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diff --git a/3720-0.txt b/3720-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d411b37 --- /dev/null +++ b/3720-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1218 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Returning Home, by Anthony Trollope + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + + + + +Title: Returning Home + + +Author: Anthony Trollope + + + +Release Date: January 16, 2015 [eBook #3720] +[This file was first posted on August 7, 2001] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RETURNING HOME*** + + +Transcribed from the 1864 Chapman and Hall “Tales of All Countries” +edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org + + + + + + RETURNING HOME. + + +IT is generally supposed that people who live at home,—good domestic +people, who love tea and their arm-chairs, and who keep the parlour +hearth-rug ever warm,—it is generally supposed that these are the people +who value home the most, and best appreciate all the comforts of that +cherished institution. I am inclined to doubt this. It is, I think, to +those who live farthest away from home, to those who find the greatest +difficulty in visiting home, that the word conveys the sweetest idea. In +some distant parts of the world it may be that an Englishman acknowledges +his permanent resting place; but there are many others in which he will +not call his daily house, his home. He would, in his own idea, desecrate +the word by doing so. His home is across the blue waters, in the little +northern island, which perhaps he may visit no more; which he has left, +at any rate, for half his life; from which circumstances, and the +necessity of living, have banished him. His home is still in England, +and when he speaks of home his thoughts are there. + +No one can understand the intensity of this feeling who has not seen or +felt the absence of interest in life which falls to the lot of many who +have to eat their bread on distant soils. We are all apt to think that a +life in strange countries will be a life of excitement, of stirring +enterprise, and varied scenes;—that in abandoning the comforts of home, +we shall receive in exchange more of movement and of adventure than would +come in our way in our own tame country; and this feeling has, I am sure, +sent many a young man roaming. Take any spirited fellow of twenty, and +ask him whether he would like to go to Mexico for the next ten years! +Prudence and his father may ultimately save him from such banishment, but +he will not refuse without a pang of regret. + +Alas! it is a mistake. Bread may be earned, and fortunes, perhaps, made +in such countries; and as it is the destiny of our race to spread itself +over the wide face of the globe, it is well that there should be +something to gild and paint the outward face of that lot which so many +are called upon to choose. But for a life of daily excitement, there is +no life like life in England; and the farther that one goes from England +the more stagnant, I think, do the waters of existence become. + +But if it be so for men, it is ten times more so for women. An +Englishman, if he be at Guatemala or Belize, must work for his bread, and +that work will find him in thought and excitement. But what of his wife? +Where will she find excitement? By what pursuit will she repay herself +for all that she has left behind her at her mother’s fireside? She will +love her husband. Yes; that at least! If there be not that, there will +be a hell, indeed. Then she will nurse her children, and talk of +her—home. When the time shall come that her promised return thither is +within a year or two of its accomplishment, her thoughts will all be +fixed on that coming pleasure, as are the thoughts of a young girl on her +first ball for the fortnight before that event comes off. + +On the central plain of that portion of Central America which is called +Costa Rica stands the city of San José. It is the capital of the +Republic,—for Costa Rica is a Republic,—and, for Central America, is a +town of some importance. It is in the middle of the coffee district, +surrounded by rich soil on which the sugar-cane is produced, is blessed +with a climate only moderately hot, and the native inhabitants are +neither cut-throats nor cannibals. It may be said, therefore, that by +comparison with some other spots to which Englishmen and others are +congregated for the gathering together of money, San José may be +considered as a happy region; but, nevertheless, a life there is not in +every way desirable. It is a dull place, with little to interest either +the eye or the ear. Although the heat of the tropics is but little felt +there on account of its altitude, men and women become too lifeless for +much enterprise. There is no society. There are a few Germans and a few +Englishmen in the place, who see each other on matters of business during +the day; but, sombre as life generally is, they seem to care little for +each other’s company on any other footing. I know not to what point the +aspirations of the Germans may stretch themselves, but to the English the +one idea that gives salt to life is the idea of home. On some day, +however distant it may be, they will once more turn their faces towards +the little northern island, and then all will be well with them. + +To a certain Englishman there, and to his dear little wife, this prospect +came some few years since somewhat suddenly. Events and tidings, it +matters not which or what, brought it about that they resolved between +themselves that they would start immediately;—almost immediately. They +would pack up and leave San José within four months of the day on which +their purpose was first formed. At San José a period of only four months +for such a purpose was immediately. It creates a feeling of instant +excitement, a necessity for instant doing, a consciousness that there was +in those few weeks ample work both for the hands and thoughts,—work +almost more than ample. The dear little wife, who for the last two years +had been so listless, felt herself flurried. + +“Harry,” she said to her