swear,' I said, with trembling lips. + +His gun was again lowered. He seemed to breathe more freely--less +fiercely. + +'Go, now,' he said, pointing across the moor. 'If a poor man like myself +wants to hide either his game or his private still, what odds is it to a +M'Crimman of Coila?' + +How I got home I never knew. I remember that evening being in our front +drawing-room with what seemed a sea of anxious faces round me, some of +which were bathed in tears. Then all was a long blank, interspersed with +fearful dreams. + +It was weeks before I recovered consciousness. I was then lying in bed. In +at the open window was wafted the odour of flowers, for it was a summer's +evening, and outside were the green whispering trees. Townley sat beside +the bed, book in hand, and almost started when I spoke. + +[Illustration: He pointed his Gun at me] + +'Mr. Townley!' + +'Yes, dear boy.' + +'Have I been long ill?' + +'For weeks--four, I think. How glad I am you are better! But you must keep +very, _very_ quiet. I shall go and bring your mother now, and Flora.' + +I put out my thin hand and detained him. + +'Tell me, Mr. Townley,' I said, 'have I spoken much in my sleep, for I +have been dreaming such foolish dreams?' + +Townley looked at me long and earnestly. He seemed to look me through and +through. Then he replied slowly, almost solemnly, + +'Yes, dear boy, you have spoken _much_.' + +I closed my eyes languidly. For now I knew that Townley was aware of more +than ever I should have dared to reveal. + +----- + + [1] Triton. + + [2] Smothered. + + [3] Birch-trees. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE RING AND THE BOOK. + + +My return to health was a slow though not a painful one. My mind, however, +was clear, and even before I could partake of food I enjoyed hearing +sister play to me on her harp. Sometimes aunt, too, would play. My mother +seldom left the room by day, and one of my chief delights was her stories +from Bible life and tales of Bible lands. + +At last I was permitted to get up and recline in fauteuil or on sofa. + +'Mother,' I said one day, 'I feel getting stronger, but somehow I do not +regain spirits. Is there some sorrow in your heart, mother, or do I only +imagine it?' + +She smiled, but there were tears in her eyes. + +'I'm sure we are all very, _very_ happy, Murdoch, to have you getting well +again.' + +'And, mother,' I persisted, 'father does not seem easy in mind either. He +comes in and talks to me, but often I think his mind is wandering to other +subjects.' + +'Foolish child! nothing could make your father unhappy. He does his duty +by us all, and his faith is fixed.' + +One day they came and told me that the doctor had ordered me away to the +seaside. Mother and Flora were to come, and one servant; the rest of our +family were to follow. + +It was far away south to Rothesay we went, and here, my cheeks fanned by +the delicious sea-breezes, I soon began to grow well and strong again. But +the sorrow in my mother's face was more marked than ever, though I had +ceased to refer to it. + +The rooms we had hired were very pleasant, but looked very small in +comparison with the great halls I had been used to. + +Well, on a beautiful afternoon father and my brothers arrived, and we all +had tea out on the shady lawn, up to the very edge of which the waves were +lapping and lisping. + +I was reclining in a hammock chair, listening to the sea's soft, soothing +murmur, when father brought his camp-stool and sat near me. + +'Murdoch, boy,' he said, taking my hand gently, almost tenderly, in his, +'are you strong enough to bear bad news?' + +My heart throbbed uneasily, but I replied, bravely enough, 'Yes, dear +father; yes.' + +'Then,' he said, speaking very slowly, as if to mark the effect of every +word, 'we are--never--to return--to Castle Coila!' + +I was calm now, for, strange to say, the news appeared to be no news at +all. + +'Well, father,' I answered, cheerfully, 'I can bear that--I could bear +anything but separation.' + +I went over and kissed my mother and sister. + +'So this is the cloud that was in your faces, eh? Well, the worst is over. +I have nothing to do now but get well. Father, I feel quite a man.' + +'So do we both feel men,' said Donald and Dugald; 'and we are all going to +work. Won't that be jolly?' + +In a few brief words father then explained our position. There had arrived +one day, some weeks after the worst and most dangerous part of my illness +was over, an advocate from Aberdeen, in a hired carriage. He had, he +said, a friend with him, who seemed, so he worded it, 'like one risen +from the dead.' + +His friend was helped down, and into father's private room off the hall. + +His friend was the old beldame Mawsie, and a short but wonderful story she +had to tell, and did tell, the Aberdeen advocate sitting quietly by the +while with a bland smile on his face. She remembered, she said with many a +sigh and groan, and many a doleful shake of head and hand, the marriage of +Le Roi the dragoon with the Miss M'Crimman of Coila, although but a girl +at the time; and she remembered, among many other things, that the +priest's books were hidden for safety in a vault, where he also kept all +the money he possessed. No one knew of the existence of this vault except +her, and so on and so forth. So voluble did the old lady become that the +advocate had to apply the _clôture_ at last. + +'It is strange--if true,' my father had muttered. 'Why,' he added, 'had +the old lady not spoken of this before?' + +'Ah, yes, to be sure,' said the Aberdonian. 'Well, that also is strange, +but easily explained. The shock received on the night of the fire at the +chapel had deprived the poor soul of memory. For years and years this +deprivation continued, but one day, not long ago, the son of the present +claimant, and probably rightful heir, to Coila walked into her room at the +old manse, gun in hand. He had been down shooting at Strathtoul, and +naturally came across to view the ruin so intimately connected with his +father's fate and fortune. No sooner had he appeared than the good old +dame rushed towards him, calling him by his grandfather's name. Her memory +had returned as suddenly as it had gone. She had even told him of the +vault. 'Perhaps,' continued he, with a meaning smile, + + '"'Tis the sunset of life gives her mystical lore, + And coming events cast their shadow before."' + +A fortnight after this visit a meeting of those concerned took place at +the beldame's house. She herself pointed to the place where she thought +the vault lay, and with all due legal formality digging was commenced, and +the place was found not far off. At first glance the vault seemed empty. +In one corner, however, was found, covered lightly over with withered +ferns, many bottles of wine and--a box. The two men of law, Le Roi's +solicitor and M'Crimman's, had a little laugh all to themselves over the +wine. Legal men will laugh at anything. + +'The priest must have kept a good cellar on the sly,' one said. + +'That is evident,' replied the other. + +The box was opened with some little difficulty. In it was a book--an old +Latin Bible. But something else was in it too. Townley was the first to +note it. Only a silver ring such as sailors wear--a ring with a little +heart-shaped ruby stone in it. Book and ring were now sealed up in the +box, and next day despatched to Edinburgh with all due formality. The best +legal authorities the Scotch metropolis could boast of were consulted on +both sides, but fate for once was against the M'Crimmans of Coila. The +book told its tale. Half-carelessly written on fly-leaves, but each duly +dated and signed by Stewart, the priest, were notes concerning many +marriages, Le Roi's among the rest. + +Even M'Crimman himself confessed that he was satisfied--as was every one +else save Townley. + +'The book has told one tale--or rather its binding has,' said Townley; +'but the ring may yet tell another.' + +All this my father related to me that evening as we sat together on the +lawn by the beach of Rothesay. + +When he had finished I sat silently gazing seawards, but spoke not. My +brothers told me afterwards that I looked as if turned to stone. And, +indeed, indeed, my heart felt so. When father first told me we should go +back no more to Coila I felt almost happy that the bad news was no worse; +but now that explanations had followed, my perplexity was extreme. + +One thing was sure and certain--there was a conspiracy, and the events of +that terrible night at the ruin had to do with it. The evil man Duncan +M'Rae was in it. Townley suspected it from words I must have let fall in +my delirium; but, worst of all, my mouth was sealed. Oh, why, why did I +not rather die than be thus bound! + +It must be remembered that I was very young, and knew not then that an +oath so forced upon me could not be binding. + +Come weal, come woe, however, I determined to keep my word. + + * * * * * + +The scene of our story changes now to Edinburgh itself. Here we had all +gone to live in a house owned by aunt, not far from the Calton Hill. We +were comparatively poor now, for father, with the honour and Christian +feeling that ever characterized him, had even paid up back rent to the new +owner of Coila Castle and Glen. + +That parting from Coila had been a sad one. I was not there--luckily for +me, perhaps; but Townley has told me of it often and often. + +'Yes, Murdoch M'Crimman,' he said, 'I have been present at the funeral of +many a Highland chief, but none of these impressed me half so much as the +scene in Glen Coila, when the carriage containing your dear father and +mother and Flora left the old castle and wound slowly down the glen. Men, +women, and little ones joined in procession, and marched behind it, and so +followed on and on till they reached the glen-foot, with the bagpipes +playing "Farewell to Lochaber." This affected your father as much, I +think, as anything else. As for your mother, she sat silently weeping, and +Flora dared hardly trust herself to look up at all. Then the parting! The +chief, your father, stood up and addressed his people--for "his people" he +still would call them. There was not a tremor in his voice, nor was +there, on the other hand, even a spice of bravado. He spoke to them +calmly, logically. In the old days, he said, might had been right, and +many a gallant corps of heroes had his forefathers led from the glen, but +times had changed. They were governed by good laws, and good laws meant +fair play, for they protected all alike, gentle and simple, poor as well +as rich. He bade them love and honour the new chief of Coila, to whom, as +his proven right, he not only heartily transferred his lands and castle, +but even, as far as possible, the allegiance of his people. They must be +of good cheer, he said; he would never forget the happy time he had spent +in Coila, and if they should meet no more on this earth, there was a +Happier Land beyond death and the grave. He ended his brief oration with +that little word which means so much, "Good-bye." But scarcely would they +let him go. Old, bare-headed, white-haired men crowded round the carriage +to bless their chief and press his hand; tearful women held children up +that he might but touch their hair, while some had thrown themselves on +the heather in paroxysms of a grief which was uncontrollable. Then the +pipes played once more as the carriage drove on, while the voices of the +young men joined in chorus-- + + "Youth of the daring heart, bright be thy doom + As the bodings that light up thy bold spirit now. + But the fate of M'Crimman is closing in gloom, + And the breath of the grey wraith hath passed o'er his brow." + +'When,' added Townley, 'a bend of the road and the drooping birch-trees +shut out the mournful sight, I am sure we all felt relieved. Your father, +smiling, extended his hand to your mother, and she fondled it and wept no +more.' + + * * * * * + +For a time our life, to all outward seeming, was now a very quiet one. +Although Donald and Dugald were sent to that splendid seminary which has +given so many great men and heroes to the world, the 'High School of +Edinburgh,' Townley still lived on with us as my tutor and Flora's. + +What my father seemed to suffer most from was the want of something at +which to employ his time, and what Townley called his 'talent for +activity.' 'Doing nothing' was not father's form after leading so +energetic a life for so many years at Coila. Like the city of Boston in +America, Edinburgh prides itself on the selectness of its society. To +this, albeit we had come down in the world, pecuniarily speaking, our +family had free _entrée_. This would have satisfied some men; it did not +satisfy father. He missed the bracing mountain air, he missed the freedom +of the hills and the glorious exercise to which he had been accustomed. + +He missed it, but he mourned it not. His was the most unselfish nature one +could imagine. Whatever he may have felt in the privacy of his own +apartment, however much he may have sorrowed in silence, among us he was +ever cheerful and even gay. Perhaps, on the whole, it may seem to some +that I write or speak in terms too eulogistic. But it should not be +forgotten that the M'Crimman was my father, and that he is--gone. _De +mortuis nil nisi bonum._ + +The ex-chief of Coila was a gentleman. And what a deal there is in that +one wee word! No one can ape the gentleman. True gentlemanliness must +come from the heart; the heart is the well from which it must +spring--constantly, always, in every position of life, and wherever the +owner may be. No amount of exterior polish can make a true gentleman. +The actor can play the part on the stage, but here he is but acting, after +all. Off the stage he may or may not be the gentleman, for then he must +not be judged by his dress, by his demeanour in company, his calmness, or +his ducal bow, but by his actions, his words, or his spoken thoughts. + + 'Chesterfields and modes and rules + For polished age and stilted youth. + And high breeding's choicest school + Need to learn this deeper truth: + That to act, whate'er betide, + Nobly on the Christian plan, + This is still the surest guide + How to be a gentleman.' + +About a year after our arrival in Edinburgh, Townley was seated one day +midway up the beautiful mountain called Arthur's Seat. It was early +summer; the sky was blue and almost cloudless; far beneath, the city of +palaces and monuments seemed to sleep in the sunshine; away to the east +lay the sea, blue even as the sky itself, except where here and there a +cloud shadow passed slowly over its surface. Studded, too, was the sea +with many a white sail, and steamers with trailing wreaths of smoke. + +The noise of city life, faint and far, fell on the ear with a hum hardly +louder than the murmur of the insects and bees that sported among the wild +flowers. + +Townley would not have been sitting here had he been all by himself, for +this Herculean young parson never yet set eye on a hill he meant to climb +without going straight to the top of it. + +'There is no tiring Townley.' I have often heard father make that remark; +and, indeed, it gave in a few words a complete clue to Townley's +character. + +But to-day my aunt Cecilia was with him, and it was on her account he was +resting. They had been sitting for some time in silence. + +'It is almost too lovely a day for talking,' she said, at last. + +'True; it is a day for thinking and dreaming.' + +'I do not imagine, sir, that either thinking or dreaming is very much in +your way.' + +He turned to her almost sharply. + +'Oh, indeed,' he said, 'you hardly gauge my character aright, Miss +M'Crimman.' + +'Do I not?' + +'No, if you only knew how much I think at times; if you only knew how much +I have even dared to dream--' + +There was a strange meaning in his looks if not in his words. Did she +interpret either aright, I wonder? I know not. Of one thing I am sure, and +that is, my friend and tutor was far too noble to seem to take advantage +of my aunt's altered circumstances in life to press his suit. He might be +her equal some day, at present he was--her brother's guest and domestic. + +'Tell me,' she said, interrupting him, 'some of your thoughts; dreams at +best are silly.' + +He heaved the faintest sigh, and for a few moments appeared bent only on +forming an isosceles triangle of pebbles with his cane. + +Then he put his fingers in his pocket. + +'I wish to show you,' he said, 'a ring.' + +'A ring, Mr. Townley! What a curious ring! Silver, set with a ruby heart. +Why, this is the ring--the mysterious ring that belonged to the priest, +and was found in his box in the vault.' + +'No, that is not _the_ ring. _The_ ring is in a safe and under seal. That +is but a facsimile. But, Miss M'Crimman, the ring in question did not, I +have reason to believe, belong to the priest Stewart, nor was it ever worn +by him.' + +'How strangely you talk and look, Mr. Townley!' + +'Whatever I say to you now, Miss M'Crimman, I wish you to consider +sacred.' + +The lady laughed, but not lightly. + +'Do you think,' she said, 'I can keep a secret?' + +'I do, Miss M'Crimman, and I want a friend and occasional adviser.' + +'Go on, Mr. Townley. You may depend on me.' + +'All we know, or at least all he will tell us of Murdoch's--your +nephew's--illness, is that he was frightened at the ruin that night. He +did not lead us to infer--for this boy is honest--that the terror partook +of the supernatural, but he seemed pleased we did so infer.' + +'Yes, Mr. Townley.' + +'I watched by his bedside at night, when the fever was at its hottest. I +alone listened to his ravings. Such ravings have always, so doctors tell +us, a foundation in fact. He mentioned this ring over and over again. He +mentioned a vault; he mentioned a name, and starting sometimes from uneasy +slumber, prayed the owner of that name to spare him--to shoot him not.' + +'And from this you deduce----' + +'From this,' said Townley, 'I deduce that poor Murdoch had seen that ring +on the left hand of a villain who had threatened to shoot him, for some +potent reason or another, that Murdoch had seen that vault open, and that +he has been bound down by sacred oath not to reveal what he did see.' + +'But oh, Mr. Townley, such oath could not, cannot be binding on the boy. +We must----' + +'No, we must _not_, Miss M'Crimman. We must not put pressure on Murdoch at +present. We must not treat lightly his honest scruples. _You_ must leave +_me_ to work the matter out in my own way. Only, whenever I need your +assistance or friendship to aid me, I may ask for it, may I not?' + +'Indeed you may, Mr. Townley.' + +Her hand lay for one brief moment in his; then they got up silently and +resumed their walk. + +Both were thinking now. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A NEW HOME IN THE WEST. + + +To-night, before I entered my tower-room study and sat down to continue +our strange story, I was leaning over the battlements and gazing +admiringly at the beautiful sunset effects among the hills and on the +lake, when my aunt came gliding to my side. She always comes in this +spirit-like way. + +'May I say one word,' she said, 'without interrupting the train of your +thoughts?' + +'Yes, dear aunt,' I replied; 'speak as you please--say what you will.' + +'I have been reading your manuscript, Murdoch, and I think it is high time +you should mention that the M'Raes of Strathtoul were in no degree +connected with or voluntarily mixed up in the villainy that banished your +poor father from Castle Coila.' + +'It shall be as you wish,' I said, and then Aunt Cecilia disappeared as +silently as she had come. + +Aunt is right. Nor can I forget that--despite the long-lasting and +unfortunate blood-feud--the Strathtouls were and are our kinsmen. It is +due to them to add that they ever acted honourably, truthfully; that there +was but one villain, and whatever of villainy was transacted was his. Need +I say his name was Duncan M'Rae? A M'Rae of Strathtoul? No; I am glad and +proud to say he was not. I even doubt if he had any right or title to the +name at all. It may have been but an _alias_. An _alias_ is often of the +greatest use to such a man as this Duncan; so is an _alibi_ at times! + +I have already mentioned the school in the glen which my father the chief +had built. M'Rae was one of its first teachers. He was undoubtedly clever, +and, though he had not come to Coila without a little cloud on his +character, his plausibility and his capability prevailed upon my father to +give him a chance. There used at that time to be services held in the +school on Sunday evenings, to which the most humbly dressed peasant could +come. Humble though they were, they invariably brought their mite for the +collection. It was dishonesty--even sacrilegious dishonesty--in Duncan to +appropriate such moneys to his use, and to falsify the books. It is +needless to say he was dismissed, and ever after he bore little good-will +to the M'Crimmans of Coila. + +He had now to live on his wits. His wits led him to dishonesty of a +different sort--he became a noted poacher. His quarrels with the +glen-keepers often led to ugly fights and to bloodshed, but never to +Duncan's reform. He lived and lodged with old Mawsie. It suited him to do +so for several reasons, one of which was that she had, as I have already +said, an ill-name, and the keepers were superstitious; besides, her house +was but half a mile from a high road, along which a carrier passed once a +week on his way to a distant town, and Duncan nearly always had a +mysterious parcel for him. + +The poacher wanted a safe or store for his ill-gotten game. What better +place than the floor of the ruined church? While digging there, to his +surprise he had discovered a secret vault or cell; the roof and sides had +fallen in, but masons could repair them. Such a place would be invaluable +in his craft if it could be kept secret, and he determined it should be. +After this, strange lights were said to be seen sometimes by belated +travellers flitting among the old graves; twice also a ghost had been met +on the hill adjoining--some _thing_ at least that disappeared immediately +with eldritch scream. + +It was shortly after this that Duncan had imported two men to do what they +called 'a bit of honest work.' Duncan had lodged and fed them at Mawsie's; +they worked at night, and when they had done the 'honest work,' he took +them to Invergowen and shipped them back to Aberdeen. + +But the poacher's discovery of the priest's Bible turned his thoughts to a +plan of enriching himself far more effectually and speedily than he ever +could expect to do by dealing in game without a licence. + +At the same time Duncan had found the poor priest's modest store of wine. +A less scientific villain would have made short work with this, but the +poacher knew better at present than to 'put an enemy in his mouth to steal +away his brains;' besides, the vault would look more natural, when +afterwards 'discovered,' with a collection of old bottles of wine in it. + +To forge an entry on one of the fly-leaves of the book was no difficult +task, nor was it difficult to deal with Mawsie so as to secure the end he +had in view in the most natural way. Once again his villain-wit showed its +ascendency. A person of little acumen would have sought to work upon the +old lady's greed--would have tried to bribe her to say this or that, or to +swear to anything. But well Duncan knew how treacherous is the aged +memory, and yet how easily acted on. He began by talking much about the Le +Roi marriage which had taken place when she was a girl. He put words in +the old lady's mouth without seeming to do so; he manufactured an +artificial memory for her, and neatly fitted it. + +'Surely, mother,' he would say, 'you remember the marriage that took place +in the chapel at midnight--the rich soldier, you know, Le Roi, and the +bonnie M'Crimman lady? You're not so _very_ old as to forget that.' + +'Heigho! it's a long time ago, _ma yhillie og_, a long time ago, and I was +young.' + +'True, but old people remember things that happened when they were young +better than more recent events.' + +They talked in Gaelic, so I am not giving their exact words. + +'Ay, ay, lad--ay, ay! And, now that you mention it, I do remember it +well--the lassie M'Crimman and the bonnie, bonnie gentleman.' + +'Gave you a guinea--don't you remember?' + +'Ay, ay, the dear man!' + +'Is this it?' continued Duncan, holding up a golden coin. + +Her eyes gloated over the money, her birdlike claw clutched it; she +'crooned' over it, sang to it, rolled it in a morsel of flannel, and put +it away in her bosom. + +A course of this kind of tuition had a wonderful effect on Mawsie. After +the marriage came the vault, and she soon remembered all that. But +probably the guinea had more effect than anything else in fixing her mind +on the supposed events of the past. + +You see, Duncan was a psychologist, and a good one, too. Pity he did not +turn his talents to better use. + +The poacher's next move was to hurry up to London, and obtain an interview +with the chief of Strathtoul's son. He seldom visited Scotland, being an +officer of the Guards--a soldier, as his grandfather had been. + +Is it any wonder that Duncan M'Rae's plausible story found a ready +listener in young Le Roi, or that he was only too happy to pay the poacher +a large but reasonable sum for proofs which should place his father in +possession of fortune and a fine estate? + +The rest was easy. A large coloured sketch was shown to old Mawsie as a +portrait of the Le Roi who had been married in the old chapel in her +girlhood. It was that of his grandson, who shortly after visited the manse +and the ruin. + +Duncan was successful beyond his utmost expectations. Only 'the wicked +flee when no man pursueth' them, and this villain could not feel easy +while he remained at home. Two things preyed on his mind--first, the +meeting with myself at the ruin; secondly, the loss of his ring. Probably +had the two men not interfered that night he would have made short work of +me. As for the ring, he blamed his own carelessness for losing it. It was +a dead man's ring; would it bring him ill-luck? + +So he fled--or departed--put it as you please; but, singular to say, old +Mawsie was found dead in her house the day _after_ he had been seen to +take his departure from the glen. It was said she had met her death by +premeditated violence; but who could have slain the poor old crone, and +for what reason? It was more charitable and more reasonable to believe +that she had fallen and died where she was found. So the matter had been +allowed to rest. What could it matter to Mawsie? + +Townley alone had different and less charitable views about the matter. +Meanwhile Townley's bird had flown. But everything comes to him who can +wait, and--there was no tiring Townley. + + * * * * * + +A year or two flew by quickly enough. I know what that year or two did for +me--_it made me a man!_ + +Not so much in stature, perhaps--I was young, barely seventeen--but a man +in mind, in desire, in ambition, and in brave resolve. Do not imagine that +I had been very happy since leaving Coila; my mind was racked by a +thousand conflicting thoughts that often kept me awake at night when all +others were sunk in slumber. Something told me that the doings of that +night at the ruin had undone our fortunes, and I was bound by solemn +promise never to divulge what I had seen or what I knew. A hundred times +over I tried to force myself to the belief that the poacher was only a +poacher, and not a villain of deeper dye, but all in vain. + +Time, however, is the _edax rerum_--the devourer of all things, even of +grief and sorrow. Well, I saw my father and mother and Flora happy in +their new home, content with their new surroundings, and I began to take +heart. But to work I must go. What should I do? What should I be? The +questions were answered in a way I had little dreamt of. + +One evening, about eight o'clock, while passing along a street in the new +town, I noticed well-dressed mechanics and others filing into a hall, +where, it was announced, a lecture was to be delivered-- + + 'A NEW HOME IN THE WEST.' + +Such was the heading of the printed bills. Curiosity led me to enter with +others. + +I listened entranced. The lecture was a revelation to me. The 'New Home in +the West' was the Argentine Republic, and the speaker was brimful of his +subject, and brimful to overflowing with the rugged eloquence that goes +straight to the heart. + +There was wealth untold in the silver republic for those who were healthy, +young, and willing to work--riches enough to be had for the digging to buy +all Scotland up--riches of grain, of fruit, of spices, of skins and wool +and meat--wealth all over the surface of the new home--wealth _in_ the +earth and bursting through it--wealth and riches everywhere. + +And beauty everywhere too--beauty of scenery, beauty of woods and wild +flowers; of forest stream and sunlit skies. Why stay in Scotland when +wealth like this was to be had for the gathering? England was a glorious +country, but its very over-population rendered it a poor one, and poorer +it was growing every day. + + 'Hark! old Ocean's tongue of thunder, + Hoarsely calling, bids you speed + To the shores he held asunder + Only for these times of need. + Now, upon his friendly surges + Ever, ever roaring "Come," + All the sons of hope he urges + To a new, a richer home. + + There, instead of festering alleys, + Noisome dirt and gnawing dearth, + Sunny hills and smiling valleys + Wait to yield the wealth of earth. + All she seeks is human labour, + Healthy in the open air; + All she gives is--every neighbour + Wealthy, hale, and happy There!' + +Language like this was to me simply intoxicating. I talked all next day +about what I had heard, and when evening came I once more visited the +lecture-hall, this time in company with my brothers. + +'Oh,' said Donald, as we were returning home, 'that is the sort of work we +want.' + +'Yes,' cried Dugald the younger; 'and that is the land to go to.' + +'You are so young--sixteen and fifteen--I fear I cannot take you with me,' +I put in. + +Donald stopped short in the street and looked straight in my face. + +'So _you_ mean to go, then? And you think you can go without Dugald and +me? Young, are we? But won't we grow out of that? We are not town-bred +brats. Feel my arm; look at brother's lusty legs! And haven't we both got +hearts--the M'Crimman heart? Ho, ho, Murdoch! big as you are, you don't go +without Dugald and me!' + +'That he sha'n't!' said Dugald, determinedly. + +'Come on up to the top of the craig,' I said; 'I want a walk. It is only +half-past nine.' + +But it was well-nigh eleven before we three brothers had finished +castle-building. + +Remember, it was not castles in the air, either, we were piling up. We had +health, strength, and determination, with a good share of honest ambition; +and with these we believed we could gather wealth. The very thoughts of +doing so filled me with a joy that was inexpressible. Not that I valued +money for itself, but because wealth, if I could but gain it, would enable +me to in some measure restore the fortunes of our fallen house. + +We first consulted father. It was not difficult to secure his acquiescence +to our scheme, and he even told mother that it was unnatural to expect +birds to remain always in the parent nest. + +I have no space to detail all the outs and ins of our arguments; suffice +it to say they were successful, and preparations for our emigration were +soon commenced. One stipulation of dear mother's we were obliged to give +in to--namely, that Aunt Cecilia should go with us. Aunt was very wise, +though very romantic withal--a strange mixture of poetry and common-sense. +My father and mother, however, had very great faith in her. Moreover, she +had already travelled all by herself half-way over the world. She had +therefore the benefit of former experiences. But in every way we were fain +to admit that aunt was eminently calculated to be our friend and mentor. +She was and is clever. She could talk philosophy to us, even while darning +our stockings or seeing after our linen; she could talk half a dozen +languages, but she could talk common-sense to the cook as well; she was +fitted to mix in the very best society, but she could also mix a salad. +She played entrancingly on the harp, sang well, recited Ossian's poems by +the league, had a beautiful face, and the heart of a lion, which well +became the sister of a chief. + +It is only fair to add that it was aunt who found the sinews of war--our +war with fortune. She, however, made a sacrifice to our pride in promising +to consider any and all moneys spent upon us as simply loans, to be repaid +with interest when we grew rich, if not--and this was only an honest +stipulation--worked off beforehand. + +But poor dear aunt, her love of travel and adventure was quite wonderful, +and she had a most childlike faith in the existence and reality of the El +Dorado we were going in search of. + +The parting with father, mother, and Flora was a terrible trial. I can +hardly think of it yet without a feeling akin to melancholy. But we got +away at last amid prayers and blessings and tears. A hundred times over +Flora had begged us to write every week, and to make haste and get ready a +place for her and mother and father and all in our new home in the West, +for she would count the days until the summons came to follow. + +Fain would honest, brawny Townley have gone with us. What an acquisition +he would have proved! only, he told me somewhat significantly, he had work +to do, and if he was successful he might follow on. I know, though, that +parting with Aunt Cecilia almost broke his big brave heart. + +There was so much to do when we arrived in London, from which port we were +to sail, so much to buy, so much to be seen, and so many people to visit, +that I and my brothers had little time to revert even to the grief of +parting from all we held dear at home. + +We did not forget to pay a visit to our forty-second cousins in their +beautiful and aristocratic mansion at the West End. Archie Bateman was our +favourite. My brothers and I were quite agreed as to that. The other +cousin--who was also the elder--was far too much swamped in _bon ton_ to +please Highland lads such as we were. + +But over and over again Archie made us tell him all we knew or had heard +of the land we were going to. The first night Archie had said, + +'Oh, I wish I were going too!' + +The second evening his remark was, + +'Why _can't_ I go?' + +But on the third and last day of our stay Archie took me boldly by the +hand-- + +'Don't tell anybody,' he said, 'but I'm going to follow you very soon. +Depend upon that. I'm only a younger son. Younger sons are nobodies in +England. The eldest sons get all the pudding, and we have only the dish to +scrape. They talk about making me a barrister. I don't mean to be made a +barrister; I'd as soon be a bumbailiff. No, I'm going to follow you, +cousin, so I sha'n't say good-bye--just _au revoir_.' + +And when we drove away from the door, I really could not help admiring the +handsome bold-looking English lad who stood in the porch waving his +handkerchief and shouting, + +'_Au revoir--au revoir._' + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE PROMISED LAND AT LAST. + + +'There is nothing more annoyin' than a hitch at the hin'eren'. What think +you, young sir?' + +'I beg pardon,' I replied, 'but I'm afraid I did not quite understand +you.' + +I had been standing all alone watching our preparations for dropping down +stream with the tide. What a wearisome time it had been, too! + +The Canton was advertised to sail the day before, but did not. We were +assured, however, she would positively start at midnight, and we had gone +to bed expecting to awake at sea. I had fallen asleep brimful of all kinds +of romantic thoughts. But lo! I had been awakened early on the dark +morning of this almost wintry day with the shouting of men, the rattling +of chains, and puff-puff-puffing of that dreadful donkey-engine. + +'Oh yes, we'll be off, sure enough, about eight bells.' + +This is what the steward told us after breakfast, but all the forenoon had +slipped away, and here we still were. The few people on shore who had +stayed on, maugre wind and sleet, to see the very, _very_ last of friends +on board, looked very worn and miserable. + +But surely we were going at last, for everything was shipped and +everything was comparatively still--far too still, indeed, as it turned +out! + +'I said I couldn't stand a hitch at the hin'eren', young sir--any trouble +at the tail o' the chapter.' + +I looked up--I _had_ to look up, for the speaker was a head and shoulders +bigger than I--a broad-shouldered, brawny, brown-bearded Scotchman. A +Highlander evidently by his brogue, but one who had travelled south, and +therefore only put a Scotch word in here and there when talking--just, he +told me afterwards, to make better sense of the English language. + +'Do I understand you to mean that something has happened to delay the +voyage?' + +'I dinna care whether you understand me or not,' he replied, with almost +fierce independence, 'but we're broken down.' + +It was only too true, and the news soon went all over the ship--spread +like wild-fire, in fact. Something had gone wrong in the engine-room, and +it would take a whole week to make good repairs. + +I went below to report matters to aunt and my brothers, and make +preparations for disembarking again. + +When we reached the deck we found the big Scot walking up and down with +rapid, sturdy strides; but he stopped in front of me, smiling. He had an +immense plaid thrown Highland-fashion across his chest and left shoulder, +and clutched a huge piece of timber in his hand, which by courtesy might +have been called a cane. + +'You'll doubtless go on shore for a spell?' he said. 'A vera judicious +arrangement. I'll go myself, and take my mither with me. And are these +your two brotheries, and your sister? How d'ye do, miss?' + +He lifted his huge tam-o'-shanter as he made these remarks--or, in other +words, he seized it by the top and raised it into the form of a huge +pyramid. + +'My aunt,' I said, smiling. + +'A thousand pa_rr_dons, ma'am!' he pleaded, once more making a pyramid of +his 'bonnet,' while the colour mounted to his brow. 'A thousand +pa_rr_dons!' + +Like most of his countrymen, he spoke broader when taken off his guard or +when excited. At such times the _r_'s were thundered or rolled out. + +Aunt Cecilia smiled most graciously, and I feel sure she did not object to +be mistaken for our sister. + +'It seems,' he added, 'we are to be fellow-passengers. My name is +Moncrieff, and if ever I can be of the slightest service to you, pray +command me.' + +'You mentioned your mother,' said aunt, by way of saying something. 'Is +the old--I mean, is she going with you?' + +'What else, what else? And you wouldn't be wrong in calling her "old" +either. My mither's no' a spring chicken, but--she's a marvel. Ay, +mither's a marvel.' + +'I presume, sir, you've been out before?' + +'I've lived for many years in the Silver West. I've made a bit of money, +but I couldn't live a year longer without my mither, so I just came +straight home to take her out. I think when you know my mither you'll +agree with me--she's a marvel.' + +On pausing here for a minute to review a few of the events of my past +life, I cannot agree with those pessimists who tell us we are the victims +of chance; that our fates and our fortunes have nothing more certain to +guide them to a good or a bad end than yonder thistle-down which is the +sport of the summer breeze. + +When I went on board the good ship Canton, had any one told me that in a +few days more I would be standing by the banks of Loch Coila, I would have +laughed in his face. + +Yet so it was. Aunt and Donald stayed in London, while I and Dugald formed +the strange resolve of running down and having one farewell glance at +Coila. I seemed impelled to do so, but how or by what I never could say. + +No; we did not go near Edinburgh. Good-byes had been said, why should we +rehearse again all the agony of parting? + +Nor did we show ourselves to many of the villagers, and those who did see +us hardly knew us in our English dress. + +Just one look at the lake, one glance at the old castle, and we should be +gone, never more to set foot in Coila. + +And here we were close by the water, almost under shadow of our own old +home. It was a forenoon in the end of February, but already the +larch-trees were becoming tinged with tender green, a balmy air went +whispering through the drooping silver birches, the sky was blue, flecked +only here and there with fleecy clouds that cast shadow-patches on the +lake. Up yonder a lark was singing, in adjoining spruce thickets we could +hear the croodle of the ringdove, and in the swaying branches of the elms +the solemn-looking rooks were already building their nests. Dugald and I +were lying on the moss. + +'Spring always comes early to dear Coila,' I was saying; 'and I'm so glad +the ship broke down, just to give me a chance of saying "Good-bye" to the +loch. You, Dugald, did say "Good-bye" to it, you know, but I never had a +chance. + +Ahem! We were startled by the sound of a little cough right behind us--a +sort of made cough, such as people do when they want to attract +attention. + +Standing near us was a gentleman of soldierly bearing, but certainly not +haughty in appearance, for he was smiling. He held a book in his hand, and +on his arm leant a beautiful young girl, evidently his daughter, for both +had blue eyes and fair hair. + +Dugald and I had started to our feet, and for the life of me I could not +help feeling awkward. + +'I fear,' I stammered, 'we are trespassing. But--but my brother and I ran +down from London to say good-bye to Coila. We will go at once.' + +'Stay one moment,' said the gentleman. 'Do not run away without +explaining. You have been here before?' + +'We are the young M'Crimmans of Coila, sir.' + +I spoke sadly--I trust not fiercely. + +'Pardon me, but something seemed to tell me you were. We are pleased to +meet you. Irene, my daughter. It is no fault of ours--at least, of +mine--that your family and the M'Raes were not friendly long ago.' + +'But my father _would_ have made friends with the chief of Strathtoul,' I +said. + +'Yes, and mine had old Highland prejudices. But look, yonder comes a +thunder-shower. You _must_ stay till it is over.' + +'I feel, sir,' I said, 'that I am doing wrong, and that I have done wrong. +My father, even, does not know we are here. _He_ has prejudices now, +too,' + +'Well,' said the officer, laughing, 'my father is in France. Let us both +be naughty boys. You must come and dine with me and my daughter, anyhow. +Bother old-fashioned blood-feuds! We must not forget that we are living in +the nineteenth century.' + +I hesitated a moment, then I glanced at the girl, and next minute we were +all walking together towards the castle. + +We did stop to dinner, nor did we think twice about leaving that night. +The more I saw of these, our hereditary enemies, the more I liked them. +Irene was very like Flora in appearance and manner, but she had a greater +knowledge of the world and all its ways. She was very beautiful. Yes, I +have said so already, but somehow I cannot help saying it again. She +looked older than she really was, and taller than most girls of fourteen. + +'Well,' I said in course of the evening, 'it _is_ strange my being here.' + +'It is only the fortune of war our both being here,' said M'Rae. + +'I wonder,' I added, 'how it will all end!' + +'If it would only end as I should wish, it would end very pleasantly +indeed. But it will not. You will write filially and tell your good father +of your visit. He will write cordially, but somewhat haughtily, to thank +us. That will be all. Oh, Highland blood is very red, and Highland pride +is very high. Well, at all events, Murdoch M'Crimman--if you will let me +call you by your name without the "Mr."--we shall never forget your visit, +shall we, darling?' + +I looked towards Miss M'Rae. Her answer was a simple 'No'; but I was much +surprised to notice that her eyes were full of tears, which she tried in +vain to conceal. + +I saw tears in her eyes next morning as we parted. Her father said +'Good-bye' so kindly that my whole heart went out to him on the spot. + +'I'm not sorry I came,' I said; 'and, sir,' I added, 'as far as you and I +are concerned, the feud is at an end?' + +'Yes, yes; and better so. And,' he continued, 'my daughter bids me say +that she is happy to have seen you, that she is going to think about you +very often, and is so sorrowful you poor lads should have to go away to a +foreign land to seek your fortune while we remain at Coila. That is the +drift of it, but I fear I have not said it prettily enough to please +Irene. Good-bye.' + +We had found fine weather at Coila, and we brought it back with us to +London. There was no hitch this time in starting. The Canton got away +early in the morning, even before breakfast. The last person to come on +board was the Scot, Moncrieff. He came thundering across the plank gangway +with strides like a camel, bearing something or somebody rolled in a +tartan plaid. + +Dugald and I soon noticed two little legs dangling from one end of the +bundle and a little old face peeping out of the other. It was his mother +undoubtedly. + +He put her gently down when he gained the deck, and led her away amidships +somewhere, and there the two disappeared. Presently Moncrieff came back +alone and shook hands with us in the most friendly way. + +'I've just disposed of my mither,' he said, as if she had been a piece of +goods and he had sold her. 'I've just disposed of the poor dear creature, +and maybe she won't appear again till we're across the bay.' + +'You did not take the lady below?' + +'There's no' much of the lady about my mither, though I'm doing all I can +to make her one. No; I didn't take her below. Fact is, we have state +apartments, as you might say, for I've rented the second lieutenant's and +purser's cabins. There they are, cheek-by-jowl, as cosy as wrens'-nests, +just abaft the cook's galley amidships yonder.' + +'Well,' I said, 'I hope your mother will be happy and enjoy the voyage.' + +'Hurrah!' shouted the Scot; 'we're off at last! Now for a fair wind and a +clear sea to the shores of the Silver West. I'll run and tell my mither +we're off.' + +That evening the sun sank on the western waves with a crimson glory that +spoke of fine weather to follow. We were steaming down channel with just +enough sail set to give us some degree of steadiness. + +Though my brothers and I had never been to sea before, we had been used to +roughing it in storms around the coast and on Loch Coila, and probably +this may account for our immunity from that terror of the ocean, +_mal-de-mer_. As for aunt, she was an excellent sailor. The saloon, when +we went below to dinner, was most gay, beautifully lighted, and very +home-like. The officers present were the captain, the surgeon, and one +lieutenant. The captain was president, while the doctor occupied the chair +of _vice_. Both looked thorough sailors, and both appeared as happy as +kings. There seemed also to exist a perfect understanding between the +pair, and their remarks and anecdotes kept the passengers in excellent +good humour during dinner. + +The doctor had been the first to enter, and he came sailing in with aunt, +whom he seated on his right hand. Now aunt was the only young lady among +the passengers, and she certainly had dressed most becomingly. I could not +help admiring her--so did the doctor, but so also did the captain. + +When he entered he gave his surgeon a comical kind of a look and shook his +head. + +'Walked to windward of me, I see!' he said. 'Miss M'Crimman,' he added, +'we don't, as a rule, keep particular seats at table in this ship.' + +'Don't believe a word he says, Miss M'Crimman!' cried the doctor. 'Look, +he's laughing! He never is serious when he smiles like that. Steward, what +is the number of this chair?' + +'Fifteen, sir.' + +'Fifteen, Miss M'Crimman, and you won't forget it; and this table-napkin +ring, observe, is Gordon tartan, green and black and orange.' + +'Miss M'Crimman,' the captain put in, as if the doctor had not said a +word, 'to-morrow evening, for example, you will have the honour to sit on +my right.' + +'Honour, indeed!' laughed the doctor. + +'The honour to sit on my right. You will find I can tell much better +stories than old Conserve-of-roses there; and I feel certain you will not +sit anywhere else all the voyage!' + +'Ah, stay one moments!' cried a merry-looking little Spaniard, who had +just entered and seated himself quietly at the table; 'the young lady weel +not always sit dere, or dere, for sometime she weel have de honour to sit +at my right hand, for example, eh, capitan?' + +There was a hearty laugh at these words, and after this, every one seemed +on the most friendly terms with every one else, and willing to serve every +one else first and himself last. This is one good result that accrues from +travelling, and I have hardly ever yet known a citizen of the world who +could be called selfish. + +There were three other ladies at table to-night, each of whom sat by her +husband's side. Though they were all in what Dr. Spinks afterwards termed +the sere and yellow leaf, both he and the good captain really vied with +each other in paying kindly attention to their wants. + +So pleasantly did this our first dinner on board pass over that by the +time we had risen from our seats we felt, one and all, as if we had known +each other for a very long time indeed. + +Next came our evening concert. One of the married ladies played +exceedingly well, and the little Spanish gentleman sang like a minor Sims +Reeves. + +'Your sister sings, I feel sure,' he said to me. + +'My aunt plays the harp and sings,' I answered. + +'And the harp--you have him?' + +'Yes.' + +'Oh, bring him--bring him! I do love de harp!' + +While my aunt played and sang, it would have been difficult to say which +of her audience listened with the most delighted attention. The doctor's +face was a study; the captain looked tenderly serious; Captain Bombazo, +the black-moustachioed Spaniard, was animation personified; his dark eyes +sparkled like diamonds, his very eyelids appeared to snap with pleasure. +Even the stewards and stewardess lingered in the passage to listen with +respectful attention, so that it is no wonder we boys were proud of our +clever aunt. + +When she ceased at last there was that deep silence which is far more +eloquent than applause. The first to break it was Moncrieff. + +'Well,' he said, with a deep sigh, 'I never heard the like o' that +afore!' + +The friendly relations thus established in the saloon lasted all the +voyage long--so did the captain's, the doctor's, and little Spanish +officer's attentions to my aunt. She had made a triple conquest; three +hearts, to speak figuratively, lay at her feet. + +Our voyage was by no means a very eventful one, and but little different +from thousands of others that take place every month. + +Some degree of merriment was caused among the men, when, on the fourth +day, big Moncrieff led his mother out to walk the quarter-deck leaning on +his arm. She was indeed a marvel. It would have been impossible even to +guess at her age; for though her face was as yellow as a withered lemon, +and as wrinkled as a Malaga rasin, she walked erect and firm, and was +altogether as straight as a rush. She was dressed with an eye to comfort, +for, warm though the weather was getting, her cloak was trimmed with fur. +On her head she wore a neat old-fashioned cap, and in her hand carried a +huge green umbrella, which evening and morning she never laid down except +at meals. + +[Illustration: 'I'll teach ye!'] + +This umbrella was a weapon of offence as well as defence. We had proof of +that on the very first day, for as he passed along the deck the second +steward had the bad manners to titter. Next moment the umbrella had +descended with crushing force on his head, and he lay sprawling in the lee +scuppers. + +'I'll teach ye,' she said, 'to laugh at an auld wife, you gang-the-gate +swinger.' + +'Mither! mither!' pleaded Moncrieff, 'will you never be able to behave +like a lady?' + +The steward crawled forward crestfallen, and the men did not let him +forget his adventure in a hurry. + +'Mither's a ma_rr_vel,' Moncrieff whispered to me more than once that +evening, for at table no 'laird's lady' could have behaved so well, albeit +her droll remarks and repartee kept us all laughing. After dinner it was +just the same--there were no bounds to her good-nature, her excellent +spirits and comicality. Even when asked to sing she was by no means taken +aback, but treated us to a ballad of five-and-twenty verses, with a chorus +to each; but as it told a story of love and war, of battle and siege, of +villainy for a time in the ascendant, and virtue triumphant at the end, it +really was not a bit wearisome; and when Moncrieff told us that she could +sing a hundred more as good, we all agreed that his mother was indeed a +marvel. + +I have said the voyage was uneventful, but this is talking as one who has +been across the wide ocean many times and oft. No long voyage can be +uneventful; but nothing very dreadful happened to mar our passage to Rio +de Janeiro. We were not caught in a tornado; we were not chased by a +pirate; we saw no suspicious sail; no ghostly voice hailed us from aloft +at the midnight hour; no shadowy form beckoned us from a fog. We did not +even spring a leak, nor did the mainyard come tumbling down. But we _did_ +have foul weather off Finisterre; a man _did_ fall overboard, and was duly +picked up again; a shark _did_ follow the ship for a week, but got no +corpse to devour, only the contents of the cook's pail, sundry bullets +from sundry revolvers, and, finally, a red-hot brick rolled in a bit of +blanket. Well, of course, a man fell from aloft and knocked his shoulder +out--a man always does--and Mother Carey's chickens flew around our stern, +boding bad weather, which never came, and shoals of porpoises danced +around us at sunset, and we saw huge whales pursuing their solitary path +through the bosom of the great deep, and we breakfasted off flying fish, +and caught Cape pigeons, and wondered at the majestic flight of the +albatross; and we often saw lightning without hearing thunder, and heard +thunder without seeing lightning; and in due course we heard the thrilling +shout from aloft of 'Land ho!' and heard the officer of the watch sing +out, 'Where away?' + +And lo and behold! three or four hours afterwards we were all on deck +marvelling at the rugged grandeur of the shores of Rio, and the wondrous +steeple-shaped mountain that stands sentry for ever and ever and ever at +the entrance to the marvellous haven. + +When this was in sight, Moncrieff rushed off into the cabin and bore his +mother out. + +He held the old lady aloft, on one arm, shouting, as he pointed +landwards-- + +'Look, mither, look! the Promised Land! Our new home in the Silver West!' + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +ON SHORE AT RIO. + + +It was well on in the afternoon when land was sighted, but so accurately +had the ship been navigated for all the long, pleasant weeks of our voyage +that both the captain and his first officer might easily have been excused +for showing a little pride in their seamanship. Your British sailor, +however, is always a modest man, and there was not the slightest approach +to bombast. The ship was now slowed, for we could not cross the bar that +night. + +At the dinner-table we were all as merry as schoolboys on the eve of a +holiday. Old Jenny, as Moncrieff's mother had come to be called, was in +excellent spirits, and her droll remarks not only made us laugh, but +rendered it very difficult indeed for the stewards to wait with anything +approaching to _sang-froid_. Moncrieff was quietly happy. He seemed +pleased his mother was so great a favourite. Aunt, in her tropical toilet, +looked angelic. The adjective was applied by our mutual friend Captain +Roderigo de Bombazo, and my brothers and I agreed that he had spoken the +truth for once in a way. Did he not always speak the truth? it may be +asked. I am not prepared to accuse the worthy Spaniard of deliberate +falsehood, but if everything he told us was true, then he must indeed have +come through more wild and terrible adventures, and done more travelling +and more fighting, than any lion-hunter that ever lived and breathed. + +He was highly amusing nevertheless, and as no one, with the exception of +Jenny, ever gave any evidence of doubting what he said and related +concerning his strange career, he was encouraged to carry on; and even the +exploits of Baron Munchausen could not have been compared to some of his. +I think it used to hurt his feelings somewhat that old Jenny listened so +stolidly to his relations, for he used to cater for her opinion at times. + +'Ah!' Jenny would say, 'you're a wonderful mannie wi' your way o't! And +what a lot you've come through! I wonder you have a hair in your heed!' + +'But the señora believes vot I say?' + +'Believe ye? If a' stories be true, yours are no lees, and I'm not goin' +ahint your back to tell ye, sir.' + +Once, on deck, he was drawing the long-bow, as the Yankees call it, at a +prodigious rate. He was telling how, once upon a time, he had caught a +young alligator; how he had tamed it and fed it till it grew a monster +twenty feet long; how he used to saddle it and bridle it, and ride through +the streets of Tulcora on its back--men, women, and children screaming and +flying in all directions; how, armed only with his good sabre, he rode it +into a lake which was infested with these dread saurians; how he was +attacked in force by the awful reptiles, and how he had killed and wounded +so many that they lay dead in dozens next day along the banks. + +'Humph!' grunted old Jenny when he had finished. + +The little captain put the questions, + +'Ah! de aged señora not believe! De aged señora not have seen much of de +world?' + +Jenny had grasped her umbrella. + +'Look here, my mannie,' she said, 'I'll gie ye a caution; dinna you refer +to my age again, or I'll "aged-snorer" you. If ye get the weight o' my +gingham on your shou'ders, ye'll think a coo has kick't ye--so mind.' + +And the Spanish captain had slunk away very unlike a lion-hunter, but he +never called Jenny old again. + +To-night, however, even before we had gone below, Jenny had given proofs +that she was in an extra good temper, for being a little way behind +Bombazo--as if impelled by some sudden and joyous impulse--she lifted that +everlasting umbrella and hit him a friendly thwack that could be heard +from bowsprit to binnacle. + +'Tell as mony lees the nicht as ye like, my mannie,' she cried, 'and I'll +never contradict ye, for I've seen the promised land!' + +'And so, captain, you must stay at Rio a whole week?' said my aunt at +dessert. + +'Yes, Miss M'Crimman,' replied the captain. 'Are you pleased?' + +'I'm delighted. And I propose that we get up a grand picnic in "the +promised land," as good old Jenny calls it.' + +And so it was arranged. Bombazo and Dr. Spinks, having been at Rio de +Janeiro before, were entrusted with the organization of the 'pig-neeg,' as +Bombazo called it, and held their first consultation on ways and means +that very evening. Neither I nor my brothers were admitted to this +meeting, though aunt was. Nevertheless, we felt confident the picnic would +be a grand success, for, to a late hour, men were hurrying fore and aft, +and the stewards were up to their eyes packing baskets and making +preparations, while from the cook's gally gleams of rosy light shot out +every time the door was opened, to say nothing of odours so appetising +that they would have awakened Van Winkle himself. + +Before we turned in, we went on deck to have a look at the night. It was +certainly full of promise. We were not far from the shore--near enough to +see a long line of white which we knew was breakers, and to hear their +deep sullen boom as they spent their fury on the rocks. The sky was +studded with brilliant stars--far more bright, we thought them, than any +we ever see in our own cold climate. Looking aloft, the tall masts seemed +to mix and mingle with the stars at every roll of the ship. The moon, too, +was as bright as silver in the east, its beams making strange quivering +lines and crescents in each approaching wave. And somewhere--yonder among +those wondrous cone-shaped hills, now bathed in this purple moonlight--lay +the promised land, the romantic town of Rio, which to-morrow we should +visit. + +We went below, and, as if by one accord, my brothers and I knelt down +together to thank the Great Power on high who had guided us safely over +the wide illimitable ocean, and to implore His blessing on those at home, +and His guidance on all our future wanderings. + +Early next morning we were awakened by a great noise on deck, and the dash +and turmoil of breaking water. The rudder-chains, too, were constantly +rattling as the men at the wheel obeyed the shouts of the officer of the +watch. + +'Starboard a little!' + +'Starboard it is, sir!' + +'Easy as you go! Steady!' + +'Steady it is, sir!' + +'Port a little! Steady!' + +Then came a crash that almost flung us out of our beds. Before we gained +the deck of our cabin there was another, and still another. Had we run on +shore? We dreaded to ask each other. + +But just then the steward, with kindly thought, drew back our curtain and +reassured us. + +'We're only bumping over the bar, young gentlemen--we'll be in smooth +water in a jiffey.' + +We were soon all dressed and on deck. We were passing the giant hill +called Sugar Loaf, and the mountains seemed to grow taller and taller, and +to frown over us as we got nearer. + +Once through the entrance, the splendid bay itself lay spread out before +us in all its silver beauty. Full twenty miles across it is, and +everywhere surrounded by the grandest hills imaginable. Not even in our +dreams could we have conceived of such a noble harbour, for here not only +could all the fleets in the world lie snug, but even cruise and manoeuvre. +Away to the west lay the picturesque town itself, its houses and public +buildings shining clear in the morning sun, those nearest nestling in a +beauty of tropical foliage I have never seen surpassed. + +My brothers and I felt burning to land at once, but regulations must be +carried out, and before we had cleared the customs, and got a clean bill +of health, the day was far spent. Our picnic must be deferred till +to-morrow. + +However, we could land. + +As they took their seats in the boat and she was rowed shoreward, I +noticed that Donald and Dugald seemed both speechless with delight and +admiration; as for me, I felt as if suddenly transported to a new world. +And such a world--beauty and loveliness everywhere around us! How should I +ever be able to describe it, I kept wondering--how give dear old mother +and Flora any notion, even the most remote, of the delight instilled into +our souls by all we saw and felt in this strange, strange land! Without +doubt, the beauty of our surroundings constitutes one great factor in our +happiness, wherever we are. + +When we landed--indeed, before we landed--while the boat was still +skimming over the purple waters, the green mountains appearing to mingle +and change places every moment as we were borne along, I felt conquered, +if I may so express it, by the enchantment of my situation. I gave in my +allegiance to the spirit of the scene, I abandoned all thoughts of being +able to describe anything, I abandoned myself to enjoyment. _Laisser +faire_, I said to my soul, is to live. Every creature, every being here +seems happy. To partake of the _dolce far niente_ appears the whole aim +and object of their lives. + +And so I stepped on shore, regretting somewhat that Flora was not here, +feeling how utterly impossible it would be to write that 'good letter' +home descriptive of this wondrous medley of tropical life and loveliness, +but somewhat reckless withal, and filled with a determination to give full +rein to my sense of pleasure. I could not help wondering, however, if +everything I saw was real. Was I in a dream, from which I should presently +be rudely awakened by the rattle and clatter of the men hauling up ashes, +and find myself in bed on board the Canton? Never mind, I would enjoy it +were it even a dream. + +What a motley crowd of people of every colour! How jolly those negroes +look! How gaily the black ladies are dressed! How the black men laugh! +What piles of fruit and green stuff! What a rich, delicious, warm aroma +hovers everywhere! + +An interpreter? You needn't ask _me_. I'm not in charge. Ask my aunt here; +but she herself can talk many languages. Or ask that tall brawny Scot, who +is hustling the darkies about as if South America all belonged to him. + +'A carriage, Moncrieff? Oh, this is delightful! Auntie, dear, let me help +you on board. Hop in, Dugald. Jump, Donald. No, no, Moncrieff, I mean to +have the privilege of sitting beside the driver. Off we go. Hurrah! Do you +like it, Donald? But aren't the streets rough! I won't talk any more; I +want to watch things.' + +I wonder, though, if Paradise itself was a bit more lovely than the +gardens we catch glimpses of as we drive along? + +How cool they look, though the sun is shining in a blue and cloudless sky! +What dark shadows those gently waving palm-trees throw! Look at those +cottage verandahs! Look, oh, look at the wealth of gorgeous flowers--the +climbing, creeping, wreathing flowers! What colours! What fantastic +shapes! What a merry mood Nature must have been in when she framed them +so! And the perfume from those fairy gardens hangs heavy on the air; the +delicious balmy breeze that blows through the green, green palm-leaves is +not sufficient to waft away the odour of that orange blossom. Behold those +beautiful children in groups, on terraces and lawns, at windows, or in +verandahs--so gaily are they dressed that they themselves might be +mistaken for bouquets of lovely flowers! + +I wonder what the names of all those strange blossom-bearing shrubs are. +But, bah! who would bother about names of flowers on a day like this? The +butterflies do not, and the bees do not. Are those really butterflies, +though--really and truly? Are they not gorgeously painted fans, waved and +wafted by fairies, themselves unseen? + +The people we meet chatter gaily as we pass, but they do not appear to +possess a deal of curiosity; they are too contented for anything. All life +here must be one delicious round of enjoyment. And nobody surely ever dies +here; I do not see how they could. + +'Is this a cave we are coming to, Moncrieff? What is that long row of +columns and that high, green, vaulted roof, through which hardly a ray of +sunshine can struggle? Palm-trees! Oh, Moncrieff, what glorious palms! And +there is life upon life there, for the gorgeous trees, not apparently +satisfied with their own magnificence of shape and foliage, must array +themselves in wreaths of dazzling orchids and festoons of trailing +flowers. The fairies _must_ have hung those flowers there? Do not deny it, +Moncrieff!' + +And here, in the Botanical Gardens, imagination must itself be dumb--such +a wild wealth of all that is charming in the vegetable and animal +creation. + +'Donald, go your own road. Dugald, go yours; let us wander alone. We may +meet again some day. It hardly matters whether we do or not. I'm in a +dream, and I don't think I want to awaken for many a long year.' + +I go wandering away from my brothers, away from every one. + +A fountain is sending its spray aloft till the green drooping branches of +the bananas and those feathery tree-ferns are everywhere spangled with +diamonds. I will rest here. I wish I could catch a few of those wondrous +butterflies, or even one of those fairylike humming-birds--mere sparks of +light and colour that flit and buzz from flower to flower. I wish I +could--that I--I mean--I--wish--' + +'Hullo! Murdoch. Where are you? Why, here he is at last, sound asleep +under an orange-tree!' + +It is my wild Highland brothers. They have both been shaking me by the +shoulders. I sit up and rub my eyes. + +'Do you know we've been looking for you for over an hour?' + +'Ah, Dugald!' I reply, 'what is an hour, one wee hour, in a place like +this?' + +We must now go to visit the market-place, and then we are going to the +hotel to dine and sleep. + +The market is a wondrously mixed one, and as wondrously foreign and +strange as it is possible to conceive. The gay dresses of the women--some +of whom are as black as an ebony ball; their gaudy head-gear; their +glittering but tinselled ornaments; their round laughing faces, in which +shine rows of teeth as white perhaps as alabaster; the jaunty men folks; +the world of birds and beasts, all on the best of terms with themselves, +especially the former, arrayed in all the colours of the rainbow; the +world of fruit, tempting in shape, in beauty, and in odour; the world of +fish, some of them beautiful enough to have dwelt in the coral caves of +fairyland beneath the glittering sea--some ugly, even hideous enough to be +the creatures of a demon's dream, and some, again, so odd-looking or so +grotesque as to make one smile or laugh outright;--the whole made up a +picture that even now I have but to close my eyes to see again! + +When night falls the streets get for a time more crowded; side-paths +hardly exist--at all events, the inhabitants show their independence by +crowding along the centre of the streets. Not much light to guide them, +though, except where from open doors or windows the rays from lamps shoot +out into the darkness. + +Away to the hotel. A dinner in a delightfully cool, large room, a punkah +waving overhead, brilliant lights, joy on all our faces, a dessert fit to +set before a king. Now we shall know how those strange fruits taste, whose +perfume hung around the market to-day. To bed at last in a room scented +with orange-blossoms, and around the windows of which the sweet +stephanotis clusters in beauty--to bed, to sleep, and dream of all we have +done and seen. + +We awaken--at least, I do--in the morning with a glad sensation of +anticipated pleasure. What is it? Oh yes, the picnic! + +But it is no ordinary picnic. It lasts for three long days and nights, +during which we drive by day through scenes of enchantment apparently, and +sleep by night under canvas, wooed to slumber by the wind whispering in +the waving trees. + +'Moncrieff,' I say on the second day, 'I should like to live here for ever +and ever and ever.' + +'Man!' replies Moncrieff, 'I'm glad ye enjoy it, and so does my mither +here. But dinna forget, lads, that hard work is all before us when we +reach Buenos Ayres.' + +'But I will, and I _shall_ forget, Moncrieff,' I cry. 'This country is +full of forgetfulness. Away with all thoughts of work; let us revel in the +sunshine like the bees, and the birds, and the butterflies.' + +'Revel away, then,' says Moncrieff; and dear aunt smiles languidly. + +On the last day of 'the show,' as Dugald called it, and while our mule +team is yet five good miles from town, clouds dark and threatening bank +rapidly up in the west. The driver lashes the beasts and encourages them +with shout and cry to do their speedy utmost; but the storm breaks over us +in all its fury, the thunder seems to rend the very mountains, the rain +pours down in white sheets, the lightning runs along the ground and looks +as if it would set the world on fire; the wind goes tearing through the +trees, bending the palms like reeds, rending the broad banana-leaves to +ribbons; branches crack and fall down, and the whole air is filled with +whirling fronds and foliage. + +Moncrieff hastily envelopes his mother in that Highland plaid till nought +is visible of the old lady save the nose and one twinkling eye. We laugh +in spite of the storm. Louder and louder roars the thunder, faster and +faster fly the mules, and at last we are tearing along the deserted +streets, and hastily draw up our steaming steeds at the hotel door. And +that is almost all I remember of Rio; and to-morrow we are off to sea once +more. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +MONCRIEFF RELATES HIS EXPERIENCES. + + +Our life at sea had been like one long happy dream. That, at all events, +is how it had felt to me. 'A dream I could have wished to last for aye.' I +was enamoured of the ocean, and more than once I caught myself yearning to +be a sailor. There are people who are born with strange longings, strange +desires, which only a life on the ever-changing, ever-restless waves +appears to suit and soothe. To such natures the sea seems like a mother--a +wild, hard, harsh mother at times, perhaps, but a mother who, if she +smiles but an hour, makes them forget her stormy anger of days or weeks. + +But the dream was past and gone. And here we had settled down for a spell +at Buenos Ayres. We had parted with the kindly captain and surgeon of the +Canton, with many a heartily expressed hope of meeting again another day, +with prayers on their side for our success in the new land, with kindliest +wishes on ours for a pleasant voyage and every joy for them. + +Dear me! What a very long time it felt to look back to, since we had +bidden them 'good-bye' at home! How very old I was beginning to feel! I +asked my brothers if their feelings were the same, and found them +identical. Time had been apparently playing tricks on us. + +And yet we did not look any older in each other's eyes, only just a little +more serious. Yes, that was it--_serious_. Even Dugald, who was usually +the most light-hearted and merry of the three of us, looked as if he fully +appreciated the magnitude of what we had undertaken. + +Here we were, three--well, young men say, though some would have called us +boys--landed on a foreign shore, without an iota of experience, without +much knowledge of the country apart from that we had gleaned from books or +gathered from the conversations of Bombazo and Moncrieff. And yet we had +landed with the intention, nay, even the determination, to make our way in +the new land--not only to seek our fortunes, but to find them. + +Oh, we were not afraid! We had the glorious inheritance of courage, +perseverance, and self-reliance. Here is how Donald, my brother, argued +one night: + +'Look, here, Murdo,' he said. 'This _is_ a land of milk and honey, isn't +it? Well, we're going to be the busy bees to gather it. It _is_ a silver +land, isn't it? Well, we're the boys to tap it. Fortunes _are_ made here, +and _have_ been made. What is done once can be done five hundred times. +Whatever men dare they can do. _Quod erat demonstrandum._' + +'_Et nil desperandum_,' added Dugald. + +'I'm not joking, I can tell you, Dugald, I'm serious now, and I mean to +remain so, and stick to work--aren't you, Murdo?' + +'I am, Donald.' + +Then we three brothers, standing there, one might say, on the confines of +an unknown country, with all the world before us, shook hands, and our +looks, as we gazed into each other's eyes, said--if they said +anything--'We'll do the right thing one by the other, come weal, come +woe.' + +Aunt entered soon after. + +'What are you boys so serious about?' she said, laughing merrily, as she +seated herself on the couch. 'You look like three conspirators.' + +'So we are, aunt. We're conspiring together to make our fortunes.' + +'What! building castles in the air?' + +'Oh, no, no, _no_,' cried Donald, 'not in the air, but on the earth. And +our idols are not going to have feet of clay, I assure you, auntie, but of +solid silver.' + +'Well, we shall hope for the best. I have just parted with Mr. Moncrieff, +whom I met down town. We have had a long walk together and quite a nice +chat. He has made me his confidant--think of that!' + +'What! you, auntie?' + +'Yes, me. Who else? And that sober, honest, decent, Scot is going to take +a wife. It was so good of him to tell _me_. We are all going to the +wedding next week, and I'm sure I wish the dear man every happiness and +joy.' + +'So do we, aunt.' + +'And oh, by the way, he is coming to dine here to-night, and I feel sure +he wants to give you good advice, and that means me too, of course.' + +'Of course, auntie, you're one of us.' + +Moncrieff arrived in good time, and brought his mother with him. + +'Ye didn't include my mither in the invitation, Miss M'Crimman,' said the +Scot; 'but I knew you meant her to come. I've been so long without the +poor old creature, that I hardly care to move about without her now.' + +'Poor old creature, indeed!' Mrs. Moncrieff was heard to mumble. 'Where,' +she said to a nattily dressed waiter, 'will you put my umbrella?' + +'I'll take the greatest care of it, madam,' the man replied. + +'Do, then,' said the little old dame, 'and I may gi'e ye a penny, though I +dinna mak' ony promises, mind.' + +A nicer little dinner was never served, nor could a snugger room for such +a _tête-à-tête_ meal be easily imagined. It was on the ground floor, the +great casement windows opening on to a verandah in a shady garden, where +grass was kept green and smooth as velvet, where rare ferns grew in +luxurious freedom with dwarf palms and drooping bananas, and where +stephanotis and the charming lilac bougainvillea were still in bloom. + +When the dessert was finished, and old Jenny was quite tired talking, it +seemed so natural that she should curl up in an easy-chair and go off to +sleep. + +'I hope my umbrella's safe, laddie,' were her last words as her son +wrapped her in his plaid. + +'As safe as the Union Bank,' he replied. + +So we left her there, for the waiter had taken coffee into the verandah. + +Aunt, somewhat to our astonishment, ordered cigars, and explained to +Moncrieff that she did not object to smoking, but _did_ like to see men +happy. + +Moncrieff smiled. + +'You're a marvel as well as my mither,' he said. + +He smoked on in silence for fully five minutes, but he often took the +cigar from his mouth and looked at it thoughtfully; then he would allow +his eyes to follow the curling smoke, watching it with a smile on his face +as it faded into invisibility, as they say ghosts do. + +'Mr. Moncrieff,' said aunt, archly, 'I know what you are thinking about.' + +Moncrieff waved his hand through a wreath of smoke as if to clear his +sight. + +'If you were a man,' he answered, 'I'd offer to bet you couldn't guess my +thoughts. I was not thinking about my Dulcinea, nor even about my mither; +I was thinking about you and your britheries--I mean your nephews.' + +'You are very kind, Mr. Moncrieff.' + +'I'm a man of the wo_rrr_ld, though I wasn't aye a man of the wo_rrr_ld. I +had to pay deep and dear for my experience, Miss M'Crimman.' + +'I can easily believe that; but you have benefited by it.' + +'Doubtless, doubtless; only it was concerning yourselves I was about to +make an observation or two.' + +'Oh, thanks, do. You are so kind.' + +'Never a bit. This is a weary wo_rrr_ld at best. Where would any of us +land if the one didn't help the other? Well then, there you sit, and woman +of the wo_rrr_ld though you be, you're in a strange corner of it. You're +in a foreign land now if ever you were. You have few friends. Bah! what +are all your letters of introduction worth? What do they bring you in? A +few invitations to dinner, or to spend a week up country by a wealthy +_estanciero_, advice from this friend and the next friend, and from a +dozen friends maybe, but all different. You are already getting puzzled. +You don't know what to do for the best. You're stopping here to look about +you, as the saying is. You might well ask me what right have I to advise +you. The right of brotherhood, I may answer. By birth and station you may +be far above me, but--you are friends--you are from dear auld Scotland. +Boys, you are my brothers!' + +'And I your sister!' Aunt extended her hand as she spoke, and the worthy +fellow 'coralled' it, so to speak, in his big brown fist, and tears sprang +to his eyes. + +He pulled himself up sharp, however, and surrounded himself with smoke, as +the cuttle-fish does with black water, and probably for the same +reason--to escape observation. + +'Now,' he said, 'this is no time for sentiment; it is no land for +sentiment, but for hard work. Well, what are you going to do? Simply to +say you're going to make your fortune is all fiddlesticks and folly. How +are you going to begin?' + +'We were thinking--' I began, but paused. + +'_I_ was thinking--' said my aunt; then she paused also. + +Moncrieff laughed, but not unmannerly. + +'I was thinking,' he said. '_You_ were thinking; _he_, _she_, or _it_ was +thinking. Well, my good people, you may stop all your life in Buenos Ayres +and conjugate the verb "to think"; but if you'll take my advice you will +put a shoulder to the wheel of life, and try to conjugate the verb "to +do".' + +'We all want to _do_ and act,' said Donald, energetically. + +'Right. Well, you see, you have one thing already in your favour. You have +a wee bit o' siller in your pouch. It is a nest egg, though; it is not to +be spent--it is there to bring more beside it. Now, will I tell you how I +got on in the world? I'm not rich, but I am in a fair way to be +independent. I am very fond of work, for work's sake, and I'm thirty years +of age. Been in this country now for over fourteen years. Had I had a nest +egg when I started, I'd have been half a millionaire by now. But, wae's +me! I left the old country with nothing belonging to me but my crook and +my plaid.' + +'You were a shepherd before you came out, then?' said aunt. + +'Yes; and that was the beauty of it. You've maybe heard o' Foudland, in +Aberdeenshire? Well, I came fra far ayant the braes o' Foudland. That's, +maybe, the way my mither's sae auldfarrent. There, ye see, I'm talkin' +Scotch, for the very thought of Foudland brings back my Scotch tongue. Ay, +dear lady, dear lady, my father was an honest crofter there. He owned a +bit farm and everything, and things went pretty well with us till death +tirled at the door-sneck and took poor father away to the mools. I was +only a callan o' some thirteen summers then, and when we had to leave the +wee croft and sell the cows we were fain to live in a lonely shieling on +the bare brae side, just a butt and a ben with a wee kailyard, and barely +enough land to grow potatoes and keep a little Shetland cowie. But, young +though I was, I could herd sheep--under a shepherd at first, but finally +all by myself. I'm not saying that wasn't a happy time. Oh, it was, lady! +it was! And many a night since then have I lain awake thinking about it, +till every scene of my boyhood's days rose up before me. I could see the +hills, green with the tints of spring, or crimson with the glorious +heather of autumn; see the braes yellow-tasselled with the golden broom +and fragrant with the blooming whins; see the glens and dells, the silver, +drooping birch-trees, the grand old waving pines, the wimpling burns, the +roaring linns and lochs asleep in the evening sunset. And see my mither's +shieling, too; and many a night have I lain awake to pray I might have her +near me once again.' + +'And a kind God has answered that prayer!' + +'Ay, Miss M'Crimman, and I'll have the sad satisfaction of one day closing +her een. Never mind, we do our duty here, and we'll all meet again in the +great "Up-bye." But, dear boys, to continue my story--if story I dare call +it. Not far from the hills where I used to follow Laird Glennie's sheep, +and down beside a bonnie wood and stream, was a house, of not much +pretension, but tenanted every year by a gentleman who used to paint the +hills and glens and country all round. They say he got great praise for +his pictures, and big prices as well. I used often to arrange my sheep and +dogs for him into what he would call picturesque groups and attitudes. +Then he painted them and me and dogs and all. He used to delight to listen +to my boyish story of adventure, and in return would tell me tales of +far-off lands he had been in, and about the Silver Land in particular. +Such stories actually fired my blood. He had sown the seeds of ambition in +my soul, and I began to long for a chance of getting away out into the +wide, wide world, and seeing all its wonders, and, maybe, becoming a great +man myself. But how could a penniless laddie work his way abroad? +Impossible. + +'Well, one autumn a terrible storm swept over the country. It began with a +perfect hurricane of wind, then it settled down to rain, till it became a +perfect "spate." I had never seen such rain, nor such tearing floods as +came down from the hills. + +'Our shieling was a good mile lower down the stream than the artist's +summer hut. It was set well up the brae, and was safe. But on looking out +next day a sight met my eyes that quite appalled me. All the lowlands and +haughs were covered with a sea of water, down the centre of which a mighty +river was chafing and roaring, carrying on its bosom trees up-torn from +their roots, pieces of green bank, "stooks" of corn and "coles" of hay, +and, saddest of all, the swollen bodies of sheep and oxen. My first +thought was for the artist. I ran along the bank till opposite his house. +Yes, there it was flooded to the roof, to which poor Mr. Power was +clinging in desperation, expecting, doubtless, that every moment would be +his last, for great trees were surging round the house and dashing against +the tiles. + +'Hardly knowing what I did, I waved my plaid and shouted. He saw me, and +waved his arm in response. Then I remembered that far down stream a man +kept a boat, and I rushed away, my feet hardly seeming to touch the +ground, till I reached--not the dwelling, that was covered, but the bank +opposite; and here, to my delight, I found old M'Kenzie seated in his +coble. He laughed at me when I proposed going to the rescue of Mr. Power. + +'"Impossible!" he said. "Look at the force of the stream." + +'"But we have not to cross. We can paddle up the edge," I insisted. + +'He ventured at last, much to my joy. It was hard, dangerous work, and +often we found it safest to land and haul up the boat along the side. + +'We were opposite the artist's hut at length, hardly even the chimney of +which was now visible. But Power was safe as yet. + +'At the very moment our boat reached him the chimney disappeared, and with +it the artist. The turmoil was terrible, for the whole house had +collapsed. For a time I saw nothing, then only a head and arm raised above +the foaming torrent, far down stream. I dashed in, in spite of M'Kenzie's +remonstrances, and in a minute more I had caught the drowning man. I must +have been struck on the head by the advancing boat. That mattered +little--the sturdy old ferryman saved us both; and for a few days the +artist had the best room in mither's shieling. + +'And this, dear lady, turned out to be--as I dare say you have guessed--my +fairy godfather. He went back to Buenos Ayres, taking me as servant. He is +here now. I saw him but yesterday, and we are still the fastest friends. + +'But, boys, do not let me deceive you. Mr. Power was not rich; all he +could do for me was to pay my passage out, and let me trust to Providence +for the rest. + +'I worked at anything I could get to do for a time, principally holding +horses in the street, for you know everybody rides here. But I felt sure +enough that one day, or some day, a settler would come who could value the +services of an honest, earnest Scottish boy. + +'And come the settler did. He took me away, far away to the west, to a +wild country, but one that was far too flat and level to please me, who +had been bred and born among the grand old hills of Scotland. + +'Never mind, I worked hard, and this settler--a Welshman he +was--appreciated my value, and paid me fairly well. The best of it was +that I could save every penny of my earnings. + +'Yes, boys, I roughed it more than ever you'll have to do, though remember +you'll have to rough it too for a time. You don't mind that, you say. +Bravely spoken, boys. Success in the Silver Land rarely fails to fall to +him who deserves it. + +'Well, in course of time I knew far more about sheep and cattle-raising +than my master, so he took me as a partner, and since then I have done +well. We changed our quarters, my partner and I. We have now an excellent +steading of houses, and a grand place for the beasts.' + +'And to what qualities do you chiefly attribute your success?' said my +aunt. + +'Chiefly,' replied Moncrieff, 'to good common-sense, to honest work and +perseverance. I'm going back home in a week or two, as soon as I get +married and my mither gets the "swimming" out of her head. She says she +still feels the earth moving up and down with her; and I don't wonder, an +auld body like her doesn't stand much codging about. + +'Well, you see, boys, that I, like yourselves, had one advantage to begin +with. You have a bit o' siller--I got a fairy godfather. But if I had a +year to spare I'd go back to Scotland and lecture. I'd tell them all my +own ups and downs, and I'd end by saying that lads or young men, with +plenty of go in them and willingness to work, will get on up country here +if they can once manage to get landed. Ay, even if they have hardly one +penny to rattle against another. + +'Now, boys, do you care to go home with me? Mind it is a wild border-land +I live on. There are wild beasts in the hill jungles yet, and there are +wilder men--the Indians. Yes, I've fought them before, and hope to live to +fight them once again.' + +'I don't think _we'll_ fear the Indians _very_ much,' said my bold brother +Donald. + +'And,' I added, 'we are so glad you have helped us to solve the problem +that we stood face to face with--namely, how to begin to do something.' + +'Well, if that is all, I'll give you plenty to do. I've taken out with me +waggon-loads of wire fencing as well as a wife. Next week, too, I expect a +ship from Glasgow to bring me seven sturdy Scotch servant men that I +picked myself. Every one of them has legs like pillar post-offices, hands +as broad as spades, and a heart like a lion's. And, more than all this, we +are trying to form a little colony out yonder, then we'll be able to hold +our own against all the reeving Indians that ever strode a horse. Ah! +boys, this Silver Land has a mighty future before it! We have just to +settle down a bit and work with a will and a steady purpose, then we'll +fear competition neither with Australia nor the United States of America +either. + +'But you'll come. That's right. And now I have you face to face with fate +and fortune. + + "Now's the day and now's the hour, + See the front of battle lower." + +Yes, boys, the battle of life, and I would not give a fig for any lad who +feared to face it. + +'Coming, mither, coming. That's the auld lady waking up, and she'll want a +cup o' tea.' + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +SHOPPING AND SHOOTING. + + +We all went to Moncrieff's wedding, and it passed off much the same way as +do weddings in other parts of the world. The new Mrs. Moncrieff was a very +modest and charming young person indeed, and a native of our sister +island--Ireland. I dare say Moncrieff loved his wife very much, though +there was no extra amount of romance about his character, else he would +hardly have spoken about his wife and a truck-load of wire fencing in the +self-same sentence. But I dare say this honest Scot believed that wire +fencing was quite as much a matter of necessity in the Silver West as a +wife was. + +As for my brothers and me, and even aunt, we were impatient now--'burning' +bold Donald called it--to get away to this same Silver West and begin the +very new life that was before us. + +But ships do not always arrive from England exactly to a day; the vessel +in which Moncrieff's men, dogs, goods, and chattels were coming was +delayed by contrary winds, and was a whole fortnight behind her time. + +Meanwhile we restrained ourselves as well as we could, and aunt went +shopping. She had set her heart upon guanaco robes or ponchos for each of +us; and though they cost a deal of money, and were, according to +Moncrieff, a quite unnecessary expense, she bought them all the same. + +'They will last for ever, you know,' was aunt's excuse for the +extravagance. + +'Yes,' he said, 'but we won't. Besides,' he added, 'these ponchos may +bring the Gaucho malo (the bad Gaucho) round us.' + +'All the better,' persisted aunt. 'I've heard such a deal about this +Gaucho malo that I should very much like to see a live specimen.' + +Moncrieff laughed. + +'I much prefer _dead_ specimens,' he said, with that canny twinkle in his +eye. 'That's the way I like to see them served up. It is far the safest +plan.' + +We were very fond of aunt's company, for she really was more of a sister +to us than our auntie; but for all that we preferred going shopping with +Moncrieff. The sort of stores he was laying in gave such earnest of future +sport and wild adventure. + +Strange places he took us to sometimes--the shop of a half-caste Indian, +for instance, a fellow from the far south of Patagonia. Here Moncrieff +bought quite a quantity of ordinary ponchos, belts, and linen trousers of +great width with hats enough of the sombrero type to thatch a rick. This +mild and gentle savage also sold Moncrieff some dozen of excellent lassoes +and bolas as well. From the way our friend examined the former, and tried +the thong-strength of the latter, it was evident he was an expert in the +use of both. Bolas may be briefly described as three long leather thongs +tied together at one end, and having a ball at the free end of each. On +the pampas, these balls are as often as not simply stones tied up in bits +of skin; but the bolas now bought by Moncrieff were composed of shining +metal, to prevent their being lost on the pampas. These bolas are waved +round the heads of the horsemen hunters when chasing ostriches, or even +pumas. As soon as the circular motion has given them impetus they are +dexterously permitted to leave the hand at a tangent, and if well thrown +go circling round the legs, or probably neck of the animal, and bring it +to the ground by tripping it up, or strangling it. + +The lasso hardly needs any description. + +'Can you throw that thing well?' said Dugald, his eyes sparkling with +delight. + +'I think I can,' replied Moncrieff. 'Come to the door and see me lasso a +dog or something.' + +Out we all went. + +'Oh!' cried Dugald, exultingly, 'here comes little Captain Bombazo, +walking on the other side of the street with my aunt. Can you lasso him +without hurting auntie?' + +'I believe I can,' said Moncrieff. 'Stand by, and let's have a good try. +Whatever a man dares he can do. Hoop là!' + +The cord left the Scotchman's hand like a flash of lightning, and next +moment Bombazo, who at the time was smiling and talking most volubly, was +fairly noosed. + +The boys in the street got up a cheer. Bombazo jumped and struggled, but +Moncrieff stood his ground. + +'He must come,' he said, and sure enough, greatly to the delight of the +town urchins, Moncrieff rounded in the slack of the rope and landed the +captain most beautifully. + +'Ah! you beeg Scot,' said Bombazo, laughing good-humouredly. 'I would not +care so mooch, if it were not for de lady.' + +'Oh, she won't miss you, Bombazo.' + +'On the contraire, she veel be inconsolabeel.' + +'Ha, ha, ha!' laughed Moncrieff. 'What a tall opinion of yourself you +have, my little friend!' + +Bombazo drew himself up, but it hardly added an inch to his height, and +nothing to his importance. + +Saddles of the pampas pattern the semi-savage had also plenty of, and +bridles too, and Moncrieff gave a handsome order. + +A more respectable and highly civilized saddler's store was next visited, +and real English gear was bought, including two charming ladies' saddles +of the newest pattern, and a variety of rugs of various kinds. + +Off we went next to a wholesale grocer's place. Out came Moncrieff's +great note-book, and he soon gave evidence that he possessed a wondrous +memory, and was a thorough man of business. He kept the shopman hard at it +for half an hour, by which time one of the pyramids of Egypt, on a small +scale, was built upon the counter. + +[Illustration: Fairly Noosed] + +'Now for the draper's, and then the chemist's,' said our friend. From the +former--a Scot, like himself--he bought a pile of goods of the better +sort, but from their appearance all warranted to wear a hundred years. + +His visit to the druggist was of brief duration. + +'Is my medicine chest filled?' + +'Yes, sir, all according to your orders.' + +'Thanks; send it, and send the bill.' + +'Never mind about the bill, Mr. Moncrieff. You'll be down here again.' + +'Send the bill, all the same. And I say, Mr. Squills--' + +'Yes, sir.' + +'Don't forget to deduct the discount.' + +But Moncrieff's shopping was not quite all over yet, and the last place he +went to was a gunsmith's shop. + +And here I and my brothers learned a little about Silver West shooting, +and witnessed an exhibition that made us marvel. + +Moncrieff, after most careful examination, bought half a dozen good +rifles, and a dozen fowling pieces. It took him quite a long time to +select these and the ammunition. + +'You have good judgment, sir,' said the proprietor. + +'I require it all,' said Moncrieff. 'But now I'd look at some revolvers.' + +He was shown some specimens. + +'Toys--take them away.' + +He was shown others. + +'Toys again. Have you nothing better?' + +'There is nothing better made.' + +'Very well. Your bill please. Thanks.' + +'If you'll wait one minute,' the shopkeeper said, 'I should feel obliged. +My man has gone across the way to a neighbour gunsmith.' + +'Couldn't I go across the way myself?' + +'No,' and the man smiled. 'I don't want to lose your custom.' + +'Your candour is charming. I'll wait.' + +In a few minutes the man returned with a big basket. + +'Ah! these are beauties,' cried Moncrieff. 'Now, can I try one or two?' + +'Certainly.' + +The man led the way to the back garden of the premises. Against a wall a +target was placed, and Moncrieff loaded and took up his position. I +noticed that he kept his elbow pretty near his side. Then he slowly raised +the weapon. + +Crack--crack--crack! six times in all. + +'Bravo!' cried the shopkeeper. 'Why, almost every shot has hit the spot.' + +Moncrieff threw the revolver towards the man as if it had been a +cricket-ball. + +'Take off the trigger,' he said. + +'Off the trigger, sir?' + +'Yes,' said Moncrieff, quietly; 'I seldom use the trigger.' + +The man obeyed. Then he handed back the weapon, which he had loaded. + +Moncrieff looked one moment at the target, then the action of his arm was +for all the world like that of throwing stones or cracking a whip. + +He seemed to bring the revolver down from his ear each time. + +Bang--bang--bang! and not a bullet missed the bull's-eye. + +'How is it done?' cried Dugald, excitedly. + +'I lift the hammer a little way with my thumb and let it go again as I get +my aim--that is all. It is a rapid way of firing, but I don't advise you +laddies to try it, or you may blow off your heads. Besides, the aim, +except in practised hands like mine, is not so accurate. To hit well it is +better to raise the weapon. First fix your eye on your man's +breast-button--if he has one--then elevate till you have your sight +straight, and there you are, and there your Indian is, or your "Gaucho +malo."' + +Moncrieff pointed grimly towards the ground with his pistol as he spoke, +and Dugald gave a little shudder, as if in reality a dead man lay there. + +'It is very simple, you see.' + +'Oh, Mr. Moncrieff,' said Dugald, 'I never thought you were so terrible a +man!' + +Moncrieff laughed heartily, finished his purchases, ordering better +cartridges, as these, he said, had been badly loaded, and made the weapon +kick, and then we left the shop. + +'Now then, boys, I'm ready, and in two days' time hurrah for the Silver +West! Between you and me, I'm sick of civilization.' + +And in two days' time, sure enough, we had all started. + +The train we were in was more like an American than an English one. We +were in a very comfortable saloon, in which we could move about with +freedom. + +Moncrieff, as soon as we had rattled through the streets and found +ourselves out in the green, cool country, was brimful of joy and spirits. +Aunt said he reminded her of a boy going off on a holiday. His wife, too, +looked 'blithe' and cheerful, and nothing could keep his mother's tongue +from wagging. + +Bombazo made the old lady a capital second, while several other settlers +who were going out with us--all Scotch, by the way--did nothing but smile +and wonder at all they saw. We soon passed away for a time beyond the +region of trees into a rich green rolling country, which gave evidence of +vast wealth, and sport too. Of this latter fact Dugald took good notice. + +'Oh, look!' he would cry, pointing to some wild wee lake. 