husband, “how shall we ever be ready?” And her +pretty face was lighted up with unusual brightness at the happy thought +of so much haste with such an object. “And baby’s things too,” she said, +as she thought of all the various little articles of dress that would be +needed. A journey from San José to Southampton cannot in truth be made +as easily as one from London to Liverpool. Let us think of a month to be +passed without any aid from the washerwoman, and the greatest part of +that month amidst the sweltering heats of the West Indian tropics! + +In the first month of her hurry and flurry Mrs. Arkwright was a happy +woman. She would see her mother again and her sisters. It was now four +years since she had left them on the quay at Southampton, while all their +hearts were broken at the parting. She was a young bride then, going +forth with her new lord to meet the stern world. He had then been home +to look for a wife, and he had found what he looked for in the younger +sister of his partner. For he, Henry Arkwright, and his wife’s brother, +Abel Ring, had established themselves together in San José. And now, she +thought, how there would be another meeting on those quays at which there +should be no broken hearts; at which there should be love without sorrow, +and kisses, sweet with the sweetness of welcome, not bitter with the +bitterness of parting. And people told her,—the few neighbours around +her,—how happy, how fortunate she was to get home thus early in her life. +They had been out some ten,—some twenty years, and still the day of their +return was distant. And then she pressed her living baby to her breast, +and wiped away a tear as she thought of the other darling whom she would +leave beneath that distant sod. + +And then came the question as to the route home. San José stands in the +middle of the high plain of Costa Rica, half way between the Pacific and +the Atlantic. The journey thence down to the Pacific is, by comparison, +easy. There is a road, and the mules on which the travellers must ride +go steadily and easily down to Punta Arenas, the port on that ocean. +There are inns, too, on the way,—places of public entertainment at which +refreshment may be obtained, and beds, or fair substitutes for beds. But +then by this route the traveller must take a long additional sea voyage. +He must convey himself and his weary baggage down to that wretched place +on the Pacific, there wait for a steamer to take him to Panamá, cross the +isthmus, and reship himself in the other waters for his long journey +home. That terrible unshipping and reshipping is a sore burden to the +unaccustomed traveller. When it is absolutely necessary,—then indeed it +is done without much thought; but in the case of the Arkwrights it was +not absolutely necessary. And there was another reason which turned Mrs. +Arkwright’s heart against that journey by Punt’ Arenas. The place is +unhealthy, having at certain seasons a very bad name;—and here on their +outward journey her husband had been taken ill. She had never ceased to +think of the fortnight she had spent there among uncouth strangers, +during a portion of which his life had trembled in the balance. Early, +therefore, in those four months she begged that she might not be taken +round by Punt’ Arenas. There was another route. “Harry, if you love me, +let me go by the Serapiqui.” As to Harry’s loving her, there was no +doubt about that, as she well knew. + +There was this other route by the Serapiqui river, and by Greytown. +Greytown, it is true, is quite as unhealthy as Punt’ Arenas, and by that +route one’s baggage must be shipped and unshipped into small boats. +There are all manner of difficulties attached to it. Perhaps no direct +road to and from any city on the world’s surface is subject to sharper +fatigue while it lasts. Journeying by this route also, the traveller +leaves San José mounted on his mule, and so mounted he makes his way +through the vast primeval forests down to the banks of the Serapiqui +river. That there is a track for him is of course true; but it is simply +a track, and during nine months of the twelve is so deep in mud that the +mules sink in it to their bellies. Then, when the river has been +reached, the traveller seats him in his canoe, and for two days is +paddled down,—down along the Serapiqui, into the San Juan River, and down +along the San Juan till he reaches Greytown, passing one night at some +hut on the river side. At Greytown he waits for the steamer which will +carry him his first stage on his road towards Southampton. He must be a +connoisseur in disagreeables of every kind who can say with any precision +whether Greytown or Punt’ Arenas is the better place for a week’s +sojourn. + +For a full month Mr. Arkwright would not give way to his wife. At first +he all but conquered her by declaring that the Serapiqui journey would be +dangerous for the baby; but she heard from some one that it could be made +less fatiguing for the baby than the other route. A baby had been +carried down in a litter strapped on to a mule’s back. A guide at the +mule’s head would be necessary, and that was all. When once in her boat +the baby would be as well as in her cradle. What purpose cannot a woman +gain by perseverance? Her purpose in this instance Mrs. Arkwright did at +last gain by persevering. + +And then their preparations for the journey went on with much flurrying +and hot haste. To us at home, who live and feel our life every day, the +manufacture of endless baby-linen and the packing of mountains of clothes +does not give an idea of much pleasurable excitement; but at San José, +where there was scarcely motion enough in existence to prevent its waters +from becoming foul with stagnation, this packing of baby-linen was +delightful, and for a month or so the days went by with happy wings. + +But by degrees reports began to reach both Arkwright and his wife as to +this new route, which made them uneasy. The wet season had been +prolonged, and even though they might not be deluged by rain themselves, +the path would be in such a state of mud as to render the labour +incessant. One or