'Murdoch! +Donald! wouldn't you like to be at the lochside yonder, gun in hand?' + +And, sure enough, all kinds of feathered game were very plentiful. + +But after a journey of five hours we left the train, and now embarked on a +passenger steamer, and so commenced our journey up the Paraná. Does not +the very name sound musical? But I may be wrong, according to some, in +calling the Paraná beautiful, for the banks are not high; there are no +wild and rugged mountains, nor even great forests; nevertheless, its very +width, its silent moving power, and its majesticness give it a beauty in +my eye that few rivers I know of possess. We gazed on it as the sunset lit +up its wondrous waters till an island we were passing appeared to rise +into the sky and float along in the crimson haze. We gazed on it again ere +we retired for the night. The stars were now all out, and the river's dark +bosom was studded here and there with ripples and buttons of light; but +still it was silent, as if it hid some dark mysterious secret which it +must tell only to the distant ocean. + +We slept very soundly this night, for the monotonous throb-throb of the +engine's great pulse and the churning rush of the screw not only wooed us +to slumber, but seemed to mingle even with our dreams. + +All night long, then, we were on the river, and nearly all next day as +well. But the voyage appeared to my brothers and me to be all too short. +We neared Rosario about sunset, and at last cast anchor. But we did not +land. We were too snug where we were, and the hotel would have had far +fewer charms. + +To-night we had a little impromptu concert, for several of Moncrieff's +friends came on board, and, strange to say, they were nearly all Scotch. +So Scotch was spoken, Scotch songs were sung, and on deck, to the wild +notes of the great bagpipes, Scotch reels and strathspeys were danced. +After that, + + 'The nicht drave on wi' songs and clatter,' + +till it was well into the wee short hours of the morning. + +At Rosario we stopped for a day--more, I think, because Moncrieff wished +to give aunt and his young wife a chance of seeing the place than for any +business reason. Neither my brothers nor I were very much impressed by it, +though it is a large and flourishing town, built somewhat on Philadelphia +principles, in blocks, and, like Philadelphia, gridironed all over with +tramway lines. It is a good thing one is able to get off the marble +pavements into the cars without having far to go, for the streets are at +times mere sloughs of despond. It is the same in all new countries. + +Rosario lies in the midst of a flat but fertile country, on the banks of +the Paraná. The hotel where we lodged was quite Oriental in its +appearance, being built round a beautiful square, paved with marble, and +adorned with the most lovely tropical shrubs, flowers, and climbing +plants. + +There seems to be a flea in Rosario, however--just one flea; but he is a +most ubiquitous and a most insatiably blood-thirsty little person. The +worst of it is that, night or day, you are never perfectly sure where he +may be. It is no use killing him either--that is simply labour thrown +away, for he appears to come to life again, and resumes his evil courses +as merrily as before. + +Fifty times a day did I kill that flea, and Dugald said he had slain him +twice as often; but even as Dugald spoke I could have vowed the lively +_pulex_ was thoroughly enjoying a draught of my Highland blood inside my +right sock. + +Although none of our party shed tears as we mounted into the train, still +the kindly hand-shakings and the hearty good-byes were affecting enough; +and just as the train went puffing and groaning away from the station they +culminated in one wild Highland hurrah! repeated three times thrice, and +augmented by the dissonance of a half-ragged crew of urchins, who must +needs wave their arms aloft and shout, without the faintest notion what it +was all about. + +We were now _en route_ for Cordoba, westward ho! by Frayle Muerto and +Villa Neuva. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +A JOURNEY THAT SEEMS LIKE A DREAM. + + +It was towards sunset on the day we had left Rosario, and we had made what +our guard called a grand run, though to us it was a somewhat tedious one. +Moncrieff had tucked his mother up in the plaid, and she had gone off to +sleep on the seat 'as gentle as "ewe lammie,"' according to her son. My +aunt and the young bride were quietly talking together, and I myself was +in that delightful condition called "twixt sleeping and waking,' when +suddenly Dugald, who had been watching everything from the window, cried, +'Oh, Donald, look here. What a lovely changing cloud!' + +Had Moncrieff not been busy just then--very earnestly busy +indeed--discussing the merits of some sample packets of seeds with one of +his new men, he might have come at once and explained the mystery. + +It was indeed a lovely cloud, and it lay low on the north-western horizon. +But we had never before seen so strange a cloud, for not only did it +increase in length and breadth more rapidly than do most clouds, but it +caught the sun's parting rays in quite a marvellous manner. When first we +looked at it the colour throughout was a bluish purple; suddenly it +changed to a red with resplendent border of fiery orange. Next it +collapsed, getting broader and rounder, and becoming a dark blue, almost +approaching to black, while the border beneath was orange-red. But the +glowing magnificence of the colour it is impossible to describe in words; +and the best artist would have failed to reproduce it even were he ten +times a Turner. + +At this moment, and just as the cloud was becoming elongated again, +Moncrieff came to our side. His usually bright face fell at once as soon +as he glanced at it. + +'Locusts!' He almost gasped the word out. + +'Locusts!' was re-echoed from every corner of the carriage; and +immediately all eyes were strained in the direction of our 'lofty golden +cloud.' + +As we approached nearer to it, and it came nearer to us, even the light +from the setting sun was obscured, and in a short time we were in the +cloud, and apparently part of it. It had become almost too dark to see +anything inside our carriage, owing to that dense and awful fog of insect +life. We quickly closed the windows, for the loathsome insects were now +pattering against the glass, and many had already obtained admittance, +much to the horror of young Mrs. Moncrieff, though aunt took matters easy +enough, having seen such sights before. + +The train now slowly came to a standstill. Something--no one appeared to +know what--had happened on ahead of us, and here we must wait till the +line was clear. Even Moncrieff's mother had awakened, and was looking out +with the rest of us. + +'Dearie me! Dearie me!' she exclaimed. 'A shower o' golochs! The very +licht o' day darkened wi' the fu'some craiters. Ca' you this a land o' +milk and honey? Egyptian darkness and showers o' golochs!' + +We descended and walked some little distance into the country, and the +sight presented to our astonished gaze I, for one, will not forget to my +dying day. The locusts were still around us, but were bearing away +southward, having already devastated the fields in this vicinity. But they +fell in hundreds and thousands around us; they struck against our hands, +our faces, and hats; they got into our sleeves, and even into our pockets; +and we could not take a step without squashing them under foot. + +Only an hour before we had been passing through a country whose green +fertility was something to behold once and dream about for ever. Evidence +of wealth and contentment had been visible on all sides. Beautiful, +home-looking, comfortable _estancias_ and out-buildings, fat, sleek cattle +and horses, and flocks of beautiful sheep, with feathered fowls of every +description. But here, though there were not wanting good farmsteadings, +all was desolation and threatened famine; hardly a green blade or leaf was +left, and the woebegone looks of some of the people we met wandering +aimlessly about, dazed and almost distracted, were pitiful to behold. I +was not sorry when a shriek from the engine warned us that it was time to +retrace our slippery footsteps. + +'Is this a common occurrence?' I could not help asking our friend +Moncrieff. + +He took me kindly by the arm as he replied, + +'It's a depressing sight to a youngster, I must allow; but we should not +let our thoughts dwell on it. Sometimes the locusts are a terrible plague, +but they manage to get over even that. Come in, and we'll light up the +saloon.' + +For hours after this the pattering continued at the closed windows, +showing that the shower of golochs had not yet ceased to fall. But with +lights inside, the carriage looked comfortable and cheerful enough, and +when presently Moncrieff got out Bombazo's guitar and handed it to him, +and that gentleman began to sing, we soon got happy again, and forgot even +the locusts--at least, all but Moncrieff's mother did. She had gone to +sleep in a corner, but sometimes we heard her muttering to herself, in her +dreams, about the 'land o' promise,' 'showers of golochs,' and 'Egyptian +darkness.' + +The last thing I remember as I curled up on the floor of the saloon, with +a saddle for a pillow and a rug round me--for the night had grown bitterly +cold--was Bombazo's merry face as he strummed on his sweet guitar and sang +of tresses dark, and love-lit eyes, and sunny Spain. This was a delightful +way of going to sleep; the awakening was not quite so pleasant, however, +for I opened my eyes only to see a dozen of the ugly 'golochs' on my rug, +and others asquat on the saddle, washing their faces as flies do. I got up +and went away to wash mine. + +The sun was already high in the heavens, and on opening a window and +looking out, I found we were passing through a woodland country, and that +far away in the west were rugged hills. Surely, then, we were nearing the +end of our journey. + +I asked our mentor Moncrieff, and right cheerily he replied, + +'Yes, my lad, and we'll soon be in Cordoba now.' + +This visit of ours to Cordoba was in reality a little pleasure trip, got +up for the special delectation of our aunt and young Mrs. Moncrieff. It +formed part and parcel of the Scotchman's honeymoon, which, it must be +allowed, was a very chequered one. + +If the reader has a map handy he will find the name Villa Maria thereon, a +place lying between Rosario and Cordoba. This was our station, and there +we had left all heavy baggage, including Moncrieff's people. On our return +we should once more resume travelling together westward still by Mercedes. +And thence to our destination would be by far and away the most eventful +portion of the journey. + +'Look out,' continued Moncrieff, 'and behold the rugged summits of the +grand old hills.' + +'And these are the Sierras?' + +'These are the Sierras; and doesn't the very sight of mountains once again +fill your heart with joy? Don't you want to sing and jump--' + +'And call aloud for joy,' said his mother, who had come up to have a peep +over our shoulders. 'Dearie me,' she added, 'they're no half so bonny and +green as the braes o' Foudland.' + +'Ah! mither, wait till you get to our beautiful home in Mendoza. Ye'll be +charmed wi' a' you see.' + +'I wish,' I said, 'I was half as enthusiastic as you are, Moncrieff.' + +'You haven't been many days in the Silver Land. Wait, lad, wait! When once +you've fairly settled and can feel at home, man, you'll think the time as +short as pleasure itself. Days and weeks flee by like winking, and every +day and every week brings its own round o' duty to perform. And all the +time you'll be makin' money as easy as makin' slates.' + +'Money isn't everything,' I said. + +'No, lad, money isn't everything; but money is a deal in this wo_rrr_ld, +and we mustn't forget that money puts the power in our hands to do others +good, and that I think is the greatest pleasure of a'. And you know, +Murdoch, that if God does put talents in our hands He expects us to make +use of them.' + +'True enough, Moncrieff,' I said. + +'See, see! that is Cordoba down in the hollow yonder, among the hills. +Look, mither! see how the domes and steeples sparkle in the mornin's +sunshine. Yonder dome is the cathedral, and further off you see the +observatory, and maybe, mither, you'll have a peep through a telescope +that will bring the moon so near to you that you'll be able to see the +good folks thereon ploughin' fields and milkin' kye.' + +We stayed at Cordoba for four days. I felt something of the old pleasant +languor of Rio stealing over me again as I lounged about the handsome +streets, gazed on the ancient churches and convent, and its world-renowned +University, or climbed its _barranca_, or wandered by the Rio Balmeiro, +and through the lovely and romantic suburbs. In good sooth, Cordoba is a +dreamy old place, and I felt better for being in it. The weather was all +in our favour also, being dry, and neither hot nor cold, although it was +now winter in these regions. I was sorry to leave Cordoba, and so I feel +sure was aunt, and even old Jenny. + +Then came the journey back to Villa Maria, and thence away westward to +Villa Mercedes. The railway to the latter place had not long been opened. + +It seems all like a beautiful halo--that railway ride to the _Ultima +Thule_ of the iron horse--and, like a dream, it is but indistinctly +remembered. Let me briefly catch the salient points of this pleasant +journey. + +Villa Maria we reach in the evening. The sun is setting in a golden haze; +too golden, for it bodes rain, and presently down it comes in a steady +pour, changing the dust of the roads into the stickiest of mud, and +presently into rivers. Moncrieff is here, there, and everywhere, seeing +after his manifold goods and chattels; but just as the short twilight is +deepening into night, he returns 'dressed and dry,' as he calls it, to the +snug little room of the inn, where a capital dinner is spread for us, and +we are all hungry. Even old Jenny, forgetting her troubles and travels, +makes merry music with knife and fork, and Bombazo is all smiles and +chatter. It rains still; what of that? It will drown the mosquitoes and +other flying 'jerlies.' It is even pleasant to listen to the rattle of the +rain-drops during the few lulls there were in the conversation. The sound +makes the room inside seem ever so much more cosy. Besides, there is a +fire in the grate, and, to add to our enjoyment, Bombazo has his guitar. + +Even the landlord takes the liberty of lingering in the room, standing +modestly beside the door, to listen. It is long, he tells us, since he has +had so cheerful a party at his house. + +Aileen, as Moncrieff calls his pretty bride, is not long in discovering +that the innkeeper hails from her own sweet Isle of Sorrow, and many +friendly questions are asked on both sides. + +Bed at last. A bright morning, the sun coming up red and rosy through an +ocean of clouds more gorgeous than ever yet was seen in tame old England. + +We are all astir very early. We are all merry and hungry. Farewells are +said, and by and by off we rattle. The train moves very slowly at first, +but presently warms to her work and settles down to it. We catch a glimpse +of a town some distance off, and nearer still the silver gleam of a river +reflecting the morning sun. By and by we are on the river bridge, and +over it, and so on and away through an open pampa. Such, at least, I call +it. Green swelling land all around, with now and then a lake or loch +swarming with web-footed fowl, the sight of which makes Dugald's eyes +water. + +We pass station after station, stopping at all. More woods, more pampa; +thriving fields and fertile lands; _estancias_, flocks of sheep, herds of +happy cattle. A busy, bustling railway station, with as much noise around +it as we find at Clapham Junction; another river--the Rio Cuarto, if my +memory does not play me false; pampas again, with hills in the distance. +Wine and water-melons at a station; more wine and more water-melons at +another. + +After this I think I fall asleep, and I wonder now if the wine and the +water-melons had anything to do with that. I awake at last and rub my +eyes. Bombazo is also dozing; so is old Jenny. Old Jenny is a marvel to +sleep. Dugald is as bright as a humming bird; he says I have lost a +sight. + +'What was the sight?' + +'Oh, droves upon droves of real wild horses, wilder far than our ponies at +Coila.' + +I close my eyes again. Dear old Coila! I wish Dugald had not mentioned the +word. It takes me back again in one moment across the vast and mighty +ocean we have crossed to our home, to father, mother, and Flora. + +Before long we are safe at Villa Mercedes. Not much to see here, and the +wind blows cold from west and south. + +We are not going to lodge in the town, however. We are independent of +inns, if there are any, and independent of everything. We are going under +canvas. + +Already our pioneers have the camp ready in a piece of ground sheltered by +a row of lordly poplars; and to-morrow morning we start by road for the +far interior. + + * * * * * + +Another glorious morning! There is a freshness in the air which almost +amounts to positive cold, and reminds one of a November day in Scotland. +Bombazo calls it bitterly cold, and my aunt has distributed guanaco +ponchos to us, and has adorned herself with her own. Yes, adorned is the +right word to apply to auntie's own travelling toilet; but we brothers +think we look funny in ours, and laugh at each other in turn. Moncrieff +sticks to the Highland plaid, but the sight of a guanaco poncho to old +Jenny does, I verily believe, make her the happiest old lady in all the +Silver Land. She is mounted in the great canvas-covered waggon, which is +quite a caravan in every respect. It has even windows in the sides and +real doorways, and is furnished inside with real sofas and Indian-made +chairs, to say nothing of hammocks and tables and a stove. This caravan is +drawn by four beautiful horses, and will be our sitting-room and +dining-room by day, and the ladies' boudoir and bedroom for some time to +come. + +Away we rattle westwards, dozens of soldiers, half-bred Chilians, Gauchos, +and a crowd of dark-eyed but dirty children, giving us a ringing cheer as +we start. + +What a cavalcade it is, to be sure! Waggons, drays, carts, mules, and +horses. All our imported Scotchmen are riding, and glorious fellows they +look. Each has a rifle slung across his shoulder, belts and sheath knives, +and broad sombrero hat. The giant Moncrieff himself is riding, and looks +to me the bravest of the brave. I and each of my brothers have undertaken +to drive a cart or waggon, and we feel men from hat to boots, and as proud +all over as a cock with silver spurs. + +We soon leave behind us those tall, mysterious-looking poplar trees. So +tall are they that, although when we turned out not a breath of wind was +blowing on the surface of the ground, away aloft their summits were waving +gently to and fro, with a whispering sound, as if they were talking to +unseen spirits in the sky. + +We leave even the _estancias_ behind. We are out now on the lonesome +rolling plain. Here and there are woods; away, far away, behind us are the +jagged summits of the everlasting hills. By and by the diligence, a +strange-looking rattle-trap of a coach--a ghost of a coach, I might call +it--goes rattling and swaying past us. Its occupants raise a feeble cheer, +to which we respond with a three times three; for we seem to like to hear +our voices. + +After this we feel more alone than ever. On and on and on we jog. The road +is broad and fairly good; our waggons have broad wheels; this retards our +speed, but adds to our comfort and that of the mules and horses. + +Before very long we reach a broad river, and in we plunge, the horsemen +leading the van, with the water up to their saddle-girths. I give the +reins of my team to my attendant Gaucho, and, running forward, jump on +board the caravan to keep the ladies company while we fight the ford. But +the ladies are in no way afraid; they are enjoying themselves in the front +of the carriage, which is open. Old Jenny is in an easy-chair and buried +to the nose in her guanaco robe. She is muttering something to herself, +and as I bend down to listen I can catch the words: 'Dearie me! Dearie me! +When'll ever we reach the Land o' Promise? Egyptian darkness! Showers of +golochs! Chariots and horsemen! Dearie me! Dearie me!' + +But we are over at last, and our whole cavalcade looks sweeter and fresher +for the bath. + +Presently we reach a corral, where two men beckon to Moncrieff. They are +wild and uncouth enough in all conscience; their baggy breeches and +ponchos are in sad need of repair, and a visit to a barber would add to +the respectability of their appearance. They look excited, wave their +arms, and point southwards. But they talk in a strange jargon, and there +are but two words intelligible to me. These, however, are enough to set my +heart throbbing with a strange feeling of uneasiness I never felt before. + +'_Los Indios! Los Indios!_' + +Moncrieff points significantly to his armed men and smiles. The Gauchos +wave their arms in the air, rapidly opening and shutting their hands in a +way that to me is very mysterious. And so they disappear. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE TRAGEDY AT THE FONDA. + + +I could not help wondering, as I glanced at aunt whether she had heard and +understood the meaning of those wild Gauchos' warning. If she did she made +no sign. But aunt is a M'Crimman, and the sister of a bold Highland chief. +She would not _show_ fear even if she _felt_ it. Yes, the brave may feel +fear, but the coward alone is influenced by it. + +Old Jenny had gone to sleep, so I said good-bye to aunt, nodded to Aileen, +and went back to my waggon once more. + +We made good progress that day, though we did not hurry. We stopped to +feed our cattle, and to rest and feed ourselves. The jolting had been +terrible on some parts of the road. But now the sun was getting very low +indeed, and as we soon came to a piece of high, hard ground, with a view +of the country round us for miles, we determined to bivouac for the +night. + +The horses and mules were hobbled and turned off to graze under the charge +of sentry Gauchos. No fear of their wandering off far. They were watered +not an hour ago, and would be fresh by daybreak. + +Now, Moncrieff had been too long in the wilds to neglect precautions while +camping out. I had taken an early opportunity to-day to interview our +leader concerning the report that Indians were abroad. + +'Ah!' he answered, 'you heard and understood what that half-breed said, +then?' + +'Just a word or two. He appeared to give us a warning of some kind. Is it +of any account?' + +'Well, there's always some water where the stirkie drowns; there's always +some fire where you see smoke; and it is better to be sure than sorry.' + +I could elicit no more information from my canny countryman than that. I +said nothing to any one, not even my brothers. Why should I cause them the +slightest alarm, and speak a word that might tend to make them sleep less +soundly? + +However, as soon as the halt was made, I was glad to see that Moncrieff +took every precaution against a surprise. The caravan was made the centre +of a square, the waggons being 'laggered' around it. The fire was lit and +the dinner cooked close beside a sheltering _barranca_, and as soon as +this meal was discussed the fire was extinguished. + + 'Then came still evening on,' + +and we all gathered together for prayer. Even the Gauchos were summoned, +though I fear paid but little attention, while Moncrieff, standing +bare-headed in the midst of us, read a chapter from the Book by the pale +yellow light of the western sky. Then, still standing-- + +'Brothers, let us pray,' he said. + +Erect there, with the twilight shadows falling around him, with open eyes +and face turned skywards, with the sunset's after-glow falling on his hard +but comely features, his plaid depending from his broad shoulders, I could +not help admiring the man. His prayer--and it was but brief--had all the +trusting simplicity of a little child's, yet it was in every way the +prayer of a man communing with his God; in every tone thereof was breathed +belief, reliance, gratitude, and faith in the Father. + +As he finished, Dugald pressed my arm and pointed eastwards, smiling. A +star had shone out from behind a little cloud, and somehow it seemed to +me as if it were an angel's eye, and that it would watch over us all the +live-long night. Our evening service concluded with that loveliest of +hymns, commencing-- + + 'O God of Bethel, by whose hand + Thy children still are fed; + Who through this weary wilderness + Hath all our fathers led.' + +He gave it out in the old Scotch way, two lines at a time, and to the tune +'Martyrdom.' + +It was surely appropriate to our position and our surroundings, especially +that beautiful verse-- + + 'Oh, spread Thy covering wings around, + Till all our wanderings cease, + And at our Father's loved abode + Our souls arrive in peace.' + +We now prepared for rest. The sentries were set, and in a short time all +was peace and silence within our camp. More than once during the night the +collies--dogs brought out by Moncrieff's men--gave an uneasy bark or two, +their slumbers being probably disturbed by the cry of some night bird, or +the passing of a prowling fox. + +So, wrapped in our guanaco robes--the benefit of which we felt now--my +brothers and I slept sweetly and deeply till the sun once more rose in the +east. + +Soon all was bustle and stir again. + +Thus were our days spent on the road, thus our evenings, and eke our +nights. And at the end of some days we were still safe and sound, and +happy. No one sick in the camp; no horse or mule even lame; while we were +all hardening to travel already. + +So far, hardly anything had happened to break the even tenour of our +journey. Our progress, however, with so much goods and chattels, and over +such roads, was necessarily slow; yet we never envied the lumbering +diligence that now and then went rattling past us. + +We saw many herds of wild horses. Some of these, led by beautiful +stallions, came quite close to us. They appeared to pity our horses +and mules, condemned to the shafts and harness, and compelled to work +their weary lives away day after day. Our beasts were slaves. They were +free--free as the breezes that blew over the pampas and played with +their long manes, as they went thundering over the plains. We had seen +several ostriches, and my brothers and I had enjoyed a wild ride or +two after them. Once we encountered a puma, and once we saw an +armadillo. We had never clapped eyes on a living specimen before, but +there could be no mistaking the gentleman in armour. Not that he gave us +much time for study, however. Probably the creature had been asleep as +we rounded the corner of a gravel bank, but in one moment he became +alive to his danger. Next moment we saw nothing but a rising cloud of +dust and sand; lo! the armadillo was gone to the Antipodes, or somewhere +in that direction--buried alive. Probably the speed with which an +armadillo--there are several different species in the Silver +West--disappears at the scent of any one belonging to the _genus homo_, +is caused by the decided objection he has to be served up as a side-dish. +He is excellent eating--tender as a chicken, juicy as a sucking-pig, but +the honour of being roasted whole and garnished is one he does not crave. + +Riding on ahead one day--I had soon got tired of the monotony of driving, +and preferred the saddle--at a bend of the road I came suddenly upon two +horsemen, who had dismounted and were lying on a patch of sward by the +roadside. Their horses stood near. Both sprang up as I appeared, and quick +as lightning their hands sought the handles of the ugly knives that +depended in sheaths from their girdles. At this moment there was a look in +the swarthy face of each that I can only describe as diabolical. Hatred, +ferocity, and cunning were combined in that glance; but it vanished in a +moment, and the air assumed by them now was one of cringing humility. + +'The Gaucho malo,' I said to myself as soon as I saw them. Their horses +were there the nobler animals. Bitted, bridled, and saddled, the latter +were in the manner usual to the country, the saddle looking like a huge +hillock of skins and rags; but rifles were slung alongside, to say nothing +of bolas and lasso. The dress of the men was a kind of nondescript garb. +Shawls round the loins, tucked up between their legs and fastened with a +girdle, did duty as breeches; their feet were encased in _potro_ boots, +made of the hock-skin of horses, while over their half-naked shoulders +hung ponchos of skin, not without a certain amount of wild grace. + +Something else as well as his rifle was lashed to the saddle of one of +these desert gipsies, and being new to the country, I could not help +wondering at this--namely, a guitar in a case of skin. + +With smiles that I knew were false one now beckoned me to alight, while +the other unslung the instrument and began to tune it. The caravan must +have been fully two miles behind me, so that to some extent I was at the +mercy of these Gauchos, had they meant mischief. This was not their plan +of campaign, however. + +Having neighed in recognition of the other horses, my good nag stood as +still as a statue; while, with my eyes upon the men and my hand within +easy distance of my revolver, I listened to their music. One sang while +the other played, and I must confess that the song had a certain +fascination about it, and only the thought that I was far from safe +prevented me from thoroughly enjoying it. I knew, as if by instinct, +however, that the very fingers that were eliciting those sweet sad tones +were itching to clutch my throat, and that the voice that thrilled my +senses could in a moment be changed into a tiger yell, with which men like +these spring upon their human prey. + +On the whole I felt relieved when the rumble of the waggon wheels fell +once more on my ears. I rode back to meet my people, and presently a halt +was made for the midday feed. + +If aunt desired to feast her eyes on the Gaucho malo she had now a chance. +They played to her, sang to her, and went through a kind of wild dance for +her especial delectation. + +'What romantic and beautiful blackguards they are!' was the remark she +made to Moncrieff. + +Moncrieff smiled, somewhat grimly, I thought. + +'It's no' for nought the cland[4] whistles,' he said in his broadest, +canniest accents. + +These Gauchos were hunting, they told Moncrieff. Had they seen any Indians +about? No, no, not an Indian. The Indians were far, far south. + +Aunt gave them some garments, food, and money; and, with many bows and +salaams, they mounted their steeds and went off like the wind. + +I noticed that throughout the remainder of the day Moncrieff was unusually +silent, and appeared to wish to be alone. Towards evening he beckoned to +me. + +'We'll ride on ahead,' he said, 'and look for a good bit of +camping-ground.' + +Then away we both went at a canter, but in silence. + +We rode on and on, the ground rising gently but steadily, until we stopped +at last on a high plateau, and gazed around us at the scene. A more bleak +and desolate country it would be impossible to imagine. One vast and +semi-desert plain, the eye relieved only by patches of algarrobo bushes, +or little lakes of water. Far ahead of us the cone of a solitary mountain +rose on the horizon, and towards this the sun was slowly declining. Away +miles in our rear were the waggons and horses struggling up the hill. But +silence as deep as death was everywhere. Moncrieff stretched his arm +southwards. + +'What do you see yonder, Murdo?' he said. + +'I see,' I replied, after carefully scanning the rolling plain, 'two +ostriches hurrying over the pampas.' + +'Those are not ostriches, boy. They are those same villain Gauchos, and +they are after no good. I tell you this, that you may be prepared for +anything that may happen to-night. But look,' he added, turning his +horse's head; 'down here is a corral, and we are sure to find water.' + +We soon reached it. Somewhat to our surprise we found no horses anywhere +about, and no sign of life around the little inn or _fonda_ except one +wretched-looking dog. + +As we drew up at the door and listened the stillness felt oppressive. +Moncrieff shouted. No human voice responded; but the dog, seated on his +haunches, gave vent to a melancholy howl. + +'Look,' I said, 'the dog's paws are red with blood. He is wounded.' + +'It isn't _his_ blood, boy.' + +The words thrilled me. I felt a sudden fear at my heart, born perhaps of +the death-like stillness. Ah! it was indeed a death-like stillness, and +the stillness of death itself as well. + +Moncrieff dismounted. I followed his example, and together we entered the +_fonda_. + +We had not advanced a yard when we came on an awesome sight--the dead body +of a Gaucho! It lay on its back with the arms spread out, the face hacked +to pieces, and gashes in the neck. The interior of the hut was a chaos of +wild confusion, the little furniture there was smashed, and evidently +everything of value had been carried away. Half buried in the _débris_ was +the body of a woman, and near it that of a child. Both were slashed and +disfigured, while pools of blood lay everywhere about. Young though I was, +I had seen death before in several shapes, but never anything so ghastly +and awful as this. + +A cold shudder ran through my frame and seemed to pierce to the very +marrow of my bones. I felt for a few moments as if in some dreadful +nightmare, and I do not hesitate to confess that, M'Crimman and all as I +am, had those Gauchos suddenly appeared now in the doorway, I could not +have made the slightest resistance to their attack. I should have taken my +death by almost rushing on the point of their terrible knives. But +Moncrieff's calm earnest voice restored me in a moment. At its tones I +felt raised up out of my coward self, and prepared to face anything. + +'Murdoch,' he said, 'this is a time for calm thought and action.' + +'Yes,' I answered; 'bid me do anything, and I will do it. But come out of +this awful place. I--I feel a little faint.' + +Together we left the blood-stained _fonda_, Moncrieff shutting the door +behind him. + +'No other eye must look in there,' he said. 'Now, Murdoch, listen.' + +He paused, and I waited; his steadfast eyes bent on my face. + +'You are better now? You are calm, and no longer afraid?' + +'I am no longer afraid.' + +'Well, I can trust _you_, and no one else. Led by those evil fiends whom +we saw to-day, the Indians will be on us to-night in force. I will prepare +to give them a warm reception--' + +'And I will assist,' I hastened to say. + +'No, Murdoch, you will not be here to help us at the commencement. I said +the Indians would attack in _force_, because they know our numbers. Those +_malo_ men have been spying on us when we little thought it. They know our +strength to a gun, and they will come in a cloud that nothing can +withstand, or that nothing could withstand in the open. But we will +entrench and defend ourselves till your return.' + +'My return!' + +'Twelve miles from here,' he went on, 'is a fort. It contains two officers +and over a score soldiers. In two hours it will be dusk, in an hour after +that the moon rises. 'Twixt twilight and moonrise you must ride to that +fort and bring assistance. Depend upon it, we can defend ourselves till +you come with your men, and you must attack the savages in the rear. You +understand?' + +'Perfectly. But had I not better ride away at once?' + +'No, the Indians would waylay you. You never would reach the frontier +fort. Even if you did escape from the chase, the knowledge that the troops +were coming would prevent them from attacking to-night.' + +'And you want them to attack to-night?' + +'I wish them to attack to-night. We may never be able to give a good +account of them again, but all depends on your success.' + +In a short time the first waggons came up. They would have stopped, but +Moncrieff beckoned them onwards. When the last waggon had gone we mounted +our horses and slowly followed. At a stream not far distant we watered, +and once more continued our journey. + +The road now rose rapidly, till in half an hour we were on high ground, +and here the halt was made. I could breathe more easily now we had left +that blood-stained hollow, though well I knew the sight I had witnessed +would not leave my thoughts for years to come. + +Everything was done as quietly and orderly as if no cloud were hovering +over us, so soon to burst. The big fire was lit as usual, supper cooked, +prayers said, and the fire also lit in the ladies' caravan, for the nights +were cold and raw now. + +The night began to fall. Moncrieff and I had kept our secret to ourselves +hitherto, but we could no longer conceal from any one that there was +danger in the air. Yet the news seemed to astonish no one, not even aunt. + +'Dear brother,' she said to our leader, 'I read it in your face all the +afternoon.' + +It was almost dusk now, and work was commenced in earnest. Spades were got +out, and every man worked like a slave to entrench the whole position. The +strength that I was to leave behind me was seven-and-twenty men all told, +but this included ten Gauchos. Nevertheless, behind trenches, with plenty +of guns, revolvers, and ammunition, they were powerful enough to defend +the position against hundreds of badly-armed Indians. Not far off was a +patch of wood which stretched downwards into a rocky ravine. Luckily it +lay on the north side of the road, and hither, as soon as it was dark +enough, every horse and mule was led and secured to the trees. Nor even in +this extremity of danger were their wants forgotten, for grass mixed with +grains was placed in front of each. + +My horse was now led round. Each hoof was encased in a new and strong +_potro_ boot, secured by thongs around the legs. + +'You must neither be heard nor seen,' said Moncrieff, as he pointed to +these. 'Now, good-night, boy; God be wi' ye, and with us all!' + +'Amen!' I responded, earnestly. + +Then away I rode in silence, through the starlight; but as I looked back +to the camp my heart gave an uneasy throb. Should I ever see them alive +again? + +----- + + [4] Cland, a kind of hawk. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +ATTACK BY PAMPA INDIANS. + + +So lonesome a ride in the darkness of night, through a country wild and +bleak, with danger lurking perhaps on either side of me, might easily have +daunted a bolder heart than mine. + +Something of the unspeakable feeling of dread I had experienced in the +_fonda_ while surrounded by those awful corpses came back to me now. I +tried to banish it, but failed. My nervousness became extreme, and +appeared to increase rather than diminish as I left the camp farther and +farther behind me. It was almost a superstitious fear that had gotten +possession of my soul. It was fear of the unseen; and even at this +distance of time I can only say I would willingly face death in open day a +hundred times over rather than endure for an hour the terrors I suffered +that night. Every bush I saw I took for a figure lurking by the roadside, +while solitary trees I had to pass assumed the form and shape and even +movement of an enemy on horseback riding silently down to meet me. Again +and again I clutched my revolver, and even now I cannot tell what power +prevented me from firing at my phantom foes. Over and over again I reined +up to listen, and at such times the wind whispering through the tall grass +sounded to me like human voices, while the cry of birds that now and then +rose startlingly close to me, made my heart beat with a violence that in +itself was painful. + +Sometimes I closed my eyes, and gave the horse his head, trying to carry +my thoughts back to the lights of the camp, or forward to the fort which I +hoped soon to reach. + +I had ridden thus probably five good miles, when I ventured to look behind +me, and so great had been the strain on my nerves that the sight I now +witnessed almost paralyzed me. + +It was the reflection as of a great fire on the brow of the hill where my +people were beleaguered. + +'The camp is already attacked, and in flames,' I muttered. Whither should +I ride now--backwards or forwards? + +While I yet hesitated the flames appeared to wax fiercer and fiercer, till +presently--oh, joy!--a big round moon gradually shook itself clear of a +cloud and began slowly to climb the eastern sky. + +All fear fled now. I muttered a prayer of thankfulness, dashed the spurs +into my good horse's sides, and went on at the gallop. + +The time seemed short after this, and almost before I knew I came right +upon the fort, and was challenged by the sentry. + +'_Amigo!_' I yelled. '_Amigo! Angleese!_' + +I dare say I was understood, for soon after lights appeared on the +ramparts, and I was hailed again, this time in English, or for what passed +as English. I rode up under the ramparts, and quickly told my tale. + +In ten minutes more I was received within the fort. A tumble-down place I +found it, but I was overjoyed to be in it, nevertheless. In the principal +room most of the men were playing games, and smoking and talking, while +the commandant himself lounged about with a cigarette in his mouth. + +He considered for a minute or two--an age it appeared to me--ere he +answered. Yes; he would come, and take with him fifteen soldiers, leaving +the rest to guard the fort. I could have embraced him, so joyful did I +feel on hearing these words. + +How long would he be? One hour, no more. For arms had to be cleaned, and +ammunition to be got ready; and the men must feed. + +A whole hour! No wonder I sighed and looked anxious. Why, every minute was +precious to my poor beleaguered friends. It would be long past midnight +ere I reached the camp again, for these men would not be mounted. Yet I +saw the good little commander was doing his best, not only to expedite +matters, but to treat me with kindness and hospitality. He brought forth +food and wine, and forced me to eat and drink. I did so to please him; but +when he proposed a game to pass the time, I began to think the man was +crazed. He was not. No; but possessed a soldierly virtue which I could not +boast of--namely, patience. + + * * * * * + +The work of entrenchment was soon completed after my departure; then there +was nothing more to be done except to appoint the men to their quarters, +place sentinels on the highest of the waggons, and wait. + +Ah, but this waiting is a weary thing under circumstances like the +present--waiting and watching, not knowing from what quarter the attack +will come, what form it will take, or when it will commence. + +Except in the chief caravan itself, where Moncrieff and Donald sat for a +time to keep up the hearts of the ladies, no lights were lit. + +There was no singing to-night, hardly a smile on any face, and no one +spoke much above a whisper. Poor old Jenny had gone to sleep, as usual. + +'Wake me,' had been her last words. 'Wake me, laddie, when the Philistines +are upon us.' + +'The old lady's a marvel!' Moncrieff had whispered to aunt. + +Moncrieff was doing all he could to keep conversation alive, though, +strange to say, Bombazo seldom spoke. Surely he could not be afraid. +Moncrieff had his suspicions. Brave as my aunt was, the waiting made her +nervous. + +'Hark!' she would say every now and then; or, 'Listen! What was that?' + +'Only the cry of a burrowing owl,' Moncrieff might have to answer; or, +'Only the yap of a prowling fox.' Oh, the waiting, the weary waiting! + +The moon rose at last, and presently it was almost as light as day. + +'Will they come soon, think you?' whispered poor Aileen. + +'No, darling; not for hours yet. Believe me there is no danger. We are +well prepared.' + +'Oh, Alec, Alec!' she answered, bursting into tears; 'it is you I fear +for, not myself. Let me go with you when they come. I would not then be +afraid; but waiting here--oh, it is the waiting that takes all the heart +out of me.' + +'Egyptian darkness!' murmured the old lady in her sleep. Then in louder, +wilder key, 'Smite them!' she exclaimed. 'Smite this host of the +Philistines from Gideon to Gaza.' + +'Dear old mither, she's dreaming,' said Moncrieff. 'But, oh, we'll laugh +at all this by to-morrow night, Aileen, my darling.' + +One hour, two hours went slowly, painfully past. The moon mounted higher +and higher, and shone clearer and clearer, but not yet on all the plains +were there signs of a mounted Indian. + +Yet even at that moment, little though our people knew it, swarthy forms +were creeping stealthily through the pampas grass, with spears and guns at +trail, pausing often to glance towards the camp they meant so soon to +surprise and capture. + +The moon gets yet brighter. Moncrieff is watching. Shading his eyes from +the light, he is gazing across the marsh and listening to every sound. Not +a quarter of a mile away is a little marshy lake. From behind it for +several minutes he has heard mournful cries. They proceed from the +burrowing owls; but they must have been startled! They even fly towards +the camp, as if to give warning of the approach of the swarthy foe. + +Suddenly from the edge of the lake a sound like the blast of a trumpet is +heard; another and another, and finally a chorus of trumpet notes; and +shortly after a flock of huge flamingoes are seen wheeling in the moonlit +air. + +'It is as I thought,' says Moncrieff; 'they are creeping through the +grass. Hurry round, Dugald, and call the men quietly to quarters.' + +Moncrieff himself, rifle in hand, climbs up to the top of the waggon. + +'Go down now,' he tells the sentry. 'I mean to fire the first shot.' + +He lies down to wait and watch. No bloodhound could have a better eye. +Presently he sees a dark form raise itself near a tussock of grass. There +is a sharp report, and the figure springs into the air, then falls dead on +the pampas. + +No need for the foe to conceal themselves any longer. With a wild and +unearthly scream, that the very earth itself seems to re-echo, they spring +from their hiding and advance at the double towards the fort--for fort it +is now. As they come yelling on they fire recklessly towards it. They +might as well fire in the air. + +Moncrieff's bold Doric is heard, and to some purpose, at this juncture. + +'Keep weel down, men! Keep weel to cove_rrr_! Fire never a shot till he +has the o_rr_der. Let every bullet have its billet. Ready! +Fire-_r_-_r_-_r_!' + +Moncrieff rattled out the _r_'s indefinitely, and the rifles rattled out +at the same time. So well aimed was the volley that the dark cloud seemed +staggered. The savages wavered for a time, but on they came again, +redoubling their yells. They fired again, then, dropping their guns, +rushed on towards the breastwork spears in hand. It was thus that the +conflict commenced in dread earnest, and the revolvers now did fearful +execution. The Indians were hurled back again and again, and finally they +broke and sought cover in the bush. Their wounded lay writhing and crying +out close beneath the rampart, and among these were also many who would +never move more in this world. + +On seeing the savages take to the bush, Moncrieff's anxiety knew no +bounds. The danger of their discovering the horses was extreme. And if +they did so, revenge would speedily follow defeat. They would either drive +them away across the pampas, or in their wrath slaughter them where they +stood. + +What was to be done to avert so great a catastrophe? A forlorn hope was +speedily formed, and this my two brothers volunteered to lead. On the +first shout heard down in the hollow--indicating the finding of our +horses--Donald, Dugald, and fifteen men were to rush out and turn the +flank of the swarthy army if they could, or die in the attempt. + +Meanwhile, however, the enemy appeared bent on trying cunning and +desperate tactics. They were heard cutting down the bushes and smaller +trees, and not long afterwards it looked as if the whole wood was +advancing bodily up towards the breastwork on that side. + +A rapid and no doubt effective fire was now kept up by Moncrieff and his +men. This delayed the terrible _dénoûment_, but it was soon apparent that +if some more strategic movement was not made on our part it could not +wholly thwart it. + +At all hazards that advancing wood must be checked, else the horrors of +fire would be the prelude to one of the most awful massacres that ever +took place on the lonely pampas. + +'How is the wind?' asked Moncrieff, as if speaking to himself. + +'It blows from the wood towards the camp,' said Dugald, 'but not quite in +a line. See, I am ready to rush out and fire that pile.' + +'No, Dugald,' cried Donald; 'I am the elder--I will go.' + +'Brother, I spoke first.' + +'Yes,' said Moncrieff, quietly, 'Dugald must go, and go now. Take five +men, ten if you want them.' + +'Five will do--five Gauchos,' said Dugald. + +It was wise of Dugald to choose Gauchos. If the truth must be told, +however, he did so to spare more valuable lives. But these wild plainsmen +are the bravest of the brave, and are far better versed in the tactics of +Indian warfare than any white man could be. + +Dugald's plan would have been to issue out and make a bold rush across the +open space of seventy and odd yards that intervened between the moving +pile of brushwood and the camp. Had this been done, every man would have +been speared ere he got half across. + +The preparations for the sally were speedily made. Each man had a revolver +and knife in his belt, and carried in his hands matches, a bundle of _pob_ +(or tarred yarn), and a small cask of petroleum oil. They issued from the +side of the camp farthest from the wood, and, crawling on their faces, +took advantage of every tussock of grass, waving thistle, or hemlock bush +in their way. Meanwhile a persistent fire was kept up from behind the +breastwork, which, from the screams and yells proceeding from the savages, +must have been doing execution. + +Presently, close behind the bush and near the ground, Moncrieff could see +Dugald's signal, the waving of a white handkerchief, and firing +immediately ceased. + +Almost immediately afterwards smoke and flames ran all along the wood and +increased every moment. There was a smart volley of revolver firing, and +in a minute more Dugald and his Gauchos were safe again within the fort. + +'Stand by now, lads, to defend the ramparts!' cried Moncrieff; 'the worst +is yet to come.' + +The worst was indeed to come. For under cover of the smoke the Indians now +made ready for their final assault. In the few minutes of silence that +elapsed before the attack, the voice of a Gaucho malo was heard haranguing +his men in language that could not but inflame their blood and passions. +He spoke of the riches, the wealth of the camp, of the revenge they were +going to have on the hated white man who had stolen their hunting fields, +and driven them to the barren plains and mountains to seek for food with +the puma and the snake, and finally began to talk of the pale-face +prisoners that would become their possession. + +'Give them another volley, men,' said Moncrieff, grimly. 'Fire low through +the smoke.' + +It would have been better, probably, had our leader waited. + +Little need to precipitate an onslaught that could have but one +ending--unless indeed assistance arrived from the fort. + + * * * * * + +The long, long hour of waiting came to an end at last, and the commander +and myself left the frontier fort at the head of the men. + +How terribly tedious the march back seemed! The officer would keep talking +as cheerfully as if going to a concert or evening party. I hardly +answered, I hardly heard him. I felt ashamed of my anxiety, but still I +could not help it. I was but a young soldier. + +At last we are within sight, ay, and hearing, of the camp, and the events +of the next hour float before my memory now as I write, like the shadowy +pantomime of some terrible dream. + +First we see smoke and fire, but hear no sound. All must be over, I +think--tragedy and massacre, all--and the camp is on fire. + +Even the commander of our little force takes a serious view of the case +now. He draws his sword, looks to his revolver, and speaks to his men in +calm, determined tones. + +For long minutes the silence round the camp is unbroken, but suddenly +rifles ring out in the still air, and I breathe more freely once again. +Then the firing ceases, and is succeeded by the wild war-cries of the +attacking savages, and the hoarse, defiant slogan of the defending Scots. + +'Hurrah!' I shout, 'we are yet in time. Oh, good sir, hurry on! Listen!' + +Well might I say listen, for now high above the yell of savages and ring +of revolvers rises the shriek of frightened women. + +I can stand this no longer. I set spur to my horse, and go dashing on +towards the camp. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE FLIGHT AND THE CHASE. + + +The very last thing I had seen that cool Argentine commander do, was to +light a fresh cigarette with the stump of the old one. The next time I saw +him, he was standing by his wounded horse, in the moonlight, with a spear +wound in his brow, but smoking still. + +The onslaught of the savages had been for a while a terrible one, but the +soldiers came in time, and the camp was saved. + +Hardly knowing what I did--not knowing till this day how I did it--I had +put my good steed at the breastwork, and, tired though he was, he fairly +cleared it. Next I remember hewing my way, sword in hand, through a crowd +of spear-armed savages, finding myself close to the ladies' caravan, and +next minute inside it. + +A single glance showed me all were safe. Aileen lay pale and motionless on +the sofa. Near her, revolver in hand, stood my brave aunt, and by the +stove was old Jenny herself. + +'Oh, bless you, dear boy!' cried auntie. 'How glad we are to see you!' + +"Deed are we, laddie!' chimed old Jenny; 'but--' and she grinned as she +spoke, 'they rievin' Philistines will be fools if they come this road +again. I've gi'en some o' them het [hot] hurdies. Ha, ha! I'm makin' a +drap mair for them in case they come again.' + +'Poor thing!' I think; 'she has gone demented.' + +There was no time now, however, to ask for explanation; for although the +Indians had really been driven off, the chase, and, woe is me, the +slaughter, had commenced. + +And I shudder even yet when I think of that night's awful work on the +moonlit pampas. Still, the sacrifice of so many redskins was calculated to +insure our safety. Moreover, had our camp fallen into the hands of those +terrible Indians, what a blood-blotted page would have been added to the +history of the Silver West! + +It is but just and fair to Moncrieff, however, to say that he did all in +his power to stay the pursuit; but in vain. The soldiers were just +returning, tired and breathless, from a fruitless chase after the now +panic-stricken enemy, when a wild shout was heard, and our Gauchos were +seen riding up from the woods, brandishing the very spears they had +captured from the Indians, and each one leading a spare horse. + +The _soldados_ welcomed them with a shout. Next minute each was mounted +and galloping across the pampas in one long extended line. + +They were going to treat the Indians to a taste of their own tactics, for +between each horse a lasso rope was fastened. + +All our men who were safe and unwounded now clambered into the waggon to +witness the pursuit. Nothing could exceed the mad grandeur of that +charge--nothing could withstand that wild rash. The Indians were mowed +down by the lasso lines, then all we could see was a dark commingled mass +of rearing horses, of waving swords and spears, and struggling, writhing +men. + +Yells and screams died away at last, and no sound was now heard on the +pampas except the thunder of the horses' hoofs, as our people returned to +the camp, and occasionally the trumpet-like notes of the startled +flamingoes. + +As soon as daylight began to appear in the east the ramparts were razed, +and soon after we were once more on the move, glad to leave the scene of +battle and carnage. + +From higher ground, at some distance, I turned and looked back. Already +the air was darkened by flocks of pampas kites, among them many +slow-winged vultures, and I knew the awful feast that ever follows +slaughter had already commenced. + +We had several Gauchos killed and one of our own countrymen, but many more +were wounded, some severely enough, so that our victory had cost us dear, +and yet we had reason to be thankful, and my only surprise to this day is +that we escaped utter annihilation. + +It would be anything but fair to pass on to other scenes without +mentioning the part poor old Jenny played in the defence of the caravan. + +Jenny was not demented--not she. Neither the fatigue of the journey, the +many wonders she had witnessed, including the shower of golochs, nor the +raid upon the camp had deprived Moncrieff's wonderful mither of her wits. +I have said there was a stove burning in the caravan. As soon, then, as +Jenny found out that they were fortifying or entrenching the camp, and +that the Philistines, as she called them, might be expected at any moment, +she awoke to a true sense of the situation. The first thing she did was to +replenish the fire, then she put the biggest saucepan on top of the stove, +and as soon as it commenced to boil she began 'mealing in,' as she called +it. + +'Oatmeal would have been best,' she told my aunt; 'but, after a',' she +added, 'Indian meal, though it be but feckless stuff, is the kind o' kail +they blackamoors are maist used to.' + +Aunt wondered what she meant, but was silent, and, indeed, she had other +things to think about than Jenny and her strange doings, for Aileen +required all her attention. + +[Illustration: 'Ye can Claw the Pat'] + +When, however, the fight had reached its very fiercest, when the camp +itself was enveloped in smoke, and the constant cracking of revolvers, the +shrieks of the wounded men and clashing of weapons would have daunted a +less bold heart than Jenny's--the old lady took her saucepan from the +stove and stationed herself by the front door of the caravan. She had not +long to wait. Three of the fiercest of the Indian warriors had sprung to +the _coupé_ and were half up, + + 'But little kenned they Jenny's mettle, + Or dreamt what lay in Jenny's kettle.' + +With eyes that seemed to flash living fire, her grey hair streaming over +her shoulders, she must have looked a perfect fury as she rushed out and +deluged the up-turned faces and shoulders of the savages with the boiling +mess. They dropped yelling to the ground, and Jenny at once turned her +attention to the back door of the van, where already one of the leading +Gaucho malos--aunt's beautiful blackguards of the day before--had gained +footing. This villain she fairly bonneted with the saucepan. + +'Your brithers have gotten the big half o' the kail,' she cried, 'and ye +can claw the pat.' + +It was not till next evening that aunt told Moncrieff the brave part old +Jenny had played. He smiled in his quiet way as he patted his mother's +hand. + +'Just as I told ye, Miss M'Crimman,' he said; 'mither's a ma_rrr_vel!' + +But where had the bold Bombazo been during the conflict? Sword and +revolver in hand, in the foremost ranks, and wherever the battle raged the +fiercest? Nay, reader, nay. The stern truth remains to be told. During all +the terrible tulzie Bombazo had never once been either seen or heard. Nor +could he be anywhere found after the fight, nor even after the camp was +struck, though search was made for him high and low. + +Some one suggested that he might have been overcome by fear, and might +have hidden himself. Moncrieff looked incredulous. What! the bold Bombazo +be afraid--the hero of a hundred fights, the slayer of lions, the terror +of the redskins, the brave hunter of pampas and prairie? Captain Rodrigo +de Bombazo hide himself? Yet where could he be? Among the slain? No. Taken +prisoner? Alas! for the noble redman. Those who had escaped would hardly +have thought of taking prisoners. Bombazo's name was shouted, the wood was +searched, the waggons overhauled, not a stone was left unturned, +figuratively speaking, yet all in vain. + +But, wonderful to relate, what _men_ failed to do a _dog_ accomplished. An +honest collie found Bombazo--actually scraped him up out of the sand, +where he lay buried, with his head in a tussock of grass. It would be +unfair to judge him too harshly, wrong not to listen to his vouchsafed +explanation; yet, sooth to say, to this very day I believe the little man +had hidden himself after the manner of the armadillos. + +'Where is my sword?' he shouted, staggering to his feet. 'Where is the +foe?' + +The Scotchmen and even the Gauchos laughed in his face. He turned from +them scornfully on his heel and addressed Moncrieff. + +'Dey tried to keel me,' he cried. 'Dey stunned me and covered me up wit' +sand. But here I am, and now I seek revenge. Ha! ha! I will seek +revenge!' + +Old Jenny could stand it no longer. + +'Oh, ye shameless sinner!' she roared. 'Oh, ye feckless fusionless winner! +Let me at him. _I'll_ gie him revenge.' + +There was no restraining Jenny. With a yell like the war cry of a clucking +hen, she waved her umbrella aloft, and went straight for the hero. + +The blow intended for his head alighted lower down. Bombazo turned and +fled, pursued by the remorseless Jenny; and not even once did she miss her +aim till the terror of the redskins, to save his own skin, had taken +refuge beneath the caravan. + + * * * * * + +As at sea, so in travelling. Day after day, amid scenes that are for ever +new, the constantly recurring adventure and incident suffice to banish +even thoughts of the dead themselves. But neither seafarers nor travellers +need be ashamed of this; it is only natural. God never condemns His +creatures to constant sorrow. The brave fellows, the honest Scot and the +Gauchos, that we had laid side by side in one grave in the little +burying-place at the frontier fort, were gone beyond recall. No amount of +sorrowing could bring them back. We but hoped they were happier now than +even we were, and so we spoke of them no more; and in a week's time +everything about our caravan and camp resumed its wonted appearance, and +we no longer feared the Indians. + +One Gaucho, however, had escaped, and there was still the probability he +might seek for revenge some other day. + +We have left the bleak pampas land, although now and then we come to bare +prairie land but scantily furnished with even bushes, and destitute of +grass; houses and _estancias_ become more frequent, and _fondas_ too, but +nothing like that fearful _fonda_ in the prairie--the scene of the +massacre. + +We have passed through San Lui--too wretched a place to say much about; +and even La Paz and Santa Rosa; and on taking her usual seat one forenoon +in front of the caravan, old Jenny's eyes grew bright and sparkling with +very delight. + +'Saw anybody ever the like o' that?' she cried, as she raised both her +hands and eyes cloudwards. But it was not the clouds old Jenny was +marvelling at--for here we were in the Province of Mendoza, and a +measurable distance from the beautiful city itself; and instead of the +barren lands we had recently emerged from, beheld a scene of such natural +loveliness and fertility, that we seemed to have suddenly dropped into a +new world. + +The sky was blue and almost cloudless; winter though it was, the fields +were clad in emerald green; the trees, the vineyards, the verandahed +houses, the comfortable dwellings, the cattle, the sheep, and flocks of +poultry--all testified to the fact that in summer this must indeed be a +paradise. + +'What do you think of all this, mither?' said Moncrieff, with a happy +smile. He was riding close to the caravan _coupé_. + +'Think o' it, laddie! Loshie me, laddie! it beats the braes o' Foudlan'! +It is surely the garden o' Eden we're coming to at last.' + +It was shortly after this that Moncrieff went galloping on ahead. We could +see him miles and miles away, for the road was as straight as one of the +avenues in some English lord's domains. Suddenly he disappeared. Had the +earth swallowed him up? Not quite. He had merely struck into a side path, +and here we too turned with our whole cavalcade; and our road now lay away +across a still fertile but far more open country. After keeping to this +road for miles, we turned off once more and headed for the distant +mountains, whose snow-clad, rugged tops formed so grand a horizon to the +landscape. + +On we journey for many a long hour, and the sun goes down and down in the +west, and sinks at last behind the hills; and oh, with what ineffably +sweet tints and shades of pink and blue and purple his farewell rays paint +the summits! + +Twilight is beginning to fall, and great bats are flitting about. We come +within sight of a wide and well-watered valley; and in the very centre +thereof, and near a broad lagoon which reminds us somewhat of dear old +Coila, stands a handsome _estancia_ and farmyard. There are rows and rows +of gigantic poplar-trees everywhere in this glen, and the house +itself--mansion, I might almost say--lies in the midst of a cloud of trees +the names of which we cannot even guess. There was altogether such a +home-like look about the valley, that I knew at once our long, long +journey was over, and our weary wanderings finished for a time. There was +not a very great deal of romance in honest Moncrieff's nature, but as he +pointed with outstretched arm to the beautiful _estancia_ by the lake, and +said, briefly, 'Mither, there's your hame!' I felt sure and certain those +blue eyes of his were moist with tears, and that there was the slightest +perceptible waver in his manly voice. + +But, behold! they have seen us already at the _estancia_. + +There is a hurrying and scurrying to and fro, and out and in. We notice +this, although the figures we see look no larger than ants, so clear and +transparent is even the gloaming air in this wonderful new land of ours. + +By and by we see these same figures on horseback, coming away from the +farm, and hurrying down the road towards us. One, two, three, six! Why, +there must be well-nigh a score of them altogether. Nearer and nearer they +come, and now we see their arms wave. Nearer still, and we hear them +shout; and now at length they are on us, with us, and around us, waving +their caps, laughing, talking, and shaking hands over and over again--as +often as not twice or thrice with the same person. Verily they are half +delirious with joy and wholly hysterical. + +What volleys of questions have to be asked and answered! What volumes of +news to get and to give! What hurrying here and there and up and down to +admire the new horses and mules, the new waggons and caravan--to admire +everything! while the half-frightened looks those sturdy, sun-browned, +bearded men cast at auntie and Aileen were positively comical to witness! + +Then, when the first wave of joyous excitement had partially expended +itself-- + +'Stand back, boys!' shouted Moncrieff's partner, a bold-faced little +Welshman, with hair and beard just on the turn; 'stand back, my lads, and +give them one more little cheer.' + +But was it a little cheer? Nay, but a mighty rattling cheer--a cheer that +could have issued only from brave British throats; a cheer that I almost +expected to hear re-echoed back from the distant mountains. + +Ah! but it _was_ echoed back. Echoed by us, the new-comers, and with +interest too, our faithful Gauchos swelling the chorus with their shrill +but not unmusical voices. + +But look! more people are coming down the road. The welcome home is not +half over yet. Yonder are the lads and lasses, English, Irish, Castilian +and Scotch, who have no horses to ride. Foremost among them is a +Highlander in tartan trews and bagpipes. And if the welcome these give us +is not altogether so boisterous it is none the less sincere. + +In another hour we are all safe at home. All and everything appears to us +very strange at first, but we soon settle down, and if we marvelled at the +outside of Moncrieff's mansion, the interior of it excites our wonder to +even a greater degree. Who could have credited the brawny Scot with so +much refinement of taste? The rooms were large, the windows were bowers, +and bowers of beauty too, around which climbed and trailed--winter though +it was--flowers of such strange shapes and lovely colours that the best of +our floral favourites in this country would look tame beside them. None of +the walls were papered, but all were painted, and many had pictures in +light, airy and elegant frames. The furniture too was all light and +elegant, and quite Oriental in appearance. Oriental did I say? Nay, but +even better; it was Occidental. One room in particular took my aunt's +fancy. This was to be the boudoir, and everything in it was the work of +Indian hands. It opened on to a charming trellised verandah, and thence +was a beautiful garden which to-night was lit up with coloured lanterns, +and on the whole looked like a scene in some Eastern fairy tale. + +'And would you believe it, Aileen,' said Moncrieff, when he was done +showing us round the rooms; 'would you believe it, auntie, when I came +here first my good partner and I had no place to live in for years but a +reed shanty, a butt and a ben, mither mine, with never a stick of +furniture in it, and neither a chair nor stool nor table worth the +name?' + +'That is so, Miss M'Crimman,' said the partner, Mr. Jones. 'And I think my +dear friend Moncrieff will let the ladies see the sort of place we lived +in.' + +'This way, then, ladies,' said the big Scot. He seized a huge naphtha lamp +as he spoke, and strode before them through the garden. Arrived at the end +of it they came to a strange little hut built apparently of mud and +straw. + +With little ceremony he kicked open the rickety door, and made them enter. +Both aunt and Aileen did so, marvelling much to find themselves in a room +not ten feet wide, and neither round nor square. The roof was blackened +rafters and straw, the floor was hardened clay. A bed--a very rude +one--stood in one corner. It was supported by horses' bones; the table in +the centre was but a barrel lid raised on crossed bones. + +'Won't you sit down, ladies?' said Moncrieff, smiling. + +He pointed to a seat as he spoke. It was formed of horses' skulls. + +Aunt smiled too, but immediately after looked suddenly serious, gathered +her dress round her with a little shudder, and backed towards the door. + +'Come away,' she said; 'I've seen enough.' + +What she had seen more particularly was an awful-looking crimson and grey +spider as big as a soft-shell crab. He was squatting on a bone in one +corner, glaring at her with his little evil eyes, and moving his +horizontal mandibles as if he would dearly like to eat her. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +LIFE ON AN ARGENTINE ESTANCIA. + + +I verily believe that Britons, whether English, Irish, or Scotch, are all +born to wander, and born colonists. There really seems to be something in +the very air of a new land, be it Australia, America, or the Silver West, +that brings all their very best and noblest qualities to the surface, and +oftentimes makes men--bold, hardy, persevering men--of individuals who, +had they stayed in this old cut-and-dry country, would never have been +anything better than louts or Johnnie Raws. I assure the reader that I +speak from long experience when I make these remarks, and on any Saturday +evening when I happen to be in London, and see poor young fellows coming +home to garrets, perhaps with their pittance in their pockets, I feel for +them from the very depths of my soul. And sometimes I sigh and murmur to +myself---- + +'Oh dear me!' I say, 'if my purse were only half as big as my heart, +wouldn't I quickly gather together a thousand of these white slaves and +sail merrily off with them to the Land of the Silver West! And men would +learn to laugh there who hardly ever smiled before, and tendons would wax +wiry, and muscles hard, and pale faces grow brown with the tints of +health. And health would mean work, and work would mean wealth, and--but, +heigho! what is the good of dreaming? Only some day--yes, _some_ day--and +what a glorious sunrise it will be for this empire--Government will see +its way to grant free passages to far-off lands, in which there is peace +and plenty, work and food for all, and where the bread one eats is never +damped by falling tears. God send that happy day! And send it soon! + +It is the memory of our first months and years of a downright pleasant +life that makes me write like this. We poor lads--my brothers and I--poor, +but determined, found everything so enjoyable at our new home in the +Silver West that oftentimes we could not help wishing that thousands of +toiling mortals from Glasgow and other great overcrowded cities would only +come out somehow and share our posy. For really, to put it in plain and +simple language, next to the delight of enjoying anything oneself, should +it only be an apple, is the pleasure of seeing one's neighbour have a +bite. + +Now here is a funny thing, but it is a fact. The air of Mendoza is so +wonderfully dry and strong and bracing that it makes men of boys in a very +short time, and makes old people young again. It might not smooth away +wrinkles from the face, or turn grey hair brown, or even make two hairs +grow where only one grew before; but it does most assuredly rejuvenate the +heart, and shakes all the wrinkles out of that. Out here it is no uncommon +thing for the once rheumatic to learn to dance, while stiff-jointed +individuals who immigrated with crutches under their arms, pitch these +crutches into the irrigation canals, and take to spades and guns instead. + +It is something in the air, I think, that works these wondrous changes, +though I am sure I could not say what. It may be oxygen in double doses, +or it may be ozone, or even laughing gas; but there it is, and whosoever +reads these lines and doubts what I say, has only to take flight for the +beautiful province of Mendoza, and he shall remain a sceptic no longer. + +Well, as soon as we got over the fatigues of our long journey, and began +to realize the fact that we were no longer children of the desert, no +longer nomads and gipsies, my brothers and I set to work with a hearty +good-will that astonished even ourselves. In preparing our new homes we, +and all the other settlers of this infant colony as well, enjoyed the same +kind of pleasure that Robinson Crusoe must have done when he and his man +Friday set up house for themselves in the island of Juan Fernandez. + +Even the labourers or 'hands' whom Moncrieff had imported had their own +dwellings to erect, but instead of looking upon this as a hardship, they +said that this was the fun of the thing, and that it was precisely here +where the laugh came in. + +Moreover they worked for themselves out of hours, and I dare say that is +more than any of them would have done in the old country. + +Never once was the labour of the _estancia_ neglected, nor the state of +the aqueducts, nor Moncrieff's flocks and herds, nor his fences. + +Some of these men had been ploughmen, others shepherds, but every one of +them was an artisan more or less, and it is just such men that do +well--men who know a good deal about country life, and can deftly use the +spade, the hoe, the rake, the fork, as well as the hammer, the axe, the +saw, and the plane. Thanks to the way dear father had brought us up, my +brothers and I were handy with all sorts of tools, and we were rather +proud than otherwise of our handicraft. + +I remember that Dugald one day, as we sat at table, after looking at his +hands--they had become awfully brown--suddenly said to Moncrieff, + +'Oh, by the by, Brother Moncrieff, there is one thing that I'm ready to +wager you forgot to bring out with you from England.' + +'What was that?' said Moncrieff, looking quite serious. + +'Why, a supply of kid gloves, white and coloured.' + +We all laughed. + +'My dear boy,' said this huge brother of ours, 'the sun supplies the kid +gloves, and it strikes me, lad, you've a pair of coloured ones already.' + +'Yes,' said Dugald, 'black-and-tan.' + +'But, dear laddies,' old Jenny put in, 'if ye really wad like mittens, +I'll shortly shank a curn for ye.' + +'Just listen to the old braid Scotch tongue o' that mither o' +moine--"shortly shank a curn."[5] Who but an Aberdonian could understand +that?' + +But indeed poor old Jenny was a marvel with her 'shank,' as she called her +knitting, and almost every third day she turned off a splendid pair of +rough woollen stockings for one or other of her bairns, as she termed us +generically. And useful weather-defiant articles of hosiery they were too. +When our legs were encased in these, our feet protected by a pair of +double-soled boots, and our ankles further fortified by leather gaiters, +there were few snakes even we were afraid to tackle. + +The very word 'snake,' or 'serpent,' makes some people shudder, and it is +as well to say a word or two about these ophidians here, and have done +with them. I have, then, no very wild adventures to record concerning +those we encountered on our _estancias_. Nor were either my brothers or +myself much afraid of them, for a snake--this is my firm belief--will +never strike a human being except in self-defence; and, of all the +thousands killed annually in India itself by ophidians, most of the +victims have been tramping about with naked feet, or naked legs at least. + + * * * * * + +Independent of the pure, wholesome, bracing air, there appeared to us to +be another peculiarity in the climate which is worthy of note. It is +_calmative_. There is more in that simple sentence than might at first be +imagined, and the effect upon settlers might be best explained by giving +an example: A young man, then, comes to this glorious country fresh from +all the excitement and fever of Europe, where people are, as a rule, +overcrowded and elbowing each other for a share of the bread that is not +sufficient to feed all; he settles down, either to steady work under a +master, or to till his own farm and mind his own flocks. In either case, +while feeling labour to be not only a pleasure, but actually a luxury, +there is no heat of blood and brain; there is no occasion to either chase +or hurry. Life now is not like a game of football on Rugby lines--all +scurry, push, and perspiration. The new-comer's prospects are everything +that could be desired, and--mark this--_he does not live for the future +any more than the present_. There is enough of everything around him +_now_, so that his happiness does not consist in building upon the far-off +_then_, which strugglers in this Britain of ours think so much about. The +settler then, I say, be he young or old, can afford to enjoy himself +to-day, certain in his own mind that to-morrow will provide for itself. + +But this calmness of mind, which really is a symptom of glorious health, +never merges into the dreamy laziness and ignoble activity exhibited by +Brazilians in the east and north of him. + +My brothers and I were happily saved a good deal of business worry in +connection with the purchase of our _estancia_, so, too, were the new +settlers, for Moncrieff, with that long Scotch head of his, had everything +cut and dry, as he called it, so that the signing of a few papers and the +writing of a cheque or two made us as proud as any Scottish laird in the +old country. + +'You must creep before you walk,' Moncrieff told us; 'you mustn't go like +a bull at a gate. Just look before you "loup."' + +So we consulted him in everything. + +Suppose, for instance, we wanted another mule or horse, we went to +Moncrieff for advice. + +'Can you do without it?' he would say. 'Go home and settle that question +between you, and if you find you can't, come and tell me, and I'll let you +have the beast as cheap as you can buy it anywhere.' + +Well, we started building our houses. Unlike the pampas, Mendoza _can_ +boast of stone and brick, and even wood, though round our district a deal +of this had been planted. The woods that lay on Moncrieff's colony had +been reared more for shelter to the flocks against the storms and tempests +that often sweep over the country. + +In the more immediate vicinity of the dwelling-houses, with the exception +of some splendid elms and plane-trees, and the steeple-high solemn-looking +poplar, no great growth of wood was encouraged. For it must be remembered +we were living in what Moncrieff called uncanny times. The Indians[6] were +still a power in the country, and their invasions were looked for +periodically. The State did not then give the protection against this foe +it does now. True, there existed what were called by courtesy frontier +forts; they were supposed to billet soldiers there, too, but as these men +were often destitute of a supply of ammunition, and spent much of their +time playing cards and drinking the cheap wines of the country, the +settlers put but little faith in them, and the wandering pampa Indians +treated them with disdain. + +Our houses, then, for safety's sake, were all built pretty close together, +and on high ground, so that we had a good view all over the beautiful +valley. They could thus be more easily defended. + +Here and there over the _estancias_, _puestos_, as they were called, were +erected for the convenience of the shepherds. They were mere huts, but, +nevertheless, they were far more comfortable in every way than many a +crofter's cottage in the Scottish Highlands. + +Round the dwellings of the new settlers, which were built in the form of a +square, each square, three in all, having a communication, a rampart and +ditch were constructed. The making of these was mere pastime to these +hardy Scots, and they took great delight in the work, for not only would +it enable them to sleep in peace and safety, but the keeping of it in +thorough decorative repair, as house agents say, would always form a +pleasant occupation for spare time. + +The mansion, as Moncrieff's beautiful house came to be called, was +similarly fortified, but as it stood high in its grounds the rampart did +not hide the building. Moreover, the latter was partially decorated inside +with flowers, and the external embankment always kept as green as an +English lawn in June. + +The ditches were wide and deep, and were so arranged that in case of +invasion they could be filled with water from a natural lake high up on +the brae lands. For that matter they might have been filled at any time, +or kept filled, but Moncrieff had an idea--and probably he was right--that +too much stagnant, or even semi-stagnant water near a house rendered it +unhealthy. + +As soon as we had bought our claims and marked them out, each settler's +distinct from the other, but ours--my brothers' and mine--all in one lot, +we commenced work in earnest. There was room and to spare for us all about +the Moncrieff mansion and farmyard, we--the M'Crimmans--being guests for a +time, and living indoors, the others roughing it as best they could in the +out-houses, some of which were turned into temporary huts. + +Nothing could exceed the beauty of Moncrieff's _estancia_. It was miles +and miles in extent, and more like a lovely garden than anything else. The +fields were all square. Round each, in tasteful rows, waved noble trees, +the weird and ghostly poplar, whose topmost branches touched the clouds +apparently, the wide-spreading elm, the shapely chestnut, the dark, +mysterious cypress, the fairy-leaved acacia, the waving willow and sturdy +oak. These trees had been planted with great taste and judgment around the +fields, and between all stretched hedges of laurel, willow, and various +kinds of shrubs. The fields themselves were not without trees; in fact, +trees were dotted over most of them, notably chestnuts, and many species +of fruit trees. + +But something else added to the extreme beauty of these fields, namely, +the irrigation canals--I prefer the word canals to ditches. The highest of +all was very deep and wide, and was supplied with water from the distant +hills and river, while in its turn it supplied the whole irrigation system +of the _estancia_. The plan for irrigating the fields was the simplest +that could be thought of, but it was quite as perfect as it was simple. + +Add to the beauty of the trees and hedges the brilliancy of trailing +flowers of gorgeous hues and strange, fantastic shapes; let some of those +trees be actually hanging gardens of beauty; let flowers float ever on the +waters around the fields, and the fields themselves be emerald green--then +imagine sunshine, balmy air, and perfume everywhere, and you will have +some idea of the charm spread from end to end of Moncrieff's great +_estancia_. + +But there was another kind of beauty about it which I have not yet +mentioned--namely, its flocks and herds and poultry. + +A feature of the strath, or valley, occupied by this little Scoto-Welsh +colony was the sandhills or dunes. + +'Do you call those sandhills?' I said to Moncrieff one day, shortly after +our arrival. 'Why, they are as green and bonnie as the Broad Hill on the +links of Aberdeen.' + +Moncrieff smiled, but looked pleased. + +'Man!' he replied, 'did you ever hear of the proverb that speaks about +making mountains of mole-hills? Well, that's what I've done up yonder. +When my partner and I began serious work on these fields of ours, those +bits of hills were a constant trouble and menace to us. They were just as +big then, maybe, as they are now--about fifty feet high at the highest, +perhaps, but they were bare sandy hillocks, constantly changing shape and +even position with every big storm, till a happy thought struck my +partner, and we chose just the right season for acting on it. We got the +Gauchos to gather for us pecks and bushels of all kinds of wild seed, +especially that of the long-rooted grasses, and these we sowed all over +the mole-hills, as we called them, and we planted bushes here and there, +and also in the hollows, and, lo! the mole-hills were changed into fairy +little mountains, and the bits o' glens between into bosky dells.' + +'Dear Brother Moncrieff,' I said, 'you are a genius, and I'm so glad I met +you. What would I have been without you?' + +'Twaddle, man! nonsensical havers and twaddle! If you hadn't met me you +would have met somebody else; and if you hadn't met him, you would have +foregathered wi' experience; and, man, experience is the best teacher in +a' the wide worruld.' + +In laying out and planning our farm, my brothers and I determined, +however, not to wait for experience of our own, but just take advantage of +Moncrieff's. That would sustain us, as the oak sustains the ivy. + +----- + + [5] 'Shortly shank a curn'--speedily knit a few pairs. + + [6] Since then the Indians have been swept far to the south, + and so hemmed in that the provinces north of their + territory are as safe from invasion as England + itself.--G. S. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +WE BUILD OUR HOUSE AND LAY OUT GARDENS. + + +About a hundred yards to the left of the buildings erected for the new +colony and down near the lake, or laguna, was an elevated piece of ground +about an acre in extent. It was bounded on two sides by water, which would +thus form for it a kind of natural protection in case of Indian invasion. +It really was part and parcel of Moncrieff's claim or land, and at an +early date in his career, thinking probably it might come in handy some +day for a site on which to build, he had taken considerable pains to plant +it with rows of beautiful trees, especially on the sides next the water +and facing the west. + +My brothers and I arranged to have this, and Moncrieff was well pleased to +have us so near to him. A more excellent position for a house could hardly +be, and we determined it should be a good substantial one, and of as great +architectural beauty as possible. + +Having therefore laid out our farm proper, and stocked it with sheep and +cattle, positioned our shepherds, and installed our labourers and general +servants under the charge of a _capataz_, or working bailiff, we turned +our attention to the erection of our house, or mansion, as Dugald grandly +called it. + +'Of course you will cut your coat according to your cloth,' said +Moncrieff, as he came one evening into the room we had set apart for our +private study. He had found us to-night with our heads all together over +a huge sheet of paper on which we were planning out our house. + +'Oh yes,' said Donald, 'that we must do.' + +'But,' said Dugald, 'we do not expect to remain all our lives downright +poor settlers.' + +'That I am sure you won't.' + +'Well, I propose building a much bigger house than we really want, so that +when we do get a bit rich we can furnish it and set up--set up--' + +'Set up a carriage and pair, eh?' said Donald, who was very matter of +fact--'a carriage and pair, Dugald, a billiard-room, Turkey carpets, woven +all in one piece, a cellar of old wine, a butler in black and flunkeys in +plush--is that your notion?' + +Donald and I laughed, and Dugald looked cross. + +Moncrieff did not laugh: he had too much tact, and was far too +kind-hearted to throw cold water over our young brother's ambitions and +aspirations. + +'And what sort of a house do you propose?' he said to us. + +As he spoke he took a chair at Dugald's side of the table and put his arm +gently across the boy's shoulders. There was very much in this simple act, +and I feel sure Dugald loved him for it, and felt he had some one to +assist his schemes. + +'Oh,' replied Donald, 'a small tasteful cottage. That would suit well for +the present, I think. What do you think, Murdoch?' + +'I think with you,' I replied. + +After having heard Moncrieff speaking so much about cutting coats +according to cloth and looking before 'louping,' and all the rest of it, +we were hardly prepared to hear him on the present occasion say boldly, + +'And _I_ think with Dugald.' + +'Bravo, Moncrieff!' cried Dugald. 'I felt sure--' + +'Bide a wee, though, lad. Ca' canny.[7] Now listen, the lot o' ye. Ye see, +Murdoch man, your proposed cottage would cost a good bit of money and +time and trouble, and when you thought of a bigger place, down that +cottage must come, with an expense of more time and more trouble, even +allowing that money was of little object. Besides, where are you going to +live after your cottage is knocked down and while your mansion is +building? So I say Dugald is right to some extent. Begin building your big +house bit by bit.' + +'In wings?' + +'Preceesely, sirs; ye can add and add as you like, and as you can afford +it.' + +It was now our time to cry, 'Bravo, Moncrieff!' + +'I wonder, Donald, we didn't think of this plan.' + +'Ah,' said Moncrieff, 'ye canna put young he'ds on auld shoulders, as my +mither says.' + +So Moncrieff's plan was finally adopted--we would build our house wing by +wing. + +It took us weeks, however, to decide in what particular style of +architecture it should be built. Among the literature which Moncrieff had +brought out from England with him was a whole library in itself of the +bound volumes of good magazines; and it was from a picture in one of these +that we finally decided what our Coila Villa should be like, though, of +course, the plan would be slightly altered to suit circumstances of +climate, &c. It was to be--briefly stated--a winged bungalow of only one +story, with a handsome square tower and portico in the centre, and +verandahs nearly all round. So one wing and the tower was commenced at +once. But bricks were to be made, and timber cut and dried and fashioned, +and no end of other things were to be accomplished before we actually set +about the erection. + +To do all these things we appointed a little army of Gauchos, with two or +three handy men-of-all-work from Scotland. + +Meanwhile our villa gardens were planned and our bushes and trees were +planted. + +Terraces, too, were contrived to face the lake, and Dugald one evening +proposed a boat-house and boat, and this was carried without a dissentient +voice. + +Dugald was extremely fond of our sister Flora. We only wondered that he +now spoke about her so seldom. But if he spoke but little of her he +thought the more, and we could see that all his plans for the +beautification and adornment of the villa had but one end and object--the +delight and gratification of its future little mistress. + +Dear old Dugald! he had such a kind lump of a heart of his own, and never +took any of our chaff and banter unpleasantly. But I am quite sure that as +far as he himself was concerned he never would have troubled himself about +even the boat-house or the terraced gardens either, for every idle hour +that he could spare he spent on the hill, as he called it, with his dog--a +lovely Irish setter--and his gun. + +I met him one morning going off as usual with Dash, the setter, close +beside the little mule he rode, and with his gun slung over his back. + +'Where away, old man?' I said. + +'Only to a little laguna I've found among the hills, and I mean to have a +grand bag to-day.' + +'Well, you're off early!' + +'Yes; there is little to be done at home, and there are some rare fine +ducks up yonder.' + +'You'll be back to luncheon?' + +'I'll try. If not, don't wait.' + +'Not likely; ta-ta! Good luck to you! But you really ought to have a +Gaucho with you.' + +'Nonsense, Murdoch! I don't need a groom. Dash and old Tootsie, the mule, +are all I want.' + +It was the end of winter, or rather beginning of spring, but Moncrieff had +not yet declared close time, and Dugald managed to supply the larder with +more species of game than we could tell the names of. Birds, especially, +he brought home on his saddle and in his bag; birds of all sizes, from +the little luscious dove to the black swan itself; and one day he actually +came along up the avenue with a dead ostrich. He could ride that mule of +his anywhere. I believe he could have ridden along the parapet of London +Bridge, so we were never surprised to see Dugald draw rein at the lower +sitting-room window, within the verandah. He was always laughing and merry +and mischievous-looking when he had had extra good luck; but the day he +landed that ostrich he was fairly wild with excitement. The body of it was +given to the Gauchos, and they made very merry over it: invited their +friends, in fact, and roasted the huge bird whole out of doors. They did +so in true Patagonian fashion--to wit, the ostrich was first trussed and +cleaned, a roaring fire of wood having been made, round stones were made +almost red-hot. The stones were for stuffing, though this kind of stuffing +is not very eatable, but it helps to cook the bird. The fire was then +raked away, and the dinner laid down and covered up. Meanwhile the +Gauchos, male and female, girls and boys, had a dance. The ubiquitous +guitars, of course, were the instruments, and two of these made not a bad +little band. After dinner they danced again, and wound up by wishing +Dugald all the good luck in the world, and plenty more ostriches. The +feathers of this big game-bird were carefully packed and sent home to +mother and Flora. + +Well, we had got so used to Dugald's solitary ways that we never thought +anything of even his somewhat prolonged absence on the hill, for he +usually dropped round when luncheon was pretty nearly done. There was +always something kept warm for 'old Dugald,' as we all called him, and I +declare it did every one of us good to see him eat. His appetite was +certainly the proverbial appetite of a hunter. + +On this particular day, however, old Dugald did not return to luncheon. + +'Perhaps,' said Donald, 'he is dining with some of the shepherds, or +having "a pick at a priest's," as he calls it.' + +'Perhaps,' I said musingly. The afternoon wore away, and there were no +signs of our brother coming, so I began to get rather uneasy, and spoke to +Donald about it. + +'He may have met with an accident,' I said, 'or fifty things may have +happened.' + +'Well,' replied Donald, 'I don't suppose fifty things have happened; but +as you seem a bit anxious, suppose we mount our mules, take a Gaucho with +us, and institute a search expedition?' + +'I'm willing,' I cried, jumping up, 'and here's for off!' + +There was going to be an extra good dinner that day, because we expected +letters from home, and our runner would be back from the distant +post-office in good time to let us read our epistles before the gong +sounded and so discuss them at table. + +'Hurry up, boys; don't be late, mind!' cried aunt, as our mules were +brought round to the portico, and we were mounted. + +'All right, auntie dear!' replied Donald, waving his hand; 'and mind those +partridges are done to a turn; we'll be all delightfully hungry.' + +The Gaucho knew all Dugald's trails well, and when we mentioned the small +distant laguna, he set out at once in the direction of the glen. He made +so many windings, however, and took so many different turns through bush +and grass and scrub, that we began to wonder however Dugald could have +found the road. + +But Dugald had a way of his own of getting back through even a cactus +labyrinth. It was a very simple one, too. He never 'loaded up,' as he +termed it; that is, he did not hang his game to his saddle till he meant +to start for home; then he mounted, whistled to Dash, who capered and +barked in front of the mule, permitted the reins to lie loosely on the +animal's neck, and--there he was! For not only did the good beast take him +safely back to Coila, as we called our _estancia_, but he took him by the +best roads; and even when he seemed to Dugald's human sense to be going +absolutely and entirely wrong, he never argued with him. + + 'Reason raise o'er instinct, if you can; + In this 'tis God directs, in that 'tis man.' + +'You are certain he will come this way, Zambo?' I said to our Gaucho. + +'Plenty certain, señor. I follow de trail now.' + +I looked over my saddle-bow; so did Donald, but no trail could we +see--only the hard, yellow, sandy gravel. + +We came at last to the hilly regions. It was exceedingly quiet and still +here; hardly a creature of any kind to be seen except now and then a kite, +or even condor, the latter winging his silent way to the distant +mountains. At times we passed a biscacha village. The biscacha is not a +tribe of Indians, but, like the coney, a very feeble people, who dwell in +caves or burrow underground, but all day long may be seen playing about +the mounds they raise, or sitting on their hind legs on top of them. They +are really a species of prairie-dog. With them invariably live a tribe of +little owls--the burrowing owls--and it seems to be a mutual understanding +that the owls have the principal possession of these residential chambers +by day, while the biscachas occupy them by night. This arrangement answers +wonderfully well, and I have proved over and over again that they are +exceedingly fond of each other. The biscachas themselves are not very +demonstrative, either in their fun or affection, but if one of them be +killed, and is lying dead outside the burrow, the poor owl often exhibits +the most frantic grief for the murder of his little housekeeper, and will +even show signs of a desire to attack the animal--especially if a +dog--which has caused his affliction. + +Donald and I, with our guide, now reached the land of the giant cacti. We +all at home here in Britain know something of the beauty of the common +prickly cactus that grows in window-gardens or in hot-houses, and +surprises us with the crimson glory of its flowers, which grow from such +odd parts of the plant; but here we were in the land of the cacti. Dugald +knew it well, and used to tell us all about them; so tall, so stately, so +strange and weird, that we felt as if in another planet. Already the bloom +was on some of them--for in this country flowers soon hear the voice of +spring--but in the proper season nothing that ever I beheld can surpass +the gorgeous beauty of these giant cacti. + +The sun began to sink uncomfortably low down on the horizon, and my +anxiety increased every minute. Why did not Dugald meet us? Why did we not +even hear the sound of his gun, for the Gaucho told us we were close to +the laguna? + +Presently the cacti disappeared behind us, and we found ourselves in open +ground, with here and there a tall, weird-looking tree. How those +trees--they were not natives--had come there we were at first at a loss to +understand, but when we reached the foot of a grass-grown hill or sand +dune, and came suddenly on the ruins of what appeared a Jesuit hermitage +or monastery, the mystery was explained. + +On rounding a spur of this hill, lo! the lake; and not far from the foot +of a tree, behold! our truant brother. Beside him was Dash, and not a +great way off, tied to a dwarf algaroba tree, stood the mule. Dugald was +sitting on the ground, with his gun over his arm, gazing up into the +tree. + +'Dugald! Dugald!' I cried. + +But Dugald never moved his head. Was he dead, or were these green sand +dunes fairy hillocks, and my brother enchanted? + +I leapt off my mule, and, rifle in hand, went on by myself, never taking +my eyes off my brother, and with my heart playing pit-a-pat against my +ribs. + +'Dugald!' I said again. + +He never moved. + +'Dugald, speak!' + +He spoke now almost in a stage whisper: + +'A lion in the tree. Have you your rifle?' + +I beckoned to my brother to come on, and at the same moment the monster +gave voice. I was near enough now to take aim at the puma; he was lying in +a cat-like attitude on one of the highest limbs. But the angry growl and +the moving tail told me plainly enough he was preparing to spring, and +spring on Dugald. It was the first wild beast I had ever drawn bead upon, +and I confess it was a supreme moment; oh, not of joy, but,--shall I say +it?