two people declared that the road was unfit at any +time for a woman,—and then the river would be much swollen. These +tidings did not reach Arkwright and his wife together, or at any rate not +till late amidst their preparations, or a change might still have been +made. As it was, after all her entreaties, Mrs. Arkwright did not like +to ask him again to alter his plans; and he, having altered them once, +was averse to change them again. So things went on till the mules and +the boats had been hired, and things had gone so far that no change could +then be made without much cost and trouble. + +During the last ten days of their sojourn at San José, Mrs. Arkwright had +lost all that appearance of joy which had cheered up her sweet face +during the last few months. Terror at that terrible journey obliterated +in her mind all the happiness which had arisen from the hope of being +soon at home. She was thoroughly cowed by the danger to be encountered, +and would gladly have gone down to Punt’ Arenas, had it been now possible +that she could so arrange it. It rained, and rained, and still rained, +when there was now only a week from the time they started. Oh! if they +could only wait for another month! But this she said to no one. After +what had passed between her and her husband, she had not the heart to say +such words to him. Arkwright himself was a man not given to much +talking, a silent thoughtful man, stern withal in his outward bearing, +but tender-hearted and loving in his nature. The sweet young wife who +had left all, and come with him out to that dull distant place, was very +dear to him,—dearer than she herself was aware, and in these days he was +thinking much of her coming troubles. Why had he given way to her +foolish prayers? Ah, why indeed? And thus the last few days of their +sojourn in San José passed away from them. Once or twice during these +days she did speak out, expressing her fears. Her feelings were too much +for her, and she could not restrain herself. “Poor mamma,” she said, “I +shall never see her!” And then again, “Harry, I know I shall never reach +home alive.” + +“Fanny, my darling, that is nonsense.” But in order that his spoken word +might not sound stern to her, he took her in his arms and kissed her. + +“You must behave well, Fanny,” he said to her the day before they +started. Though her heart was then very low within her, she promised him +that she would do her best, and then she made a great resolution. Though +she should be dying on the road, she would not complain beyond the +absolute necessity of her nature. She fully recognised his thoughtful +tender kindness, for though he thus cautioned her, he never told her that +the dangers which she feared were the result of her own choice. He never +threw in her teeth those prayers which she had made, in yielding to which +he knew that he had been weak. + +Then came the morning of their departure. The party of travellers +consisted of four besides the baby. There was Mr. Arkwright, his wife, +and an English nurse, who was going to England with them, and her +brother, Abel Ring, who was to accompany them as far as the Serapiqui +River. When they had reached that, the real labour of the journey would +be over. + +They had eight mules; four for the four travellers, one for the baby, a +spare mule laden simply with blankets, so that Mrs. Arkwright might +change in order that she should not be fatigued by the fatigue of her +beast, and two for their luggage. The portion of their baggage had +already been sent off by Punt’ Arenas, and would meet them at the other +side of the Isthmus of Panamà. + +For the last four days the rain had ceased,—had ceased at any rate at San +José. Those who knew the country well, would know that it might still be +raining over those vast forests; but now as the matter was settled, they +would hope for the best. On that morning on which they started the sun +shone fairly, and they accepted this as an omen of good. Baby seemed to +lay comfortably on her pile of blankets on the mule’s back, and the face +of the tall Indian guide who took his place at that mule’s head pleased +the anxious mother. + +“Not leave him ever,” he said in Spanish, laying his hand on the cord +which was fastened to the beast’s head; and not for one moment did he +leave his charge, though the labour of sticking close to him was very +great. + +They had four attendants or guides, all of whom made the journey on foot. +That they were all men of mixed race was probable; but three of them +would have been called Spaniards, Spaniards, that is, of Costa Rica, and +the other would be called an Indian. One of the Spaniards was the +leader, or chief man of the party, but the others seemed to stand on an +equal footing with each other; and indeed the place of greatest care had +been given to the Indian. + +For the first four or five miles their route lay along the high road +which leads from San José to Punt’ Arenas, and so far a group of +acquaintances followed them, all mounted on mules. Here, where the ways +forked, their road leading through the great forests to the Atlantic, +they separated, and many tears were shed on each side. What might be the +future life of the Arkwrights had not been absolutely fixed, but there +was a strong hope on their part that they might never be forced to return +to Costa Rica. Those from whom they now parted had not seemed to be dear +to them in any especial degree while they all lived together in the same +small town, seeing each other day by day; but now,—now that they might +never meet again, a certain love sprang up for the old familiar faces, +and women kissed each other who hitherto had hardly cared to enter each +other’s houses. + +And then the party of the Arkwrights again started, and its steady work +began. In the whole of the first day the way beneath their feet was +tolerably good, and the weather continued fine. It was one long gradual +ascent from the plain where the roads parted, but there was no real +labour in travelling. Mrs. Arkwright rode beside her baby’s mule, at the +head of which the Indian always walked, and the two men went together