--fear. + +What if I should miss! + +But there was no time for cogitation. I raised my rifle. At the self-same +moment, as if knowing his danger, the brute sprang off the bough. The +bullet met him in mid-air, and--_he fell dead at Dugald's feet_. + +The ball had entered the neck and gone right on and through the heart. One +coughing roar, an opening and shutting of the terrible jaws--which were +covered with blood and froth--and a few convulsive movements of the hind +legs, and all was over. + +'Thank Heaven, you are saved, dear old Dugald!' I cried. + +'Yes,' said Dugald, getting up and coolly stretching himself; 'but you've +been a precious long time in coming.' + +'And you were waiting for us?' + +'I couldn't get away. I was sitting here when I noticed the lion. Dash and +I were having a bit of lunch. My cartridges are all on the mule, so I've +been staring fixedly at that monster ever since. I knew it was my only +chance. If I had moved away, or even turned my head, he would have had me +as sure as--' + +'But, I say,' he added, touching the dead puma with his foot, '_isn't_ he +a fine fellow? What a splendid skin to send home to Flora!' + +This shows what sort of a boy Brother Dugald was; and now that all danger +was past and gone, although I pretended to be angry with him for his +rashness, I really could not help smiling. + +'But what a crack shot you are, Murdoch!' he added; 'I had no idea--I--I +really couldn't have done much better myself.' + +'Well, Dugald,' I replied, 'I may do better next time, but to tell the +truth I aimed at the beast _when he was on the branch_.' + +'And hit him ten feet below it. Ha! ha! ha!' + +We all laughed now. We could afford it. + +The Gaucho whipped the puma out of his skin in less than a minute, and off +we started for home. + +I was the hero of the evening; though Dugald never told them of my funny +aim. Bombazo, who had long since recovered his spirits, was well to the +front with stories of his own personal prowess and narrow escapes; but +while relating these he never addressed old Jenny, for the ancient and +humorsome dame had told him one day that 'big lees were thrown awa' upon +her.' + +What a happy evening we spent, for our Gaucho runner had brought + + 'Good news from Home!' + +----- + + [7] 'Ca' Canny' = Drive slowly. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +SUMMER IN THE SILVER WEST. + + +Though it really was not so very long since we had said farewell to our +friends in Scotland and the dear ones at home, it seemed an age. So it is +no wonder, seeing that all were well, our letters brought us joy. Not for +weeks did we cease to read them over and over again and talk about them. +One of mine was from Archie Bateman, and, much to my delight and that of +my brothers, he told us that he had never ceased worrying his father and +mother to let him come out to the Silver West and join us, and that they +were yielding fast. He meant, he said, to put the screw on a little harder +soon, by running away and taking a cruise as far as Newcastle-on-Tyne in a +coal-boat. He had no doubt that this would have the desired effect of +showing his dearly-beloved _pater et mater_ that he was in downright +earnest in his desire to go abroad. So we were to expect him next +summer--'that is,' he added, 'summer in England, and winter with you.' + +Another letter of mine was from Irene M'Rae. I dare say there must have +been a deal of romance about me even then, for Irene's delightful little +matter-of-fact and prosaic letter gave me much pleasure, and I--I believe +I carried it about with me till it was all frayed at every fold, and I +finally stowed it away in my desk. + +Flora wrote to us all, with a postscript in addition to Dugald. And we +were to make haste and get rich enough to send for pa and ma and her. + +I did not see Townley's letter to aunt, but I know that much of it related +to the 'Coila crime,' as we all call it now. The scoundrel M'Rae had +disappeared, and Mr. Townley had failed to trace him. But he could wait. +He would not get tired. It was as certain as Fate that as soon as the +poacher spent his money--and fellows like him could not keep money +long--he would appear again at Coila, to extort more by begging or +threatening. Townley had a watch set for him, and as soon as he should +appear there would be an interview. + +'It would,' the letter went on, 'aid my case very much indeed could I but +find the men who assisted him to restore the vault in the old ruin. But +they, too, are spirited away, apparently, and all I can do fails to find +them. But I live in hope. The good time is bound to come, and may Heaven +in justice send it soon!' + +Moncrieff had no letters, but I am bound to say that he was as much +delighted to see us happy as if we were indeed his own brothers, and our +aunt his aunt, if such a thing could have been possible. + +But meanwhile the building of our Coila Villa moved on apace, and only +those situated as we were could understand the eager interest we took in +its gradual rise. At the laying of the foundation-stone we gave all the +servants and workmen, and settlers, new and old, an entertainment. We had +not an ostrich to roast whole this time, but the supper placed before our +guests under Moncrieff's biggest tent was one his cook might well have +been proud of. After supper music commenced, only on this special and +auspicious occasion the guitars did not have it all their own way, having +to give place every now and then to the inspiring strains of the Highland +bagpipes. That was a night which was long remembered in our little +colony. + +While the villa was being built our furniture was being made. This, like +that in Moncrieff's mansion, was all, or mostly, Indian work, and +manufactured by our half-caste Gauchos. The wood chiefly used was +algaroba, which, when polished, looked as bright as mahogany, and quite as +beautiful. This Occidental furniture, as we called it, was really very +light and elegant, the seats of the couches, fauteuils and sofas, and +chairs being worked with thongs, or pieces of hardened skin, in quite a +marvellous manner. + +We had fences to make all round our fields, and hedges to plant, and even +trees. Then there was the whole irrigation system to see to, and the land +to sow with grain and lucerne, after the soil had been duly ploughed and +attended to. All this kept us young fellows very busy indeed, for we +worked with the men almost constantly, not only as simple superintendents, +but as labourers. + +Yes, the duties about an _estancia_, even after it is fairly established, +are very varied; but, nevertheless, I know of no part of the world where +the soil responds more quickly or more kindly to the work of the tiller +than it does in the Silver West. And this is all the more wonderful when +we consider that a great part of the land hereabouts is by nature barren +in the extreme. + + * * * * * + +I do not think I am wrong in saying that sheep, if not first introduced +into the _estancias_ of the Silver West by the Scotch, have at all events +been elevated to the rank of a special feature of produce in the country +by them. Moncrieff had done much for the improvement of the breed, not +only as regards actual size of body, but in regard to the texture of the +wool; and it was his proudest boast to be able to say that the land of his +adoption could already compare favourably with Australia itself, and that +in the immediate future it was bound to beat that island. + +It is no wonder, therefore, that we all looked forward to our first great +shearing as a very busy time indeed. Our great wool harvest was, indeed, +one of the principal events of the year. Moncrieff said he always felt +young again at the sheep-shearing times. + +Now there are various styles of wool harvesting. Moncrieff's was simple +enough. Preparations were made for it, both out-doors and in, at least a +fortnight beforehand. Indoors, hams, &c., were got ready for cooking, and +the big tent was erected once more near and behind the mansion, for extra +hands to the number of twenty at least were to be imported; several +neighbour settlers--they lived ten miles off, and still were +neighbours--were coming over to lend a hand, and all had to eat, and most +had to sleep, under canvas. + +If sheep-shearing prospects made Moncrieff young again, so they did his +mother. She was here, there, and everywhere; now in parlour or +dining-room, in kitchen and scullery, in out-houses and tent, giving +orders, leading, directing, ay, and sometimes even driving, the servants, +for few of the Gauchos, whether male or female, could work with speed +enough to please old Jenny. + +Well, the sheds had to be cleared out, and a system of corralling adopted +which was only called for during times like these. Then there were the +weighing machines to be seen to; the tally tables and all the packing and +pressing machinery--which on this large _estancia_ was carried almost to +perfection--had all to be got into the very best working order imaginable. +For, in the matter of sheep-shearing, Moncrieff was fastidious to a +degree. + +The sheep were washed the day before. This was hard work, for no animal I +know of is more obstinate than a sheep when it makes up its mind to be +so. + +So the work commenced, and day after day it went merrily on. Moncrieff did +not consider this a very large shearing, and yet in six days' time no less +than 11,000 sheep were turned away fleeceless. + +And what a scene it was, to be sure! + +I remember well, when quite a little lad, thinking old Parson McGruer's +shearing a wonderful sight. The old man, who was very fat and podgy, and +seldom got down to breakfast before eleven in the morning, considered +himself a sheep farmer on rather a large scale. Did he not own a flock of +nearly six hundred--one shepherd's work--that fed quietly on the +heath-clad braes of Coila? One shepherd and two collies; and the collies +did nearly all the duty in summer and a great part of it in winter. The +shepherd had his bit of shieling in a clump of birch-trees at the +glen-foot, and at times, crook in hand, his Highland plaid dangling from +his shoulder, he might be seen slowly winding along the braes, or +standing, statue-like, on the hill-top, his romantic figure well defined +against the horizon, and very much in keeping with the scene. I never yet +saw the minister's shepherd running. His life was almost an idyllic one in +summer, when the birks waved green and eke, or in autumn, when the hills +were all ablaze with the crimson glory of the heather. To be sure, his pay +was not a great deal, and his fare for the most part consisted of oatmeal +and milk, with now and then a slice of the best part of a 'braxied' sheep. +Here, in our home in the Silver West, how different! Every _puestero_ had +a house or hut as good as the minister's shepherd; and as for living, why, +the worthy Mr. McGruer himself never had half so well-found a table. Our +dogs in the Silver West lived far more luxuriously than any farm servant +or shepherd, or even gamekeeper, 'in a' braid Scotland.' + +But our shepherds had to run and to ride both. Wandering over miles upon +miles of pasturage, sheep learn to be dainty, and do not stay very long in +any one place; so it is considered almost impossible to herd them on foot. +It is not necessary to do so; at all events, where one can buy a horse for +forty shillings, and where his food costs _nil_, or next to _nil_, one +usually prefers riding to walking. + +But it was a busy time in May even at the Scotch minister's place when +sheep-shearing came round. The minister got up early then, if he did not +do so all the year round again. The hurdles were all taken to the +river-side, or banks of the stream that, leaving Loch Coila, went +meandering through the glen. Here the sheep were washed and penned, and +anon turned into the enclosures where the shearers were. Lads and lasses +all took part in the work in one capacity or another. The sun would be +brightly shining, the 'jouking burnie' sparkling clear in its rays; the +glens and hills all green and bonnie; the laughing and joking and lilting +and singing, and the constant bleating of sheep and lambs, made altogether +a curious medley; but every now and then Donald the piper would tune his +pipes and make them 'skirl,' drowning all other sounds in martial melody. + +But here on Moncrieff's _estancia_ everything was on a grander scale. +There was the same bleating of sheep, the same laughing, joking, lilting, +singing, and piping; the same hurry-scurry of dogs and men; the same +prevailing busy-ness and activity; but everything was multiplied by +twenty. + +McGruer at home in Coila had his fleeces thrust into a huge sack, which +was held up by two stalwart Highlanders. Into this not only were the +fleeces put, but also a boy, to jump on them and pack them down. At the +_estancia_ we had the very newest forms of machinery to do everything. + +Day by day, as our shearing went on, Moncrieff grew gayer and gayer, and +on the final morning he was as full of life and fun as a Harrow schoolboy +out on the range. The wool harvest had turned out well. + +It had not been so every year with Moncrieff and his partner. They had had +many struggles to come through--sickness had at one time more than +decimated the flocks. The Indians, though they do not as a rule drive away +sheep, had played sad havoc among them, and scattered them far and wide +over the adjoining pampas, and the pampero[8] had several times destroyed +its thousands, before the trees had grown up to afford protection and +shelter. + +I have said before that Moncrieff was fond of doing things in his own +fashion. He was willing enough to adopt all the customs of his adopted +country so long as he thought they were right, but many of the habits of +his native land he considered would engraft well with those of Mendoza. +Moncrieff delighted in dancing--that is, in giving a good hearty rout, +and he simply did so whenever there was the slightest excuse. The cereal +harvest ended thus, the grape harvest also, and making of the wine and +preserves, and so of course did the shearing. + +The dinner at the mansion itself was a great success; the supper in the +marquee, with the romp to follow, was even a greater. Moncrieff himself +opened the fun with Aunt Cecilia as a partner, Donald and a charming +Spanish girl completing the quartette necessary for a real Highland reel. +The piper played, of course (guitars were not good enough for this sort of +thing), and I think we must have kept that first 'hoolichin' up for nearly +twenty minutes. Then Moncrieff and aunt were fain to retire +'for-fochten.'[9] + +Well Moncrieff might have been 'for-fochten,' but neither Donald nor his +Spanish lassie were half tired. Nor was the piper. + +'Come on, Dugald,' cried Donald, 'get a partner, lad. Hooch!' + +'Hooch!' shouted Dugald in response, and lo and behold! he gaily led +forth--whom? Why, whom but old Jenny herself? What roars of laughter there +was as, keeping time to a heart-stirring strathspey, the litle lady +cracked her thumbs and danced, reeling, setting, and deeking! roars of +laughter, and genuine hearty applause as well. + +Moncrieff was delighted with his mother's performance. It was glorious, he +said, and so true to time; surely everybody would believe him now that +mither was a downright ma_r-r-r-_vel. And everybody did. + +During the shearing Donald and I had done duty as clerks; and very busy we +had been kept. As for Dugald, it would have been a pity to have parted him +and his dear gun, so the work assigned to him was that of lion's +provider--we, the shearing folk, being the lion. + +For a youth of hardly sixteen Dugald was a splendid shot, and during the +shearing he really kept up his credit well. Moncrieff objected to have +birds killed when breeding; but in this country, as indeed in any other +where game is numerous, there are hosts of birds that do not, for various +reasons, breed or mate every season. These generally are to be found +either singly and solitary, as if they had some great grief on their minds +that they desired to nurse in solitude, or in small flocks of gay young +bachelors. Dugald knew such birds well, and it was from the ranks of these +he always filled the larder. + +To the supply thus brought daily by Dugald were added fowls, ducks, and +turkeys from the _estancia's_ poultry-yard, to say nothing of joints of +beef, mutton, and pork. Nor was it birds alone that Dugald's seemingly +inexhaustible creels and bags were laden with, but eggs of the swan[10] +and the wild-duck and goose, with--to serve as tit-bits for those who +cared for such desert delicacies--cavies, biscachas, and now and then an +armadillo. If these were not properly appreciated by the new settlers, the +eyes of the old, and especially the Gauchos, sparkled with anticipation of +gustatory delight on beholding them. + +For some days after the shearing was over comparative peace reigned around +and over the great _estancia_. But nevertheless preparations were being +made to send off a string of waggons to Villa Mercedes. The market at +Mendoza was hardly large enough to suit Moncrieff, nor were the prices so +good as could be obtained in the east. Indeed, Moncrieff had purchasing +agents from Villa Mercedes to meet his waggons on receipt of a telegram. + +So the waggons were loaded up--wool, wine, and preserves, as well as +raisins. + +To describe the vineyards at our _estancia_ would take up far too much +space. I must leave them to the reader's imagination; but I hardly think I +am wrong in stating that there are no grapes in the world more delicious +or more viniferous than those that grow in the province of Mendoza. The +usual difficulty is not in the making of wine, but in the supply of +barrels and bottles. Moncrieff found a way out of this; and in some hotels +in Buenos Ayres, and even Monte Video, the Château Moncrieff had already +gained some celebrity. + +The manufacture of many different kinds of preserves was quite an industry +at the _estancia_, and one that paid fairly well. There were orangeries as +well as vineries; and although the making of marmalade had not before been +attempted, Moncrieff meant now to go in for it on quite a large scale. +This branch was to be superintended by old Jenny herself, and great was +her delight to find out that she was of some use on the estate, for +'really 'oman,' she told aunt, 'a body gets tired of the stockin'--shank, +shank, shank a' day is hard upon the hands, though a body maun do +something.' + +Well, the waggons were laden and off at last. With them went Moncrieff's +Welsh partner as commander, to see to the sale, and prevent the Gauchos +and drivers generally from tapping the casks by the way. The force of men, +who were all well armed, was quite sufficient to give an excellent account +of any number of prowling Indians who were likely to put in an +appearance. + +And now summer, in all its glory, was with us. And such glory! Such glory +of vegetable life, such profusion of foliage, such wealth of colouring, +such splendour of flowers! Such glory of animal life, beast and bird and +insect! The flowers themselves were not more gay and gorgeous than some of +these latter. + +Nor were we very greatly plagued with the hopping and blood-sucking +genera. Numerous enough they were at times, it must be confessed, both by +day and night; but somehow we got used to them. The summer was wearing to +a close, the first wing of our Coila Villa was finished and dry, the +furniture was put in, and as soon as the smell of paint left we took +possession. + +This was made the occasion for another of Moncrieff's festive gatherings. +Neighbours came from all directions except the south, for we knew of none +in this direction besides the wild Pampean Indians, and they were not +included in the invitation. Probably we should make them dance some other +day. + +About a fortnight after our opening gathering, or 'house-warming,' as +Moncrieff called it, we had a spell of terribly hot weather. The heat was +of a sultry, close description, difficult to describe: the cattle, sheep, +and horses seemed to suffer very much, and even the poor dogs. These last, +by the way, we found it a good plan to clip. Long coats did not suit the +summer season. + +One evening it seemed hotter and sultrier than ever. We were all seated +out in the verandah, men-folk smoking, and aunt and Aileen fanning +themselves and fighting the insects, when suddenly a low and ominous +rumbling was heard which made us all start except Moncrieff. + +Is it thunder? No; there is not at present a cloud in the sky, although a +strange dark haze is gathering over the peaks on the western horizon. + +'Look!' said Moncrieff to me. As he spoke he pointed groundwards. Beetles +and ants and crawling insects of every description were heading for the +verandah, seeking shelter from the coming storm. + +The strange rumbling grew louder! + +It was not coming from the sky, but from the earth! + +----- + + [8] Pampero, a storm wind that blows from the south. + + [9] For-fochten = worn out. The term usually applies to + barn-yard roosters, who have been settling a quarrel, and + pause to pant, with their heads towards the ground. + + [10] Swans usually commence laying some time before either + ducks or geese; but much depends upon the season. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE EARTHQUAKE. + + +With a rapidity that was truly alarming the black haze in the west crept +upwards over the sky, the sun was engulfed in a few minutes, and before +half an hour, accompanied by a roaring wind and a whirl of dust and +decayed leaves, the storm was with us and on us, the whole _estancia_ +being enveloped in clouds and darkness. + +The awful earth sounds still continued--increased, in fact--much to the +terror of every one of us. We had retreated to the back sitting-room. +Moncrieff had left us for a time, to see to the safety of the cattle and +the farm generally, for the Gauchos were almost paralyzed with fear, and +it was found afterwards that the very shepherds had left their flocks and +fled for safety--if safety it could be called--to their _puestos_. + +Yet Gauchos are not as a rule afraid of storms, but--and it is somewhat +remarkable--an old Indian seer had for months before been predicting that +on this very day and night the city of Mendoza would be destroyed by an +earthquake, and that not only the town but every village in the province +would be laid low at the same time. + +It is difficult to give the reader any idea of the events of this dreadful +night. I can only briefly relate my own feelings and experiences. As we +all sat there, suddenly a great river of blood appeared to split the dark +heavens in two, from zenith to horizon. It hung in the sky for long +seconds, and was followed by a peal of thunder of terrific violence, +accompanied by sounds as if the whole building and every building on the +estate were being rent and riven in pieces. At the self-same moment a +strange, dizzy, sleepy feeling rushed through my brain. I could only see +those around me as if enshrouded in a blue-white mist. I tried to rise +from my chair, but fell back, not as I thought into a chair but into a +boat. Floor and roof and walls appeared to meet and clasp. My head swam. I +was not only dizzy but deaf apparently, not too deaf, however, to hear the +wild, unearthly, frightened screams of twenty at least of our Gaucho +servants, who were huddled together in the centre of the garden. It was +all over in a few seconds: even the thunder was hushed and the wind no +longer bent the poplars or roared through the cloud-like elm-trees. A +silence that could be felt succeeded, broken only by the low moan of +terror that the Gauchos kept up; a silence that soon checked even that +sound itself; a silence that crept round the heart, and held us all +spellbound; a silence that was ended at last by terrible thunderings and +lightnings and earth-tremblings, with all the same dizzy, sleepy, +sickening sensations that had accompanied the first shock. I felt as if +chaos had come again, and for a time felt also as if death itself would +have been a relief. + +But this shock passed next, and once more there was a solemn silence, a +drear stillness. And now fear took possession of every one of us, and a +desire to flee away somewhere--anywhere. This had almost amounted to +panic, when Moncrieff himself appeared in the verandah. + +'I've got our fellows to put up the marquee,' he said, almost in a +whisper. 'Come--we'll be safer there. Mither, I'll carry you. You're not +afraid, are you?' + +'Is the worruld comin' tae an end?' asked old Jenny, looking dazed as her +son picked her up. 'Is the worruld comin' tae an end, _and the marmalade +no made yet_?' + +In about an hour after this the storm was at its worst. Flash followed +flash, peal followed peal: the world seemed in flames, the hills appeared +to be falling on us. The rain and hailstones came down in vast sheets, and +with a noise so great that even the thunder itself was heard but as a +subdued roar. + +We had no light here--we needed none. The lightning, or the reflection of +it, ran in under the canvas on the surface of the water, which must have +been inches deep. The hail melted as soon as it fell, and finally gave +place to rain alone; then the water that flowed through the tent felt +warm, if not hot, to the touch. This was no doubt occasioned by the force +with which it fell to the ground. The falling rain now looked like cords +of gold and silver, so brightly was it illuminated by the lightning. + +While the storm was still at its height suddenly there was a shout from +one of the Gauchos. + +'Run, run! the tent is falling!' was the cry. + +It was only too true. A glance upwards told us this. We got into the open +air just in time, before, weighted down by tons of water, the great +marquee came groundwards with a crash. + +But though the rain still came down in torrents and the thunder roared and +rattled over and around us, no further shock of earthquake was felt. Fear +fled then, and we made a rush for the house once more. Moncrieff reached +the casement window first, with a Gaucho carrying a huge lantern. This man +entered, but staggered out again immediately. + +'The ants! the ants!' he shouted in terror. + +Moncrieff had one glance into the room, as if to satisfy himself. I took +the lantern from the trembling hands of the Gaucho and held it up, and the +sight that met my astonished gaze was one I shall never forget. The whole +room was in possession of myriads of black ants of enormous size; they +covered everything--walls, furniture, and floor--with one dense and awful +pall. + +The room looked strange and mysterious in its living, moving covering. +Here was indeed the blackness of darkness. Yes, and it was a darkness too +that could be felt. Of this I had a speedy proof of a most disagreeable +nature. I was glad to hand the lantern back and seek for safety in the +rain again. + +Luckily the sitting-room door was shut, and this was the only room not +taken possession of. + +After lights had been lit in the drawing-room the storm did not appear +quite so terrible; but no one thought of retiring that night. The vague +fear that something more dreadful still might occur kept hanging in our +minds, and was only dispelled when daylight began to stream in at the +windows. + +By breakfast-time there was no sign in the blue sky that so fearful a +storm had recently raged there. Nor had any very great violence been done +about the farmyards by the earthquake. + +Many of the cattle that had sought shelter beneath the trees had been +killed, however; and in one spot we found the mangled remains of over one +hundred sheep. Here also a huge chestnut-tree had been struck and +completely destroyed, pieces of the trunk weighing hundreds of pounds +being scattered in every direction over the field. + +Earthquakes are of common occurrence in the province of Mendoza, but +seldom are they accompanied by such thunder, lightning, and rain as we had +on this occasion. It was this demonstration, coupled with the warning +words of the Indian seer, which had caused the panic among our worthy +Gaucho servants. But the seer had been a false prophet for once, and as +the Gauchos seized him on this same day and half drowned him in the lake, +there was but little likelihood that he would prophesy the destruction of +Mendoza again. + +Mendoza had been almost totally destroyed already by an awful earthquake +that occurred in 1861. Out of a population of nearly sixteen thousand +souls no less than thirteen thousand, we are told, were killed--swallowed +up by the yawning earth. Fire broke out afterwards, and, as if to +increase the wretchedness and sad condition of the survivors, robbers from +all directions--even from beyond the Andes--flocked to the place to loot +and pillage it. But Mendoza is now built almost on the ashes of the +destroyed city, and its population must be equal to, even if it does not +exceed, its former aggregate. + + * * * * * + +With the exception of a few losses, trifling enough to one in Moncrieff's +position, the whole year was a singularly successful one. Nor had my +brothers nor I and the other settlers any occasion to complain, and our +prospects began to be very bright indeed. + +Nor did the future belie the present, for ere another year had rolled over +our heads we found ourselves in a fair way to fortune. We felt by this +time that we were indeed old residents. We were thoroughly acclimatized: +healthy, hardy, and brown. In age we were, some would say, mere lads; in +experience we were already men. + +Our letters from home continued to be of the most cheering description, +with the exception of Townley's to aunt. He had made little if any +progress in his quest. Not that he despaired. Duncan M'Rae was still +absent, but sooner or later--so Townley believed--poverty would bring him +to bay, and _then_-- + +Nothing of this did my aunt tell me at the time. I remained in blissful +ignorance of anything and everything that our old tutor had done or was +doing. + +True, the events of that unfortunate evening at the old ruin sometimes +arose in my mind to haunt me. My greatest sorrow was my being bound down +by oath to keep what seemed to me the secret of a villain--a secret that +had deprived our family of the estates of Coila, had deprived my +parents--yes, that was the hard and painful part. For, strange as it may +appear, I cared nothing for myself. So enamoured had I become of our new +home in the Silver West, that I felt but little longing to return to the +comparative bleakness and desolation of even Scottish Highland scenery. I +must not be considered unpatriotic on this account, or if there was a +decay of patriotism in my heart, the fascinating climate of Mendoza was to +blame for it. I could not help feeling at times that I had eaten the +lotus-leaf. Had we not everything that the heart of young men could +desire? On my own account, therefore, I felt no desire to turn the good +soldier M'Rae away from Coila, and as for Irene--as for bringing a tear to +the eyes of that beautiful and engaging girl, I would rather, I thought, +that the dark waters of the laguna should close over my head for ever. + +Besides, dear father was happy. His letters told me that. He had even come +to like his city life, and he never wrote a word about Coila. + +Still, the oath--the oath that bound me! It was a dark spot in my +existence. + +_Did_ it bind me? I remember thinking that question over one day. Could an +oath forced upon any one be binding in the sight of Heaven? I ran off to +consult my brother Moncrieff. I found him riding his great bay mare, an +especial favourite, along the banks of the highest _estancia_ canal--the +canal that fed the whole system of irrigation. Here I joined him, myself +on my pet brown mule. + +'Planning more improvements, Moncrieff?' I asked. + +He did not speak for a minute or two. + +'I'm not planning improvements,' he said at last, 'but I was just thinking +it would be well, in our orra[11] moments, if we were to strengthen this +embankment. There is a terrible power o' water here. Now supposing that +during some awful storm, with maybe a bit shock of earthquake, it were to +burst here or hereabouts, don't you see that the flood would pour right +down upon the mansion-house, and clean it almost from its foundations?' + +'I trust,' I said, 'so great a catastrophe will not occur in our day.' + +'It would be a fearful accident, and a judgment maybe on my want of +forethought.' + +'I want to ask you a question,' I said, 'on another subject, Moncrieff.' + +'You're lookin' scared, laddie. What's the matter?' + +I told him as much as I could. + +'It's a queer question, laddie--a queer question. Heaven give me help to +answer you! I think, as the oath was to keep a secret, you had best keep +the oath, and trust to Heaven to set things right in the end, if it be for +the best.' + +'Thanks, Moncrieff,' I said; 'thanks. I will take your advice.' + +That very day Moncrieff set a party of men to strengthen the embankment; +and it was probably well he did so, for soon after the work was finished +another of those fearful storms, accompanied as usual by shocks of +earthquake, swept over our valley, and the canal was filled to +overflowing, but gave no signs of bursting. Moncrieff had assuredly taken +time by the forelock. + +One day a letter arrived, addressed to me, which bore the London +post-mark. + +It was from Archie, and a most spirited epistle it was. He wanted us to +rejoice with him, and, better still, to expect him out by the very first +packet. His parents had yielded to his request. It had been the voyage to +Newcastle that had turned the scale. There was nothing like pluck, he +said; 'But,' he added, 'between you and me, Murdoch, I would not take +another voyage in a Newcastle collier, not to win all the honour and glory +of Livingstone, Stanley, Gordon-Cumming, and Colonel Frederick Burnaby put +in a bushel basket.' + +I went tearing away over the _estancia_ on my mule, to find my brothers +and tell them the joyful tidings. And we rejoiced together. Then I went +off to look for Moncrieff, and he rejoiced, to keep me company. + +'And mind you,' he said, 'the very day after he arrives we'll have a +dinner and a kick-up.' + +'Of course we will,' I said. 'We'll have the dinner and fun at Coila +Villa, which, remember, can now boast of two wings besides the tower.' + +'Very well,' he assented, 'and after that we can give another dinner and +rout at my diggings. Just a sort of return match, you see?' + +'But I don't see,' I said; 'I don't see the use of two parties.' + +'Oh, but I do, Murdoch. We must make more of a man than we do of a +nowt[12] beast. Now you mind that bull I had sent out from England--Towsy +Jock that lives in the Easter field?--well, I gave a dinner when he came. +£250 I paid for him too.' + +'Yes, and I remember also you gave a dinner and fun when the prize ram +came out. Oh, catch you not finding an excuse for a dinner! However, so be +it: one dinner and fun for a bull, two for Archie.' + +'That's agreed then,' said Moncrieff. + +Now, my brothers and I and a party of Gauchos, with the warlike Bombazo +and a Scot or two, had arranged a grand hunt into the guanaco country; but +as dear old Archie was coming out so soon we agreed to postpone it, in +order that he might join in the fun. Meanwhile we commenced to make all +preparations. + +They say that the principal joy in life lies in the anticipation of +pleasure to come. I think there is a considerable amount of truth in this, +and I am sure that not even bluff old King Hal setting out to hunt in the +New Forest could have promised himself a greater treat than we did as we +got ready for our tour in the land of the guanaco, and country of the +condor. + +We determined to be quite prepared to start by the time Archie was due. +Not that we meant to hurry our dear cockney cousin right away to the wilds +as soon as he arrived. No; we would give him a whole week to 'shake +down,' as Moncrieff called it, and study life on the _estancia_. + +And, indeed, life on the _estancia_, now that we had become thoroughly +used to it, was exceedingly pleasant altogether. + +I cannot say that either my brothers or I were ever much given to lazing +in bed of a morning in Scotland itself. To have done so we should have +looked upon as bad form; but to encourage ourselves in matutinal sloth in +a climate like this would have seemed a positive crime. + +Even by seven in the morning we used to hear the great gong roaring +hoarsely on Moncrieff's lawn, and this used to be the signal for us to +start and draw aside our mosquito curtains. Our bedrooms adjoined, and all +the time we were splashing in our tubs and dressing we kept up an +incessant fire of banter and fun. The fact is, we used to feel in such +glorious form after a night's rest. Our bedroom windows were very large +casements, and were kept wide open all the year round, so that virtually +we slept in the open air. We nearly always went to bed in the dark, or if +we did have lights we had to shut the windows till we had put them out, +else moths as big as one's hand, and all kinds and conditions of insect +life, would have entered and speedily extinguished our candles. Even had +the windows been protected by glass, this insect life would have been +troublesome. In the drawing and dining rooms we had specially prepared +blinds of wire to exclude these creatures, while admitting air enough. + +The mosquito curtains round our beds effectually kept everything +disagreeable at bay, and insured us wholesome rest. + +But often we were out of bed and galloping over the country long before +the gong sounded. This ride used to give us such appetites for breakfast, +that sometimes we had to apologize to aunt and Aileen for our apparent +greediness. We were out of doors nearly all day, and just as often as not +had a snack of luncheon on the hills at some settler's house or at an +outlying _puesto_. + +Aunt was now our housekeeper, but nevertheless so accustomed had we and +Moncrieff and Aileen become to each other's society that hardly a day +passed without our dining together either at his house or ours. + +The day, what with one thing and another, used to pass quickly enough, and +the evening was most enjoyable, despite even the worry of flying and +creeping insects. After dinner my brothers and I, with at times Moncrieff +and Bombazo, used to lounge round to see what the servants were doing. + +They had a concert, and as often as not some fun, every night with the +exception of Sabbath, when Moncrieff insisted that they should retire +early. + +At many _estancias_ wine is far too much in use--even to the extent of +inebriety. Our places, however, owing to Moncrieff's strictness, were +models of temperance, combined with innocent pleasures. The master, as he +was called, encouraged all kinds of games, though he objected to gambling, +and drinking he would not permit at any price. + +One morning our post-runner came to Coila Villa in greater haste than +usual, and from his beaming eyes and merry face I conjectured he had a +letter for me. + +I took it from him in the verandah, and sent him off round to the kitchen +to refresh himself. No sooner had I glanced at its opening sentences than +I rushed shouting into the breakfast-room. + +'Hurrah!' I cried, waving the letter aloft. 'Archie's coming, and he'll be +here to-day. Hurrah! for the hunt, lads, and hurrah! for the hills!' + +----- + + [11] Orra = leisure, idle. An orra-man is one who does all + kinds of odd jobs about a farm. + + [12] Nowt = cattle. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +OUR HUNTING EXPEDITION. + + +If not quite so exuberant as the welcome that awaited us on our arrival in +the valley, Archie's was a right hearty one, and assuredly left our cousin +nothing to complain of. + +He had come by diligence from Villa Mercedes, accomplishing the journey, +therefore, in a few days, which had occupied us in our caravan about as +many weeks. + +We were delighted to see him looking so well. Why, he had even already +commenced to get brown, and was altogether hardy and hearty and manlike. + +We were old _estancieros_, however, and it gave us unalloyed delight to +show him round our place and put him up to all the outs and ins of a +settler's life. + +Dugald even took him away to the hills with him, and the two of them did +not get home until dinner was on the table. + +Archie, however, although not without plenty of pluck and willingness to +develop into an _estanciero_ pure and simple, had not the stamina my +brothers and I possessed, but this only made us all the more kind to him. +In time, we told him, he would be quite as strong and wiry as any of us. + +'There is one thing I don't think I shall ever be able to get over,' said +Archie one day. It may be observed that he did not now talk with the +London drawl; he had left both his cockney tongue and his tall hat at +home. + +'What is it you do not think you will ever get over, Arch?' I asked. + +'Why, the abominable creepies,' he answered, looking almost miserable. + +'Why,' he continued, 'it isn't so much that I mind being bitten by +mosquitoes--of which it seems you have brutes that fly by day, and gangs +that go on regular duty at night--but it is the other abominations that +make my blood run positively cold. Now your cockroaches are all very well +down in the coal-cellar, and centipedes are interesting creatures in glass +cases with pins stuck through them; but to find cockroaches in your boots +and centipedes in your bed is rather too much of a good thing.' + +'Well,' said Dugald, laughing, 'you'll get used to even that. I don't +really mind now what bites me or what crawls over me. Besides, you know +all those creepie-creepies, as you call them, afford one so excellent an +opportunity of studying natural history from the life.' + +'Oh, bother such life, Dugald! My dear cousin, I would rather remain in +blissful ignorance of natural history all my life than have even an earwig +reposing under my pillow. Besides, I notice that even your Yahoo +servants--' + +'I beg your pardon, cousin; Gaucho, not Yahoo.' + +'Well, well, Gaucho servants shudder, and even run from our common bedroom +creepies.' + +'Oh! they are nothing at all to go by, Archie. They think because a thing +is not very pretty it is bound to be venomous.' + +'But does not the bite of a centipede mean death?' + +'Oh dear no. It isn't half as bad as London vermin.' + +'Then there are scorpions. Do they kill you? Is not their bite highly +dangerous?' + +'Not so bad as a bee's sting.' + +'Then there are so many flying beetles.' + +'Beauties, Archie, beauties. Why, Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed +like some of these.' + +'Perhaps not. But then, Solomon or not Solomon, how am I to know which +sting and which don't?' + +'_Experientia docet_, Archie.' + +Archie shuddered. + +'Again, there are spiders. Oh, they do frighten me. They're as big as +lobsters. Ugh!' + +'Well, they won't hurt. They help to catch the other things!' + +'Yes, and that's just the worst of it. First a lot of creepies come in to +suck your blood and inject poison into your veins, to say nothing of half +scaring a fellow to death; and then a whole lot of flying creepies, much +worse than the former, come in to hunt them up; and bats come next, to say +nothing of lizards; and what with the buzzing and singing and hopping and +flapping and beating and thumping, poor _me_ has to lie awake half the +night, falling asleep towards morning to dream I'm in purgatory.' + +'Poor _you_ indeed!' said Dugald. + +'You have told me, too, I must sleep in the dark, but I want to know what +is the good of that when about one half of those flying creepies carry a +lamp each, and some of them two. Only the night before last I awoke in a +fright. I had been dreaming about the great sea-serpent, and the first +thing I saw was a huge creature about as long as a yard stick wriggling +along my mosquito curtains.' + +'Ah! How could you see it in the dark?' + +'Why, the beggar carried two lamps ahead of him, and he had a smaller chap +with a light. Ugh!' + +'These were some good specimens of the _Lampyridæ_, no doubt.' + +'Well, perhaps; but having such a nice long name doesn't make them a bit +less hideous to me. Then in the morning when I looked into the glass I +didn't know myself from Adam. I had a black eye that some bug or other +had given me--I dare say he also had a nice long name. I had a lump on my +brow as large as a Spanish onion, and my nose was swollen and as big as a +bladder of lard. From top to toe I was covered with hard knots, as if I'd +been to Donnybrook Fair, and what with aching and itching it would have +been a comfort to me to have jumped out of my skin.' + +'Was that all?' I said, laughing. + +'Not quite. I went to take up a book to fling at a monster spider in the +corner, and put my hand on a scorpion. I cracked him and crushed the +spider, and went to have my bath, only to find I had to fish out about +twenty long-named indescribables that had committed suicide during the +night. Other creepies had been drowned in the ewer. I found earwigs in my +towels, grasshoppers in my clothes, and wicked-looking little beetles even +in my hairbrushes. This may be a land flowing with milk and honey and all +the rest of it, Murdoch, but it is also a land crawling with +creepie-creepies.' + +'Well, anyhow,' said Dugald, 'here comes your mule. Mount and have a ride, +and we'll forget everything but the pleasures of the chase. Come, I think +I know where there is a jaguar--an immense great brute. I saw him killing +geese not three days ago.' + +'Oh, that will be grand!' cried Archie, now all excitement. + +And five minutes afterwards Dugald and he were off to the hills. + +But in two days more we would be off to the hills in earnest. + +For this tour we would not of our own free-will have made half the +preparations Moncrieff insisted on, and perhaps would hardly have provided +ourselves with tents. However, we gave in to his arrangements in every +way, and certainly we had no cause to repent it. + +The guide--he was to be called our _cacique_ for the time being--that +Moncrieff appointed had been a Gaucho malo, a pampas Cain. No one ever +knew half the crimes the fellow had committed, and I suppose he himself +had forgotten. But he was a reformed man and really a Christian, and it is +difficult to find such an anomaly among Gauchos. He knew the pampas well, +and the Andes too, and was far more at home in the wilds than at the +_estancia_. A man like this, Moncrieff told us, was worth ten times his +weight in gold. + +And so it turned out. + + * * * * * + +The summer had well-nigh gone when our caravan at length left Moncrieff's +beautiful valley. The words 'caravan at length' in the last sentence may +be understood in two ways, either as regards space or time. Ours was no +caravan on wheels. Not a single wheeled waggon accompanied us, for we +should cross deserts, and pass through glens where there would be no road, +perhaps hardly even a bridle-path. So the word caravan is to be understood +in the Arab sense of the word. And it certainly was a lengthy one. For we +had a pack mule for every two men, including our five Gauchos. + +Putting it in another way, there were five of us Europeans--Donald, +Dugald, Archie Bateman, Sandie Donaldson, and myself; each European had a +horse and a Gaucho servant, and each Gaucho had a mule. + +Bombazo meant to have come; he said so to the very last, at all events, +but an unfortunate attack of toothache confined him to bed. Archie, who +had no very exalted idea of the little Spanish captain's courage, was rude +enough to tell us in his hearing that he was 'foxing.' I do not pretend to +understand what Archie meant, but I feel certain it was nothing very +complimentary to Bombazo's bravery. + +'Dear laddies,' old Jenny had said, 'if you think you want onybody to darn +your hose on the road, I'll gang wi' ye mysel'. As for that feckless loon +Bombazo, the peer[13] body is best in bed.' + +Our arms consisted of rifles, shot-guns, the bolas, and lasso. Each man +carried a revolver as well, and we had also abundance of fishing tackle. +Our tents were only three in all, but they were strong and waterproof, a +great consideration when traversing a country like this. + +We were certainly prepared to rough it, but had the good sense to take +with us every contrivance which might add to our comfort, so long as it +was fairly portable. + +Archie had one particular valise of his own that he declared contained +only a few nicknacks which no one ought to travel without. He would not +gratify us by even a peep inside, however, so for a time we had to be +content with guessing what the nicknacks were. Archie got pretty well +chaffed about his Gladstone bag, as he called it. + +'You surely haven't got the tall hat in it,' said Dugald. + +'Of course you haven't forgotten your nightcap,' said Donald. + +'Nor your slippers, Archie?' I added. + +'And a dressing-gown would be indispensable in the desert,' said Sandie +Donaldson. + +Archie only smiled to himself, but kept his secret. + +What a lovely morning it was when we set out! So blue was the sky, so +green the fields of waving lucerne, so dense the foliage and flowers and +hedgerows and trees, it really seemed that summer would last for many and +many a month to come. + +We were all fresh and happy, and full of buoyant anticipation of pleasures +to come. Our very dogs went scampering on ahead, barking for very joy. Of +these we had quite a pack--three pure Scotch collies, two huge +bloodhound-mastiffs, and at least half a dozen animals belonging to our +Gauchos, which really were nondescripts but probably stood by greyhounds. +These dogs were on exceedingly good terms with themselves and with each +other--the collies jumping up to kiss the horses every minute by way of +encouragement, the mastiffs trotting steadily on ahead cheek-by-jowl, and +the hounds everywhere--everywhere at once, so it appeared. + +Being all so fresh, we determined to make a thorough long day's journey of +it. So, as soon as we had left the glen entirely and disappeared among the +sand dunes, we let our horses have their heads, the _capataz_ Gaucho +riding on ahead on a splendid mule as strong as a stallion and as lithe as +a Scottish deerhound. + +Not long before our start for the hunting grounds men had arrived from the +Chilian markets to purchase cattle. The greatest dainty to my mind they +had brought with them was a quantity of _Yerba maté_, as it is called. It +is the dried leaves of a species of Patagonian ilex, which is used in this +country as tea, and very delightful and soothing it is. This was to be our +drink during all our tour. More refreshing than tea, less exciting than +wine, it not only seems to calm the mind but to invigorate the body. Drunk +warm, with or without sugar, all feeling of tiredness passes away, and one +is disposed to look at the bright side of life, and that alone. + +We camped the first night on high ground nearly forty miles from our own +_estancia_. It was a long day's journey in so rough a country, but we had +a difficulty earlier in the afternoon in finding water. Here, however, was +a stream as clear as crystal, that doubtless made its way from springs in +the _sierras_ that lay to the west of us at no very great distance. Behind +these jagged hills the sun was slowly setting when we erected our tents. +The ground chosen was at some little distance from the stream, and on the +bare gravel. The cacti that grew on two sides of us were of gigantic +height, and ribboned or edged with the most beautiful flowers. Our horses +and mules were hobbled and led to the stream, then turned on to the grass +which grew green and plentiful all along its banks. + +A fire was quickly built and our great stewpan put on. We had already +killed our dinner in the shape of a small deer or fawn which had crossed +our path on the plains lower down. With biscuits, of which we had a +store, some curry, roots, which the Gauchos had found, and a handful or +two of rice, we soon had a dinner ready, the very flavour of which would +have been enough to make a dying man eat. + +The dogs sat around us and around the Gauchos as we dined, and, it must be +allowed, behaved in a most mannerly way; only the collies and mastiffs +kept together. They must have felt their superiority to those mongrel +greyhounds, and desired to show it in as calm and dignified a manner as +possible. + +After dinner sentries were set, one being mounted to watch the horses and +mules. We were in no great fear of their stampeding, but we had promised +Moncrieff to run as little risk of any kind as possible on this journey, +and therefore commenced even on this our first night to be as good as our +word. + +The best Gauchos had been chosen for us, and every one of them could talk +English after a fashion, especially our bold but not handsome _capataz_, +or _cacique_ Yambo. About an hour after dinner the latter began serving +out the _maté_. This put us all in excellent humour and the best of +spirits. As we felt therefore as happy as one could wish to be, we were +not surprised when the _capataz_ proposed a little music. + +'It is the pampas fashion, señor,' he said to me. + +'Will you play and sing?' I said. + +'Play and sing?' he replied, at once producing his guitar, which lay in a +bag not far off. '_Si_, señor, I will play and sing for you. If you bid +me, I will dance; every day and night I shall cook for you; when de +opportunity come I will fight for you. I am your servant, your slave, and +delighted to be so.' + +'Thank you, my _capataz_; I have no doubt you are a very excellent +fellow.' + +'Oh, señor, do not flatter yourself too mooch, too very mooch. It is not +for the sake of you young señors I care, but for the sake of the dear +master.' + +'Sing, _capataz_,' I said, 'and talk after.' + +To our surprise, not one but three guitars were handed out, and the songs +and melodies were very delightful to listen to. + +Then our Sandie Donaldson, after handing his cup to be replenished, sang, +_Ye banks and braes_ with much feeling and in fine manly tenor. We all +joined in each second verse, while the guitars gave excellent +accompaniment. One song suggested another, and from singing to +conversational story-telling the transition was easy. To be sure, neither +my brothers nor I nor Archie had much to tell, but some of the experiences +of the Gauchos, and especially those of our _capataz_, were thrilling in +the extreme, and we never doubted their truth. + +But now it was time for bed, and we returned to the tents and lit our +lamps. + +Our beds were the hard ground, with a rug and guanaco robe, our saddles +turned upside down making as good a pillow as any one could wish. + +We had now the satisfaction of knowing something concerning the contents +of that mysterious grip-sack of Archie's. So judge of our surprise when +this wonderful London cousin of ours first produced a large jar of what he +called mosquito cream, and proceeded to smear his face and hands with the +odorous compound. + +'This cream,' he said, 'I bought at Buenos Ayres, and it is warranted to +keep all pampas creepies away, or anything with two wings or four, six +legs or sixty. Have a rub, Dugald?' + +'Not I,' cried Dugald. 'Why, man, the smell is enough to kill bees.' + +Archie proceeded with his preparations. Before enshrouding himself in his +guanaco mantle he drew on a huge waterproof canvas sack and fastened it +tightly round his chest. He next produced a hooped head-dress. I know no +other name for it. + +'It is an invention of my own,' said Archie, proudly, 'and is, as you see, +composed of hoops of wire--' + +'Like a lady's crinoline,' said Dugald. + +'Well, yes, if you choose to call it so, and is covered with mosquito +muslin. This is how it goes on, and I'm sure it will form a perfect +protection.' + +He then inserted his head into the wondrous muslin bladder, and the +appearance he now presented was comical in the extreme. His body in a +sack, his head in a white muslin bag, nothing human-looking about him +except his arms, that, encased in huge leather gloves, dangled from his +shoulders like an immense pair of flippers. + +We three brothers looked at him just for a moment, then simultaneously +exploded into a perfect roar of laughter. Sandie Donaldson, who with the +_capataz_ occupied the next tent, came rushing in, then all the Gauchos +and even the dogs. The latter bolted barking when they saw the apparition, +but the rest joined the laughing chorus. + +And the more we looked at Archie the more we laughed, till the very sand +dunes near us must have been shaken to their foundations by the +manifestation of our mirth. + +'Laugh away, boys,' said our cousin. 'Laugh and grow fat. I don't care how +I look, so long as my dress and my cream keep the creepies away.' + +----- + + [13] Peer = poor. + +[Illustration: Comical in the Extreme] + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +IN THE WILDERNESS. + + +Some days afterwards we found ourselves among the mountains in a region +whose rugged grandeur and semi-desolation, whose rock-filled glens, tall, +frowning precipices, with the stillness that reigned everywhere around, +imparted to it a character approaching even to sublimity. + +The _capataz_ was still our guide, our foremost man in everything; but +close beside him rode our indefatigable hunter, Dugald. + +We had already seen pumas, and even the terrible jaguar of the plains; we +had killed more than one rhea--the American ostrich--and deer in +abundance. Moreover, Dugald had secured about fifty skins of the most +lovely humming-birds, with many beetles, whose elytra, painted and adorned +by Nature, looked like radiant jewels. All these little skins and beetles +were destined to be sent home to Flora. As yet, however, we had not come +in contact with the guanaco, although some had been seen at a distance. + +But to-day we were in the very country of the guanaco, and pressing +onwards and ever upwards, in the hopes of soon being able to draw trigger +on some of these strange inhabitants of the wilderness. + +Only this morning Dugald and I had been bantering each other as to who +should shoot the first. + +'I mean to send my first skin to Flora,' Dugald had said. + +'And I my first skin to Irene,' I said. + +On rounding the corner of a cliff we suddenly came in sight of a whole +herd of the creatures, but they were in full retreat up the glen, while +out against the sky stood in bold relief a tall buck. It was the trumpet +tones of his voice ringing out plaintively but musically on the still +mountain air that had warned the herd of our approach. + +Another long ride of nearly two hours. And now we must have been many +thousands of feet above the sea level, or even the level of the distant +plains. + +It is long past midday, so we determine to halt, for here, pure, bubbling +from a dark green slippery rock, is a spring of water as clear as crystal +and deliciously cool. What a treat for our horses and dogs! What a treat +even for ourselves! + +I notice that Dugald seems extra tired. He has done more riding to-day +than any of us, and made many a long _détour_ in search of that guanaco +which he has hitherto failed to find. + +A kind of brotherly rivalry takes possession of me, and I cannot help +wishing that the first guanaco would fall to my rifle. The Gauchos are +busy preparing the stew and boiling water for the _maté_, so shouldering +my rifle, and carelessly singing to myself, I leave my companions and +commence sauntering higher up the glen. The hill gets very steep, and I +have almost to climb on my hands and knees, starting sometimes in dread as +a hideous snake goes wriggling past me or raises head and body from behind +a stone, and hisses defiance and hate almost in my face. But I reach the +summit at last, and find myself on the very edge of a precipice. + +Oh, joy! On a little peak down beneath, and not a hundred yards away, +stands one of the noblest guanacos I have ever seen. He has heard +something, or scented something, for he stands there as still as a statue, +with head and neck in the air sniffing the breeze. + +How my heart beats! How my hand trembles! I cannot understand my anxiety. +Were I face to face with a lion or tiger I could hardly be more nervous. A +thousand thoughts seem to cross my mind with a rush, but uppermost of all +is the fear that, having fired, I shall miss. + +He whinnies his warning now: only a low and undecided one. He is evidently +puzzled; but the herd down in the bottom of the cañon hear it, and every +head is elevated. I have judged the distance; I have drawn my bead. If my +heart would only keep still, and there were not such a mist before my +eyes! Bang! I have fired, and quickly load again. Have I missed? Yes--no, +no; hurrah! hurrah! yonder he lies, stark and still, on the very rock on +which he stood--my first guanaco! + +The startled herd move up the cañon. They must have seen their leader +drop. + +I am still gazing after them, full of exultation, when a hand is laid on +my shoulder, and, lo! there stands Dugald laughing. + +'You sly old dog,' he says, 'to steal a march on your poor little brother +thus!' + +For a moment I am startled, mystified. + +'Dugald,' I say, 'did I really kill that guanaco?' + +'No one else did.' + +'And you've only just come--only just this second? Well, I'm glad to hear +it. It was after all a pure accident my shooting the beast. I _did_ hold +the rifle his way. I _did_ draw the trigger----' + +'Well, and the bullet did the rest, boy. Funny, you always kill by the +merest chance! Ah, Murdoch, you're a better shot than I am, for all you +won't allow it.' + +Wandering still onwards and still upwards next day, through lonely glens +and deep ravines, through cañons the sides of which were as perpendicular +as walls, their flat green or brown bottoms sometimes scattered with huge +boulders, casting shadows so dark in the sunlight that a man or horse +disappeared in them as if the earth had opened and swallowed him up, we +came at length to a dell, or strath, of such charming luxuriance that it +looked to us, amid all the barrenness of this dreary wilderness, like an +oasis dropped from the clouds, or some sweet green glade where fairies +might dwell. + +I looked at my brother. The same thought must have struck each of us, at +the same moment--Why not make this glen our _habitat_ for a time? + +'Oh!' cried Archie, 'this is a paradise!' + +'Beautiful! lovely!' said Dugald. 'Suppose now--' + +'Oh, I know what you are going to say,' cried Donald. + +'And I second the motion,' said Sandie Donaldson. + +'Well,' I exclaimed, 'seeing, Sandie, that no motion has yet been made--' + +'Here is the motion, then,' exclaimed Dugald, jumping out of his saddle. + +It was a motion we all followed at once; and as the day was getting near +its close, the Gauchos set about looking for a bit of camping-ground at +once. As far as comfort was concerned, this might have been chosen almost +anywhere, but we wanted to be near to water. Now here was the mystery: the +glen was not three miles long altogether, and nowhere more than a mile +broad; all along the bottom it was tolerably level and extremely well +wooded with quite a variety of different trees, among which pines, elms, +chestnuts, and stunted oak-trees were most abundant; each side of the glen +was bounded by rising hills or braes covered with algorroba bushes and +patches of charmingly-coloured cacti, with many sorts of prickly shrubs, +the very names of which we could not tell. Curious to say, there was very +little undergrowth; and, although the trees were close enough in some +places to form a jungle, the grass was green beneath. But at first we +could find no water. Leaving the others to rest by the edge of the +miniature forest, Dugald and I and Archie set out to explore, and had not +gone more than a hundred yards when we came to a little lake. We bent +down and tasted the water; it was pure and sweet and cool. + +'What a glorious find!' said Dugald. 'Why, this place altogether was +surely made for us.' + +We hurried back to tell the news, and the horses and mules were led to the +lake, which was little more than half an acre in extent. But not satisfied +with drinking, most of the dogs plunged in; and horses and mules followed +suit. + +'Come,' cried Donald, 'that is a sort of motion I will willingly second.' +He commenced to undress as he spoke. So did we all, and such splashing and +dashing, and laughing and shouting, the birds and beasts in this romantic +dale had surely never witnessed before. + +Dugald was an excellent swimmer, and as bold and headstrong in the water +as on the land. He had left us and set out to cross the lake. Suddenly we +saw him throw up his arms and shout for help, and we--Donald and I--at +once commenced swimming to his assistance. He appeared, however, in no +danger of sinking, and, to our surprise, although heading our way all the +time, he was borne away from us one minute and brought near us next. + +When close enough a thrill of horror went through me to hear poor Dugald +cry in a feeble, pleading voice, + +'Come no nearer, boys: I soon must sink. Save yourselves: I'm in a +whirlpool.' + +It was too true, though almost too awful to be borne. I do not know how +Donald felt at that moment, but as for myself I was almost paralyzed with +terror. + +'Back, back, for your lives!' shouted a voice behind us. + +It was our Gaucho _capataz_. He was coming towards us with powerful +strokes, holding in one hand a lasso. Instead of swimming on with us when +he saw Dugald in danger, he had gone ashore at once and brought the +longest thong. + +We white men could have done nothing. We knew of nothing to do. We should +have floated there and seen our dear brother go down before our eyes, or +swam recklessly, madly on, only to sink with him. + +Dugald, weak as he had become, sees the Gaucho will make an attempt to +save him, and tries to steady himself to catch the end of the lasso that +now flies in his direction. + +But to our horror it falls short, and Dugald is borne away again, the +circles round which he is swept being now narrower. + +The Gaucho is nearer. He is perilously near. He will save him or perish. + +Again the lasso leaves his hand. Dugald had thrown up his hands and almost +leapt from the water. He is sinking. Oh, good Gaucho! Oh, good _capataz_, +surely Heaven itself directed that aim, for the noose fell over our +brother's arms and tightened round the chest! + +In a few minutes more we have laid his lifeless body on the green bank. + +Lifeless only for a time, however. Presently he breathes, and we carry him +away into the evening sunshine and place him on the soft warm moss. He +soon speaks, but is very ill and weak; yet our thanks to God for his +preservation are very sincere. Surely there is a Providence around one +even in the wilderness! + +We might have explored our glen this same evening, perhaps we really ought +to have done so, but the excitement caused by Dugald's adventure put +everything else out of our heads. + +In this high region, the nights were even cold enough to make a position +near the camp fire rather a thing to be desired than otherwise. It was +especially delightful, I thought, on this particular evening to sit around +the fire and quietly talk. I reclined near Dugald, who had not yet quite +recovered. I made a bed for him with extra rugs; and, as he coughed a good +deal, I begged of him to consider himself an invalid for one night at +least; but no sooner had he drunk his mug of _maté_ than he sat up and +joined in the conversation, assuring us he felt as well as ever he had in +his life. + +[Illustration: Tries to steady himself to catch the Lasso] + +It was a lovely evening. The sky was unclouded, the stars shining out very +clear, and looking very near, while a round moon was rising slowly over +the hill-peaks towards the east, and the tall dark pine-trees were casting +gloomy shadows on the lake, near which, in an open glade, we were +encamped. I could not look at the dark waters without a shudder, as I +thought of the danger poor Dugald had so narrowly escaped. I am not sure +that the boy was not always my mother's favourite, and I know he was +Flora's. How could I have written and told them of his fearful end? The +very idea made me creep nearer to him and put my arm round his shoulder. I +suppose he interpreted my thoughts, for he patted my knee in his brotherly +fond old fashion. + +Our Gaucho _capataz_ was just telling a story, an adventure of his own, in +the lonely pampas. He looked a strange and far from comely being, with his +long, straggling, elf-like locks of hair, his low, receding forehead, his +swarthy complexion, and high cheek bones. The mark of a terrible spear +wound across his face and nose did not improve his looks. + +'Yes, señors,' he was saying, 'that was a fearful moment for me.' He threw +back his poncho as he spoke, revealing three ugly scars on his chest. 'You +see these, señors? It was that same tiger made the marks. It was a +keepsake, ha! ha! that I will take to de grave with me, if any one should +trouble to bury me. It was towards evening, and we were journeying across +the pampa. We had come far that day, my Indians and me. We felt +tired--sometimes even Indians felt tired on de weary wide pampa. De sun +has been hot all day. We have been chased far by de white settlers. Dey +not love us. Ha! ha! We have five score of de cattle with us. And we have +spilt blood, and left dead and wounded Indians plenty on de pampa. Never +mind, I swear revenge. Oh, I am a bad man den. Gaucho malo, mucho malo, +Nandrin, my brother _cacique_, hate me. I hate him. I wish him dead. But +de Indians love him all de same as me. By and by de sun go down, down, +down, and we raise de _toldo_[14] in de cañon near a stream. Here grow +many ombu-trees. The young señors have not seen this great tree; it is de +king of the lonely pampa. Oh, so tall! Oh, so wide! so spreading and +shady! Two, three ombu-trees grow near; but I have seen de great tiger +sleep in one. My brother _cacique_ have seen him too. When de big moon +rise, and all is bright like de day, and no sound make itself heard but de +woo-hoo-woo of de pampa owl, I get quietly up and go to de ombu-tree. I +think myself much more brave as my brother _cacique_. Ha! ha! he think +himself more brave as me. When I come near de ombu-trees I shout. Ugh! de +scream dat comes from de ombu-tree make me shake and shiver. Den de +terrible tiger spring down; I will not run, I am too brave. I shoot. He +not fall. Next moment I am down--on my back I lie. One big foot is on me; +his blood pour over my face. He pull me close and more close to him. Soon, +ah, soon, I think my brother _cacique_ will be chief--I will be no more. +De tiger licks my arm--my cheek. How he growl and froth! He is now going +to eat me. But no! Ha! ha! my brother _cacique_ have also leave de camp to +come to de ombu-tree. De tiger see him. P'r'aps he suppose his blood more +sweet as mine. He leave poor me. Ha! ha! he catch my brother _cacique_ and +carry him under de shade of de ombu-tree. By and by I listen, and hear my +brother's bones go crash! crash! crash! De tiger is enjoying his supper!' + +'But, _capataz_,' I said, with a shudder, 'did you make no attempt to save +your brother chief?' + +'Not much! You see, he all same as dead. Suppose I den shoot, p'r'aps I +kill him for true; 'sides, I bad Gaucho den; not love anybody mooch. Next +day I kill dat tiger proper, and his skin make good ponchos. Ha! ha!' + +Many a time during the Gaucho's recital he had paused and looked uneasily +around him, for ever and anon the woods re-echoed with strange cries. We +white men had not lived long enough in beast-haunted wildernesses to +distinguish what those sounds were, whether they proceeded from bird or +beast. + +As the _capataz_ stopped speaking, and we all sat silent for a short time, +the cries were redoubled. They certainly were not calculated to raise our +spirits: some were wild and unearthly in the extreme, some were growls of +evident anger, some mere groanings, as if they proceeded from creatures +dying in pain and torment, while others again began in a low and most +mournful moan, rising quickly into a hideous, frightened, broken, or +gurgling yell, then dying away again in dreary cadence. + +I could not help shuddering a little as I looked behind me into the +darkness of the forest. The whole place had an uncanny, haunted sort of +look, and I even began to wonder whether we might not possibly be the +victims of enchantment. Would we awaken in the morning and find no trees, +no wood, no water, only a green cañon, with cliffs and hills on every +side? + +'Look, look!' I cried, starting half up at last. 'Did none of you see +that?' + +'What is it? Speak, Murdoch!' cried Archie; 'your face is enough to +frighten a fellow.' + +I pressed my hand to my forehead. + +'Surely,' I said, 'I am going to be ill, but I thought I could distinctly +see a tall grey figure standing among the trees.' + +We resumed talking, but in a lower, quieter key. The events of the +evening, our strange surroundings, the whispering trees, the occasional +strange cries, and the mournful beauty of the night, seemed to have cast a +glamour over every heart that was here; and though it was now long past +our usual hour for bed, no one appeared wishful to retire. + +All at once Archie grasped me by the shoulder and glanced fearfully into +the forest behind me. I dared scarcely turn my head till the click of +Yambo's revolver reassured me. + +Yes, there was the figure in grey moving silently towards us. + +'Speak, quick, else I fire!' shouted our _capataz_. + +'_Ave Maria!_' + +Yambo lowered the revolver, and we all started to our feet to confront the +figure in grey. + +----- + + [14] Toldo = a tent. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE MOUNTAIN CRUSOE. + + +The figure in grey--the grey was a garment of skin, cap, coat, breeches, +and even boots, apparently all of the same material--approached with +extended hand. We could see now it was no ghost who stood before us, but a +man of flesh and blood. Very solid flesh, too, judging from the cheeks +that surmounted the silvery beard. The moon shone full on his face, and a +very pleasant one it was, with a bright, merry twinkle in the eye. + +'Who are you?' said I. + +'Nay, pardon me,' was the bold reply, 'but the question would come with +greater propriety from my lips. I need not ask it, however. You are right +welcome to my little kingdom. You are, I can see, a party of roving +hunters. Few of your sort have ever come here before, I can tell you.' + +'And you?' I said, smiling. + +'_I_ am--but there, what need to give myself a name? I have not heard my +name for years. Call me Smith, Jones, Robinson; call me a hunter, a +trapper, a madman, a fool--anything.' + +'A hermit, anyhow,' said Dugald. + +'Yes, boy, a hermit.' + +'And an Englishman?' + +'No; I am a Portuguese by birth, but I have lived in every country under +the sun, and here I am at last. Have I introduced myself sufficiently?' + +'No,' I said; 'but sit down. You have,' I continued, 'only introduced +yourself sufficiently to excite our curiosity. Yours must be a strange +story.' + +'Oh, anybody and everybody who lives for over fifty years in the world as +I have done has a strange story, if he cared to tell it. Mine is too long, +and some of it too sad. I have been a soldier, a sailor, a traveller; I +have been wealthy, I have been poor; I have been in love--my love left +_me_. I forgot _her_. I have done everything except commit crime. I have +not run away from anywhere, gentlemen. There is no blood on my hands. I +can still pray. I still love. She whom I love is here.' + +'Oh!' cried Dugald, 'won't you bring the lady?' + +The hermit laughed. + +'She _is_ here, there, all around us. My mistress is Nature. Ah! boys,' he +said, turning to us with such a kind look, 'Nature breaks no hearts; and +the more you love her, the more she loves you, and leads you +upwards--always upwards, never down.' + +It was strange, but from the very moment he began to talk both my brothers +and I began to like this hermit. His ways and his manners were quite +irresistible, and before we separated we felt as if we had known him all +our lives. + +He was the last man my brothers and I saw that night, and he was the first +we met in the morning. He had donned a light cloth poncho and a broad +sombrero hat, and really looked both handsome and picturesque. + +We went away together, and bathed, and I told him of Dugald's adventure. +He looked interested, patted my brother's shoulder, and said: + +'Poor boy, what a narrow escape you have had! + +'The stream,' he continued, 'that flows through this strange glen rises in +the hills about five miles up. It rises from huge springs--you shall see +them--flows through the woods, and is sucked into the earth in the middle +of that lake. I have lived here for fifteen years. Walk with me up the +glen. Leave your rifles in your tents; there is nothing to hurt.' + +We obeyed, and soon joined him, and together we strolled up the path that +led close by the banks of a beautiful stream. We were enchanted with the +beauty displayed everywhere about us, and our guide seemed pleased. + +'Almost all the trees and shrubs you see,' he said, 'I have planted, and +many of the beautiful flowers--the orchids, the climbers, and creepers, +all are my pets. Those I have not planted I have encouraged, and I believe +they all know me.' + +At this moment a huge puma came bounding along the path, but stopped when +he saw us. + +'Don't be afraid, boys,' said the hermit. 'This, too, is a pet. Do not be +shy, Jacko. These are friends.' + +The puma smelt us, then rubbed his great head against his master's leg, +and trotted along by his side. + +'I have several. You will not shoot while you live here? Thanks. I have a +large family. The woods are filled with my family. I have brought them +from far and near, birds and beasts of every kind. They see us now, but +are shy.' + +'I say, sir,' said Dugald, 'you are Adam, and this is Paradise.' + +The hermit smiled in recognition of the compliment, and we now approached +his house. + +'I must confess,' I said, 'that a more Crusoe-looking establishment it has +never been my luck to behold.' + +'You are young yet,' replied the hermit, laughing, 'although you speak so +like a book. + +'Here we are, then, in my compound. The fence, you see, is a very open +one, for I desire neither to exclude the sunshine nor the fresh air from +my vegetables. Observe,' he continued, 'that my hut, which consists of one +large room, stands in the centre of a gravel square.' + +'It is strange-looking gravel!' said Dugald. + +'It is nearly altogether composed of salt. My house is built of stone, but +it is plastered with a kind of cement I can dig here in the hills. There +is not a crevice nor hollow in all the wall, and it is four feet thick. +The floor is also cemented, and so is the roof.' + +'And this,' I remarked, 'is no doubt for coolness in summer.' + +'Yes, and warmth in winter, if it comes to that, and also for cleanliness. +Yonder is a ladder that leads to the roof. Up there I lounge and think, +drink my _maté_ and read. Oh yes, I have plenty of books, which I keep in +a safe with bitter-herb powder--to save them, you know, from literary ants +and other insects who possess an ambition to solve the infinite. Observe +again, that I have neither porch nor verandah to my house, and that the +windows are small. I object to a porch and to climbing things on the same +principle that I do to creeping, crawling creatures. The world is wide +enough for us all. But they must keep to their side of the house at night, +and I to mine. And mine is the inside. This is also the reason why most of +the gravel is composed of salt. As a rule, creepies don't like it.' + +'Oh, I'm glad you told us that,' said Archie; 'I shall make my mule carry +a bushel of it. I'm glad you don't like creepies, sir.' + +'But, boy, I _do_. Only I object to them indoors. Walk in. Observe again, +as a showman would say, how very few my articles of furniture are. Notice, +however, that they are all scrupulously clean. Nevertheless, I have every +convenience. That thong-bottomed sofa is my bed. My skins and rugs are +kept in a bag all day, and hermetically sealed against the prying +probosces of insectivora. Here is my stove, yonder my kitchen and +scullery, and there hangs my armoury. Now I am going to call my servant. +He is a Highlander like yourselves, boys; at any rate, he appears to be, +for he never wears anything else except the kilt, and he talks a language +which, though I have had him for ten years, I do not yet understand. +Archie, Archie, where are you?' + +'Another Archie!' said Dugald, 'and a countryman, too?' + +'He is shy of strangers. Archie, boy! He is swinging in some tree-top, no +doubt.' + +'What a queer fellow he must be! Wears nothing but the kilt, speaks +Gaelic, swings in tree-tops, and is shy! A _rara avis_ indeed.' + +'Ah! here he comes. Archie, spread the awning out of doors, lay the table, +bring a jug of cold _maté_ and the cigars.' + +Truly Archie was a curious Highlander. He was quite as tall as our Archie, +and though the hermit assured us he was only a baby when he bought him in +Central Africa for about sevenpence halfpenny in Indian coin, he had now +the wrinkled face of an old man of ninety--wrinkled, wizened, and weird. +But his eye was singularly bright and young-looking. In his hand he +carried a long pole from which he had bitten all the bark, and his only +dress was a little petticoat of skunk skin, which the hermit called his +kilt. He was, in fact, an African orang-outang. + +'Come and shake hands with the good gentlemen, Archie.' + +Archie knitted his brows, and looked at us without moving. The hermit +laughingly handed him a pair of big horn-rimmed spectacles. These he put +on with all the gravity of some ancient professor of Sanscrit, then looked +us all over once again. + +We could stand this no longer, and so burst into a chorus of laughing. + +'Don't laugh longer than you can help, boys. See, Archie is angry.' + +Archie was. He showed a mouth full of fearful-looking fangs, and fingered +his club in a way that was not pleasant. + +'Archie, you may have some peaches presently.' + +[Illustration: Interview with the Orang-outang] + +Archie grew pleasant again in a moment, and advanced and shook hands with +us all round, looking all the time, however, as if he had some silent +sorrow somewhere. I confess he wrung our hands pretty hard. Neither my +brother nor I made any remark, but when it came to Archie's turn-- + +'Honolulu!' he shouted, shaking his fingers, and blowing on them. 'I +believe he has made the blood come!' + +'I suppose,' said Dugald, laughing, 'he knows you are a namesake.' + +Off went the great baboon, and to our intense astonishment spread the +awning, placed table and camp-stools under it, and fetched the cold _maté_ +with all the gravity and decorum of the chief steward on a first-class +liner. + +I looked at my brothers, and they looked at me. + +'You seem all surprised,' the hermit said, 'but remember that in olden +times it was no rare thing to see baboons of this same species waiting at +the tables of your English nobility. Well, I am not only a noble, but a +king; why should not I also have an anthropoid as a butler and valet?' + +'I confess,' I said, 'I for one am very much surprised at all I have seen +and all that has happened since last night, and I really cannot help +thinking that presently I shall awake and find, as the story-books say, it +is all a dream.' + +'You will find it all a very substantial dream, I do assure you, sir. But +help yourself to the _maté_. You will find it better than any imported +stuff.' + +'Archie! Archie! Where are you?' + +'Ah! ah! Yah, yah, yah!' cried Archie, hopping round behind his master. + +'The sugar, Archie.' + +'Ah, ah, ah! Yah, yah!' + +'Is that Gaelic, Dugald?' said our Archie. + +'Not quite, my cockney cousin.' + +'I thought not.' + +'Why?' said Dugald. + +'It is much more intelligible.' + +The hermit laughed. + +'I think, Dugald,' he said, 'your cousin has the best of you.' + +He then made us tell him all our strange though brief history, as the +reader already knows it. If he asked us questions, however, it was +evidently not for the sake of inquisitiveness, but to exchange +experiences, and support the conversation. He was quite as ready to impart +as to solicit information; but somehow we felt towards him as if he were +an elder brother or uncle; and this only proves the hermit was a perfect +gentleman. + +'Shall you live much longer in this beautiful wilderness?' asked Donald. + +'Well, I will tell you all about that,' replied the hermit. 'And the all +is very brief. When I came here first I had no intention of making a long +stay. I was a trapper and hunter then pure and simple, and sold my skins +and other odds and ends which these hills yield--and what these are I must +not even tell to you--journeying over the Andes with mules twice every +year for that purpose. But gradually, as my trees and bushes and all the +beauty of this wild garden-glen grew up around me, and so many of God's +wild children came to keep me company, I got to love my strange life. So +from playing at being a hermit, I dare say I have come to be one in +reality. And now, though I have money--much more than one would +imagine--in the Chilian banks, I do not seem to care to enter civilized +life again. For some years back I have been promising myself a city +holiday, but I keep putting it off and off. I should not wonder if it +never comes, or, to speak more correctly, I should wonder if it ever came. +Oh, I dare say I shall die in my own private wilderness here, with no one +to close my eyes but old Archie.' + +'Do you still go on journeys to Chili?' + +'I still go twice a year. I have strong fleet mules. I go once in summer +and once in winter.' + +'Going in winter across the Andes! That must be a terribly dreary +journey.' + +'It is. Yet it has its advantages. I never have to flee from hostile +Indians then. They do not like the hills in winter.' + +'Are you not afraid of the pampas Indians?' + +'No, not at all. They visit me occasionally here, but do not stay long. I +trust them, I am kind to them, and I have nothing they could find to +steal, even if they cared to be dishonest. But they are _not_. They are +good-hearted fellows in their own way.' + +'Yes,' I said, 'very much in their own way.' + +'My dear boy,' said the hermit, 'you do not know all. A different policy +would have made those Indians the sworn friends, the faithful allies and +servants of the white man. They would have kept then to their own +hunting-grounds, they would have brought to you wealth of skins, and +wealth of gold and silver, too, for believe me, they (the Indians) have +secrets that the white trader little wots of. No, it is the dishonest, +blood-stained policy of the Republic that has made the Indian what he +is--his hand against every man, every man's hand against him.' + +'But they even attack you at times, I think you gave us to understand?' + +'Nay, not the pampas or pampean Indians: only prowling gipsy tribes from +the far north. Even they will not when they know me better. My fame is +spreading as a seer.' + +'As a seer?' + +'Yes, a kind of prophet. Do not imagine that I foster any such folly, only +they will believe that, living here all alone in the wilds, I must have +communication with--ha! ha! a worse world than this.' + +As we rose to go the hermit held out his hand. + +'Come and see me to-night,' he said; 'and let me advise you to make this +glen your headquarters for a time. The hills and glens and bush for +leagues around abound in game. Then your way back lies across a pampa +north and east of here; not the road you have come.' + +'By the by,' said Archie, 'before we go, I want to ask you the question +which tramps always put in England: "Are the dogs all safe?"' + +'Ah,' said the hermit, smiling, 'I know what you mean. Yes, the dogs are +safe. My pet pumas will not come near you. I do not think that even my +jaguars would object to your presence; but for safety's sake Archie shall +go along with you, and he shall also come for you in the evening. Give him +these peaches when you reach camp. They are our own growing, and Archie +dotes upon them.' + +So away back by the banks of the stream we went, our strange guide, club +in hand, going hopping on before. It did really seem all like a scene of +enchantment. + +We gave Archie the peaches, and he looked delighted. + +'Good-bye, old man,' said Dugald, as he presented him with his. + +'Speak a word or two of Gaelic to him,' said our Archie. + +Sandie Donaldson was indeed astonished at all we told him. + +'I suppose it's all right,' he said, 'but dear me, that was an +uncanny-looking creature you had hirpling on in front of you!' + +In the evening, just as we had returned from a most successful guanaco +hunt, we found Donaldson's uncanny creature coming along the path. + +'I suppose he means us to dine with him,' I remarked. + +'Ah, ah, ah! Yah, ah, yah!' cried the baboon. + +'Well, will you come, Sandie?' + +Sandie shook his head. + +'Not to-night,' said Sandie. 'Take care of yourselves, boys. Mind what the +old proverb says: "They need a lang spoon wha sup wi' the deil."' + +We found the hermit at his gate, and glad he seemed to see us. + +'I've been at home all the afternoon,' he said, 'cooking your dinner. Most +enjoyable work, I can assure you. All the vegetables are fresh, and even +the curry has been grown on the premises. I hope you are fond of +armadillo; that is a favourite dish of mine. But here we have roast ducks, +partridges, and something that perhaps you have never tasted before, +roast or boiled. For bread we have biscuit; for wine we have _maté_ and +milk. My goats come every night to be milked. Archie does the milking as +well as any man could. Ah, here come my dogs.' + +Two deerhounds trotted up and made friends with us. + +'I bought them from a roving Scot two years ago while on a visit to +Chili.' + +'How about the pumas? Don't they--' + +'No, they come from the trees to sleep with Rob and Rory. Even the jaguars +do not attempt to touch them. Sit down; you see I dine early. We will have +time before dusk to visit some of my pets. I hope they did not keep you +awake.' + +'No, but the noise would have done so, had we not known what they were.' + +Conversation never once flagged all the time we sat at table. The hermit +himself had put most of the dishes down, but Archie duly waited behind his +master's chair, and brought both the _maté_ and the milk, as well as the +fruit. This dessert was of the most tempting description; and not even at +our own _estancia_ had I tasted more delicious grapes. But there were many +kinds of fruit here we had never even seen before. As soon as we were done +the waiter had _his_ repast, and the amount of fruit he got through +surprised us beyond measure. He squatted on the ground to eat. Well, when +he commenced his dinner he looked a little old gentleman of somewhat spare +habit; when he rose up--by the aid of his pole--he was decidedly plump, +not to say podgy. Even his cheeks were puffed out; and no wonder, they +were stuffed with nuts to eat at his leisure. + +'I dare say Archie eats at all odd hours,' I said. + +'No, he does not,' replied the hermit. 'I never encouraged him to do so, +and now he is quite of my way of thinking, and never eats between meals. +But come, will you light a cigarette and stroll round with me?' + +'We will stroll round without the cigarette,' I said. + +'Then fill your pockets with nuts and raisins; you must do something.' + +'Feed the birds, Archie.' + +'Ah, ah, ah! Yah, ah! Yah, yah!' + +'The birds need not come to be fed; there is enough and to spare for them +in the woods, but they think whatever we eat must be extra nice. We have +all kinds of birds except the British sparrow. I really hope you have not +brought him. They say he follows Englishmen to the uttermost parts of the +world.' + +We waited for a moment, and wondered at the flocks of lovely bright-winged +doves and pigeons and other birds that had alighted round the table to +receive their daily dole, then followed our hermit guide, to feast our +eyes on other wonders not a whit less wonderful than all we had seen. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +WILD ADVENTURES ON PRAIRIE AND PAMPAS. + + +If I were to describe even one half of the strange creatures we saw in the +hermit's glen, the reader would be tired before I had finished, and even +then I should not have succeeded in conveying anything like a correct +impression of this floral wilderness and natural menagerie. + +It puzzled me to know, and it puzzles me still, how so many wild creatures +could have been got together in one place. + +'I brought many of them here,' the hermit told us, 'but the others came, +lured, no doubt, by the water, the trees, and the flowers.' + +'But was the water here when you arrived?' + +'Oh yes, else I would not have settled down here. The glen was a sort of +oasis even then, and there were more bushes and trees than ever I had seen +before in one place. The ducks and geese and swans, in fact, all the +web-footed fraternity, had been here before me, and many birds and beasts +besides--the biscachas, the armadilloes, the beetle-eating pichithiego, +for instance--the great ant-eater, and the skunk--I have banished that, +however--wolves, foxes, kites, owls, and condors. I also found peccaries, +and some deer. These latter, and the guanaco, give me a wide berth now. +They do not care for dogs, pumas, and jaguars. Insects are rather too +numerous, and I have several species of snakes.' + +Archie's--_our_ Archie's--face fell. + +'Are they?' he began, 'are they very--' + +'Very beautiful? Yes; indeed, some are charming in colour. One, for +example, is of the brightest crimson streaked with black.' + +'I was not referring to their beauty; I meant were they dangerous?' + +'Well, I never give them a chance to bite me, and I do not think they want +to; but all snakes are to be avoided and left severely alone.' + +'Or killed, sir?' + +'Yes, perhaps, if killed outright; for the pampan Indians have an idea +that if a rattlesnake be only wounded, he will come back for revenge. But +let us change the subject. You see those splendid butterflies? Well, by +and by the moths will be out; they are equally lovely, but when I first +came here there were very few of either. They followed the flowers, and +the humming-birds came next, and many other lovely gay-coloured little +songsters. I introduced most of the parrots and toucans. There are two up +there even now. They would come down if you were not here.' + +'They are very funny-looking, but very pretty,' said Dugald. 'I could stop +and look at them for hours.' + +'But we must proceed. Here are the trees where the parrots mostly live. +Early as it is, you see they are retiring.' + +What a sight! What resplendency of colour and beauty! Such bright metallic +green, lustrous orange, crimson and bronze! + +'Why do they frequent this particular part of the wood?' said Dugald. + +'Ah, boy,' replied the hermit, 'I see you want to know everything. Don't +be ashamed of that; you are a true naturalist at heart. Well, the parrots +like to be by themselves, and few of my birds care to live among them. +You will notice, too, that yonder are some eucalyptus trees, and farther +up some wide-spreading, open-branched trees, with flowers creeping and +clinging around the stems. Parrots love those trees, because while there +they have sunshine, and because birds of prey cannot easily tell which is +parrot and which is flower or flame-coloured lichen.' + +'That is an advantage.' + +'Well, yes; but it is an advantage that also has a disadvantage, for our +serpents are so lovely that even they are not easily seen by the parrots +when they wriggle up among the orchids.' + +'Can the parrots defend themselves against snakes?' + +'Yes, they can, and sometimes even kill them. I have noticed this, but as +a rule they prefer to scare them off by screaming. And they can scream, +too. "As deaf as an adder," is a proverb; well, I believe it was the +parrot that first deafened the adder, if deaf it be.' + +'Have you many birds of prey?' + +'Yes, too many. But, see here.' + +'I see nothing.' + +'No, but you soon shall. Here in the sunniest bank, and in this sunniest +part of the wood, dwell a family of that remarkable creature the blind +armadillo, or pichithiego. I wonder if any one is at home.' + +As he spoke, the hermit knelt down and buried his hands in the sand, soon +bringing to the surface a very curious little animal indeed, one of the +tenderest of all armadilloes. + +It shivered as it cuddled into the hermit's arms. + +Dugald laughed aloud. + +'Why,' he cried, 'it seems to end suddenly half-way down; and that droll +tail looks stuck on for fun.' + +'Yes, it is altogether a freak of Nature, and the wonder to me is how, +being so tender, it lives here at all. You see how small and delicate a +thing it is. They say it is blind, but you observe it is not; although +the creatures live mostly underground. They also say that the +_chlamyphorus truncatus_--which is the grand name for my wee +friend,--carries its young under this pink or rosy shell jacket, but this +I very much doubt. Now go to bed, little one. + +'I have prettier pets than even these, two species of agoutis, for +instance, very handsome little fellows indeed, and like rats in many of +their ways and in many of their droll antics. They are not fond of +strangers, but often come out to meet me in my walks about the woods. They +live in burrows, but run about plentifully enough in the open air, +although their enemies are very numerous. Even the Indians capture and eat +them, as often raw as not. + +'You have heard of the peccary. Well, I have never encouraged these wild +wee pigs, and for some years after I came, there were none in the woods. +One morning I found them, however, all over the place in herds. I never +knew where they came from, nor how they found us out. But I do know that +for more than two years I had to wage constant war with them.' + +'They were good to eat?' + +'They were tolerably good, especially the young, but I did not want for +food; and, besides, they annoyed my wee burrowing pets, and, in fact, they +deranged everything, and got themselves thoroughly hated wherever they +went.' + +'And how did you get rid of them?' + +'They disappeared entirely one night as if by magic, and I have never seen +nor heard one since. But here we are at my stable.' + +'I see no stable,' I said. + +'Well, it is an enclosure of half an acre, and my mules and goats are +corralled here at night.' + +'Do not the pumas or jaguars attempt to molest the mules or goats?' + +'Strange to say, they do not, incredible as it may seem. But come in, and +you will see a happy family.' + +'What are these?' cried Dugald. 