in +front. The husband had found that his wife would prefer this, as long as +the road allowed of such an arrangement. Her heart was too full to admit +of much speaking, and so they went on in silence. + +The first night was passed in a hut by the roadside, which seemed to be +deserted,—a hut or rancho as it is called in that country. Their food +they had, of course, brought with them; and here, by common consent, they +endeavoured in some sort to make themselves merry. + +“Fanny,” Arkwright said to her, “it is not so bad after all; eh, my +darling?” + +“No,” she answered; “only that the mule tires one so. Will all the days +be as long as that?” + +He had not the heart to tell her that as regarded hours of work, that +first day must of necessity be the shortest. They had risen to a +considerable altitude, and the night was very cold; but baby was +enveloped among a pile of coloured blankets, and things did not go very +badly with them; only this, that when Fanny Arkwright rose from her hard +bed, her limbs were more weary and much more stiff than they had been +when Arkwright had lifted her from her mule. + +On the second morning they mounted before the day had quite broken, in +order that they might breakfast on the summit of the ridge which +separates the two oceans. At this spot the good road comes to an end, +and the forest track begins; and here also, they would, in truth, enter +the forest, though their path had for some time been among straggling +trees and bushes. And now, again, they rode two and two, up to this +place of halting, Arkwright and Ring well knowing that from hence their +labours would in truth commence. + +Poor Mrs. Arkwright, when she reached this resting-place, would fain have +remained there for the rest of the day. One word, in her low, plaintive +voice, she said, asking whether they might not sleep in the large shed +which stands there. But this was manifestly impossible. At such a pace +they would never reach Greytown; and she spoke no further word when he +told her that they must go on. + +At about noon that day the file of travellers formed itself into the line +which it afterwards kept during the whole of the journey, and then +started by the narrow path into the forest. First walked the leader of +the guides, then another man following him; Abel Ring came next, and +behind him the maid-servant; then the baby’s mule, with the Indian ever +at its head; close at his heels followed Mrs. Arkwright, so that the +mother’s eye might be always on her child; and after her her husband; +then another guide on foot completed the number of the travellers. In +this way they went on and on, day after day, till they reached the banks +of the Serapiqui, never once varying their places in the procession. As +they started in the morning, so they went on till their noon-day’s rest, +and so again they made their evening march. In that journey there was no +idea of variety, no searching after the pleasures of scenery, no attempts +at conversation with any object of interest or amusement. What words +were spoken were those simply needful, or produced by sympathy for +suffering. So they journeyed, always in the same places, with one +exception. They began their work with two guides leading them, but +before the first day was over one of them had fallen back to the side of +Mrs. Arkwright, for she was unable to sit on her mule without support. + +Their daily work was divided into two stages, so as to give some hours +for rest in the middle of the day. It had been arranged that the +distance for each day should not be long,—should be very short as was +thought by them all when they talked it over at San José; but now the +hours which they passed in the saddle seemed to be endless. Their +descent began from that ridge of which I have spoken, and they had no +sooner turned their faces down upon the mountain slopes looking towards +the Atlantic, than that passage of mud began to which there was no +cessation till they found themselves on the banks of the Serapiqui river. +I doubt whether it be possible to convey in words an adequate idea of the +labour of riding over such a path. It is not that any active exertion is +necessary,—that there is anything which requires doing. The traveller +has before him the simple task of sitting on his mule from hour to hour, +and of seeing that his knees do not get themselves jammed against the +trees; but at every step the beast he rides has to drag his legs out from +the deep clinging mud, and the body of the rider never knows one moment +of ease. Why the mules do not die on the road, I cannot say. They live +through it, and do not appear to suffer. They have their own way in +everything, for no exertion on the rider’s part will make them walk +either faster or slower than is their wont. + +On the day on which they entered the forest,—that being the second of +their journey,—Mrs. Arkwright had asked for mercy, for permission to +escape that second stage. On the next she allowed herself to be lifted +into her saddle after her mid-day rest without a word. She had tried to +sleep, but in vain; and had sat within a little hut, looking out upon the +desolate scene before her, with her baby in her lap. She had this one +comfort, that of all the travellers, she, the baby, suffered the least. +They had now left the high grounds, and the heat was becoming great, +though not as yet intense. And then, the Indian guide, looking out +slowly over the forest, saw that the rain was not yet over. He spoke a +word or two to one of his companions in a low voice and in a patois which +Mrs. Arkwright did not understand, and then going after the husband, told +him that the heavens were threatening. + +“We have only two leagues,” said Arkwright, “and it may perhaps hold up.” + +“It will begin in an hour,” said the Indian, “and the two leagues are +four hours.” + +“And to-morrow,” asked Arkwright. + +“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow it will still rain,” said the +guide, looking as he spoke up over the huge primeval forest. + +“Then we had better start at once,” said Arkwright, “before the first +falling drops frighten the women.” So the mules were brought out, and he +lifted his uncomplaining wife on to the blankets which formed her +pillion. The file again formed itself, and slowly they wound their way +out from the small enclosure by which the hut was surrounded;—out from +the enclosure on to a rough scrap of undrained pasture ground from which +the trees had been cleared. In a few minutes they were once more +struggling through the mud. + +The name of the spot which our travellers had just left is Carablanco. +There they found a woman living all alone. Her husband was away, she +told them, at San José, but would be back to her when the dry weather +came, to look up the young cattle which were straying in the forest. +What a life for a woman! Nevertheless, in talking with Mrs. Arkwright +she made no complaint of her own lot, but had done what little she could +to comfort the poor lady who was so little able to bear the fatigues of +her journey. + +“Is the road very bad?” Mrs. Arkwright asked her in a whisper. + +“Ah, yes; it is a bad road.” + +“And when shall we be at the river?” + +“It took me four days,” said the woman. + +“Then I shall never see my mother again,” and as she spoke Mrs. Arkwright +pressed her baby to her bosom. Immediately after that her husband came +in, and they started. + +Their path now led away across the slope of a mountain which seemed to +fall from the very top of that central ridge in an unbroken descent down +to the valley at its foot. Hitherto, since they had entered the forest, +they had had nothing before their eyes but the trees and bushes which +grew close around them. But now a prospect of unrivalled grandeur was +opened before them, if only had they been able to enjoy it. At the +bottom of the valley ran a river, which, so great was the depth, looked +like a moving silver cord; and on the other side of this there arose +another mountain, steep but unbroken like that which they were +passing,—unbroken, so that the eye could stretch from the river up to the +very summit. Not a spot on that mountain side or on their side either +was left uncovered by thick forest, which had stood there untouched by +man since nature first produced it. + +But all this was nothing to our travellers, nor was the clang of the +macaws anything, or the roaring of the little congo ape. Nothing was +gained by them from beautiful scenery, nor was there any fear from the +beasts of prey. The immediate pain of each step of the journey drove all +other feelings from them, and their thoughts were bounded by an intense +desire for the evening halt. + +And then, as the guide had prophesied, the rain began. At first it came +in such small soft drops that it was found to be refreshing, but the +clouds soon gathered and poured forth their collected waters as though it +had not rained for months among those mountains. Not that it came in big +drops, or with the violence which wind can give it, beating hither and +thither, breaking branches from the trees, and rising up again as it +pattered against the ground. There was no violence in the rain. It fell +softly in a long, continuous, noiseless stream, sinking into everything +that it touched, converting the deep rich earth on all sides into mud. + +Not a word was said by any of them as it came on. The Indian covered the +baby with her blanket, closer than she was covered before, and the guide +who walked by Mrs. Arkwright’s side drew her cloak around her knees. But +such efforts were in vain. There is a rain that will penetrate +everything, and such was the rain which fell upon them now. +Nevertheless, as I have said, hardly a word was spoken. The poor woman, +finding that the heat of her cloak increased her sufferings, threw it +open again. + +“Fanny,” said her husband, “you had better let him protect you as well as +he can.” + +She answered him merely by an impatient wave of her hand, intending to +signify that she could not speak, but that in this matter she must have +her way. + +After that her husband made no further attempt to control her. He could +see, however, that ever and again she would have slipped forward from her +mule and fallen, had not the man by her side steadied her with his hand. +At every tree he protected her knees and feet, though there was hardly +room for him to move between the beast and the bank against which he was +thrust. + +And then, at last, that day’s work was also over, and Fanny Arkwright +slipped from her pillion down into her husband’s arms at the door of +another rancho in the forest. Here there lived a large family adding +from year to year to the patch of ground which they had rescued from the +wood, and valiantly doing their part in the extension of civilisation. +Our party was but a few steps from the door when they left their mules, +but Mrs. Arkwright did not now as heretofore hasten to receive her baby +in her arms. When placed upon the ground, she still leaned against the +mule, and her husband saw that he must carry her into the hut. This he +did, and then, wet, mud-laden, dishevelled as she was, she laid herself +down upon the planks that were to form her bed, and there stretched out +her arms for her infant. On that evening they undressed and tended her +like a child; and then when she was alone with her husband, she repeated +to him her sad foreboding. + +“Harry,” she said, “I shall never see my mother again.” + +“Oh, yes, Fanny, you will see her and talk over all these troubles with +pleasure. It is very bad, I know; but we shall live through it yet.” + +“You will, of course; and you will take baby home to her.” + +“And face her without you! No, my darling. Three more days’ riding, or +rather two and a half, will bring us to the river, and then your trouble +will be over. All will be easy after that.” + +“Ah, Harry, you do not know.” + +“I do know that it is very bad, my girl, but you must cheer up. We shall +be laughing at all this in a month’s time.” + +On the following morning she allowed herself to be lifted up, speaking no +word of remonstrance. Indeed she was like a child in their hands, having +dropped all the dignity and authority of a woman’s demeanour. It