'Dogs?' + +'No, boy, one is a wolf, the other two are foxes. All three were suckled +by one of my dogs, and here they are. You see, they play with the goats, +and are exceedingly fond of the mules. They positively prefer the company +of the mules to mine, although when I come here with their foster-dam, the +deerhound, they all condescend to leave this compound and to follow me +through the woods. + +'Here come my mules. Are they not beauties?' + +We readily admitted they were, never having seen anything in size and +shape to equal them. + +'Now, you asked me about the jaguars. Mine are but few; they are also very +civil; but I do believe that one of these mules would be a match even for +a jaguar. If the jaguar had one kick he would never need another. The +goats--here they come--herd close to the mules, and the foxes and wolf are +sentinels, and give an alarm if even a strange monkey comes near the +compound. Ah, here come my pet toucans!' + +These strange-beaked birds came floating down from a tree to the number of +nearly a dozen, nor did they look at all ungainly, albeit their beaks are +so wondrously large. + +'What do they eat?' + +'Everything; but fruit is the favourite dish with them. But look up. Do +you see that speck against the cloud yonder, no bigger in appearance than +the lark that sings above the cornfields in England? See how it circles +and sweeps round and round. Do you know that bird is a mile above us?' + +'That is wonderful!' + +'And what think you it is doing? Why, it is eyeing you and me. It is my +pet condor. The only bird I do not feed; but the creature loves me well +for all that. He is suspicious of your presence. Now watch, and I will +bring him down like an arrow.' + +The hermit waved a handkerchief in a strange way, and with one fell +downward swoop, in a few seconds the monster eagle had alighted near us. + +Well may the condor be called 'king of the air,' I thought, for never +before had I seen so majestic a bird. He was near us now, and scrutinizing +us with that bold fierce eye of his, as some chieftain in the brave days +of old might have gazed upon spies that he was about to order away to +execution. I believed then--and I am still of the same opinion--that there +was something akin to pity and scorn in his steadfast looks, as if we had +been brought here for his especial delectation and study. + +'Poor wretched bipeds!' he seemed to say; 'not even possessed of feathers, +no clothes of their own, obliged to wrap themselves in the hair and skins +of dead quadrupeds. No beaks, no talons; not even the wings of a miserable +bat. Never knew what it was to mount and soar into the blue sky to meet +the morning sun; never floated free as the winds far away in the realms of +space; never saw the world spread out beneath them like a living panorama, +its woods and forests mere patches of green or purple, its lakes like +sheets of shimmering ice, its streams like threads of spiders' webs before +the day has drunk the dew, its very deserts dwarfed by distance till the +guanacos and the ostriches[15] look like mites, and herds of wild horses +appear but crawling ants. Never knew what it was to circle round the +loftiest summits of the snow-clad voiceless Andes, while down in the +valleys beneath dark clouds rolled fiercely on, and lightnings played +across the darkness; nor to perch cool and safe on peak or pinnacle, while +below on earth's dull level the hurricane Pampero was levelling house and +hut and tree; or the burning breath of the Zonda was sweeping over the +land, scorching every flower and leaf, drinking every drop of dew, +draining even the blood of moving beings till eyes ache and brains reel, +till man himself looks haggard, wild, and worn, and the beasts of the +forest, hidden in darkling caves, go mad and rend their young.' + +The hermit returned with us to our camping-ground just as great bats began +to circle and wheel around, as butterflies were folding their wings and +going to sleep beneath the leaves, and the whole woodland glen began to +awake to the screaming of night-birds, to the mournful howling of strange +monkeys, and hoarse growl of beasts of prey. + +We sat together till far into the night listening to story after story of +the wild adventures of our new but nameless hero, and till the moon--so +high above us now that the pine-trees no longer cast their shadows across +the glade--warned us it was time to retire. + +'Good night, boys all,' said the hermit; 'I will come again to-morrow.' + +He turned and walked away, his _potro_ boots making no sound on the sward. +We watched him till the gloom of the forest seemed to swallow him up. + +'What a strange being!' said Archie, with a sigh. + +'And what a lonely life to lead!' said Donald. + +'Ah!' said Dugald, 'you may sigh as you like, Archie, and say what you +please, I think there is no life so jolly, and I've half a mind to turn +hermit myself.' + +We lived in the glen for many weeks. No better or more idyllic +headquarters could possibly have been found or even imagined, while all +around us was a hunter's paradise. We came at last to look upon the +hermit's dell as our home, but we did not bivouac there every night. There +were times when we wandered too far away in pursuit of the guanaco, the +puma, jaguar, or even the ostrich, which we found feeding on plains at no +great distance from our camp. + +It was a glorious treat for all of us to find ourselves on these miniature +pampas, across which we could gallop unfettered and free. + +Under the tuition of Yambo, our _capataz_, and the other Gauchos, we +became adepts in the use of both bolas and lasso. Away up among the +beetling crags and in the deep, gloomy caverns we had to stalk the +guanacos as the Swiss mountaineer stalks the chamois. Oh, our adventures +among the rocks were sometimes thrilling enough! But here on the plains +another kind of tactics was pursued. I doubt if we could have ridden near +enough to the ostriches to bola them, so our plan was to make _détours_ on +the pampas until we had outflanked, encircled, and altogether puzzled our +quarry. Then riding in a zigzag fashion, gradually we narrowed the ring +till near enough to fire. When nearer still the battue and stampede +commenced, and the scene was then wild and confusing in the extreme. The +frightened whinny or neigh of the guanacos, the hoarse whirr of the flying +ostriches, the shouts of the Gauchos, the bark and yell of dogs, the +whistling noise of lasso or bolas, the sharp ringing of rifle and +revolver--all combined to form a medley, a huntsman's chorus which no one +who has once heard it and taken part in it is likely to forget. + +When too far from the camp, then we hobbled our horses at the nearest spot +where grass and water could be found, and after supping on broiled guanaco +steak and ostrich's gizzard--in reality right dainty morsels--we would +roll ourselves in our guanaco robes, and with saddles for pillows go +quietly to sleep. Ah, I never sleep so soundly now as I used to then +beneath the stars, fanned by the night breeze; and although the dews lay +heavy on our robes in the morning, we awoke as fresh as the daisies and as +happy as puma cubs that only wake to play. + +We began to get wealthy ere long with a weight of skins of birds and +beasts. Some of the most valuable of these were procured from a species of +otter that lived in the blackest, deepest pools of a stream we had fallen +in with in our wanderings. The Gauchos had a kind of superstitious dread +of the huge beast, whom they not inappropriately termed the river tiger. + +We had found our dogs of the greatest use in the hills, especially our +monster bloodhound-mastiffs. These animals possessed nearly all the +tracking qualities of the bloodhound, with more fierceness and speed than +the mastiff, and nearly the same amount of strength. Their courage, too, +and general hardiness were very great. + +Among our spoils we could count the skins of no less than fifteen splendid +pumas. Several of these had shown fight. Once, I remember, Archie had +leapt from his horse and was making his way through a patch of bush on the +plains, in pursuit of a young guanaco which he had wounded. He was all +alone: not even a dog with him; but Yambo's quick ear had detected the +growl of a lion in that bit of scrub, and he at once started off three of +his best dogs to the scene of Archie's adventure. Not two hundred yards +away myself, but on high ground, I could see everything, though powerless +to aid. I could see Archie hurrying back through the bush. I could see the +puma spring, and my poor cousin fall beneath the blow--then the death +struggle began. It was fearful while it lasted, which was only the +briefest possible time, for, even as I looked, the dogs were on the puma. +The worrying, yelling, and gurgling sounds were terrible. I saw the puma +on its hind legs, I saw one dog thrown high in the air, two others on the +wild beast's neck, and next moment Yambo himself was there, with every +other horseman save myself tearing along full tilt for the battle-field. + +Yambo's long spear had done the work, and all the noise soon ceased. +Though stunned and frightened, Archie was but little the worse. One dog +was killed. It seemed to have been Yambo's favourite. I could not help +expressing my astonishment at the exhibition of Yambo's grief. Here was a +man, once one of the cruellest and most remorseless of desert wanderers, +whose spear and knife had many a time and oft drunk human blood, shedding +tears over the body of his poor dog! Nor would he leave the place until he +had dug a grave, and, placing the bleeding remains therein, sadly and +slowly covered them up. + +But Yambo would meet his faithful hound again in the happy hunting-grounds +somewhere beyond the sky. That, at least, was Yambo's creed, and who +should dare deny him the comfort and joy the thought brings him! + + * * * * * + +It was now the sweetest season of all the year in the hills--the Indian +summer. The fierce heat had fled to the north, fled beyond the salt plains +of San Juan, beyond the wild desert lands of Rioja and arid sands of +Catamarca, lingering still, perhaps, among the dreamland gardens of +Tucuman, and reaching its eternal home among the sun-kissed forests of +leafy Brazil and Bolivia. The autumn days were getting shorter, the sky +was now more soft, the air more cool and balmy, while evening after +evening the sun went down amidst a fiery magnificence of colouring that +held us spellbound and silent to behold. + +A month and more in the hermit's glen! We could hardly believe it. How +quickly the time had flown! How quickly time always does fly when one is +happy! + +And now our tents are struck, our mules are laden. We have but to say +good-bye to the solitary being who has made the garden in the wilderness +his home, and go on our way. + +'Good-bye!' + +'Good-bye!' + +Little words, but sometimes _so_ hard to say. + +We had actually begun to like--ay, even to love the hermit, and we had not +found it out till now. But I noticed tears in Dugald's eye, and I am not +quite sure my own were not moist as we said farewell. + +We glanced back as we rode away to wave our hands once more. The hermit +was leaning against a tree. Just then the sun came struggling out from +under a cloud, the shadow beneath the tree darkened and darkened, till it +swallowed him up. + +And we never saw the hermit more. + +----- + + [15] The _Rhea Americana_. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +ADVENTURE WITH A TIGER. + + +Two years more have passed away, four years in all, since we first set +foot in the Silver West. What happy, blithesome years they had been, too! +Every day had brought its duties, every duty its pleasures as well. During +all this time we could not look back with regret to one unpleasant hour. +Sometimes we had endured some crosses as well, but we brothers bore them, +I believe, without a murmur, and Moncrieff without one complaining word. + +'Boys,' he would say, quietly, 'nobody gets it all his own way in this +world. We must just learn to take the thick wi' the thin.' + +Moncrieff was somewhat of a proverbial philosopher; but had he been +entrusted with the task of selecting proverbs that should smooth one's +path in life, I feel sure they would have been good ones. + +Strath Coila New, as we called the now green valley in which our little +colony had been founded, had improved to a wonderful extent in so brief a +time. The settlers had completed their houses long ago; they, like +ourselves, had laid out their fields and farms and planted their +vineyards; the hedges were green and flowering; the poplar-trees and +willows had sprung skywards as if influenced by magic--the magic of a +virgin soil; the fields were green with waving grain and succulent +lucerne; the vines needed the help of man to aid them in supporting their +wondrous wealth of grapes; fruit grew everywhere; birds sang everywhere, +and to their music were added sounds even sweeter still to our ears--the +lowing of herds of sleek fat cattle, the bleating armies of sheep, the +home-like noise of poultry and satisfied grunting of lazy pigs. The latter +sometimes fed on peaches that would have brought tears of joy to the eyes +of many an English market gardener. + +Our villa was complete now; wings and tower, and terraced lawns leading +down to the lake, close beside which Dugald had erected a boat-house that +was in itself like a little fairy palace. Dugald had always a turn for the +romantic, and nothing would suit him by way of a boat except a gondola. +What an amount of time and taste he had bestowed on it too! and how the +Gaucho carpenters had worked and slaved to please him and make it +complete! But there it was at last, a thing of beauty, in all +conscience--prows and bows, cushioned seats, and oars, and awnings, all +complete. + +It was his greatest pleasure to take auntie, Aileen, and old Jenny out to +skim the lake in this gondola, and sit for long happy hours reading or +fishing. + +Even Bombazo used to form an item in these pleasant little excursions. He +certainly was no use with an oar, but it was the 'bravo' captain's delight +to dress as a troubadour and sit twanging the light guitar under the +awnings, while Aileen and auntie plied the oars. + +Dugald was still our mighty hunter, the fearless Nimrod of hill and strath +and glen. But he was amply supported in all his adventures by Archie, who +had wonderfully changed for the better. He was brown and hard now, an +excellent horseman, and crack shot with either the revolver or rifle. + +Between the two of them, though ably assisted by a Gaucho or two, they had +fitted up the ancient ruined monastery far away among the hills as a kind +of shooting-box, and here they spent many a day, and many a night as +well. Archie had long since become acclimatized to all kinds of +creepies--they no longer possessed any terrors for him. + +The ruin, as I have before hinted, must have, at some bygone period, +belonged to the Jesuits; but so blown up with sand was it when Dugald took +possession that the work of restoration to something like its pristine +form had been a task of no little difficulty. The building stood on a +slight eminence, and at one side grew a huge ombu-tree. It was under this +that the only inhabitable room lay. This room had two windows, one on each +side, facing each other, one looking east, the other west. Neither glass +nor frames were in these windows, and probably had not existed even in the +Jesuits' time. The room was cooler without any such civilized +arrangements. + +It was a lonesome, eerie place at the very best, and that weird looking +ombu-tree, spreading its dark arms above the grey old walls, did not +detract from the air of gloom that surrounded it. Sometimes Archie said +laughingly that the tree was like a funeral pall. Well, the half-caste +Indians of the _estancias_ used to give this ruin a wide berth; they had +nasty stories to tell about it, stories that had been handed down through +generations. There were few indeed of even the Gauchos who would have +cared to remain here after night-fall, much less sleep within its walls. +But when Dugald's big lamp stood lighted on the table, when a fire of wood +burned on the low hearth, and a plentiful repast, with bowls of steaming +fragrant _maté_, stood before the young men, then the room looked far from +uncomfortable. + +There was at each side a hammock hung, which our two hunters slept in on +nights when they had remained too long on the hill, or wanted to be early +at the chase in the morning. + +'Whose turn is it to light the fire to-night?' said Dugald, one winter +evening, as the two jogged along together on their mules towards the ruin. + +'I think it is mine, cousin. Anyhow, if you feel lazy I'll make it so.' + +'No, I'm not lazy, but I want to take home a bird or two to-morrow that +auntie's very soul loveth, so if you go on and get supper ready I shall go +round the red dune and try to find them.' + +'You won't be long?' + +'I sha'n't be over an hour.' + +Archie rode on, humming a tune to himself. Arrived at the ruin, he cast +the mule loose, knowing he would not wander far away, and would find juicy +nourishment among the more tender of the cacti sprouts. + +Having lit a roaring fire, and seen it burn up, Archie spread asunder some +of the ashes, and placed thereon a huge pie-dish--not an empty one--to +warm. Meanwhile he hung a kettle of water on the hook above the fire, and, +taking up a book, sat down by the window to read by the light of the +setting sun until the water should boil. + +A whole half-hour passed away. The kettle had rattled its lid, and Archie +had hooked it up a few links, so that the water should not be wasted. It +was very still and quiet up here to-night, and very lonesome too. The sun +had just gone down, and all the western sky was aglow with clouds, whose +ever-changing beauty it was a pleasure to watch. Archie was beginning to +wish that Dugald would come, when he was startled at hearing a strange and +piercing cry far down below him in the cactus jungle. It was a cry that +made his flesh quiver and his very spine feel cold. It came from no human +lips, and yet it was not even the scream of a terror-struck mule. Next +minute the mystery was unravelled, and Dugald's favourite mule came +galloping towards the ruin, pursued by an enormous tiger, as the jaguar is +called here. + +[Illustration: On the same Limb of the Tree] + +Just as he had reached the ruin the awful beast had made his spring. His +talons drew blood, but the next moment he was rolling on the ground with +one eye apparently knocked out, and the foam around his fang-filled mouth +mixed with blood; and the mule was over the hills and safe, while the +jaguar was venting his fume and fury on Archie's rugs, which, with his +gun, he had left out there. + +There is no occasion to deny that the young man was almost petrified with +fear, but this did not last long: he must seek for safety somehow, +somewhere. To leave the ruin seems certain death, to remain is impossible. +Look, the tiger even already has scented him; he utters another fearful +yell, and makes direct for the window. The tree! the tree! Something seems +to utter those words in his ear as he springs from the open window. The +jaguar has entered the room as Archie, with a strength he never knew he +possessed, catches a lower limb and hoists himself up into the tree. He +hears yell after yell; now first in the ruin, next at the tree foot, and +then in the tree itself. Archie creeps higher and higher up, till the +branches can no longer bear him, and after him creeps death in the most +awful form imaginable. Already the brute is so close that he sees his +glaring eye and hears his awful scenting and snuffling. Archie is +fascinated by that tiger's face so near him--on the same limb of the tree, +he himself far out towards the point. This must be fascination. He feels +like one in a strange dream, for as the time goes by and the tiger springs +not, he takes to speculating almost calmly on his fate, and wondering +where the beast will seize him first, and if it will be very painful; if +he will hear his own bones crash, and so faint and forget everything. What +fangs the tiger has! How broad the head, and terribly fierce the grin! But +how the blood trickles from the wound in the skull! He can hear it +pattering on the dead leaves far beneath. + +Why doesn't the tiger spring and have it over? Why does--but look, look, +the brute has let go the branch and fallen down, down with a crash, and +Archie hears the dull thud of the body on the ground. + +Dead--to all intents and purposes. The good mule's hoof had cloven the +skull. + +'Archie! Archie! where on earth are you? Oh, Archie!' + +It is Dugald's voice. The last words are almost a shriek. + +Then away goes fear from Archie's heart, and joy unspeakable takes its +place. + +'Up here, Dugald,' he shouts, 'safe and sound.' + +I leave the reader to guess whether Dugald was glad or not to see his +cousin drop intact from the ombu-tree, or whether or not they enjoyed +their pie and _maté_ that evening after this terrible adventure. + +'I wonder,' said Archie, later on, and just as they were preparing for +hammock, 'I wonder, Dugald, if that tiger has a wife. I hope she won't +come prowling round after her dead lord in the middle of the night.' + +'Well, anyhow, Archie, we'll have our rifles ready, and Dash will give us +ample warning, you know. So good-night.' + +'Good-night. Don't be astonished if you hear me scream in my sleep. I feel +sure I'll dream I'm up in that dark ombu-tree, and perhaps in the clutches +of that fearsome tiger.' + + * * * * * + +About a month after the above related adventure the young men had another +at that very ruin, which, if not quite so stirring, was at all events far +more mysterious. + +It happened soon after a wild storm, a kind of semi-pampero, had swept +over the glen with much thunder and lightning and heavy rains. It had +cleared the atmosphere, however, which previously had been hazy and close. +It had cooled it as well, so that one afternoon, Dugald, addressing +Archie, said, + +'What do you say to an early morning among the birds to-morrow, cousin?' + +'Oh, I'm ready, Dugald, if you are,' was the reply. + +'Well, then, off you trot to the kitchen, and get food ready, and I'll see +to the shooting tackle and the mules.' + +When Dugald ran over to say good-night to Moncrieff and Aileen before they +started, he met old Jenny in the door. + +'Dear laddie,' she said, when she heard he was bound for the hills, 'I +hope nae ill will come over ye; but I wot I had an unco' ugly dream last +night. Put your trust in Providence, laddie. And ye winna forget to say +your prayers, will ye?' + +'That we won't, mother. Ta, ta!' + +Moncrieff saw Dugald to his own gate. With them went Wolf, the largest +bloodhound-mastiff. + +'Dreams,' said Moncrieff, 'may be neither here nor there; but you'll be +none the worse for taking Wolf.' + +'Thank you,' said Dugald; 'he shall come, and welcome.' + +The sun had quite set before they reached the ruin, but there was a +beautiful after-glow in the west--a golden haze beneath, with a kind of +crimson blush over it higher up. When they were on a level with the ruin, +the two windows of which, as already stated, were opposite to each other, +Archie said, musingly, + +'Look, Dugald, what a strange and beautiful light is streaming through the +windows!' + +'Yes,' replied Dugald, 'but there is something solemn, even ghostly, about +it. Don't you think so?' + +'True; there always is something ghostly about an empty ruin, I think. Are +you superstitious?' + +'No; but--see. What was that? Why, there is some one there! Look to your +rifle, Archie. It was an Indian, I am certain.' + +What had they seen? Why, only the head and shoulders of a passing figure +in the orange light of the two windows. It had appeared but one +moment--next it was gone. Rifles in left hand, revolvers in right, they +cautiously approached the ruin and entered. Never a soul was here. They +went out again, and looked around; they even searched the ombu-tree, but +all in vain. + +'Our eyes must have deceived us,' said Dugald. + +'I think,' said Archie, 'I have a theory that might explain the mystery.' + +'What is it, then?' + +'Well, that was no living figure we saw.' + +'What! You don't mean to say, Archie, it was a ghost?' + +'No, but a branch of that ghostly ombu-tree moved by a passing wind +between us and the light.' + +As he spoke they rounded the farthest off gable of the ruin, and there +both stopped as suddenly as if shot. Close beside the wall, with some rude +digging tools lying near, was a newly-opened grave! + +'This is indeed strange,' said Dugald, remembering old Jenny's warning and +dream; 'I cannot make it out.' + +'Nor can I. However, we must make the best of it.' + +By the time supper was finished they had almost forgotten all about it. +Only before lying down that night-- + +'I say, Archie,' said Dugald, 'why didn't we think of it?' + +'Think of what?' + +'Why, of putting Wolf the mastiff on the track. If there have been Indians +here he would have found them out.' + +'It will not be too late to-morrow, perhaps.' + +Dugald lay awake till it must have been long past midnight. He tried to +sleep, but failed, though he could tell from his regular breathing that +nothing was disturbing Archie's repose. It was a beautiful night outside, +and the light from a full moon streamed in at one window and fell on the +form of good Wolf, who was curled up on the floor; the other window was +shaded by the branches of the ombu-tree. No matter how calm it might be in +the valley below, away up here there was always a light breeze blowing, +and to-night the whispering in the tree at times resembled the sound of +human voices. So thought Dugald. Several times he started and listened, +and once he felt almost sure he heard footsteps as of people moving +outside. Then again all sounds--if sounds there had been--ceased, and +nothing was audible save the sighing wind in the ombu-tree. Oh, that +strange waving ombu-tree! He wondered if it really had some dark secret to +whisper to him, and had chosen this silent hour of night to reveal it. + +Hark, that was a sound this time! The mournful but piercing cry of a +night-bird. 'Chee-hee-ee! chee-hee-ee!' It was repeated farther up the +hill. But could the dog be deceived? Scarcely; and growling low as if in +anger, Wolf had arisen and stood pointing towards the ombu-shaded window. + +With one accord both Dugald and Archie, seizing their revolvers and +jumping from their hammocks, ran out just in time to see a tall figure +cross a patch of moonlit sward and disappear in the cactus jungle. + +Both fired in the direction, but of course aimlessly, and it was with the +greatest difficulty they succeeded in keeping the great dog from following +into the bush. + +They were disturbed no more that night; and daylight quite banished their +fears, though it could not dispel the mystery of the newly-dug grave. + +Indeed, they could even afford to joke a little over the matter now. + +'There is something in it, depend upon that,' said Dugald, as the two +stood together looking into the hole. + +'There doesn't seem to be,' said Archie, quizzingly. + +'And I mean to probe it to the bottom.' + +'Suppose you commence now, Dugald. Believe me, there is no time like the +present. Here are the tools. They look quite antediluvian. Do you think +now that it really was a flesh-and-blood Indian we saw here; or was it the +ghost of some murdered priest? And has he been digging down here to +excavate his own old bones, or have a peep to see that they are safe?' + +'Archie,' said Dugald, at last, as if he had not listened to a word of his +companion's previous remarks, 'Archie, we won't go shooting to-day.' + +'No?' + +'No, we will go home instead, and bring Moncrieff and my brothers here. I +begin to think this is no grave after all.' + +'Indeed, Dugald, and why?' + +'Why, simply for this reason: Yambo has told me a wonderful blood-curdling +story of two hermit priests who lived here, and who had found treasure +among the hills, and were eventually murdered and buried in this very +ruin. According to the tradition the slaughtering Indians were themselves +afterwards killed, and since then strange appearances have taken place +from time to time, and until we made a shooting-box of the ruin no Gauchos +could be found bold enough to go inside it, nor would any Indian come +within half a mile of the place. That they have got more courageous now we +had ample evidence last night.' + +'And you think that--' + +'I think that Indians are not far away, and that--but come, let us saddle +our mules and be off.' + +It was high time, for at that very moment over a dozen pairs of fierce +eyes were watching them from the cactus jungle. Spears were even poised +ready for an attack, and only perhaps the sight of that ferocious-looking +dog restrained them. + +No one could come more speedily to a conclusion than Moncrieff. He hardly +waited to hear Dugald's story before he had summoned Yambo, and bade him +get ready with five trusty Gauchos to accompany them to the hills. + +'Guns, señor?' + +'Ay, guns, Yambo, and the other dog. We may have to draw a trigger or two. +Sharp is the word, Yambo!' + +In two hours more, and just as the winter's sun was at its highest, we all +reached the cactus near the old monastic ruin. Here a spear flew close +past Moncrieff's head. A quick, fierce glance of anger shot from the eyes +of this buirdly Scot. He called a dog, and in a moment more disappeared in +the jungle. A minute after there was the sharp ring of a revolver, a +shriek, a second shot, and all was still. Presently Moncrieff rode back, +looking grim, but calm and self-possessed. + +There was no one near the ruin when we advanced, but the Indians had been +here. The grave was a grave no longer in shape, but a huge hole. + +'Set to work, Yambo, with your men. They have saved us trouble. Dugald and +Archie and Donald, take three men and the dogs and scour the bush round +here. Then place sentinels about, and post yourselves on top of the red +dune.' + +Yambo and his men set to work in earnest, and laboured untiringly for +hours and hours, but without finding anything. A halt was called at last +for rest and refreshment; then the work was commenced with greater heart +than ever. + +I had ridden away to the red dune to carry food to my brothers and the +dogs and the sentinels. + +The day was beginning already to draw to a close. The sky all above was +blue and clear, but along the horizon lay a bank of grey rolling clouds, +that soon would be changed to crimson and gold by the rays of the setting +sun. Hawks were poised high in the air, and flocks of kites were slowly +winging their way to the eastward. + +From our position on the summit of the red dune we had a most extended +view on all sides. We could even see the tall waving poplars of our own +_estancias_, and away westward a vast rolling prairie of pampa land, +bounded by the distant _sierras_. My eyes were directed to one level and +snow-white patch in the plain, which might have been about three square +miles in extent, when suddenly out from behind some dunes that lay beyond +rode a party of horsemen. We could tell at a glance they were Indians, and +that they were coming as fast as fleet horses could carry them, straight +for the hill on which we stood. There was not a moment to lose, so, +leaping to the back of my mule, I hurried away to warn our party. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +A RIDE FOR LIFE. + + +'Moncrieff!' I cried, as soon as I got within hail, 'the Indians will be +on us in less than half an hour!' + +'Then, boy,' replied Moncrieff, 'call in your brothers and the men; they +cannot hold the dune. We must fight them here, if it be fighting they +mean. Hurry back, I have something to show you.' + +We had all returned in less than ten minutes. Greatly to our astonishment, +we found no one in the pit now, but we heard voices beneath, and I hurried +in and down. + +They had found a cave; whether natural or not we could not at present say. +At one side lay a heap of mouldering bones, in the opposite corner a huge +wooden chest. Moncrieff had improvised a torch, and surely Aladdin in his +cave could not have been more astonished at what he saw than we were now! +The smoky light fell on the golden gleam of nuggets! Yes, there they were, +of all shapes and sizes. Moncrieff plunged his hand to the bottom of the +box and stirred them up as he might have done roots or beans. + +This, then, was the secret the ruin had held so long--the mystery of the +giant ombu-tree. + +That the Indians in some way or other had got scent of this treasure was +evident, and as these wandering savages care little if anything for gold +on their own account, it was equally evident that some white man--himself +not caring to take the lead or even appear--was hounding them on to find +it, with the promise doubtless of a handsome reward. + +Not a moment was there to be lost now. The treasure must be removed. An +attempt was first made to lift the chest bodily. This was found to be +impossible owing to the decayed condition of the wood. The grain-sacks, +therefore, which formed a portion of the Gaucho's mule-trappings, were +requisitioned, and in a very short time every gold nugget was carried out +and placed in safety in a corner of our principal room in the +hunting-box. + +The beasts were placed for safety in another room of the ruin, a trench +being dug before the door, which could be commanded from one of our +windows. + +'How many horsemen did you count?' said Moncrieff to me. + +'As near as I could judge,' I replied, 'there must be fifty.' + +'Yes, there may be a swarm more. One of you boys must ride to-night to the +_estancia_ and get assistance. Who volunteers?' + +'I do,' said Dugald at once. + +'Then it will be well to start without delay before we are surrounded. +See, it is already dusk, and we may expect our Indian friends at any +moment. Mount, lad, and Heaven preserve you!' + +Dugald hardly waited to say another word. He saw to the revolvers in his +saddle-bows, slung his rifle over his shoulder, sprang to the saddle, and +had disappeared like a flash. + +And now we had but to wait the turn of events--turn how they might. + + * * * * * + +Dugald told us afterwards that during that memorable ride to the +_estancia_ he felt as if the beast beneath him was a winged horse instead +of his own old-fashioned and affectionate mule. Perhaps it was fear that +lent him such speed, and possibly it was fear transmitted even from his +rider. Times without number since we had come out to our new home in the +Silver West my brother had shown what sort of stuff he was made of, but a +ride like this is trying to a heart like oak or nerves like steel, and a +young man must be destitute of soul itself not to feel fear on such an +occasion. Besides, the very fact of flying from unseen foes adds to the +terror. + +Down through the cactus jungle he went, galloping in and out and out and +in, himself hardly knowing the road, trusting everything to the sagacity +of the wondrous mule. Oftentimes when returning from a day on the hills, +tired and weary, he had thought the way through this strange green +bushland interminably long; but now, fleetly though he was speeding on, he +thought it would never, never end, that he would never, never come out +into the open braeland, and see, miles away beneath him, the twinkling +lights of the _estancia_. Many an anxious glance, too, did he cast around +him or into the gloomiest shades of the jungle, more than once imagining +he saw dusky figures therein with long spears ready to launch at him. + +He is out at last, however; but the path is now loose and rough and stony. +After riding for some hundred yards he has to cut across at right angles +to the jungle he has left. To his horror, a dozen armed Indians at that +very moment leave the cactus, and with levelled spears and wild shouts +dash onward to intercept him. This is indeed a ride for life, for to his +immediate left is a precipice full twenty feet in height. He must gain the +end of this before he can put even a yard of actual distance betwixt +himself and the savages who are thirsting for his life. More than once he +has half made up his mind to dare the leap, but the venture is far too +great. + +Nearer and nearer sweep the Indians. Dugald is close at the turning-point +now, but he sees the foremost savage getting the deadly lasso ready. He +must shoot, though he has to slacken speed slightly to take better aim. + +He fires. Down roll horse and man, and Dugald is saved. + +They have heard that rifle-shot far away on the _estancia_. Quick eyes are +turned towards the braelands, and, dusk though it is, they notice that +something more than usual is up. Five minutes afterwards half a dozen +armed horsemen thunder out to meet Dugald. They hear his story, and all +return to alarm the colony and put the whole place in a state of defence. +Then under the guidance of Dugald they turn back once more--a party of +twenty strong now--towards the hills, just as the moon, which is almost +full, is rising and shining through between the solemn steeple-like +poplars. + +To avoid the jungle, and a probable ambuscade, they have to make a long +_détour_, but they reach the ruin at last, to find all safe and sound. The +Indians know that for a time their game is played, and they have lost; and +they disappeared as quickly and mysteriously as they came leaving not a +trace behind. + +The gold is now loaded on the backs of the mules, and the journey home +commenced. + +As they ride down through the giant cacti two huge vultures rise with +flapping wings and heavy bodies at no great distance. It was into that +very thicket that Moncrieff rode this morning. It was there he fired his +revolver. The vultures had been disturbed at a feast--nothing more. + +Great was the rejoicing at the safe return of Moncrieff and his party from +the hills. Our poor aunt had been troubled, indeed, but Aileen was +frantic, and threw herself into her husband's arms when she saw him in +quite a passion of hysterical joy. + +Now although there was but little if any danger of an attack to-night on +the _estancias_, no one thought of retiring to bed. There was much to be +done by way of preparation, for we were determined not to lose a horse, +nor even a sheep, if we could help it. So we arranged a code of signals by +means of rifle-shots, and spent the whole of the hours that intervened +betwixt the time of our return and sunrise in riding round the farms and +visiting even distant _puestos_. + +My brothers and I and Moncrieff lay down when day broke to snatch a few +hours of much-needed rest. + +It was well on in the forenoon when I went over to Moncrieff's mansion. I +had already been told that strangers had arrived from distant _estancias_ +bringing evil tidings. The poor men whom I found in the drawing-room with +Moncrieff had indeed brought dreadful news. They had escaped from their +burned _estancias_ after seeing their people massacred by savages before +their eyes. They had seen others on the road who had suffered even worse, +and did not know what to do or where to fly. Many had been hunted into the +bush and killed there. Forts had been attacked further south, and even the +soldiers of the republic in some instances had been defeated and scattered +over the country. + +The year, indeed, was one that will be long remembered by the citizens of +the Argentine Republic. Happily things have now changed for the better, +and the Indians have been driven back south of the Rio Negro, which will +for ever form a boundary which they must not cross on pain of death. + +More fugitives dropped in that day, and all had pitiful, heartrending +stories to tell. + +Moncrieff made every one welcome, and so did we all, trying our very best +to soothe the grief and anguish they felt for those dear ones they would +never see more on earth. + +And now hardly a day passed that did not bring news of some kind of the +doings of the Indians. Success had rendered them bold, while it appeared +to have cowed for a time the Government of this noble republic, or, at +all events, had confused and paralyzed all its action. Forts were overcome +almost without resistance. Indeed, some of them were destitute of the +means of resisting, the men having no proper supply of ammunition. +_Estancia_ after _estancia_ on the frontier had been raided and burned, +with the usual shocking barbarities that make one shudder even to think +of. + +It was but little likely that our small but wealthy colony would escape, +for the fact that we were now possessed of the long-buried treasure--many +thousands of pounds in value--must have spread like wild-fire. + +One morning Moncrieff and I started early, and rode to a distant +_estancia_, which we were told had been attacked and utterly destroyed, +not a creature being left alive about the place with the exception of the +cattle and horses, which the Indians had captured. We had known this +family. They had often attended Moncrieff's happy little evening parties, +and the children had played in our garden and rowed with us in the +gondola. + +Heaven forbid I should attempt to draw a graphic picture of all we saw! +Let it be sufficient to say that the rumours which had reached us were all +too true, and that Moncrieff and I saw sights which will haunt us both +until our dying day. + +The silence all round the _estancia_ when we rode up was eloquent, +terribly eloquent. The buildings were blackened ruins, and it was painful +to notice the half-scorched trailing flowers, many still in bloom, +clinging around the wrecked and charred verandah. But everywhere about, in +the out-buildings, on the lawn, in the garden itself, were the remains of +the poor creatures who had suffered. + + 'Alas! for love of this were all, + And none beyond, O earth!' + +Moncrieff spoke but little all the way back. While standing near the +verandah I had seen him move his hand to his eyes and impatiently brush +away a tear, but after that his face became firm and set, and for many a +day after this I never saw him smile. + + * * * * * + +At this period of our strange family story I lay down my pen and lean +wearily back in my chair. It is not that I am tired of writing. Oh, no! +Evening after evening for many and many a long week I have repaired up +here to my turret chamber--my beautiful study in our Castle of Coila--and +with my faithful hound by my feet I have bent over my sheets and +transcribed as faithfully as I could events as I remember them. But it is +the very multiplicity of these events as I near the end of my story that +causes me to pause and think. + +Ah! here comes aunt, gliding into my room, pausing for a moment, curtain +in hand, half apologetically, as she did on that evening described in our +first chapter. + +'No, auntie, you do not disturb me. Far from it. I was longing for your +company.' + +She is by my side now, and looking down at my manuscript. + +'Yes,' she says many times--nodding assent to every sentence, and ever +turning back the pages for reference--'yes, and now you come near the last +events of this story of the M'Crimmans of Coila. Come out to the castle +roof, and breathe the evening air, and I will talk.' + +We sit there nearly an hour. Aunt's memory is better even than mine, and I +listen to her without ever once opening my lips. Then I lead her back to +the tower, and point smilingly to the harp. + +She has gone at last, and I resume my story. + + * * * * * + +We, Moncrieff and I, saw no signs of Indians during our long ride that +day. We had gone on this journey with our lives in our hands. The very +daringness and dash of it was probably our salvation. The enemy were +about--they might be here, there, anywhere. Every bush might conceal a +foe, but they certainly made no appearance. + +All was the same apparently about our _estancias_; _but_ I wondered a +little that my brothers had not come out to meet me as usual, and that +faithful, though plain-faced Yambo looked at me strangely, and I thought +pityingly, as he took my mule to lead away to the compound. + +I went straight away through our gardens, and entered the drawing-room by +the verandah window. + +I paused a moment, holding the casement in my hand. Coming straight out of +the glare of the evening sunset, the room appeared somewhat dark, but I +noticed Dugald sitting at the table with his face bent down over his hand, +and Donald lying on the couch. + +'Dugald!' + +He started up and ran towards me, seizing and wringing my hand. + +'Oh, Murdoch,' he cried, 'our poor father!' + +'You have had a letter--he is ill?' + +'He is ill.' + +'Dugald,' I cried, 'tell me all! Dugald--is--father--dead?' + +No reply. + +I staggered towards the table, and dropped limp and stricken and helpless +into a chair. + +I think I must have been ill for many, many days after this sad news. I +have little recollection of the events of the next week--I was engrossed, +engulfed in the one great sorrow. The unexpected death of so well-beloved +a father in the meridian of life was a terrible blow to us all, but more +so to me, with all I had on my mind. + +'And so, and so,' I thought, as I began to recover, 'there is an end to my +bright dreams of future happiness--_the_ dream of all my dreams, to have +father out here among us in our new home in the Silver West, and all the +dark portions of the past forgotten. Heaven give me strength to bear it!' + +I had spoken the last words aloud, for a voice at my elbow said-- + +'Amen! Poor boy! Amen!' + +I turned, and--_there stood Townley_. + +'You wonder to see me here,' he said, as he took my hand. 'Nay, but nobody +should ever wonder at anything I do. I am erratic. I did not come over +before, because I did not wish to influence your mind. You have been ill, +but--I'm glad to see you weeping.' + +I did really sob and cry then as if my very heart would burst and break. + + * * * * * + +I was well enough in a day or two to hear the rest of the news. Townley, +who was very wise, had hesitated to tell me everything at once. + +But if anything could be called joyful news now surely this was--mother +and Flora were at Villa Mercedes, and would be here in a day or two. +Townley had come on before, even at considerable personal risk, to break +the news to us, and prepare us all. Mother and sister were waiting an +escort, not got up specially for them certainly, but that would see to +their safety. It consisted of a large party of officers and men who were +passing on to the frontiers to repel, or try to repel, the Indian +invasion. + + * * * * * + +We all went to meet mother and sister at the far-off cross roads. There +was quite a large and very well-armed party of us, and we encamped for +three days near an _estancia_ to await their coming. + +It was on the morning of the fourth day that one of the Gauchos reported +an immense cloud of dust far away eastwards on the Mendoza road. + +'They might be Indians,' he added. + +'Perhaps,' said Moncrieff, 'but we will risk it.' + +So camp was struck and off we rode, my brothers and I forming the +vanguard, Moncrieff and Archie bringing up the rear. How my heart beat +with emotion when the first horsemen of the advancing party became visible +through the cloud of dust, and I saw they were soldiers! + +On we rode now at the gallop. + +Yes, mother was there, and sister, and they were well. Our meeting may be +better imagined than described. + + * * * * * + +Both mother and Flora were established at the _estancia_, and so days and +weeks flew by, and I was pleased to see them smile, though mother looked +sad, so sad, yet so beautiful, just as she had ever looked to me. + +Dugald was the first to recover anything approaching to a chastened +happiness. He had his darling sister with him. He was never tired taking +her out and showing her all the outs-and-ins and workings of our new +home. + +It appeared to give him the chiefest delight, however, to see her in the +gondola. + +I remember him saying one evening: + +'Dear Flora! What a time it seems to look back since we parted in old +Edina. But through all these long years I have worked for you and thought +about you, and strange, I have always pictured you just as you are now, +sitting under the gondola awnings, looking piquant and pretty, and on just +such a lovely evening as this. But I didn't think you would be so big, +Flora.' + +'Dear stupid Dugald!' replied Flora, blushing slightly because Archie's +eyes were bent on her in admiration, respectful but unconcealable. 