rained +again during the whole of this day, and the heat was becoming oppressive +as every hour they were descending nearer and nearer to the sea level. +During this first stage hardly a word was spoken by any one; but when she +was again taken from her mule she was in tears. The poor servant-girl, +too, was almost prostrate with fatigue, and absolutely unable to wait +upon her mistress, or even to do anything for herself. Nevertheless they +did make the second stage, seeing that their mid-day resting place had +been under the trees of the forest. Had there been any hut there, they +would have remained for the night. + +On the following day they rested altogether, though the place at which +they remained had but few attractions. It was another forest hut +inhabited by an old Spanish couple who were by no means willing to give +them room, although they paid for their accommodation at exorbitant +rates. It is one singularity of places strange and out of the way like +such forest tracks as these, that money in small sums is hardly valued. +Dollars there were not appreciated as sixpences are in this rich country. +But there they stayed for a day, and the guides employed themselves in +making a litter with long poles so that they might carry Mrs. Arkwright +over a portion of the ground. Poor fellows! When once she had thus +changed her mode of conveyance, she never again was lifted on to the +mule. + +There was strong reason against this day’s delay. They were to go down +the Serapiqui along with the post, which would overtake them on its +banks. But if the post should pass them before they got there, it could +not wait; and then they would be deprived of the best canoe on the water. +Then also it was possible, if they encountered further delay, that the +steamer might sail from Greytown without them, and a month’s residence at +that frightful place be thus made necessary. + +The day’s rest apparently did little to relieve Mrs. Arkwright’s +sufferings. On the following day she allowed herself to be put upon the +mule, but after the first hour the beasts were stopped and she was taken +off it. During that hour they had travelled hardly over half a league. +At that time she so sobbed and moaned that Arkwright absolutely feared +that she would perish in the forest, and he implored the guides to use +the poles which they had prepared. She had declared to him over and over +again that she felt sure that she should die, and, half-delirious with +weariness and suffering, had begged him to leave her at the last hut. +They had not yet come to the flat ground over which a litter might be +carried with comparative ease; but nevertheless the men yielded, and she +was placed in a recumbent position upon blankets, supported by boughs of +trees. In this way she went through that day with somewhat less of +suffering than before, and without that necessity for self-exertion which +had been worse to her than any suffering. + +There were places between that and the river at which one would have said +that it was impossible that a litter should be carried, or even +impossible that a mule should walk with a load on his back. But still +they went on, and the men carried their burden without complaining. Not +a word was said about money, or extra pay;—not a word, at least by them; +and when Arkwright was profuse in his offer, their leader told him that +they would not have done it for money. But for the poor suffering Señora +they would make exertions which no money would have bought from them. + +On the next day about noon the post did pass them, consisting of three +strong men carrying great weights on their backs, suspended by bands from +their foreheads. They travelled much quicker than our friends, and would +reach the banks of the river that evening. In their ordinary course they +would start down the river close upon daybreak on the following day; but, +after some consultation with the guides, they agreed to wait till noon. +Poor Mrs. Arkwright knew nothing of hours or of any such arrangements +now, but her husband greatly doubted their power of catching this mail +despatch. However, it did not much depend on their exertions that +afternoon. Their resting-place was marked out for them, and they could +not go beyond it, unless indeed they could make the whole journey, which +was impossible. + +But towards evening matters seemed to improve with them. They had now +got on to ground which was more open, and the men who carried the litter +could walk with greater ease. Mrs. Arkwright also complained less, and +when they reached their resting-place on that night, said nothing of a +wish to be left there to her fate. This was a place called Padregal, a +cacao plantation, which had been cleared in the forest with much labour. +There was a house here containing three rooms, and some forty or fifty +acres round it had been stripped of the forest trees. But nevertheless +the adventure had not been a prosperous one, for the place was at that +time deserted. There were the cacao plants, but there was no one to pick +the cacao. There was a certain melancholy beauty about the place. A few +grand trees had been left standing near the house, and the grass around +was rich and park-like. But it was deserted, and nothing was heard but +the roaring of the congos. Ah me! Indeed it was a melancholy place as +it was seen by some of that party afterwards. + +On the following morning they were astir very early, and Mrs. Arkwright +was so much better that she offered to sit again upon her mule. The men, +however, declared that they would finish their task, and she was placed +again upon the litter. And then with slow and weary step they did make +their way to the river bank. It was not yet noon when they saw the mud +fort which stands there, and as they drew into the enclosure round a +small house which stands close by the river side, they saw the three +postmen still busy about their packages. + +“Thank God!” said Arkwright. + +“Thank God, indeed!” said his brother. “All will be right with you now.” + +“Well, Fanny,” said her husband, as he took her very gently from the +litter and seated her on a bench which stood outside the door. “It is +all over now,—is it not?” + +She answered him by a shower of tears, but they were tears which brought +her relief. He was aware of this, and therefore stood by her, still +holding her by both her hands while her head rested against his side. +“You will find the motion of the boat very gentle,” he said; “indeed +there will be no motion, and you and baby will sleep all the way down to +Greytown.” She did not answer him in words, but she looked up into his +face, and he could see that her spirit was recovering itself. + +There was almost a crowd of people collected on the spot, preparatory to +the departure of the canoes. In the first place there was the commandant +of the fort, to whom the small house belonged. He was looking to the +passports of our friends, and with due diligence endeavouring to make +something of the occasion, by discovering fatal legal impediments to the +further prosecution of their voyage, which impediments would disappear on +the payment of certain dollars. And then there were half a dozen Costa +Rican soldiers, men with coloured caps and old muskets, ready to support +the dignity and authority of the commandant. There were the guides +taking payment from Abel Ring for their past work, and the postmen +preparing their boats for the further journey. And then there was a +certain German there, with a German servant, to whom the boats belonged. +He also was very busy preparing for the river voyage. He was not going +down with them, but it was his business to see them well started. A +singular looking man was he, with a huge shaggy beard, and shaggy +uncombed hair, but with bright blue eyes, which gave to his face a +remarkable look of sweetness. He was an uncouth man to the eye, and yet +a child would have trusted herself with him in a forest. + +At this place they remained some two hours. Coffee was prepared here, +and Mrs. Arkwright refreshed herself and her child. They washed and +arranged their clothes, and when she stepped down the steep bank, +clinging to her husband’s arm as she made her way towards the boat, she +smiled upon him as he looked at her. + +“It is all over now,—is it not, my girl?”—he said, encouraging her. + +“Oh, Harry, do not talk about it,” she answered, shuddering. + +“But I want you to say a word to me to let me know that you are better.” + +“I am better,—much better.” + +“And you will see your mother again; will you not; and give baby to her +yourself?” + +To this she made no immediate answer, for she was on a level with the +river, and the canoe was close at her feet. And then she had to bid +farewell to her brother. He was now the unfortunate one of the party, +for his destiny required that he should go back to San José alone,—go +back and remain there perhaps some ten years longer before he might look +for the happiness of home. + +“God bless you, dearest Abel,” she said, kissing him and sobbing as she +spoke. + +“Good-bye, Fanny,” he said, “and do not let them forget me in England. +It is a great comfort to think that the worst of your troubles are over.” + +“Oh,—she’s all right now,” said Arkwright. “Good-bye, old boy,”—and the +two brothers-in-law grasped each other’s hands heartily. “Keep up your +spirits, and we’ll have you home before long.” + +“Oh, I’m all right,” said the other. But from the tone of the voices, it +was clear that poor Ring was despondent at the thoughts of his coming +solitude, and that Arkwright was already triumphing in his emancipation. + +And then, with much care, Fanny Arkwright was stowed away in the boat. +There was a great contest about the baby, but at last it was arranged, +that at any rate for the first few hours she should be placed in the boat +with the servant. The mother was told that by this plan she would feel +herself at liberty to sleep during the heat of the day, and then she +might hope to have strength to look to the child when they should be on +shore during the night. In this way therefore they prepared to start, +while Abel Ring stood on the bank looking at them with wishful eyes. In +the first boat were two Indians paddling, and a third man steering with +another paddle. In the middle there was much luggage, and near the +luggage so as to be under shade, was the baby’s soft bed. If nothing +evil happened to the boat, the child could not be more safe in the best +cradle that was ever rocked. With her was the maid-servant and some +stranger who was also going down to Greytown. + +In the second boat were the same number of men to paddle, the Indian +guide being one of them, and there were the mails placed. Then there was +a seat arranged with blankets, cloaks, and cushions, for Mrs. Arkwright, +so that she might lean back and sleep without fatigue, and immediately +opposite to her her husband placed himself. “You all look very +comfortable,” said poor Abel from the bank. + +“We shall do very well now,” said Arkwright. + +“And I do think I shall see mamma again,” said his wife. + +“That’s right, old girl;—of course you will see her. Now then,—we are +all ready.” And with some little assistance from the German on the bank, +the first boat was pushed off into the stream. + +The river in this place is rapid, because the full course of the water is +somewhat impeded by a bank of earth jutting out from the opposite side of +the river into the stream; but it is not so rapid as to make any +recognised danger in the embarkation. Below this bank, which is opposite +to the spot at which the boats were entered, there were four or five +broken trees in the water, some of the shattered boughs of which showed +themselves above the surface. These are called snags, and are very +dangerous if they are met with in the course of the stream; but in this +instance no danger was apprehended from them, as they lay considerably to +the left of the passage which the boats would take. The first canoe was +pushed off by the German, and went rapidly away. The waters were strong +with rain, and it was pretty to see with what velocity the boat was +carried on some hundred of yards in advance of the other by the force of +the first effort of the