'Did +you think I would always remain a child?' + +'You'll always be a child to me, Flo,' said Dugald. + +But where had the Indians gone? + +Had our bold troops beaten them back? or was the cloud still floating over +the _estancia_, and floating only to burst? + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE ATTACK ON THE ESTANCIA. + + +Shortly after we had all settled down at the _estancia_, and things began +to resume their wonted appearance, albeit we lived in a state of constant +preparation to repel attack, an interview took place one day in +Moncrieff's drawing-room, at which, though I was not present, I now know +all that happened. + +To one remark of Townley's my mother replied as follows: + +'No, Mr. Townley, I think with you. I feel even more firmly, I believe, +than you do on the subject, for you speak with, pardon me, some little +doubt or hesitancy. Our boy's conscience must not be tampered with, not +for all the estates in the world. Much though I love Coila, from which +villainy may have banished us, let it remain for ever in the possession of +the M'Rae sooner than even hint to Murdoch that an oath, however imposed, +is not binding.' + +'Yes,' said Townley, 'you are right, Mrs. M'Crimman; but the present +possessor of Coila, the younger Le Roi, or M'Rae, as he was called before +his father's death, has what he is pleased to call broader views on the +subject than we have.' + +'Mr. Townley, the M'Rae is welcome to retain his broad views, and we will +stick to the simple faith of our forefathers. The M'Rae is of French +education.' + +'Yes, and at our meeting, though he behaved like a perfect +gentleman--indeed, he is a gentleman--' + +'True, in spite of the feud I cannot forget that the M'Raes are distant +relatives of the M'Crimmans. He must, therefore, be a gentleman.' + +'"My dear sir," he said to me, "I cannot conceive of such +folly"--superstitious folly, he called it--"as that which your young +friend Murdoch M'Crimman is guilty of. Let him come to me and say boldly +that the ring found in the box and in the vault was on the finger of +Duncan--villain he is, at all events--on the night he threatened to shoot +him, and I will give up all claim to the estates of Coila; but till he +does so, or until you bring me other proof, I must be excused for +remaining where I am."' + +'Then let him,' said my mother quietly. + +'Nay, but,' said Townley, 'I do not _mean_ to let him. It has become the +one dream of my existence to see justice and right done to my dear old +pupil Murdoch, and I think I begin to see land.' + +'Yes?' + +'I believe I do. I waited and watched untiringly. Good Gilmore, who still +lives in Coila, watched for me too. I knew one thing was certain--namely, +that the ex-poacher Duncan M'Rae would turn up again at the castle. He +did. He went to beg money from the M'Rae. The M'Rae is a man of the world; +he saw that this visit of Duncan's was but the beginning of a never-ending +persecution. He refused Duncan's request point-blank. Then the man changed +flank and breathed dark threatenings. The M'Rae, he hinted, had better not +make him (Duncan) his enemy. He (M'Rae) was obliged to him for the house +and position he occupied, but the same hand that _did_ could _undo_. At +this juncture the M'Rae had simply rung the bell, and the ex-poacher had +to retire foiled, but threatening still. It was on that same day I +confronted him and told him all I knew. Then I showed him the spurious +ring, which, as I placed it on my finger, even he could not tell from the +original. Even this did not overawe him, but when I ventured a guess that +this very ring had belonged to a dead man, and pretended I knew more than +I did, he turned pale. He was silent for a time--thinking, I suppose. Then +he put a question which staggered me with its very coolness, and, +clergyman though I am, I felt inclined at that moment to throttle the man +where he stood. Would we pay him handsomely for turning king's evidence on +himself and confessing the whole was a conspiracy, and would we save him +from the legal penalty of the confessed crime? + +'I assure you, Mrs. M'Crimman, that till then I had leaned towards the +belief that, scoundrel though this Duncan be, some little spark of +humanity remained in his nature, and that he might be inclined to do +justice for justice's sake. I dare say he read my answer in my eyes, and +he judged too that for the time being I was powerless to act. Could he +have killed me then, I know he would have done so. Once more he was silent +for a time. He did not dare to repeat his first question, but he put +another, "Have you any charge to make against me about _anything_?" He +placed a terribly-meaning emphasis on that word "anything." I looked at +him. I was wondering whether he really had had anything to do with the +death of old Mawsie, and if the ring of which I had the facsimile on my +finger had in reality belonged to a murdered man. Seeing me hesitate, he +played a bold card; it was, I suppose, suggested to him by the appearance +at that moment of the village policeman walking calmly past the window of +the little inn where we sat. He knocked, and beckoned to him, while I sat +wondering and thinking that verily the man before me was cleverer by far +than I. On the entrance of the policeman--"This gentleman, policeman," he +said, quietly and slowly, "makes or insinuates charges against me in +private which now in your presence I dare him to repeat." Then turning to +me--"The ball is with you," he said. And what could I reply? Nothing. I do +believe that at that very moment even the worthy village policeman +noticed and pitied my position, for he turned to Duncan, and, nodding, +made this remark in Gaelic: "I know Mr. Townley as a gentleman, and I know +you, Duncan M'Rae, to be something very different. If Mr. Townley makes no +charge against you it is no doubt because he is not prepared with proofs. +But, Duncan, boy, if you like to remain in the glen for a few days, I'm +not sure there isn't a charge or two I could rub up against you myself." + +'I left the room with the policeman. Now I knew that, although foiled, +Duncan did not consider himself beaten. I had him watched therefore, and +followed by a detective. I wanted to find out his next move. It was +precisely what I thought it would be. He had heard of our poor chief +M'Crimman's death, remember. Well, a day or two after our conversation in +the little inn at Coila, Duncan presented himself at the M'Rae's +advocate's office and so pleaded his case--so begged and partially hinted +at disclosures and confessions--that this solicitor, not possessed of the +extraordinary pride and independence of the M'Rae--' + +'A pride and independence, Mr. Townley,' said my aunt, 'which the M'Raes +take from their relatedness to our family.' + +'That is true,' said my mother. + +'Well, I was going to say,' continued Townley, 'that Duncan so far +overcame the advocate that this gentleman thought it would be for his +client's interest to accede in part to his demands, or rather to one of +them--viz., to pay him a sum of money to leave the country for ever. But +this money was not to be paid until he had taken his passage and was about +to sail for some--any--country, not nearer than the United States of +America, Mr. Moir's--the advocate's--clerk was to see him on board ship, +and see him sail.' + +'And did he sail?' said my aunt, as Townley paused and looked at her. + +'Yes, in a passenger ship, for Buenos Ayres.' + +'I see it all now,' said my aunt. 'He thinks that no charge can be made +against him there for conspiracy or crime committed at home.' + +'Yes, and he thinks still further: he thinks that he will be more +successful with dear Murdoch than he was with either the M'Rae or +myself.' + +There was a few minutes' pause, my aunt being the first to break the +silence. + +'What a depth of well-schemed villainy!' was the remark she made. + +Moncrieff had listened to all the conversation without once putting in a +word. Now all he said was-- + +'Dinna forget, Miss M'Crimman, the words o' the immortal Bobbie Burns: + + "The best laid schemes o' mice and men + Gang aft agley, + And leave us naught but grief and pain + For promised joy."' + + * * * * * + +To the fear and fever consequent upon the depredations committed by the +Indians there succeeded a calmness and lull which the canny Moncrieff +thought almost unnatural, considering all that had gone before. He took +pains to find out whether, as had been currently reported, our Argentine +troops had been victorious all along the frontier line. He found that the +report, like many others, had been grossly exaggerated. If a foe retires, +a foe is beaten by the army which _sees_ that foe retire. This seems too +often to be the logic of the war-path. In the present instance, however, +the Indians belonged to races that lived a nomad life. They were +constantly advancing and retreating. When they chose to advance in this +particular year there was not a sufficient number of cavalry to oppose +them, nor were the soldiers well mounted. The savages knew precisely on +what part of the stage to enter, and they did not think it incumbent on +them to previously warn our Argentine troops. Indeed, they, like sensible +savages, rather avoided a conflict than courted one. It was not conflict +but cattle they were after principally; then if at any time strategy +directed retreat, why, they simply turned their horses' heads to the +desert, the pampas, or mountain wilds, and the troops for a time had seen +the last of them. + +I think Moncrieff would have made a capital general, for fancied security +never sent him to sleep. What had happened once might happen again, he +thought, and his _estancias_ were big prizes for Indians to try for, +especially as there was plenty to gain by success, and little to lose by +defeat. + +I have said that our Coila Villa was some distance from the fortified +Moncrieff houses. It was now connected with the general rampart and +ditches. It was part and parcel of the whole system of fortification; so +my brothers and I might rest assured it would be defended, if ever there +was any occasion. + +'It seems hard,' said Townley to Moncrieff one day, 'that you should be +put to so much trouble and expense. Why does not the Government protect +its settlers?' + +'The Government will in course of time,' replied Moncrieff. 'At present, +as we lie pretty low down in the western map, we are looked upon as rich +pioneers, and left to protect ourselves.' + +They were riding then round the _estancias_, visiting outlying _puestos_. + +'You have your rockets and red-lights for night signals, and your flags +for day use?' Moncrieff was saying to each _puestero_ or shepherd. + +'We have,' was the invariable reply. + +'Well, if the Indians are sighted, signal at once, pointing the fan in +their direction, then proceed to drive the flocks towards the _estancias_. +There,' continued Moncrieff, 'there is plenty of corraling room, and we +can concentrate a fire that will, I believe, effectually hold back these +raiding thieves.' + +One day there came a report that a fort had been carried by a cloud of +Indians. + +This was in the forenoon. Towards evening some Gauchos came in from a +distant _estancia_. They brought the old ugly story of conflagration and +murder, to which Moncrieff and his Welsh partner had long since become +used. + +But now the cloud was about to burst over our _estancia_. We all ate our +meals together at the present awful crisis, just, I think, to be company +to each other, and to talk and keep up each other's heart. + +But to-day Moncrieff had ordered an early dinner, and this was ominous. +Hardly any one spoke much during the meal. A heaviness was on every heart, +and if any one of us made an effort to smile and look cheerful, others saw +that this was only assumed, and scarcely responded. + +Perhaps old Jenny spoke more than all of us put together. And her remarks +at times made us laugh, gloomy though the situation was. + +'They reeving Philistines are coming again, are they? Well, laddie, if the +worst should happen I'll just treat them to a drap parridge.' + +'What, mither?' + +'A drap parridge, laddie. It was boiled maize I poured ower the shoulders +o' them in the caravan. But oatmeal is better, weel scalded. Na, na, +naething beats a drap parridge. Bombazo,' she said presently,'you've been +unco quiet and douce for days back, I hope you'll no show the white +feather this time and bury yoursel' in the moold like a rabbit.' + +Poor Bombazo winced, and really, judging from his appearance, he had been +ill at ease for weeks back. There was no singing now, and the guitar lay +unheeded in its case. + +'Do not fear for me, lady. I am burning already to see the foe.' + +'Weel, Bombazo man, ye dinna look vera warlike. You're unco white about +the gills already, but wae worth the rigging o' you if ye dinna fecht. My +arm is strong to wield the auld ginghamrella yet.' + +'Hush, mither, hush!' said Moncrieff. + +Immediately after dinner Moncrieff beckoned to Townley, and the two left +the room and the house together. + +'You think the Indians will come to-night?' said Townley, after a time. + +'I know they will, and in force too.' + +'Well, I feel like an idler. You, General Moncrieff, have not appointed me +any station.' + +Moncrieff smiled. + +'I am now going to do so,' he said, 'and it is probably the most important +position and trust on the _estancia_.' + +They walked up as far as the great canal while they conversed. + +Arrived there, Moncrieff pointed to what looked like a bundle of +brushwood. + +'You see those branches?' + +'Yes.' + +'And you see that wooden lock or huge doorway?' + +'I do.' + +'Well, my friend, the brushwood conceals a sentry-box. It overlooks the +whole _estancia_. It conceals something else, a small barrel of gunpowder, +which you are to hang to the hook yonder on the wooden lock, and explode +the moment you have the signal.' + +'And the signal will be?' + +'A huge rocket sent up from either my _estancia_ house or Coila Villa. +There may be several, but you must act when you see the first. There is +fuse enough to the bomb to give you time to escape, and the bomb is big +enough to burst the lock and flood the whole ditch system in and around +the _estancia_. You are to run as soon as you fire. Further on you will +find another brushwood place of concealment. Hide there. Heaven forbid I +should endanger a hair of your head! Now you know your station!' + +'I do,' said Townley, 'and thankful I am to think I can be of service in +this great emergency.' + +Before dark all the most valuable portion of our stock was safely +corraled, and silence, broken only by the occasional lowing of the cattle +or the usual night sounds of farm life, reigned around and over the +_estancia_. + +Later on Townley stole quietly out, and betook himself to his station. + +Still later on Yambo rode in and right up to the verandah of our chief +sitting-room. The horse he bestrode was drenched in sweat. He had seen +Indians in force; they were even now advancing. He had ridden for his +life. + +The order 'Every man to his quarters!' was now given. + +The night which was to be so terrible and so memorable in the annals of +Moncrieff's _estancia_ had begun. It was very still, and at present very +dark. But by and by the moon would rise. + +'A rocket, sir!' we heard Archie shout from his post as sentinel; 'a +rocket from the south-western _puesto_.' + +We waited, listening, starting almost at every sound. At length in the +distance we could plainly hear the sound of horses' hoofs on the road, and +before many minutes the first _puestero_ rode to the gate and was +admitted. The men from the other _puestos_ were not far behind; and, all +being safe inside, the gates were fastened and fortified by triple bars of +wood. + +All along the ditches, and out for many yards, was spread such a thorny +spikework of pointed wood as to defy the approach of the cleverest Indian +for hours at least. + +While we waited I found time to run round to the drawing-room. There was +no sign of fear on any face there, with the exception perhaps of that of +poor Irish Aileen. And I could well believe her when she told me it was +not for herself she cared, but for her 'winsome man.' + +I was talking to them as cheerfully as I could, when I heard the sound of +a rifle, and, waving them good-bye, I rushed off to my station. + +Slowly the moon rose, and before many minutes the whole _estancia_ was +flooded with its light. And how we thanked Heaven for that light only +those who have been situated as we were now can fully understand. + +Up it sailed between the dark whispering poplars. Never had these trees +seemed to me more stately, more noble. Towering up into the starry sky, +they seemed like sentinels set to guard and defend us, while their taper +fingers, piercing heavenwards, carried our thoughts to One who never +deserts those who call on Him in faith in their hour of need. + +The moon rose higher and higher, and its light--for it was a full +moon--got still more silvery as it mounted towards its zenith. But as yet +there was no sign that a foe as remorseless and implacable as the tiger of +the jungle was abroad on the plains. + +A huge fire had been erected behind the mansion, and about ten o'clock the +female servants came round our lines with food, and huge bowls of steaming +_maté_. + +Almost immediately after we were at our quarters again. + +I was stationed near our own villa. Leaning over a parapet, I could not +help, as I gazed around me, being struck with the exceeding beauty of the +night. Not far off the lake shone in the moon's rays like a silver mirror, +but over the distant hills and among the trees and hedges was spread a +thin blue gauzy mist that toned and softened the whole landscape. + +As I gazed, and was falling into a reverie, a puff of white smoke and a +flash not fifty yards away, and the ping of a bullet close to my ear, +warned me that the attack had commenced. + +There had been no living thing visible just before then, but the field on +one side of our villa was now one moving mass of armed Indians, rushing on +towards the ditch and breastwork. + +At the same moment all along our lines ran the rattle of rifle-firing. +That savage crowd, kept at bay by the spikework, made a target for our men +that could hardly be missed. The war-cry, which they had expected to +change in less than a minute to the savage shout of victory, was mingled +now with groans and yells of anger and pain. + +But this, after all, was not the main attack. From a red signal-light far +along the lines I soon discovered that Moncrieff was concentrating his +strength there, and I hastened in that direction with five of my best men. +The Indians were under the charge of a _cacique_ on horseback, whose +shrill voice sounded high over the din of battle and shrieks of the +wounded. He literally hurled his men like seas against the gates and +ramparts here. + +But all in vain. Our fellows stood; and the _cacique_ at length withdrew +his men, firing a volley or two as they disappeared behind the hedges. + +There was comparative silence for a space now. It was soon broken, +however, by the thunder of Indian cavalry. The savages were going to +change their tactics. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +THE LAST ASSAULT. + + +Never before, perhaps, in all the annals of Indian warfare had a more +determined attack been made upon a settler's _estancia_. The _cacique_ or +_caciques_ who led the enemy seemed determined to purchase victory at any +cost or hazard. Nor did the principal _cacique_ hesitate to expose himself +to danger. During the whole of the first onset he moved about on horseback +close in the rear of his men, and appeared to bear a charmed life. The +bullets must have been whizzing past him as thick as flies. Moncrieff +himself tried more than once to bring him down, but all in vain. + +During the final assault he was equally conspicuous; he was here, there, +and everywhere, and his voice and appearance, even for a moment, among +them never failed to cause his men to redouble their efforts. + +It was not, however, until far on into the night that this last and awful +charge was made. + +The savage foe advanced with a wild shout all along the line of rampart +that connected the Moncrieff main _estancia_ with our villa. This was +really our weakest part. + +[Illustration: The Indians advanced with a Wild Shout] + +The assault was made on horseback. We heard them coming thundering on some +time before we saw them and could fire. They seemed mad, furious; their +tall feather-bedecked spears were waved high in air; they sat like huge +baboons on their high saddles, and their very horses had been imbued with +the recklessness of their riders, and came on bounding and flying over our +frail field of spikes. It was to be all spear work till they came to close +quarters; then they would use their deadly knives. + +Hardly had the first sound of the horses' hoofs reached our ears ere one, +two, three rockets left Coila Villa; and scarcely had they exploded in the +air and cast their golden showers of sparks abroad, before the roar of an +explosion was heard high up on the braeland that shook the houses to their +very foundations--and then--there is the awful rush of foaming, seething +water. + +Nothing could withstand that unexpected flood; men and horses were floated +and washed away, struggling and helpless, before it. + +Just at the time when the last assault was nearly at its grim close I felt +my arm pulled, and looking quickly round found Yambo at my side. He still +clutched me by the arm, but he was waving his blood-stained sword in the +direction of Moncrieff's house, and I could see by the motions of his +mouth and face he wished me to come with him. + +Something had occurred, something dreadful surely, and despite the +excitement of battle a momentary cold wave of fear seemed to rush over my +frame. + +Sandie Donaldson was near me. This bold big fellow had been everywhere +conspicuous to-night for his bravery. He had fought all through with +extraordinary intrepidity. + +Wherever I had glanced that night I had seen Sandie, the moon shining down +on the white shirt and trousers he wore, and which made him altogether so +conspicuous a figure, as he took aim with rifle or revolver, or dashed +into a crowd of spear-armed Indians, his claymore hardly visible, so +swiftly was it moved to and fro. I grasped his shoulder, pointed in the +direction indicated by Yambo, and on we flew. + +As soon as we had rounded the wing of an outbuilding and reached +Moncrieff's terraced lawn, the din of the fight we had just left became +more indistinct, but we now heard sounds that, while they thrilled us with +terror and anger, made us rush on across the grass with the speed of the +panther. + +They were the voices of shrieking women, the crashing of glass and +furniture, and the savage and exultant yell of the Indians. + +Looking back now to this episode of the night, I can hardly realize that +so many terrible events could have occurred in so brief a time, for, from +the moment we charged up across the lawn not six minutes could have +elapsed ere all was over. It is like a dream, but a dream every turn of +which has been burned into my memory, to remain while life shall last. +Yonder is a tall _cacique_ hurrying out into the bright moonlight from +under the verandah. He bears in his arms the inanimate form of my dear +sister Flora. Is it really _I_ myself who rush up to meet him? Have _I_ +fired that shot that causes the savage to reel and fall? Is it I who lift +poor Flora and lay her in the shade of a mimosa-tree? It must be I, yet +every action seems governed by instinct; I am for the time being a strange +psychological study. It is as if my soul had left the body, but still +commanded it, standing aside, ruling every motion, directing every blow +from first to last, and being implicitly obeyed by the other _ego_, the +_ego_-incorporate. There is a crowd, nay, a cloud even it seems, around +me; but see, I have cut my way through them at last: they have fallen +before me, fallen at my side--fallen or fled. I step over bodies, I enter +the room, I stumble over other bodies. Now a light is struck and a lamp is +lit, and standing beside the table, calm, but very pale, I see my aunt +dimly through the smoke. My mother is near her--my own brave mother. Both +have revolvers in their hands; and I know now why bodies are stretched on +the floor. One glance shows me Aileen, lying like a dead thing in a +chair, and beside her, smoothing her brow, chafing her hands, Moncrieff's +marvellous mother. + +But in this life the humorous is ever mixed up with the tragic or sad, for +lo! as I hurry away to join the fight that is still going on near the +verandah I almost stumble across something else. Not a body this time--not +quite--only Bombazo's ankles sticking out from under the sofa. I could +swear to those striped silk socks anywhere, and the boots are the boots of +Bombazo. I administer a kick to those shins, and they speedily disappear. +I am out on the moonlit lawn now, and what do I see? First, good brave +Yambo, down on one knee, being borne backwards, fierce hands at his +throat, a short knife at his chest. The would-be assassin falls; Yambo +rises intact, and together we rush on further down to where, on a terrace, +Donaldson has just been overpowered. But see, a new combatant has come +upon the scene; several revolver shots are fired in quick succession. A +tall dark figure in semi-clerical garb is cutting right and left with a +good broadsword. And now--why, now it is all over, and Townley stands +beside us panting. + +Well might he pant--he had done brave work. But he had come all too late +to save Sandie. He lies there quietly enough on the grass. His shirt is +stained with blood, and it is his own blood this time. + +Townley bends over and quietly feels his arm. No pulse there. Then he +breathes a half audible prayer and reverently closes the eyes. + +I am hurrying back now to the room with Flora. + +'All is safe, mother, now. Flora is safe. See, she is smiling: she knows +us all. Oh, Heaven be praised, she is safe!' + +We leave Townley there, and hurry back to the ramparts. + +The stillness alone would have told us that the fight was finished and the +victory won. + +A few minutes after this, standing high up on the rampart there, +Moncrieff is mustering his people. One name after another is called. Alas! +there are many who do not answer, many who will never answer more, for our +victory has been dearly bought. + +Four of our Scottish settlers were found dead in the trench; over a dozen +Gauchos had been killed. Moncrieff and his partner were both wounded, +though neither severely. Archie and Dugald were also badly cut, and +answered but faintly and feebly to the roll-call. Sandie we know is dead, +and Bombazo is--under the sofa. So I thought; but listen. + +'Captain Rodrigo de Bombazo!' + +'Here, general, here,' says a bold voice close behind me, and Bombazo +himself presses further to the front. + +I can hardly believe my eyes and ears. Could those have been Bombazo's +boots? Had I really kicked the shins of Bombazo? Surely the events of the +night had turned my brain. Bombazo's boots indeed! Bombazo skulk and hide +beneath a sofa! Impossible. Look at him now. His hair is dishevelled; +there is blood on his brow. He is dressed only in shirt and trousers, and +these are marked with blood; so is his right arm, which is bared over the +elbow, and the sword he carries in his hand. Bold Bombazo! How I have +wronged him! But the silk striped socks? No; I cannot get over that. + + * * * * * + +Barely a month before the events just narrated took place at the +_estancias_ of Moncrieff there landed from a sailing ship at the port of +Buenos Ayres a man whose age might have been represented by any number of +years 'twixt thirty and forty. There were grey hairs on his temples, but +these count for nothing in a man whose life has been a struggle with +Fortune and Fate. The individual in question, whom his shipmates called +Dalston, was tall and tough and wiry. He had shown what he was and what he +could do in less than a week from the time of his joining. At first he +had been a passenger, and had lived away aft somewhere, no one could tell +exactly where, for he did not dine in the saloon with the other +passengers, and he looked above messing with the stewards. As the mate and +he were much together it was supposed that Dalston made use of the first +officer's cabin. The ship had encountered dirty weather from the very +outset; head winds and choppy seas all the way down Channel, so that she +was still 'kicking about off the coast'--this is how the seamen phrased +it--when she ought to have been crossing the Bay or stretching away out +into the broad Atlantic. She fared worse by far when she reached the Bay, +having met with a gale of wind that blew most of her cloth to ribbons, +carried away her bowsprit, and made hurdles of her bulwarks both forward +and amidships. Worse than all, two men were blown from aloft while trying +to reef a sail during a squall of more than hurricane violence. I say +blown from aloft, and I say so advisedly, for the squall came on after +they had gone up, a squall that even the men on deck could not stand +against, a squall that levelled the very waves, and made the sea away to +leeward--no one could see to windward--look like boiling milk. + +The storm began to go down immediately after the squall, and next day the +weather was fine enough to make sail, and mend sail. But the ship was +short-handed, for the skipper had made no provision against loss by +accident. He was glad then when the mate informed him that the 'gentleman' +Dalston was as good as any two men on board. + +'Send him to me,' said the skipper. + +'Good morning. Ahem, I hear, sir, you would be willing to assist in the +working of the ship. May I ask on what terms?' + +'Certainly,' said Dalston. 'I'm going out to the Argentine, to buy a bit +of land; well, naturally, money is some object to me. You see?' + +'I understand.' + +'Well, my terms are the return of my passage money and civility.' + +'Agreed; but why do you mention civility?' + +'Because I've heard you using rather rough language to your men. Now, if +you forgot yourself so far as to call me a bad name I'd----' + +He paused, and there was a look in his eyes the captain hardly relished. + +'Well! What would you do?' + +'Why, I'd--retire to my cabin.' + +'All right then, I think we understand each other.' + +So Dalston was installed, and now dined forward. He became a favourite +with his messmates. No one could tell a more thrilling and adventuresome +yarn than Dalston, no one could sing a better song than himself or join +more heartily in the chorus when another sang, and no one could work more +cheerily on deck, or fly more quickly to tack a sheet. + +Smyth had been the big man in the forecastle before Dalston's day. But +Smyth was eclipsed now, and I dare say did not like his rival. One day, +near the quarter-deck, Smyth called Dalston an ugly name. Dalston's answer +was a blow which sent the fellow reeling to leeward, where he lay +stunned. + +'Have you killed him, Dalston?' said the captain. + +'Not quite, sir; but I could have.' + +'Well, Dalston, you are working for two men now; don't let us lose another +hand, else you'll have to work for three.' + +Dalston laughed. + +Smyth gathered himself up and slunk away, but his look was one Dalston +would have cause to remember. + +This good ship--Sevenoaks she was called, after the captain's wife's +birthplace--had a long and a rough passage all along. The owners were +Dutchmen, so it did not matter a very great deal. There was plenty of +time, and the ship was worked on the cheap. Perhaps the wonder is she +kept afloat at all, for at one period of the voyage she leaked so badly +that the crew had to pump three hours out of every watch. Then she crossed +a bank on the South American coast, and the men said she had sucked in a +bit of seaweed, for she did not leak much after this. + +The longest voyage has an end, however, and when the Sevenoaks arrived at +Buenos Ayres, Dalston bade his messmates adieu, had his passage money duly +returned, and went on shore, happy because he had many more golden +sovereigns to rattle than he had expected. + +Dalston went to a good hotel, found out all about the trains, and next day +set out, in company with a waiter who had volunteered to be his escort, to +purchase a proper outfit--only light clothes, a rifle, a good revolver, +and a knife or two to wear in his belt, for he was going west to a rough +country. + +In the evening, after the waiter and he had dined well at another hotel: + +'You go home now,' said Dalston; 'I'm going round to have a look at the +town,' + +'Take care of yourself,' the waiter said. + +'No fear of me,' was the laughing reply. + +But that very night he was borne back to his inn, cut, bruised, and +faint. + +And robbed of all his gold. + +'Who has done this?' said the waiter, aghast at his friend's appearance. + +'Smyth!' That was all the reply. + +Dalston lay for weeks between life and death. Then he came round almost at +once, and soon started away on his journey. The waiter--good-natured +fellow--had lent him money to carry him to Mendoza. + +But Dalston's adventures were not over yet. + +He arrived at Villa Mercedes well and hopeful, and was lucky enough to +secure a passage in the diligence about to start under mounted escort to +Mendoza. After a jolting ride of days, the like of which he had never been +used to in the old country, the ancient-looking coach had completed +three-quarters of the journey, and the rest of the road being considered +safe the escort was allowed to go on its way to the frontier. + +They had not departed two hours, however, before the travellers were +attacked, the driver speared, and the horses captured. The only passenger +who made the slightest resistance was Dalston. He was speedily +overpowered, and would have been killed on the spot had not the _cacique_ +of the party whom Dalston had wounded interfered and spared his life. + +Spared his life! But for what? He did not know. Some of the passengers +were permitted to go free, the rest were killed. He alone was mounted on +horseback, his legs tied with thongs and his horse led by an Indian. + +All that night and all next day his captors journeyed on, taking, as far +as Dalston could judge, a south-west course. His sufferings were extreme. +His legs were swollen, cut, and bleeding; his naked shoulders--for they +had stripped him almost naked--burned and blistered with the sun; and +although his tongue was parched and his head drooping wearily on his +breast, no one offered him a mouthful of water. + +He begged them to kill him. Perhaps the _cacique_, who was almost a white +man, understood his meaning, for he grinned in derision and pointed to his +own bullet-wounded arm. The _cacique_ knew well there were sufferings +possible compared to which death itself would be as pleasure. + +When the Indians at last went into camp--which they did but for a +night--he was released, but guarded; a hunk of raw guanaco meat was thrown +to him, which he tried to suck for the juices it contained. + +Next day they went on and on again, over a wild pampa land now, with here +and there a bush or tussock of grass or thistles, and here and there a +giant ombu-tree. His ankles were more painful than ever, his shoulders +were raw, the horse he rode was often prodded with a spear, and he too +was wounded at the same time. Once or twice the _cacique_, maddened by the +pain of his wound, rushed at Dalston with uplifted knife, and the wretched +prisoner begged that the blow might fall. + +Towards evening they reached a kind of hill and forest land, where the +flowering cacti rose high above the tallest spear. Then they came to a +ruin. Indians here were in full force, horses dashed to and fro, and it +was evident from the bustle and stir that they were on the war-path, and +soon either to attack or be attacked. + +The prisoner was now roughly unhorsed and cruelly lashed to a tree, and +left unheeded by all. For a moment or two he felt grateful for the shade, +but his position after a time became painful in the extreme. At night-fall +all the Indians left, and soon after the sufferings of the poor wretch +grew more dreadful than pen can describe. He was being slowly eaten alive +by myriads of insects that crept and crawled or flew; horrid spiders with +hairy legs and of enormous size ran over his neck and naked chest, +loathsome centipedes wriggled over his shoulders and face and bit him, and +ants covered him black from head to feet. Towards dusk a great jaguar went +prowling past, looked at him with green fierce eyes, snarled low, and went +on. Vultures alighted near him, but they too passed by; they could wait. +Then it was night, and many of the insect pests grew luminous. They +flitted and danced before his eyes till tortured nature could bear no +more, and insensibility ended his sufferings for a time. + + * * * * * + +The Indians must have thought that, although their attack on our +_estancia_ had failed, we were too weak or too frightened to pursue them. +They did not know Moncrieff. Wounded though he was, he had issued forth +from behind the ramparts with thirty well-armed and splendidly-mounted +men. They followed the enemy up for seven long hours, and succeeded in +teaching them such a lesson that they have never been seen in that +district since. + +Towards noon we were riding homewards, tired and weary enough now, when +Donald suggested our visiting the old Jesuit ruin, and so we turned our +horses' heads in that direction. + +Donald had ridden on before, and as I drew near I heard him cry, 'Oh, +Moncrieff, come quickly! Here is some poor fellow lashed to the +ombu-tree!' + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +FAREWELL TO THE SILVER WEST. + + +We cut the man's cords of thongs, we spread rugs on the grass and laid him +gently down, then bathed his poor body with wine, and poured a little down +his throat. + +In about half an hour the wretched being we had thought dead slowly raised +himself on his elbow and gazed at _me_ as well as his swollen eyes would +permit him. His lips moved as if to speak, but no intelligible sound +escaped them. The recollection dawned on my mind all at once, and in that +sadly-distorted face I discovered traces of the man who had wrought us so +much sorrow and evil. + +I took his hand in mine. + +'Am I right?' I said. 'Are you Duncan M'Rae?' + +He nodded drowsily, closed his eyes again, and lay back. + +We cut branches from the ombu-tree, tied them together with the thongs +that had bound the victim's limbs, and so made a litter. On this we placed +rugs and laid the man; and between two mules he was borne by the Gauchos +slowly homewards to the _estancias_. Poor wretch! he had expected to come +here all but a conqueror, and in a position to dictate his own terms--he +arrived a dying man. + +Our _estancia_ for many weeks was now turned almost into a hospital, for +even those Indians who had crept wounded into the bush, preferring to die +at the sides of hedges to falling into our hands, we had brought in and +treated with kindness, and many recovered. + +All the dead we could find we buried in the humble little graveyard on the +braeside. We buried them without respect of nationality, only a few feet +of clay separating the white man's grave from that of his Indian foe. + +'It matters little,' said Moncrieff. 'where one rests, + + "For still and peaceful is the grave, + Where, life's vain tumults past, + The appointed house, by Heaven's decree, + Receives us all at last."' + +Both Dugald and Archie made excellent patients, and Flora and Aileen the +best of nurses. But _the_ nurse over even these was old Jenny. She was +hospital superintendent, and saw to all the arrangements, even making the +poultices and spreading the salves and plasters with her own hands. + +'My mither's a ma_rr_vel at he_rr_bs!' said Moncrieff over and over again, +when he saw the old lady busy at work. + +There was one patient, and only one, whom old Jenny did not nurse. This +was Duncan himself. For him Townley did all his skill could suggest, and +was seldom two consecutive hours away from the room where he lay. + +In spite of all this it was evident that the ex-poacher was sinking fast. + +Then came a day when Moncrieff, Archie, and myself were called into the +dying man's apartment, and heard him make the fullest confession of all +his villainy, and beg for our forgiveness with the tears roiling down his +wan, worn face. + +Yes, we forgave him willingly. + +May Heaven forgive him too! + +At the time of his confession he was strong enough to read over and sign +the document that Townley placed before him. He told Townley too the +addresses of the men who had assisted him in the old vault at the ruined +kirk in Coila. + +And Duncan had seemed brighter and calmer for several days after this. But +he told us he had no desire to live now. + +Then, one morning the change came, and so he sank and died. + + * * * * * + +It was several months before we could make up our minds to leave 'Our Home +in the Silver West.' Indeed, there was considerable preparation to be made +for the long homeward voyage that was before us; besides, Townley had no +inclination to hurry matters now that he felt sure of victory. + +Victory was not even yet a certainty, however. The estate of Coila was +well worth fighting for. Was there not the possibility, the bare +possibility, that the solicitors or advocates of Le Roi, or the M'Rae, who +now held the castle and glen, might find some fatal flaw in the evidence +which Townley had spent so much time and care in working out and +collecting? + +It was not at all probable. In fact, despite the blood-feud, that ancient +family folly, I believed that M'Rae would act the part of a gentleman. + +'If,' said Townley to me one day, as we walked for almost the last time in +the beautiful gardens around Moncrieff's mansion-house, 'we have anything +to fear, I believe it is from the legal advisers of the present +"occupier"'--Townley would not say 'owner'--'of the estate. These men, you +know, Murdoch, can hardly expect to be _our_ advocates. They are well +aware that if they lose hold of Coila now the title-deeds thereof will +never again rest in the fireproof safes of their offices.' + +'I am afraid,' I said, 'you have but a poor opinion of Edinburgh +advocates.' + +'Not so, Murdoch, not so. But,' he added, meaningly 'I have lived longer +in life than you, and I have but a poor opinion of human nature.' + +'I suppose,' I said, 'that the M'Rae will know nothing of what is coming +till our arrival on Scottish shores!' + +'On the contrary,' answered Townley; 'although it may really seem like +playing into our opponent's hands, I have written a friendly letter to the +M'Rae, and have told him to be prepared; that I have irrefragable +evidence--mind, I do not particularize--that you, Murdoch M'Crimman, are +the true and only proprietor of the estates of Coila. I want him to see +and feel that I am treating him as the man of honour I believe him to be, +and that the only thing we really desire is justice to all concerned.' + +I smiled, and could not help saying, 'Townley, my best of friends, what an +excellent advocate you would have made!' + +Townley smiled in turn. + +'Say, rather,' he replied, 'what an excellent detective I should have +made! But, after all, Murdoch, it may turn out that there is a spice of +selfishness in all I am doing.' + +'I do not believe a word of it, Townley.' + +Townley only laughed, and looked mysterious. + +'Hold on a little,' he said; 'don't be too quick to express your +judgment.' + +'I will wait, then,' I answered; 'but really I cannot altogether +understand you.' + + * * * * * + +Perhaps nothing shows true physical courage better than the power to say +'Farewell' apparently unmoved. It is a kind of courage, however, that is +very rare indeed, and all sorts of stratagems have been adopted to soften +the grief of parting. I am not sure that I myself was not guilty of +adopting one of these on the morning we left that pleasant home by the +lake. + +'I'm not going to say "farewell" at all,' I insisted, as I shook hands +with Irish Aileen and poor old Jenny, Moncrieff's 'marvellous mither.' +'I'm coming out again to see you all as soon as ever I can get settled. Do +you think I could leave this beautiful country entirely, without spending +at least a few more years in it? Not I! And even if I do succeed in +getting old Coila back once more--even that, mind, is uncertain--I sha'n't +quite give up Coila New. So _au revoir_, Moncrieff; _au revoir_!' + +Then, turning to Jenny, '_Au revoir_, Jenny,' I said. + +'Guid-bye, laddie, and God be wi' ye. I canna speak French. I've tried a +word or twa mair than once, and nearly knocked my jaws out o' the joint; +so I'll just say "Guid-bye." Lang, lang ere you can come back to Coila New +puir old Jenny's bones will be in the mools.' + +I felt a big lump in my throat just then, and was positively grateful when +Bombazo strutted up dressed in full uniform. + +'_A dios_', he said; 'my friend, _a dios_. And now you have but to say the +word, and if you have the least fear of being molested by Indians, my +trusty sword is at your service, and I will gladly escort you as far as +Villa Mercedes.' + +It is needless to say that I declined this truly heroic offer. + +Our party--the departing one--consisted of mother, aunt, Townley, Archie, +and myself. My sister and my brothers came many miles on the road with us; +then we bade them good-bye, and I felt glad when that was over. + +But Moncrieff's convoy was a truly Scottish one. He and his good men never +thought of turning back till they had seen us safely on board the train, +and rapidly being whirled away southwards. + +As long as I could see this honest settler he was waving his broad bonnet +in the air, and--I felt sure of this--commending us all to a kind +Providence. + +The vessel in which we took passage was a steamer that bore us straight to +the Clyde. Our voyage was a splendid one; in fact, I believe we were all +just a little sorry when it was finished. + +Landing there in the Broomielaw on a cold forenoon in early spring would +have possessed but little of interest for any of us--so full were our +minds with the meeting that was before us, the meeting of M'Crimman and +M'Rae--only we received a welcome that, being all so unexpected, caused +tears of joy to spring to my eyes. For hardly was the gangway thrust on +board from the quay ere more than twenty sturdy Highlanders, who somehow +had got possession of it, came rushing and shouting on board. I knew every +face at once, though some were changed--with illness, years, or sorrow. + +Perhaps few such scenes had ever before been witnessed on the Broomielaw, +for those men were arrayed in the full Scottish costume and wore the +M'Crimman tartan, and their shouts of joy might have been heard a good +half-mile off, despite the noises of the great city. + +How they had heard of our coming it never occurred to me to inquire. +Suffice it to say that here they were, and I leave the reader to guess the +kind of welcome they gave us. + +No, nothing would satisfy them short of escorting us to our hotel. + +Our carriages, therefore, to please these kindly souls from Coila, were +obliged to proceed but slowly, for five pipers marched in front, playing +the bold old air of 'The March of the Cameron Men,' while the rest, with +drawn claymores, brought up the rear. + +On the very next day Townley, Archie, and I received a message from M'Rae +himself, announcing that he would gladly meet us at the Royal Hotel in +Edinburgh. We were to bring no advocate with us, the letter advised; if +any dispute arose, then, and not till then, would be the time to call in +the aid of the law. + +I confess that I entered M'Rae's room with a beating heart. How would he +receive us? + +We found him quietly smoking a cigar and gazing out of the window. + +But he turned with a kindly smile towards us as soon as we entered, and +the next minute we were all seated round the table, and business--_the_ +business--was entered into. + +M'Rae listened without a word. He never even moved a muscle while Townley +told all his long story, or rather read it from paper after paper, which +he took from his bag. The last of these papers was Duncan's own +confession, with Archie's signature and mine as witnesses alongside +Moncrieff's. + +He opened his lips at last. + +'This is your signature, and you duly attest all this?' + +He put the question first to Archie and then to me. + +Receiving a reply in the affirmative, it was but natural that I should +look for some show of emotion in M'Rae's face. I looked in vain. I have +never seen more consummate coolness before nor since. Indeed, it was a +coolness that alarmed me. + +And when he rose from the table after a few minutes of apparently +engrossing thought, and walked directly towards a casket that stood on the +writing-table, I thought that after all our cause was lost. + +In that casket, I felt sure, lay some strange document that should utterly +undo all Townley's work of years. + +M'Rae is now at the table. He opens the casket, and for a moment looks +critically at its contents. + +I can hear my heart beating. I'm sure I look pale with anxiety. + +Now M'Rae puts his hand inside and quietly takes out--a fresh cigar. + +Then, humming a tune the while, he brings the casket towards Townley, and +bids him help himself. + +Townley does as he is told, but at the same time bursts into a hearty +laugh. + +'Mr. M'Rae,' he says, 'you are the coolest man that ever I met. I do +believe that if you were taken out to be shot--' + +'Stay,' said M'Rae, 'I _was_ once. I was tried for a traitor--tried for a +crime in France called "Treason," that I was as guiltless of as an unborn +babe--and condemned.' + +'And what did you do?' + +'Some one on the ground handed me a cigar, and--I lit it. + +'Nay, my dear friends, I have lost my case here. Indeed, I never, it would +seem, had one. + +'M'Crimman,' he continued, shaking me by the hand, 'Coila is yours.' + +'Strathtoul,' I answered, 'is our blood feud at an end?' + +'It is,' was the answer; and once again hand met hand across the table. + + * * * * * + +Need I tell of the home-coming of the M'Crimmans of Coila? Of the clansmen +who met us in the glen and marched along with us? Of the cheering strains +of music that re-echoed from every rock? Of the flags that fluttered over +and around our Castle Coila? Of the bonfires that blazed that night on +every hill, and cast their lurid light across the darkling lake? Or of the +tears my mother shed when, looking round the tartan drawing-room, the +cosiest in all the castle, she thought of father, dead and gone? No, for +some things are better left to the reader's imagination. + + * * * * * + +I throw down my pen with a sigh of relief. + +I think I have finished my story; my noble deerhound thinks so too. He +gets slowly up from the hearthrug, conies towards me, and places his +honest head on my arm, but his eyes are fixed on mine. + +It is not patting that he wants, nor petting either. + +'Come out now, master,' he seems to say, speaking with soft brown eyes and +wagging tail; 'come out, master; mount your fleetest horse, and let us +have a glorious gallop across the hills. See how the sun shines and +glitters on grass, on leaves and lake! While you have been writing there +day after day, I, your faithful dog, have been languishing. Come, master, +come!' + +And we go together. + +When I return, refreshed, and run up stairs to the room in the tower, I +find dear auntie there. She has been reading my manuscript. + +'There is,' she says, 'only one addition to make.' + +'Name it, auntie,' I say; 'it is not yet too late.' + +But she hesitates. + +'It is almost a secret,' she says at last, bending down and smoothing the +deerhound. + +'A secret, auntie? Ha, ha!' I laugh. 'I have it, auntie! I have it!' + +And I kiss her there and then. + +'It is Townley's secret and yours. He has proposed, and you are to--' + +But auntie has run out of the room. + +And now, come to think of it, there is something to add to all this. + +Can you guess _my_ secret, reader mine? + +Irene, my darling Irene and I, Murdoch M'Crimman, are also to be-- + +But, there, you have guessed my secret, as I guessed auntie's. + +And just let me ask this: Could any better plan have been devised of +burying the hatchet betwixt two rival Highland clans, and putting an end +for ever to a blood feud? + +THE END. + + + + +RICHARD CLAY AND SONS, LIMITED, +LONDON AND BUNGAY. + +THE BOY'S OWN BOOKSHELF. + +This is a Series of Popular Reprints from volumes of the BOY'S OWN +PAPER, most of which are now quite out of print. The Books are very +attractively bound, and are freely Illustrated. + +ADVENTURES OF A THREE-GUINEA WATCH. + +By Talbot Baines Reed. Illustrations. 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