paddle. The German, however, from the bank +holloaed to the first men in Spanish, bidding them relax their efforts +for awhile; and then he said a word or two of caution to those who were +now on the point of starting. + +The boat then was pushed steadily forward, the man at the stern keeping +it with his paddle a little farther away from the bank at which they had +embarked. It was close under the land that the stream ran the fastest, +and in obedience to the directions given to him he made his course +somewhat nearer to the sunken trees. It was but one turn of his hand +that gave the light boat its direction, but that turn of the hand was too +strong. Had the anxious master of the canoes been but a thought less +anxious, all might have been well; but, as it was, the prow of the boat +was caught by some slight hidden branch which impeded its course and +turned it round in the rapid river. The whole lengths of the canoe was +thus brought against the sunken tree, and in half a minute the five +occupants of the boat were struggling in the stream. + +Abel Ring and the German were both standing on the bank close to the +water when this happened, and each for a moment looked into the other’s +face. “Stand where you are,” shouted the German, “so that you may assist +them from the shore. I will go in.” And then, throwing from him his +boots and coat, he plunged into the river. + +The canoe had been swept round so as to be brought by the force of the +waters absolutely in among the upturned roots and broken stumps of the +trees which impeded the river, and thus, when the party was upset, they +were at first to be seen scrambling among the branches. But +unfortunately there was much more wood below the water than above it, and +the force of the stream was so great, that those who caught hold of the +timber were not able to support themselves by it above the surface. +Arkwright was soon to be seen some forty yards down, having been carried +clear of the trees, and here he got out of the river on the farther bank. +The distance to him was not above forty yards, but from the nature of the +ground he could not get up towards his wife, unless he could have forced +his way against the stream. + +The Indian who had had charge of the baby rose quickly to the surface, +was carried once round in the eddy, with his head high above the water, +and then was seen to throw himself among the broken wood. He had seen +the dress of the poor woman, and made his effort to save her. The other +two men were so caught by the fragments of the boughs, that they could +not extricate themselves so as to make any exertions; ultimately, +however, they also got out on the further bank. + +Mrs. Arkwright had sunk at once on being precipitated into the water, but +the buoyancy of her clothes had brought her for a moment again to the +surface. She had risen for a moment, and then had again gone down, +immediately below the forked trunk of a huge tree;—had gone down, alas, +alas! never to rise again with life within her bosom. The poor Indian +made two attempts to save her, and then came up himself, incapable of +further effort. + +It was then that the German, the owner of the canoes, who had fought his +way with great efforts across the violence of the waters, and indeed up +against the stream for some few yards, made his effort to save the life +of that poor frail creature. He had watched the spot at which she had +gone down, and even while struggling across the river, had seen how the +Indian had followed her and had failed. It was now his turn. His life +was in his hand, and he was prepared to throw it away in that attempt. +Having succeeded in placing himself a little above the large tree, he +turned his face towards the bottom of the river, and dived down among the +branches. And he also, after that, was never again seen with the +life-blood flowing round his heart. + +When the sun set that night, the two swollen corpses were lying in the +Commandant’s hut, and Abel Ring and Arkwright were sitting beside them. +Arkwright had his baby sleeping in his arms, but he sat there for +hours,—into the middle of the long night,—without speaking a word to any +one. + +“Harry,” said his brother at last, “come away and lay down. It will be +good for you to sleep.” + +“Nothing ever will be good again for me,” said he. + +“You must bear up against your sorrow as other men do,” said Ring. + +“Why am I not sleeping with her as the poor German sleeps? Why did I let +another man take my place in dying for her?” And then he walked away +that the other might not see the tears on his face. + +It was a sad night,—that at the Commandant’s hut, and a sad morning +followed upon it. It must be remembered that they had there none of +those appurtenances which are so necessary to make woe decent and +misfortune comfortable. They sat through the night in the small hut, and +in the morning they came forth with their clothes still wet and dirty, +with their haggard faces, and weary stiff limbs, encumbered with the +horrid task of burying that loved body among the forest trees. And then, +to keep life in them till it was done, the brandy flask passed from hand +to hand; and after that, with slow but resolute efforts, they reformed +the litter on which the living woman had been carried thither, and took +her body back to the wild plantation at Padregal. There they dug for her +her grave, and repeating over her some portion of the service for the +dead, left her to sleep the sleep of death. But before they left her, +they erected a pallisade of timber round the grave, so that the beasts of +the forest should not tear the body from its resting-place. + +When that was done Arkwright and his brother made their slow journey back +to San José. The widowed husband could not face his darling’s mother +with such a tale upon his tongue as that. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RETURNING HOME*** + + +******* This file should be named 3720-0.txt or 3720-0.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/7/2/3720 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. 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